Disclaimer: I do not own the Labyrinth, or any of the characters.
Chapter Seven
Premonition of the Devil's Requiem
Sarah awoke the next afternoon to find that Jareth was gone. Sitting up, she held the blanket to cover her nude self. With a blush, she remembered the events of last night, and a small smile crept to her face. She felt like a real woman. She chuckled to herself, at how cliché it all was. A knock sounded at the door causing her to jump.
"My Queen, it's Elda, can I come in?" Sarah sighed in unimaginable relief. She had no idea what she would have done if it had been anyone else. It's not as though she was ashamed of her actions, but it was embarrassing to be caught nude.
"Yes, please come in Elda," Sarah said hoping that she would have a robe, or some clothes.
"Afternoon my lady," Elda said, bringing clean under garments and a dark blue dress. The dress had spaghetti straps and cut in a v-shape down the front. The dress would fall just below her knees, to sway when she moved. In the bundle in Elda's arms was a pair of matching slippers. Sarah was relieved to know that she had thought of everything, even a hairbrush!
"Thank you so much Elda, I would have had quite a problem if you hadn't shown up."
"Not at all my Queen… His Highness had some matters that needed attending to and sends his apologies for leaving you. He asks that you be ready to join him for lunch shortly."
"Thanks Elda," Sarah replied, not used to having people wait on her. She thought of Elda as a matronly figure to help her with things in the stead of a mother. A pang shot through her as she remembered her family above. Through all the excitement it was easy to not think about it, but she missed them dearly. She would need to speak to Jareth about visiting.
"I'll take my leave now," Elda said, bowing quickly before leaving the new Queen to change. With a sigh, Sarah got out of bed and went through the door leading to Jareth's bathroom. His room was larger than hers by far, and so was his bed. The floors were made of black marble, with silver wall hangings everywhere. His sheets were silken dark blue upon his bed, which sat upon black marble stairs the way Sarah's did. There were also black wardrobes and dressers with a single black gilded mirror across from the two wooden doors.
Sarah expected Jareth knew she would bathe, for among all his musty male scented soaps was a lonely lavender. Once done with her bath, Sarah dressed. The cloth of the dress was smooth against her skin and hung just the right way from her curves. Brushing through her hair, it was slightly damp as she slid the slippers onto her feet.
Making her way down the familiar hallways to the dining room, Sarah was positively beaming at everyone she came in contact with. Walking into the room, Jareth was already seated and waiting for her. He was smirking at her as she came to sit across from him.
"My, my dearest Sarah, you are aglow." Jareth continued to grin, as Sarah failed miserably at pouting convincingly. "Today I will start to show how to use your powers." This brought a smile back to her face.
"What about me being mortal?" Sarah was concerned; she didn't want to lose any time with him just because of her frail human body.
"The magic has been building up inside of you. Every mortal who visits the Underground has some magic build within them during their stay. As you know I've already gifted you with certain powers. They are usually not here long enough to be able to harness their powers, but the first time you use your magic of your own accord is when the change begins. You will become immortal long before you master your own magical ability," Jareth explained. "However, if you leave the Underground before the change occurs, you will lose your powers and be stuck in between." He almost laughed at Sarah's confused, slightly frightened face. "I know it's strange, but if you leave before you have completed the change you will far outlive all of your family and friends. You will age, just much more slowly, so much so that when the people your age turn old and gray, you will still only be reaching your thirties."
Sarah nodded. It's not as though she planned on leaving the underground any time soon. Maybe one day to go and check on Toby, her father, and Irene even.
They started by having Sarah try her hand at conjuring crystals. It amused Jareth to no end to see how frustrated she got. When she was finally able to create one, it was pearly white on the inside as opposed to clear like Jareth's.
"What does this mean, did I do it wrong?" Sarah was highly confused.
"No, not at all, it just means that your powers lie in foresight and healing. You can learn to do any specialty, but for the first month or so you will only be able to successfully conjure healing crystals. As far as psychic, that will develop as we strengthen your power." Jareth looked almost troubled.
"What is it?" Sarah titled her head to the side, still holding her crystal.
"The power of foresight is one of the hardest to master, it has driven many mad with what they have seen. Especially since most times what the seer has fore told either by purposely or accidentally delving into the spirit world cannot be changed."
"I don't want to know the future!" Sarah looked panicked, dropping the crystal. It smashed in a brilliant white light against the hard stone floor of the not so glamorous throne room. Remnants of chickens and Goblin were everywhere. Jareth sighed and went forward to embrace her.
"It will be alright, you will learn to control when you do or don't want to see what's coming." Jareth released her. "Now come, let us see some more conjuring." Sarah nodded and composed herself.
From that day on Jareth made Sarah practice every other day so as not to tire her out. As the days progressed, she began seeing very odd images in her dreams. Eventually the visions began plaguing her waking consciousness. When she told Jareth about them, he explained that it would happen for awhile, and eventually she would be able to sense it coming on and block them.
Almost a month had passed and Sarah was still unable to completely block the visions. They were becoming more formed and seemed to fit together as one whole vision that simply came in pieces. It was like watching separate parts of a movie, that only made sense once you had seen them all. She became quite adept at summoning healing crystals of varying degrees depending on how much energy she put into them.
Before Jareth would teach her about any other element, he taught Sarah the beginning method to transporting places. Her first three weeks of attempts only succeeded in having her image flicker for a moment, and then return causing glitter rainstorms where she stood. She got frustrated after hours upon hours of trying to master healing and transporting all the while fighting off the images that tried to make themselves known in her mind at the most inappropriate times. Jareth would pacify her, and allow her to take a break, before having her try again.
Finally, after a month and a half, Sarah had been able to successfully transport wherever she wished within a certain distance. She also created many new healing crystals that cured poisons, cuts, deep wounds, ect…
"I can't believe it's taken me this long," Sarah said frustrated after another long day of training with Jareth. He merely smirked at her and shook his head.
"You're doing very well; even the most skilled of Fae had to start somewhere. Also, tomorrow your transformation will be complete."
"I don't feel any different," Sarah said stubbornly. Jareth laughed at this.
"You'll notice small changes, trust me, but for now we should get some rest." Sarah agreed to this and followed Jareth to his room which they now shared. He used magic to transport all of her belongings into his room, and they fit in quite nicely with everything else, giving the empty walls a full feeling.
Jareth had been disappearing a lot lately, and Sarah could only imagine that it was because of the impending threat of the Dark Elves. She often found herself missing his presence. He told her very little, only that a battle was eminent between the two and thank god for Feyore's support.
Sarah had not been as concerned about the fight as perhaps she should have been. It was well past the date since she finished her transformation and her powers were progressing nicely. She was even able to block the visions almost completely.
It was night, and Sarah lay beside Jareth. Whatever he was disappearing to do took a lot out of him, and he was fast asleep, a lazy arm wrapped around her. With a sigh, she snuggled closer to him and fell asleep to one of the most horrifying visions she would have. It was so powerful, she couldn't block it. It was always harder to block the visions when she was asleep. She never dreamed once the visions started, and so when she did, it meant she failed to block the premonition.
It was dark out, very dark. There were bodies everywhere as though it were some sick gore scene. "The battle," Sarah whispered. There was a flash of lightening and Sarah could see in detail for one fleeting second all of the Goblins and the Light Elves mixed with corpses of beings she had never seen before. "Huldrafolk," she said referring to the unknown beings as the "hidden people".
Sarah walked through the blood, bodies, weapons, and mud. She appeared to be a specter in her white flowing robes and glowing aura as she made her way through the dark. There were distant sounds of yells and metal clashing upon metal. In a rush the sounds were all around her, clanging loudly as transparent figures fought in her wake. It was like the battle was reliving itself as she passed.
The noise was deafening with cries of agony, and despite the chaos, Sarah was completely calm. She reached a cliff, the open field now a light with glowing figures fighting each other. She stood at the edge and watched. In the distance she could see a forest at the edge of the field, was that the firey's forest? She couldn't tell as the battle raged on around her. She thought she may be invisible until a large Dark Elf came charging through the calamity. It bore a large iron blade in one hand, aiming straight for her.
Sarah did not scream, she couldn't even move, she knew she should be terrified. It wasn't until Jareth appeared in front of her that she realized the danger of the situation at hand.
"Jareth…" Sarah uttered his name as a whisper. He did not turn to answer her, but instead drew a blade of silver, getting into a fighting stance. Sarah couldn't figure out why he didn't use his magic against the Dark Elf. It was truly a nasty sight. Its skin was twisted and tight against the scalp, appearing almost skeletal. It wore a black tattered cloak, and upon its skull were long twisted horns. It looked like a mix of death and the devil.
A song, sounding almost like a requiem echoed around, played by an organ that was no where in sight. The Dark Elf plowed forward towards Jareth. Sarah was beginning to panic.
"Jareth move, please move! We can run! Please, PLEASE!" Sarah's voice was shrill as she grabbed Jareth's arm to try and move him as tears started rolling down her cheeks. Finally he turned to look at her as though the beast was not approaching.
"Dearest Sarah, I love you more than you can imagine…I cannot allow you to be harmed. Please," Jareth's voice was so gentle, loving, "do not cry. I will protect you." With that he turned, and faced the beast full on.
"No! Jareth!" Sarah cried out as the Dark Elf ran him through the chest with the Iron blade. Jareth did not even make a move to defend himself or get out of the way, it was as if his sole purpose was to be hit. Sarah gazed mouth agape as the fiend withdrew the blade. Jareth seemed to fall in slow motion, finally crumbling in a heap the monster's feet. The dark elf looked to Sarah, glowing red eyes that seemed to be laughing at her as it brandished it's blade in victory and turned leaving her in its wake.
Sarah fell to her knees by Jareth, he did not move, his eyes glazed over as he stared unseeing at the dark grey sky above them. Sarah couldn't conjure any healing spells, she couldn't do anything. Her voice had seemed to disappear as she watched the scene before her, but it came rushing from her throat as she threw her head back and screamed.
"Sarah!"
"Sarah!" Jareth was sitting up, shaking her awake. Sarah sat up and flung her arms around him, sobbing. He was surprised to say the least, but wrapped his arms around her. "Sarah, Sarah, what did you see?" His voice was soft and gentle as he ran his fingers through her hair. He couldn't understand what had frightened her so badly.
"No," Sarah's voice cracked. She could hardly speak, she merely clung to Jareth shaking as she sobbed out the only word she could. "No!" He knew under certain circumstances visions could be particularly strong; especially ones depicting an unfavorable out come.
"Sarah, whatever happened hasn't come to pass yet, and may be a long ways off. Please dearest, calm down and tell me what you saw." Jareth sighed as Sarah let out a shuddering breath. He hated to see her cry, much less in such terrible fear.
Slowly, Sarah found her voice, and recited the entire dream for Jareth. Her voice cracked and failed at many places, but he was patient with her. Once she had finished telling him everything, he cupped her cheek in his hand.
"Sarah, I know what you saw was very disturbing, and this doesn't sound like a normal vision. Feyore and Eve also have a foundation in foresight; I will talk to them first thing tomorrow. You may need to tell them what you saw; do you think you can do that?" Jareth didn't want to push her, but the vision could be better analyzed if Sarah herself repeated it.
"I… I think so," Sarah said wearily. "God, it felt so real, but I knew it wasn't. I was so afraid; I thought I'd lost you…" Jareth kissed her forehead once and then on the lips. His thumb brushed her cheek as he looked into her eyes.
"It's alright Sarah; I'm not going to leave you." Sarah wanted to protest to scream out and argue about how he could tell her such a thing. She was so exhausted; she leaned heavily upon Jareth who lay back holding her tightly to his chest.
"Please, just talk, anything, just until I fall asleep," Sarah pleaded. She was desperate for the sound of his voice to keep her anchored away from the cruel spirit world.
"Of course love," Jareth said stroking her hair. "There's such a sad love deep in your eyes, a kind of pale jewel…" He sang quietly even after she had fallen asleep. Once he was too tired to stay awake, he ended his song and soon fell asleep after her, hoping she wasn't too traumatized by what she had seen.
Author's Note:
Oh my, poor Sarah, poor Jareth, I sure hope that vision is some kind of terrible, horrible fore shadowing of something just plain awful. You'll just have to read and find out now won't you.Don't fret too much. Keep in mind that I'm really not as evil as I like to make myself sound. Anyway, thank you all so much who have reviewed so far. It really motivates me to write my best! Please, please, keep on reviewing to let me know what you think. Please forgive any errors that slip my eye.