When Sarah finally reached the top of the staircase and entered the Escher room, she was appalled to find the room dark yet somehow still shadowy, and eerily silent. The once vibrant room had lost its magic; the magnetic pull to the floor was no longer there, and so Sarah had to try harder than ever not to fall. She glanced frantically around the room until her eyes rested on an alcove in the wall that looked much like a window. Jareth, sat in deep red finery, gazed out onto his Labyrinth and juggled crystals absent-mindedly in his left hand. He sighed deeply, then spoke.
"So, my Labyrinth's a piece of cake, it seems."
His voice echoed as Sarah tried to find a way to reach him. He took a crystal and blew it from his hand out into the Labyrinth. It floated to the sky and exploded into stars. He continued in this vein until Sarah finally reached the platform in front of where he sat.
"Well, if I am honest I'm surprised that you chose to change so little."
"Yes, well if one is working with only a year then one has to make compromises. I knew that I could never impress you properly, Sarah. I suppose a dragon, a mirror maze, a goblin army, and Fae flowers were not enough."
Sarah laughed inwardly at just how much the Labyrinth had always impressed her, and how it always would. He blew the last crystal away and turned to face her. There she stood, in all her glorious beauty. Her black jumper clung to her form, her raven hair floated slightly in the draft, and her eyes practically glowed. It was evident that magic from the Labyrinth had passed into her; she looked like a Medieval warrior princess. She shivered under his glare.
"You look cold. I suppose I should return this."
He materialised her cardigan in his hand and handed it to her, and a quote came to Sarah's consciousness.
"As he that taketh away a garment in cold weather-
"So is he that singeth songs to a heavy heart." He finished and began to pace. "Do you think me cruel, Sarah?"
"Of course I do. You beat your goblins, you steal children, you set dragons on people, for all I know you killed my friends, and-" Sarah spluttered and tried to think of more, "-you took the poor worm's wife!"
Jareth sighed heavily and laughed softly at the absurd conversation.
"I did not take his wife. She left him for another worm, and so I convinced him that I had taken her so that he could still believe she loved him. So you see, I am not always cruel. Do not pretend to know everything about me, Sarah."
"You confuse me, Jareth. I know you helped me find the castle, I just don't understand why. Did you doubt I could do it? Is this a trap?"
Jareth laughed hollowly and echoed across the stairs.
"Forgive me. It's just I had imagined that with your so superior intellect you would have figured it out by now."
Sarah cast her mind back to the images she had seen in the mirror, the songs he had sung and the pain on his face when she had said the immortal words you have no power over me.
"I can see that you have some sort of…possessive attachment to me, Jareth-
"'Possessive attachment'? Is that what you want to call it?"
"I know you like to own and control the things that interest you-
"I love you, Sarah!" He growled.
The goblin king's words reverberated off of the walls. Sarah gawped in shock, as Jareth had stood up before her and yelled into her face. The hue of his eyes became more apparent and his hair stood on end. She felt fear in every vein of her body. She spoke, in almost a whisper.
"I am sorry Jareth, but I don't think you do. I don't think you understand love."
"And, prey, who are you to judge how I feel?" He stared angrily.
"It's the things you say and sing! 'I can't live within you'?"
"Sarah, how could you have so idiotically misconstrued my meaning? I said 'Though I do believe in you, yes I do' - I believe in you, Sarah, so why can't you believe in me? I 'live without the sunlight', I 'love without your heartbeat'. I do not need permission to exist, I am not a figment of your imagination as you so often think me. I can't live within you Sarah, I can't, because if I do there is never any chance of you taking me seriously!"
Sarah raised a hand to her forehead in confusion.
"How could I take you seriously, Jareth, at the age of fifteen? I had no idea how you felt. I can barely take you seriously now. You can't stand the idea that I could ever possess you! That you could ever be a part of me! Well, guess what? I beat you and your Labyrinth, you and it belong to me now!"
"I see you have forgotten everything important! I promised you Valentine evenings, the sky, the moon, the stars, your dreams and to be there for you every time the world fell down around you! But you said no, like the arrogant child you are, and just continued to want more and more, the more I offered!"
"Urgh! Do you not remember your stupid words? 'Just let me rule you'. This is not about love, this is about ownership! Did it not occur to you that I might not feel the same way? When did you ever ask me how I felt? It was all about what you wanted!"
"Sarah, I know what you need, what you desire, I can see your dreams; I have seen them all!"
"JARETH! Urgh, I wish you would get out of my head!"
She took a defiant step back, only to realise that she was stood too near to the edge of the stone platform. As she fell backwards, Jareth appeared in front of her in an instant and threw his arm around her waist, dragging her back onto the platform, his eyes bulging in fear. She could feel his warm hand in the nape of her back, and it reminded her of their dance. Sarah gasped at the closeness of their proximity and noticed how tired, pale and despondent Jareth looked, and the reality of the situation hit her. Their faces were inches apart. Jareth stared deeply into what felt like her soul, inhaled deeply and sighed, his eyes becoming foggy and darker, more morose. She felt his sigh on her red lips; his other hand had wrapped around her waist and he held her for a moment. He closed his eyes in pain, and she felt him wilt.
"As you wish, Sarah. I can live within you no longer, you precious thing. I'm not powerful enough."
Without warning, the room around them began to crumble and Jareth transfigured into an owl, flying from the room. Without Jareth holding her, Sarah fell backwards and floated towards the ground. She fell through broken walls, feathers, leaves and fragmented glass before landing on her own bed, back in her flat.
It was silent. The clock read midnight.
The anti-climactic nature of her situation caused her to cry out.
"What the hell? I beat you! You promised me the Labyrinth! You promised I could stay! You cruel man, you promised me everything and then took it all away!"
A voice inside her called out to her. He promised you everything, and yet you gave him nothing, Sarah. It seems you are still just as selfish.
"Oh, I know, I know!"
The magnitude of all her mistakes became apparent to her and grief came crashing down on her like rocks. Sarah buried her head under her pillow and cried herself to sleep, feeling too miserable to change out of her clothes.
That night, it seemed as if Jareth sang to her in her dreams. No one can blame you for walking away. Too much rejection, no love injection…Sarah tossed and turned as shadowy images danced through her dreams. She moaned through her sleep. Don't tell me truth hurts, little girl, 'cause it hurts like hell. Sarah sat up.
"I thought you were getting out of my head, Jareth." She mumbled sadly as she lay back down and closed her wet eyes, realising it was her that was remembering his words. Even if he chose to leave her, get out of her head, she would still never forget him. Jareth had more power over her than she could bear. She looked at her pocket watch, longing for the thirteenth hour that was now absent and buried her head again.
Outside of her window, a pair of ghost-like eyes penetrated the rain-splattered glass, and a tight mouth sang softly. Down in the Underground you'll find someone true. Down in the Underground, a land serene, a crystal moon…the figure faded away into the night.
AN: SURPRISE! I thought before I went away I would leave the story in a place where Sarah was also waiting for more as well - waiting for contact with the Labyrinth again! I loved writing this chapter - I always loved the idea of Sarah having enough power over Jareth that if she didn't believe he was real, he literally couldn't exist. He 'can't live within her'. It's like she's his power source. Anyhoo, I hope the cliffhanger is a good one! I don't own the lyrics to the Bowie songs referenced, and I certainly don't own any material by Escher. I have nowhere to keep so many stairs...The proverb that Sarah and Jareth mention is Proverbs 25:20, but I saw it originally on a Millais painting, on the frame of the 'Awakening Conscious'.
