Jareth smiled at the guests, then looked coldly at his brother. " I told you that the rules of the Labyrinth applied to you also, brother."
Gabriel shuffled his suddenly interesting feet. His dark hair fell around his face, hiding his face from the girls. "She was willing."
"Only after you hypnotized her! And we've talked about that!" Jareth shouted, losing his temper, which seemed to be a family trait. Gabriel looked slightly embarrassed.
" I didn't break the law. We simply danced." Gabriel said. Melissa's dreadful feeling that they had been talking about her was right.
"But if I hadn't played puppeteer and let Niki in on what you were doing there would've been a lot more to it, yes brother. You forget that not even your mind is a sealed place from me, not when I want to know." Jareth said icily. This made everyone except Kelly uncomfortable. Gabriel looked for a moment like he was going to hit his brother. Melissa shrank into a corner. Jareth kept glaring for a moment, but then sighed deeply. He beckoned to Melissa. "No need to hide, dear girl. He won't touch you while I'm around him. Is it true you were hypnotized by Gabriel?" He asked softly.
It reminded Melissa of her time at the institute, and she felt unreasonably mad.
"I think so, your highness but I'm not sure. It was true what he said, we simply danced." She said sourly, not so much mad at Gabriel but the King for treating her like something less superior than himself. She dug deep in her mind for some fantasy knowledge." I won't denounce him for it though."
The king stared at her, and she felt oddly naked, like she had no secrets. Maybe he was reading her mind. "I am, by the way." The king said suddenly. "So that's the way it is?" Melissa nodded. "Fine then. Watch out for yourself, then, and I will watch out for you as well. I will move lunch up to 11:30, a mere 20 minutes from now. We all have things to discuss."
And with that, the handsome king blinked out to Goddess knows where, leaving all the girls staring opened mouthed at the place he had been, and Gabriel glowering fiercely at it. It took them all a while to recover.
"What did you mean," Niki questioned." 'I won't denounce him'."
Melissa looked at her feet. What had made her say that anyway?
"She didn't want me to get in trouble, "Gabriel said, answering Niki question. "The seamstress' is right over there, he said, leading them into a doorway on their right at a brisk pace. The seamstress turned out to be a non-goblin, something surprising in the goblin city. She turned out to be an elf. Her small stature was made up for with a gigantically tall, violet hat atop her jade-green hair. Her nose, shoes and ears ended with a sharp point, as did her hat.
She walked up to them, and then said with a chittering voice. "So you're finally here, eh? I've been a waiting for you then." She looked at the four of them. "You you're the one I'm to dress. Come here, come in," she said to the girls, leading them into a back room as she continued talking. She shut the door, leaving Gabriel outside.
"Now you," she said to Kelly," I 'ave just the thing for you. Come on, come get changed, you'll look pert as a penny, now, won't cha dear?" Kelly followed the lady-elf through a small door into what appeared to be a changing room. Similar fates met the other two girls. Then there was a brief period of silence punctuated by remarks.
"I'm not wearing this!"
"Why don't I get pants?"
"I look sooo pretty!"
"I look like a Jewish harlot!"
"Joe charlotte!"
"I can't wear this to lunch!"
"I'd simply die."
The elf walked around, sympathizing with all three, but not making a move to change the outfits she picked for them. Kelly was thoroughly pleased with her outfit, but she was alone in that boat. She wore a little green outfit, fitting to their time period. The elf obviously had to help her with the time on the front.
Niki hadn't gotten as lucky as her sister. She wore a dress straight out of the forties. With huge purple fluffy sleeves, this purple dress was obviously from someone's version of "hell". It was tight fitting to about the mid-thigh, where it fluffed out to layer after layer of purple iridescent fabric.
Melissa temporarily brightened. "Going to lumbago, Latino Nikito?"
Niki stuck out her tongue, and then laughed at Melissa's dress, which wasn't much better than her own. The dress was a ball gown style in a dazzling scarlet. Melissa felt like she was on fire. Her lips had been painted (by the elf) to match. The obnoxiously low-cut and tight fitting bodice was her main complaint though. The fluffy skirt was made of the finest, spider-web material. She hated the whole thing.
"Going to waltz at a funeral party, or blood bank or something Melissa?" Niki asked her. "I didn't know you were a Goth."
Melissa "harrumphed" and crossed her arms.
The elf sighed as she surveyed the girls with a look of immense pride. "Awww...what a good job Silva's done, cancha see? Totally flattering for your loverly figures, yup yup."
"A ha, I'm underground." Niki said in a most unenthusiastic way.
"An' now to show of you little wonders, you, um hmm." Silva, as she called herself, said. She opened wide the curtain wall that had previously hidden them from Gabriel..
Gabe hadn't changed at all, except now he wore a cape. He stared at the three in turn, his face holding back on laughing himself to death (or redeath).
He said very calmly, "You remind me of the babe."
Melissa looked at him," what babe?"
"The babe with the power." Answered in a singsong voice.
"What power?" Niki asked now worried about this strange man.
"The power of voodoo"
"Who do?" Asked Silva who had just emerged from what seemed to be solid wall, getting into the conversation.
"You do" Gabriel said melodically.
"Do what?" Kelly asked before Melissa and Niki could clap their hands over her grinning mouth.
"Remind me of the babe! I saw my baby..." He began singing frantically and dancing to top it all off. Niki and Melissa were glad he hadn't really commented on their dresses. They all stared at the spectacle that was Gabe. He finally finished dancing when nobody wanted to know "what babe?" "Well you're no fun!"
Then everyone except for Gabriel and the mysterious elf who had re-disappeared began laughing hysterically. Gabe pouted.
After about fifteen minutes of watching the girls laugh and roll on the floor and re-enact what he thought was a perfectly normal and natural fit of singing, he said curtly, "We're going to be late."
Melissa and Niki wiped their eyes, and the laughing abated. They all took Gabe's hands (though rather grudgingly) and blinked away.
The sunlight they blinked into was almost blinding after the darkness of candle or torchlight. When their eyes adjusted, they were on a beautiful white sand beach. The water was crystal clear, and ran out from on of the walls of the castle, and into another wall. The four of them were standing in a sort of courtyard, and were surrounded on all sides by the walls of the castle. An odd place for a beach, but it was a beautiful one.
"Why doesn't the sunlight bother you?" Melissa asked Gabe, wondering about his heritage.
"It does." He replied as he hurried for a large beach umbrella cunningly located near to their blink-out point. Then Melissa laughed as she noticed Kelly had wasted no time; she shed her slippers (which matched the dress), hoisted up her skirt, and went straight for the water.
"Wait, no Kelly! You'll soil your dress!" Niki shouted after her, surprised at herself for caring. But another little boy played there as well, his untidy bright blond hair reflecting the sun as much as the water was. The queen apparently had been sitting under and umbrella. She walked up to Niki to stand beside her.
"Don't worry, She'll be safe if she's with Jarethkin. He swims like a fish!" she said, motherly pride affecting her tone. Niki was still regretful about the dress, but she didn't argue. "Come, sit with us. We have many things to discuss."
So they all settled themselves under the giant umbrella, Jareth and Sarah on thronely beach chairs, Gabriel standing, the girls sitting awkwardly (because of the dresses) in the sand. The umbrella's large circle shadow kept them cool, but wouldn't help them keep their cool, it seemed.
"Alright now." The king said, signalling for the deliberation to begin. "First order of business, discuss what to do with Kelly since she can't go back to Earth now since she has been exposed to the underground."
"I still don't quite understand that." Melissa said, hoping for an explanation.
" It's quite simple." The queen said kindly. "The lack of magic on Earth will cause a magical, or half magical creature to mutate and go insane, in one of two occasions. One is if they are introduced to magic in the Underground, and two is if they turn 16."
"We're going to be 16 soon!" Niki said excitingly. Their birthdays were a mere week apart.
"That's number two on the agenda, Niki's being part Goblin." Jareth said calmly, continuing his list.
Niki jumped up so fast Gabe had to jump out of the way. "I am part GOBLIN!!" she shouted. "How can I be part Goblin? It's all your fault, Gabriel!"
Gabriel went even whiter. "Well you didn't really suspect you two had different father?"
"Of course we did! That's what our Mom always told us!" Niki said, infuriated. "I'm not part Goblin, you guys are trying to trick me."
Melissa looked at her nervously. "Um...Niki?"
"What?!"
"Your...your teeth...um, they're pointy. Come to mention it, so are your ears." She said backing away form her friend.
Niki screamed as she realized this was true.
"She got your temper I see. Jareth said brightly. Gabriel, Niki, and Melissa looked at him darkly. "Ok, well, third order of business. There isn't one. Alright then, down to business."
The Queen seemed to be the one most in control. "Alright, well what would you like to do Niki? We'll obviously want to keep you and your sister together, seeing as you can't go back home."
Niki chewed on her bottom lip. She said more to herself then the group listening, "Maybe I can live in a cave...with a pet dragon!"
"I'm quite sure it would rather eat your hand than be pet with it." Jareth said, amused by this all too mortal conception about dragons. Gabe was unusually quiet; he stayed half-crouched under the umbrella. Melissa gave him a questioning look but he only smiled weakly.
"Honey, suppose they lived with us." The queen said slowly.
"But love! There are eleven of Gabriel's children here already! We need to teach him discipline, maybe a few more years in the dung..."
The queen shushed him loudly over Gabriel's hiss. "Sweetheart, they're living with us and that's final."
Jareth sighed but smiled; he never had much power over the decisions of the castle anymore. Gabriel sighed with relief at the prospect of returning to the castle. Niki wasn't psyched at the prospect, but she could live with that. "I will give you employ at my castle until such a time when you are learned enough to find a place to live in the Underground, or you learn control enough to return to the mortal realms."
" So she'll be like a kitchen wench?" Melissa asked in amusement. Niki shot her a dirty look.
The queen gently corrected her. "No, She'll be one of my personal women until she chooses to marry or find a job better suited to her. She is after all, a princess." Niki shot Melissa a triumphant look. Melissa's look however was downcast.
"Perhaps we might work out the details inside the castle?" Gabriel suggested. He looked extremely uncomfortable, his eyes were suddenly red-rimmed and his skin looked paler then usual. Jareth looked him over.
"Quite right, inside then." Jareth said, standing up and brushing off the stray sand from his tights.
"Jarethkin!" Queen Sarah shouted to the tow-headed boy in the water near Kelly. The young boy came bounding up, showering them all with the clear water. Kelly followed. The young queen laughed and gathered Jarethkin up in her arms, blinking out.
"I didn't know mortals could do that!" Melissa speculated.
"She's not mortal...anymore." Gabriel said with a wink, catching Melissa's hand and following the queen. Melissa laughed then looked around them. They were in what appeared to be a tower, surrounded by shadowy windows on all sides. The view was spectacular, and Melissa leaned back against Gabe unwittingly in a moment of vertigo. Gabriel chuckled, gently setting her right. The queen laughed, Jarethkin on her hip. The boy's blue-green eyes sparkled with amusement. The entire Labyrinth was visible from that room.
"But doesn't the light..." she asked to Gabriel, who was looking remarkable better.
He smiled at her concern. "The glass, you see, it is UV protected."
If Melissa found this odd, she didn't say anything. "But what about Niki and Kelly?"
And then Jareth blinked in, escorting both of them. Seems Melissa couldn't get a word in edgewise these days. Niki was grinning at something he had said. Jareth clapped his gloved hands. Two lines of goblins streamed in from trapdoors in the floor, bearing streaming trays and icy pitchers. They set them up on a glass table in the middle of the circular room. Melissa and Niki were pleased because they hadn't had much breakfast.
Without much ado, they all sat down as the goblins unlidded tray after tray of gourmet goodies. Melissa and Niki found their appetites and helped themselves. Kelly and Jarethkin groaned as they got a scoop of green vegetables each from a goblin lady.
"So, I guess that's it for me?" Melissa asked quietly.
"Hmm, yes." The king said. "The accident about bringing you here was really quite helpful, you providing emotional support for Niki, and her sister, of course."
" Of course." Melissa said dryly as she took a sip of her pomegranate juice.
"Oh Lissa!" Niki cried, "I'm never gonna see any of you again!"
Gabriel sighed. "Emotional breakdown time. I thought some of them might take after their sire."
"Glad to see you're so sensitive!" Melissa hissed to him, comforting Niki at the same time. He bit his lip and looked away darkly. Once Niki had stopped the room was encircled with silence.
Jareth swallowed and stood, "Gabriel, I trust you will take her back to her original place and time."
"Yes, certainly, brother." He said, looking intently into his glass.
"Alright then, I've matters to attend with the two newest inhabitants of the underground." He smiled warmly and took Niki's hand, and Kelly's as well. They blinked out, followed shortly by the queen. Melissa and Gabriel were alone.
"Well, you're not going to return me exactly where we left of, are you?" Melissa asked, joking uneasily.
"I suppose not, unless, that is, you'd like that..." Under Melissa's fierce glance he quickly added, "only joking!"
Melissa glowered in her chair as Gabriel finished his "drink". "Look, love, I'm sorry I suspected you were that easily enticible. I've learned my lesson; let's just get this over with."
She sighed and grabbed his cold hand, and then they blinked into his office at the psyche hospital. Gabriel's hand was still on her shoulder enticingly, but he snatched it away and walked calmly behind his desk. Melissa's cloths had reverted to the street cloths she was wearing before she went to the Labyrinth in. Gabe was still wearing his Underground cloths. He smiled and grabbed his normal ones from a drawer.
"I have to change as you can see. Would you mind, well, turning around?" Gabriel asked embarrassed slightly. Melissa smiled. "And no peeking." Melissa only gave him this look. "Ok, if that's how you feel..." and he began to untuck his shirt, revealing white flesh beneath.
"Arghhh!!" Melissa shouted, looking away. "You were supposed to go change in the closet, then I'd lock you in and escape this horrible place."
"Sorry to disappoint you." Gabriel said amusedly as he continued changing.
"I thought you said we wouldn't return here." Melissa said disappointedly.
"I said that we weren't going to return exactly where we left off." Gabriel said sardonically. "You did not specify place. All right, I'm finished."
Melissa turned around, and sure enough he had changed back into his business costume. His eyes were still that piercing blue. "Your eyes, they, aren't...green."
Gabriel's eyes widened at her perceptiveness as they shifted quickly back to his moss green mortal colour. "So glad you noticed, didn't know you cared."
"So this is it, then? You're leaving me back in this piss hole until I rot?" Melissa asked, finally bringing up the topic that had been bugging her since she had gotten into this whole mess.
"That's it, is it?" Gabriel visibly relaxed. "I've got it all figured out. Come with me."
Melissa was suspicious but couldn't see any better way out. She tried to conceal her flinch as Gabriel, or Dr. Gabe, put his arm around her and led her towards the front desk.
He paused briefly at the front desk. "Hello Alison," The pretty blonde secretary smiled flirtatiously and Melissa felt the pang of something akin to jealousy. "This girl, Melissa Kombustule, is my patient. We have made a breakthrough, and I believe she is ready to leave, with my permission. Gather her belongings, if you will love, and have them sent to her home. We will be leaving now."
And with that, Melissa walked out the metal doors into the sunlit freedom. As they walked down the street, Melissa began jumping and then shouting for joy, "I'm free-ee-ee, I'm free-ee-ee!! Thank you so much Gabe!" And she swept him up into a bear hug, which he returned. "But did you hypnotize...oh well, it doesn't matter, I'm free!"
Gabriel smiled and understood her feeling. "Now I'm going to take you home, that is, if that is what you want."
Melissa shot him a puzzled look. "If you're suggesting..."
"No, no, love, I'm simply saying that maybe because your father had you wrongly committed, you might not want to go back there." Gabe said softly, leaning forward to see her face as they walked down the block towards his car.
"No, no, it's alright." Melissa said, obviously not believing it, or at least obvious to a vampire's keen sense. "He normally treats us well, he can't be good all the time. It's the only place I have."
Gabriel, if shocked by this holding back, wisely said nothing. "I have places, apartments, houses, cottages. I don't use them all. If you wanted, you could stay in one of them."
"It's not that I don't appreciate what you're trying to do for me, it's just, I have to go back to my family, if it's all the same." She said meekly, a quality Gabriel didn't think existed in this fiery girl.
He sighed but stepped in front of her to open the passenger car door in his green mustang convertible. "I like to live in style." he said to her as she commented on it. He walked around to the driver's side, blaring Ziggy Stardust as they got onto the main road. They jammed together, but the wind and music combined was too loud for conversation.
As the twilight began to impinge on the warmth, Gabriel pulled over into a fast food parking lot. He gave Melissa a few dollars to run inside and get some food, since she hadn't eaten since 11:30, and crossing between worlds could give humans quite an appetite. She got back in the car with her chicken sandwich. Melissa looked at Gabe, "Not eating?"
"I don't think any of these humans would appreciate it," Gabriel said with a chuckle, his green eyes connecting with Melissa's hazel glance for a second too long. The both looked at the dashboard discomforted. Gabriel tried to cheer Melissa up," Well, only a few more hours and you will be home."
"Oh, yey. I'm psyched." Melissa said with the very most sarcastic tone she could manage.
"You may as well take a nap, I'll alter your family's memories so they think nothing wrong with a dashingly handsome young doctor driving their young daughter home from rehab." He flashed a grin at her, and then waved his hand in front of her face. She slept, and awoke in her own bed. She didn't see the tall dark figure set her down gently upon it, and then with a heartbreaking sigh, leave the room to alter memories.
She awoke the next morning feeling refreshed, her memories of the Labyrinth still so vivid she could hardly get them out of her mind. She smiled in the morning sunlight, at the crimson silk shirt folded neatly across her bed.
"To Melissa, the mortal who said no."
Gabriel shuffled his suddenly interesting feet. His dark hair fell around his face, hiding his face from the girls. "She was willing."
"Only after you hypnotized her! And we've talked about that!" Jareth shouted, losing his temper, which seemed to be a family trait. Gabriel looked slightly embarrassed.
" I didn't break the law. We simply danced." Gabriel said. Melissa's dreadful feeling that they had been talking about her was right.
"But if I hadn't played puppeteer and let Niki in on what you were doing there would've been a lot more to it, yes brother. You forget that not even your mind is a sealed place from me, not when I want to know." Jareth said icily. This made everyone except Kelly uncomfortable. Gabriel looked for a moment like he was going to hit his brother. Melissa shrank into a corner. Jareth kept glaring for a moment, but then sighed deeply. He beckoned to Melissa. "No need to hide, dear girl. He won't touch you while I'm around him. Is it true you were hypnotized by Gabriel?" He asked softly.
It reminded Melissa of her time at the institute, and she felt unreasonably mad.
"I think so, your highness but I'm not sure. It was true what he said, we simply danced." She said sourly, not so much mad at Gabriel but the King for treating her like something less superior than himself. She dug deep in her mind for some fantasy knowledge." I won't denounce him for it though."
The king stared at her, and she felt oddly naked, like she had no secrets. Maybe he was reading her mind. "I am, by the way." The king said suddenly. "So that's the way it is?" Melissa nodded. "Fine then. Watch out for yourself, then, and I will watch out for you as well. I will move lunch up to 11:30, a mere 20 minutes from now. We all have things to discuss."
And with that, the handsome king blinked out to Goddess knows where, leaving all the girls staring opened mouthed at the place he had been, and Gabriel glowering fiercely at it. It took them all a while to recover.
"What did you mean," Niki questioned." 'I won't denounce him'."
Melissa looked at her feet. What had made her say that anyway?
"She didn't want me to get in trouble, "Gabriel said, answering Niki question. "The seamstress' is right over there, he said, leading them into a doorway on their right at a brisk pace. The seamstress turned out to be a non-goblin, something surprising in the goblin city. She turned out to be an elf. Her small stature was made up for with a gigantically tall, violet hat atop her jade-green hair. Her nose, shoes and ears ended with a sharp point, as did her hat.
She walked up to them, and then said with a chittering voice. "So you're finally here, eh? I've been a waiting for you then." She looked at the four of them. "You you're the one I'm to dress. Come here, come in," she said to the girls, leading them into a back room as she continued talking. She shut the door, leaving Gabriel outside.
"Now you," she said to Kelly," I 'ave just the thing for you. Come on, come get changed, you'll look pert as a penny, now, won't cha dear?" Kelly followed the lady-elf through a small door into what appeared to be a changing room. Similar fates met the other two girls. Then there was a brief period of silence punctuated by remarks.
"I'm not wearing this!"
"Why don't I get pants?"
"I look sooo pretty!"
"I look like a Jewish harlot!"
"Joe charlotte!"
"I can't wear this to lunch!"
"I'd simply die."
The elf walked around, sympathizing with all three, but not making a move to change the outfits she picked for them. Kelly was thoroughly pleased with her outfit, but she was alone in that boat. She wore a little green outfit, fitting to their time period. The elf obviously had to help her with the time on the front.
Niki hadn't gotten as lucky as her sister. She wore a dress straight out of the forties. With huge purple fluffy sleeves, this purple dress was obviously from someone's version of "hell". It was tight fitting to about the mid-thigh, where it fluffed out to layer after layer of purple iridescent fabric.
Melissa temporarily brightened. "Going to lumbago, Latino Nikito?"
Niki stuck out her tongue, and then laughed at Melissa's dress, which wasn't much better than her own. The dress was a ball gown style in a dazzling scarlet. Melissa felt like she was on fire. Her lips had been painted (by the elf) to match. The obnoxiously low-cut and tight fitting bodice was her main complaint though. The fluffy skirt was made of the finest, spider-web material. She hated the whole thing.
"Going to waltz at a funeral party, or blood bank or something Melissa?" Niki asked her. "I didn't know you were a Goth."
Melissa "harrumphed" and crossed her arms.
The elf sighed as she surveyed the girls with a look of immense pride. "Awww...what a good job Silva's done, cancha see? Totally flattering for your loverly figures, yup yup."
"A ha, I'm underground." Niki said in a most unenthusiastic way.
"An' now to show of you little wonders, you, um hmm." Silva, as she called herself, said. She opened wide the curtain wall that had previously hidden them from Gabriel..
Gabe hadn't changed at all, except now he wore a cape. He stared at the three in turn, his face holding back on laughing himself to death (or redeath).
He said very calmly, "You remind me of the babe."
Melissa looked at him," what babe?"
"The babe with the power." Answered in a singsong voice.
"What power?" Niki asked now worried about this strange man.
"The power of voodoo"
"Who do?" Asked Silva who had just emerged from what seemed to be solid wall, getting into the conversation.
"You do" Gabriel said melodically.
"Do what?" Kelly asked before Melissa and Niki could clap their hands over her grinning mouth.
"Remind me of the babe! I saw my baby..." He began singing frantically and dancing to top it all off. Niki and Melissa were glad he hadn't really commented on their dresses. They all stared at the spectacle that was Gabe. He finally finished dancing when nobody wanted to know "what babe?" "Well you're no fun!"
Then everyone except for Gabriel and the mysterious elf who had re-disappeared began laughing hysterically. Gabe pouted.
After about fifteen minutes of watching the girls laugh and roll on the floor and re-enact what he thought was a perfectly normal and natural fit of singing, he said curtly, "We're going to be late."
Melissa and Niki wiped their eyes, and the laughing abated. They all took Gabe's hands (though rather grudgingly) and blinked away.
The sunlight they blinked into was almost blinding after the darkness of candle or torchlight. When their eyes adjusted, they were on a beautiful white sand beach. The water was crystal clear, and ran out from on of the walls of the castle, and into another wall. The four of them were standing in a sort of courtyard, and were surrounded on all sides by the walls of the castle. An odd place for a beach, but it was a beautiful one.
"Why doesn't the sunlight bother you?" Melissa asked Gabe, wondering about his heritage.
"It does." He replied as he hurried for a large beach umbrella cunningly located near to their blink-out point. Then Melissa laughed as she noticed Kelly had wasted no time; she shed her slippers (which matched the dress), hoisted up her skirt, and went straight for the water.
"Wait, no Kelly! You'll soil your dress!" Niki shouted after her, surprised at herself for caring. But another little boy played there as well, his untidy bright blond hair reflecting the sun as much as the water was. The queen apparently had been sitting under and umbrella. She walked up to Niki to stand beside her.
"Don't worry, She'll be safe if she's with Jarethkin. He swims like a fish!" she said, motherly pride affecting her tone. Niki was still regretful about the dress, but she didn't argue. "Come, sit with us. We have many things to discuss."
So they all settled themselves under the giant umbrella, Jareth and Sarah on thronely beach chairs, Gabriel standing, the girls sitting awkwardly (because of the dresses) in the sand. The umbrella's large circle shadow kept them cool, but wouldn't help them keep their cool, it seemed.
"Alright now." The king said, signalling for the deliberation to begin. "First order of business, discuss what to do with Kelly since she can't go back to Earth now since she has been exposed to the underground."
"I still don't quite understand that." Melissa said, hoping for an explanation.
" It's quite simple." The queen said kindly. "The lack of magic on Earth will cause a magical, or half magical creature to mutate and go insane, in one of two occasions. One is if they are introduced to magic in the Underground, and two is if they turn 16."
"We're going to be 16 soon!" Niki said excitingly. Their birthdays were a mere week apart.
"That's number two on the agenda, Niki's being part Goblin." Jareth said calmly, continuing his list.
Niki jumped up so fast Gabe had to jump out of the way. "I am part GOBLIN!!" she shouted. "How can I be part Goblin? It's all your fault, Gabriel!"
Gabriel went even whiter. "Well you didn't really suspect you two had different father?"
"Of course we did! That's what our Mom always told us!" Niki said, infuriated. "I'm not part Goblin, you guys are trying to trick me."
Melissa looked at her nervously. "Um...Niki?"
"What?!"
"Your...your teeth...um, they're pointy. Come to mention it, so are your ears." She said backing away form her friend.
Niki screamed as she realized this was true.
"She got your temper I see. Jareth said brightly. Gabriel, Niki, and Melissa looked at him darkly. "Ok, well, third order of business. There isn't one. Alright then, down to business."
The Queen seemed to be the one most in control. "Alright, well what would you like to do Niki? We'll obviously want to keep you and your sister together, seeing as you can't go back home."
Niki chewed on her bottom lip. She said more to herself then the group listening, "Maybe I can live in a cave...with a pet dragon!"
"I'm quite sure it would rather eat your hand than be pet with it." Jareth said, amused by this all too mortal conception about dragons. Gabe was unusually quiet; he stayed half-crouched under the umbrella. Melissa gave him a questioning look but he only smiled weakly.
"Honey, suppose they lived with us." The queen said slowly.
"But love! There are eleven of Gabriel's children here already! We need to teach him discipline, maybe a few more years in the dung..."
The queen shushed him loudly over Gabriel's hiss. "Sweetheart, they're living with us and that's final."
Jareth sighed but smiled; he never had much power over the decisions of the castle anymore. Gabriel sighed with relief at the prospect of returning to the castle. Niki wasn't psyched at the prospect, but she could live with that. "I will give you employ at my castle until such a time when you are learned enough to find a place to live in the Underground, or you learn control enough to return to the mortal realms."
" So she'll be like a kitchen wench?" Melissa asked in amusement. Niki shot her a dirty look.
The queen gently corrected her. "No, She'll be one of my personal women until she chooses to marry or find a job better suited to her. She is after all, a princess." Niki shot Melissa a triumphant look. Melissa's look however was downcast.
"Perhaps we might work out the details inside the castle?" Gabriel suggested. He looked extremely uncomfortable, his eyes were suddenly red-rimmed and his skin looked paler then usual. Jareth looked him over.
"Quite right, inside then." Jareth said, standing up and brushing off the stray sand from his tights.
"Jarethkin!" Queen Sarah shouted to the tow-headed boy in the water near Kelly. The young boy came bounding up, showering them all with the clear water. Kelly followed. The young queen laughed and gathered Jarethkin up in her arms, blinking out.
"I didn't know mortals could do that!" Melissa speculated.
"She's not mortal...anymore." Gabriel said with a wink, catching Melissa's hand and following the queen. Melissa laughed then looked around them. They were in what appeared to be a tower, surrounded by shadowy windows on all sides. The view was spectacular, and Melissa leaned back against Gabe unwittingly in a moment of vertigo. Gabriel chuckled, gently setting her right. The queen laughed, Jarethkin on her hip. The boy's blue-green eyes sparkled with amusement. The entire Labyrinth was visible from that room.
"But doesn't the light..." she asked to Gabriel, who was looking remarkable better.
He smiled at her concern. "The glass, you see, it is UV protected."
If Melissa found this odd, she didn't say anything. "But what about Niki and Kelly?"
And then Jareth blinked in, escorting both of them. Seems Melissa couldn't get a word in edgewise these days. Niki was grinning at something he had said. Jareth clapped his gloved hands. Two lines of goblins streamed in from trapdoors in the floor, bearing streaming trays and icy pitchers. They set them up on a glass table in the middle of the circular room. Melissa and Niki were pleased because they hadn't had much breakfast.
Without much ado, they all sat down as the goblins unlidded tray after tray of gourmet goodies. Melissa and Niki found their appetites and helped themselves. Kelly and Jarethkin groaned as they got a scoop of green vegetables each from a goblin lady.
"So, I guess that's it for me?" Melissa asked quietly.
"Hmm, yes." The king said. "The accident about bringing you here was really quite helpful, you providing emotional support for Niki, and her sister, of course."
" Of course." Melissa said dryly as she took a sip of her pomegranate juice.
"Oh Lissa!" Niki cried, "I'm never gonna see any of you again!"
Gabriel sighed. "Emotional breakdown time. I thought some of them might take after their sire."
"Glad to see you're so sensitive!" Melissa hissed to him, comforting Niki at the same time. He bit his lip and looked away darkly. Once Niki had stopped the room was encircled with silence.
Jareth swallowed and stood, "Gabriel, I trust you will take her back to her original place and time."
"Yes, certainly, brother." He said, looking intently into his glass.
"Alright then, I've matters to attend with the two newest inhabitants of the underground." He smiled warmly and took Niki's hand, and Kelly's as well. They blinked out, followed shortly by the queen. Melissa and Gabriel were alone.
"Well, you're not going to return me exactly where we left of, are you?" Melissa asked, joking uneasily.
"I suppose not, unless, that is, you'd like that..." Under Melissa's fierce glance he quickly added, "only joking!"
Melissa glowered in her chair as Gabriel finished his "drink". "Look, love, I'm sorry I suspected you were that easily enticible. I've learned my lesson; let's just get this over with."
She sighed and grabbed his cold hand, and then they blinked into his office at the psyche hospital. Gabriel's hand was still on her shoulder enticingly, but he snatched it away and walked calmly behind his desk. Melissa's cloths had reverted to the street cloths she was wearing before she went to the Labyrinth in. Gabe was still wearing his Underground cloths. He smiled and grabbed his normal ones from a drawer.
"I have to change as you can see. Would you mind, well, turning around?" Gabriel asked embarrassed slightly. Melissa smiled. "And no peeking." Melissa only gave him this look. "Ok, if that's how you feel..." and he began to untuck his shirt, revealing white flesh beneath.
"Arghhh!!" Melissa shouted, looking away. "You were supposed to go change in the closet, then I'd lock you in and escape this horrible place."
"Sorry to disappoint you." Gabriel said amusedly as he continued changing.
"I thought you said we wouldn't return here." Melissa said disappointedly.
"I said that we weren't going to return exactly where we left off." Gabriel said sardonically. "You did not specify place. All right, I'm finished."
Melissa turned around, and sure enough he had changed back into his business costume. His eyes were still that piercing blue. "Your eyes, they, aren't...green."
Gabriel's eyes widened at her perceptiveness as they shifted quickly back to his moss green mortal colour. "So glad you noticed, didn't know you cared."
"So this is it, then? You're leaving me back in this piss hole until I rot?" Melissa asked, finally bringing up the topic that had been bugging her since she had gotten into this whole mess.
"That's it, is it?" Gabriel visibly relaxed. "I've got it all figured out. Come with me."
Melissa was suspicious but couldn't see any better way out. She tried to conceal her flinch as Gabriel, or Dr. Gabe, put his arm around her and led her towards the front desk.
He paused briefly at the front desk. "Hello Alison," The pretty blonde secretary smiled flirtatiously and Melissa felt the pang of something akin to jealousy. "This girl, Melissa Kombustule, is my patient. We have made a breakthrough, and I believe she is ready to leave, with my permission. Gather her belongings, if you will love, and have them sent to her home. We will be leaving now."
And with that, Melissa walked out the metal doors into the sunlit freedom. As they walked down the street, Melissa began jumping and then shouting for joy, "I'm free-ee-ee, I'm free-ee-ee!! Thank you so much Gabe!" And she swept him up into a bear hug, which he returned. "But did you hypnotize...oh well, it doesn't matter, I'm free!"
Gabriel smiled and understood her feeling. "Now I'm going to take you home, that is, if that is what you want."
Melissa shot him a puzzled look. "If you're suggesting..."
"No, no, love, I'm simply saying that maybe because your father had you wrongly committed, you might not want to go back there." Gabe said softly, leaning forward to see her face as they walked down the block towards his car.
"No, no, it's alright." Melissa said, obviously not believing it, or at least obvious to a vampire's keen sense. "He normally treats us well, he can't be good all the time. It's the only place I have."
Gabriel, if shocked by this holding back, wisely said nothing. "I have places, apartments, houses, cottages. I don't use them all. If you wanted, you could stay in one of them."
"It's not that I don't appreciate what you're trying to do for me, it's just, I have to go back to my family, if it's all the same." She said meekly, a quality Gabriel didn't think existed in this fiery girl.
He sighed but stepped in front of her to open the passenger car door in his green mustang convertible. "I like to live in style." he said to her as she commented on it. He walked around to the driver's side, blaring Ziggy Stardust as they got onto the main road. They jammed together, but the wind and music combined was too loud for conversation.
As the twilight began to impinge on the warmth, Gabriel pulled over into a fast food parking lot. He gave Melissa a few dollars to run inside and get some food, since she hadn't eaten since 11:30, and crossing between worlds could give humans quite an appetite. She got back in the car with her chicken sandwich. Melissa looked at Gabe, "Not eating?"
"I don't think any of these humans would appreciate it," Gabriel said with a chuckle, his green eyes connecting with Melissa's hazel glance for a second too long. The both looked at the dashboard discomforted. Gabriel tried to cheer Melissa up," Well, only a few more hours and you will be home."
"Oh, yey. I'm psyched." Melissa said with the very most sarcastic tone she could manage.
"You may as well take a nap, I'll alter your family's memories so they think nothing wrong with a dashingly handsome young doctor driving their young daughter home from rehab." He flashed a grin at her, and then waved his hand in front of her face. She slept, and awoke in her own bed. She didn't see the tall dark figure set her down gently upon it, and then with a heartbreaking sigh, leave the room to alter memories.
She awoke the next morning feeling refreshed, her memories of the Labyrinth still so vivid she could hardly get them out of her mind. She smiled in the morning sunlight, at the crimson silk shirt folded neatly across her bed.
"To Melissa, the mortal who said no."