I do not own the labyrinth, nor its characters and no monetary gains are being made. I own none of Jim Henson's creations.
Did I say I would be posting Thursday? Sounds familiar. Oops. Sorry for the delay. Also I hope you enjoy it, I am not very good at fight scenes. Do enjoy.
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Down In The Underground
Chaos ensued, there was no way else to explain it. One moment Sarah was dancing with Loki, and the next sheer chaos. At first, no one noticed the dark mist circling the castle. That quickly changed when the first explosion went off. Sarah heard the screams, looking around quickly for where the threat might be coming from.
"Quick, your majesty. I must get you to safety." Loki grabbed Sarah by the hand, but she would not be moved. "Get Jasmine. Make sure she is safe." She said, Sarah read the conflict in his eyes. "That is an order." She stated, looking him in the eyes. He bowed slightly, relief clearly in his eyes. He ran in the direction he had last seen her, hoping it was not too late.
Sarah heard her name being shouted in different directions. She saw Jareth, standing next to Lady Leahnor, who was trying to pull him away. "Get to the queen!" He yelled. Sarah wasted no time, and ran in the direction of Titania, unsure of what was going on. Another explosion was heard, along with more screams.
The guards were all over the place, Puk began shouting orders left and right. A few guards began to remove the High king and queen from the Castle. "Sarah!" Puk shouted, as she ran next to Titiana. Sarah ignored him, as she reached the queen. "It has started, my child," was all the queen said. "You have to leave, get to safety, you know where." The queen nodded at Sarah, taking her husband by his hand. King Oberon had a glazed look in his eyes, completely oblivious as to what was going on around him. Sarah only hoped it was not too late.
Sarah grabbed the nearest guards, both she recognized instantly no matter their disguise. One was a very valiant looking knight, ever eager to slay the enemy. The other, a very young looking guard, bangs covering his eyes, shaking behind the knight. "You must leave." She whispered. "Fear not, my lady! For I…"Sarah covered his mouth, some things never did change. "Sh! You must take the High king and Queen to safety. They need you to protect them." He quickly bowed, "Then it shall be as you request. Come Ambrosius, we must protect King Oberon and Queen Titania." They both ran and grabbed them both, instantly disappearing with a quick smash of a crystal ball.
Sarah quickly turned her attention back to Puk, who from what she could see was fighting off three different attackers at the same time. Two were almost elvish looking creatures, but very sinister looking elves. Puk seemed to be having trouble fighting them off, but quickly dispatched two by the time she reached him. The third, who she could only describe as something of a nightmare itself, seemed to be a better fighter. The creature kept shifting again and again, leaving only to be seen a fast blur. Sarah threw a crystal spell at the last, sending him directly into an oubliette. Puk looked at Sarah, nodding slightly in gratitude.
"Are they safe?" Puk asked. "Yes. They are perfectly safe." Two more dark elvish creatures attacked, along with more explosions and screams. A laugh boomed over the castle, coming from the dark mist. Sarah shuddered, "Where is Loki?" Puk asked as he and Sarah fought off their opponents. "He is keeping Jasmine safe." Sarah was blocking the dark elves magic with a few crystals of her own, trying to box them in. It was of no use. Puk decided to try a different tactic, as she threw her crystals at them, he quickly killed them both with his sword.
Out of breath, they both ran. "We must find Jareth!" Puk grabbed Sarah by the hand, looking for Jareth. The mist began accumulating in the center of the dance floor. Sarah stopped mid step, pulling Puk to a stop as well. Even though a face could not be made out, Sarah felt a pull towards the mist. Puk refused to let go of her hand, following her while yelling for her not to get too close.
The mist clearing had a woman's curves, and began to hackle a laugh. The dark mist was now a faceless woman. "The dark queen." Sarah whispered. "Yes." the woman said. "I am glad to see you have heard of me. My spies have spoken of you to me, Sarah Williams. It seems you are someone they assured me I just had to meet." The dark queen took several steps to her. Puk pulled her behind him. "Foolish Fae.
Sarah stared as if in a daze, she put her unoccupied hand behind her back. "I heard many things about you as well." Sarah replied. "Sarah." Puk hissed. She took a step in front of him, keeping him close to her back. "You hold great power, Sarah Williams. I can feel it radiate off you." The woman inhaled deeply, shuddering with pleasure. "Yes, Sarah, so much power." Sarah felt the hairs on her arms stand.
Sarah remained quiet, slowly pacing in a circle, along with Puk steady behind her, and the mist in front. "I can teach you ways to harness that power in ways you could never dream of." Sarah smirked at her. "Offering my dreams, are you? Is that the best you can do?" Sarah replied, the smile looking more menacing that the woman in the mist could comprehend. "Sarah, join us. There is so much you do not understand. You believe that you are on the side of good. Do you think that Oberon or his wife will allow you to ever be free? It's all illusions. If you only knew the truth of the matter.
The dark queen put her 'lips' on Sarah's. Images quickly swirled through Sarah's mind. Many of a young queen and a young Oberon. She saw another woman, Titiana stealing Oberon's attention and affection. She saw a black crystal, and an offer. Sarah felt her mind and body being violated, and found it hard to distinguish between her and the dark mist. She had to quickly disengage herself is she wanted to keep her sanity.
Sarah felt a tugg in the pit of her stomach, a tug she was very familiar with. The labyrinth was calling its Champion, not allowing her to be sucked into the mind of the dark queen. Something finally snapped, like a rubberband. "I have more to show you." The dark mist said. Sarah could feel Puk pulling on her hand, and suddenly felt him gasping for air. Sarah finally removed her hand from behind her, and held a very solid and very powerful charged crystal orb. Sarah had been wielding an incantation quietly behind her back. It was a spell that would take up so much energy from her, but it was her only chance to keep everyone safe.
She quickly put the orb into the midst of the chest cavity of the woman before her. Sarah whispered the last of the chant, watching it explode, throwing everyone back a great distance. The queen disappeared, instantly being sucked into a dark vortex back to the unseelie realm. All Sarah felt were hands holding onto her and darkness.
"Sarah!" Someone was calling her, perhaps Karen. She must have overslept again. "Champion! You must wake up!" Champion? Karen would never call me that. Sarah felt lost, until she felt a hard slap in the face. She woke up quickly, ears ringing. She reached the side of her face, and indeed felt something warm and wet. Puk was standing holding her in his arms with his eyes wide in shock looking up.
Puk was looking straight at Jareth, who was now alone. He had a sword in one hand and Sarah's hand in the other. "What happened? Did it work?" Jareth pulled her quickly from Puk's arms, and looked her over. "Come fight is far from over. Can you stand?" She stood, and nodded yes. Puk was none too happy about her no longer being in his arms.
Puk returned to the guards, making sure they had orders to check that no unseelie was left behind or alive. Sarah, though weak, continued to fight alongside Jareth. Soon, they began to regroup with Loki and Puk once again. It took over two hours to make sure all was clear and safe in the castle and around. It took the rest of the night to check on the rest of the land, all the goblins pitched in as well, assuring the labyrinth was safe and secure.
Jareth led Sarah to the center of the labyrinth. "I know you are tired, but we must do this. We must make sure the power of the Labyrinth has been untouched." They stood, facing each other. "I need you to repeat after me, focus on your bond to the land, the inhabitants," He began, but hesitated at the end. "To me." He offered his hands to her, and she took them only slightly hesitating. She felt a tug from her heart as if held by a strong string tethered firstly by Jareth, the land, the inhabitants and it's people.
She gave Jareth's hands a squeeze, and he began to recite the spell. Sarah began to see everything as if scaled in a 3d model, including each individual blade of grass. She was able to assess the damage the labyrinth sustained, and as she repeated after Jareth, she also felt the land and its people begin to heal. They both stood there for a few hours, as this was no easy feat. Sarah had no idea how big the land was, nor how many beings really inhabited the land.
Finally, what seemed like several hours, she felt her the tie come back to Jareth, his wounds very much visible to her. He tried to shut the bond between them, trying to hide his wounds. It was too late, she held onto his hands even tighter, looking him in the eyes. There was something more than the injuries that he sustained tonight. Someone had cast a spell on him. From the looks of it, he was tainted with unseelie magic.
"Stop! Sarah!" She began to pick apart the spell, not entirely sure she could do it. Once she found the origin of the spell, along with the one who cast it, she began to unweave. Jareth screamed louder at her, buckling at the knees. Her bond to him made her feel his pain and his fear. Sarah did not know if she was swaying or if she was swaying with Jareth.
Sarah felt herself weakening, as if her life source was draining. The labyrinth did not allow either to die, but the process made them wish they would. After the last snap, they both fell to the ground, passing out with Sarah barely breathing.
It took days for her to recuperate, for them both to. Jasmine kept watch until she was ordered to leave. Loki also kept watch of Jareth, while Puk never left Sarah's side. Hoggle was not very happy about that, but as long as Puk was there to help the dwarf remained quiet. Finally, one of them woke up, and went and sat next to the other. They never left until the one they sat next to woke up.
