Chapter 9- Pretty Temptations
Ah, 'tis good to be back! I'm determined to finish this fic by Christmas, preferably sooner, but I keep getting distracted by college stuff! So, if I let it run on too long without an update again, give me a cyber-kick up the backside to get me back on track. College day is much too long. But at least I have my lovely Merlin DVD to sustain me. Am also getting very excited about new Harry Potter film coming out. Not only do I like Harry Potter, but this film has Miranda Richardson (aka. Mab) in it! And she's playing Rita Skeeter, who I happen to like (told you I was strange). It's like Christmas and birthday all at once! Anyway, enough of my mentalist ramblings, and onto –drum-roll- reviewer responses!
Midnight Lady: Yes, it is interesting to see how the Labyrinth would affect people other than Sarah. I always wonder though, when the door knocker won't let her put the handle back in its mouth, why she doesn't just go through the other door? Not that I spend my time contemplating these things or anything…
HawthorneThistledown: Thanks. In answer to your question, Ludo and Sir Didymus make a brief appearance in this chapter, but it's not in a very large capacity. The only character from the Labyrinth who's in this fic very much is Jareth.
tortoisebird: Thank you so much. I do try to write as well as I can, and I'm glad you think I got Merlin right, because I struggle to write him. I'm not really sure what a major is (Brit girl here). Is it the equivalent of a British university degree? Assuming it is, then I probably won't be- Maths for me, I'm afraid. But then, I've only just started studying for A Levels (The exams you take at 17/18), so I might change… Although I don't do English now anyway… Anyway, me gone slightly off-topic here.
Jadanni: Thank you once again! I finally did Merlin half-decently! Vis-à-vis Merlin's Apprentice being a disappointment, sad to say that sequels often are- though not always, so we can hold out hope for it- especially if Miranda Richardson's in it (the scary Queen Mab fanatic in me coming out again). As for me writing Merlin's Apprentice, I don't think I could- hard enough to write Merlin properly in prose format. I don't know why, but the characters from Merlin are very hard to write compared to some other films… or perhaps it's just me…
WARNING: THIS NEXT REVIEWER RESPONSE IS LIKELY TO MAKE NO SENSE WHATSOEVER TO PEOPLE WHO DO NOT KNOW ME OR "REDDERS". THIS SHOULD NOT BE READ BY PEOPLE OF A NERVOUS DISPOSITION
Redders: Ah! What a wonderful treat to find some delightful reviewings from Mr Redders. Imagine my delight when I saw that you had read and reviewed. But what is this? You still haven't watched Merlin! Disgraceful! In the words of the mighty (or not-so-mighty) JK, you bring shame to me, shame to this fanfic, shame to our college, shame to this website, shame, shame, shame… But, at least you reviewed, unlike certain other people I know, so you do not bring as much shame as you might. But you will still be sent to the Armed Republic of Sintancos as punishment. And forced to watch Merlin and listen to "See the Little Goblin" when you get back (We do not send such things out to Sintancos any more- the people do not like it.) Anyway, in other news, I agree, the Cast of Dozens would be a very excellent addition to the story. Unfortunately, I could not figure out a way to place such delightful characters as Terrence the Lung Monster, Derek the Amoeba and Doreen the Bat in this story. 'Tis a shame.
Anyway, apologies to other readers for this mentalist outburst- believe it or not, Redders will know what I am talking about.
For now, on with the show…
As the three companions edged along the narrow ledge, Frik stared straight ahead, determined not to look at Mab or Merlin. He was also determined not to look down, but that was for an entirely different reason.
When you were a coward- and Frik was indeed a coward- one generally develops over time, a severe lack of guilt, otherwise one would always be feeling guilty for not playing the hero here, and leaving so-and-so to face this horrific monster there, and running away from the noble cause for battle somewhere in the middle. In this, Frik was no exception. He felt very little guilt nowadays, had done for quite some time, in fact, except on two occasions. One had been for not protecting Morgan from Mab's anger on the day that she had died. The other had been for helping to trick and deceive Merlin, who had always been, if not friendly then at least polite to Frik, even when he was at out and out war with Mab, which was more than Herself had done. And now he felt a stab of guilt again for what he had agreed to do.
It wasn't so much that it was obviously some sort of trap for Mab- Frik had no qualms about leaving her and her devil-spawn darling Mordred to rot in the Underground for the rest of eternity. No, it was the method rather than the purpose that was bothering Frik. Accepting help from Jareth to destroy Mab- was that simply out of the frying pan and into the fire? Getting rid of one evil and selling your soul to another? Jareth had trapped Frik in this Labyrinth in the first place, as well as Merlin and Arthur. His intentions were far from pure- as he had made plain from the start, he wanted Merlin as well as Mab, and he wouldn't complain if he got Frik as well. If Frik helped him catch Mab, would Merlin be drawn into the trap, too? Even if he wasn't, Jareth would certainly be after him, attempting to trap him some other way. If they had to win against Jareth's tricks and traps and downright evilness, then Frik knew- and admitting it, even to himself, left a bitter taste in his mouth- that having Mab as an ally would almost certainly be their only hope. Could his newfound guilt cope with sacrificing Merlin's- and quite possibly his own- freedom to his personal vendetta against his former employer? No, probably not.
But that of course wasn't the only factor to take into account. As previously mentioned, Frik was a coward of astonishing proportions, and he feared Jareth's reaction should he fail to at least attempt to fulfil his role.
Oh, what to do, what to do?...
As it turned out, he was unable to think about it any more, as his worries were interrupted by Merlin suddenly breaking into his thoughts.
"Does anyone actually know where this path leads?" There was a deafening silence in reply to the question. "I'll take that as a "No", then."
"Then why are we following it?" asked Frik, in an attempt at making normal conversation (as well as out of genuine curiosity- he had a violent dislike of paths leading to unknown destinations- in his experience they tended to lead to dead ends, large holes, certain death, or… he shuddered at the memory still fresh in his mind… the Fireys. Or, of course, his personal favourite, all of the above.)
"Because, you idiot, we don't want to stay here!" Mab snapped from behind him. Evidently the Queen of the Old Ways, whilst apparently having ceased to persecute Merlin quite so mercilessly, was being her usual sunny, happy self where Frik was concerned. "Don't ask stupid questions." Frik gritted his teeth at Mab's utter lack of any kind of acknowledgement that she had anything less than total right to go back to ordering Frik around and snapping at him after how they had parted ways. Apparently, Mab noticed this action, because she gave him a strange look that could have been suspicion, surprise, or simple irritation- it was impossible to tell.
"I think it was a reasonable request, Mab. We do seem to have bad luck with paths that we just blindly follow," Merlin broke in. Frik, though grateful for the support and the drawing of Mab's direct attention away from himself, noted that there was a difference in Merlin's tone when he spoke to Mab- it no longer held the anger and tension that had been apparent when Frik had last seen them, and he wondered what had happened to them in the several hours since he had seen them last.
"For one thing, there are no other paths to follow. For another, I would have thought not asking stupid questions was practical advice here, seeing as it makes it necessary to inhale enough air to be able to get the words out." Perhaps Mab had meant it as a joke, but the foul air in the Bog of Eternal Stench added validity to her point, and for a while all three of them ceased conversation. After several minutes, however, the silence grew tedious, and the lack of talking as a distraction meant it was impossible to ignore the smell anyway, and so Merlin attempted to start up another conversation with Frik.
"So, Frik, what exactly happened to you after we fell through the trapdoor?" asked Merlin. Frik's thoughts immediately jumped to Jareth, and he felt himself growing awkward and hot with guilt. He hoped fervently that neither of them would notice.
"Well, umm… I carried on walking. Nothing much else happened, really…" Frik trailed off lamely, "…Oh, and I came across another pair of doors. I didn't have to solve a riddle, though. I just knocked on the door. The knockers talked, but they weren't terribly helpful. I went through the door on the right, I think. There were lots of Fireys…"
"What are Fireys?" asked Merlin curiously.
"Jareth's mentioned them, but I've never come across one," Mab admitted, which Frik supposed was his cue to enlighten them as to what exactly the Fireys were.
"They're strange orange creatures. They like fire, and dancing… I think that's what it was, anyway… and they can take their limbs off and reattach them."
"Unusual," Merlin commented. Frik grimaced.
"They don't think so. They think everyone can do it. They spent about ten minutes trying to pull my head off and kick it." Mab let out a snort of laughter from behind him, as well as a muttered comment that sounded suspiciously like, "Why bother taking it off first?"
"What about you, Master Merlin? What happened to you?" Frik asked, having noticed that both Merlin and Mab, as well as having a good deal less of pure unadulterated hatred almost visible between them, bore the scars of some kind of fight. Merlin looked down at himself, them across to Mab.
"Don't ask," they advised simultaneously. Frik didn't ask.
Silence descended upon them once more. The next time it was broken, however, was not due to another attempt at awkward conversation, but by a loud creaking sound coming from the path below Merlin.
"What was… aaaaaaaaaaaah!" Frik began, before interrupting himself with a scream as the part of the ledge below Merlin abruptly gave way, sending him plunging downwards. Frik jumped to the side, grabbing whatever he could to prevent himself from falling down, too.
"Merlin!" Mab cried, and for a moment Frik was surprised by the sound of what appeared to be concern in her voice. This surprise, however, was nothing compared to the one he received when he heard Merlin's voice from not far below him.
"I'm alright. I landed on the bank... There's a bridge down here…" Both Mab and Frik released the breaths they had been holding, and Frik dared to open his eyes to see what he was clinging to. Looking upwards, he saw Mab glaring at him with a look that would have sent Attila the Hun running for his mother, and he realised he had grabbed her round the waist.
"Frik…" she snarled dangerously, "Get off me!" She kicked him away from her, sending him falling over the edge to land with a dull thud beside Merlin. Mab jumped down - or more accurately, floated down- and landed in a somewhat more graceful manner than either Frik or Merlin had managed. Looking around, she noticed the bridge that Merlin had mentioned – which was actually a line of rocks very close together that formed a bridge over the marshy bog.
"Do you think we should cross?" she asked Merlin.
"Well, it seems to be heading out of this place, so I'd be inclined to think so, yes." Merlin replied. He turned to Frik. "What do you think, Frik?" Frik shrugged helplessly.
"Yes. I suppose so. Anything to get out of here." Personally, Frik would have preferred a more stable bridge- preferably one made from stone, with very high railings on either side- but he supposed beggars couldn't be choosers, and he wanted to get out of the Labyrinth just as much as the other two.
"But do you?" taunted his nasty inner voice that always seemed to place thoughts into his head that he was sure hadn't been there before. It always sounded very like Mordred, for some obscure reason… "Does it really matter to you if you lose? You've really got nothing in the human world, and you're used to serving a selfish, demanding master. Does it matter to you if you end up serving another, as long as you can make Mab pay for what she did?" Then, even more disturbingly, "Perhaps you even want to lose the challenge. Then you can watch her suffer…" Frik pushed away the angry thoughts, trying to forget about them, and their strangely appealing message.
As they moved towards the stones, they heard a high-pitched voice suddenly cry out.
"Halt!" They all turned abruptly to face the source of the noise. A strange creature that looked somewhere between a fox and a squirrel rode into view on the back of what appeared to be a large, shaggy dog. He was wearing what appeared to be a very small nobleman's costume, and carried a long lance. He rode up before Merlin, Mab and Frik, and announced himself imperiously, "I am Sir Didymus, and this," gesturing towards the dog, "… is my faithful mount, Ambrosius. And this," he continued, using his lance to point towards a large orange creature that was plodding alarmingly fast towards them, "…is my brother, Ludo."
"Ludo brother!" the creature chimed in helpfully, in a deep, rumbling voice. None of the three companions had ever seen two creatures that looked less like brothers. Sir Didymus continued.
"No-one may cross this bridge without my permission!" he announced, "That is my vow, and I will keep it, should it cost me my life!" This, thought Frik, who was watching Mab glaring at the two creatures, was looking exceedingly likely.
"Get out of the way!" snarled Mab. Sir Didymus puffed out his chest.
"I cannot, my lady. I must guard this bridge with my life. No-one may cross without my permission."
"No cross!" chimed in Ludo.
"Look," said Merlin in a calm voice, trying to placate the small knight, "We need to get to the Goblin Castle. We don't have much time. This is the only way out of here. We need to cross."
"I cannot allow you to cross without my permission!" Sir Didymus repeated with irritating unwaveringness.
"I won't tell you again," hissed Mab threateningly. Any sensible creature would have gotten well out of the way at this point, and hidden behind something large and solid- Ludo, for example- but Sir Didymus happened to be incredibly thick skinned, and the idea that Mab might be able to blast him into oblivion in a single thought didn't seem to occur to him.
"My lady, thou cannot hope to fight me…" Sir Didymus began, but was interrupted by this point by Mab concentrating and sending him flying backwards into a tree. Though secretly both Frik and Merlin were glad she had interrupted his irritating mantra, this quickly turned to alarm as Ludo ran at them and Mab with a murderous expression on his face. He leapt at Mab.
"You hurt brother!" he grunted. Mab threw up a shield, and Ludo bounced off it with quite alarming force. The vast orange creature landed on top of Frik who screamed and kicked Ludo off him as best he could. Ludo interpreted this as being attacked, and he then leapt up and chased after Frik, taking more useless swipes at Mab as he passed. Sir Didymus leapt back up and ran to join the fray, before being thrown back by Mab once again.
Merlin, who was watching this whole sorry scene, rolled his eyes at Frik's cowardice and Mab's utter lack of any kind of people skills whatsoever. He threw out his hands and made the sign for "Stop,"
"Stop!" he bellowed, trying to make himself heard. The spell instantly froze Frik, Ludo and Sir Didymus in position where they stood. The spell didn't affect Mab, but it had caught her attention and she ceased fighting, too. "This is unnecessary. We're all wasting time," he said, "Surely we can sort this out another way." He released the spell, and the three that it had affected glanced sideways at each other but didn't start fighting. Sir Didymus was the first to speak up.
"Once again, I have been fought to a standstill," he said admiringly, "And it is a noble knight indeed who knows when not to fight. Come, my friends. Let us all be brothers- and sister-," he added, catching sight of Mab, "…together!" Merlin, Mab and Frik stared at each other.
"Oh. Yes of course," replied Merlin, surprised and gratified to find the matter over so easily. Ludo let out a happy roar and grabbed all three of them in bear-like embrace that felt as though it had dislocated each of their spinal columns.
"Ludo get brothers and sisters!" he smiled. The pain Merlin felt was more than made up for by the expression on Mab's face. There was a picture that truly was worth a thousand words. Eventually, Ludo put them down, and they headed over to the bridge again, before Sir Didymus stepped into their path once more.
"Halt!"
"Oh, for pity's sake!" Merlin exclaimed. This was getting on even his nerves by now. "What's wrong now? You just said we were brothers!"
"Yes," admitted Sir Didymus, "But I will break my sacred vow for no one! And no one may cross this bridge without my permission!" A thought occurred to Merlin.
"Then may we have your permission?" Sir Didymus thought for a moment, then turned to them imperiously and said.
"Yes," before stepping out of their way.
"Thank you," Merlin said tiredly, going to cross the stones.
"Wait!" Sir Didymus called. The three companions turned back, each with an identical murderous gleam in their eyes.
"What now!" demanded Mab.
"You say that you wish to go to the Goblin Castle? Would you care for me to accompany you? I would be happy to assist!"
"No!" they snapped simultaneously. Merlin regained control of his manners for long enough to say "Thank you, Sir Didymus. But we must complete this quest alone." Sir Didymus nodded.
"Very well. I understand. Fare thee well!" he called after them. They crossed the rocks and strode into the trees on the other side.
"I knew there was a reason I hated knights!" Mab hissed under her breath to Merlin. He gave a short laugh, trying to muffle it in case Sir Didymus or Ludo had heard. Frik shot them a strange glance from in front of them, before turning back to the path ahead.
---
The woods that they were in were dark and damp; with twisted roots that were just as likely to break your ankle as perform any beneficial action for the tree. But Frik barely noticed. His attention was distracted by Mab and Merlin's conversation going on behind him. Not so much the content- he couldn't really hear what they were saying- but the fact that they were having any kind of conversation at all. Also, the tone of their voices surprised Frik. Whilst he wouldn't precisely call it friendly, it wasn't all that far off, and it was certainly a long way off from the angry, contemptuous tones that they had both used before. At one point he heard Merlin laugh at a comment Mab had made, and it had surprised Frik so much that he'd actually turned round to stare at them. Not that they'd noticed. No one ever noticed Frik. They'd just continued their conversation, without Merlin trying to talk to Frik, which was what had always happened previously whenever it had been necessary to hold a conversation with Mab.
"Which begs the question, when did those two get all friendly?" Frik wondered, with more than a hint of bitterness in his thoughts. He had never thought that Merlin would ever put aside his grudge against Mab. To be forced to cooperate with each other was one thing, to suddenly become friends was another thing altogether. How could he forget all the things Mab had done to him, to those that he loved…
If Frik was to be honest with himself though, he knew that it wasn't on Merlin's behalf that he felt so bitter, it was his own. If Merlin wanted to play forgive-and-forget with Mab, then that was his own business, however ill-advised it might be, and it could stay on Merlin's own conscience. It was the fact that in forgiving what Mab had done to Merlin, Merlin had, however inadvertently, forgiven Mab for what she had done to Frik. To forget what she had done to others, the countless others that she had hurt over the centuries. Was Frik's pain worth so much less than Merlin's? Or had Merlin simply forgotten everything that went along with what Mab had done to him? Merlin was the only one who ever had a chance at fighting Mab, and people like Frik had relied on him to do what they could not. Now it felt like he was setting aside the anger and suffering of thousands.
Anger was not an emotion that Frik felt often, but now, aided by self-pity, he could feel it in bucket loads. Mostly towards Mab, for what she had done, but also towards Merlin for forgiving her. His hand tightened on the bottle in his pocket, as he realised suddenly that Merlin was no longer the only available way of making Mab pay for what she had done. Jareth had given him the means to do it, all he had to do was make sure that he did what he had been told.
---
Jareth smirked to himself at the expression on Frik's face, a reaction hardly enough to reflect the jubilance that Jareth now felt. The image in the crystal shifted back to Mab.
"Is this what you're looking for, Mab?" he thought mockingly to himself, glancing through the bars at Mordred. He had decided to take a walk through the dungeons. He had to admit, he found Mab's protégée entertaining. Insulting and blunt, perhaps, and spoilt beyond all belief, he lost his appeal after a while, but was amusing to talk to for a short time.
"What are you smirking at?" Mordred snarled. Charming.
"Oh, I was just watching what will soon be mine, dear boy," Jareth replied smoothly, holding the crystal up so that Mordred could see Mab's image. Mordred looked scornful.
"You want Auntie Mab? You don't have a chance," he said dismissively, "She'll destroy you. And I'll help her." Jareth raised an eyebrow.
"Oh, you think so?"
"Yes," Mordred snapped angrily. Jareth laughed.
"Mordred, I have to say, I have nothing but admiration for how your… aunt?... has progressed with my Labyrinth so far. She's a clever and resourceful woman. Which is why it's going to be all the more satisfying to defeat her." Mordred crossed his cell in two strides and slammed his hands into the bars between him and Jareth, who didn't seem worried at all by this show of aggression.
"You won't defeat her!" Mordred insisted furiously. Jareth only smirked again.
"We'll see, Mordred. Soon, Frik will give her my present, and then she won't remember anything about you, or Merlin, or why she came here, or how long she has. We'll see how far she gets then, shall we?"
---
Frik walked along nervously, but determinedly. He couldn't for the life of him think how to get Mab to drink the potion without appearing suspicious, but he was determined to do it.
Behind him, Merlin and Mab were still talking- How nice for them – and Frik listened in an attempt to hear what they were saying.
"… Any water around here?" Merlin was saying, "None of us have drunk anything in the last ten hours… well, unless you count that potion, which I don't…"
"I don't think so," Mab replied, "But, tempting as it might sound, would you drink any water you found in this kingdom after going through that?" she asked, nodding backwards to the Bog of Eternal Stench.
"Probably not," Merlin admitted. Seeing his opening, Frik pulled the bottle out of his pocket and pretended to drink some, hoping that Mab would notice and ask- or, more likely, demand- to have some.
It worked, in a fashion. Merlin called out from behind him.
"Frik!" Turning guiltily, Frik saw Merlin hurry up behind him. "Where did you find that?"
"Well, I, umm… I…" Frik stuttered nervously. Merlin didn't seem to notice.
"Never mind. Do you mind sharing it?"
"Umm…" Merlin seemed to take this as a sign of permission.
"Thank you, Frik," he said, taking the bottle. Frik watched in horror as he drank some and passed the bottle to Mab. Frik bit down on his lip to stop himself from screaming out. He stood, frozen, unable to move as Mab sipped some of the liquid. For a moment, nothing happened. Then Merlin clutched his throat and gasped. Seeing this, Mab dropped the bottle to the ground. It didn't shatter, merely rolled back to Frik.
"Merlin! What's wrong?" she asked frantically. Merlin staggered backwards.
"Tastes strange…" he muttered, "Something's wrong…" He looked up, staring at something in the distance that none of them could see. He made to walk a few steps forward, seemingly without purpose, no longer appearing to be aware of Mab or Frik. Mab turned. Her eyes shot to the bottle at Frik's feet, then travelled upwards. Comprehension dawned in her eyes, and Frik was suddenly terribly frightened. "No, no, that wasn't supposed to happen…"
"What have you done?" she spat at Frik, fury radiating from her. He stepped backwards, away from her.
"I'm sorry…" he murmured in shock, "I didn't mean to…" Mab took a step towards him and Frik realised that she was going to kill him. He cowered back, waiting for Mab to do her worst, feeling all of a sudden that he deserved it. A few feet away, he saw Merlin sink to the ground; not dead, merely dazed and tired looking. "What in the name of the Old Ways did you make me give them, Jareth?" Suddenly, Mab stopped in her advance. Her hand went to her own throat, and Frik realised that he had indeed done what he'd set out to do. It felt like a somewhat hollow victory. She stared at him, and Frik saw that she was fighting whatever it was that had happened to Merlin, whatever it was that had sent him into this strange trance. Fighting and losing.
"You've condemned us all…" she managed to say, "You have no idea what you've done…" As Frik stared, her eyes seemed to glaze over and she stumbled backwards, resting against a tree. Although she and Merlin were both still conscious, their eyes seemed dazed and unfocussed, and Frik saw that neither of them were aware of him any more. Then Frik realised what Jareth's plan was. They didn't need to die for him to win. They just had to sit here, unaware of the time running slowly away…
He couldn't sit here, watching them and knowing that soon they would be lost. He couldn't cope with knowing what he had done. He stared at the bottle, wondering whether its contents would bring him the same kind of blissful unawareness that seemed to have gripped Mab and Merlin. Whether it would be any more bearable if he didn't know that their time was running away until it was too late. Staring at it, Frik grabbed it and took a gulp. Yes, he was a coward. Too much of a coward to watch the consequences of his actions.
---
Jareth stared into the three rotating crystals in his hand. He felt almost pitying towards Frik.
"To think, he could have got away," Jareth murmured. He shrugged it off, "Ah, well, the more the merrier." With a flick of his wrist, he sent the crystals spinning away towards the forest. The potion had only been part of the surprise. Now the real fun was about to begin.
---
The crystals drifted down to where Merlin, Mab and Frik lay semi-conscious in the woods. One crystal drifted down to each of them.
Mab noticed the crystal floating in front of her with part disinterest. She didn't recognise it as one of Jareth's crystals, simply because she had no recollection of them. Her memory wasn't gone, but it was confused and fragmented. She knew she was in the Underground, but couldn't think why. She knew there was an urgent reason, and knew that it had something to do with Merlin and Mordred, but she couldn't bring their faces to her mind. She knew Jareth was involved, but couldn't remember quite who Jareth was. She stared at the crystal because it was in her eye-line, and because she was unaware of anything else around her. There was a strange light shimmering in the crystal. Small figures dancing and laughing, surrounded by blinding white light. It was magic, her confused thoughts knew that much. She stared deeper, trying to comprehend it. It seemed to grow larger, engulfing her vision, as though it were dragging her in. Confused as she was, Mab didn't try to resist.
When her vision cleared, she saw that she was now standing in the large room with the dancing figures. They whirled around her, apparently taking no notice of the stranger in their midst. Staring down at herself, Mab saw that her black and purple robes were gone, replaced by a long blue and black dress. She stared around herself, through the mass of spinning and laughing dancers, all of whom were wearing masks, trying to see something, anything that was familiar to her.
"Merlin!" she called out. Her voice, which usually carried a fair distance at its quietest, seemed almost lost in that place. "Mordred!" There was no reply. Mab tried to force her way through the crowds, not sure where she was trying to get. "Merlin!" she tried again. This time, a voice answered her.
"Hello, Mab." Jareth stood in front of her. He was wearing a long blue jacket over his usual attire, and held a mask in his hand. Evidently, he was dressed for dancing. Mab stared at him uncertainly, knowing who he was, but not sure what he was doing here, what he had to do with all this… She knew he was involved somehow, if only she could remember… Jareth held out a hand.
"Care to dance?"
---
Merlin squinted against the blinding white of the walls. Like Mab, he was dazed and confused, his memory fogged, and he had no idea where he was, or what he was doing there. He concentrated, trying desperately to think clearly.
"I was with Mab. Mab and Frik. There was a forest…" His thoughts were interrupted by one of the dancers bumping into him and knocking him backward into another woman. She had her back turned to him. She wore a long white dress, and her long brown hair fell partway down her back.
"Sorry," Merlin apologised, "I didn't see you…" The woman interrupted him.
"Merlin?" Merlin froze. He knew that voice, had heard it every night in his dreams. It had been years since he had heard it speaking, but he would have recognised it whenever he had heard it. But surely it would be impossible…
The woman turned to face him. "It is you, Merlin!" she smiled, not sounding all that surprised. It was her. After all these years, she was here…
"Nimue…"
---
Frik stumbled through the crowds. Where was he? This wasn't Earth, or the Land of Magic… Staring down at himself, he saw that his appearance had changed to that of the handsome swordsman he had used to court Morgan Le Fay with.
"But I can't change my appearance any more…" he thought, confusedly, "Not since the day Morgan died…"
"Frik!" cried an excited voice, "You're here!" And with that, Morgan Le Fay came running out of the crowd to greet him, not as he had last seen her, plain and lifeless, but alive and beautiful and vibrant once more. Flinging her arms around his neck, she placed a kiss on his lips. Amazed, Frik just stared at her, completely and utterly at a loss for what to think. Morgan had died, he was sure of it… At least, he thought he was. Letting go of his neck, Morgan grabbed his hand and dragged him into the crowd, giggling delightedly.
"Come on, Frik! We have to dance!" Frik followed his newfound love unresistingly into the crowd.
---
Jareth spun Mab around dizzyingly, whirling her around the dance floor. Mab stared at him confusedly, trying not to fall or stumble. She still couldn't understand what was happening. She didn't know what Jareth was doing here, but he was the only thing she could see that she recognised, so she stayed with him. But she knew that something was wrong…
"What's going on?" she demanded. Jareth smiled unconcernedly.
"I believe that we're dancing, Mab. You look stunning, by the way," he added. Mab shook her head.
"That's not what I meant," Mab replied. Jareth shrugged.
"What did you mean?" he asked. Mab frowned. What had she meant? She couldn't remember either.
"Where are we?" she asked instead, glancing around at the room.
"Why?" Jareth asked, "Don't you like it?"
"No…yes… Oh, you're twisting my words!" Mab snapped in exasperation. Jareth looked offended.
"Now, would I really do something like that?" he asked. Mab thought for a moment.
"I don't know," she admitted. Jareth smiled to himself, as though enjoying a private joke, and continued to spin her around.
"You don't know? I thought you knew me better than that, dearest." Mab frowned.
"Don't call me that."
"Why not?" Jareth asked laughingly. Mab could see that he was expecting her to say that she didn't know, again.
"Because it's annoying!" she snapped, regaining some of her former temper. Jareth shrugged.
"Suit yourself."
"Where are we?" Mab tried again. This time Jareth did concede to answer her properly.
"We're in the Underground. This is one of the mirror rooms. I use it for dancing, as you can see. Nice, isn't it?" he continued conversationally.
"It's very… bright," replied Mab dubiously. Brilliant white was not exactly to her taste, and it was beginning to give her a headache, which wasn't being helped in the least by Jareth spinning her around. He smirked.
"Not to your taste, I take it? A pity. I'll remember that in future."
"What do you mean, in the future?" Mab asked suspiciously. Jareth looked at her, as if surprised that she didn't know.
"Why, when you become my queen of course!" he informed her. Mab glared at him.
"I'm not your queen!" she snapped, "And I'm not going to be, either!" Jareth stared at her.
"But why not?" He sounded perplexed.
"Because I wouldn't touch you with a ten foot pole!" Mab snapped, her temper rising.
"Correct me if I'm wrong, Mab, but aren't you touching me now?" he pointed out, tightening his grip round her waist to emphasis his point. Mab went to pull away, but Jareth swung her round into a dip that, had she gone through with letting go, probably would have culminated in her landing very hard on the floor. He continued to speak. "Why is it that you dislike me so much?" Mab thought for a moment. There was something, she knew there was something, if only she could think of it…
"I…" she started, but trailed off. Jareth fixed her with a strange stare.
"There is nothing," he told her, "No reason why you should dislike me. How do you even know that you dislike me at all?" Mab was confused for a moment. Jareth was right, how did she know that she disliked him? She struggled to remember why it had seemed so important to get away just now, but couldn't.
"There's nothing," Jareth repeated, a lulling tone in his voice, "Nothing to make you dislike me. Nothing to stop you from being my queen…" As if to make his point perfectly clear, he pressed his lips to hers and kissed her.
---
Merlin stared at Nimue for what seemed like hours. She smiled back at him, and, as though some kind of spell had been broken, Merlin pulled her close to him.
"Nimue…" he muttered again, through confused tears of happiness. Pulling away he looked into her eyes. "I don't understand. Where are we? How did you get here?"
"We're in the Underground. Jareth brought me here," Nimue told him. Merlin frowned.
"Jareth?" he muttered to himself. The name rang a bell. He knew that he should know who Jareth was, that it was important…
"Merlin?" Nimue called to him, trying to get his attention. She looked confused, not understanding why he was thinking about Jareth instead of her. Merlin turned back to her.
"I'm sorry," he apologised, "The name just… I thought it sounded familiar." Nimue placed a finger against his lips.
"Shh," she murmured, "It doesn't matter."
Looking at her, Merlin agreed, "No, it's not important."
"Merlin," Nimue continued abruptly, "Please don't go back to the human world."
"What?" Merlin asked in surprise. Nimue's voice took on a pleading tone.
"Stay here in the Underground, with me." Merlin continued to stare. "There's nothing left in the mortal world for you. No reason to go back." Merlin thought, and found that she was right, he could think of no reason to go back to the mortal realm, nothing that should keep him there. But something in him balked at the prospect of staying here.
"But…" he started. Nimue looked hurt.
"What's the matter? Don't you want to be with me?" Merlin nodded.
"Of course I do!"
"Then stay!" Nimue pleaded, "Stay and we'll be together. Together forever, you and me…"
---
His plan was working perfectly. Jareth was very pleased. If his mouth hadn't been otherwise occupied, he would have laughed with glee. He could see Merlin and Nimue several yards away, embracing and talking earnestly between themselves, and a short distance away from them, Frik and Morgan le Fay were dancing and laughing happily. And he, of course, had just kissed Mab. She looked surprised, but that feeling would be nothing compared to what she would feel when she woke up in the Goblin Castle, memory fully intact once more, and remembered all this.
He was so close to victory. He could feel it, was already triumphant. There was nothing and no-one left to prevent him from winning.
Just then, the large clock in the centre of the room started chiming.
The loud chiming sound jarred Mab out of whatever stupor Jareth had lulled her into, and had the added bonus of triggering something in her memory.
"Time…," she thought suddenly, this one thought triggering off a stream of others- the thirteen hour Labyrinth challenge, Jareth's threat, her alliance with Merlin and Frik, and that potion that Frik had given them all. "We're running out of time!"
Horrified, she broke away from Jareth's kiss. Apparently unaware that Mab was no longer under the spell of the drugged potion, the Goblin King spoke.
"So? What do you think?"
"I think," replied Mab, eyes blazing, "I think that your plan was very clever. And I think that if you'd wanted it to work, then you should have had the intelligence to remove the clock." She turned and went to walk away. Jareth's eyes darkened, and he caught her by the arm, turning her around to face him.
"Not so fast, my dear," he snarled, "We haven't finished dancing yet." Concentrating, Mab gathered as much of her magic as she could and loosed it at Jareth. She knew it wouldn't hurt him that much- this was, after all, his realm, and he had ultimate power here- but it did succeed in sending him flying several feet backwards. Before he could get to his feet to follow her, Mab vanished into the crowd.
Jareth evidently wasn't following her, but even so, she heard him call out to her.
"Run as fast as you like, Mab. You can't escape, and you've only got an hour left to go…" Glancing at the clock- which was still chiming- Mab saw that he was right. She had to find Merlin and leave.
"Merlin!" she called out as loudly as possible, staring from side to side. "Merlin!"
---
"Merlin, please say you'll stay!" Nimue pleaded. Merlin stared at her, opened his mouth to agree, and then the chiming started. Like with Mab, the loud chiming of the thirteen hour clock reminded him suddenly and painfully of their challenge, of Jareth. Staring down at Nimue, Merlin was torn for a moment, as he realised that he now faced the choice of staying here with Nimue, and being under Jareth's control, or returning Arthur to the mortal world and losing Nimue once again. But only for a moment.
The realisation of once more being torn between Arthur and Nimue awoke old memories, memories of the day that Arthur had died and Nimue trapped in the cave. When Nimue had seen the choice Merlin had to make, and she had seen the right choice, she had made sure he did the right thing, even though it meant sacrificing herself. That was the sort of person that Nimue was. Always doing what was right, and trying to persuade others to follow that example, too. And there was no way on Earth that Nimue would ever have tried to make Merlin serve Jareth- a plainly evil, or at least dangerous, being- at the expense of the mortal realm. He stared at the beautiful apparition before him, and saw that that was exactly what it was. An apparition. One of Jareth's tricks.
"You're not real…" he whispered. Nimue stared at him in surprise for a moment, then went to open her mouth to speak, but was interrupted by an impatient call from Merlin's left.
"Merlin!" Mab called frantically, appearing suddenly from the crowd and grabbing Merlin's arm, "We have to get out of here. This is all one of Jareth's illusions. Frik must have poisoned us…" She trailed off when she saw that Merlin was staring at something over her shoulder, and turned to see what it was. When she saw Nimue, her eyes widened in surprise. Nimue didn't react at all to the appearance of the woman who had seen her burned by a dragon and trapped her in a cave, who Merlin had been at war with for all of their time together, except to glance disinterestedly at her as a source of interruption. Then Merlin knew for certain she wasn't real. Still staring at Nimue, Mab spoke to Merlin.
"She's not Nimue. She's just an illusion."
Merlin spoke levelly, "I know." Nimue stared at the two of them, then laughed. It wasn't Nimue's laugh, it sounded cruel and humourless. Stepping backwards until she melted away into the crowd, she seemed to vanish. Merlin waited for a moment, then he and Mab turned and pushed their way through to the edge of the crowd. The walls in front of them were huge mirrors, giving the impression that the room was much larger than it actually was. There appeared to be no exit.
"Where's Frik?" asked Merlin.
"I don't know," replied Mab angrily, "And I don't care. Let him rot here, seeing as he was so keen to bring us all." Merlin stared at her.
"You think Frik…"
"Oh, use your intelligence, Merlin!" snapped Mab, "Of course it was Frik. He gave us that bottle. He knew it would do something, it was written all over his face. It was probably just meant for me, but the fact remains that now we are all running out of time." Merlin stared into the mirror without speaking. Of his two companions, he would never have expected Frik would be the one who would betray them. Mab stared at the mirrored walls, too, evidently pondering how to get out. Then it came to Merlin in a flash. The scene had been inside one of Jareth's crystals. If it still was, the walls would be made out of breakable glass. These mirrors.
"Break the mirror," he told Mab. She glanced at him, but didn't argue. Time was too short. Both of them concentrated, and sent a blast of energy flying at the walls. The mirror shattered, revealing nothing but darkness behind it. Winds shot through the ballroom scene, tearing it apart, banishing all the illusionary dancers, seeming to suck everything out through the hole in the mirror, before the whole thing vanished completely.
Mab and Merlin fell slowly down through the air, coming to land back in the real Underground with a crash.
Jareth cursed as the ballroom crumbled before his eyes. Wishing himself back to the Goblin Castle, he snarled under his breath.
"Must remember to get rid of that bloody clock…"
Ah, another part ends, and the usual pleas for reviews are sent out. Hugs to all of the people who have reviewed so far.