In the Dark Chapter 10: Always crashing in the same car
I don't own the Labyrinth
Jareth's PoV
I pace around in my office as I ponder Bartholomew's and Louis' words. Could they be right? Wasn't the painful end of my brother an isolated event, like I always believed it was? Had Breva been planning her revenge in secret, all these years?
My thoughts are disturbed by someone knocking on my office door. Before I can tell him or her to enter, Sarah bursts in, looking agitated.
"If I hadn't won the Labyrinth, what would have happened to Toby? Would you really have turned him into a goblin?"
Turned him…? Vexing girl.
I give her an incredulous look. "Sarah, goblins procreate the usual way and they do so as rabbits. Toby would have been adopted by one of my kind. Fae love children. Furthermore, what happened to your whole 'let's-be-friends-speech'? So quick to cast me into the role of villain, aren't you? Have you forgotten how we met? It was you who wished the boy away Sarah, not me."
While I keep my facial expression neutral, the fact that Sarah acts this way, hurts me more than I'm willing to admit.
Her features soften with guilt before she sighs.
"You're right Jareth, I'm sorry."
She looks so forlorn that I find myself accepting her apology surprisingly quickly.
"You're forgiven. I assume I have answered your question sufficiently?"
She nods and turns to leave.
"Sarah, wait."
She turns around and smiles.
"Next time, please don't barge into my room but wait until I let you in precious. I am king, you know."
She nods, her shoulders slumping. Doesn't she realize that I'm not always able to answer her back and call? I'm swamped with work! Besides, I often have guests who look down upon humans, certainly if they happens to treat me like a normal person, instead of a king. I'm saying it out of a need to protect her, not because I don't want her near me!
"Precious…." Something in the tone of my voice makes her look up.
"I have my reasons for all the things I say and do…Sarah," the words come out clumsily, for I'm not exactly used to explaining my actions.
"You really have no idea, don't you? We're in danger."
I just realize my brother's painful end was deliberately, the darkness is threatening my kingdom and the first woman to really, really turn my head in centuries, manages to place herself in dangerous situations every hour without her even realizing yet. And I'm behind on paperwork. Such a pity.
She walks over to me before gently touching my cheek. I don't push her hand away. Her eyes are concerned.
"You're worried, aren't you."
I don't give an answer but the look in my eyes tells her enough.
She sighs and lets her hand drop before sitting down and looking at me.
"Well, we do have some strategic plans, don't we? Louis and Bartholomew are sending spies to the outer lands as we speak."
I nod. "Unfortunately, the damaged labyrinth still has to be taken care of, just like Breva's dark clouds, striking up an alliance with the neighboring countries will be quite a hassle and people always manage to wish away others the moment I'm swamped with paperwork too."
My worries come tumbling out of my mouth before I can stop them. Why am I telling her this?!
She looks at me before gently grabbing my hand. "I can imagine it's a lot to deal with Jareth but know you're not alone. We will face one problem at the time, together." Those words pull a smile from me, the first real smile since Pip showed me the destruction of the Labyrinth.
"I've been thinking though; Breva's clouds are nothing but black magic right? Can't Janet, Kate and I just throw salt at them? Would that help?"
I ponder her suggestion for a moment. "That probably would help, yes," I admit. "I never considered it a solution before because my kind can't handle salt very well either but yours can."
She gives me a big grin. "Well, that's one problem down, then. Maybe you could send Kate and Janet to the above to buy some extra bags because I do think we really are going to need a lot of salt in that case. Hopefully it doesn't damage the Labyrinth too much, though."
"If I have to chose between salt and black magic, salt is probably the lesser of two evils," I point out.
On the other hand, I really hope the salt isn't too damaging, I still feel sore from the damage to the Labyrinth walls. I don't voice those thoughts, though. I feel tired.
As if she can read my mind, Sarah gives me a concerned look. "Jareth, when was the last time you had a decent night of sleep? You look exhausted. Even kings need to take a break once in a while."
I glare at her. Who does she think she is, ordering me around?!
Then again, she's the only one who probably can.
Angelica's PoV
I gaze out of the window in my chambers, looking bored. In the distance, I can see Breva's dark magic traveling to Jareth's kingdom. His magic barely holds it back and I'm curious how he's going to try to protect his imbecilic subjects next. The thought of Jareth struggling against the dark hordes makes me smile. "Serves him right," I mutter.
A knock on the door disturbs my thoughts. Richacotta, my assistant enters.
"A letter from Chason, milady."
I accept the letter, take a quick look at it and throw it in the fire.
"Aren't you going to answer it, milady?" Richacotta asks.
"I know what the old dwarf is going to say. Just because we share a mutual dislike for a certain someone, does not mean I'm going to join forces with him, Rich. Besides, Jareth still has his usefulness."
"What about the girl? According to my sources, the champion has decided to join forces with him."
I feel a surge of white hot rage at this news but quickly school my features.
"The involvement of the girl can be handy. While openly attacking Jareth is a bad idea, the same can't be said for her," I point out while inspecting my fingernails.
"You are dismissed, Richacotta."
When I'm alone again, I sit down at my desk to plan. While I have no desire whatsoever to reconcile with my ex-husband, I'm quite aware of the power he has. I was the one he married, it should be mine, not the girls'! That being said, she does make him vulnerable, which is something I can work with.
After all, if Jareth's usefulness had expired, perhaps I would have join forces with Chason. Then again, the dwarf is frustratingly dull. While Breva and I don't always see eye to eye, she at least got character, which is more than I can say for Chanlers embittered brother.
As I look around, I realize my chambers look exactly the same as they did when Jareth and I were still married.
I refuse to call myself embittered too, though.
A/n: Well, writing this chapter was a challenge, to be honest but according to the various stories circulating on the internet right now, David Bowie wanted to be remembered for his art and manage to create a masterpiece on his deathbed, so I do believe writing this is just another way to honor him and carry on the legacy.
Speaking of which, I'm really not sure what to think about the Labyrinth sequel rumors. While I genuinely want to give it a chance, I'm not really thrilled about the timing. Six months ago a sequel was denied but 2 weeks after Bowie's death, they're suddenly making a sequel?! That being said, I hope they at least bother to ask Jennifer Connely and make sure Terry Jones and David's estate are involved. Without them, I doubt I want to see that movie, to be honest.