I don't own the labyrinth, but I do own these words. :)
Thanks a bunch to everyone that reviewed the last one! I'm not sure how long this story will be, but I'm hoping I'll post every other day until Halloween. So enjoy and remember to review!
Chapter 2
Knowing that she had promised to tell the story of the goblin king to Toby and his entire class kept Sarah on edge the entire trip home. She knew better than to think that she could wiggle out of a promise made to her little brother, but still her mind searched desperately for a way to fix the mess that was about to be made.
By the time she arrived back at the house, no magic answer had sprung forth in her mind, so instead she resolved to not think about it for while. Maybe if I don't try so hard to come up with something, the answer will come to be. Even though her plan made little sense, she shrugged her shoulders and went with it, knowing she had no other options at this point.
When she finally made it to the house, she first made her way into the garage, digging out the boxes of Halloween decorations that seemed to become more and more filled each year. She spent an hour happily decorating the front yard, taking time to rake up most of the leaves and sweeping the walkway for the trick-or-treaters. Since Halloween fell on a Friday this year she knew it would be a long night, with hundreds of eager kids. Taking that into account she had gotten double the amount of candy, figuring that any leftovers would be happily devoured in the days to come by Toby.
When at last everything was set up to her satisfaction, she made her way back inside, depositing the now empty boxes in the garage as she went. With nothing to occupy her time now, her mind wandered back to Toby and the story she had promised to tell him a few hours from now.
Damn, I still don't have any ideas! If only there was some way to distract him… Suddenly, the perfect idea popped into Sarah's mind. Hoggle, Ludo, and Sir Didymus never came aboveground on Halloween until after the sun set, but that didn't mean that they couldn't. If she brought her three friends along with her to story time, Toby would forget all about the goblin king. Seeing his three favorite story time hero's brought to life would be the perfect thing to take his mind off that dratted king.
With the perfect, from her perspective at least, plan in mind, she raced upstairs and eagerly sat in front of her old vanity mirror, anxious to call to her friends and explain to them the plan. "Hoggle I need you," she called out the familiar words, waiting breathlessly for her dear friend to appear beside her. She waited a moment, but the mirror remained empty of any reflection other than her own. Frowning slightly she tried again, a little more urgently this time. "Hoggle, please, I need you." Still she remained alone in her room. Sitting back against her chair, she frowned at the mirror, upset at its inability to produce her friend.
If this hadn't happened once or twice before, Sarah might have been worried. However, it had happened and Hoggle had explained to her that it was not always possible for him to come to her. Whenever he had duties to attend to outside the bounds of the labyrinth for example, he couldn't hear her calls and join her. So even though it put a kink in her plan, she didn't let it bother her too much.
Instead she tried a different approach, calling out, "Ludo I need you." Again she waited. And waited. Becoming more perturbed, she poked the mirror with her finger saying again, "Ludo. I. Need. You." She spoke loudly and over enunciated each word, as if she was talking to a foreigner. She knew that Ludo, although braver than all of her friends combined, was not exactly the smartest beast out there. Still she had hoped that upon hearing her summons he would be able to figure out what to do. Apparently her deductions were all wrong.
Attempting to calm herself she took a deep breath, held it for a count of ten and then released it. Taking her last chance she said in an irritated voice, "Sir Didymus I need you." Nothing happened yet again.
Something is up with those guys, she thought to herself. It's too strange that none of them would be able to answer my summons. Sir Didymus never leaves the Bog and thats well within the bounds of the labyrinth! There was an old saying she had read in a book once that went something along the lines of, "Once is tragic, twice is coincidence, but three times is conspiracy." Judging by the fact that none of her dear friends answered her call on the one day a year they could all be together definitely made a conspiracy. And I think I know who would be behind it…
For the last five years she had forced herself to not think about the goblin king and yet for the last month he had not been far from her mind. Ever since Toby had made the strange request for Halloween, he hadn't been far from her thoughts and the dreams that had plagued her at random times these past few years now occurred almost nightly.
Is he behind all of this? Toby asking for that costume, finding that book and wanting to know the story, and my friends not being able to come to me? Sarah knew that all of that was well within the scope of the king's power, considering how easy it had been for him to alter time that night. But what purpose would he have for all of this? It can't be Toby; goblins are only interested in babies, right? Could it be me? Is this some twisted plot for revenge?
The fact that the goblin king had so much power and was always so unpredictable made Sarah extremely nervous. Is he watching me now I wonder? Her eyes darted around her room, as if she would really find the mighty king crouched in the corner spying on her. To her slight relief, her room was devoid of any one else besides her. Still, a corner of her mind pointed out that he hardly had to be in the room with her to spy on her actions.
Maybe I should just try and confront him about it? Ask him what he wants and get it over with? Although she knew she should dread seeing her one time foe again, a small part of her seemed to grow excited at the prospect of seeing him.
She took a deep breath and stood in the center of her room. Opening her mouth, she prepared to call out to him, but a chance glance into her mirror stopped her cold. As usual when she had to wake up early and take Toby to school she had simply rolled out of bed and pulled on the first pair of pants and a sweat shirt that she could lay her hands on. Her hair was piled on top of her head in a messy bun and there wasn't a bit of makeup on her face.
I can't confront the Goblin King like this! Chiding herself for being so stupid, she hastily grabbed up her bathrobe and ran to take a shower. Some might think it odd that she felt the need to gussy up her appearance to face down a potential enemy, but Sarah viewed it as merely preparing herself properly for battle. Never had she seen the king dressed in anything other than his best, perfectly groomed and attired. The last time he had met her she had been a bewildered child in jeans and a simple blouse. She may not know much about royalty or the fae, but a basic principal of psychology was that people based how they treated you on their first impression. Years before when she had first confronted him she was a bratty child, insisting on the "fairness" of the universe. Now she was a confident and poised adult and she would meet him as an equal. If she didn't dress the part though, it would ruin his view of her, marking her as inferior and giving him an advantage straight away. And the last thing that arrogant man needs is more advantages!
So she took the time to take a nice long shower and then paid extra attention to her normal grooming. Her long ebony curls were dried and left to hang down her back, kept back from her face by a head band that matched her costume. The medieval dress that she had chosen this year was floor length and had a high waist. The skirt and long dagger sleeves were a deep wine color, while the bodice that crisscrossed in front was a simple black, as were the matching boots. She applied a light covering of makeup, a bit of smoky eye shadow and liner to enhance her green eyes and just a hint of red lip gloss. Looking in her mirror, she smiled at the beautiful girl that gazed back at her with sparkling eyes. She looked just as she hoped, grown up and sure of herself, but also sexy and tempting. If it's a fight he wants, I'm sure a bit of feminine wiles will help me out a bit as well!
She knew that her dear mother, who had always been so prim and proper as far as Sarah remembered her, would blanch at the idea of her daughter using her looks as a weapon. But even though she had been young during their last meeting, she was sure that he had done the same thing to her. That time spent in the crystal ball room where they had danced and he sang his song filled with such wonderful promises had almost succeeded in deterring her from her quest to save Toby. The blasted man was sexy as hell and charming when the mood struck him, but more importantly he knew it, using it against her as surely as he used his magic. Just as she knew that to meet him dressed as a ragamuffin would put her on a lower level, she was also aware that to disregard the allure of her more grown up features would handicap her as well. If he could play that game, then so could she.
Armed now and ready for whatever he had decided to throw at her, she marched purposefully downstairs. Into the living room she went, the largest room of the house and with an exit to the outside if it turned out he was too much for her to handle. When she stood in the center of the room she took a deep and steadying breath, deciding on the best way to call him forth.
Obviously I can't make a wish; cause then we'd be playing under his terms again. Could I just call him to me like Hoggle and the others? Another thing that seemed to be true in all worlds was that names had power. Whether it was the mortal world where a well placed name could make or break you or a portal to the Underground that simply needed the names of her friends to activate, names had a special power unto them. She had always known that deep down and that was why since her first fight with him she had never dared utter his real name aloud, or even think it for that matter.
As far as she could recall, he had never spoken of his name in her presence and the only reason she knew it was because of Hoggle. Had the king purposely kept his name form her, on the off chance that she beat him? Having beaten his labyrinth and being in possession of his name, could she have some sort of power over him? Is that what this is all about? But why would he have waited so long to come? There were still far too many questions and no answers.
Time to stop stalling and just get on with it. She took one more deep breath and concentrated hard on what she wanted. Words have almost as much power as names Sarah. So chose them carefully. While she wanted to talk to the goblin king and find out what he was after, she certainly didn't want to bind them together in any way, nor did she want to have to beat some silly contest so she could be rid of him. With all that in mind, she spoke out into the room carefully and clearly, "Jareth, King of the Goblins, come to me now." Now let's see what he has to say for himself.
