Sarah moved them to more comfortable quarters on the tenth floor. A luxurious lunch spread out before them on the large table in the cozy, candelit dining room.

Jeremiah held the feather before Sarah tauntingly, spinning it in his fingers with a thoughtful expression on his face. "I thought you might want this."

"You thought right," Sarah said, clasping her hands together delicately on top of the table. She moved to take a bite of the salad that sat before her. "I sent someone to retrieve it for me, but they were unsuccessful. I assume you got there first."

"If you knew where it was, then you are very resourceful," the old man remarked. As he spoke, the wrinkles seemed to melt from his face. His mouth widened into an almost permanent smirk.

Sarah motioned toward a row of monitors that lined the opposite wall. "I have my ways of keeping an eye on things." She took a sip of wine. "But I doubt you came here for me to show off my fine surveillance techniques."

"On the contrary, I came expecting to be fully fascinated by you," Jeremiah said as he admired her unabashedly. "I've been keeping my eye on you."

"Hmm, so you know about my... origins?" she asked carefully, poking primly at a black olive on the plate.

"I do," Jeremiah said, leaning back in his chair. He made no move to eat anything that was set out before him. He turned his gaze back to the woman, and eyed her cleavage carefully. "You've really blossomed into a much more... fascinating person."

She did not pretend that she didn't notice his prying gaze, nor did she show signs of disapproval. "I like to think so," she answered, carefully wrapping her lips around her fork. She chewed thoughtfully a moment before continuing. "But, if you thought you were going to give me that feather in return for a look at exactly..." she smiled darkly, "fascinating I can really be..." She put her fork down firmly. "You are sorely mistaken."

He stroked his beard thoughtfully. "Wouldn't dream of such a thing." He proffered the feather freely. "Here. It's a gift."

She slid the plate aside and accepted the feather. "And, what shall I call you? You know my name, but I don't know yours."

"You can call me..." he thought about it carefully, then finally said, "Call me Crouch."

"Crouch," Sarah rolled the name around in her mouth as if considering its true significance, "now, why are you really giving me this feather? You must know quite a bit to know that I even wanted it in the first place. You have to understand why that would make me uncomfortable."

"All I want is to see you succeed, dear Sarah," Jeremiah responded as he rose from the table. "I have more for you. It should be arriving shortly."

Sarah rose, as well. "Leaving so soon?"

"I have some things to tend to," Jeremiah said as he dropped his unused napkin on the table. "I'm sure you'd understand. You have things to tend to yourself."

The man climbed into the elevator without hesitation and pushed the button to go back up to the top floor. "We'll meet again soon, Your Majesty."

Sarah gazed at the feather, then back at Jeremiah. "I'm sure we will, Sir."

The doors closed, and she leaned in on a speaker next to the table. "Lenore, get surveillance on that man."

After a moment's pause, Lenore's voice echoed from the speaker. "We had the cameras fixed on him... But he and his fellwit seemed to disappear shortly after they left."

Sarah tapped the polished surface of the table and stared straight ahead. The napkin Jeremiah dropped caught her eye, and she lifted it up to reveal a small wooden disc with the image of a raven carved on its surface.

"Your Majesty? What should I do?" Lenore's strong voice fizzled over the intercom.

"Don't worry about it," Sarah said thoughtfully. She threw the feather out before her, then held the talisman aloft. A blue light surged from the talisman to the feather, and a man materialized before her in the place of the bird's plume.

Once Kaleb fully realized where he was and who was standing in front of him, a snarl stretched across his face. "You bitch."

Sarah clucked her tongue at him. "Such words. I could have left you in that feather, maybe I should put you back—"

Kaleb raised his hand. "Stop."

Sarah cocked her head to the side inquisitively. "You sure? It's no bother."

Kaleb growled at her menacingly, but did not speak.

"Finally," Sarah said with a sly grin that only partially revealed her beautiful, white teeth, "something to play with."

##

Ingeborg was still excited by the trip, and was barraging Jeremiah with questions all the way back. "You gave her the feather?"

"Yes, yes, that's what we went to do," the old man said distractedly.

"Did you give her the spell?"

Jeremiah pulled out the spell that Jareth had tried to keep hidden from him. "I don't know what the fool was thinking, he knows I'm too smart for that."

"Maybe he knows you better than you think," Ingebord said with a mischievous grin.

"Don't get me started with you, Woman," he said as he stuffed the paper back into his pocket. "No, I'm not going to give it to her. Let Jareth deliver it himself." He smiled sinisterly.

"Ooh, what a clever schemer you are," Ingeborg declared proudly. "Now it's a wonderful big mess." Ingeborg licked her lips to ward off the dry air. "This fog is disgusting, I don't understand how air can taste so bad."

"Ah, the joys of Aboveground. They even ruin the air," Jeremiah said, beaming.

"You made advances on her, didn't you?" Ingeborg said with a pout.

"Of course not, Inge," Jeremiah cooed as he pet her mane. "I'd never do such a thing. You're my one and only."

Ingeborg grinned broadly, her teeth showing menacingly. "I know you're lying. I was sitting outside the window watching you stare at her endowments."

"You know how the job goes," he soothed. "Flattery gets you everywhere."

"Hmph," she grunted. "You should be more convincing when I have you so many feet up in the air. I could decide to drop you."

"Oh, you know how it arouses me when you threaten to kill me, Love," Jeremiah replied sarcastically. "It would be an inconvenience, but you know good and well that it wouldn't accomplish anything in the long run."

"I live to inconvenience you, Dear Heart," Ingeborg replied, batting her eyelashes innocently.

Jeremiah scratched her behind her ears. "Just get us back to Jareth and his harem. They should be ready to make their move by now, and we don't want them to suspect anything about our departure."

Jareth started a pot of tea. He was alone in the kitchen with his thoughts as his only morose company. Fred and Scotty shot up from behind the salt and pepper shakers. Jareth smiled despite his inner turmoil. "Hello, Lads."

"Hmph. You know, you're gettin' old fin'ly," Scotty observed.

"Nice to see you, too." The pot whistled and Jareth took it off the stove. He started to go through Ashley's enormous tea collection in search of something that didn't have vanilla or fruit in it. It seemed futile.

"Why'd you not say hello to us before?" Scotty said indignantly, jumping feet first into the sugar bowl just as Jareth was reaching for it.

Jareth scowled and went for a cup instead. "I figure you would reveal yourself when you were good and ready. I heard you causing a ruckus earlier. I hope no one else saw you." He smirked at them. "What are you doing with the boy? Getting him into trouble, too?"

Fred poked his head into a cabinet. "What's wrong wid dese people? Ain't got a drop of the spirits nowhere."

Jareth pulled a little tiny bottle of something out of his inside coat pocket. In tiny, faint letters it said, "Dandelion Wine." He set it on the surface in front of Fred. The little man's eyes sparkled.

"You remembered!" He picked the bottle up with great joy and began guzzling it down. He let out a happy sigh. "Just like old times."

"I've been keeping it for you fellas," Jareth said with a smile. "Be sure not to drink it all, I'm sure Scotty wants some too."

"Nah, let'm have it. I'm staying away from the spirits these days." He picked an ant out of his red hair and kicked it across the counter. It made leg gestures at him and scuttled away.

Jareth finally found some earl grey and sat a tea bag into the cup, pouring hot water over it as he spoke. "A changed man, I see."

"Not really, I just got sick'a fallen down all the time."

Jareth hated to admit it to himself, but he was glad to see them. They reminded him of a time long past when he was a lot more free spirited and not so heavily weighed down by enormous mistakes. It was a time when he would come Aboveground during his youth and play his hand at being different people. He'd come in the night, infiltrate some new place, make friends, then leave in a flurry of magic. He met Scotty and Fred on one such trip in England. They did a radio show together that was popular for a couple of months. He paid them in mushrooms and dandelion wine. It was lucky they were so small, or they might have drunk away all his money with their appetite for spirits.

##

The tribe of Scottish guinea pigs received the group warmly once the initial battle had been forgotten. Their camp site was exactly that; it consisted primarily of tents spread out in a hidden part of the valley. There weren't any obvious clues to how the guinea pig people got there, or what their origins might be. Sarah watched them in fascination, face to face with the first big oddity since the transformation. That was, aside from having met with Albert and Wonggu in Dreamtime.

She turned to look outside of the tent, and noticed that Albert was teaching one of the pigs how to throw their knitting needle like a spear. It wasn't long before he drew a crowd. Wonggu showed them how to make pigments with local clay.

Everyone had left Sarah alone with a pitcher of ale, a loaf of bread, and some cheese, trying to give her space to relax. She gobbled up the bread and cheese gratefully, her hunger much greater than she would think possible, being only half a person.

Once she had her fill of beer and bread, all that was left to do was wait for Leah to arrive. Leah called to let her know that she was going to take a private jet to their location to discuss everything that had happened to date. She was glad she had some time. If the heat and exhaustion from the spell hadn't been enough to take her edge, the large pitcher of beer had sealed her fate. She lounged sleepily for the next half hour, thankful for the respite and for something to help her relax.

She started to wonder how everyone felt about the changes as they were. After she met the guinea pigs, she started to realize that it was probably likely that there were many on the world who appreciated what her other half had done for them. Though the pigs were primed and ready to fight against her Ego, she knew that it was only part of their role, the characters they got to play now that they had changed. Their counterparts in reality, before the world had merged, probably had a chance to do what they'd always dreamed—play a role in their fantasies.

But it wasn't right. There was no balance, no sense of order. Everything felt askew, even on a molecular level. The only thing that waited in slumber were nightmares of empty darkness. There was nothing left to dream about. The chaos of the psyche had been let loose, a dangerous playground for everyone's desires, whether dark or light in nature.

There was no room left for dreams in this world.

Sarah spun around when she felt a presence in the doorway. Leah's face smiled back at her between the long bangs of her chin-length cut. She realized that Leah was starting to look less like her every day, finding her own identity.

Sarah rose to hug her. As she held Leah's shoulders between her hands, she looked at her more carefully. The smile on her face had something more to it. "There's something different about you," she said with squinting eyes.

Leah cocked her head to the side curiously. "Really?" She summed Sarah up carefully. "You're the one who looks different. I think I believe you, now. Two halves, huh?" Leah noted that Sarah's hair was a light shade of brown, almost blonde, and that her eyes were a deep blue. "You don't have even a hint of darkness about you. Not even a little bit of pout."

Sarah snorted out a laugh. "No, I think the pout all went to the other side of me. All I got is a big mess of 'confused'."

Sarah poured Leah a big cup of ale, and they caught up on everything that had passed since Sarah was kidnapped by Kaleb at the independence ceremony in Sunset City.

After a half hour of exposition, Sarah got to the issues that concerned her most. "You said you don't know where Toby or Jareth are."

Leah smiled widely at her. "Well, I don't know about that just yet."

Sarah was completely taken aback. "What? How? They didn't just call you up too, did they?"

Leah shook her head. "Nope. But I really didn't think about looking for them until you said something—I've sort of had my hands full. I sent out gophers to look for Toby. They went to our house... you know, Mom and Dad's... And they found out that our folks had changed too. Toby wasn't there, though. But they did pick up a trail, and I should be hearing back from them anytime now."

"What did Mom and Dad change into?" Sarah's eyes were wide in curiosity.

"Lizards."

Before Sarah could register her amazement, a scuffling sound ran underneath them. Sarah shot a troubled look to the dirt ground of the tent, but Leah looked perfectly calm. Soon a head shot out from a hole.

It was a gopher with a roll of paper in his teeth.

Sarah cocked a playful eyebrow at Leah. "Hey, my company holds many useful resources," Leah said with a smile. "Sarah, meet Mergo. He is an expert on underground reconnaissance."

The gopher saluted. "Pleased to meet you, Queen Sarah. We're all glad to know that half of you has her wits perfectly intact." He turned to Leah and handed her the roll of paper. "Ma'am, we've discovered the location of the man named Jareth and the boy named Toby. They are both in New York, in the company of a group of witches. One of the witches, Marlena, owns a shop in downtown New York." He pointed to the paper, that held a map and a list of information. "Here are the names and addresses of the women they have connected with for safe refuge. The red dots represent their living establishments, and the big purple dot is the other Sarah's new palace." The gopher shook some dirt off his haunches and continued. "We did as you asked, and refrained from engaging them."

"Good, you didn't draw any attention to them, did you?" Leah asked.

"No, but I think they are planning on drawing attention to themselves," the gopher replied nervously. "They were already on a mission to confront Sarah this evening." He nodded to Sarah. "The other Sarah, Your Highness."

Leah and Sarah stared at each other wide-eyed. "Well, maybe a war isn't necessary?" Leah mused.

"Of course it is," Sarah said breathlessly. "They won't be able to go up against her. She has the full Amethyst in her possession."

"The whole thing?" Leah blurted unbelievingly.

Sarah nodded somberly. "I of course kept one piece hidden away, but I have no doubt she has the full stone, or she wouldn't have been able to do all of this." Sarah motioned to the guinea pigs doing battle training outside of their tent.

"Well, I mean, what is the deal with the stone?" Leah asked. "Do you know anything about it?"

Sarah smirked at her counterpart. "You sell me short."

Leah looked down at Mergo and smiled. "You did a fine job, Mergo. Thank you for delivering these materials. I'll be keeping in touch."

Mergo saluted and hopped back down into his hole, digging his way back to Henson Studios with unreal speed.

"Amethysts are anything but stones of dark power," Sarah explained once he was gone. "You can't do anything of ill will with an amethyst. They're only stones of peace and healing."

"Then how do you explain what's going on?" Leah asked incredulously.

"This stone was cursed a long time ago. Certain situations trigger darkness within it... There's a lot of missing lore on it, but one thing is for certain—there is a very good reason it was so well hidden away by the elves."

"Why didn't they destroy the damned thing?" Leah asked.

Sarah shrugged. "Didn't know how. Afraid they might need it for something." She looked at Leah with intense eyes. "Don't you think someone would have destroyed it by now if they knew how? The thing is at least a thousand years old."

"No!" Leah shot. "I don't. Because people are consistently weak and stupid and unwilling to let anything of power go."

Sarah smiled at her. "Always looking for the worst in people. Why is that?"

Leah looked at her through playfully slitted eyes. "Now don't you start on me. This is the same woman who wouldn't let Jareth back into her life a few days ago because of everything he had done to her."

Sarah frowned as she gazed into the foam of her beer. "You weren't exactly arguing."

Leah sighed. "No, you're right. I wasn't exactly the most supportive friend under those circumstances." Her sad eyes hinted at how sorry she felt for her careless words.

The silence was engulfing for a few moments before Leah finally spoke up. "You know," she said, looking off into the distance, "I was wrong about Jareth."

Sarah looked up at her, surprised.

Leah never moved her gaze from that empty point in space. She started to muse out loud. "You know, I've never been in love. I only got to watch you from far away, and I guess I always thought it was a little silly. But I'm beginning to realize that I was wrong." She turned her eyes back to the awestruck Sarah, but couldn't meet their deep gaze for long. "When you find someone that... sparks your interest... it comes out of nowhere. That's the point, right? That you can't explain it away. No logic to it." She looked up with firey eyes.

"That's right," Sarah mumbled quietly, dumbstruck. "You're in love?"

Leah laughed suddenly. "I wouldn't quite... say that. Nothing that big. But, yes, I've found an interest in someone."

Sarah smiled at her. "The guy you were telling me about who is helping you... Justin?"

Leah nodded and sighed happily. "He's... I dunno, he's just somethin' else."

Sarah glowed with understanding and happiness for her friend. "I'd certainly say that was the start of something big."

Leah looked awkward with all the soul-searching, and crossed her arms as if fending off cold. "Well, we're gonna get you and Jareth back together." She grinned broadly. "That is, after we get you back together."

Sarah stepped out of the tent and saw that Leah's jet was parked across the valley. "How many people can you fit in that thing?"

"Not many," Leah answered. "Maybe about ten. Are you thinking about flying in to New York to help them?"

Sarah nodded, but was instantly met with a vigorously shaking head on Leah's part. "No can-do. I already looked into that. All air traffic has been blocked a state deep on all sides of New York. From what I hear, they're actively scouting with air patrols to keep anyone from getting in by sky. Even beast flight is being monitored closely. Nothing short of magic is going to get you in there. Or walking."

Sarah sighed. "That's what I was afraid of." She looked down at her hand, and peeked at her wound through the bandages. It was starting to heal faster than was natural, but not fast enough for her satisfaction.

Leah looked at the wound and flinched. "Geez, that is nasty. I can't believe you had to cut yourself to open the portal."

"It'll heal. Maybe I didn't need so much blood," she said, turning her attention away in an effort to ignore the pain. "Until I'm fully recharged, I won't be able to open another portal. If we do start war, where will the battlegrounds be?"

"That's a good question," Leah said. "Maybe here, in the midwest? Let them come to us." Leah looked up at the full moon pensively. "From all the clues, she's eagerly pursuing war with any parties who try to thwart her. It doesn't look like she can really make things stick unless she has full control."

"No, we can't wait for her," Sarah said resolutely. "We have to bring the battle to her."

"There's no way we'd get all the troops there in time," Leah answered, rigorously shaking her head. "This whole thing broke out so fast... I have a strong feeling war is right on our heels. And there's no way we'd get past any border patrols."

"I'll have to open a big enough portal," Sarah mused quietly.

"How can you do that?" Leah was heated. "You'd have to drain your whole body of blood to transport that many people."

Sarah smirked, suddenly sure of herself. "No, I'm starting to realize... It's not the amount of blood. It's the amount of concentration." She put a thoughtful finger to her lips. "Mergo did say that Jareth is in the company of witches, didn't he?"

She grabbed the list from Leah and pulled out Will's phone from her pocket. "Go get Sage for me. I want to talk it through with him first..." She looked at the list, and saw that the woman named Marlena was at the top, and very conveniently had a cell phone. "I think it's time to break the silence."

##

Jareth, Toby, Jeremiah, and Didymus saw the witches off from the roof of Ashley's building. The sky had opened up in a torrential downpour that had already soaked everyone to the bone. But there was no more waiting—they had to make their move now or never.

A knot formed in Jareth's stomach as his head arced to watch Ingeborg fly out of view into the drizzling weather.

"Well, looks like things are getting started," Jeremiah said heavily. "So, the witches are going to try and convince Sarah they want an allegiance, and infiltrate her stronghold, correct?"

Jareth nodded as they walked down the staircase back to the main part of the building. He had a really bad feeling, but he didn't know what he could do about it. The women had begged him to stay behind. They had apparently spent the whole morning on a spell that would block Sarah from inferring their relationship with him and Toby.

"You know, I'm still worried about them," Jeremiah spoke aloud, wringing his hands.

"They'll be okay, huh?" Toby asked quietly.

Jareth bit his lip. "I think so," he answered unsurely. "They're very wise, they will know what to do."

"Maybe you should follow them, just to keep an eye out," Jeremiah said as they walked into Ashley's apartment. "Just follow from the ground... You should be able to see if there are any major scuffles."

Jareth looked at the man oddly. Jeremiah had always had a codgerly way of showing little concern for anyone, regardless of what his true feelings might be. He let the old man's words sink in. "What if I were noticed?"

"Wear a hood. It's raining off andon, so no one would find it out of the ordinary," Jeremiah concluded.

Jareth looked at Toby thoughtfully. "What do you think?" He had been going over elements of the spell with the boy that afternoon, rehearsing pronunciation and hand gestures. In those couple of hours, Jareth had found a renewed appreciation for the boy and his intellect. He didn't want to leave him out of any major decisions.

Toby considered it a moment, then nodded his head. "I'm worried about them, too," he finally said.

"Very well." Jareth pulled one of his purchased coats out of the closet and slipped out the hood that was hidden in the lining for rainy days. Didymus shook his whole body fitfully in an effort to dry off.

Toby started to pull his hood over when Jareth put a hand out to stop him. "No, Toby, I have to go alone. If something were to happen to you right now, we would have no hope of succeeding." He smiled at the boy almost sadly. "I need you to stay and continue practicing the spell."

Toby seemed disappointed, but took his hood off. "Alright."

Jareth grabbed an umbrella and started to head back out the door. "Be careful!" Toby called after him. "Hurry back!"

Jareth stuck his head back into the doorway, winked at the boy, and closed the door behind him.

Toby smiled and shuffled back into the living room. He sat as far away from Jeremiah as he possibly could, opened the magazine with the pictures of his sister, and started practicing the different hand motions that made up part of the spell he would use to put his sister back the way she was.

Jeremiah sat back in the couch and looked out the window, with a satisfied grin only fitting of a cat. Toby looked up at the man from time to time, his brow crinkled in thought.

Didymus bent close to Toby's ear and whispered. "I don't trust him, Master Tobias."

Toby put a finger to his lips and looked to see if Jeremiah had noticed Sir Didymus' speech. When he realized that the man wasn't paying attention, he bent low to the fox's ear and said, "Neither do I. Fred and Scotty told me not to trust him too much." Toby nodded to the fox as if to say, Keep that in mind.

Didymus nodded back, then returned to the hallway to keep guard.