In the meantime, the others trapped in the inn were having problems of their own. They were holding their own, well enough, given that all they had to defend themselves with were rusty shovels and old mops, but they were slowly being overwhelmed, as several goblins managed to slip past Tamahome and scramble inside. When the Seishi turned to beat them away from Miaka, three more slipped inside and cackled evilly.

"Arrrgh! This is @#&%nuts!" Tasuki exclaimed in frustration as he hit another goblin in the stomach with the handle of his mop. "We can’t stay here all day!"

"Well, how are we supposed to get past them, no da?" Chichiri exclaimed, ducking as one of the goblins swung a rusty sword at him.

A sharp curse came from Nuriko, who was struggling hand-to-hand with a rather tall and surprisingly strong goblin. With a yell, the man lifted the creature by the hands and flung it across the room, where it smacked into the wall with great force and slid down its length, moaning softly. "That’s it!" Nuriko raged, glaring around. "I have had enough! Time to get the hell out of here!" And with that, he picked up a large table that was roughly his size in height and nearly twice his height in length, and ran toward the entrance, holding it in front of himself like a shield. The heavy wood bowled over the goblins in his path, and as he hit the door, the wall surrounding it cracked and shattered with the force of the impact, sending them back into the street. Nuriko continued down the street, bowling goblins over left and right, clearing a wide path for them in the process.

The remaining Seishi and Miaka sweatdropped as they looked at each other, then picked up their "weapons" and followed him. "Why didn’t he think of doing that before, no da?!" Chichiri complained.

Stormlight leaped yet another roof, and landed on the other side, yelping as the wood gave way slightly beneath her, causing her to stumble. "There has got to be an easier way to do this!" she gasped, managing to catch her balance again. They were still being tailed, and several of the goblins were attempting to climb up after them, but luckily the creatures were even more uncoordinated than they were stupid, leaving the Listian and the emperor relatively safe. The various weapons that sailed past them—which ranged in everything from arrows to flying cookware to squawking chickens (?!?)—were pretty harmless if one knew how to duck properly. The near hits had been mostly luck on the goblins’ part as opposed to good aim, and therefore were easily ignored.

"Where are they?" Stormlight exclaimed in exasperation. "They can’t have gotten that far ahead of us!"

"Look there," Hotohori replied, pointing to a spot just past the goblin square, where there seemed to be a great deal of activity. Stormlight squinted, trying to get a better look, and caught a glimpse of bright, golden hair in the midst of the foray.

"Gosh, I wonder who that could be," she muttered sarcastically. "I swear I’m gonna rip that jerk’s face off and shove it up his…"

"At least they seem to be at a standstill," Hotohori interrupted hurriedly, shooting her an amused, slightly scandalized glance. "Now how to sneak up on them without being noticed?"

All at once, there was a great uproar among the goblins just below them, and the two of them turned to see what in the world was going on. Their eyes widened in surprise as they witnessed what appeared to be a large table cutting its way at high speed through the hoard, tossing goblins aside left and right like a rabid shopper at a seventy-five-percent-off-after-Christmas sale at JCPenneys. "Look out! Outta my way! Move it or lose it! Seishi on a mission here!" Nuriko’s distinctly feminine voice rose over the screams of terrified goblins. The table rushed by in a whirl of dust and flying debris, and Stormlight and Hotohori could see that it was indeed Nuriko who was driving the thing…and inadvertently clearing a path right toward their intended quarry, with the other Seishi trailing close behind.

The Listian blinked and looked at Hotohori, and slowly the both of them began to grin as the hilarity of the scene caught up to them. "Well," Stormlight began, giggling into her hand. "I guess that solves that problem!"

"Indeed," the emperor replied amusedly. "Now, perhaps, is the chance we need." He peered over the edge of the roof, seeing that the goblins had abandoned them to take off after this much more tempting quarry, leaving the grounds free for them to travel. "I think we’ll get there faster on ground," he told her, and chuckled at her distinct sigh of relief.

"Thank you!" she exclaimed. "That’s the most sensible thing I’ve heard all morning!"

He laughed again as he let himself down off the roof and dropped onto a wooden crate directly below, from there leaping lightly to the ground, grunting slightly as he hit, falling to one knee and his hands to take the pressure off his ankles. Then he stood and brushed himself off, turning to look up at Stormlight, who sighed wistfully. "You make that look so effortless," she muttered, shaking her head wryly. "I think I’m jealous."

He merely smiled as she dropped onto the crate, then on a whim playfully latched his hands around her waist and lifted her down to the ground, making her squeal in surprise. "Let us hurry," he suggested, grabbing her hand and pulling her along before she could say anything. She seemed only too willing to follow and, when he looked back at her, he saw the hint of a smile on her lips as she sneaked a glance at their joined hands.

As they neared the area, they slowed down and began creeping along, keeping close to the run-down huts so as to attract less attention. Thus they were able to more easily witness what was happening between the two groups when they finally reached their destination; a rundown, empty hut only a few feet away. They slipped inside the broken door and crouched by the window, peering out to see what was going on.

The table had been tossed aside, now broken into pieces, and the Suzaku and Seiryu warriors were apparently in the middle of a face-off, while goblins ringed them in, jeering loudly. All the Seishi were wary; being confronted with and surrounded by two separate sets of enemies was rather nerve-wracking, and none of them looked like they knew which ones to attack first. Nuriko, as he glanced at the goblins surrounding them, noticed movement from a hut not far away, and looked closer. He was surprised and relieved to see Stormlight and Hotohori peering out a window at them, and when Stormlight noticed she’d caught his attention, she gestured to keep quiet. "Distract them," she mouthed at him, gesturing to the goblins and the other Seishi. Nuriko nodded slightly to let her know he got the message, and turned his attention back to the matter at hand, looking for the slightest opening.

"Give Yui back to us!" Miaka was demanding hotly while glaring at the smirking general.

"And why would I want to do that?" Nakago questioned impassively. "She’s of much more use staying with us."

Yui tried to kick him in the shins, but he calmly avoided her blow, not seeming to be at all put out.

Suboshi, however, looked shocked at her actions. "Lady Yui!" he admonished. "What are you doing?! That isn’t a very polite thing to do!"

She fixed him with an icy glare. "Stuff it, Suboshi!" she snarled. "I’ve been kidnapped, brainwashed, smacked around, and generally abused by the people who were supposed to be my friends and protectors! I’ve seen how Miaka’s Seishi treat her, with love and respect. They’re all friends, for pity’s sake, which is more than I can say about any of us! I realize now that I’ve had nothing but torment and pain from the moment I met the whole lot of you, because I always knew I was fighting on the wrong side! But even though we’re enemies, the Suzaku Seishi were still willing to forgive me for the horrible things I let you do to them. I trust them, more than I ever trusted any of you, and the last thing I’m worried about being now is polite! I want my best friend back, I want to go home, and I don’t give a rat’s ass about what happens to any of you anymore!"

She was nearly shouting by the time she was finished with her tirade, and, rage lending extra strength to her body, she brought her elbow sharply back and let Nakago have it full-force in the gut. This time she connected, and Nakago dropped the girl with a pained "Oomph!"

And Nuriko saw their chance. "Now!" he yelled, as soon as Yui had scrambled out of the path of danger, and as one the Suzaku Seishi leaped forward to attack their enemies. Tasuki grinned, cracking his knuckles as a slightly maniacal light came into his amber eyes. "I am so gonna enjoy this," he half growled, half chuckled as he took off after Tomo, who screamed and tried his best to swat away the bandit.

"Let’s go, Hotohori!" Stormlight exclaimed, darting out of the building toward Yui, who was watching the fight with dazed wonder. The goblins weren’t doing anything other than standing around and gaping; apparently Jareth hadn’t told them what to do if their prey started fighting each other. Stormlight grinned and kicked a goblin in the rear end, who in turn yelped and turned to glare at her accusingly. "Don’t look at me!" she protested innocently. "He did it!" She pointed to a nearby goblin who was holding a spear in his hand, watching the fighting going on with avid interest.

The first goblin turned around and marched over to his brother, drew his leg back, and gave the second goblin a good hard kick in the rear, bowling the hapless creature over. This didn’t, of course, go over too well with the second goblin, who immediately picked himself up and threw himself at the offender, fists flailing, thus starting another fight.

Stormlight laughed herself almost to death as several more goblins tried to end the fight, inadvertently got pummeled, and ended up joining in, instead. Hotohori fixed her with an exasperated look, then shook his head wryly and headed for Yui, helping her to her feet and dragging both her and Miaka away from the fighting. "Are you okay?" the emperor and the Miko asked Yui at the same time.

"I’m fine, don’t worry about me," Yui exclaimed. "But hadn’t you better do something about the fighting? Remember what Jareth said about beating each other up?"

Stormlight wandered over, still laughing as she brushed her hands together, a malicious grin covering her face. She’d started three more quarrels among various goblins that were quickly turning into all-out brawls, and the distraction was working nicely. "There. That’s more like it," she exclaimed impishly. "They’ll be too busy killing each other to take much more notice of us."

Tasuki flew by at that moment, landed on his back, and leaped to his feet again with a curse. He was a mess. His eye was blackened, his lip was split, and his clothes were torn and dirty. He looked like he was having the best time of his life. He grinned at Miaka’s and Yui’s shocked expressions and wiped the trickle of blood from his mouth. "’Scuse me, ladies. I gotta golden-haired pansy to pound!" And with that, he leaped back into the fray with a yell.

The three girls looked at each other and rolled their eyes, and it was agreed all around. Men could be such barbarians!

"Hey guys!" Stormlight finally yelled. "Remember what Jareth said about beating each other to bloody pulps? Anyone wanna forfeit the game, ‘cause that’s what’s gonna happen!"

The Seishi stopped in their tracks, looking at the Listian in surprise. Tamahome held Suboshi by the lapels of his shirt, fist drawn back, ready to pound him into the dust. Nuriko was in the middle of a hair-pulling competition with Tomo, who was locked in a stranglehold—and losing, by the looks of the long black locks scattered all over the ground—and Chichiri was frozen in the act of sneaking up on Nakago, who had been reaching for Tamahome from behind while completely ignoring an enraged bandit clinging to his back and attempting to strangle him. They stared at Stormlight for a moment longer, looked at each other curiously for another moment or two…and abruptly went right on fighting. The Listian stared at them for a moment, then slapped a hand to her forehead. "WHY do I even BOTHER?!" she yelled.

The goblins, in the meantime, were still going at it, having forgotten all about their quarry by then. Stormlight nudged Yui and Miaka and gestured toward the castle, telling them that they should head toward it. Miaka pursed her lips and stubbornly shook her head; no way was she going without anyone else. Stormlight sighed and rolled her eyes, before turning to ask Hotohori to sweet-talk some sense into his Miko. However, Hotohori was no longer there. Blinking in surprise, she looked around in time to see the emperor of Konan sneaking up behind Suboshi, who had managed to switch positions with Tamahome and was now sitting on top of him, hands locked around his throat. Nakago had staggered off, finally noticing the bandit on his back and now attempting to dislodge him. She watched, bemused, as Hotohori tapped Suboshi on the shoulder, and when the younger boy turned in surprise to look at him, he drew back a fist and landed a solid punch along Suboshi’s jaw, flinging him from Tamahome’s body.

All three girls’ mouths dropped open in shock at the sight of the emperor punching the lights out of a guy like any common brawler in a bar. "Wow!" Miaka breathed in awe, eyes bugging out of her head.

"You can say that again," Stormlight replied, jaw still gaping.

"Wow!" Miaka breathed again. She closed her mouth as Hotohori dragged a half-conscious Tamahome back over to them. "Are you okay, Tamahome?" she asked worriedly, kneeling beside the body of her beloved. Tamahome groaned and sat up, rubbing his head, and was immediately glomped by an overly-relieved Miaka.

Hotohori watched the scene with a kind of weary smile and turned away, only to be confronted with the disapproving gaze of the Listian. He blinked at her. "What?" he asked innocently.

She sighed and shook her head, taking his bruised hand in her own and examining it. "Really, Hotohori. Getting into fist fights? How…Tasuki-like," she scolded. Then her lips pursed. "You’re not used to brawling, I can tell. You split your knuckles," she told him, smiling slightly as she examined the bleeding wounds.

"I was merely trying to save Tamahome’s life," he replied defensively.

She sighed again. "I know. Good job on that, too. You shocked the socks right off Miaka, though. Not to mention myself. Yeesh! You must’ve punched his jaw to the other side of his face from the looks of your knuckles! Not that he deserved anything less for what he did. Or was gonna do, anyway." Her expression darkened slightly and she rummaged in her pack, coming up with a clean handkerchief, which she used to carefully clean his wounds. Touched by her caring actions, he let her do so and didn’t protest when she wrapped the makeshift bandage around his hand and tied it into place. "There," she stated, giving his hand a final pat before letting go. "Now, might I suggest we collect our friends and get the hell out of here?"

"Good idea," Yui, who had been listening in, agreed. She glanced back and forth from the emperor to the Listian, a knowing smile hovering on her lips, and Stormlight shot her a warning glance. "How do we get them away from each other?" the Miko continued innocently, although her eyes were still laughing.

"Leave that to me," Stormlight said, picking up a stray bucket and plopping it down on her head. She then picked up a discarded spear and, saluting a rather confused-looking Hotohori and Yui, marched toward the nearest goblin, who had been taking a rest from the fight. "Hey you!" she growled in what she hoped was a good imitation of a goblin voice.

"Waddya want?" the goblin grunted, eyeing the newcomer suspiciously.

"I know who stole all yer Pressed Owl Wine last night!" Stormlight announced loudly, drawing the immediate attention of all goblins within a ten-foot radius. "Saw ‘em drinkin’ it wit me own eyes, I did!"

The goblin immediately straightened up. "Who stole me wine?!" he yelped. "Lemme at ‘im! I been lookin’ for ‘em all night!" There were several mumbles of agreement, and general restless shifting.

Stormlight grinned and pointed to a tall, golden-haired Seishi currently involved in trying to beat the crap out of a smaller, flame-haired Seishi. "S’Goldilocks over there! He stole yer wine, an’ everyone else’s too! An’ the little guy wit the fancy tasseled belt an’ the half-bald one wearin’ makeup are ‘is partners in crime!"

The goblins growled, as even more of their kin began to listen in, and general complaining ensued as they grumbled among themselves. Pressed Owl Wine was a delicacy among goblins, after all. It was the epitome of bad form to steal another goblin’s wine…not that any of them actually knew what bad form was, but it was the thought that counted.

"You gonna let ‘em get away wit’ it?!" Stormlight goaded indignantly, and was rewarded with a defiant, "No!"

"You gonna let them jerks steal yer wine an’ not pay fer it?!"

"NO!"

"Waddaya gonna DO about it?"

"Kill ‘em!"

"What?!"

"Kill ‘em!"

"I can’t hear you!" Stormlight was on a roll now.

"KILL ‘EEEEMMMMM!" came the resounding shrieks, and the entire hoard—three quarters of them not sure who they were gonna kill or for what reason, but still not willing to be left out of the fun—turned and charged at the Seishi, who froze in place at the sound of a stampede heading their way. Miaka and Yui hurried over and yanked Chichiri and Nuriko out of the way, both of them laughing hysterically in the process, and Tasuki yelped and hastily scrambled after them as the goblins rushed by in a dust-raising storm, heading straight for Nakago, Suboshi, and Tomo. The three Seiryu Seishi took one look at the enraged hoard and abruptly decided to cut their losses, turn tail, and run for dear life. Two little birds fluttered after them, one of them chirping something that sounded suspiciously like, "Lord Nakagooooo!"

Stormlight marched back over to her friends, tossing the spear aside and taking the bucket off her head, grinning madly. "Am I good, or am I good?" she gloated, and was glomped by both Miaka and Yui, who were still giggling.

"But how did you know that the goblins had their wine stolen?" Hotohori asked, thoroughly mystified.

Stormlight grinned wider. "I didn’t!" she exclaimed, laughing. "Goblins are so stupid they’ll believe anything you tell them, and they probably couldn’t remember anything past five minutes ago, anyway. You just gotta know how to rile those morons up. It’ll take forever to settle them back down, too." Her grin widened. "Oh, Jareth’s gonna love me for this one!"

"In the meantime, my suggestion is we head to the castle, no da!" Chichiri exclaimed. "They’ll be heading there themselves, even without Yui, no da."

"You’re right. Let’s go!"

The events of the past half hour immediately forgotten, the group was all business as it headed swiftly toward the castle gates. It was a simple matter to duck past the few remaining goblins, who were staggering around wondering what had happened to their brethren, and those that did have the gall to get in their way were immediately airborne with a few well-placed kicks by Nuriko. Even Jareth couldn’t have punted them more artfully, a fact that Stormlight was gleefully sure he was stewing over.

And there were the gates leading into the castle, which Nuriko opened with little trouble, and then they were inside the castle and looking around. "Where do we go from here?" Miaka asked, panting a little.

Stormlight gulped for breath—she had never much cared for running—and looked around, her brow furrowed. "I’ve been in this castle enough times before, but somehow it looks different to me this time," she replied.

"Ya think he changed it with his magic?" Tasuki asked.

She shrugged. "Sure looks like it. This is supposed to be his throne room, but it’s just an empty room." Then she noticed a set of stairs off in a shadowed corner. "There! Let’s try those." They turned and headed for the stairs, senses straining to detect any possible danger as they began to climb. Stormlight expected at any time to wind up standing at the foot of the Escher room, where Jareth and Sarah had made their final stand, but thankfully the stairway continued on.

For a very, very long time. It seemed like they were going the whole way up to Above by the length of it, Stormlight thought, bemused. Her legs were starting to kill her, too. And there was no end in sight. But just when she was about to give it up and suggest going back down and searching for another way—despite the pounding she was sure to get from certain exasperated Seishi—a doorway appeared before them, set at the end of a long hallway. Spirits immediately heightening, they quickened their pace, and as they got closer they could make out what appeared to be a magnificently decorated room, in which they could see three figures. One was Ashitare, who was chained to a wall with a magicked choke collar and leash like a common dog, glaring balefully at two other figures seated in the middle of the room. The second one—who kept casting nervous glances at the pissed-off werewolf—was Chiriko, and seated beside him on a comfortable-looking chair…was Jareth.

"Chiriko!" Miaka shouted when she saw him, rushing forward with her Seishi close at her heels. The youngest Seishi blinked in surprise when he saw her, but just as he was about to return the greeting, a clamor from the other side of the room stopped everyone in their tracks, just inside the door. All eyes turned to a previously-unnoticed doorway directly across from them…and slowly mouths dropped open in shock as the angry, disheveled faces of the Seiryu Seishi glared back at them.

"Oh @%$#," Tasuki exclaimed weakly.

Stormlight couldn’t have said it better herself.