This fic is getting sooo long now I keep having to reread chapters to limit my continuity errors.
Here's the next chapter, hopefully I'm winding everything up to the big finale now.
Thank you all those who reviewed please feel free to do so again.
I hope you all enjoy this installment, I'll get the next one out ASAP.
Chapter 17
"What are you staring at, Titania?" Oberon joined his wife at the window overlooking the Labyrinth.
"That storm about to engulf the Labyrinth." Outside the window converging on all sides was a wall of black cloud, the lightning brewing in the storm front.
"Control yourself son." Oberon ordered.
"Jareth is not causing this." His wife countered. "This is the girls magic."
The Goblin King joined his parents by the window. "This cannot be Sarah. She wouldn't have the power for this."
"She beat the Labyrinth, she beat you, that gives her the power and now she is royally pissed off." Titania dropped the pretence of grandeur, a sure sign that she was scared.
"What do I do? I can't stop the storm." Jareth's face took on a paler than usual cast. "It could destroy the Labyrinth!"
"One of us needs to go convince Sarah to back down. She may not even know she is doing this."
Hoggle had seen the seen the storm before it got to the walls of the Labyrinth. He'd almost wet himself when he realized how big the storm would be by the time it reached the castle, which is where he started to run to.
The rain had begun by the time he reached the Bog of Eternal Stench. It was hard to convince Sir Didymus that he had to run away from the storm. Thankfully Ludo wasn't to far away and was willing to follow Hoggle, Sir Didymus and Ambrosias. Using the short cuts the made it to the city in record time along with almost every other Labyrinth denizen.
Jareth couldn't believe what he was seeing. The storm was at hurricane proportions now. He could see his subjects gathering at the castle gates looking for his protection.
"We don't have much time, that storm is almost at the city walls." He tore his eyes away from the window to look back at his Father and Step-Mother, they were still arguing about who should go to Sarah. "Both of you go! There is nothing you can do here now!" He shouted at them. They looked at the Goblin King briefly before disappearing together.
Jareth shouted to get the attention of his guards they appeared thirty seconds later. "Open the castle gates, get everyone inside." He ordered, hoping that the love of his life would not be the one to tear his home to the ground.
Sarah had been unable to contain her anger since Titania left. She didn't know where it was coming from but she had no way to let it out. It was all directed towards the Goblin King and she wasn't far enough gone in her rage to lash out at anyone else.
Then she felt the anger draining slightly, it was not longer pent up, but there was always more to replace it. Somehow Sarah knew that she was focusing it into doing something but she didn't know what and it was becoming hard to think straight enough to try.
She felt the presence of the Fae before she saw him. She stalked through the apartment into the bedroom finding an unknown male leaning over her sons crib.
"Step away from my son." She announced in a low tone, trying to keep her voice level, her anger barely contained.
The male straightened and turned to face the enraged woman. "I think that you will find he is my son, thank you so much for watching over him for me."
The man had black hair and blue eyes, like Jay, but the features of his face seemed familiar too, even though they didn't match the child he was claiming as his own. He was tall and strikingly handsome but his face was normal looking , unlike Jareth's. Sarah took in a deep breath through her nose, smelling the cinnamon, cloves and just a hint of ginger of his scent from across the room. She felt the rage boiling up inside of her.
"I'm here to claim him," the man continued, "Don't worry, you won't remember him, neither will anyone else."
"So you are the bastard who knocked up my 17 year old cousin and then abandoned her?" Sarah managed to stay calm
"Well I couldn't take her home to meet my parents." The man retorted.
"And you think that you are going to just take Jay, erase my memory, and disappear?"
"Yes." He replied with an all too familiar smirk on his face, "Why do you see a flaw in my plan?"
"Do you know who I am?" The tone was threatening.
"Sarah Williams, actress, single, lonely." He listed toying with her. "Did I miss something?"
Sarah felt something inside her snap and a cool detachment came over her. "Quite a few things actually. You forgot Champion of the Labyrinth and carrying the Goblin Kings child. Most importantly," She paused and the intruder flew across the room and found himself pinned to the wall by some unseen force, "you forgot really pissed off."
The man's face, having grown paler throughout Sarah's speech, was now paper white. When he finally tried to respond he stuttered, "Y-your the Sarah?"
"Glad you've finally worked it out, now I didn't catch your name."
"Eric, my name is Eric."
Sarah could have laughed out loud when she worked out exactly where she had heard that name before. "Eric. Son of High King Oberon and Queen Titania of Avalon?"
"How did you know that?" The still immobile man looked terrified.
"I've met your mother, she's a nice woman, soft spot for children." She commented rather maliciously before continuing, "Why didn't you just take Lily back to the Underground?"
"Because I didn't think my wife would approve, besides, all I wanted was the child. The girl was a means to an end" He answered as quickly as possible
"From what I can tell Fae wives have to put up with quite a bit." She paused trying to think through the haze of anger, "You wanted a child, so you just seduced the first mortal you came across?"
Eric remained silent.
"Why wait so long to come back for him?" She demanded to know.
"I couldn't find him." He admitted. "I'd used magic on the mother that should have meant she'd keep the child."
"Women in my family tend to be strong minded." Sarah had to close her eyes for a moment to try and think.
"What are you going to do to me?" He asked terrified of the answer.
"Nothing." she opened her eyes, "I was going to let your parents handle it. They're standing in the hallway and have been for sometime."
The High King and Queen had been shocked to hear the sound of their mutual son from inside Sarah's apartment and had watched in awe as Sarah pinned him to wall without breaking a sweat. They shared the same thought, a mortal should not have that kind of power, Sarah was more dangerous than they expected.
When Sarah announced their arrival, without having once looked in that direction, for the first time in a millennia Titania felt afraid for her safety. She entered the mortals bedroom a few steps behind her husband fully aware that they had to calm Sarah down quickly.
Titania was the first to speak. "Sarah you can release him, he isn't going anywhere." She suggested.
Sarah gave some thought to ignoring the High Queen but allowed Eric his freedom.
"Eric how could you do this?" Oberon asked, his voice showing the disappointment he felt.
"Thalia wanted a child, Jareth hates me, he was never going to give me one of the wished away. I took matters into my own hands." Eric didn't sound repentant.
"You thought you could just steal a mortal child?"
"He is my son." He thumped a hand against his chest to emphasis the point.
"No you never had any claim on that child." Oberon looked disgusted with his offspring.
"Oh yes you're one to speak. Just how many Bastard children do you have Father?" His tone was petulant
"I provided for each and every one." The High King justified himself. " You simply left the mother to get on with it on her own, with no support, and you wonder why Jareth would not give you a child."
"You don't deserve one." Sarah added.
Obviously feeling more comfortable now his parents were there Eric couldn't help himself in spouting out one more insult at the pregnant woman. "And you do? A mortal slut who refused a King, a King who would have laid the world at her feet?"
Titania shared a worried look with her husband, she could now feel the emotions coming off Sarah in waves. Who knew what damage Sarah's storm would be doing to the Labyrinth now.