Oh, and if you read, please review. Be gentle but honest, even flames are accepted.
As always,
DISCLAIMER: Sarah, Jareth, and everything Labyrinth belong to Jim Henson Productions. Oberon, Titania and Puck belong to William Shakespeare. Anything Potterverse belongs to the magnificent JK Rowling. I only own Jay, Caridwen and any other characters that you do not recognize..
And now, the story.
The Searcher
Part 5
"Ninety-eight, ninety-nine, one hundred. Ready or not, here I come!" The little boy looked at his surroundings, checking for places his sister might try to hide. His shoulder length hair, golden as a wheat field, was swept around his face by the cool breeze of the morning.
His mismatched eyes, so much like his father's, were alert, looking for any signs of movement. "Where could she be?", he wondered. She could be hiding anywhere in this part of the labyrinth. He knew that playing hide and seek inside the hedge maze was a bad idea, but he could never step out of a challenge.
Blue-gray eyes observed with amusement as the boy looked all over for the girl, who was hiding. No, he will never guess to look for her in here. She stifled a laugh, as her hair, the color of dark chocolate and smooth as silk, careened around her face. She saw her brother pass by her, and continue oblivious in the opposite direction.
Her attention was taken from her brother, as she heard a sound. Looking behind her, she stiffened, trying to hear it again. She heard it this time, barely a whisper. "Caridwen…."
She smiled, knowing what it was. She was able to hear the Labyrinth for as long as she could remember, but seemed that she was the only one to be able to. Sometimes she will be listening to the labyrinth, looking at it through the balcony or a window, and her mother will look at her strangely, as if she knew.
She looked again, to make sure her brother was out of sight, and whispered, "Labyrinth?"
She smiled as she heard the response "Come, child…"
She responded with curiosity "Where?"
As soon as she spoke, a small floating light appeared in front of her. It swirled around her head signaling for her to follow. She looked around for her brother once more, and not seeing any sight of him, she followed the floating light through the Labyrinth.
She kept turning this way and that, until she reached a part of the hedge maze she had never been in before. Not that she had been in the labyrinth too many times.
After all, she was only three and a half years old, and the only times she was allowed in there was with her parents or with her brother. This was the first time she ever ventured any part of it by herself.
She suddenly arrived on a clearing, a seat made of what looked like books in stone in the middle, and the light disappeared. A movement caught her eye, and hiding behind the hedge, she saw a very old man walking towards the seat, a funny bird on his head.
Curiosity overrode fear, and she walked towards him after he sat on the strange seat. The Wise Man smiled internally. She was still very young, but she would have to be trained ahead of schedule. They were not counting on her to be engaged so young, and with a wizard, no less.
He looked at the little girl intently, trying to see if she was afraid, and said "Oh, a little girl!" The bird hat looked at the girl and just said "Woo, woo woo!!!"
She could not stop laughing, that bird was silly. Still laughing, she asked "Hi. Wh..who are you? What is the bird's name? He is funny."
The Wise Man looked at the princess and said "I am the Wise Man, and this here," he looked upwards towards the hat, "is Pepe (pronounced PehPeh). And what is your name, little one?"
"My name is Caridwen, and is a pleasure to meet you .", she responded, remembering the good manners ingrained by her mother.
The bird hat just looked at the little girl, and said "Mucho gusto, señorita! Is a pleasure to meet you too. So, what is a little girl like you doing alone in a place like this? Did you wished someone away?"
She laughed again, she really liked the hat. She shook her head and said, "I live in the castle beyond the Goblin City. I'm the Goblin Princess."
The Wise Man looked at her through narrowed eyes, "Does your father know that you are here?"
She looked at the floor and shook her head, her voice barely audible "No."
The Wise Man smiled, and took something out of his pocket, while saying, "Because I like you, I want to give you this to remember us by."
Saying this, he showed her a golden chain with a purple stone hanging from it, and as she looked close to it, she could see it glow. Taking the chain, she put it around her neck, and was admiring the stone, when she heard her brother calling her, "Cari, Cari, where are you?"
She turned around towards the sound of his voice, and when she turned around to say good-bye to her new friend, he was not there. She looked around for him, but could not find him anywhere.
"There you are. I have been looking all over for you!", said a very angry and nervous Jay. He was relieved to find his little sister. He knew that if he returned to the castle without her, it will be his behind on the line.
Caridwen, sensing the worry he had over her, said "I'm sorry, Jay. I… I got lost."
Relieved that she was alright, he took his sister's hand and said "Mom and Dad cannot know we were here. You know we will be punished if they find out. Come on, let's go home."
She nodded, and followed her brother out of the labyrinth, across the goblin city, and into the castle.
They made their way silently, trying to cross the entrance of the throne room without being noticed, hoping to avoid their father, when they heard a voice "And where you two think you are going?"
They came to a grinding stop, looking at each other with worry. Jay squeezed his sister's hand, reassuringly, as they made their way to the throne room. Once they got in, they saw that their father and mother were not alone, in fact, they were talking to a young man in his mid twenties.
Caridwen looked at the young man curiously, he was familiar somehow, but could not remember. Once they entered, three pairs of eyes looked at their direction, and she heard the strange man say "Hi, beautiful! My, you have grown from the last time I saw you!", while he crouched and opened his arms invitingly.
She remembered the same pair of blue eyes, holding her, making her feel safe and secure. She just smiled, and jerking her hand out of her brother's, she ran, laughing with her arms up in the air, towards the open arms of the stranger.
As soon as she was next to him, Valkor scooped little Caridwen up in his arms, and gave her a big hug, while twirling around in circles, and saying, "Oh, I've missed you so much! I'm sorry I could not be here before."
He put her back down on the floor, and before she left his arms, she placed a kiss on his cheek, and ran away towards her mother. Sarah smiled towards her daughter and said, "Valkor, I don't know if you remember our son, Jareth."
Valkor extended his hand towards the boy, and shaking hands he said, "Taking after your father, I see."
The boy shook his hand back and politely answered "Thanks.", and looked at his father.
Looking at his son, Jareth saw the questioning glance at his direction. He could tell Jay just wanted to know who this stranger was, and why was he being so familiar with his sister.
His father did not look too happy for some reason. Who was this stranger, and why was his sister behaving as she had known him all of her life?
His sister was rather the shy type, avoiding strangers at all costs. Yet, this stranger acted as he had all the right in the world to treat her as she was a member of his family.
Jareth talked to his children "Lord Valkor is a friend of the family. He will stay with us for a couple of days."
During dinner, little Caridwen could not stop looking at Lord Valkor. Her gaze would travel from her plate to Lord Valkor, back and forth. She engaged in conversation with her uncles Hoggle and Didymus, who were sitting on both sides of her, but she always drifted back into his direction.
Once, he caught her gazing at his direction, and all he did was smile and give her a wink. She smiled back shyly, and concentrated in eating her dinner, ignoring her uncles for once.
Once dinner was over, the children were excused from the table, so they could get ready for bed. Once they got changed into their pajamas and robes, they made their way to the library, where the adults were talking, to say goodnight.
They made their way towards their mother first, then their father. The children then said goodnight to their uncles Hoggle, Didymus and Ludo and last, at their guest. Jay gave a courteous nod, but Caridwen just put her arms around his neck and gave him a kiss on the cheek, while saying "'night".
They made their way towards their bedrooms, and saying goodnight to each other, they went into their own bedroom. Agnes was waiting for her to tuck her in, like every night.
While making sure the little princess was comfortable in her bed, she noticed the chain dangling from her neck "What's this, hmmmm? Is very pretty, yes, yes."
Caridwen said "Yes, isn't it? It was a gift from a friend. I wonder if I will ever see him again…", and yawning she drifted to sleep.
She did not know where she was, only that everything around her was dark, and she could hear a woman scream. Then she heard a man say "Take him and go."
She could hear the woman respond "No, I won't leave you."
She heard the man again "There is no time, go!"
She heard a thump and the woman screamed again "Take me instead, but spare him, please!"
She heard another thump and some words she could not recognize, and suddenly she saw a bright green light.
She did the only thing she could, she screamed.
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