A/N: I am a VERY slow updater, but I am still writing. Also all characters etc. belong to JK Rowling and Jim Henson.
An Immortal Magic
By Cariah Delonne
Chapter 11
The weeks began to pass with an almost monotony. Classes came and went, and before Sarah had noticed, it was almost November, and Christmas was just around the corner. If asked, Sarah would not have been able to say how the time passed, except that the late summer had given way to Autumn and finally winter, the first snow falling on Hogwarts grounds late one Friday afternoon.
Sarah was studying in the common room next to the window, her head aching from the amount of work she had to do over the weekend when Ginny entered, her coat sparkling with the first snowflakes on her shoulders, and her eyes ablaze with excitement. 'Sarah, come on! It's snowing! You know how much you love the first snow fall of the season!'
Wistfully, Sarah glanced outside, watching the flakes fall onto the grounds. She did love the first snow – everything slowly becoming blanketed in white, and to be part of it… but she had too much work to do. Shaking her head, she turned back to Ginny, only to find the common room had disappeared. Eyes wide in fright, she flicked her head back to the window. Snow was still falling outside, but the grounds had changed. The hauntingly familiar twistings of the Labyrinth greeted her, snow falling onto the maze delicately, casting the same eerie glow that she so loved about a snowstorm.
Boots sounded behind her, and she stiffened. She did not need to turn to know who stood behind her, and she did not need the confirmation of his voice when he finally spoke. She had been relieved when he had not called her back for a lesson in the last month or so. Their meetings had become much more sporadic since his threat – no, since his declaration – that he would trap her in the Labyrinth. Defence Against the Dark Arts had been no more eventful than their previous teachers had made it, and so the term had continued on as if nothing was unusual about having a Fae Professor in the school. Even Malfoy had backed off, although she suspected his father might have had something to do with that. The Malfoy's certainly seemed to have a healthy fear of Jareth in vast reserves, and with Sarah's newfound sources of magic, that fear seemed to have extended to herself as well. Not that she was complaining.
'I have been rather too occupied to keep up with your education,' Jareth began. It was not an apology, merely an explanation. 'Therefore I decided we might spend some time in the Underground, where time is more… flexible.'
Sarah swallowed. Her previous experiences with his flexibility of temporal elements had not been particularly pleasant.
His boots sounded on the stone floor again as he moved yet closer. She shivered, only to find that her school clothes had been replaced by a dress, reams of satin flowing around her. This was not the dress she had been wearing last time she had been here – this was far from that childhood fantasy, a satin gown that flowed from her waist and accentuated her figure, the neckline hinting at, but not exposing anything. The sleeves were short, and she ran her hands over her arms to warm them up. Back at Hogwarts, she had been wearing a scarf and jumper, fit for the season. This – this was nothing more than Jareth's imagination. That made goosebumps run up her arms even more. He had made it more than clear that he felt nothing but hatred for her. Clothing her in a gown fit for a Queen was not the way you treated someone you hated without a reason.
'Why am I here?' se demanded.
He smirked at her, eyes glinting. 'I haven't brought you here for good, if that is what concerns you Sarah,' he said silkily. 'Last time you saw my Labyrinth was in the height of summer – I thought it time that you saw it during the snow season.'
'I'm surprised you don't hide yourself in your tower and coat it in white all year round,' Sarah said icily. 'You certainly don't waste time on other niceties.'
He watched her coolly. 'That is a reference, I think, from one of your mortal stories. Tell me Sarah, do you think I am the devil?'
She didn't reply. She had only his word that she wasn't stuck here – but she wasn't about to burn all her bridges. After all, she had no idea how to get back – even if people would eventually start asking questions. He could make time stretch here, but he couldn't prolong her absence eternally without arousing some comment. At least, she didn't think so. Surely, at some point, time would need to resume in the mortal world, with or without her return.
Changing the subject, Sarah drew her eyes away from the snowflakes that slowly coated the Labyrinth, turning to face him. 'Did you bring me here for a lesson? Why here?'
He seemed to study her, a smirk on his face. He knew he had the upper hand, and it grated at Sarah that she knew she'd have to bow to him, particularly here. This was where she had beaten him – where she was supposed to have won – and while the mortal world was essentially her own world, this was his.
'Because this is where your magic is at its strongest,' he said softly. 'This is where your magic comes from, and this-' he cast his arm across the Labyrinth, 'is where it naturally flourishes. I thought perhaps you would learn quicker in an environment naturally suited to your form of magic. The mortal world is not so… adaptive, you might say.'
Sarah returned her gaze to the great maze beneath her, but watched him distrustfully out of the corner of her eye. She didn't feel any different, but then, she had not felt any different on the night she had supposedly won her magic. A little empowered by her victory perhaps, but nothing more.
'Create a crystal,' he whispered in her ear, leaning uncomfortably close. Sarah felt her heart leap into her throat from fright, and she turned to face him, only to find his eyes boring deeply into hers. He smiled cruelly, eyes alight with amusement. She got the feeling he was toying with her, as a cat would with a mouse. Stepping away smoothly, Sarah shook her head and moved closer to the window, placing her hands upon the railing and gazing across the snowy landscape.
'Sarah…' Jareth said coolly, his voice like velvet caressing her skin. She felt goosebumps prickle along her arms at his tone, but did not turn to look at him.
'Sarah…' he repeated, 'look at me.'
Reluctantly she turned, staring up at him as he towered over her.
He grinned, his mouth showing his sharp canines as his eyes glinted. 'That dress is rather becoming Sarah, you should really take better care of your appearance.'
Staring at him in shock Sarah could feel her heart beating in her chest. She did not like being in the Underground – it put her all too entirely under Jareth's control. And the thought that her magic would be stronger here did not cheer her – doubtless his own magic would also be more powerful than in the Aboveground. His lean figure was accented by his knee-high boots, seeming to make his legs longer, and his angular features stared down at her expressionlessly. 'But I brought you here for a purpose,' he continued, 'and I asked you to create a crystal. Perhaps if you become used to how much magic one needs to be in order for it to be effective, your studies will be more productive when we return to the Aboveground.'
Holding up her hand, Sarah obeyed, although she felt even more exposed than she usually did, standing in a ball gown in the centre of the Labyrinth, being gazed at by a man she knew to be King of this world.
To her surprise, magic flooded into the crystal, faster and easier than she had ever felt it before. Eyes never leaving hers, Jareth leant forward and plucked the crystal from her fingertips. He smiled at her as he let the crystal roll over his fingertips. Tossing it back to her, his eyes gleamed with triumph. 'Much better. Later we will try putting something into the crystals. This is not as precise as casting a spell – there are no words or enchantments that you will need to memorise.' He created a crystal himself, and blew gently on it before releasing it. Gently, it floated out the window, where it disappeared from sight.
'For today, I want you to concentrate on how much magic it takes to create a single effective crystal. I will warn you now – you will feel the effects of using so much magic when you return to the Aboveground.' He turned on his heel, moving towards the door. 'I will return later.'
Sarah watched him in shock. 'What? Where are you going?'
'I have business to attend to. I will return for you when it is time to return Aboveground. I suggest you use the time wisely. The next time I summon you for a lesson I expect you to know exactly how much of your magic is needed to create a single crystal.'
'You're leaving me here? How do I know you're not going to just trap me here and forget about me?'
He smirked cruelly. 'Do not worry Sarah. That time has not come yet.'
In an instant, he was gone. Sarah watched the slight trickle of glitter fall to the ground with a scowl.
'Wait!' she cried, but it was too late. He was gone.
An hour or more when by – she could not be certain of the time – and Sarah had all but given up on the crystals. She had thought he would return by now, but there was no sign of his coming back. Not long after he had left she had slumped to the ground, creating crystals and figuring out how much of her magic it needed in order to remain solid. It was almost alarming – she could feel the sheer power trickling through her fingers, and wasn't sure if she would be able to command that much control over her magic in the Aboveground. But that was no reason to want to stay here indefinitely. Standing up, she cast her eyes across the Labyrinth again, her eyes seeking anything familiar in the alien landscape. Brushing the dust off her skirt, she gazed thoughtfully towards the door. She was far too high above the ground to think about climbing from the window, but she had not seen Jareth lock the door. There was always a chance.
Expecting him to appear at any moment, Sarah hesitantly reached out to the doorknob, twisting the handle. The catch released beneath her fingers, and she poked her head out into the corridor, still expecting someone to jump out at her, but everything seemed deserted.
Looking back into the room, Sarah smiled to herself before stepping out into the hallway. After all, she'd done what he asked, and now she wanted something else to do. A small voice at the back of her mind chided her for being so reckless, but she pushed it aside. She'd beaten the Labyrinth before, hadn't she?
Making her way through the castle, she stopped at every corner and looked both ways before moving any further, but the whole castle seemed deserted.
It wasn't long before Sarah knew she was lost. Every turning she took looked exactly the same, and there were no rooms, only endless corridors. She couldn't even find the throne room she had run through on her previous visit. No windows, no doors. She tried walking in a straight line, to see if that helped her find a conclusion to these endless hallways, but she got the distinct impression she was walking in circles.
She had come out of a room hadn't she? There had to be more rooms in the castle – she knew there were more rooms in the castle! Why couldn't she find any of them? Tracing her hand along the walls, she tried to find an opening similar to the one the worm had shown her so very long ago. But these were walls, and if they were hiding doors or openings, she couldn't find any, no matter how hard she looked.
She turned a corner, and abruptly stopped, staring up at the Goblin King as he watched her in amusement.
'I was just…'
'Lost?' he asked archly.
Her chin raised a little, that old streak of defiance still running through her. 'Looking for something.'
He raised his eyebrow delicately. 'Is that so. And did you find it?'
'Not yet.'
He nodded sagely, taking a predatory step towards her. 'I should have warned you that my castle does not take kindly to wandering visitors.' He seized her arm, and Sarah gasped at his unyielding grip. Pulling her to him, the world swayed a little before she found herself in a different room, this one lavishly furnished. She did not get a chance to take in her new surroundings before Jareth's voice, steely enough to cut through stone, rang out once more.
'Did you practice at all? I did not bring you here merely to sightsee. I have much better things to do than be at your beck and call.'
Sarah nodded dumbly, holding out a hand and producing a crystal. He watched her, his eyes dark and lips thin with anger. Taking the crystal she held out to him, he gave a small satisfied nod.
'Next time,' he murmured, 'I would not wander around the castle alone. You are lucky it only trapped you, and did nothing more. And while that wouldn't bother me in the least, Dumbledore might be a little put out that my Labyrinth harmed one of his students.'
Sarah didn't reply, but the thought that Dumbledore might stand between her and Jareth was a little comforting, even if she wasn't sure how much the wizard could do. On certain matters, Jareth had the authority to do as he pleased, and he was certainly used to getting his own way.
Thank you for all your lovely reviews! I know I post very irreguarly, there's not much I can do about that sorry!