Disclaimer: I own nothing of or relating to the Labyrinth.
A/N: Bah, I'll write another chap anyways. I'm almost done, so why not just finish what I started?
Chapter 12
Cunctus
The ground in front of me erupted, sending an unknown ball of white mist into the sky. I crawled backwards, hoping for it not to land on me. I again heard the faint call from Hoggle's voice, but didn't take my stare off of the floating mist. It morphed into the shape of a dove, then into the shape of a crow, and then into the shape of a human female. She, (the mist) landed on the ground, completely immitating the appearance of a woman. Skin as pale as snow, lips pink and untouched, short hair which was a red and orange tint. Her clothes, if you'd consider them clothing, consisted of a grey, skin-tight cloth around her chest, and on her legs, waist, and hips for pants. It looked as if her ensemble was painted on.
"Who are you?" I asked, not thinking that this could be the Power Jareth talked about.
"Yes," The echoing, light yet deep voice of the woman chimed, "I am indeed who you think I am. The Power of the Labyrinth. It is unusual that I take the shape of a woman, for normally I would mimick an animal so fierce or so peaceful to scare or trick you. I am not woman, nor man. I am merely a mix of ambivalence, intellect, and great superiority over the land. I am neither good nor evil, great nor weak, decisive nor unsure. I use knowledge and strength to oversee all. I am intimidating, yet soothing. I am The Power. There is more like me, but only one shows itself at a time."
My words streamed out of my mouth, "But why did areth call you to me? Hasn't he gotten anything better to do? And why does he want my sister?"
"Us Powers hold anger towards him for few, yet significant reasons. He has tampered with us who gave him Kingship. We must punish him for thinking us as fools! He thought calling us to you would distract us so that he would have more time to plan his defense. You are not in danger with me, for I have no use for a human who belongs in her own world. Stand up, Kara, and heed my tales." The Power held out her glowing hand to help me get up. Hoggle's voice had vanished.
I straghtened my back and faced The Power, "What may I call you?"
"You may call me Cunctus." The Power began to walk, and I followed by her side. She snapped her fingers and the snow stopped falling.
My mouth went dry.
"Listen to me," Cunctus initiated her story, "for I have much to say in so little time. Jareth was a normal boy who was born in London. At the age of two, my colleagues and I found him on the streets, searching for food. His mother was a stripper and his father left when Jareth was born. The Labyrinth existed before Jareth became king, but it was run by us. We decided it would be good to have someone keep it neat, tidy, and running while The Powers and I worked on our own personal business. So, we took Jareth for the throne at the age of three. He has forgotten about his old home and parents since then. When he turned five, we told him rules and regulations to keep the Labyrinth untouched by corruption of humankind. He broke that rule when he fell in love with Sarah."
"Wait-" I interrupted with a question, "How did he find her?"
Cunctus replied, "The only way to visit the human world was by morphing into an animal, he chose an owl, and flying there. He was allowe to change back into human form, but not in the presence of other humans. He again broke this rule when he fell in love with Sarah. We punished him by threat, saying he could not bring another human down in the Underground again, or he would lose his Kinghip and we would destroy the Labyrinth. You would think that this would harm us, but we can create a new world and live there. When you came into this world, we threatened him again, but he was sure he had fallen in love. He only used your sister as a decoy to bring you here. When he heard that us Powers were upset, he devised a plan to sacrifice your sister in order to keep us happy and keep the Labyrinth under his rule. We are not happy with this, and are trying very hard to plot a scheme of our own to complete revenge. He has mocked our rules for the last time!"
"What will happen to my sister, Robin?" My brain raced with questions, "What will happen to me? What are you going to do to Jareth?"
"We," Replied the wonderous woman, "will destroy the Labyrinth as planned. Your sister and yourself should escape, for the destruction will be messy. To escape, you will have to trick Jareth into sending you home. Do not try and save your sister, we will take care of her for you. I, personally, regret not destroying this world in the first place. Jareth would have not fallen in love. Us Powers thought the shielding spell would have lasted longer than it has, but love cannot be hidden, and seeing you cracked the spell from his heart. See, when Sarah returned to her home, we placed a spell on Jareth thinking he would never fall in love again. Sometimes, even spells cannot cover the true feelings of one's heart. By falling in love with you, the spell started to weaken and break. That's how he learned about our anger. However, once we knew he had information on us, we lead him into thinking he needed to sacrifice your sister in order to buy us more time to think over a plan. See?"
I nodded. So much information had flooded my brain, but I understood it all. For once, Labby-Land made complete sense.
"Oh," Cunctus looked me in the eyes, "Two more things to tell you. Hoggle was trying to contact you through telepacy, but you did not know this. And another thing, Sometimes a woman can be a weapon to a man."
Before I could respond with an understanding, Cunctus morphed back into a mist and dove into the ground, disappearing from my sight. This adventure was becoming more and more complex. And then I felt a wind of exhilleration before blacking out.
0o0o0o0o
"Twelve minutes, Robin... Twelve minutes and you are blessed with knowledge of how it feels to be shrubbery! Either that or a moth, a bat, a toad, or anything creepy and crawly, unsignificant and miniscule. The Powers will be satisfied enough to let me stay here in my own little world. Then, I can try to rule all on my own without them nearby. It's too bad though, I was looking forward to having you and Kara by my side as a family." Jareth felt utterly mad..As in crazy.. He was hopping about with Robin in his arms, waiting for the moment when a power would show up and take the baby.
Jareth had let Nim lead all of Kara's helpers into the dungeon with Hoggle. They struggled for a bit until they gave up the fight.
"Sir," Nim came into the throne room, "Yer' 'ighness, Kara has arrived! She just appeared out of nowhere, lying on the ground in Goblin City. The guards are bringing her up here for you to deal with. We think she was transported magically."
"Let her in.. I'll let her watch the ceremony." Jareth put Robin on his throne and waited a moment before spotting some goblin guards carrying Kara into the room.
One guard asked in a raspy voice, "Where shall we put her?"
"Lie her on the floor. I'll wake her up." Jareth knelt down over Kara's sleeping body and placed a kiss on her full lips. "Time to wake up, my love. You must watch your sister become Labyrinth property!"
0o0o0o0o
I awoke startled to find myself on the floor of Jareth's throne room. I was in the castle? The Powers must've sent me here. My sister was on Jareth's throne, giggling and laughing. Was she glad to see me?
"Hello.." Jareth leaned over me, cleverly making me feel those butterflies again with a kiss on the cheek. Only Nim was in the room besides Jareth, Robin, and I.
"Sir," Nim asked, "Would yeh' like me teh' leave?"
Jareth nodded, watched his goblin servant leave the room, and glanced down at me again. I could feel my blood racing. It was time to begin my own little plan. Thanks to Cunctus, I now knew what to use for a weapon...
Seduction.