To the Victor Go the Spoils

Grr. . . I lost over half of this last night when my computer crashed. Oh, well, maybe today's version is better. Semester finals approach, so posting will be random, but I will finish this. Sooner or later. Our theme today is Saishuushou by Inoue Takehide from Bronze: Zetsuai Since 1989. Round up the disclaimers, etc. Have fun!

Ladymage Samiko ;)

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To the Victor Go the Spoils

Part 19 ~ I Won't Go

Whether by Jareth's conscious direction or Sarah's unwitting one, both she and the Goblin King found themselves back on the bare hill. Jareth knelt upon the ground, losing control over the illusion so that he once more appeared in his customary flowing shirt and waistcoat. Sarah, momentarily distracted by her surroundings, once more turned towards him, concerned, but more to try to get him to tell her what in the hell was going on. She found the question no longer important as she felt the power rising around him. It remained in a close sphere around him, though it grew beyond what she had felt in the school gym earlier. The level of power frightened her, but she was determined to stand her ground.

She came close to regretting that decision.

Without warning, the ball of magic exploded, sending power in in a single general direction. Sarah threw her arms up in an effort to protect herself from the raw, destructive energy. It burned along her forearms, making them feel as if they were being stripped of skin. Sarah grit her teeth and braced herself more firmly against the flow.

Just as suddenly, it was over. The magic stopped tearing at her. Sarah began to make her way to the form that had not moved from its earlier position. She was stopped when, seconds later, she was given over to a splitting headache, as though someone had taken a cleaver to her skull. She screamed as the pain overtook her and collapsed to the ground, gasping. It receded somewhat, but she was left with a steady throbbing in the back of her head. Sarah remained on all fours as she attempted to process what was going on.

Once she could cope with, if not understand, the pain, Sarah got to her feet and looked around for Jareth. She was surprised to find him in the same position in the same place he had been when they arrived. Her first instinct had been that, being at the center of such magic, Jareth would have been destroyed. Another possibility, which she immediately dismissed, was that he had tricked her into bringing him here, a place where he could easily destroy her. Either scenario would have meant his disappearance. But he had not moved.

"Jareth?" she called, staggering toward him.

"Go away, Sarah," came the nearly inaudible answer. She came closer, enough to see the blood running down his palms from where his nails dug into them. She stared at him.

"Leave!" he ground out savagely, his arm spasming out to knock Sarah several yards away. Frightened, hurt, and even more determined than she had been traversing the Labyrinth, she rose to her feet.

"No, Jareth," she yelled. "I won't go!" There was no answer from the kneeling figure.

Sarah wrapped her arms around herself in a vain search for reassurance. She flinched as she felt the pain shoot through her raw forearms. Raising her head, she stopped as she once again was granted the vision of the Labyrinth.

Sorrow overwhelmed her as she gazed at the obliterated chunks of land. One was older, covered evenly by grey ash. The second was new with piles of the stuff scattered here and there. Sarah's jaw dropped. That must be where the power that hit her had gone. How had she survived a blast of such magnitude?

Sarah, yourpowers are even stronger now. Cecilia's words. How powerful was she? How powerful was Jareth? How powerful was the thing that was riding him?

Gathering her courage, Sarah made her way over to Jareth. He knelt in the same place, his head bowed so that his hair hid his face. The only sign he was alive was the still freely flowing blood that welled around fingers. "Jareth?" she asked quietly, uncertainly. When she received no answer, she hesitantly lifted her hand to move the screen of tawny hair.

Nothing. His eyes were blank, unseeing, as though the Jareth who usually looked arrogantly out of them had suddenly decided to move out. Sarah could try to get through to him, but there was really no one home to answer. Desperately, she tried to pry his fingers apart, to keep the nails from digging in to the bone. She couldn't do that, either. They were closed as tightly as if steel bands bound them shut. Sarah couldn't begin to shift them except by breaking his fingers.

The girl screamed her frustration as she flung herself away. There was nothing--nothing!--she could do! He was obviously in pain and she was helpless to do anything!

Sarah was not accustomed to feeling helpless.

"Dammit, Jareth." she cried. "What can I do? What in God's name can I do?" The wind picked up, blowing cool against the tears that tracked down her cheeks.

Her hands felt the gritty dirt beneath them. The earth. Earth magic. Her head flew up. She had power, she knew she had power. Fae magic was too uncertain, too chancy. She didn't know what she was doing. But her Earth magic. . . She knew the dance for healing, she knew the tune. It was a long shot at best; this wasn't Earth, after all.

But how many other options did she have?

Sarah set her jaw and stood up. The music began to play in her mind and almost unconsciously, her body began to move.