Chapter 21

"He is Dead and Gone, Lady"

With Hamlet dispatched to England, all of Elsinore came together to pay their respects to the slain Polonius, whose body laid before the courtiers in an open casket, shrouded in white.

"Today, we acknowledge a really terrible loss," said Claudius, as he stood in front of the entire congregation. "Our dear friend Polonius, was murdered for the sake of our fair kingdom by our own beloved Prince Hamlet, who for the past few days has acted in a manner that is unbecoming to a prince."

Several hushed gasps came throughout the congregation upon hearing this.

"But, let us not remember how Polonius was savaged killed," chuckled Polonius, nervously. "Let us remember how Polonius helped bring a smile to all of us in our beloved kingdom of Elsinore. And most importantly, how he raised two wonderful children and transformed them into a handsome man and a beautiful woman."

As she listened, both Calla and Sunni were very much not convinced by what Claudius was saying.

"He's only making this difficult for himself," Calla thought to herself as she brushed a lock of her blonde hair out of her face while listening to Claudius. "Now it has become fairly obvious that Claudius is the root cause of what is happening here. Why couldn't we figure this out until now? Hamlet's not the cause, he is and it is all because Hamlet was trying to hide the knowledge of his encounter with the late king's ghost."

When the funeral came to an end, the mourners took Polonius' body and placed on a hill overlooking the ocean. The rain certainly didn't help and no sooner was the body lowered into the ground, did the rain start to pick up. But, despite all this, Calla was more or less focused on one particular person who was taking Polonius' death very hard.

"If only if there was some way I can help Ophelia," Calla whispered to herself.

…

Meanwhile, back in the Gummi city, negotiations were still going on between the Glens and Danes about whether or not this so called revolution should come to an end.

"The humans are starting to destroy themselves," said Ahab, as he addressed the two clans. "Now is the perfect time for us to take our revenge against them once and for all."

"Can't you just put this all to rest?" groaned Gruffi, planting his face into his paw. "I mean, come on! You've met our friend, the Princess of Dunwyn and our Queen consort. Shouldn't meeting one non dangerous human mean anything to you all?"

"Gruffi is right," added Cubbi, sharply standing up and crying out in a loud voice. "We've given you all the proof that not all humans are bad! It's obvious to the fact that you are all just impossible to talk to and that it's probably better that you all just continue to live your meaningless lives!"

The rest of the Glens were shocked at what their youngest member had just blurted out.

"Cubbi!" gasped Gruffi in a shocked voice. "Who knew you had it in you?"

"I for one agree with the cubster," added Gusto, causing even more gasps among the Glens. "Talking to you all is like talking to a brick wall or a trying to build a really difficult piece of art!"

"They have a point about that," said Grammi. "Why should we be a part of something of this nature? I think that you need to receive something from a higher power to make you see sense!"

Ahab and his group were determined that they were not going to listen and adjourned the meeting.

"Meeting one human who just happens to be our queen consort does not change our actions," said Ahab. "Now, you will see us make our point and there is nothing you can do about it. Now, leave us at once!"

Exasperated, the Glens left, tired and exhausted from trying to get through to these stubborn Gummies, who were even more stubborn than when they first met the Barbic Bears.

"Guess there is no use in talking to them," sighed Gruffi. "Perhaps it's best we return to Gummi Glen before I start to lose my mind."

"But, what about Sunni?" asked Grammi.

"She can return when King Gregor and Calla leave with the delegation," replied Gruffi, firmly. "All I want to do right now is get out of here and away from these stubborn and murder filled Gummi Bears, if they are even considered Gummi Bears."

…

Back in Elsinore, Polonius had been buried and the citizens of Elsinore returned to their daily lives. However, the real cause for concern was Ophelia. Standing outside, Calla, Gregor, Sunni, and Claudius waited for Gertrude to come out of Ophelia's bedroom.

"I can't speak to her," sighed Gertrude, stepping out of Ophelia's bedroom and shutting the door.

"She's insistent," added Calla. "In fact, she's crazed. You can't help but feeling sorry for her."

"Then, what does she want?" asked Gertrude.

"From what I hear," answered Calla. "She talks about her father a lot, and says she hears there are conspiracies around the world, and coughs, and beats her breast, and gets angry over tiny matters, and talks nonsense. Her words don't mean anything, but her babbling causes her listeners to draw conclusions. They hear what they want to hear. Her winks and nods and gestures do suggest that she means to convey a message, and not a happy one."

"It's a good idea to speak to her," remarked Gregor. "Since she might lead those with evil intentions to dangerous conclusions."

But before anyone could open the door, Ophelia emerged from her room singing in a very soft and sorrowful voice.

"He is dead and gone, lady," sang Ophelia. "He is dead and gone, at his head a grass-green turf, at his heels a stone.

"Ophelia," whispered Gertrude, her face filled with disappointment.

"White his shroud as the mountain snow," she continued to sing as Claudius entered the room, amazed at what was going on in front of him.

"My God, Claudius," cried Gregor. "Look at this poor girl."

"Larded all with sweet flowers, which bewept to the ground did not go with true-love showers," Ophelia continued to sing.

Claudius then took it upon himself to try and get through to the now crazed Ophelia, with her mind clearly out of focus.

"How are you?" he asked and Ophelia turned around to give him a cold, drunken stare.

"I'm quite well, and may God give you what you deserve," she said, in a drunken voice much to Claudius' horror. "They say the baker's daughter was turned into an owl for refusing Jesus' bread. My lord, we know what we are now, but not what we may become. May God be at your table."

Claudius' eyes were dumbstruck by this confession and before he could say another word, Ophelia started singing again.

"Tomorrow is St. Valentine's Day," she sang again, dancing and twirling around. "And early in the morning, I'm a girl below your window waiting to be your Valentine. Then he got up and put on his clothes and opened the door to his room. He let in the girl, and when she left, she wasn't a virgin anymore."

"Ophelia, listen to…" Gertrude started to say, but she too was interrupted by Ophelia's singing.

"By the name of Jesus and Saint Charity, my goodness," continued Ophelia. "What a shame it is, young men will do it if they get a chance. By God, they're very bad. She said, 'Before you got me into bed, you promised to marry me.' He answers: 'I would have married you, I swear, If you hadn't gone to bed with me.'"

Then, the small party watched in disbelief as Ophelia walked down the hall, dancing and twirling around. Knowing that she was now a full blown liability, Claudius realized that something needed to be done and he turned to Calla and Sunni.

"Follow her. Keep an eye on her, please," he ordered and the two friends nodded nervously and left, then he turned back towards Gertrude and Gregor. Oh, her grief has poisoned her mind. Her father died and now look at her! Oh, Gertrude, Gertrude, when bad things happen, they don't come one at a time, like enemy spies, but all at once like an army. First her father was killed, then your son was taken away—because of his own violent actions. The people are confused and spreading nasty rumors about Polonius's death, and I was a fool to bury him in a hurry, without a proper state funeral. Poor Ophelia has been robbed of her sanity, without which we're just pictures, or animals."

Gertrude tried to place an arm around Claudius in support, but he pushed her away.

"And last but not least," he cried, looking out the window to see Laertes' ship having returned from France. "I see now that her brother has secretly returned from France and is surrounded by gossip-mongers, who fill his ears with wicked stories about his father's death. Deprived of proper evidence, he'll naturally attribute the murder to me. Oh, dear Gertrude, I feel as though I'm being murdered many times over."

So, Claudius, his wife and his late brother's dearest friend stood and waited for the storm that was about to break…