Disclaimer: See previous chapters
Last Time:
"Honou's taken to Clarica," Jareth announced.
Jason looked up sharply, moldy cheese forgotten. "Honou likes someone?"
Jareth sighed inwardly, knowing that even if Honou came to kill him for setting Jason loose upon his relationship, Jareth's sanity was intact for another day. "Yes. Clarica."
"Hm… that's odd…"
"That's what I said."
"I mean he hasn't liked anyone since Rikki died." Jareth hummed his agreement. A slow grin spread over the amber haired man's face. "I suppose this means we get to torment him mercilessly?"
"Yes," Jareth's grin matched Jason's. "Yes we do."
It was a testament to how much Honou liked them that they weren't burned to a crisp when he took Clarica back to his home.
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Chapter 20 (April 14th)
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Sarah was not a happy camper.
After being awoken at three minutes past eight by a bubby, hyper blond shrieking fae, she'd nearly destroyed her room when the shrieking fae leapt on top of her unconscious form, startling her awake, her magic exploding around her. Luckily Kira had overestimated the power of her jump and had fallen off the other side before Sarah's magic exploded. Sarah had been sitting up, panting and looking around for the source of her distress when the woman leapt to her feet, scaring her once again, and eagerly shouted "get up! We're going shopping!"
Sarah's protests had fallen on deaf ears as she was shoved into the bathroom, clothes flung after her. The constant every three minute knocking kept her from falling back to sleep and just put her in a fouler mood. Jareth had been no help as he'd mysteriously vanished. Kara had been emitting a deathly aura when they met up with her, Evie and Samra in the library. Samra and Evie were chatting lightly, both looking refreshed for the ridiculously early hour.
Without a 'good morning' from any of them or the offer of breakfast or an explanation as to why exactly she was being awoken and forced to interact with the public aboveground, Sarah found herself standing before a clothing store, Kira excitedly dragging everyone within.
Praying to every deity she knew and ones she didn't, Sarah luckily escaped the blond's clutches long enough to make her way to Dieter's Heaven and get some hot chocolate and doughnuts from Reishka. The Russian barely had time to shove the objects into her hands and ask what was wrong before Kira reappeared with a loud "Sarah! There you are! Stop eating and let's go! We've got stuff to do!" which attracted the entire restaurant's attention as Sarah was dragged out by the back of her shirt, trying to eat her doughnut before Kira could steal it.
Three hours later, having been poked, prodded and pushed into several dozen different gowns, Sarah had finally returned to her bedroom, hoping against everything that she could just go back to sleep and ignore the world until someone told her why the hell she needed a new dressed only to find a pissed off panther snarling at the world. Haimon asked (in his "I'm not her friend. You are." way) for her to fix Valdis before the blue haired panther killed someone messily and he had to clean it up.
That took nearly an hour to complete bring her horrible day up to an entire five hours of hell nearing one o'clock with only a doughnut and half a hot chocolate in her stomach (Kara had begged for the other half). To make matters worse, Jason was on a sugar high, the cook thought she was the one who'd destroyed lunch and Jareth was nowhere to be found.
She took the chance and darted into Jareth's room, hoping against everything that everyone would leave her alone for a few hours to get some shut eye. Nearly forty-five minutes after she'd laid down, a hand on her shoulder made her awake sharply and turned with a snarling "what?!"
Jareth blinked at her. "Are you alright? You do know you're in my room, yes?"
She sighed and ran a hand through her hair. "Yes. I know… am I bothering you?"
"No," he replied in surprise. "Are you okay?"
"Your sister is on the top of my 'need to kill' list, but otherwise I'm fine." She rubbed her eyes. "I just need to sleep."
He smiled warmly and kissed her forehead. "Then sleep." Reaching around he grabbed a stack of papers on the dresser and climbed in beside her. "I'll keep watch." She let out a happy sigh and pushed her face into his side wrapping her arms around his waist.
"You're my favorite Jareth, no matter what anyone says." He laughed and hugged her tighter.
Sarah's day was looking indefinitely better after that.
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By the time three o'clock was rolling around, Sarah had a fantastic nap and was slowly awaking to fingers running through her hair. She blinked opening her eyes and found a white shirt filling her vision. Looking up, a mismatched gaze moved from the paper in his hand to her, a smile alighting Jareth's face. "Feeling any better?" he asked.
She nodded and stretched, yawning. "Much better. Thank you Jareth."
"Not a problem." He sat up and set the three quarters of work he'd gotten done to the side and left the others where they were. "Kira came looking for you. Said you needed to get ready for the party."
"What party?" she asked in confusion as she slipped off the bed and stretched.
An eyebrow rose. "Kira and Kara's birthday party."
"What?!" she shrieked. "Why didn't they tell me earlier?"
He shrugged. "I think they assumed you knew. It's not really a 'birthday' party, per say, as no one's expected to bring gifts. It's more like an informal get together, hang out, cause chaos party."
"Sounds like Kira," she said with a dark grumble. Her stomach seconded that. "I'm hungry."
"You missed lunch," he offered lightly.
"And breakfast." An eyebrow rose again. "I shared with Kara."
"What time did Kira wake you up exactly?"
"Eight o' three," Sarah replied with a dark glower to which Jareth winced. "Kira will suffer appropriately, most likely by the transformation of all of her food into broccoli."
"That would be a most excellent form of revenge my dear," Jareth replied happily, glad he was out of the crossfire. "But for now, would you like me to acquire some food for you?" Her stomach growled again and she blushed as he grinned. "I'll take that as a yes."
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Lunch with Jareth had been a blast. She'd forgotten the chef thought she was responsible for lunch's disaster and had stepped merrily into the kitchen only to dodge a steak knife. Racing around hadn't seemed like a good idea with such low blood sugar so she'd taken to using Jareth as a shield as the older man yelled at her around his lord. Jareth had been amused for ten minutes before explaining to the chef that Sarah had been aboveground all morning so it hadn't been her.
Grudgingly, the cook made her a sandwich and shooed her out of the room. Jareth just laughed at her as they took a seat in the dining room, a pout on her lips. "It wasn't even me!" she protested.
"It was me!" She let out a startled yelp, leaping to her right and nearly landing in Jareth's lap. Jason grinned at the two shocked faces that greeting him as he crawled out from under the table. "I've been in hiding ever since!" Both stared at him. "What?" he asked in confusion.
"Jason," Sarah said slowly as if confronting a wild animal. "Is there a reason you're wearing a pink dress?"
He cocked his head then shrugged. "Nope. Not really." At Jareth's 'I will disown you as my best friend for real this time' look, he added, "except Kira made me wear it." He twirled. "I look like a man-Kara!"
Hysterical laughter at the doorway made him turn and smile widely at Kira falling to the ground in laughter and Kara looking furious. Sarah grinned and bit into her sandwich, leaning back against Jareth's chest, the fae snatching one of her fries to eat. Yup. Her day was definitely getting better.
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"Anyone seen Sarah?" Alan, Jason and Jareth turned to Kira as she walked up, the men standing outside of the dance hall to avoid a couple Kira had invited despite their expressed wishes the couple not attend.
"Nope," Jason chirped. "We think she's in hiding from you… oops. I wasn't supposed to tell you that." Jareth rolled his eyes and Alan snorted.
Kira put her hands on her hips. "You'd think Sarah would at least stop to say hello to the birthday girl."
"I think she's still mad at you for waking her up at eight o'clock. And I still think I should've worn that dress," Jason argued, crossing his arms.
Alan jerked his head towards him a wicked grin decorating his face. "What?!" he asked eagerly. "What dress?!" Before Jason could tell him, Kira had grabbed her husband's arm and was dragging him to the dance floor.
Jareth rolled his eyes. "Goddess above Jason. What the hell is wrong with you?"
"Lots-" Jason gasped as he suddenly felt something searing his chest. He let out a holler of pain and reached into his shirt, pulling the burning piece of metal off of his chest. The necklace was glowing brightly and he paled. "Kara."
"What?" Jareth asked then jumped as the man bolted past him. "Jason!"
Jason tore through the hallway to the party and threw the doors open. People nearby looked at him, startled at his sudden fearful appearance. "Where's Kara?!" he shouted.
Evie, who stood nearby, motioned down the hall. "She dragged Samra with her and Sarah to the kitchen." He tore down the hallway, Jareth, who'd just appeared at his side scowling and transforming, flying beside him. Reaching the kitchen, he found only the chef and a few servants standing there. "Where's Kara?"
The chef scowled. "Sarah tried to destroy something so she dragged her outside."
A servant stepped forward. "I believe they were headed for the barn. Sarah wanted to show them something." Jason was gone before she finished. Jareth growled and bolted after him.
"Jason. What's wrong?" he asked, running beside him.
"The necklace Kara gave me got really hot. It means she needs me."
Jareth frowned in worry and picked up his speed. A loud whinny drew both of their attentions to the barn. Scarab raced out, eyes wild in fear, a figure on her back. She reared and kicked, trying to throw the person on her back off. Jareth was by her side in an instant, grabbing the man and throwing him off. He landed heavily and dissolved. "The hell?!" Jason cried.
Scarab whinnied fearfully, still hopping around. "Scarab!" Jareth ordered sharply. "Calm down." She quivered in fear. "Go to the pasture. Now." She turned on her heel and ran. Jareth stalked towards the barn and peeked in. Samra was in the arms of someone, their hand around her mouth and holding her tightly. Kara was on the ground, sword at her throat, the man behind her holding her hair. Sarah was in front of the obvious leader, face defiant and his hand at her throat. Jareth produced a crystal and whispered for Toroku to join them quickly at the barn but to keep silent about it.
"How do you know he'll come?" Sarah spat. "Last I noticed he was enjoying the party."
"Then I'll kill you to weaken him," the man responded.
"Ever think that maybe we're just together for show?" she sneered. "We're not together for the fun of it. It's an act you imbecile."
He frowned in confusion. "Excuse me?"
She rolled her eyes. "It's a strategy for the war! Word went through that I defeated his Labyrinth after what occurred. If he won over the girl that defeated him, the Goblin King, one of the most powerful creatures in the Underground, how much power could that convey? Hmm? We'd be the most powerful nation in the Underground!" She rolled her eyes again. "People seem to listen to me when I speak about matters of war. I'm merely a negotiator, here to help his side. We're not together. We're not in love. He won't come to save me. He'll come to kill you for trespassing my dear." She smirked. "Sorry to burst your bubble."
Jason glanced at Jareth who'd swallowed uneasily. "It's an act," he whispered. "Focus."
The man smirked. "Sorry my dear, if I don't believe you."
She shrugged. "Oh well. Your loss." She motioned to her neck. "If you could, ya know, let go? It's getting a little difficult to breathe."
"Yet you still breathe." His grip tightened.
"Pity that," she replied with a gasp, hands at her side twitching to keep them there.
"Oh goddess, stop talking Sarah!" Kara snapped angrily then yelped as the man tugged at her hair. Jason quivered in anger. A raven flew in out of nowhere and landed lightly beside Jareth. "What's up?" Toroku asked. Jareth motioned to the barn and Toroku glanced in then fisted his hands, knuckles cracking dangerously.
"How do we do this?" Jason whispered.
Sarah had begun talking again. "You know, when I was little there used to be this kid on my bus who'd push me around! He was really annoying and sometimes I just wanted to hit him so one day I did! I grabbed my textbook and WHAM! Smacked him across the face with it. The principal was mad cause I shouldn't have been fighting on the bus and he had a bruise on his face and lost a tooth or two, but nonetheless, I pleaded my case. He was a jerk and I hated him. Well not hate I suppose as much as intensely dislike. Like you guys. I don't hate you. I very much so dislike you, as in, dislike you enough that were you dangling above a shark who was ready and waiting to tear you to pieces and use your pinky bone as a toothpick, I wouldn't save you, in fact, I might even cut the rope myself. I'm curious as to how they do that in the cartoons. They always put the candle under the rope to burn it but you know at the last second the helpless victim will be rescued. It's inevitable. Of course those were children's cartoons and children aren't allowed to see death. Did you know by the time you're a teen you've probably seen millions of deaths on TV? Isn't that weird? Lots of people-"
"SHUT UP!" the man roared in fury, backhanding her.
She hit the ground and wiped her bottom lip. "Ouch." She glowered up at him. "You're not very smart," she remarked calmly and took out his legs. The man behind Kara lifted his sword to kill the strawberry blond and Jason tackled him, both rolling into one of the stalls. Samra bit her captor's hand and he yelped, pulling away just as Toroku went after him.
Jareth already had the man who hit Sarah and had a first hold on his neck. "Hey Jareth!" Sarah chirped as she hopped to her feet and brushed herself off. "Nice of you to join the party!"
"Nice of you to distract them," he growled. "Don't let anyone say you're not good at that."
"I know. I should win a prize or something!"
His lips twitched but he gripped the man's neck tighter. "Now. Who are you and what are you doing here?"
The man spat in his face and Sarah cheerfully punched his ribcage. "Be nice or he'll kill you."
Jareth smirked when the man paled a bit then turned to Jason and Toroku who were holding their captives. "Let's send them to the dungeons. I'll tell the goblins to have fun with them."
"Well they have been asking for some fresh flesh," Sarah commented easily as the man vanished. She blinked then cocked her head. "Fresh flesh… fresh flesh…hmmm…"
Kara rolled her eyes and smacked her upside the head. "Remind me not to hang out with you. You cause me gray hairs and mental distress."
"Awww. Kara! How could you say that about your bestest buddy?!"
"I thought I was your bestest buddy!" Jason wailed.
Sarah frowned. "Oh. Sorry Jason. I forgot to tell you. Kara's taken it over."
Kara rolled her eyes as Jason began yelling about the unfairness of it all and grabbed Jason's arm, dragging him out of the barn and back towards the castle. He stopped yelling once they were halfway there and turned to her with a critical eye. "You alright?" he asked.
She flushed and nodded. "I never really thought I'd need to use it but I'm glad you were wearing it."
He smiled brightly. "Kara, I never take it off." Both eyebrows rose in surprise. "I mean except when I'm sleeping or in the shower cause I don't wanna ruin it or strangle myself but I put it on noise alert so I can hear it if you need me."
"Oh… well thanks."
"Do you forget to wear yours?" he asked then frowned. "You cannot forget! What if you get into trouble and you don't have it!"
She rolled her eyes. "I always have mine on me Jason."
"Good!" He wrapped an arm around her shoulders and she sighed heavily but didn't remove it.
Before they got into the dance hall, she glanced at him. "Thanks for taking me out for dinner last night."
He smiled. "No problem at all. You got me this wonderful necklace for my birthday so I had to return the favor. Oh, and the second gift is a dance."
She groaned. "I hate you."
"Love you too pumpkin."
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After appropriately scaring the hell out of his new 'guests', telling Toroku that 'no he couldn't kill them' and 'yes the council would come get them in the morning' Jareth went to find Sarah. Jareth glanced into her bathroom, raising an eyebrow at the brunette who was writing on the mirror with soap.
Sarah: 5
Things-Out-To-Get-Her: 0
"You should add Kira," he commented lightly, watching her jump. "As she'd score a point for this morning."
"Yes," she said wisely, "but I am in a good mood and not dead so it doesn't count." She sat on the counter and cocked her head. "Jason told me you heard my bluff."
He walked over to stand before her. "Huh?"
"Me saying that being your girlfriend was just a strategy."
"Hmm…" She threw her arms around his neck and pulled him into a hug.
"I was lying. You know that, right?" She pulled away and he smiled with a nod. "Good." She kissed him. "Because if I didn't like you, you would know."
"Oh?" he asked, wrapping his arms around her waist. "And how would I know?"
"Remember that spheal I gave the man? Well multiply that by about two and that would be my conversation with you every time I saw you."
He winced. "You must really love me if there are times when you just give me a smile and don't say anything." She laughed and he hugged her tighter. "Wanna go pig out on ice cream?"
"Jareth. You should know better than to suggest that," she scolded as she smacked his arm and hopped off the counter. "But let's go!" She hooked an arm around his. "Can we go aboveground for it?"
He sighed. "Anything for you my love."
"Very good darling. To the beach!"
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"Sarah!" The brunette turned from her walk through the front entryway and found Luzerne racing up to her. He laughed and grabbed her arm. "We found him!" She yelped as he dragged her after him and towards the front doors. "We found him!"
"Found who?!"
"Him!" He pushed her out the front doors with a laugh. She skidded to a stop as she recognized the face from a few days ago, the one that helped her to her feet and sent her on her way after implanting that horrible creature in her brain. She scowled darkly and growled. Luzerne jumped, eyes wide as he stared. After a second he grinned at her, sharp teeth showing. "Are you quite sure you're not one of us?"
She smirked at him. "Nah. I think I'm part goblin."
Letting out a bark of laughter, he attracted Jareth's attention. The blond smiled his dangerous 'I feel like killing someone' smile. "Ah. Sarah," he said serenely. "Would you come here?"
She walked up and smiled sweetly at the man seated on the ground. He glared at her. "Hello!" she chirped. "Remember me? The one you nearly killed?"
He spat at her and before Sarah could react, four wolves were snarling at him, fur standing on end. Sarah mentally smiled but outwardly wrinkled her nose. "That is disgusting. I suggest you stop."
"I'll never talk!" the man yelled angrily.
"Oh I know," she said happily. "But nonetheless, I will have a fantastic time ripping your fingers off one by one. I'm sure the wolves would like your spleen while it's fresh and Jareth's in need of a few hearts he's promised to his goblins and I was a horrible host to Lord Daederath the last time he was here so I'm pleased to say that now I've an available source of blood so we may chat over a drink and some dinner." She clapped her hands together.
"So what'll it be? The spleen or the fingers first? Whichever you choose the second will follow then the blood and just before you die Jareth gets to rip out your heart with a rusting plastic spoon." The man paled and she giggled. "I must say, you should choose quickly or I'll choose for you. I'm having a hard time containing my excitement!" She glanced toward Luzerne who was staring at her wide eyed and winked. She saw realization dawn in his eyes and he wagged. "You guys want your spleen as well, right?" He barked and began stepping towards the man, snapping his jaws.
"Alright!" the man cried, backing away from the approaching wolf. "I'll talk!!! It was Darium! He ordered the hit on you and despite each failing continues to send out dark creatures to do the job!"
Sarah frowned and crossed her arms. "Where is Darium?"
"I don't know." Luzerne snapped at his stomach. "I don't know!!! He keeps himself locked up somewhere! Sends all of his orders through shadow beasts! I swear!!!"
"Are you part of the High Council?" Jareth asked suddenly.
The man shook his head. "It was my cover story. I swear!"
Sarah clapped. "Well! This has been very informative! Fingers or spleen?"
"W-what?"
She blinked. "Fingers or spleen."
"But… but I told you-"
"I never said you'd stay alive if you told me," she said with a soft frown. She looked to Luzerne. "Did I?" He shook his head and licked his chops. "Oh deary, Luzerne is getting hungry. You should decide quickly before he removes your spleen."
The man's eyes widened incredibly. "But I told you!" Luzerne snapped at his face and the man shrieked before he passed out.
Sarah fell to the ground she was laughing so hard. Luzerne transformed so he could laugh as well. "Thanks Luzerne," she said with a grin.
"You were very convincing," he said, shifting his weight. "It was… odd."
"I know. But when you live with a Goblin King whose visitors include vampires, wolves, panthers and other manner of vicious threatening creatures, one gets used to it."
"I understand," he replied sagely. "When you live with us, one gets used to fleas."
Sarah wrinkled her nose. "Luzerne, darling, that's something you shouldn't tell other people."
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To all Heal Me, Hurt Me Readers and Reviewers,
So I'm back from vacation and finally have internet connection again!!! Thankfully by not having internet connection I was able to write so much!!! I also updated both of my other stories so you can see how much writing was done (mostly in the car ride… about 20 hours of car riding minus a few for sleeping).
Oh and I went to see The Ugly Truth tonight and while I was pretty much beet red and hiding the entire movie (as it was rated R) it was fantastic! Just don't go see it with your parents.
I like writing Sarah rants… it's basically just everything I think about. Her rant to the bad guy was pretty much my thoughts during the entire thing. Ah ha! My brain is messed up.
Okay! So off to finish my other chapters!
Kadasa Mori
P.S. This preview is basically all I have written for the next chapter… I need to get cracking!
Next Chapter Preview: Chapter 21 (really 71)
"Happy birthday Nikolai," Sarah said with a smile, holding out the box.
He grinned and pulled her into a hug. "Thanks Sarah." He cocked his head as she took a seat beside him. "How's this guy of yours treating you?"
"Pretty good," she replied. "He's kinda annoying though."
He laughed. "We guys are like that. It's better than talking non-stop though," he said as he motioned towards Jason who was chatting with Kira and Reishka, one of the three always talking.
She snorted. "And you don't have to live with two of them."
"Ouch." He leaned back. "So this guy-"
"Jareth."
"Jareth, right… you've known him awhile?"
"I met him when I was… fifteen I think."
"Wow. Ten years."
"Well we haven't been in contact that entire time. We met then met again last May."
"So every day contact for nearly a year…" They watched Jareth walk over to the group of three, the look on his face immediately regretting that decision. "That could pretty much equal up to nearly two or three years of a relationship where you didn't live together."
Her eyes narrowed. "What are you getting at Nikolai?"