A/N: This one's a bit longer, and maybe a little confusing, so if you have
any questions, email me; thank you so much to all my reviewers!!!
Disclaimer: I own nothing.
Chapter 7:The Raven Speaks
Sarah reached out, entranced by the gleaming ornament, only to have it snatched back into shadow by Anikara, whose face belied her amusement.
"Ah, ah, ah, not so fast. Always look before you leap." At Sarah's quizzical look, she continued. "You don't have any idea what I am really offering you dear, do you?"
"Well.no," Sarah conceded, watching Anikara's mismatched eyes for some hint as to what she was thinking. Finding none, she waited.
"Well, then, where to begin?" Anikara mused aloud. "Ah, I know! The beginning." She leaned back against a tree, getting comfortable and indicated that Sarah should do the same. After throwing a couple of sticks on the fire, she obliged. She stared at the fire for several moments before she began.
"Alright, first you have to understand that my kind, the fae, can't die by any normal means. But we can be killed. You must also understand that to kill a fae requires a tremendous power and strength of will, and a magic that is forbidden amongst us." She paused and looked up at Sarah through the flames, examining her, before continuing. "You mustn't think me rash or unfeeling--I'm not--but when I was younger, I didn't care for such rules," she smiled ruefully, "and truthfully I still don't, but that's another matter entirely. In any case, I one day stumbled across a means to just that kind of power. But rather than controlling that power, it took control of me, corrupted me. And in a rage, I.I killed my betrothed."
"Betrothed?" Sarah frowned her confusion, then gasped. "You killed your fiancée?"
Anikara sighed and smiled sadly. "You make it sound so horrible.but you didn't know him. He was a tyrant. He ruled over the vampires, of all people, but I know personally that he was after all the lands between the mountains, especially the Labyrinth." Anikara glanced at Sarah and was pleased to see her shift uncomfortably. So her intentional mention of the goblin kingdom had touched a chord? Nope, no doubt about it, she thought as Sarah squirmed a little, she enjoyed that little escapade in the ball room. "My father, Lord Cirus, ruler of the mage folk, agreed to give me to him in marriage in order to ensure protection in our lands from blood raids. In any case, the high council agreed with me that the Underground was better off with out him, but that wasn't enough. Oh no, indeed not. I was to be punished for my abuse of power. It seems that the council is not without a sense of irony.
"You see, Sarah, there is only one force in all the world great enough to utterly destroy a fae." She grinned mischievously. "And I'll wager you'll never guess what it is." Not waiting for her response, Anikara stood and strode to Sarah's side, bending one knee and leaning in so close that Sarah could feel the fae woman's breath on her face. "Care to take a guess?"
Sarah shrugged, trying not to appear intimidated. "Iron, right?"
Anikara shook her head. "Iron destroys the body, but not the essence, the magic. No, the one power that can truly destroy a fae is here," she said, lightly touching Sarah's head with a black-gloved hand, "within the mortal mind."
"What are you talking about?" Sarah asked, unable to decide what exactly she was being told. Anikara bit her lower lip in thought.
"Think about it, Sarah," she continued, "a mortal mind is fragile, perishable, and therefore innovative. It evolves faster than any other consciousness either Above or Underground. There is no time for complacency; the life span is too short. That is why the fae are weak in this aspect. We live forever, there are no limits, and therefore nothing to overcome. We cannot evolve as you do." Stepping back from Sarah, she held out her hand and conjured a gleaming crystal. "The mortal mind is like this crystal," she explained, rolling it over her hands, much as Jareth tended to do, and Sarah watched it move. "Look through it at the world and everything is distorted. It bends the world to fit itself, changes reality at necessity." She turned suddenly and tossed the crystal into the fire, which flared brilliantly. Sarah shielded her eyes, then looked up at Anikara in wonderment. "So you see Sarah, though mortals cannot control this power, a fae has only to harness it and there would be nothing that he or she could not do."
Sarah shook her head. "So you took control of a human mind? So that you could sap this power?" Her jaw jutted and her brows knit in anger. "How could you use someone like that? How could you be so selfish?"
Unexpectedly, Anikara laughed. "I told you, I was young, and more than a little stupid. Besides, if I'm right, you yourself used certain powers to banish your baby brother once." She grinned as Sarah's cheeks colored, then paled. "In any case," she continued, "my punishment fit my crime. I was sent here, to the Aboveground to find a worthy mortal upon whom the Council will bestow all of my powers." Her smile was a sad one, but it widened at the sudden look of comprehension on Sarah's face.
"Me? You want to give me all of those powers? Why?"
"I have a few reasons, actually," Anikara replied, "One was actually a requirement: the mortal that I possessed in order to gain the forbidden powers was a young woman, and therefore the council required that my reparations be made to another young woman. But there were other reasons. For one thing, you beat Jareth's Labyrinth, and that alone makes you a living legend in my eyes. And I know well the lessons the Labyrinth teaches, so I knew you would be worthy of the power I posses. And," she paused, looking Sarah hard in the eye, boring into her soul, "it would be a damn shame to watch you kill your dreams."
"What do you mean?" Sarah snapped, suddenly defensive.
"Sarah, I know that in your world, you are expected to leave behind the dreams of your childhood and follow the path set forth by your society." She motioned to Sarah's toys, arrayed before the fire, "You were about resign yourself to the murder of everything you knew you wanted, this little fire pit its funeral pyre, and your room, stripped of all the things that make you who you are your mourning grounds." She looked harder at Sarah, who could not withstand the conviction therein. "Just because others found life outside their dreams does not mean that you must."
Silence reigned for a long moment as Sarah gazed into the fire, at her treasures and into her heart before she spoke. "So how does this work?"
Anikara smiled. "Quite simple, my dear. I hand you my amulet and you hang it around your neck. All my power resides within it and they will flow into you. I will be left only the power to transform into a raven, and, of course, the ability to conjure crystals. I really don't know why mortal power takes the form if crystals, but again, its all about the irony."
Sarah started. "Wait, your power to conjure a crystal came after you stole a human mind?" she exclaimed, "Then Jareth."
"Well of course," Anikara laughed smoothly, "do you think he took your brother, or any other child, for fun? The mortal he took was a baby, and so the council required that he take in and care for unwanted children and turn them into goblins so that they would have a family among the other goblins." Seeing the twist of emotions in Sarah's eyes, she continued, "But he was also young and childish when he tried the forbidden powers, and he has grown up much. Although," she sighed, "he is still very much a child inside, and, like a boy left to raise himself is wont to be, he has his vices. But he's a good man underneath the bristling, threatening, sharp-tongued façade. You won't have to trouble yourself with him," she gave Sarah a sideways look before adding, "unless you want to." Sarah seemed about to protest, but Anikara stopped her. "There is time for questions later," she said, her voice suddenly very serious, "but right now, you have a decision to make." Once more she held up the amulet, dangling from a delicate chain. The firelight gleamed from it, hitting Sarah's eyes, but she didn't even flinch. Steeling herself and gritting her teeth, she took a deep breath and reached out and grabbed the amulet, pulling it over her head before she could change her mind. The last thing she saw was Anikara rushing around the fire and reaching out to catch her as she fell. Then the trees around her began to dance as the fire flared into the night and she slipped into the darkness of dreamless sleep.
A/N: You know the rules.you review, you get more ( get to it!!
Disclaimer: I own nothing.
Chapter 7:The Raven Speaks
Sarah reached out, entranced by the gleaming ornament, only to have it snatched back into shadow by Anikara, whose face belied her amusement.
"Ah, ah, ah, not so fast. Always look before you leap." At Sarah's quizzical look, she continued. "You don't have any idea what I am really offering you dear, do you?"
"Well.no," Sarah conceded, watching Anikara's mismatched eyes for some hint as to what she was thinking. Finding none, she waited.
"Well, then, where to begin?" Anikara mused aloud. "Ah, I know! The beginning." She leaned back against a tree, getting comfortable and indicated that Sarah should do the same. After throwing a couple of sticks on the fire, she obliged. She stared at the fire for several moments before she began.
"Alright, first you have to understand that my kind, the fae, can't die by any normal means. But we can be killed. You must also understand that to kill a fae requires a tremendous power and strength of will, and a magic that is forbidden amongst us." She paused and looked up at Sarah through the flames, examining her, before continuing. "You mustn't think me rash or unfeeling--I'm not--but when I was younger, I didn't care for such rules," she smiled ruefully, "and truthfully I still don't, but that's another matter entirely. In any case, I one day stumbled across a means to just that kind of power. But rather than controlling that power, it took control of me, corrupted me. And in a rage, I.I killed my betrothed."
"Betrothed?" Sarah frowned her confusion, then gasped. "You killed your fiancée?"
Anikara sighed and smiled sadly. "You make it sound so horrible.but you didn't know him. He was a tyrant. He ruled over the vampires, of all people, but I know personally that he was after all the lands between the mountains, especially the Labyrinth." Anikara glanced at Sarah and was pleased to see her shift uncomfortably. So her intentional mention of the goblin kingdom had touched a chord? Nope, no doubt about it, she thought as Sarah squirmed a little, she enjoyed that little escapade in the ball room. "My father, Lord Cirus, ruler of the mage folk, agreed to give me to him in marriage in order to ensure protection in our lands from blood raids. In any case, the high council agreed with me that the Underground was better off with out him, but that wasn't enough. Oh no, indeed not. I was to be punished for my abuse of power. It seems that the council is not without a sense of irony.
"You see, Sarah, there is only one force in all the world great enough to utterly destroy a fae." She grinned mischievously. "And I'll wager you'll never guess what it is." Not waiting for her response, Anikara stood and strode to Sarah's side, bending one knee and leaning in so close that Sarah could feel the fae woman's breath on her face. "Care to take a guess?"
Sarah shrugged, trying not to appear intimidated. "Iron, right?"
Anikara shook her head. "Iron destroys the body, but not the essence, the magic. No, the one power that can truly destroy a fae is here," she said, lightly touching Sarah's head with a black-gloved hand, "within the mortal mind."
"What are you talking about?" Sarah asked, unable to decide what exactly she was being told. Anikara bit her lower lip in thought.
"Think about it, Sarah," she continued, "a mortal mind is fragile, perishable, and therefore innovative. It evolves faster than any other consciousness either Above or Underground. There is no time for complacency; the life span is too short. That is why the fae are weak in this aspect. We live forever, there are no limits, and therefore nothing to overcome. We cannot evolve as you do." Stepping back from Sarah, she held out her hand and conjured a gleaming crystal. "The mortal mind is like this crystal," she explained, rolling it over her hands, much as Jareth tended to do, and Sarah watched it move. "Look through it at the world and everything is distorted. It bends the world to fit itself, changes reality at necessity." She turned suddenly and tossed the crystal into the fire, which flared brilliantly. Sarah shielded her eyes, then looked up at Anikara in wonderment. "So you see Sarah, though mortals cannot control this power, a fae has only to harness it and there would be nothing that he or she could not do."
Sarah shook her head. "So you took control of a human mind? So that you could sap this power?" Her jaw jutted and her brows knit in anger. "How could you use someone like that? How could you be so selfish?"
Unexpectedly, Anikara laughed. "I told you, I was young, and more than a little stupid. Besides, if I'm right, you yourself used certain powers to banish your baby brother once." She grinned as Sarah's cheeks colored, then paled. "In any case," she continued, "my punishment fit my crime. I was sent here, to the Aboveground to find a worthy mortal upon whom the Council will bestow all of my powers." Her smile was a sad one, but it widened at the sudden look of comprehension on Sarah's face.
"Me? You want to give me all of those powers? Why?"
"I have a few reasons, actually," Anikara replied, "One was actually a requirement: the mortal that I possessed in order to gain the forbidden powers was a young woman, and therefore the council required that my reparations be made to another young woman. But there were other reasons. For one thing, you beat Jareth's Labyrinth, and that alone makes you a living legend in my eyes. And I know well the lessons the Labyrinth teaches, so I knew you would be worthy of the power I posses. And," she paused, looking Sarah hard in the eye, boring into her soul, "it would be a damn shame to watch you kill your dreams."
"What do you mean?" Sarah snapped, suddenly defensive.
"Sarah, I know that in your world, you are expected to leave behind the dreams of your childhood and follow the path set forth by your society." She motioned to Sarah's toys, arrayed before the fire, "You were about resign yourself to the murder of everything you knew you wanted, this little fire pit its funeral pyre, and your room, stripped of all the things that make you who you are your mourning grounds." She looked harder at Sarah, who could not withstand the conviction therein. "Just because others found life outside their dreams does not mean that you must."
Silence reigned for a long moment as Sarah gazed into the fire, at her treasures and into her heart before she spoke. "So how does this work?"
Anikara smiled. "Quite simple, my dear. I hand you my amulet and you hang it around your neck. All my power resides within it and they will flow into you. I will be left only the power to transform into a raven, and, of course, the ability to conjure crystals. I really don't know why mortal power takes the form if crystals, but again, its all about the irony."
Sarah started. "Wait, your power to conjure a crystal came after you stole a human mind?" she exclaimed, "Then Jareth."
"Well of course," Anikara laughed smoothly, "do you think he took your brother, or any other child, for fun? The mortal he took was a baby, and so the council required that he take in and care for unwanted children and turn them into goblins so that they would have a family among the other goblins." Seeing the twist of emotions in Sarah's eyes, she continued, "But he was also young and childish when he tried the forbidden powers, and he has grown up much. Although," she sighed, "he is still very much a child inside, and, like a boy left to raise himself is wont to be, he has his vices. But he's a good man underneath the bristling, threatening, sharp-tongued façade. You won't have to trouble yourself with him," she gave Sarah a sideways look before adding, "unless you want to." Sarah seemed about to protest, but Anikara stopped her. "There is time for questions later," she said, her voice suddenly very serious, "but right now, you have a decision to make." Once more she held up the amulet, dangling from a delicate chain. The firelight gleamed from it, hitting Sarah's eyes, but she didn't even flinch. Steeling herself and gritting her teeth, she took a deep breath and reached out and grabbed the amulet, pulling it over her head before she could change her mind. The last thing she saw was Anikara rushing around the fire and reaching out to catch her as she fell. Then the trees around her began to dance as the fire flared into the night and she slipped into the darkness of dreamless sleep.
A/N: You know the rules.you review, you get more ( get to it!!