Mal'akh rested peacefully looking through various maps and things that were brought to her. As horrifying as some of the changes to the world were in the years that she had been stone, she was more interested in what happened to Glendale. Everything that she had seen before the battle with Kurse indicated how much things had changed.
It was Joy who noticed this and came over to her. Mal'akh noticed that two of her heads were asleep leaving the third to control all of Joy's body functions.
"Much as changed," Mal'akh said slowly as the nurse wolf approached.
"I'm sure," Joy answered, and then noticed a building on the map that Mal'akh was looking at.
"It's Glendale's City Hall now," Joy then told her.
"The witches built it as fortress to hold their victims to make themselves stronger," Mal'akh spoke, some venom still her voice over the witches, "Joella turned it into an orphanage... I'm afraid I was sent to the gallery before anything else could happen to it."
"Well... my information is coming from some biographies of Loving Lady Joella... but her orphanage was truly large and massive in size," Joy spoke, "Like it was too big for the number of people that lived there. According to all the records, Joella did the most to try and combat a plague of "wandering demons" that plagued Glendale at the time. To be honest, it wouldn't surprise me if the witches were responsible for these demons..."
"They WERE."
Joy nodded, "anyway, several of the orphans there, whose identities the book didn't go into too much detail of course grew up and moved on. They remained close with Joella and the staff, but were drawn to do other things. Those that were struck by the "demons" remained at the orphanage where Joella looked after them until they died. After that, there isn't much about what happened to Joella. Some records indicate that she went west to try and fight Smallpox epidemics among the native peoples, some say she was drawn to the major cities of the colonies, trying to help the urban poor, and still a third says she and a group of Leomen went south to urge the southerners to free their slaves. No one is really sure."
"I never got to say goodbye," Mal'akh half whispered.
"Anyway after Joella's death or her moving off to some other charitable adventure, the building was taken over by the town's city council as it was large enough to hold and house every town government office," Joy continued, "the building's supposedly kept the same name out of honor and respect for the loving lady. There is bronze statue on its front steps that is supposedly of her in her twenties or thirties... I'm not quite sure on the physical age."
"You seem to admire her," Mal'akh commented.
"The stories of her caring and her love inspired my sister and I to become nurses," Joy explained.
"Amazing," Mal'akh commented, "although... I suppose I'd need to see more to see if the new Glendale matches the bizarness of what the witches tried to do to it..."
+++++++++++
The young Mal'akh nervously looked on at the world that the town of Glendale that was rapidly changing thanks to the witches magics. Strange flowers and and strangely colored grasses were growing, now in many of the places outside of the maze of thorns that witches had erected to protect their manor. What frustrated Mal'akh the most was not the condition of the flora of the town. It was the people in Glendale.
The people were all regressing in age. Her parents now looked like they weren't much older then she was. Her father had lost his mane, which was a Leoman male's most outstanding feature. And as she looked over, she watched her mother and father engaged in a wrestling match that she could remember having similar matches with Aimiliona before the witches drove her mad.
"They're destroying everything," Mal'akh thought to herself, "what will happen when someone immune to the witches powers comes and isn't beneficent the way Sister Cruz says she hopes to be for Glendale... what will happen when the mundane bears begin wandering in from the woods. They only stay at the edges because the Pride males are about as big as they are, and there are enough Lupman around that coming into Glendale would be too much of a health risk for them... but with everyone as children... they may be tempted..."
Mal'akh then felt herself shudder. She did like to think of herself as a big girl... a lioness... but there were times, as she thought about the potential problems that would come, she realized how much she wanted and needed her father's protection...
++++++++++++
"Wouldn't the witches's magic have effected the wildlife too?" Joy asked curiously.
"Not that I noticed," Mal'akh sighed, "the Gold Deer didn't seem to be affected, and neither did the White-Tails that followed them... almost like they were infatuated with them... I never saw any of the wildlife regress in age. Apparently the witches' targets were people."
++++++++++++
"Hello," Mal'akh heard a voice speak to her. She turned, half expecting it to be Joella again, but it was Rosa Daleson.
"Hello, Pride Sister," Mal'akh answered with respect to Rosa.
"Hello, Mal'akh," Rosa repeated, "you seem troubled."
"You haven't noticed?" Mal'akh asked, "everyone's going nuts. My parents are wrestling like they're cubs again... and seem to believe everything is BETTER like that."
"I know," Rosa told her, "I know. I don't really don't know how to respond to all of this. Part of me is scared for all the transformed people. That they could be harmed... but another part is glad that I'm not being called "runt" by anyone anymore."
Mal'akh glanced over at her. Rosa was a few years older then her, but she always seemed to be diminutive in comparison to members of her own litter. Younger. It then shamed Mal'akh that she had had some of the same wondering about Rosa.
"I'm sorry for their behavior," Mal'akh apologized.
"They wouldn't understand how it happened," Rosa sighed, "Gaal did something to me when we were both younger. I think she called herself Gita then... and it's slowed down my aging, I think."
"You think?" Mal'akh asked.
"I hadn't really thought about it until I saw half of Glendale start to become children again," Rosa answered.
"There's got to be something we can do," Mal'akh sighed.
"Unless you know magic, there's nothing that either of us can do," Rosa told her, "other then try to step up and provide for our families."
"You're honestly thinking about going hunting?" Mal'akh asked, "who will protect our families?"
"We can only hope that the Witch Pride males will do that," Rosa sighed, "they haven't attacked any member of our Pride, as it would be uncivilized to do so."
"Come on Sister Cruz," Mal'akh pleaded, "move quickly."
She then trotted after Rosa through a town that was rapidly beginning to look like it would be inspiration for Lewis Carroll if things kept going.
++++++++++
Serenity pulled her car to a stop at the gate and pressed the button.
"This is Madame Serenity," she spoke into the intercom, "I need to speak with a member of the pack about something."
The gates then opened and Serenity slowly drove up the large driveway and parked in front of a small dividing wall where Frontdoor stood guard and in front of a fountain with what looked like three outrageously over sized female Lupman as fountains in a small circular pond. As she got out, she wondered if they were turned into that by Jensen in the previous reality or something else... and then sighed. She knew she'd never get the right answer to that. Jensen, according to the new reality, was never the selfish self-centered cheerleader that his past "incarnation" was, and for all he knew, the three statues had always been that way.
As she slowly made her way up to the front door, she was met by a garnet colored female Lupman. She was only about the age of a teenager from what Serenity could see.
"You are the woman Beta-Julie went to see about the gem twin's parents," Garnett spoke, remembering the conversations that went through the adults of the pack (even if she wasn't supposed to be listening in).
"Yes," Serenity sighed, wondering how this would go if she ran into what Julie had become, not knowing that Julie and Darla were going to bed after staying up with the night shift.
"Did you find them?" Garnett wondered.
"That investigation is still ongoing," Serenity sighed, "I'm here right now because of an incident with the Game..."
"But Amy said Kurse was dead," Garnett almost gave a fearful gasp.
"Indeed," Serenity nodded, "but Kurse's actions hasn't stopped some people. I need to speak with someone named Marie."
Garnett gave her a blank look as she was trying to think of something.
"I don't think there is a Marie in the Pack that resides at the manor," Garnett spoke, "but maybe Alpha Jensen's Pack Roster has her name in it... Come inside, and I'll get him."
That only left Serenity puzzled as she entered Wolf Manor behind the teen wolf. Marie had to be part of the pack. After all, what purpose would a Lupman from some place other then Glendale have to be in Glendale...