There had been the terrified silence, for the endless moments that had followed the gunfire shots. Then there had been the shouting, the running, and Mari and Elena had found themselves waiting in Mari's car, in the garage. Waiting without a word, without breathing, for Jason to join them. Then he had arrived, a bundle of books and papers under his arm, and they had driven away as fast as they could. No one said a word. Mari didn't know what to say, she didn't know them, she didn't know anything about this place or who could want to kill them, or maybe herself. Elena was shocked to have brushed with death, so close to being history, in a fraction of a second, nothing any more, no more laughs, no more thoughts, no more life, nothing. Jason was stunned, speechless, dumbstruck that someone could find their way to the Manor, could reach him in that sacred, safe, untouchable place, that nothing was reliable anymore, that his world was crumbling under him.

Alexei swore and disassembled his rifle. He hated missing his targets.

<(_-|-_)>

Jason closed the book he was holding and put it down, a puzzled look on his face.

Mari turned from her contemplation of the Frothing Sea and walked up to him, unsteadily because of the boat's unpredictable movements.

"What?" she said.

"I looked up what you told me about. You know, Decimus '43?"

"Yeah, and?"

"Well what do you know about the light of Theus?"

"First time I'm hearing of this."

"As I recall, it's somewhat of a point of theology, but I'm a little unclear on the details."

"I can remedy that." said Elena, rising up from where she was sleeping and joining them, looking a lot like a very cute walking yawn. "The light of Theus is the expression of how the omniscient mind of Theus conceives the world. It was a major point of debate in the XVIIth century, because of what the new scientific revolution entailed as to the nature of reality. In fact, it was argued by Reimar Derviny that since all perceptions could be deceitful, the only truth about any object in the world could be found in the light of Theus. But since the Vaticine church declared that the light was transformed as it went through the physical plane it was the base for their entire physics, really well, so much for knowing the truth of any matter, in the proper sense of the word. Objectionist thinkers took an opposite stand, and said that the light of Theus coursed, unopposed, through the world, and that only our minds, because they were sinful and not innocent anymore, could not perceive it. For Derviny, who tried to conciliate his scientific paradigm with a Theus-inspired philosophy, it was a major mood-dampener. He tried to get around it, but I'm not persuaded by these works, and I don't think much readers are. So, you've got it. It's as much a theological firm ground you know, ineffability, faith, the unchallengeable consciousness of Theus as its a rational basis for reality."

She was only met with blank stares.

"What?"

"Where did you learn all this?", asked Jason.

"Well, I'm a Castillan country girl, what do you expect?"

"Do all Castillan girls know so much on obscure XVIIth century philosophy?", said Mari, a definitively admiring look in her eyes.

"Sure." Elena let them stew for half a second. "Just kidding. I'm a philosophy major, specialized in theology. Why do you think I had this summer job for the Church in the first place?"

"Right." said Jason looking back down to his papers, hiding a difficult smile. "Well, in any case, there was an alchemist that claimed in 1736 to have created a parcel of the light of Theus. His name was Johannes Ferig."

"Ferig?" asked Mari. "I thought he was a legend."

"Think again. He was Vendel in origin, or maybe one of those last Vestenmannavnjar. At the time, the Hainzl Eisenfurst was Gerhardt the Great, an enlightened ruler with a passion for the occult. Atemlos had attracted half of Theah's lorists and mages, it was a huge centre for it. Ferig was dubbed the King of Shadows. He reigned over the occult underground with unknown sources of influence. His lightstone gave him an even greatest fame, and made him enter the legends. He supposedly died in 1742, probably assassinated by the agents of Gerhardt, whose power he was challenging."

"And how does that relate to 1943?"

"Well, I've got an account here from my great-grandfather, Major Robert Asters, leading the 105^th Royal Marine Troops. He relates that while on the Montaigne front, he investigated behind the Eisen lines. The story is a little blurry. Robert died soon after that, in a terrible mental state. I think the illness had started taking its toll. Anyway, he managed to find the Eisen Northern Army's commanding officer, General Wilhelm Karams. He was in a deep conversation with someone who seemed to give him orders. My great-grandfather confronted them, and a battle ensued. I'm not really sure it was a physical battle they were both experimented practitioners of mystical powers, and it probably went way beyond a simple fight. It lasted a whole night, and most of it took place on the flank of a Weissbergen mountain, in the middle of a storm that was most probably created by them. At the end of the night, the other man, one Von Dajman, was dead, and Robert had pried a heavy and shining stone from his cold hands. Karams signed his army's surrender two days later. Then I've got an entry by Robert that says that he lost the stone two months later, in Freiburg. That's all there is."

"So what, you're saying Eisen lost the war because of your great-grandpa?"

"Probably not, but still, I wonder what the influence of the stone would have been. With what Elena told us, if Ferig truly did what he said, well . . . See, there are different sorts of magic in the world. You've got sorcery. That's the ancient bloodlines, but most of them are extinct by now. Youve got witchcraft, folk magic, demonology, alchemy, what have you. But true magic, the ability to change the world without having to submit to any of the inherent laws that rule those disciplines, without having to pay a price or suffer the reactions for every action they let you take . . . well, its breathtaking. And it just could be what the lightstone is. If someone wants to get it back, they probably won't spare any expense, or stop at anything. In fact, I think that's already done."

There was a silence before Jason spoke again.

"Look, I want to do this. I want it because my father died for it, and because, well, it's my job now. I gotta keep it safe for people out there. But it might, hell, it certainly will, be dangerous. And you have no reason to do this with me. And, um, as much as I'd feel safer with you, I'd never forgive myself if anything happened to you. So you decide."

"Well," said Elena after a moment, "if I do this, you have to understand it is my choice. You have no responsibility, and if I get hurt, it will be my fault, not yours."

"So you will?"

"I didn't say that."

"Well, I will.", said Mari. "I mean, I've got time to spare, and I'd like to settle a few things with guys who burn up places with people in it. Plus, honestly, you wouldn't know what to do without me. I found us this boat trip, didn't I?" It was true. Half an hour in the Surluse harbour and they were off on a cargo to Insel, complete with car and all.

Jason smiled warm-heartedly at Mari, and she replied with her little satisfied grin.

"Oh, all right, you two. I'm not leaving you both alone, anyway. I don't trust you with each other."

They were probably about to engage in something like a hug contest. Then the boat started to rock a lot stronger, and all were suddenly preoccupied with their balance.

<(_-|-_)>

Stones, as a rule, don't speak. Some of them vibrate, and it's about the most they can do.

But inside this particular stone, there was a lot of vibrations. One, in particular, intensified, and, as it were, spoke up.

"hI. IM BaAaaAck hEllo eVerYBOdY D'yoU mIS Me?"

Another one answered.

"oh. it's you. i didn't know you were still here."

The first one spoke up again. We'll call her Misspeller, for the sake of the story, and we'll call his colleague Monotone. They don't care, really. Theyre concepts, and none of them covers the idea of "caring". Names are far beyond them.

"wEll i seEm tO avE AwOKeeeeee bEcaUSe WemEtHemHim iS rOUsED AgiN, nO ??"

"not that i know of. we lay dormant, and are not waking up."

"iT is hapPENed! oR It WilL HapPn Or it hAs Had HapPenD oR it mAy . . . "

"i get the point, thank you. but nothing is rousing us."

"ThE bOy. He Is cOMing!"

Another voice another vibration, really intruded in their conversation. This one could better be described as Plentiful, maybe, something that is between the scent of a lover and the warmth of a mother.

"He is right, you know I have sensed him. He bears an ancient blood, that we have met before. And he's not alone. He brings blood too, old and new and old and new, intertwined like a vine on a house left abandoned for many years."

"it's all about the blood with you, as usual.", said Monotone.

"YeS aAaAAnd He tAkes thE SstOn to mAkE Her brING lIGHt the rEAL lIGht or mAYBe hE shATteRS iT and bREaks Us", said Misspeller

A fourth voice talked, one we will call Dusty, because its vibration felt like it came from a very ancient place, going through many abandoned cellars and dark rooms that harboured secrets and things older than worlds themselves.

"That will be hard. The stone is very difficult to destroy, as it requires a nearly inhuman strength. The power of several suns, I trust the exact quotation runs."

"There is energy about them, maybe enough to do just that. And the boy himself, well, he seems to have more of the maternal line in him than many of his predecessors and you all know what that means . . . ", said Plentiful.

"i think the best thing is to watch, then. let us all watch. decisions comes only from information.", said Monotone.

"I hAve DEcidEd AlreADy. BuT nOw i chAngeD My miND." said Misspeller.

And so they watched.

<(_-|-_)>

When Jason, Mari and Elena got out of the boat, it was still night, just a little before sunrise. Mari drove the car down the metal gangway and threw an eye behind to watch Jason and Elena. Each were slumped against a window, and both had dark rings under their eyes.

"You alright?" she asked.

"Yeah, sure. Though I'd like a warm bed to lie on right now, thanks." replied Jason.

Mari smiled and looked ahead. There was fog everywhere, slowly rising from the ports basins. It circled around the streetlights, and hid the silhouettes of early-working stevedores and sailors. They ran into big concrete blocks that prevented passage on this side of the quay. Mari stopped, and turned her head around again as she shifted into reverse gear. Jason and Elena had fallen asleep. Thats when someone knocked on Mari's window. She turned to check it out and said: "Oh shit."

Making sure the engine was still running and her gun was strapped on the inside on the driver's door, she opened the door and stood.

"Aren't you a bit far away from Numa, Vito?"

"I'd travel half the world to catch you, Mari, you know that.", answered said Vito, a stocky young man dressed in an suit that would be complete with a big "Artidenot Way of Life" badge.

"And I suppose you're not here for a visit."

"Well, you could say that. Me and the boys-" he pointed to several large bulldogs of men, all dressed in the same ugly clothes, "-we're all friends, arent we? And we still got unfinished business. Call it a work visit."

"What in the Abyss is going on now?", said the voice of Jason. Mari could see his head over the top of the car, on the other side.

"Ah nothing. It's just Vito here wants something from me, but . . . "

"How much?"

Vito bowed. "Well well, at least here's a man whos straight in business. This young lady owes my friends seventy thousand guilders, sir. I'm sorry to detain you until that debt is solved."

Mari sounded disgusted. "Vito, you're even more slimy than I thought. All I owe Don Garisa is fifty thousand. Don't push it, man. I could contact him directly, you know." Vito didn't answer.

"Very well. Fifty thousand it is, then." Jason sent a hand inside his jacket and produced a thick wad of bills. "Which means seven thousand Avaloni pounds, and I'm being generous. And now you'll let us go, please. We haven't all day."

"Of course. A pleasure to work with you, sir. However I'll advise Signora Stauffenborg to avoid Numa for some time, if she knows whats good for her." Vito gestured to his men, and they disappeared in a big black car.

Back in Mari's car, she whispered: "You didn't have to do that."

"And you don't have to whisper, Mari. 'Im awake. I followed what happened." said Elena. "If I'd known you were that rich, I'd managed to marry you, Jason."

"Yeah, well I wasn't until yesterday", replied Jason, looking out the window. "But it so happens that His Majesty's treating his high officers, well royally. Thought I only went back for my books yesterday, did you?"

"High officers?"

"It appears I hold a very esteemed position, and I have the honorary title of Colonel in the King's Army. Still doesn't tell me where we're gonna sleep, though."

"Sorry, I didn't think about that," said Mari. "Usually I sleep in the car, right where you're sitting. Being 50 has its advantages. See, hotels mean registration, and registration requires either forged paperwork, or not having killers out for your blood."

"Maybe I can arrange that, if someone gives me a phone. My mobile doesn't work outside Avalon, and I don't have any units left anyway," said Elena. After a vague gesture from Mari towards the compartment under their seat, she found the hidden telephone behind a panel. The half-conversation that the other two could follow went something like that:

"Allô, oui, je voudrais parler à Manuel. Il est là ? Ah, merci beaucoup. Hola, Manuel. Soy Elena, sabes, la nieta de Alberta Sarran, en Puerto del Sur. Recuérdate, nos encontremos en Carleon. Qué tal? Si, ya lo sé que estabas durmiendo, pero necesito ayuda. Tu hermana todavià esta en Insel? Tengo que hablar con ella. Si, lo sé. Por favor, Manuel. Ay, estas un angel. Bueno, voy a llamarla. Nos veremos pronto, en Bastonne." There was a silence, as she dialled another number and waited for a reply. "Hallo? Ja, das ist Carolina? Ah, muy bien. Soy Elena. Como estas, querida? Sabes, ya soy en Insel con dos amigos, y buscamos un lugar para dormir. Seria posible quedarnos en tu piso para dos o tres noches? Si? Te adoro, hija. Bueno, noto tu direccion. Si. Si. Muchisimas gracias, chica. Ya venemos. Adios!"

She hung up, and told Jason and Mari: "Well, weve got accommodation for at least a few nights. 42, Gregorplätz, fifth floor. The code is 5B34. Do I rule or what?"

Jason, watching her while slumped to his sides window, reluctantly said: "Yeah, you rule. We're finally gonna get some sleep. I could marry you right now, just for that."

"So could I," said Mari, before she started to laugh.

<(_-|-_)>

Smooth move, thought Alexei. When the call had come, requesting a meeting in some public parking in the east of Insel, he wasn't afraid. Middle of the day, he thought. What could happen?

Well, there he was now, and the whole parking was empty save for him and an ominous black car.

Alexei stepped out of his four-wheel drive and lit a cigarette. A door opened on the car facing him, and a large man, dressed in a grey suit, came out. He himself opened the passengers door and let out an old man, leaning heavily on a cane. He was smartly dressed, in immaculately white slacks and polished black shoes. The cane itself was very massive, a piece of ebony sculpted with what a precise examination revealed to Alexei were obscene scenes and grotesque demon faces. Another man, this one looking Crescentian, got out of the drivers seat and went to stand before the car. Finally, Alexei could see the head of a blonde woman, elegant and languid, rise behind the roof of the car and wink a blue eye at him before she sent him a kiss that smelt like poison.

What could happen, eh?

"Do you know who I am, Mr. Narayev?", asked the fossil.

"I can't say I've had the pleasure. I would hazard a guess, though, that you're the one behind my last job," replied Alexei.

"Well, well, well," replied the old man, drawing a raspy breath, "it seems you are not stupid. Then how do you explain the fact that you lamentably botched said assignment?"

"I didn't fail. I was delayed, thats all. You should know, with the amount of money you pay me, that--"

"You should know," the old man interrupted him, "that failure was not an option. You understand that we are now obliged to resign the contract we had with you, due to your gross incompetence. You will not receive firing indemnities." He started to turn around to give a signal to his goons, an undertaking that would take him several seconds, in his state of mobility. Said goons, however, anticipating on their boss's signal, drew out automatic weapons of varied sizes and styles.

Alexei relaxed, preparing for action and making sure the door to his own car was open behind him. "Whoa, wait, wait. You're going to kill me, aren't you? I mean, don't I at least deserve an explanation? What was all this about?"

The old man stopped in mid-gesture and turned a weathered and sarcastic face towards Alexei, who could have lived without that sight of horror. "There is a misunderstanding, Mr. Narayev. You mistake me for a stupid villain out of a bad espionage movie, who explains his plans to the hero before putting him to death in an elaborately exotic manner, which he will not witness himself. Sadly, there are several faults to your reasoning. The first one is that, while I am conscious that, to the unenlightened viewpoint, I may appear as a villain, at least I have the minimal decency to try and be a bit professional about it. That includes not being a moron. And you are not a hero, far from it, Mr. Narayev. And Im just simply going to have you shot." He finally turned around to his men and said: "Shoot him."

Heavy gunfire started to sound all over the parking building. Alexei caught at least one bullet in the shoulder before he managed to jump inside his car and latch the door closed behind him. Comforted by the metallic noises of the bullets hitting the reinforced plated metal and glass, he gritted his teeth before slamming the pedal against the floor, hard. The car sped up fast and raced towards its aim.

Not the exit. The black car in front of it.

One of the goons jumped over the side to avoid being ran over by Alexei, and the other emptied his entire clip against the hood of Alexei's Jager before realizing that it had no effect. Alexei pulled hard on the brake lever and his car went screeching through quarter a turn, hitting the Crescentian and effectively cornering the old man, who had been trying to escape at the tremendous speed of three meters an hour. The woman was nowhere in sight.

Alexei took up the machine pistol that laid on the passengers seat, lowered his window and let out a burst of bullets in the approximate direction of the first hitman. Taking a reasonable risk, he then aimed at the old man and talked directly to him.

"Now, you listen to me, Wrinkles. I don't want you dead, but I wont mind helping you join the statistics for your age class. And you don't want me dead. Ask me why." The old man seemed reluctant, but a look in his employees direction did nothing to reassure him.

"Very well. Why is that, Mr. Narayev?"

Alexei grinned. "I knew you'd ask that. Because I rigged the whole surveillance system of this place. Everything they're filming is sent to my computer right now. If I'm not back to said computer, of which only I know the location, in forty-three minutes from now, it'll send all of it."

"That makes you a very prudent man, Mr. Narayev. Unfortunately, I have enough connections to simply not care if the police gets a hold of my men executing a nobody such as you."

"Hah. Like I'd send anything to the police. No, it'll get directly on the Owl's network. I never gave back my key when I left the building, if you know what I mean. And I suspect with the new climate of cooperation between the Owl and TSB nowadays"

The old man remained silent for a moment, then shrugged and said: "All right. You win, it appears. Go away. But be aware that well try to get you wherever you crawl."

"You won't get me. I'm not prudent, Wrinkles. I'm paranoid. Only way to keep alive in my line of work. See you around."

<(_-|-_)>

Jason and the girls had slept for most of the day, waking up when their host came back with her friends and started preparing for a night out. Elena had volunteered to cook dinner for the twelve young people who were now crowding the tiny flat, while Jason arranged their stuff in a cupboard and Mari did all she could to wake up. Mari was definitely not a morning person.

Around midnight, everybody prepared to leave for the nightclub they were about to descend upon, and invited the trio. Jason declined, saying he needed to study a few things, but Elena declared she could use a night out, and Mari followed. A quick raid through Carolina's dresser later, and the girls joined Carolina, Lizzie-from-Carleon, Giacomo-the-joker, Karl-the-Eisen, Olaf-the-silent-guy, Cédric-from-Charouse, Perrine-not-from-Charouse, Lawrence-Lizzie's-brother, and Pilar-Olafs-girlfriend, a whole crowd whose chattering formed a miniature Theah around Maris head, arguing and joking and making fun of each other. Twenty minutes later, at the end of the car ride, Elena knew half of them like she had lived with them for a year, and the other half each had a personal connection to her that made them think of her as a very dear friend. Mari was astounded.

Fast forward to three hours later. Mari and Elena are sitting on an anonymous wall somewhere in Insel, waiting for a cab, exhausted and passably wasted.

"You know, girl," started Mari, focusing her gaze on Elena, "the more I know of you, the more you amaze me."

"Yeah, the more I know of myself, the more I amaze myself, too. No, that came out wrong. What did you mean anyway?"

"It's just, you know, you relate to people. So do I, I mean, in a sense, but it always gets very close and personal for me. And I suppose that's what Jason gives you, right?"

Elena sighed. "Huh. Jason's not really a giver, yknow. At least not what I've seen of him."

"What do you mean, what you've seen of him? Aren't you two you know, together?" Mari gestured vaguely with her hands while talking, watching Elena directly in the eye.

"I don't know, really. I mean, I've only known him for a few days, in fact. And, uh, I think he needs me, and I give him because I like to, but I can't really say if there's anything, in fact."

Mari moved to sit right next to Elena, her side touching hers.

"Would you want it to? I mean, are you...?"

"In love? Dunno. I tend to have a disastrous record in my love affairs. Sure, this is different, what with someone trying to kill us and all, but I don't know, I suppose I expect something else than what I'm getting. It's just I'm not certain what, you know? Jason says he's weird, but from the beginning, I get the feeling that something's missing from me. That I'm the freak in all this."

Mari's face took on a pained expression as she grasped Elena's face to bring her gaze to meet hers. "Now you listen, girl. You're probably the most wonderful person I've ever met. You have to know that. No one can take that from you, you know. What you are. And nothing's missing. You just need to realize all that you are."

Elena kept silent. Mari drew closer to her, slowly, gradually. Then they kissed.

Suddenly, Elena pulled out. "Wait, wait . . . Something's wrong", she said, in an uneasy voice.

Mari turned her face away. "I'm -- I'm sorry. I should have asked. It's just, I didn't think. When I see you, I can't think." She kept looking at the concrete under her feet. "I know it sounds corny, but its true. I can't think straight when you're around. I mean, not that I think straight at any other time, if you know what I mean, but it's okay, lame joke." She drew in abreath and gathered her courage to face Elena again, and turned around. "Look . . . Oh Theus."

Elena was on her knees, in the middle of the pavement, her lithe body wracked into bizarre shapes by pain. Vivid bolts of blue electricity crackled around her. She was trying to catch her breath, gasping, and extended a crooked arm over the gutter, into the streetway.

Mari knelt down, unsure how to touch her. "What's happening to you?" she asked.

After several seconds, Elena managed to raise her head and looked at Mari with bloodshot eyes, an expression of extreme pain on her face.

"I -- I don't know."