Hello, dahlings. I'm still waiting for your guesses and ideas for chapters; I don't even know what is happening as I write. :)
I think I might be able to promise another chapter tonight, if anybody actually reads this. :)
As always, disclaimer except for the characters I've created. :)
Toodleoo!
And AmericanWoman? Yes, yes it could. :)
Sarah opened her eyes and looked around. I've made it she said to herself, I've made it again. As if once wasn't enough, the sneaky bastard had to take Cara and Mia. Shaking her head, she stood up and wiped the dirt off her jeans. She carefully slipped the garden gloves back on her hands and picked the crystal back up, holding it carefully in both hands. This part of the Labyrinth wasn't very labyrinthine at all, and as far as she could tell it was hidden from the main part of the Labyrinth itself, almost as if it was built that way.
She took a few steps and noticed something else slightly odd about the garden, but she couldn't put her finger on it. She could see goblins running between the doors carrying towels, trays of half eaten food, and water jugs. The dolphin shaped fountain was sprinkling blue, glittery water--a sure sign that she was in the correct place.
Delphina blinked.
"A girl. In the garden. Arvin, are you sure?" she asked. Jareth flipped back over on his stomach. All eyes shifted to the king, then quickly back to Arvin. The elderly goblin nodded. "Yes, ma'am. A girl. Not a child, but a girl."
Delphina blinked. Turning around, she shook Jareth. "Jareth." She said as calmly as she could, "Jareth. JARETH."
He groaned.
"JARETH." She yelled, almost pushing him off the bed this time, "JARETH. THERE IS A GIRL IN YOUR COURTYARD. A GIRL. IN THE GAR--"
Another goblin entered the room. Delphina groaned and put her hand to her face. "What. Is."
The goblin quickly left, but he also left something--or rather someone behind.
"GET OFF ME!"
It was a girl. A tall, somewhat slender girl with dark brown hair and wide, pale green eyes wearing canvas trousers and a plain half-chemise. Delphina was confused, but she imagined that she was not nearly as confused as the girl. She looked young, younger than an adult but too old to be one of Jareth's experiments. She frowned.
"What is your name?" she asked, in a still, monotone voice. The girl's eyes narrowed. "Why don't you ask him—"she said, jerking her thumb and head towards Jareth, "--and while you're at it, ask him why he had to take my baby brother and my cousins."
Delphina crossed her arms. "Miss, you are in the bedroom of the king. I'd suggest that you keep your tone down, especially in a time like this. When the KING is--"
"Ill? Misinformed? Dead?" the girl spat, obviously irritated. "I think not. At least, if the one book that I managed to grab information out of was correct, which I'm pretty sure is dubious, and even then that is no excuse--" and she stomped her foot "NO EXCUSE FOR TAKING MY BABY BROTHER AND COUSINS." She screeched. Delphina was tempted to cover her ears; the noise was so loud and irritating.
"I assure you, he would do nothing of the sort--at least, not twice. Not like that." Delphina carefully responded.
"Oh yeah?" the girl asked, peeling off one of her gloves. "Then can you explain this?"
To Delphina's horror, she pulled out the last thing that she expected.
A crystal ball, just like the one that Jareth had lost was sitting in her gloved palm. Delphina's eyes widened.
"Where did you get that?" she asked, hissing out the question. The girl's eyes narrowed again, grinning as she put it in her ungloved hand. "I don't really know why it appeared in my bedroom, but I'm assuming it was a gift from him. Besides, why would it be important? I know that he owns more than two--"Delphina crossed her arms as the girl said this, "--don't look at me like that, I know he does. I've seen them--and I've been doing a bit of research and it looks as if they're important."
Delphina sighed impatiently. "Fine, you may have it. As long as you don't--"
The girl placed the crystal in her ungloved hand, cupping it like a tennis ball and staring into the center of it. The split second afterwards, Jareth started writhing on the bed, shouting and tangling himself in the covers. The girl stared at him slack jawed, but still did not remove the ball from her ungloved hand.
Delphina rushed to the side of the bed, pulling covers off and trying to calm him down while Pipaluk pressed cold cloths to his head. The girl continued to hold the crystal in her ungloved hand, staring at the king.
"Will you put that thing back in your other hand, girl." Delphina cried, trying to restrain the king. The girl snapped out of her vegetative state. "No." she replied flatly, "Not until he answers my questions and tells me where Cara and Mia are, then he might be able to bargain for the crystal."
Delphina whipped around. She had never been so angry, so insulted by anything else in her life. He was obviously in a great amount of pain which would have swerved anybody's judgment, but this girl must have had quite a grudge against Jareth.
"If you will not at least put the crystal in your ungloved hand, then will you at least listen to why you need to?"
"No." the girl responded. "I already have a great guess why it happens, and quite frankly I don't give a flying fuck what happens to him."
Delphina was now thoroughly done with the girl. She had bargained with her, the girl had refused. She really couldn't afford to have her in here to test her temper, not at this very moment at least. "Arvin." She called coolly, and the old goblin looked up. "Take this girl--"she paused to press a cloth to Jareth's forehead "to the dungeons. The special ones, if you please."
The girl's eyes widened. "Better not be the oubliette." She muttered, palming the crystal in the gloved hand. The king stopped writhing long enough for Delphina to turn and glare at the girl.
"No, not the oubliette, at least not for today." The girl grinned. Arvin quickly pulled her arm up behind her back to keep her from spinning around and striking at him and quickly pulled her down to the dungeons.
It was cold and wet. Too cold for her tastes, she decided, but almost not cold enough for a dungeon. Sarah knew escape was futile in a magic dungeon. The choice was a smart one; if she had been able to she would have kept the crystal in her hand and grinned to herself in her cell, but the pulsating purple bars on her cell were a dead giveaway.
Besides, she saw the non magical cells. They were near the front of the dungeon's long chamber; a chamber built of cold gray and brown stone. Moss grew between the cracks and small rodents ran along the sides of her cell. They weren't rats, but she supposed that anything that spent their life in Jareth's castle wasn't really a rat--and she shuttered at the thought.
He had deserved it, really. She couldn't find Cara and Mia anywhere. She had tried to call their names, but nothing responded. There was no Hoggle to bail her out this time, and no Ludo either. Sarah slammed against the harsh walls in anger. She still couldn't understand why he would continue to steal children, even after--
How long had he been like that anyways? And who was this woman, Delphina? Sarah had never met her while she was in the Labyrinth, but she looked older and she had to suppose that she had been in the castle but out of sight. There were lots of things that she must have assumed, she realized, about the castle that weren't true. She had supposed that Jareth had kept some dungeons in working order, but not dungeons that repelled magic from working within their walls. It was possible, she guessed, the knocking doors had been guarded by magic, or at least with some sort of spirit embedded in the knockers. The door switches were just sentries that had been ordered, by Jareth, to guard the door.
Sarah shook her head. Her thoughts went back to Delphina. She was an exquisitely beautiful woman. Her hair was long and straight, her blue-gray eyes had sparkled when she was talking about Jareth. Delphina's skin had an unearthly blueish glow; something that she supposed had to do with her magic. Or her race, she thought. Sarah had always assumed that the Labyrinth was a sort of kingdom with surrounding areas, but kingdoms are always surrounded by other kingdoms. She still made no sense, the way that she talked about Jareth was soft, but as she had spoken to the goblins and Sarah was very blunt and harsh. It was strange, she decided, and Sarah had naturally assumed that with Jareth out of order, Delphina was obviously the one in charge.
She sighed. She was hungry, she had no idea how long she had been stuck in the dungeons, and she wanted to go home. She wanted Cara and Mia to be safe and her father not to worry about where she was. Merlin must be having a hell of a time guarding my room and she chuckled to herself. Still, she wanted to sleep in her own bed and forget about this Labyrinth once and for all.
There was a clatter down the hallway, a metallic sounding clatter and some cursing. She supposed that one of the goblins had been sent to feed her. She had gathered, from Arvin's grumblings, that there was at least one goblin tied to the dungeons and the care of imprisoned people. Sarah had not been able to catch his name, so she was still suspicious of whatever was coming down the hallway.
His head quivered and jerked to his left. He rolled over, unsure of where he was. He could see Delphina in the corner, reading a poetry book of some sort. He was obviously in his bedroom; he could see the curtains that shaded the bed, but Pipaluk was sitting by his side in a stupor while Delphina read her book.
"Delphina." He called, softly. She looked up. "Oh, thank god you're awake. There has been an important…well, something has come up."
Jareth covered his eyes with his hand. "What is it?" Delphina placed her book on her lap. "Careful, Jareth. You've been unconscious for about a--what would you say, Pipaluk?"
Pipaluk blushed at being asked such a question. "You've been in and out of it for the past month and a half, sire. More so in the last week than ever, except for a few hours ago and the incident, sire. But that has been taken care of, sire, and should not bother you any longer."
Jareth's brows furrowed. "And incident, Pipaluk? What kind of incident?" and he looked up towards Delphina.
"Nothing of your concern, Jareth." She said, waving her hand and burying herself in her book again. "Just a girl; we'll discuss it--"
Jareth's heart stopped mid beat. No. It can't be her. She couldn't have possibly found a way back.
"What did she look like?" He stated, bluntly. "How tall was she?" Delphina groaned. "I've told you, Jareth. It is of no im--"
"DON'T. Defy me." Jareth said with a snarl. "If it is not of any importance, then why--"
He stopped mid sentence to listen closely. Something was coming from the dungeons; he could hear a small voice coming up through the ducts that connected the rooms in the castle. Delphina stood, but Jareth put his hand out towards her.
"It's not fair!" a small voice shrilled through the walls. "It's not fair; he can't be allowed to do this to anybody, least of all twice!"
Jareth's face paled, and jumping out of bed with a blanket wrapped around him he ran off to the dungeons. Delphina followed, muttering weak protests.