What choice do you have
Catherine Leane Williams lay in a dark room on her bed, crying quietly. Next to her, a big brute of a man snored on obliviously. He turned over and Catherine glanced at him fearfully. The light hit her face and she winced, one hand going up to her black eye. Her lip split again but she made no move to get off the bed and just used her pillow to stem the blood. There was a lot of blood on the pillow, some of it stains that would never come out. The man looked drunk and violent even in his sleep and Sarah never wanted to face him alone.
'Fortunately, I won't be alone,' Sarah thought, looking from the crystal to the Pixie King. His face was flaming red and she wasn't sure the man would survive if Houterence got his hands on him. "Do you have your power in the mortal world?" Sarah asked, distractedly noting that her voice was cold and hard.
"He won't have enough. He'd need to come here," Felanist replied and Sarah looked at her noticing that her face was as hard as her voice. They were a pretty grim group at the moment.
"Jareth, would you come here please?" Sarah finally asked, raising her voice as if he were hovering in the shadows instead of in his castle or the crystal shop. He appeared next to her, glancing around in surprise before his attention fixed on Sarah's crystal. "Mother's hurt. I need mom and dad to come here. Would you get them for me?" Sarah asked once he'd realized the situation. To his credit, he didn't say anything and disappeared to find Karen and Richard. They appeared in the next minute looking slightly confused and Sarah handed the crystal to them. Karen gasped and Richard looked like a thunderstorm about to break. "I'm going there to bring her back now. I won't allow this to keep happening," Sarah told her father and he nodded supportively but Karen shook her head. Everyone stared at her in surprise.
"He's dead drunk. First thing in the morning when he's awake enough to appreciate just what he's done and how angry we are about it," Karen specified and everyone found merit in the idea. Sarah's eyes glinted at the thought of what the man would go through when he woke. Karen called a little fairy to her and whispered at her, gesturing at the crystal. The fairy nodded and disappeared, reappearing at Catherine's bedside. Everyone watched as the fairy whispered in Christine's ear and sent her into sleep, healing her bruises and the split lip so that she wouldn't be too sore when she woke. Then it disappeared and Sarah slipped the crystal into a pocket. Richard cocked his head at her curiously and she tried her best to ignore his obvious curiosity.
"Aren't you going to give Jareth's crystal back?" Karen asked and Sarah looked away in embarrassment.
"I'm not missing any crystals," Jareth said in surprise and Sarah blushed.
"I made it. I don't know how to unmake it," she whispered and her parents stared at Jareth menacingly.
"What do you mean, you made it?" Jareth asked softly and she blushed even brighter.
"I thought I was borrowing one of your crystals again but the Pixie King said that he'd blocked me from your magic when he took us," Sarah mumbled, missing the venomous glare the Goblin King bestowed on Houterence before turning back to her.
"I want to know why she was borrowing your crystals in the first place," Richard grumbled, though he too glowered at the Pixie King at the mention of kidnapping.
"I gave my crystals orders to obey Sarah when she was sick so that she'd always have a way of calling someone for help and I saw no reason to take them away after Peraline was destroyed," Jareth answered half-consciously, still staring at Sarah disconcertedly. "But I'm not missing any crystals and I can't alter Sarah's," he unconsciously added under his breath so that only Eli, standing nearby, heard him.
"Why can't you do anything with Sarah's crystals?" Eli asked out loud and he glared at her, feeling his face heat from everyone's attention.
"He gave me access to his crystals but I didn't give him access to mine," Sarah told her, though it should have been obvious.
"Well, as long as Toby doesn't start doing it, I guess it's alright," Richard muttered with ill grace.
"Sarah shouldn't even be able to do it. Those crystals are Goblin magic and only Goblins can use them. Jareth's the king because his crystals are more powerful than anyone else's," Houterence explained, confusing Richard and Karen.
"Please, no more questions right now. I'll explain everything once I figure it out myself," Jareth said quickly to spare Sarah some embarrassment for right now. He didn't think she was ready to hear this just yet. "Right now, we must figure out what we shall do the miscreant who dared to harm Sarah's mother. I personally prefer an oubliette near the Bog of Eternal Stench. Maybe close enough to leak." Sarah calmed down a little once everyone was focused away from her, though she still stood in the background so as to avoid as much notice as possible.
"I'd say put him in a Mobius that can never be broken," Houterence offered helpfully.
"We could give him to the trees. They'd swallow him up and never let him leave," Felanist suggested.
"Or you could just kill him slowly," Eli said, looking nervously up at the tree she was sitting on. Her suggestion was greeted with gasps and outraged denials.
"We're not barbarians, Elizabeth," Karen finally said firmly and that ended the matter.
"Do you think we could make him mentally go through what he's done to mother? Like, make him think he's a small woman being beaten by her huge boyfriend," Sarah suggested softly to Jareth and he considered for a moment but Houterence and Felanist shook their heads.
"It would take too much upkeep and it might drain the one that cast the spell to sickness. None of us can afford the drain," Felanist explained.
"But what if we all cast a piece of the spell, wouldn't the drain be manageable?" Sarah asked reasonably.
"We can do it. It would be manageable with five magicians casting the spell, especially if we link the spell so that he's the one supplying the power. And this way, we all can have revenge since we are all mad about this. No one even remotely related to the Fae royalty can be allowed to be treated like this or our credibility comes into question," Jareth interrupted before anyone could say anything.
"Let me put it this way. What choice have you got?" Eli asked from the sidelines and everyone grumbled but agreed that it was the best they could come up with at the moment.
"Let's go home for the moment and rest then. Could someone send Eli and Sarah to school now?" Karen replied and Sarah looked up at the sky but couldn't tell how long this incident had taken. Not too long if Karen still thought to send them to school.
"I'll do it," Felanist replied, changing back into Sylva Dryas. Sarah retrieved her bag followed by a glum Elizabeth.
"And Sarah," Karen called after her step-daughter. Sarah felt a weight hit her backpack as she turned to look at her. "Don't leave without your bodyguard again," Karen chided her.
"Yes, mom," Sarah sighed as Felanist/Sylva opened a portal to the mortal realm a few moments after they had been taken. Sarah looked at Sylva questioningly and she smirked. Eli just gasped, caught between staring at the sheepish Rosemary or the portal, a fancy thing of vines and flowers.
"See you later," Sylva called, pulling Eli and Sarah through the gate and nodding at Karen, Richard, Jareth and Houterence. The portal closed behind the girls and everyone turned calmly to Houterence.
"I suppose you want an explanation," Houterence muttered in embarrassment and everyone settled themselves to see if the Pixie King could dig himself out of the hole he had created.
Catherine Leane Williams lay in a dark room on her bed, crying quietly. Next to her, a big brute of a man snored on obliviously. He turned over and Catherine glanced at him fearfully. The light hit her face and she winced, one hand going up to her black eye. Her lip split again but she made no move to get off the bed and just used her pillow to stem the blood. There was a lot of blood on the pillow, some of it stains that would never come out. The man looked drunk and violent even in his sleep and Sarah never wanted to face him alone.
'Fortunately, I won't be alone,' Sarah thought, looking from the crystal to the Pixie King. His face was flaming red and she wasn't sure the man would survive if Houterence got his hands on him. "Do you have your power in the mortal world?" Sarah asked, distractedly noting that her voice was cold and hard.
"He won't have enough. He'd need to come here," Felanist replied and Sarah looked at her noticing that her face was as hard as her voice. They were a pretty grim group at the moment.
"Jareth, would you come here please?" Sarah finally asked, raising her voice as if he were hovering in the shadows instead of in his castle or the crystal shop. He appeared next to her, glancing around in surprise before his attention fixed on Sarah's crystal. "Mother's hurt. I need mom and dad to come here. Would you get them for me?" Sarah asked once he'd realized the situation. To his credit, he didn't say anything and disappeared to find Karen and Richard. They appeared in the next minute looking slightly confused and Sarah handed the crystal to them. Karen gasped and Richard looked like a thunderstorm about to break. "I'm going there to bring her back now. I won't allow this to keep happening," Sarah told her father and he nodded supportively but Karen shook her head. Everyone stared at her in surprise.
"He's dead drunk. First thing in the morning when he's awake enough to appreciate just what he's done and how angry we are about it," Karen specified and everyone found merit in the idea. Sarah's eyes glinted at the thought of what the man would go through when he woke. Karen called a little fairy to her and whispered at her, gesturing at the crystal. The fairy nodded and disappeared, reappearing at Catherine's bedside. Everyone watched as the fairy whispered in Christine's ear and sent her into sleep, healing her bruises and the split lip so that she wouldn't be too sore when she woke. Then it disappeared and Sarah slipped the crystal into a pocket. Richard cocked his head at her curiously and she tried her best to ignore his obvious curiosity.
"Aren't you going to give Jareth's crystal back?" Karen asked and Sarah looked away in embarrassment.
"I'm not missing any crystals," Jareth said in surprise and Sarah blushed.
"I made it. I don't know how to unmake it," she whispered and her parents stared at Jareth menacingly.
"What do you mean, you made it?" Jareth asked softly and she blushed even brighter.
"I thought I was borrowing one of your crystals again but the Pixie King said that he'd blocked me from your magic when he took us," Sarah mumbled, missing the venomous glare the Goblin King bestowed on Houterence before turning back to her.
"I want to know why she was borrowing your crystals in the first place," Richard grumbled, though he too glowered at the Pixie King at the mention of kidnapping.
"I gave my crystals orders to obey Sarah when she was sick so that she'd always have a way of calling someone for help and I saw no reason to take them away after Peraline was destroyed," Jareth answered half-consciously, still staring at Sarah disconcertedly. "But I'm not missing any crystals and I can't alter Sarah's," he unconsciously added under his breath so that only Eli, standing nearby, heard him.
"Why can't you do anything with Sarah's crystals?" Eli asked out loud and he glared at her, feeling his face heat from everyone's attention.
"He gave me access to his crystals but I didn't give him access to mine," Sarah told her, though it should have been obvious.
"Well, as long as Toby doesn't start doing it, I guess it's alright," Richard muttered with ill grace.
"Sarah shouldn't even be able to do it. Those crystals are Goblin magic and only Goblins can use them. Jareth's the king because his crystals are more powerful than anyone else's," Houterence explained, confusing Richard and Karen.
"Please, no more questions right now. I'll explain everything once I figure it out myself," Jareth said quickly to spare Sarah some embarrassment for right now. He didn't think she was ready to hear this just yet. "Right now, we must figure out what we shall do the miscreant who dared to harm Sarah's mother. I personally prefer an oubliette near the Bog of Eternal Stench. Maybe close enough to leak." Sarah calmed down a little once everyone was focused away from her, though she still stood in the background so as to avoid as much notice as possible.
"I'd say put him in a Mobius that can never be broken," Houterence offered helpfully.
"We could give him to the trees. They'd swallow him up and never let him leave," Felanist suggested.
"Or you could just kill him slowly," Eli said, looking nervously up at the tree she was sitting on. Her suggestion was greeted with gasps and outraged denials.
"We're not barbarians, Elizabeth," Karen finally said firmly and that ended the matter.
"Do you think we could make him mentally go through what he's done to mother? Like, make him think he's a small woman being beaten by her huge boyfriend," Sarah suggested softly to Jareth and he considered for a moment but Houterence and Felanist shook their heads.
"It would take too much upkeep and it might drain the one that cast the spell to sickness. None of us can afford the drain," Felanist explained.
"But what if we all cast a piece of the spell, wouldn't the drain be manageable?" Sarah asked reasonably.
"We can do it. It would be manageable with five magicians casting the spell, especially if we link the spell so that he's the one supplying the power. And this way, we all can have revenge since we are all mad about this. No one even remotely related to the Fae royalty can be allowed to be treated like this or our credibility comes into question," Jareth interrupted before anyone could say anything.
"Let me put it this way. What choice have you got?" Eli asked from the sidelines and everyone grumbled but agreed that it was the best they could come up with at the moment.
"Let's go home for the moment and rest then. Could someone send Eli and Sarah to school now?" Karen replied and Sarah looked up at the sky but couldn't tell how long this incident had taken. Not too long if Karen still thought to send them to school.
"I'll do it," Felanist replied, changing back into Sylva Dryas. Sarah retrieved her bag followed by a glum Elizabeth.
"And Sarah," Karen called after her step-daughter. Sarah felt a weight hit her backpack as she turned to look at her. "Don't leave without your bodyguard again," Karen chided her.
"Yes, mom," Sarah sighed as Felanist/Sylva opened a portal to the mortal realm a few moments after they had been taken. Sarah looked at Sylva questioningly and she smirked. Eli just gasped, caught between staring at the sheepish Rosemary or the portal, a fancy thing of vines and flowers.
"See you later," Sylva called, pulling Eli and Sarah through the gate and nodding at Karen, Richard, Jareth and Houterence. The portal closed behind the girls and everyone turned calmly to Houterence.
"I suppose you want an explanation," Houterence muttered in embarrassment and everyone settled themselves to see if the Pixie King could dig himself out of the hole he had created.