Underneath the Crystal Moon
a/n: I do not own Labyrinth, or the lyrics to "As the World Falls Down". I don't. I wish I did since it is such a pretty song.
Part One: Phoenix
Chapter 9
As the morning of the masquerade dawned, Phoenix found herself in the music room, playing the piano. She was playing a classical piece of music from the Icelands, a lovely sonata that was sharp and light. By no means was it a bouncy little tune. It was just light, a tune that danced delicately across the keys, reminding her of fairy wings fluttering in the air. She liked to think while she played. And as it always was the case lately, her thoughts drifted to Aidan Bishop.
He was so aggravating! So maddening! When she was around him he looked at her like he was looking through her, into her. Those gray eyes never betrayed one moment of indecision or fear when they looked at her. Those gray eyes had looked at her so intently before they closed and he kissed her. Her first kiss. It had made her tingle from her toes all the way up. She had felt lucky she had not lost it.
Phoenix had been daydreaming and did not notice that her hands had switched songs, to an old song she knew by heart. A song from deep in her mother's most cherished memories. Phoenix began to sing, unaware that her mother had entered and was standing at the back of the room, hands resting on her ever-expanding belly.
"There's such a sad love
Deep in your eyes, a kind of pale jewel
Open and closed within your eyes
I'll place the sky within your eyes
There's such a fooled heart
Beating so fast in search of new dreams
A love that will last within your heart
I'll place the moon within your heart
As the pain sweeps through
Makes no sense for you
Every thrill has gone
Wasn't too much fun at all
But I'll be there for you
As the world falls down
Falling
Falling down
Falling in love
I'll paint you mornings of gold
I'll spin you valentine evenings
Though we're strangers till now
We're choosing the path between the stars
I'll lay my love between the stars
As the pain sweeps through
Makes no sense for you
Every thrill has gone
Wasn't too much fun at all
But I'll be there for you
As the world falls down…"
Phoenix finished the song and then just started to play the melody over and over again, humming to herself. She felt a hand on her shoulder, and stopped playing when she saw it was her mother. Sarah had a slight sheen to her eyes, like she was about to cry, but then she blinked it back and it was gone.
"Phoenix, when are you just going to admit to yourself that you love him?" Sarah asked her daughter sincerely. Phoenix sighed and began to play the lovely sonata again.
"I don't love him. I can't love him," Phoenix stated. Sarah sighed and took her daughter's hands off the piano.
"Phoenix, I have seen the way he looks at you. I have seen the way you look at him. You are fighting it. Have you ever considered the fact that you may be meant to be together? That maybe he was brought down here for a reason?" Sarah asked her daughter.
"Of course I have. I'm not stupid," Phoenix said through her teeth.
"Phoenix, I have never said you were stupid, only that you may be a little blind," Sarah suggested to her daughter.
"I am the only Fae to ever be born with eyes like glowing orbs. I can embrace the flame more readily than any other Lady in existence. Why would anyone want to love me, let alone be with me? They fear me. And trust me, the first time I burn Aidan he will turn away," Phoenix asserted.
"I think you are wrong, and that you don't give Aidan enough credit. I have never said you were stupid, sweetheart. But this time, you are being damned dense," Sarah said as she left the room. Phoenix slammed her hands on the keys of the piano and rested her head on the cool wood. Her mother may be right. She had not even given Aidan a chance to say no. After yesterday, she did not want him to say no. She wanted him in her life. She could get addicted to his kisses, and her horse rides could be less lonely.
"Why does it always come to a head when there is something important going on?" Phoenix wondered aloud, and went back to her room.
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Aidan knocked on the door of the king and queen's suite. He needed to go into town, and he wanted to make sure it was okay. He wanted to buy Phoenix a small gift, a bracelet to be specific.
The maid, Agee, answered the door.
"Good morning Agee, is Her Majesty here?" Aidan asked the little goblin politely.
"Aidan, come on in," Sarah said warmly from a chair near the balcony. Aidan stepped inside and walked over to the queen, giving her a bow.
"Agee, can you go check and see how the decorators are coming along?" Sarah dismissed her maid neatly, "Now, what can I do for you, Aidan?"
"I wanted to know if I could go into the city. I want to buy Phoenix a gift," Aidan explained.
"Why?" Sarah asked.
"Because I wanted to do something nice for her," Aidan said.
"What do you want to get?" Sarah asked out of curiosity.
"A bracelet. In a dream I had, she was wearing a silver filigree cuff bracelet with sprinkles of blue stones on it. It looked so pretty on her arm," Aidan told Sarah. Sarah waved and a wooden box appeared on her palm. She opened and it and showed the contents to Aidan. There, sitting on a bed on silk, was the exact same bracelet he had seen in his dream, "Why does this keep happening? Why are all of my dreams becoming reality?"
"Aidan, you are in the Underground. What is the Underground but the birthplace of dreams? We are all dreamers. It just so happens that you and my daughter share the same dream. I knew Jareth the minute I saw him. Do you want to know why? Because I had been dreaming of him for years. When I saw the cold, cruel man with the pale hair and mismatched eyes I knew him instantly. I did not know I loved him immediately; that took time. But the point is, Jareth and I shared a dream. When did you realize you loved my daughter?" Sarah asked thoughtfully.
"Yesterday. I was holding her in my arms and all I could see, hear, smell or feel was her. It was then that I realized I loved her. I loved her before I even met her, long before the dream had a name," Aidan said.
"You see that bracelet? I did not just make it. I have been saving it for Phoenix. It belonged to Jareth's mother. Phoenix has been asking for it for years now. I now know why I never let her have it. Everything happens for a reason, Aidan," Sarah sighed, "Phoenix is the daughter of light and darkness. She is passion, she is fire. She's obstinate, and she's impulsive. She burns bright, and she burns hot. Be careful"
"It's for all those reasons and more that I love her," Aidan offered.
"Do you fear her?"
"Why would I fear her?"
"Phoenix is the most powerful Fae in the Underground. If she wanted to, she could kill you with one look. So I will ask you again, do you fear her?"
"No," Aidan said decisively.
"Good," Sarah stated.
Aidan took the box back to his room and went back to work.
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Phoenix lounged in her bathtub, rubbing fragrant orange oil into her skin. She loved the sweet smell of oranges. Her hair was washed and infused with the same sweet smell.
Phoenix hated being wrong. Tonight she would give him an opportunity to say no. At least then she would know. She wouldn't let herself admit to anything before then.
Phoenix stepped out of her tub and was relieved to find that a maid had brought her a tray for dinner. Phoenix sat at the small table and ate dinner while staring out the window. She found herself to be more at peace now that she knew what she was going to do. She had spent the last month trying to figure Aidan Bishop out, and sort out why he was in her dreams. Now she knew it to be fate, and knew that tonight would decide what their fate might be.
The silvery velvet gown was currently gracing the figure of a mannequin in a corner of her room. Phoenix waved her arm and the gown was on her body, fitting her perfectly. She put on her specially made dancing slippers and sat down in front of a mirror. She only need imagine what she wanted her hair to look like and a wave of the hand did it. Her red, black, and blonde hair came to the top of her head and became a mass of tight curls. She placed her tiara on top of her head, and the nest of curls fit perfectly inside the perimeter. She put on some diamond and sapphire earrings, but wore no necklace. She did not think she would need it. She applied a seductively light shade of lip paint to her already pink lips, and used gray and dark blue eye powders to create a dark and smoky eye. She still had not developed the markings her mother and father had, and did not know when she would either. She grabbed her mask and took the loop holding her train in her right hand.
"Ready or not," Phoenix whispered as she stepped from her room.