Part Two; Dark in the Underground
Chapter Six:
Justin lead the way with his gladuis drawn. Jareth followed in his black armor with a long
sword hanging from a belt, then the two girls. Heather walked with Sarah's hand on her shoulder
through the frighteningly black labyrinth.
"I was here for thirteen hours once and never saw night." Sarah whispered to the small group.
"I told you things would be different under a strange man's rule." Justin replied. "The
labyrinth is fighting Renan's evil by turning out the lights on him."
"Oh." Was Sarah's only response.
"Or," Jareth remarked, "It is merely an amplification of what is in that man's heart."
They had been in Jareth's realm for nearly one day and it had been a black day. Sarah couldn't
see anything but the Sidhe and two half-breeds were finding the going much easier. With their
magic they were able to find their way without light. Heather had done it by instinct and hadn't
even needed instruction. She felt her repressed magic deep inside her yearning to surface the
moment she had stepped in the Underground. The feeling was a strange one. Like her blood had
become super heated and was running the course of her body trying to find an outlet. She had
often felt different as Justin and Jareth guessed, but she had always attributed this to her active
imagination and Scottish up bringing. No matter that she was the second generation out of
Scotland she still picked up her parent's accent. Now it was something else altogether. She felt
this world trying to reach out and grab her and pull her down into the sandy soil and hold her
there. She stopped herself from wanting that. She had a job to do she could worry about finding
her place here if she decided to stay. Her new powers put her in rapture though, she felt like she
had been living in a dead world and was suddenly alive. She could feel the land breathe under her
feet, she knew the labyrinth was alive with magic and she wondered if would rub off and infect
her soul as it had done Sarah.
Sarah. the labyrinth's human child. She had been deeply affected by this place and now she
had returned to find the once beautiful land submerged in darkness, and anguish. Sarah was
walking a nightmare. Her fantasyland was crying when once it sang with secrets and promises.
When once a man had sang passion to her. She looked in the direction she presumed Jareth was
in, she strained her eyesight to see him but it was no good. The blackness closed in around her all
of a sudden, she gasped and tripped landing with a heavy thud on the ground.
"Sarah!" Heather cried out, as she felt her friends hand slip off her shoulder. The party
stopped, Jareth ,who had better sight than any of them, turned to Sarah's aid.
"Are you okay?" He asked trying to hide the concern in his voice. He still had his pride, and
hadn't forgotten this girl had bested him once. He helped her off the ground, and watched as she
brushed off her bum, glad she couldn't see the look on his face.
"I'm fine, it's just I can't see a damned thing. I don't know how you all manage in this
darkness."
Heather still hadn't told Sarah her secret, and quickly turned her head away from the girl. It
was instinct really Sarah couldn't see her friend, but she had noticed her unusual reserved nature
lately. Sarah had chalked it up to the same shock she had experienced during and after her
pervious trip Underground, and had left her friend in quiet solitude. She was beginning to wonder
about her closeness with that mysterious Justin, however. She had never seen him in the
Labyrinth before, but she figured the place was big, the land they had traveled through just to get
close to the maze was huge, she had no idea Jareth's realm was so big. But then again there was a
lot about Jareth she didn't understand. Like, after all these years how come he still looked exactly
the same. She herself had changed, grown older, and ,she hoped, wiser. She was nineteen now, a
far cry from the gangly fifteen-year-old she had been last time they met. Did he really love her
back then or was it just another one of his parlor tricks? He was a sly man, no doubt about that.
But what was his game? She then realized she had let her thoughts carry her away again and now
his hand was on her shoulder softly calling her name.
"Sarah. Sarah, are you sure you're okay?"
"Wha. Oh yeah, I'm fine just tired I guess." She scratched the back of her head, she always
did that when she was lying, but she figured they couldn't see her. She was wrong. "How long
have we been walking?" Sarah asked slightly dazed.
"Milord, perhaps we should stop for a while and rest, get some sleep. Maybe we'll be lucky
and the sun will come up again." Justin interjected on Sarah's behalf.
"You're right it's time to stop. But I'm going to fly up and see if we can build a fire. You stay
with the girls."
"Yes, Milord."
It didn't take Jareth long once he transformed into his owl form. He flew about for five
minuets before alighting back at the makeshift camp. He appeared in a dust of glitter that was all
but wasted on the sightless Sarah. But Heather gasped in awe, her preternatural sight gave her a
new spin on vision and she was momentarily transfixed by the shinning particles.
"There are fires all over the labyrinth, most likely from the goblins, some must have escaped
Renan's wrath and fled into the maze. Poor creatures they'll be lost for years in this twilight. The
forest is glowing brighter than anything else though, all those infernal Firerys. So one more fire
shouldn't matter much. Sarah close your eyes."
She did as she was instructed, and suddenly a bright flame leapt up from cold stone walkway
illuminating up the area. Slowly she opened her eyes and adjusted them to the light. She smiled.
"Now that's more like it." She said while sitting down and getting cozy by the fire.
Heather remained quietly in the background, standing barely in the firelight behind Justin. She
seemed to have a soft scowl as a countenance. Sarah was happier now that she could see her
traveling companions. Heather she noticed was looking a bit morose, but Sarah shrugged it off,
she was starting to feel the effects of walking and stretched out a bit. It wasn't five minuets before
she had fallen asleep sitting up. Jareth lightly laid her down and placed his dark velvet cape
around her as she muttered something about how far they had come before drifting back into
slumber land.
"We should set up watches Milord." Justin said professionally.
"Once again you are right. Who is to take the first one?"
"I will Milord."
"My faithful Captain of the Guard. Wake me when you can no longer keep those eyes of your
open."
"I will Milord." Justin chuckled.
With that said and done Jareth too laid down by the fire opposite Sarah, and it wasn't long
before he joined her in sleep.
"So you're the Captain of the Guard?" Heather asked sitting down beside Justin.
"Yes, that I am."
"How long have you been with Jareth?"
"A couple of centuries." He said not looking at her eyes but instead gazed directly into the fire.
"Will I live that long Justin?" Heather asked in a pain filled voice, the first emotion she had let
herself experience since starting this quest. He pulled her close to him and wrapped her up in his
cape.
"Only if you decide to stay here."
"I love you. You know that don't you?"
"Yes, I do." He turned to look at her. His steel gray eyes meeting her pale green ones made so
strangely bright by the orange firelight. He didn't have to say a word. She understood him
perfectly. He loved her too, probably more so than she could ever suspect. They leaned on each
other for support and Heather drifted to sleep with the soft leather of his sectional for a pillow and
the warm velvet of his cape as a blanket. His scent filled her head as she opened her eyes to look
at him one last time. Ever so softly he leaned over and kissed her, just a small peck on the lips,
but he let his lips linger on the soft fold of her rosy mouth for a moment, before moving his mouth
to her ear and whispering those small words in her ear.
"I do love you." He uttered barely audible.
Those were words he had never even spoken to his mother. The fierce warrior from Rome with
the soft Italian accent. Years with Jareth had driven out most of the intonation, but in a soft voice
it could be heard quite well. Heather smiled and snuggled against him, silently letting sleep take
her. He knew from that moment on that she would stay Underground, but her friend was another
story. Sarah didn't exactly belong here.
Chapter Six:
Justin lead the way with his gladuis drawn. Jareth followed in his black armor with a long
sword hanging from a belt, then the two girls. Heather walked with Sarah's hand on her shoulder
through the frighteningly black labyrinth.
"I was here for thirteen hours once and never saw night." Sarah whispered to the small group.
"I told you things would be different under a strange man's rule." Justin replied. "The
labyrinth is fighting Renan's evil by turning out the lights on him."
"Oh." Was Sarah's only response.
"Or," Jareth remarked, "It is merely an amplification of what is in that man's heart."
They had been in Jareth's realm for nearly one day and it had been a black day. Sarah couldn't
see anything but the Sidhe and two half-breeds were finding the going much easier. With their
magic they were able to find their way without light. Heather had done it by instinct and hadn't
even needed instruction. She felt her repressed magic deep inside her yearning to surface the
moment she had stepped in the Underground. The feeling was a strange one. Like her blood had
become super heated and was running the course of her body trying to find an outlet. She had
often felt different as Justin and Jareth guessed, but she had always attributed this to her active
imagination and Scottish up bringing. No matter that she was the second generation out of
Scotland she still picked up her parent's accent. Now it was something else altogether. She felt
this world trying to reach out and grab her and pull her down into the sandy soil and hold her
there. She stopped herself from wanting that. She had a job to do she could worry about finding
her place here if she decided to stay. Her new powers put her in rapture though, she felt like she
had been living in a dead world and was suddenly alive. She could feel the land breathe under her
feet, she knew the labyrinth was alive with magic and she wondered if would rub off and infect
her soul as it had done Sarah.
Sarah. the labyrinth's human child. She had been deeply affected by this place and now she
had returned to find the once beautiful land submerged in darkness, and anguish. Sarah was
walking a nightmare. Her fantasyland was crying when once it sang with secrets and promises.
When once a man had sang passion to her. She looked in the direction she presumed Jareth was
in, she strained her eyesight to see him but it was no good. The blackness closed in around her all
of a sudden, she gasped and tripped landing with a heavy thud on the ground.
"Sarah!" Heather cried out, as she felt her friends hand slip off her shoulder. The party
stopped, Jareth ,who had better sight than any of them, turned to Sarah's aid.
"Are you okay?" He asked trying to hide the concern in his voice. He still had his pride, and
hadn't forgotten this girl had bested him once. He helped her off the ground, and watched as she
brushed off her bum, glad she couldn't see the look on his face.
"I'm fine, it's just I can't see a damned thing. I don't know how you all manage in this
darkness."
Heather still hadn't told Sarah her secret, and quickly turned her head away from the girl. It
was instinct really Sarah couldn't see her friend, but she had noticed her unusual reserved nature
lately. Sarah had chalked it up to the same shock she had experienced during and after her
pervious trip Underground, and had left her friend in quiet solitude. She was beginning to wonder
about her closeness with that mysterious Justin, however. She had never seen him in the
Labyrinth before, but she figured the place was big, the land they had traveled through just to get
close to the maze was huge, she had no idea Jareth's realm was so big. But then again there was a
lot about Jareth she didn't understand. Like, after all these years how come he still looked exactly
the same. She herself had changed, grown older, and ,she hoped, wiser. She was nineteen now, a
far cry from the gangly fifteen-year-old she had been last time they met. Did he really love her
back then or was it just another one of his parlor tricks? He was a sly man, no doubt about that.
But what was his game? She then realized she had let her thoughts carry her away again and now
his hand was on her shoulder softly calling her name.
"Sarah. Sarah, are you sure you're okay?"
"Wha. Oh yeah, I'm fine just tired I guess." She scratched the back of her head, she always
did that when she was lying, but she figured they couldn't see her. She was wrong. "How long
have we been walking?" Sarah asked slightly dazed.
"Milord, perhaps we should stop for a while and rest, get some sleep. Maybe we'll be lucky
and the sun will come up again." Justin interjected on Sarah's behalf.
"You're right it's time to stop. But I'm going to fly up and see if we can build a fire. You stay
with the girls."
"Yes, Milord."
It didn't take Jareth long once he transformed into his owl form. He flew about for five
minuets before alighting back at the makeshift camp. He appeared in a dust of glitter that was all
but wasted on the sightless Sarah. But Heather gasped in awe, her preternatural sight gave her a
new spin on vision and she was momentarily transfixed by the shinning particles.
"There are fires all over the labyrinth, most likely from the goblins, some must have escaped
Renan's wrath and fled into the maze. Poor creatures they'll be lost for years in this twilight. The
forest is glowing brighter than anything else though, all those infernal Firerys. So one more fire
shouldn't matter much. Sarah close your eyes."
She did as she was instructed, and suddenly a bright flame leapt up from cold stone walkway
illuminating up the area. Slowly she opened her eyes and adjusted them to the light. She smiled.
"Now that's more like it." She said while sitting down and getting cozy by the fire.
Heather remained quietly in the background, standing barely in the firelight behind Justin. She
seemed to have a soft scowl as a countenance. Sarah was happier now that she could see her
traveling companions. Heather she noticed was looking a bit morose, but Sarah shrugged it off,
she was starting to feel the effects of walking and stretched out a bit. It wasn't five minuets before
she had fallen asleep sitting up. Jareth lightly laid her down and placed his dark velvet cape
around her as she muttered something about how far they had come before drifting back into
slumber land.
"We should set up watches Milord." Justin said professionally.
"Once again you are right. Who is to take the first one?"
"I will Milord."
"My faithful Captain of the Guard. Wake me when you can no longer keep those eyes of your
open."
"I will Milord." Justin chuckled.
With that said and done Jareth too laid down by the fire opposite Sarah, and it wasn't long
before he joined her in sleep.
"So you're the Captain of the Guard?" Heather asked sitting down beside Justin.
"Yes, that I am."
"How long have you been with Jareth?"
"A couple of centuries." He said not looking at her eyes but instead gazed directly into the fire.
"Will I live that long Justin?" Heather asked in a pain filled voice, the first emotion she had let
herself experience since starting this quest. He pulled her close to him and wrapped her up in his
cape.
"Only if you decide to stay here."
"I love you. You know that don't you?"
"Yes, I do." He turned to look at her. His steel gray eyes meeting her pale green ones made so
strangely bright by the orange firelight. He didn't have to say a word. She understood him
perfectly. He loved her too, probably more so than she could ever suspect. They leaned on each
other for support and Heather drifted to sleep with the soft leather of his sectional for a pillow and
the warm velvet of his cape as a blanket. His scent filled her head as she opened her eyes to look
at him one last time. Ever so softly he leaned over and kissed her, just a small peck on the lips,
but he let his lips linger on the soft fold of her rosy mouth for a moment, before moving his mouth
to her ear and whispering those small words in her ear.
"I do love you." He uttered barely audible.
Those were words he had never even spoken to his mother. The fierce warrior from Rome with
the soft Italian accent. Years with Jareth had driven out most of the intonation, but in a soft voice
it could be heard quite well. Heather smiled and snuggled against him, silently letting sleep take
her. He knew from that moment on that she would stay Underground, but her friend was another
story. Sarah didn't exactly belong here.
