Chapter 5: There Was Something I was Searching For...
Danielle landed in a trash heap, forcing her sword scabbard to jab into her back. She looked around in confusion, her eyes landing on the fruit in her hand and dropped the peach in disgust as she spotted a little green worm in it. She still wore the choker in the shape of Jareth's pendant, though she took no notice of it and jumped off the pile to land on a smaller one.
"Ah! Get off my back!" someone screeched. Danielle jumped onto the ground and the trash pile turned around. It was a goblin woman. "Why don't you look where you're going, young woman!" she demanded.
Danielle glanced around, feeling like something was missing. "I was looking..." She whispered. Something was very wrong... and she couldn't remember what it was. It was nagging her horribly.
"Hm? And just where were you going?" the goblin asked.
"I... can't remember..." Danielle replied.
The goblin woman studied Danielle with no little interest, obviously already knowing who Danielle was and why she was there. "How can you look where you're going if you don't know where you're going?"
"There was something I was searching for..." Danielle replied quietly.
"Oh? Then how about this?" the goblin asked, holding up the pendant she had given Hoggle.
"My pendant...? Thank you..." she said. She was happy to have her pendant back... but something was still nagging her... just beyond her reach...
"That's what you were searching for... isn't it, my dear?"
"Yeah... I had forgotten..." Danielle muttered.
"Well," the goblin started, moving over to a cave in a pile of junk, "why don't you come in here and see if there's anything else you'd like?" Danielle walked inside and saw her room. She smiled and flung herself on her bed. She closed her eyes and hugged her pillow. After what seemed like forever, she opened her eyes.
"It was just a dream... I dreamed it all..." she whispered, looking around the room. "Tana? Hmm... maybe she went to go get a snack... but the dream seemed so real..."
She hopped off the bed and moved to the door. She opened it and the trash goblin walked in, startling Danielle.
"Better to stay in here dear! No, there's nothing you want out there!"
"Oh my God..." Danielle whispered, backing away and sitting on the edge of the bed, facing her dresser and mirror. The goblin began to pile stuff on her. Danielle tuned the goblin out and looked at the folder on her dresser. She grabbed it and opened it, reading the all too familiar script inside.
"Through dangers untold and hardships unnumbered... I have fought my way here to the Castle Beyond the Goblin City... to take back the child that you have stolen..." Danielle whispered. Memories began rushing into her head.
"Huh? Don't you like your things?" the goblin asked.
"It's all junk!" she retorted.
"Well, what about this?" the goblin asked, handing Danielle her crystal music box. "This is not junk!"
"Yes it is!" she cried, taking the music box and tossing it to the wall, the room began to collapse. She heard Didymus, Ludo and Hoggle shouting her name and she began to climb up the hole. Her hands were grabbed by Ludo's giant paws. She emerged from the mountain of junk, ready to get back on the journey.
"Danni back!" Ludo cried happily.
"My lady!" Didymus exclaimed.
"Danielle, are you alright?" Hoggle asked. "Where's Tana?" he added when Tana didn't show herself from behind Danielle.
"I'm fine. Tana will catch up to us later. Let's go, we've got less than an hour."
"Milady look, we're almost there! Those are the gates to the Goblin City!" Didymus said. Danielle nodded and they hurried off.
Tana stood in the middle of Aiden's throne-like room, dressed still as she had been for the ball, in her hands a crystal that her eyes were locked onto. "... and no matter how much she doesn't want to, she'll have to say the words to defeat him and they'll both end up alone! She'll probably attempt to kill herself in her misery, and he'll probably destroy the Underground in his depression. Danielle and I may hate her sister... but we do want her to get home," Tana finished, watching through a crystal as Danielle and the others made their way to the gate, she was half tempted to throw the thing in her anger, but stopped herself from doing so.
The only thing that had kept her from showing her temper was the little prank she had pulled earlier when Aiden was taking her to his rooms in the Goblin King's castle. They had come across Jennifer, though she didn't yet notice them in return. After all the hell the the princess and herself had gone through to get this brat back, Tana felt the need to... pay her back. She had asked Aiden if she could borrow one of his crystals and with a confused look he had handed it over. Tana lifted it up to her lips so she could whisper against it before throwing it up and letting it drift in Jennifer's direction, floated over her for only a moment before dropping on her, covering her in what looked like slime of all things. Jennifer screamed her anger as the slime dripped down over her hair and face before dripping down to pool at her feet, she reached up to rub the clear green slime off her face and then attempted to rub it off onto her pant legs, however the feel of something hairy under palms made her look down to see large black spiders climbing up, while at her feet where the slime had been nothing but snakes slithered and hissed along. From where the Crystal itself had dropped, the feel of many jointed legs took place of the liquid, causing her to reach up and grab at whatever it was. Her hands came away covered in various bugs and spiders that seemed determened to cover her completely. She screamed in total fright as she tried everything to get them off her and to get away from the snakes that now attempted to slither up her legs, though none of her efforts seemed to work. The sound of laughing drew her attention to her side and her eyes narrowed in complete hate at what - or rather who - she saw. Jennifer saw red when she caught sight of Tana laughing, being held up by the man from before, who also looked very amused. Jennifer shot Tana a death glare before storming off, still attempting to get the bugs, spiders and snakes off of her.
A smile crossed Tana's lips at the memory before Aiden's rich voice drew her attention back to the present.
"I see your point, milady... but what can we do?" The goblin Lord asked and came up behind the young woman to wind his arms around her. "By my knowledge, they're both incredibly stubborn. Neither will give in... nor will they listen," Aiden replied. Tana sighed and leaned against him, her head falling back on his shoulder.
"I don't want to leave..." she murmured lightly, his arms tightened in their hold around her as if saying he didn't wish for her to leave also. "I want to stay in the Underground. This is where I belong..." she muttered quietly.
"Then don't leave." he whispered into her ear. "You may stay in my castle as long as you like," Aiden replied softly, brushing a soft kiss to the side of her neck. Tana held up the crystal and jumped a bit. Danielle and the others had made it to the gate.
"Shit. Aiden, I've got to go. The princess needs me. Could you teleport me to the top of the wall, right there?" she asked pointing. Aiden nodded, releasing his hold about her.
"Of course. I will come with you. Lady Danielle will need all the help she can get. Jareth is going to be desperate to waste her time." he responded, raising a crystal. Tana's regular clothes appeared and Tana and Aiden disappeared.
Danielle grunted as her sword struck the leg of Humongus, the gate guardian of the Goblin City.
"Damn it, where's some backup when you need it?" Danielle shouted. Hoggle and Ambrosious were cowering, Didymus was trying to get them to come out, and Ludo couldn't do much either. She ducked under the giant axe. In the movie, it was all cardboard and paper... but here it was real metal, and her sword couldn't cut through it.
There was a slight pattering of feet on the wall. Danielle, who had been listening for it, brushed her braid back over her shoulder and looked up. Tana and her partner from the ball were up there.
"It's about time!" Danielle shouted as Tana lept onto the machine, pulled off the helmet and kicked out the little goblin, snickering when it hit the ground with a thump.
Tana grinned at Danielle "Ahh... shut up! Be glad I made it at all!" Tana shouted back. Looking at the controls, she frowned and took one of her sais to jab it into the center of the damned thing, making it spark up violently. Tana grinned at it as the axe got stuck into the wall behind her. Aiden took that moment to jump onto the metal monster as well, behind Tana, wrapped his arms around her waist as she pulled her sai free and then jumped down to the ground, just as the guardian blew up. Everyone regrouped before the huge gate once more while Hoggle just looked at Aiden in confusion.
"Lord Aiden, what is yous doing here?" Hoggle asked.
"I am here to help Lady Danielle and Lady Tana. Now, let us go. There is not much time." Danielle nodded and moved to Hoggle, detatching the string of jewels on her belt and held them out to the dwarf.
"Here you go Hoggle," she said quietly with a smile. "Thanks for your help."
Hoggle smiled, accepted the jewels and motioned them into the city. "Let's go."
"Right!" everyone said as together the group of six made their way into the quiet city.
((Author's Notes:
Lady Day: Oh my god, I'm soooooooo sorry for taking so long with this! bows and awaits punishment If you don't kill me, I'll write faster! I promise! It's hard to believe we're almost done. Just two more short chapters and we're done! And now for Lady Night's comments.
Lady Night: --is plotting all the fun she and Aiden could have, then blinks when she realises she's supposed to speak now.-- Huh? Oh, right... Next part... um. Here it comes and you better like it... or else. --innocent look-- Like Lady Day said, sorry it took so long, we've both been hella busy. P ))