AU- Let's kick this up a notch! Wa Bam!
(yes, I watch too much Emeril!)
***
Chapter Five: In Which the Villain Finally Makes an Appearance
Theme music: Suerte (Whenever Wherever) by Shakita
***
"Here you are Love!"
Molly deposited a trencher of dark drown lumpy gravy in front of Sarah. A wooden plate with a square of creamy yellow cheese followed.
"Thank you Molly." Sarah murmured as she fumbled in her 'utility' belt for the small wooden spoon she remembered spotting on her earlier inspection.
The tavern had pretty much cleared out. Apparently it filled up everyday around noon when people were stopping by for a beer on their ways home. Gawain and Jesse had vanished off to somewhere. (winkwinknudgenudge)
"Mind if I sit?"
Sarah nodded and started in on the mutton stew. Molly watched Sarah eat in silence for a while with her chin propped up on the heel of her hand.
"Is it true that the Goblin King is in love with you?" she asked finally.
Sarah choked on a chunk of mutton and Molly leapt up to pound her on the back.
"W-what?" Sarah cried, trying to wipe the tears from her streaming eyes.
"Well, the Bard told us that King Jareth is madly in love with you and set up this whole 'Game' of yours to get you closer to him." Molly explained.
Sarah swallowed the insubordinate piece of meat and set down her eating utensil. "Well, I wouldn't know about that..." she demurred.
Liar! Cried the little voice in the back of her head. Why else would he have hung around for so long? Seven years was a long time, even for the Fae!
Sarah was sure that a blush was staining her cheeks. "... you see, he's probably just ... ah, interested in me because I beat the Labyrinth..."
Molly's hands flew up to her mouth. "Oh my Moon and Stars! He's serious about you then!" she cried. "Don't you know what the Labyrinth was for?"
Sarah shook her head. "I thought it was to defend the Goblin City?"
Molly shook her head vehemently. "Why would King Jareth need to defend just one part of his Kingdom? He rules the entire Underground! No, the Labyrinth was constructed as a test for mortals!" Molly pressed her fingers to her temple. "Oh dear, maybe I should tell you the story from the beginning."
"What story?"
Molly sighed. "You might not like this... but King Jareth has been searching for a Bride on the Aboveground for several thousands of years now. How did you get to the Labyrinth?"
Sarah flushed. "I read a storybook and I... I wished my baby brother away..."
Molly nodded. "That story is actually a spell, one that grants the speaker the ability to summon the Goblin King. It can only be used by a young woman, more specifically a Dreamer."
Sarah felt her face grow still. "Let me guess, he then makes those girls run the Labyrinth and if they fail..."
"... he returns them and whoever they wished away to the Aboveground with no more than dreams of their stay." Molly finished.
Sarah blinked, that hadn't been the answer she'd been expecting. "So he doesn't really steal children and turn them into goblins?"
"Good heavens, no!" Molly laughed until tears streamed from her eyes. "Do you have any idea what is involved in transformation magic?" at Sarah's mute shrugged Molly sighed. "Well, I don't know all the particulars but it's difficult enough that the King would never do it so casually as at a Mortal's whim. I'm sure King Jareth has better things to spend his time on than stealing mortal babies."
Sarah KNEW she was blushing now. "Molly... could you tell me everything you can about how the Underground works? I have a feeling that I might have been making an idiot of myself..."
***
It was much later that night, or rather the time of day when the water clock in the tavern had rung a bell and Jesse had draped thick black curtains over the windows to block out the ever present light, when Sarah finally made her way to that much anticipated bath.
The bathing room was small, just large enough to hold the tall Japanese style bath. It was about chin height and made of some highly polished dark hardwood and had a small furnace going beneath it to keep the water nice and steamy.
Sarah lost no time in shedding her leathers and clambering into the blessed thing. She scrubbed off every trace of trail dust she could find on herself.
"Sarah."
She stopped in midscrub as Jareth smooth slippery voice reached her ears. Slender finely boned fingers grasped her shoulders before she could turn around. She tried anyway but an impenetrable strength held her in place.
"Jareth?"
A low chuckle answered her. "Close, but not quite..."
Then all at once the slender finely boned hands shoved her beneath the water.
***
NO! HELP! JARETH! GAWAIN!
Gawain's flute fell from nerveless fingers. Jesse caught it with practiced ease.
"Love, what's the..." she was left talking to air when Gawain jerked the flute from her hands and went barreling up the stairs as if all the demons of hell were at his heels.
***
BEA!
There was a sudden explosion of psychic activity in Manhattan. Many people claimed they could hear a voice, that of an African American woman many claimed, yelling things. Weeks later when police psychics managed to trace the source they found it had emanated from an abandoned apartment.
Everyone agreed on one thing, the woman had been calling someone named Jareth and another named Malcolm. Shortly after, it became public knowledge that a young employee of Camco Corp. by the name of Malcolm Aramus had disappeared along with several members of his immediate family.
They were never heard from again.
***
Sarah accidentally swallowed a lungful of water before her old life guarding instincts flooded back. She shut her mouth and ignored the panic instinct.
She took a firm grip on her attackers wrists and, bracing her feet at the edges of the tub, shoved up with the full strength of her legs.
She heard muffled curses as her head cleared the surface of the water. She felt something hard smack into the back of her head... it felt like a nose. Her attacker shoved her away, and in the process overbalanced the tub sending its contents and Sarah tumbling over onto the floor.
Sarah ducked her head and rolled over onto her stomach where she preceded to vomit up the water she'd breathed. Out of the corner of her eyes she could see a tall man with short cropped platinum hair cradling his nose gingerly. He looked down to her with stormy gray eyes filled past brimming with utter hatred.
"Bitch!" he spat, and lowered his crooked hands as if to go for her throat.
He would have too, if Jareth hadn't materialized between them. Suddenly the room was a lot smaller, or there was just a lot more of Jareth. He seemed to have become ten feet tall and he was glowing with an aura that screamed FURY! To Sarah's oxygen deprived mind he looked like a raging god!
"Cain!" he bellowed "You dare lay a hand on my consort!"
The attacker, Cain rather, spat at Jareth and scrambled to the door only to find his escape blocked by Gawain, who next to Jareth's divine wrath was a sort of avenging Angel.
The Bard lift his flute his lips and blew a few short notes that the ear almost bled to hear. Cain screamed, this time in pain. He doubled over and glared at Sarah, an unintelligible mantra already at his blood flecked lips.
"I'll come for you again, witch!" he hissed as his form vanished in a swirl of black ash.
"Sarah!"
Sarah heard her name torn from two... no three throats. Jareth made it to her first. He grasped her arms and a pulse of warmth shot through her, banishing the cold and confusion.
"Are you all right, beloved?"
Sarah nodded weakly. "Yes." she whispered.
"Thank your Sacrificed God." Jareth muttered as he wrapped her in his cloak and cradled her close to his body, warming her and concealing her modesty. She was dimly aware of Gawain telling Jesse to unlock her room.
"Can't" Sarah murmured. "I'm pagan."
Jareth lifted her with... frightening ease. "Well, that certainly explains a lot. I never have been able to attract the attention of a proper Christian lamb. One wonders if their God protect them from such as I?" he shrugged. "I believe you are done with your bath?" at Sarah's weak nod he chuckled and eyed the cracked wooden tub. "That's good, it's certainly done with you. I just can't let you bathe unsupervised, can I?"
"Never stopped you before." Sarah groused.
"No, it hasn't... mind your head now." Jareth held her at an angle so he wouldn't bump her head as her carried her to her room. "Do you know who it was that attacked you?"
"You called him Cain, and I saw that he looked a lot like you only his hair was shorter and his eyes were the same color." Sarah answered obediently. "Other than that I've never seen him, hear of him, or cared before now."
Jesse opened the door to Sarah's rented room for Jareth and pulled back the blankets before backing out of the room maintaining a respectful silence the whole time. Sarah knew better, one look into those green eyes and she could see the questions practically spilling out, but Jesse had better manners than that. She'd wait until Jareth was gone (good luck with that!) and (hopefully) until Sarah was feeling better.
"Then he's using you to hurt me." Jareth muttered as he tucked the bed sheets up around Sarah's chin. He stood back up with an indecipherable look in his eyes.
"The spell I cast on you should speed your recovery..." he held up a hand to still her protests. "I know you feel fine, and I felt you fighting Cain while I was coming to you. You did well, but he still managed to hurt you. You'll be ready to continue your journey in the morning... I'd prefer you to stay here for a few days while I take care of Cain, but I know you better than that. You're probably already champing at the bit."
Sarah shrugged and rolled her eyes, careful not to reveal too much of her nudity to Jareth. He'd been distracted before, but right now was another story. "Oh, I dunno." She said. "I guess I could stay around here for a while if it would make you feel better."
Jareth blinked. "Sarah, are you feeling quite yourself?" he asked worriedly. "My spell is working, isn't it?"
Sarah blew a raspberry at him. "I'm fine!" she cried. "I'm just..." she shrugged again. "That was really close, Jareth. I'm not fifteen anymore and there's no time limit on this game. I'd feel safer if I didn't have El- psycho breathing down my neck. Who is he anyway?"
Jareth frowned. "I'm wondering if it's safe for you to know?"
Sarah made a face. "Who nearly got drowned by the bastard? He'll be gunning for me whether I know about him or not. I've got a right to know."
Jareth shook his head and sunk into a nearby chair. "It's my own fault." He muttered to himself. "I wanted a woman who could keep me on my toes... well, now I've got one." He sighed and leaned forward with his fingers laced together.
"Well, Sarah-love. This is a very long and personal story, most certainly not bedtime material."
"Tell me any way."
He shook his head again, sending his spiky hair flying out in all direction. "Cain, is my half brother."
***
End Chapter Five
***
AU- I'm Back! And earlier than expected too! Thanks to everyone who told me such encouraging wisdom teeth stories. They were what I was telling myself as they put me out. Actually, they don't hurt much more than they did when they were just impacted with the added bonus of the fact that the pain will eventually go away!
So here I am, out of school for another day and with all the chocolate milkshakes my little heart could want. Life is good, so I decided to say thank you for all your comforting sentiments by putting my time off to good use and putting out another chapter.
If anyone is even mildly offended by the fact that I made Sarah a pagan, please don't be. Allow me to explain, I myself am pagan and I have noticed several things about pagans and non-pagans. No offense, but Christians, Jews, and orthodox religions tend to be... now can I put this delicately, well.. orthodox. They're taught from day one that men who show up in the middle of the night, take your baby brother away to another world to eventually turn him into a goblin unless you do him some 'special favor' tend to be Agents of the devil. (gee! I wonder where they got THAT idea? Knowing Jareth this is not altogether an inappropriate assumption)
Well, I want my representation of Sarah to be anything but orthodox. Pagans tend to be more flexible and more able to adapt to adverse situations (can we say the Spanish inquisition?) Her choice of religion is just my way of giving Sarah another dimension. Lets face it, the first time she met Jareth, Sarah did not drop to her knees and pray, no! She stood up to him and practically spit in his eye!
I'm not going to stick my thumb into a religious bee's nest here, so that's pretty much all I'm going to have Sarah say about that subject. If it makes you feel better, just ignore the fact but please keep in mind that this woman had been dealing with real 'in your face' supernatural phenomena for seven years. I believe, in some small way that would have affected her world view slightly.
I hope this doesn't affect your enjoyment of the story and if I get enough review to the contrary (oh say, three negatives to one positive) I'll go back and delete the offending part. Is that okay?
D.D.
(yes, I watch too much Emeril!)
***
Chapter Five: In Which the Villain Finally Makes an Appearance
Theme music: Suerte (Whenever Wherever) by Shakita
***
"Here you are Love!"
Molly deposited a trencher of dark drown lumpy gravy in front of Sarah. A wooden plate with a square of creamy yellow cheese followed.
"Thank you Molly." Sarah murmured as she fumbled in her 'utility' belt for the small wooden spoon she remembered spotting on her earlier inspection.
The tavern had pretty much cleared out. Apparently it filled up everyday around noon when people were stopping by for a beer on their ways home. Gawain and Jesse had vanished off to somewhere. (winkwinknudgenudge)
"Mind if I sit?"
Sarah nodded and started in on the mutton stew. Molly watched Sarah eat in silence for a while with her chin propped up on the heel of her hand.
"Is it true that the Goblin King is in love with you?" she asked finally.
Sarah choked on a chunk of mutton and Molly leapt up to pound her on the back.
"W-what?" Sarah cried, trying to wipe the tears from her streaming eyes.
"Well, the Bard told us that King Jareth is madly in love with you and set up this whole 'Game' of yours to get you closer to him." Molly explained.
Sarah swallowed the insubordinate piece of meat and set down her eating utensil. "Well, I wouldn't know about that..." she demurred.
Liar! Cried the little voice in the back of her head. Why else would he have hung around for so long? Seven years was a long time, even for the Fae!
Sarah was sure that a blush was staining her cheeks. "... you see, he's probably just ... ah, interested in me because I beat the Labyrinth..."
Molly's hands flew up to her mouth. "Oh my Moon and Stars! He's serious about you then!" she cried. "Don't you know what the Labyrinth was for?"
Sarah shook her head. "I thought it was to defend the Goblin City?"
Molly shook her head vehemently. "Why would King Jareth need to defend just one part of his Kingdom? He rules the entire Underground! No, the Labyrinth was constructed as a test for mortals!" Molly pressed her fingers to her temple. "Oh dear, maybe I should tell you the story from the beginning."
"What story?"
Molly sighed. "You might not like this... but King Jareth has been searching for a Bride on the Aboveground for several thousands of years now. How did you get to the Labyrinth?"
Sarah flushed. "I read a storybook and I... I wished my baby brother away..."
Molly nodded. "That story is actually a spell, one that grants the speaker the ability to summon the Goblin King. It can only be used by a young woman, more specifically a Dreamer."
Sarah felt her face grow still. "Let me guess, he then makes those girls run the Labyrinth and if they fail..."
"... he returns them and whoever they wished away to the Aboveground with no more than dreams of their stay." Molly finished.
Sarah blinked, that hadn't been the answer she'd been expecting. "So he doesn't really steal children and turn them into goblins?"
"Good heavens, no!" Molly laughed until tears streamed from her eyes. "Do you have any idea what is involved in transformation magic?" at Sarah's mute shrugged Molly sighed. "Well, I don't know all the particulars but it's difficult enough that the King would never do it so casually as at a Mortal's whim. I'm sure King Jareth has better things to spend his time on than stealing mortal babies."
Sarah KNEW she was blushing now. "Molly... could you tell me everything you can about how the Underground works? I have a feeling that I might have been making an idiot of myself..."
***
It was much later that night, or rather the time of day when the water clock in the tavern had rung a bell and Jesse had draped thick black curtains over the windows to block out the ever present light, when Sarah finally made her way to that much anticipated bath.
The bathing room was small, just large enough to hold the tall Japanese style bath. It was about chin height and made of some highly polished dark hardwood and had a small furnace going beneath it to keep the water nice and steamy.
Sarah lost no time in shedding her leathers and clambering into the blessed thing. She scrubbed off every trace of trail dust she could find on herself.
"Sarah."
She stopped in midscrub as Jareth smooth slippery voice reached her ears. Slender finely boned fingers grasped her shoulders before she could turn around. She tried anyway but an impenetrable strength held her in place.
"Jareth?"
A low chuckle answered her. "Close, but not quite..."
Then all at once the slender finely boned hands shoved her beneath the water.
***
NO! HELP! JARETH! GAWAIN!
Gawain's flute fell from nerveless fingers. Jesse caught it with practiced ease.
"Love, what's the..." she was left talking to air when Gawain jerked the flute from her hands and went barreling up the stairs as if all the demons of hell were at his heels.
***
BEA!
There was a sudden explosion of psychic activity in Manhattan. Many people claimed they could hear a voice, that of an African American woman many claimed, yelling things. Weeks later when police psychics managed to trace the source they found it had emanated from an abandoned apartment.
Everyone agreed on one thing, the woman had been calling someone named Jareth and another named Malcolm. Shortly after, it became public knowledge that a young employee of Camco Corp. by the name of Malcolm Aramus had disappeared along with several members of his immediate family.
They were never heard from again.
***
Sarah accidentally swallowed a lungful of water before her old life guarding instincts flooded back. She shut her mouth and ignored the panic instinct.
She took a firm grip on her attackers wrists and, bracing her feet at the edges of the tub, shoved up with the full strength of her legs.
She heard muffled curses as her head cleared the surface of the water. She felt something hard smack into the back of her head... it felt like a nose. Her attacker shoved her away, and in the process overbalanced the tub sending its contents and Sarah tumbling over onto the floor.
Sarah ducked her head and rolled over onto her stomach where she preceded to vomit up the water she'd breathed. Out of the corner of her eyes she could see a tall man with short cropped platinum hair cradling his nose gingerly. He looked down to her with stormy gray eyes filled past brimming with utter hatred.
"Bitch!" he spat, and lowered his crooked hands as if to go for her throat.
He would have too, if Jareth hadn't materialized between them. Suddenly the room was a lot smaller, or there was just a lot more of Jareth. He seemed to have become ten feet tall and he was glowing with an aura that screamed FURY! To Sarah's oxygen deprived mind he looked like a raging god!
"Cain!" he bellowed "You dare lay a hand on my consort!"
The attacker, Cain rather, spat at Jareth and scrambled to the door only to find his escape blocked by Gawain, who next to Jareth's divine wrath was a sort of avenging Angel.
The Bard lift his flute his lips and blew a few short notes that the ear almost bled to hear. Cain screamed, this time in pain. He doubled over and glared at Sarah, an unintelligible mantra already at his blood flecked lips.
"I'll come for you again, witch!" he hissed as his form vanished in a swirl of black ash.
"Sarah!"
Sarah heard her name torn from two... no three throats. Jareth made it to her first. He grasped her arms and a pulse of warmth shot through her, banishing the cold and confusion.
"Are you all right, beloved?"
Sarah nodded weakly. "Yes." she whispered.
"Thank your Sacrificed God." Jareth muttered as he wrapped her in his cloak and cradled her close to his body, warming her and concealing her modesty. She was dimly aware of Gawain telling Jesse to unlock her room.
"Can't" Sarah murmured. "I'm pagan."
Jareth lifted her with... frightening ease. "Well, that certainly explains a lot. I never have been able to attract the attention of a proper Christian lamb. One wonders if their God protect them from such as I?" he shrugged. "I believe you are done with your bath?" at Sarah's weak nod he chuckled and eyed the cracked wooden tub. "That's good, it's certainly done with you. I just can't let you bathe unsupervised, can I?"
"Never stopped you before." Sarah groused.
"No, it hasn't... mind your head now." Jareth held her at an angle so he wouldn't bump her head as her carried her to her room. "Do you know who it was that attacked you?"
"You called him Cain, and I saw that he looked a lot like you only his hair was shorter and his eyes were the same color." Sarah answered obediently. "Other than that I've never seen him, hear of him, or cared before now."
Jesse opened the door to Sarah's rented room for Jareth and pulled back the blankets before backing out of the room maintaining a respectful silence the whole time. Sarah knew better, one look into those green eyes and she could see the questions practically spilling out, but Jesse had better manners than that. She'd wait until Jareth was gone (good luck with that!) and (hopefully) until Sarah was feeling better.
"Then he's using you to hurt me." Jareth muttered as he tucked the bed sheets up around Sarah's chin. He stood back up with an indecipherable look in his eyes.
"The spell I cast on you should speed your recovery..." he held up a hand to still her protests. "I know you feel fine, and I felt you fighting Cain while I was coming to you. You did well, but he still managed to hurt you. You'll be ready to continue your journey in the morning... I'd prefer you to stay here for a few days while I take care of Cain, but I know you better than that. You're probably already champing at the bit."
Sarah shrugged and rolled her eyes, careful not to reveal too much of her nudity to Jareth. He'd been distracted before, but right now was another story. "Oh, I dunno." She said. "I guess I could stay around here for a while if it would make you feel better."
Jareth blinked. "Sarah, are you feeling quite yourself?" he asked worriedly. "My spell is working, isn't it?"
Sarah blew a raspberry at him. "I'm fine!" she cried. "I'm just..." she shrugged again. "That was really close, Jareth. I'm not fifteen anymore and there's no time limit on this game. I'd feel safer if I didn't have El- psycho breathing down my neck. Who is he anyway?"
Jareth frowned. "I'm wondering if it's safe for you to know?"
Sarah made a face. "Who nearly got drowned by the bastard? He'll be gunning for me whether I know about him or not. I've got a right to know."
Jareth shook his head and sunk into a nearby chair. "It's my own fault." He muttered to himself. "I wanted a woman who could keep me on my toes... well, now I've got one." He sighed and leaned forward with his fingers laced together.
"Well, Sarah-love. This is a very long and personal story, most certainly not bedtime material."
"Tell me any way."
He shook his head again, sending his spiky hair flying out in all direction. "Cain, is my half brother."
***
End Chapter Five
***
AU- I'm Back! And earlier than expected too! Thanks to everyone who told me such encouraging wisdom teeth stories. They were what I was telling myself as they put me out. Actually, they don't hurt much more than they did when they were just impacted with the added bonus of the fact that the pain will eventually go away!
So here I am, out of school for another day and with all the chocolate milkshakes my little heart could want. Life is good, so I decided to say thank you for all your comforting sentiments by putting my time off to good use and putting out another chapter.
If anyone is even mildly offended by the fact that I made Sarah a pagan, please don't be. Allow me to explain, I myself am pagan and I have noticed several things about pagans and non-pagans. No offense, but Christians, Jews, and orthodox religions tend to be... now can I put this delicately, well.. orthodox. They're taught from day one that men who show up in the middle of the night, take your baby brother away to another world to eventually turn him into a goblin unless you do him some 'special favor' tend to be Agents of the devil. (gee! I wonder where they got THAT idea? Knowing Jareth this is not altogether an inappropriate assumption)
Well, I want my representation of Sarah to be anything but orthodox. Pagans tend to be more flexible and more able to adapt to adverse situations (can we say the Spanish inquisition?) Her choice of religion is just my way of giving Sarah another dimension. Lets face it, the first time she met Jareth, Sarah did not drop to her knees and pray, no! She stood up to him and practically spit in his eye!
I'm not going to stick my thumb into a religious bee's nest here, so that's pretty much all I'm going to have Sarah say about that subject. If it makes you feel better, just ignore the fact but please keep in mind that this woman had been dealing with real 'in your face' supernatural phenomena for seven years. I believe, in some small way that would have affected her world view slightly.
I hope this doesn't affect your enjoyment of the story and if I get enough review to the contrary (oh say, three negatives to one positive) I'll go back and delete the offending part. Is that okay?
D.D.
