Me: Well, here's another chapter. I hope you enjoy it.
Gzilla: This thing's almost done, right?
Me: Yeah, there's only 3 chapters remaining.
Gzilla: I'm sorta sad to see the story that started my escalation to starhood end.
Me: Oh please. The only way you'll be escalated to starhood is when you go to heaven.
Gzilla: Like you'll ever be famous either.
Me: -_- Anyways, copyrights are the same as ever. Enjoy the story.
It seemed like forever ago since they started following the trail of Will o' the Wisps, at least it did to Mephiles. "Ugh, are we there yet?"
"For the fifth time, no Mephiles, we are not there yet. We don't know when we'll be there because we don't even know where there is," Jason answered. Like the others, Jason was starting to get annoyed by Mephiles constantly asking that question. Heck, it had only been ten minutes since they started following them.
"Entertain yourself. Listen to your iPod or something. I'm sure you'll be able to listen to it here as long as it's charged up," Gzilla told the demon.
"Oh yeah, I almost forgot about my iPod." He created a miniature portal in the palm of his hand while he floated along, reaching into it. The portal led to a place where Mephiles kept all his belongings. Where exactly that place was, Mephiles would never tell. It was one of his many secrets.
Merida and Elinor both looked at each other with puzzled looks. They were both wondering what the others were talking about. "What's an iPod?" Merida asked Jason.
"It's a device which can store and play music you put onto it."
"Sounds interestin'."
After a couple of minutes of digging around inside, Mephiles finally pulled out his iPod. It was an iPod Touch fourth generation, which was modified to Mephiles' specifications. After he tweaked it, he could play music as loudly as he wanted to without headphones. "Hallelujah, technology is in my possession once again," he said with a sigh of relief before closing the portal.
Merida wanted to get a look at his iPod so she peered over her shoulder as she walked. "Never seen anything like that before in my life." It sure did look futuristic to her. Heck, the only way for you to get music here was if someone played it for you or you made it up yourself.
That was when a loud noise that neither Elinor nor Merida had ever heard before in their life came out of the iPod; the noise soon followed by a male voice's singing voice. Elinor roared in displeasure as she rose up on her back legs, turning around to look at Mephiles as she covered her ears. "What kind of music is this? It doesn't even sound like music!" Merida shouted over the noise, her hands pressed tightly against her ears in an attempt to try and block the noise from entering her ears, but it didn't do that much good. She saw that Gzilla and Jason weren't reacting like she and her mother were, but that was probably because they were used to this kind of music.
"Sugar by System of a Down," Mephiles shouted. "I freakin' love this song."
Merida looked up at her mother and saw that Elinor was looking very displeased. This kind of music probably sounded just like noise to her, as it did for Merida. "I don't think mum likes it though," she told Mephiles.
"I don't care if she doesn't like it or not, I'm gonna listen to whatever the hell I want to."
Elinor had enough of Mephiles' disregard of the authority she held over this land. He was going to respect her and he was going to do it now! She slammed her body down onto the ground right in front of Mephiles and roared as loudly and angrily as she could right in his face.
This had absolutely terrified Mephiles. Quickly turning off the song, he tried to appease her and make her happy again...or at least not making her want to kill him. "But I think I'll listen to this song when I'm alone," he said, staring at her with huge eyes.
With a sense of satisfaction coming over her, Elinor turned back around and started following the wisp trail once again. Let that be a lesson fer ya not ta back-talk me, Elinor thought to herself with a relaxed smile on her face.
Even though everyone else had gotten over Elinor roaring angrily in Mephiles' face, the demon hadn't. As he floated with the group, he made sure to keep his distance from the mother-turned-bear. The fear he had was only temporary though, so after she returned to being a human again, it would probably go away.
"Here, I think I might know a song you and your mom might like," Jason stated, slowing his walking pace so he would match Mephiles'.
"Fine, just don't piss her off," Mephiles said, handing over the iPod.
Jason increased his pace so he was back up at the front with Merida and Elinor, searching for the song he had in mind. "Here it is." When the song started, Gzilla and Mephiles recognized the song was Good Time by Owl City and Carly Rae Jepsen.
"Grrrr," Mephiles growled. "How many times do I have to tell you not to put your sissy songs on my iPod?!" Mephiles' iPod was only supposed to have rock, heavy metal, and some rap on it, not pop songs.
"Hey, technically this is our iPod, so me or G can put whatever we want on it," Jason defended himself.
As Mephiles fumed over this, Elinor and Merida listened to the song, actually seeming to enjoy it. It was a lot better than the song Mephiles had played. Despite it sounding a bit weird, its happy-sounding beats and cheerful-sounding singers brightened up both mother and daughter's spirits.
"Ya have anymore songs like that one?" Merida asked Jason after the song ended.
"I have to see, but there is one song that I think everyone will like." Once he found the song, he started playing Open Your Heart by Crush 40 and Circuit Freq. Although it wasn't as good as the previous song, Merida and Elinor enjoyed it. Through the song, Elinor seemed like she was understanding what some of the lyrics were meaning...when she could understand what was being said. After the song was over, Jason handed the iPod back to Mephiles.
For the rest of the way, they listened to I Am...All of Me – Final Doom Version by Crush 40, Symphony of Destruction by Megadeth, Master of Puppets by Metallica, Meaning of Life by Disturbed, and finally Linkin Park's New Divide. While Merida slowly started getting used to these metal and rock songs, Elinor still found she preferred the 'pop' song that Jason had played them earlier. When the song New Divide ended, the group discovered they were heading for the ruins of an old castle. The white ash and soot on the ground gave the whole area a snowy look. Mephiles even thought it was snow for a moment before he actually touched it. As they got closer to the ruined building, they could see the symbol of the crossed axes just like the ones that were on the witch's coin.
"This place looks like something big hit it," Gzilla said as he looked around.
"Wonder what could have done this?" Jason asked.
"There's a story about an ancient kingdom falling because one of the four princes grew evil, but...that's only a legend. It can't be true...can it?" Merida said to Jason.
"From where I come from, legends and stories are as true as they can be."
"Every story has a meaning behind it, and a truth," Gzilla added.
Elinor nodded her head, agreeing with what both Jason and Gzilla had said. At least they believed and understood what legends were used for.
"Why did the wisps bring us here?" Merida asked as she led the group closer to the ruined castle. Jason stayed close by her during their investigation of the area. "Whoever they were, they've sure been gone for a long, long tim—" The floor gave way under the combined weight of Merida and Jason, causing them to fall through the ground and into an underground room.
Gzilla, Mephiles, and Elinor rushed over to the hole and peered down inside of it. "Hey, are you two okay?" Gzilla shouted.
"We're fine! Nothin' broken or anythin,'" Merida shouted back as Jason helped her back on her feet.
"What's it look like in there?" Mephiles asked.
Jason and Merida started looking around at their surroundings, the light coming down from the hole making it a little better to see. They couldn't see too much of the room, as it couldn't reach the back area. After a few moments, Jason looked back up at their friends. "It looks like a throne room."
As Merida searched around some more, making sure she stayed close to Jason, she saw some familiar things. "Hey mom, do ya suppose this could have been the kingdom in that story you were tellin' me? The one with the princes?" The first thing she saw was a stone painting of four men with a huge crack separating the last man from the other three. "One, two, three, four," she counted. She looked at the separated man. "The oldest. Like... like the tapestry." She turned to Jason, who had now moved to where she was. "The spell! It's happened before!"
Jason looked over at a pile of bones close-by. "The strength of ten men. Fate be changed. Changed with fate," he said.
Merida looked at both him and the others with horror. "Oh, no! The prince became—"
"Jason..." Gzilla interrupted in alarm. He could have sworn he heard something coming from the pitch black area in front of them. "I don't think you two are alone in there."
The sound of something heavy walking towards them caused them to start backing up, which allowed a hideously scarred bear to emerge from the pitch blackness on all fours.
"Mor'du!" Merida finished.
Mor'du roared angrily at the intruders. Their coming here had disturbed his rest. No one disturbed his rest without paying the price of death. With another loud roar emerging from his jaws, he started advancing on them slowly, wanting them to feel helplessness before he inevitably killed them, as well as invoke their fear.
"Get out of there!" Gzilla shouted.
As quickly as possible, Jason morphed into Gigantis, increasing his height to twelve feet so he would match Mor'du's. The transformation had caused Mor'du to get startled, as well as back up a bit. Seeing his opportunity, Gigantis grabbed Merida and picked her up. "Take her!" he shouted to Gzilla, Mephiles, and Elinor as he hefted her up as close as he could to the hole. He could already hear Mor'du charging at him.
Leaning in, Gzilla grabbed Merida's arm and, with the help of Mephiles and Elinor, dragged her out to safety.
Although he wasn't able to get the girl, Mor'du sure did slam into the giant reptile hard. The impact sent Gigantis sailing back across the room where he slammed against the wall. Gigantis saw and felt rubble fall around him, but as he tried to charge at Mor'du, he discovered the tips of his dorsal plates were stuck in the stone wall. He didn't have enough time to free himself before Mor'du slammed into him again, pushing his spikes deeper into the wall. Mor'du's jaws sprung forward, trying to bite Gigantis' neck, but they never made it. Gigantis thrusted out his right hand and grabbed the bear's throat, pushing him away as he tried to free himself. Despite the bear using all the strength he could muster, he couldn't reach the reptile's neck. Feeling he couldn't hold Mor'du back for much longer, Gigantis balled his left hand into a fist and delivered two quick sucker punches to Mor'du's face.
The blows caused Mor'du to stumble back and rub his face. He had never been hit that hard before in his life. He could see that this giant reptile could prove to be the opponent he had been waiting his whole life to vanquish. Unfortunately, his thoughts allowed Gigantis enough time to free himself from the wall. Before Mor'du could do anything, Gigantis headbutts him in the chest, following up with a quick right punch. Dazed, the demon bear was unable to stop Gigantis from grabbing his skull. The impact Gigantis' rock-hard skull made with his caused the bear to be further dazed. Mor'du stumbled back a couple of more feet, the impact causing white flashes of light to appear and disappear everywhere. He was really starting to hate this creature.
Gigantis had to end this fight. He had grossly underestimated Mor'du's strength, which nearly got his throat ripped out. He was also feeling cramped in here, which made it hard for him to maneuver effectively. He charged at Mor'du, spinning his body around once he was close enough. The impact his tail made sent Mor'du sailing across the room, right into the pitch black area. Thinking Mor'du was out of the way for now, Gigantis ran back over to the hole, seeing that the others were still there, watching his fight. "I'm coming out so move away from the castle!"
After hearing his command, they nodded and did exactly as they were told.
Ugh, that blow had knocked him silly. Mor'du shook his head, clearing it from any flashing lights. As he got back on his feet, he saw his reptilian adversary standing underneath the hole, about ready to climb out. If he was thinking about escaping from him, this lizard had another thing coming. With a roar of anger, he charged as fast as he could to Gigantis, hoping he would be able to knocking him down.
Hearing Mor'du's roar, Gigantis released the grip he had on the hole's sides and turned to the pitch black. The blue flash that emitted from his dorsal plates lit up the room for a brief second, giving Gigantis the opportunity to see where Mor'du was and how close he was.
The brief flash of light Gigantis emitted slowed Mor'du down briefly. What could that have been all about? He figured that answer out when a bluish-white beam of high intensity heat and radiation rushed out of Gigantis' mouth and slammed into his left shoulder. The intense heat singed Mor'du's fur, causing some patches of his fur to catch fire. They didn't last long because when Mor'du slammed into the wall again, he fell forward and cut off the flame's oxygen, putting them out. Smoke poured out from under him where the beam struck.
Gigantis knew for sure that Mor'du was out of action now. Even if he had the strength of ten men, Mor'du probably wasn't going to be able to take a direct hit from his Atomic Beam and still have enough strength to fight. He gripped the edges of the hole again and pulled himself out, his body making the hole bigger as he smashed through it.
Elinor watched as Gigantis climbed out and shrunk down in size before morphing back into Jason as he approached them. Even though Merida had told her about his size changing ability, she couldn't believe, and after witnessing it, she still couldn't believe it.
"We better get going. I don't know how long Mor'du'll stay down," Jason told them.
"You took down Mor'du?" Merida asked with a look of astonishment.
"Yeah, but I don't think he's dead. He ain't a pushover though, he nearly ripped out my throat with his jaws." Jason and Merida climbed onto Elinor's back and the group proceeded to leave.
"We need to get back to the castle, and if we don't hurry, mom will become like Mor'du! A bear! A real bear! Forever! Mend the bond torn by pride. The witch gave us the answer. The tapestry!" Merida told everyone.
"There's one little problem with that. How are we gonna get back into the castle? Everyone's probably back inside now," Gzilla said.
"I'll think of something." Merida looked up at the sky, seeing that it was starting to get dark. "We have to hurry though. We only have 'till tomorrow's sunrise." As the group proceeded to run into the forest, they had failed to notice the black form which was crawling out of the hole.
As Mor'du watched the intruders leave, he fumed over his loss. How could he lose? He was the strongest creature in the land! Then it hit him. Was. He had to kill Gigantis or else he'd lose the fear and reputation he once had. He sniffed the air, trying to figure out where his foe had went, but for some odd reason Gigantis' scent was coming from the human male was with the red-haired girl. The scent made him turn to his burnt shoulder. He was going to fight that creature once again, and kill it, for giving him this mark which showed he wasn't as immortal as he once thought. With a low grow, he started stalking the group, trudging after them into the forest.
On their way back to the castle, night had fallen, leaving them with little time to change everything. As they peeked into the Great Hall, Gzilla's prediction of everyone getting down from the tower was proved correct. The room was in complete chaos as everyone fought one another. Fergus was launching spears at the three lords, who were hiding behind a table they had flipped onto its side for use as a barrier.
"This is gonna turn into war if someone doesn't stop them," Merida commented.
Elinor pointed at Merida while the others just looked at her, deciding upon her to stop this.
"Me? I can't do this."
"Well, no one else can successfully get them to listen and stop other than you. They won't listen to any foreigners and they'll kill your mom rather than try and interpret what she's saying," Gzilla said.
"But I just can't. I wouldn't even know what ta say."
Placing a hand on her shoulder, Jason smiled as he looked into her eyes. "Merida, you can do this. I know you can. I believe in you; I always have and I always will."
Merida hugged him tightly. "Thank you, Jason." She looked at them and sighed. "Alright, I'm doin' it." She turned back to Jason. "Now you, G, and Mephiles need ta go inside without bein' noticed, so that when I come in, everyone won't think somethin' is up between the three of us."
Jason and his two friends nodded. After Jason ended his hug with Merida, the three of them went into the castle. Everyone was too busy fighting to notice their arrival. "Can I join in the fight this time? Please Jason?" Gzilla asked with a big smile on his face. "No," Jason said firmly, causing Gzilla to pout a little, crossing his arms across his chest.
Merida then turned to Elinor. "Once I start talkin' and have their attention, you sneak in and try to blend in. After I'm done, I'll try to get everyone out of the room so the five of us can go to the tapestry room."
Elinor nodded and watched Merida go inside.
The arrival of Merida, as well as her presence, caused everyone to cease their fighting, just as they had done before when Elinor broke up the first fight a couple of days ago. A path was made for the princess as she approached the room, stopping at the front. With all eyes on her, she saw Elinor begin to make her way into the room as quietly as possible. Taking a deep breath, she began her speech. "Once, a long time ago, there was an ancient kingdom ruled by four princes. When one of the princes fell ta pride and greed, the kingdom fell inta war and was destroyed."
"That's just an old legend," Lord MacGuffin said.
"Legends are lessons from out past. They're stories tellin' how and why things are like they are today," Merida said. "Yours was an alliance forged in bravery and friendship and it lives ta this day. I've been selfish. I tore a great rift in our kingdom. There's no one ta blame but me. And I know now that I need to amend my mistake and mend our bond. And so, there is the matter of my betrothal. I decided ta do what's right and..." Merida took a deep breath and sighed. It was now or never.
Oh no... Elinor thought. She had to stop her daughter. All this time seeing Jason and Merida being happy together had made her rethink everything about the marriage tradition and saw it was a wrong thing to do. She waved to her daughter, which luckily got her attention before she could say anything. Using her hands, Elinor tried to mime what she wanted Merida to tell everyone.
As she watched her mom, Merida began interpreting it. "And...and break tradition. My mother, the queen, feels...uh, in her heart, that I...that we be free ta...write our own story. Follow our hearts, and find love in our time." She smiled at her mom, who smiled back and clapped softly. She then looked at Jason and saw him give her a thumbs up, as did Gzilla. She was so happy. She then heard crying and saw that it was coming from the lords.
"Beautiful," Lord Dingwall said, wiping tears from his eyes.
"The queen and I have put the decision to you my lords. Might our young people decide for themselves who they will love?" Merida asked.
"Huh?" was Dingwall's response.
"Well, since ya've already made up yer minds about this, I have one thing ta say," Lord Macintosh began. "This is—"
"A grand idea!" Young Macintosh interrupted. "Give us our own say in choosing our fates?"
"What?"
"Aye! Why shouldn't we choose?" chimed in Wee Dingwall.
"But she's the princess!" Dingwall said.
"I didn't pick her out. It was your idea."
"And you, do you feel the same way?" MacGuffin asked his son.
"It's just not fair making us fight fer the hand of a girl who doesn't want any bit of it!" Young MacGuffin replied, but like before, no one could understand him. Merida giggled at this.
"Well, that's it. Let these lads try ta win her heart before they win her hand, if they can!" MacGuffin announced.
"I say then, Wee Dingwall has a fightin' chance!" Dingwall said.
"Fine then! Seems fer once we agree! It was my idea in the first place." Macintosh followed up.
Merida felt proud of herself. She had managed to not get married, as well as let everyone else decide that marriage should be wanted, not thrust upon someone who didn't want it.
Fergus smiled proudly at his daughter. "Just like yer mom, ya devil."
She laughed at her father's comment before noticing that one of the guards was staring at her mom. Elinor had frozen herself up so she looked like one of Fergus' stuffed bears right after she had finished miming to Merida. Seeing as how the guard was about to jab her with his spear, she had to do something fast. "Everyone! To the cellar! Lets crack open the king's private reserves to celebrate!"
Everyone in the room cheers to that and they start heading for the cellar.
"Woah! Woah! Woah!" Fergus said before turning to one of his servants. "Bring them tiny glasses." After that being said, he joined the others in heading to the cellar.
Once everyone but Jason, Merida, Gzilla, and Mephiles had left, Elinor started moving again. Before she knew it, Merida ran over and given her a huge hug.
"Thanks mum."
With a smile, Elinor nuzzled her daughter's hair as they hugged.
"Okay, enough with the sappy mother-daughter hug moment. We need to get a move on before everyone comes back," Mephiles said.
"Mephiles is right...well not about the moment being sappy, but he is right about the fact we need to hurry up," Jason said. "Come on, let's go." He led the others upstairs, but it was Merida who took them to the right room.
Once inside, Merida goes over to the tapestry and gently touches the tear she had made on it. "Mend the bonds. Mend the bonds! Stitched up! This will change her back, we just need needle and thread."
Elinor heads where the needle and threads are while Jason and the others look around the room for where they might be. All of a sudden, something takes over her mind again, forcing the Elinor part of it out of the way. Elinor turns around and growls at Merida and her friends.
Upon hearing Fergus laughing outside of the room, Merida tries to quiet her down. "Mom! Mom, not now! Please, not now! Mom!"
Unfortunately, Mephiles had accidentally gotten in between Merida and Elinor.
"You'll never guess who solved our problem—" Fergus said upon walking in, but he was able to see Elinor knock Mephiles out of her way with a swing of her arm. The demon was sent flying back into Gzilla, the impact making him stumble back to the window.
"Oh god I'm gonna fall!" Gzilla yelled, his body sticking out the window. He was about to lose his balance!
Jason rushed over to the window and pulled Gzilla back in.
"Merida!" Fergus shouted in alarm. Then he saw Elinor's torn dress laying on the ground, which made him put two and two together. The bear had killed and eaten his wife!
"Dad, no! It's not what ya think!" Merida shouted.
"Merida, get back!" He said, pulling out his sword.
"No!"
Fergus was about to strike the bear with his sword when Merida began pulling on his arm and startled to struggle to hold him back. "Merida! No!"
"No, dad! Don't hurt her!"
The struggle between daughter and father gave Elinor the opportunity to smash her arm against Fergus, knocking the Bear King out on the ground. The attack also got Merida, slicing her arm a little.
"No!"
At that moment, Elinor snapped out of her frenzied state. Looking around, she saw Mephiles groaning as he pushed himself off the floor, her unconscious husband laying at her feet, and her daughter's arm which had scratch marks on it. What had she done?!
"It's alright. I'm alright and so are they. I just have a little scratch!"
Elinor barrels her way past Merida and ran out of the room. She was so ashamed at what she had done. Why couldn't she have kept better control over her bear form's natural instincts?! She ran past the lords in the Great Hall. They tried to attack her as she went by, but were unable to catch her.
"Mom!" Merida shouted to her. She wanted to go after her, but she heard her father's grunts and turned around to see him push himself back on his feet. "Dad!" She helped him back up while Jason and Gzilla helped up Mephiles.
"Oh, count yer stars, lass. It almost had you. Are ya hurt?" Fergus asked.
"It's yer wife, Elinor!" she told him, referring to the bear.
"Yer talkin' nonsense!"
"It's the truth! There was a witch and she gave me a spell. It's not Mor'du!"
"Mor'du or not, I'll avenge yer mother! I'll not risk losin' you!"Fergus grabbed his sword and began walking out of the room.
"No, dad! Just listen ta me!" Merida shouted as she, Jason, Gzilla, and Mephiles started following him.
Fergus makes it out and locks the door behind him with a key. Seeing Maudie walk past, he grabbed her and handed the key to her. "Don't let them out fer anythin', alright?"
Maudie nodded her head before he left downstairs. She had no idea why not to let them out, but she had her orders.
"Listen, ya can't! It's yer wife Elinor!" Merida shouted to him.
"She's telling the truth!" Jason shouted with her.
"You'll kill her mother if you kill that bear!" Gzilla shouted.
"Let me out of the slagging room!" Mephiles shouted angrily.
Watching her father leave, Merida burst into tears and ran over to the window. Jason and the others joined her in watching a whole mob of people carrying spears, torches and rope ran out of the castle and into the forest to hunt Elinor down. Jason gently patted her shoulder, but she whipped her body and around, hugging him tightly. She buried her head into his chest. "This is all my fault," she said through her tears.
End of Chapter 6
A/N: Me: Sad ending to a chapter :( Poor Merida.
Gzilla: Find out what happens when in the stunning climax, which is next chapter.
Me: See you next chapter
