Cliodhna never noticed Brianna's startled reaction because it happened while she was concentrating on talking to Jack and Marie. Once Jack and Marie had left to find Matthew's house, Cliodhna turned back to Brianna looking excited and relieved. The group was dismissed to do whatever they needed to do until the next day. Ray, of course, went to check on his love Susan. Aaron, of course, went to see his woman Kara. Brianna left to go meditate and rest, Jonny went for a drive, and Cliodhna was finally able to go check on her fetters.
When she went to the IRA headquarters, she discovered that it had been abandoned. Unnerved, she started looking around the main square of Belfast. Everything looked older and somehow different. She scanned the people, and could tell that some of the police officers were IRA sympathists. She was anxious to see her family, so she decided to put off looking for the new headquarters and go back to Limmerick. First she went to the Blue Moon Tavern and looked around, tears threatening to come to her eyes. To her relief the place looked almost exactly the same-- the people looked older. She found her grandfather out back working on his little garden. She was tired and didn't want to scare him, so she checked on one last fetter-- her mother's musical instruments. They were safely boxed up in the attic. She felt sad seeing them-- being reminded that her mother was dead. Her mother! She needed to find out what had happened to her!
Cliodhna returned to the pub in New York City, and then hurried to Matthew's house to see if Jack and Marie had found it OK. They had, so she approached them. Waiting for a lull in their conversation, she whispered, "Aunt Marie?" It took some time before Jack and Marie calmed down enough to listen-- she didn't blame them for being startled! Cliodhna told Marie that she badly needed her to try to contact Turtle so she could find out what had happened to her mother. Marie agreed, let Angelo and William know where they were going, and the three of them went to Central Park so Marie could go into her trance more easily. It was dusk outside, so Marie's actions wouldn't be as noticeable to wandering eyes.
Marie-- being Turtle's prophet-- contacted him easily, and found herself on his back. His head came up out of the water and the two greeted each other warmly. Suddenly Amber jumped up and ran over to Marie, giving her a big bear hug. She asked Marie if she was dead, and Marie seemed quite taken aback. Amber apologized and explained that she was waiting there with Turtle for the rest of the pack to die, er, arrive...and that Marie was looking good for her age! Marie told Amber that her daughter Cliodhna had sent her to ask Turtle what had happened to her. Turtle had told Amber earlier that Cliodhna had died in the tunnels, as well, but that she had become a Wraith. Amber had been relieved to hear that Cliodhna was finally where she was supposed to be to help in the great coming war, and she was now moved that her daughter was trying to find her.
Amber questioned Marie to make sure that her daughter was, indeed, a Wraith, and was fighting with Ahuru's soldiers, and was profoundly glad to hear that she was. She told Marie to tell her daughter that she was just fine, and that she was waiting with Turtle for the rest of the pack to die, er, arrive. Then Amber felt herself starting to get choked up, and hid it by joking around with Marie that she needed to hurry up and die so she wouldn't be alone! Marie said she would take the message to Cliodhna, and Amber jokingly told Marie to bring beer with her the next time she came for a visit. Turtle smiled slowly at Amber, and suddenly the water surrounding him turned into beer! Amber let out a hoot and jumped into the beer, drinking deeply. She looked up and grinned at Marie, but Marie was looking at her oddly. Amber looked down at herself and saw that she was going transparent! She muttered, "shouldn't have drank that beer..." before she disappeared from sight.
Amber opened her eyes and looked around her. She was standing in a field of blowing wheat looking down on a beautiful valley. There was a little path leading down into the valley with fig and date trees along the way. Amber waded to the path and walked down the hill. There was a lovely little villa cottage at the end of the path. Amber approached cautiously, opened the door, and looked inside. She heard someone moving around somewhere on the main floor, and entered the house. She saw the kitchen, and from the low, narrow window in the wall, all she could see was a man's arms working on something on the counter. She peeked her head around the corner into the kitchen, and saw Markova cooking at the stove! He was dressed in black dress-pants and a white button-up shirt with the sleeves rolled up. He greeted her warmly, handed her a plate of pasta, and told her to come to the table and eat.
Amber was completely surprised and almost speechless for the first while! Markova joined her at the table with another plate, and the two started to eat. Amber kept watching Markova with a look of disbelief. He cheerfully asked her what was wrong, and she asked if he was Markova. He seemed surprised that she would ask that, and said of course he was, and why would she ask that? She told him because he was so different...so...nice! He laughed and said of course he was nice. She asked him how and why he'd brought her here, and he said because she was very special to him. Amber would have been happy and flattered if she wasn't so busy being confused! How did Markova take her away from Turtle so easily?
They continued conversing until they were finished eating, and then Markova suddenly looked very serious. He asked her how she had died. Amber had to stop and think for a second-- she hadn't expected this question! Then it all came back to her. She asked Markova if he remembered the war going on in Ireland that she'd told him about, and he said-- with a concerned look on his face-- that he did. She told him that she'd been involved in the fighting, hadn't expected to come up against 3 other Garou, and that they'd killed her...Markova suddenly cut her off in a fit of emotion. He asked her if now she realized that all the fighting would never end, that it was too destructive, and wouldn't she now join his side in ending all wars? Amber stammered that it WAS too destructive-- again thrown off guard by Markova's sudden mood-changes.
Markova said that he sensed that "she" was fighting against him again. Amber looked confused and asked, "you mean Marie?" Markova brushed the question off and told Amber to tell "her" to stop fighting against him or the world would be destroyed. Suddenly Amber was seeing a vision. A city in chaos and ruin-- dead bodies everywhere. A huge figure was crashing through the city...a man with long black hair and pale-white skin. He was grabbing panicked people left and right and sucking the blood from them in a hungered frenzy. Suddenly Amber looked up and saw a missile falling from the sky aimed right at the man, and just before it hit him, she was back looking at Markova. Markova told her that only he would be able to stop this thing's rampage, so if Markova were destroyed, the thing would be free to take over the world. Amber was again stunned into silence. Markova was so convincing, yet she never knew when he was telling the whole truth or telling what he perceived the truth to be.
Markova again spoke and told her to have Marie tell "the Apprentice" to stop the fighting against him or the world would be in ruins, and suddenly Amber was back crouching in the waves of beer. To Marie she had only been gone for a few seconds. Amber looked shaken and stunned, and Marie helped her back to dry ground and asked her what had happened. Amber told her everything that had happened, and told Marie to tell her daughter everything that had happened, too. She said she didn't know who the "Apprentice" was, but maybe her daughter would know. She told Marie that she was confused and needed to sit and think-- that it was so hard to know sometimes what things Markova was telling the truth about. Marie looked very concerned about Amber's confusion, but they hugged each other in farewell, and Marie's consciousness returned back to Central Park.
Marie told Cliodhna everything that had happened, and while Cliodhna was very relieved to hear that her mother WAS with Turtle, she was completely unnerved to realize that her mother wasn't safe there. She paced back and forth muttering...why had Markova come for her mother like that? How did he even remember her mother, and what did he want with her? She remembered that her mother had once entered Markova's dream to calm him, and her heart stopped in her chest for a moment. Why had her mother done such a dangerous thing?? Then she let the vision of the giant man-thing eating and wreaking destruction sink in, along with Markova's revelation that only Markova would be able to destroy it, and the whole time her Shadow was playing in her mind like it was a playground...telling her that her mother must be allied with Markova...that she must stop the war against Markova...that Markova was right. Cliodhna couldn't think anymore. She didn't know who the "Apprentice" was, so she thanked Marie for all her help, and told her she would try to find the "Apprentice."
Cliodhna was able to find Brianna quickly, told her everything that Marie had told her, and asked if she knew who this "Apprentice" was. Brianna revealed that she was, in fact, the Apprentice, and Cliodhna was very surprised and relieved. Cliodhna started pacing again, wondering out loud what they were supposed to do now. Brianna was very calm the whole time, and said she would scry into the future to see how much of Markova's vision was the truth. She was able to scry, and saw the giant man-thing-- just as Cliodhna had described him-- terrorizing coastal Asia. She also saw that the press was trying to cover up what was really going on by reporting that there had been a terrible hurricane. Brianna stopped scrying and told Cliodhna that she, too, had seen the terrible man-thing doing exactly what Cliodhna had described him doing, and that started Cliodhna pacing and muttering to herself again.
Brianna had to stop her and remind her that they KNEW Markova was evil, and something that evil must be destroyed no matter what. This helped clear Cliodhna's head a little, and she agreed that from what she'd been taught about Markova, that he saw things in a twisted light so maybe they shouldn't take what he said to be the whole truth. But Cliodhna's Shadow continued playing with her thoughts to the point where she exclaimed in frustration that she wished Matthew would hurry and die so they could have Atepa's help! Brianna stayed calm throughout this whole scene, and Cliodhna apologized and left to go back to her bunk and try to get some sleep.
Cliodhna wasn't able to sleep-- her Shadow was driving her nuts! She finally went up to Ray's door and pounded on it. Ray was a castigator-- he could permanantly take power from her Shadow-- and she needed his help badly. No one answered, and she paced outside his door for hours before finally giving up and going back to her bed. When the morning came, she quickly went to a professional castigator and felt much better afterwards. She'd heard the voice in her head scream in frustration, and she was in a rather good mood now! Her will was again set upon doing everything in her power to hinder or destroy Markova, and now that she'd found out where her mother was, her passion changed to wanting to protect her.
Cliodhna was a little late rejoining her troop, and apologized upon arrival. They quickly headed down to the harbor to begin their watch. They asked the harbormaster if there was anything odd going on, or if he knew why the Met was suddenly so heavily guarded. The harbormaster said that the only strange thing was that all Amenti ships were either leaving New York immediately, or the ones already on their way were turning back for the Kingdom of Sand. Cliodhna got an idea and asked if Brianna knew anyone who could speak Amenti. Brianna said that she could, and Cliodhna asked her if she would go back to the Met and ask the Amenti guards if they could tell her why the Amenti were behaving so strangely. Brianna put on her mask that transforms her into appearing like an ancient Egyptian woman and headed for the Met.
The group continued their patrol. Suddenly Cliodhna heard a disturbance from the rear, and turned to see Ray freaking out, saying that he'd lost his necklace. Cliodhna questioned him about it, and realized that he was desperate to get it back, so she assured him that if he'd finish his duty for the day with the troop, she would accompany him on his search. Aaron and Jonny also agreed to go with them after work. Ray seemed to be having an inner struggle whether to stay or go AWOL, but finally decided to stay. Cliodhna kept him right next to her as they scanned the area. Aaron got bored and decided to take it upon himself to go talk to the harbormaster again. He asked about other ships that were out to sea which could be mistaken for the Lassiter, and the harbormaster scanned the list and found two which could be a match-- the Kennedy and a Swarian ship. Aaron approached the captain of the Warsaw-- the Hierarchy's largest warship-- and asked him if he would take the troop out to scan for the two ships, and explained the situation. The captain agreed to do this, and Aaron returned to tell the troop. Cliodhna was wondering where he had gone to, and was quite miffed to hear that he'd gone over her head, in a way, but was able to control her anger.
Just then Brianna returned and reported that the Amenti refused to say anything to her about the situation. Cliodhna felt frustrated, but nodded and lead the group to the Warsaw. The troop boarded the ship and away it went into the Tempest. After searching for a bit, the Kennedy was spotted straight ahead. The captain-- using his spyglass-- reported that it had a large hole in the front, and was swarming with spectres lead by a very large 4-armed spectre. The Warsaw headed for the Kennedy, and when they were within range, they began firing on the Kennedy. Cliodhna sprouted her wings and flew close enough to be able to pick off spectres with her Mac-10 as they jumped from the ship. Finally the Warsaw fired its harpoon, impaling the spectre-leader and pinning him to the deck. The captain ordered the harpoon to be reeled in, and it tore the spectre in half, the spectre dissolving into black inky goo. The crew of the Warsaw began sprouting wings and flying over to engage the remaining spectres in battle, and when the ships were finally touching, the other members of the troop also jumped over and began hacking and slashing.
The battle was over quickly, and the captain brought Brianna a spectre that was barely alive. She touched him and was able to tell that this group of spectres were attacking ships without discretion, not caring anymore that they had the wrong ship. The Wraiths quickly gathered as many pieces of spectres and weapons as they could before they could be absorbed back into Oblivion, and then re-boarded the Warsaw. They decided to make a mark of the location of the Kennedy and quickly find the Swarian ship. After sailing for a bit they did find the Swarian ship, told its captain what was going on, and began to escort the Swarian ship to the New York harbor. When they reached the Kennedy, one of the helmsmen of the Warsaw said he would sail the Kennedy into port so the Warsaw could continue escorting the Swarian ship, and Cliodhna and the rest of the troop said they would go on board the Kennedy with him. Brianna was near exhaustion from all the scrying she'd had to do for the past two days, and said she would stay on board the Warsaw.
The Warsaw and Swarian ship were soon so far ahead that they were out of sight. The helmsman commented that if he were able to fix the large hole belowdecks in the ship that they would be able to sail faster. Cliodhna had some knowledge of navigating the Tempest, and stayed at the wheel keeping the ship on course. Aaron went down below with the helmsman. Jonny started to sing to entertain the rest of the troops, but he hadn't used his wraithly vocal cords to sing yet, and had a rough first try. Suddenly everyone heard Aaron yell for help from below. Jonny had the most driving-experience out of the three of them, so Cliodhna and Ray went down to help Aaron-- Cliodhna going invisible. As soon as they could see, they saw the helmsman standing behind Aaron, his skin covered in black veins and his face distorted into a hideous sneer, and Aaron fighting a large spectre-- it looked like Aaron had managed to hack off its forearm.
Cliodhna took the corrupted helmsman by surprise-- being invisible-- and she and Ray shot and hacked him until he dissolved into black goo. While they were doing this, the large spectre grabbed Aaron and threw him out of the hole in the ship. Aaron made a lucky desperate grab at the ship and hung onto the side, his legs trailing into the Tempest. Ray was the next-closest and went running at the spectre. They fought a bit before the spectre threw him, too, out of the hole. Ray was also lucky and got a hold of the side of the hole, but not without banging his head a little. The Tempest was causing serious damage to Aaron and Ray's legs, so Cliodhna flew out of the hole, grabbed Ray's legs, lifted them out of the Tempest, and flew forward-- pushing him back into the ship. Aaron had been able to pull himself back into the ship, and he ran at the spectre with his gladiuses swinging. His rage was such that it wasn't long before the spectre was destroyed, but Aaron saved the head and most of its body to be soulforged into a new bastard sword! He was still so enraged at the spectre for almost throwing him off the ship that he slammed the head into the walls repeatedly and continuously!
The group went back to tell Jonny what had happened, and Cliodhna took over steering the ship again. She checked and noticed that they'd gone badly off-course, but was able to get the ship pointed in the right direction again. Now the ship was going incredibly slow and Cliodhna was getting frustrated again. She considered flying to the harbor to ask for assistance, but feared flying over the Tempest for that far of a distance, so she stayed. While she was pondering all these things and trying to steer, Aaron and Ray gave a shout-- there was a ship approaching them quickly from behind. Aaron grabbed the helmsman's spyglass, looked through, and saw a shipful of spectres with...a little boy standing in front! These spectres weren't the usual snarling, slobbering, mindless spectres-- they looked calm and intelligent and had the symbol of the Blighted Sun on their foreheads. The little boy had the same symbol on his forehead, and seemed to be staring right at Aaron.
Aaron reported all of this, and muttering that she wouldn't be taken and turned into a spectre, Cliodhna went invisible and continued to steer. Jonny also went invisible, but the spectre-ship gained on them fast until they were pulled up right next to the Kennedy. The boy called to Aaron and told him to surrender. Aaron unsheathed his gladiuses and told him they'd have to come and get him first. The two argued for some time-- Cliodhna fearing the worst for Aaron and Ray-- when finally the boy said that if the group gave him what he wanted, he would give them what they wanted. The boy said that he wanted the Apprentice, and if the group gave her to them, they would cease all attacks upon the city. He said that they'd found out about the rogue-spectres attacking random ships and had put a stop to it.