AN: I'm sorry to all my "faithful" readers, however faithful that may be, but I must end this fic in the next chapter. Yup, only one more chapter to go. But this is a good one! You'd have to be familiar with JtHM to really be blown away, though. Anyway, this is really the part that was inspired by the song "Magician Among The Spirits" by The Church, and the little "verse" thingy in this chapter is part of the song, sorta. Oke, plug time: I pity da foo' who has never listened to this band. Go get the album. Yeah, so read on.
Disclaimer: ...grr.
Sally stood in the vacuum, surrounded by the same warmth she had felt on the wall. Yes, she was standing -- not falling or floating like she had expected -- and it wasn't even a conscious effort. For once in her life she felt calm and balanced. After being a slave all her life, and almost getting kidnapped on her first attempt at escape, this was quite an experience. She soon forgot all about the plant in her hands and closed her eyes, taking advantage of this new restful feeling. After about fifteen minutes, a faint whisper recited,
"Magician, magician, my star,
From where on earth do you look out,
Into outer space?
I am in a forest heather,
You shall not find me again,
Farewell my daughters, I'll see you soon..."
Sally opened her eyes at this. Before she could wonder what the heck that was supposed to mean or from where it was coming, something suddenly appeared not one hundred feet away from her. At first it looked like a dull, gray light, but as it slowly approached, Sally realized it had a human-ish form. For some reason she wasn't afraid of whatever this thing was. And plus, even if she WAS afraid, she wasn't entirely certain she could run away. The light figure came up close to Sally and looked her straight in the eye. At this, the ragdoll nearly dropped the plant. The figure's features were identical to her own. Shocked, she wondered what exactly was going on.
"Don't look quite so shocked. It's not like I'm anything new to you," the figure said.
Sally's look of shock turned into confusion. She replied with an ever-so eloquent "Huh?"
"You know how you have your little internal conversations?" the figure offered.
"Y-Yes..."
"Well, I'm the other end of them. I basically represent your inner voice, your conscience, your intuition, all that good stuff. So you're really talking to yourself right now. I'm also the one who told you to come down here in the first place."
"...Oh," Sally replied, feeling a bit stupid.
"But anyway, that brings me to my point," the inner voice -- now outer voice? -- began. "You really need to go back to Halloweentown. For one, you need to be there for quite a big event happening in the not-so-distant future. It'll all work out for the best, I promise."
Sally raised her eyebrow at her inner voice. "Waaait. I thought you said inner voices weren't psychic."
"Well, OK, we are a little, but I wasn't going to spoil it for you."
"Kinda sad when you literally lie to yourself like that."
"OK, as I was saying," the inner voice continued, trying to avoid where this conversation was going. "As well as this, the demon you have there has already gone to work on Nny. His house is built on a burial ground, you see. Those lower rooms are actually where many bodies were buried, so when the bodies were removed to make way for the rooms, the spirits got a little agitated. The house, however, can't be haunted unless some external force allows it -- the external force in question being the demon. Basically, it could get some disgruntled spirits to 'work' for it. That's the type of thing that could literally make its host, in this case Nny, insane. If you don't leave immediately, Sally, you could also be subject to that insanity. That's not good." Sally started to say something, but her inner voice cut her off. "So go! And hurry; the passageway is closing up." Sally looked back towards what had been the last "layer" of wall. Sure enough, the light on the other side was fading as the mist started to solidify. She started towards it, feeling as if she was walking in slow motion. When she reached the passageway, and got behind the now almost solid mist, she called back, "What do I do with the plant?"
*Just leave it right where you're standing, and don't worry about it.* This time the voice was in her head, as usual. She set the plant down and stepped back into the room as both layers of wall closed up. She watched as the front layer of wall closed in front of the plant, trapping it between both layers. After this, Sally darted off out the door, and hopefully back in the same direction from which she came.
~*~
After several mix-ups in how to get back to the upper levels, Sally finally made it to her room. She grabbed her stuff as fast as she could, walked up the steps to the main room, and ran out the front door. Apparently her place was still in Halloweentown, and that's just where she was headed.
Disclaimer: ...grr.
Sally stood in the vacuum, surrounded by the same warmth she had felt on the wall. Yes, she was standing -- not falling or floating like she had expected -- and it wasn't even a conscious effort. For once in her life she felt calm and balanced. After being a slave all her life, and almost getting kidnapped on her first attempt at escape, this was quite an experience. She soon forgot all about the plant in her hands and closed her eyes, taking advantage of this new restful feeling. After about fifteen minutes, a faint whisper recited,
"Magician, magician, my star,
From where on earth do you look out,
Into outer space?
I am in a forest heather,
You shall not find me again,
Farewell my daughters, I'll see you soon..."
Sally opened her eyes at this. Before she could wonder what the heck that was supposed to mean or from where it was coming, something suddenly appeared not one hundred feet away from her. At first it looked like a dull, gray light, but as it slowly approached, Sally realized it had a human-ish form. For some reason she wasn't afraid of whatever this thing was. And plus, even if she WAS afraid, she wasn't entirely certain she could run away. The light figure came up close to Sally and looked her straight in the eye. At this, the ragdoll nearly dropped the plant. The figure's features were identical to her own. Shocked, she wondered what exactly was going on.
"Don't look quite so shocked. It's not like I'm anything new to you," the figure said.
Sally's look of shock turned into confusion. She replied with an ever-so eloquent "Huh?"
"You know how you have your little internal conversations?" the figure offered.
"Y-Yes..."
"Well, I'm the other end of them. I basically represent your inner voice, your conscience, your intuition, all that good stuff. So you're really talking to yourself right now. I'm also the one who told you to come down here in the first place."
"...Oh," Sally replied, feeling a bit stupid.
"But anyway, that brings me to my point," the inner voice -- now outer voice? -- began. "You really need to go back to Halloweentown. For one, you need to be there for quite a big event happening in the not-so-distant future. It'll all work out for the best, I promise."
Sally raised her eyebrow at her inner voice. "Waaait. I thought you said inner voices weren't psychic."
"Well, OK, we are a little, but I wasn't going to spoil it for you."
"Kinda sad when you literally lie to yourself like that."
"OK, as I was saying," the inner voice continued, trying to avoid where this conversation was going. "As well as this, the demon you have there has already gone to work on Nny. His house is built on a burial ground, you see. Those lower rooms are actually where many bodies were buried, so when the bodies were removed to make way for the rooms, the spirits got a little agitated. The house, however, can't be haunted unless some external force allows it -- the external force in question being the demon. Basically, it could get some disgruntled spirits to 'work' for it. That's the type of thing that could literally make its host, in this case Nny, insane. If you don't leave immediately, Sally, you could also be subject to that insanity. That's not good." Sally started to say something, but her inner voice cut her off. "So go! And hurry; the passageway is closing up." Sally looked back towards what had been the last "layer" of wall. Sure enough, the light on the other side was fading as the mist started to solidify. She started towards it, feeling as if she was walking in slow motion. When she reached the passageway, and got behind the now almost solid mist, she called back, "What do I do with the plant?"
*Just leave it right where you're standing, and don't worry about it.* This time the voice was in her head, as usual. She set the plant down and stepped back into the room as both layers of wall closed up. She watched as the front layer of wall closed in front of the plant, trapping it between both layers. After this, Sally darted off out the door, and hopefully back in the same direction from which she came.
~*~
After several mix-ups in how to get back to the upper levels, Sally finally made it to her room. She grabbed her stuff as fast as she could, walked up the steps to the main room, and ran out the front door. Apparently her place was still in Halloweentown, and that's just where she was headed.