Disclaimer: Nope, none of the Labyrinth is mine. Though this park is based heavily off of one by my house, I don't own that either. Sigh
Long chapter ahead! I hope you brought something to eat!
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It was very, very quiet.
But it wasn't the quiet of night, or the quiet of silence. Silence was just people not making any noise, and night was never truly quiet.
This park was.
Nothing moved. Birds had frozen in mid-flight. The water of the pond looked like it had been sculpted.
There isn't much that's more unnerving than the sight of water not moving in the way that water should.
Magda released Sarah's icy arm, and looked around her at the frozen park. It was… She'd never done this before. She'd never been able to. This girl… what had she put into her? Sarah was different. She even smelt different. When she'd been trapped inside her own head, something had happened. She'd changed.
Don't think about her, Magda urged herself. It had to be done. It's just… it's just too bad.
The park was decidedly eerie. The time stop had washed the whole area with a pale blue tint, as though it were underwater.
Magda shivered, and felt the goosebumps rise along her exposed arms. She felt sick. She wasn't used to all this power. It didn't feel very good. And the sight of what that power had wrought made her feel even worse.
"What have I done?" she murmured to herself, her voice flat in the blank air.
"Yeah," said a shaky voice from behind her. "What have you done?"
Sarah was staring at her, horror and anger in her face, shaking. She was shaking. She was moving. She wasn't—she wasn't supposed to be moving.
"You're still here?" Magda gasped, staring at Sarah. "You're still in time? That's not… that's not possible!"
"What's wrong with the park?" Sarah demanded, looking around. "What's wrong with the birds, and the water, and… and…" she gulped and closed her eyes, hunching down and moaning.
"You aren't frozen?" Magda asked, staring at the top of the human's head.
"Frozen?" Sarah snapped up, and stepped towards Magda, who backed up hurriedly. "Frozen? You froze the park?"
"You weren't supposed to be awake for it!" Magda said, hands raised to ward off the angry teenager. "I thought I had enough power to freeze you too! I should have had enough power to freeze you and the park!"
Sarah looked at Magda for a frozen moment, and then she swung at her. Magda was too surprised to dodge the blow fully, and it clipped her in the shoulder. She spun with the force of the blow, and fell to the ground heavily. She yelped at the frozen strands of grass, unyielding under her weight, went through the thin fabric of her tunic and pricked at her back and arms.
"Why?" Sarah demanded, standing over Magda and trying to stop herself from shaking. "Why did you do this?"
"I didn't want to!" Magda said hotly, her face flushing a dull orange. "I had to do it! I didn't think that you'd—"
"—be awake for it?" Sarah finished hotly, her face going an eerie shade of white. "And that's supposed to make it all okay?"
"Well, well," a voice said suddenly, slicing through the air to reach the two figures in the center of the park. "This is very interesting!"
The park glowed briefly orange as a glowing circle opened in the air behind Magda. Out of it stepped a woman dressed in a green dress that waved and flowed around her like water. Her skin was a clear jade green, and it gave off a very definite impression of not being at all threatening. When she smiled, revealing a bright pink mouth, Sarah was almost knocked over by the force of the idea that they weren't at all pointed.
"Magda," The Queen of the Grottoes said sweetly, looking at the golden woman sprawled on the ground. "Why is the monkey girl still in motion?"
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Wake up.
'E's not listenin'. Be louder.
WAKE. UP.
Leave me alone…
You 'ave t' wake up.
No, I really think I don't.
This is of vital importance!
Really. Fantastic.
Ha. Ha. Ha. You're so amusing, I wish I could—
No time fer that now! He needs to get up!
Do you have any idea how long it's been since I slept? Let me have this peace for a while. You can invade my privacy when I'm awake and forced to deal with you.
It's about Her!
'E's not sayin' anythin'
Wait for it…
'Her'?
Who do you think we mean, fool? The door's been unlocked and the Grotto Queen's got a passage through!
What?
Wake. UP!
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"I'm… I'm sorry, Madam," Magda murmured, eyes downcast as she hauled herself to her feet. She winced as the razor-sharp glass withdrew from the sensitive skin on be back of her arms. "She was able to resist the power, I think."
The Queen beamed at Magda, but didn't say anything. She just slowly turned her head, and stared into Sarah's face.
Sarah was suddenly very, very scared. Looking down at the woman's hands, she almost thought she saw… yes, they were there, though they flickered in and out of her vision. Long strands of silvery liquid dripping down her fingernails and vanishing before it hit the ground.
Blood.
She had blood on her hands.
Sarah suddenly shivered hard, and clutched at her head. Her face was so pale, it was almost glowing in the blue light.
The Queen laughed as Sarah fell to her knees, gasping.
"Shock," she said cheerfully, looking at the girl. "The poor girl can't handle being cut off from time, can she?" Her smile flickered briefly. "She's so pathetic."
Guards dressed in black and blue uniforms and carrying spears jerkily flowed out of the orange light-door, and formed a loose circle around the three women.
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He had to climb three staircases, slip through four rooms of insanity, and wind his way through the mirror maze. And he had to wait impatiently for a dozing redhead (What was his name? Theo?) to move his accursed feet so the Goblin King could sprint up another flight of stairs.
He didn't remember any of it. His mind was churning with the images and disjointed thoughts that were pooling in his awareness. Something was wrong. Very, very wrong.
The air smelt strange, up here. What was it?
He mounted the last step, and stood at the top of a long hallway with only two doors in it, and a window on the wall opposite the staircase.
He moved carefully, trying to mark the scent. There was the definite trace of her; the fishy smell that marked her court filled the hall. But in the corners and the cracks was another scent…
His foot hit something, and he knew what the scent was as soon as he looked down.
It was blood. The Woodlander was lying on the floor at his feet, bleeding all over the yellow stone floor.
Not that it looked too yellow anyway. The floor was marked with charcoal and spilled wax.
What in hell's name was he doing here? Jareth though, looking at the stone door beside him.
He looked at the shapes drawn on the floor again, and he got an idea. But it wasn't an idea that he wanted to—it couldn't be.
Jareth knelt, beside the Woodlander's head, and traced the line of his arm and hand until his fingers reached… A book.
A book? A voice taunted him in his head. It's the book, of course.
"No," Jareth whispered, looking down at the coarse black hair and shabby jacket of the Woodlander. "You're the priest? You? It's not—not possible!"
He shivered, and rocked back onto his heels, not noticing or not caring the charcoal and blood that stained his pants and gloves.
Yes, she'd been here. There wasn't another who could cause any being to bleed this much. Jareth shivered again, and pressed a hand to his eyes, trying to keep all the fear inside him from exploding. She had been here… in his castle…
But she wasn't here now.
Jareth slowly dropped his hands, and looked blankly down the hallway. Yes, that was true. She wasn't here now. The smell of her was old, and it was unlikely that she would be able to get back into his castle with the Woodlander spurting blood all over it. He didn't have to do anything about it.
But why would she just pass through the Labyrinth? Why wouldn't she stay to make war on it?
Was his own cynical mind, or more unwanted advice from the pests, that thought this? Did it matter?
Why would the Queen stop here? She didn't come to make war, since she seemed to just flash through. And besides, that wouldn't be her way. She prefers coming at her prey from behind, robbing them of their treasure as they watch the door for her arrival, or some other scheme to that affect. How does this passing through fit into her scheme? Jareth thought, getting to his feet and looking around him desperately. What's Aboveground that she would want? What's in the Aboveground that she could use? There's nothing—
Oh. Oh no. She wouldn't, Jareth thought, his imagination supplying images of a smiling figure advancing on a young girl in a familiar house. She wouldn't.
Of course she would.
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Magda watched Sarah wheeze, trying not to feel anything. She looked away, and saw her Queen smiling at her.
"Oh, Magda!" the Queen said happily, batting her eyelashes at her. "Do you like this monkey? Are you two friends now? Well, then maybe you'd like to turn away. This won't be pretty," she looked at Sarah, and turned to look at the park and the guards around her. "For you, anyway."
"What?" Magda asked, worried. "What are you going to do to her?"
"Magda," the Queen laughed, looking only at the heaving Sarah. "When have I ever confided in you? Do you think I'll start now?"
Magda flushed, and looked down.
Sarah spat up a huge glob a phlegm, and her choking stopped. Hanging her head, she panted heavily. Oh, but she hurt. And she felt so strange. It was like wires had been laid under every inch of skin, and they'd just been activated to send jets of pure force all through her body. She shook her head slowly, eyes still closed.
And then she started laughing.
The Queen's eyes narrowed, and her grin stretched even wider. The fluid movement of her dress spiked suddenly, and became a little bit frantic.
"You find something funny, monkey girl?" the Queen trilled happily, staring down at the back of Sarah's head.
"Well, yeah," Sarah rasped, pushing herself up onto her heels. She wiped her mouth with the back of one hand, and smiled up at the Queen. "You don't have any plan at all, do you? You get Magda to drag me here, you get her to stop time, and you transport yourself from… wherever you come from, and you don't even have any idea what you're going to do with me now. It's funny."
"Really," the Queen said quietly, her lilting voice taking on a slightly harder edge than it'd had previously. "Well, as it happens, I do have a plan for this little adventure. And having a plan has turned out to be very satisfactory. I've played it by ear for far longer than you can imagine, and now I think I might just win," she considered her words for a moment, and then threw her head back and laughed. "For the first time, I think."
The Queen looked hard at Sarah, her grin still in place. There was something very strange about her face. It was as though you couldn't focus on all of it at once. Try and see her lips clearly, and her right ear would blur strangely. Try and get a clear image of her ear, and her hair would wink and sputter.
"Maybe I will tell you," The Queen said softly, looking down at Sarah. "Then I can tell him exactly how you behaved before your mind snapped under the pressure of the thought of it."
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Jareth paced. He was in no state to go anywhere. He was all out; spent; dry of any power that could have helped him. He turned often to look at the body of the Woodlander behind him. Was he dead? Oh, hells, he hoped he wasn't dead. He was the Priest… the Queen had been here… and all he could think of was the girl on the other side of reality who as probably already in the clutches of an enemy she couldn't even comprehend.
And there was nothing he could do about it.
"Help me!" he shouted to the ceiling, eyes searching the stone for some hint or clue.
There was no answer.
"Don't ignore me. Don't you dare ignore me. I know you're there, and I need you now!"
Us ignore you? A gruff voice rumbled around him
It's been quite the other way around, you know. Said a cool, crisp voice.
"Don't sulk," Jareth snapped. "Come out where I can see you!"
There was a pause. And then they were there. A great behemoth of stone, all crags and point, and a tall, slender figure made of bush and twigs that swayed slightly in the breeze.
About time, The craggy beast said delicately, it's polished voice ringing through the halls. We weren't sure you'd ever come to your senses. We can't go away, you know.
'Least not yet, The twiggy figure rumbled deeply, swaying to and fro lightly.
"This isn't the time for this," Jareth said through gritted teeth, looking at the pair of them. "I need your power."
You left us, remember? The mountain said coolly, turning its great sightless eyes on the Goblin King. You're in no place to demand loans of us.
'S true, the thin tree figure said deeply. We ain't been in yer mind fer a long, long while.
"But I need your help now. You must know that the Queen's been in here. And she's gone through to the… to the other side. She must be going to take—to get—to steal her from me."
Sarah. The two said together. They were both still for a moment, watching the King.
"Yes," he said tightly. "Her. And I need to get her back."
Why?
Jareth blinked. Why? How did that even enter into it? He wouldn't allow the Queen to take Sarah because… because… because Sarah wasn't hers. He'd watched Sarah, he'd spoken to her and taken her into his Labyrinth. She'd left of her own volition, and he'd let her, but that didn't mean that she'd stopped being part of it.
"Why?" he repeated, looking at the two entities that made up his Labyrinth as they regarded him. Uncontrollable, strange, and paradoxical. Very like the place itself, and very like it's King, really. "Because she's mine. The Grotto Queen has no right to take what belongs to me! What belongs to us! Help me to take her back!"
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The Queen sat down on her heels, looking into Sarah's face. As she spoke, she stroked the long grass with her fingers. Sarah watched, horrified, as the cuts that appeared in the fabric of her gloves disappeared almost as quickly as they were made.
"I've always wanted his Labyrinth," The Queen began. "We all do. It's not because it's grander, or more beautiful than any of our own lands. And it's not that we don't love our own kingdoms. It's just that… The Labyrinth was the first. It is the place where we all came from. Where everything came from. And we all, secretly, want it for our own. It has the oldest and richest magic, and it's closest to the Aboveground. It's only through the Labyrinth that travel Aboveground is possible at all. And we all love to go Aboveground.
"But none of us dare to try and take it. The rulers of the Labryinth are always strong, and we all have our own borders to look to. How could we divert our strengths to conquer a land with such a unique and awesome power at its helm? And then… then I discovered my own Gift. We all have them, you know. They're separate from our Shapes, and they are unique to each member of our race. And mine… mine allowed me to create," her eyes were gleaming, and her smile faded from her face as she spoke. She actually moved her mouth awkwardly when she didn't have her smile fixed in place. It was as though she couldn't move her lips as easily around her pointed teeth.
"To create, when nothing can be created outside of the Labyrinth. And I could do it," She shivered slightly, and seized a handful of grass in her hand. "This put me on the same level as the Kings and Queens who had ruled the Labyrinth! It made me even more powerful than the young King who ruled it at the time, who hadn't even learned how to make use of his kingdom yet. I knew, as soon as I knew what I could do, that I could take it from him.
"But he was so stubborn," the murmured, still staring at Sarah. "He was one of the difficult ones. He couldn't be bought by promises of money or allegiance, or of promises of peace and power. Threats didn't work, and neither did temptation. I tried everything. But he was so enamored with his kingdom and all it's pesky little intricacies, that nothing I tried would do any good. I tried to stir up dissention, but there was nothing that could move my fellow rulers to rise against him. For all his youth, they were still afraid of his power. Disgusted, I retreated into my Grottoes, rejecting scheme after scheme that would surely fail to win my the Labyrinth.
"And then… such fortune! As part of his role as King, he accidentally let in a slip of a girl. A child. A human child. And she did what I could never do. She whipped through his precious Labyrinth, held it up before her careful eyes, and discarded it with all of a child's heartless disdain. And it destroyed him."
She was smiling again. Sarah swallowed heavily, and felt the tears dripping down her face and splashing onto the motionless grass.
"Here was my chance," the Queen hissed, leaning in closer to Sarah's face. "He'd lost all control. Shaken by this child, he threw himself away from the kingdom and the power that he adored, and retreated into a shell that he wrapped tightly around himself, keeping everything else out. This was the chance I'd waited for!"
The Queen rocked back and forth onto her heels, wrapping her arms around herself in a self-satisfied hug. "I tempted him. I went to him, and offered him the chance to go to this girl, and live free of the burden of the Labyrinth. And it was a burden for him, but then. He made it so. Or, rather, she made it so. My, but you're ugly when you cry, monkey," Sarah tried to look away, but she couldn't even force her eyes closed. The blood was pumping through her head so loudly it almost hurt. "At any rate, he refused me. Very, very much annoyed, I retreated once more. And then, then when I'd thought I'd spent my very last chance, I had an epiphany. I thought, well, if the idea of the girl isn't enough, then perhaps the girl herself will accomplish my aims. After all, she did so well before. Didn't you, Sarah?"
Sarah rocked back as if she'd been hit. "What—what are you going to do?" she asked furiously, though the affect of her anger was slightly dampened by her choking sobs.
"Don't worry," the Queen said, smiling again. "It won't hurt. I'm sure you'll like it. In fact, I know that you will, because I'll tell you to. And you'll do what I tell you. But you get to be like Magda! Look!" and the Grotto Queen seized Sarah's chin and yanked her to her feet, forcibly pointing her face at Magda, who was watching with wide eyes. "Isn't she pretty?"
At the Grotto Queen's touch, Sarah's face suddenly went blank. She was standing in a dark hallway, and there was a man with long, coarse black hair kneeling on the ground before her. She'd seen this before, when she was with the two voices after she got her memory back. The man looked up at her, and almost smiled. And then she raised her hand, and…
Sarah gasped, and jerked back into the present. She fought against the grip of the Queen, but her hand was clamped around her jaw like a vise.
"You see… I know…" The Queen said, pulling Sarah closer so that she was speaking into her ear. "That he will do anything for me, when I have the one thing that he cares about above all willing to kill herself for me. He won't be able to bear it. And I'll make him a trade. You, my willing goblin slave, in return for his kingdom."
She threw Sarah from her forcibly, and she hit the ground at Magda's feet with a thud. She felt all the air fly out of her, and lay gasping for a moment.
"Magda," the Queen said, her light voice unmistakably steely. "Pick her up. It's time."
Magda put a hand to her head. Why… why did she feel so sick? She shouldn't feel this strange. But… but… She bent over, and ran a hand under Sarah's shoulders, hoisting her up.
"What was his name?" the girl wheezed, looking up at her.
"What?" Magda asked blankly, still feeling as though her head would fall off if she let it go. "Who?"
"The man," Sarah said. "the man with the black eyes and the long black hair."
"Nico?" Magda asked, mystified. "Do you mean Nico? Do you know him?"
"She… she needed a way through… and he was there, trying to save you… and… and she came… and…"
"Magda!" the Queen trilled, but Magda wasn't listening.
"…and," the girl went on, staring into Magda's face. "And he opened the way for her, and she… she cut him down. Without—without any warning."
"Cut him?" Magda said blankly, her skin paling.
"She tricked him. He was just… just doing it for you, but she… she fooled him into thinking… that he could be with you…"
"Nico," Magda said softly, raising her eyes stare at the Queen.
"I don't… I don't know if he's alive," Sarah said, knowing it was cruel as she did so. "But… there was a lot of blood…"
"What," Magda said roughly, all but dropping Sarah as she turned to the Queen. "Did you do?"
The Queen thought for a moment, and cocked her head to one side. "What, to the Woodlander? He cut a deal with me. And then I cut him. Ha! That's funny, Magda, isn't it?" she grinned toothily at Magda, her eyes dancing.
"You… you… how? Why would you do that to him?" She asked, not comprehending. Her head hurt so much… "He didn't do anything. He was just… just trying to help me! He looks after me, and you… you…"
"Looks after you?" The Queen repeated, laughing. "Magda, you are such a fool! You're his dear one! His light, his passion, the reason he threw himself into this and many other insane ventures. The little worm loves you, and he always has, ever since he first bumped into you just after you arrived in my court."
Magda stood absolutely still.
She cleared her throat, and tried to speak. All that came out was a weak rasp. She shook her head, and tried again. "I won't help you any more," she said as strongly as she could, though her knees felt as though they were about to give way. Was it true? "I won't. I'm done with you, and with all your… your schemes. I won't be a part of it any more."
For a moment, the only sound was of Sarah's labored breathing as she got to her feet. The guards stood impassively, ignored and forgotten by the three figures they surrounded.
Then the Queen smiled, though this time her teeth had a definite edge.
"You… won't be a part of it?" she laughed, a low chuckle that was different than the tittering noise she'd made before. "You won't be a part of it? You… you little worm. I. Made. You. You were my first experiment. The first little bit of nothing at all that I made. A little child who'd swum out too far, and who made friends with the pretty lady she met deep under the water. And I made you better, and I made you mine. How dare you say such things to me, Magda, when I made you myself!"
The silence of absolutely nothing filled the park. And then Magda screamed. She didn't know for who, or why. She forgot who she was, and she forgot where. All she could think about was the feel of water against her skin, and the sight of a dark face smiling into hers, reaching out for her as she brushed past him again and again…
…and she screamed, dropped to the ground, and wailed into the earth.
The Queen frowned slightly at her, and rolled her eyes. "So noisy. You mean you never wondered why you could barely use your powers at all? Why you couldn't be like us? Look!"
She stalked over to Magda, and ripped the gloves off her hands with one motion. Exposed to the blue light, the skin was bare and unmarked, except for two large, pale circles on the back of each hand. Surrounded by the gold, the light color stood out like a beacon. Magda cried out, and tried to pull her hands away, but the Queen held them tightly, pulling them up so Magda dangled limply, wailing with her eyes screwed tightly shut.
"Not even a proper shape! You never even guessed? Well, of course you didn't," the Queen said, dropping Magda's hands with an expression of dainty disgust on her face "Because I never told you to!"
"That," said a cold voice from behind Sarah. "is enough."
Sarah turned…
…and her breath stopped.
He was there.