Chapter 42- this place is cursed
Chloroplast continued to gaze at Rei, Arezu, Laminin and Scoville, Malachite, Elsa, Seishan, Yardang, Lymphocyte and Sisu in disbelief and confusion before demanding, "What is going on here!?"
Instead of answering this question, Arezu leaped at Chloroplast and hugged her. Malachite, Seishan and Elsa joined in. Chloroplast reacted with shock before returning the hug as she was UTTERLY relieved to see some of the kidnapped victims again, especially Arezu, Laventon and Cynthia's missing niece. While the reunion went on, Rei, Laminin, Sisu and Lymphocyte checked over a sleeping Yardang who had been exposed to the red sleeping gas potion.
"He's COMPLETELY knocked out," said the Terror Bird, "That red gas certainly had some Terror Bird kick."
"Yeah, but he will be suffering a series of vivid and TERRIFYING nightmares," said Laminin.
"That volatile potion is extracted from a red flower that is similar in shape to the flower King Edmund once described to me as existing in his world called Earth when he visited our clan," said Sisu, "And according to Grandma Azula, it was one of the White Witch's torture weapons on her victims during her tyrannical reign."
The group then looked over Yardang worriedly, dreading what sort of bad dreams he will be having until he woke up. Then after Arezu's group broke the hug with Chloroplast, the Longma asked again, "By the way, where are we?"
Rei turned and began to explain to the adult Longma. "You're aboard the Pleasure Dome, an ocean vessel floating around out in the Eastern Ocean. The workers here and the ferrymen who brought us here are assistants of a mastermind who is a surviving main minion of the White Witch. Who that minion is, we don't know but we believe that she could be some woman dressed in colourful robes and wearing a golden mask. The ferrymen have brought us here under the guises of rescuing us from our kidnappers when in reality; they are holding us captive for use aboard the Pleasure Dome, either as food or slaves or something else dark. The visitors here are also a source but they come here to indulge in a WIDE variety of carnal pleasures such as gluttony. They do so for weeks and perhaps months in some until their demise and they are then taken away by the assistants to be either turned into food or used for some other horrible purposes."
"The food given to them are made from the kidnapped victims (you almost ended up as such but we rescued you) and also from the visitors themselves," added Arezu. Chloroplast winced in REVULSION while Malachite's group except the sleeping Yardang shot the Kangaroo a horrified look. But Chloroplast was ESPECIALLY offended. A Longma was one of the noble species of Narnia and it was a MASSIVE crime to kill and eat the meat of one. It was tantamount to cannibalism in fact. Lymphocyte reacted in horror to Arezu's mentioning of the guests being turned into food.
"The GUESTS AS WELL!?" cried the young Terror Bird. Arezu gave him a dark look and nodded.
"You don't wanna know how though, but it's VERY dark and disturbing," said the Roo slowly. Then the group heard talking outside the door and Chloroplast sprung into action.
"Well, we haven't got time to discuss this," said she, "Our main priority is rescuing whatever other prisoner is held here and getting out of this place."
"We have already sent help during our travels throughout this vessel," said Malachite.
"Rainbow Quartz and the other flying and water Creatures that came with us have left us once we got to the outside the Pleasure Dome and are now on their way to find it from the Sea and Sky inhabitants," added Seishan. Surprise tore through Chloroplast when she heard this.
"Rainbow Quartz, Milky Way's GRANDDAUGHTER has gone with that group?" she asked. Malachite and the others nodded but then Chloroplast cut to the chase.
"Well, it's a good thing you've managed to send help and I am TRULY grateful for you lot in rescuing me," said the green Longma as she rose to her feet, "But we need to get out of here like I've said. Now let's get moving."
Rei and company nodded and the group got prepared for the next task, leaving this area.
Talking and angry grumbles emanated from the room from which Chloroplast had been rescued. The door opened and a green scaly Horse-like creature peered out at the group of monsters as they talked. Seeing that they were occupied, Chloroplast commanded the group to sneak out and by and they did with Rei going first. Lymphocyte and Sisu carried the sleeping Yardang and so left together. As they left, Elsa took in some time to examine the creatures as they discussed.
"Madame Dolores is goin' ABSOLUTELY crazy," the white and silver Nekomata wearing a pink bow distinguishing her from her twin sister Seishan (who wore light blue) heard a blue Lanky Limbed Teddy say, "Remember the Pleasure Dome's importance as it is the only main back up to our Queen and her main assistant and accomplice, Dimitrescu Dokuringu..."
Chloroplast mouthed the latter two words as Elsa got moving and she saw some of the creatures, those Laminin's pet Spitfire Bird Scoville had struck in the face with his acid sprays, get treated. However, because Scoville had struck so many of the creatures in the eyes with such deadly accuracy, it was likely that some of them will no doubt lose their sight and Chloroplast had been amazed at how well trained one of Snowwing the Skvader's descendants' Spitfire Bird had been. However, she refocused on the main objective. Then as soon as all nine members in Rei's group including the sleeping Yardang were out of the room, Chloroplast closed the door and left herself. The group continued down the corridor but they didn't get very far when a shout erupted from behind Chloroplast. The ten turned round and to their HORROR, they saw a massive Human-like creature charge towards them, together with some smaller monsters.
"RUN FOR IT!" cried Chloroplast and with that, the ten took off like the wind, the Longma galloping into flight and picking up the sleeping Yardang with her front legs from Lymphocyte and Sisu to remove the burden from them so that they can run faster. However, as Chloroplast hoisted Yardang into the air, the Cheetah suddenly started screaming and writhing, crying "AAARRGH, HELP ME! HEEEELP!" and emitting terrified squeaky Cheetah cries of terror. Chloroplast flinched at this behaviour and shot the sleeping Yardang an alarmed look.
"What's HAPPENING TO YARDANG!?" she cried.
"He's experiencing BAD DREAMS FROM THAT RED GAS!" cried Rei as he ran on all fours. Chloroplast gazed at the writhing Yardang as he screamed and cried and writhed. As the chasers including the Giant (one of the Giants from the infamous Harfang area) closed in on their targets, Lymphocyte immediately seized his crossbow, nocked some arrows into it and began to fire them at the chasers. Some of the arrows struck the Giant in the upper body while one struck a Strawberry Beaver in the shoulder and knocked it down. Lymphocyte continued firing arrows until he reached his last and he fired it at a Tarta, the male of the Monster Bird species, in the chest area.
"That's the last arrow from my quiver," he sadly said and continued bolting after the others, packing his crossbow, now unable to be used, away. Then Lymphocyte remembered that some of the servers aboard the Pleasure Dome were archers. Maybe he can nab some arrows from those archers? However, that will have to wait and Lymphocyte will have to wait for the opportune time as well. Forgetting the arrows, he ran on. Ahead of the group, Rei began to look for another hiding place while Chloroplast tried to restrain the screaming and writhing Yardang who was locked in a HORRIBLE nightmare. He was dreaming about being chased by a giant demonic White Witch-faced Lion-like creature through a forest filled with trees with leering faces and other frightening things and it was vivid and intense. It was likely that Yardang will be traumatised from this nightmare for some time when he woke up from this. Rei continued looking for a room to hide in as the group bolted down another corridor with their chasers in hot pursuit. Eventually, the Red Panda found one and led the group into it. All nine bolted into the room and Chloroplast clasped a Bat's wing over the screaming Yardang's mouth to dampen his cries. The chasers charged by, thinking their targets were still in the corridor. After the chasers had gone, the group got prepared to move on but then Malachite saw that the room had some cloaks and sacks.
"He, guys, why don't we don these so that we can pass as some of the workers on the Pleasure Dome?" she asked. Immediately, the group seized some of the cloaks and put them on without question.
"We'll carry Yardang in a sack to add to our disguise," said Rei. At first, Malachite and the other shot the male Red Panda a "WHAT!?" look at this seemingly cruel idea but then they relented when they saw that it made sense. They reluctantly put Yardang, who seemed to have calmed down and returned to sleep into the sack with his head at the opening so that he could breathe and then left the room.
"You're gonna have to lead us to the prison area of this place, Rei," said Chloroplast, her body covered with a large coat, "If you've had many previous escapes before, then you'll know the place better than I do."
Rei who was also dressed in a cloak obediently took the lead and the rest of the group with Malachite and Elsa reluctantly carrying the sack containing a still-sleeping Yardang followed. They eventually reached the guest area and began to behave like some of the ferrymen assistants. As they passed through the guest room, some of the Colour Beasts and Candy Woodland Creatures glared at Chloroplast and company but the group kept a low profile in their hoods to hide their faces. The Colour Beasts and Candy Creatures continued gazing at Rei's group for a while but Rei's group looked just like one of the visiting ferrymen assistants bringing in more kidnapped victims in their sacks heading to somewhere else in the Pleasure Dome as they headed off in the direction of the rise-and-fall boxes (elevators and the quickest route to the bowels of the Pleasure Dome where the prison and the kidnapped victims were held). Taken in by the disguise, the group of Colour Monsters and Candy Creatures resumed their jobs.
Sometime later, back in the prison
The rest of the prisoners, among them Emori, Kosmochlor and Hypersthene were woken from their nap by a ring and a shout. All the young Talking Beasts and other creatures stretched and yawned with many still at ease, completely oblivious to the true nature of this place now. The only individuals that were aware of this place's dark side were Emori, Kosmochlor and Hypersthene and a few of the Aquatic Creatures including the Orca and the Sea-Fish Girl. Kosmochlor then looked up at a yellow Lanky-Limbed Teddy, Lucius, as he spoke to some more Lanky-Limbed Teddies. Immediately, Kosmochlor seized the opportunity to tell some of the other kids about the true nature of this place, starting with a group of young Farm-type Talking Beasts, two Lambs, several young Talking Chickens and a Talking Cow.
"Guys, listen to me," the black and green Kirin and Sisu's cousin said, getting their attention, "There is something VERY important you have to hear."
"Ooh, not now, Kosmochlor," moaned a Lamb groggily, "We've just woken up from our nap," he then widened his mouth to yawn.
"We're too groggy to hear anything important from you right now," said a Chicken as she stretched her wings.
"But it's urgent," Kosmochlor replied insistently, "Listen, we have not been..." suddenly, a shadow fell on the Kirin. Immediately, Kosmochlor shut his mouth and gazed at Lucius as the yellow Lanky Limbed Teddy glared at him suspiciously. The group of Farm-based Talking Beasts just blissfully shrugged and moved on.
"You are gonna be among the next group of kids to go to the game station, young green and yellow Unicorn-Dragon so come along with me please," said he. That sent chills down Kosmochlor's spine and he winced. Hypersthene and Emori also flinched but then hostility overtook the first one and he began to emit a hiss through his Reptilian muzzle. Lucius hardened his commanding glare. Behind him, some more Lanky-Limbed Teddies rounded up more young Talking Beasts to take to the game station including the group of Farm Talking Animals Kosmochlor tried to warn. Kosmochlor continued to defiantly hiss at Lucius and as he did that, the Talking Cow gazed at him.
"C'mon, Kosmochlor," said she, "What are you being aggressive about? There's nothing to be aggressive and defensive for."
"This place and our carers are awesome," said one of the Lambs. Kosmochlor didn't reply and continued to hiss at Lucius. Then he raised his hiss to a Reptile version of a growl and lowered his head, his horn aiming for Lucius' body. Whenever a Kirin, even a young one, was sufficiently threatened, this was what they would do and when they lowered their horns like this, it meant one thing. Lucius then began to take action. Reaching a long armed paw into some sort of satchel he had around his shoulder, the yellow Teddy pulled out some sort of chord. The Farm group saw what this was.
"Kosmochlor, cut your defiance," the Talking Cow warned but a pink Teddy barked at her to get moving. Emori and Hypersthene also tried to intervene but they were blocked off by two blue Teddies. Then Lucius raised his chord ands the moment he did this, Kosmochlor snapped. A FURIOUS hiss exploding from his mouth the black and green Kirin launched into an attack charge at the yellow Teddy, his head horn aimed for his belly.
"KOSMOCHLOR, NO!" cried the Cow but then what happened next sent a SHOCKWAVE of pure HORROR tearing through the watching young Talking Creatures. Lusius sidestepped Kosmochlor's charge and as soon as he was to the side of the young Kirin, a frightful SWISH-CRACK sounded, followed by a pained cry from a Kirin. The other Talking Beasts especially Emori and Hypersthene released wails of fright and flinched as Lucius then whacked Kosmochlor again on the rump with his chord which was a whip. Another THWACK and a cry erupted into the room. Then after another powerful THWACK and a final cry from Kosmochlor, it was finished. Kosmochlor was then forcibly led to the group of other selected Talking Animals who were lined up by an orange Lanky Limbed Teddy with a very sore rump. Among this chosen group was the Sea-Fish Girl and she was in tears. Lucius then shot a fearsome glare at the other young Talking Beasts in the room as they trembled from the shock from the sight and sound of the whipping, some of them weeping.
"LET THIS BE A LESSON TO THE REST OF YA," screamed the Teddy, his chord-whip in his hand shown to them to emphasise his point, "WE, ESPECIALLY MADAME DOLORES, already have ENOUGH as it IS ON OUR PLATES and we shall have NO MORE OF THIS DEFIANT BEHAVIOUR FROM ANY OF YA, UNDERSTAND!?"
Frightened nods rolled through the crowd and satisfied at the compliance, Lucius packed away his whip-chord and went to the selected group. Immediately, Hypersthene went to protest but a pink Lanky Limbed Teddy appeared and warned her would she like a whipping too? Hypersthene, terrified, complied and returned to the group but she tearfully looked on as the wounded and agonised Kosmochlor got prepared to leave with the chosen group to the game station through the door, a red Lanky Limbed Teddy holding another chord-whip near him to keep him in line. Lucius and his team got prepared to lead the way. Hypersthene and Emori looked on, clearly aware that this 'disciplinary' action was not genuine discipline, but a fear-inducing threat to keep these poor young Talking Beasts and Creatures in line. Additionally, Kosmochlor's act had stirred suspicion in many more of the young Beasts as well and they began to realise that this place wasn't as safe and innocent as it seemed.
Meanwhile
At the ride-and-fall box area of another floor on the Pleasure Dome, more workers entered and exited the elevator-like carts to go to other places. One elevator-like cart was arranged like a chain and continuously moved, rather like the type of lift in our world called a paternoster lift. This type of 'lift' allowed continuous movement of workers and whoever else with them to go to other floors of the Pleasure Dome without waiting unlike the 'true' rise-and-fall boxes in which workers had to wait to board. Among the travelling workers and company, a group of cloaked figures with a sack approached the rise-and-fall boxes, aiming for the paternoster lift-like sort as it was quicker and it saved waiting. Chloroplast, Rei, Arezu, Laminin and Scoville, Malachite, Elsa, Seishan, Lymphocyte and Sisu with the sack containing a still-sleeping and nightmare-tortured Yardang being carried by Elsa and Seishan, walked along when they came across a scene.
"Guys, look," whispered Lymphocyte, his obvious Terror Bird shape and appearance disguised by the cloak as he gazed at a particular scene. The others stopped and gazed what had caught Lymphocyte's attention.
Before the group was a strange creature. This creature had multiple fluffy, pompom-like segments with a pair of legs on each 'pompom'. These 'pompoms' forming the creature's body was coloured an alternating blue and red and at the head end of the creature was another pompom being the creature's head. To the group's surprise, the head sported Catlike ears such as Cat's ears, a Cat's face and two antennae like a bug. Chloroplast identified the creature and it was a literal pun on a certain word for the larva of a butterfly or moth.
"A CAT-apillar!?" whispered the Longma in shock. Suddenly, the caterpillar-like creature with a literal cat-like head moved and within moments, a group of creatures appeared. Some Colour Beasts shepherded some of the guests, some of them Gnomes and Dwarfs, as they approached the Caterpillar (one of a number of workers of this type aboard the Pleasure Dome). These Humanoids looked an absolute wreck but it was not just from gorging themselves on the food in the guest dining area. Chloroplast, Rei, Arezu, Laminin and Scoville, Malachite, Elsa, Seishan, Lymphocyte and Sisu then looked on as the Colour Beasts surrounded the group of guests while the Caterpillar waited but what they saw next was sure to traumatise this group for a long time to come, ESPECIALLY Sisu.
"Do you think..." began Malachite but Rei shook his head, dispelling Malachite's idea to rescue these guests. Malachite immediately complied and began to watch the guests with a solemn gaze. All except Rei, Arezu and Laminin then watched on nervously as the guests then stood gazing at the Caterpillar creature. Then Sisu noticed something alarming.
"Their ears," she whispered. The others looked and saw that the ears of the Gnome and Dwarf guests had changed shape. Rei, Laminin and Arezu, however, looked on unflinchingly as though they expected what was going to happen. It was clear that they had seen this process before but it was not a pleasant process. The ears of some had become long and thin, like a Rabbit or Hare's ears (or rather, Laminin's due to her species being part-Rabbit) while the ears of the others were pinkish, hairy and mutton-like. Sisu winced violently as she recognised what sort of animals these types of ears belonged to while Chloroplast stood stock still. Next, an appendage sprouted from the rears of the guests in this group, breaking through the trousers where the base of the back would be. Some of the tails were long, thin, and mostly brown and ended in a tassel like a paintbrush while the other tails were pinkish and curly. The guests seemed blissfully unaware of these transformations but some seemed a bit surprised which was quite disturbing, but what came next was even more disturbing than their apparent lack of awareness of what was going on. As Chloroplast's group watched on, something began to happen to the guests' faces. Sisu opened her mouth and drew in a breath but before she could release a scream, Arezu's paws appeared and clasped her jaws shut to prevent this which would blow their cover. Chloroplast then began to tremble violently. Apart from the Man with the Upside Down Face, the Cartoon Shadow Cat or the White Witch, THIS was the most TERRIFYING thing the Longma had EVER seen, especially since the Colour Beasts and the Caterpillar didn't seem least bothered about what was happening to this group of poor guests. Malchite, Seishan and Elsa then covered their faces as the faces of the guests then underwent a radical transformation. Brown fur sprouted on some of the guests' faces while the faces of the other guests sprouted rough hairs with the skin turning a pinkish colour. The faces that sprouted brown fur then had a nose job take place, their noses becoming elongated with the nostrils moving from the bottom to the top. The eyes moved to the sides of the guests' faces while the lower faces became a muzzle. In the guests that had sprouted mutton ears, a curly tail and pink skin, their noses began flattened such that their nostrils pointed forward. As Chloroplast's group watched all this happen, Sisu began to hyperventilate and Chloroplast began to tremble violently. Seishan, Elsa and Malachite continued to look away while Lymphocyte stood stock still, his beak wide open and his eyes inflated at the horrific transformation. Somehow, he found the ability to speak and he asked Rei, Arezu and Laminin who looked on with no surprise, "What are they becoming?"
The three didn't answer, however, forcing Lymphocyte to continue to watch the process. The guests' arms and hands then transformed with the hands morphing into black two-toed parts with furry arms in some and pinkish two-toed parts in some and rough pink skinned arms on the others. Finally, the transformation of the guests finished with them dropping onto their hands and feet and their ability to speak lost. Then brays and oinks exploded from their mouths. Sisu immediately identified the animals now that the transformation had finished. They were the same sort of animals the group had seen in some sort of storehouses. Chloroplast then spoke.
"They've become dumb donkeys and pigs," the Longma spoke in a horrified hushed voice.
"We know," Rei whispered back, "That's what happens aboard this place when those guests indulge excessively in these immoral activities that go on aboard the Pleasure Dome," he then turned to Sisu as she continued to hyperventilate more and more and commanded Arezu and Laminin to take her aside to calm down. Then after the guests had finished turning into dumb pigs and donkeys, the Caterpillar and the Colour Beasts led them to one of the larger rise-and-fall boxes and prepared to go elsewhere in the Pleasure Dome, obviously to use these now dumb animals. Chloroplast looked on with both disgust and horror.
"This place is cursed, the product of the VERY hands of the White Witch herself," hissed the Longma, the disturbance at watching the whole thing clearly making her insides tremble, "If I hadn't have seen it with my own eyes, I wouldn't have believed it. This was exactly what that the Son of Adam who had managed to escape this place with the help of the Great Lion had described when he explained to us back on the mainland but my parents called him CRAZY as a result. I'd NEVER thought I'd be on this VERY place myself and witness such EVIL..."
"We have seen rooms full of dumb pigs and donkeys as well during our previous attempted escapes," said Arezu, "and those animals are EXACTLY what we have just seen; guests transformed into pigs and donkeys as a price of carnal indulgence and then stored in those rooms to be used as food."
Sisu knew exactly what the young Kangaroo Doe was talking about. Those pigs and donkeys in those room she and the other had seen were EXACTLY what had Arezu had just described. Those pigs and donkeys hadn't been bred as livestock on a farm as the Kiriness had initially thought. Then Chloroplast, after overcoming the brutal shock of seeing the transformation of a group of guests and the apparent nonchalance of the Colour Beasts and the Caterpillar, continued to the paternoster-type chain of rise-and-fall boxes. Then they boarded several of these boxes on the going-down side for they were quite small and could only hold a few travellers and began to descend deeper into the Pleasure Dome. Chloroplast had boarded the box with Arezu and Rei.
"What you described to me about this place and what we have seen become of those guests is STRONGLY reminiscent of what our Kings and Queens have called a theme park set in a dark area of the Narnian Moon," the Longma continued, "That 'theme park' was also cursed but its true nature was disguised by an innocent and attractive appearance as a fun place to be, and any visitor that had overindulged on junk food and other unhealthy activities were either transformed into dumb farm animals, mostly donkeys if they were Humanoids; reverted to dumb animals if they were Talking Beasts or Magical Creatures that are Talking beasts like Kitsune for example (the VERY thing Aslan warned at the beginning when he made the first Talking Beasts that if they didn't behave: from dumb beasts you were taken, to dumb beasts you will return); or if they were of a complex species like a Centaur, age rapidly and turn to dust. It had been demolished and destroyed thankfully and whoever built that cursed theme park was dealt with..."
"Have you ever been to such a place, Miss Chloroplast?" asked Rei.
"No, thankfully," said Chloroplast, "But a visiting Blue Man had told us of such when I was a young Longma," disgust then returned to her face as she began to glare around the place, "As I've said, this place is UTTERLY cursed and depraved. The sooner we get out of this place with the other prisoners, the better."
Rei and Arezu nodded in agreement and longed to leave this place as well. Then another thought entered Rei's mind: his twin sister Akari and her group and their task in rescuing the newly acquired prisoners. He hoped that they were doing okay and had successfully done their job.
