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GM El Heraldo was flying. That in and of itself wasn't too odd, bur he was flying high enough in the air that all he could see were clouds. A moment later he flew out of the cloud bank, looked down, and realized he was miles above the ground, and moving fast! All he could see below him was a lonely line of highway paralleling a ribbon of coastline. A quick fly-by confirmed that he was heading south -- and in South Carolina! Why in the world would he be flying so high and so fast due south? because because because He had been sitting with Cerys in the common room in the dorms, theoretically studying but in fact cuddling like, well, like a couple of teenagers. The big TV had been on and tuned to CNN, but it wasn't he heard "attack on the Caribbean islands," that he paid it any attention. Frightening images of troops in strange armor marching out of the accompanied running commentary on "a surprise Atlantean invasion of the Caribbean, under the claim of eminent domain." A particularly chilling moment was a native reporter, his face streaked with smoke, huddling in a building and speaking about "the siege of San Juan." Which wad why El Heraldo, the Herald of Victory and defender of Puerto Rico, was heading home.

GM Cerys Pfer stood before the sweating stone castle that had dominated her life before Claremont. The headquarters of Amddiffynnwr O Lleu Llaw Gyffes was still imposing, and now Cerys found herself called back here because because because she had received a letter from the head of the order. It had been full of code words and phrases, designed to defeat detection by whoever might read it besides Cerys, which really meant Headmaster Summers. The letter had talked about Cerys's 'sick cousin,' and how things were looking 'very grim' for the poor child, how the doctors were 'uniform in their opinion.' It was enough to get Cerys on a plane for Gatwick Airport without raising too much suspicion. Only the young ninja was aware that she was being recalled for a dangerous mission; that she would be briefed by a member of the ruling council; and that the mission would be against someone her own age, someone she knew. Now that she was here, the only thing to do was to find out who.

GM Samantha Vance knew what the inside of police stations looked like. The institutional wallpaper, the thin, colorless carpet, and the fluorescent lighting that seemed to flicker just at the edge of perception -- this was a police station waiting room straight out of the catalog. And Sam was sitting here because because because because some AEGIS agents had come to Claremont to collect her. She was used to dealing with authority figures, but this time she was off her game because they were so darned polite. They had politely collected her, and politely driven her downtown, and politely put her in this waiting room. Now they were reentering with a uniformed police officer and politely escorting her deeper into the building. The whole situation was creepy, like the moments in a slasher movie before the hillbilly family reveals that they're cannibals. They came to an elevator and went down, below the lobby and into the basements and sub-basements. They came out in a chilly corridor and Sam was politely herded towards a pair of swinging metal doors. Through the door was more shining steel implements and tables, a man in surgical scrubs, and a shrouded form on a metal table. All of a sudden Sam realized she was standing in a morgue. The doctor looked at the police officer, who nodded back. He folded back the sheet, revealing a face that Sam knew all too well. After all it was the woman who had shared her name with the thief and enrolled her in Claremont. An AEGIS agent cleared his throat and spoke. "Ms. Vance," he said politely, "can you identify the deceased?"

Tona Baudin awoke with a jerk. She was high up in a tree, nestled in between two branches, and tied to a third by a tough rope. She was dressed in as rough-spun tunic, leather pants, and high boots with pointed toes. There was a recurve bow and a quiver of arrows hanging from a branch. There was no Claremont dorm in sight, no buildings or other people at all in fact, because becasusr because because she had never been at Claremont in the first place. A world that had wounded, and later destroyed, Omega? And they had wanted her to come and help them? It was a laughable idea, though it had been a good fantasy while it lasted. The Day of Wrath should have clued her in; the sensible side of her had been trying to tell the rest of her that she didn't fit in that world, but like a fool she had resisted. So her dream turned against her and became horrible. Tona grabbed her bow and quiver and slipped down the tree, crouching in the bracken at the base of it and peering around intently. She was back where she belonged, but where were all the people?

The rolls for the Nightmare stories. We'll just be keeping everything in here for now.

Tuesday, February 19, 2013 Claremont Academy Evening Evening. The end of another long day at Claremont Academy, surely the oddest school in the world. For Tona Baudin, the day had been full of learning, and exercise, and honing her mind and body into a singular, powerful machine. Many of the students had unusual powers of one kind or another and they focused on using them instead of their own physical talents, but all Tona had were her body and her skills. She kept herself in top form, because there was no other way for her to compete with her fellow students, and Tona was far too competitive to be anything but the best. And this day had been another success, one well earned and fought for, and Tona was ready to go to bed. She had showered and taken care of other matters in the floor's communal bathroom, and now she was standing outside the door to her dorm room. Hesitating. Inside was her roommate, Cerys Pefr, one od the few girls in the school who could understand just how hard Tona worked, and why. One of the few who Tona considered a friend -- except for that day almost a month ago, when a Curator drone masquerading as Tona had tried to kill Cerys, and a lot of other people. Now the air between them was tense, strained, and Tona had no idea had to fix things. But she couldn't stand outside the door for much longer without an RA coming over and asking questions and making things a thousand times more embarrassing. So Tona opened the door and stepped through. She kept her eyes firmly fixed on her bed and grunted a greeting to Cerys.