Chapter 8: Here Lies Holly

The sound of fingernails tapping on a wooden desk was the only sound in Apate's laboratory as she gazed into her microscope. She was currently studying a drop of dark magic in a type of petri dish with some flora in it. As usual, the dark magic either killed the specimen or corrupted it entirely.

"Dammit," she said, removing the petri dish and placing it in a machine drawer. The machine sucked the dish in before making a loud vacuuming noise, then the dish came back out nice and clean. As Apate went to grab it, the blue acorn on her desk began to glow and she sighed before pressing on it, Darrach's face popping up. "Darrach," she greeted neutrally.

"Apate," Darrach mumbled. "I'm contacting you to let you know that we...we managed to get inside Lady Morgan's head and we have retrieved O'Callaghan."

Apate put another petri dish under the microscope. "That was quick," she said as she added a drop of dark magic to the dish. "Thank you for the update."

"You're welcome." Darrach's face moved closer. "May I ask what you're doing?"

Apate eyed the man for a moment before watching the dark magic kill the dandelion in the petri dish. "May I ask why you're asking?"

"An attempt to make conversation," Darrach replied casually.

Apate growled before taking the contaminated dish and putting it in the cleansing machine. "I have no interest in conversing with any of you."

"Why not?"

"What is the point? We're sworn enemies!"

"And yet we have formed a truce."

"A temporary truce!" Apate snapped at the grinning man. "Just until I can get what I want!"

"Then why would you add the Recovery Clause to the contract?" Darrach asked, wiggling his eyebrows.

Apate waved him off and went back to her work. "Because when Lilly and I finally battle, I want her to be at her best."

"You are fully aware of Lady Morgan's desire for a permanent truce." Darrach sighed and pinched his nose. "Apate, look. I get it. You're a woman of pride and you are unapologetic by nature, and I know you're worried about never being able to see Cahira again, but, ugh, I mean, it's not like the kid's gonna let anything stop her from seeing you or Carman."

Apate chuckled a little while doing another test. "Not wrong there."

"Speaking of, have you told Carman yet?"

Apate paused for a few moments before brushing back her hair and clearing her throat. "...no," she growled lowly.

"Are you that worried about her reaction?"

Apate leaned her head back and groaned loudly. "Is there anything else I need to know about Lilly and the journey into her own personal Hell?"

Darrach frowned. "Well, actually...uh...the way you described your hell in Pandora's Box seems to differ from Lilly's a little."

Apate arched a brow before jerking her head to look at his face. "What do you mean?"

"Lilly, Rose and O'Callaghan all had their own doors."

"Pfft. I had my own cell, same as everyone else."

"Okay, I will give you that," he chuckled. "Rose and O'Callaghan had their own rooms, but Rose apparently escaped her cell and got into Lilly's...which, uh...heh, based on the gaming mistress the men came across, the cell-"

"Woa woa woa, what?" Apate asked, sitting up and scooting closer to Darrach's image. "What gaming mistress?"

Darrach took a breath and ahemed. "I will get to that in a moment. As I was saying, Lilly's cell is vast. Apparently from her prison door to Saint Denis, it's fifty miles."

Apate's eyes went wide. "Wait just a minute! She has Saint Denis inside her head?"

Darrach chuckled a little. "Ambarino, New Hanover, West Elizabeth, Lemoyne, New Austin, and...Guarma. All inside her head!"

"Why would they need..." Apate blinked a few times before gasping and covering her mouth. "Oh shit!" she screamed.

"What's wrong?" Darrach asked with concern.

"I...um..." Apate groaned and smashed her forehead on the desk with a clunk. "I forgot to tell you a very important piece of information."

"Uh oh. What's that?"

"Um...the people that Rose, uh...ate...are uh...they maaay be in there."

Darrach's face tightened and he cocked his head. "I'm sorry, what?!" he hissed.

"I-I just remembered something Dubh said! I think...ugh!" she groaned, throwing herself back before slumping in her chair. "I will forever curse the fucking day I taught Dubh how to meddle with people's memories."

"So...alright, let me see if I understand this right. Rose didn't burn the beings she ate...even though Rose thought that's what she was doing?"

"Who the hell knows what Rose knew?" Apate sighed, flinging an arm over her eyes. "But yes. Dubh said their souls were transferred somewhere for safe keeping."

"Oh dear," Darrach said, pressing a finger to his chin. "Lilly must have thousands of people inside her head! And animals! And...boy, Rose must've ate a lot of materials for Mallacht to build a whole little world inside her head." He let out a loud sigh and shook his head. "Now we have an entire civilization of dead people to rescue as well. This is never going to end, is it?" Suddenly he gasped heavily and covered his face. "Oh gods, people in the Ethereal Realms are going to be furious!" he whined helplessly.

Apate clicked her tongue before looking off to the side. "For what it's worth, I wish I could remember more of the conversation, Darrach."

Darrach removed his hands and nodded with an irritated look. "Your sentiment has been noted. If you remember anything else, please don't hesitate to contact me."

"Okay," Apate said slowly before clicking the bead off. "Fuck, what did I get myself into?" she asked herself.


"Lord Morgan, Lugh, Lord O'Callaghan, I have...news," Darrach groaned in Arthur's ear com.

"And?" Arthur asked as he and the others trekked on after Fuschia.

"It would seem that uh...the people, animals...basically anything Rose ate? Was...uh...stored."

"Whatchu mean?" Arthur asked quietly.

"It's not just a prison cell for Lilly. It's a whole afterlife for the thousands of souls Rose consumed."

"My gods..." Lugh uttered. "Miss Fuschia?"

"Yes, sugar?" Fuschia giggled as she continued along in front of them.

"How many citizens are there in this Hell?"

"Um..." Fuschia shrugged. "I dunno. A lot, I guess. Some are dead, some are alive, some are humans, some are animals, some are monsters, some are the offspring of the king and queen."

"Uh...the king and queen?" Sir Jack questioned.

"Yes. King Mallacht, aka The Cursekeeper, and Queen Aynaet, aka The Demon Queen. Aka my parents."

"Oh," Arthur said, looking at the others with a smirk. "And uh, where do your parents live, Princess Fuschia?" he asked politely.

"They live at the castle in Saint Denis," she replied, turning to look at Arthur with a cheeky glare. "And don't ever call me Princess Fuschia. I ain't about that royal snobbery bullshit." She stopped walking. "I need a break from all this walkin'," she mumbled before going over to the cave wall and sitting down, leaning her back against it as she pulled out a pack of smokes. "Do y'all smoke?"

"Yes," they all replied.

"Want some?" Fuschia asked as she waved the pack about. "Homegrown tobacco."

"Again, you should proceed with caution when consuming anything in here," Darrach said.

"I have a question, Miss Fuschia," Lugh said with his hands on his hips.

"Shoot," she said before lighting a cigarette up.

"Would anything bad happen tah us if we drank, smoked, or ate something in Hell? Like, say, we'll be forced tah stay here fer eternity?"

Fuschia shook her head. "Nope. My brother Crimson tried to figure that formula out but he could never do it. Food, drinks and drugs ain't cursed here."

"I'm not sure we should trust her word," Darrach said. "It's very hard to use my seer powers in there so I can't tell if she's lying or not."

O'Callaghan sighed and held out a hand to Fuschia. "I'll have one, please."

Arthur snatched her arm up. "Darlin', as sweet as you are, you gotta stop bein' so trustworthy."

His white wife rolled her eyes. "Theo, sweet pea...she is offering from her personal stash of cigarettes. If she can smoke it, then obviously so can we."

Fuschia blinked in confusion. "Wait a darn tootin' minute!" she announced with a big smile, standing up and pointing at Arthur. "This guy's your husband?"

"Uh...um..." O'Callaghan said before looking at Arthur, then she looked back at Fuschia. "...no?"

Fuschia burst out laughing with a shake of her head. "The tree god brought an actual livin', breathin' human in here? I didn't think it could be done."

"Tree god?"

"Yeah. The Almighty Darrach, a tree god who created this world so that Dad could rule it."

The group raised their eyebrows. "Uh...no, I most certainly did not build this place at all, and I would never do it so that someone evil like Mallacht could rule it," Darrach said.

"Seriously, who are the rest of you?" Fuschia asked. "I mean, it don't really matter because you're all gonna die anyway, but now I'm curious."

Lugh sighed. "I'm Lugh."

"Get outta here!" she cackled while shoving his shoulder. "I've heard of you! You killed a giant and his army with just one shot from a slingshot!"

Lugh chuckled and rubbed the back of his head. "Oh yes, heh heh, that was...well, the rock killed Balor and his evil eye...did the rest, really, as he went down."

"Aww, don't be so modest, sugar," Fuschia said with a wink. "And you?" she asked, pointing at Sir Jack.

Sir Jack had a thoughtful expression, as if he was deciding what to do. "My name is Jack O'Callaghan," he finally said.

Fuschia's face lit up and she dropped her cigarette before rushing up to him. "I'll be god damned!" she exclaimed happily before shaking his hand. "It's an honor to meet you!"

Jack arched a brow as Fuschia kept shaking his hand. "Ya heard of me?"

"Are you kiddin'?! You're a fuckin' legend 'round here, dude!" She dropped his hand and she pointed at Arthur. "So...that makes you Arthur Morgan. Oh man, wait 'til Dad finds out!"

"Are you gonna tell him?" Arthur asked, putting a hand on the handle of his gun.

"Psht, no!" Fuschia giggled, waving her hand. "Hell, I was gonna kill ya in a boss fight once we got to the mouth of the cave, but nah, I don't think I will now." She picked up her cigarette and puffed on it. "In fact, I'm gonna make things...interestin'. Pull out the books I gave ya."

The group looked at Fuschia funny before looking in their satchels, grasping the books labeled, "Fuschia's Game Manual" from them. "Okay?" O'Callaghan asked.

"Open up to page two."

The group did as they were told and Arthur made a confused looked. "What's an avatar?"

"Your physical appearance " she replied while smoking. "You should change it."

"Why?"

"Because people will no doubt be looking for you, especially Dad. Can't find you if they know what you look like."

"Okay but why are ya helping us?" Lugh asked quizzically.

"I'm not helpin' you, I'm alleviatin' my boredom. And...wait, where's Rose? You should've passed by her door on the way in."

The heroes glanced at each other with uncertainty. "She uh...she's back home. She had some...trauma tah deal with so we decided not tah bring her," Sir Jack lied.

Fuschia smirked at him. "I see. Not what I expected from her, of all people, but fine." Fuschia put her cigarette out and started walking. "C'mon, I'm anxious to see how this plays out!"

The group followed her while looking at their manuals. "I'm sorry, but you have different races in here?" O'Callaghan asked.

"Elf, troll, demon, human, Atlantean/tree hybrid, dragon, dwarf, god, duck man, et cetera, etc cetera," Fuschia stated. "It's mostly for aesthetic purposes."

"You know what? This is actually kinda fun," Darrach chimed in. "I'm very curious about this gaming simulation that Fuschia has going in. You should ask her how long she's been doing this. Give us an idea as to how long it's been since Lilly got trapped in here."

Arthur nodded in acknowledgement. "How long have you been in charge of the gamin' simulation?" he asked.

"Oh, let's see...about two hundred some years now. It was originally Dad's creation but he gave me control over it all since I seemed to have a knack for it," Fuschia explained. "Violet wanted to have the job but Dad needed her for other things."

"Violet?" Lugh asked.

"My sister. The eldest sibling of us all," she continued. "She's Dad's right hand woman and a real piece of work."

"Wow!" O'Callaghan suddenly blurted out, her hair now long and straight with actual hair but still the color of white, her ears pointing and sticking out. "I make a pretty elf!"

"You can change your facial features, eye and hair color too," Fuschia said. A light appeared near the end of the cave and she grinned. "There it is, the entrance into Hell," she remarked. "Just be careful of the animal bones on the way out."

"Uh..." Arthur stopped browsing through his avatar options and arched a brow at Fuschia. "Animal bones?"

"Mmhmm. Some dead horse. Apparently her name was Holly."

Arthur rushed past Fuschia and the others followed quickly towards the mouth of the cave. When he got there he stopped at a placement of bones, a wooden cross near the skull. "Here lies Holly, a good and loyal horse," Arthur read from the cross before sighing.

"Who's Holly?" Sir Jack asked.

"My old horse," O'Callaghan replied. "Poor thing...had to shoot her because she broke her leg. This was during the..." O'Callaghan suddenly blinked. "Wait...I wonder if..." she aimed her finger at the bones as if she were holding a gun and mimicked a gun shot.

The bones rattled and lifted, slowly forming together to mold the shape of a horse. Then muscle started to appear as if it were growing and the group all gawked at Holly's remains. Skin and fur was next until the resurrection of Holly, the black rabicano Tennessee Walker, was finished. The horse opened her eyes and breathed heavily before neighbor loudly and rearing, her eyes filled with fright.

"Holly!" O'Callaghan said while holding up her palms. "Holly, it's me!"

The horse acted like a crazed beast as people gathered around her, trying to get her to calm down. "Holly, shh," Arthur said in a smooth voice. "You're okay."

Holly snorted as she bucked, looking at Arthur with huge eyes. She started to settle down as she kept her eyes on him, the clopping of her hooves lowering to uneasy steps. Her breath showed as she breathed out of her nose, eventually brushing her nose into Arthur's palm and taking a whiff.

"Good girl," Arthur praised lowly. "You remember me, don't ya?"

"Well I'll be," Fuschia chuckled. "I didn't know you could resurrect anyone."

"Only the ones I killed," O'Callaghan explained.

"I see. Well, looks like you got yourself a noble steed. You only gotta buy three horses now...or catch some wild horses. Or...other things that you might want to lasso and ride," Fuschia said as Arthur got Holly to fully calm down.

"Sorry?" Lugh asked as they all started walking closer to the entrance, Arthur guiding Holly after pulling out some rope from his endless satchel and putting it around her neck.

"You'll see."

When Arthur and rest finally saw what lay before them, they all dropped their jaws. "What in the hell?" Arthur mumbled.

What he saw was an entire world before him, full of forests, lakes, rivers, an ocean, deserts, green valleys, flying animals and large towns as far as the eye could see. The sky was a bright blue with some clouds, except to the southeast. A large, Gothic Victorian styled castle loomed in the distance, hovering above the ground surrounded by a shroud of black clouds.

"Holy shit..." Lugh said in awe. "Are we in a mountain?" he asked, peeking over the edge.

"Yeah. I moved the entrance up after I came in. I was gonna push you guys off it after I beat you up, but now it just serves as a great view." Suddenly a large beast appeared in front of them and everyone except Fuschia backed up with a scream. She only laughed and pointed at everyone. "Hold your horses, folks," she giggled. "It's just a totalisaurus."

Arthur tried his best to calm Holly down but she was having none of it. O'Callaghan cooed at the horse, succeeding fat better than Arthur could. He blinked as he looked at Fuschia. "A...a totalisaurus?"

"Yeah. You know, Totalisaurus West Elizabethus? The Elizabethan Megasaur? You don't got those where you come from?"

Arthur moved closer to the edge, watching in shock as the beast in question hung to the cave entrance while looking at Arthur. "Uh...no, but evidently we did," he chuckled. "Accordin' to Deborah MacGuinness, that is."

The creature was large, had fin-shaped wings, scales as well as fur, and was brown with yellow stripes. It had the face of a hippo with long, straight tusks and whiskers. The dinosaur had huge antlers on its head, gills on the sides of its neck and blue pointed ears. With the tail of a fish, six legs (each pair designed differently), and one set of arms, the beast looked docile but incredibly ridiculous. It sniffed the air towards Arthur and it let out a low, happy gurgle.

Arthur abruptly burst out laughing and threw his head back.