Title: The Stars Fall Silent
Author: Bluehaven4220
Summary: "There's a new planet in the solar system, there is nothing up my sleeve". Follow Sarah as she struggles to put her life back together, and discovers the motivation behind the Goblin King's newest request.
Disclaimer: I do not lay claim to anything related to Labyrinth, the Muppets, or anything related to said movie/entities. I'm only playing with them, and promise to return them unharmed.
A/N: This is something new that I have decided to try. I recently saw Labyrinth, starring David Bowie and Jennifer Connelly, and decided it'd be a good idea to challenge myself. I am thoroughly enjoying writing this, I hope you have as much fun reading it.
Reviews are always welcome and appreciated
ooOoo
That's the end and that's the start of it, that's the whole and that's part of it, that's the high, that's the heart of it, that's the long and that's the short of it. That's the best, that's the test in it, that's the doubt, the doubt the trust in it. That's the sight, that's the sound of it, that's the gift, that's the trick in it.
Twenty Years- Placebo
ooOoo
Sarah awoke from another nightmare, her bed sheets soaking and her pajamas sticking to her body. It was the Labyrinth again, but then again when was it that she was not dreaming of the Labyrinth? For seven years the Labyrinth had haunted her. The memories, the faces, the Goblin King…
Forcing herself out of bed, she made her way to the bathroom. Taking a quick shower, she threw on a pair of sweatpants and a sweater. If she couldn't sleep she might as well do something useful. Granted, sitting outside on the porch with a book and a cigarette may not have been considered by some to be useful, but all the same…
Grabbing her old copy of The Labyrinth (she admittedly hadn't read it for a little over six years), and her pack of cigarettes hidden beneath it in her dresser, she quietly headed down the stairs and outside.
Sitting herself down, she lit a cigarette and opened up the book. Upon reading it again, she failed to recognize what had once had her so fascinated with the story. Goblins and creatures of unknown origin and the Labyrinth itself… what had drawn her to it? Really, it was nothing more than a story.
However, one couldn't ignore the journey the Goblin King had taken her on all those years ago. She'd faced everything from an oubliette to the King himself, and all in the name of what? Of course, she'd grown up after that journey. Slowly but surely, it had happened, and it was still happening. With little contact with her father, stepmother, and Toby, she faced the challenge of learning who she was on her own.
Turning the page, she took another drag on her cigarette and forced herself to concentrate on what she looking at.
"Would you consider smoking harmful to your health?" a drawling, suddenly familiar voice asked.
Looking up, she nearly jumped at the fact that none other than Jareth the Goblin King stood in front of her.
Of all people she had wanted to see in the middle of the night, he was certainly not one of them. For thirteen hours he'd made her life a living hell. She'd regretted her mistake in wishing Toby away immediately, but he insisted that if she were so keen on retrieving her screaming baby brother, she had thirteen hours to solve the Labyrinth. She'd done so, rejecting his offer of everything she could ever want at his side in the process.
"Depends on what your basis for comparison is," she tapped the cigarette, the ash falling to the ground in front of her. "Many people smoke a pack or more a day and are healthy as can be till the day they die. Others smoke three in their entire lifetime and end up with cancer. It's all genetic."
"And time is all relative," he smirked.
"A concept that has not bothered me for over six years," she put the book down next to the chair on the porch and leaned forward. "Why are you here?"
"Suddenly it is a crime to pay a visit to the only young lady who's ever actually solved my labyrinth in the time allotted to her?" he held out a hand to her.
Sarah did not move. She had no reason to trust him. The cigarette smoke curled around her fingers as she stared at him. He had that strange, alluring quality to him that she'd seen in him at fifteen, though she would later dismiss that as magic, same as the crystals.
"So, Sarah, why are you awake in the middle of the night?"
"Insomnia," she quipped.
"In other words, you don't sleep," he answered.
"Congratulations, you're as smart as a dolphin, let's see if you can graduate to chimpanzee," she took one last drag on her cigarette and stubbed it into the ground. "When someone says 'give me back what's mine', one would usually?"
"Hand it back, if they were more generous than I."
"You're not generous, Goblin King. One does not make a young person run a labyrinth and reorder time if they are generous." Getting up, Sarah turned her back on the Goblin King and slowly opened the front door. "Please don't contact me again, I'm too old for these childish mind games."
Jareth smirked behind her back.
"You're quite cynical, Sarah," he told her.
She turned to look at him, a sad look in her eyes.
"I've got no choice," she answered, her hand on the doorknob.
"Now then, Precious, there's always a choice."
She flashed him a glare, detesting the nickname he had bestowed upon her at the age of fifteen.
"Not when you're on your own." With those words, she opened the door, stepped inside said door and left him standing outside. If he had any sense, he'd heed her request and leave her in peace.
Strangely enough, once she'd gotten back into bed, she slept soundly. There were no other nightmares, no other mention of the Labyrinth. The rain just gently tapped on the window throughout the night, reminding her of that fateful night over six years ago. Upon winning Toby back, she swore she would never again wish for anything.
Seeing Jareth tonight, however, only stood to confirm the very reason why she could not call on the friends she'd made throughout the labyrinth. Hoggle, Ludo, Sir Didymus... when she'd left them they'd told her that if she ever needed them, they'd be there.
She'd seen them once since then, and each time she'd called them after that, they didn't appear. Eventually she'd just stopped trying.
The next morning, she awoke with her head hanging over the edge of the bed. Her alarm clock blared the most obnoxious sound known to man, yet still there were days in which she could sleep through it, rising only to shut it off and pull her blanket up over her head.
Today was one of those days. Without even a second thought, she pulled herself from her blanket, shut the alarm off, and attempted to go back to sleep. She'd set it for 7:30, but insomnia often put a damper on the best-laid plans. Three and a half hours of sleep was not enough to function.
Deciding very quickly that there was no point in delaying the inevitable, she got up out of bed and went down the stairs to the kitchen. It was always very quiet throughout the morning, and Sarah enjoyed that fact. She did not have to go into work that day, so the day could be hers. She'd been meaning to register for school for a while; perhaps she'd do so later that morning…
"Good morning, Sarah," she heard as she opened the cabinet to retrieve a coffee mug. Startled, she turned quickly, dropping the mug and causing it to shatter.
Shaking her head, she dropped to her knees and moved to pick up the pieces. "Do you generally just decide to drop in on people this early in the morning?" Her body shook involuntarily as a stray piece sliced into her hand.
Muttering curses, she stood up and went to the sink. Running the water, he moved toward her, studying her every move.
"Such language is certainly not becoming of you, Precious," he pressed down on the tap, stemming the flow of water and running a gloved hand over the wound.
"Have you ever cut your mitt on a broken coffee mug?" she sneered, wincing as she did so. "Can I have my hand back?" she asked, pulling herself away from him and opening another cabinet. This one contained various antiseptics, bandages and medications.
He watched as she selected a bottle, read the label, and proceeded to open it, promptly swallowing three of them. Once it had been replaced, she reached for a bandage and a bottle of antiseptic. It took her less than two minutes to clean the wound and wrap it in the bandage.
Turning to him again, he saw none of the warmth, or kindness, that had once shone in Sarah's eyes. This was not the Sarah Williams he remembered. The Sarah he remembered was feisty, strong, but at the same time she had the curiosity of a young woman trying to find her way. This young woman seemed to be an empty shell, almost devoid of emotion.
"Look, I'm going to put this as bluntly as I can…" she breathed, not daring to look at him. "I don't want to see you, I don't want to look at you, and I am asking you politely to leave." She swept the remainder of the broken mug into the garbage can and went back to busying herself around the kitchen.
"As you wish, my lady," he answered, disappearing as silently as he'd arrived.
ooOoo
She could have sworn she'd heard him say "my lady". No one had ever addressed her as such and she hoped they never would again. It was neither a title she had earned nor one that she deserved.
Sincerely hoping that the illusion of Jareth standing in her kitchen was indeed an illusion, she realized that her appetite had vanished. With nothing else to do, she got into the car and drove. She had the exact destination in mind, and had driven there countless times before, but today it seemed longer than usual. Images of Jareth swam before her eyes, causing her to pull over.
"Don't be stupid," she chided herself, banging her head against the steering wheel. "He was not in your kitchen this morning, he's a character from a storybook."
"A storybook character?" she heard his voice. "Of whom do you speak?"
Looking up into her rearview mirror, she saw Jareth's face.
"What the hell?" her neck snapped back and hit the window with considerable force. "Ow…" she brought her hand up to her head, wincing. Turning in her seat, she saw that indeed, no one was there.
Shaking her head, she pulled back on to the road and continued toward her destination.
ooOoo
Jareth watched her as she stopped her car, and made her way into the cemetery. There were rows upon rows of markers, the sky seemed dark and cold, and Sarah seemed to be taking her time, almost as though she wasn't sure of where she was headed.
Finally, he watched silently as she stopped in front of what seemed a bare plot of land, until she knelt down and traced her fingers over the glossed lettering.
Patrick Nathaniel Young 1968- 1993
Michael William Young 1990-1993
That was all, just two names. Those two names were the source of Sarah's torment, though those nightmares she'd been having seemed to be a contributing factor as well. There had been many a night where she'd awoken in the middle of the night cursing his name. Oh, he knew he could be cruel, but never would he intend to cause her harm. To see Sarah in such a state, it made him question. She was the only woman to have ever bested his Labyrinth; and now seven years later she sat on her knees, whispering to the people she'd lost.
Another thing he questioned was the fact that now, after seven years, he was only now able to contact her. If he had known something so tragic had happened to her, he would have contacted her sooner.
His heart nearly split at the sight of his Sarah kissing her fingers and whispering her goodbyes to the two of them.
He saw the tears sliding down her cheeks as she rose and made her way to her car as quickly as she could. Turning her head, it seemed that she had acknowledged his presence, though he could not know for certain. How many people would expect to see a barn owl sitting on a post in the middle of the morning?
Wanting very much to speak with her again, to soothe her, nothing more, he followed behind her, gliding to the window almost as soon as she arrived home.
Stepping out of the car, she turned her head toward him. Shaking her head and rolling her eyes, she went into the house, locking the door behind her. He'd seen her perform the same routine for weeks. Each time she'd return home, she'd lock the door and sit in the dark, not bothering to turn on a light. She'd sit in her bedroom, often just moving from her window to her bed by the time she was too exhausted to do anything else.
Should she need anything, he'd wait.
