"I don't understand why it won't work again," Sarah said abjectly as she held her hand out before her. "I can't make a portal."

"Good thing we just saw you do it, or I might think you were dreamed the whole thing up!" Eepwot said, still amazed over her earlier appearance.

"Not to be negative or nothin'," Hoggle broke in, "but I don' see what the big deal is. Jareth use'ta teleport all over the place."

Mandelbrot put his expert advice as king's sorcerer to good use. "Teleportation isn't as easy as it looks, Hoggle," the elf man corrected. "You have to have a good source of power and the skill to manage it. If it weren't difficult, everyone would teleport wherever they needed to go, wouldn't they?"

"Jareth never did it in all the years I knew'im," Granen said. "I still find it hard to believe he was ever this Goblin King everyone talks about. I mean, I knew he was dethroned and all..."

He looked up at Sarah and saw her pained expression. "I guess he just doesn't have the crystals anymore."

"I don't either," Sarah said with a finger to her chin. "I guess they were left in the palace when Kaleb kidnapped me."

"No," Sage said, shaking his head. "It's more than that. He's lost the ability." He turned to Mandelbrot. "You're leaving something out. There is a third element, more important than skill or talisman." He looked back at Sarah. "You have to have an innate connection to those powers. Jareth did have that, but they were taken away from him when he misused them."

Granen looked confused. "Taken away? Now who would be in charge of that?"

"Ask Sarah," Eberon said with an intense stare.

Sarah withered under the concentrated inspection of her companions. "Nuh-uh, don't ask Sarah, I barely understand it myself."

"You were visited by the Rainbow Snake," Wonggu said with a firm nod.

"You must be gifted with the powers of creation," Albert added.

Sarah laughed uncomfortably. "I don't know about all that. She just showed me how to open portals in Dreamtime."

"You mean the Mist of Dreams?" Isabelle asked, confused.

Sarah realized what she had just said, then looked at the bite marks on her arm. The blood had already dried.

"Maybe we need a ritual to bring the Mother back to us, to help us open the portal," Albert mused.

Wonggu smiled at the man at some inner thought. "Never would think I'd hear you say such things," he said. "You don' believe in the old traditions."

Albert shook his head. "Not all of them, no. But, there was a day you just wanted to live in the bush. Now, who is living in my house and watches television each day?" Albert smirked at Wonggu, who shrugged in return.

Albert grabbed Sarah's arm and inspected her wound. It was already starting to heal. "Sometimes a blood offering is necessary, to show that the need is great enough."

Sarah flinched at the thought—she had always been a little squeamish over the drawing of blood, her own or anyone else's. But the quick pain of the snake's bite had been different; she hadn't been expecting it. The inital cutting of skin was not as bad as the dull ache that remained.

Mandelbrot spoke up. "You know, though I hate to admit it, blood offerings are common in magic."

"No!" Isabelle shouted all of a sudden, obviously even more uncomfortable with the idea than Sarah was. "There's got to be a better way."

The group erupted into intellectual argument while Sarah retreated into the hazy mist of her mind. She looked at the marks on her arm and remembered the words of the snake. 'Id and Ego will see the color of their blood, and in you the Dreams and the Reality will co-exist... Use your blood, Sarah, to see the larger view... You are full of the power of life.'

"You can't expect the Lass to be injured!" Granen shot at Mandelbrot. "She's already gone through enough, what's this nonsense about making her bleed?"
"I wasn't saying that we should do it, I was just explaining the implications of blood-letting in magic!" Mandelbrot blurted, throwing his hands in the air.

The blood rose in Hoggle's face as he too seemed to consider the implications of having his friend cut herself just for the sake of teleportation. "This is all a load of nonsense! We don't even know what made it work the first time!"

"Yeah, cutting people ain't cool," Eepwot concurred.

Sarah stepped forward. "No."

Everyone became silent as all eyes fixed on the pale white of her face.

Sarah bent low and grabbed the dagger on Sage's belt. He shot her a look of complete bafflement. "Sarah, I don't think—"

"Mandelbrot and Albert are right," Sarah said, her stomach already turning at the thought, even though she had resolved to act. "The talisman is my blood. It is the gift the snake gave to me."

Eberon stepped forward. "Do you even know—"

Before he could get a word out, Sarah slashed the cool blade of the knife against the palm of her hand. It didn't hurt as much as she expected, but her stomach still turned in revulsion against the sensation of the slicing against her skin. The cut wasn't too deep, but the blood beaded up fast, bright red in the dim misty light.

Isabelle covered her mouth with her hand as if resisting the urge to vomit. Her words came out muffled. "Oh, Sarah!" Vindar wrapped his arms around her waist soothingly.

Sarah held her hand out and concentrated on the white light, splitting it into the prism of colors she saw in the scales that twinkled on the skin of the Rainbow Snake. She thought about how she wanted to separate this and that, and make a bridge across space and time.

The air before them split in two, making a gash in the air that mirrored the gash in Sarah's hand. The hollow sound of tubulums vibrated around the opening as the group stared, slack-jawed.

Eberon finished his sentence as if nothing had happened. "What I was about to ask was... do you even know where you are going?"

"I haven't got that part figured out yet," Sarah said as she accepted a rag that Granen had pulled out of his pocket. "Don't tell me you want to stay here?"

"Hell no!" Hoggle said. "Anywhere is bound to be better than here!" With that, he jumped through the portal first.

Sarah finished tying the rag around her bleeding hand and motioned for everyone to go in front of her. "I'll concentrate on keeping it open while everyone passes through."

Everyone filtered through the opening. Eberon was last in line. He turned to her. "Are you sure you know what you're doing? That we we'll all end up in the same place?"

"Nope," Sarah answered, shoving the elf into the portal. As she stepped through herself, she mumbled, "But we're all going to find out."

##

One by one, the group of twelve fell from a white portal in the sky, five feet to the dusty ground in the middle of nowhere. Each of them stood up to brush off and observe where there journey had brought them.

The land intermingled with pastel greens of grasses and pinks of mountain rock and clay, dusty whirlwinds rising in the air, mimicking the shapes of the twisted little leafless trees that scattered across the valley. Strange gazelles lept across the ground in the distance; a few stopped in their tracks to stare curiously at the individuals who had fallen out of the sky, but they did not come any closer to inspect.

"Worjamonga?" Granen said in confusion as he noted the beasts that were staring at him.

"Whirlydoodles?" Eepwot mimicked, the word coming out awkward and garbled from his protruding jaw.

"Worjamonga. They only live in my part of the country," Granen said, scratching his beard thoughtfully. "And there aren't nearly so many there."

"Where the hell are we, then?" Eberon demanded. "Back Underground?"

"This isn't my homeland, that's for sure," Granen offered. "The Worjamonga only live in the forest. At least, they did." He tilted his head back and made a strange, tinny cry. One of the beasts called back and ambled forward timidly toward the man. Granen put his hand out and pet the nose of the beast affectionately. "Old family trick."

Sage and Mandelbrot were utterly dumbfounded. "No one can call the Worjamonga!" they said in unison.

"I can," Granen beamed.

Vindar bent close to Sarah to explain. "They're like unicorns," he whispered. "Very rare, and very elusive." He pointed to the edge of the valley where, even now, many were dispersing to a new area nervously. "See, they don't like to be seen."

Before anyone had much time to be amazed, the dust kicked up in great clouds as the group was ambushed on all sides by a faceless crowd that had been hiding behind various rocks during their conversation. The Worjamonga Granen had called swiftly ran to join his brethren.

When the dust settled, they were completely encircled by a tribe of four foot tall guinea pigs in kilts.

The threatening tips of giant knitting needles were poking at the necks of the travelers. Out of the dirt emerged one guinea pig with scraggly fur lining his chin, suggesting a beard. He rode on the backs of two mice that were two thirds his size. The mice did not seem too pleased with their places of humiliating supplication.

The guinea pig was obviously the leader, and proved it when he was the first to speak. "Aha!" he shouted, his pink eyes throbbing with passion. "We ha' intruders! The army to the East has finally sent their," he gave the group a summary glare, "minions to declare war!"

A pig with long hair that came down to his haunches spoke up, almost matching the thickness of the leader's Scottish accent. "I dunno, they look strange, but I wouldn't be so quick to—"
"Silence!" the bearded pig spat. "They called the beast forward, they must be instruments of evil." He leaned in close to Granen, poking the man under the chin and giving him a nasty look from his lower height. "Where do you hail from?" he asked, seeming to have assumed that Granen was their leader.

Granen brushed the needle aside. "C'mon, lads, let's not be so hasty, let us just explain—"

"IRISHMAN!" the pig bellowed in a tizzy. His eyes lolled back in his head painfully while his compatriots proceeded to poke the group all the harder with the blunt ends of their knitting needles. The lead pig nibbled at his lip nervously with two big teeth while he poked Granen in the stomach with his needle. "What d'ya think you're doing, coming on my land Irishman? I have it in my mind to tat you a funeral kilt!"

Another pig with a more modern fop rolled his eyes. "C'mon, John, it's bad enough we gotta carry 'round these stupid knitting needles, now you gotta make tatting ref'rences?"

John the guinea pig was in a frenzy. He hopped off his mice—which sighed in relief to be rid of his weight—and stuck his wet nose in the foppish pig's face. "Who knows the ancient lore of the passing of the power amongst the immortals?" he asked challengingly.

"John..." the pig whined, lolling his head about in embarrassment.

"I asked you 'who' dammit!" John blurted.

"You, okay?!" the pig answered in pained resignation.

"Yes, and who knows about the ancient tribe of watchers who chronicle the passing of the chosen ones? And the journey of the good and evil across the land?" John pressed further.

"You, you, you, you, you!" the pig shouted. "You happy yet? You're the bigshot, okay?"

John hovered close for a moment as if estimating his sincerity. Finally he huffed and backed off. "That's right," he mumbled in self-satisfaction. "Don't you forget it." As he climbed back on the very unhappy mice, he added, "And speak in your native accent, Will."

The dusk-haired Will just sighed and added, "Aye, m'Lord."

"Better," John declared, turning his gaze back to the group. He sniffed at Sarah's dress uncertainly. Sarah's face scrunched up in discomfort at being sniffed by a giant guinea pig.

"Um, look here, John—"

John shot up, interrupting her. "Did Billy McGee send ya?" he asked circumspectly as he glared at her.

"No," she answered with an increasingly frustrated expression.

The pig scratched his beard and stared up at her some more. "Hmph," he grunted. "If you were, you wouldn' tell me."

"I don't even know who Billy McGee is," she answered. "Can I call you John?"

"You can call me Your Highness!" John shouted.

Hoggle pushed Sarah and Granen aside and burst through. "You first!" he shouted. "She's the only real Queen here, ya silly git!" Hoggle then proceeded to kick John the guinea pig in the shin.

Ludo took it as a sign to start a scuffle, too. He picked up two guinea pig guards by their hind legs and hung them upside down.

Eberon crossed his arms. "Ahem. King of the Elves here?"

Sage pulled out his sword and started tarrying with one of the attacking pigs. Benedick followed suit and turned to Eberon with a scowl. "He said Queen, but y'know, I think you are a good runner up for the title." He winked at Sage as if the insult was meant just to impress him. Sage smiled back.

Eepwot ducked the oncoming blow of a purple knitting needle. "And, if you wanna get technical, I'm the King of Partyin', or, at the very least, King of the Fieries."

"Don't forget Benedick, King of Felines," Sage said with a nod to his friend, Benedick.

Albert and Wonggu kept to the rear, and only defended themselves from moment to moment by pushing the pigs off with their large staffs. They smiled at each other, thoroughly entertained. Isabelle ducked behind a rock and tried to stay out of it the best she could. Sarah elbowed a couple of pigs off as they tried to put her in a headlock

John brought his knitting needle before Granen and scowled at him. "And what in God's name are you king of, hmm?" he asked with disdain.

"King of kicking your butt, that's what," Granen answered with a sly grin as he knocked the guinea pig man over and stepped on him.

"Eep!" John squealed, squirming and wriggling under Granen's black boot. "Lemme go!"

"Maybe you'll rethink your attack and let us talk like sensible... adults?" Granen asked with a cocked brow.

The other pigs stopped in mid-thrust of their "weapons" as they observed their king under the Irishman's boot.

"Alright, alright!" John squeeled. "You win!"

Granen let the pig up and brushed his hands off on his pants. "That's more like it."

John jumped up and put his knitting needle at the ready. "Sike!" he shouted, going in for a lunge.

"Okay, that's enough!" Sarah shouted. She thrust her hand out at the wall of guinea pigs, and a bolt of white light and glitter shot from her hand, sending the whole group reeling back ten feet.

The mice were unaffected, and hung back, tittering with joy at seeing the pigs trying to get back up after their trip to the dusty ground.

Will pointed at the mice with an accusing needle. "Shut up, you! I'll getcha later for that one!"

The mice quieted quickly and started to whistle innocently.

Another pig with long hair coming down to his haunches jumped up. "How'd she do that?!" he said in amazement. His hair shimmied as he shook in fear over the woman's power.

"She's a witch!" Will shouted conclusively.

"NO!" another squat pig declared, staring at her in awe. "She's one of the chosen ones! She's a Highlander!"

Sarah had been called a witch before, but never a Highlander. She barely even remembered what the movies were about, so she wasn't sure what to make of the title.

John pushed to the front of the crowd. "No, no, no, you idiots! They're called Immortals, not Highlanders! Only Duncan McCloud is the Highlander!" He pointed an accusing finger at her. "Look! She doesn't even have a sword!"

"Well how do you explain what she just did?" Will asked, dumbfounded. No one was willing to get close to the group again.

Granen sighed and stepped forward. "Why don't you stop tryin' to figure it out yourself, and let us explain it to you?"

John's brow slanted and twitched as he considered Granen's request. "Very well," he finally said. "Come with us, we'll bring you to our camp."

Sarah let out a deep sigh and stepped forward with the rest of the group. Vindar pulled Isabelle from her hiding place and they walked side by side, hands clasped.

"Where are we, anyway?" Eberon asked brusquely.

"You're in the fine state of Wisconsin," Will explained.

"Where is that?" Eberon pressed in irritation.

"Smack dab in the middle of nothing important," John spat with a grunt.

Eberon crossed his arms. "Great. That's just great."

Sarah walked quietly with the group and digested the new information. Since they had fallen out of the portal, she had felt vibrantly awake and in tune with her newfound powers. She knew that her other half would be soon looking for her, so she focused all her energy on being invisible. The last thing that she wanted was to be instantly found—and put out of commission—by her Ego.

Now that they were out, they needed a plan. And a good one at that.

"Does anyone know about a woman who may be responsible for the world... being the way it is right now?" Sarah asked, not really expecting an answer.

"Sure!" Will said with a nodding head. "Heard her on the radio the other day. She's in New York. She's already sent out some of her people to gather tokens of allegiance," the pig answered excitedly.

Sarah's eyes got wide. "Really? And what did you say?"

"We told her to take her allegiance and shove it where the sun d'not shine!" John shot back.

"Are you sure you want to do that?" she asked, herself nervous about coming face to face with her darker self.

"Why not?" John asked, puffing out his chest. "We kin handle'er. Anyhow, there's a rebellion starting on the West Coast. There's signs that a war is brewin'." The guinea pig seemed excited by the notion.

Sarah was in complete shock. "A war? You're kidding."

"No!" John exclaimed. "I'd swear it on my mother's pie."

Sarah turned to Sage. "I wonder who'd start a war this early in the game?"

"Oh, that's easy," Will answered helpfully. "The Muppets at Jim Henson Studios." When Sarah gawked at him wide-eyed, he said, "Well, you know, word travels fast around here. All we got is gossip."

"Maybe we figure out who this person is and find some way to get in touch with them," Granen offered. "We could transport there?"

Sarah shook her head. "Not right now. That last one took a lot out of me. I need to rest a bit."

"Well, we could wait until you rest, or another means of transportation opens up," Mandelbrot offered.

Will stopped all of a sudden and started digging in his belt pouch. He pulled out a cell phone and stuck it in Sarah's face. "I have InFone. They can connect you with the company. Ask for Leah, I hear she's the one in charge of the rebellion."

Sarah blinked once and accepted the little black phone with a zombie expression. She coughed, and finally managed to get the words out. "Leah, you say?"

Benedick startled everyone by laughing at such a volume that was not at all fitting for a king.

##

"Attention, everyone!" Leah rapped on the speaker in the large meeting room agressively, doing her best to get the attention of over two hundred Muppets. Justin was standing at her side, amusement spread across his face. He had been in very fine spirits since Leah had agreed to go out on a date with him earlier in the day.

Leah wasn't having much luck achieving order. She bent over to where Justin was sitting. "I swear, I've had to do lots of public speaking in the last year, and I've never had trouble like this."
"They're just like kids," Justin answered with a grin. "You just gotta know how to get their attention." He took a giant swig of the Coke he was holding, then held his breath a moment. Taking the microphone away from Leah, his face contorted into unnatural expressions before he finally let out a belch that echoed all throughout the room.

The audience became instantly silent, then broke out into riotous laughter.

After they had enough time to fully express their mirth, Justin interrupted. "Ahem! More of that at the end of the program." He sat down, then got up once more to speak into the mic. "Thank you for your attention."

Leah gave him a smug grin and snatched the microphone out of his hand. "Thank you, Justin," she answered. Her voice vibrated back to her from the rear wall of what was now a completely quiet room.

Fozzie deftly destroyed the peace from his seated position at the middle of the room when he let out a dainty burp.

"Excuse me, everyone!" Leah shouted firmly.

Silence once again pervaded. "Sorry," Fozzie called out sheepishly.

"Now that I have your attention," Leah continued, "we are all gathered here to discuss the situation in New York. Does anyone have any information, first, that would be useful?"

Pepe raised his hand and jumped up and down excitedly. "Yeah, you know, dese guys come 'round here today askin' for our 'legiance, yeah? We tell'em to take der 'legiance and get outta here!"

Everyone nodded excitedly in agreement to his statement. Ernie raised a finger and continued, "We said, we don't make friends with people who aren't nice!"

"And we told'em, 'You stink!'" Gonzo added.

Rygel floated to the front of the crowd and addressed Leah. "I tried to tell them that they needed to be more careful about how they worded things, but, of course they didn't listen to me." He twisted his mustache hairs and stared at them evilly. "Stupid Muppets."

"Yeah, well you stink!" Pepe shouted at Rygel.

"Hmph!" Rygel spun around and left the room in a huff.

Leah snorted out a laugh. "Well, I say, good for you, that's our official stance as a company from now on. If you see anyone else, you tell'em the CEO says they can take a hike."

Floppy cheering erupted. Once they were once again quiet, Leah continued. "So, did they say anything to that?"

Kermit stepped forward with a look of worry. "Well, um, they said that something bad was gonna happen if we didn't go along with them."

"Like what?" Leah pressed.

Kermit's jaw squirmed. "I dunno. I think they are gonna come back with reinforcements to... convince us."

"Are we the only ones in rebellion?" Leah asked the crowd.

Rygel re-entered the room from a back door. He had obviously been listening in. "No. I have made calls to a few... friends... and there are others who share our sentiments."

"Then that settles it. Someone has to start a war." Leah slapped her hand on the podium resolutely.

Justin tugged at her dress until she bent to hear him whisper.

"You know, are you sure you don't want to just call Sarah up to see what's going on? Maybe you can work it out."

"I don't know, Justin. She's completely gone off the deep end. And I think she's too powerful to not make some sort of preparation." She shook her head and her short hair flopped from side to side with the motion. "Besides, she obviously doesn't know where I am, and that gives me an advantage."

The fuzzy orange face of Scooter peeked out over the stage as he climbed up, holding a buzzing cell phone in his hand. He straightened his glasses and said, "Um, Miss Leah, I have a call for you. Want me to tell them to call back?"

Leah wrinkled a brow at him and accepted the phone. She put it to her ear in dread. "Hello?"

"Leah?" Sarah's voice echoed uncertainly.

"Sarah?" Leah said with a heavy swallow.

"Yeah, it's me. Well, sorta."

Leah clenched her fist as an angry frown broke out on her face. "What the hell are you doing?! I swear, you've really done it this time, Sarah Williams! Do you realize how much you've messed up?"

The Muppets all looked on uncomfortably as Leah chewed Sarah out in front of them. They all started muttering amongst themselves over the drama that was playing out before their boogly eyes.

"Leah, stop chewing me out for a second," Sarah gently scolded on the other end. "I'm not who you think I am."

"I only know one Sarah Williams," Leah chided.

"No, now you know two. Kaleb split me in half."

"Huh?" Leah stopped pacing the stage, and stood stark still.

"The one you know has merged the worlds. I've been trapped in Dreamtime—er, in the Mist of Dreams with Sage and the others for the last two days. We just got out."

Leah collapsed into a convenient chair sitting against the stage wall. "Come again?"

"I know what we need to do," Sarah offered. "We need to find a way to get together and talk this all through."

Leah was completely baffled. She didn't say anything.

"You still there?" Sarah's voice prodded from the other end.

"Kaleb isn't controlling your other half and making her do this?" Leah finally asked.

"No." Sarah's voice came through darkly ashamed.

"Are you sure you're telling me the truth? This isn't some ploy to stop me from going to war with you?"

"With the other me, you mean?" Sarah asked.

"There's too many of you around as it is," Leah answered, looking down at the dress she had put on only a couple of days ago in order to look like Sarah for her citizens in Sunset City. She was trying to keep up the ruse that nothing had happened to their queen by donning the dress and wig that made her look like her twin, but now it didn't seem to matter all that much. Now that she was focused on her attire, she started to realize how much she had wanted to change into something different the entire time.

"You're telling me," Sarah answered on the other end. "Look, she doesn't know where I am right now, at least, I don't think she does. Does she know about you being CEO at the company?"

"Not yet. But considering how fast you found out, I think it will be any day now before she comes after me."

"That means we have to act as quickly as possible."

The Muppets seemed to be getting a little restless. "Look, let's talk again in another hour. I have to close up a meeting." Justin gave her a questioning look. "I'm glad you're okay," she finally said. "Well, I'm glad that the sensible half of you is okay, anyhow. Call me back."

"Okay," Sarah answered.

"Where are you, anyway?"

"Wisconsin."

"What the hell are you doing in Wisconsin?" Leah blurted.

"Long story," Sarah answered tiredly.

Leah was about to hang up when Sarah's voice echoed in the receiver. "Wait! Wait up!"

"Yeah?"

"Do you know where Toby or Jareth are at?" she asked. "Are they with you?"

"Nope. Jareth went looking for Toby to get help with a spell to split Kaleb and Jareth apart so they could do something about Kaleb," she answered, blowing a hair from her eyes in frustration. "He went through one of the mirrors to find him."

"So Jareth is in Forest Grove?" Sarah asked.

"Um, I don't know. Toby had run away from home when Jareth left." Leah bit her lip nervously, having tried to avoid thinking about Toby being lost, as she was completely helpless to do anything about it.

"What?!" Sarah shouted into the phone. "Then how would Jareth find him?"

"Looks like I have a long story for you, too."

Sarah sighed on the other end. "Alright, in an hour."

Leah turned off the phone and turned to her audience. "There's more to this than I thought, guys," Leah said into the microphone. "I'll explain more in just a second. But first, who can get me a private jet to Wisconsin?"

##

Jareth barged into Ashley's apartment in a flurry of motion. "Marlena!"

He flew through the hallway, throwing doors open one after another in search for the women. "Where are you? Are you all okay?" Jeremiah, Toby, and Didymus followed behind in silent expectation of the worst.

Ashley burst out of the bathroom, one towel wrapped around her body, and one on her head. "What! What is it!" she shouted, not initially noting the awkwardness of her lack of attire.

"Where is everyone?" Jareth shot in a rushed tone as his gaze scanned the room. Were one to judge from his searching eyes, it would seem he thought the women were all hiding under the couch cushions. Didymus did in fact think this, so he went to check.

"They're at the store," Ashley explained. "They got tired of eating cookies. That's all I had in the cupboard." She finally started to blush when she realized that she had rushed out in a towel for nothing. Still, she smiled at the thought of Jareth seeing her naked.

"Oh," Jareth answered, suddenly turning pinkish himself. "I'm sorry to cause a stir, we just had reason to believe... that everyone was in danger."

Ashley smirked enticingly, but her face fell into a frown when Jareth walked away into the living room, oblivious to her womanly wiles. "Excuse me," she finally said in a defeated tone before going back into the bathroom. She left the door open a crack so she could continue the conversation. She also hoped that maybe Jareth would take it upon himself to peek. "In danger of what?" she asked from the other side.

Jareth shoved some magazines off the couch and plopped down with a tired sigh. "Of... falling asleep and not being able to wake up."

Toby looked around the messy apartment and inspected everything within his reach. He started picking at the dried remains of a melted candle.

"Um, okay," Ashley answered as she walked out of the bathroom in a fuzzy orange bathrobe. "Well, we're all awake." She started drying her hair with the towel, her face scrunched up in thought. "You know, now that you mention it, I don't think Marlena went to sleep. She said something was bothering her, and she sat up all night in front of the television." She went to the kitchen and pulled out a soft drink for Toby, who took it gladly and thanked her for it. "If you ask me," Ashley continued, "I think she was afraid of whatever it was that was happening to her the other day would start all over again. I wanted her to get some rest, but, to be perfectly honest, I couldn't bare to see her like that again, so I didn't argue."

Jareth nodded quietly, trying to figure out why it was that he and Toby had so much trouble waking up and the women had not had any trouble. Nothing seemed to fit together.

Jeremiah straightened his glasses and nodded. "It was probably best that she did not. Until we... know what caused her episode of the previous day."

"How long ago did they leave?" Jareth asked as he examined the clock on the mantel. He winced when he noticed the thirteenth hour.

Ashley followed his gaze to the clock. "Yeah, that's funny, huh? That extra hour just showed up earlier today. You know anything about it?"

Jareth frowned from the corner of his mouth. "It's an inside joke."

Ashley seemed to get the gist, and didn't pursue the matter further. "Oh." She retired into her bedroom to change and came out in a flattering long-sleeved shirt and capri pants. "So, why didn't you just call if you were worried?"

"Call?" Jareth asked.

Ashley picked up the phone on her wall and wiggled it around her ear. "Telephono," she said mockingly.

"Oh." Jareth looked highly embarrassed. "I guess it's just not my style." He shimmied out of his coat carefully and let it lie on the couch behind him.

He had done unwittingly done something to charm Ashley, as she suddenly threw him a winning smile and hopped onto the couch right next to him. She started stroking his blonde hair affectionately, then rubbed at his smooth face. "Mmm, you shaved. I didn't think it was possible, but you look even more dashing."

Jareth didn't seem to know how to handle all the attention. "Um, well, thank you."

"He looked atrocious with that goatee," Jeremiah noted over the edge of a glossy magazine. "But, here's someone who knows how to carry herself." He held the magazine cover up for inspection, and there was Sarah, in a deep blue high collar coat and purple eyelids. Her smooth cheeks were almost flawless flat plains unto themselves. Next to her face it said, "Brave New World: How Sarah turned the world upside-down in two days, and why everyone loves her for it."

Jareth flew out of Ashley's hands and snatched the magazine from the old man. Page after page of glossy paper showed images of Sarah: conversing with advisors, sitting on her throne, waving to crowds, kissing babies (Fiery babies), eating at fine restaurants, walking arm in arm with handsome men. His stomach turned at the thought that she might be spending intimate affections upon anyone else, but he knew better than to let such thoughts get to him.

"Looks like she's been spending time with other men," Jeremiah said scandalously, echoing Jareth's thoughts.

Jareth glared at him over the magazine, then returned to flipping through the publication. The last few pages were studio shots with Sarah, wearing a number of high-style outfits and luxurious jewels. She was so beautiful, he felt a heaviness in his chest. It had been a long time since he had been in a position to let his sexual longing get to him. But, he reminded himself, she wasn't herself, and he shouldn't allow any such thoughts cross his mind until everything was set straight again. For all he knew, he didn't have a chance.

"Marlena said you had a dream about her before all of this happened," Ashley offered, instantly forgoing her flirtation in an effort to console him. "Marlena and Gail think that maybe the dream helps explain what is going on a bit."

Jareth thought back the the first night in Marlena's kitchen, when he had shared his dream with her over a clove cigarette. At the time he had thought nothing could get worse. He was sorely mistaken.

He looked up at Ashley expectantly, but couldn't bring himself to close the magazine, or stop looking at the raven-haired beauty that stared back at him.

"They think that Sarah might have split in two, somehow," Ashley continued. "Dark and light, kinda. Does that seem possible?"

Jareth let the idea sink in. If Kaleb was in any way connected to this, splitting Sarah into two opposite halves would be an appropriate tool of revenge against Sarah or Jareth. When Kaleb was first trapped within Jareth, he would be filled with strong revulsion for certain behavior in himself that he had once considered normal and healthy. He could only now attribute those feelings to Kaleb wanting to be free to live out his own personality without the inhibitions of Jareth's controlling psyche. What would be better to prove that he was the stronger side than to force his only love to split down the middle, and let the darker half roam free to conquer in the name of her darker desires... successfully?

Ashley noted his pensive silence, and started getting excited by where the conversation was heading, because she knew by now that his silence meant that he was seriously considering the idea. She grabbed a pillow and started squishing it nervously. "See, we did a location spell, and we saw two readings of Sarah, one in New York, and one in Australia."

"Australia?" Toby interrupted, his blue eyes opened wide in curiosity.

"Yeah, lemme show you." Ashley threw the pillow she was holding aside and jumped off the couch. She then unfolded the map that was sitting on the dining room table. "Hmm, lemme see if I can do this." She closed her eyes for a moment to concentrate on the spell, and, within seconds, started to get results. "Man, magic is so much easier now."

Everyone hung over the map with curious gazes. Sir Didymus hopped into a chair so he could see better. Only one dot was glowing on the map, in New York.

"That doesn't make any sense," Ashley said, scratching her head. "There were two here just last night." She waved her hand over the map to bring forth some new lit dots. "See, here you are, and here's—" She looked up at Jareth in confusion. "Wait a minute! That dark spot moved too!"

"What dark spot?" Jareth was completely transfixed.

"We saw a dark spot on here last night, and we assumed it was supposed to be your shadow. It was in Australia, too, but now it's in New York!"

"Kaleb. He was in Australia?" Jareth scratched his chin thoughtfully, and seemed even more perplexed when he didn't find a goatee there. He put his hand on the table instead.

"Yeah, but now it looks like he's in the city." She looked down at the map again. "This is all sorts of messed up. Because Sarah's shadow has moved, too."

"Leah?!" Jareth's eyes widened at the notion. He hadn't even considered Leah was still around post-merger.

Toby looked up at Jareth questioniningly. "You mean the lady that I thought was my sister all this time?"

Jareth looked down at Toby and nodded. When he saw the pained expression on the boy's face, it hit him that Toby had been hurt by Sarah and Leah's dishonesty. Unfortunately, events were too chaotic to discuss the matter further. He slid it aside for later.

"Where is she at?" Jareth asked excitedly.

"It looks like she's headed for Wisconsin, of all places." Ashley scratched her wet hair. "Okay, that just doesn't make sense. I swear to you, there was another light here."

Jareth's heart had flared at the possibility that there was a good explanation for Sarah's behavior, other than the notion of a possession by Kaleb. It wasn't completely fizzled out, but he had his doubts now. If Sarah had been split in two, then his dream of the previous night would have even more meaning.

He was going to trust his dreams. "I'm not going to rule anything out just yet," Jareth answered as he rose from the map.

The front door opened, and all the other women filtered in, busy with chatter. Marlena quickly noticed Jareth's presence and went into the dining room to see what he and Ashley were discussing.

Jareth continued, "If Kaleb is here now, that means we're definitely in danger."

Marlena had a bag of groceries in the crook of her arm. She looked very tired. "Kaleb is in New York?" She looked down at the map, then at Ashley. "Where's the other Sarah dot?"

Ashley shrugged. "Maybe we were all just really tired."

"Hmm." Marlena put the groceries down in the kitchen and came back.

Jeremiah had reacquired the magazine, and was intently reading it while rocking in a rocking chair in Ashley's living room. He started to eye Jareth's coat. A piece of paper was sticking out of the inner coat pocket. His brow rose and he looked at Jareth circumspectly, then at the coat jacket again. "Hmm, indeed," he mumbled as he returned to the magazine article.

Marlena pulled Jareth outside to the patio and slipped a tin of clove cigarettes out of her jacket pocket. "Cigaroo?" she said jokingly. Her voice was tired, but not lifeless.

"Why not?" He took one out and put it to his lips. She lit both cigarettes up until the tips were cherry red.

Marlena got straight to business. "There was something very bad going on last night," she said somberly as she gazed to the hectic sidewalk ten floors down.

"Good, because I thought I was starting to lose my mind," Jareth said, blowing smoke on the wind. "We nearly couldn't wake Toby. How did everyone manage to sleep last night and still wake up?"

"I sort of stood on guard," Marlena explained. "There was an ugly darkness creeping in... It's hard to explain. Every time I started to nod off, it would try to pounce on me. I had to stay awake and ward it off. When everyone went to sleep, I did a protective sort of spell. I think I successfully created a bubble of... how do I explain this?"

"Give it a try," Jareth said with a smile.

"Okay," Marlena answered. "It was a bubble of pre-merger, if that makes any sense."

"You were able to create an atmosphere that imitated the worlds before they merged?" Jareth said in admiration.

Marlena pointed her cigarette at him. "Exactly. It was the only thing that seemed to work."

"That means that something is going wrong with the combination," Jareth mused.

"Or that something's wrong with people like us still being around." She took a drag on the cigarette and looked at the too early night sky. "I think everyone was supposed to change somehow. We're still connected to the way things used to be. Tearing things back to how they were before."

The two were silent a few moments before Marlena finally spoke up. "How did you wake up?"

Jareth smiled wanly at the memory, his eyes drifting off into the distance. "Hmm," he mused happily, "Call it the Sleeping Beauty scenario."

"Awoken by a kiss?" Marlena answered, astonished. "Now who would do that? Ashley was here all night as far as I know."

Jareth laughed heartily. "No, by a fair maiden in my dreams." He sighed deeply. "Ashley explained to me your theory about two Sarahs."

"I may have been wrong," Marlena said as she crushed the end of the cigarette.

Jareth shook his head. "No, I don't think you were. I think she visited me in my dreams. Not that I was dreaming about her—" He looked at the moons, wondering where the other half of Sarah could be. "I wasn't just dreaming about her, she was in my mind. She was hiding from someone... her other half, I think. It's still a little fuzzy, I am having a hard time remembering the whole thing."

He tapped his fingers nervously against the banister. "Leah is around—Sarah's shadow. We need to find her. She might have some answers." He looked down at the sidewalk thoughtfully and continued. "That makes me wonder if Sage is still around somehwere. Maybe he can help us sort this out... if we find him. He always knew what to do."

Marlena seemed sad. She looked away. "Tell me more about Sage."

Jareth seemed shocked by her curiosity. He ran his hand through his hair. "Well, um, I don't know what to say about him." He didn't understand her questioning, but did his best to answer her question. "He's very smart, and generous... He's been Sarah's advisor since she took my place as ruler over... well, Sunset City, now. He has a tall, handsome son—" He stopped in the middle of the sentence and jerked around to look at the woman.

When he stopped speaking, she slowly turned to look at him. Her eyes were tearing up. "How is Vindar? Has he grown up into a fine man?"

##

Sarah shot up.

"My Queen?" Claw looked over her worriedly, and his voice was urgent, as if he had already tried to wake her several times.

Sarah looked at the bird in confusion. They were in the throne room. She wasn't sure what she had been doing, but it was vaguely coming back to her. She had been drifting in and out for the last couple of hours, until a pain shot through her mind, knocking her out. She noticed that some of her servants were standing around the throne in concern. A man with a stethoscope stood to her right, making notes in a journal.

"I'm not sick," she said in disgust, knocking the paper from his hand. She motioned to her assistant, Lenore. "Get him out of here."

Lenore led the doctor away while Sarah stood up to pace.

"Are you feeling well?" Claw asked carefully.

"No," she answered brusquely.

She looked out the window into the night sky, and started to wonder what the other Sarah was doing. She snapped her fingers at the monitors that hung over her throne. The images from the Mist of Dreams were exactly that—just a swirling mist. The land had lost its definition with no one to give it form.

She snapped again, and again, switching through views of various cities in search of her counterpart. There was nothing. She touched her temple, and realized that something was wrong—she couldn't even sense a connection to the other Sarah anymore.

"She's gone," she whispered unbelievingly.

"Your counterpart?" Claw asked curiously.

Sarah didn't answer, but turned her attention to the large swinging glass doors that gave a view of the city. There was a dark figure approaching in the distance. "Open the doors!" she shouted.

"What? Are you sure, Your Majesty?" Claw asked uncertainly.

Sarah shot him a menacing look. "Don't question me again."

Claw motioned for someone to open the doors. They began to open almost instantly.

The shadow was approaching at a fast pace. Sarah stood in the doorway, looking down from the great height, completely unafraid. A sharp wind blew up the side of the tall building and whipped her hair into her face.

As she watched the shadow of a man atop a beast approach, a dark smile crept across her face. "Kaleb," she muttered contentedly.

She backed up to give way for a landing. A large fellwit landed gracefully and a man jumped off of her back.

"Not quite," Jeremiah answered with a smile that made his beard look all the more pointed. He held a large black feather before him. "But you were close."

Ingeborg grinned, showing a row of small, sharp teeth. "Nice gargoyles."