Chapter XI
Sarah had needed to embed her fingernails into the grains of the log as the dizziness swept through her.
"I don't understand," she said meekly.
It was not possible, she thought. Sure, she had had her suspicions. How he was constantly appearing, toying with her and even the reason for her being in this place again. Why *was* she here? Not just to rescue her friends. Her mind ached. If he wanted her so badly, why put her through all of this gruelling torment? Lynden was mistaken, wasn't she? The whole idea was absurd - he had rejected her, laughed at her and threatened her existence. The only reason he could want her would be out of vengeance, she decided, to make up for his defeat, but had she not already paid enough?
"What more does he want of me? I built his stupid castle, I fell for his silly games, I'm running his goddamn maze-."
"Jareth doesn't like to lose," Lynden cut in. "He's done this twice before. He blackmailed and cheated them into his realm again after they rescued their children."
"Only twice?" Sarah asked, swallowing the lump in her throat. "Do you mean only two angered him enough to do it?"
"No, I mean only two have ever completed the Labyrinth before you. That I'm aware of anyway."
Sarah paled.
"Th-they did it again though, right? He let them off?" she asked.
Lynden glanced down at her feet.
"One was brought back so many times that he drove her insane. She did return home, but only to be taken into care."
Sarah was horrified. "And the other?"
"He chose a wrong door."
Tears formed in the human girl's eyes at the thought of all the people who had failed to rescue their siblings or offspring from the Goblin King. No wonder Lynden had reacted to her feelings with such loathing.
"But why was it so hard for them? I'm just an ordinary girl!" she sobbed, allowing Ludo, who was listening but barely understanding, to put a paw about her.
"I don't think people realise how easy it is for them to lose. Jareth is all-powerful here, but not over the mortals themselves," Lynden explained. "He isn't exactly untruthful when he calls himself 'generous', although he usually is capable of being more so." She sighed, her open mouth giving way to a toothless cave of shadowed water. "The only times people have won were either because he slacked or became caught up in his arrogance. I can feel it in the air when he's angry. The streams burn."
Sarah bit her lip but Lynden continued. "Except with you, something is different. The Labyrinth confuses itself somehow. Whenever you pass an obstacle, I don't hurt as much as I should." She shrugged. "This place likes it when you win."
Sarah put her shoes back on and got up from her seat, her attention now drawn to the path ahead.
"Then that's what I'm going to do," she said firmly. "Spell or no spell, Jareth can't have me, but I *will* find my friends."
Ludo and Lynden walked up either side of her.
"You're coming?" Sarah asked the water child in astonishment.
"Would I pass up the chance to see Mr Overdressed slip over on his pompous behind?" Lynden laughed. "With you all the way."
Sarah grinned at this, concealing her indignance as to the insult her friend had used. What was wrong with his clothes? Perfectly normal if you ask me, she thought. Put it this way, there's no hope of Jareth driving *me* insane. It's far too late.
The three companions set off through the swamplands and into the mists, halted for a mere few seconds by a yelp and a loud rustling. A watery voice echoed in the marshes.
"Sodding leaves."
***
As the journey progressed, the air became clearer and allowed the friends to travel at a quicker pace. They were muddied from head to toe, having pulled one another out of various oozing pits along the way. Sarah looked to the waters either side of her and noticed they had lost their density, no longer filled with grime and silt. They were almost pure and as she squinted, she swore she could see shapes moving in the depths.
"The Pools of Seeing," Lynden informed, stopping with her to observe them. "Every being imaginable can be seen in those reflections. They're all living people."
Sarah was lost in the mingling images, like spirits but distinctly colourful, each one different, mostly humans, but some were like nothing she had ever seen before. Amongst her kind were animals she recognised; other creatures lived out their lives with gleaming eyes (she assumed they were eyes), or cylindrical ears. There was even - these visions amazed her the most - an entire species that contrasted the radiant tones of the other images with ashen faces and jet-black cloaks.
"Does Jareth use these to watch people?" she wondered.
"He doesn't need to," Lynden answered. "His crystals show him what he wants to see and there is rumour that he prefers not to look into these things for too long. They say things can look back."
"The reflections can see you?" Sarah asked, retreating from the edge.
"No, they have no knowledge of us. But we don't think we're the only world that uses these pools," came the sinister reply. "Speak a name and think of someone, and you may look upon anyone you choose."
Sarah knelt at the side of the nearest pool and stared into it.
"Toby," she spoke and gaped in wonder as the surface rippled, wiping the images clean and replacing them with a shimmering image of her little brother. He lay fast asleep in his bed, just as she had left him. Time had hardly passed.
Relieved, his sister broke her gaze from the pool and permitted the sea of figures to clutter the scene once more.
"Hoggle," she commanded. Instantly, she found herself looking directly at a section of the Goblin King's throne room, but a frown passed across her face. "That's not Hoggle, Lynden, what's going on?" All she saw was a little old man wearing tattered rags and a crooked crown, helplessly chained to a wall.
"That's not your friend?" Lynden said with surprise. "Then why would the King have him there?"
Sarah gazed hard at the prisoner. "Maybe you're right. Things are never as they seem." She paused. "God, I really need to stop saying that."
Ludo patted her on her shoulder and uttered something softly.
"Where Brother?"
Sarah knew at once that he meant Sir Didymus, the brave fox creature with the eye patch, whom she had seen in Jareth's crystal and, indeed, in her dream. Believing him to be still in his cell, she called his name into the reflections and was granted with the image she had expected. Ludo growled and looked away from the vision of Didymus battling valiantly against his chains.
Lynden had wandered further down the path.
"Sarah!" she shouted. "There's a door over here!"
"I'll be there in a minute!" Sarah bellowed back, not bothering to question the ludicrousness of a door in the middle of a swamp. "Ludo, you go on. I'll catch up." The beast nodded and reluctantly headed off in Lynden's direction.
Sarah remained alone with the soothing yet eerie dance of the moving portraits in front of her. One thought tossed back and forth in her mind, irritating as an itch that could not be reached. She took in a deep breath, closed her eyes and voiced a final name into the depths.
Opening her eyes, she was unable to blink for fear of losing the sight she beheld. A room of deep violet and black glittered in the pool, the intricate swirls of gold on the carpet devoid of items. All but a curious pyramid of diamonds sticking upwards and providing light for the person who was languishing against the wall, a book in hand.
Sarah realised that something was not quite right with this scene when she looked at the ceiling of the room. Objects were hanging without support; large; small; curved; sharp; but it was the structure iced with rumpled sheets that gave it away. This was Jareth's chamber. And it was upside-down.
Jareth turned another page of 'The Labyrinth', gravity squealing and fleeing before it would dare disturb the arrangement of his fountaining hair. He tapped the inverted candelabra idly with his foot as it flickered. Sarah willed the viewpoint of the picture to rotate behind him in order to see the part of the story he was so interested in. She gasped. Words were zipping about like flies and rearranging themselves upon the page as he read.
He's rewriting the story to his own liking, she thought. She began to read the sentence he was making.
"The princess was so close now to completing her quest, but little did she know that the insidious Goblin King was watching her with his-." She saw the word 'mismatched' disintegrate. "-disparate eyes." There was an uncomfortable delay, and then more text began to appear. Sarah's heart skipped a beat when the letters, without speech marks, locked into position.
I CAN SEE YOU
She cried out as Jareth whirled to glare at her and reached towards her with a clawing hand. However, he was not grabbing for her. His fingers seemed to take hold of the top of the vision's frame. With a snarl, he wrenched the blackness down like a blind. The image vanished.
Sarah was already running flat out after her friends, not even hazarding a backward glance.
Sarah had needed to embed her fingernails into the grains of the log as the dizziness swept through her.
"I don't understand," she said meekly.
It was not possible, she thought. Sure, she had had her suspicions. How he was constantly appearing, toying with her and even the reason for her being in this place again. Why *was* she here? Not just to rescue her friends. Her mind ached. If he wanted her so badly, why put her through all of this gruelling torment? Lynden was mistaken, wasn't she? The whole idea was absurd - he had rejected her, laughed at her and threatened her existence. The only reason he could want her would be out of vengeance, she decided, to make up for his defeat, but had she not already paid enough?
"What more does he want of me? I built his stupid castle, I fell for his silly games, I'm running his goddamn maze-."
"Jareth doesn't like to lose," Lynden cut in. "He's done this twice before. He blackmailed and cheated them into his realm again after they rescued their children."
"Only twice?" Sarah asked, swallowing the lump in her throat. "Do you mean only two angered him enough to do it?"
"No, I mean only two have ever completed the Labyrinth before you. That I'm aware of anyway."
Sarah paled.
"Th-they did it again though, right? He let them off?" she asked.
Lynden glanced down at her feet.
"One was brought back so many times that he drove her insane. She did return home, but only to be taken into care."
Sarah was horrified. "And the other?"
"He chose a wrong door."
Tears formed in the human girl's eyes at the thought of all the people who had failed to rescue their siblings or offspring from the Goblin King. No wonder Lynden had reacted to her feelings with such loathing.
"But why was it so hard for them? I'm just an ordinary girl!" she sobbed, allowing Ludo, who was listening but barely understanding, to put a paw about her.
"I don't think people realise how easy it is for them to lose. Jareth is all-powerful here, but not over the mortals themselves," Lynden explained. "He isn't exactly untruthful when he calls himself 'generous', although he usually is capable of being more so." She sighed, her open mouth giving way to a toothless cave of shadowed water. "The only times people have won were either because he slacked or became caught up in his arrogance. I can feel it in the air when he's angry. The streams burn."
Sarah bit her lip but Lynden continued. "Except with you, something is different. The Labyrinth confuses itself somehow. Whenever you pass an obstacle, I don't hurt as much as I should." She shrugged. "This place likes it when you win."
Sarah put her shoes back on and got up from her seat, her attention now drawn to the path ahead.
"Then that's what I'm going to do," she said firmly. "Spell or no spell, Jareth can't have me, but I *will* find my friends."
Ludo and Lynden walked up either side of her.
"You're coming?" Sarah asked the water child in astonishment.
"Would I pass up the chance to see Mr Overdressed slip over on his pompous behind?" Lynden laughed. "With you all the way."
Sarah grinned at this, concealing her indignance as to the insult her friend had used. What was wrong with his clothes? Perfectly normal if you ask me, she thought. Put it this way, there's no hope of Jareth driving *me* insane. It's far too late.
The three companions set off through the swamplands and into the mists, halted for a mere few seconds by a yelp and a loud rustling. A watery voice echoed in the marshes.
"Sodding leaves."
***
As the journey progressed, the air became clearer and allowed the friends to travel at a quicker pace. They were muddied from head to toe, having pulled one another out of various oozing pits along the way. Sarah looked to the waters either side of her and noticed they had lost their density, no longer filled with grime and silt. They were almost pure and as she squinted, she swore she could see shapes moving in the depths.
"The Pools of Seeing," Lynden informed, stopping with her to observe them. "Every being imaginable can be seen in those reflections. They're all living people."
Sarah was lost in the mingling images, like spirits but distinctly colourful, each one different, mostly humans, but some were like nothing she had ever seen before. Amongst her kind were animals she recognised; other creatures lived out their lives with gleaming eyes (she assumed they were eyes), or cylindrical ears. There was even - these visions amazed her the most - an entire species that contrasted the radiant tones of the other images with ashen faces and jet-black cloaks.
"Does Jareth use these to watch people?" she wondered.
"He doesn't need to," Lynden answered. "His crystals show him what he wants to see and there is rumour that he prefers not to look into these things for too long. They say things can look back."
"The reflections can see you?" Sarah asked, retreating from the edge.
"No, they have no knowledge of us. But we don't think we're the only world that uses these pools," came the sinister reply. "Speak a name and think of someone, and you may look upon anyone you choose."
Sarah knelt at the side of the nearest pool and stared into it.
"Toby," she spoke and gaped in wonder as the surface rippled, wiping the images clean and replacing them with a shimmering image of her little brother. He lay fast asleep in his bed, just as she had left him. Time had hardly passed.
Relieved, his sister broke her gaze from the pool and permitted the sea of figures to clutter the scene once more.
"Hoggle," she commanded. Instantly, she found herself looking directly at a section of the Goblin King's throne room, but a frown passed across her face. "That's not Hoggle, Lynden, what's going on?" All she saw was a little old man wearing tattered rags and a crooked crown, helplessly chained to a wall.
"That's not your friend?" Lynden said with surprise. "Then why would the King have him there?"
Sarah gazed hard at the prisoner. "Maybe you're right. Things are never as they seem." She paused. "God, I really need to stop saying that."
Ludo patted her on her shoulder and uttered something softly.
"Where Brother?"
Sarah knew at once that he meant Sir Didymus, the brave fox creature with the eye patch, whom she had seen in Jareth's crystal and, indeed, in her dream. Believing him to be still in his cell, she called his name into the reflections and was granted with the image she had expected. Ludo growled and looked away from the vision of Didymus battling valiantly against his chains.
Lynden had wandered further down the path.
"Sarah!" she shouted. "There's a door over here!"
"I'll be there in a minute!" Sarah bellowed back, not bothering to question the ludicrousness of a door in the middle of a swamp. "Ludo, you go on. I'll catch up." The beast nodded and reluctantly headed off in Lynden's direction.
Sarah remained alone with the soothing yet eerie dance of the moving portraits in front of her. One thought tossed back and forth in her mind, irritating as an itch that could not be reached. She took in a deep breath, closed her eyes and voiced a final name into the depths.
Opening her eyes, she was unable to blink for fear of losing the sight she beheld. A room of deep violet and black glittered in the pool, the intricate swirls of gold on the carpet devoid of items. All but a curious pyramid of diamonds sticking upwards and providing light for the person who was languishing against the wall, a book in hand.
Sarah realised that something was not quite right with this scene when she looked at the ceiling of the room. Objects were hanging without support; large; small; curved; sharp; but it was the structure iced with rumpled sheets that gave it away. This was Jareth's chamber. And it was upside-down.
Jareth turned another page of 'The Labyrinth', gravity squealing and fleeing before it would dare disturb the arrangement of his fountaining hair. He tapped the inverted candelabra idly with his foot as it flickered. Sarah willed the viewpoint of the picture to rotate behind him in order to see the part of the story he was so interested in. She gasped. Words were zipping about like flies and rearranging themselves upon the page as he read.
He's rewriting the story to his own liking, she thought. She began to read the sentence he was making.
"The princess was so close now to completing her quest, but little did she know that the insidious Goblin King was watching her with his-." She saw the word 'mismatched' disintegrate. "-disparate eyes." There was an uncomfortable delay, and then more text began to appear. Sarah's heart skipped a beat when the letters, without speech marks, locked into position.
I CAN SEE YOU
She cried out as Jareth whirled to glare at her and reached towards her with a clawing hand. However, he was not grabbing for her. His fingers seemed to take hold of the top of the vision's frame. With a snarl, he wrenched the blackness down like a blind. The image vanished.
Sarah was already running flat out after her friends, not even hazarding a backward glance.