Kerist: Wow, this didn't take a month to get out. Yay! And I am almost sure in saying that there will be about one chapter after this, yes, almost sure. Unless I think of something spectacular to add the ending to Innocent Musings will be coming along fairly soon, yes.
Disclaimer: I think this has been stated before, but I don't own Labyrinth or the Henson Empire.
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"Nice leopard," I whispered, frozen with fear. "Nice leopard. Run along now," I said. Where was Seth when you needed him? Who cared if I had to run the Labyrinth over - again? I just wanted to get out of this alive. And with all that my 'guardian angel' had just put me through, well, the chances of that weren't looking too good.
The leopard took a few steps into the clearing. I laid back down and closed my eyes. I couldn't fool it into thinking I was dead, I knew that much, but if I appeared no threatening maybe it wouldn't try to eat me. My breathing slowed, my heart stopped pounding so hard, my face cooled off. The leopard took another few steps. I gripped the edges of the wooden thing the woman had put me on, my knuckles turning white. "Oh God oh God oh God," I whispered. This day just got better and better. If I could just go back in time I never would've made that stupid wish, I thought, cursing myself. I never thought it'd work, I didn't think I'd actually land myself in the Labyrinth - let alone in the clutches of a raving, psychotic madwoman hell-bent on killing me!
The leopard came closer still. It got harder and harder to just sit there passively, waiting, even though I knew already I couldn't get the bonds on my legs and feet undone. Okay, I thought, if this were one of my stories, what would I make my heroine do? I tried to stay calm as the leopard started circling the cart, watching me with big, almond-shaped eyes. I wouldn't make my heroine do anything, I thought, staring back at the leopard. This would be the perfect time for the hero to come in and save her, and have a nice little romantic scene. Then they'd get the hell out of this place and go back home! The leopard blinked, and I frowned. "What the hell…"
Red eyes on a cat? The leopard sat down at the end of the cart and sneezed. I sat up and stared at it. Red eyes on a cat? Didn't cats have yellow eyes or something? The leopard shook itself and bent its head down to my legs. I squeezed my eyes shut and waited for flesh to start tearing. Maybe I'd pass out pretty quick and wouldn't have to be conscious while I was eaten alive, yes, that would be nice.
I felt the wet tongue of the cat along my legs, and the occasional nip of teeth, but no bites. Confused, I opened my eyes again, and my jaw dropped. The leopard was chewing at the ropes tying me to the cart. "What? Who are you?" I demanded, glaring at it. It sneezed again but didn't speak, making quick work of the rope around my feet. It came around the corner of the cart and put its front paws on the bed, tipping it over. I groaned as my head hit dirt. The leopard didn't seem to take much notice, it kept chewing at the ropes around my legs, only pausing once in a while to sneeze. I felt my head spin. "What are you?" I asked, fully expecting it to answer. It remained silent, naturally.
The last rope broken, I fell to the ground, and hurriedly picked myself up. The leopard stared at me, and I stumbled backwards, over the cart. I pushed myself off the ground again and glared at the cat. It was looking at the ground, making a weird noise. If I hadn't known better I would've said it was laughing. "Well, thanks," I said, for lack of anything else. I backed out of the clearing, keeping my eyes on the cat. "Yeah, thanks for all your help," I said, finally turning around. Now to find a way out of this place, I thought, sprinting away from the clearing. It looked like a greenhouse, so there had to be a door somewhere, or at least a wall I could break through.
If my 'angel' didn't find me first, that was.
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The leopard stayed still for a moment, staring at the place in the trees where Karleigh had disappeared off into. It sneezed, scratched at its face, and shook itself. With a sigh, the air around it rippled, and its form blurred. The colors changed from yellow and black to peach, red, brown and honey. The blurred air straightened and thinned, after a moment formed the shape of a humanoid figure. Then the air snapped back into place, and the blur faded, revealing Malferz, still in her red dress but wearing her leather armor again.
Jareth and Raphael walked into the clearing, scowling at each other. Malferz sneezed. "I'm allergic to cats, you know," she said, voice muffled. Raphael produced a handkerchief from somewhere in his robes and handed it to Malferz. She noisily blew her nose, and snapped her fingers to clean the handkerchief. "Couldn't it have been a pixie?" she asked Jareth. "Then I could've just untied the ropes."
"I do not think Rachelle stocks pixies in this place," Jareth said, looking around. "Besides, you wanted to know what a jaguar looked like, and now you do." He kicked the wooden cart and sneered, disgusted. Raphael looked up at the tree canopy, hoping to see a kookaburra or a spider monkey or something else of that nature. He recognized the environment from his Aboveground books, it was a tropical rainforest, so there should be some of those animals around somewhere, if he was lucky. "Rachelle is sick," Jareth muttered. "It's high time she get stuck in a padded room and leave us all be," he said.
"I second that," Malferz said, running a hand through her hair. "She is one messed up bitch. I don't see what Seth ever saw in her," she said. Jareth shrugged. Malferz scratched her head. "Where is Seth, anyway?"
Jareth smiled humorlessly. "Tied to Rachelle's bed, I'd assume," he said. Malferz glared at him.
Raphael stroked his chin thoughtfully. "Are we going after that girl?" he asked. "If you want me to make a fair decision about the Muse, I should probably get her opinion about him." He didn't catch Jareth's wince.
The Goblin King wasn't so sure about that. "The human needs to finish running the Labyrinth," he said, anxiously. Of course, he hadn't spoken to Seth for an hour or so, and so he didn't know that Seth had broken Rachelle's hold over Karleigh, so he was worried about any opinions the girl might share about her Muse. "She's already had to start over once. We just need to get her back to the Goblin Kingdom and let her continue where she left off - "
"No," Raphael said, coolly.
A moment of tense silence passed. Through gritted teeth Jareth asked, "No? This is my affair, Your Honor," he said, hands clenched by his sides. Malferz looked back and forth between the two men, intrigued. No one ever told Jareth what to do, this was going to be interesting. "And I say that we take Karleigh back and discuss Seth's fate while she finds her way through the Labyrinth," Jareth said, resisting the urge to dump Raphael straight into the Bog of Eternal Stench. He entertained the thought for a while, though. It was a nice thought.
Sighing, Raphael put his hand on Jareth's shoulder. "This is far more important than a silly little race against time, Your Majesty," he said, closing his eyes. "This is a criminal case, and I'm puling that human out of her competition with you to testify." He opened his eyes and tightened his grip on the Goblin King's shoulder. "Is that clear?" he asked, his eyes flashing. After a second of thought, Malferz tapped her finger against Raphael's head. The judge turned around and glared at her. "What?" he snapped, the moment ruined.
Malferz put her hands on her hips. "As the enforcer of the Labyrinth's magic," she said, firmly, "I feel I must inform you that the Labyrinth isn't going to like that. There's too much of its magic in Karleigh to just pull her out. She'll die if the magic isn't transferred to someone else - and it may be weeks before another kid is wished away."
For a minute Raphael just stared at her. "So what you're saying," he finally said, narrowing his eyes. "Is that all we have to do is find someone else to run the Labyrinth in Karleigh's place?"
The half-Fae ran her tongue over her teeth. "Yeah, that could work," she said, hesitantly. It'd never been done before, but hell, what did they have to lose? Besides Karleigh's life, of course…
"Well then, it's settled," Raphael said, turning to Jareth, who frowned. The King asked, "Who do you suggest we put in her place, hmm? There aren't that many people available," he said. "And I don't suppose you're willing to volunteer? No? I didn't think so." He scowled, and looked away, off into the trees. Little bastard showing me up, thinks he can run my kingdom, if I didn't need him I swear to hell I'd dump him right into the Bog of Stench, and I'd enjoy it, too, he thought bitterly.
Raphael raised his eyebrows. "Isn't it obvious?" he asked. "Lady Rachelle is the perfect candidate."
The trees on the far side of the clearing opened. Rachelle stumbled in, holding a carving knife in her left hand, and a canister of salt in the other. She stared at the group standing in the middle of the clearing, gaped, and twitched ever so slightly. She hid the knife and the salt behind her back. "Hello Jareth. Malferz. And….?" her voice was sugar sweet.
"Judge Raphael," Raphael said, bowing at the waist. Malferz snorted. "I assume you are Lady Rachelle?" he asked.
Rachelle curtsied as best she could manage without using her hands and having almost no skirt left. "Judge Raphael," she said, head inclined. "What an honor to meet such a fine presence. To what do I owe this unexpected visit?" she asked, smiling. Never, thought Raphael, have the pointed Fae canines looked better on anyone.
Calmly, Raphael walked forward and took Rachelle's hand in his. He kissed the back of her hand, and smiled back at her. Malferz crossed her arms over her chest, but didn't comment. "My Lady," he said, not letting go of her hand. His fingers cautiously gripped her wrist. "I am here on a matter of grave importance, and I require your assistance."
"What… kind of assistance would that be?" Rachelle asked, taking note of how firmly he was gripping her wrist.
Raphael smiled.
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Seth gripped the machete and hacked his way through a web of withered creeping vines. He clenched his teeth and stomped through the grove of trees, cursing under his breath. "I can't believe I ever loved that woman," he muttered, climbing over a boulder. He stood on the top of the rock and surveyed the area, scowling. "Nearly broke my back falling down that ladder," he said, rubbing his sore shoulder.
A crash in the trees behind him made Seth spin around, and he nearly fell off the boulder. A woman was standing at the bottom of the rock. She had deeply tanned skin, and long, sand-colored hair, which grew down to her waist. Seth swallowed and nervously tapped his fingers against the handle of the machete. The woman was completely naked from the waist up. She had a skirt made of dead fern leaves tied around her waist, and if she'd had any greater sense of decency she'd have worn her hair over her chest, not combed behind her ears and shoulders.
"Who are you?" Seth asked, trying to keep his eyes on her eyes, brown. She giggled but didn't respond. Seth swallowed again, painfully this time. A fine time for Karleigh to show up, he thought, glancing around the area for his … friend. Luckily for Seth she wasn't anywhere around. "What are you?" he asked, looking closer at her eyes. Both brown, so she wasn't a Fae. And no Fae would walk around dressed like that. Well, maybe Rachelle, Seth corrected himself. In fact, I'm sure Rachelle has walked around like that. More than once.
The woman giggled again, and titled her head to one side. "I am Liakea," she said, smiling warmly. "And you have hurt my vines." She pointed to the vines hanging loosely from the canopy, ends evenly cut, obviously with a sharp, smooth blade. Like the one on the machete Seth had.
He scratched his head, running his hand through his hair. For an awkward moment he didn't say anything. He wet his lips and tapped his foot against the boulder. "Um, well, I'm sorry about that," he said. "But I needed to get through the … vines …" his voice trailed off at the look on the woman's face. Her eyes were watering, and her shoulders shook with soft sobs. Seth stared at her, dumbfounded. He opened his mouth to say something, changed his mind, and shut his mouth again. "Miss…" he said, convinced that whatever her species she was very much female.
"You hurt my vines," she wailed. Seth tried to jump off the boulder but found himself anchored. Startled, he looked down to see vines curled around his ankles. "Now… I'm going to hurt you," Liakea said. Seth rolled his eyes and started chopping at the vines, which only made Liakea furious. She started climbing up the rock, and Seth just kept hacking at the vines, muttering to himself. He'd finally figured out what Liakea was.
When Liakea was closer, Seth threw his machete at her. She fell back against the jungle floor, blade sticking out of her chest. Weeping, she curled into a fetal position, and the vines around Seth dissolved as she died. He flinched and turned around, jumped off the boulder and continued on his quest to find Karleigh. "I hate dryads," he muttered.
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I was tired of sprinting just a few minutes later. Sighing, I sat down in the nook of a tree root to catch my breath. Above, the trees started to rustle, and I looked up. A few seconds later rain poured through the canopy, and the floor of the forest turned to mud. "Shit," I muttered, finding a place on the tree root I could sit. Next to me was a fern, I pulled off a leaf, brushed the seeds off, and held it over my head to keep dry. Of course. This was a rainforest, it was going to rain. And after a couple of seconds went by I realized it was going to rain very hard. The fern leaf wasn't going to be of any use. I threw it away, and pulled my knees up to my chest.
"I might as well face it," I said to myself, leaning back against the tree. I looked up at the canopy, rainwater falling into my eyes. I blinked, and raised my hand to my forehead. "I'm never going to get out of here." I crossed my legs up underneath me and bit my tongue. For the entire time I'd been in this place, I'd been hearing bird calls, but not once had I seen any birds. Weird. "I'm going to die here… my bones bleached by the sun," I muttered.
Closing my eyes, I tried to lull myself to sleep. I wasn't really tired, but if I wandered around anymore I figured I'd get lost and end up hurting myself. If I could avoid that angel for long enough, my time would run out, and Jareth would send me back home. I sighed to myself. The situation seemed hopeless enough.
Cracking leaves in the distance made me open my eyes again. My heart started pounding, and I prayed that it wouldn't turn out to be another leopard. Two trees parted, and out stepped… Seth. I let out a sigh of relief, and stood up, my shoes sinking into the mud on the jungle floor. "Why are you dressed like Indiana Jones?" I asked, sticking my hands in my pockets.
He threw his hat to the ground and kept walking towards me. "I felt it was appropriate," he muttered, coming to a halt just a few inches in front of me. We stood silently for a few minutes, staring at each other. Finally he clicked his tongue against the roof of his mouth. "The woman, the woman who dragged you away," he said, noisily cracking his knuckles. "Her name is Rachelle… her official title is Lady." He looked away, and said, mostly to himself, "And she's a demon in bed."
I stomped on his foot as hard as I could. "What took you so long?" I asked, glaring at him. "She was going to feed me to a jaguar, for crying out loud!" I yelled, looking away. He took a step forward and put his arms around my waist. Startled, I tried to jump back, but he wouldn't let me. "What do you think you're doing?" I demanded.
He raised an eyebrow at me, and pulled me closer. I put my hands flat against his chest, to stop him from going, well, any further. "Don't do this to me, Karleigh," he said, softly. "I've had a rough day."
"You've had a rough day?" I asked, gaping at him. What the hell did he think he was saying? Were we talking about the same day here? "I've been swept away to a world I thought didn't exist, gotten lost more than once, gotten locked into more than one room, been told my Muse was really a Fae on conviction for some mysterious crime, and told the woman who supposedly was trying to help me was your former lover and was really trying to get me to go home, or kill me, and win you back," I said, the words spilling out in one long rush.
"And I've had to kill someone," Seth drawled. I gaped at him, shocked. He bent down, gripped my chin in his hand, and gently kissed me. In spite of myself, I closed my eyes, and kissed back. He was warm, and, somehow, even though it was raining, dry. After a second he pulled back. "Mmm.. … that was nice," he said, staring at me. I blushed and pushed away from him. I spun around and took a deep breath, pressed a hand to my face, which was burning with the worst blush I'd probably ever had. Seth's hand brushed my shoulder, and I reluctantly turned back around. He looked up at the canopy. "We should just get out of here," he said. "Using magic won't matter now."
"Screw the rules, huh?" I asked. Seth smiled and took my hand, pulling me close to him again.
"Let's get out of here," he whispered in my ear.
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Rachelle walked. And she walked. And she walked. Her hand trailed along the sandstone wall, and her eyes flickered closed. She stumbled and fell into a bush. Cursing, she struggled to pick herself up. "Damn it!" she hissed, jerking her hand away from the bush. A fairy hung from her wrist, grunting with the effort of driving its teeth through the Lady's thick skin. Rachelle bashed it against the wall, cursing again.
"Where is that damned door?" she asked, finally managing to pick herself off the ground. "That thing was ten feet high! Where the hell could it have gone?" She kept walking, frustrated. Where was that damned Hogwart thing when you needed him? She stopped in her tracks and curse again, badly enough to make the nearby fairies run away.
"I killed my guide," she muttered. She started cackling. "I… killed… my… guide…" she said, snorting. "And now I'm stuck in this stupid place…" she fell down again, howling with laughter. After a few minutes the laughter died away, and she stared up at the clouds as a few pixies gnawed at her ankles. "This isn't over yet, Seth," she said.
Inside the wall, which really wasn't that thick, the worm looked at his wife. "Won't be invitin' that one in for a cupa tea," he said, shaking his head. "Don't want her kind near the kiddies."
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Jareth, Malferz, and Raphael waited for Seth and Karleigh to show up in one of Jareth's many parlors. It wasn't easy. Raphael sat in front of the fire, staring into the flames. Malferz paced back and forth in front of the fireplace, mostly blocking his view of the fire. He didn't mind much.
The Goblin King read a report one of his underlings had made up while they were in Rachelle's jungle. He flipped through it, every moment his grin growing wider and wider. He put his hand up in front of his mouth to hide his satisfaction. If this meeting didn't change the High Judge's mind, well, this file definitely would. It was thick enough, for one, and had a whole lot of information that the judge was completely oblivious to.
"Malferz…" Raphael finally murmured. She glared at him, to no effect. "What, exactly, is your relationship to this Muse?" he asked, tapping his fingers against the arm of the overstuffed chair. He watched the expression on the woman's face change from angry, to startled, to happy, to thoughtful, and he stiffened.
She looked into the fire. "We… we were lovers, once," she said. Raphael started chewing on his tongue, and winced as the coppery taste of blood flooded his mouth. "It was just physical," Malferz added. "Seth was angry at Rachelle for betraying him… and he needed a woman to take it out on."
"He was rough with you," Raphael said.
Malferz glared at him. "This is none of your business," she said, softly.
Raphael shrugged. "I'm older than I look, Miss. Don't be afraid to say anything that might offend my ears," he said, smiling. Malferz snorted. "You wish," she muttered. Raphael didn't respond, though his eyes said a lot. Malferz sat down just to get away from his gaze. In the back, Jareth chuckled, unable to contain it.
The door opened, and Seth walked in. Karleigh hid behind him, clutching his shirt, her palms sweaty. Seth tried to make her come out from behind him, but couldn't. He gave up and walked over to the desk where Jareth was sitting, reading the report. The King closed the folder, steepled his fingers, and looked up at his old friend. "Judge Raphael is here," he said, raising his eyebrows. "Are you ready?"
"I have no choice," Seth said, finally managing to get Karleigh in front of him. She stared at the ground, trying to ignore Jareth's stare and Seth's arms hanging around her shoulders. "Somehow we ended up here, and not in the Labyrinth," he said, absentmindedly running his hand through Karleigh's hair. Karleigh plucked at the hem of her shirt, and didn't pay any attention to him.
"Karleigh… has been replaced. She has a surrogate runner," Jareth explained, shrugging. Seth raised his eyebrows, but Jareth didn't elaborate. He cleared his throat and stood up. "Your Honor," he said, rolling his eyes.
Raphael poked his head around his chair. "Oh," he said, looking Karleigh up and down. "You're soaking wet."
"No shit Sherlock," Karleigh muttered. Seth pushed her down into a chair, and gently told her to shut up. She scowled and curled up in the chair, wishing she was closer to the fire. Seth rubbed her shoulder and looked at Raphael, his face blank. "So, you're Judge Raphael?" he asked. The judge stood up and came out from behind his chair, nearly tripping over the hem of his long black robe.
"You're Seth, then," Raphael said, walking across the room. Malferz leaned over the arm of her chair and watched, fingers crossed. Raphael walked around Seth, inspecting him. "Well, you don't seem very impressive. I don't see why you've got all these women falling for you," he said. Malferz rolled her eyes and fell back in her chair.
Seth glared at him, grip on Karleigh's shoulder tightening. "I don't think my sex life has anything to do with this."
Karleigh bit her lip. "I am not included in that last statement," she said, frowning at Seth.
For a moment Raphael just stared at Seth, eyes narrowed. He sat down on the edge of Jareth's desk and crossed his legs. Sighing, he cracked his knuckles. "Well then, let's here it," he said, staring at Seth. The Muse cursed mentally, and tried to keep his face impassive. "Tell me why you deserve to live, Muse."
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Kerist: Well, another chapter out. Actually now I'm thinking... the next chapter will be Raphael's final decision, wrap things up with Rachelle (yea, we are not done with her just yet) and the one after will be the ending. I don't know about a sequel, if I can think of a plotline for it I may do it, of course, there'd have to be interest. By the way, dryads are like... nature nymph things... I just twisted that one to take up some time, show how.. violent... Seth could be. Anyway. Reviewer recognition time!
BlueyChan: Yay, I love Raphael too. Thanks for reviewing!
Fou Fou: Hope you enjoyed this chapter too. Thanks for the review, I love it when people write whole paragraphs!
sych77: I really was convinced you had finally disappeared into a black hole or something. But lo, you are existent! And fully capable to produce great reviews, thank you so much! I know, I can't seem to keep my stories from getting dark… people just somehow turn up dead around me… :cough: of course they're all fictional…
Princess-RainbowRose: I liked the judge too… I just had to put that line in there. Hope this update was soon enough for you, thanks again for being such a dedicated reader!
Moonjava: Short and sweet, thanks for the review!
Avalon-blackandgreen: I'd be disturbed if people didn't hate Rachelle. Thanks for reviewing!