Katalepsis III: "Conditions of Absolute Reality" (part five)

Twil's presence in this arc initially seemed like just a convenient plot device to save Heather, but by the end it's almost more like the Brotherhood of the New Sun was a plot vehicle for Twil to get more involved. Not quite, but almost.

During her uncomfortable, snippy stay at Evelyn's house, Twil is even more shocked than Raine and Evelyn when she hears what Heather did to that former cultist and now Honorary Fleaman.

“Raine picked up on my mood. She stood behind me and rubbed my back, but Twil didn’t understand what I was getting at. How could she? She’d been invincible and untouchable for years.

”What do you mean, you made him vanish?” Twil asked. “Just like, poof, into thin air?” She raised an eyebrow at Evelyn. “Is that even a thing?”

I looked away with a lump in my throat; didn’t want to think about that right now.

”For Heather, yes,” said Evelyn. “So it does work on living things.”

”I don’t get … oh.” Twil’s eyes widened and her voice dropped to a hushed whisper. “Wait a moment, you mean you can send people to, like, the other side?”

”Outside,” I muttered.

”Yeah, that’s what I said. Holy shit. You’re not kidding, right?”

”Could you please not?”

Twil didn’t press further, but she frowned at me like I was either crazy or a walking neutron bomb. Maybe she was right.”

It makes sense. As Heather points out above, Twil is used to being able to survive at least a few hits from anything she encounters. Heather's offensive plane shifting is a rare example of something that being a werewolf will not protect you from even a little bit. It changes the way she interacts with Heather from that point onward.

““Don’t start up again,” I said. “Or I shall be angry.”

Twil smirked and mock-cowered from me. “You’re real scary when you’re angry, you know?”

”As if I could scare you.”

”You can make people vanish. That’s pretty scary.””

It's covered up with irony, but I don't think Twil would have "joked" like that before this revelation.

Anyway, Twil has been away pretty much since the immediate aftermath of the coffee shop incidence, after having been told not to tell her sect about any of this and to absolutely not name the three of them even if she does feel the need to. That was always going to be a tall order, considering a) how aggressively Alexander has been expanding and b) that Twil is already on his shitlist for the nightgaunt and coffeeshop interventions. It turns out that there may be another factor in play here as well, but it's not conclusive. Whatever factors combined to sway her though, Twil ends up ignoring Evelyn's demand and spilling everything to her Brinkwood clan. And, shortly after Raine and Evelyn's ill-fated attempt to reach out to other wizards by phone, they get a surprise in-person visit from the organization that calls itself the Church of Hringelwinda.

"Hringelwinda," of course, being an Anglo-Saxxon name given to the alien organism encysted underground near Brinkwood. The source of the wolf-like manifestation that Twil can channel thanks to the work of the sect's previous high priest, her grandfather. The current high priestess, meanwhile, is her mother. I could make a crack about Twil being a werewolf princess, but I get the impression that the church doesn't have more than a few dozen members at most, so that would be making much ado about relatively little. Anyway, three people arrive - Twil, her mother, and a cousin of hers - accompanied by a flying mini-Yog-Sothoth looking pet that just hovers ominously overhead.

“The cousin was rather imposing, I’ll admit. Six feet of badly dressed muscle, shown off in short sleeves, hairy forearms crossed over his chest. He must have been freezing without a jacket or a jumper on. The rest of us were all wearing layers against the cold seeping down from the dark clouds. Performative macho stuff, I suppose. He had one of those soft, doughy faces that couldn’t quite grow a beard, but the fuzz on his chin put up a good fight all the same.

Twil’s mother, on the other hand, was positively inviting. She wore a long patterned skirt and a shawl draped over her shoulders. Family resemblance shone through; she and Twil shared the same short, compact stature, the same sharp features, and dark hair—shot through with long streaks of grey in the mother’s case. That surprised me. So rare to see an older woman with undyed hair, age on display. Heavy crow’s feet crinkled the corners of her eyes, from a lifetime of too much smiling.

She used one on us, a warm smile.

”Oh, four of you?” she said. “That’s more than I was expecting. I suppose I don’t need to guess which of you is Miss Saye. I’m Christine Hopton, Twil’s mother, though I don’t doubt she’s already told you that. Shall we shake hands?”

Christine’s voice was soft and resonant, nothing like her daughter’s. She offered Evelyn her hand.
Evelyn stared at her, then down at the proffered hand. In the corner of my eye I noticed Raine reach inside her jacket. The cousin noticed too, watching Raine. He unfolded his arms. My heart clambered into my mouth and my pulse quickened in my throat.

”She’s not gonna trick you with a handshake,” Twil said through gritted teeth. “Come on, Saye, this is my mum.”

”Twil, dear,” Christine said. “Let her do as she wishes, please?””

Unsurprisingly, Raine is the one to make the MILF jokes as soon as Christine is out of earshot. Even less surprisingly, Heather was thinking it long, long before Raine says it. :P

Also, say what you will about Evelyn's paranoia, but Heather definitely could learn to be slightly more paranoid. Especially after what just happened to her a week and change ago. And especially especially when it comes to infosec:

““Hello! I’m Heather, and yes, you’re right, this is Evelyn. That’s Raine, she’s my girlfriend, and, uh, that is a demon bound inside a wooden mannequin. We call her Praem. Also Tenny is wandering around over there, but none of you can see her.”

Christine stared for a heartbeat, then caught up and followed my lead, her smile very warm indeed. “Hello, Heather, a delight to meet you. Always nice to meet Twil’s friends.”

”Heather,” Evelyn hissed.

”What? What?” I asked. “I am being polite. It’s normal.””

I love the detail of Christine momentarily gaping in incomprehension when Heather volunteered that information. Probably spent the entire rest of the visit wondering if that was a bluff, a flex, or just an attempt at rattling her with the unexpected. I doubt it ever even occurred to her that it could have been plain old naivete.

Anyway, at first it seems like they just want to offer an alliance against New Sun. According to Christine, Alexander has already been harassing the Church of Hrlwiffndf whenever members of it come to Sharrowford, and they think they've spotted agents of his poking around their own territory in Brinkwood. These events may or may not all postdate the nightgaunt incident (the timeline isn't specified) but regardless of who started it Alexander seems to think they're enemies now, forcing them to agree. I say "them" rather than "she" because the Church of Hadfwgqgra is apparently at least somewhat democratic, and this is a recent development for them.

““We vote, yes,” she said. “On certain matters. There are less than thirty of us, it’s more of an extended family than an open organisation. In this case, the vote was held between me, my sister, and my husband—our leading triumvirate. This isn’t the bad old days anymore, Miss Saye. We’re not blood-soaked witches dancing in the woods. We don’t kidnap children at the behest of an abusive old man.”

”Mum,” Twil hissed. “Don’t.”

”You were not there, dear. Hush now.””

TWIL: "We still eat babies mom, stop lying to my new friends!"

Sorry, couldn't help myself. Continuing the passage now.

““Why volunteer?” Evelyn asked. “Wanted to see the freak show for yourself?”

”No, not at all. I volunteered because this had to be done, but also for personal reasons as well. The vote carried two to one. The vote against, that was my husband. He thought it too dangerous, argued that any contact with the Saye family was too dangerous. I know a little of your family history, I know your mother is gone, that you have no guidance, no gods, no outside help, and now you are fighting a war by yourself, against some very dangerous people.”

”A war I will win,” Evelyn said.

”Good. We in the Church would very much prefer you do win.”

She paused. A bait pause, for Evelyn to ask the follow-up question, to begin a real dialogue. She was good at this. I could learn a thing or two.

It even worked. Evelyn raised a silent eyebrow.

”Whatever happens in Sharrowford affects us too,” Christine continued. “It affects all of us in the Church. All who have been touched by Hringewindla. We cannot decamp to another place, we can’t flee to another part of the country, if Sharrowford ends up under control of a hostile power. Hringewindla cannot be moved. We will be forced to defend ourselves, and we will likely lose.””

So, this sheds some light on Evelyn's outlook about the occult underworld. And also paints a picture of startling parallel developments in at least these two clans. If other magician sects and dynasties have been on a similar trajectory lately, then that's very encouraging.

By all accounts, the Saye family and the Church of Hweqtwry were completely right to be afraid of each other. Overthrowing their respective tyrants and adopting a less hostile outlook toward the world at large seems to have happened at its own pace within both groups. It's now just a matter of both of them needing to 1) finish unlearning the bad habits they still retain from the bad old days and 2) give one another the chance to prove they've done likewise.

On Evelyn's side of things, there are some extra personal issues she needs to grapple with before she can properly engage with the game theory. First of all...well, you might not believe me, since I didn't mention it previously, but you'll have to take my word for it when I say that I kinda predicted this:

“I whispered to Raine from the corner of my mouth. “We need to have a word with Evee about her thing for Twil.”

” … you’re joking?”

”Just a hunch.””

I mean, it makes sense. Your classic equilateral love triangle. I got the sense that Evelyn no longer being official with Raine happened at close to the same time as whatever briefly happened between Raine and Twil. Also, this is Katalepsis, the answer to a character-related mystery is always going to stand a good chance of being "even more gayness." Just pattern recognition at this point.

Evelyn's other personal barrier here is a much less lighthearted one. And, also, one that I somehow didn't predict despite it having been much more clearly hinted at in the preceding material:

““I don’t trust you, and I don’t like you,” Evelyn said eventually.

Christine smiled and frowned at the same time. “You don’t even know me, Miss Saye. But we don’t have to be strangers.”

”You gave up your own daughter for a mage’s experiment. That’s everything I need to know about you.”

Oh.

Oh no. I winced, inside and out.

”That was a long time ago,” Christine said, measured and tight. “And Twil emerged unharmed.”

”Fuck you, Saye!” Twil barked.

”Twil!” Her mother barked much louder. “Language.”

”I think I’ve heard enough,” Evelyn grunted. She began to gesture a command to Praem.

But then I grabbed her hand and hopped up onto my shaking feet.

”Evee!” I said. “Evee, I must talk to you outside in the corridor. Um, front room, I mean. In private. Sorry, sorry everybody.””

Like I said. Much more obvious in retrospect. Not sure how I caught on to the unrequited crush and missed this lol. But yeah, that definitely is going to bias Evelyn against the Church of Hqrqwegeqw and its leading family in particular. Even though Twil's procedure might not have been as dangerous or as involuntary as Evelyn's. Even though (as I recall) the guy who was running the show at the time has since been deposed and indeed executed.

...I wonder. Is part of Evelyn's general prickliness derived from a fear of letting anyone else get close enough to her for her to potentially abuse? Might that be part of why she pushed Raine away, in the wake of learning about Twil's family and being reminded of her own?

Also when Heather does take Evelyn aside to talk to her for a moment we see just how medically deficient in self-awareness Evelyn is lmao:

““You should have been more forceful,” Evelyn said. “Don’t show those people any fear.” She sighed and smiled. “You could also have just whispered your council to me. Go on, out with it.”

”First off, Evee, she’s not your mother.”

We both froze, Evelyn with shock, I with fear.

”What?” she almost spat, then lowered her voice and squinted at me. “Heather, what?”

I took a deep breath and tried to keep my cool. “It doesn’t take a psychology degree to figure out what you’re projecting here. Whatever Twil’s mother did to her, it’s not the same as how your mother treated you.”

”I’m … I’m not … I … “ Evelyn frowned harder.

”She’s not your mother. Don’t take that out on her.”

Evelyn huffed and gritted her teeth. “All right, okay, maybe I was … I don’t know!””

She actually didn't realize how obvious she was being there. Like, at all.

Heh, well. Heather might be hopeless at playing the tactical cards close to her chest, but Evelyn is even more hopeless about the emotional ones. That's almost as much of a liability in these kinds of snakepit arenas.

The girls all need therapy, repeat ad nauseum.

While they're aside, Evelyn does also expand on why she fears this group in particular, and it may be a bit more rational. I'm not sure why she didn't just lead with this when warning Heather about Twil's people in the first place, honestly. But, basically:

““Honestly, she doesn’t seem too bad? Apart from the weird god stuff.”

”Mm, exactly. You’ve really no idea what she’s trying to pull, do you? You can’t even guess?”

I shrugged. “Convert us?”

”In a manner of speaking.” Evelyn smiled a thin smile. “I can guarantee what this is all leading up to. She’s going to suggest I come talk to their Outsider, to solve my magical problem, and hope I’m stupid enough to do it.”

”So it can do … what?” I frowned.

”It just wants more human minds to ride along with. You probably have to open up to it willingly, that’s why their cult is so small and stable. Subverting me would be quite the coup.”

I bit my bottom lip. “Okay, maybe you’re right, but also maybe you’re wrong.”

”It’s not worth the risk.”

”I’m not suggesting we risk going to see their … thing.” I waved a hand. “I’m suggesting we hear them out. She might not be trying to bait you at all. Between Raine, Praem, your spiders, and, well, me, you’re incredibly well protected in here. Just listening to them isn’t putting you at risk, is it? Correct me if I’m wrong. Can she do some weird mind-magic at you?”

Evelyn frowned in thought, then sighed. “No. No, she wouldn’t be able to do that. Keep a watch for their servitor though, that might be dangerous.”

I nodded. “It didn’t come inside with them.”

”Mm. So, we hear them out?”

”If you let Christine into the drawing room, and show her the map and the door, would any of that be dangerous?”

”No. Worst thing they could do is finish my own work.” Evelyn shrugged. “Get into the shadow city themselves. Which would help me, regardless if they get killed or not. If I show her the map, eh, I guess they could avoid the most dangerous parts of the city.”

”No harm in that, is there? Helping them avoid dangerous places?”

”I suppose not.””

On one hand, this does sound like exactly the sort of creature you'd expect to run into in a setting like this one. On the other hand, it also sounds like exactly what a manipulative enemy leader would make up to scare their minions into not even trying to communicate with them.

With risks calculated and boundaries set, Evelyn challenges Heather to a little bet about who's being unreasonable about the Brinkwood sect.

““How about we make a bet, Heather?” Evelyn leaned toward me with a funny little smile on her lips, hunched over her walking stick. “If she brings up talking to their god, I win. She doesn’t, you win.”

I smiled back, despite the gravity of the diplomacy. “You like gambling, don’t you?”

”A little, I admit. My father bets on horse racing. Doesn’t do very well.”

”We’ll have to make it fair though. Promise not to lead Christine into the idea of talking to her Outsider.”

”Promise. Fair and square.” Evelyn nodded seriously. “If you win, I’ll give you … five hundred pounds.”

My eyes popped out of my head. “What!?” I caught myself and glanced into the front room, then lowered my voice. “Evee, no, that’s so much money.”

”I can afford it.”

”I can’t. I … I’m sorry.”

”I’m not expecting you to. If I win, I’ll buy you an animal onesie, a … cat, I think, and you have to wear it for a whole day, on a weekday, to class and everything.”

I boggled at her, not sure if I was hearing this right. “E-Evee?”

”I’m deadly serious, Heather. I will hold you to it.”

”I’m not sure I can agree to that.”

”Put your money where your mouth is.” Her lips quirked with a concealed, dark amusement. “If you don’t want to, I can just shoo Christine and her muscle out the door.”

I sighed and frowned at her. “You have unexpected depths, Evelyn Saye.”

”This is what you have to deal with if you want to be my friend.” She shrugged, then broke into a smile—a real, big smile, one of the most genuine I’d seen on her.

”Oh all right. I’ll dress up as a cat for you, if that’s what you want. You’re not trying to make Raine jealous or something, are you?”

She laughed. “No, I suspect she’ll enjoy it much more than I will.””

Heh. Cute. Can totally see Heather rocking the catgirl aesthetic, though it might trigger some atavistic hostility if Twil sees her like that.

Anyway it's all fun and games until Evelyn wins.

Evelyn shows Christine her partial map of Alexander's spacewarped fortifications where they overlay with Sharrowford, and lets her look at the (thusfar totally unsuccessful) attempt she's been making at a backdoor portal she's been trying to brute-force-connect to his inner sanctum. Christine says she doesn't know any way to improve on Evelyn's experimental attack-portal, but she knows someone who might.

““I think you are a remarkable young woman. I didn’t understand even a fraction of your working in there, that ‘gate’ you’re constructing in the wall.”

”Neither do I. That’s the problem.”

”Yes, yes, I quite understand.” Christine nodded her head. “Which is why I believe we may be able to provide the missing pieces of the puzzle.”

Evelyn’s gaze flickered to me and away again: Here it comes. “Oh?” she said to Christine, and waited.

”The angular principles, the gate and the key, the ways between the spheres. This we know, or some of it, though in a different form to the one expressed in that magic on your wall. We know it, because Hringewindla knows it.”

A sinking feeling settled in my belly. The threat of dressing up as a cat for a day served to distract only very slightly from the fear this meeting was about to erupt into violence.

”I believe if you were to commune with Hringewindla,” Christine continued, “and ask honest, intelligent questions, he may be able to provide the missing pieces for your working.”

Evelyn sighed, a sardonic smile on her lips, and turned to me. I shrugged and swallowed.”

Now, this might still be paranoia and innocent misunderstanding. After all, if Hfewragqrh really did teach its worshippers all the magic that they know, and dipping into its knowledge base is how they've dealt with threats in the past, then it makes sense for Christine to advertise its teaching to Evelyn. That's not necessarily a subversion attempt, or even an evangelism attempt. There's a good chance Christine would do this if Hrafjreklrgjl isn't a mind-controlling entity manipulating its hosts' behavior to bring it more hosts.

But then, when Christine acts offended at Evelyn's insinuation that she's trying to trick her, Evelyn replies that she's not accusing Christine of trying to trick her. Christine probably doesn't even know that that's what's being done. Evelyn is speaking directly to Hrgjerhalgjw when she demands that it cuts this shit out right now, she knows it can hear her.

Christine just looks bemused at first. But then Evelyn says that if she goes to meet Hrtegqretq, she'd like Heather to come along too, and that Heather is something called a "blink witch." In response to THAT, Christine's expression goes odd for a second, and Heather sees the pneuma-somatic tentacle lashing around behind her eyes. Heather only catches a split-second glimpse of the central body it leads back to in the extradimensional space visible through Christine's brain, but in terms of its scale relative to its human host she describes it as "a planet hiding behind a cloud." After the appendage of Hgikfgje takes an unfiltered look at Heather, Christine suddenly starts agreeing with Evelyn that perhaps they ought to think about this a little longer before making any more introductions.

So. Yeah. Hdwjlfkjd actually is biologically tethered to its "worshippers." It can see and hear through them. It can modify their behavior to at least some degree, without them being any the wiser. It knows when it's being talked to. It understands the human world enough to have a reaction when someone calls its deceptions out.

That's the subversive element I mentioned in the previous post. The characters all have to confront their biases here, but...sometimes biases lead to correct conclusions. Evelyn was right about the Church of Herflrjhwer both in letter and in spirit. She may or may not have been wrong about how they've been treating Twil, but in terms of what their organization fundamentally is, well, she was just right. Heather was just wrong. She completely brought the cat ears down on herself.

...

This also answers one of those big questions I had about the setting. Why occultists are so hostile to one another by default, when it seems like sharing knowledge should be obviously mutually beneficial. Well, if entities like Heflwgjhwlf are just a fact of life for occultists in the Katalepsisverse, then that explains it.

What we're looking at is the product of an ongoing war between wizards and behaviour-modifying parasites.

You can't be sure who's infected. There are informational infection vectors. Anyone who tries to share knowledge with you might very well be trying to use that knowledge to expose you to their controlling entity. You need more power to defend yourself from proactively hostile parasites who will come after you for already knowing too much, but you can't trust anything that anyone tries to share with you.

Yeah. Those material conditions could indeed result in a Dark Forest nightmare situation like Katalepsis' world of wizardry.

Now, with that said, this situation with Hdafnqwrgrlqkw specifically might not be as bad as it seems. Depending on what the entity actually wants from its hosts, how much it's controlling them, and how much of their more objectionable behaviour was down to human rather than alien elements. The secrecy and trickery about what it's doing is a very bad sign, but still, it could be borne of bad experiences with outsiders, with the entity's relationship with its initiated being earnestly mutualistic.

But...probably not. Much like the Eye itself, at a certain point it doesn't matter if an entity is wilfully malicious or not. We haven't seen enough to know that Hadfjrlgfdhg is passed that point, but the signs are all pointing toward bad.

...

Evelyn dismisses the group, declaring that she was a fool to have even entertained the possibility that their master was permitting them to act in good faith. Twil and her relatives morosely return home to deal with New Sun on their own if they can. Regardless of what they themselves thought. Oh well. So much for that.

After the fact, Heather - still a little traumatized by her glimpse of the symbiont when it peeked out at her directly from Christine - asks Evelyn what that "blink witch" business was all about (well, technically it's a proto-Germanic word that roughly translates to "blink witch," but I'm not even going to try a button-mashing approximation for this one). And, the answer ends up being much more interesting than Evelyn herself realized until after she says it.

“Evelyn pulled a grimace. “Mm, ‘blink witch’ would be the literal translation. It’s used to mean a sort of prodigal child who can perform magic at the speed of will, without difficulty, usually refers … to … “ She slowed down and trailed off, staring at me. “To twins. Ah.”

”Oh,” I said, very softly.

”Well, it’s still not you. Medieval nonsense. Point is, Higgly-wiggly inside her head knew what I meant, and that got him to examine you. Probably terrified you might pose a real threat, so no dice. Meeting cancelled. Verboten.””

Wooh boy is that a big revelation to come with such nonchalance and frankness. I'm also a little surprised that Evelyn didn't make the connection herself before pulling it out for a bluff and only then realizing that it wasn't a bluff at all.

...

Other cases like Heather and Maisie have existed in the past. Seemingly without one of the twins needing to be edited out of reality first.

There are a few possible explanations for this, but I think the most intuitive reading is that the sisters were indeed special to begin with, and the Eye of Mdlkthpk was only drawn to them by that preexisting quality. "Blink witches" are useful or interesting for it. Either as an invasion vector as I mused previously, or for some other more benign (at least, for everyone except the abductees themselves) purpose.

As for why the spontaneous casting talent only ever occurs in twins to begin with...no idea. Insufficient data to make any sort of hypothesis. It might still be related to the twin-telepathy phenomenon, but if so I feel like the latter is more likely a symptom of the former.

Hmm. For that matter: I wonder if Hwwifdglffgd got nervous about Heather and Maisie themselves, or because it detected Mdlkthpk?

...

Two final developments finish out this arc. The first, several hours after their car departs back for Brinkwood, is Twil's defection. She sadly knocks on the door, after having gotten out of her mother's car and walked back to Sharrowford through the rain. Everyone in the Church of Hetqrwefe knew that they had a piece of their god resting within them, but they didn't know that it could control them. At least, most of the membership don't know. The leading triumvirate may or may not know. Twil challenged her mother about this, and ended up triggering a fight that resulted in her limping her way back to Evelyn's.

Interestingly, we also learn that Twil herself is an exception to the cult's usual infected status. The wolf-thing that she's bonded to isn't an outgrowth or extension of Hwqdfwee; it's an unrelated entity that was summoned or created using knowledge provided by Hfwretqewf. And, apparently, she can't be a host for both the wolf-entity and Hwqerqwerqw at the same time.

This is probably the real reason why they only ever made one werewolf. It's not that the procedure is too difficult or dangerous, it's that Hferfrwfadd is worried about having too many uninfected insiders.

Twil and Evelyn spend the evening alone in Evelyn's room. Probably just talking and coming clean to each other about things. Traumasex is a possibility, but probably not likely for at least another night or two.

Then, the second development happens, and this one leads to a cliffhanger ending for "Conditions of Absolute Reality." It also, incidentally, is the only part of Katalepsis thus far to actually manage to spoop me. Katalepsis bills itself as being at least partially a horror story as well as the other, fluffier genres it intersects with. Maybe this is just my jadedness to Lovecraft-adjacent works, but I never felt really afraid or disturbed by anything in Katalepsis. Until now.

“Lucidity seeped into the dream in layers, across inch by slow inch of brain matter. I wriggled out of bed and left Raine behind, fast asleep.

I ventured out into the dark corridor on bare feet and felt my way along the wall to the stairs. Distant and floaty, my body still knew the location of each creaky floorboard, how to tread to avoid waking either my lover or my best friend. I wound my way downstairs in the darkness.

Halfway down, my addled mind asked why I was dreaming about the house.

The question wasn’t urgent, filtered through layers of dream logic and emotional detachment. My body felt both leaden heavy and light as a feather at the same time, moving like some abstract extension of my mind; like seeing one’s own disembodied tongue wiggling in a mirror, back and forth, back and forth.

Why the detachment?

Perhaps because Lozzie was absent from this dream. Where’d she gotten to? I hadn’t seen her in a while, had I?

Had I?

My hand on the banister, my toes curling against the cold of the front room, goosebumps on my exposed forearms and the back of my neck.

I stepped into the kitchen. The dream details were impressive, I had to admit, from the weak moonlight outdoors, through the dripping remains of the storm, to the dirty plates and utensils from the late meal we’d all eaten together. Twil hadn’t been too happy, but she’d been recovering, she’d managed a couple of jokes, a little light ribbing with Raine.

Twil and Evelyn had spoken, for over an hour, without any raised voices. Twil had seemed better afterward, if only by a very small degree.

I wondered if the dream had replicated her too. I wandered over to the utility room to check.

Yes, there was Twil, curled up on the old broken-backed sofa beneath a heaping of blankets, which Evelyn had insisted on bringing downstairs. Evelyn had offered her a spare room, but our little werewolf liked the look of the sofa, the way it sagged in the middle.

Her curly dark mane spilled from under the sheets. Idly, pretending disinterest, I did something I’d never be able to do while awake, if this were real; I stroked her head and felt the luxuriant softness of that hair. Poor little werewolf. Came to us almost crying. It’s okay, I’ll be your friend, and so will Evelyn. Not sure about Raine.

I picked up a lock of her hair and sniffed it; rainwater, sweat, Twil-scent.

Not like wet dog at all.

I giggled in the moon-touched darkness, then covered my mouth, not wanting to wake her. A good girl, yes, even in a dream, my mind reminded me. Reminded me, my mind. Minded me, it did. I giggled again and quickly tiptoed out of the room.”

Heather continues to "dream" about walking around the house while everyone else sleeps until she hears a crying sound from Evelyn's workshop. It's Lozzie, poring over the attack-portal that Evelyn has been trying to connect to the enemy base. She tearfully apologizes to Heather, explaining that Alexander is forcing her to do this, and tells her that she's managed to work a secret escape route into the Brotherhood of the New Sun's dimensional fortress that she can only hope Heather is able to use.

Heather isn't sure what to make of this. Then, she wakes up, and finds that it was actually herself poring over the portal making additions to the runes and carvings. Once again, memories of Lozzie are slipping out of Heather's mind as she leaves the dream state and finishes waking up.

Remember how Lozzie was described as having a weirdly slow, zombielike motion to her, during the one time Heather saw her in the flesh? Yeah. Looks like Alexander can also do that to other people's bodies through her dreamspace connections.

The portal activates, and Zheng the zombie-lady pulls Heather through. A pair of waiting New Sun cultists tie her up securely while avoiding skin contact as the portal closes behind her.


That's arc 3. Like I said, the ending feeds right into a more kinetic conflict arc.

Not sure how much I can say in analysis of this arc on its own. I think I'll have more to say after finishing the next one.