This chapter is dedicated to the legendary Peter S. Beagle, author of "The Last Unicorn." The chances of him ever reading this are pretty slim, but if he does, I hope he knows how much he rocks and that I loved the movie! (I haven't read the book yet; haven't been able to find it.) This is why I gave this chapter its title and this chapter will be jam-packed, so get comfy.
Oh: Remember what I said about Jay-Jay's defeat coming in an unexpected way? Yeah—keep that in mind. ;)
"None but virgins have ever ridden me, and none ever shall."—The Last Unicorn, The Last Unicorn, Lost Version (I didn't really like the lost version; it kinda creeped me out)
Chapter 15: Beagle Takes Gold For Unicorns
They were almost to the barred window of the tower; if she could slice through the bars and somehow ease her way down the wall, Sarah believed she could just walk out the door with Amalthea, no sweat!
"It sounds like a good plan," said Lea when she told her, "but be careful: The best laid plans of mice and men…or in your case, goblins and girls…Anyway, I'll keep an air patrol around the tower and bust my way in when you've got her."
"Okay!" Sarah nodded. They were 20 feet away when suddenly, she heard the voice of the Goblin King.
"SARAH!"
She whipped her head back to see a crow headed right for her, screeching its head off!
Not having time to cry out, she grabbed Lea's scruff and jerked it sideways, making Lea do a barrel roll to the right with a surprised "Whoa-oa!" The crow missed and flapped to recover. Sarah sat back up.
"You okay, Lea?" she asked with pounding heart.
"Yeah," she answered and shook her head to clear it, "You kinda startled me, but it's okay! What's wrong?"
"That!" Sarah pointed at the crow, which was bee-lining at them again but this time it was intercepted by a white blur that beat it down and gave chase. Sarah gasped!
"Jareth!" she panicked. Lea shot off with her, leaving the two birds to face off.
"You can't help him now, Sarah!" she said urgently, "You've got to get Amalthea!" Sarah forced her eyes away from the beautiful owl and buried her face in Lea's gorgeous mane.
"Help him, Lea," she begged, "After I get in, please go back and help him!"
"I wish I could, Sarah," said the sphinx as they approached the tower, "but I'm still a legal subject to the Gargoyle King. By my honor, I cannot fight my king, even if I do hate him—and believe me, no creature here hates him more than I do."
They landed on the spired rooftop of the prison tower. Lea gingerly turned to face up, dug her claws into the stone, and eased them backwards until they reached the edge right over the window.
"Okay, Sarah," she said with concentration, "Hold onto my tail; it's stronger than any rope woven by man."
"All right." Sarah scooted backwards towards Lea's tail, held on tight with one hand, and jumped down so that she held the latter end of the tail, which Lea wrapped around her wrist for a better hold.
Sarah looked at the bars before her and once she stopped bouncing, she got a firm grip on her sword and swung with all her might, hacking through the tops in one swing and the bottoms on the back swing. Some of them clattered to the tower floor, which sounded some 20 feet below her; she'd have to jump.
"All right, Lea," she called, "I'm going in!"
"Sarah, watch out!" Her warning came too late; the crow had swooped in from her left and half-buried his beak in her arm.
She screamed out in pain and nearly lost her grip on Lea's tail, but it was strong and Lea tightened it as if it were a fist, swung the human back, then into the window. She then jumped down herself just in time to stick her haunches inside so the crow couldn't follow. She spread her wings along the wall.
"I can't fight you," she snarled, "but I can defy you!" She roared and it knocked him back for a moment; he was dazed enough for the owl to snatch him up in his sharp talons and start carrying him back to the courtroom where their fight had begun.
'Give it up, brother,' he mentally told him, 'Your gargoyles have failed you and your griffin has betrayed you. You cannot win.'
At this the crow went insane with anger that gave him strength. He bit the owl's leg with a death grip and swung him off of him and into the court hall. He stood on his human feet on the sill to see Jareth lying facedown against a pillar in his owl cape. Blood from his left leg had trailed from being thrown across the floor and was staining the feathers.
He was breathing heavily and watching his brother; he just sat down on a bench under the sill. He looked somewhat shocked. He finally had his mistake of a baby brother bleeding and injured and possibly near death, lying strewn at his feet, completely at his mercy…
And he had no idea what to do with him.
This was so strange, though; after so many years of resentment and hatred, why couldn't he decide how to exact his revenge? This was Jareth, the so-called Golden Boy who had upstaged him with his very existence!
So why, of all moments in a lifetime, was he hesitating now?
"I think we'll wait," he finally said, "and see what happens when your princess comes to your aid."
'She's not my princess,' Jareth thought bitterly before starting to fade out of consciousness. His will was strong, though, so he held on.
And they waited.
Sarah screamed as she fell into the pillar of darkness; she was surprised to land on her back on what turned out to be a bunk chained to the wall. Her arm hit the edge, so her sword jerked out of her hand and clattered to the floor. She quickly sat up and looked to her right, where a bright yellow light was shining on the other side at the bottom of the wall.
She drew in a slow gasp with wide eyes; there lay a beautiful young woman with pearly skin and pale blonde hair down to her knees. Her small, skinny body was shining like an angel, but the brightest light came from the horn on her forehead; it was the palest blue, narrow, sharp, and swirl patterned, and gave off a white light. She was naked and cold and her eyes, for all their crystalline blue beauty, were empty and sad as she lay fetal on her side with her tiny wrists and ankles in cold iron shackles.
Still staring, Sarah slipped down from the bunk and walked slowly over to her, picking up her sword on the way. She stood it on its point and knelt to her; it seemed the proper thing to do.
"Lady Amalthea," she said breathlessly, "My name is Sarah Williams. I have journeyed from the mortal realm at the request of Her Majesty, Queen Jemna, to rescue you and to return you to your home in the Elf Kingdom."
The delicate maiden slowly sat up on her hands; she looked so weak!
"Fair virgin," she said with a flimsy voice, "I thank you and beg your pardon. This human form and this cruel prison have drained me. Please…" She held out one of her hands.
"Of course," said Sarah, "Hold still." Each shackle had a small hole, so Sarah carefully stuck the point of her sword in each one and turned it like a key; with each click, the chains fell empty to the floor.
When the last one came off, Amalthea's body sparkled with magic that lifted her inches off the floor. She started to shine with a white light that enveloped her completely and Sarah watched her shape change until she stood on all fours as a sleek white unicorn.
Sarah was even more in awe of her now; the unicorn was dainty and shining white with pale blue cloven hooves that had tufts of hair on each heel. Her neck was long and slender, her mane was curly at the bottom, and her tail was whiplike with a lovely poof at the end. She was the most beautiful creature Sarah had ever seen.
'I knew this was what unicorns really looked like!' she thought triumphantly, 'Peter Beagle was right!'
"My lady," she asked, "Are you all right now?" Amalthea reared up and neighed joyfully with delicate golden tones.
"Much better, my heroine!" she chimed, "But you're hurt! Let me heal your wound."
"Oh." Sarah had completely forgotten about her bird-stabbed arm. Amalthea made her horn glow whitish-blue and carefully touched the tip to the wound; in a ripple of light, it was healed instantly.
"Thanks," Sarah sighed, "That's much better."
"And now, my deliveress," she neighed, "let us quit this dismal place."
She pranced lightly up the shallow steps to the door and stuck her glowing horn in the keyhole. The door unlocked with a click and they walked out together, side by side, with Sarah's hand on Amalthea's lovely neck.
"Come, Sarah," she invited, "Alight my back and I will carry you to King Jathan's court."
"Why there?" Sarah asked.
"You must defeat the Gargoyle King in order for my rescue to be complete," said the unicorn, "And there's someone else there of importance to you who lies injured at his feet."
"Oh, my gosh," Sarah gasped, "Jareth!"
"You must ride me," insisted Amalthea, "I will get you there faster."
"But you're a unicorn," she blushed.
"And you are a virgin." Amalthea touched her horn to the girl's forehead. "I only allow virgins on my back, so come. And hurry."
She climbed onto the unicorn's back and as they galloped down the corridor, Sarah felt like she was in a dream. Only in her dreams had she ever ridden or spoken with a unicorn and now she was rescuing one from a black stone castle! It was amazing! She could feel the unicorn's muscles moving fluidly beneath her, but she wasn't bobbing up and down like she would on a horse, and her light glowed around her as well. Her mane flew around her and it smelled like the first buds of spring and rippled like the sea under a full moon.
Suddenly the unicorn came to a rearing halt with her ears pricked up.
"What is it?" asked Sarah.
"Listen!" the unicorn hissed, "Do you hear?" Sarah looked around wildly, but she could hear nothing until finally, a chilly faint voice echoed softly off the cold stone walls. It was that hateful voice, the delicate knife slicing through silk.
Welcome to my nightmare
I think you're gonna like it
'Jathan!' she thought angrily.
I think you're gonna feel you belong
"Where's it coming from?" Sarah asked, trembling.
"The royal court," said Amalthea, "Do not fear, my brave girl. I'll not let him harm you." She turned her head to touch Sarah's forehead with her horn again, pulsing with a soft hum. She instantly felt strong and hopeful again; it occurred to her that Amalthea had been the one who'd sung with her at the gate.
"Thank you, Amalthea," she sighed, "Let's go." They continued their gallop and followed the voice of the Gargoyle King.
Welcome to my nightmare
Yeah
They were of one mind now; Amalthea's horn glowed with anger and Sarah had her sword poised as they ran at the door to the court. For all her daintiness, Amalthea's hooves were as hard as diamonds and burst the door open!
"All right, Jathan!" Sarah shouted, "Jig's up! Where are you?" She dismounted and looked around; the place was shrouded in mist like an early morning fog on a lake. Amalthea stayed half-curled around Sarah with her horn pulsing as they walked through the court hall.
Welcome to my breakdown
His voice seemed to swoop low over them.
I hope I didn't scare you
That time, his voice was right behind her and she screamed and spun around to attack, but he was gone.
"There!" pointed Amalthea. He was leaning against a pillar in his black clothes with that sick smile and his deck of cards.
That's just the way we are
when we come down
"I'm not playing around, Jathan!" Sarah yelled as she brandished her sword in both hands, "Where's the Goblin King?" He didn't answer.
Welcome to my breakdown
Yeah
He slipped behind the pillar and disappeared; Sarah gave chase and the mist cleared to reveal the unconscious Goblin King—still bleeding in his owl feather cape—lying in the middle of the hall.
"Jareth!" Sarah cried as she ran to him.
"Stop, Sarah!" cried the unicorn. She did and looked up to see the screeching crow rocketing down towards her. This time she smacked him to the side with the flat of her sword.
"Guard the Goblin King, Amalthea!" she said, "I'll handle Jathan!"
Amalthea pranced over to his huddled form and touched his bleeding leg with her horn; it was healed instantly. He groaned and cracked his eyes open.
"Lord Jareth," she whispered, "Are you all right?"
"Amalthea," he croaked, "Where…is she? Where is…my…" He lost consciousness!
"Your Majesty!" the unicorn gasped. She heard the crow screech again and stood protectively over him.
"Don't come any closer!" she warned.
"Seriously, Your Highness," Sarah called, "It doesn't have to be this way! There's no need for violence!"
"Ha!" barked his voice from above, "You're the one holding the sword!"
"And you're the one trying to peck my brains out!" she replied, "So we're even! Now why don't you assume human form, I'll put my sword down, and we can settle this like grown-ups?"
"I know what you're trying to do, human," he echoed quietly, "You're just trying to protect your precious Goblin King!" Sarah blushed and looked back at Jareth.
As she stared at him, she felt something settle on her heart; it was soft as snow but the longer she looked at him, the more it solidified into a hardened resolve. A light glowed from within that filled her with happiness. She looked back up.
"Of course I'm trying to protect him," she smiled, "He's the man I love!"
As if on cue, magic light emanated from her body and small lights flew around her and changed her outfit into a white and more fancily detailed version of her play dress. Her hair changed, too—it was now wavy and the top half was in a ponytail. Even her sword was different! It was now a medieval English-looking sword with a white blade and a gold hilt.
"What's going on?" she murmured as she looked at herself.
"Sarah," the unicorn exhaled, "you've become a princess!"
"Huh?" she raised an eyebrow.
"It's true," said Jathan. She spun back to see him leaning against a pillar with a foot up to it, shuffling his card deck in the air like there was an invisible table. He had a brooding face and didn't look at her.
"You've declared your love for the Goblin King," he continued, "and now you're his princess." He held up the Queen of Hearts card again. From his perspective, Sarah fit right inside it.
"The queen of his heart," he said quietly. Sarah's cheeks turned pink.
"Jathan," she asked, "why do you hate your brother?" He didn't answer; he just stared at her and magically shuffled his cards from one hand to the other.
"Because he took everything away from me," he finally said slowly, "The attention of my parents, the affection of my sister, and now the loyalty of my gatekeeper."
"Jareth didn't win Lea's friendship," said Sarah, "I did. She liked the way I sang at the gates and decided to help me."
"But you're affiliated with the Goblin King," Jathan glared, "Therefore, your victories are his victories."
"Bullcrap!" Sarah spat, "You're just coming up with more reasons to hate him! I know why you really hate him, and believe me: I know how you feel."
Jathan's cards landed in his left hand and with his right he flipped out a Joker!
"That was the wrong thing to say," he hissed. Sarah blinked and the crow came charging at her again!
She stood her ground, dropping her sword and parting her feet. When he came just close enough, she grabbed the bird around his throat, cutting off his squawk. He beat his wings and flailed around, trying to scratch her wrists with his claws and squawking in a strangled choke (and you can imagine how nasty that sounds coming from a crow). Sarah did not let up.
"Listen to me!" she said as she shook him a couple of times to stun him still, "Listen! I know you don't believe me, but I know where you're coming from! I have a little brother, too!"
He stopped thrashing; his foot slipped down her hand harmlessly and he fixed her with one of his beady eyes. She knelt down.
"I used to be an only child," she said, "When Toby was born, I was so jealous and angry. Suddenly, I wasn't the 'only child' anymore; I was the 'big sister' with responsibilities to my baby brother that I didn't want! Changing, feeding, playing, watching—I did it all and I hated it! I felt like I'd lost my place in the family because of one stupid baby. I started to think Toby had ruined my whole life just for being born and that we'd all be better off without him! Finally I wished out loud that the goblins would take him away and sure enough, they did.
"You'd think I'd have been happy to get rid of him, right? Well, I wasn't. I was horrified. And I realized that…as much as I thought I hated my brother, I still didn't want anyone to hurt him! However I felt about him, he was still my brother and I had to save him." She bowed her head for a moment.
"I can't really explain it," she continued, "I just…I just had to save him. Whether I like it or not, we're family and family helps each other, no matter what. I love Toby with all my heart…and it took his kidnapping to make me realize that. I'm ashamed of that, but I'm also glad it happened. It made me grow; it made me strong. And it gave me the relationship with Toby that I have today.
"Looking back on it, I know if I hadn't tried, I'd never see Toby again. I wouldn't be as close to him as I am now…and I would've regretted it for the rest of my life…(She looked at him seriously)…just like you'll regret it if you kill your brother."
No one said anything for a while; Amalthea watched from Jareth's side; he was still in his feathers and still unconscious.
"You're not a bad person, Your Highness," Sarah gently continued, "You just want your parents to remember that you're there. You want them to smile at you, right? You just want to be told 'good work, son.' That's all you wanted, isn't it?"
The crow's eyes quivered emotionally and his feathers began to fall off and multiply and swell until he disappeared; the feathers blew away to reveal Jathan slumped over on his knees with his head bowed, his arms limp, and his cards strewn around him. His hair curtained his face and his shirt was white and ruffled, like Jareth's. His royal medallion hung on his chest with its dark purple amethyst.
"Yes," he said softly. He lifted his face to her and she saw tear streams down his cheeks. His eyes were soft and pitiful.
"That's all I wanted," he said quietly, "More than anything…I just wanted…their attention. That's all."
Sarah guessed that his parents had tried their best to reassure him of their love for him as Jemna had done, but he was so consumed with hate he hadn't noticed. She gently took his shoulders.
"Do you think killing your brother is the best way to get it?" she gently asked.
"I wanted to kill him," he shuddered, "I…I really wanted to! But I couldn't…I couldn't do it! Why? Why couldn't I do it?"
Sarah touched his face and stroked it with her thumb.
"Because deep down," she smiled, "you do love him." Jathan stared at her in mild surprise. Sarah smoothed his hair down a bit.
"Your parents love you, Jathan," she said, "They're waiting for you to come back to them. Jemna's waiting, too; she wants you to remember that she loves you. And Jareth…all he's ever wanted from his big brother was his love. He doesn't hate you, nor does he want you to hate him. Come on, Jathan."
Jathan started crying in earnest; he clung to Sarah with his face in her shoulder. She held him silently, like a mother with a crying child.
"I'm sorry, Sarah," he wept, "I'm sorry!" He pulled back, holding onto her shoulders.
"You don't need to apologize to me," she said.
"Yes, I do," he replied, "I used Amalthea to lure you here and hurt Jareth! I used you to get at him and ended up hurting Jemna, too! I always hurt the ones close to me."
"Then let's change that," said Sarah, "It's never too late to change." She stood up, pulling him with her.
"Let's start by waking Jareth up," she smiled.
There were battle noises outside the windows; the gargoyles!
"I'll call them off," said Jathan as he ran to the balcony. Sarah knelt at Jareth's side; she turned him over carefully to his back and moved his hair out of his face. He looked gorgeous when he was asleep.
"How do I wake him up?" she asked helplessly.
"An excellent question," said the unicorn, "but I'm afraid I don't know."
"Oh," Sarah clicked, "I do know. I can't believe I forgot."
"What?" asked Amalthea. Sarah closed her eyes and chuckled.
"It happens in every story," she said, "like an essential element…The first kiss of true love." She held Jareth's face in one hand; it was smooth and perfect. She blushed.
"Curse you, Jareth," she smiled as she got closer to him, "and curse me, too."
Many teenage girls try to imagine how their first kiss will be; very few imagine kissing an unconscious man wearing owl feathers with a unicorn watching. But it was perfect for Sarah.
She eased herself back up and watched him; he groaned uncomfortably and opened his eyes. He blinked.
"Sarah," he breathed and touched her face, "I knew you were a princess."
"Welcome back," she smiled. He sat up and his owl feathers disappeared.
"Your dress," he said, "You've…"
"I'm sorry you missed it," she said, "but yeah: I am a princess now…yours." He looked amazed for a minute, then looked up at the pillar closest to them. Jathan was against it with his hands to the stone. He looked ashamed.
"Jareth," he said self-consciously, "I know it isn't enough to apologize for all I've done, but…but I know now. So…I'm sorry. For everything." He walked to them and knelt.
"I have a lot of work to do to fix what I've done," he said, "I know there are some things I can never undo…" He looked at Jareth's face and immediately dropped his gaze; obviously, he remembered what he'd done to his eye.
"…but I'm going to fix what I can," he promised, "starting with you. Jareth…can you ever possibly forgive me for what I've done, how I've treated you?"
Sarah watched his face, not really sure how he'd react. Finally, Jareth touched his brother's shoulder.
"Just promise me one thing," he said.
"Anything," said Jathan fervently.
"Don't steal any more unicorns," Jareth smirked. Jathan looked surprised and glanced at Sarah; seeing her amused smile caused him to smile with relief.
"What will you do now?" Sarah asked.
"I must go to my parents in the Dragon City," he replied, "but first I must speak to my subjects." He looked at Jareth. "Go. Take your princess and the unicorn. Natella will meet you at the lake, or Lea will simply fly you across, if you prefer. Go quickly; the gargoyles are attempting to storm the castle."
"Right." Jareth got to his feet with some assistance from Sarah and Amalthea had him put his arm around her neck. As the unicorn started to leave with him, Sarah went to Jathan.
"Will you be okay?" she asked.
"Yes," he bowed, "thanks to you…my lady." He kissed her hand with the humility of a poor man before his queen. "Now go; return what you came for." She gripped his hand, curtsied, and ran out with Amalthea and Jareth.
Author's Review:
Yay for Sarah! She rescued Amalthea and declared her love for Jareth at long last! I'll bet none of y'all were expecting Jay-Jay to end up like this, did ya? I told you guys, this is heavily flavored with Fruits Basket spice. (bleh, sorry) I did have an idea of Jathan charging at the two lovers and then Amalthea running him through with her horn, but I decided this was more meaningful. I hope y'all agree.
As you can probably tell, there are some loose ends here that, I assure you, will be tied up in a nice, clean little bow. Those loose ends, of course, include Lea's personal hatred for her king, Jemna's unexplained loneliness expressed in chapter 9 or 10, whichever it was, and there's another childhood anecdote related to the injury of Jareth's eye that will be told from Jemna's perspective, and while I don't plan to go into detail with it, I will mention Jay-Jay's reunion with his parents. I don't want to go too much into it partly because this story isn't really about him (though I fear it may have turned out that way) and because I just don't feel like it. :P
And just to throw it out there, Toby and Jemna have been watching the entire adventure in Jemna's stone basin (every ruler has one) and Toby heard every word Sarah said…which means he now knows how Sarah felt about him at first. Oh, boy; how are we gonna handle THAT one? Good luck, Sarah! LOL
Oh, and that short rendition of Alice Cooper's "Welcome To My Nightmare" is the version seen and heard on The Muppet Show, season 3; it's on YouTube. GO WATCH IT! Just type in "Alice Cooper on the Muppet Show" or something. It's lots of fun and Kermit keeps freaking out! Anyway, I should probably remind y'all that Jay-Jay is directly modeled on Alice Cooper (except for the mascara on his face—that's creepy), so he should have a creepy Alice Cooper song! ^_^ I DON'T OWN IT, btw.
And that's it for this chappy! Please leave me some nice reviews, and feel free to take a cookie from the tray! :D