DISCLAIMER: I don't own Labyrinth, or any of the characters associated with the film. They are property of the Jim Henson Company.
As Sarah chose left, a direction that should lead her directly to the castle, she was completely unaware that she brought with her an unwanted traveller. Jareth could feel him now, the slightest increase in intensity of magic surrounding Sarah. A deep fear built up within him. Sarah was clearly a key in this enemy's plan. He was following her. He knew too much, knew that she would lead him to the castle and to Jareth. He knew, as Jareth knew, that Sarah couldn't keep away.
"Jareth! What's goin' on?" said Hoggle, who appeared before him drenched and angry. Hoggle noticed who Jareth was watching in the crystal now.
"What's she doing here?" Hoggle hollered. "What are you doin' to Sarah now?"
Jareth turned his weary eyes to the dwarf. Hoggle seemed to soften a bit. He had always been afraid of Jareth, but following his meeting Sarah he had begun to realize that he had no real reasons for this fear. Yes, Jareth could do terrible things to him, but would he? Hoggle didn't believe that he would, and he pushed the limits constantly. Although there was the ever present distinction between a king and his subject, the dwarf and the fae had begun to consider one another as equals. Hoggle knew there was something very wrong.
"We have a visitor, Hoggle," Jareth replied quietly.
"Well, yeah, I can see that!" Hoggle replied angrily.
"No, not her you ninny. Reach out, I'm sure you can feel him."
Among other things, the Goblin King had been teaching Hoggle to expand his use of magic. Hoggle was just as capable of performing magic as any wizard or fae out there. He needed only the proper training. He watched the dwarf focus his concentration and he felt him join the mix of magic in the air.
"Oh, he's followin' Sarah!! We have to do something!" Hoggle exclaimed, ready for action.
Jareth looked sadly at Hoggle, "If only we could."
Hoggle knew better than to argue. Now that he was using his senses to reach out, he knew that the Goblin King was at his limits. There was nothing either of them could do. If Jareth were to break his spell even for a moment, enough time for Hoggle to leave the confines of the Goblin City, the enemy would have his in. They simply knew too little of this powerful foe's powers to assume anything. They would have to trust Sarah's instincts and hope for the best.
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Sarah moved through this new section of the labyrinth with ease, despite the pouring rain. It seemed that with each step she moved closer and closer to the Goblin City. If only I had gone left last time! That'll teach me for listening to a talking worm! The rain really wouldn't let up, and she couldn't shake the feeling that someone was following her, but every time she turned there was no one there. In the past she would have assumed that it was Jareth, sneaking up to add some new unfairness to the game, but she knew this wasn't the case. Wherever he was, he was in trouble.
Sarah hadn't seen another creature moving about the Labyrinth at all. She wondered if they were all in as much danger as the Goblin King, or…worse. She thought of her dreams and shuddered, only hoping that she wasn't too late. Perhaps she was being a little too egotistical in believing that she could help with Underground problems, but it was hard to forget how little power the Goblin King had over her. Surely, she had some of her power to offer. She smirked at the whole idea. Right. The Goblin King has absolutely no power over me. Sure. I haven't thought about him constantly since I left this place. Of course, I'm not thinking about him now.
As if on cue, the rain pelted down harder.
"This is ridiculous!" she shouted into the air. The rain seemed a very unnatural thing to Sarah. The Labyrinth was built on dreams, and how many dreams contained a rainstorm? She wondered silently, as she blinked water from her eyes, why it never seemed to rain in the labyrinth. She smiled as she thought of Jareth in the rain. She imagined an unhappy scowl on his face as his long, perfectly styled hair flattened under the heavy rainfall. She blinked again. It was as though her funny imagining had come to life. There he was standing in the rain, glaring at her defiantly with drenched hair.
"Jareth?" Sarah called out.
He turned and walked ahead of her. She chased after him.
"Jareth, what's happening he…?" her words trailed off as she realized that she was talking to no one. The rain let up a bit. Sarah wiped the water from her face and adjusted her vision to her surroundings. She was now standing in the very center of a four-walled segment of the Labyrinth.
"Oh, great! What wonderful weather to trap me in!" she called out to no one.
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Jareth and Hoggle watched Sarah as she trudged through the easy pathway of the Labyrinth. With all his subjects safely confined within the walls of the Goblin City, she had had little distraction. The rain was awful, and Jareth wished that he had at least someway to protect Sarah from it.
Sarah was lost in thought, or so it would seem, until she suddenly appeared alert. She was saying something, but Jareth hadn't the magical strength left to make it audible to him. She broke into a run, chasing nothing. Jareth could only imagine that his foe was shooting out some diversion towards her.
"Oh no!" Hoggle yelped.
Jareth knew exactly what was bothering Hoggle at this moment. Sarah had just unknowingly, while chasing her phantom, walked into the only true physical trap of the Labyrinth. Jareth usually used this little trap in cases where humans had come a little too close to the Goblin City. It was a perfect time waster. It was a fantastic trap. He had kept people in it for hours, a small price for being fool enough to take the easy route for granted. But, for someone to become trapped in it, they would have to be chased into it, backed into it. One didn't just come across it. It appears that the enemy knew the Labyrinth very, very well. He apparently knew Sarah's triggers equally as well. His foe had successfully trapped their only hope – in the pouring rain. If his Labyrinth wasn't destroyed first, Sarah would surely die of pneumonia.
