I. AS THE WORLD FALL DOWN
It was always the same dream, ever since that night. The night she wished Toby away. The night she ran the Labyrinth in order to get him back. The night she first met him.
Jareth, the Goblin King.
It seemed like everytime Sarah closed her eyes, she dreamt of him.
It was like the time in the Labyrinth, when she eaten the enchanted peach that Hoggle had given her, making her forget about Toby, apart from the ending.
She was in a ballroom searching for someone. Couples whirled around her, their faces hidden behind grotesque goblin masks. The colour scheme consisted of deep reds, yellows, oranges, browns, and greys – all the colours of autumn – making her own gown of shimmering white and silver, like snow and ice, stand out.
Her hair was woven in silver leaves and white ribbons and curled softly about her shoulders.
Sarah truly looked like a princess.
A movement caught her eye.
She turned her head and saw him. Just removing his mask was the most handsome man she had ever seen. He wore a sparkling blue dress-coat that made Sarah think of the night sky, with dove grey leggings and back boots. And on his hands were white leather gloves.
He seemed strangely familiar but she could not think of where she had seen him before. His mismatched eyes of blue and brown gazed back at her, and seemed to see into her very soul.
Then a pair of dancers moved in between them, blocking him from Sarah's view. When they had moved away, he wasn't there.
Looking around she couldn't see him anywhere. Sarah didn't know why but she just had to find him.
Walking around the ballroom she looked this way and that trying to catch a glimpse of him
Every so often she would see him out of the corner of her eye but every time she turned to face him, he was gone.
She could hear him faintly singing to her but she could not find him. No matter how close she came to him, he would have already moved away.
Just as Sarah was about to give up, she turned and suddenly there he was.
Again his eyes met hers.
He took one hand in his, with his other at her waist.
He twirled her gracefully about the dance-floor in a waltz.
His touch was gentle and reassuring and she felt safe within the circle of his arms.
A clock began to chime somewhere in the room. It was barely noticeable at first but with each chime it became louder and louder.
Sara glanced around and saw it. A thirteen-hour clock. And the time read twelve o'clock!
A sense of urgency would then take over her.
And suddenly she remembered who this man was. Jareth! The Goblin King!
Each time the dream began to end with him whispering in her ear, "I'll be there for you, as the world falls down."
Then she would manage to pull herself away from him and everything would fall apart, and then she woke up. More than once Sarah had woken up in the middle of the night after the dream with a deep longing.
It was on nights when the moon was full and the wind was warm after having this dream she would sit at her and she would think about the Labyrinth and the Goblin King.
Jareth had been cold and cruel, but Sarah had glimpsed love and warmth behind that cynical mask of his. But that could have been part of his game to distract her.
And yet, as she said those words at the end, she had seen what seemed like all the sadness of the world in his eyes, those pleading eyes that both threatened and adored.
Since her adventure in the Underground, Sarah kept in contact with her friends, Hoggle, Ludo and Sir Didymus. She called on them at least once a week.
They kept her up to date with the goings on in the Labyrinth, as well as the castle beyond the Goblin City.
Sometimes she felt as though she were being watched and several times she thought she caught the flurry of the white wings of an owl outside her bedroom window.
Sarah knew who the owl was, but she never voiced his name out aloud, knowing that even a whisper would call him to her. But to Sarah, it would be like admitting to him, and to herself, that he did have power over her, over her heart. And that was something she'd never do.
But it didn't matter; he probably hated her now for what she had done.
Jareth, I miss you, Sarah thought, wistfully.
In the castle beyond the Goblin City, the Goblin King sat upon his throne, rather haphazardly with his back against of its arms, one leg draped across the other and his other leg on the floor. A sure sign that he was bored. The throne room was at present almost completely empty, as the goblins knew that it was at times like this that they should steer clear of the throne room, as their king would often just kick them around just for the hell of it. But no amount of action could take his mind off the one mortal that beat him at his own game. Sarah Williams.
He could still remember the first time he had laid his eyes on her.
It had been one of his visits to the Aboveground outside his capacity as Goblin King, when the sound of a human child crying reached his ears. He followed the sound and came to a green park with a river running through it. On a bank near a stone bridge was the huddled form of a child.
Jareth landed in a tree that stood a few feet away from her. He watched the child, wondering what it was that made her cry so.
As though she sensed his gaze on her, she looked up to where he was perched, startling Jareth so that he nearly fell off the branch.
Watching her that night he had found out the reason she had been crying. Her mother had died in an accident. Being a child, she refused to acknowledge that her mother was gone forever.
Jareth's heart ached for her. He could barely remember his own mother for she had died centuries ago.
As he watched her, Jareth knew that he had to have her. For when a fae falls in love, they are in love forever.
Over the years, he sent little gifts, all of which she had assumed came from her father. Jareth loved to see her smile in delight. She was his little princess. He watched Sarah grow from an adorable little girl, to a smouldering teenaged beauty. No fae woman could match her fiery spirit and quiet mortal beauty.
Those ten hours she ran the Labyrinth had been the happiest he had ever had. It was his chance to make Sarah his.
When she broke out of the crystal ballroom, he had been confident that she would be distracted by the illusion of her room in the junkyard, knowing that she was still under the spell of forgetfulness. But even that had failed to detain her.
In his last attempt to keep with him forever, he offered her himself. At the time, it seemed the perfect way to ask her to stay. But what he hadn't thought of was that Sarah was too young to understand what it was he was asking of her. She had only been fifteen – a woman-child, on the brink of maturity and young in the ways of the world.
Then she said the words that defeated him and she returned the world Above with her brother. And having said those words of power, she had essentially barred him from her, however Sarah's friends provided him with information on what went on in her life.
From them he learned that she had essentially given up on her dreams of becoming an actress like her mother; and had turned to music. She was now the lead vocalist of a local pop rock band called Das Gift, although they were still in what Abovegrounders would call their 'garage phase'.
Occasionally, Jareth would allow himself to look in on her to see for himself how she was doing, whether it was through one of his crystals or as an owl when he visited Aboveground.
Sarah had matured over the last two years – her body had filled out in all the right places, but she still retained a child-like innocence, which he knew would attract many young men.
She no longer rehearsed those lines at the park, instead she would sing aloud to herself, placing her feelings behind whatever song suited her mood.
Whenever she sang, she somehow managed to capture her audience no matter what or how she sang it. No doubt another side effect of the gift that he had given her so long ago.
Sighing, he looked out of the window at the darkening sky.
"Sarah," Jareth murmured with a deep longing ache in his heart.
The name of the band was suggested by the Connexions officer at school. I think it was a great play on words to use the German word for 'poison'. Kind of ironric, I thought. I don't know if there are any bands out their by this name, so please don't blame me for stealing the name.
