Veil speaks in a low tone, helping Nettle to achieve the right state of mind. As she does so, she gets up and walks around the room, lighting several anointed candles, and bringing a brazier of incence to sit before Nettle.
Nettle closes her eyes and begins to breathe deeply. She concentrates on her heartbeats, and instantly they start to grow slower and slower.
Nettle releases all her fears...anxieties...she visualizes all the stress and inner-pollution forming into a black orb that floats in front of her, and when she's filled it with everything, she imagines it shooting off into the sky and into the sun to be dissintigrated.
As Nettle begins to feel almost lethargic, Veil begins to speak in a soft voice, telling her what sensations she will be experiencing...how it will feel to see the spirit world.
She instructs her student to reach inside herself, and feel the bright spirit burning within her.
Nettle concentrates, and begins to touch that life-force deep within that is the root of herself.
Knowing that for the first little while, Nettle will need a crutch to help her past her own self-induced blocks, she lights the incense resin, and a thick trail of smoke begins to waft upwards.
Veil: "Now, open your eyes, and see through the cloud of incense before you. Open your eyes to the reality that coexists with ours. The Penumbra, which emulates all that is, was, and shall be."

Nettle inhales the incense with one of her deep intakes of air, and immediately her head begins to feel light and buzzy.
Nettle slowly opens her eyes and looks without blinking through the incense.
As Nettle stares through the smoke, her vision clarifes instead of muddies. She stares through the smoke, blinks, and suddenly the world suddenly takes on a brighter, more vibrant hue. All the colors jump out at the young mage, and it feels as if she is seeing them for the first time. She turns and looks at Veil, but she is not there! Before Nettle can panic, she hears Veil's voice.
Veil: "Don't worry. You cannot see me because I am not physically in the Penumbra. For now, concentrate on what you can see. Tell me, what is there?"
Everything is brighter, more alive and vibrant. Everything looks really dusty though, and neglected. In the real world it's clean, but in the umbra sight she can tell no one lives here anymore.
As Nettle stares with her new Sight, she can see little dust spirits frolicking on the wooden end table.
Nettle opens her eyes wider with wonder, and reaches out to try to touch a spirit-- not really thinking.
Nettle's hand passes right through the spirit, as if she wasn't really there.
Nettle smiles. "Hello little spirit..." she says in a drousy-sounding voice.
Veil: "At this point, you can only observe, not actually participate, in the Spirit Realm," Veil tells nettle.
Nettle: "Ah, " Nettle says in disappointment.
Veil: "They cannot hear you yet either..." she says.
Veil: "Because we are Verbena, we are most in tune with the Nature spirits. They will be more friendly towards us than others."
Nettle: "How much training will I require to speak to them or participate?" Nettle asks eagerly.
Veil: "That is the next level," Veil responds. "It will take you awhile to become used to this one first."
Nettle smiles at the dust-spirits again. "Soon little ones!" she says in a sing-song voice, completely enraptured by everything she's seeing.

Nettle turns her head, trying to locate the cats to see if they have representations in this new world.
Veil: "You will not see spirits of the living here," Veil tells her pupil. "For the most part, the Penumbra is an empty place. You will find that the near umbral realms to be much more populated."
Nettle opens her mouth in surprise. "Can I observe those realms now, Veil?"
Veil shakes her head. "Your skills will increase, but the other umbral realms do not run parallel to this one. We will have to travel to the realm in order to see it. Remember when you travelled to the Digital Web? That was an Umbral Realm, formed because so many people focused their thoughts and energies on the internet, it created an actual place out there."
Nettle: "Aaaah...so with more training, I could travel to a realm? Not using a computer, but just myself?"
Veil: "Much of reality is shaped by what we believe. Away from the Earth, and the confines of the Technocratic Paradigm, these beliefs can take on a much more solid form."
Veil nods.
Veil: "Yes, it will be possible. And when you are even stronger, you will be able to tear a gateway to allow many beings to pass through."
Nettle looks at Veil in surprise, and then recognition dawns in her eyes. "Aah...like Correspondence!"
Veil nods and smiles.
Veil: "Yes, approximately."
Veil: "But you are not really bending space like you would with correspondance. This is more like...opening a screen door."
Nettle 's eyes narrow for a minute in confusion, but she figures she'll catch on with more training.
Veil: "Once you've opened a gateway to the Penumbra, from there your intentions will take you where you want to go. Eventually you will find a path leading through to the Near Umbra."
Veil: "Things are generally shouded in mist...for the garou it is different, they are naturally welcome in this mid-umbral space. Moon-spirits and others will aid them and show them 'moon bridges' to guide their way."
Nettle: "Wow..." Nettle says in a low, awed voice.
Veil: "Mages generally must find their own way, unless they can coerce a spirit to help them somehow. Nothing is ever for free however, and be wary what you barter when you seek aid."
Nettle: "What I wouldn't give to see a moon-spirit!" Nettle suddenly exclaims, still looking impressed.
Veil smiles.

Veil: "I had a dream last night," she adds. "I believe that soon we will be in the company of garou, and your wish may be granted."
Nettle looks at Veil in surprise again. "Why...why are they coming here?" she asks a little hesitantly.
Veil shakes her head.
Veil: "I'm not sure yet. Dream-visions are never very clear. I hope to know more before they arrive!"
Nettle pauses for a moment. "Maybe they're friends of Aaron's-- remember that pack that helped us in Ireland?"
Nettle: "And what about the Faeries? They always seem to flock around me! Which realm do they live in, and could I go there?"
Veil: "The Faeries..." Veil looks sad. "They were shut off from their true home hundreds of years ago. Now, all that is left for them is a place called the Dreaming. It is a place where all the dreams of humanity collect. Yes, we may go there someday..."
Veil: "It can be very beautiful, and terrifying at the same time. Not all dreams are nice ones."
Nettle looks sad. "I didn't know that..." suddenly her eyes narrow. "Or DID I..." She turns to Veil. "Remember that group of Faeries that keeps following Alec and I around?"
Veil nods and chuckles.
Veil: "How could I forget!!"
Nettle folds her arms. "You don't think they're serious...can Faeries be trusted?? They keep telling Alec and I to have a baby because it will be the lost king who will lead them back to Arcadia! I thought they made up the name "Arcadia!!" It's real??"
Veil: "Oh...yes...Arcadia is the name of their true home..." Veil pauses in thought. "The Fay can be trusted as far as any other creature-- there are those who are noble and have integrity, and those who would steal the shirt from your back or worse."
Nettle looks worried again. "You don't think they would try to kidnap our baby once it was born, do you??"
Veil frowns.
Veil: "What did they say exactly, about your baby?"
Veil: "The Fay have magick, but nothing I wouldn't be confidant I could block. We can keep you baby safe, Nettle" Veil smiles, trying to reassure Nettle.
Nettle thinks back.
Nettle: "First they were calling out "all hail the Parents of the Child of the Light..."
Nettle continues.
Veil nods, thinking.
Nettle: "Then I told them that we didn't have any kids-- how could we be the parents of the 'child of light?' And this Faerie that was tall and handsome-- every ethereal-looking-- said, 'You will be! You will birth the child that shall lead us to Arcadia. Now go to it!'"
Veil laughs.
Veil: "As if you needed any prompting!!"
Nettle laughs loudly. "That's what Alec said, too!" Nettle continues to laugh for a moment.

Nettle suddenly looks panicked again. "What could this mean?? If our child-- it sounds like it's supposed to be a boy-- is supposed to lead them, how old will he be?? Can I go with him to make sure he's safe?? Will he show them how to get there and then come back home??" Nettle's mind suddenly flies away from Spirit-training, and she starts looking frantically around the room.
Veil: "Nettle...calm..." Veil says soothingly, sending out a wave of calm to her exciteable student. "No one can force you to give up your child."
Nettle turns her eyes back to Veil. "But if this prophesy-thing is true, how can I keep him from doing it? It wouldn't be fair to those poor, patient Faeries..." Nettle clenches her hands together. "Sometimes I just want a normal life-- like what Gwen Stefani sang about! Now I'm supposed to have a baby with 5,000-year old vampires and unnamable demons around, and Faeries who will take him off to this Arcadia!"
Veil: "You're not alone, remember that!
Veil: "Girl, when have we ever had a normal life?"
Veil chuckles wryly.
Nettle looks at Veil for a moment with her wide, emotional eyes...and then suddenly breaks into hysterical laughter. When she has a moment to calm down, she shakes her head. "You're right, Veil...but it's so painful! I don't want to lose my little family!"
Veil: "You can't worry about things like that..."
Nettle rocks back and forth for a moment, holding onto her knees. "You're right...you're right, Veil. It won't get me anywhere except a straight-jacket. Speaking of which, what am I going to do for 9 months without a joint?? And do you think it will be safe to..." Nettle makes a cutting-motion against her open palm.
Veil laughs.
Veil: "You keep forgetting. We're mages. You smoke up as much as you want, you can make sure it doesn't touch the baby..."
Veil: "And cutting yourself won't hurt it either...as long as you don't do yourself too much harm...those superficial wounds wouldn't matter to a Sleeper."
Nettle listens to Veil with relief. "And using magick to shield the baby won't hurt it, either, then?"
Veil shakes her head.
Veil: "If a baby were sick while inside you, you could use your magick to heal it."
Nettle looks at Veil with her mouth open. "Really...?" Nettle thinks for a moment. "I feel much better now-- I thought there would be so much I'd be restricted from doing! It sounds like everything will basically stay the same!"
Veil: "If you wanted to..." Veil frowns. "You could even alter the genetics to change its eye color, or height...or...well you know. But you'd better not tamper with the Lady's will." Veil smiles, knowing that Nettle would never try that.
Nettle: "Oh no...no...I'd never do that!" Nettle says, quickly putting her hands up. "I'm not even going to use my magick to get pregnant! I want everything as close to 100% natural as possibly!" Nettle grins. "That's why I'm going to start the fertility-rites tonight!"
Veil smiles.
Veil: "Does Alec know what he's in for?"
Veil starts chuckling.
Nettle laughs hard. "Nope. Not a damn thing!" Nettle grins a wicked grin.
Veil starts laughing harder.

Nettle thinks for a moment. "Oooh, would I be able to see the spirit of the baby by learning Spirit?"
Veil nods.
Veil: "Yes, with enough concentration you could. We need to teach you to focus on different levels of the penumbra."
Nettle nods quickly. "I'm sorry I got us off the subject, Veil! I've just been so worried since last night at the meeting! I couldn't sleep until Alec MADE me sleep. That was very rude of him not to ask before he used magick on me, I say!" Nettle tries to keep a stern expression, but it turns into an affectionate grin.
Veil chuckles.
Veil: "Yes, using magick on someone without asking IS very rude!"
Veil takes on a mock severe tone.
Nettle nods firmly and folds her arms, trying desperately to keep her mouth in a frown, but her lips keep twitching.
Veil busts out laughing.
Veil: "I trust you haven't done anything else to Alec while he was unaware?"
Nettle suddenly looks guilty, and shifts her eyes.
Veil's eyes go wide.
Nettle: "I've been getting a lot better over the years..." she says in a low voice.
Veil: "Nettle! You haven't!! What did you do!!"
Nettle flicks her eyes up to Veil's shyly. "Well...I don't like it when I'm trying to have a serious conversation with him and he's all loopy and stoned, so I'll sometimes make my voice really loud in his ears...or make him sober...you know..."
Veil shakes her head. "Well, you know what you're doing...he's your husband..."
Nettle: "AND...when he went to work a few days ago, he had on a PINK SUIT, Veil!! PINK!! I told him to get that off immediately, and he said he was the one with the good taste in the family, so I...er...made him change his mind..." Nettle looks at the floor quickly.
Veil starts laughing again.
Nettle suddenly starts chuckling until she can't stop laughing.
Veil: "Oh goddess...Nettle you are too...much!!" Veil is laughing so hard she can hardly speak.
Nettle: "Where the HELL did he get a pink suit from??? I'm going to burn that store DOWN!"
Veil: "HAHAHAHAHAHAHA!!"
Veil: "I will help you!!! That is horrid!!"
Nettle is laughing so hard that she can't breathe, and clutches onto Veil, barely managing a 'thank you, Veil!" between laughing.
Veil looks down at her black velvet sleeveless top and long flowing black velvet skirt, and wonders why on earth anyone would ever want to wear *pink*!
Nettle shakes her head. "Anyhow, you can now see why I was FORCED to do it, can't you? I really am trying to be better about it! It...it was just an...emergency!" Nettle tries hard not to go into gales of laughter again, and miraculously, she succeeds.

Veil: "Well, just as long as you're not using vulgar magicks like that...I think you'll be alright."
Nettle cringes and nods her head. "I'm trying to be better about that, too..." she says, still feeling the burn of paradox within her from when she healed her legs earlier.
Veil: "Because you know, Paradox can do more than hurt yourself. It can put others at risk as well." Veil loses her carefree look for a moment, taking on a sterner visage.
Nettle suddenly pales even more and her eyes get large. "Goddess...I didn't think of that..."
Veil shakes her head. "I don't mean to scare you. But our actions have a greater chance to affecting others than a regular Sleeper. We do have a responsiblity towards them."
Nettle nods, completely serious now. "I think I'll be spending a lot of time in there," she says, meaning the umbra.
Veil: "Which reminds me. You must be *very* careful when dealing with spirits."
Nettle raises her eyebrows. "Oh?"
Veil: "It is not always readily apparent which mean good and which mean ill."
Veil: "Be very certain of everything you say, so that your words are not twisted and you enter into a bargain you had not planned for."
Veil: "Offer nothing you are not prepared to give."
Nettle raises her eyebrows even further. "What do you mean? Bargain? I don't think I'll be talking to any spirits now..." Nettle looks hesitant. Veil: "You remember what happened with David and little Emily." Veil's face grows distant.
Veil: "We will never know whether he sold her soul voluntarily or an accident, but I suspect the former. He did nothing to save her, once the bargain was struck." Veil looks bleak.
Veil: "Naktrassa was old and sick when she chose David. I think there was a deep rooted flaw within him that she neglected to see."
Veil sighs.
Nettle's face falls. "We tried so hard to protect her...we trusted her with David..."
Veil: "I believe my feelings for him blocked my own Sight, so that I could not see it either, until it was too late."
Nettle: "How could anyone betray the spirit of a dragon?? HOW?" Nettle clenches her fists.
Veil nods angrily.
Veil: "It is my fault. Were I not blinded by my foolish emotions, I would have seen it and could have prevented it."
Veil: "I was afraid the transition would be too much for him...but still I allowed it to happen. Because I selfishly wished a partner to join me in my quest."
Veil sighs.
Veil: "But I've learned my lesson...though at what cost?"
Veil looks up at Nettle with tear-filled eyes.

Nettle puts her arm around Veil's shoulders. "Veil...it wasn't your fault. You two seemed so perfect together. You know, you really need to go to the esbats again. I think it would help keep your mind clear." Nettle says sternly.
Veil: "I am so hollow," she whispers. "I wake every morning and feel the pain anew that the Spirit no longer resides within me. It was not a peaceful leaving. His soul was rent from mine, and I still bear the scars."
Nettle shakes her head. "You weren't selfish! Every human is a sexual being and needs companionship! YOU need to get laid more!" Nettle says, pointing at Veil and keeping her stern look.
Nettle looks at Veil and her face softens. "Oh Veil..." she folds Veil into her arms and holds her. "I didn't know it happened like that! What can make you feel whole again??" she asks desperately.
Veil laughs bitterly.
Veil: "But I am not human...remember?"
Nettle pulls back a little and looks at Veil. "You may not be human, but you definitely seem to suffer from the same things humans do. Whatever being you may be, I think we all need companionship...love...and to have proper sex!" Nettle smiles again.
Nettle elbows Veil. "Remember the high priest?" Nettle wiggles her eyebrows. "Come to the next esbat. I'll tell him to choose you and no other!"
Veil laughs through her tears.
Nettle: "Aaw Veil! Don't cry or you'll have me crying again!"
Veil: "Thank you, but no. I am not ready for anything like that. We have a lot to do here...I don't want my mind distracted at a cruicial time again."
Nettle: "But Veil! That's exactly what I mean! Why do you think Alec never gets mad or loses his cool!"
Veil: "Because he's a stoner," Veil says impishly and grins at her friend.
Nettle gives Veil a frustrated look. "Veil, Veil..."
Nettle: "I wonder what would happen to me if I...used a little magick on my mentor?" Nettle laughs and grabs a pillow from the couch and holds it in front of her.
Veil: "OOh! Don't even think about it!! " Veil says with a warning flash in her eyes.
Nettle laughs and peeks over the pillow. "I wouldn't dare! But SOMEONE should! You're too stubborn sometimes!"
Veil: "Ah! Me! Stubborn!!"
Veil looks somewhat offended.
Nettle: "YES!" Nettle shouts jubilantly.
Veil: "I am not!!"
Nettle: "Yes you are!" Nettle wacks Veil with the pillow.
Veil: "Hey!"

Veil grabs another pillow and wacks Nettle back.
Veil: "That's no way to treat your mentor!"
Nettle wacks Veil again. "No, but it IS the way to treat a stubborn best friend!"
Veil: "Ahhh!"
Veil grabs another pillow and starts wacking Nettle like there's no tomorrow, laughing the whole time.
Nettle starts shrieking and holding her pillow protectively over her head.
After the two finally calm down, Veil sits back, still laughing as a single feather floats unnoticed between them.
Veil: "Oooh..I needed that...Nettle my sides hurt from laughing! I don't remember the last time that has happened."
Nettle grins, holding her pillow in her lap-- trying to hide a small rip.
Nettle laughs. "I needed that, too! Right now I feel like nothing bad can happen and everything's OK!"
Veil smiles.
Veil: "The lady was wise to grace us with the gift of laughter. I feel the same way..."
Veil looks at her watch.
Nettle leans in, grinning. "Just don't forget to accept her most-pleasant gift, baby!"
Veil: "Oh, I'd better get going. I need to be at the church soon."
Nettle looks startled when she realizes the time, and then smiles excitedly. "Yes, and I have a...medical procedure to perform!"
Veil frowns and brushes away Nettle's jibe.
Veil: "Good luck with that Nettle. You'll be a great mom, I know you will."
Nettle gets up and places the pillow back on the couch so the little rip is still concealed, and grins.
Nettle: "Thank you, Veil. And you'll make a great auntie and baby-sitter!"
Veil stands, smoothing out her clothing and hair, glancing around at her unused apartment.
Veil: "You have to promise to let me babysit a lot," she says, smiling. "I might not get to be a mother, but I think I'd make a kick ass babysitter." Veil grins.
Nettle laughs. "Oh YEAH you will! What a lucky baby I'll have!" Nettle laughs.
Veil: "You're too kind," Veil murmers.
Nettle smiles. "You'll be its godmother, won't you? In case...anything happens to us?"
Veil walks with Nettle through the apartment, and carefully locks the door behind them.
Nettle: "I wouldn't be able to sleep at night unless you said yes.
Veil nods.
Nettle nods and exhales in relief.
Veil: "Of course I will! I would be hurt if you asked anyone else..."
Nettle smiles. "And I'd be a fool to ask anyone else!"

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