I closed the door when Ahriman entered the private room and locked the door from the inside as the calm, cool and collected mask I'd been wearing for the last twenty minutes began to fade away. I took a deep breath as I looked at Ahriman, putting my hands out in front of me and beginning the conversation. "Okay so I don't believe that you're going to look at me and tell me that this is just some sort of practical joke so I'll just cut to the chase." I frown, this had been one strange night so far and only promised to get stranger. "What do you know about the book?" I'm working off the assumption that he's just as shocked as I am about our pictures so for now we need to deal with what we know about the book.

" I picked it up thith morning and thtarted reading it" he responds staring at the photo. "and I wath hoping it wath free council prank. " he looks up at the other man with wide purple eyes.

"Nah we'd use Evil Bert or Waldo." I laugh but it's clear that's it's mostly a reaction and attempt to process the information, my own personal way of dealing with the situation. "So Animus, you and I are in this photo from the Civil War. At first I just thought it was someone who looked a lot like me but all three of us? That isn't just something that can be dismissed so simply. Have you checked to see if the book has been magically enhanced?"

"Wetht, tech, " Arhiman is naming names as he goes through them. "Anubith..." He looks up "Tug, JOTHH. Pulp thith ith motht of the arrowth.." He pauses as the others words sink in and then shakes his head. " Mah family wath in vickthburg on thith date preparing to surrender. It can't be thomone ah'm realted too.." He taps his finger "What aracna would that even BE?"

Okay so now I'm really wondering why the hell I'd be in that damn photo now. "Maybe an Arch Mastery of Time and Space but to transport all of us to that specific time? I mean I don't think that a person and survive the Paradox." I look at Ahriman my eyes clearly stating that there might be things that could do this, if they weren't fucking children's stories. "I am willing to accept that is me but short of a flying fucking DeLorean I have no clue how we got there."

A snort at the delorean joke. "I mean to make the photo in the book look like thith..." He sighs and looked through the book . " It thayth 'Gettysburg 1863... but.. why? What in the fuck am I doing here?"

"Well why would the photo be doctored? I mean other than being members of this Consilium what do we have in common? Sure there are a number of Arrows but then why the hell are Anubis and I in it?" I look a bit closer at the picture, noticing a few other faces. "Or Toby and those other new Mages, none of us are Arrows. Besides I don't see Lux, Q, Mike or Augustin." I look up at Ahriman. "If this is some 'Fuck You' from the Seers or a Banisher why would they leave out so many prominent Mages for people who've barely unpacked? I can't think of a common thread linking all of us together."

"True." There is a long moment of silence. Ahriman frowns deeply. What did these mages have in common. "Can't be birth, not path, not order." he sighs "There's a note about it. "

I put my face closer to the picture, attempting to read the note and find out just what the hell is this connect. I'm decent at Space and it's bugging me.

In tiny text the book reads "photo found on battle field after the last day of battle."


I simply turn to face Ahriman and raise an eyebrow. This ... is fucked up right here.

Ahriman sighs. "Okay what exactly do yew know about the war?"

It's my turn to sigh as all those thoughts from our conversation about a half hour ago come back and I realize that I will be unable to plead ignorance here and now to someone I respect and consider a friend. "A fair bit. I took a couple of American History courses in high school and university, read some actual academic books about the war and some of its causes." I pause for a second before quickly continuing so this doesn't become a debate on those causes. "I know about Gettysburg, the 'High Water Mark', Little Round Top, Union won and in November Lincoln gave his famous speech there." I'd seen the movie and most of the academics whose books I've read seemed to have a real love for the battle.

Ahriman nods. "Well thatth good but ... ah meant how much do yew know about the mage hithtory of the civil war. There ith a thlight difference." he settles back. "But itth important, thince thith thmackth of Mage interferance."

"Not much, I've been a Libertine almost since my Awakening and the US Civil War took place over three decades before the Great Refusal."
I could make a snarky comment about the Diamonds destroying the history of all the old Nameless Cabals of the period, which kind of, in a way, sort of was our history. "Most of the history of the Nameless Cabals who participated in the Great Refusal died with their membership in battle against the Seers or was lost in the organization of the Council itself." Hey it's just a comment, it wasn't snarky.

Ahriman shrugs, not seeming to catch the comment. "It happenth, though itth thuprithing, after all the time wath well recorded." He flips through the book. " Mind yew not many arrowth care either, I jutht happened to ttudy the taticth becauthe..." he pauses, cutting off his sentence awkwardly and then switches sentences. " I liked Mithter Robert E. Leeth command but there wath more to it. Mageth were involved even if thith wath a thleeper iththue."

Well recorded in histories that weren't burned by the Guardians of the Veil, a thought that was on the tip of my tongue but I which I managed to stop at the last second. Barely. Just ever so barely. "I am not surprised that Mages were involved but the question remains how did this picture come to be? I know that Mages were involved, but these particular Mages are all right now doing their funtastic Mage stuff here in 2011." This is just ... what the fuck. "Okay so independent proof, do we have anything else other than this photo? Records, names, old legends, anything you've come across in your study of this period of Mage history that alludes to a group just showing up in July 1863?"

Ahriman thinks. "Well yeth." he seems a little reluctant to say anything. "well..thort of. The Arrowth are thketchy about thith time period. Thereth recordth of mageth who therved, journalth and even artifacth from the time, but ... not much information on how we participated otherwithe. The Arrowth were divided during thith period, which... ithn't unuthual.. jutht... " He sighs. "Being divided dothe not allow for good record keeping, and the contention about the war doeth no help much. " He shakes his head. "There are Legendth though. Mageth who thowed courage. The group of life mageth who turned into bearth during the cold hallow battle. " He pauses "The Adamantine banner. "

"The Adamantine Banner?" I raise an eyebrow in confusion.

"It bathically ith a banner that when held high and brought into battle helpth win for the "right thide"" The Arrow holds up his fingers and quoutes. "The problem ith that it decidedth what ith "the right side." Thuppothudly itth paththed down from atlantith and more than once it decided to leave the arrowth uthing it in the cold... Except.. in the civil war... "

Okay so the Arrow version of the Ark of Covenant, great this is getting better by the fucking second. I mean it's not like Ahriman and Mike are the first two Arrows I've ever really called friends, wait it is. Atlantian artifacts and a war that still causes parking lot shootings over Confederate Battle Flag bumper stickers, I am now truly and epically confused over what the hell I'm doing in this photograph. "So what happened?"

"Well there we two of them..."

"Let me take a wild guess here and say that one thought the North was right and the other thought the South was right?" David Lynch territory, yeah we're officially in David Lynch territory right here.

"If you believe the old thorieth the north arrowth and the thouth arrowth /Both/ had it. They fought each other fiercely and more than once the Banner flew on either side. The reason it connectth with me ith... the latht time the banner wath theen on both thideth... wath gettuthburg. Then it wath lotht until the end of the war." Ahriman breathed. " The fighting between the arrowth was rough though, the order wath nearly wiped out in american, tho we have no hard proof itth anything more than a fairy tale. The other Banner hath never been found and the banner we do have ith kept in a box for which there ithn't a key. That will thow up when the arrow needth it the motht."

A key that is probably around the neck of King Arthur with the box being studied by Top Men. Mystical artifacts, why did it have to be mystical artifacts. "So this Legendary item had a twin that went missing during a battle, the same battle where a picture of a good deal of Sacramento Mages was found in the aftermath." I look at Ahriman, my attention on my Cabalmate. "Why do I not believe that is just a coincidence." I shake my head. "Heavy."

Ahriman shakes his head. "It'th impoththible. Itth not thomething that mageth can DO." He shakes his head. "If they could yew think people would allow half the thingth they dithagree with in thith world to happen? "

"Look you think I want to believe this? It's fucking insane but if this isn't one hell of a joke, then it's something we've got to deal with." I want to believe it's just a joke, but I'm really beginning to accept that is probably wishful thinking.

Ahriman stares at the other and then at the picture. "Alright letth pretend I believe thith ith even CLOTHE to pothible, what do we do about it?"

"First thing is to confirm this isn't some asshole's idea of a joke, second would be to look for secondary confirmation of this. Those records you studied, maybe there was something in there, some reference to this whole event that might translate in a new light with this new information." I'm trying to think like a professor now. "Then we look at how it could be done. It's like computer simulation or theoretical physics, Einstein didn't need to travel at the Speed of Light in order to develop the Theory of Relativity. It doesn't matter if we can't do it, it doesn't matter if there isn't a Mage alive that could do it, what would matter is finding some way, uberpowerful mystical artifact, wannabe god, ten thousand Acanthus Time ritual, that this could happen." I look at Ahriman. "If this is real, we know the Where, the When and the Who, just need to find the How, the Why and the What."

"I will try. I don't know if the Arrow here hath what I found up in hollywood. You might want to athk the bookieth who are in on thith, athk if there ith a way. That will do the What... I will write my mathter to athk about the banner."
"I can try, but they hate sharing information even when the requests are completely sane." I shake my head. "If we're going to show this to the people involved, I'd like to get the Mysterium and Free Council Mages together, they've probably got the best records and we'd probably have the best chance to theoretically simulate a way. Only to be one hell of an interesting conversation, asking people if they've ever been to 1863."

Ahriman smirked. "Well if I thtart quoting Lee you can thlap me. For now though if athking if they are recreating Bill and Ted'th excellent adventure ith how we have to do it...."

"One thing though, historical records, Arrow legends and wacky science theories don't explain how this picture happened or why we were specifically there. Those questions are going to come up."

"Look I am trying to wrap my brain around that too. Thith would require uth to literally go back in time... be pothed PRIOR to battle, in what appearth to be ... " he eyeth the uniforms "pretty accurate uniforms and then have it be lotht. "

"The question will be asked." I remark with a shrug of my shoulders. "Alright, so I just need to invent, theoretically at least, Time Travel using both mundane and mystical means." I shake my head, a smile on my face seemingly coming to terms with this whole thing. "I'm so fucking billing the Consilium for a DeLorean."

"You realize." the other mastigos voice goes slightly dry "I have found that the Hierarch can't tell a pop culture reference from a knee in the face.. he might take you theriouthly."

"Hell you remember that night at Rage, I think half of that table thought the Holy Hand Grenade of Antioch was something to be used against Banishers."
I smile and give a soft laugh. "Well if I can pull this whole mess off, well fuck the Nobel Prize, they'll have to give me Norway. Yeah I know it'll never see the light of day, hence maybe they should buy us a DeLorean."

"Well mabye... I would prefer the skateboard to be honetht."


I smile, suddenly feeling like the world has regained balance and sanity. A bit. A tiny bit. Still better than nothing. "I need a drink before my brain explodes, you game?"

"...yeah I am game." he stands. "Yer buying for the little thnark comment earlier though." he grins

"You really need to be more specific about that, I make a lot of snarky comments."