Round Two
Disclaimer: This is all Henson's and affiliates. In other words, NOT MINE! So please don't sue me.
A/N: This is just a teaser chapter that I wanted to get out while I work on the rest.
The stage has been set, the babe returned, and the game begun. Unfortunately, Sarah believes it has just ended. Little does she know that the trial has barely begun. For Jareth had only granted her the seeming victory as a gift. Their battle is far from over as he seeks to ensnare her, heart, mind, soul, and body. On the other hand, Sarah would much rather be left with the spoils of her victory and grow up as any other teenager. The Goblin King must lure her back to him and persuade Sarah that the life of normalcy she craves would never satisfy her.
Prologue
There was a room. It belonged to a girl. It was a soft, feminine room, fit for a young girl. But the one it belonged to had started to outgrow it and was nearing the edge of adulthood. In a few years, she would leave this room behind and make her way in the world. But for now, at least, she was still there. Not only there, but in the midst of a great celebration, for she had just had the victory of a lifetime.
This party, however, was different from others hosted on this street. The guests were not other people her age, but goblins, for the girl, Sarah, had recently solved the Labyrinth that was their home, challenged their king, and rescued the very boy she had wished away. Her room was filling with all the goblins she had met on her journey through the Underground and they cavorted around her room.
As they danced and laughed, there was a watcher from the tree outside Sarah's window. If any of the goblin guests had known he was there, undoubtedly the party would have come to a grinding halt. They would have fled before the presence of the Goblin King, for surely he would be angry with them; after all, they were celebrating with the very girl who had defeated him. But instead of anger, there was mocking mirth in the king's eye. And, under his smirking interior, there was a vibrant thread of anticipation. Anticipation for the games to follow. Oh, yes. Sarah was going to be yearning for the simplicity of the Labyrinth, soon enough.
Jareth launched himself from the branches of the tree outside Sarah's window. He spread his wings and soared on silent wings up into the night. With soft strokes, his wings bore him toward the moon… and he was gone. Back to his Underground kingdom… there were preparations to be made.