Entering the Aeonic Citadel, Athaliah and the cabal find themselves in a vast grotto. Thick entwined trees and thorny vines make a ring thousands of feet across that disappears into a dim mist. Looking up they see branches that reach hundreds of feet into the sky, where faded sunbeams break through the foliage and a few trapped clouds. A large shallow lake lies before the cabal, spotted with rocky islands making a crude path to a distant island. Silence dominates.
After the others nervously check the water for danger, Colt nonchalantly tromps into the lake. On the island they see a huge dead tree, easily 200 feet tall and leaning ominously out over the water. As they arrive all is still. Then a huge Oryx, twelve feet tall at the withers, pushes out of some nearby brambles, towering over them benevolently. Colt greets it and surprisingly it returns his greeting.
At the same time a vast Serpent slides silently down the tree, its dark scales iridescent. The Serpent addresses the group. “Why have you come to us children? Have you come seeking the fruit of knowledge?”
Nervously glancing around, Mammon and Athaliah tell the Serpent yes. Humbly, Athaliah asks for the secret of mastery of the Arcanum of Spirit. The Serpent replies, “To master the Arcanum of Spirit, you must master yourself. To be a lord of the hidden world, you must conquer your own demons. You must face that which put you on my path. That which turned you from the Arcanum of the Path of Scourging. You must face not just yourself but your own secrets. And these allies of yours must accompany you. When you have done this, you will be a Master.” Hesitantly Athaliah agrees to take up this quest.
As the others talk, the Oryx nuzzles up to Adele, calming her. Meanwhile they ask about the Serpent's knowledge of the Great Fire Spirit. It tells them it is a herald of something that lurks beneath the city. As to what is stirring beneath Chicago, that is outside of its preview. As they go to leave, the Serpent gives Mammon a blessing, and Mammon tells the Serpent he will return.
The cabal awakens and rests up for their next journey. Colt and James enjoy some time out in a park, where James confides that he hears ghosts in the Sanctum. He expresses his desire to go back to the family ranch. Colt warns him that he needs to come up with a story to give their sister about his night terrors.
Meanwhile the others engage in oblations, restoring mana. Mammon continues his research into sealing Anna's powers and the details of the Great Fire Spirit. Goes and Valkyrie chat and eat while the others get ready. She cautions Valkyrie to be careful on her choice of legacy, speaking from experience of how that can scar one's soul. Meanwhile Miguel and Adele sneak off to eat and chat.
Finally they ready themselves for the second half of their quest. Athaliah casts a spell to pull them to her personal dreamspace. They meditate, and Colt finds himself the first to Athaliah's vestibule, the lobby of the Promethean. He sits down to wait.
Suddenly Colt realizes that someone asked him a question. He looks up and sees that he and an older man and woman are sitting at a dinner table. The couple are very polite, almost afraid of him. About them he can see orange auras of fear. Excusing himself Colt leaves. Suddenly the scene shifts and the couple are yelling at him about his unacceptable clothing. They send him to Athaliah's room, which is decorated with 80's band posters. Colt takes this time to explore.
The rest of the cabal arrives and waits patiently for Athaliah. Once she arrives, they set out to find Colt. They soon find themselves before a summoning circle in Athaliah's apartment. Symbols of Pandemonium and the Arcanum of Mind are inscribed on the floor. The ritual has just been completed and the feel of the lash and smell of brimestone fills the air. As Athaliah warns the others to be on their guard, something whispers in Mammon's head. It explains that it taught Athaliah her legacy and that it can teach him secrets as well. It fills his mind with a name to summon it by.
Meanwhile Colt gets a call from Athaliah's friends. They take him out to a party where Colt accepts some beer and mills about with a crowd of teens. Suddenly he finds himself in the street among a group of teenagers who hang on his every word. Colt's every suggestion is an order to them, as he effortlessly manipulates their emotions and thoughts. Suddenly a freak downpour breaks up the group and Colt find himself isolated, hiding at bus stop shelter with a cracked roof. An elderly elfin woman with a bright green umbrella approaches him. She comforts him, insinuating she knows something about magic. Eventually she introduces herself as Fatima, a Silver Ladder Acanthus, and she recruits the young mage. As the scene ends, the rest of the group joins up with Colt, and Athaliah admits to missing the old mage.
They head down the road into a campsite in the woods. An elderly Native American woman expresses doubt of some plan to Valkyrie. Athaliah explains this is Cocheta her mentor in the Arcanum in Spirit. The woman continues, pointing out that even though the demented Necologists have polluted Shadow with a magath of a factory and forest, using chainsaw spirits to combat it seems not only dangerous but wrong. How would Athaliah even control them? As Valkyrie says she would find a way, Athaliah explains she dedicated herself to wielding chainsaws in combat as part of a pact with the spirits.
They next find themselves near the top of the Promethean talking with Decima. A potent swirl of Supernal energy can be felt as lightning races across the sky. Decima looks at them expectantly. She tells them that a new recruit has been found and that Athaliah will take him as an apprentice. He has a destiny that may be crucial to the Silver Ladder's plans. She is charged with training him and keeping him safe from his doom: "that which can forever lie."
They push on and find themselves in Athaliah's sanctum again. A pile of books has been pulled out. Athaliah looks worriedly at Adele and admits this was shortly before Adele visited looking into Beshilu and the River Spirit. She hides the books. Adele deals with the memory of Adele and then reproachfully takes the books. The old leather tomes are etched with notes into Athaliah's research into ancient vampires who could devour ghosts and spirits, even souls. Known as Antediluvians they supposedly sleep near places of power, places the old gods touched. Athaliah attempts to explain that she was trying to keep Colt from rushing into something dangerous.
They leave, their trust somewhat frayed. The scene shifts to the Promethean's library, where Athaliah finds a book lying on the table. An elderly man with a long white beard comes in. After a bit, he comes over and borrows the book, joking that they were not really reading it. He asks if anything is wrong and seems kind and sympathetic. He introduces himself as Titus, a Thyrsus in the Mysterium. Athaliah lets them know that he was her mentor after she rejected Pispir's "guidance."
Moving on, they find Decima standing over Colt, consoling. “They had to die, Athaliah," she says. "It isn't your fault.” Athaliah says they must be close as this was right after the incident they were looking for. Leaving the room, they find themselves walking down a damp washed out street in Chicago. Suddenly Angels of Flame and Brilliance materialize out of thin air and attack. As the group takes defensive positions, Decima appears and releases powerful Death magics on the spirits, driving them away. Realizing this is during the Mage War, Athaliah directs them deeper into her memories.
Then they get close. Entering a dark office building, they can hear an alarm going off and people running on the floor below them. Athaliah tells them they are in a Seer headquarters during the final assault. They sneak past a guard that standing near the stairwell. And enter a Grand Consilium meeting with almost the entire Consilium present. The then positionless mage Ezekiel is giving a rousing speech as the Concilium prepares for a final assault on Seer ministry of the Panopticon.
Athaliah directs them out of the meeting, hoping to get back to assault. She misjudges and they find themselves sitting in an empty cold stone room. An uncomfortable looking mattress lies in a corner while a cross shaped window lets in light. A younger Pispir comes in and asks about their meditations. He is harsh and demanding. He says discipline in needed to avoid falling prey to one's own powers. Athaliah rebukes him and storms out. They next find themselves wandering through hallways lines with barbed wire, while demons torment souls about them. Athaliah leads them through Pandemonium and defeats a giant horned monster that attempts to stop them.
Finally they return to the Seer sanctum. Colt finds himself mentally controlling the two rifle toting guards. A wild hair man in a robe comes out of a door his fingers glowing with light. Colt controls the adrenaline and fear in his system and calmly incapacitates the man. Athaliah admits she was not as lenient when she faced Daneel. Then they encounter a young black man with an Afro who takes a poorly aimed shot at them. Colt puts a round in his leg and they move on, the man's screams of pain haunting them as they leave.
Then they find themselves in a conference room. Something silent and invisible is moving about the room, quickly taking out the guards Mammon finds himself mentally controlling. While Mammon turns the guards on the invisible Seer and guns him down, a demonic figure enters the scene. She resembles a young Athaliah with long curly black hair, with deep red lipstick and dark eyeliner to match her gown of leather and metal spikes. Long dark horns sprout from her head and her eyes blaze with an inhuman light.
Athaliah engages the demon, trying to control her inner lust for power. Meanwhile Adele feels her mental tripwires around the house trigger at the front and back. Mammon scrys and spots Evan out front but the eight figures entering from the rear are not so friendly. Just then the ghost of the mage they just killed, Alhazan, and two mummy like figures attack them in the Astral!
Valkyrie snaps out of the Astral to deal with Evan. Colt also snaps out to help Goes and Miguel deal with the invading Seers. He finds X2, Anybody, Jacquard, and Daneel breaking in along with four zombies, that Jacquard has raised. Valkyrie grabs Evan and hides him in the trunk of her car, while Colt plugs X2 with his shotgun. Miguel attacks Jacquard out back while Goes stays downstairs to protect those still in the Astral. Mammon meanwhile used Athaliah's memories of the guards to shoot the strange eye covered figures and Adele freezes the ghost in place. Athaliah masters her demon and turns it on the invaders. Leaving the rest to Athaliah, Adele and Mammon wake up. Meanwhile the house's ghosts appear and scare off Anybody who joins X2 in the escape through the portal in the backyard. Adele shunts the zombies into Twilight where they are harmless, while Colt shoots Jacquard who then flees. Daneel pauses a moment to set the house on fire by turning the electricity to heat but Valkyrie manages to put it out. The cabal grabs the lingering mage and beats him unconscious. His allies close the portal, abandoning him.
The cabal, victorious, rejoices and turns the Seer over to the Guardians of the Veil. Unfortunately the Seers feel their old leader knows too much and he is murdered in transit.