Underneath the Crystal Moon
a/n: I do not own labyrinth
Part One: Phoenix
Chapter Three
Phoenix had been sketching in her bedroom when, all of a sudden, her father appeared beside her.
"Time to go, a mortal has been wished away," her father said. Phoenix stood and was in her most fearsome outfit in a second. The black dress had a ragged hem to it. The coat she wore over it was long and had a high collar that came up to her chin. The buttons on the coat were rubies. Her boots were made of shiny black leather. Her red hair was piled on top of her head in messy curls, held in place with ruby hair pins her mother had made for her. She looked fearsome, and very sexy. Her father was garbed in all black, just as he had appeared when he had come to her mother that first time. He changed into a white barn owl. Phoenix changed into a unique raven that had red and white accented feathers. They flew out of the Underground together.
The city they approached was vast, and dotted with tall buildings. Everything was so bright and noisy. They flew towards the call, coming at last to a dingy apartment building. Jareth used magic to blow the window open, and then flew in. They changed back into their Fae forms slowly. The little boy in front of them looked scared. He should be. He was about ten or so, with blond hair and brown eyes. The apartment was small but well kept. Phoenix stood back and let her father take over.
"You're him? You're the Goblin King? Who's this girl? The Goblin Queen?" the little boy asked.
"My daughter, the Goblin Princess," Jareth said with aplomb.
"What did you do with Aidan?" the boy asked.
"Owen, forget about him. I can offer you your dreams," Jareth said, and conjured a crystal sphere with all of little Owen's dreams in it. He began to manipulate it with his hands, twirling it about. Owen was hypnotized.
"My mom would flip if I let him disappear, so you had better bring him back," Owen said.
"No one will ever know. Take the crystal. It won't hurt you. If you look at it this way it will show you your dreams. All you have ever wanted Owen," Jareth said.
Owen was transfixed.
"I hate him anyways," Owen shrugged, and reached for the crystal. The world blurred a little, and then Jareth and Phoenix were flying towards the Underground again. They changed back into their Fae forms in front of the castle and walked in.
They walked into the audience room and stopped in shock. There was usually a baby in the center of the room. Instead, they found Sarah staring, perplexed, at a fully grown mortal male. Sarah arched her eyebrow at them. The male had a look that showed confusion, and not a little shock. Jareth sighed, and Phoenix was frozen. She had seen this mortal before. The light brown hair, the grey eyes. She had seen him in her dreams before. And as he looked at her she saw his eyes widen. She quickly changed her Goblin Princess outfit into a pair of pants in a light green color, and a white tunic made of lightweight gauze. Her hair came down and was once again straight and framing her face. She now wore white sandals. He had recognition in his eyes. Why would this mortal recognize her?
"What are you staring at?" Phoenix asked him.
"I have seen you before. What's your name?" he asked her.
"Princess Phoenix. How could you have ever seen me before? You're mortal!" she exclaimed.
"I don't know. If I'm mortal then what the hell are you?" Aidan asked.
"Aidan, please do not speak to my daughter that way. I think we need explanations all around," Sarah said with a touch of humor in her voice. Jareth walked over and sat in the chair next to her. Sarah waved and a chair appeared for Aidan. Phoenix refused to sit in a chair and instead sat on an invisible stool next to her mom and dad. Jareth stared at her intently. She quickly changed her mind and conjured a comfortable chair.
"Your brother wished you away," Jareth said.
"Obviously. After he cut me open, of course," Aidan said, and showed them the fairly deep wound on his arm. Phoenix got up and walked over to him. She took his arm in her hands and concentrated. The wound glowed and then was healed. Phoenix liked the way his skin felt. It was smooth. She let go of his arm and sat back down.
"Thanks," he murmured as he stared at where the wound once was. Aidan was a little shocked that he was not at all surprised by what the girl did.
"Okay, so your little brother wished you away. Now, I can only take mortals under the age of eighteen when they have actually been wished away like that. I can only take ones that are over eighteen when they wish themselves away. How far away are you from your eighteenth birthday?" Jareth asked.
"Two months," the boy said, " Can I ask a question?"
"Go ahead," Sarah told him.
"Who are all of you and what are all of you?" Aidan blurted out.
"You owned a small red book with gold letters, correct?" Sarah asked him, he nodded, and then his eyes got a little wide, "My name used to be Sarah Williams. I am the girl the Goblin King fell in love with. I solved the Labyrinth, and defeated him. Sometime later, we were forced to marry because of a prophecy. We loved each other very much, of course. Jareth here is the Goblin King the story speaks of. We are Fae. Immortal, magical Fae. The girl you see beside us is one of our five children, not including the one here in my tummy. Your brother wished you away, and the goblins did indeed take you. Unfortunately, your brother chose his dreams over you, so now you are stuck here, forever".
Aidan wanted to cry. He was strong though, and held on. The cold man sitting next to his warm and friendly queen held no remorse on their faces. This was their job, and letting sympathy rule them would profit no one. The princess sat next to them, avoiding his gaze. Aidan became worried about his precarious position here. In the story, the Goblin King would turn the taken child into a goblin.
"What's to become of me? Am I to be turned into a goblin then?" he asked.
"I don't actually turn children into goblins Aidan. I adopt them out. But seeing as you are almost of age, I cannot adopt you out. I will see that you are given a room until we decided what to do with you. Phoenix, please show him to the room across the hall from yours. His things are already there. Make sure he all he needs," Jareth told her.
"Come on," Phoenix waved her arm, and the bewildered Aidan followed her down the hall. It was complex, and he had no idea where they were going. They finally came to a door made of dark wood. They stepped inside, and it was bare, except for his stuff piled on the floor.
"Okay, time to decorate. What color carpet do you want?" Phoenix asked.
"Wait. What?" Aidan asked in confusion.
"I have all this nice magic at my disposal and not much time. Just tell me what you want. If you do not like it we can wipe the slate clean. Great thing about magic," Phoenix told him as she pulled a crystal sphere out of the air. She began to manipulate it as her father did. He was as transfixed by it as his brother had been, until she threw it at him. He flinched as the bubble popped in his hands.
"Why have I been seeing your face every time I close my eyes?" Aidan whispered.
Phoenix stared at him. The question did not surprise her.
"I don't know. But right now, we need to decorate your room," Phoenix told him, trying to get her mind off the situation.
"Carpet? Can I have blue carpet? Like, dark blue carpet?" Aidan asked her. Phoenix waved her hand and it became a dark blue plush carpet.
"Walls?" Phoenix asked as she sat down on air.
"Um, cream colored?" Aidan asked. She waved her hand and it was done.
"Bed?" Phoenix asked and then snapped her fingers. A large bed made of dark wood showed up. It had four posts that ended in leaf shaped finials. Then she snapped again and a nightstand appeared that matched the bed. Again she snapped, and a wardobe and a chest of drawers appeared. She waved her hand and a few potted plants appeared, along with some paintings. His things flew into the chest of drawers and the wardrobe. She looked at the bed and there were bedcovers. There were cream-colored silk sheets, fluffy pillows, and a beautifully made dark blue brocade comforter with golden accents. Phoenix was quite amazed at her decorating acumen. She turned to look at Aidan, who had silent tears coursing their way down his cheeks.
"What's wrong? Did I do something wrong?" Phoenix asked, and grabbed a tissue out of the air. She handed it to him. She had never seen a male cry that was not a baby.
"My mom's apartment is smaller than this room alone," Aidan said sadly.
"Well, she doesn't even remember you now, so let's move onto the bathroom," Phoenix said, and she grabbed his arm. Aidan did not move, however.
"What do you mean, she does not remember me?" Aidan asked.
"When Owen took the crystal everyone Aboveground forgot you ever existed. There is no Aidan Bishop now," Phoenix said.
"Thank god," Aidan said. He had wished that his mother would never have to worry about him ever again. He had gotten his wish. For that, he was happy. He followed Phoenix to the bathroom. It was all blank white tiles, and blank white walls.
"Can we change the floor to sandstone?" he asked. Phoenix did it," And can we change the walls to the same shade as the bedroom?"
A couple of minutes later the room was decorated. Phoenix made some white towels appear on the counter near the tub, and made sure there were toiletries stocked in the bathroom.
"Are you hungry?" Phoenix asked the newcomer.
"Yes," he told her truthfully.
"Let's go eat dinner with the rest of the family," she told him. She snapped and Aidan was dressed in a navy blue suit. The light blue shirt looked good on him, and the blue tie matched the suit perfectly. His feet were clad in nice black dress shoes.
"How did you know what I would wear?" Aidan asked her.
"Mom. I shared a lot of her memories with her when I was in the womb, and she had some memories of what mortals wear"
Aidan nodded, pretending to understand.
Phoenix almost blushed at how good Aidan looked in the outfit she had conjured. She waved her hand and she was wearing a black dress made of silk. It was off the shoulder and had a full skirt. It stopped at her knees, and she wore little black heels with it. A diamond necklace glistened at her throat, and diamond earrings shone at her ears. Her hair was curled delicately. He opened the door for her, and they walked down the hall. Dinner was waiting.