graveyard romp.

[Wyrmbreaker] On the way to the graveyard, Lukas explains the situation:

He and Lila picked up a ghost in Grant Park, children's horror-story-style: a bride in her wedding gown looking for her estranged groom, who had stormed off due to someone's allegations of infidelity. Who that someone was -- were -- was never revealed. They gave her a ride home, only to have her disappear out of the back seat. When they arrived at the address, it was a cemetery. There was another woman inside; another ghost who beckoned to them.

Lila, a Galliard, has theories and stories: a Gnawer pack in Chicago in the '30s, The Chicago Times (Lila might fill in details on their names and auspices here), of whose number two took mates. Both were named Mary. Mary the First fought with her mate on their wedding night; pursuing him into the streets, she was run over and killed. Mary the Second had a child, Mary the Third. A few years after Mary the First died, Mary the Third died; Mary the second, only months after. After that, the pack ran wild in the streets, throwing themselves against impossible odds until they vanished.

It was believed that they died on their last mission, seeking to destroy a wyrm talisman of great and corrupting power -- a talisman concealed, perhaps, within a hive. That's where the history ends; to pick up loose ends, the Garou in 2010 are following ghosts into the cemetery.

[Warcry] It's unusual that Sinclair is told to come along with something where her brain is needed more than her claws and fangs. It isn't that she's stupid; far from it. It's that she's spiritually weak, as so very many Glass Walkers are. It's that as soon as Wyrmbreaker mentioned ghosts she gave him a look that is much easier for her to type out with an uppercase O followed by an underscore and a less-than symbol. She's bright enough to grasp the rest of what he tells her, sharp enough to absorb what has been passed along through Lila, but as they get towards the cemetary, she's still trying to wrap her mind around it.

And she's still wondering what use she'll be, exactly.

[Truth's Meridian] Katherine is flicking through a car magazine on the way to the cemetery with the aid of a tiny pocket sized torch; folding down the corners of pages that have replacement vehicles she is considering buying to replace her stolen car. Her sensitivity about the occurrence was two-fold; not only had it been stolen by a Kinfolk she had thought she was saving the life of, but she had also been one of Thunder's.

Her temper was rankled.

Still; Ghosts and cemeteries. One is thankful that at least it wasn't a full moon.

[Annie Taylor] Annie's already there. She's made a circuit of the perimeter, of course - it's what small, sneaky Ahrouns do before they dive into the fray, one imagines. Better to know what's going on and where, better to find a map dropped by someone, better to mark out where the Marys might be buried. Makes more sense to know where you're going and be flexible on what you're doing when you get there.

As the Unbroken - those of them who're involved - and Lila are arriving, Annie's leaning against the fence near the front gate, holding the map she's collected. There are sections - she's trying to narrow it down.

[Lila] Lila does fill in details where necessary. And she corrects them, too. That the child Mary wasn't daughter to either Mary, but to one of The Chicago Times boys. The details she inserts about the boys are echoes of old stories: she outlines a few sparse details about their character, what their names were (are, forever now), their auspices, what the stories say their character was, manages not to wrinkle her nose at the children's rhyme-y marry a Mary for a merry good time piece of fortune the pack held dear. That the pack vanished within the year after the last Mary died she's fairly clear about. That what really happened isn't clear, also, she's pretty clear about. That their last mission involved three parts, that the first two were certainly accomplished and the last one is a mystery, the last one is why they're here, investigating the graveyard, she's also pretty clear about. The galliard's being conversational and concise this trip, and she hardly looks dreamy at all.

Then she adds, as they pull into the graveyard: "A kinswoman of the Fenrir contacted me about this story. Her name is Moira; she said that she was going to investigate the cemetery with Truth in Frenzy."

[Resurrection Mary] The Resurrection Cemetery is not a small cemetery by any means. In fact, it's home to well over 150,000 souls, and it could be said that a good many of them are restless... though none so restless as three.

These three.
Mary N.
Mary B.
Mary M.

There has been an awful lot of information gathered, and not all of it has been discovered by the same people. Tonight, a good deal of them are seeking answers. Answers, and a direction, under a darkened moon just now beginning to show a crescent grin.

The majority of the Unbroken arrive in the same vehicle, those that are coming tonight, that is. They also have a little Coggie Storyteller, who has vast knowledge of the Garou Lore and History found in Chicago... and tonight, they do not have a passenger named Mary.

But Annie sees it happening - standing before the gates as she is. There's a flash of white, the image of a girl - 12 years old, if that, dressed in a white party dance, hair short and bobbed as she laughs delightedly - at the corner of her eye, and the sensation of a chill brushing past her...

...and right in front of the moving Unbroken car...

SLAMTHUDSCREAMCRY

silence.

[Warcry] At least one of the other members of the Unbroken can help Katherine with her car decision. She's peering over the Philodox's shoulder, suggesting ones that look like good deals, asking rather reasonable questions about what Kate really wants and needs in a car other than Status. She has a decent amount of knowledge; nowhere near Joey's level of interest or excitement about it, but if they've paid much attention at all they know she takes very good care of that old El Camino of hers.

She has become quiet and serious the more she's heard about this whole story. As they get closer --

"Fuck my LIFE!" she bellows, when the kid runs out and gets slammed into by the car. "Shit! Fuck!"

Sinclair's hands are on either side of her head, her eyes wide and her expression stunned.

[Truth's Meridian] "Oh dear," the Silver Fang says, head still buried in her magazine. "Did we run over something?" She does not sound particularly perturbed, though she must have heard that scream, for she had not been paying a great deal of attention to the road. She looks up now, though, catching more of a sense from others reactions than her own.

Clearly, Truth's Meridian had not believed they'd honestly hit anything. "Did we?" She makes to get out, once the car is to a stand still.

[Annie Taylor] "Mary!"

It's automatic, instinctive - Annie is from a large family of siblings, half-siblings, cousins, friends who may as well be relatives, and so on. She knows there's nothing she can do to stop it, but the map promptly gets dropped and she's after the little girl (who is never seen after she's hit, no no, that would be telling). She skids to a stop, of course, before there's chance of getting hit by the same vehicle that [didn't] hit the [ghost] girl (unless there's a particularly spectacular swerve), and can't help looking for the body she knows she won't find.

She doesn't hear Sinclair yelling in the car - or rather, she might hear hints of it, and be able to guess at the gist of what was said, but that's not that important.

So there she is - the scrappy, rough and tumble little Gnawer - face to face with folk a lot more bred and a lot older than she. And she is, like they are, looking for [ghosts] answers.

[Wyrmbreaker] Wyrmbreaker doesn't even have time to curse. He has time to suck in a breath and slam on the brakes, but --

THUD. BUMP. (scream!) SCREECH.

The car stops. Then he curses. "Fuck. Fuck." Kate's nonchalant -- "Kate, for fuck's sake" -- now she's asking -- "YES."

He's out the driver's side door, going to look.

[Lila] "Holy shit." That's Lila's reaction when they slam into the child. Maybe it isn't a real child; maybe not any longer. This doesn't change the very visceral reaction she has to it. The sound; the sudden shake of the car (no, no). When the car slammed forward, she caught herself on Lukas' chair, and she unbuckled her seatbelt with a glance toward the gals of the Unbroken. Then you better believe she was getting out of that car as fast as she possibly [grace, adrenaline] could.

[Resurrection Mary] MARY, Annie screams, and runs toward the car, but sheknowsheknowssheknows what she will find...

Sinclair screams, her life is fucked, they hit something, someone and it was a kid, a little girl, and she FELT the impact, so clearly she could swear she felt the crunch of bones against the fender, the shattering of a skull under the front tire...

Kate. Kate is far to busy to be bothered.

Wyrmbreaker is.. unsettled, and cursing as much as Sinclair, his hands stil tingling with the impact, with the sensation that he felt him kill that child.. a little girl, dead by his hand, vehicular manslaughter and she was just a flash of brightinnocent white..

They spill out of the car, one by one by one... all to find what Annie has already seen.

No body.
No damage.

Nothing but the sincerely fucked up muscle memory in each of them that will haunt their dreams tonight - all but Kate. Her dreams will be worse, because they hit someone and she? Didn't care.

[Truth's Meridian] "Well, what," she objects to the tone in Lukas' voice as she unbuckles her seat-belt and gets out. "For Gaia's sake, we are here chasing ghosts and nobody considers that perhaps they are chasing us around, playing games in return?"

And, they get out.
There's no little girl.

[Annie Taylor] ".....wow," Annie says, looking up (and up, she's a short little thing at only five foot) at the Silver Fang who speaks of heroes and . . . all that. (She's a Gnawer. Fantastic, Kate's ancestors were Big Damned Heroes. What about Kate?) That's the extent of her commentary, though, until she pops her gum and adds, "Won't find a body. That was Little Mary."

[Warcry] What Kate says is a far sight closer to the truth of what's going on in Sinclair's mind than oh no we just hit a little girl and she died. The sickening crunch that followed the impact is reverbating in her skull still, in her bones, but she's not expecting a body when she gets out of the car. Spirit-talker she may not be, but she's willing to lay more money on the possibility that they just hit a ghost than a small child in a pretty white dress running around at this time of night near a huge-ass cemetary.

Especially. When. They're hunting. Ghosts.

She doesn't have nightmares. If she does, she never remembers them.

She climbs out of the car after Lila and Kate, shaken by the sheer shock of it, still startled, but she stays near to Katherine rather than following Lukas around. Upon hearing what Annie has to say, she turns and looks at the cemetary, hollering: "You're a little SHIT, Mary, that wasn't fuckin' cute!"

[Lila] No one's very surprised that there isn't a body. Lila considers the car for any damage the ghost may've left for a thoughtful (distant) moment. Then she lifts both hands and tucks her hair behind her ears, making certain that her coat is buttoned up. Her eyes are worried, and she's peering into the graveyard, after her gaze had snagged for a second on Annie's monstrosity [gruesome] of a face [because when you're that ugly, people stare, they don't just cringe], looking for -- well. Looking for something. Another sign. Another Mary. "And I guess that was hello; let's go on in?"

[Lila] She also, it must be said, is careful about straying in front of the car, just in case a vengeful ghost suddenly appears behind the driver's wheel, and the car vrooms forward. That would be an awful way to go, and awfully embarassing, too.

[Resurrection Mary] That wasn't cute!

Beyond the gates, childish laughter can be heard, and a singsong "Five lil monkeys, jumpin on the bed... one fell off and bumped his head..."

The gates, the gates that were closed a moment before, the gates where Annie was studying the map, trying to decide where to look first, those gates at the front of 7200 Archer Way...

Are opened slightly, now. And briefly, there is that Mary, the other Mary, the one with a little smirk, darker hair, a knowing glint deep in dark eyes... that Mary has her hands on the bars, the cold metal steaming under her touch, before she turns, and disappears into the darkness.

And childish glee singsongs out once again... "Say, say, my plaaaaaaaymate... come out and play with meeeeeeee.."

[Truth's Meridian] Katherine raises her flashlight, tiny though it is, and casts the tinny light over in the direction of the gates as the childish [creepy] laughter resounds, as one of the Mary's stands there with her hands on the bars, smirking at them and turning to run away, fading into shadow.

The Philodox looks -- well, mildly put off. "That is off-putting, though I suppose it is as much of an invitation as we are want to receive." Katherine glances at her pack-mates, before starting toward the gate for, if nothing else, a closer look.

[Wyrmbreaker] Lukas doesn't stay rattled long. He wouldn't have stayed rattled long regardless, but the absence of a body settles that matter soon enough. The Shadow Lord crouching in the snow snorts, rubs a hand over the bumper to check for blood that he already knows won't be there, and then stands again.

"Not cute at all," he mutters. And, "Let me park the car and we'll head in."

So he does that. Or rather: he turns the car off, pulls up the handbrake, and then leaves it there, headlights flashing as he locks it. He thought about leaving the headlights on for a moment. Decides against it. Too much glare, for one; for another, if they need to make a quick getaway, a dead battery wouldn't help.

Car secured, Lukas goes up to the gate and starts looking for a way in.

[Annie Taylor] "Sounds good to me," Annie says and ducks a bit so she's more in shadow - her scarring is a thing to be proud of, she knows on a great many levels, but that doesn't make it any easier to deal with the staring. Then, of course, there's the singsong voice of a little girl and the older Mary opening the gate, and Annie doesn't need more invitation than that. "'m Annie," she shoots over her shoulder. "Hard Knocks. Cliath, Ahroun, Gnawer."

But there she goes, more serious than anyone's seen her yet, heading in. There are things afoot, and things to find out. So it's further up and further in.

[Warcry] Looking towards the cemetary, Sinclair sees Scary Mary standing there and her already tightening, heating rage grows more vicious inside of her. She scowls, and snarls audibly at the shift from one children's rhyme to another.

"You know what?" she snaps as they start to head forward. "I hated The Sixth Sense. The Others was good but that little girl in it pissed me off so fucking much. The Frighteners was bizarre as fuck. Gimme a zombie, you know? Fuck my shit up with a nice little Romero flair, but my god. Ghosts."

She glances at Annie as they head in. "Warcry, Cliath Galliard of the Glass Walkers. A pleasure."

[Lila] "Let's just hope they don't go J-horror ghost, huh? I really don't want to be strangled with my own hair." Scary Mary's hands make the bars steam. Does that mean -- is there -- okay, is Hell real? These are the kind of questions Lila will muse over, later. The galliard raised a hand to wave at the ghost before she disappeared, hello there! We're following you! We come in peace! Peace! Please don't strangle us with our own hair. That sort've gesture.

Lila's a curious creature, and very, very curious, so she doesn't need much more reason to follow a damned echo of somebody once alive into a graveyard at night. Annie introduces herself, and Lila returns the favor. "Waking Dream, Breaking Heart. Fostern Galliard of the Children of Gaia." And if either Kate or Lukas are too intent on following ghost woman into the dark graveyard, hoping to catch a trail, she'll introduce them too, identify 'em all as packmates. You know: communicate.

[Warcry] "Oh my god!" Sinclair says to Lila, throwing up her hands. "Did you have to say that? Did you? Fuck! Christ, woman, you're going to get us all killed."

She does not, notably, introduce Wyrmbreaker and Truth's Meridian to Hard Knocks. This could be because of how rattled she still is. She could also suck as a Galliard.

[Truth's Meridian] "I always liked that one about the Ghost who sought justice for his murder -- Ghost?" Katherine calls over her shoulder as she crunches over the frozen earth. "But, perhaps I am confusing genres as that was not horror. Unless one counts the wardrobe."

To whoever needs it, an introduction is offered: "Truth's Meridian, Katherine Bellamonte, Cliath Silver Fang Philodox."

[Wyrmbreaker] "The Others was awesome," Lukas says absently. "But I don't want to hear another word about the Ring until we're in the clear."

And as for his introduction, "We're the Unbroken."

As though that were enough. So; clearly Lila will have to fill in the rest. Lukas is already heading in through the gates, pausing only to hang his outer coat on the iron filigree. A moment later, he is somewhat larger, his dedicated clothing growing silently to accommodate his suddenly huskier frame, his hulking breadth and bunched musculature.

"Sinclair, take rearguard, will you?"

[Warcry] "You would," Sinclair says haughtily to Kate when she mentions Ghost. "Though I will point out: that's basically the plot of about ninety percent of all ghost movies."

It's the last thing she gets to say to Kate. Words come out of Lukas's mouth and her steps slow, her posture straightens, and she falls back, gradually gradually sinking towards the back of the group until she is a silent, alert figure whose rage and nature press against their spines. She's on alert now, where a moment before she was simply chattering away, irritable and uneasy.

[Resurrection Mary] Lukas hangs up his coat - and if he looks, if they look, they might note where Mary's hands held the bar? Still holds her handprints, burned into the metal.

They move in, and it's soon evident that Annie's map won't be needed - the singsongy voice, the flashes of white, the little girl at play - it's clear she leads them in, ever farther, ever deeper into the Cemetery itself.

At first the graves are new, shining and gleaming in the occasional glow of a nearby lamp. The deeper they go, the older they are, the less light they have. There are family plots and even, once, an open grave ready for tomorrow's service. They find it when Kate turns to say something, stumbles and all but falls in... (at least one hopes it's a fresh grave, and not filled with horrorstory maggots and worms..) ...but rights herself gracefully enough..

Which makes Little Mary laugh... "Four lil monkeys...."

Farther, farther in... and darker still... No moon, no glow, no light... nononono...

Near Lila, the brush of a chilled hand across her fingers - there and gone.
Near Lukas, the sense he's being watched by far more than just the playful child... a chill brushed along the nape of his neck...
Near Annie, a murmur soft "...you're one of us..."
Near Sinclair, childish laughter, and soft... "Such pretty hair..."

Then she's off again, leading them ever deeper in..

[Annie Taylor] "Ghost was made before I was born. Wasn't everything awful in the eighties? Pleased ta meet ya all." Annie, for her part, takes to Hispo (in which she's no less hideous) - but not until after that little girl whisper, a shake of her head. It's odd, having voices come at her from unseen sources. Not uncommon in other bits she has access to, maybe? But still, she doesn't much like it. And Annie's at the lead, or close to, for now.

[Warcry] Sinclair, laughed at, whips her head to the side and snarls. "Yeah. I know," she snaps, and keeps walking.

[Truth's Meridian] Katherine shrugs her shoulders lightly at Sinclair's you would, as if she knows that she would, and that its expected that she'd hear that sort of retort. She even seems a touch amused by the entire conversation; the location; untroubled at all until she all but falls headfirst into an open grave.

"Merde!," she curses and rights her footing with a scowl directed down at the newly turned ground; at the laughter that dances in the air around them. Katherine keeps her eyes on where she's walking now, shining her flashlight across the gravestones.

[Wyrmbreaker] "Quiet now," he says to the movies banter.

When the Philodox stumbles, Lukas reaches out immediately and thoughtlessly, grabbing her none too gently -- but rather effectively -- by the wrist and hauling her upright before she can sway too far from that axis.

Then it's onward.

[Lila] And Lila's attention splits now between following the ghost (who's leading them onward, onward) and keeping an eye on the surroundings. Just in case there's a groundskeeper around who'd look at the gaggle of blondes and the darkhaired far-too-strong man and the far-too-large wolf and be veryvery confused.

There are ghostly fingers against her hand and Lila snatches at the air. Nothing there. Not even moonlight, dark night like this, just air and cold, graveyard vapors. "Mary, Mary, quite contrary," she says, quietly. Hey, look, she can rhyme too.

[Lila] And rhyme like it's a question: c'mon out, why don'tcha.

[Resurrection Mary] There, in the distance, a plot with three gravestones - under the watching eyes and loving arms of a crumbling Angel statue. Mary's laughter continues, her singsong partytime dash through the cementery... "How does your garden grow?"

And then, a different voice. Different, older, calmer... and not so very far away... "That's enough, Mary."

Uh oh. Busted.

Sitting on the edge of the pedestal of that Angel statue sits the Mary dubbed "Scary Mary", ankles crossed, dressed in ivory, and hands folded lightly in her lap.

[Annie Taylor] This is where Annie, who is not pretty or charming or manipulative stands back just a bit - she watches and listens, careful and ready, seeing things through wolf-eyes. She's not antagonistic, but wary. And sniffing, sensing, though goodness only knows what ghosts smell like. Annie has no basis for comparison.

[Warcry] At this point, Sinclair begins scanning everything in their area but Scary Mary, peering through the dark while the others deal with the ghost.

[Wyrmbreaker] There she is.

Sighting 'Scary' Mary, Lukas at once turns toward her. He's not mindless of the graves; he's respectful of the dead, or at least of the living who still mourn them. His steps take him around the graves, skirting them under he's near the trio of graves and their watching angel.

"You beckoned to us the other day," he says, "Lila and I. Are you Mary, mate of Tears of Gaia, Galliard of the Chicago Times?"

[Lila] "Why are you three awake now? We'd like to help you." -- this is what Lila adds. Simplicity itself. She's drawn herself up still, now. She's canted her head, now, watchful and wide-eyed.

[Resurrection Mary] Annie sniffs, and is alert, and wonders what a Ghost smells like. This Mary smells like earth, like home, like happiness and health and times gone buy. This Mary smells like sadness, like a deep abiding pain, of mangled emotions and a sense of duty. This Mary smells like that, exactly: Duty-bound. If it were something that had a scent at all, of course.

Mary's eyes – her eyes are her most striking feature. They are dark so dark, and deep in them there’s a sadness that can’t be erased, despite the little smirk that continues to play about thin lips. She is pretty in the way the other Mary is, only older, more world weary, more... just more.

She listens as Wyrmbreaker greets her, and she nods, slightly. "I am. Mary Bregovy. We have all beckoned you." She gestures to the side, a light airy movement, and behind the statue is the 12 year old girl who led them here, and in the distance, Sinclair will see 'pretty mary' carrying her shoes, and presumably still searching for Allen... "You, and others."

A moment, and she folds her hands together once more. “You have questions.” Simple, that – though not at all, really.

To Lila, a smile, soft and unbearably sad. "We have been awake and on guard for many years. It was to be a night, perhaps two. They never returned..."

[Wyrmbreaker] Totemphone: What's your gut instinct on her? Dangerous or not? Trustworthy or not?
to Truth's Meridian, Warcry

[Warcry] They're poltergeists, which means they're dangerous. They're dead, which means they have little left to lose, which means they're dangerous. They're playing cutesy games with us, which means they're not trustworthy.

A beat. That's my instinct, at least.
to Truth's Meridian, Wyrmbreaker

[Truth's Meridian] I cannot be certain that my Gift will be of any use upon an entity such as she, but she does not strike me as one with any real need to lie to us outright. Perhaps treat her as we might any other spirit in the Umbra, be wary of verbal traps.
to Warcry, Wyrmbreaker

[Wyrmbreaker] There's no verbal reply -- only a sense that he's heard them; a sort of mental nod.
to Truth's Meridian, Warcry

[Wyrmbreaker] "Mary Bregovy, then," Lukas says. "I am Lukáš Wyrmbreaker, an Ahroun of the Shadow Lords. These are my packmates, Katherine, called Truth's Meridian of the Silver Fangs; Sinclair, called Warcry of the Glass Walkers."

He pauses long enough for Lila and Annie to offer their introductions as well if they want. Then, "Who never returned? The Chicago Times pack?"

[Truth's Meridian] The Philodox crosses her arms over her chest, scrutinizing the ghost(s) silently through pale eyes almost the match for her Alpha's. If there is conversation between the three members of the Unbroken, it is unspoken but through their link; for now, Katherine contents herself with watching, and listening with acute interest the questioning.

Then: Lukas introduces them, and the Silver Fang's somewhat easily mistaken for haughty demeanor softens a touch as she nods; smiles briefly.

[Annie Taylor] There's a soft whine from the small (for hispo) compact Ahroun; a paw comes briefly to scrub at her snout in an all too human manner before she moves closer. Still, it's non-confrontational (as much as an Ahroun with more Rage than will can be); she listens, and she tests. Mary B's hands make the gates steam, leave marks, so Annie wonders if the rest of her is hot as well. If not, there's a light bump of solid muscle where thigh or perhaps hip should be. There's only so much comfort the living can give the dead, a girl like Annie can give anyone, but she tries. And there's a query, there - Annie knows who went, of course, but the where is now an item of curiosity, along with the why. Only after that does she shift to offer her own introduction - same as she'd given the others.

"Annie 'Hard Knocks' Taylor, Cliath Ahroun of the Bone Gnawers."

[Lila] They have questions. Here are some:

"What were they going to return for? The stories say that they recovered some relic of the Wyrm's; something that they wanted to destroy, but -- there are no stories about its destruction. Do you know where it is?"

"Why did you beckon us -- and others? What do you want us to do?"

"Do you know if your deaths were accidents, truly? Or were they by design? How is it you've come to be guardians?"

[Lila] ooc: HOLD THE PHONE. (reads the posts which just appeared)

[Lila] ooc: And let it stay. But insert:

The usual introduction. "I'm Lila. As he said. And also Waking Dream, Breaking Heart. Fostern Galliard of the Children of Gaia."

[Resurrection Mary] The questions come, fast, and she holds up a hand - and after collecting herself, and nodding to each of those introduced, she answers, once by one.

"Yes, Lukas." and she pronounces his name correctly, a direct mimic [[though the ST can't be bothered to learn the squiggles]] of how he says it to her. "The Chicago Times pack, our pack, our boys, they were to return to finish the job they had begun."

Annie moves closer, and Mary's hands brush across her fur, a familiar touch, one of Family, one of a young lady destined to become a Mama of great renown, had she not been cut down so soon. Her touch is warm. Her smile soft, sad. And then more questions still...

"Lila. A lovely name. You have the right of it - their final mission was one of three parts, as I hear the stories are told. They completed the first two, yet never returned to finish the last. It is a relic, I do not know exactly what it is, only that it is something wrong. They were to destroy it."

Why did they find the Gaians? "I believe the place where they hid the relic has begun to erode. It is no longer protected, and we are it's alarm."

And, their deaths. "We cannot know for sure if they were accident or design - but tell me, young one, who else would you trust to guard but those who loved you well?"

[Wyrmbreaker] Is she telling the truth, Kate? Can you tell at all? Try.
to Truth's Meridian, Warcry

[Wyrmbreaker] When the answer comes back affirmative: Be ready. She might not like what I'm about to ask.
to Truth's Meridian, Warcry

[Wyrmbreaker] "Is it possible," Lukas asks -- gently, for what it's worth, "that the Chicago Times did not return because they were corrupted by the relic?"

[Resurrection Mary] Mary tips her head, slightly, as if giving this thought, though in the end it is her fierce loyalty, her total dedication, and her knowledge of 'the boys' that causes her to shake her head. "Had they been so, they still would have returned to relieve us of this duty. I believe they were killed in the battle, before the could come back to us."

[Lila] Lila. A lovely name: a faint smile, not bashful. And who would she trust to guard but those she loved well? Her expression evens out, then. No more smile, exactly, but a blink. Then, very quietly, and also very evenly: "If they were the best suited to the task." That's her answer to the question put to her. Fair's fair. They're getting answers from Mary, so an answer for Mary is there.

And more questions: "Do you know where they hid the relic; will you tell us how to get there? Or why," she pauses for a second, staring at some point in the air, "why they left, instead of destroying it immediately? Was there still something they needed to get?" A pause. These women were dead when all this happened. "I mean, how is it that you're ... Around to guard? Did they call you away from ... "

From where ever dead kinfolk go. Where do they go?

[Wyrmbreaker] "For that matter, what were the three tasks?"

[Annie Taylor] "There were three parts," Annie says quietly, carefully so as not to overwhelm the ghost - it's funny, almost. "One was to get the thing - what was the thing, exactly, do you know? Of course you do, you said it felt wrong - and I guess one was probably . . . yeah."

She's still rambling when Lukas cuts in - he's concise, and she quiets.

[Resurrection Mary] If they were best suited. "We have guarded it well for 80 years, young one. We have done our job well. We were to sound the call when it became dangerous. And here you are, as were the two that questioned last night."

Yes, they have done their job well.

"I can find it. I know the general area. I have already told Truth-In-Frenzy that I will lead you to it, when he has gathered his resources. I am sure you are some of those resources, no?"

Childish laughter again, as young Mary appears again, and settles to sit at Mama Mary's feet, layingher head against her thigh. Mary b's touch is light, and gentle as she caresses the young childs hair. The love is evident, the potential she had, so wasted - she would ahve been a wonderful Gnawer Mama...

"The first, they were to find the item. They were discovered, and only had time to hide it, and send word back, before they had to attack the hive. The Garou they sent word too, a Galliard, is who charged us to watch over the relic until the Chicago Times could return. The Galliard did not know where they hid it. I am the only that was able to locate it. I am the only that knows... They succeeded in the destruction of the hive - but not without cost. They did not survive.""

Here, a tear falls, and young Mary buries her face against her Mama's thigh. Mary B. sighs. "They never returned to gather the relic, to destroy it. That was the third task."

[Warcry] For her part, Sinclair is extremely quiet in the back. She's watching, hands at her sides and eyes roaming. Whenver there's a flicker of movement from one of the other Marys, her eyes snap to them before drifting away again. She doesn't aid in the questioning, as she knows less than almost anyone else here about the situation. She listens, though, not only to their surroundings but to the conversation they're having with the ghost. She just doesn't have anything to add. Not out loud, at least.

[Wyrmbreaker] Lukas is quiet for a moment. Then, "I must ask. I saw you sear metal with your bare hands. Your small friend was able to collide hard enough with a 3000 pound car that we all felt it inside and escape totally unharmed. Your other friend, the bride, could wander as far as Grant Park. And you know where the relic is.

"Why do you need us? What could we possibly do that you cannot?"

[Resurrection Mary] "You can destroy it." Patient, she is, as the bridal Mary comes closer, moving in the distance. "Our little tricks are all we have, and they were gifted us by Gaia for one purpose only - to get the attention of the Gaian's should the hiding place of the relic become unstable, be breached. While we can do those things - we cannot destroy it. It must be done by Garou. It must be you."

She sighs, deeply. "Do you not think that if I could, I would have? The barriers fall. And they will come for it. They will come. Soon."

[Warcry] Her eyes track back to Mary then, head cocked. "So how come you're the only one that knows how to find it?"

[Resurrection Mary] And at that question, her eyes turn to Sinclair, unbearably sad, filled with pain, ripe with anguish. "Rudolf told me alone where they were going to bury it. It is my secret that I have held to for all these years. I have told no-one. When you are ready, I will show you all. It will be my last act before..."

Mary M, the bridal Mary, comes close now - and she reaches out to take her friends hand. "You will need a Theurge to help destroy it properly. Gather sufficient strength and meet me here. Then I will lead you."

She tips her head, slightly, closing her eyes, then meets each of their gaze in turn. "They come."

A beat.

"They come soon."

and then? They disappear, the Marys three.

[Warcry] [Thank you guys for the RP! And thank you, Lessa, for STing!]