Beetlejuice, Lydia, the neitherworld… They don't belong to me. I just love them so much I want to take them in both arms, rip open my chest cavity, and stuff them inside forever, right next to my heart. Of course, if they were mine, just look what I'd do to them… But that being said, please don't sue me, okay?

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I think this will make you happy. But I still have the epilogue to write, so don't start breathing too comfortably yet... Man, I hope this answers a couple of questions too. Enjoy! (I also hope it's not corny... Tell me it isn't, okay?)

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It wasn't so much that she was unwilling to wait, however long it took for Beetlejuice to sort out whatever it was that needed sorting out… However, after one day spent at the Freaky Eye-Scream Shop, long after most of the patrons would have rather she left, and a second day spent at Jacques and Ginger's house, alone, watching of all things, Neitherworld TV… Lydia was bored.

And this would be why she was standing in a corner of the nearest gas station, studiously bent over a rather worn map of the local neitherworld area. About twenty miles to the west, she could amazingly, make out roads she recognized, simply by having walked them a dozen or so times with Beetlejuice. More importantly, while the names of the roads meant nothing to her, the sloppily printed name of the group of trees they passed through, did. The Neitherwoods.

Well, that was just perfect, wasn't it? She'd had no idea she was so close… So she stood there, while impatient customers moved around her, grunting and giving her dirty looks. A scrap of yellowed parchment in one hand, a stubby graphite pencil in the other. And she figured out just how far exactly she would have to walk, to get from her present position, to where she was going.

In the end, it looked like if she started walking now, she'd make it just in time for the big event. There was no way in hell she was taking a neitherworld bus again. Of course, that did leave the question of how she'd get back, but for now, she stubbornly ignored that worry, rolling up her map, grabbing a big bag of crispy coated crickets, and a large water bottle, and paid for all three up front.

She was a little nervous, admittedly. She'd only been to the place a couple of different times with Beetlejuice, and he'd never been happy about it, despite the breathtaking view. But she hadn't been there in years, and more importantly, she hadn't been there since she'd died. She wanted to see what the best sunset in the neitherworld looked like, now that she actually belonged there.

As long as she stuck to the roads, as long as she was quiet, and as long as she didn't dawdle, she should be fine. She clipped the snack bag to her belt, tugged the hook of the water bottle into her pocket, and hid both beneath her poncho. The map she kept rolled up excitedly in her fist, as she faced the world outside the gas station, and the road that led, albeit indirectly, to Sandworm Peak. Maybe she'd spend the night out there… The stars had to be gorgeous. And as long as she was completely quiet, and stayed off the sand…

If Beetlejuice had been there, he might have noted that sometimes it could be a bad thing, that not much scared the girl… Even what should. But Beetlejuice wasn't there. And Lydia headed off to Sandworm Peak excitedly, alone…

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The heavy knocking on the den of the high mages was intermediate, sort of halting. When the doorman swung it open, he was greeted by the sight of the toad-like mage, considerably the worse for wear. Blood dribbled in rivulets down his face, his body was criss-crossed with new scars of various depths, and it looked as if some time recently, someone had taken a blunt object to several of the fingers of his left hand.

However, the mage didn't say a word, just stumbling past the guard on what seemed to be a dislocated hip, torn muscles hanging out the back of his calf, and considered the Magus Hall through bleary, unfocused eyes. With a grunt, and a massive effort of sheer will, the man began moving again, making his way down the dimly lit halls. All eyes were on him, but as he made no pause to explain, or ask for help, it was decided that none of the lesser magi could risk angering him further… Which was, convenient.

Blood followed his progress down the hall, his features oddly devoid of emotion, his eyes dull and glassy, as if he might be in shock. He stopped only when he reached a door of dark maple wood, with various enchantments inscribed across its surface, forbidding entrance to any not proficient in their dangerous magics.

The toad-man barely hesitated, drawing a slip of paper free of his robe, inscribed with his own blood, and laid it against the wood, murmuring the proper incantation under his breath. Like a mist, the door dissolved, and the beaten magi made his way inside, before finally falling to his knees, and to all appearances, losing consciousness.

Staring in shock for only an instant, the high magi whose room he'd intruded on was quickly on his feet, sealing the door again, this time with the strongest wards he could summon, in case whatever had done this to his friend might still be following. Then he fell to his knees beside the broken man, tipping his head back, trying to find some trace of unlife left in the other's eyes.

And the toad-man grinned slowly, his eyes glinting with a shade of green not his own, as Beetlejuice's voice emerged from his puppet's throat, noting softly, "Possession's nine-tenth's of the law, buddy."

The mage lurched to his feet, stumbling back in horror as he realized the monster he'd just sealed himself in with. But already Beetlejuice was ripping, physically, out of the other magi's body, chunks of spirit flesh falling away as he split him open like a worm in a cocoon. Possession was never an easy feat, when your host was dead too… However by that point, the guy had learned not to challenge Beetlejuice's will… Right up to the point where he found hope again in the stronger magi's presence.

Which immediately made him expendable. "And here I'd been thinking of letting the guy live, too." Beetlejuice mumbled, drawing a handful of more slips from seemingly out of nowhere, and flinging them across the distance to cling to the other magicker's face. "Sort of a thank you, for services rendered…"

The man before him was screaming, though any such sounds were completely lost on anyone on the other side of the door, his body twisting in convulsive fashions at the combination of both learned and inborn powers, ripping through him at once. Beetlejuice knew he had a short time to take the guy down, before his own dangerous powers came into play… The tricky part being of course, that if he killed him, the memories he was keeping in his brain would also be gone, this time for good. And he wasn't sure yet if that was what he wanted.

"See, I know this is the tricky part, 'cause I've done this before." He noted, licking the back of yet another incantation, and sticking it squarely between the guy's eyes, sending him to his knees. "I gotta cut this crystal about the size of a pencil eraser out of your frigging undead brain, and I gotta do it without killing you. Last time I did this, I was careless, and only got about half of my memories back…" He drew a heavy, long blade from inside his suit, looking like nothing so much as a machete. "So this time, I'm gonna use a more delicate touch."

With one massive swipe, Beetlejuice's weapon had split the magus's skull open, cleaving through half of the dull pink tissue within. Another, practiced swipe, even before the guy could take it what had just happened to him, completely cut away a section of the other's skull, making his search that much easier. Then, tossing the blade aside, he pulled a set of chopsticks out of his pockets, grinned, and noted nonchalantly, "Now I gotta warn you, this part is really going to hurt…"

Struggling to lift his hand, the mage hadn't more than raised it halfway when he felt the sharp wooden implements pierce his brain. His mouth parted pathetically, silently, and his eyes rolled briefly back into his head, before through sheer force of will, and a sudden yank of his beaten body, he managed to grab Beetlejuice's face in his nearly limp hand.

Before Beetlejuice could even sneer at the useless attempt to fight him off, the guy's true purpose became apparent. With a rush of power reminiscent of a breach of the sound barrier in his skull, they came rushing back… Every day, every second, of the time with Lydia he'd lost. It struck him like a physical thing, and he fell back limply, as the self that had grown to know her these past couple weeks, collided securely and painfully, with someone who'd worshipped the girl for years… And the two halves of himself came to a violent confrontation, neither one wanting anything to do with the other.

On his back, not sure how he'd gotten there, he not only relived the years he'd spent by the girl's side, watching her grow, protecting her, falling more and more deeply in love with her by the day, he also relived the days since he'd lost his memory of her, and faced her again. Every time he'd almost killed her. When he had killed her. When he'd taken advantage of her trust and love to seduce her after her shower. When he'd evicted her from his house. When she'd stood up to him, and told him she'd been afraid, tears shining in those beautiful dark eyes…

And then going back to the house that night… His mind was halted just short of this memory, as a concussive blast exploded along the right side of his face, blinding him, peeling away flesh and muscle, as the magi took advantage of his moment of weakness.

Furious, heart wrenched, Beetlejuice paid no mind to the pain, rolling back to his feet and putting everything he had into one massive blast to the guy's head. All that anger, all that grief, even guilt, something the poltergeist had rarely felt before, released in one violent twist of power… Making him vulnerable hadn't been a good idea at all, though the magi never had time to reflect on this fact, as his headless body crumpled in a lifeless heap.

Beetlejuice, on his feet, staggering. His mind spinning as he fought to make peace with the two halves of himself that were being forced to reconcile. He'd taken her… Her first time, his first time with her… It wasn't that it hadn't meant anything, but it hadn't meant what it should! None of it had meant what it should!

A massive heave of his guts, and he was on his knees, his stomach twisting and demanding emptying, even though he hadn't eaten in days. Blood and bile trickled past his lips as his body convulsed helplessly, the pain in his mind taking its punishment out on his body. Half his face still torn away, and he didn't even care. All he could think of was Lydia. Lyds…

Lyds… Babes… He had to get to her. He had to fucking get to her! He was staggering towards the door before the thoughts had really even taken form, through the portal left open by the magi's death, down the corridor, and into a hall of mages, who this time, knew exactly who he was.

He didn't really remember fighting them off. He just remembered knowing that he had to do whatever it took to get past that far door, where he'd be able to teleport himself to the girl once more. Hold her in his arms. Beg her, pride be damned, to still love him… If he'd been lost before, now he was utterly beyond saving, and all that mattered to him was being with his babes again…

His body was pretty badly shredded by the time he stepped out into the late afternoon air. As if in some sort of penance for the damage he'd inflicted to get there, paid as he left. Truth be told, he could have healed himself in an instant, even with his powers as badly drained as they were now, but he didn't even notice the pain. He was already moving through nothing, desperate to reach Lydia's side… Only to find her bed, and her room, when he finally reached his goal, empty.

For a long, long moment, he stood there, staring at her broken bed, the memories rushing over him once again. And for a long moment, that was all he could do. Then slowly, he turned, and stared at the door separating her room from the rest of the house. She had to be out there. She had to.

He made his way towards the door in an almost methodical way, phasing through it, rather than opening it. But this last little bit of magic hit him in the gut, hard, and before he could take in the fact that she wasn't here either, he was already falling to the carpet, unconscious.

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It was maybe the last sight either of them could have expected, on coming home. Ginger had, by chance, locked herself out of the house, and had to wait for Jacques to get there to let her in, so they both entered together, and in almost the same instant, saw the poltergeist lying on their carpet, beaten to a bloody pulp. And neither one knew exactly how to react.

So after a short, quiet discussion, Ginger went in the kitchen to prepare dinner, and Jacques pulled up a chair to watch the poltergeist 'sleep.' This however, quickly grew tiring, and brought up the question of just where the girl was… Presumably, she was the reason he'd come. Unless, by some miracle, she was the one who'd managed to do this to him, which seemed at the least, unlikely.

Reluctantly leaving Beetlejuice where he lay, Jacques began looking for some sign of the girl, or something that might tell him where she was. Ginger peeked out, considering him with a frown. "Whatcha doin', hon?" She prompted, trying to ignore for the moment, the dangerous killer currently unconscious in their house.

"Look-eeng for something zat vill tell us where Mizz Lydia 'as gotten to." He murmured under his breath, checking every available surface for a note, which would come in very handy when the poltergeist woke up. "Did vou zee any-zing?"

Ginger disappeared again, presumably to resume cooking, but returned a moment later with a bit of clean white paper in her hand, turning it over to reveal a hastily scribbled message. Jacques accepted the paper, read it, and frowned, unable to make heads or tails of what the girl had been trying to say. "Gone to… Vhat? Ging-er, vhy does Mizz Lydia leave us such a note?"

Ginger took the note back, pursed her large mouth, and read the note aloud. "Gone to watch one hell of a sunset. Don't wait up. Lydia." She shook her head slowly, just as puzzled as her friend. "What do you suppose that's supposed to mean, sugar?"

"Lyds…" The groan from behind them made them both tense, and turn to see Beetlejuice braced on his arms, for all appearances staring intently at the mottled red and black of their carpet. "Babes… Where are you?"

"Um, Mr. Beetle- uh, sir?" Ginger scurried across to him before Jacques could stop her, holding the note out as far as she could reach. "I think this is for you, mister."

Beetlejuice lifted his head, regarded her utterly without recognition, and after a moment, without a word, took the note from her hand. Immediately Ginger retreated, while he sat up slowly, squinting his eyes, trying to focus on the words with his bleary vision. Considerately, Jacques turned on a light, being the nice guy that he was. He did not however, expect Beetlejuice's mumbled, "Thanks."

As he finally seemed to make sense of the words, he frowned, tilted his head back, rested his torn chin on his fist, and read it again. Twice.

And then he paled. "Fuck, babes…" He whispered, his eyes suddenly dark with fear. "I wasn't gone that long… What the hell are you thinking?" He'd never pegged the girl as suicidal, not since she'd met him anyway. But off to Sandworm Peak alone, when she knew that was the only sure way to get exorcised? And 'don't wait up?'

"Oh fuck, oh fuck, oh fuck…" He stumbled to his feet, ran his fingers through his bloody mess of hair, and squeezed his eyes shut, frantically trying to focus on the spot where he prayed, whoever a guy like him prayed to, to find her still alive.

And like that, he was gone.

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The sunset was beautiful… Even long after the sun itself was gone from view, the sky was still painted in rich reds and purples. Even as the first brilliant stars appeared, looking down at her like gentle, shining eyes, still the sky whirled with color.

So Lydia, as she'd suspected, was in no hurry to leave. Walk back through the Neitherwoods in the dark? She'd rather take her chances with the sandworms. She was lying back on the sand-worn peak, regarding the heavens with a lidded, content look, and listening to the sound of the sandworm calls, low and haunting and rich. It felt like being at the edge of a vast sea, listening to the cries of creatures who hunted beyond sight… albeit it creatures far more dangerous than the typical singing creatures of the sea. Hunters.

But as long as she stayed on the peak, as long as she was still, and didn't so much as breathe, they had no way of knowing she was there. Not breathing was a little uncomfortable, but not enough to merit leaving. Not even as the last of the colored lights faded away, and left her alone beneath the three moons, and the endless stars.

The thing was, she'd plotted it all out fairly well. She'd be fine until morning, when she'd walk back, none the worse for wear. What a thing to be able to brag to Beetlejuice about… Something this big, that she'd done alone. She smiled, since that made no sound, and regarded the heavens, even now beyond reach. This thought in turn, made something tickle briefly at the back of her mind, before she let it go, content with not worrying over it. This was where she was meant to be, not some heaven. Any thought of anything else was just a dream.

Suddenly a flash of light drew her from her reverie, making her sit up, a little too quickly for safety. Peering over the side of the precipice, she caught sight of a slim shadow, illuminated just a moment later by a twist of green light… And she saw stripes. And a moment later, the high, panicked cry… "Lyds! Lyds!"

She started to open her mouth to warn him, when the familiar nickname hit her with a force that drove the breath from her lungs. Lyds? He hadn't called her that since before he'd lost his memories… Lyds? Lyds!

"Beetlejuice!" It was a cry, his full name, and his head spun as he twisted to take her in, safe and sound, her voice shaking from the force of the cry… Momentarily forgetting about the sandworms. "B! Up here!"

But she'd leaned forward too far, and now lost her balance, tumbling over the side of the peak with an insane moment of surrealness, before hitting on her side, and sliding down the long smoothed stone. She didn't even care, when she hit the sand, she struggled to her feet, and lurched through the heavy drifts towards her best friend, her best friend who was back.

"Lyds!" It was a roar, a panicked sound. "Go back! Get out of here!" She ignored his protests, falling into his arms. She didn't pause to think on his sound of pain, she just lifted her head to kiss him, happy, relieved. He remembered… That was all that mattered. Life or death, that was all that mattered.

But now he was twisting her away from him, staggering back towards the peak. She didn't know why he didn't have the strength to fly, and couldn't see well enough in the resumed darkness to know why his kiss had tasted like blood. "You remembered…" She whispered, making him pause briefly in his struggle to get them to safety.

"I remembered." He agreed quietly, grabbing her in one arm, and giving her a hard, desperate hug. "Now let's get out of here, before we both get ourselves killed… again."

It was only at this point that Lydia even remembered the threat of the sandworms, her eyes growing wide as she too quickly helped them make their way to an escape. He was weak, could barely stand… She didn't understand what was wrong with him, but she knew this; if she had to, she would carry him. "Here, give me your arm!" She wrenched it over her shoulder, making him grunt in pain, though he offered not a word of protest, and together the two made their way through the treacherous sand…

Not fast enough. With a sudden, booming cry, the sand shifted around their feet, the haunting roar the hunter far closer this time than before. Maybe right next to them. But they couldn't see anything. Both froze in mid-step, not daring to move, lest they draw the worm to them even faster. Holding their breaths, waiting for it to lose the scent.

But of course it wouldn't lose the scent, not with Beetlejuice covered in blood, leaving it behind with every step. As the sands parted, not twenty feet away, and the looming shape rose out of the darkness, Beetlejuice used his powers to summon a ball of light, and fling it at the beast, intending to blind it. Maybe make it think twice about going after prey that could fight back.

It was all a bluff of course. Beetlejuice couldn't fight off a sandworm at the height of his powers, much less in the condition he was in now. All the light did was give Lydia a clear, startling view, of the severity of his wounds. Her choked cry did not go unnoticed. Beetlejuice turned as the sandworm came on, tucking her into his arms, dropping one bloody kiss on her forehead, and saying the words he'd never seen need to say before that moment. "I love you, babes… I'm sorry…"

And then the sandworm was on them, and… And power ripped through his, like a massive living thing, igniting every nerve in his body with a magic of a sort he'd only felt once before. Without thinking, without questioning it he turned, and hurtled the most powerful blast he could at their attacker, freezing briefly in disbelief as it staggered, visibly, and then collapsed to the sand, unconscious.

There was no time to waste though, more were coming, and wherever this new power had come from, it wouldn't be enough to fight them all off. He grabbed Lydia in his arms, wrenched them both into the air, and with a thought, teleported them both to safety, a hundred miles or more away, back into his own home sweet home. Something that, like his attack on the sandworm, he couldn't have conceived being capable of a moment before.

And then, as he let Lydia go, he paused in surprise, staring at her. She glowed blue… Power rippling off her in waves, lights and hues suited for an aurora borealis, her eyes shining so brilliantly that they could have caught flame. And he remembered, just for an instant, that night in Prince Vince's castle, and the moment he'd felt this same insane surge of power…

Beetlejuice grabbed her with both hands, pulling her against him, and the light enveloped them both. It was like his power, but it came from her. He didn't know if she could use it, but he could. She amplified his power by a dozen times, just being there with him…

It couldn't have been anyone else, Lyds… I couldn't have loved anyone else… From the very first night, you echoed me… Out loud, he just whispered, "Babes, think you can forgive me?" As an answer, she just sobbed, nodded her head, and burrowed deeper into his arms. He started to move to kiss her, remembered his current state, and grimaced. With a thought, he drew on the power she was sending out in waves, and healed himself, as well as any wounds she might have had.

And then he tipped her head back, with infinite gentleness, and kissed her soft mouth, tasting tears. It wasn't just that she had him back, it was that he had her back too… When he broke the kiss, he dropped her lips to her ear, and whispered thickly, "I love you, babes. I'll tell you as many times as you like… I love you." Which just made Lydia cry and laugh, and kiss him again.

I'll make it up to you, babes… Just give me the rest of forever… I'll never make you cry again. I promise.

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