This is the last part! I'm going to cry! I'm so happy! (weird feeling, don't you think, feeling like weeping like a child and happier than never… Oh, well.) I want to thank you all, people, for all the kind reviews, for the enthusiastic ones, for the whining ones, for the joyful ones, for those who burst with energy! Thank you so much.
This chapter is dedicated to Linds, Jen and Terrie. Thank you guys, you're really the best.
Linds! stay the same! You're a GREAT beta!
Jen! I love you! Thank you so much and you're also a wonderful beta! I hope I didn't disappoint you!
Terrie! Writing this song with you was so much fun! Thanks again!
And for the others… Well, I wish I had arms big enough to hug you all!!!! Thank you, thank you!
Chapter 10. This is how Legends begin.
By mikim.
Standard disclaimers apply. Songs belong to their rightful authors. The first one Jareth sings here (not Terrie's though) is (again) a French song called Life's Whirlwind.
…………………………………………………….
Sarah was still blind; she
couldn't see nor feel where she was or who was there. Of her five senses, only
hearing was remaining. She knew she wasn't falling or lying on a ground, rather
like she was floating, somewhere. Again, the strange voice, both masculine and
feminine, both known and unknown to her said
I am the Labyrinth. Jareth is I. I am Jareth. Jareth is the Labyrinth.
What? Sarah's mind whirled. Whatever that creature was saying was
incomprehensible: Jareth was the master of the Labyrinth, not the Labyrinth itself.
Before going further, let us go somewhere else, the voice decided firmly. And
suddenly, her four other senses came back quickly, like a tissue had been put
on them and the wind had blown it away.
…………………………………………………….
Sarah looked down at herself in surprise; she was still wearing her white wrinkled shirt she had slept in, her feet were bare and her long legs exposed to the view of anybody. But, somehow, she wasn't embarrassed at all. Instead she looked about her; she was standing on a cliff with the sea crashing on the rock wall. The sea was tormented and a storm was quickly coming closer from the sea. But the sun was still there, warming her exposed legs with its heat.
Turning upon her heels, she saw a woman, her long black hair spread all around her like a blanket, dressed in a silver dress, sitting, her legs drawn behind her, calmly, looking out to the sea.
For an unknown reason, Sarah couldn't see her features, but it didn't upset her or frighten her. As if it were completely natural. "Where are we?" She asked the woman as she sat beside her on the grass.
The woman turned her head
slightly towards Sarah and for a fleeting second, Sarah thought she saw a pair
of mismatched eyes, just like Jareth's. "In a fitting place." The woman
answered, turning fully towards Sarah, a smile Sarah couldn't see but knew it
was there, on her thin lips.
Puzzled, Sarah was taken aback. "What?"
But the woman didn't
acknowledge Sarah's confusion and asked the young mortal woman. "Have you ever
wondered why the Goblin King has a pair of mismatched eyes?"
Confused and not really knowing what she meant, Sarah could hardly speak.
"What?"
"Several times, child, I have heard you wish you knew more of Jareth's life and past. Even though you never said the words aloud, I have heard you as I share a special bond with you; since you are the only one who has ever defeated me." The odd woman said again. She then raised her right hand in a graceful movement and with a weird twist of her wrist a scene unfolded under Sarah's widened eyes.
A tall man, with a simple silver band around his messy brown hair with a long golden sword attached to his left hip and a breastplate marked with a strange symbol, stepped out of nowhere. Sarah leaned forward to catch a better look at the strange symbol on the man's breastplate; she recognized the symbol.
"Who is that man?" She asked, eyes narrowing and focusing on the symbol. She knew what it was but couldn't place it; it was rather unnerving.
"Jareth's first ancestor," the woman said quietly and Sarah's head snapped in her direction, making the woman smile again. "And the first Goblin King." Sarah turned to look at the man again and this time she recognized the sign: it was the same form of Jareth's pendant.
"But at first, he wasn't the king of the Goblins. He was called King of Kan Caera. Look closer to his face." The woman instructed Sarah and Sarah let her gaze wander up to his face: he had a friendly face, a squared chin and high brow, and on his lips there seemed to be lingering a knowing smile and his eyes were mismatched. One blue the other light brown, almost golden.
"He has mismatched eyes." Sarah breathed, surprised.
…………………………………………………….
The strange woman at her side smiled again and looked at the man herself. "His name was Bran, the Undefeated King," she stated quietly and Sarah guessed by the tone of her voice that she and the man had been extremely closed and that she had suffered a great deal when he had died. "He appeared at a time when Fae and Mortals were still living together but the Fae were, are, magical beings. Unlike the Mortals, they did not turn their backs to the Ancients Ones and as a new religion was soaring, the Ancients Ones saw their ends coming closer."
"Therefore, they took their people, the Fae, and placed them on another land: the Underground. However, the Ancients Ones did not create a new land, instead they used their powers to split a dimension, in which this land was placed. Most of the Ancient Ones died of exhaustion and I was among them." Her voice quieted for a while, long enough for Sarah to wonder how painful these times had been for her.
"But, as I lied down on the earth, ready to fall into an eternal sleep, a boy reached to me. He was Bran," she paused again and seemed to be filled with golden light. Sarah turned to the man, Bran, and looked at him. He was still standing there, his long flowing black cloak around his legs as he surveyed the raging sea as if it were his personal enemy he was ready to fight. His hard profile reminded her of Jareth suddenly and for a while, Sarah thought Jareth was standing there and not his ancestor.
"I was one among the youngest of my people and I did not wish to die, yet. Bran was a young boy who had lost his parents during a raid on his village by humans. Alone and desperate, we clung to each other and we managed to survive, but as he was growing into a fine young man, it became obvious I would not see him turn into a grown man. So, he, without me knowing, asked the help of the Father of All-Ancient. And the Father, touched by Bran's pure heart and intention, granted his wish; he tied my soul to Bran's, and therefore, allowing me to survive. I started to live through Bran, but my body was not going to survive despite the rush of magic coming from Bran." Sarah looked at the woman closely. She was sure now: the woman had mismatched eyes too.
"So I decided to bind myself to a land, this land. I became the soil and air, the trees and rivers, the grass and the rocks and Bran was my King. Other Ancients had already done so by linking themselves to a piece a land and extending their powers to it. And by feeding the land, thereby they fed upon it and they all chose their first King. But none was linked as I was to my King. Bran and I could still talk to each other; what he saw I could see, what he smelt I could smell, what he tasted I could taste." Sarah watched as the woman's face slowly appeared to her. Her features were striking. If light wasn't dancing inside the vivid mismatched orbs, Sarah would have said her face had been sculpted by a talented Greek artist as in a myth.
"I don't understand." Sarah said truthfully.
The woman's eyes twinkled and she smiled gently. "Look at a coin: it has two sides but you cannot pull them apart" she said softly. "One side was Bran, and I the other." She pointed first at Bran, making Sarah turn to him to see that he had stepped closer to them, then to herself. "Some Ancients said I had lost my mind and fell for a man, but they were wrong. I was him and he was I."
Sarah turned around sharply, as she felt someone there: it was Bran. He had knelt down next to Sarah, but wasn't paying attention to her. His eyes were focused on the strange woman and he held out a hand to her, a hand that the woman took and he squeezed her fingers gently, a smile lighting up his face, before fading away, like a sand castle washed away by the sea. "Without each other we couldn't live."
Her hand slowly fell back to her side. It actually surprised Sarah that the woman wasn't crying. "Is it clearer now?" she asked, after an awkward silence with her head titled to the side, a beautiful smile on her sensuous lips.
Sarah swallowed hard and
asked, despite herself, as she felt like she was intruding in precious
memories, "What's the connection with the mismatched eyes?"
"One, the brown one, is mine. The other, the blue one, is Bran's. This is my
mark, the proof I still keep my oath."
Sarah blinked, interested despite her embarrassment. "What do you mean?"
…………………………………………………….
"Despite what you Mortals all think Fae do die of old age. It is just that their lives are longer than yours are as no being of flesh and blood can last forever in this realm. This is the only unbreakable law: that every creature of flesh and blood has to cross the Rivers once and only once," the woman paused and seemed to think for awhile, gathering her thoughts.
She then started softly, "When the link was young I could still say I had an eye different than Bran's. But, as time flew by, and with each of Bran's descendants that came and went, my soul merged more and more with this land and with the heir till Jareth's direct grandfather."
She stopped and another man came from her past, making Sarah take a sharp inhalation of breath. The man was the exact replica of Jareth only without the arrogance and the casual smirk he usually wore. His hair was less wild and he seemed thinner than Jareth, but the mouth and the set of his jaw as well as the twinkling eyes and the way he walked, proud and strong, all that was Jareth.
"I was, before Jareth's grandfather, a magical being, an Ancient One. But Garath, Jareth's grandfather, was threatened to be overthrown by his cousin, and so, he and I decided to place on this land a trap where anybody with rebellious intentions toward the King could not leave."
Garath, Jareth's grandfather, sat down next to the woman that was the Labyrinth and placed a kiss on her cheek. The feeling from him wasn't the same Sarah had felt with Bran. This man, too, was loved and cared for, but rather like a son or favorite nephew. Sarah thought to herself that this former god had fallen in love with the young Fae who had been the first Goblin King.
"This was how I became the Labyrinth. But I couldn't do it alone, and so Garath merged further in our link and since then I could not say anymore where Garath began and where I ended. It went even deeper with Garath's son and as you can imagine, it is now absolute with Jareth." Sarah's eyes widened and she found herself speechless. "That's why I told you that I am Jareth and Jareth is I." Garath, too, faded slowly like Bran had.
"But, Garath's cousin didn't he know about you?"
"No. No one knows about me. Only the heir knows as he is born with my presence within him."
"But I know you now." Sarah pointed out.
The odd woman remained silent for awhile; then sighed and said wearily as if it was something she couldn't say anything about. "Didn't Jareth tell you he was going to give you hell?"
"What do you mean?" Sarah choked. She didn't want it; she would refuse. It wasn't possible that Jareth had… Somehow, her heart started to pound loudly in her chest.
"Child," the woman started softly, "as I became linked with Bran I was still an Ancient One, even though I was living within his Fae soul. I was linked to Bran, but Bran was not linked to me. It was a one-sided link, if you want. What do you think I became when I merged with Garath?" she asked.
"You became Fae?" Dread fell upon her. Had Jareth meant to trap her here with him?
"No. Not full Fae, but Garath did not stay full Fae either. If the other Fae knew about this, and what it implied, that Bran's descendants share their powers with an ancient one, they would eventually fear them. Do you know what happens when humans fear something?"
"We reject it. We destroy it... Oh, God!" Her hands flew to her mouth now that she could see the extent of his actions. He was a fool.
"Exactly," the woman said firmly. "Fae are the same. If they knew about Jareth and our real condition, they would come and seek our destruction. This was why Garath never tried to convince his people, who had fled when the land transformed, to come back to his realm after the war. Only the Goblins had remained because they used to live in caves that weren't touched when the transformation occurred and they were not clever enough to grasp the truth."
Sarah thought about what the woman had confessed to her. To summarize a little, she had his life, not only his but also the Labyrinth's too, in her hands. If she really wanted to hurt him all she would have to do was tell people about the secret and he'd be doomed. Jareth truly was a fool. What was his reason to give her his most vulnerable spot? How could he hand over her so casually his life?
I won't and I'll make you see, Jareth had told her.
Suddenly, a memory flashed in her mind eye. A beautiful afternoon when such a sad story had been told and a careless comment had been spoken. "Hoggle told me Jareth shared his soul with the Labyrinth!" Sarah panicked and twisted her hands nervously. "They know!" she cried out, raising her eyes to the woman, meeting hers. The woman smiled fondly and reached for her hands. Her hands felt cool against Sarah's and her skin was smooth, while her perfume reminded Sarah of the rain.
"No, child, they do not," the woman said, reassuring Sarah. "Indeed, when Jareth lost you the first time he almost exposed us, but thankfully, raw emotions like love, hate, and despair are dangerous for Fae, and when they lose themselves in their sorrows or love, they can lose their control over their magic. It has already been witnessed before, but not in the intensity Jareth displayed, after all, Jareth is powerful. They all assumed it was because he had lost control, and therefore, created monsters without his realizing it."
The woman paused and let the information sink in Sarah's brain. "But, in fact, the beasts were Jareth's emotions, not his creations, not a will of his magic, no, these monsters that had crept out of my walls were pure emotions." She released Sarah's hands and folded hers in her lap. The sun broke through the raging sky and caressed the two females. "His guilt, his love, his sadness of letting you go, the hurt of being rejected, and the fear… All this came to life in our breasts and for awhile we lost control and let them rule us." Sarah's heart was beating strongly against her ribcage as if it were trying to escape. Sarah swallowed hard.
The woman's words were kind but Sarah knew there was more, as she could feel the madness, the fury and the desperation that had fallen on Jareth, and so, on the Labyrinth when she had left him. She just knew. Jareth was a fool because of her.
As if she was remembering a movie, Sarah caught glimpses of a male figure with fair hair huddled in a corner of a dark room with strange stairs screaming like a wounded beast. She saw him again, punching the walls until his hands bled. She felt the pain beyond the tears; she felt the anguish and above all the unrequited love.
Sarah bent her head and blinked back the tears before asking softly, her voice breaking, "What did Jareth do to me? Why did he put his pendant in my hand?" Jareth did this because he loves me. He loves me. He can't leave me now. I am the fool.
Unknown to Sarah, the woman in front of her smiled gently. "The pendant was only a mean to focus his, our, soul onto you. It was just a physical link that passed to you." Sarah looked up afraid and the woman gestured around her. "Jareth is here and there. He is everywhere. He hears what you are saying. The land is already changing as you became one of us." Sarah raised her hands to her mouth, not believing what the woman was saying.
Then, she felt a touch, like gloved fingers running down her back. The woman smiled and Sarah had to believe her. "With time you will see Jareth. In this place, I am the predominant one. You will learn to distinguish Jareth from me and me from Jareth, but not fully, as we do not know ourselves. Anyway, you are now a part of the Labyrinth as we are now a part of you."
Sarah looked up and snapped, "What?"
The woman tilted her head on the side and said, thoughtfully, "Time for you to go, child."
"I'm still human, aren't I?" Sarah insisted, getting on her knees taking the woman's hands in hers impulsively.
"No, child," the woman sighed, and freed her hands to raise them to Sarah's face, which cupped both her cheeks, locking her mismatched gaze with Sarah's. "You are neither a human nor a Fae nor an ancient one. We have also changed, Jareth and I." Sarah blinked as the woman let her face go. Sarah was about to talk again, but the woman raised a slender finger and put it against Sarah's lips. "No more questions, you have stayed here too long already, now return to your body. We are all exhausted, and for the rest you should talk to Jareth. Do not be afraid, when you will arouse you will feel my presence and Jareth's in the depths of your mind."
Incredulously, Sarah's asked, "Will you feel me too?"
"Yes, child. Go," the woman smiled one last time and then everything vanished.
…………………………………………………….
She had rings on every finger,
Heaps of bracelets around her wrists,
And then she sang with a voice
Which, immediately, charmed me.
The voice was taunting and familiar. Warm and safe, she snuggled closer to the source of the warmth, next to her.
She had eyes, eyes of opals
Which fascinated me, which fascinated me
Was there the oval of her pale face
Of femme fatale which was fatal to me
The song was soothing her skin, caressing her hair, kissing her lips and she smiled.
We knew each other, we
recognized each other
We lost sight of each other, we lost sight of each other again
We found each other, we warmed each other
Then we broke up
A warm sensation, pleasant and delightful, shifted gently in the darker corners of her mind.
Each for one left
In life's whirlwind
I saw her a night, ouch, ouch, ouch
It's already been some time
She was becoming aware of her body again. Her mind was fully alert and awake and she thought clinically that the flesh could be restraining, and yet, so pleasurable in the meantime.
In sound of banjoes, I
recognized it
That odd smile which had pleased me so much
Her so fatal voice, her beautiful pale face
Moved me more than ever
The taunting voice drifted closer to her. Warm breath was blowing over her ear; something was tickling her nose.
I got drunk listening to her
Alcohol makes forget the time
I woke up feeling
Kisses on my burning brow
A light caress of a cool hand ran down her cheek, and she still couldn't bring herself to open her eyes.
We knew each other, we
recognized each other
We lost sight of each other, we lost sight of each other again
We found each other, we broke up
In life's whirlwind
The smell of the bed was familiar, too. Then she realized it was his bed.
We kept on spinning
Both of us intertwined
Both of us intertwined
Then we warmed each other up
Slowly, she opened her eyes to gaze into those of a tired Goblin King.
Each for one left
In life's whirlwind
I saw her a night, oh, la, la
She fell in my arms again
Jareth moved closer to her bringing his arms around her petite frame, and pulled her closer till her nose was touching his pale flesh.
When we've known each other
When we've recognized each other
Why lose sight of each other?
Lose sight of each other again?
He rested his cheek against her hair and she knew he had closed his eyes again, while singing softly in the room.
When we've found each other
When we've warmed each other
Why breaking up?
She realized she was still holding his pendant. He was bare foot and wore no gloves. His shirt was gone and the blood on his chest has been washed. His smell, full of magic and musk, with a taint of wet grass and cinnamon, made her nose tingle.
She snuggled closer to him, while letting the pendant go and putting one of her arms around his slender waist, and the other slid under his neck.
So, both of us, we've left
In life's whirlwind
We're keeping on spinning
Both of us intertwined
Both of us intertwined.
She kissed him lightly, a small chaste kiss on the lips and closed her eyes again in contentment. Jareth felt in the distance of his soul the sunrise and heard a woman laugh happily.
An ivory tower was crumbling into dust.
…………………………………………………….
They were sitting in the middle of his bed. His back was against the wall, and his arms were closed around her frame as her face was buried in his neck, and her legs were drawn beside her, while he sat Indian-style with his legs around her. Sarah breathed in deeply as Jareth's smell overwhelmed her again. They had been silent and talking in the meantime.
Talking to each others hearts without using words and she felt his emotions: the raging hope and the lurking fear when she had opened her eyes again. After her exhausting experience in the Labyrinth's real world, she had felt a burst of relief and joy when she had told him quietly, gently, softly, slowly, that she was willing to learn.
To learn from him and with him, and to learn how to trust without the fear of being rejected, and learning how to be really happy. They hadn't talked about how they would make their relationship work, or what they would tell her parents or what they would do about her work. They hadn't spared a thought for the future; they were too busy enjoying the present feeling.
A thought suddenly popped into her mind and she looked up at him. "What's the Bog of Eternal Stench?" she asked curiously.
Jareth, who was humming under his breath, stopped and smiled fondly at Sarah, his mismatched eyes glinting with mischief. "Another of my ugly sides. The Labyrinth represents my soul, or rather should I say, since you know, our soul."
In awe, Sarah pulled away a little to see all of his face and in disbelief, she asked, "So, all the twists and strange stuff, and the cleaners and everything… It's you?"
Jareth laughed, as if remembering a private joke. "To some extent, yes," he admitted.
"Some extent?" Sarah raised an eyebrow and Jareth pulled her back against him because he was cold without her leaning on him fully.
"I…" He started, then seemed to think against it and resumed, "We're really powerful. Sometimes it just gets out of control and things just come to life in the Labyrinth."
"The Oubliette…" she whispered.
Jareth nodded against her head. "We all have some deeds we'd rather forget."
A sheepish smile lit up her features and she kissed his neck lightly before asking, "Where am I?"
"You've already seen that part," he leaned into her touch and closed his eyes.
A flash passed in Sarah's mind and she saw a place with a small lake, which on the surface floated pink and purple flowers of the trees that surrounded the pond. "The pond?" Sarah asked, glee spreading on her face.
Jareth sighed and agreed, his voice muffled with emotion. "Secretive, charming, a place I love and cherish. Yes, it's you."
For a long time, they remained silent and Sarah let Jareth's emotions flow through her; she felt the peace, longing after ten years, and the love finally able to express itself and tears welled up in her eyes. "What have you done to me?" she whispered, shivering in his arms.
Jareth hugged her tighter and his hot breath against her neck exciting more shivers from her than calming them. "I wanted to show you I would never leave you," he said, "therefore, I placed my… no, our lives in your hands." He explained to her gently and he saw a flash of panic pass in her eyes and he had to smile.
"Your link to my soul and the Labyrinth isn't as deep as you may think," he whispered gently, bringing his face up again, till his brow was against hers, and his eyes were locked with hers. The tears were still there, forgotten and not falling. "This is my private paradise and hell because if the imperial court happens to know the real connection between the Labyrinth and me, it's likely to believe they'd come and try to destroy us, because I truly have the power to take over the whole Underground. This is the consequence of my great-uncle's foolishness and I know I wouldn't be able to live without the Labyrinth, and she with me, but you could. And when I die you'll be free of me."
This time a tear, and only one, fell from her right eye. "What about me?" she asked in a small voice.
He moved nervously and sighed. "If you ever die, then I'll die the minute after."
"But…" Sarah started to say but Jareth cut her.
"This is how I want it to be," he said firmly, his tone showing her clearly he wouldn't hear anything else on that matter. "And she's agreed with me," he added as an afterthought.
"I can't live Aboveground anymore," Sarah suddenly acknowledged, and
Jareth inwardly winced. That was the part he had feared.
"Not as long as I live," he said, while trying to keep the pain and fear from
his voice even though he knew it was useless. If she willed it to be so, then
she could feel what he felt. His firm tone was just a diversion, but Sarah
didn't see that it was just a play not to worry her, and her next question
almost tore his heart. "What if I wanted to go Aboveground?"
This time, he couldn't keep the pain and fear out of his voice. "Sarah… Please, don't leave me…" he pleaded.
Just fear me, love me, do as I say and I will be your slave.
The words rang in her mind and she blurted them out without realizing that she had almost killed him, there, as it was obvious to her that it was what she had planned all along. "Would you come with me?" she asked, her head tilted to the side. She was surprised when he buried his head in the hollow of her neck, shivering.
"Sarah, Sarah, Sarah…" he admonished. "You frightened me quite a bit, there, dear." He let a laugh escape his lips and he raised his head to look at her. Her eyes were wide in surprise, but then they turned glassy for less than a second as she took a peek into his heart and understood.
She brought her arms around him and hugged him as fiercely as he had. "I love you!" she exclaimed, trying to make him forget what she had almost done.
Jareth smiled and kissed her neck again. "I know."
"You insufferable man!" Sarah backed away because she had wanted the same confession from him, but he of course, had to have it his way.
He shook his head at her sudden ire and opened his heart to her. "You know how I feel about you," he explained to her. Jareth didn't want to tell her. For him, those three words weren't enough to tell how he felt about her. They just weren't enough.
"Tell me," she insisted; her lips pushed together like a pouting child.
Jareth cocked his head to the side and smiled. "Do I have to?"
"Do we always have to fight?" Upset, Sarah tucked an offending lock of her hair behind her ear.
Jareth reached out and put her lock back where it was in the first place. "Are we fighting? I wasn't aware of it." Just to annoy her, a little teasing.
"Jareth!" she cried out in annoyance as she tucked her hair behind her ear again, the same hair that Jareth hurried to put back how it was before.
"Yes, dear?" he asked, almost absent-mindedly.
Sarah huffed indignantly and crossed her arms under her breasts, a movement that brought Jareth's eyes to her chest. "Jareth…" she started, as he was busy staring.
"Hum?" he answered. But if he had paid more attention he would have detected immediately the suddenly serious and uneasy look on Sarah's face.
"I…" Sarah started, then thought against it and resuming again said, "I've heard about…" Sarah stopped and took a deep breath, and that was when Jareth sensed that something was wrong and he raised his eyes to meet hers as she said, "about Emerald."
Jareth blinked once, his face unreadable and he repeated the name, quietly. "Emerald."
"Yes…" Sarah hastily looked away, biting her lower lip.
"And you wish to know more."
Sarah felt panic rise in her breast and she waved her hands nervously in front of her. "If… If you don't want to I understand, I…" she said quickly but Jareth started to sing, cutting her off.
In a mystical land so far
away,
I'll tell you a tale that was true way back when
As it is true to this day.
It starts with two noble men and a fair lady
All of them not knowing the part they would play.
One of great power whose family she belonged,
The other two bound by friendship and brotherhood.
Family one says has such a great love
But no one can see the pain it can hold
Two men bounded by brotherhood but not by their blood.
Not a care in the world as royalty was concerned
Until thine lady was heard of.
One in joyful bliss as just to gaze upon her,
Her eyes stole his heart in that one look from her.
The other in such pain from losing his queen
She held all of his love o his dear sweet mother the queen
The one would go on with his dark hair in the breeze
Of her lovely looks and his thoughts were of these
Her hair is that of such golden thread and eyes of the deepest green
O one day I hope her to be my one and only true queen.
The other looking on him with such distaste for love
His long blond hair hanging over his face
Hiding mismatched eyes and his cold embrace.
As others looked on some running away some quaking in fear
No one understood him surely they did not dare.
They did not see his pain or the tears that he shed
From losing the warmth of his heart from deep within.
So they met, the three of them, on a
glory night
When the Lady was giving a festival,
When the first was in awe,
The second, in fury was.
But the lady was wise and in love
For she knew what in the fair one's heart was
She knew the love that bounded him to his brother
She knew the pain he tried to hide behind his blond hair
They wanted to marry,
They wanted to laugh and love
They wanted to share eternity
But that's not what life allowed them to have.
The young brother with a bitter heart
Watched, jealous, this woman come and steal
What he thought as his and only his
The attention of his older brother
When he was harsh she was kind
When he tried to make her cry, she'd hide her tears and laugh
When he'd come unexpected she'd open her arms and let him in
And so the time passed until men's foolishness caught their world
In turn they were to marry
They did laugh and love
But eternity would never come
And so, one day the great war did come
Galion thine brother and warlord was called upon
To fight for the Underground and his one true love
So he did leave but to make sure she was safe there only be one lone place
With his brother she did stay
Her looking on him and him backing away
Until one day she stood at his face
Only to ask him "but why?"
Him losing his temper, yelling and being a disgrace
She opened her eyes and saw the full truth
The skies cracked with the greatest of sound
Opening up letting their tears fall down
Just like those on her porcelain cheeks running down
She turned and ran into the storm
He followed and called on his brother for help and the two of them were gone
When they did find her alone
In tears she asked to be forgiven
But the King said "there is no need"
Only then did Galion know of the love the three of them held
He would see them to marry ,
To laugh and love
But only longing and sorrow left to him
all alone
In the middle of the Labyrinth
She would bear two lovely children
A boy and a girl
Yet the doctors said she could carry no more
The lady did not listen to their pleas
And the third she kept in her own trust
Until one day she was ill from a cold
And the child would not keep in her hold
Jareth was there and so was a nanny
And she forbid him to call her husband from a far off land
She made the King promise to take care
of the ones that she did love
On a whisper and shedding a tear
She said "with all of my heart I love you dear Galion"
Then to their dismay so softly she slipped far off and away
In the front of King Obsidian's court
Did Jareth stand at the King's command
The Terran King, bitter and angry, asked slyly
If her husband knew of this tale
Even in the greatest men, lay the deadly seed of revenge
But before he could answer
Galion stated like a command
"We are closer then brothers he and I we each share half a soul until the
day that we may die"
The King then smiled and turned to his court
With a voice that boomed off the great walls he said
"Remember lady Emerald the beauty she did hold not only in body and heart
But through her whole soul"
Only then did Jareth speak "That
would be nice "
With a bow and a turn he was gone
Left only with love not gained but not forgotten
And this is my tale
The fate of only three
Galion, Jareth, lady Emerald above
The three of them knowing the greatest
That is...Love
In the eerie silence that followed, Sarah couldn't tear her eyes from Jareth's face. His eyes clouded with memories and his heart heavy with regret, he finally looked down at her and a question escaped her lips before she could stop it. "Who wrote this song, Jareth?" She whispered quickly and his eyes widened so lightly before he lifted her so that he had his head against her breasts, his arms closed around her waist, using her like a pillow.
Yawning, Jareth finally whispered back. "I did." A smile crept on his lips and he raised his eyes to meet her. "Obsidian apologized, for the summon. And the words came by themselves, urging me to put them down." He shrugged and rested his head against her again.
"Jareth…" Sarah ran her hand in his hair, waiting for him to tell her more.
And his muffled voice came again, his head buried in her shirt. "Emerald is the first woman I learned to love." He breathed in her scent deeply, tickling her doing so. He smiled and looked up. "Some say the second one is always sweeter."
A blush warmed her cheeks, and if she had any more doubts, they got bashed away when Jareth let his emotions flow in her. Jareth chuckled, as she said, her voice heavy with emotion. "Oh, Jareth." Sarah couldn't say more and she bent her head, kissing him lightly on the brow. Teasing, she asked him. "Will you write a song for us?"
"Us…" The word fell on his lips, and he savored it, his eyes closed, like honey on his tongue. "I don't know. Maybe."
…………………………………………………….
Later, much later, when Jareth finally convinced himself to release Sarah from his arms, he decided to take a look at the changes his lands and the Labyrinth had. He was standing, his arms crossed over his broad bare chest as he hadn't thought of taking a new shirt, in his study. The night was fading away and he hadn't seen any real changes in the Labyrinth so far but he'd have to fly over his lands to make sure.
A familiar voice surprised him but Jareth cancelled his shock and didn't even bother to turn around. "Does she finally trust you?" Galion asked as he walked closer, to lean on the wall, on the right of the window Jareth was staring through. He knew he had surprised his brother again at his sudden stiffened back but then Jareth had relaxed again and his shoulders fell.
A quick smirk lit up his face as he answered. "She's learning." He had always wished, in the secret of his heart, to tell Galion about the real nature of the Labyrinth but he had never built up enough courage to. How ironic. Galion was the closest to brother that he could ever have but he couldn't be closer because of the secret he kept. Secret he had so willingly and almost thoughtlessly cast away for Sarah.
"Care to elaborate?" Galion growled. He was in a bad mood.
He had been the one to feel when Jareth had pulled Sarah back to the Underground and he had been the one to find them: curled in the garden, Jareth's breathing raged, his lips turning blue, sweating like he had a fever and his eyes tightly shut while Sarah… When Galion had taken a look at Sarah, he had felt his blood run cold in his veins for she had her eyes open. She was staring at something, somewhere, wherever she was, giving her usually vivid iris a glassy and frightening look and she was hardly breathing at all.
For a moment, Galion had thought she had died. But then, something happened and Sarah twitched as if someone had closed his fist around her heart. As he couldn't stand the sight of his brother and his lady like that, Galion had gathered them in his arms with difficulty and vanished for Jareth's room where, with the help of his magic, he laid them on the bed. He had tried to pull them apart to see if Jareth truly had a fever but whenever he was trying to pull Sarah away, Jareth would moan like a wounded beast, so Galion only had taken the bloodied shirt off Jareth's shoulders, washed his little brother, pulled off his boots and covered the couple with the blanket.
Then, as if he could suddenly feel the hundreds of his years falling like rocks on his shoulders, Galion had fallen on his knees, burying his face in his hands, praying the Ancient Ones to spare Jareth and Sarah. He didn't know what had happened to them. The thought of an attack had crossed his mind but the Labyrinth would have never allowed it. That he knew.
He had witnessed, countless of times, the Labyrinth's spirit come and protect Jareth during the wars they had faced together but when asked upon that matter, Jareth would only smile and say nothing. But, even knowing that the Labyrinth's spirit would protect him, Galion couldn't help worrying. Until Calandra crying and Nathan fighting his own tears away came to him, begging him to tell them a story because they were having nightmares.
So, as soon as he had felt magic, Jareth's touch, nonetheless, leaving the King's bedroom to his study, Galion had freed his entangled limbs from Calandra's and Nathan's grip to talk to Jareth. He needed answers.
Jareth pondered for a while, not looking at his brother. He watched the coming light, coming closer to kiss the top of the farthest mountains gently, announcing the beginning of a new day. "I gave her the power to share my emotions, so that, she can see for herself that I love her and I don't want her to leave me ever." A smile welcomed the light. A new day, indeed, and a new life, with Sarah. He thought.
Galion growled again and he grumpily said. "You're not telling me everything."
"Aye, brother." Jareth finally turned to meet Galion's eyes. "There are things I'm not going to tell you."
Clenching his jaw, Galion suddenly asked, pushing himself off the wall, he leaned on Jareth, trying to see the depths of his mismatched eyes. Jareth's eyes would always give him away. "What is the Labyrinth?" Galion could swear he saw a flame of what he identified of guilt flashed and disappear in Jareth's eyes but his little brother only smirked back.
"The Labyrinth? I thought the name was self-explanatory. You know, it's a twisted place, just like a soul or a loving heart." Jareth waved his hands in front of him, waving his brother's suspicious question away.
But, Galion didn't let Jareth and his vague answers go away, this time and he pressed on, upset. "How long are you going to avoid my questions? Calandra was crying last night and when I coaxed her into talking she said she had had a nightmare. She kept seeing Bran getting killed by his traitorous generals. Who the hell is that Bran? And don't tell me it's Bran, the Undefeated King, or else I'll crush you!"
Jareth chuckled and answered. "Well, we both know the legend on the first Goblin King."
"Jareth!" Galion roared, he was growing tired of Jareth's little game. Oh, he knew what his brother was doing, he was back to his annoying charming little self and wasn't going to let go so easily a way to annoy him. "What did the Labyrinth do to my kids?" Galion locked his eyes with Jareth's and he felt all his tension and worries get washed away.
A gentle flame was burning in Jareth's eyes and sighing, Galion knew he wasn't going to have answers nor did he have to worry about the Labyrinth anymore, Jareth would never let anything hurt his children. Never. So, when Jareth said, grinning like a devil, Galion didn't even raise an eyebrow.
"Well, I really don't know brother, why don't you ask the Labyrinth yourself?"
Galion disappeared back to his children's room, where he laid upon the bed, trying to find a way to make Jareth pay back. Oh, nothing too serious… Maybe telling Sarah one or two of Jareth's so embarrassing childhood stories… Yes, that would be fun and that would teach his brother to try to play rougher than him… Life was going to be really funny with Sarah around…
…………………………………………………….
Tell me exactly what I am
supposed to do.
Now that I have allowed you to beat me
Do you think that we could play another game?
Maybe I could win this time…
I kind of like the misery you put me through.
Darlin' you can trust me completely,
If you even try to look the other way,
I think I could kill this time.
It doesn't really seem I'm getting through to you.
Though I see you weeping so sweetly.
I think that you might have to take another taste
A little bit of Hell this time…
…………………………………………………….
A tall man with long and fair, almost white hair, strolled in the royal library. He was walking proudly, his high-knee black boots shining in the fading daylight, his strides long and powerful and his mismatched gaze wandering from left to right, looking for someone. "Sarah?" He called, his powerful voice bouncing on the walls. To say that the library was big was an understatement. It had rows and rows of books, with several little places with chairs and coffee tables, to let the wanderers relax in this huge place. Sarah had joked that she had a tougher time to find her way through the library than the Labyrinth.
"Yes?" Her voice resonated far away.
Jareth smiled and shook his head as he stopped where he was and asked again, "Where are you?"
"Section 19!" She yelled back and Jareth sighed.
"Again?" He sighed again, as he made his way towards her. "What's so interesting in the Labyrinth's History?" He found her cuddled in a high red chair, a smug smile on her features, several books around her. Jareth was ready to bet his whole Kingdom she had been reading the whole day. Again. "This stuff is all boring." He complained as he neared her, bending to drop a kiss on her hair.
Sarah laughed. He had rolled his eyes several times at her obsession with the Underground History and Bran's time. "That's because you're used to it and you grew up with teachers trying to get it in your thick skull." She moved in the chair so that he could sit next to her. Or rather, so that she could sit on his lap as her swollen stomach no longer allowed the two of them the ability to sit wrapped in each others arms in the same chair.
"All right, you're no longer allowed to talk with Celia about my childhood." He pouted, closing his arms around her shoulders.
Sarah giggled and at his mortified expression, she confirmed what he had feared the giggles meant. "It wasn't Celia."
"Galion?" He asked but he knew who had told her, again, stories about his childhood. Really, if he didn't know her better, he would have thought she enjoyed embarrassing him. Well, she had changed since Sarah's arrival.
"Nope." Sarah said with self-confidence. "She told me how you'd convinced your teachers to sneak out of classes." She giggled again.
Jareth let go of a dramatic sigh. "I wish she hadn't."
Sarah could hardly repress her laugh. "You were quite inventive."
"Sarah…"
"Telling your history teacher that you had a sword lesson, and then convincing your sword master that you had a political lecture, and then telling your political teacher you had a make-up lesson with your history teacher because he had been ill the week before, therefore, all your teachers thought you were with another one, while you were playing with Galion in the Labyrinth. Really." She admonished, trying, but failing, to sound serious.
Jareth laughed then, remembering that fateful day and he asked her almost dryly. "Yeah, and did she tell you that my history teacher ran into my political teacher and when they saw each other they ran to my old sword master, and when the three of them looked at each other, they realized I had been pulling their legs. Did she tell you what they did?"
"They went to get you?" Sarah laughed again and hugged him.
"Worse, they called upon my father. I was locked up in my room for a whole week and everyday teachers would come, making sure I was studying." Jareth shivered at the souvenir. Sarah had learned that Jareth never really liked to stay in the same room for long. He preferred being outside.
She smiled gently down on him when someone decided to let itself known. "Oh!" Sarah jumped in surprised more than hurt as her hands fluttered to her belly.
Alarmed, Jareth pressed his hands over hers, sending her his warmth. "What?"
Sarah leaned on him and rested her head on his shoulder. "Little one here wants to say hello to his daddy."
Jareth ran a gloved hand over her. "I could look and tell you if it's a boy or a girl." He pointed out.
As expected, Sarah looked up at him and glared, covering her belly with her hands, as if she wanted to hide the baby. "NO!" She said firmly, her lips pushed in a pout.
Jareth rolled his eyes and smiled. "Very well…"
"I want a little Jareth." Sarah said suddenly, after settling against Jareth again.
"What?"
"A little boy who will look just like you…" Sarah reached for his pendant and started to play with it. "I'll turn insane before he's five, but…" She looked up and smiled again.
"What if I wanted a princess looking just like you?" He asked, his eyes twinkling.
Sarah tapped him gently on the nose. "Don't lie, I know you want a son you could teach all those pranks you and Galion are preparing."
"Dear, you wound me. How low do you think I am?" Jareth tried to look as innocent as the day he was born but Sarah didn't buy it.
"Nathan heard you, Jareth." She pointed out, poking him on the chest. "He heard you and Galion planning what pranks and jokes you'd make our son do to the old members of the Imperial Court." She narrowed her eyes.
Jareth laughed and tried to make her see things his way. "Ah, come on! It'll be fun!"
"You're hopeless." This time, it was Sarah who rolled her eyes heavenward in a way that was always driving him crazy. "Sometimes I wonder if I'm not expecting one but two children." She said, but he almost didn't pay attention, whenever she was doing that with her eyes, he was feeling a pull towards her, a strong pull to kiss her.
"Me? A child?" He leaned on her, bringing his lips closer to hers, without touching them.
"Yes, you mister!" She smiled, knowing what he was up to.
"Well, that's something I should remedy immediately…" He trailed and a loud, slamming noise was heard, scaring Sarah out of her mind.
"Jareth!" She turned in the direction of the noise, asking. "What was that?"
Jareth took the opportunity to trail hot kisses down her exposed neck. "I've just locked the doors." He smiled when he heard his lady take a sharp inhale of air.
"And what for?" She asked, turning to him again, her arms coming around his neck, her fingers either playing in his hair, either caressing the smooth skin of his cheek.
"You really can't think of any reasons why I would want a moment with only you, my dear?" He asked her huskily, his own hands wandering down her figure.
"Nope. Please, enlighten me."
"That would be my pleasure…" He purred a second before claiming her lips.
When Sarah finally broke the steamy kiss, she whispered. "I love you."
"I know." Jareth answered against her throat. His hands had pulled her skirt up her thighs and he was teasing her, tracing circles on her excited flesh. He was planning on going further when she slapped his hands away, making him look up, confused. "What?"
Sarah was glaring, her arms crossed, frowning at him. "You've only told me once." She pouted.
"Told you what?" Jareth was really confused.
Sarah gritted her teeth but pushed through. "Those three magical words you keep on demanding from me, while you've only told me once."
Jareth smiled. "But, you remember them, don't you?" He asked, looking in her eyes.
"Of course!" She exclaimed.
Jareth shrugged. "Then, what's the matter?" He asked, leaning on her again, willing to resume their little kiss. With the baby and all, they couldn't do much but Jareth was rather willing to do anything than nothing at all.
"Jareth! It's not fair!" Sarah cried out. She wanted to keep on until Jareth gave in, but he surprised her by swallowing her outburst with a kiss.
"I won't tell you them again, Sarah." He said quickly, whispering against her lips. "Because they hardly express what I really feel about you…" He concluded with a kiss again, deepening it when she allowed his in.
"Stupid." She managed to say when he went back to her throat.
Almost like in a conversational manner, Jareth suddenly told her. "By the way, Jeremiah called and said there was a part you should rework." He nibbled on her pulse point, which quickened under his ministrations.
"Which?" She breathed. Jareth's hands resumed their circles games on her thighs and Sarah whimpered each time his thumbs touched her.
He brought her closer to his arousal, saying. "The one when the heroine faces her soul."
"Oh…" Jareth didn't know if she was surprised of her publisher demand or on the state he was in.
"He said it lacks a little in intensity." Jareth trailed open mouth kisses down her throat, until the rim of her dress stopped him from going further. Groaning at the material barrier, Jareth pulled on the dress with his teeth, saying. "He proposed to focus more on the Soul Woman the heroine meets."
Sarah had arched her neck to let him have a greater access, her eyes closed, as she was focused on following his maddening lips on her. "Hum, I'll think about that." She whispered. Finally, probably fed up with the clothing in his way, one of Jareth's hand let go of her legs to reach the buttons of her dress on her back.
"Where are you by the way?" He asked, pushing her left sleeve down. "Have you finished the next chapter?" His mouth quickly replaced his hand and he worked his way down her breast.
"Yes, I've finished it this morning." She buried her hands in his hair, bringing his lips closer, urging him to continue.
Jareth obliged by slipping her right sleeve down her arm. "Is the heroine's ivory tower down now?"
Sarah opened her eyes and cupped his face, making him look up and met his eyes. "Yes." She then leaned forward and kissed him gently.
.End.