Disclaimer: Labyrinth is not mine.
A/N: My reviewers all deserve awards. Huge thanks to: J Luc Pitard, SlytherinFan-14, CharcoalFeathers, bitter sweet nightmares, ZapZapYotsuba, iCraft, seniastardust, Nyakai, Vampire Hunter D's Girl, bloodfairy9788, lonely 27, Seridano, LadyGrey69, Barranca, randomfan17, rosegoddess9, hazlgrnlizzy, daughterofthe1king, and UndergroundDaydreams. Here's to you!
Chapter 17: Hurried Warnings
Sarah ran, charging fast at the creature trapping Rosalyn and Flynn.
From any outsider's view, it was a decidedly foolish move. Sarah was armed only with an old sack, a feeble grasp of magic, and an unexplainable disregard for danger. Yet she stood her ground, taking in her challenge.
In a word, it was monstrous. The great green mass was a tangle of sharp pins and pricks, twisting and flailing, and the red sky cast the façade of a great burning brush. A stream of bad eggs and compost wafted through the air, causing Sarah's eyes and nose to burn with equal intensity. Sarah knew without a doubt that it came from the demonic plant. It was as if comic shop Seymour's 'Audrey II' and Godzilla had met, fallen in love, and created a biological nightmare: one which Poison Ivy would have squealed with delight over. There was no kinder comparison.
Two small figures could be seen flailing with surprising force high above the path of trees, one pale pink and blonde, the other thin and blue. Thick cords bound their arms, legs, and torso, but both pushed against the vines. It was clear neither was ready to give in, but Sarah knew they could not fight forever. Nobody was that powerful.
A large snap greeted Sarah's feet, and she jumped back out of the great plant's reach.
She let her instincts take over. There wasn't time for a plan. She needed to take action, do something. What a horror it would be to find them and just watch them suffocate to death. Heart racing, Sarah banished the thought. There wasn't time to panic. There wasn't time to be melodramatic.
Her hands found the straps of her bag on their own, ripping the bindings off like wrapping paper and rifling inside. Kerchiefs. Gloves. Golden arrow. Knife. Crystal. Everything was dumped out.
Rosalyn and Flynn spotted Sarah on the ground, and yelled louder.
"SARAH!"
"DO SOMETHING!"
Her mouth replied for her, screaming back a promise. And her hands kept flying.
The gloves jumped onto her fingers, the kerchiefs flew away, the crystal rolled into her palms. Light and fire danced within the sphere and Sarah's eyes flicked between the silver and green without seeing.
Work. WORK. Sarah focused like never before on goading a spark.
She didn't think, she felt.
Angry at being dragged back to the Underground against her will. Being tricked, scorned, ignored, and disregarded. Bewildered by a mysterious Game of deathly proportions, that she was worthy, that she was gifted with magic, that he cared. Cautious around all faces, never fully trusting, revealing her true past to nobody. Determined to make it out alive, to save Rosalyn and Flynn, to confront Jareth face-to-face. Enticed. Fascinated. Grateful.
The crystal's light flared wild for an instant, and settled.
Sarah's thoughts took over for an instant, and she blinked, not knowing where those last feelings had come from. There was no time for pleasant emotions; she needed something quick and powerful. Feral. Wild. Untamed. Once more, she let her instincts guide her.
Hopeful that she'd see the end of the Game, the castle, the king. Intrigued by the Underground, by the magic, by the Fae, by Jareth, by everything.
The crystal burned red, flashing with the shine of a thousand rubies, and she turned it to the green mass. It took all of Sarah's concentration not to drop it as she willed it to turn, willed it to burst across the already blood red sky. But the glitter faded to silver without action.
Momentarily confused, she forced herself to think instead of feel.
Why wasn't it releasing? The crystal flared just like in the orchard. Why. Wasn't. It. Working?
Sarah hands took over again, rolling crystal across her palms, memorizing every shining inch of its magic. Even gloved in leather, her fingers found the problem.
The crystal was flawed.
It was just a tiny, hairline crack. So small it was nothing but an iridescent scar upon glass. But it was there and it seemed to matter. It mocked her. Insignificant, but so significant.
Sarah knew what must have happened even before her fingers opened and let the glass fall. Melina's charge had damaged more than her shoulder, it had cracked her one hope of rescue. The numb throb in her arm was nothing compared to the emptiness beginning to fill her chest. Could she focus her magic without it? Could she work beyond a crystal, like she had in the oasis? It had been so wild then; a beast that would never come if called. She had to try.
Thinking had no purpose. She felt.
She could sense it tucked deep inside, hidden from searching eyes and greedy minds. Hidden in a place beyond words. Hidden in a place she locked from the world. Of course she knew how to find it; she put it there.
She'd been focusing so much on hard emotions. Anger. Caution. Determination. She hadn't even considered something softer, warmer. Something stronger.
Love.
Sarah blew the lid off the box.
Expectations are a funny thing. However long one tended to them, let them grow more defined and pronounced, they never quite seemed to pan out. And although Sarah had had very little time to predict the outcome of her attack, the result was anything but her expectations.
She expected the warmth bursting from her body to ensnare the biological nightmare. She expected it to burn, moan, shrivel, explode with the raw force she unleashed. For it had been leashed; a wild animal of the heart. Now that she had accepted it, she couldn't imagine ever chaining it again. She expected this revelation to not just defeat but destroy the great green tangle before her. She expected Rosalyn and Flynn to fall to the ground, flailing as she had in the dark cave, and land at her feet. It was to happen; she expected nothing less.
When it didn't, she was of course caught off-guard.
The green tangle had frozen. The flailing tentacles were caught poised above the air, knotted in impossible angles and lines, and Rosalyn and Flynn sported identical looks of surprise. They too were as still as stone, as if the vines wrapping their bodies were more Medusa than plant. Sarah's mouth dropped in awe, and she cautiously took a step forward. Had it worked?
"I can not begin to understand you, Sarah Williams. Stubborn. Defiant. Set up so simply to fail sloth, yet you did not wait by the gates."
Sarah spun around wildly, searching out the Labyrinth.
"You would fight for them?" The voice was quiet and questioning, as if considering some great puzzle. Still, it remained hidden from view.
"Yes."
There was a long pause. Almost so long as to assume it had left. Sarah took an uneasy step backwards.
A soft phrase floated suddenly through the air. "Yet they are not of your world. They are your competition." The Labyrinth shimmered into existence, feet before Sarah, and tilted its head to one side.
"They deserve to live."
"Even when only one can succeed?"
"That can't mean only one can live," Sarah pushed. Even now, she refused to accept such barbaric ideals. "What happens if more than one person makes it past all seven stages?"
The Labyrinth didn't answer, but tilted its head to the other side, still perplexed by Sarah's actions.
A line came to Sarah, clear as the shape before her. "Jareth said that the choice is obvious because only one ever makes it out alive, not that only one can make it out alive."
"You would risk your life on speculation?"
She paused only a second. "Yes."
"You are an interesting creature, Sarah Williams, to ask forgotten questions and dwell on dreams. Unexplainable." Another tilt of a head, a creasing of silver on brows. "But just as he."
And without elaboration, the shimmer was gone.
Sarah was left staring at the spot previously occupied by the soul, deep in thought. So deep, he didn't even notice as the green tangle began to untangle, lowering Rosalyn and Flynn to their feet. She didn't notice that each had snapped out of their stillness, and were hastily brushing needles off their tunics. Nor did she realize they were walking towards her, faces plastered with looks of amusement and gratitude.
What, thought Sarah, did that possibly mean? Forgotten questions? Just as whom? Jareth?
It was not difficult to see that a change had come over the Labyrinth. Its eyes had been questioning, it's words uncertain. It was a look Sarah never expected to see. She snorted, seeing yet another expectation which didn't pan out. Sarah had been ready for hostility, particularly since she'd not only defied sloth, but the Labyrinth's meddling. Instead, she'd received calm confusion and, dare she say it, mild acceptance? It was almost too good to be true.
She still had questions, but without the shadow's presence, they would have to wait. Especially since her heart was thumping with her recent acknowledgment. Love. She loved him. It'd had been there for some time, pushed to obscurity, but undoubtedly true. And there was no way to put it back. Her subconscious scoffed, like you'd want to.
"Sarah, are you alright?"
Sarah blinked. "Hmm? Oh. Yeah, I'm fine Rosalyn. But you…are you ok?"
Flynn had the audacity to chuckle, and Rosalyn whacked him on the arm. "We're both fine; it was your task. We already completed our sloth stages so the vines couldn't truly harm us, just make it seem as such."
Sarah groaned emphatically. "And here I was blasting it with all the magic I could find."
"Not that it wasn't spectacular, because it was," she gave Sarah another questioning glance, "but a simple action, like slicing with your dagger, would have been enough. The secret to sloth is action. Any action." She ended with a smirk.
Flynn chuckled again, signaling them both to follow as he turned towards the castle, and Sarah pursed her lips at him.
"Not nervous Jareth'll hunt you down anymore?"
"After what you did for us back there, I'll take my chances. If you really were involved with the Goblin King and the Game, you'd have left us." He grinned. "And I'm all for a fair last stage."
Sarah didn't have the heart to correct him. But that answered her question of whether, although frozen, Rosalyn and Flynn had heard her familiar discussion with the Labyrinth. Conclusion: a big fat no. Obviously, when the Labyrinth wanted to block out unwelcome eyes and ears, it could. And did.
Rosalyn copied Flynn's signal, and Sarah followed.
The gates to the Goblin City were wide open when Sarah approached them for the second time, and she eyed the large scorch mark on the ground with a sigh; Darius hadn't bothered to overcome sloth. Even with her increased odds, she couldn't help but feel remorse. In a better world, nobody would have died. In a perfect world, the Game wouldn't exist at all.
Rosalyn and Flynn didn't spare the mark a glance. Already they were wandering into the dilapidated city, faces hard and steps determined. Sarah gave one last sigh, and hurried to catch up.
"I've waited long enough, Amarette. If Jareth refuses to show his face, I'll end this mockery myself!"
"Dear, I admit that the situation is peculiar, but there is no law against a Fae propositioning a mortal, even with a peach—"
The High King fixed her a meaningful stare. "Eran said she ate the peach. She accepted the proposition. She cannot be allowed to run under Jareth's watch!" he growled to the air. "The situation is unacceptable! No challenger is permitted such an advantage! She must be disqualified!"
"That seems rash, Cael. I cannot imagine the girl knew what she was agreeing to. And if anyone is to blame, it is Jareth. Furthermore, she's hardly shown signs of an advantage. She's encountered, and struggled through the stages just as the others."
"Then tell me why, for the third time, she disappeared from view during a task? Most significantly, two of three challenges after that incident in the hall!" he rounded on his wife, fury in his face. "How do we know she even completed them? What if she's fooling us all?" He waved off his wife as she attempted to answer. "And HOW did she acquire all that magic if she's following Underground Law?"
Amarette closed her mouth and furrowed her brow. She too had wondered the same point.
"I will not be made a fool of in my kingdom, Amarette. I'm putting an end to this."
The Queen sighed, realizing there was no convincing her husband otherwise. If there was one rule he lived by, it was maintaining, and following, Underground Law. The kingdom would be uncontrollable without it. "And how will you accomplish that? She has only one task remaining." She was almost afraid to ask.
"I may not be able to find Jareth, but I assure you, I'll find her. Before she completes it. " His tone made no mistake of that.
Amarette was wise enough not to doubt her husband. If he had to, he'd charge in on the stage itself to throw her out. She silently prayed it didn't come to that. Overcoming lust, particularly after recent history, was certain to be an impossible enough task. With two problems, the poor girl wouldn't know what hit her.
Without another word, Amarette watched her husband vanish in a flash of gold light. There was no stopping him now. She sat in solemn silence for several minutes, continuing to think of the spirited girl who'd captured her attention. She had been so certain there would finally be a mortal victor.
"Pardon me, Your Majesty. There's a boy here to see you. He says it's urgent."
"See him in, Malik", she spoke without looking up. Perhaps a return to normalicy would distract her.
"Queen Amarette", the voice was hesitant, "I was wondering what is to become of the Lady Sarah. I…delivered the information and cannot help but feel responsible."
According to proper tradition, such a question was unheard of; subjects did not inquire about the personal actions of their ruler. The High King would have rather been thrown straight in the dungeons, hung by his toes, and swarmed by pixies before explaining his whims. Luckily for Eran, Queen Amarette followed different standards.
"Cael's gone to end her run, Eran. He's determined to have her disqualified." Amarette couldn't hide the grief in her voice.
"But Sarah couldn't have known about the peach; she's from Above! If it's anyone's fault, it's the Goblin King's." All propriety went out the window as Eran moved to the Queen and touched her arm. "This isn't right."
Agreement was all it took. Amarette raised her head, stared straight at Eran, and steeled herself. She may not have been able to stop her husband, but that didn't mean she couldn't try and warn the girl.
She leaned back in her throne, bringing a hand to rest under her chin. "Eran, if you wish to help the Lady Sarah, then perhaps there is more we can do."
"Anything, Your Majesty." He remembered well the promise he'd made to himself to watch over her. Eran clenched his fists tight, knowing now was the time to live by those words.
"Find the dwarf Hoggle once more, and explain the situation. No doubt if he possessed information on her run, and frequently encountered Jareth, he knows how to reach him." She sighed. "He is the only other soul who can enter the Game now and live to speak on it. And perhaps he can reason with Cael before he disqualifies the girl."
"But I'll never make it in time. It took me at least a day—" he started.
"Hoggle was near the Southern Gate?" She watched Eran nod, and abruptly twisted her right fingers to bring forth a blur of light. "I can send you just outside that gate, perhaps even right inside." At Eran's astonished stare, she smiled. "There's a reason I'm High Queen."
And Eran disappeared.
He landed roughly against a wall, but it was far better than he expected. True to her word, the Queen had sent him just inside the Southern Gate. He recognized the path by the 'S' shaped cluster of eye moss and smattering of strange silver flowers which smelled of honey and vanilla. That he'd walked the path twice in the past day didn't hurt either.
Of course, the panicked grumble of a familiar dwarf in itself was a dead giveaway.
Eran jumped as soon as he heard Hoggle yelp and carefully rose to his feet, making sure not to let his boots clop against the stone. The dwarf sounded downright terrified, as if it just been delivered an invitation to Death's doorstep, and Eran strained his ears for a more realistic reason. Surely, one of the Labyrinth's beasts would not attack its own…
"What did you tell him Hoggle?"
Eran blanched. He should have known the Goblin King would already be here; he knew everything that occurred in his Labyrinth.
On one hand, he admitted, his task of warming Sarah just became far easier. Unfortunately, with the blatant malice laced through the King's words, and the poor dwarf's reaction, his entrance would not be welcomed. Errand or not, he was to blame for the High King's decision. He sighed and stepped from his hiding place.
"Nothing that couldn't have been learned otherwise."
The king's reaction was immediate. "You.You are incredibly foolish to show your face, boy." He dropped his grip on the dwarf's neck, and turned towards Eran in a blind rage, sparks flicking from his fists.
Eran watched Hoggle scuttle back against the hedges as if his life depended on it. Which, he concluded, it probably did. The poor dwarf's eyes and mouth were round as saucers, considearbly larger than assumed possible, and he was shaking uncontrollably. Eran couldn't help but twitch in sympathy. This would only be a temporary distraction. He turned back to the Goblin King warily. And as he watched the king prowl closer, Eran couldn't help but shuffle back a few steps of his own. Why was he approaching the king again? There was a good reason, surely…
"You have precisely three seconds to explain to me why the fuck you delivered my private matters to the High King," Jareth hissed, eyes flashing. "One."
"Sarah—High King—find her—" Eran's words were choked by the hand clenched around his throat.
"I'd speak more clearly if I were you. Two."
"High King—Sarah—disqualified—"
Jareth abruptly let him go, not noticing as Eran fell over, coughing violently and sucking in gasps of breath. "What?" His voice was ice.
"The High King," he coughed again, "has gone to disqualify her," another heavy gasp, "for cheating. He went in person." His eyes widened as the Goblin King moved to strangle him once more. "Wait! The High Queen sent me! I'm on your side, trying to help you warn her!"
Jareth's eyes narrowed, and he fisted his sparking hands. "And why this sudden change of morals?"
"I never meant to get her killed. It was follow the High King's orders or, or, well, nothing!" He put forth his best attempt at groveling. "Please, Your Majesty, there's no time to argue. Sarah needs to be warned!"
Even Jareth couldn't disagree with that last statement. Pursing his lips, he quieted for a moment, considering his next move. The idiot boy could be dealt with later. He gave Hoggle a thin glare. As could the damn dwarf. But not Sarah.
"If either of you move a toe while I'm gone, you will spend the last moments of your lives hoping for a swift death."
Hoggle and Eran gulped in turn, and watched the Goblin King fade in a hot blast of light.
Neither even twitched.
Sarah found the goblin-less Goblin City beyond disturbing.
That was not to say that she liked the goblins. Yes, she admitted, they were funny and loyal, if not overzealous, and definitely had their own charm. And sure, they were kind of cute if you squinted a little. And fine, they were much better company than some of the other Fae she'd met and…oh who was she kidding, she missed the little troublemakers. "Hello?" Sarah craned her head for a glimpse, but her eyes traced only the cobbled streets and crumbling homes.
"Who are you talking to?" Rosalyn shot her a curious look.
Sarah could only sigh. "Nobody."
Rosalyn waved her closer, and Sarah let herself trail just behind her new friends as they meandered through the streets, looking in deserted shop windows and pulling back tattered drapes. Every so often, Sarah thought she heard the whisper of a question on the wind, but never made out the words. But she knew it was there; her skin prickled when she knew she was being watched. Goblins or not, the city was alive. Perhaps they were the whispers of runner's past, trapped for eternity within the maze. Or perhaps they were the Labyrinth itself, just tempting her to spill her secrets, to explain her actions so as to gain the upper hand. Sarah pretended not to hear the whispers. The final stage was no time to let the soul 'know thine enemy'.
Sarah lost track of time. Rooms and doors ran together with their gray emptiness, and she craved a break from the hot stale air which trapped the place. Why are they being so thorough? She let Rosalyn and Flynn lead the way, even as a tiny part of her urged her to speak up that she knew this place, and that any end could only be the castle. It was only fitting to have traveled so far just to reach the same destination.
Eventually, not a door had been unopened, and no drape not drawn back. Only then were her companions satisfied that 'lust' was not found in the Goblin City. Sarah resisted the urge to roll her eyes.
"The castle, then?" Flynn didn't smile, his eyes glazed with a strange look.
Fear, Sarah realized with a jolt. That was why they had combed the city; it was the lesser of two evils. Here she was, letting them lead her when, as far as she knew, only she had been inside the foreboding Goblin King's castle. This was her turn to lead; she had already braved this unknown.
"C'mon."
Reluctantly, they followed.
Up staircases and down corridors, through archways and around corners. Like the Goblin City, the castle was eerily quiet. Sarah tracked the clip of her boots on stone, Rosalyn's light scuffle and Flynn's even clop close behind. Neither spoke.
Sarah was glad; the questioning whispers still caressing her ears were words enough.
She stopped before a familiar door without even knowing how she'd gotten there. The name Sarah Williams had been painted in a golden flourish upon the dark wood, and the very thought of what, or whom, lied behind the door sent a shiver down her spine.
She thought she heard the sound of one, then two, other doors opening and closing but she wasn't sure. She couldn't seem to turn her sight from her name on the wood; it beckoned like a drug.
There were no options.
Sarah pushed her door open, and stepped inside.
So close to the end now. Reviews are love, and keep me writing. Next chapter in a week!