Fandom [You Have No Power Over Me] [Labyrinth]

[-Q-]

Gristlewald looked up at the tall man, and crossed his arms over his chest, tapping his foot on the ground with impatience.
"Please?" Jenny smiled sweetly. "We really need to get to the castle...you see our friend..."

"Your friend was taken by the Goblin King." If Gristlewald had eyes that could 'roll', that would have been the reaction he had in response to the two friends at that moment. "She's doomed. Go home." He told them. "He's not likely to give another one up without a fight. And it won't exactly be a fair one at that!"

He looked over his broken garden, evidently still upset. "You don't want to go to the castle... it's not a nice place." He shifted somewhat uncomfortably. "Anyway... you're never going to get there in time..."

~

Jareth sighed. "Yes, I can shorten the time. And every time you say I'm being unfair, that little change of heart is ever more tempting." He threatened. "Don't push your luck Arriana. You don't even know what dangers your friends might come across in the Labyrinth."

She was rather beautiful and there was a part of him that found he wanted to keep her. It was lonely in his wretched fortress, surrounded by creatures who would rather sing and dance and cause a stink than have any sort of reasonable conversation.

He shook his head. "I do not have to be a cruel man Arianna." He told her, though his voice had dropped to something akin to a whisper. It wasn't as though he enjoyed being the ruler of this vile kingdom and the gross creatures in it. It wasn't as though he enjoyed being the taskmaster of impossible feats.
"I don't wish to harm you, or your friends." He admitted. "But rules are rules, and we are all bound by them."

He thought about what she said. She was right, he knew nothing of her life. Knew nothing of her world save that her friends had wished her away. "Perhaps you need better friends. Not ones who wish you away as a prank or a joke. This is no joke to me Arianna."

 

[apolla]

"Another one? What do you mean another one?" Adam asked, confused. It would make sense, considering he didn't know the story like Jenny and Arianna did. He glanced at Jenny for clarification, then decided that maybe he didn't want to know. At least not right then.

"We're not going to get there in time if we keep wasting time talking to you." Adam looked plainly at Jenny, his expression hopefully saying to her that they needed to move on. "Obviously you don't want to help us, so we'll just do it on our own." He slipped his hand into Jenny's then, and tugged on it gently. "Come on, Jenny."

---

Arianna glared at him over her shoulder, although fear was present in her eyes. He was right; she had no idea what was in the labyrinth, or what kinds of things Jenny and Adam would come across. She knew a little from what little of the book she'd read and the stories she and Jenny had read online... but that had been a long time ago.

She'd turned back around to face the labyrinth, but what he said caused her to turn back around to face him. "Just because Adam's an idiot doesn't make him a bad friend. How was he supposed to know this was real? Or any of us, for that matter? It's not-" She stopped herself, realizing she'd been just about to say the word fair, again. She wasn't the type to complain about life not being fair; she knew that better than anyone.

Sighing, she tried to meet his gaze. "Why would you want to make it unfair for them? By decreasing the time, or trying to stop them, or however you do it."

 

[-Q-]

Jenny watched confusion flicker over Adam's face for a moment.
She would have told him there and then the answer to his question, but they didn't really have time to stand around talking, they'd already wasted enough time, and Jenny didn't trust that they were any further in their mission than they had been when they had been trying to get out of the arid desert place outside of the Labyrinth walls.

Adam seemed to be on the same wavelength at least, deciding that now wasn't the time for such discussions and evidently, the strange little creature whose garden they had apparently literally trampled all over (or rather, she had) wasn't about to try to help them.

She felt Adam's hand take hers, urging her to move on.
She was about to turn, when the creature spoke again. "All right then." It tutted. "I'll take you. But only because my missus wanted me to go to the Goblin Market anyway..." He put his miniature broom to one side and trotted along so that he was next to them. "You'd best keep your wits about you though. This game you've found yourselves a part of can change on a whim."

~

Jareth rolled his eyes. "I just told you Arianna." He sighed, frustration showing in his tone. "I didn't make the rules, but I am bound by them." He confessed.
When Sarah had been here, it had been fun to toy with her, that was for sure. It had been interesting to make her life difficult, because Jareth had wanted her to stay with him.
But he had gone about it all the wrong ways.
She hadn't wanted to stay, why would she? Sarah's life had been better than anything he could have offered her here.
All he could have offered her was love.
And honestly, he was still a little brokenhearted and bitter because of her rejection.
"It's all up to you and your friends. Don't make things more difficult for them, or yourself than they have to be." He sounded deflated. "For now, they can keep their hours... 12 now, by the way. An hour has already passed."
He indicated to a large hourglass in the corner of the room.
"You can see them if you like?" He offered. She was a sweet girl, it wasn't her fault.

 

[apolla]

Adam had started to take a step, but it faltered as the creature behind them spoke up, offering to take them to their destination. "Really?" He turned, looking over his shoulder at the thing. Glancing at Jenny, a ghost of a smile crept onto his features, and for the first time since this happened, he didn't feel like such a fuck up.

He started walking ahead of them a little, and Adam spared one more glance at Jenny before walking after him, gently pulling her alongside him. "Can you, uh... tell us anything about this place?" He spoke after a few moments silence, and more than a few twists and turns.

---

Arianna rolled her own eyes, throwing up her hands in frustration. She'd been trying to be nice and understanding of him, but he was making it incredibly difficult. She turned her back to him and crossed her arms across her chest, looking yet again out at the labyrinth beyond them.

"An hour?" She whispered in horror, looking over her shoulder at him and then following his indication to the hourglass in the corner of the room. "So when that thing runs out... I have to stay here?" The question was rhetorical; she already knew the answer.

At his next statement, she slowly turned to face him. "I can?"