.
.
Chapter Twenty-One
.
.
Having found Alia and Scarvy enjoying a late afternoon meal the same day of her parents' departure, Lizzie joined her friends; a smile finally gracing her face since her father's death. It pleased the princess immensely to see Alia so obviously happy, and it reminded her of her recent failings towards the former pixie. Failings which Lizzie swore, at that moment, to rectify through improved behavior.
"Alia, William, may I join you?" Lizzie asked as she approached them sitting at the smaller family table. Scarvy jumped to his feet and pulled out a chair while Alia stood gracefully to her.
"Yes, of course, Your Highness," Alia said eagerly causing Lizzie to duck and shake her head shamefully.
"Please, Alia, call me Lizzie," the princess met her friend's shocked gaze before glancing at Scarvy, "You, too, William." Being older and wiser in the ways of humans, Scarvy nodded once as his astute eyes rapidly analyzed Lizzie's body language, while Alia's gaze lingered inquisitively. Lizzie accepted the proffered empty seat before continuing her speech.
"I wanted to apologize to you both for my behavior, but especially to you, Alia," Lizzie forced herself to meet Alia's guileless blue eyes.
"Your—Lizzie, there's no need for—"Lizzie stopped Alia's automatic dismissal by placing her hand upon Alia's and said firmly.
"Yes, there is. I've been acting abominably to my best friend. And grief is no excuse." Lizzie dropped her watering eyes. "There is no excuse." Before Lizzie could withdraw her hand Alia quickly grasped it tightly between hers, pulling Lizzie closer.
"You are already forgiven, my friend!" Alia exclaimed passionately then noticed her love's protective, caring gaze as he stood over them. "Come; allow me to introduce you to my William." Both women sniffed and sobbed lightly as they exchanged a heartfelt hug before looking up at Scarvy.
"Lizzie," Scarvy dipped his head and smiled warmly. Lizzie truly observed her friend's new man for the first time, and gasped as a stunning realization hit her.
"I remember you!"
Scarvy dipped his head again and chuckled as Alia looked inquisitively back and forth between them. "I wondered if you might." Scarvy replied to the shocked princess.
"Years ago...when Jareth was injured Aboveground..."Lizzie reminisced aloud in a soft voice, then spoke more confidently to Alia explaining how they'd met briefly years earlier.
Alia nodded sagely, "The beginning of your true path, William, your path to us."
"Yes, I agree, my darling," he said, leaning down to kiss her upturned and very willing mouth.
The remaining afternoon meal passed in peaceful company between the three as they created and reestablished their friendships. And such the rest of the evening would have continued, with the addition of Lady Fena and her comrades had an invasion alarm not sounded. All three started, eating utensils dropped with metal clatters, and leapt from their seats. The goblin, Skittle, popped into the dining room, bouncing from foot-to-foot and wringing his hands.
"Princess, princess, men here ...weapons...angry!" Skittle shouted.
Remembering her mother's stipulation against using magic, Lizzie hesitated; but certainly this—
Invasion—called for ruling breaking? Drawing her power with a wrist-twist, she conjured a scrying crystal revealing the invaders. Several dozen Fae men in Council uniforms, both military and sorcerer, clustered within the still decimated throne room.
"Damn them!" Lizzie muttered; aware that Alia and Scarvy hovered over her shoulder seeing the same. She gripped the crystal tighter, and looked to her friends for opinions.
"The Council...they've betrayed the King and Queen!" Alia exclaimed, both shocked and angry.
"That would be my guess," Scarvy deadpanned, crossing his arms then added in an enthusiastic voice, as he arched a brow and pointedly stared at Lizzie. "Question is, Princess, what are we going to do about it?" A faint growl rumbled from Lizzie's throat as she snapped her fingers; suddenly all three wore battle gear.
She glared at Scarvy and announced proudly, "We defend our kingdom, Captain." Both Alia and Scarvy grinned, then followed their monarch to find the Gryphons before confronting these new invaders.
.
.
jsjsjsjsjsjsj
.
.
Sarah felt cold—odd because she remembered dressing warmly in her formal Goblin Regalia before leaving for...for...where had she traveled? Suddenly a migraine flashed from the base of her neck, up the rear of her scalp, and coalesced at her temples. Thinking became extremely difficult as the pain hounded away details and memories. Opening her eyes to a shocking whiteness, it took several minutes for her eyes to adjust. As her ability to see gradually returned, a nauseating dread curdled her stomach.
"Oh no...Please...no..." Sarah mumbled, spinning bodily in a standing position around the small white room, a twin-sized hospital bed to one side. Open Leather restraints lie upon the bed, and just their presence caused Sarah's wrists and ankles to itch. Then she realized she wore a tattered old patient gown which hung untied in the back. Searching with her hands she found bare skin beneath the gown—she was nude!
"Oh, God...oh, God..." she said in a rising litany, her breathing and heart rate sped up; and some rational, calmer portion of her mind witnessed her panicking. "This can be right!" She yelled and ran to the door to look out the small window, but jumped back when the door handle jiggled sharply. A moment later the door swung open. Sarah back away in a partial crouch, prepared to fight or flee— but where? Bright light swamped her vision, forcing her to raise a hand in protection; and an unseen, cordial voice stunned her to psychological regression.
"Sarah, my dear child, whatever are you doing out of bed? Are you being a bad girl again?"
Heavy footsteps brought the speaker closer. Sarah wanted to run, but her knees shook and her bladder released leaking warm fluid down her legs.
"You
know I have to punish bad girls, Sarah."
She looked up into the face of her adolescent nightmares. "G-Garcia?" she stammered. Her lips felt numb, as did much of her body.
"You seemed surprised to see me, but I know how tricky you are," Dr. Jonathon Garcia sighed, his fingers tapping his thigh. "You know the rules, Sarah. Get back into bed." he said with the supreme confidence of one long used to being obeyed.
"I—I..." afraid to look away from Garcia, she barely glanced at the waiting bed with the hated restraints. Garcia sighed again, his eyes narrowing menacingly at her.
"Must you
always be so difficult? I only wish to help you," Garcia called over his shoulder for someone, and Sarah's attention darted between Garcia then beyond him at the doorway. Her eyes widen as Jareth, dressed in an orderly's uniform, walked in. He'd come for her! She'd called and called, and he'd finally answered her.
"Jareth, thank God!" Sarah said, but her relief turned to confusion when he stopped next to Dr. Garcia, his face baring no expression of concern or recognition. "Jareth?" she said again, her voice catching in her throat as Jareth refused to meet her gaze. Neither Dr. Garcia, nor Jareth, spoke to or acknowledged her. Jareth did respond with a silent nod to Garcia's polite request for Sarah to be placed back into her bed, and then resolutely moved around Garcia towards Sarah.
"What are you doing? Jareth, please, let me go!" she said, shocked as Jareth roughly grabbed her arms, and pushed her towards the bed. Why did he obey Garcia? Did he want revenge because she defeated him? But why work with Garcia when he could take her to his Labyrinth? Jareth shoved her face first onto the bed, exposing her nude backside, and causing the restraint's metal buckles to jangle as she bounced on the mattress. Gasping in fright, Sarah tried scrambling away; but his preternaturally strong grip caught her lower legs and he flipped her over with a jerk. He flung his body atop hers, holding her down.
"
Excellent, secure her quickly, so that we may begin," Garcia said, and Sarah heard the glee in his voice even though Jareth blocked her view. Oh, God...
Jareth...his harsh hands encircled her wrists while his body imprisoned hers.
"Jareth, please, you don't want to do this...
please!" Sarah pleaded, trying to catch his eyes, but he ignored her as he efficiently shifted both of her smaller wrists to one of his hands allowing him to work the restraints. She wiggled her torso trying to break loose, but he adjusted his weight and one of his legs to trapped hers. This position became far too intimate and Sarah felt his obvious erection press against her hip. Once Jareth realized that she noticed his aroused stated, he froze and finally met her gaze. Then he smirked and began callously thrusting into her hips. She didn't recognize her Jareth in his inert, mismatched eyes.
"Please..." she said again, begging, hoping to gain any reprieve, but Garcia overrode her."Finish,
boy," Garcia ordered sharply, "she's not for you...yet." Jareth grunted before relenting, and completed restraining Sarah. Obediently withdrawing to stand next to Dr. Garcia, Jareth lasciviously licked his lips with the tip of his tongue and blatantly rubbed himself through his pants. Averting her eyes, Sarah willed herself not to cry. Would she never escape this prison? How could her parents leave her here? Did Jareth hate her so much?
Dr. Garcia pulled up a chair, which Sarah didn't remember seeing before, and sat next to her bed. Looking passed him she noticed the room was different; they were in the shock therapy treatment room, and he was reaching behind her head for something. Sarah craned her head around, but couldn't see.
"You know how I dislike punishing you, yet you insist on forcing me," Dr. Garcia declared calmly as he attached sticky electrodes to her forehead.
"Nononononono..." she frantically chanted thrashing her head side-to-side, but, somehow, he easily positioned the electrodes despite her efforts.
"Sarah!" Garcia snapped at her; she froze, looking at him, her eyes agog. He never lost his temper. Garcia never yelled, or sounded irritated, or snappish. His constant serenity terrified Sarah more than any amount of shouting. Sarah looked around Garcia at Jareth again, who now fondled himself with a hand inside his pants and a vacant expression on his face, and then back to Garcia's calm expression when a dazzling strobe flashed in her eyes for a split second. Neither man seemed to notice her flinch at the visual hallucination.
'
Sarah,' a strange voice said. Still, neither man paid any attention. She was insane, just like her parents believed. Garcia continued to speak, but Sarah lost interest in his usual taunts as they were only lead-ins to his physical torture. Since his hand rested upon the shock machine she knew only seconds remained. Searing pain shot through her body and she remained conscious, her eyes open and staring.
"I'm sorry I have to do this to you, Sarah. If only you were more obedient," Garcia stated in a mild tone, his eyes dead even as his mouth smiled. The light flashed in her eyes again. The pain stopped abruptly.
'
Sarah.' "What?" she whispered.
"You
must be more obedient," Garcia repeated, sounding slightly exasperated. The sharp pain began again, and Sarah tasted blood. She must have bitten her tongue, but the shock treatment overwhelmed any other pain. The light flared a third time, and the pain stopped again. The doctor's soft voice whispered in her ear; he leaned closer now, so close she felt the humidity from his breath on her ear. But his words were garbled as the other voice smothered him and memory flooded her mind.
-'Sarah!' Garcia kneeling at her feet as he arrogantly ordered her to her room. She conjured a red crystal, and said something threatening as she shoved the crystal into Garcia's mouth.- '
Garcia's dead. I killed him...so how can he be here?' she thought.
'Where is here?' Sarah examined Garcia and Jareth as closely as possible without inciting their suspicion, and with unexpected insight knew that, wherever she was, these men weren't really Garcia or Jareth. With her sudden clarity came a rapid and disorienting change in her environment. The men vanished. The walls and bed melted and twisted, blurring until they remade themselves.
Sarah jerked awake. She frenetically looked around her. She was lying on her couch, in her living room...
her living room—in New York!
"Oh, thank God! It was just a nightmare," she said, releasing a deep sigh and relaxed back onto the couch's cushions.
.
.
jsjsjsjsjsjsj
.
.
Lizzie rallied her forces with a determined mind-set before meeting the Council representatives. Every inch of her physique the imperial Goblin Princess, Lizzie materialized into the throne room surrounded by her stoic entourage. Collective gasps arose from the invaders at the sight of the black leather-clad princess flanked by seven Gryphons, two humans, a dwarf, an orange monster, and innumerable goblins, all dressed for battle. Lizzie stepped forward, confidence and charisma radiating from her as she faced down the intruders. Her expression bore no welcome, sharply reminding Alia of Sarah in fierce Goblin Queen Persona.
"Why are you here?" Lizzie demanded of the men and women, her voice low and menacing. One man visibly squared his shoulders and separated from the rest.
"I am Captain Rendor, Princess," he bowed his head slightly. "It is my duty to escort you...alone," he quickly added glancing around Lizzie, "to Camlann. The Council demands your presence. "
Scarvy's hand twitched for his sword while several of the Gryphons hissed, their head feathers rising, pupils shrinking. Alia, Hoggle and Ludo sidled closer to Lizzie in a show of support and the goblins ranged out in front of their monarch in low crouches. Captain Rendor's troops shifted in place, their hands nervously clutching their weapons or flicking to prepare to conjure. No real resistance expected, Rendor's contingent prepared for only minor battle. One corner of Lizzie's mouth curled up, sneering.
"I won't be going anywhere with you, Captain Rendor, alone or otherwise," she proclaimed, a new self-assurance coursing through her soul.
"Princess, I've been tasked to attend you to Camlann, voluntarily or not," he replied in a matter-of-fact tone that brooked no argument. Rendor's stance shifted into a loose fighting position, his hand gripping his sword, his group following suit. Twisting her wrist, Lizzie conjured a crystal and held it casually. Lady Fena clacked her beak loudly, and hissed again indicating her disgust towards the Council in general and the Captain in particular. As Lizzie waited for Rendor's reaction, she suddenly felt an odd emptiness where her connection to Labyrinth, Jareth, and her mother normally existed. She growled low in her throat. Something terrible occurred, and any responsible would pay. Those standing closest to Lizzie— Alia, Scarvy and Lady Fena— heard the primal sound and growled as well in response to their monarch's obvious distress.
"Captain," Lizzie tossed the crystal back and forth between her gloved hands as she glared at him, "if I were you, I would
seriously reconsider my loyalties." Then before Rendor answered, Lizzie flung the crystal at him. It exploded into cloud of razor-edged shards and chaos reigned.
.
.
Moira: Thanks! It's about to get crazier! As for Tignach...as explained he and others never liked how Sarah became Queen without the Council's prior approval to challenge the power orb of Labyrinth. The ruling of the Goblin Kingdom is handed down by right of will/conquest after the next challenger is selected by the Council. (so they can keep control)
Ero Sennin: Thanks so much! *blushes* Great to hear from you finally! I remember when I was a lurker, lol! But don't be shy :o)
***
I'm sorry this chapter is shorter than normal but I wanted to get something out and the cliffie is awesome here.
This mouth is busy for me, so I'm going to be getting what I can out which may be a few more shorter chaps
rather than less but longer. I'm sure no one's going to complain though, lol! I've also taken on more betaing
which is fun, but time consuming. I probably won't have any Ameol. out for April but don't hold me
to that, will have to see what happens. Their journey in the Void is just getting started, btw, mhauahahaha!
Please Review!
Cause I love to hear from ya
and
they make me happy!
:o)
