A warning of Chapter Seven:Realization: It is short, but fear not; The chapter right after it will be out the same day, if everything goes according to plan. I am sorry that chapters have been short and will be short, but the way they're laid out means that they must be so. For my loving reading, I thank you for your love. For my unhappy readers, I'm sorry your standards are too high.


Chapter Six

Everyone was starting to irritate Akina. They were all complaining of hunger. She was in the lead, her pace quick. The sooner they won, the sooner she'd be able to leave them all. Where she'd end up, she didn't know.

"The castle doth lie yonder my lady." The sound of the fox's voice snapped Akina out of her thoughts. She turned around to look at Sarah, noticing at the same time as the others that she was nowhere to be found.

Akina walked behind them, her eyes wide as a bubble floated there way. It floated past her, but she kept going, seeing another. She looked in it as she stopped and her heart fell. Knowing Sarah was in a dream somewhere, she continued to watch the scene with an ever breaking heart.

She could see Sarah dressed in a beautiful gown, her hair up and braided with beads. Soon, Jareth, too, was in the picture. His eyes were full of emotion, as blank as they may have seemed, she saw through it.

She couldn't do it. She looked away, but the bubble didn't leave. She didn't even bother trying to pop it, knowing it wasn't a real bubble. Music came from it, and tears once again came to her eyes. She ignored the lyrics until the last line, the line that repeated itself. His voice, singing to Sarah, forced tears out of her eyes.

"Falling in love"

She fell to her knees, unable to hold back her emotions. The bubble turned back into a crystal, but she ignored it, even as it landed in front of her. Tears fell down her cheeks, salt stinging her eyes. She'd never-ever-cried in her life.

Built up pain came pouring out of her eyes; hatred as a child, abandonment, false hope, and a broken heart. She didn't know she loved him as much as she did until Sarah had taken him. Harsh sobs broke from her throat.

She sat that way for awhile, letting everything go. Her mind thought of only Jareth and the false hope she'd given herself. She wasn't mad at him or Sarah. She hated herself for letting her heart take over her head. She kept her eyes closed as the tears stopped, allowing herself to calm down.

"How you turn my world you precious thing"

Akina's head snapped up at Jareth's voice, but her face fell when she saw it was only in the crystal. They were in the room full of illusion: The Escher Room. Full of stairs that lead to nowhere, where you walked on ceilings and ran across walls. She used to love that room. When young children would come to the castle, if they were old enough, she'd play tag with them in there before their time was up. Now, she didn't think she could ever step into the room.

"You starve and near exhaust me. . .Everything I've done I've done for you"

Tears once again gathered in Akina's eyes. Of course it was all for her. She's beautiful, young, and. . .normal. He could never love me, Akina thought, watching Jareth walk through Sarah. She did everything for him as he had for Sarah.

"I move the stars for no one"

Akina grabbed the crystal and began running. She couldn't handle it. Knowing that he loved Sarah only, Akina ran away. She was in a forest she didn't recognize, but she couldn't stay anymore. If Sarah won, or even if she lost, Akina would lose as well. If she won, Jareth would hate Akina for helping her win. If she lost, Jareth would forget Akina in time.

"You've run so long, you've run so far

Your eyes can be so cruel, just as I can be so cruel"

Jareth's voice came through the crystal she held tightly in her hand. She couldn't stay, but she didn't want to give the crystal up; it was all she'd ever have of him. We're alike now, Sarah. We've both run from the Goblin King. Only. . .he wont go after me. Tears continued down her cheeks, even though she didn't feel like crying. She was numb.

"Though I do believe in you,"

"Toby!" She heard Sarah scream.

"Yes I do,

Live without your sunlight,

Love without your heartbeat,

I. . .I-I can't live. . .within you"

Akina slammed her eyes shut, trying to stop her tears. A root from a tree grabbed her leg and she fell forward. "Jareth," she mumbled, pulling herself onto her hands and knees. Her eyes flashed a bright red. She stood, her teeth bared in a soundless snarl. "Damn you!" She yelled, throwing the crystal ball. Her breathing was ragged as she watched it fly into darkness, hearing it hit roughly against a tree. Her eyes widened as, a moment later, something bumped her foot. Looking down, she saw the crystal had rolled back.

She smiled sadly. "Damn you, Jareth," she mumbled, falling onto her knees. She picked the crystal up before looking around. She hadn't noticed where she ran. It was pitch black, the outlines of trees almost invisible in the darkness. Looking down at herself, she saw that her skirt was torn and her legs were covered in scratches.

I didn't even feel anything, she thought, noticing that her arms, too, were badly scratched. So many years of beatings had made her numb.She looked down at the only source of dim light that she held in her shaking hands, forcing herself to watch the scene taking place.