Author's Note: What the crap.. ARGH. It won't let me do my usual break between the sections! ::tries to find something else to use::
Anyway, sorry it took so long to update... school... and writer's block... (no thanks to a certain 'Muse')
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Jareth held the crystal at an angle, and sucked in a deep breath. With a flick of his wrist the crystal disappeared. Lady Rachelle was playing with Karleigh, not something he wished for Seth to learn. The Muse was pouring himself a drink across the room, and Jareth remembered all too well that Seth was an angry drunk. "You've already had enough wine, don't you think?" he inquired, turning around on his chair.
Smirking, Seth downed his entire glass and proceeded to pour another one. "How's my Kar doing?" he asked, speech just beginning to have a hint of slur to it. Jareth hesitated, which turned out to be a mistake. Seth glared at him, stalking across the room to lay his arm over the back of Jareth's chair. "Tell me you didn't respond because she's doing well, and that makes you unhappy," he ordered. "I swear, Jareth, if anything has happened to her, I'll drive this through your heart." After gulping down his newest batch of alcohol, Seth cracked the stem of the wine glass in half, and pressed the jagged edge against Jareth's chest.
Frowning, Jareth knocked the glass away. "Seth, that is the third thing of mine you've broken today." Not to mention the bruise on his jaw. Jareth ran a gloved finger over the mottled skin, thinking, No amount of makeup is going to cover that. He then caught himself, realizing what he had just thought. Seth would have a field day if he'd said that out loud.
Seth promptly stalked over to the crystal decanter. In one fluid motion he threw it at the wall, where it shattered and wine stained the wallpaper and carpet. "Fourth," he muttered, looking around for something else that was particularly fragile. His fingers were itching. Breaking things was fun, he decided.
This did not bode well for Jareth's wine rack in the corner. The Goblin King stood up and tried to reach the structure before Seth, but the Muse was feeling the full effects of his eight glasses of wine and got there first. Jareth took a few steps back. When Seth got angry, it was a simmering thing, and when it built up for too long, the man was extremely dangerous.
"Now now, Seth," Jareth murmured soothingly. Taking a moment to select the oldest and most expensive wine from the rack, proving that he still had some brain cells left, Seth smashed it against the wall. Though the effect was greater than the decanter, Seth was still not satisfied. "Karleigh is fine," Jareth lied anxiously. Seth took out another bottle. He stared at it for a moment before throwing it to the ground.
This wasn't working, he realized. Seeing the shards of glass everywhere wasn't making him feel better, and his white shirt was ruined, as well as his black pants. Damn, now he was thinking like Jareth. The clothes were replaceable. Unlike the aged wine which was soaking into them. He closed his eyes. What he really wanted was to see that Karleigh was okay. "Let me see her," he ordered, surprising even himself with the calm manner of his voice. He sounded like nothing at all had just happened.
"You don't believe me?" Jareth asked. Seth returned a blank 'no duh' look. Reluctantly, Jareth conjured a crystal and handed it to him. This was not going to be pretty. Karleigh was still stuck in the bottom of the shaft, and the cuts on her legs were particularly visible. He took a few more steps back as Seth gazed into the crystal's depths. A livid look crossed his face. Jareth took a deep breath. "Now, Seth, I assure you I had no part in her current predicament," he said evenly.
Seth held up the crystal. "Really? Odd, considering that you are now speaking with her." His eyes flickered. "You also happen to have a hand on her hip. Mind explaining that?" The sight of someone else touching Karleigh was infuriating. Seth chalked it up to the fact that he was drunk. I am not jealous, he assured himself, pointedly ignoring the hot blush that was creeping over his body.
Confused and curious, Jareth peered into the crystal.
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There was no obvious way out of the well, or whatever this place was. Naturally. Scrounging around on my knees, trying fruitlessly to pull up a stone from the floor, or unlock a hidden passageway had left me with brand new bruises, too. Slithering around being no help at all was that damned silver snake.
Biting down hard on my tongue, I fumbled through my shorts for the pocket watch. My stomach ached like hell. If I didn't eat something soon I was sure I'd starve. But how safe was Labyrinthine food anyway? "Ah blast it," I muttered, turning out my pockets. The watch clattered nosily to the floor and slid away from me. Figures the floor would be slanted. Rolling my eyes, I took a step towards it.
The snake suddenly sat up at attention. Before I could act, it had slithered forward and twisted itself around the watch. With frightening ferocity, the snake started writhing around. When I tried to kick it off of the watch, it hissed and bared it's fangs at me. I raised my eyebrows in disbelief. After a few more seconds of wild thrashing, the watch popped open. The snake wound around it. We stared at each other for a moment.
Then it pounced. Sinking it's fangs into the watch, the snake picked it up and started banging it against the ground. I shrieked. What the fuck did it think it was doing? "You stupid idiot!" I yelled, jumping at it. The scaly skin was cold and slick under my fingers. "Give that back!" My free hand clamped on to the watch and tried to pry it out of the snake's mouth. It kept whipping around, which made the task difficult. Not to mention that the feeling of that slithery coil under my hand was none too pleasant.
When I finally did manage to loosen the snake's grip, it reared back it's head and hissed menacingly. "Damned reptile," I muttered, raising my hand to throw it against the wall. Maybe it's little skull would break in. And if that didn't work I could always stomp on it. Repeatedly.
Distracted momentarily by that fantasy, my hand gave the snake some leeway and it fell onto the floor. As I screamed and lunged, it dove into the relative safety of the Muppet's empty husk. Furious, I grabbed the Hoggle-looking-thing and shook it as hard as I could. No snake fell out.
Seething, I threw the Muppet to the floor. If the snake wanted to hide than fine! I needed to check how long I'd been in there anyway. A few strands of hair fell in my face as I tilted the watch back and forth, trying to see past the cracks the snake had made in it. The light was making a glare on the glass, and it took a few moments.
My findings were not happy. I'd been in the Labyrinth for a full twelve hours. No wonder I had hunger pains! It'd been over half a day since I'd last eaten! "UGH!" This would never have happened if Hoggle hadn't abandoned me. If he had just stuck by the bet I would've had made a beeline for the center. Being on my own had definitely stunted my progress. The chances of me ever finding Seth were steadily growing smaller - who knew when I'd ever find my way out of this place! And then I'd probably end up in another freaky place like the Hall of Mirrors, where I'd once again get turned around! Heck, after all the weird turns I'd made, I was probably heading towards the outer wall!
"This isn't RIGHT!" I screamed, kicking the wall. Running my tongue over my teeth, I choked down a sob. Jareth wasn't playing fair, damn it! Wasn't there a rule somewhere against this sort of mistreatment? Subconsciously, I began sucking on a lock of my brown hair. It was an old habit that I had tried desperately to get rid of - to no avail, apparently.
Damn it all to hell, how I wanted to quit! The Goblin King's maze had seemed so easy before this... Sarah got lost but she always had help come along and save her! Me, on the other hand, little old me, I was all alone. No one was going to be helping me now, or ever. "I just keep getting lost..." I muttered, "Why?"
"Perhaps because, deep down, you want to be lost?" Jareth asked, making me jump. The wet piece of hair fell from my mouth as I spun around to face him. He was leaning up against the opposite side of the well, the silver snake slowly curling around his black boot. There was a snide leer on his face that made me extremely uncomfortable. Why is he here?
Wariness starting to pervade me, I crossed my arms over my chest. If Jareth had just entered then he didn't need to know of my self-doubting... just yet. "And just what the hell is that supposed to mean?" I demanded, titling my chin up arrogantly. The denim of my shorts rubbed painfully against a cut. Breaking my façade of cool collectiveness, I winced. Jareth chuckled. Glaring at him, I cleared my throat and asked dismissively, "Oh, who'd want to be lost, anyway?"
Jareth walked forward, a predatory sheen in his eyes. As he drew near, I pressed up against the wall. There was nowhere for me to run now. And I'd bet a million dollars that Jareth was thinking the same thing. This thought was only reinforced when Jareth came to rest in front of me. Smirking, he ran a gloved finger over my jaw line. "Only someone who wishes to be rescued," he whispered darkly.
My heart skipped a beat. "Wha.... what?" I stammered. Jareth's finger slid along my lips. Only a small trace of a desire to bite him came over me, proving the extent to which his statement had unnerved me.
A cruel smile played across his face. "You want to be rescued, little human girl," he murmured. Stunned, I let my mouth hang open. Inside my chest my heart was pounding, sending a flush of blood to my cheeks. You could've fried an egg on my face. Jareth's hand found my shoulder and slowly traveled down to rest casually on my hip. "Too bad you wished your knight away..." he said, smiling broadly.
"Seth?" I asked. Wow, it had been over twelve hours since I'd said my Muse's name. The act left a funny taste in my mouth. With it Jareth's hand tightened. I winced and put my hand over his, intending to push it away.
Tone a little sticky, he said, "Yes... Seth. Your knight." There was a disgusted look in his eyes, but it vanished as he continued on with his little speech. "You really should give up, Karleigh." The way he said my name made me wish he hadn't ever learned it. "Seth wants to stay here, with me. In fact - he asked me if I could keep him here, even if you did win."
A tear escaped the corner of my eye. Jareth rubbed a comforting circle on my hip, and pushed my face into his chest. I collapsed against him, crying audibly now. Never had I thought I'd turn to Jareth for comfort. Or that I'd be crying over Seth. "Now now," Jareth murmured, putting his arms around me. "Why give that ungrateful bastard the satisfaction of seeing your tears? Just say the word - and I will send you back home. You'll never have to lay eyes on Seth again, my dear."
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"That is not me!" Jareth insisted, looking up from the crystal. His brow was furrowed in puzzlement. Seth glared at him. Sighing, Jareth threw his arms up. "How could I be in two places at once?" he demanded, trying to hide his panic. Lady Rachelle had gone too far, taking his face. She was breaking the rules of the Labyrinth now, trying to trick Karleigh into going home.
Seth ran a hand through his hair. "Jareth, if you do not want another bruise on your lovely face," he murmured, stepping towards the monarch, "you will take me there. Now." He was fuming. Jareth or not, the man conversing with Karleigh had crossed an invisible line. No one but me is permitted to touch her, he thought fleetingly.
- - - "I just want to punch him!" - - -
The shriek was loud enough to make both men wince. Seth felt his knees go weak. He had to see Karleigh, and let her know that everything that imposter was saying about him wasn't true! How could she even think for a second that he hated her?
- - - "I know, I know. But wouldn't it be better just to go home?" - - -
Lady Rachelle's tone was much quieter. Jareth twirled the crystal, and it tripled in size. Grunting, Seth looked on with him. "Are you taking me or not?" he demanded, watching the pseudo-Jareth stroke Karleigh's back. If he didn't go soon he'd need to start breaking bottles again.
- - - "No! I want to beat the fucking crap out of him!" - - -
Seth flinched and stumbled backwards into a chair. Karleigh... he thought, burying his face in his hands. There was a horrible knot in his stomach. Maybe I should just sign that contract. Her memories would be erased, and she wouldn't be angry with me anymore... she wouldn't be anything with me anymore.
Jareth sighed, oblivious to his friend's thoughts. He was going to have to intervene, which in itself would be a relatively simple task. The problem was going to be coaxing Karleigh out of her murderous rage long enough for him to get a hand on Lady Rachelle. If there was only some way to talk Seth out of destroying everything in the room before he left, everything would be perfect.
The glint of something silver within the crystal caught Jareth's eye.
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Lady Rachelle had given up. As planned, her words had turned Karleigh against Seth. The trouble was now the mortal wanted to kill him. I should have expected this, Rachelle lamented. Karleigh was a woman scorned, and she wanted her revenge. Rachelle actually felt sorry for the girl. She remembered when she'd discovered that her Seth had taken another lover, nothing in the Underground could console her except the thought of his demise. There was only one way to get Karleigh to do what she wanted now.
Behind the girl's head, Rachelle waved her hand. A snake appeared, and flicked it's tongue towards it's Mistress. Rachelle smiled. Her creations always managed to cheer her up. And this one was definitely going to make her happy, if Karleigh didn't disappear in the next three seconds.
Slowly and deliberately, Rachelle lowered the snake to Karleigh's neck. She felt her heart speed up with the thrill of the moment. Finally, that bitch will be under my control, the thought. Karleigh's tears were soaking the front of her shirt. The girl's back was falling and rising with each of her incensed breaths. Stroking the back of the snake's head, Rachelle watched it open it's mouth.
At Rachelle's silent command, the snake plunged it's fangs into Karleigh's neck.
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Author's Note: AGH! Wow. Long chapter. Holy crap. Almost three thousand words! oO Well I did try to warn you at the beginning. Dunno when the next chapter is going to be out, I'll try as quickly as possible...
Darth Moofin: I have heavily contemplated the idea, believe me. Haven't hammered out all the details yet... ah I've said too much! 'Devious little biscuit' interesting choice of words there Thanks for the review.
Draco's Daughter: There was a craze in second grade to go into the bathroom, turn off the lights, and call out Bloody Mary... she never showed up though ::tear:: Hehe love the Pan torture! Thanks for your review.
Mab, Queen of Faerie: Uh, well, I just like making things complicated. And I thought it was vaguely amusing... Thanks for reviewing!
BlueyChan: Is it just me or did you start and finish your entire story before I added this chapter? ::shifty eyes:: Hehe, I loved it, really! Thanks for the review.
sych77: Yes, you were living in a hole. A BLACK HOLE! How you ever managed to escape that will baffle scientists for all time... ::cough:: There are like a million different versions of the legend, I just picked one at random. I pronounce it Kar-lay, personally. Thanks for your reviews!
Princess-RainbowRose: Ooh, I just love torturing you. I'm so evil. Oh dear, and now Seth looks like he's going back to Rachelle! Jareth had better intervene before he signs that contract... dun dun dun! Yes, well, I've finally written in stone that there will be a pairing. Just not revealing whom yet... don't hate me! Thanks for your review!
Insane Dragoness: Thank you for the review and the compliment! Sorry it took so long to get this chapter out.