To the Victor

Phew! Finally finished with this part! Anyways, a big hug and thanks go out to all my reviewers. If it wasn't for you, I'd tell the Goblin King who keeps poking me to bugger off and let me get some work done. I do appreciate it. You all brighten my day! So. . . Themes: Dance Scene from the Mask of Zorro for the first bit, Track 10 from Angel Sanctuary OST for the middle, Ravel's Bolero for the last. I know it's a lot, but, eh, you can decide whether or not you want to listen. Round up the disclaimers, brand 'em, and have fun!

Ladymage Samiko ;)

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To the Victor Go the Spoils

Part 20 ~ A Miracle is All I Ask

It began slowly, with clumsy, uncertain movements. The rhythm built slowly, then ever faster, giving way to quicksilver movements, mostly graceful, occasionally jerky. A pause, a hesitation, then whirling back into motion. The dance steadied for some time, still full of life, but not quite as hurried as it had been. It was almost monotony, and yet, was she not slower than she had been a minute ago? Was her arm moving more stiffly? It was long in coming, but the dance now made its way as though through molasses. With a final swift outflung motion, it was over. The girl was now huddled on the ground motionless.

But it wasn't over. She burst forth from the closed position, arms outflung in joy. The dance took on an ethereal quality as she leapt and spun, no longer earthbound. If she could have controlled the Fae magic, who knows? She may truly have sprouted wings and flown. And that was how the dance ended, in joy, in movement, in life. Sarah felt the miraculous burst of energy released as she sank to her knees, breathing heavily. She sent a prayer up with it.

The spell held in it the essence of growing things, of green, fresh life tinged with an edge or iridescence that bespoke otherworldly elements. It rippled out from the center with the quiet movement of a small pool. It spread towards Jareth.

And flowed around him as water flows around a stone in its path.

Nothing. she had been able to do nothing. Sarah collapsed, her eyes shut tightly in defeat. She couldn't do it. What good was her magic for if she couldn't do something that needed to be done?

She stayed like that for some time, tears slowly escaping the corners of her eyes. All of a sudden, she raised her head, blinking in surprise. The headache that had lurked in the back of her head was gone, completely gone. She had managed to ignore it, so the fact that it was no longer there startled her. As she sat there, something caught her eye. She stood and walked toward the Labyrinth, gasping at what she saw.

The large, decimated tracts of land were completely regrown. More than that, the entire Labyrinth seethed with the colors of flowers and plants that had grown over the walls and paths. It was a riot of delicious greens, midnight blues, royal purples. Even the blackened tree beside her was covered with deep pink blossoms.

For the first time, Sarah felt that, even if it had been as empty as before, the Labyrinth was beautiful. Its vast wildness, its twisty ways, all of it was enough to take her breath away.

A soft, almost inaudible, grunt reached her ears and she turned, eyes shining. Jareth now lay bonelessly sprawled along the now grass covered earth. She ran and knelt next to him, pulling head and shoulders gently onto her lap.

"Jareth?" she asked. He was ghostly white and Sarah wasn't sure she could even feel him breathe. "Are you all right?" She received no answer, for he was unable to give one, but slowly his eyes filled with awareness. With that awareness came pain and anger, which it hurt to see, but the worst was over and Sarah was glad.

She looked seriously into his eyes, seeing blue light and black depths. No, not black, but a blue so dark one had to be close to see it. Blue, light and dark. The color of the heavens. The color of eternity.

Sarah gaped at him, no longer really seeing him, as she came to a realization. She had been dancing the wrong spell. Jareth was Fae. He was immortal. Sarah had danced as her grandmother had taught her. She had danced to heal things mortal. Quickly, but ever so gently, she laid his head back on the grass. Walking quickly, she found the spot where she had cast the last spell, which was still quivering with magic. Taking a deep breath, she chose her music and began to dance once more.

She moved with a majestic grace and grandeur, slowly, methodically. At first, she moved lightly, a spring in her step. As the music played on in her head, she became ever so slightly heavier, just a touch slower. The movements cycled over and over. A sudden stop. A continuation just where she left off. Sarah concentrated, letting herself be guided by the music and magic. She had never, ever, thought to craft a spell like this, and this one was dangerous because it could continue indefinitely. An immortal dance for an immortal life. With growing uneasiness and uncertainty, Sarah danced on, drawing it out, then--now!--cutting it.

The spell once more flowed out from here, no longer a small pool, but with the languid ripples of a bottomless lake that contained its own form of life. She felt it flow over that which her previous spell had touched and continue on. The waves turned in on themselves and all the power in the spell returned to one place. Jareth.

Slowly, she turned to face him. The Goblin King, standing, imposing and dangerous, in all his dark glory.