Queen of the Sandworms

Chapter 13: The Tears of Laughter and Joy

...

Soon the sun began to set across Saturn. The Sandworms who survived were able to find a couple furry creatures during the hunt. They placed the dead rat- like bodies down in the middle of the Nest. Lydia approached the small pile of rodent like creatures before taking her portion of the share. Then she got out of the place before the other Sandworms attacked the pile of dead meat.

Lydia came up to Beetlejuice who stood away from the area near a pile of rocks. She offered him a piece of cut meat from her share. Beetlejuice quickly shook his head and smiled a fake smile. "I'm good, thanks," he said, but his stomach didn't as it grumbled hungrily. Lydia sat down near him and began to prepare a fire.

She got a pile of sticks and pieces of plants from the Sandworm nests and placed a couple glowing stones in the middle of it. Soon the stones ignited the kindling, and created a green fire. It gradually shimmered from blue to green and back again as Lydia stabbed her alien rodent meat onto the end of her spear and held it over the fire.

Beetlejuice sat down next to her on a round rock and watched her cook the meat. They were quiet for a while. The only sounds were from the savage Sandworms as they tore their sharp teeth into the pile of meat before them. Beetlejuice felt a shiver run up his spine and turned his body away from it. He tried ignoring the sounds of flesh being torn to bits and gobbled down by the massive beasts, but it was no use; the sounds were loud and disturbing.

He turned back to Lydia, who took the meat from the fire and began tearing into it with her teeth. The sight made Beetlejuice sick. He held his hands up in disgust. "Erm, Lydia? I know this is going to sound weird hearing this from me, but can you please eat like a normal human being? Please?" he asked. Lydia looked up from her meat to the appalled striped clad ghost. Her mouth was dripping with blood.

Beetlejuice instantly felt lightheaded and started to sway. "I think I'm gonna faint," he said as he placed the back of his hand on top of his pale forehead. Lydia wiped the blood away with the back of her arm. She watched as the Ghost with the Most pretended to sway before falling backwards and landing behind the round rocks. Lydia smirked at his over the top drama and giggled. Beetlejuice smiled as he laid on his back. She was laughing again. He got up to his feet and swayed again, acting out as a fainting person.

Lydia's giggle turned into laughter as Beetlejuice became her jester. Beetlejuice grinned as he moved around, but kept his eyes on her. He felt good inside, seeing her laugh again.

The Sandworm's looked up from their place when they heard laughter. Their red eyes focused on their queen, then over to the one they thought mocked their stripes. A couple exchanged glances, while the others stared at Lydia in confusion. She was laughing. It was strange to see their queen laugh at something so pathetic and insulting.

The Sandworms rested their eyes on Beetlejuice and watched him as he danced around like a headless squirble. One of the Sandworms started to try and copy Lydia's laughter, opening its mouth and showing its sharp teeth, and forcing out a screeching chortle.

It didn't sound like a normal laugh, more like a hoarse cough. A couple others joined in. Beetlejuice stopped when he heard the strange sounds and looked up to the Sandworms that loomed high up near them. Lydia stopped laughing and noticed them laughing their deranged laughs. She giggled as she wiped the tears of laughter from her face.

She smirked and looked over to Beetlejuice. "They do not understand laughter. Or humor," she said. Beetlejuice felt his face burn as he looked over to Lydia. To Beetlejuice's disappointment, Lydia's smile faded away as she got up from where she sat as the green fire died out near her. The Sandworms stopped trying to laugh and slithered away from the two.

"I promised to take you home," Lydia said as she came up to Beetlejuice. "Not without you," Beetlejuice said, straightening up. Lydia shook her head. "I am not leaving here, not until I know my kind are safe," she said. Beetlejuice rubbed his face in frustration. "They are not..." his voice faded when he saw Lydia glare at him. He sighed and looked away. What was the point of trying to correct her. She was now a Sandworm. Beetlejuice decided to keep his mouth shut.

After a couple minutes of silence, Lydia finally spoke up. "How did you get down here anyway?" she asked. Beetlejuice thought for a minute. He really wasn't sure. He looked over to her, and held out his hand. "I'll show you," he said.

Lydia stared down at his hand, then screeched. Edgar appeared in a heartbeat next to them. Beetlejuice grumbled something as he lowered his hand, then gestured to Edgar. "Your carriage, my queen," he said in a mock British accent.

Lydia turned away from the ghost, but Beetlejuice was able to capture a glimpse of a smile on her face. She climbed up onto Edgar's head, then Beetlejuice joined her. When they were both on, Edgar made a new tunnel and made his way up through the layers of sands to the surface.

...

When they got outside, Beetlejuice jumped off of Edgar's head and landed into the sands. Lydia landed next to him. Beetlejuice walked a couple steps away as he searched the skies. The whole skies were a deep royal blue, with reds, yellows and oranges swirling and blending into it. The winds blew against their clothes and hair as they stood. The sands smacked against their legs.

Lydia walked behind Beetlejuice till he stopped and pointed upwards toward the colorful skies. "There," he said as he pointed at the scar shaped hole in the middle of the sky. Lydia stared up at it. Her dark eyes widened at the sight of it.

The scar shaped hole still stood out from all of it. It was like looking through a window. Lydia's eyes stayed glued onto it. Edgar looked up as well with his red eyes. His second head came out from his mouth and sniffed the air.

Beetlejuice turned away from the scar shaped hole and lowered his arm as he stared at Lydia. "I used all my magic to create that hole. It took me a million tries to finally create that gap and losing my powers... so I could enter into this world and rescue you..." he said as his voice faltered. Lydia continued staring at the gap, transfixed.

The two were silent for a while.

Gradually, Lydia looked away from the gap and over to Beetlejuice. She noticed Beetlejuice's head was down, making his blonde hair cover his face. Lydia watched as teardrops began to drip down from the striped clad ghost's face and make contact with the sands at his feet.

Lydia felt her heart sink a little as she stared at her friend. Lydia came up to him and touched his shoulder. Beetlejuice stiffened and quickly turned his head away to wipe his eyes with the back of his sleeve. He sniffed. "I know...I'm pathetic..." he said in a low voice as he tried stopping the tears from coming down his face.

Lydia shook her head. She hesitated for a moment before wrapping her arms around his waist. "No, you are not," she said, causing Beetlejuice to lift his head up in surprise and turn to her. Gradually, his tears stopped and he straightened up. Lydia hugged him tighter.

"You are my best friend," she said. Beetlejuice felt his heart flop inside his chest. The ends of his mouth tugged upward into a smile. More tears came down the ghost's face, but he didn't care. They were the tears of joy. Then, he wrapped his arms around Lydia and felt closer to her then he ever did.

After a while, Lydia pulled away from Beetlejuice and looked up at his eyes. "Come, it's getting late. We should head back," she said. Beetlejuice stared down at her. "Are...are you still taking me back?" he asked. Lydia smirked. "We'll talk about it in the morning, but now, we should get some rest," she said. Beetlejuice gave her a slightly confused look. Then, he gave in and nodded his head.

"Ok," he said. He didn't know why she wasn't taking him home that very moment, but he didn't care. He didn't ever want to leave her side; and it gave him extra time to convince her to come back to the Neitherworld with him.

With that, Beetlejuice loosened his arms from Lydia and started to head toward Edgar. Lydia started to follow after him, but stopped one last time to look up at the scar shaped hole in the middle of the sky. Two worlds touching each other. Staring back. Lydia gazed up at it before turning back and walking towards her loyal Sandworm, and her best friend.

...