Chapter 49- Horrific revelations part 2
Betelgeuse's vision emerged out of the depths of blackness and a blurry mess of colour melted into view while in her ears, sounds also echoed but they were muffled and smeared like her vision, the sounds undecipherable right now. Betelgeuse felt like she was submerged in water and was just coming to the surface for air. After a few more seconds, her hearing and vision became clearer and more lucid and soon, the familiar shapes of her dark blue sister, a greenish Grass Dog and a ginger and brown striped Tom Cat melted into view, the one making the sounds being the first one and she was calling her name. Rigel called her sister as she regained consciousness and within moments, Betelgeuse was fully out of the waters of unconsciousness and fully alert on the surface. As she came to, she gazed at the three and then took in her surroundings. They were in a room and in the room was a row of glass-like containers, the same containers Betelgeuse saw with Rigel and Cilan during their first 'visit' here. As Betelgeuse took in her surroundings, a sharp pain on the top of her head made her wince and grunt. Betelgeuse tried to move a front paw to place it on her head to soothe the pain but found that both her front paws were bound tightly in vines and ropes. The other three, Rigel, Cilan and Puss' arms and front legs were also bound, as were their hind legs. Betelgeuse squirmed in her binds but could not get her paws free. The top of her head, where the rock struck, was bruised under the dark red fur and soon, a lump will saw there. Rigel, Cilan and Puss' heads also bore head injuries resulting from rocks to heads to knock them out. Betelgeuse continued to gaze at her sister and the other two when suddenly, a sickly sweet voice sounded directly in front of the four before she could ask, "Where are we? What happened?"
"Ah, you four are awake. Had a nice nap? I hope the hard floor wasn't too uncomfortable." Betelgeuse, Rigel, Puss and Cilan each shot a glare directly in front of them and gazed at a red, gold, magenta and purple Fox with three tails standing before them, the one who had spoken. Surrounding her was a group of creatures. To the quartet's chagrin (but no surprise), some of the group was a mix of Talking Beasts who were loyal to the Great Lion and had been against the Witch. As before, a trancelike gaze was present in their eyes. The rest of the group comprised of some surviving minions of the Witch such as several Hags, a Werewolf, several Blue Mice and a Rokurokubi. The Talking Beasts included Tauro, some Poggles, Budgies and Roachcutters, some Talking Dogs and the Sphinx and the looks on their faces was unfriendly and horrible and they were flanking the Fox with her TRUE allies. It was clearly an uneasy sight to see these normally Aslan-loyal creatures with such menacing looks and standing with a group of enemies and Puss was in UTMOST distress to see Tauro, the Budgies and the Poggles who were some of his friends and fellow warriors with such a group. His FURIOUS glare was on the Fox and he knew that she was behind the reason of those Creatures' behaviour, but he didn't know how. Not yet anyway and we will see how Tauro and the others including Amethyst, Milky Way and the three Flying Rods ended up like this later.
The Fox herself glared at the quartet but instead of the friendly gaze she always had when she had been among the Monarchs' group, her gaze was flooded with UTMOST scorn, mockery and wickedness, her TRUE colours. Her friendly gaze and behaviour had been a mere facade as three of the quartet had uncovered. Betelgeuse, Rigel, Cilan and Puss glared angrily at the Fox, Alcina, as she then moved towards them. Alcina then spoke in a voice that matched her glare; her TRUE voice.
"You three certainly were audacious in intrudin' into MY den an' lookin' through MY stuff without my permission, weren't ya, Betelgeuse, Rigel and Cilan," Alcina's scorn-saturated and acerbic glare raked over the three said Canids as she said this. The three glared back at her unfazed while Puss reacted a little. However, he, too, was unsurprised. He didn't trust Alcina from the start anyway and had felt a hunch develop within him about that Fox the moment strange things started happening such as when one of the Dome-Headed Dinosaurs was struck down with an 'invisible' sword. Alcina continued as she approached the three Canids but she especially pierced the Wolf sisters with her glare, "ESPECIALLY you two, Betelgeuse and Rigel since you are two of the grand-pups of the stupid traitorous Wolf who, despite having excellent potential in being one of Her Majesty's servants, had stupidly chosen to turn against her and us to follow those filthy messy haired Puddy Tat-believin' maggots. You're just like him, both of ya an' I wouldn't be surprised if ya cousins shared those traits."
Betelgeuse and Rigel said nothing and only glared back at the Fox with scowls as she continued further, her voice low and grumbling, like the pair was an inconvenience.
"But your grandfather hadn't been the ONLY rebel to eventually show his true colours against us and Her Majesty. We have had OTHER rebels among us, some of them being interferin' nuisances who caused us NOTHIN' but trouble in EVERY area of our Queen's dominion, INCLUDIN' in her OWN castle."
Cilan and Puss exchanged looks and gazed back at Alcina as she added, "For example, a Snowstalker who allowed some of those Puddy Tat believin' maggots to escape when he had been commanded to use his sabre tooth bite to put them to death, but instead, he had them smear dumb animal blood on themselves and sprinkle more of it in their wake to give the illusion that he had carried out the deed when he HADN'T."
"What Sai did was a VERY noble thing, Alcina," Puss growled. Alcina turned her acerbic and caustic glare to the walking Talking Cat.
"It wasn't noble in the eyes of our Queen, Boot-wearing Moggy," she snapped before continuing, "And neither were the actions of some other rebels such as that Kamaitachi and Ahuizotl and also that STUPID Manticore and her little groupwhich included that who FOOLISHLY married the sister of that STUPID Nekomata Kushanku..."
Betelgeuse, Rigel, Cilan and Puss said nothing, however. Alcina then turned away from them, walked a few steps and turned back to face them, a scowl on her face, "That latter lot were the worst since THEY completely SABOTAGED our successful capture of the Rainbow Serpent which our Queen would have found some AWESOME uses for it besides its hide for her wardrobe," she then walked back towards the four, her minions including the trance-like state Tauro and company, looking on blankly. Alcina approached Betelgeuse and Rigel once again, "But that was during our Queen's reign. Now that our Queen is dead, she has left us, myself included, to serve as backup but it seems that this thing with interferin' nuisances and saboteurs has continued AFTER her death as well. And by the looks of it, YOU TWO granddaughters of that traitorous Wolf Nanu HAD to be among those interferin' nuisances and saboteurs, of ALL Talking Beasts. Honestly, interin' nuisances like YOU two Wolves and your Cù-Sìth friend there are SUCH A PAIN IN THE REAR..."
"Interfering nuisances and saboteurs like me, Rigel and Cilan huh, Alcina?" Betelgeuse sarcastically growled, "HAH! How ironic."
"Face it, Alcina," Rigel added, "The Winter Revolution and the Dawn of Spring has thawed your Mistress' tyrannical reign over Narnia and your Mistress herself has been vanquished by the TRUE Lord of Narnia, the Great Lion, making way for the establishment of this age with our Four Monarchs, that same quartet YOU are trying to kill with the variety of your HIDEOUS products you have used to cruelly experiment on those poor victims such as Rosa the Magenta Flying Rod with your HORRIBLE minions including that strange looking woman with the golden mask."
Alcina's smirk widened but Rigel did not know why as Cilan continued, "Yes, by using the substances you and your leader have found, such as that parasitic 'Tasty Toxo-Cream', and/or developed such possibly a variety of potions, each with its own unique set of horrible effects on its consumers..."
"Not to mention that your facade as a friendly Fox is already starting to crumble, Alcina," put in Puss, "You've been careless."
"Indeed I have been careless, Puss-in-Boots boy," replied Alcina sneeringly, her minions and the trancelike state Talking Beasts standing blankly on, "but your High King has already been poisoned, and I know full well that my friendly play-acting is starting to be unravelled. But at least your High King's out of action with NO hope of survival as ONLY the Nine-Realms Potion can save him," she then walked across the area from Betelgeuse's side to Puss', "I, in fact, intended all FOUR of those Monarchs eat that cake and I was hoping that all FOUR of them would end up with that poisoning," a FURIOUS scowl came upon her face and she snarled the next sentence, "but THANKS to the, you guessed it, interference of that VILE two-tailed dung Cat, the High King's brother and sisters didn't get the chance to get even a lil' piece of it to cross their lips," she then gazed at the quartet once again, her sneering, scheming glare showing itself once again on her face, "But I have backup plans which I had put together in the event of the first plan failing. Your High King's brother and one of his sisters are still running the throne but frustratingly," the Fox's glare then morphed into a scowl to show this, "his other sister and the youngest of the quartet is STILL missing, havin' gone on ONE of those Nine-Realms Potion ingredient quests."
"Good thing Queen Lucy the Valiant did," said Puss.
"At least SHE will be out of your lousy paws' reach," added Cilan. Betelgeuse and Rigel nodded in agreement. However, a sneering smirk formed on Alcina's mouth.
"Maybe so," the three-tailed Fox replied sneeringly, "But mark my words; the High King's younger siblings will NOT get very far 'cos WE have backup and helpers assistin' us OUTSIDE this country: Madame Dolores the Spider Hag and her assistants working in the Pleasure Dome, that luxurious submar-ship built by the her and our Queen's faithful builders even before our Queen took over your country. Our boatmen connect us to Dolores' group out in the Eastern Ocean and have assisted us in taking a good supply of potential slaves and food to the Pleasure Dome to keep the Dome going..."
"So THAT'S why those remaining minions of the White Witch, YOUR real companions, are kidnapping these young Talking Beasts and Magical Creatures to be shipped off to that immoral place, huh?" asked Puss angrily.
"MOST of those victims are only innocent children and they do NOT need to be kidnapped and thrown like slaves and livestock into SUCH a hideous place," put in Rigel.
"ESPECIALLY, if that place includes UNMENTIONABLE pleasures and practices that are NO DIFFERENT from the VILE areas the White Witch once had," added Cilan.
"Such as that bloodbath arena the Witch and company used during the Massacre Event during her tyrannical reign," added Betelgeuse. Alcina glared at the four.
"We need slaves to keep the various services of the Please Dome going, especially the activities that serve the wealthy visitors who go there," Alcina replied nonchalantly, "Among other things such as backup for our Queen and the eventual re-establishment of her throne forcibly taken from her by YOU an' your Puddy Tat 'King'," she growled these three words with caustic malice, "That is why I ALSO need the Nine-Realms Potion. I purposely intended to poison High King Peter and his siblings with that cake and was hoping that ALL FOUR of them would eat some of it but sadly, one of them took the bait, the High King himself."
"YOU were the one who made that cake and tricked those cake stall owners into selling it, didn't you!?" snarled Puss.
"And have that Yatagasaru Voltasu unknowingly buy that cake as a gift to our Monarchs," added Rigel.
"Indeed that cake was the product of my own hands," Alcina replied, "But as before, the High King's siblings have dodged the magical blast thanks to that stupid Nekomata Kushanku and that nine-tailed Rat Alestomeria," her scornful, scheming glare then returned, "But I'm hopin' to get the second backup blast to hit those three with my Tasty Cream and finally get 'em hopelessly addicted to it, along with Alestomeria and her husband Hagrid since Tasty Cream is deadly to Nine-Tailed Kitsune," the Fox then sat down, put her front paws into the air and spread them wide, her evil face turned ceiling-ward, "Then once my plans get into motion, I will have the King and two Queens' older brother suffer his demise from the poisoning, use the King and his sisters as my servants until the Tasty Cream kills them as well, and get my hands on the Nine-Realms Potion, and revive my Mistress and Snow Angel," her gaze then entered a wicked dreamlike state as she relished the fruition of her plans, "Oh WHAT an awesome event THAT will be..."
Puss mouthed the words 'hands' in perplex. How can Foxes have hands? The other three, however, looked on scornfully.
"You certainly do have such an awesome imagination don't ya, Alcina?" Rigel mock-admirably scoffed.
"Awesome," Betelgeuse said in mock agreement and with a mock-smile, before allowing her true emotion of disgust to show, "awesome... and DERANGED, DISTURBING and DISGUSTING as the experiments you an' your true COMRADES including that Daughter of Eve-like person dressed in those colourful robes, the silver hair and the golden mask, carried out on those POOR victims including those poor Flying Rods including Rosa..."
"Is it any wonder that poor Magenta Flying Rod has SUCH a fear of Kitsune as a result of THAT traumatic experience," growled Cilan, "Honestly, Alcina, when she saw you that time, it brought back a HUGE avalanche of BAD memories."
Puss continued to ponder over Alcina describing herself as having 'hands' as the Fox walked over to the quartet once again, some of her minions and a trance-like state Tauro close behind her.
"You don't believe me, granddaughters of Nanu and Cù-Sìth?" she replied mockingly at Betelgeuse, Rigel and Cilan's sarcasm and adamant responses at her plans, "Oh, you will eventually, especially YOU two, Rigel and Betelgeuse. In fact you three... along with your Boot-wearin' Moggy friend there will become TRUE believers in the Snow Angel... and NOT the Puddy Tat who is nothin' more than an overgrown Housecat with a messy hair problem," she topped off this acidic remark with a wicked chuckle. Betelgeuse, Rigel, Cilan and Puss, however, looked on angrily, clearly NOT amused. Then Alcina turned her back on the quartet to her minions and summoned several Hags and the Rokurokubi to come forth, which they did. In the hands of one of the Hags was a flask topped with some sort of decorative lid but that lid, though it was beautiful, was not at all beautiful in a good way. Then what happened next was to be the most HORRIFIC revelation to the four to EVER show itself. As Alcina went to the group of five Hags and the Rokurokubi, her body began to change shape. However, her transformation did not involve the covering of her body in a glowing shell so the transformation simply took place. As Betelgeuse, Rigel, Cilan and Puss watched on, astonishment flaring within them with increasing intensity with each passing second, Alcina's body shape and stance began to change. Her three tails shrank into her rump and disappeared and her body changed from a four-footed stance to a bipedal one. Her ears also became absorbed into her head and the Fox-shaped head itself changed into some sort of hood. Her fur and markings also changed and underwent a shuffle. As the four watched on, her furry coat transformed into clothing similar to a kimono and a waterfall of shining silver hair grew from her head and cascaded down her shoulders. Betelgeuse, Rigel, Puss and Cilan's mouths dropped open in HORROR as they witnessed this but their reaction was for different reasons. For Puss, he was in disbelief and he assumed that Alcina was a shapeshifting Nogitsune but for the two Wolves and the Cù-Sìth, their reaction was saturated with something else entirely. Then as soon as Alcina's transformation was complete, she was now a kimono dress-like wearing Woman and the VERY same one Betelgeuse had seen from the magical playback discs during her, Rigel and Cilan's investigations in this room. Betelgeuse tried to speak but her words stuck in her throat from EXTREME horror, the WORST she had EVER felt in her life and the only sounds she could let out were gags and gasps. Then Puss glared ANGRILY at the new form of Alcina and finally identified her TRUE species. This was no shapeshifting Nogitsune as he had initially thought but was a COMPLETELY different species entirely. Puss had heard of these creatures before and they were rare but powerful and INCREDIBLY dangerous.
"A Kitsune-Mochi or FOX WITCH!" he yelled at the top of his voice. Rigel, Cilan and the strangled Betelgeuse didn't say anything as the Woman then turned round and glared at them with a new face. Instead of a Fox-like face, it was a golden Humanoid face. However, that face wasn't flesh for the nose and mouth was solid. Two large eyeholes perforated the 'face', which was actually a mask, and staring out through the holes and piercing the quartet was a pair of glowing dots, the Woman's TRUE eyes and sending chills down their spines. Those eyes then turned directly toward Puss and an evil and chilling voice sounded from under the golden mask. It was as cold and as freezing as the voice of the White Witch, her TRUE mistress.
"Indeed I am, Cat," the figure spoke, "In fact my REAL name is Dimitrescu Dokuringu the Scarlet Fox Witch. I am Her Majesty's accomplice and leader of the backup in the unlikely event of her fall. THIS is my TRUE FORM."
Betelgeuse, Rigel, Cilan and Puss trembled violently as the figure, now called Dimitrescu Dokuringu, sneered at them with her assistants.
Dimitrescu resembled a Human Woman or Daughter of Eve dressed in a kimono-like outfit. Her 'kimono' was a brilliant vibrant red. However, her sleeves and the lower portions of her dress were magenta and violet. The hem of her dress and the tips of her sleeves were tipped a sparkling gold like her mask and cascading from Dimitrescu's head and down her shoulders was a waterfall of silvery hair which shone like the White Witch's icicle crown. And much like the White Witch, Dimitrescu was beautiful... beautiful as she was deadly. Betelgeuse then finally fought past her UTMOST horror what she saw and blurted out some words.
"YOU'RE THE SAME CHARACTER I SAW IN YOUR MAGICAL DISC PLAYBACKS!" the dark red Wolf yelled.
"Surprised, Betelgeuse?" Dimitrescu mockingly replied. Due to her golden mask covering her face, she could not show her emotions via facial expressions but she communicated them with her body posture and language.
"Not really," Betelgeuse replied, "Grandpa told me and Rigel that your Mistress did have a Fox-Witch for an accomplice and all these potions in this room can ONLY be concocted by a Fox-Witch herself."
Dimitrescu uttered evil titters to this response before turning and nodding to her Hag and Rokurokubi assistants to walk towards the four. Clutched in one of the Hags' hands was the flask. This flask was a transparent blue and cyan, its lid shaped like Jadis' face, coloured a metallic blue and silver, the icicle crowns a transparent icy blue like the real being. Inside the transparent flask-like bottle was a liquid and that liquid was pure white, similar to the Toxo-Cream. Although it was beautiful to look at, it was NOT at all beautiful in a good sense just like Dimitrescu herself.
Dimitrescu shot a finger point from a hand hidden under the gold-tipped sleeve, that hand resembling the hand of the Man with the Upside Down Face, at Betelgeuse, the tip of her finger pointing dead-centre at her forehead, making the Wolf flinch.
"YOU FIRST, dark red Wolf," the Fox-Witch barked. Immediately, three Poggles and a Roachcutter went over to Betelgeuse with the Werewolf and a Blue Mouse and seized her head and neck while the Hag uncapped the bottle, removing the Jadis' head-shaped stopper from its mouth and prepared to pour the shining white liquid down Betelgeuse's throat. The dark red Wolf writhed in her apprehenders' grasp and snarled but her apprehenders tightened their grip on her with the Werewolf prying open her mouth as the Hag moved the transparent blue bottle's mouth towards it. The other three looked on.
"NO, BETELGEUSE, DON'T SWALLOW THAT STUFF!" Rigel yelled, "THAT STUFF'S POISON!"
Cilan and Puss also yelled but Dimitrescu nodded to her other assistants to restrain them, which they did. However, the three began to fight back with Rigel biting a Blue Mouse's paw HARD when the deceptively cute but violent Rodent tried restraining her. Rigel also lashed at the other assistants including the entranced members on her side and tried to attack then. However, another Hag pulled out a soft toy-shaped replica of a Wolf and some pins; a voodoo doll-like weapon. Then she stabbed one of the pins into the 'toy' Wolf's upper back. STABBING pain, literally, exploded from that same area on Rigel's body and the dark blue Wolf released a howl of agony. The Hag continued to torture Rigel with the Wolf-shaped voodoo doll and pin while the other assistants restrained Cilan and Puss. When the two males began to overwhelm their restrainers, one of the Blue Mice released a sinister whistle to summon reinforcements. Those reinforcements came in the form of a small flock of small black birds, Mimicbirds. They flew in and plunged onto Cilan and Puss and began to torment them both physically and psychologically by pecking them for the former and imitating the cries of their friends and loved ones being SEVERELY tortured by the latter. The Mimicbirds' effect had the most devastation on Puss for he once had a family and they had been fatally tortured in front of him by some of Jadis' minions shortly after the four Pevensie siblings' entrance into Narnia. Because his paws were bound, Puss was forced to listen to the vocal playbacks of these evil Birds and he began to scream in terror and anguish. With Rigel, Puss and Cilan out of the way and preoccupied with being tortured, Dimitrescu resumed her attention to Betelgeuse and nodded to the Hag holding the potion to pour it into the Wolf's mouth, which she did. A small rivulet of glowing white liquid flowed from the mouth of the bottle and into Betelgeuse's mouth. However, Betelgeuse immediately spat the potion out, sending it flying in a small spray at her restrainers and Dimitrescu and dotting them with white droplets. Dimitrescu then called for one of the Mimicbirds to come over and screech into Betelgeuse's ear. One of the black birds flew from one of the flocks attacking Cilan and Puss and did just that. An agonised howl exploded from the dark red Wolf as a MASSIVE screech was released into her right ear like a MASSIVE wind. As the Mimicbird did this, Betelgeuse's restrainers kept her neck and head still while the Hag immediately poured more of the white potion down her throat through her open mouth. This done, the other two Hags slammed the dark red Wolf's mouth shut to ensure that she didn't spit it back out this time and that the liquid had one way to go. The Mimicbird stopped screeching into Betelgeuse's ear while Betelgeuse's restrainers kept s good grip on her head and muzzle to ensure that the potion went down her throat. Betelgeuse's right ear rang like a bell and she thought that she might lose her hearing acuteness in that ear.
"Good job, my servants," Dimitrescu's voice sounded, "You can release the dark red Wolf now. She will soon fall under the spell of the Snow Angel's Cure."
Betelgeuse was released from the shackles of hands and she collapsed onto the floor, too much in pain to even respond. Rigel, who was under the torture of another Hag's evil Wolf-shaped voodoo doll-like toy and the pins, shot the Fox-Witch a look.
"Snow Angel's Cure!?" she blurted out. Dimitrescu and the Hag with the potion bottle came over to her as some entranced assistants, two Babookari, came over and seized her to keep her still, the Hag with the Wolf toy and the pin nearby ready to pierce the former and inflict Rigel with more indirect pain should she 'misbehave'.
"It's the name of this potion I have concocted and designed to cure your deception and following of the overgrown Puddy Tat with the messy hair, dark blue Wolf," the Fox-Witch replied scornfully and with that, she had Rigel prepared to swallow said potion. Immediately, the two entranced Babookari and some other assistants came in and tightened their grip on Rigel and pried her mouth open while the Hag got prepared to send a flow of the white potion down her throat. However, Rigel tried to resist by turning her muzzle away. The Hag with the Wolf voodoo doll and pin responded by ramming the pin into the middle of the toy's back. Literally piercing pain exploded from the exact same area on Rigel's back and she grunted in agony and writhed. However, her restrainers tightened their grip on her and the Hag surged forward and poured a flow of the 'Snow Angel's Cure' potion down her throat and within a blink of an eye, Rigel's jaws were slammed shut. Next, Dimitrescu and the Hag went over to Cilan and managed to force a flow of the potion down his throat in seconds with the help of the Mimicbirds who bit the Cù-Sìth to make him open his jaws to receive the potion. Then after the Cù-Sìth, Puss was subjected to the potion as well. Once Puss had forcibly received the potion, Dimitrescu and her assistants released the quartet and stood before them as they wearily stood up, wondering what had happened to them. The Hag recapped the bottle of the Snow Angel's Cure potion and also stood back.
"In a few minutes, YOUR FOUR will serve your TRUE Mistress, Jadis the Queen of Narnia and the Highlands wholeheartedly and WITHOUT question," the Fox-Witch crooned evilly, "And you will also DO EVERYTHING we tell you and this potion, the Snow Angel's Cure, will help ya with that," she turned to her assistants, "Keep an eye on 'em until the potion takes its full effect and plunges 'em into the 'White Dream of Jadis'. As soon as it does, send 'em out on one of our teams who will go and intercept the returning Nine-Realms Potion ingredient quest-goers and they will faithfully help you in attackin' 'em and seize their ingredient," after saying these commands, Dimitrescu turned a sneering glare through the eyeholes of her golden face mask to the shaken Betelgeuse, Rigel, Puss and Cilan as they continued to shudder from stun and released evil titters before turning and leaving the room, her laughs increasing from a titter trickle to a torrent of maniacal laughter no different from that of her true Mistress, the White Witch's. The 'White Dream of Jadis' was the name Dimitrescu had given to the trancelike state the potion, the 'Snow Angel's Cure' caused its consumers to enter in honour of her true Mistress. While in this state, consumers become unwaveringly submissive and obedient to Dimitrescu and her true servants and are commanded to do their bidding without question. The only antidote that will snap a consumer out of this state was extreme pain. The three Flying Rods, Milky Way and Amethyst were under this spell until they were subjected to pain which snapped them out of that trancelike state. Dimitrescu was an expert potion maker and was also the discoverer of the red sleeping gas potion often used aboard the Pleasure Dome. That potion came from a Narnia-exclusive flower similar to the flower in the Humans' world of Earth called a poppy. However, Dimitrescu had a variety of other potions and poisons at her disposal and she was getting ready to use them as things were now beginning to escalate.