"Its good to see you again, Sarah. Although, I admit, I believed there would be more time until I was faced with this pleasure once again."
Sarah looked around. She was in what may have been a hospital, but it was hard to tell due to the thick white mist covering the floor and walls. She really only came to that conclusion due to the fact that she was in a hospital gown, and before he had shown up, she was force to rip needles out of her arms.
"Goblin King?" She asked, feeling as though she should be squinting. But there was no fog to squint through, almost as if his very skin burned the mist away, clearing a path for her eyes.
He tsk-ed her thrice, before chiding her with words. "So impersonal, Sarah. I do hope you haven't forgotten me already. Really, how old are you?"
Sarah Williams strived to remember. "Thirty-eight?" She asked, not knowing where her fuzzy brain had come up with the number. It seemed to make sense though.
"So young? I had expected you to be in your eighties at least, the next time I looked on you. I suppose it is more pleasant this way, as you do look well, for your advanced age. Ah, mortal aging, a depressing process really. I guess it matters little how old you are, as you will be able to pick your age if you come with me. How old will you go? Personally, I felt twenty-seven was a good time to stop aging, but I didn't get to pick as you will." He seemed to realize he was mumbling, and shook his wild hair to keep his mind on track.
Sarah suddenly spoke, her clouded brain clearing just enough to get another question out. "What the hell are you talking about, elf?" Sarah just knew he was an elf, this Goblin King. She remembered studying it in school. Studying him in school. How long ago was school? How old was she again? Where was she? She paused the misty questions, and tries to listen to the elf's response.
"Your future of course, Sarah." He said, a wicked smile tearing at his fiercely lined face. She mutedly noted he was very attractive. "I've never made this offer twice, precious thing, and I did imagine I'd have more time to think about it, but we're here now."
Sarah's mind cleared drastically at the word 'offer' fell from his lips, and she held her hand up, the hopefully universal sign for a pause. "Where are we, exactly?" She asked, looking around.
"I'm sure your little human religions have a million terms for it, but I will keep it simple. This is the waiting room. The place between places. You have died on Earth, and before you go Beyond, you are here. Lucky for you, I pulled a few strings, as you say, so I'm here to repeat my offer."
"The love me, fear me, do as I say, and I'll be your slave offer?" Sarah asked, wanting to sit down, but not trusting the lack of solid matter she felt below her feet to keep her from falling.
He smiled, but it wasn't a true smile, as Sarah doubted it ever as. This time it was a smug, proud smile. "Oh dear Sarah, I thought you had forgotten all about me," He said, one gloved fist resting on his hipbone, she knew since she could she the placement of the other one easily through his tight black breeches. His shirt was open to a sculpted mid-chest, more sculpted than she remembered, his pendant the only thing marring the view. Black gloves and black boots were the same. His face was still icily perfect, and his hair was still long and choppy, even if it was a little shorter than she remembered and puller back with a black leather band.
His eyes, still mismatched in shape and color bore into her, amusement on the surface, but something very serious underneath. He nodded. "That's the one."
Sarah was pulled out of her gaze by her words. She shook her head, long straight, dark brown hair falling into her eyes. She had found her first gray last week. It bothered her, so she ripped it out. Oh. She ripped it out like that a-hole had ripped out of the paring lot and into the drivers side door of her brand new car. And then there was the hospital. Well, this sucked. She was really dead.
"So I guess, precious," Jareth began, walking closer to her. So he was about ten feet in front of her. "It all comes down to, would you rather die?"
Sarah shook her head again. She ran her long fingers through it, pushing it back, out of her face. Her fingers were like her, long and thin, and beginning to show signs of age. Still, Sarah looked damn good, her curves hadn't crapped out on her yet, and she was proud of them. So was John, her boyfriend of eleven years. Oh, John… But now was not the time.
"Let me get this straight, if I agree to this, and I'm not saying I will, I go with you back to the Underground, and basically do what you say, for forever." He nodded, and she continued. "Or I die, and do what?"
Jareth shrugged. "How would I know? I'm not dead."
Sarah nodded, accepting his answer. "Okay, so would I be like a slave slave, or like a subject slave?" She would rather take her chances and die than be a slave, but if there was a way she could avoid that whole death thing, that'd be pretty cool, she'd have to take that route.
"More of a subject slave, I'd have to say." The Goblin King who would forever be nameless aloud said, "I was never much for role playing, but if that's what gets you off, you could be a slave slave, I guess."
Sarah glared. Still an asshole.
"And even that would only last as long as you were a subject. If you managed to wrangle yourself a husband from another court, I wouldn't be able to stop you."
Sarah chewed her bottom lip. From the second she had arrived here, Jareth had watched her get younger. He wasn't worried she would say no, he knew she'd say yes from the beginning. Her hair gained some luster, and it got smoother and thicker. Thin wrinkles on her face smoothed out, as well as worry lines. Her skin tightened and smoothed all over, her breasts got plumper and fuller, along with some of the perk they had lost since her youth. She appeared to loose about five pounds on her abdomen, but her hips and ass got fuller, he could tell even in that horrible hospital rag, her legs got smoother, and she may have even gained an inch of lost height.
The transformation wasn't much to watch, but the end result, Sarah Williams in the prime of her life was definitely a sight to be seen. Jareth wasn't great with human ages, but he would guess she chose to stop at eighteen, which may have been young for some. But for Sarah, it was perfect.
"Oh, and Sarah?" He said, maybe thirty seconds after he had finished speaking last. She looked up, concerned. "You're running out of time." He lied, just to bother her. She had already chosen. Hell, she had picked when she was fifteen, twenty-three years ago, even if she did choose her brother.
She glared, her eyes shifting to brown in anger. Still, she caved, as she didn't when she was fifteen. "Okay," She whispered, a sad laugh in her voice. "What other choice do I have?" She looked at the victory in his eyes, as the mist faded to reveal a maze, but this time, she was on the inside.
Her eyes hard, and stony green. "Besides, if you're too terrible to bear, I could just jump off a cliff right?"
Jareth laughed, and it struck a chord in Sarah. It wasn't a real laugh. It was a laugh of victory, of besting an old enemy.
What had she gotten herself into?
A/N: Actually meant as a one-shot. While I take a break form this other Laby story I'm wiring. Which I was writing to take a break from my other story. Review if you think I should continue. I know it's short. I might just write a few chapters of different scenarios where they meet again. I kinda like the idea of turning this into a little fifteen or so chapter story. Review?
-Have a great day, Mari.