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Author
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Topic: The Penultimate Solution
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Uncle Gargy
Smurfling
Member # 4048
Member Rated:
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posted 12-23-2011 04:04 PM
Hi, I'm in the middle of writting a Fanfiction about Gargamel trying to get hold of the ultimate weapon in his quest to destroy the Smurfs but in the process he destroys himself.
I will be a long story and I'm on chapter 3 at the moment, but it includes some Smurfy romance, the death of a Smurf and Gargamel.
Just posting on here in case anyone does not use Deviantart or Fanfiction.net
Enjoy!
The Penultimate Solution
Chapter 1
All was quiet in the forest as the Smurfs were fast asleep in their mushroom houses. A full moon shone down on their village, bathing everything in it's silvery light.
Not a creature was stirring and every smurf was fast asleep, apart from Papa Smurf who had woken up with a start and could not get back to sleep.
"Oh, this is no good," he said to himself. "What is smurfing, why do I have such a feeling of foreboding? I've just got to get some sleep and try and figure this out in the morning."
Eventually, he managed to doze off, but it was not a restful sleep.
The same silvery light shone through Gargamel's thin curtains into his bedroom and he was tossing and turning fitfully in his bed. This was disturbing Azreal who thought that the had found a nice warm spot at the foot of the bed.
The cat jumped up to the shelf above the bed and gave his owner an angry glare. How dare he disturb his sleep.
Now Gargamel was starting to mutter in his sleep "I'll get you rotten Smurfs! Humph, you won't get away this time!" This was yet another futile chasing dream and he always hated the nightmarish endings.
Azreal had enough of all the noise and jumped down off the shelf and went to find a quieter spot far away from his master. He soon found a nice spot by the fire and settled down.
After a while, even Gargamel grew less noisy and settled down into a deep sleep. He then had the best dream ever, the dream he had been wishing for all his life, the dream that would give him the solution to his blue nightmare, the solution about how to destroy the Smurfs forever!
He did not stop smiling to himself all through the rest of the night.
A few hours later dawn was breaking, Greedy as usual, was the very first smurf to be up even before the dawn. He had been busy preparing breakfast as he always did everyday of the year.
There was a knock at the door and Brainy walked in attracted by the lovely smell coming from Greedy's house. "Hi Greedy, what's for breakfast?"
"Oh, hi Brainy" said Greedy "Just the usual, I'm just making sure everything tastes just smurfy. Tell you what Brainy, can you call every smurf to breakfast for me?"
"No problem Greedy" answered Brainy, "As I always say, you can't start work on an empty belly."
Meanwhile in Gargamel's hovel:
"That's it Azreal!" Gargamel shouted, literally jumping out of bed and making the cat jump into the rafters of the ceiling in shock.
"I know what to do," cackled Gargamel as he rubbed his hands gleefully, "It's perfect, it's pure genius and so simple and deliciously evil, heh, heh,heh. Quick you stupid fur ball, get yourself down from there. We must hurry and get all the ingredients for my plan to work, it has to be done today. There will be just enough time to get everything in place, before Mummy comes back from visiting her friends abroad."
Throwing off his nightshirt and then slipping on his ragged black tunic, red leggins and shoes, he grabbed Azreal and hurried to the door. The cat was not happy about missing his breakfast, he grumbled under his breath from Gargamel's arrogance.
Back in the Smurf village, every smurf was sitting down at the long bench tables tucking into their breakfast. Papa Smurf was at the head of one of the tables and was just picking at his food, he was not his cheery self this morning and some of the other smurfs were taking notice, "Pappy?" asked Sassette, "What's wrong? You haven't said a word all morning."
"What? Oh sorry Sassette, it's just that I've had a bad night and something is bothering me, but I'm just not sure what it is."
"What can we do to help Papa Smurf? " asked Brainy.
"Oh, don't worry yourselves my little Smurfs," said the village leader, "I'm sure this feeling will pass soon, just my age creeping up on me."
He got up from the table and picked up his plate, " I better be getting back to my lab and make myself a little 'pick me up' potion," he added, "I'm sure I'll feel more smurfy afterwards."
The other Smurfs watched him walk back to his house, still concerned of Papa Smurf's unusual behaviour, "I don't like this one bit!" said Brainy. "No, not one bit!"
"Why?" asked Sassette, "Is Papa Smurf not allowed to feel a bit unsmurfy sometimes? Even he can't be smurfy all the time."
"Yes, I do know that, but it seems to be affecting him a lot and that is always a cause for concern. Something bad is brewing, even I'm feeling it."
"Well, let's leave him be for a while and maybe visit him later this afternoon and see if we can cheer him up."
"Sounds like a plan"
Back in Gargamel's hovel, Gargamel and Azreal were just about to start the day, "Now Azreal," said the evil wizard, "For my plan to work, we need to gather together all the required ingredients before the end of this morning. So we need to work fast."
And with that, Gargamel set off to the swamp to collect some foul herbs, which took some doing as they wer truly foul and made him heave a few times. Azreal wisely kept out of the way.
They traveled into town and managed to find a butcher who was prepared to sell him a couple of buckets of pig entrails for a few pennies, they were going to be thrown out for the dogs anyway. "Oh, the gods this is revolting!" gasped Gargamel as he tries his best to hold his breath, "But this is the 'piece de resistance'."
He then visited a potion shop and purchased a large bag of explosive substances, using the last of his meager savings. "It will be worth it in the end," Gargamel said to himself, "I'll soon be so rich that I'll be able to own this rotten town!"
They got back to he hovel just before noon and sat down to have some lunch. Soon after, they get themselves prepared and got to work, "Oh, this is going to be such fun!" said Gargamel, "Pity, I won't be able to find out what the Smurfs would do about it, but I will find out eventually. Come Azreal! Let's get the cauldron boiling, we have lots to do and you'd better have a nose peg, as this is about to get quite disgusting."
He pulled out the congealed mass of guts from one of the buckets, "Yuck, yuck,yucky!" grimaced Gargamel as he held his nose, resisting the urge to vomit.
Azreal just looked at him with a look of disgust, his master had done some gross things in the past but this was just weird even for him. He slunk off to lie on the bed, at least his master was not going to disturb him there in the daytime.
Meanwhile, back in the Smurf village, Papa Smurf was alone in his home and was mixing up a potion in a small cauldron over a fire, "This potion should give me second sight, so that I can find out what is wrong."
He ladled some of the potion into a cup, after a while the potion was ready and once it had cooled enough, Papa Smurf took a couple of sips. Straight away, he felt a little lightheaded. He sat down on the chair and watched the steam rising from the rest of the potion that was still bubbling away on the fire, the steam moved side to side, as if it was dancing.
Slowly but surely, it formed itself into a familiar figure, Papa Smurf gasped at what he saw, "Gargamel, I should have known! But, wait, what's this?"
The steam took on an orange glow and it showed the Smurf village burning and the fire going out into the forest, consuming everything before it. Animals and Smurfs were running in all directions and there was something else there, but it was not clear. Before Papa Smurf can interpret it all, there was a loud knock at the door and the vision vanished.
"Papa Smurf, Papa Smurf," shouted Brainy as he pounded on the village leader's front door, "Quick! Come see!"
door, "Quick! Come see!"
Papa Smurf was still feeling lightheaded and fell off his chair, hurting his back in the fall.
"Oww!" he groaned, "What on earth is going on Brainy, you've made me hurt myself! "
About twenty minutes earlier, back at Gargamel's hovel, Azreal was outside pacing up and down. He had been thrown out of the door by Gargamel for somehow getting in the way of his genius.
"Meerow, merrow-meeeeerow!" complained Azreal to himself and then he took out his frustration on a nearby bush in the vegetable garden and tore all the leaves off it, he then pulled up a few carrots and bit through them for good measure. Satisfied with his act of vandalism, he went off to find himself a nice sunny spot, far away from his demented master.
He walked down the rise and found a nice patch of warm earth just beyond the muck pond and no sooner had he settled down on a nice patch of warm earth that there was an almighty explosion from the hovel!
Azreal could only watch in horror as the familiar tower collapsed on itself and fire took hold of the flimsy thatched roof. Then a couple of massive fireballs and shooting stars came out of what was left of the tower and filled the sky with acrid black smoke. The cat could watch no longer, so he ran up the nearest tree and clung on for dear life.
After five or ten minutes passed, the pyrotechnics died down and the fire had gone out. Now it had consumed part of the roof and fallen through into the interior of the hovel, where the bare stone floor afforded it no fueld to continue burning.
The cat was still in the tree and he strained his ears trying to listen for Gargamel's usual cursing or crying for help. But there was no sound, it was deathly silent.
Even the birds and insects were silent. Getting a bit worried now, Azreal climbed down from the tree with difficulty and fell the last three meters. "Meerooow!" he shrieked.
Azreal ran all the way to what was left of the hovel and walked over the shattered front door that lay in splinters on the dusty ground. He gingerly picked his way through the rubble of the tower, sneezing a couple of times due to the dust being blown around by the wind. He started to call for his master as loud as possible, but there was no answer, just the gentle crackle of smoldering thatch coming from the bedroom area.
Azreal was seriously getting concerned now, he did not like his master much, but he was all that he had in the world and he did worry about him.
There seemed to be an undamaged area just behind the overturned heavy wooden table, Azreal crept round the back of the table and that is when he saw one of his master's shoes, all singed and still smoking.
He crept further round and saw the ragged black tunic, but where wer the legs? And why was the tunic so flat? Further still he crept and the whole horrifying sight came into view. Azreal gave a strangled shriek and ran like the wind out of the hovel and did not stop running until he got as far away as he could.
Back to the present time in the Smurf village:
Papa Smurf managed to get to the front door but painfully as the fall had given him an attack of sciatica, then he opened the door, "What is the meaning of this?" he yelled, "I'm trying to concentrate here!"
He soon stopped shouting when he heard loud explosions. The village leader saw a couple of fireballs shooting up into the sky from the forest's edge, towering over the trees like hungry giants looking for their next meal. Brainy stood there, also in shock at what he was seeing.
"What on earth is going on?" asked Papa Smurf.
"That's what we are trying to tell you!" cried the myopic smurf, "You've got to come, we think Gargamel has blown himself up good and proper this time!"
Tracker Smurf came running into the village, his eyes were full of fear, telling that he had seen a horrific sight. "Everysmurf!" he announced, "Listen, I've just been up a high tree to get a better look and Gargamel's hovel is destroyed! I mean, it's flattened!"
"Did you see Gargamel?" queried Brainy Smurf.
"No", said Tracker, "But Azreal was running away from the hovel looking terrified!"
"Oh my Smurf" gasped Papa Smurf, "We'd better get over there and see if Gargamel is OK"
All the smurfs stopped and looked at Papa Smurf. "Why should we do that?" asked Grouchy, "We are better off without him, it's his fault if he's killed himself, why it might be the best thing that he's ever done for us!"
"Grouchy Smurf!" growled Papa Smurf, "I'm ashamed of you!"
"Even Gargamel", explained Papa Smurf, "Regardless how of how mean and cruel he was towards us, he had never killed any one of us. He always uses humane traps and luckily for us, he moves too slowly to catch us once we manage to escape, even his cat is useless."
Papa Smurf then took a deep breath and said "He is just a lonely Human being, who has a fixation on destroying us, so why is he no different to the other trappers in the forest who hunt other creatures for profit? This does not make him evil. To him, it's just a means to an end and in his case, it's to get rich enough to leave the cursed country."
"Yeah", spat Grouchy, "But it's personal to me, as he is hunting me and my kin and I don't like it!"
With that, Grouchy turned around and stormed back to his house, his cheeks burned with anger and frustration.
"Grouchy is entitled to his opinion," said Papa Smurf, "But for myself, I would not be able to forgive myself if I did nothing to help and I would like to think that every smurf would feel the same as it's the smurfy thing to do for any living creature."
Papa, then walked off and headed to the center of the village a few meters away and shouted, "Everysmurf, gather around!"
Smurfs from all over the village came over and formed a semi-circle in front of Papa Smurf, who was standing on a mushroom podium. "I'm sure you have all heard and seen the explosions that came from Gargamel's hovel," he said, his voice booming with confidence, "I'm getting some Smurfs together to make a search party to find Gargamel and see if there is anything that we can do for him."
"Oh Pappy," wailed Sassette, her eyes filling with tears, "What if he is? You know, if he is?"
"I know what you are trying to say Sassette," said Papa Smurf as he held Sassette in his arms, "But if the worst is waiting for us, we can only do what needs to be done."
Papa Smurf lets go of Sassette and turns back towards the crowd of his fellow smurfs, "Now come on my little smurfs," he ordered, "Grab some first aid kits and bandages, also can somesmurf get the bottle of healing potion from my lab?"
The door to Grouchy's house flew open and the bad tempered smurf stormed out of it. He marched all the way to Papa Smurf, with steam still fizzling out of his ears, "I've thought about it Papa Smurf," he told the village leader, "And I would like to come along to help, but I still hate Gargamel!"
"Thank you Grouchy," said Papa Smurf, "You are being a true Smurf. Come on everysmurf, lets get moving, time is of the essence!"
In total, seven smurfs set off for Gargamel's hovel, they were Papa Smurf, Sassette, Clumsy, Brainy, Tracker, Hefty and Grouchy. They were all nervous about what they would find in the destroyed home of their arch enemy.
Reflections and Revelations (Chapter 2)
In a faraway corner of the forest, in a sunny clearing near the start of the mountain range, was the home of the elderly Wizard Homnibus.
The wizard was outside in his garden as the wind played with his golden flowing robes. He was busy drawing water from his well at the front of his house, he had already brought up two buckets, and the third was just appearing over the lip of the well when Homnibus heard a noise behind him. He turned to see who it was and before he could even call out in surprise, he felt himself being lifted up and was thrown into the well.
A figure all in black looked into the well and saw that the old wizard was knocked out, but safe enough as the water only came up to his waist as he had fallen onto his backside.
"That will take care of you for a while." said the stranger.
The stranger then ran into the old wizard's house and barged through the door as if it wasn't there. The stranger marched through the living room which contained many mirrors, Homnibus kept them in his house as he liked to admire himself but not as much as Vanity Smurf. The stranger stopped by the biggest full length mirror and had a good proper look at her reflection.
"Why on earth did it have to be red hair?" she said to herself. "Never mind, it makes a change, in fact everything is new and strange. I might get to like this."
The woman stranger then spun on her red boots and swished her black knee length dress as she went into Homnibus's library. It was filled with books from ceiling to floor but she was more interested in the locked safe that stood in the corner of the room. It was about the size of a barrel and made of iron with a padlock as big as a fist.
After several attempts to open the lock by using brute force, she just decided to use some metal eating acid on the lock.
She had forgotten that she was now a woman and did not have her usual strength. This did the trick and with trembling hands she reached into the dark recesses of the safe. "At last, the most evil book in the world, the one that contains all the dark magic, too dangerous to use! Homnibus you dark horse, why were you keeping it?" She said out loud to herself.
Madly cackling to no-one in particular, she stashed the book in a bag, took out a wand and said a few magic words and disappeared in a shower of sparks. On the other side of the forest, the sevensmurfs were at the muck pond and were trying to figure out a plan of action.
"Hefty, Brainy, and Tracker," said Papa Smurf, "You can go to the back of the hovel and try and find a way in there, the rest of you follow me, we will go through what's left of the front door."
All the smurfs moved out and approached the hovel in silence, each smurf listening carefully for any sounds of distress, but it was still very quiet, the birds and insects were not making a sound.
Papa Smurf stopped in front of the shattered wooden door that lay on the ground. "My, that was a powerful explosion to be able to splinter the door. Come on Smurfs, it's now or never. Let's get it over with!"
The village leader then strode into the destroyed hovel with a growing sense of confidence as at least they would not have to deal with an angry Gargamel, but he also had a growing feeling of regret that events had taken such a tragic turn. After scaling the mountain of rubble at the entrance to Gargamel's laboratory, the smurfs met up with Hefty's group that had come in through one of the back windows in the bedroom.
"Have you found anything in the bedroom?" asked Papa Smurf.
"No nothing there, most of the roof is gone and the bed is burnt." Hefty answered.
"Right that only leaves this corner here." said the village leader with a sigh. They all carefully moved forward along the floor and peeked around the overturned table. They all saw the ragged, empty and singed clothing, but they then collectively gave a gasp of shock.
Brainy Smurf was the first to scream out, "Oh my smurf! I feel sick!"
Hefty gulped and squeaked, "It's not normal I tell you!"
Then Tracker said what they all wanted to say: "Run for your smurf!"
Anyone watching the hovel would have seem a mass of screaming smurfs coming out the destroyed entrance and would have felt like running themselves, even if they did not know why they were running. But then again, it was impossible to not let that sound eat away at your soul. It was a sound to chill the blood, curdle your stomach and make you shaky at the knees, and to accompany this sound came a smell so awful so bilious that you wanted to die there and then.
The smurfs were still in shock as they came running down to the muck pond at the bottom of the rise and they all jumped into a nearby bush to see what on earth they thought they had seen, several of the smurfs had been sick but no-one was bothered about it.
They were too busy looking towards the hovel and could see a purple pulsating mass climbing over the hovel door. It moved along the ground and was half the size of a man it looked like a glistening tangle of offal and moved like an amoeba in a pond.
But the speed of it! Before they knew it, the 'thing' was almost across the bridge and they all broke cover and ran off into the forest, closely pursued by the awful smell and noise. They ran as fast as their little legs could carry them but it was gaining on them all the time. Soon, they felt that their senses were being overwhelmed, they started to slow down and felt like giving up and letting the 'thing' consume them.
"Don't give up my little smurfs!" shouted Papa Smurf at the top of his lungs which felt like they were going to explode. "Quick, every smurf, jump into the river now!"
One by one every smurf jumped into the fast flowing river and were swept away to safety, just as the creature was about to jump on top of them. The thing then let out an almighty groan that made all the birds in the trees fly off in terror, it then headed deeper into the forest, still groaning and the putrid smell was getting worse.
As it passed by, all living things within a couple of meters of it withered and died, this included any animals and especially the smurfs' beloved trees. It left a trail of death and devastation behind it. High up in the mountains just a few miles from the forest, Azrael was curled up under a rocky overhang, he was tending to one of his back paws that had a nasty cut .All he could do was to lick it to keep it clean. He had been running all day and was feeling exhausted.
He so wished he had his master with him now, he would be looked after and would have food. This thought made Azrael's stomach grumble. He missed Gargamel. Despite his exhaustion, Azrael decided that he was going to return to the forest as there was no food up on the mountain and after missing breakfast earlier in the day he was now starving.
He painfully got to his feet and limped back down the mountain. It was getting dark but this did not bother him as he could see well enough. The smurfs on the other hand could not see in the dark very well. They managed to drag themselves out of the river a few miles downstream by using some driftwood that had piled up along the riverbank. At least they got out before the waterfall.
"Oh, what an unsmurfy day!" complained Grouchy, "I hate today!" he added.
"What on earth are we going to do about that monster?" asked Tracker
"This magic is too powerful for me" answered the elderly smurf, "We will have to see Homnibus, he has all the books on dark magic under lock and key, I think it is the only way to destroy that abomination of nature!"
"Do you think that the monster is Gargamel?" asked Sassette.
"I feel sorry for him if it is, whatever he has done to himself, it's not smurfy and unless we can change him back he will have to be destroyed." Answered the village leader and he gave Sassette a hug to reassure her.
"What a horrible thing to happen to him. What was he thinking of?" Sobbed Sassette who was still in Papa's arms. "It seems that he tried some dark magic and it backfired, who knows? The important thing is that we are safe and tomorrow we would get help." said the village leader and he told the other smurfs
"We'd better not return to the village, in case the monster tracks us down and finds us. I don't want to put the rest of the village in peril. We will shelter under this tree for the night and then set off for Homnibus' home in the morning."
"Yes that's a good idea" said Sassette,"I'm so tired that I can't walk another step." Soon all the smurfs were huddled together in some dry leaves under a hazel tree and fell fast asleep.
Their sleep that night was disturbed by the chilling sound of the monster in the woods, it was creeping along the dank undergrowth, consuming all living things and unseen by any other living creature it was getting bigger and bigger and was now the size of a horse. Its amoebic slithering had evolved into a humanoid two legged gait and it was hungry. Hungry for smurfs!
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Wizards don't give a 'bleep' about the laws of Thermodynamics!
Posts: 122 | From: England | Registered: Oct 2011
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Amy Sue Smurfette
Nurturer Smurf / The Odd Smurf
Member # 4050
Member Rated:
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posted 12-23-2011 05:27 PM
it's smurftastic, Uncle Gargy! and i absosmurfly loved the kiss between Smurfette and Handy.
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we're all someone's little fangirl.
Posts: 903 | From: fah fah aweeey... | Registered: Oct 2011
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Jokie Smurf
Jokie Smurf22 / Chloette / Elton John Smurf / My dog Padfoot
Member # 4119
Member Rated:
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posted 12-24-2011 04:39 AM
Me too nurturer
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When people say giving is better than receiving they are talking about me. Giving someone one of my exploding presents is WAY better than receiving one. ;)
Posts: 2871 | From: New Orleans, Louisiana, USA | Registered: Nov 2011
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Uncle Gargy
Smurfling
Member # 4048
Member Rated:
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posted 12-25-2011 04:14 PM
'Farewell to the past' (Chapter 3)
Dawn was breaking over the forest and the seven Smurfs were waking up in their pile of leaves. Dew had covered them in a thin layer of moisture and they all felt damp and horrible.
"I couldn't sleep a wink last night Papa" complained Grouchy Smurf. "Neither could I, my little Smurf" replied the elderly Smurf who was trying to get up and not having much luck.
"Here, let me help you" said Grouchy and he gave Papa a helping hand. "Thanks, my old bones don't like the damp it seems. Right everysmurf, we must get a move on and tell Homnibus all about what we've seen and I'm sure he will come to our aid as this monster is now threatening the whole forest and all creatures and humans who dwell in it. Tracker, can you go to the village and warn the others to stay in the village and not to venture out. If they see or hear the monster approaching, they must scatter and hide in the forest, so they don't present an easy target."
"Where do you think it is now pappy?" asked Sassette "I'm not sure, I've not heard anything for a while, not sure if that is good or bad news. Come we must get moving, it will take us at least an hour of running to get to Homnibus."
Slowly at first but then faster with every step, the Smurfs set off running towards the mountains .
In another part of the forest Azrael was having a rest. He'd been walking all night due to his injured paw slowing him down and had arrived at Homnibus home at daybreak, he entered the Wizard's home and was not scared of being chased away as he could not care less. He was too exhausted to even bother to run, he just felt like curling up and sleeping forever. He managed to climb up onto the elderly wizard's bed and collapsed in a heap.
He was so deeply asleep that he did not hear the cries for help coming from the well or the Smurfs who were just approaching the house, all puffing and panting from their long run, even Azrael's keen sense of smell did not pick up the stink of their sweaty little bodies.
The Smurfs on the other hand were super alert and heard the cries for help emanating from the well. They ran up to the base of the well and climbed up the pulley rope. Hefty was the first Smurf onto the lip of the well "Who is there?" he shouted down into its inky depths. "Homnibus!" replied a voice filled with strain.
"Oh my Smurf! How on earth did you get down there?" shouted Hefty. "Just get me out of here please! I'm getting hypothermia" replied the desperate wizard. "But how are we going to get you out? There are only seven of us there is no way with even the whole village that we will manage it."
"Go to my bedroom cabinet, there is a wand in the top draw, throw it down to me and I'll get myself out, please hurry! "groaned the trapped wizard.
Hefty jumped down and raced into the house, he jumped on the bed and almost had the fright of his life. Azrael was on the bed inches from him. Hefty tried to hold his breath to stop himself shouting out in fright but it was no good, it had to come out. "AZRAEL!"
Azrael's eyes did not even flutter Hefty was quite puzzled by this and gave the cat's paw a squeeze, by standing on it, still nothing. He then pulled a couple of whiskers, not a twitch. But Hefty could see that the feline was still breathing but seemed out for the count.
"Hurry up Hefty, what are you doing in there?" shouted the other Smurfs. This snapped him out of his shock of seeing Azrael and he shouted back "Just give me a minute!" He then thought to himself "What was I doing? Oh, yes I've got to smurf that wand." He bounded over to the cabinet and managed to pull the top draw open just a crack and pulled out a silver wand about 3 times as tall as himself. He then jumped off the bed and ran back to the waiting Smurfs who had by now all climbed up onto the rim of the well and were talking to Homnibus in his miserable prison.
"There you go!" shouted Hefty as he threw down the wand into the dark hole. A few seconds later there was a bang and a puff of smoke and a shivering wet wizard was standing in front of them.
"Thank you my friends, I was sure that I was going to perish in that well, if you don't mind, I have to get changed into new robes and sit by the fire to warm myself up."
"Of course" answered Papa Smurf "We'll help you get the fire started and warm some water for you, don't want you to get ill." The Smurfs then got on with their work and smurfed a blazing fire and a pan of hot water for the wizard's feet. "Ah, this is much better, I'm feeling more alive now, thanks to my wonderful Smurf friends" beamed Homnibus. Hefty came up to Papa Smurf and pulled him to one side "Papa Smurf, I almost forgot to tell you. Azrael is on the bed in the house and seems to be unconscious" said Hefty Smurf. "We'll have to deal with him then, he must have had quite an ordeal when his master blew up the hovel, poor creature" replied the village leader "I don't think we will need to hurry and he seems to have his hurt back paw, so he will be in no condition to chase us" said Hefty. Papa Smurf and Hefty then went back to join Homnibus in front of the warming fire.
"I'm glad you are feeling better Homnibus. You mentioned that you were pushed, did you get to see who it was?" asked Papa Smurf. "No, I just felt myself being lifted up over the edge of the well and I did not have time to grab anything to save myself, I must have blacked out on the way down as I can't remember even hitting the bottom. I'm just thankful that I did not break any bones or worse" replied Homnibus.
"So are we. I wish that we were meeting in happier times, but since you've been trapped in the well, terrible things have been happening in the forest . Gargamel has invoked some kind of dark magic and he seems to have done something terrible to himself and in the process his hovel was destroyed. When we went to investigate, we could only find his charred clothing and instead there was a grotesque monster that chased us into the forest. We have not seen or heard it since, but Tracker Smurf after coming back from the village, said that there was a swathe of forest that had withered and died, so it could have been caused by this monster."
"How awful, he is such a meddler and he can be so stubborn and overconfident when it comes to magic and this is the result. I need to check my library, I do have some dangerous books, I do hope that they have not been taken" replied the shocked Homnibus as he hurried to his feet and stepped out of the bowl of water making it slosh onto the floor. He and the Smurfs ran over to the library with wet feet and flung open the door.
Homnibus and the Smurfs drew a gasp of shock at the mess in the library. All the shelves had been tipped over, books lay all over the floor and the safe in the corner of the room was wide open and empty!
"Oh, please no! Not that book!" shouted Homnibus sinking to his knees. "What's wrong? Which book was it?" asked a concerned Papa Smurf. "The Penultimate book of dark magic has been stolen! I knew that I should have taken it back to the Wizards library when I had the chance, but for some reason I didn't and now I'm so angry with myself!" cried the elderly wizard, covering his face with his hands. "I had no idea that the book still existed, wasn't it supposed to be destroyed and all copies burnt?" asked the Smurf leader. "It was, well the original was, but the Wizards found a copy and wanted to keep it for 'reference', but they only lent it out to wizards who had a means of keeping it safe and now I've let them down. Oh I'm going to get into so much trouble for this, I might get kicked out of the academy" sobbed Homnibus.
Papa Smurf did not know what to say to comfort the wizard, but spoke up and said "Homnibus, it's happened, the best thing we can all do now is try and find out where this monster is and try and defeat it before it destroys this forest and all the creatures and people in it." Homnibus looked down at the wise Smurf and replied "Yes, you are right Papa, we must do what we can to resolve the situation, I'll get some things together and all my dark magic detection equipment and if you don't mind, I would like to come to your village, you must be worried about your other Smurfs."
"Very true Homnibus, we've been away for almost a day and night now and it will soon be dark, we must get home. But before we leave, we do have another matter to attend to." The elderly wizard looked puzzled and replied "What matter? Oh of course, the cat! "They then both walked over to the bedroom closely followed by Brainy and Hefty and the other Smurfs followed a little way behind. Hefty Smurf jumped up onto the bed and kept his eyes on the sleeping cat, slowly he crept up to him and gave him a kick on the front paw. Azrael winced and growled a little in his sleep, but did not wake.
Feeling braver, Hefty climbed up onto the feline and jumped up and down on his head, still no reaction. "Hey Azrael, are you dead?" quipped the brave Smurf, and he laughed at his own joke. "Hefty, leave the cat alone and come and help us bandage his paw. It's not smurfy to make fun of the misfortune of others, even enemies" chided Brainy Smurf. Hefty got off Azrael's head and joined Papa, Brainy and Homnibus who were finishing off cleaning the cut paw and applying a salve and bandage.
"There, that should heal quite nicely, I'll leave some food and water for him, he should be safe enough in my house, he won't be able to escape as he will be locked in this room." Said the wizard and he stooped down to pick up his belongings which consisted of a rucksack with spell books and a few potions and in his hands he held a pair of copper divining rods encrusted in clear crystals. "These divining rods will help us track down the monster, when dark magic is detected they glow red, the redder they become the closer we are to the monster. Let's get moving." Said Homnibus and together he and the Smurfs set off for the village.
Back at the Smurf village, there was a tension in the air as if every Smurf was waiting for something to happen and they had no idea what. Ever since Tracker Smurf ran into the village that morning the Smurfs had been primed for action and had already packed their 'Oh Smurf! bags containing food and clothing in case they had to be away from the village for any length of time.
Vanity Smurf was pacing up and down outside his house mirror in hand, looking at his reflection for the hundredth time that afternoon and checking for any worry wrinkles. "Oh my, I think I'm starting to get a wrinkle, what a disaster I can't take this stress, it's not good for my complexion!" he wailed to his reflection in the mirror.
Smurfette had just come out of her house and came over to comfort Vanity. "Now, now Vanity, you know that you are the most handsome Smurf of all and I don't notice any wrinkles on your face, you always look smurfy." "Thank you Smurfette, but I really don't feel very smurfy at all, even my stomach is complaining," and with that Vanity's stomach gave a loud growl, the poor Smurf's face turned a shade of green and he suddenly ran off towards his house clutching his tummy.
"Poor Vanity, he just can't handle it," thought Smurfette to herself. She then walked across the square to Handy Smurf's home. She knocked on the door and Handy opened the door straight away.
"Smurfette, good to see you, come in." "Thank you Handy, how are you faring with all this hullabaloo? The blonde Smurf asked. "Well, I don't like it, none of us do but until Papa gets back we are sitting ducks if the monster decides to attack us, we don't even have Brainy around to tell us what to do, not that we would listen to him anyway," smirked Handy. "Yes, I know what you mean, but it would be smurfy to have someone to look up to at a time of crisis," then all of a sudden Smurfette's face crumpled and she started to sob. Handy was a bit taken aback by this as she had seemed quite calm; he moved towards her and gave her a cuddle. She laid her face on his shoulder and carried on sobbing, her tears wetting his blue skin. "Here Smurfette, have a hanky and blow you nose,"said Handy whilst trying to get a hanky out of his pocket. He managed to find a corner that was clean and Smurfette took it from him and blew her nose very loudly. "Oh, I'd better not give it back to you, bit yucky now," said Smurfette who had by now stopped crying and seemed to be holding Handy round the waist a little too tightly.
"Glad you feel better." Said Handy, but he now felt a bit awkward as Smurfette was not releasing her grip on his waist. "Err, you can let go now Smurfette," squeaked Handy. But his eyes met with Smurfette's eyes and they seemed to draw him in. Her eyes were like pools of blue azure and he could not tear his gaze away, he opened his mouth to protest but instead felt compelled to come nearer to her mouth and before he could stop himself their lips met and they shared a passionate kiss that took their breath away and made their hearts race. Handy did not know how long they had been kissing for but they came up for air after what seemed like hours.
"Wow, Smurfette, that was Smurftastic! I didn't know that you fancied me so much?" said the out of breath Smurf who was now getting palpitations. "I do like you Handy you're so clever and the best thing of all is that you are not obsessed with your looks the same way that Hefty wants to have big muscles and Vanity wants to be wrinkle free. I just like your down to earth honesty, imagination and the fact that you love the skin you are in," said Smurfette still looking deeply into Handy's eyes she was slowly running her right hand up and down his bare chest. "Don't know what to say to that, but thanks for the compliment, I think?" replied the blushing Smurf who was turning a slight shade of purple all over his cheeks. Smurfette and Handy then took hold of each other's hands and drew closer together to exchange another kiss, their hearts beating faster, yearning for another taste, their hearts beating as the door burst open and Miner Smurf barged into the room shouting "Can't you feel it, there is a Smurfquake! Quick everyone needs to get out of their houses before they collapse!" Handy and Smurfette looked puzzled by this outburst but then they felt the ground shake a little and some of Handy's tools fell off the table onto the floor. "I thought the earth was moving when we had that kiss, but did not realise that it was moving for real!" gasped Smurfette.
Without wasting another minute, Handy, Miner and Smurfette ran out of the mushroom house just before a large piece of plaster came crashing down from the ceiling and exploding in a cloud of white dust. "That was close, too close for comfort, "said a shocked Handy who was now standing outside his broken home, his head full of conflicting emotions. All around him the other mushroom houses had cracks in the walls and some had lost part of their roofs.
"Come on, we must check on everyone else and make sure they have their 'Oh Smurf bags' and then regroup near the big oak," shouted Miner Smurf who was making his way through the rubble outside the storehouse and grabbed his own emergency bag.
Meanwhile, a couple of miles away from the village:
Homnibus and the seven Smurfs had all stopped when they felt the ground shake. Sassette clung to Papa Smurf and Homnibus and the rest of the smurfs crouched down until the shaking stopped. "That is not good, not good at all" muttered Homnibus to himself. He took hold of his divining rods and held them loosely in his hands, he stood up and walked a few paces in the direction of the village and noticed that some of the crystals were turning pink, he moved further forward and some more crystals turned pink and then to a crimson red. The divining rods were also starting to cross together. "Quick, we all need to hurry the village is in terrible danger!" shouted Homnibus to the Smurfs. "I'll carry you in my beard there is no time to lose!" The elderly wizard crouched down and all the Smurfs jumped into his long white beard and held on apart from Papa Smurf who decided to ride on Homnibus's shoulder. The wizard stood up and set off at a run, which was good for a man of his age.
Giant cracks started to appear in the middle of the village, screaming Smurfs were running in all directions little emergency bags in hand, all heading for the safety of the forest. Out of the cracks long snake like tendrils started to appear. They were purple, slimy and smelt of death and decay. By now most of the Smurfs had abandoned the village and had climbed up into the tallest trees at the edge of the village where they felt safest. Down below in the village, it was a scene of utter devastation; all the Smurf houses had collapsed and the cracks were widening they could see a red glow that appeared to be rising up out of them. It was twilight and the glow seemed to even light up the ground itself.
The Smurfs watched wide eyed as a towering mass of amorphous decaying flesh rose eight feet into the air, it had no visible head, just a shifting mess of flesh with an opening best described as a maw, it then flopped down onto the ground making the ground shake and crack up even more. A new horror assaulted the Smurf's senses, it was getting difficult to breathe as the stench from the monster made several Smurfs in the nearest tree lose their grip and fall onto the forest floor, three of them got back up, but one Smurf moved no more. A groping tendril from the monster sought out its prey and dragged the unfortunate Smurf into its gapping maw.
"No! No!" screamed the other Smurfs who had been in the same tree. "Not Miner! Oh please Smurf, not Miner!" But it was too late, he was gone for good. The monster let out a piercing scream of triumph and it seemed to go on for ages. It then moved along the ground flattening the remains of the houses, searching for Smurfs. Handy Smurf and Smurfette saw everything as they were sitting in the next tree along. They seriously thought about trying to fight back, but they had no weapons and this monster was capable of destroying them all. They decided to keep hidden and hoped that they would be all saved soon very soon. Smurfette and Handy held each other more tightly than ever before and felt like they would never be parted.
Suddenly there was a flash of white in front of the monster and it reared up to its full height searching for its attacker. "Be gone, foul creature!" shouted Homnibus as he ran across to the destroyed village. Once again, Homnibus took aim with his wand and shot off another volley of spells at the monster, this had no effect at all. It just seemed to enrage it even more and the monster started to glow red. Its numerous tendrils waved around like a thousand whips and from its maw a red glow was seen to emerge and shoot towards Homnibus and the Smurfs he was carrying. "Hold on!" shouted Homnibus as he dived to the side of a row of mushroom houses and managed to avoid the missile which narrowly missed his blue cloak. Whatever the monster was shooting it burned fiercely and set fire to the storehouse. The elderly wizard got up quickly and ran towards the edge of the village where he sought safety behind one of the large oak trees which happened to be full of Smurfs high up in the branches. The monster released another lava bomb and it knocked a chunk of living wood out of the tree trunk, causing the Smurfs in the tree to scream in terror. Homnibus and Papa Smurf just looked at each other they knew that this monster had to be destroyed even if it was once human. The Smurf rule book was out of the window on this terrible night.
"We have to do the right thing," said Papa Smurf ," I think I have an idea how to stop it," answered Homnibus and he took aim with his wand, took a deep breath and spoke a few words "Zippity zip Zap" and the monster's maw was sewn shut. This seemed to distress the creature as it frantically groped at its mouth with desperation, its tendrils getting tangled up with each other. But the most drastic thing was that it was glowing redder, burning up from the inside. It let out a horrific scream much worse than anything heard before .All the Smurfs and Homnibus had no choice but to cover their ears but even this was not enough and several had their eardrums burst by the sound waves. The monster then toppled to the ground and the whole of its body burst into fierce flames. The silence was deafening.
A new noise started up and all the Smurfs in the trees cheered and climbed down from the surrounding trees, Papa Smurf ran up to them and hugged the nearest ones and then called for every Smurf to gather round him so that he could check that they were all safe. He did a quick head count. The six Smurfs that had been with him were all there, the Smurflings, Baby Smurf and eighty nine other Smurfs. There was one missing.
"I'm sure I counted right, maybe I'd better start again," said the village leader. Before he could, Smurfette came up to Papa with tears in her eyes and quietly said "The monster ate Miner." The elderly Smurf just stared at her, she just looked into his eyes and he could see the sadness there there were no need for words so they both hugged each other and cried.
Several hours had passed and it was the middle of the night, Homnibus had collected some firewood for a campfire and used the burning monster to light it. It was a cold night but the Smurfs were not shivering from the cold, they were all in shock. Homnibus managed to make a lean-to shelter for himself and all the Smurfs and they all piled in with the wizard and kept warm snuggled into his cloak, the Smurfs soon fell asleep, exhausted by the day's events. Only Homnibus remained awake, staring at the fire and glancing across at the remains of the monster that had by now reduced to a pile of glowing embers. Deep in his heart he hoped that it was not Gargamel who lay there as a pile of ashes. He did not relish having to explain everything to Gargamel's Mummy. He knew her well as an old friend and even if she was a cantankerous old lady, this news might kill her. Thank goodness she was abroad for at least another week. Homnibus gave a sigh and settled down to sleep, still staring at the fire until sleep overcame him and he could shut out the turmoil in his head.
Brainy Smurf was the first Smurf to wake the next morning and for a moment he wondered where he was and then it all came flooding back to him and he felt very sad. He crawled out of Homnibus's cloak and noticed that the white bearded wizard was already up and tending to the fire, there was a pot of water boiling and the elderly human was sorting some Smurfberries that he had collected earlier that morning. "Morning Brainy," said Homnibus. "Same to you, but I don't feel very cheery today, the village is destroyed, all my books are destroyed and we've lost Miner," replied Brainy. This set off the Smurf and he started to cry. Homnibus picked him up and sat him on his lap. "Brainy, the village can be rebuilt, the books can be rewritten and although we can't do anything for Miner, we can make sure that he is never forgotten," now dry your eyes and help me get this food ready for the other Smurfs, we must keep busy and try and repair things as best we can. "Thank you Homnibus," said Brainy taking his glasses off and wiping away his tears, "I just got a bit emotional there," "No problem," answered the wizard.
They worked in silence for a few minutes and then Homnibus got up and took a cauldron the size of a human skull and a small ash shovel from his rucksack and walked over to the remains of the monster. He carefully scooped the cooled ashes into the cauldron until it was full and replaced the lid. He then walked back to the fire and Brainy.
"Why are you collecting the ashes of that evil creature?" asked Brainy Smurf, "Well, it's all we have left of Miner if you think about it and these ashes are also all that is left of Gargamel after he turned himself into that monster, we must treat these remains with dignity as Miner Smurf and Gargamel are now just dust and we have no way of separating them. I need to give these ashes a proper and dignified burial, it's the least we can do, even for an evil wizard," replied Homnibus with a sigh. "Papa Smurf will no doubt perform a burial for Miner using the remaining ashes, I'm sure he will know what to do in memory of your dear friend Miner." Brainy Smurf nodded his understanding and carried on staring into the fire sitting close to his Smurf family and feeling the overwhelming sadness of losing a family member but also being grateful for the love that others gave him, which was one thing he was sure that Gargamel never truly got to enjoy. For now, he was happy that they were all safe.
Back at Homnibus's house, Azrael had woken up and wondered how on earth his back paw had become bandaged, how did he come to be on a nice soft bed and why had no-one chased him away or even chucked him outside. He gingerly got to his feet and stretched as only a cat could, giving an enormous yawn that showed his yellowing fangs. He sniffed the air and suddenly felt very hungry. He jumped down off the bed and moved towards the two dishes on the floor one had pieces of cooked fish, the other some water. He lapped up all the water first and then ate the fish. His hunger satisfied, he settled down on his haunches, licked his lips then his left front paw and proceeded to have a wash. He liked this place and thought to himself that he would like to stay.
Back in the remains of the Smurf village, all the Smurfs had woken up and were gathered around the camp fire eating their breakfast of Smurfberries, there was not much else to have apart from the supplies they carried in their bags as Greedy Smurf's home and bakery were no more and the storehouse had gone up in flames. But not all the Smurfs were eating much. Clumsy Smurf kept picking at his food but not eating it and he then got up from the ground near the fire and walked back into the lean- to, trying to hide his tears from the others.
"Poor Clumsy, he was great friends with Miner, he is taking it very badly," said Hefty Smurf who had no problem tucking into his breakfast. "I'd better go after him," said Papa Smurf and he got up and followed Clumsy. In the lean to, Clumsy had got under the cloak and refused to come out when Papa Smurf asked him to. "It's not fair, not fair at all, why did it have to be him? I'm the clumsy one, I should have fallen out of the tree," wailed Clumsy. "Oh, my dear little sensitive Smurf, life is not fair sometimes and Miner was so lucky to have so many Smurfs who cared deeply for him. We will all have a chance to say something at the remembrance service," said Papa Smurf. Clumsy Smurf sniffed up his tears and slowly crawled out of his hiding place. "Well, done, now come back to the fire and warm yourself and please try to eat something, we all need to keep our strength up for the work ahead," said the village leader. Together, they walked back to the fire and Hefty Smurf gave Clumsy a couple of Smurfberries.
Whilst the Smurfs were eating their breakfast, Homnibus had been busy collecting the remaining ashes in wooden chest salvaged from Miner's home. It had been Miner's favourite possession and was carved with panels depicting the life of a miner. It held his spare helmets and candles and mining overalls, which the wizard had already taken out. Once the chest was full, he closed the lid and sealed the lock shut with magic. The chest could be held easily in one of Homnibu's hands and he carried it to what was left of the centre of the village. Papa Smurf walked over to the elderly wizard and thanked him for taking the trouble to collect the ashes. The village leader then called across to the other Smurfs, "Come my little Smurfs, let us come together and remember our dear friend Miner." One by one, each Smurf came and stood in a circle around Papa and the wooden chest. Homnibus had already made his excuses and had gone into the forest to dispose of the rest of the ashes into the undergrowth, but he still had the cauldron of ashes to deal with later.
"Miner was a dear friend to all of us, he loved being underground and although we did not see much of him, he still attended village celebrations and never forgot his friends birthdays. He was very brave yesterday and without his actions, many more Smurfs would surely have perished at the hands of the monster, so he is a hero and will always be remembered as one," said Papa Smurf, trying not to cry again. "Please Smurf a moment of silence to remember Miner and what he meant to each and every one of you," said the elderly Smurf closing his eyes. All the Smurfs around him fell silent and stood with their heads bowed, thinking about their friend. After about two minutes, Papa Smurf spoke up and asked if anyone wanted to say anything. Clumsy came to the centre of the circle and stood next to Papa. "Gosh, don't know quite what to say? But I know that Miner was a very good friend to me, one of my best friends and I will feel lost without him and his stories, it's just so unfair that it had to happen to him," Clumsy said, trying very hard not to break down again, "But I'm so glad that the rest of my Smurf family is safe and well and we will rebuild our village in his memory!" said Clumsy with a new strength in his voice. This made the other Smurfs cheer and clap, together they had a new hope for the future, they had to rebuild their village, put the past behind them and start a new life free from the fear of Gargamel.
The wooden chest was placed into one of the Miner Smurfs favourite mines; it had walls covered in luminous rocks so that even in the darkness of his tomb, he would always have light. By now it was late afternoon and the Smurfs had been hard at work clearing rubble from the village and starting to rebuild their houses. They were made of wattle and daub so quite easy to mend, they just needed a lot of drying time before they could be painted. Homnibus had come back from the forest and some of the Smurfs came up to him to thank him again for saving them and destroying the monster. Homnibus smiled at them and told them all that the monster had destroyed itself due to the evil inside that had burned its way out. This satisfied the Smurfs and they went back to work.
It was getting chilly again, so Homnibus went to the lean to shelter to collect his cloak, he picked it up and heard a squeal of indignation. "Hey stop smurfing my bed!" said Sassette. She had been sleeping in the cloak and was thrown out onto the floor when it was lifted up. "Oh, sorry Sassette, did not see you there, are you alright?" asked Homnibus. "Yes, I'm OK it's my fault for hiding I suppose. You see I didn't want to attend the remembrance service as I would have cried far too much but I feel that I need to attend Pappy Gargamel's service. Do you think Pappy Smurf will let me come along?" pleaded Sassette. "Well, I'll have to ask him. We are not doing anything really, just burying the cauldron of ashes near the hovel where his grandparents are buried, "replied the wizard. "I didn't know that Pappy Gargamel had grandparents, when did they pass away, was it when he was a child?" asked the young Smurf. "No, they died long before he was born, but they were a lovely couple, but had such a tragic life, I'll talk about it when we get to the hovel, we'd better get Papa Smurf and start making our way there before it gets dark," said Homnibus and with that, he and Sassette went off to find the village leader.
Papa Smurf, Homnibus and Sassette arrived at the remains of the hovel a couple of hours before dusk. The sky was suffused with pink and a gentle breeze played in the trees. The blackbirds were singing their evening song. Homnibus led the way up the path from the muck pond bridge and went to the small courtyard to the side of the hovel where the old gnarled tree stood. He bent down and brushed off some old leaves and debris from the base of the tree and a small headstone was revealed. It was inscribed with 'Here lies Linette and Alphonse Gargamel together at last'. Papa Smurf and Sassette looked up at the headstone and Papa spoke first, "Homnibus I had no idea that there were any graves here, why so close to the hovel and why under this dead tree?" Homnibus looked down at the little Smurf and replied, "This dead tree was once very special to them both, it was a cherry tree and provided lots of fruit every year. Linette used to make wonderful cherry pies from it, I can still taste them now, I used to visit them regularly in my youth, they could not have children themselves, I was their closest neighbour and they treated me as if I was their son. You'd better make yourselves comfortable and I'll tell you the whole story of the Gargamel family."
He laid his blue cloak on the ground next to the tree and they all sat down on it. Homnibus took a deep breath and started to talk. "Alphonse Gargamel was a successful trader in fine wines and silks. He travelled all over the world and worked hard to make his fortune. He lived in Paris for most of his youth and here he married his childhood sweetheart called Linette .Although they were very rich and successful they found that they could never have children of their own, but they did not let their disappointment show and devoted themselves to helping the poor families of Paris. City living did not suit them so they decided to build a small cottage in 'Le Pays Maudit' so that they could escape into the quiet of this wild and special country when things got too hectic. Alphonse built the cottage with his own hands, even though he could have paid someone to build it, he liked to do honest hard work and said that it kept him fit. It needed a lot of upkeep as he was not a builder by trade and there was not a true right angle in the building, making it crooked and ugly, especially the observation tower where he like to study the stars. But to Alphonse it was a work of art. His wife planted a cherry tree in the small courtyard and within a couple of years it produced a bumper crop of cherries which they both adored and each spring it was laden with masses of fragrant white flowers.
For many years they spent long summers at the cottage and life was good, until Alphonse had business dealings with a young Baron called Balthazar who was jealous of his success. The Baron started to spread rumours about the Gargamels and one by one his best clients and even Alphonse's best friends left him, even though they knew that he was innocent. Everyone was scared of Balthazar and did not confront him or his cronies. Penniless, the Gargamels lost their house in the city, most of their possessions and could no longer help the city children. Balthazar let them keep the cottage, but still insisted on a rent, which they could ill afford. They moved there for good, trying to eke out a living from the land and forest. It was a hard life but they took to it, grateful to have somewhere to live and not be starving on the streets of the city like so many others. Linette and Alphonse kept a couple of cows, a few chickens and the cottage was surrounded by meadows. The path up to the cottage was lined with wild flowers. Alphonse built a bridge over the small pond at the bottom of the rise, they would spend many hours there fishing and watching the pond creatures. Although Alphonse was bitter about what had happened to his business, he was grateful to be able to live in such a beautiful place with the love of his life by his side, he was content with his lot in life.
Many months passed and that second winter there was a ferocious blizzard with high winds and blinding snow. The Gargamels were huddled around the hearth trying to keep warm in front of their small fire when there was banging on the door. They looked at each other frightened at who it could be out in this storm and for a moment they feared it was one of Balthazar's agents come to collect the rent as they had not paid that month. Alphonse went to the door with an iron poker in hand and opened it up just enough to see. There on the doorstep was a basket full of old dirty cloths. He opened the door a bit wider and grabbed the handle of the basket and brought it inside before too much snow could be blown into the cottage. He brought the basket over to his wife and they both started to look through the cloths when they found a baby's leg, this startled them and they moved more of the filthy cloths aside and uncovered a naked little baby girl with a shock of black hair, she seemed to be about eight months old but she was not crying, very pale and seemed to be deathly cold. Instinctively Linette reached into the basket and placed the baby into her clothes next to her skin to warm the poor child up. Alphonse got a blanket and put it around both the woman and child. After half an hour or so the baby girl came round looked at them with big brown eyes and started to cry. They fell in love with her and wanted to care for her.
Whilst Linette had been reviving the baby, Alphonse had found a note at the bottom of the basket. It was from the mother asking them to look after the child as she could no longer feed her. She also mentioned that she had travelled a long way on foot from Paris to find them as she had heard that they had helped the poor children in the past and that she wanted them to look after the baby. There was no mention in the note of the baby's name so the Gargamels decided to name her Celestyn which meant 'Heaven' and to the old couple, she was a gift from Heaven.
Thirteen years passed in no time at all and Celestyn grew into a beautiful teenager, she had long jet black hair that reached to the small of her back, her eyes were pools of dark brown and her skin as white as ivory and soft as goose down.
The Gargamels dotted on her and she never gave them any cause for concern, looked after both of them when they were sick and she did her chores without complaint. She was the perfect daughter in every way. They taught her to read and write, she studied magic with Linette who knew a bit of the art, but it was mostly 'white' magic and together they made healing potions. One day just like any other Linette and Alphonse went out into the forest together to gather some more herbs and mushrooms. Celestyn remained at the cottage reading a book on how to read runes. They had trouble finding their favourite herbs and wandered into a part of the forest where they had not ventured before. Whilst Alphonse was looking for some feverfew plants, Linette was searching for some fly agaric she stumbled through a thicket of bushes as she knew that sometimes mushrooms could be found in deep undergrowth. But once past the thicket she noticed a small clearing with a patch of colourful mushrooms the like of which she had never seen before. She moved towards the patch when she recoiled in horror at seeing some little blue creatures running in and out of the mushrooms, she thought that she was seeing things and shouted for her husband, she took a step backwards to get a better look, but then tragedy struck. She lost her balance and fell heavily smashing her head on a rock. She died instantly.
In the meantime Alphonse had heard her call and came running over to the thicket of bushes. He called her name several times but had no answer, he searched for what seemed like hours and in his panic he blundered through the same thicket of bushes and was met with a sight that made him sink to his knees. In front of him his wife was lying face down on the ground with blood pouring from the side of her head and little blue creatures were climbing all over her! Enraged, Alphonse screamed at the blue creatures and charged at them, he just wanted to get his wife as far away from them as possible, in his mind they were little blue demons and they had caused his wife's death. He picked her up, cradled her in his arms and pushed his way through the bushes, ignoring the fact that his skin was being torn to shreds and that the little blue demons were shouting at him, especially the one dressed in red clothing. His eyes were so full of tears that he could hardly find his way home and when he eventually got back that evening he was a broken man, something deep inside him had snapped, it was his soul.
After that dreadful day, Alphonse Gargamel was a changed man. He could hardly eat or do anything for himself, his already grey hair had turned white overnight and he was pinning for his wife. Their adopted daughter tried her best to help him, but he got snappy with her and found fault in everything she did, this made her very sad and she started to get depressed as well. They spent that next winter with a permanent black cloud over them and those dark winter months seemed like hell on earth. With the return of the sun and the warmth of spring, Alphonse and Celestyn were glad to get out of the cottage, well it had become more of a hovel as he had not been able to keep up with the repairs and the harsh winter had killed off their beloved cherry tree and this was one more nail into Alphonse Gargamel's heart.
This time he had it in his mind to destroy the blue creatures for good, he would hunt them down and kill every last one of them in revenge, he had been stewing over this for months and nothing was going to stop him, even his beloved daughter. He built intricate traps and spent many hours hunting for their village but could never find it again. His anger and thirst for revenge took its toll on his health and one day he never woke up, his poor daughter found him and she had to bury him."
"My smurf, what a tragic story," said Sassette, wiping a tear from her eye. "Yes, but remember, I told you that I was her closest neighbour in those days," answered Homnibus, "she arrived at our house one evening all distraught and for a moment my parents did not know who she was but she blurted out her story and the fact that her adopted father had forbidden her from leaving the estate for the last few months of his life. She came and lived with us all through that spring and summer and we became good friends, I was six years older than her but she was bright and had a sharp wit. Our age difference meant nothing. I never wanted those summer days to end. "
"Papa, you were there, why did you not try to follow him and try and explain what happened?" asked Sassette. "We did try, but each time he refused to talk to us, he just got angrier, his heart was broken and he could not forgive us. Celestyn would talk to us but mainly to tell us to go away as we were making his father ill and making things difficult for her, so we respected her wishes and bothered them no more," replied Papa Smurf who looked very sad. "That is in the past now and cannot be changed," said Homnibus, "The story does not end there, as I said before, she was staying with us over the summer and unfortunately, it was time for me to return to the Wizard school where I was starting a new job as a teacher and Celestyn did not want to impose on my parent's hospitality any further, so she returned back to the hovel. That autumn she kept herself busy, sorting out the vegetable patch, making potions to sell at the market a day's walk away and tending to the cherry tree and collecting its bounty.
One day, she had a visitor to the hovel it was one of Balthazar's agents who had come for the rent. She only had a few pennies to her name and he took every last one of them, threatening to burn the hovel to the ground if she did not pay up the rest before the end of that week. She was very upset about this and once again came to my family for help. I did a collection at the Wizard school and we managed to scrape together the required amount to keep Balthazar from her door. One day things changed for her and it began with a trip to collect some firewood in the forest. She had got together a big bundle of sticks and had heaved it onto her back and started to walk back to her home when she heard a commotion coming from the waterfall. She dropped the bundle and ran to the source of the sound and saw a handsome young hunter floundering in the water at the base of the falls. He kept going under, so she stripped down to her underclothes and jumped in to rescue him.
She took him back to the hovel and warmed him up in a tub of warm water she had kept his undergarments on as she was too shy to strip him off completely. She was falling in love with him, his piercing blue eyes and blond hair mesmerised her and she thought of un-lady like things. He was very grateful to her for saving his life and for a couple of nights he stayed with her and she was very happy to have some company at last. He hunted a deer for her and together they smoked the meat for the winter, this would provide much needed food for the coming cold. On the last night, the handsome hunter took out a flask of mead and asked Celestyn to join him in a toast to celebrate his good fortune in meeting her. She drank the mead, but unbeknown to her, he had put a love potion into it, not that he needed to as she was smitten with him. They spent that night together in bed. The next morning, her handsome young hunter had left without even leaving a note. She was heartbroken and cried all that morning. She even travelled into town to look for him, she asked lots of people, but no-one could remember seeing him, it was as if he had never existed. All the way back to the hovel, Celestyn was followed by a raven, always just out of her sight, but she kept stopping to look up and could feel an evil presence, watching her every move. She was glad to get into the safety of the hovel and over the next few weeks she concentrated on reading all the books on the shelves and making more potions to sell and did not leave her home.
Six weeks later she ventured out into the town as she was feeling ill and went to see the local wise woman as she was feeling bloated and not herself. This was when she learnt that she was pregnant. Celestyn was at first angry that the hunter had done this to her, but then as the weeks passed and she felt the first fluttering in her belly, she grew to love the baby and looked forward to meeting him or her."
"Homnibus, were you not angry with her for going off with another man?" asked Sassette, "No, I was a teacher, women were not allowed at the Wizard school, I was just a friend, we never had a romantic liaison if that's what you were thinking." "Oh sorry I was just checking," said Sassette who blushed purple. Homnibus then carried on with his story; "Later that summer, Celestyn came to stay with us again at our house and my mother Margaret dotted on her and looked after her as if she was her own daughter, she was more excited than anyone. My father just kept out of the way and one day asked me to accompany him on a trip into the forest. There he had a heart to heart with me and asked if I was going to do the decent thing and marry the girl even if the child was not mine. I could not give my father an answer straight away as marrying would mean me giving up being a teacher. To my shame I eventually chose teaching over her honour and have always regretted it.
Summer was over too quickly that year and I said my goodbyes to Celestyn as I prepared to return to teaching and wished her all the best for the future. My mother moved in with her at the hovel as this is where Celestyn wanted to be for the birth of the baby. In all this time Balthazar's cronies did not turn up for the rent and Celestyn was grateful for small mercies, but she still had the feeling of being watched and was always on the lookout for ravens paying too much attention to her.
On the eve of Samhain, Celestyn woke with the first pains of labour and all through that day she walked around trying to keep moving to ease her pain. That night she lay down on her bed and Margaret became her midwife, together they brought a new life into the world, as the baby was being born both Celestyn and Margaret had a feeling of being watched and for a moment they imagined that they saw Alphonse and Linette standing by the fireplace and that they had been smiling at them. The baby boy was strong and had a good pair of lungs. He would be named after his grandfather Alphonse Gargamel in honour of his memory and what he had meant to Celestyn. Even when she was cradling her new born son in her arms and looking deep into his milky baby blue eyes, she knew that he was special and the deep bond between mother and child was forged that night. Welcome to the world Gargy she whispered to him. Up in the rafters of the hovel, the raven had seen all and flew off into the moonlight through the open window."
"Well we'd better get moving, it's getting dark and we need to get back to the village. I just need to bury this cauldron under the tree," said Homnibus and he bent down and using the same ash shovel he used earlier, he dug a hole and placed the cauldron inside. "Goodbye Gargamel it was interesting knowing you," sighed Homnibus. Papa Smurf and Sassette were not sure what to say but they both placed a flower each on the grave and then all three of them walked back towards the village as the sun finally dipped under the horizon.
To be continued.
This chapter would have been much longer, but it seems apt to stop it just here and the next chapter will include Gargamel's childhood and then the story will return to the (present time) and life for the Smurfs will never be the same again. Merry Christmas!
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Wizards don't give a 'bleep' about the laws of Thermodynamics!
Posts: 122 | From: England | Registered: Oct 2011
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