The Truth of a Lie
a/n: I do not own Labyrinth. I just wanted to comment on the difference in reviewers here on FF. You guys are way less hyper than my Inuyasha reviewers. With my story "Say Goodnight", the people who review it are very…excitable. They keep threatening me with violence if I do not update right away. Oi. Also, things start to get a little faster paced in this chapter. And, if someone can name the literary reference in this chapter, I will give you a virtual cookie! Betaed by my most faithful beta and reader, the wonderful AngelaScarlet.
Edit: I needed to go back and edit this after I posted it due to a plot hole. Enjoy, and thanks to Heist for pointing it out!
Chapter Seven: A Cry For Help
With each step they took Jareth's anger only grew. It was not only that they had messed with him, but they had also messed with Sarah. She had been too young to know, and she had trusted the people who had raised her. But Jareth had been old enough that he should have known; he should have suspected something. They had used him, and he had been clueless. It hurt his pride.
Sarah could see that the Goblin King was brooding. His brow was furrowed, his eyes were like ice, and his lips were pursed tightly together. His stride was purposeful and he did not even seem to see the terrain around them. This state did not alarm her, it only made her curious.
Jareth stopped in a small clearing out of the blue. He seemed to be studying the tree in front of him with some maliciousness. With one of his gloved hands clenched, he used the other to finally summon one of his crystals. He promptly launched it at the tree. Then he did it again, and again. By the time he was done there was a sizable hole in the tree. Sarah suspected he had not poured all his power into those spheres, but he had needed to vent his anger physically.
"Ah, come on, what did the tree ever do to you?" Sarah asked, studying the damage.
"Found Sarah, it seems we will need to walk no longer. Come here, and I will take us there," Jareth waved his hand at her. Sarah walked over to him and stood by his side. He wrapped one slender arm around her waist and drew her close. Jareth took a deep breath, and they disappeared. In another second, they stood in the audience chamber of the Castle Beyond the Goblin City.
"One day, Jareth, you will have to show me how to do that," Sarah almost purred. Jareth liked the way his name sounded on her lips when she said it like that.
"It will be my pleasure," Jareth told her with a florid bow. He sat down in his chair hurriedly and rang some sort of invisible bell. Moments later, Alis and Alun scurried into the room, with a curtsy and a bow.
"So glad to see you have returned Your Majesty and Mistress Sarah," Alis said softly. Sarah heard relief in her voice.
"Mistress, the goblins did just as you commanded. Not a peep out of them. They have been no trouble since you left," Alun said with a smile.
"What's this?" Jareth asked curiously.
"The goblins were giving Alis and Alun a hard time when I finally managed to break the spell you have put on this castle. I told them that if they did not stay put and be quiet I was going to order them thrown into the bog when I got back," Sarah shrugged. Jareth let out a laugh. The girl was a natural!
"Is there anything else I should be aware of?" Jareth asked his valet.
"No, Your Majesty. Things have been remarkably quiet in the days you have been gone. There are a few letters for you on your desk, and some things for you to sign," Alun reminded him.
"Your Majesty? While you attend to the affairs of your kingdom, I think I will start preparing to return Aboveground and find out what exactly is going on with The Order. Is that acceptable?" Sarah asked, obviously minding the fact that they were now in his castle.
"Please, do stay awhile. I would like to talk to you some more about what is going on," Jareth suggested.
"As you wish, but then I must be getting back," Sarah answered. Too much time around Jareth, and around his world, could not be a good thing right now. It was bad enough she had to travel with the Fae, but to stay any longer with him could mess with a mind she had trained very well to ignore the situation with the Goblin King.
&&&
Toby sat on his bed, sniffling. He was not a boy prone to tears. Usually he kept his emotions well in check. But it had all gotten to be too much. Found Morwen had stopped him in the halls a little earlier, looking for information on the one person he could never give information on, Sarah.
"How well do you know Found Sarah, Foundling?" Morwen asked, drumming her nails against her thigh.
"Not well at all, Found Morwen," Toby has responded, trying to keep his face devoid of emotion.
"Foundling, do not lie to me. I know the two of you are as thick as thieves. Tell me, do you know if she keeps a journal, a diary?" the raven haired Found asked him impatiently.
"No, Found Morwen," Toby answered truthfully. Sarah was not dumb enough to put anything down in writing.
"Listen, you little shit. Why would they choose her to replace the Goblin King and not me? Do you know anything?" Toby did know something. Sarah commanded the same magic as the Goblin King. But no one knew that but Toby. And he was damned if he was going to let this bitch know it. Morwen gritted her teeth and grabbed Toby by his shirt. Toby struggled against her, and she sat him down and patted his cheek gently.
"You know, Foundling, when it comes time to do your sexual training, I will be first in line," Morwen whispered throatily, and then she slapped his face as hard as she could manage. Her nails split his lip when it came across, and he tasted the metallic tang of blood in his mouth. She got up, and her stilleto heels clicked as she walked away.
Toby raised the tiny crystal Sarah had given him before she had left for the Underground. He stared into its' clear depths and spoke her name. Then he waited for an answer.
&&&
Sarah was standing next to Jareth in his study when Toby's voice sounded in the vaults of her mind. She froze and held up her hand, silencing the Goblin King. Jareth sneered at the interruption.
"What?" he mouthed, obviously irritated.
Sarah twirled her hand, and a small crystal appeared. Toby's face appeared in the sphere, and both Sarah and Jareth could see the boy's tear-stained face.
"Sarah! I am glad this thing worked!" Toby said gratefully.
"Toby, you are looking well," Jareth commented.
"Your Majesty, I am glad to see you are okay," Toby replied.
"I take it that something happened?" Sarah asked, eager to figure out what was going on. Toby knew only to use the crystal in case of emergency.
"Sarah, I have a feeling we have been tricked, or lied to," Toby told her in a small voice. Sarah knew that Toby was afraid she would doubt him. But one did grow up quick in a place filled with spies and assassins. She started to grow angry on the inside, Toby's turn of phrase reminding her of the discussion she and Jareth had about her upbringing.
"Does this involve Morwen?" Sarah asked, trying to keep the anger out of her voice.
"She's been asking a lot of questions, Sarah. She's sniffing around for information on you. She was trying to pry information out of me, but I didn't tell her a thing!" Toby said with pride in his voice.
"What kind of questions?" Sarah asked, dread growing in her stomach.
"She wanted to know why they would choose you to replace the Goblin King instead of her," Toby recalled.
Sarah blinked in shock, "Me? Replace Jareth? Why? Never mind, I have a feeling you know. What else did you discover?"
"It's not only Morwen. I sat on some information for a bit, until I was sure you were back at His Majesty's castle," Toby took a deep breath before continuing, "Sarah, Founder Gabriel and Founder Corsair are behind Morwen poisoning His Majesty. They set it all up. They want to somehow get rid of him and put you on the throne. They believe that once they do, they can freely invade the Underground and rule it themselves. What it boils down to is that they want to use you as a puppet, a figurehead. They would give you orders to issue, and you would do it. They believe they have you trained that well. This place has become a nightmare. I want to leave. The one place I have always called home, and I want nothing more than to leave it," Toby told her, a note of uncharacteristic fear in his voice.
"Are they watching you? Do they suspect you?" Sarah asked. She did not want to lose her cool in front of Toby, or in front of the Goblin King.
"I doubt it. No one even comes to get me for training anymore. I think they are too busy planning everything," Toby told her.
Sarah turned to Jareth, "Your Majesty, may Toby come to stay here temporarily, as a guest of your household? It looks like we may be living Underground very soon"
"We can talk about this after we are done talking to Toby, but for now, Toby, you need to have everything packed and ready for when Sarah says you need to go" Jareth told the boy via the crystal.
"There are only a few items I care to take with me, and they are always packed," Toby said soberly.
"Make sure you are ready to go, and in full gear, by tomorrow morning. Act like everything is normal if someone asks you. I am coming back, but I have a few loose ends I have to tie up before I can leave permanently," Sarah explained.
"Stay out of sight if you can, and try to stay off of anyone's mind," Jareth offered.
"I'm good at being invisible," Toby smiled.
Toby saluted, and then the crystal popped in Sarah's hand.
"Sarah, you cannot stay here after this is done. What exactly are we doing, anyways?" Jareth asked.
"Well, you have choices. You certainly have enough power to just seal the portal right now, without any preamble. But, Toby is up there. And at one time, you expressed an interest in making him your heir. So I have to assume you liked him. So, sealing the portal would mean leaving him to whatever torture they will devise for him. You could let me go back and then seal it, but then you will lose Toby and I. We can be very valuable and useful. So, the other option is to fight. I will go back, and I will take care of a few things. I will ferret out some more information as to what they planned to do and then I will leave with Toby. More than likely, there will be bloodshed involved, since I plan to kill Morwen while up there. They will try to follow me through the portal. When I come through, we will fight them off and then seal the portal," Sarah explained.
"Why does it seem like the toughest option is the only real option I have?" Jareth moaned as he pinched the bridge of his nose.
"I do not like to beg. But I will ask that you do this for us. You have no real incentive, save a connection that is tenuous at best. But that connection is the only hope for Toby and I. Now that I know what I know about the life I have lived, I no longer want that for the only person I have ever considered family. Toby deserves more than that," Sarah sounded vulnerable for the first time in a long time. She hated that emotion in her voice, the weakness it conveyed. She had held out hope that Jareth had been wrong. She had hoped that it would not come to this. What did she think, she would just be able to go back, knowing what she knows? Would it ever be the same? Would the world ever be the same?
Jareth snapped his fingers to get the unfocused Sarah's attention, "After this, you will be in my debt. I will have you and Toby fighting on my side. I will set you up with a life here Underground, if we succeed, and if I should need you, then I will call you, and you will be obligated to come. No one else Underground has a full trained spy, assassin, and courtesan at their disposal," Jareth smirked.
Sarah wanted to hit him. But right was right. She and Toby would owe him a debt should they survive. They would not be welcome, and also would surely be killed as soon as they stepped one foot Aboveground. This would be her home starting tomorrow morning, and she did not know exactly how she felt about that.
"We will need to be prepared for anything," Sarah murmured.
The fact that she could say that with no emotion in her voice told Jareth Sarah was back to being on the job, so to speak. In the last couple of days her voice had grown warmer, her manner had become more independent instead of robotic. He had seen flashes of the fifteen-year-old Sarah that had run his Labyrinth. But now that girl was gone again. He had no clue if or when she would reappear.
"This is all moving quite fast," Jareth commented.
"Some of the best things move the fastest," Sarah commented, "We need to give Alis and Alun their memories back before I leave. Let's go"
"What? My two most loyal servants?" Jareth asked in surprise.
"Look, it is your call. But, keep this in mind: they have the training. And we will need all the manpower we can get. Chances are, some of The Order will be able to make it through the portal before we can close it. Alun is strong, and Alis has the training also. They may have never made it all the way to Found, but it was not because they were not up to snuff. Even with summoning all your subjects to fight, we will be lost without Alis and Alun," Sarah shrugged her shoulders as she waited for an answer from the Goblin King.
Jareth waited a moment, then waved for Sarah to follow him. He hated when she was right. He hated when anyone but him had the answers. He knew it was more than likely because he was used to being the one with all the solutions. But, he knew Sarah was the authority on the place she had come from. She knew these men and women like the back of her hand. They were all born and bred the same. What had changed her? What had made her different? Why did she break the chains and the molds that had held her? Why did she not just comply, like so many senseless automatons? She and that boy, Toby. They both had seen something different. They had known all along, there was something else. He had never met two creatures more fascinating, other than himself.
Alis and Alun were in the library. When they walked in, Alis was dusting, and Alun was writing in a journal. They both stood and bowed in respect.
"Come here, both of you. Hold out your left hands and close your eyes. Say nothing and do not move, no matter what," Jareth commanded. The obedient servants did as they were told. Jareth conjured two vials, and then a stone blade. With the blade, he made two small incisions on their left palms. They both made no noise as the crimson blood welled into a bead on their skin. Jareth captured some of the blood in the vials, "Let blood be memory's river. Dwyn nhw cefnogi!"
A drop of blood fell from each of the vials, back onto the wounds made by the stone blade. Alis and Alun gasped as a blue light encompassed their hands. As fast as it had come, it was gone. The two servants dropped their hands, the wounds going unheeded.
"Foundling Alis, Foundling Alun, we have need of your services," Jareth told them authoritatively.
The two of them looked at Jareth, and then at Sarah. The realization of who she was dawned on them suddenly.
"Sarah? Little Sarah?" Alis asked her.
"Found Sarah now. We all grow up sometime, Alis. We need your help," Sarah told her.
"What is going on? Why have we been given our memories back after so long?" Alun asked, his intrigue honed mind scanning his surroundings.
"It is not for any happy reason, I assure you. The kidnapping of His Majesty here was planned by our Order, by the Founders. They used Found Morwen to do it. Foundling Toby has found out that they plan to assassinate the king, and then put a puppet on the throne in his place. That puppet was to be me. They plan to then use the portal to take over the Underground for themselves. We are going to stop them," Sarah explained.
"That's insane," Alis commented.
"That is all this ever was, was insanity," Sarah said soberly.
"How are we going to stop them?" Alun asked.
"I am going to go back for the night, or the rest of the night. I plan to find out more information, kill Morwen, get my things and Toby, and then come back. When I come back through, more than likely a lot of them will be able to get through before His Majesty can seal up the portal for good. All of us will be needed to fight them back only until His Majesty can accomplish that task," Sarah explained. Alis and Alun nodded in understanding.
"So, we are not doing anything to punish the whole Order?" Jareth asked, sounding slightly miffed.
"While I believe you are a great king, Your Majesty, I do not believe that even you can hope to take them all on," Alun bowed in respect.
"Your Majesty, they will not get away with this, I assure you. You may not know all I can do yet, but I can make sure they pay. After all, it is my Founder that is behind it," Sarah told him. Jareth took her at her word. Sarah was not someone the average person would ever want to mess with.
Jareth watched this exchange with fascination. She was obsessed with fighting. It was like she always had to fight. What was she fighting for? What was she fighting against? When this was done, and Sarah had no one left to fight, what would she do?
Glossary:
Dwyn nhw cefnogi – word for word in Welsh it means, "Bring them back".