Chapter 37- Horrifying discoveries part 1
Three of the ingredients for the Nine-Realms Potion have been obtained so far: an apple from the Garden of Youth on the Land, some rainbowberries from the Sky Domain and some lunar mushrooms from the Narnian Moon. However, five more of the nine exclusive ingredients had also been obtained by the quest-goers, the tasks being achieved by certain individuals. Like Kushanku, Beaver's group and Eosinophil and Basophil, the obtainers faced serious and deadly obstacles and challenges. In the underworld in the deepest bowels of the Narnian world, Wan the Kumiho and his Green Men assistants had managed to obtain a diamond pumpkin in Bism but the Kumiho had to face a Fire Nekomata guardian which very nearly brutally injured the Kistune relative. With a fearsome Fire Nekomata guardian, getting a Bismese diamond pumpkin was a life-risking challenge. Another group had managed to obtain the ingredient exclusive to the Cardinal Kingdom Domain, the Cardinal root carrot. But to obtain this carrot-like ingredient the obtainer or obtainers had to face a guardian of the garden containing the vegetables, much like how Wan had to face a guardian but they had to deal with the guardian and obtain the carrot within a set time limit. The Cardinal root carrot was one of the deadliest ingredients to obtain due to a time limit as once the attempted-obtainers ran out of time, they would either be injured or even killed but that group had managed to outwit the guardian, which a Troll-like Giant, and escape the grounds in the nick of time. Ahhuayo the Ahuizotl, Teal'c the Kamaitachi and their group had obtained the ingredient exclusive to the Celestial Dome, the star fruit. However, like with almost every other ingredient for the Nine-Realms Potion, the star fruit garden had a guardian, a giant black fish-like blob creature that resembled a mathematical fractal of our world that was not only physically strong, but also capable of causing psychological confusion. It had the ability to generate fractal-like swirls that induce dizziness and confusion in visitors as part of testing their ability to remain focussed, but it was NOT an easy thing to accomplish. The fractal swirls and patterns can be SO overwhelming that visitors can be tempted to turn and flee. That nearly happened to most of the visitors in Ahhuayo's group including Ahhuayo himself as he was overwhelmed by the swirls to the point of feeling physically sick from the extreme dizziness induced by the swirls Teal'c managed to fight past these swirls and seize a star fruit. The guardian, called a Mandel-Fish (a creature resembling a similarly-named fractal pattern in our world that lived in the Celestial Domain), then sopped its swirls and allowed the visitors to leave with their fruit and they were escorted back to the Narnian Moon by a group of Aurora Sprites and some Star People for transport back to their home Land. In the Narnian sea, Macherel, Dorado and Pearl's group had managed to get some silvery sea kelp and had to face a sea monster while deep in the Abyssal Zone, Quark, Teal'c's son, and his group (who travelled by a magical sub) had to face the guardian beast Cthulu in order to access the underwater kingdom of Atlantis to obtain some silver-water (which wasn't really silver but was transparent and pure much like the water surrounding the lunar mushroom garden in the depths of the Forbidden Cave of the Treasures of Vanity on the Narnian Moon had been). Upon entry into Atlantis and once they were escorted to the silver-water fountain and springs, the group then had to deal with some deadly booby traps during entry into the chamber of the silver-water. However, once inside, they obtained about a litre of the silver-water and exited the chamber. They were then sent on their way from Atlantis and back out into the Ocean. Thus, five more ingredients for High King Peter's antidote had been obtained. Just one more to go and that was the corona-flower on the Narnian Sun, to be obtained.
Back in Cair Paravel in the Land Domain, hope was deteriorating alongside the health of a certain individual as his condition caused by Jadis' Poisoning continued to worsen. High King Peter was now beginning to display more horrific symptoms of the condition. He was not only weak and unable to talk except utter slurred noises, but he was also beginning to show more disturbing symptoms of the Poisoning, including confusion, feeling and being sick, and a temperature. His carers worked to keep his temperature down, hydrated and fed. However, they could not feed the High King with regular, solid food as he would just throw it back up; he had lost the ability to eat normally and normal food as well. Instead, they fed High King Peter liquid food via a tube but eventually, even that will fail as the poor High King continued to deteriorate and soon, he will become unable to consume anything at all. The carers and also everyone else in Cair Paravel and in the rest of the country in general, were growing increasingly worried for their High King and hoped that the quest goers would soon return with the nine ingredients to make his exclusive antidote in time, especially Martian as he helped to continue to care for the deteriorating High King Peter. Those most affected were King Edmund, Queen Susan and Hagrid and Alestomeria and they were growing ever more disturbed by High King Peter's new symptoms. However, they knew they had to remain focussed on the other important tasks, such as the search-and-destroy missions, finding and rescuing the kidnapped young who were (definitely) being shipped out into the Eastern Ocean by Jadis' surviving minions, and awaiting the return of the quest goers to make the Nine-Realms Potion. Chrystós the Gold-Fleeced Ram and his group continued interrogating the Elf called Pettigrew about where and why the victims were being shipped out into the Ocean but still the stubborn Elf refused to speak. Pettigrew was by now in a serious state. He was severely incapacitated by Talking Platypus venom and had been beaten and punished but STILL he refused to speak and Chrystós was rapidly losing patience. Something has got to give at some point.
The Narnian Sun
The main daytime light source for the magical and fantasy Narnian world was the Narnian Sun. However, unlike our world's sun which was a burning ball of hot gases and plasma, Narnia's sun was an actual globe with its own landscapes and ecosystems. It was partially gaseous but some parts of it were solid. Valleys and mountains existed on the Sun and various plants, two obvious being the fire-flower and the fire berry (which Star People used to retain their youth), and another, the fiery disc tree which resembled the sky lily trees that grew in the Sky Domain, grew largely in these areas. The Narnian Sun, however, didn't have very many fauna and sentient inhabitants. In fact it had the least diversity of fauna species than any of the other Domains of Narnia. One sentient inhabitant was a creature called the Sunling. Sunlings were strange creatures and unlike most creatures, they did not have a head and a body. They only had a head which was fluffy and round with the fur, coloured either bright orange for the males and yellow for the females, resembling fire. Below their heads a pair of stilt-like legs descended and ended in pad-like feet. These feet were red coloured. From the tops of their heads emerged antennae, the stalks coloured deep pink and the spherical clubs coloured bright orange. Sunlings did not have arms and instead used their antennae as arms instead. They had simple faces with white eyes with black pupils and a mouth. Sunlings bred via eggs and their diet was largely fire berries, fire-flowers, sun tribbles (fluffy creatures which reproduced like aphids), Fire and Solar Element-Flies (strange insects that have multiple Elemental forms depending on where they were raised and what diet they had as larvae) and pink fire bugs and they lived in close-knit families and groups. They normally stuck together but Sunlings would leave their groups to visit friends in other groups or to seek marriage partners to avoid inbreeding.
The Narnian Sun was guarded by the Rainbow Serpent and it sometimes visited the Narnian Sun to check on the flora and fauna and it rarely got visitors from other domains than the Celestial Domain in which Star People would come to buy some fire berries and other products from Sunling merchants who had established a good relationship with the Stars and the other Celestial Domain creatures, except a few like the Noodle-and-Meatball Monsters. However, the Narnian Sun was being visited by travellers from the Land Domain seeking one exclusive ingredient that grew ONLY on the Sun, the corona-flower.
Kobaruto, the widowed Bakeneko and brother-in-law to Kushanku, Alexandrite and Padparadscha "Paddy", and his group including Miidori, Sunstone, Moonstone and Merida, the former being one of Kushanku and Alexandrite's daughters and the latter three, Paddy and her late husband Satoshi and three of Kushanku's nieces, after arriving on the Sun via a Flying Saucer and escorted by some Sunlings to a valley called Corona-Flower Valley from a village, had managed to arrive at the entrance to the Corona-Flower Garden. However, they had to negotiate some traps through the valley to arrive here and several members, among them another Bakeneko, had been badly injured and had to be returned to the nearby village for treatment, and Merida had suffered a broken arm. However, she refused to give up and continued with the others, her injured arm put into a sling by a Sunling medic. It had been VERY frightening and frustrating for the group and Kobaruto had been tempted to turn back once or twice but finally, they made it to the gates of the garden. A Sunling guardian, a male sunling who was coloured neon orange, stood by the gates as a gatekeeper. However, he was also a key-keeper and next to him on a glowing yellow-orange shelf was an assortment of keys. The gates to the Corona-Flower Garden, which glistened a metallic orange, was padlocked, that padlock being bright yellow but it resembled any ordinary padlock with a clip and a keyhole. Through the bars of the gates were the corona-flowers themselves. They resembled bright orange and red sun-like hibiscus flowers and glowed brightly like the Narnian Sun itself. Kobaruto peered through the gates at the flowers.
"Well, here we are, folks," he told his companions, some of them being Song Flutterbirds, brightly coloured birds with orange-yellow beaks, bellies and feet, and a red Flower Mandrake who had decided to come on this quest. Kobaruto continued. "There's just one thing left to do."
"It's padlocked though," said Merida with a paw point to the padlock. Kobaruto gazed at the lump of a rare bright yellow Narnian Sun-exclusive material called Sol-alloy.
"Don't worry, Merida," he told his Nekomata niece, "All this lock needs is a key."
"Don't be fooled by its innocent and simple appearance, Land visitor," said the Sunling guardian seriously. Kobaruto, Miidori, Sunstone, Moonstone and Merida and the others with them gazed at the fiery orange pom-pom like creature with legs and antennae.
"Then why are these gates not as safe as they seem?" asked the second one.
"You must choose ze correct key for ze padlock to enter ze garden," said the guardian. Sunlings spoke in a somewhat strange accent but they had their own set of languages and dialects. They often replaced 'th' with 'z'. The guardian then gestured with a bright pink and red antenna to the assortment of keys on the shelf next to him, "and zat key is among zese keys. ONLY one is correct but you must figure out which one of zese is the right one," the Sunling's face then morphed into a VERY serious look, "But be VERY careful; if you choose ze wrong one and insert it into zat padlock, ze consequences can be DIRE."
Kobaruto, Miidori, Sunstone, Moonstone and Merida and the few others with them flinched with a jolt of nerves at this warning. Then Moonstone went over to the assortment of keys to examine them closer. To her surprise, she saw that the handles of all the keys, coloured bright yellow and orange were sculpted into the shapes of a variety of different cats. Some had the full body and others, simply the head. There were Jaguars, Tigers, Regular Cats, Nekomata, Bakeneko and other Cat-type-styled handled keys present.
"All these keys' handles are shaped after a variety of different Cats," said she. She then picked up one of them that had the head of a Tiger sculpted onto its handle. The key itself glinted a gold colour. However, she did not have the intention of inserting this key into the lock. She only wanted to examine one of them closer.
"Why different Cats?" asked Sunstone. The guardian explained.
"Zese keys are to do wi' ze Fiery Cat King," he replied. Confusion welled within Kobaruto, Miidori, Sunstone, Moonstone and Merida and their companions.
"Fiery Cat King?" repeated Miidori, her head tipped to one side and an eyebrow raised. Then a Red Song Flutterbird spoke.
"Wait, I think he means Aslan," said he, "I read in a book somewhere that the Sunlings call Aslan the Fiery Cat King."
The Sunling guardian smiled and nodded to confirm that this was correct.
"Oh, right," said Miidori with joy, "Then that means that the correct key to unlock that padlock on those Corona-Flower Garden gates must be the one whose handle is shaped like a..." suddenly, another member, a Talking Rat like Rattus and hid group that had gone with Kushanku and company to the Sky Domain to get some rainbowberries, rushed in and rudely knocked Miidori out of the way. Miidori was sent stumbling and collapsing to the floor at the feet of the Sunling guardian. ANGER ignited within the others as the Talking Rat brashly seized one of the keys
"OOI!" Miidori yelled as the Rat then boldly went to the gates with the key.
"That was NOT..." began Kobaruto but then he was knocked aside by the Rat as well. Then the Rat inserted the key into the padlock and turned it.
"I've always thought of Aslan as a cutesy lickle Housecat," the Talking Rodent crooned mockingly and as he removed his paws from the key, he revealed he had chosen one of the keys whose handle was a Housecat sculpture. Sunstone went to rebuke the Talking Rat.
"THAT is an UTTERLY DISRESPECTFUL and BLASPHEMOUS remark about ASLAN you've just said, Igoe," the Nekomata scolded. However, a prideful smile formed on the Rat named Igoe's muzzle to the disgust of Sunstone and the others. Then a Blue Song Flutterbird came forward.
"Didn't that Sunling guardian tell us to be EXTREMELY careful about these keys, Igoe?" the Blue Bird warned. Igoe, however, didn't reply while the others in the group exchanged disgusted looks. Igoe clearly thought it was a joke to call Aslan a Housecat but it was NOT at ALL funny as we'll see why in a minute. A minute past and still nothing happened, yet. The group gazed at the padlock to see if its clip will pop out of its bright yellow body. Igoe looked on with a mocking smile but then something happened which made him and the others except the Sunling guardian flinch. The Housecat key dropped out of the padlock by itself and clattered onto the floor but what happened next, sent UTMOST waves of disturbance coursing through the group, especially Kobaruto, Miidori, Sunstone, Moonstone and Merida. A SHARP pain ripped through Igoe's body and the Talking Rat released a cry and doubled over, his eyes screwed shut. Sunstone, anger flashing to concern, went over to him to inspect him.
"Igoe, are you alright?" she asked, "Talk to me!"
Igoe raised his head and gazed at the Nekomata whose fur colours and scheme were similar to the Narnian sun including a sun-like marking on her belly with a pained face.
"I feel..." he began but then something disturbing began to happen to his voice, "I... I... squeak... squeak..." an alarmed look flared on Sunstone's face.
"WHAT'S HAPPENING TO HIM!?" she demanded to the others. Kobaruto came over to Igoe as squeaks continued to escape his mouth as he tried to talk. However, the only sounds that he could produce were mere squeaks, like those of a regular rat. Then Igoe, frightened, was forced onto all fours and he scurried off, acting purely on instinct without any sentient input and running into Merida and knocking her down. Merida gasped as the Rat then ran into a wall and scrabbled up it, frightened squeaks continuously escaping his mouth. Then something HORRIFIC began to happen to the Rat and his body. His fur, which was brown, suddenly flashed to grey and the Rat began to age rapidly. Merida and the others, but most ESPECIALLY Merida, uttered screams and terrified squawks and cries as they watched the Rat continued to age utterly fast. Merida, a TERRIFIED look on her face and frightened screams escaping her mouth, scurried into Kobaruto's arms while the Red Flower Mandrake, disturbed, looked away. Miidori, Sunstone and Moonstone also shielded their faces as the Rat finally crumpled to dust. Within a few minutes, it was over and the group slowly removed their paws and wings to gaze at Igoe, or his remains. Then the Sunling guardian solemnly said, "Ze Talking Rat chose... poorly."
There were a few minutes of horrified silence gripping the group until finally, the Flower Mandrake spoke.
"He-he-he just... t-t-turned into a-a-a n-n-non-Talking R-R-R-Rat..." the little colourful ground Dryad spoke in a tremulous voice. Then a glare formed on Kobaruto's face.
"I think it's because he mocked Aslan by calling him a 'lickle Housecat' and as a result, he lost his status as a Talking Beast," the Bakeneko said. He then turned his glare to the assortment of keys and boldly went over to them. As he searched the variety of Cat-sculpted handled keys, he continued, "But calling Aslan some Housecat is NO JOKE. THAT was among the caustic insults the White Witch and her cronies heaped upon the Great Lion as part of their VILE mockery of him before they killed him on the Stone Table. It is in fact BLASPHEMOUS to call Aslan some cute Housecat or any other tameable cat as Aslan is NOT a tame Lion and CERTAINLY NOT some cuddly plush cat..." he then found a key whose handle was shaped like a Lion's head, complete with a mane, and took it. Kobaruto then went over to the padlocked gates, inserted the Lion's head key into the padlock's keyhole and without hesitation turned it, "EVERYONE should KNOW that Aslan takes the form of a FEARSOME LION, NOT some CUTE AND CUDDLY HOUSECAT," he then backed away to see what would happen, angst welling within the others, especially Miidori, Sunstone, Moonstone and Merida as they expected their Bakeneko uncle to face the same fate as Igoe; reversion into a regular dumb cat and then disintegration into dust. Like Regular Talking Beasts, Magical Talking Animals like Nekomata, Bakeneko, Kitsune and their relatives, Pegasi and the other Animal-based Beasts were formed by Aslan from regular dumb animals, so the 'from dumb beasts you were taken, to dumb beasts you will return' warning andpunishment applied to them as well. For all other creatures like Dwarfs, Centaurs and chimeric Magical Creatures like Manticores, their fate was different. Instead of reverting to dumb beasts like the Talking Animals, they instead aged rapidly and turned to dust. It was a TERRIFYING fate to face, especially for the Talking Beasts, both Regular and Magical. A previous visitor to the Corona-Flower Garden, a Noodle-and-Meatball Monster had faced this terrifying fate when he mocked Aslan and deliberately chose the wrong key for the gate's padlock. Due to Noodle-and-Meatball Monsters, sometimes referred to as Flying Spaghetti Monsters, being non-Animal Beings, they simply faced the rapid and painful aging and disintegration into dust. It was a fate as terrifying as being reverted to a dumb beast.
Kobaruto and the others continued to wait for their result, the Lion's head key in the padlock. One minute passed, and then another until finally, the padlock's clip clicked out of its body and the gates became unlocked. The Sunling guardian looked on with a smile.
"Ze Bakenko chose... wisely," he said to the UTMOST relief of the group. Then without wasting any more time, the group entered the Garden, two Song Flutterbirds carrying a capsule. Then after a few minutes, Kobaruto and company were out of the garden, having picked four of the corona-flowers and placed them straight into the capsule. Like every other ingredient for the Nine-Realms Potion, the corona-flower was deadly or had deadly consequences when selfishly consumed. As the group prepared to return to the village at the entrance to Corona-Flower Valley, the Sunling guardian warned them to guard the corona-flowers carefully and bade them farewell.
Meanwhile
A certain group of Magical Creatures and Talking Beasts continued through a series of vents and more rooms in the still-unknown location. Among this group led by Talking Red Panda twins Rei and Akari were Malachite, Elsa, Seishan, Yardang, Rainbow Quartz, Lymphocyte and Sisu and they continued this perilous journey with the group including Arezu the Kangaroo, Tektite the Wampus Cat, Laminin the Skvader and her pet dumb Spitfire Bird Scoville, Cubozoa the Ichthyo-Centaur, Eleven the Blue Windrunner, Misty the Gannetwhale, Louie the Babookari and many others. The group was now under immense pressure to keep well-hidden and avoid detection now. Their disappearance had been alerted and now, Dolores the Spider-like creature's cronies were fiercely hunting for them. Because of this, NONE of the members could put one foot, paw, flipper, fin, hoof or talon wrong. If that happened, it was over for all of them.
The group continued through another vent until they eventually came to a room. This room was massive and had a smooth, tiled floor, worktops, and tools hung along a few bars hung on the walls. A few tables and chairs dotted the room as well. Rei, Akari and Malachite who were at the front of the line, peered out into the room from a vent exit between two blocks of worktops.
"This is one of the kitchens," whispered Rei as he took in the room. Akari then looked ceiling-ward and saw some lone horizontal beams running from the wall nearest to the group and into the room.
"Kitchen?" repeated Malachite. Laminin and Scoville appeared with Lymphocyte and Yardang.
"Yes, a kitchen," said the Skvader, before a serious look appeared on her face, "But it is NOT just any type of kitchen you're familiar with."
Malachite was about to ask why when suddenly, the two Red Pandas commanded them to back into the vent. Moments later, a creature came by. This creature was a huge Humanoid. It was so big that it made Rei, Akari, Malachite and company look like mice in comparison of size. The Humanoid resembled a Troll and it was dressed in an outfit. A white cylinder with a puffy topping rose from its head and down its front draped a large white cloth, its tip reaching almost to its enormous feet. This Troll-like creature was hideous- looking. Its face was gnarly and riddled with warts and growths. More lesions were present on its hands and feet. Its skin was a sickly pale grey, like those of rocks. Its nose was like a rocky outcrop protruding from its face and its chin was bulbous and warty. Its eyes were large and glaring, an unsettling gaze present as it looked around for something. It then turned to another large creature wearing something white on its head and down its front and went over to it. There were other creatures present in this room, also dressed with white hats and front overalls and some of them resembled oversized Humans. However, there were smaller creatures the size of Rei and Akari's group present and they worked on the giant worktops. These were more Candy Woodland Creatures and small Lanky-Limbed Teddies and they seemed to be the workmates of the massive Giants and Trolls.
Rei and Akari, upon seeing the creature which appeared to be a Troll leave, slowly exited the vent. Then they commanded Malachite and the others to quickly head for one of the worktops and start climbing, and they immediately did. They were going to sneak through the kitchen using the above beams rather than on the floor where they would be spotted by the workers, cooks, here. As Malachite climbed up a worktop, her heart pounding in her chest with trepidation and angst from the trip, and on to its surface before ascending a stack of hard boxes to a beam, she gazed at Cubozoa as he was helped up by two Yellow Rappies and a Talking Pitohui.
"There are Giants in this kitchen along with those Trolls and the smaller Candy Woodland Animals and the Lanky Limbed Teddies?" asked she. At first, Cubozoa didn't answer but when Malachite asked again, the Ichthyo-Centaur grouchily relented.
"Yes, Tiger-Stripes," said he to Malachite's irritation at what he had just called her, "Some of the bigger chefs here are Giants from a region called Harfang. They have been hired by that Dolores creature to dome and work here."
"Harfang?" said Malachite, "Isn't that...?" suddenly, Tulio the Spix macaw came up behind her and firmly nudged her.
"Hey, keep going, fork-tailed Tiger," the Blue Parrot growled, "You're holding everyone UP!"
Malachite sourly resumed the trip and did not ask any more questions.
Soon, the entire group was crawling like ants along the horizontal ceiling beams and hiding behind stacks of plates placed up here. As they crossed the dangerous kitchen which was populated by Trolls, Giants and the smaller creatures as they continued to carry out their kitchen-based jobs such as cooking, processing food and tidying the kitchen itself, the group moved along, their wary eyes on the chefs. On one table sat atop a bigger one, a Lemon Rabbit chef was tenderizing some meat, a blocky hammer-like tool in its paw slamming into it repeatedly. Nearby, a Giant looked over it as though waiting for it to finish tenderizing the meat slab. Rainbow Quartz stopped briefly to gaze at the Lemon Rabbit and the Giant and moved on, not wanting to hold up the line. These beams were only wide enough for a single-file line and Rei and Akari's group had to move along like this. None of the flying creatures dare take to the air or their wing-flaps would alert the chefs. It was indeed a dangerous part of the journey and some feared falling from the beams and into the kitchen in full view of the chefs below and as Rainbow Quartz took in the details of more Giant chefs, she realised that these Giants were from a place called Harfang as Cubozoa mentioned before. Harfang Giants were notorious for dining on a variety of creatures. Reports from survivors of their diet included various Talking Beasts, Humanoids such as Dwarfs, Marsh-wiggles and Curupira, and even Magical Creatures like the noble Kirin, Black Turtles (one of the Four Cardinal Kingdom Creatures) and more disturbingly, Humans, and Rainbow Quartz remembered a Deathgleaner who had participated in the rescue of some Candy Fairies and Talking Birds who had been kidnapped and taken to Harfang bringing back such a report, and it was rumoured that those Giants had a cookbook filled with instructions on how to cook the various creatures. Now seeing Harfang Giants in this place had sent the Pegasus Mare's nerves into a wild shudder and her blood's temperature plummeting. It was becoming clearer and clearer that this place was NOT the innocent paradise and safe place it seemed. This disturbance also shook the nerves of Malachite, Elsa, Seishan, Yardang, Lymphocyte and Sisu and they stared at the Harfang Giant chefs as they worked with the Troll chefs in their tasks. However, there was more to come. Anxious, the group moved on.
After crossing the dangerous kitchen without being seen by the both the small and giant chefs and entering another vent, the group continued until they came to another room full of more dumb pigs and donkeys, all of them braying and oinking in terror and despair. Seeing the presence of more of these animals sent more shivers down Sisu's spine but that was not all. As the group crossed the room above via another beam, the Kiriness stopped to gaze at one donkey as it was led away by another creature, this time a Lanky Teddy Bear, to behind an opaque-but-lit panel. Sisu could not see for the Teddy Bear chef was only in silhouette. However, she could tell from the movements of the shadows what was happening. Sisu flinched when she saw one of the arms of the Teddy rise and then come back down quickly on where the donkey was behind the screen. She couldn't tell what had happened to the donkey visually but she deduced that that donkey had been killed, but whatever for? Unnerved and disturbed, Sisu moved on with the others.
After passing over or through three more rooms and a few more vents, the group eventually arrived at another room. This room was different once again from all the rest that Malachite and company had seen previously. It was wide, had tables and chairs, and was decorated elaborately. As Malachite and her small group took in the objects in the room, they realised it was some sort of restaurant or dining place. Countless tables and chairs, some massive as though built for giant creatures like Giants, were present, all of them decorated with elaborate and colourful cushions and cloths. Many of these garments had gold and silver stripes and spots on them and they appeared to have been coloured wit rare dyes such as scarlet and purple. There were carpets on the floor and wall decorations. Dangling from the ceilings of the massive dining room were elaborate lamps and they gently swung. Those lamps' frames were gold coloured and encrusted with spots of rare gems. Malachite and company then noticed some of the chairs and tables were occupied by some creatures. Some of these creatures appeared bipedal with some dressed in royal-like clothes but due to their distance from the tables and chairs, they could not make out their features that well. However, they seemed to be eating something but the way they ate was not at all like the polite way visitors to a wise king's banquet would eat. Instead of eating properly, those creatures ate like animals, stuffing down large quantities of whatever edible materials that was in front of them. Malachite, Elsa, Seishan, Yardang, Rainbow Quartz, Lymphocyte and Sisu winced in disgust at how the creatures ate but Rei and Akari were unsurprised.
"What is this place?" Seishan spoke in a low, unnerved whisper.
"The guest dining room," replied Rei darkly, "it is where visitors from the outside come here to indulge in the carnal behaviour of gluttony. There are quite a few of these guest dining rooms here."
"Are they the only type of room present for guests to eat like dumb animals?" asked Elsa.
"No," said Akari, "there are other room types for the outsider 'guests' to go and indulge in other dumb animal-like pleasures but I will NOT mention those areas. They are WAY too disturbing to talk about."
"You would NOT wanna hear about those areas anyway," put in Kenai the Tizheruk seriously, "Now no more questions and let's move on!"
Seishan and Elsa flinched at the way the Seal-Snake said these sentences and abandoned the idea of finding out more about these 'other room types' but it was best for them to NOT know about them anyway. The group quickly rushed through the dining guest room, avoiding detection by the 'guests' as they continued to eat their meals gluttonously and the waiters, more Candy Woodland Creatures and Lanky-Limbed Teddies and a few Spider-Trains who served them the food which Malachite and company soon found out was largely meat, and eventually came to another entrance to another vent. They quickly entered into it and crawled through another vent tunnel. Rei and Akari led the group to another room but as the first ones exited the vent, something quite mystifying happened. As Malachite and Yardang exited the vent with Tulio the Spix macaw and Kovu and his Slugcat group, tremors suddenly began to shake the room and the vent. Picture frames hanging from the wall of the room began to swing as did a lamp hanging from the ceiling. The group was startled.
"What's GOING ON!?" demanded Malachite as she struggled to retain her balance from the shuddering.
"Is it an earthquake?" asked Yardang as he clung onto Tulio to his annoyance. Rei and Akari's faces were indifferent as were the faces of many of the other members.
"Oh, no, Cheetah," said Roux the Oran Pandek sternly as she clutched the lip of the vent to keep her balance, "This is no earthquake..."
Yardang gazed at the small red-furred Ape in confusion but then the group felt the room begin to ascend. Remember the feeling of going up in a lift or elevator in our world? It is just like that.
"We're GOING UP NOW!?" cried Seishan as she and her twin sister Elsa struggled to stay standing up. They and more creatures unsteadily exited the vent and into the room. Rei and Akari didn't reply and began to look for another exit in the room. The room and surroundings continued to shake and rise until finally, the shaking and rising stopped. Malachite and company quickly regained their balance. A rush of water could also be heard, like that of a waterfall but that stopped after a while.
"What WAS that?" asked Malachite again with Elsa, Seishan, Yardang, Rainbow Quartz, Lymphocyte and Sisu, seized with surprise by the whole ordeal, looking around in confusion, especially at the waterfall-like sound. An earthquake, followed by the feeling of ascension accompanied by the sound of a waterfall did not make sense at all. Rei and Akari once again didn't answer as their eyes eventually landed on something.
"Over there," said Rei. Malachite and company turned and saw, to their surprise, a hole in the wall. This hole in the wall was round and reminded Malachite of a type of window she had seen on a type of boat called a porthole. A screen of transparent material filled in the hollow and through it shone a bright beam of light. This indicated that this hole was in fact a window but Malachite and company were confused by the bright beam of light shining through it and into the room. And Rei and Akari wanted the group to go to it and they did.
"We're gonna have to be VERY quick once we exit this room via that porthole," said the male Red Panda seriously, "This opportunity won't last."
"Why do we have to be quick?" asked Sisu.
"No questions, Kirin," snapped Akari, "Just prepare to exit this room via that window."
Sisu released a sour huff and reluctantly obeyed. The group gathered at the porthole and Kovu took out some sort of stiff stick from his satchel. He then began to fiddle with some type of lock on the porthole, Malachite and her little group looking on in wonder. Then after a few more seconds, Kovu managed to unlock the porthole and open the window. A rush of air surged into the room like a breeze and through the now-open porthole, a few drops of water dripped. As the breeze entered the mouths and noses of Malachite and company, they winced.
"This air is... salty," grunted Lymphocyte with surprise but Roux barked at him to prepare to get moving as Rei, with the help of Arezu, helped Kovu and his Slugcat gang through the porthole. As soon as the young Slugcats had disappeared through the porthole, Arezu turned to Malachite and company.
"You lot next, you seven," said the young Kangaroo and with that, she extended a paw. Malachite and company exchanged looks and went along with Arezu's request, especially with the glares of Rei, Akari and the others with them converging on them. Seishan and Elsa decided to go first and with Rei and Arezu's help and with the Red Panda and the Kangaroo serving as some form of elevated step, the twins were hoisted to the porthole. Seishan climbed out first but the moment her upper body emerged from the porthole, she was struck in the face by a bright light which made her eyes screw shut, a breeze which ruffled her fur, and the smell of saltiness. The Nekomata winced upon meeting this sight and scent and began to squint off into the distance, her eyes battling against the bright light. However, as she did, she flinched at the scenery. However, she was snapped out of her gaze at the scene.
"There's a large chain to your left," called Rei's voice, "Grab onto it now and start climbing!"
Seishan looked to her left and saw a large series of rings linked together with a group of slender Ferret-like creatures with ears and large black eyes holding onto it and gazing at her and ushering her onto that metallic rope. Seishan reached a paw to the chain and latched onto it. Then she hoisted herself from the porthole and quickly latched her other paw and feet onto the chain and immediately began to ascend it.
Seishan had only climbed a rope a few times in her life so she was an inexperienced climber and suddenly, she found herself in a different cat field. Nerves boiled within Elsa's twin sister's body and she felt her stomach lurch. Furthermore, the smell of salt, the bright light and the water sounds did not help the poor Nekomata and quickly, she began to ascend the chain after Kovu and company. Then as soon as her eyes, which had been used to the dim light within the rooms, became acclimatised to the light level, she took a few seconds to examine the surroundings but as she did, disbelief crashed upon her. Behind Seishan, Elsa emerged and latched onto the chain and she too was hit with stun by the odd smell, sounds and bright light.
"Stay focussed on climbing up the chain, Nekomata," Kovu sharply ordered, "We MUST move fast."
Seishan obediently continued climbing up the chain after the Slugcats as they led the way. The water sounds, smell of salt and the bright light then ignited recognition within Seishan.
"We're out at..." she began but a Slugcat brusquely cut her off with, "Yes, we are Nekomata, now CONTINUE CLIMBING and NO MORE QUESTIONS!"
Seishan flinched and continued her ascent up the chain, Elsa right behind her.
Within moments, a series of various creatures was ascending up the chain. The flyers including Rainbow Quartz hovered nearby and flew up, carrying some members unable to climb up the chain such as Friede the Cassowary and he was carried by the Eclectus Parrots. As the group ascended single file like ants, Malachite who climbed after Sofanthiel with Yardang after her took in the surroundings and the surface beneath her. To her surprise, she saw that the surface was smooth and immensely shiny. It was a vivid yellow and several times, Malachite saw some glittery crystalline spots dotting the surface. She gazed to her right and noticed something unusual. An object was present and as Malachite gazed at it, she realised it was some sort of vessel. That vessel was rocking gently and as Malachite examined the surface on which it sat below, she realised that it was azure blue and glistening like Sisu's scales. However, she did not have time to examine the vessel properly and continued climbing up the chain but it soon dawned upon Malachite and company that they were out at sea. The smell of salt had been from the seawater, the bright light was sunlight and the washing noises had been seawater splashing and lapping at the place Malachite and company had just exited. As soon as Malachite and company realised this, disturbance flared within them but they didn't have time to dwell on this. They HAD to move on.
Unnerved, Malachite, Yardang, Seishan, Elsa, Rainbow Quartz, Sisu and Lymphocyte carried on with their perilous journey with Rei and Akari and company.