Madam Marvelous: Chapter Three -- Midnight Watch (Collaborative -- Open to All)

    Astra watched with interest as shadows appeared before Arcane Ace and several others.  It was clear that the cultists did not sense her in her astral form.  A shadow appeared in front of an owl.  Two appeared before a couple of young people, probably from Ice Ray Academy, and one in front of Krystal Fae.

    We're not to interfere unless something comes out of the grave.  Not fight cultists who want to raise something.  Why was this happening?  What was everyone seeing in those shadows?

    She wanted to look through Ace's eyes to see what he saw.  That might alert the cultists to her presence.  In fact looking through the eyes of any of them might do so.  She had to be smart about this.  Fighting demons in Colorado had shown her this.  Thanks, Highlander, you're a good teacher.

    She decided to enter the grave and see what was trying to be arisen.  She stuck her astral tongue out at the cultist first and entered the grave...

I swooped up as Valkyrie came toward me, moving out of her reach by the width of a feather. She fell back to the ground and landed it superhero fashion, one knee to the ground and the other bent to propel her rapidly back into action.

Seeing as I'd somehow been discovered as an observer, acting the part wasn't any longer necessary. And I'd learned a trick or two since I fought the New Amsterdam villainess. I swerved up into the air and then back down again, diving directly at Valkyrie. Screeching once in protest to her sudden appearance, I morphed into a rhinoceros while pointing my big, burly bottom squarely at her head.

A talented dive was always fun to watch, but a cannonball never ceases to be fun to do.

She snarled at me as she rolled out of the way. Dressed all in white as she was the first time I encountered her, she moved with grace and a deliberate purpose. A deft movement from her hands and a long spear appeared within them. "I remember you, now. I knocked you out and gave you a chance to wise up. You're no hero. This time, I know better. I'll just put you down for good."

I snorted at her before thrusting my head at her chest. The large horn at the end of my snout shouldn't be enough to kill her with the defensive costume she wore, but knocking the wind out of her would be a nice start to defeating her. Her body lifted up into the air and flew several yards back from me flat on the ground. I started a charge toward her, ready to trample her when she rolled to her knees and brandished her sharp spear before her.

I couldn't stop in time. We collided. As I felt her beneath my dense feet, a sharp pain in my shoulder and chest nearly dropped me to the ground.

MMMMMMMM

Astra descended into the ground, searching for the remains of Archibald Braithewaite. Below the metal grate and earth, she found his grave to be filled with several layers of rocks piled atop a decaying wooden box.

A body rested within the box, dressed in archaic clothes from pre-colonial days she'd only seen in history books or museums. The body was in very good shape for being over 500-years old. She could still make out taught flesh over what should have been a skeletal frame. Dark black hair wrapped around the head and neck shocked her. It looked as if the hair had been growing while its owner had been buried.

That would mean Archie wasn't dead...

She reached out with her mind and touched a dormant consciousness still alive within the frame. Sleeping and unaware of its surroundings, but actively dreaming. And something else. A second presence, but one that was colder and bore no emotion at all. Only a hunger. No, not a hunger, but something very close to it. It was a need to consume. To consume life.

A chill overcame Astra's ethereal body. The primal sensation she touched was ancient. A being that fed off the spark of any life as it ended. She sensed Death.

As the Torment tore at his armor, Arcane Ace twisted and turned in every direction he could muster in an attempt to shake his attacker free. While he did, he spotted others fighting black mists of their own. Two oddly garbed youths stood opposite two billowing clouds. A gigantic rhino gored at another. Two swarmed an area of the sky where Ace noted Krystal Fae's magical aura.

Were these separate demonic spirits attacking each. The Torment never showed that ability before, to splinter itself to battle other foes?

"I can do far more than your small mind can conceive," Torment screeched at him.

Ace shook his head, angered by his own stupidity. "I can't believe I fell for this old chestnut."

Ignoring the Torment demon, Ace wove a pattern to create a counterspell charm, one that would rid him of enchantments cast upon him. Once he released his incantation, the Torment demon disappeared from his back. A single obsidian crystal wrapped in a tangle of roots dropped away from him, the crux of a fear golem.

"Elvira, nice try, but your parlor trick isn't going to stop me," Ace said as he lowered back to the ground.

Pulling off her mask, the dark skinned woman smiled her pearly-white teeth at him. "It served its purpose to distract you. Muttergrund. I summon thee."

The area between the stones flared red hot and the grass immediately burned away with wisps of gray smoke. Sulfur rose up from the pool of lava summoned into being and oozed upward, hardening as it grew. The liquid fire formed a tall obelisk of black stone with jagged outcroppings of white crystals covering portions of its surface.

YOU HAVE SUMMONED ME FOR WHAT PURPOSE?

The thunderous voice called out from the enormous pillar, standing nearly twenty-feet tall. It had no humanistic qualities at all and it blended nearly perfectly into the dark night's sky but for glistening orange lights flickering through the facets of the quartz barbs covering it. Everyone within earshot stopped moving and was taken aback by a sense of enormity at the earth-spirit's presence.

"I summon you, Muttergrund," Elvira shouted, "I summon you to begin the purge of an infection of the world. I summon you to purge yourself of elements known as Morphons that an alien race cast upon you. They disrupt the natural order. Life upon you has been corrupted and must be freed of this contagion."

Krystal was uncertain why all this activity was taking place, but she was certain that it boded ill if they had summoned the Muttergrund.

As Krystal hovered above the gathering, two forms rose into the sky to face her.  One she recognized, though she knew that the being it appeared to be could not possibly be who it appeared as.

"Morganna is serving her penance in another realm... you are not her.", stated Krystal flatly, as the figure reached her altitude."

"True..., but I have her power, all the same...", stated the figure, "... I'll give you one chance, Krystal... abandon these mortals and their puny concerns... go back to Fae-re."

"On the contrary... it is I who will give you one chance, creature... abandon the cause of these misguided mages, and I'll allow you safe passage from this place... otherwise, initiate a battle you cannot possibly be prepared for.", stated Krystal.

As she spoke with the seeming of Morganna, the other figure, still an amorphous form, rose into position behind Krystal.

Her senses informed her when the figure was in position, as the Morganna-figure cast a spell of disintegration, Krystal teleported... the shadowy presence caught the full force of the spell and dissolved into wisps of smoke.  At the same time, Krystal enacted an intense spike of lightning, engulfing the Morganna clone, burning it to ash.

It took a few moments for her night-vision to return, then Krystal swooped towards the StarRunner children, in case they required aid to vanquish their attackers.

*"Since it seems the rest of these shadow apparitions are really just feeble fear golems, why don't you and your equally vile brother Jacobugath dissipate back into nothingness too? Obviously you both are not real and even if you were, we don't think you want us letting the Academy know you are back to working that darn drider goddess's mischief?" Jade asked with grave humor.

"That's right. We know better then to use her name since only our teachers and parents are among those few strong enough to deal with those types of repercussions,"  Kyle added. "But if you two insist on going after us, we won't make it easy either."

Immediately the two conjurned around themselves a combination of Deryni and Styric magical holy armor that was among the first defensive charms they had mastered as kids. Then they summoned holy lances temporarily in place of their wands.

Taking position, they moved back to back as they watched for Jacob to unveil himself. They both had been taught that these elves turned demons were very good at deception manipulation and shapechanging so they had to make sure they did not hit anyone even by accident who was not an enemy at this current time.

"You brats think Aphrael or Sephrenia know the past present and future perfectly?" Screeching in anger, Alexis changed into an almost perfect copy of the legendary Gorgon Medusa from Greek mythology. At the same time Jacobugath (Jacob) turned himself into their long lost uncle Joseph StarRunner.

"Oh that is beyond despicable Jacob!" Kyle roared in anger and brandishing his lance he threw it straight and true between the fake mage's eyeglasses. "We know our uncle never wore glasses!" At the same time, Jade silently prayed to Aphrael for her aim to be true, kept her eyes closed as she had closed them as soon as she realized what Alexis was changing into, and threw her lance straight through the fake Medusa's torso. Both demons let out howls of anguish but instead of turning to smoke they opened up portals and retreated. "We'll be back. You and your Academy are doomed again!" was their last threat before the portal vanished.

Then the twins felt their charms dissipate as their wands and regular clothing reappeared around them and they fainted from the huge amount of magical energy spent.

Astra doubted the wisdom of trying to communicate with the buried man, but she wouldn't learn anything of why they were sent here if she did nothing. With the most delicate psychic touch she could manage, she brushed his subconscious mind.

He dreamed of a time long past, in what might have been an estate in England. A posh, upper-class mansion. A large, affluent family that celebrated their wealth and power. Elder men sat in chairs with tall backs, smoking pipes in a stodgy old room. Children ran around playing games near a wide river. Women with elegant gowns sat on a patio while holding cups of tea and biscuits in their gloved hands. His mind fixated on what might have been an earlier version of himself, standing in a uniform while he kept a chambermaid cornered by his charm and charisma. She smiled and batted her eyes at him, and in the remembrance, Astra could sense that the girl used her lovely brown eyes and long lashes as effectively upon him.

Who are you? I don't remember seeing you there that day, m'lady, Archibald asked Astra with his thoughts. Keep your distance from me. I don't wish to bring my dark gift onto you.

MMMMMM

I pummeled Valkyrie into the ground as I ran over her body. Her spear pulled out of me as I continued on, my body aching from the pain. I came about, ready to charge at her again when an orange crashed into her from the side.

"Get away from her, you stinking cloud of flatulence from Hell," Eggie shouted from above. Somehow, the exhaust flames of some type of propulsion units built into the heels of her orthopedic shoes allowed her to fly into the graveyard, and a bazooka-like launcher was resting on her shoulder, filled with a chamber of oranges. "You'll get the fruiting of the afterlife if you don't leave my poppet be."

Valkyrie's form faded and became the smoky mist I first saw, and as the black mist dissipated, a small stone wrapped in vines dropped to the ground. I shifted into my Madam Marvelous body and checked my shoulder. There wasn't a wound or any sign of injury. Even the spear had disappeared. The attack must have been purely in my mind.

"Sweetie," Eggie said as she landed beside me. "I don't know what that beastie was, but I heard you yowl in pain and had to act to protect you."

I looked at her cannon again. "Oranges? You fire oranges out of that thing?"

"We must look out for the environment, dearie. No need to use explosives or the like when a good ole' bit of Florida's finest will do."

MUTTERGUND!!!

Things were getting tense in the center of the graveyard where Ace faced down against one of the cultists. I watched as a black pillar of stone rose out from the ground. I didn't know what it was, but I sensed might and strength from it, like seeing a mountain for the first time.

    Dark gift? Astra wondered.  Where was Futurina when she needed her?  She could easily use psychometry and discover what he was talking about.  I came to find out what BADGE is scared of.  Why they sent us to watch this grave.

    She sensed the deathly presence near her.  Her self preservation instinct was telling her to leave.  Return to her body.  She knew she couldn't do that.  She had to discover what was going on.  What those cultists wanted from this grave and why someone who was supposed to be dead was still alive after so many centuries.  Something wasn't adding up.

My dark gift? The curse placed on me by the demons my family brokered favor from. Archibald's mind drifted into images of family members performing dark rites under starless skies in the wilderness. A father-figure stood, dagger in hand, over the same woman Astra saw Archibald speaking with during his earlier dream. This time in the vision Archibald was restrained and held back from aiding her when the senior man struck her with the blade in her heart. Their machinations only brought pain and misery. I wanted it to end, but the dark forces chose otherwise. Wherever I went to escape, Death followed me, killing those whom I might meet. My price for my disobedience.

His mind wandered over scene after scene of him going from place to place, leaving England to visit Europe in search of a means of ending his plight. Every new town he visited, a plague or series of bloody murders followed him. He was constantly blamed by all, stoned or hung by the villages but would endlessly awaken and have to start again. He sailed on a vessel to the New World and the pestilence of his life followed.

That's horrible. Astra's stomach churned at the suffering he had endured, trying to hide away from the world but somehow always being drawn back into civilization somehow.

I don't know of this badge you speak of, or any reason why anyone would seek to free me from this grave. It is the only means I had to end the suffering of others. You should go. I don't want to bring death to anyone else.

The ground around Astra's astral body began to shake and shift all around her...

MMMMMMMM

"MUTTERGRUND. There are enemies around us. Protect those loyal to you. Remove those who are foreign to your grand plan. Remove the afflicted, so we may help you cleanse the world." Mistress Elvira shouted.

I SENSE MUCH THAT IS NOT BORN OF ME. LEAVE MY PRESENCE. BEGONE. The earth beneath them shook once, and Krystal felt herself fly upward without effort. Gravity seemed to be repelling her from the earth's surface rather than pulling at her. She fought against the wave repelling her away, but noticed that the two children from the Ice Ray Academy had fallen unconscious and their bodies were being carried skyward. They would be thrown into space if she didn't catch them.

THESE OTHER TWO ARE BLIGHTED BY THESE MORPHONS YOU SPEAK OF.  The massive stone structure spun slightly in the fiery lava it rose out of, as if turning to face Ace and Madam Marvelous. YOU ARE NOT OF THE DESIGN MEANT FOR THIS WORLD. YOU HAVE BEEN ALTERED. THE OTHER ONE IS AN ABOMINATION WHO SHOULD NOT EXIST

"OK. Which is which?" Ace asked under his breath before raising a hand up in the air toward the elemental. "MUTTERGRUND. Go back to your sleep. This is not the time for you to awaken. Your children do not need you yet. Don't listen to this fool."

WHO ARE YOU TO SPEAK TO ME AS SUCH? WHAT DO YOU KNOW OF THE GREAT PURPOSE? YOU BEAR THE POWER OF THE ANCIENT, BUT IT WAS NOT MEANT FOR YOU TO WIELD. HOW HAVE YOU COME TO POSSESS IT?

"An enemy of man came to this world and brought something with them. It changed some of us, but not all. Most of the world is still as it was before Morphons were introduced," Ace said. "They aren't to be afraid of. They have given many of your children gifts that allow us to protect you and your children so you don't have to."

NATURAL LAW HAS BEEN BROKEN? I HAVE BEEN AWARE OF MANY DISTURBANCES WHILE I SLEPT AND LET THE WORLD ARISE INTO THE GREAT PURPOSE. I NOW SENSE SIX GREAT ELEMENTS THAT ARE NOT OF NATURAL ORDER. THEY CORRUPT THE WORLD. AND MANY OTHER SMALLER POXES THAT SHOULD NOT BE UPON MY BEING. POXES FROM BEYOND THE STARS, LIKE THOSE I HAVE CAST TO THE HEAVENS.

"Yes, great MUTTERGRUND," Elvira said. "Nail your enemies to the sky. Cast them back to the heavens, far from where they can continue to harm you. Bring the natural order back to make this the world it should be."

A woman in a red and blue costume ran up below Arcane Ace, alongside her was Mrs. Doubtfire with a bazooka and rocket boots. "What do we do?"

Ace levitated down. "The crystals are what are keeping the elemental here. Destroy them." He raised his hand toward the dark-skinned cultist and a bright light flashed, dazzling her. "I'll take care of Mistress Elvira here. Be careful, the other cultists aren't chumps."

The two women nodded and hurried off toward the summoning circle.

Mistress Elvira shook her head as she cleared her sight of his flare. "You're not going to stop us. We are doing this for the earth herself. These Morphons and aliens you covet are going to destroy her if they aren't removed now."

"Who made you the EPA, lady?" Arcane Ace said. "You don't get to decide that for everyone. Now keep your mouth shut while we send your pet back home." With a flick of his wrist, a glob of white goo flew from his hand to her mouth, covering it completely.

Her hands went up to her face where his attack struck her. She clawed at her own skin, trying to get a grip of the material.

I hurried to the middle of the glade where the glowing white stone rested in the dried grass. Five stones with five cultist guardians. They each took a defensive pose as I approached with Eggie close behind me.

"Who brings Mrs. Doubtfire to a fight?" One of the cultists asked from behind their mask.

"Don't take that tone with me, dearie. I'm a hip old granny who can karate chop, sumo-flop, fight til you drop and bazooka Joe-," she chambered a new orange into the firing tube of her weapon, "- knock your ass out until morning!"

Eggie had been mostly a pain-in-my-ass since I met her, but in the moment, I was so very happy to have her at my side. Her banter not only seemed to distract the cultists as they practically scratched their heads in confusion, but made me slightly less afraid.

Two of the cultists began to move at Eggie and I. The tossed something out of a tube onto their clothing and bark began to cover their black clothes.

"You take the one on the left, and I'll take the right," I said to Eggie over my shoulder.

"Dearie, if you don't mind, I'll be taken them both." She fired her bazooka once, then a second time in short order. Two round, yellow projectiles flew past me, each on striking a cultist and knocking them backwards onto the ground with the force of impact.

"Dang. Those are some hard oranges," I said to Eggie, impressed by her attack.

"Grapefruit, dearie. I reloaded with larger fruits," Eggie said. "Wait and see what happens when I fire watermelons."

In order to prevent the rise of herself and the twins into space, Krystal tethered into the Magnetic field and did the same for the twins.

While Krystal had the ability to survive for short periods in space unaided, the twins were currently unconscious and could therefore not perform the necessary spells.

Once she had arrested their progress spaceward, Krystal took a moment to scan all the minds of those present, save for the Muttergrund itself. She knew that such a being was far too powerful to take on unprepared.

Elvira herself was a fairly powerful shaman in her own right, and a true fanatic, but her companions were somewhat more susceptible to mental manipulation.

Krystal began to introduce doubts into their minds... doubts about their mission, doubts about their leader, in some cases, even doubts about their own abilities.

This was the extent of what she could do while maintaining the concentration necessary to countering the power of the Muttergrund.

    It sounds like I need to go now, thank you for the information.  Astra telepathically stated.  Her Astral form shot out of the grave and she observed what was happening.  The chaos was a sight to behold.  Krystal Fae and the two young people from Ice Ray Academy flying into the air.  Mrs. Doubtfire and Madam Marvelous were standing beside Arcane Ace.

    They were fighting the cultists while Ace was trying to convince whatever they summoned to stop.  It was obvious she needed to assist.  She decided to blast the main cultist mentally.  This was something she could easily do in Astral form.  If need be she could return to her body and teleport here.  

    The mental blast hit Elvira with a powerful force and she staggered.  Her training with Futurina was very helpful.  She sensed what Krystal was doing.

    Ace, do you need me to be here physically? she telepathically asked him.

    What was Muttergrund?

Astra? Arcane Ace was surprised to hear her voice in his head. Glad you're here. If you want to, bring your body and let's dance with these fools. If we can keep Elvira distracted while the shapechanger and her grandma get the stones, we should be in the free and clear.

Taking advantage of Elvira's laps in concentration, thanks to Astra's mental blast. Ace bound her body in eldritch chains. "Get used to them, sweetheart. I'll make sure Director Nova has a special set of these in your cell with your name etched on every link."

Elvira closed her eyes tightly, trying to force her mind back into working order. She had torn off the sticky ectoplasm he covered her mouth with, taking chunks of skin off her lips, which in turn dripped with rivulets of blood. "NNnnnnnnhhhhhh. You... can't stop... us."

The three cultist protecting the circle rushed to create a barrier to Madam Marvelous's approach. Two of them held their hands palm forward to Madam Marvelous, bracing it with their other hand and blew air at the backs of their hands. Somehow the incantation they whispered along with their breath created a strong wind that pummeled and pushed the heroine and her helper backward.

Eggie fired another pair of shots at the cultists controlling the gusts, but the air movement was too strong, knocking her organic projectiles away from them.

"Muttergrund," Elvira shouted. "There is a human body buried beneath the wrought iron taken from your hearth. Expel it from its prison and salt the lands with it. The death curse it carries with it will allow you to free yourself of the infected and foreign bodies that plague you. You can start your divine machinations again, once the Morphons no longer infest those who live upon your skin."

"What are you doing, you fool," Ace shouted at Elvira. "You'd kill everything on the planet to get your way."

"We have hundreds of her devout followers secluded where the curse will not affect them, and we are not killers," Mistress Elvira said from her confinement. "The curse will be dispersed so that it will not kill. It will only prevent life from further taking root. The spark that Muttergrund once granted will be stifled, and when the time is right, only her faithful servants will reseed the world to her plan."

    Astra's astral form was recalled back to her body.  She stood and opened her eyes.  Thinking of where she just was in Astral form she teleported to the grave, and sucker punched Elvira.  She began to fly via telekinesis. While Elvira was still off balance she used her telekinesis to super punch Elvira.  Multiple telekinetic fists hit the woman.

    "Nice shot," Arcane Ace stated.  "I didn't know you could punch like that."

    "I know I can't just rely on my psionic powers," Astra explained.  "I began taking martial arts classes in school."

    "That was smart," Ace agreed.  He prepared a spell while she disoriented.  He bound her in arcane energy bands.  

    "This doesn't matter, the curse will take care of you all," Elvira reminded.

    "Archibald doesn't want to hurt anyone," Astra said as she psionically blasted Elvira who was struggling to break free of her bonds.  "That's why the cage over the grave."

    "How do you know that?" Ace asked.

    "I talked to him," Astra replied.  "He didn't like what his family did.  That's why he was cursed."  She looked at the now unconscious Elvira.  "I'm betting she's somehow connected to his family."

The winds shoved me and Eggie back with the force of a hurricane. She dropped to a knee, trying to keep from being blown away from the cultists into a broken iron fence.

I needed to do something, needed to get to the glowing stones to disrupt the summoning of Muttergrund. I saw that the elemental being was somehow causing the ground around the grave of Archibald Braithewaite to rumble and churn upward. The GROUND. Being a person, a human, for the majority of my life, I didn't always consider all the options I could use in other forms. I didn't have to try to get through the wind. I could go under it.

I shifted into a form inspired by one of my coaches in my super power, Midgardsormr. Nothing he taught me specifically, but just by being himself. The World Serpent. I turned into a grass snake and slithered as close to the ground as I could, searching for mole holes. The ground was littered by them, so if I could slip into one of them, I could get past the cultists and them not even know it.

"Did she turn invisible? Where did the woman go?" A cultist shouted at their companions. They couldn't stop their wind spell, or else Eggie could start pummeling them with her fruit cannon.

I found a hole in the earth that lead to the center of the field. My tongue could taste everything in the air. Humans. Rotting plants. Mole... I don't need to say it, do I? I made my way forward, nosing away any stones that hindered my efforts, or scaled (snake joke) over them if there was enough of a gap. I missed having arms and legs a bit, but I felt powerful in the snake form as well. My muscles undulating to push me forward quickly as I swiveled and undulated my way forward.

Magic in the air had a bitter taste. I knew I was near one of the stones. I shoved my head through the dirt, using my wide nose to break through to the surface. The cultists stood behind me, Muttergrund before me, and within six inches of my body, one of the summoning stones brightly shown. I wrapped my body around it an drew it away from its position.

The lava surrounding Muttergrund hardened and the tower of earth began to tremble. Bits of quartz crystals fragmented and dropped into the grass.

"The circle. They've disrupted the circle." A cultist approached me and reached for the stone. Instinctively, I recoiled and hissed at them. Clearly, the cultist didn't know their snakes. I wasn't in the form of a poisonous one, but they acted as if I was.

"YOUR TASK IS INCOMPLETE. YOU HAVE NOT HONORED YOUR PLEDGE TO ME, SO I DEPART. SALT THE WORLD WITH YOUR OWN EFFORTS. Muttergrund said as a coffin lifted out of the ground as if heaved up by an invisible hand. A great rumbling continued as the elemental settled back into the earth, drawing the lava and black ash into the ground with it. "THE STUFF OF STARS ALREADY HAS ITS PLACE IN THIS WORLD. IT IS WISE TO FEAR WHAT THESE MORPHONS MAY DO TO THE EARTH FOR YOUR KIND, BUT SHE SHALL SURVIVE. SHE WILL ALWAYS ENDURE, UNLESS THIS WRETCHED CREATURE COMES TO ITS FULL POWER"

Muttergrund collapsed into the soil, leaving only a freshly tilled circle of earth to indicate her presence. Astra and Ace subdued the other cultists with Eggie's help. Krystal Fae came back down to the ground with two young, strangely-clothed unconscious children in her telekinetic grip. I returned to my Madam Marvelous form, picking up the remaining summoning stones and wondering what Muttergrund's final statement meant. What creature would come to its full power? There weren't any monsters here anymore.

Astra spoke to Miss Fae for a few seconds, filling her in on the plight of Archibald Braithewaite. "Do you think we can do anything for him?"

Krystal nodded. "Yes. If Ace doesn't mind giving me a hand, I think we can look into removing the curse put onto him."

*A few minutes later Kyle and Jade StarRunner slowly begin to reawaken. "Air...magic..powerful..but..unpredictable," Kyle whispered to himself mostly inaudibly to most of those there unless they have super hearing or a similar ability. "Elementals..are..very..hard..to..reason..with..logically," Jade similarly reasons to herself.

Almost simultaneously the twins both wake up and thank Krystal Fae for helping to rescue them. "Muttergrund we think might be related to an ancient Phrygian earth mother goddess better known as the Greek and Roman goddess Rhea mother of the original six Olympians. It would greatly explain why the cultists and their leader thought he would be able to cleans the Earth of Morphons. This is only a theory based on ancient earth theology we learned at our academy."*