"Wow," Abbey gasped as Marie caught the latest to arrive up on the story of the witches and Marie Cruz, "to be honest I can't really see either group as heroes. The witches seem to break every possible rule to defend the position that children are inherently good and adults are inherently evil..."
She then paused for a moment.
"But Marie Cruz does not seem to be that much better," Alice picked up, "She has tortured people, she has killed others, and she has pushed others away..."
"Mr. P has killed people," Marie reminded them, "remember that. Also remember that this was a LONG time ago. The world that Marie Cruz and the witches lived in was very different from the one we lived in today. You can not just say that Marie Cruz was bad because she had killed people. Many of the humans and and those of "race" of "man" that she had killed were vile attackers that had sought to unleash horrors on the world, and it is likely that if the three witches had tried to unleash their curse on Rome rather then a then small town on the very edge of what the Western world then considered "civilized" her Godfather, Gabriel, would have killed them before they even had the chance to do what they did."
"So, Marie Cruz and her Godfather largely sought to preempt most things before they became worse?" Alice asked.
"In a way, but because gathering news back then was not like gathering news today, most times they couldn't learn about many of the forces they would fight before they they happened. And in fact, much of what Marie knew of the witches and their actions before they did them was only possible through Marie's second sight, which is not necessarily as certain as one would think. Marie didn't know entirely what would happen, and second sight can only show those that happen what could happen. Various superstitious "seers" would tell both Hitler and Stalin that they would conquer the Western world. Most of them only showed a rather short sighted world... Hitler conquered the Western world from 1939 to 1942, after 1942, Hitler's Empire fell apart and was gone by 1945..."
"And the events of the war that destroyed Hitler's Reich ended up dividing Europe between those that would support the USA and those that the Soviets conquered, which meant that Stalin was never successful at conquered the world," Lawrence commented, "though, the Cold War that resulted wasn't something that made the world better..."
Marie nodded, "we're getting distracted though from the point of the story."
"Sorry," Alice and Abbey spoke together, as their interruption was the cause for it.
+++++++++
Meanwhile, at the Catholic Church, Father Michael felt himself drawn to what was his office at the church. Father Paul had returned to the group, and found that clothing wouldn't dissolve around him anymore. Now, while Father Michael did feel that this was a problem, as it seemed to remove the only reason he and his brother had for removing the curse and rediscovering Merlin's cure, a part of him was glad for his brother. Paul and Serenity followed behind him as he had made his way into his office, as if he was checking something.
"Is something wrong, Father Michael?" Serenity asked as he began shuffling over several papers on the desk.
"I don't think so, but it just feels like there is something I need to check before we get back to work," Father Michael answered as he shifted through the papers, and then stopped and handed a lone sheet to Serenity, "see what you make of this..."
Madame Serenity raised an eyebrow and took the paper from him and then looked at it. It looked like a standard computer printout or something typed on a typewriter, but it was written like it was orders.
It read: "As I'm sure you are aware of the curse that has brought havoc and chaos down on the city of Glendale. This curse was started after an Inquisitor and a team of allies defeated and tried three witches in Glendale. The witches were found guilty through due process of the time, though records indicate that many of the aspects of the trial mirror a twentieth century court rather then a fifteenth or sixteenth century one. By order of His Holiness and by Order of the Council of Suprema and the Inquisition, through the Office of the Congregation for the Doctrine of the Faith, you, Fathers Michael and Paul Illuminatius are to work to find some way to destroy the witches' curse on Glendale and see to it that the Inquisitor's work if finished." It was signed by a name that neither Father Michael, Father Paul, nor Madame Serenity recognized. And Michael nor Paul could figure out how this man knew their last name.
"I'm not sure what to make of this," Serenity spoke, "it's clear that the church has ordered you to find Merlin's cure... or to try and end the witches' curse, but to my knowledge, the Inquisition ended before that."
"The Inquisition has continued to combat heresy, though since 1965, the official office has been, the Congregation for the Doctrine of the Faith," Father Micheal answered, "though neither Paul nor I have been involved with that office."
"Maybe you have in the new reality," Serenity offered, "It would explain how you and would become involved with the Curse... outside of some dare or very minor transform that we don't know about."
"Maybe."
++++++++
Amethyst led the pups into a living room area, partially with the hopes of letting them "veg out" in front of the television for a while. She had left Bart, Jenny, Kevin, and Marcy in the arms of their mother, and Abbey and Alice remained in the mirrorverse. The purple she wolf, with some sparkling luster in her fur guessed they were searching or their sister. Amy had departed for her shrine area with Zelipe tagging along. Amethyst didn't worry about that, though it could be argued she didn't worry about anything. If they truly needed supervision, one of the Omegas would take up the task. Amethyst's main concern was the gem twins. She'd help the gem teens whenever possible (much to Garnett's annoyance when she became "trapped" in Amethyst's bosom).
As they made their way in, they found the present Omegas dancing for nine very depressed looking cubs.
"There has to be something we can do to make them happy," Jay said weakly.
Amethyst sighed at the sight of the Pride's cubs. While little could shake Amethyst's cheery demeanor, the sadness radiating off the cubs came close. She then noticed how the cubs were fascinated by the Omega's dancing. It did give Amethyst a slight idea.
"Maybe we can entertain them too," Amethyst said with a smile and took Martha and Whitney's paws and joined in. The pups were close behind her.
Mary looked up slightly as stroked the fur on Moja's back to see Amethyst and all of the gem twins joining in.