~*Thank you so much for the nice reviews! PeAcE!*~
~*~*~
Now, Fae are very magical and mystical creatures, as I'm sure you know, as Humans are very creative and imaginative. Each Fey has a different magical ability that is enhanced by their extent of talent, as does each Human with creativity and their extent of imagination. It all varies with each different specimen. On the night of Sarah's arrival, after the castle had settled down, there were at least two Faes and one Human that were being tortured because of their abilities.
I'm sure you know who the Human was (well, half-human, but we'll get to that later); after all, Humans are very rare and hard to come by in the Underground, like emeralds in the Aboveworld, or Third Realm. And if you're not the brightest crayon in the box, the Human was Sarah. Her imagination was going crazy enough for a straightjacket that night as she fidgeted in that soft bed. All she could think about was Tessika. What about that nasty woman she'd left her with? If something had happened back in that--well, realm--Sarah could only imagine what she would do. Run out on Tessie if there was a fire? Hide herself as burglars searched Sarah's apartment and found her baby? Forget to take her medicine and have a seizure while Tessika quietly smothered to death? Have dirty men over for a certain price who liked little girls the wrong way? Play "Microwave the Baby"? Stand facing bug-eyed aliens and, rather then sacrifice herself, holding out Tessika and saying, "Take this brat instead"?
Okay, maybe a few were a little crazy, but you never know, especially when you don't even quite know the name of the creepy woman you left the only thing that mattered to you with.
And so Sarah rolled in these thoughts, torturing herself uselessly, for really she was only being a victim of circumstance.
There was nothing she could do; she'd already tried. When she woke up, she had felt her way across the velvety darkness of the room to what she assumed was a door, or at least a crack of light at the floor. (There was a window, but hardly any light that fell through it, and the light that did was a faint, bruised purplish-green.) She assumed right, but it was locked. The room was just too damn dark to do much else. After groping around for a few minutes, and knocking over something that unfortunately sounded breakable, she finally found the bed and laid down. She didn't cry. Only tortured.
The bad thing is that with such a vivid, strong imagination, she was also torturing others--namely one Fey.
Kit.
You were probably thinking Jareth, but he was never very strong in the psychic abilities department. In fact, he was pretty inept. (Don't let him know *I* told you that.) If he really centered his concentration, he could pick up emotions, but even Humans can do that.
Kit, on the other hand, had psychic abilities that were so strong she had to be trained to control them when she was younger; I'm talking extensive training that lasted from age five to at least fifty. This gave her supreme self-control and the power to turn the ability on and off--to a certain extent. However, Sarah was powerful, exquisitely so, and the best Kit could do was to muffle the woman's tortured thoughts. She wasn't very successful, as you might guess.
So Kit rolled back and forth in the bed Jareth had given her for the night. (Normally, she would've been warming the same bed as her husband in the Shape-shifter kingdom, but Jareth had said that he wanted her there. Lords, what a night for firsts!) The thoughts Sarah was sending out were bright red, pulsing, and giving Kit a mother of a headache. It got to where she couldn't take it anymore.
This is when torturing Jareth comes in.
The Ruler of the Underworld himself was sprawled out in his ridiculously large bed, stripped to the waist and snoring quietly.
As she looked about, she shook her head in the fond, loving way only siblings can. "Foolish man is more frivolous then I am."
The room was almost macabre in its darkness of heavy black velvet shot with gold, but there were almost violent splashes of bright scarlet silk across the black. Every object was of the finest quality--everything, from the heavy ornate furniture to the enormous marble fireplace. Jareth wasn't very subtle.
Jareth stirred at the sound of her voice, but showed no signs of waking from his beauty sleep. Kit wondered how he could sleep when the fate of the Realms sent out tortured signals, like a lighthouse, that most any Fae could tap into. She gently brushed strands of his delicate hair off his forehead with an equally delicate hand.
"Jareth," she whispered in a singsong voice, sounding like a child at play.
He let forth a much louder snore and turned away.
"Don't you dare play hooky with me, brother. You sleep like a feather."
The now-disgruntled man cracked open an eye, frowning. "Do you know what the penalty is for waking a Goblin King?"
"No, but I can guess," she replied. She tapped one slim finger against her lips, as if in deep thought. "Hmm, the Bog of Eternal Stench? No, too commercial. The Cliffs of Infinity? I doubt that, since you have trouble finding those yourself. How about the Venom Pits? An oubliette? Am I getting close?"
"Smart-ass," he accused her grumpily, using one of Sarah's words, and leaned up on one elbow. "Now, it's my turn. What is a problem so severe that you yourself can't solve? Could it be--"
She interrupted him before he got going, knowing that it would take an avalanche to stop him afterwards.
"It's about Sarah."
"What is it?" He didn't appear to be too worried, but Kit noted the sudden, slight tensing of his body.
"If she is the spitfire you say she is, you'll find her daughter and bring her here."
"You are more then capable of doing that yourself, Kit."
"Yes, of course I am," she said, waving a hand that showed both impatience and dismissal. "But you don't need to be reminded that it is against the Laws to bring a Human into our world without permission from one of the Overlords."
For one moment, there and gone quicker then a stolen kiss, Kit saw impatience in Jareth's eyes before he quickly shuttered them.
"Is something wrong?"
"No." He rubbed a tired hand across his face.
She tensed. "You *did* ask the Overlords to bring Sarah to the Underground, didn't you?"
"Yes." In a fashion.
"That's my good boy."
"Why is it so necessary to bring that girl to Sarah?"
Kit felt a trill of impatience; she just wanted to get the girl and go to bed. Why must he question her when he had access to the answers? "If you weren't so slow, Jareth, you'd hear the answer for yourself." Tilting his head herself, she gestured. "Just listen."
So he did. What he heard were half-amusing, half-heart breaking thoughts. Huge red-hot waves of worry, fear, and anger washed over his brain. It felt like what a poker, freshly heated in a fire, would feel jabbing into his brain.
Jareth paled. "Oh, my."
"Yes, no shit." Grinning. Oh, but she loved the Humans' rough slang.
"Well, go get the child so that damn woman will calm down."
She turned, ready to do just that, when she stopped suddenly. "You know, Jareth, if this girl was *my* daughter, I believe I'd be just a little more worried then you are."
"The girl is fine where she is," he replied, a bit impatiently. "The woman is taking surprisingly good care of her. I was hoping for a little more time with Sarah before muddling it up by bringing our child into the picture."
"Really?" Kit asked musingly. "Or are you just worried about what the Overlords will say when they get here and see that you have a daughter?"
Jareth collapsed back on his back. "Either or, sister."
"Sometimes you worry too much what people will think."
"If that had a hint of truth, I'd have disowned all of you a while ago." He paused, staring at the ceiling. "Our brothers are coming, aren't they?"
"Along with Father and Mother, yes, they are on their way."
"Taking the long way?" Jareth asked, in a disgusted tone.
"Some people enjoy seeing where they travel more then they enjoy the disorienting zap of transporting," Kit explained snidely. She effortlessly caught the crystal ball that he hurled at her.
"Off with you!" he exclaimed.
She disappeared, and the rest is elementary. In a nutshell, Sarah and Tessika were joined back together.
~
Unfortunately, all this activity in the Fourth Realm drew unwanted attention from the other four. Jareth had always been a mystery, and because of his high-strung, defiant, unbelievably unpredictable attitude, he was closely monitored.
When the other eight Overlords of the Five Realms noticed that powerful magic was being used to commute between the Third Realm of Humans and the Goblin Kingdom, they immediately set off for the Fourth Realm, also known as the Underground. After Sarah defeated him, he had been told that the games he played were off-limits; it was too close a call. Despite Jareth's innocent assurance to Kit that he had indeed asked the Overlords to for permission to bring Sarah into his world, the Overlords themselves were ignorant of any knowledge that there was a Human at all outside of the Third Realm. They knew instantly when Sarah passed through Realms--a Human generates its own kind of magnetic glow, and Sarah especially because she was not a normal Human.
They set out to find answers. What hadn't Jareth set his case before them? Was he hiding something? What did he plan to do with this special Human?
Seven Overlords traveled their own ways to the Goblin Kingdom. The Dragon Emperor flew on his flaming wings, the moons making the scales of his animal-form glow, iridescent. Kardon, the Elven King, saddled one of his kingdom's prized Unicorns. Zeus, the Ruler of Mount Olympus, rode a soft, snowy cloud. And the Queen of the Faeries took the easy way and simply transported herself in a flash of light and glitter.
Needless to say, whatever way they traveled, seven made it to the Goblin Kingdom overnight. One lord, the Protector of Humans, was too weak from a recent ferrying between Realms to travel, and the ninth one, Jareth, was already there.
~
In the very corner of the Underground, a dark shape sat on a dark throne in a shadowy room. It was like night. The Dark Lord didn't allow light in this room. Tiny black imps ran around the floor. Huge figures of ebony stood against the walls and at the heavy door. A horrible stench permeated the air; it was like the room hadn't felt a breath of fresh air in centuries. It hadn't.
If front of the Dark Lord sat a large sphere, giving off its own faint glow. It was similar to a giant black opal, yet not. The figure leaned forward toward it, seeming to be peering into it with the utmost concentration. The misfits didn't bother him, uncurious as to what had him so entranced.
A vision seemed to swim out of the shifting blackness. It is of a Human with dark hair, sleeping, her arms wrapped around a young girl. The woman almost seemed to shimmer.
The heavy door cracked open a bit, but offered no light. In shuffled another dark shape, this one smaller and hunched over.
"Yer called, my lord?" Its voice was raspy and thick, like a Goblin's.
He looked up. "What news have you to tell me of the Goblin Kingdom?"
"Seven Overlords are theres, with Jareth."
"Curious over the Human, are they? Where is the Ninth?"
"Don't knows."
"Find out. And find out who this little girl is. Keep on your toes, Goblin. I want that Human to be in my possession within three weeks."
"Yes, my lord."
"Leave."
The Goblin shuffled back out, tripping over one of the scurrying imps along the way. It was unspeakably relieved when it had put the door between it and the shadowy shape on the throne.
~
Feeling exposed, shocked, and frightened all at the same time was putting it lightly for Sarah. She was unsure of what to do. What exactly *do* you do when you wake up in an unfamiliar place in a bed surrounded by men? And ten of them at that. All of them looked powerful beyond words. They peered at her as if she was a bug on a windshield. Her mind scrabbled, and she blurted out the first thing that came to mind.
"Um, hello, gentlemen."
A holdover from her years at Cougar and Dell, most likely. But it worked.
They stopped leaning over at her and actually took a step back, their boots scuffing in unison, their faces wearing similar expressions of surprise. All except Jareth.
Sarah probably would have laughed at this if it weren't so early in the morning.
The Goblin King smiled at her, obviously trying to soothe and comfort her. He had had enough encounters with her temper, and was trying to calm her down before it reared its awesome head. Funny. It wasn't working.
Drawing away from him when he stepped closer, she eyed all of them warily. Like a fox surrounded by bloodhounds.
"Good morning, Sarah. I trust you slept well."
"Well enough," she replied, still tense. "There's no reason for small talk, Jareth. What are you all doing here? And where's Tessika?"
A giant, brawny man stepped forward. His skin was golden, covered by a loose crimson garment that moved and rippled, like fire. He had a large nose, a wide face, and dark, reddish hair that lay in a single, unkempt braid down his back. He was incredible.
"I'm Ash, Emperor of the Dragons."
Sarah bit back a cynic "Good for you" and instead uttered a noncommittal, "Mm." Another holdover.
"It seems Jareth here didn't exactly ask to bring you into the Underground. Forgive our fascination with you, but most of us have never seen a Human before."
"And a special Human at that!" another one piped up. It was Kardon. He was smaller and slimmer then the others, with sparkling green eyes and a pendant, similar to Jareth's about his neck. In fact, all but two of them wore pendants.
Jareth turned quickly, his eyes hard as diamonds, to silence the Elf, but the damage was already done.
Slowly lowering the shielding bedcovers, Sarah turned her questioning eyes to Jareth's. "*Special* Human?"
~*~*~
Now, Fae are very magical and mystical creatures, as I'm sure you know, as Humans are very creative and imaginative. Each Fey has a different magical ability that is enhanced by their extent of talent, as does each Human with creativity and their extent of imagination. It all varies with each different specimen. On the night of Sarah's arrival, after the castle had settled down, there were at least two Faes and one Human that were being tortured because of their abilities.
I'm sure you know who the Human was (well, half-human, but we'll get to that later); after all, Humans are very rare and hard to come by in the Underground, like emeralds in the Aboveworld, or Third Realm. And if you're not the brightest crayon in the box, the Human was Sarah. Her imagination was going crazy enough for a straightjacket that night as she fidgeted in that soft bed. All she could think about was Tessika. What about that nasty woman she'd left her with? If something had happened back in that--well, realm--Sarah could only imagine what she would do. Run out on Tessie if there was a fire? Hide herself as burglars searched Sarah's apartment and found her baby? Forget to take her medicine and have a seizure while Tessika quietly smothered to death? Have dirty men over for a certain price who liked little girls the wrong way? Play "Microwave the Baby"? Stand facing bug-eyed aliens and, rather then sacrifice herself, holding out Tessika and saying, "Take this brat instead"?
Okay, maybe a few were a little crazy, but you never know, especially when you don't even quite know the name of the creepy woman you left the only thing that mattered to you with.
And so Sarah rolled in these thoughts, torturing herself uselessly, for really she was only being a victim of circumstance.
There was nothing she could do; she'd already tried. When she woke up, she had felt her way across the velvety darkness of the room to what she assumed was a door, or at least a crack of light at the floor. (There was a window, but hardly any light that fell through it, and the light that did was a faint, bruised purplish-green.) She assumed right, but it was locked. The room was just too damn dark to do much else. After groping around for a few minutes, and knocking over something that unfortunately sounded breakable, she finally found the bed and laid down. She didn't cry. Only tortured.
The bad thing is that with such a vivid, strong imagination, she was also torturing others--namely one Fey.
Kit.
You were probably thinking Jareth, but he was never very strong in the psychic abilities department. In fact, he was pretty inept. (Don't let him know *I* told you that.) If he really centered his concentration, he could pick up emotions, but even Humans can do that.
Kit, on the other hand, had psychic abilities that were so strong she had to be trained to control them when she was younger; I'm talking extensive training that lasted from age five to at least fifty. This gave her supreme self-control and the power to turn the ability on and off--to a certain extent. However, Sarah was powerful, exquisitely so, and the best Kit could do was to muffle the woman's tortured thoughts. She wasn't very successful, as you might guess.
So Kit rolled back and forth in the bed Jareth had given her for the night. (Normally, she would've been warming the same bed as her husband in the Shape-shifter kingdom, but Jareth had said that he wanted her there. Lords, what a night for firsts!) The thoughts Sarah was sending out were bright red, pulsing, and giving Kit a mother of a headache. It got to where she couldn't take it anymore.
This is when torturing Jareth comes in.
The Ruler of the Underworld himself was sprawled out in his ridiculously large bed, stripped to the waist and snoring quietly.
As she looked about, she shook her head in the fond, loving way only siblings can. "Foolish man is more frivolous then I am."
The room was almost macabre in its darkness of heavy black velvet shot with gold, but there were almost violent splashes of bright scarlet silk across the black. Every object was of the finest quality--everything, from the heavy ornate furniture to the enormous marble fireplace. Jareth wasn't very subtle.
Jareth stirred at the sound of her voice, but showed no signs of waking from his beauty sleep. Kit wondered how he could sleep when the fate of the Realms sent out tortured signals, like a lighthouse, that most any Fae could tap into. She gently brushed strands of his delicate hair off his forehead with an equally delicate hand.
"Jareth," she whispered in a singsong voice, sounding like a child at play.
He let forth a much louder snore and turned away.
"Don't you dare play hooky with me, brother. You sleep like a feather."
The now-disgruntled man cracked open an eye, frowning. "Do you know what the penalty is for waking a Goblin King?"
"No, but I can guess," she replied. She tapped one slim finger against her lips, as if in deep thought. "Hmm, the Bog of Eternal Stench? No, too commercial. The Cliffs of Infinity? I doubt that, since you have trouble finding those yourself. How about the Venom Pits? An oubliette? Am I getting close?"
"Smart-ass," he accused her grumpily, using one of Sarah's words, and leaned up on one elbow. "Now, it's my turn. What is a problem so severe that you yourself can't solve? Could it be--"
She interrupted him before he got going, knowing that it would take an avalanche to stop him afterwards.
"It's about Sarah."
"What is it?" He didn't appear to be too worried, but Kit noted the sudden, slight tensing of his body.
"If she is the spitfire you say she is, you'll find her daughter and bring her here."
"You are more then capable of doing that yourself, Kit."
"Yes, of course I am," she said, waving a hand that showed both impatience and dismissal. "But you don't need to be reminded that it is against the Laws to bring a Human into our world without permission from one of the Overlords."
For one moment, there and gone quicker then a stolen kiss, Kit saw impatience in Jareth's eyes before he quickly shuttered them.
"Is something wrong?"
"No." He rubbed a tired hand across his face.
She tensed. "You *did* ask the Overlords to bring Sarah to the Underground, didn't you?"
"Yes." In a fashion.
"That's my good boy."
"Why is it so necessary to bring that girl to Sarah?"
Kit felt a trill of impatience; she just wanted to get the girl and go to bed. Why must he question her when he had access to the answers? "If you weren't so slow, Jareth, you'd hear the answer for yourself." Tilting his head herself, she gestured. "Just listen."
So he did. What he heard were half-amusing, half-heart breaking thoughts. Huge red-hot waves of worry, fear, and anger washed over his brain. It felt like what a poker, freshly heated in a fire, would feel jabbing into his brain.
Jareth paled. "Oh, my."
"Yes, no shit." Grinning. Oh, but she loved the Humans' rough slang.
"Well, go get the child so that damn woman will calm down."
She turned, ready to do just that, when she stopped suddenly. "You know, Jareth, if this girl was *my* daughter, I believe I'd be just a little more worried then you are."
"The girl is fine where she is," he replied, a bit impatiently. "The woman is taking surprisingly good care of her. I was hoping for a little more time with Sarah before muddling it up by bringing our child into the picture."
"Really?" Kit asked musingly. "Or are you just worried about what the Overlords will say when they get here and see that you have a daughter?"
Jareth collapsed back on his back. "Either or, sister."
"Sometimes you worry too much what people will think."
"If that had a hint of truth, I'd have disowned all of you a while ago." He paused, staring at the ceiling. "Our brothers are coming, aren't they?"
"Along with Father and Mother, yes, they are on their way."
"Taking the long way?" Jareth asked, in a disgusted tone.
"Some people enjoy seeing where they travel more then they enjoy the disorienting zap of transporting," Kit explained snidely. She effortlessly caught the crystal ball that he hurled at her.
"Off with you!" he exclaimed.
She disappeared, and the rest is elementary. In a nutshell, Sarah and Tessika were joined back together.
~
Unfortunately, all this activity in the Fourth Realm drew unwanted attention from the other four. Jareth had always been a mystery, and because of his high-strung, defiant, unbelievably unpredictable attitude, he was closely monitored.
When the other eight Overlords of the Five Realms noticed that powerful magic was being used to commute between the Third Realm of Humans and the Goblin Kingdom, they immediately set off for the Fourth Realm, also known as the Underground. After Sarah defeated him, he had been told that the games he played were off-limits; it was too close a call. Despite Jareth's innocent assurance to Kit that he had indeed asked the Overlords to for permission to bring Sarah into his world, the Overlords themselves were ignorant of any knowledge that there was a Human at all outside of the Third Realm. They knew instantly when Sarah passed through Realms--a Human generates its own kind of magnetic glow, and Sarah especially because she was not a normal Human.
They set out to find answers. What hadn't Jareth set his case before them? Was he hiding something? What did he plan to do with this special Human?
Seven Overlords traveled their own ways to the Goblin Kingdom. The Dragon Emperor flew on his flaming wings, the moons making the scales of his animal-form glow, iridescent. Kardon, the Elven King, saddled one of his kingdom's prized Unicorns. Zeus, the Ruler of Mount Olympus, rode a soft, snowy cloud. And the Queen of the Faeries took the easy way and simply transported herself in a flash of light and glitter.
Needless to say, whatever way they traveled, seven made it to the Goblin Kingdom overnight. One lord, the Protector of Humans, was too weak from a recent ferrying between Realms to travel, and the ninth one, Jareth, was already there.
~
In the very corner of the Underground, a dark shape sat on a dark throne in a shadowy room. It was like night. The Dark Lord didn't allow light in this room. Tiny black imps ran around the floor. Huge figures of ebony stood against the walls and at the heavy door. A horrible stench permeated the air; it was like the room hadn't felt a breath of fresh air in centuries. It hadn't.
If front of the Dark Lord sat a large sphere, giving off its own faint glow. It was similar to a giant black opal, yet not. The figure leaned forward toward it, seeming to be peering into it with the utmost concentration. The misfits didn't bother him, uncurious as to what had him so entranced.
A vision seemed to swim out of the shifting blackness. It is of a Human with dark hair, sleeping, her arms wrapped around a young girl. The woman almost seemed to shimmer.
The heavy door cracked open a bit, but offered no light. In shuffled another dark shape, this one smaller and hunched over.
"Yer called, my lord?" Its voice was raspy and thick, like a Goblin's.
He looked up. "What news have you to tell me of the Goblin Kingdom?"
"Seven Overlords are theres, with Jareth."
"Curious over the Human, are they? Where is the Ninth?"
"Don't knows."
"Find out. And find out who this little girl is. Keep on your toes, Goblin. I want that Human to be in my possession within three weeks."
"Yes, my lord."
"Leave."
The Goblin shuffled back out, tripping over one of the scurrying imps along the way. It was unspeakably relieved when it had put the door between it and the shadowy shape on the throne.
~
Feeling exposed, shocked, and frightened all at the same time was putting it lightly for Sarah. She was unsure of what to do. What exactly *do* you do when you wake up in an unfamiliar place in a bed surrounded by men? And ten of them at that. All of them looked powerful beyond words. They peered at her as if she was a bug on a windshield. Her mind scrabbled, and she blurted out the first thing that came to mind.
"Um, hello, gentlemen."
A holdover from her years at Cougar and Dell, most likely. But it worked.
They stopped leaning over at her and actually took a step back, their boots scuffing in unison, their faces wearing similar expressions of surprise. All except Jareth.
Sarah probably would have laughed at this if it weren't so early in the morning.
The Goblin King smiled at her, obviously trying to soothe and comfort her. He had had enough encounters with her temper, and was trying to calm her down before it reared its awesome head. Funny. It wasn't working.
Drawing away from him when he stepped closer, she eyed all of them warily. Like a fox surrounded by bloodhounds.
"Good morning, Sarah. I trust you slept well."
"Well enough," she replied, still tense. "There's no reason for small talk, Jareth. What are you all doing here? And where's Tessika?"
A giant, brawny man stepped forward. His skin was golden, covered by a loose crimson garment that moved and rippled, like fire. He had a large nose, a wide face, and dark, reddish hair that lay in a single, unkempt braid down his back. He was incredible.
"I'm Ash, Emperor of the Dragons."
Sarah bit back a cynic "Good for you" and instead uttered a noncommittal, "Mm." Another holdover.
"It seems Jareth here didn't exactly ask to bring you into the Underground. Forgive our fascination with you, but most of us have never seen a Human before."
"And a special Human at that!" another one piped up. It was Kardon. He was smaller and slimmer then the others, with sparkling green eyes and a pendant, similar to Jareth's about his neck. In fact, all but two of them wore pendants.
Jareth turned quickly, his eyes hard as diamonds, to silence the Elf, but the damage was already done.
Slowly lowering the shielding bedcovers, Sarah turned her questioning eyes to Jareth's. "*Special* Human?"