Disclaimer: Jareth, Sarah, Toby, Ludo, or any other characters familiar
with the Labyrinth do not belong to me. They belong to Jim Henson and his
team. I'm only taking them into my care for the duration of this story.
Author's Note: This is my foray into the realm of the Labyrinth, I usually dally around in the Harry Potter section so bear with this J
~*~*~*~
"The third wall has been taken!" the shout, barely heard, floated over the roar of battle. It mingled with screams of the dying and the laughter, the maniacal laughter of the ones still alive enough to fight. Clashing of steel and sickening crunching of bodies echoed endlessly through the abandoned city and caressed over the outer walls of the once proud castle. The war had been raging for a fortnight now, and the toil was starting to tear away at the stone, to erode the walls built so carefully eons before.
High above the field of death, sheltered by thick walls of rock and iron, one man stood at the arched window of the main tower watching with a trained eye the movements down below. His left eye scanned enemy formations and troops while his right vigilantly watched his own dwindling number. The Labyrinth had finally rebelled against his rule, allowing once banned enemy armies to easily march to his front without so much as a knock. After a millennia of obedience, one girl, not an epic battle, not a clash of powerful mages, not even a subtle assassination, but a simple teenaged Aboveground mortal girl had started the cataclysmic chain of events leading to this precise moment in time as he hovered over the rolling froth of bloodshed.
The moment of his downfall.
Turning away from the inevitable loss, Jareth, King of the Goblins and Ruler of the Labyrinth glared silently at the elegant carved mahogany door across from him and the encryption over the entrance. Written in the forgotten language of the Arcane Mages the words had comforted him in the many trials he had faced here before but now, as the final grains of sand that governed the span of his empire trickled through the hourglass, they brought little hope or faith to his psyche.
"Thirteen hundred strong, Raoul, you think too little of me now." his voice came out softer then a breath of air. "Of course, being the only one to lose his entire empire because of a mortal woman, why should you respect me any longer? Why should you not deny yourself the chance to ridicule and humble me moments before the iron closes on me." with each syllable his voice rose in volume and a tone of cynical bitterness crept into the words. "You of the Endless Night!" he shouted, tossing the crystal he had been toying with at the door and smiled with grim pleasure as glass shattered.
Twenty years ago this would never occurred even in the blackest of his dreams. Twenty years ago *he* had been the strongest of the seven brothers of Uld. He, the youngest and yet the wisest. He, the fairest and the cruelest. Upon the murder of their father a million years ago, the kingdom had been divided into seven portions, each brother receiving the land that most fitted him. Jareth, being connected with riddles, puzzles, and illusion had taken control of the Labyrinth, the land closest to the hazy border between the Aboveground and the Underground. There, as his castle was built and the Labyrinth birthed out of a few twist and dead ends he toyed with the minds of humanity at his pleasure. Bringing down the downfall of several kingships and starting a fair amount of wars, Jareth had grown cocky in his place and this new feeling of defeat unnerved him. Never had he worried if he would see the sun rise the next day. Never had he doubted the prowess of his own abilities.
But then again, his mind whispered, twenty years ago when he was primed he had not made the mistake of letting a mortal girl seize him in her grip. Sarah Pernix, with her steely attitude and resolve. She had achieved what most of the immortal Fae could never.
She had slipped past his defenses and destroyed him from the inside.
Her, with the refined hair of dusky twilight and eyes like a changeling, ever sporting a new shade of hazel, and carrying creamy skin that could rival Luna's own. Jareth broke off the memory and bit his lip just enough to banish her image from his mind. It was pitiful really, that he was reduced to carrying a fancy for this girl but it had started so suddenly and by the time he had caught it in all its guises, it had tangled him in the gossamer strands of its web.
She never realized that he had spoken the truth at the final confrontation. All he promised he would have upheld. She would have gotten everything she wanted if she had just allowed him to win, to become her slave, her friend, her lover-- Jareth snarled and drove the points of his teeth into his bottom lip and willed himself to feel pain as the blood beaded. Punishment for his thoughts..
His eye had never strayed over the endless line of immortal women vying for his affections and nor should it skim over the curves of a young.oh what was the use? His castle was falling, his army was dying, and his proud kingdom was crumbling, what was the worst that a dream could do?
As the tower shuddered from another catapult assault, he leaned against the cool stone and closed his eyes, drifting into a world where a certain mortal smiled at him and returned the affections he had once bestowed on her unwittingly. ~*~*~*~
"Mother, you've been staring at the mirror for the past half hour, I don't think you can get any more beautiful," leaping the few feet from the door to the queen-sized bed, Raven Pernix grinned impishly at her mother and rolled over on her back to gaze upwards at the older woman perched at the vanity.
Sarah blinked out of her trance and glanced sideways at her daughter, a tender smile flitting over her lips before fading into concern. "What on Earth are you wearing?"
Without a flicker of a glance to her apparel, Raven shrugged and tugged on a strand of her hair, similar in gloss to her mother's ebony shade. "It's nothing, just something for a party tonight."
"A party? Wearing that?" an well-shaped eyebrow rose into a hairline as Sarah's eye ran a critical look over. Dark jeans fitted to her daughter like a second skin while a form fitting white tee with a skimpy black halter just over that were the only fabric between her daughter and the outside world. Knee-high boots, dozens of bracelets and a heavy application of make-up made Raven look less like the sweet daughter who still cried with joy at the end of fairy-tales to another young woman striving to find her place in the world. "Who's all going to be there?"
"Just the Girl Gang, you know Rebecca's mom will never allow any boys in her house with dancing going on." Raven picked up a magazine with Sarah's face on the cover and skimmed through it. "When's your next book going to be done?"
"When it's done. What time will you be home?"
"Maybe one?"--Her mother's look made Raven rethink that--"Oh, okay, eleven- thirty?"
"She's dropping you off?" Sarah turned back to the mirror and picked up a brush.
"I'm driving."
"No drinking then, I know you teenagers, I was one once, you know." the brush fell onto her hair once, twice and then stopped, returning to rest in its usual place on the desk.
"Don't shock me Mom, and I won't drink, I promise." Raven hopped up, full of energy and landed a kiss on her mother's cheek before hurrying out the door.
Watching her leave and hearing the door snick shut, Sarah released a sigh she didn't know she had held. Turning to the old mirror for the third time, she opened her mouth to speak and then closed it again, feeling foolish for wanting to ask advice of old friends. Almost daring to hope that once again, like the many times in her years where magic had been as real as the breath she took, Hoggle, Sir Didymus, and Ludo would appear behind her in the reflective glass and be with her again.
"You still dream too much Sarah," she mouthed to herself, "That was merely a fantasy, played out by your young mind." the words hurt, as they did every time she spoke them, but they helped her go on. Helped her get past the painful time where her mother's leaving and fathers sudden new marriage had tore at her impressionable mind. Believing she had been abandoned she had fallen deeper into the realm of the Fae, where everything was as she wanted it to be, full force, to help keep the monster called suicide at bay.
After her adventure.or was it a dream? Well, after her plight in the labyrinth, fighting off the Goblin king and winning back her brother, she had slowly returned to the world, letting go of old childish forms of play. She got more involved at school, found a boyfriend, brought her grades up, and gained more realistic hobbies and obsessions.
Of course, she had never severed all ties with the world of make-believe, but after becoming a successful writer the line between the imaginary and reality had become fixed in her mind, no longer was it so easy to picture the rusty coloration of Ludo's fur or the high pealed laughter of Sir Didymus as he danced a lively jig around her room. Even the unique face of Hoggle with its lines and creases was now a foggy memory that haunted the deepest places of her dreams.
Like her daughter behaved now.
Like her mother, Raven was in love with all things Fae and mythic. Her room was filled with books of fairytales and myths, her walls were decorated with the posters Sarah once had in her childhood room, next to the newer posters that Raven had seen fit to put up. Her closet, full to the brim with Sarah's old clothes was now bursting at the hinges from the sack-fulls that Raven had accumulated over the years. Princess dresses, ball gowns, pirate costumes , breeches, swords, skirts, scarves, anything a dreamer could dream was shoved into every nook and cranny of that portal.
Giggling behind her.
A snort hidden beneath the mirror, a chuckle from the closet to her left.
The unexpected noises stopped her inner monologue and sharply jerked her awareness back to the present time. She stared hard into the mirror, her gaze hard enough to shatter the glass if it were possible.
Movement, a skittering of claws down the bed curtain, her focus swung to the edge of her vision, trying to catch the culprits without letting them know she was there--another scuffle! This time, it clanged in the bathroom to her right. The light flickered, keeping time with the growing pace she was taking breaths. Another snort of laughter, snuffed out by a high squeal and a muffled fight.
Her mind fell back into the time, twenty years ago, when, as a bitter cynical, "oh, how the world's against me", seventeen year old, she accidentally wished her brother away forever to the hands of the goblins. The old forgotten fear returned, seizing her legs in its' deathly vice-like grip. A shiver peeled down her spine, exciting each nerve ending and she could feel the pounding of blood pour and echo through her ears. The noises continued, growing louder and louder, the movements just out of her sight pressed on, and the fear grew, all built to a climax where her mind seemed to cave in, absorbing too much and too soon. They were after her again, after her brother, after Toby..oh God where was Toby? He wasn't crying! He wasn't making a sound, they got him, HE got him, got his filthy claws into Toby's precious skin.
"Enough." the word passed from her lips so suddenly that it hardly registered to her.
The deafening sound disappeared and transitioned into a eerie silence, where all that reached the shell of her earlobe was the irregular, labored breaths she took and the frantic pounding of her heart as it thundered against her chest.
All movement ceased and her eyes made out several different species of goblins frozen in areas behind her. Three perched on her bed, two hung from the now opened closet door, and four strategically balanced somewhere on her dresser and one hid under her night table. She couldn't make out who was in the bathroom but gambled at least two more were hidden somewhere in the patches of bright light.
"Enough?" the voice spooked her and the calm her body had tried to achieve was instantly lost.
Turning, expecting to see the cocky smile, the high fashioned clothing, the piercing gaze, the regal stature of him, the Goblin King who had changed the course of her life years before.
"Surprised?" the cruel sneer got to her the most, the pale lips pulled back to expose even whiter rows of jagged fangs. Eyes the shade of scarlet peered at her from beneath the odd shaped brows that she clearly recalled in her dreams. His clothes aired an essence of nobility and it showed in the way he eyed her, a simple bug in his path. "I thought you would be, after all how many humans," he spat the word like it was filth, "have had the opportunity to place their gaze on me."
Staring at him, it took a few moments for her mind to click into action and her face hardened, taking on the defiance it held when she had faced another much like him. "Shall I bow and grovel now?"
"By the Gods no!" appalled, he rose and neared her, his smirk turning into a malicious grin as she scooted backward on the stool. "I hate whimpering, flirtatious females." his hand reached up and the backside drifted down the curve of her cheek. "I prefer ones who offer a challenge, ones who.excite the blood." he stopped his touch and looked at her more closely. "Ones like you."
"Get away from me." Sarah spat, jerking her head away from his icy touch. Her hand fumbled behind, grabbing for the brush. The cool wood reassured her and with the hopeful weapon hidden behind her she faced down the second intruder from the Underground.
"You prove my point." the man stepped back and then held out a hand in apology. "Forgive me, I have not told you who I am."
"Someone who's not welcome," Sarah hissed, edging to her feet and standing as tall as being five foot five would allow her.
"Temper, temper!" the goblins behind him cackled and fell silent only when Sarah glared at each and every one in turn. They stared back sullen and then snorted as her attention returned to the smirking Fae.
"Can I at least get your name? And what challenge must I do now? Brave the Labyrinth again? What?"
"The name, my dear dove, is Raoul. I am Emperor of the Endless Night and I have come here to make a request of you." his eyes darkened and he took a step towards her, his voice lowering. "I want you to kill Jareth for me."
Sarah's eyes widen and she made to speak when a finger touched her lip. "You do think high enough of me that I would at least come up with a bargaining chip, as you mortals deem it." with a snap of his fingers, he revealed it.
"Mom!" Raven shouted, her chained hands bound to three large goblins, all who which had an hungry eye on her.
~*~*~*~
"So, a deal is it?" Jareth sneered, staring at the two before him. The brother that he had always hated and the girl, no, woman he now secretly loved. "I must travel through your realm, with her at my side why?"
"To amuse me. The girl that destroyed this labyrinth in the first place will now be a tool to help rebuild it." Raoul chuckled, holding a rune out to Jareth. "Once you take this, the trials begin. Both of you must make it back here alive. And together, so no leaving her out in the cold my dear brother."
Jareth eyed the blue stone with caution and then glanced to Sarah, her body language telling that there was something else afoot. "What the Hell, I have nothing better to do, now don't I? What if I fail?"
:You should pray that doesn't happen. If you fail, it means you have died and will never see this room again."
Gritting his teeth, Jareth ran the pro's and con's through his mind. On one hand, his people would be spared from war and he would be by Sarah, albeit for a short while, on the other hand.Raoul would be in charge and the Gods and Higher Ones know what havoc would become of it. "Very well.let it begin then." with a confident laugh, Jareth snatched the stone and held it high.
~*~*~*~
Author's Note: Yes, the end was rushed but that's how it was supposed to be. The agreement was to be showed as rushed and fragile to show the desperate feelings all players hid from the others. The less time in agreement, the less chance you give a clue away.
Author's Note: This is my foray into the realm of the Labyrinth, I usually dally around in the Harry Potter section so bear with this J
~*~*~*~
"The third wall has been taken!" the shout, barely heard, floated over the roar of battle. It mingled with screams of the dying and the laughter, the maniacal laughter of the ones still alive enough to fight. Clashing of steel and sickening crunching of bodies echoed endlessly through the abandoned city and caressed over the outer walls of the once proud castle. The war had been raging for a fortnight now, and the toil was starting to tear away at the stone, to erode the walls built so carefully eons before.
High above the field of death, sheltered by thick walls of rock and iron, one man stood at the arched window of the main tower watching with a trained eye the movements down below. His left eye scanned enemy formations and troops while his right vigilantly watched his own dwindling number. The Labyrinth had finally rebelled against his rule, allowing once banned enemy armies to easily march to his front without so much as a knock. After a millennia of obedience, one girl, not an epic battle, not a clash of powerful mages, not even a subtle assassination, but a simple teenaged Aboveground mortal girl had started the cataclysmic chain of events leading to this precise moment in time as he hovered over the rolling froth of bloodshed.
The moment of his downfall.
Turning away from the inevitable loss, Jareth, King of the Goblins and Ruler of the Labyrinth glared silently at the elegant carved mahogany door across from him and the encryption over the entrance. Written in the forgotten language of the Arcane Mages the words had comforted him in the many trials he had faced here before but now, as the final grains of sand that governed the span of his empire trickled through the hourglass, they brought little hope or faith to his psyche.
"Thirteen hundred strong, Raoul, you think too little of me now." his voice came out softer then a breath of air. "Of course, being the only one to lose his entire empire because of a mortal woman, why should you respect me any longer? Why should you not deny yourself the chance to ridicule and humble me moments before the iron closes on me." with each syllable his voice rose in volume and a tone of cynical bitterness crept into the words. "You of the Endless Night!" he shouted, tossing the crystal he had been toying with at the door and smiled with grim pleasure as glass shattered.
Twenty years ago this would never occurred even in the blackest of his dreams. Twenty years ago *he* had been the strongest of the seven brothers of Uld. He, the youngest and yet the wisest. He, the fairest and the cruelest. Upon the murder of their father a million years ago, the kingdom had been divided into seven portions, each brother receiving the land that most fitted him. Jareth, being connected with riddles, puzzles, and illusion had taken control of the Labyrinth, the land closest to the hazy border between the Aboveground and the Underground. There, as his castle was built and the Labyrinth birthed out of a few twist and dead ends he toyed with the minds of humanity at his pleasure. Bringing down the downfall of several kingships and starting a fair amount of wars, Jareth had grown cocky in his place and this new feeling of defeat unnerved him. Never had he worried if he would see the sun rise the next day. Never had he doubted the prowess of his own abilities.
But then again, his mind whispered, twenty years ago when he was primed he had not made the mistake of letting a mortal girl seize him in her grip. Sarah Pernix, with her steely attitude and resolve. She had achieved what most of the immortal Fae could never.
She had slipped past his defenses and destroyed him from the inside.
Her, with the refined hair of dusky twilight and eyes like a changeling, ever sporting a new shade of hazel, and carrying creamy skin that could rival Luna's own. Jareth broke off the memory and bit his lip just enough to banish her image from his mind. It was pitiful really, that he was reduced to carrying a fancy for this girl but it had started so suddenly and by the time he had caught it in all its guises, it had tangled him in the gossamer strands of its web.
She never realized that he had spoken the truth at the final confrontation. All he promised he would have upheld. She would have gotten everything she wanted if she had just allowed him to win, to become her slave, her friend, her lover-- Jareth snarled and drove the points of his teeth into his bottom lip and willed himself to feel pain as the blood beaded. Punishment for his thoughts..
His eye had never strayed over the endless line of immortal women vying for his affections and nor should it skim over the curves of a young.oh what was the use? His castle was falling, his army was dying, and his proud kingdom was crumbling, what was the worst that a dream could do?
As the tower shuddered from another catapult assault, he leaned against the cool stone and closed his eyes, drifting into a world where a certain mortal smiled at him and returned the affections he had once bestowed on her unwittingly. ~*~*~*~
"Mother, you've been staring at the mirror for the past half hour, I don't think you can get any more beautiful," leaping the few feet from the door to the queen-sized bed, Raven Pernix grinned impishly at her mother and rolled over on her back to gaze upwards at the older woman perched at the vanity.
Sarah blinked out of her trance and glanced sideways at her daughter, a tender smile flitting over her lips before fading into concern. "What on Earth are you wearing?"
Without a flicker of a glance to her apparel, Raven shrugged and tugged on a strand of her hair, similar in gloss to her mother's ebony shade. "It's nothing, just something for a party tonight."
"A party? Wearing that?" an well-shaped eyebrow rose into a hairline as Sarah's eye ran a critical look over. Dark jeans fitted to her daughter like a second skin while a form fitting white tee with a skimpy black halter just over that were the only fabric between her daughter and the outside world. Knee-high boots, dozens of bracelets and a heavy application of make-up made Raven look less like the sweet daughter who still cried with joy at the end of fairy-tales to another young woman striving to find her place in the world. "Who's all going to be there?"
"Just the Girl Gang, you know Rebecca's mom will never allow any boys in her house with dancing going on." Raven picked up a magazine with Sarah's face on the cover and skimmed through it. "When's your next book going to be done?"
"When it's done. What time will you be home?"
"Maybe one?"--Her mother's look made Raven rethink that--"Oh, okay, eleven- thirty?"
"She's dropping you off?" Sarah turned back to the mirror and picked up a brush.
"I'm driving."
"No drinking then, I know you teenagers, I was one once, you know." the brush fell onto her hair once, twice and then stopped, returning to rest in its usual place on the desk.
"Don't shock me Mom, and I won't drink, I promise." Raven hopped up, full of energy and landed a kiss on her mother's cheek before hurrying out the door.
Watching her leave and hearing the door snick shut, Sarah released a sigh she didn't know she had held. Turning to the old mirror for the third time, she opened her mouth to speak and then closed it again, feeling foolish for wanting to ask advice of old friends. Almost daring to hope that once again, like the many times in her years where magic had been as real as the breath she took, Hoggle, Sir Didymus, and Ludo would appear behind her in the reflective glass and be with her again.
"You still dream too much Sarah," she mouthed to herself, "That was merely a fantasy, played out by your young mind." the words hurt, as they did every time she spoke them, but they helped her go on. Helped her get past the painful time where her mother's leaving and fathers sudden new marriage had tore at her impressionable mind. Believing she had been abandoned she had fallen deeper into the realm of the Fae, where everything was as she wanted it to be, full force, to help keep the monster called suicide at bay.
After her adventure.or was it a dream? Well, after her plight in the labyrinth, fighting off the Goblin king and winning back her brother, she had slowly returned to the world, letting go of old childish forms of play. She got more involved at school, found a boyfriend, brought her grades up, and gained more realistic hobbies and obsessions.
Of course, she had never severed all ties with the world of make-believe, but after becoming a successful writer the line between the imaginary and reality had become fixed in her mind, no longer was it so easy to picture the rusty coloration of Ludo's fur or the high pealed laughter of Sir Didymus as he danced a lively jig around her room. Even the unique face of Hoggle with its lines and creases was now a foggy memory that haunted the deepest places of her dreams.
Like her daughter behaved now.
Like her mother, Raven was in love with all things Fae and mythic. Her room was filled with books of fairytales and myths, her walls were decorated with the posters Sarah once had in her childhood room, next to the newer posters that Raven had seen fit to put up. Her closet, full to the brim with Sarah's old clothes was now bursting at the hinges from the sack-fulls that Raven had accumulated over the years. Princess dresses, ball gowns, pirate costumes , breeches, swords, skirts, scarves, anything a dreamer could dream was shoved into every nook and cranny of that portal.
Giggling behind her.
A snort hidden beneath the mirror, a chuckle from the closet to her left.
The unexpected noises stopped her inner monologue and sharply jerked her awareness back to the present time. She stared hard into the mirror, her gaze hard enough to shatter the glass if it were possible.
Movement, a skittering of claws down the bed curtain, her focus swung to the edge of her vision, trying to catch the culprits without letting them know she was there--another scuffle! This time, it clanged in the bathroom to her right. The light flickered, keeping time with the growing pace she was taking breaths. Another snort of laughter, snuffed out by a high squeal and a muffled fight.
Her mind fell back into the time, twenty years ago, when, as a bitter cynical, "oh, how the world's against me", seventeen year old, she accidentally wished her brother away forever to the hands of the goblins. The old forgotten fear returned, seizing her legs in its' deathly vice-like grip. A shiver peeled down her spine, exciting each nerve ending and she could feel the pounding of blood pour and echo through her ears. The noises continued, growing louder and louder, the movements just out of her sight pressed on, and the fear grew, all built to a climax where her mind seemed to cave in, absorbing too much and too soon. They were after her again, after her brother, after Toby..oh God where was Toby? He wasn't crying! He wasn't making a sound, they got him, HE got him, got his filthy claws into Toby's precious skin.
"Enough." the word passed from her lips so suddenly that it hardly registered to her.
The deafening sound disappeared and transitioned into a eerie silence, where all that reached the shell of her earlobe was the irregular, labored breaths she took and the frantic pounding of her heart as it thundered against her chest.
All movement ceased and her eyes made out several different species of goblins frozen in areas behind her. Three perched on her bed, two hung from the now opened closet door, and four strategically balanced somewhere on her dresser and one hid under her night table. She couldn't make out who was in the bathroom but gambled at least two more were hidden somewhere in the patches of bright light.
"Enough?" the voice spooked her and the calm her body had tried to achieve was instantly lost.
Turning, expecting to see the cocky smile, the high fashioned clothing, the piercing gaze, the regal stature of him, the Goblin King who had changed the course of her life years before.
"Surprised?" the cruel sneer got to her the most, the pale lips pulled back to expose even whiter rows of jagged fangs. Eyes the shade of scarlet peered at her from beneath the odd shaped brows that she clearly recalled in her dreams. His clothes aired an essence of nobility and it showed in the way he eyed her, a simple bug in his path. "I thought you would be, after all how many humans," he spat the word like it was filth, "have had the opportunity to place their gaze on me."
Staring at him, it took a few moments for her mind to click into action and her face hardened, taking on the defiance it held when she had faced another much like him. "Shall I bow and grovel now?"
"By the Gods no!" appalled, he rose and neared her, his smirk turning into a malicious grin as she scooted backward on the stool. "I hate whimpering, flirtatious females." his hand reached up and the backside drifted down the curve of her cheek. "I prefer ones who offer a challenge, ones who.excite the blood." he stopped his touch and looked at her more closely. "Ones like you."
"Get away from me." Sarah spat, jerking her head away from his icy touch. Her hand fumbled behind, grabbing for the brush. The cool wood reassured her and with the hopeful weapon hidden behind her she faced down the second intruder from the Underground.
"You prove my point." the man stepped back and then held out a hand in apology. "Forgive me, I have not told you who I am."
"Someone who's not welcome," Sarah hissed, edging to her feet and standing as tall as being five foot five would allow her.
"Temper, temper!" the goblins behind him cackled and fell silent only when Sarah glared at each and every one in turn. They stared back sullen and then snorted as her attention returned to the smirking Fae.
"Can I at least get your name? And what challenge must I do now? Brave the Labyrinth again? What?"
"The name, my dear dove, is Raoul. I am Emperor of the Endless Night and I have come here to make a request of you." his eyes darkened and he took a step towards her, his voice lowering. "I want you to kill Jareth for me."
Sarah's eyes widen and she made to speak when a finger touched her lip. "You do think high enough of me that I would at least come up with a bargaining chip, as you mortals deem it." with a snap of his fingers, he revealed it.
"Mom!" Raven shouted, her chained hands bound to three large goblins, all who which had an hungry eye on her.
~*~*~*~
"So, a deal is it?" Jareth sneered, staring at the two before him. The brother that he had always hated and the girl, no, woman he now secretly loved. "I must travel through your realm, with her at my side why?"
"To amuse me. The girl that destroyed this labyrinth in the first place will now be a tool to help rebuild it." Raoul chuckled, holding a rune out to Jareth. "Once you take this, the trials begin. Both of you must make it back here alive. And together, so no leaving her out in the cold my dear brother."
Jareth eyed the blue stone with caution and then glanced to Sarah, her body language telling that there was something else afoot. "What the Hell, I have nothing better to do, now don't I? What if I fail?"
:You should pray that doesn't happen. If you fail, it means you have died and will never see this room again."
Gritting his teeth, Jareth ran the pro's and con's through his mind. On one hand, his people would be spared from war and he would be by Sarah, albeit for a short while, on the other hand.Raoul would be in charge and the Gods and Higher Ones know what havoc would become of it. "Very well.let it begin then." with a confident laugh, Jareth snatched the stone and held it high.
~*~*~*~
Author's Note: Yes, the end was rushed but that's how it was supposed to be. The agreement was to be showed as rushed and fragile to show the desperate feelings all players hid from the others. The less time in agreement, the less chance you give a clue away.