THE RED DIAMOND
Disclaimer: I refuse to accept responsibility for this story or any of the characters living within it. Any similarities to anyone else only exist by chance. Therefore, just because there's a guy named Jareth who wears a cape and juggles crystal balls in my story, it doesn't mean I stole him from any film, book or anything else relating to Jim Henson and his company.
This story has taken a very small number (I'm talking tiny) references from the Early Labyrinth Script written by Terry Jones, and probably some other guys. However, the plotline is 99.9 original and I do not own any of the characters from the Early Labyrinth Script as they are not FREAKIN' REAL!
So, I wrote this story quite a while ago. It didn't have a name and it didn't have any structure. Recently I rediscovered it and decided that I didn't want it to go to waste so I made a few tweaks and added more detail. This is my first story since I changed my name (on FanFiction I mean, I'm not on the WPP). I'm not sure how it will go down but I'll give it a go anyway. Hope to hear from you. Here goes...
1. The Lavender Sky
The white bird soared though the lavender sky. It swooped and it spiralled as if it didn't have a care in the world. Below it was it's kingdom: an enormous maze of incredible obscurity. The cosmic stretch of meandering walls and lush waterways would seem like a pointless waste of good land-space to most people, but to Jareth it was everything... As the owl continued to swirl and dive about the Labyrinth, in the human world a young copper haired boy was stood in the hallway of his house, anxiously awaiting his first day at school. "Trust me Toby. You'll be fine!" assured his big sister, now a picture of full-grown beauty. At nineteen years of age Sarah had a slender but curvy figure. Her shiny long dark hair draped freely over her shoulders, complimenting her fair complexion and hazel-green eyes. Her dress sense was that of any young woman her age, opting for trendy jeans and a cream cotton sweater. Yes, it seemed that Sarah had finally grown up!
"But, what if nobody likes me?" little Toby asked tearfully.
"How could anybody not like you. You're cute, friendly, funny...girls will love you!" she teased, tickling him slightly.
"Eww...girls!" he cried.
Sarah chuckled and kissed her brother on his small freckled cheek. "You're right. You're only five. You shouldn't be dating until you're at least...hmm, six." Toby giggled and tugged onto his oversized schoolbag for one last time. Sarah opened the front door and gestured for him to go outside. Toby sighed. "What's wrong, hun?" asked Sarah.
"I want Mommy and Daddy to come with me?" he blubbered.
Sarah caringly walked over to him and knelt down so that her face was level with his. She wiped the tears from his cheeks with her cotton sleeve, and spoke softly. "They want to come with you too Toby, and I bet they're thinking of you right now, but... you know Karen and Dad are on a very important business trip. Its just something they couldn't get out of. They'll be home this afternoon to pick you up. You can tell them all about your first day at school then!"
"But they're always on a very important business trip. Its not fair!" he whined.
Sarah held her brother close to her. "I know it isn't...,but sometimes in life we go through challenges. This is your time to prove that you're a big boy!... Can you do that? Can you be strong for me?" she asked, looking into his huge emerald green eyes that reminded her so much of her own. Toby snivelled, before nodding slowly. "That's my brother!" Sarah said as she ruffled his hair and took hold of his hand. "Come on. Let's go!" she said before walking out the door, and with a deep heavy sigh Toby stepped out into the big wide world.
When they approached the school Sarah straightened up her brother's uniform and pressed for him to go and join the other boys. Toby hesitated and pleaded to Sarah with his melancholy eyes. "Go on!" Sarah urged. "Don't give me that puppy-dog look! You have to go to school!" Toby scowled, and reluctantly walked across the colourful playground as he headed over to the other children. Sarah watched as the little ginger-haired boy shyly approached a few rather large-looking school-boys. For a while Sarah dithered on whether or not to leave. Toby seemed weary and frightened of the other boys, but as soon as she heard one of them ask for her brother's name in a friendly manner, she smiled happily. Sarah wanted nothing more than for Toby to have a joyful childhood, for she herself was never blessed with such a thing.
While Toby was in school, and Karen and Robert were on a their business trip, Sarah decided that now would be the best time to have a spring clean and sort through her old things. The house had been clobbering up with junk for the past four years, and it really needed to be tidied. Besides it would be a nice surprise for when her father and step-mother returned home. She put on her old jeans and baggy pink sweater and began to de-clutter the house. After she had cleared and dusted every single room downstairs, she headed upstairs to her bedroom.
Sarah's room was now painted a sophisticated mauve colour. She never spent much time in it, only to sleep. In her early teenage years this room was Sarah's world, her retreat. She knew and controlled every inch of it. The shelves used to be filled with an orderly array of childhood dolls and toys, but now they were replaced with a few select fairy ornaments that had never even been touched.
She walked over to her dresser and checked herself out in the mirror. With her fully-developed figure and a graceful look of superiority she felt more in control of her life than she had ever been before.
She then preceded to her wardrobe where she folded up her clothes and neatened up her bedcovers. Whilst packing away all her unwanted belongings in a nearby cupboard she came across a familiar box. She gazed in awe as she reached for the baby blue chest, which was decorated with multicoloured glitter and sequins. After wiping the dust away from the childhood memory that must have been in storage for at least four years, she opened the box. "Oh gosh!" she gasped, pulling out her old costumes she used to dress up in when playing fantasy games. "Your Highness!" she said shyly, reminiscing back to her younger years. She giggled as she remembered the play she used to repeat to herself over and over again... "Do not be swayed by my pleasure at the sight of you, my lord. For though my father, the Duke, has promised you my hand, I cannot consent to be yours until the evil that stalks our land from highest hill to deepest dale is ..." Suddenly, she stopped speaking, a look of stunned confusion on her face. "... from highest hill to deepest dale ..." Her brow furrowed in concentration. "Oh! I could never remember that line!" But it did not matter, for something else had caught Sarah's attention. Deeper down in the box she noticed something familiar...something red! "Oh my goodness!" she exclaimed. She reached down for the forgotten relic and placed it on her middle finger. "I remember you!" she whispered, marvelling at the gold ring with the captivating red stone. Sarah had forgotten all about this ring. After her journey into the Labyrinth she had found the piece of jewellery lying upon her pillow. She assumed it was some kind of feeble attempt at a peace-offering from Jareth. She wore it for a few months before deciding to store it away. But now all the memories suddenly came pouring back to her. She recalled upon how the ring used to make her feel. For some eerie reason, she felt more powerful with the Red Diamond positioned securely on her finger. She even used to fool herself into thinking that the ring had actual magical powers. All of a sudden, Sarah gasped. She could have sworn the jewel just flickered, as if it was trying to tell her something. No, that's silly. Better take it off. But she couldn't! Sarah just couldn't bring herself to remove it. "Hmm..." she muttered, before shaking her head and moving on to the next room.
It must have taken hours to clean the whole house because just after Sarah had finished, Karen, Robert and Toby came marching through the door like an ear-splitting clown-parade. Sarah came rushing down the stairs to greet her family. Uh oh! Karen seemed cross! Her face looked like she had just sank her teeth into an extremely sour lemon as she tapped her leather brown shoes on the floor impatiently. Her taut carroty bun pulled her forehead back, causing her eyebrows to raise and make her appear more infuriated than she already was. Robert's expression was unbiased as always as he breezed in with his grey suit, blue tie and suave new haircut. Then Sarah noticed Toby. He was crying! "Is everything okay?" Sarah asked.
"No! Everything is not okay, Sarah!" snapped Karen. "I trusted you to make sure Toby had a safe day at school, the one thing I've asked you to do in weeks and you can't even do that right!"
"But I..., he was fine when I left him. Weren't you Toby?" Toby couldn't speak. He seemed hysterical. "What happened?" asked his sister.
"Bullies, what else!" barked Karen.
"Did they say anything mean to you, Toby?" asked Sarah hastily.
"It wasn't what they said. It was what they did!" answered Karen, who lifted up Toby's jersey to reveal a scarlet-red bruise. Sarah's jaws dropped. "Yes, and it could have been a lot worse if we'd left you to fetch him. We happened to arrive early so we could have a chat with his teacher, and hopefully...just hopefully, we'll get Toby moved to another class as soon as possible!"
"Karen, Sarah would have done the same." her father defended feebly.
"Humph." is all Karen could say. No one even noticed that the house was a million times cleaner than it had ever been before. Sarah hoped that it would put her on better terms with Karen, but all she got from her now was a piercing stare that chilled her down to the bone.
Later on, when Toby and Karen had calmed down, the family sat in the living room to watch the daily string of mediocre soap operas and entertainment shows. Toby was complaining, because it was time for him to go to bed. "Story! Story!" he demanded. "I don't want nightmares!"
Karen huffed and scowled at Sarah, the cause of Toby's love of fiction. "Okay then, one story!" Karen commanded.
Toby gazed eagerly at Sarah, who sighed, before sitting herself on the fur rug in the middle of the living room floor. "Hmm...lets see. I could tell you 'The Boy Who Cried Wolf' Story again!" Toby shook his head. "Erm...well, what about The Tale Of Jeremy Fisher?"
"Nooo!" he moaned. "Make up something, like you used to!"
"Oh, but I'm not very good at that sort of thing anymore." said Sarah. "Ouch!" she suddenly snapped, jolting her finger up in the air.
"What is it?" asked Toby.
"I think this ring just gave me an electric shock!"
"Ha ha, that's silly" he replied. "Tell me a story! Now!"
As Sarah grabbed hold of Toby's waist and pulled him close to her, she was unaware that Karen was gazing suspiciously at the ring from behind her. "Alright then, a story. Okay...,once upon a time there was a young girl who had a baby brother. Her brother cried all the time and one day Sarah became so tired, that she decided to call for the goblins to take her brother away."
"Goblins?" interrupted Toby.
"Yes, goblins! Small, mischievous creatures that like to destroy and steal things from human beings. Anyway, the goblins took the little boy away and the girl became very worried. Before long, the Goblin King appeared at her window. He told her she must conquer the Labyrinth before she could rescue her brother, so..." And the story continued for the next hour. Toby was captivated by the magic that came out of his sister's mouth, and strangely, so was Karen. Robert, naturally, continued to watch his television programmes, oblivious to the fact that any of his family members were even in the same room. "...and once she told him that he had no power over her, he left her alone. He never came back to her house again and never sent the goblins to annoy her" she continued. Her tone suddenly mellowed. "In fact he couldn't. For she had trapped him within his Labyrinth forever. Nobody could help him escape." Sarah said this with a hint of sadness in her voice. She stared into space for a few moments before abruptly snapping back into reality. "So you see. Just show those bullies that they're not in control of you and they'll soon leave you alone."
"Really?" he asked.
"Oh my, look at the time" said Karen out-of-the-blue, as if she hadn't been listening the whole time. "Toby, its time for you to go to bed. Robert, take Toby up and tuck him in will you?... Robert!" she yelled. Robert bolted out of his seat, and after taking a few moments to work out what he had just been asked to do, he took Toby up to bed.
While the boys were upstairs, an uncomfortable silence lurked between Sarah and Karen. They had never really bonded with each other, not even now that Sarah was at a mature and successful age! "So..., that was an interesting story." remarked Karen.
Why was she so concerned about a silly little story? "Well, kids like that sort of thing, don't they?" Sarah said.
"It wasn't that long ago when you liked that sort of thing. Remember?"
"Yes, but I've grown up now." Sarah replied, getting bored with the 'lets talk about how foolish Sarah used to be' conversation.
"Hmmm..., would you excuse me for a moment?" Karen stated as she sauntered out the room and headed upstairs.
Odd? Whilst everyone was away it gave Sarah the chance to find a station that she wanted to watch for a change. Maybe she'd watch the documentary channel, or see what the Trekkers were up to. But as she flicked through the networks she couldn't help but seem attracted to the children's shows: Barney, Scooby-Doo, Captain Scarlet...she couldn't help herself! She ended up pausing on a movie called the Dark Crystal. It was a film about magic, fantasy and mystical worlds. She smiled as she became absorbed into the mythical kingdom, created to feed children's fantasies and dreams.
"I've never been into puppetry myself" interrupted Sarah's father, who stood at the doorway.
"Oh, I wasn't watching it. I was just..."
"Its alright. You don't have to explain." he said.
"Well, I was just reminiscing back to my childhood days. You know, back when things were simple and naive."
Robert laughed. "Sarah, you're talking like you've only got a few years left. You still are a child. You are to me anyway. You wait to you hit middle age, then you'll know what real problems are. Enjoy your show!" he said before walking away. Sarah frowned at his remark. She wasn't a child. She did know what real problems were. Why couldn't her father try to understand her better? She switched off the TV in frustration and stamped up to her bedroom.
Meanwhile, just across the landing, Karen sat impatiently on her bed, staring angrily at her acid complexion in the large oval mirror. "Oh, why do I look older. I'm not supposed to look older" she muttered to herself. "Its that girl! She'll be the death of me she will! But not for long!... Oh, where are you Jareth!" she demanded.
"I'm right here" a deep male voice answered.
Unexpectedly, the mirror flashed with a bright white light. Subsequently, a familiar face appeared in replace of Karen's reflection. She smiled satisfactorily. "So you are!" she said.
"It's been long time Kelandra. The last time we saw each other you made it quite clear it would be the last time. What was it you said?...Ah yes - "I've no time for fairytales and fantasies. You're a failure of a Goblin King and I will not have anymore to do with you! I'm leaving the Underground and I'm moving to the human world, for good!" he said, with Karen's past speech echoing around the room.
Karen sighed. "I know what I said Jareth, and I meant it!" she barked. "But, something's changed. Or more to the point, someone has changed."
"Sarah?" Jareth asked nervously.
Karen nodded smugly. "She's been getting her imagination back. This evening she told Toby the tale of the Labyrinth. You were mentioned quite a lot. I think for a moment she actually...missed you."
"Kelandra, that means nothing. One measly story does not mean that she is ready!"
"She was wearing the ring."
"What?" Jareth gasped. "The Red..."
"Mm-hm." she said complacently.
There was a short pause of consideration in the air before Jareth spoke again. "What should we do?" he asked.
"We take her to the castle, of course!" she retorted.
"How? If you do it you're cover could be exposed, and I can't do it! I'm trapped here, remember?"
"Jareth, I know I said you were prohibited from ever entering the human world after you were defeated by a human. But thing's have changed now. I will open the gate for you, and you will kidnap her and lock her up in the castle. Do not say anything to her though. Let me do that!"
Jareth seemed to be annoyed by Karen's orders, but strangely he did not confront her. "When?" he asked.
"As soon as possible...,tonight!"
Oooh, what's Karen up to, eh? Please let me know what you think of the first chapter! Any comment (apart from nasty ones) will be appreciated. As I said, I wrote this story a while ago so if you have any problems, go back in time and blame the old me! Also, remind her to not be late for work cos it will get her fired! Aghhh! (Sorry, I've been drinking happy juice again!).
The next chapter will only appear after I have received 100 reviews!!
Just Kidding! Make it 99 reviews! See you soon, ROTK xxx
