Author: Amber
Distribution: Email me first (Arrilyn@hotmail.com), but other than that, all I ask is that my name and email addy be left attached!
Disclaimer: Labyrinth and all its characters belong to Jim Henson and Lucasfilm(s?).. I own nothing, and I'm not looking to get any profit from this story! The only characters that belong to me are Hetta and Rilum! Oh yeah, and those demon monsters. ;)
Summary: This story is a sequel to 'Say the Words'...it happens about seven years after Sarah left the Underground, and we see that Sarah has become quite a different person!
A/N: Well look at that, I actually managed to put out another chapter fairly quickly! ;) This unemployment thing does wonders for my writing ability! ;) Anyway, I hope you like it! The story's finally drawing to a close...Sarah faces off with The Nightmares! And by the way, if you've got me on AuthorAlert, sorry if you got an alert for this more than once...for some reason, ff.n isn't recognizing the html for my font sizes and hr tags, so I've tried to go back and fix things...because without the separator bars, it gets confusing when PoV's switch!
"I believe Lady Sarah knows what she's doing...Your Highness." Sir Didymus tacked on the last part as an embarrassed afterthought. "There's nothing more we can do."
"Indeed." Jareth leaned back in his throne, mismatched eyes losing focus as he began to think. In the past three days he, Sarah, and Didymus had been laboring over old battle plans and discussing different tactics. As each of those days had progressed, all three of them were startled--to say the least--when they realized that The Nightmares were moving closer to the castle each day. Hoggle had been holding them off so well that the demons hadn't made much of any progress at all, yet in these past few days, Jareth had estimated them to have traveled about a mile a day. This was bad news.
But the little fox seemed to agree with Sarah in thinking that her magic was strong enough to stop The Nightmares now. Inwardly, Jareth had to give grudging agreement to their opinion. Since that episode in the throne room three days ago, Sarah was becoming more and more like her old self each day. There was still that bossiness to her that he feared he'd never be able to get rid of, but overall he was happy with the results. He'd always hated adults who acted like she'd been acting--the ones who told their children that fairytales weren't real, and that dragons and faeries and other such creatures didn't exist. He would have hated it if Sarah had remained like them.
His musings were interrupted as Hetta rushed into the room, her beady little eyes wider than he'd ever seen them. Come to think of it, this was the first he'd seen of the little goblin woman in days. Where had she been keeping herself? Probably realized she'd done enough meddling in other people's business, he thought dourly. Sarah, however, was obviously happy to see her friend...until she noticed that panicked expression on the goblin's face.
"Hetta, what's wrong?" she asked, pushing a lock of hair away from her face. "Is it Rilum? He's not...he's okay, isn't he?"
"Yes, yes, he's fine." Hetta waved the question off impatiently. "But Sarah, that crystal you gave us--" Jareth arched a brow at this statement; when had Sarah found the time to visit the goblin woman and her son? "--Rilum was looking at it just now, and he swore he saw a little blond-haired boy out there!" She gestured hastily in the direction of the battle. Jareth watched as Sarah's whole frame tensed, but was amazed to hear not a touch of it in her voice.
"A blond-haired boy?" she repeated calmly. Hetta nodded, eyes still wide. "I'm sure King Jareth gets plenty of unwanted children here in the Underground, don't you, Jareth?" She shot him a meaningful glance, which succeeded in irritating him. He realized belatedly that she was only instigating an argument to draw Hetta's mind off of her worrying, but the problem was...Hetta had a right to be worried. The only blond-haired boy he'd ever seen in the Labyrinth was Sarah's own half-brother; hadn't he told her already that Toby had been the first child he'd ever taken?
"Don't you understand what I'm telling you?" Hetta demanded wildly. "I think it's your brother that's out there! Well, don't just standing there looking all dumb-faced! If you're going to get out there and beat those things, you'd better do it now...before they get your brother first!"
"Hetta, calm down!" Sarah's voice had risen a shrill octave. Jareth knew now that she was worried; he could see it in the lines of her face, in the way her body was tensed. He had half a mind to walk over and make her sit down before she fainted, but thought better of it and remained where he was. "How could Toby have gotten into the Labyrinth? I didn't wish him here!"
"Maybe he wished himself here," Jareth said quietly. Sarah spun around and looked at him incredulously.
"Wished himself?"
"Is there an echo in the room? Yes, that's what I said! You didn't honestly believe that the only way to get here was to wish away siblings and then come after them?"
"Well...I..." she spluttered in confusion. "Isn't it?"
Jareth sighed and stood up, strolling over to a window. "It's a little-known fact, I suppose. As I'm sure you know by now, not many people know about a place called the Underground, so I don't need to worry about hordes of people wishing themselves into my kingdom...though, I guess you're also probably wondering why anyone would want to wish themselves here." He turned around suddenly. "But I'd like to think that maybe you've come to like this place, despite all of its faults!"
Had he just ranted about something that was totally irrelevant to the situation? How embarrassing. But even worse was that little amused smirk playing on Sarah's lips. He was relieved to see the expression was short-lived as she persisted, "If anyone can get here just by wishing, then why didn't I come back?"
Again, Jareth's eyebrows arched. "You tried to wish yourself back?"
He was rewarded by a fierce blush reddening her cheeks. She looked down at the floor and mumbled, "I might have." He chuckled smugly, which only deepened her blush. Hetta made an impatient sound.
"Once you're finished flirting with her, Your Majesty, would you mind trying to convince her to go out there and save her brother? Even if the boy isn't her brother, he's still in danger! Rilum says there was a group of The Nightmares chasing after him!"
Sarah's head was up immediately, and there was no mistaking the fear in her eyes now. She set her shoulders resolutely, however, and walked over to the window beside Jareth. "Sir Didymus agrees that I'm ready to go now," she said quietly but firmly. "I might as well get it all over with. You said from the beginning that I'm the only one who can stop this from happening. What if I've wasted all this time planning when all I needed to do was step out there in front of them and order them to stop? What if it turns out to be that easy? Lives might have been wasted for--"
"You can just stop right there," Jareth growled softly. "If it turns out to be easy, then it does. But what if you'd gone out there without even your magic to help you, and they ended up killing you? In the words of your world, we'd have been screwed."
Sarah choked on laughter at hearing him use such a mundane expression. "You're right," she agreed at last, once she'd stopped quivering from suppressed amusement. Taking a deep breath, she continued, "So how do I get out there?"
"That, my dear, is the easy part."
"She comes," hissed a voice in the darkness. Slitted black eyes glittered in the light of a faerie clutched in his fist. This particular demon was one of the unfortunates to be trapped in an oubliette, but despite his imprisonment, he could still feel his creator drawing nearer. Something began to quiver in his stomach, an emotion he had never felt before.
As the girl drew nearer, the demon felt his strength renewing. Until now, he had been facing the idea of death with stoic resolve, knowing that it would only be a matter of a few more days before he perished from lack of food. But now that she was so near, now that she was unknowingly lending her own strength to her creations, the demon realized he wasn't going to die. And so, crushing the helpless faerie in his enormous fist, the demon picked himself off the cold dirt floor, reached ceilingward, and heaved the heavy stone slab aside. Bright daylight fell on eyes that hadn't seen sun in days, and the demon gave a grating cry of pain as he turned his head away. But once his eyes had finally adjusted to the light, he made slow work of climbing out of his prison.
His flat nose breathed in the cool air, detected how far away the girl was, and immediately headed off in that direction, aware that his brethren were probably doing the same thing. They had to reach her, reach her before it was too late...
"Shit."
Toby allowed himself the luxury of uttering one of those words his parents told him never to use. Under the circumstances, he felt he had the right; after all, this might be his last chance to ever do it. While he was at it, he figured he might as well say the rest of the 'bad words' as well, since he might never get another chance to do that, either. And so he did, saying each one with such relish that he actually felt his spirits lift...despite the wall at his back and the group of angry demons advancing slowly upon him.
If they had to kill him--and judging by the way their sinister teeth were bared, it seemed they did--then why couldn't they just get it over with? Here he was, easy prey, and they had to prolong it as much as possible. Maybe it was part of their sick nature, to torture their victims before actually going in for the kill. Nonetheless, Toby thought he might die of fright before The Nightmares' weapons even touched him.
Arms at his sides, Toby slapped the palms of his hands against the wall behind him for the twentieth time. Each time he did it, he hoped maybe he'd discover that he was in fact leaning against one of those hidden passageways, and each time his hands came in contact with cold stone. The surface of the wall was craggy enough that he might be able to climb it, but he had trouble enough climbing trees, much less vertical surfaces with no branches or other means of support. And though The Nightmares were moving slowly enough that he might be able to make it anyway, he had the feeling that as soon as they caught him trying to escape, their pace would speed up considerably. His heart thumped loudly against his chest, blood roaring in his ears as he waited for the inevitable end. Why had he begged to do this? Why couldn't he have just kicked Hoggle repeatedly back in that tunnel until the dwarf agreed to take him back to the castle? He was too young to die! Now he'd never get a chance to do all those other bad things that only adults seemed to do...I wonder if those things have any cigarettes or beer they'd let me try before they kill me...
"You shouldn't have crossed us, boy," one of the demons growled, fingering the blade of its axe.
"And you shouldn't have come out of the house without brushing your teeth," Toby retorted, waving his hand in front of his face. "What did you eat for breakfast?"
The demon creature smiled ferally and lifted its axe. "Your blood will be spilled as a reminder to all that this is what happens to those who think of opposing us."
"And your head we'll keep as a trophy," added another, advancing with a wicked-looking barbed spear. Toby gulped, guessing that his head would be stuck on that spear when they were finished with him.
"I guess we can't talk this out?" He laughed nervously, trying to shrink back further against the wall. Come on! he begged silently. Open up, wall!
"You've done enough talking. The end has come."
Toby watched the axe swing down as if it were all in slow motion. Sunlight glinted dully off the metal, and in the next minute, there was blackness.
Sarah came across Hoggle first, but said nothing as she walked past him. Inwardly, Hoggle found that he was quite relieved at the silence. Judging by the stormy, determined look that had been on her face, he wouldn't want to hear anything she had to say. So instead he fell in step behind her, his short legs working hard to keep up with her long strides. Sarah normally adjusted her own pace to make up for his shorter legs, but her mind was obviously on other things. So he endured in silence, halfway disappointed that his part of the plan had ended so soon. He'd been enjoying himself! Well, enjoying himself as much as possible when faced with vicious armed demons...
Sarah was also inwardly wishing that her part hadn't come up so soon. She wanted to cower in a corner and hide from everything, but now that Toby was apparently involved, she had to be strong. And what was he doing out here, anyway? Did Hoggle know about it? If he does, some words will be exchanged when we get back to the castle...
She didn't even allow herself to wonder if she'd get back to the castle. The simple fact was, she had to. If she failed at this, not only was she failing a kingdom full of people--well, creatures, really--but she'd be failing herself. And she refused to let herself fail. Sarah Williams just wasn't the sort to fail.
Well, at least at most things, she amended. I've made a horrible mess out of too many things to count, but I'm going to do this right. And so it was that when she finally came face-to-face with over a thousand of The Nightmares (they'd met in a demon-made clearing), she'd managed to squash her nervousness. Raising her magicked sword defensively (and feeling quite silly, because she had no idea how to use a sword), she faced her own creations with what she hoped was a menacing glare.
But to her surprise, she wasn't met with opposition. In fact, The Nightmares all got to their knees and pressed their foreheads to the ground...in homage to her! "Wha...what's going on?" she faltered, lowering her sword. Hoggle gave her a swift kick in the ankle as a reminder to keep her guard up. "What are you doing?"
"Queen," they murmured as one, "We belong to you."
She spluttered incredulously, several different words trying to tumble out of her mouth at the same time. Eventually, she settled for, "I'm not a queen!"
"Don't tell 'em that!" Hoggle hissed, jabbing her back with a finger. She swatted him away.
"You created us," rasped one of the demons, "therefore you are our queen. We listen to none but you."
She was vaguely aware of Hoggle making strange, choked sounds of amazement behind her, but she was too busy fighting off her own amazement to pay attention. "Well what are you doing here, then? Why are you killing the inhabitants of this kingdom? That's not what I would have wanted you to do!"
"You were not in this realm at the time of our birth," came the explanation. "Without guidance, we do what is natural for us: we kill. But since we realized that you had returned..."
"We have fought to claim the castle as yours," interrupted another of The Nightmares. "We had hoped to kill the present king before you found us, so that you might be made Queen of all the Underground."
Again, Sarah began spluttering, this time in indignance. "How dare you!" she squeaked. "You don't just go around killing kings because...because...well, you just don't!"
As one, the mass of demon creatures bowed their heads in shame. One of them rasped, "If you are disappointed, you may banish us all."
"Sounds good to me," Hoggle muttered. "Blasted, no good…they nearly killed me twice! And Toby..."
"Yes, what about Toby?" Sarah finally spun to face him, a dangerous gleam in her hazel eyes. The dwarf suddenly realized that he should have gone with his first instincts and kept his mouth shut. "Where is he, Hoggle? He's not in trouble, is he?"
Hushed talking rippled through the assembled demons, once again catching Sarah's attention. Hoggle was about to sigh in relief when someone announced, "I think, if you're talking about the human child, that he is dead."
"WHAT?!" The shriek was loud enough to echo for what Hoggle thought must be miles. At that moment, he wanted to run...very, very far away. But Sarah wasn't finished, and her voice thundered on. "WHAT DO YOU MEAN, HE'S DEAD?! DID IT OCCUR TO NONE OF YOU THAT A HUMAN CHILD IN A LAND OF GOBLINS MIGHT BE A LITTLE OUT OF THE ORDINARY?!!!"
"My queen, please forgive us!" what looked like the leader of The Nightmares was outright groveling now. Sarah felt a little like Jareth at this point, and she desperately wanted to give the ugly creature a hard kick.
"Lead me to him," she snarled, reining in her impulse for violence. She couldn't hide the murderous gleam from her eyes, however, and the leader was quick to comply with her wishes.
They wandered through countless corridors of stone before she finally saw him. He was lying in a heap on the ground, his skin a frighteningly pale shade. Choking back a sob, Sarah pushed past the dumbstruck monsters and rushed over to her brother, falling to her knees beside him. She wasn't even aware of the jagged stone piercing her skin--all she cared about at that moment was the pitiful little figure slumped on the ground.
"Toby," she whispered tearfully, pulling him onto her lap and stroking aside straw-colored hair from his face. "How could they do this to you? It's all my fault. Maybe if I'd brought you with me in the first place, you wouldn't be in this mess...you'd still be safe inside the castle..." And with that she broke down completely, her body wracked with sobs as she bent over her half-brother and cursed her own stupidity. Sure, she'd managed to evade the fate of her friends that she'd seen in her first nightmare, but instead she'd lost the one person who still cared about her in her own world...
And then he stirred. Gasping, Sarah drew back and stared in disbelief as Toby's hazy blue eyes blinked owlishly at her. He brought a hand to his face, wiped at the tears that had splashed from her eyes, and scowled. "Aww, that's gross," he complained. "What'd you do that for, Sarah?"
"You're...you're alive?" she said dumbly. Toby sat up and rubbed at his tousled head.
"'Course I am," he muttered. "What happened, anyway? There was that axe, and then..." Realization suddenly dawning on him, he fell silent and blushed.
"You fainted?" Sarah supplied, which brought a deeper blush and a dark scowl from her brother.
"I didn't," he protested. "Fainting's girl stuff." Sarah laughed and lunged over, hugging him tightly to her. He wriggled protestingly, but when he realized she wasn't going to let go, he endured her tearful embrace. "I must've really worried you, huh?"
When he looked up at her this time, he saw stern disapproval on her face. "Yes, you did! Why'd you come after me, anyway? That was a terrible thing to do!"
"I told ya that I wanted to come with you!" he reminded. "'S your own fault you didn't take me!"
"Well, even so..." Sarah stood up, pulling Toby up with her, and faced The Nightmares with a cold stare. "You will remain here while Toby, Hoggle and I return to the castle. If I find that you've killed one creature while I'm gone, I'll kill the lot of you. And don't think I won't, because I've had it with all of you." She produced a crystal from out of nowhere--Toby was quite awed by this magic trick--and threw it up in the air, where it grew large enough to encompass all three of them. When it fell back to earth and swallowed up Sarah, Toby, and Hoggle, they disappeared from the Labyrinth and almost instantly reappeared in the castle. Jareth, Hetta and Sir Didymus rushed over to them.
"My Lady!" Sir Didymus yipped, at the same time that Jareth exclaimed "Sarah!" and Hetta called out "Hoggle!"
"We're fine," Sarah assured them, smiling at Jareth's show of concern. She fixed the Goblin King with a look of smugness that she hardly felt. "And guess what? It turns out that The Nightmares are my subjects."
"What?" Jareth asked incredulously. "You mean..."
"They listen only to me," she finished for him. She expected him to be angry, or maybe embarrassed, since after all it should be him ruling over all the creatures of his kingdom. To have to admit that she had ruling powers had to hurt. But to her surprise, Jareth flashed her a smile every bit as smug as her own had been.
"Well, you know what that means, then," he said casually. Frowning, she shook her head. This only made his smile wider. "It means," he continued, "that you'll have to stay here to rule over them."
She felt her face burn as she looked shyly at the ground. Jareth's laughter rang through the throne room.
*looks hopeful* So was it okay? I really hope so! :) And sorry again if anything comes out looking screwy...I don't know what's going wrong with the HTML during uploading!
