Chapter 8 - Delivery and Deliverance

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A/N - Hiya! Thanks for the reviews. And from some reliable sources (Daemon faerie queen) fruit pastilles are perfectly safe *clutches stomach and falls under table* *re-emerges as a blue hairy monster* anyway here is chapter 8. I hope it explains a few things....

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That evening, Trin slept over. His cousin was more than happy to let him stay as she
was secretly appalled at his usual living conditions and had seriously considered
calling the health and safety people in. Trin's flat was just like a larger version of his
old room when he was still living with his parents. Instead of sitting proudly at the
corner of Kobke Terrace like the other ten thousand flats on his block, Trin's place
seemed to lurk suspiciously like an old drunk. However this little arrangement was not
very convenient for Thomas who found himself evicted from his usual sleeping spot
on the sofa and was faced with a rather uninviting, curry stained rug. He peered into
Hilarity's room, the door had been ajar. The city skyline glittered from her window
and the orange light picked out the contours of her sleeping form. A blue, silk encased
arm dangled from the bed and a fingernail barely touched the fibres of the carpet
below. He longed to hold that hand again or to feel that arm around his neck in a
warm embrace. He wanted to scream and wake her up, tell her every single detail of
his life and what he felt for her. But he knew couldn't yet. It might scare her away.
Suddenly she stirred and a gleaming purple eye opened and looked straight at him.
Thomas jumped guiltily at the realisation of being caught. Truth be told he had always
watched her sleep. Even in the early days he had found her fascinating and secretly
hated her boyfriend for being the object of her love and taking it all for granted. His
crush sat up and raised an eyebrow.

"Did Trin kick you out?" she giggled. Thomas nodded forlornly. She pulled back the
covers. "Come on. Just don't hog the blanket, OK." the alien cautiously climbed onto
the bed "So, you're from Andromeda. Mr Newton, you never cease to surprise me. Not
only are you from another planet, you're from another galaxy! You're not just an alien,
you must a super alien or something." her companion just smiled and slowly wrapped
his arms around her waist. To his surprise, she didn't seem to mind and he relished her
warmth and the faint smell of soap that hung in the air. Hilarity was quite shocked by
the feeling she was experiencing. It had been an eventful day and her heart raced with
excitement at what had happened. There had never been visitors from other galaxies
before, that sort of thing was the stuff of legend. The creature she had lived with for
the past six years and had always considered to be a pet more than anything else,
could be the most important discovery her planet could ever make. Inter-galactic
contact! With that thought she drifted off to sleep...

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Deep down in a toxic cloud of fire and brimstone a lonely voice moaned:

"It is Time! Well that was ****ing easy!"

"Not quite, my lord!" said Darren nervously as his hooves clicked on the smoky
flagstones.

"What the **** are you doing?"

"I've been taking tap dancing lessons, your evilness." said Darren.

"Well stop, it's been doing my ****ing head in!"

"Yes, my lord. I'm afraid there's one tiny problem with our plan..."

"What kind of problem?"

"The chosen one is the child of the Goblin King, your putridness."

"WHAT THE **** !!"

"He'll be too well protected in the Labyrinth, we won't be able to get him out."

"OH! ****! You and your ****ing ideas, Darren!"

"Don't worry, my lord. There is still hope. We could either lure him outside the
Labyrinth's walls which is a bit risky seeing as we have no power in the daytime or....
someone could damn him..."

"OF COURSE!" said the dark figure then paused uneasily "Um... How do we do
that!?!"

"We make him so unpleasant, someone's bound to say the right words, especially with
the more relaxed views on cuss words nowadays my lord."

"**** that!"

"...Yes. Anyway all someone needs to do is say "Damn that child to Hell!" and the
prophecy will be complete."

"And that's it?" said the figure who seemed very confused at what seemed to be his
own kingdom.

"Not quite..."

"WHAT NOW?!"

"The evil laugh, my lord." suggested Darren. His master seemed to understand this
part and peels of fiendish mirth echoed throughout the Land of the Dead...

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There was chaos about the castle the next morning. Sarah had just gone into labour
and the midwife had been called. Jareth paced around outside anxiously, not liking
being kept in the dark. He gracefully waved an arm and a very sleepy alien, in silk
pyjamas, with a cup of coffee in one hand and some toast in the other, appeared out of
thin air.

"Eh...wot!" Hilarity mumbled irritably and looked around her and whined "Dude! It's
seven in the morning!"

"I know. It's just that Sarah's gone into labour and they won't let me help an to be
honest I'm..."

"Terrified?"

"How did you know?"

"You learn a lot about people when you turn into them for a day." said Hilarity with a
thoughtful nod. It was true, the metamorphosis had taught her a lot of things about her
friend including his secret liquorice allsort addiction which had lingered in her blood
stream for weeks after she returned home. "So what's happening?"

"I don't know, they just keep bringing in loads of boiling water. What does that
mean?"

"Search me, mate."

"Well you're a woman aren't you?"

"Nice of you to notice but I'm afraid human pregnancy is not my strong point."
Hilarity laughed.

Just then the midwife crashed through the large gothic doors, quite red and out of breath.
"Your Majesty! It's a boy!".....