Fae Council

Authors note: My heart bleeds for anyone who has been waiting for an update to this story. To my shame I had forgotten it's existence until tonight when I was reading some fics myself and came across this one. Imagine my horror when I realised the author was me...I immediately wrote a chapter, I just hope you all can forgive me. It has been, after all, several years since my last post.



The next day Sarah wondered the castle somewhat aimlessly, just enjoying the unusual vibe in the air. The very walls seemed to vibrate with energy, and all of her senses seemed magnified. Casting her mind back to the previous night, she wondered at the side of Jareth she had never noticed in her initial running of the Labyrinth. Certainly as a child she had been terrified of the physical attraction she had felt, but this, this feeling she had…was beyond describable. Last night he had been so unthreatening, so charming, she had almost started to wonder at the monster she had made him seem.



Wandering through the portrait hall, she now noticed with some shock that the painting of Jareth she had completed late last night was hanging in pride of place, among the other relatives, parents and royals. The same pair of mismatched eyes stared haughtily out of each gold inlayed frame. Unable to bare such intense scrutiny, even from canvas, Sarah backed slowly out of the hall, choosing a different direction for her meanderings. But even as she left the hall of portraits behind, she could not shake the feeling that she was being watched, and directed somewhere. Coming across a large set of majestic double doors, Sarah laid a single hand on the rich red-colored wood, elegantly carved to depict the labyrinth, from the Cliff and the Clock, to the Firey Forest, and finally the castle. Struck but a sudden need to see behind these doors, she couldn’t resist easing them open a notch. Then another, and another, until she has opened the doors enough to allow her slim frame entrance into what seemed to be the most awe inspiring library she had ever seen. Books, of every colour, shape, size, description, lay on every surface, walls that seemed to stretch up forever lined with shelf upon shelf of them, an illusion continued by the highly polished, reflective floor.

Gazing with wonder at the sight, she found herself drawn to a little, plain red leather book shoved between the a large grey book entitled ’50 Ways to Entice, Convince and Demand’ and something only describable as a tome whose title she couldn’t decipher. The little leather book had no visible title, and was by far the plainest, most boring looking out of the any spines displayed. Yet Sarah could not bring herself to dismiss it from her mind. The air itself seemed to encourage her forward. With fingers trembling slightly with anticipation, she caressed the spine, then, gently lifted the book off the shelf.



Is it time yet? The voices ask, words hissing and spitting silently from between the books

No, not yet, but nearly, just watch you will see…

Jareth lurched out of his chair when the malevolent tingles abruptly shook him out of his musings. He desperately hurtled around the corner. He can’t be too late, she wouldn’t have...couldn’t have...but he was too late. With despair he saw Sarah lifting the book he had thought he destroyed. When he was still learning the most important rule of surviving in the Labyrinth, if you don’t know what it is, or where it came from, do NOT touch it, he had picked it up, and been trapped in the void between the Underground and Upperground for two weeks before his goblins fished him out. Even as he remembered this, his sense Sarah was fading out. In a last desperate attempt to stop what he was powerless to stop, he cried out “Sarah…No! Drop the bo..” She turned, surprise written all over her face as she completely disappeared from the room.



Now we have her Jareth…what will you do to get her back?



Not thinking clearly, Jareth lunged across the room. The Fae council materialized all around him where he lay, leather book just out of reach as he remained where he landed. His intimidating kin, faces deceptively shadowed by the darkness they carried within them, showed amusement towards his plight. He had been mocked a ridiculed for his soft spot towards humans, and banished to the Labyrinth which had fast become his sanctuary. The council was not known for its leniency however, and he had allowed himself to be beaten by a mortal…no, not a mortal, his Sarah. And now she had gone. With the little self-respect that had not crawled away to hide beneath the book shelves, Jareth dragged himself up to a sitting position.

“Bring her back.” He glared up at the council, past the point of fear for himself.

The hissing laughter echoed.

“Bring her back!” He demanded, pulling himself up using the desk.

Soulless eyes looked back at him. She is human. It has been a long time since you have brought us a human to play with. She is ours now. Forget the human.



Closing his eyes briefly to gather his thoughts, the words permeated so far into his being he struggled to stand. The Fae, so far removed from human emotion, from any sort of emotion, couldn’t fathom that his Sarah was unforgettable. Without her, he wasn’t sure there was a him anymore. Opening his eyes to make them see this, he found himself alone. His world unraveled.