Same disclaimer as before ^_^ Thanks for coming back!
()xxxxxxxxxxxxxxx()::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::ยป A sword ^_^
Time passed, as it's known to do. Jareth's Labyrinth
became more and more complex every day.He smiled as he watched the progress,
and sighed to himself as he thought about it. Was he really building the
maze to keep out intruders? Who was going to invade them anyway? Jareth
didn't know, but he liked to tell himself that because he knew it was better
than the alternative: He was building it to keep someone in. He sighed
again and shifted his chin to his other palm. "Hogwart! Bring me the crystal."
Jareth yelled at the little dwarf next to his throne.
"Here ye go. Will uhh..will that be all?" Hoggle
asked in his gratey voice.
"Yes, yes, quite well, Hogwart. Begone." Jareth
waved him off distractedly. The crystal knew what it was supposed to do
the second Jareth brought it to magical life. Sarah's room blinked into
view. The Goblin King smiled fondly as he looked around for the girl. It
had been nearly five years since he watched the crying child. Now she was
fifteen, taller, more graceful. More beautiful every day. Jareth loved
watching her. And he had been working on a charm, a very special one. But
it wasn't ready yet. Now, something caught at the king's eye. It was a
poster, hanging next to Sarah's bed. Jareth marvelled at the sight of it.
Stairs and archways, light streaming in for all directions! Which way was
up? The King didn't know. He peered closer. M.C Esher. A title?
He felt the spark of inspiration. "Hogwart!" The dwarf appeared. "Do you
see this?" Jareth showed Hoggle the poster in the crystal. The dwarf turned
confused beady eyes to his king.
"What's it fer?"
"Take a good look and then go tell the architects
that I want my castle to look like that." The Goblin King ordered,
hoping that this wouldn't be too much for the idiotic servent to do at
once. The dwarf nodded and took off. Jareth was pleased. His very
own full-sized representation of the M.C. Esher. Big smile.
Now, back to work on the charm.
*********************************
A couple hours later, it was finally ready. A charm
that would turn Jareth into an owl! He wanted to be an eagle, but lacked
the discipline needed to make something so big. He wanted to see Sarah
now! So, an owl. But an owl could fly across realms. An owl could
go to the Aboveground.
And so he sat, not knowing that owls aren't usually
outside during daylight hours. Or really, dusk. All he knew was, there
she was. Reading, of all things, a book entitled "The Labyrinth". More
gifts from Aileen. Jareth gulped. The usual pang that came from thinking
of her didn't arrive when looking at her daughter. A bad sign, he
thought.
"Give me the child." Sweet music, thought
the king, feeling more tender every minute.
"Through dangers untold and hardships unnumbered,
I have fought my way here to the castle beyond the Goblin City to take
back the child that you have stolen... for my will is as strong as yours...and
my kingdom as great!" BOOM! Thunder shook the park, courtesy of Jareth.
That next line! A twist of the knife in his heart.... Sarah gave a little
gasp at the loud thunderclap. Jareth was sorry...he didn't mean to scare
her!
"Damn...I can never remember that line...you have
no power over me." Jareth winced, talons not unlike the ones he currently
possessed digging into his soul. It began to rain, and Sarah hurried home.
Jareth followed, lighting just outside her window.
**********************************************
He had the chance in his hands! Right now! Ever
since he had seen Sarah crying in her bed with only a teddy bear the comfort
her, all Jareth really wanted to do was make her happy. For Aileen's sake.
That had evolved so many times! First it was, "Well, Aileen, you were cruel
to me, but I'm going to be very nice and be fatherly to your daughter,
since I should have been to begin with!" Then it was "I'll just be nice
to her...I don't know why...". Then he fallen completely in love with the
girl as she reached the right age. Maybe it was the large amount of Aileen
he saw in her. No, couldn't be... he was pretty sure he loved her for being
Sarah. He stopped wondering when the thought of "When you watch a girl
every night for five years, you are bound to fall in love." and kept it.
It just wasn't right for a King of Goblins to fall in love! Besides, he
was so much older! A good two hundred years! So, he was going to wait until
she was older, then charm one of them so they were the same age.
That way, they could live to be hundreds of years old together. But the
chance was right here! Would it present itself again when she was
twenty? Twenty-five? Maybe he could keep her in the Underground until she
was old enough. Yeah. And it was with this plan in mind that Jareth took
Toby to his now-completed castle.
You know what happened, my readers. You know about
the story, about Hoggle's betrayal (He picked Hoggle to do this job...why?
He knew Sarah was enough like Aileen that she would sympathize with the
dwarf and trust him. And Jareth was pretty sure that someone as repulsive
as Hoggle wouldn't take Sarah's heart. But still...his warnings were real!!)
The crystal ball was purely coincidence. (Jareth had taken a nap and they
simply shared a dream. What a simply marverlous dream! Jareth awoke
with chills!) And the words at the end were a last ditch effort to keep
her there. A pure truth, nonetheless. Although he would gladly have been
her slave, he knew she really wanted an equal love. It would make her happy,
Jareth knew. He wanted her to be happy. Which is why he let her go at all,
which was why he allowed some of his Undergrounders visit her sometimes.
But when Sarah flew home in the crystal, and after
the palace regenerated itself, silence fell. The goblins kept a respectable
distance. Their king, the great, mighty and ruthless King Jareth, sank
to the floor and sobbed like the now-teenage girl he saw so often in his
dreams.