Meanwhile, back in Heaven…

God, Jerry, and the many souls, angels, and cherubs who were still gathered around the viewing hole in the clouds, watched with bated breath what was happening down in Hell. There were gasps and murmurs when the Devil was telling Bean about his past deal with her family, his sudden transformation, and then finally cheers when Pendergast and Luci triumphantly arrived. It was at this point that a lot of the spectators thought up popcorn, hot dogs, and soda to watch, because the show was getting good.

"If you ask me, I don't think he would've been a good husband," one woman commented, popping some popcorn into her mouth.

"I don't know… I kind of like a man who can change dramatically in an instant," replied another, as they watched Luci smack the beastly Devil across his cheek.

"Are you saying that you like Satan?" asked another.

"No! Just… I mean, I'm a sucker for a big broad chest," defended the woman, which roused a few nods and murmurs of agreement from the crowd.

"Oh, I hope this turns out okay…" mumbled Jerry, who was nervously twisting his white robe, wincing when Bean flew in with Pendergast and kicked Dagmar in the face. "I'm not saying that she didn't deserve that, but I am saying that she did."

"Now, now, Jerry!" comforted God. "Everything will turn out fine!"

"Oi! You're just saying that because you know how it ends!" Jerry retorted, frowning up at God.

"Well, I-" God began, before They were quickly shushed.

"Shh! No spoiling the ending!" chastised a soul.

"Hey! Quiet! It's the best part!" hushed an angel.

And it truly was.

The heavenly crowd watched as Pendergast dramatically flew Bean into the elevator, the pair crashing inside, but the spectators sighed a collective breath of relief when Bean was unharmed. Cheers rang through the crowd when Luci narrowly passed through the closing elevator doors without a moment to spare: talk about your thrills and action. Many were clapping to see the angelic heroes safely in the ascending elevator, but more shushing quelled the excitement. Now the white-haired woman was hugging the small demon-angel, and a sweet "Awww!" was breathed by the crowd, with many smiling.

"That is true friendship right there!" commented one man, clutching his hands together from the cuteness.

"We couldn't just sit around and let you rot for all eternity in Hell, Bean. Heaven wasn't our scene anyways, so we came and saved your sorry ass."

"True heroes!" cried an angel, already dabbing their eyes with an handkerchief.

The crowd noticeably leaned forward as they watched the woman and Pendergast address one another, with one older lady commenting, "It is good to see that boy smilin'! He was so sad up here."

"Yeah, he was hot but like, a total moper," a girl commented under her breath, but was quickly shushed as Pendergast came closer to Bean, his hands holding hers.

"OOOO! This is getting good!"

"You are worth all of this. You are a good person, full of kindness, and you I know that you have a long life ahead of you full of happiness."

Another round of "Awww's" swirled around the entranced audience. However, this was quickly swallowed by the gasps of surprise and audible frowns as Pendergast and Luci's wings began to shed their feathers, while Bean reacted with shock and panic.

"Oo! That hit right here," a man whispered, patting his chest.

"W-what do you mean by "last crusade"?"

The dread and confusion was heard clearly within Bean's voice, as plainly as it was to also hear the tears in her broken tone; the image panned to Bean's expression, her fear and anxiety apparent, and the tears welling up in her eyes. Everyone sucked in a breath when they saw, along with Bean, how Pendergast and Luci were beginning to become transparent.

"This is it, Bean. This was our last ride. The closer we get to the Mortal Realm, the more we'll fade. We did this for you."

"Oh, no! I promised myself I wouldn't cry!" gasped a cherub, fanning her eyes, while her companion, who was also holding back tears, offered her a handkerchief.

Then Pendergast kissed Bean… the audience went wild.

"He did it!"

"OH! MY! GOD!"

"Yes?" replied God, but They were drowned out by the passion of the crowd.

"Now THAT is a kiss!"

"This is the best show I've seen in a while."

"Oh, look! She's kissing him back!"

"Ugh! I always hoped a guy would kiss me like that! But noooo! I had to die!"

"LOOK! They're fading fast!"

"NO! I SHIP THEM!"

"Eh? I see no ships!"

"NO! Wait! You can't go!" Bean pleaded.

The audience was hanging off of every word and were practically piled on top of one another around the viewing hole, forming a sort of dome over it to properly see the drama unfolding. Popcorn hung off of lips, sodas were abandoned, and none dared to even breathe too loudly. No one wanted to miss a thing.

Then, chaos returned to Heaven.

"I love you, Bean. I always have."

"NOOOOOO!"

"YESSSS!"

"I can't! I just- UGH!"

"HE SAID IT!"

"Relationship goals right there!"

Everyone was clamouring over one another to watch, while also simultaneously freaking out because of Pendergast's declaration of love. His expression was so soft, so honest, especially compared to Bean's pure look of utter shock and her deepening blush. Then, of course, there came Luci's response… and final words.

"I love you too, Bean, but not like him, obviously. Oh! And make sure my bar doesn't burn down, okay? It's not insuredddddd…!"

"The love!"

"The friendship!"

"No! They're disappearing!"

"THEY'RE GONE!"

"NOOO! I NEED MORE"

"What? That's the end?"

"That can't be it!"

"SHHHHH!"

Everyone gasped and held their breaths, freezing in their reactions, while tears fell from many eyes and runny noses weren't even sniffled: that's how engrossed everyone was. Steadily, the audience's expressions became seeped with sadness and heartache as they watched. Bean stumbled out of the elevator, the shock evident in her face and body, and then she threw the chair into the elevator's doors causing everyone to flinch. When she collapsed into the chair and stared mournfully at Luci's head, the perspective changed to reveal her face and when the Dreamland Queen spoke, all those watching in Heaven watching heard her sorrow.

"They're… gone. All of them. They're all… gone."

No one spoke. No one breathed. Everyone just watched with increasing pain and torment as Bean began to sob quietly, all alone, unaware that she was being watched by God, Jerry, and numerous souls, angels, and cherubs. Bean continued to sob for a minute or so more, before, finally, the viewing image went dark and the space returned to being clouds.

Slowly, people began to look at one another, blinking their tears to fall, mouths hanging open, not wanting to break the spell that they were all caught up in.

That is, until Jerry finally broke the silence with a loud and sudden moan of anguish before breaking out into a full out cry.

"Oh, no! It's not fair! She deserves to be happy! Y'heard the eyepatch-man, she should be happy!"

"Yeah! It's not fair!" a woman joined in, also sobbing loudly.

"I thought this was supposed to be a happy show!" wailed another, their weeping joined by the growing number of sobs, whines, and whimpers from the crowd.

It seemed that nearly everyone was crying to some degree: ranging from holding back tears and sniffling to all-out crying into one another's shoulders. Such sadness was not normal to Heaven and it was rousing the attention from other souls and angels to come over and investigate what the heck was going on that could make so many so sad.

And in the middle was God, who was attempting to settle everyone down, but was ultimately failing.

"Come now, everyone! Tiabeanie has been saved! Sir Pendergast and Luci agreed to the price of fading into oblivion before they left Heaven-"

"IT'S STILL NOT FAIR!" wailed one cherub, which was echoed by many others present.

"I haven't felt this bad since I died!"

"I've been dead for two hundred years and I have NEVER felt this much heartache!"

"I wasn't even this sad when my husband died!"

"What!? Denise! I am right here!"

"Quiet! I am having a moment here!"

"I'm getting a headache from crying!"

"I can't-! I can't STOP! Oh the heartache! Those poor young lovers!"

"They need to be together!"

"I hurt!"

"WHY, GOD?!"

"Well, I just said why-" God began again but, even Their grand voice was being drowned by the voluminous ass of wailing and crying. Slowly, God crept back from the horde of crying heavenly beings and back-stepped towards Their throne.

That is, until Jerry emerged from the crying mass and approached God, tears streaming down his sweet, innocent face.

"Oh, Jerry, please! Do not cry," God consoled, sitting in Their throne.

Hearing their Lord speak, the weepers slowly turned to look towards God and Jerry, sniffling and wiping their eyes and noses on their white robes but clearly listening in on the conversation.

"That girl, Bean, she's so sad. She's… she's my friend, and it hurts t'see my friend so sad."

"Jerry… the pain may feel raw now, but it will heal, as it will for Bean."

"But, Bean…" moaned Jerry, nervously tapping his fingers together. "She was kind t'me and, now that I think of it, Dagmar… is 'er mum?"

"Yes, Jerry, that is correct," God replied.

Jerry thought for a moment, before slowly saying, "And Dagmar was m'sister…"

"Yes," God replied again, ever patient.

Jerry took another moment to think, then another, before jumping a bit when someone from the crowd suddenly shouted.

"Bean is Jerry's niece!"

"What!?" exclaimed Jerry, but it was too late.

Once more the crowd began to wail, throwing themselves to the cloud-floor, hanging off one another, hovering in misery as they bawled.

"Bean is my… niece?" Jerry repeated, staring to the floor, before starting to sniffle again. "M'neice… and my friend?"

"There, there, Jerry! Everyone! It is all right to feel sad, but look on the bright side! Tiabeanie has been saved from Hell! Pendergast and Luci were successful in their quest. This is the best outcome!" God declared, looking a bit uncomfortable from all of the crying and sobbing people.

"Then-! Then why do I hurt so bad?" questioned one woman, her face a mess of tears and puffy eyes.

"Why is there so much injustice!" cried another man, who smothered his face into a piece of cloud to muffle yet another lamentation.

"I thought that Heaven was a happy place," Jerry mumbled, looking so downtrodden and sad. "I don't feel happy at all."

"Yeah, me too!" voiced a nearby man.

"I'm also very sad!" exclaimed another.

"I thought we were promised eternal peace and happiness when we arrived here?" questioned a man with a large moustache. "How then can we even feel sadness?"

"I feel like I could die all over again!" wailed a woman, clutching the front of her white robes dramatically.

"People! Please!" God tried, gesturing for everyone to calm down, but to no avail.

"Hey! That's a good point!" decreed a blond-haired man, who stepped towards God and Jerry and crossed his arms. "We were promised happiness! Then how is it that we feel such sadness and grief now?"

"Yeah!"

"I had forgotten how it felt to cry!"

"I don't like this!"

"I'm scared!"

"People, please! Just because thou art in Heaven, does not mean that you were robbed of your emotions," God explained in Their calm, booming voice, but it wasn't enough.

"Were we not promised Eternity free from strife and grief?" the man asked God, arching a brow at the celestial being.

"Well… yes…" God answered nervously.

"Then how is it that we feel for Bean and her plight? How is it that we clearly think it's unfair that Sir Pendergast and the Demon -a demon, mind you! -were allowed to leave Heaven only to vanish from existence?"

"Well, that's what they had agreed to. I cannot interfere with the deals of Hell, but me granting them the rank of angel, briefly of course, was the only alternative."

"Speaking of Pendergast!" a woman joined in, stepping forward to stand next to the blond man. "He was so sad the entire time he was in Heaven! If we are promised happiness upon entry to Heaven, then why was he so sad? Why was a demon allowed in at al?! He clearly did not want to be here!"

Others joined in agreement and more were stepping forward, voicing their opinions, and calling for answers.

"Why were they allowed to leave Heaven?"

"Well surely to save Bean, of course!"

"True, but look how it ended!"

"I'm sad now! Do I get to leave Heaven?"

"Do we get a choice?"

"I didn't know there was a choice…"

"Do you want to leave Heaven?"

"Pendergast did!"

"Yeah! Why did he get special treatment? And a demon too! That doesn't seem fair!"

"Nothing about this seems fair!"

"I still can't stop crying!"

"Poor Bean!"

"Poor Pendergast! He loved her!"

"Justice for them ALL!"

More and more voices stirred and called out their feelings. Fists were being raised, heads were nodding, and more were advancing closer to God's throne. Jerry, still sniffling for Bean, backed away slightly from the approaching crowd, which had started to turn into a mob with an aura of rebellion.

That… wasn't good. The last time Heaven saw a rebellion… things happened and long story short, it had been a major PR and HR issue.

God saw this and stood from Their seat, raising Their hands, and Their ethereal and grand voice boomed with Their command, "SILENCE!"

The sound wave caused everyone to stagger back, ruffling hair and wings, so that everyone blinked with surprise and looked up at God with wide and questioning eyes.

"Now!" God declared, returning to Their seat. "Now that I have all of your attention! I only want what is best for each and every one of you. I want your happiness! So, please! Tell me! What is it that I can do for you all to ensure that once more your hearts and ruled by love, peace, and happiness?"

Everyone sort of looked at one another, unsure as to how to answer such a direct question from God, and none seemed brave enough now to be the first one to voice their thoughts.

That is, until Jerry tentatively raised his hand.

"Jerry! How art thou? Please! Tell me! I want to see your smile once more!"

"Oh… I mean… what would make me happy is easy, y'see?" Jerry said quietly, hands behind his back and head down shyly.

"Yes? Go on! Tell me!" prompted God.

"It's just… I want all my friends t'be happy. The pretty white-haired girl most of all. My niece… she deserves to be happy, just like everyone here 'n Heaven."

"And how do you propose that I do this?" asked God. "I can create many things, but I cannot manipulate free will, so I cannot just snap my fingers and make Tiabeanie happy again."

"No, but… y'could bring back my other friends! Yeah! The eyepatch-man and the black kitty-cat! Bring them back, not here, but to Bean! Then Bean will be happy and so will Jerry!" exclaimed Jerry, his face brightening with innocent hope, and his sweet smile that was so genuine even the cherubs sighed with renewed comfort.

"Yeah! You can do it, God!"

"You can do anything, Lord!"

"Now that's a much better ending than that girl being all alone and sad and stuff!"

"I want a happy ending!"

More from the crowd began to nod and voice their agreements, slowly starting to smile at the idea of a "happy ending." Progressively they wiped away their eyes and began to clap and whoop and holler, while others began to chant "Ha-py! End-ing!" which gained steam and soon everyone in attendance were chanting their demand: their answer to God's question of how they could all be happy again.

God sat silently in Their throne, Their expression impossible to determine given that their head was, in fact, just a round form of light (Luci had really hit the nail on the head with his "Sun-Head" comment). They regarded the crowd, their invigorating chanting, and the growing amount of smiling and hopeful faces.

After a few minutes more, God raised Their hands, and the crowd came to a relative calm for all awaited the decision of their Lord and Creator.

"All right! All right! If… this is what it will take for you all to be truly happy and at peace once more, then I shall return the souls of Luci and Pendergast to the Moral Realm."

"And to their bodies?" Jerry asked, raising a brow at God.

"Yes, yes!" God replied, slightly exasperated, "I will return their souls to their bodies, both in one piece: whole and healthy once again!"

The crowd cheered, Jerry smiled and whooped, and God sighed before clapping Their hands once, a booming and resounding sound, and a brilliant light filled Heaven.

Meanwhile, back in Dreamland…

Even though Heaven had returned to blissful happiness and the spectators returned to excitedly spectating the unravelling drama within Dreamland, Bean, however, still weeped by herself.

Bean didn't realize, or perhaps hadn't even begun to think about such things, that she had been missing for a few hours. That was a big deal, considering she was the Queen and the castle had just been plagued by a horde of ogres, who had since sailed away hours before. There had been an extensive search for her, because the last time Bean had been seen was when she had fled through the castle with Luci and Elfo with the ogres hot on her tail. Then, once the ogres left with Elfo reportedly in their grasp, everyone began to search for their missing monarch. Every room in the castle had been searched, including the one that Bean was currently sobbing in, but she hadn't been found. This had caused a panic in the castle and everyone was on high alert and there were speculations that Bean had also been kidnapped by the ogres somehow.

Not that Bean was aware of any of this.

She was aware, however, when her lap suddenly felt lighter and she managed to open her tearful eyes quick enough to catch Luci's head disappearing from it's place upon her now-ruined coronation dress. Bean gasped, hands in the air, unsure of what to do, before she slowly let her hands, shoulders, and expression fall once more and she frowned.

"Great…" she muttered mournfully. "I can't even bury my dead friend's head now."

Sighing loudly, Bean resolved herself enough to stop crying. She wiped her eyes and face on her gloves, before she pulled those off and tossed them onto the tabletop. One of her gloves landed on the Orb in the centre of the table, before sliding off, taking the Orb's cloth with it and revealing the question-answering glass sphere. She was tired (that was an understatement) and she really just wanted to curl up in her bed, get drunk off her ass, and forget for a while the events of the last few hours: the ogres, Elfo, her mom, Hell, Mr. Scratch, Luci and Pendergast…

Thinking of the knight, Bean reached up to tug on her hair, biting her lip, while heat began to fill her cheeks. Yeah… that had happened. Well, a lot of things have happened, but Pendergast being involved in her rescue from Hell, then kissing her, and then telling her he loved her was another thing entirely! Like… wow! Where had that come from? Like, Bean knew that Pendergast had had a thing for her, what with him trying at times to sweet talk her and stuff, but she had never given it any real thought. It had been such a small thing that she had never really given it any real thought before. How was she supposed to know he actually had real feelings for her?

Pendergast had always just been just another one of her dad's cronies: another knight under his command, who did everything he said without question. Sure, Bean could admit that he was probably the most skilled of the knights, that was pretty easy to see, and that he had rightfully earned his leadership of the knights, but that never had impressed her. And yes, sure, Bean could admit also that Pendergast wasn't the worst looking guy in Dreamland, some would even say attractive; however, she had never really seen him that way because she could never get over the fact that he was, again, just another one of her dad's goons. She knew she could rely on him, though, more than the others, and that he was brave, even if he was a bit dim witted at time, but what guy wasn't?

"But I didn't know he liked me that much…" Bean mumbled to herself, once again recalling how passionately Pendergast had kissed her, which only caused her to blush more.

"Ugh!" she sighed loudly, turning in her chair and setting her arms onto the table, her chin upon her hands. "How was I supposed to know that he felt that way? I mean, it doesn't even matter anymore. Pendergast is dead, right?"

Just as she closed her eyes, a sudden small hum caused Bean to sit back up in surprise, arms up in defence. That is, until she realized that it was only the Orb responding to her question.

With a gasp, Bean read out the Orb's answer.

"No? No!? What do you mean 'no'?" Bean asked, standing abruptly and slamming her hands onto the table.

The Orb seemed smart enough to know that this was not the type of question it had to answer.

"Ah-ah, okay then…" Bean said, scrabbling her incoherent thoughts into a usable question. "Well if Pendergast is somehow alive, is Luci alive too?"

'YES' flashed once more within the Orb's centre.

Bean's eyes lit up and she smiled. "Oh, man! Okay, okay, just breathe," she told herself, taking a moment to take a deep breath, before she fixated on the Orb again. "Okay, answer me this then: can you tell me where Pendergast and Luci are?"

'YES

HERE'

"Here?" Bean repeated, thinking of what that could mean. "Are you saying that Pendergast is in the castle? What about Luci?"

When the Orb's answer flashed, Bean squinted at it and read aloud slowly. "Count to ten? How is that answer?"

Scoffing a bit, Bean leaned back and groaned, a headache forming in her temple, and the constant sound of the elevator door opening and then closing due to the the chair was not helping her patience. It didn't occur to Bean at that moment that the Orb had actually answered her first question. That is, until four seconds later when the room's door suddenly slammed open, startling Bean.

"Woah!" she yelped, spinning around towards the door, her mouth dropping open when she saw who stood in the open doorway.

But, before we continue with that scene, let's go back a few minutes to the instant after God in Heaven clapped Their celestial hands. In that instant, two sets of eyes within Dreamland Castle shot open; eyes within bodies that previously either no longer existed or had been dead and headless up until that moment.

The man's body had long been burned in the Corpse Pit weeks ago, reduced to nothing but ash in the pit and smoke in the wind. The demon's body had landed on the edge of the Trøgs' underground realm, while its head had continued downwards in an elevator to Hell. Eventually the Trøgs had noticed the headless, small, black body, and collected it, as they tended to do with bodies and other things. But, more on that later (as in the next chapter).

Let's focus on the man first.

An eye snapped open and a loud gasp followed as Pendergast sat up with a start. He frantically looked around: where was he? His heart hammered in his chest and his breaths came out in short, panicked and confused bursts. Scrambling to sit his back against the cold stone wall behind him, Pendergast looked all around and grimaced as he could not immediately recognize the scene.

"What the hell?!" he cursed, gasping for air, until he suddenly froze as his lone eye went wide and everything came flooding back into his reconstituted brain. "Wait… I'm- I'm alive!" he breathlessly exclaimed, taking in a deep breath and sighing it out, before reaching a hand to his chest to indeed feel his heart thudding within.

Taking another breath, Pendergast stared at the floor for a moment, before patting himself over and looking down to see his body. He wore a simple white, long-sleeve tunic, belt, black leggings, and boots: nothing extraordinary and looked to be straight out of his limited wardrobe. After another moment, the man's hands came to his own throat and he paused for a moment. One of his hands slid down to his chest and felt there: no blood, no hole, no decapitation.

"It's true, I'm alive…" he breathed, blinking, before turning his gaze upwards. "But, I thought- I mean, I thought I was done?"

God had said that he and Luci would simply vanish from existence, and that's what happened. One moment he's been staring at Bean, seeing the anguish in her eyes, the next... nothing. That was the price.

"BEAN!" he cried, standing up with a start, and looking around, frantic once more.

First of all: where was he? Once he figured that out, he could then start looking for Bean. He appeared to be in a corridor and, by the looks of it, was one of the many corridors of the castle. Even though many of the castle's corridors looked the same at times, it only took the Dreamland Knight a moment or two more to realize exactly where he was.

He knew the corridor well, in fact, because… well, it wasn't too far from the knight's locker room in the lower part of the castle. It was here, after all, where Pendergast had run through after telling Turbish and Mertz his and King Zøg's plan to get the king safely out of the castle. It should have worked! Except, of course, for the fact that as Pendergast turned a corner he slid in his tracks because the Arch-Druidess was standing there, smiling smugly, with her arm lifted towards him, and the barrel of the magic whistle pointing at him. He hadn't had time to react before the shot rang out and a sharp pain instantly filled his chest as he gasped, eyes wide, slammed against the wall, and slid to the floor. He remembered the pain, how he wasn't able to breathe properly, and how when he pulled back his hand, his vision blurry, he saw his hand covered in blood. He recalled how the Arch-Druidess walked up to him, stood over him, arms crossed and expression full of contempt, before she made a sound of disgust.

There was nothing Pendergast could do. If he thought hard about it, which he wasn't doing at that moment, he might've recalled that he said something to her, perhaps. It wouldn't matter though. Whatever happened, it hadn't happened fast enough, as in Pendergast dying that is, and the next thing he knew in between slipping into subconsciousness from bleeding out and blood filling his lung was being harshly kicked aside. He groaned, he coughed up blood, and the very last thing he remembered was the Arch-Druidess standing over him with an axe.

"No loose ends..." That's what she had said.

Then… everything went black before it got bright again and Pendergast found himself in Heaven. That's why he was in that corridor. It's where he died. Makes sense, again if he thought about it. His original body had been thrown into the Corpse Pit and burned a long time ago so God made him a new one.

BUT NO TIME FOR THAT NOW!

Now, he had to find Bean, but where was she?

"Doesn't matter! Gotta move!"

Pendergast started to run. He knew this castle like the back of his hand, which kind of came with the whole "leader of the knights" gig. This was pretty handy because Pendergast was trying not to be seen and he rushed up stairwells, down hallways, and through doorways. It was still night out, so luckily there weren't a lot of servants and alike out and about, but there were still guards and they were on high alert still. The queen was missing after all. Fortunately, Pendergast just so happened to know where they were all should be stationed. Still, there were more patrols out and the man jumped from shadow to shadow to avoid being seen.

The knight had no idea where he was going, yet he also seemed to… also know… somehow. Every step he took seemed to take him somewhere. He passed doors, he wasn't checking everywhere, and he even passed by the throne room without a glance.

Somehow… miraculously maybe, Pendergast knew where he was going. He knew where Bean was, but also didn't. It was confusing and he wasn't thinking about it too hard, honestly.

Climbing the spiralling stairs up one of the castle's towers, Pendergast saw a door ahead of him and without slowing, he threw the door open. He knew where the door led, what room was on the other side, and he had no idea why he was drawn to this room in particular. But, nonetheless, he was standing in the doorway now, breathing hard from running upstairs, staring at the very person he was searching for.

Funny how easy it was to find her, eh?

"Woah!"

"Princess!" Pendergast replied, before looking around and quickly getting inside and shutting the door behind him.

"Wha-?! Pendergast?" Bean questioned in disbelief, though really at this point she was just questioning her own sanity. Just to be sure, she pinched her hand, earning herself a small "Ow" which meant she wasn't dreaming.

With his back against the closed door, Pendergast felt the full gaze of the shocked white-haired woman and he bit his lip and looked down. Okay, so… he found her. Now what?

"Pendergast?" Bean repeated again, stepping forward before pausing and looking back at the closing-and-opening elevator. "But-! What? But, how-? I thought-? Oh, man…"

"Princess, please, I can explain?" Pendergast began, sounding very much unsure of himself, and then didn't continue because he also didn't know what to say.

"Okay! Okay…" Bean said, gesturing for him to stop, before taking a deep breath, momentarily closing her eyes. "It's okay… you're just going insane… take a deep breath…"

Pendergast just sort of stood there, patiently, as Bean had her moment to calm herself down. He could understand that. This was pretty insane. He had no idea why he was alive, because GOD told him that he'd be 'erased from time and space'. He died, he went to Heaven, then became an angel to save a princess from Hell, and that should have been it. But, here he was and by some divine intervention, he had found Bean without really having to look for her.

So the least he could do was give her a moment to digest his sudden appearance.

"Okay…" Bean breathed one more time.

She opened her eyes and set her expression to one of her trademark looks of determination. Walking forward, Bean didn't hesitate when she lifted her hand to him, causing Pendergast to nervously look around and press himself more against the door. He braced himself for anything but Bean simply poked him in the chest.

"Huh…" she muttered simply, poking him over and over. "Wow, you uh… you really are here, huh?"

"Y-yeah…" Pendergast replied lamely, looking aside as Bean continued to poke him. After a few more pokes, he added, "You can stop now."

"Oh! R-right," Bean replied, stepping hastily back and looking around awkwardly. "Ummm… so…?"

"Yeah…" Pendergast replied, before taking a breath and reaching up to rub the back of his neck. "I'm sure that you have a few questions-"

"Now there's an understatement," Bean replied dryly, holding her arms and frowning a bit.

"Well, I don't know what to tell you," Pendergast relented. "I… I shouldn't be here, like… at all."

"Yeah…!" Bean agreed, before gasping and quickly grabbed the front of Pendergast's shirt, causing him to freeze up in surprise. "Wait! If you're here, then that means Luci is here too! Right? Where is he?"

"Ah-ah!" Pendergast stuttered, taken aback with how close Bean was and her sudden urgency. "I… I… don't… know. I don't know! All right? I just woke up!" he blurted, before frowning and looking aside. "I mean maybe? I-"

"Well if you found me, then so can Luci!" Bean said determined, cutting him off and letting him go, stepping aside and thinking before seeing the Orb. "Oh! Right!" she exclaimed before going over to the table and setting her hands down. "Okay, just to be double sure: is Luci alive?"

'YES'

"Whew!" Bean sighed with relief, finally feeling some of her insanity and stress melt away. That is until she got another idea of a question to ask the Orb: where Luci was exactly. However, just as Bean was uttering her question's first syllable, her hands got too close to the Orb and electricity shot from her fingers in reaction to the sphere. She hissed and jumped back, rubbing her hands and frowning. "Ugh! Stupid zappy hands! Not again..."

It took Bean a moment or two more of rubbing her hands and being mad at herself before she remembered that Pendergast was still standing there watching her. She looked at him with a bashful expression, but he just sort of shrugged.

"Who am I to judge?" he said simply, crossing his arms and stepping away from the door, his gaze on the elevator. He had found Bean: now what?

"Look, Pendergast…." Bean began, still slightly rubbing her hands together, before biting her lip a bit as she watched him stare at the elevator (which was still opening and closing and was frankly getting pretty annoying).

"Yes, princess?" Pendergast replied, turning to look at her.

"Okay, well, first off, it's not 'princess' anymore," Bean pointed out, arching a brow at him.

"Oh?"

"Ah, yeah! You know, things happened… you've been gone for a while, which I get and all, but… yeah! My dad he... " Bean began, trying to find the right words, "he had to go away for a while, so now I'm queen! Because also, Derek like ran away to be a pirate or whatever with Oona, who, by the way, is totally cool now and a badass, which I guess she always was if you think about it. But, umm, anyway! I have been queen for like… a day?" Bean glanced at the night sky before looking back at him. "Yeah, a day… I think so, anyway. Unless I was, you know, down in Hell for a lot longer than I thought."

Pendergast heard her, of course he did, but it was about when Bean said that she was the "queen" that his eye went wide. Fortunately, he managed to wait until she stopped rambling that he bent a knee and bowed his head.

"I kneel before thee, my queen! Forgive me!" he declared, heart beating fast, as he continued to stare wide-eyed at the floor. Yeah… Luci failed to tell him that little detail back in Heaven.

'OhmyGodshe'sthequeenandIkissedherandtoldherIlovedherIwishIcould diealloveragainohmyGod!'

"Thanks I guess? Ah, you can stand up now, Pendergast," Bean said evenly, feeling the increasing awkwardness in the room.

"R-right," he replied lamely, standing, but not looking at her.

It really was becoming more awkward between them, especially with the elevator opening and closing, reminding them both what had just happened in that elevator like… realistically not that long ago, an hour tops, but like not even though.

While Pendergast refused to meet her eye, Bean still looked at him, and frowned a bit when she noticed something different about him.

"Hey, umm… you have a red mark on your neck, or something."

"Really?" Pendergast replied, finally glancing at her, before reaching up to feel his neck. He didn't feel anything, like a scar or indent.

"Yeah, it's like a red line going around your neck," Bean continued, even reaching up to her own neck and trailing a finger across her throat to show him where his was (accidentally just making the "you're dead" sign).

Pendergast, however, instantly recognized this and knew what the red line meant, and he hastily just flipped up his collar and began to tie up the top of his shirt.

"A-Ah! No worries at all, m-my queen! I'm sure it's nothing!" he stammered, tying up the tie and turning away again, frowning to himself.

"You can call me Bean," she reminded him.

"Right, of course! My apologies… Bean."

An awkward silence stretched between again, with Bean looking at him, slightly concerned, but Pendergast had once agains turned away from her. There was a part of Bean that was glad for this, because she could not deal with the whole 'what happened in the elevator' talk right now, but she could also admit that seeing the previously-dead knight so on edge and awkward did make her feel weird.

Realistically, Bean just needed to sleep, or get drunk, or both… probably both.

"I believe, sir, that we've checked here already."

"It doesn't matter! The queen is missing and we must do our due diligence to find her, even if it means sweeping the castle… again!"

Pendergast and Bean both turned towards the door when voices spoke outside, sounding as though they were climbing to the top of the stairs Pendergast had run up minutes ago. It sounded like Odval and… Stryker? Maybe? But there also sounded like more footsteps, so perhaps it was more than just the two of them.

This shouldn't have mattered, to Bean at least, until Pendergast came to stand beside her, his expression stern and serious. This somewhat took her by surprise, especially when he stepped in front of her when the door began to open.

"But there's nothing in this roo-oo-ooom-OH-MY-GOD!"

The door opened revealing a few guards who, upon seeing Pendergast just standing there, eye narrowed, daring them to enter with his cold stare, promptly lost their shit.

"IT'S-! IT'S-!"

"It's the ghost of PENDERGAST!"

"RUN FOR YOUR LIVES!"

The guards scurried away in fear, scrambling over each other, just as Bean peeked out from behind Pendergast. Odval then stepped into the doorframe, shaking his head at the fleeing guards.

"Buffoons! There is no gho- OH!" Odval exclaimed, his eyes going wide and him flinching away. "P-Pendergast!" he stammered, before seeing Bean behind him as she fully stepped around him with her arms crossed. "Your Majesty! Oh! You're alive… which is good! Great even!" he added quickly, clearing his throat, before looking at Pendergast again, unsure.

"Odval," Bean greeted, unimpressed.

"Yes, Your Majesty, it is good to see you," Odval greeted, including his head. "By the way… there seems to be the ghost of Pendergast standing beside you, in case you weren't aware."

"Oh, I'm aware," Bean replied.

"And I'm not a ghost," Pendergast added, his voice deep and low, and he narrowed his eye even more.

Before Bean could react to stop him, Pendergast walked up to Odval and without hesitation punched him in the face. Odval took it like a chump, falling instantly to the ground.

"Woah! Pendergast! What the hell, man?"

"Agreed," Odval commented, rubbing his face, but clearly Pendergast wasn't done.

The knight grabbed Odval by the collar, hauling him up, before slamming him against the door aggressively.

Bean just sort of watched the whole violent interaction, but even she admitted that this was a bit out of character for the knight. "Pendergast, seriously, dude. What the hell?"

"It's good to see that you're alive again, Sir Pendergast!" Odval spluttered out, wincing as Pendergast forced him higher up the door.

"Ohhh! You'd know all about that, huh?" Pendergast accused, clearly pissed.

"Umm, w-well… no, not really," Odval admitted, clearly confused and clearly afraid of his recently-dead-not-dead assailant.

"You do know!"

"No, Pendergast, I don't think he does," Bean offered, stepping closer to them both but still letting things just play out.

"He does!" Pendergast repeated, again pushing Odval forcibly against the door harshly. "He does because he's in league with the Arch-Druidess! And they both were conspiring to kill the King! They weren't even trying to hide it! They even laughed about it! In FRONT of me! She even asked me what I think about them killing Zøg, then and there, or just letting him die from his wound! Clearly he's as guilty in my death as she is!"

"I-I-I-I-I swear! I d-didn't know she killed you!" Odval stammered out, very terrified for his wellbeing at this point. 'T-that wasn't part of the plan!"

"Pendergast, he's telling the truth!" Bean admitted, coming up beside them to stand in the doorway. "The Arch-Druidess admitted that she killed you during Derek's almost wedding to a former hooker fairy named Sagatha."

"What? Really?" Pendergast asked and looked at her, momentarily pausing his rage.

"Yeah. Odval even saved me from being shot by the Arch-Druidess before she fled back to Steamland."

"Huh," Pendergast grunted, taking a moment to consider this, before he turned back to Odval and returned to being furious.

"Whatever! It doesn't matter who actually killed me! What matters is that this bastard was still in league with a now-confirmed murderer to kill the king!"

Pendergast was shaking, like actually shaking with rage! For weeks he'd been up in Heaven, thinking over and over about all of his failings as a man and as a knight, and then he was granted the chance to make things right by being able to save Bean. But… now? He was alive again even though he wasn't supposed to be anything at all? It all didn't make sense! His mind was a mess, his breathing was heavy, his heart was hammering, and sweat was beginning to bead on the side of his head. Basically he was having a panic attack or breakdown or something and Odval was unfortunate enough to be the sole focus of the knight's confusion and anger.

Even Bean was growing more concerned. She didn't particularly care that Odval was being assaulted because she could at least understand why Pendergast was mad. Hell! She was pretty pissed about this turn of events and revelations herself, but seeing the previously so eager and obedient knight on the brink of outright beating the shit out of Odval was… weird? She wasn't sure, but it made her uncomfortable.

"Heyyyy! I know you're mad-" Bean began gently, coming in closer and setting a hand on Pendergast's shoulder, "-but maybe we should just take a moment to talk about things, huh?"

"I could just kill him: right here, right now. It'd be easy. Just say the word, Bean."

Bean actually flinched back a bit at how dark and serious the man's words were: how sure they were. She had never heard the knight speak so… dangerously before. Well, maybe she had and it had just never bothered her, but the image of Pendergast telling her how good she was, how she deserved to be happy, and that he loved her as he and Luci faded from existence was still very fresh in her mind. This Pendergast, so full of anger and confusion, was very much not that man who had just kissed her with so much passion and tenderness.

Odval, on the other hand, just sort of made a gurgled sound of despair and fear as Pendergast's hands wrapped around his neck: the threat was very real.

"Y-Yesss… You could do that," Bean offered softly, replacing her hand on Pendergast's shaking shoulder, earning a look of shock from Odval. "Or! Or, you know, you don't have... to do that! Because you, Sir Pendergast, are a Knight of Dreamland! And knights don't just kill because they're mad, right? Knights are supposed to stand for good and whatnot and you, Pendergast, are a good person, and Odval will get a fair trial because such a good person such as yourself knows that, right?"

"Like you did?!" Pendergast shot back, finally looking at Bean and their eyes locked.

Well that hurt.

"Yeah, like I did. So, let him go, Pendergast. Don't make me order you."

After regarding her for a moment longer, considering the touch of regret in her voice, a torn and conflicted expression passed his face. Pendergast then sighed a heart-wrenching breath and released Odval who fell to the floor. Bean watched the knight walk towards the balcony, his hands to his face and in his hair, before she looked down at Odval.

"I won't say that you didn't deserve that," she stated bluntly.

"Indeed, Your Majesty," Odval replied, coughing a bit and staggering to stand: his face notably swelling where Pendergast had punched him.

"Well, since you're here, you can go and round up the guards and tell them I'm back and whatever, and... oh, and that Pendergast is alive. Just so we don't have to deal with the whole "Pendergast is a ghost!" nonsense."

"Of course, Queen. Anything else?" Odval asked, before finally seeing the opening-and-closing elevator. "And… what is that, exactly?"

"Oh, right! That. You can also summon up a few masons with the guards. I want a giant slab of stone or something to be wedged into between those doors so they can never close. And, like, maybe the entire thing to be walled up in stone. I never want to see that thing again."

"Right away," Odval replied with an incline of his head. "I shall see to this immediately."

"Oh, and Odval?" Bean called just as he was turning to leave.

"Yes?"

"If I were you, I wouldn't stray too far. You're on thin ice, buddy and trying to disappear really won't work in your favour."

"Y-yes… Very good, Your Majesty. I will return shortly with the guards and masons."

Odval scurried off out the door under the watching eye of an arms-crossed Bean, but once the Prime Minister was gone did the queen turn back to Pendergast.

The knight was standing in the doorway to the balcony, leaning against the archway, staring out into the night and ward (that's the courtyard area), with his hand on his left hip. He looked okay… but judging from how his finger was tapping against his hip and he kept slightly shaking his head in silent disagreement, he probably wasn't.

"Hey.." Bean offered, waking up to him but stopping a couple feet away. "Are you, you know... are you okay?"

"I want to say that I'm sorry for my actions, but I'm really not," Pendergast replied honestly, though he didn't turn to face her.

"Yeah, I got that, and honestly I don't really blame you. I didn't know a lot about the whole 'plotting to kill my dad' part, so… thanks for that, I guess."

"Yeah. Don't mention it."

"Look, Pendergast…"

"I must admit, Bean, that... I don't know… I-" Pendergast paused to reach up and scratch his head before sighing, "-I don't know how I'm going to trust anyone anymore. I feel like I'm going crazy! I keep telling myself that I should not be here, that I shouldn't be alive or-or existing! But I am, and… I don't know what to make of it."

Bean frowned and glanced away from the troubled man before coming forward to stand next to him.

"Well, I don't know anything about you being dead or alive or here or whatever, but, I guess… I admit that I'm glad that you are."

"Really?" the man asked, glancing aside at her.

"Well, sure! I mean, I guess this is as good a time as any for me to, you know, thank you for saving me from, like… marrying the Devil and an eternity being trapped in Hell and all. Pretty normal stuff it seems for me at this point."

Bean chuckled nervously and offered him a small smile, which Pendergast only blinked at her in response before looking down again.

"Don't mention it."

"And, of course, I'll thank Luci too, as soon as he turns up, of course, which I hope is soon. I hope that he's okay."

"I'm sure that he is."

Silence filled the space between them, while out in the ward Bean could hear the voices of guards talking to one another and the drawbridge being lowered, presumably for the masons Bean asked for. Reaching up to tug at her hair again, Bean looked back at Pendergast, who was still staring dismally at the floor.

"Do you… trust me, Pendergast?"

"Do I trust you?" he repeated, lifting his head to finally properly look at her.

"Well, yeah. You just said that you weren't sure if you can trust anyone anymore, so I'm asking if you trust me. Or Luci, for that matter, since you two seemed to have gotten close while being in Heaven, I guess."

"Luci… I trust him, even though I did just recently learn that he's actually a demon, but a demon who went to Heaven! The first, in fact, to do so, so yes I trust him," Pendergast relented.

"And me?"

"Well, of course I trust you! I just hope that… that you can trust me. I don't want to disappoint you again."

"I trust you to do the right thing," Bean admitted, once again offering him a smile. "And if you trust me and Luci, then that's a good start. Pendergast, I know that you've been through a lot and I can totally relate there, but I also hope that I can rely on you because, clearly, Dreamland is in desperate need of change. Even though I'm queen now, I'm going to need help doing that. So, can I trust you to do that, to help me?"

Pendergast looked uncertain for a moment, reaching up to absentmindedly rub his neck (something that Bean most definitely noticed) before a tiny smile emerged on his lips.

"You can trust me. I shall never let you down again, Bean. I promise."

"Good!" Bean exclaimed. "And, you know, the whole Heaven and Hell thing, how about… we'll talk about that, hm? I mean, if you think about it, I guess we have a lot in common, though I haven't died yet, b-but if you want to talk! I can, you know, listen or whatever..."

Now it was time for Bean to be all awkward and not knowing what to say and if you asked Pendergast at that moment, it was pretty darn cute. So cute, in fact, that it coaxed a bigger smile from him because it showed that she was actually trying to offer her help without trying to come off as being too pushy or anything. Still, it certainly helped because Pendergast wasn't even sure about how much he wanted to discuss what had happened to him. Maybe with Luci, but Bean…

The elevator's doors once again opened and Pendergast mentally shuddered as he recalled how he had kissed Bean and told her he loved her. Yeah… Were they just going to sweep that under the rug or was that going to be brought out into the open? He certainly wasn't going to bring it up… nope!

Then Pendergast realized that it had been a couple moments and he still hadn't replied to Bean.

"Yes!" he blurted out. "I mean, of course, I'd love- or well not love, I mean, I'd very much appreciate having a conversation with you to go over what Heaven's like and stuff. Mmhm! Yeah, that sounds… ah, fun!"

"You sure?" Bean asked, not truly convinced by Pendergast's sporadic behaviour, but at least he was smiling again.

"Yes! Of course, Your Majes- I mean Bean. Perhaps talking about everything will help sort out my brain and stuff."

"Oh! Umm, good! I'm glad! Then it's settled!" Bean replied, smiling back to him and nodding a bit before looking around.

Pendergast also nodded and looked aside, the pair once again awkward and unsure of what to say next, until Pendergast spoke up.

"Bean, I…?"

"Yes?"

Bean gave him a restrained expectant smile, but internally dreaded the thought that he might actually be bringing up the whole elevator thing. She really did not want to deal with that right now: things were awkward enough between them as it was.

"I…" Pendergast tried again, before he sighed and shook his head lightly, before looking up and flashing her a smile that almost made him look, well, like his normal self. "Thank you, Bean, for offering. You can rely on me and if there's anything you need of me, anything at all, you simply only need to say so."

"Oh," Bean replied bluntly, not really expecting such a rational statement but welcoming it all the same. "Right! Of course! That's good to hear! And… yeah, we'll talk soon, but right now let's just focus on plugging up this elevator, so I can maybe finally get to sleep, because I've been up for a while. Though I also could really use a drink… or ten."

"Right…" Pendergast agreed, the pair of them looking towards the ever-opening-and-closing entryway. "Can't blame you there."

Fortunately the pair wouldn't have to worry about another awkward silence between them, because shortly thereafter came the tell-tale noise and voices of many men heading up the stairwell towards them. There would be some explaining to do, that yes Pendergast was indeed alive and such, which wasn't really all that surprising because Elfo had come back from the dead and barely anyone reacted then.

But, enough about that.

Meanwhile, back in Heaven…

The crowd watching the show that was the Dreamland Drama had since dispersed not long after Pendergast found Bean and there wasn't any cliché run and hug and twirl around or kiss scene to follow. Jerry was still there, with God upon Their throne, with the simple man on his belly, hands supporting his head, and feet casually waving back and forth as he watched his niece interact with her newly resurrected knight.

"Aww, ain't that sweet," Jerry commented, as Bean and Pendergast discussed talking to each other and supporting one another. "I'm just glad that she's smilin' again."

"Yes, Jerry! Did I not assure you that everything would work out for everyone?" God asked.

"Hey, yeah! Y'did!" Jerry accused, sitting up and frowning at God. "Why didn't y'just return their bodies before? Why all the theatrics? I mean, first you said there was a price, then poof! They're alive again without much prompting, only a lil' rebellion is all..."

"Well…" God began, chuckling lightly," what if I told you it's because I work in mysterious ways?"

Jerry just groaned and rolled his eyes before shaking his head.

"You know what I think? I think you just get a sick kick from all of this! Playing with people's lives… like some sort of god or something!"

God only laughed heartily and did not respond.

A/N:

Hello everyone!

Whew! Looky here! Another chapter? ALREADY? Whaaaaaaat? Naw, I've just been sick and sitting at home, enjoying my vacation, with my mind a-buzz about this story. I'm loving it! I love how quickly it progresses and how much dialogue I get to write. As it turns out, I really like writing dialogue and I hope that I'm doing the established characters justice and writing how they might canonly respond.

I admit, I originally planned for this story to be structured like the show, in that I'd have about 10-12 chapters, but now I'm not so sure. I have a lot planned already and I'm just going with the flow! Also, please disregard my cheesy attempts at humour. I ain't no Netflix-paid writer for Disenchantment, so I will never be as funny as those folks.

Anywho! I'm not sure when Chapter 3 will come out, soonish probably, but I'm off to the lake this weekend (it's my birffday weekend) and... yeah!

As always, I love to see comments/reviews and am always open for questions etc!

Stay tuned for more!

Cheers

~Sheik