Chapter Eight: Nothing to leave behind, Nothing to Loose:
Sarah seriously doubted about opening her eyes. She could be in three places:
Her bedroom.
The floor of the Gymnasium after being knocked unconscious by Goblin King.
On a strange, gothic like and incredibly luxurious Goblin King's Castle bedroom.
And she didn't want to be in any of the three options… so, why wake up at all?
But eventually, curiosity got the best of her. Lazily she opened one eye. Her surroundings were foreign to her.
'And the correct answer is number C!!!' she thought half-amused as she tried to climb off the bed. Something was holding her back, though. A warm, strong, and cozy thing that breathed…
"Good morning, Goblin King" she greeted without even glancing back. Almost immediately she heard a rich laugh behind her and the voice of Jareth:
"What gave me away?" he asked, amused. Sarah brushed some shimmering dust for a red blood sheet and replied: "The glitter, of course. No one I know uses as much glitter as you, Jareth"
She gently released herself from his grip and looked at him. He seemed to be expecting something.
"What?" he questioned after a couple of seconds "No scream? No shouts of: 'It's not fair' or 'What the Hell were you doing in a bed with me?' No 'get the Hell out of here' or 'Why did you bring me back'?"
Sarah shook her head and laughed a little "I am not a child, Jareth. Not anymore. I haven't been a child since… the Labyrinth, you know?" she breathed deep and smiled, spinning.
"I feel so good…" she whispered, laughing a little. Then she sighed and turned to see the view of the window. The Labyrinth was simply breathtaking that day.
"I understand that something evil is threatening me but would you by so kind as to tell me what?" she asked softly. No recriminations, no harshness in her voice, no anger. Just pain.
"It will take time. I shall tell you at dinner, if you make me the honor to dine with me, of course"
"Assuming you actually have subjects specially trained to make a food that will not give me food poison, then yes" she answered "But first I want to go home… oh, I mean, go to my father's house and my school. Retrieve my personal possessions and… bid goodbye to Toby" she said the last words with a candid voice that softened Jareth's expression.
"Nice little kid, that young Tobias is… Very brave"
He expected her to looked at him surprisingly and then warn him not to touch Toby ever again. But she just nodded; a half proud smile in her face.
"Oh, yes. He is the sweetest of children" she answered. Then she produced a crystal out of nowhere and in an instant her nightgown changed to a deep red satin tank top and a long black silk skirt with a cut that reached half her tight at each side. She wore a pair of black sandals and a pair of black opal bracelets and choker. She had deep red lipstick and little black eye shadow and her hair was loose.
"Are you ever going to get out of my bed? We have things to do, your highness!" she mockingly shouted at him, sitting by the window, one cut of the skirt revealing enough flesh for Jareth to curse silently and avert his eyes form her form.
"Oh, and please, could you put some not-so-medieval clothes on? Something… a little bit more Twentieth Century?" she smirked "Although I prefer you in your usual clothes, it would be too much for the rest of humanity"
She looked at him with kitten eyes (not puppy eyes, kitten eyes, you will understand later) and he sighed and snapped his fingers. Now he was dressed on the same outfit (the black jacket, light armor, tights and knee-high boots) he had worn when he gave the peach to Hoggle and threatened him to tip him head first in the Bog of Eternal stench if he didn't give the peach to Sarah.
"This is all the modern you will get from me, Sarah" he told her plainly, standing up and offering a hand to her.
"Works for me" she muttered before grabbing his hand firmly.
"What is it Sarah?" he asked, sensing her sudden nervousness.
"It's just that my past teleporting experiences went all wrong… You know the 'Oh my God, there is no floor under my feet' kind of wrong. And it's usually followed by screaming and unpleasant landing on a sensible part of my body… Nevermind" she dismissed the issue with a movement of her hand. Jareth arched an eyebrow, but said nothing. He chuckled slightly and conjured a powerful-looking crystal and, suddenly, they were gone.
As her eyes adjusted to the dim afternoon light of the sun Sarah took a deep breath. She suddenly felt very weak and… she wanted to put her protective mask again. Because she had no permanent place there. She felt alone and alien in her own world, in her so called home… It was crushing.
"What is it, little one? Are you starting to regret to part form this place? To leave all behind?" Jareth spitted those words mockingly but he really was afraid she would want to stay there, in her World.
The bitterness, sadness, calmness and humor are mixed perfectly in her answer:
"What's there to leave behind, Jareth? What is it for me to loose? My parents? My friends? My perfect life? I won't miss this Hell, I assure you. It's that I would have liked it to be Heaven instead. It looks like it now, peaceful. But if you look closer, you start to sense the heat of the flames. An eternity burning or exile… I guess I don't have much of a choice" She looked at the Goblin King playfully and tapped his chin reassuringly.
"Oh, don't be afraid. You are better than Hell…" as she walked to the High School building she turned lightly and finished:
"… but just for a little, Your Highness, so don't boast. Well, come on, we have got lots of teenagers to shock permanently!"
Well, looking at Boston Public in Fox every week I realize that lots of silly, odd, strange and sometimes lunatics things can happen on a High School, but that afternoon got the first prize.
Sarah didn't feel awkward in her High School. After all, nobody knew her, so she didn't have to explain herself to anyone.
But she felt grateful for Jareth's presence there, the light touch of his right hand over one of her shoulders and the odd, tingly, magic feeling that he was surrounding her, protecting her.
"You are chickening" he whispered to her as she backed a little, stumbling into his chest. He knew that the best way to cause less pain to his Sarah was to provoke her to take the step as quickly as possible.
"Chickening? Keep dreaming…" she strode then confidently, her whole true personality shining and blinding her fellow classmates. Whispers of: "Oh, there is that William's girl…" and "It's true everything about the ball?" filled the corridors. With her new found calmness the girl opened her locker and grabbed a couple of books she made them disappear with a crystal ball, in front of the astonished looks of all the students.
"My Goodness! One would think that after all the events of the Ball they would have gotten over the 'Oh my gosh the magic is real' thing" she remarked wickedly, snorting elegantly (as only Jareth knows, of course).
"Sarah, with their brain capacity I am still amazed they know how to tide their shoes" he muttered, full of Fae disdain for mortals.
"Looks who is talking… The man who is the King of a race of little, ugly things that ran around talking worse than Toby when you first took him" Sarah shook her head and replied defensively. "And remember that I am a mortal, a human so don't go all 'mighty Fae' on me"
Such words, spoken in a vulgar way, sounded the top of elegancy whispered elegantly by Sarah. It was a strange thing. It was a Fae thing. That thought struck him like a bolt.
"Stubbornness will be made grace, awkwardness elegance and fantasy magic… The mortal girl will become the immortal woman…" The Prophecy. That was a part of the prophecy. It was becoming true… Slowly at first, but then it would all be faster and faster, like a hell rollercoaster.
The thing that brought him back to reality by the stares the boy where giving to Sarah's attire.
"You shouldn't have dressed like that" he whispered, producing a thin dagger out of his light, black armor.
"Don't get all over protective over me, Jareth, and don't slash any mortal, please" she should have been all stressed, but she felt wonderful somehow. Jareth sighed and tossed the dagger to the feet of a particular boy that kept watching his Sarah. He smiled a wicked smile at him, showing clearly his sharp, vampire-like fangs. The kid, scared out of his skin, backed up quickly.
"Good" he muttered, smugly. Sarah rolled her eyes.
"Such as I have always thought, you are such a Show-Boy…" she teased. She was the only one he would let him be teased by ever. No other Fae or close relative could… or dared.
"Come on, love, I want to go away from here as soon as possible" he said tiredly. She let the 'love' nickname pass, but just once.
"Let's go then, Your Highness" she agreed. She was getting tired all of the sudden. She wasn't still fully recovered.
And they simply disappear from there, in a cloud of glitter. Alexa and her minions were dumbfounded by the vision of the gorgeous man and continued like that for a lot of time… (Jut because I a vindictive author).
"Mom, daddy, I am home!" she shouted, taking a deep breath. The world seemed to be spinning suddenly. Jareth picked her nonchalantly in his arms and she tried faintly to protest.
"You are weak…"
"You really want to cause a scene?" she threatened, producing suddenly a crystal ball. But, before she had time to throw it to him, a cry interrupted her.
"Sissy, sissy!" Toby screamed at the top of his lungs, from the top of the stairs. Sarah twisted and turned in the arms of the Goblin King till she was free from him.
"Toby!" Sarah ran to the stairs, catching Toby as he came down. Brother and sister hugged tightly, Sarah gently stroking Toby's sandy blond hair and whispering gentle words to stop the boy from crying.
"Toby missed sissy" he said plainly. The girl smiled and replied with a whisper:
"Sissy missed Toby too"
But she eventually had to let go at some point. When her father and Karen walked to greet her she turned instinctively to Jareth, in seek for support. He took her in a protective hold, showing clearly one thing to the two mortals standing before him: If they hurt Sarah they would pay dearly…
Toby stared at both sides and moved a little to Jareth and Sarah's side.
"King brought Sissy back… Toby thanks King" he said, looking up to meet the mismatched gaze of the Fae.
"She has to go, little one. Look at her, she isn't fully recovered and she will become ill again unless she is in my Labyrinth… You have to understand that you have to let go"
Toby didn't cry that time. He put on a brave face and nodded.
"Sissy going to be all right? Then Toby all tight too" he assured, trying to smile. Sarah knelt before him, smiling a little through her tears.
"We will keep in touch, Toby. Look" she produced a crystal out of the air before the amazed gaze of the little toddler "It's just a crystal but if you hold it tight and whisper my name it will show me and you will be able to speak to me"
Jareth smiled sideways as he heard her changing slightly his speech about the crystal balls.
"Sarah, you are getting weaker. We must leave" he urged her with a wave of his hand he delivered all important things of Sarah to her bedroom in the Underground and picked her up.
"Soon we will be together again… I could make you forget, Toby… After all, I will have to make everyone forget about everything that happened. It would be less painful" the girl offered. But the kid shook firmly his head in denial.
"Toby remembers always… Toby wants to!"
Those were the last words Sarah heard from his brother before whispering: "Nothing to leave behind… Nothing to loose, except a little boy who loves me very much…" And then darkness embraced her.
Author's Note: Well, first I would like to get over with the begging part… Yes, I BEG you to review! You know this and I am pray that you, as responsible readers will fulfill this little petition of mine. But I am pretty content with all the review I am getting so I guess I have to congratulate you on that… You are the best readers a crazy labyrinth author with an attitude problem like could have asked for!
Second, I didn't know anyone used the name Drevlyn… I just invented a healer and a name too… I didn't know someone had character with that name. I apologize. If the author wants me to change the name of my character… just have to send me a review.
Third I do own the character of the Healer… as I said, I am kind of having problems with the name so I will start thinking of other names… similar but different at the same time. Or, if the other author doesn't mind, we could share the name!
I have kind of a… test week at school… It means that I have lots and lots of tests…. So be patient with me, please. And blame my teachers if I do not update soon. See you,
Sabina
Sarah seriously doubted about opening her eyes. She could be in three places:
Her bedroom.
The floor of the Gymnasium after being knocked unconscious by Goblin King.
On a strange, gothic like and incredibly luxurious Goblin King's Castle bedroom.
And she didn't want to be in any of the three options… so, why wake up at all?
But eventually, curiosity got the best of her. Lazily she opened one eye. Her surroundings were foreign to her.
'And the correct answer is number C!!!' she thought half-amused as she tried to climb off the bed. Something was holding her back, though. A warm, strong, and cozy thing that breathed…
"Good morning, Goblin King" she greeted without even glancing back. Almost immediately she heard a rich laugh behind her and the voice of Jareth:
"What gave me away?" he asked, amused. Sarah brushed some shimmering dust for a red blood sheet and replied: "The glitter, of course. No one I know uses as much glitter as you, Jareth"
She gently released herself from his grip and looked at him. He seemed to be expecting something.
"What?" he questioned after a couple of seconds "No scream? No shouts of: 'It's not fair' or 'What the Hell were you doing in a bed with me?' No 'get the Hell out of here' or 'Why did you bring me back'?"
Sarah shook her head and laughed a little "I am not a child, Jareth. Not anymore. I haven't been a child since… the Labyrinth, you know?" she breathed deep and smiled, spinning.
"I feel so good…" she whispered, laughing a little. Then she sighed and turned to see the view of the window. The Labyrinth was simply breathtaking that day.
"I understand that something evil is threatening me but would you by so kind as to tell me what?" she asked softly. No recriminations, no harshness in her voice, no anger. Just pain.
"It will take time. I shall tell you at dinner, if you make me the honor to dine with me, of course"
"Assuming you actually have subjects specially trained to make a food that will not give me food poison, then yes" she answered "But first I want to go home… oh, I mean, go to my father's house and my school. Retrieve my personal possessions and… bid goodbye to Toby" she said the last words with a candid voice that softened Jareth's expression.
"Nice little kid, that young Tobias is… Very brave"
He expected her to looked at him surprisingly and then warn him not to touch Toby ever again. But she just nodded; a half proud smile in her face.
"Oh, yes. He is the sweetest of children" she answered. Then she produced a crystal out of nowhere and in an instant her nightgown changed to a deep red satin tank top and a long black silk skirt with a cut that reached half her tight at each side. She wore a pair of black sandals and a pair of black opal bracelets and choker. She had deep red lipstick and little black eye shadow and her hair was loose.
"Are you ever going to get out of my bed? We have things to do, your highness!" she mockingly shouted at him, sitting by the window, one cut of the skirt revealing enough flesh for Jareth to curse silently and avert his eyes form her form.
"Oh, and please, could you put some not-so-medieval clothes on? Something… a little bit more Twentieth Century?" she smirked "Although I prefer you in your usual clothes, it would be too much for the rest of humanity"
She looked at him with kitten eyes (not puppy eyes, kitten eyes, you will understand later) and he sighed and snapped his fingers. Now he was dressed on the same outfit (the black jacket, light armor, tights and knee-high boots) he had worn when he gave the peach to Hoggle and threatened him to tip him head first in the Bog of Eternal stench if he didn't give the peach to Sarah.
"This is all the modern you will get from me, Sarah" he told her plainly, standing up and offering a hand to her.
"Works for me" she muttered before grabbing his hand firmly.
"What is it Sarah?" he asked, sensing her sudden nervousness.
"It's just that my past teleporting experiences went all wrong… You know the 'Oh my God, there is no floor under my feet' kind of wrong. And it's usually followed by screaming and unpleasant landing on a sensible part of my body… Nevermind" she dismissed the issue with a movement of her hand. Jareth arched an eyebrow, but said nothing. He chuckled slightly and conjured a powerful-looking crystal and, suddenly, they were gone.
As her eyes adjusted to the dim afternoon light of the sun Sarah took a deep breath. She suddenly felt very weak and… she wanted to put her protective mask again. Because she had no permanent place there. She felt alone and alien in her own world, in her so called home… It was crushing.
"What is it, little one? Are you starting to regret to part form this place? To leave all behind?" Jareth spitted those words mockingly but he really was afraid she would want to stay there, in her World.
The bitterness, sadness, calmness and humor are mixed perfectly in her answer:
"What's there to leave behind, Jareth? What is it for me to loose? My parents? My friends? My perfect life? I won't miss this Hell, I assure you. It's that I would have liked it to be Heaven instead. It looks like it now, peaceful. But if you look closer, you start to sense the heat of the flames. An eternity burning or exile… I guess I don't have much of a choice" She looked at the Goblin King playfully and tapped his chin reassuringly.
"Oh, don't be afraid. You are better than Hell…" as she walked to the High School building she turned lightly and finished:
"… but just for a little, Your Highness, so don't boast. Well, come on, we have got lots of teenagers to shock permanently!"
Well, looking at Boston Public in Fox every week I realize that lots of silly, odd, strange and sometimes lunatics things can happen on a High School, but that afternoon got the first prize.
Sarah didn't feel awkward in her High School. After all, nobody knew her, so she didn't have to explain herself to anyone.
But she felt grateful for Jareth's presence there, the light touch of his right hand over one of her shoulders and the odd, tingly, magic feeling that he was surrounding her, protecting her.
"You are chickening" he whispered to her as she backed a little, stumbling into his chest. He knew that the best way to cause less pain to his Sarah was to provoke her to take the step as quickly as possible.
"Chickening? Keep dreaming…" she strode then confidently, her whole true personality shining and blinding her fellow classmates. Whispers of: "Oh, there is that William's girl…" and "It's true everything about the ball?" filled the corridors. With her new found calmness the girl opened her locker and grabbed a couple of books she made them disappear with a crystal ball, in front of the astonished looks of all the students.
"My Goodness! One would think that after all the events of the Ball they would have gotten over the 'Oh my gosh the magic is real' thing" she remarked wickedly, snorting elegantly (as only Jareth knows, of course).
"Sarah, with their brain capacity I am still amazed they know how to tide their shoes" he muttered, full of Fae disdain for mortals.
"Looks who is talking… The man who is the King of a race of little, ugly things that ran around talking worse than Toby when you first took him" Sarah shook her head and replied defensively. "And remember that I am a mortal, a human so don't go all 'mighty Fae' on me"
Such words, spoken in a vulgar way, sounded the top of elegancy whispered elegantly by Sarah. It was a strange thing. It was a Fae thing. That thought struck him like a bolt.
"Stubbornness will be made grace, awkwardness elegance and fantasy magic… The mortal girl will become the immortal woman…" The Prophecy. That was a part of the prophecy. It was becoming true… Slowly at first, but then it would all be faster and faster, like a hell rollercoaster.
The thing that brought him back to reality by the stares the boy where giving to Sarah's attire.
"You shouldn't have dressed like that" he whispered, producing a thin dagger out of his light, black armor.
"Don't get all over protective over me, Jareth, and don't slash any mortal, please" she should have been all stressed, but she felt wonderful somehow. Jareth sighed and tossed the dagger to the feet of a particular boy that kept watching his Sarah. He smiled a wicked smile at him, showing clearly his sharp, vampire-like fangs. The kid, scared out of his skin, backed up quickly.
"Good" he muttered, smugly. Sarah rolled her eyes.
"Such as I have always thought, you are such a Show-Boy…" she teased. She was the only one he would let him be teased by ever. No other Fae or close relative could… or dared.
"Come on, love, I want to go away from here as soon as possible" he said tiredly. She let the 'love' nickname pass, but just once.
"Let's go then, Your Highness" she agreed. She was getting tired all of the sudden. She wasn't still fully recovered.
And they simply disappear from there, in a cloud of glitter. Alexa and her minions were dumbfounded by the vision of the gorgeous man and continued like that for a lot of time… (Jut because I a vindictive author).
"Mom, daddy, I am home!" she shouted, taking a deep breath. The world seemed to be spinning suddenly. Jareth picked her nonchalantly in his arms and she tried faintly to protest.
"You are weak…"
"You really want to cause a scene?" she threatened, producing suddenly a crystal ball. But, before she had time to throw it to him, a cry interrupted her.
"Sissy, sissy!" Toby screamed at the top of his lungs, from the top of the stairs. Sarah twisted and turned in the arms of the Goblin King till she was free from him.
"Toby!" Sarah ran to the stairs, catching Toby as he came down. Brother and sister hugged tightly, Sarah gently stroking Toby's sandy blond hair and whispering gentle words to stop the boy from crying.
"Toby missed sissy" he said plainly. The girl smiled and replied with a whisper:
"Sissy missed Toby too"
But she eventually had to let go at some point. When her father and Karen walked to greet her she turned instinctively to Jareth, in seek for support. He took her in a protective hold, showing clearly one thing to the two mortals standing before him: If they hurt Sarah they would pay dearly…
Toby stared at both sides and moved a little to Jareth and Sarah's side.
"King brought Sissy back… Toby thanks King" he said, looking up to meet the mismatched gaze of the Fae.
"She has to go, little one. Look at her, she isn't fully recovered and she will become ill again unless she is in my Labyrinth… You have to understand that you have to let go"
Toby didn't cry that time. He put on a brave face and nodded.
"Sissy going to be all right? Then Toby all tight too" he assured, trying to smile. Sarah knelt before him, smiling a little through her tears.
"We will keep in touch, Toby. Look" she produced a crystal out of the air before the amazed gaze of the little toddler "It's just a crystal but if you hold it tight and whisper my name it will show me and you will be able to speak to me"
Jareth smiled sideways as he heard her changing slightly his speech about the crystal balls.
"Sarah, you are getting weaker. We must leave" he urged her with a wave of his hand he delivered all important things of Sarah to her bedroom in the Underground and picked her up.
"Soon we will be together again… I could make you forget, Toby… After all, I will have to make everyone forget about everything that happened. It would be less painful" the girl offered. But the kid shook firmly his head in denial.
"Toby remembers always… Toby wants to!"
Those were the last words Sarah heard from his brother before whispering: "Nothing to leave behind… Nothing to loose, except a little boy who loves me very much…" And then darkness embraced her.
Author's Note: Well, first I would like to get over with the begging part… Yes, I BEG you to review! You know this and I am pray that you, as responsible readers will fulfill this little petition of mine. But I am pretty content with all the review I am getting so I guess I have to congratulate you on that… You are the best readers a crazy labyrinth author with an attitude problem like could have asked for!
Second, I didn't know anyone used the name Drevlyn… I just invented a healer and a name too… I didn't know someone had character with that name. I apologize. If the author wants me to change the name of my character… just have to send me a review.
Third I do own the character of the Healer… as I said, I am kind of having problems with the name so I will start thinking of other names… similar but different at the same time. Or, if the other author doesn't mind, we could share the name!
I have kind of a… test week at school… It means that I have lots and lots of tests…. So be patient with me, please. And blame my teachers if I do not update soon. See you,
Sabina
