A/N: I'M ALIVE! Ha, but really, it's good to have an actual moment to attend to my poor fanfic which has been sadly neglected most the summer :D. And my dear readers! Summer has been really amazing with the kids camps and a million plus weddings though. How about you all? Hope everyone has made fun summer memories! I must say, the delay has been greatly due to dabbling for the first time in wedding photography. Whew! It's quite an experience. Very stressful for the first time, haha! But it's always good to try what you're afraid or nervous to do...

Anywho, this was a fun chapter to write. A little difficult though because certain old friends show up and I find the simplest characters can be the hardest to capture. Maybe it's just me...GUESS WHAT? We find out what happened between Fiachna and Jareth!

Thanks to, Kaytori, artseblis, VIAMB, Reine Shadow, TheWordMasterOfFiction, mearra, and boybandelflover for your reviews! You guys sure know how to encourage a writer :).

Enjoy some old friends and a new not-so-much-a-friend (cuz that makes perfect sense...)!


Chapter Ten: Open and Closed Within Your Eyes

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A cloud of malice and anger manifested in a physical mist of darkness around the room. To mortals or less magical creatures the gloom would be more felt than seen, but to the man who sat in the midst of it, it was a great comfort. The windows were drawn with thick curtains to close out the sun, and only a few candles lit the room with dim light flickering in shadows upon the walls of stone. This was his private chamber where no one dared disturb him.

Fiachna the Raven Mage sat in a throne-like seat carved of dark mahogany wood with a high back that reached a couple feet over his head. Yet his presence could not be dwarfed by any piece of furniture for he was a powerful being that bathed himself in undaunted arrogance and self-assurance.

Although it was questioned, he was not a creature of pure evil and yet he was evil in his heart. He could walk beneath the sun in the day, but he preferred the shadows of evening that concealed and shrouded. He could pretend quite skilfully at a polite and friendly front, but he much preferred showing his true selfish nature that cared for no one but himself.

And that had been his first descent into the shadow: his selfishness and pride.

Fiachna arose from his chair and shoved open the doors. He blinked at the abrupt intrusion of sunlight, faint though it was, in the open hall where he glided through.

"Gerdol!" he yelled. "Gerdol, come here at once!"

A dwarf with shaggy black hair, swarthy skin, and deep brown eyes hurried out of the corner. His clothes were worn and dulled earthy colours, but his gaze was sharp. At times his incompetence earned him beatings, but mostly he proved rather useful to the mage who kept very little company. Only three servants—including Gerdol the dwarf—resided in his Black Tower in the Blue Mountains. If he could have done everything on his own, he gladly would've been rid of all company.

Gerdol wrung his hands and bowed low with his head nearly touching the floor. "Yes, Your Majesty?"

"Do you have the information I requested?"

"Of course, Master. New reports flew in just minutes ago."

"And?" Fiachna placed his hands on his hips and scowled.

Gerdol had been with the dark man long enough to grow somewhat accustomed to his behaviour and wasn't frightened by the grim façade anymore. He cleared his throat and said, "It's much as before. The ravens can't get past the walls or boundaries even when they try to fly over and haven't found anywhere they can gets in. Nothing else to report, Your Majesty. They haven't seen a thing yet."

"This is unacceptable," Fiachna growled.

"If I may, Master, suggest trying another plan?"

Fiachna turned his scowl on the dwarf and towered over him. Gerdol cowered a little and found his bravery waning fast under the wrath of the mage.

"Don't presume to advise me, slave. I'll do whatever I will. And I'd already considered another plan anyway that I just don't plan on sharing with you imbeciles until it can actually be enacted. Let's just say..."

He twirled his hand until black powder filled his palm. He threw out his hand, the black powder flying into the air and slithering into a whip that crashed against the wall. Gerdol jumped and stepped back. The mage's face twisted with satisfaction as he released the whip and it dissolved into nothing.

"Let's just say that the Summer Solstice may not be such a happy event this year."

Fiachna let his cloud of anger suffuse him as his thoughts turned to his enemy: Jareth the Goblin King. They had been neutral acquaintances for a little while and then something shifted when Fiachna visited the goblin kingdom, saw the intricate labyrinth, but was not permitted to enter. No one else was either, but a seed was planted. Not long afterwards they attended a Sidhe Court event where the mage stood by and watched as many of the lovely Fey maidens eyed Jareth appraisingly and listened as many of the conversations spoke the Goblin King's name in awe or curiosity. Jealousy grew in the mage's heart at all the attention, praise, and fear the other Sidhe received. Why not him? Why not Fiachna who also had good looks and power and anything else they should want?

The seed grew roots that clutched deep and readied a sprout that would form into the open air for all to see.

He lashed out then before many eyes and ears with insults towards Jareth. The worst part was that Jareth laughed it off and seemed unaffected even as he belittled Fiachna in front of all those same people.

"Oh, look! It is the Goblin King," Fiachna said with a sneer as said man walked past. "Such a pitiful creature to rule such a pitiful kingdom. It's a place to keep those we wish to forget or put away with the rest of the wretched creatures."

Jareth paused in midstride, sending a gleam of satisfaction through the mage. He turned round and looked down at Fiachna with a cool, collected face that showed no sign of irritation or anger. "And you are? Ah yes. The Raven Mage. I'd almost forgotten." He chuckled to himself and continued on his way.

All was said in hearing and sight of many Sidhe who whispered to one another once the two parted ways. Fiachna's chest burned with anger at the casual demeaning as though the king thought him a child to be chided and ignored. His pride was too great to bear such an insult without recompense.

A mild feud had begun.

But gradually it transformed into a stronger one when the two exchanged more than harsh words. Instead it was with real snares laid for each other. Fiachna ignited more than apathy when he tried trapping Jareth with an awful curse that would have disfigured him. When it failed, that pale-haired arrogant king showed up at Fiachna's old home—the Raven Manor—and laid snares all around it so the mage was trapped in his own residence for weeks while trying to disarm them. When he failed—which was often—it would pierce him like a hundred knives or knock him unconscious.

The continual reminders of his lesser power drove him mad. So he was left to nurse his wounds and plot eventual revenge when he'd increased his strength and ability. The years passed, and the feud dwindled until the mage himself did not give it great thought.

The Raven Mage had other enemies as well, certainly, but when rumour whispered upon the air that some mortal had beaten Jareth's labyrinth at last, he leaped on that opportunity to find a weakness to get to his enemy. Even more deliciously, he discovered at last after a few years that it wasn't just some mortal but a mortal girl who was rather lovely. Then it slipped into place. At first the plan had been to find out the secret to beating the labyrinth so he could do so and defeat the king, but then he realised there was more to it. It seemed Jareth finally showed a powerful weakness after all that had nothing to do with the walls around his kingdom but rather the walls around his heart.

Fiachna intended to expose that soft spot. The girl would be his and then Jareth would bow before him begging for mercy. The taste of revenge was like a phantom on his tongue.

"Soon," he murmured to himself. "Very soon."


"Stop shoving! You almost crushed my poor foot!"

"Ludo sorry."

"Oh stop that nonsense you two. Our lady is resting! We mustn't wake the poor girl."

Darkness receded and consciousness slowly seeped back to her mind like storm clouds rolling away from the sun. The voices that pierced through the shadowed haze sounded oddly familiar as if from some distant memory that kept slipping through her fingers. The three of them hushed when she stirred gently in the soft and silken cocoon of warmth wrapped around her body.

"She's waking up!"

"Shh! Not so loud."

Although her eyelids felt like heavy weights, Sarah's eyes fluttered open at last, and she returned to the waking world.

"Sawah!"

The first thing she saw were three faces huddled in front of her to the side of the bed, three faces she knew well and loved well. The drowsiness sloughed off a bit more, and she smiled.

There were Hoggle, Ludo, and Sir Didymus all standing close watch as she came out of sleep. Their eyes were wide with concern and excitement, and it seemed they all were having trouble keeping their tongues in check so as not to overwhelm her. A wide yawn cracked her jaw. She pushed up to sit and face them.

"My friends," she said with her smile still radiating.

The three let off a shout of delight all at once and tried talking to her all at the same time as well.

Sarah put up her hands. "Whoa, whoa, whoa! Slow down. I can't talk to all of you at once."

"My lady! May we say we are extremely glad to see you," said Sir Didymus with a bow as he swept off his hat. His whiskers twitched. "It's been quite a wait seeing when you'd wake up."

"Sorry to have kept you all waiting," she said with a laugh. It felt wonderful to laugh and feel light again.

"Ah, don't listen to him," said Hoggle with a wave of his hand, "there's nothing bad about waiting for ya. Don't think it's been that long actually since—" He coughed and looked away. "Well since Jareth told us you were here."

"So he did tell you," she said. "I wasn't sure if he would."

Ludo bent forward, accidentally pushing Hoggle a little. "Sawah okay?"

"Yes, Ludo, I'm doing great. I'm just so glad to see all of you! I've missed you..."

Now that they were here she vividly remembered that night before everything fell apart when she'd tried to call for them in the mirror and no one answered or showed up. That had never happened before then. Yet here they were happy and as friendly as always.

They all exchanged curious glances.

"Missed Sawah too," said Ludo.

Sir Didymus shoved his hat back on. "We certainly did," he said.

"But...why didn't you come?" said Sarah. "I know it'd been a while since I asked for you to visit, but when I finally did...none of you came."

Her three friends all frowned and exchanged another round of looks, and Hoggle shrugged his shoulders.

"Are you sure? We didn't feel nothing," said the dwarf with his gruff voice. "We thought maybe you'd, you know, forgotten about us." He hung his head and scraped his foot along the ground.

"How could I forget any of you? You're all so dear to me. You're my friends! I...I know that things changed the older I got, so I'm sorry for that, but I never forgot you. I thought I didn't need you guys anymore, but I was wrong. You're still important to me and I still need you."

"Thank you, my lady," said Sir Didymus with another bow. He always was one for chivalry and formality. "We could never forget you either. There is no one more dear to us."

Her brilliant smile returned to wash them all in her warmth and radiance. None of them understood why the connection had been lost, but they spent a great deal of time catching up, talking, and laughing together like they sometimes did in the first couple years. Of course Sir Didymus had some grand tales of adventure to tell in full detail, and Hoggle was curious if she brought anymore 'plastic' with her or other forms of jewellery. Ludo never had a lot to say, but he grinned at her with those tusks protruding and nodded his head at certain things.

After a while, Sarah paused and realised there was something she didn't quite remember. "Do any of you know why I was sleeping? I don't remember coming in here or deciding to take a nap..."

"Eh, Jareth just said you were sleeping and to wait till you was awake," said Hoggle. "We thought you were napping."

"I am terribly sorry, my lady, but we don't really know," Sir Didymus said with a tilt of his head. "As the good dwarf stated, His Majesty did not tell us anything except that you were here in the castle and wished to see us. At first I thought it a joke! Then we saw you lying here so peacefully in your bed."

"Sawah forget?" asked Ludo with a frown of concern.

She threw off the coverlets and got out of bed. As soon as her feet touched the floor memories poured back into place. She remembered running out of the Goblin City, through the junkyard, and into the forest. Then the fireys surrounded her to play one of their awful games. And the Goblin King. He'd come to her rescue yet again, albeit with much less at stake than the first time.

Last of all returned the words they'd exchanged, and her heart ached in her chest to remember. As much as she fought to stay on the less confusing path of believing the king to be untrustworthy and villainous, that fight had come to an end in the golden-lit wood. It turned out he wasn't much of a liar or a villain. Looking into his icy blue eyes when he spoke was more what convinced her of the truth than his actual words—although those certainly struck her as well—because there in their fathomless depths a single lie or word of deceit couldn't be found. Only sincerity. And a little bit of discomfort at speaking so plainly, she guessed.

But knowing all those things he told her were pure truth twisted her stomach in knots. She still believed him to be a little dangerous, but not towards her perhaps. Wow. He really...he really did want me to give up everything for him.

"Uh, Sarah?" Hoggle asked timidly. "Don't mean to be pushy and all, but uh...what're you doing back here? Jareth didn't make you run that awful labyrinth again, did he?"

"If he has captured my lady," Sir Didymus cried and brandished his small sword, "then your friends will help you escape!"

Hoggle cursed under his breath after nearly losing an ear from the fox's zealous sword-brandishing and scooted closer to Ludo.

"No, no it's nothing like that," Sarah insisted. She began walking around the room a little to stretch her legs. "It's...complicated. I'm not sure if I can tell you. But I'm here by choice and not because he's stolen someone or captured me. He's actually helping me."

"What?"

"Impossible!"

"No..."

"My lady! Could we not help you instead?" offered Sir Didymus.

"I'm afraid not. He's the only one who can."

"Well." The fox sniffed and became at a loss for words.

"Don't trust 'im," said the dwarf in a low voice. "He's as slippery as a fish, Jareth is, and he always gets what he wants."

Sarah turned away and looked out one of the windows. "Not always," she whispered, but none of them heard her. Louder, she said, "But you're going to have to trust me. Maybe I will tell you soon, but I'm not sure if it's safe yet."

That was not the right thing to say. Now she'd worried them even more.

"I'll be all right! Don't any of you worry a hair on your heads because everything will be just fine. I'm sure it won't be long before it's all over and..." And I'll go back home and leave you all again.

"If you say so, my lady," said the fiery fox in a softer tone than usual.

Ludo lumbered over towards her, his red fur swaying gently. He put out a hand to touch her. "Sawah safe."

She laughed softly and put her hand over his giant one. "Yes, Ludo, I really am." The words weren't just to reassure her friends, but a bit of a revelation to her also.

At that moment another figure appeared in the room. Sarah still was getting used to him just popping up without warning wherever he pleased, although it was a bit disconcerting when it was her bedroom.

The dwarf, the monster, and the fox reacted a lot more noticeably than she did with jumps and yelps and cowering. Her heart picked up its pace a little, but she was drawn more to her curiosity about their earlier conversation. She realised she wasn't sure how to act around him anymore. They certainly weren't friends, but they weren't adversaries either. The Goblin King: always confounding her.

"I see you're awake," he said with his smooth tones. Then he turned his gaze on her visitors. "Leave us."

The command affected the three differently. Hoggle still was afraid of him, Ludo never seemed sure what to do, and Sir Didymus submitted even though it was obvious he'd rather fight. They all bid fond farewells to Sarah before filing out the door and leaving the two alone. Yes, her heartbeat definitely was pounding now that her friends were gone, but she always tried to hide her nerves.

"What happened?" she asked before another silence full of long gazes and awkwardness could happen.

"Nightdream," he said with a gleam in his eye most likely for some other reason. "It's the unfortunate flower you decided to smell, a flower that—when it blooms—causes sleep to fall quite suddenly on whoever breathes it in."

"Well no wonder it's all a blur."

His posture shifted and a crease appeared between his arched brows.

"I mean, everything as soon as I smelt the flower. Not before then." She avoided looking at his face.

His expressions and emotions were extremely difficult to read sometimes, and she had to search for the barest subtleties to understand. Here she felt her mind and heart were usually written all over her face, but here he could hold his composure through any situation if that's what he thought best. Maybe he'd had lots of practise. How old was he anyway? It'd probably be extremely rude to ask; not to mention finding out his real age would likely make her feel very odd since she'd be admitting to finding a man hundreds of years old alluring.

"I realised I'm not really at ease having the goblins serve you," he said. "So I had someone else better suited for a woman than those creatures. That's the only reason, mind you."

"Oh."

Here was another moment that threw her off balance. He seemed to actually be kind, and then the next remark out of his mouth negated it. Or was he trying too hard to make sure she thought she wasn't any special guest? And men thought women were confusing...

The Goblin King tilted his body towards the door. A moment later the old woman named Mary walked through and dipped a curtsy.

"Evening, my lady."


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