A/N:I'm sorry about the format of the first 2 chapters, I'm trying to fix it now. Enjoy! Thanks to Christopher Scott for reviewing!

The Skeksis were still celebating when everyone heard a sound. It echoed around them, making our three friends even more frightened. "I-is that some kinda laser, by any chance?" Rizzo asked, he was shaking so hard that the rat seemed to become a mini-jackhammer."The Crystal!" Muttered the Garthim Master/Emperor."The Dark Crystal..." The other Skeksis murmured amongst themselves. The friends tuned their ears in to the conversation, so they jumped at the next sentance.

"The Crystal calls!" The new Emperor exclaimed. "To the Crystal Chamber! Bring the prisoners!" He led the way, & the pig, the bear, and the rat were pushed & shoved with the rest. Chamberlain meanwhile, having been stripped and beaten, decided to pick up what was left of his robes and follow. The chamber they were taken into seemed to be in the center of the castles' ground floor. It led off to many other corridors like the one they came out of, all in a circle. But what caught their attention was in the center of the chamber. A giant Crystal, hovering over a deep pit with a firey glow! The Crystal was glowing too, a deep purple, like the beetles' eyes. The Skeksis stepped closer to it, and gasped. So did Piggy, who pointed at it & said, "Is that who I think it is?!"

It was. In the face of the Crystal, everyone could see several figures climbing a rock face. "Hey look! It's Kermit, Gonzo, PePe, Animal and Mimzy! Who that with them?" Fozzie said quite loudly, earning the Skeksis' undivided attention. All except one.

"A Gelfling alive?!" The Emperor was astonished.

"Two Gelflings?!" Demanded another.

"Hidious Gelflings!" Yet another said while covering his eyes.

"Oh, that's not a very nice thing to say!" Said Fozzie.

"Will you shut up! If they find out we know them, they're going to hunt down Kermie!" Piggy whispered harshly.

Rizzo gulped. "I tink dat dey already knows!" A good warning that arrived too late.

"GARTHIM, GARTHIM!" Yelled the Emperor. On the balconies above them, they heard the same click-clacking that would give them nightmares for years to come. The same beetles that snatched the three friends at the entrance came forward. They stood, awaiting orders from the balconies.

"Garthim! Death, to Gelflings! Bring the rest to the castle!" Ordered the Emperor. Immediately the Garthim (for of course that's what they're called) backed out of sight. The Emperor now turned to Piggy, Fozzie, & Rizzo. "You will be kept in the lab until we catch your friends! Then, we will see about your essence!"

"Ma always said dat if I didn't watch it, I'd end up a lab rat!" Rizzo held his face in his paws.

After a short rest, the group got ready to move on. They had just climbed a huge rockface, & some of them were getting ansy. "I'm like, too tired to go on ok? Continue without me!" PePe stumbled, and Jen put him on his shoulders.

"Follow the greater sun for a day," Kermit recited. "to the home of Aughra..."

"Isn't anyone freaked out by the fact that there's three suns here?" Gonzo asked. Everyone stopped and thought.

Mimzy shrugged. "I guess we're beyond suprise." Just then, the vines they were walking under came down & grabbed them! The vines hauled them up and tangled themselves around the group. Kermit & Jen tried to call for help, but the vines wrapped around their mouths too. Nobody could see PePe, Animal and Mimzy was trying to bite through the vines, but Gonzo was laughing. "This is awesommmmee!" He declared. And here I'm sure that nobody agrees...

Suddenly a single eye was thrust into Mimzys' face! Getting over the initial shock, she found there was a hand holding the eye. The owner of said eye started asking them questions in a language nobody knew, though they caught the word 'Gelfling'. Finally, the person withdrew the eye and promptly stuck it in one of their empty sockets. The other just stayed empty, staring, hollow. The owner of the eye looked female, wearing a ragged, red dress. She had long, grizzly gray hair and two horns, curved like a rams'. She also wore an uneasy, suspicious expression as she yelled at Mimzy; "ARE-YOU,-A-GELFLING?"

"Yes, we're looking for Aughra!" Mimzy said bravely, thankfully spitting out the vines before she did so. The stranger bristled.

"But Skeksis kill them all, you can't be Gelfling! Though you look like Gelfling and-" Here she sniffed Mimzy. "smell like Gelfling...maybe you are Gelfling!"

"Yeah, that's what we were told!" Gonzo pitched in.

"GELFLING, GELFLING!" Animal threw in.

"I can almost see my house from here, ok?" PePe said from above their heads. The stranger stood up to her fullest height.

"Who sent you?" She asked, ever suspicious. Jen finally got free of the vines around his mouth and answered her.

"My Master, wisest of the Mystics!"

"Where is he? Around here?!" She spun around, as if the Master might be hiding behind a rock.

"He's dead..." Jen replied sadly.

"Could be anywhere, then."

Also getting free of the vines that held his mouth, Kermit asked, "Excuse me, are you...Aughra?"

The stranger turned to him. "Why? You afraid I'm going to EAT you?!" She shouted, startling the group. "Hm?! What do you want of me?"

"A shard, a crystal shard." Jen answered warily.

"That's all you want? A crystal shard?" The woman (who is obviously Aughra) thought for a second. "Hmm..Hmph, drop them!" The vines obeyed, & most of our heros landed on their faces. Aughra didn't wait for them. She stood in front of a wall of vines, ordering them to move in her strange, harsh language. These vines also complied, parting like curtains. The group stood up & followed Aughra, but slowly, because they were still a little scared.

"Well boys, I think we came to right place!" Mimzy whispered.

"I hope you're right, the Mystics didn't give us a map. We can't afford to get lost here!" Kermit whispered back.

"That was some security system, huh?" Gonzo said, his voice echoing around the cavern they were walking through. "We should install that at the house!"

"You're a sick, sick little doggie ok?" PePe replied.

"DOGGIE, DOGGIE!" Animal yelled, making the cavern sound as though there were many Animals shouting. Mimzy laughed & shook her head as she pulled Animal into a side-hug.

End of Part Three

Sorry, this is sorta a filler chapter! Please review!