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Flotsam had decided that it would be best to rucperate in my native element, i.e. the grotto, so he had brought me home. After we had woken up from our collective dream, he had taken me down to the beach. "You're an easy target for Lelouch in your weakened state here," he had said. "That's why we're going to the last place he would look for us: home."
He grasped my hand and we had doven beneath the waves. He was nearly as fast in water as Mat was on land (His tail must provide a little extra propulsion.), so we arrived back at the grotto in a few hours where it would have taken me days on land. Jetsam was there to greet us, but he didn't give the happy welcome I had expected when I was to come home on my own. Instead, he ran to us and hugged us to him as if we had come back from the dead.
"Thank Poseidon you're safe," he said. "I was afraid that you had been kidnapped too."
"Kidnapped? Me?" Flotsam said skeptically. "Come on Jetsam. After all we've been through, no one would even think about kidnapping us. Besides, Anastasia could never be like Ursula."
"You don't understand. Sarah is gone."
I didn't say anything. I was too horrified to express the pain and worry that I felt right then. Sarah Jennifer Williams Connelly was gone and it was all because I hadn't been there to protect her. Nothing else mattered now except for finding her. (see Special Ch. 1 to see how it turned out.)
Keeping my promise to Phoenix, I never removed the large sapphire from my neck, even though it was fully removable. (I had discovered in my weakened state that the clasp on the golden chain that held the sapphire did not hold fast like the ruby. The sapphire was a locket too, just like the ruby, but it didn't have anything inside. I had a pretty good idea what should be inside it though.)
Three days later, Jareth called me over to the Labyrinth about an important package. I had gone over to see what it was, bringing an item he wanted with me incase he didn't want to give it up easily, and had practically pelted him with praise for finding my lost "parcel." After we had exchanged items, he said, "I need to discuss another matter with you. It's about your birthday."
"That's not for a little more than three months," I said. "What could you possibly want to consult me about?"
"These things take planning and I just want to make sure I'm planning with your interests in mind. I have a venue in mind for the costume ball, but I wanted to make sure you liked it before I cancelled all business for that day."
"Oh, are you saying you run this venue?"
"Yes, actually. Come, take me back to your place and I'll show you."
When we got back to the grotto, Flotsam came up to me. He was holding something black in his hands; it looked a bit like a lotus blossom. "Phoenix charged me to make sure you never forgot your friends," he said. "Now that that's done, I can focus on doing the same for Melissa. I made this flower as best as I could since I've never seen a water lily before."
He'd done a pretty good job. The petals were rounded into fine points, branching out from the center in rounds of six in turn symmetry, the center curved slightly inward at just the right angle, and he had even included a lily pad. "I know just what to do with this," I said. "Jetsam, I need you."
"Yes mistress?" He stood in the doorway to the potions lab (He was almost always in there for the past three days.) with a vial of something that resembled callomine lotion in his right hand. When he saw the lily, he came right down to the beach and over to Flotsam and me.
Now that I had my "mix-master" with me, I closed my eyes. I focused on the flower in my hand. I imagined ice encasing the whole blossom, cold enough to suspend it in time but warm enough not to make it whither. I felt it spreading from the center outward, smooth and cool. When I opened my eyes, the blossom was encased in crystal. (Crystal is a bit like amber. It suspends everything it encases in time but it doesn't damage the specimen.)
I handed the now crystallized blossom to Jetsam, who proceeded to pour the pink mixture on to it. "When I saw Flotsam making this, I figured I'd help him out," he said. "He can make a replica of a flower. I can actually make it so believable that people will think it's the real thing."
At those words, the lily pad turned green, the center sprialed skyward, and the petals became yellow with pink tips. Flotsam and I leaned in closer and it actually smelled like a lotus blossom. Our collective efforts had created a crystal flower that lived up to its real life equivilant. Remembering who the flower was for, we whispered, "Remember your friends." to the flower together.
During the time that this was going on, I had noticed that Flotsam had not glared at Jareth once. 'They've gotten on good terms,' I thought. 'At least for now. I just hope this peace will last.'
"Excuse me. Aren't we forgetting something?" Oops! In my making something last forever, I had forgotten about the immediate situation. I handed the crystalized blossom to Flet and Jet and turned back to Jareth. "Follow me," Jareth said. "I'll show you the place."
The boys and I followed Jareth down a remote path that cut through the theatre district. The district was popular with tourists who enjoyed music and out-door plays in the summer, but in the winter it was practically deserted. As we approached one theatre however, the temperature warmed slightly; the snow still stayed packed around the steps, but I was able to take my coat off and bask in the glory of sunshine. "My apologies," said Jareth. "It's a spell that keeps the gardens in bloom all through the year. I don't own them, but I like to keep them in order anyway."
And what extensive gardens they were. Flotsam and I ascended the stairs with Jareth, but Jetsam, deciding to look further into the gardens, wandered through the ivy archway that served as an entrance. I couldn't see clearly from my vantage point but from what I saw, the gardens extended back for at least a mile to the left. (No other gardens exist on the right of the entry way, just so you know.)
Upon entering the grand foyer, I had the feeling that I had been there before. The white marble stairs were flanked by golden statues. White curtains hung from the pillars and the windows, and the marble landing on the stairs was decorated with a picture of the compass rose.
"I've been here before," I said. Flotsam seemed confused about what I said, but he was too stunned with the splendor of the foyer to ask me further. "In case you're wondering," said Jareth from the top of the stairs, "I had the foyer decorated in the style of the ballroom in my castle."
Jareth was part right. The curtains and upper level balconies did remind me of the sweeping and vast whiteness of his ballroom, but there was something else. I walked around the compass rose, searching for something. When I came to the point facing into the theatre, the North point, the floor opened down.
I jumped down, taking Flotsam by the hand and dragging him with me. 'The torture chamber,' I thought as the secret door closed above us. 'Just like I remember. The only thing that's missing here is-'
I never finished my thought because Flotsam found the mechanism that enabled our escape. We walked along a dark passage, me leading the way along the bank of a narrow river. "Such a strange place," Flotsam said, "but you said you've been here before."
"Not in real life, but I've seen images," I called over my shoulder. "However, I don't remember this passage. Mme. Giry pulled Raoul out of a different door than the one you found. If I'm thinking right though, we should be getting closer to..."
I trailed off as we came to a red curtain. I could tell it was red because Flotsam was slightly bioluminescent (in short, he glows in the dark). I flinched away from the curtain, not because I was scared of what was behind it, but because I actually knew what was behind it.
Flotsam parted the curtain and we emerged in a cavern illuminated by at least a hundred candles. Now I knew why I had the feeling I had been here. 'It looks just like it,' I thought as I lightly fingered the piano behind the immense mass of candles.
Flotsam drifted off in front of the mass and walked to the left. He let out a shriek of shock, which sent me running to his side despite the fact that I was scared of what he had found. As I had expected, a bridal maequin was behind another red curtain. However, it wasn't Christine's face that stared back at me; it was Melissa's!
"What do you think?" asked a voice. I yelped in fright and clung to Flotsam for protection as Jareth strolled out from behind the manequin.
"Why didn't you tell me he was right under our noses all this time?" I shouted at him accusingly.
"Because it would have blown the cover of slight secrecy I have in watching Lelouch. Also, I lied about not knowing anything about him. I always knew that he was Erik's descendant."
I glanced out on to the glassy lake. Mist was rising from the lake, and from my eyes, as I recalled the words Christine had sung:
I remember there was mist.
Swirling mist upon a vast glassy lake.
There were candles all around,
and on the lake there was a boat.
Wait! I stopped before I got to who was in the boat because I saw something curious in the water. I dove into the water, Flotsam close at my heels, and fetched the purple orb at the bottom of the pool. 'It's about time we went home,' Flotsam thought. 'Agreed.' I though back. I resurfaced and shouted "It's perfect." to Jareth before Flotsam and I swam out of Lelouch's hide out and back to my grotto.
 srs diva 2011 xxl · Mon Apr 13, 2009 @ 12:44am · 3 Comments |
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