018. Sorry!

The motley connects with allies old and new.

***"I can tell you what's going to happen soon…. Physically, it's been everywhere."***

Sophia gets a little closer with Kaylie by taking her out busking before she accompanies the motley to the Duke Granville's court at Heart's Light. En route, Kaylie's curiousity about fae nature gets the better of her, and Braum reveals an important detail about their existence, namely the marriage of fae soul and mortal flesh. Normally, the Escheat forbids revealing the nature of the Fae to non-Kithain (the Right to Ignorance) in order to protect the Dreaming, but Braum firmly holds that Kaylie, as an ambassador of the Garou, is not an agent of Banality but rather a powerful ally.

They deliver their report on the events of the attack on the Duchess Eloyse to the Duke and his new scribe, the sluagh Antoinette. The Duke congratulates the motley on their heroism in the face of danger, and on saving the Duchess' life, which the motley shrugs off as "something anyone would have done". The Duke tells them that he has put several agents to the task of uncovering more info about the Masked Man and other assailants, and their possible motivations. When Braum reveals that Fala identified the attacker as Duke Meilge, Granville tells him he has no reason to believe the attack would be political in nature, as Meilge would have nothing to gain from a destabilized Duchy of Many Rivers. He asks the motley to keep themselves safe while also tracking any information about Seelie House involvement in the attacks.

As the others move off to the side, Patches steps up to speak to the Duke privately. He insinuates that it's not just the return of Braum that has many excited, but also the "rise of other heroes" too. He asks Patches to return that night for "more information", and Patches goes back on her previous commitment to break things off with the Duke and agrees.

Sophia offers to enchant Kaylie, seeing as a Garou ambassador should probably have a sense of who the changelings really are. Jonas intercedes to offer the initial investment of Glamour on behalf of Heart's Light, if the motley can "afford" to keep Kaylie enchanted. Kaylie, now imbued with The Sight, takes in her new companions: Braum, incredibly massive and carved from stone; Patches, her face etched with designs and hair now shocked white; Sophia, so incredibly beautiful and graceful that Kaylie is forced back a few steps.

Returning to The Spark to plan their next move, Incisor takes a moment to speak with Braum after going over the "ground rules" with Kaylie. The redcap admits to Braum that her father used to tell her stories about the Red Branch knight's great deeds: "That one time you saved that kid on the bridge with a gust of wind… You could have gone after the bad guys, but you chose to stay behind to save him." She is obviously in awe of Braum, and asks him to live in the present, not in the past. Braum agrees, and reiterates this to Claude, who tells him that getting Kay's selkie coat to "where it needs to be" should be his priority. At Braum's request, he also tells the troll about the status of the Red Branch. With the High King David no longer "his usual self", the Red Branch has become disillusioned, although there are some who have spread out and carried on their work (like Claude). The boggan stresses just how important it is to *believe* in people in order to make them heroes, and tells him, again, to get Kay's coat out to her niece in St. John's.

Patches ventures down to the workshop where Zistor Flexx is working on Talus' arm. When Patches confronts him about the rocket, he is forced to admit that he *doesn't* know where it is, exactly. She ventures that at least it must be safe, given that no one has been able to find it for a decade…. But that she doesn't want to try and retrieve it before they've worked out a detailed plan for reversing it. Zistor agrees: if the rocket were simply to be "directly" reversed, it would explode with its stored energy. Braum was being used as a sort of "battery"; perhaps if they could work out something to act as a conduit, the Glamour stored in the rocket could be safely transferred back to the mortals from which it was taken. Patches agrees to work with Zistor on a solution, but not that night, as she "already has plans".

Meanwhile, Sophia is getting to know Kaylie better: the werewolf is bowled over by the beauty of the Dreaming, claiming that it must be a gift left for the world by Gaia. She is adamant that, though she is a warrior, it is Sophia who will be able to inspire many in the future. Sophia, knowing that she is as much an ambassador of her kind as Kaylie is of hers, asks the Garou to learn of their traditions and world. Kaylie tells Sophia of the Three Forces, the Weaver, the Wyld… and the Wyrm. When Kaylie speaks of battling the Wyrm, Sophia claims that she "isn't much of a fighter", to which Kaylie responds with a sincere offer of combat training!

That night, Patches heads off to Heart's Light to meet Duke Granville. Alone together in his office, she admits to him that she was planning on breaking things off between them after having witnessed private moments in Braum's mind. She doesn't want others to know publicly of her private life, but, after seeing the Duke today, was so relieved that he was unharmed, she changed her mind. The Duke asks if she's OK, and then whether she wants to maybe "feel better than OK". Pulling her in close for a kiss, the two move to his bedroom….

After having tentatively asked Kyoko to accompany him on his journey and had her enthusiastically accept, the two Kithain fly out to St. John's, driving up the coast to the place where Kay's niece, Lauren, is said to be a surfer. Arriving at the water's edge, the two changelings take in the incredible cold, wild ocean, and the teenagers surfing. One of them, a lithe young woman, approaches them. Braum introduces himself as a "friend of your aunt's", and tells Lauren that Kay wanted her to have her old coat. Lauren goes to put it on, and, in a massive burst of Glamour, undergoes her Chrysalis, turning into the selkie that Kay knew she would become, inheriting some of her Remembrance. Embracing Braum, she dives off a cliff into the ocean below, jumping in and out of the waves with joy. Sitting at the edge of the cliff, Braum and Kyoko take in the sight of a new incarnation of their old friend. Kyoko earnestly tells Braum that "this may be the only time I can tell you and have you believe… I love you, and always have." Braum is surprised by the Kyoko's vehement sincerity, but accepts it, telling her that "of course I believe you. I think I've always known." And he pulls her down to the ground, kissing her.

Back in Cross' Shadow, Patches wakes up the following morning with the Duke asleep, and two fresh croissants just inside the door. Leaving all three, she ducks out, heading home before going off to work. Having not been home for some time, she is delighted to see Little One alive and well. And then the dragon suddenly lifts off the ground, using its wings to fly. Patches keeps a brave face for the chimera, but privately wonders "What now?"