She knew the words, she'd never forgotten them. She just didn't want to say them, not now after the ball. While calling everything Jareth had done generous was stretching things, from one point of view, a good portion- was. Standing on the parapet, Sarah just knew something terrible would happen if she found the courage to say those last words.
But something terrible would happen if she didn't either. If only she could just send Toby home and stay here. Or if there was just some way to go home long enough to make things right, then come back or send them a message or or something.
It was getting colder- she had to choose, Toby was very sensitive to cold, he couldn't stay out here much longer.
Feeling torn in two, she took a deep breath and said, "You have no power over me."
The world started to fall down, but no one was there for her, she was just alone in her room, until she looked and saw her friends in the mirror. All of them , except the one she wanted to see. But Toby was safe, she's seen to that.
Jareth heard her lies echoing in the wind, and closed his eyes until the gale blew past. When he opened them, a spot of white lay on the stones. No, not the bundle of cloth it appeared to be. It was her. Sarah. Her words had been false, and so had not taken effect. Reflexively, he glanced to where Toby should be, but the child was gone. She must have said enough to send the babe home. Fine, it had never been about the baby. The quake must have knocked her out. He called out for Hoggle to come and make himself useful. A room needed to be made ready, and since the little maggot had been with Sarah the most, he would be useful in knowing what she needed.
"Hogwart! Higgle!" No answer. Very well. "HOGGLE."
Not even calling the scab's right name worked. One more addition to the bog then, when ever he found the dwarf, that is. Speaking of the bog, "Didymus." That would be even better. The little knight was much more pleasant to be around.
Nothing. The monster would be no help. Jareth called for a few other goblins, but got no answer, finally, one of the staff Fey appeared and he gave Eretran orders about Sarah's room, instructing that a lady's maid be found as well and a fire laid in the grand hall so he could warm her. The gale winds had her dangerously chilled.
As an afterthought, he found a small contingent of trained fairies and had them go in search of Sarah's friends.
Sarah let her friends return to the Underground. Part of her wanted to keep Hoggle, Didymus, and Ludo with her- Jareth would surely want revenge, but keeping them would force her to remember things she'd rather forget. Besides, what would her parents say if they saw a talking dog, a dwarf, and an orange furred whatsit?
Her parents. She'd just called Karen her parent.
That was- was what? Strange? Weird? The right thing to do?
It made more sense than to hold onto a fantasy mom who'd never be there again.
As Sarah lay down, life ahead of her made sense, and she had plans on how to be the daughter she should have been before now. She would be...
Normal.
For the first night in her life, Sarah had no dreams that were memorable.
Jareth sat beside Sarah's bed all night, watching her. She had challenged and infuriated him at every turn, but from what he could see in the master glass, no harm had been done. Toby was lost to him, but there were other ways to get an heir, and since he had until forever, there was no rush.
When light began to spread through the room, just as the king was nodding off, Sarah stirred, banishing his sleepiness. She looked around in confusion, moving her hair with the motion of her head. There was a small bruise just under the hairline. He'd have not let her sleep had that been noticed before.
"Where am I?" she whispered, grimacing as she heard the words. How overused did that sound?
"The castle beyond the Goblin City," Jareth quoted her own words, waiting.
"Toby.."
"He's been sent home," Jareth assured her, hoping that she could not tell how much he didn't know how that happened. "Your spell apparently had enough impact to return him, but not you. Since you were unconcious, sending you back might have been dangerous."
"Back?" Sarah asked. "I guess- yeah. I've been a pain, I get it."
"What do you 'get'?" Jareth tested the unfamiliar phrase.
"That you're ready to get me out of here, immediately or sooner. " Was that sadness in her voice? "I guess- thanks."
"Thanks? For- what exactly?"
She tried to smile. "Everything you said, for being generous."
Jareth accepted this. She did not yet comprehend... not totally.
"Had you truly wished to return to your family's home," he said carefully, "you would have returned with Toby. The spell was born of desire and need. "
"Oh. I- I'm sorry I didn't try hard enough."
Why was she so-- nice? Jareth wondered. The wound?
"You can not defeat yourself- that's the most basic rule. The essential part of who you are is who you are. Returning would be going back to a hollow life for you."
"What are you saying?" Sarah thought she knew, but did not dare hope.
"Your place is here, Sarah, if that is the truth."
She blinked. It sounded like double talk, but double talk she agreed with, so she nodded. "Yes. I want to stay. I don't know what I can be, but I do want to. I'd just rather not uh- help guard the bridge."
What he wanted to do was tell her he loved her, but mortals were so young. Now was not the right time to confess too much. "Sarah, I think you already know," he found himself saying. "But for now, all you need to do is heal."
"Was I hurt?"
He touched her forehead. "Unless purple spots are normal for you?"
There was one thing...
A crystal appeared.
"More dreams?" she asked.
"No, not now." The sphere dissolved into a chalice. "Drink this."
Assuming it was something to help her get well, Sarah took it.
Her assumption was partly true, but it was less than true. The truth was that it held waters of the river Verfide'. The Truth of Life. It would heal her, and be the first step to binding her to this land and its king. It would help him get well.
Hoggle and Didymus made their way back to their respective homes. Ludo was already in his place. Didymus wanted his new brothers to join him, but no one had enchanted their noses. Nor was that likely to happen. Hoggle was a little worried that the little knight might lose his protection.
"Look heres, Sir Didymus. Ya gotta know, Jareth's not gonna be happy with us for helpin' Sarah. I say we should hide out for a while."
"Brother Hoggle," he replied stiffly. "I can not forsake my duty. The king did not forbid me to help Lady Sarah, indeed, it is my duty as a knight to come to the assistance of fair maidens and all who are lost. He has no reason to be angry with me."
"Yeah, well, he might not see it that way."
They shuffled on a bit farther. "Say, did ya notice anything dif'rent about Sarah? She didn't seem 'erself when we left."
"I'm sure my lady was merely tired from her valiant rescue of her brother. It has been a trying day," Didymus said comfortingly. "When we see her again, she will be refreshed."
Still, Hoggle had a bad feeling about it.
That bad feeling was proven out less than a day later when Hoggle turned up in Sarah's mirror. He saw she was reading, and wondered if it was THAT book again. Maybe she was looking for a way to come visit? He started to call out to get her attention. Then he noticed it was a school book- Jr. Psychology I. Hoggle wasn't sure what those words meant but they re-enforced the angst he felt. He vanished before Sarah could look up from trying to sort between Jung and Freudian theories.
Already she was beginning to see Jareth as some Freudian delusion, and with him, all the rest. She did not even know that just two days ago, she'd have been ready to rip the book to pieces for such lies.
At the moment, it was making some kind of sense that left her feeling satisfied at diagnosing herself, but sick on some level that she couldn't quite reach.
A whole week passed before it occurred to the king to look for Hedgewort again. Sarah seemed to be adapting well - true she was a bit meeker, but she was happy. He enjoyed her happiness. It made it easy to ask her to take a second drink from the chalice, explaining that it would, now that it wasn't needed to heal her, begin to adapt her body to the Underground, to make her one of them, forever.
Because he enjoyed her happiness, asking her friends to come was logical. Even if the little troll offended his eyes.
Ludo was simple to find - and Jareth paid little to no attention to the beast's rumbled, "Sawah not - here. Sarah not same."
Poor thing doubtlessly had no idea she was still here. It would be a pleasant shock- but not sure how Ludo would take it, he decided to keep the creature outside until after Hoggle and Didymus saw her and could gently communicate with it.
Hoggle was more difficult to find. The little man was hiding from him, to Jareth's amusement.
As he strolled through the area in which Hoggle was last seen, he reflected on Ludo's words, for some reason, they hung in his mind.
Sarah not same- no she wasn't. Though some of her fire had begun to kindle, it was not the harsh, cynical protective fire she had huddled behind, that insisted on always being right.
Without doubt, the healing waters in which he had had mixed with her normal bathwater and into her drink had affected her, easing deep set pains in her soul. But, there was more.
He thought back to the dream they had made together. The one in which he pledged his love and devotion, from which she had run when she knew it would hinder her path. She had been looking for something, for that love and found it. But there had been more.Of all the revelers, they alone had not worn masques. His had only come away for her sake.
Her dream was to love, and not to wear a mask- two things intricately linked.
A dream he shared - one fulfilled together or not at all.
So lost in thought was he that he almost missed seeing Hoggle.
Only Hoggle's similiar lost in thought route prevented the dwarf from cutting and taking off in a running hobble. Like his liege, he was reflecting on a dark haired girl, a less happy one.
Flashback a few moments ago
Hoggle appeared in the mirror as Sarah brushed her hair and experimented with face paints. She had stiffened, then closer her eyes, telling herself in the tone one might repeat a mantra..
I'm just projecting. I'm creating a fantasy that I can control. Control. Because I want a better family. I want a dad who will protect me like Didymus and be affectionate like Ludo and - and be like Hoggle, looking out for me kind of. I see my two mothers as dismantling me like the Fireys.did. I want Toby to need me. I want to be heroic. And the king- he's just repressed desire that I fear. And all the obstacles are just figments. That's a figment. A figment.
One eye opened. You are not real. I know that. Go away, I can cope.
There'd been a desperate sob in that voice that scared him worse than the cleaners. So Hoggle vamoosed.
The words the two exclaimed as they bashed into each other do not bear repetition. Jareth's anger slacked off when he realized he'd found the one he was looking for. "Hogwart."
Hoggle was too scared to correct the king. If the worst he got for helping Sarah was his name bungled, he'd be happy. "Yer highness," he bowed until his nose hit the ground. Of course, a large nose does hit it a bit sooner than most.
"Get up."
"I just wanted to 'pologize, yer worship. About that incident with the girl- I didn't mean to that is to say I "
"Hogbrain," Jareth interupted. "Be silent. Your helping Sarah "
"I didn't. I was helpin' y-"
"Accomplished something in line with my plans, unwittingly, I'm sure. Now, she would like ot see you and her other two companions, so I am here to bring you to her."
Hoggle's momentary relief fizzled. "Er. yer highness majesty, I don't think so."
Jareth was startled enough to not fly in a rage. "Are you defying me, Hogbrain?"
Hoggle's thoughts tangled up, trying to find a way to not say yes, but still get out of it. "Sarah don't want to see me."
"She doesn't know I'm planning this surprise," Jareth admitted, "But it will make her happy, for some reason. Now, come along."
Hoggle had no choice, so he began to turn to go back the way he'd come.
"Hogwart, where are you going?"
"To - to see Sarah, like you's said. Yer sireness."
"I believe you are going the wrong way," Jareth pointed out. "The castle is this way."
Hoggle stopped. "Yer gonna transport through the castle orb?" His eyes got wide.
"Transport?" Jareth frowned. "I realize that some rumors have it that I may be lazy, untrue of course. But I do not waste magic flitting from room to room." Except for that time when he was very very young and had fallen off a pegasus, breaking a major bone and his mother would not let it be healed except for natuarally to teach him a lesson.
"Room ta room? But highness," Hoggle said, "she's I mean, in 'nother world, not room."
Jareth was beginning to regret this idea. Then he realized, none of her friends had seen her, so the prescence he took for granted was not known in the world. Natural assumption. His anger faded. "Hoggle, Sarah never left. She fainted after I sent young Tobias home, and I've kept her secluded until she was a bit steadier."
Hoggle still looked wary and unbelieving. "I jest saw her, and she called me a figgy," he blurted out.
Figgy? Figment perhaps? Jareth had become adept at translating the mangled speech of lesser beings than Hogfish. "When did you go to the castle?" his voice held a note of anger, but not full blown, waiting to see if it was required.
"I didn't! I was in her room, in ta other world!" Hoggle protested. "Well, in her mirror. She called us all figs- figments and you were her pressed 'sire."
Jareth put the words together mentally, trying to sort it all out. "Supressed?" He mused aloud. "sire. Desire?"
"Yeah." the dwarf scowled.
"Good to know. But irrelevant- Hogbrain. She has been in the castle for a week. Right now she's in the music room."
To prove a point, he conjured a sphere, showing her sitting on a bench working out a guitar chord.
"That's her, at this moment."
"What about a few minutes ago? She was studyin' piesececoologee I gr. and paint'n her face."
Jareth had no idea what the dwarf was talking about, there was no sense to that word at all, he decided not to even try that one. "I'm sure she was where I saw her last a few minutes ago, but I can ask Dylan if she left the room at all. If she did, it would be with Elesia or one of the footmen, she still gets lost in the corridors."
Hoggle saw that he wasn't getting anywhere with his king. "Read my brain," he said suddenly. "I just saw her, and not there."
Jareth was a bit surprised at this. Most beings hated to have their thoughts probed. The little man must be convinced of his rightness to say this. "Very well. " Concentrating, he looked and saw a series of images taking place over the past few days that did not gel with reality. The times at which the thoughts were marked were times he had been with Sarah- his Sarah.
His Sarah. His. Could there be two Sarahs? One who was mean and self absorbed, one who took joy in life? One sent back to the mortal world, one who had stayed and was on the way to being immortal? Well on the way.
For lack of anyone better to share the idea that demanded vocalization, Jareth said, "I think there might be two versions of Sarah, now."
Hoggle frowned. "What?"
"Indeed. But it alone explains how you and I could see two different girls at the same time and think them the same person. Wait here."
Before Hoggle could agree, Jareth popped to the music room, invisibly. Sarah was picking the notes out by memory to the song from her dream. His invisible hand touched her cheek, assuring himself she was real. Her eyes sought the hand she felt, but he was gone, popping to Hoggle's version of Sarah's room. Now as an owl he peered from window to window until he saw her sitting in front of the television, helping Toby build something with blocks.
The intense concentration on her face showed that she'd been at it a while. A text book laid open on the coffee table, his sharp eyes made out the heading Psychology. That word must be the one Hoggish had sounded out. A hated word that killed belief in the beauty of the imagination and the subtle realities that defied mortal science to operate on their own fluid, living system.
There was little doubt that two versions of Sarah existed.
That would be fine with the king. Except he wanted to make sure that his version was not hurt by the other one's very existence. And to the extent that the other girl had some relation to the one he l- cared for, making sure that she was all right held some value.
Then he was back to where the dwarf had been left. "We have a fine mess on our hands, Hoggle."
"Eh?"
"Sarah seems to have been - what's that new word- cloned. "
"Er what?"
"Two identical beings, outwardly. There's a Sarah in that world who seems to fit into it, and one here. Living in my care."
Hoggle wasn't sure which disturbed him more. "Is the one wit you okay?"
"You saw her- what would your opinion be?"
Hoggle shuffled his feet, not wanting to admit the king could take care of or more anyone, much less his only friend.
"Hoggle?"
"Yeah. Looked like a princess she did."
"Yes, and she wants to see her friends, which includes you. " Jareth leaned close. "So she shall- but you will not mention that copy of her."
Hoggle nodded. "I'd rather that copy not be something I ever saw."
Jareth quite agreed. "I fear though, that we may have to deal with it," this was almost said to himelf. "Have her other companions seen it- her?"
"Yeah. She twas mean to all of us."
Jareth pursed his lips. "Didymus might be able to keep it secret, vows and honor are important to him, Ludo is not so bright. I'll have to think of a way to deal with him - no silly dwarf not hurt him. Just keep him away from the castle until this is dealt with. I'll have you and Didymus visit Sarah, though. Conditionally that she not be told of this other."
"Has she asked about us?" Hoggle asked reluctantly as their walk resumed. Jareth chose to walk for thinking time.
"Yes. When she fainted, her head was injured a bit, but that's mostly healed. Once she had slept that off, she began asking a thousand questions, you three were among the first, after I assured her Toby was home safe. "
"You knew Toby was back there, but not about her- da other her?"
"Toby was sent straight to his room, apparently the other girl went to their- her room. But since I could see Sarah in front of me, why would I look in another place for her?"
That made sense, though Hoggle didn't want to let the king off the hook.
"So- what's gonna 'appen to 'er?"
"There are two hers, do you mean the one staying with me?" Jareth asked, being deliberately difficult."Who else would I mean?"
"She has drunk of the truth and life. When she is sure of herself, what do you imagine will happen?" Jareth cast a sidelong glance at Hoggle. "How do the stories end?"
Hoggle frowned. He was not sure what was meant, though he had a sneaking suspiscion that he did not want to voice, just in case it hadn't occurred to the king.
No luck though. "Marriage, Hogbrain. The story began with the king falling in love with the girl, you know. That's how it continues."
"But she's jest a little girl."
"Hardly, but she is young. That is why the wait." Though now, there was a better reason. Damn it.
"Hoggle- I do - do love her."
This surprised the dwarf, but Jareth was truthful, this he knew.
"Good. Whatcha tellin' me fer?"
"Because you matter to her, and I think so she does to you." And he wanted to see how it sounded. It sounded right, though alien.
A few feet later, Jareth tossed a globe ahead of them, and Didymus appeared.
"Your Highness! I man my post as you can-- I was manning it," the little terrier frowned.
"I always know where to find you, Sir Knight. However, considering all things, summoning you is preferable. Do you wish to see your lady?"
He drooped. "She has cast off her friends in favor of another clime. Perhaps some enchantment has frozen her fair heart."
Jareth smiled kindly, much to Hoggle's surprise. "Fear not, brave knight. Lady Sarah is in the castle, safe. But has no recollection of this event you speak of- she has not seen you since the reclamation of Sir Toby. To know she had- even under a spell - hurt you would hurt her deeply."
Since Jareth did not know what was going on, he did not count his words as deception, merely shading things and omitting them out of kindness.
The knight perked up immediately. "Forsooth. If I can assist in breaking those who harmed her--"
"You will know the moment you can assist me, but speak not of it. She is well and safe and happy. What else matters until it matters?"
"You have my word as a knight of the realm, I shall not speak of anything troubling."
"Thank you, Sir Knight. Do I have your word as well, Hoggle?"
"Yeah. Sure."
With that, Jareth snapped his fingers, and they were in the music room.
If Hoggle had any doubts about Sarah, they were gone when she looked up and smiled at him. She wasn't quite the same as she had been when he let her go to face Jareth, but this time, the change was not for the worse. Her joy was genuine, and even though the shadow of a healing bruise could be seen under a stray lock of hair, she seemed well. He could also see that one eye was beginning to take on a different hue. He ought to be angry at Jareth for it, but didn't really have the heart.
Jareth watched the little reunion for a few moments, then excused himself.
Moments later, he had found the sage.
"AAwk, awk. Da King, da King!" the snide hat squealed.
"I can see that," the old man grumbled. "Took you long enough to look me up, Sire.."
"Why would I wish to?" Jareth asked, testingly.
"Because of the girl."
"Which girl would that be?" Jareth kept his words casual. Noncommittal.
"The girl in the prophecy."
Jareth did not have to fake his next words. He was once more in a position of not having any idea what was being said. He had always ignored such things, once he was out of school any way. "There are so many of them- which one?"
The sage dared to rap him on the knuckles. "The one that said when the girl came you would be complete and ascend to the starlight crown with her at your side."
Jareth frowned, trying to recall it. He couldn't.
"Didn't pay attention did you?" the sage cackled. "No matter. The ancients will be arriving soon to confer the promotion on you and select a successor. Within the year I would say."
Jareth was surprised, and not sure he'd ever heard it. Wouldn't be the first time the old one had forgotten to tell him something. Did Sarah's division - how would that affect things?
It was time to see Matria.
Standard disclaimer- and at this point, I don't know how Sarah will be solved. But better than poor Anthony Jekyll's fate.