Following the revelation of the False Awakening’s return, the cabal discusses what can they do to stop it. Ultimately they decide to wait for more information. The Guardians should soon find out how it escaped.
In the meantime, Valkyrie approaches Colt about training the new mage Robert Hope. Valkyrie explains she is hoping to build a moderate faction within the Arrow, free of the Inner Monastery’s influence. Colt agrees to help train him without adding politics to the mix. Meanwhile, Athaliah’s Cryptology runs into problems as a group of church goers protest at the businesses core to its workings. They claim the bookstores and shops are subject to Satanic influences, corrupting the youth with books about black magic. Mammon helps her do damage control.
Finally Colt learns who the next victim is, a substitute teacher named Mary Evans. She is currently teaching at Evan’s middle school. Colt also realizes that the last name of each of the victims is similar to the first name of next. That means Evan could be next! He quickly alerts the cabal to the danger. Valkyrie does not want to take any chances. She feels out her parents about sending Evan for a visit (before Mary would destroy herself) while keeping Evan in the dark about the danger.
Mammon, Adele and Valkyrie then research to see if there is a cure. They find a passing reference to a propose but untried solution: to cause the falsely awakened mage to experience a true Awakening. Unfortunate there is no sure way to Awaken someone and most methods they know take too much time. Adele speculates that these mages are somehow inverses of traditional Awakened and that based on their Arcana that the phenomena is trying to make an Acanthus.
Then Colt gets a call from the Council. The new mage is using magic publicly at school. At the same time Valkyrie asks her mentor White Ash to combine Fate and Prime Arcana to see what or who is the ultimate goal of this False Awakening. Colt meets a Guardian called Number 5 at the school, who explains the situation. Mary has been creating lights and illusions in front of her students. To protect the Veil, they need to get her out of the school. The Guardians have already ensorcelled the secretary and called Mary to the main office. Once she arrives, Number 5 manages to get the truth of what happened out of the teacher. They convince her to come with them to learn more.
Colt and Number 5 take Mary to a restaurant, where Colt explains her situation: that she is now part of a greater hidden world but that she is also affected by the False Awakening. She hesitantly agrees to be helped. Soon after White Ash and Valkyrie arrive and scrutinize the new mage. White Ash is able to determine that the effect is driven by Fate. Rather than an entity with motives, it seems designed for this behavior. Moreover it is close or at its final target.
While Mary is occupied, the cabal discuss their options for Awakening Mary or stopping the False Awakening entirely. They decide a journey to her Onieros may yield clues as to the nature of the False Awakening. If that fails they plan to take her all the way to the Anima Mundi and the Aeonic Citadels. Colt returns to Mary and convinces her to join them in the Astral.
As they ready for their journey, Valkyrie returns home to check on Evan. Evan seems confused. Its like there is something incredible he wants to tell her but cannot remember. Realizing that Disbelief has hidden the truth from her son, Valkyrie is secretly relieved.
Finally that evening they all go to the Demense and meditate. After a few hours they reach Mary’s inner Astral space. Once they are all gathered in the theater representing her dream vestibule, they begin to look for a way deeper into the dream. Valkyrie watches for ley lines and the supernal resonance, while Colt takes his usual tracking duties. Adele works to keep the group together and Mary leads them out to front of the theater.
They find themselves in a winter scene from Mary’s childhood. They see some children playing in the snow but ignore them. But when they travel down the street, they find themselves right back where they started. They decide to tell Mary to think about how she felt at her apartment before the phone call carrying the False Awakening. Heading north, they arrive at a bridge. Mary remembers that a bus stops here which they could also take to her apartment. They decide to wait and catch the bus. Exiting the bus takes them directly to the apartment.
Mary explains the situation is exactly as she remembered before the phone call. The phone then rings and cautiously she picks it up. There is a flash of supernal magic and Colt spots a thin thread leading elsewhere in the dream. They follow the thread to the bedroom, but the room is dim and wavering. It fades away into blackness and in the distance a glowing city of white can be seen. It swiftly approaches and surrounds them. Empty willowy towers of pure mana fill the sky, while humanoid phantoms of light appear and disappear. Black threads of fate can be seen, wrapping tightly around Colt and clinging to Adele and Mary. They head for the center of the city where, as in her dream, Mary is offered a necklace of mana. She reluctantly takes it again.
They follow the thread out of city but it loops around and merges with the city. But this city is slightly different. It is the Astral representation of the False Awakening. Colt speculates that this could be a memory of Atlantis. With nothing to talk to, they try walking away from the city. But in all directions it is surrounded by an endless black nothing. There is no light in the distance or bottom to hit.
They decide to jump and make a leap of faith. Mammon and Colt work to convince Mary to join them Together they all leap into the void, falling for minutes. As they plung, Mary Awakens, carried off by angel. The others quickly try to wake up as the ground rushes up at them. Mammon wakes with a start having hit the street below while Valkyrie stops herself magically and then wakes up.
Then Mary awakes from her trance. Her resonance is that one freshly from the Aether. The new Obrimos tells them of her vision in the Supernal. Meanwhile Colt tells Sixty Six and Ezekiel about the new mage, placing her in the Free Council’s care. Valkyrie returns home to find Evan still awake. He now remembers what happened at the school, including the magic his teacher showed him. His aura now twinkles like a Sleepwalker and Valkyrie overjoyed shares her magic with him.