Toby and Sarah huddled together in the semi-darkness. As they both glanced around the room, they both became aware of something that neither of them mentioned, in hopes that it wasn't real. That "something" was the figure of the man standing arrogantly in the center of Toby's room.
He was dressed all in tight black leather, expensive looking boots, and wisps of darkly glittering black veils that passed for some sort of cape, fluttering in the wind from the open window. His face was proud, with a smile that showed sharp teeth, high cheekbones, and eyes – one green, one brown – that were accented by some sort of upswept dark makeup. As for his hair, that was nearly indescribable; it was mostly blond and mostly short, but some locks were blue and some locks hung down longer over his black collar. He was a proud, strangely handsome figure of a man, if somewhat intimidating.
And he hadn't changed at all since Sarah had last seen him.
There was a long moment of silence, and then finally Toby whispered. "S—Sarah? Who's he?"
As the man took a step forward, his boot landed squarely on a piece of paper that crumpled under his feet. He looked down in disgust, and Sarah fought back an absurd giggle. "Someone who's used to more flawless entrances, Toby."
Jareth didn't even spare her a single glance, though. His intense eyes were focused on Toby. His smug voice filled the room. "Do you know who I am?"
"N—no," Toby whispered. Sarah could feel him shaking. She could see that the king was just going to stand there, smiling arrogantly, so she spoke quietly.
"He's Jareth. He's the Goblin King." She would have said more, but Jareth's eyes fixed on her in disapproval, a warning clear in them. So after that, she remained silent, staring at Jareth in disbelief and wonder.
"Jareth? That name sounds...familiar," Toby said, still scared, but now wondering.
"King Jareth to you, boy," Jareth said. "But sadly, unlike your sister here," a careless nod in Sarah's direction, "you don't know anything about me."
"What are you doing here?" Toby slowly wriggled out of Sarah's arms.
"What am I doing here? I go where I wish, boy." Jareth chuckled slightly, a deep, rich sound. "But in this case, I'm here because there's a girl in my castle right now, a young lady who's most terrified, and you expressed a wish to save her."
"What?" Toby stared in disbelief. "A girl—a wish?" Jareth merely smiled as realization dawned. "A—Anna?"
"Is that her name? Yes, I do believe so."
"You did something to Anna?" Toby's blank face began to grown angry. "You kidnapped her?"
"Please, please." Jareth held his hands up to silence Toby. "'Kidnapping' is such a harsh word. I prefer to think that I merely borrowed her."
"Bring her back!" Toby said angrily.
"I'm afraid I can't do that, boy. If I started returning people of my own free will, it would imply that I regretted it." He shook his head in mock sadness. "No, boy, if she's to leave, someone would have to have the courage to come save her. Sadly, I don't think you're up to the task."
Jareth seemed to turn to leave, but paused at Toby's shouted, "Wait!" He turned slightly, showing a smirking profile. "Wait," Toby said again. "You would just... keep her there?"
"Of course."
"But that's wrong to keep a girl hostage!"
"She wouldn't be a girl forever, now would she?" Jareth tsked. "Perhaps I should have mentioned. Those humans I take... Well, they don't stay human. Eventually they turn into goblins and join their new brothers. Always a shame when that happens," he said, his voice dripping with false sympathy as Toby's eyes grew round. "It seems that their loved ones simply could not be depended upon to save them."
"Won't—won't one of her family save her, then?" Toby asked desperately.
One side of Jareth's mouth tipped up meanly. "I'm afraid not. You made the wish."
"I have to go save her?"
Jareth examined one of his gloves. "Wouldn't that just be a bother? Wouldn't you rather have something else?"
"Nothing!" Toby declared proudly, sticking his chin up.
"Not even this?" Jareth held up a small crystal ball. Sarah, who'd been staring at him unabashedly this whole time, suddenly felt the need to look away.
"What is it?" asked Toby uncertainly.
Jareth tossed the small ball to Toby, and when the boy caught it in his long fingers, it was a small composition book, much like the one Toby already had, except this one was black with wicked-looking designs on the cover.
"A book?" the boy asked incredulously. "I already have one, thanks. Anna's more important!"
"That's not just any book," Jareth said softly. "It's special. Whatever you write about in it, be it knights or dragons or wizards, it will come true."
"It will come true?" Toby repeated wonderingly, as he turned the book over and over in his hands, clearly itching to write something in it. He opened it and flipped through it, his mouth pursed in perusal.
Not once so far had Sarah been so desperate to say something as she was now. She'd been through this before and she knew very well what Jareth was doing – So should Toby, and if he didn't already, she needed to tell him. As she opened her mouth, the silent warning appeared in Jareth's eyes again, and she closed her mouth again slowly, somehow knowing that everything would go all the more badly if she interfered.
All the same, she had never been as proud of Toby as when, clearly reluctant, he forced his fingers to open and drop the book. It vanished without a sound before it even hit the floor, as Sarah had known it would.
"I'll take Anna over the book, thanks," Toby said clearly.
"Are you sure?" Jareth said forebodingly. "It's very dangerous."
"I'm sure. Where is she?"
"She's there." Jareth pointed off into the distance. Sarah and Toby looked around in astonishment. Somehow, the world around them had changed and they hadn't even noticed.
Gone was Toby's dark room with its crumpled pages and dirty laundry. They were standing outside in a place that seemed to be bathed by a dusty yellow sun. Dead trees littered the landscape around them... and in front of them...
Oh, in front of them lay a huge structure, stretching across what must have been several miles with the dusky sky behind it: mazes within mazes within mazes, swamps, forests, and at the middle of it all, a city with a towering castle.
Sarah knew it all. She had seen it before, and unlike Toby, she could put a name to it: The Labyrinth. It had nearly claimed her brother twelve years before, and it would have, but for the fact that she had fought through it, fought harder than she ever had before. It—and its king too—had nearly claimed her as well, she thought darkly, remembering the ballroom within the bubble, and the handsome king who had whirled her around into the seductive dance, staring deep into her eyes.
Involuntarily, she turned to look at Jareth, and found him looking back at her, his face a mixture of both astonishment and... disapproval? She drew in a deep breath through her nose. Considering what he'd wanted of her last time, she would have thought that he would be at least interested in seeing her again. Well, despite the fact that she had refused his offer and beaten him, reclaiming her brother, that is. But he'd not even spoken one word to her. That made her feel slightly put-out, which in itself, made her confused as to why she felt that way. Jareth wasn't a good man—He wasn't even a man! Or at least she didn't think he was.
His eyes held hers captive until Toby said, awed, "What is that?"
"It's my Labyrinth, boy," the king said proudly, his eyes easily sliding away from Sarah's, "and you have exactly twenty-four hours to get through it before your dear little girl finds that the life of a goblin is not all that bad."
Toby turned, frustrated, apparently to ask one more question, but Jareth was already gone. Only Sarah stood there, her heart beating irregularly through her black tank-top.
"Sarah?" Toby asked hesitantly, his anger fading. "Is this... Is all this real?"
She blinked a few times, trying to gather her thoughts. "It's real all right, Toby. It's real." Sarah's eyes wandered to the Labyrinth again. She was back. She had never thought she'd be back, ever, and yet here she was! Despite herself, a small pulse of excitement beat through her at the thought. All of her old friends were probably still here—Little Sir Didymus and his cowardly dog Ambrosius, the sweet monster Ludo, maybe even Hoggle, the first creature she'd met here, the small goblin who turned out to have a very big heart. Heck, she'd even be happy to see the Fierys again, despite the fact that they had wanted to pull her head off and play games with it. With an effort, she wrenched her thoughts back to the task at hand. "It's real," she said again. "And if we want to save Anna, we'd better hurry, hadn't we?"
He smiled at her, but it was a small smile, nervous. She didn't want to tell him that she'd been here before, but she was totally confident that they'd rescue the girl. After all, Jareth had given Toby almost twice the time he'd given her the first time, and she already knew the tricks of the Labyrinth. Though she knew that this attitude was precisely what had gotten her into trouble in the first place, Sarah couldn't help thinking that this rescue mission would be a piece of cake.
"Sarah?" Toby asked again. "How'd you get here too?"
"Huh?"
"Didn't that guy—the king—didn't he say that I was the only one who could rescue Anna? So how'd you get here too?"
She shrugged slightly. "Beats me, Toby. Maybe he decided to take pity and give you a companion for moral support?" Inwardly, though, she laughed. Jareth must have grown soft over the years. This wouldn't even be a race against time; it would be a leisurely stroll. Somehow, though, that disappointed her. Though it had been terrifying last time—Had it ever been exciting! What was the point of being here if it wasn't even exciting? She shrugged again. Jareth must have something up his sleeve, since he hadn't seemed to have changed at all. Not even physically. He looked exactly the same as he had the day he'd kidnapped her baby brother. He was definitely as exotically handsome as ever, even if the slight lines around his eyes denoted malice instead of smiles.
But this train of thought was beginning to disturb her. To keep herself busy as she and Toby walked down to the small garden in front of the massive walls of the Labyrinth, she thought about her boyfriend back at home. Though she and Will the football player had long since broken up, there had never been a dearth of men in her life; they had all been drawn to her long, thick brown hair, her pert nose, big dark eyes, and slender figure. Not all of the men had stuck around for very long, nor had she wanted them to. Ever since right before her graduation from college, however, she had been seeing a man named Brian. She conjured up his image in front of her: tow-headed, muscular, glasses in front of light green eyes, and a ready smile. He was not only good-looking, he was incredibly smart, and he loved her. Only the night before, he had given her a gorgeous rose. It hadn't been for any special occasion, it was simply that he felt like it had been too long since he'd let her know how wonderful she was. Though she hadn't quite agreed with that, she had been happy to accept the rose from him, along with a night alone together.
Yeah, Brian was a terrific guy. When this was over, Sarah promised herself, she'd make sure that he knew that she thought so.
The garden was exactly how she remembered: little dusty ponds and small plots filled with little dusty plants, all orange-tinted. Everything was so orange. Even the small fairies flying around the plants growing next to the walls of the Labyrinth weren't pure white: the sun shone on their pale skin and turned it a rosy orange.
When she turned her head, she noticed Toby beside her, staring at the fairies with an enchanted look on his face. She understood the feeling. Though everything that had happened so far had been real, actually seeing these small, delicate creatures somehow made it all seem real. They weren't exactly a bad first impression to get of the Labyrinth, though he would likely be disgusted at the sheer ugliness of many of the creatures within. As she watched, a small fairy noticed Toby. It landed gracefully on a wilted flower, tossing its hair back prettily, smoothing its transparent garment. Sarah looked at it disbelievingly. It was flirting with Toby. As she watched the small creature simper, giggling in a voice so small it could barely be heard, and preen for her little brother, she felt a sudden spark of jealousy. Though it was tiny, it was beautiful, and it certainly knew how to use that to its best advantage. Sarah was no slouch herself – in fact, she was considered very beautiful – but next to this small, lithe creature, she felt like a great, hulking nobody. It was a feeling that was only reinforced when Toby reached out a captivated hand to touch the fairy, giggling behind its tiny hands.
"Don't, Toby," she said sharply. "They bite."
He froze, his hand barely an inch from the beckoning creature. "No way, Sarah."
"You'd better believe it," she confirmed.
Toby blinked. "How would you know whether it bites or not?" As her mouth gaped, trying to think of an explanation that wouldn't really explain anything at all, Toby held his palm out flat, and the little fairy hopped nimbly onto it. Sarah braced herself, waiting for the cry of "ouch!" and for the fairy to go tumbling to the ground, a malicious smile on its little face.
But it didn't happen. Instead, the little creature preened a bit more in Toby's wide palm, then sat down on the edge of his hand, little slender legs dangling, swinging happily as it smiled a sweet little smile. Both he and Sarah leaned over the little figure, mouths open in astonishment, though for slightly different reasons.
"It bites, you say?" Toby said happily.
Sarah could only shrug helplessly. Maybe things had changed. A memory ran through her, glazing her eyes with tears, though she didn't know why.
"Ouch!"
"What?"
"It bit me!"
"Well, what did you expect fairies to do?"
"I... I thought they'd do nice things – like grant wishes..."
"Shows how much you know, don't it?"
She glanced around, hoping that Hoggle's stumpy form would appear from behind a plant, but for as far as she could see, there was only Toby, the small fairy in his hand, and herself. As she looked around in disappointment, the fairy hopped to her feet, beat her wings a few times, and dropped of the edge of Toby's slightly trembling hand. A keen cry of disappointment was torn from his throat, but it was cut short as the fairy rode a soft breeze and settled again, sitting firmly on his shoulder.
A smile of delight touched his face. "I think she wants to go with me," he whispered. Then he spoke to the fairy. "Do you want that? Do you want to go with me?" The only response he got was a small kiss against his cheek, but that was enough. "How about that?" he smiled at Sarah. "She wants to go with me."
"Sure, Toby," she replied, unaccountably depressed. "I don't see why not. We'd better get started."
"Okay..." he glanced around. "So where's the door to this thing?"
Sarah glanced around as well, expecting to see the large wooden door nearby, but on both sides, it was unbroken wall, as far as the eye could see. Last time, she'd had Hoggle to point the way for her.
Hoping that the fairy could be as helpful as Hoggle had been (if somewhat reluctantly), she bent over close to it and said gently, "Fairy, where is the door? How can we get into the Labyrinth?"
The small creature would not talk directly to her, but instead chattered into Toby's ear. Sarah looked at Toby.
"She says that her name is Chiaro, not 'fairy,'" he said to Sarah, as the fairy kept whispering to him. He frowned slightly as he listened. "She also says that there's no door."
"No door?!" Sarah exclaimed. "Of course there's a door! There has to be a door."
"Nope, no door. But," Toby said slowly, listening to Chiaro, "we can climb."
"Climb? What do you mean, climb?" Sarah gestured to the wall, frustrated. "Look at that. It's totally smooth. How can we climb?"
He nodded to a spot on his left. "We can climb that tree."
"Tree?!" Her head swung to the spot he had indicated. Though she could have sworn that there had been nothing there before, there was now a large tree with sturdy branches, flush up against the wall of the Labyrinth. She had let it slip her mind how quickly things changed in the Labyrinth, changing even as you looked at them. "A tree," she repeated.
Toby looked Sarah directly in the eye for the first time since right after Jareth had disappeared. "Will you be okay? I mean, you're not exactly an athlete, and I don't know if you've ever climbed a tree."
She shrugged. "Why not? You're not an athlete either. I'm not a total priss, Toby. Let's go."
They walked over to the tree, Chiaro snuggled firmly against Toby's cheek. With a grunt, Toby pulled himself up to the first set of branches, his slender arms shaking with the effort. Sarah stood below, trying not to stretch her arms out beneath him in case he fell.
"Are you doing ok?" she called up to him as he passed the halfway point.
"Yeah," he called back, though his breathing was slightly labored. "I haven't climbed a tree in a long time, but I'm doing okay."
Finally, he stood on top of the wall with a wide grin, the little fairy hugging his face. "Come on up, Sarah. It doesn't look like it's too far down to the other side."
She sighed. "Okay..." As she reached out to grab the lowest branch, there was a sudden crack, and a branch from much higher up on the tree separated itself from the rest of the tree and began to crash towards the ground, with Sarah right under it. Toby let out a yelp of warning, then lost his balance and fell backwards.
As it hit other branches on the way down, Sarah threw her hands over her head and fell to the ground, curling up protectively, tensing for the impact. She held her breath, but the expected impact never came. Slowly, she opened her clenched eyes and peered upwards. Then she sat straight up, staring wide-eyed.
The branch was gone, as if it had never been... as was the tree. Where it had been, there was simply a small plot of plants. She let out a shaking breath.
"Sarah? Sarah?!" She became aware of Toby's panicked cries from the other side of the wall.
"Toby," she managed to call back.
"Are you all right?"
"Yeah, I'm fine. Are you all right?"
"Yes, I'm okay. I mean," he coughed, "I landed on my butt, and it hurts, but it was only five or six feet down." She sighed, relieved. "Can you still climb, Sarah?"
"Um..." she glanced around, hoping that it would reappear. "The tree's gone."
"What do you mean, gone?"
"It's disappeared. There's only wall now, Toby."
"How could that be?" He sounded confused and suddenly scared.
"That's the way things are here," she called to him. "Everything keeps changing."
"But that's not fair!" he yelled back.
"Lots of things aren't fair." She sighed. "Toby, just go on without me, all right?"
"I can't do this without you, Sarah!"
Sarah bit her lip. "Sure you can! Look, Toby, I... I..." She trailed off. There was a waiting silence on the other side. The time had come. "I went through the Labyrinth when I was only a little older than you are now."
"What?" His shock was evident.
"There's no time to explain it now, but I did, okay? I went through the Labyrinth to save you. If I could do it, you can, all right? Go on without me, please!"
"To save me?"
"Yes! Look, you were just a baby, all right? I'll explain when all this is over. Go!"
"But... what are you going to do?"
She stared at the ground, not wanting him to know that she didn't know either. "I'll be fine! Toby, it's your time. Please, hurry."
He was silent for a moment. "Okay, Sarah, as soon as I've gotten Anna, I'll come straight back here and get you, all right?"
"Yeah," she called to him. "Good luck, Toby!"
There was no reply. Sarah listened closely, and managed to hear the sound of his sneakered feet moving away quickly. With a sigh, she slumped against the wall, staring at her feet, not sure what to do... if there was anything she could do.
Suddenly, the hair on the back of her neck prickled, and she glanced up reluctantly, stifling a shriek of surprise.
Jareth was standing right in front of her, his arms folded across his chest, staring her straight in the eye. He looked furious.
"What the bloody hell," he snapped, "are you doing here?"
