The fall into the oubliette was harsh, the Helping Hands no longer helpful with the entirety of the labyrinth so dull and weak, and he hit the trap door with a harsh thud before it caved beneath his weight. He fell with a heavy cloud of dust and sand, what little breath he had left from the fall leaving him in a whoosh as he lay there in the dust, his once resplendent clothes filthy and tattered.
Jareth, the Goblin King of the Great Underground, was defeated, and he lay there in the grime for several moments until his aching limbs reordered themselves and he could sit up a little. Instantly, knowing where the doors and ladders led, Jareth threw back the coarse bit of fabric covering the wood plank, and he grinned before, upon opening it to what should have been the way out, he opened it to solid stone. He scowled, eyes wide,and each option only opened on more disappointment.
Jareth could hardly summon a simple scrying crystal, let alone conjure a door.
Sighing faintly in the blackness of the oubliette, the little orb appeared slowly in his hand, half forming before he could give it a second burst of strength and finish it. In it, he could already see the images he wanted, foggy and warped by the imperfect thing he'd attempted to call up, and his heart beat faintly as he let himself recline, eyes lingering on the smears of colour and form.
"Sarah..." He felt drowsy, sleepy as though he had been eating enchanter peaches and sipping decanters of honeyed wine. "Help me, Sarah..."
And that was when Toby woke up, shaking his older sister from her studies with a loud cry, his poor little limbs trembling as he sat up in bed and struggled to speak.
"SAAAARAAAAAHH!" He sobbed, head thrown back as he cried harshly into the night. It had been years and years since he'd seen the Goblin King, too many years for him to remember his face, or his hair, or the fear, but he wasn't afraid of this strange dream now. He felt so terribly sad.
"Toby?" In the other room, Sarah pulled out her second earphone in surprise at the shout and tried not to be irritated. Outside, in the harsh rains that pelted against her window, there was enough racket to frighten anyone, so she stiffly got to her feet and wandered up to her brother's bedroom.
She had left for school two years ago almost, but with her Reading Week in place, she had been glad to come for a few days to look after Toby. Her father was up in Canada for business, something about a conference, and Irene had needed a little break from her son and the empty house, so Sarah had gladly stepped in. It saved her from buying groceries for the weekend.
She left the lights off, the steet light outside illuminating his toys and other hazards enough for her, and she sat on the edge of his bed softly as she opened her arms to him. "Toby... what's wrong, soldier?" She smiled at him a little. "Run out of ammo?"
"No," Toby scrambled forward, snuffling harshly, and he whimpered against her shoulder as his arms locked around her neck. "No, Sarah, I had a bad dream! About the crow man again!"
"Ooo, scary. Half-man, half-crow. That's the worst!" Sarah rubbed his back gently, trying to soothe him, and she smiled at the idea of a funny-looking man with a beak and bird feet. "Did he eat bird seed or worms?"
"Sa-rah!" Toby looked up at her crossly, frowning as the tears dried on his cheeks. "Nobody eats WORMS. And he wasn't like that! He was a man who is a crow, and he's bad! He and the hawk man hurt the pretty bird man! They threw him in a hole!"
"Probably an oubliette." She chuckled to herself, remembering an encounter with one such hole.
"He's gonna DIE!" Toby wailed, his voice warbling out in the dark as he clung to her. "He's all alone and he's gonna die down there! The knight isn't coming to save him!" HE held her tightly, obviously very upset by the whole thing, and she frowned softly as she rubbed his back and rocked him lazily as he drifted off again in her arms. She thought about what he was saying a little, surprised he had brought something so sad into his mind, and she wondered if everything was alright. After the Labyrinth, he had always been a little odd... and it had begun to show more and more as he grew.
"It's nothing." She decided aloud, slowly easing her brother back down onto the mattress as she tucked him in again. "Just a bad dream..." He was sleeping sweetly again, his breathing even, and Sarah was glad to see him resting peacefully again. "Sleep tight, Captain Toby. See you in the morning."
Sarah smoothed down her shirt at the front as she closed her brother's door again, making a side trip to the bathroom, and she shrieked sharply when she saw someone pressed against the other side of the mirror.
"HOGGLE?!" Closing the door hurriedly in case Toby got up again, Sarah hurried forward to lean on the counter, her eyes wide as they could be, and she felt her heart pound hard against her ribs.
"SARAH!" The dwarf looked at her with wide eyes, older and more hunched since she had seen him last, and he banged his hands on the other side frantically. "Sarah, something awful happened! We need yer help!"
