Chapter 18- the Nine-Realms Potion

Meanwhile

Sundown was approaching the Mainland of Narnia, the Narnian Sun slowly approaching its setting point opposite the Western Sea. Like our world's sun, the Narnian Sun sets in the west, defining the day-night cycle of the Narnian world. However, unlike our world's days and seasons which were determined by the spherical earth's rotation and orbit around the sun, which was a ball of fiery plasma, the Narnian Sun which was a biosphere with its own flora and fauna but still glowed to provide light to the land below it, travelled around the Narnian disc and block. However, Narnia still had seasons such as spring and winter. Back in Cair Paravel, a small crowd of Talking Beasts, Magical Creatures and three Humans stood outside the medical facility in which the sick High King Peter was kept. Kushanku, Alexandrite, Padparadscha "Paddy", Tumnus, Guinan, the Beaver couple, many of Kushanku's relatives such as Kobaruto the Bakeneko and his son and daughter Neelix and Fleur, Kushanku's daughter Miidori and Paddy's offspring Merida, Sunstone and Moonstone, and also Amethyst the elderly half-Talking Cat, half-Nekomata, Neutrophil, Basophil, Eosinophil, Monocyte, the Warrior Mice group led by Athos, Betelgeuse and Rigel the Wolves, and Ahhuayo the Ahuizotl were among them. Worried murmurs were exchanged among the group as they anxiously waited with the three Humans, King Edmund and Queens Susan and Lucy, and Tuvok for Martian's diagnosis as the Little Green Man examined High King Peter in the medical room with Falco the Harpy and his team, and Alestomeria and Hagrid.

Hagrid had contacted Martian on the Narnian Moon and his Kumiho assistant named Wan who was a matured Nine-Tailed Fox like Alestomeria and Hagrid but had white and metallic blue and silver fur instead of ivory yellow and metallic yellow as in the common Kitsune, and had explained to them the dire situation including High King Peter's health, so Martian immediately put his second-in-commands, his wife and oldest son, in control of the Green Men clan and travelled with Wan and some assistants, among them a Blue Man to Narnia. It took the group a number of hours to arrive at Cair Paravel and they had used the Bifrost Transporter to first travel to Asgard Sky City and then to the Land where they rode on several Sleipnir (Magical Eight-Legged Horses capable of super-fast transport thanks to their eight legs. Like Centaurs and Nine-Tailed Kitsune, they were very noble and riding them required special permission or exceptions, such as the transportation of heavily pregnant live-bearing mother Talking Beasts or severely injured and disabled) sent to meet them by King Edmund, to Cair Paravel. Upon arrival, Martian and his group were immediately taken to the medical room to examine High King Peter while Wan went to meet Crystal the Cherub and her team as they continued to examine the supposed cursed cake purchased by Voltasu the Yatagasaru from a market.

Kushanku and company continued to wait outside the medical facility until finally, a small group of short, chubby, green-skinned creatures with large heads, bulbous onyx eyes, short insect-like antennae and lanky limbs emerged with two Nine-Tailed Foxes and some Harpies and they joined the group, sad and serious looks on their faces. The male Green Men had neon green skin while the females had lime green skin and were shorter. Then the one at the front stepped forward, attracting the attention of the group. Then the one at the front, Martian looked up at the group.

"What can you confirm, Martian?" asked Kushanku, the others looking on in angst.

"Your High King has DEFINITELY been poisoned," replied the lead Little Green Man in a serious voice, "And it is NOT just any form of poisoning. This form is the worst possible type. It may not look that serious with the mild symptoms such as the greening in the face and slurred speech but that is just the beginning."

"And it is incurable with regular potions, even fire flower cordial despite its generalist properties of healing practically any wound or poisoning from general toxins including Lizard-Man and Manticore venom," said one of Martian's assistants, a female. Dismay rolled through group and King Edmund and Queens Susan and Lucy began to weep again. Martian continued.

"The greening of the face, weakness and slurred speech are, as I've said, just the initial symptoms," said he, "But as his poisoning progresses, more severe symptoms will begin to show. These include more severe nausea and vomiting, high fever, delirium, hallucinations, and aggression as his perception of the surroundings start to go haywire. In the final, critical stages before a very painful death, the symptoms include convulsions, loss of sanity, extreme hallucinations, hypersensitivity to the surroundings, severe agony and EXTREME, animalistic aggression, among other unpleasant effects that I won't mention. Luckily, you have called us while he is exhibiting the first symptoms, but he has only a few weeks to live before his poisoning worsens and becomes critical and eventually, fatal."

That added fuel to the fire of the dismay of the group and Queens Susan and Lucy began to break down once again and had to be comforted, so Guinan and the Beavers took them to one side.

"That is NOT good at all," said Beaver while his wife buried her face in her paws and shuddered.

Then Hagrid turned to him while Alestomeria went to comfort High King Peter's siblings.

"Is there any cure at all?" asked the Kitsune Dog Fox. Martian was about to answer when a shout seized the group's attention and brought their gazes in the shouter and company's direction. The shouter had been Crystal and she and her team, together with Wan and the accompanying Blue Man who towered over the Cherubs and also two Merfolk in legged form, due to his species' height, and a white, metallic aqua blue and silver Nine-Tailed Fox came in, serious looks on their faces.

"Martian," called the Blue Man, "We have carefully examined the cake and we have confirmation."

"It is DEFINITELY cursed and poisoned," said Crystal.

"Yes, my pet Ocean Flish Azure-Fin had taken a bite out of one of the samples from the cake during our examination if the confection and became very ill," said one of the Merfolk, a Merman with a rather cross look on his face at his pet.

"And Mackerel's pet is exhibiting the very same initial symptoms as the High King," said the Kumiho, Wan. When the ears of the listeners picked up this revelation, horror and outrage tore through them.

"I'm SO glad to have had Kushanku seize that confection from our other three Monarchs before ANY of it could cross their lips," said Alestomeria seriously, before he gaze turned to the upset King and Queens as they continued to weep over the state of their older brother, "Otherwise we would have had ALL FOUR of them in that same dire situation."

"Indeed," said Martian with an agreeing tone and a serious look aimed at the Kitsune Vixen, "It's a good thing you reacted quickly as well. You've actually saved your other three Monarch's lives, in fact."

"Who in NARNIA would SELL SUCH a POISONED CONFECTION IN TH' FIRST PLACE!?" bellowed Rattus in outrage.

"Sounds like an assassination plot," put in Mjölnir while the Mice, Sordward, Sheilbert, Athos, Porthos, Aramis and Squea'tgnan exchanged angered looks.

"Whoever sold that cake in the first place should be caught and either beheaded or blasted with the foxfire of a Nine-Tailed Kitsune," put in Neutrophil equally angrily while Monocyte, Eosinophil and Basophil trembled with the same volatile emotion.

"Peace, all of you," shouted Hagrid to quell the rage of the group. Neutrophil, Rattus, Mjölnir and the Mice lowered the fires of their rage and obediently calmed down. Hagrid continued. "We're gonna seriously interrogate Voltasu and show him the evidence of Crystal and company's investigations on the cake and then arrest anyone else that had handled that cake including those that had sold that confection to Voltasu in the first place."

"Then make it so," said Martian, before a frown formed on his face, "But there is a cure to High King Peter's otherwise incurable illness and poisoning, but it is the ONLY one. It is a special potion that is NOT like the 'regular' potions you folks are most familiar with."

"And what's that?" asked Kushanku. Then Wan the Nine-Tailed Kumiho came forward.

"We'll discuss that in an emergency meeting," he said, "In the meantime, you need to prepare for it right now and IMMEDIATELY."

At this command, Kushanku shouted to the others to make their way to the Meeting Hall with Martian and his group while Hagrid sent two Centaur guards to bring out Voltasu for questioning. And with that, the group moved while Falco and company including some Little Green Men medics stayed behind to monitor High King Peter's health and to look after him. The High King's siblings, King Edmund and Queens Susan and Lucy, despite being utterly distraught over their older brother's dire situation, went along with the others for they knew they had important tasks to deal with.

Later

It was now nighttime in Narnia and many of the inhabitants of the country had gone to bed except those who had tasks and nightshifts that prioritised over this, such as the search-and-destroy missions to hunt down any minion of Jadis still roaming the Narnian land. The search-and-destroy groups continued these missions even right after sundown, though some camped to get some rest before continuing. In the inhabiting clans, herds and other groups, and villages and towns up and down Narnia, guards and night-watchers had been stationed by the leaders of those groups to watch out for trouble and intrusions, including any that would endanger the young members, and strict curfew had been put upon them for their safety and to prevent any more youngsters from getting whisked away into the night. After all, there were still some Siren-Heads, Mimicbirds and Slender-Men still at large in the Narnia countryside and they were EXTREMELY good at disguising themselves and luring out victims into their traps, and a lot of victims, among them Arezu the young Kangaroo from Laventon the Roo's Kangaroo clan, had been successfully captured by these creatures and their allies via these tricks. Not to mention the most dangerous still-loose minion the Cartoon Shadow Cat and its Tentasect minions, and it was one of the search-and-destroy groups' top priorities in hunting down and capturing the highly dangerous Cat Demon before it could do any more harm, including possessing and using any more Feline Talking Beasts and Magical Creatures should it find and seize any.

At Cair Paravel Castle, Kushanku and company including the three remaining Monarchs were having their emergency meeting, and it WAS an emergency so they could not go to bed. They had to get the solution to High King Peter's dire situation started as soon as possible. While that group prepared for their meeting in the Meeting Hall with Martian, Wan and their group to discuss the solution, Voltasu was being interrogated in another room. The two Centaurs guards flanked him while Hagrid fired questions at him. Accompanying Hagrid were Crystal and Mackerel, one of the Merfolk and the owner of the pet Flish who had become poisoned by eating one of the samples and unintentionally confirming the cake the Yatagasaru had purchased as a gift for the Monarchs to be the source of High King Peter's illness. However, that Flish had been taken away to be put down (Flish were not Talking Beasts so this was allowed) for its poisoning was incurable. Despite losing his beloved pet, Mackerel continued his tasks. The mourning of his pet Flish will have to come later. Voltasu then began to protest in response to Hagrid's questions.

"I'm telling you, Hagrid, I am NOT an assassinator, and I would NEVER EVER even THINK of harming our Monarchs," said the Three-Legged Crow. "Further, I had ABSOLUTELY NO idea that that cake was poisoned and cursed with such sinister potency to cause SUCH a slow and heartbreaking death in the eater."

Crystal had shown Voltasu the results of the investigation and had confirmed to the Yatagasaru that the cake he had purchased was the source of the poisoning of High King Peter.

"Then who did you purchase it from?" asked Hagrid seriously, his face twisted into an angry scowl and his temper threatening to flare. However, the Nine-Tailed Dog Fox kept his composure. Voltasu then closed his eyes and entered into thought as he replayed his time at the market and tried to remember the stall from where he brought that cursed cake. As he did that, Chrystós the Gold-Fleeced Sheep peered in but Hagrid raised a paw to tell him to be quiet. Chrystós then stood back to wait until Voltasu's interrogation was over. Like everyone else, he was furious with Voltasu and accused him of poisoning High King Peter but he did not show his emotion towards the Three-Legged Crow fore he knew there was no solid evidence for this accusation against the Yatagasaru.

"The stall I was in was a confectionary stall," said Voltasu as he recalled that area, "Being sold were a variety of cakes, pies..."

"Who owned that bakery stall?" asked Hagrid immediately, Crystal and Mackerel and the two Centaur guards looking on silently. Voltasu then closed his eyes and tried to remember the owners, but he struggled greatly.

"Were the owners Dwarves, Fauns, Adlets, Harpies?" asked Crystal. Immediately Voltasu responded, his memory jogged.

"One of the stall owners was a female Red Dwarf," the Three-Legged Corvid replied, "I can't remember who else owned it, though."

His interrogators exchanged looks and Crystal spoke.

"Ginger and her two Faun assistants," said the female Cherub, "I remember buying an apple pie from that trio until I was notified of High King Peter's poisoning..."

"Then I shall send a police squad to the Market to arrest those three and close down their stall," said Hagrid without hesitation, "and have that trio brought here to be questioned."

"Maybe they'll have key information on who sold them that cake to their stall," said Mackerel hopefully.

"Then make it so," said Hagrid and with that, he turned to the Gold-Fleeced Ram waiting outside the room.

"Chrystós," shouted the Kitsune. A sheep with gleaming golden fleece stepped in.

"Send word to Thunderhoof, chief of the Centaur police squad and command them to go to the Market, arrest Ginger the Red Dwarf and her assistants and bring them back here for questioning," commanded Hagrid. Chrystós nodded obediently, flashed Voltasu a glare and then left to carry out the command. Hagrid turned to the two Centaur guards flanking Voltasu, "Return the Yatagasaru to his cell until further notice. He's finished for now."

Voltasu once again launched into a protesting fit as the two Centaurs seized his wings and dragged him away. However, his protests of innocence fell on deaf ears as Hagrid, Crystal and Mackerel turned and left the room, deliberately letting Voltasu's cries of innocence fly into one ear and out of the other like a futile breeze through an open window.

While Voltasu was dragged away by the Centaur guards to the dungeon once again, Mackerel gazed at the other two.

"Well, I'm gonna mourn for my pet Flish Azure-Fin," he said sadly, the grief at losing his literal flying fish pet to the cursed cake when it ate one of the samples, "It's gonna be a difficult time getting over him..."

"I'm ever so sorry you have to go through that, Mackerel," said Crystal with sympathy, her white and metallic aqua blue feathered wings flapping behind her a bit, before her face morphed into a look of sternness, "But you were warned to keep your pet out of the investigation room while we tested that cake."

"You'll find another pet Flish," said Hagrid, "But in the meantime, you need to see to the more important tasks and we may need your help in this DIRE situation regarding our High King..."

Mackerel, a sad look on his face, nodded and left. As the Merman departed, Pteranodon walked in.

"Hagrid," said the crested, toothless-beaked Pterosaur, "Our assistant spies from Asgard Sky City and the water have reported to us that the kidnapped victims and the boatmen have mysteriously disappeared and they have lost track of them completely. Apparently the boatmen and their kidnapped victims had disappeared in a literal flash or had employed Blinding Smoke to screen their escape from them..."

"Tell them to abort their pursuit of the boatmen and to remember the location of where they had lost them," commanded Hagrid, "And then after that, can you join us in the meeting please?"

Pteranodon nodded obediently and turned round to relay this to the sky and sea spies while Hagrid and Crystal continued to the meeting.

As Pteranodon returned to the communicator screen he had used to keep contact with the assistant spies, he was met by three Alicanto and an Orang-utan who had been helping the Pterosaur in his task.

"Pteranodon, can you come an' see what you can do wi' this group of Cloud-Men an' Cloud Birds and advise them, please?" asked the latter, the orange-furred Talking Ape, "They're in SERIOUS trouble."

"I'm only gonna relay this command to them and the other spies to break off their pursuit of the boatmen and remember where they lost them, Tarzan," replied Pteranodon, "I'm not in the position to give them advice right now..."

But then an Alicanto, its metallic gold and copper feathers gleaming in the artificial light of the room from the metallic food it had eaten, such as human coins from coin trees planted in the soil of the magical world, fluttered forward.

"Yeah, but that group of Cloud-Men and Cloud Birds had tried to carry out a rescue of some of the kidnapped youngsters but before they could seize any of them," said the Metallic Bird, "They were struck by a shadowy cloud and then Blinding Smoke from the boatmen with the boatmen disappearing mysteriously, and now that group has to deal with that deadly living shadow cloud of deadly Umbra-Fleas in the wake of those kidnappers."

Pteranodon glared in disbelief at the three Metallic Birds and the Orang-utan named Tarzan before anger took hold of him.

"Oh we... strictly instructed our spy assistants NOT to... GAAH!" hissed the Pterosaur and with that, he rushed over to Hagrid and called for his attention. The Nine-Tailed Dog Fox and some of the attendees of the meeting turned to look at him.

"Hagrid, folks, I'm gonna go and instruct the Sky and sea spies on how to deal with the Umbra-Fleas and have a serious reminder word with them about touching the boatmen and trying to rescue the victims despite not knowing what potent weapons those boatmen have," said Pteranodon, before a look of dread took over his face, "If those Cloud-Men and Cloud Birds have triggered some of the boatmen into releasing a cloud of deadly Umbra-Fleas as a counterattack to their rescue attempts, they've landed themselves into SERIOUSLY dangerous waters saturated with deadly jellyfish..."

"Okay, but make sure you join us after you have done that," replied Hagrid sternly and with that, Pteranodon left with Tarzan and the three Alicanto to the room holding the communicator screen to the Sky and sea spies.

After the Pterosaur had left, Kushanku gazed at the Nine-Tailed Kitsune.

"Umbra-Fleas are UTTERLY deadly, especially in large, thick swarms," said the Nekomata in a low voice, "Able to devour their prey like a pack of meat-eating fish King Edmund told me about that lived in his world..."

"Let's just get this over with," said Hagrid in a low voice, especially as Martian impatiently glared at the group. Then as soon was everyone was ready and Pteranodon had returned from his serious talk with the Sky and sea spies about attempted rescues of the kidnapped victims and advising them how to dispel the Umbra-Fleas (several Cloud-Men and Cloud Birds were not so fortunate and had been devoured by the carnivorous shadow swarms), Martian opened up the meeting with his tall Blue Man assistant and Wan the Kumiho starting up the screen.

"Your High King is the sixth recorded casualty and victim to fall into this kind of incurable poisoning through eating something that is cursed," said the lead Green Man, "Throughout history, starting at least 250 years since Narnia's creation by the Lord over all lands, Aslan, only five other cases have been recorded, three of which were one of the Kings descended from the First King and Queen of Narnia... the Black Turtle chief from the land of the Southern Black Turtles, one of the four areas part of the Cardinal Kingdoms' Domain... and a Nine-Tailed Kitsune who had been one of Gandalf and Seresute's older sons who had made his home on our homeland, the Moon, to become its Chronicler of the events that happen there, during the Age of Winter when the White Witch ruled your land with a blood-soaked wand, before he retired and Wan took him over."

"All of them had exhibited the same initial symptoms your High King is exhibiting," said Wan, "We have named it Jadis' Poisoning after the White Witch as in all these cases, the poisoning of these victims had been deliberate assassination attempts, mostly by the White Witch's minions."

"They seemed to have developed some sort of spell using the dark arts they had learned under Jadis' training in them to be either put into food or developed in the form of food, much like the addictive treats Jadis herself had been able to conjure," said a female Green Man, called a Green Woman, who was one of Martian's assistants. King Edmund flinched; remembering the Turkish Delight the White Witch had conjured for him during their first meeting. That Turkish Delight had been magically imbued to be EXTREMELY addictive to the point of its eater being COMPLETELY obsessed with it and even eat LOADS of it to the point of dying.

"So that cake Voltasu purchased for our Monarchs was either the curse developed in that form or a cake imbued with it?" asked Alexandrite who sat with Kushanku, Paddy, Kobaruto, Miidori, Merida, Moonstone, Sunstone, Neelix and Fleur who exchanged glances.

"Just like that," said Martian, "Only its magic is intended to induce Jadis' Poisoning in the consumer and not fatal addiction which I have dubbed Jadis' Addiction."

"Like the Turkish Delight she conjured for me when I first met her," admitted King Edmund. Then Ahhuayo spoke. "So this Jadis' Poisoning affects Nine-Tailed Foxes as well?"

"Yes," said Wan, "Even Nine-Tailed Kitsune and Kumiho have their limits despite their immense power, including self-regeneration and healing, based on their age and shown by their full set of nine tails. Anyway, continuing, this evil curse was intended to be immune to the 'general' potions including the ultra-rare fire-flower cordial which is why two drops from your supplies wouldn't heal High King Peter."

"Jadis' Poisoning is THE RAREST form of poisoning in ALL of Narnia," continued Martian, "but it is also fatal, sending the sufferer down an incredibly slow, agonising and unpleasant road to a PAINFUL death."

"You said that Jadis' Poisoning is incurable, didn't you?" said Beaver, his wife sitting near him and Queen Lucy nearby with Tumnus and Guinan.

"As I've said, no 'regular' potion can cure Jadis' Poisoning," said Martian, "BUT... there is an antidote that is as RARE and EXCLUSIVE as the condition itself."

The listeners cocked their ears to take in the next important piece of information and Martian gave it out. "That antidote is the Nine-Realms Potion."

The listeners moved their faces towards each other and repeated that in confusion.

"Yes," said Wan, "The Nine-Realms Potion is an EXCLUSIVE potion made up of nine equally EXCLUSIVE ingredients, one from each of the nine domains of Narnia, hence its name."

Then he nodded to Martian to continue the explanation on what these ingredients were and he went to the display screen. He picked up a pointer stick as he stood up and approached it.

"The nine ingredients are," he began, pointing the stick to the screen, "One, the apples from the Garden of Youth and the exclusive ingredient of the Land Domain. It is recorded in the Chronicles that a Son of Adam travelled there on the back of the father of ALL the Pegusi in Narnia to retrieve one of those apples to plant a Protection Tree to deter the White Witch from Narnia for the first 900 years of its existence until it withered and she came back and took over the country thus beginning the Eternal Winter," as he spoke, a picture of a tree from said area appeared. On it were glittering fruit of the most beautiful kind. Martian then continued, "Two, lunar mushrooms from our domain, the Narnian Moon. They are kept in a HIGHLY dangerous cave known as the Forbidden Cave of the Treasure of Vanity. That cave is filled with the purest of gold and other treasures that with one touch can spell certain entrapment and even death but in the deepest parts of the cave, a field of lunar mushrooms grow..." the screen revealed a selection of glowing white mushrooms whose shape was no different from our world's 'typical' mushrooms. Martian explained the third ingredient.

"Three, Star Fruit from the Celestial Dome, home of the Star People and Aurora Sprites," the screen showed a colourful star-shaped fruit shining in the colours of red, orange, yellow, white and neon blue, the colours being similar to the spectrum of the variety of the fiery stars in our world.

"Four," continued Martian, the screen showing what looked like kelp but were pure and silvery, like clean water or the shimmering scales of certain shoaling fish, "Silver Sea Kelp from the Eastern Narnian Sea, representing the ingredient of the Sea Domain. You have to travel by submersible to harvest this exclusive ingredient and it is guarded by a Sea Orm, a type of giant Sea Serpent with a body length of unimaginable proportions. Five, another Narnian Sea originating ingredient but from the Abyssal Domain; healing water from the pool of Atlantis. You have to travel to the underwater city at the very bottom of the Narnian Sea where the sun barely penetrates, and you have to enter an opening on the ocean floor to access the kingdom, but," Martian's face turned dark, "You MUST confront the guardian of the entrance, Cthulu who resembles an underwater Humanoid Giant with octopus or squid-like tentacles for a moustache..."

Shudders travelled through the group's nerves as they continued to listen. They gazed at the screen showing a pool of glowing, clean water, the healing water Martian just mentioned. Then the Little Green Man went onto the next ingredient.

"Six, Rainbowberries of the Sky Domain; there is an orchard of them growing in an exclusive garden in Asgard Sky City, their plant pots being pots of pure gold. If you follow a rainbow, you'll be led to the orchard. However," Martian's eyes darkened, "You must pass through three gates in order to get to the field that has the orchard. Rainbowberries are EXTREMELY difficult to grow and cultivate and require EXTREMELY specific conditions, among them NO disturbance of the seeds and thunderstorms. In fact, they are MORE difficult to grow than the fire flower from the Narnian Sun but I digress..." Martian then moved on to the next ingredient, "Seven, speaking of the Narnian Sun, the Corona-Flower that stands in for the Domain of the Sun," the screen showed these plants. They were a glowing orange and red, like their native land and were shaped like a cross between a simple drawing of the sun and a hibiscus flower.

"You will need a pass from the Rainbow Serpent to access the Narnian Sun," explained Martian. As he said this, Eosinophil drifted off into thought but Neutrophil nudged her and nodded to Martian to command her wordlessly to pay attention, which Eosinophil did. Martian continued, "Eight..." the screen then turned and showed what looked like a pumpkin. However, unlike actual pumpkins, this pumpkin sported a metallic, faceted surface. It was sparkling and transparent, like pure diamond that had been cut and shaped by a jeweller. Its stalk which was curved, was gold coloured. Martian continued, "The Diamond Pumpkin from the land of Bism to stand in for the Underworld Domain. However, visiting Bism is STRICTLY forbidden as the underworlders aren't keen on having overworlders visiting their domain but don't worry, Wan has that covered."

"Have any on the aboveground actually visited the place?" asked Kushanku.

"Yes but only a handful," said Martian before nodding the white Nine-Tailed Kumiho standing near him, "Wan has been there before and is always welcome. Bism is accessible via the Bifrost Transporter but NO Son of Adam or Daughter of Eve has EVER ventured into the deepest bowels of Narnia in ALL of history... EVER. Anyway, continuing, nine and last of all..." the screen then turned and showed the final ingredient for the Nine-Realms Potion. This ingredient resembled a carrot but appeared to be miscoloured. Instead of orange, the carrot was azure blue, white, black and red-orange, almost vermillion. Martian described it.

"...the Cardinal-Root Carrot that grows in the fields of the Cardinal Kingdoms, which are the Kingdoms of the Azure Dragons, Vermillion Firebirds, Black Turtles and White Tigers. Father Christmas and his Christmas assistants live in the Northern Kingdom's snowy mountains and only leave there when it is Christmas time to deliver presents."

Then after explaining the nine ingredients, the screen went blank and Martian withdrew his stick. He then gazed at the listeners, a serious look on his face.

"And that is ALL the nine ingredients that form the Nine-Realms Potion," he said, "Now the next important part is gathering these ingredients and making the antidote. However, that will NOT be an easy task to accomplish as it means travelling to these places and confronting the dangers on the way. The Bifrost Transporter will help to save time but from the Transport Pads, you will have to make the sub-journeys manually, and we WILL have to use it as we do NOT have time for delays. The clock is ticking and Your High King's health and life are at stake."

The listeners shuddered as Martian continued his warnings. "You lot will be stringently tested on the way and you MUST resist ANY temptation that may arise. The most hazardous places are the Forbidden Cave of the Treasure of Vanity on the Narnian Moon and the Garden of Youth and the inappropriate consumption of its fruit. You MUST stay focussed and defeat the darkness within yourselves, especially greed and coveting, lest you face potential death on your quests."

"Some of the previous quest goers have paid the fatal price while gathering the ingredients for the previous victims of Jadis' Poisoning," Wan interjected, "An Ordinary Talking Fox was buried alive when he touched the forbidden treasure in the Forbidden Cave of the Treasure of Vanity while the rest of his team made it out just in time with the lunar mushrooms. He had given in to his greed for precious metal and gem things and had seized a golden plate from the treasure pile. The Cave Mouth had instructed the team to touch NOTHING but the lunar mushrooms and he disobeyed that command."

The faces of some of the listeners fell, those with erect ears (such as the Cats) lowering them as well, in dejection when they heard this. Martian continued.

"Of the five previous cases of Jadis' Poisoning, only two had had the Nine-Realms Potion made and administered just in time," he said, "The King and the Black Turtle chief. However, the other three including the Nine-Tailed Kitsune, had died when the quest goers failed to gather the nine ingredients in time or at all, either because of the lack of cooperation of the teammates with the temptations, or distractions, either slowing down or stopping the goers from getting the ingredients and returning with them. As I've said before," the Little Green Man's face hardened, "Temptations and distractions are time costly as they can cause delays or complications. That is why you MUST stay focussed on these quests at ALL times. Now you lot have a VERY important choice to make regarding the treatment of your High King, a choice that will mean the difference between life and death for him."

Crestfallen gases formed on the listeners as the Little Green Man continued, a stern look on his face, "Either you go on these trips, gather the ingredients and make this potion to cure your High King of his poisoning, restore his health and save his life... OR refuse to go on these quests, allow Jadis' Poisoning to run its course and take your High King's life, which will result in DIRE consequences for you and your kingdom. Remember that your four Monarchs had been crowned Kings and Queens of Narnia by the Great Lion himself as per the Golden Age Prophecy..."

The listeners took a moment to take in this VERY important take-it-or-leave-it decision until finally; they made their choice and discussed it amongst themselves.

"We CERTAINLY can't leave High King Peter to die," said Kushanku.

"We have no other options," said Hagrid seriously.

"Or choice," put in Alestomeria.

"We're gonna HAVE to go on these trips, even if it means risking our lives," said Alexandrite seriously.

"After all," put in Paddy, "As you have said, Martian, the Great Lion has crowned the four Pevensies to be Kings and Queens of Narnia and it will be a cowardly choice to let one of them,, especially the High King, to die a PAINFUL death."

"Well, if it means that," said Sordward, drawing his rapier, standing on the table and pointing his rapier into the air, "I'm in."

"We're in too," said Sheilbert. Athos, Porthos and Aramis cried out in agreement and with that, they drew their rapiers and touched the tip of Sordward's. When Squea'tagnan remained silent, Athos gazed at him. "Squea'tagnan, you're in this too," prompting the young trainee Mouse warrior to draw his rapier and join his with the other Mice's. Rattus and Mjölnir stood up and showed their agreement. This rolled out through the rest of the group and they stood up and many, including Kushanku with his GC Sword, drew their weapons to show that they were going to go on these quests, though some of the younger members such as Eosinophil and Basophil, remained seated. Smiles formed on Martian and his group's faces and muzzles. Hagrid and Alestomeria also smiled.

"You have made the RIGHT choice," said the lead Little Green Man, "Now, let's dismiss the meeting and either allocate you into groups or have you choose which quest you will be going on," as he said this, Alcina the red, violet, purple and gold Three-Tailed Kitsune came in, a curious look on her face. Then the sounds of chairs scraping on the floor and the pattering of various feet filled their air as the group disembarked. Some of the younger members stayed behind.

"Basophil, Eosinophil, you're gonna come too," called Neutrophil. His brother and sister exchanged looks, picked up their main weapons and left after the group.

As the group walked along, King Edmund came up to Martian, Alestomeria and Hagrid. "What about the search-and-destroy missions and the rescue of the kidnapped victims taken out to sea?"

"We're gonna include those in the allocations of the task, Your Majesty," replied Martian, "Additionally, we're gonna track down whoever has sold that cursed cake in the first place and get them arrested."

"Ah, Alcina, you're just in time," said Hagrid, "Can you come with us please? We might need your help."

Alcina flashed a look of confusion before finally complying and joining the group. Then the group went on its way to another hall for allocation and division into subgroups for each task and quest. However, the Bism quest for the Diamond Pumpkin had already been covered by Wan the Kumiho and he will be the one to go there and visit the deepest bowels of Narnia's underground to collect one.