The Labyrinth on Bourbon Street 2

The Ballroom and the Impostor

The last thing Allie remembered was eating the peach off of the stone table in the claustrophobic room. Sebastian was nowhere to be seen.

Allie woke up. She wasn't in the middle of the Labyrinth, nor was she really in New Orleans. She was in a ballroom, and one that looked shockingly similar to the Waldorf Astoria in New York that her parents brought her to when she was just knee high to a grasshopper. But something about it was... irregularly magical. The chandeliers seemed to be crafted of stars and the acoustics of the pseudo-ballroom were exaggerated and echoey. On top of that, she found that she was wearing a long, sleek, form-fitting mermaid dress in place of her red motorcycle jacket and jeans. She pulled her phone out from her purse and opened the front facing camera on herself. The dress was a made of deep indigo purple silk. The mermaid tail was ruffled, and there was a large slit that exposed up to her mid-thigh. A loosely-tied violet ribbon hung off her slender hips, and it was held together with a little medallion that was engraved with a symbol that she had seen somewhere before. She tried to breathe in deep, but a black ribbon tied around her neck in a bow constricted her throat. 

She pushed her way through the crowd. Nothing in this scene could fool her for a second. She shoved through to the glowing exit sign and pushed the door almost off its hinges.

Suddenly, she collapsed into nothingness, the sharp heels of her lace-up pumps barely catching her on the edge. She waved her arms out beside her as she tried to catch her balance again, as she hovered over an expanse of empty space. 

"Alexandria!!" A familiar voice called out. Someone grabbed on to her arm and pulled her to her feet. He pulled her through the door and spun her around.

Allie looked into a familiar pair of grey-blue eyes. The touch of his hand cradled the back of her head as his eyes bored into her own. It was Sebastian. He was dressed in a shimmering, well pressed, fully black tuxedo. His tie was thin, it almost matched the ribbon around Allie's neck.

Allie panted, grateful to see a familiar face. "Sebastian..." she whined, wrapping her arms around his back and pulling him as close as she could. He mirrored her actions and planted a kiss on her cheek.

Allie could feel her cheeks getting hot. She couldn't believe how forward Sebastian Hearst -- HER Sebastian Hearst -- was acting. She knew it wasn't right. It wasn't him. But somehow, she could get used to this Sebastian.

"Seb..." Allie wrapped both of her hands around his. "This isn't real, we need to find a way out..."

Sebastian gently ran the back of his hand down her cheek, soothing her into calmness.

"Alexandria..." he stated her name, the word sounding sweet and sensual dancing through his lips. "I understand that you're nervous, but come back to the table. The family is waiting."

"My family?" Allie questioned, eyes widening.

"It will be OUR family soon enough..." Sebastian lifted her hands to his lips and gently pecked her knuckles. One detail about her outfit slipped her notice; the diamond engagement ring slid on to her slender ring finger.

Without a word, she laced her fingers into Sebastian's and allowed him to lead her back to (supposedly) her family. They arrived at a long table, cloaked in red velvet and white silk. Everyone, on either side, had an extensive set of cutlery in silver and porcelain dishes. Every few seats, centerpieces that sparkled like fireworks glimmered in the starlight. Sebastian's relatives blended and mingled with Allie's; skin tone was no obstruction.

Sebastian tapped a silver knife on a criminally expensive looking champagne flute, calling the attention of the entire crowd to him. Allie absentmindedly picked up a flute and sat down in the chair he pulled out for her. All she could do was watch the event unfold in front of her.

"You'll forgive me, I was never very good at speeches..." Sebastian started, brushing the back of his neck nervously. As all faces turned in her direction, Allie just then noticed that the congregation of ebony and ivory skinned people was not dissimilar to that of a piano. The eerie realization made Allie's stomach drop out. Nothing in the real life was this horrifyingly perfect. Feelings of suspicion and enjoyment battled for dominance in the recesses of Allie's mind.

"Alexandria and I have been together for years, even when we were separated by thirteen hundred miles. But in my mind, she was my intended since our first duet together. I would tap out the melody to All That Jazz or Cell Block Tango, and she'd tap along, or stride across the floor with those beautiful hips swaying." He reminisced.

Allie looked away, trying to piece together what this past looked like.

"She would tell me that the best part about having a white boyfriend was the way her lipstick stained my cheek when she kissed me."

"Oh Sebby..." Allie gushed. She said that once in passing, but she never remembered outright admitting it to him. Sebastian noticed her ease and patted her cheek lovingly. In her excitement, she bolted up and and smacked a kiss right on his cheek.

"That's why I'm pleased to announce..." Sebastian lifted Allie out of her seat and wrapped his hands around her waist, pulling her close. "Cel mai drag Alexandria and I are engaged to be-"

Suddenly, all attention was turned to the sound of the center door being kicked down. The crowd gasped in horror. Emerging from the nothingness that was the outside, was a severely disheveled Lapis Lazarus, her brown-red ponytail swinging behind her Tulane University Marching Band snapback and her boots and the tips of her jeans covered in mud. She was still wearing a filthy black Arc Reactor tank top and looked like she just escaped from being treated like royalty.

"DROP THAT CHAMPAGNE!" She yelled out, pulling a fireplace poker out from behind her back and pointing it in Allie's direction.

"LAPIS??" Allie yelled out, panic splashing her in the face with her best friend's sudden appearance. But the other shocking sight to see was the REAL Sebastian Hearst, ripped white button-down and Converse in all, standing front-and-center, right next to her. Allie instinctively broke away from whoever was holding her; the Sebastian impostor started to chuckle to himself in an accent she had hoped to never hear again. Jareth pulled the ribbon-tie from his neck and revealed his true form in the blink of an eye.

"You again?" Allie sneered through closed teeth. She started to back away as Lapis rushed to her side. "This is a new low, even for you."

Jareth wasn't through with his fun yet. He took Allie back in his clutches and held her close. "Do you know how close she was to ripping off her gown and giving me everything that you didn't?" He cackled. Lapis drew her poker and pointed it straight at him.

"Okay Jareth..." Lapis said, firmly. "That's enough, let her go."

Jareth wasn't listening to her. His eyes were plastered on Sebastian.

"How are you still alive..." Jareth snarled. "You were to be taken straight to the oubliette!"

"Just a couple of random people, eh?" Lapis grew a sneer. "I see right through you."

"Dear Lapis..." Jareth stuttered, his confidence building as he spoke. "You need not worry of this, you are to meet me back at the palace where you belong at once!"