You Have No Power Over Me...?
"You have no power over me," she murmured, dark hair falling forward as she lowered her head, obscuring the fading ink on the yellow paper of the book before her. She was laying on her bed, her head supported by one hand, elbow resting on the thick white comforter, dyed yellow by the lamp light peeking from under her fringed lampshade on the bedside table.
The fingers of her free hand splayed over the page, keeping her place, but she was no longer seeing the words.
It seemed an innocent enough book-Fairy Tales: Truth and Semi-Truth, Fun Facts and Outrageous Myths. She'd purchased it from an antique shop ages ago and promptly forgotten in on her shelf, more drawn to the naughty supernatural romance novels she shouldn't have been reading at her "tender age."
Leafing through it on a Saturday night-still dateless, as her step-mother had commented earlier-she wished she had read it earlier. As it was, she'd only noticed it after yet another Labyrinth dream had had her waking up heart racing and searching for something to keep her mind occupied until it forgot about running and running and almost not being in time.
Opening it was perhaps not the best idea she'd had; now she was thinking about her self-declared foe even more, and worse...
She was seeing the Goblin King's actions in a new, heart-sinking light.
"...Fae, as they are often called, share many traits with the so-called gods of the Romans and Greeks. They often tease and torment humans for entertainment...their pride easily injured by perceived slights, and retribution is swift..."
How many times had she mouthed off to Jareth? She'd never once been boiled in oil or had skin flayed from her bones, or any of the more painful options. Well, he had almost allowed her to be trampled by the Cleaners. That would surely have hurt. But it hadn't been inescapable.
"I'm not sure you know what you're talking about," she'd told the book, and flipped pages until she was caught by a section titled "Fae and Human Romances" and had started reading again. And, again, stopped, rather upset.
Sarah opened her eyes again, looking down at where she'd paused.
"...being nearly immortal beings (they can be killed, but otherwise seem to live on eternally), most Fae do not seem concerned with monogamy, and are known for having multiple partners of many races. Unlike their mortal counterparts, they are not obsessed with their partners having a 'beautiful' form so much as an interesting one, which explains the Tale of Lemou and Xykan..."
The reference was lost on Sarah, but despite the fact that she'd rejected the Goblin King, she'd was a little hurt to think it was truly only a game to him. Her rejection had not even been personal to him, but a fleeting annoyance.
She frowned. "I should have rubbed in his defeat more."
So it was a little spiteful. But he had it coming, messing with the head of a then-fifteen year-old girl, who...
"...but once they claim a human as their own, they guard "their" mortal jealously, and have been known to kill entire families in order to ensure the mortal's attention would remain focused on their Fae lover."
That was charming.
"Even when a human does not welcome their advances, Fae have been known to forcibly transport a captive to their homeland and torture them until they break or the Fae becomes bored of them. Only when a Fae loses interest in a non-magical partner are they safe. Even then, only if they have not eaten of the fruit of their land, for to do so places an obligation to serve on the human's body to the one who presents the fruit..."
Oh. Shit.
Sarah lost her place as she sat up abruptly, pushing her hair out of her face as she rose to her knees. Had she eaten the entire peach? No, she hadn't. She'd bitten it. Nibbled, really, hardly even a bite...what kind of bind was the author talking about?
She frantically found her place again.
"...to them. Such offerings are deceptively binding, and only done by those Fae who are willing to permanently tie themselves to another creature for the duration of its lifetime. Such binds tie the acquisition to its master's essence, allowing for an automatic draw of magic for its own protection."
And...? "That's it?" Sarah spat at the book, forgetting to be quiet in these late hours. "What else does it do? How does it work? How do you break it?" How can she tell if she had a bind on her...?
No. Surely not. She wasn't bound to Jareth. She certainly wouldn't have been allowed to leave if she was.
She sat back on her legs and bit her lip, worrying it between her teeth.
She'd realized a long time ago that she'd won back her brother simply by reaching the center of the Labyrinth. She'd wondered then why Jareth had said all that he had to her, deciding finally it was simply a trick to trip her up, make her think she loved herself more than her Toby, to make her lose by making her give in.
But what if it wasn't...?
"What am I supposed to do, call him and ask?" she asked herself, then shook her head. No, no way.
But there was someone she could ask! Eyes brightening, she got up and stood before her mirror, spooking herself with her own reflection before she remembered that it was a functioning bit of reflective glass, not just a dimensional telephone.
"Hoggle!" she stage-whispered, eying the ripples that distorted her image and finally replaced it with that of her Dwarven friend.
He blinked at her sleepily, clad in a loose white shirt. "Sarah? S'that you?"
"Yes, it's me."
He stared at her for a few minutes, then made her jumped by barking, "Whacha doin callin me at this hour? 'Dwarf gets up ta relieve hisself and can' even go in peace..."
She blushed. "Sorry. I just had a question...should I...call back later?"
He waved a dismissive hand at her. "Nah, 'm up, might as well ask me now."
"Hoggle...is it true that if a human eats a fruit offered by a Fae, they're tied to them?"
"What? Yes," he grumbled. Then his froze, eyes widening. Sarah was just about to panic when he sighed, "No, wait, I gave you the fruit."
She let out her breath.
"Of course, it was Jareth who gave it ta me..."
She felt the blood draining out her cheeks. "You so did not have to add that on."
He stared at her worriedly. "But, if you're bound ta him, why...?"
"...hasn't he done something about it?" she finished, curling her fingers into fists at her side.
They stood there eying each other uncertainly, and for the first time she wondered why she was able to call her friends on her apparently magic-mirror, and if Jareth could see them talking in one of his crystals.
Good God-had she just reminded him, wherever he was, that she really *was* in his power?
~.~.~.~.~.~
A/N: Just a little one-shot I'd forgotten I'd written. Not edited. Hope you all like anyway. Please review! And if you have criticism, remember - constructive, not destructive.