Chapter 7
Sarah rubbed her arms as she walked, glad that the medicine Jareth had applied to her cuts was working. It was rapidly healing, something she was very grateful for. The uncomfortable heat from her wounds was dropping quickly, and soon she could only see faint, pink scratches instead of the once red, bloody, infected cuts. A couple hours after her altercation with Jareth, Sarah still had not come any closer to finding Hoggle or the castle than she had this morning. After backtracking for a while, there had finally been an opening archway to the right, which from Sarah's memory would be left coming from the other direction. She should be going the correct direction now, but she could just as easily be completely lost and walking in circles. She was also concerned with the fact that she was once again in the stone-walled section of the impossible maze.
The Labyrinth's stone walls and paths were slowly becoming the worse for wear as she moved farther into the Labyrinth. The walls were almost entirely concealed by overgrown foliage, and there was a thick layer of dirt, leaves, and stone rabble covering the ground. The day had started out sunny and warm, but by early afternoon a cold front had swept in and a light misty fog had settled. Sarah could see about fifteen feet in front of her before the ominous fog swallowed up whatever was ahead. She walked cautiously, stepping over obstacles and running her fingers along the wall as she went.
She heard the flap of wings above her and she snapped her head up to look. Was the creature a threat? Would it attack her like the vine had? Probably. She could vaguely see a pair of wings beating directly above her about ten feet or so. It screeched and swooped down. Sarah ducked and held her arms out in front of her to protect her face. It came within six inches of her head and soared ahead of her, disappearing into the fog. Sarah squinted to see the creature but nothing was visible. She didn't keep her eyes off the fog in front of her. Wait, she caught a flash of something. Yes…there it was, a black figure emerging out of the grey mist. It flew straight for her. Sarah stood, holding her ground, ready for whatever would happen. It flew toward her leisurely, as if it had all the time in the world. It almost looked like it was coming at her in slow motion.
It was getting closer and closer…Sarah didn't know what to expect when it got to her. About five feet from where she stood, it stopped abruptly and perched on a branch that was sticking out from the other side of the wall on her right side. She watched it carefully, waiting for any kind of movement that would give away it's intentions. She glanced over the creature and found it to be a bit ugly. It was some kind of black bird. It had shaggy, ruffly feathers all over, which stuck out with different lengths and textures. It also had a sort of mohawk. It's black feathers stuck straight up at the top of it's head. What really bothered Sarah was the creature's eyes, which were a sickly green, like the color of a green olive. Those eyes watched her, with a creepy intelligence that unnerved her. The beak was its only redeeming quality. It was long and pointy and a vibrant cerulean blue. The blue beak shined and shimmered every time the creature moved its head. It's talons were long, sleek, and very sharp. It had black thick claws curled around the branch, holding the animal there. Those talons had to be a good nine inches long…like daggers. Sarah shivered at the damage those weapons could do.
"Well, if you are content sitting on that perch all day, I will gladly leave you in peace and be on my way." Sarah took a nervous step forward very slowly, giving the bird a wide birth.
"It's not very nice to ignore someone and pass by without so much as an 'hello.'"
"I beg your pardon?"
The bird had a high-pitched, irritating voice. It's voice went up and down, emphasizing odd parts of the words it was saying. It came out as an off-beat sing-song way of speaking. From what Sarah could tell, it was female.
"You are being very rude, young girl!" Her voice rose until it was a shrill screech. Sarah didn't want to upset it and possibly end up in mortal danger.
She was preening her feathers, annoyed at Sarah's impertinence. "I am so sorry if I have offended you. My name is Sarah, who are you?" She said in the most etiquette way possible.
"I am Plurea, the greatest and most majestic of the winged creatures in the Underground." She said it with such overly dramatic grandiose and reverence, making it hard for Sarah to take her seriously. She bit the inside of her cheek to keep from smiling.
"Plurea, that is such a pretty name, and unique." Flattery, that should smooth things over.
Her feathers pricked up slightly at the compliment. "Thank you! It is so wonderful to finally have a civilized conversation with such a tasteful young lady. After trying to carry on a discussion with a bunch of brainless goblins, you become starved for intelligent creatures." Mission accomplished.
"Oh, I can imagine! I have only been here once before, but they didn't seem very bright."
"What did you say? You have been here before? What did you say your name was, girl?"
"Sarah."
"Oh my!" She squawked. "How did I not realize this before? You are the Sarah Williams?"
"Um…yes, that's me."
"Why, my dear girl, you are famous!"
"I am?"
"Of course! You are the one who challenged the Goblin King and his Labyrinth…and won! You are the only person to have ever done that. You must be someone very special." Sarah blushed, not knowing how to take the odd compliments from the eccentric bird.
"Uh…thank you." Sarah didn't know what else to say to the bird. Luckily, Plurea was a talkative thing, and did all the talking for her.
"Yes, the Goblin King has been brooding over it for years, a little wounded over being bested by a young girl." Sarah lightly chuckled, but Plurea just kept on rambling. "Can you imagine? A grown man, an elegant immortal with unspeakable power, losing to a mortal girl? It was embarrassing. A good many of his subjects thought it quite deserving considering his reputation as a strict, severe king. However, he is a fair and just ruler, and those subjects that have felt his wrath always deserve it. Sure he makes a lot of threats, but he hardly ever goes through with them unless it is provoked. Of course, he has had his rash moments when he lets his anger get the better of him…" She kept on chatting with no sign of stopping. Sarah needed to keep moving, and Plurea hadn't stopped talking to take a breath since she had opened her beak. Sarah was trying to think of a polite way to interrupt the bird when something she said caught her attention. "…being that way is understandable, though. Poor boy, being wished away by his own mother of all people. She didn't even try to win him back. Terrible woman!"
"What? What did you just say?"
"Oops, I've said too much. Forget I said anything." She became agitated and wouldn't look Sarah in the eye.
"Wait, Jareth was a wished away child?"
Plurea was shaking her head. "I shouldn't have said anything. He is going to be very very angry with me. Oh no! What if he decides to throw me in the Bog of Eternal Stench and clip my wings! Oh, pardon me, dear, I must be off, he is not going to be happy at all…" she fretted as she launched off from her perch on the branch. Sarah squinted to see her until she vanished into the fog. Jareth, an unwanted child? It explained so much…but then again, made room for so many more questions like when did he live in the mortal world and who was the Goblin King before him? Sarah was rattled with this new revelation. She started walking absently, thinking over what she had learned and what this meant. Did it change how she viewed Jareth? Definitely. What did those changes mean? She wasn't sure yet.
Sarah was so absorbed in her thoughts that she didn't look where she was going. She stepped on a crumbled area of the path which gave way under her weight. The surface caved in, taking her with it. Sarah went falling into darkness. She landed on hard stone ground and hit her head on something hard. Her head felt fuzzy and light. She was spinning and the dizziness was becoming increasingly uncomfortable. She reached behind her head and felt something warm and wet-blood. Her stomach lurched at the thought of a serious injury. She tried to look around and see what she had fallen into, but her vision was a little blurry. She rubbed her eyes, but it did no good. She didn't think she should start walking just yet, but time was precious and she didn't want to waste time sitting in some hole. Sarah tried to stand up but her legs wobbled and she pitched forward, falling flat on the ground. Well, now she had no choice but to stay. She was vaguely becoming aware that she probably had a concussion. As she sat down again, she was starting to forget how she had gotten down here.
Sleep…that would fix things, yes sleep. Wait wasn't sleep what you were supposed to avoid if you had a concussion? Sarah couldn't remember. All she knew was that she was slowly losing consciousness and had no intention of fighting it off.
"Sarah? Sarah can you hear me?" Jareth asked her. The woman was near insufferable. She had stomped off angry at him, and no more than a couple hours had gone by when he had decided to check up on her with his crystal and what did he see? Sarah, lying unconscious in one of the Underground's tunnels with a bleeding head injury. He had been quite alarmed, to say the least. After treating her head, he had attempted to wake her up. Unsuccessfully. Now he was genuinely worried.
Sarah could hear a distant voice but didn't really register what it was saying. The person was gently shaking her too, and it was very annoying. She was trying to sleep! What kind of rude person would be waking her up right now? She tried to concentrate though, because the voice seemed to become more urgent. This may be important.
"Sarah, come on honey, please wake up." Sarah really was trying to understand what was going on but she felt so…lost. She felt a hand brushing her cheek, and it felt good. She felt safe.
"Come on, Sarah. Just listen to my voice, show me something-some sign that you can hear me." A moment of comprehension, like a light bulb going off in her head, made Sarah aware. She knew that voice.
Jareth sighed in frustration. "You are so stubborn! You will defy me even if that means threatening your life!"
"You always think everything is about you," Sarah whispered, her voice hoarse and deep from sleep. She opened her eyes but the light was too bright, and she winced, closing her eyes again.
"Well, it is isn't it?" Even though he was making playful banter, it couldn't completely conceal his relief and happiness over seeing her awake and alright.
"How long have I been unconscious?"
" I am not sure, I found you about five minutes ago, before that I wouldn't know."
"Oh…do you know what happened?"
"No, you don't remember?"
"Um…no."
"I don't know either. I happened to be checking on you and see….well not a very comforting picture of my only hope to save the Underground."
"Sorry, I know I keep causing you trouble." Sarah winced as she tried to touch the wound at the back of her head.
"Don't touch it," Jareth warned and caught her hand to stop her, and then quickly dropped it when she looked up at him.
"Gee, thanks for telling me that now."
"Your most welcome. I was able to stop the bleeding and heal it, but the injury goes deeper than the surface, so it will be sore for a while."
"Fantastic." Sarah tried sitting up, but got light-headed.
"Easy," Jareth murmured. Sarah slid back down on the ground, where there was a bunched up piece of clothe with a little bit of dried blood on it. She looked at it quizzically.
"I needed to elevate your head so I used my cloak to keep your head up."
"Right. Sorry, my brain hasn't been caught up to normal speed yet, I think." As she said that, she realized her words were slightly slurred, proving her statement correct.
"Here take this," he said, reaching from somewhere behind him and bringing out a bottle.
"What is it?"
Jareth sighed. "Must you question everything I do?" Before Sarah could say something he continued, "It will help clear your head up." She reached out and grabbed it from his hand and took a healthy drink from it. "That should be enough," he said before she took another drink.
Already Sarah could feel her head clearing up. Her vision was much crisper and she could think without losing her train of thought. "Wow, that really worked well. Thanks, I'm sorry I keep getting into trouble," she repeated.
"You are being uncharacteristically pleasant ."
"I am always pleasant! It is you who has the bad temper. I only respond to it accordingly." Jareth scoffed. Sarah remembered what the old bird had said and her countenance softened. Jareth had been abandoned, just as she had abandoned Toby. No wonder he loathed her so much. To him, she was just like his mother. Jareth saw the change her face and wondered why she was looking at him like that. It almost looked like…pity? Before she could do anything else that would unnerve him, he said, "As much as I'd love to stay here and humor you with your delusions, I must be off. I should have never come in the first place."
"Wait I-" but he had already vanished. Sarah had wanted to ask him about what Plurea had said. Then as Sarah thought better of it she decided maybe it was for the best. The mentioning of his past may not be a welcome subject.
Sarah searched for her bag in the dimly lit place. Finally she felt the clothe bag and reached inside for her flashlight. She sighed in relief as she switched it on, glad it was still working. She looked around for a way out. There was a breeze coming from her left and she followed it, hoping it lead to an exit. Up ahead she could see a very faint light and she ran to it, glad to be out in the sunlight again.
