Chapter 11: Captured and A Storm

Maria was sleeping peacefully in her bed. She had a princess bed with bright pink curtains, pink flowery bedding and pink silk pillows which stood out greatly in her bedroom made of ice. Her bed posts were made of rich, white marble which went well with the pink. A siren sung loudly through her bedroom which forced Maria to leap from her bed. She was wearing red pyjamas with gold stars on them. She ran to her crystal ball and demanded it shown her the bridge which she knew someone was crossing. All that came up in the ball was a red light, Maria could see nothing but this light. "It must be on a fritz" she scowled before getting on her clothes and getting ready to meet her intruder and bag another prisoner.

Marvin and Sylvester could see the eery ice castle up a tall ice mountain and made their way quickly up its treacherous paths to the ice catacombs, using Marvin's eyes as torches. Once they got close enough to the top of the cliff, Marvin turned off his eye lights, concealing the pair in pure darkness to protect them from the infamous Maria who would surely know that they had made it across her bridge and were intruding on her land. Marvin and Sylvester helped each other climb to the first catacomb and entered the catacomb bravely. Marvin turned on his eyes and lit up the tunnel as it was now safe to do so.

Meanwhile Lilly was lying awake, she could not sleep, her mind was too heavy with thoughts of guilt that Maria would now unleash her terrible storm and ruin Christmas for the entire kingdom and the extreme worry for Marvin's safety. Lilly began to sing to put her mind temporally off things. "Show me the light, someone to lead and guide me." She sang. Her beautiful voice carried down the echoey caves far enough for Marvin and Sylvester to hear it like a wonderful song from the voice of an angel. Marvin and Sylvester stopped in their tracks. Marvin instantly recognised the siren song. "It's Lilly, follow her voice!" He told Sylvester as the two ran towards the singing which guided them to their destination as Lilly continued to sing. "Show me the light when I fear the dark. Ray of sunshine. Rainbows ark. Show me the light."

After singing Lilly looked down at her shoes and sat down and began to cry. "Lilly." Said a familiar voice which startled her. Lilly looked up and was delighted to see Marvin outside of her cell. "I'm here to save you Lilly." He announced.

"Oh Marvin." Lilly swooned with a large grin on her face.

Sylvester approached the metal barred door. "I'm pleased to meet you Lilly, I'm Sylvester, now stand back." Sylvester then tried with all of his might to open the cell door, but it was no use. "It won't budge." Sylvester panted.

"You need the key." Said Lilly.

"Where is it?" Asked Marvin.

"Right here." Answered a scary voice from behind Marvin and Sylvester. Marvin and Sylvester looked at each other to confirm they had both heard the same thing. They looked at Lilly who had pure fear in her eyes and then turned around to be greeted by Maria's evil grin. Maria was holding her ice wand which she used to force both Marvin and Sylvester into separate cells and to lock them up. Marvin and Sylvester were forced against hard ice walls and were locked into their cells before they could even stand up. They both struggled to their feet and dizzily walked to the front of their cells, clamping the cage bars in anger and desperation. Maria laughed evilly and mocked her prisoners. "Welcome to the hotel Maria my dear." She greeted.

"Let us out!" Demanded Sylvester.

"You'll be sorry when Aladdin hears about this!" Marvin threatened, unsure if it was empty or not.

Maria approached Marvin and talked down to him like he was 4-years-old. "Ah, ah, ah, Aladdin's not worried about you dear, Aladdin has his own problems. You see Lilly here crossed by forbidden bridge and now I'm throwing the storm of the century!"

"But it's almost Christmas a storm will ruin everything!" Protested Lilly.

Maria just grinned and told Iago to "hit it". Iago flew over to a piano in the back of the dungeon and started to play hauntingly chilling music. Maria got out her wand and waved it around her body. Gold stars flew from the wand and changed her outfit to a shiny lilac top and a long, wide, ballooning yellow shirt with purple sparkly dance shoes.

Maria:
I get a certain thrill from every falling snowflake, or an ice shift that causes a catastrophic earthquake. I get a happy chill from a crush of avalanches, and whither the trees with a thousand breaking branches.

Because you crossed my path, you'll feel Maria's wrath! And now I shall release my storming masterpiece. I'll bury that old gizzard in a wizard of a blizzard and it's because. I hate Aladdin! That cheerful Aladdin!

That joyful toyful, and oh so merry. If you ask me an extraordinary. I hate Aladdin! Yes, I hate Aladdin!

Maria then came intimately closer to Marvin's cell. Marvin glared at her in disgust, showing his bravery fully and concealing his fear.

Maria:
What's with that whole new world and his generous disposition. Giving toys to girls and boys, I must ruin his merry mission! I'm just getting warm with the havoc that I'll cause, when I blow my wicked storm and crash that Aladdin!

Maria was now dancing an ugly dance in the centre of the dungeon with a black look on her face.

Maria:
Because you crossed my path, you'll feel Maria's wrath! And now I shall release my storming masterpiece. I'll bury that old gizzard in a wizard of a blizzard and it's because. I hate Aladdin! That cheerful Aladdin! IIIIIIIII haaaate Allllladddinnnn! I hate him!

Maria stamped her foot hard enough to make a small crack in her ice floor. She then blew kisses out to an imaginary crowd to her one-bird applause from Iago. When Maria had calmed down, Marvin spoke down to her.

"You'll never get away with this." He told her.

"Just watch me." Maria responded like a smug teenager.

"You're an evil old witch, that's what you are!" Lilly yelled at the evil Martian. Sylvester and Marvin were in shock and were now fearing for Lilly's safety. However, Maria just laughed. "Remember Miss. Lilly you were the one who made the storm possible, work that out in therapy." She said as she left the dungeon with Iago following her, waving a cheerful goodbye. Lilly sighed heavily. "Oh, Marvin I've ruined everything." She guiltily admitted, even though she was too young to remember Maria's threat many years ago.

"No Lilly, this is all my fault." He reassured.

"But I crossed the bridge."

"Well I ran away."

"Well maybe you would not have run away, if I told you, Marvin you mean everything to me."

Marvin felt his heart skip a beat and himself warm up. He just wanted to embrace Lilly in his arms right now. "Lilly, you make my whole heart glow."

Meanwhile Garfield and Odie were still calling Marvin and Lilly's name out in the wilderness. They came across a cottage and knocked on the door. Granny answered and invited Garfield and Odie in for some hot chocolate and marshmallows which they gratefully accepted. Granny then informed them that Marvin had gone to the bridge to rescue Lilly from Maria with two other men. Frightened but knowing what they had to do, Garfield and Odie set off to Maria's bridge.

Back at the castle, full of hell, Maria stood on the highest balcony on her ice castle, back in her original outfit, waving her wand in the air into circles. "Stringent weather, sleet and hail, snow and sleet and winds that wail! I begging thee from me to you, unleash, unleash, a storm I threw!" Maria chanted as she pointed her wand into the air. Quick green lightning came out of the wand and broke through the sky, bringing with it a terrible snow storm. Aladdin noticed the storm in his house and immediately, sadly concluded that someone must have crossed Maria's bridge. Down in the dungeons Marvin, Lilly and Sylvester sighed with despair, knowing that Maria had unleashed the horrendous storm that would ruin Christmas.