Following the showdown with the Antediluvian, things return to normal in the city. Detective Green recovers from his catatonic state. He and the other survivors are on leave from work to recuperate while the incident is investigated. Meanwhile Valkyrie begins to have bad dreams, involving her Awakening and the Demon El.
One day, Adele, Valkyrie and Colt gather at the sanctum to discuss the situation and the people behind the tragedy: Cicero and Decima. Even though they seemed to be alright with Cicero’s plans, that was with the doom of the Antediluvian looming over them. Now they are reconsidering their position. Can they trust Decima? What are her motives in all of this?
Colt voices his suspicions that Decima may have been using him and the cabal. Since his Awakening, he has had Athaliah as his mentor, not because she wanted to but because Decima commanded her to look out for him. Because of his destiny. The cabal was founded to look into trouble with spirits, trouble that led them directly to the Circle of Four’s guardians. Decima sent Colt to find Adele. Decima observed their oath as a cabal. They may have been pawns all along.
Colt isn’t even sure he can trust Athaliah. Even though she was manipulated by Decima, she might still agree with her. Cicero, their other ally, clearly has his own designs and long term plans. What would he sacrifice for Ascension?
In terms about learning more about Decima, their choices are limited. Decima migrated to the city in the early 80s from NYC. Her original cabal are dead except for Mask, a mage who is even harder to learn about, let along talk to.
Adele suggests the only way to know Decima’s reasons may be to talk to her directly. It is dangerous though. She is one of the most powerful mages in the city. Rota points out how dangerous. Decima is a Master of Fate and Death, as well as potent member of the Sisterhood of the Blessed. This Legacy focuses on manipulating people from the background.
Valkyrie tries to discuss the worst case scenario but it is clear the worst case to too horrid to think about. She has already set them against Antediluvian, prepared to use the Abyss and Paradox as a weapon against it. Though she was always on their side that may have been simply because she chose that to be the case. While Cicero is focused on Ascension, Decima may be working even longer term. Her end goal may not be Algol’s release but something that will occur in the aftermath.
They decide the only way to find the truth is ask Decima. They prepare by making sure Mammon stays behind to check their minds for any intrusions upon their return. They then make arrangements to meet her at her sanctum on the Gold Coast. The elegant manor house is surrounded by roses in full bloom. A servant shows them inside, where Decima greats them with tea.
Colt begins by confronting her openly about the connection between his Legacy and the Antediluvian. After a moment, Decima admits to her knowledge of this and correctly guesses they learned of her involvement from Cicero. As an explanation of her involvement, she brings up a series of prophecies that foretell a mass Awakening in the aftermath of Algol’s release.
Leading them into a library, she pulls down a large dusty book and a scroll case. The book, written in the late 19th century, contains a collection of prophecies, two of which corroborate her story. One bears further details, foretelling of three seasons or years that will proceed the Ascension. A season of the puppet master (where one of three will be sacrificed to save the city), a season of death (where the blood drinker will be stopped by another sacrifice), and a season of demons (where the third will find a fragment of truth). Following this there will be a mass Awakening among the city dwellers.
The scroll details another much older and longer prophecy. Written in ancient Greek, it is over 2 thousand years old. Among its lines it foretells of a city upon a lake, nestled upon a swampy river. This city will be built upon an ancient prison where two guardians are set. The first, an ancient blood god, will be defeated and the empty spirit that dwelt inside it will flee to the desert. The second, a god of lies tainted by the Abyss, will be thwarted in its attempt to create children. It and its spawn will be defeated. Then the way to road of the Circle will be reopened and the light of truth will fall on city. There will be many Awakenings and the world will be forever changed.
The scroll continues on for a little longer, telling of events that will lead to final victory. A day of nightmares will come where many die and thousands Awaken to the Stygian Tower. Finally a chosen one will arise and all mages will ascend. If the earlier events refer to the present or the near future, then based on the length of the prophecy remaining then the end is near.
While the others take this in, Valkyrie notices something odd. When Decima first took the book and scroll down, Valkyrie was sure there were other books of prophecy nearby. But when she looked back later she saw the titles had changed. She tries to pierce any magical protections there but finds nothing.
Colt and Adele ask what Decima knows about the other guardian, Nehjarra. Of the spirit of lies itself, little is known for sure. But the Disciples of Nehjarra are a cabal of apostates, formerly Christian missionaries who decided to build a church in Gary. They seem to have been corrupted by Nehjarra and their teachings have become focused on crystals, meditation, and channeling. Oddly over the past few years there has been a rise in paradox in the area. Decima speculates the spirit may be getting stronger.
The cabal, more knowledgeable but not convinced, thank Decima for her time. After leaving they decide they need to learn more. Decima was quite willing to sacrifice people for the potential of more mages and ignored their worries that many of the new mages might become Banishers or join the Seers of the Throne. They decide to talk to Arachne and enlist her help in seeing if there is a way to avert disaster.
The young mage is eager to help. Taking out her paints she peers into Chicago’s future, looking for the events the day after Algol’s release. Rapidly she begins sketching. She rips the sheet off and starts again. She does it again. And again. In the end there are five sketches showing five possible futures. In one the city is on fire. Another shows it wracked by riots. A third shows the city standing empty with a demonic star hovering above it. One however shows a normal day in the city. The last shows a pained Mammon sitting in a hospital waiting room.
They ask Arachne how they might achieve the fourth image, the peaceful city. Unfortunately the spell she used is unable to answer that question. She does say she could try to push her powers. With Colt’s blessing, the eager mage pulls down power strongly from the Supernal. She quickly paints two pictures.
The first one shows a swampy land. On the banks of a river a bronze obelisk rises from the waters. In front of it is a crystalline statue of Cicero. Colt identifies the location as the Circle of Four’s pocket realm. He also mentions he knows how to get there, though the entrance is in Mexico.
The second picture is stranger. It shows Chicago, perhaps Jackson Street. But the area looks like it was hit by a riot or perhaps been suffering from urban decay. Windows are broken and the area is covered in spray paint. The obelisk and the crystal statue also appear in this picture while a demonic star glows overhead. On the edge of the picture they can see a demonic looking El train barrelling down the tracks.
Arachne follows the painting with another inquiring more about why the city is so strange. This painting seems to be a painting of a news report. The report shows a map of Chicago and where recent “bloody massacres” have occurred. But the map is subtly wrong. The El tracks on on the wrong streets and buildings have been subtly moved.
Bewildered, Arachne posits that the second painting may depict an alternate reality or another timeline. The others then make sense of the pictures. If Cicero’s ceremony and the release of Algol occurs in an another reality, then Chicago can be saved.
Valkyrie brings up her dreams and the Demon El which seem to be pertinent to the alternate timeline. Valkyrie and Adele both remember Miguel saying something about El several years back. Reluctantly Adele calls her estranged boyfriend. Miguel however doesn’t remember anything about the El. When reminded about the incident, he remembers the other things they discussed like the Painted City but not the Demon El. He agrees to look into it though.
Confused, they decide to look into it themselves. But when they travel the Loop that night, they find no traces in shadow or Twilight of the demon. They question spirits and ghosts and although there is plenty of darkness there, there is no sign of the El. Perhaps someone is erasing the Demon El’s traces.
Finally they decide to talk to Diana Coal in the hopes she may possess a book they use to learn more. They visit her storage facility and talk to the mystic shapeshifter. When asked, Diana admits to knowing the Demon El but claims to have helped kill it 6 decades ago. The werecat seems positive that the spirit was destroyed and explains how they used its ban (that it must accept an offering of blood) to lure it to its doom.
With the conflicting stories and the idea of an alternate reality, the cabal concludes that this may the result of an edit to reality or a change to the timeline. Perhaps only mages remember the world as it was or perhaps their frequent trips to the Astral protected them. With the El seemingly dead in this world, they decide to visit Valkyrie’s dreams and track down the El in them.