Hey all, this chapter is sorta long, so please forgive me. I just get so
into it when I'm writing and what not. Please review!
Chapter 4: Goblin City
Lockers slamming down hallways could be heard amidst the chatter of excited students on the last day of school. For Sarah, this meant the last day of her high school career. Of course she was excited, but on this particular day she had a fairy posing as a human following her around, and the fate of two worlds hanging over her head. She sighed as she pulled her senior yearbook out of her own locker for some of her friends who wanted to sign it. "Don't look so glum. I'm sure when the time comes everything will be fine," Yetzel/Grace said.
Sarah smiled a little, she was really trying to enjoy this day, but it was terribly hard. "It's not that, Yetz…I mean Grace. It's just that I'm not so sure what I'm going to do now that high school is over. Sure, college is an option, but is it right for me? And, what about a career? I have no real talents in any field. I almost failed my community service class because while I was working on it I ended up back in the underground. I'm sorry, I don't mean to bog you down with mortal worries." She said the last part a little quieter.
Smiling, Grace smoothed back her long blonde tresses as she and Sarah walked to the commons area for lunch. "It's OK, Sarah. I'm here to help you after all. You gotta lighten up. You're way too serious, even for a mortal," Grace said, piling food on her tray. Still a little worried, but not enough to let it ruin her appetite, she followed Grace's lead by grabbing food off of the cart.
The rest of the day flew by for Sarah; Grace following everything as if she belonged there, no one questioned anything. Before she knew it she was back home, and preparing for her graduation tomorrow, and the party afterwards. Grace would be attending it, as usual, but only as part of the audience. She wouldn't actually be graduating. They pulled it off by saying she was a foreign exchange student who already graduated that year. Amazingly enough, Sarah's dad and Karen had believed the lie, too.
In her room, before she even had a chance to try on her cap and gown, though, her mirror, the very same one that she had used to see her friends in from an earlier trip to the underground, started to glow and swirl with many bright colors. Coincidentally, they were the same colors that had been reflected in the orb that Yetzel/Grace had given her that day outside of the crystal city. Not being prepared for the sudden shift in reality, Sarah screamed and grabbed the closest thing to her, a hairbrush, and pulled back her arm to heave it at the mirror. "Sarah, no!" Yetzel yelled. Her arm paused in mid-throw, and her arm went back to her side as the colors revealed the king of the fairies and elves.
Searching purple eyes looked at Sarah and Yetzel. "Sarah, we need you to come back to the underground tonight. We're in the midst of being invaded, and I'm not sure how much longer the royal armada can hold them off. When you teleport here tonight, do not come to the crystal city. Go directly to the labyrinth and find the Goblin King," the king commanded almost desperately. Sarah was trying to control Mr. Anger whose red face was jumping around in front of her eyes. "Now, just a minute! I am graduating tomorrow! I understand that your kingdom is in danger, but tomorrow is a once in a lifetime thing. If I don't do this tomorrow, I don't get a second chance. Can't it wait until after tomorrow?" Sarah whined.
About this time Yetzel was tired of Sarah's pity party, and grabbed her by the shoulders and shook her hard. "Sarah, what has gotten into you? Have you forgotten that if you don't get the Goblin King in time, that not only the underground, but also the earth will be destroyed, too? So, in other words, if you don't help, you might not graduate tomorrow anyway," Yetzel said, heaving for breathe at the end of her tirade.
Sarah stood dazed looking at Yetzel in disbelief. She had never seen her get so upset over something before. Shaking herself out of her daze, she turned back to the king and said, "Yetzel's right. I'm sorry, I don't know what I was thinking. Let's get out of here," she said, grabbing a jacket to put over T-shirt just in case.
Yetzel put her hand through the vanity mirror first, and a bigger portal opened, and she stepped through it. The bright light swirled and waited for Sarah to go next. Sarah was a little weary of going through it, not really knowing what expect, but she soon discovered that her fears were unfounded as she stepped into the bright orange sun scorched terrain of the labyrinth.
The sum of all her fears were confirmed as she realized where she was. Being back in the labyrinth was something that she thought would never happen to her again. It wasn't as bad as she had expected, but it still brought back too many painful and unwanted memories for comfort. Sarah shook her head to clear her mind and set it back on track. She was here to help, not reminisce.
Looking around, she saw the Goblin City, still unclean and rundown surrounding her on all sides. The goblins were all staring at Sarah and Yetzel, who stared back. "Uh, Sarah, since you're sort of an expert in this area, what are we going to do?" Yetzel asked, backing away from a curious goblin that started to step closer to her. Sarah laughed and replied, "They're harmless, Yetzel. They may look sort of fierce, but they won't hurt you. Come on, the castle is over there," she said, pointing to her right. Yetzel smiled uncertainly, and grabbed Sarah by the hand pulled in the direction where she had pointed just a moment ago.
"What's the hurry? You aren't afraid are you?" Sarah teased. Looking behind herself, Yetzel glared at a grinning Sarah who was trying to look innocent, but was failing miserably. Yetzel looked forward, and started to walk faster, pulling Sarah roughly behind her. "OK, OK, I get the point," Sarah said, jogging to catch up with her friend. "Yetzel, are you trying to pull off my hand, or are you really in that much of a hurry to meet the Goblin King?" The ground beneath her feet was indented with skidmarks as Yetzel stopped dead in her tracks. "Sorry," she said sheepishly, letting go of Sarah's wrist.
"It's all right, let's keep going though," Sarah said, trudging ahead of Yetzel a bit. It appeared that neither her nor Yetzel was looking forward to seeing the infamous Goblin King. Only, Sarah knew what to expect. Yetzel, on the other hand, had no idea how cruel and frustrating he could be. As they reached the wide, white stone steps leading to the oddly shaped castle made of white marble, Sarah informed her of Jareth and his moody nature. "If that's the case," Yetzel said, "maybe you should do all the talking." Taking a deep breath, Sarah and Yetzel both pushed as hard as they could on the cast iron double doors before them. The doors budged a little, but they had to push again harder in order to open them all the way.
The doors creaked open slowly, Yetzel and Sarah straining hard behind them. Once they were open, Sarah started in first, and threw Yetzel a look to follow her. Yetzel reluctantly followed behind Sarah, who led her to the right and down some steps into what appeared to be a throne room. Looking around, Sarah saw that nothing had really changed. It was bit cleaner, but not by much. A pit in the middle of the floor was still there. The throne still had the vulture looking bird above it, but it was who was in the throne that had caught Sarah's attention. Jareth was lounging with one leg over the arm of the throne and the other one hanging off the seat of the throne. His head was resting on one of his hands as he watched them thoughtfully.
Sarah motioned for Yetzel to stay where she was with one hand as Sarah walked closer to the throne. She noticed that Jareth pretty much looked the same, which, for some reason, didn't really surprise her. His long blonde hair still hung down to his shoulders. His style of dress was the same, too, gray tights hugged his long sculpted legs, and a white blouse hung on his slender frame, opening to his waist to reveal his milky white chest. The only real noticeable difference was the look of apathy on his face when he saw her. Sarah had expected to see at least some kind of emotion, even if it was only anger.
Sarah cleared her throat bit to get his attention, and as his blue and brown eyes met her green ones, she felt a shock go through her. "What do you want?" he asked tiredly. It had occurred to Sarah that he did look tired, as if time had done nothing to his appearance, but had somehow marred his spirit. "I came to ask for your help. The fairy and elf kingdom is in trouble. The sprites and trolls are invading them, and soon they'll invade the labyrinth and other kingdoms if we don't find a way to get rid of them. You may be wondering why I care. It's because not only will they invade all the kingdoms of the underground, but they will also go to earth and take over. We really need your help, Jareth." Sarah said all this, her eyes never leaving his, no matter how much she wanted to look away.
Jareth saw the look of pleading in her eyes, but he had long since hoped that she would return, and now that she was here, he was trying hard to act indifferent. He wasn't sure how much longer he could keep up the charade, not with the way she kept looking at him anyway. Just looking at her had brought back so many feelings of longing and need that it was almost too painful to be in her presence. "I'm willing to help, but only on one condition. But, I'm not going to tell you what it is until we stop the trolls and sprites, agreed?" Sarah nodded; sealing her fate to agree to whatever Jareth wanted after all this was over.
"Good, now, aren't you going to introduce me to your friend?" he asked, standing up to his full regal height. Yetzel was a little intimidated by the powerful man before Sarah, and she really had to admire her for being so brave. She stepped forward a little to stand right beside Sarah. "I'm Yetzel, your majesty, a good luck fairy from the kingdom of fairies. I'm just in disguise as a mortal for now," she explained meekly. It was quite a change from her frank personality to see Yetzel acting so humbly.
"I'm sure there will be time for talk later, but right now Yetzel's kingdom is under attack as we speak. They need our help and fast," Sarah said worriedly. "Let me summon my goblin army, and I shall transport them there, and we will follow once they arrive. I shall return," he said, fading out of view.
Yetzel and Sarah looked at each other in the silence of the large castle. "Sarah, what do you think he's going to ask of you?" "I don't know, Yetzel, but I hope it's not something that's too hard to give, if you know what I mean." Yetzel giggled a little despite herself, but instantly felt bad because Sarah was giving something up to save her kingdom, something that was probably irreplaceable. "I really appreciate your helping us, Sarah." "Thanks, but let's not get all sentimental, Jareth will be back any minute." "Right," Yetzel agreed.
Jareth returned right as Yetzel had stopped speaking, just as Sarah had predicted. He looked more energized than he had before, the bloodlust practically glowing in his eyes. "I rounded up a good sized number of goblins, among other creatures to fight," Jareth informed them. "Well, let's get going then," Yetzel said, interrupting the intense looks that Sarah and Jareth were giving one another.
A blue and gray swirling portal opened in front of them, and Jareth followed by Sarah and an apprehensive Yetzel stepped through the portal, right into the midst of war.
~*~
Thanks for reading! Please review, and remember questions, comments, or random insults are always welcome. Au revior.
Chapter 4: Goblin City
Lockers slamming down hallways could be heard amidst the chatter of excited students on the last day of school. For Sarah, this meant the last day of her high school career. Of course she was excited, but on this particular day she had a fairy posing as a human following her around, and the fate of two worlds hanging over her head. She sighed as she pulled her senior yearbook out of her own locker for some of her friends who wanted to sign it. "Don't look so glum. I'm sure when the time comes everything will be fine," Yetzel/Grace said.
Sarah smiled a little, she was really trying to enjoy this day, but it was terribly hard. "It's not that, Yetz…I mean Grace. It's just that I'm not so sure what I'm going to do now that high school is over. Sure, college is an option, but is it right for me? And, what about a career? I have no real talents in any field. I almost failed my community service class because while I was working on it I ended up back in the underground. I'm sorry, I don't mean to bog you down with mortal worries." She said the last part a little quieter.
Smiling, Grace smoothed back her long blonde tresses as she and Sarah walked to the commons area for lunch. "It's OK, Sarah. I'm here to help you after all. You gotta lighten up. You're way too serious, even for a mortal," Grace said, piling food on her tray. Still a little worried, but not enough to let it ruin her appetite, she followed Grace's lead by grabbing food off of the cart.
The rest of the day flew by for Sarah; Grace following everything as if she belonged there, no one questioned anything. Before she knew it she was back home, and preparing for her graduation tomorrow, and the party afterwards. Grace would be attending it, as usual, but only as part of the audience. She wouldn't actually be graduating. They pulled it off by saying she was a foreign exchange student who already graduated that year. Amazingly enough, Sarah's dad and Karen had believed the lie, too.
In her room, before she even had a chance to try on her cap and gown, though, her mirror, the very same one that she had used to see her friends in from an earlier trip to the underground, started to glow and swirl with many bright colors. Coincidentally, they were the same colors that had been reflected in the orb that Yetzel/Grace had given her that day outside of the crystal city. Not being prepared for the sudden shift in reality, Sarah screamed and grabbed the closest thing to her, a hairbrush, and pulled back her arm to heave it at the mirror. "Sarah, no!" Yetzel yelled. Her arm paused in mid-throw, and her arm went back to her side as the colors revealed the king of the fairies and elves.
Searching purple eyes looked at Sarah and Yetzel. "Sarah, we need you to come back to the underground tonight. We're in the midst of being invaded, and I'm not sure how much longer the royal armada can hold them off. When you teleport here tonight, do not come to the crystal city. Go directly to the labyrinth and find the Goblin King," the king commanded almost desperately. Sarah was trying to control Mr. Anger whose red face was jumping around in front of her eyes. "Now, just a minute! I am graduating tomorrow! I understand that your kingdom is in danger, but tomorrow is a once in a lifetime thing. If I don't do this tomorrow, I don't get a second chance. Can't it wait until after tomorrow?" Sarah whined.
About this time Yetzel was tired of Sarah's pity party, and grabbed her by the shoulders and shook her hard. "Sarah, what has gotten into you? Have you forgotten that if you don't get the Goblin King in time, that not only the underground, but also the earth will be destroyed, too? So, in other words, if you don't help, you might not graduate tomorrow anyway," Yetzel said, heaving for breathe at the end of her tirade.
Sarah stood dazed looking at Yetzel in disbelief. She had never seen her get so upset over something before. Shaking herself out of her daze, she turned back to the king and said, "Yetzel's right. I'm sorry, I don't know what I was thinking. Let's get out of here," she said, grabbing a jacket to put over T-shirt just in case.
Yetzel put her hand through the vanity mirror first, and a bigger portal opened, and she stepped through it. The bright light swirled and waited for Sarah to go next. Sarah was a little weary of going through it, not really knowing what expect, but she soon discovered that her fears were unfounded as she stepped into the bright orange sun scorched terrain of the labyrinth.
The sum of all her fears were confirmed as she realized where she was. Being back in the labyrinth was something that she thought would never happen to her again. It wasn't as bad as she had expected, but it still brought back too many painful and unwanted memories for comfort. Sarah shook her head to clear her mind and set it back on track. She was here to help, not reminisce.
Looking around, she saw the Goblin City, still unclean and rundown surrounding her on all sides. The goblins were all staring at Sarah and Yetzel, who stared back. "Uh, Sarah, since you're sort of an expert in this area, what are we going to do?" Yetzel asked, backing away from a curious goblin that started to step closer to her. Sarah laughed and replied, "They're harmless, Yetzel. They may look sort of fierce, but they won't hurt you. Come on, the castle is over there," she said, pointing to her right. Yetzel smiled uncertainly, and grabbed Sarah by the hand pulled in the direction where she had pointed just a moment ago.
"What's the hurry? You aren't afraid are you?" Sarah teased. Looking behind herself, Yetzel glared at a grinning Sarah who was trying to look innocent, but was failing miserably. Yetzel looked forward, and started to walk faster, pulling Sarah roughly behind her. "OK, OK, I get the point," Sarah said, jogging to catch up with her friend. "Yetzel, are you trying to pull off my hand, or are you really in that much of a hurry to meet the Goblin King?" The ground beneath her feet was indented with skidmarks as Yetzel stopped dead in her tracks. "Sorry," she said sheepishly, letting go of Sarah's wrist.
"It's all right, let's keep going though," Sarah said, trudging ahead of Yetzel a bit. It appeared that neither her nor Yetzel was looking forward to seeing the infamous Goblin King. Only, Sarah knew what to expect. Yetzel, on the other hand, had no idea how cruel and frustrating he could be. As they reached the wide, white stone steps leading to the oddly shaped castle made of white marble, Sarah informed her of Jareth and his moody nature. "If that's the case," Yetzel said, "maybe you should do all the talking." Taking a deep breath, Sarah and Yetzel both pushed as hard as they could on the cast iron double doors before them. The doors budged a little, but they had to push again harder in order to open them all the way.
The doors creaked open slowly, Yetzel and Sarah straining hard behind them. Once they were open, Sarah started in first, and threw Yetzel a look to follow her. Yetzel reluctantly followed behind Sarah, who led her to the right and down some steps into what appeared to be a throne room. Looking around, Sarah saw that nothing had really changed. It was bit cleaner, but not by much. A pit in the middle of the floor was still there. The throne still had the vulture looking bird above it, but it was who was in the throne that had caught Sarah's attention. Jareth was lounging with one leg over the arm of the throne and the other one hanging off the seat of the throne. His head was resting on one of his hands as he watched them thoughtfully.
Sarah motioned for Yetzel to stay where she was with one hand as Sarah walked closer to the throne. She noticed that Jareth pretty much looked the same, which, for some reason, didn't really surprise her. His long blonde hair still hung down to his shoulders. His style of dress was the same, too, gray tights hugged his long sculpted legs, and a white blouse hung on his slender frame, opening to his waist to reveal his milky white chest. The only real noticeable difference was the look of apathy on his face when he saw her. Sarah had expected to see at least some kind of emotion, even if it was only anger.
Sarah cleared her throat bit to get his attention, and as his blue and brown eyes met her green ones, she felt a shock go through her. "What do you want?" he asked tiredly. It had occurred to Sarah that he did look tired, as if time had done nothing to his appearance, but had somehow marred his spirit. "I came to ask for your help. The fairy and elf kingdom is in trouble. The sprites and trolls are invading them, and soon they'll invade the labyrinth and other kingdoms if we don't find a way to get rid of them. You may be wondering why I care. It's because not only will they invade all the kingdoms of the underground, but they will also go to earth and take over. We really need your help, Jareth." Sarah said all this, her eyes never leaving his, no matter how much she wanted to look away.
Jareth saw the look of pleading in her eyes, but he had long since hoped that she would return, and now that she was here, he was trying hard to act indifferent. He wasn't sure how much longer he could keep up the charade, not with the way she kept looking at him anyway. Just looking at her had brought back so many feelings of longing and need that it was almost too painful to be in her presence. "I'm willing to help, but only on one condition. But, I'm not going to tell you what it is until we stop the trolls and sprites, agreed?" Sarah nodded; sealing her fate to agree to whatever Jareth wanted after all this was over.
"Good, now, aren't you going to introduce me to your friend?" he asked, standing up to his full regal height. Yetzel was a little intimidated by the powerful man before Sarah, and she really had to admire her for being so brave. She stepped forward a little to stand right beside Sarah. "I'm Yetzel, your majesty, a good luck fairy from the kingdom of fairies. I'm just in disguise as a mortal for now," she explained meekly. It was quite a change from her frank personality to see Yetzel acting so humbly.
"I'm sure there will be time for talk later, but right now Yetzel's kingdom is under attack as we speak. They need our help and fast," Sarah said worriedly. "Let me summon my goblin army, and I shall transport them there, and we will follow once they arrive. I shall return," he said, fading out of view.
Yetzel and Sarah looked at each other in the silence of the large castle. "Sarah, what do you think he's going to ask of you?" "I don't know, Yetzel, but I hope it's not something that's too hard to give, if you know what I mean." Yetzel giggled a little despite herself, but instantly felt bad because Sarah was giving something up to save her kingdom, something that was probably irreplaceable. "I really appreciate your helping us, Sarah." "Thanks, but let's not get all sentimental, Jareth will be back any minute." "Right," Yetzel agreed.
Jareth returned right as Yetzel had stopped speaking, just as Sarah had predicted. He looked more energized than he had before, the bloodlust practically glowing in his eyes. "I rounded up a good sized number of goblins, among other creatures to fight," Jareth informed them. "Well, let's get going then," Yetzel said, interrupting the intense looks that Sarah and Jareth were giving one another.
A blue and gray swirling portal opened in front of them, and Jareth followed by Sarah and an apprehensive Yetzel stepped through the portal, right into the midst of war.
~*~
Thanks for reading! Please review, and remember questions, comments, or random insults are always welcome. Au revior.