Fan Fiction ❯ Broken Wings: A Labyrinth Fic ❯ Chapter 12

Sarah woke up with something warm on top of her. When she opened her eyes, she first noticed the faerie still in her lantern and the scale nearby. The torches were still burning. No one else had come in. She looked around at the shelves full of skeletons. Thank goodness, no one had left the room either. She moved to sit straight and lay one hand on something soft.

"Hm?" She looked down and found Jareth snuggled up to her. He had one leg thrown over hers and had spooned his body up against hers, but it didn't look like he'd done it on purpose. "Jareth?"

"Mm..."

"Wake up."

He shifted, but only to snuggle closer.

He must be used to sleeping in, Sarah thought. "I said wake up," and she nudged him.

"Mm...what?"

"Come on. You're harder to wake up than Toby." She pushed him straight and got to her feet. "What time is it?"

Jareth grumbled something and rubbed his eyes. "How the hell should I know? It's impossible to tell in here."

Definitely not a morning person.

With all the commotion, the faerie woke up and shined even brighter. At the same time she started cursing for the cold and wrapped her blanket around herself again. Sarah ignored her and looked back at Jareth.

"Your face looks better," she said.

"What?"

"The scratches around your eyes. They're almost gone."

He raised his fingers and felt around his face, then noticed how she was still staring and turned away. "We'd better get going. There's not much time."

"How are you feeling? Has the poison worn off?"

He stood up and moved his good arm. "It's a little sore, but nothing else."

"Nothing else?" She put her hands on her hips and faced him. "Yesterday you couldn't walk on your own."

"I was exhausted fighting off that venom." Jareth walked past her to the middle of the room. "Granted, I'm not going to be leaping tall buildings in a single bound, but I am up to moving around again."

"Leap tall..." She smiled and leaned against the wall. "Jareth?"

"Yes?"

"How often do you come to my world?"

He shrugged. "Once in awhile."

"You like the movies, I take it."

Jareth blinked. "How...?"

"I don't think too many labyrinth dwellers know about Superman." She squashed down her smirk as his cheeks reddened slightly.

"It gets boring around here sometimes," he said. "They help take my mind off things."

"Do you just pop into the theater in full Goblin King gear, or do you tone down the clothes a bit?"

His blush deepened. "One of my closets makes whatever kind of clothes I need. When I leave, I have the same type of clothes any normal human does. And I only 'pop in' when the room is dark so no one sees me."

Now she smiled. "Well, when this is all over, maybe I could go with you. It's no fun going alone."

He looked down, but the corners of his mouth twitched up. "No, it isn't." He sighed and stared around the floor again. "Are you ready?"

She nodded. "Am I gonna have to lug that scale around again?"

"I'm afraid so. I don't want Arin feeling my crystals floating around so close." He moved to the center of the room and studied the symbols at his feet. "Bring it and the faerie, will you?"

She slipped the lantern over one arm and then hefted the scale up before joining him. "What're we going to do with the scale anyway? Throw it on her?"

"Quiet. This takes a lot of concentration."

Sarah looked at him and opened her mouth, then looked away again. She spotted the faerie breathing in, about to shriek her lungs out, and she shook the lantern so the faerie plopped down on her rear end. Then she noticed she couldn't see the faerie anymore. She looked up just in time to see the torch flames die down to glowing embers and nothing at all. All she could hear was Jareth breathing softly, whispering something, a prayer or spell, and her own heartbeat growing louder in her ears. A breeze blew through her hair, but the whisper of sound only made the silence stronger.

A violet shimmer along the wall caught her attention, and she watched as the torches slowly grew back in strength, this time flaming purple. As the odd shade grew brighter and filled the room, the light literally dripped out of the fire and ran down the walls to the floor, where they lit up a pattern of crevices Sarah hadn't noticed before.

Liquid light filled the symbols and raced to the center of the room, illuminating a set of circles that spiraled inwards until finally coming to rest circling around her and Jareth. The light rushed like water in its canals and sloshed over the edges. A breeze blew in from the catacombs outside, gradually gaining strength. At first it only pushed her hair around her face, but a few moments later it was strong enough to push her one way if she lowered her guard. Thunder rumbled in the air until she couldn't hear the wind anymore. She looked at Jareth and saw that his eyes had turned purple as well and glowed as much as the torches.

Motion along the wall caught her attention, and when she looked she spotted a skeleton sitting up in its niche, infused with purple light. As she scanned the room, she found that every skeleton had sat up and was now staring at the little group in the middle.

And all at once, they began to sing.

The voices reminded her of monk chants, but the sound reverberated and vibrated the walls, and the resultant hum, much like that of a tuning fork, drowned out the thunder, drowned out the wind, drowned out the water light around her feet, drowned out even the singing that caused it, until all of the shadows and violet light and rumbling noise disappeared into one long note, and Sarah wondered if they had really started singing or if they had been singing forever and she just hadn't heard them before.

The light flared up into a star that blinded her, and she closed her eyes.

Someone lay a hand on her shoulder. "You can look now, Sarah. We're here."

She opened her eyes. The necropolis was gone, replaced by a new room with gray stone walls and two large windows. A huge bed sat in the center, with a wardrobe against one wall and a table with a wash basin near the other wall.

"Are we in the castle?" she asked.

Jareth nodded. "Yes. And now I have absolutely no idea where Arin is."

Sarah hefted the dragon scale again and took a deep breath. "Where do you want to fight her?"

"In the Eschler chamber," he said. "But the staircases might not be floating anymore. They might have fallen to the ground by now."

"Only one way to know," she said. "Is there a way there from here?"

"Yes, my room leads to every part of the castle. Arin might not even know the door exists." He walked to the wall clear of furniture, put his hand on one stone and pushed. A mass of masonry slid to one side, revealing a dark staircase.

"Handy," Sarah said.

"Not really. It takes me anywhere, but I have to go through five different rooms and six other magick doors to get back here." He put his hand on the wall and started down. "Let's go before she finds us."

Sarah had just stepped in after him when they heard the bedroom door open and someone come in. Sarah didn't wait to see who it was, as she had a pretty damn good guess, and rushed forward, sighing with relief when she heard the stone door close behind her.

"Don't relax yet," Jareth said. "Hurry up!"

Something heavy slammed against the wall behind them, making the stones shake and mortar crumble off. "Jareth! Jareth, get back here, you coward. I'll flay your skin right off. I'll make your eyes boil in your skull."

The screams grew faint as Jareth and Sarah ran down the steps.

"Can she do that?"

He almost laughed. "Oh yes. That's why we're running."

Inside the bedroom, Arin kicked the wall that would not budge. "It's not fair! It's my castle now. Do as I say." She banged her fists against the door and only managed to dent the stone, not break it. "Stupid damn magick..." She hit the wall one more time, but when she stood up again, she grinned. "Oh...I know where you're going. Oh, yes, little brother, big sister isn't so slow. Your favorite room of all." She hiked up her dress and sprinted down the hall, racing to get to the main room before Jareth and Sarah could.