Sarah stares at Abe with worry in her eyes. Before she can say anything, Abe's head snaps towards the window and his eyes widen slightly.
"Oh god, no," he whispers. "Liz."
In a heartbeat Abe is scrambling across the room and onto the window ledge. He crouches there at first looking like a giant blue and black frog. Then he stands up as far as the window will allow him. Sarah gets up and joins him, climbing up next to him.
Directly below them they can see the goblin city. Beyond that, there's the junk yard, the forest and finally, the Labyrinth itself. Sarah doesn't need to ask Abe what he's looking for; she can see the fire raging through the hedge maze.
Suddenly, the edge of the fire shoots straight up into the air. They watch in surprise as the flames go more than a half mile up into the sky.
"Jareth," Abe says. "He's created a shield to try and contain Liz's fire."
"Who's Liz?" Sarah asks as they watch the flames start to die down.
"Another freak like Hellboy and me," he answers. "She's a pyrokinetic. She can create and control fire. Unfortunately, sometimes she has episodes where she loses control. Once it's over she'll be unconscious anywhere from a few minutes to a few hours. I wonder why Jareth let her come along."
"Toby," Sarah barely chokes out. "He's in the middle of that isn't he?"
"If she's with Hellboy, then yes," Abe answers quietly.
He puts a comforting arm around her shoulders as her body starts to shake. Silent tears fall down her cheeks as she leans into Abe for comfort and support.
They watch as the last of the flames die down and the thick heavy smoke that it created gets blown away by the wind. They continue to watch until Jareth reappears behind them.
"Well, aren't you two just precious," Jareth sneers. "I certainly hope you're not planning on trying to escape that way. It's a very long way down."
Abe and Sarah turn toward the king and see that he's already lounging on his throne. He's pointedly not looking at them as he idly taps his riding crop on his boot. Abe can feel the jealousy radiating from the monarch.
"T-T-Toby," Sarah stutters. "Is he…?"
"He's fine," Jareth replies, still not looking at them. "He's safely tucked away in one of my oubliettes."
Relief washes over her which is quickly followed by despair. She sinks down and sits on the window ledge. Her shoulders are slumped in defeat.
"What about the others?" Abe asks.
"The knight, beast and dwarf are all fine, as are your friends," Jareth answers noncommittally.
"Sir Didymus, Ludo and Hoggle are with them?" Sarah asks; hope returning once more as she sits up with her shoulders back.
"Yes," the king snarls.
"Hoggle will find Toby," she states.
"I wouldn't be so sure, my dear," Jareth replies finally looking toward them with a smirk plastered onto his face. "The Labyrinth is filled with oubliettes. Toby could be in any one of them."
"But Hoggle is with them," Sarah points out. "If he could find me in the oubliette that I fell into, then he can find Toby."
"The only reason that Hoghead found you is because I sent him to you," he mocks as he watches her eyes grow large.
"Hoggle," she corrects as gravity takes a hold of her head and shoulders again causing them come down once more.
Between Sarah's roller coaster emotions and Jareth's jealousy, Abe is getting the granddaddy of all headaches. It doesn't help that without the respirator he's starting to have trouble breathing. He quietly steps off of the window ledge and walks back towards his discarded equipment.
He sits back down and fiddles with the respirator for a while. After dumping what little water is left in the thing onto his head, he carefully takes it apart. Closer examination confirms what Abe already expected; it's damaged beyond repair. Putting it back together is an exercise in futility, but he has nothing better to do. So with meticulous care, Abe reassembles his respirator. When that is completed, he pulls his knees up to his chest and puts his head on them.
Jareth has been watching this whole process from the comfort of his throne. He idly wonders about those moving things on the side of Abe's neck, but not so much so that he's willing to interrupt the blue man. He's so engrossed in watching Abe that he never even notices Sarah move off of the ledge.
"Please, let him go," she begs quietly.
Jareth gives a little jump of surprise. He quickly recovers and looks at Sarah. She's kneeling at the base of his throne and looking at him with pleading red rimmed eyes. It's obvious that she's been crying, and Jareth would like nothing better than to pull her into his arms and comfort her. However, he's not about to show any weakness in front Abe.
"No," he simply answers turning away.
"Please," she pleads.
"Why should I?" he asks with a smirk.
"Because he's dying," she answers almost sounding desperate.
"Oh, don't be so melodramatic, my dear," he sneers. "A few hours in an oubliette won't bring any harm to your brother. In fact, it might do him some good."
"I'm not talking about Toby," she replies a bit hotly. He turns and looks at her with a raised eyebrow. "I'm talking about Abe. Without his respirator, he'll die."
With a sigh, Jareth closes his eyes and pinches the bridge of his nose between his thumb and forefinger as he leans on the same arm. Why did this have to be so complicated? Why did these people have to show up and ruin everything?
Jareth swiftly stands and walks towards Abe. Without a word to the merman, the king picks up the abandoned respirator and looks at it. Abe looks up at him with curiosity.
"I can't fix it," Jareth states, casually dropping the respirator into Abe's lap.
"Why not?" she asks.
"Because it's made of a synthetic material," he answers looking over at her still kneeling on the floor. "I could damage it further, but I can't fix it."
Jareth looks back down at Abe. Abe has returned to resting his head on his knees. Jareth has a perfect view of the back of the things on Abe's neck. It finally dawns on the king that they're gills.
"What do you require to survive?" Jareth asks Abe with an exasperated sigh.
"Water," Abe answers looking back up at Jareth. "Preferably enough to submerge in."
Jareth creates another crystal and starts playing with it as he walks back towards his throne. He reclaims his seat and casually looks around barely registering that there are no goblins in the throne room. With an almost negligent flick of the wrist, the crystal flies through the air and lands in the pit. When it touches the bottom, it pops like a bubble and the pit is instantly filled with clear, clean water.
"You can use that for now," Jareth states casually. "After Hellboy loses, then we'll find you more permanent arrangements."
Abe looks at the water for a moment and then quickly strips off the rest of his dry land equipment. Without even standing up, Abe crawls across the stone floor and slides into the water, barely making a wave in the process. Abe sighs with relief as the cool water soothes his aching body.
Thank you, Jareth hears Abe's voice in his head.
"Thank you," Sarah says a split second later
"You're welcome," Jareth responds to both of them.
The two land dwellers observe the merman as he sinks to the bottom of the pit. They continue to watch as he closes first the nictitating membranes and then his eye lids. There's isn't a lot of oxygen with this little water, so Abe doesn't want to waste it by moving around a lot. Abe relaxes and starts to meditate giving the appearance of sleep.
Sarah stands back up and goes over to the widow again. Climbing back up onto the ledge, she pulls her knees up to her chest and rests her chin on them. She looks back out over the Labyrinth and sighs as the depression takes hold of her again.
"Would you like something to eat?" Jareth asks.
"No, thank you," she answers. "I'm not hungry."
"Nonsense," he responds. "You have had nothing to drink or eat since you got here. You must be hungry by now."
"No, thank you," she repeats.
"How can you possibly not be hungry?" he asks getting rather annoyed.
"Being kidnapped and then told I'll belong to you in a matter of hours tends to do weird things to my appetite," she grumbles.
"I didn't kidnap you," he replies standing up.
"Sorry, getting wished away and told that I'm going to be your slave tends to do weird things to my appetite," she sarcastically replies. "Besides, the last time I accepted food that was from you I ended up forgetting everything and had a very bizarre dream.
"There's more to this world than just the parts you've seen," he says as he comes up behind her, deftly changing the subject. "It's a very beautiful world that hasn't been damaged by people or pollution."
"I'm sure it is," she responds.
She is trying to ignore the feelings starting to course through her. He's so close she can feel his body heat. She suppresses a shudder as her body yearns for him to touch her.
"Would it be so terrible to live here?" he asks.
"Probably not if I came of my own free will," she answers bitterly. "But that's not an option now, is it?"
Hearing the water lap against the sides of the pit reminds Sarah of something.
"Where's the bathroom?" she asks turning to face him.
Jareth looks at her suspiciously at her for a minute and then he turns to order a goblin around. He finally notices that there are no goblins in the room. He creates another crystal and peers into it. The goblins are sitting around in the foyer trying to remember what they're doing there. With a sigh of disgust, Jareth throws the crystal at the wall across the room and a door appears.
"You'll find what you need in there," he tells her.
"Thank you," she says as she slides off of the ledge and disappears through the door.
"Why have I become so weak?" Jareth questions the air as he retakes his seat.
Being in love is not a weakness, Abe answers.
Jareth practically jumps out of his skin when Abe does that. Looking back down into the pit, Abe hasn't even so much opened an eye lid, much less moved. The only movement is his gills gently pulsing along the merman's neck.
"And you would know this because…?" Jareth asks mockingly.
Try doing something to Liz and see what Hellboy does to you, the merman replies. It may give your enemies leverage against you, but it will give you a strength that you never knew you possessed.
"What makes you think I'm in love anyways?" the king inquires suddenly defensive.
Why else would you go through all the time, energy and trouble it took to get Sarah back here? Abe asks.
"Revenge," Jareth answers confidently.
Maybe that's your rationalization for your actions, but that's just your brain trying to find an excuse to do what your heart wants, Abe comments. I would suggest that you tell Sarah the truth about how she got here. If she finds out any other way, it may cause irreparable damage to your relationship with her.
"I don't believe this," Jareth mutters. "I'm getting love advice from a glorified goldfish."
Jareth can hear Abe chuckling in his mind. Before Jareth can respond further, Sarah comes back through the door. Her clothing is still a mess but the tear streaks on her face are gone indicating that she's washed her face. Jareth watches her as she reclaims her spot on the window ledge.
He thinks back to the first time he saw her. She was little more than a child on the verge of becoming a woman. Her belief in the fantastical was so strong that it called him to her between their worlds. She had the book that only those who truly believed would ever be able to possess. Not only did she read the book, she acted it out and that's what fascinated him the most. He would go to watch her practice in the park in the form of an owl. He would watch her for hours.
Some people would call that stalking, you know, Abe points out.
Jareth ignores him and continues in his musings. He wanted to go to her in his true form, but knew that it was too soon, that she was not ready. Then she forced the issue by wishing Toby away, and he stepped into the role that she expected of him: The Evil Goblin King. It killed him to do it, but for her he reordered time and moved the stars. Nine years ago she was too young to appreciate that, and he knew it. But now, she was a grown woman, still full of the fire and passion that attracted him to her in the first place.
Then tell her, Abe encourages.
Jareth looks at Sarah again. Her back is to him and she hasn't moved from her spot on the ledge. He can see the bandages on her back through the holes in her shirt. Thoughts of drop kicking a few goblins for the way they handled her cross through his mind and he stands and walks over to her.
He stands off to one side of the window so he can see her face. She's looking down and she doesn't look all that happy. In fact, it looks like she's mad. In her hand is the book that started everything. She's scanning the pages looking for something. She turns and looks at the king, the fire back in her eyes.
"How did Toby learn the words?" she asks, straining to keep her voice even.
Jareth stares at her for a moment before he finally answers.
"What words?" he asks nonchalantly.
"The words to wish me away," she replies heatedly. "They aren't in the book. When I wished him away it was an accident, but he intentionally wished me away. That means that someone gave him the words and I know it wasn't me."
"Oh, those words," he stalls. "Are you sure you wouldn't like something to eat?"
"Don't change the subject," she growls. "It was you, wasn't it? You gave Toby the words. You told him to wish me away."
"Would you like some clean clothes?" he suggests.
"Stop trying to change the subject, Jareth!" she yells slamming her fist down onto the window sill. "Did you or did you not give Toby the words so he could wish me away to you?"
"That's the first time you've ever called me by my name," he says quietly. "But to answer your question, yes, I gave Toby the words."
"How could you?" she asks nearly in tears. "I had a life back in the Aboveground. What right did you have to take that away from me?"
"A life?" he asks hotly. "Is that what you call it? You work night and day to try and make ends meet; you have no human friends, no social life and a family that takes advantage of you. You've lost your dreams. Why would you want that when I can give you your dreams? I can give you anything you want."
"But you didn't offer me my dreams, now did you?" she cries out. "Instead, you trick Toby into wishing me away!"
"I offered you your dreams nine years ago," he reminds her.
"I was fifteen years old," she reminds him. "And what choice did I have? It was my dreams or Toby. That's not much of a choice."
"It was never about the child," he tries to reason. "I would have returned him home if you had stayed."
"I WAS FIFTEEN!" she screams. "I wasn't ready for that type of relationship. And let me tell you about a little thing called statutory rape."
"A couple of hundred years ago, a fifteen year old girl would not only be married, but a mother as well," he informs her.
"Yeah, well, welcome to the twenty first century!" she yells.
"Could you two take this somewhere else?" Abe asks before Jareth can respond.
Abe is leaning on the edge of the pit with the lower half of his body still submerged.
"Why? So you can try and escape?" the king asks looking daggers at the merman.
"And how far do you think I'll get without my respirator?" Abe counters.
Jareth stares at him for a few moments and then produces two crystals. After spinning them around in his hand a couple of times he throws the first one towards the door that leads out. Two goblin guards appear looking a bit confused.
"Guard the door, and don't let him leave," the king orders, pointing at Abe.
"Yes, Your Majesty," the both answer with a bow.
Grabbing Sarah by the hand, Jareth drags her off of the window ledge. She starts to struggle and tries to pull away.
"I'm not going anywhere with…" she starts to protest as Jareth throws down the second crystal. "…you."
She finishes her bold statement rather weakly as she looks around an all too familiar room. A shiver runs down her spine as she looks around. Nothing has changed. It's still as beautiful and decadent as she remembers. The only difference is that there is just the two of them in the ballroom.
