Who's Master Here?

Jareth and Gundahar were in counsel with several of the generals from the courts when the screaming started. Jareth's heart near stopped at his recognition of who was screaming. Blasting away tents and things, even people foolish enough to stand in his way, he tore out of the main pavilion towards his private tent. He found Sarah there, screaming in such a manner as to make his blood run cold, all while she threw herself against the massive stone door and its frame that stood erect in the middle of his tent. Taking hold of Sarah before she could damage herself beyond the bruises she'd already gained, Jareth gave his full attention to the door. He'd no idea where it had come from but the power that was boiling off it greatly unsettled him. Malevolent, loving, distraught and beseeching by turns along with a slew of other emotions, the impressions that came from the simple limestone door reminded him of both the Labyrinth of Old and of the New.

"The boy, Jareth! That door appeared out of thin air and this black cloaked thing came out and drug the boy through!"

Jareth horrified, turned to stare at her. She was clutching at the front of his tunic and trying to shake him from his sudden stupor, though he didn't move an inch for all that she was throwing her weight into the action. Gundahar began shouting orders to the fae gathered around Jareth and Sarah, gathering any and all willing to join in the rescue party. With a gut-wrenching cry everything snapped back into focus as Jareth tore from Sarah's grip. He threw all he had and all that the Labyrinth would give him at the door, ripping it apart as he charged through it. Heedless to Gundahar's calling him back, calling him to wait for reinforcements, Jareth hurtled down the long dark hall to the lighted archway at its end.

It emptied out onto a grassy hillside covered in ancient oaks and holly trees. Dark laughter rang among them and Jareth turned towards the sound. And kept turning. He grit his teeth as he came round full circle. The archway was gone and he was completely alone. Turning his fae, eidetic mind back to all that had just happened, a small sigh of relief escaped him as he recalled that Gundahar had caught hold of Sarah before she could rush the hall with him.

"Oh, joy! A Runner." Jareth turned to glare at the beautiful wood nymph that had appeared from behind the trees on his left. She'd spoken with such spite and sarcasm, it was a wonder that her sharp tone hadn't cut him as cleanly as a blade.

"Who are you?"

"Don't take that tone with me, Runner. I work for the Master and answer to none other. You're the just a dead one running, though for how much longer, well, only the Master knows."

"Who is master here?"

"Not master, Jareth, as in some common landowner or slave driver. It's the Master," the nymph had leered at him as she spoke his name. While Jareth was used to the lustful leering of the many fae courtiers, he never been on the receiving end of a leer that spoke volumes on how the one before him would literally love to eat him. Without a second though, Jareth drew a knife from a sleeve and promptly threw it at the female. The small dirk hit squarely in an eye socket before she'd even comprehended that he'd drawn a weapon. Jareth leaned over to jurk the knife free when someone else spoke up.

"My goodness, you don't mess about do you?" Jareth turned to the new speaker, the dirk once again at the ready. Hidden in the limbs of a holly tree was a small cage with an even smaller fairy inside. He was unlike any Jareth had ever seen in his long life. The little fairy looked more like what the Aboveground humans thought a fairy to be than what they actually were. The fairy had bright blue butterfly wings with shocking green hair instead of the iridescent wings that were a cross between a dragonfly's and a butterfly's and the platinum blond hair of all the fairies of the Underground. The fact that he could actually talk instead of sing, sigh or scream in unintelligible bell like tone had also not gone a miss.

"I am here to retrieve my boy, I've no time to 'mess about.'"

"Then we best hurry before she revivesㅡ"

"She'sㅡ"

"She's not dead, trust me. If you help me out of here so I won't be a snack later, I'll show you to the path that will get you to Toby."

Jareth stared at the little butterfly man before pulling the cage free from the holly branches. He ignored the fairy's protests when he didn't remove him from the cage and started to put as much distance as possible between them and the apparently not dead wood nymph. Some twenty minutes later, a scream of pure rage rang out from behind them. Jareth broke out into a run as he followed the fairy's instructions of which direction to take. After some time of ducking and dodging through the trees and underbrush, a wall literally sprang up out of nowhere. Jareth vaulted it before the wall got too high, only to jump another four in quick succession.

Dropping down to rest against the last wall that was now at least twenty feet high, Jareth balanced the cage on his bent knee to give the poor fairy all his ire at the situation in one full blown Erlkönig glare of death. The fairy whimpered and cowered against the back of his cage.

"We-we should be safe h-h-here… She an-and the other woo-wood nymphs can't cr-c-cross one of the walls, let ah-alone five of themㅡ"

"She knew my name... and you knew Toby's." Jareth growled at the little fairy.

"We-we all do. The Ma-ma-master has known of y-y-you and wah-watched y-you for some t-t-time."

"Stop stuttering!" The fairy gave a frightened squeak and nodded vigorously up at Jareth.

"Who is this Master?"

"Ma-ma-master of the T-tor-torsionㅡ"

"Torsion? Walls with twisty turns and things to turn you about?... Who does he think he is!" Jareth roared to the world at large, "I am the Master of the Labyrinth. I am Its King! I will not be fooled or cheated by some wannabe!"

"Th-that may be-b-be true in t-the Underground, ss-ss-sir, but… y-you aren't the Ma-ma-master here…"

"So what then? I'm the Runner? Am I to run his maze to get Toby back? Am Iㅡ"

"Y-y-yes to the ru-ru-running but n-n-no to the b-b-boy... W-w-well, not en-en-entirely. Y-y-you need t-t-to save our L-lady first, ss-ss-sir. She's th-th-the only one that ca-can get you both h-h-home. The Ma-ma-master probably t-t-took the b-boy to b-butter the L-l-lady up. The Ma-ma-master wants herㅡ"

The fairy watched on in horror as Jareth started laughing maniacally. Jareth couldn't believe it. The hero. Some fool woman wanted him to be her hero. What good could he possibly do for this "Lady" when he couldn't even save his own woman? His woman. Jareth sobered quickly as his thoughts turned to Sarah. As his thoughts turned to what she'd taught him of modern fantasy, science fiction and anti-heros before she'd been kidnapped, a malicious smile near split his face in half. Well alright then, if they wanted a hero he'd give them one but he was going to do things his way regardless of whatever plans and precognitions these people had of him.