The Raven's Apprentice - Epilogue

Safe House, Oasis Springs, Present Day

As she walked up the path to the dusty, run-down house in the dusty, run-down neighborhood, she let the job drop away from her. Wet work missions were always ugly, but those agitators wouldn't be leading any more protests. The Axis would be pleased.

With long practice she buried the memory of their faces, like she had their bodies. She put away the mission and picked up herself again. 

Of course, she mused, her 'self' was a lie. Even her name - Mallory Errant - was a fiction. They called her Mal... another example of PT9553's questionable sense of humor.

Like this house, its interior as dusty and run-down as the exterior... a disguise hiding something far more important underneath. 

As she entered his lab, he greeted her with unaccustomed cheer. "Welcome back, Mal. I trust the mission was a success."

"Have I ever let you down, Doctor?" she asked.

"Of course not," Doctor Key replied.

"Have you remembered to eat?" she asked. He had that frail, brittle look he got when he was deeply immersed. He forgot everything else during those times.

"So concerned for my wellbeing," Doctor Key smiled. "Still, you surmise correctly... I have been very focused on my work. The latest samples from the subject are very promising."

"Are they?" Mal said cautiously. They'd been down this road before, without success.

"Yes, yes, I know," Key said, casually lifting her concerns out of her surface thoughts. "After more than twenty-five years, after so many failures, your doubt is understandable... but I believe we have finally succeeded."

"And how is our Gem?" Mal said, moving over to look through the small, meshed window in the security door.

"Gem? Oh, yes, another of PT9553's little jokes," Key mused. "You know, he keeps insisting I enroll her in the local public education system. Allow her some socialization. He may be right. The experience served you well enough, when you were that age..."

"Yes, it was... useful," Mal agreed. 

"She's reading," Mal observed.

"Yes, she has a very active imagination," Key said. "I find it distracting, but perhaps it is significant to her potential."

"So, she is an Active?" Mal asked, worried. Psychokinetic Actives were dangerous.

"Not yet. She hasn't reached the necessary maturity, physically or mentally, and our last attempt at accelerated growth was..." Key said.

"Messy," Mal agreed.

"Yes," Key nodded. "But even this young, everything indicates high psychokinetic potential. After all these years, we have finally successfully cloned this sample. She has been quite as much a challenge as you were, my dear Bella."

"Come along, sir," Mal said indulgently. "Let's get you something to eat."

"Mal never comes in to visit," Gem said. "But that's OK. She's not really very nice."

Oh, that's too bad.

"I'm glad you came to visit me," she continued. "Even if you are only imaginary."

Am I?

"Of course you are," Gem said, "but that's alright. I don't mind. I'm Gem, by the way. Mr. Smith says that's short for Gemini. What's your name?"

I'm Bluebell, the fairy chimed. I'm an old friend of your family.

"I don't really have any family," Gem said, a little sadly. "Just Mal and Doctor Key and Mr. Smith sometimes."

Oh, but you do have a family, Gemini, Bluebell said. You are a Silveroak and a wonderful and wyrd family it is. May I tell you about them.

"I like stories," Gem said.

Well then, I will tell you a story about your sister, Miranda, and The Year of the Wolf.

The Raven's Apprentice - Chapter 32

"So, that's the story," Cassie said.

"Seriously?" Mariah said.

"We met, we took a little while to get comfortable with our feelings," Cassie smiled, "and then, stuff happened that made getting comfortable with our feelings seem really unimportant... and I kissed her."

"And once I started kissing her, I've wanted to keep kissing her, ever since."

"What about Key and the whole alien invasion plan?" Mariah asked. "What about Carmilla and Molly and Edwards..."

"Well..." Cassie said.

"Gwen told Bella all about Doctor Key's villainous monologue. She and Felix investigated and pretty quickly presented the whole alien invasion plan to their superiors. Key was dismissed from his post. Section 6 was disbanded, and its agents and duties reassigned to other divisions. 

"I gather there was a shake up in the Settler's Leadership and Key and his supporters lost favor. We really haven't had trouble with them since."

"Carmilla and Molly dated through the rest of high school. After graduation, we kind of lost touch. They went to different colleges.

"Carmilla still lives in Willow Creek. She's made something of a name for herself as a psychic investigator and medium.

"Molly, I gather, moved out west. She works in robotics. Xander heard from her recently, through his computer company. 

"Edwards stayed with my family until Xander went away to school. Then he left service and got married to a nice lady named Serena. They own a catering company in Willow Creek... best gumbo in town."

--------------------------

"Madonna," Mariah sighed. "So... as teens, your moms got together over restoring balance with the Netherworld and stopping an alien invasion... but, of course, as a teen you recruited a bunch of teen werewolves to stop vampires from taking over the world.  I feel... inadequate."

"Well, you did almost single-handedly take down the Alto crime family in college," Miranda laughed. "So, you shouldn't feel too inadequate."

"That's a point," Mariah smiled.

"You still want to be part of this crazy family?" Miranda asked softly.

"Well, it's like Cassie said," Mariah answered. "Once I started kissing you, I've wanted to keep kissing you ever since."

The Raven's Apprentice - Chapter 31

"Finally, we reached Doctor Key's lab," Cassie said.

---------------------

Section 6 Research Lab, 2000

"Cas," Gwen called from inside her cell. "What are you doing here?!"

"Rescuing you," I called back.

"You always were one of my most capable agents, Bella, apart from your unfortunate sentimentality," Doctor Key said, ignoring us. "Stand down, and I will not report this intrusion to the Committee."

"Let the girl go, Key," Bella replied, her smile a predatory baring of teeth, "and I won't kick Hand's green ass up between his pointy ears."

"I never understood Senior Research 6001's... affection... for you, Goth," Agent Hand snarled. "You're just another filthy hybrid... an outlier of a failed experiment."

"Last chance, Hand," she said. "Back down and give us the girl."

I wondered if Hand recognized the cool, calm voice that accompanied Bella's genuine rage. I'd only heard it a few times myself and been glad that, for all our friction, it had never been directed at me.

"I will derive great satisfaction from your defeat," Hand replied.

"You've been wearing your bio-mask too long, Hand," Bella sneered. "The testosterone has seeped into your brain."

"Cas, get to the cell. Use the override I gave you," Bella said. "Hand... let's dance."

"I'll deal with the juvenile next," Hand snarled.

"Oh... wrong threat, you dickless ET," Bella snarled, throwing herself at him.

Of course, while Bella took on Agent Hand, I still had to get past Doctor Key.

"Cassandra Goth," he said, almost conversationally. "You are, as they say, in over your head, young woman. Bella will not be able to protect you. Surrender now."

"Fuck you! You kidnapped Gwen," I snapped. "You killed my mom, you alien bastard!"

"Your mother's death was unfortunate," Key said evenly. "Even more unfortunate that you did not inherit her abilities."

"Mistake," I said, with a predatory smile of my own.

"Cas," Gwen shouted. "The arch!" 

Put your anger to work, Bella had told me. So, I did. 

"NO!" Key shouted. "The Portal!"

Turns out Bella was right. Hostiles find things bursting into flames very distracting.

Agent Hand broke off his fight with Bella to help Doctor Key try to extinguish the burning Portal.

While they did that, we made good our escape.

When we reached the lobby, Gwen threw her arms around me.

"Oh goddess, you came," she whispered into my shoulder. "Why did you come?"

"They kidnapped you," I answered. "They thought you caused the breach... but it was me..."

"That's why I let them take me," Gwen said. "To protect you! Oh, why did you come?"

"Because... because," I stammered.

Then I realized, Molly did have it right. 

Had that really only been a couple of hours ago?

Sometimes, words aren't important.

The Raven's Apprentice - Chapter 30

"While Gwen was being examined by Section 6, we were already on our way to rescue her," Cassie said, taking up the story again. "Unfortunately, the storm seriously slowed us down. Flooded streets and downed power lines blocked our way and sheets of rain meant Bella was sometimes driving almost blind."

-----------------------

TransWorld Building, Magnolia Prominade, 2000

Despite the delays, we eventually arrived at the TransWorld office building, the Agency's front in Willow Creek.

"Alright, Cas," Bella said as we marched through the doors into the empty lobby. "I need you to be perfectly clear... you stay behind me. You do what I tell you, when I tell you, without question. I'm serious."

"OK," I said.

"Remember your self-defense training and you'll be fine," she added with a gentler smile. "Also, don't be afraid to use your powers... take any advantage you can get." 

"Umm, well, you see..." I hesitated. "I only really know the one spell... you know, to set things on fire." 

"In my experience, hostiles find things bursting to flames very distracting," Bella said.

"Selvadorada, '98," Felix laughed. "Operation Tree Frog, wasn't it?"

"Hey, they were dumb enough to leave those fuel barrels out in the open," Bella smiled.

"Yeah, your mom was really cool," Felix smiled. "Plus, those cut-off jean shorts... mmm, cheeky."

"Stepmom," I whispered, blushing.

"Agent Light, go get Bridges." Bella rolled her eyes. 

Felix headed off toward the elevators and, I presume, Director Bridges's office. Meanwhile, Bella led me to a nondescript door that opened into a stairwell. 

"What's with that guy?" I asked. "Wait, are you and he...?"

"Felix? In his dreams," Bella chuckled. "Honestly, not even there. He's a Protector drone. As I understand it, that means he's genetically male but functionally asexual. The whole locker room humor thing is his way to trying to assimilate into our culture. I've never really decided if it's funny how wrong he gets it or sad how right he gets it. That aside, Felix is a good agent. I trust him." 

"Did... did Section 6 have something to do with... with my mom?" The idea had occurred to me on the drive over.

"Yes," Bella said softly, as she continued to lead us down. "Doctor Key, the head of Section 6, issued a containment order on her just like he did on Gwen. He made up some excuse... some petty infraction. I tried to warn her, but she wasn't going to be scared off by him. She also wasn't going to just submit... not Vickie. She actually shouted Agent Hand down and walked away... only to be hit by that car. I... I couldn't save her.

"I've never been able to prove Key was directly responsible for her death," Bella sighed. "The driver of the car was a civilian. No connection to the Agency or the Settlers. Maybe it was just an accident, maybe it wasn't. Either way, if Key hadn't trumped up a containment order, she never would have been there."

"OK." I took a deep breath, feeling the anger building inside me. "OK... and this Key guy has Gwen."

"Yes," Bella said.

"No," I snarled. "Hell, no."

"Good," Bella nodded. "Now, keep your head and put that anger to work. It gets harder from here."

-----------------------

They knew we were there.

"Senior Researcher," Agent Hand said. "Agent Goth and Operative 4398 have been sighted in the building, along with a female juvenile we believe to be Cassandra Goth. Operative 4398 appears to be attempting to contact Director Bridges. Operative 6791 will intercept him."

"And Agent Goth?" Doctor Key mused.

"She and the juvenile have entered the records room," Agent Hand replied. "Operative 6529 will intercept her. She will not disturb you, sir."

"Guard the door," Doctor Key ordered. "You should not underestimate our Bella."

-----------------------

OK, I'll be honest. Until that night, I'd always thought of Bella as either an overprotective tyrant or a gold digger who used her big... um, chest... squeezed into the smallest, tightest red minidress she could legally wear, to get what she wanted. 

Even with her having told me she worked for the Agency, the idea that she was a government trained assassin just didn't fit with my image of her. 

The Section 6 guards never stood a chance. 

Neither did the security doors.

It turns out, my stepmom was a freaking super-spy.

The Raven's Apprentice - Chapter 29

"A lot of fuss, over a storm," Gwen said.

She stood for a moment, in the doorway, looking at everyone.

"Are you OK?" Cassie asked.

"I'm fine." Gwen smiled sadly. "I'm embarrassed and I'm sorry for the way I acted."

"It's alright," Mariah smiled back. "Family stuff can be... complicated."

"Was it just a storm?" Miranda put in. "Or did Lucius really call it up?"

"I honestly don't know," Gwen admitted, taking her seat again. "That night, it didn't matter. The belief that he could was enough to motivate Bella to act, and I'm glad she did. My time with Section 6 was... uncomfortable."

----------------------

Section 6 Research Lab, 2000

Agent Hand brought me to an office building on Magnolia Prominade, and to what I gathered to be a hidden facility under that building. 

I was given what I now know was a quick and indifferent medical examination. All I knew at the time was that I was stripped, given a simple shift and then weighed, measured, poked, prodded and stuck with needles. I was cold and afraid, but I held onto the hope that at least Cas was safe.

When they were finished, I was placed in a cold, bare cell and left alone.

For better or worse, I wasn't left alone for long.

"Ms. Gwenivar Silveroak, I must say it is rare and special honor to be in the company of one of the renowned Guardians of Glimmerbrook," he said. "You may refer to me as Doctor Key."

"Unusual name for a svartalf," I replied.

"Svartalf." Key seemed amused. "It's been a long time since I heard that particular name for my species. Here we are more commonly called aliens or Settlers. Some even, accurately in my view, call us Colonists."

"Where am I? Why am I here? What do you want from me?" I asked.

"Three excellent questions, Ms. Silveroak. I commend you," Key smiled. "You are in the custody of Section 6, a division of the Strategic Intelligence and Multinational Security Agency dedicated to monitoring and containing extraordinary threats to peace and stability. 

"As a powerful psychokinetic active you are, indeed, an extraordinary threat," Key continued. "The fact that you caused a dangerous interdimensional breach is the official cause of your containment in this facility. Incidentally, you will find your psychokinetic abilities severely limited while you are within the containment cell. We have been dealing with your kind for decades. We are very capable of restraining you.

"However, the most interesting question is your last," Key smiled. "What do I want from you? I believe you, Ms. Silveroak, are the answer that I have been seeking for years. It is you, not I, who will truly be the key that unlocks this world for my people."

"As I am sure you are aware, neither of our peoples are native to this dimension." Key took on a lecturing tone. "We have both come here from other realms. We established the Colony here decades ago, using our wormhole generators to bridge the realms. However, our wormhole generators cannot, yet, create a stable wormhole inside a planetary gravity well. Our interdimensional travel requires the use of spacecraft, and so carries with it all the considerable risks of space flight. 

"What we achieve with technology, you alfar achieve with your psychokinetic abilities... what you primitively call magic," Key explained. "We have observed that certain powerful Psychokinetic Actives are able to create wormholes between this world and your own native realm. 

"Most critical to my research, however, is the existence of the Glimmerbrook Portal... a stable wormhole," Key continued as he walked over to a strange arch within his laboratory.  "The very wormhole your people used when you, yourselves, colonized this realm centuries ago.

"Unfortunately, as you can no doubt perceive, our own attempts to create such a stable wormhole to our home dimension continue to be unsuccessful."

"You, Ms. Silveroak, are one of the Guardians of this Portal. Indeed, if my information is correct, you are the last Guardian," Key said, returning to my cell. "Your particular psychokinetic abilities allow you to maintain and control the Portal. I believe, if I can understand these abilities, I can create my own stable wormhole to my home dimension, opening a path for my people."

"You want my help?" I said, shocked. "You've got a strange way of asking."

"You misunderstand, Ms. Silveroak," Key said coldly. "I am not asking for your help. Your cooperation would simplify matters, perhaps, but it is ultimately unnecessary. I have been collecting and studying members of your species for decades, and I have rigorously documented the genetic basis of alfar psychokinetic abilities. 

"Once I have mapped your psychokinetic connection to the Glimmerbrook wormhole, I will extract from you the necessary genetic codes and graft them into an engineered hybrid. I will, in effect, create my own Guardian to stabilize this wormhole.

Key's expression turned rapturous. "With a stable wormhole to our home dimension, we will at last be able to bring through a Birth-Queen and sufficient Protectors to secure our colony."

"You're talking about an invasion," I said, stunned.

"Spare me your moral outrage," Key snapped. "I'm sure the Natives considered the arrival of the alfar and the formation of your so-called First Empire to be an invasion. We will bring peace and stability to this world."

"You're crazy!" I shouted.

"As I said," Key sneered, "your cooperation would simplify matters, perhaps, but it is ultimately unnecessary."

The Raven's Apprentice - Chapter 28

"I had fully expected to come home that night to listen to Bella shouting," Cassie said. "I'd just thought she was going to be shouting at me."

-------------------

"I want to know who authorized the containment order," Bella demanded into her phone.

"Of course, Key signed the order," Bella shouted a moment later. "Who gave Section 6 clearance to interfere in my op?! 

"No, not tomorrow. Now!" Bella continued. "Well, if you don't want to wake up tomorrow assigned to a listening post in the Arctic, you find out. No, you won't call me back. When I say now, I mean NOW!

"Damn it," Bella snarled, hanging up.

"Who?" Felix asked.

"Councilor Friend," Bella sighed.

"Damn it," Felix groaned. "Hand said he was acting on orders from the Leadership."

"Bella, what's going on?" I demanded.

So, she told me.

-------------------

"Wait, so you're not a sales rep for TransWorld?" I said, shocked. "You're a spy... for the Agency... and he's an alien?!"

"We prefer the term Settler," Felix said.

"Aliens have infiltrated the Agency," I continued. 

"We work in collaboration with our Agency partners," Felix clarified, "to promote peace and stability."

"...and they have an entire division that hunts witches?" I pressed on, undeterred.

"Section 6 monitors and contains all kinds of extraordinary threats," Felix said.

"... and these witch-hunting aliens have abducted my girlfriend?!" I shouted.

"Yeah," Felix sighed. "That's about right."

"Girlfriend?" Bella blinked.

"Kind of... maybe," I said. "I mean, I was going to ask her... if we hadn't been interrupted by an alien abduction!" 

"I checked on Alexander," Edwards said into the uncomfortable silence. "He's in bed. I've called Mr. Brown and told him at least some of what's happened. He's on his way now, but this storm blowing in is getting bad quickly. It might take him a while."

The rain had started while Felix was bringing me home. Now it was a full thunderstorm.

"The greatest weather-witch in the world," I breathed, not really sure why I said it.

"What?" Bella asked sharply.

"This man Gwen met this morning," I said. "She said he was a friend and she wanted him to help us with... a thing... but he wouldn't. She said he was the greatest weather-witch in the world. I just thought..."

"His name... did she say his name?" Bella pressed.

"Lucius..." I started.

"Tempest," Bella gasped. "She said he was a friend?"

"Yeah, but I think... from something she said, I think he might be her father," I said. "Is that possible?"

"We were so focused on the damage she might do by accident," Bella said to Felix. "We never considered what someone might do on purpose to protect her."

"It can't be him," Felix said. "He's... he's a myth."

"What are you talking about?" I said.

"Lucius Tempest is an ancient and powerful witch," Bella said. "The old druids called him Taranis the Thunderer... a mythological hero."

"Gwen said something to him about being the hero of some war," I said. "She said he destroyed Lord Sloth's fleet..."

"Lord Sloth's invasion fleet pursued Princess Cordelia after the fall of the House of Thebe," Edwards, who was something of a history buff, put in. "The fleet was destroyed by..."

"... a hurricane," Bella finished.

Outside, the storm raged.

"What are you planning?" Felix asked.

"That might just be an early winter storm blowing in off the sea," Bella said. "But, if the legends are even half true, Taranis has the power to single-handedly destroy all of Willow Creek, and the Agency just abducted his kid! We can't wait for the Committee to rescind the containment order. We need to get Gwen back tonight."

"I'm going with you," I said. "It's my fault they took her."

"Cas, it's not your fault," Bella said. "The Agency has been worried about Gwen since she arrived. She's a very powerful witch and they were concerned of what she might do if she lost control of her powers."

"...and she did just cause a dimensional breach," Felix put in.

"But that's what I mean," I said. "She didn't cause the breach. I did."

"Cas, it would take a powerful Psychokinetic Active to cause this kind of breach," Felix said. "You're a psychic sensitive but you're not an Active."

With a deep breath I stood up and called fire into the fireplace.

"You... you're..." Felix stammered before turning to Bella. "She an Active! You faked her test results."

"Of course I faked her test results!" Bella snapped. "I wasn't letting Key or Section 6 anywhere near my daughter!"

"I'm going with you," I insisted.

"Right," Bella said. "Felix, you're going to Director Bridges. Tell her everything... emphasis on the 'we just pissed off the Lord of Storms' part. We need her to back me up. Edwards, hold down the fort. Look after Alexander and bring Doug up to speed when he gets here. I'm going to Key's lab and getting Gwen."

"I said I'm going with you," I repeated.

"Go upstairs," Bella told me. Before I could object, she continued, "Get changed into something that you can move in and that won't give an opponent a way to get a grip on you. Meet me at the door in five minutes or I leave without you."

Author's Note

For the uninitiated, Princess Cordelia Thebe is a well-established historical figure in Sims lore... noted for her love of music, her furniture and her many pirate boyfriends. Her unnamed kingdom was destroyed in the otherwise largely unexplained Great Sloth Invasion. 

Me being me, I've put my own spin on this... transforming a semi-comedic invasion by Sloths into a more serious invasion by "Lord Sloth" and his armies. What can I say, I like putting my own spin on Sims lore.

Lucius Tempest is my own original character.