In the medical wing, with no clue of the history of the witches' past or the story Marie was
telling, Mother Glen asked an obvious question.
"Do you have any idea what the 'some reason' why that the curse attacked you? The pack?"
Julie said, "It was just a matter of this being where the curse fully awakened. And we were
all just good nearby converts for it to feed off of," Said Ashley, "After it fully awakened, it
influenced us to begin to use the game on each other almost at random. Amy was was her
personal shrine at the time and wasn't effected, where that girl picked up Shinto I have no
idea."
"What did you do to awaken it? Do you have any idea?"
Darla answered, "After Amy and Zelipe ignorantly turned Yamato, Akane, Umeko, Chiyoye
and Eri back from statues, Megan and Margot chose as an early birthday present to Alpha
Kaylee to replace them as her souled art. They Transformed or Dared each other to become
living art. Alpha Kaylee always loves basking in he presence of art with souls for some
reason."
"That's sick."
That was NOT a good thing to say about an Alpha of a pack. If Mother Glen was any other
leoman Julie and Darla would have spaded her where she stood on her four legs.
The living art in the room felt also offended at the lion Matriarch's words.
Julie and Darla said matter of fact in defense of their harem-mate, "Yomato and his mates
-willing- became art. And since the gargoyles could tell their spirits were still there, it
could not be called suicide."
Mother Glen looked in amazement at the japanese wolves, then at the recovering Megan
and Margot. Finally she asked, "Why did you willing become motionless rocks?"
"In our case it was solid gold." Chiyoye said, "Alpha Kaylee has always had a taste for
Japanese imported entertainment and art she knew was thinking about her too. Given our
heritage, and the 'condition' of myself and my harem-mates, we realized we were perfectly
logical candidates to become a gallery for Alpha Kaylee for her enjoyment."
"Never being able to move? Never being able to speak?"
"Those who stand at attention also serve." Chiyoye quoted from somewhere.
Yamato spoke, "After I explained in precise terms the error of what Amy-Chan and her
brother had done, forcing us to end our service to Alpha Kaylee, the Alphas realized that
Amy-Chan and Zelipe-chan's power could be used to rescue the wolves whose were forced
by the game unwillingly into being art."
"And how did the two of you, or Yamato and his mates," Mother Glen said looking at
Megan and Margot, "Even -get- turns to the game?"
The truth was that it had been simple to take the turns the shadows had and have them
given harmlessly to the wolves, who simply used them on each other. However, 'Sorry
Mother Glen,' Megan thought, 'I'm not telling an outsider, even you, about Bart and Jenny if
I don't have to.' "THAT is purely a -Pack- matter. And has nothing to do with your Pride's
health or well being."
Mother Glen was astounded at the look in Megan's eyes from where she lay on he medical
bed, she looked ready for Mother Glen to eat her alive before saying anymore more on the
subject. "I shall do the civilized thing then and not probe what does not directly relate to
my Pride." She didn't ask how they had gotten to the island, 'Alice's magic trick' was
relatively well known, though almost none outside the pack knew the full extent of her
abilities to use ANY smooth reflective surface rather than just mirrors, her invincibility was
also down played.
The two leomans, the snow white Maxwell and the light beige Sonia continued to busybody
around Yamato. Just as Yamato had committed a grave dishonor by crippling Penny,
Maxwell and Sonia had gravely broken leoman creed by their uncivilized outburst.
"Has anyone told you your fur looks like just Japan's flag?" Sonia asked trying to come up
with compliments to the man who had disabled her cub's legs.
"Several hundred times." Yamato said simply, not taking offense or annoyance at the
question, he was proud of his heritage after all.
"So you really were just -okay- with just being gold statues just for your Alpha to look at?"
Maxwell said rather unbelieving.
"It was an honor."
"I'm guessing the wolves Little Amy saved with her magic trick didn't think of being in
Glendale's museum as an honor." Sonia said.
"None of them were given a choice. Many spent years with none knowing they were even
still alive. Until the gargoyles senses revealed they still had living souls."
Sonia asked, "Why not just transfer their essence into statues carved by a female gargoyle
then?"
Nick was the one who spoke up and answered that one, he had a sister for one after all,
"Gargoyles in general consider using essence transfer on non-gargoyles to be obscene.
Even in the most well intentioned cases. Not to mention there's the psychological side
effects of the essence transfer that leaves the subject wit the base uber-territorial instincts
gargoyles are known for... "
"That STILL had to be better than just being a prisoner in your own body!"
"It likely is. But it's like zoophilia to them. And even he ones who are willing won't do it on
a unwilling subject, and since they can't get an answer from the victim, they refuse."
"That's stupid."
"Not from their point of view it isn't!" Nick said frowning, Nicole frowned too, Backdoor was
her friend and sister-in-law after all. "It's like pulling a plug on a coma victim, unless they
left instructions on such a thing, it could be considered -another- violation of their
choices. AND since the original vessel is destroyed during the transfer, that means there
would be no way for them to be what they were before if another way was found... and
many had been statues for so long they didn't have family advocates to speak on their
behalf... those that did... well... most clung to the 'vain' hope a better way would come
around... "
Zack spoke, "Which came in the form of my son and daughter!"
Maxwell and Sonia looked at each other, then Sonia said to Yamato, "Once upon a time, a
few centuries or more so ago, it was consider unnatural for a leoman to take a Prime Mate,
someone who'd -always- be first, and who would -always- have say on who their partner
was with... You think being lawn jockeys for your Alpha Female to speak to and just hang
around is how you'll best serve the pack, I chose not to argue... you say my cub has to be
the one who has to pass judgement on you? Okay, I chose to accept answer that too."
Mary breathed a sigh of relief. Jeff and Gloria were also glade they didn't have to interfere
and get things even more complicated.
Meanwhile in the middle of all this, Robyn and Maxine were flanking Millie. The three
teenage wolves huddled around each other.
'I have no idea why I remember that name, Miles,' Maxine thought, 'I remember, a guy
named Max, a guy named Robin spelled with an 'i' and a guy named Miles. Best of buddies.
I remember them being human. I should just remember how things were after becoming
wolves... everyone else does... I don't have any magic powers... I don't have any magic
tricks. I remember Miles coming late after we were all made female wolves and swearing
our oath of loyal to Alpha Kaylee in that army helmet of hers. I remember playing cat and
mouse with him before finally changing him into cute little Millie... I remember we were all
adults before that... And... I know that these are things I shouldn't know, and I get the gut
feeling, the universe knows I shouldn't know these things too. And without a magic trick, I
have no excuse for knowing things I shouldn't know.'
Millie looked at Maxine with surprise, then confusion, bewilderment, then alarm and shock.
Robyn covered her orange muzzle before Millie accidently let a yelp of alarm and shock.
"Oh-My-God!" Millie swore as for a brief moment, she remembered her previous existence
as Miles in a reality that no longer existed. And if it never existed how could she even
remember it? The short answer: she couldn't, and that truth hit her mind harm, all she was
hearing were echoing that were fading fast.
"Miles? Millie? Maxine? Max? I'm scared." She whispered.
Maxine hugged her, this game wasn't going like it was supposed to, she and Robyn were
supposed to tease their packmate about being back at high-school age, none of the
respect of adults and none of the free time of children. Instead, Maxine trick to remember
long enough the previous existence had caused a bug, and reality, did not humor bugs.
"Ed ain't so bad," Robyn said hugging Millie too, "We're closer dan evah! We're a pack, a
family. We're thicker than water."
"And all of our pack mates love us, would you really want to leave them?" Maxine asked.
Millie thought for a moment, "No, I guess I wouldn't..."
"Dat's da spirit girl!" Robyn cheered.
"You... you think we're gonna turn into sisters?" Millie asked, not wanting any of them to
use their parents or their parents to lose children, but at the same time, the feeling of even
greater closeness enticed her at the back of her mind.
"Even if we don't, we're sisters at heart and that's where it counts." Maxine said the two
hugging her injured packmate as much as they dared. 'Hmm, looks like Millie's got a head
start on me, and I'm a late bloomer, then again, I already know I'm gonna have the best
figure out of all three of us when we're done! Tee-hee!!' Maxine thought amused with
herself.
Millie shuddered, "I don't think I can take high school again." Miles life in highschool had
NOT be pleasant, his meek attitude making him a walking doormat, unlike girls who were
supposed to be cute that way.
"I'm all pretty sure we're all home school Sugah." Said Robyn nuzzling her. "Well, except fer
the Alphas, and those of us with degrees."
Millie sighed, "I don't know weather to be relieved or disappointed by that."
"I'm sure old Alpha will let ya go ta public school if ya all ask."
"That's good, I'm kinda curious to see what it's like."
"Eh don't know why ya'd all want ta, isn't learnin' with family better?"
"Yes, but it's where the Alphas met, so maybe I'll meet my mate there too."
Maxine said, "What do we need mates for when we got each other?"
Robyn said, "Oooh, you'll change yer tune once ya meet the right Lupman sistah, trust me
on this."
"Heh, fine sis', I will. What about you little sister?"
Mille sighed, "Like I said, it's a good place to meet people and future mates, we aren't the
only Lupmans in the world after all."
Laura and Zulema in light of the short violent react between pack and pride had huddled
close to their mother, and Ingrid had inched them away to the pack mates farther away
from Mother Glen, like Millie.
"Ain't ya the cutest things evah!" Robyn said to the twins.
"Thank you." Laura said while Zulema just nodded.
"Is everything okay Millie?" Ingrid's middle head asked while the other two looked at Robyn
and Maxine.
Millie thought about it, she could have come home with much much worse, or could have
stayed split in two and there would have been an extra set of twins in the pack... but here
she was with her entire life ahead of her and likely to recover fully unlike some other
members of the her pack mates... "Everything is fine Ingrid. Everything is just fine."
"What is all this?" A male Lupman whose fur was as black as midnight and taller than any of
the others entered the room. Following three steps behind him was a seven foot tall she-
wolf with reddish brown fur.
"ALPHA-JENSEN! ALPHA-KAYLEE!" Julie and Darla said together at once at once to their
mate and harem-mate. "You should be resting and in bed!"
"We're fine Julie, Darla," Kaylee spoke, "We were just curious what the roar was and -
Mother Glen-?!"
"Hello and greeting Alpha-Female Kaylee." The giant white lioness said.
"You were the one roaring?" Kaylee asked, few things got Mother Glen to roar and it was no
laughing matter when she did.
"For all practical purposes I was." Mother Glen said simply. "I was simply gleaning details of
what happened to my pack who serve in Glendale's police."
"Oh I see." Kaylee said, feeling awkward no one had thought to inform the Pride Matriarch
about her Pride's state.
On her spot on the table, the statuette Michelle saw the mess this was becoming. 'You
really should get some more sleep, you really should get some more sleep, doctor's orders,
you really should get some more sleep.'
"Maybe we should get some more sleep." Kaylee said.
"You're right maybe we should get some more sleep." Jensen replied. "But first I want an
update on how my Pack is doing."
Beta-Julie spoke first her hands together her sandy blond hair falling around her shoulders
as she lowed at her mate and Alpha, "Fran managed to stabilize all the pack members so
we're in no danger of losing anyone. But these aren't injuries that'll just heal in the day.
They'll all be looking at recovery and therapy for the foreseeable future. Not everyone heals
as fast you Alpha."
Sergeant Brian quoted holding Mary's hand, "Good that war is such a horrid thing, least we
grow too fond of it."
Everyone could agree to that.
Julie stepped close to her mate and harem-mate and gently pushed them back slightly,
"Forgive me my Alpha, but as the pack's doctor this is the one place I outrank you. We're
crowded as is. Mother Glen has already offered the Yorks and the Glens to act as Ingrid and
Joy's helpers and ---"
"Wait? Omega-Joy? Omega-Ingrid?"
"We are here Alpha!" The three headed six armed wolves said in a chorus of six voices.
Kaylee had always found it amusing that a pair of twins whose fur was white with a red
cross would become nurses.
"Mistress Amy freed us all." Said Joy's left head of what had been.
"We're fully ready to resume our duty and have been helping with the effort." Said Joy's
middle head of what was happening.
"And since we're fully rested unlike the majority of the pack we'll be able to pick up the
slack." And the right head said what was to be.
"As Jenny and Bart's mother, I would just like to say I'm sorry for what happened to you,
Joy, Mdaddex, Ryan, Whitney, and Abdul. " Kaylee began.
Ingrid's three heads looked at each other and nodded in consensus and the middle head
said. "Mistress Kaylee. There is nothing to forgive." Said Ingrid's middle head.
"We were able to see a lot while we were Jenny's shadow. We saw into her true heart, and
we understand why she did what she did. We are with our daughters again, that is all that
matters."
"And ready to serve the pack of course, and our services are very dearly needed indeed."
Finished Ingrid's right head.
And all six head said on two sets of shoulders, "And seriously our Alphas you should not
up and about!"
Mother Glen figured this had to do with the 'Pack only' business mentioned before.
Julie and Darla clapped their hands. Julie spoke, "Please, we're crowded enough as it is."
"Anyone who isn't helping or visiting please leave now." Said Darla.
"Those who are visiting please take a few more minutes and say your goodbyes for now."
Julie said.
"Alphas." The two triplets said together.
"Yes?" Jensen asked.
"Can you please take our sister back to bed? She's exhasted. She was up all night and all
morning saving the lives our of pack mates. Fran needs some rest." Darla and Julie pointed
at the sleeping Fran.
Kaylee and Jensen sighed and looked at each other and nodded.
++++++++
"It happened on the same day didn't it?" Samantha asked, "Marie and Goldwyn both lost
their eye on the same day didn't they?"
The black and red dressed Marie said, "Technically for Marie Cruz it was night, for Goldwyn
it was day. But yes, by fate both of them lost half their sight that day and both had their
vision set in stone. Marie now fully understood the true weight of the world her god father
lived in. And Goldwyn, became convinced as white was white and black was black that
rules were ultimately destructive and oppressive and true freedom and happiness could
only be found in their utter annihilation... When she woke up, she found out what she had
dreamed was no dream... she cried until her eyes were red, she used her magic to FORCE
Joella's half scale stone body body back together and back onto the pillar where she had
sat graphed to it... but Princess came to her and told her... which was not a lie in the
least... that Joella really was dead now... all Goldwyn had restored was an empty shell... All
of this distracted from the alarm and absolute panic of losing her eye."
"You said before that Princess was just another cat." The great twenty something year old
she-wolf said (she had been a statue since her nephew had been a pup after all), "From
how you describe her here, she was aiming to make the girls anarchists."
"She was. But every choice the witchlings made was completely their own. All stereotypes
have their origin, I'll say no more least I bring up things that are best left buried and
forgotten where they belong. ... Goldwyn... still laying there with a complete but now
empty statue... slowly looked Princess in the eyes. And Princess for the first time ever was
for a moment actually scared of the witch she was helping mold. Goldwyn said, "Then I'll
just need to be even -more- powerful to pull her back from the afterlife won't I?" Now
Goldwyn had another person she wanted to be powerful enough to bring back the dead
for."
"Can you use magic to bring back the dead?" Ask Lawrence. "It's important."
"Bring back the dead? Possible. Bring them back to life? Only a god can do that. Goldwyn
figured she'd have it easier since she technically still had Joella's corpse perfectly preserved
for her to inhabit when she called her back... but in that moment also, Goldwyn lost any
respect she had for any law or rule. They were the -enemy-. And Lupmen were just like
adults, the enemy's foot soldiers. Either to be liberated from their oppression or moved
aside. When Grisele and Gita found out they were horrified. They cried too. They huddled
with each other hugging one another for support over the death of their friend. They dared
bring Joella's empty shell to the praying town and hide her in a shack just off the rang of
Joseph's house. After all, all three of them marched into their home, and Running Bear
asked them at once knowing something was wrong what had happened. None of them said
a word. Eyes red with tears and hair a mess and with black clouds over their heads, they
just went to their rooms. Goldwyn hide her face... but it would only work until morning..."
"We should have known wolves were all bad." Said little Grisele.
Gita said, "Yeah, they're always the bad guys in the stories. The Big Bad Wolf, the Wolf In
The Forest, the Winter Wolf... they're all monsters!"
"They kill Joella... they killed Joella! LET'S MAKE'EM PAY FOR THAT!"
The other two nodded.
"Don't!" Princess implored, "Not yet! If you three try it, against an entire pack of Lupmen,
they'll kill you. And remember! They're just slaves to rules! They need to be fixed! Just like
all the adults need to be fixed! And all children need to be kept from being broken."
The three were slightly mollified, but none of them would forget what they had lost that
day. They had lost their grandmother to a thug who had wanted money. And now they had
lost their friend to a wolf just because she wasn't supposed to be there... They would
remember.
Betty asked astounded, "She forgave her grandmother's killer who was a criminal, but
couldn't forgive a Lupman who was just doing his duty?"
"Emotions are rarely logical. And the girls had begun to become more self righteous by this
point as magic proved again and again to be a much simpler and more direction solution
for things. ... When they saw a pair slaves, a mother and daughter sold off to different
owners they had hugged not wanting to be separated. The three witchlings at once turned
them into a nude obsidian statue with European features, so now they were being bought
by the same owner, and would be together forever, from their point of view, that solved
that problem at once. There are many stories like that. Also that night, all of them
dreamed."
~~
A full moon shined down on the field in a starlit sky. The clearing was large and full of
flowers of every type and many that only existed in fairy tales (the girls would fix that soon
enough with their magic in reality). Fireflies danced about this way and that...
The black haired Goldwyn had Princess on her shoulder.
The three split up following the flow of fireflies, Gita and Grisele followed them to the edge
of the clearing.
Gita heard a hissing at the edge of the clearing and saw two red eyes stare back at her,
they came closer, she heard hissing and saw the slow moving shape of a snake. But she
was unafraid. She snake slithered up to her and coiled itself up, it looked at her in passing
interest. It was bigger than any snake she had seen, but somehow still looked like a
youngling almost.
"Hello, my name is Gita, what's your name?"
"You must name me, and then, after that, you must discover my -true- name. Then you
and I can be connected, and I'll be your sword to wield... I can feel it, you call to me, at the
basement of your mind, I hear you, calling, calling me, so now I answer back. Find me,
name me, find my real name, and I will stay at your side forever..."
"You're... you're my familiar?"
"No."
The blond Gita looked sad.
"I am not your familiar yet. Only once I become the medium and partner for your magic,
will I be your familiar."
The blond and pig tailed Grisele meanwhile followed the fireflies away from her sister by
blood until they lead her to a large tree in the middle of the clearing.
"Hello?" Grisele said but she wasn't sure for whom.
"Hello." Said a cawing voice.
"Hello." She replied back.
"Hello again."
"Hello again."
"My name is Grisele."
"I have no name you know. And I have no name you have given me either. Tell me what the
name you want to give me is, and figure out what my true name is."
"How am I supposed to do that?"
"That is for you to figure out." Said a mass of black feathers near the top of the tree.
Grisele didn't think that made much sense.
"Hi! Who are you?"
The three girls, and one snake and one cat, turned to see a little girl with black hair in
simplistic but practical clothing.
The three walked towards her, there was a river in the middle of the clearing with a stone
bridge. On the other side, it seemed to be daytime.
A youngish hound dog barked next to the girl.
"Hi. My name is Gita."
"My name is Grisele."
"I'm Goldwyn." Said the black haired girl, in her dream she still had both eyes.
"My name is Marie." Said the girl who looked about Goldwyn's age and she curtsied and
bowed. She knelt down and scratched behind the dog's ear, "And this Mutt."
"Is that your familiar?" Gita asked.
"My what?"
"Your magic friend."
"Oh no, Mutt is just a friend." Marie said having no clue how a friend could be 'magic.'
Princess hissed at the girl.
"OH! And this is Princess! Princess be nice!"
Marie took one look at the black cat and felt scared... she had seen it before, somewhere
before... only in her memory it was impaled on a poker.
"What's wrong?" Gita asked.
"That's... that's a black cat...those are bad."
"No they're not! See? Princess is nice!" Goldwyn held her up for the girl to look at with her
two eyes. Princess calmed herself down somewhat and Marie took some hesitant steps
onto the bridge and looked closer at the cat.
"I.. guess she is sort of pretty..."
"You see?"
Marie nodded smiling.
There seemed to be a lot of stone paths on Marie's side of the clearing. All put in pretty
patterns of different colored stones instead of lots of flowers, and there were butterflies
instead of fireflies. There was also a humanoid stone lion with bird wings playing checkers
with a clown, but that's dreams for you.
Gita reached out her hand, the red snake she had picked up slithered up her leg, around
her waist, and along her arm. "Wanna be friends?"
Marie barely thought of it, as one barely does in dreams, kids her own age, girls, not 'other'
alter boys, friends, "YOU BET!" Marie reached out her hand.
The little red snake opened it's mouth, and two pairs of fangs came out of it's jaws as it
reared it's head back as it rested on Gita's wrist: neither Marie or Gita saw any of this this.
The moment before they shook hands, the moment before the snake could bite however, a
raven the size of an elephant appeared behind Marie cawing like thunder and startling the
group. What was really weird was that it seemed to be wearing a mask shaped like it's own
beak and face.
The three witchlings fell on their rears in surprise and the snake fell off Gita's arm and
Princess wailed in shock and alarm at the sight of the large large raven. The raven's wings
folded protectively around the surprised Marie and it stared daggers at the three
witchlings.
On two sides of the planet, three girls in the new, and one in the old, both awoke with a
start.