He frowned as the light of the room shone through his eyelids. He couldn't
recall leaving any lights on, in fact it had been pitch black when he had
gone to bed. Stretching with a cat like grace he grimaced at the uneven
feel below him. These did not feel like his usual silk sheets. And come
to think of it, where was his large duvet? Had he kicked it off in the
night during another of his increasingly vivid dreams of Sarah? Slowly he
opened his eyes, and started in shock. This, was most definitely not his
bed chamber. He seemed to be lying on a dirt floor in a small and
definitly chlostrophobic room. The source of illumination came from an old
style torch on the wall, merrily flaming away. He paced around the room.
"Strange," he muttered. "No door but..." Pausing he took a little time to thoroughly inspect his small prison. The walls, made of some kind of stone seemed unremarkable. That is until you looked more closely at them. They seemed to shimmer, and shift slightly, as if aligning themselves to a pattern. The apparent gray was in fact a mixture of greens, blues and a miriad of other colours, moving like quicksilver on the surface to produce the illusion of stone. Under any other circumstances Jareth would be fascinated. However, somehow he had ended up in this room, and he did not like the fact that he had had no control over that. It was an outrage, he was after all the mighty Goblin King. Irritated and knowing this is NOT the start to the day he had wanted, he clicked his fingers to transport himself back to his castle. And he waited, and waited, and waited. He tried again but still nothing. One more futile try and now the Goblin king was apprehensive. Why were his powers not working? He tried to call up a crystal, but found he could not. Unsure what to do, he decided that he would not reduce himself to screaming like a madman to get out of there. He had to retain his pride. So with as much dignity as he could muster, he slinked over to one side of the room and slipped down the wall, resting with his back against it crouched. Closing his eyes, his mind once again drifted to that fateful day in the labyrinth when a spirited young woman had turned his life upside down.
**********************************************************************
Sarah's sleep had been disturbed. She had tossed and turned in her bed for two hours before she had managed to fall asleep and even when sleep came it was filled with strange dreams-more vivid then most. She was in the ball room, back in the labyrinth searching for someone, but she didn't know who. She looked frantically and began to panic, when, over on the far side of the room she saw him. His unmistakable figure, lithe, sculptured and attractive as hell was standing casually waiting for her to find him. Although she was annoyed at his casual manner, she found herself drawn towards him. As she walked over, he smiled what seemed a true smile. No hint of the sarcasm and teasing she remembered. He seemed...happy? Against everything she had felt, she found herself smiling and gasped as he pulled her into his arms for a dance. He was gentle and caring, but still masterful, taking the lead without a moments hesitation. And remarkably she found herself enjoying that. Not worrying about doing things for herself, she let him lead her around the dance floor. It was beautiful. HE was beautiful. And just as he paused to look into her eyes, a flash of light appeared, and he was gone, as were all the other occupants of the room. Looking around in confusion she spied a small piece of paper on the floor. It read
"Success, knowledge and love. Which is the true path to happiness?"
"What on earth does that mean?" she thought. She looked around the now empty ball room for a sign of where everyone had gone, but found nothing. Suddenly she felt herself falling. Looking down all she saw was black. A blackness more intense then that of space. A void with no end in sight. She screamed at the top of her lungs for someone, ANYONE to help her...and woke up with a start in her bed. Only it wasn't her bed...
**********************************************************************
After what seemed like days of nothing happening, the Goblin king found his patience had run out.
"I don't know who you are, or why you brought me here, but I am warning you when I find out, you will not like the consequences!" He fell silent, waiting on a reply. And he waited.
"Do you have ANY idea who you are dealing with? Evidently you do not, or you would not attempt such a foolish move! I shall not be pressured you know. You can not beat me into submission. I always win."
"REALLY?" came a voice from behind him, causing Jareth to jump and then attempt to cover up his show of weakness. He turned around to face the voice, but nothing was in his line of sight. That was, until he looked down. There standing before him with a wide grin on his face was an extremely short being. Looking vaguely like that fool Hoggle, this creature had some different features. Long jet black hair glided smoothly down its back, shimmering like quartz in the light. He had a rather long, pointed nose, almost cone like in shape. His clothing was obviously well made. Even Jareth had to concede that the material was amazing. It, like the walls seemed to shift and change, morphing from one colour or texture to the other. However, the most remarkable feature of this person was his ridiculously short legs. Very impractical thought Jareth, and rather amusing. Stifling a snigger Jareth confronted the gnome.
"How DARE you bring me here against my will! DO you have any idea who you are dealing with?" said Jareth in his most intimidating, irritated voice.
"Oh, yes, of course I do sir," answered the gnome in a comically high pitched voice. "You are Jareth, King of the Goblins, ruler of the Labyrinth and underground." The gnome still had an annoying grin on his face.
"Well then, if you know who I am, you will know that you should release me at once. Or how would you like to spend eternity as a Goblin, hmm?"
"Oh no sir, I am afraid I can't let you go. Higher powers and all that. There is much to do, MUCH to do!" Jareth was no convinced that that smile was a perpetual feature of this gnome-an extremely annoying one at that.
"What do you mean much to do-no, forget it. I am leaving, I do NOT have to lower myself to this! It's ridiculous!" Grandly he marched up to the entrance and through, and was promptly thrown back unceremoniously on his backside. Tutting the little gnome walked over to help him out.
"See sir, you can't fight it. Even you, powerful as you normally are, are but a mere mortal here." Jareth found this hard to believ. He a mere mortal-how can that be? Shocked and somewhat resigned to whatever was going to happen, Jareth began to quiz the gnome.
"Fine, so I can not leave. Why am I here? Where have my powers gone? And what on earth are you?"
"So many questions so little time, so little time," muttered the gnome.
"Just tell me, then we can get on with things can't we?" whispered Jareth in an attempt to placate and manipulate the creature.
"You are here, your powers have been taken by my master and I am your new best friend. You may call me Baldak."
"That hardly answers my questions now does it? Why-"
"ENOUGH!" boomed a voice surrounding them.
"Oh master I am sorry! So much to do! Come with me please." And with that Baldak grabbed hold of Jareth's hand (which was promptly withdrawn) and led Jareth down a pitch black corridor. It was so dark, he couldn't even make out shadows.
"This displeases me immensely," he muttered.
"Nearly there sir, oh, hang on a minute. Now what do I do again...? Oh yes, this klunk then this click and finally WHIR THERE!" And with a trembling sound like thunder, a large stone doorway slid open into an equally dark room.
"Welcome Goblin King. It is an honor to finally meet you," came the booming voice again.
"I wish I could say the same, "muttered Jareth. "Why-"
"Are you here?" finished the disembodied voice. "Simple, for a test."
"A test? That's ridiculous! You can't just take me away from my castle and expect me to-"
"You do. How many girls has it been now Jareth. Too many to count. And each time you set them a challenge, a test. Well, we thought it was time the favor was returned!"
"I don't understand," answered Jareth in a less sure tone of voice.
"You wished for a challenge yourself did you not? We simply granted it. You do the same. It has been decided that you are to find your way through OUR Labyrinth this time. And believe me it will be quite different from what you expect!"
Leering towards the direction this voice seemed to be coming Jareth began chuckling. "And why ever do you think I would comply with such a test?"
"We have your powers, your key to ruling your kingdom. We will of course return them but for now...plus of course we have some additional incentive..." Suddenly in the middle of the room, right in front of Jareth a bright light began to shine. As his eyesight gradually returned he realise what it was. There in the centre of the room was an oblong disk of light. Suddenly an image began to appear on the screen, swirling slightly like ink on the surface of water, but nevertheless clear enough to view. "Perhaps this will encourage you..." There on the screen Jareth could see the image of a young woman, imprisoned in a small room with chair, and no windows or doors-very similar to the room he awoke in. She was screaming at something, although he could see nothing in the room. It seemed only vision was available with this light device-no sound could be heard. Suddenly a timer appeared next to the girl. She looked around in disbelief and started kicking and punching the walls. Then Jareth realise that the walls were ever so slowly beginning to move in on the poor woman. He felt a pang of sympathy for her, even though he had no idea who she was. He wouldn't like to be in that room right now.
"As terrible as that may be why ever would it be an incentive?" Just as he finished that sentence the light allowed him a clear view of the woman. The hairs on the back of his neck stood on end, his skin began to goose pimple and he exhaled loudly.
"Sarah..."
"Strange," he muttered. "No door but..." Pausing he took a little time to thoroughly inspect his small prison. The walls, made of some kind of stone seemed unremarkable. That is until you looked more closely at them. They seemed to shimmer, and shift slightly, as if aligning themselves to a pattern. The apparent gray was in fact a mixture of greens, blues and a miriad of other colours, moving like quicksilver on the surface to produce the illusion of stone. Under any other circumstances Jareth would be fascinated. However, somehow he had ended up in this room, and he did not like the fact that he had had no control over that. It was an outrage, he was after all the mighty Goblin King. Irritated and knowing this is NOT the start to the day he had wanted, he clicked his fingers to transport himself back to his castle. And he waited, and waited, and waited. He tried again but still nothing. One more futile try and now the Goblin king was apprehensive. Why were his powers not working? He tried to call up a crystal, but found he could not. Unsure what to do, he decided that he would not reduce himself to screaming like a madman to get out of there. He had to retain his pride. So with as much dignity as he could muster, he slinked over to one side of the room and slipped down the wall, resting with his back against it crouched. Closing his eyes, his mind once again drifted to that fateful day in the labyrinth when a spirited young woman had turned his life upside down.
**********************************************************************
Sarah's sleep had been disturbed. She had tossed and turned in her bed for two hours before she had managed to fall asleep and even when sleep came it was filled with strange dreams-more vivid then most. She was in the ball room, back in the labyrinth searching for someone, but she didn't know who. She looked frantically and began to panic, when, over on the far side of the room she saw him. His unmistakable figure, lithe, sculptured and attractive as hell was standing casually waiting for her to find him. Although she was annoyed at his casual manner, she found herself drawn towards him. As she walked over, he smiled what seemed a true smile. No hint of the sarcasm and teasing she remembered. He seemed...happy? Against everything she had felt, she found herself smiling and gasped as he pulled her into his arms for a dance. He was gentle and caring, but still masterful, taking the lead without a moments hesitation. And remarkably she found herself enjoying that. Not worrying about doing things for herself, she let him lead her around the dance floor. It was beautiful. HE was beautiful. And just as he paused to look into her eyes, a flash of light appeared, and he was gone, as were all the other occupants of the room. Looking around in confusion she spied a small piece of paper on the floor. It read
"Success, knowledge and love. Which is the true path to happiness?"
"What on earth does that mean?" she thought. She looked around the now empty ball room for a sign of where everyone had gone, but found nothing. Suddenly she felt herself falling. Looking down all she saw was black. A blackness more intense then that of space. A void with no end in sight. She screamed at the top of her lungs for someone, ANYONE to help her...and woke up with a start in her bed. Only it wasn't her bed...
**********************************************************************
After what seemed like days of nothing happening, the Goblin king found his patience had run out.
"I don't know who you are, or why you brought me here, but I am warning you when I find out, you will not like the consequences!" He fell silent, waiting on a reply. And he waited.
"Do you have ANY idea who you are dealing with? Evidently you do not, or you would not attempt such a foolish move! I shall not be pressured you know. You can not beat me into submission. I always win."
"REALLY?" came a voice from behind him, causing Jareth to jump and then attempt to cover up his show of weakness. He turned around to face the voice, but nothing was in his line of sight. That was, until he looked down. There standing before him with a wide grin on his face was an extremely short being. Looking vaguely like that fool Hoggle, this creature had some different features. Long jet black hair glided smoothly down its back, shimmering like quartz in the light. He had a rather long, pointed nose, almost cone like in shape. His clothing was obviously well made. Even Jareth had to concede that the material was amazing. It, like the walls seemed to shift and change, morphing from one colour or texture to the other. However, the most remarkable feature of this person was his ridiculously short legs. Very impractical thought Jareth, and rather amusing. Stifling a snigger Jareth confronted the gnome.
"How DARE you bring me here against my will! DO you have any idea who you are dealing with?" said Jareth in his most intimidating, irritated voice.
"Oh, yes, of course I do sir," answered the gnome in a comically high pitched voice. "You are Jareth, King of the Goblins, ruler of the Labyrinth and underground." The gnome still had an annoying grin on his face.
"Well then, if you know who I am, you will know that you should release me at once. Or how would you like to spend eternity as a Goblin, hmm?"
"Oh no sir, I am afraid I can't let you go. Higher powers and all that. There is much to do, MUCH to do!" Jareth was no convinced that that smile was a perpetual feature of this gnome-an extremely annoying one at that.
"What do you mean much to do-no, forget it. I am leaving, I do NOT have to lower myself to this! It's ridiculous!" Grandly he marched up to the entrance and through, and was promptly thrown back unceremoniously on his backside. Tutting the little gnome walked over to help him out.
"See sir, you can't fight it. Even you, powerful as you normally are, are but a mere mortal here." Jareth found this hard to believ. He a mere mortal-how can that be? Shocked and somewhat resigned to whatever was going to happen, Jareth began to quiz the gnome.
"Fine, so I can not leave. Why am I here? Where have my powers gone? And what on earth are you?"
"So many questions so little time, so little time," muttered the gnome.
"Just tell me, then we can get on with things can't we?" whispered Jareth in an attempt to placate and manipulate the creature.
"You are here, your powers have been taken by my master and I am your new best friend. You may call me Baldak."
"That hardly answers my questions now does it? Why-"
"ENOUGH!" boomed a voice surrounding them.
"Oh master I am sorry! So much to do! Come with me please." And with that Baldak grabbed hold of Jareth's hand (which was promptly withdrawn) and led Jareth down a pitch black corridor. It was so dark, he couldn't even make out shadows.
"This displeases me immensely," he muttered.
"Nearly there sir, oh, hang on a minute. Now what do I do again...? Oh yes, this klunk then this click and finally WHIR THERE!" And with a trembling sound like thunder, a large stone doorway slid open into an equally dark room.
"Welcome Goblin King. It is an honor to finally meet you," came the booming voice again.
"I wish I could say the same, "muttered Jareth. "Why-"
"Are you here?" finished the disembodied voice. "Simple, for a test."
"A test? That's ridiculous! You can't just take me away from my castle and expect me to-"
"You do. How many girls has it been now Jareth. Too many to count. And each time you set them a challenge, a test. Well, we thought it was time the favor was returned!"
"I don't understand," answered Jareth in a less sure tone of voice.
"You wished for a challenge yourself did you not? We simply granted it. You do the same. It has been decided that you are to find your way through OUR Labyrinth this time. And believe me it will be quite different from what you expect!"
Leering towards the direction this voice seemed to be coming Jareth began chuckling. "And why ever do you think I would comply with such a test?"
"We have your powers, your key to ruling your kingdom. We will of course return them but for now...plus of course we have some additional incentive..." Suddenly in the middle of the room, right in front of Jareth a bright light began to shine. As his eyesight gradually returned he realise what it was. There in the centre of the room was an oblong disk of light. Suddenly an image began to appear on the screen, swirling slightly like ink on the surface of water, but nevertheless clear enough to view. "Perhaps this will encourage you..." There on the screen Jareth could see the image of a young woman, imprisoned in a small room with chair, and no windows or doors-very similar to the room he awoke in. She was screaming at something, although he could see nothing in the room. It seemed only vision was available with this light device-no sound could be heard. Suddenly a timer appeared next to the girl. She looked around in disbelief and started kicking and punching the walls. Then Jareth realise that the walls were ever so slowly beginning to move in on the poor woman. He felt a pang of sympathy for her, even though he had no idea who she was. He wouldn't like to be in that room right now.
"As terrible as that may be why ever would it be an incentive?" Just as he finished that sentence the light allowed him a clear view of the woman. The hairs on the back of his neck stood on end, his skin began to goose pimple and he exhaled loudly.
"Sarah..."
