She let out a gasp of frustration as she saw the small crystal roll down the hall. Following its path, she saw it roll itself into the cup of a beggar man. She was about to sigh and chide herself for being too worried when she heard a deep voice ask, "What have we here?"
"Uh... nothing." The small dwarf that was with her said too quickly, voice quivering with a yet unexplained fear.
"Nothing? Nothing?!" The voice grew dark with anger, and the small beggar rose to be the goblin king in all his glory.
The dwarf paled visibly, and stuttered "Your Majesty, what a nice surprise."
Giving the small man a smile that struck fear in all of them he said "Hello Hedgewart."
Finally gathering her senses enough to defender her new and only friend, the young woman said "Hogwart" in attempted to correct the king.
"Hoggle." the dwarf said through gritted teeth.
Rasing an eyebrow, the king stooped down to stare him in the face. "Hoggle, could it be that you are helping this girl?" His smile deepened at the fear he saw spring into his eyes.
"H-helping? In what sense?" Hoggle asked, eyes shifting away, pasting a fake smile on his face.
"In the sense that you are leading her towards the castle." He said in a dead tone, knowing what he said was true.
Opening his eyes wider, as though in fear of being found or an attempt at seeming innocent, neither effect of which was successful, he quickly assured "I was taking her back to the beginning!"
"What?!" The woman gasped, nearly strangling Hoggle right there. Realizing he was in an extremely dangerous situation, he continued quickly, hoping to please at least one of them.
"I told her I would help her. A little trickery," his voice filled with pride at the last part, and he regained some color to his face. Not noticing that the king's attention was drawn elsewhere he continued. "But actually-"
"What is that plastic thing round your wrist?" Jareth interrupted disdainfully.
Glancing down, he lost all color in his face. "This? Oh my goodness! Where did this come from?!" he said slightly breathlessly.
"Hodgewart,"
"Hoggle," the smaller one unwisely corrected through gritted teeth.
"Yes. If I thought for a second you were betraying me, I'd be forced to suspend you head first in the Bog of Eternal Stench." He grinned wolfishly as the dwarf dropped to his knees and held onto Jareth's legs as though he was about to be drug away then.
"Oh no! Not the Eternal Stench!"
"Oh yes Hoggle!" He forced him off, and stepped over to the young woman. "And you Sarah, how are you enjoying my Labyrinth?"
Lifting her head proudly to show her lack of fear she said "It's a piece of cake." The words sounded hollow to her own ears, but she continued to stare defiantly at the king.
"Oh really?" He said. Suddenly the clock she had first seen on the hilltop with him appeared beside him. "Then how about upping the stakes?" Lifting his hand gracefully, he twitched his finger and suddenly time leapt forward.
"That's not fair!" She gasped, willing the movement to stop. Instead, the clock just vanish, but she felt time's flow return to normal around her.
Glancing at her as he might a small child who was creating a scene or something silly, he said with slight confusion, "You say that so often." His voice hardened and he continued "I wonder what your basis for comparison is." Stalking past her, he turned quickly, a glint in his eye. "So, you think my labyrinth is a piece of cake? Let's see how you handle this slice." And in saying so, he dropped his hands and summoned a crystal. Then turning he threw it into the darkness behind him.
Sarah's brow furrowed when instead of hearing the musical sound of the ball clinking down the hall or even shattering, her ears were filled with the sound of whirring and mechanics. Behind her Hoggled choked out "Oh no, not the cleaners!"
Turning to demand what was going on, she found Jareth had vanished. She gasped out "What?"
Startled out of his thoughts, his breath caught when he saw those eyes looking at him again. "Do you see me this time? Do you know who I am?" Her eyes clouded, and for a second she looked as though she were looking right at him. Then her eyes adjusted to a point beyond him, and he let out a groan of frustration.
"So many times now! So many times you've woken from your memories of your travel, and seen me here, your constant companion. Each time you have looked as though you are about to talk to me, to tell me something, and then you decide against it. Each time you let my image fade, passing it off as a lingering from your dreams.
"I wish that you could call forth your small friend. Maybe he would be easier to handle and accept than trying to face that which you saw as your enemy. Mayhap he would even be able to help you as he did so long ago, and show you the way to bring us all back to the full existance we desire."
Sighing, he looked down at his hands. Half-smiling, he continued. "I should be honored I guess. Of all those you face, you have chosen me to remember the best. Maybe it is because I was your self-proclaimed enemy. Maybe it is because my love for you has allowed me a bit of will to live. I do not know.
"I think..." he trailed off, voice thick with emotion. "I think that if you were to ever allow us the honor of giving our lives back, I would give that to your friends. I see how your life is empty of companions. You see for someone who can match the chivalry of Didymus, and the kindness of Ludo, and even the... the... well, whatever virtue it was that you saw in Hoggle, you see that. But even as you seek it, none in your realm can compare, which is why I would sacrifice the chance of confessing everything I feel to you, just so you could smile again with them." He felt a tear slide down his cheek at the thought of giving up his dearest wish, and was startled when he felt her soft hand wipe it away.
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Alright, so I have not a clue when I shall post the final chapter of this thing, nor of when I shall post on my other stories. I'm afraid I kind of lost the inspiration I had for the other one. I know what I was planning on doing, but you know I look at it now and just see a bunch of garbage sitting there with no real plot to it, and while it does have some nice points... I don't know. It feels a bit cliche, and stupid. I will eventually finish Careless Whispers, but you'll have to give me time. Like I said, I've lost the insperation.
In regards to this story, as I said before there will be one more chapter. I hope the writing style didn't stray too far from that of the story... I tried to keep it the same. I'm also sorry if any of the facts are a bit wrong. I couldn't watch my DVDs and thus wasn't able to check anything. I did use the book to get a feel for the way it should look, and a copy of the script to make sure the lines were right...
