Hardships Unnumbered

"Give me the child."

"Be wary, Sarah. I have been generous up until now. But I can be cruel."

"Generous? What have you done that's generous?"

"Everything! Everything you have asked for, you have been given. You asked that the child be taken; I took him. You cowered before me; I was frightening. I have reordered time. I have turned the world upside down- and I have done it all for you! I am exhausted from living up to your expectations of me. Isn't that generous?"

"Through dangers untold, and hardships unnumbered, I have fought my way here to the castle beyond the goblin city, to take back the child that you have stolen.

"For my will is as strong as yours, and my kingdom-"

"Stop! Look, Sarah. Look what I am offering you. Your dreams!"

"And my kingdom is as great.."

"I ask for so little. Just let me rule you, and you can have everything you want."

"My kingdom is as great... my kingdom is as great..."

"Just fear me, love me, do as I say and I will be your slave!"

Green eyes focused on mismatched blue and brown. "You have no power over me!"

Despair washed over his face, followed by something akin to pride. He tossed the crystal he had held into the air as he fell, defeated, denied, rejected.

Sarah caught the crystal as it fell, and it popped like the delicate bubble it resembled. She watched the fall of the Goblin King with eyes that would have surprised anyone who had followed her story- they reflected disappointment. One would wonder that the heroine of the story should have such a reaction to the fall of her antagonist.

She had won her brother- what had she lost?

As she watched the owl sweep through the french doors into the night, she noticed the clock chiming midnight.

"Toby!" she murmured, determined to see that the Goblin King had lived up to his end of the game and had returned her brother. Running upstairs, she burst into her parents room, stopping in shock. Before her stood a gorgeous woman, too beautiful to be human, who hung over the crib watching a sleeping Toby as he dreamed.

"No doubt his dreams will be filled with the goblins he met and befriended in his brief journey Underground, and the man who cared for him so tenderly while his ungrateful sister ran the Labyrinth."

"Who are you?" Sarah demanded. She had defeated one villain tonight; would she need to go two for two?

"Someone who deserves the love of the King of the Goblins much more than you, Sarah."

"Love? What do you mean? He was my adversary!" Sarah objected, though deep in her heart she rejected the words coming from her mouth.

"Foolish girl," the woman scoffed. She leveled a glare and a smirk at Sarah. "'But what no one knew was that the King of the Goblins had fallen in love with the girl, and had granted her certain powers,'" she quoted, then laughed. "Tonight the Goblin King has fallen! His protection will no longer save you, and neither can your traitorous friends!"

Sarah backed up to the door of her parents' bedroom. With a flick of her wrist the woman she faced made the door slam behind her. Toby woke with a cry and began wailing. The woman paused and looked at the crying baby.

"All of this over such a little thing," she murmured.

"Stay away from him!" Sarah shouted. "Hoggle! Ludo! Sir Didymus! Help! I need you!"

Dark laughter followed her cries as the woman focused again on Sarah. "Did I not already tell you that they could not help you? They have already received their punishment for helping you!"

Sarah's green eyes welled up. "What have you done to them?" she cried.

The woman's eyes glowed white with magic, and she seemed to grow in size and menace. "Merely gave them over to the one they betrayed. Although he would never do anything to hurt them, of course. He could not blame them for loving you... But I will!" She stretched out her hand and threw a spell at Sarah.

As the magic hit her and started to consume her, Sarah cried out to the one person she never thought she would.

"Jare-" The cry was cut off as the magic flashed, leaving the faint scent of ozone in the room. The woman walked toward Sarah, now frozen in stone, her face contorted in fear and what seemed to be longing.

Toby continued his wailing as the woman circled the statue, admiring her work. Finally pausing in front of Sarah again, she raised a glowing hand into the air.

"Now crumble!" she hissed. A sudden gust of air blew open the window, and the woman turned as the Goblin King once again strode into Sarah's home.

She gave him a smile that was more the baring of her teeth at his approach. "Goblin King," she muttered. "What brings you again to this place?"

"A summons, apparently," Jareth replied coolly, dusting glitter from his armor. "Although strangely unexpected. Where is the girl Maegary?"

Smirking and bowing mockingly, she stepped aside and let him see the statue that had once been the Champion of the Labyrinth. Shock and fury overcame Jareth's usual hauteur. "What have you done?" he asked in a quiet, dangerous voice.

Maegary laughed lowly. "What needed to be done, Jareth." She placed a hand on her hip and gestured to the statue. "Think of it as a gift," she mocked.

"Undo this Maegary or I swear-"

"What? Goblin King, you have been defeated this very evening. You have spent your power to nothing reordering time, transporting the girl and the babe from the Underground, and then bringing yourself here again. I doubt you have anything left to threaten me with,"she taunted. "However, just in case you do-" she raised a flashing hand and hurled a spell toward Toby.

Just as quickly, the Goblin King hurled a crystal that intercepted the spell and absorbed it, leaving the babe unharmed. When he focused again, Maegary was gone, but her voice lingered mockingly in the air.

"Since you are so fond of the mortal girl, I've sent the statue to the castle in the center of the Labyrinth. Enjoy looking upon what you never can have!" her mocking laughter drifted away, and Jareth slumped against the crib. The statue was gone, and he could feel through his connection with the Labyrinth that it was already ensconced in a tall tower of the castle.

A gurgle caught his attention as Toby stood in his crib next to the Goblin King, grabbing fistfuls of his hair and attempting to stuff it in his mouth. Jareth observed the child wearily.

"I will make this right, my fine fellow," he promised. "you have my word."

With a lurch, he stood and walked to the french window of the room. Transforming to his owl form to save his strength, he swooped away and into the sky.

"Sarah? We're home!"

Silence...

"Sarah? Are you home?" Silence...

Toby wailed...