"Yuck! Cobwebs! They're all over me!" Gwen rapidly scraped at the cobwebs she just stepped through.
Artie, who continued to lead the way with the lantern, rolled his eyes and admitted, "You know, for someone who wants to be a musketeer, you're quite oversensitive. I would think that after living on a farm all your life, you'd be used to cobwebs."
"It's not that simple, kid! Mom and I clean the farm every month. This place looks ancient. When was the last time you cleaned it?"
"Hey! Watch it! I think this place looks rather nice. Just smell those rats." Artie stopped, held his arms out to his sides, and sniffed the air, "That is the smell of the Circle of Life. In fact, I think these cobwebs give this chamber a rather artistic feeling. Like, ooh! Ooh! Check this out!" Gwen stumbled back a few steps when he suddenly slammed the lantern into her chest. He ducked under a huge mass of cobwebs that blocked their path and appeared on the other side of them. With a smile on his face, he peered at Gwen through them, saying, "These are perfect examples of lines. Here we have contour lines, implied lines, diagonal lines, and even some stippling. This is art at its finest."
"Oh, for the love of...!" Gwen smacked her free hand to her face and shook her head, "These are cobwebs! This is not art! It's a nuisance!"
"Whoa, easy there, Gwen." Artie held his hands out to her, "You don't want to disturb these sleeping spiders." Gwen rolled her eyes. She didn't understand what was so important about the cobwebs.
She started forward, but Artie said,
"Whoa! Whoa! If you're going to come over here, duck under the cobwebs. They are very fragile. Spiders are living things too."
"As you wish, oh great and powerful King Arthur." Gwen bowed to him and ducked under the mass of cobwebs after him. She handed him back the lantern, asking, "All right, I ducked. Now what?"
"We're almost there," was Artie's answer.
The two teens continued down the corridor for another ten minutes, eventually making it to the end. At first, Gwen was disappointed. Artie led her to nothing but a ripped, red curtain.
He held the lantern up to it, saying, "Here we are."
"Are you kidding me? We came all this way for a curtain? I knew it, you're not crazy. You're just insane."
Artie chuckled and gripped the curtain with his free hand, "That's what it looks like out here, but behind the curtain, it's a whole other story." With that, he pulled the curtain aside. A blinding light flashed in Gwen's face. She held her hand up to it, but after a bit, she looked beyond the light, and her jaw dropped to the ground. Artie did not just lead her to a curtain - he led her to an art studio.
The two stood in a huge room where the ceiling and walls were covered with a mosaic. It looked like a huge mass of stained-glass windows - a mix between Byzantine and Gothic architectural styles. Multiple windows in the room filtered all sorts of light in it and caused the mosaic to shimmer. Under one of the windows was a stand with a painting canvas on it, as well as different types of brushes, paint, sketchbooks, buckets, etc. Open chests in the room carried canvases of all sorts.
As Gwen stood in the room, openmouthed with astonishment, she asked only one question,
"What is this place?"
"It's my studio."
"You're an artist?"
"Of course I am! Why do you think I like to be called 'Artie?' Do you think I picked that name just for the heck of it?" Oh, now it made sense. Artie; "art" was in that name.
"Did you make this mosaic yourself?" was Gwen's next question.
"Well," Artie answered, "the ceiling was already here when I first found this place, but I did the walls." What?! Artie, a boy who could barely lift a sword, contributed to this amazing mosaic? Gwen could not believe that. Artie was not an artist - he was just a boy whom a lot of people liked to pick on.
After examining the images for a little bit longer, the young woman started to see a common theme. Most of them comprised of scenes involving musketeers that seemed frozen in time, which was a common artistic element at the time, but there were no female musketeers. One image showed a musketeer fighting an army of mythical creatures, while another one showed that same musketeer reuniting with his family after returning from war - presumably the Thirty Years War. Musketeers. They were all over the place. Did this mean Artie also wanted to be one? Naw, that was crazy. Artie a musketeer? Yeah right.
He set his lantern down on a table and plopped down in a chair, saying,
"You can get closer to the mosaic, Gwen. Just don't touch anything. I worked very hard on it. Get lost in the images and explore the world." Gwen did just that. She walked up and down the lines of images, all of which told a story. There were stories of adventures, betrayal, death, joy, and so much more. In the Baroque Period, drama in art was just as important as emotion, stopped time, and a single light source. Art. Who knew it could be this powerful? Not Gwen. She's spent all her life focusing on how the war affected the everyday man and woman and what she could do to help, but she never looked at what else was happening in the world. The 1600s was a time of great change. It was the beginning of the modern world, and artwork showed this, as well as the different types of music popping up at the time. The 1600s was a time in which someone living through it should be proud of themselves - not frightened. Gwen learned this important lesson through the mosaic. Now she was even more pumped to be a musketeer, and she should be.
Unfortunately, she couldn't study the rest of the images because something scary happened. Artie. Sunset. It was time for him to turn back into a wolf.
The chain on his left wrist glowed up, and he cried out when the familiar wave of pain washed over his entire body.
Gwen heard his yell and gasped, "Artie!" She whirled around to see what was causing him such distress. Artie literally fell out of the chair and landed on hands and knees on the dirty ground. Oh, he hated this! Why did he have to feel like a woman giving birth every single sunset and sunrise? Did this curse come with any painless side effects? He closed his eyes as his body started to shake again. "What's going on?" Gwen asked from where she stood. She started towards Artie but leaped back when the wolf teeth returned to his mouth and his body changed. Frightened, she dove behind one of the chests when the familiar flash of light exploded throughout the room, causing the mosaic to shimmer like crazy.
Gwen peeped out from behind one canvas, and her jaw dropped when in the place of Artie, she saw the wolf. So, it was true. He was the wolf she met. However, as a normal side effect of the metamorphosis, Artie stumbled and fell unconscious on his side. Poor Artie. Gwen did not realize just how stressful his life was. It was way too much for a fifteen-year-old. He was still just a child. No child deserved to experience the pain he experienced. He needed Gwen, and she needed him.
After a little bit, the young woman finally decided to come out from hiding. She grabbed a blank canvas from the chest and used it like a shield.
She carefully stepped out from behind it and made her way towards the unconscious wolf, asking, "Artie?" in a nervous voice. He did not stir from where he rested. Before long, Gwen hovered over him. She scanned his new body up and down, and her eyes landed on the flickering chain around his ankle. The chain. She had to find a way to remove the chain. Then and only then would she lift Artie's curse.
The young woman fell to her knees and reached for the chain, but she yelled when from out of nowhere, it burned her! There was no way she was going to be able to remove it. The magic was just too strong. Gwen felt like her hand was on fire. She rushed to a bucket of water that Artie used when painting and threw it in. The second she did, steam puffed up from the water, and Gwen sighed as the burn started to subside.
As she took care of her throbbing hand, Artie started to come to. He stirred and rose to his shaky legs with eyes still closed. The chain stopped glowing, and he shook his head as an attempt to get rid of the unconsciousness. Eventually, when he opened his eyes, they landed on Gwen who still had her hand in the bucket of water. At the sight of her, he seemed to gasp. Oh no, what did he do now? Now for sure Gwen would tell the whole school of Jualaline he was a freak.
He almost ran off to hide, but she begged, "Please don't go," and the wolf turned to face her again. Gwen pulled her blistering hand out of the water and met his youthful, emerald green eye, "We're going to find a way right now to remove that train. You showed me this wonderful chamber. It's time I return the favor."
"There we go," a familiar, mystical voice spoke from Artie. Sure enough, it was Arabella. She popped out of Artie's body, literally popped out of it, and landed on head. Her eyes landed on Gwen, and she asked the wolf, "So, she's the one you were telling me about? I see. She looks familiar, does she not?"
"Arabella!" At the sight of the imp-like witch, Gwen gave her the evil death glare. Pointing at her, she demanded, "All right, you've had your fun! Do whatever you have to do, but release him from his curse!"
"She's quite the tyrant, isn't she?" Arabella asked Artie, "Well, no worries, little wolf. We'll find somebody else to free you."
"What?" Confusion flashed across Gwen's face, "You're a witch, aren't you? So, I'm sure you know a spell that can lift the curse." Arabella ignored her.
She patted each side of Artie's head and asked him, "Do you want to paint? Perhaps you'll open a portal to another world."
"Hello!" Gwen called from off to the side, "I'm standing here too! All he needs is a simple snap of the fingers."
"Do you want to continue working on your latest work?" Arabella asked, not paying her any attention, and she spun Artie in a few circles. Gwen clenched her fists and teeth in frustration.
She turned red from her heels up and shouted, "HEY! LISTEN TO ME!"
At the sound of her voice, Arabella finally stopped asking Artie if he wanted to paint.
She sat casually on his head and examined the angry, young woman. "If you don't mind me butting in," she said, "but last I checked, weren't you the one who just said, 'It's time I return the favor?'"
Gwen, who had another volcano erupting from her head, pointed her burned hand at Artie, yelling, "He's a beast! I don't want a wolf following me around! He's ugly!" Ugly? Well gee, thank you, Gwen. That made Arthur feel so much better. He whined and backed away from her. His ears drooped as he dissected Gwen's words. She was right. He was a beast.
From his head, Arabella chuckled,
"Ah, so young, so angry. Come now, Arthur. Let's go paint." Artie didn't feel like painting. Gwen's words scarred him. A "beast," "ugly" - he really was a loser. He hated himself right now. Head lowered, he carried Arabella over to a blanket in the corner of the room that served as a dog bed and lied down. Sighing, he set his chin down on his front paws.
In the meantime, Arabella yawned and raised her arms over her head. She placed her hands behind her neck and lied down horizontally on his back, using his hair-like fur as a pillow.
Five minutes later, Gwen said,
"I'm going back to the room. I've had enough mutiny for one day." With that, she picked up the lantern from the table and headed back in the direction of the curtain.
When he saw her leaving, Artie seemed to gasp, and he leaped to his feet.
The force at which he jumped, Arabella almost fell off, but she grabbed hold of his ears before she could, "Whoa! Something's excited you, little wolf."
Artie didn't want Gwen to leave him. He liked her. Therefore, he rushed to the girl and chomped down on her pant leg. He started to pull, and he growled as he did this.
Gwen, who almost fell, waved her arms and yelled, "For the love of...! What are you doing? Let me go!" There was no way she wanted those razor-sharp fangs to sink into her skin. She's already burned her hand. Wasn't that enough?
From Artie's head, Arabella chuckled excitedly and cheered him on, "That's it, little wolf! Keep on pulling!" Artie obeyed.
He kept on pulling but to Gwen's annoyance. "Let go!" she shouted, and she lifted her hand. To get the wolf boy off her, she smacked him in the face! SMACK! Whining, Artie instantly let her pant leg go. He backed away from her and gave her an intimidating snarl to show he was upset.
Gwen did not let the snarl startle her. She was the alpha. Artie was just a dog. She shot him an evil look and stormed out of the studio. Artie followed her like a scared little child. He poked his head out of the curtain and watched as Gwen ducked back under the mass of cobwebs that he said was a brilliant piece of art. He sighed with relief but refused to follow Gwen any longer in case she smacked him again. However, the second she disappeared deep in the tunnel, he felt alone all over again.
Arabella cheered and leaped off his head,
"Whoo-hoo!" She spun up towards the mosaic and admitted, "Boy, am I glad she's gone! We don't need any tyrants like her in this studio! Eh, Artie?" Artie, though, did not move from where he stood. Here he was. All alone as a wolf with no one but an annoying witch to keep him company. "You know, I don't understand you, boy." Arabella said from where she hovered. Diving like a fairy, she hovered in front of his face and admitted, "One minute you hate the girl and the next, you love her." Love her?! She had to be kidding! There was no way Artie liked Gwen. For the love of Pete, she called him "ugly!" She didn't care about him. All she cared about was using Illusion's power to become a musketeer.
The wolf turned his head away from the witch and sank to the ground. He lifted his paws and covered his ears with them as an attempt to block out Arabella's voice. Artistic secrets. They were right here, right in this studio, but little to Gwen's and Artie's knowledge, somewhere in the studio...was what they were looking for.
ns216.73.216.131da2
and then Add to home screen.