Amy and Zelipe both blinked as the six newly made mutant wolves, the former shadows of Bart and Jenny repeated the same "oath" that Kaylee had urged the wolves to take in the previous time-line, seemingly unaltered. Amy eventually guessed that maybe Kaylee, despite her age still enjoyed various anime programs, and had used the "oath" as a sort of joke, knowing about Amy and Zelipe's powers.
"Was this the right thing to do, sister?" Zelipe asked.
"Yes, Zelipe-kun," Amy nodded, "Bart and Jenny are sorry for what they had done, but they could not be changed back with the game... and with reality fixing itself, my magic might make things worse. This should free them."
"What if they do not want to be wolves either?" Zelipe asked.
"We do not mind," said the male with blue fur with gold highlights, "it is a trade up from being a puppet."
"And you will not mind working with Martha to help raise the pups?" Amy questioned, "which will put you with Bart and Jenny?"
The mutant wolves traded glances for a few moments, and then nodded.
"It was the curse that did that," said one of the silver males with bluish highlights in their fur.
"We would like to help Beta Julie and her practice," said one of the silver females with reddish markings, her sister nodding all three of her heads, "she will need nurses."
Amy nodded, "If you come with us, Zel-kun and I will take you to Martha-san."
+++++++
In the mirrorverse, Marie began to slowly tell Cassandra, Lilly, Lawrence, and Betty the story of the witches, and what drove them mad, and what made them evil.
"I will remind you all that the story is not one that can be easily taken," Marie spoke, "it began in what would be Germany in 1670..."
+++++++
Balthilde Volksheer quietly lead her grandchildren and their best friend through the woods as they fled the city of Aachen. All of the girls were in tears as the moved, carrying what they could with them.
"Will mommy find us?" the eldest girl, six years old, asked.
Balthilde couldn't answer. Her daughter and husband were dead, killed by the witch-hunting craze that was sweeping through Europe. Balthilde had seen it coming and tried to urge her daughter to leave Aachen before the "hunters" caught her, but her daughter was determined to stay in her home, with her husband, but she did give to Balthilde her daughters and their friend. Balthilde cried slightly, knowing that her daughter had saved her children by giving them to Balthilde, and died when a mob of superstitious peasants accidentally caught a real witch... who never used her power to fight back... at least not that Balthilde sensed.
"I fear not, young one," Balthilde sighed, "she has gone to a better place."
"Heaven?"
"Maybe," Balthilde sighed.
"Where will we go?" said the friend.
"To a land that will one day be the Land of the Free, that will not be shackled to obscene fears that witches are inherently evil," Balthilde spoke, remembering visions of a land across the sea, proudly declaring its freedom, struggling to preserve its vision of freedom and one day becoming a great power while still believing in its concepts of freedom.
"We can do what we want!" the younger granddaughter cheered with great enthusiasm.
"In a way," Balthilde nodded, "but remember, things progress slowly. Things may not be perfect... but in time, everything will get better."
Balthilde sighed as she said that an kept her face facing forward so her charges wouldn't see. She had also seen a very disturbing future, that her granddaughters and their friend would turn their backs on the lessons in white magic that Balthilde had taught her daughter and her grandchildren, would turn their backs on their fellow human beings and place untold thousands into deep misery. Balthilde tried to think of a way that would allow her to try and prevent that future. The easiest way was obviously to kill them now before they had the chance to spread that terror on humanity... but Balthilde COULDN'T and WOULDN'T do that. She couldn't kill her own grandchildren... and that left her with the daunting task of trying to change their path so that they would grow up happy and become a future version of Merlin, whose stories had traveled from England to Germany and throughout Europe.
+++++++
"Martha-san!" came Amy's voice softly from outside Martha's room.
The silver furred mutant wolf looked up from her bed to see the white pup with red markings standing just inside the doorway with her brother behind her. They had apparently gotten up and headed off somewhere while she was busy. She hoped they hadn't given those working to help the wounded any trouble.
"Mistress Amy, Master Zelipe, is there something you require?" Martha asked, "The gem twins have gone outside with Amethyst, if you're looking to play."
"We have been seeking to right some wrongs, Martha-san."
Martha lowered an ear on each of her heads. Amy and Zelipe then turned to the hallway and motioned toward something in the hallway, and what then walked into her room through Martha literally for a loop. They were six mutant wolves like she was. Three male and three female, two of the females had one head more then her!
"We freed the shadows that Bart and Jenny created," Zelipe said, ducking behind his sister, "they wouldn't mind working with you.
"I am Abdul," said the male with blue fur and gold highlights, "It would be an honor to serve beside one so beautiful."
"I am Maddex," said one of the silver males with bluish highlights as he came up and stood beside Abdul.
"I am Ryan," said the other silver with bluish highlights colored male, "my brother and I are more then willing to help."
"I trust they are not enslaved to anything?" Martha then cut them off as she turned her heads to Amy and Zelipe.
"No, Martha-san," Amy bowed, "that aspect of our powers, and yours... and perhaps theirs as we made them to be like you... was fixed when Gaal was destroyed. No one we transform will be enslaved."
"How can you be sure?" Martha asked, "I do not want them blindly doing what I say any more then Master Jensen wants the pack to blindly follow him."
"I am Joy," said one of the three headed females as she approached, two of her paws over the red cross on her chest, "My sister and I wish to help Beta Julie as nurses... hopefully that proves to you that we are not enslaved, but we will help you in whatever way we can."
"I am Ingrid," said the other three headed female, "I hope you aren't jealous of my sister and I."
"I do not mind," Martha answered, "my concern is that Amy and Zelipe have done something foolish trying to fix Bart and Jenny's mistake."
"There wasn't much other choice," Ryan commented, "either we join you... join the pack... or remain empty shadows."
"And I am Whitney," said the silver female with red-orange highlights, "I hope that we can be friends, Madame Martha."
"I'm sorry about the way things have gone and that you had no conscious choice in joining the pack," Martha answered.
Abdul took one of Martha's paws and gently licked it, "the past can not be changed, and ultimately, we do not even blame Bart and Jenny for our becoming shadows. That was the curse... and we are grateful to Amy and Zelipe. They have set us free."
Martha could only nod, and then turned to Joy and Ingrid, "The triplets are dealing with the wounded members of the Pack and the Pride. I'm sure they would appreciate your help."