DISCLAIMER: (do I always have to write this? *sigh* oh well) I in no way
own the Labyrinth, that all belongs to its own creators. SO DON'T SUE
ME!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! k . . . on with story . . .
The Incentive
Chapter 3
by Fou Fou
As she smashed the chair against the glass-like wall, away from all those horrid guests, she heard the last few strains of music singing, "As the world falls down . . ." before her world fell away into nothingness . . .
Sarah shot up in bed, willing herself into the reality around her and away from dreams. She looked around the dorm she shared with Mara, taking in every bit of real details, shoving scenes of ballrooms, dancers, beautiful white dress, and a handsome Goblin King who had been dancing with her. What is wrong with me? she asked herself, looking around the room, to rest her eyes on Mara who, being the insane person she was, was up at this unholy hour of the night (the clock said it was 3 o'clock, technically morning, but since Mara probably hadn't gone to sleep yet, it was still night for her), reading a book. Staring at the book, Sarah looked at the cover to see "The Labyrinth" written in gold across the front. She sighed. Figures, she wondered to herself, I have a dream that I'm in the Labyrinth, the tenth time since I got back from visiting home, and I wake up to find my roommate reading the book. Ah, the irony of life never ceases to amaze me.
"Hey," said Mara, looking up. "Did your dream turn weird or something? You seemed quiet content earlier . . . You couldn't happen to be dreaming about the sexy Goblin King, could you?" Sarah stiffened. How could she have known? she wondered. Then she glanced back at Mara's book, her brain giving her a realistic idea. Duh, she is reading the Labyrinth. She probably just got to a part with the Goblin King in it, so that's what's is on her mind at the moment. She couldn't possibly be reading my mind . . . But Sarah couldn't help but miss the mischievous glint in her roommate's eye as she raised an eyebrow to look at her.
"Surprisingly, yes," said Sarah with a sigh, turning to face Mara.
Mara's purple eyes (which Sarah was suppressed to find out, were natural, just some genetic mutation, the rest of her family had brown eyes - Mara's theory was that she was really a mutant from X-Men just waiting to be found and taken to 'Mutant High') widened with interest, putting down the book. "Really," she cooed. "What happened? Could you tell me?"
It couldn't hurt, it's just a dream, thought Sarah. "Well," Sarah began, "I was in this huge ballroom, that was round and glasslike. And there were all these people there, all wearing masks that kinda looked like a sophisticated version of the goblins from The Labyrinth, you know what I mean?" Mara nodded, urging her continue. "Well, I was there, in this beautiful white dress and I was looking for someone, everywhere I was searching, but whenever I caught a glimpse of him, he would always duck off somewhere, he being the Goblin King. He came up to me . . . and we . . ." Sarah started to trail off, embarrassed.
". . . Yes?" asked Mara, very enthusiastically.
Mara's enthusiasm got to Sarah, making her more confident to continue, "Well, he came up to me and we started to dance. And he was singing this song to me . . ."
A impish glint flickered like a fire in Mara's eyes as she said, "Let me guess, did he sing a song that went like this: 'There's such a sad love, deep in your eyes . . .'" sang Mara softly, causing Sarah to look at her friend with shock.
"How did you know he was singing that?" she demanded, irrationally feeling threatened as she felt the adrenaline start to pump through her body and her heart began to beat faster.
"You, my dear friend," said Mara with a playful smirk, pointing a finger at Sarah, "Happen to talk in your sleep. You've sung that song at least ten times since you came back from visiting your family. No, no don't be embarrassed. I happen to know I've recited The Hobbit in my sleep before, as a friend so graciously told me the next morning, so you aren't alone with the talking in your sleep problem." Mara paused, her eyes getting even more playful, "However, I must admit, I am most jealous. However is it that you get to have fun dreams dancing with a very sexy Goblin King while I have dreams where I dream that I forgot to do a project and end up failing English?"
Sarah laughed, relaxing again, getting caught up in Mara's playful mood. "I don't know. Maybe I have a lucky fairy or elf watching over my dreams." Was Sarah imagining it, or did Mara seem to tense up for a moment at that comment, before relaxing to her normal self?
"Well, if you do," said Mara, as normal as ever, "See if you can find out who it is. Maybe I can beg it to give me dreams of cute guys too! I don't know why you woke up like you did, with a start, though. If I were you, I would want to stay in a dream like that all day!"
Sarah shrugged, "Well, the ending wasn't that great, there was something that I was suppose to be looking for, and the Goblin King was trying to distract me, because I had a time limit to find it. And the guests at the ball weren't very nice either, kinda nauseating really. My dream ended when I hit the side of the wall with a chair to escape and I was sucked out of the room and fell into nothing . . ." Sarah paused, considering something, "You know what's really funny, though?"
"What?" asked Mara.
"Well, when I was fifteen, I use to believe that I went on this adventure, that I actually went through the Labyrinth. I was babysitting my brother one night and I wished him away by the goblins, who came and took him. Then the Goblin King showed up and offered me my dreams if I would just forget about Toby. I said no, so instead I had to go through the Labyrinth to find my brother at the castle in the center of the Labyrinth before thirteen hours were up. The weird thing was, that there was this one point in it that I had eaten this peach that put me into this ballroom, exactly like the one I just dreamed of."
"What do you mean you use to believe that you lived it?" asked Mara, an intent expression on her face. "You don't anymore?"
Sarah sighed. "Well, I guess with everyone telling me I was crazy whenever I talked about it, saying that it was probably just a really weird dream I had, I guess I just started to believe them after a while." She laughed. "After all, whoever heard of someone in real life actually going to the Labyrinth and living such a wonderful adventure? Nah, just the result of an overactive imagination."
"You'd be surprised," murmured Mara quietly. "Well, did you win?"
Sarah laughed and added jokingly, "Well, I still have Toby, don't I?"
Mara smiled, sharing in the joke. "Wouldn't it be funny if it really were true, though? Would there be anyone you would want to see or meet again?"
Sarah considered for a moment. "Well, I did make friends when I was in the . . . had the dream about the Labyrinth," she corrected herself quickly. "There was Ludo, this huge monster that looked freighting, but was really quite harmless, if not a little stupid besides. And then there was Sir Didymus, a fox-like creature who over lived the laws of chivalry just a bit too much, with his 'noble steed' a dog called Ambrosious, who looked exactly like my dog Merlin - which is partly why I think it was a dream." Sarah sighed then added, "Finally, there was Hoggle."
"Hoggle? What an odd name!" said Mara.
Sarah laughed. "Yeah, everyone kept on getting wrong, especially the Goblin King, but I think he did that mostly to be mean." Sarah paused, looking thoughtful. "But Hoggle was the best friend I ever had, even though he liked to pretend he didn't care." She sighed, gazing off to space. "You must think I'm crazy," she said finally, after a moment.
"On the contrary, I believe that you are quite sane," said Mara seriously before adding, "Well, at least as sane as I am."
Sarah laughed. "Hell, now I know I'm crazy, if I'm suppose to be a sane as you are," she joked.
Mara feigned a pout. "That hurt! Alas, the abuse I put up with!" she cried dramatically, raising a hand to her forehead in an act of mock suffering. This caused Sarah to burst out into a fit of giggles, followed shortly by Mara which lasted a few moments until it was interrupted by both of them yawning simultaneously.
"I do believe it is time for me to go to bed for the night," declared Mara finally, looking at the clock that now said it was fifteen past three in the morning. "We have movement with Jeff tomorrow to work on our monologues that we picked for the reading. Why ever did I pick a monologue based on a spirited five-year old is beyond me; I'm going to have to be running all over the place!"
Sarah nodded in agreement. "Yeah, I should be getting back to sleep too, big day tomorrow, and Halloween is coming up, and I want to have plenty of rest to stay up nice and late!" she said as she turned off the lights. She closed her eyes, and lay down, willing to return to sleep. But it would be a while before sleep came, for Sarah could not help thinking about a certain man with mismatched eyes . . .
She did not notice the triumphant smile on Mara's lips, nor the white barn owl flying away from the window . . .
***
His Royal Majesty, King Taranus K'Talven of the Shadow Elves suppressed a sigh of annoyance. How vexing council meeting could be! All around him were the squabbling delegates of the assembled Races; fairies, light and shadow elves, dwarves, werewolves and other shape shifters, griffins, vampires, dragons, a few humans who lived in the Underground - and that didn't describe even a quarter of the beings seated in the vast chamber - made up the famed Underground Council. He wouldn't have even bothered in coming to today's session if he hadn't been informed of some important intelligence regarding one of the discussions today, a topic that had a personal interest in him, that of his daughter, Mara K'Talven. He only wished that the council would stop debating the current issue brought up so they could go to the next topic.
As if he had read his thoughts, the supreme chancellor, Krish Takormau - a small gnomish creature, who had to sit on several books just to see above his desk, cried out, "Silence, good delegates, silence," in a high, thin, squeaky voice that resounded throughout the chamber with the help of magic. "I think we agree that the king of the fairies is right in voicing his opinion that it should be made illegal to spray his kind with pesticides, however," he continued, interrupting the small creatures triumphant grin, "The fairies should also stay away from the gardens that belong to someone else who does not want them meddling around with their plants!" This resulted in a fair amount of grumbling from the fairy, before he was silenced from a glance from Krish. Krish, after making sure that the room would remain silent, turned to another page that laid out in front of him before saying, "Now, onto the matter of the marriage of Her Highness Mara K'Talven to His . . ."
The supreme chancellor was cut of by the loud cries of the delegates, all saying that the wedding should still go on. After all, the name of Mara K'Talven was well known among the inhabitants of the Underground. She was known as the 685 year old elf with the permanent attitude of a teenage rebel. Ever since she was born, people had said there was something odd about her. While most Shadow Elves were of black hair and dark brown eyes, Mara had bright purple eyes and flaming red hair (not to mention the most unElvin affinity to cause trouble and mischief wherever she went - though she was very good at not leaving a way for the Underground Council to prove that it was her, much to their displeasure), leading people to believe that she was either a changeling, or else her mother had cheated on her father, Lord Taranus. It was only because special tests had been made, ten witnesses were present during her birth, not to mention the fact that he twin sister looked like a perfectly normal elf that people were quiet about that topic, at least in public. Ever since the exotic Elvin woman had been introduced in court, she had been angering many royal families by rejecting a variety suitors trying for her hand, claiming that she would not enter marriage due to purely instinctual, animal lust or even for political gain; saying only true, pure love would even tempt her into matrimony. It was either that, or she was pulling pranks in both the mortal realm, as well as the Underground, sometimes enlisting the help of the recently crowned King of the Goblins and the Labyrinth, Jareth, who had inherited the position from his father who had died in a mishap. While causing trouble could be thought of as somewhat respectable for one such as Jareth, as his job required him to cause trouble, at least among the mortals, it was thought as completely unrespectable for a Shadow Elvin Princess to behave as such. This became quite the thorn in the proverbial side of the Underground Council, who she took much delight in making fools of.
Once, however, it was believed that she would settle down and cease to live in the erratic manner she thrived in. Almost two hundred fifty years ago, Mara K'Talven was introduced to Nomar Contanon, one of the sons of one of the Light Elvin Lords (Light Elves, unlike Shadow Elves, tended to be faired hair and blue eyed, and more fun-loving then the serious Shadow Elves). For a little over half a century, the two of them had doted upon each other, barely spending a moment away from the other's side. It was naturally expected that the two would marry, much to everyone's relief.
Fate, however, has known to have a strange, twisted sense of humor.
Five days before the public announcement of their engagement, Nomar was having dinner at the K'Talven estate. Mara's twin sister, Ari, had just returned from a seventy-five year study of the human mind in the mortal world Aboveground, and was visiting home. For the first time the two of them met, and it was a strange, compelling, attraction at first sight, which later turned out to be a very rare lifebond.
Needless to say, Mara did not take it well. After Nomar broke off the engagement to marry Ari, Mara practically withdrew from court, instead opting to stay with her good friend Jareth and away from the endless bridal parties and showers that were taking place back at home. She dropped out of the public eye for almost another twenty years, obsessing herself in the study of lifebonds, before returning to the spotlight by pulling off the Silver Dragon Incident (where she successfully stole the precious crystal of the Silver Dragons - a perfect diamond which contained much of the magic of the dragons - which she then sold into the mortal world), and making it look like Jareth did it. Jareth was able to get the blame off of him, not to mention in the crystal back, but it became painfully apparent to the Underground Council that Mara K'Talven was back to raise hell in the Underground.
That was why the marriage contract was made between Mara and Jareth was made. It was figured that if she got married, Jareth would feel personally responsible to keep her out of trouble (to avoid being blamed for another catastrophe) not to mention that Mara would make sure that Jareth would stay in line (feeling that if she wasn't capable of wrecking havoc, then he shouldn't either). Not to mention that both would have to live up to the various restrictions on married couples, then the two would be safely out of the picture. After the proposal was made, it was relatively easy to get the rest of the councilors sign it, most of them having suffered from her so-called-pranks, or known someone who had, making the whole engagement perfectly legal.
"As most of you know," squeaked Supreme Chancellor Krish, bringing the room back to order. "Her Highness, Princess Mara K'Talven is currently spending time in the Aboveground as a final study of mortals before getting married. While at first when the marriage contract was announced, Mara K'Talven objected quite loudly. We were all surprised when she suddenly stopped all objections, even went to acting in a more civilized manner - no offense meant, Lord Taranus." Taranus nodded to show he took no offence. "Because of her change in behavior, the Underground Council granted her request to go the Aboveground. I'm sure I'm not the only one who was surprised to see her enroll in an mortal acting college. However, sources have found that she has been using magic her magic in a way that was not approved of by the Council, all covered with many stealth spells."
"What exactly has Princess Mara K'Talven been doing?" demanded a dragon, growling.
"Through an examination of her records at Underground Immigrations, we have seen that she has been effecting the dreams of her roommate, a Miss Sarah Williams," said Krish. An audible gasp went throughout the room, as the various inhabitants recognized the name. "Yes, Miss Williams is the only human to successfully navigate through the Labyrinth. As of right now, they do not know exactly what Her Highness plans on doing, but I'm sure all of you in the Council wish to prevent it, please continue, Lord Taranus."
Lord Taranus stood up from his seat and faced the rest of the Council. "My fellow delegates, as the father of Mara K'Talven, I feel as strongly as you do in making sure that this marriage contract is successfully fulfilled. That is why I feel that we must send someone to the Aboveground who can follow Mara, maybe discourage her from fulfilling her goal, or at least cause her to make a mistake. They will also be given Council backing to do as they feel necessary to make sure that whatever Mara is scheming to get herself out of this marriage does not succeed. Do I have your support in this, fellow council members?"
This was answered by a cry of approval.
"Well, in that case, is there anyone that you would agree would be good to send on a mission such as this?" asked Lord Taranus, searching the faces of the crowd.
Lady Alistar, one of the oldest vampires in the Underground stood up. "I believe I know someone who could help you," she said with an air of grace. "The spawn of the Vampire Grithten; the vampire Garith, who I'm sure many of you are quite familiar of."
"Garith!?" demanded the delegate of the Light Elves, standing up. "He is an irresponsible flirt not to mention that as soon as he sees some juicy mortal, he'll forget about the mission to go for a little blood feeding like an ill bred animal." Realizing that she had just said a possible insult, the delegate blushed crimson. "I beg your pardon, Lady Alistar, I meant no disrespect . . ."
"Just because our feeding habits are different than your so-called 'civilized' habits, Lady Evenstar, is no reason to reffer to us as 'animals.'" said Lady Alistar, haughtily. "Not to mention the fact that just because your daughter fell for the charms of Gartih, and was 'heart- broken' when he refused to go farther with her after a week, not to mention three of your nieces." (Lady Evenstar flushed angrily and began to glare at the vampire across the room) "But Garith is just about as focused on a goal as Lady Mara K'Talven. It is because of him being an 'irresponsible flirt' he can easily distract even the harden, ice-hearted Mara, from whatever their original intents are. Trust me, he will be as determined as she if he is chosen to fulfill this mission," she assured. "Even more so, for he hates to lose."
Krish and Lord Taranus looked at each other across the room and nodded in silent agreement. "I feel that Garith of Grithten would be perfect for this mission," said Krish. "Are there any objections?"
The council members looked around the room, smiling in mischievous agreement. Garith would be the perfect opponent for whatever Mara planed.
"Well, in that case, then will summon Vampire Garith here for a mission briefing ASAP," finished Krish, turning to the next page on his desk. "Now onto the subject of the Rune Magic Clause . . ."
Lord Taranus suppressed a triumphant smile. Soon, the day would come when the name of Mara K'Talven would no longer be a never-ending source of embarrassment, but a neatly solved problem.
***
"Hey, I found an invitation in the dorm mail today for the two of us today," said Mara, walking into the dorm later the next day, a spring in her step, despite just walking up five floors of stairs.
"What's it for?" asked Sarah, curious, looking up from her Theater History homework.
"It is a Halloween party to be held in the reception rooms in the William Shakespeare Hall, for the members of the college, plus some friends. Costumes required," said Mara, eyes glinting with excitement.
"That should be interesting, seeing a bunch of actors, writers, and musicians with all their imagination at a Halloween Party," commented Sarah.
"Do you want to go?" asked Mara, looking eagerly at Sarah, begging her to say yes. "It looks like fun!"
Sarah shrugged, "I don't see why not. The only problem I have is I don't have any costumes with me."
Mara waved her hand as if it was unimportant, "No worry, I have some in my closet that you can borrow." She turned to leave.
"Where ya going?" asked Sarah.
"I . . . I have to go call a friend," said Mara over her shoulder. "I'll be back later." She walked out the door, a smile playing across her face.
***
Mara shivered as she ducked into an alleyway behind a pub in the town about a twenty minutes walk away from the college. Definitely should've brought a jacket with me, she told herself. I keep on forgetting that the weather here in the mortal world isn't always the most obliging in the world, unlike the Underground. Why does the cross-realm phone-booth have to be so far away? She walked over to a corner and brushed the dust and leaves away, revealing a circle burnt into the ground in what looked like gold. Making sure that the entire circle was completely visible, she whispered a spell and stood back from the circle.
After about a moment of waiting, the leaves and dust around the circle began to spiral around like a tornado vortex around the circle, up to six and a half feet into the year, moving faster and faster until all it looked like was a blur of red and orange. Suddenly, the leaves fell, to reveal the very casual/bored-looking Goblin King standing in the center.
"You called?" he asked rhetorically, a sly smile playing across his features.
"No, Santa did, I'm just his little elf secretary," replied Mara sarcastically. "He wanted me to tell you that you've been naughty this year and all you're getting is coal."
Jareth raised an eyebrow at her. "My, my, my, aren't we in a pleasant mood?"
Mara rolled her eyes. "Cut the crap, Jareth," she demanded, the cold taking an affect on her patience.
"What's wrong, Princess? Lost your tiara?" he asked, smiling tauntingly at her.
"I told you not to call me that," Mara snapped. "In any case, I'm not the one who shoves a sock down my pants to make my package look bigger."
"Tut, Tut, Tut, resorting to five-year old insults are we? Well we know who's the child here, no don't we?"
"You, I believe are the one who started it, Jareth."
". . . and passing the blame, another five-year old trait. I called you 'Princess,' which is your title whether you care or not," said Jareth with an infuriating grin that made Mara want to rip his head off and dump it right into the bottom of the Bog of Eternal Stench.
"Look, I'm cold from trudging over here to speak to you, so will you stop acting like such a head case so I can tell you something important?" she asked impatiently.
"If it is about your opinion that you think I'm sexy, I know that. I was in owl form last night, since that's the only form I'm allowed to have without a permit or someone wishing me to take someone away in the Aboveground. I was outside your window and I definitely heard you calling me the 'Sexy Goblin King.'"
"Look, if you want me to stop promoting you to Sarah I can," said Mara. "Believe me, it is making me sick; all the good things I have to say about you."
"Yes, but then you would be stuck in this marriage with me, which I doubt would make you happy either," he said, with another smirk. "But what special 'information' do you have that you think I should know?"
Mara rolled her eyes. "You're a pain in the ass, I hope you realize that," she muttered before saying, "The college is holding a Halloween party on All Hollows Eve, one of the few night of the year, as I'm sure you are well aware, that the boundaries between the Aboveground and Underground are particularly thin, making it easier to break through illegally."
"Your point being?"
"Well, we are allowed to bring friends, and I was thinking you could come, in a costume with preferably a face mask, and attempt to begin to woo Sarah without her knowing it's you."
Jareth thought about this for a moment. "Sounds interesting. I'll think about it," he said in a haughty voice.
Mara rolled her eyes, praying that she would never have to marry him. If it weren't for the fact that Sarah was lifebonded to him, I'd feel bad for her, since she will have to put up with it if all goes as planed. Hell, he will probably annoy her too with his never-ending source of arrogance. If he doesn't learn to fix that up she'll never say yes, lifebond or no. "Has the council been investigating?" she asked finally.
"I'm not sure," said Jareth honestly. "They've been fairly 'hush, hush' lately. I'll keep my ears out for them though." He looked around. "It's probably time for me to go, and you still have to finish your homework," he said pointing his finger at her as if he was scolding a child.
"Yes, father," said Mara in a whiny voice before laughing. "See ya later."
"Such a pity, that is," said Jareth before fading away into nothing.
Rolling her eyes, Mara muttered the words that ended the communication spell on her side. All the while muttering various curses regarding Jareth she covered the circle before turning around to leave the alley. Just before she left, she paused, thinking she felt the presence of another Underground being. Looking around, but seeing no one, she shrugged and continued on her way, wrapping her arms around herself to keep warm was she walked back to the college.
She did not see the figure that detached itself from the shadow of a nearby outcropping walking away.
Author's Note:
First of all, I would like to give a HUGE MERCI BEAUCOUP to Megs, my wonderful teta reader and friend, who since her spelling skills are sooooo superior to that of moi; I begged, pleaded, and shamelessly cowered before her so she would read it over. Unfortunatly, I have no money of which to offer so she accepted a pencil and my never-ending gratiude. I LOVE YOU MEGS!!
*sigh* I hoped you liked this chapter; Jareth has come back out of his melancholy mood to be back to the arrogant Goblin King we all know and love. Also, we got to find out that Mara isn't the little angel I thought she was . . .
I'm looking forward to the next chapter, HALLOWEEN PARTY (yippy! party!), where there will be some sort of Jareth/Sarah. (tee hee)
I hope you liked this chapter; I worked really hard on it. Please R&R!
A finally, a thank-you to my reviewers:
One-Sexy-Slytherin: OMG, I'm sorry I messed up the eye color, I new that he had two different color eyes, and one was blue . . . but since I, sadly, due to my limited funds and don't own either the VHS or the DVD, (though I have practically memorized the movie and I do own the t-shirt from Hot Topic with Jareth/Sarah on it!) and have to bum it off my friend if I want to watch it on my small TV way up in the corner of the room so it was kinda hard to tell. I'll try to fix that mix-up though. Thanks for pointing it out! Yeah, the whole tight pants in the movie kinda annoyed me when I watch it, I keep thinking "I thought this movie is rated PG, and yet there showing something like THAT to younger kids . . . what is this world coming to?" I'll be trying to update at the latest by the end of each week, but if I have extra time I'll update sooner. (I'm looking forward to the 4th chapter . . . Halloween Party! - and stuff will kinda happen - tee hee) In the back of my head I'm trying to think of another story, but I want to focus all my attention on this one, make sure it is finished to my satisfaction before moving to a new fanfic. Thanks for liking my first fic!
Lady Shadowlight: I hope this chapter explained a few of your questions, and if it didn't . . . the answers are coming VERY soon!
Brin Summers: YAY! I'm glad that I updated too!
Jun: Glad you like it so far . . . and of course Mara. (tee hee . . I love her!)
Dino: I'm hoping this one was long enough. Though, plenty of action is coming in the next one, some confrontations . . .
Angelic Moonlight22: Sarah will (if my writing goes along with my outline) find out about Mara hopefully by chapter five. And it is going to be quite an interesting scene . . .
if-666: Well, I'll promise you this, Jareth is coming next chapter and he is going to be full of his usual arrogance (after all, he's had a little over 4 years to go back to his normal self)
Cheers!: 1st of all, I'm glad you think that it is a good story. Yes, Sarah did notice Mara's weird eye color when the two met in chapter two. I also hope that this chapter shows that Mara isn't quite as much as the perfect character as she kinda came off as in the first two chapters. The only reason why I made her royal is because I figured it would be politically all right for her to marry Jareth, since they were both royal; and the twin thing was to make the whole Nomar thing hurt more for her (tee hee, even I will be mean to my own characters. . .) Thanks for the review!
BelloViolaRose: Thanks for thinking I'm creative, and I wish I had purple eyes. Alas, no . . . just brown. Yeah, I'm working on have the emotion chapters up soon . . . Jareth/Sarah is coming up!
The Incentive
Chapter 3
by Fou Fou
As she smashed the chair against the glass-like wall, away from all those horrid guests, she heard the last few strains of music singing, "As the world falls down . . ." before her world fell away into nothingness . . .
Sarah shot up in bed, willing herself into the reality around her and away from dreams. She looked around the dorm she shared with Mara, taking in every bit of real details, shoving scenes of ballrooms, dancers, beautiful white dress, and a handsome Goblin King who had been dancing with her. What is wrong with me? she asked herself, looking around the room, to rest her eyes on Mara who, being the insane person she was, was up at this unholy hour of the night (the clock said it was 3 o'clock, technically morning, but since Mara probably hadn't gone to sleep yet, it was still night for her), reading a book. Staring at the book, Sarah looked at the cover to see "The Labyrinth" written in gold across the front. She sighed. Figures, she wondered to herself, I have a dream that I'm in the Labyrinth, the tenth time since I got back from visiting home, and I wake up to find my roommate reading the book. Ah, the irony of life never ceases to amaze me.
"Hey," said Mara, looking up. "Did your dream turn weird or something? You seemed quiet content earlier . . . You couldn't happen to be dreaming about the sexy Goblin King, could you?" Sarah stiffened. How could she have known? she wondered. Then she glanced back at Mara's book, her brain giving her a realistic idea. Duh, she is reading the Labyrinth. She probably just got to a part with the Goblin King in it, so that's what's is on her mind at the moment. She couldn't possibly be reading my mind . . . But Sarah couldn't help but miss the mischievous glint in her roommate's eye as she raised an eyebrow to look at her.
"Surprisingly, yes," said Sarah with a sigh, turning to face Mara.
Mara's purple eyes (which Sarah was suppressed to find out, were natural, just some genetic mutation, the rest of her family had brown eyes - Mara's theory was that she was really a mutant from X-Men just waiting to be found and taken to 'Mutant High') widened with interest, putting down the book. "Really," she cooed. "What happened? Could you tell me?"
It couldn't hurt, it's just a dream, thought Sarah. "Well," Sarah began, "I was in this huge ballroom, that was round and glasslike. And there were all these people there, all wearing masks that kinda looked like a sophisticated version of the goblins from The Labyrinth, you know what I mean?" Mara nodded, urging her continue. "Well, I was there, in this beautiful white dress and I was looking for someone, everywhere I was searching, but whenever I caught a glimpse of him, he would always duck off somewhere, he being the Goblin King. He came up to me . . . and we . . ." Sarah started to trail off, embarrassed.
". . . Yes?" asked Mara, very enthusiastically.
Mara's enthusiasm got to Sarah, making her more confident to continue, "Well, he came up to me and we started to dance. And he was singing this song to me . . ."
A impish glint flickered like a fire in Mara's eyes as she said, "Let me guess, did he sing a song that went like this: 'There's such a sad love, deep in your eyes . . .'" sang Mara softly, causing Sarah to look at her friend with shock.
"How did you know he was singing that?" she demanded, irrationally feeling threatened as she felt the adrenaline start to pump through her body and her heart began to beat faster.
"You, my dear friend," said Mara with a playful smirk, pointing a finger at Sarah, "Happen to talk in your sleep. You've sung that song at least ten times since you came back from visiting your family. No, no don't be embarrassed. I happen to know I've recited The Hobbit in my sleep before, as a friend so graciously told me the next morning, so you aren't alone with the talking in your sleep problem." Mara paused, her eyes getting even more playful, "However, I must admit, I am most jealous. However is it that you get to have fun dreams dancing with a very sexy Goblin King while I have dreams where I dream that I forgot to do a project and end up failing English?"
Sarah laughed, relaxing again, getting caught up in Mara's playful mood. "I don't know. Maybe I have a lucky fairy or elf watching over my dreams." Was Sarah imagining it, or did Mara seem to tense up for a moment at that comment, before relaxing to her normal self?
"Well, if you do," said Mara, as normal as ever, "See if you can find out who it is. Maybe I can beg it to give me dreams of cute guys too! I don't know why you woke up like you did, with a start, though. If I were you, I would want to stay in a dream like that all day!"
Sarah shrugged, "Well, the ending wasn't that great, there was something that I was suppose to be looking for, and the Goblin King was trying to distract me, because I had a time limit to find it. And the guests at the ball weren't very nice either, kinda nauseating really. My dream ended when I hit the side of the wall with a chair to escape and I was sucked out of the room and fell into nothing . . ." Sarah paused, considering something, "You know what's really funny, though?"
"What?" asked Mara.
"Well, when I was fifteen, I use to believe that I went on this adventure, that I actually went through the Labyrinth. I was babysitting my brother one night and I wished him away by the goblins, who came and took him. Then the Goblin King showed up and offered me my dreams if I would just forget about Toby. I said no, so instead I had to go through the Labyrinth to find my brother at the castle in the center of the Labyrinth before thirteen hours were up. The weird thing was, that there was this one point in it that I had eaten this peach that put me into this ballroom, exactly like the one I just dreamed of."
"What do you mean you use to believe that you lived it?" asked Mara, an intent expression on her face. "You don't anymore?"
Sarah sighed. "Well, I guess with everyone telling me I was crazy whenever I talked about it, saying that it was probably just a really weird dream I had, I guess I just started to believe them after a while." She laughed. "After all, whoever heard of someone in real life actually going to the Labyrinth and living such a wonderful adventure? Nah, just the result of an overactive imagination."
"You'd be surprised," murmured Mara quietly. "Well, did you win?"
Sarah laughed and added jokingly, "Well, I still have Toby, don't I?"
Mara smiled, sharing in the joke. "Wouldn't it be funny if it really were true, though? Would there be anyone you would want to see or meet again?"
Sarah considered for a moment. "Well, I did make friends when I was in the . . . had the dream about the Labyrinth," she corrected herself quickly. "There was Ludo, this huge monster that looked freighting, but was really quite harmless, if not a little stupid besides. And then there was Sir Didymus, a fox-like creature who over lived the laws of chivalry just a bit too much, with his 'noble steed' a dog called Ambrosious, who looked exactly like my dog Merlin - which is partly why I think it was a dream." Sarah sighed then added, "Finally, there was Hoggle."
"Hoggle? What an odd name!" said Mara.
Sarah laughed. "Yeah, everyone kept on getting wrong, especially the Goblin King, but I think he did that mostly to be mean." Sarah paused, looking thoughtful. "But Hoggle was the best friend I ever had, even though he liked to pretend he didn't care." She sighed, gazing off to space. "You must think I'm crazy," she said finally, after a moment.
"On the contrary, I believe that you are quite sane," said Mara seriously before adding, "Well, at least as sane as I am."
Sarah laughed. "Hell, now I know I'm crazy, if I'm suppose to be a sane as you are," she joked.
Mara feigned a pout. "That hurt! Alas, the abuse I put up with!" she cried dramatically, raising a hand to her forehead in an act of mock suffering. This caused Sarah to burst out into a fit of giggles, followed shortly by Mara which lasted a few moments until it was interrupted by both of them yawning simultaneously.
"I do believe it is time for me to go to bed for the night," declared Mara finally, looking at the clock that now said it was fifteen past three in the morning. "We have movement with Jeff tomorrow to work on our monologues that we picked for the reading. Why ever did I pick a monologue based on a spirited five-year old is beyond me; I'm going to have to be running all over the place!"
Sarah nodded in agreement. "Yeah, I should be getting back to sleep too, big day tomorrow, and Halloween is coming up, and I want to have plenty of rest to stay up nice and late!" she said as she turned off the lights. She closed her eyes, and lay down, willing to return to sleep. But it would be a while before sleep came, for Sarah could not help thinking about a certain man with mismatched eyes . . .
She did not notice the triumphant smile on Mara's lips, nor the white barn owl flying away from the window . . .
***
His Royal Majesty, King Taranus K'Talven of the Shadow Elves suppressed a sigh of annoyance. How vexing council meeting could be! All around him were the squabbling delegates of the assembled Races; fairies, light and shadow elves, dwarves, werewolves and other shape shifters, griffins, vampires, dragons, a few humans who lived in the Underground - and that didn't describe even a quarter of the beings seated in the vast chamber - made up the famed Underground Council. He wouldn't have even bothered in coming to today's session if he hadn't been informed of some important intelligence regarding one of the discussions today, a topic that had a personal interest in him, that of his daughter, Mara K'Talven. He only wished that the council would stop debating the current issue brought up so they could go to the next topic.
As if he had read his thoughts, the supreme chancellor, Krish Takormau - a small gnomish creature, who had to sit on several books just to see above his desk, cried out, "Silence, good delegates, silence," in a high, thin, squeaky voice that resounded throughout the chamber with the help of magic. "I think we agree that the king of the fairies is right in voicing his opinion that it should be made illegal to spray his kind with pesticides, however," he continued, interrupting the small creatures triumphant grin, "The fairies should also stay away from the gardens that belong to someone else who does not want them meddling around with their plants!" This resulted in a fair amount of grumbling from the fairy, before he was silenced from a glance from Krish. Krish, after making sure that the room would remain silent, turned to another page that laid out in front of him before saying, "Now, onto the matter of the marriage of Her Highness Mara K'Talven to His . . ."
The supreme chancellor was cut of by the loud cries of the delegates, all saying that the wedding should still go on. After all, the name of Mara K'Talven was well known among the inhabitants of the Underground. She was known as the 685 year old elf with the permanent attitude of a teenage rebel. Ever since she was born, people had said there was something odd about her. While most Shadow Elves were of black hair and dark brown eyes, Mara had bright purple eyes and flaming red hair (not to mention the most unElvin affinity to cause trouble and mischief wherever she went - though she was very good at not leaving a way for the Underground Council to prove that it was her, much to their displeasure), leading people to believe that she was either a changeling, or else her mother had cheated on her father, Lord Taranus. It was only because special tests had been made, ten witnesses were present during her birth, not to mention the fact that he twin sister looked like a perfectly normal elf that people were quiet about that topic, at least in public. Ever since the exotic Elvin woman had been introduced in court, she had been angering many royal families by rejecting a variety suitors trying for her hand, claiming that she would not enter marriage due to purely instinctual, animal lust or even for political gain; saying only true, pure love would even tempt her into matrimony. It was either that, or she was pulling pranks in both the mortal realm, as well as the Underground, sometimes enlisting the help of the recently crowned King of the Goblins and the Labyrinth, Jareth, who had inherited the position from his father who had died in a mishap. While causing trouble could be thought of as somewhat respectable for one such as Jareth, as his job required him to cause trouble, at least among the mortals, it was thought as completely unrespectable for a Shadow Elvin Princess to behave as such. This became quite the thorn in the proverbial side of the Underground Council, who she took much delight in making fools of.
Once, however, it was believed that she would settle down and cease to live in the erratic manner she thrived in. Almost two hundred fifty years ago, Mara K'Talven was introduced to Nomar Contanon, one of the sons of one of the Light Elvin Lords (Light Elves, unlike Shadow Elves, tended to be faired hair and blue eyed, and more fun-loving then the serious Shadow Elves). For a little over half a century, the two of them had doted upon each other, barely spending a moment away from the other's side. It was naturally expected that the two would marry, much to everyone's relief.
Fate, however, has known to have a strange, twisted sense of humor.
Five days before the public announcement of their engagement, Nomar was having dinner at the K'Talven estate. Mara's twin sister, Ari, had just returned from a seventy-five year study of the human mind in the mortal world Aboveground, and was visiting home. For the first time the two of them met, and it was a strange, compelling, attraction at first sight, which later turned out to be a very rare lifebond.
Needless to say, Mara did not take it well. After Nomar broke off the engagement to marry Ari, Mara practically withdrew from court, instead opting to stay with her good friend Jareth and away from the endless bridal parties and showers that were taking place back at home. She dropped out of the public eye for almost another twenty years, obsessing herself in the study of lifebonds, before returning to the spotlight by pulling off the Silver Dragon Incident (where she successfully stole the precious crystal of the Silver Dragons - a perfect diamond which contained much of the magic of the dragons - which she then sold into the mortal world), and making it look like Jareth did it. Jareth was able to get the blame off of him, not to mention in the crystal back, but it became painfully apparent to the Underground Council that Mara K'Talven was back to raise hell in the Underground.
That was why the marriage contract was made between Mara and Jareth was made. It was figured that if she got married, Jareth would feel personally responsible to keep her out of trouble (to avoid being blamed for another catastrophe) not to mention that Mara would make sure that Jareth would stay in line (feeling that if she wasn't capable of wrecking havoc, then he shouldn't either). Not to mention that both would have to live up to the various restrictions on married couples, then the two would be safely out of the picture. After the proposal was made, it was relatively easy to get the rest of the councilors sign it, most of them having suffered from her so-called-pranks, or known someone who had, making the whole engagement perfectly legal.
"As most of you know," squeaked Supreme Chancellor Krish, bringing the room back to order. "Her Highness, Princess Mara K'Talven is currently spending time in the Aboveground as a final study of mortals before getting married. While at first when the marriage contract was announced, Mara K'Talven objected quite loudly. We were all surprised when she suddenly stopped all objections, even went to acting in a more civilized manner - no offense meant, Lord Taranus." Taranus nodded to show he took no offence. "Because of her change in behavior, the Underground Council granted her request to go the Aboveground. I'm sure I'm not the only one who was surprised to see her enroll in an mortal acting college. However, sources have found that she has been using magic her magic in a way that was not approved of by the Council, all covered with many stealth spells."
"What exactly has Princess Mara K'Talven been doing?" demanded a dragon, growling.
"Through an examination of her records at Underground Immigrations, we have seen that she has been effecting the dreams of her roommate, a Miss Sarah Williams," said Krish. An audible gasp went throughout the room, as the various inhabitants recognized the name. "Yes, Miss Williams is the only human to successfully navigate through the Labyrinth. As of right now, they do not know exactly what Her Highness plans on doing, but I'm sure all of you in the Council wish to prevent it, please continue, Lord Taranus."
Lord Taranus stood up from his seat and faced the rest of the Council. "My fellow delegates, as the father of Mara K'Talven, I feel as strongly as you do in making sure that this marriage contract is successfully fulfilled. That is why I feel that we must send someone to the Aboveground who can follow Mara, maybe discourage her from fulfilling her goal, or at least cause her to make a mistake. They will also be given Council backing to do as they feel necessary to make sure that whatever Mara is scheming to get herself out of this marriage does not succeed. Do I have your support in this, fellow council members?"
This was answered by a cry of approval.
"Well, in that case, is there anyone that you would agree would be good to send on a mission such as this?" asked Lord Taranus, searching the faces of the crowd.
Lady Alistar, one of the oldest vampires in the Underground stood up. "I believe I know someone who could help you," she said with an air of grace. "The spawn of the Vampire Grithten; the vampire Garith, who I'm sure many of you are quite familiar of."
"Garith!?" demanded the delegate of the Light Elves, standing up. "He is an irresponsible flirt not to mention that as soon as he sees some juicy mortal, he'll forget about the mission to go for a little blood feeding like an ill bred animal." Realizing that she had just said a possible insult, the delegate blushed crimson. "I beg your pardon, Lady Alistar, I meant no disrespect . . ."
"Just because our feeding habits are different than your so-called 'civilized' habits, Lady Evenstar, is no reason to reffer to us as 'animals.'" said Lady Alistar, haughtily. "Not to mention the fact that just because your daughter fell for the charms of Gartih, and was 'heart- broken' when he refused to go farther with her after a week, not to mention three of your nieces." (Lady Evenstar flushed angrily and began to glare at the vampire across the room) "But Garith is just about as focused on a goal as Lady Mara K'Talven. It is because of him being an 'irresponsible flirt' he can easily distract even the harden, ice-hearted Mara, from whatever their original intents are. Trust me, he will be as determined as she if he is chosen to fulfill this mission," she assured. "Even more so, for he hates to lose."
Krish and Lord Taranus looked at each other across the room and nodded in silent agreement. "I feel that Garith of Grithten would be perfect for this mission," said Krish. "Are there any objections?"
The council members looked around the room, smiling in mischievous agreement. Garith would be the perfect opponent for whatever Mara planed.
"Well, in that case, then will summon Vampire Garith here for a mission briefing ASAP," finished Krish, turning to the next page on his desk. "Now onto the subject of the Rune Magic Clause . . ."
Lord Taranus suppressed a triumphant smile. Soon, the day would come when the name of Mara K'Talven would no longer be a never-ending source of embarrassment, but a neatly solved problem.
***
"Hey, I found an invitation in the dorm mail today for the two of us today," said Mara, walking into the dorm later the next day, a spring in her step, despite just walking up five floors of stairs.
"What's it for?" asked Sarah, curious, looking up from her Theater History homework.
"It is a Halloween party to be held in the reception rooms in the William Shakespeare Hall, for the members of the college, plus some friends. Costumes required," said Mara, eyes glinting with excitement.
"That should be interesting, seeing a bunch of actors, writers, and musicians with all their imagination at a Halloween Party," commented Sarah.
"Do you want to go?" asked Mara, looking eagerly at Sarah, begging her to say yes. "It looks like fun!"
Sarah shrugged, "I don't see why not. The only problem I have is I don't have any costumes with me."
Mara waved her hand as if it was unimportant, "No worry, I have some in my closet that you can borrow." She turned to leave.
"Where ya going?" asked Sarah.
"I . . . I have to go call a friend," said Mara over her shoulder. "I'll be back later." She walked out the door, a smile playing across her face.
***
Mara shivered as she ducked into an alleyway behind a pub in the town about a twenty minutes walk away from the college. Definitely should've brought a jacket with me, she told herself. I keep on forgetting that the weather here in the mortal world isn't always the most obliging in the world, unlike the Underground. Why does the cross-realm phone-booth have to be so far away? She walked over to a corner and brushed the dust and leaves away, revealing a circle burnt into the ground in what looked like gold. Making sure that the entire circle was completely visible, she whispered a spell and stood back from the circle.
After about a moment of waiting, the leaves and dust around the circle began to spiral around like a tornado vortex around the circle, up to six and a half feet into the year, moving faster and faster until all it looked like was a blur of red and orange. Suddenly, the leaves fell, to reveal the very casual/bored-looking Goblin King standing in the center.
"You called?" he asked rhetorically, a sly smile playing across his features.
"No, Santa did, I'm just his little elf secretary," replied Mara sarcastically. "He wanted me to tell you that you've been naughty this year and all you're getting is coal."
Jareth raised an eyebrow at her. "My, my, my, aren't we in a pleasant mood?"
Mara rolled her eyes. "Cut the crap, Jareth," she demanded, the cold taking an affect on her patience.
"What's wrong, Princess? Lost your tiara?" he asked, smiling tauntingly at her.
"I told you not to call me that," Mara snapped. "In any case, I'm not the one who shoves a sock down my pants to make my package look bigger."
"Tut, Tut, Tut, resorting to five-year old insults are we? Well we know who's the child here, no don't we?"
"You, I believe are the one who started it, Jareth."
". . . and passing the blame, another five-year old trait. I called you 'Princess,' which is your title whether you care or not," said Jareth with an infuriating grin that made Mara want to rip his head off and dump it right into the bottom of the Bog of Eternal Stench.
"Look, I'm cold from trudging over here to speak to you, so will you stop acting like such a head case so I can tell you something important?" she asked impatiently.
"If it is about your opinion that you think I'm sexy, I know that. I was in owl form last night, since that's the only form I'm allowed to have without a permit or someone wishing me to take someone away in the Aboveground. I was outside your window and I definitely heard you calling me the 'Sexy Goblin King.'"
"Look, if you want me to stop promoting you to Sarah I can," said Mara. "Believe me, it is making me sick; all the good things I have to say about you."
"Yes, but then you would be stuck in this marriage with me, which I doubt would make you happy either," he said, with another smirk. "But what special 'information' do you have that you think I should know?"
Mara rolled her eyes. "You're a pain in the ass, I hope you realize that," she muttered before saying, "The college is holding a Halloween party on All Hollows Eve, one of the few night of the year, as I'm sure you are well aware, that the boundaries between the Aboveground and Underground are particularly thin, making it easier to break through illegally."
"Your point being?"
"Well, we are allowed to bring friends, and I was thinking you could come, in a costume with preferably a face mask, and attempt to begin to woo Sarah without her knowing it's you."
Jareth thought about this for a moment. "Sounds interesting. I'll think about it," he said in a haughty voice.
Mara rolled her eyes, praying that she would never have to marry him. If it weren't for the fact that Sarah was lifebonded to him, I'd feel bad for her, since she will have to put up with it if all goes as planed. Hell, he will probably annoy her too with his never-ending source of arrogance. If he doesn't learn to fix that up she'll never say yes, lifebond or no. "Has the council been investigating?" she asked finally.
"I'm not sure," said Jareth honestly. "They've been fairly 'hush, hush' lately. I'll keep my ears out for them though." He looked around. "It's probably time for me to go, and you still have to finish your homework," he said pointing his finger at her as if he was scolding a child.
"Yes, father," said Mara in a whiny voice before laughing. "See ya later."
"Such a pity, that is," said Jareth before fading away into nothing.
Rolling her eyes, Mara muttered the words that ended the communication spell on her side. All the while muttering various curses regarding Jareth she covered the circle before turning around to leave the alley. Just before she left, she paused, thinking she felt the presence of another Underground being. Looking around, but seeing no one, she shrugged and continued on her way, wrapping her arms around herself to keep warm was she walked back to the college.
She did not see the figure that detached itself from the shadow of a nearby outcropping walking away.
Author's Note:
First of all, I would like to give a HUGE MERCI BEAUCOUP to Megs, my wonderful teta reader and friend, who since her spelling skills are sooooo superior to that of moi; I begged, pleaded, and shamelessly cowered before her so she would read it over. Unfortunatly, I have no money of which to offer so she accepted a pencil and my never-ending gratiude. I LOVE YOU MEGS!!
*sigh* I hoped you liked this chapter; Jareth has come back out of his melancholy mood to be back to the arrogant Goblin King we all know and love. Also, we got to find out that Mara isn't the little angel I thought she was . . .
I'm looking forward to the next chapter, HALLOWEEN PARTY (yippy! party!), where there will be some sort of Jareth/Sarah. (tee hee)
I hope you liked this chapter; I worked really hard on it. Please R&R!
A finally, a thank-you to my reviewers:
One-Sexy-Slytherin: OMG, I'm sorry I messed up the eye color, I new that he had two different color eyes, and one was blue . . . but since I, sadly, due to my limited funds and don't own either the VHS or the DVD, (though I have practically memorized the movie and I do own the t-shirt from Hot Topic with Jareth/Sarah on it!) and have to bum it off my friend if I want to watch it on my small TV way up in the corner of the room so it was kinda hard to tell. I'll try to fix that mix-up though. Thanks for pointing it out! Yeah, the whole tight pants in the movie kinda annoyed me when I watch it, I keep thinking "I thought this movie is rated PG, and yet there showing something like THAT to younger kids . . . what is this world coming to?" I'll be trying to update at the latest by the end of each week, but if I have extra time I'll update sooner. (I'm looking forward to the 4th chapter . . . Halloween Party! - and stuff will kinda happen - tee hee) In the back of my head I'm trying to think of another story, but I want to focus all my attention on this one, make sure it is finished to my satisfaction before moving to a new fanfic. Thanks for liking my first fic!
Lady Shadowlight: I hope this chapter explained a few of your questions, and if it didn't . . . the answers are coming VERY soon!
Brin Summers: YAY! I'm glad that I updated too!
Jun: Glad you like it so far . . . and of course Mara. (tee hee . . I love her!)
Dino: I'm hoping this one was long enough. Though, plenty of action is coming in the next one, some confrontations . . .
Angelic Moonlight22: Sarah will (if my writing goes along with my outline) find out about Mara hopefully by chapter five. And it is going to be quite an interesting scene . . .
if-666: Well, I'll promise you this, Jareth is coming next chapter and he is going to be full of his usual arrogance (after all, he's had a little over 4 years to go back to his normal self)
Cheers!: 1st of all, I'm glad you think that it is a good story. Yes, Sarah did notice Mara's weird eye color when the two met in chapter two. I also hope that this chapter shows that Mara isn't quite as much as the perfect character as she kinda came off as in the first two chapters. The only reason why I made her royal is because I figured it would be politically all right for her to marry Jareth, since they were both royal; and the twin thing was to make the whole Nomar thing hurt more for her (tee hee, even I will be mean to my own characters. . .) Thanks for the review!
BelloViolaRose: Thanks for thinking I'm creative, and I wish I had purple eyes. Alas, no . . . just brown. Yeah, I'm working on have the emotion chapters up soon . . . Jareth/Sarah is coming up!