Ok...I'm super sorry for not posting earlier! . Writers block is a curse..but to make it up to everyone I put some cool info on Ceylon (well more really cool, but it answers questions) and I made it extra specially long!~ And Ooooh lookey, sarah has a power! 8D Read and REVIEW~~!~! Love you guys!
A hush fell over the crowd as she stood in the doorway, doing her best to put her anxiety to the back or her mind. All faces were turned to her as she stepped down the stairway into mix of guests.
Her heart felt like it was stuttering it was beating so quickly, she looked over the faces, each one keeping a solemn face as she descended. Each step, slowly, gradually coming. It felt never ending.
Almost to the bottom and there was a small murmur amongst the crowd, a figure was making their way through the mass of guests to meet her at the bottom.
Her eyes fell to the ground as she reached the last step, the music resumed playing, and the guests went back to their chattering. Before she had a chance to move someone's arm wrapped around her waist, then another tilting her chin up to face him.
Sarah felt a rush of relief as she looked straight up into the face, not covered by a mask, of her King, his eyes radiating with pride as he looked her up and down.
"May I have this dance?" he asked, giving an impromptu bow. Sarah smiled to herself as he did, admiring the way his coat fit him so nicely, beautiful dark blue velvet certainly fit for a King.
Unable to find her voice as she continued to look him over she gave a small nod and was instantly whisked away into his arms, spinning into the crowd of faces.
She'd taken plenty of dance classes after the Labyrinth and was fairly decent on her feet, so she spent much of the time staring at the angel who was holding her.
His hair was as wild as ever, the blue and purple streaks coming through much more vibrantly. His dark blue tux of sorts, was the same one she remembered in her dream, the touch of velvet striking up memories of the past. Locked inside of a crystal, made to forget everything of her quest for her brother. The way she'd searched for him among the numerous guests who were dancing and drinking their night away. When she had been returned home, and was given plenty of time to process what all had happened, she realized he had done it just to show her how much he cared, rather than being imprisoned as she had previously thought.
Jareth's eyes were practically glowing as he looked down on her, flowing in perfect time with the rhythm of the music.
She blinked and realized Jareth had been talking to her.
"What were you saying?" she blushed, "Sorry, I wasn't really paying attention."
He gave a small chuckle and leaned towards her, his arm around her back tightening a bit more.
"I said you look marvelous Darling, more beautiful than anyone else."
She bowed her head into his jacket to hide her face, smiling.
"Thank you," he barely heard her mumble. He suddenly lifted her into the air, adding a spin. That smile he loved so dearly appeared on her face again and they continued following the pattern of the dance.
When the song ended Jareth walked them over to a circle of Faes.
"Ah Jareth! How wonderful it is to see you again!" a male fae said, his orange hair spiked and prickly looking.
"Oh yes Jareth, really you ought' to have a ball more often," a female this time, her emerald green dress resting uncomfortably low on her bosom.
"I'll have to leave that decision up to my lady here," Jareth said gesturing towards Sarah, who dipped gracefully.
"Friends, may I introduce to you Miss Sarah Williams, the one and only champion of my Labyrinth," his voice was beaming pride. Sarah smiled to the others, internally cringing as she saw an unmistakable fake smile plastered onto the female's face.
"Such a grandeur feat!" the orange hair one spoke again and stepped forward to take Sarah's hand in his, placing a small kiss gingerly on top.
"My name is Ryfe, Miss Sarah, a pleasure to meet you," he said, his eyes full of life as he looked at her.
"The pleasure is mine," she said. The female curtsied towards her, short and brief.
"I'm Myrey, Queen of Stoneware Isles," her voice had plenty of underlying falseness, though Sarah gave her as graceful of a bow as she could manage.
Jareth's arm squeezed her waist before he let go.
"If you'll excuse me, I have more people I need to meet with. I leave my Lady in your capable hands," he said and gave a quick bow before walking away.
"So how did you end up in the Labyrinth to begin with Miss Sarah?" Myrey asked, knowing full well what happened to begin with.
"I made a mistake of wishing my brother away," Sarah answered, her voice almost choking up, though she forced through it and kept a steady eye contact with the fierce gaze of the Queen.
"My goodness!" Myrey's hand flew up to her mouth in shock, "How could you do such a thing? To a baby of all things?"
Sarah shifted her weight uncomfortably.
"It was a mistake that's all," she tried to shrug it off.
"A mistake that gets you the crown…" Myrey's whisper wasn't heard by anyone else and with a slight turn she walked away from the remaining group.
"You'll have to forgive her," Ryfe said as he offered his arm to Sarah, she took it daintily and began walking with him on the outer rim of the room.
"Many of the women here are…not entirely pleased with you having the Goblin King as your escort, if you can understand," he explained.
Sarah nodded and began talking to Ryfe about the other guests that were visiting. He pointed out the Duke and Dutchess of Wingside Manor, the only place in the Underground where Pegasus are allowed to be bred and sold. They were a, surprisingly, older looking couple, but both had sweet tender smiles on their faces.
"Very wonderful people. He's surprisingly strict when you're alone with him, but always good natured when part of a group, scary isn't it?" he said with a small chuckle before leading Sarah a bit farther to point out another couple. He pointed towards an extremely young looking boy, in human years only appearing to be around 10-12.
"That is Prince Hirfley," Sarah smiled as she saw Ryfe biting his lip to hold back his own laughter, "He's a very…eager prince and is always looking for a new girlfriend, be careful." Sarah giggled lightly and reset herself as a lady walked over to Ryfe, asking for a dance. He excused himself politely and Sarah watched as he spun her around with ease. She looked around the room, noticing few people had taken any interest in her, wondering where Jareth had disappeared to.
"Wouldn't you rather be outside dancing with the others?" a voice said from behind her. Turning she saw Ceylon sitting on the stone ledge out on the nearby balcony. Smiling she walked outside to see him.
"What're you doing here?" she asked as he bowed to her.
"Oh am I not invited now?" he said giving a fake pouty face to her. She rolled her eyes.
"Just surprised is all."
There was a loud commotion coming from the great hall suddenly , a racket worthy of deafening someone's ears. Ceylon moved closer to Sarah so she could hear.
"Can we go somewhere a little quieter?" he asked and took Sarah by the hand before she had a chance to respond.
They walked along the gardens, through the miniature maze filled with fountains and statues. The noise from the ball had died down quite a bit as they continued into the maze. There was a little red flag warning going up in Sarah's mind as she strolled along with Ceylon, but when she compared it to the feeling of being singled out in an entire ball, she felt more comfortable where she was at the moment.
"So? Things going better with his royal hiney?" Ceylon asked, letting go of Sarah's arm and sitting on the edge of a fountain they had come to. Sarah smiled to herself.
"Better, we fought for a little while, but in the end it was silly. So we let it go and moved on," she said brushing her hand along the very top of the water, disrupting the reflection of herself. She looked over at Ceylon and was startled to see he was practically glaring at her.
"You let it go? Jeez, way to break under pressure. What'd he say? A couple smooth 'I do trust you' mixed with some 'yes of course I love you'?" his tone was so mocking Sarah almost hit him, but clenched her fist at her side instead.
"Why would I want to be mad at him?" she asked. Ceylon smirked and stood up, pacing a couple steps.
"He's lying to you, you know that. There's something important he's keeping from you, and you don't know why," he walked closer, his voice a harsh whisper in Sarah's face, "Doesn't that bother you at all that he won't tell you how he's really feeling?" Sarah felt a small ball of annoyance sit in the pit of her stomach. Ceylon was telling the truth, despite how much she didn't want to believe it, it was how she really felt.
"I don't want to think about that, thank you," she said and turned away to look down into her reflection. The silhouette was hauntingly lined with silver moonlight as she looked at it. His voice was instantly by her ear.
"What if he's lying to you right now?" he said. She moved her head away from him, but he followed just as fast.
"What if he doesn't really love you, telling you all those things, anyone can say them," Sarah huffed in annoyance and got up to move.
"Ceylon, those things aren't true. He wouldn't lie to me like that," she stated, though she wasn't entirely convinced by her own decision.
"What if he's busy right now? You haven't seen him at the party most of the night have you? He hasn't been seen for a while," Ceylon's voice was practically hissing. Sarah thrashed out her arms, pushing him away.
"You're lying to me! Enough!" she yelled, but Ceylon's arms locked onto her shoulders, holding her tight so she couldn't struggle against him.
"Ceylon you're hurting me, let go!" she yelled, trying to kick out at him. Sarah wanted nothing more than to be away from him at this point, though her heart ached with all the things he had been saying to her.
"Just think of what he could be doing to her right now," he whispered, his nails beginning to bite into her skin, "Where they are, what he's doing to her, what she's saying," His voice was smooth like honey, rolling in waves that almost felt believable.
"Let go of me!" she was practically screaming at him, but his arms were like marble, a solid force.
"Want to know why he's with her?" Ceylon's voice was thundering in her ears, throbbing not in the loudness of his tone, but the way her heart was pounding it hurt so much to think of what he was saying to her.
"Shut up!" she screamed, pulling as much as she could, worried about what he would do to her.
"Because," he voice fell into a low hushed tone, Sarah could hear noises of people coming through the maze, shouts for her name. She felt a tear run down her face as Ceylon's arms tightened into her skin again.
"He doesn't really love you," the words were practically breathed into her ear, she stopped fighting him, hearing the sounds growing closer. Sarah listened and could hear Ceylon's vicious laughter next to her, chuckling as though he had taken over the Underground. She looked up and saw Jareth with three other Fae coming straight towards them. Ceylon was still laughing and Sarah turned around, her jaw tight. Sarah's eyes were locked with her king's, his worry and relief as he saw her reaching her simply through their gaze. She hardly blinked when she realized what that simple look had meant. In one instant she pulled her arm back and hooked Ceylon right in the face, with all of her force. He only faltered a step backwards, but it was then the other Fae came over and caught him in their grasp. Ryfe had a hold of one side of Ceylon, and a Fae Sarah didn't recognize had the other. Jareth's gaze darkened as he and Ceylon glared each other down.
"What're you doing in my kingdom?" Jareth asked silently, but each word dripping with malice, trying to poison the air around them both; Sarah shuddered. Ceylon glared at Jareth for a moment longer before turning his head to Sarah, his mouth curving up into an evil smirk.
"Just explaining the nature of some people, simply talking if you will, Your Majesty," he said with a curt edge to his words, showing Jareth that he wasn't afraid of a challenge, quite the opposite, willing to fight with him at any moment. Sarah moved so that she was standing a few steps away, feeling something unsettling in her stomach.
Jareth, in a blur of motion, stepped forward and locked his hand around Ceylon's throat, pushing the Fae guards away and pinning Ceylon against the fountain that was behind him. Sarah gasped, startled by the action, and held her hand over her mouth so no sound would come out. Jareth's hand tightened against Ceylon's throat some more, his tone more menacing than Sarah had ever heard from him before.
"You were ordered to stay away from this place, regardless of what people enter my kingdom, that's none of your business is it?" Ceylon glanced at Sarah then looked back at Jareth and began laughing maniacally. Each laugh shallow and treacherous, dangerous. Sarah felt her breath catch in her throat, afraid of what was to come in the next few minutes. Despite Jareth pinning him on the stone with most of his force, enough to bruise, Ceylon managed to raise his head, and baring his teeth in a sinister grin said,
"You think you're strong enough to stop me? You think your precious little Sarah is safe behind your stone walls?" Jareth's eyes grew wider and he tightened his grip again, making Ceylon gasp for breath now, before his smirk returned.
"Just watch, you may not lose your kingdom to It, you may not lose your own self to It, or even those you protect inside your land. But I promise you this," he whispered too quietly for Sarah to hear then.
"I will make you lose her one way or another."
Jareth hissed and flung Ceylon into a stone wall with all his force, then summoned his magic and struck him so hard the wall behind Ceylon cracked and crumbled in seconds. Ryfe ran over to Sarah, and picking her up in his arms, began running back towards the castle for safety. Ceylon saw them leave and with uncanny speed surged past Jareth and shot a spike of ice at Ryfe's leg, crippling him on the ground and dropping Sarah into the gravel. She stood up after she'd stopped rolling and began running back towards the palace herself. There was another evil laugh and Ceylon appeared a few feet in front of Sarah, stopping her dead in her tracks.
"Why make this more complicated than it is?" he sighed dramatically,
"Can't I just kidnap you now and get it over with? Rather than drawing out a huge battle in which I want very little to do with. It'll only waste strength and probably costs numerous dollars in damages, not to mention, there's no telling how badly I could wound His Royal Hiney."
Sarah's eyes widened in fright, Ceylon was an opponent that perhaps Jareth couldn't beat. She looked behind her to see Jareth lying face down in the gravel some ways behind her. Her wasn't moving, and Ryfe was moaning in pain trying to stop the bleeding on his leg. Her fist clenched in anger, seeing this person almost mocking the person she loved so much, and the people she cared about was sending her over the edge. Jaw tightened, fists tight she glared up at Ceylon.
"You're nothing but a con," she hissed, adding as much venom in her words as Jareth had. He watched her reaction with a serious face, but it was soon replaced by uncontrollable laughter.
"You don't really think you can take me on do you?" he was having trouble breathing he was laughing so hard, there were tears beginning to roll down his face.
"This is too amusing, you truly think you have a chance to stand up to a Fae like me? I can conquer this kingdom in a heartbeat if I wanted to! You're nothing more than a measly human, powerless and helpless without her precious bodyguard," he said raising himself into the air, his cape billowing as his power danced around him in an intimidating display. He crossed his arms over his chest and watched as Sarah's anger was turning into something more than just anger. Sarah's eyes were glowing a luminous emerald and there was a strange presence gathering itself around her. More interested in protecting himself from this unknown force, Ceylon gathered his own power inside of his palm and waited to strike, the power in his hand not enough to kill, but certainly enough to break bones.
Sarah wasn't sure what she was doing, or where it was coming from, all she cared about was protecting those that she cared about at this moment. Unsure of what she was supposed to do next she thrust her hand forward, feeling a strong power behind it and in the ground cracks began to appear and her sword was brought up to her from the Labyrinth itself. As though it were second nature to her she picked up the hilt in her hand and poised her weapon, ready to kill. Ceylon looked at her intrigued, but decided this had gone on long enough and shot the force in his palm at her. Sarah could see the strike coming and merely swung at the blow, an eruption of force was expelled from the blade, disrupting his attack entirely.
"I think I may have a chance," Sarah said, confidence racing through her veins as she realized she could attack at him from the ground. She swung the blade out in another diagonal strike, and like before the force shot out from her sword and travelled into the air where she had aimed it, enough of a blow to knock Ceylon to the ground. Seizing the opportunity she ran in ready to stab him, but Ceylon was still faster and shot another burst of magic at her, hitting her square in the chest and sending her flying backwards to where Ryfe was lying. She groaned and tried to sit up, but was too exhausted.
Ceylon smirked at her again and said,
"I will be back for you, you can assure yourself of that Miss Sarah, promise," he added with an evil wink and disappeared into the night like a lightning bolt.
There was an eerie silence, followed by the music of the party still going on, uninterrupted. Sarah took a few deep breaths to steady herself and finally managed to stand up, the other Fae guards were coming around again and immediately Sarah ordered them to take Ryfe to the healer. They nodded and lifted the almost unconscious Ryfe away, his leg looking in pretty bad shape. She then ran back down the gardens until she came across the fountain where they'd been fighting and hurried to get to Jareth. He was still lying where Ceylon had dropped him, and still unmoving.
Fearing the worst Sarah dropped to her knees beside him, trying to see if he was still breathing. Relief swept through her, like a river over stones, when she found he was; he was alive. She carefully rolled him over onto his back, cradling his head on her lap. He winced and groaned, starting to come around.
"Jareth?" she asked worriedly, "Can you hear me?"
He nodded slightly and slowly opened his eyes, then he sat up with a start.
"Where's Ceylon?" he asked quickly, fumbling to his feet, now ready to fight. A bit late for that though.
"He knocked you out clean and attacked Ryfe, but he left shortly after that," Sarah explained seeing no reason to tell Jareth about her new found power quite yet, "Promised he'd be back again and then disappeared into the night."
Jareth rubbed his sore head, trying to understand what had all happened. His thoughts were already drowning out Sarah's voice though. Ceylon had been using a magic Jareth had only once tried, and in the end the cost was himself, that darkness that was threatening to take over his kingdom stemmed from the day he sold himself to use the powerful magic that Ceylon was using. It was dark, it was pure evil, and it was almost unstoppable. Jareth had been studying for months and was hardly any closer into finding a way to counteract the atrocious spells one could conjure with unparalleled speed and accuracy. Only wind and fire seemed to have any effect against the vile stuff, and Jareth was only magically inclined to use fire, ever since then he'd been practicing to make himself more proficient in that skill more than any other. Selling ones' self is a steep price to pay for a power like that, and few people can ever regain themselves once they are under its influence. Jareth had been fortunate enough to find a way out of the terror, after he had truly seen what he was doing to the ones he really cared about.
"Jareth?" Sarah's voice broke into his thoughts finally. He looked over her with careful eyes, making sure she was alright.
"Yes love?" he said once he was sure she was alright aside from the torn dresses and minor scrapes he figured she'd accumulated.
"I asked if you were alright," she said again, as though she'd already said it many times, though to tell the truth she probably had with the depth he had lost himself in his thoughts.
"Yes, I'm quite alright. Sore but I think I'll manage," he said and walked over to her, wrapping his arms tightly around her, reassuring himself that she was still standing before him. He'd almost lost her a few times in his time, and losing her to Ceylon…well…it certainly wasn't a pleasant thought. It took him a moment to realize she was shaking in his grasp.
"Sarah, are you alright? You're trembling all over," he said concerned and began leading Sarah back towards the palace. She nodded silently and followed him wordlessly back inside through a side entrance into the kitchen. Dangle, happening to be in there at the time, practically screeched when she saw the state Sarah's and Jareth's clothes were left in, and immediately ordered them to go put on something else.
After changing into a spare ball gown Dangle had been certain to make, knowing something was bound to happen when it came to Sarah, Sarah fixed her hair and made her way downstairs to rejoin the party, needing to keep up the face of the royalty. She didn't leave Jareth's side for the remainder of the night, and though he made sure to keep a strong grasp on her, she couldn't help wondering, where had Jareth been when Ceylon had gone to talk to her in the first place?