Disclaimer: I don't own it, I make no profit from it. It's not fair!
A/N: I am so glad you guys are liking this and reviewing. Have I mentioned that I am a shameless review hussy? There will probably be more citrusy good stuff to come, because hey, once you start, you can't stop. Language and graphic descriptions will always be a possibility from here on out. I will remind you that in the Underground, nothing is ever as it seems.
Sarah found herself in the middle of a dream, at least she thought, hoped, it was a dream. She was standing in the middle of a courtyard somewhere in the Labyrinth. Looking around, the ancient stone walls gleamed with glitter. Oh, for crying out loud, she thought, letting out an annoyed huff, will I never escape glitter? Looking down on herself, she wore a long, flowing Grecian style dress in pure, blinding white. The tattoos on her arms that matched Jareth's amulet clearly visible. They seemed to glow more brightly here. Looking more like real gold etched into her skin than gold ink. Hmm, she thought, odd. Tracing one with a finger, she gasped, they certainly felt like something was in them.
Sarah looked up when she heard a rustling sound. Directly in front of her was a softly glowing ball of amber light. As Sarah watched, it came to a stop directly in front of her, elongating and taking on a vague human/fairy shape.
"Hello, Champion." Sarah heard the melodic voice in her head and all around her. Like a thousand crystals ringing at once, low and sweet.
"Who are you?" She asked, thinking she already knew. What are you, was the question she asked herself.
"Come now, Champion, you know exactly who and what I am." Was the chuckling response.
"You're the Labyrinth aren't you? Why am I here? I am really here aren't I" Sarah looked around, she could smell the riotous blooms. Feel the warm breeze blow through her hair, the sunlight felt warm and comforting on her skin. She sensed rather than saw the being smile at her, exuding a gentleness that she found comforting.
"Do you know what today is, Champion?" It asked her, moving closer and enveloping her in its warm soft light.
"Um, Thursday?" She answered, having a vague idea where this was going, not sure if she wanted to know for certain.
"Today marks the tenth anniversary of your defeat of me." Was the response. "Earlier this evening, while bearing the mark of the King, you willing surrendered your innocence to The Goblin King."
"Wait, my defeat of you? I thought I defeated Jareth." Sarah started to worry, looking around to see if something was waiting to pounce and take her prisoner.
"My dear child," the Labyrinth began. "You have nothing to fear here. Help was always available to you as my Champion. As my Queen, you command my power in equal share with my King."
"Your Queen? When did that happen? How, why did that happen. I'm pretty sure you have to marry the King to become the Queen." Sarah stammered.
"And so you have. Sex is an ancient and powerful magic. When two beings come together in passion and love, magic is always created. When you add the power of blood, in this case, your virginity, it creates something unique and very powerful. When two Fae engage in this magic, make a blood sacrifice and are completely bare, skin to skin, the marriage right is forged and you are bonded for life." The soft amber glow glided over the tattoos on her arms, making them spark and shimmer. "You willingly bore his mark, you willingly gave him your virginity, you willingly removed all barriers between your souls, do you deny this?" The last bit sounded more like an accusation than a question. Sarah was trying to process all that she had been told. Something that felt like a hand, although none could be visibly discerned, tightened around her arm.
Sudden inspiration struck Sarah. "But I'm not Fae!" She cried.
"The minute you accepted my magic, the transformation started ten years ago became complete. You had already danced in the Fairy Ring with my King, already allowed him to place the moon and sky within you, accepted his song. All that was needed was for you to defeat me and reach the age of maturity." There was beginning to be a sound of dissonance to the tranquil voice.
Sarah wanted very much to keep this entity happy, whatever else, she didn't want to anger an ancient, magical being. Silently plotting torture methods for Jareth, she cleared her mind and allowed a positive energy to flow through her. "Forgive me," she began. "I didn't understand then and I didn't understand this time. Now I do." Sarah felt the being calm and relax, the gentleness returning once more.
"All is forgiven, my Queen. I must return you now, for time is short and the danger are many. Be safe and should you need me…"
"I'll call." Sarah finished the thought.
With a sigh, Sarah felt herself gently drifting as the Labyrinth fell away and she awoke in her own bed, wrapped in Jareth's arms. She lay still for a moment trying to get her bearings, then she rolled to her side and twined her fingers into his long soft hair, as he smiled and sighed against her, she gave a sharp tug that had him yelping in surprised pain.
"Sarah! What in the bloody hell was that for?" He shouted, rubbing a hand along his stinging scalp.
"What was that, husband?" She asked, sarcastic sweetness dripping from her voice. "It sounded like you said, good morning, wife."
Jareth stared at her wide eyed, "Oh." Was all he said.
"When were you going to tell me? What other surprises do you have up your sleeve?" She demanded as she jumped out of bed. As his eyes travelled appreciatively over her, she growled low in her throat and wrapped the sheet around herself sarong style. "I'm going to take a shower, I suggest you get dressed, we have a lot to do today."
"I could join you in the shower, love. Where we could talk about this and come to an understanding." Jareth purred silkily. Taking in her beauty, he realized that her transformation was complete and it was breathtaking. Her already amazing emerald eyes, gleamed in the low light of early morning, her skin shimmered with the magic that radiated from within, her already luxurious hair was thicker and longer than it had been the day before and her eyebrows had taken on a dramatic arch. Looking closer, he confirmed that the last of the transformation had finished, one pupil, the one that would allow her to see between worlds and all the things that were, had been and were yet to come. He could only imagine her reaction when she looked in the mirror and noted the changes herself.
"Poof yourself back to your castle and get cleaned up. I don't want to talk to you about this right now. Gods! I don't even want to look at you right now!" She snarled and stalked angrily to the bathroom.
Jareth stayed in bed and waited patiently for her reaction. In, 3,2,1, he thought to himself. He grinned slightly when he heard her angry shriek from the bathroom.
"Jareth! You are a dead man walking!" With that, she slammed the door and turned on the shower.
With a heavy sigh, he decided that he could just "poof" back to the Goblin Kingdom, he wanted to check on Liam and Fiona in any case. Perhaps if they had rested and restored enough, they could resume their duties with the twins. It was, after all, better to have someone who already knew the situation than having to explain the whole convoluted mess to someone else. Fiona may also be helpful with Sarah. As The Goblin Queen, she had access to enormous power, he had in fact, painted a huge target on her back. Sighing again he decided that could it could not be helped, it wasn't like they could undo the bonding, neither would survive and the Labyrinth, the source of magic in the underground would die along with them.
In a shower of glitter, Jareth transported himself to his castle, when he arrived, he noticed a flurry of activity. Stopping the nearest passing elf, he asked, "What is going on here?"
The elf, having been surprised by his Kings sudden arrival, dropped to one knee, scattering the roses he had been carrying at Jareth's feet. "My Lord!" He said in surprise, "the preparations for the Queen's coronation are well underway. Invitations have been sent and your family notified."
"My family?" Jareth questioned. Closing his eyes and sighing deeply. "Who told you to notify my family?" He asked with exaggerated patience. This has disaster written all over it, he thought.
"Well, M-my L-lord," the elf stuttered, "We thought it was the proper procedure. After the Labyrinth made the announcement that there was a new Queen, we started preparations. Procedure dictates that the high court be notified of every marriage and coronation." He ducked his head and peered at his king, hoping that the bog was not in his near future.
Jareth huffed and looked around, indeed there seemed to be a joyful atmosphere around the castle. One that hadn't been seen in many years. Goblins, fairies and elves flitted here and there, hanging tapestries and placing elaborate bouquets of roses around.
"I require to see Lord Conall and Lady Fiona immediately, also, send my assistant Eldric, I will meet them in the library." Jareth ordered, disappearing, confident his orders would be carried out.
"Yes, My Lord." The elf said to empty air. Gathering the roses back up, he scurried to follow his orders.
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Sarah stood in her bathroom looking at herself in the mirror. The changes weren't subtle, she had no clue how to hide them. With a sigh, she decided she would have to ask Jareth how to do the glamour to make her look like her old self. Wiping away the steam from the shower, she tried to get a clearer look at herself. Her skin shone softly, kind of like a mother of pearl, her eyebrows winged up and arched dramatically, like Jareth's only slightly softer and more feminine. She had always thought he had applied eyeshadow to his brow, know she realized they were permanent color, having tried to scrub the enhancement off until her face hurt. Turning her head this way and that, she tried looking at herself from all angles. Even she had to admit that she looked, well, amazing. Something caught her eye on one of her turns, she grabbed a handheld mirror and used the two reflections to try to see the sides of her head better. Oh, no fucking way, she thought, I have pointed ears!
The phone rang and interrupted her perusal of her new look, throwing a robe on, she hurried down the hall to answer it.
"Hello?" She said into the receiver.
"Sarah? It's Kevin." The voice came over the line, low and worried.
"Kevin! Is everything all right?"
"I need help with the kids, Sarah." He said, panic rising in his voice. "There's something wrong with them, I can't get them to wake up."
Sarah's heart sank, Jareth had thought they were all safe. He had looked in and they were sleeping. How had he not known they were in danger?
"I'll be right there, Kevin, don't worry. Give me the address and I'll come as quickly as possible."
"Thank you!" The sound of relief was evident in his tone. He gave her the address and Sarah frowned, she had thought he had said the condo was uptown, the address he had given her was in Hell's Kitchen.
Shaking it off, she hung up the phone. She ran back to the bathroom and looked at herself in the mirror. Taking a deep breath and concentrating, she imagined looking like her normal self, wearing jeans a t-shirt and sneaker, squeezing her eyes shut, she waved her hand over her body. Opening her eyes, she was very pleased to find that the glamour had worked. Only her one pupil remained extraordinarily large. Shrugging, she concentrated on the address that Kevin had given her and formed a crystal at the end of her fingertips. "Here goes nothing," she whispered to herself and threw the crystal at her feet.
Sarah reappeared on W. 57th near the Hudson River. She could practically smell the water. Looking around, she saw the correct building number right in front of her. That's handy, she thought, door to door service. Casting another watchful eye around her, she went into the building and chose the stairs rather than the shady looking service elevator. When she got to the third floor, the stairway opened up into a loft style room, the windows were painted black and the lights were dim so it was hard to see who or what might be there. As her eyes became adjusted though, she noticed that she could see much better in the poor light than she had ever been able to before.
"Kevin!" She called out. "It's Sarah, where are you?"
She heard a noise to her left and turned to see who was there. An enormous black cat came ambling out of the shadows. Despite the hairs on the back of her neck standing up in warning, Sarah reached out to the cat. Its large yellow eyes staring intently at her.
"Do you know where Kevin and the kids are, big guy?" Sarah asked warily.
The cat continued to pace towards her, watching her like she was a tasty morsel that it couldn't wait to devour. Sarah was starting to get a very bad feeling. Before she could even think, the cat started to morph and in seconds, there stood Kevin in front of her.
"Hello, Sarah." He said cheerfully.
Before Sarah could pull a crystal, Kevin balled his fist and punched her in the center of her face. As the blood bloomed and blackness overtook her, she screamed, "JARETH!"
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Jareth surged to his feet in the middle of a conversation with Conall and Fiona.
"Sarah!" He shouted, he produced a crystal and looked into it. "I cannot see her," he said.
"I must go, at once." As he prepared to through the crystal Fiona lay a hand on his arm.
"Take us with you, My Lord." She said firmly. "We are plenty rested and replenished"
At Conall's answering nod, Jareth linked them all together and threw the crystal. They disappeared in a shower of glitter just as Aldric opened the door.
"My Lord!" He shouted, but it was too late, they were all gone.
The trio appeared in the abandoned warehouse where Sarah had gone to meet Kevin. He held up a hand to Fiona and Conall, directing them to be silent. Motioning with his fingers, he indicated an area on the other side of the room where a makeshift wall had been erected. As they started to move, lights flooded the room, momentarily blinding them. When his vision cleared, Jareth's blood ran cold. Sarah was hanging by her wrists from shackles attached to the ceiling. At her feet, Liam and Siobhan were bloody, bound and gagged.
Jareth let out a roar and ran towards them, before he got halfway, Kevin stepped out from the shadows and threw a ball of light at them. Jareth found himself on his knees along with Conall and Fiona, bound in iron shackles.
"Tsk, tsk, Goblin King." Kevin chuckled. "I knew you would come for her." He taunted as he walked toward Sarah. "Two defenseless children, you left to a complete stranger, but your precious Sarah? Oh no, not her."
Jareth strained at the iron that bound him, Fiona leaned over and whispered, "He doesn't know."
Jareth looked at her in confusion.
"The Queen isn't bound with iron. He doesn't know that she is Fae, or that she is Queen." At her words Jareth looked over at Sarah, her breathing was steady and even, even though her face and shirt were covered in blood, she seemed otherwise unharmed.
"I believe, when she regains consciousness, she will be most displeased." Conall noted.
Jareth grinned an evil grin and thought of what his Sarah might be capable of with someone who had betrayed her. Then his dark amusement again turned to rage as Kevin approached the children with a torch.
"He means to set them on fire!" Jareth hissed. Trying to calm himself, he reached out with his mind to Sarah's. Sarah, my love, you must wake up, he whispered to her mind. He felt her stir and whimper in pain. Wake up, Sarah! Your King has need of you! He pushed more firmly this time. Again, he felt her stir, moaning mentally. A wave of relief swept through him as he felt her mind beginning to awaken.
You are sincerely annoying, Goblin King. Her mind answered him.
Jareth drew back on the link and watched as Sarah's eyes fluttered, the marks on her arm beginning to glow hotly as the glamour she had placed on herself melted away at her anger. With a mighty heave, she pulled her against her chains and shattered them. Kevin looked up from his task in surprise.
"Holy shit!" Kevin exclaimed.