Underneath the Crystal Moon
a/n: I do not own Labyrinth. There are flashbacks of violence and non-consensual sex in this story from time to time. Just warning you. This is the first chapter of Damien's story. I will not be posting anything else until Tuesday at the earliest, due to our nation's prettiest holiday, the 4th of July. Gotta love fireworks. Hope y'all like it, leave me a review or two wouldya?
Part Two: Damien
Chapter 1
It was dark, and so cold. She did not know how long she had been down here. Time had lost all meaning to her. She shivered and hugged her knees. For the millionth time she cursed her mouth. She could not help but talk, that was all she ever did was run at the mouth. Her big mouth had gotten her into this. Why did she have to disagree with the Queen? Why did she think she could make treasonous comments and not get caught? When would she learn to keep her mouth shut?
The door to her cell opened and she winced. A nasty smell enveloped her. It was one of them, coming to take what was not theirs to take. The iron in the bars was just enough to keep her from using her small amount of magic, and that made her defenseless.
"Don't worry pretty, I'll take good care of you," the dwarf said as he pinned her down. She was not allowed clothing. Defenseless and weak, the dwarf forced her knees apart and put his hand between her thighs…
Queen Xen of the Tree Kingdom awoke with a start. She was panting and her olive tinged skin was slick with sweat. This was a recurring nightmare. Sometimes it got worse. Sometimes she was tortured, sometimes she was passed between invisible people. Sometimes she was dying of starvation. Sometimes dehydration. Sometimes she was insane. But they were all just dreams of what did happen and what could have happened to her in the dungeon she had occupied for months beneath the castle of the Queen of the Trees.
If it could be called a castle. Xen thought it was nothing compared to the Castle Beyond the Goblin City or the castle in the elf kingdom. She loved it, though. The castle of the Queen of the Trees was embedded into the trunk of a great, huge tree, forgotten by time. The whole place was made of wood. And to think, it has almost all been destroyed. If the insane Xandra had succeeded in killing Queen Sarah and taking over the Labyrinth, Xen was sure that that evil dwarf would have killed Xandra next. That one had not even cared for Xandra's plans one bit. He had only wanted to dominate. He had come down into the dungeon one time when Xen was being held there.
"Hey pretty, boy aren't you nice to look at, even if you are a little runty. I bet I can find someone to show you a good time, would you like that?" the evil dwarf asked her. She spit in his face. The guards unlocked the door and Nogrod stomped in, and kicked her in the gut. He kicked her several times, until she was sobbing loudly. She was not the strongest dryad to begin with, and was not used to being hit. He took his fists to her face and broke her little nose and split her lip. Then he took a knife out and put it to her throat, "Try anything like that again and I promise your death will not be as quick as me slitting your pathetic throat"
Then he had left the cell. Xen laid on the floor, bleeding and crying. The guards locked the door again, and she was left in the dark.
The dryad stood up, wearing nothing but her own skin. Xandra had worn gowns, but Xen loved nothing but the feeling of her own skin. Except when she was holding court, or entertaining outside visitors. Then she would either wear a gauzy dress or she would wear a short tunic. She never wore shoes, and her feet bore the grass stains to attest to that. Her chocolate brown eyes were black in the moonlight that filtered in through the balcony, and her reddish blonde hair shone like red gold. It was curly, and unruly, taking on a very strange life of its own. She usually wore it up and out of her face, but tonight she had fallen asleep with it streaming down her back. There were various scars on her body that she had received at the hands of Nogrod and his dwarves, but she tried to ignore them.
Xen walked out onto the balcony, letting the night air taste her skin. Truth was, she was lucky to sleep at all. Insomnia had plagued her for eighteen years now. Eighteen years since she had been found, healed, and crowned.
Jareth, the King of the Goblins had found her. After his beloved Goblin Queen had given birth to her triplets he had led an expedition to try and see what there was to salvage of the evil Queen Xandra's kingdom. She still remembered that day, even though it was eighteen years ago.
She tried to see, but it was so dark. She had not had anything to eat in days, and the little bit of water she had access to run out a few days ago. She was so dehydrated, so tired. All she wanted to do was close her eyes and sleep. But sleep meant that the dwarves could catch her unawares, and they would take her again. She would not be broken, and driven insane!
A voice called out through the darkness.
"Are there any prisoners down here?" she heard a cultured voice say softly. She was the only one left alive, and she grunted, not managing to get words out. A small ball of light blinded her, and she saw blonde hair and mismatched eyes staring at her. She curled up in a ball.
"Don't hurt me! Please don't? I swear I'll be good! I swear!" Xen began to rock back and forth, crying loudly.
"Shh. I'm not here to hurt you, girl. My name is Jareth, I'm the Goblin King. Who are you?"
But all she could do was sob and rock, never coming out of her shell.
"Nab, I am going to need to go back to the Goblin City with this one, and get her a healer. I will be back as soon as I can. Girl, I do not know if you can hear me, but I am going to encase you in a crystal sphere, and take you with me to my castle in the Goblin City. Such a pity," Jareth had said. She fell into blackness.
When Xen awoke, she was in a huge, luxurious bedroom. The bed she was in was made of fragrant cedar wood. The whole room smelled like a forest, clean and sharp. She was underneath bedcovers made of soft silk, which were dyed to various shades of green. The pillows underneath her head were filled with down feathers, and the mattress was as well. She sat up abruptly, and felt her head spin.
"You had better stay down dear," a clear voice said. Xen saw a woman wearing a long black gown and a golden circlet about her head.
"Who are you?" Xen had blurted out.
"Queen Sarah. My husband, Jareth, was the one who found you and brought you back here to be healed," the woman told her.
"How long have I been here?"
"You have been here, asleep, for about two weeks. You had also been in and out of consciousness for a few weeks before that. There is a difference between consciousness and just being in a deep sleep. We had feared you would not survive. You were dehydrated, starving, and very close to death. You had infections on various parts of your body from unhealed wounds. You had bones that were broken and not set. We managed to heal the wounds and the bones. Your body is still fighting off the infections. We were able to give you fluids and some nutrition. You are still very weak, and you will not be able to get out of bed for at least another week. There were, other injuries, that were difficult to heal," Sarah told her quietly, and with great compassion.
Xen knew what she was talking about. How they had used her!
"How bad is it? Will I be able to…?"
"The healer tells me that you will still be able to bear children, or whatever you call your young. It will be some months before you can hope to have intercourse, but it will be okay eventually," Sarah told her.
Xen fell silent, and did not say another word for weeks. She would eat, she would drink, and she would allow herself to be led back and forth to the bathroom, but she was otherwise in a state of deep catatonia. The whole time, Queen Sarah stayed with her off and on, usually with one or more of her children with her. Xen did not remember anything from this time really, just little still images in her head. Then one day she spoke again.
"If you are Queen Sarah, what happened to Xandra?"
Sarah sighed, "She was defeated. By me. I stripped her of her magic and imprisoned her somewhere she will never escape," she shuddered.
"Then Nogrod was defeated?"
"Yes. He was killed by a catapult," Sarah told the dryad.
"Not good enough," Xen said through her teeth, and Sarah realized who had put her in this condition.
"What is your name?" Sarah asked her.
"Xen. I was a member of Xandra's army until I got caught disagreeing with Xandra's war against you. She threw me in the dungeon, and never looked back. How many of her troops survived?"
"None," Sarah whispered, sounding sorry.
Xen's head shot up.
"None?"
"I burnt them all to a crisp. They injured my brother and killed my best friend," Sarah told her.
A realization came to Xen just then.
"I am the highest ranking official left!"
"How's that?" Sarah asked.
"I was basically the third-in-command of the dryads. Xandra took just about everyone to your Labyrinth. If they all died, then I am in charge," Xen whispered.
"We found a few sprites, nymphs, and dryads out in the Tree Kingdom. They were all non-violent, almost just like caretakers. But I would have to say, that besides you, there is only about fifty or seventy five subjects left," Sarah told her. Sarah produced a crystal and spoke into it, "Jareth, come here please. Move slowly and non-aggressively"
A few moments later the door opened and in walked the man with the blond hair and mismatched eyes. The man who had rescued her.
"Thank you for rescuing me," Xen told him. He waved his hand as if to dismiss the comment. He moved slowly and stood next to his wife.
"Her name is Xen. She was third-in-command of the dryads before Xandra threw her into the dungeon. It seems she is all they have left," Sarah told him.
"Well then, congratulations Your Majesty," Jareth made a short bow.
"What?"
"As soon as you are better the High Lord will be crowning you Queen of the Trees. You are all they have Xen. We will be here to help you," Jareth explained.
And that was how Xen, the little dryad who ran at the mouth, became the Queen of the Trees.