Chapter Thirty-seven

An Obulette

"A woman with a feeling
Of loosing once or twice
Who knows how it could be
Be tomorrow"

Sure enough, as Jareth continued to sing, there was a portal appearing inside the obulette. It started as just a black hole hanging in the middle of the empty, stinking air that filled the obulette and then began to grow. Teak, not realizing that his Master was already looking, pulled eagerly upon Jareth's pants leg. He had seen such a portal many times before and knew that it meant that the Queen was coming!

Jareth waited expectantly. He was very eager for his beloved to come. She would get them out of this awful, Gods-forsaken hole! He wondered if she knew that Hoggle was dead.

The hole continued to grow until it was the length and width of a small door. A pale foot clad in a black high heel was the first thing to come out of the portal. It was attached to a long, slender leg that was naked up to the end of a creamy thigh where a black dress' slit began. She stepped out slowly, her fisted hands showing that she was ready for battle, but when she looked out from a beautiful face marred by tear stains and running makeup and saw Jareth, her hands relaxed and her black lips curled up into a smile that warmed Jareth's insides. "Jareth! Oh, love!" she cried as she raced across the floor and threw her arms around him in a tight hug.

He pressed his lips to hers in a kiss that began as a missing kiss and then evolved into a full-scale fire! It had been too long since they had touched, and his body clamored for hers! Oblivious to the Goblin who was now hiding his long face in his hands, Jareth continued, his hands sliding over Delvira's body and pressing her even closer to himself to the point that she could feel his need for her.

Teak kept his face buried in his hands. He did not want to see them do the act! He moved to a corner and hovered.

She pressed closer into him, moaning between kisses as she felt every inch of his length against her. Her hands ran over his body and embedded in his blonde tresses. "We'll get you out of here, beloved," she moaned against his lips, her flickering tongue tasting of his mouth even as she whispered urgently to him, "but oh, how I need you!" She leapt up, wrapped her long legs around him, and rubbed her naked core against his rearing steed through the fabric of his pants, pants that were already tight and growing steadily tauter . . . She grasped his face with both hands and kissed him harder, her tongue plunging into his mouth and twisting against his. Her hard breasts pressed into his muscular chest, and she lifted one hand from his face. She ran her sharp, black fingernails against his pants slowly at first and then faster the second time; with the third time, she struck!

Jareth could not quell his appetite for the buxom beauty that was his wife. She wanted him as much as he wanted her! It had been too damn long! he thought even as his pants exploded, one of her favorite little tricks. He didn't care for, at that moment, he was able to plunge, and he lost himself in her even as his face buried in her bosom.

Teak did not look. He was scared. Something didn't quite fit with the woman, who was now mating with his King, but Jareth was too blind to see! What was wrong with her? Teak wondered. She looked and smelled like his Queen, and she had popped the King's pants, so she had to be his wife! He knew the evil Helvira was dead and that Elvira would never make a move on the King. In fact, there was one point there where Elvira had almost hated the King for taking her sister away. He convinced himself that it was the Queen and, therefore, he did not call out to warn Jareth.

Jareth felt himself lost and swimming deep within the woman he loved . . .

Somewhere

Suddenly, in the distance, Kurt could hear some one shouting. He looked and cringed for there was the biggest, ugliest creature he had yet to see. Its stench reached Kurt's nostrils before the creature came closer. "Mein Gott, and zey claim I stink!" he declared. He bamfed closer to see what was causing the problem the monster seemed to have. He saw one huge, pudgy finger poking at something in an empty socket and understood, finally, what the giant thing was saying. "BAD EYE! BE STILL!"

He wondered what the Giant had mistaken for an eye and bamfed upward onto the Giant so that he could get a closer look. The other meaty hand of the Giant swiped angrily at Kurt as though he was a mere fly. Kurt hung on to the bushy hair growing on the Giant's face, and it was the only thing that saved him -- that and the agitation that the Giant was causing, trying to get some poor, pathetic creature poked into his empty eye socket. He looked closer and recognized Worm. How could he ever make the Giant hear him? He could not make his voice much louder than what Worm's poor, pathetic voice was crying. He knew Worm had to be hurting, but he did not know how to get him out of the predicament he found him in. I have to get the eye, Kurt thought. Maybe if I can position it in such a way, the thing will see it with his other eye? He bamfed and returned for the eye he had found. He could hardly stand to touch the thing, but he knew he had to get it where the Giant could see it. He had to save poor Worm! When he returned, the Giant had not moved but was still trying to squish Worm into the socket. He turned the repulsive eye toward the Giant and bamfed back to his face. Bamfing in and out several times and landing on the face each time, the Giant had his attention drawn away from Worm. Kurt only hoped that it would slow the Giant down enough to be able to rescue Worm. It aggravated the Giant. He could not get the pesky fly to leave him alone, and before Kurt knew what had happened, a giant hand slapped into the face, dislodging Kurt and making him fall to the earth. The impact would have killed a lesser man, but Kurt managed to bamf at the last second. It was the only thing that saved him.

He returned to the Giant's face immediately, reappearing next to where Worm was and praying that the Giant would look downward. All he needed was a brief second, and he could get Worm. Kurt prayed like he'd never prayed before for help.

A Shore

"Of course it's a real cat!" Didymus barked from where he had finally managed to right himself after being thrown, head first, into the sand. "What's wrong with you lot?" he yipped. "Just because it's got a tail doesn't mean it's not a cat! My sense of smell is never wrong, and I smell cat, or rather kitten, all over that wee one!" He hobbled over to join them.

"Too bad the little fellow can't talk," Jack spoke softly even as he reached out a tentative finger and stroked him under his chin. The kitten purred a soft rumble. "Sounds like a cat to me." Jack reached in his hand and picked the little kitten up. He could not believe how small it was. It fit in the palm of his hand with room left over!

"Try to talk to him, Didymus. See if he can talk to you. Find out what he is and where he came from."

Didymus scoffed. "I do not speak cat!"

Jack handed the kitten up to Will. "Well, you're the only one who speaks animal language," Jack told him. "Try speaking dog to him. Maybe he can understand."

Didymus shook his head and eyed Jack as though he'd taken complete leave of his senses. "It can't understand dog! It's not a dog!"

Will had taken the kitten from Jack despite his screaming nerves. Every inch of his brain told him that the creature he now held could not possibly be right or good, for that matter, as its anatomy made absolutely no sense, but as it looked up at him and blinked its baby blue eyes, Will knew that the kitten could not possibly be a threat. He would treat him as he would a cat, or a kitten, Will tried to tell himself as he focused his eyes on the tiny feline's furry face, and not pay any attention to the tail.

Elizabeth, who was now standing again, gently poked a finger at the kitten's green, scaly tail. She withdrew her finger even as the kitten was playfully trying to catch it in his tiny paws. "Maybe it's a catfish?" she asked, trying not to laugh as she smiled down at the cutest thing she'd ever seen. She looked over to where Jack appeared to be having absolutely no luck with Didymus. She smiled and shook her head. She knew how to handle this so-called Knight! "Surely," she asked, kneeling so that she could look directly into Didymus' face and softly stroking one of his furry cheeks, "a Knight as esteemed, honorable, and intelligent as yourself can find a way to bridge the gap between our languages and find out about this poor, little one who so clearly needs our . . . especially your help?" Her smile brightened as she aimed it at Didymus. "I know you can if you but try, noble Knight."

Jack could not help himself. He had to smile at Elizabeth's tone and her smile. Hopefully, she could persuade Didymus to talk to the small cat. He had gotten slowly to his feet and now gazed down upon the small kitten, wondering how such a marvel could be alive and in their possession!

Jack & Will's Bedroom

Willow looked at Delvira with a questioning and annoyed expression in his green eyes. The Vampiress had lost complete track of what was going on in the room around them and was instead sitting on the bed, leaning back with her neck arched at an exposed angle, her eyes shut, and a blissful look upon her pale face. His gaze shifted to her hands as her black fingernails kneaded the sheets. A moan broke from Delvira's lips.

"What the Hell's going on?" Donkey asked from across the room. "Is this a single party, or can anybody play?"

"Donkey!" Elvira yipped with a toss of her head.

Phoebe looked at Delvira, confusion on her face and envy in her eyes. "I think she's getting laid." She looked at Delvira's hands and found them both tangled in the sheets. She shook her head. "I just don't know how."

Willow moved to stand next to Delvira. He tentatively poked her with one paw. "Are you okay in there?" he meowed. He poked her again.

Donkey had moved over to stand next to the bed. He looked closely at Delvira. He couldn't see her touching herself anywhere. "I think she is," he agreed with Phoebe.

"I just wonder how the Hell she's doing it," Toly said. "I've been there before, but you have to get your hands in there. I've never seen any one do it with their mind before!"

Joxer moved far away from the area of the bed. He wanted to make sure whatever was getting Delvira wasn't getting him. He only wanted to be laid by Phoebe, not by an invisible force.

Angel glanced at the bed. "Cordelia, don't go over there. Whatever it is causing Delvira . . . " He just shook his head, his mouth hanging open. He didn't know how to explain it. "There's no one there but her."

"Maybe she's bewitched?" Lorne managed to get out, his voice so soft and low he could barely be heard. Every eye in the room was now on Delvira.

Angel moved to block Cordy's sight. Lorne looked helplessly at Crys. What could they do to help Delvira? He wondered if she had any ideas, but she only shrugged and shook her head.

"Water, mon," Sebastian called as he, too, crept up to see what was going on. "Lots of water. Throw it on her."

"Donkey!" Elvira yipped again in protest. She rose partially up on her hind paws and leapt back down forcibly onto her front paws. She shook her head. "Get away from there! I don't want you -- you know!"

"I told you," Cindy growled, her tail striking empty air. "Men are all the same. They want it wherever they can get it and at whatever cost they can get it."

"I don't want it!" Donkey interjected. "Just trying to see what's going on!" He moved quickly back to Elvira's side and attempted to touch her nose, but she jerked her head away. "She's possessed!" he whispered.

"How would you know?" Blue asked. "You've never been with a male!"

"I don't need to have been with one to know what they're like."

"Well, you're wrong, Cindy," Crystal whispered to the lioness, her gentle stroking letting her know that there was no hard feelings despite their disagreement. "They're not all like that. Your father certainly isn't."

"My father?!" Cindy roared. She looked up at Crys, saw that she was looking directly at Lorne, and growled again. He was good for her, but did that have to make him her father?!

"Jareth," Delvira moaned, completely oblivious to the commotion her now-thrusting body was causing.

"Virgins and children, leave the room," Angel said, looking around at the animals. "And yes, Donkey, that includes you. Out now. Whatever's going on, there doesn't seem to be any harm in it, and you definitely don't need to see the aftermath." In fact, he didn't want to see the aftermath. "Give her privacy and let her finish." Unless something actually attacked Delvira, Angel figured that was probably the best thing to do.

Phoebe folded her arms across her chest and stuck out her tongue at Angel. "That's not happening!" she declared. "I'm not going anywhere!"

Willow and Sebastian were just reaching out to touch Delvira again when a voice thundered through the house. "GET A HEALER UP HERE RIGHT AWAY!"

At that horrible sound, Rogue ran from the room and flew up the stairs. It only took her seconds to reach her room, and she was kicking herself before she ever went through the door. She never should have left Kennedy alone, even for a second, but she also felt led to be with her beloved Joseph. She knew he needed her. How could she be in two places at one time? She couldn't, and she had followed her heart only to fail and not be able to reach Joseph. She didn't know what had gone wrong. Now she gazed at the blood-soaked Kennedy and prayed that she was not dead. She didn't know what to do to help but felt that she needed to get her friend straightened out. Did she dare pull the sword out? No. She must wait for the healer to arrive. They'd know what to do. She prayed that they would hurry and that her friend would not die.

The House

As Carlos searched the house, memories passed, unbidden, through his mind amid bits and pieces of a song he'd heard many years ago. He had been drawn to Trina ever since they were kids, but he'd never been more determined to win her love than when they had all learned the truth about Markus. Ever since then, Carlos had thought of Trina as an Angel whose halo had been stolen and longed to be able to replace the tears in her eyes with the happiness whose joyous dance was missing from her baby blues.

Ever since then, he had been determined to become her man as he had known that he could make her happier than any other. Yet now, he wondered, doubted, and even doubted himself. He began to recall the lies he'd tried to feed her over the years and winced as his voice sounded in his head with each one. They had all been things he hoped she wanted to hear, all things that she deserved to hear. Some were even things he needed her to believe. But that still made his lies just as bad as Andrew's. Only his hadn't caught up with him . . . yet.

Carlos' train of thought passed to wondering what might have happened if Andrew had not had to return. He still wasn't sure why he had but thought it had something to do with Trina's reluctance to marry him, a reluctance he had once been glad for and hoped to be the cause of. Why had Trina been so reluctant? Had she feared another wedding day like her last one, or was there another reason? Did Andrew know, Carlos wondered, and would he have been able to make, and keep, Trina happy? Would he have ever told her the truth, or would he have always lied to her? What else might he have lied to her about?

His claims, at first, had sounded like pure insanity, but Carlos had just seen the proof of them. That still didn't explain why he had hidden the truths about himself for so long. But he had made Trina happy before. At times, when they'd all four been together, she'd even seemed happier than he'd ever before seen her.

Andrew wasn't deserving of Trina. Neither was he or any man he'd ever met or heard of. But could Andrew make her happy? Did he truly love her? More importantly, did she love him?

And if they were in love and Trina could only find true bliss in Andrew's arms, where did that leave him? He loved Trina. There was no doubt in his mind about that. He'd taken other women, trying unsuccessfully to burn the forbidden out of his heart and soul, but Trina was the only woman who he had ever loved, who he could ever love. There was only one other he had ever been pulled to, and that thought . . .

Carlos shook his head firmly. He could never go there. That one was a flame even more guaranteed to extinguish him, the moth, than Trina was. He could get her to love him before the other one would ever look at him in that way. Besides, such thoughts were forbidden, disgusting, gross . . .

It wasn't something that was meant to be, Carlos told himself, or ever could be. It was something that was wrong with him, a sickness that only Trina could cure . . .

Trina wasn't in his part of the house, Carlos realized, or at least she wasn't on the first floor or ground floor. She could have gone further up, but knowing Trina, she'd be more likely to go out. Besides, he needed to get some air and clear his filthy brain. He headed back toward the beach at a quick sprint.

The Island

She got shakily to her feet, her long hair falling as a curtain over her naked body, and stared upward at the Giant. "Who are you?" she asked, figuring he'd run off like the first one she'd asked a question to but praying that he'd stay and help.

"I am BFG," the Giant said as he looked at what he could only think was a beautiful, naked human. He thought she was the most beautiful thing he'd ever seen. "I hear cries for help and come soon as I can. No fear. I take them home. They be safe there."

"I think the other one's dead," Janeesa told the BFG. She had barely began to speak when a dark, hairy beast lumbered out from behind the Giant and hurried over to the one who smelled so awfully.

The beast squatted beside the fallen human and looked at him gravely. Deep sadness shone on its face and eyes. "Wesley," the beast rumbled out. Its voice was gravelly like the Giant's, but unlike the Giant's, it did not sound like thunder rumbling in the Heavens. "Friend." The beast threw back its head and began to howl loudly.

A rumbling was heard, and huge rocks began to tumble toward them. The BFG looked at Ludo. "You not need call rocks. They can not help now."

Janeesa looked at the BFG and then at the hairy beast. "You can call the very rocks?" She marvelled at such a thing.

"Sure," the beast answered as though it were an every-day occurrence. "Rocks friends. Friends help." He howled again.

"Ludo," BFG reminded him gently, "do not call rocks. Bad monster gone."

Janeesa looked at Ludo. "Can you carry friend to house? We need to take them to the house. It should be close by. We can get help there."

"What house?" BFG asked Janeesa.

"Place where humans live," Janeesa told them.

"I take him," BFG said, reached down, and picked up the Golden God as though he weighed nothing.

"No more humans," Ludo moaned sadly, looking at Wesley. "All gone." He did not know how this one had managed to survive, but he believed the others to be dead.

"Humans not dead," Janeesa told him. "I returned them last night. They should still be here."

BFG picked Janeesa up and dropped her into the pocket he had put the Golden God in. "We go look house."

"Good," Janeesa said. "I will keep an eye out. Don't walk too fast," she warned for she knew that Giants could make gigantic steps and realized that he might accidentally cover too much ground. "We must find the humans."

BFG tried to take as small a step as possible, and they sat out to look for the house. Ludo followed behind them at a slower, lumbering rate, carrying Wesley.

The House

Bishop made a mad dash for the stairs and raced up for Rogue & Joseph's room. Without a single knock, he opened the door and ran inside. He stopped in shock for before him Kennedy had crumpled to her knees with the sword sticking into her. "OH MY GOD!" he bellowed loud enough to shake the house. "GET A HEALER UP HERE RIGHT AWAY!" He did not move forward as he did not know how to best help the girl. He feared her life was quickly fleeing away and cursed himself for not having gotten there quicker.

A Cavern

Kyna approached her husband on silent feet, her brown eyes full of concern and sympathy. "William," she spoke, "my love, will you be all right?" Her gentle hand comfortingly touched his shoulder.

With any one else, Spike would have shrugged his shoulders with a rustle of his trench and muttered darkly that he was as right as rain, but he would never lie to the woman he loved. Instead, he turned, taking Kyna's soft hand in his, and was about to kiss her and reassure her when his sharp ears caught the sounds of heavy flutterings. There were ten, twenty . . . Suddenly, as the fluttering sounds increased greatly in both number and nearness, Spike no longer had even a clue how many new enemies were speeding their way toward them.

Kyna, too, heard the sounds. She gripped her stake more tightly and snagged two more from her trench. She tossed one to her beloved and whirled around to face the fresh attack. Spike had just placed his back to his life partner's when the cave filled with Vampires . . .

They were of all sizes and types, Kyna's skilled eyes quickly told her, and they were all out for their blood. They attacked William first before going for her, but the two of them swiftly fell into a steady mantra of fighting and staking . . .

Somewhere

Sean was so tired that he could barely keep his eyes open. He reasoned to himself that a small nap could not hurt but would refresh him to the point that he would be able to continue his journey. If Sean had known what had caused him to be so sleepy, he would have fought the nap, but as his eyes drifted shut, whisperings began to rustle in the grassy areas around him. Tiny figures began to creep up upon the sleeping Irish man from all sides.

"Is he asleep yet?" one whispered.

"I t'ink so," another answered, "but let's wait an' make sure first."

"Aye. We can get away faster the smaller we be."

They surrounded Sean completely and then began to poke and prod at him . . .

Somewhere

Frederic turned and looked in the direction Smee had indicated. He raced over with his sword at the ready. Before he realized that they were some ones that he recognized. "HOLY CRAP!" he yelled. "DAD, THEY'RE THE ONES YOU SHOT!"

"What?" James questioned even as he turned his head to look in the direction Frederic was so intently gazing down upon.

"What do I do?! How do I get rid of them?! What are they?!"

"A sword will do no good!" James told him. "You need salt and lots of it!"

"Where am I going to get salt here?" he asked, frantically looking around.

"Only two things stop a Zombie," James told Frederic, "and we don't have either one! Sunlight, which is still several hours away, and salt!"

"I have a little bit in my pocket, but it's not enough to go around." He struggled backward once more against the cake. "Come and get what I have in my pocket. Maybe it'll be enough to keep them at bay at least until Smee can get me loose."

"The weird thing about a Zombie," James told Frederic, "is that whatever part you cut off, it just reattaches itself. Don't let them touch you! You know they're evil!" Smee was still biting at the cake, but James knew something had happened. He looked closer at the last chunk that Smee had spit that was laying on the ground, and in the midst of it, lay one of Smee's teeth. "DAMN YOU!" he yelled at the Council. "YOU'RE MAKING HIM LOSE HIS TEETH! EVEN IF HE'S TOOTHLESS, I'LL STILL LOVE HIM! YOU COULD HELP HERE A LITTLE! TURN ME LOOSE SO THAT I CAN HELP MY SON AGAINST THE ZOMBIES!" In response, the cake pulled him further in.

"ASLAN!" James called out. "CAN YOU NOT SEND SOME CREATURE TO HELP FREDERIC TO FIGHT? THE BOI WILL NEVER BE ABLE TO KEEP THEM FROM BAY UNTIL SMEE CAN SAVE US!" He tried to remember any other friendly faces who had been on the Council, but all he kept hearing in his mind was Ursula laughing. The last time he had left her, she had yelled, "I'LL GET YOU, JAMES, AND YOUR LITTLE SMEE TOO!" He felt that perhaps she was behind the cake for it was most assuredly getting them, so to speak. James felt Frederic fumbling at his pockets. "Inner most, left breast." Frederic felt deeper. Sure enough, there was a bag in there. "Not that one," James told him. "The one next to it." Frederic wondered how in the Devil his father knew which bag he had a hold to. He had felt something hard in the bag. Now, that he had the right bag, he pulled it out and looked. "Use it sparingly," James told him. "It's all we have. I don't know if it will hold out till daylight, but you only need to use a little bit on each one. Throw it at them."

Frederic raced back to where he had left the Zombies and sprinkled salt on the ones that were closest to him. They screamed and recoiled, but still continued to climb. He kept sprinkling the salt. The ones in the front went poof, bringing up two more. They seemed to be endless for, as far as Frederic could see, they were still coming. He continued fighting them as best as he could, saving as much salt as he could. He did not know if he could hold them, but he prayed that he could.

Somewhere

Piper could hear both Xena and Gabrielle screaming for Aphrodite as they ran and flipped away from the lightning bolts that continued to shoot at them. She was also barely avoiding the bolts, and each one came a little closer. Piper knew Xena believed that Aphrodite would help, but she wasn't so sure. If the Goddess was coming, She was certainly taking Her time in making Her appearance.

They needed help. She needed help for her godmother. She ran faster as another bolt passed by her so close that it burned the seat of her skirt. She had been trying to find shelter in the darkness but had found nothing. She needed help, and Xena and Gabby were getting nowhere calling their Goddess. "COLE! COLE! COLE, HELP!"

Jack & Will's Bedroom

Something was wrong! Cole could hear Piper calling him in his head. He didn't have time to wait for Phillip to quit disgorging animals. "I've got to go," he told the others in the room. "Something's wrong with Piper; she needs me." He shimmered.

As Cole shimmered, Prue jumped, desperately hoping to grab any part of him. Her sister was in trouble! She had to get to her! She touched his hand just as he disappeared completely, taking her with him.

Phoebe had also jumped toward Cole, but though she heard Prue mutter "Ouch" as the Book hit her in the head, she herself was left to fall across the bed. She hit the feather mattress with a fist. "No! No! It isn't fair! I've got to help Piper! And you, you damn mirror, have got to spot spitting out animals!" Her brown eyes glared at Phillip.

"What do you want me to do with them?" Phillip questioned. "I thought you wanted them here?"

"They need to stop coming!"

"Yeah!" Joxer chimed in. "We've got more than enough! The room is full!"

Crystal stood. "Let me pass back through, Phillip. I'll keep them company and protect them, and then some one can call us when there is time for more to come through." Now that the others had agreed to letting them come, she refused to abandon the animals of her homeland. Crys looked up, however, as she heard a deep voice yelling for help and . . . A healer?

Somewhere

He was running as fast as he could. He was coming closer, closer . . . Soon he would be within calling distance, and he could start shouting for her attention. A little bit more . . . The sand suddenly gave way underneath Salem's paws, and with a yowl, he fell. He tumbled across the desert ground, hitting hard clumps of sand and rocks, barely avoiding a snake or something else that hissed angrily at him.

Salem didn't know how long he tumbled across the ground, but finally, he landed on his head against something hard. He moaned as he rolled over, forcing himself to keep from losing any time. Even a second could mean the difference between life and death right now while he was fully caught in the Council's web. Salem sat up, his head spinning, and licked a throbbing paw as he tried to steady himself. He then looked ahead through dazed eyes.

Salem breathed an audible sigh of relief at what he saw. "James! James, get up, man! I need your help! And you, Sean! Why are you men just laying down? Whatever they've done to you couldn't be that bad! Not already! Whatever it is, we'll find a way to defeat them and win the day yet! Smee, pull yourself together, lad!"

"Jareth, you, of all people, know how undignified it is to lay upon the ground! What would your wife say if she could see you in such a crumpled, withered heap? Gather your courage, men, and rise! Get up! Up! Up, I say!"

Yet none of his men were moving. None were looking at him. "Victor?" he questioned another as he spotted him. "How did you come to be here? Elf? Raven? Get up, people! Get up! We will not give in so easily! We -- "

Salem's vision had been clearing the whole while he had been talking while getting glimpses of the people laying on the ground before him. Now, at last, his pupils refocused completely, and sorrow filled his heart, dropped his tail and ears, and stilled his tongue. Blood. That was not his blood that he had been smelling. It was the blood of his men and his women!

His people were there before him, Salem realized, as he looked out over the sea of bodies. They were drenched in blood, and their bodies were pale, still, and oh so lifeless. Not a one seemed to be doing so much as even breathing shallowly. "NO!" he wailed, and then his human voice shattered into heart-broken meows.

They could not all be dead! No! NO! This could not have all been a trick! Salem began to walk amongst his people, having no choice but to step onto their cold bodies as the gathering was too vast and thick for him to be able to go around or slide between them. He checked each one as he walked over them, feeling for their heartbeats with paws that should be hands. Sadness choked him so that he could no longer speak, and then he began to find the Pirates.

Jack. Ororo. Zora. Vang. Kat. Ace. Lex. Dawson. "NNNNNOOOOOOOO!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!" Salem roared out as his tears increased tenfold. Not a one had survived. Not even Faith, he thought as he fell across her unmoving chest and finally just let himself cry . . .

Jack & Will's Bedroom

Delvira's eyes popped open at Bishop's yell. "What? Why's everybody looking at me?"

Phoebe returned Delvira's look and then asked point blank, "What were you screwing?"

At Phoebe's question, Joxer blushed seventeen shades of red. He wanted to put his hand over her mouth before she said anything else but did not dare. Only his Phoebe would be stupid enough to ask a Vampire what they were getting off with! His hand went to the hilt of his sword in case he had to fight to protect his Phoebe. He did not dare look at Delvira.

Toly had gotten off the bed and went to stand by Angel. He felt it was the safest place in the room. Phoebe's question had just set Delvira off; only Angel would have a chance of stopping her. How could women be so stupid? he thought and knew that if Elizabeth had been there, she would have been the one who had asked the question. He glanced anxiously back at Delvira.

Delvira's face fell, the embarrassment and confusion quickly being replaced by fear. "Jareth!" She jumped to her feet and rushed to the mirror, where yet another animal was hopping out. "Phillip, I've got to get to my husband immediately!"

"As much as I'd like to help you, what do you want me to do about it?"

Delvira grabbed the mirror by its gold-gilded sides. "You're going to let me go to him, you bastard, or I'll shatter you into a million pieces!"

Angel looked intently at Crys. "Can you do anything to stop them for a little while? We must check on our family. We might need to go through, and only one can pass at a time."

Crystal nodded as she continued gently lifting her necklace off. "I was just about to." Holding the necklace in her hands, she stepped over to Lorne and looked into his eyes. "I know you don't want me to, but I'm going to have to go back there. Some one must keep them safe, especially if what I've heard is correct." She lowered the necklace around his neck. "The others probably do need help, and Angel will have to help them. I need you to go to Bishop and heal whoever has been harmed. Will you do that for me, love?" She searched his eyes for understanding.

Meanwhile, Blue had flown to the mirror and settled onto the antlers that had just produced. He cooed to the animals in a long series while Crystal spoke to Lorne, and then the deer's antlers disappeared back into the mirror, taking Blue with them.

"I will do my best," Lorne rasped out. "Be very careful, my love, and if you haven't returned by the time I get back from Bishop, I'm coming in there after you." His lips touched hers briefly.

Crystal nodded and cupped his green cheek lovingly. "I'll be safe, sweetheart; you be, as well." Her ice blue eyes glanced at Angel. "And you, brother," she warned before turning her gaze back to Lorne. "I know you can do it, darling, and if some one will merely call to me when the time is right for the continuation of their passage, I will return." She kissed him again and then hurried to the mirror.

Lorne hesitated to watch her go back and then raced out the door and toward Bishop's yell, dreading what he would find. Elvira and Cindy jumped as one.

Somewhere

The Giant grunted and began to lumber forward again. His eye was once more becoming loose in its place, and he shoved his finger back into his socket to straighten it out once more. He grunted again, this time in frustration. Why had he let those things play with him? If only he'd never encountered the strange beings, his eye never would have become loose, and he wouldn't be having such problems with it. Nor would his other eye have almost entirely stopped working. In anger, he shoved his finger deeper into the socket. Worm screamed at the pain that throbbed through his coiled body, but the Giant did not hear his screams.

The Giant lumbered forward, pushing more trees aside. He suddenly stepped on something, and his foot slipped straight out from underneath him. With a loud roar, he tried to grab for the trees, but his mighty fists only managed to snatch them up from the ground and he fell nonetheless.

Kurt barely managed to bamf off of the Giant as the Giant started falling. He hoped the fall would stun the Giant long enough for him to get to Worm. Bamfing next to the eye, he gazed down into what was now an empty socket. Worm was nowhere in sight! "Worm?" Kurt called even as his keen eyes searched the area. "Vhere are you, Worm?" He was afraid the fall had either killed the little fellow or knocked him cold. "Help me, Mein Lord! I can not find him! He has to be here, and please don't let him be under ze Giant!"

The Giant seemed to be dazed as he had not moved since the fall, and Kurt was glad of it yet still he wished he could find Worm. "Worm?" he called again hopefully. Kurt moved slowly around on the Giant, his yellow eyes scanning the area. His hope that he would find Worm was growing dimmer with each passing second, but then a golden light near the Giant's ankle caught his gaze.

Kurt bamfed to the ankle and gazed downward. "Zank you, Mein Gott," Kurt said a prayer even as he reached down to the little fellow. "Worm? Are you alive?" The poor little fellow was so covered in blood, and his tail was non-existent that Kurt was afraid that he was dead. He sought for a pulse and felt a faint one. He did not know how to heal a worm. Maybe, if he could find Jareth in this Gods-forsaken land? Nein, zat's not right, he thought. It's not Gods-forsaken. Mein Gott is here. He picked Worm up gently and put him in his pocket. He then bamfed away from the Giant.

Looking back, Kurt hoped that the Giant was not dead, merely unconscious. He felt that he had to get away before the Giant woke up for he knew there was truly nothing he could do to help him. He wanted to help him. Then he thought, Ja, zere's one zing I can do to help him. He took hold of the Giant's eye and bamfed it back to the empty socket. At least, when the Giant woke up, he'd be able to see. Kurt beat a hasty retreat. Somewhere in this world, he would find help for Worm, but now the only thing he could do was continue on his journey, waiting for the next test, which he expected at any minute.

To Be Continued . . .