Game was 1/2/21.
As the hunters pull out their phones, Leta remembers that with Veltis out of commission, their hell-phones now only function as regular cell phones. This means they are no longer secure, and anyone could theoretically tap into them. The others come to the same conclusion a split-second later, although William is the last to consider it. When William realizes that the phones no longer function properly with the Veltis injured, he asks semi-jokingly, "Does this mean we can get rid of them?" The others assure him that that is not an option! He then decides, "Well in that case, I can just drive over there."
Josh asks, "Perhaps you should call first, and let them know you're coming in the morning?" William shakes his head and replies, "Tomorrow morning? No, I'm talking about going over right now. And I don't see the point of calling ahead. They know me there after all." Josh stares at his grandfather and says carefully, "Granddad, have recent events had any impact on your impulse control?" William replies, "What are you asking?" Josh insists that William should call ahead, but William refuses to consider it. Josh finally gives up, and declares, "it's your marriage."
Josh is insistent that William does not go there alone; William shrugs and replies, "I can get others to come with me. Others have been there before… those being MacLeod and Vandernoot." Josh manages to persuade his grandfather that is a terribly bad idea, and William soon agrees. Anita debates going with them or not, as she does have to open the botanica tomorrow morning, but lands on the side of going with them just to see the chaos. Some of the hunters eye each other, trying to figure out what to do with the Curran boys, and Polly says firmly, "Don't even think about it."
Mick sighs and looks at Doctor Ranjip; the good doctor nods in defeat and states, "Mick and I will bring the boys back to the Troy house and keep an eye on them while you go do this remarkably stupid thing." The hunters settle the bill and head outside into the rain at a little after 10 PM. Mick and Doctor Ranjip head back to the Troy house, while Abby and Poly climb into Josh's Ford Explorer; William takes the driver's seat. Josh grumbles but gets into the passenger seat. Meanwhile Leta and Veltis climb into Anita's Honda.
The hunters caravan up to Route 9 and then into Leeds, Florence, and Williamsburg. Then they get into hill-county, and Anita gets nervous as she is a city girl born and raised. Leta jokes about passing all the cows and libertarians up here in the hill towns, which surprisingly does not comfort Anita at all. It is 10: 45 when they reach the driveway, and William simply pulls in and starts navigating the steep driveway. Anita follows William and grumbles about her sister Del. William stops at the gate, and watches as Boris steps out of the guardhouse with his AK-47, take two steps towards his car, and then stops and stares when he recognizes William. Boris sighs deeply and then turns around, marches back to the gatehouse, and pushes the button to open the gate. The gate swings open and William heads through, taking note that Boris didn't bother with calling ahead. Leta calls out, "Thanks, Boris!" as Anita also passes through the gate.
The two cars navigate the rest of the driveway before pulling into the cleared area in front of the chalet-style mansion that is the headquarters of Merat-Su's cult. The house is lit, and a few more lights go on when the people inside realize they have company. A few moments later, a woman bundled up in a jacket walks out, also carrying an AK-47. She strides halfway across the parking area before she stops, stares at Anita's car, and then pivots and walks back inside.
A few moments later, the same woman strides out again, still carrying the AK-47, this time across her back, and is holding a cattle prod! Leta wonders about the cattle prod, and Anita says firmly, "You're not allowed a cattle prod, Leta." Leta frowns and replies, "They didn't bring one out the last time we were here!" The woman approaches the passenger side of the Ford Explorer and Josh rolls down the window and greets her politely. The woman looks up at Josh and says firmly, "Mr. Joshua Troy, why are you here at 11:00 o'clock at night?"
Josh simply gestures to his grandfather, so the woman swings her eyes to William. William explains, "We need information." The woman stares at him and then states, "Boris just opened the gate? Without a callup? What information are you looking for?" In reply William turns on the car's interior light and then rolls up his sleeves to show her his arm. She immediately spots the hieroglyphics, and then nods and heads around to the driver side of Anita's Honda. Anita rolls down her window and the woman says firmly, "Behave!" Anita replies, "We'll behave, right Leta?" Lea retorts, "Perfectly behaved."1)
The woman pulls back and motions for the hunters to follow her. She pivots on her feet and starts marching towards the main doors. The hunters quickly exit their cars and follow her, but Leta whispers to Anita, "You know she was telling you to behave, right?" Anita snorts in disbelief and then they enter the chalet. They stop for a second when they realize the chalet has been remodeled; the walls are now the color of papyrus and have jade accents.2) Anita admires the new look and decrees, "Not my personal taste, but I can see how others would like it."
The woman first leads them to a coat rack and quickly removes her jacket to hang it up. The hunters all follow her lead, and then take their shoes off at the door to the library. They walk into the massive library and take a quick look around; William notes with some amusement that his 1985 police manual is still present. The woman, who they now see clearly is a Latina in her late twenties,3) asks them, "Would you like any refreshments?" Josh replies, "Water, please." Anita nods and says, "Hydration is important! I'll take a water too, please." Josh says jokingly, "And how about a beer for granddad?" William surprises them all by saying, "A beer would be nice." Polly asks semi-seriously, "Scotch on the rocks?" The woman asks, "What year?" Taken aback, Polly replies, "Something at least twelve years old?" The woman nods and bids them to wait for a few moments before she exits the room.
A few minutes passed as the hunters look around the library and then the woman returns with a tray containing a pitcher of chilled water and several glasses, one beer in an unmarked bottle, and a small tumbler of Scotch on the rocks. She hands them each their drinks, and William takes a tentative sip of the beer. He realizes this is some sort of artisanal brew, possibly even fermented here on the premises, but finds he enjoys the flavor anyway.4) Polly sips carefully at her Scotch but nods in approval.
The woman settles into one of the chairs and places the cattle prod next to her, within easy reach. She states, "Mr. Berry Kells is asleep right now, but we can wake him if needs be. Miss Lucia Ramirez is away tonight and won't be back until sometime tomorrow. My name is Marisol, and I will do my best to assist you. Now, it is obvious to me while William Troy is here, but why are the rest of you accompanying him?" Anita retorts, "Mostly entertainment," and Marisol rolls her eyes. She then smiles sweetly at Anita and says, "Actually, it is good that you came tonight. You can do us a favor." Anita narrows her eyes and asks carefully, "What sort of favor?" Marisol's smile grows wider as she says in the same sweet tone, "Your sister will need a ride home when we're done here."
Anita growls in anger but decides she doesn't want to know right now. Leta says carefully, "She's too young to join up." Anita looks angry again, but Marisol replies, "She is assisting us in other ways." Marisol turns back to William and says, "So, Mr. Troy…" Josh has a delicious shiver of schadenfreude as he realizes her tone is aimed at William this time. Marisol continues, "What happened, and how many more hieroglyphs do you have?"
William replies simply, "A lot more," and lets the statement hang. Marisol asks, "Please relate to me how you got those marks?" William considers her question carefully for a few moments before replying, "In a dream I had, I seemingly took the place of a mummy known as Ahmekh, and when I woke up, I was covered in these marks, but at that point they were ash. Then there was an attack on my house, and during that fight something from Duat appeared. I may have said that I would serve him. And then the marks became permanent. I want to be clear that this was during a moment of crisis, and while they asked, I got the distinct impression that saying no was not an option ."5)
Marisol's expression softens slightly as she replies, "No, it probably wasn't. I am going to need to see all of the marks, however." William shrugs, finishes his beer, and then says, "OK, lead the way." Josh moans, "This is my life now. Everyone's after my grandad's booty." Anita makes a lewd joke about William's taint emoji, and William says to Marisol, "I'm willing to go with you, because it would be weirder having them here."
Marisol snorts but adds, "We will need to take pictures for reference and research, and I admit I'm sorely tempted to have a few printed and blown up to leave in Mr. Kell's room for when he wakes up." William simply shrugs, while Josh thinks to himself, "Granddad's gonna have nudes before I do…" William follows Marisol out of the library, and she leads him into a side room down the hall. William swiftly realizes that this room is for 'appointments' but strips down without a word. For the next half hour, Marisol examines William's body and takes several pictures. There is nothing lascivious about this, it is strictly professional. William realizes but this was what he expected.
While William is being examined, the others wait in the library. Anita carries her glass of water and wanders through looking at all the spines of the books. She finds that much of the books are in English, but a substantial minority are in different languages such as French, Arabic, Chinese, and a few languages she simply does not recognize. Several books are locked in temperature-controlled cubbyholes, including a few that are definitely bound in human skin. She also finds several ancient scrolls locked behind glass and jokes about the scroll-hole.
Josh remains on the couch and just chills out, while Polly continues to sip her Scotch carefully. Leta drinks her water and follows Abby to make sure she doesn't drool on anything. For her part, Abby heads to the exact same spot where she was the last time they were here, and immediately picks up from there. Josh gives her heart-eyes as this was what he expected, and he finds it completely charming. He actually spots Del wandering by the library and gives her a wave, but she does not glance his way.
There is a faint popping noise, and then Veltis shifts to his succubus-form. He's still asleep, but now just sprawled across one of the couches. Leta sighs but theorizes that the ambient sex-energy of this chalet simply triggered the change. She also recalls the last time they were here they passed through a ward, but that seems to have been removed. However, the library is still definitely warded, and at one point she spots Petite and The Witch out of the corners of her eyes.
The temperature in the room suddenly drops several degrees, and Anita can clearly see Petite finding something on one of the shelves and then dragging Abby bodily over! Alarmed, Josh gets to his feet6) and notes that Abby is in front of several French books, and she is now reaching for one that seems to be leaping into her hand. Abbey eyes the cover of the book before reaching out, stealing Polly's glass of Scotch, downing it in one gulp, and then bringing the book to a desk. Polly looks at her empty glass in askance while Leta and Josh scramble over to flank Abby for whatever she is found. Anita keeps her distance, as she can see Petite partially mounting Abby to read over her shoulder.
Josh is the first to realize that Abby has found a book containing birth certificates from the 1500s. She is staring at one in particular, and it takes Leta and Josh several moments to decipher the old French to realize it is for one Etienne Troyes! Abby starts cursing, leading Leta to ask, "What activated your swear-hole?" Abby's profanity increases before she jabs down to a line on the page and yells, "The Purveyor!" Leta starts swearing now, while Anita murmurs, "I didn't realize that he was family…" Leta hisses in rage, "He said he already owned you!" Josh cautions her, "Let Abby work, and come out of her fugue on her own terms."
At this point, William and Marisol reenter the library. Marisol eyes the scene and turns to William, but he simply shrugs in reply. Josh calls out, "We found a birth record for an old Troy in France, and some mention of The Purveyor. We're not sure if that means he was The Purveyor?" William grumbles, "This is why Josh collects one of each kind, because we've been one of each kind!"7) Abby's swearing suddenly increases even more and becomes inarticulate, so Josh turns to Marisol and asks, "By any chance do you have chocolate here? Maybe some sort of French chocolate?" Marisol skewers him with a glare and retorts, "This is a female-lead sex cult. Of course, we have chocolate!"
Before Marisol can do anything further however, Abby screams in inarticulate rage and then slams both fists down on either side of the book, breaking the desk! She spins and reaches for Josh's throat as Leta attempts to intercept Abby, Josh starts apologizing for whatever stupid shit his ancestor did while Leta manages to grab Abby's hand before it connects and she snaps, "Josh, move! Away! Out of eye-line, now!" Josh takes several steps back but continues apologizing to Abby for whatever his ancestors did. To Anita's shock, she can see Petite trying to calm Abby down!
Marisol demands, "What is going on? And why is there a naked golden lady on the couch?" Anita, Polly, and William just shrug at the last question, while Abby glares at Josh with utter hatred! Josh immediately realizes that she doesn't hate him, but she hates that he is a Troy. Abby snarls, "Three inches! He bargained with The Purveyor for three inches and a tight butt!" The other stare at her blankly for a split-second before Leta puts two and two together and says, "Oh, that's why they all have cute butts!" Abby swings back and roughly grabs the old book, causing Marisol to look horrified! This also startles Josh more than anything, as he is very aware of how protective Abby is of books.
Still snarling with rage, Abby howls, "These enhancements will pass down along the male line, but it is the women who will pay the price!" Leta frowns and admits, "I'm not sure about any females in the Troy line." Abby growls, "We know there was a Sally Troy who was institutionalized, and censored-censored-censored Serena." Anita leans in and whispers to Leta, "Since when do we censor anything?" Leta whispers back, "That is the only thing we censor." Abby snarls, "Whatever price the females have to pay, it was not written down clearly! Yay, misogyny!"
Abby offers a feral smile to Marisol and says with forced sweetness, "So, have you found anything? Any help?" Marisol simply nods, which is enough to shift all attention to her. She gestures for them to take their seats and the hunters comply. She settles in and says firmly, "I must make this clear to you all, I do not have all of the facts or the context. I will need to speak to Mr. Kells and Miss Ramirez before I can determine anything. Having said that, William Troy now sports the hieroglyphic marks that once belonged to a mummy named Kef-ahmekh the Weaponsmith. He tattooed himself before the Rite of Return, and most of it are his memories. Somehow the marks follow him from Descent to Descent, from body to body, and they are there to remind him of who he was."
Marisol points to William and says, "Do you see how the marks are thicker on his inner arms? That is what he remembers from the Nameless Empire. The Deathless struggle with the memories of who they are, what they are, and often where they are. At one point Kef-ahmekh crafted two daggers to contain his memories so that he could access them later." William nods while Josh says, "It looks like something went wrong with that!"
Marisol nods and says, "Correct. Something went wrong, some corruption crept in. Other Deathless believe that the blades were corrupted as a punishment from the Judges for defying their will." She leans back in her chair and says, "The Deathless was do not experience linear time the way we do. Some of our most ancient records, dating back one thousand years, speak of Merat-Su describing something called Google. This apparently came from her last Descent and her conversation with Josh." Josh brightens and says, "I helped pay for this house?" Marisol snaps, "You do not live here, Mr. Troy." Josh looks wounded and insists he just wants to help people, and Anita adds, "He wants to be a good boy." Leta nods in agreement.
Josh jokes about an ancient mummy telling his followers about Apple, and then they buy an apple orchard! Marisol admits, "Some things like that have actually happened, at least anecdotally. Now, at some point in the distant past, Merat-Su formed a meret, a cell in your terminology, with four other Deathless. Her husband Kef-ahmekh, a mummy called Hakim, one known only as Deathwalker, and one they refuse to speak about. Something happened to shatter the meret, And Kef-ahmekh is missing. He may have been destroyed, or worse. All we know is that he hasn't been seen in five hundred years." Leta makes a joke about the Hedge, and Marisol looks at her blankly and says, "What does a hedge have to do with anything?" Lea assures her, "No, I mean the Hedge, and it sucks there. Trust me on this."8)
Josh asks carefully, "Are these marks on granddad a way for Kef-ahmekh to return?" Marisol nods sadly and replies, "That is very much a possibility. Either the Judge intends to use William to resurrect Kef-ahmekh, which will destroy William's soul, or Kef-ahmekh is irretrievably gone and William is a functioning replacement." Josh asks if someone willing could take the marks from William, but Marisol shakes her head as William glares at his grandson. Leta says carefully, "But daggers showed you all of this. The demons pulled out of those daggers definitely liked William; I wonder if there was some correlation."
Marisol looks at Leta blankly and says, "Demons?" Leta tries to explain, but from the couch Veltis suddenly cuts in and tells the tale of Pope Honorius III, his demon summoning, and Hell's quest to retrieve those daggers and free the demons trapped inside. He refers to the theft of the daggers at the Banquet of Chestnuts and then how it took over one hundred years before they were able to crack open the daggers, only to find the essences inside each had coalesced into a single demon, Impurity and Disgrace.
He sits up, still in succubus-form, and Leta admonishes him to rest. Veltis ignores her request and announces, "Where's the carpet-muncher? I'll talk to her!" Anita and Leta roar in outrage but strangely Polly just frowns and murmurs, "You've called me that before." Veltis frowns as he says slowly, "Your name… your name is Polly?" Polly nods and Veltis swings to Anita and says, "And your name is Anita. And you have the freaky basement." Anita concedes, "Bad stuff has happened in the basement, but it's not my fault since you all just showed up!"
Before things get further out of hand, Leta tells Marisol, "Oh, about Hakim. He just reactivated. We met him three weeks ago at a Halloween party out in Boston, and a day or two later he helped us clean up some of our enemies and in return he took a statue of Bast. We don't know if he was cool before, but he's been cool since we've met him. So, is Merat-Su… sleeping?" Marisol replies, "Merat-Su has been asleep since April, but there were signs that she seemed to try to wake up within this past week." Leta frowns and wonders, "I wonder if that's because she senses William?" Marisol nods slowly as she considers the possibility.
William speaks up and says, "So I want to mention these dreams." He explains his most recent dream in the Aztec Empire and reveals the heart in the freezer. Josh protests that there's another body part in the kitchen, but William ignores him and continues to mention the other dreams, including the one from 2042. Marisol listens carefully and takes notes on her phone. Once William finishes, Marisol adds, "Oh, one more thing. Deathwalker is awake and operating in Springfield." Leta protests about all of the mummies being in western Massachusetts, but Marisol replies, "They were all part of a meret, remember? Despite the meret fracturing, they still all operate out of the same general area."
Anita frowns deeply and asks slowly, "Does this Deathwalker have metallic skin and retractable wings?" Leta snaps, "Are you talking about Silas Black? He has a different type of head-smashing; he just smashes his hands together while when we saw Merat-Su active in Connecticut she was popping heads like Little Bunny Foo Foo!" Anita retorts, "They can have different types of head-smashing! How about a reality breaking sword?"
Marisol frowns and replies, "Some mummies can create metallic armor, and theoretically even grow wings. Wait, is this all one person?" Anita replies firmly, "Yes!" Leta adds that this person was running around the Underworld without issue, and Marisol shakes her head firmly. She says flatly, "A mummy would never go down to the Underworld voluntarily like that. This sounds like something else entirely. Before I forget, I do have a contact number for Deathwalker's cult if you're interested."
William shakes his head at the offer but then adds, "Oh, that last dream in the Aztec Empire? Apparently, the following day I was supposed to get training for an Utterance?" Marisol shivers and replies firmly, "Press X to doubt, and get out of that dream!" Leta grumbles about not getting any actual answers, but Marisol states, "I believe you saw Merat-Su spewing scarabs out of her mouth at people?" Leta admits she saw the aftermath, but they were very dead regardless. Marisol retorts, "That is an Utterance. An Utterance is a very powerful magical act that mummies can perform, but I suspect if William tries it, even in a dream, it will destroy him." William decides, "OK…" but Josh asks tersely, "You're agreeing to this, right?" William replies, "Yes, that is definitely bad, and why would you ask?" Josh retorts, "Your decision-making is on a different path lately. No uttering for you!"
Anita demands, "Where is my sister?" Marisol blithely replies, "Don't worry, we'll go untie her. Would anyone like anymore refreshments while we do that?" Anita raises an eyebrow and waffles back and forth about wanting to know or not, while Polly asks, "Can I have another Scotch?" William decides, "A Scotch sounds good right now, honestly." Marisol nods and leaves the room for a few minutes before returning with two tumblers of Scotch on the rocks. William and Polly start enjoying their libations, while Veltis remains in succubus-form sprawled across the couch. He appears asleep, but Leta can tell from his body language that he is not. She crouches down next to him and sees the desperate look in his eyes as he is trying to hold onto his memories, but then his face goes blank.
It suddenly strikes the others that Polly is now having a second alcoholic beverage, and this is the first time they've seen her drink in over a year! There is an unspoken collective decision to put a pin in that for now, and William finishes his Scotch and says, "OK, when we get Del, we can get out of here. Del can go with Anita." Josh asks sharply if William should be driving, but William replies, "I'm fine. I've had one beer and one Scotch.
Marisol returns to the library with Del in tow; Anita stares at her sister but is surprised when Del stares right back at her. Josh chirps, "Hi, Del!" Del turns away from Anita and sweetly greets Josh in return. She then winks to Abby and starts flirting heavily with Josh, mostly to anger her sister. She ignores the fact that Veltis is a succubus on the couch until he stands up and just starts heading for the door stark-naked! Josh pleads, "Do you have a blanket or something?" as Anita howls, "You are not getting in the passenger seat! I'm not dealing with a naked woman!" Del says with mock sweetness, "Don't worry, I'll protect you!" Marisol tosses Leta a blanket and they exit the chalet and head for the cars.
Josh asks William if he can drive on the way to the car; William insists, "I am fine." He reaches for the car door as Anita yells, "Let him drive! It will make him feel better!" William relents and hands Josh the keys before walking around the front of the Ford Explorer and climbing into the passenger's seat. Polly and Abby climb into the back seat of the Ford Explorer while Del claims shotgun in Anita's Honda, leaving Leta and succubus-Veltis to scramble into the back. Both cars pull out of the little parking lot and carefully navigate the treacherous driveway down the ridgeline. They reach the gates and see Boris flipping them off with both hands before he opens the gate. Anita protests but Leta says, "I think they're both for William."
It's a little after 1:00 AM when they pull back on to Route 9 and head east to get back to Northampton. They cross the border into Goshen, and a few minutes later police lights pop up behind them! Both cars pull over to the side of the road and Leta hisses to Veltis, "You have to be a rat now, not a naked lady!" Veltis grunts and tries to shift, and then the passenger side of the poor Honda radically dips as there's now a large panda bear in the back seat! Leta is buried in panda fur and Veltis lurches forward to the top of Anita's head and start sniffling her hair.
Anita hisses, "Stop it! Get smaller!" Del says, "This is new." Veltis seems unwilling or unable to change back, and then just falls asleep! Anita snarls, "At least try to look like a stuffed panda!" Veltis grumbles in his sleep but then the hunters see the police lights behind them suddenly switch off! The cop car pulls an illegal U-turn on Route 9 and swiftly drives away!9) With a soft grunt, Veltis then suddenly shifts back into a normal-sized rat! The Honda pops back up and Anita moans about her poor undercarriage.
The two cars part ways on Route 9 as Anita just drives Leta and Veltis home, while Josh heads for his house. They pull up at around 1:30 and get out of the Ford Explorer, and Polly offers Abby a ride home if she wants it. Abby accepts the offer, climbs into Polly's Saturn, and they drive away. As William and Josh head for the front door, Mick, Doctor Ranjip, Dean, and Ray all troop out onto the porch to greet them.
Josh observes, "This is a little late for them to be up?" before he and William stop and stare as Dean now sports bunny ears! To their horror, they realized these bunny ears are not fake in any way; they are real and are coming out of Dean's head! To make matters worse, Ray has a pair of bunny ears too!10) Mick and Doctor Ranjip walk by William and Josh and Mick says firmly, "It will fade in the morning, and we've repaired the kitchen as best we can. Goodnight."
Mick and Doctor Ranjip drive away, and the Curran brothers head inside and then head directly to bed. William heads into the kitchen and finds empty bags of lettuce stuffed into the trash. He realizes that there are several bags of lettuce, much more than he originally had this morning! He can tell the kitchen table fell over at some point, but Mick or Doctor Ranjip put it back up. As they sweep through the house, they find little things out of place while William looks specifically for pellets. Thankfully, he finds none, and they look in Serena's room to find the boys curled up next to each other on the bed, fast asleep.
Anita drives Del home in silence, until they pass Holyoke on I-91. She then blurts out, "So how did you get all the way up there?" Del turns to look at her sister and replies, "What did you have to do with our brother's death?" Anita roars in outrage and insists, "That is not even close to the same thing! And nothing!" Del retorts, "You're lying." Anita insists she is not but declares, "Fine, silence it is!" Del snaps, "I have known you all of my life. You have a tell when you are lying!" Anita insists she doesn't have any tells, and Del snarks, "Yes, you do, sorry to tell you."
Anita howls again in rage and derides Del as being too selfish and too self-centered to have ever noticed any of this before. Del side-eyes Anita and says coldly, "Self-centered? That's what you really think of me?" Anita snaps, "Yes!" Del shakes her head and says, "Then this conversation is over." Anita grumbles that the silent treatment is fine with her. Anita pulls into the driveway of her home at 2:00 o'clock in the morning, and they can see Abuela at the window, waiting for them. Del enters the house first and before Abuela can say anything, Del pecks a quick kiss on her forehead and says cheerfully, "Goodnight, Abuela!" She then turns and walks upstairs. Abuela sputters before turning and demanding answers, but Anita gives her a quick peck on the forehead and says cheerfully, "Goodnight, Abuela!" She then walks upstairs and goes to bed.