A/N: Okay, my first chaptered Labyrinth fic. I really shouldn't be starting it right now considering I have three other WIP's in other categories, but I wanted to get some feedback on this.
The white owl flew into the open window of the room high in the tree-tower located many leagues away from the confines of the Labyrinth and Goblin City. He found perch on an inverted branch protruding from the circular wall, as he watched the lone occupant of the room mix herbs and spices into some unknown concoction.
Hunched over her table of dried herbs, it was impossible for the owl to see more than the light brown hair that was pulled back in an elaborate knot at the base of the woman's neck. Her skin was tan and smooth, perfectly complimented by the off-white robes she wore over her amulet. Despite his inability to see more of the woman, he knew exactly what she looked like.
Without stopping in her work she spoke: "I warned you to put the child back, Jareth. I told you that she would best your Labyrinth. I also told you that she wouldn't take your petty trifles and insincere apologies when you gave them. Why is it that you never listen to me?"
The owl transformed into the Goblin King, dressed in his royal armor, before Jareth said, "Saga, I need your help."
That rendered a more prominent response from the woman: she straightened to her full height (which happened to be only a few inches shorter than Jareth), turned to the blond haired king and tilted her head back, all the while laughing heartily.
When her mirth was under control, Saga's black dancing eyes met the silently fuming orbs of the Goblin King. "The great Goblin King needs help?" she sneered. "I thought you didn't take help from seers. At least, that's what you told me the last time I offered to help you."
Jareth's jaw muscle twitched with the effort it took to suppress the urge to snarl at Saga in rage, silently reasoning with himself that he had to at least appear humble before this woman if he was to regain Sarah. "I was wrong, Saga. Give me advice, I will listen to you now," he said through clenched teeth.
Saga raised her eyebrows, fully aware of his silent battle and feeling no pity for him even eight years after the fact, "Hm, will you now? Very well, brother of mine, I'll help you gain what you seek. But bear in mind that I will call on your aid at some point, should I need it. I don't help you for nothing in return. Not this time." She turned back to her worktable and picked up a small packet of herbs without waiting for his response, "Dissolve this in cool water and drink it. It will make you sleep. I will help you, but I won't have you breathing down my neck while I do so."
He took the herbs, putting them in the pouch attached to his belt as she continued, "I will bring her here willingly, Jareth, but it will be your job to make her stay willingly."
Jareth nodded, accepting the help she offered. Saga continued speaking before he could change form, "Jareth, I mean it: she must stay willingly. I won't be concocting a memory distortion spell again for another peach. You must win her over without magic if your heart's desires are to be fulfilled."
Jareth nodded again before turning into his owl form and taking flight. Saga watched him go before she transformed into a barn owl and took flight – but her direction was for the Aboveground and a house hidden away in the suburbs.
---
Sarah Williams, now twenty-three years of age, watched her young brother, Toby, as he rode down the sidewalk on his new bicycle. She missed this – watching him play, knowing that she had kept him safe when the time had called for it, and knowing that she'd do so again at a moment's notice.
After her little adventure Underground with the Labyrinth, Sarah had returned home to find that the only way to stop thinking about the Goblin King and his offer was to work – hard. She had finished high school two years early and was now visiting her family after her graduation from college with a master's degree in literature.
Unfortunately, visiting her family meant that she was bombarded again with thoughts of the Labyrinth and the Goblin King, Jareth. Her well constructed mental defenses against such thoughts were soon mush against he onslaught of feelings that remained from her time with Jareth. God help her, she was in love with the arrogant son of a bitch.
She had a good life now – a man who loved her and wanted to marry her (a man she loved back). Her life was finally coming together … then she appeared.
At first Sarah thought she was just another passing woman, but when she stopped and looked Sarah in the eye, the young woman could see the magic lurking just beyond the black color of her pupils.
"Are you Sarah Williams?" the strange beauty asked, her voice low and lovely.
Sarah nodded dumbly, "Who are you?"
The woman smiled softly, her eyes flickering to where a growing Toby was riding his bicycle a few yards away. "I am Saga," she said. At Sarah's look of amusement her smile widened, "My parents had an … interesting sense of humor. They had to have one to name my brother Jareth."
Sarah froze at the seemingly inconsequential statement. Her body was tense as she turned to look again at her young brother. "You're the Goblin King's sister?"
"Very astute of you, Sarah. I have important matters to discuss with you regarding my brother and the state of his kingdom."
The younger woman finally glanced back at her magical companion, "I can't leave Toby alone right now, Saga."
"I will wait for you, Sarah," Saga whispered into Sarah's ear, "By the clock tower you practiced you lines at that night you wished Toby away to the goblins."
Sarah had closed her eyes against the feel of Saga's breath on her skin, reminding her too much of Jareth's offer eight years before. By the time she had her bearings back, Sarah looked around, but only found Toby riding his bicycle toward her. Saga had vanished.
Paul watched his fiancée closely as she watched her young brother ride his bike. He knew that he should be concerned about the look on her face … but that was the look he'd been waiting for a very long time to see. Yes, he'd have to follow her tonight to see what the woman from his past had wanted.
---
Sarah took a walk after Toby had gone to bed, agreeing with her father and step-mother to not be out very late. She told them she just wanted to take a walk to clear her head, and they accepted her reason without pause. Paul, on the other hand, was none too keen on her going out late at night by herself … not for the reasons everyone suspected, but because he didn't want her alone with that woman. However, in the end, he let himself appear to be talked into the "short walk".
The barn owl watched quietly as the now fully grown woman approached. Her eyes slid beyond the woman's form to see the last thing she had expected and the one thing she really didn't want to see: a male Fae in his human form. But this wasn't just any male Fae she saw – no, this Fae was one she especially didn't want to see anywhere near Jareth's chosen mate.
As Sarah neared the clock tower, it chimed ten o'clock and the owl perched on a branch a little ways away, took flight and slowly drifted down to the ground, changing as she did so into her human form. Sarah gasped aloud as she watched the owl transform into the woman she had met just a few short hours before, the only difference being that now she was wearing long, flowing off-white robes that gave her an ethereal appearance as opposed to the navy blue sweat suit she had worn before.
Saga held up her hand to halt Sarah's advancement and the questions that were on the tip of her tongue. Her eyes flickered to something behind Sarah and Saga commanded, "Andvari, stop your hiding."
The man who had followed Sarah from her house came forward out of the shadows, the sneer on his face mocking Saga as he said, "I go by Paul. Now Jareth sends you to do his bidding, Saga. I didn't know you had degraded yourself to the level of servant."
"I serve the Courts, Andvari," Saga told him, anger flashing in her dark eyes, "Which is more than I can say for you. What is your purpose here? To woo this girl and take her as your mate?" Her eyes hardened as she cocked her head to one side and said, "Or did you choose her simply because of what it would do to Jareth – our brother?"
Sarah's eyes were wide in alarm: Paul/Andvari was Jareth's brother? She knew he had seemed familiar when she first met him … but Jareth, the Goblin King's, brother? Oh, man, she was really screwed up! Was that why she had instantly felt that connection to him? Magic?
Andvari laughed, "The effects our union will have on Jareth are … as is said here Aboveground: fringe benefits, sister dear. Sarah Williams is really quite enchanting on her own."
"Stop talking about me as if I'm not here!" Sarah ordered the two siblings, her ire at her fiancé's behavior rising with his words and their meaning. Saga looked a little mollified and held out her hand to the younger woman.
"Come with me, Sarah. I know you're quite confused right now – and you have every right to be; but come with me and know your heart. I can help you understand."
"No," Andvari ordered his fiancée, "She already knows her heart! I am the one she chose. I will help her understand!"
Saga turned her icy glare back to her brother, "If you're so sure, Andvari, then you have nothing to fear from the Pool. But she will go with me to the Underground; you will not follow where we go; and she will choose from the choices set before her. You cannot help her understand when you do not know what it is to understand."
The human woman looked between the two Fae discussing her, then at the hand outstretched before her. It was slender, pale … like a goddess's. Hesitantly, she took Saga's hand in her own and waited for the glitter and transportation to take place.
"Wait!" Sarah cried as they rematerialized in Jareth's castle, "What about my family?"
Saga smiled softly, calming the younger woman, "They will be safe, Sarah. No Fae or creature from the Underground, or directed from the Underground shall bother them while you decide. Do not fear for them."
The mortal nodded, accepting that answer in a manner much more mature than when she had been fifteen and first visited the Underground. Her mind went back to what Saga had first told her … something about Jareth and the state of his kingdom. "Is Jareth all right, Saga?"
The Fae woman sighed and shook her head, transporting them to his bedchamber, where he slept in the magically induced sleep. Saga whispered her reply, "No, Sarah, he's not. When you left him he fell into a very deep pit of depression. Lashing out at anything and everything to keep from feeling the loss of you. His kingdom has suffered much in the eight years since you beat the Labyrinth with the help of Hoggle, Ludo and Sir Didymus. All were forbidden to speak your name within the confines of the Labyrinth; all were forbidden to speak of what the four of you had done; and the King of the Goblins forbade himself from watching you from anything smaller than a five mile distance."
"I-is he …?" Sarah trailed off, unsure how she was to ask if he was dead or dying.
Saga shook her head, "No, physically he's fine, Sarah. To wake him all you must do is kiss him." At Sarah's dubious look Saga added, "You're lips to his, Sarah. Surely you've read of the Sleeping Spell in your fairy tales?"
Sarah looked at her in shock, "That was you?"
"I taught them how to make the potion – I wasn't responsible for how it turned out. The stepmother of Snow White used far too much on that blasted apple she gave the girl. They were very lucky that I refused to tell her how to make the Death Spell."
Sarah looked hesitantly at the man sleeping on the bed. It was just a kiss, right? Just to wake him up. Slowly, she leaned over and pressed her lips against his for a few seconds before pulling away again. As she did so, Jareth's eyes fluttered open and he smirked softly before whispering, "Sarah." His hand came up to stroke her hair.
"Don't start that now, Jareth," Saga said from her vantage point a few feet away, "Sarah and I must be going. There's been a change of plans."
Jareth sat up on his dark bed, his hand dropping from Sarah's hair as he sat there, glaring at his older sister, "What kind of change?"
"Sarah should tell you," Saga said, nodding to the younger woman.
"I'm engaged to be married, Jareth," Sarah whispered, her heart torn between the two brothers. "To your brother, Andvari."
Jareth's eyes, that had held a certain warmth before when he looked at her, turned again into the cold, mismatched orbs that they had been when he first met her eight years before. "Andvari?" he said, his voice arrogant, cold, betrayal evident. "You're marrying Andvari?" his accusation stung much more than Sarah thought it should.
She was saved having to answer by Saga, who seemed to be very in tune with what Sarah needed: "Don't get your breeches in a bunch, Jareth. Sarah needs some time to work out how she feels about you and Andvari, and to understand what it is she really wants. I'm taking her with me to a safe place. When she has decided what she will do, we will call on you and Andvari to come and hear her choice."
"Where are you taking her?" Jareth asked fervently before his sister could disappear with his chosen mate and true love.
Saga gave him a look that silently called him a moron, "To see Mother, of course."
Without another word, Sarah and Saga disappeared from Jareth's sight, leaving him only with the sting of anger and betrayal … and maybe a flicker of hope.
A/N: So? What do you think? I'll try to post again by the end of the week.