Once Upon a Crystal Ball (Part 2)

The very next evening, a masquerade was held in the ballroom; beings from every nook and cranny of the Labyrinth were invited- along with people outside the gigantic and ever changing wall. Marix was upstairs in Jareth's room, wondering where the King'd gotten off to.

Jareth paced about, reluctant to attend the dance just yet. He pulled a crystal from nowhere and gazed into it, watching the figures dance and chatter within. Closest in view was a tall willowy woman in a dress almost as pale as her skin, she had a silvery mask covering her eyes. She was currently dancing with a short-haired pointy eared man with a red coat and the mask that gave the impression of a tiger. Jareth recognized the woman as the lake lady, and the man as the mayor's son. His eyes shifted elsewhere about the crystal. They paused on an ornate dress swinging gracefully with its back toward him.

"Pretentious woman.." he muttered at his recognizance before he slid the crystal away and made his way back to his chambers where an orange ball of fluff was waiting. "Tell me Marik, why I continue to have these things?..." he asked the creature as he opened his wardrobe.

Marix shrugged,

"..That really depends on what things you're talking about." He snuck out the door before Jareth had a chance to ask yet another question he didn't want to answer.

----

"I wonder when he'll come downstairs.."

"..Can't be too long now, then again- maybe he's quite the coward after all." The first one to speak was a frail looking woman in a reddish gown and winged mask to match it. The second was a man with long and tufted black hair and a blue overcoat.

----

Jareth grumbled and contemplated throwing a shoe at the insolent orange thing, but thought better of it and pulled out a white adorned suit from the wardrobe and the owl-mimicking mask with it. He waved a hand and was dressed before he stepped down the stairs and into the entrance of the ballroom. He casually smiled and raised his voice so as to be heard..

"Welcome, please excuse my ..belated arrival.. I trust everyone is enjoying the ball?"

After Jareth had made his entrance, the music continued and dancers danced. Chattering became a constant drone, and most everyone merely gave a Jareth a smile or a 'how do you do?' One individual however wasn't so pleasant when confronting Jareth. In fact, his very words were:

"How dare you throw a party in what should've been my ballroom..?"

Jareth gave a soft sigh when he heard the voice behind him. He slowly turned to face the thorn in his side, one of many.

"Evening Zandr... Are my accommodations not suitable to your tastes...?" He crossed his arms airily, ".. I'm sure Varien would have approved..."

"Varien was mad. Especially when he handed the place over to.. you." Zandr's navy blue attire stood out drastically from the colors of costumes everyone around him was wearing. He frowned upon Jareth as if he were a muddy, stray dog that smelled of rotten garbage.

The tiny Marix turned here and there to avoid being stepped on until he found the familiar boots belonging to his master.

"Sir, there's a disgruntled brute outside the castle calling rocks up and down the streets.." Jareth looked down at creature and sighed.

"Well it seems this little discussion must, regrettably, be postponed.. A pleasure having you as a guest, Zandr... " Jareth's voice dripped heavy with sarcasm as he left again, following Marix outside.

"I expect this problem to be a big enough one to warrant interrupting me, Malix .."

"..There's no more front door. Our guests will have to leave through the front hole now.." Marix pointed out as they walked into the great hall which was covered in rumble and stones from where the giant door had been. "What really concerns me is that this beast isn't one of brains. Sir, someone told him to do this..."

Jareth's irritability had just grown to the point of a barely contained rage in about two seconds. Of course, Zandr was the first suspect in his mind.

"I'll be damned if I allow the entire kingdom to see this embarrassment.." He waved his hand and cleared a path through the rubble. His pace increased and he saw the backside of the pawn causing this immediate annoyance.

The brown beast was bellowing and Jareth felt earth rumble under his feet as a giant boulder threatened to take out a section of the wall. Jareth pulled out a crystal ball and threw it at the boulder and it vanished into nothingness. He now turned his attention to the beast by giving a shrill whistle, unsure whether it would respond to speech.

Hearing the high pitched whistle, the brute turned around and looked at the mess he'd caused. He saw Jareth standing before the mess along with another- smaller version of himself.

"..Ludo neck.. hurt.. bad!" He then reached up to his neck where a spiked collar sat and put a hand on it to get it off. His great paw was pricked by the sharp points; he roared out and drove another boulder in no particular direction. It wasn't just the weight of the heavy band that he didn't like, there was a row of smaller spike on the inside of the collar, cutting right into his neck. Jareth's eyes widened with mild shock before he tossed another crystal, this time at the creature. It turned into a muzzle on impact and the bellowing ceased. Jareth raised his voice to the flailing creature.

"..Be still!" This was ridiculous.. But if he didn't stop this thing, he wouldn't have much of a castle left. When the thing stilled some, he approached it to further examine the collar. It was nothing he recognized, but it seemed easy enough to remove, for one who doesn't have paws for hands. He sighed and rubbed his temple, "Well.. bend down then... "

Marix had decided to keep his distance from both the dangerous beings and just watched this scene unfold with fascination. Ludo, unable to call the rocks anymore or cry out in pain, had only to listen to what Jareth was trying to tell him to do. After comprehending it, he leaned forward towards the small man, with the only concern of getting the collar off.

Jareth, full of rage at whomever had caused him this inconveinance, bent more toward the lump of fur and maneuvered around the collar. It had definitely been enforced by some sort of magic, and few people around here could have managed the removing the thing, afterall. After a moment or two of tinkering, the collar fell to the ground. Jareth also removed the muzzle, now knowing the beast was capable of basic speech, he addressed it. "Who put that thing on you and brought you here?" he was clear and concise, but certainly not sympathetic.

"Uhh.." Ludo looked around for quite sometime before shrugging, his face grew wrinkly with the disappointment of not knowing. Then, his eyes grew real big. "..Sarah knows!"

Jareth grumbled inwardly. Of course.. Sarah. It had to be Sarah. Today was not Jareth's day.

"Right...her." Jareth gestured at the rubble. "Think you might clean your mess up a bit before you go?" He said, trying to refrain from sounding as disgruntled as he really was.

"Sure." Ludo let out a loud bellow, and all the rubble made of rocks rolled off back to nature. Only the door remained now, split in half and dented beyond repair from the stones.

Jareth set to his work, gracefully moving his hands over a freshly appeared crystal, re-weaving reality as only he could. After a few focused minutes, he released the crystal. The old door vanished, and a new one solidified in its place. It wasn't as grand as the first, but it would suffice for the time. Jareth looked toward Marix, who had been standing in the background the whole time.

"Inform the guests that I won't be returning tonight... I'll be in my room. " He entered the new door and looked back, "I'd rather there not be another reason to warrant any more little disturbances tonight.. "