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Sarah
stood at the throne of the Goblin City, overlooking a crowd of goblins who had
been crammed into the chamber by a large group of elves who brandished swords
and spears. Leah left Sarah's company without explanation, leaving her twin to
deal with matters alone. Sarah looked at her leaving companion with questioning
eyes, but was rewarded only with a knowing smile as her lifelong shadow exited
the room and went onto the balcony, closing the intricately-designed doors
behind her. Sage
approached her, his face beaming not only with the sunlight that sifted lazily
into the room through the open castle doors, but shining as well with victory. "So,
Sarah, you've completed your quest," he said, smiling as he looked down at
the fragmented amethyst in her hands. "We will deal with that later, but
now, you must decide what to do with all of these goblins. You are their
rightful leader." Isabelle
ran into the room, holding the ends of her dress in her hands as she ran to the
foot of the throne. "Sarah!" she cried anxiously. "What is going
to happen to all of us?" Everyone
who wasn't a goblin gasped with astonishment as every villager, guard, merchant,
and child who had spent his or her life in the Goblin City as a goblin, twirled
upward in a shimmering cyclone of light and transformed back to the human they
had once been before being taken away by the Goblin King. They were well-groomed,
handsome human beings, contrasting greatly in mind and body with the goblins
they had been only moments before. A
fifteen year-old girl, greatly resembling the girl in the painting that stood
over the throne room, approached Sarah and embraced her. Sarah hugged her back,
not knowing quite what else to do, for she did not seem to know the girl. "Sarah!
Thank you! I remember everything now!" "Isabelle?"
Sarah held her by the shoulders and examined her. "Is that you?" "It's
finally, truly me!" she exclaimed. Sarah
brought the teenage girl close again and squeezed her. "I'm so happy for
you!" she declared, letting go of the young lady and addressing the entire
room. "It's true! We are all, finally, free!" “I’m
glad you’re back, Sarah,” Isabelle whispered. “You
know, so am I. So am I...” A
motley group of humans who were dressed in ragged clothing came bursting angrily
through the crowd. "Jareth, you snake!" one of them shouted gruffly.
"You sent a witch to our village! I want your hide!" Birkley,
the wife abuser, led the bunch before the throne, and was taken aback to see
Sarah sneering with amusement down upon him. "You!"
He pointed an accusing finger at her. "What are you doing here?
Witch! Hag! I'll kill you!" "How
dare you address our queen that way!" one of the villagers from the
city declared, pushing his way through the crowd. "You threaten her and
we'll skin you alive!" "Wait,"
Sarah commanded, smiling keenly and holding her hand out before her. "What
is your will, my queen?" he asked. "The
rest of the group may become a part of this kingdom if they like," she said,
"but this man–" she pointed to Birkley, "This man is to
be thrown into the dungeons." Three
men disbanded from the rest of the crowd and escorted the man to his fate. "You
can't do this!" he yelled. "I'll get you yet, you demonic woman! You
hear me? I'll get you! You just wait!" “That’s
what you get for calling me a hag,” Sarah mumbled under her breath as
she smiled triumphantly. Hoggle,
Sir Didymus, and Ludo ran into the room. "Sarah!"
they exclaimed in syncopation. They
ran up the steps of the throne and huddled around her, fighting amongst
themselves to embrace her. Ludo was last and nearly crushed her with his
enthusiasm. A
flock of Magicmockers entered through the open doorway and filtered throughout
the room. A woman in the crowd went to the covered painting and pulled on its
cord, drawing back the velvet curtains and revealing the image of Sarah. A
sudden wave of bowing and curtsying started about the room, starting with Sage
and ending with Isabelle. Sarah stood tall and proud above them, her face
flushed with embarrassment and her hands fumbling awkwardly behind her back. One
after another of the villagers stepped forth from the multitude. "Will you
be our queen?" each one queried, their voices overlapping and mingling like
a symphonic orchestra. The question rippled back and forth between them loudly,
echoing off the walls and catching back in their throats only to be sent forth
again to prod her. She
held up her hands, indicating silence. "Give me a few moments," she
begged warmly. She
stepped down from the throne and bent over to whisper in Sage's ear. "I’ll
be right back." He
nodded his head with understanding, embraced her, and shook her hand before she
opened the doors of the balcony, her shadow's back facing her. She stepped
beside Leah and shut the doors. "What
are you going to do?" Leah said sadly. "I
don’t know," Sarah replied as she placed her hands on the banister.
"They want me to be their queen. But I don’t know if I can. I have a
normal life to go back to." Leah
nodded and stared into the horizon. "You
know, it’s too bad I can’t be in two places at once," Sarah added. Leah
nodded again. “Yes, I’m sure
that the magic of this place is very intriguing to you.” “What
about you?” Sarah asked tactfully. “What
do you want to do?” “I
want to live a normal life, Sarah. I
want to see a park, I want to go to France, I want to have a career.
I want everything you had...” Leah
laughed. “It’s amazing, but,
now that I think of it, neither of us really appreciated where we were.
Especially when we got a taste of the other side.” “So,
you wanna do the old switcheroo? Meet
your little brother?” Sarah
smiled at Leah impishly. "You
don't have to live in my shadow anymore."
Leah laughed warmly and finally faced Sarah. "You know, no matter
how we do it, I’ll end up being called by your name for the rest of my life." Sarah
seemed saddened by her twin's eagerness to separate herself from her cohort, but
she smiled anyway. Leah
placed a reassuring hand on her companion's shoulder. "But there isn't a
name I'd be prouder to be called by than 'Sarah.'" "Such
a diplomat," Sarah replied teasingly. "You wouldn’t make a bad queen
yourself." Leah
looked over her shoulder and nodded toward the throne room whose people sat
quietly behind the doors. "They're waiting." Sarah
nodded serenely. "I guess you’d better get a change of clothes." She
gracefully pulled a crystal sphere out of nothingness, the same as Jareth would
have done it. She held it out before her on the tips of her fingers and didn't
even have to concentrate. Shimmering light twinkled up and down Leah’s figure
in waves, fading out her former clothing, and focusing into her new outfit; she
was now decked in the regular clothing that Sarah had arrived in the Underground
wearing. "I
guess this is it," Leah said, holding Sarah's hand in hers. "Guess
so. You will write once-in-awhile, or at least drop me a hello?" Sarah
asked. "Every
time I get a chance," Leah replied. Sarah
laughed with a sudden revelation. "You do realize that we are practically
sisters, don't you?" "I've
known it a lot longer than you have," Leah replied. "We're not just like
sisters. We are sisters. Once you get past all of the technicalities." They
hugged each other for a few minutes before separating with downcast eyes. "I
guess I'd better go," Sarah said, looking up at her sister with a
melancholy smile. "Throw lots of parties. Don't let your newfound
responsibility get your hair tied up in a knot. Let it all hang out." "You
got that from the Fieries," Leah replied, pointing her finger as she made
an allusion to a moment in their distant past. "They're a bit too
wild." "I'll
try to find the in-between," Sarah said. "Trust
me, you'll never find the in-between. It doesn't exist." |
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