Even though Stacey and Hoggle had been sitting outside the hidden grotto for quite a while, the silence between them somehow felt comfortable. It was if they both knew that anything they said in that moment would have just been empty words. It wasn't until a particularly frigid breeze caused Hoggle to shiver that Stacey seemed to come to life again. Wordlessly, she lifted up a hand to conjure up a crystal orb. With just a twist of the wrist, she made the crystal transform into a heavy looking blanket.
"Here," Stacey offered, passing the blanket over to Hoggle.
"Thank you," Hoggle replied, accepting the blanket without hesitation. When he wrapped the blanket around his shoulders, a soft smile formed on his face. It seemed that Stacey had enchanted the blanket to generate a constant stream of heat. Wrapping up in the blanket made him feel like he was sitting in front of a roaring fireplace.
Before he could comment on that, Stacey rose to her feet, a resolute expression on her face.
"Stacey? What is it?" Hoggle asked, looking up at her in concern. Instead of replying, Stacey conjured up a second crystal. This one was transformed into an elegant rapier with a silver hilt.
"Hoggle, I need you to do something for me," she announced without turning around. "Get the others as far from this place as you possibly can."
"Why?" Hoggle questioned, tangible concern filling his tone. "What are you goin' to do?"
"It's time I put an end to this once and for all. I have to face the Agnostic and destroy it."
"But….how do you plan on doin' that?"
"You heard what my mother said," Stacey replied, still not looking at Hoggle. "To destroy the Agnostic, you have to destroy its true form. And that's what I have to do."
"But to do that, you have to let it absorb you!" Hoggle cried in shock and alarm. "You can't seriously be planning to…"
"What else am I supposed to do?!" Stacey cried, suddenly rounding on him. "Our home is all but completely destroyed! The entire goblin army, the Wise Man, Prometheus, Sir Didymus' family, even William the Worm and his Missus! They've all been snatched up, and we have no way of knowing if they're even alive! I'm sick of just standing around while this thing keeps taking away everything and everyone I care for! It's time I did something about it!"
"You think I don't know how you feel about it?" Hoggle exclaimed. "The only thin' I can't understand is why you seem to think it's a good idea to go off and face the Agnostic on your own. Tellin' me to just leave with the others? I don't care if that's how it's done. I'm not goin' anywhere."
"That's exactly what you're going to do," Stacey argued. "How am I supposed to challenge the Agnostic without knowing everyone is safe and won't be caught in the crossfire?"
"And how do you expect us to sit by knowin' you're off fighting by yourself?" Hoggle challenged. "You think we can all sit back, not knowin' what's happenin' to you? That I can….?"
"HOGGLE!"
Stacey's abrupt tone shocked the dwarf into silence. In all the years they've known each other, she'd never spoken to him like that before, or even given him that angry glare. But before he could recover from the surprise, the expression on his face seemed to register with Stacey, and her irate scowl melted away. In its place was a look of weariness. Moments later, she dropped to her knees, throwing her arms around Hoggle and burying her face into his shoulder.
"Hoggle, please," she whispered, her voice suddenly strained. "The Agnostic already took my mother from me. If I lost you as well…. I don't think I could ever recover from that. You're my best friend. The one person I can't afford to lose. I won't be able to concentrate on what needs to be done unless I know you're safe."
"You're my best friend, too," Hoggle replied, his shock finally waning enough to return the hug. "Which is why I can't leave. Not while knowin' you're off facin' that thin'. Don't order me to safety when you're goin' to be puttin' yourself in danger, Stacey. Because that is the one order I won't be able to follow."
Stacey slowly broke the hug in order to take in Hoggle's face, her eyes seemingly studying his resolute expression. Just when she was opening her mouth to say something, a sudden tremor shook the ground beneath them violently, causing the pair fall backward. Moments later, a pillar of black fog shot out from beneath the ground a short distance away with a loud roaring sound. When she saw the black fog, which was now towering above her, Stacey scrambled to her feet, picking up the rapier she'd dropped and taking up a fighting stance.
"Agnostic," she snarled, staring up at her enemy in fury. "So, you finally decided to show yourself."
"Why so angry, Goblin Queen?" The Agnostic's voice rumbled. "Be grateful I didn't strike silently as I originally intended to do. But I just couldn't stomach listening to the two of you waxing poetic any longer. I admit my disappointment, however. I thought I taught you long ago that you weren't meant to have friends."
At the taunting reminder of the Agnostic's trick years ago, the fire in Stacey's glare intensified. But before she could strike out at the entity before her, the sound of Hoggle's shout of alarm caught her attention. Her face paled at the sight of Primrose, who had appeared behind Hoggle and was now holding a knife to his throat.
"I told you before, Agnostic," Stacey retorted, doing her best to keep her tone level. "Your quarrel is with me. Leave my friends out of this. But I suppose I shouldn't be surprised that you're sinking this low. What better way to try and keep me from destroying you than using threats."
Out of nowhere, a sinister cackle filled the air. It was clear The Agnostic was laughing manically.
"YOU?" the Agnostic sneered. "You really think you can defeat me?"
"That's why you came after me when I was a baby," Stacey replied. "I heard the prophecy, or whatever it is you might call it. It said the one who would defeat you would be the child my mother cared for the most- me."
"Oh, yes. It was true that you had the power to destroy me. Once. But you no longer have the power. I made sure of that."
"Right," Stacey scoffed. "As if I'm going to believe you now."
"Oh, you don't have to take my word for it," the Agnostic sneered. "I can prove it to you."
Without further warning, a sudden stream of dark energy shot out from within the Agnostic. The magical attack grazed against Stacey's face, creating a shallow cut in her cheek. The unexpected hit caused Stacey to stagger backward a few steps, lifting up a hand to touch her cut cheek. When she glanced down at her fingers, she was surprised to see them slightly smudged by blood.
"Now you can see," the Agnostic taunted. "You are completely powerless to stop me from destroying this world you love, and your precious friends along with it. However, I am not completely unmerciful. I can make it so you won't be around to see it."
Before anything more could be said or done, a sudden commotion interrupted the confrontation, as Hoggle had taken the opportunity to throw his head backward, the back of his skull colliding with Primrose's forehead. As a result of the unexpected move, Primrose had loosened her grip on him enough for him to get away. The moment he was free, Hoggle wasted no time in hurrying over to Stacey's side, positioning himself in front of her.
"Well, well," the Agnostic laughed cruelly. "Never would have thought you had it in you, pipsqueak. You're really willing to die alongside your precious queen? Not bad for a coward." Hoggle, however, remained silent, deciding not to rise to the taunt.
"Hoggle, please," Stacey begged, directing a beseeching glance at him. "Just go."
"Not without you," Hoggle insisted, not moving an inch.
"How touching," the Agnostic jeered. "Very well, then. If the two of you are that determined to die together, I might as well grant your request."
The moment the Agnostic delivered this threat, it unleased another blast of dark energy at Hoggle and Stacey. But mere moments before the attack could reach them, a blurred figure darted into the path of the assault, thereby taking the full brunt of the attack. It wasn't until the figure dropped to the ground that they were able to recognize him as Jareth.
"Jareth?!" Stacey gasped, distantly aware that two other voices had cried out his name at the same time. In seconds, Sarah and Wayne appeared on the scene, visibly shocked and horrified over what had just happened. Their sudden appearance seemed to surprise Stacey further, and she glanced over to see the others standing a short distance away. Deep down, she knew she shouldn't have been surprised that they'd left the grotto. The Agnostic's arrival hadn't exactly been quiet. They were bound to have heard the din and stepped outside again to see what was happening.
Giving herself a quick mental shake, Stacey pushed aside her thoughts to focus on Jareth, whom Sarah and Wayne were trying to prop up into a sitting position. After a few tense moments, Jareth opened his eyes with a low moan of pain. Out of nowhere, he began coughing violently, with Sarah letting out a cry of alarm when he began coughing up blood.
"Jareth," Wayne whispered, eyes wide in horror.
"Don't worry about it," Jareth said, waving away the concern as he tried to stand. However, it was clear he was in severe agony, clutching at his chest.
"No, don't!" Sarah insisted. "Try to save your strength!"
"I have strength enough for this," Jareth insisted, his face still contorted from the pain. With this vow, Jareth held out his hands, palms facing outward, as if he was pushing against something. In an instant, an entire wall constructed of crystal balls manifested in front of him, creating a physical barrier between them and the Agnostic.
"What are you doing?" Stacey questioned, looking between Jareth and the wall of crystals.
"Giving you time to run," Jareth replied. "You need to get out of here. Get as far away as you possibly can."
"Where are we supposed to go?" Sir Didymus exclaimed. "The Agnostic will find us no matter where we go in this world."
"Then you find another world," Jareth snapped. "Or keep running until you figure out how to defeat it. As long as you continue to exist, there's still hope that you'll find a way someday. Now, please hurry! I won't be able to hold it off forever."
"But…." Wayne stammered.
"I'm sorry, Wayne," Jareth said, directing his gaze at his brother. "I wish we had been given more time. Perhaps we'll meet again one day."
"You don't have to do this," Stacey insisted, shaking her head. "You can still come with us."
"We both know I have to stay behind to keep the wall up for as long as possible," Jareth pointed out. "Besides, there's no sense in denying it. I'm in no positon to run anywhere."
"Why'd you do it?" Stacey asked in a strained whisper. "Why would you even let yourself get injured like that?"
"Because you were right," Jareth replied. "I was… a poor excuse of a father to you for far too long. I wasn't there when you needed me to be. So let me there for you now. Let me be a proper father for you this one time."
In that one moment, Jareth turned to glance at Stacey, who did not look away. It wasn't until her vision started to blur slightly that Stacey realized she was crying.
The moment was broken when a loud booming sound rang through the air, as the Agnostic struck out at Jareth's barrier wall, trying to knock it down.
"Go," Jareth instructed, giving Stacey a gentle, almost peaceful smile before redirecting his attention at the wall of crystals to properly concentrate on keeping it up. For a few seconds, however, Stacey remained rooted to the spot, continuing to stare at Jareth. It wasn't until Wayne urged her to move by gently tugging on her arm that she seemed to snap out of it and started to lead the others away. However, as they hurried up the hillside, she still felt a pang of regret and guilt.
Despite what Jareth had said, where exactly could they go? Sir Didymus was right. They had nowhere else to go. Even if they were able to find another world to settle in, the Agnostic had already proven it could easily travel between worlds. It had been able to follow her into the Aboveground, so it would certainly never stop. And speaking of the Aboveground, what was going to happen to the people of that world? People like Sarah and Toby's parents. Were they supposed to just forsake them and leave them to their fate as the Aboveground fell to ruin due to the destruction of the Underground?
Just as the group was reaching the top of the hill, they heard the sound of a panicked 'chu!' Looking back, everyone saw Theseus had fallen behind, having gotten stuck in a particularly deep snowbank. And, from the looks of it, he was having a bit of trouble trying to get out of it.
At that moment, a horrible scraping sound was heard, which turned out to have been caused by the Agnostic, whose relentless assault had managed to create cracks within Jareth's crystal wall. While the cracks were not very big, they were big enough for the black fog to seep through. As such, the Agnostic was able to direct a deadly blast at the escaping friends, with Theseus directly in the line of fire.
"Theseus!"
Without hesitation, Toby hurried back towards the gremlin, turning a deaf ear to Sarah's panicked pleas to come back. As such, they could only watch in horror as the events unfolded, with Toby reaching Theseus just as the Agnostic's attack struck. But, to everyone's amazement, the moment the dark energy collided with Toby, he suddenly began to glow with a brilliant golden light, which seemed to cause the dark energy to evaporate away. The golden light faded away a few seconds later, and Toby stood up, completely unharmed. Nevertheless, Sarah hurried forward to scoop up her little brother and stated checking him for any noticeable injuries.
"What happened?" Hoggle wondered aloud. "Not that I'm not relieved, but…why wasn't Toby harmed by the Agnostic's attack?"
No sooner had this question been asked, Stacey gasped silently.
"Wait," she muttered, her expression showing she was figuring something out. "The prophecy. The one that said the Agnostic could be defeated by the child Susan cared for the most. What if…we just misunderstood?"
"What Stacey mean?" Ludo asked.
"Of course!" Wayne exclaimed, realizing what Stacey was thinking. "What does the word 'agnostic' mean? It means doubt and disbelief? The exact opposite of faith and belief. And isn't it a general rule that children have the strongest sense of those traits? That would mean the Agnostic can be defeated by someone with the faith and belief of a child. Someone with a heart filled with childlike wonder and innocence."
"But the prophecy said it was Susan's child who would be the one," Sir Didymus pointed out.
"Don't you see?" Stacy said. "Susan isn't here anymore. But Sarah is. And while I was the child Susan cared for the most, her reincarnation of Sarah; she cares for a new child."
"It's Toby!" Hoggle gasped, eyes wide in amazement.
In unison, everyone turned to look at the boy in question, who was still being embraced by Sarah.
AN: How's that for a plot twist, huh? Sorry this chapter took so long. Hope it was worth the wait.