1689
"So what do we do now?" Katherine asked as the sounds of shock and surprise, and the cries of misery echoed through Glendale. She knew that both Marie and Monica could hear it, and they were only human.
Marie sighed, "I had hoped to check on Joella. Make sure she is alright... but I think this needs to be quieted down first. We don't want the Indians hurt. They were only victims of the witches' madness..."
"What of the witches' former servants?" Monica asked.
"We will need Joella before they can be dealt with," Marie sighed, "I don't know if they're fanatically loyal to the witches, loyal to Joella, or totally free... and after what happened hear, I'm not up for another battle at their manor."
"Another battle?" Rosa asked.
"If they're fanatically loyal to the witches, they might attack Katherine and I, and after everything, I am not as well armed as I would prefer, and Katherine can not fight at all."
There was a silence.
"I was already losing three friends by having to execute them, I couldn't live on if I lost Katherine besides," Marie looked down, "and the only thing I could do was to make her incapable of doing anything violent."
"I'll protect her," Rosa volunteered.
"We'll have to," Marie sighed, "but we'll save the witches manor until we can collect Joella. If they've transfered their allegiance, perhaps a "peace" can be arranged."
"And if they're all free?"
"If they're all free, they'll likely leave the manor and we'll run into them along the way," Marie answered, "but I really don't know WHAT will happen."
"Then it looks like we have a lot of work ahead of us," Rosa sighed as she listened to the echoing cries.
+++++++++++
"What could they do?" Lawrence asked.
"Mostly see to the re-clothing of the Natives and return them to the praying town," Marie-Eliza answered, "in terms of actual work, there wasn't that much that they could do. It would involve a lot of talking to try and prevent there being anymore blood being shed that day."
++++++++++++
Present Day
"I should get these four to their mother or to the other pups," Martha spoke, "they are friendly... but I don't think you'll want someone pulling on broken limbs."
"But she had to have had great adventures!" Marcy answered, "Maybe met George Washington!"
"Wouldn't that have been neat?" Kevin asked to Bart, "a couple of the Pack History books say some of the Pack fought in the Revolution."
"I suppose," Bart nodded.
"I do not mind the attention," Mal'akh said to Martha interrupting the pups as they began to talk about what they thought the wounded lioness had done, "so long as they don't pull me off the bed, I do not mind. It would be better then some of the things on this "television." It makes for interesting conversation."
"Can we, Miss Martha?" Marcy asked.
"So long as you stay with me," Martha answered, "and I will sort things out with your Mother when she notices that you are not where you told her you'd be."
Kevin, Marcy, Bart, and Jenny all stood in front of Martha, letting Martha put a paw on each of their shoulders.
"Did you meet George Washington?" Marcy and Kevin asked.
"I was in the gallery by the time of what you call "the Revolution"," Mal'akh answered, "so I do not know if I met him or not. The most famous person I knew was Joella Cruz, a girl the original witches had in their care, but had none of their vices, and actually did the most to try and repair the damage they had done."
The pups all tilted their heads in confusion, as unlike Joy and Ingrid, the "Loving Lady" was not their hero. Kevin liked Superman and Captain America. Bart liked Tony Stark/Iron Man. Jenny occasionally looked at some Daredevil and She-Hulk comics, when she thought no one was looking. And Marcy's hero? Her parents.
"Was she a Leoman?" Bart asked after a few moments.
"No, she was human, and really, Cruz wasn't her real name," Mal'akh explained, "after the witches' died, which I will not go into, she was "adopted" by the Hunters that had fought them, and she took their leader's surname as her own."
"What was her name?" Kevin wondered.
"Marie..."
"That's Trevor's mom!" Kevin and Bart said together.
"Trevor's mother is Marie Tyson," Martha spoke, "please do not interrupt her."
"Sorry."
++++++++++++++
"Do you wanna go outside?" Jay asked to his brother as the program they were watching ended.
"A hike!" Pence agreed, "We can be explorers."
"Explore what?" Toni asked, "We've been everywhere in the yard."
"Maybe the rest of the Pack's land," Pence suggested, "We have the Omegas to come along, and maybe Miss Amethyst... they can be our porters..."
"And what would you have us carry?" came Abdul's voice from a different section of the room, largely meant to be teasing.
"Hot dogs!"
"Hamburger patties!"
"Pork ribs!"
"Chicken and Turkey!"
"Gold Deer steaks!"
"Ice cream!" "Yeah! Ice Cream!"
"You had to get them going..." Ryan said to the other male Omega present said.
He then felt a small tap and looked down to see Mary, Moja, Mbili, Tatuli, Nneli, Tano, Sita, Saba, and Nane looking up at him.
"May we have some ice cream, too, please?" Mary asked politely.
++++++++++
1689
"They're not supposed to be here!" Glendale's "mayor" at the time said to Marie, pointing to a group of Indian children that Monica, Rosa, and Katherine were putting cloths on, while a young girl in a dress that was way too big for her, but she held it up, clung to his leg. The girl had been the "mayor's" wife before the witches' magic made a mess of things, now, it appeared that she was now the "mayor's" child. "They have their praying town to live in."
"You have to excuse them, sir," Marie said, trying to be diplomatic.
"Do you understand how horrifying it is to find your..." the man looked down to the girl clinging to his leg, "...your daughter being harassed by naked savage children?"
"No, but they didn't mean to," Marie sighed, "this was all instigated by the witches. In their madness they turned everyone into children and called the Indians here. I understand that you do not want them here, but they did not come here of their own volition."
"And how do you know this?" the man questioned.
"Because the Felman... the brightly colored cat person with me, a Dragon, a Gargoyle, this colony's "militia" officer, and myself stopped them," Marie spoke, "and uncovered evidence of what they have done."
The man was silent for a few moments, "You've stopped them?"
"Yes, sir," Marie nodded.
"Where are they now?"
"Likely at Wolf Manor by now," Marie answered, "and they are dead now."
"Why at Wolf Manor?"
"To appease their Alpha," Marie told him, "surely after all of this, you are not willing to fight a war with the Lupmen."
"No," the man sighed.
++++++++++++
Vatican remained politely silent. The witches may have made them happy, but with the possible exception of Free, what they had done was not right. But debating the issue with a child wouldn't really help, and would probably only make Joella upset, and he didn't want to do that.
He then looked over to Mal'akh who was checking on Draco and Linus.
"They appear to still be alive," Mal'akh told him, "though I can't tell why Linus isn't moving... I mean his eyes are open."
+++++++++++++++
"He was sleeping with his eyes open?" Samantha asked.
"Not in the way you're thinking," Eliza spoke, "snakes do not have eyelids. It is why you shouldn't play with one, even if it doesn't appear to be moving. It may only be asleep, and if Linus was turned into a Naga based off the Eastern Diamondback Rattlesnake, he would be highly venomous and could deliver a fatal bite from either his head, or one of his six hands very quickly if startled."
"He wouldn't..." Abbey gasped.
"No," Marie spoke up, "Linus was highly venomous, yes, but the witches left his mind alone... he would struggle with newly gained animal instincts and the need to eat something the size of a Gold Deer fawn every few days, but he was not reduced to having a snake's brain."
"So he was sleeping while his mind was being rewritten?" Betty asked.
"Yes," Marie nodded, "Under the original terms of the Dare, they would have obeyed Joella in a trance like state, believing the witches to be perfect and that their death was wrong... and if not for Joella, they would have killed Marie and Katherine when they arrived at Running-Bear's home."
There was a brief silence.
"But Joella's command to "live as you would as if you weren't under a spell" broke that part of the Dare, which of course clashed with Azrael's geass, which couldn't be overpowered by ANY mortal magic," Marie spoke, "as a result, while their minds would agree to serve and protect Joella, it was more as if they had actively chosen to serve and protect her, not being forced to by the witches."
"So they wouldn't defend the witches actions?" Maddex asked.
"Quite the opposite," Marie answered, "they would fully understand that the witches were in the wrong and that their fight against the witches was justified. But, they recognized that Joella wasn't like the witches and that she was innocent."
"What about Draco's official mission?" Alice asked, "to establish a Catholic Church in the new world?"
"It would still come," Marie answered, "And the Pope would eventually receive reports from him on his successes, but many of these details are better served to wait for a little while."
"What about the other turns?" Samantha asked, "I mean, Marie used hers to save Katherine, but Katherine, Linus, Draco, and Vatican still had turns."
"Again, that would best be served to wait until later..."
++++++++++++++
Present Day
Judas made his way through the catacombs beneath the Catholic church. Father Michael and Father Paul were still hard at work, but the Catholic cat was in a bit more of an exploring mood and maneuvered through what normally wasn't a feature of churches (of any denomination) in the "New World". Maybe he'd catch a mouse or two...
As he moved about he passed three stone sarcophagi. Each were exquisitely carved. One held the images of a Felman with a year of death being 1735, one held the images of a Templar Knight, who looked remarkably feminine, who died the same year as the Felman. The third held the images of a Dragon and a Human holding hands who died in 1719.
Judas gave them a passing glance, sensing some magic that kept the room lit, but he continued his patrol. He eventually returned to where Father Michael and Father Paul were.
"Meow," the cat mewed and rubbed against Father Michael's leg.
"Hello, Judas. Hungry?"
"Meow."