- -Chapter: Seven- -
"Skub," Elizabeth called over her shoulder, "is that it…? Is that the castle?" She hoped it was, while it wasn't exactly what she had thought of a castle (she always pictured picturesque turrets, glistening stone, moats and open grounds) it was close enough, she supposed.
Skub finally caught up with her while Hana and Stank bounded up after him. He looked out and nodded eagerly. "Yes, yes, that's it. I told nasty fairy that I knew the way," he said smugly as Hana rode up next to them. The fairy did not deign to spare him a look as she stabbed his snout in passing with her spear, ignoring his shout of pain. "Nasty, evil, vicious-"
Elizabeth looked over her shoulder at the two of them and sighed. "Can't you guys ever get along?"
"Not likely," Hana answered her while Skub continued to throw various insulting adjectives at her back.
"Just…don't kill each other, please," she sighed, shaking her head. "You okay, Skub?"
"…Skub won't ever be okay till fairy is far gone," he muttered to himself, swiping at the drops of blood as the tiny wound tried to scab over.
Elizabeth ignored the response and turned back to the view of the castle the hill provided. "Well, guys, should we get a move on?"
"Yes, let's get the hell out of this stinking swamp," Hana urged, ready to spur Stank into a full charge if it meant she could escape the swamp sooner. Stank murmured his agreement so the four of them set off, down the steep hill.
At the bottom of the hill, a path of gravel appeared, meandering its way up to a large gate in the outer wall of the city. In spite of the long distances they had traveled and how far they still had to go, the four of them began to walk a little faster, eager to reach the city.
Skub was the first to reach the gate because both Stank and Elizabeth hung back, feeling a little wary of the looming wall even if they had been excited to see it mere moments ago. "This is it, 'lizabeth," Skub crowed happily. "I said would get you here, and now you are!"
Elizabeth couldn't help but crack a smile at such enthusiasm. "Yeah, it's all thanks to you, Skub," she laughed as she walked up to him. "Thanks," she said, kissing his warty cheek.
The goblin flushed under all the grime and shuffled his feet bashfully.
"About time you made yourself useful," Hana snickered as she rode up on Stank. Skub started to glare at her before she shrugged. "Not bad, Skub, not bad at all."
Elizabeth's brows went up; that was the first time the fairy had said anything remotely like a compliment to the goblin since they had met. Even Skub looked pleased with the praise and stood up straighter.
"I will open the door now," he announced, running over to a little hole in the wall. The hole was barely the diameter of a quarter and when Skub duck down to peek through it, he knocked on the wall loudly six times.
"Who's there?" growled a voice, muffled by the wall.
"It's Skub! I's got guests," he told the voice.
After a moment, there was an answering knock and the gate creaked open. A small, ragged head poked its head out. Like Skub, the face was warty and dirty but held sharper, pointier features. When it looked out, it glared at them, Elizabeth in particular.
"…who is it?" the goblin asked carefully, eyeing them.
"I told you's it was Skub," Skub huffed.
The face contorted and glared at him. "I meants them!"
"Oh," Skub muttered. He pointed to them. "This is Hana, evil fairy. And that is Stank, tiny Rock Caller there. And this," he said lastly, gesturing wildly for effects, "is 'lizabeth, daughter of the Champion Sarah."
"The Sarah?" the goblin asked in awe, stepping farther around the gate to look at her. He paused for a moment before glaring at them and gesturing for them to come in. "Quickly, quickly, get in already."
Skub and Stank rushed in, Hana looking eager from her seat on the Rock Caller. Only Elizabeth hesitated, watching as the three of them ran in. When they did, the other goblin opened the door wider to let them through and what Elizabeth saw behind it made her gasp.
It must have been a quaint little town once, small homes scaled to goblin size. But now, the houses caved in, the fountains smashed, and worst of all were the goblins themselves. Although Elizabeth did not know the goblins of her mother's time in the Underground, she could tell something was very wrong with the ones inside the town. They shuffled slowly, gazes empty, much like the B rated zombie movies Elizabeth's parents used to watch after her bedtime.
"Beth," Hana hissed. "Beth, come on."
Elizabeth blinked and looked back to the fairy. Neither she and Skub looked happy to be there but both were looking at her with worried expressions. Steeling herself and going against her instincts telling her to run, she stepped into the city.
- -
One moment, Jareth was walking in front of Sarah, Toby, and Juliana, the next he wavered visibly, almost falling to the side, like an invisible wave had crashed into him. His right hand flew up to his head as he suddenly staggered backward.
"Jareth," Sarah gasped, catching him along with Toby before he crashed to the ground. "Jareth, what happened?"
The former Goblin King pressed his hands to his face and groaned. Behind them, Juliana was as still as an ice sculpture. When Jareth finally brought his hands away, Sarah gasped.
Deeply rooted crows feet had appeared next to his eyes, complimented by deep creases in his forehead. It looked he had aged ten years in a manner of seconds.
"Jareth, what-" Sarah didn't get a chance to finish when Juliana interrupted her.
"That's it then. She's made it to the city, hasn't she?" the Eleionomaese asked quietly, her voice dead in tone. "It's really happening."
"Who's made it?" Toby asked, frowning at them.
"Jareth, what's going-" she tried.
Instead, he pulled away from them and nearly growled as he rubbed at his temples. "Well, congratulations, Sarah. We know Elizabeth's in the Goblin City now," he muttered with no small amount of contempt. Who the contempt for was unclear but Sarah still flinched at the tone. It was a relief to know where her daughter was but that could only mean that she was getting closer to Deonte. She hated to imagine what that man could do to Elizabeth; he tried to kill her, what would he do to her daughter?
For another minute, there was a tense silence between all of them while Sarah feared the worst, Juliana and Jareth both seemed grim. Only Toby looked a little less troubled than they did. He walked quietly alongside them, trying not to pester any of them.
Since the three of them were so entrenched in their own thoughts, Toby finally saw the castle as they crested over the last hill. "Look, we're almost there," he said loudly, trying to draw their attention away from the gloom. Only Sarah looked relieved to hear him though as Juliana seemed to only grow stiffer and Jareth began to lag, letting Toby and Sarah walk past him. Toby frowned at the two of them. "You two look like someone just died."
Juliana flinched and Jareth glared at him, pressing a hand to his brow still. "Just…keep going," Jareth muttered, trying to fend off the pain in his temple.
Toby glanced over at Sarah and shrugged at her frown. What did he know about Goblin Kings or Elio-whatsit's? Sarah could think of nothing that could possibly help the disgruntled king or Juliana. She didn't even know what had set them off in the first place.
The silence stretched on after that until they finally reached the city when Jareth seemed to sigh and Juliana let out all her breath she had been holding in one loud whoosh.
"Now what?" Toby half sighed, half grumbled. "Were here, finally, and you two still look like you're heading to the electric chair!"
Juliana looked confused at the reference while Jareth growled at him in aggravation. "If only it was that simple," he quipped before letting his expression lapse back into a pained grimace.
Toby and Sarah shared a look before both stopped and turned to him and Juliana.
"I was kinda hoping they'd run out of secrets by now," Toby remarked airily to Sarah.
She nodded in kind. "You think they'd know that we're too stubborn to be led around by our noses like that."
Jareth growled, anger and frustration apparent enough to send shivers down their backs. Toby's shoulder flinched, a habit he gained after he broke his collarbone and left that shoulder sensitive. Sarah however held firm, not letting herself be bullied into submission despite feeling a shred of guilt. Finally, Jareth relented, running his hand down from his forehead to cover his eyes before speaking. "I'm running out of time," he explained, simply.
Sarah and Toby shared a look; why did it matter now? "Does this have something to do with…" Toby began, gesturing at his own face. "Your sudden, ah, aging?"
"Yes. It does," Jareth answered, rubbing his temples again.
"…how much…" Sarah's throat ran dry before she could finish. She tried again. "How much time…do you…have left?"
Juliana twitched so violently, it could have been mistaken for flinch. Jareth was quiet as he gazed at her. "…not…enough," he said finally, having to force the words past his lips. Such admittance sounded like a defeat from him.
The air around them grew tenser as they stood around, none of them quite certain of what to do or say to that. Finally, Toby broke the ice.
"…if that's the case, let's get a move on," he said. He pivoted on his heel and began walking faster towards the castle, leaving his surprised companions to hurry to catch up to him.
The rest of the walk to the castle passed by in silence as they hurried on. The only time they paused was when they had made it to the foot of the castle; because they had taken the longer way, they had bypassed the Goblin City altogether and now stood at a back gate to the castle. Toby and Sarah had to force the door open finally, amidst much cursing, this time from the both of them. When they finally got it opened, they quickly stepped in.
"Wasn't so bad, was it?" Toby asked with forced cheerfulness as he and Sarah panted. "Made good time even."
Good time, however, wasn't enough for whatever was ailing Jareth apparently. The age lines were stretching and several bits of grey streaked his hair. Along the way, he suddenly gained a pronounced limp although he was far too proud and stubborn to accept any offered help.
"Let's just get moving," Sarah panted. The more and more Jareth aged, the more her stomach tried to twist itself in a knot. It's not right, she thought; Jareth had always been her boogey man or a temptation of some sort—to see him change so visibly in such a short time was… distressing to say the least.
Toby bit his lip and looked to Juliana; she had been silent for a long time now. It felt odd that she was so quiet but by the pinched look she had on her face as she observed Jareth told him not to pester her. Whatever it was bothering her, he hoped he could ask her before something else happened.
"Yeah…yeah, okay," he agreed, finally catching his wind back. "Which way?"
"Left," Jareth grunted, shielding his eyes from the torchlight. Off they went, following his directions, none of them felt the courage to break the silence between his ever-tiring directions. They began to move slower consciously, so he wouldn't fall too far behind them. If he noticed, he didn't mention it.
Finally, Jareth heaved a great sigh of what suspiciously sounded like relief. "Right, the throne room's just past the next hall," he announced. The three of them perked up at his announcement but had to fight not to hurry ahead of him.
As they turned down the hall he'd mention, Toby couldn't wait any longer and hurried ahead of them a bit, jogging over to the most important looking door at the end of the corridor. "This it, Jareth?"
"Yes, yes," he answered waspishly.
"Well, then," Toby responded, not letting the grouchy reply bother him. "I'm just going to poke my head inside and…" he opened the door and paused.
"…what is it, Toby?" Juliana called, speaking for the first time in awhile.
Toby didn't answer; instead he tossed open the double doors. It was a plain room, not what anyone would call a throne room. Sarah frowned—she'd been in the throne room, and that room was barely anything like the throne room.
"…Jareth, you sure this is it?" Toby asked, taking a step into the room cautiously. Nothing dangerous in sight, he thought, looking into the room. The only thing in the room was a large, warped mirror looking like it had come straight from the Dark Ages.
"What?" Jareth snapped, pulling up short. He looked openly confused as he looked past Toby into the room. "That's not…" he paused and squinted as Toby walked further into the room.
"See? All that's here is-"
He never got a chance to finish; Juliana shrieked and tried to run to him. Sarah didn't see what was wrong but recognized trouble when she watched Juliana dash forward and quickly ran herself.
"Toby," Jareth roared, left behind and useless to help him. "GET OUT OF THERE!"
"Wha-" Toby began but already began to try and get out of the room.
Too late: the double doors flew shut and locked themselves audibly. He yelped in spite of himself and tossed his body at the doors, pounding against the wood. "You guys-"
"Toby," Juliana called, beating upon the doors along with Sarah. "You must get out of there!"
"What's going on?" he called through the wood. The doors were too sturdy and heavy to knock loose.
"Destroy the mirror," Jareth ordered, voice cracking.
"The mirror?" Toby repeated in shock. Is that what's got them so wound up? he wonder in distant surprise. What's wrong with the-
He glanced over his shoulder and froze as his reflection, facing towards him, waved. He watched in abject shock as the mirror's surface rippled and the reflection's hand appeared, reaching out like it was water. He watched as his reflection stepped out of the mirror and smile at him as it stood before him.
"How the hell did you-" he began but could only gape as the smile on his doppelganger changed into a sneer. It suddenly jumped at him, clearing the room like it was a foot across. Toby dodged, barely missing getting his head taken off by his mirror image's fist. He stumbled to the wall and watched as his reflection fist cracked as it slammed into the door, then as it pulled it back, watched the cracks disappeared.
"Just what are you?" he snapped, ducking another blow. He jumped closer to the mirror, making the reflection grin. He tried to jump away again, however, his twin image caught his shoulders and pushed him into the mirror. The surface rippled as his head and right shoulder fell into the glass. He only escaped total immersion as his left hand caught the frame in a death grip.
I can't breathe, he thought as he struggled to pull himself out. His reflection refused to relent and shoved his shoulders harder, smiling all the while. He's trying to trap me in here!
It was like ice inside the mirror, and reminded him of the time he'd nearly drowned, trapped under the ice. His parents and Sarah had taken him out with some friends for ice skating and Toby skated over too thin ice. He'd broken through and nearly drowned if it weren't for his mother being beside him to drag him out before he slipped all the way in. The thought of his family made him cling even more.
Am I going to drown? he wondered as he struggled to keep a grip on the frame. He opened his eyes and felt icy coldness stabbing at his eyes. In the frigid darkness however, a light gleamed distantly. Without much thought, Toby clenched his eyes and reached out to the light. He didn't register that he'd grasped a hold of something and didn't think as he swung whatever it was back at his doppelganger.
He did realize however his reflection had suddenly let go, and pulled himself back out. He gasped, starved for air, and looked in distant shock at his reflection. The arms of his mirror image up to the elbow were shattered into pieces on the floor and the mouth of his twin was open in a 'o'. He glanced down and realized he was, in fact, holding a sword of all things.
It wasn't quite a broadsword, barely being much longer the distance of Toby's wrist to his bicep. It was simple enough, unadorned, except it was entirely blue.
Toby blinked, brought back from his impromptu inspection of the blade to see his doppelganger was reforming its arms. "Oh no, you don't," he snapped harshly. He took the blade and ran it through the middle of the reflection's chest. His reflection looked quite surprise as cracks stretched out from the wound. Without much ado, the mirror image exploded into dust and fragments, one of the tiny chips lodged itself in Toby's eye.
He hissed a long line of curses that shall not be repeated here. It hurt and that was all that mattered. After a moment, Toby blinked as a strange almost vision passed in front of his eyes.
A man, all in black, cursing the mirror, literally magicing it with dark magic so it seeped into the grain of the wood. But another vision, far older than that, appeared as well. It was a man, looking remarkably like Jareth, placing the sword into the rippling surface.
Toby blinked and the vision, and pain, disappeared.
The door swung open and Juliana and Sarah nearly tumbled into the room, Jareth standing just behind them. Toby turned and stared at them, before awkwardly waving at them. "Hey guys, 'sup?"
"Toby," Sarah panted. She reached out and pulled him into a tight embrace while Juliana fidgeted at the door. "Are you alright? Why didn't you open the door or answer us?"
"The mirror-" he rasped, caught tight in her hug.
"Did something come out of it?" Jareth demanded suddenly. Toby held up the sword and both Jareth and Juliana froze at the sight of it.
"But that's the-" Juliana began in shock.
"How did you get a hold of that?" Jareth hissed, reaching out for it. Toby reluctantly handed it over as Sarah finished fussing over him. Both Juliana and Jareth reverently gazed at the blade.
"It was in the mirror," Toby explained quietly.
Sarah gazed in confusion. "In the mirror?"
"Toby…" Jareth began, finally tearing his eyes away from the blade. "Did you or did someone else pull this free?"
"I did," he answered truthfully. Both Jareth and Juliana seemed to look at him in a new light, making him feel like he'd grown another head.
"What's going on?" Sarah asked, looking between the three of them, hating being out of the loop. I guess this is how Toby felt before? she wondered.
"My reflection came out of the mirror and tried to kill me," Toby answered her. "I pulled that sword out of the mirror and killed it."
"You killed your reflection-?" she began but shook her head. "I'm forgetting where I am—nothing is what it seems here."
Jareth, pulled out of his stupor, smirked in her direction. "When, looks like you finally did learn something, Sarah."
"Oh shut up," she sighed, but not out of true spite.
"What's up with the sword?" Toby asked, trying to draw their attention back to it. "Why was it in the mirror?"
"That sword was put in there by the first Goblin King," Juliana answered, her tone the most respectful Toby had heard it yet. "It's a sword for-"
"Never mind that," Jareth snapped, surprising the other three. "In case you've forgotten, we have to hurry."
"Why?" Sarah asked, ire rising at his tone. "Where are we going anyway?"
"We have to get to the throne room," he retorted. "Unless you want Deonte to get a hold of your daughter, I suggest we go. Now."
That was all the incentive Sarah and Toby needed.
"Which way, o' majesty?" she hissed, ready to run at a moment's notice.
- -
Further up in the castle, Elizabeth and her companions hurried on. "Where do you think everyone is?" Elizabeth asked quietly. Every since the goblins had let them into the castle, they had found the place to be completely empty.
"Dunno," Skub answered. "'s not natural for it to be like this."
"It used to be full of goblins and song when Jareth was king," Hana commented. Then she hissed and rubbed the stub of her left wing. "Back before that bastard tore off my wings! Oh, if it's the last thing I do, I'm going to get that bastard Deonte for-"
"Wait," Elizabeth gasped. "What do you mean Deon-"
Then she paused as her eyes suddenly caught a glimmer of light above them. She raised her head and looked up to see spheres of light, oddly like floating bubbles hovering above them. They were the color of champagne and threw off shimmering, winking light more like Christmas tree ornaments than bubbles. Elizabeth had never seen such beautiful orbs before, making her pause and watch their carefree dance on the air.
"…come on," Hana said after a moment, turning pointedly away from the strange bubble-like orbs. "I got a bad feeling about this place, and I'm not sticking around here."
"…Skub agrees with Hana," Skub said finally, still cowering underneath the orbs. "We need to hurry anyways, right, 'lizabeth?" he asked, shuffling along a little faster until he noticed she had not answered him. "…'lizabeth?"
Stank drew up short and turned to look back for their friend as Hana started to look back as well. "Beth?" she called.
No answer.
"No Bess?" Stank asked them, speaking for the first time making Skub jump in surprise. Hana however continued to frown.
Elizabeth had not followed them at all; she was still rooted to the spot as she watched the orbs dancing above her head. They reminded her of the bubbles her father and she would play with when her mother was out (Sarah did not like bubbles). They drifted lazily above her, dangling just beyond her hand's reach.
They began to float past her, down another corridor than the one Hana, Skub, and Stank had gone. Elizabeth eagerly followed them, watching them winking at her with champagne flashes. As she followed them, she began to notice that her surroundings had changed.
She was no longer in a corridor; instead, she was in a wide field of wheat, fresh and green. In the distance, she saw the Castle Beyond the Labyrinth, but now it looked newer, more like a fairytale castle where a beautiful princess might live. And the Labyrinth itself looked different, it seemed smaller, more inviting like a garden maze instead of a stone behemoth. Fairies danced through the air, sweet music as if sung by angels floated on the breeze, and Elizabeth could have sworn she saw the light dance off the flank of a unicorn.
"Elizabeth," a far off voice called. She turned and glanced over her shoulder and she saw that it was her mother, uncle, and someone else standing under a tree. She cried out in joy and raced over to them. As she came closer, she saw the last person was her father, alive and handsome as ever. She stopped for a moment, absolutely floored by this but then took off flying at him.
But as she began to reach them, the scenery began to change. She moaned in despair until she saw what it changed into. Instead of a field of wheat, she was in a bedroom truly fit for a fairytale princess, and somehow without someone telling her, she knew it was hers. All shades of purple colored the room, from lavender to orchid to violet, tiny delicate furniture sat waiting for her, and a lovely four-posted bed stood proud in a corner.
"How do you like it, Elizabeth?" the voice spoke again, soft in her ear. She looked to see that it was Deonte standing behind, watching her as she inspected the room. "It's yours, should you want it."
Elizabeth looked around at the room again. It could really be hers…?
"Don't you want this?" he asked, voice warm and hypnotizing.
She walked away from him, to better look around. Everything seemed to like some kind of wonderful dream come true; there were all sorts of stuffed animals, tiny tea sets of real china, and a gigantic bookshelf of picture books she had always loved. She looked to her right and saw a large window with a bench just below it, covered in comfortable looking pillows. She walked over to the window, grabbed the latch and let the window swing open.
When she looked outside, she realized she was looking into an entirely different place then one view that should have been there. Outside the window, she saw the Labyrinth's hedges, festooned in white and gold ribbons. The hedges were not the only things decorated; the courtyard outside was filled with white folding chairs set up in long rows. In between the middle of the rows laid a gold carpet, leading up to an archway where a woman, man, and some sort of holy man stood.
It was a wedding, she realized. Elizabeth gasped when saw that Deonte was the groom and that in the crowd was her family, her mother, father, uncle, and grandparents. Elizabeth squinted to try to make out whom the lucky bride was and nearly fell off the bench in shock.
It was herself, older and elegant looking in white, lavender, and gold. Elizabeth strained against the windowsill to watch as Deonte lifted the veil from her face. Deonte smiled down at her older self and Elizabeth watched as the future her turned and looked at her.
She looked terrified and stricken. Elizabeth's jaw dropped as the vision of her older self opened her mouth and spoke a single word to her.
"Run."
Elizabeth did tumble off the bench, only to realize that she had been sitting on a poorly constructed cot. The heel of her hand fell hard onto the edge of a bowl, upsetting the murky water inside of it. Elizabeth looked around at the room that moments before had been a luxurious bedroom only to see a run down jail cell. She jumped to her feet quickly and turned to see iron bars quickly clang shut. She cried as she fell against the door and began to beat upon it.
"Help!" she screamed, sticking her hand out the door in blind desperation, hoping someone would free her. She began to cry in earnest but then a large, calloused hand took hold of her own. She cried out again for help.
"Shh," said a soothing voice, sounding so familiar to her but she was so scared that she couldn't stop to place it.
"Get me out," she sobbed and felt no small amount of relief when she saw the bars go up. She stumbled out and nearly crashed to the floor before the strong hands caught her. She started to look up when the voice from her older self spoke again.
"Run and do not look back."
The voice had been right before so it seemed stupid to ignore it now. Elizabeth grabbed the hand of person who had released her and began to run. She did not know if she was leading them or if they were leading her, but she ran on and did not look back.
Something told her to turn and she listened to it, sprinting down the new corridor. At the end of the hallway, a light shown like at the end of a long tunnel and she dashed to it. She practically fell out into the other corridor, only realizing after a moment that she was back to where she had first seen the bubbles. She shuddered and fought to recapture her breath.
"Good job, Bessie," said a quiet, loving voice behind her making her freeze. Now, with her fear gone, she could place the voice.
"Daddy?" she cried, whirling around to see nothing but a smooth wall behind her. She looked at it for a long moment before stepping closer to it, reaching out with her hand. As her hand neared the wall however, she paused and drew it back.
Her father had helped her; she knew it without a trace of doubt in her heart. Her father and that vision of her future self had saved her from that prison-like place.
She also realized without a doubt that Deonte had been the one trying to trick her in those visions. Her faced hardened and she glared at the wall. Setting her jaw (and although she didn't know it, it made her look much like her mother) she turned and ran down the halls, looking for her friends.
- -
Sorry for the long wait! But life intrudes and I must attend to it before fan fiction. Fun fact—apparently, in an original book by one of the creators, Ludo is part of a race called Rock Callers. So, now I have to go back and change most of the yeti references!
Good news-the story's almost done! Only a chapter to go!
The bad news? The story's almost done! I may, or may not, decide to do a sequel to this. Please go to my bio and vote in the poll at the top of the page to help me decide what to work on first.
