Chapter 10- a wild worship service part 2, Siveth's breaking point
What Siveth saw through the hole was dancing that was almost indistinguishable from an UTTERLY wild party like such performed at a place of indulgence, especially where self-control was concerned. Many of the grounder members were thrashing their arms or wings and heads wildly and screaming the lyrics of the worship songs while in the air, the flying and levitating congregants flapped and danced UTTERLY madly and screamed like mad partiers, behaving stupidly. On the stage, Kurama also danced VERY wildly and stupidly and the way he danced was reminiscent of a rockstar at a rock concert in our world. And though the Narnians were unfamiliar with rock music, the way they danced was what the worship service was reminiscent of. A HUGE wave of disgust coursed through Siveth. She had seen this UTTERLY out-of-control and chaotic dance style of worship for months now and though she had been forced by Kurama and his followers to get used to this, she still found it UTTERLY repulsive and knew that Aslan would NOT condone such behaviours. Worship of Aslan demanded control and respect, even if it included dancing. THIS was NOTHING of the sort and this fact was made worse by some of the congregants being of particularly noble creatures such as Cherubs and Fenghuang. Even they danced very stupidly to the wild music, something that was UTTERLY disgraceful to their species as Siveth also remembered. Siveth then winced when she heard Kurama cry out, "COME OOOON, EVERYONE! LET'S ALL SCREAM FOR ASLAAAAAAAAAAAAN!"
Following this, a HUGE roar of screams erupted from the wildly dancing congregants with most of them clapping their hands or, in flying Avian members, their feet. Siveth then made a face and withdrew her head from the hole, a feeling of nausea setting in.
"Their partying certainly DOES remind me of how drunken fools behave at parties that often involved raunchiness and outright out-of-control behaviours," she hissed under her breath, her back against the wall as she remained slumped, "Aslan FORBID such stuff in his house. I don't CARE what Kurama has told me about THAT style of rotten dancing and singing being the stuff that Aslan enjoys OR it is because of their joy for the Lion. THAT is NOT the way to worship the Lion at all..." disgusted, the Kitsumiho Vixen continued wallowing in her disgust at such an affronting mess in the main hall of the Gathering House, lamenting over the UTMOST morass Kurama had reduced Asgard Sky City and its surrounding areas to with his evil cult.
Kurama's wild party with the congregants continued until finally, Kurama finished it and got prepared for the next part of the service. The Nine-Tailed Kitsune, once he had got his breath back from all that wild dancing, then returned to the preacher's spot and got the next service section started, everybody cheering and clapping wildly.
"Thank you, thank you, everyone," he cried out before gesturing to the band members with his front paws, "First, let's hear it for our band... and then let's hear it for ASLAAAAN!"
The fires of the cheers flared all the more and practically shook the air of the entire hall, so much so that it was a wonder that the Gathering House's roof didn't pop off. Through the curtain from the backstage room, Siveth looked on in disgust, having returned to (VERY reluctantly) prepare for the sermon) while Kaecilius and Chroma Nerada looked on with delight, eagerly waiting for the younger members to leave the main congregation area to gather to them at Kurama's command and also in excitement at the cheering crowd. Then once the cheers died down and the congregants all sat down and the flyers returned to their perches and ledges above, Kurama continued.
"Thanks, everyone, we have EVERY reason to thank Aslan for all that he has done for us. He has blessed us in every way... saved us from death by dying on the Stone Table... and has sustained us through the good times and the bad..."
Siveth continued to watch on angrily as Kurama then went on to tell the congregation a bit about his life. Again, this was completely abnormal and deviant from a TRUE worship service. A preacher was supposed to open up the service by telling the congregants more about Aslan and less about himself, but Kurama was doing the EXACT opposite. Siveth watched on as the false Cult of the Lion leader began to boast about how Aslan had prospered him, his spiritual encounter with the Lion in the Northern Tundra back on the Land Domain, and how Aslan supposedly used him as a judgement tool to bring justice against the persecutors of the Talking Beasts throughout his LONG 900-plus Narnian-year life. In other words, all that came out of Kurama's mouth was blah... drone... blah... ALL about Kurama and Kurama ONLY and little about Aslan. Most of the congregants looked on with wide smiles on their faces and muzzles while a few, such as the Bism-origin Fire Salamander family, looked on with deadpan looks. Under the expressionless looks, however, they were deeply troubled. Kurama then went on about how Aslan would bless them as well if they will obey his rules and commands. Then after another hour of talking, 99 percent of it being about himself and 1 percent of it being about Aslan, Kurama called for the young members of the congregation to start heading off to the Gathering House classroom with Chroma Nerada and Kaecilius and called for Siveth to come out to take over.
"There's the signal, Siveth," Kaecilius said and with that, the opalescent scaled Kirin nudged the Kitsumiho Vixen out through the curtain and she, without hesitation, obeyed, walked towards the preaching spot and took up her place, doing so VERY guiltily and fearfully, knowing that if she didn't obey, she would face DIRE consequences. Chroma Nerada flashed her a wink as she went behind the spot and prepared her sermon notes. While Siveth did that and with Kurama looking on, the young Talking Beasts and Magical Creatures including the Cherub and Cloud-Men kids filtered like smoke out of the dense congregation and converged towards the curtain where Chroma Nerada and Kaecilius waited. Then the young crowd seeped through the curtain to backstage as the pair then took them to the classroom built into the back section of the Gathering House for their Seventh Day gathering lessons.
Siveth then got prepared for the sermon while some Windrunners, together with a few Flying Rods, simple air creatures resembling long thin rods decorated with undulating membranes which they used to fly like squid swimming through the water and were coloured red, green, blue, cyan, magenta, yellow or white, flew in with more large pages and a marker pen ready to illustrate the key points in Siveth's sermon. Then after some hesitation, Siveth got the sermon in motion while Kurama stood on the sidelines and proudly watched on. The sermon was about how Aslan would care for the congregants and reward then with prosperity in every way, including in health, if they obeyed his rules including giving a portion of their earnings to Kurama and his upmost ranking cult members WITHOUT question and REGARDLESS of what drawbacks they may suffer, such as sinking further into poverty. This content was like music of hope to those that were impoverished and they had been wishing for Aslan to make them wealthy. Those that had sick family or group members also had hope that Aslan would heal those family members if they gave a portion of their earnings to the ministry regularly, as well as having faith in him constantly if they were to receive their prosperity. However, these individuals had suffered a LOT by doing this but Kurama and his upmost ranking assistants did NOT care about this one bit. Then after talking about how Aslan would prosper them if they obeyed his rules with the Windrunners and Flying Rod assistants above her drawing illustrations to show the congregants the key points, Siveth went on to describe how Aslan had prospered previous rulers by making them UTTERLY rich as a reward for their obedience, their supposed encounters with the Lion including Kurama's most recent one, and how Aslan's breath was TOTALLY special and was imbued with the power of bestowing those that receive it with blessings beyond their wildest imaginations. As she continued this sermon, her conscience, like it had always done when she preached over the past year and a half as forced by Kurama, boiled with guilt and inside, the Kitsumiho Vixen felt her heart sink like a swimmer attached to a heavy rock and dropped into the Eastern Sea. She knew what she was doing was UTTERLY wrong in every way but she knew that if she didn't obey, Kurama would SEVERELY punish her. So despite her boiling conscience biting at her from the inside and had been doing so for over a year, Siveth continued.
While Siveth continued to teach the mature audience, in the classroom, Kaecilius and Chroma Nerada taught the Talking Beast and Magical Creature children but unlike Siveth, they did so without a HINT of remorse or guilt and they enjoyed teaching Kurama's false Aslan to the young. Most of the young drunk in this false Aslan but a few remained sceptical but they were forced to take in the false Aslan points or they would be punished and they did so fearfully. THIS was the main ruling tool Kurama employed over the citizens of Asgard Sky City and its surrounding areas: FEAR and he did this with UTMOST force. It had been known that fear had been the main ruling sceptre held by tyrants and dictators throughout the history of Narnia. The White Witch used it throughout her 100-year reign centuries ago and hers had been made of ice. When fear was instilled in the inhabitants of a kingdom or area, they can be subjected to better control by the wicked and cruel ruler and having a wicked Nine-Tailed Fox as such a ruler was as terrifying as having the White Witch during her reign over the Narnian country on the Land Domain. And this was made worse if a Nine-Tailed Magical Fox claimed to be a mouthpiece of Aslan and that everything he said was true and unquestionable and he ALWAYS said that Aslan came first in all that they do and that included giving him their offerings, or the followers would face DIRE consequences if they disobeyed.
Siveth continued her sermon and as she did that, backstage, a certain group of several more of Kurama's higher-ranking assistants were preparing for their bit in the service. Nicholye the Vermillion Bird and Carpathi the White Tiger, together with a female Black Tortoise named Jetty and two Pegasi and a Unicorn who were loyal to Kurama, pushed something towards another entrance to the main hall. However, they waited until Kurama's signal to carry out their role so they remained hidden backstage with their tool. Siveth's sermon continued for a an hour until finally, she had finished and at Kurama's command, she returned to backstage through the curtain, Kurama taking over her spot, his smiling gaze on the Kitsumiho Vixen as she left. Above, the Flying Rod and Great Blue Windrunner assistants packed up their sheets and pen and returned to their perches above the main congregation.
"Thank you, Siveth," said the Kitsune, before turning his gaze on the crowd, "Now, it is time for your mandatory offering; one tenth of your earnings paid to us and to Aslan."
With that, he ordered some more assistants, some Yellow Homunculi, Blue Elves, Lightning Pika and an Elaphocentaur (Deer-Centaur) to go through the congregation with buckets to collect the payments from ALL the members of the congregation while some flying members like some Flying Rods and Macaws, collected offerings from the flying members perched above the grounders. And so the money collection was carried out. Coins, marked in the currency of the Sky Domain of cumulonimbi and some other cloud types, clattered from the paws and mouths (if the attendees were four-footed hoofed Talking Beasts like Deer or Horses) into the buckets. Kurama watched on proudly as the sounds of more cumulonimbus coins rattled the air. This was music to the wicked Kitsune's ears and he looked forward to counting the coins once the service was finished. Most of the congregants willingly dropped their amount into the bucket and some did so reluctantly but propelled by fear. However, one family ABSOLUTELY refused to drop their mandatory offering into the bucket held by the collector. A family of Slugcats (Ferret-like creatures with long, lithe bodies, tapering tails, black (sometimes white) eyes and stubby limbs but came in a variety of shapes and colours depending on their breed and were similar to the creatures living in another world, a world that was frequently ravaged by downpours. This family was of the common white and yellow 'normal' breed) who had a severely disabled Slugpup (young Slugcat) who was born blind, crippled and had to take medication to manage an additional internal problem, refused to give their mandatory offering to a Yellow Homunculus. The reason for this was they needed the money for their disabled Slugpup to pay for the medication the Slugpup needed to keep his internal condition in check. Without it, it could be potentially hazardous to his health. Furthermore, the Slugcat family was one of the impoverished families who earned enough cumulonimbi to barely get by. However, Kurama and his group did NOT care about this one bit.
"Come on, Slugcats, give your offering will you!" demanded a nearby Scarlet Macaw, the others looking on. The Yellow Homunculus who held the bucket looked on impatiently and held out his bucket, demanding the Slugcats drop their offering into the bucket but the patriarch of the family refused and shook his head, tears running down his cheeks as he gazed at his disabled son who could not see due to his blindness.
"Who is more important, Aslan or your son!?" demanded the Yellow Homunculus angrily and impatiently, "Remember what Kurama said about who ALWAYS comes first."
"Yes, and Aslan will NOT take care of you if you don't obey his commands to give," put in the nearby Scarlet Macaw. Still the Slugcat patriarch shook his head. He only had enough to buy the next prescription of medication for his disabled son for he was almost out of the current set. If he gave the offering, he would not be able to afford the next prescription. As the poor white Ferret-like creature continued to become more and more pressured, a Hummingbird assistant of Kurama saw this and flew over to Kurama to report the Slugcat's behaviour. Finally, the Slugcat patriarch gave in, pulled out the cumulonimbus coins and tossed them into the bucket to the protest of his family apart from the disabled son who was too weak to speak.
"Thank you," the Yellow Homunculus snapped before perking up, "Aslan will heal your son soon."
With that, he moved on to the next family to collect their offering. The Slugcat patriarch looked on sadly while his wife glared on angrily and their other Slugpups gazed over their disabled sibling sadly.
"We have been praying to Aslan to heal our son of his disabilities including his internal condition but we have NOT received ANY response from him whatsoever," she hissed angrily.
"Oh, don't doubt, dear," said the patriarch, "He'll heal our son Cloudy like that Homunculus said... he'll heal him, I know he will. We just have to have more faith..."
However, the wife and mother glared at her husband, unmoved by his futilely encouraging words and having been through this hopeless cycle countless times before. She then angrily turned away.
"Cloudy's health is gonna be on the line once his medication runs OUT," she cried in a whisper. The patriarch tried to reach out to his wife but she flinched and demanded he leave her alone. The surrounding congregants looked on, shrugged nonchalantly and resumed their gaze on Kurama, the Hummingbird stopping after the Homunculus signalled him that the Slugcats had obeyed. Then as soon as the offerings had been collected and taken backstage through the curtain at Kurama's command, Kurama resumed his attention on the congregants and prepared for the final part of the service.
"Now to finish, we're gonna stand and sing and dance for Aslan once again," he cried as the band members retook their position in the band-playing area, "But first, let's pray to our AWESOME Lion..." and with that, prayers began and Kurama lead them. As they did that, the Hummingbird flew off to fetch Carpathi's group. Then once the prayer was finished, the music started up again and once again, the congregants, together with Kurama began to dance as though at a wild party. Additionally, part of the music was highly hypnotic and it had a profound effect on many of the congregants.
Through the curtain from backstage, Siveth watched on but she stepped aside as the young members of the congregation passed by her and rejoined their families to join in the party. Kaecilius and Chroma Nerada turned up.
"It's time for the climax of our service, Siveth," said the latter, the Fenghen, "You need to come and join us."
Siveth glared at the Fenghen but then Kaecilius hardened her command.
"Do so or Kurama will punish you, Kitsumiho," the Kirin rudely spoke. Siveth exhaled an ANGRY sigh and went out to join the wildly-partying congregation. However, the Vixen faked her participation for she knew that this whole partying was UTTERLY stupid. At the preaching spot, Kurama danced UTTERLY wildly, swinging his nine tails and royal cape around and performing wild movements, all of them unbecoming of a noble Canid, especially of the Nine-Tailed Stage. Siveth looked on in UTMOST disgust, flashed a disgusted glare at the other partiers and left for a corner. The party-like 'worship' of Kurama's fake Aslan continued until finally, the climactic part came. While Siveth continued glaring with UTMOST disgust at the whole rave-like behaviour of the congregation, she heard the sounds of something moving into the room. She shot her gaze in the object's direction and when she saw what it was, she immediately darted for the curtain to backstage. Her departure went unnoticed by the other congregants for they were too engrossed in the emotional frenzy of the wild worship dance. The congregants and Kurama continued dancing madly until they turned their gaze in the direction of another entrance to backstage, a large door. In front of the large door billowed special smoke and through the smoky cloud emerged a large golden object shaped like a Lion. MASSIVE cheers exploded from the crowd while Kurama watched on proudly. Behind the golden Lion-shaped statue, that statue intentionally built to resemble Aslan, Carpathi, Nicholye, Jetty and their Unicorn and two Pegasus assistants pushed the statue through the door and smoke and towards the partying congregation.
"ASLAAAAAAAAAN!" cried the vast majority of the congregants at the same time, their cries almost lifting the roof of the Gathering House into the air.
"Please, give us your breath, Aslan," cried a Giraffe.
"We BEG for it, Aslan," wailed a Cherub.
"We CRAVE IT BADLY," said a Nestri Primus, a purple and neon blue one.
"Your BREATH... BREATH... BREATH!" screamed several Cloud-Men and Flying Rods. The other congregants including Chroma Nerada and Kaecilius also screamed the same. Some of the congregants, however, half-heartedly looked on. At this signal, Nicholye the Vermillion Bird fluttered to a switch behind the false Aslan statue's mane and flicked it.
From backstage via the curtain, Siveth watched on once again, her conscience writhing from the guilt of preaching that false Aslan sermon but this was besides the Vixen's worries. The Nine-Tailed Kitsumiho Vixen watched on as the Aslan idol's mouth slowly opened. Once the Lion idol's mouth was fully agape, something began to billow out of it like smoke. However, unlike the stage smoke which had been white, this smoke was gold coloured and was decorated with a galaxy of golden stars that danced with the billows. Siveth watched on as the golden glitter gas then began to flood the congregation room and overwhelm the congregants.
"PREPARE FOR ASLAN'S BREATH OF BLESSING, EVERYONE!" cried Kurama as the golden glitter gas continued to flood the room from the Aslan statue. Then Siveth remembered what Kurama had called this golden glitter gas: Glory Breath Smoke and she knew of its effects ALL too well. She then watched on as the behaviour of the congregants began to change once the glittery golden smoke entered their mouths and noses. However, this was not at all a good change in their behaviours and the worshippers began to exhibit a variety of different behaviours, ALL of them abnormal... and shameful. Some of the worshippers broke out into uncontrollable laughter, their eyes laced with mania and euphoria. Some of the flying members afflicted with the laughter began to flap around chaotically. A Cherub, a male based on his silver hair, male clothes and metallic yellow underwing coverts, flapped towards the wall, laughing uncontrollably and crashed into the wall before flopping like a ragdoll onto the floor, laughter continuing to escape his mouth and his eyes saturated with PURE euphoria and hands on his head. Some more of the congregants also rolled around on the floor, having also collapsed, also laughing like mad. However, some of them thrashed wildly as though having seizures. Some cried uncontrollably and hysterically, some screamed and wailed as though in agony, some stumbled about or, in the case of the flyers, flew around unstably as though drunk with alcoholic beverages and uttered silly sounds, some were overwhelmed with drowsiness and dropped off to sleep on the floor, and some cheered maniacally, screaming Aslan's name like idiots. Worse, some including the Talking Beasts began to behave like dumb beasts. A Centaur thought he was an actual horse and began to pretend to eat grass while a Talking Macaw thought he was a dumb dog and rolled around on the floor barking uncontrollably. Some also reacted to sights, sounds, smells, tastes and even touches that weren't even there, these things called hallucinations while some continued to dance all the more and more out of control. Some more uttered unintelligible babbles and gibberish, some on their knees or fronts with their arms or wings (in species with such) wide as though wanting to receive more of the Glory Breath Smoke. The flying and levitation-by-telekinesis-capable members such as the Tanuki also lost grip on their perches and ledges and fell as though drunk, some of the birds landing on top of the golden glitter smoke-flooded grounders and striking them. Some of the congregants also acted as though intoxicated and worse, a few even indulged in HIGHLY stupid and questionable behaviours. Kurama, also overwhelmed by the Glory Breath Smoke, broke out into maniacal laughter and began to do UTTERLY stupid things and behave like a maniac. He stupidly and drunkenly pushed a Cloud-Man over and leaped upon him, the pair of them laughing uncontrollably. Siveth, from her hiding spot, continued to watch this AWFUL, AWFUL chaos until a puff of the golden glitter gas wafted her way and entered her nose and mouth. Immediately, a feeling of UTMOST drowsiness and wooziness and an IRRESISTIBLE urge to laugh and flail on the floor washed over the Kitsumiho Vixen but she immediately took action. Seizing the tip of one of her nine tails, her third tail (if her tails were counted starting from her left; it was the only tail to have white fur while the other eight were ivory yellow) in her mouth, Siveth pulled a lock of hair from its tip to inflict pain on herself to stop herself from descending further into the mania induced by the Glory Breath Cloud. Agony ripped through her tail along with a rip sound and Siveth released cries from it, white hairs flying from her mouth. The agony from tearing the fur out of her own tail provided Siveth with the interruption she needed to escape the insidious golden glitter gas and she made a break for it for the classroom, running like a white, ivory yellow, metallic yellow, metallic blue and silver comet. Siveth darted into the classroom and slammed the door behind her. Then after managing to shake off the remnants of the effects of the Glory Breath Smoke with her head clearing now that she was out of the range of the awful stuff, the Kitsumiho Vixen began to break down, her shoulders and head jerking with each sob and tears running down her cheeks. Siveth had seen these wild Glory Breath Smoke incidences before but this had become the final leaf. As she sobbed UTTERLY hard, she raised her muzzle skyward and cried, "Aslan, help UUUUUUUS, PLEEEAAAASE!" to the REAL Aslan and NOT the fake Aslan Kurama had invented and trapped Asgard Sky City and the towns, Sky countryside and villages around it before finally breaking down and sobbed uncontrollably, not from the influence of the Glory Breath Smoke, but from genuine guilt, distress and distraught. Siveth had finally reached her breaking point and was in DEEP distress. All this stupid stuff in Kurama's cult had finally gone on for long enough... and far enough as well.
Back in the chaotic congregation hall, the golden glitter puffs of the Glory Breath Smoke now completely flooding the ENTIRE area, the congregants continued their chaotic behaviours with many of them collapsing to sleep. As for Kurama himself, he continued to laugh maniacally and he flashed a huge smile at his followers. The scene then flashed from the wicked Nine-Tailed Fox to a picture of him held by Ozone the Cloud-Man back on the Land Domain and Quaoar's community and village.