Legends of Amacia Heart of Darkness
Chapter 47: Return to Acheron

A couple of days after leaving the Blister Fields, Amelia’s team with Hanna and Magnus approached Acheron on the backs of the caronadons. At the moment they sighted Acheron, Hanna was still unconscious. Amelia looked out over the Cimmerian highlands and the city of Acheron as they descended over the top of the mountain ridges that surround the city. She sighed heavily at the sight of Acheron. The citadel towered over the city, casting an evil shadow over the whole necropolis. As Amelia looked at the city, she could see activity inside and outside of the main gates. “Sit down outside of their perimeter there on top of the ridge,” she ordered the caronadon, pointing to the very spot where the portal had opened from Arionath. It bobbed its head, chirping. The giant bird then screamed, announcing their arrival to all. Everyone on the perimeter of the secured area of the city heard, and then saw the caronadons approaching. Immediately, a couple of guards went to replace Nicodemus, Joshua, and Nathanael while a dozen other guards followed by a sizable crowd went to meet them. Several minutes after Amelia pointed out where she wanted to land, the caronadons landed as a crowd gathered. The guards quickly made a perimeter keeping the crowd away from the giant birds as they landed.

Amelia landed first. She motioned for a couple of guards to come retrieve Hanna. “Hanna’s seriously injured. Handle her very gently,” she ordered the guards. They quickly came forward and gently received Hanna’s bandaged form out of Amelia’s hand. Amelia immediately dismounted and turned to the great bird, saying, “Thank you for your help, my friend.” The bird chirped pleasantly in response, and then moved away as the other caronadons came in for a landing. Amelia went to Hanna, who was laid just inside the perimeter by the two guards that had carried her from the caronadon. A crowd started to gather around her, whispering. They didn’t know who Hanna was.

Just then, Harry appeared out of the crowd, running toward Amelia as she knelt by Hanna. “You found them!” he cried ecstatically as he ran up. When he got close enough to see the terrible state Hanna was in, he stopped in his tracks and cursed, “Holy shit! Who’s that? I thought you’d found Hannibal.”

Amelia looked up at Harry and said severely, “Harry, we did replace Hannibal, but not as he was.”

“What’re you saying?” Harry asked, edging up to Hanna, looking very closely at her.

“Harry,” Amelia declared grimly, “This girl is Hannibal. The Emperor mutated him into this girl you see here.”

Harry’s mouth fell open in horror and astonishment. Memories of Hannibal sharing the terrible mutation dream exploded into his consciousness. The news raced through the crowd like a wildfire. “Oh, my god,” Harry cried, dropping his knees next to Hanna. “This is unbelievable! How can my best friend now be a woman?”

“The Emperor has science and technology that allows him to mutate anyone he wishes into anything he desires,” Amelia stated. “Apparently, he thought Hannibal’s power resided in his manhood so he robbed him of it; however, that’s obviously not the source of Hannibal’s power since he managed to escape the Arena even in this form.”

Tears dripped from Harry’s eyes; his mind reeling at what lay on the ground in front of him. When it hit Harry that Hanna really was Hannibal, he looked into Amelia’s eyes and asked, “You know for a fact this is Hannibal.”

“Yes,” Amelia replied solemnly. “He’s trapped in this mutated body, forced to live as a woman by the Emperor’s rage. I’ve had telepathic contact with him and know it’s him.”

Harry looked down at Hanna and saw her inert form as Amelia checked Hanna’s vital signs. His concern for her rose dramatically. “Amelia, is she dead? Please say she isn’t dead,” he begged Amelia.

Turning to face Harry, Amelia said, “No, she isn’t dead. But she’s not far from it. Had I not done several quick touches to stabilize her condition on the way back here, she would be dead.”

Just then, a commotion attracted everyone’s attention. Amelia quickly rose to see what the problem was. Harry looked in the direction of the commotion and saw Magnus surrounded by the guards, who were ready to kill him. Kahn, Joel, Cepheus, and the rest of Amelia’s team had placed themselves between the guards and Magnus, trying to prevent his death. “What the hell is that?” Harry exclaimed when he first saw Magnus.

“That’s Magnus,” Amelia replied as she and Harry sprinted into the fray. “He rescued Hanna out of Amacia. Friends...hold your weapons! He’s an ally and Hanna’s rescuer.”

“Impossible! He’s a Xenian!” one of the guards hissed. “He’ll kill us all! We have to put him down!”

Amelia and Harry got in the middle with her team and faced the guards. “Yes, he’s a Xenian,” she agreed. “But he’s also responsible for getting the Promised One away from the clutches of the Emperor. Lower your weapons.” They refused to do so.

“I knew this was going to be the reception here,” Magnus said bluntly. “I knew it. I would have been better off staying in Tartarus.”

“Leave him alone!” Hanna suddenly shouted from her position on the ground, having just awakened, and noticed the crisis with Magnus. Harry heard Hanna’s voice and knew it was Hannibal from her authoritative tone. Everyone’s eyes suddenly went to Hanna. “I said leave him be! Amelia, bring Magnus here,” Hanna growled again in pain. “This Xenian was my deliverance from the Arena, so don’t you dare lay a finger on him. He’s one of us because of his actions and is under my protection.”

The guards slowly lowered their weapons and parted as Amelia brought Magnus through the line of guards to Hanna. When she and Magnus stood over Hanna, Amelia knelt at Hanna’s side asking, “Are you all right, Hanna? You’ve been unconscious since we left the Blister Fields in the edge of Tartarus two days ago.”

Hanna grinned slightly with a great deal of pain still on her face. “Not really,” she answered. “I’m still dying, Amelia, just not as quickly as before. Thank you for the touch. But I’m good enough to stop this lynching of my friend. Magnus, please kneel beside me.” Magnus knelt down at Hanna’s right side, looking down with admiration at her courage and strength.

“You surprise me yet again, Hanna,” Magnus rumbled softly as Hanna touched him on the leg with her good hand, showing her solidarity with him.

“I’m just full of surprises,” Hanna cackled in pain. Turning to the crowd, which had grown to nearly a hundred people, she called out as loud as she could, “This Xenian is my friend. His name is Magnus. You’re to treat him as one of us. He saved my life in the Arena at the risk of his own. He’s with us as are many within the City of the Damned you don’t know about. We have powerful friends in that evil place. That’s how I escaped. The Almighty has His people in the midst of that hell and He moved upon them to help me get out of there. Magnus is a friend and a powerful ally. Treat him as such.”

Harry knelt down beside Hanna and held her hand. With a confused and concerned look on his face, he murmured, “You really stepped into it this time, Hannibal. You got yourself turned into a woman, just like in that fucked up dream.”

Hanna looked up and smiled through her pain, grateful to see Harry’s face again. Hannibal’s trademark smirk shined through, further proving to Harry that Hanna was Hannibal mutated. “You have no idea how badly I stepped into it, Harry,” Hanna replied, “This is the absolutely the worst nightmare I’ve ever had and worse yet, it’s one I can’t wake from. I’m stuck like this because of the Emperor, at least until I replace a way to reverse it, if it can be reversed at all.” After a brief pause, she added, “Oh, I’m so glad to see your ugly mug. But compared to what I’ve seen in the Black Fortress, your ugly face is angelic. If I weren’t such a basket case physically, I’d give you a big hug.”

Hanna’s sarcastic tease further cemented in Harry’s mind that Hannibal indeed was Hanna. Harry smiled warmly, retorting sarcastically, “Well, I guess I can’t call you ugly anymore, sweetheart, not looking like that.” Hanna smiled, feeling Harry’s acceptance of her status. Harry then turned serious and asked, “Where’s Selina, Hannibal?”

Hanna’s face fell with dismayed. “She’s still a prisoner, being held in the Emperor’s Harem inside the Black Fortress,” Hanna reported, “I had no way of reaching her. As you can see, I barely made it out alive and not even in the same form that I went in with. Had it not been for Magnus, we would not be having this conversation.”

Harry placed his hands on Hanna’s shoulder, looking her in the eyes and said, “Don’t worry, bud. We’ll get her back. Is she safe?”

Hanna nodded, saying, “For now she is. I think the Emperor has taken a shine to her, which could be to our advantage. But now that I’ve escaped and you all have apparently succeeded in getting the people here, I’m not sure how he’ll react to her. The Emperor is a very tough customer; however, I’m sure the Lord will keep her safe. As I said, she and we have friends in that place. The women the Emperor have prisoner there have befriended her and are looking out for her, which is a plus. They’ll do what they can to insure her safety.”

Harry looked Hanna in the eye, saying with all the sincerity he could muster, “I know how close you two are. We’ll get her back. That’s a promise.”

“I know,” Hanna wheezed. “I know. I swore I’d go back to that place and retrieve her and anyone else who wanted to come out of that terrible place, even if I have to do it as a woman.” Turning to Magnus, she said so everyone could hear, “Magnus; please pick me up, my friend.”

Magnus nodded and slowly scooped Hanna up, standing like a tree so not to antagonize the guards. “There you are, sister,” Magnus said softly. “Is that better?”

“Yes,” Hanna replied with a wheeze. Seeing the guards still holding their weapons ready, Hanna said through her growing pain, “Please put your swords away. Magnus is my friend and I trust him with my life. He’s not going to hurt any of you. Magnus, can I get you do give me another shot of that painkiller you have? My whole body is on fire right now.”

“Of course,” Magnus replied. “Amelia, please hold her for a moment.” Amelia nodded, taking Hanna into her arms. Magnus then touched Hanna on the neck with his machine finger. It hissed as he released a measured dose of painkillers into Hanna’s system, which visibly reduced the pain level on her face.

“Thank you, my friend,” Hanna murmured. “The pain is becoming tolerable now.”

“You’re welcome,” Magnus stated softly, retrieving Hanna from Amelia.

The guards slowly lowered their weapons when they saw how Magnus helped Hanna and that Hanna trusted him explicitly, but they remained suspicious of him, watching his every move with intense scrutiny. “Say something to them, Magnus. Show them that you’re not the monster they think you are,” Hanna ordered weakly.

Magnus smiled while cradling Hanna as if she were his own child. “Friends, enemies,” he called out, “I’m not what you think I am. I’m not like the monsters that overran your peoples. I’m a seventh-generation bio-organic weapon prototype Xenian, one of four that the Cadre created in their lust for a perfect killing machine. Once upon a time, long ago, I was human and not the monstrosity you see before you. I too have felt the heinous mutation process that Hanna has endured, but my mutation was far worse than hers was. Who I used to be I cannot say because I cannot remember. The Cadre robbed me of those memories when they did their diabolical genetic manipulation of me. I know I’m a freak and have accepted it, but what you must understand is that I’m one of four prototype bio-weapons. The other three are not like me, but you’ll know them when I tell you about them because you have seen replica clones of them on the battlefield. One is the giant spider. Another is a four-armed reptile and the third is a giant bear. Like me, we were all once human and like me, we’re all enhanced mechanically with the cybernetics you see grafted into my flesh.” He displayed his cybernetics, especially his arm.

“However, of the three, only the bear is sympathetic to our cause,” Magnus continued, “The other two are vicious killers like the replicas you have seen in the field. The spider and reptile prototypes belong to the Emperor...body and soul. I risked my life and immortal soul to retrieve this woman out of the Emperor’s grasp in the Arena. Had we not intervened, she would have surely been killed and the Emperor would have won. As I brought this woman out of the cursed city, I quickly discovered that the Emperor now prizes my head as much as he does Beowulf’s head. To be perfectly frank and honest with you all, I’m happy to be away from that place. At least out here, I hope to live in peace. I never wanted the conflict that has been the rule of my life since the Cadre engineered me. I don’t want to take anyone’s life. I’m weary with that troublesome violent existence. If there are any lives to be taken, it will be the Emperor’s or his minions, and not you. I could speak and beg you to trust me forever and you probably won’t. However, consider this. A caronadon transported me here alongside of Amelia’s recon team. I’m told the caronadons are very protective of you people. If I were really going to do any harm to you, they would have refused to carry me, or worse, killed me outright. If there’s any evidence of my sincerity, let that be it. I am here to serve under this woman. I’m at her command. She is the Last Caverias of the ancient prophecies.”

Hanna looked up at Magnus with a genuinely surprised look, asking, “Really? You really believe I’m the One, don’t you?”

Without hesitation, Magnus nodded, saying, “Absolutely. After what I witnessed in the Arena, and how your faith in your god didn’t waver even after being ravaged, tortured, and mutated, I know so. You are the Last Caverias.”

Hanna smiled weakly and said, “It goes further than that, my cyborg friend. My God moved upon the remnant of Amacia, you included, to rescue me out of that dread peril. It’s the Almighty God; the Ancient of Days as I’ve heard him called here, that charts my course and drives me down it. The Lord has uses for everyone, including people such as you. You replace yourself a vessel of mercy, Magnus, unlike the spider and reptile prototypes. They’re vessels of wrath, only to be destroyed like the Emperor.”

Just then, Nicodemus and Joshua approached through the crowd. When they saw the Xenian cradling Hanna, who was speaking amiably to him while Harry and Amelia stood close by, they hesitated. Joshua pulled his sword as Hanna noticed them. “Put that thing away, Joshua. Magnus is a friend,” Hanna ordered. She winced as a surge of pain ran through her chest. She clenched her chest with her good arm as Magnus held her, wheezing and coughing in pain despite the painkillers Magnus had given her a few minutes before. Nicodemus rushed forward with great concern. Joshua put his sword away and went forward too. Upon reaching them, both of them stopped dead in their tracks. Joshua stared at Hanna and Nicodemus’ mouth fell open.

“Almighty Ancient of Days, be merciful,” Nicodemus murmured, coming close. “Hannibal, is that you?”

“Unfortunately, yes,” Hanna growled through the pain. “I got caught up into something I didn’t understand and paid a hefty price for my ignorance.”

Joshua looked close and Amelia confirmed, “Yes, Joshua; it’s Hannibal. He’s been mutated by the Emperor. I’ve had telepathic contact with him and confirmed his identity in this woman.”

“By the gods,” Joshua breathed. “The prophecy, Nicodemus...it’s really coming true.”

Nicodemus put his hand on Hanna’s brow and looked into her eyes to confirm his own thoughts. Seeing Hannibal deep in the eyes and in the bone structure of Hanna’s face, he sighed, saying, “Oh, my poor boy...to be mutated and robbed of your identity like this is evil beyond my comprehension.”

“You have no idea of the evil I’ve seen and endured, Nicodemus,” Hanna wheezed. “It’s an everlasting nightmare I’m unable to escape. Even if I somehow manage to lift this curse, it’ll haunt me for the rest of my life.”

Nicodemus looked up in the face of the feline Xenian and said, “Thank you for your help, Magnus, and for bringing him out of that infernal pit. I was praying that somehow he would be brought out of the city.”

Magnus nodded, saying, “You’re welcome, Nicodemus. It has been a long time since we’ve seen each other.”

“That it has,” Nicodemus replied as he turned his attention to Hanna, who sighed deeply after the pain subsided. “It seems that our last meeting helped to persuade you to turn. I’m glad,” he added glancing back at Magnus for a moment.

“We’re far more numerous in the City of the Damned than you know, Nicodemus. We have a powerful ally in that infernal place,” Magnus replied as he looked at Nicodemus and Joshua.

“Wait a minute, Nicodemus. You know this creature?” Joshua asked, totally taken aback by the revelation that Nicodemus and Magnus knew each other.

Nicodemus nodded, saying, “It’s a long story, Joshua...one I’ll share later. I’m sure you’re not the only one that wants to know.” Then to Magnus, he asked, “What’re you saying, Magnus? You don’t mean who I think you do, do you?”

Magnus nodded with a slight grin, saying, “Yes, I do. You have a most powerful ally very close to the Emperor and he doesn’t know it. He enabled Hanna’s rescue.”

Nicodemus staggered at the reply, and all of the connotations that it implied. “My goodness; the Ancient of Days has indeed been busy, but enough talk. We can speak of this later. We must see to our friend here,” Nicodemus announced. “Amelia; I must thank you and your team for this daring rescue. Did you lose any on your journey?”

“We lost four while scouting the Blister Fields and the city,” Amelia replied sadly. “They were caught by a patrol and summarily executed. We had no way of helping them when it happened. They wandered off and by time we found them, they were dead.”

Nicodemus shook his head sadly, saying, “Such a terrible loss.” Then turning to the crowd, he cried with a loud voice, “The great warrior has escaped from under the Emperor’s very hand, but not without suffering the terrible consequences of it, just as the prophecies foretold. Surely, there is no doubt any longer that he’s the one of the prophecies.” A thunderous cheer arose from the crowd, which lasted several minutes.

After the cheer died down, Hanna asked weakly, “If it isn’t too much of a problem, I could really use something to eat and a soft bed. I’m not exactly in top form here, you know.”

Nicodemus smiled and said, “At once, my friend, but before we do anything else, let us welcome you to the cursed city of Acheron. This was indeed an ideal place to flee to. We chose well because of your guidance. Clear the way! Let her see the city!” Nicodemus waved his arms for the crowd to part and they did, giving Hanna a clear line of sight to the city.

Hanna’s weak eyes scanned the great megalithic city from the walls to the citadel and she was totally without words. Finally, she breathed, “My God in heaven; this is beyond comprehension. I’m having a problem even believing my own eyes. It’s colossal beyond belief.” Suddenly, she could feel the stinking malignant evil emanating from the citadel and the city itself to a lesser degree and her face fell.

Joshua saw her reaction and asked, “Not what you had in mind is it?”

“No, Joshua. It isn’t. I had no idea the evil was this bad,” Hanna murmured. “Tell me you’re not allowing anyone near the fortress?”

Joshua put his hand on Hanna’s bandaged shoulder, saying as he looked over the city with her, “No, sir...um, I mean ma’am. The only people that have been in there belonged to Harry’s recon team and he lost a couple in there. No one is allowed outside of our perimeter on the inside of the city. It’s far too dangerous to do so.”

Hanna chuckled weakly. “It’s okay, Joshua. Don’t be embarrassed. Call me whatever you want. I’m a woman now so ma’am is fine. Besides, it’s a wise decision to keep the people away from the fortress. It’s not going to be a nice place at all. I can feel its stinking evil from here. Yet, it seems to call to me, and I don’t know why. Maybe it’s the fever talking.” She got just a bit dizzy and said, “Come on, Magnus. Let’s go. Lead on Nicodemus.”

Nicodemus took up the lead with Joshua right behind him. Magnus carried Hanna, who was flanked by Amelia, Harry, and Kahn. Aragon, Liu, Joel, Ned, Sam, Cracko, Aragon, David, Zachias, and Cepheus followed up the rear. As they moved off the ridge, the guards and crowds flocked behind them. The caronadons, on the other hand, silently slipped away without notice while the commotion about Magnus was going on. Most had flown back to Syracuse. However, the dominant male that allowed Amelia and Hanna on as passengers circled high over them, looking down on the crowd as they moved into the perimeter, and then into the city. It watched intensely as it circled, heading toward the citadel. A few moments later, it vanished into the sky.

Before everyone reached the city, Hanna passed out again. Speaking to Amelia, Magnus said, “Her condition is worsening, Eris, and the wounds are infected badly. You were able to help her before; can you do it again?”

Amelia put her hand on Magnus’s cybernetic arm and said, “I can try. About all I can do is to stabilize her condition as I did the last time. Doing anything more than that and I risk injuring myself. She took a terrible, savage beating in the Arena and the ravages of the sex floor have seriously complicated her condition. It’s a wonder she is still alive with an intact mind.”

Magnus nodded, saying, “Yes, she did. I have never seen anyone take the kind of punishment she got on the sex floor through the clone or in the Arena and live through it. Surely, a higher power is keeping her alive.”

“You could say that,” Harry said after listening to the conversation as they walked along. “Hannibal has cheated death so many times that it is impossible to say otherwise. He has more lives than a cat, though it never crossed my mind that someone would forcibly change his sex. My mind just can’t comprehend that kind of depravity.”

Magnus grunted with amusement at Harry’s conclusions, saying, “What the Emperor did in mutating Hanna is just scratching the surface of his depravity. I pray you never see what she did. Only then would you understand how truly evil and demented the Emperor is.” His words gave Harry something very unsettling to ponder.

Ten minutes later, they entered a large, relatively intact three-story stone structure Joshua took as his headquarters. Going to the infirmary on the second level, Joshua led them to a vacant room where Magnus gently laid Hanna on a bed with Amelia’s assistance. While they situated Hanna on the bed, Harry went to get Arabella and her medical supplies. Minutes later, they approached the door. Harry stopped Arabella, saying, “You should know something before you go in there, Arabella.”

“What is it?” Arabella asked with much agitation while holding her doctor’s satchel. “Hannibal is in there and he needs my help again.”

“Yes, he’s in there,” Harry said, blushing. “But he’s not the same as he was when he went to Cush.”

“What’re you talking about, Harry?” Arabella asked bluntly.

“I can’t explain it,” Harry said, “But he’s changed in ways you can’t comprehend. Just don’t be alarmed when you see him. It’s still him regardless of what he looks like.” Harry opened the door and let Arabella in. She rushed in with Harry, who closed the door behind them.

Arabella ran to the bed and stopped short when she saw a heavily bandaged woman in a sleeveless tan bodysuit with high-cut legs, her right arm splinted in a sling and both legs splinted lying on the bed. Magnus and Amelia hovered around the woman, checking her vitals while carefully removing the sling and gently laying the splinted arm at her side. Arabella thought her eyes were going to fall out of her head as she slowly approached the woman, her mouth hanging open in shock. She looked at Harry, who nodded, and then at the woman. “No,” Arabella whispered, her mind reeling. “It can’t be Hannibal. Hannibal is a man.”

Amelia looked up at Arabella with a sober, concerned look. “That’s true,” she told Arabella, “He was a man when he went to the Black Fortress. But now he’s been mutated into the woman you see here. This is Hannibal, or as he prefers to be called now that he’s forcibly mutated in to a woman, Hanna.”

Only then did it sink in on Arabella that the woman lying on the bed before her was Hannibal. She started seeing Hannibal’s facial bone structure in the woman lying before her. “Oh, my Lord,” Arabella breathed, rushing to Hanna’s side. “You mean that monster actually changed his sex surgically by force?”

“Unfortunately, yes,” Magnus replied in a soft tone as he knelt down beside Hanna on the opposite side of the bed. “The Emperor surgically and genetically mutated him into his female form just to break him. But it backfired on the Emperor badly, allowing me the opportunity to snatch him from under the Emperor’s nose in the Arena.”

Arabella shuddered in fear of Magnus, but heard from Joshua and Nicodemus that he was a friend. “I’m glad you could save him, uh, I mean her from that pit,” she said softly. “Is there any chance what the Emperor did could be reversed?”

“Possibly, with the proper technology,” Magnus stated, “But the only place I know of such technology is deep within Amacia and Tartarus.”

“So he’s a woman forever then,” Arabella whispered.

“Only Fate knows that,” Magnus stated. “But for now, we have much work to do to save Hanna.”

“Is that what Hannibal wants to be called now?” Arabella asked.

“Yes,” Amelia stated. “Hannibal had to merge his male and female halves to adapt to this new reality. Hanna is who she is now, but Hannibal is always present with her. It’s her way to keep her male and female parts from getting lost in this new form.”

Arabella sighed deeply, tears in her eyes. “Only in my deepest nightmares can I begin to know what he’s experienced,” she said. “It’s absolutely heinous to think that he was forced to become a woman by this Emperor. But he’s still my friend, no matter whether he’s a man or woman. We have to save her if we can. Magnus, do you have any medical expertise?”

“I do indeed, ma’am,” Magnus replied. “We Xenians are programmed with it and my cyborg arm here can become any tool you need. I also can give medications, sedatives, and painkillers. I gave her a shot of painkillers outside the city because of her pain level.”

“Okay,” Arabella stated, stepping into her role as a doctor. “Since you carried her out of that hell, I’m going to trust you. My instinct is that you really are a good person beneath that vicious mutant exterior. Please give Hanna a sedative to keep her out while we work on her.”

“Yes, doctor,” Magnus answered, touching Hanna on the neck with his machine finger. It hissed and the grimace on Hanna’s unconscious face softened. “Ahh, good,” he murmured. “The sedative is getting her to relax. Now, let me scan her to verify which bones are broken.”

“You can do that?” Arabella asked.

“Yes, ma’am,” Magnus stated, “This cyborg eye of mine has the capability to scan in all wavelengths of light, including x-ray and gamma.”

“That’s amazing. Go ahead and scan her,” Arabella ordered. “It would be much easier if I knew what was going on internally.”

Magnus stood and hovered over Hanna, opening his machine eye wide and scanning her internally. Arabella only then became aware of how big Magnus was and shivered. His giant muscular form dwarfed the largest football player on the surface. “Okay,” Magnus began, “Hanna has seven broken ribs, a broken collarbone on the right side, a fractured sternum; her left humerus has a hairline fracture near the shoulder; her right ulna is broken clean through but didn’t go compound when it broke. It’s why her arm is splinted. I also see three fractured vertebrae. Because of that, we put a brace on her back to stabilize her spine before we left the Black Fortress. The bodysuit you see is there to help keep the brace and the bandages stable. Her pelvis is fractured in two places. I see her left femur is fractured in three places, which is the reason for the left leg brace. Her right knee is sprained severely as is her ankle. Her right tibia has two hairline fractures, and her left ankle is broken in four places, which explains the braces there.

“Her breasts, lungs, heart, liver, stomach, esophagus, and spleen are badly bruised and almost cooked from Hades’ fireball. She also has a severe concussion and a fractured cranium where she took hits to head. Oh, this isn’t good. I’m seeing some swelling of her brain from the hits and something very strange. Her pineal gland is much larger than I’ve seen in other humans, but it doesn’t seem to be causing any problem. I need to give her an anti-inflammatory cocktail to reduce the cerebral swelling.” Magnus again touched Hanna on the neck; this time with two of his machine fingers, releasing a potent cocktail of anti-inflammatory drugs into her system that were compatible with the painkillers and sedative. He scanned her head for a few moments with baited breath.

“Well?” Arabella asked with great concern.

A smile crept across Magnus’ saber-toothed lips. “Good, the drugs are starting to reduce the swelling as I hoped, but she’s far from out of the woods yet. We need to treat her cuts and burns too, which are festering badly now. Needless to say, she’s gravely injured and would have died had Amelia not helped her when she did. Now, it’s up to us to help her.”

Arabella stared at Hanna, dumbfounded at the list of injuries rattled off by Magnus. “Good Lord,” she cried, “She should be dead with those wounds. Where do we start?”

“Now, that I’ve treated her cerebral swelling, I would suggest treating her burned chest,” Magnus suggested. “That’s what we did before bringing her out of the city. Hades’ fireball caught her right in the chest and miraculously didn’t incinerate her. Why it didn’t baffles me because Hades’ infernal fires always reduce what it touches to ash instantly. Regardless of that, the sheer force of the fireball did do much of the trauma to her torso. We must get that burn treated because that’s what’s causing her the most problem right now.”

Arabella’s training kicked in as a determined look crossed her face. “Sounds good to me,” she said. “Okay, let’s get started. Harry, I’m going to need your help here too.”

“Just tell me what you want done,” Harry replied.

“Just be ready to help,” Arabella stated as she donned her latex gloves. She then handed a pair of latex gloves to Harry and Amelia, ordering, “Put these on, just to be safe. Does anyone know where Dr. Drew is? We sure could use his help on this.”

“The last I heard, he was still treating those wounded in the Emperor’s attack,” Harry reported while pulling on the gloves. “I’m sure if he could be here, he would.”

“In that case, we must start without him,” Arabella answered. “Okay Magnus, help me get this bodysuit off her.”

“Right,” Magnus stated. “But we must be gentle. The suit is helping to keep the back brace and the bandages on her torso stable.” Arabella nodded and within thirty seconds, she, Magnus, and Amelia removed Hanna’s tan bodysuit without cutting it. It revealed ample bandages and elastic wraps around Hanna’s torso from her neck to her hips. The bandages were damp and had started to turn a reddish brown.

“Can you cut these bandages loose, Magnus?” Arabella queried.

“Not a problem,” Magnus stated as Amelia donned her latex gloves. In the blink of an eye, his machine finger became a surgical grade scalpel and he gingerly cut the bandages and elastic wrap off Hanna’s chest.

“Why do we wear these strange gloves?” Amelia asked.

“To protect both Hanna and us from any bacteria or other infection,” Arabella stated while Magnus carefully sliced the bandages. “We have bacteria on our hands that may contaminate Hanna’s wounds further. It also protects us from any infection in Hanna’s wounds so we don’t get sick from it. It’s standard procedure in this situation to use the latex gloves as protection.”

“Ah, I see,” Amelia replied as Magnus stepped back. “That sounds like a good idea.”

Arabella and Amelia then peeled back the cut bandages slowly. Arabella, Amelia, and Harry simultaneously gasped in astonishment and horror at what lay beneath the bandages. Hanna’s chest, breasts, and abdomen was cauterized from the neck to her belly button with many lacerations and cuts on it while everything oozed a terrible stinking yellow puss.

“Oh, dear god,” Arabella cried in horror. “How did she survive that?”

Harry shook his head sadly. Only then did Harry truly comprehending that Hannibal had been turned into a woman and nearly killed. Hanna’s charred breasts and belly lay exposed to his sight, and his pity turned to compassion. “God is how, Arabella,” he said softly. “Only the Lord keeps her alive now so we can treat her. It’s the only answer. She should be dead from these wounds. We have to do what we can for her.”

“Right,” Arabella replied, composing herself. “We have to clean these wounds now. Let’s get to it.” With that, she, Magnus, Harry, and Amelia started cleaning Hanna’s charred chest. At the same time, they gave her a sponge bath to prevent the wounds from becoming further contaminated. It took them almost four hours to clean up Hanna’s wounds, most of their time being concentrated on her charred, demolished chest.

In addition to the terrible wounds she bore, the strange scars all over Hanna’s body astounded Amelia. She’d never seen so many large bite and claw marks on anyone.

As they finished up, Nathanael entered the room with the little first-aid kit they’d brought from the Temple. Walking up to Hanna, he looked down at her as Arabella, Amelia, and Magnus stood back for a moment, surveying their work. “My god in heaven,” Nathanael breathed, sensing Hannibal in the body on the bed. “That’s really Hannibal, isn’t it?”

“Yes,” Amelia said weakly, exhaustion showing on her face. “That monster mutated him. Now, he’s calling himself Hanna as a way to cope with the mutation.”

“It’s just blows my mind that the Emperor would do such a thing,” Nathanael replied. “How is she doing now?”

Arabella sighed heavily, saying, “She’s dying, Nathanael, and it appears that we have no way to stop it. Amelia has used her healing touch on her to help stabilize her condition and Magnus has used the medications he has to counter the infections, but I fear it isn’t enough. The wounds she received while at Amacia are exceptionally serious and have become badly infected. She has a very high fever and is occasionally coughing up blood. Magnus is not sure if his antibiotics will stem the infection. See for yourself what she endured.” She and Amelia pulled back the bandages they were just about to fasten to Hanna’s chest, uncovering her chest and abdomen. It was cauterized from the neck down to the belly button with many gashes and cuts. Everything continued oozing the terrible stinking yellow puss.

Nathanael’s face fell as he grimaced at the wounds. Moreover, he now truly understood that Hannibal was a woman now. The charred breasts on her chest and her female genitalia proved it to him beyond any doubt.

Arabella and Amelia covered the wounds and taped the bandage down. Magnus then stepped in and secured Hanna’s back brace with a new elastic wrap. “That should keep her spine stabilized,” Magnus reported upon securing the wrap. “We don’t want those damaged vertebrae to shift and paralyze her.”

“I should say not,” Nathanael agreed. “Wait, are you saying she broke her back?”

“Yes,” Magnus stated. “She has three fractured vertebrae that were most likely broke when she got hit by Hades’ fireball. The impact threw her like a rag doll thirty-five feet and she landed very awkwardly. I saw it. Fortunately for Hanna, she counterattacked at the same time Hades threw his fireball. Her thrown sword struck home in Hades’ heart as he began generating another fireball. His fire went out of control and he exploded, giving me the cover I needed to retrieve Hanna from the Arena floor and vanish into the shadows. The fact she survived Hades’ fire at all still astounds me. His infernal fires reduce everything to ash when he lets it loose like he did in the Arena.”

“Whoa,” Harry breathed. “That’s some report.”

“Indeed,” Nathanael agreed. “But let’s get back to the matter at hand. Is her spinal cord intact?”

“For now, yes,” Magnus stated, “One of the first things we did was treat her wounds and stabilize her broken bones. That’s the reason for the braces, which reminds me that we should put the braces back on her arm and legs just to be safe. What do you think, Dr. Bishop?”

“Yes, it would be advisable,” Arabella conceded. “I’d forgotten about the braces on her arms and legs. Let’s get them back on her. Give me a hand, Harry.” Harry nodded and helped Arabella and Magnus put the braces back on Hanna’s broken arm and legs.

“How the rest of the prognosis,” Nathanael queried.

“We have cleaned her wounds and applied whatever healing herbs and ointments we could replace, including that which Magnus supplied,” Amelia said softly, shaking her head sadly as she tried to fight back the tears. “But it may not be enough. Hannibal has done so much for me. I hate it that I cannot do more.”

Nathanael looked Amelia in the eye as she stood to face him, pulling off her latex gloves and putting them with Hanna’s old bandages. He set the kit aside as he saw her breaking with grief. He moved forward and said calmly while putting his arms around her, “Shhh; it’s okay. She’ll be all right. You’ll see.”

Amelia sobbed softly as she wrapped her arms around the great cat, burying her face in his chest. “It’ll be all right, Amelia,” Nathanael said again with confidence. He stroked her hair a few times and purred softly for her. She could feel his great purr rumbling in his chest and it calmed her emotionally. “You have done far more than you needed to,” Nathanael continued as he gently pushed her back after she calmed down. Taking his finger and wiping the tears from her cheeks, he said, “I came as soon as I found out that you had returned with him. Little did I realize he’d returned in this state.”

Amelia nodded, saying, “You’re such a noble creature, Nathanael; so powerful and yet capable of being so gentle. I can see why Selina is the way she is.”

Nathanael looked down at her with a fatherly smile, replying, “Yes. She’s a lot like me. Selina is my greatest treasure. She’s all that is left of my home world. Speaking of her, I see that you weren’t able to retrieve her.”

Amelia shook her head with obvious grief on her face. “No, we didn’t. We found Hanna in the Blister Fields outside of Amacia with Magnus, who had snatched her from the very jaws of oblivion in the Arena, as you just heard. Once we found them, Hanna told us that Selina was locked away in the Emperor’s Harem with fifty other women, all of which are prisoners like her. She told us that reaching Selina was impossible at that time, but assured us that she is safe for the time being. Hanna was dying when we found her in the arms of Magnus, so we came back here. She swore though that she would return to Amacia and retrieve Selina and anyone else who wants to come out of that place of the damned.”

Nathanael listened intently and when Amelia finished speaking, he said, “You did right in bringing her back here. If Hanna said that retrieving Selina was futile at that moment, then it was. You see, she and Selina are bound telepathically at such a depth that it defies all reason. Selina probably told Hanna to go before they left the city.”

Amelia continued trying to grasp the depth of connection of which Nathanael was speaking. She had some idea of the power the two of them together had because of what they did to unlock her memories. However, she only saw it on a surface level, not the deep, memory-sharing, pain-sharing levels that Hannibal and Selina actually shared. “It’s hard to comprehend such a thing,” Amelia finally replied a few moments later. “Yet, you seem surprisingly calm despite the fact that your daughter is still a prisoner and your daughter’s husband has been mutated into a woman and nearly killed. I know if it were me, I would be very upset about it, swearing vengeance on the Emperor for it.”

Nathanael smiled at her as he picked up the kit, saying, “It’s no point in me worrying about Selina. She’s in the Almighty’s hand. I’ve determined the Lord didn’t want her freed just yet. I just have to be patient. Everything will work out. Just remember, the Lord is in control of this whole terrible sordid episode. He has a plan that He’s working out. Very few men or women understand it. I don’t exactly understand it all myself. One thing I do know, Hannibal is the only man that I know who seems to have a pretty good bead on what the Lord is up to. The fact that he’s been mutated into a woman by force really angers me, but I’m not going to let it get me down. This mutation must have been part of the Lord’s plan to begin with, so I don’t worry about it. Yes, he’s been mutated and lies there teetering on the edge of eternity because of his wounds. But Hanna the woman and Hannibal the man still have pivotal roles in what is going on here. The Lord will not let them perish before their job is done. I know it to the bottom of my soul.”

“How can you be so sure?” Amelia asked as she and Nathanael watched Arabella, Magnus, and Harry finish dressing Hanna’s wounds and covering her with a blanket up to her neck.

Nathanael grinned knowingly, saying, “Faith, my dear princess of Hyperborea; faith in the Almighty that He will see things done right.”

Harry stood back and looked at Hanna, and then at his hands, bloody from cleaning the wounds. He removed the latex gloves and put them with Hanna’s old bandages. With a sigh, he looked at Nathanael and saw the kit as he talked to Amelia. When Nathanael finished speaking, Harry asked, “Is that the first-aid kit from the Temple?”

Nathanael nodded, saying, “Yes, it is. I thought it might be useful in to treat Hannibal’s wounds. Boy was I shocked when I came in and found he literally isn’t the man he used to be.”

“You’re not the only one,” Harry admitted. “This has to be the strangest thing that I’ve ever seen happen to him: getting a forced sex change. What a hideous thought!”

“No kidding,” Nathanael agreed. “But I guess we have to accept it since he’s stuck with it.”

“Yeah,” Harry replied.

Amelia’s attention was attracted to the small, strange kit and she asked as Nathanael stepped towards the bed, “What kind of strange thing is that?”

Arabella stood up as she wiped her hands, saying, “That’s one bizarre little device there. It some kind of weird portable healing machine they brought with them from the Temple. They have larger, much more powerful versions of that at the Temple where they came from.”

Nathanael pulled the blanket back, opened the kit, and took the small disks from the box, beginning to place them strategically around Hanna’s body. “This is a small portable healing machine made when this land was on the surface,” he reported to Amelia. “We found them in the Temple and I brought one just in case something like this happened. What we do is place these little disks on the body around where the wounds are. It’s the strangest thing I’ve ever used. These little disks will adhere to the body and generate an electromagnetic frequency that promotes healing. When the machine is finished, the disks simply come off.”

As he placed the last disk on the center of Hanna’s chest, he turned and closed the lid on the box before setting it near Hanna’s head. “Look at the crystal in the box. It powers the crystals in the disks,” Nathanael added as he pointed out that the crystals were not just glowing, but resonating in a sweet melodious harmony. “It will run until the patient is healed or it runs out of power. However, I have never seen one of these little guys run out of power. Look, it is already having an effect. Look at her face,” he said as he pulled the blanket back up to Hanna’s chin. Amelia looked on with fascination at the strange crystals glowing and flashing, singing in harmonious resonance. Then she saw Hanna’s face, which had been twisted in pain even though she was unconscious, suddenly relax and take up a more peaceful look. Nathanael put his hand on Hanna’s forehead and felt the heat rising off it. “Sleep on, my friend. May the Lord raise you up,” he said softly.

“That is some strange technology,” Amelia said with great interest. “It does what I can do with a peculiar type of machine. I seem to remember legends about such devices that could be carried around. Needless to say, I thought it would be a little more to it. It’s not what I expected, you know, from the legends and myths.”

Nathanael rose, looking at Arabella first, saying, “You look tired, Arabella. Go and get some rest. I’ll watch over her for a while.”

“Does it show that much?” Arabella asked wearily, peeling off her latex gloves and dumping them with Hanna’s old bandages. Nathanael nodded and she said, “Thank you. Let me know if something comes up.” Arabella then promptly picked up the sack that contained the old bandages and other wastes from cleaning Hanna’s wounds, closing it.

Nathanael nodded again replying, “I will. Go on now. You too, Harry. I’ll let you know when she wakes up.” Harry smiled wearily and followed Arabella out of the door, leaving Nathanael, Amelia, and Magnus there. Magnus stepped back from the bed and sat in the corner, just watching over Hanna. Looking at Amelia, Nathanael said, “Things rarely are what you think they should be, Amelia. Take us for instance. You all have heard the prophecies for all your lives and not once did you all stop to think about what we were going to be like. You all never stopped to consider what the makeup of the Eleven would be. I know you were not expecting Selina or me. Nor did I suspect that you thought the Promised One would end up like Hanna. The Lord just likes to do that sometimes, throwing you a curve to keep you on your toes. Is that not the truth?”

Amelia smiled and shook her head, knowing he was right on target, saying, “So true, my Lynxian friend. So many things have happened one way when we thought they should have happened another way. Moreover, in almost every case, despite how terrible it was when it happened, a greater good came out of it than evil. Your God surely is great, doing what He does to insure our survival as His people. We don’t give Him the respect that He deserves.”

Nathanael looked into her eyes and said, “You have an uncanny grasp of the situation. That’s so true, but enough talk now. I know someone who waits eagerly for you. Go to him and relax. You have been gone almost a week. Xavier needs you. Go to him. I’ll let you know when Hanna wakes up.”

Amelia looked up in the face of the Lynxian with great relief and love for him as a friend. She stood on her tiptoes and kissed him on the cheek, saying, “Thank you, my friend. Thank you for being a friend.”

Nathanael smiled amiably, saying, “Off with you now. Xavier is waiting.” Amelia went to the door and turned to look at him and Hanna once more with a smile on her face. The sadness that was there earlier had lifted somewhat. Nathanael waved her away and she left the room, going to Xavier. Nathanael turned to Magnus as he sat in the corner. “So my friend,” he said to Magnus. “How about you; what do you have planned?”

“I have no plans,” Magnus replied, “Only to watch over Hanna. She has accepted me as I am; something no one has ever done for me before. I feel obligated as her friend to keep vigil at her side until she recovers.”

Nathanael walked over to Magnus and squatted down in front of him. “That’s a noble sentiment; one I respect,” Nathanael stated with a warm, friendly tone. “I too know that feeling of being accepted by Hannibal just as I am. It’s why I’m always there for him.” After a pause, he offered his hand to Magnus, saying sincerely, “Thank you for bringing Hannibal back from that darkness, even in his present state as Hanna. He’s not just my friend. He’s my family.”

“Are you the father of his Lynxian wife?” Magnus asked, shaking Nathanael’s hand.

“Her name is Selina,” Nathanael replied. “And yes, I’m her father. She means the whole universe to me.”

“I can see where she got her strength now,” Magnus replied. “She’ll remain safe as long as she doesn’t provoke the Emperor before Hanna can return for her.”

“I sincerely hope so,” Nathanael stated. “Why don’t you go too and get something to eat. I’ll watch over Hanna.”

“Are you sure?” Magnus asked.

“Yes,” Nathanael replied. “You’ve been a great help. Now go and show the rest of these people the caring side you showed here.”

“Very well,” Magnus replied. “I’ll be back after a while to check on her. After all, I am her bodyguard now. It’s what Nemesis ordered me to do.”

“Is that so?” Nathanael queried. “In that case, I’ll watch for your return.”

Magnus smiled as he rose. “You’re a good cat, Nathanael. I feel a kinship with you because you too are a feline. I look forward to working with you to look after our little sister there.”

Nathanael cracked a wry smile. “Me too,” he chimed. “Now go and relax. You’re away from that maniacal Emperor. Enjoy it while you can.”

“I intend to,” Magnus replied, walking out the room.

Nathanael walked over and closed the door. Turning, he looked at Hanna, seeing her dead to the world while the first aid kit worked on her wounds. Nathanael found a chair and slumped in it, saying, “What a wicked turn of events; even so, welcome back, Hanna.”