After a great deal of time thinking, writing, reading the threats in the reviews, I bring you the next two chapters. It was originally one, but it seemed better to divide them up.
Disclaimer: Chapter title belongs to Gloria Estefan and NSync. Everything Labyrinth belongs to JIM Hensen Productions. Delon, well, Delon belongs to me.
Chapter 8
Your Love is the Music of My Heart
Sarah's heart leapt as she heard him say her name. His face came into focus in the glow of the crystal that he held before him, looking tired but very happy. His eyes glittered in the golden light, revealing his delight in finally seeing her. Whatever doubts she had about loving him were extinguished with that look.
"Jareth" she whispered, barely audible.
He took a step forward to close the space between them and pulled her to his chest. He wrapped his arms around her, burying his face in her hair and thanking the Gods that she was there. They stood holding each other for several minutes before Jareth spoke.
"My darling Sarah, I never thought I would even see you again. I felt sure that you would never want to see me after last night. How did you know?"
"I called you after you left. You wouldn't answer, but I thought that you were just teaching me a lesson. It wasn't until this morning that I started to worry." Sarah brought her head up off Jareth's shoulder to look at his face.
"What happened this morning?"
"I called you again, but I still got no reply. I thought that you must have either been very mad at me or something was terribly wrong."
Jareth cupped her cheek in his hand, "Didn't I tell you that I would always come when you called? You ought to know that regardless of whether or not we have had an argument, I would never ignore you. Although, I have to say that you were pretty intuitive about something being terribly wrong. Now, what could I possible teach you a lesson about?"
"Giving me a dose of my own medicine would be more like it. I thought that you were ignoring me or brushing me aside when I had something important to say to you." Oh boy. I can't believe that I am going to say it. Finally say it! She thought to herself.
"And what is it that you wanted to say?"
Sarah blushed and looked away from Jareth's steady gaze. "Ahh...just that..ummm..well...I'm sorry and I...I...uhh..."
Jareth brought her face back in front of his and kissed her tenderly on the lips.
"I know. I love you, too."
Sarah felt like fireworks were going off inside her stomach, and she couldn't shake the tingling that was working its way through her whole body. She could feel his breath on her cheek and his hands keeping her drawn to him.
"How did you know?"
"This."
He pulled away and showed her the crystal. "It would only lead you to me if you truly loved me. Whenever we are apart, it will go back to being blue. It is only when we are together that it shows its true beauty. That is how you were able to find me."
Sarah ran her hand over the crystal's smooth surface, gazing happily at its shining center. She was perfectly happy to stay in Jareth's arms forever, but she was soon brought back to her surroundings, and the present situation that she and Jareth found themselves in.
"Jareth, what is going on? Who is this Delon person, and why are you here?"
"It is a long story, one that is too long for right now. I will tell you, but it cannot be here. Now that you are here, I have a chance to get back what is rightfully mine. Delon is my cousin. He came last night and laid claim to the goblin kingdom. What he doesn't know is that the creatures of the kingdom will only be faithful to a new king once the old king is dead. They are still my subjects, even though they may claim to be faithful to him."
"Why would they do that?"
"To aid in a situation like this. They have specific instructions on what to do in case this sort of thing would ever happen."
"But Hoggle didn't know what was going on. I called him this morning after you wouldn't answer."
"Hoggle was not born in this kingdom. Creatures who are not born here do not have to same connections with the rest of the us. Now, lets see if we can find a way out."
"But, I thought that you were without your powers."
"I am. But, since you brought this lovely crystal with you, I can borrow a bit."
"I'm not sure I understand."
"You humans put a lot of importance of being in love, right? You think that it is the most powerful force on earth. What you don't realize is that you are right. Love is more powerful than any magic than even I posses. It can do wonderful things. It is the ultimate destroyer of evil. Our love for each other is what will destroy Delon. He cannot fathom the possibilities of loving someone. His soul has been lost for too long to remember what it was like to be loved."
"How sad. He must lead a miserable life."
"He has done a lot of terrible things, Sarah, and a lot of innocent people have been hurt because of his actions.
"Why is he such an evil person?"
"Some say it has to do with what he is. He is half human, half fae. His mother was a noblewoman in the Underground court when she fell in love with a human. How she met him or saw him, no one knows. She came to my father and my uncle, begging them to send her Aboveground so that she could be with this man. They would not consent at first because the two worlds are so different, and she might be persecuted if anyone ever found out what she was and where she came from. But, she insisted that she would not do anything that would arise suspicion and would live like a human. My uncle was crushed. He had fallen in love with the woman, and had even asked her to marry him. But, she would not have him. So, her wishes were granted, and she was sent to live Aboveground. She did marry the man she had fallen in love with, and they had a child, Delon, shortly after they married."
"What happened?"
"The man was killed. She had no one to turn to, for she had devoted her entire existence on Delon. She couldn't work, she didn't have any skills except for a bit of magic, and she had promised that she wouldn't use it. So, she called for my uncle, and he returned Delon and his mother back to the Underground. They were accepted back into the court with open arms. Delon grew up like any other child in the court, except he didn't have any magic abilities. His human half had almost completely taken over, and he could do none of the tricks and spells that the other children had been doing since they were too young to know any better. So, he grew up bitter about not being able to do what everyone else could do. My uncle had married the woman when Delon was only an infant, so he grew up being told that he was my uncle's son, which is probably why he was so angry all of the time. Never had a fae child been born without some magical ability, and he couldn't understand why he didn't have any."
"So, he learned how to use it, then?"
"Exactly. Which also means that there are loopholes in his magic. His power is weak, his spells don't last long, that kind of thing. He hasn't been exposed to it long enough to be able to harness all of the potential that magic has. Do you understand?"
"A little. I suppose that it will take more explanations for me to understand."
"That, my love, is for a whole other story. What we have to do now is get out of here." Jareth looked above him and towards the light coming from the top of the oubliette.
"How do you propose we do that?"
"Magic, my dear. Pure and simple magic."