King of Dreams, Owner of None
by Bunniko
AN: Thanks Cyber Keiko-sama for being an awesome Beta reader!! If anyone wants to dialog about my story or has questions or comments they'd like answered, please feel free to email me at fieryfaerie@yahoo.com I am working on this story in my spare time, which means around settling back into life in the US. I see much more to be revealed in this story and hope y'all enjoy it enough to stick around. Anywho, another chapter with oblique references to me and my friends. So again, there's some stuff I own. I own: Trixie/Jeannie, Melinda, Deborah, Rikki, Solei and other things as they appear. I do not own: Texas (bummer), England (yay!), the Labyrinth (sniffle), Jareth, Sarah, etc. To my real life friends: See if you can find yourself. Did I write you in? lol
Please Note: The story is set 5 years after the movie. Also, Kiori is my creation, but I'm lifting her out of another Labyrinth story I wrote, The Elemental. That one is much darker, and I've changed a few things, so to anyone who wanted more of Elemental's Kiori - I'm still working on that sequel. Sorry!!
Chapter Ten - The Shadow Knows . . . Too Much
Over the years, Sarah had gotten into the habit of talking to herself. At first, it had been due to the suspicion, recently disproved, that Jareth was always watching. But, and she swore it was not paranoia, she was becoming more and more convinced that she was not alone. As she paced through her grandmother's house, she muttered to herself. Several things were bothering her.
The first was a nagging sense of guilt. No matter how many arguments she pulled up to justify why she couldn't go back to that.that place, she couldn't shake the vision of Jeannie's eyes when she had said she wouldn't rescue her. Her distrust of Jareth ran so deep that she wasn't sure what she had left Jeannie to. She climbed the steps noisily as she ascended into the attic.
She swiped uselessly at the cobwebs and dust as she presented her argument against her second problem. "The King? Dinner? Jeannie's too smart to fall for his Sparkly Tights. What is that wanna-be rock star up to?" Her voice rose and fell in cadence with each swipe of the grimy rag over the grimier window. She tried to catch a glimpse of the lake, but it was futile. Tossing the rag down, she whirled to retrieve the forgotten bottle of glass cleaner from the living room.
A small figure barely ducked back into the grimy shadows in time. A faint sigh emanated from behind the boxes labeled 'Props'. Sarah's grandmother had been a dreamy little old lady who had followed her daughter's career with not a little vicariousness. Her own amateur acting had been ended a long time ago, at the hands of a brutal husband who had broken her jaw, resulting in a permanent speech disability. In various boxes and trunks were squirreled away tokens and trinkets from her only daughter's stage career. Sarah tossed an uneasy glance at the Props box, certain she had seen a strange shape only a moment ago. As she left the attic, she tried to shake off her third uneasy feeling. For two or three years now, she had been aware that the shadows seemed to conceal something. But she couldn't identify who, what or why. She knew better than to speak of it, especially as she wasn't certain it meant her harm.
The warm sunlight shining through the freshly cleaned, if slightly streaky, living room windows did much to lighten her mood. Still, as she returned to the attic weighed down with glass cleaner and fresh rags, she took her CD player with her. Music always alleviated her suspicions and unease.
***
In Texas, four girls gathered for lunch. They were discussing a few oddities, like Jeannie's sudden departure and Vincent's odd disappearance.
Melinda was talking, gesturing with her salad fork. "She called me at 2 am, the day after Halloween. 2 AM! And tells me she's got to go to England 'cause Sarah's sick."
Debbie interrupted. "I'd like to meet this Sarah. Jeannie talks about her acting talent, their childhood antics, everything! So much, it's like she's not real!"
"Or superhuman." Solei interjected, looking up from her notebook, in which she was jotting notes for her latest musical piece.
Rikki sipped her Diet soda and mused. "It's not like her not to call. She's been gone almost a week." She sighed worriedly. "I miss her."
Mel made a sarcastic face, "What? You mean you don't appreciate the silence?" The four laughed good-naturedly. The moment passed, and Mel changed topics. "Have any of you seen Vincent lately? He's in two of my classes, but he hasn't been in all week." She frowned darkly, feeling a deep dislike for the man who had upset her friend.
"I couldn't believe he had the balls to show up at our party!" Solei inveighed. "And who slipped up and told him what her costume was? Of all the pathetic . . ."
"I thought it was sweet, if it had been anyone else." Rikki interjected.
"Sweet? It made him look like a stalker." Debbie snatched a french fry off Rikki's plate.
"Hey!"
"Sorry." She grinned unapologetically as Rikki threatened to dump her soda in Debbie's lap.
Mel shook her head, and then murmured, "Jeannie's eyes haven't shone the same way in a while. Not since she found out Vincent only wanted her body." She tilted her head, seeking an explanation.
Solei contributed it. "It's her self-esteem. She's so jumpy around men, so distrusting."
"Do you blame her? The way her father, her brothers abused her? The stories she told me about Sarah's grandfather?" Three heads turned to Rikki. "Jeannie told me that Sarah's grandfather died when they were 8. It seemed like his death released a lock on her soul and for months, Sarah's grandmother told anyone who would listen about what she had suffered in her marriage. Jeannie said it made Sarah jumpy around men, made her suspicious."
Debbie murmured, "Maybe it made Jeannie that way too."
Solei shook her head, "I think what it did, what all those things did, was make Jeannie cautious. She would try to figure someone out before she trusted them. And I think when she makes a mistake, it really bothers her."
"Maybe," Mel agreed, "but I also think a part of her was scared."
"Of Vincent?" Debbie sounded incredulous. "He's . . . he's . . ." she trailed off as she glanced out the window. "I wonder." Debbie was suddenly feeling a bit left out. The other three still lived in town with Jeannie, while she had driven in special for this get-together. But if some creep was bothering her best friend . . .
Mel sighed and leaned back in her chair. "It's so different from high school, Debbie. Back then, one of us was always around her. We told each other everything. It's no wonder she flew off to help Sarah just like that. For ten years, they've been so close, even though so far apart. She'll let us now when she's back. And this is Jeannie after all. No matter what else, she's a fighter."
Debbie nodded, knowing how Mel felt. The three of them had gone through all four years of high school together. That they had grown apart was sad, but they were still close, still there for each other. All five of them always would be. But still, Sarah was like a shadowy sixth. All four at lunch would give a lot to meet this girl.
"I wonder what she's like." Rikki murmured.
***
Sarah's attic finally shone. She'd dragged all her grandmother's boxes into one section of the attic and lugged up some of her own things as well. She'd made a small shrine of sorts out of the section next to the window. The vanity, a piece of furniture she'd always seemed to need, was set against the wall. On its surface were a crystal ball and a red-leather book.
Sarah herself was curled up on her bed, a spare sheet tossed over it so that her filthy clothes and body didn't stain the bedcovers. She'd worked herself to a near-comatose state of exhaustion, finally silencing the nagging voices in her mind. Her eyes were staring sightlessly out her window, watching the wind dancing in the trees. In the shadows behind her, the figure detached itself from its cozy corner and approached the bed.
The figure watched the girl for her mistress. Her mistress had many spies and was powerful. Her master had once been powerful too, she mused. But this little girl had broken him. Now her mistress sought to control that threat. At least, Kiori mused, she assumed the girl was a threat.
Kiori stood for the first time in 5 years in the light. It was reckless, she knew, but the Will was propelling her forward. She'd originally been sent here by her master. Little did he know just how much she'd grown to hate him. When the Will had become powerful enough, Kiori had defected without a qualm.
It was true that centuries ago, Jareth had rescued her. For that, she supposed she owed him loyalty. But, after passing a pleasant few years as his lover before eventually being put aside, she had chosen her Underworld form. For a very long time, she'd been a faithful faery, one with fire talents and a keen mind. Good at deceiving those who challenged the Labyrinth, she had garnered high praise. But the Labyrinth was a treacherous place, not fully controlled by the King, whether he knew that or not. A misstep had placed her in an oubliette of far nastier propensity than the one Sarah had found. She'd slowly gone mad, her face scarred, her wings torn. In silence and pain, she had waited for her King and former lover to find her.
Oh, he'd rescued her in the end, but his inability to locate her for so long had made her realize just how tenuous his position was. He was so self-satisfied, so secure in his throne that he didn't know there were powers at work against him. His defeat at the hands of a little girl was hardly reassuring.
The Will had been whispering in her mind since his defeat. Instead of watching the girl, as Jareth had instructed, she took advantage of her position. She whispered to the girl as she slept, whispered dark things that cast Jareth in a very questionable light. She encouraged in the girl's subconscious a distrust of Jareth and a fear of the Labyrinth. But after all her hard work for four years, the Will now seemed interested in a different tack. Or perhaps it had been there all along. The Will wanted a body, an avatar. And it had chosen Sarah Williams.
by Bunniko
AN: Thanks Cyber Keiko-sama for being an awesome Beta reader!! If anyone wants to dialog about my story or has questions or comments they'd like answered, please feel free to email me at fieryfaerie@yahoo.com I am working on this story in my spare time, which means around settling back into life in the US. I see much more to be revealed in this story and hope y'all enjoy it enough to stick around. Anywho, another chapter with oblique references to me and my friends. So again, there's some stuff I own. I own: Trixie/Jeannie, Melinda, Deborah, Rikki, Solei and other things as they appear. I do not own: Texas (bummer), England (yay!), the Labyrinth (sniffle), Jareth, Sarah, etc. To my real life friends: See if you can find yourself. Did I write you in? lol
Please Note: The story is set 5 years after the movie. Also, Kiori is my creation, but I'm lifting her out of another Labyrinth story I wrote, The Elemental. That one is much darker, and I've changed a few things, so to anyone who wanted more of Elemental's Kiori - I'm still working on that sequel. Sorry!!
Chapter Ten - The Shadow Knows . . . Too Much
Over the years, Sarah had gotten into the habit of talking to herself. At first, it had been due to the suspicion, recently disproved, that Jareth was always watching. But, and she swore it was not paranoia, she was becoming more and more convinced that she was not alone. As she paced through her grandmother's house, she muttered to herself. Several things were bothering her.
The first was a nagging sense of guilt. No matter how many arguments she pulled up to justify why she couldn't go back to that.that place, she couldn't shake the vision of Jeannie's eyes when she had said she wouldn't rescue her. Her distrust of Jareth ran so deep that she wasn't sure what she had left Jeannie to. She climbed the steps noisily as she ascended into the attic.
She swiped uselessly at the cobwebs and dust as she presented her argument against her second problem. "The King? Dinner? Jeannie's too smart to fall for his Sparkly Tights. What is that wanna-be rock star up to?" Her voice rose and fell in cadence with each swipe of the grimy rag over the grimier window. She tried to catch a glimpse of the lake, but it was futile. Tossing the rag down, she whirled to retrieve the forgotten bottle of glass cleaner from the living room.
A small figure barely ducked back into the grimy shadows in time. A faint sigh emanated from behind the boxes labeled 'Props'. Sarah's grandmother had been a dreamy little old lady who had followed her daughter's career with not a little vicariousness. Her own amateur acting had been ended a long time ago, at the hands of a brutal husband who had broken her jaw, resulting in a permanent speech disability. In various boxes and trunks were squirreled away tokens and trinkets from her only daughter's stage career. Sarah tossed an uneasy glance at the Props box, certain she had seen a strange shape only a moment ago. As she left the attic, she tried to shake off her third uneasy feeling. For two or three years now, she had been aware that the shadows seemed to conceal something. But she couldn't identify who, what or why. She knew better than to speak of it, especially as she wasn't certain it meant her harm.
The warm sunlight shining through the freshly cleaned, if slightly streaky, living room windows did much to lighten her mood. Still, as she returned to the attic weighed down with glass cleaner and fresh rags, she took her CD player with her. Music always alleviated her suspicions and unease.
***
In Texas, four girls gathered for lunch. They were discussing a few oddities, like Jeannie's sudden departure and Vincent's odd disappearance.
Melinda was talking, gesturing with her salad fork. "She called me at 2 am, the day after Halloween. 2 AM! And tells me she's got to go to England 'cause Sarah's sick."
Debbie interrupted. "I'd like to meet this Sarah. Jeannie talks about her acting talent, their childhood antics, everything! So much, it's like she's not real!"
"Or superhuman." Solei interjected, looking up from her notebook, in which she was jotting notes for her latest musical piece.
Rikki sipped her Diet soda and mused. "It's not like her not to call. She's been gone almost a week." She sighed worriedly. "I miss her."
Mel made a sarcastic face, "What? You mean you don't appreciate the silence?" The four laughed good-naturedly. The moment passed, and Mel changed topics. "Have any of you seen Vincent lately? He's in two of my classes, but he hasn't been in all week." She frowned darkly, feeling a deep dislike for the man who had upset her friend.
"I couldn't believe he had the balls to show up at our party!" Solei inveighed. "And who slipped up and told him what her costume was? Of all the pathetic . . ."
"I thought it was sweet, if it had been anyone else." Rikki interjected.
"Sweet? It made him look like a stalker." Debbie snatched a french fry off Rikki's plate.
"Hey!"
"Sorry." She grinned unapologetically as Rikki threatened to dump her soda in Debbie's lap.
Mel shook her head, and then murmured, "Jeannie's eyes haven't shone the same way in a while. Not since she found out Vincent only wanted her body." She tilted her head, seeking an explanation.
Solei contributed it. "It's her self-esteem. She's so jumpy around men, so distrusting."
"Do you blame her? The way her father, her brothers abused her? The stories she told me about Sarah's grandfather?" Three heads turned to Rikki. "Jeannie told me that Sarah's grandfather died when they were 8. It seemed like his death released a lock on her soul and for months, Sarah's grandmother told anyone who would listen about what she had suffered in her marriage. Jeannie said it made Sarah jumpy around men, made her suspicious."
Debbie murmured, "Maybe it made Jeannie that way too."
Solei shook her head, "I think what it did, what all those things did, was make Jeannie cautious. She would try to figure someone out before she trusted them. And I think when she makes a mistake, it really bothers her."
"Maybe," Mel agreed, "but I also think a part of her was scared."
"Of Vincent?" Debbie sounded incredulous. "He's . . . he's . . ." she trailed off as she glanced out the window. "I wonder." Debbie was suddenly feeling a bit left out. The other three still lived in town with Jeannie, while she had driven in special for this get-together. But if some creep was bothering her best friend . . .
Mel sighed and leaned back in her chair. "It's so different from high school, Debbie. Back then, one of us was always around her. We told each other everything. It's no wonder she flew off to help Sarah just like that. For ten years, they've been so close, even though so far apart. She'll let us now when she's back. And this is Jeannie after all. No matter what else, she's a fighter."
Debbie nodded, knowing how Mel felt. The three of them had gone through all four years of high school together. That they had grown apart was sad, but they were still close, still there for each other. All five of them always would be. But still, Sarah was like a shadowy sixth. All four at lunch would give a lot to meet this girl.
"I wonder what she's like." Rikki murmured.
***
Sarah's attic finally shone. She'd dragged all her grandmother's boxes into one section of the attic and lugged up some of her own things as well. She'd made a small shrine of sorts out of the section next to the window. The vanity, a piece of furniture she'd always seemed to need, was set against the wall. On its surface were a crystal ball and a red-leather book.
Sarah herself was curled up on her bed, a spare sheet tossed over it so that her filthy clothes and body didn't stain the bedcovers. She'd worked herself to a near-comatose state of exhaustion, finally silencing the nagging voices in her mind. Her eyes were staring sightlessly out her window, watching the wind dancing in the trees. In the shadows behind her, the figure detached itself from its cozy corner and approached the bed.
The figure watched the girl for her mistress. Her mistress had many spies and was powerful. Her master had once been powerful too, she mused. But this little girl had broken him. Now her mistress sought to control that threat. At least, Kiori mused, she assumed the girl was a threat.
Kiori stood for the first time in 5 years in the light. It was reckless, she knew, but the Will was propelling her forward. She'd originally been sent here by her master. Little did he know just how much she'd grown to hate him. When the Will had become powerful enough, Kiori had defected without a qualm.
It was true that centuries ago, Jareth had rescued her. For that, she supposed she owed him loyalty. But, after passing a pleasant few years as his lover before eventually being put aside, she had chosen her Underworld form. For a very long time, she'd been a faithful faery, one with fire talents and a keen mind. Good at deceiving those who challenged the Labyrinth, she had garnered high praise. But the Labyrinth was a treacherous place, not fully controlled by the King, whether he knew that or not. A misstep had placed her in an oubliette of far nastier propensity than the one Sarah had found. She'd slowly gone mad, her face scarred, her wings torn. In silence and pain, she had waited for her King and former lover to find her.
Oh, he'd rescued her in the end, but his inability to locate her for so long had made her realize just how tenuous his position was. He was so self-satisfied, so secure in his throne that he didn't know there were powers at work against him. His defeat at the hands of a little girl was hardly reassuring.
The Will had been whispering in her mind since his defeat. Instead of watching the girl, as Jareth had instructed, she took advantage of her position. She whispered to the girl as she slept, whispered dark things that cast Jareth in a very questionable light. She encouraged in the girl's subconscious a distrust of Jareth and a fear of the Labyrinth. But after all her hard work for four years, the Will now seemed interested in a different tack. Or perhaps it had been there all along. The Will wanted a body, an avatar. And it had chosen Sarah Williams.