Beetlejuice

Season 2: The Sleeper Saga

Episode 28: The Price of Power – Part 2

The sky grew darker with every minute that passed by. A storm was coming in and the two demons began circling each other once again to establish the more dominant of them. Rearing to strike and destroy without mercy, they glared and bore their teeth at each other pacing slowly, sizing up each other as an opponent, figuring out who will be the first to initiate the battle. Lydia roared at Beetlejuice and Beetlejuice roared back at Lydia.

From within the reaches of Claire's mind, she began to think hard at what she wanted to do with the power that was now granted her, the silver dragon laying its head close to her. His eyes held a deep wisdom that she had never seen in any creature before. However, she noticed that he also held a deep sadness, as if he had seen wars and death first hand. She could see nearly his entire soul behind his large eyes, the experiences he might have witnessed, the failures he couldn't prevent, lives lost as a direct result of his gift of power. Truly a magnificent creature that lay before her, mysterious and wise, however was learning just now the most about compassion and kindness due to the madness that others had succumbed to when harnessing such a gift.

The rain came pouring down upon their heads, drenching their hair and leaving it flat against the heads of Beetljuice and Lydia. They continued to circle each other closer and closer together. Waiting for the other to take the first strike, waiting to ambush the other and show their strength before slaying their prey. Beetlejuice finally lunged toward Lydia. Lydia dodged left and reared to strike at her assailant when her instincts told her of something powerful arriving. She turned her head to her right when she was struck in the head by something solid. Beetlejuice found himself also feeling the blow and looked to the assailant while Lydia fell to her knees and then looked to see who struck her. There, standing alone was The Seer, carrying a branch from a tree that he had acquired before approaching the two quarreling beasts. He eventually realized that he most likely had placed himself in a worst-case scenario. Merlin then began slowly backing away while keeping the branch in prime striking position.

"What about your past?" Claire asked the dragon before further thinking of how to properly use the power that now had been given her. The dragon's eyes widened with surprise before he said' "None of my wielders had ever given a thought to my past. Some reveled in the future to try and turn the fortune of others in to a living hell for petty reasons. Some even started wars out of fear of the past. But none ever asked me what I had experienced. Why do you wish to know young one? I had already granted you the power. And yet now you ask about my past." Claire lowered her eyes to look at her shoes with nervousness and solemn sadness before replying, "Your eyes. They just look so sad. I just hoped to keep them from getting sadder." The dragon at first became insulted at the sentiment but stopped and began to understand her once a tear rolled down her cheek. "Young wielder, mine is a long story, one of many lives and forgotten ages. I have seen wars fought and lives lost. I have been there when kingdoms rose and empires fell. My sadness, child, comes from those who used my power to destroy." As the words left his lips, the scenery once again changed. This time it changed into a fiery wasteland, void of any signs of life until a small boy, about the age of seven, began running across the field as if excited about something. He ran and ran until he found himself catching his breath near an old straw hut. He pounded on the door calling out, "Mommy, mommy! Come look what I found!" The mother came and opened the door to the hut and gazed as the small boy showed his mother a chunk of silver about as large as his head.

The scene then leapt forwarded to when the boy became an adult. Now he clutched his dead mother in his arms, sobbing over his loss. He soon raised his head with such an angry look to his eyes, revenge burning behind them ever so strongly. He snatched his treasure from his childhood, now only half the size it once was, and carried it to an unknown place deep in the mountains and lost in the trees. There he met with a creature that kept itself placed in the shadows of a large tree hole. Only its eyes were visible. "I once heard that you could make any magical item." He addressed the mysterious creature." A female voice greeted him, "You heard right. But you seem to have forgotten you manners." She responded. "Forgive me, but I didn't come here for pleasantries." The boy said. "Can you craft this into a trinket that will grant me the power to right what has been wronged against me? If so then you may keep all that is left over." As he spoke, he held out the silver from his childhood. The creature seemed to study the chunk of silver for quite some time before she spoke, "Such a history in that piece of silver. It has watched you grow up and now grieves for your decisions. If I craft using this material, you may not like the path you travel down with it by your side. Do you still want me to do it?" "I'll travel down any path if I can stop all of this senseless slaughtering." The boy countered.

The scene then began to shift to pivotal points from when the boy received his trinket and gave payment of the remainder of the silver to the creature and stalked away with the look of bloodlust in his eyes. The boy then placed the trinket around his wrist when he felt his body began to fill with power, so much power that it began to transform his very physical structure. He became as a beast, scaly and reptilian in nature. His mind was filled with wisdom and he could feel the flame of rage build up in his breast. His arms became forelegs and he then sprouted a pair of wings and a tail. His voice turned to that if a great roar, mighty and fiercer than a lion. His vision enhanced, as well as his hearing and his teeth then sharpened to points. His hair wove together to create horns as he began to increase in size. Thus, came into existence the first dragon.

Scenes flew by as Claire watched the dragon decimate armies and topple kingdoms. He trampled many innocent victims in his way with only his long deceased mother on his mind, never knowing exactly who was responsible for her demise and now unable to ask in his original tongue "who" and "where". Many attempted to kill him to end his tantrum and met with failure until one brave young knight decided to face the beast and end its reign of terror. The battle was fierce until the mighty creature used its tail to throw the young knight aside and into a rock. The dragon was about to bit off the young knight's head when a familiar voice addressed him. "I had told you that you wouldn't like the path you were going to travel down. It is now time that I took back the power I so foolishly gave to you." It was the female voice of the mysterious creature from the forest. The dragon hesitated and backed away from the unconscious knight frightened and now on the defensive. Silently the creature kept to the shadows and lured the dragon into a nearby cave where she quickly removed the trinket that fit so perfectly around his front right middle claw. The moment the trinket was removed the boy felt his tremendous power slip away. He gave out one final roar before his scales began falling off. As the scales fell to the cave floor, they began to puff up and shape themselves into eggs.

"So that's why it came to be known as the 'Dragon's Ring'." Claire said in realization. "After that, the eggs hatched and new dragons were born. My creator then used another one of her creations to move these eggs to the Neitherworld before they all hatched. However, during transport, some of the eggs hatched and the dragons wandered off. As for the rest of them, she taught the remainder how to utilize the powers given to them from the ring. As long as I exist, dragons will always have incredible powers. They are a part of me as I am a part of you now." The dragon stated. "So if the dragons are linked to you, why do you need to be linked to me?" Claire asked. "Every so often I need to pair up with a compatible soul to replenish my strength. I am after all the spirit of the dragon that first wore the ring." The dragon said to her. Realization kicked in and Claire gasped as it hit her. "So that's why you seemed so sad." Claire whispered to herself. "Yes child, I paid a deep price for causing so much harm and destruction. And I've been regretting in my actions ever since, only able to watch as others make the same mistake I did, unable to communicate once they choose the form in which to harness the power." The dragon solemnly stated before speaking once again, "But, you see different from the others. None have been interested in my story. They just seem to be interested in the power given to them at no cost. Such destruction and such agony." Claire was again about to cry as she continued to hear the story behind the silver dragon in front of her. Sadness and despair wrought her soul as she wiped away her tears and finally said, "Bow and arrow." The dragon looked at her puzzled. "I'd like to use your power in the form of a bow and arrow. I've always been able to focus my thoughts, my frustrations, and my wishes into an arrow knocked onto the string of a bow. And as I send the arrow flying, it makes me feel as if I send away my thoughts to the appropriate destination." "So you would like to focus your thoughts into an arrow made up of power. And you shall launch said arrow from a bow made up of the same power." The dragon said as he put the pieces of the puzzle together. "And I promise that I won't hurt any innocent people." Claire then added to her earlier statement. The dragon thought about her proposal for a few minutes and then decided, "So be it. You shall from now on utilize my power in the form of a bow and arrow. Now remember your thoughts and feelings will be placed into the arrow. If you wish to heal an allies injuries it shall be done, if you wish for the arrow to pierce through the entire earth itself, it shall happen." The dragon pronounced. "Provided you can concentrate for eighty days...?" He then joked. Claire giggled at the dragon's sense of humor and now began to see the reflection of hope and pride in his eyes before she was enveloped in a white light.

Claire's eyes shot open as she found herself lying on her back in her backyard. She heard both high and low pitched growls and lifted herself up to investigate, finding herself with a mild headache. When her senses came back she noticed both Beetlejuice and Lydia acting like wild beasts and stalking Merlin like some sort of prey. Merlin was swinging a tree branch to attempt to keep them at bay but it was only a matter of time before he tired out.

Claire once again looked to her friends and fear began to well inside her very soul. The sight of the two beasts that they had become from losing control of themselves frightened her and she sat frozen, unable to move her legs even if she wished to run. She saw both of them leap into the air to attack the old man as he stumbled forward. Merlin cast a protection spell to attempt to stave them off longer with success but only in a sense that he was protected. The spell forced him to stay in one spot as the two creatures that resembled Lydia and Beetlejuice continued to pummel on his dome of pink light.

Fearing for her life and also fearing for the life of her friends she let the thoughts flash through her mind until the dragon's ring sparked and caught her attention. The rain came down harder and harder as Claire found herself staring frightened at the crazed look of her friends. Then, out of the corner of her eye, the blond girl noticed little Prudence slowly stirring awake from being knocked unconscious. Beetlejuice, in his crazed state, noticed Claire turn her gaze and saw Prudence pick herself up and decided to pursue the small girl. Worry and fear began to overtake Claire as both Beetlejuice and Lydia now pursued two separate targets. Feeling a spark from the bracelet, Claire turned to look at the trinket when she noticed two curved beams of golden light branching off of it in the shape of a bow. Remembering the words of the dragon, she aimed the fist of the hand that had the dragon's ring on it at Lydia. After extending the pointer and middle finger forward as if aiming a gun, she concentrated on stopping Lydia without harming her. Imagining a rope tying her up, she reached her right hand to the ring and pulled back as if drawing the string on a bow. A thin string made of light drew back with her hand and as she drew back, a beam of silver light connected from the ring to her drawing hand, forming an arrow. Claire focused on her image as she released the golden string, letting loose the silver light arrow.

The arrow flew swift and true, striking its target and forming the image in her mind. The silver arrow grew in length and wrapped around Lydia's torso, pinning her arms to her side and continuing to wrap around her ankles pinning her legs together and causing her to fall to the ground in her face. Claire then aimed a second arrow, same image in mind, and launched it at Beetlejuice. The arrow flew true once more and yielded the same result. Beetlejuice and Lydia were trapped and struggling to free themselves. Prudence found a crazed Beetlejuice nearly biting at her feet when her senses were finally all gathered. Merlin steeled his nerves with his near death experience and cast his sleeping spell onto Beetlejuice first since Lydia would most likely be protected to a certain degree by the spider silk and once Beetlejuice was put to sleep, Lydia immediately reverted back to her old self and fell unconscious.

Lydia woke up late afternoon in one of the rooms in Claire's house. She rubbed the back of her neck, as she sat up in the luxury queen sized bed with pearl white covers and pillows, trying to rub away the stress there. She allowed her vision to adjust to the light of the setting sun from the window to her left. For some reason her body still felt tired and cranky, her head throbbed and she even felt guilty for something she could barely remember. Lydia slowly slid herself out of the bed, still wondering where she was, her legs felt sore as her feet touched the ground. She slowly stood upright as she found that the rest of her body was sore as well. Achingly walking toward the door, dazed and only half awake, she noticed her reflection in a nearby vanity for a brief second. What she saw wasn't her exactly but her demon form when Beetlejuice loses control. The scarlet eyes looked back at her with devilish perception until Lydia blinked and saw her own reflection staring back. Startled, Lydia rubbed her eyes and shook the cobwebs out of her head before looking back into the mirror. Again, her reflection stared back at her. The whites of her eyes were white, her teeth were normal, and her fingernails were at their usual, well groomed length.

A knock at the bedroom door suddenly brought Lydia out of her confusion. She gasped in shock as she spun around to look toward the sound just as the door slowly creaked open to reveal one of Claire's maids enter in. "Miss Deetz, Miss Brewster is waiting for you downstairs." The lady said in a soft, well mannered tone. She then added, "When you're ready, I'll lead you there." Lydia took one more look into the mirror and finally noticed that she was wearing a white nightgown rather than her black clothes. And her hair was even down, her mother's ribbon nowhere in sight. She looked around the room from where she stood and asked, "Where's my mom's ribbon?" The maid then walked over to a small end table near the bed and gestured her hand toward it saying, "It is right here Miss Deetz with the rest of your clothes." Lydia sighed in relief and walked over to see that her outfit was indeed sitting on the end table, neatly folded and cleaned, the smell of fresh linen growing stronger as she approached.

The maid walked over to the nearby vanity as Lydia quickly changed into her outfit and was about to tie her mother's ribbon into her hair when the maid gracefully ask her, "Would you like me to brush your hair for you Miss Deetz?" Lydia turned around and saw her standing by waiting for an answer. She thought about it for a few seconds and decided to take the opportunity to let herself be pampered for a few minutes before heading downstairs. She casually walked over and allowed the maid to brush away. The moment Lydia stepped in front of the mirror she noticed that her hair was just past her shoulders in length.

Prudence sat to Clair's right at the dining table set for around thirty people. Ben sat two chairs away from Clair's left while the rest of the chairs remained unoccupied. Clair's father asked her a few questions about her behavior and all Claire could muster up was most likely a stress attack. All three of them were eventually left in the room to wait for Lydia to come down. Ben sat nervously swaying his legs back and forth while twiddling his thumbs. Prudence pulled out a science book from her backpack and began to work on her homework while Claire laid her head down in her arms and tried to sleep away some of the stress form the day dreaming another encounter with the majestic silver dragon.

End of Season 2 Episode 8