Beetlejuice
Season 2: The Sleeper Saga
Episode 40: The Sleeper Awakens – Part 3
The group gazed back over the map once again, having taken it and the book accounting the Caverns of Glass, with them. "So Merlin," Claire asked him. "Do you remember which way to go?" Merlin gazed intently at the map only saying a single word in response, "Vaguely." Claire sighed before Merlin added, "Perhaps I'll remember by feel and by sight rather than by the maps and drawings." "Man, I wish we were there now." Beetlejuice exclaimed out of nowhere. It was then the scenery changed in an instant. The scenery of the lake and the green grass shifted into that of an orange desert. "You used literal translation to get us there quickly, didn't you?" Lydia stated, slightly annoyed that her guardian ghost didn't warn anyone. Beetlejuice simply grinned wide in mischief and then looked around. There was no Caverns anywhere to be seen. "Great, your powers are broken." Claire stated in frustration. "If we knew where we were dropped off, we would have a good bearing on where we need to go." Merlin stated in similar frustration and annoyance toward Beetlejuice. Beetlejuice simply snapped back, "Look I was only trying to help. What more do you want? A red light on the map saying 'you are here'?" They then heard Bertha call back to them, "Hey guys… he did it again!"
They gathered once again around the map to see exactly wat Beetlejuice had exclaimed. "Huh, would you look at that…my powers aren't broken after all." He muttered. Claire shot Beetlejuice a stern look for playing her fight into that situation and allowing him to use literal translation yet again. "You'd better not be starting to abuse that power." She stated under her breath.
The small red dot on the map showed that they were a full day's journey away from the Caverns of Glass. "That's weird…" Beetlejuice said, mainly to himself. "Usually literal translation would take us directly there." "Perhaps there are areas that repel the powers of the guardian ghost, or perhaps simply teleportation in general." Merlin stated to him, equally puzzled.
It took Grimnak all of an entire day to fully absorb all of those crystals. By the time he was completed, his face was rejuvenated, only looking partially aged, his skin was back to its full color, if not slightly pale. He simply looked like a slightly older version of his own doppelgangers. "Ah." He sighed in relief. "That hit the spot. As the kids say." His voice still aged, but rejuvenated to reflect the age he looked, rather than the age he was. "Who'd have thought that my brothers would have left me pure crystalized magic? I simply MUST thank them for this 'welcome home' gift." He then gazed at the hole in the ceiling at the daylight that poured through. Basking in it for a time he felt the warmth of daylight and smirked, "Finally freedom." His boots then began to glow with a pale red aura as he bent his knees to jump. And jump he did out of the hole and directly into the sky. The dust and sand flying away in an explosion from the rush of air that disturbed their rest. "Now, to find this "Cavern of Glass!" Grimnak then closed his eyes and concentrated. His body then glowing into that same red aura. In his mind he pictured his brother and focused on his presence alone. He honed in on the location and immediately in his mind new where to go. "Gotcha… dear brother!" He then sped off, flying without wings, in the direction his targets were.
The group traveled by foot, the entire day through the desert, eventually discovering that the area repels any unnatural occurrences within, not just teleportation or guardian ghost powers. Beetlejuice tried to use literal translation to conjure up a spring or an oasis, but no matter what he said, or did, nothing appeared and they were forced to rely on their dwindling supplies for sustenance and water. Luckily Prudence was smart enough to bring supplies along, such as bottled water and power bars. Even still, the journey was arduous and exhausting.
They set up camp that night cursing their luck that they didn't fully prepare for the long journey when Lydia fell asleep next to her friends. Memories of the events played in her mind until they once again gave way to the memory of the crash that killed her mother again. This time the paramedics were replaced with Bertha, Prudence and Claire. As an eight-year-old Lydia was pulled from the vehicle, she saw Claire's face appear from the shadows and pull her to safety. "It's going to be alright, young one. It's going to be all right." She stated. Lydia turned from the rescuer back to her mother watching as three spurts of blood shot out from the woman's gut, just underneath her ribcage. Lydia could her herself calling out in a panic for her mother as she was pulled from the wreckage, handed off from Claire to Bertha, who was dressed as a paramedic. She set the quivering and shaken Lydia down and began telling her, "It's alright, they'll get her out of there." The young Lydia was still shaken and as much as she tried willing herself to move and save her mother, her legs refused and froze in place. "Damnit, move." She said to herself. "She's bleeding, I've got to save her." Bertha shinned a light into Lydia's eyes to test for a reaction while asking, "Can you tell me your name?" "Lydia Deetz" the words came out of her mouth as if they were not her own. Prudence then took over as Bertha was asked to attend Elizabeth as she was pulled from the wreckage and onto a gurney. "Can you tell me how many fingers I am holding up?" Prudence asked, both distracting and testing Lydia for a concussion. "Two" Lydia answered. She was exactly right and then was escorted to the truck for transport. On the way to the hospital, Prudence asked Lydia questions about herself to both gather information and further test for concussions. As the questions continued, the image began to fade to white.
The dream ended with Lydia's father coming by to pick her up and await the tragic news of Elizabeth's passing. She awoke to all of her friends sitting in a circle around her, each with a worried expression on their face. Lydia arose to prop herself up and yawn. "What's going on, what are you guys doing?" She asked. "You were crying in your sleep." Beetlejuice announced, which caused Lydia to wipe her left wrist underneath her left eye. The surface of her skin was indeed wet and as she pulled her hand away, she noticed a smear of black mascara. She then instinctively wiped her face with the spider silk only to watch as the mascara evaporated off of the fabric. After the initial shock of watching makeup simply evaporate, Lydia stood up and gingerly gave each of her friends a tight hug before explaining the dream to them all.
"How touching." They all heard Grimnak state from behind the group. "It appears that the little 'hero girl' has a fear. What could that be, I wonder?" He mocked, bringing his hand up to his chin to stroke it. "Is it death? Or, could it be something tangible?" He then looked directly in to Lydia's eyes. "Or a painful memory?" He then lunged at the group as Beetlejuice lunged at him. The two locked fists for a few seconds before Beetlejuice backed away and morphed into a bull before charging at the sorcerer. Grimnak stood his ground, extended his right hand to face his palm at Beetlejuice and with a quick incantation, magically lifted the guardian ghost into the air and threw him like an empty soda can. Beetlejuice impacted the ground and both he and Lydia lost their breath from it. "The detriment of the guardian ghost pact, you each feel each other's pain no matter where in the cosmos you are. And if you aren't tolerant to it or know how to push it away in an instant, it can leave you wide open for a killing blow." Grimnak stated. He then lowered himself to the ground and placed both of his palms on the ground. Another incantation left his lips and the ground itself warped and twisted to his whim, wrapping around Lydia, Clare, Prudence, and Bertha. Completely immobilizing them with sharp stalagmites aimed at their jugulars.
"Surrender, brother." Grimnak stated. "And, you have my word that I will not harm them until the end of the 'Cleansing'." "Cleansing?" Lydia asked both shocked and confused. "So THAT is what all of this is about." Merlin stated with a wide expression. "But of course." Grimnak answered. "HE will rise once more, no matter what the fates hold, and all but dragonic life will be eliminated. The world will be reborn in our image and to our glory. The Neitherworld, The Overworld, all of the realms will be only dragon, and then we will go forth and rid the cosmos of all but dragon life. We will be GODS!" As he spoke those final words the ground around them tremored violently, causing them to stumble. The stalagmites crumbled to pieces, as well as the girls' earthly restraints, setting them free. Suddenly the ground close to them erupted, revealing a bluish green cavern that lurched forward and engulfed them whole.
Once again, Lydia opened her eyes. However, this time, she couldn't see any of her friends. All around her there was nothing but bio-luminescent glass. The eerie pale glow and the spiral shape carve into the caverns made it look like Lydia was standing in a pipeline wave out in the ocean. The cave itself was thirteen feet in diameter and extended out a ways before a turn blended into the background disorienting her slightly. "Claire?" Lydia called only to hear her voice echo back to her. "Bertha?" She tried again with the same result. "Prudence?" again, nothing but echo. "Beetlejuice?" As she listened to the echo, she thought about her guardian ghost pack. "Beetlejuice, Beetlejuice, Beetlejuice!" She called only to hear her voice once again return to her, only this time it called, "Lydia, Lydia, Lydia." As soon as the echo was finished, she felt an invisible force pull on the spider silk gently. At first she was shocked to see this and jumped back with a start. As she did, the spider silk fell as if it was pulled out of someone's grasp.