Chapter: And Hardships Unnumbered
"What do you mean you can't remember it? Fae can't forget anything, especially something as memorable as that." Michu blinked.
"Memorable? I just remember dancing with my brother and then . . . my mother saying something. It was so strange. I've always tried to figure out what it was but the War didn't give me a lot of time to dwell on those issues." Almanac raised an eyebrow. "What do YOU remember from the party?"
"I came with my brothers and I remember asking someone to dance with me. I remember a bit of a squabble but no one ever told me what was happening. They just kept repeating the news of the upcoming war." Michu's eyebrows came together worriedly.
"How can that be? I can't remember that!" Michu said worriedly biting her bottom lip. "I would REMEMBER that! But I don't. What's wrong with me?"
"What I want to know is why you got so angry with Sarah. You know she didn't mean what she said." Michu continued biting her lip, not bothering to look up.
"I'm not mad at Sarah." She finally said. "I'm just . . . confused and angry. I can't look at her without thinking about what I've done." She shook her head fiercely. "She doesn't know about how I feel for Jareth. That was where I met him, you know. It was at the ball. What I remember my mother saying to me was that she would never let me love the Goblin Prince ever again. That HAD to have meant something!
"We'll figure it out, don't worry. Let's get back to the others before they start to worry too much." Michu nodded, feeling very warm at Almanac's kind words. Maybe . . . no, she couldn't do that! She loved Jareth! She couldn't think about Almanac that way, it wasn't fair!
"Your Majesty, the ambassador of the Dragon Kingdom has arrived." Ritsu M'ani said sulkily. She was one of the pixie advisors that the three friends had seen right before being sent into the Labyrinth.
She was a bit tall for a pixie at five foot ten inches with long green hair, which reached her knees and beautiful pink eyes. Her ears were a little less pointed than those of her companions and she fidgeted in her green uniform nervously. She knew all about the supposedly dead princess of the pixies. The Queen had spread the rumor and it had gone off like wild fire. Everyone mourned over Princess Velderia, especially because of her known gentleness and valor during the Great War.
Ritsu always knew that there was something strange about the Queen's story. She never seemed sad about her daughter's death and she even stopped visiting her only living daughter in order to bury herself in the kingdom's affairs. She pissed off every single kingdom and always seemed on the verge of starting a war with someone. Ritsu just couldn't understand it.
When the princess had appeared once more, Ritsu recognized her at once. She distinctly remembered fighting in the same regiment as the princess. She was a truly courageous warrior who didn't shrink back at the thought of battle as other nobility before her had. She didn't cry at all in front of the other fighters when news came of her siblings and her father's death. It was rare for Fae to do even at war before the Great War, but the princess had held her head high and ignored the need to mourn until the fighting was over and the offending sides were pleased with the destruction that had ensued.
The Queen was quick to threaten all those who had seen the princess and said that if they dared breath a word, she would kill the relatives of the advisors. Ritsu remained quiet but she showed her upset emotions as she performed her usual tasks. What really struck her, however, was the fact that the Queen hadn't even been able to recognize her own daughter. She knew who the Goblin King was, but not her own flesh and blood; her only remaining sane daughter.
"Ritsu, pay attention!" The Queen snapped. Ritsu bowed her head and gritted her teeth quietly.
"Forgive me, Your Majesty." Ritsu said between clenched teeth. The other advisors, (all who were several centuries older than her) knew that this wasn't a smart move. Behaving rebelliously against the Queen was not a smart move is that person wanted to keep their family and their reputation safe.
"If you continue to irritate me so, I shall be forced to suspend you head first into the Marshes of Despair." Ritsu stiffened visibly. That was not a threat to be taken lightly, even if the Queen was slowly loosing control of her Labyrinth. Only the Queen and Michu knew that she no longer had any power over it.
"I don't believe you'll be doing any such thing." The Queen stiffened and Ritsu turned surprised eyes towards the much dirtier Goblin King carrying the human from before. Both of them looked cold, dirty, and pissed off (especially the human).
"How did you get here?" The Queen demanded in a terrified whisper. She tried to edge away from them but she came across a wall. She screamed when she saw two more figures enter the room. The princess was there, dirty but terrifying in her fury. Another was with her; a tall man who could have been none other than the King of Dreams. The Queen had kidnapped him in order to piss of his kingdom for war.
"What's the matter, mother? Scared to see us?" Michu said quietly, coldly, and ruthlessly. Ritsu couldn't help but admire the four glaring people, all of them terrifying in their rage (even the human).
"Velderia . . . my daughter . . . what are you doing? Stop it!" The Queen screamed and then fell to the floor. When she slowly sat up, she gasped in horror. Her skin wasn't the beautiful cream color it had been before but slightly darker. Her features were softened and her ears were perfectly round. She was in a beggar's rags and her once-beautiful hair was now a dirty blond color.
"You are now human." Michu whispered, her eyes cold and fathomless. "You shall live out the remainder of your mortal life as a peasant with no money and no one to love you. If you so much as TRY to wish yourself back to the Underground, than the Furies shall be allowed to deal with you as they see fit." Even Ritsu cringed at the threat of the Furies.
The Furies were terrifying creatures with snake hair, dog's faces, burning red eyes, and enormous claws. They rode on chariots of fire and punished all those who were unjust or sinful. If they were aloud to do with the once-royal woman as they pleased, she would live an eternity in endless suffering.
"No, please Velderia, have mercy on your poor mother! Think about Thalia, she wouldn't want this! Think of your brother, your sisters, your father! They wouldn't want this!" With every word, Michu grew angrier and angrier until she finally stormed over and raised her hand.
To her and everyone else's shock, the human threw herself out of the Goblin King's arms and backhanded the weeping woman to the floor! The once- Queen starred at her in shock, her hand touching the reddening spot where she had been slapped for the first time in her life!
"She's being more than kind to you!" The human snapped viciously. "It's more than you deserve! The world isn't fair, so big deal! Either deal with the consequences of your actions or go hang yourself and save us the trouble!" Everyone starred at her in shock. No human had ever spoken truer words.
"Take her to the Human Realm." The new Queen whispered and the guards gladly took the woman in rags out of the palace, her screams echoing throughout the kingdom even after she had finally been taken away. Ritsu turned to the new Queen and was shocked to find her eyes closed and her body swaying where it stood.
"Michu?" The human said worriedly as she tried to limp towards the Queen.
"I can't . . . I'm sorry." She whispered before she began to fall. The King of Dreams took her into his arms before she hit the ground and starred into her face carefully. His eyes widened when he finally recognized the face he had been longing to see for so long; the woman he had been searching for had been under his nose the entire time!
"Michu?"
The castle was in an uproar. The old Queen was gone; sent to the Human Realm, as a punishment for crimes no one had known had been committed in the first place. The new Queen was none other than Princess Velderia, a pixie everyone had thought was long since dead. Advisors from all over the kingdom gathered to see her and all of the nobles who could manage it (and some who couldn't) managed to grab a room in the ever-busying castle.
They didn't know about the human sitting beside the fainted Queen or the King of the Goblins and the King of Dreams pacing outside her door worriedly. She had been unconscious for three days and she hadn't been able to awaken for any of that time, even to eat.
Sarah was really beginning to worry about her. Ritsu, one of the Queen's advisors, was quick to escort the four adventurers to several rooms close to the one that Michu had been placed into. Sarah refused to sleep or eat until Michu woke up (even though Jareth managed to force some food down her throat). Almanac, with his restored magic, was able to clean the group and give them some clean cloths since their old ones were nearly ripped to shreds anyway.
When Sarah waited, Jareth could usually be seen there as well. He always talked to Sarah to get her mind off of worrying about Michu. Sarah discovered that Jareth knew a lot of interesting stories and he knew more about the other realms than she thought he did. Almanac visited only when Sarah accidentally fell asleep, hovering by Michu's bed and starring down at her sleeping face. He always left quietly before running to a dark corner of the palace where no one (not even Jareth) could find him.
Sarah was still extremely worried about her friend until her eyes finally fluttered open. As they did, Sarah smiled warmly at her.
"Are you better?" She asked. Michu blinked again and managed a weak smile.
"I don't know about better but I'm very hungry."
A/N: Yeah, shorter than the last chapter (sorry). Thank you to Xithemonas (sorry, potion is the next chapter, I promise!), an anonymous reviewer (that will be explained in the next chapter), Skyfire, General Sephiroth, saskia, Solea, Megan, Lady Sorrow, and terrie! ^.^ You guys are the best reviewers! This fic is coming to a close, and I'm sorry to see it ending so soon. But there are still a few questions we want answered, right? What was the potion that Michu's mother used? What effect did it have on her daughter and Jareth? Will I EVER stop being so ambiguous? ^.^
Okay! The voting has been somewhat of a landslide but to be *fair* we'll wait for the end of the fic (even though I've already started planning a J/S fic). So far, the vote is twenty-five *gulps* to four (sorry, Megan, but it seems that you and I are just gonna have to suffer) for a J/S fic. Those of you, who want a J/M fic, speak now or forever hold your peace! This vote will continue until the end of this fic! Also, I stupidly began a new Labyrinth fic. Check it out! It's called 'Shattered Dreams'. The sequel to this fic will be starting as soon as this one is over.
"What do you mean you can't remember it? Fae can't forget anything, especially something as memorable as that." Michu blinked.
"Memorable? I just remember dancing with my brother and then . . . my mother saying something. It was so strange. I've always tried to figure out what it was but the War didn't give me a lot of time to dwell on those issues." Almanac raised an eyebrow. "What do YOU remember from the party?"
"I came with my brothers and I remember asking someone to dance with me. I remember a bit of a squabble but no one ever told me what was happening. They just kept repeating the news of the upcoming war." Michu's eyebrows came together worriedly.
"How can that be? I can't remember that!" Michu said worriedly biting her bottom lip. "I would REMEMBER that! But I don't. What's wrong with me?"
"What I want to know is why you got so angry with Sarah. You know she didn't mean what she said." Michu continued biting her lip, not bothering to look up.
"I'm not mad at Sarah." She finally said. "I'm just . . . confused and angry. I can't look at her without thinking about what I've done." She shook her head fiercely. "She doesn't know about how I feel for Jareth. That was where I met him, you know. It was at the ball. What I remember my mother saying to me was that she would never let me love the Goblin Prince ever again. That HAD to have meant something!
"We'll figure it out, don't worry. Let's get back to the others before they start to worry too much." Michu nodded, feeling very warm at Almanac's kind words. Maybe . . . no, she couldn't do that! She loved Jareth! She couldn't think about Almanac that way, it wasn't fair!
"Your Majesty, the ambassador of the Dragon Kingdom has arrived." Ritsu M'ani said sulkily. She was one of the pixie advisors that the three friends had seen right before being sent into the Labyrinth.
She was a bit tall for a pixie at five foot ten inches with long green hair, which reached her knees and beautiful pink eyes. Her ears were a little less pointed than those of her companions and she fidgeted in her green uniform nervously. She knew all about the supposedly dead princess of the pixies. The Queen had spread the rumor and it had gone off like wild fire. Everyone mourned over Princess Velderia, especially because of her known gentleness and valor during the Great War.
Ritsu always knew that there was something strange about the Queen's story. She never seemed sad about her daughter's death and she even stopped visiting her only living daughter in order to bury herself in the kingdom's affairs. She pissed off every single kingdom and always seemed on the verge of starting a war with someone. Ritsu just couldn't understand it.
When the princess had appeared once more, Ritsu recognized her at once. She distinctly remembered fighting in the same regiment as the princess. She was a truly courageous warrior who didn't shrink back at the thought of battle as other nobility before her had. She didn't cry at all in front of the other fighters when news came of her siblings and her father's death. It was rare for Fae to do even at war before the Great War, but the princess had held her head high and ignored the need to mourn until the fighting was over and the offending sides were pleased with the destruction that had ensued.
The Queen was quick to threaten all those who had seen the princess and said that if they dared breath a word, she would kill the relatives of the advisors. Ritsu remained quiet but she showed her upset emotions as she performed her usual tasks. What really struck her, however, was the fact that the Queen hadn't even been able to recognize her own daughter. She knew who the Goblin King was, but not her own flesh and blood; her only remaining sane daughter.
"Ritsu, pay attention!" The Queen snapped. Ritsu bowed her head and gritted her teeth quietly.
"Forgive me, Your Majesty." Ritsu said between clenched teeth. The other advisors, (all who were several centuries older than her) knew that this wasn't a smart move. Behaving rebelliously against the Queen was not a smart move is that person wanted to keep their family and their reputation safe.
"If you continue to irritate me so, I shall be forced to suspend you head first into the Marshes of Despair." Ritsu stiffened visibly. That was not a threat to be taken lightly, even if the Queen was slowly loosing control of her Labyrinth. Only the Queen and Michu knew that she no longer had any power over it.
"I don't believe you'll be doing any such thing." The Queen stiffened and Ritsu turned surprised eyes towards the much dirtier Goblin King carrying the human from before. Both of them looked cold, dirty, and pissed off (especially the human).
"How did you get here?" The Queen demanded in a terrified whisper. She tried to edge away from them but she came across a wall. She screamed when she saw two more figures enter the room. The princess was there, dirty but terrifying in her fury. Another was with her; a tall man who could have been none other than the King of Dreams. The Queen had kidnapped him in order to piss of his kingdom for war.
"What's the matter, mother? Scared to see us?" Michu said quietly, coldly, and ruthlessly. Ritsu couldn't help but admire the four glaring people, all of them terrifying in their rage (even the human).
"Velderia . . . my daughter . . . what are you doing? Stop it!" The Queen screamed and then fell to the floor. When she slowly sat up, she gasped in horror. Her skin wasn't the beautiful cream color it had been before but slightly darker. Her features were softened and her ears were perfectly round. She was in a beggar's rags and her once-beautiful hair was now a dirty blond color.
"You are now human." Michu whispered, her eyes cold and fathomless. "You shall live out the remainder of your mortal life as a peasant with no money and no one to love you. If you so much as TRY to wish yourself back to the Underground, than the Furies shall be allowed to deal with you as they see fit." Even Ritsu cringed at the threat of the Furies.
The Furies were terrifying creatures with snake hair, dog's faces, burning red eyes, and enormous claws. They rode on chariots of fire and punished all those who were unjust or sinful. If they were aloud to do with the once-royal woman as they pleased, she would live an eternity in endless suffering.
"No, please Velderia, have mercy on your poor mother! Think about Thalia, she wouldn't want this! Think of your brother, your sisters, your father! They wouldn't want this!" With every word, Michu grew angrier and angrier until she finally stormed over and raised her hand.
To her and everyone else's shock, the human threw herself out of the Goblin King's arms and backhanded the weeping woman to the floor! The once- Queen starred at her in shock, her hand touching the reddening spot where she had been slapped for the first time in her life!
"She's being more than kind to you!" The human snapped viciously. "It's more than you deserve! The world isn't fair, so big deal! Either deal with the consequences of your actions or go hang yourself and save us the trouble!" Everyone starred at her in shock. No human had ever spoken truer words.
"Take her to the Human Realm." The new Queen whispered and the guards gladly took the woman in rags out of the palace, her screams echoing throughout the kingdom even after she had finally been taken away. Ritsu turned to the new Queen and was shocked to find her eyes closed and her body swaying where it stood.
"Michu?" The human said worriedly as she tried to limp towards the Queen.
"I can't . . . I'm sorry." She whispered before she began to fall. The King of Dreams took her into his arms before she hit the ground and starred into her face carefully. His eyes widened when he finally recognized the face he had been longing to see for so long; the woman he had been searching for had been under his nose the entire time!
"Michu?"
The castle was in an uproar. The old Queen was gone; sent to the Human Realm, as a punishment for crimes no one had known had been committed in the first place. The new Queen was none other than Princess Velderia, a pixie everyone had thought was long since dead. Advisors from all over the kingdom gathered to see her and all of the nobles who could manage it (and some who couldn't) managed to grab a room in the ever-busying castle.
They didn't know about the human sitting beside the fainted Queen or the King of the Goblins and the King of Dreams pacing outside her door worriedly. She had been unconscious for three days and she hadn't been able to awaken for any of that time, even to eat.
Sarah was really beginning to worry about her. Ritsu, one of the Queen's advisors, was quick to escort the four adventurers to several rooms close to the one that Michu had been placed into. Sarah refused to sleep or eat until Michu woke up (even though Jareth managed to force some food down her throat). Almanac, with his restored magic, was able to clean the group and give them some clean cloths since their old ones were nearly ripped to shreds anyway.
When Sarah waited, Jareth could usually be seen there as well. He always talked to Sarah to get her mind off of worrying about Michu. Sarah discovered that Jareth knew a lot of interesting stories and he knew more about the other realms than she thought he did. Almanac visited only when Sarah accidentally fell asleep, hovering by Michu's bed and starring down at her sleeping face. He always left quietly before running to a dark corner of the palace where no one (not even Jareth) could find him.
Sarah was still extremely worried about her friend until her eyes finally fluttered open. As they did, Sarah smiled warmly at her.
"Are you better?" She asked. Michu blinked again and managed a weak smile.
"I don't know about better but I'm very hungry."
A/N: Yeah, shorter than the last chapter (sorry). Thank you to Xithemonas (sorry, potion is the next chapter, I promise!), an anonymous reviewer (that will be explained in the next chapter), Skyfire, General Sephiroth, saskia, Solea, Megan, Lady Sorrow, and terrie! ^.^ You guys are the best reviewers! This fic is coming to a close, and I'm sorry to see it ending so soon. But there are still a few questions we want answered, right? What was the potion that Michu's mother used? What effect did it have on her daughter and Jareth? Will I EVER stop being so ambiguous? ^.^
Okay! The voting has been somewhat of a landslide but to be *fair* we'll wait for the end of the fic (even though I've already started planning a J/S fic). So far, the vote is twenty-five *gulps* to four (sorry, Megan, but it seems that you and I are just gonna have to suffer) for a J/S fic. Those of you, who want a J/M fic, speak now or forever hold your peace! This vote will continue until the end of this fic! Also, I stupidly began a new Labyrinth fic. Check it out! It's called 'Shattered Dreams'. The sequel to this fic will be starting as soon as this one is over.