Chapter 57

Gemini was a mouse.

Beyond the shattered remains of the glass sapphire was another chamber, hidden from sight, roughly about the same size and dimensions as the meeting room. Only this room has no apparent exit, and was furnished to be like a dormitory, designed for a creature to stay in it long term. And that creature was a mouse, fully grown, but his exact age couldn't be clearly determined at present. He was at least middle-aged, but it didn't really matter at this point.

The mouse was clearly Gemini.

He had been in here for a very long time, as well. His fur and long gone dull due to being cooped up to the little room for so long. It was also not very well kept. The creature's eyes were dark and sullen, and bore bags under them like the mouse was tired, even though he did not look the least bit tired. He was also skinny, looking like he hadn't been getting sufficient nourishment during his long stay here. He looked unhealthy.

But despite all of this, Gemini was still determined. When the fake sapphire that hid this little room shattered, Gemini had backed away from it to avoid the shards of blue glass scattering everywhere, and as Kani ventured into the room, treading carefully to avoid cutting his footpaws open on the spilled glass, Gemini kept his distance, knowing that he was quite vulnerable. But he otherwise stood his ground, and was clearly angry, giving Kani such a silent, deadly, glare, that had the mouse actually been the deity he had claimed, the glare probably would have killed the fox by now.

Kani wasn't too worried about that. Ignoring the mouse for the moment, he looked around the hidden room, to see how Gemini had pulled off the illusion for so long. Put simply, the room was ingenious in it's construction. Like most of the catacombs, the room was obviously naturally formed, but there were parts of it that had been artificially created to suit Gemini's needs. For instance, vents had been carved into the room just above where the crystal blocking the room's only entrance in such a way that it provided Gemini with fresh air, and allowed Gemini's voice to be heard in booming tones when he spoke, but would very unlikely would have been seen from outside the room. The room had also tapped into an underground hot spring, and the water pooled in an artificially created, shallow, well on one side of the room.

The room was fairly sparse in furnishings. It had a bed, that had clearly seen years of use, a wooden chair, and a table. The table sat towards the front of the room, and housed a simple oil lantern with blue colored glass paneling that surrounded the flame. When lit, the device created a blue glow that was bright enough to be seen through the glass sapphire, making it seem to glow on its own accord, adding to the illusion of Gemini deity.

The room also housed a great deal of shelves. The shelves beside the bed housed bottles of a liquid, probably an alcoholic one by the looks of it, and looked like they had been there for more than one generation at least. They were clearly potent enough that it would be unwise for one to try consuming much of it for mere pleasure. Kani figured that the fluid was probably used for other purposes, such as cleaning, or for medicinal purposes. The other set of shelves sat along the wall opposite of the hot springs, and housed thick record books that probably covered the space of a great many seasons. Kani assumed that they talked about the history of the Followers of Gemini.

He also spied a tray of half-eaten food that lay abandoned on the floor, which puzzled the fox for a moment, not understanding how Gemini could have obtained it, until he noticed something about the broken glass sapphire that he hadn't been able to see before. The sapphire was actually a door that swung inward. The blue glass was rimmed with a metallic frame, which was hidden from view from the front by a lip of rock. The door seemed to be locked most of the time, as it was latched at the moment, but it explained how Gemini got food, particularly when one remembered that the Quorum of Priests prepared and gave Gemini food sacrifices.

Having properly taken in all of this, Kani stepped fully into the room, and approached the still silent, but glaring, mouse that was Gemini. Melody, with some hesitation, followed, being careful to not cut herself on the fallen glass. The mouse teacher, for the moment, seemed too stunned to move, and simply remained where he was, kneeling on the floor, staring wide-eyed, at Gemini.

Kani stepped up to the mouse, and looked down at him, arms folded.

"Gemini, I presume." he remarked, even though there was little need for it.

Gemini merely met the fox's eyes, and continued giving his silent glare.

Melody had wandered over to the shelves full of books, and pulled one down, flipping through the yellow pages. "That's odd." she remarked, her brow furrowed. "Kani, do you recognize this writing?"

Kani double checked to make sure Gemini wasn't going anywhere, then stepped over to glace at the pages of the book. It was covered with writing, as was expected, but it used a text that Kani did not recognize, much less be able to read.

"No." he remarked, and glanced up at the otter commander. "Do you?"

Melody shook her head. "I think it might be an old form of writing early Followers of Gemini used." she explained. "It has long since gone into disuse. The teachers used to be taught it, but even they had no use after awhile, especially after some of our official record books were re-written into newer copies. No one here can read this writing anymore, I believe."

"Except Gemini, apparently." Kani remarked, finding a quill and a well of ink on the shelf as well, and held it up for Melody to see. He glanced back at the defiant mouse, still giving Kani a glare. "Somehow I don't think he will translate it." the fox stopped to think for a moment, swishing his tail back and forth. "We'll take a record book back upstairs once we're done here. Maybe Redwall's recorder...er...Linus, can make heads or tails of it."

Melody nodded, and closed the book. She was silent for a moment. "Speaking of which," she finally began again, hesitant, "what are we going to do with him?" she pointed a claw at Gemini.

Kani glanced at the mouse. "Take him with." he replied simply.

"Good. Then everyone can see what he truly is."

Melody and Kani turned, and saw the mouse teacher standing in the opening where the sapphire was at. His eyes were locked upon Gemini, and were ablaze with hatred. Gemini finally pulled his eyes off of Kani and now they directed it's dark glare at the mouse teacher. It didn't faze the teacher in the slightest, as he simply glared back.

"You." he remarked, pointing his claw at Gemini, "Do you realize...do you know...what you have done?"

Gemini did not reply right away. Instead, he just kept glaring at the mouse teacher. Just when Kani thought that the mouse wasn't going to reply at all, like before, Gemini spoke.

"I did," he began slowly, deliberately, "what I thought necessary for my purposes."

"Your purposes." The teacher scoffed the idea. "Your purposes has caused hundreds of creatures to forfeit their lives, both physically and mentally, either to follow you, or to defy you. Lives have been lost because of you. Blood has been shed needlessly because of you. Simply because you wanted control, isn't it?" the mouse shook his head, suddenly saddened. "And like a fool, I believed you."

Slapping his fist hard against the side of the hidden room's entrance, the teacher turned his back to Gemini, and stomped off, clearly angry. He didn't get far before he slowed, fell to his knees, and broke down and wept. Melody bowed her head, sharing in the teacher's grief. Kani, however, turned his attention back to Gemini, eyes narrowed.

"How about we go see what everyone else will have to say about you, hmm?" he asked, pointing Martin's sword at the creature.

Gemini merely resumed glaring in response.


By the time Mathoni, Illia, their new friend, Sarias, and the rest of the party had arrived at the cave in question, the take over of the sanctuary was pretty much over. Most of the creatures there did not put up much of a fight. They found it better to peacefully surrender than to fight in a battle they had no guarantees they could win. The only exceptions to these creatures were the more devout of the followers, which mostly included the teachers. Most of the quorum literally fought to the death, while others fought until they could be knocked unconscious to be dealt with later.

The violence was kept to a minimum, but even that much sat uneasily with Mathoni.

"If only there was some way t' do this without hurtin' anybeast." he commented aloud as they journeyed through the tunnels of the sanctuary, occasionally passing such sings of violence.

"We all would like that, Mathoni." Illia agreed, staying focused on the task at paw. "But then it wouldn't be war."

Eventually they arrived at a storeroom of sorts. It had been abandoned by the time they arrived there, but Sarias assured them that it typically was anyway. The Redwallers filed into the room, then milled around while Sarias moved over to the far wall.

"Nothin' in 'ere but parchment." Illia noted, peering into one of the open crates that lined the storeroom's wall. "Don't see anythin' like a cave."

"It would obviously not be so readily seen." Sarias explained, finding the hidden alcove that led into the secret cave, and pressing her sleek otter form into it. "First, you have to squeeze through here."

The Redwallers watched as she squirmed around in the alcove for a moment, then slipped to one side of it and out of sight. They all exchanged looks, then moved to follow. Mathoni was able to follow much in the same way as Sarias had been. Illia followed, though being a bit bigger and older, had to work at it a bit more. The rest followed without event, though some of the more fully grown creatures struggled to fit through the narrow space.

When they all emerged on the other side, they found Sarias kneeling on the floor, conversing and reassuring three other rebellion creatures that were already there, sitting on the floor of the cave and had been hiding. The three consisted of a nearly-fully grown harvestmouse, and two voles, possibly twins, that were closer to Alexander's age, and were quite scared at the situation. Particularly when the Redwallers started to follow Sarias into the cave, but the ottermaid quickly squashed those fears.

"Oh, don't mind them, they're friends." Sarias assured them, then focused on the matter at paw. "Now, I don't suppose I need to guess why you three are in here."

The harvestmouse, who was apparently the self-appointed guardian of the two younger creatures, nodded. "We were hiding." he said. "At first, when the followers went hunting for us, we assumed that it would not be safe in the cave either. But then, when the attack began, and finding that everything was empty here, we decided to hide here." he shrugged. "We weren't sure what else to do, and if we had cause from concern."

"Well, ye certainly don't 'ave t' worry about us, mate." Mathoni said, who had been looking idly around the cave for a moment before stepping over. "We came t' put an end t' the lot of the Followers of Gemini once an' for–whoop!"

He stumbled suddenly, and toppled onto Sarias, who cried out in protest. Mathoni quickly pushed himself up off of her, and straightened up.

"Sorry!" he quickly apologized, and stomped his footpaw on a lip in the stone floor. "Tripped on this lousy ledge." with that, he quickly backed into a corner. From across the cave, Illia was heard stifling a chuckle.

Sarias rolled her eyes, and resumed conversing with the harvestmouse and his two companions. "What about everyone else?" she asked. "Have you seen anyone else? Terra? Deni? Alexander?"

The harvestmouse shook his head. The two young voles joined in.

"Most of us was in the cafeteria when the followers went to capture us." the harvestmouse reasoned logically. "They were probably there when it happened."

"The question is, did they escape, or where they captured?" Sarias asked aloud, pulling at her whiskers in thought. "And if they were captured, where are they now?"

"What about the followers?" one of the two voles asked, nervously. "Where are they?"

"Subdued by now, I would hope." Illia remarked, standing nearby, but not watching the four rebels at the moment. "Got both Redwallers an' the Quorum of Warriors workin' together t' stop 'em. Been pretty successful, don't think ye'll 'ave t' worry 'bout 'em bein' a threat anymore."

"What about Gemini?" the harvestmouse asked. "I know Terra said that he isn't a threat, but still..."

"I'm told that there are creatures taking care of that." Sarias assured them.

"Aye, one of 'em is the commander of the Quorum of Warriors." Illia remarked. She was still watching something else, brow furrowed.

"An' th' other is Kani, an' we can trust 'im t' deal with any trouble that might pop up." Mathoni called out from his corner of the cave. He sounded distracted.

"Right, an' hopefully, they can deal with anythin' that Gemini might 'ave t' dish out, if Gemini is a threat at all an'..." Illia finally trailed off, and shook her head. "Mathoni, just wot is it that yore doin', anyway?"

Sarias turned, and saw just what it was Illia had been looking at, and why Mathoni seemed distracted. Mathoni was down on all fours, his ear pressed intently against the stone floor, near the lip in the stone he had tripped on.

"What are you doing?" Sarias asked, getting up and stepping over to watch the otter on the floor.

"I could 'ave sworn that I heard somethin' under this just a moment ago." Mathoni stated, still listening. "It was very faint, but..."

"Ye should ye didn't just hear an echo?" Illia asked. "We are in a cave, after all."

"But it doesn't echo in here." Sarias pointed out, glancing at the other otter. "Look, I'll prove it. Heeelllloooo! See? No echo. I think the cave is simply too small for that."

"Shh!" Mathoni urged, waving one paw. "I can't hear with th' lot of ye blabbin' on like that!"

"Mathoni, really, I think ye're just imaginin' things." Illia remarked.

"Hello?" Mathoni called into the stone floor, ignoring Illia. "Hello, can ye 'ear me mate? If ye're wonderin', we ain't followers! We're Redwallers!"

"Mathoni!" Illia barked. "Look at yoreself! Ye're talkin' t' a rock floor! Now c'mon, forget about that, an'..."

"Whoa!" Mathoni suddenly remarked, as the rock floor underneath him suddenly shifted, and he quickly scampered off of it.

Once he was off, the section of floor started to lift upward, like someone was pushing it up from underneath.

"It's a secret opening!" Sarias exclaimed unnecessarily.

Quickly, everyone hurried over to help lift the stone out of position. Once it was out of the way, it revealed a mole a little older than the harvestmouse. Sarias recognized him instantly.

"Terra!" she exclaimed, relieved. "Thank heavens! Anyone else in there?"

"Just me, Silverpaw, Whyte..." Terra trailed off as he eyed the Redwallers that had gathered around the opening as well. "...who are you?"

"Friends." Mathoni remarked brightly, extending a paw for the mole to shake. "I'm Mathoni of Redwall, mate."

"Redwall?" Terra repeated. He grinned, then turned to Sarias. "Ha! Was I right, or was I right?"

"Uh, you were right...I guess." Sarias replied hesitantly. She shook her head. "More about that later, though. Who else is down there with you?"

"Not many, just me, Silverpaw, Whyteflower, and Slewtail." Terra asked, looking back down the long tunnel that presumably led into another chamber.

"Whyteflower?" the harvestmouse suddenly spoke up. "Really? I haven't seen her in a long time..."

"What's going on out here, anyway?" Terra asked, continuing. "The followers somehow found out about the cave, that's why I hid in here, but beyond that, I don't know what's going on.."

"What about Alexander, Deni, and the others?" Sarias asked urgently. "Do you know where any of them are at?"

"No." Terra remarked, his brow furrowed. He didn't like the worried look Sarias had. "Sarias, what's happened?"


For a young grey squirrel who had seemed so docile before, Deni was certainly putting up a fight now. Like Alexander, the squirrel had been forcibly taken back to his bedchambers by the teachers who were restraining him, a rat and a white-furred stoat. Deni protested every step of the way, slowing their progress considerably. Because unlike Alexander, who was quite quickly brought to his room, Deni found ways to slow the trip down. It didn't help that his room was further away than Alexander's, and that the teachers holding Deni captive had taken the long way to get there.

Deni had almost managed to slip away and escape a few times from the teacher's apparently slippery grasp, but he never quite succeeded. Still, he tried. But despite his best efforts, they finally and eventually did arrive at the bedchamber in question. Once there, Deni was forcibly brought down to his knees and held there by the weary and fed up rat while the equally tired stoat worked by himself with something on the other side of the room. Fearing the worst, Deni sought some way to escape, and squirmed against the rat that held him captive.

The rat growled. "In the name of Gemini, stop struggling!" he remarked, holding the young squirrel tighter to his body to try and restrict the youth's movements.

It ended up backfiring. Realizing how close he was to the rat's head, Deni swung his head backwards, and smacked the back of his skull hard against the rat's head. The rat cried out in surprise, and loosened his grip in surprise on Deni. It was enough that the squirrel quickly slipped out of the rat's grasp, and despite his spinning head, made a mad dash for the bedchamber door. The rat tried to grab Deni again by the tail, but his claws missed, grabbing only a few strands of grey fur. The stoat, however, seeing what was happening, lunged for Deni, and tackled the young squirrel just as he reached the doorway. In the fall, Deni smacked his already sore head against the stone frame, and everything suddenly went dark after that.

An unknown amount of time later, Deni came to again, and discovered that while he had been out, he had been strapped to the bed by rope, and save for making a few fruitless jerks and being able to turn his head side to side, was completely immobile. Alarmed, Deni quickly started struggling again. This drew the attention of the two teachers, who where now gathered at the closed dormitory door. They glanced at their captive.

"He is awake again." the rat observed.

"Very good." the stoat remarked, ready to get on with it, and left the door to head across the room to pick up a goblet of some sort. "We need to get on with this."

"But something is happening outside." the rat remarked, gesturing to the door. Sure enough, some kind of ruckus could be heard going on outside. "Should we not worry about that first?"

"We have our orders." the stoat remarked, taking the goblet back to Deni, who was still struggling. "We should not disobey Gemini."

He brought the drink towards Deni's lips. Deni prepared himself to spit out whatever was about to be forced into his mouth, but fortunately, he didn't ever need to. Before anyone could react, the door was suddenly forced open with a slam, knocking aside the rat teacher that still stood near it. Then, before the stoat and Deni could get a good look at the intruders, an arrow was fired into the paw that was hold the drink, making the stoat drop the goblet instantly, let out a yell, as he grabbed at the sore paw, stumbled backwards for a moment, then started forward to start a fight. He never got that far either as the creature who had fired the arrow hurried into the room, and swiftly fired another arrow that finished the stoat off. The rat had been knocked out cold when the door had slammed into him, so he was left alone for the moment.

Deni looked at his saviors in surprise as they all filed into the room, making sure it was secure. A couple of them were from the Quorum of Warriors, Deni recognized their copper-colored armor. But it seemed they had sided with a less uniform group of creatures that Deni did not recognize having met yet. One of them, a tall, muscular, middle-aged otter hurried up to Deni, looking the squirrel over in surprise.

"Wot in th' name of Martin were they doin'?" he remarked with a thick accent, the sort of which Deni had not heard in a long time, as the otter pulled out a knife and started cutting Deni's bindings. "They turnin' against their own followers now?"

"I'm not a Follower of Gemini, I was rebelling against it until they caught me." Deni replied urgently, getting up as the bonds were cut. "Who are you creatures?"

"Redwallers." the otter explained quickly, helping the young otter climb off the bed. "I'm Rowe, that mouse with the crossbow is Charles, an' that's Linus. We're 'ere t' stop these followers, an' t' get back Alexander. Speakin' of which..."

"Alexander?" Deni repeated, eyes going wide. "Oh, by the claw!"

He quickly hurried out of the room, leaving the others to turn and look at him in surprise.

"Hey, wait, mate!" Rowe exclaimed, racing after the young squirrel, the others following him.

Outside in the hallway, things were crowded. Frightened Followers of Gemini had come here seeking refuge when the attack began, but they were simply followed by the Redwallers and rebelling Quorum of Warriors. They were quickly subdued, and most were being captured and escorted back down to the front entry until one could take the time to deal with them properly. They were still doing this as Deni rushed into the hallway, but the young squirrel hardly noticed as he hurried down the straight hallway, dodging creatures as he ran, anxious to reach the room he knew Alexander had to be in by now.

As he ran, he skidded past two members of the Quorum of Warriors who were strolling past. Thinking Deni to be a follower, they both turned to capture him, but Rowe quickly barked out an order to stop them.

"No, let him go, it's all right!" Rowe said as he and everyone else pushed past the pair of warriors, then called to Deni, "Where ye goin' mate?"

"To Alexander!" Deni replied back, skidding to a stop before the door of Alexander's dormitory. "He's in here, he's in here!"

The youth quickly opened the dormitory door, and started in the room. Charles, having moved on ahead of the rest of the group, was close on the squirrel's heels. Seeing a teacher, a vole, in the room, having just finished placing Alexander in bed, the mouse whipped up his crossbow and fired at the teacher without aiming. The sleek arrow struck the vole teacher in the shoulder. He cried out, and started backing up due to the force of the blow. By the time he could pull himself together enough to start fighting back, Rowe had surged into the room, and with one blow from his fist, had sent the vole reeling, and onto the floor, out like a light.

Linus and Deni both went straight to Alexander's limp form lying in the bed, shaking him. Alexander, however, did not stir.

"Alexander, wake up!" Linus cried, shaking his son roughly. "C'mon, my son!" he blew out his breath, frustrated. "What's wrong with him?"

"I think they drugged him with that, that's what they were about to do to me!" Deni said, deducing this, and tracking down the bottle containing the mysterious liquid, and pointed to it.

Charles wandered over to where the bottle sat upon a table, picked it up and examined it for a moment, then carefully brought the opening near his snout and sniffed it. Immediately, he jerked his head away, thrusting the bottle away from him, squeezing his eyes shut as they started to water up.

"Whoa!" he exclaimed in surprise, blinking away the tears and coughing. "That's strong!"

Rowe wandered over and took the bottle from Charles and took a sniff himself. The reaction was the same. "Plagues an'...phew!" the otter cried as he thrust the bottle away from his wrinkled snout. "Not even a vermin's grog is that strong!"

"I don't care!" Linus said, still trying to get the unresponsive Alexander to wake up. "I just want to make sure my son's okay, can I can't do that if he won't wake up!"

"They probably drugged him with this drink." Charles reasoned logically, finding the cork for the bottle and plugging the bottle's opening with it. "They must have had a reason. Maybe they just wanted him to calm down and stop resisting."

"Maybe." Deni remarked, taking the bottle from Charles. "But that wouldn't fit with the Followers of Gemini. They're quite known to be able to take the rebellious and turn them into a follower overnight." he held up the bottle for all to see. "Maybe this drink has something to do with it."

Rowe took the bottle again, and thought about it for a few moments. "Havin' too much t' drink clouds yore thinkin'." he pointed out. "This might could it enough for somebeast t' convince a creature t' believe in somethin' he normally wouldn't."

"Are you saying that they were trying to force Alexander to become a follower?" Linus asked, alarmed, quickly grabbing his son's form and pressing it to him. "No, that can't be! Alexander wouldn't let them! He wouldn't!" he cradled the unconscious Alexander's form for a few moments. "Would he?"

Rowe placed a reassuring paw on Linus's shoulder. "I'm sure he wouldn't willingly, Linus." he said. "But...y'know that we won't know for sure 'til he wakes up."

Linus nodded. He did know that much, but he didn't want to admit it. He looked at his son's unresponsive body for several long moments, worry etched on his features, bushy tail drooping.

"Let's take him down t' th' entry hall with everyone else, ye can keep an eye on 'im there." Rowe suggested, helping place Alexander to be carried in his father's arms. "'Sides, everybody else is goin' t' start headin' there anyway. I just wonder where the devil Kani is..."


Like the others, Tobias had his own party of creatures he was leading to subdue and capture the Followers of Gemini. In his case, however, things were fairly uneventful, as they found and was exploring the hallway of classrooms, which had all been empty apparently at the time of the attack. They didn't find much of anybeast, and most of those that they did, were members of the Quorum of Warriors who were passing by. Tobias was starting to think that he was missing out on the action.

But then, he found a locked door that led into what appeared o lead into an empty storeroom when they forced it open. Empty, that is, save for the multitude of young creatures, appearing to be followers, that had been hiding in the room. When Tobias and his party forced their way in, the hiding creatures all gasped at the fact that they had been discovered, and were easily frightened at the sight of the strange beasts forcing their way in.

Tobias, thinking that they were followers, motioned that they all stay put. "Nobody move!" he ordered.

They weren't moving already, save for the odd tremble of fear, so this was easily done.

Finally, after a few moments as Tobias and his party filing into the room to get a better look of who was in there, one of them spoke.

"Who are you?" he said nervously. "You aren't followers, are you?"

"No, I'm Tobias of Redwall." Tobias replied simply, not thinking too much of it.

This grabbed the attention of everyone in the room, however.

"Redwallers?" the first creature responded in surprise. "Really? Then...you're here to stop the followers?"

Tobias was silent for a moment, not really expecting this response. "Er...aye."

The group of creatures then all suddenly began cheering, and several rushed forward to pull the startled Tobias into hugs. Shortly thereafter, Tobias got the whole story, and learned that the whole group were actually rebels to the followers, and had been hiding in here to avoid capture. They had heard that there was a chance that the Redwallers would come and stop the followers (Tobias guess they had learned that from Alexander), and were immensely pleased to see it come true.

So when Tobias and his party started back for the entry hall, they were accompanied by a multitude of other creatures, immensely happy to see the reign of Gemini finally fall. Tobias wasn't really expecting anymore surprises after this, but he was again caught off guard when his party crossed paths with someone else, exiting out of a spiral staircase that led only down.

"Kani!" the otter exclaimed in surprise, seeing the fox, accompanied by Melody and a mouse teacher. "Wot happened t' ye, mate? That a prisoner ye got there? Wot were ye doin' down there? Did ye find out anythin' more 'bout Gemini?"

It was then that the young otter noticed the glaring mouse that Kani had been leading along, the creatures paws tied behind his back.

"You're looking at him." Kani replied, motioning to the mouse.


"There." Illia remarked as the last of the found followers was added to the large group that had been gathered in the entry hall, guarded by members of the Quorum of Warriors. "I think that's th' last of th' lot."

"Looks like it to me." Terra remarked, who had been keeping track of the numbers of the followers. "If not, there's only less than a dozen missing, not counting the several members of the rebellion that are still unaccounted for." he looked worried about this last fact. "I hope they're all right."

"I'm sure they'll be fine, Terra." Sarias assured the mole.

Mathoni studied the gathering of captured followers for a moment, shaking his head. "Sure are a lot of 'em."

"The better to control the land with, Mathoni." Charles remarked calmly. "Whomever or whatever Gemini is or was, he certainly had power in numbers."

"Aye, but not enough t' stop th' likes of us." Rowe murmured aloud, pacing back and forth before the captured followers. He shook his head. "Kani should've been back 'ere by now. Where has he gotten t'?"

"I'm right here, Skipper Rowe."

The group turned, and saw, sure enough, Kani walking determinedly towards them, accompanied by Melody, the mouse teacher, Tobias and his party, and the last of the rebel creatures.

"Kani!" Mathoni exclaimed, pleased to see his friend safe and sound. "There ye are, mate! Wot 'ave ye been up t' durin' all of this?"

"Been busy, busy, busy." Kani remarked, towing his mouse prisoner with him as he slipped through the group and towards the captured followers. "See you finished gathering up the rest of the followers, as Tobias said you would be. Good, I wish to have a word with them."

Taking Gemini with him, Kani stepped up to the attentive group of prisoners alone, and stopped before them. He got right to the point.

"Followers of Gemini!" he said loudly. "Have a good look at your deity."

And with that, he thrust Gemini before the group, the bound mouse falling to his knees in the process, but maintained his treacherous glare nonetheless. The followers stared at the creature for a moment in silence. Then, slowly, skeptical murmuring began to arise, many unsure what to make of this. Some of the more devout followers raised their voice to ridicule Kani for the trick they perceived he was playing.

"He lies!" one of them shouted. "This creature cannot be Gemini!"

Then the mouse teacher stepped forward to join Kani. "It is true." he spoke, sounding almost apologetic. "I have seen it for my own eyes. The fox speaks the truth. This mouse is the real Gemini."

The murmuring increased, the followers shocked that a teacher was actually backing up this seemingly wild claim. Again, the more devout voiced their disapproval of this, but even they seemed less sure of themselves.

"Followers, you have always listened and been loyal to the word of a member of the Quorum of Teachers." the mouse teacher went on. "You have never doubted the truthfulness of our word. So listen to what I am telling you now. This wicked mouse is truly Gemini. The things he had led us to believe was mere deception. Everything we have been taught is false. The faith we have been practicing is naught but an elaborate trick devised by this creature, and possibly others, to gain control over us. They never were looking out for our well being. They simply wished to have power over us. And we were all foolish enough to give them that power." he was silent for a moment, looking quite saddened again. "Please, brethren, believe the truth that we have placed before you. Do not be so ignorant that you continue to believe in lies."

Silence fell in the entry hall. The capture followers still seemed unsure about it all. They had doubts now, but it wasn't enough.

Seeing this, Kani prodded Gemini with one footpaw. "Say something to them, Gemini." he ordered, using the mouse's assumed name mockingly.

The mouse turned his glare to Kani for a moment, then looked back at the creatures that had once followed him loyally to their deaths. "I have nothing to say to wicked creatures, Kani Fennix."

Someone in the group, a member of the Quorum of Priests who had spoken to Gemini before back in the catacombs before this all happened, gasped, and stood up in surprise. He recognized the voice.

"It is Gemini!" he cried in shock.

That settled the matter. All at once, the captured followers rose and began crying out their shock at being deceived. Some were angry at being fooled for so long, others were near tears. The ruckus grew to the point that their guards grew nervous, and readied themselves to subdue them again if necessary, but Melody, seeing where this was heading, signaled them to stand down. The commotion was allowed to go on for a few moments longer, then the mouse teacher motioned for silence, walking over to one side of the entry hall.

"You now know the truth." he said, standing firmly at the new location. "Now, choose which side you are on."

With that, he traced an imaginary line on the stone floor with his footpaw, and waited. Terra, his rebels, and the Quorum of Warriors, all promptly stepped over the invisible line to stand beside the mouse teacher. The Redwallers joined them. A moment of silence fell as everyone looked at the captured followers expectantly. It seemed none of them wanted to be first to swap sides. Finally, however, the priest who had confirmed that the mouse really was Gemini, slowly crossed the line to join the mouse teacher. Others started to follow, until everyone had crossed the line. Even a confused, but convinced, Surt swapped sides.

Finally, all who remained on the wrong side of the line, was Gemini.

Still glaring.

His gall annoyed Kani. "Give it up, Gemini!" he said, moving to the front of the group that had gathered behind the line. "Without your followers, you're just an ordinary mouse again."

Gemini stood, and nodded. "So I am." he agreed.

He then swallowed something. Kani furrowed his brow, and wondered what it was. Murmuring started to break loose within the crowd again.

Gemini merely smiled at this, the first time anyone had seen him do it. "So long, Kani Fennix." he remarked.

Then, he closed his eyes, let out his breath with a shudder, then fell to his knees, wobbling. As the murmuring increased at this, Kani started forward, sensing that something was wrong. By the time he reached Gemini, the mouse had fallen to the floor, and lay their motionlessly. It wasn't long after this that he was proclaimed dead.


It took Sarias and the rest of the Quorum of Healers with whom she was all but a member of more than two hours to determine what had happened exactly. And even then, it was only a theory.

"As far as we can figure out, he had some poisonous herbs hidden in his mouth." Sarias reported later. "He probably hid them there just before Kani captured him."

"Explains why he wasn't too talkative." Kani remarked.

"When he decided enough was enough, he simply swallowed, and let the poison kill him." Sarias went on. "In short, Gemini committed suicide."

"One crazy beast, that 'un." Mathoni noted after this.

But even though no one was quite sure what to think of Gemini's suicide, it did help resolve what to do with the creature. Kani had actually been worried that, had the ex-followers been left to deal with the mouse themselves, Gemini probably would have met a much worse end. For they were understandably none-too-happy about him. They didn't really feel much sorrow for seeing the mouse die.

If fact, they were, in the end, glad. While the once Followers of Gemini seemed tentative about their change of heart at first, they quickly discovered that they enjoyed the newfound freedom that came with doing that. They discovered that they were suddenly able to do things they couldn't have done before as followers, and furthermore, now they chose for themselves, instead of letting Gemini choose for them.

As night fell, a celebration was quickly put in order. Using the supplies still to be found all throughout the sanctuary, while adding in some of the supplies the Redwallers had brought with them, a feast was quickly prepared and eaten in front of the sanctuary. They did it outside because the former followers had all exited the sanctuary, and now didn't want to go back in it, as it had symbolized their time under Gemini's command, and they weren't keen to go back to that. So for now, it was left empty.

And outside, they celebrated. The followers kept cheering the Redwallers for their help in the events that had led to this, though the Redwallers kept directing the praise to Kani, as it was he who had made it possible by getting the Quorum of Warriors to switch sides. But Kani, in turn, directed the praise to Mathoni, as it was his idea to use subterfuge to attack the sanctuary from inside out. Mathoni was too modest to care. He was just glad it had all ended well.

And ended well it did. Few had been killed in the whole attack, and of those creatures, the only ones who died were only the teachers, not counting Gemini, of course. The former followers didn't find this surprising, as the teachers were considered to be the most loyal of all of the followers, and were usually sworn to die before they succumbed to the influence of a "wicked" creature.

Of those teachers, only about six survived, including the mouse teacher, the vole teacher that had been with Alexander when the Redwallers had found him, the two teachers that had been captured when the Redwallers and Quorum of Warriors first arrived at the sanctuary, and two more that were unaccounted for. Deni remarked that they were probably in the other patrols that had been sent out in a vain search for Silverpaw shortly before this all happened. Most likely, the two teachers and their party had seen what had happened from afar and fled. Some concern was voiced about this, but the mouse teacher assured them that without Gemini to direct them, they would be lost, and therefore decided that with their pitiful numbers, they would be little threat to anyone else.

Things grew more cheerful still when, in the middle of the festivities, Alexander regained consciousness and proved that, despite being dizzy, having a splitting headache, and having nothing but dim memories of what had occurred between him getting captured and waking up here, he was no worse for wear. Linus was immensely pleased to hear this, so happy to have his son back, that he refused to leave Alexander's side. This was to Alexander's embarrassment as Deni, who had been with Alexander as well since he woke up, found Linus's antics to be amusing.

Clearly, the cheerfulness of the evening was catching.

Linus was also shown the recordbook Kani and Melody had recovered from Gemini's lair during all of this, and was asked if he could translate what was written on it. With some work, he said that he could, but just barely. The text was written in a form of handwriting Linus termed as the "old hand." This style of text was used by Redwallers back in the time of Martin the Warrior, but had since been put out of use. Thankfully, as there were still several recordbooks at Redwall that used this handwriting, Linus knew how to read it.

In the case of Gemini's recordbooks, however, the handwriting was some kind of variant of the old hand, and was "tainted," as Linus had phrased it, with new terms, styles, and dialects that Linus wasn't as familiar with. Therefore, there were whole parts he couldn't translate, and didn't think he ever would without knowing more about this tainted old hand handwriting.

"I've translated enough to get the general gist of it, though." he assured those who had gathered to listen to the benefits of his work. Linus shut the book and held it up. "Basically, all this recordbook is talking about the major events that took place during the reign of this particular Gemini."

Kani blinked in surprise. "'This particular Gemini?'" he repeated hesitantly.

"That's right." Linus said with a nod. "As near as I can figure, the Followers of Gemini, as an organization, has existed since nearly the time of Matthias the warrior, although back then it wasn't nearly as powerful. Now, obviously, our Gemini, being a mortal creature, couldn't have been alive for all of that. Apparently, it had been started by a creature who called himself Gemini, who ruled until he grew old. At that point in time, he tracked down a maiden that would soon be giving birth, declared that the child would be his heir, and brought up the child to fill in the role of Gemini once it was born. When the first Gemini died off, the child would fill in the role, taking up the identity of Gemini in the process. It's been going on like that ever since."

"So the Gemini we met today was only the last of a long line of Geminis." Melody reasoned.

Linus nodded. "They weren't all mice, either." he added. "The recordbook refers briefly to our Gemini's predecessor in the beginning, and, judging from the description provided, it sounded like that predecessor was a weasel." he sighed. "Whatever the case, it was clear that they lived and supported the religion they taught. It even sounds like at times that Gemini really thought he was the deity he was posing as."

"Scary." Alexander remarked from where he was propped up beside his father, still fighting off the residual effects of being drugged.

"Told ye that beast was crazy." Mathoni muttered, poking a stick into the fire and watching it catch fire.

"But wot I want t' know is why they did it." Illia remarked, sitting beside Tobias. "I mean, sounds t' me that these Gemini creatures got even less freedom than their followers. So why do all of that t' just support a religion?"

"Illia has a point, mates." her twin agreed. "Why would they give up their own freedom for this?"

"Well, I can't know more without studying more of the books, preferably starting from the beginning." Linus remarked, pausing to sup a drink so to wet his throat. "But I can still guess. And I think that the original Gemini's intent was to use the ruse of religion to gather creatures to support them and their land. It was a trick to gain power, and a very clever and elaborate one at that. But, as the seasons went by, that goal was probably lost, and instead the religion became a true faith, save for the fact that it was false, and all resources went into supporting the spread of that faith."

"By force, if needed." Rowe added. He shook his head, but then shrugged. "At least we've put an end t' it, right?"

"Certainly." the mouse teacher commented, from where he also sat in the group. "But the path ahead will not be easy. We may acknowledge that the Geminic faith is false, and have freed ourselves from Gemini's power, but many of us will still not know what to do with ourselves."

"He's right." Deni agreed from beside Alexander. "A lot of us have spent the better part of our lives as followers, or at least pretending to be them. We don't know any other life."

"Some will not have homes or families to return to, either." the mouse teacher added. "If they can even remember having such things." at this, he looked a little embarrassed. "I cannot."

"We'll help in anyway we can." Charles remarked. "And no matter what, you will always have a home at Redwall." he jabbed Kani playfully in the ribs. "I mean, if we let a fox stay there, why not ex-Followers of Gemini?"

Everybody laughed at this. Except for Kani, who stared into the fire for a long moment.

"I can't return to Redwall." he announced suddenly. "Not yet."

A moment of silence fell, as everyone looked at the fox in surprise.

"What do you mean you can't?" Linus asked. "If it's Machaerus you're thinking of, I'd think that not even he could argue that you haven't earned your right to stay there."

"No, it's not that." Kani assured them. "I'm just...not finished. I have something else I need to do. Elsewhere."

Mathoni caught on. "Ye mean ye plan on goin' home?" he asked.

Kani nodded. "Yes, home." he said. "To Angola."


Author's Note: Shaking things up a bit and putting this at the end of the chapter this time around. Did it for mostly dramatic effect, so that the cliffhanger from last chapter would hook in nicely with the start of this chapter without interruption. Anyway, sorry that this chapter is a week late. Just started another semiester of college, and all the work ended up piling up last weekend. Had enough time to start writing this chapter, but didn't finish it. As the week wore on afterwards, though, I then decided to use this chance to go ahead an wrap up the rest of the Gemini storyarc and get on with the story and just post it next weekend on schedule, like nothing had happened. So, that's what I did, and you got an extra-long chapter as a result. :D

Now, next chapter, we're going to be catching up with events in Angola, which I have been looking forward to. Got some big things planned, y'see. ;)