Underneath the Crystal Moon
a/n: I do not own Labyrinth
Part Three: Eamon
Chapter 13
At the same time that Eamon was being magically transported back to the Goblin Kingdom, Damien rode into the courtyard, grasping his report, and also toting the crystal-encased statue of Erebus. Dante stopped at the doors, and Damien strode in, passing the guards and the maids.
Sarah and Jareth were still in the audience room, talking quietly. They looked up, and smiled gratefully at his appearance.
"Please tell us you found something," Sarah pleaded with her son.
"I found out everything," Damien told them the tale. Some things they knew already, some things they did not. As he was showing them the reliquary a bright light flooded the room, and then Eamon was there, collapsed on the floor. He wore the strange costumes of an Aboveground mortal. Sarah recognized the simple jeans and t-shirt, but the black and white shoes did not look familiar at all. She ran to him, and turned him over. He was unconscious. He wore a platinum ring on his left ring finger. The color drained out of her face as the meaning of that hit her. He looked okay, just worn out. Jareth was conjuring and sending crystals as fast as he could. Footsteps could be heard running. Tanwen, Phoenix, Aidan, and Aaron came flying into the room. They were all shocked by the appearance of their brother. Sarah decided the best thing would be to get him to his room. She gestured, and he levitated off the ground. She moved in the direction of his room. They went through the hallways and into the nicely decorated bedroom. It was just as he had left it, save the fact that it had been thoroughly cleaned after Erebus had moved to his new…home.
Sarah was a little teary eyed as she let her son settle on the bed. The others left quietly once he was settled in. Jareth was the only one to protest, but Sarah assured him she would be okay, and that she would notify him when Eamon finally woke up.
Sarah looked down on her crown prince. The first son she and Jareth had biologically. He looked…okay? She was surprised at that. She could have sworn that being away would be bad for him, but he looked clean and well fed. She was less worried about his physical condition than by what the platinum ring on his left hand meant. Who was she? Who had managed to make her son fall in love and marry in such a short amount of time? Was that who Eamon stayed with while he was Aboveground?
The issue of Erebus would be dealt with after Eamon woke up. They had all agreed that Eamon had a vested interest in performing the ritual with them. The High Lord had sent them a ritual to seal Erebus in the reliquary once again. They were powerful enough to perform it without the High Lord, which was a relief. Once it was sealed they were going to seal it the same way Sarah had sealed Xandra's, and then they were going to shrink it. Once it was shrunk, it would be sealed away in a place only Jareth knew how to get to. Not even Sarah knew where he vanished those kinds of things.
Sarah called in a book from the library and sat down to read. She had told everyone she was not going to leave this room until Eamon woke up, and she intended to do just that.
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Smell was the sense that woke Eamon up, or lack thereof. Rhiannon smelled like honeysuckle on the vine and soft grass. This smell was not present, but the one that was present was tantalizingly familiar. The feel of the luxurious sheets and blankets around him felt that same way, like something he had once known, but had partially forgotten.
Panic hit him as he realized he was not in the simple bed inside Rhiannon's house. As he opened his eyes and looked around frantically, he realized he was back in the Castle Beyond the Goblin City. His room was just as he had left it, save the fact that his mother was asleep in a comfy chair in the corner, a book open on her lap.
"Mom?" Eamon asked in disbelief. Sarah sat up, the book falling to the floor with a thump.
"Hey there sleepyhead," Sarah said with a smile, "We missed you"
Eamon felt empty and alone, even with his mother right there. He had known it was going to hurt to leave Rhiannon behind, but he had no idea it was literally going to feel like his heart had been ripped from his chest.
He looks so lost!, Sarah thought to herself, "Eamon, how do you feel?"
Her son stared at her like he could not comprehend the question. Sarah thought that maybe he needed a little prompting. She knew that she had been the only one to see the wedding band on her son's hand. Sarah moved closer and sat next to her son on the bed.
"Want to tell me about her?" Sarah asked.
"Who?" Eamon asked, his voice hitching.
"You know who. Your wife," Sarah said softly, nudging her son with her velvet clad elbow.
Eamon was silent, trouble and sorrow etched on his brow. A tear escaped out one eye, and then another. Before either of them knew it, Eamon was openly weeping. Sarah rubbed his back, and then she conjured a kerchief for her son to wipe his eyes with.
"Rhiannon," Eamon finally sobbed.
"Rhiannon? That was her name?" Sarah asked.
"Rhiannon Elizabeth George – Prince," Eamon let out a little laugh, "I had to have a last name up there, to fit in"
"Oh honey, why did you marry her?" Sarah asked.
"I do not think, in a million years, that I could tell you what she means to me, and I also do not think that I could comprehensively tell you why I did what I did. I can tell you these things, Mom. Number one, I love her more than anything. Number two, I am never going to get married to anyone else, even if that means passing the throne onto someone else. I have only one wife, even if I will never see her again," Eamon told his mom, the tears disappearing.
Sarah knew she could not dissuade him, even if she tried. The men in this family were more stubborn than a donkey. She loved them all the more for it. And right now, she felt only pride for her son.
"Tell me everything," Sarah smiled, and listened to Eamon's tale.
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When he was done there had been laughter, and tears. Sarah had laughed when he told her about his obsession with pizza, soda, and ice cream. She had wanted to cry when he told her about their handfasting. She was amazed by the tale of the family that had bought her childhood home. Rhiannon sounded like the perfect woman, which she knew was the true talk of a man truly in love. But she had made Eamon happy and safe, and that was all the really mattered to her.
"What happened after I left?" Eamon asked his mother.
"How much do you know?" Sarah replied.
"He was Erebus, and it was a reliquary. I do not know much more than that," Eamon admitted.
"He granted your wish, whatever that was. The magical seal on his reliquary was weak, and that was what allowed him to even do it. He took on your form. He went back to the Ice Palace and just about raped Princess Celinda, looking like you. That resulted in Queen Carla banning you from her lands. He also got Princess Celinda pregnant. He came back here and was going to try to rape Phoenix. That was when we caught him. He has been sealed in one of the cells in the dungeon. Your father had been to seem him, and has found out some, but Damien was the one who actually went to the Ice Lands and went to where you disappeared. He was the one who found out the answers we did not have, and he brought back the reliquary with him," Sarah told her son.
"How long have I been gone?" Eamon asked without thinking.
"A month," Sarah reminded him.
"It take a month to reach the Ice Lands," Eamon said, a little dubious.
"Sweetheart, a lot of magic was expended on your behalf while you were gone," Sarah told him.
"I am guessing I will not be able to get my magic back until he is dealt with?" Eamon asked her. She nodded, "Then let's go get this done with," Eamon told her as he rose from the bed.
"I'll let you get changed," Sarah told him as she stepped out the door. As soon as she was out the door she sent crystals to everyone. They would meet in the audience room.
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Erebus looked unconcerned as he was brought into the audience room. He still wore the form of Eamon, and did not flinch when the real Eamon walked through an archway. They moved both Erebus and the reliquary to the middle of the room, where a large circle had been drawn on the floor. A table with a red, black, and white candle stood in front of them. Sarah was the one who knew the ritual, so she stood by the table, resplendent in black silk, her dark hair tumbling down her back. The ribbons at her wrists were blood red, and matched the blood red fabric that Jareth was currently wearing. They would all stand within the circle to not only bear witness, but also to lend their power.
Sarah started facing East, and intoned the words that would give Eamon his identity back completely:
"Hail, Great Dragon of the East, whose yellow eyes see all in the element of air. I do summon, stir, and call thee up to attend this rite, and call upon your forces to protect and defend me this night"
Next she moved to the South:
"Hail Great Dragon of the South, whose red eyes see all in the element of fire. I do summon, stir, and call thee up to attend this rite, and call upon your forces to protect and defend me this night"
Then to the West:
"Hail, Great Dragon of the West, whose blue eyes see all in the element of water. I do summon, stir and call thee up to attend this rite, and call upon your forces to protect and defend me this night"
And at last, the North:
"Hail, Great Dragon of the North, whose green eyes see all in the element of earth. I do summon, stir, and call thee up to attend this rite, and call upon your forces to protect and defend me this night"
As she returned to the East she spoke again:
"The Circle is sealed and we are completely cut off from the outside world in order to perform our magical workings in sending back all the evil that has been sent against us"
Eamon was amazed at how alike this ritual was to any of Rhiannon's wiccan rituals. She would have loved to be here, working this magic. He willed himself to not think about her, and focused on his mother's words.
Sarah lit the three candles sitting on the table while invoking these words:
"Three candles do I light, in honor of thee, O Lady of this night. White for the maiden pure as snow, red for the mother full within, and black for the crone, old and wise"
She stepped back and threw her hands high into the air, and they all followed suit.
"Oh great Lady, the sorceress who will not be ruled, the weaver of time, the teacher of mysteries. O Lady, you who slit the throats of the cruel and drink the blood of the heartless, yet are the shining sword that protects us from harm. You are the healer of wounds; the warrior who rights all wrongs. You make the weak strong and the arrogant humble, and you are justice tempered with mercy. I call upon you Lady to attend this rite and to send back all the evil that has been sent against us"
Sarah lowered her hands and spoke again:
"Dark Mother, Queen of the Night, he is the kind that intends to ruin us all. Let his efforts fail. Let him return to eternal darkness.
May his efforts always be lost in the darkness with no light to guide them. We are your children Dark Mother, protect us! Dark Mother, help us to reach our goals, live our lives to the fullest,
and walk the path of the Lady. Sweep away all barriers built by those who want us to fail"
Eamon could feel the power begin to build swiftly, filled with rage and hate, all directed at the being sitting encased in crystal. His indifference angered Eamon. How dare he do this? How dare he! Eamon felt all his loss and sorrow come to the surface once again, and he mixed it with the anger to feed the powerful spell Sarah was casting.
"Crush the evil sent against us! Sweep its evil remains back into the place from whence it came! The evil is dead...he has received his just rewards! His mouth is full of ashes, his thoughts of nightmares, his life of unfulfillment! Lady, Dark One, hear our plea, bring justice now, I ask of thee! Right the wrongs that have been done, avenge us now, oh Mighty One!"
Everyone started to glow with a pulsing light as the spell was cast. Erebus had no expression, but watched impassively as his encased form was sucked back into the reliquary from whence he came. The cracks sealed, the missing pieces mended. Sarah held her hands up again.
"It is finished!" the pulsing light went out, and the reliquary was motionless.
Sarah and Phoenix focused on the reliquary, and soon it was encased in flaming crystal, a magical bond said to be unbreakable no matter how many years would pass. Jareth stepped forward after them, and shrunk the reliquary to a very small size. Then he looked at it, and it disappeared.
Sarah closed the circle she had opened for the ritual, making sure to thank the Lady and to release the dragons.
When it was over Eamon returned to his room. No one had even gotten to say hello to him. He kind of liked it that way.