A/N: hullo! Half a moment after I wrote the last chapter, here I am now!
Heehee! Ok, our heroes have only have thirty-six hours of traveling until
they get to the Labyrinth, and I think by now that Mr. Willy is done
terrorizing the Aboveground b/c he may have figured out that Jareth ain't
up there! And guess what else? I just thought of why Mr. Willy really,
really hates Jareth so much! I mean, other than the obvious. Understand?
Good! Oh, and Jareth now looks around thirteen or fourteen, so...... yeah.
Also I have decided that Jareth DOES NOT have any mind powers whatsoever -
the senses of Fairies and Elves should be enough. Besides, it'd be too much
work and I'd have to change my original plot - now we don't want that, do
we? So the whole Dianna Troi thing was simply a passing fling.
Neveryouworry, I won't put and take out stuff like this/that any more.
Sorry for any confusion! Oh, and thanks SPECIALLY to (so far) my only
reviewers that's actually read this far! THANK YOU!!!!!!!!! *throws
chocolate covered dinosaurs to Elf, Heikgan, and Terrie* p.s. I AM IN LOVE
WITH CERTAIN PERSONS ON LotR!!!!!!!! That's why I asked about your name,
Elf. ^^;
Disclaimer: I don't own Labyrinth or any of its characters - loved, beloved and revered Jim Henson does (all bow to the beloved and revered director) and I own this plot and Mr. Willy... Pretty much nothing else.
Chapter Started: 3/28/03 Chapter Finished: 4/4/03
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The next morning
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Sarah woke up to being carried again, and couldn't help but marvel at the never ending strength Jareth showed.
Upon further investigation, she learned that the sun was already risen for a while perhaps by now, that she was slung over Jareth's right shoulder held firmly around the waist with one arm, and Toby was nestled against his side still lightly snoozing.
And despite herself, she found that she didn't mind the position so much. In fact, she rather enjoyed it. But she heard the slight rasp in Jareth's breath, and this was enough acknowledgement from his soundless breathing the night before, so she whispered that she was awake, and slid from his shoulder. Then there was the slight, slight, slight twinge of embarrassment of being carried by somebody shorter, ya know? Even though Jareth could well be over a hundred gazillion million years old, his body was that of a twelve year old, so... Sarah shook her head and took Toby from him. They continued their trek in silence for the rest of the day, and at night Jareth sat and refused to close his eyes until both Sarah and Toby were asleep too.
What Sarah and Toby didn't know was that he was alert, and more wary of their surroundings; therefore, he didn't sleep. Mr. Willy was back in the Labyrinth.
Twenty four more hours to go.
Jareth by now looked like a nine or ten year old.
Twelve more hours. almost there.....
Jareth resembled a six or seven year old. Sarah found also that he was now almost translucent looking in his paleness; and his skin seemed to glow almost. His eyes were even harder to tell any sort of color, they were so dark, and he came just above Sarah's waist in height. He also seemed so silent - not just in the talking area, but his footsteps hardly left imprints on the dusty ground, and Sarah could not see nor hear him breathe period. Now instead of so strong as he seemed before, he seemed just as frail as Toby, and she became well aware of his restlessness at night; no sleep was showing, however faintly. Once she had tried to coax him into sleeping, but gave up when he gave her a thirty minute speech about how despite what body he was in, he was still a few millennia over her age, and not to baby talk him, and that he was keeping watch for Mr. Willy, who was back in the underground, the labyrinth.
Not to mention fatigue and hunger weighing down on all of them, including Jareth, no matter how much he denied it.
Sarah now found Toby walking alongside her and carrying Jareth who was asleep. Something that freaked her out - he slept with his eyes open. She doubted that he could see anything - they were glazed like mist on a marsh. At first it had freaked her out, but after a while she got used to it. she wondered if that was a Fairy or Elven thing.
No matter. Just one more hill....... Sarah let out a delighted gasp. It was the hill Jareth had left her on when she had first wished Toby away!
"Look, Toby, Jareth!" she cried. The great maze wound out before them, just as it had the first time she had seen it. there was definitely something different about it, something dark, but that which is ominous obviously belongs to Mr. Willy! Jareth could deal with it once they met Mr. Willy face to face - and Sarah vowed to be there.
"It big," Toby said, awed. Sarah shook Jareth and put him on his feet, and he blinked flatly. When he looked around, he acknowledged three things and three different emotions; He had fallen asleep, he had been carried, and he was in front of his Labyrinth. He was annoyed at Sarah for thinking him so weak that she would carry him (whatever happened to her little modesty issue?), anger at himself for showing weakness, and falling asleep when Mr. Willy could attack when he was - Jareth loathed to admit this - at his most vulnerable, and of course a pure joy at being in front of his Kingdom again.
Through it all, Happiness won over, and a small grin tugged at his pale lips.
"Come on!" he said, glancing at Sarah, his bangs whipping his forehead in the swift motion. "But stay low and be quiet - Mr. Willy is here." And they started down - Jareth took off at a run and was about halfway there when he figured out that Sarah and Toby weren't that fast - so Sarah ended up running as fast as she could carrying a giggling Toby, attempting to keep up with a jogging Jareth.
After maybe an hour or so, they were in front of the closed gates, and Jareth sighed as he let Sarah catch her breath and put Toby down. "Ready?" he asked. she nodded, curious to see Jareth's way of getting through the Labyrinth. He cocked an eyebrow at her (something that looked incredibly ADORABLE on such a young Jareth's face!) then placed both hands on one of the huge doors and began to push.
Sarah was about to point out that a boy - err, she meant man - of his size wouldn't be able to push open those doors, but she swallowed her comment in a gasp when the door thirty times his size, and maybe fifty times his weight at least, began to bend under his will and opened. Jareth stopped pushing once he deemed it big enough for Sarah to pass through. Toby was smaller than him, so he didn't worry about him.
"are you coming?"
"oh. Uh, yeah, come on Toby!" Sarah took off after Jareth and squeezed through the door crack with Toby, and Jareth pushed it shut behind them easily.
"where's Hoggle?"
"who?"
"Hoggle."
"oh. Probably in hiding, Aboveground, or in the castle. Ludo and Sir Didymus too. Are you coming?"
"do you know the way?"
Jareth huffed as though he'd been insulted and took off to the right, the way Sarah had taken. "no, Sarah, I built this and don't know my way through it."
Sarah was smart enough to catch his sarcastic tone and frowned. "Well, do you know where you're going?"
"god, Sarah, what an incredibly stupid question! Yes I know where I'm going!" he stopped abruptly, at the same place Sarah had stopped before, she couldn't help but notice. She wondered for a moment if he was going to trace her steps, but he went left instead. "Hey, wait! Jareth, don't go that way!"
Jareth stopped, turned, and stared at her, lifting an eyebrow. "Why not?"
"Never go that way," Sarah replied, helpless to give him a straight answer. "the worm said not to - never to!"
"ah." Jareth heaved a sigh, one that seemed to almost wrack his slim and pale shoulders. "sarah, this is the way to the castle. About fifteen minutes, maybe. The worm didn't know you wanted to go to the castle, so he sent you the long way. You would have easily made it in time had you not heeded his warning." Jareth's lips twisted into a smile. "none of the other girls did." And with that, he spun on his heel and took off at a jog.
A now embarrassed AND insulted Sarah followed sullenly, and Toby wisely said nothing.
The walk was indeed maybe fifteen minutes, and Jareth lead the other two through a silent, and ominous feeling, Goblin City. The sky darkened and rain began to fall along with spectacular lightning. (You know what's happening!). Jareth slammed a little fist on the huge doors to the entrance of his castle, then they opened before him. Sarah and Toby scampered in after him, and they closed with a slam behind them.
The castle was completely silent, and Jareth jogged to the throne room, where he was sitting on Jareth's throne.
"Bob." Jareth greeted casually.
"Jareth." Mr. Willy responded. Then he reached up and removed his hood and cloak before standing fully. "my, my," he stated mockingly. "you seem to have grown little one!"
Jareth growled but did nothing else besides clenching and unclenching his fists. His incredibly smaller fists... hey, wait a second!
Sarah gasped, as did Jareth, who stared as his shrinking hands. But there was no pain or fatigue this time.
Sarah watched in horror as Mr. Willy stood before a Jareth who looked maybe the same age as Toby, a year younger perhaps. The dark evil shadow creature (actually he looked a little like Jareth) towered over the small frame of Jareth, and he smirked.
"lookey here," he cooed (mockingly). "a cute widdy-bitty baby! Aaaaaaaaawwwwwwwwwwww!!!!!!!!!" he reached down with a hand and ruffled Jareth's ear tip length blond-silver hair, brushing tips of pointed ears, almost knocking down the narrow, fragile seeming frame that was pale as paper, maybe paler.
Jareth snarled, however, and reached up swiftly, grabbing Mr. Willy's wrist and breaking it with a smooth crack. "what's wrong, Bob?" he teased as Mr. Willy danced around in pain howling. "Oh, does the widdy-bitty baby have a strong grip? Oh, I'm SO sorry!"
Mr. Willy snarled this time, and advanced towards an ADORABLE Jareth, drawing a knife with a homicidal look in his eyes, but then Sarah's brain kicked in and she leapt with a roar and slammed into Mr. Willy, knocking them both off balance. The knife went clattering and slid to a stop in front of Toby. The three-year-old attempted to pick it up, but it was too heavy for him to lift, and Jareth came over to him (albeit somewhat slowly) and the two of them struggled to lift the weapon. It had a spell on it, Jareth mused, since he couldn't lift such a lightweight thing at all.
But then the Goblin King turned his now pitch black eyes toward Sarah and Mr. Willy, and he dropped the handle of the knife. "Sarah!" he shouted. "hit his legs!"
Sarah complied, and brought a heel up to slam it into Mr. Willy's shin, causing him to swear and release her from the strangle hold that he had been choking her with. He glared threateningly at her, then something lit up behind his eye. s. eyes. "Oh," he laughed mockingly. He's very mocky- like, ain't he folks? "Aha, I can see why Jareth kept you alive - such a pretty little girl with such a fire-y spirit! I myself did love a challenge from a sweetheart once in a while!" he laughed. "Perhaps you'd have better uses! May be I won't kill you!"
He turned his gaze to a very angry Jareth.
who just looked so amazinly adorable! Can't you picture it? with his eyes all narrowed slightly and his bottom lip out, shoulders hunched up and fists clenched - SO CUTE! Sarah was thinking this, of course.
"my, my, Jareth, but you do have expensive taste, no?" he laughed, but choked on his laughter when Jareth grabbed the nearest liftable weapon and threw it with all of his might, the shoe clunking Mr. Willy in the side of his chin, and he flew and hit the wall head first. (oh! He'll be feeling that tomorrow!).
Toby handed Jareth his other shoe for ready ammo, and as Mr. Willy jumped to his feet Sarah dashed up and kicked him in the shin. He danced around on one foot yelping and Jareth smacked him (perfect bulls eye!) in the nose with Toby's other shoe, and he was rendered unconscious.
Sarah kicked him in the shin again, just for good measure.
"Is it over?"
"no. I'm not in my regular body yet. Its not over."
"oh. Uh, hey Jareth?"
"yeah?"
"I'm hungry."
Toby jumped to his socked feet. "so is me!" he agreed readily. Jareth rolled his eyes.
"the kitchen is downstairs. Help yourselves. Thought you might want to-" but Sarah and Toby were already gone. "-watch for poisons from Mr. Willy." Jareth finished lamely, then turned his head to the still form.
He strolled (as well as a two/three year old can) over to Mr. Willy and kicked him in the toe. "get up you git!" he threatened. "you've got some questions to answer!"
Obediently, Mr. Willy sat up and looked at Jareth. Seeing the tiny thing with a shoe held threateningly above its head, the evil black shadow creature's courage promptly went poof and he screamed.
"EEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEE!!!!!!!! DON'T KICK ME! DON'T THROW The Shoe!!!!!! PLEAZE!!!!!!! I ONLY WANT REVENGE FOR YOU STEALING MY P - P - PRECIOUSSSSSSSSSSS GUMPAAL!!!!! PLEAZE!" he fell to groveling at Jareth's tiny feet. "pleaze," he begged again.
"is THAT what this is about?!?" Jareth asked exasperatedly. Mr. Willy nodded. "Gawd, Bob, she's a stupid little brat who's uglier than a squished beetle in an old moldy peach and follows me around EVERYWHERE until I finally got tired of it and killed it!"
"NOOOOOOOOOOOOOO!" Mr. Willy wailed. "she's NOT ugly or, or stupid or little or a brat or a squished beetle or a old moldy peach!!!! And she's NOT an IT! she's a beautiful-"
"moron." Jareth finished, then gasped as he shrank to the size of a twelve month year old. Toby's shoe fell from his now tiny hand and he fell to his bottom. Mr. Willy jumped to his feet and roared with laughter.
"ha ha HA!" cried Mr. Willy. "HA!" he repeated after a moment, just for good measure.
Jareth twisted his now beyond adorable baby face into a scowl. By now he had maybe three teeth - great. He couldn't talk. Great.
Juuuuuuuuuuuuuust great.
Suddenly, just as Mr. Willy picked up a screaming and kicking and wailing and yelling Jareth by the ankle, there were twin screeches, and Toby and Sarah dashed in and hid behind Jareth's throne, sobbing. "Oh, my virgin eyes, my virgin eyes!" Sarah moaned in terror.
Toby had fainted.
Then, there was a terrible shrilling sound (ya know like the Nazgûl from LotR?) and the sun went dark. A shadow grew in the doorway and slowly became bigger and less fuzzy. Everybody held their breath as the most HIDEOUS creature entered the room! Toby screamed and fainted again.
It was maybe a head taller than Jareth at his normal age/size, and wore a blood red "dress" that barely covered anything. This was what had scarred Sarah's now non-virgin eyes. Poor Sarah. (A/N: I'll make Jareth give her a "hug" when he's back to his normal age. :D)
Its skin was pretty tan, and it was maybe thirty or forty years old.
In truth, she was rather pretty.
Mr. Willy promptly flung Jareth in the air (he squealed and Sarah gasped in horror) then ran towards the "woman" arms outstretched.
"Gumpaal!" he cried. "O Fair Lady Gumpaal, please be my bride!" of course his request went unnoticed as Gumpaal recognized Jareth falling through the air (how she recognized him nobody knew) and she ran to catch him with a cry at the same time as Sarah.
They both caught him at the same time, and both females glared at each other.
I see a cat fight coming on, everybody (except Sarah, Gumpaal, and Toby) thought.
Taking a deep breath, Sarah counted to ten and did this amazing trick: she opened her mouth, clenched her teeth, and pulled the corners of her lips towards her ears. Try it! Gumpaal thought it a sneer, so she sneered back and held chibi Jareth securely under his little arms, back facing her.
Sarah could clearly see Jareth's face (since he was facing her) and she barely caught back another gasp. He was so little! She tightened her grip on his midsection. Jareth swallowed - he knew what was coming on. Mr. Willy smiled maliciously - he made a personal bet as to how long it would take the two (quite lovely) girls to rip Jareth in two.
Toby was still out of it. poor thing. He's going to have nightmares tonight.
"Hullo," Sarah greeted in a fake voice. "I fear that you have Jareth whereas you SHOULDN'T. do you mind letting. Go." It was stated as a command.
"I apologize," Gumpaal snarled, slowly pulling Jareth towards her (over sized) chest. "but this is my baby to love and pet and take care of and "cherish". Go get your own, brat."
Sarah snapped, "well I found him FIRST so he is therefore MINE to do with as I WISH. Hands. Off. You. Little. B- uh, witch!" she yanked Jareth deftly towards her own chest.
"You?!?" Gumpaal roared. "Find him FIRST?!?!? well I'm sorry to burst your bubble, CHILD, but I have known and been in love with Jareth-wareth for over two hundred millennia by now! So he is therefore MINE!!!!!!" she yanked Jareth back towards her, successfully bringing Sarah to a forward stumble as well.
"HE'S MINE!" Sarah screeched back. "HE HAPPENS TO LOVE ME, NOT YOU!!!!" she jerked Jareth and managed to get him into a triumphant hug to her chest. (good thing Jareth's so young, huh?)
"MINE!!!!!" Gumpaal bellowed, and yanked Jareth towards her.
And so the name-calling cat fight started. With each shout one of the two girls would yank Jareth towards herself, crushing him against her chest until he was yanked the other way;
"JERK!"
"MORON!"
"GIT!"
"NIT WIT!"
"SHOE-HEAD!"
"COSMETIC BRAT!"
"GOBLIN-KING HOGGER!"
"GOBLIN SMOOCHER!"
they both paused a moment to shudder at this.
"FOOL!"
"IDIOT!"
"JACK-A-" Sarah left that one edited in case Toby woke up.
"BLOCKHEAD!"
"DOLT!"
"BONEHEAD!"
"NINCOMPOOP!"
this went on for a while.
It ended though, finally, when Sarah's fatigue and hunger finally got to her, and so she CHEATED - but that's okay: She yanked Jareth to her as hard as she could without a word (a scowl maybe, but not a "WORD") then when Gupaal yanked back in turn, Sarah let go, indeed, she even pushed a bit, and Gumpaal went flying backwards with a screech into Mr. Willy, and Jareth went flying through the air. Again.
As he headed towards the ground head first, he found himself crazily thinking 'I'm like a Bir-ird, I only fly awa-ay!' . and he clutched his eyes shut, but Sarah leapt up (let's go to slo-mo!) with a long low shout of "nnnnnnnnonoooooooooooooooooo Jaaaaarrrrrreeeeeeeetthththththththh!!!!!!!!" and she flew and caught him in her arms, then we switch back to fast-mo and she plummets to the floor like a rock and landed on her feet, miraculously.
Then again, the floor WAS only about half an inch below her, so........ it depends on your point of view.
Immediately, she bolted to Jareth's throne and jumped behind it, hiding with a still unconscious Toby.
"sa ah!" Jareth said, but cursed silently when he realized he couldn't talk. But Sarah, having lived with Toby for three years, understood and looked at him.
"how do I get you to your normal age?" she whispered. Mr. Willy and Gumpaal were arguing loudly.
"Bo-thun," Jareth screwed up his face and grumbled.
"potion?"
his eyes snapped open and he looked at Sarah (who was still cradling him to her chest) in slight amazement.
"yea," he murmured. "Bawth baw-ket."
"yes, Bob's pocket?"
Jareth bobbed his head as best he could - didn't want to break his neck, you see.
"okay. I'll be right back." Sarah lay Jareth on his back carefully next to Toby and jumped over the throne.
With a mighty battle cry (actually it was "TO CHOCOLATE COVERED DINOSAUR HELL WITH YOU!!!!!" but that counts as a mighty battle cry) Sarah launched herself at Mr. Willy and tackled him out of Gumpaal's strangle hold. She then stood on her feet and promptly kicked Mr. Willy maybe an inch above his upper thigh. (ooh, ouch!).
Gumpaal, delighted that her enemy was helping her, scurried over.
"why did you do that?" she asked curiously.
"because he's got the only potion in his pocket to stop Jareth from dying," Sarah replied. "what say you we put aside out conflict until Jareth is alive and well in his own age/body, okay? Team up and beat Mr. Willy together?"
"deal! But once my shnoopsy-poo is all better-wetter, I'll kill you if I have to, to have him."
"okay."
"okay!"
"the potion is in his pocket - I'll get it to Jareth and you hold Mr. Willy back."
"okay!"
"okay!"
"okay!"
"okay!"
"WILL YOU STOP SAYING 'OKAY' ALREADY?!?!?!?!?!?!?"
Sarah kicked Mr. Willy in the shin.
Then she bent down and rummaged around in his pocket (his cloak pocket, mind you - not even Gumpaal would wish such a fat upon Sarah) while Gumpaal held him down. Finally, Sarah clasped a small vial of shiny pinkish milky whitish liquid that looked more like some sort of oil really.
"this must be it. I'll be right back!" Sarah scampered back to the throne and jumped behind it. Gumpaal and mr. Willy were fighting and cursing loudly with each other.
Behind the throne, Sarah knelt down next to Jareth and gasped.
He looked like a newborn.
Slowly, big dark eyes opened to look at her, and Jareth made a small noise.
Sarah unstoppered the vial but paused. Was she supposed to simply splash it on him, stick it in his ears, make him swallow it??? what was she supposed to do???
"Gumpaal! I don't know how to use it on him! Find out, please, hurry!"
after a few yelps of pain from Mr. Willy, Gumpaal replied, "He has to swallow every last bit of it!"
Sarah looked down at Jareth and bit her lip. Then she carefully but the vial down and sat herself, lifting the tiny babe into her arms, careful of his head, which she cradled in the crook of her arm as she reached for the vial again, back against throne.
Sarah lifted it to Jareth's face, but he scrunched it up and clamped his mouth shut.
"come on, Jareth!" Sarah said, her voice rising in pitch with panic. "you have to swallow it! please, would you rather let Mr. Willy win?" Jareth's eyes traveled to the vial in Sarah's hand, and he frowned. It would take a minute to swallow the whole of THAT at his fastest without pause, and plus it looked hard to swallow, it seemed so thick.
Not to mention he seriously resented being fed like an infant by Sarah Williams.
Finally, after Sarah screamed "JARETH, PLEASE!!!" a few times, he clenched his eyes shut and opened his mouth, excepting his fate. With a somewhat rushed sigh, Sarah acted as though she were feeding a baby Toby a bottle, and Jareth gazed flatly at her, grumbling to himself as he forced himself to swallow the vile liquid.
"hurry, Sarah!" Gumpaal shouted. "I can't hold-" but she gasped and stopped as Mr. Willy broke free of her hold and leapt at the throne like a mad dog, and jerked the great chair away, revealing Sarah holding a still-attempting- to-swallow infant Jareth. Sarah jumped to her feet, and trusting Toby to be safe and Gumpaal to hold Mr. Willy back, she ran a bit clumsily out into a hall and bolted up endless flights of stairs and halls. Too late did Jareth make a wailing sound, and she realized she had pulled the vial away. There was still half of it left. With a groan, Sarah put Jareth on his back and gave him the vial, placing it between his lips.
"hurry," she moaned. "I've got to get Toby."
So she turned and bolted right back to where she had started from. And not a moment too soon! Mr. Willy was holding a screaming Toby by the ankle, and keeping Gumpaal at bay with his other hand. He was laughing maniacally - he looks like he's gone acorns, Sarah thought.
With another one of her Chocolate Dinosaur Battle Cries, Sarah snatched Toby away, slapped Mr. Willy silly, then kicked him in the shin.
Gumpaal did the same, and Mr. Willy stared at them both bemusedly. "are you done yet?" he asked flatly.
Sarah thought a moment before smashing his little toe cruelly (she's not as nice as you think, folks). "okay, I'm done."
Mr. Willy sighed (after he had stopped yelping around in pain and anger) and said, "then I'll kill you, the Human brat there, and Jareth, and Gumpaal will be my bride!"
Ooh. Sarah shuddered. Not even *she* wished such a fate on even *Gumpaal*.
"MUAHAHAHAHAHAAA *hack, choke* HAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAAA!!!!!! I SHALL KILL THE HUMAN BOY-BRAT FIRST SO THAT YOU MAY SUFFER!!!!!" and with that, Mr. Willy snatched Toby from Sarah's arms (the poor dear was once again unconscious) accidentally taking Jareth's shirt/bandages with him.
There was a momentary pause in which a breeze wafted through one of the stone windows.
Down on the other side of the castle, Jareth heard a scream of "YOU PERVERT!!!!!!!!" followed quickly by a sickening smack that resounded across the Labyrinth.
Wolves, bears, and wolfbears run in terror.
Gumpaal squealed with glee - this was the kind of fighting that SHE liked!
Mr. Willy stared in flat out disbelief (after he'd gotten back to his feet and the stinging had stopped on the side of his face). Then his gaze turned to lust, followed swiftly by anger, then lust, disbelief, and at last he settled for a look of round-eyed disbelief/lust/anger.
Sarah was quick to see these. Disbelief and anger she could handle - it meant that she could torture Mr. Willy before she killed him. But lust - now that was just a step too far! NOBODY was allowed to look at her with lust unless it was Jareth, godammit!!!!!
But her anger cooled a little bit when she saw the perfect red hand print on Mr. Willy's cheek.
Moreover, it shot back up by thirty percent than before when she felt a tingling sensation on her right palm. She didn't need to look to know that she had broken a nail.
Now THAT was what really pissed her off.
"YOU LITTLE PISSIN' A-" she paused, wondering if she should continue that sentence in case Toby woke up.
But Mr. Willy quickly regained his composure and let Toby go flyyyyyyyyyin' through the air (luckily Gupaal caught him, but that was by accident and resulted in a very sore-headed fey woman) then Mr. Willy jumped and had Sarah pinned to the wall.
"such a pity that I'll have to kill you first now," he spat, and raised his hand (the other miraculously holding a shirtless Sarah down) and a knife appeared in it.
Sarah could only hear a strange buzzing sound in her ears, and was only dimly aware of Toby's sudden cries (must've woken up), Gumpaal's abrupt squeal of something akin to delight or horrible, horrible pain, her own heavy breathing, Mr. Willy's words. Only as though she were blank did she feel Mr. Willy getting yanked off of her, and she fell to her butt.
Slowly, she looked up and thought she saw Jareth at his normal age.
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A/N: heh, oh, well, that wasn't too bad. ^^; I'm almost done with this story (already???) its been my longest one. *sobs in happiness* so, in either case, I'll post the next chapter as soon as I can. ^_^
Disclaimer: I don't own Labyrinth or any of its characters - loved, beloved and revered Jim Henson does (all bow to the beloved and revered director) and I own this plot and Mr. Willy... Pretty much nothing else.
Chapter Started: 3/28/03 Chapter Finished: 4/4/03
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~*~*~
The next morning
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Sarah woke up to being carried again, and couldn't help but marvel at the never ending strength Jareth showed.
Upon further investigation, she learned that the sun was already risen for a while perhaps by now, that she was slung over Jareth's right shoulder held firmly around the waist with one arm, and Toby was nestled against his side still lightly snoozing.
And despite herself, she found that she didn't mind the position so much. In fact, she rather enjoyed it. But she heard the slight rasp in Jareth's breath, and this was enough acknowledgement from his soundless breathing the night before, so she whispered that she was awake, and slid from his shoulder. Then there was the slight, slight, slight twinge of embarrassment of being carried by somebody shorter, ya know? Even though Jareth could well be over a hundred gazillion million years old, his body was that of a twelve year old, so... Sarah shook her head and took Toby from him. They continued their trek in silence for the rest of the day, and at night Jareth sat and refused to close his eyes until both Sarah and Toby were asleep too.
What Sarah and Toby didn't know was that he was alert, and more wary of their surroundings; therefore, he didn't sleep. Mr. Willy was back in the Labyrinth.
Twenty four more hours to go.
Jareth by now looked like a nine or ten year old.
Twelve more hours. almost there.....
Jareth resembled a six or seven year old. Sarah found also that he was now almost translucent looking in his paleness; and his skin seemed to glow almost. His eyes were even harder to tell any sort of color, they were so dark, and he came just above Sarah's waist in height. He also seemed so silent - not just in the talking area, but his footsteps hardly left imprints on the dusty ground, and Sarah could not see nor hear him breathe period. Now instead of so strong as he seemed before, he seemed just as frail as Toby, and she became well aware of his restlessness at night; no sleep was showing, however faintly. Once she had tried to coax him into sleeping, but gave up when he gave her a thirty minute speech about how despite what body he was in, he was still a few millennia over her age, and not to baby talk him, and that he was keeping watch for Mr. Willy, who was back in the underground, the labyrinth.
Not to mention fatigue and hunger weighing down on all of them, including Jareth, no matter how much he denied it.
Sarah now found Toby walking alongside her and carrying Jareth who was asleep. Something that freaked her out - he slept with his eyes open. She doubted that he could see anything - they were glazed like mist on a marsh. At first it had freaked her out, but after a while she got used to it. she wondered if that was a Fairy or Elven thing.
No matter. Just one more hill....... Sarah let out a delighted gasp. It was the hill Jareth had left her on when she had first wished Toby away!
"Look, Toby, Jareth!" she cried. The great maze wound out before them, just as it had the first time she had seen it. there was definitely something different about it, something dark, but that which is ominous obviously belongs to Mr. Willy! Jareth could deal with it once they met Mr. Willy face to face - and Sarah vowed to be there.
"It big," Toby said, awed. Sarah shook Jareth and put him on his feet, and he blinked flatly. When he looked around, he acknowledged three things and three different emotions; He had fallen asleep, he had been carried, and he was in front of his Labyrinth. He was annoyed at Sarah for thinking him so weak that she would carry him (whatever happened to her little modesty issue?), anger at himself for showing weakness, and falling asleep when Mr. Willy could attack when he was - Jareth loathed to admit this - at his most vulnerable, and of course a pure joy at being in front of his Kingdom again.
Through it all, Happiness won over, and a small grin tugged at his pale lips.
"Come on!" he said, glancing at Sarah, his bangs whipping his forehead in the swift motion. "But stay low and be quiet - Mr. Willy is here." And they started down - Jareth took off at a run and was about halfway there when he figured out that Sarah and Toby weren't that fast - so Sarah ended up running as fast as she could carrying a giggling Toby, attempting to keep up with a jogging Jareth.
After maybe an hour or so, they were in front of the closed gates, and Jareth sighed as he let Sarah catch her breath and put Toby down. "Ready?" he asked. she nodded, curious to see Jareth's way of getting through the Labyrinth. He cocked an eyebrow at her (something that looked incredibly ADORABLE on such a young Jareth's face!) then placed both hands on one of the huge doors and began to push.
Sarah was about to point out that a boy - err, she meant man - of his size wouldn't be able to push open those doors, but she swallowed her comment in a gasp when the door thirty times his size, and maybe fifty times his weight at least, began to bend under his will and opened. Jareth stopped pushing once he deemed it big enough for Sarah to pass through. Toby was smaller than him, so he didn't worry about him.
"are you coming?"
"oh. Uh, yeah, come on Toby!" Sarah took off after Jareth and squeezed through the door crack with Toby, and Jareth pushed it shut behind them easily.
"where's Hoggle?"
"who?"
"Hoggle."
"oh. Probably in hiding, Aboveground, or in the castle. Ludo and Sir Didymus too. Are you coming?"
"do you know the way?"
Jareth huffed as though he'd been insulted and took off to the right, the way Sarah had taken. "no, Sarah, I built this and don't know my way through it."
Sarah was smart enough to catch his sarcastic tone and frowned. "Well, do you know where you're going?"
"god, Sarah, what an incredibly stupid question! Yes I know where I'm going!" he stopped abruptly, at the same place Sarah had stopped before, she couldn't help but notice. She wondered for a moment if he was going to trace her steps, but he went left instead. "Hey, wait! Jareth, don't go that way!"
Jareth stopped, turned, and stared at her, lifting an eyebrow. "Why not?"
"Never go that way," Sarah replied, helpless to give him a straight answer. "the worm said not to - never to!"
"ah." Jareth heaved a sigh, one that seemed to almost wrack his slim and pale shoulders. "sarah, this is the way to the castle. About fifteen minutes, maybe. The worm didn't know you wanted to go to the castle, so he sent you the long way. You would have easily made it in time had you not heeded his warning." Jareth's lips twisted into a smile. "none of the other girls did." And with that, he spun on his heel and took off at a jog.
A now embarrassed AND insulted Sarah followed sullenly, and Toby wisely said nothing.
The walk was indeed maybe fifteen minutes, and Jareth lead the other two through a silent, and ominous feeling, Goblin City. The sky darkened and rain began to fall along with spectacular lightning. (You know what's happening!). Jareth slammed a little fist on the huge doors to the entrance of his castle, then they opened before him. Sarah and Toby scampered in after him, and they closed with a slam behind them.
The castle was completely silent, and Jareth jogged to the throne room, where he was sitting on Jareth's throne.
"Bob." Jareth greeted casually.
"Jareth." Mr. Willy responded. Then he reached up and removed his hood and cloak before standing fully. "my, my," he stated mockingly. "you seem to have grown little one!"
Jareth growled but did nothing else besides clenching and unclenching his fists. His incredibly smaller fists... hey, wait a second!
Sarah gasped, as did Jareth, who stared as his shrinking hands. But there was no pain or fatigue this time.
Sarah watched in horror as Mr. Willy stood before a Jareth who looked maybe the same age as Toby, a year younger perhaps. The dark evil shadow creature (actually he looked a little like Jareth) towered over the small frame of Jareth, and he smirked.
"lookey here," he cooed (mockingly). "a cute widdy-bitty baby! Aaaaaaaaawwwwwwwwwwww!!!!!!!!!" he reached down with a hand and ruffled Jareth's ear tip length blond-silver hair, brushing tips of pointed ears, almost knocking down the narrow, fragile seeming frame that was pale as paper, maybe paler.
Jareth snarled, however, and reached up swiftly, grabbing Mr. Willy's wrist and breaking it with a smooth crack. "what's wrong, Bob?" he teased as Mr. Willy danced around in pain howling. "Oh, does the widdy-bitty baby have a strong grip? Oh, I'm SO sorry!"
Mr. Willy snarled this time, and advanced towards an ADORABLE Jareth, drawing a knife with a homicidal look in his eyes, but then Sarah's brain kicked in and she leapt with a roar and slammed into Mr. Willy, knocking them both off balance. The knife went clattering and slid to a stop in front of Toby. The three-year-old attempted to pick it up, but it was too heavy for him to lift, and Jareth came over to him (albeit somewhat slowly) and the two of them struggled to lift the weapon. It had a spell on it, Jareth mused, since he couldn't lift such a lightweight thing at all.
But then the Goblin King turned his now pitch black eyes toward Sarah and Mr. Willy, and he dropped the handle of the knife. "Sarah!" he shouted. "hit his legs!"
Sarah complied, and brought a heel up to slam it into Mr. Willy's shin, causing him to swear and release her from the strangle hold that he had been choking her with. He glared threateningly at her, then something lit up behind his eye. s. eyes. "Oh," he laughed mockingly. He's very mocky- like, ain't he folks? "Aha, I can see why Jareth kept you alive - such a pretty little girl with such a fire-y spirit! I myself did love a challenge from a sweetheart once in a while!" he laughed. "Perhaps you'd have better uses! May be I won't kill you!"
He turned his gaze to a very angry Jareth.
who just looked so amazinly adorable! Can't you picture it? with his eyes all narrowed slightly and his bottom lip out, shoulders hunched up and fists clenched - SO CUTE! Sarah was thinking this, of course.
"my, my, Jareth, but you do have expensive taste, no?" he laughed, but choked on his laughter when Jareth grabbed the nearest liftable weapon and threw it with all of his might, the shoe clunking Mr. Willy in the side of his chin, and he flew and hit the wall head first. (oh! He'll be feeling that tomorrow!).
Toby handed Jareth his other shoe for ready ammo, and as Mr. Willy jumped to his feet Sarah dashed up and kicked him in the shin. He danced around on one foot yelping and Jareth smacked him (perfect bulls eye!) in the nose with Toby's other shoe, and he was rendered unconscious.
Sarah kicked him in the shin again, just for good measure.
"Is it over?"
"no. I'm not in my regular body yet. Its not over."
"oh. Uh, hey Jareth?"
"yeah?"
"I'm hungry."
Toby jumped to his socked feet. "so is me!" he agreed readily. Jareth rolled his eyes.
"the kitchen is downstairs. Help yourselves. Thought you might want to-" but Sarah and Toby were already gone. "-watch for poisons from Mr. Willy." Jareth finished lamely, then turned his head to the still form.
He strolled (as well as a two/three year old can) over to Mr. Willy and kicked him in the toe. "get up you git!" he threatened. "you've got some questions to answer!"
Obediently, Mr. Willy sat up and looked at Jareth. Seeing the tiny thing with a shoe held threateningly above its head, the evil black shadow creature's courage promptly went poof and he screamed.
"EEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEE!!!!!!!! DON'T KICK ME! DON'T THROW The Shoe!!!!!! PLEAZE!!!!!!! I ONLY WANT REVENGE FOR YOU STEALING MY P - P - PRECIOUSSSSSSSSSSS GUMPAAL!!!!! PLEAZE!" he fell to groveling at Jareth's tiny feet. "pleaze," he begged again.
"is THAT what this is about?!?" Jareth asked exasperatedly. Mr. Willy nodded. "Gawd, Bob, she's a stupid little brat who's uglier than a squished beetle in an old moldy peach and follows me around EVERYWHERE until I finally got tired of it and killed it!"
"NOOOOOOOOOOOOOO!" Mr. Willy wailed. "she's NOT ugly or, or stupid or little or a brat or a squished beetle or a old moldy peach!!!! And she's NOT an IT! she's a beautiful-"
"moron." Jareth finished, then gasped as he shrank to the size of a twelve month year old. Toby's shoe fell from his now tiny hand and he fell to his bottom. Mr. Willy jumped to his feet and roared with laughter.
"ha ha HA!" cried Mr. Willy. "HA!" he repeated after a moment, just for good measure.
Jareth twisted his now beyond adorable baby face into a scowl. By now he had maybe three teeth - great. He couldn't talk. Great.
Juuuuuuuuuuuuuust great.
Suddenly, just as Mr. Willy picked up a screaming and kicking and wailing and yelling Jareth by the ankle, there were twin screeches, and Toby and Sarah dashed in and hid behind Jareth's throne, sobbing. "Oh, my virgin eyes, my virgin eyes!" Sarah moaned in terror.
Toby had fainted.
Then, there was a terrible shrilling sound (ya know like the Nazgûl from LotR?) and the sun went dark. A shadow grew in the doorway and slowly became bigger and less fuzzy. Everybody held their breath as the most HIDEOUS creature entered the room! Toby screamed and fainted again.
It was maybe a head taller than Jareth at his normal age/size, and wore a blood red "dress" that barely covered anything. This was what had scarred Sarah's now non-virgin eyes. Poor Sarah. (A/N: I'll make Jareth give her a "hug" when he's back to his normal age. :D)
Its skin was pretty tan, and it was maybe thirty or forty years old.
In truth, she was rather pretty.
Mr. Willy promptly flung Jareth in the air (he squealed and Sarah gasped in horror) then ran towards the "woman" arms outstretched.
"Gumpaal!" he cried. "O Fair Lady Gumpaal, please be my bride!" of course his request went unnoticed as Gumpaal recognized Jareth falling through the air (how she recognized him nobody knew) and she ran to catch him with a cry at the same time as Sarah.
They both caught him at the same time, and both females glared at each other.
I see a cat fight coming on, everybody (except Sarah, Gumpaal, and Toby) thought.
Taking a deep breath, Sarah counted to ten and did this amazing trick: she opened her mouth, clenched her teeth, and pulled the corners of her lips towards her ears. Try it! Gumpaal thought it a sneer, so she sneered back and held chibi Jareth securely under his little arms, back facing her.
Sarah could clearly see Jareth's face (since he was facing her) and she barely caught back another gasp. He was so little! She tightened her grip on his midsection. Jareth swallowed - he knew what was coming on. Mr. Willy smiled maliciously - he made a personal bet as to how long it would take the two (quite lovely) girls to rip Jareth in two.
Toby was still out of it. poor thing. He's going to have nightmares tonight.
"Hullo," Sarah greeted in a fake voice. "I fear that you have Jareth whereas you SHOULDN'T. do you mind letting. Go." It was stated as a command.
"I apologize," Gumpaal snarled, slowly pulling Jareth towards her (over sized) chest. "but this is my baby to love and pet and take care of and "cherish". Go get your own, brat."
Sarah snapped, "well I found him FIRST so he is therefore MINE to do with as I WISH. Hands. Off. You. Little. B- uh, witch!" she yanked Jareth deftly towards her own chest.
"You?!?" Gumpaal roared. "Find him FIRST?!?!? well I'm sorry to burst your bubble, CHILD, but I have known and been in love with Jareth-wareth for over two hundred millennia by now! So he is therefore MINE!!!!!!" she yanked Jareth back towards her, successfully bringing Sarah to a forward stumble as well.
"HE'S MINE!" Sarah screeched back. "HE HAPPENS TO LOVE ME, NOT YOU!!!!" she jerked Jareth and managed to get him into a triumphant hug to her chest. (good thing Jareth's so young, huh?)
"MINE!!!!!" Gumpaal bellowed, and yanked Jareth towards her.
And so the name-calling cat fight started. With each shout one of the two girls would yank Jareth towards herself, crushing him against her chest until he was yanked the other way;
"JERK!"
"MORON!"
"GIT!"
"NIT WIT!"
"SHOE-HEAD!"
"COSMETIC BRAT!"
"GOBLIN-KING HOGGER!"
"GOBLIN SMOOCHER!"
they both paused a moment to shudder at this.
"FOOL!"
"IDIOT!"
"JACK-A-" Sarah left that one edited in case Toby woke up.
"BLOCKHEAD!"
"DOLT!"
"BONEHEAD!"
"NINCOMPOOP!"
this went on for a while.
It ended though, finally, when Sarah's fatigue and hunger finally got to her, and so she CHEATED - but that's okay: She yanked Jareth to her as hard as she could without a word (a scowl maybe, but not a "WORD") then when Gupaal yanked back in turn, Sarah let go, indeed, she even pushed a bit, and Gumpaal went flying backwards with a screech into Mr. Willy, and Jareth went flying through the air. Again.
As he headed towards the ground head first, he found himself crazily thinking 'I'm like a Bir-ird, I only fly awa-ay!' . and he clutched his eyes shut, but Sarah leapt up (let's go to slo-mo!) with a long low shout of "nnnnnnnnonoooooooooooooooooo Jaaaaarrrrrreeeeeeeetthththththththh!!!!!!!!" and she flew and caught him in her arms, then we switch back to fast-mo and she plummets to the floor like a rock and landed on her feet, miraculously.
Then again, the floor WAS only about half an inch below her, so........ it depends on your point of view.
Immediately, she bolted to Jareth's throne and jumped behind it, hiding with a still unconscious Toby.
"sa ah!" Jareth said, but cursed silently when he realized he couldn't talk. But Sarah, having lived with Toby for three years, understood and looked at him.
"how do I get you to your normal age?" she whispered. Mr. Willy and Gumpaal were arguing loudly.
"Bo-thun," Jareth screwed up his face and grumbled.
"potion?"
his eyes snapped open and he looked at Sarah (who was still cradling him to her chest) in slight amazement.
"yea," he murmured. "Bawth baw-ket."
"yes, Bob's pocket?"
Jareth bobbed his head as best he could - didn't want to break his neck, you see.
"okay. I'll be right back." Sarah lay Jareth on his back carefully next to Toby and jumped over the throne.
With a mighty battle cry (actually it was "TO CHOCOLATE COVERED DINOSAUR HELL WITH YOU!!!!!" but that counts as a mighty battle cry) Sarah launched herself at Mr. Willy and tackled him out of Gumpaal's strangle hold. She then stood on her feet and promptly kicked Mr. Willy maybe an inch above his upper thigh. (ooh, ouch!).
Gumpaal, delighted that her enemy was helping her, scurried over.
"why did you do that?" she asked curiously.
"because he's got the only potion in his pocket to stop Jareth from dying," Sarah replied. "what say you we put aside out conflict until Jareth is alive and well in his own age/body, okay? Team up and beat Mr. Willy together?"
"deal! But once my shnoopsy-poo is all better-wetter, I'll kill you if I have to, to have him."
"okay."
"okay!"
"the potion is in his pocket - I'll get it to Jareth and you hold Mr. Willy back."
"okay!"
"okay!"
"okay!"
"okay!"
"WILL YOU STOP SAYING 'OKAY' ALREADY?!?!?!?!?!?!?"
Sarah kicked Mr. Willy in the shin.
Then she bent down and rummaged around in his pocket (his cloak pocket, mind you - not even Gumpaal would wish such a fat upon Sarah) while Gumpaal held him down. Finally, Sarah clasped a small vial of shiny pinkish milky whitish liquid that looked more like some sort of oil really.
"this must be it. I'll be right back!" Sarah scampered back to the throne and jumped behind it. Gumpaal and mr. Willy were fighting and cursing loudly with each other.
Behind the throne, Sarah knelt down next to Jareth and gasped.
He looked like a newborn.
Slowly, big dark eyes opened to look at her, and Jareth made a small noise.
Sarah unstoppered the vial but paused. Was she supposed to simply splash it on him, stick it in his ears, make him swallow it??? what was she supposed to do???
"Gumpaal! I don't know how to use it on him! Find out, please, hurry!"
after a few yelps of pain from Mr. Willy, Gumpaal replied, "He has to swallow every last bit of it!"
Sarah looked down at Jareth and bit her lip. Then she carefully but the vial down and sat herself, lifting the tiny babe into her arms, careful of his head, which she cradled in the crook of her arm as she reached for the vial again, back against throne.
Sarah lifted it to Jareth's face, but he scrunched it up and clamped his mouth shut.
"come on, Jareth!" Sarah said, her voice rising in pitch with panic. "you have to swallow it! please, would you rather let Mr. Willy win?" Jareth's eyes traveled to the vial in Sarah's hand, and he frowned. It would take a minute to swallow the whole of THAT at his fastest without pause, and plus it looked hard to swallow, it seemed so thick.
Not to mention he seriously resented being fed like an infant by Sarah Williams.
Finally, after Sarah screamed "JARETH, PLEASE!!!" a few times, he clenched his eyes shut and opened his mouth, excepting his fate. With a somewhat rushed sigh, Sarah acted as though she were feeding a baby Toby a bottle, and Jareth gazed flatly at her, grumbling to himself as he forced himself to swallow the vile liquid.
"hurry, Sarah!" Gumpaal shouted. "I can't hold-" but she gasped and stopped as Mr. Willy broke free of her hold and leapt at the throne like a mad dog, and jerked the great chair away, revealing Sarah holding a still-attempting- to-swallow infant Jareth. Sarah jumped to her feet, and trusting Toby to be safe and Gumpaal to hold Mr. Willy back, she ran a bit clumsily out into a hall and bolted up endless flights of stairs and halls. Too late did Jareth make a wailing sound, and she realized she had pulled the vial away. There was still half of it left. With a groan, Sarah put Jareth on his back and gave him the vial, placing it between his lips.
"hurry," she moaned. "I've got to get Toby."
So she turned and bolted right back to where she had started from. And not a moment too soon! Mr. Willy was holding a screaming Toby by the ankle, and keeping Gumpaal at bay with his other hand. He was laughing maniacally - he looks like he's gone acorns, Sarah thought.
With another one of her Chocolate Dinosaur Battle Cries, Sarah snatched Toby away, slapped Mr. Willy silly, then kicked him in the shin.
Gumpaal did the same, and Mr. Willy stared at them both bemusedly. "are you done yet?" he asked flatly.
Sarah thought a moment before smashing his little toe cruelly (she's not as nice as you think, folks). "okay, I'm done."
Mr. Willy sighed (after he had stopped yelping around in pain and anger) and said, "then I'll kill you, the Human brat there, and Jareth, and Gumpaal will be my bride!"
Ooh. Sarah shuddered. Not even *she* wished such a fate on even *Gumpaal*.
"MUAHAHAHAHAHAAA *hack, choke* HAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAAA!!!!!! I SHALL KILL THE HUMAN BOY-BRAT FIRST SO THAT YOU MAY SUFFER!!!!!" and with that, Mr. Willy snatched Toby from Sarah's arms (the poor dear was once again unconscious) accidentally taking Jareth's shirt/bandages with him.
There was a momentary pause in which a breeze wafted through one of the stone windows.
Down on the other side of the castle, Jareth heard a scream of "YOU PERVERT!!!!!!!!" followed quickly by a sickening smack that resounded across the Labyrinth.
Wolves, bears, and wolfbears run in terror.
Gumpaal squealed with glee - this was the kind of fighting that SHE liked!
Mr. Willy stared in flat out disbelief (after he'd gotten back to his feet and the stinging had stopped on the side of his face). Then his gaze turned to lust, followed swiftly by anger, then lust, disbelief, and at last he settled for a look of round-eyed disbelief/lust/anger.
Sarah was quick to see these. Disbelief and anger she could handle - it meant that she could torture Mr. Willy before she killed him. But lust - now that was just a step too far! NOBODY was allowed to look at her with lust unless it was Jareth, godammit!!!!!
But her anger cooled a little bit when she saw the perfect red hand print on Mr. Willy's cheek.
Moreover, it shot back up by thirty percent than before when she felt a tingling sensation on her right palm. She didn't need to look to know that she had broken a nail.
Now THAT was what really pissed her off.
"YOU LITTLE PISSIN' A-" she paused, wondering if she should continue that sentence in case Toby woke up.
But Mr. Willy quickly regained his composure and let Toby go flyyyyyyyyyin' through the air (luckily Gupaal caught him, but that was by accident and resulted in a very sore-headed fey woman) then Mr. Willy jumped and had Sarah pinned to the wall.
"such a pity that I'll have to kill you first now," he spat, and raised his hand (the other miraculously holding a shirtless Sarah down) and a knife appeared in it.
Sarah could only hear a strange buzzing sound in her ears, and was only dimly aware of Toby's sudden cries (must've woken up), Gumpaal's abrupt squeal of something akin to delight or horrible, horrible pain, her own heavy breathing, Mr. Willy's words. Only as though she were blank did she feel Mr. Willy getting yanked off of her, and she fell to her butt.
Slowly, she looked up and thought she saw Jareth at his normal age.
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A/N: heh, oh, well, that wasn't too bad. ^^; I'm almost done with this story (already???) its been my longest one. *sobs in happiness* so, in either case, I'll post the next chapter as soon as I can. ^_^