The Labyrinth on Bourbon Street 2

An Unexpected Duet

Sebastian faded in to a room with a single source of light; he, at first, thought he was dead. But then he noticed that the light was not shining on him. It was, in fact, shining on a woman in a long, sequined gown. Her hair looked an unnatural shade of fire engine red and her skin was multicolored in patches. He had found Lapis.

He picked up his head, trying to find out where he was. He was sitting at a concert grand piano, presumably on a stage somewhere, and Lapis was standing next to it. Something about her outline seemed unusual; was it the silence? It had to have been her aura of empty, energy-deprived silence.

"Sebastian..." whispered a voice in his head. But voices in his head were almost as negligible as his better judgement. After all, it was a dream, and he knew it.

"Ladies and gentlemen, jazz lovers the world over," An announcer voice said from nowhere. "Straight from the underground; Miss Lapis Lazarus and her Sebby."

A spotlight turned on him and revealed him to a crowd of well-dressed people. Some neon signs in the background flickered, and some glasses clinked off to the right. He deduced that they were in a fancy bar for a formal party, and they were acting as the entertainment.

Lapis turned her head. "A Flat, please." She instructed. But her tone was flat enough. By god, he had never seen his Lapis so robotic and apathetic. She was dressed to impress in her shimmering silver gown and long strand of Mardi Gras beads, but she was acting like a puppet on a string.

He started to finger a tune on the piano that he had never heard before. Some instinct was leading him. He was starting to think that he was the puppet. A couple of beats in, Lapis started to sway. She rolled her hips and brought a handheld microphone up to her lips.

Lapis started to sing about a princess in a castle, and the dragon that defended her. But one recurring theme was predominant in her song; the poisoned fruit. But Sebastian was too distracted by her provocative movements and seductive singing, that was seemingly directed towards him. The audience seemed to enjoy it, too. Every other second, some pig in the crowd was whistling to her.

"Why I've never met a heart..." Lapis sang. She was lying on top of the piano on her stomach, arched up so her chest and face were in Sebastian's peripheral view. She kicked her legs up and rested her chin in her hand. Her long skirt was draped off the side of the piano, and the entirety of her legs were exposed.

"Nor I, a work of art..." Sebastian answered, easily picking up on the repetitive melody. Lapis giggled in flattery and the crowd whistled and cheered.

Lapis would never tolerate anyone whistling at her, let alone enjoy the attention. Sebastian snapped himself out of the trance, but Lapis continued to strut.

Sebastian started to jingle the ending notes, but Lapis refused to get off of the piano. The crowd started to applaud with much enthusiasm. Lapis sat on the edge of the piano, lifted her hand like she was about to take a bow, but reached for her amulet necklace and ripped it off of her person.

Her dress looked like it was glitching for a minute while the crowd gasped in completely unwarranted horror. She then appeared again in the exact same clothes from the description on the Missing Persons ad.

She grew a huge, sarcastic grin as the crowd started to panic and scream at the uncanny display. She took a bow and yelled out "Thank you ladies and gentlemen, I'll never be here again!"

She shimmied over to the other side and offered Sebastian her hand.

"Come on, let's get outta here, piano man." She smirked, seeming uncomfortably nonchalant for the scenery.

Sebastian took her hand and she pulled him to her side, like an action hero holds a damsel in distress.

"Gotta brush off my Tai Chi..." Lapis huffed. She tossed the amulet over her head and suddenly launched her leg into the air and right heel kicked the thing through -- the audience. She kicked the amulet off the stage and it flew and smashed through the illusion that was the house.

The audience kept scrambling, despite a whole segment of them being shattered in fractals on the ground.

"This way!" Lapis took Sebastian by the hand. She leaped through the hole, holding Sebastian close behind her.

Sebastian and Lapis fell out of the pocket dimension that was Sebastian's dream and landed at the top of the hill. It would have been a decent way to stick the landing, if it weren't for the mud that turned the little hill into a slip-n-slide. They lost their footing and started tumbling down the slope. They finally skidded and stopped at the very bottom. Lapis was straddling Sebastian's thighs with her arms tightly wound around his broad shoulders, and Sebastian was cradling her waist protectively. The two stopped for a moment, trying to contemplate what just happened.

"I finally found you..." Sebastian gushed, not caring about the position in which they rested or the condition of their bodies -- he was just overjoyed to see his friend safe again. He brushed the hair out of Lapis's face to look into her eyes.

"Let me go..." Lapis panted, relaxing her legs and arms. Soon, they were on their feet and dusting off their clothes to the best of their ability.

"So, now that that's through with..." Lapis huffed. She tried to wipe the mud from her face so she could look him in the eyes.

"YOU ARE AN IDIOT, SEBASTIAN HEARST!" She yelled, her voice breaking as she shouted.

"HEY!" Sebastian raised his voice and his hands defensively. But in a confusing move, Lapis ran head first into his chest and hugged him, squeezing tightly. He then noticed a quiet sobbing coming from her general area. She was crying into his undershirt and muttering something to herself.

"I made a terrible mistake by leaving New Orleans and you were stupid enough to repeat my shitty decision..." She sobbed into his chest. Sebastian instinctively nestled her in his arms, stroked her hair and rocked back and forth.

"Hey, hey..." Sebastian soothed. "If there's anyone in New Orleans who has less to lose than you, it's me."

"That's not true." Lapis scoffed, a laugh slipping between her sobs. "I have nothing and no one..."

"Lapis." Sebastian stuck his finger under her chin and propped her head up to look her in the face. "Allie and I dropped everything to go and look for you. We made an adventure out of it. Do you still really think that you're on your own here?"

"I'm sorry..." Lapis apologized. "The guilt is clouding my better judgement..."

"No worries." Sebastian assured her, brushing her cheek.

"I'm so weak..." Lapis confessed. "I feel like such a burden. I'll find a way to make it up to you, I promise."

After a couple seconds of their hug, Lapis shot up when she realized that she overlooked an important detail.

"Allie's here too?" Lapis exclaimed, stepping away from the embrace, Sebastian unsure as to whether she was enthralled or enraged.

"How do you think I got here?" Sebastian folded his arms.

"Where is she?" Lapis asked, her cloudy emotion turning to panic.

"Don't worry," Sebastian assured her. "She's perfectly safe, back in New Orleans."

"Huh?" Lapis retorted.

"Jareth made us do this Study in Scarlet test with some poison fruits," Sebastian began to explain. "One would be lost in the Labyrinth and the other would be returned safely back to New Orleans. I'm here, so that must mean she's at home."

Lapis was momentarily reassured, but something about the promise wouldn't sway her.

"And I promised her that I would bring you back to her." Sebastian remembered, tugging at Lapis's hand. "We have to find a way out..."

"No," Lapis raised a hand.

"That's odd, Jareth had to excuse himself to charm the lady." Lapis thought out loud.