The fighting resumes with the cohort and army of New York fighting the spectres, and William and Daniel facing-off in the center of the park. Cliodhna fights alongside Memnon and Friday-- who is suddenly surprisingly good with the sword-- but she's very distracted and concerned watching William and Daniel fighting just ahead. Brianna and Ahuru fight side-by-side, and Ray and his Shakari are tearing up spectres right and left, but the spectres seem to be pushing New York's army out of Central Park, so great are their numbers. The army begins to break up and scatter in fear, but Cliodhna flies into the air and yells to the men to hold their positions and fight-- they only need to hold this area for a little longer before help will arrive! Cliodhna's words and voice are so commanding that the men listen to her and stay, and Cliodhna lowers back to the ground, exhaling in relief.

Suddenly a path clears between Cliodhna and the duel going on in front of her. She sees that despite William's great fighting-skills, Daniel is only gaining in speed and energy while William is slowing with fatigue, and she remembers that Daniel has been consuming souls on his damned path of trying to become a Malfean, and anger flares within her. Suddenly William trips on something, and that one moment's pause is all Daniel needs. He takes his sword, plunges it through William, and rips upwards. William's powerful sword that he carried in life as well as death falls from nerveless fingers to clatter on the ground, and Daniel grabs William by the shoulders, and begins inhaling. The cohort watches with sickened stomachs as the glowing wisps that are William's soul are sucked from William's damaged corpus into Daniel's open mouth, and then William's corpus disintigrates.

Cliodhna turns and screams Daniel's name, and Daniel turns sharply to face her. "Cliodhna! Ah good! You are the last that I need to devour, and then I will be powerful enough to destroy this city!" Daniel calls with an eager gleem in his eye.

Cliodhna holds her sword aloft. "Ye bastard! Ye'll not take me soul! I'm here ta destroy ye once an' fer all!"

Daniel gives a little chuckle, and then leans forward, squinting at her. "Hmm...it seems that you have a piece of your father's life-force in you..."

Cliodhna's eyes suddenly darken and she glares at Daniel with piercing eyes. "That I do, Daniel. Ye have betrayed me...ye've betrayed Paul...an' ye've betrayed the city, but there's someone far more powerful who ye've betrayed, an' I think he'd like a word with ye." Cliodhna raises her hands to the sky and lifts her face. "FATHER! YER DAUGHTER CALLS YE!" she shouts, and suddenly Markova forms beside her, takes one look at Daniel, and gets a dangerous grin on his face. Daniel, however, looks like he's been punched in the stomach, and his face blanches.

While Markova is advancing on Daniel-- completely distracting the traitor-- Cliodhna goes invisible and flickers over to where Daniel is standing in fear. She bends down and takes up William's sword, and then sneaks around behind Daniel. Markova, meanwhile, begins to advance on Daniel, shaking his head and telling him how very disappointed he is in him, and Daniel continues to cower and stutter excuses. Suddenly Cliodhna goes visible again, and the cohort sees her place one hand on Daniel's shoulder, and plunge William's sword through Daniel's back to emerge from his ribcage. "Ye backstabbed everyone fer long enough-- how does it feel, ye fuckin' bastard!" Cliodhna whispers into his ear. Markova smiles at Daniel, and Daniel stiffens-- looking from Cliodhna to Markova in surprise-- and then slumps to the ground where his corpus dissolves and dissipates.

Markova turns and walks towards Brianna with that grin still on his face, and Brianna's eyes widen as she takes an unconscious step backwards. But as Markova passes Memnon, he reaches out and smacks Memnon's bottom and then addresses Brianna in Cliodhna's voice! "Did ye like that little trick? Fooled him good, aye?" and suddenly "Markova" disappears, and Cliodhna is standing just behind him with a grin on her face and her arms folded. "I knew my illusions would come in handy!" Cliodhna says triumphantly, but then looks down at William's sword gripped in her hand, and her face takes on a sad, yet determined look.

Somewhere in the Labyrinth...

Daniel suddenly finds himself standing in an ornate room. His head turns nervously, and there stands Markova. "Daniel, Daniel...why did you betray me?" Markova asks, standing and looking intently at Daniel with his hands held behind his back.

"Hello, Daniel."

"I wanted to die-- to end all of this!" Daniel spits. "But then, by sheer accident, I realized the power that could be mine, and I decided that I would take everyone down with me!"

Markova shakes his head, making a clicking-noise with his tongue, and begins to pace. "I am sorry, Daniel, but I cannot allow you to do that." Markova turns and motions to someone, and Remy steps into the room. Daniel sees the look on Remy's face, and begins to shake with fear. Remy walks over and puts his arm around Daniel, forcing Daniel to walk a few steps with him.

"Daniel...I thought I knew you, mon ami. It's a shame it had to end this way." Remi says, shaking his head. He stops their walking, and Markova raises his hand, creating a small black inky pool in front of the men.

"What are you going to do?" Daniel asks nervously.

Remy takes a hold of the back of Daniel's collar and waist. "Send you to Oblivion, where you belong!" he says, and throws Daniel into the pool where Daniel screams as the inky fluid immediately crawls up his body, covering and devouring it until Remy and Markova can't see him anymore-- a new slate wiped clean and ready to be reborn, not knowing anything about its past life.

Remy turns to Markova and takes a deck of cards from his hip-pocket. "You in?" he asks.

Markova chuckles. "Yes."

Back in New York...

Memnon walks up to Cliodhna-- his face contorted with worry and frustration. He holds up two fingers, and Cliodhna realizes that she probably should have let Memnon in on the joke beforehand. "You are going to be in SO much trouble when I get a hold of you later!" he says, and smacks his hands together twice.

Cliodhna laughs, and then flushes when she sees her cohort listening to this. "Mem, don't talk ta me like that in front o' the others, aye?" she whispers in embarrassment.

"Oh I'll talk any way I have to until you learn!" he says, holding up the two fingers again, and then grins and leans in. "You're in a lot of trouble," and he folds his arms, nodding and looking at her slyly.

Friday approaches Cliodhna, all smiles, and asks if he can have Cliodhna's old sword since she now wields William's. Cliodhna nods and unsheaths her old sword, handing it to Friday who swings it back and forth, testing it out, and says that this is a great sword-- much lighter than that standard-issue sword he was using, too! Cliodhna sticks William's sword into the shealth on her back, and finally begins to notice what's going on around her. Serpent, himself, has swum over all the way from the Kingdom of Clay, and is smashing and smacking spectres with his huge tail, and hissing and biting them with his huge fangs. But surrounding him are huge lions...tigers...many beasts who seem to have come over from Ivory! Cliodhna lets out a whoop-- raising William's sword aloft-- and she and the cohort join the battle.

With Serpent and the warriors of Ivory's help, New York is able to destroy the entire spectre-army. Cliodhna quickly approaches Serpent, thanking him and those from Ivory profoundly for their aid. Serpent seems to smile and bob his head-- his tail curled in a circle. Cliodhna thinks she sees something over the coils, but when she moves to look, Ray's Shakari warriors shake their heads and give her winks. (Ray and Yin Lung are making love, hidden by Serpent's coils. He has chosen Yin and his life in the Shadowlands over Susan!) Cliodhna looks at the Shakari in surprise-- wondering what's going on-- but just then a huge lion approaches Cliodhna. It looks at her for a moment, and then sniffs her cautiously. Then, in a very familiar voice, it rasps, "Amberrrrr..."

Cliodhna's eyes widen. "Yes-- I'm her daughter. Are ye...the Queen of Ivory's son? The dinosaur we met in Ivory??" Cliodhna tries to keep her voice steady. The lion gives her a look that immediately communicates to her that he is Crino-dino, and then slinks off with the rest of his pack. Cliodhna laughs, shaking her head, and turns to face the army.

She climbs up onto an elevated area, raises her arms, and the army quiets. She gives them a speech about how proud she is of them for how they defended their city-- their New York-- staying and fighting in the face of insurmountable odds! Then suddenly Cliodhna's memory of her speech stops, and when she looks around, most of the men are all cheering loudly and looking at her expectantly, but a few look confused and concerned. Cliodhna turns to the cohort-- who are all standing behind her except for Ray...Ray seems to have disappeared-- and, whispering, asks them what happened. They tell her that her speech was...very energetic and moving...that she'd been going off about how she was going to bring glory to New York, and then lead them to take the world...and that she was Markova's daughter! Luckily, that part about being Markova's daughter was slipped in between rousing lines of the speech, so not everyone seems to have noticed. But the fact remains that at the end of her speech Cliodhna shouted for the men to follow her into battle, and now they're just waiting for her to move!

Cliodhna looks from one member of the cohort to another in stark horror. Her bloody Shadow again!!! How COULD it??? And at a time like this?? She hears her Shadow's voice in her head telling her that it did a great job with the speech-- look! The men are rallying around her, ready to follow her anywhere! Cliodhna just wasn't ambitious enough, but with her Shadow's help, she could be a great and powerful leader, it told her. Cliodhna angrily shuts the Shadow's words out, and turns to the men. "Ye've done such a great job..." she begins hesitantly, "...why doesn't everyone take the rest o' the day off!" The men look at her in confusion, and that's when the sound of fighting at the docks reaches the group. Cliodhna flies up, and can see a large mass of Stygians advancing on them!

"MEN! Stygians advancing from the docks! BE ALERT!!" Cliodhna shouts, pointing towards the Stygians, and the army springs into action and turns to face the Stygians. That's when the cohort notices that the Stygians are all carrying guns instead of swords, and there are many of them. Cliodhna hesitates-- not wanting to send her men to be slaughtered-- and calls for the men to hold their positions. After studying the Stygians for a moment, she begins to raise her arm to signal New York to attack when Ahuru stops her.

Ahuru looks at Cliodhna with a little smile. "Help...has arrived." Suddenly, 5 balls of fire race overhead, landing amoungst the Stygians. Where they land, there are huge explosions-- many Stygians blown into the air. When the dust settles, Cliodhna can see...Marie-Claire, Sanki, Red Skygazer, Totenmachen, and Elsibeta!! They're fighting the Stygians fiercely!! Cliodhna summons enough composure to shout for the New Yorkers to join in the fight, and then turns to Ahuru and stares at him in surprise.

Ahuru smiles at her again, and then his face turns serious as he addresses the cohort. "Tomorrow we leave for L'Harago, so say your good-byes today. Brianna and I will be in Swar, if we are needed." He and Brianna turn and start heading for Swar, arm-in-arm.

At that moment, Cliodhna hears marching coming from behind them, and turns to see Paul, the anacerons, and the rest of the Hierarchs! Paul approaches Cliodhna, looking rather serious. He thanks her for a job well done, and apologizes for not being on the battlefield during all the action, or knowing about the Stygian army that had snuck in from one side. Cliodhna tells him he has too much to worry about-- everything seems to be under control now. Then she unsheaths William's sword and holds it out to him, the blade laying flat across her hands. "Paul...Daniel killed William an' ate his soul. Here is his sword."

Paul shakes his head and pushes the sword back towards her. "This sword is yours now, Marshall." Then he leans in. "A few of my advisors heard your speech back there...very rousing...and...interesting. I have a couple of Pardoners who are here to help you." he says meaningfully, motioning over his shoulder with his head. Cliodhna looks completely humiliated and miserable.

"I'm so sorry, Paul...I don't remember anythin' I said after a point." she apologizes.

Paul smiles. "No harm done-- the men seem to love you, and have rallied around you."

"Paul..." Cliodhna says in a low voice. "Ahuru just informed me that our cohort is ta leave fer L'Harago tomorrow mornin'..." she says, her face tight with concern.

Paul nods his head. "Then it is time. Good. You may take whichever ship you like."

"We'd like ta take the Ulysses." Cliodhna says softly.

Paul nods again. "Then we'll have the Ulysses ready for you tomorrow morning." Paul pauses. "Cliodhna, when you come back from this...mission, report back to me. It seems we are in need of an Anaceron of the Grim." he says, and turns, walking towards the other anacerons.

Cliodhna looks at Paul in surprise, and her Shadow cackles with glee. "At last!! At last all our hard-fought efforts will be recognized! Next...an anaceron, and after that...GOVERNOR!"

"Shut yer trap, Shadow," Cliodhna thinks-- still stunned after Paul's announcement-- and walks up to the pardoners that Paul motioned to a moment ago, and they very effectively shut Cliodhna's Shadow's mouth for quite some time.

Over in Stygia...

The Smiling Lord stands at the window of his office at the top of the tower. There is a knock at the door, and the Smiling Lord calls for the person to enter. Dieter enter, shuts the door behind him, and walks up to the Smiling Lord with his hands held behind his back.

"Aah Dieter..." the Smiling Lord begins. "...everything is going to plan! Tell the men to lock in the coordinates I gave them, and fire only at my command."

"Yes, Smiling Lord." Dieter says stiffly with a bow, his face looking strained. New York is his home, and he should be there-- not here! He walks from the room, and then quickly turns invisible as more men approach him and enter the Smiling Lord's chambers. Then he sneaks back into the room and listens as the Smiling Lord cackles to the men about how soon he will rule over the world! Dieter shakes his head, and walks down to the launch-area where the men are scurrying around, and repeats the Smiling Lord's orders to the leader. Then he walks over to inspect what exactly it is that the Smiling Lord wants fired. When he sees, he feels the strength leave his body. If he didn't think the Smiling Lord was insane before, he certainly does now. Atom bombs. Many atom bombs.

Back in New York...

As the army and allies of New York defeat the last of the Stygians, Amon walks through the crowd and up to Cliodhna, Memnon, and Friday, using his cane again. Cliodhna greets him warmly and thanks him for his help. Just then, the spirits of the almost-complete Garou pack walk up to the little group, changing back into their human-forms. Cliodhna can't help but squeal and throw herself into Marie's arms, hugging her tightly, and Marie hugs her back. The two get teary-eyed, and exclaim over how good it is too see each other.

Memnon looks at his mother Sanki in surprise. "Mom??" he asks. He's never seen her as a Werewolf in his entire life! Turtle changed her into a regular Kinfolk human so she could be with Two-Feathers before Memnon was even a twinkle in their eyes. Sanki nods, laughs, and hugs her son, while Cliodhna continues around the circle of her "aunts" and "uncles," hugging them, and laughing and shedding a few tears at the same time.

At one point, Memnon turns to Cliodhna and holds up two fingers again. "Cliodhna, you left my side again-- I was looking everywhere for you!"

Cliodhna rolls her eyes a little. "'Tis all right, Mem-- I was with Paul's castigators...because o' that little speech I seem to have given..."

Memnon turns her to face him. "That's no excuse-- you're still going to be in a lot of trouble tonight when I get you alone!" he says, smacking his hands together twice in rapid succession and raising his eyebrow.

Cliodhna tries to maintain a dignified face, but breaks into little giggles. Marie-Claire stares at the two with her hands on her hips. "Cliodhna! You should not let your man speak to you zat way!" she exclaims incredulously, and Cliodhna blushes and hunches over a little.

"Ye're right, Aunt Marie." "Mem..." Cliodhna begins, looking up at him with a cool glance. "...I asked ye not ta speak ta me that way in front of others. Is that so hard an order ta follow?" Then she smacks her hands together twice, and both she and Memnon start laughing. Marie just shakes her head and sighs exasperatedly.

Cliodhna ends up between Amon and Marie after she hugs everyone, and asks the two if the Garou will be coming to L'Harago with them tomorrow when they face her father. Marie looks at Cliodhna in surprise, and the other Garou turn to face Cliodhna with quizzical expressions on their faces. Cliodhna feels herself pale, and her eyes dart to Amon.

"No, they do not know, Cliodhna, but now is the time for you to tell them. I must be getting back to my ships-- I alone control everything the Amenti do, and I don't want them to go drifting out to sea." Amon gives a wry laugh. "My ships will be accompanying you to L'Harago tomorrow. Enjoy talking with your aunts and uncles, Cliodhna...Memnon..." Amon says, shifting his eyes to Memnon for a moment before turning and walking back towards the docks.

Cliodhna watches Amon leave, and then Marie taps her on the shoulder to bring her attention back to the Garou. "What did you mean-- going to face your father?" she asks. "Your father is 'ere-- in ze Shadowlands?"

Cliodhna looks at each of her aunts and uncles nervously, and then clears her throat. "When me mother went back to ancient Ireland ta be with her ancestors, and then came back with me, she was already pregnant before she left. My father was not a Celtic tribesman. My father is Markova. You remember-- mother slept with him back on your mission to watch Amon and Issa?"

The pack immediately begins talking amoungst themselves. Elsibeta expresses her opinion that she KNEW letting Amber go off with Markova was a mistake, Red Skygazer just watches quietly, Totenmachen growls in agreement with Elsibeta, Sanki listens as Memnon explains about he and Cliodhna's relationship and how she's on their side, and Marie starts speculating about how she shouldn't have let Amber do it-- she, Marie, should have taken the risk, but she'd just barely given birth to twins. When the talk gets particularly pessamistic about what Cliodhna's intentions could be, Memnon jumps in and defends her.

"Are ye sayin' I was a mistake, Aunt Elsibeta?" Cliodhna asks in a quiet voice that masks her anger.

Elsibeta shakes her head. "I wasn't saying that, Cliodhna. I'm just sorry about who your father is."

"Well I'm not," Cliodhna says sharply. "He's a good man, an' I know I can save him!"

"How will you do that?" Totenmachen asks in his low, growly voice.

Cliodhna turns to him. "I have a secret. Remember how everythin' he touches dies? Well, he passed a similar curse onta me. Every Wraith I touch moves a little closer to Oblivion." she says, looking ashamed and miserable.

Totenmachen thinks for a moment. "When we were in Russia, I brought him the body of a dead little girl that he had unintentionally diseased, and he could see that she was dead. He looked very upset and remorseful. I believe you when you say he could be a good man, and that it may be possible to change him."

Cliodhna's mouth drops open in surprise, and she hugs an uncomfortable-looking Totenmachen. "Oh thank ye so much fer sayin' that, Uncle Totenmachen!! No one else seems ta believe that I can change him! An' thank ye fer what ye told me-- I think it will prove very valuable!"

Totenmachen does his best attempt at a smile. "I think you have a good idea there of showing him what you do-- I think that will be the key."

At that moment on the lead Amenti ship, Amon sits on deck in lotus-position with his eyes closed, and a golden pyramid appears above his head, glowing and rotating. Somewhere in France, a man is walking towards his caern, when he suddenly falls to the ground in a deep sleep...and suddenly Jack finds himself standing a few feet away from the group of Garou and Wraiths! He approaches them quickly, and places his hand on Marie's shoulder. "Hello, darlin'..." he says with a big smile on his face.

"JACK!!!" Marie shrieks, throwing her arms around him.

"Uncle Jack!!" Cliodhna and Memnon cry, rushing up to him, crushing everyone in a big bear-hug. Cliodhna's eyes fill with tears when she sees tears running down Jack and Marie's faces, and she turns to Memnon and gives a little laugh of embarrassment, only to find that his eyes are a little wet, as well.

Marie begins asking Jack about their children and the caern, and Jack explains to everyone that he's been helping their children in the fight against the Lady of Sorrows, and they're just getting ready to leave for Russia. "Oh, I knew you would be wiss ze children!" Marie exclaims happily.

Cliodhna approaches Jack. "Uncle Jack-- the Lady of Sorrows is the one who tricked me father inta becomin' what he is, so many thousands o' years ago. Please-- " she says, grabbing his arms. "Please destroy her."

"We will, Cliodhna-- we will." Jack assures her, looking at her with dead-serious eyes.

Cliodhna nods, her eyes fierce and emotional. "Thank ye, Uncle Jack."

Jack turns to Marie-Claire, taking her hand, and looks at the group. "Now if you'll just excuse us..." and with a nod he pulls a laughing and blushing Marie off into the crowd towards Swar.

Cliodhna grins and turns back to the pack. They begin chatting again, and discussing how Cliodhna's going to argue with her father, when Memnon breaks in.

"Cli-- I'm remembering something Daniel said...that you have your father's life-force in you. I'm just trying to figure out what that means." Memnon then launches into a very complicated and detailed postulation about how-- according to metaphysics and time-travel theories-- that this could be possible, while Cliodhna and the others just stare at him with their mouths hanging open. When he's finished, he looks at the group expectantly. "What? Did I say something wrong?"

"Wow, Mem-- ye sure are a smart one! I didn't know ye were inta all that scientific-theory-stuff!" Cliodhna says in surprise.

Memnon grins. "I used to be a bookworm-- I read a lot of science books."

The others agree that it could be possible that through all the time-travel, Cliodhna is not only the daughter of the Mage Claudius who once was, but also the Malfean Markova who is now. Cliodhna only shakes her head in confusion and says she still doesn't see how knowing this could help her.

The group talks until dark, and then Memnon excuses he and Cliodhna, telling the Garou that they need to get a good night-sleep before leaving for L'Harago the next morning. The two Wraiths hug their Garou-friends good-bye, and as Memnon and Cliodhna walk towards the tents, the Werewolves see Memnon lean down to Cliodhna.

"Oh you're in SO much trouble, Cliodhna..." he says, smacking his hands together again, and they can hear Cliodhna giggle and smack Memnon in the upper arm before they disappear into the night, and the Garou return to Turtle. As Memnon and Cliodhna reach the tents, Ray calls out to them, and they turn to see him standing with his arm around a beautiful Jadian woman. Cliodhna instantly recognizes her as the woman she saw with Ray in her dreams, and realizes that this is the Jadian woman who came over from Jade to help them a month before.

Ray introduces Yin Lung

Cliodhna walks over, all smiles, and introduces herself to the woman, and Ray introduces the woman to her as Yin Lung. Cliodhna leans in to Yin and says that she'd been having dreams about Yin and Ray, so she's glad to see that they've finally found one another. Yin laughs and nods, saying that she, too, had been having dreams about Ray! Cliodhna smiles at Ray and nods her head to him. "It's good to have you back, Centurion." she says.

Ray nods his head to her in return. "It's good to finally be back." he says in many layers of meaning. The two couples bid each other a good night, and quickly find their tents.

Early the next morning, the cohort-- including Yin-- all reunite back at the docks (Memnon looking particularly pleased, and Cliodhna looking a little dazed) and prepare to board the Ulysses. Hans, the captain, turns to his men and makes an announcement. "Men-- ziss ship is leaving for L'Harago. It vill be dangerous, and zere is a real possibility zat ve vill not be returning. If any of you choose not to go, I vill understand. You have 5 minutes to pack up your things before ve leave." None of the men move, and after a moment Hans nods. "All right, zen, let us get ziss ship into ze Tempest!" he orders, and the men all cheer and jump into doing their duties.

Within a matter of moments the Ulysses pulls out of her dock and heads into the Tempest. They can see the Amenti fleet waiting for them ahead in the Tempest, and once the Ulysses is spotted, the fleet begins to move, as well. The trip will take a day and a half, so the crew and cohort settle down for the first day. Brianna sees Ahuru standing by the ship's railing, and walks over to him with a smile. Ahuru looks down at her. "What is it, Brianna?" he asks.

Brianna looks at him with surprise. "Nothing...I just wanted to be close to you." she says wrapping her arms around him, and then pulls his face down for a kiss. But when she pulls back from the kiss, she sees-- with horror-- that it's not Ahuru, but FRIDAY! Brianna hears her Shadow laughing in the back of her mind.

"Ah-HA, Brianna! It's too bad Friday's Shadow isn't more than a weak whisper or *I* could have had a turn with...'Ahuru!'" it laughs maniacally.

Brianna pulls back quickly from Friday. "Wha...I'm sorry, Friday-- I thought you were Ahuru! What happened?"

Friday smiles a little, his cheeks reddening. "Well, I was just standing here, and you came up to me, so I asked you what you wanted, and suddenly you put your arms around me and kissed me!" Friday turns and takes Brianna by the arms. "Look, I don't want to break anything up, here. You and Ahuru have something good, Brianna."

Brianna's face is filled with worry...fear...confusion...and she pulls away from Friday, taking a step back. "I thought you were Ahuru..." she says in a low voice, and turns and hurries belowdecks, going quickly to her and Ahuru's room. She enters the room, sees Ahuru laying on the bed, and quickly shuts the door behind her and rushes over to his side. "Oh Ahuru-- I don't know what just happened!" she cries miserably.

Brianna's Shadow giggles and reaches out to call to Ahuru's Shadow. "She kissed Friday!" it cackles, and Ahuru's Shadow titters, telling Ahuru what Brianna's Shadow told it. Ahuru raises his eyebrow and smiles gently at Brianna.

"Ahuru-- I thought I saw you on deck by the railing, so I went up to 'you' and kissed "you'-- and then 'you' turned into Friday! I don't know what happened!!" she moans.

Ahuru sits up and holds Brianna. "It is all right. I believe I can help." And he concentrates, castigating Brianna's Shadow into quiet.

As night falls across the Tempest, not all of the cohort-members are able to sleep-- so high are the tensions of where they're going and what they'll do once they're there.

"Second Chances" (Memnon and Cliodhna)

The next morning dawns at sea, and the cohort meets on deck-- everyone looking a little strained, despite the private-time they were allowed the night before. They gain strength and courage, however, when they see the rest of the ships from Wire and Swar passing them on their way to New York-- the crews of the ships standing and waving to the Ulysses and Amenti. And then it is all too soon before L'Harago finally comes into view.

As they approach the twin islands, Hans finally stops the ship and announces that the Ulysses cannot go any closer-- that they cannot touch the island. Ahuru nods and sprouts his wings, and the rest of the cohort follow his example, sailing over the edge of the ship and on down to the shore. As they're flying down, Amon also flies over and approaches Cliodhna.

"Cliodhna-- I wanted you to know that I have been thinking over what you said, and I decided that I will do as you asked. I will not attack your father when we see him." Amon says somberly.

Cliodhna's eye widen, and then soften in gratitude. "Thank ye, Amon!! Thank ye so much!" she says, and Amon nods. The minute Amon's feet touch the shore of the main island, the earth begins to shake. The cohort all struggle to maintain their balance, but the tremors are very violent, and it's quite a struggle.

Suddenly Markova and Amber appear right before them-- Amber in the complete technicolor of a spirit. Markova looks down at his body in surprise, and begins patting his torso and legs, and then looks over at Amber with a grin. "We're free Amber! I am awake!" he says excitedly, taking her hands. Then his head turns quickly and he sees his visitors. When Amon sees Markova's eyes fall on him, he quickly draws his sword and waits, watching Markova carefully. Markova sees Amon draw his sword, and suddenly looks up at the sky, his eyebrows lowering.

Amber watches the cohort with a mixture of happiness and wariness

"Wait--" Markova says, holding out his hand. "Just give me a moment-- I will be right back," and suddenly he disappears.

Somewhere in Sri Lanka...

Ravnos awakens and claws his way to the surface. He looks around-- famished with hunger-- and begins stalking through the streets. As he walks, he grabs every person he passes and sucks the blood from each one in a matter of seconds. He is huge-- the size of a skyscraper-- and the people of the city scream and point in fear.

Suddenly Markova appears behind Ravnos, taps him on the shoulder, and when Ravnos turns around, Markova wheels back and punches him hard in the face. The two begin fighting-- Markova turning and swinging Ravnos into buildings-- and Ravnos realizes that he's too weak by far to fight this Malfean, and quickly calls to all his Ravnos minions to come to his aid. Suddenly thousands of lesser Ravnos come running at Markova-- biting and tearing at him with their fangs and claws. Markova stops and looks down at them. "Ow." he says sarcastically, closes his eyes, and suddenly his wounds are all completely healed. He whips his head around, draws back, lunges forward, and lets out a defeaning scream-- instantly all the lesser Ravnos are turned to ash.

Markova grins and turns back to Ravnos. He gets Ravnos into a death-grip as Ravnos struggles to get away. "Here, Ravnos, let me show you something that you haven't seen in a long, long time." And with that, Markova looks up and blows the clouds away, and the sun blazes down upon Ravnos. Markova holds the struggling, shrieking vampire until the sun has finally turned him into dust.

Then Markova looks down and sees a little girl crying by the bodies of her parents. "Some people died...I didn't get here soon enough..." he says to himself, regretfully, and makes himself the size of a normal man. He walks over to the little girl and squats down in front of her, holding her shoulders. "It's all right, little girl-- I made the bad man go away," he says, trying to comfort her, and the little girl looks up at him with big eyes, and then smiles.

Suddenly little red spots start appearing all over her body, and then the spots start errupting into sores. The little girl starts to scream, and Markova quickly takes his hands away-- watching as, right before his eyes, the little girl's skin begins to fall off her body. Her death is quick but painful, and Markova is powerless to stop it. He falls to his knees before her body, tears streaming down his face. "NOOOOO!!" he screams, and then looks up to see Ahuru, Brianna, Cliodhna, Memnon, Ray, Yin, and Friday standing before him.

Amber and Cliodhna are weeping openly-- Cliodhna because she saw how gentle and kind her father had been with that little girl, and realizes what a good father he could have been to her, and Amber because she cannot stand to see her lover in pain. Amber is covering her face with her hands and weeping, and Cliodhna has brought her hands up to her mouth and is also weeping.

Markova stands quickly and walks up to Brianna, still crying. "You did this to me!! Take it away! Get it out of my head! I didn't do that to her!" he says, motioning to the child's body. "I didn't hurt her! Take this away!!" he sobs.

"I didn't do this!!"

Tears begin running down Brianna's cheeks. "I can't take it away, Markova. I didn't do this to you. I couldn't effect one so powerful as you, and you know it's true."

Markova looks at her in anguish for another moment, and then turns to Ahuru. "Then it's you! YOU take this away! Make it stop!!"

Ahuru looks at Markova sadly. "You know I did not do this, and I cannot take it away."

Markova turns to Amber. "Amber! Tell them! Tell them I did not cause this!!" he cries desperately, his tears flowing.

Amber lowers her hands to her mouth, in the same manner as her daughter, and looks at Markova through reddened eyes, her face covered with tears. "I...I cannot," she barely whispers, and begins weeping again.

Markova turns to Cliodhna. "Cliodhna! Please! Tell them that I wouldn't do this! They're just...tricking us..." he says between sobs.

Cliodhna is finally able to calm herself a little, and takes her hands away from her face. "Father-- they're not tricking ye. It's the Lady o' Sorrow who tricked ye, an' I can prove it." She motions reluctantly for Memnon to step forward-- she asked him the night before if he'd do this for her, and he had enthusiastically agreed, but she still doesn't want to. "Father-- I inherited somethin' from ye...watch..." Cliodhna turns to Memnon and places her hands on his chest, and Markova can see a little bit of strength leave Memnon's corpus and fuel directly into his Shadow.

"No..." Markova cries softly.

"It's not a trick, Father-- everytime I touch someone, I bring them closer ta Oblivion. I inherited it from ye." Cliodhna says, tears filling her eyes.

"NOOOOOO!!!!" Markova shouts, and suddenly everyone finds themselves back on the island where Amon has been waiting. Markova turns to Amon, and again holds out his hand. "I don't want to fight you, Amon. Don't fight me and I'll fix time! I'll make everything right! I promised Amber that I'd make everything right! I will be God, and I will fix everything!"

"I cannot let you do that, Claudius." Amon says, and brings his sword up.

"I don't want to fight you, Amon, but you're leaving me no choice!" Markova says angrily, and rushes at Amon. The two begin fighting so fast that they're a blur to everyone watching-- the clings of their swords hitting coming impossibly fast.

"NO CLAUDIUS!" Amber shrieks, bringing her hands back up to her mouth. "Ye're too weak ta beat him!" But the two who are fighting don't seem to hear.

Suddenly everything goes black for Amber, Cliodhna, and Brianna. The men turn, and see a giant 4-armed jade dragon. Qin Shang. He's holding each of the women in one of his claws, and they are unconscious. Markova and Amon stop fighting and turn to face him, but Qin Shang laughs and tells them that they should continue their fight. When they refuse, he tells them that he INSISTS that they fight, because he wants them to destroy themselves to make the fight easier for him. Whoever is still standing after the fight, he will eat them and become God. Amon and Markova still refuse to fight, so Qin Shang holds Amber above his head and stretches his mouth wide. He looks directly at Markova. "Fight the new god, or she will be no more."

Markova narrows his eyes, but he knows something that Qin Shang hasn't caught onto yet, and continues watching Qin Shang. Amon watches what Markova's doing, trusting that he wouldn't let anything happen to Amber. "So be it," Qin Shang says casually, and drops Amber into his jaws...and she falls harmlessly through his body to land on the ground. Markova knew this would happen, and rushes forward, slashing at Qin Shang, followed close behind by Amon, Ahuru, and Memnon. The four begin attacking Qin Shang furiously, but he still doesn't drop Cliodhna and Brianna. Then Friday gives a heroic shout, and jumps up-- landing on Qin Shang's head. Friday clings on for dear life, but Qin Shang still doesn't let the women go-- in his mystical Jadian dragon-form he's still more powerful.

That's when Ray grabs the dijerido Serpent gave him from off his back, and blows a powerful blast. Suddenly the dijerido disappears, and Ray's form begins to shift. He grows incredibly large...scales cover his flesh...he has become a Xu dragon! Ray leaps onto Qin Shang's back with a deep roar, and now the opponants are too much for Qin Shang, and he drops the women, who still lay unconscious on the ground.

The men of the cohort continue to fight Qin Shang, but it's hard to keep track of where all 4 arms are flinging, and suddenly one of Qin Shang's claws rips into Amon, flinging him against a hill of rocks. Amon's corpus is badly hurt...he is dying. Qin Shang's eyes glisten. "To swallow a god..." he says hungrily, and suddenly his arm turns into a tentacle and shoots out after Amon. Ahuru turns to Memnon with an anguished look on his face. "Memnon...do not let him take my son!"

Memnon's eyes flare, and he runs over to Amon's side-- ripping the mask from Amon's face. "I'm SICK of this fucking thing!" he shouts, breaking the mask over his knee, and Amon's corpus suddenly shifts into color as he changes into a spirit, still laying dying against the rocks. Suddenly there's a huge explosion, and Memnon is flung against the rocks. He lays there for a moment, and then struggles to get back on his feet, holding a hand to his head.

"I'm SICK of this fucking thing!"

Suddenly Qin Shang-- furious now-- shoots the tentacle at Memnon. It plunges through his chest, ripping the soul from his body in the form of a ball of bright light. The ball of light begins moving through the tentacle towards Qin Shang's body, when simultaneously the women regain consciousness, and Markova yells, "NOOOO!!" bringing his sword down on the tentacle, severing it from Qin Shang's body. The ball of light that is Memnon's soul flies from the tentacle, arcing off into the sky towards the Summerlands and Gaia. Cliodhna jumps to her feet, her hands covering her mouth-- eyes wide-- as it takes her a moment to absorb what is going on. She sees Amon laying against the rocks...beside Memnon's body-- his corpus now rapidly dissolving against the rocks with the severed tentacle stuck through it-- and the ball of light flying away overhead, and she runs as fast as she can over to Memnon's body, feeling like she's going to faint.

"Mem...?" she cries in a barely-audible voice as she tries to collect the corpus in her hands, as if doing this will stop what is already too late to stop. "Mem..." she croaks again, and the tears start falling down her cheeks. Brianna runs over to her side immediately, falling to her knees beside her. Cliodhna looks at her blankly, eyes reddening and face wet with tears. "Where's Mem??" she asks in a tiny, weak voice, and Brianna holds her tight to her chest.

"Don't worry, Cliodhna-- his soul is free...he is safe...we can find him again...please don't give up!" Brianna tries to comfort Cliodhna through her own tears.

"Mem...?"

"No..." Cliodhna moans. "NO!!!" and she begins to cry hard-- so hard that her form shakes and she feels despair and sorrow press against her chest so hard that she thinks she must suffocate, and would welcome any end to this pain. Cliodhna goes into shock, and is suddenly absolutely sure that if she can just talk to Ahuru, Ahuru will make everything better. He wouldn't let this happen to his grandson-- this is all...just some kind of temporary thing. "Where...where's Ahuru...?" she asks Brianna, her eyes wild. She turns around to try to find Ahuru, and the two women watch as Ahuru-- his face a mask of pain-- runs over to Amon's side.

Ahuru lays Amon's head in his lap. Amon looks up at his father. "I'm...I am afraid. I have never really died before...what happens to me now?" he asks in a weak voice.

Ahuru looks down at his son, his eyes filling with tears that spill down his cheeks. "You go home," he says in a voice hoarse with emotion. Ahuru watches as Amon closes his eyes, dies, and his spirit-body dissipates like mist. He then staggers to his feet, crying, and turns to Qin Shang.

"My son!!" he shouts in a voice raw with emotion, and runs at Qin Shang, bringing the staff down hard, but the dragon flings him away, and the women watch as Ahuru, too, smashes against the rocks-- severly injured. Brianna and Cliodhna run to his side, both falling down beside him, and Brianna quickly presses her hands to Ahuru's wounds, trying desperately to give him some of her corpus...but nothing happens. "It is no use, my love. You cannot help me-- help him..." Ahuru says, motioning to Markova. "Do not let him die." Brianna grips Ahuru's hands, weeping and not wanting to leave his side, but something about the urgency of his words brings her to her feet, and she and Cliodhna run to stand and fight at Markova's side.

Qin Shang is now badly injured after the loss of one of his arms and the number of people fighting or distracting him, and Markova waits...waits...just for the right moment...and then when he sees an opening, he plunges his sword into Qin Shang's heart. Qin Shang lets out a mighty roar and stumbles back, and Markova quickly creates another one of his black inky pools, grabs Qin Shang, and hurls him into Oblivion.

Cliodhna looks back over to the rocks as Brianna runs back over to kneel at Ahuru's side...where Memnon's body used to be...and suddenly she's immobilized by grief, and falls to her knees with her forehead to the ground, sobbing. Amber runs over to embrace Claudius. All the men...dying...Amber will not-- WILL NOT lose Claudius!!

Suddenly they hear a noise-- something approaching in the skies-- and look up. Ahuru's prophesy about the bombs...they all know of this prophesy. Claudius releases Amber, looking into her eyes. "I must save the world, Amber." He jumps straight up into the sky and grabs the atom bomb, absorbing it into his body, and then comes back to land on the ground. He blinks his eyes and lets out a breath. "That didn't feel too good..." he comments, and Amber holds him tightly.

Claudius looks up and sees the bomb coming	Amber watches with fear as Claudius destroys the atom bomb

"Claudius...be careful...please..." she begs, looking at him with her eyes full of worry.

"Don't worry, my dear, I'm fine." he answers with a smile. And then they hear the sound of another bomb approaching. Claudius' smile fades a little, and again he releases Amber, and again he leaps up into the sky and consumes the bomb. This time when he falls back to earth, he staggers a little and goes down on one knee.

"Claudius!!" Amber shrieks, and goes down on her knees, holding him, but Claudius is badly injured, and falls to sit, and then lay on his back. Amber lays across his chest, holding him and crying, but Claudius starts laughing weakly.

"Don't worry, Amber...I'll just go to sleep again, and you'll be in my dreams, and we'll be together...I'll just go to sleep..." Claudius laughs again, closes his eyes, and begins to cough. Amber starts bawling now.

"No, Claudius...don't sleep!! Please Gaia, don't sleep, Claudius!!" she cries. And that's when they hear a third bomb approaching. Claudius struggles to get up on one elbow, and Amber's eyes turn crazy. "Claudius, NO!! Don't do it!! Let the bomb hit! It will just destroy the livin'-- not us! Not you! Please don't, Claudius!! PLEASE!!" she says, her voice turning to a shriek as she sees that Claudius does mean to try to get up...but he can't.

Ahuru looks up at Brianna. "Brianna...take me to him...help me get over to Claudius..." he says, looking at her intently. Suddenly Brianna knows what's he's going to do, and begins shaking her head.

"No, Ahuru...don't leave me alone!!" she moans, crying hard now.

"Please...it is...the only way..." he says weakly, and Brianna continues to weep. Cliodhna kneels on the ground watching everything through her fingers. Her tears haven't stopped since she regained consciousness where Qin Shang dropped her, and she feels like her heart will burst with sorrow when she sees her father and Ahuru so injured...both willing to give their lives for the world...she will lose them both...lose them all...she wants to crawl forward and offer herself instead of Ahuru, but something keeps her where she is, and she thinks of her lost Mem, and can only rock back and forth, sobbing.

Brianna finally summons the courage to take Ahuru's arms and pull him over to Claudius-- close enough for Claudius to reach him. "Take me..." Ahuru says, looking at Claudius. "Take me...then you will have enough strength to do what you have to do." Claudius looks at Ahuru for a moment in surprise, but he knows that time is short, and he throws out his arm and grasps Ahuru's arm in his hand. In a moment Ahuru is gone, and Claudius suddenly jumps to his feet, looking and feeling much stronger. He looks up at the sky, and jumps-- catching and consuming the bomb.

Amber lets out a cry. "No, Claudius..." she whimpers, and watches as Claudius comes back down, falling onto his back and laying there, looking pale and weak. She falls to her knees beside him again, and now she can see Cliodhna and Brianna both weeping, and, crying, she looks down at Claudius and sits, placing his head in her lap.

"I did it, Amber...I saved the world...now we can return to our sleep..." he murmurs, and all Amber can do it cry and smooth the hair from his forehead.

Somewhere in Stygia...

The Smiling Lord is still standing at his window, looking out at the land, only now he is laughing. Dieter bursts into the room and strides up to him. "What are you doing?? You're going to destroy the Shadowlands!! Are you crazy?? Atom bombs?? Don't you know that just ONE of them will destroy the Shadowlands??" he yells incredulously.

The Smiling Lord turns his head slowly to look at Dieter. "I do not like your tone of voice, Dieter." He pauses and looks out the window again. "Oh...I can do this...all...day. First Qin Shang...then that GOD, and now Markova...all in one fell swoop!" he laughs gleefully.

Dieter gets a resigned look of determination on his face, and thinks, "I won't let you do that," and then runs and hurls himself at the Smiling Lord, throwing them both out of the window to plummet about 40 stories down to their deaths.

Back on L'Harago...

The only sound on the small island is that of women sobbing...until off in the distance they hear it again. That damnable, cursed sound that will not stop hounding them. An atom bomb. The final atom bomb that the Smiling Lord ordered to be launched before his sudden death. The women quiet their crying and look around at each other in fear. Claudius opens his eyes and looks up at Amber. "Oh my god...I don't have the strength...I...I can't save them, Amber..." he mumbles.

"Oh my god..."

"It's all right, Claudius...it's all right..." she murmurs. "We'll just go to our sleep...like you said."

Suddenly Friday walks over. "Claudius! You can't sleep! You can't sleep! You need to wake up!" he shouts in a very uncharacteristic way.

Claudius' eyes remain closed. "No...I'm going to sleep...I need to sleep...I want to be with Amber..." he continues to mumble.

"NO Claudius, you need to wake up! Severius is speaking to you! Charon is speaking to you! You need to wake up!" Friday orders loudly. Claudius' eyes flicker open and gaze at Friday. Friday continues. "You need to take me! But don't stop the bomb-- you need to make it right, Claudius. Make things right. You know what I mean, Claudius."

Claudius nods his head slowly. "I understand...I'll make things right...I promised Amber I'd make things right..." Friday squats down and takes Claudius' hand, and in the moment before Claudius absorbs Friday/Charon and the bomb hits, Claudius turns his head to Amber and says, under his breath, "Amber, I love you..."

"Amber, I love you..."

Suddenly in time...

Ray wakes and sits bolt upright, breathing hard. He'd just had a...horrible nightmare. Yin wakes and quickly sits up beside him. "It all right, Ray. Just bad dream. Come back to bed..." She pulls him gently back down with her, and they wrap their arms around one another and close their eyes.

Suddenly in time...

Hans finds himself back in Nazi Germany during World War II. He is still an officer, but now that he knows of the Germans' plans to send the Jews to the concentration camps, and knows the guilt and self-loathing he will endure before eventually committing suicide if he follows orders, he decides to make a stand against the Nazis and lead an insurrection of Jews. He dies in the skirmish, but he dies a hero. He is now at peace and has passed on to his reward.

Suddenly in time...

While in Stygia, Johnny and Benwa learned of the nukes that the Smiling Lord had and snuck in, and were able to dismantle several. Unfortunately, they did not find the cache with Fat Man and Little Boy. The two cohort-members are still in the Shadowlands, but now that things have changed, Benwa is a succesful Doomslayer and Johnny is on a world tour with his new band.

Suddenly in time...

Brianna opens her eyes and she's looking out of an unfamiliar kitchen window in Thebes, Egypt. Her brow furrows, and she turns around to see...Ahuru! No, Atepa! The old Atepa who he once was so very, very long ago-- carefree, happy, smiling...he rushes forward and takes her in his arms. "We did it, Brianna! We did it!" he cries as they hold each other, tears forming and rolling down their cheeks. Their fondest dream...their dearest wish...to live together as normal humans. Mages no longer. They can have children...grow old together...and somehow Brianna knows that she and Atepa will see Amon again, as a new life that she and Atepa can now create.

Suddenly in time...

Cliodhna opens her eyes, and she's sitting on her bed in her room back in her grandparents' tavern. She has a book resting opened across her lap, and...Uncle Jack-- no longer an Immortal-- is pacing in front of her! "Now look here, Cliodhna. I don't think you should be gettin' into that IRA-stuff..." he's saying, and she lifts the front of the book to glance at the cover. Her first IRA book. She laughs.

"All right, Uncle Jack." she says with a smile. Suddenly she hears thunderous footsteps running up the stairs and down the hall towards her bedroom, and turns her head sharply to face her door.

Suddenly in time...

Claudius finds himself standing in Baba Yaga's hut, facing the Lady of Sorrows once again. He is the Roman general that he once was, only this time his choices will be...much different. He narrows his eyes and takes a step towards her, pointing. "I've had enough of your lies...your deception...and I'm not going to listen to you, you cunt!" he says, and turns and walks from the hut.

Suddenly in time...

Memnon breaks through Cliodhna's bedroom door, sees her, and runs over, picking her up in a big bear-hug. She begins sobbing in his arms. "Ah me Mem!! Me Mem!! Mo hanla!!" she whispers in his ear, and when they pull back to look at one another, their eyes widen. They are both 17 again, and Memnon is no longer Garou, but Kinfold like her! And they can tell from the look in one anothers' eyes that they both still have all their memories of their previous lives and the Shadowlands...well, with one exception. Cliodhna now has no memory of Sean brutally raping her.

Cliodhna's second chance at life...	...with Memnon!

Jack grins and shakes his head at them. "Now you two, what's got y'all cryin' like this?"

Cliodhna and Memnon laugh, wipe their tears, and Memnon grabs her hand, pulling her down the hall to the stairs. Just then there's a loud knock at the front door. Amber, Sanki, and Marie-- none of them Garou any longer, but Kinfold, as well-- look up in surprise. "Now who could THAT be?" Amber wonders out loud, but Memnon races down the stairs and gets to the door first. He opens it, and there stands...Sean. Memnon's eyes darken dangerously-- he KNOWS who Sean is...he saw him very vividly in the vision Cliodhna showed him once of what Sean did to her.

"What the fuck are YOU doing here?!" Memnon asks in a threatening voice.

Sean smiles enfuriatingly. "I'm here ta see Cliodhna-- is she here?" Suddenly Memnon's fist shoots out and punches Sean hard, right in the face. Sean staggers back a few steps, and Memnon walks forward, punching him, hitting him, punching him again, with Sean continuing to stagger backwards until he knocks into someone standing behind him and stops, almost falling. Cliodhna runs up behind Memnon, and both of their eyes get wide when they see who's standing behind Sean.

Suddenly in time...

A nerdy little 8-year old boy and a red-haired little 8-year old girl run across a green field of grass hand-in-hand, laughing. They stop and fall onto their backs, laying beside one another and looking up at the sky. Amber points up at one of the clouds. "Look! That one's a wolf!"

Claudius looks up, sees her cloud, and then shifts his eyes to another one. He points at his cloud. "That one's a turtle." The two children squint at the turtle-cloud-- it seems to be...smiling.

Suddenly in time...

Sean turns to see who Memnon and Cliodhna are staring at...this person he's bumped into...and sees...Claudius. Claudius' eyes narrow as he inspects Sean. "So...you're Sean." Suddenly Claudius grabs him by his shirt-collar, swings him around, and slams him into the side of Sean's truck. "Get...off...my...land..." Claudius says in a low, deadly voice. "I never want to see you around here again, and if I catch you anywhere NEAR my daughter..." Claudius turns his head, motioning at Memnon, "...I'll give you to that huge guy behind me. Got it?"

Sean nods quickly, trembling. "Aye sir, aye!" and when Claudius finally releases him, Sean goes scampering off to the driver's side of his truck, opens the door-- throwing himself in-- and drives off in a peel of tires. Claudius laughs darkly as he watches Sean drive away, and then walks forward, putting one arm around Memnon's shoulders, and another arm around Cliodhna's-- Cliodhna feeling rather confused at this open hostility towards Sean, but enjoying Memnon's protectiveness, and her father's...fatherliness.

The three walk back into the tavern, and when Amber sees Claudius, she jumps up and runs over to him, throwing her arms around him and kissing him. "Ah, ye're home Claudius!"

Amber's face lights up when she sees Claudius

Suddenly in time...

Amon opens his eyes. He is standing in the Hall of Kings. He looks around in confusion, and suddenly sees Issa standing before him. She smiles, takes his hands for a moment, and then wraps her arms around him. "Where...where am I?" Amon asks, his voice thick with emotion.

Issa murmurs into his shoulder, "You're home."

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