�Amelia!� Lina called, waving.
Through her gag, Amelia squealed at them, her hands and feet tied to a chair.
�Looks like Jareth couldn�t take her speeches,� Zelgadis observed, earning himself an elbow in the gut.
�LEVITATION!� Lina cast, stepping off the ledge.
�Oh, no you don�t, lovely Lina,� muttered Jareth, cutting off the spell.
Zelgadis just managed to grab her wrist before she fell.
�Damn it!� Lina swore as Zelgadis hauled her back up. They started running down the stairs to the left, but when they paused, Amelia was now on the ceiling!
�What the--?!?�
�No gravity,� Zelgadis snarled.
�MFR ZLGDS!� Amelia tried to yell through her gag, squirming. �MS LLNNEH!�
Lina and Zelgadis ran for another stairwell. But this time, Amelia ended up even further away and several levels below.
�GAAAH!� Lina shrieked in frustration. They tried another way, but again, Amelia was moved, this time to a dangerously small ledge high above them.
�Amelia! Don�t move!� Zelgadis hollered. Then he heard a dangerous chuckle behind him. Glancing back at Lina, he noticed her lips moving. �Ceipheed help us,� he groaned, and yelled up to Amelia, �HANG ON! SHE�S GOING TO ----�
��the power You and I possess! DRAGON SLAVE!�
* * * * *
Jareth�s eyes widened.
* * * * *
The Hall of Stairs crumbled around them. Rather than plunging to their deaths, Lina and Zelgadis found themselves touching down on a floor as lightly as if they�d Levitated. Walls and bits of stairwells continued to drift down around them as if slowed, and the floor they stood on seemed to float in nothingness.
Out of the darkness stepped Jareth. He was clad in pure white, with the full aura of his powers around them. He smirked at them, still confident of winning. Somewhere, a clock began to slowly toll thirteen.
�Very impressive. Zelgadis, you certainly cut a swath through my forces.�
Snarling, Zelgadis drew his blade, twisting it to create an ominous grinding sound as it came out of the scabbard.
�Want to take a shot?� Jareth asked casually. �When I could offer you� this?� A crystal appeared, balanced on his fingertips. In it, Lina could faintly see the image of the handsome young man who�d kissed her. Gasping, she realized it was Zelgadis�s human form.
�Not from you,� Zelgadis snarled, stepping forward and raising his sword.
�Pity,� Jareth murmured. He tossed the crystal at Zelgadis. It shattered in midair, showering Zelgadis with sparks. Lina blinked, and in that instant, Zelgadis had been turned from his usual bluish appearance, to utter gray granite. Even his clothes and sword were granite.
�Zelgadis!� Lina cried, rushing to him as Jareth chuckled.
Jareth grabbed her arm and pulled her away. �If not one, then the other!� he laughed. Lina tried to punch him, but he only caught her other wrist. �You know, he can still see like that.� Jareth whispered. Then he kissed her hard.
Twisting her face away, Lina cast, �MONO VOLT!� but not so much as a spark emerged.
�Lina. Beautiful Lina. Powerful Lina. Stay, stay with me here in the Labyrinth.� Jareth crooned to her, his voice carrying glamourie to lure her. �I can give you power and treasure beyond your imagining��
Unbidden, the words of the storyteller back in the inn came to Lina�s mind.
�Through dangers untold, and hardships unnumbered�.� Lina whispered.
Jareth stepped back.
Zelgadis�s eyes, still blue, glittered from his granite prison.
�I have fought my way here to the Castle beyond the Goblin City, to take back the... child� you have stolen.�
�Only fear me, love me, do as I say and I will be your slave,� Jareth offered.
�For my will is as strong as yours, and my kingdom is as great.�
�Stop!� Jareth ordered, and startled, Lina fell silent. Calling up a shimmering crystal, Jareth held it out to her. �I am offering you your dreams. Your every desire fulfilled.�
With a glance at Zelgadis, Lina stood as straight and tall as she could.
�YOU HAVE NO POWER OVER ME!�
* * * * *
When Lina reopened her eyes, she was standing in the hallway of the inn. Zelgadis lay on the floor on his side at her feet. A white owl flapped above her head, then made for the open window at the end of the hall. She waited until it had disappeared into the night, then knelt to shake the chimera.
�Zel? Zel!� she whispered hoarsely.
With a groan, he rolled onto his back. Blinking, his eyes tracked onto hers and focused. �You did it.� He said.
�We did it.� Lina corrected. With a shocked expression, she gasped. �Amelia!�
She helped Zelgadis to his feet and they both scrambled for her room. Opening the door, they saw a bed illuminated by moonlight from the open window, and in the bed lay Amelia, fast asleep. As Lina tiptoed across the room to shut and bar the window, Amelia sighed, rolled over, and muttered, �Star of Justice� sleepily.
Zelgadis grimaced. �Even in her sleep?� he whispered to Lina.
�Yeah.� She pulled the door shut, and the two stood in the hall, just looking at each other.
�Well, um, well done,� Zelgadis said. �Goodnight.�
�Zel�.� Lina strangely wanted him to stay. After so much adventure together, it felt odd to just let him walk away. And then there was that dream of the ball.
�Yes?�
Lina paused, hoping the words would come to her, but none did.
* * * * *
Amelia remembered nothing of the nighttime adventure, Lina discovered when she carefully questioned Amelia in the morning. Then she was busy fighting Gourry over breakfast, and then they argued over which road to take. Then they happened upon some bandits who were just begging to be beat up.
So it wasn�t until that evening after they�d set up a camp, had dinner, and counted out the bandit loot that Lina had a chance to talk with Zelgadis.
As usual, he was seated a bit away from the snoring Gourry and the sleep-talking Amelia.
Lina settled down on the ground beside him. �Was it a dream?� she asked him quietly.
�No.� He pulled down his collar to show her a three-inch scar on his neck from the tiny goblin and it�s axe. �Healed it after we got back.� Glancing up at her tense expression, he hesitated, then continued, �Well, maybe parts of it were.� Not daring to look up, he began to polish his blade. The silence stretched between them.
�Too bad,� Lina finally said, and as she rose, she began to hum. Zelgadis�s head shot up as he recognized the song they�d danced to in Jareth�s fantasy ball. Their eyes met.
�I don�t need protection,� Lina whispered.
Zelgadis swallowed slowly, then he shrugged and whispered back, �I want to anyway.�
Lina nodded and knelt in front of him. �I�d rather have a prince.�
Nervous now, Zelgadis could only say, �I�m not a prince.�
Lina smiled slightly. �You�re close enough.� And she kissed him.
High above, a pure white owl flew, silhouetted against the moon.
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