Nothing, Nothing tra la la?
By Adrienne Valentine
Summary: The Labyrinth is engaged in war, the King is weak and there are few willing to ally with him. While his Labyrinth provides sufficient defenses, it can only do so for so long and the the King knows it, waiting for the only one who can assure victory- the only one who had defeated his Labyrinth.
Genre: Adventure/Romance
Rating: T for now, the rating may be moved up to M later.
Disclaimer: I do not own Jareth, Sarah, Hoggle, Sir Didymus, Ludo or any other of the characters you'd notice from the movie or the 'Return to the Labyrinth' Manga (not many of them will be in here, though, if any.)
Chapter Two:
I held thee captive as I did ere now
(Alas, The Knight by Emilie Autumn)
"Linda, Come here." The dark haired fae woman called to the human girl.
For a moment Sarah, or 'Linda', didn't respond, not fully paying attention and neither was she used to responding to her mother's name, but after a moment she realized that she was being talked to and looked at the other woman, who was looking at her slightly amused. Sarah suspected that the other girl had some idea that she had not been entirely honest about her name, but she hadn't said anything about it. With a shrug of her shoulders she moved over to where the other girl and the human boy were standing, both with weapons in their hands. They had explained to her that if she wished to return home she'd have to learn to fight. This had surprised her at first, but with the news of the war that was occurring she wasn't entirely too surprised. Geoff, she had found out, had already been training, but han't begun when he arrived. Apparently he had been unwilling to learn for the first few months he had been there. He, she had also come to realize, he been there for nearly a year.
So when she approached she was handed a light sword. She held it awkwardly, never having held a real sword before. Mae, who had handed her the sword, reached out and adjusted her grip so that she was holding it properly. It had been the morning after she had arrived that she had been told that she was going to be learning, and the fae woman was, apparently, not taking no for an answer. She had a job to do and she couldn't leave the border herself to take them to the castle to seek their freedom an their return to the Aboveground. From what she had been told, the other woman was safe, as she was a resident of the area and could handle what enemies had slipped into the Labyrinth, but they, being humans, would be facing both the inhabitants and the enemies of the Labyrinth. She had also learned that the Labyrinth was changing more often and more chaoticly. While it had been, before the war, changing at a predictable (to the inhabitants, at least) rate, now it was in defense mode, it changed for no reason, often times dramaticly, changing the entire landscape. This had made her wonder if they would be able to get through at all, but Maelle had assured her that she would teach them some of the Labyrinth's patterns so that it would be easier. After all, apparently the Labyrinth had never been impossible to get through.
The only reason it was so difficult for humans was due to how they thought. They didn't take into account magic or that things could change within seconds. Fae, even unfamilar ones, could solve it within the time given (if, of course, they chose to). So she had told her that she was to teach them not only to fight the creatures that might be in the Labyrinth, but to think in such a way that the Labyrinth was no longer as confusing. Of course, while these laws of the Labyrinth's movement applied when the Labyrinth was calm and allowed navigation within a day, it's defensive chaos made it more difficult, which meant that while under normal circumstances they could navigate it in under a day, now, however, it could take anywhere from two days to two months. With a sigh, she was brought to the present, the fae staring at her expentatly, sword raised in a defensive stance before she spoke (once again, it seemed by the look on her face).
"Try to hit me, Linda." She said, before teasingly, "And try to pay attention."
She nodded and lunged forward with the sword oddly, the more experienced fighter easily blocking the attack before stepping back and resuming her defensive stance, motioning for her to attack again. She did, trying another approach, coming in a bit lower and aiming away from the side that was holding the sword. Again she was blocked and again she was told to attack again. This pattern went on for some time, and she was barely improving, having gotten blocked every time. The only time she had gotten even close her blade had been blocked a few moments away from actually hitting her target. Of course, she hadn't expected to be good at sword fighting in the least, neither had either of the others. So after her turn she sat back on the grass (not entirely sure where she was within the Labyrinth, except that they were surrounded by walls on all sides) and watched Geoff practice. He was much better than her, but it was obvious that he was still no where near the skill of the fae. Again, no surprise as the woman had apparently been learning to fight since she was young and she was much older than them.
After a few hours of the two of them taking turns and instructions, sometimes ambiguous, sometimes specific, from Mae, they turned in at about what was dinner time and retired to the dwarven woman's, Ghillie's, hidden house, food already ready for them. They ate slowly, except Mae, who finished her food quickly before disappearing, supposedly off to do her 'duty'. No one had explained what her duty was, even though she had asked. The answer had been vague, only saying she was patrolling the entrance. That had been as specific as she had gotten. Ghillie and Geoff had looked worried when she had left, but neither had said anything. Now the three of them were eating in silence, not talking about anything. She sighed as she finished her dinner, a beef stew style meal with dumplings. She doubted that the meat really was beef, but she didn't want to ask at all.
The rest of the night passed almost silently. Sarah had stayed awake late, unable to sleep, worrying about the Labyrinth and her friends. Even, as much as she was surprised to admit it, it's king, Jareth. She had never expected herself to worry about Jareth, but there she was, worrying about him, even more than her own friends. She explained it away as feeling guilty about the state of his kingdom, but her heart knew better. She tossed and turned for most of the night until she heard voices. Those of the fae and the dwarf discussing something. She missed a good part of it as their voices didn't stay at the same level, changing volume from whispers to near-yells. All she could gather from their conversation was that things were getting worse and that, despite her duty, she would have to return to the castle soon to report what she had seen. She hadn't heard much after that as she had fallen asleep, plagued with worry and concern.
A/N: Reviews are loved! Sorry, this is a more boring chapter as it's more of a transition chapter than the others. There will be a few of these. I'll try to keep them interesting.