Author's Note: This story picks up with the ending in the novelization rather than the movie. which leaves the impression that Sarah isn't going to stay in touch with her friends and is going to leave her adventures in the labyrinth as part of her past. Throughout the story, there will be references to both the novelization and the original movie. (Of course I don't own anything that was part of either the book or the movie)
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Chapter One: The Second Wish
When she asked him to take the baby, he had been amused. When she demanded the baby back, he had felt just the faintest twinge of excitement. When it became clear that she was going to beat the labyrinth, he had felt annoyed. When she arrived at the castle, he'd dared to hope, but only just a little. When she said the words that freed herself and her baby brother, he'd been relieved. Now, he was just plain angry. A goblin wandered too close to his throne and he kicked it across the room.
After countless years of taking babies and watching mortals fail to retrieve them, he had finally found someone capable of beating his labyrinth and of beating him. The only problem was, until she called on him again, he didn't really have a way to go see her. Until she called on any of them again, there would be no way to go to her.
He would have to wait. Jareth hated waiting. He felt like he'd been doing it for most of his life, and that had been a very, very, very long time. He plucked a crystal from the air and gazed into it, thinking of Sarah, the girl who had bested his labyrinth, and bested him. She was sitting in front of her mirror, talking to – was that Hogwart? Or Hoggle? Not that the name mattered. And what was that old buffoon saying? He could just barely hear, "sometimes, to need is … to let go".
"Oh wow!" The ridiculous hat crowed, "And that's just for starters!"
"Damn." The Goblin King muttered under his breath. Now he would really have to wait.
* * *
Packing for college elicited a mixture of emotions from Sarah. She was having fun going through her old memories, but she was sad to be leaving, and she was getting rather tired of boxes. She had secured a place at her choice university, prepared to study theater, acting, and the dramatic arts. Her step-mother kept insisting that she at least double-major and do something practical at the same time, and as usual her father took her step-mother's side. Nevertheless, Sarah's stubborn streak was showing proud and she firmly refused to study anything but acting.
Opening one of the drawers in her vanity table, she caught sight of something she hadn't seen in years. It was a small, battered book, titled The Labyrinth.
* * *
A large, dark eye popped open, and a green scaly goblin with blue horns sat up straight.
* * *
Sarah gently lifted the book from it's place in the drawer and ran her fingers along its beaten edges. Memories of Hoggle, Sir Didymus, Ludo, and even the Goblin King fluttered through her mind as she flipped through the pages.
* * *
"Hey!" The first goblin kneed another goblin in the ear. "Wake up!" It hissed. "Everyone, wake up!" It hissed louder, kicking and punching at hair and teeth and claws and wings and feet.
* * *
Sarah had always remembered her journey to rescue her little half-brother, although Toby had seemed to have to completely forgotten all about it.
* * *
"She's going to say the words!" The first goblin with the green scales and blue horns jumped up and down, clapping its hands. The other goblins all stood up straighter and strained their ears to listen.
* * *
Sarah closed the book, sighing dreamily. "I wish I could go back to the labyrinth," she said softly to no one in particular, "just once, to see my friends again. Now," she added, eyes wandering over to her window and staring up at the stars in the night-time sky, "before I leave for college."
She almost missed the owl, white in the moonlight, black against the stars. It helped that the owl was flying toward her open window. Before Sarah had time to stand and shut it, the animal burst into the room and swooped down to land on the floor. She would have screamed and yelled for her father to come and chase it away, but the owl immediately started to change shape. The feathers stretched and contorted as the animal itself grew very tall – taller than Sarah herself, in fact. The snow-white owl changed color as well, turning black mostly, except for the head, which remained pale, and the hair which grew long and dramatic, and very blond.
His eyes were what gave him away. It was hard to forget eyes like his.
"Jareth," Sarah whispered, touching the back of her hand to her mouth. She didn't dare call out to her parents now. There was nothing they could do. Instead, she backed away from him until she bumped into the chair in front of her vanity table and heavily sat down. "What are you doing here?"
"Granting your wish." He answered easily, smirking as he plucked a crystal from thin air. "You did say you wanted to go back to the labyrinth, now, before you leave for school, didn't you?"
"What? How did you even hear that?" Sarah's hair swished side to side as she looked around her room for the object that had betrayed her. The Labyrinth was still clutched in one of her hands.
Jareth's smirk widened into a grin. "Well, that's new. You never considered that question the first time I came to you."
"No," Sarah sighed, looking down at the book in her lap. "I guess not." More clearly, she asked, "I don't suppose telling you I didn't mean it would do anything?"
The Goblin King chuckled insincerely and countless hideous little voices burst into riotous laughter. The voices continued to giggle and snort after Jareth stopped and glared at the walls of the room. "Shut up!" He yelled. The voices ceased.
Sarah stifled a smile.
"No." The Goblin King had turned his glare on the young woman before him. "It doesn't work like that. You made a wish, and I am here to grant your wish." He knelt before her and held up the crystal. "You do want to return to the labyrinth, don't you, Sarah?"
"Yes..." she said uncertainly, staring into the small bauble. "I do want to go back to the labyrinth." There were so many colors, dancing one upon the other, inside the clear ball.
"And you would like to stay there for some time, wouldn't you, Sarah?"
"Yes, " her voice was stronger, her eyes searching deeper into the little crystal – was that Ludo lumbering through a forest?
"Just think," Jareth added as he watched her attention getting sucked into the images of the crystal, "you could have anything you wanted, the labyrinth itself would be at your beck and call," desperation crept into his words, his voice lowering, "you could stay there forever, and never have to work a day in your life, and you would never, never be alone, Sarah." Now he was barely whispering, "would you like that, Sarah?"
"Yes, I would like that," before her, the clear ball reflected fancy dresses, parties, adventures in the labyrinth, lazy days spent in a beautiful garden, Sir Didymus reciting poetry for her.
"You only have to wish for it." Jareth turned his blue and brown eyes up on the young woman's face, watching her long nose, full lips, dark eyebrows. "Just make the wish," he whispered, "and I will grant it."
"I wish..." Sarah began, feeling a strange warmth within her. "I wish..." for just a fraction of a second, she saw the Goblin King's face distorted in the glass. She looked up and found herself staring into Jareth's mismatched eyes. "Oh." She knew that what she felt was not fear, but she also knew that it was not joy. Her heart fluttered in her chest.
The Goblin King forced the corners of his mouth to twist upward as he tossed the crystal up into the air without looking away or blinking. Sarah continued to stare into his eyes. "You can think of your third wish after I've granted your second." His tone was gentle, but his throat was tight.
Jareth rose to his feet and Sarah was suddenly able to look around her. She was standing in the throne room, in the castle beyond the Goblin City. She remembered the raised dais and the throne and the buzzard nesting in the crown. Sarah watched as Jareth stretched out into his circular throne, lifting one leg over one arm. "Welcome," he spread his hands to indicate the empty room, "again."
"Thanks." Sarah responded absently while her mind raced. "Is there any way I can go home?"
"Without even looking for your friends?" Jareth gave her a mocking pout. "Tsk, tsk. Wasn't that the whole point of your wish? 'Just once, to see my friends again.' I do believe those were your exact words, Sarah." Saying her name made it hard for him to keep his face contorted into such a sour shape. He stood, walked around his throne so that he could compose his features without her noticing. "Go. Find them. Fulfill your wish."
"But, my family – they'll notice I've gone missing."
Jareth waved a black-gloved hand in the air. "I can reorder time, Sarah, or have you forgotten?"
"Oh." She didn't move. For some reason, she had suddenly noticed that he was wearing the same white fluffy-sleeved shirt, black leather vest, gray pants, and black boots as when she had first met him.
"Well?" He asked her sharply, standing behind his throne. "What are you waiting for?"
"I..." Sarah was aware that she was acting like an idiot. This was the Goblin King, after all, the man who had kidnapped her brother and tormented her entire journey through the labyrinth. "How will I find them?"
Jareth smirked. "How will you find them?" He crossed his arms over his chest. "Well, you'll never figure that out until you start looking. The sooner you fulfill your wish, the sooner you will be able to return to your very boring, very mundane life, go to college, and try your hand at acting, if that really is your heart's desire."
"What do you mean, 'if'? Of course that's my heart's desire! What do you even know about my heart?" Sarah felt her face burning with heat.
His smirk remained and his blue and brown eyes sparkled. "More than you, obviously. But that's alright. You'll figure it out. I have every confidence in you." He twirled around the throne and elegantly laid himself out on it again, leg over the arm. "Now, off with you. Or shall I have the goblins chase you out of the city?"
Sarah took a step back, her skin crawling, but she hesitated, "if I find my friends, will you send me home?"
"So many questions, so little time." He held out his hand and the 13-hour clock appeared. "You have 12 hours and 55 minutes to find them – Hogbrain, the fox, and the beast. If you have not found them within 13 hours, you will never leave here or see your family again." The words left his mouth and wrapped themselves around her body like iron chains.
Finally, Sarah thought to herself, now I know what I'm up against. She nodded quickly, then turned and ran from the throne room, through the winding halls and stairways of the castle, thinking of the way out and the Goblin City beyond.
"Silly girl," Jareth murmured to himself, "you didn't even notice that I hadn't answered your question." He reached into the air and plucked out a crystal. "Will you never see your own power?"
***
Sarah's feet pounded against the tiles of the castle floor. She wondered how she would ever find her friends. Sir Didymus had started out in the bog of eternal stench and Sarah was not looking forward to going anywhere near there again. Hoggle, she decided, was probably back at the beginning of the labyrinth, spraying fairies, and she was sure that if she could just get back there, then she would be able to find him, and he could help her find Ludo and Sir Didymus. Hoggle knew the labyrinth pretty well. Even if he wouldn't be brave enough to go with her all the way, at least he could give her directions or something.
She came to an open doorway and a cobbled path that led to the city. Tired, huffing, she walked briskly, catching her breath as she went. At least she didn't have to worry about Toby this time. She knew that he and her parents were safe and sound at home, and that none of what happened in the labyrinth would affect them, unless she didn't go home. But that wasn't going to happen. She was going to find her friends, and then demand that Jareth let her go. He couldn't keep her there forever. She wouldn't let him.
