Oh Dear

Jareth watched in stoic confusion as the woman's form flickered in and out of shape while she screamed and writhed around the claymore through her gut and out her back.

"Keep it there will you?"

Jareth turned his head slightly to the Master to find the cloak and cowl gone. A well muscled, six foot four, young man in a tight, short sleeved, green doublet with half the buttons undone to show off the loose cream shirt that was also open slightly to show of his tan chest and doe trousers tucked into black boots. His dark brown hair fell to the middle of his shoulders, curling slightly at its ends. With laughing hazel eyes and cocky grin, Jareth hated him on sight if only because his own ego demanded it.

"The multiple spells they cast on Her meant I had to choose between saving my sister or saving Her. Sis wouldn't have that so I saved Her and Sis became the Lady."

"Stop talking in circles," Jareth growled.

The man's grin became even more patronizing, "I've wanted to meet you in person for quite some time. Truth be, I didn't think the spell She crafted would work to get you here but your Labyrinth helped give us the last boost to do it too."

"What are you blathering on about? Why isn't she dead yet!"

"My sister can't die but the curses possessing her can. You stabbed it because you finally noticed that it's magic differed from everything else here, yeah? So stop mucking about and dispel the curse from my sister!"

"I killed plenty on my way here, thanks."

"Everything not native. So thanks for that! It saves me from clean up later."

"Enough!"

"Dispel the Lady then!"

Jareth snarled as he pushed power into his broadsword. The blonde stuck on the middle of his blade shattered to reveal a curly haired redhead in ankle boots, a flowing skirt that fell just past her knees and a violently purple peasant shirt all topped off with a familiar face.

"Sarah?"

"Wrong!" The Master smirked and the red haired Sarah look-a-like smiled at Jareth as the girl slid off the blade before she moved to stand beside her brother. Toby began to laugh at the gobsmacked look on poor Jareth's face as not-Sarah picked Toby up and began to bounce him on her hip.

"Sorry about Cynfael, he really couldn't help himself. He's been wanting to meet you in person for ages… Not that there was ever a way to do so before."

"What in Annwyn and Magh Meall is going on!"

"You're in your Sarah's head."

Jareth glared at Cynfael so strongly that he should have literally burst into flames thanks to the powers of the helm Jareth was wearing. It only angered Jareth further that it failed.

"Brangwen and I are the feminine and masculine sides of Sarah respectively, everyone has them, sometimes more than two. As to the rest, well, Sarah's mindpalace has been rather heavily influenced by Harry Potter occlumency ideas out of various fanfictions. Antibodies and protections guised as flesh eating nymphs and waterhorses, memories in the shape of fairies, plant life, and other small easily hid or overlooked things. Sections of her life divided by large walls and further subdivide by even more walls within those. Only Sarah's core knows the map of the place, though she'd disguised it and its key as my cloak and cowl while that thing was prowling around... You could have been kinder to her first memory of you by the way."

Jareth froze before lifting a smug and smirking, caged fairy up to eye level.

"You fraggen aardvark!" The little being suddenly screeched at him, steam piping out its ears, face glowing red and clashing horribly with the color of its wings. Jareth tossed the little butterfly man, cage and all behind him as it continued to roar obscenities both in flight and after it landed on the other side of the hall.

"Right, then…"

"Jareth, you would have never made it this far if you hadn't picked him up and brought him along, he was kind of like an keycard or an ID, it's why my brother made sure he was one of the first you came across, though the nymph would have killed you. It is her job. The waterhorse helped to speed things along too… So now that you're here time to fix the blockade."

Brangwen gave Jareth a wide smile that left him greatly unsettled.

"No…"

"Jareth, we've tried everything! Cynfael tossed off the the curses and hexes that were cast to harm or kill Sarah, I took on all the spells that were meant to make her a 'proper lady' and the heart of Sarah got all locked up in a crap ton of love spells that resulted in Sarah locking the whole of her memories up so they wouldn't be erased. Typically we aren't this divided and doing our own tasks but Sarah is doing all she can to stop the barrage of magic erasing her core and making a puppet out of her or worse."

"And what is worse than that?" Jareth's tone was utterly cold. He'd had enough. Jareth had gone beyond rage to a cold contempt. For months he'd fought to get Sarah back and then when he thought he finally had her in reach, she wasn't. He couldn't take much more of this. He'd gotten to his breaking point weeks ago.

"Take the young Queen of the Goblins, unofficial yeah, but she still has the whole of the magic Labyrinth at her disposal then remove everything that makes her Sarah. All her kindness, goodness, spirit, et cetera and congratulations! You've a soulless, confused woman, angry at what's been done to her on a warpath. There isn't much that we know about your grandfather, Jareth. You've not covered him much but we know he was the cause of the worst of your people's history and the maker of the Labyrinth. Can't you imagine a modern, creative Sarah being worse than him once everything that make her, her, is stripped away?"

Jareth stared at Brangwen, before releasing a weary sigh. His shoulders dropped and he seemed to collapse in on himself all while still standing tall. The Erlkönig armor dissolved back into the ring on his hand before he motioned to the duo to lead the way.