Rose owns neither the Labyrinth nor this story, she is merely posting it for her friend Code Green.
As The World Falls Down
"Hoggle!"
The voice was loud and sharp with the touch of threat in it that Hoggle knew so well.
"Hoggle, come here immediately!"
Hoggle appeared in the doorway to the throne room, his small, hun
ched body quivering with nervousness.
"Yes, my master?"
"How long has it been since last we spoke with the people of Crystalla?"
Hoggle gazed with fear at Jareth who sat in rather a casual manner on his throne. The Goblin King's features had become harder during the adventure he had brought to Labyrinth. He had been awkwardly in love with a child named Sarah, had captured her brother, and then had somehow sent them back to their land and had turned into an owl. Hoggle was too simple-minded to understand any of it, and he very much hoped that Jareth didn't want him to play yet another cruel part in another eerie adventure.
"I believe, your majesty," Hoggle began nervously, "that you saw one of them when you returned from your adventure as an…an…"
"Owl?" Jareth hissed and then stood up. "How long ago was that?"
"I don't know much about time…" Hoggle stammered, "but I would say it was at least ten years."
"Ten years out of thousands," Jareth frowned and walked towards his throne room doors. He leaned against one of them and then looked at Hoggle. "How fare the people of Crystalla, or are you too ignorant to know?"
"No one is permitted on the bridge," Hoggle said uncomfortably.
"I hadn't thought to ask when Majeste turned me back into my normal self."
"Majeste?"
"The princess of Crystalla. What a beauty she was."
"You were in love with Sarah, I thought," Hoggle said and then wished that he hadn't.
It took two strides for Jareth to step over to Hoggle, grab the little man by his collar, and hoist him into the air.
"I was under a bit of a curse, as it were," Jareth growled. "Go to the bridge and call across to one of the messengers on the other side. Inform him that I want to see Majeste."
"On the bridge?" Hoggle choked.
"Yes."
"Yes sir!"
Jareth dropped Hoggle and then turned back towards his throne, not caring how hard Hoggle landed on the floor. Hoggle immediately got back to his feet and began to run, scared into flight. Jareth was not one to tangle with and when he wanted something, he wanted it immediately.
Jareth sat back on his throne and took out the three orbs. He moved them about fondly in his gloved hand, his thoughts afar off. He had indeed fallen in love with Sarah, and he had also let her go. It had taken him three years after to understand what had happened. When Sarah had been angry with her baby brother, Toby, she had wished that he would vanish to the land of the goblins. Jareth, being extremely bored, had heard her wish and had determined to grant it with the orbs. Toby was taken to the Labyrinth and was then followed by Sarah. What Jareth had not realized when he granted the wish was that he would be affected by it. He had believed that granting someone else's wishes would protect him from being a large part of it. Sarah had also dreamed, as part of her wish, that the Goblin King would fall in love with her, and so, unable to protect himself, Jareth had fallen greatly in love with her. Only after she left did he understand that he had fallen into his own spell, and he was disgusted to realize that he had been tangling with a girl who was scared of him. It horrified him and made him much more sour than he had been before.
Thirty minutes passed, and then Jareth held one of the orbs up to his face and glanced into it. "I wish to see Hoggle," he frowned, and instantly, Hoggle appeared in the orb. He was running towards the castle, having just left the bridge. "Hoggle," Jareth called, and instantly, one of the orbs appeared in front of Hoggle.
"Yes?" Hoggle asked, stopping momentarily to gaze at Jareth's face in the orb.
"Is she coming?"
"Yes, although reluctantly," Hoggle trembled.
Jareth smiled slightly and then returned the orb to its place in his pocket. He then stood up and pulled a black coat over his white shirt. With long strides he walked out of the throne room and then left the castle, goblins calling after him and asking him innumerable questions. Jareth simply rolled his eyes and kept walking, ignoring the calls of his cronies.
The bridge between two worlds didn't seem as peaceful as it used to when Jareth arrived. The water and fire were moving quickly, and splashes from both occasionally landed on the bridge. Jareth stepped onto the bridge and caught sight of Majeste also walking towards her place, her sheer and silk dress rustling wildly in the wind.
Jareth and Majeste arrived in the center of the bridge at the same time, and Majeste came to a fast stand still, her eyes shining.
"You wanted to see me?" Majeste asked gently.
"That I did. It has been long since last I saw you," Jareth said, his countenance dark and unwelcoming.
"Yes, it has been."
"Why?"
"I didn't wish to see you," Majeste said, standing up taller.
"That is uncharacteristic of you," Jareth said, his voice cold.
"Perhaps."
"It has been ten years and all you can say is 'perhaps'?" Jareth asked, his voice getting louder.
"What do you wish me to say?"
"Why it is you have been shunning me. Why, ever since you turned me back into myself, you refuse to see me! I have had festivities that I have invited you to as well as banquets, and you have not come."
"You have taken advantage of the gifts I gave you," Majeste said, struggling to remain calm. "You used them to somehow bring another girl here. You fell in love with her, and I believed that you wished to be with her. You have become cold and uncaring, and I want nothing to do with that."
"Uncaring?" Jareth snarled. "Why, then, did I wish to see you?"
"For your own personal gain. I have another gift," Majeste said uncomfortably, Jareth's rage beginning to affect her.
"I don't want another gift. I brought you here to speak to you about our relationship."
"There is no relationship left."
"I could give you the whole world if you asked for it."
"I have my own world to care for," Majeste said, putting her hand into an unseen pocket and then drawing it back out again. "Here is your gift."
She held a beautiful necklace out to Jareth. The chain was made of golden glass beads, and in the center of the necklace was a crystal in the shape of an orb.
"Why would I want a necklace?" Jareth asked.
"To remind you," Majeste said simply, still holding the necklace out to him.
"To remind me of what?"
"How to care for others."
"I care about you. Come with me and be my queen. You can have everything you want," Jareth said, ignoring the gift.
"I cannot have what I want, Jareth, because you cannot give it to me now. I want your heart, your concern, but you have neither. It will take another adventure of yours to bring those back."
"You refuse me!" Jareth snapped, taking a step closer to the beautiful princess. "I offer you the world and you refuse me!"
"There are more important things than the world, Jareth!" Majeste exclaimed. "I haven't harmed you!"
Jareth grabbed the offered necklace from her and threw it into the fire, his eyes burning as brilliantly as the explosion did. Majeste looked down, calm and unafraid. Jareth was outraged. Here he had offered everything, including himself, to Majeste, and she refused him! It was outrageous, and every bit of anger inside of him was burning.
"Perhaps it will take an adventure for you to see things my way," Jareth said, his voice suddenly very calm.
Majeste looked up, her eyes searching his. "I know that tone of voice," she said, beginning to step away from him. "Jareth, please be reasonable."
"I will be," Jareth said coolly, pulling out the orbs she had given him and allowing them to circulate on his hand. "Remember these, Majeste?"
"How could I forget them?" Majeste asked, confused as she watched him spinning them about.
"I learned that they don't merely grant wishes," Jareth said, taking two steps towards her.
"What else can they do?" Majeste asked, her breathing short.
"They can transport people," Jareth smiled coldly. "All I have to do is make them spin like this."
Jareth demonstrated, and Majeste watched with cold dread as the orbs began to spin backwards, rolling effortlessly over Jareth's fingertips.
"Why are you doing that?" she whispered hoarsely.
"So that I can send you somewhere that you will reconsider my proposal."
"Jareth," Majeste choked, beginning to walk towards him. "Don't. You wouldn't dare!"
"You've never been on an adventure," Jareth said, his eyes glowing as he put the orbs closer to his face.
"Jareth, I mean it! Don't!" Majeste said, jumping at him, her hand outstretched towards the orbs.
Two seconds later, Majeste disappeared. Jareth smiled slightly and then put the orbs back into his pockets. "Hopefully you will reconsider my generous invitation, Majeste, after you've had a bit of time to yourself." He turned away from the bridge and then stalked back towards his castle feeling very victorious.
Majeste could feel herself falling, but everything was dark and she didn't know where she was. Within seconds, she had landed on a cold, damp floor, and she stood up quickly, gazing up with great hope that she would be able to see the ceiling or perhaps a hole in it. She saw neither. A strange, green mist surrounded her, and she could barely see slimy moss covering the walls that bound her.
"Jareth, this was unnecessary and cruel! I need light!" Majeste shouted, her voice echoing eerily in the immense room. "I can hardly see in here! Jareth, get me out!"
Majeste wasn't answered, and she began to follow the walls of the room, hoping to find some way to get out. She put her hands against the walls and then pulled them back quickly when the green slime began to ooze over her fingers. She could feel, more than see, that the vines on the walls were moving and that the moss was creeping all up and down the walls. To make her situation worse, it began to rain. She didn't know how, for there were no holes in the ceiling, but in a matter of seconds, she was drenched through and cold.
"This is how you would see me!" she shouted, trying to wrap some of the fabric of her dress around her arms to keep her warm. "You would see me cold and wet! Jareth, when I get out of here I'll see to it that you are well punished! I have done nothing to deserve this!"
"You speak as though you know the king," a sharp, hissing voice said.
Majeste immediately moved to the center of the room and gazed at the walls warily. "Where are you?" she asked, looking all about her.
"On one of the walls of course."
"Show yourself."
One of the vines on the wall began to move, and Majeste watched, with horror, as a gruesome creature left the wall and slithered towards her. He had the body of a snake, the legs of a lizard and the head of a disgusting monster.
"Who are you?" Majeste gasped, moving back and grabbing hold of one of the walls.
"Holith," the creature hissed and then came to a stop in front of the soaked princess. "You are in my kingdom."
"No, I am in Jareth's," Majeste said, watching as the creature began to stand up. Holith was almost her height, and it frightened her. "What do you want with me?" she gasped.
"I want you to keep me company. You can't get out of here, no matter how hard you try."
"Don't come any closer!" Majeste warned as the creature began to move towards her again.
"Why not? I have you surrounded."
"Surrounded?"
Majeste gazed about at the walls and noticed that the vines were moving rapidly and more creatures that looked like Holith were slithering off the walls. All of them were a gruesome green color and all of them gazed at her with menacing yellow eyes.
"What do you eat?" Majeste found herself asking, still clinging to the wall.
"Whatever we can find," one of the creatures cackled.
"Jareth, I didn't think you wanted to kill me!" Majeste shouted, turning and grabbing hold of some of the slimy rocks that were beneath the moss. She tried to climb up them, but in a matter of seconds she slipped and fell to the floor again. "Don't eat me!" she ordered, kicking one of the creatures away from her. "I am the princess of Crystalla. If one of you so much as touches me you will be killed!"
"By whom?" Holith snapped.
"By my people. Stay back!"
"We haven't had anyone in here for two hundred years. Someone from the outside, with your beauty, is quite a treat," Holith spoke. "We shall see to it that you stay here."
"But I must get back to my kingdom!"
"Why?"
"Because if I don't it will fall apart!" Majeste exclaimed and then dropped to her knees. "Please, show me how to get out of this miserable place! Where am I?"
"In one of the great sections of the Labyrinth, of course. We've been instructed to keep you here."
"By whom?"
"The King of the Goblins, of course."
"Why are all of you here?"
"We are unworthy to dwell amongst the goblins," Holith hissed. "We abide in every place dark and damp."
"Surely there is a way out!"
"Is there?"
Majeste was frustrated. She stood up and walked over to one of the walls again. She began to pound against it, listening to see if it was hollow. It wasn't, and she continued to move around the room, pounding at the walls. When at last she found that none of them were hollow, she sat down on the floor and buried her face in her arms, trying to think. The mist swirled around her, and before she could understand what had happened, she had fallen asleep and was stretched out across the filthy floor.
Holith and his companions slithered about the princess as she slept, watching her in wonder. They could not understand why she had been cast into their world or why the Goblin King had wanted their help to begin with. She most certainly did not belong with them.
Majeste's sleep was not a peaceful one. She had disturbing dreams, dreams of a child being captured, dreams of Jareth waltzing around and completely enchanted by a young girl, and in the midst of all those dreams, she could hear Jareth singing. He had once sung to her songs of beauty and kindness. She could only see him singing to Sarah, though, and occasionally, as he danced with her, he turned his head ever so slightly, as though he was looking directly at Majeste, and smiled. His smile was cruel and cutting, and even in sleep, Majeste could feel pain. The sudden thought came to her in her dreams that Jareth was going to put Sarah in her place as princess of Crystalla.
Majeste's eyes shot open and she sat up violently, reaching out and grabbing a tight hold on Holith's neck as she did so. Holith let out a wheeze as Majeste dragged him towards her face.
"Holith!" she ordered, keeping her hold tight. "Tell me how to get out of here."
"Why the sudden violence?" Holith panted.
"I need to get out of here. My world needs me, and the longer I stay away from it, the more danger it is in. It will start destroying itself without me. I don't care who Jareth puts in my place! I need to go back and take care of my kingdom!"
"If I tell you how to get out, his majesty will kill me," Holith wheezed.
"If you don't tell me how to get out, I may just do that myself," Majeste threatened. "This is for the sake of an entire world. Thousands of lives are at stake. Don't think that because you are in the Labyrinth that you will be safe from Crystalla's fate. If my world is destroyed, the destruction will cross the abyss between Crystalla and the Labyrinth and the Labyrinth will also be destroyed."
"That is too complicated for me to understand," Holith growled.
"Just get me out!" Majeste shouted.
Holith pointed down with one claw. "The passageway is in the floor," he choked. "If you step on it, it will open up for you."
Majeste stepped to where Holith indicated and then stamped on the floor. The moss and rock beneath her foot gave way, and she dropped Holith.
"Thank you for your assistance, Holith," Majeste said as she sat down and put both feet in the hole. "You shall not be forgotten."
Majeste slipped easily through the hole, and Holith gazed through the room uncomfortably. "The king will not be pleased," he hissed fearfully.
Majeste found herself in a tight tunnel of sorts that was formed out of rock. She found places to put her feet and began to climb down it, her soft hands being cut on the rocks. She gasped with each new cut, but her determination kept her climbing.
As soon as her feet hit the ground, Majeste let go of the rocks and looked around. She was shocked to find that she was standing on only a few feet worth of solid ground. Surrounding the ground was water with fire licking up out of it. "There must be another way out," Majeste said, looking back up at the tunnel she had come from. She reached up and grabbed hold of some of the rocks. Just as her fingers grabbed hold, the tunnel began to move, going higher up into the air. "Wait!" Majeste panicked, her fingers scraping across the rocks as she tried to keep her hold on them. "No! I need to get back up!"
The tunnel continued to pull up, and within seconds, Majeste was trapped on a little island of ground in the midst of a fiery swamp. The flames licked near her feet, and she shuddered with fear. She began to see things moving in the flames, and she sat down and curled up in a ball, her eyes wide with fear. She couldn't see what it was that was moving, but it was something large and fast.
Seconds later, a large creature made out of fire and mud leaped at the crystal princess. Majeste screamed as the creature landed in a crouch in front of her, his forked tongue flicking in and out of his mouth as he looked at her.
"Trapped, are you?" the creature asked, eyes shining frighteningly.
"Get away from me!" Majeste cried as the creature began to pace in circles around her. He had a long, slinky body, and although he was large, he somehow managed to fit on the island with Majeste.
"I have orders to keep you here. My companions and I will see to it that you don't move," the creature chuckled. "Won't we, boys?"
Furry yellow frog-like creatures began to jump in and out of the flames, leaping in circles around Majeste and making ugly faces at her. Majeste, never having been subjected to such torment, was terrified. She tried her best to back away from the creatures, but every time she moved, she nearly fell off the island. The creatures sang to her as she struggled. They sang about their torment and the ugly homes they had beneath the sea of fire. Smoke filled Majeste's nose and mouth, and she struggled to breath.
"Please…stop…" she stammered as her vision began to fade. "I already fell asleep once. Not again. I don't want more nightmares. Go…away…"
The flurry of yellow creatures and fire swirling about Majeste was too much for her, as was the smoke that was crowding her breathing. She fell into a swoon and then faded into unconsciousness, the fiery red creature next to her being the last thing she saw.
The red creature stood next to her quietly, gazing at the beautiful, unconscious princess that lay before him. He knew, of course, who she was, for he had been given specific instructions to keep her on the island and not to harm her. The idea came to him that he would be greatly exalted if he at least touched the sleeping woman because then he could tell everyone and they would admire him. With that thought in mind, the creature moved towards the princess' face and reached out one paw, hoping to lay it on her cheek.
Before his paw could land on the maiden, a black-gloved hand reached out of nowhere and grabbed hold of the creature. The creature was flung towards the fiery lake and disappeared in its midst, howling with rage and humiliation.
Jareth knelt down next to the princess and gazed at her sleeping face. She was so pure and innocent, and yet, so wrong. Had she seen the pain Jareth had felt in the past several years for the way he behaved towards Sarah, she would not have condemned him of being cold and uncaring.
"And yet you still wished to torment me," Jareth snarled, pulling out one of the orbs. "For that you deserve nothing less than what you shall receive. I wish for her to see what happened. Show her, and let her feel the same pain that I have suffered!"
Jareth leaned closer to Majeste and put the orb in front of her face. He watched as some of the colors in the orb moved about and then waited.
Majeste suddenly dreamed that she was in a great ballroom. Men and women in elegant garments, all of their faces covered, waltzed about her, a flurry of color. In the midst of the dancers she could see Jareth, dressed in his finest, with a young girl in his arms. He was gazing at her with all the admiration Majeste could ever have wished him to show to her. The girl was so close to him, so close that, in her dream, Majeste cried out. "Jareth!" Jareth started suddenly, as if shaken from a trance, and looked in her direction. He couldn't see her, but she could hear him crying out to her as he continued to dance, continued to sing, to Sarah. "Majeste!" "Why are you doing this?" Majeste wailed, watching as the two moved closer to her, neither of them seeing her. Again, while Jareth was singing, his voice cried out. "Majeste!" Majeste was confused and she could only stand still and watch. For one brief second, it seemed as though it was she in Jareth's arms, but the next second, it was Sarah again, both locked in the other's embrace, entirely oblivious to everyone and everything around them. "Majeste, help me!" "I can't!" Majeste cried out, reaching out to Jareth. "Jareth let go of her! Come to me!"
The dream began to fade away, and tears streamed down Majeste's sleeping face. She reached out, as though trying to get a hand on Jareth, and in her sleep, she put a hand on his arm. "Jareth, stop this!" she pleaded aloud, the dream continuing to fade. "I don't understand! Help me!"
Majeste's touch almost caused Jareth to stay still and wait for her to wake up, but he remembered that he was being watched by his subjects, remembered how she had refused him, and he stood up, her hand slipping off his arm. He turned away from her, and just as he began to walk back into the flames, Majeste sat up and saw him.
"Jareth!" she cried out, struggling to her feet and beginning to walk towards him. "Jareth!"
"Where? Where?" the frog-like creatures mocked her as Jareth disappeared into the smoke.
Majeste nearly stepped into the flames, but she remembered, at exactly the right time, that she was trapped on an island, and she quickly moved back to the center of it.
"I saw him!" she gasped, breathing heavily. "There is something I am supposed to know. Jareth, come back! I want to understand!"
"Understand what?" the red creature next to her hissed.
"Understand the dream," Majeste said slowly. "Or, was it not really a dream and I was actually there?"
"Where were you?" the creature hissed.
"With Jareth, at a great ball. He was trying to tell me something. There was pain in his face," Majeste said thoughtfully, gazing into the flames. "He wanted me to know something."
The creature looked deeply into Majeste's face and then began to laugh. His laugh was shrill and cold, and the other creatures in the flames began to laugh with him, making faces at Majeste and mocking her.
"We saw Jareth!" they shrieked with laughter.
"He was dancing with me!"
"No, it was I!"
"Oh, what a dancer he is! What a spectacular Goblin King!"
"And she thinks he was dancing with her?"
"You're just plain crazy!"
"Everyone knows he loves Sarah!"
"Why would he care for a plain thing like you?"
"That's enough!" Majeste cried, tears streaming down her dirty face. "Stop it!"
"Why should we?"
Three of the frog-like creatures joined hands and began to dance over the flames.
"She thought she saw the king! The king whose name is Jareth! The admirer of the beautiful and compassionate Sarah! Oh what a fool she is! The princess who thinks more! How could he possibly love a pitiful creature when it's Sarah he adores?"
"I said enough!" Majeste sobbed, but the dancers only came closer to her and continued their chant.
Majeste, in utter despair, took hold of the necklace she wore about her neck. It was a beautiful gold necklace with a crystal star on the end of it. She held the star up to the dancing trolls and then spoke. "Be gone."
The creatures suddenly turned to crystal, and the crystal in Majeste's hand disappeared. The red creature near her took a few steps away from her, eying the necklace warily. Majeste released her hold on the necklace and then sat down on the island again. She thought about her dream and wondered why Jareth had been calling her. Perhaps he was calling to mock her in her sleep.
Several hours passed and Majeste spent them all in wonder. Only when her stomach growled did she stop thinking about Jareth. She looked over at the red creature that was in a crouch at her side.
"How can I get food here?" Majeste asked.
"Swim for it," the creature snarled.
"What is there to eat?"
The creature didn't answer but watched the water hungrily. One of the frog-like creatures leaped out of the water, and at that precise moment, the red creature flicked out its tongue, caught its prey, and swallowed it whole. Majeste sat back, aghast.
"Those creatures were just singing and dancing! They are creatures that think, and you surely shouldn't eat them! That was disgusting!"
"You pity the creatures you turned to crystal," the creature snarled, smacking its lips. "As for how it's disgusting, my name is Grues. Perhaps that will give you food for thought."
"You heed to the will of Jareth?"
"The Goblin King, yes."
"Surely he didn't want me to eat those creatures."
"The King loathes you, O beautiful one. He wished worse for you. There are creatures in the bottom of the lake that I was to obtain for you. I shall go get them for you now, if you wish."
"The creatures below the surface are more terrible?"
Grues smiled cruelly, his tongue still flicking in and out. "Yes, they are."
"Nothing could be more disgusting than eating a living, breathing creature."
Grues closed his mouth, slithered to the edge of the island, and then slid over the edge into the water. Majeste watched as his large body disappeared beneath the surface of fire. As soon as he was gone, Majeste stood up and gazed at the stone ceiling.
"Jareth, I know you are watching me. Please, give me something edible to eat."
"Everything is edible," one of the frog creatures called, leaping out of the water.
"Everything you see is edible," another one chanted.
"Don't start singing again," Majeste warned.
"It's all a matter of perspective."
Majeste frowned and turned to see Grues coming to the surface of the water. He climbed back onto the island and dropped something near Majeste's feet.
"Eat up," he hissed and then curled up and closed his eyes.
Majeste looked at the food that was being offered to her and nearly retched. In front of her was a large pile of moving shells, each one covered in grime and water.
"What are these?" she asked, moving away from the shells.
"Eyes of despas." Grues said.
"Despas?"
"Large worms with parasites all over them. They live at the bottom of the lake so they can clean up whatever dead thing happens to drift there."
Majeste's stomach churned and she kicked the creatures back into the water.
"That was perfectly good food!" Grues snapped, his fangs nearly hitting Majeste's legs.
"You can eat them," Majeste said, sitting down weakly.
"Everything is edible if you look at it the right way," one of the frog creatures chanted again, and Grues promptly ate him.
Majeste looked carefully at the ground she was sitting on and noticed that it was made of coarse, sand-colored material. She scooped up some of the ground in her hand and tasted a bit of it. It tasted exactly like wheat. Eagerly, Majeste put more of the sand in her hand and then added some of the water to it. She mixed the sand and water together and then ate what was in her hand, licking off every last crumb.
"You don't know what that is, do you?" Grues asked, his bright eyes blazing.
"Don't tell me," Majeste said, making another handful of the mush. "How long did Jareth want you to keep me here?"
"Until you come to your senses."
"And when will that be? When I agree to his proposal?"
"What did he want that your answer so angered him?" Grues asked.
"He wanted me to marry him."
"Not a bad offer from a king like him."
"Why would I want to marry someone who seduces young girls? Tell me that?" Majeste asked, eating the meal in her hand.
"Seduces?" Grues hissed. "Did not, perhaps, the girl captivate him?"
"How so? She was not a magical creature," Majeste replied.
Grues laughed again and began to circle Majeste, his eyes frightening to behold. "Jareth is easily wiled by dreams. Perhaps he had some dream that made him care for you, and he really doesn't care about you at all. Maybe you are here because he hates you. Doesn't that sound logical? He casts you away from him, into the darkest parts of his world, so he never has to see you again."
"I never thought Jareth cared for me," Majeste said simply.
"Then why are you so upset about him caring for another?"
"Good night, Grues," Majeste sighed and then washed her hands in the lake. She lay down on the sand and gazed up at the ceiling. She closed her eyes and thought about how she and Jareth had been many years before. They had seen each other every day before the adventure had started. Jareth had said things that he most likely hadn't meant, due to his present behavior, but the words had become seared on Majeste's heart and she couldn't get rid of them, try as she might. She reminded herself that Jareth was a goblin, and as such, he was inclined only to think about himself. He was entirely selfish and prideful, and she wondered if that was perhaps because of what he was, rather than because of his own character.
Majeste was not a completely ignorant woman. She knew that she had to somehow escape the lake of fire and return to her country. Her father was old and needed her to help him rule his kingdom. The time of his death was near, and if she were not there when he died, the kingdom would fall apart. After her father died, Majeste didn't believe she would ever see Jareth again, and at the present time, it was a relief to her. She tried not to think of his handsomeness or the things he had once told her. Instead, she envisioned him as a prideful, foolish king surrounded by his ridiculous, ugly subjects.
Majeste did not sleep long, and when she awoke, she had a plan. Grues was asleep near her, and she went over to him quietly. She made certain that he was sleeping, and then, as quickly as she could, she wrapped her hands around his neck and held on tightly. Grues woke up choking, and when he saw why, his evil eyes widened remarkably.
"What do you want?" Grues wheezed, his tongue licking against Majeste's hand as it flicked in and out.
"You know how to swim through the lake?"
"Yes."
"You will bring me to the other side of it," Majeste said. "If you do that, I will give you the remnant of my necklace."
"If I don't?" Grues asked.
"I will leave you to get eaten by the despas."
"You would have to kill me first."
"Would I? It seems to me that the frog creatures wouldn't mind doing that to you themselves. You've certainly killed off plenty of their kind," Majeste said easily.
Grues considered her remarks and then nodded his head slowly. "Very well then. I will take you across."
"And you will not bring me up for air until we get there," Majeste warned. "I am not a fool, Grues. If you rise to let me breath, I will be burnt."
Grues growled but then nodded his head again. "Are you ready?"
Majeste glanced up at the wall and ceilings that surrounded the island, trying to find if Jareth was watching them.
"There aren't any orbs in here," Grues hissed. "He can't see you."
"It would take a matter of seconds for an orb to suddenly appear," Majeste said. "We don't want him to see where we are going. Go now."
Majeste wrapped her arms tightly around Grues' body, and the large creature slipped easily into the water. He immediately plunged down, and through the water, Majeste could see flames licking above her. She looked down below her and could see the despas, large, stony creatures with no eyes. They were moving very slowly, always bonking into each other in their blindness.
Grues swam quickly, and within a minute's time, he poked his head up out of the water, Majeste still clinging to him.
"We are at the other side," he hissed.
Majeste nodded and grabbed hold of the land. She pulled herself onto it and then turned to Grues.
"Thank you for your help," she said, removing the necklace from around her neck. "This is for you."
Majeste put the necklace around Grues' neck and clipped it closed. She then watched as the creature turned and disappeared again beneath the water. As soon as he was gone, she stood up and gazed about her again, searching for one of the orbs. She didn't see any of them and she turned and walked across the ground, hoping to find a way out of the immense room.
Majeste did not see, as she moved towards one of the walls, the bubbles that came from beneath the water's surface. So occupied was she in finding a way out that she didn't notice when one of the orbs floated gently out of the water and hovered above it, watching her.