When Eris left Amarillo for her business trip, she thought it would be a nice boring trip. By the time her plane had touched down in New York city, her phone was exploding with messages. Pudgy was heading to Mt. Rainier to rescue Hecates Daughter. Outwardly she showed no reaction and headed through customs to get to her connecting flight to London. However, she was worried and so desperately wanted to go help Pudgy.
Her job had any international contacts and would send her to clients for sensitive transactions. This trip was to head to a place in Germany called Salzburg. Multiple flights, and a 2-day layover in London, were on the agenda. But while she was sitting down in her assigned seat on the plane, she realized that she could visit with Purple Lady. She started to send some messages, before turning off her devices for takeoff. It was an extremely long flight, so she settled in. A long nap ensued, and a gentle shake by the flight attendant, meant they had reached London.
By the time Eris disembarked from the plane, she found a smiling redheaded woman dressed in a purple blouse waving. Purple Lady gave her a big hug, and the two women chatted while heading to a restaurant in the terminal. They spoke of silly things, and hedgehog related matters. Both were amazed at their friend Pudgy’s adventures, and worried he was pushing himself too hard. After a couple of adult drinks, Purple hugged Eris, and then departed the terminal. A wobbly Eris was then off to find the hotel, dragging her suitcase behind her.
The hotel was spartan: bed, toilet, lamp. But she did not care, because the room was spinning from those double Big Ben drinks, she had at the restaurant. By the time it was time to leave, and get on the flight to Berlin, the room had stopped spinning, and she was a couple kilograms lighter. Her phone had multiple messages, about Pudgy safely returning home and Hecates Daughter being rescued. Sighing as she felt relieved, she turned off her phone, as she boarded the flight.
After many hours on the plane, they reached Berlin. The German capitol city’s airport was huge, as it served as a major connecting hub. She had one more flight to Munich, and from there would be a train ride to Salzburg. Thankfully, the signs were in multiple languages, including English. So, navigating the airport was easier. The people there were rude however, so it was true that jerks live everywhere. As she navigated the plane’s interior, Eris stowed her carryon bag in the overhead compartment. There was no first class, nor business class for that matter, so everyone was sitting together. As she checked her phone, horrifying messages started to flood in.
All her friends were being attacked by shadowy monsters. Anyone who Pudgy ever visited, and helped, were targeted. She shrieked softly and started to reply. A stewardess asked her to turn off her device, which she complied with a sense of dread forming. The terrified woman worried that the monsters were going to attack her. But she realized after a few moments, Pudgy and her met in different places each time. It was as she started to relax when she noticed an older gentleman staring at her. He was extremely skinny, almost skeleton like. He wore a black executive matching suit, with a German flag tie. His hair and beard were snow white, and neatly trimmed. Silver eyes pierced through her, and his expression was blank.
Turning around in her seat, she looked down at herself. She was wearing a black skirt that was past her knees, with black pumps. Her blouse was a pale blue, and conservative in style. Perhaps he disapproved that one button was not in place, so she buttoned up. The rest of the flight was a nervous worry, wondering if the man was still staring at her. When the plane touched down in Munich, she was relieved. She could depart first and leave the creepy man in Munich. The plane disembarked when it reached the terminal, and after Eris went through customs, she picked up her suitcase from baggage claim.
As she placed her rolling suitcase on the ground, she pulled up the handle. She looked up, and saw the slender older gentleman standing across from her. He was still staring at her but bent over to pick up a small hard shell black suitcase. Eris turned, and then started to hurriedly walk to a station in the airport. There was a connecting shuttle bus that took passengers to a train station. Pulling her phone out of her purse, she noticed the display read no service. Yet the signal indicator was showing 3 bars of coverage, “oh yeah I remember what Bill said, I need to swap the sim card once I’m in Germany.” The sim card was a tiny part of the phone, which let her access the German cellular network. She could do that on the bus, so she put her phone back into her black purse.
The Munich terminal was a huge airport, but thankfully like Berlin, everything was clearly marked. She followed the signs, and soon found a small group of passengers waiting for a shuttle bus. The train terminal was about 15 minutes away, so the airport offered this as a courtesy service. Reaching back into her purse, she started to fumble with her phone to swap the sim card. By the time she had switched everything, the bus had arrived and unloaded its passengers. The phone started to synchronize with the cellular networks, and soon her phone was vibrating rapidly with a flurry of calls and text messages. The passengers formed a line and headed through a set of glass double doors to a green bus.
As Eris drug her bag behind her, she reached the steps, and picked up her bag. Ascending into the bus, a blonde woman wearing a black airport uniform smiled at her, “guten tag.” Eris smiled, “guten tag,” and headed to her seat. That was the one bit of German she knew, that and Heineken. Hopefully, she could make do with the phone’s translator app. As she looked down at her phone, there was about 30 phone calls from Samantha. “Oh crap, what is going on?” As she lifted the phone to her ear, she started to listen to the messages. Her friend was a nervous wreck, as the monsters had been attacking everyone. Cobalt had been researching, and the Kaiser and his monsters were in Obersalzberg. Pudgy was going to head to New Jersey first, before heading to Purple’s home in Birmingham.
While checking her messages, passengers continued to file past her. Professional men and women, children, and a variety of elderly travelers. When she looked up through the large plate glass window of the bus, she could see the spooky man from earlier. He was walking through the terminal, and then out the glass doors to the bus. Her heart lurched in her chest, as she saw his piercing eyes lock onto hers. Muttering to herself, “why the fudge is that guy?” Shaking her head, she picked up the phone and started to dial Samantha. By her estimation, it was about 12 hours or so time difference. After several rings, the phone answered by a very sleepy sounding woman. “Hello, who the fudge is this?” Eris giggled, “Samantha, it’s Eris. I landed in Munich, and I am fine.” Samantha snorted as she continued to wake up, “honey, it is almost 4 in the morning. I am glad you are safe. Please do not go to Obersalzberg, something really bad is going on there.”
Looking up from her phone call, Eris saw the creepy elderly man walk by her, to sit in a seat a couple row behind her. “Samantha, there is this elderly man, almost like a skeleton. Something is not quite right with him,” Her friend coughed a couple of times, “well keep your distance from him. I will ask Cobalt about it and see if Pudgy recognizes him.” Eris nodded and smiled, “how is Pudgy doing?” Samantha giggled, “Cobalt built him a much better plane, and he flew to New Jersey. After a day or two there, he flew to Purple’s house. So far: I have been contacted by 3 military branches, the police, and the Royal Air Force from Great Britain. I think our little friend has a lot of help this time, so I am not too worried about him. How about you?” Eris giggled, “Well I do have 15 more messages to check, so who knows who else called me during my trip.”
It was during the phone conversation, that the bus started to move. The passengers sat and looked out the windows, while the scenic German countryside passed by. The ground was covered with a thin layer of white fluffy snow, with the treetops coated in ice. And after a short ride, the bus had pulled up along a narrow brown brick train station. To Eris’s displeasure, all signs were in German. She said her goodbyes to Samantha and disconnected the call. As the bus slowed to a stop, a chime dinged, and the door opened to the outside. The passengers all began to stand, and slowly file out of the bus one by one. Eris checked that she had her purse and her carry-on rolling suitcase, and then disembarked the bus behind an elderly woman with a walker. As she maneuvered around the woman, who was berating her equally elderly husband for running off without her, Eris watched as the creep man disembark the bus.
She knew he was present and would keep an eye on him. Turning, she followed the route marked to the train terminal’s ticketing booths. The German people prided themselves on efficiency, and everything was clearly marked. The lines moved quick, and as she maneuvered between silver aluminum rails, she reached a younger pale skinned man with a neatly shaved black beard and blue eyes. Eris smiled at him, and spoke into her phone, which translated into a robotic German sounded voice. The man nodded, and started working the computer, and on a LCD panel, the price read out 10,35 Euros. Reaching into her purse, she got out her company’s credit card, and placed it into the card reading terminal beside the screen. A spinning hourglass showed on the screen, and then a paper ticket was spat out. After retrieving the card and ticket, she smiled as the man pointed where to go.
Maneuvering past the ticketing area, she walked through the terminal. Her train was set to arrive at 14:15 hours, on track 1. There were 2 tracks at the station, and the interior track was number one. The clocks in the station were all set to military time and read 14:02. The train station floor was brown bricks, laid out in a herringbone pattern on the floors. It was also a devil to walk on, as the woman was wearing business casual, with a nice set of pumps. Each footstep sent a corresponding clicking noise, which mean there would be no sneaking up on anyone. Upon reaching the corresponding spot on the ticket, she stood and waited for the train. IN a short time, there was an elderly German man standing beside her, looking sheepish. “Miss, I am sorry.” Eris looked over at the bald man wearing circular silver glasses. “Sorry, for what?” It was not the creepy man that she had been worried about, this man was wearing a gray plaid heavy wool coat. The elderly woman from before with the walker smacked him hard on the arm, “he knows what he did!” Then the rest of the conversation was in German, as the married couple yelled at each other.
Eris giggled as she realized, in her outfit, certain parts of her body were more easily seen. She was wearing the pumps, which made her butt wiggle. The elderly man must have been looking and was caught by his wife. In time, and as the argument was still in full swing, a silver commuter train appeared. Slowly it pulled up to the platform, and in time, its passengers disembarked. Lights on the signal board turned green, and a loud bell was rung, which indicated it was time to get onto the train. She followed the elderly couple, to a conductor. The man was wearing a gray transit uniform and took the ticket and scanned it with a handheld barcode scanner. In about 10 minutes, as well as a stroke of odd luck, they were all seated down in the same row on the train. The elderly woman smiled at Eris, and fluffed her gray hair, while looking in a handheld compact.
Eris checked her phone again, and like Samantha said, she had a couple calls from official sounding military men, wanting her to call them when she was able to. Checking her itinerary, the train should take 2 hours to reach Salzberg. She was to check into a hotel, and then meet with the client at a biergarten nearby. Checking her phone’s map application, that Oberslzberg place was only an hour away up in the mountains that overlooked the town. Sighing to herself, she really wanted to go on another Pudgy adventure. Maybe, she could go up there just to check out the place? There was a two day lay over, so there would be time for a bit of adventure. The train started to move, and the station began to pull away from the platform. As the train rocked back and forth, while it started to come up to speed, she looked forward. The train was full of passengers, and the creepy man was not anywhere to be seen.
The train ride was uneventful, and in about 2 hours, they had reached a much smaller train station. This one was an outdoor one, and heavy snowfall could be seen. The town was close to the mountains, which were capped in snow all the way down to the foothills. It was at this point, where she began to regret packing for a Texas winter. She had brought warmer clothes, but the long-range forecast had not said anything about snow. Checking her phone, there was a clothing store beside her hotel, that perhaps had something warmer to wear? Giggling to herself, she put her phone away, and followed the married couple as they exited the train. Upon exiting the warm interior, she walked into a wall of cold air. The elderly man looked down at her, and then was smacked hard again by the yelling woman.
Thankfully, there were a row of waiting white BMW taxi cabs. She headed to the taxi and called into the window. “Guten Tag?” The older burly man waved and unlocked the doors. She opened the rear passenger door, and then put her suitcase and purse into the back seat. Then she slid into the seat and shut the door. Speaking into the phone, the robotic voice translated where she wanted to go. The driver nodded and started to pull off from the line of cars. As Eris shifted in her seat, and checked her suitcase, she saw the elderly man in the black suit again staring at her. She shrieked a bit, which drew a look from the driver.
Eris’s phone started to ring, and she turned around to answer the phone with shaking hands. “H … Hello?” A familiar male voice was on the phone, “Hi Eris, it’s Cobalt. Samantha gave me your number, are you, all right?” Eris sniffled, “Cobalt, there’s this man that keeps following me. He is elderly, wearing a black business suit, and a German flag tie, with piercing eyes, white hair, and white beard. He has been following me since Berlin,” the scared woman said. Cobalt coughed, “Eris, that is exactly how Pudgy described the Kaiser in his human form. I think you are safe if you stay in public places. He is supposed to be heading to Obersalzberg, which is the summer retreat for Adolph Hitler and the SS forces during world war two. The retreat has been since demolished, but there is a museum there. Hecates Daughter and I think there is something really bad there.” Eris sighed and nodded, “ok Cobalt, that sounds good to me. How is Pudgy doing?” The man laughed on the phone, “Well, after a lay over in Birmingham, our hedgehog hero will be heading to Mechelen Belgium. We may have a way to stop the Kaiser, but it is going to be a longshot at best.”
Before Eris could respond, her phone dropped the connection with the cellular tower. The German driver nodded, and in broken English spoke, “bad connection here.” She looked up and nodded and watched as mountains taller than anything she had seen before stretched as far as the eye could see. The farmlands they were driving through were all covered in snow, and the occasional deer could be seen standing silently. In time, the car reached the outskirts of the town, and the driver started to curse. The town had not plowed the streets, so the roads were snow covered. As the car slide and struggled, the driver expertly reached the hotel where she was set to stay. Upon reaching their destination, she paid the driver, using the company card and tipped 20%. The older man smiled and waved, “danke!” As Eris opened the door, it was even colder, and the air rushed up her skirt. Giggling, she was not dressed right at all.
She unloaded her suitcase and purse, checking the back seat that she did not leave anything. She shut the door, and then started to very carefully walk through the snow to reach the front door of the hotel. It was a three-story rectangular building, with the top two floors that resembled a log cabin, with dark brown timbers. The white painted walls, with German flags flying overhead, was unmistakable where she was. After almost slipping several times up the sidewalk, but reached the black metal doors, and opened them. She stopped the snow off her shoes, and then walked up to the front desk. A black-haired woman dressed in much more sensible wintertime hotel clothes looked up and smiled at her. Eris nodded, and spoke into her phone to translate. After a couple of translations, she was given her hotel room key. With instructions where to go, she walked through the lobby of the thankfully warm hotel.
Golden oak was everywhere, as they were going for the lodge look throughout the hotel. And she passed a genuinely nice hotel lobby, complete with a stacked stone fireplace, with a roaring fire going. Down the beige carpeted hall she went, to reach the elevator. Pressing the up button, the elevator quickly reached the ground floor, and the doors opened. The interior was empty and was a silver metallic interior. Wheeling the suitcase inside, she turned and pressed the button labelled 2. The doors quickly shut, and soon she was ascending to the second floor of the hotel. Before she knew it, she reached her floor, and the doors opened. Heading out and to the right, she located room 214. Placing the white plastic key card into the door handle, she saw the red-light switch to green, and the door pop open. Pushing the door open with her hip, she wheeled in her red suitcase, and smiled when the room was nice and toasty. A queen-sized white bed was in the center of the room, with two bedside tables and white lamps. There was a golden oak dresser, with a small television set on top of it as well.
Sitting down on the edge of the bed, she took off her heels, and wiggled her toes. “Definitely wrong choice in footwear,” she giggled while checking her phone again. There was an email from work, which indicated that due to bad weather, the meeting had been moved. The hotel was open, so the client was going to meet her at the hotel’s restaurant. There was a description of what they group was supposed to look like, as well as reminders of what to say, and how to present the materials. The meeting was scheduled at 5 pm, which was in almost an hour from now. She had to rest and prepare, which she proceeded to do so post haste. Though the first thing she did was to look out her window, seeing the looming mountains in the distance. Out of the corner of her eye, she saw movement, but it was so quick she could not see what it was. So, while shaking her head, she shut the curtains. She refreshed herself by usage of certain hotel amenities within the room, and heard her phone going off. Returning to the bed, she slipped her pumps back onto her feet, and then opened her suitcase. Retrieving her marketing materials, and contracts, she turned to exit her room.
She exited her room, took the elevator down to the lobby, and then headed towards an area with a variety of tables set up. There was a huge bar set up, with all manner of spirits sitting on illuminated shelves. Several bar tenders were working, in irresponsibly tight white tops. The clients had not yet arrived, so she headed up to the bar. A young blonde-haired woman smiled at her, “yankee?” Eris smiled and nodded, which the woman nodded as well. “Forgive me, my English is not well. What can I get for you?” Eris smiled, “you speak it very well, so do not sell yourself short. I would like a beer, something local.” The bartender nodded, and went to the taps, pouring a pint glass with a red colored beer. She returned and placed the glass on a white cocktail napkin. Eris paid for her drink, and tipped well, which drew a grateful smile from the bartender. It tasted a lot like Kilian’s but was a bit stronger.
The clients started to arrive one by one, joining Eris at the bar and milling around. A tab was started, and Eris used the company credit card once more. Once all had arrived, which was a collection of older and younger professionals, Eris began to make her marketing pitch. There was the occasional stop, to order another round, which was on the company. After an hour of presentation, and then follow up questions, the clients agreed to the proposal. Eris passed out the paperwork, which was signed and filed accordingly within her presentation folder. Food was ordered, all manner of things that were laid out on a table. Small plates were soon filled with many smells wafting in the air. Eris smiled and was having a good time, though mindful she was on the clock. After another hour or so passed, and more drinks, the clients shook her hand, and then exited one by one from the restaurant. With a full belly, and wobbly legs, she headed to the bar to settle the bill. She signed the slip and tucked the receipt copies into the marketing folder.
It was a bit of a struggle to return to her room, as the pumps were really starting to hurt her feet. But once inside of her room, she sat down on the bed, while the room started to spin. “Those Germans really can drink,” she muttered while laughing. After changing into a more comfortable, and warmer set of sleepwear, she climbed into bed, and pulled the covers over her. In no time at all, she had fallen asleep. The sounds of her cell phone going off incessantly woke her up, and as she reached out of the nice warm bed to reach her phone, she answered the call. It was her boss, and she started to wake up and fill in the details. After a long call, and an explanation why she spent close to $600 on dinner, the call ended. It was as she was checking her phone’s map application, that the country displayed was Austria. That Obersalzberg place was across the border, back into Germany. This confused her, as somehow, she crossed into a different country without realizing it.
After dealing with the effects of a corporate dinner, she returned to the bed, and laid out the contracts. Taking pictures, she emailed the documents back to her company. One by one the emails were sent with their large attachments. After everything had been sent, she received a telephone call from her boss confirming receipt of the documents. After the call ended, she checked her messages, and saw more Pudgy related activities. The Rabbi from Mechelen had called the Rabbi from New Jersey, who called Brenda, who called Cobalt, who told everyone else that Pudgy was now flying over Germany. Smiling to herself, “I’m going to go to that place, and help!” Opening her suitcase, she realized she was not prepared for a winter trip to the mountain. But she had packed for a Texas winter, which meant jeans, a sweater, and a neat pair of ankle high black leather boots. After getting ready and putting away her various items in the hotel room, she slung her purse over her shoulder.
The hotel did not have a breakfast service, so she was on her own in that regard. However, after last night, she needed to empty out a bit before the next meal. So, a bit of shopping was in order, and she maneuvered quickly through the hotel. Out the front doors, she was thankful to see the snow melting and a bright sun shining in the skies above. The store was nearby, and soon she was shopping for much warmer clothing. Sadly, the company would not pay for this, so she had to use her own credit card. A little-known secret though was that using a credit card was more efficient, as the currency conversion was much cheaper. While she knew she was overpaying, the gear purchased meant she would be much more suited for a mountain trip. Thanking the shop keeper, who was ecstatic at such a large purchase made in her little store, Eris left and headed quickly back to the hotel.
Heading to the front desk, she used her phone’s translation application. She asked the staff if there was a place called Obersalzberg nearby. The staff knew of it, asking if she wanted to see the museum. Nodding her head yes, the staff informed her that they could check if it were open. After a couple calls, the woman nodded yes, and that there was a taxi service that could take her there. The taxi could come in about an hour, which Eris requested they schedule. Smiling, she motioned to her new purchases, showing she had bought much warmer clothes. So, with a quick trip upstairs to change, the excited woman returned to the front desk. The women smiled and nodded their approval as Eris was dressed in much warmer brown boots, and a heavy brown wool jacket. A wool hat, and wool gloves were tucked in the coat’s external pockets. The taxi had arrived, which was a White BMW SUV, with studded snow tires.
She exited the hotel, and got into the SUV, and translated with her phone where she wanted to go. The young driver nodded and started to pull away from the hotel. The car’s electronic screens on the dashboard displayed weather conditions, and the route they were taking. While on the map it said it would take only 40 minutes, the first clue of the difficult travel, was a sign that read, “Achtung!” The roads were not plowed, and travel was not advised. However, the driver called back in German, which the phone translated for Eris. They had a full tank of gas, studded tires, and chains for said tires. He travelled this road all the time, as there was a ski resort nearby. Higher and higher they went, on winding mountain roads. With trees encased in ice, and huge snowbanks piled along the sides of the road. As the car started to slide from side to side, she could hear the driver cursing.
It took about two hours for the vehicle to reach their destination, and soon the vehicle’s navigation system read out in German, “Dokumentationszentum Obersalzberg.” The museum was a white and beige stone building, with plate glass windows and a metal roof. Snow was piled everywhere, though the parking lot had been plowed out by a large orange bulldozer. There were all SUV and pickup trucks in the parking lot, which when they pulled up, Eris was a tad bit intimidated. She settled her bill and exited the vehicle. Before leaving, the driver gave him his contact information, so she could call for a return trip. He had to go into the nearby town to get gasoline. As she shut the vehicle’s door, she waved at the driver, and headed to the museum’s front entrance. The ticket booth was automated, and after she used her credit card to buy a ticket. A piece of paper was printed and spat out from a ticket slot. “Hey, would you mind buying me a ticket as well?”
Eris recognized the voice and turned around. She saw a woman wearing a white dress, and feathers, with the bluest of eyes she had ever seen. “Hecates Daughter? What are you doing here? And yes, I would gladly buy you a ticket.” Ethe woman laughed, as she worked the terminal. Her demigoddess friend smiled, “I might ask you the same question, but I expect you heard of our hedgehog’s friend latest grand adventure?” The raven-haired woman nodded and handed her friend the ticket. “Yes, I also had heard you were perhaps up here as well. What are we dealing with? On the way to Salzburg, I think I may have been travelling with the Kaiser in his human state, at least what Cobalt told me.” The two friends entered the museum, through a turnstile that only worked when the ticket was placed into the bar code scanner slot.
Upon entering the museum, there were glass cases with various displays. It was a self-guided tour, with clearly marked arrows. All the cases were in German, but there was an extremely useful audio box attached to each case. There were three buttons: English, German, and Polish. So, stopping at the first display, Eris pushed the English button. A female voice with a heavy German accent read out, “The Obersalzberg is a 900- to 1,000-meter-high mountain ridge covered with meadows and forests.” The displays told the story of how Adolph Hitler came to be in the area, the construction of his much larger Berghof residence, and the eventual settlement of the Nazi forces within a variety of military installations throughout the area. Though on April 25, 1945: British long ranger bombers destroyed most of the buildings occupied by the German army and the residences.
Angeliki was enjoying the displays providing the local history, and the explanations of what had happened. Specifically, she was looking at the artifacts in the cases. Something in the museum was of interest to the Kaiser. She had to figure out what it was and walked right into Eris. Giggling, she poked the woman in her side. “Hey, let me know if you are stopping.” Eris nodded, and pointed at a display case. “Hecate’s Daughter look over there. Does that say … Auschwitz?” The demigoddess nodded, “this must be it; I can sense evil coming from that display. Eris, push the case’s button.” Her female friend nodded and pushed the button. This time a German man spoke, “these items are on loan from the Auschwitz historical society. We must never forget what happened.” The man began to itemize the objects within the case. There was a set of rusty keys, that were for various buildings throughout the facilities. There was a doll, half burned, that had been in the crematoriums where the Jewish people were gassed and then summarily burned. There were also several prison uniforms, faded and tattered.
Eris looked over the cases, and their historical artifacts contained therein. It was as she reached the end of the case; she could see a gated entrance to a round tunnel opening. “Hey, look over there, that looks like a tunnel.” While turning her head, she could see a reflection in the glass. The man from Munich was there, standing at the far end of the cases. His eyes were transfixed on something, which filled her with dread. Angeliki turned as well, and noticed the man, “is that him?” The frightened woman nodded, “yes, but what is he doing here?” The man was smiling from ear to ear and placed his hand on the glass case. Without warning, the man balled up his fist and punched through the glass. It shattered in a thousand pieces and set off alarms within the museum. A security guard came running over to the case. He was yelling in German and had a nightstick ready to strike. The elderly man sneered and turned as he was struck on the arm.
Eris watched in horror as the suit started to transform, and almost began to flow from him like a mist. He was soon consumed by the shadows and swirled like a tornado. The security guard started to yell, and strike furiously into the mist, which had no effect as his hands passed through the Kaiser. He began to laugh evilly and extended a clawed hand. He struck the guard and tore him int pieces. As the various parts of the guard landed on the floor, he again laughed with a demonic tone. The claws were sizzling with heat and had cauterized the wounds as he cut through the body. Eris shrieked as the guard’s formerly attached head rolled to her feet. The Kaiser turned to face her and pointed a gunmetal clad finger at her. “You are Eris of Chaos, one of Pudgy hedgehog’s friends. Ahh and Angeliki, of the Goddess Hecates, we meet again. An interesting coincidence to meet you both here,” the monster said in English with a thick German accent.
Angeliki’s white gnarled staff appeared in her hands, and her eyes glowed fiercely blue. “It is not a coincidence false king; my mother has seen through your plans.” The monster again laughed, and the black miasma reached into the case, picking up the keys with a clawed left hand. “with these keys, I can restart the gas chambers. I can punish those who wronged my people. I will not let anyone stop me, let alone you two pitiful women.” The demigoddess smirked, and then started to chant under her breath. A violent beam of light shot out of her staff and blew a hole in the Kaiser’s left shoulder. The demonic creature roared in pain, and then thrush his right clawed hand at Eris. The frightened woman dove out of the way, sliding on the cold concrete floor between a set of cases. Looking up through the glass, she could see her friend firing beams of magic out of her staff. The woman giggled, “now why can’t I have cool magic powers like that?”
While she could not help magically, there were other things she could do. Checking the cases hurriedly, looking for anything that might help them. She would look up and watch as Angeliki was summoning all manner of spells. Soon a flock of white glowing ravens were swirling around the Kaiser, pecking at his body. More demonic roars ensued, which caused Eris to crawl on the ground trying to stay out of range of the monster. Though as he flailed, he kept striking the glass cases and caused them to shatter. Eris found a case that showed five Jewish rabbis, each was holding a silver coin representing each book of the Torah. The speaker box was destroyed, but as she started to use the phone to translate, she realized this was important. Inside the case was a tattered white fabric bag. There was black stitching on the bag, in Hebrew. Eris blinked, “this is a Torah bag? Maybe it’s still has some holy magic in it?” There were other holy medallions inside of silver, with a large crucifix.”
Eris watched as Angeliki was picked up by the Kaiser and thrown across the museum. She landed hard against the metal gate that led into the tunnel. She knew she had to help her friend, so she stood up and called out to the Kaiser. “Hey, you no good mother fudger,” The monster turned towards her with blood red eyes glowing within the swirling miasma. He floated through the cases, and then soon was standing in front of her. She held up the silver crucifix in front of her, with drew a laugh from the monster. “and vhat ist this supposed to do to me?” Eris held onto the crucifix tight and started to throw a punch. Her hand entered the swirling miasma, and the Kaiser began to laugh again in a much more demonic tone. That is, until the crucifix started to glow. She started saying the apostle’s creed, the rosary, and anything else she could remember from church. The Kaiser began to roar in pain and leapt back from her while clutching the area where his lower abdomen should be.
Angeliki walked up beside Eris, holding onto her left hip, trying to get her hips to work right again. “Hitler did not just persecute the Jews; he also went after any religious order that challenged his power. That crucifix was on the altar of the primary church in Berlin for many years. Its holy power can be traced back to the crusades. Though it is weak, I wonder how you got it to work?” Eris smiled, “I guess going to church does have its benefits.” The two women laughed, and then proceeded to walk towards the Kaiser. The monster swirled, and then thrust its clawed hands back out violently forward. Both Eris and Angeliki could not react in time, and soon found themselves flying and right into the plate glass windows on the building’s exterior. The glass shattered and the woman fell outside into the snow, rubbing her sides. As she cursed, she watched her demigoddess friend fall beside her.
The Kaiser floated out into the snowy area beside the museum and stretched out his arms. “Ahh, ist much better out here, I can now stretch and fight your properly. Now, what was that about a holy relic from the crusades?” Eris looked up, and saw the Kaiser holding the crucifix. His clawed hand flowed with a blackness that seemed to suck in all the light. The crucifix was shattered, and dust fell into the snow. Cursing to herself, she realized she still had the Torah bag, which she held up in front of her as she started to stand. Angeliki also began to stand up, leaning hard on her white staff. She giggled and pointed at the skies above the Kaiser to the north. Eris squinted her eyes and could see a tiny olive drab green plane flying towards them. Eris blinked, “is that a tiny plane?” Her demigoddess friend nodded, “yes, I think our backup is here.”
The monster turned to face the northern skies and roared in displeasure. His demonic howls echoed throughout the area. While the Kaiser was distracted, Angeliki chanted once more, and then started to glow with an unearthly light. Light beams shot from the skies and exploded the ground all around and beneath the shadow monster. Eris wrapped the Torah bag around her fist, realizing if she could get in close, she could maybe because another burst of holy magic. She was wondering how she had managed to activate the crucifix. Eris was sure our father would not work with a bag written in Hebrew, but maybe something from Genesis might work? As the Kaiser started to roar once more, his shadowy miasma began to grow and speed. It was a raging tornado by the time Angeliki was ready to fire another burst of magic. Just as the monster was about to strike, the tiny plane flew directly at the Kaiser. To the disbelief of both Angeliki and Eris, they heard bullets start to be fired from the plane. Flashes of light, and tiny rounds of ammunition were flying at the Kaiser, making connection with his eyes. Eris cheered, “go Pudgy, shoot that mother fudger’s eyes out!”
Pudgy's Adventures 
One reply on “Land of Sorrow: Chapter 8: Obersalzberg”
Solid chapter sir!
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