Jareth felt entirely uncomfortable after leaving Sarah that night. Nothing had gone as planned, there was no break in their walls and he worried now that he had truly done irreparable damage to her psyche. Plagued with these thoughts he turned to an ever-watcher for distraction but found Sarah was not where she was meant to be.
"Damnit Sarah!" He yelled and threw down the crystal. She was in the Red Hall, being led by that sniveling little dwarf. He knew that she was bent on escaping, but he could not send his magic to follow her with any true diligence. As soon as she stepped out into the Labyrinth she would be lost to him.
"Upset with your pet?" The silky voice of his brother came down by his ear and he felt Jarah's chin resting on his shoulder, peering over to where the shattered crystal lay.
"Where have you been haunting?" He asked him. Stepping out of Jarah's way he concealed a shiver at the memory of his brother's cold touch.
"Here and there," The Nightmare Man said. He leaned down over where the crystal lay and with a sharp fingered hand touched the ruins. "I wonder little brother, if you are up for a game."
"What sort of game now, Jarah?" Jareth grumbled.
"Well, your pet is trying to get out of the Labyrinth." He said. "Which we both know is going to be a very difficult task for her."
The Goblin King was aware of this. It was easy to fall into your dreams, but climbing back out of them was a nightmare. And Sarah had sunk very far into this dreamland.
"What are you proposing?" He looked at his brother.
"I propose that if Sarah can get out of the Labyrinth, through my trials, then she is yours." Jarah was smiling. "But if she cannot get out of the Labyrinth, then she belongs to me."
"Why would you even want a selfish little brat like her?" Jareth asked.
"Because you do."
Sarah and Hoggle were seemingly making no progress. The red hall seemed to stretch on forever. It grew darker the farther they walked, the torches on the wall high above them were soon gone. Total darkness came on the pair with suddenness and they fumbled for each other.
"What'do we do?" Hoggle cried.
"I don't know, should we go back?" Sarah reached for the wall.
"We've walked too far…"
Sarah was shocked into happy silence, because her hand had landed on wall, but it was wood, not red velvet and it moved when she pushed it.
"There's a door." She said and pushed harder. It creaked but burst open at her push. The pair tumbled out into moonlight, finding themselves in a dim looking garden.
"Where are we?" Sarah asked. Hoggle grunted and helped her up.
Around her were high flourishing bushes, bedecked in pale curling flowers; while beneath her was the familiar stone path of the Labyrinth. Before her were three possible paths which led out of the garden and into the turns and corners which could lead to her freedom.
"Which should we try?" She asked.
Hoggle rubbed his chin and shook his head. "Since you ran the first time Jareth changed the way back to the beginning."
"Well, which way looks the best?" She said. To the left the moon cast light on a path which moved uphill and to a flight of stairs that vanished up and away. To the right the path was a little darker, but was straight and flat for what looked like miles. The center path was the most mysterious: it led down a dark staircase where she could see no end of the road. On a good day she would feel more inclined to take this path of all three, but something about it seemed less fun and more sinister than a third path should normally be.
"Which way will you like to pick?"
Both the girl and the dwarf squealed in surprise when they looked up to see a great kind of bird man standing on the wall of the Labyrinth. He had Jareth's pointed and angular features, and Sarah mistook him for the Goblin King.
"Leave us alone, Jareth!" She yelled. Her hand flew to Hoggle's shoulder, but found the dwarf was shaking.
She looked back up at the slender figure, who was shaking his head and laughing. She could see it now, he had Jareth's looks and features but on a totally different palette. Where the Goblin King was swathed in golds and blacks and glitter, this creature was so black he was blue and his skin was a chalky white. The only flesh that could be seen was fragments of his face and his chest and the top of hands and fingers. The rest of his body sprouted black feathers that glinted in the dim light. His clothes weren't quite right either, they seemed like they were struggling to stay on him, their material slipping and sliding on and off of him like water.
"My dear, I am not Jareth. Call me Jarah." He bowed. "And I suggest any route but the middle."
"Why?" Sarah's brow furrowed and she held Hoggle's shoulder tightly in hopes of steadying him.
"Well, both the left and the right lead to nothing but endless paths that will never get you out of the Labyrinth. You'll find your friends, you'll find new ones and you will travel endlessly forever, in a happy daze of this dreamland."
"I got a bad feeling Sarah." Hoggle said gently.
"Where does the middle lead? Will it get me out?" She ignored Hoggle.
"The way forward is sometimes the way back… But it will not be easy." Jarah smiled and Sarah could see his long pointed teeth.
"It doesn't look that hard." She said, but it was weak. She took a step forward and Hoggle shuddered.
"Sarah, this will not be easy," Jarah said. "You venture at your own peril."
He dissolved into the darkness of night and was gone before she could question further. She relaxed her hold on Hoggle who backed away from the opening towards the castle door.
"Come one Hoggle, he said it was the only way out." She sighed. "Who was he anyway?"
She looked at Hoggle, whose shaking hands were close to covering his eyes. He looked up at her with his piercing blue eyes and she could see the tears starting to swell there.
"He is Jareth's brother. The King of Nightmares."
Sarah looked back at the third center path where the stairs that led to nowhere loomed at her.
"But if that's the only way…"
"Sarah stop!" From the door to the palace the Goblin King had appeared, still dressed in black and with the most terrified look in his eyes that she had ever seen.
Without pause she dove for the stairs, abandoning her bag and even Hoggle, whose voice screamed to her as she half ran half tumbled down the dark stair case. Overhead a gathering of thorn bushes concealed any light from the moon. Something collided into her from behind so violently that she fell headlong toward the stars. She rolled, tangled up with another body until both hit the end and fell apart at the base of the stairs.
Moaning, Sarah straightened up and peered through the darkness at her falling companion. She was expecting to see the crumpled form of a dwarf, but she knew that who had fallen with her was too large for that. The Goblin King brushed the hair from his face and growled in exasperation.
He looked at her, sitting on her haunches, sporting a great gash on her forehead from which blood was dripping sleepily. Her green eyes glared at him, as if he was the one to be upset with. She was the one who had thrown herself headlong into Jarah's land. She was the one always running away from him.
She… was getting up and walking away.
"Sarah!" He spat and dove for her.
"Damnit, Jareth, get off of me!" She pushed against him until he let go of her shoulders.
"Sarah, please, this is not the Labyrinth you know…" His voice cracked and he reddened with embarrassment. He was thankful that the dark kept this boyish blush hidden from her. She spun around and glared at him with a terrible green eye.
"Jareth, you have manipulated my life long enough. You have kept me prisoner until I couldn't leave, taken me away from my family and destroyed any opportunity I had for a normal life!"
"You would hate normal life!" He hollered back. They were standing almost nose to nose, their hands in fists and about ready to… either kiss or rip each other to shreds, any witness would be confused as to which they would choose. But Jareth was the first to calm himself.
"I apologize."
Sarah's eyes narrowed. But she had little time to consider what he had said, because creeping out from behind Jareth among the dark gnarled thorn trees was a small figure.
"What is that?" She whispered, and the king spun around. He brandished a crystal with a delicate twirl of his gloved fingers, but it melted just as it was manifested. Sarah found herself grasping his shoulders, drawing him closer as a woman made her way toward them from the shadows. One of Jareth's hands moved back to hold onto Sarah as well, so the two were linked and froze together when Sarah's twin appeared before them.
Not a twin, but her perfect mirror image, sporting the same black hair, same wicked green eyes and the same smile. She was dressed as Jareth was, in black, a sultry kind of gown the real Sarah might never consider wearing. Her flesh was on display almost to the navel the cut was so low. The skirt split on each side and revealed her legs. Smiling when she approached them, she held her arms out to them and beckoned gently.
"Jareth," She said, in Sarah's own voice. "You're here!"
The real Sarah could feel Jareth stiffen. For a moment he seemed to lurch towards the dark Sarah, but then moved back, his grip on Sarah's hip growing stronger.
"Jarah has pulled out all his great tricks for me?" He asked her.
The dark Sarah's face fell, and her lower lip dipped a little in a pout. It was enough to make real Sarah sneer in slight disgust. She had never seen her face look so flirtatious. For a moment the other Sarah's eyes flickered over Sarah's face. The look was dark, riddled in anger and made Sarah squeeze Jareth tighter. She might still hate him, but the sense of horror that her doppelgänger gave her was enough to make Jareth seem friend enough.
"He would like to emphasize to both of you that you cannot help each other through your journey." She said, a pink tongue darting out of her mouth to lick her top lip.
"Why can't he come with me?" Sarah asked.
The twin's green eyes flashed and she stared at Sarah. She took a step forward and both the king and the real Sarah stepped back. They stepped too far and a thorn from the thick braches tore into Sarah's back. Her outcry startled Jareth and they separated. This was enough time for the Sarah twin to snatch the Goblin King in strong arms and tear him fighting into the shadows. Sarah, alone, and bleeding in two places now chased after them, but they had vanished into the darkness and she could not find a path they could have taken among the thorns.
She began to wander, unprepared for what she might face, and for the first time missing the king, who gave her some assurance of safety. The path below her feet was dark and hard to see, and had she had better night vision she would have seen the same path of the Labyrinth, only the tan stones were blackened and cracked. No little goblin pulled up its tile to curse at her, no goblins appeared at all. The silence was the only presence she could feel, and it touched her with strong fingers, prodding her ears and nipping at her ankles.
It whispered You are alone.
She wished that she had kept a hold of her supplies, suddenly wanting something to eat. But she pushed hunger aside, wary of what underground food could do to her. With no sun or moon to tell her how long she had walked, she grew indistinct in time. It no longer touched her, and the world felt like a dream.
When finally the path began to diverge and break into new paths Sarah found herself resurfacing from her stupor. Fear rekindled itself in her and she began to run.
In her hurry she missed the eyes poking out from the thorn branches, yellow eyes with blinked only once in a thousand years, blue ones that were colder than death, and a black pair which hovered so close that their nose could smell her.
This was Jarah, who was enjoying his repose while she panicked and scampered through the dark.
"Come now Sarah, you are braver than this." He muttered. She had to have been, but perhaps he had misjudged her. He turned her path to her first challenge, and like a caged bird, she fluttered along her chosen path and came across it, recoiling in fear the moment she saw it.
Jarah sat back to watch her, eager to see how she would fight her battles.
I apologize for the long wait, I will try very hard to not do that again! Please be awesome and leave me some reviews!
