"Um..." Penny spoke, "I do not need them. I have Kirk, again."
"And I have Penny," Kirk added, while Umeko remained silent.
Serenity sighed as had brought in the Leoman Love dolls, much to the astonishment of the Leoman there.
"No, someone used the game on them," Serenity spoke, deciding to keep the facts behind the present case to herself. What she would be telling them would be a lie and she knew it, but if she explained everything, she would only cause more trouble. "I don't know who it was, and I caught him before he could do anything with them. And he fled before I could do anything to get him, but without the game, I doubt he'll really be a further threat."
"And you can save them, mistress," Umeko spoke up from behind Penny.
Serenity's curiosity finally boiled over.
"I have to ask, what is the whole "Mistress" thing she has been using?" Serenity asked.
"Gillie probably informed you of this..." Penny sighed, "but after I had been told that I had the power to free Leomen trapped by the game, I went to the Gallery to free Kirk and the other Leomen there. There I ran into Umeko's husband, Yamato, and the rest of his part of the Pack. He was there with Amy to free the Lupmen that the game had ensnared... unfortunately neither of us expected the other to be there, and I overreacted thinking they were after Kirk... which lead to a fight which put me in this wheel chair for awhile..."
"The misunderstanding between my husband and Penny-san and the fight weighed heavily on him," Umeko cut in, "he felt dishonored by striking an ally and friend of the Pack, and has been seeking to atone and repay his misdeeds... unfortunately, he is among the wounded from the battle against Kurse and can not do so until he can walk again. So, until he can, or until Penny-san can walk again, I will serve Penny-san. As any good wife would."
Serenity looked on for a moment.
"Trying to persuade her and her husband to let it go has proved impossible," Penny commented, "Grandma tried to explain that it wasn't necessary. I tried to explain that it wasn't necessary. They are apparently driven to duty and honor."
"I see," Serenity spoke, silently thankful that this was not some twisted joke created by the game.
"Anyway," Penny spoke, "If I am to free them, I suppose we had best get started."
Serenity nodded. And handed the first love doll, a female, to Penny. What followed was a fairly predicable outcome. Penny slowly touched each love doll and said, "you are of the Pride. You have always been and always will be Leomens of the Glendale Pride". After each repeating of the phrase, rubber or latex and the other inanimate materials softened into flesh, and fur the same color as the love doll's material grew. On the males, the fur around their necks grew into a full mane. The image of teeth separated into individual teeth and hardened into bone, as all teeth were. The male's members softened and were "pulled" into a protective sheath.
"Are you all okay?" Penny asked as the last transformation finished.
"I'm me again!" one of the females announced, and then hugged one of Penny's legs, "I'M ME AGAIN!"
"Easy with the legs, Pride Sister," Penny urged.
"Sorry, Penny," the female answered and then noticed Kirk standing beside Penny's wheelchair, Umeko behind it, and Madame Serenity standing nearby, "I trust this wasn't too much trouble?"
"Not too much," Serenity spoke, "I generally specialized in investigating the game... I go under the "name" of Madame Serenity."
"What is your first name, Ms. Serenity?"
That made Serenity pause for a moment. As a male, her first name had been Patrick, but over the years she had gone by gypsy/fortune teller type name of Madame Serenity. And she had created the alias of Serena when she first met Anne in the church to mimic the stage name she commonly used, instead of Patricia, which would be the feminine version of her original name. She sighed and decided to stick with the stage name.
"Serena, though I usually prefer my surname," Serenity answered.
"I see," the female responded, "My name is Leona Wye, and fine male is my Prime Mate Leon Wye."
"We have the same first name!" the other female announced and then hugged Leona Wye, "I'm Leona Wayne. My Prime Mate is Lionel Wayne."
"A pleasure to meet you all," Serenity said politely.
"Thank you for helping us," Lionel told her.
+++++++++++++
August 10, 1689
Golgotha returned to her sisters and found them waiting for her in a central room on one of the upper floors that would serve as their citadel, which they assumed was impenetrable.
"I sent Lark after you and Joella spoke," Gaal told her one eyed sister, "she will protect Joella after we defeat them again here. If any of their numbers survive here and try to take her prisoner. Lark will finish them off."
Golgotha nodded.
"I have passed down instructions to the staff and the Witch Pride," Gomorrah answered, "the Witch Pride will defend the openings to the thorn maze. Benjamin and some of the other male staff members have readied hunting muskets. The female staff members have been instructed to hide. The child familiars will remain inside the house as a second line of defense. If the Witch Pride is beaten, they will turn the Hunters to mud."
Golgotha nodded again.
"Remember that the geass is not completely invincible," Golgotha did warn her sisters, "You and Lilith did remark that the dragon's fire did have some effect on you. And the human male hunter will make it into the house and the DOG herself will make it all the way to us."
"But we WILL win, right?" Gaal asked.
"Of course," Golgotha answered, "I saw us win. We will win."
"Perhaps we do not need to kill her though," Gomorrah thought aloud, "perhaps she could become what she is. There is power in her... perhaps she could become the same breed as this "Mutt" she loves so much and will serve as a full replacement for Solome."
"She would still need to be willing," Golgotha answered, "not freed wiling, but TRULY wiling as Solome was to you, as Lilith is to Gaal, and Herodias is to me. You will find a true replacement for Solome, Gomorrah, I assure you."
"Who?"
"A wolf," Golgotha answered, "Made of glass..."
++++++++++
"She saw you?" Lawrence asked.
Marie sighed, "I am a Lupman, as you are Lupmen. But in a way, yes. The witches were playing with magic to such an extent that by that time Golgotha's second sight... was so out of "whack" that that she wasn't seeing everything clearly. The vision of Marie killing Joella was the last that she saw clearly, and was actually a hiccup of clarity in what had been a series of bizarre visions that had not come true."
Marie then paused for a moment, "but the vision of Joella's "death" was clear, so they knew that Joella would die if she stayed for the final confrontation with Marie Cruz. So Golgotha moved to protect Joella. On her way back she saw Kurse in her massive all black Felman form take a wolf pup, made of glass like I, Alice, Abbey, and Samantha are outside the mirrorverse and bathe it in the infinite chaos, forging a link through sheer force will."
"But the witches weren't Kurse," Abbey spoke, "You said that Kurse was nothing more then a shadow of the witches, and by the time that the shadows of Golgotha and Gomorrah likely became Kurse, Amy had already killed Gaal's shadow."
"As I said before, second sight is not precise," Marie told her, "and knowing the chaos of their magics, Golgotha likely assumed that some future mistake backfired on Gomorrah and turned her into a black furred Felman. And obviously Golgotha did not see the changes in fate that would result from saving Joella."
+++++++++++
Draco meanwhile made his way over fairly tough terrain as he ended up having to take the longest route to get to his jumping off point. He could have flown, but that would have likely attracted attention from the witches. As he did so, he came across a black bear that was moving with a pronounced limp, as if something had broken its shoulder. He could only guess that the boxing trees had done this. It growled at him and slowly lumbered off.
After a long hike, Draco came to a spot where he could the see the boxing trees, standing guard. There was no "sent" of the geass around them that he could detect. The trees were more vulnerable then some of the witches' other weapons.
"I will not fail again," Draco promised to himself, and sent a fire ball into the air. After flying high enough to where nearly everyone could see it, it exploded like a fireworks burst.
+++++++++
"Their attack begins," Gomorrah said from a window as she observed a burst of flame above them.
++++++++++++
Mal'akh and Rosa looked up to see a burst of flame fly into the air. They had managed to save what had been Glendale's city council leader from a Copperhead that was trying to sun itself before going into hibernation for the winter. The child was poking at it with a stick, and the pit viper was angrily glaring back. Only Rosa's quick action saved him from being bitten.
"What is that?" Rosa asked.
"The hunters!" Mal'akh gasped, "they're ready. They're going to save us... they've got to!"
"Mal'akh?" Rosa wondered, wondering what this was.
"People who have come to stop the witches' madness," Mal'akh explained.
"Hunters...?" the boy asked, "the murderers of Meranda?"
"Meranda was murdered by the witches," Mal'akh answered, "if it weren't for them, she wouldn't have died."
"We may need to do something, Mal'akh," Rosa answered, "the people have all been told that these "hunters" are criminals by the witches. If they truly are "heroes", they'll need help to get through the town."
"What can we do, though?" Mal'akh asked.
"I'll talk to one of my old teachers, a human named Monica," Rosa answered, "Since you've said you've talked with the Lupmen, perhaps you can see if any of them have survived the witches madness with some of their maturity in tact."
+++++++++
"It is time," Katherine spoke as she saw the flame.
++++++++++
"The battle begins," Linus spoke as he readied his black powder grenades.
++++++++++
Marie looked on and knew the moment had come. And as many Christian soldiers had and would, she voiced her faith in one particular Psalm.
"The Lord is my shepherd, I shall not want/He maketh me lie down in green pastures, he leadeth me beside quiet waters, he restores my soul/He leadeth me on the path to righteousness for his namesake/Yea though I walk through the valley in the shadow of death, I will fear no evil, for you are with me, your rod and your staff, they comfort me."
"Amen," Vatican rumbled from behind her.