Hello all! Though this is my first Laby fic of any consequence, I've been
a listian-in-training for a while now. This story idea hit me a while back
when I was working on a writing assignment. Originally, it was supposed to
be a vocabulary story, but when I found the word count stretching into the
thousands, I decided that my teacher would not be very happy if I turned it
in. Instead, I wrote up a quickie to turn in and transformed this into a
story. I've never posted on fanfiction.net before, and so I apologize
ahead of time for any problems that occur.
If there are any similarities in this story to other fanfiction, it is
probably not your imagination. No, I do not plagiarize, but ideas I
consider to be up for grabs. Though I did not intentionally make my story
like any others I have read, I know they have influenced me. That being
said, read, enjoy, and review!
Disclaimer: Dune comes in leading Jareth
Dune: prods Jareth in the back "Come on, say it!"
Jareth: "Do I have to??"
Dune: "Of course! I own you! Now say it."
Jareth: "Ok, ok!" clears throat "Dune, the author of this fic, does not own or hold possession of Jareth, Sarah, or any character or item from the Labyrinth. The sole possession of said people and things belongs to Jim Henson, George Lucas, and Brian Froud. She does, however, put a claim on any original characters in her story. Please do not use without notifying her. Thank you." looks back at Dune "There, I said it. Now can I go back to my castle?"
Dune: "For a while. But don't go kicking any Goblins, ok?"
Jareth: "Fine, fine."
Dune walks out with Jareth
******************
Chapter One: Assumptions and Resolutions
Jareth reached down and touched the globe of spun silver that rolled toward him on the ground. Unlike most people when confronted by a crystal ball rolling at them, he did not look up to see who or what had rolled it at him. He just looked deeply into it, like a seer searching the stars for answers. Not as to where it had come from of course. That he knew. The crystals, the embodiment of his Fae magic, were not only containers for spells, but could used by him to carry messages, lead people to where he wanted them to go, or, as in this case, spies that could look in places that even his royal eyes were barred from.
A picture of a brown haired girl appeared in the crystal that Jareth held lovingly in his hands. She was astonishing in her beauty. Her skin was petal soft and slightly tanned. Her dark brown hair was long and silky with a slight curl at the ends. Her nose was small and petite. Her mouth was sweet and pink with a quirk in the corners that showed her sense of humor. Her eyes, however, were her most striking feature. Gray and almost misty with imagination sometimes, they had such strength, such vitality, that one's breath was swept away. Jareth remembered the way her eyes would tell what she was thinking. Steel gray when she was determined, clouded gray when she was confused. A green hint came to them when she liked someone, and a blue when she was marveling at something. Yellow flashes would spark when she was angry, however, and then the provoker beware!
It had been two days since Jareth had been defeated by Sarah and been forced by her to return her and her baby brother, Toby, to Aboveground. Jareth had spent those two days in anguish. Jareth was considered by himself and many others to be the master of games. And he had been beaten at his own game, played by his own rules, in his own castle. Humiliated, crushed, Jareth could not stop himself from living the experience in his mind over and over again. Where had he gone wrong? What had he left undone? How had he failed? And always through his musings Sarah's face floated before him in mockery. He had taken to spying on her, as he had done during her trek through his labyrinth. He had found that speaking to her, even though she couldn't hear him, only made him grow angry, but he couldn't help it. What he felt had to be spoken.
"Sarah. Sarah. Why?" Jareth murmured sorrowfully at the beautiful girl in the glass. "I offered you everything. my heart, my soul. How could you have refused? How could you have been so cruel?" his teeth ground over those words as if they were poison, "I all but fell before you on my knees! Imagine! The Great Goblin King down on his knees before a mortal! Begging, pleading her to stay and love him. to accept his love. Oh how you hurt me, Sarah!" A self-depreciating sneer appeared on his face. "And then that smile, Sarah. That scornful turn of your sweet mouth hurt worse than anything you ever could have said. That little, mocking grin when you remembered the words you had been searching for. That smile that said that all I had done. all I had been meant nothing to you. You had won." Jareth threw the globe from him and it dissipated before hitting the wall. "Was it a game Sarah? Was it? Truly, do you think that after all I have done for you. all that I have invested in you, I would let you go so easily? Do you really think," here Jareth's voice reached a new crescendo, his feelings over the past few minutes having steadily risen as he spoke to a girl who could not hear him, "Do you truly, honestly THINK that it was all a game? Then, Sarah, my dear. You are about to learn what it is to TRULY play against the Master of Games. And this time, my love, the stakes have risen." Jareth conjured another crystal ball and kissed the image of Sarah's face in it before retiring to his room.
************
In a small bedroom in a little, Victorian-style house on 5th street, the soft glimmer of the morning sun through the leaves of the tree outside her window woke Sarah from her troubled sleep. The last two nights since she had come back from. well, from There Sarah had had troubled dreams. Dreams filled with changing landscapes, strange colors, and wave upon wave of emotions that were so strong they hit her like physical blows. The strange thing was that when she woke up they would fade into nothingness and she remembered them no more until she was about to drift off to sleep again the next night.
Sarah brushed the remainders of her dream out of mind and memory and looked contentedly around the room. So many things here that held special places in her heart, all the more special now that she had determined to leave them behind her.
"I have grown up." Sarah said to herself, "I never thought that it would be so hard."
She got out of her bed and pushed her feet into the little pink, fuzzy house shoes that she had gotten a year ago for Christmas. An amused grin crept over her features as she regarded them. Yes, they would be the first of many things she would replace. Replace with more grown-up items. From now on, Sarah was determined to be sensible. After all, her childish attitude and foolish behavior had been what had gotten her into so much trouble just two days ago.
With a bright, cheerful step, Sarah finished pulling a pink bathrobe around herself and skipped down the hall into her parent's room to check on Toby. The little guy was sound asleep still. He had slept a lot for the last day or so. Probably from going through so much when. well, going through so much. Sarah's parents had used this unusual reprieve from him to spend the previous day at the fair that was in town. Sarah had astounded her stepmother by happily requesting to be left at home with the baby. Karen had noticed a change in her stepdaughter. Instead of moping about the house with a book in her hand and a mournful tune humming from her mouth, Sarah was bright and cheerful. She was glad to help wash up after meals, and holding Toby was now a joy to her instead of a burden. Karen mentally filed away this strange behavior behind that all-encompassing excuse of "teenagers".
Sarah grinned a little to see Lancelot, her old, stuffed bear, cuddled close in Toby's arms. So many memories. She shook her head to clear it and tripped back into her own room. Today was school. Her first day of school since, well, since the last time.
Sarah's closet was filled with flowery, flowing clothes, many of which also doubled as costumes during school plays.
"These won't do." Sarah thought to herself. "I'm being sensible, remember?"
She dug deep into the recesses of her closet, determined to find something without frills or lace. Finally, she unearthed a rather apologetic looking blouse that almost looked masculine it was so devoid of anything frivolous.
"Finally!" thought Sarah, and she grabbed her most comfortable, practical jeans and loafers and proceeded dressing.
When she was through, her feet took her automatically to her dresser were her make-up and jewelry lay. Without thinking, she picked up her favorite pink gloss and was about to apply it before she realized what she was doing. Rummaging through her make-up unearthed some business-like beige lipstick, which she then applied with relish. The only jewelry she wore was her wristwatch, and that, she determined in her mind, to replace as soon as she found something more suitable than unicorns as a motif.
As Sarah picked up her book bag to head downstairs, her gaze fell on the small, leather-bound red book lying haphazardly on her dresser.
"I thought I put that away." she said to herself, "Odd."
She picked it up to put it into her drawer, but halted as her hand touched its cover. Memories, rich and unbidden, flooded into her mind. A little blue worm with a scarf around its neck... A gruff, uncultured voice... A soft wind on her face. Brown and green flashes. A pair of glittering wings. White. A dance. Whirling, spinning. White feathers. an owl over a crystal moon. Him.
"No." she moaned, her hands automatically clutching the book to her chest as tears leaked down her face, "Hoggle. Ludo. Didymus." she staggered to her knees, slowing rocking back and forth with the book still cradled to her chest. "Why? Why did it happen? I didn't want to say the words!! Truly! I thought it was a game." A mocking, handsome face appeared in her mind's eye. Unruly blond hair flew about its elegant profile with a wild grace. "Oh. But." The tears stopped coming and Sarah's face took on a strange hardness. "It was a game, wasn't it? That's all it was to you, all along." Her eyes went from clouded to steel. "A game, huh? Well, I've had all I can take of games. I will no longer play along, you hear me?? I am NOT a child anymore! And I refuse to be treated like one!"
Sarah looked done at the book that was cradled so lovingly to her chest and disgust came over her. She threw the book from her and didn't look to see were it would land. She rose to her feet, chin jutting out in defiance.
"I won. You hear me?? I WON!!" She quieted then and a contented but somehow sorrowful expression passed over her features.
"I'm free." She stated simply, her voice no more than a whisper of wind in a silent desert land. With that she gathered up her book bag and trudged downstairs to get some breakfast.
In her hurry, she missed the light that flashed from the small, crystal sphere speeding away from her window.
Disclaimer: Dune comes in leading Jareth
Dune: prods Jareth in the back "Come on, say it!"
Jareth: "Do I have to??"
Dune: "Of course! I own you! Now say it."
Jareth: "Ok, ok!" clears throat "Dune, the author of this fic, does not own or hold possession of Jareth, Sarah, or any character or item from the Labyrinth. The sole possession of said people and things belongs to Jim Henson, George Lucas, and Brian Froud. She does, however, put a claim on any original characters in her story. Please do not use without notifying her. Thank you." looks back at Dune "There, I said it. Now can I go back to my castle?"
Dune: "For a while. But don't go kicking any Goblins, ok?"
Jareth: "Fine, fine."
Dune walks out with Jareth
******************
Chapter One: Assumptions and Resolutions
Jareth reached down and touched the globe of spun silver that rolled toward him on the ground. Unlike most people when confronted by a crystal ball rolling at them, he did not look up to see who or what had rolled it at him. He just looked deeply into it, like a seer searching the stars for answers. Not as to where it had come from of course. That he knew. The crystals, the embodiment of his Fae magic, were not only containers for spells, but could used by him to carry messages, lead people to where he wanted them to go, or, as in this case, spies that could look in places that even his royal eyes were barred from.
A picture of a brown haired girl appeared in the crystal that Jareth held lovingly in his hands. She was astonishing in her beauty. Her skin was petal soft and slightly tanned. Her dark brown hair was long and silky with a slight curl at the ends. Her nose was small and petite. Her mouth was sweet and pink with a quirk in the corners that showed her sense of humor. Her eyes, however, were her most striking feature. Gray and almost misty with imagination sometimes, they had such strength, such vitality, that one's breath was swept away. Jareth remembered the way her eyes would tell what she was thinking. Steel gray when she was determined, clouded gray when she was confused. A green hint came to them when she liked someone, and a blue when she was marveling at something. Yellow flashes would spark when she was angry, however, and then the provoker beware!
It had been two days since Jareth had been defeated by Sarah and been forced by her to return her and her baby brother, Toby, to Aboveground. Jareth had spent those two days in anguish. Jareth was considered by himself and many others to be the master of games. And he had been beaten at his own game, played by his own rules, in his own castle. Humiliated, crushed, Jareth could not stop himself from living the experience in his mind over and over again. Where had he gone wrong? What had he left undone? How had he failed? And always through his musings Sarah's face floated before him in mockery. He had taken to spying on her, as he had done during her trek through his labyrinth. He had found that speaking to her, even though she couldn't hear him, only made him grow angry, but he couldn't help it. What he felt had to be spoken.
"Sarah. Sarah. Why?" Jareth murmured sorrowfully at the beautiful girl in the glass. "I offered you everything. my heart, my soul. How could you have refused? How could you have been so cruel?" his teeth ground over those words as if they were poison, "I all but fell before you on my knees! Imagine! The Great Goblin King down on his knees before a mortal! Begging, pleading her to stay and love him. to accept his love. Oh how you hurt me, Sarah!" A self-depreciating sneer appeared on his face. "And then that smile, Sarah. That scornful turn of your sweet mouth hurt worse than anything you ever could have said. That little, mocking grin when you remembered the words you had been searching for. That smile that said that all I had done. all I had been meant nothing to you. You had won." Jareth threw the globe from him and it dissipated before hitting the wall. "Was it a game Sarah? Was it? Truly, do you think that after all I have done for you. all that I have invested in you, I would let you go so easily? Do you really think," here Jareth's voice reached a new crescendo, his feelings over the past few minutes having steadily risen as he spoke to a girl who could not hear him, "Do you truly, honestly THINK that it was all a game? Then, Sarah, my dear. You are about to learn what it is to TRULY play against the Master of Games. And this time, my love, the stakes have risen." Jareth conjured another crystal ball and kissed the image of Sarah's face in it before retiring to his room.
************
In a small bedroom in a little, Victorian-style house on 5th street, the soft glimmer of the morning sun through the leaves of the tree outside her window woke Sarah from her troubled sleep. The last two nights since she had come back from. well, from There Sarah had had troubled dreams. Dreams filled with changing landscapes, strange colors, and wave upon wave of emotions that were so strong they hit her like physical blows. The strange thing was that when she woke up they would fade into nothingness and she remembered them no more until she was about to drift off to sleep again the next night.
Sarah brushed the remainders of her dream out of mind and memory and looked contentedly around the room. So many things here that held special places in her heart, all the more special now that she had determined to leave them behind her.
"I have grown up." Sarah said to herself, "I never thought that it would be so hard."
She got out of her bed and pushed her feet into the little pink, fuzzy house shoes that she had gotten a year ago for Christmas. An amused grin crept over her features as she regarded them. Yes, they would be the first of many things she would replace. Replace with more grown-up items. From now on, Sarah was determined to be sensible. After all, her childish attitude and foolish behavior had been what had gotten her into so much trouble just two days ago.
With a bright, cheerful step, Sarah finished pulling a pink bathrobe around herself and skipped down the hall into her parent's room to check on Toby. The little guy was sound asleep still. He had slept a lot for the last day or so. Probably from going through so much when. well, going through so much. Sarah's parents had used this unusual reprieve from him to spend the previous day at the fair that was in town. Sarah had astounded her stepmother by happily requesting to be left at home with the baby. Karen had noticed a change in her stepdaughter. Instead of moping about the house with a book in her hand and a mournful tune humming from her mouth, Sarah was bright and cheerful. She was glad to help wash up after meals, and holding Toby was now a joy to her instead of a burden. Karen mentally filed away this strange behavior behind that all-encompassing excuse of "teenagers".
Sarah grinned a little to see Lancelot, her old, stuffed bear, cuddled close in Toby's arms. So many memories. She shook her head to clear it and tripped back into her own room. Today was school. Her first day of school since, well, since the last time.
Sarah's closet was filled with flowery, flowing clothes, many of which also doubled as costumes during school plays.
"These won't do." Sarah thought to herself. "I'm being sensible, remember?"
She dug deep into the recesses of her closet, determined to find something without frills or lace. Finally, she unearthed a rather apologetic looking blouse that almost looked masculine it was so devoid of anything frivolous.
"Finally!" thought Sarah, and she grabbed her most comfortable, practical jeans and loafers and proceeded dressing.
When she was through, her feet took her automatically to her dresser were her make-up and jewelry lay. Without thinking, she picked up her favorite pink gloss and was about to apply it before she realized what she was doing. Rummaging through her make-up unearthed some business-like beige lipstick, which she then applied with relish. The only jewelry she wore was her wristwatch, and that, she determined in her mind, to replace as soon as she found something more suitable than unicorns as a motif.
As Sarah picked up her book bag to head downstairs, her gaze fell on the small, leather-bound red book lying haphazardly on her dresser.
"I thought I put that away." she said to herself, "Odd."
She picked it up to put it into her drawer, but halted as her hand touched its cover. Memories, rich and unbidden, flooded into her mind. A little blue worm with a scarf around its neck... A gruff, uncultured voice... A soft wind on her face. Brown and green flashes. A pair of glittering wings. White. A dance. Whirling, spinning. White feathers. an owl over a crystal moon. Him.
"No." she moaned, her hands automatically clutching the book to her chest as tears leaked down her face, "Hoggle. Ludo. Didymus." she staggered to her knees, slowing rocking back and forth with the book still cradled to her chest. "Why? Why did it happen? I didn't want to say the words!! Truly! I thought it was a game." A mocking, handsome face appeared in her mind's eye. Unruly blond hair flew about its elegant profile with a wild grace. "Oh. But." The tears stopped coming and Sarah's face took on a strange hardness. "It was a game, wasn't it? That's all it was to you, all along." Her eyes went from clouded to steel. "A game, huh? Well, I've had all I can take of games. I will no longer play along, you hear me?? I am NOT a child anymore! And I refuse to be treated like one!"
Sarah looked done at the book that was cradled so lovingly to her chest and disgust came over her. She threw the book from her and didn't look to see were it would land. She rose to her feet, chin jutting out in defiance.
"I won. You hear me?? I WON!!" She quieted then and a contented but somehow sorrowful expression passed over her features.
"I'm free." She stated simply, her voice no more than a whisper of wind in a silent desert land. With that she gathered up her book bag and trudged downstairs to get some breakfast.
In her hurry, she missed the light that flashed from the small, crystal sphere speeding away from her window.