Chapter 7: Bosnia and Herzegovina and Hysteria
Penelope
I ran as fast as I could. The Minotaur chased me down the many paths of the mirrored maze. The walls kept changing and I found myself wondering if escape was possible in this "smart" maze. Running from the Minotaur was reminding me of running from the hunter back when I was little.
Stay calm. Everything's fine. He'll snap out of it and everything can go back to normal. I told myself these things, hoping my panic attack may be abated. I don't know why, but ever since that fateful day with the hunter, I've never been the same. Every loud, booming noise reminds me of the hunter's gun. Every sick smell takes me back to the hunter's sick musk. I wrinkle my beak in distaste at the memory. I've even had encounters with wild animals who had gone rabid. It was times like these that scared me out of my wits. I wished with nearly everything in me that Perry was with me, protecting me, telling me everything would be okay. I miss him desperately.
I turn down another passage and pause a moment to catch my breath. Then, I calm down a bit since the Minotaur gets closed off by the closing of the wall between me and it. I breathe a sigh of relief. The mirrors had stopped moving, for a time. I took this opportune pause to look for food. I noticed a break in the mirrors on the floor. I dug my fingers in the ground, grasping for some, any bugs in the ground.
Earthworms: Jackpot! I scooped the worms into my mouth and ate them. I don't know when I last ate. It felt like days since my last meal. The wounds on my back weren't helping matters either. They had healed poorly and I could feel the scabs across on my back. If I even moved wrong, I would get them bleeding again, then I would lose more energy. If that happened, and the Minotaur decided to attack me again, then I wouldn't be safe. I looked up at the sky, the only thing that wasn't mirrored to me. Oh, Perry, please hurry. I clutched my arms to my sides and got as small as possible, trying to get warm.
Suddenly, a wall opened and hooves grabbed me. I screamed, thinking that moment was my last, but the Minotaur was my friend again and made gentle animal sounds that comforted me. "Let's not do that again," I said. The gentle monster made a small growl of agreement. "I can free you, but I will need Perry's help. He's the only one that could possibly know the old ways of the chief well enough to do it." The Minotaur carried me back, and as he did, I saw a look in his eyes that told me he was not putting much faith in Perry's ability to free him.
Perry
Bosnia and Herzegovina. Why don't they just pick one name? Or separate into two different countries? I don't know. I'm sure Penelope would probably be thinking along the same lines.
It is December 17th, still early in the day. I keep following the OMEGA lights, hoping to, for once, be a step ahead of the Enigma. It's crazy to think that the Enigma is half of Phillip; that Phillip has that much evil inside of him. As I go through the country-side, I keep seeing flags like the Nazi flags of old. The land is dark and carries a gloom all across it. I don't think even Hitler had done this good in making Europe look so bad.
I landed in a field, put on a coat, and decided to scout the area. Phineas, Ferb, and his friends followed me. I often forgot that I had kids in the cargo hold. I looked at the land and I felt an emptiness in my heart at how evil can destroy such a beautiful land.
"Where is everybody?" asked Isabella. I felt my kids behind me, tugging at my coat. Their eyes looked up at me with sadness.
I sighed, "Come on, there's nothing we can do here."
Once we were back inside the ship again, the monitor in the cockpit began beeping. I pushed a button and I saw the Enigma's face staring back at me. The only difference he had since the last time I had seen him in July was that he had the hair on his head done to the left side of his head like Hitler and he wore an eye-patch on the hair side.
"What happened to your eye? Couldn't stand to look at the same murderer in the mirror anymore?" I asked, my eyes narrowed with scorn.
"You remind me so much of Penelope. She is such a creature of life and spunk." The Enigma laughed a bit. "I thought you might want to see her." He put on a video and on the video was a mirrored maze and Penelope was running from the Minotaur. The Enigma cut it off at a certain point and said, "It is a pity that her knight in shining armor is not there to comfort her in her hours of madness. You and I both know what running from danger triggers in her mind."
"What do you want, Enigma? Why do you insist on doing this?"
"Control. What does every bad guy want? Every bad guy wants to know he is on top, that he is in charge. They want to go down in history as the greatest masterminds of villainy that every lived. I want fame. I want to see those my good counterpart loved killed in the worst ways possible. I will kill her, Perry, but not yet. There is a time and a place for everything. I merely ask you to keep your patience a while longer. I have Bosnia and Herzegovina now, in case it wasn't obvious. Now, my next places will be Montenegro, Albania, and Macedonia, in that order. After Macedonia, I intend to go to Bulgaria, but, if you know your geography, mate, you will know that Greece is directly below Macedonia. So, you can choose to follow me to Bulgaria after Macedonia, or you can try to save your dear little Sheila from the Minotaur's maze. Think about it."
That was the end of his transmission. I punched my armrest in frustration. He was playing with my mind! He was Jerry and I was Tom, it was all about the chase. He wanted attention, he wanted someone to try to stop him. He wanted that person to be me. I growled, frustrated that I was even playing this game. I couldn't see any way out of it either... unless... I smiled at my idea.
All right! Exams are over and I can finally update. So... what do you guys think so far? Ooh! I'm so excited for what I have planned later :D
I don't know if you guys will feel the same, but it will certainly be interesting. Please keep reading and reviewing, thanks :)
