Eric watched the crystal in confusion, as Kathy stepped into the portrait, and then immediately stepped out again. He watched her speaking to the painting, and wondered why she looked so mean all of a sudden.
Jareth, who had more experience in these things and could hear what was being said, swore under his breath. He'd forgotten about the brollachan, going to great effort to build an oubliette that would suitably contain it. Very few people ever visited that section of the Labyrinth, and he had hoped that he would never have cause to have to remember it again.
Damn the girl! She couldn't just stop being an irritation, no, she had to cause trouble even in the manner of her getting lost. Grimacing, he rose gracefully to his feet and brushed the dust of the throne room off his breeches.
"Stay here, boy."
"Where are you going?"
"I'm going to pull your sister out of the frying pan and back into the fire, if you must know."
"What?"
The question was addressed to empty air. The Goblin King was gone.
~*~
Sarah waited in front of her mirror for an endless amount of time. Eventually, two figures, one huge, one small, slowly ambled into the reflection and took up places behind her. She smiled through her tears, and turned to greet them, but there was nobody there.
Looking back into the mirror in confusion, she saw that her two friends were still there.
"Hoggle… Ludo… I'm so glad to see you. Why don't you come through? I've missed you so much."
"We'd like to, missy," replied the dwarf, "But the fact of the matter is, you're out of practice. You ain't called on us in a quarter-century. You wouldn't be callin' us now if you didn't need something." His tone was full of sorrow.
"I'm sorry, Hoggle, I'm so sorry," and she was, her chocolate eyes filling with tears, "But I had to make a choice. I couldn't keep living a halfway life. Not a day goes by that I don't regret it, but I had to be part of the real world. And I couldn't do that as long as I still was holding on to you."
"It's all right, missy. Everyone 'as to leave dreams behind eventually. You jest left it 'till later than most," said Hoggle, a sad smile creasing his wrinkly face.
"Sarwah friend," added Ludo, ponderously.
Sarah laughed a little, despite herself, and wiped tears from her face. "I am so happy to see you again, both of you. It's been so long… I'd forgotten what it was like to be with friends like you. But where is Sir Didymus?"
The beast and dwarf reflections looked up at one another with worry in their eyes. "Ah, Sarah…" said Hoggle, hesitantly, "It's been a long time. And he… he was a fox, you know. They live so much that they don't live long."
"What? But… you live… there's magic in the Labyrinth, isn't there? How could… how could this happen?"
"There's still death in the Labyrinth, missy, at least for the likes of us. Magic can make you live longer, but the price is too much."
Sarah, struck to the heart, looked at the two remaining friends of her childhood. Hoggle was much the same, perhaps a bit more wrinkled around the eyes, but streaks of grey ran through Ludo's thick fur. And then she looked at her own face, and it was as if she were seeing it for the first time. She looked younger than her years (thanks to exhaustive facial treatments and one subtle eye lift), but the face was definitely that of a woman, not a girl. Involuntarily, she reached out to her reflection, wondering what had happened to the fifteen year old girl who used to be there.
Nothing stays static, no matter what world you're in.
She exhaled raggedly, and whispered, "I'm so, so sorry. Forgive me. I'm so sorry."
"Naught to forgive, missy. He had a good innings. A wife. Kittens. Grandkittens, for a' that. Now, what did you call us for?"
"I have a son and a daughter. They've gone missing, and I'm afraid they might be in the Labyrinth. I had hoped you might help them, somehow."
Hoggle's brow wrinkled. "Easier said than done… His Majesty's kept a closer eye on things since you beat him." Hoggle cackled and rubbed his small hands together, "Mind, I wouldn't half like a chance to show him a trick or two again."
"Ludo help," growled the beast.
"Aye, right. For you, Sarah, we'll do it."
"Thank you, so much, both of you."
"Thank us when we gets it finished, Missy."
They were gone then, and Sarah was left gazing into her tear-streaked reflection, thinking of debts that could never be paid.
~*~
Meanwhile, back at the portrait gallery, the two goblins advanced cautiously towards the brollachan, swords out.
"Miz Williams?"
The blonde figure seemed to notice them for the first time, and it smirked. "Really, Jareth, is this the best you can do? I knew you'd come down in the world, but I had no idea things were this bad. Awww… so sad. Come on then, freaks. Time to die."
"Get 'er, lad!" shouted Screwtape, and he and his companion rushed the erstwhile Katherine. Goblins rely on numbers in battle, since individually they are not terribly physically imposing. The charge was not, thus, a sight to strike fear in anyone much more than three feet tall, and the brollachan found it hysterical. As they reached it, the laughing body became oddly liquid, and slipped between them like fog. A watcher couldn't swear to that, since it was over so quickly, and an instant later, the creature was solid again. Fists like stones knocked the two goblins on the back of their helmets and sent them flying into the wall.
"If you've finished knocking the help around, Adorna, perhaps you'd care to deal with me?"
The brollachan whirled, slipping into a feral crouch, a hiss emanating from Kathy's throat. Its smile never wavered as it murmured, "Ohh… yes, Jareth. I'd just love that."
~*~
Eric whacked the crystal, frustrated that he couldn't hear what was being said. Something very interesting was going on, but he couldn't tell what, exactly. He knew Kathy could never have tossed those goblins around like that. She would have done it if she could, but she just wasn't that strong. He shook the crystal in irritation, and peered within its depths.
Deeper…
And without knowing how, he looked deeper into the crystal, past the images, until he saw a glittering lattice woven of brilliant white threads. The sphere was made of magic, not crystal. And he could see…
This is how it works…
It was really just a toy, not that complicated, really, once you understood the idea behind it. And it could transmit sounds, he realized, but you needed to know how to hear them. And he knew how now. He reached inside, and cautiously made an adjustment.
"Betrayer," he heard Kathy say, in a thickening Scots accent.
~*~
"I never betrayed you, Adorna," replied Jareth.
"And what would you call your little affaire de coeur with that mortal harlot, if not a betrayal?" she spat, dropping the backpack at her feet.
"I never met her until after I had broken off with you, as I believe I told you the last time we had this discussion."
The pair circled one another, warily, looking for the other's guard to be dropped, waiting for an opportunity to strike.
"Liar."
"I never lie, Adorna. I left you because… hmm… why did I do that… Oh. Yes. You were gibberingly insane. Not much has changed, I see."
"Bastard."
"Did you realize you've picked up Katherine's style of speech along with her life? Rather staccato."
"Jareth, everything that needs to be said about you can be said in words of four letters... little Kathy realized that. And she's lucky. What I've done to her is much better than what you would do when you tired of her… or when someone with better breasts and a smaller ass came along."
The Goblin King stopped dead in his tracks. "You labor under a misapprehension. She is not my…"
The brollachan launched herself at him, knocking him off balance. Jareth gripped her wrists tightly, and they whirled in a deadly dance through the gallery. Despite the fact that the Goblin king towered several inches over the Kathy's body, they were fairly evenly matched in strength.
Screwtape shook his bullet head and raised himself to his feet. When he saw his junior, Gutbucket, still unconscious on the floor near the portrait of Kathy, he hurried over and knelt beside the young goblin. Jareth snatched at the opportunity, and twisted himself and the brollachan in that direction. The creature was confused at the abrupt change of tactics, and when she stumbled over the pair of goblins, she could not correct her balance in time.
She snatched at Jareth, but all she managed was to draw four bloody scratches across his pale cheek. With a shriek of rage, Adorna tumbled back into the painting. The canvas surface rippled and was uncertain for a moment, and the tinny smell of magic wafted for the room. Then Kathy tumbled out.
Jareth could easily have caught her, but he simply stood watching, a gloved hand held to his bleeding jaw, as she landed flat on her back before him. The impact badly hurt her bruised ribs, but she barely noticed.
"I couldn't breathe," she whispered.
Or move or speak, actually, but it was the breathing that had been the problem. The sensation of having her lungs try to expand, but fail, since there was no third dimension to expand into…
"It hurt," she whispered, not being able to come up with any other word to describe that agony. She rolled her head to one side, and saw the recuperating goblins. Turning her head to the other side, she saw a pair of dusty black boots. Knowing who was in them, she pushed into a sitting position and stared coldly up at the king. "You saved me. Why?"
"Because you are a minor irritation. The brollachan, on the other hand, has come very close to killing me on several occasions. As troublesome as you are, in this case, you were the lesser of two evils," he replied. The cynical half-smile was still on his face, but his eyes actually had an expression, albeit an unfathomable one. And his deep voice sounded a little… afraid?
Nah. Couldn't be.
Kathy glanced down at her right hand. Someone else's blood was beneath the bitten nails. She had had only the haziest view of the fight from within the painting, but she knew whose blood it was.
"Well… thank you, anyway," she said, surprising herself.
He raised a fair brow at that. "You're welcome. Now get out of here before I change my mind."
She rose to her feet, slung the backpack over her shoulders, and turned to depart. A soft thud made her turn around and look back. Jareth was down on one knee, and was supporting his weight with his hands. The scratches on his cheek were liquidly red, and his face was even paler than she remembered. Kathy took a few hesitant steps in his direction, asking, "Ummm… are you all right?"
"Get… out. All of you!" Jareth gritted out through clenched teeth, glaring at Kathy and the goblins with blazing eyes.
"But…"
"NOW!!"
Her nerve broke, and she ran for it, Gutbucket and Screwtape on her heels. They passed Kathy's portrait, where the brollachan was now depicted in an eternal stumble: ever falling, but never quite hitting the ground. Plunging headlong, they raced through the open doorway at the far end of the passage, stepping into the swath of meadow that preceded the forest.
This time, when Kathy looked back, there was a brick wall where the doorway had been, and no Jareth. Remembering the rage in his voice, she was relieved.
~*~
Eric drew his eyes away from the crystal when Jareth materialized in the throne room. The Goblin King stood ramrod-straight when he arrived, a posture that lasted a full three seconds. He collapsed into a heap, then, and did not rise. Scrambling over to him, Eric rolled him onto his back, and averted his eyes at the sight of the older man's face. The handsome, pale face was still there, with the four scratches upon it the only mar to its perfect symmetry. Overlaid on this, fading and brightening as Jareth breathed in and out, was a grim half-mask, swirling in colors of olive and brown and black. The wounds on this mask were festering, and pulling the flesh to conform to themselves.
Eric gulped, nauseated, and gently shook Jareth's shoulder. "Your majesty?"
The silver eyes opened, and tried to focus. "Venom," he whispered, his voice as gravelly as a man dying of lung cancer, "Forgot. Foolish of me." He tried his half-smile, but it was sickly and weak. "Call… servants. They… summon … a healer."
"You don't have time for that," Eric blurted out, not knowing it was true until he said it, "I can see the poison. They can't get anyone quick enough."
"You… see it? You?"
"Yeah. It's really bad, sir. It's spreading. Fast. Towards… towards your heart, sir."
"No!" he shouted, so loudly Eric jumped, "I… will not… die like this. Not now." And to Eric's amazement, he pushed himself to a sitting position, despite the venomous swirls that now surrounded his face and neck. "Not… like this."
Eric hesitated, and then said, "I think I know how to get rid of it. I see… I think I can see how to take it off of you."
Jareth gazed at the boy, now only a blur in his darkening sight. "Have… you ever done… a healing, boy?"\
"No, sir."
"Do you… know how easy it is… to make a mistake? Know… what you could do… to me if you make… a mistake?"
Eric nodded, slowly. He didn't know, exactly… but he was seeing things he had never imagined before, and he could see the delicacy required: to control the millions of interactions that distinguish a living being from a bag of meat and chemicals. To make sure that all those proceeded correctly, knowing that a small mistake could stop a heart or turn a mind into a blank slate… he shivered, but he nodded.
Jareth looked blearily at him for another moment, and then nodded in return. "Do it."
"Are you sure?" asked Eric, his nerves stretching out so tightly they could have been played like a violin.
"Not… much choice."
Carefully, Eric reached up to Jareth's face, and rested his small hand on the wounded side. The skin was hot and feverish, the swirls of venom sickening to touch, the blood from the wounds still flowing. But somewhere, beneath it, were tiny pieces (Cells, whispered the part of Eric who had gotten an A in science). They remembered what it was like to be whole and unhurt, the practically-immortal flesh of a lord of the fair folk… he closed his eyes to see better, and knew that they wanted to return to that state. All he had to do was show them how.
Jareth half heard the boy's childish voice say, "All right, pay attention, this is what you have to do." Then a wave of white light crashed into his consciousness and swept him away.
~*~
Kathy tousled her hair with her hands, which, after the events of the past few hours, actually made it neater. She looked down at Gutbucket and Screwtape, who looked back at her, helmets in hand.
"So, basically, you guys are saying that you don't know where we are or have any idea how to get to the castle?"
"Yes, Miz Williams," replied Screwtape.
"But I thought you lived here."
"Yes… but the Labyrinth is 'uge. An' it's 'is majesty's command that we keep to our own paths, our own villages. There's pathfinders, as can go anywheres, but we ain't them. We ain't never been in this bit."
"So not only does Jareth keep you all locked in the Underground, he also makes you keep to your own special areas? I thought he seemed like a control freak, but this is just stupid. Why does he do it?"
"Cos we're bloody stupid, Miz."
"Gutbucket!"
"Well, I wanted to answer one, boss!" squeaked the junior goblin.
Screwtape walloped him a good one on the back of his lumpy head. He then sighed, and said, " 'e's right, though, Miz Williams. Goblins don't got no sense of direction, nor good memories neither, and this keeps 'im from 'aving to keep 'is eyes open for us all the time. 'E's none too fond of us, but 'e don' want us getting' 'urt."
"That's one explanation. Or he could be keeping you in your own little groups so you don't unite and overthrow his plutocratic regime in bloody revolution."
"Wot's a blutocatic hygiene, Miz Williams?" asked Screwtape, scratching his ears.
"And wot's a revoltion?" chimed in Gutbucket.
"Or maybe I'm wrong and you really are bloody stupid. Never mind," sighed Kathy, peering into the dark forest ahead of her. "Well, thanks anyway. I'll be off now."
She strode off to the forest's edge, stopping when she heard the clanking footsteps behind her. Turning around had not been a successful action today, so she didn't look behind her. She just stopped, steepled her hands in front of her face, and closed her eyes. "What are you two doing?"
"We're comin' wif you, Miz Williams."\
"Ah. Somehow I suspected that might be it. Look, I've got no idea how to get where I'm going. You'll do just as well without me."
"But… 'ow will we know what to do without orders?"
"I don't know!" she said, loudly, lowering her hands, " 'Ow… I mean, how do you normally act when no one tells you what to do?"
The goblins had caught her up, and stood at attention in front of her. The question seemed to confuse them, and they looked up at her without answering. Kathy glared down at them, but her glare was barely noticeable in comparison to the glares they were used to. She realized that she couldn't leave them behind: it would be the approximate moral equivalent of abandoning a puppy by the highway.
"Oh, fine. But you two had better not slow me up any, or I'll… I'll… I'll kick you into the marsh of stench."
"Bog of Eternal Stench, Miz Williams," said Gutbucket, helpfully.
"Shut up."
