To the lovely person that commented in chapter 10 that called my writing illiterate... Bro, same! Seriously, I commend anyone who has made it this far, because... damn. This story is rough! Sarah Smiles is about three years old at this point, okay? And I have just spent the last 6 months in college where I was getting an actual lesson in grammar and basic english writing skills and... Well shit.
I was BAD. I WAS BAD.
I mean, feel free to say anything as a review. Read me for FILTH. Up my review counts, honey. I am NOT mad at it lol. Not many people can say they wrote a 100,000+ story for shits and giggles, so I have too much pride as it is. Knock me down a notch. I love the idea of people leaving the rudest and meanest comments they can. Fucking go for it. No one can say anything that I haven't already said to myself. Lol!
Now that I have that out of the way, we can move on with the story, yes?
O.o.O.o.O.o.O.o.O.o
"Alright, ready?"
"Sarah, this isn't a good idea."
"It'll be fine. You can do this."
"This is stupid."
"Do you want to help me, or not?"
"No! I shouldn't even be here. I could get beheaded!"
"Oh, Alister," Sarah sighs a heavy sigh, "I can't possibly believe that you are going to get caught. You've gone this long without anyone noticing."
"That's not true." He warns with a sassy hand on his hip, "I just owe a lot of people a lot of money."
"And how do you evade them?" Sarah leans on one knee.
He soffs, "magic."
"There, that magic!" She blurts out, "use that magic on me." Sarah points to herself as she readies herself into a stable position.
"Sarah, what you're asking is almost impossible." Alister slicks his hair back wondering how he can make this work. "It's not going to be the same as me shapeshifting myself. There is a lot more to it."
"Like?"
Alister can see the determination oozing out of Sarah's magical aura. He can see that there is no talking her out of it. And he thought Jareth was thick headed. "You have to be in a specific mindset." His voice becomes serious. "You have to have enough focus to be able hold your breath for hours. You have to find the level of serenity within your subconscious as the fae do to help them float and fly. It takes effort, Sarah." He tries to get her to understand.
Sarah relaxes her body and taken in a deep breath. "Okay." Her muscles lease as she closes her eyes. "Calm. Peace. Quiet." she hums as she tries to empty her mind.
"Sit on the ground." He halfheartedly waves in her direction. "Cross your legs and find balance." She does as she is told and breathes.
"Alright," he stands over her and starts to conjure his own magic, "breathe slowly- in and out... In and out..." He inhales and exhales loudly for her to follow. "Now, picture your mind as a canvas," he pauses for her to take a moment. As her breathing starts to level out, he continues, "a canvas that has been painted on with every color, every stroke, and every pattern possible." Alister stands as straight as a pin as he starts to creep into her mind. "The canvas is dirty and worn. It is impossible to see anything in this forgotten and rugged canvas." He closes his eyes as he slowly eases himself into her subconscious. "The canvas is your mind; the paint and its rigid patterns are all of your thoughts. You need to clear your mind." His voice is low and slow. She can feel his voice enter inside of her. "We are going to get rid of all of the commotion from your canvas-like mind." his words are disembodied. His speech is nice and slow. "Imagine a bottle of black paint; simple, label-less black paint. It is solid and heavy. Now, watch the paint as it pours itself onto the canvas, nice and slow." Silence is heard all around them. Even the breathing has become nonexistent. The imagery is vibrant and lucid for Sarah's baffled mind's eye. "Watch how the black slowly covers all of the color, all of the markings and all of the shapes. Everything becomes covered in black. Everything becomes covered in black. Everything becomes covered in black. Everything becomes covered in black. Everything is-" Alister's voice slowly fades into nothing as the darkness starts to become comforting inside the woman's mind.
Sarah's lunge into deep meditation is more swift than Alister had originally thought. He wondered if this were due to the magic inside of her. Her soul is an unusual color for a human who had charmed a fae. Human magic souls are usually dull and a pastel version of its original before fae intervene. Sarah's is more vibrant and ethereal, much like his own human husband's human magic soul.
Seeing her mind come closer and closer to absolute silence, his hands fill with pressure as his magic builds. Slowly yet effortlessly, showers his magic over to Sarah's body as he struggles to clasp onto her magic. With great precision within his own mind, Sarah feels the pressure of his magic and she inhales as much air as she can. Deciding what to turn her into, Alister is able to switch her into another shape that is slightly different from her own. Sarah can feel a tingling sensation flood from the top of her head to the tips of her limbs, and slowly opens her eyes.
Alister opens his eyes as he watches her transform. Looking down, Sarah tries to keep her cool as she can see her body morph little by little. First her hair, then her face, her torso, then her arms and legs. After a moment, she sees that her friend has successfully turned her into a male version of herself. Her heart races as she looks down to see her hands are more square and a little muscular. She could see a slight vein popping out of her toned arms and this causes her eyes to grow. Seeing this causes her to lose her breath and she morphs back into herself as she fall to the floor in horror. She gasps in shock of what she saw. Her eyes are wide and frightened.
"What the FUCK was that?!"
"That was a success, if not a freaky one." He sighs as he plops to his knees. His chest is heavy, as if oxygen had been sucked out of his body.
"That..." Sarah inhales to catch her breath as she feels her face, "That was insane..." She tightly holds onto her head.
"Now you have a slight idea on how taxing this is. We can't do this for a long period of time."
She pants in anxiety. She tries to calm herself down so she can reassure him. "Come on Alister. We can do this." Sarah pleads as she crawls to Alister on her hands and knees.
"No, we can't. Not long enough."
"Yes we can. I can." Her determination is inspiring. "Now that I have an idea of how it feels, I won't freak out. We have to do this!"
"Sarah-"
"Think about the benefits of this." Her eyes are glossy with desperation. "You will be rescuing one of Fae's royalty. You did this selfless act at the risk of your own life to save on of your own." Sarah sees a slight change in his eyes. "They can't ignore that."
"Or we stupidly sneak into a heavily guarded area only to get caught and die."
"We can't think like that."
"Then Jareth will get to watch you die. Then he will probably die. Is that what you want?"
"I know it's a risk. It was a risk getting that far, but I did it. Jareth tried to put me under three sleeping spells. Three, Alister. I overcame all of them. There's a reason for this. I just know it. I am going."
"Not without my help, you're not."
"Then help me!" She exclaims. "Stick it to all of them that wronged you and forced you out of your own world for being who you are. Come on!"
He sighs as he evades the woman's eyes. That idea did sound like a good one to him. "You sure do have a way with words." He holds an arm to lift her up off the floor.
"It'll be great." She playfully pats his chest for reassurance.
"I'm really going to regret this." He says with a slight smirk as he holds his friend tightly around the waist.
"Nah. We've done dumber things." Sarah dismisses as she wraps her arm around him. Alister blasts open a quick portal like nothing, and in they go.
O.o
The Matriarch's palace buzzes with many people anxiously waiting for news. This is the biggest event to happen since Jareth's loss of a human specimen a few human years back. Some Fae wonder what will become of the current Goblin King, and wonder how current he will be after this hiccup. Though some are trying to stay hopeful for the young soul, others are already in mourning, swearing that the youngest Princess of the Fairies is already gone, and gone too soon.
The air is tense. Everyone goes out of their way to avoid getting in the way of the family at hand. Everyone walks as if they were in a valley of pins and needles. Matriarch Mab's anger has reached a new high, and she is ready to smite anything. Her gaze among her subjects is cold and unwavering. She has no time for mourning. She has a dimension to run.
Everyone is held in a rectangular shaped throne-like room with large doors on the north and south corners of the room. One of the doors leads into a room that Francesca is being held and heavily watched. No one enters into the room without the okay from a guard that stands tall in front. The only other exit is a long hallway that disappears far to the southeast corner into other halls of the castle.
"The court is assembling, your grace." A small flower-like creature softly speaks to Matriarch Mab in a sheepish voice.
"You may leave." She waves at her errand girl to walk away. "How much time does Francesca have, Patriarch Paveliga?"
"We don't have much to go on." A large man with dark hair everywhere on his body, except for his head speaks with a ruffle of his beard. "She is in a steady state and could end up either way. It is a waiting game from here on out." Paveliga finishes his statement as a pair of nursemaids follow shortly behind. He turns to one of them. "Will you please fetch another vase of water?"
"Aye, sir," one curtsies as they head towards the south corridor.
"You are a blessing to us all, beloved Patriarch. We shall keep her as comfortable as possible." The Matriarch's voice is solemn and frozen to the eardrums around her. She looks down to her son as he sits erect like a statue, frozen in thought.
Jareth sits as quiet as the dead as he fixates on the scales of justice. His life is hanging in the balance and all he gets to do is sit and wait for the ball to drop. He has two choices, bad or worse. If he gets a bad charge, he will be exiled from his own world, much like his distant cousin Alister, and he will be forced to live among the humans and the very thing that weakens his magic; iron. The worst charge he can get is death, and there isn't much to be said at the thought of dying. The suspense is killing everyone within a mile from the palace, much less the king of the goblins. Facing one's possible death is quite unnerving, and Jareth is less than enthused to be thinking of such things. He tries not to think of what he could have done differently throughout all of this, because frankly, there isn't anything that he would change. He took a risk, and he failed. Everyone must face their fate sooner or later. He has decided that this must just be his time.
'What?' Jareth's senses cause a major change in his spine. His eyes bug open at the sensation, but he hides it well among his peers. The sense leaves as soon as it arrives as his eyes dart from side to side. It was faint, but Jareth could swear that he sensed...
'...Sarah...' A faint gasp exhales from his mouth as he looks up to gaze into her emerald colored eyes right before she disappears within the crowd. He takes a split moment to profusely blink. But alas, she is no where to be seen. Exhaling his anger grows along with his worry. What a horrible trick for the mind to play on someone.
O.o
Sarah and Alister quietly pop in from the other side of his portal as they try to be as noiseless as inhumanely possible. Alister quickly shoves her over behind an outlandish plant with deep dark purple leaves.
Alister whispers, "Okay, here," he pulls out a necklace made of some kind of metal necklace.
"Aww, and I didn't get you anything-"
"Sssh." Alister rolls his eyes. "It's iron. Wear it. It cancels out your magic."
"Umm..." Sarah questionably accepts the plan pendant with the thin iron chain, "doesn't that kinda defeat the purpose?" she asks.
"When you cancel out the magic, you also cancel out the scent. It will be more difficult to sniff you out." He grabs it and puts it over her head for her. "There should be more than enough smells with this many fae in one area. We reek."
"Won't this make it harder for me to stay in... whatever... form you put me in?" Sarah's eyes bulge.
"We need any edge we can get." He looks to her with knowing eyes. "Go big or go home, right?"
"Yeah. Right." She sighs as they slowly tiptoe forward. Sarah carefully follows the imp.
"And you need to breathe as little as possible. Short quick breaths. Human smells are just as potent. It's just a different kind of potency."
"Okay so what's the plan?" Sarah asks in a dead whisper.
"What?!" Alister hisses as he spins around to see a regretful Sarah. "You were supposed to have a plan! You are the one that convinced ME into doing this, remember?"
"I know I know." She slaps him to keep him from making too much noise. "I know I'm... Just kind of winging it."
"Oh that's just great. What's next Einstein?" Alister asks as they almost reach the entrance to the large throne-like room.
Sarah bites her lip in desperation trying to catch any idea that might help them. Any idea at all. She frantically looks around their surroundings to see what on earth they can do to get to Francesca by bypassing everyone around.
Alister tries to size the room as best as he can in their small hiding spot. He makes sure to cover all of the exits as well as know exactly where points of power are, such as Jareth and the Matriarch. As his expert eyes shave every inch of the room into his memory, he is able to catch the eye of some nursemaids that make their leave from some chamber doors to the very north on the other side of the room. He gets every single inch of the faerie creature locked in his memory with a foolish plan to boot.
"Okay. We're going in as nursemaids." Alister's words do more than catch Sarah's attention.
"What." Sarah is less than impressed with this plan.
"This is the way to do it, Sarah. Look," he forces her forward to see what he sees, "they are one of the only others allowed inside those doors. Nursemaids mean medical attention. Francesca has servilance." He points to the guards. "There will, no doubt be guards inside, too. But once we get in there, I will see the doctor, and will be able to change you again. This way you can get as close as you need to the girl." All of this information spills out of Alister like the madman that he is.
"If this is just a pathetic attempt to dress in drag I swear-" Sarah pauses as she is suddenly overcome with emotion as she looks beyond Alister's hardened eyes. She lets out a harsh breath as she sees Jareth in the distance. The mere thought of him sends a flashwave of magic out of her as she catches her heavy exhale with scared eyes. "Oh... Shit." Sarah's head hides behind Alister as she tosses many a curse word out into existence.
"What?"
"I think... Jareth saw me."
O.o
Listen. It's 12:10 in the morning, I finally got this shit out on the page. It is here and I am too tired to edit it tonight. At the same time, I am also impatient and I want instant gratification like the rest of us on here do, so here's the next chapter. It's completely raw, no editing WHATSOEVER (like the rest of the story lol) and to be honest, I have no idea what exactly I have written, so... I really hope you had fun.
See ya in a bit.