Astrid - The Hybrid Princess

He still had his downcast look on; White-Fire mentally shook its head as it gazed into his eyes. 

Jareth wasn"t quite sure with what it was doing, but the next thing he knew, he felt as though White-Fire peered into his soul.

"Finally," White-Fire said. "Follow her."

"Wait, hold up. Did you just speak to me?" Jareth suddenly asked out loud. 

He had got to admit he was shocked out of his wits when the voice suddenly sipped into his mind.

White-Fire mentally rolled its eyes at Jareth. Why was he behaving like a kid right now?

"Wait, what did you just do? Did just roll your eyes at me?" He was shocked beyond measure at what was happening.

"Wow, for a man, you sure are stupefied. Astrid took it well than you," she replied.

As soon as she said that, Jareth quickly composed himself. How could he let a girl best him at this? This wasn"t him, he really was changing and fast at that.

He sighed, then composed himself and looked up at White-Fire. Two could play at this game.

AHEM!!

"So, this is how you and Astrid have been communicating right?" Jareth, mind communicated back.

"Do you still need someone to state it for you?" White-Fire replied.

"Wow didn"t know you were this sarcastic," he thought.

"I can hear you, Elf."

"Why are you reading my mind?"

"I"m in your head,? " White-Fire rolled its eyes again. "I wonder what she saw in you!"

"Hey, I can hear you."

"So, what does that change? I am mind communicating with you. Of course you can hear me, I didn"t hide anything. If I wanted to, I would have blocked you out of my mind," White-Fire stated flatly.

"Oh! I didn"t know that White Tiger-Phoenix Beasts could do that, you the mind communication thing."

"There are a lot of things you do not know about, Elf."

"Ohh, it still feels strange though, having you in my head."

"That aside, back to the matter at hand. Follow her; make sure she doesn"t harm herself."

"Why? Is anything the matter?" He asked, suddenly becoming serious.

"Do you still need a reason other than that? No wonder she is always mad at you!"

"Like seriously!"

"Jareth, you seriously need to go. Astrid can be stubborn at times."

"Someone finally agreed with me. We finally agree on something since our communication started."

"Get going before I burn you," White-Fire threatened. 

"Now I"m threatened by a beast, hmm."

He got up and made his way towards the direction Astrid took.

"Jareth," White-Fire called out to him. He stopped in his tracks, his gaze fixated on the path up ahead, not turning his head to look at the celestial beast.

"Do not let her go too far in her thoughts; If it comes down to it, bring her back by all means."

"One question though, why did you let her go in the first place?"

"She needed it."

"Got it."

With that, he didn"t ask any further questions and continued walking in search of her.

***************

Astrid walked on for some minutes, till she was sure no one and no beast was in sight. She walked close to a tree anf rested her back against it, then reached in her gown and brought her hand out.

Her fingers were wrapped close on something, she closed her eyes for a brief moment, inhaling deeply, then opened her eyes and fingers at once.

What stared right back at her made my heart thud loud in her chest.

"Why…? I"ve always had this but wondered how I got it. Turns out Aunt Nerissa really did wipe my memory of magic."

For as long as she could remember, she had always had that necklace, but something in her prevented her from showing her aunt, she couldn"t recall how it got to her, but she protected and cherished it all the same.

"It explains everything; my memory lapses. I thought I was losing my mind or something, it kept tugging at the back of my mind that I was forgetting something," she said in a whisper. 

She closed her eyes and clutched the necklace to her chest as the tears flowed freely down her cheeks.

"Aunt Nerissa, I know you did it to protect me, but I wish you were here now. I have so many questions I need to ask. I don"t know how to tap into my lost memory, or do I wait for it to come back? What does this pendant mean? Who did it belong to?"

So many questions were left unanswered, Astrid was confused by a lot of things and the pain of losing her aunt came rus.h.i.+ng back. 

"I miss you. I want you to hold me in your arms and say, it"s going to be okay."

As she cried, she couldn"t control her thoughts as she recalled her dream, a memory she wished never took place. Her aunt"s death. 

From the pain of the sad memory, her mind had pulled her into her happy memory, in order to s.h.i.+eld the brain from the sadness and hurt. 

Just then, she felt a hand rest on her shoulder, she turned her head and saw Jareth at her side. Quickly, she hid the necklace back in her gown and used the other hand to wipe her tears away. 

"Astrid, what is wrong? Why are you crying?" 

He felt hurt by every tear drop that escaped her eye lids. She didn"t say anything but kept on looking into his eyes, as though they provided all the comfort she needed. 

As she did, the tears flowed freely again. He couldn"t watch her cry anymore. With a swift move, he pulled her in for a hug. 

His hands moved up and down her back as he rubbed comfortingly. "Don"t cry anymore, I am here now, I am here."

After about five minutes of hugging, her hand moved to his injured arm and gently rubbed. She was absentminded as she loving caressed his skin, sending bolts of electric down his body. 

She was igniting a flame unconsciously. Jareth bit down on his lips as he fought hard to keep his mind stable.

"This wasn"t supposed to happen. Calm down, calm down!" He chanted in his mind.

Her other hand moved and played with his chest through his clothing. She wasn"t helping at all. 

By now she had stopped sobbing, but he could still feel the wet patch on his clothes from her face. 

Her touch turned to gentle caresses. She was making it hard for him... to control. 

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