Leia
held onto the dogfish's fin as they followed the sharp currents
through the castle. Luke went after Jasper and find out what his
plans were. He'd meet them in the center of the maze. His sister gave
him the sword from the Twin Sunset to keep him protected in
the crystal caves.
The
back door of the castle lead to what had once been a walled
labyrinth. The old rocks were now crumbling, but she could still see
the outline of the maze. Gold and silver trees and ivory coral was
covered in lichen and kelp. Narrow stone arches lead the way around
sharp quartz corners.
She
fingered her necklace. The blue shell had been blinking for a while
now. “Dogfish, please hurry! I have to find Han before the light in
the shell goes out. I won't be able to breathe underwater anymore.”
Coral
and rock walls became a blur as they sped past them, riding the
fast-moving currents. Leia would have enjoyed the ride if she hadn't
been so worried. What if they couldn't find Han in time? What if he
was hurt? Maz did say Jabba had cast some kind of spell on him. What
did she mean, he wasn't the merman she met at the ball? What had
Jabba done to him?
They
were swept right into a square-shaped garden that was surrounded by
walls on all sides. “This must be the center of the maze!” It
could be no other place. The gold and silver coral trees were
enormous here. Beams of light made them sparkle like crystal. The
seaweed and flowers draped around them gave them the appearance of
land trees in the spring. Huge heaps of gold, jewels, armor, weapons,
and coins lay on the ground before them. Flowers grew along the walls
like vines; kelp resembled Spanish moss.
“Isn't
it beautiful here?” She picked up a slightly tarnished shield.
“This is our family crest. Two suns over the ocean.” A fingernail
scratched lightly down the surface, scraping up sand and slime. “This
is the missing treasure from the Twin Sunset!” Her brown
eyes darted around, searching for her dogfish friend. “Dogfish?
Where are you?”
His
whimpers lead her to the very center of the maze. A rusted cage sat
in the middle of the room on a stone pedestal. It's lock looked like
it was only recently broken. “What is it, boy? What do you see?”
The dogfish's nose perked up as he felt the currents change. Leia
heard the breaking coral. Someone...or something...was coming for
them.
“The
Beast,” Leia breathed. She had just enough time to grab her knife
before two long, sharp limbs enveloped her waist. A spiny tail
wrapped around her legs. Absurdly long, sharp claws cut into her soft
flesh. She finally gave the Beast's ribs a hard jab with her elbow,
enough for him to let her go.
It
was the ugliest thing she'd ever laid eyes on. She couldn't help her
horrified gasp. Spines ran the length of its body, from the
three-pronged tail to the two horns that sprouted from its jagged
head. Its skin was a harsh mass of navy-blue ridges. The teeth were
two rows of needles that could crush her head in an instant. Instead
of hair, blood red tentacles waved in the currents.
What
made Leia pause was its eyes. They were hazel with gold flecks, and
to her surprise, very human and very sad. She knew those eyes. She
kept her knife raised as the creature looked her over, as if trying
to remember something...or decide where to stick his claws next.
“Who
are you?” She held the sharp knife in front of her, jumping away
from the claws that swiped at her face. “Where's Han? Where's your
prisoner?”
The
Beast lunged for her, trying to shove her away from the treasure. He
covered as much of it as he could with his body, blocking it from
her. “Tell me where Han is! He's the only treasure I really want.”
It
looked up at her in surprise. “You thought I was after the
treasure.” She lowered the knife. “I'm glad I found it, but it's
not the reason I'm here. I came for the man...well, the merman...I
love.”
The
dogfish nudged the Beast with its nose. He sensed that this thing was
familiar. It smelled like his good friend...but it didn't look like
him. He let out a bark, hoping his friend would recognize it. The
Beast ran his clawed, webbed hands down the spotted shark's back, his
rigid, lipless mouth somehow twisting into a small smile.
“You...know
him?” Leia finally lowered her knife. “Dogfish, is this your
missing friend?”
The
dogfish bobbed, the closest thing he could do to nodding, and threw
his fins around the Beast. The monster returned the hug, leaning into
the happy shark. She swam over to them, her own brown eyes wide with
amazement. “I thought...I guess I assumed your friend was a
merman.”
A
clawed finger gently touched her cheek. “I won't hurt you, if you
don't hurt us.” The Beast threw his body over the chests of gold
and jewels again. “I don't know what Jabba told you, but that isn't
yours.” She joined him on the pile of coins. “You know,” she
said, “you're awfully quiet, for a Beast. I thought you'd roar, or
growl, or something.”
The
Beast gently touched his throat. He'd tried, but he couldn't make any
noise. He opened the toothy mouth, but nothing emerged. The
expression on his face when he realized his voice failed him...he
looked so lost, so heartbroken. So much like the last time she'd seen
Han, when Jabba locked the chain on his collar. The Beast wore a
similar collar, a heavy gold circle around his thick neck. There was
a chain on his collar as well, dragging behind him. He clutched his
head, his face a mask of pain.
“That
collar...I know that collar. It's the same one Han and Luke wear.
You're a slave, like them.” The dogfish rubbed his side. Leia put
her hand against his. “We're...we're not so different, you and me.
I'm just a little smaller than you are, that's all. It doesn't matter
what you look like.”
His
claws gently moved up her neck, trailing down her cheeks. “I want
to help you.” The dogfish patted his tail. “We both do. My friend
likes you...and that makes you my friend, too.”
Hazel
eyes gazed down at the dogfish, then at Leia. He swam back and forth
between the treasure and the human girl, his claws outstretched but
unsteady. He didn't know what to do.
“Little
Beauty!” Leia looked up just in time to see Jasper, now fatter and
more wrinkled, dragging Luke into the center garden. He held the
silver and blue Skywalker sword to her brother's throat. “I found
another treasure I think you'll be interested in outside in the
maze.” He growled at the Beast. “Well, stupid, what are you
waiting for? Slash her to ribbons! Why do you think you have those
claws?”
“I
knew there was something wrong with you.” She reached for her
knife. “Let Luke go, or I'm going to find out if mermen have a soft
underbelly like crabs.”
“He's
still my slave, Little Beauty.” His long fingers stroked Luke's
chest. “And a very pretty one, too. I wouldn't have made him one of
the house slaves if he wasn't so well-known.” He wore a belt of
glass beads, a lavender ruffled shell, and an enormous pale orange
conch shell. “The purple one is where I keep Solo's voice when he's
underwater. The conch has the souls of every human I've had lured
down here. Most of them are dead now, but some members of his crew
are still making excellent waiters at my ship.”
“Leia!”
Luke kicked as hard as he could. “Get to the surface! Go get
Father!”
“I'm
not leaving you, or any of you!” Leia held the knife level with
Jasper's neck. “Where's Han Solo? You said he was a prisoner in the
center!”
Her
eyes widened at the familiar booming laughter. “That's rich! You
humans think you know everything. The trouble with you is, you only
see with your eyes.”
Boba
Fett emerged from a silver coral tree, his mechanical trident raised.
“Want me to kill her, boss?”
“No.”
Jasper shoved Luke at the shark man. “Take care of the prince. I'll
deal with the Beast and the girl myself.” Leia couldn't believe
she'd even considered the merman to be handsome. His face was twisted
into a hideous leer. Lengthy fingers clutched a red glass bottle.
“Now, dear girl, I just need to get you to drink this, and your
soul will be mine. Just like your brother's.”
“Never!”
She lunged at him, her knife drawn. “I'll never let you have my
soul!”
He
grabbed a gold knife from the pile of treasures and aimed for her
side. She just got out of his way in time. The knife left a tear in
her sea-green gown. The two tussled, wrestling each other to the
sandy floor. “Beast,” he snarled, “you damn moron, get her off
me! I can't get her soul while she's on top!”
Leia
held her breath when the Beast yanked her away from him, his claws
around her waist. She lay on the pile of coins where he dropped her,
certain that her soul was as good as gone. Instead, the Beast stabbed
his claws into Jasper's side. The golden merman screamed and sagged
into the sand. He held his bleeding, wrinkled side, his bulging
yellow eyes glaring poison daggers at the creature that turned on
him.
“Beast!”
She hurried to his side, Luke following. “You saved me” He gave
her another small smile, drawing her face into his hands. “I
think...I know.” The princess threw her arms around him, ignoring
the ridges cutting into her skin. “Thank you...Han.”
They
were going to kiss when Han suddenly reared back, a knife embedded
deeply in his side. Jasper was looking fatter and more bloated by the
minute. His deep laugh filled the coral garden. “You had your last
chance to be useful, Beast, and you blew it. Did you honestly think
she could want an ugly dimwit like you, when she had someone like
me?”
“No!”
Leia screamed at the top of her lungs – at least as well as she
could underwater – but Fett blocked her from the duo. “Get out of
my way, you overgrown bait! You don't want to see what I can do when
I'm mad!”
“I'm
shaking.” The shark man jabbed her with his mechanical trident.
“My boss said he had something to give you. I think you'd better
take it now.”
“That's
what you think, buddy!” A knife sliced through the water, hacking
the end off of Fett's trident. Lando swam gracefully towards them,
sending Fett into the coral with a fierce kick. His cape flowed
around his slender brown body like waves on the shore. “I'd believe
this lady when she says you don't want to upset her. It's not a good
idea to upset a princess.” Fett yanked at his arms, but Lando
kicked out. The two ended up grappling, tumbling over and over in the
water.
Jasper...or
Jabba...was breathing heavily. “You're too late!” He held out the
red bottle. “Her soul is already as good as mine. Just like her
brother's...ow!” The dogfish clamped down on Jasper's hand. The
moment the bloated merman-slug lost the bottle, the shark grabbed it
with a flipper, quickly floating it on a current to Leia, who grabbed
it the moment it went past her. “Damn you, Chewbacca!” Jabba
snarled. “If I get teeth marks, you and Solo are paying for my
medical bills!”
Luke
yanked the belt off Jabba's waist, both shells falling into his
hands. He handed the lavender one to Leia. “I think you should have
the honor of breaking this one.”
“Likewise,”
she handed him the conch shell, “this is yours.”
They
swam as one to the wall on the side of the center garden. Lando,
Fett, and Jabba all looked up...in time to see the twins swing the
shells against the wall, shattering both into a thousand pieces.
“NOOOO!”
Jabba screamed and bellowed, but he couldn't stop the white light
from leaving his larynx and entering the Beast's. His voice became
deeper and more of a growl as Beast coughed and sputtered. Chewbacca
nudged him, whimpering.
Hundreds
of blood-red lights escaped from the conch shell. One streamed into
Luke's chest. It pushed him back into the wall briefly, his blue eyes
pained. Leia put her arms around him. “Luke? Luke, are you all
right?”
He
looked up at her...and there was a light in his bottomless blue eyes
that she hadn't seen since the day she said good-bye to him on the
Naval docks. “I'm better than all right, Leia.” He hugged her.
“I'm not a slave anymore. I'm great!” She hugged him back as hard
as she could.
Jabba
gasped, still holding his side. The magic had been slowly fading. He
was fleshy and wrinkled, more like his former sea-slug self than a
merman. “You're too late, Princess. You may have saved your
brother, but Solo's about to become seafoam!”
“You...you
bastard!” Leia grabbed the chain from around her shoulder. “Han's
not a monster! You are!” She swung the chains around his thick
neck, just as she'd done in the ruined dining hall. It was harder to
strangle him when his neck was fatter, but he also moved slower. She
strained with all her might at the creature, not stopping until his
eyes closed and his tongue flopped out of his rubbery mouth.
The
twins both glided to Han at the same time, Luke to one side, Leia to
the other. Chewbacca stuffed sea flowers under his head to give him a
soft place to rest. “Good work, Leia,” Han croaked, “Your
Worship...I'm a siren...I lure humans to the water...got Luke. Jabba
had me over a boulder...had Chewie...I lost his shipment...had to
trade my voice for legs to pay him. I could only... talk to...get
you. Human souls live forever. Merfolk...become foam.” He shook his
head. “But I couldn't...hurt you...not ever...”
“Shh.”
She took his misshapen head on her lap. Luke held his hand. Chewbacca
licked his cheek. “Please don't leave me. Don't leave us. You
can't.” Her arms wrapped tenderly around him. “I love you.”
He
gave her one last tiny cocky grin. “I know.”
Even
as she kissed him, his eyelids closed. She held him tighter, not
caring that his ridged skin was cutting into her arms, her body
wracked with great, heaving sobs. She wouldn't let him fade away.
Luke put his arms comfortingly around his sister. Chewbacca leaned
into her, letting out a mournful growl.
Lando
left Boba Fett on the ground, a trident through his stomach. He went
to Leia, putting his arms around her shoulders. “I'm sorry,” he
said gently. As Leia sobbed, the last light in her shell necklace
went out.
Chewbacca
was the first one to see the sea foam gathering around Han. He nudged
Leia and pointed with his fin. Luke saw it, too. “Uh, sis.” He
shook her arm. “You might want to open your eyes. There's something
really strange going on.”
Foam
swirled around Han...but it wasn't consuming him. It was transforming
him. His claws shortened, became human fingers. The tail lost its
spines, the back its ridges. Needle-like teeth became smaller and
rounded. His horns vanished. The tentacles softened into unruly
auburn hair.
“Han?”
Leia gasped. “It's you!”
“Yeah,
Your Worship.” He stared at his hands, then his tail in shock. “I'm
alive. I'm not seafoam.” He threw his arms around her. “I'm
alive! I'm ok!” She yanked him into another, more passionate kiss.
Chewbacca
managed to hug them both with his flippers. Han hugged his friend
back. “Thanks for coming for me, old pal.” He looked up at Leia
and Luke. “You two, both of you. I owe you one.”
Luke
was turning a slight shade of purple. “This is great, but we can't
stay down here. I'm not under Jabba's spell anymore. I can't
breathe!”
Lando
nodded. “We have to go. King Anakin's fleet is on the surface,
waiting for you, but I don't know for how much longer. There's
another storm brewing” He put an arm around Luke. “So, what's
your story? I heard you were lost at sea.”
“I
was.” Luke grinned at his sister. “Leia found me.”
Leia
held onto Han hard. “I won't leave you.”
“Your
Worship, I'm not like you. I wish I was. I'd give anything...” He
shook his head. “Go to the surface. You belong there, with your
family.” He held out the same oilskin bag he'd had at the ball.
“This is what I stole from your dad. Tell him there's a ton more
where that came from in the coral garden just outside of the ruin of
the original Nabarrie Castle.”
She
frowned. “And you?”
“I'm
a merman.” His cocky grin emerged. “I belong wherever the
currents take me. I'm not going to raid shipwrecks or lure humans to
their death anymore, if that's what you're worried about.”
The
human girl was having a hard time holding her breath. Han put his
arms around her. “Come on. I know a shortcut to the land.”
She
grabbed Chewbacca's fin, and they swam across the ocean. The water
felt warm and comforting at first. She kept one hand on Chewie's fin,
and the other in Han's. Fish swam by them, waving their fins. The
mound of living coral waved one tentacle, then went back to sleep.
Even the giant squid bobbed at them, almost inking himself as they
nearly knocked him into a ditch.
The
closer they got to land, the more difficult the currents became to
navigate. She was having a tough time holding onto Chewie's fin. Han
squeezed her hand harder. “Hold on, Your Worship. We're goin' for a
ride!”
The
currents battered and tossed them to and fro, trying to push her away
from the dogfish and the merman. Leia's human fingers weren't meant
to deal with fast-moving undertows. Her hands slipped from Chewie's
fin, the undertow drawing her back. She gasped, trying hard to hold
her breath and fight the currents.
“Leia!”
Han's sleek navy tail shot through the currents. “Take my hand! You
rescued me, and I'm sure as hell ain't gonna let you die!”
She
grabbed his hand, holding on for dear life as they sped past ship
wrecks and reefs and coral mounds. “I can't hold on much longer!”
she panted.
Within
seconds, a vicious current wrenched her from Han's grasp. “Leia!
NO!”
“HAN!”
She tried to swim for it, but she needed air. Her lungs felt like
they would burst. The riptide held her in its clutches. Delicate legs
trashed in the currents, but were too weak to go anywhere. “Tell
Luke...I love him...Han...”
Darkness
claimed her as the swirling waters dragged her down...down...
The
last thing she remembered was a feeling she was floating...something
around her waist was taking her to the light. Maybe she'd finally
meet her mother, or her grandmother, her father's beloved late
mother. Take me to the light...
~*~*~*~*~*~
Her
fingers touched sand, wet, grainy sand. There's sand in heaven?
Something sharp poked her elbow. She moved it, hearing a little
splash. Her breathing was greedy, heavy. She gulped air like child
drinking chocolate milk. Gentle fingers ran through her long,
salt-dried hair. A soothing male voice sang a Naboo sea shanty. It
sounded like a choir of angels to her.
“Leia!”
Voices cut through the salty air. Lips pressed an intense,
heartbroken kiss on her vibrant red mouth, before her eyes fluttered
open. She saw two heartbroken hazel eyes and the sun glinting off a
red and navy tail before it dove into the ocean.
“Sis!”
Luke and Lando hurried over. They were both dry now, but otherwise
looked as they had when she'd last seen them. “What happened? We
thought you were following us!”
Her
eyes slid towards the water. “Han took me home. We got caught in
the undertow, but he...he must have gotten me to safety, somehow.”
Lando
made a face. “Han? The thief?”
“Not
anymore.” She handed the oilskin bag around her shoulder to Luke.
“This is what Han stole at the ball. He gave it back.”
Luke
and Lando put their arms around her. “Come on, sis. I've already
talked to Father. He's worried to death about you!”
She
gave him a shaky grin. “I wish I could have seen the look on his
face when you turned up alive.”
Luke
graced her with one of his sunny smiles in return. “He nearly
passed out when I hugged him.”
The
two men lifted Leia to her feet. “Come on, Your Highness.” Lando
grinned smoothly at her. “Let's get you home.”
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