Author's Notes: I felt the urge to write a Labyrinth fic. I've always wanted to, but I hate the character of Sarah. She's so dumb...at least, the movie version of her is. I've read some fics where I like the way Sarah is portrayed, but I just didn't want to deal with her at all. So I decided to replace her with me. After all, my name is Sarah. And all of our characters are really parts of ourselves, anyway, right? So I just stuck a characterized version of myself into the story. I know, I know, you're all screaming MARY SUE ALERT! But give this first, short chapter a shot. I think you'll see that it can work. Review, let me know what you think, yada yada yada.
Warnings: Language, all the way through. Eventual warnings for violence, sexual content, and sadism/masochism. The individual chapters will have specific warnings. This one's harmless.
Disclaimer: I don't own The Labyrinth or David Bowie, but I do own myself. I'm not making money, and no infringement is intended.
Jareth stood and looked out the window of the tallest tower in his castle. His realm was always the most beautiful at night. The harshness of the twists and turns faded as light left the Labyrinth once again. In the distance, he saw the glow of fairies; just below him, in the city, the goblins were all finally finished with their reveling and were stumbling off to their beds. Jareth was glad to see them go. As their ruler, he felt obligated to treat them with a bit of decency, but it was difficult. Stuttering idiots, the lot of them, and more often than not falling down drunk. He relished the darkness of deep night, when the ugly and almost laughable trappings of his kingdom disappeared, and he could dream of what might have been. How things may have been different, if only...but no, it was pointless to think of such things. The situation stood - he was the Goblin King, and nothing in the world could change that now. What's done is done, as he was so fond of repeating to his victims. He was just so...alone.
Suddenly, a large goblin burst into the room, interrupting Jareth's reverie. Jareth didn't move, but continued staring out the window at the full moon. "How many times must I ask you to knock?" he asked the intruder.
"Sorry milord, but a call has just been made. You said to always inform you as soon as possible, you did, and that's all I'm doin', milord, sir," the goblin replied. He was one of the few that had a bit of intelligence about him, and thus Jareth had managed to get a few choice threats through his thick skull. As a result, he was properly obedient and respectful of his king, and thus Jareth had appointed him as the chief goblin - the only one he had direct contact with on a regular basis, if he could help it. His name was Harkin.
Jareth sighed heavily. "Yes, I did say that, didn't I?" Harkin nodded vigorously in agreement. Jareth rolled his eyes and resumed looking out upon the land. "Who is it, then? What's the name?" he asked apathetically.
"Sarah, milord. And now, if it pleases milord, I will go wake the others," Harkin said, leaving the room.
Jareth sat frozen in shock. That name - could it be her? The girl who'd given him so much trouble - and a glimmer of hope - all those years ago? It wasn't possible.... "What did you say that name was?" he growled, whirling around to face the room. But Harkin had already taken his leave. Jareth narrowed his eyes and turned back to the window one last time. If it was her, she would regret ever trying to reach him again.
Jareth stood with his contingent of goblins, ready to make the jump to the other world. He wasn't exactly sure how this part of the process worked - how he always managed to arrive just after the fateful words had been spoken, even though it always took hours to assemble the goblins who accompanied him on each jump...to "protect him," they said. He let them believe it. But tonight, he didn't preoccupy himself with these superficial thoughts. All his quick mind was focused on what he would say to that little witch who'd caused him so much pain...how he would make her suffer. Without a second thought, he summoned a crystal, felt the magic flow through him, and jumped.
"I wish the goblins would come and take you away, right now!" The cry rang through Jareth's head as he sped toward the human world. It was night there, too. Good. He loved to make a dramatic entrance. He heard a scream, and it was music to his ears. A cruel smile crossed his face. It begins.
They arrived, the goblins hiding themselves, Jareth fluttering in through the window in a fog of magic. It was a different room then the one he remembered, but it had been a long time. She would be older, though he, as always, remained the same. He saw two girls standing before him - and neither one of them was the Sarah he remembered. That threw him a bit...he had been expecting...but it was better this way. Just an ordinary, routine call. He took in the scene again, a bit calmer this time. It was a tiny, cluttered room, filled with bunk beds, two desks, two closets - a college dorm room. He had seen this before, though not often. Once reaching this age, most people were too cynical, too "smart" to believe in creatures like him. But evidently, not all of them were so blind. He looked at the girls. One was sobbing and screaming, her eyes wide at his dark, otherworldly appearance. She was tall, fat, ugly, and looked about as smart as one of his subjects. But the other...she was...intriguing. She was of average height and build, perhaps a bit on the heavy side, but it didn't take away from the mysterious beauty that surrounded her. Jareth glanced at her deep brown eyes and was shocked to see the intelligence in them...and the malice. Her full lips were spread in a small, evil, almost sadistic smile. She folded her arms and said, "See? I told you not to fuck with me, you bitch!" The other girl was still screaming, and Jareth rolled his eyes. He gestured to the goblins, and they swarmed her, pulling her back with them to the dungeons of his castle. He turned his attention back to the enigmatic creature before him. She met his stare unabashedly, that unnerving smile still on her face. "Hello, Jareth," she said.
He was thrown again (that was twice within the space of as many hours - not a good sign), but recovered himself and said, "You must be Sarah. What a pleasure!" And he graced her with an evil grin of his own. She held his gaze a bit longer, then strode to her window to take in the view.
"Ah, the castle beyond the goblin city! Just as I imagined it..." she murmured.
Intrigued despite himself, Jareth silently crept up behind her and said, "Indeed. Does it frighten you?"
She didn't flinch, merely turned her head to meet his eyes again and shook her head. "Why should I be frightened of it? Or should I say, frightened of you?"
Jareth stared. They were completely off the map at this point. He didn't know how to respond, so he didn't. Instead, he skipped straight to the point. "Since you seem to know so much about my Labyrinth, my dear, I'm sure you must be anxious to try it and get your dear friend back...before she becomes one of us forever. You have thirteen hours in which to-"
But he was cut off. "Get her back? Why ever would I want to do that? Keep her, turn her into a goblin, kill her for all I care! I wouldn't have called on you to take her away if I didn't actually want you to take her away! Granted, I wasn't sure if you'd actually come or not...but here you are. So I'm happy, you're happy, Leah's probably not so happy, but I don't care about her, so it's all good!" Sarah finished. Jareth didn't reply, didn't even move. He was stunned. Sarah gave him an odd look. "What, am I the first person to ever actually want someone taken away?" she asked. Jareth nodded. "Ah. I wondered why you looked confused. Look, I'll tell you what: you keep Leah and do whatever you want with her. Make her your queen, for all I care. Just keep her away from me, ok? Oh, and there are several other people who I think deserve just the same fate...so I'll be seeing you again soon. Now just let me go back to my room. I've got homework to do." she said decisively.