Desperate Times, Desperate Measures
By Aubrey S.
The Elven Enigma
Jareth tossed and turned in his kingly bed. He was chasing after sleep, but it seemed as though the more he tried the farther it was from him. Ha hated what he had become. By day, he was the Goblin King. He had recovered from the complete destruction of his castle, had control over one of the most powerful realms of the Underground, and struck fear into the hearts of all creatures, big and small alike. He was all-powerful and had a distinct aura of strength and arrogant grace about him that everyone in the Underground could sense just by being near him. But ever since a whiny, demanding, and spoiled fifteen-year old brat had spoken the only six words in existence that could have defeated him, he had become a different creature by night.
Now, instead of slumbering peacefully, entwined in silken sheets spun by his own personal team of silk fairies and dreaming of the possibilities of his powers, he spent his nights in the same bed, twisting the now-not-as-fine-feeling sheets about him as he tried everything to get that same brat out of his head. For despite her incessant whining and her selfish attitude, she was strong, courageous and indomitable and the great Jareth had been forced to surrender to her conquering of him.
The part that had kept him awake every night for two years now—whether he was aware of it or not—was that his feelings about her were so ambivalent that he couldn't let himself accept either side. She was brave and determined, and for that he loved her. But she had reduced him to a sniveling creature that could barley create the illusion of concentrating on anything during the day, much less actually accomplishing anything, and for that he despised her. He adored her, but he hated her for it. Within lay his paradox.
It was no good. For another countless night, he threw off his covers and dressed himself. He was getting no sleep tonight.
He took a deep breath and transformed into an owl, trying like the damned to get a hold of his emotions long enough for a quick flight. He shot out the window and flew towards the highest tower of his castle, but not without great difficulty. The transformation would randomly give out for a split second, leaving Jareth hanging in the air. And when the form would return, he still felt like he weighed tons and it took most of his energy to keep his wings moving. Every time he stopped flapping to soar for a moment, he would begin to fall. It was utterly exhausting.
Everything was overly tiring and had been for two years. His flights became more and more sporadic, his transformations weakened, he could barely transport himself to anywhere inside the Labyrinth, much less to any other kingdoms. He never slept, he snapped at everyone even more than usual and everything he did was enough effort to weaken him entirely. He was in Hell. And as far as he could see, it would be that way for eternity. Damn Sarah. Damn her for ever letting him set eyes on her. Damn her for making him fall in love with her.
He finally landed on the tower and tried to transform as slowly as possible, as to not injure himself. But about halfway through, he lost control and his original form took over too quickly, throwing him backward and knocking the wind out of him. He cracked the back of his head on the stone and felt something in his knee give way. He lay there on his back for a long time, just letting the pain soak into him. He had the power to heal himself but these days it took much longer. He lay there on the cold, stone floor of the tower until the first rays of sun peaked over the horizon. He paid no attention to the gorgeous sight for he found no joy in it anymore.
A sunrise in the Underground is a sight a mere mortal could never imagine. The sky lightens from the midnight blue to a soft violet and the first rays of sunshine are pure yellow that shoot through the luminous purple clouds that hug the horizon. The rays turn from yellow to a vivid green and then into a blood red as the sky changes yet again to a robin's egg blue and the clouds begin to dissolve. Gradually, the colors become less vibrant and simply fade into each other, the clouds disappear and the sunlight catches everything, warming the entire world in only a few moments and bathing everything in a breathtaking golden glow.
As the newborn sun washed over him, Jareth felt the pain in his body subside but he could not convince himself to get up off the floor and return to his subjects. He couldn't bear to spend another day pretending everything was fine and that he was just as powerful as he'd always been, if not more so. It was too much work and it hurt him too much. A brief thought dashed through his head, wondering if it wouldn't be easier to simply propel himself from the tower and end this Purgatory forever. When he become conscious of the idea, he sat up straight and shook his head. This was not happening. He could not allow it.
He always figured he had no choice but to work as hard as he could to forget about Sarah and the whole ordeal. But it had never occurred to him that he had another option besides suicide, which he didn't consider an option anyway. He got to his feet in a graceful movement, which had not happened without a great amount of effort in a long time. He looked out over his green, lush kingdom, the Labyrinth glittering in the morning light and made up his mind. He started to wave his hand and transport himself to the throne room but figured it wasn't a good idea. He didn't know just how long this burst of confidence might last. He opened a door on the far side of the tower and dashed down a countless number of stairs, through the royal kitchen (getting odd looks from the kitchen staff; the goblins had been noticing something strange about their master's behavior but couldn't quite tell what it was), down past the dungeons, then up another ten or twenty flights, down the endless corridors that made up the goblins' quarters and finally through the back door of the throne room. He tried as hardest to breathe normally and look fierce as he entered the room. But as soon as he did, he realized the lack of need for it.
Not a single of the grimy little creatures even noticed his entrance. The usual chaos of the throne room was even more insane than usual due to the end of another very successful harvest. After months on end of grueling hard work all the goblins wanted to do in the wintertime was be lazy, celebrate and stuff themselves sick with the newly reaped food. God, this will be so much worse when the snow begins to fall, Jareth thought to himself.
As it was, the throne room was frenzied with goblins making toasts and sloshing wine all over each other. Some had already passed out and now littered the floor, snoring. Several of the more idiotic drunks were chasing around chickens, who squawked and darted around the slumbering obstacles in an attempt to escape their blundering pursuers. Goblets clanked, glass shattered, goblins roared with laughter.
Jareth almost tried to yell over the din, then thought better of it. Praying that his strength would hold up, he produced a crystal and—using quite a bit of his precious power and cursing Sarah again for making something like this so difficult when two years ago it would have been effortless—tossed it into the air. The goblins were still unaware and were deep in conversation and drunken stupor but as Jareth concentrated on the crystal, it exploded into a thousand yellow, blue and green fireworks.
The noise was deafening and all the Goblins jumped and tried to figure out what was going on. After a moment, when the fireworks dissolved into thin air and Jareth had had a moment to catch his breath, he said, "Listen, those of you who are still sober enough to understand me. I'll be leaving for a while and may not be back until the Spring Planting. You will be left to govern yourselves and I promise you if any part of my kingdom is worse when I return, there will be Hell to pay. I will bypass the Bog of Eternal Stench and directly resort to physical excruciation. Am I perfectly understood?"
His subjects nodded stupidly with blank expressions. "Alright, then," Jareth continued, "in that case GET OUT! I have work to do. OUT! NOW!"
The goblins scurried to get out of his way and within seconds, the throne room was clear and Jareth sat down to gather his energy.