Stairway Maze
Sara couldn't keep her eyes from widening when she saw the room that lay beyond the archway at the top of the stairway. A maze of stairs went everywhere and nowhere, upside down, and sideways.
"I can do this." she whispered to herself in determination. She ran down and upstairs till she had lost herself in the confusing maze. Reaching what appeared to be a dead end she leaned over the edge and looked down. She gasped and jerked back from the edge at the sight of the Goblin King looking back at her upside down.
"How you turned my world you precious thing." Jareth's voice chased her as she ran down a set of stairs that had appeared behind her. "You starve and near exhaust me."
Sara spun in a circle trying to find a way out of this maze and to wherever her brother was. She stared out over a ledge looking for any sign of Toby.
"Everything I've done, I've done for you." Jareth's voice came from behind her, causing her to spin to face him.
She stared at him frozen as he slowly approached her. She gasped as he walked right through her. She turned to try and keep her eyes on him. Her eyes tracked his arm as he raised it and pointed straight at her.
Jareth fell forward off the ledge as he said, "I move the stars for no one."
Sara's green eyes returned to his face and she was taken aback by the anguish that was present on the Goblin King's face. It puzzled her. He was the one tormenting her, so why did he look and sound so torn?
Shaking her head to rid herself of the questions that had entered her mind she focused on trying to find Toby. She darted through an archway that stood to her left onto another ledge.
"You've run so long, you've run so far."
She began to run as she heard Jareth's voice and footsteps echo around her. She had to find Toby. She stopped short when she saw that the ledge she was on was a dead end.
The Goblin King suddenly appeared in front of her and she stumbled backwards her eyes wide in surprise and fear. He walked to where she stood still with eyes wide.
"Your eyes can be so cruel." Jareth's voice echoed and seemed to come from everywhere even though she could see him walking towards her. He stopped when he was just a few feet away from her, close enough that if she raised her arm her fingertips would brush his chest.
In her shocked state it took a moment before his words reached her. Some of her fear eased into confusion as she thought about his words. What did he mean? She'd never done anything to him. Her fear returned full force when he smiled and raised his arm, showing her the crystal he was twisting through her fingers and he gave her a strange smile.
"Just as I can be so cruel." Jareth's words sent shivers racing up and down her spine.
His smile disappeared and a look of anger passed over his face before he turned away from her and threw the crystal out into the maze of stairways. She watched it as it bounced off walls and up steps into the hands of a small blonde toddler.
"Though I do believe in you." Jareth's voice echoed all around her.
"Toby!" Sara yelled and raced back the way she'd come, down and up stairs, trying to get to where she'd seen her brother. Frustration rose in her when she found herself looking at her brother climbing up a stairway that ran sideways up the wall.
"Yes I do!" Jareth's voice reached her as if bouncing off the walls and steps like the crystal ball had.
Her face set in determination and she started up another set of stairs, trying desperately to reach her brother before the time ran out. For some reason his words only made her made her want to try even harder.
"Live without the sun light," Jareth's voice bounced everywhere as she continued searching, "love without your heartbeat."
Sara blinked her eyes to try to keep the tears that were welling up in her eyes from pouring down her face. The Goblin King's voice was filled with so much sadness and Toby was somehow sitting on the ceiling above her. She didn't move for a moment, trying to get her emotions back under control. She looked up again and found that he had crawled off again.
"I-I can't live within you." Jareth's voice was a quiet whisper that was nothing more than a sigh by the time it reached Sara's ears.
She ran through more archways and up and down more stairs till she was once more lost without any idea as to where Toby, the exit, or even the Goblin King was. She knew that she was running out of time.
She caught a glimpse of her brother going through an archway above her. "Toby!" she cried trying to get him to stop moving so that she could get to him.
"Toby." She cried softer as she lost sight of him. A moment later she saw him leaning over a ledge and looking down at her. She raced up a set of stairs and was taken aback when she came to a dead end ledge.
"Toby!" She yelled in joy when she peered over the edge and saw her brother sitting with his feet dangling over the edge of an archway directly below her.
The little blonde boy looked up at her at the sound of his name and smiled at her. Sara looked around for a way to get down to him, but there was nothing. She looked down at Toby again and saw that he had already started moving again. She had to get to him now or else she'd never reach him in time.
Taking a deep breath, Sara shut her eyes and stepped off the ledge into the air. When she didn't hit the ground when she should have she opened her eyes to find herself still falling. Twisting in the air she saw that the maze of stairways that she had been running through had become broken and pieces of it were floating around her in the darkness that she was falling through. Looking down she saw a small piece of floor.
She landed gently and spun slowly in a circle. Pieces of stairways and arches floated in the darkness that was streaked with pink. Despite the surrounding dark and the lack of a light source, everything was brightly lit.
"Sara." Jareth's voice called softly from behind her and she spun to see him step from the shadow of an archway. His clothes had changed from black and red that it had been when she'd last seen him to an open white shirt and a white cape that fell from his shoulders to brush against the ground.
"Give me the child." Sara was proud that her voice was steady despite the fact that she was terrified of what he might do.
"Sara, beware." As he spoke he walked towards her, stopping just inside of what she considered her personal space. "I have been generous up until now," Jareth continued, "but I can be cruel."
Sara tilted her head to the side as she asked, "Generous? What've you done that's generous?" in a slightly incredulous tone.
"Everything!" exclaimed the Goblin King as he began to circle her. "Everything that you have wanted I have done. You asked that the child be taken. I took him. You cowered before me. I was frightening. I have reordered time." He gestured to a clock that was floating to one side that hadn't been there before. "I have turned the world upside down. And I have done it all for you." He came to a stop directly in front of her and leaning in said, "I am exhausted from living up to your expectations of me. Isn't that generous?"
Sara stood silent. She had decided earlier to use the lines from her book to vanquish the Goblin King, but his words had frozen her. Everything he'd said had been true and she found that all she could say was, "Why?"
"Sara, I ask for so little. Just let me rule you, and you can have everything that you want." As he spoke he stepped closer so that she had to tilt her head back slightly in order to look him in the eye. "Just fear me, love me, do as I say, and I will be you slave."
"But why do you want that?" she asked. An emotion flashed in his eyes, but it vanished before she could identify it.
"For many reasons." Jareth's voice was completely emotionless as he spoke and his face was blank. But Sara could see that it was a mask and that there was an emotion hidden in his mismatched eyes. "Look Sara. Look at what I'm offering you, your dreams."
She shook her head, "No…"
"Sara-" Jareth's voice held a trace of sadness, but she quickly cut him off.
"No," she held her hand up between them to keep him from interrupting her again, "Why do you wish for me to accept so badly?" She stared directly into his blue and green eyes. "Tell me why?"
"Sara…" his words died a breath in his throat and he merely looked at her, his eyes showing a sadness so deep Sara felt as if she could cry just from looking at it. "…I need you."
The words were whispered so softly that she barely heard them.
"W-what?" she stepped back and her eyes widened in shock.
"I-" for the first time since she'd met him, the Goblin King was at a loss for words. He turned his head away from her so that she could no longer see his eyes.
"You need me?" Sara's eyes were still wide with surprise, but she hadn't moved any farther away.
"Yes Sara." His voice was stronger now, but he was still turned away from her. "I need you."
"Look at me and tell me why." Sara commanded and she moved back to where she had been before she'd backed away.
He hesitated for a moment but did as she ordered. His mismatched eyes stared directly into her green ones. "Even if you refused, I'd still be your slave." His voice was strong and she could see in his eyes that everything he said was the truth. "I love you Sara."
"Then why did you act like you wished nothing more then to crush my spirit?" she asked while tilting her head slightly to the side.
"Nothing is as it seems here." Said Jareth, repeating something she had said to herself in the labyrinth. "You had to learn before I could even hope for you to accept."
"So everything was a test?"
"In a way." Said the Goblin King lowering his eyes slightly.
"But you really can be cruel too. That's what you were showing me." Said Sara. It wasn't a question but he nodded his head in answer anyway.
"I can be very cruel. And I can be kind. It is my decision." Said Jareth as he took yet another step closer to her so that he was now standing merely a few inches in front of her. Her eyes came to the same level as his mouth and she had to tilt her head back quite a bit now in order to see his eyes. "Now you must make your decision."
Sara asked the first thing that came to her mind, "What is it you want me to decide?"
"Whether or not you will stay here, in the Underground, with me." As before, Jareth's voice and face were emotionless, but Sara could see the hope and longing in his eyes.
"Stay here?" Sara asked and received a nod in response. She looked away from him and stared off into the pink streaked sky as she thought.
Could she go home now and leave all of the friends that she had made behind? Could she leave her family? Could she stay with a man who had done nothing but torment her since she had me him? Could she leave him when she knew that he'd done everything that she'd asked of him? What should she do?
She was silent while she thought. She finally came to a conclusion and, turning back to face the man standing before her, she asked, "What will happen to Toby?"
"Anything you want." answered Jareth.
"No matter what I decide?" she had to be sure of his intentions.
He seemed to pause before saying, "No matter what your decision may be, your brother shall be returned. You completed my labyrinth."
"I have made my decision." Stated Sara as she turned and stared the Goblin King in the eyes.
He stiffened at her announcement and asked, "What is it then?"
"I wish to return to the Aboveground with my brother." Said Sara in a clear voice, her eyes never wavering from where they held the Goblin King's captive.
He stepped away from her and, giving her a small curt bow, said, "As you wish." He began to grow blurry as the shadows seemed to become one with him.
"Wait." Said Sara. And his figure came back into focus and the shadows retreated slightly as he looked at her. His eyes were completely empty and they gave her the courage to say, "After I finish college, if you still feel the same, I would like to call on you again. I'm too young to think about committing myself to anything." Sara stepped towards him as she explained. "This entire trouble with Toby is proof enough that I don't yet know what I want. If you are willing to wait, I am willing to consider your offer when I'm a little older."
"I think that that would be acceptable." Said Jareth, and though his tone was still emotionless, she could see the hope and joy that his eyes now contained. Once more he bowed to her, but this time he offered her his hand, which she took. As he bowed his head to her he brought her hand to his lips and kissed it once before he disappeared in a whirlwind of fluttering silks.
Sara blinked and found herself standing in the entrance hall of her home with the clock striking midnight behind her. Shaking her head to try and organize her thoughts she ran up the steps.
"Toby?" she asked quietly as she opened the door to her parent's room. Flicking the light on she walked over to his crib and her mouth twisted into a smile when she saw him sleeping peacefully. Glancing around the room she spotted Lancelot lying on her parent's bed. She picked the teddy bear up gently and lovingly placed it under the blanket next to her baby brother.
"Lancelot belongs to you now." She said. She then leaned over the edge of the crib and placed a soft kiss on Toby's head. "I love you."
Smiling to herself she quietly left the room, turning the light off and shutting the door as she left. She crossed the hall and entered her own bedroom. She spent the next thirty minutes or so cleaning her room up and putting some of her toys away.
The sound of the front door opening and closing brought her away from her thoughts, which had turned to the Goblin King.
"Sara we're home." Drifted up the stairs and through her door. "Everything go okay?"
"Yes. Everything went fine." Said Sara as she cleared off the last of the stuff from her vanity, leaving only a simple picture of her and her mother and a blue statue that looked strangely similar to the Goblin King.
She was just about to turn the light off and go to bed when she caught sight of something moving in the corner of her eye in the mirror. She looked around her room, but couldn't see anything. Turning back to the mirror she let out a startled gasp when she was met with, instead of just her own reflection, the image of Jareth standing right behind her.
"I have a present for you Sara." Jareth's voice sounded like it was coming from right behind her, yet when she turned to look again there was still no one there.
Spinning back to the mirror she asked, "What is it?"
He smiled at her and held his hand up to show her one of his crystals. She jumped slightly when his hand emerged from the surface of her mirror holding the crystal out to her.
Taking it and cupping it in both hands she asked, "What do I do with it?"
"Keep it to remember." Said Jareth, and Sara was sure she felt his breath on the back of her neck went he bent and whispered into her ear, "If you so wish it, it will allow you to see whatever I am doing at any given time."
"Thank-you." She said, "Please tell the others the same."
He nodded and began to vanish merely saying, "I will wait for you." as his form of good-bye.
Sara smiled slightly as she put the crystal into a special box her mother had given her. Flipping off the light she quickly changed into her pajamas and then slid into bed. Her last thought before slipping into sleep was how the wait would be a long one, but hopefully completely worth it. The wait till she was out of college was her test for him, her equivalent of the Labyrinth that he'd made her solve. After all, she all ready knew that she'd agree to go with him to the Underground. As strange as it was, she found that she loved him despite his ability to be cruel. She loved him and when he asked her to join him in the Underground, she would go without a second thought.