Jareth stared out at the expanse stretched before him, slender fingers wrapped around the crystal glass that held his favorite Aboveground dark alcohol.
"Would you mind telling me where you've hidden the brandy, dear? I see a glass in your hand, but I can't seem to find the bottle from which it came." He felt a hand on his shoulder.
"It's in the bottom drawer of the cupboard next to the bed," he said, turning around as soon as he felt her hand lift. She found the brandy quickly, swishing around the contents at him playfully.
"Come sit and talk to me, brother-- we have not spoken in ages," Carta said as she sat at the table, placing the bottle down on to the smooth surface. She pressed down on the wood absentmindedly and drew her finger up slowly. Jareth watched, amused, as a glass seemed to draw itself out of the table, the glass quivering a centimeter below her finger.
He had forgotten that she liked to do that.
"How was your sleep?" he asked, holding out his own glass, and she gladly refilled it. She shrugged, and Jareth raised an eyebrow at the mortal gesture.
"It seems your opinion of those Above is not quite as low as it once was," he said, and she shrugged again.
"Things change," she said nonchalantly, taking a light sip from the snifter.
Jareth couldn't argue with that. They sat in silence, each one trying to think of things to say to cover up the silence that was beginning to envelop the two.
"How was your Soul Seeking?" he asked quietly.
"It was good, actually. I... I had a good time, and I went through the cycle with no problems whatsoever. It was strange, though, being Above for so long. I had almost forgotten what it was like to live down here- although I do remember it used to be a bit lighter down here," she said with a soft smile. Jareth shrugged, leaning back and dropping his crossed feet on the table.
"The mortals are getting closer and closer, Carta. They have things... things we've never seen before. We just had one come in yesterday- luckily we were able to get everything under control. The man simply thought he was dreaming Above, not actually down here- kept babbling nonsense, the fool; but we were lucky enough to be able to get some information out of him," he said, chewing his lip a little with anxiety.
She glared at his dramatic pause, but he simply gave her a blank stare in return. She sighed.
"I don't suppose you'd like to enlighten me with a sample of the information?" she asked, and he blinked a couple of times, rubbing his temples.
"There are more coming. Lots more. We don't exactly know when or how, but it's definitely sooner than we'd like. That's why it's so much darker down here-- too many holes or thinnings in the dome for sunlight mean that many more opportunities for them to come down and take over us all," he said roughly, and she let out a laugh.
"You don't think you're being overly paranoid, brother? They aren't out to get you, you know," she said, amused, and he shrugged.
"This kingdom can't handle anything else going wrong, Carta, the labyrinth is too frail as it is. It's been difficult for it, not having a heart all of these years," he said, and her hand flew to her heart, as if she'd been stabbed.
"I didn't think... I thought that because Aunt Rina was still alive, it would automatically use her instead of me..." she said chokily, and Jareth hastened to comfort his now crying sister.
"It did for a while, darling, until Aunt Rina died. It tried me, but apparently it found me much too disagreeable, so it's been living off of it's reserves since then. It should get better now that you're back, but we don't have a lot of time."
She sniffled a little, and her brother leaned back, satisfied that he had averted the crisis.
"Why don't we have a lot of time?" she asked, and he almost smacked his head.
Apparently not.
"It's dying, Carta. It needed a heart, which it has now, but in the meantime, our defenses are weak, and so am I. I was unfortunate enough to have a... Visitor here while you were gone," he said heavily, and she raised an eyebrow.
"A visitor or a Visitor?" she asked, and he gave her a pointed glare.
"Would I be so concerned about it if it was the former?" he said irritably, and she shrank back a little, startled by the intensity of his voice as well as the statement.
"I'm assuming she was unsuccessful, then? Goodness, Jareth, that's the 10,000th girl in the last half-millennium!" she said, and he rubbed his temples in frustration.
"I can't make the human race smarter, Carta! Although they are getting better- this one actually got all the way through," he said, and she gasped.
"Really? But that's impossible! How could she have gotten through and not still be here?" she asked incredulously, and he sighed, shrinking back into his chair.
"She refused the offer; besides, she wasn't the one, anyway." He drained his glass and poured another one, finishing it with a vehement slam against the hardwood.
Many mortals are unaware of the fact that their saying that a person is, "The One", is actually derived from an old Labyrinthian royal custom.
Once a king or queen is of marriageable age, young people of the opposite sex will begin coming through the labyrinth, all looking for their younger sibling, which the Goblin King/Queen is required to steal (per page 321 of "So you're the Goblin King/Queen"). The young person then has 13 hours to find the child or else the child supposedly gets turned into a goblin (although they usually just get sent off to the Moor sprites for changelings). If they successfully complete the labyrinth, befriend a Labyrinth resident, learn something-or-other-about themselves, do a number of other interesting tasks and accept the offer, they become the mate of the Goblin King/Queen.
The one is usually the only one that can do this- for there to be two ones is highly irregular, for everyone knows that there are never two ones.
"Well, if she wasn't the one, then how did she get through?"
"Hoggle, the little moron."
She smiled. "That's no way to talk about my personal ground-keeper and royal advisor," she said, hoping to get a rise out of her brother- but she was rewarded with a stony silence. She decided to try a little gentler approach.
"Why are you so upset about this, love? This isn't the first one who's failed," she said soothingly, and he sighed, flicking his blonde hair back out of his sulking face.
"I know that, but I really thought... I mean, she did everything she was supposed to- wasn't I supposed to think she was the one?" he asked, taking a sip of his drink, and she fidgeted with one of the many creases on her dress.
"So you're... disappointed?" she asked, looking slightly confused as to what he meant.
Three hundred years away from a sibling tends to make you a little less astute.
"Of course I'm disappointed! Wouldn't you be? I thought that my problem would finally be solved!" he said angrily, and she raised an eyebrow.
"So you aren't... sad, or anything?"
"Well, a bit, yes, but not really... Why, what are you trying to..." he trailed off, looking just as confused to her meaning as she had to his.
"Did you... you know," she widened her eyes a little for effect, and Jareth gave a shudder, realizing her meaning.
"Heavens no! What kind of a sentimental fool do you take me for, Carta ? You're talking like a lovesick mortal," he said with a small laugh of disbelief. Carta turned to the window, smiling at the scene that stretched before her. The dusty yellow of her homeland was a welcome change from the view of the apartment building penthouse that had been her previous residence.
"I better be seeing to things, Jareth. You're in no state to do anything today- go enjoy a day off, I'll just go outside and let everyone know I'm back, hmm? And do get the goblins to get you something to eat, you look practically emaciated," she said, getting up from the table and kissing her brother on the cheek as she left the room.
She closed the door behind her and smiled.
"Time to pay Hoggle a little visit," she said, fastening her cloak and shutting the servant's door as she left the castle.
He'd never see it coming.
See that pretty blue-ish button? You should press it and leave a review. I'm not really sure where this story is going, so any feedback would be helpful.
-Ai