XI
Jareth stumbled forward, unfamiliar feet scraping on the firm dirt below. With eyes too big, he scanned the darkness for any sign of Sarah. He could hear her screaming down every hallway and every street, but he felt with every step he took he was farther away from her. He regained his footing and proceeded, slower so not to trip again. Being in anothers body was something completely new to him, and he was positive that after this experience he would not want to do the same again. It felt as though he were buttoned up inside a suit that was just too big for him, the smallest of spaces between him and where the suit should sit. Jareth also didnt like feeling small, powerless, which was how he felt now wearing skin that was not his own.
He soon came upon a crossroads, the two paths to his sides leading to winding staircases, and the one ahead of him to a tall hedge maze. Jareth closed his eyes and listened, turning slowly he hoped to pinpoint where Sarah's screams were loudest. If he were at full strength, not only would he not need to borrow the faerie boy's body, but he would have Sarah already, and the current problem would be eliminated. He would have taken care of the creature who stole his kingdom and regained his rightful place. For the dark, dank, worthless place that it was, it was his, and nobody was going to take it from him without his consent. And Jareth was a man who could count on one hand the number of times he gave consent. Coming full circle, his ears picked up that the screams were louder towards the hedge maze. He took off at a brisk pace, sliding over loose rocks and kicking up dust.
As he made is way into the maze, he found that the narrow, twisting paths were many. They wound through thick walls of green, and shot off into hundreds of directions, making it look far larger than it was. In actuality, many of the winding offshoots lead to dead ends. This was a trick that Jareth had employed ages ago, and thought it a bit funny that his rival chose to duplicate it. Presuming he was correct in thinking that the layout was a replica of its predecessor as well, he followed the widest path for many long minutes before coming across an overgrown dirt path that he knew would take him to the center of the maze, where the screaming generated.
Kallan sighed and began the tedious work of healing the broken King. His body was greatly deteriorated, weathered and worn, as if he had been in the very same spot for centuries. Using a bit of his reserves of energy, he lifted the Kings head to examine the damage to his body. Without any muscle or fat, there was nothing to him anymore but skin and bone, it seemed. Around his feet, cracked leather boots were entangled in a crop of ivy that had grown over them. His left hand was held in place by a twisted root, his right played host to a savage scar that ran from his middle finger to his elbow.
How long have you been here, old man? Kallan asked the shell.
He sighed and let the head drop. Becoming perfectly still, he began to take deep, meditative breaths and began to focus his energies, imagining a small ball of light growing brighter and wider as it filled up the body entirely. He toned out the world, the whistling winds above his head and the creaking of the earth settling down for the night. Birds chips became a distant memory and the rustling of trees were forgotten until all he could hear was a scream. Pained and frightened, it soared over every other sound. Though it pained him, this too he tuned out.
Once, and only once, Kallan had managed to save someone. A soldier come home from a reconissance mission had been wounded by an enchanted arrow. He had stumbled half blind through the gates of Tir Na Nog and collapsed at the feet of the coupela in which Kallan was keeping watch. Panicked, and not wanting to see the the poor soul suffer, he thought only of healing his wounds. The world around him spun as he put all his efforts into halting the young soldiers pain. Eventually, he fell over, exhausted and drained of every ounce of energy. He blacked out, and when he eventually came to, it was the soldier who was watching over him and thanking him for what he did. The elders had thought that this was proof enough that, like the majority of his people, he was destined to be a healer. But when faced with the task again, this time something much smaller, he could not so much as create a spark. He hoped now, in desperate a time as this, he could muster up whatever he had conjured that night to save the King.
Sarah's throat was hoarse, her head pounded and her fingers had begun to bleed where they had dug into the hard ground. Convulsions still wracked her body, but they had become less frequent. Whatever this Silence was, it had quickly seeped its way inside her, taking away from her all control of her body. It tried at first, to send her out of its domain. Whatever was inside her picked her up and flung her about like a rag doll. It tossed her into the door, which held fast and would not open. The force slammed harder, but to no avail. This place was a safehouse for Runners who needed hiding. The Intruder was not in any danger, and had found the door only out of curiosity. The door did not welcome her and did not want her there, and when it realized that she would not leave willingly, it found the only option was to kill her.
Now though, as the Intruder convulsed wildly and began to succumb, a faint Noise was brought to her attention. Her body slowed, fighting back what the Silence had planned, and the convulsions began to subside as the noise grew stronger. The Silence fought back harder, feeling threatened by this new Intruder, and sent the girl into a new spasm, a small flow of blood beginning to trickle from her ears, her eyes, her mouth. A new set of screams mingled with the Noise, and soon another Noise joined the mix, a thick crunching, creaking, cracking sound. Slow at first, it soon picked up and beat to the same time that the first, knocking Noise beat to. The three seemed to harmonize into a screeching symphony that soon overpowered the Silence. The door, which Silence had fought so hard to open had, with one final crack, wrenched open, its brass hinges poping and taking flight into a night filled with sound.
On the opposite side of the door, a large beast stood with the fragment of the door still clutched in its mammoth hand. It groaned and stepped inside, making a beeline for the withered girl, whom it picked up gingerly and carried outside.
"Sarah hurt." It mumbled, kicking the door fragment through the threshold before turning away and bumbling down the loud pathway outside of the doors Silence.
The screaming had stopped. A loud crack had sliced through the air moments ago, and with it, the screaming had stopped. Jareth had come to a halt to listen, thinking he had been wrong and that the crack had been so loud that it had just cancelled all other noises for a time. But long after the sound had finished ringing through the night, the scream was still missing. Jareth felt a knot form in his stomach momentarily. Something like panic, he assumed. Perhaps a trait that came along with possessing anothers body. But something was off. Sarah screaming had been something sure. Something that led him to her and something that gave him absolute proof that she was still alive. Now, with the hollow wind taking up a tune where there was previously no room for it, he was unsure. This new thing could mean two things. Either that someone had rescued Sarah and put and end to whatever was greiving her, or she was dead. Both prospects were not alluring to Jareth, who felt a certian need to keep her safe, but only if he was the one protecting her. And the idea of her lying lifeless somewhere made this bodys' heart skip a worried beat.
He picked up his pace and swiftly turned the last corner before the seemingly endless stretch of road that would lead him to the mazes core.
Kallan had broken his focus. His surroundings had shifted slightly. Something had changed which had caused him to take notice to a world that otherwise could have been dead. Opening his eyes, he noticed a faint glow coming from the King. He was doing something after all. But what had changed? The trees were still there, the wind howled like it had been all night, and the earth creaked and groaned in its slumber. But something had changed. Realizing with a start what had changed, Kallan began to panic. There was no sensation of his stomach falling out, or the clammy skin he usually got when he worried, but the panic was there. The screaming. Sarah had stopped screaming. He ached to run for her, to find out who or what had made her stop, because if she had stopped, then something was either very good or very bad. But though he would love to, he could not run to her. She was not his to run to. With a new determination to heal the King best he could and solve this new mystery, he settled back down and found his focus again, the faint healing glow he had produced earlier resuming its calming light, just visible behind closed eyes.
Sarah opened her eyes slowly. She rubbed them tenderly, her stomach lurching at the crusted blood that flaked off. She felt tired, weak, and strangely warm. With blurred vision and a moment to regain all her senses, she realized she was being cradled by a large, hairy beast. Her heart raced in shock before her vision began to clear and Sarah saw an enormous, fanged, and harmless face that she had not seen in five years.
"Ludo." She whispered, raising a weak hand to touch his cheek. He had been crying.
"Sarah hurt..." he mumbled, his deep voice sounding like a small landslide. She nodded and patted his cheek for reasurrance.
"Sarah hurt." Sarah confirmed, turning her head to survey her surroundings. She noticed that a few feet away, Hoggle sat in shadow, watching Sarah wih worried eyes.
"Hi, Hoggle." she muttered, her words were thick, her mouth felt as though it were stuffed full of cotton.
"Hi, Sarah." He greeted, shuffling forward to see her better. The stripes of blood that streaked down the sides of her face had dried, along with what was left on her eyes and the bit around her mouth. She was pale, giving the moons competition, and her hands seemed to constantly shake.
"Ludo ripped the door off. I don't think I was much help..." he admitted, kicking at the dirt. Sarah smiled and reached for his face.
"Hoggle find Sarah." Ludo said, his glossy black eyes falling on Hoggle appreciatively.
"Yeh well...only cos' you was screamin' so loud. Anyone coulda' found you. I guess." Hoggle admitted bashfully. Sarah sighed.
"Thank you. Both of you." Shaking, Sarah tried to sit up, but found her arms could not yet hold her.
"Now now, Sarah. Don't you be tryin' to get up just yet. You jus' rest for a while, kay?" He offered, turning to walk away.
"I'll be goin' to find you sommin' to eat then. You watch her you big oaf. Don't let her go runnin' off now" He ordered Ludo, who only nodded.
Eon watched as the girl sat in the arms of a ridiculously large creature, who seemed to be humming something entirely indecipherable. She was badly injured, which came as a surprise since he knew the door she had gone into was nothing more than a roving closet unless one was in danger. Perhaps that was why she returned in such a state. She was not in danger when she found the door, so perhaps the door put her in danger to keep her there. Whatever the reason, he found a small bit of delight in her suffering, and was quite content to just watch her struggle to work her arms and legs again before he noticed that just a few paces away, the faerie that accompanied her to his castle was walking briskly towards her. Almost too conveniently, the boy stopped and took off one of his boots, watching angrily as several large rocks came pouring out of it. In the time it took him to relace that boot and do the same thing to his other, Eon had shifted some of his Labyrinths corridors. Nothing too serious, as that was for some reason forbidden, but enough to stall him for a while yet.
On the other side, the girl at last struggled to her feet and managed to take a few steps before her legs betrayed her and she crashed down, her palms scraping against the ground. She was determined though, and pressed on, walking to the end of the corridor and back before turning and doing it again. Time after time she fell, until eventually her legs were reminded of how to walk, and how to support her in that effort. Unfortunately, the girl walking again was not as amusing as the girl falling repeatedly, and her escort was once again fast approaching.
On the other side of the Labyrinth, the fallen King was doing something strange. An eerie irridescence surrounded him. It pulsated and grew, sending off waves of energy that shook the leaves of the trees that surrounded him. His players had something up their sleeves, and he knew that if he allowed it to continue, they would beat him. Eon turned back to the girl and her faerie. Something had to be done.
Sarah made one more lap up and down the corridor before catching that Ludo was staring at something in the distance. Turning, she saw that far away at the other end of the corridor a figure was walking towards them swiftly. She smiled, recognizing the familiar way Kallan carried himself, and began to head towards him. Behind her, Ludo growled suspiciously.
"Don't worry," she said, turning to face him. "he's a good friend of mine. You'll like him, I promise." Sarah said, as she turned around and made her way towards the figure. Accepting Sarahs description, Ludo returned to his humming, which Sarah still couldnt figure out if it was just him breathing or actually humming a song. She caught herself smiling as Kallan came into clearer veiw. It looked as though he had been in some sort of fight. His clothes were dirty and torn in places, and he walked with a sort of gait, almost as if he had twisted a knee or an ankle or something.
"I've been looking everywhere for you." He said, closing the distance between them and placing his hand on her cheek affectionately. She frowned and stepped back.
"Kallan...I...I'm sorry. I was looking for you too. I got stuck in some weird room. Got beat up pretty bad, too. But I'm fine now, see?" She said, spinning slowly to showcase that she was obviously alive. Kallan sighed and nodded, crossing his arms across his chest as he appraised whether or not she was truly 'fine'.
"Are you alright?" Sarah asked, noticing that there was something strange about the way he was acting. Kallan looked at her, his eyes flashing something strange before his face melted into a grin.
"Of course." He confirmed, his rigid frame easing some of its tension.
"I was just worried about you, is all." He assured her. Sarah smiled, she had to realize that this place had to be equally difficult for Kallan, who was probably concidered a Runner like her.
She grabbed his hand and turned back to where Ludo sat.
"Come on. I want you to meet a friend of mine. He's going to help us find Jareth." She explained.
Sarah began to pull Kallan along behind her, explaining to him how exactly she came to be friends with Ludo when she felt Kallan lose his grip on her hand. She turned to find him examining the walls, a sick look on his face.
"Are you alright?" She asked curiously. He nodded, but half-heartedly.
"Iron. It's in the walls. I'm not sure how much though..." he said, pulling his glove off and touching it against the cold wall. It was as if he had touched a lightning bolt instead.
Kallan was once more interrupted from his minstrations, which were working well, to his surprise, when he felt an ice cold pain rush through him. Groaning, he opened the Kings eyes in shock, only to be stricken with another bolt of pain as he was suddenly torn from the body and pulled towards his own.
Jareth opened his eyes with an exasperated grunt. To his surprise, he was in his own body, and it was no longer a withered shadow of what he used to be.
The boy did better than I had expected. He thought. Pressing his hand against his torso, where a throbbing phantom pain irked him. Like lightning, a memory from moments before shook him.
The boy.
Kallan jerked his hand away, a dizzy sensation disoriented him. Upon opening his eyes, he was standing in front of Sarah, who was looking at him with a frazzled expression.
How did I get here? He thought, his eyes falling on the curious red creature that stood behind Sarah with an equally worried expression.
"So? Is there a lot of iron?" Sarah asked, waiting for a response.
Iron..the shock must have sent us back into our own bodies.
"Yeah...there is. I just have to be careful." he said, a great wave of relief filling him upon seeing Sarah well.
"Alright. We'll be careful. Kallan, this is Ludo. I met him my first trip here. He's gonna help us." She explained, turning to Ludo.
The beast nodded and turned his head skyward before releasing a great howl. Around them, the rocks shifted and tumbled and turned, moving at Ludos' command. When he was finished, it could have been as if they were standing in a completely different area. Behind Ludo, a thick stone staircase wound its way into darkness.
"That'll lead us to Jareth?" She asked hopefully. Ludo nodded and stood next to the enterance.
"Ludo wait here. Sarah come back with friends." He explained, sitting down with a thud. Sarah nodded and hugged the gentle giant.
"I will. Thank you."
Walking down the staircase proved to be an obstacle of its own as the two pushed their way through brambles and roots, past doorways that were overgrown with weeds. Upon reaching the other side, the duo was met by another winding hallway, the thick stone walls sparkling in the darkness. As Sarah pressed foward, Kallan stayed behind, a look of trepidation on his face.
"Come on! We've got to be getting closer." She said, moving to the spot where Kallan stood, frozen.
"Is it the iron?" She asked, noticing the pained expression on his face. He only nodded.
"Its worse here." he explained briefly. "You're right though, we must be getting close. Let's hurry." Wincing, he took a step forward, and then another. Another step, another painful wince as he slowly made his way down the hall.
"You know those movies that you like so much? Superman?" he began. Sarah nodded.
"If I was Superman, Iron would be my Kryptonite." He explained.
"So its lethal." Sarah surmised. Kallan nodded.
"If there's enough of it." his voice was strained. "Right now, I might as well be human."
Sarah gripped his arm, offering support.
"Let's hurry, then."
As they turned a corner, Kallan fell behind once more to catch his breath. His state had degenerated in minutes, and he was now left gasping for air and struggling with each step.
"There's a lot more here." he groaned, his chest heaving.
"Sarah pulled her eyes off of him to survey their surroundings. Ahead, she could see a light, dim and pulsing, the moons behind a swaying tree. She turned back to him, a spark of hope flaring inside of her.
"Kallan! Kallan, the exit's not far. Only a few more minutes..."she began, running ahead to push aside the trees' brittle branches. When she turned back to him, he had sunk to his knees, clutching his sides in agony. Sarah began to panic.
"Kallan please get up! Look! We're so close! Please..." She pleaded, throwing his arm over his shoulder and helping him to his feet.
"Come on. We're almost there. You'll be better soon. See the light?" She prompted, beginning to walk as Kallan half walked, half dragged along beside her. They drew closer, the illuminated doorway becoming clearer, brighter.
The tree beyond the doorway was now crisp and clear, sharply defined by the light of the Underground's twin moons. A breeze soon caught up with them, warm and promising. It whispered of warmth and sanctuary and safety if they could just make it under the arched doorway. The arches though, would be the worst. Inlaid into the sand colored stones was a series of intricate iron latticework. It wove throughout the doorway beautifully, but as Sarah had come to learn, lethally.
Her heart hammered against her rib-cage anxiously.
"We can do this." She assured, tightening her grip on Kallans' waist and stepping forward.
Before she could take another step, she heard Kallan gasp and release a small whimper before his entire body went limp.
"Kallan?" She asked, her stomach turning as a warm pool began to spread in-between them.
"Kallan?" She whispered, forcing her eyes to look down. When she finally did, her eyes fell on a large iron shaft protruding through Kallans' stomach. Its tipped end dripped crimson.
"Kallan!" She shrieked, falling to the ground, cradling his head in her lap. She began to rock back and forth, focusing on Kallans' face, which had relaxed immensely. His eyes darted every which way, finally settling on Sarahs' face. He managed a small smile and placed a bloodied hand on her cheek, already wet with tears.
"I'm so sorry...oh God...I'm so sorry, Kallan..." She muttered, stroking damp hair off of his forehead.
"What do I do? Kallan...God, what do I do? Please don't go, Kallan...you can't." She whimpered.
"You're my best friend." she cried, her voice thick with tears. Kallan ran his thumb across her cheek, he spoke, but no sound came out. Sarah regressed into a string of sobs, lowering her head to his chest, where his heartbeat was barely audible.
"Sarah..." he whispered, breathing heavily. Sarah looked up, her bleary eyes trying to focus on his.
"All I ever wanted..." he began, running out of breath mid sentence. Instead, he used the last of his strength to push himself. Reaching to press his lips against hers, a spark of pain, the very last, shot through him seconds before he could kiss her, and his arms gave out. He coughed once before a great sigh escaped him and his blue eyes lost focus, falling on the light that would have saved him.
I'm so sorry you guys. But it had to be done. I AM A TERRIBLE PERSON. But from the beginning, when Kallan demanded I put him in my story I said "FINE. But you're Eponine, you jerk." BUT I'M THE ONE WHO'S THE JERK. I'm sorry bb for killing you. I love you.
Also. Sorry this took so long to update, our internet was out. Damn bills.
Also Also. If you don't know, Eponine was one of the main characters in Les Miserables. In the musical, she was the daughter of horrible con-artists, and a street urchin who loved this boy Marius, and she was his best friend and confidant and he never even knew she loved him because he ran into some dumb blonde in the market and that was it for him man. LOVE. So in the second act (this takes place during the French Revolution BTW) Marius sent Eponine to deliver a letter to the dumb blonde DURING A BATTLE, and she got shot. In her final song, she tells Marius that the she loves him, and before she gets the chance to kiss him, she dies. And everyone in the audience is reduced to tears. EPONINE IS MY FAVORITE CHARACTER EVER AND LES MISERABLES IS MY FAVORITE MUSICAL EVER. EVER. EVER. (I've also read the book TWICE, and that thing is like twice the size of the Bible, but Book-Eponine is not as cool, she's still Marius's friend, but she's more of a toothless whore than a lovable street urchin.) So there's a little lesson for you
Also Also Also. In most folklore regarding the Fae, Iron is not their friend. It hurts them. So I decided to make it lethal. NOBODY TOLD ME I COULDN'T
SEE YOU GUYS IN CHAPTER TWELVE.
