Author's Note: I revised the last chapter for Midnight Lady. Also, this is the last chapter. For the nonreviewers, please do what these lovely folks have done: Thankee – Glass of Water, Asami Black, asn water, Jibiathon, Moonjava, Lady of the Labyrinth, Sprocolate (heya!) Jessica Arbuckle, Nugrey, Sparkle E. Slugg, darkprediction, fish, CanaceErinn and Ripper101!
Epilogue
"I was human once." Alucinor whispered. "Centuries ago I lived in Italy. It was by chance really that the King found me. Another child had wished their sibling away, and I was present. Much like your friend, Kay, I was a bystander. But in this case, I was an orphan, with no one, and nothing. I asked him to take me."
He tightened his arms around me as I curled up in his lap. After a long bout of tears, I had simply lain exhausted on the cold wooden floor with my self-proclaimed boyfriend. Alucinor sat with his back against the side of my bed, my head resting in the crook of his neck, lips moving gently against my forehead. The sun was slowly lightening the world outside my window, and I knew that the first day of the week had arrived, and the first day of my supposed 'vacation'. But relaxation was the last thing on my mind. I had destroyed two individual hopes of paradise.
"He looked at me, asked what I had that he would want. And I told him that I had nothing but my life and my loyalty, and that all I wanted was to be fed and clothed."
I felt him smile.
"He laughed at me, and I thought he would simply leave me there in the gutter. He turned to the boy who had just wished his little sister away and asked him, 'Will you try to save her?' and the boy only shook his head. She could have been a bother to any older brother; I had watched them leave the market. She was whining about a copper pin she wanted. But I didn't think she deserved to be turned into a creature of the Underground. She at least had a family. Instead, I said that I would run the Labyrinth."
I pulled away enough to look him in the face. "You did that for someone you didn't even know?"
His bangs fell in his eyes, making me want to brush them away. "I had nothing to lose. So the King let me trade – my life for hers. I ran the Labyrinth, but I failed. He made me his dream gatherer, and marked me as his own." He let one hand slip from around me to push back his hair to reveal the golden star on his forehead.
"What about your ears?" I asked.
"They changed when he made me immortal."
"Oh," My heart sank, and I frowned. Why would that make me disappointed? I hadn't even really said that I would… would what?
He read the hesitation in my face. "Mia, you want two things – first that you will stop feeling so alone, and second, that there will be no change. But you cannot have one without the other and if you are willing, I can help you with both. You must give up your second wish to have the first."
I was suddenly very aware of his arms around me and that I was half sitting, half lying in his lap. I swallowed, "Alucinor, I'm not good with relationships. And this one has started so oddly… but I do," I blushed. "I do like you. But is it even fair that we're here, and I messed things up so badly for Jareth and Sarah?"
He looked at me solemnly. "May I kiss you?"
Embarrassed, I ducked my head. "I-I suppose so."
He carefully tilted my face back up to his before smoothly fitting his lips against mine. My heart jumped up to my throat, and I couldn't think what to do next. Alucinor simply slipped that one kiss into a series of smaller ones until I reached up to hold him still. I wanted to get a better feel of his mouth instead of his delicate fluttering. And I did, much better. He tasted like warm cider… without the apples. Sweet, with a spice that started to fill my head. I had the faint thought; I wonder what I taste like, before he firmly took control of the exchange.
The shock of the cold wood floor on my back let me know how far we had gone. Panting, I opened my eyes to see him leaning over me, but his gaze wasn't focused. He was listening to something. Dread wiped away every trace of pleasure.
"Alucinor?"
Whatever had drawn his attention was clearly not enjoyable. Blue eyes narrowed, and I felt him stiffen in anger. Before I could ask him what was wrong, he bent and kissed me hard enough that I almost pushed him away in defense. Then he was gone. I sat up, completely confused, and looked around my apartment.
"Alucinor?"
Nothing – he had vanished and I had the sickening feeling that I knew why.
The morning air was chill, dew hanging off of the uncut grass in a shimmering mist. The sun hadn't even cleared the nearest city buildings as I ran through the park to that bench where it all began. If anyone had seen me, they would have thought I was crazy, wearing jeans, sneakers, and a tank top, hair falling uncombed past my shoulders, and looking around the grounds as if expecting someone there at 6 am. But I was looking for someone.
"Jareth!" I reached the park bench. "Jareth, king of the goblins, you had better get your butt down here – or up here, whichever!"
I waited, hands on my hips, looking constantly for any sign of his presence and coming up with nothing. Tears began to burn my eyes, but I had too much anger to let them fall.
How dare he! Sarah was right – he is still a child! A petty child who says 'If I can't have it, no one can'.
"That's so unfair!" I hissed under my breath.
"I cannot help it, Mia." The smooth voice still spoke up from behind me, despite my efforts to keep him from catching me off guard. I whirled to face him, ready to rip him a new one. He was in a pair of black jeans and a white silk shirt. Ruffles hid the fact that it was open nearly all the way down his chest. The medallion still gleamed, the crescent looking forebodingly like horns.
"What do you mean, you can't help it? My life has nothing to do with yours. You came to me for help – I gave it. Now let me get back to it."
"That is what I intend to do."
"Then why did you take Alucinor? Where is he? Send him back!"
Jareth sighed and leaned two gloved hands on the back of the wooden bench that he stood against. "Such arrogance to demand things of a king. Etiquette has been lost in this day and age." He shrugged. "Alucinor is my subject, and a creature of the Underground. Your life, had nothing to do with him."
My fears were confirmed. The tears began burning my throat and I glared at him. "You just want to keep whoever you can from having happiness." To my shame, my vision was blurring. "You just can't stand that I might be happy while you aren't. Why did you even bother?" I had to turn away. "Why did you even come?"
"You called. Just as you called twelve years ago, and just as Sarah called. But the game is over – at least this round. She is the master here, I am her king, but she is the queen with the power to change the board at her whim. You and yours are merely pawns."
"So we will have to wait for you two to get over yourselves before we can even hope to have a romance?"
To my surprise, Jareth moved from behind the bench to face me and smiled. It had no trace of his inherent sarcasm or bitterness – it was pure melancholy. He reached out with a gloved finger to wipe away the tears which were finally slipping from my eyes. "Unfortunately, yes. Sarah has made her choice, and she also unwittingly made new rules. I may not have power over her, but she holds such power over me. I cannot allow my dream gatherer the luxury of traveling readily between worlds off duty."
"For how long?" I asked. He was still so handsome in the morning light, but cold as the dew that soaked my shoes. Handsome, but not what I wanted… not any longer.
"Only time will tell. Perhaps forever - " He smirked. "But that's not long at all."
I stepped back and straightened my shoulders. "I love him." I declared without hesitation. "I'll relearn your game, and I will win again."
A spark lit in his mis-matched eyes and he produced a crystal in his left hand. "I'm sure you think you will." He rolled the sphere over the back of his hand and up to his fingertips. "And what will the stakes be?"
"Me." I smiled.
"Take care, Mia, that you do not forget that words have power. They can bring you your heart's desire, or they can doom you to an eternity of torment."
"I am aware of that. But I have an additional request."
He raised an eyebrow at me but I merely returned it. "Sarah and I will meet the challenge together. When the time comes – when she is ready, so will I. And we will defeat the Labyrinth again."
His smile twisted into a sneer. "So confident are we. The higher you go, the further you will fall."
I shook my head. "No, we won't fail. Do you know why?"
He only waited for my answer.
"Because we truly love what we seek."
"Yet you said the right words." His eyes were hooded, looking for any weakness.
"We are all only human – we make mistakes, and we may mean them at the time. But we also believe just as strongly, that we can make up for them."
Jareth held out the crystal to me. "And we will be waiting."
The dream was over.
A new game had begun.
The end.