A Prophecy Speaks
Author's Note: I own nothing to do with Labyrinth.
Chapter 5 –or- All Her Worldly Possessions
Sarah sat down with her telephone in her hand. She knew she should be crying. She was taking it all rather well, she thought.
It's not like anyone but Toby would truly miss her. Her dad was gone, lost to a heart attack they all should have seen coming. Karen had taken Toby to live in Europe, and had not spoken to her since her father's funeral. If Sarah cared about anyone in the mortal realm it was Toby. He was eleven now. He was so like herself at that age. He hated Europe. He loved his mom and everything, but he missed Sarah.
Luckily, it was Saturday morning in London. Sarah hated to interrupt them, but she dialed the number for Toby's private line anyway. Karen always gave Toby anything he wanted, though why an eleven-year-old would need his own phone was beyond Sarah's reasoning. She was happy for it now, though. It rang twice before her baby brother picked up the phone.
"'Allo?"Toby answered the phone with a phony British accent. Sarah rolled her eyes.
"Hey, baby brother," Sarah greeted him.
"Sarah! I miss you!" Toby said enthusiastically.
"Miss you, too. Is Karen around?" Sarah asked him. Karen always seemed to make things more complicated, even when she didn't talk to you.
"She's on the other side of the flat having tea," Toby assured her.
Sarah rolled her eyes. "I don't suppose that includes crumpets?"
"Sure does."
I can't even roll my eyes back far enough, Sarah thought.
"What's going on, Sissy?" Toby asked her.
"Hoggle gave me a letter. Jareth wanted to see me," she explained.
"That cannot be a good thing," Toby told her.
"Toby, I have to move to the Underground." Sarah told him, rather abruptly.
"What? Why?" Toby asked her with a little fear in his voice.
"Have you ever heard of a prophecy?" Sarah asked him.
"Sure, they're in a lot of books I read. Sarah? Is there a prophecy about you?" Toby guessed.
"Yep."
"Neato."
"A prophecy spoken by an Elvish monk a long time ago, as a matter of fact." Sarah began to recite the prophecy, leaving out the consummation part. He did not need to hear about that.
"Shit!" Toby exclaimed.
"Watch your language." Sarah said automatically.
"Well, you can't die," Toby said matter-of-factly"That would be bad."
"I'm going to ship my vanity to you, Toby," Sarah told him, "That way, after I turn 25, you can call on me like I call my friends."
"What will you do with everything?" Toby inquired.
"How much responsibility do you want, Toby?" Sarah asked him.
"I will figure out how to take care of it for you," the young boy assured her.
"I am going to send you all my personal papers, manuscripts, and some other stuff. I'm only taking a few things with me. I am going to send you every scrap of money I have. I will not need it down there. You are already the beneficiary of everything I have. Pretend like I am still here. Don't tell Karen." Sarah explained.
"She never asks and I never tell," Toby said nonchalantly.
"Maybe one day you can come to the Underground too. Maybe." Sarah tried to reassure him.
"When are you leaving?" Toby asked her softly.
"Next Friday is when I told Jareth I would call again." Sarah told him.
"So soon?" Toby asked.
"I'm going to marry someone I know almost nothing about, Toby. I need time if I am going to wed him in less than four months. I want to be happy, at least." Sarah explained.
"I love you, Sarah." Toby said simply, and Sarah smiled.
"Love you, too. In a month you will sit in front of the mirror and say my name. I'll come. Promise."
They said their goodbyes and hung up.
Sarah sat down on her bed and buried her face in a pillow. She never thought it would turn out like this. She liked it Underground, way better than she liked the Aboveground. That was not the problem. And it was not like Toby would never be able to see her again.
Sarah thought she would marry for love. That was her dream. The fairy-tale princess part of her never gave that dream up. She wanted someone to love her deeply, and passionately. She wanted to feel she could drown in someone's kisses and feel like she on fire when he touched her skin. She wanted someone to be so intertwined with him that she could not tell where she ended and where he began. She wanted a love that would make her breath catch, a love worth dying for. She knew it sounded naive, but she knew it could exist. She knew it had to.
But all she knew now was that fate and destiny were forcing her hand. All she could do is throw caution to the wind and see where life would lead her. It was useless to fight prophecy. Even if she did, she knew it would lead her again and again to this same decision until she died.
And still, she cried.