Quintessence by Hugs.And.Kisses (book recommendations website TXT) 📕

girl looked over at the witch. "About Barrel's contract mark. It's-"

"On his forehead. I know." Aubrey muttered. "I saw it."

Shock looked startled. "What?"

"I know, it surprised me, too. But when I looked at Barrel… I could see it, clear as day. I think the key's getting stronger."

Many twists, turns, and monsters later, the group had finally reached the end of Barrel's labyrinth. "Behemoth is going to kill Barrel when this is over. Look at what he did to this place." Lock muttered, looking at the many, many obviously displaced pumpkins lying around the clearing.

Aubrey shivered as they stepped into the clearing before the giant Jack'o'Lantern, rubbing her arms. "This place reeks of Oogie's magic." Lock put an arm around her.

"We'll be out of here soon, Aubs."

"I wouldn't count on that." Barrel called, standing atop the Pumpkin Head and looking down at the group morosely. "Jack still has to beat me in order for you all to leave."

"Me?" Jack questioned. "Why me?"

"There's a barrier set up around any entrance to the Pumpkin Head. You're the only one its going to allow through, Jack. And I wouldn't try breaking it, Shock. It's white magic. We all know how you react to that." He said quickly, before Shock could work up a dispelling charm. "See you inside, Jack." He said, hopping back down into the gourd.

"Now what?" Shock groaned. "Without Aubrey able to get inside, we can't break Barrel's contract."

"Which is what Oogie is counting on." Jack murmured.

Lock growled. "Damn it! What do we do now?"

Aubrey smiled slightly, eyes running over the barrier shimmering around the Pumpkin Head. "Why don't we see how smart that barrier actually is?"

What's taking them so long? Barrel asked himself as he waited in the belly of the Pumpkin Head. He just wanted to get this over with, one way or another. The sound of screaming ghosts and wailing skeletons made him look up. He sighed as he heard Jack's voice, as well as the whip of the Soul Robber. He held out a hand, summoning the Bone-sledge and resting it on his shoulder as he waited for the skeleton to make it down to his level.

Finally, Jack dropped through a hole in the ceiling, straightening up and scanning the room until his eye-sockets fell on Barrel. "It's about time you showed up Jack. And alone, too."

"It's not as though I had a choice."

"Right." Barrel said, slipping his free hand into his pocket and pulling out a cold, metal sphere. Dark energy radiated off of it, evaporating into smoke as Barrel crushed it. Jack looked up as the hole he'd dropped through sealed behind him.

"Barrel, what have you done?" He demanded.

"Made it so that neither of us can leave here without one of us dying." Barrel said listlessly. The white magic user frowned as Jack began to chuckle- not exactly the reaction he was expecting. "What are you laughing at?"

Jack's chuckled died, and he smirked at Barrel. "Oh, nothing." The skeleton said. Barrel frowned- Jack's voice had begun getting lighter and more feminine. "Just that Shock was right- Oogie is so predictable." As Jack spoke, he seemed to shimmer and fade away, revealing Aubrey standing there. "And now that you can't teleport away, we're going to have a fair fight."

Barrel's eyes widened, and then he glared at her. "Do you have any idea what you've done? Aubrey, I'm going to have to kill you!"

"Or you can just stand still and let me take care of that mark on your forehead." She suggested, taking a step toward him. Barrel took a step back, hefting the Bone-sledge off of his shoulder and taking a better grip on it. Aubrey sighed, holding her hand out. The Morning Star appeared in it. "Fine, we'll do it your way." She said, throwing the scythe's blade at him. Barrel teleported out of the way, reappearing to her left and swinging his weapon at her. Aubrey leapt out of the way, letting it hit the barrier surrounding the sides of the room. "Barrel, stop making this difficult and hold still!"

"I can't, what don't you get about that?" He demanded, disappearing as she reached for him. Aubrey dodged as he reappeared above her, rolling out of the way and landing on her knees.

"Of course. Oogie." She growled, standing up and looking around the room. Barrel had vanished again, and didn't seem to want to reappear. Aubrey stepped into the middle of the room, still looking around warily. "You know, Barrel, Shock's been right about a lot of things lately." She said to the empty room, her hand tightening around her scythe's handle. "Oogie isn't the only one getting predictable." She quickly turned, lifting the Morningstar and catching the handle of Barrel's hammer, twisting the blade and tossing it away before pressing her hand against the mark on Barrel's forehead. This time, the dark magic barely stung her fingers before the key's magic forced it out of her body and Barrel's.

The shockwave from the contract breaking shattered the barrier surrounding the room like glass, as well as throwing the two across the small space. Barrel managed to scramble up first, running across the room and scooping Aubrey up into a hug. Aubrey laughed. "Barrel!"

"You did it, you did it, I would kiss you but Lock would kill me, but you did it!" He laughed, setting her down. "Let's get out of here."

"Gladly. But, uh, you have some work to do." She said as they reappeared outside the Pumpkin Head.

"Yeah, I know mmf!" Barrel fell back onto his butt as Shock tackled him with a kiss.

Jack patted Aubrey's shoulder. "Good job, Aubrey."

Aubrey grinned, then laughed a little as she found herself swooped up into another hug, this time by a very happy Shock. "Shock! Geez, all right! I'm glad I could help, but please put me down before I get sick."

The witch grinned, putting her down. "Sorry." She grinned.

"You're creepy when you're happy." Lock said, crossing his arms. Shock rolled her eyes, punching his arm. "Ah, sweet normalcy… ow."

Barrel laughed. "All right, let's just get out of here. After I fix this place up, anyway."

"Yeah, you better, or Behemoth is gonna kill you." Aubrey said. Barrel grimaced, obviously picturing what Behemoth could do with that ax in his head.

"Why don't I just get on that…" He muttered, raising a hand and muttering several spells under his breath while his friends laughed.

Deep below Halloween Town's streets, Oogie Boogie roared with rage. "How DARE SHE!" He roared, stomping around his roulette wheel. "My contracts, all gone! I have no power over those brats anymore." He muttered. "And without them runnin' around up there, I don't have anyone to keep the Town as is… hmm…" He looked up as a stray crow that had somehow found its way into the casino 'cawwed' above his head. Oogie grinned. "Hehehe… that'll work…" He turned back toward the table in the middle of the roulette wheel, where a small, shining gold sliver of light sat. "Mercy!"

The redheaded Skellington came down the staircase. "Yes?"

"I've got a job for you, dollface…"


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Publication Date: 12-08-2011

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