I've never liked magic.
That's not true, I've always liked magic. Just never when it's been cast on me without my knowledge or consent. I hadn't expected it, although I suppose I should have. One damn apple in a handful of peaches. It was set there precisely with me in mind I knew. As soon as I felt the pressure, a heavy weight on my consciousness I knew something was wrong. It had felt a lot like the last time, which I could suddenly remember with the greatest clarity.
Only it was a lot less, ornamental, if you can call magic that. The first time, it was all very complicated and I didn't know what was going to happen. This time I did, it was subtle at first, very subtle, a faint tiredness that I figured would be the result of so much walking. The apple tasted wonderful too, not at all like the strange peach from last time, but sweet and juicy and refreshing. One of the best I'd ever tasted.
Then I turned to look at the vista. According to Hoggle, the Labyrinth moved constantly but sometimes a lot more than others and this was one of those times. They knew how to get through individual pieces but had to find out which pieces to get through in order to get to the castle. So we stopped while Sir Didymus went ahead a little to plot out a course of action. I was staring at all the little pieces of the maze.
They looked a lot like a patchwork quilt from this high, I could see the pond mazes and waterways that cut through the various square gardens or blocks of Labyrinth. It reminded me much of one of those little puzzle games where there's one free square and you have to move the different pieces back and forth with only that one square of margin. If I looked carefully I could see the tiles of the Labyrinth slowly moving across the land.
I had been watching so intently I hadn't heard what Hoggle said until Sir Didymus came trotting back on Ambrosious and announced he knew the way. I tried to push off the tree and found that, to my surprise I was too weak to get up. Pushing off the ground didn't work either, and then I realized I couldn't open my eyes farther than halfway.
In fact, it was getting more and more difficult to understand what Hoggle was saying. Sir Didymus was becoming incredibly agitated and Ambrosious was trotting around in frantic circles. I tried to tell them, I was only going to sleep, tried to ask why. Never got that far.
The pressing weight which I've come to realize was the spell enveloped me. It was like I was disconnected from my body, simply unplugged and shoved to the back, from inside. The pressure took up a layer of air between me and the front of my body so that I couldn't reach my eyes to blink or my hands to twitch, I just couldn't.
For a while I struggled against the weight spell, and then suddenly I felt cracks forming in it. This definitely seemed like a good omen, so I pushed it more and then abruptly it broke. I sat up and opened my eyes.
There was Jareth. Right in front of me. I blinked a few times, took a deep breath and counted to ten. He was still there, grinning. And since he was grinning I scowled. I certainly didn't think it was very funny.
He had his leather gloves back on before I even realized they were off. Then he was standing and talking in a hushed whisper with a man clad entirely in black, both of them kept glancing my way. I retained the scowl for a while until I realized I was laying in a bed. I still had all my clothes on but being in a bed was pretty embarrassing on it's own. Especially in front of them.
I threw back the covers and stood, giving the plain but serviceable for poster my best glare.
"Well well well, welcome back Sarah." He smirked.
"Hello, Jareth." I replied just as sarcastically.
"Might I ask why you are in my realm this time? I don't recall giving you permission to visit." He noted to himself.
"That's because you didn't, and I don't intend to visit." I snapped back. Perhaps this wasn't such a good idea, he was still the jerk I'd always remembered him as. Only now it was doubly insulting because there was that other man just standing there watching us with something akin to polite interest. His detachment made me want to slap him. He was listening in and not even bothering to take a side; at least if he supported Jareth I'd know how to act. "May I ask why I'm here? I don't recall asking to be knocked out and brought to the castle."
"But this was where you were headed." He pointed out.
How much did he know? "That doesn't excuse the sleeping apple." I also pointed out.
A frown flickered across his face, and he and the other man met gazes for a moment. "That wasn't any of my doing."
"No? Then why am I here?"
"I was the only one who could remove the spell." He reasoned. "Apparently someone wanted your presence known to me. Not all of them are so easily swayed from their loyalty as your friends."
"Why would they want to do that though?"
"Because they thought you were an intruder or a threat." He stated bluntly.
"I wouldn't harm anyone!" I protested. Well not that much, and only if they attacked first.
"They had good reason to think so, remembering your last visit I think the list went something like: abuse of fierys, one caved in wall, graffiti, assault against a goblin platoon, and oh yes, one broken bridge." He ticked off his fingers then waved the five digits at her. "Your record isn't exactly stainless Sarah my dear." He crooned.
"Those were all in self defense or accidents." I retorted, "I did nothing that was intentionally cruel, like some people."
That may have not been the brightest thing to say, seeing that there were two of them against me but it sure felt good. Thankfully all the childish nervousness and intimidation that had come from him was gone. I could see exactly who he was now, with only the slightest hesitation at saying it aloud.
His mouth quirked, and he made a soothing gesture to the man at his side. I just realized that he had drawn his sword at my comment. He looked.serious, cold. It was sheathed without complaint and he left the room silently. The door swung shut behind him seemingly of it's own will, and all the nervousness and intimidation came flooding back with interest.
"Sarah, Sarah, Sarah." He was adjusting his gloves, I couldn't help but think about when they do that in movies, just before they kill you. "We don't seem to be getting anywhere like this. If you didn't know, I am a King of a kingdom. That means, I have to ensure their safety as much as they protect me. If you've come here with any threat to its well being."
The threat hung in the air, lingering with my imagination fueling the ending. "I didn't come to do harm. I came to fix something."
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~Jareth(you should know)~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
It was the last thing I'd expected her to say. No, dismiss that, it was the next to last thing I expected her to say. The last thing I expected followed that statement.
"I'm sorry if I wronged you, all those years ago. I had a responsibility to Toby, it wasn't a decision I could make and still respect myself after."
I'm not one who likes surprises much, this one was a pleasant surprise but I do believe warning could have substantially improved my reaction. I stood there and stared, halted halfway through pulling my right glove straight and shifting my weight onto my left foot. She squirmed under my gaze but I didn't care. I was wondering if it was possible that this was a different girl entirely and someone was playing a grand joke on me, or if she had somehow miraculously just admitted a passive sort of defeat.
I was seventy before I was fully able to realize I could be wrong. I still have trouble apologizing. I raised a hand to her forehead, using magic to determine her health. Obviously, I couldn't feel her temperature through leather gloves.
She batted my hand away. "I'm not sick." She snapped huffily.
I caught her hand and planted a kiss on it. "Apology accepted." I crooned before sweeping out the door. Anything to unnerve the opponent. Once out of her sight I told the door to not let her out or anyone else in.
I turned to Kenst who had followed me out, and I believe escaped Sarah's vision entirely. Most people bypassed him entirely. "I do believe I need a brandy." I told him stoically. He nodded once, the gray hood shifting just perceptibly.
So said, I strode down the hall towards my personal study where I resolved to come to a conclusion about the Sarah issue which had just arisen over all the issues that I already had to deal with. Brandy would help, it often did.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~Alyia(In the Labyrinth)~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Toby and I high-fived each other and then I gave Apple a huge hug. It had been a tall order, a sleeping peach that tasted, smelled and looked like an apple. She had come through beautifully. Sarah's hate of peaches helped a lot too. Being the only apple in the rest of the normal peaches she had plucked it right out of the four, no hesitation whatsoever. I was so proud of Apple and told her so.
Sarah was with Jareth, that was good, she'd be safe there. Now I would probably have to return Toby his parent's would be getting rather upset around now. I could tell the I had begun walking him home and we had gotten lost, if they were unhappy. Apparently, the number I wrote down was for someone down the street, they could leave a message on a machine, something like a technologically advanced note. That's what Toby told me anyway.
His parents arrived at their house just as we did, and the tired Toby fell asleep as I was thanked and given some money. Funky green paper was their form of coinage apparently. Nothing sensible like gold or silver but paper. I would think it was a poor place, except for their houses were enormous. Sarah must be rich, her yard had seven trees and a forest. Amazing.
Now that Jareth and Sarah were stuffed back together I could go ask for my tree again. It would be wonderful to have Pear back. With all the sneaking around Kestrel and Apple were really beginning to corrupt me, in the last few days I'd traveled back and forth from the mortal world, entered a forbidden area, drugged a mortal after tricking her back underground and illegally distributed a magical peach for reasons other than decree of the crown. I felt like such a rebel.
I could get Pear back now though, Jareth should be back to normal after a few days. Then perhaps I could so something about Kaeun's unjust imprisonment with all three of my trees backing me. And then..Oh no! Taxes were in a few days! I had to get a basket of my best peaches ready for his majesty!
One quarter of my earnings were due, and I didn't even have Pear to pay from. That Isabelle better not hurt her! I'd go check on her in fact. Right now.
The moonlight was enough to see Pear by easily. She still had that ring around her trunk staking her to the ground. Luckily she was well away from the other trees. Her fruit was withered and too small. Obviously she was giving Isabelle a hard time. I stroked her trunk.
"Don't worry I'm gonna get you back soon. Then we'll all be together again." I hugged her trunk and darted back into the Labyrinth where Apple and Kestrel were. Swinging up easily into Apple we started off towards the castle. If I could speed their get together Pear would be back sooner.
That's not true, I've always liked magic. Just never when it's been cast on me without my knowledge or consent. I hadn't expected it, although I suppose I should have. One damn apple in a handful of peaches. It was set there precisely with me in mind I knew. As soon as I felt the pressure, a heavy weight on my consciousness I knew something was wrong. It had felt a lot like the last time, which I could suddenly remember with the greatest clarity.
Only it was a lot less, ornamental, if you can call magic that. The first time, it was all very complicated and I didn't know what was going to happen. This time I did, it was subtle at first, very subtle, a faint tiredness that I figured would be the result of so much walking. The apple tasted wonderful too, not at all like the strange peach from last time, but sweet and juicy and refreshing. One of the best I'd ever tasted.
Then I turned to look at the vista. According to Hoggle, the Labyrinth moved constantly but sometimes a lot more than others and this was one of those times. They knew how to get through individual pieces but had to find out which pieces to get through in order to get to the castle. So we stopped while Sir Didymus went ahead a little to plot out a course of action. I was staring at all the little pieces of the maze.
They looked a lot like a patchwork quilt from this high, I could see the pond mazes and waterways that cut through the various square gardens or blocks of Labyrinth. It reminded me much of one of those little puzzle games where there's one free square and you have to move the different pieces back and forth with only that one square of margin. If I looked carefully I could see the tiles of the Labyrinth slowly moving across the land.
I had been watching so intently I hadn't heard what Hoggle said until Sir Didymus came trotting back on Ambrosious and announced he knew the way. I tried to push off the tree and found that, to my surprise I was too weak to get up. Pushing off the ground didn't work either, and then I realized I couldn't open my eyes farther than halfway.
In fact, it was getting more and more difficult to understand what Hoggle was saying. Sir Didymus was becoming incredibly agitated and Ambrosious was trotting around in frantic circles. I tried to tell them, I was only going to sleep, tried to ask why. Never got that far.
The pressing weight which I've come to realize was the spell enveloped me. It was like I was disconnected from my body, simply unplugged and shoved to the back, from inside. The pressure took up a layer of air between me and the front of my body so that I couldn't reach my eyes to blink or my hands to twitch, I just couldn't.
For a while I struggled against the weight spell, and then suddenly I felt cracks forming in it. This definitely seemed like a good omen, so I pushed it more and then abruptly it broke. I sat up and opened my eyes.
There was Jareth. Right in front of me. I blinked a few times, took a deep breath and counted to ten. He was still there, grinning. And since he was grinning I scowled. I certainly didn't think it was very funny.
He had his leather gloves back on before I even realized they were off. Then he was standing and talking in a hushed whisper with a man clad entirely in black, both of them kept glancing my way. I retained the scowl for a while until I realized I was laying in a bed. I still had all my clothes on but being in a bed was pretty embarrassing on it's own. Especially in front of them.
I threw back the covers and stood, giving the plain but serviceable for poster my best glare.
"Well well well, welcome back Sarah." He smirked.
"Hello, Jareth." I replied just as sarcastically.
"Might I ask why you are in my realm this time? I don't recall giving you permission to visit." He noted to himself.
"That's because you didn't, and I don't intend to visit." I snapped back. Perhaps this wasn't such a good idea, he was still the jerk I'd always remembered him as. Only now it was doubly insulting because there was that other man just standing there watching us with something akin to polite interest. His detachment made me want to slap him. He was listening in and not even bothering to take a side; at least if he supported Jareth I'd know how to act. "May I ask why I'm here? I don't recall asking to be knocked out and brought to the castle."
"But this was where you were headed." He pointed out.
How much did he know? "That doesn't excuse the sleeping apple." I also pointed out.
A frown flickered across his face, and he and the other man met gazes for a moment. "That wasn't any of my doing."
"No? Then why am I here?"
"I was the only one who could remove the spell." He reasoned. "Apparently someone wanted your presence known to me. Not all of them are so easily swayed from their loyalty as your friends."
"Why would they want to do that though?"
"Because they thought you were an intruder or a threat." He stated bluntly.
"I wouldn't harm anyone!" I protested. Well not that much, and only if they attacked first.
"They had good reason to think so, remembering your last visit I think the list went something like: abuse of fierys, one caved in wall, graffiti, assault against a goblin platoon, and oh yes, one broken bridge." He ticked off his fingers then waved the five digits at her. "Your record isn't exactly stainless Sarah my dear." He crooned.
"Those were all in self defense or accidents." I retorted, "I did nothing that was intentionally cruel, like some people."
That may have not been the brightest thing to say, seeing that there were two of them against me but it sure felt good. Thankfully all the childish nervousness and intimidation that had come from him was gone. I could see exactly who he was now, with only the slightest hesitation at saying it aloud.
His mouth quirked, and he made a soothing gesture to the man at his side. I just realized that he had drawn his sword at my comment. He looked.serious, cold. It was sheathed without complaint and he left the room silently. The door swung shut behind him seemingly of it's own will, and all the nervousness and intimidation came flooding back with interest.
"Sarah, Sarah, Sarah." He was adjusting his gloves, I couldn't help but think about when they do that in movies, just before they kill you. "We don't seem to be getting anywhere like this. If you didn't know, I am a King of a kingdom. That means, I have to ensure their safety as much as they protect me. If you've come here with any threat to its well being."
The threat hung in the air, lingering with my imagination fueling the ending. "I didn't come to do harm. I came to fix something."
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~Jareth(you should know)~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
It was the last thing I'd expected her to say. No, dismiss that, it was the next to last thing I expected her to say. The last thing I expected followed that statement.
"I'm sorry if I wronged you, all those years ago. I had a responsibility to Toby, it wasn't a decision I could make and still respect myself after."
I'm not one who likes surprises much, this one was a pleasant surprise but I do believe warning could have substantially improved my reaction. I stood there and stared, halted halfway through pulling my right glove straight and shifting my weight onto my left foot. She squirmed under my gaze but I didn't care. I was wondering if it was possible that this was a different girl entirely and someone was playing a grand joke on me, or if she had somehow miraculously just admitted a passive sort of defeat.
I was seventy before I was fully able to realize I could be wrong. I still have trouble apologizing. I raised a hand to her forehead, using magic to determine her health. Obviously, I couldn't feel her temperature through leather gloves.
She batted my hand away. "I'm not sick." She snapped huffily.
I caught her hand and planted a kiss on it. "Apology accepted." I crooned before sweeping out the door. Anything to unnerve the opponent. Once out of her sight I told the door to not let her out or anyone else in.
I turned to Kenst who had followed me out, and I believe escaped Sarah's vision entirely. Most people bypassed him entirely. "I do believe I need a brandy." I told him stoically. He nodded once, the gray hood shifting just perceptibly.
So said, I strode down the hall towards my personal study where I resolved to come to a conclusion about the Sarah issue which had just arisen over all the issues that I already had to deal with. Brandy would help, it often did.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~Alyia(In the Labyrinth)~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Toby and I high-fived each other and then I gave Apple a huge hug. It had been a tall order, a sleeping peach that tasted, smelled and looked like an apple. She had come through beautifully. Sarah's hate of peaches helped a lot too. Being the only apple in the rest of the normal peaches she had plucked it right out of the four, no hesitation whatsoever. I was so proud of Apple and told her so.
Sarah was with Jareth, that was good, she'd be safe there. Now I would probably have to return Toby his parent's would be getting rather upset around now. I could tell the I had begun walking him home and we had gotten lost, if they were unhappy. Apparently, the number I wrote down was for someone down the street, they could leave a message on a machine, something like a technologically advanced note. That's what Toby told me anyway.
His parents arrived at their house just as we did, and the tired Toby fell asleep as I was thanked and given some money. Funky green paper was their form of coinage apparently. Nothing sensible like gold or silver but paper. I would think it was a poor place, except for their houses were enormous. Sarah must be rich, her yard had seven trees and a forest. Amazing.
Now that Jareth and Sarah were stuffed back together I could go ask for my tree again. It would be wonderful to have Pear back. With all the sneaking around Kestrel and Apple were really beginning to corrupt me, in the last few days I'd traveled back and forth from the mortal world, entered a forbidden area, drugged a mortal after tricking her back underground and illegally distributed a magical peach for reasons other than decree of the crown. I felt like such a rebel.
I could get Pear back now though, Jareth should be back to normal after a few days. Then perhaps I could so something about Kaeun's unjust imprisonment with all three of my trees backing me. And then..Oh no! Taxes were in a few days! I had to get a basket of my best peaches ready for his majesty!
One quarter of my earnings were due, and I didn't even have Pear to pay from. That Isabelle better not hurt her! I'd go check on her in fact. Right now.
The moonlight was enough to see Pear by easily. She still had that ring around her trunk staking her to the ground. Luckily she was well away from the other trees. Her fruit was withered and too small. Obviously she was giving Isabelle a hard time. I stroked her trunk.
"Don't worry I'm gonna get you back soon. Then we'll all be together again." I hugged her trunk and darted back into the Labyrinth where Apple and Kestrel were. Swinging up easily into Apple we started off towards the castle. If I could speed their get together Pear would be back sooner.