Mya, the Cursed World
by
David C. Daoust
She was running again. For someone made to be so strong, it seemed like Fiona Hart was always just cutting loose and flat-out running away. The pale blue, ghostly girl slid, bodily, over the tiles that covered the roof; her foot slipped a little too close to the edge- sent loose tiles to the cobblestone road below. The sudden clash of shattered tile against said cobbles, made the possible fall– not terribly inviting.
She wore just a lacy ruffled undergarment– the old-timey kind, that looked more like trunks and a tank top, than anything modern. The fancy old ball-gown, that previously covered her torsoe, would have been terribly constraining, or so she thought when she ripped it off, up over her head, right before she hurled herself mightily at the wall, and used her incredible strength to push herself from one handhold to the other, wall to wall, effectively bouncing herself up to a higher window. She managed to swing herself through, feet first onto the roof, just as her adversary burst into the ballroom below.
If it hadn’t been for the sudden alarming crash of said window, she may have escaped detection. That is, if the awe-struck crowd of ‘onlooker/ball-attendees’ hadn’t been gawking in her direction upon the mother load’n Witch-Queen’s arrival.
Yeah, Witch-Queen…
It had been a full year since Fiona had slipped through that portal in the back door of Professor Goodwin’s mansion, which, of course, meant today was, once again, Halloween. Should she be surprised that she finds herself in a full tilt run?
Fiona spent most of the past year trying to figure out how to get back to where she’d come from; the first few days of that, trying to comprehend where she was, exactly.
At first- she’d thought… ‘time-travel’ might fit. Why not? First, there was a young ‘Charles Goodwin’ counterpart to the old ‘Professor Goodwin’ that would exist in her ‘time’. Second, the old stone mansion looked newer and undamaged… plus the clothing and vehicles she had witnessed upon arrival- were all old fashioned… What’s more, The wood wagons, and the horses that drew them, could only add to her ‘time-travel’ conclusion.
Nope.
Fact was, she’d slipped through to another world, or so the boy ‘Goodwin’ had explained.
“Mya, ‘the Cursed World’… The world right before Earth,” he’d declared.
What does it all mean? She was not sure. She was assured there were many worlds. All forged under God, with angel and demon throughout. Among this information was a hurried explanation of a portal system that linked all the separate solar systems that carried each alternate planet… ‘the boy Goodwin’ seemed worried she was going to ask about Venus and/or Mars, inexplicably to Fiona, but wanted to make sure she knew he understood earth’s solar system… that simply wasn’t the kind of ‘right before’ he was alluding to, when he’d declared it ‘the world right before Earth’… it was all a little too sci-fi for Fiona Hart though, and really all this just made the whole thing that much more confusing.
Of all these worlds, it was explained, despite being separate celestial bodies, there were many things that were similar- among these similarities, styles and trends in dress and design, the languages were the same, and days like ‘Halloween’ appeared on each. All these similarities were chalked up to one thing– because there were really only so many Muses in the Heavens, and they all preferred to inspire those listening, only with ideas that had worked well in the past. (Plus, Muses never knew who all would lose track of what… and just flake out on them, which meant anything ‘new’ would just get garbled and be ruined… Muses have to deal with a lot of flakes; they’ll go on and on.) But of all these worlds, ‘Mya’ was different from all others.
The evil league of monstrous monsters, that overtook such worlds- one planet at a time, was stuck on Mya. This world, alone, held against the waves of city-sized monsters that intended to destroy each world, before jumping to the next world, to spread their evil machinations there.
Mya’s advancements were all magic based- there was no need for technology to advance- as long as magic was so rampant and potent. And if the monstrous ‘World Consumers’ were present on a world, magic was always rampant and definitely more potent. Technological advances tended to freeze once magic was paramount. This is what stunted this world, and explained why wooden wagons and horses were well enough, to travel between old-style rail systems and other old-style conveyances, for those that dared travel the cursed world.
What stopped the evil league of world consumers from completing their objective?
The very Witch-queen that just, in a charge of magical flickering, followed Fiona out onto the roof. The Queen moved at a preternatural speed, a speed that caused Fiona’s heart to skip a beat… The situation wasn’t a good one, but at least it was different from every other Halloween Fiona had endured since her escape through the veil. ‘But was it, really?’ She thought as she made a heroic leap to the next building, dismayed that the queen was not about to just let her flee.
The main bonus of Fiona being on a different world- ‘Spirits’ were all native of their home world— which meant her evil father ‘the Conductor’ nor his evil minions, could find her on Mya to chase her through the nights. Why exactly Fiona could switch Worlds? …was a question as mysterious as her creation.
The Witch-Queen was not some crook-nosed batty old hag with a broom and wide-brimmed felt hat. She was more, like… a well-muscled, seven-foot tall, super model. And them muscles weren’t just for show- she was strong. Imposing to say the least, despite her beauty- she looked angry, and that ire was focused on Fiona.
As the story went, the Queen was, or is, the most hated of all witches. So many powerful witches had cursed her, that the spells were all competing to achieve their ends; the curse could not achieve its goal, if its target was killed by another curse, thus the curses were all protecting her from all the other curses. Each waiting for the chance to enact whatever gruesome fate was baked into the spell… Each, so powerful, that they defied Death herself, and rendered the Witch-Queen completely immortal. Ultimately, a testament to just how hated the Witch-Queen was among the magic-users of Mya.
This empowered the Witch-Queen to battle back the World Consumers. Hold them in check- while the magic and monstrosities were overflowing in this world, life, itself, could not be exterminated– not so long as the Witch-Queen stood against them… The World, Mya, was in stalemate, frozen in a battle that’s only conclusion, could be the death of the planet.
‘Worked out great for the next world (a little mud ball called Earth), but this world, was a cursed one— equally as cursed as the Witch-Queen herself: Great swaths of land were considered Zombie Country- nothing living could survive the hordes of undead that rampaged these lands. Nights of the full moon, brought howls from pack upon pack of werewolves… among other monstrosities… entire cities lost under shadowy clouds of pitch-black darkness— all life within to be consumed by the Vampire Lords that entrapped them. Not to mention the city-sized World Consumers, themselves, flat tentacled forms, leeching life from the planet itself. All these monsters, all these demons, cowed by the Witch-Queen herself!
Easy to say, this was not someone you would, at any time, want to piss off. Especially if you’re an honored guest at one of her Royal Majesties latest Balls. A thought that sent a tiny crease between Fiona’s blazing eyes as she glanced back at the pursuant super-model that threatened to overtake her.
The one thought that did cross her mind– at least she was not the only one that stripped off her bulbous, tight-waisted, ball-gown when it came time for some late-night action. Whether or a not the Witch-Queen, coming at her in her undergarments, was more or less threatening… yet unseen.
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Happy Halloween!
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