Chapter 7: The Nightmare Plane
August 6, 1924 - The Whittaker Home
The Basil Family, their friends, Orson and the good witches, Tsura, Lulu and Fonso step through the portal, into Orson's living room, with Ratigan/Ben's limb body in tow.
"We need to clear a space," Lulu insists and Orson went to work removing the furniture and rugs, with Basil and his children helping out.
There was a loud knock at the door and Olivia answers it to reveal Dawson, Lope, and the Easton sisters. "What's going on?" Dawson asks, but notices the limb body hovering above.
"What is that?!" Suzette cries out.
"Oh! It's…it's…"Nevaeh tries to speak, but Leana ushers to remain quiet and hurries them inside.
"Hello Doctor Dawson," Fonso said, taking out a piece of chalk and began to draw marks on the floor, making it into a kind of pentagram.
"What is going on here?! Is that Ratigan?!" Dawson asks his partner, Basil. The detective and his wife were able to fill in on the details of what had occurred down at the market. "Oh no, not again," the doctor murmurs.
"Oh no! Buddy, c'mon! Fight him like you did last time!" Lope cries out, but the witches usher him to be quiet.
"Again?! Last time?! What do you mean by that?!" Nevaeh shouts and her sister wants to know, too. Leana and her brother, John, and even Lope told the sisters of their family's battles against Ratigan's soul and the souls of his family and ancestor. They even filled in on their friends, the witches, who were still at work on making marks on the floor with chalk and laying various herbs and flowers.
"Oh, you are not kidding, are you?" Suzette asks and the twins shook their heads.
"Nope," Lope said, "I even saw my uncle's soul get obliterated! But lucky, he was reborn as my bully now turned friend's little brother, Fitzroy. I often call him Fidget, but I say it's a slip of the tongue."
"Okay Lope, I think they get the point," John said, patting the top of the bat's head.
"Just what are you doing?" Orson asks the witches.
"It's a protection spell, to keep Ben's body safe from being taken over by Ratigan," Lulu explains and they slowly lay him down in the center. The markings begin to glow and a luminous cage encloses Ben/Ratigan. He appeared to be asleep as he began to snore or growl.
"That'll keep him out for a long while, but we need to get inside his mind in order to remove Ratigan from taking full control. That rotten fiend is not going to stop at nothing," Tsura said to everyone. Then, another portal appears and Lulu and Fonso enter through it.
"What are you doing?" Orson asks.
"We will send the word out. As I said, we need all the help we can get," Fonso replies and the portal closes.
Tsura commands Basil and his family, including Sophie, to take positions around Ben/Ratigan, laying themselves flat on the floor. "Wait, I want to help," Orson said and Dawson, Lope, and the Easton sisters volunteered.
"I'm sorry, but I need at least three of you to keep watch," the witch replies, so Suzette and Nevaeh decide to remain behind.
"I'll stay with them," Dawson said as Orson remained resilient in saving his beloved 'son' and Lope wanted to save his great friend.
"All right everyone, whatever happens, don't let that monster win this time. I'll be right behind you soon," Tsura told everyone.
"Hey," Nevaeh said to John, then he turned to face her, his cheeks turning pink. "Just be careful, I would hate to see you get hurt," she adds and kisses his cheek.
John thought he was going to melt as his knees were wobbling and they eventually gave out. "Ohhhhhh," Lope exclaims, but does his best to hold down a chortle.
"John, get back on your feet," Tsura demands, but he couldn't, so he had to crawl over to the circle. The witch then has the rodents, even the bat, set themselves down in specific spots within the pentagram.
"Elliott, Olivia, kiddos, I believe you know the drill," Tsura said and the Basil family nodded their heads, including Sophie. "Lope and Orson, rest your heads on the floor. The spell I am about to cast will put you in a deep slumber and it'll help you get to the realm where the souls of your loved ones are residing."
"Please! I will do anything to save Ben!" Orson pleads with the witch.
"Orson, I need you to relax," Tsura commands, "I will meet you there, but be aware of your surroundings. Ratigan might be up to something to alter the Heaven realm, change it into something chaotic or horrific. Who knows."
"What about Ben? Is he all right?" Leana asks, but her good friend shakes her head.
"That I don't know. The nightmare beast, that had been born from Ratigan's memories and his flesh, has consumed Ben's body, changing it into Ratigan. He is eager to take over Ben's mind and when that happens, Ben might cease to exist," Tsura explains and Leana's face turns white.
"I'm sorry kiddo, but deep down, I had a feeling that Ilse and even Lamia wanted Ben to be served as a vessel, a new body for Ratigan. With that, that rotten fiend would create more death and destruction," Tsura replies and Orson shoots up to attention.
"WHAT?!" Orson cries out.
"Orson," Basil said and the rat looked at the detective, "We will put a stop to this. We have stopped him twice before. Now, I say we put an end to him, permanently."
Tsura ushers everyone to lie down and begins to chant a spell; then, a bright sphere hovers above them and slumber takes over. One by one, the rodents shut their eyes and the good witch gazed at them, making sure that each of them were asleep.
"I better hurry," she said and looked to Dawson and the Easton sisters, "Keep an eye on them. If anything goes wrong, wake them up. I don't want them to perish in their sleep."
The doctor and the sisters nod, and Tsura summons the portal, entering through it before it closes, again. "They will get through this, I know they will," Dawson said and settled down in a chair, keeping a close eye on his dearest friends.
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Basil awoke to find himself in the Heaven realm, close to his family's home, but nothing seemed out of the ordinary. "Elliott?!" someone called and he turns to see his mother, Sarah with Olivia and her mother, Leana Flaversham. "What's happening?! Is it true that Ratigan is back?!" she asks in a horrified tone.
"It is true, but I am seeing nothing that seems out of place here," Basil replies, looking around. The sky was clear with little clouds and the wind gently blew through the open hills and dirt roads.
"Hiram and the others had gone to warn the Queen and our ancestors. I just hope they will be ready for a fight," Leana Flaversham explains and they turn their heads, noticing that something was missing.
"Elliott, where are John, Leana and Sophie?" Olivia asks and that got his attention.
"They are not with you?!" he asks, but his wife shakes his head. "Where could they have gone?!" he nearly shrieks. The one thing he didn't want to see come true was his children being held by that fiend, Ratigan.
Just then, there was a loud noise coming over the landscape like a tidal wave and a cloud of dust emerged from the forest. No, it was not dust, it looked like a thunderhead, or cumulonimbus. They heard a rumbling noise coming from the enormous wall of darkness and it started to expand across the blue sky.
"What is that, Elliott?" Olivia asks, taking one of his arms.
"I don't know, but there's evil inside of it, I am sure of that," he replies, staring at the towering menace. The cloud was growing and its shadow was covering the land in darkness. Basil then noticed the green grass turning brown, along with the trees, but the leaves fell in fast motion, and the detective knew what it meant. This was a shadow of death and it was sucking the life out of the valley.
"Mother, Leana, take Olivia and get to safety, I'll go and find the children," Basil orders, but his wife becomes horrified by her husband's words.
"What?! No! I am not letting you go out there alone!" Olivia demands, grabbing him by the back of his vest.
"Olivia, this is no time to argue. Just look at what's happening!" he said, pointing to the dying trees.
Olivia shakes her head, then turns away and lets out a loud whistle. There came the galloping of hooves and a bright orb of light appeared from the blue sky that took shape. It was Olivia's white unicorn spirit guardian; it looked pure as the blue sky above.
"You can't find them by yourself, plus a mother's instincts are always right," she insists and both her mother and Basil's mother nodded their heads. Basil looked at the three women mice; he did not want to step on their toes, plus he did admire them for their kindness and care.
He breathes in deep and he, too, lets out a whistle. Another orb of light appeared from the sky and Basil's griffin guardian took shape. It was a giant beast that shined like the sun from its body.
"It's all right," Basil calmed his guardian after it let out gruntled snorts that let out steam. "I should think of a name for you, one that reminds me of a fiery dragon or ferocious beast," he said and the griffin stomped its front lion's foot.
"I named my guardian Brianna, it means strong. Brianna is one of the Celtic goddesses. She is more than pure," Olivia explains and her guardian lets out a nicker.
"I will think of one when we find our children," Basil said and mounted the griffin. Olivia does the same with the unicorn and they go into a gallop, but then the griffin takes flight, and they hurry into the forest where the cloud had come from.
"I just realized something Sarah," Leana Flaversham said and Basil's mother nodded her head.
"I know, they are heading into the Nightmare Plane," Sarah replies, but they had other things to worry about. They searched for anything that could be used as a weapon and hurried back to the valley's main square, where thousands of worried souls had gathered.
The two families then met up with Henry Walker and his family; they were ready to take on another battle with Ratigan. "We'll go and join up with Hiram; this is going to be more serious than the last time," Henry said and the Walker family turn to leave.
"Let's go; the sooner we find our children, the better I'll feel," Basil insists. Olivia and their guardians hurry off, hoping that they were not too late to save their children.
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The Nightmare Plane was humming with the sounds of creatures that only existed in terrible dreams. The dark forest was no place for any mortal soul to venture in, but this was the place where John and Leana Basil found themselves, along with Orson and Lope.
"Jeepers, this place really gives me the creeps," the young bat said.
"We should be heading to the Memory Forest, where everyone's memories are," Leana insists and Orson was surprised by this. He decided not to bother the twins with questions as his agenda was finding Ben, his son, and getting him safely out of Ratigan's clutches.
"We just need to find out exactly where we are," John suggests and Lope volunteers to fly up to the tree line. However, the hellish creatures living in the trees, giant spiders, grim looking monkeys and apes, and even a huge swarm of bats prevented him from reaching the top.
"YIKES!" Lope cried out as the bats went after him and the rodents went into a run. They ran as fast as they could, but the swarm was inching closer.
"Wait a minute!" John exclaims, turning on a dime and hits his fists on the ground. A wall of earth springs up, creating a shield for them, and the bats that hit went into a tizzy towards the ground while the others flew off.
"That was close," John said and he uses his earth magic to harden the wall of dirt. He starts to climb up, with Lope close behind, and they do reach the top.
"What do you see?!" Leana asks.
The two of them did not reply right away; instead, they were stunned by the expansive dark cloud that hovered above and that it was spreading quickly towards the brightness of the Heaven realm.
"I am not seeing the Memory Forest at all," John said and Lope also gave a similar response before they went back down.
"I have no idea where we are," John said to his sister and Orson. Just then, there came the pounding of feet, making the ground tremble beneath them. The four of them went into a fighting stance, but then, a tree came tumbling down behind them.
They turned around and saw a large animal with white fur, enormous claws and big black eyes. "Oh!" John exclaims, "Armel! I am so happy to see you, big boy!" The mouse jumps on his guardian spirit's snout, the polar bear was happy to see him, too.
"What in the name of?!" Orson cries out, falling backwards on his bum.
"It's okay, he is John's guardian spirit," Leana said, trying to calm him down. "In fact, you should have one, too."
"I do?" Orson asks and then, a bright orb appears, taking the shape of a small creature, humming to him. "Is this a will o'the wisp?" he asks, again, but then, it begins to change. Its body grew enormous, but not as big as John's polar bear, and it sprouted four legs, a muzzle, and a bushy tail.
"A fox!" Lope exclaims and the creature circles around its master. Orson was delighted by this, gently petting his guardian spirit.
"A fox is more than a trickster," a voice spoke from above. "They are resourceful and they have the ability to think during times of challenges."
They looked up and saw Fonso and Lulu, gently floating down from the tree tops. "Kids! You're okay!" Lulu exclaims and looks to Orson, "Congratulations, your guardian spirit found its shape."
"Listen, we found something; I think some of the Heavenly residents have formed a mob of some sort," Fonso said and the youngsters were surprised.
"A mob? A mob is not going to help with-" Suddenly, a tree comes crashing down behind them, just as a huge, hairy beast lets out a roar. Armel, John's polar bear, gets into defense position and the young boy mouse climbs on his guardian's back.
"Leana! GO!" he shouts to his sister, "Find mum and dad!" Armel raises himself up on his back legs, his black claws shining and he chomps his jaw, featuring sharp white teeth. The hairy monster responds by nearly catching the bear in its own jaws.
Fonso ushers Lulu and the others to go, while he and John fended off the beast long enough for them to hurry away. Just then, a swarm of black colored hornets buzzed above them; the buzzing was so loud that it hurt Leana's ears.
The insects went after them, but Lulu was able to use her staff to form a protective shield around her, Leana, Lope, and Orson.
"Hold up!" Orson shouts, stopping his tracks and looks to his fox spirit. "What can you do to stop those hornets?" he asks and the fox turns back to face the incoming hornets. The fox then lets a mighty bellow that seem to have come from deep within his throat; the air and even the earth shook and the hornets started to fall to the ground.
"Whoa! Your fox knocked the wind out of them!" Lope exclaims and Orson was overwhelmed by his guardian's talent. He took the fox in his arms, staring into his eyes and a smile formed on his face.
"Hey, do you hear that?" Lulu asks and they notice a bright light coming from where they ran from.
"RUN! RUN!" John shouts, "There's a giant fire snake!" Then, Fonso and John, with Armel, were running as fast as they could, just as a huge snake, the color of hot fire appeared and it let out a cannon of fire from its mouth.
The rodents and their guardian spirits hurried as fast as they could to get away from the fire breathing behemoth. The snake was not far, having slithered so quickly that they didn't even hear it.
"Split up!" Fonso commands, ushering his beloved cousin to take one of them to safety. Lulu managed to grab John by his arm, then summoned her bird guardian that had transformed into a bigger sized bird. Armel shrank down to a small bear, letting John take him into his arms as they got on the blue bird's back along with Lope.
Orson, Leana, and their guardians went in another direction, heading into a thicket of black bushes. Fonso and his owl guardian then unleashed a powerful spell that disintegrated the fire snake. Fonso collapses to his knees; the magic had drained much of his energy.
"Wow! Fonso, that was incredible!" John exclaims, jumping off Lulu's bird. Then, he realizes that his twin sister was missing. "Leana?! Where are you?!" he calls and the two witches and Lope also called out for her and Orson.
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Leana wasn't sure where she was, nor was she sure where Orson was. She was surrounded by empty blackness and the light from her will-o-wisp spirit illuminated only little.
"This place feels…so…" Leana couldn't finish the words as she started to feel a change of her emotions.
"Is it so lonely here?" a voice echoes that it startled her.
"Who said that?!" she demands, but the feeling of sadness begins to consume her. Then, a blue light shines from beneath her and she sees what she thought was another snake, but this one had a blue hue emanating off its scaly body. Its head had sharp looking spikes, which to Leana, looked like a crown fit for an otherworldly creature.
The snake stares at the mouse, its eyes were colorless glass, and it slithers around her, going from one illuminated branch to another.
"Who are you?" Leana asks, her voice was shaking along with her body.
"I am the keeper of this realm; the empty part of dreams," it said in a wispy voice that sent chills down her spine.
"Empty part of dreams?" Leana repeats.
"Tell me, when you go to sleep, what do you hope to see in your dreams? Friends, family? Or perhaps to find someone you want to have? Someone who does not think of you like a friend?" the snake asks.
"What do you mean?" she replies, deeply curious about its questions.
"Is there someone in your life that you hope to save? Save him and perhaps have him all to yourself?" it asks once more. It dawned on Leana that the snake was talking about Ben. "Ah, now you understand. Answer me, does he ever say he cares about you? Or maybe tell you if he wants you to be part of his life?"
"Ben…he…he's my best friend," Leana said in a low voice.
"Is that what you think he is?" the snake asks, again. "Was he always there when you needed someone to comfort you on the darkest of days? Was he there when you and your family were caught in the crossfires of enemies fighting one another?"
The emotions of sadness and confusion were consuming Leana; unbeknownst to her, the snake's tail began to coil around her body.
"Let the bitter disappointment fill your head," the snake said, "No one is here to save you." Then, it slowly opens its fanged mouth, ready to consume the mouse.
Suddenly, a ball of white fire hits the snake at the center of its mouth. It lets out a cry of agony and Leana snaps out of the trance.
"YOU PUT HER DOWN!" came Orson's voice and the rat rushes up to one of the glass eyes, plunging a sharp knife into it. The snake lets out another bellowing scream, letting Leana loose from its binding body. She notices Orson's fox spirit; it had doubled in size and it chomps its jaws at the side of the snake's face, taking out the other eye.
The snake was now blind, lashing out at anything that moved, but it could not catch the two rodents and the fox spirit. "C'mon!" Orson ushers Leana, hoisting her up on the fox's back, just as the snake begins to eat its own body. The young mouse stares back while the fox runs from the cold blackness, leaving the master of darkness to consume itself to no end.
()()()()()()()()()()()()()()()
John, Lope, Lulu, Fonso and their guardians made it out of the Nightmare Plane, but they were not sure if Leana and Orson made it out, too. "Leana!" John calls out for his twin sister. Not far from the edge of the plane, Basil and Olivia picked up the voice of their elder son, John and hurried towards it.
"John!" Olivia calls out and the boy mouse picks up his mother's voice.
"Mum?!" he exclaims and Olivia crashes into her son, holding him tight in her arms. "Mum, you're choking me!"
"Just let me hold you! Oh, my boy!" she cries, tears falling down her face. Basil joins them, holding them both tight.
"Wait, where are your sisters?" he asks.
"Leana was with us in the Nightmare Plane, but we lost her and Orson!" John explains, "Wait, do you mean Sophie is lost, too?!"
John and his parents stare at one another, panic had filled them up to the brim. "Actually, you can calm yourselves down a bit," Fonso insists and points to something down the dirt path.
To their utmost surprise, there was Sophie with her dragonfly spirit, sitting on a fallen log and staring up at an opening in the clouds. The sky was now black with thousands of stars glittering like gems.
"SOPHIE!" Basil calls out and the little girl mouse was happy to see her parents and older brother. "Have you seen your sister?" the mouse detective asks.
"No, but Isleen told me where she and Orson might be going," she answers, pointing to her guardian.
"Isleen, that's a pretty name for a dragonfly," Basil comments and lets both his daughter and her spirit guardian lead the way to find their missing family member.
Down by the ravine, Orson's fox spirit found a safe spot to rest. Orson thanked his guardian for saving them. "I'm going to name you Reynard after the folktale hero. I loved it when my mother told me the stories," he said and the fox smiled.
Then, they hear Leana crying and she sits at the edge of the cliff. "I can't do this anymore!" she sobs, "I am not brave enough. I am not smart enough! I hate myself for almost getting eaten by that snake!"
"Leana, don't feel sad and don't you dare say those things," Orson said in a comforting tone.
"But that snake said Ben never saw me as a friend! I am nothing but a pest!" Leana shouts, pulling off the blue stone that hung around her neck and throws it to the side.
"You truly don't mean that," Orson replies and Leana pulls at her ears.
"No I don't, I want to save Ben, but it…it feels like…" "You're messing up?" Orson asks and she nods.
"Leana, making mistakes is a part of life. Your father and mother had made mistakes; I know because everyone makes mistakes. Even Ben has made mistakes," he said and he gets up to retrieve the blue stone.
He then chuckles, "You want to know something? Alicia took her medical exams the day before she was to marry Nolan. You should've seen the way she struggled to walk down the aisle.
"Nolan, he made the mistake of taking a job that had him do night shifts and he nearly missed the birth of his son, Kenneth. And I fell for a con artist who said he would help secure a place for my first shop. Vivianna was the one who sniffed him out and I managed to recover the money I nearly lost," Orson shares his story.
"But the worst mistake of all I believe was when I almost killed Ben after he was born. I was so upset that I didn't protect my sister enough and at first, I only saw Ratigan sleeping in the crib at the inn we stayed at after we left London.
"It was at that moment, I had forgotten the oath Vivianna and I made when we were little," Orson said and Leana's ears picked up.
"An oath?" she asks.
"Yes, a promise to love and protect each other's children, no matter who was the other parent who gave them life. To always cherish them just as they are, no matter what the other parent did in their own life," Orson replies and ties the stone back around Leana's neck.
"I had a difficult time watching Ben grow up, fearing that everyone would reject him for who his real father was. Yet, I realize my biggest mistake was trying to protect him by changing not who he was, but who you were," Orson said, placing a comforting hand on Leana's cheek.
"You, a brave, smart young lady who has the heart of a good friend. I should've accepted the fact that Ben was happy to be with you and your family. I realized that he had opened his heart to you and it was a terrible mistake to send him away from you."
Leana's eyes filled with tears, but they were tears of happiness and she smiled. "Orson," she said. Just then, Leana's will-o-wisp began to glow into luminous colors and it started to transform into something.
"I think I just realized what I always wanted," Leana said and Orson notices the glowing colors from Leana's guardian spirit. "I don't know why it took me so long, but what I really wanted was... for you to understand my feelings for Ben."
Suddenly, the glow of Leana's guardian spirit exploded, sending a shower of light up into the sky. The young mouse girl and Orson stare at the guardian spirit, and a smile forms on Leana's face.
Basil, Olivia and the others saw the light and hurried towards it, yet they were not the only ones who saw it. A band of nightmare creatures emerged from the plane and noticed the group of rodents and their guardians.
"Oh boy, not them, again," Lope complains, just as Basil's griffin, Olivia's unicorn and the other guardian spirits took position in front of their masters. The nightmare beasts were prepared to strike, when suddenly, there was a loud BOOM! Then, a stream of bright light nearly incinerated the hellish monsters.
"What in the world?!" Basil exclaims and the beasts turned around, yelping in fear as they headed back into the dark woods.
"Mum! Daddy! Look!" Sophie shouts with delight, pointing to Leana, who had emerged from the path where the light came, along with Orson and Reynard the fox.
"Gosh, I didn't realize that guardian spirits have powerful magic," Leana comments; she had a sphere that hovered above her open palms.
"Leana!" her parents happily cry out, but stare at the sphere. "Wait, is that…?" Olivia asks and her daughter nods her head.
"Can you guess what she looks like?" Leana asked and Orson was smiling.
"Oh! Is it a wolf?!" her brother, John replies.
"A bird?!" Lulu makes her guess.
"A butterfly?!" Sophie exclaims.
"Not quite," Leana answers and the sphere takes shape; at first, it was a little, beautiful fire breathing dragon, but then, it changed to a fairy, followed by a mermaid, and then, it took on the appearance of a baby whited fur seal with the face of a human baby.
The seal cuddles up with her master, Leana on her shoulders. "She is a shapeshifting selkie. Her name is Murdina and she is just perfect!" she exclaims and her guardian floats around, meeting the other guardians and their masters, who become overwhelmed with joy.
"Oh, you are so precious!" Olivia exclaims, hugging little Murdina and takes her eldest daughter in her arms.
"Look at you! You are such a darling!" Basil cries with joy, as he tickles the selkie's nose before he gathers his wife and three of his children in his arms. He looks to Orson and was surprised to see his guardian spirit, Reynard the fox.
"We're all here!" Sophie exclaims, and points to something, further down the path.
"Well I'll be!" Fonso replies, waving to someone and they realize it was Tsura, with the Basil and Flaversham family members, including some of their ancestors.
"Olivia!" Hiram calls out to his daughter and he and his wife rush to meet them, with John Frederick and Sarah Basil close behind them.
"Oh!" Lulu exclaims in horror, pointing to the dark cloud hovering above a forest with mighty trees. "That is the Memory Tree forest!" she said.
"That means Ratigan's spirit is in there," Tsura replies and places a comforting hand on Leana's shoulder. "Are you ready to take down a real nightmare, kiddo?" the good witch asks. Leana gives a serious nod of her head and her selkie takes a spot on her opposite shoulder. Everyone stares at the black cloud, ready to face another fight against evil magic.
From the author: First off, I am glad to be back after fighting a serious writer's block! Much of the elements were borrowed from Disney's The Owl House, created by Dana Terrace.
I hope you are happy to see what kind of guardian spirit Leana has! Even Orson's!
There's more to come and I hope I will be able to fight more of writer's block! See you soon!