Chapter 14
Penelope's consciousness came back to reality as the feeling of warm silk brushed against her painful wounds upon her face. She could hear a small chant and the pain upon her face dissipating the more the wet cloth glided upon her flesh. She moaned a little as she opened her swollen eyes as wide as she could. She watched as a black woman with her hair in small twists that almost resembled little snakes wrung out a small, wool rag and chanted over it. The woman turned back and let out a big sigh then spoke with a slight Haitian accent, "Oh, so you awake now?"
Penelope pushed her upper body up off the dungeon floor with her arms until she was able to lean forward. She groaned in pain. Her whole body ached. She turned her head slightly towards the woman and smiled, "I'm sorry Althea. Did I worry you?"
The black woman shook her head like a disapproving mother and she wiped Penelope's face with a rough stroke, "You know damn well I worry about you… ALL THE TIME! You need to stop provoking them monsters… you are FAR too pretty for your face to be pounded like that. Lucky for you, I am a strong Mambo of Rahda Loa… Loko answered my song to him and he has agreed to heal those wounds afflicted. He likes you… for some reason… he likes your spirit."
As the wool rag falls off Penelope's face, it leaves her face healed and unscarred. She smiled and bowed her head, "Please give my regards to the great Loko!"
Althea grinned and turned back to the bucket of water, "He doesn't need your regards, an lo cheve… He holds you in regards whether you care or not. Now… Get up off that floor before you catch something."
Penelope smiled sadly in thanks as Althea turned to grab her bucket. This woman had been a mother to her since she was taken from her own family. She was kind, but her voice had rude tendencies. Penelope was very fond of her and when she had told her story to her… it only made her like Althea more.
Althea was a Voudo priestess known as a Mambo. During the reign of Serenika, the Moon Witch and Lordornia and Leslitico's mother, there was a tribe called Kabyefon. This was Althea's family… and they were full of Mambo and Houngan (priests). Althea's mother was a Juu Mambo which was the highest form of Loa summoning a person can get. No matter who she called, they came with no hesitation. She was feared… throughout Pasadenia… and for good reason… she had managed to kill almost all the witches of the land with the exception of the Fowler witches, Serenika and her daughters. The night that Althea's mother passed down the Asson, the sacred rattle of the Loa Summoners of the Kabyefon tribe, to Althea was the night that the tribe stormed the witch's castle, which was fairly easy for the arcs had yet to be created. Althea's mother and herself trapped Serenika within a Majani doll then burned her in her own fireplace. Leslitico and Lordornia escaped, but both swore revenge upon the Kabyefon tribe. It was 20 years later that Lordornia and her dragon sister personally slaughtered the Kabyefon tribe. Althea was spared not because she was now the tribe's Juu Mambo, but because she had a pure heart and Lordornia needed one to bring her daughter to life. Lordornia learned that moment that Althea: Voudo Mambo… would not be going down without a fight. Althea placed a Pembe curse upon Amelia which made the girl's skin like fragile ivory. Althea called upon the Loa of her slaughtered people and placed an impenetrable barrier upon her heart. She kept her heart, but Lordornia didn't like losing. She placed a curse on her of immortality and bound her to her daughter through a powerful blood spell. It was fate of agonizing proportions. To live forever and to never see her mother on the otherside… that was the cruelest fate of all.
Althea raised Amelia. Taught her and tried to make sure she never became anything like her mother. The Pembe curse was strong and nothing could undo it… not even magic, itself, could unravel a Voudo curse. Despite that, Althea began to teach Amelia the Nanchons of Loa. She wanted her to focus on the nanchons of Radha who were generally the older, beneficent spirits of knowledge, time, and healing to name a few, but Amelia was obsessed with the Ghede. The Ghede were the spirits of the dead. They had no fear for they had already lived and died. They were rude, sexual, disgusting, but fun and their power and persuasion had ensnared Amelia, but, it was, in fact, Amelia who ensnared THEM. Her power was unfathomable and the Loa fed off that. Althea knew that there would be no saving the girl… that she would be consumed by greed and power.
It was then that Penelope was brought to the new and improved castle. The Loa spirits watched through Althea's eyes as the girl was dragged by her leg into the dreary castle by one of the Skaldjilk. The little blonde was limp and conscious, but she had lost all her fight. She had watched her family burn and she believed she had nothing to fight for. Because of that… it was easy ripping her heart out. Althea closed her eyes as her body hit the floor, lifeless. Lordornia waved her hand and granted the body to the Skaldjilk, but it was Amelia who pleaded for her mother to spare her. Lordornia was shocked by her daughter's plea and granted her daughter the blonde's body.
Amelia asked Althea to assist her. Amelia had been cavorting with the Ghede and believed she was capable of performing an 'Ngoma ya Wafu' (Dance of the Dead) enchantment which was a very complicated Voudo ritual. Its purpose was to give life to a lifeless body. It was a type of black magic mixed with the spiritual guidance of the Ghede. Althea had never performs this ritual, but Amelia assured her that all she needed her for was to awaken the spirits with her Asson. It was amazing to watch Amelia perform the Ngoma ya Wafu… she was meticulous and poised. It was then that Althea knew that if this witch wanted something bad enough… nothing would stand in her way. Yet it was the killing of Vaxt, the demon of Time, that truly made Althea fear Amelia. Using Loa spirits to kill a creature that could control time and space was enough to know that Amelia was becoming far too unstable to be around. She used the demon's bones to not only enhance her power, but to stop the Pembe curse upon her face as long as it was upon her skin.
But Amelia wasn't the only one becoming too dangerous; Lordornia was becoming bloodthirsty and arrogant. She killed, not because of necessity for her daughter's survival, but just because she could. She used the Skaldjilk and recruited creatures of the dark. She ripped the hearts of innocent people and left them for their loved ones to clean up. Amelia enslaved those her mother had slaughtered with her necromancy. They had become a menace upon the land, and when evil rises that high… a hero would be sure to meet that challenge. But it wasn't Sheldor who challenged them… it was, in fact, another witch. Melinda Maward Cooper, the White Witch of Galstire. Grandmother to Sheldor Cooper. Althea, unbeknownst to her 'enslavers' had become quite good friends with the local legend. Althea and Melinda spoke about family and friends and loved ones they had lost. Althea respected Melinda and only prayed to the Vodou spirits that SHE was the witch that enslaved her instead of the heartless duo.
Melinda was a powerful old witch but she took a different road than most. The road of love. She fell in love with a simple human male and they had a beautiful daughter. Melinda, or 'MeMaw' as everyone knew her as, tried to teach her daughter magic, but, sadly, Mary got hurt badly trying to do a spell and she swore to never do magic again. Many years later, Mary had a son and within the next year, had twins… MeMaw loved her grandkids, but Sheldor was different. He had thirst for knowledge, but Mary had long married a religious, farmer who liked his liquor more than his crops and banned magic from the house. Still, MeMaw used Sheldor's love of helping her cook to show him a few spells here and there. Lighting the fire in the stove was the first one. Sheldor was careful and precise and MeMaw couldn't have had a better student. She saw something in him that not a lot of people had… a true Pure Heart.
As Sheldor turned about 8, Lordornia sent her armies of ogres and orcs to decimate the town not knowing that a powerful witch resided there. MeMaw waved her hand in front of her as if wiping a glass free of condensation and every last orc and ogre was reverted to a bubble and each began to rise then started popping until there was no one left.
The Blood Witch would send armies and MeMaw would obliterate them. Leslitico sent waves of summoned dragons and MeMaw would turn them into lizards to let their chickens peck at them. This woman… this fantastic witch… had angered the sisters. They, with the help of Althea she sadly thought, came up with a plan. As they came up with a plan, MeMaw had finally finished with her magic proofed coat for Sheldor and matching hat. That was when the witches struck. They didn't attack the village or even send in one single creature… they slipped into the room of the 11 year old Sheldor possessed him with a Petwo Loa spirit by the name of Met Kalfu… the Loa of crossroads and the grandmaster of charms, spells, and complete destruction. It was, in fact, Sheldor who slaughtered his family. To truly make their revenge complete… they wiped his memory of everything and made him burn his home to the ground.
Althea had stared down at the boy's smudged and unknowing sleeping face with a sadness and unbound Met Kalfu from his soul. She looked over at the charred remains of the home and the barn and shut her eyes tight as she muttered a song for a safe journey to the other side. As she did, she felt a surge of energy and she opened her eyes and saw a bright blue light that shot up into the smoky sky. She moved through the ashen debris and dodged the scaled and distorted bodies of the Coopers until she stood upon the floorboard where the blue light dimmed and sunk back underneath the patterned floor.
Althea bent down and opened the loosened boards. She reached in and took out a box. She felt the power it emitted and dared not try to open it. She looked back at the charred remains of her friend and took in a deep breath. She would honor her friend by passing on this possession to the poor child who had no idea what he had done. Althea found a piece of paper less charred than the others and wrote 'From MeMaw' on it and placed it upon the box. She muttered a safe song over the boy but something made her pause. The boy was glowing the same blue that had caught her attention for the box. She smiled and knew that Melinda had placed a Prostasia spell on the boy. Althea had left the scene and shortly after, Penelope was taken. Sheldor would never be alone in his struggle… his MeMaw made sure of that.
Penelope cringed and hissed as Althea helped remove all her tattered, black clothing. Althea hummed as she did her job of finding more clothes for the drone and making sure she was watched over for the witch. She told Penelope to sit on the stool she brought to the center of Penelope's 'room' that was covered with jinxes and curses. Penelope did so. Althea noted all the scars on the blonde woman's body and shook her head. She brushed her hair over the girl's shoulder to get it off her back and she wringed out the wool rag in her bucket.
As she wiped her cold rag on Penelope's wounds she heard her sigh, "Althea… have… have you ever been in love?"
Althea smiled as she dipped the rag in the bucket. She KNEW something was different about the girl. Althea gently rubbed the rag against a few whip marks and they began to heal as she smiled, "So that's why you've had so much fight in you… you got yourself a man. Do tell, an lo cheve."
Penelope shook her head, "He… he was never mine… and probably never will be." Her head bowed down and tears fell down her cheeks.
Althea rubbed the wool on Penelope's arms and she looked at the girl with pity as her Haitian accent cut through, "Oh an lo cheve, do not cry. Love never leaves us. It is etched into the threads of our lives that connects us to the world. It even follows us past the stars." She smiled at the blonde woman trying to give her comfort.
Althea sighed, "I will tell you that I was not allowed to fall in love. As a Mambo, I had to be dedicated to the Voudo religion. I had to be alert and ready for anything that came our way. We were soldiers against the evils of our world. Hard to fall in love when you're always ready for a war."
Penelope bowed her head, "I… I was afraid to give my heart to him. I was afraid that if I took him and we expressed our love together that I'd open my eyes and… and he'd be dead. Althea, I… I wanted him more than anything, but… I… I let my fear ruin any chance I would've had with him."
Althea paused at the bucket and stared at her faint reflection in the water and pursed her lips, "What's the point of love if we aren't willing to take chances. That's all that falling in love is, an lo cheve. It is us giving into our fears and hoping that the other person will love us for all our flaws just as we learn to love theirs. I don't like you speaking as if you'll never have a chance with this man, Penelope. You must never give up, an lo cheve." She rubs the last remaining wound on her body before her tanned skin was all healed up.
Penelope shook her head very sadly. Althea looked down at the young girl she had practically taken under her wing when she got here. She had no sense of magic like Amelia, but she did have a fighting spirit. Instead of trying to teach her the ways of the Loa, Althea had taught Penelope the ways of the warrior. Agility was easy for the petite blonde, but strength was NOT one of her 'strong' suits. Yet, with lots of random bouts of training against willing Loa spirits… strength became one of her attributes. She hated seeing the woman come of age. She was forced to brand the poor child with an infertility curse because Lordornia and Amelia were going to use her to lure men into her bed and they had no need for a pregnant slave. It was something that Althea hated doing more than anything… taking a woman's ability to bear a child, but she tried to see it as her saving the girl from MORE heartache. She was already traumatized by being in the middle of sexual intercourse with a man… then, having them killed and drained of blood right in front of her. It took its toll on the blonde, but soon… the emotional connection she had with men, in general, had vanished… until now. This man she spoke of had ensnared her like a virus. She watched the blonde move and sit beside the dress she placed on the bed for her.
Penelope looked up from the bed at Althea with her eyes full of tears, "I have to learn to let him go. I… I HAVE to let go. Althea… I… I lost him. I watched him die… because of ME. I betrayed him. I teleported him to Galehus… I GAVE him to Lady Fowler and she stole his heart… He… he's dead." She threw her hands up to cover her face as she sobbed uncontrollably into her hands. She didn't even notice the sound of the wooden bucket hitting the floor and the water drenching the stone underneath behind her.
The black woman didn't move or speak… she couldn't. At the mention of the heart being stolen, Althea went into a panic. Sheldor… Sheldor Cooper was the man she loved? This can't be… she turned towards Penelope and closed her eyes tightly as she was proving wrong. The blonde illuminated in a heavenly blue light that was being expelled from her scarred chest. The blue… the same blue light that had shown her to Melinda's gift so long ago. The glow of Melinda Meward Cooper was protecting this Penelope. She… she had Sheldor's heart…
Althea picked up the bucket and closed her eyes tightly. She was not allowed to tell the woman that the witch hunter was alive. The thing that bothered Althea, and what she couldn't get Amelia to understand, was that… he was still moving… moving WITHOUT a HEART. This was a dire situation… it was known as Kuulani plague. A man with no heart has plenty of space for all types of evil… powerful, powerful evil. That was how true demons are created. He was slowly changing into an Mtawala or 'Conqueror or Controller' but better known as 'The 'Destroyer'.
Althea stepped towards the blonde and sat on the bed beside her. The movement jarred the blonde and Althea looked into her eyes and spoke very firmly, "An lo cheve, I have to tell you something about Sheld…"
The sudden powerful gravitational pull upon the castle caused Althea to stop dead. The power was so strong that it was pressing them down hard though it was brief… it made the Haitian swallow harshly at the pure rawness of the power. She moved off the bed and stepped towards the closed, steel door of Penelope's cell and could hear movement of lots of feet marching to towards the entrance of the castle. Her eyes went wide, "He… he made it through the arcs." It was an utterance of pure terror as she began muttering a chant under her breath. She sang… she sang to any of the Loa that would listen and the great Legba gave her eyes. He showed her the Chimera's full form and the ever growing mold of destruction seeping from the beast's paws. Even Legba had an unsettling feeling about the monster. He was FAR too strong. She was wrong before… he wasn't slowly changing… he already was an Mtawala. Her eyes shot open and she turned to see the frightened blonde, now wearing an almost angelic white dress that flowed down to her ankles. The small straps hung loose and went into a V shape down to her mid cleavage, the wrap not showing around her breasts but still revealing her scarred chest over her heart. She brought her hand up to cover her scar and loop her fingers into her hair as she spoke, "He… he who, Althea?"
Althea moved towards Penelope and was about to speak, but a flash of green flames erupted and Lady Fowler formed and stepped out of the smoke, "Althea, there has been a change of plans. Go to my mother's tree and guard it with you life. Penelope and I have a trip to make."
Althea's heart stopped, "My Lady… Sheld…"
Lady Fowler's eyes blared red towards the woman and screamed to cut off her, "NOW!"
Althea bowed her head and briefly grabbed Penelope's hand and looked into her eyes, "Don't be brave… an lo cheve… be a coward! Sometimes… losing something doesn't mean it's gone forever but the harder you fight... the further it could run. Stay strong… Penelope… but don't be a hero."
Penelope's brows touched in the center in confusion at the words just as Althea ran out the door. Lady Fowler gripped the wrist of the blonde with her cold, harsh, metallic hand and pulled her close. Penelope could almost see her reflection in the bone mask. There was something wrong. Penelope could tell. The witch's eyes roamed around and they flared red again. Her grip on Penelope's wrist got painfully tight. She loosened her grip and huffed. Her eyes flared green and suddenly there were engulfed in green fire.
When the flames died down, they were in a room where a tattered book lay open on a very dark pedestal. Lady Fowler threw the blonde's arm down as if throwing trash away and stomped to the book, "Rakooth, explain as to why I cannot manifest out of the castle?"
Penelope gasped as a mist form above in the head of a crocodile, "I'm afraid that someone has placed a Nulla Fugea spell upon the castle. The force that hit the castle a few moments ago was the spell taking anchor. I'm afraid that Dennikim has been killed and Sheldor and his friends have entered the building. The spell was cast by the witch hunter himself. His demon form has seemed to dissipate from having to use so much energy to kill the Hydra. He is now at his most vulnerable, my Lady."
The witch's eyes burned red THEN green and she spun as she spoke. Her voice was harsh and angry as she screamed at the book, "RAKOOTH! Penelope is now under your watch. She is not to leave this room. No one is allowed to leave this room without my permission."
The crocodile's head bowed sheepishly and regretfully, "A… as you wish."
As he spoke, the witch burst into smoke and left Penelope in the small room. Her eyes were wide and she gripped her heart with a shocked expression rippling all over her face… Sheldor… Sheldor was ALIVE?