The Tale of Amaretto

Twenty-Sixth Grain

"Voices of Ancients long ago past,

Spirits of Earth and reminiscent grace,

Spark of Energy here now recast,

Iron of Man you now shall erase!"

There was a slight rumble and the ring on Amaretto's finger turned a dark shade of purple. The IronMen looked at Amaretto with curious eyes until they suddenly twitched where they were standing and jerked forward in an effort to capture Amaretto. They may have been automatons, but they were still able to think partially for themselves, and had linked their now new found moment of not being able to work any longer with Amaretto's new found spell casting ability.

The IronMen jerked again and then a blast of electric fire seemed to take hold of them and they jerked backwards, their mouths hung open and their heads tilted skywards. It seemed at first as if they were screaming, but Amaretto soon saw it for steam rushing out of their mouths as such a rapid pace that they were not sure what was going to happen next. From their chest cavities, there was an explosion and boiling steam rushed down their chests as small metal objects were forcefully ejected from their hearts.

The molten hearts fell to the ground and the IronMen just stood in place, the metal pokes in their feet forcing them to continue to stand upright. Alice whistled and said, "That was bloody brilliant. I love it. Now we just have to find Mother Chime."

Johanna looked nonplussed. "We have to find Mother Chime, but we still have no idea where she is located in there."

Amaretto rolled her eyebrows and then began to push her way towards the still standing forms of the IronMen so that she could inspect them. She walked right up to them and then said, "They look like British Foot guards."

Alice smiled smugly and then said, "Those are the royal foot guards."

Katherine raised an eyebrow and said, "Where are the tall bearskin hats?"

Amaretto looked at her aunt and then shrugged. Alice spoke again in a quiet voice, "I don't think that is what we should be worrying about."

Amaretto turned back to Alice and then said, "Aren't they supposed to be human?"

Alice shrugged her shoulders and then began to inspect the mongoose pistols that she had. "They might have been at one point in time, but now, they are nothing but steam and robotic parts. I'm surprised that they are even able to still be alive."

Katherine shuddered and then said, "I don't think that they were ever truly alive once they had accepted the iron heart."

Johanna walked past all of them and looked up the hill towards the Cloister of Science. "We have to get in there now. I can feel it. I can feel the stone in the Cloister. I need to get in there now." Johanna's voice, which was usually without emotion, had tenseness to it that Amaretto could hear.

Amaretto walked over to the older woman and then said, "We will get it back for you. Don't worry. It will be alright." She patted Johanna's hand in an effort to make a comforting gesture.

Johanna simply nodded her head and then turned to Katherine. "So what is the next part of the plan?"

Katherine looked at Amaretto and then just smiled. "I believe it was to find Mother Chime. She's the one who has the Stone of Communication, and she's the one that has the first coordinate. Once we get that we can move on."

"First we need to find where she is in the cloister." Alice said absently once she was done playing with her new pistols.

Amaretto frowned and then said, "Well, that's true, but we don't have any information. Where the hell is she then?"

Katherine looked at Johanna. "I think we have our own homing device built into the woman who was originally affiliated to the stone." Katherine smiled and looked at Johanna. "Can you truly feel the stone Johanna?"

Johanna closed her eyes and then started walking towards the Cloister. Katherine grabbed onto Amaretto's arm and began to drag her along as she walked behind Johanna. Alice quickly fell into step with them as Johanna walked along the cobbled walk towards the Cloister's main doors. The three women followed Johanna and as they reached the front doors, more of the IronMen showed up.

"Johanna! Look out!" Amaretto cried out, but even then, it was almost instantaneous that Johanna suddenly had her rapier out and was slashing down though the first IronMan in front of her. There was a screech of metal and a hiss of steam. There was an unearthly shriek as the IronMan's died. Johanna's second slash into the next IronMan was blocked however. The second IronMan caught the slash down from the rapier in his hands. There was a sudden bang and a strange whizzing sound. At that moment, the IronMan staggered backwards and felt for his chest. Where he felt was a large hole and there was another small metal clanging on the ground as his heart fell and hit the ground.

Alice nodded her head in happiness. "These are the greatest pistols ever. I must say, how did you get a hold of these?"

Katherine simply patted her purse and then said, "I am not without my own little surprises."

Alice snorted and then nodded her head. "Surprises... that's meant for bawdy women and strange men who have nothing better to do than haunt them in the dark of night."

Katherine smiled and then in a slightly snarky tone said, "That is true, but I am not a bawdy woman or a strange man who hunts women in the night to eviscerate him."

Amaretto tilted her head and then said, "Are you referring to Jack the Ripper? He's here too? I thought that the difference was obvious?"

Katherine shook her head. "No, even though there are differences in how the dimensions are, the time lines can be very similar.'The Whitechapel Murderer ' is still around."

Amaretto shuddered. "That's a little creepy."

Katherine smiled and pointed to Johanna. "Let's keep going. We don't necessarily have time for all of this."

Amaretto giggled. "What is this, a bad television show?"

Katherine smacked her charge playfully on the shoulder and then shook her head.

Johanna had already closed her eyes and then began to move into the Cloister. Katherine pulled her own parasol forward and then smiled. "We need to keep moving."

Amaretto nodded and then looked at the ring on her finger. "I just wish I had a better weapon than this simple ring."

Alice patted Amaretto on the shoulder. "It's alright. I will be sure to shoot anything that comes towards you."

Amaretto looked at the IronMan with the hole in his chest. "Well, I suppose that it is nice that you know how to use that."

Alice smirked. "I suppose that it is."

Johanna walked into the Cloister at that moment, leaving all the others behind. Katherine whooped and picked up the edges of her dress and stepped lightly over the body of one of the IronMen. "Wait Johanna! Wait for us!"