Disclaimer: I don't own the Labyrinth. But Angel and Brendan and a lot of others were of my own creativity. Yea! I have brains yet!
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The Labyrinth's Chosen
Chapter 26
Lost.
Angel felt lost again. Once again the world was slipping from beneath her feet. How could something like this happen?
She was at a loss for words as she stared at her father who was currently holding his hand to his face where she had slapped him with a horrified look on his face.
Silence. You could have heard cows mooing on the other side of one of the moons. No one spoke, only Angel's heaving breathing was heard. She looked like she just ran a marathon.
"Angelina?" the silver haired man spoke in a surprised voice, then "Where is your mother?"
Everyone else in the room instantly knew this was the wrong thing to ask.
A sharp peal of thunder split the air outside so loudly the foundations of the castle shook.
Angel just screamed despairingly at the top of her lungs and ran out of the throne room and into the hallway.
Tears blurred her vision as she ran through the white and blue marble hallway passing a confused looking Brendan who had been making his way to the throne room. Then noticing who it was running after the princess decided it was best to catch up with her before they did.
Angelina made her way outside onto a cliff overlooking the ocean and collapsed to the ground still screaming as the ocean and sky converged violently below her.
Before she knew it she was being clutched in Brendan's arms with the wind and rain lashing at them from all sides, they were instantly soaked.
Brendan knew it was a Storm of storms and he knew where it had originated from.
"What is wrong Lina?" he whispered in her ear as she sobbed onto his chest.
"He didn't die, he abandoned us! You didn't die!" she yelled furiously at something over his shoulder.
Brendan turned and found the seventh Crown Prince of Vulturnus looking at the two of them. The silver haired man tried to come closer to the two of them but found that he couldn't, he was being held back by an invisible force. A force he recognized and was deeply familiar with. Wind.
Angel's eyes weren't even glowing but the wind was obeying her thoughts and what she wanted most was that horrible man away from her.
"Angel, I thought you be happy to know that he was still alive." Brendan said to her gently pulling her wet silver hair out of her face.
"No!" she cried desperately, "you don't understand Brendan! He could have stayed with my mom but he didn't, I wouldn't have had to give custody of my mother over to my grandparents if he had been there for us! Richard and Karen knew she was telling the truth about this place and they still put her away!" she said angrily making sure her father heard every last word.
"She was so sad. She may have not loved you in the beginning but she was so upset when she thought you had died!" Angel said almost pleadingly to the man who was looking at the two of them in horror. Jareth stood behind him with his eyes closed and his fists clenched.
"And then her parents put her into that asylum and she ended up dead! It's your fault that she is dead! If you had been a real man and taken care of her she would still be alive!" Angel was almost hoarse from screaming but seeing the terrified look on her father's face she felt a grim sort of satisfaction. He deserved this, all of it.
A sort of spasm twisted Angel's body and when it was done she just sobbed even harder in Brendan's arms.
Brendan however was looking at the dark skinned man with a death glare. He had hated this man before for other reasons but now his ire had increased ten fold. Angelina did not deserve this. Her misery was extremely disturbing to him because it was so potent. She really blamed herself for her mother's death all this time and the whole thing could have been avoided had the man just stayed around for a few more years until Angel was old enough to care for her mother.
"Angel come, I will take you to your room." Brendan said to her over the storm. She just nodded her head tiredly and Brendan picked her up and carried her through the wall of wind that the princess had erected and glared at her father as he passed.
"Do you need help with her?" said the black haired man with the grey eyes.
"No, I don't." Brendan said in a short harsh tone.
Lysithea, Hestia and Jareth followed Brendan back inside the palace leaving the two men outside gazing at the storm.
Angel's father turned to the man behind him.
"You knew about this!" he exclaimed angrily in fae.
"So I did. You didn't deserve to know she was here so I didn't tell you." The grey eyed man said and then walked back into the marble palace himself.
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"I had no idea that would happen if she ever saw her father again." Jareth was say8ing to Lysithea and Hestia in one of the outside chambers to Angelina's bedroom.
All three of them looked visibly shaken.
"Why is he here anyway?" Hestia asked angrily.
"Actually, Rune came across him in Hephaestus and thought it prudent to accompany him here. He was going to come anyway regardless of whether Rune was with him or not." Lysithea said tiredly.
"Yeah, come to think of it he's Triana's "so-called" cousin, I am sure he is here to support her for the tournament." Jareth said in a disgusted tone.
"Oh, Angels not going to like that one bit. Not only that but we will have to keep an eye on Rune." Hestia said wisely.
"Why?" Lysithea asked surprised.
"Because he obviously knows something we don. He wasn't at all surprised at the knowledge Angel presented us with tonight." Hestia answered darkly.
"Of course, he knows things we don't! He can see the future! But if it comes to that I wasn't surprised about it either. I had a very good suspicion that it was him." The high Queen shrugged lightly.
"So he was Aboveground all that time we hadn't heard from him." Jareth muttered angrily.
He needed to have a little chat with the so called Vinzenz Avery. The seventh Prince of the Royal Family of Vulturnus was not going to get out of this so easily.
In the room beside them, Angel was trying to calm down from her hysteria and was only succeeding because Brendan was stroking her face softly and telling her over and over that it was okay.
Angel knew he was trying to help and so she held his other hand, looked into his eyes and willed herself to stop crying.
"I am so sorry you had to go through that Lina. But you're such a strong person without him. You did your best given your circumstances. I am sure your mother understands." He was saying.
Angel sighed gently and looked towards the window, "I know, but I feel resentful. There were so many things I wanted to do when I was younger and I couldn't because I had to take care of my mother. I felt so guilty about that, but now I feel like I could have had a normal life for a while if he had just been there. I really needed a break every now and then. So many things could have been different."
"I know Lina. I am sorry."
"But you know, tonight is the first time I properly cried for my mom dying. I didn't feel like I had the right to cry before."
Brendan felt terrible, he had no idea what else to say so he kissed her on the forehead awkwardly.
"I have a gift for you." He said quietly, "I was going to give it to you a long time ago, but circumstances changed. You can't tell anyone about it thought, okay?"
Like any girl getting a present she nodded excitedly eyes wide and a small smile on her lips.
The prince summoned a crystal and a small white box appeared in his hand.
"This is a bracelet of sapphires. Not just any bracelet of sapphires either it is part of a set that includes earrings, but it comes from the depths of the oceans near King Tinirau's old kingdom. It has very special magical properties," he said as he took it out of its case. "I wear one of the earring s and you wear the bracelet and when you will it to, it will transfer your thoughts to me so we can talk without anyone else knowing." He finished.
"Really!" she said excited, "that's amazing!"
Tears forgotten she put the bracelet on and examined it carefully. It was beautiful, seven one carat sapphires glimmered at her from a white gold band.
"What do the earrings look like?" she asked and Brendan showed his one ear that was pierced.
'Will it work with only one?' she thought at him.
He smiled and said, "Yes, it will. I have to stay away from you because I don't want you to get hurt from Triana or any of the other princesses that will be here for the tournament so this will be the easiest way for us to communicate."
"Okay." Angel said and she sat up and gave him a hug.
Poor Brendan glowed red at this. "Look if anyone asks you where you got this say it was a gift from Clytia, your hand maiden from the sea, alright?"
"Yes, of course." Angel said promptly.
"good." He came closer to her intending to get another hug from her when the door opened and Triana walked in.
"Well, you should feel better tomorrow," he said coldly to Angel quickly hiding the box, "and make sure you drink this potion for a good rest." He said summoning another crystal that turned into a goblet on her nightstand.
"As if I am drinking anything you give m." Angel spat angrily. "Take your twit and get out!"
'Goodnight Lina.' Said Brendan's voice in her head.
'Goodnight.' She thought back.
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"I apologize for this Your Majesty. I had anticipated this certainly, but it still hard to see it happen before my eyes."
"I knew you must have had a reason to bring him back with you Rune." Lysithea said to the grey eyes man in a room outside of her private chambers.
"Yes." He bowed humbly before her as and straitened watching her maids leave the room and shut the door behind them. "Lysithea, I have known about Angelina for a long time, I believe we have had this discussion." Rune paused and looked at her meaningfully.
"Yes, yes, I know you can't tell me about the future but you can give me advice which is, by the way, the reason I appointed you Royal Seer of Cian Aglaia." She said trying hard to keep the frustration out of her voice.
"I know it is hard but I need you to trust me." Rune said earnestly.
"I do trust you Rune. But this is the last heir to this throne. I can't make any mistakes this time." The High Queen said softly.
"I know." He said quietly.
"I need you to teach Angel Royal etiquette. I love her personality but she does need to know a few things before we throw her to the wolves." Lysithea said thoughtfully, changing the subject.
"Yes, my queen, I would be honored." He said sincerely.
"Very well, you may go." Lysithea said tiredly, and Rune knew that she wished to be alone.
"Goodnight Lysithea." And he departed.
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Jareth quietly closed the doors to his wife's chambers. He had just gotten her to go to sleep after so much turmoil over the last few hours. He thought briefly about returning to the Labyrinth and his own bed chambers. But then maybe he just ought to stay with Hestia, they were married after all.
Hmmmm.
A lot to think about in so short a time, and indeed time was growing short. Now that the Royal Seer had returned it seemed that things were going to play out their course, regardless of whether Jareth wanted it to or not. Now Jareth had a small amount of control over time but he rarely ever used it. I t did take a small bit of his life force every time he used this ability which is why for the most part he refrained.
He wished that he had the power to slow down time more forcefully, that way maybe his son and Angelina could fix this problem they have. Jareth truly wanted them to be together but he had to admit to himself that may not happen…
For the moment he contented himself with taking a walk around the palace and ended up outside overlooking a sea and sky that was calming from the rage it had been in a few hours before.
"What are you thinking about Your Highness?" A deep voice asked behind him.
Jareth turned and found Rune standing behind him.
"Nothing much. What are you doing up so late?" The Goblin King asked the Prince/Advisor.
"I can't sleep. I keep thinking about Angelina." He said truthfully.
Jareth looked at him sharply, "that girl has had enough to deal with Rune. And Brendan already dislikes you enough as it is."
"Yes, this I already know." Rune said mildly, "But remember I know the future."
"So I am constantly reminded, why didn't you bother telling me about Sarah? She was fae, she was therefore in you range of Vision. How come I had to find out from her daughter that she had died? You knew everything? I have a hard time believing that, you would have told someone."
"Oh, please Jareth, you know as well as I do that it doesn't work like that. I can't just tell you everything that happens. I can advise you, but that is it!" Rune retorted angrily.
"Then what good are you!" Jareth shouted.
"What does Sarah's death matter to you anyway? Even if she had lived you could never be with her. I think it a good thing she died, my cousin will no longer have to suffer unrequited love…"
The Goblin King's fist collided with Rune's face.
The Seer looked impassively and unsurprised at the man before him when Jareth let out a short dark chuckle.
"You're no Seer." And with that he disappeared.
"Sure I am. It was just prudent for you to hit me. Who am I to change destiny?" Rune said miserably to the sky.
And indeed Jareth thought tonight for the first time in years that he ought to spend the night with his wife.
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Elise and Clytia waited patiently for Angel to wake up. This was not easy at all as the girls were eager to find out about what happened last night.
Apparently, Prince Vinzenz was discovered eating and extreme silent breakfast with the other monarchs and his "cousin" Triana this morning. Rumors had of course circulated quickly and now the two maids were overly curious about whether or not he was related to Angel. After all the man did have silver hair.
Angel stirred softly and woke up to see two beautiful women looking down upon her eagerly. She groaned loudly and buried her face in her pillow.
Elise and Clytia frowned visibly and looked at each other with confused expressions.
"I guess you want to know if that prince from Vulturnus is related to me." Angel asked tiredly.
The girls said nothing so they nodded holding their breaths in anticipation.
"He's my father." Angel said bitterly.
Both girls looked at her horrified.
"But he was supposed to be…" Elise started.
"Dead." Clytia finished darkly, "Which means that he is a horrible lying…"
"Clytia!" Elise said admonishingly, "He is royalty…"
"It doesn't matter, I just want to avoid him." Angel said abruptly.
Both girls just looked at her sadly.
"We need to get you dressed for lunch Angel. It is almost time to eat again."
"Is it really?" she asked surprised, she felt like she hadn't slept in a week.
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When she walked into the dinning area for lunch everyone sitting immediately stood up (with the exception of Queen Lysithea). She gave a small curtsy and went to sit down next to Lysithea, and when she sat everyone else did as well.
Angel looked around at all of the faces at the table taking in everything. The high Queen sat straight backed with a neutral expression firmly in place. King Jareth looked indifferent, and Queen Hestia looked really angry. Prince Brendan looked like he could have cared less about anything right now, Triana looked haughty and unfazed as always and her father looked sulky. Then she looked to the last person who actually was sitting across from her on the other side of Lysithea who was currently sitting at the head of the long table.
Gunmetal grey again. He was staring at her avidly as thought she were the most interesting thing he'd ever seen. She didn't like the feeling it gave her.
Lysithea who was conscious of the eye staring contest cleared her throat quietly, making many people in the silent room jump slightly.
"Angel this is my Royal Advisor, Rune, he also holds the position of Royal Seer." The High Queen said softly.
"I see. It is very nice to meet you Advisor Rune." Angelina said politely.
"Well, you are very polite in words but you can't just stare at people like that. We will need to work on that." He said shamelessly rude and helping himself to his wine.
Brendan glared at Rune angrily for a split second but hastily put his indifferent mask back on, the others in the room were shocked, even Lysithea looked like she was going to say something.
"I apologize for that, Your Grace but you have the most unusual eyes, the color of a deadly weapon Aboveground that kills criminals and innocents alike. Honestly, I was trying to decide on whether I could trust you or not." Angelina said smoothly.
It was Rune's turn to look shocked, "That was not a very nice thing to say…"
"You mean you didn't expect it? I thought you were the Royal Seer." Angel interjected innocently.
Everyone, except for Triana, Vinzenz and Rune, was trying hard not to laugh, even Lysithea's lips twitched.
Rune said nothing to her back but instead asked, "So, shall we eat then?"
'That was incredible.' Stated Brendan's voice inside of her head.
'Thank you.' She said back wile taking a spoonful of soup.
"Prince Vinzenz, how was Hephaestus?" Lysithea asked neutrally.
'Vinzenz?' Angel thought to herself looking around to see who she was talking to.
"It was wonderful, Your Highness." Angel's father answered dully.
'Well, you didn't suppose a human name would be fit for a fae now did you?' Angel asked herself tartly.
It was silent again everyone seemed to think that it was not a good idea to talk. Angel felt Rune's eyes on her again but she ignored it. After a few minutes Rune asked Lysithea something in fae.
"Do I need to begin to teach her our language? Eventually, she is going to need it."
"That is not necessary at the moment," Lysithea whispered back, "she has enough on her plate as it is."
Angel said nothing and kept her eyes averted like she didn't understand what they said.
"So when will all of the contestants for the tournament begin to arrive?" Angel asked casually.
"The day after the Announcement Party in a week and a half all the way up to the day before the tournament, these princesses' and their families are traveling from long distances throughout the Underground."
"Oh, well that's interesting. Do you have maps of the Underground?" Angel asked curiously.
"We do but they are in fae, someone will have to dictate it to you." Rune said quietly.
"I will just have Clytia or someone else help me with that..."
"I will do it." He said firmly staring at her.
There was a sudden movement on Angels' left and she looked to find Triana with a troubled look upon her face but when the red head noticed Angel looking at her she went back to looking bored.
"I would rather you not." Angel said shortly and got up from the table and walked out the door and into the hallway fuming silently and heading towards her rooms.
Everyone watched her go with apprehension.
Rune looked at Lysithea fondly,
"I take it you haven't told her that I am her tutor."
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AN: Wow. I am sorry this chapter is so angsty but I feel like Angel has to go through some of this stuff if she is going to change. She isn't perfect and she is learning a lot about herself and not all of it is good. And poor Rune, he really is a Seer he just sees important life changing things as opposed to small trivial things. I really hope that you're all are enjoying this. I am trying to get better as I go along. I am learning a lot of thing as I go though. Thanks for your support!
Moonjava: Thank you! I am glad you are still reading this.
Wicked Game: Thank you for your review and thank you for putting me on your c2. I really appreciate that and I currently on chapter 14 of A Prophecy Speaks and it kicks ass so far! Thanks again.
Jibiathon: I am sorry you almost cried when there wasn't another chapter to click to. I will try harder to update more frequently. Thank you for your review and telling me I am a good writer (I got real smug about that and showed your review to my husband "See people like what I write!" I exclaimed as I thrust the laptop in his face) I don't think he believes me still. Aw well… Thank you I hope you like this chapter!
Megan the Vampire Slayer: I hope you like this chapter! Thanks for reviewing!
Pruningshears: Yes Angel is part elf but I will explain that more fully soon. I hope you liked this last chappy. Thanks!
Starbaby-210 : I love the enthusiasm! I know I need to pump these chapters out faster I just have so much going on right now. Anyway, I hope you liked the last chapter. Let me know what you think. Thank you!
Alright you guys, I am going to sleep. Long day and another long one tomorrow. Until next time, and drop me a line and let me know what you think feed back is important to a writer to keep us pumped about what we are trying to do… tell a good story.
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