(AN: This'll be the last mega post I do for this story and I hope that we can finish this in a
few posts now before Christmas and failing that the new year. Please.)
Humans who lines had ended centuries ago of course could also not become Leomans thus
logically their ancestors couldn't either. This WOULD create the natural side effect of
humans being a declining species in the history books as the Leoman cascade continued to
spread. But it also meant people like the witches who had no living heirs, could not hope
to change.
'And it wouldn't do much good anyway,' Thought Marie-Eliza, 'The witches were insane...
no genetic disposition would have changed the behavior of a set of lunatics.'
Marie-Eliza sensed all uses of the game, and all that were linked to the game. All the
power the witches had possessed were condensed into her. 'Or were they possessed by
their power?' Marie-Eliza wondered.
The little lupman witchling felt a doctor in a hospital use the game, phrasing it in such a
way that he was able to receive the turn back.
Years ago, the doctor, ignorant of the five person limit, attempted to use the PA system to
Transform all into perfect health and to Dare them to live happy lives. The turn had been
wasted and found someone with an intense grudge to nurse. The first time the game had
been used on the doctor had been to stand aside for a procedure he had refused to do.
The next time had been a near disaster with him openly seeking a turn, and like most
nearly ended up someone's slave. A anarchist had tried to use the same trick the doctor
had tried to use to make everyone in the hospital to never vote. By sheer random luck this
waste turn then fell into the doctor's hands having been quite angry at the time at the
middle-aged anarchist's attempt. Instead of using the turn for punishment he just scared
the anarchists witless by some vague convoluted threats and the anarchist had fled the
hospital.
Now the doctor used the game one person at a time, those who could still speak of course
or give an answer (making it useless for coma patients) and the doctor tried to keep his use
of the game unknown knowing the stigma people towards some who used the game. The
doctor sadly had no concern for those who they used the turn AFTER they left the hospital.
While most DID see it as a near death experience, there were a few who had other thoughts
on their minds after being discharged from the hospital: greed, revenge, and satisfying
their perverted desires.
Madam Serenity knew of him. Her sixth sense made it impossible for her not to know. But
there was no crime in using the game on the book. And then after their first meeting the
doctor who had a very close friend use a ToD on the doctor to make his use of turns on
patients invisible to her (this thankfully did NOT apply to patients the application of the
game).
Marie-Eliza knew that the doctor did save lives, but he was also giving a loaded gun to
every person he saved, and those lives were often traded back soon after by a person's
abuse of power. Power corrupted. 'No more. This has to end.'
And absolute power corrupted absolutely. And all the power Kurse had to warp the world
was in Marie-Eliza's hands but without the insanity to limit it's use. But Marie-Eliza
couldn't simply 'wish away' or 'give up' this power anymore than another person could will
away their spinal column. But at the same time she couldn't bring herself to commit
murder to turn her audience into copies of herself to spread out and dilute the power. 'I
guess I'm stuck to simply keep the monster chained inside me till the end of my days.'
Of course in the material world she was an immortal glass living statue. It was only in this
world that lay within all mirrors that she was a metallic blond lupman pup with glass blue
eyes in a black and red 'Alice' dress.
Marie-Eliza thought and simply accepted her fate. She would seek out no cheat, no cheap
quick fast solution, no outside to come out of nowhere to fix her problems for free. She'd
tried that with the victims of the game turned into love dolls and in return had result in the
birth of many dolls and toys with emotions, souls and minds of their own. She'd never
+++++++++++
After the hunters' speech about drifting away from Joella's, Lark felt even more grimly
determined to stay by Joella's side. 'It was the last thing aunties I mean the witches told me
to do! 'Stay close to Joella and protect her Lark!' And that's what I'm gonna do! If Free can
promise to always protect something then so can I!'
Joella meanwhile after the hunters had separated and the preparations for the funeral for
Grandpa Running-Bear had gotten under way, wondered how to help Mal'akh.
None of her foster siblings had ever been really unhappy. They hadn't cried their eyes out...
until today. Joella felt hideously helpless. Seeing Mal'akh crying at seeing her sister still
broken, and Joella hearing her foster siblings crying her eyes out at the death of her
mothers was something Joella had never had to face before.
It didn't matter if Mal'akh wasn't a sibling of hers or not, rejected Lark's offer to be
considered family or not, Mal'akh was sad and hurt and that was all that mattered!
With everyone waking up from their stupor and mostly everyone's age returning to normal,
of course Aimileona's parents would want their child back.
But one primal, nearly feral glare from Aimileona made the two large leomans shudder,
turn around, and decide that Aimileona could stay where she was for the time being.
And Linus of course saw this (he has seven sets of eyes after all), and realized how deathly
important it was that he did indeed teach these children to control themselves, and that
those that couldn't control themselves be put in a position and a situation for where they
wouldn't be able to harm anymore.
Mal'akh was actually emotionally distraught to actually notice.
Joella was not sure how to deal with her own loss (and two or three hunters it seemed
never growing tired of saying how awful her parents were every time the hunters opened
their mouths). Lark had even less a clue, her order to stay by and protect Joella giving her
a thread of hope to cling to (and the hunters decree that she'd leave Joella eventually
making her somehow even MORE determined not to).
Joella however, her empathy overriding all, finally took Joella by one hand, and Aimileona
in another and led them along inside the house. Lark followed three steps behind (and
would bite and claw more viciously than the most feral lupman pup anyone who tried to
move her much further away).
Joella listened to her crying foster siblings. And shed more tears. She wished there were a
hundred of her, so they each could help everyone. But there was only one of her, and she
had to help everyone one person at a time.
There was no rule of empathy for Joella, everyone was a person to her.
Joella present cakes from the pantry, toys from the nursery, nothing worked.
Lark seeing Joella's efforts going nowhere dared take off her dress (it itched anyway though
she knew she'd be talked to later about it). And she then performed some minor feats of
acrobatics before Mal'akh's eyes like a circus performer. She then tried to make some face
at Mal'akh. Again, nothing worked.
++++++++++
"I was horrendously depressed when my sister didn't break out of her madness when the
wicked witches were gone, Joella, and by virtue of that Lark, tried everything... of course
they hadn't really experienced loss until the wicked witches were dead, so they were
playing by ear and they thought of this as just the kind of sadness one gets when one
misses something or has loss something, they didn't know how to handle the loss of
'someone.' "
"Sounds bad." Kevin said having trouble comprehending the loss the quadruplets were
going through.
"Did they help you?" Jenny asked.
"They did... but it took some time.... I never stopped visiting Aimileona, ever, and there
were times Joella visited me with her. But ... it never occurred me, how natural it became
just to have Joella with me like it was for Aimileona... it just sort of happened..."
+++++++++
Finally Lark and Joella chose to go on a hunt to try and cheer up Mal'akh... Of course
Aimileona had to be watched constantly, and Lark and Joella had no clue what they were
doing and Mal'akh ended up being the one to teach them what to do step by step... she was
considered a lioness by leoman standards after all... she had made her first solo kill. That
for leomans made her a woman.
So she found herself teaching Joella, Lark how to hunt, and Aimileona had to be taught all
over again.
Mal'akh looked at them and a thought thundered through her mind.
"You... you lost a part of your family too..." She had known that already of course! She had
lost the witches, but Mal'Akh hadn't really felt sorry for that. Then there was Joseph
Running-Bear... this, was another in a series of cruel blows.
But before, all Mal'akh saw was the wicked witches and all they had done to her dog and
Aimileona... and for one civilized moment, Mal'akh wondered what face the witches had
shown Joella.
"Aimileona's not lost... she's right here... and... she's just unwell... I'm sure we can help her
... somehow." Joella said with a pathetically fake smile. The magic of her parents couldn't
help Aimileona... Joella therefore wondered if anything could.
"I wonder if there are any books on how to help her." Mal'akh said, there seemed to be
books on anything after all.
"Books?" Lark blinked.
"You know books right?" Mal'akh asked.
"Of course, I'm not stupid," Lark responded, "I've just never seen one."
Mal'akh didn't believe this, "You mean the witches never gave you any books EVER?!"
"They never thought they were needed." Joella explained.
Linus' role as an educator couldn't come soon enough.
"Come on..." Mal'akh said, "I'll show you some of the books at my house."
++++++++++
1689 August, A Few Days Later...
As Father Draco and Linus quickly learned, their endless downplaying and negative words
on the part of the witches were not tolerated by the former familiars, the witch pride, or
Joella. The fact they had brought it up ever other sentence did not help things in the least.
Finally to keep the peace Joella had ORDERED Linus and Father Draco and Equality to NEVER
bad mouth her mothers in her presence, or those of her foster siblings or the Witch Pride.
And that settled that. If Linus sought to teach the former familiar, he could not use Joella's
mothers as an object lesson.
Running-Bear's Funeral wasn't the one one to be held. There was also the funeral for the
two lionesses that Kathrine had gutted in self defense, not to mention the many other
leomans who had been killed by the hunter's invasion.
They were buried behind Running-Bear's grave.
The fact that three of the hunters now bored the mark of servitude to Joella was the only
reason that the Witch Pride and familiars accepted Father Draco and the others.
Father Draco spoke, of Running-Bear's selflessness, his devotion to Christ, his loyalty to
the Lord, his love to his family, he tireless task of trying to teach others right from wrong,
and the legacy he left behind in the form of Joella.
With the witches' power, they never had much need for money, and with their geass over
all the town, nobody if ever charged them for anything.
This wasn't the case anymore. And any power the child familiars could muster was not
focused or directed yet. So they were left with only what was on the witches' estate in of
itself.
They still found several flowers from the witches' massively beautiful flower garden to lay
the way for Running-Bear's funeral. And were able to find black cloth form their master's
wardrobe even if there was nowhere near enough for everyone.
Rosalie found 'Princess' and by Princess' own request kept her hidden and safe, in return
Princess promising to impart all she had learned from her master to Rosalie, on the
condition she kept her safe and not reveal her to the former hunters. So at least some of
her masters' knowledge wouldn't be gone forever. Herodias, broken inside, entertained no
thoughts for revenge... the world was still broken, and the bound the witches had shared
to create their ultimate power to fix it was gone forever. All that remained now was for
Herodias to pass on what knowledge she could.
Linus, Father Draco, and Equality asked also at the funeral, since Running Bear had been
their friend as well, and since it was the christian thing to do, which Running-Bear had
been, to forgive Sister Maria and Sister Kathrine, for there had been already enough
senseless loss of life.
Their fellow servants and devoted to Joella accepted this a lot more readily then they would
have from an outsider. The fact they had finally stopped staying how awful the witches
were in EVERY CONVERSATION helped the hunters' plea considerably....
Joseph Running-Bear's body had been laid in the ground and covered for the dirt to take
back the empty shell when all the leomans smelled it.
Hercules and the other males of course stepped foreword, it was tradition for the males to
defend the territory after all. (This would actually create debate in war time weather it
broke tradition for male or female leomans to take part in wars as to weather the war was
defensive or aggressive...).
Equality saw them. The wolf pack. Countless number of them. Ever wolf in Glendale that
went on two legs was swarming around the witches hut. A sea of black, silver and reddish
brown with dots of bright felman likes colors converging on the house. It was like a land
war in Asia.
Francis and Julianna didn't know why, but they felt fear. They had never seen lupmans
besides themselves this close up before... or smelled so many of them.
The horde formed a circle of claws and fangs around the witches house. Many leomans
prepared for the fight to the end from the revenge minded wolves.
That was when the biggest, strongest, and toughest looking wolf there (a larger wolf with a
limp hovering in his shadow) came a few steps foreword.
Hercules spoke first, "Strange how much bravery you have now to face people five to one
when we're in the middle of grieving at the loss of several members of our family..."
"We're not here for you, I am Alpha Ross. These are my Beta Wives Jadis. Morgonna. And
Gilda. We are here for the two lupman pups you have unrightfully have."
"YOU'RE NOTHING BUT BULLIES TAKING WHATEVER YOU WANT!" Twilight looked ready to
tear the wolves limp from limp.
"THey're Lupmans! They belong with their own kind."
"THEY'RE NOT PROPERTY!!!"
Alissa and Samantha actually moved closer to Francis and Julianna protectively.
Morgonna spoke, "What you say doesn't matter. You no longer have the POWER to back up
your words! We do! It's those with POWER that decide what is right and what is wrong!"
Jadis spoke, "Lupman belong with lupman, you wouldn't allow us to raise two leomans
would you?"
Gilda spoke, "You've already lost so many... would you really want to lose more over
something you have no right to to begin with?"
Magdalena and Benjamin were scared for their daughters and their house mates. Benjamin
wished he had his rifle with him. Or that all the cannons the witches had hadn't blown up.
He suddenly didn't mind them again now that he needed them.
Dawn spoke, "They're OUR family... we've raised them... they're our pups as much as our
cubs are... please don't do this to us..."
"WE'RE THE WITCH PRIDE!" Francis shouted holding his sister.
"WE'RE NOT ONE OF YOU!!!" Julianna snarled looking ready to take on the entire pack
themselves.
++++++
"Francis and Julianna saw themselves as part of the Witch Pride?" Abbey exclaimed.
"Family isn't just about blood. It's about the heart too. The Big Bad Wolf Pack wouldn't see
that."
+++++++
Joella looked at the Lupman army. She looked at the injured and much smaller leoman
pride, one naga, one gargoyle, and one dragon. The lupman didn't question, figuring they
were all the witches spawn.
She looked at the graves, and then at the Lupman.
"Will we be allowed to visit?" Joella asked.
"And who are you? And why do you address the alpha?" Morgonna asked.
"THIS IS JOELLA! Heir to the witches! Show her respect!" Dawn shouted protectively.
"... I am sorry if I've spoken out of turn." Joella said again, "But... if Francis and Julianna go
with you.. will we allowed to visit?"
Ross thought of the losses the monsters could do to his pack before being able to claim
the pups. 'Whatever damned influence they can try to infect the pups with... I'm sure Jadis
can knock it out of them.'
"Granted."
Joella felt like she was swallowing poison. "They're yours to take."
EVERYONE GASPED.
Ross gestured at an orange and white lupman, "Miles, take them."
"Yess Alpha."
Miles came towards the two pups.
The two pubs were taken from their foster siblings kicking, crying, and screaming. Howling
that they'd rather be Leoman than Lupman if it mean being taken away from their family.
Miles was quick to hand them off. This made the wolves with them simply strike them and
order them to be quite.
"You're nothing but big bad wolves! I hope a woods man comes by and chops you open!"
Samantha shouted her lungs out at the beasts that could eat her alive if they wished.
"Francis. Julianna. I order you not to resist." Joella breathed out.
Francis and Julianna looked at Joella like she had told them she didn't love them and
wanted them to die.
Lark, Jimmy, Rouge, Canary, OCeana, Becky, Violet, Irine, annd the rest of the former mob
familiars looked at Joella in absolute horror.
The two blond lupman pups went limp like rag dolls.
"No one is to stop them from taking the pups." Joella said looking green.
All the witch clan shuddered.
Twilight however, in that moment, showed free will and initiative.
"NOW HOLD ON!"
"What?" Jadis asked cooly.
".... take me with you."
"What use would we have for an abomination?" Morgonna asked.
"This is not your concern anymore, just walk away." Gilda asked politely.
"No.... I... I ..." Twilight felt like she was going mad, "I don't care what my master says.... "
SHe felt so sick inside, "Your two pups are cleanly going to be infected with many leoman
ideas yes? They could act in ways you can't predict. And how better than a monster? Who
they clearly would never trust the words of to help you keep them in line?.... "
"You'll be legally our slave. Below even the omegas." Ross said simply sure this would force
away the abomination.
"I accept."
Ross started, but bound by this word. "Very well... come with us now, you take no personal
effects, you are property, you own nothing, we own you."
Twilight just nodded.
Dawn at once hugged Twilight begging her not to go. She only wished she hadn't
questioned Twilight's choice to become what she was, 'Maybe if if had chosen to be a
monster too.. maybe I could go with her.' Dawn regretted at being separated from her best
friend.
"Twilight I order you not to do this!" Joella shouted.
Twilight shuddered, feeling like her brain was on fire, but managed to cough out, "No my
master... I am now.. honor bound."
"We are your masters now abomination." Jadis said, "Never forget that."
"Yes... master..."
When the horde had left with it's three prizes in tow, Joella ran to her room, locked it (one
of the few rooms that could be locked), and didn't come out for two days... crying. That
had been the last straw.
+++++++++
The fact they had to go without their nun robes felt nothing sort of sacrilegious to Sister
Marie Cruz, but she figured she was damned anyway.
Kathrine was praying an extra rosary for this daily.
However two women traveling alone DID get the two nuns stopped by the local authorities
more than once and that caused delays.
So Kathrine and Marie with a wagon full of artifacts and books made the ride back to
Glendale without incident. Except when Kathrine's face had accidently gotten in a spider's
nest... and Marie Cruz had to pick the spiders off Kathrine one by one herself because
Kathrine couldn't perform the act of taking them off herself because it might injure them.
It was a good thing that Kathrine lived in an area before the existence of bacteria was
known or she might have been trapped before not breathing to prevent from inhaling
them, or still breathing because that would be violence onto herself and go mad from the
impossible order.
It was already midnight when the two women finally made into Glendale. And both decided
to simply rest for the night. Having just crossed into the town borders.
Marie Cruz kept watch as long as she could stay awake. But the trip and recent events had
pushed her to her limits and she finally surrendered to sleep.
And at roughly the same time, Kathrine felt the call of nature and left the wagon to pee.
That was when they found her. A small handful of small and drunk soldiers. They were lost,
their booze hadn't helped them find their way back to Frostvile.
They saw the mutant stunted leoman woman, they saw she was vulnerable, they saw she
was pretty, and she was one and they were not.
If Kathrine could still defend herself... they'd have reconsidered their option and left after
their third friend hit the ground.
Now however, all Kathrine could do was try to scream, which they quickly stopped. She
couldn't even bite on their hands to get their fingers away.
"I think she's gonna make a nice fur coat while we're at at et." Said one.
"Naw, too much worry Benny for me." Said another.
Kathrine was horrified, she was going to become unclean! And all because Marie Cruz
saved her form having to kill her best friend....
SHe was going to be made unclean.
The first of the men dropped his pants.
SHe was going to be made unclean.
Another pulled on her dress.
She was going to be made unclean.
Panic gripped her mind.
She felt one moment of clarity, and ticked the man's fingers with her tongue. He let go for
one moment. But instead of calling out for Marie... Kathrine reacted with thinking of how
she couldn't defend herself and why and the words spilled out of her mouth.
"Transform or Dare? Be a slave to one task. Or be made something you are not. One
minute to decide or be struck by both."
The five men stood stunned... confused... and wondered why they had stopped doing what
they were doing. They should just proceed where they left off.
"Is she crazy?"
"She'll do just as well crazy or not."
"Yeah yeah whatever."
"Maybe we should just let her be? I hear there are witches about in these parts."
"There's no thing as witches stupid!"
"You all get both. I dare you to never speak of this to anyone ever and to become perfect
gentlemen who never touch a woman unless she asks it of you, listen to what women have
to say, and to treat all women with respect and honor. You'll Transform into proper felmans
who'll be perfectly friendly with others and each other."
The soldiers shuddered. Their uniforms remained the same as their species changed.
Kathrine had included no changes to reality and being a nun could barely comprehend
anyone but the Lord could do that.
They grew shorter unless they were pretty much the same height as Kathrine (unlike other
species, Felman heights between genders were much the same). Bright pink, bright blue,
bright red, bright yellow, and bright green fur appeared on their bodies as tails poked out
of their too big uniforms, and their faces became feline and they loss weight and muscle
mass, their head hair remained much as it was already. Their feet became paws and their
hands into paws with thumbs.
The five soldiers looked at each other, and immediately began to act the stereotype of their
fur colors as was proper for the felmans to do. All thoughts or ideas of violating Kathrine
was gone from their minds. The idea of harming her in revenge became empty, the idea of
screaming 'witch' and telling someone also dissolved before it could even form.
With only one viable option, the five new felmans fled... the booze gone from their system
and would find their way back to Forstvile, though convincing anyone they were themselves
would prove near impossible and would end up having to start their lives over...
They would eventually try to use their turns women they had honestly charmed into
become compatible (as was proper for Felmans to mate with other felmans) but upon
finding it hadn't worked. The remainder and their comrades would move to Glendale, the
silent voice of the game telling them where the turns would function. And THERE they'd
change their partners into felmans...
Kathrine knew none of this, she simply wandered back to the wagon, went back to sleep
(having already emptied herself) and tried to convince herself it had all been just a bad
dream. And never spoke a word of it to Marie, knowing Marie would just blame herself for
the incident and that nothing could be realistically done about it.
+++++++
A trick Linus learned after receiving his books an artifacts was that he could use his extra
six heads to read, listen, and SPEAK! This added to his abilities as a teacher greatly he
found, being able to deal with his 'students' one on one more easily and teach them various
subjects, it was like the snakes in his arms had brains that were developing shadows of his
own mind.
The witches grandmother and Running-Bear had both known the fate the girls were
destine for and had tried to prevent. And had failed.
However these child familiars didn't have such power that they quickly over stepped their
teacher. And Rosalie was the only one to have a familiar, one sullen, broken, and world
weary.
As for the child nudists... while Linus was able to get them to wear clothes in town...
getting them to wear anything besides the occasional jewelry had proven to be a near war,
and finally a treaty was struck where they'd be allowed to go around naked at home if they
promised to behave and to listen to EVERYTHING Linus had to say, and also as long as their
'grades' remained high. This proved to be a powerful motivator. Also, Linus stressed
CONTROL in his lessons rather than bringing out their power. The witches weren't the first
mages to abuse their power, and likely wouldn't be the last. So Linus had no problem
displaying other object lessons.
Also, the naga found he could keep his student's attention relatively easy with his stare,
while not mind control, it made it impossible for anyone to break their attention away from
him. So no lessons were forgotten, not if they want to still go around naked at the house.
+++++++++
"We are witch huntersss! We know thessse thingsss! Thessse people are NOT witchesss!"
Linus declare from under his protective cloak. Sister Marie staying behind him to be on the
safe side.
"Then how do you explain the dream evidence?"
"Have thesse people sshown as gift of prophecy before? Or in anything esssle?"
"I fail to see how that has anything to do with anything."
Marie Cruz sighed.
++++++++++
"Thank you for freeing us, but I don't think they'll ever stop looking for me." Said the man
for his wife, two daughters and son who had fled with him.
The jail break had to be discovered by now.
"There isss one way, but you'll have to give everything up except each other." Warned the
disguised Naga Marie Cruz looking look out.
"As long as we have the lord and each other."
'Transssform Or Dare?"
++++++++
The family of five brightly colored felmans moved onto Glendale without trouble,
remembering having come across the sea to start a better life and having no memory of
ever having lived in Salam.
+++++++++
Draco wanted his mission built. Joella commanded that his mission be built. And she had a
full crew of expert carpenters at her command. Getting the materials took some doing,
(the leomans having to get JOBS outside of working at the witches house). This did provide
a way for the two leoman prides to interact with each other however.
Also, since the witches' minions had all been technically atheists (due to their attitude
towards gods), and due to Running Bear's example, and not realizing the difference before
Catholics and protestants...
Father Draco, the former dragon, now a human with a death clock, found himself with a
relatively impressive flock. One of the former mob members even began to show interest in
becoming a priest.
+++++++++
"I wish I was a dragon... it must be so wonderful to fly." Said the dark green haired 'child'
familiar (now a teenager) after service one day confessed to Father Draco.
"Is that really what you want?"
"Yes."
"Give me that answer again in a week if you really want it."
.... A week later...
"I dare you to never use the game except to help or protect another. Transform into a
dragon who will be beautiful and always able to fly. May no one question that you are a
dragon and simply accept you are one...."
+++++++++
Lawrence observed, "So THAT'S where the Fire family came from."
"Yes."
"Didn't they eventually marry into a Felman line?" Maddex's heads asked.
"Maybe, might just be gossip." Betty thought.
"Continuing," Marie-Eliza said.
+++++++++
"Just sign these papers miss and the estate is yours." Said the man an entranced look in
his eyes thanks to Lark so he'd accepted processing paper work for a woman to be the
owner of an estate.
Joella signed.
"Excuse me miss, are you lupman?"
"No."
"Then I have to ask you to sign in your surname."
Joella thought for a moment. She had never known the last names of her three mothers.
She considered for a moment to take her grandfather's last name, but she wasn't sure if it
really was a last name or not. There was only one other person she could think of that
could count as family somehow.
Joella wrote down a surname.
"Alright Miss Cruz, the estate is now legally yours."
+++++++++++
"Dad look out!" Shouted an adult dragon, as a flat, circular disc came flying at the old
human (suffering from what would be called in later years premature aging).
The old man (but not as old as he looked) turned, and tried to raise his wings, only to
remember once again and for the last time that he no longer had them... and he
experienced flying again... and then he spoke to Saint Peter on the amount of good and evil
he had done in his life.
Linus came at the man cowled in white with all seven of his heads, but it was like the killer
had known Linus was there before Linus decided to strike! A primitive flash grenade
blasted into the naga's face. And having fourteen eyes with no eyelids suddenly seemed
like no such a great advantage.
The adult dragon came down fire blooming from his third lung but the killer's white cowl
proved to be fire resistant! The killer leapt into the air and kicked the dragon's jaw shut,
causing internal damage and slammed the dragon hard into the dragon stabbing the nerve
points in the arms.
"I will not kill you wyrm. You are a infidel, and thus only deserve death if you won't will
hear Allah's words. Or one who dares spread the words of one who raises a prophet to
godhood. But you are needed for something."
++++++++++
"Prophet to godhood?" Samantha asked totally confused.
Marie-Cruz sighed (as she often did), "The Islamic consider Jesus a prophet, while the
Jewish people do not consider Jesus anything other than 'some man.' "
+++++++++++
The elderly Marie Cruz found Draco's dead body... and his adopted son hanging upside
down crucified.
"Sister Cruz!"
"DRACO!!!" Marie Cruz cried out in horror. "Toby! What happened?!"
"A man in a whitehood... killed... killed.. he killed father!"
'White hood?' Why did that sound familiar?
"He... he took... he took Linus and..." Steam came from Toby's eyes, the closest thing
dragons could ever to tears....
++++++++++++
Marie Cruz went to where the man in the white hood said to go. She found he had also
taken a leoman hostage and had lopped Dawn's arm and foot off... Dawn said it had been
like fighting a mirage.
Marie Cruz found Linus... his arms cut off and his heads impaled to a wall.
"The creature of the heathen religion is dead witch." Said a voice echoing from everywhere
inside the tower.
Marie Cruz screamed cried cursed wailed and wept inside. Outside he kept a face like
Equality. "Before we kill each other... one question. Who did I kill?"
"WHO HAVE YOU NOT KILLED WITCH-?!"
"Granted. But WHO?"
"MY BROTHERS! My gift from Allah showed me, you killed my middle brother when he
sought to kill the head of your infidel web of lies. And then you killed my eldest when he
sought to destroy the black heart of your hive of depravity!"
"Abraham..." Marie Cruz whispered.
He heard it. "NEVER CALL HIM BY THAT NAME WITCH!"
"It took you this long to find one old woman? ... To kill one old woman? If you had sought
out to kill me I wouldn't have resisted. I'd have let you... But you made the gross mistake of
involving the precious few friends I had... I'll be gods left hand one last time..."
"Don't you dare assume you are an instrument of Allah! My body is clean! My mind is clean!
My heart is clean! My soul is clean! My spirit is clean!~ YOU are a dirty little creature!"
".... I wonder every day if there was a day to save some of the people I put out of their
misery... from the sounds of it you don't have that same problem."
"If you're resolve to eliminate the inpure is not pure, then you are not clean!"
"Your order doesn't know you're here do they?"
"I HAVE SEVERED ALL TIES WITH THOSE OLD MEN! They couldn't see the future! They
couldn't see what needed to be done! They said killing you was meaningless! The avenging
of my brothers is not meaningless!"
"So we're both excels from our brotherhood of killers."
"HOW DARE YOU COMPARE YOURSELF TO ME? You're nothing!"
"... I have friends. I have family. I've spent decades atoning for the acts I commit protecting
innocent lives and the faith and civilization. ... "
"THERE IS NO NEED TO ATONE FOR WHAT MUST BE DONE!"
"... there are things that are necessary, things that must be done, but that doesn't make
them the RIGHT thing!"
"This is why women are not meant to be warriors of Allah. They are weak. Enough talk. My
brothers souls will finally rest in peace."
Marie Cruz of course felt the disc coming before he threw it, he saw the blade coming
before she drew it. She saw bomb go off before it hit the floor. He saw her short sword
thrust before she came at him. She saw the dagger before he pulled back his cloak to hide
it. He saw the knife before she trusted it up to where he gullet would have been.
Not for a moment did the assassin underestimate her due to her missing eye or old age or
being for a faith that supposedly opposed his.
They moved like shadows, afterimage after afterimage, seeing each other blows before they
happened. They were at a complete stalemate.
The assassin made only one mistake. He was focused completely on Maria Cruz. Nothing
else there. Thus when Marie Cruz threw a dagger that was a complete miss, he failed to
note what it struck... or what went off... until it consumed him... and the flames never
ceased.
Marie took time to say a prayer, and to take Linus' remains... and the old woman limped
out of the burning tower. 'Did he intend to burn the bodies and leave no evidence?' Marie
wondered, but realized it no longer mattered. She had lost two of her friends in the same...
even if she didn't follow death... death would always follow her.
+++++++++++
At midnight there was a knock on the door. At midnight the elderly Kathrine opened it. She
didn't know how much longer she'd last, Felman simply didn't live as long as humans.
"Excuse me miss... I am vooking for a Sister Maria Cruz... I know you want to help me... I
know you want to help me ----UGH!" He was very confused when he gaze didn't turn the
woman in a happy little puppet like it had hundreds of others.
"You're already dead... so it's not violence to 'kill' you..." Kathrine said simply her spear
rammed like a stake through the finely dressed man's long ago not beating heart...
++++++++++++
Lady Joella wasn't part of the underground railroad. That wouldn't exist for a hundred and
fifty years. But Free and her did manage to liberate several slaves via methods that
Leoman considered 'uncivilized.' Via the help also of a pair of blond wolf pack members.
And an innocent pair of looking old nuns.
Sometimes men found which way the slaves had done... most left Glendale in a daze
having a strong urge to rethink their lives. Others.... got a fresh start.
++++++++++++++
"Did Lady Joella ever find a way to cheat death?" Samantha asked.
Marie-Eliza shook her head, "No... remember she wanted to be with her grandfather and
mothers... she had no reason to try and avoid death's gasp. Also, while the majority of child
familiars did leave to find their own lives.. Lark was differently, mostly to the witches last
order. She was the one who found Joella had died in her sleep nearly a hundred years
later... she herself died the next year, seemingly holding on only long enough so the
witch's estate could belong to the Glendale pride and the local church equally... Marie
promised Joella when Mal'akh was turned into a statue that she'd be freed one day... and
actually offered for Joella to be there for her when Mal'akh awakened... but Joella asked if
Mal'akh would find happiness. Marie said she would, and Joella accepted she wouldn't
abandon her friends in the present..."
++++++++++++
Alice's unique phrasing of a Transform or Dare made the wolves immune to being restored
to their human selves in the previous timeline and the immunity passed over to the new
timeline.
However, the Omegas with the exception of Martha had been Bart and Jenny's shadows in
the previous reality when Alice had given the pack their immunity.
Mary had been changed by the power of an ordinary Transform or Dare which didn't
include any impossibility to her 'changing back.'
And the immunity had been on Elise and Fox, not their split up four way souls that had
becomes their daughters in the new timeline.
And the twins had been single people before Kurse's games, so they had not been given
the 'Transform or Dare' that their 'parents' had.
Thus none of them had the 'immunity to species' change the majority of the Big Bad Wolf
Pack and the Leomans did. However, that being said, the Omegas had no desire to
abandon their pack, and the twins and cubs as it stood now had no desire to abandon their
families.
Gretchen stayed near Nane of course. And Giselle stayed near Gretchen.
And Tano, Sita, and Saba stayed here Nane.
And Toni and Paula stayed there Saba.
And Mary of course stayed nere Mjoa, Mbili, Tatuli and Nneli.
The rest of the twins stayed their parents/the omegas.
It was Tano however, who had an affinity for dolls (a trait Sita shared as well) who asked
first a set of surprisingly logical questions.
"So how long have you lived here?"
"All my life." Destiny answered.
"How long has that been?"
"Fifteen or twenty years."
"You don't know?"
"We stopped counting how many candles were on my birthday cake after I stopped
growing."
"Do you know why you stopped growing?"
"I think so I could be like my sister."
"Whose that?"
Destiny pointed at an identical purple pony, "That's my sister Fate."
"Twins?"
"Not technically."
"You said your farm doesn't have TV, radio, new papers, money or books... have they ever?"
"No."
"Then how do you know what those things are?"
"Day and Night, those two over there," She gestured at a white and black pair of ponies
with the sun and moon symbols. "When I was asking people what they dream about when I
had my first dream... I dreamed I was tap dancing with corp stalks as the moon gave me
critical reviews while the farm house played checkers with the barn... Day and Night told
me about money when explaining a bad dream they once had about bank robbers."
"And the rest?"
"My sister explained that outside Ponyland, Fate told me that My Little Ponies are only
known about on 'cartoons' on 'TV' and as 'toys.' When I asked what a TV was, she told me
to talk to Never-Star and Valentines, those are my parents by the way... They told me a
news paper was what tells you how many people in far away places have died that day.
Radio is for music and listening to angry men explain why they're angry. And books are
supposedly magical things that can teach you things."
"Not all books are magical, but they are important." Whitney says, "Can you read?"
"What's that?"
"That answers that."
"Do you know how you can about?" Tano asked.
"My parents loved each other very much and--"
"NOT THAT!" Whitney exclaimed, "I meant how did you ponies come to be here?"
"Fate tells me that something bad happened, but she wished for her family and all us to
live happily ever after as My Little Ponies... well everyone else. I was born here."
Tano asked taking note of all the cartoon doll horses looking female, "And no boys?"
"What are those?"
Whitney exclaimed, "THEN HOW DID YOUR ... sorry, I don't mean to shout, how were you
born?"
"Like I said, my parents loved me very much and-"
Whitney sighed, "Never mind."
"So what's reading?"
"That's how you get the knowledge out of books."
"Is there lots of stuff to know in books? Like what the rest of the world is like?"
"Yes... there is."
"I wish I could read, and had books to read then." Destiny said simply.
Destiny called out, "EVERYONE! WE HAVE GUESTS! THEY SAY THEY HAVE IMPORTANT
NEWS!"
The My Little Ponies dropped from their tasks and began to gather around the wolves. All
smiling, all so friendly, yet didn't quite feel like an invasion of the happy-body-snatchers
for some reason. Then again, Leoman were infamous for being 'too' friend to some so only
the lupmans noticed.
"I'm Daisy." "I'm Lucky." "We're Day and Night." "I'm Fate, hey Destiny!" "I'm Ruby! Wanna
play?" "I'm Valentines this is my best friend in the whole wide world Never-Star." "Second
star to the right, straight on till morning." And a multitude of other smiling brightly
colored doll like cartoon horses introduced themselves.
The explorers got the idea that it was going to take time to explain things. But they felt like
they had the time.
Destiny heard something and wandered off, not feeling it right to leave guests. But feeling
she had to the way her mother had felt the need to 'push' when she was born.
Meanwhile a young man drove her book mobile, an impressive one too... but with the
digital age, new media, video games, TV, movies, radio, and all the rest, READING to learn
anything from an changeable source like books had became... quaint.
Her collage degree in history and geography .... and here she was driving a book mobile...
on a funeral march. It was formally decided to turn the books, not having found buyers...
were to be recycled. The young man felt disgusted. She intentionally took the long way to
the recycle center where she was ordered to drop off the books. And of course ended up
getting lost.... maybe a little TOO lost...
SHe must have gotten off the road at some point, or it was like the road was opening in
front of her and closing like it had never been there behind her... But that was silly right?
When she came upon a big pink and white farm with corps out of season.. she wondered if
she had stumbled on a theme park. But the corps looked very much real and very much
healthy.
That was when the mobile broke down (she wasn't that surprised really). What surprised
her and made her think someone had slipped mushroom into her lunch was a purple My
Little Pony, the size of an actual pony, standing in real life in front of her. Maybe Kurse was
back to try again?
But this little horse looked a lot more reasonable than the things of nightmares and
insanity Kurse had brought upon the world.
"Hello, my name is Destiny, I'm a My Little Pony, a real one... who are you?"
"I'm nobody... just someone who has gone by before they were even born."
"That's silly."
"Tell that to my books."
"You have book?!"
"... Yes.... I do."
"Can you read?"
"Yes, books aren't much good if you can't read."
"Can you teach me to read-?! Can I have your books?"
"Well I was just going to recycle them anyway."
"Recycle them into what?"
"Toilet paper I imagine."
"What's that?"
"Un, never mind, not something you need to know."
"Okay, so can I have your books, and can you teach me how to read?"
"... people are kinda going to ask where these books went..."
"What if they didn't have to be recycled? What if they could stay books?"
"Okay, I gotcha... and... I've kinda got plenty of spare time... with no home and no job..."
"You can work at our farm.. your job can be to teach me how to read!"
"And after that?"
"Well... I was told books need a librarian right?"
"You kinda need a library for that... kid..."
"Foal actually."
"Figures...."
"That big thing can be your library..."
"Heh I guess...So sure kid. Works for me."
Before Destiny's eye, the young woman's body turned pale green, her eyes emerald green,
and her hair dark green. Her clothes vanished, but a big pair of black rimmed glasses
appeared over her face. Then her body shifted, losing all openings, all fingers and toes, as
a book symbol appeared on her rump. Then a curly green tail came out of her spinal
column above where her rear used to be. Then her size changed until she was the same of
a My Little Pony her face and neck stretching out.
Behind her, her book mobile lost it's wheels, and grew, doubling then quadrupling inside...
becoming white and pink of course and giving the false impression of somehow being
plastic... then it complete shifted shape, until it resembled something vaguely resembling
a traditional library.
The new My Little Pony said, "You asked what my name was... My name is Bookworm."
"Why a worm?"
"Cause I dig books."
"Oh! I get it!" Destiny laughed. Bookworm simply smiled and said, "Well, come on in..."
Bookworm was only mildly surprised when she found the inside was bigger than the
outside, rivaling the library of congress almost. And she knew the placement of each and
every one of the books inside she realized.
"INCREDIBLE!" Destiny declared, "So these are books!"
"Yes... and I'm going to teach you how to read them..."
++++++++++
"So you never told your second daughter about the Transform or Dare?" Whitney asked.
"We felt no need to." Never-Star said.
"Why are there no boy ponies here?" Sita asked.
"Fate never saw any in the cartoon, or at least any episodes she saw... so I guess it was
built from that."
"So how did you have her if you're both girls?" Sita asked.
"Well we loved each other very much and--"
"Enough with the running gag." Whitney sighed.
Lilly and Cassandra were playing tag with Fate and Ruby.
"So you're going to do away with the game?" Never-Star asked.
"Yes, it's proven too dangerous, it nearly ended the world."
"It did feel like the farm was pressing back against something a white ago." Never-Star
said. "That would explain it."
"So they've found a cure and are going to destroy the game." Jay said. AFter all, the pack
had used the cure as had the leoman police to fight Kurse's slaves. Which the twins had
been among.
Never-Star was going to ask if this was going to end everything the game had made, but
she felt in her mind a blond colored pony with glass blue eyes tell her no it would not. She
accepted this answer without question.
"And once the game is gone, it'll be gone for good? No one will be able to make people do
horrible things anymore?" Valentines asked.
"Yes." Jay nodded proudly.
Valentines looked at Never-Star, "Dear, it seems we have to make a trip to town."
"Eh?"
"We have two turns of the game ourselves... I wouldn't take back the life we had for the
world, and I wouldn't give up this life for the world... but I'm not having anyone else have
their lives ruined because that awful game!"
Never-Star nodded.
"I hope we won't need money." Valentines said.
"Hey!" Lucky called out, "Who buried this treasure chest in the field-?!"
++++++++
No one questioned in Glendale why two brightly colored cartoon like horses were doing
walking down Glendale's main street. Or why they were wearing traveling hats.
Or when they dialed up information. Got a number. Got an answering machine. And left a
public phone booth somehow using it without fingers (and let alone how a public phone
booth existed in the 21st century in the advent of cellphones!).
"Do you think our farm needs a chapel or not?" Valentines asks Never-Star.
Never-Star admitted she hadn't thought about that one. Did 'Happily Ever After' NEED
faith? Salvation? ... Maybe it did logically need God. But those were questions for another
time.
The two My Little Ponies saw a Christian Church, and wandered in, wondering how they'd
find Madam Serenity in this whole mess.
The Priest who greeted them looked to be half ape, and another orange ape man who went
around naked with a cross around his neck. But being naked themselves, it wasn't really an
issue.
But what struck them odd, was that the priest seemed to take notice they were My Little
Ponies. "You are... cartoons?"
"Not exactly... we heard Glendale was curing the game, we LIKE what we are, but we don't
think the game should continue considering what our family had to go through to get
where we are now." NEver-Star explained.
That was when Madam Serenity came out... and there introductions all around, Madam
Serenity also learned what happened to the family who was involved in that use of the
Transform or Dare that was linked to a house fire (she was a detective after all, fortune
teller and alchemist after that).
It was a relief to at least have a close on that case. The two willing allowed their turns to be
destroy with no fuss or muss.
"People like you living outside the water system make me worried." Madam Serenity said.
"Don't worry about it," Valentines smiled and nodded, "Now that we know about it, it
wouldn't be a 'happily ever after' for us if you failed..."
++++++++++
Judas looked at the odd creatures in the church hall. Apparently more of the game's
creations. And the shame of his line for three hundred years!
"Judas... if you wish for a complete redemption of your line and herself... I can help you."
Judas turned and nearly shrieked. The black cat was stunned at the sight. A transparent,
living glass, lupman pup....
"My name is Marie-Eliza... I am a witchling... I am looking for a familiar... "
"Not interested."
"It's to help end the game's legacy."
"I'm yours."
"You will my conscience, my constraint, my voice of reason, the power I wield is
frightening, and the only way for me to rid of it is to commit murder. So... will you be my
voice of reason?"
"Yes."
She touched his head, "I name you Judías. You and I are now bound by fate. I am your
witch. You are my familiar."
The two felt it... they felt each other... and Judías felt the beast she was riding on the back
of... he shuddered... it felt like Kurse almost...
And Judías felt his world explode around him, becoming aware of a thousand things he
couldn't before... he also became of the ware of other timelines... of his time with Trevor
the cat... that no longer happened in that way... of the other version of Queen's death...
Judías now knew it all, for his maste-... no... his only master was still God... he was
Catholic Christian after all... he may have been bound by the familiar code... but he had
converted to his faith first.
Marie-Eliza's avatar showed Judías her toy room, and explained how use and cheating of
the game had resulted in the reason why reality insisted on the existence of a toy
collection with souls born for the soul purpose of inhabiting these immobile objects,
destiny to only observe and interact through those who interacted with them...
She hugged him from behind, "I won't ask you to leave your owners now... not when the
game's destruction is needed and right at our door step... but once the game is gone.. you
help me won't you?"
Personally, Marie-Eliza considered it part of her price for trying to cheat reality to be the
care taker of his massive collection whose price was attention. But if Judías could help her
keep sane, to keep her from becoming Kurse the second... if she really was going to keep
this power till she died of old age... she'd welcome his company. A girl needed a
companion other than her mother after all... who was similarly cursed with eternal life and
no companion to share it with... her husband was dead and would have to wait even longer
on the other side to be reunited with her.
++++++++++++
Katy's mom was confused when a letter was hand delivered by a semi-transparent blond
felman child with glass blue eyes. Was she going to go act in a weird play? With that black
dress with the red apron and rune symbols all over it...
She opened the letter, and her eyes widened in surprise as she read it.
"The game... the end of it?... At last?" She remembered full well the near rape that had
happened to her precious kitten because of that dreadful curse.
"KATHRINE DEAR! DRAKE-HONEY! DAIMEN! SETH! You two little half-dragons! We're going
on a short trip back to Glendale soon!"