Labyrinth and Leroux

Chapter 6: Underground

Raoul led Jareth to Christine Daae's dressing room. He showed him the full-length mirror by a dim lantern light. Jareth ran his hands across the edge of the mirror searching for the switch. He couldn't see well enough in this light. With a wave of his dismissive hand he magically lit all of the lights in the room. Raoul spun round in horror and amazement.

"How did you do that?" he yelped at Jareth.

"Magic" Jareth replied disinterested still searching the mirror.

"What manner of man are you?"

Jareth stopped his search, stood upright and turned.

"Are you going to keep asking stupid questions? Just accept everything you see and shut up will you?"

Raoul opened his mouth to protest, but quickly shut it. This was no gentleman. He had the sudden realization that he may very well have made a deal with the devil to retrieve Christine.

Jareth returned to the mirror. At length he found the counterbalance. The mirror turned and the secret passageway presented itself. It was pitch black.

"Oh Christine. Oh my darling. How could you have walked down such a dark hallway?" Raoul moaned to himself. Jareth shook his head.

"Well obviously she's much braver than you, you big pansy. Do you want to know why your girlfriend ran of with this ghost? Because at least he's the ghost of a man. You're nothing but a scared little girl."

"You question my manhood? How dare you!'

"Pfff. I don't have time for you and your willowy commentary. Thanks for showing me the way in. This is where I leave you." Jareth turned to enter the passageway.

"No you do not! I must find Christine. I'm coming with you."

"I don't think so." Jareth snapped his fingers. From out behind every piece of furniture and every corner came his goblins. True to form Raoul screamed like a little girl and ran out the door. Jareth laughed. His goblins starred at him.

"Well laugh" they joined in.

"That's enough. Back to the castle with you" and the dressing room went back to normal. Jareth turned towards the passageway. He snapped his fingers and lit all the torches that lined its walls. He walked forward. The mirror's counterbalance turned and sealed him inside. As someone who had created a labyrinth, he highly doubted that this one would be very difficult to solve. He had found the entrance. It was a start.

Jareth walked through the underground passageways noticing that they were not intended to be a labyrinth after all. It was remarkably straightforward. The passageways seemed more like roadways to the different subterranean levels, than any sort of puzzle. He was really quite disappointed with the Opera Ghost's domain.

As he turned a corner, Jareth found three corpses.

"Interesting…" he kicked at one of them. Nope, not dead after all. The opera house workers looked like some of his more useless goblins. Yes this underground really was a disappointment. Hardly anything to challenge him. What was the point of trying to be a knight in shining armor for Sarah? If all this place had to offer was drunk workers, foppish suitors, and one crazy guy spooking the normal people, well Jareth was certain Sarah could take care of herself. She would probably be bored to tears by now.

Jareth walked deeper and deeper into the opera house caverns, a constant descent. A sound began to rumble ahead if him. He arched an eyebrow. The screeching became louder. A wave of little legs, nails, claws and teeth came bounding towards him. Rats. Hundreds and hundreds of rats.

It was a pretty scary booby trap. It might very well have scared a lesser man. Jareth waved his hands and brought forth a crystal ball. He threw it into the dark and stood back. The cleaners started seesawing their way towards the rats. Operated by two goblins, the cleaners was a contraption used to clean the passageways beneath his own labyrinth. The cleaners rammed into the rats flinging their screeching bodies into the walls. The rats scattered into any alcove and any exit they could find. The cleaners faded off into the distance. So much for the rats.

Bored. Bored. Bored. That's all Jareth could think about as he walked deeper into the opera's underground. There were no puzzles, no talking creatures, and no real traps. If Sarah weren't somewhere down in the dark he would have gone home already. He did want her. He tried to focus on that one goal, but the impetuous child in him really did want to run off and find something more exciting to do. He was so distracted by his own pity party that it took a second to realize that his feet were now sloshing around in water. Jareth looked down and saw his boots were covered up to his ankles. He looked up.

Jareth stood at the shore of a vast underground lake. At the center stood a small house, lights dimly flickered within. He thought chances were good to fair that Sarah was inside. Jareth looked around for a boat. None in sight. He tried to conjure one. His magic didn't work. He tried again. Nothing.

"Well well well. Maybe this ghost is cleverer than I thought. Some sort of blocking spell?"

Jareth surveyed the lake and the distance to the house at the center. He didn't need a boat. It wasn't that far. He could swim it. Jareth removed his coat and tie and walked into the lake. Just a short swim and Sarah would be his.

Jareth had not gotten very far when he first heard it, the Siren's Song. It was sort of a half-breath half-music coming from all around him. It intrigued him. He treaded water waiting for a beautiful mermaid to pop out from underneath him. It was not a mermaid that finally greeted him. Two monstrous arms shot up from under the water grabbing Jareth by the neck and pulling him down. Jareth fought hard, his limbs flailing in the dark water. He broke free and pushed his way back to the shore. Jareth stumbled onto the rocky edge, his clothes weighing heavily on him. The white of his tuxedo shirt was so soaked with water it now seemed invisible against his skin.

Jareth heard a deep laugh echoing through the cavern.

"Why try to enter my house magician? I never invited you!" Erik called out. Jareth grimaced. This ghost was really starting to get on his nerves.

"I'm here to retrieve what is rightfully mine." Jareth spat at him. Erik laughed.

"Yours? I think not magician. She rejected you years ago. Oh yes Sarah told me all about you. You and your parlor tricks. Turn back Jareth, there is nothing for you here."

"Who the hell do you think you are? It was MY magic that brought Sarah here in the first place. Do you honestly think I'm going to just leave her here with a nutcase like you?"

"Sarah has made her choice. Turn back Jareth. Turn back before it's too late."

The words seemed all too familiar. How much did Sarah tell this so-called Opera Ghost? Obviously too much. The bastard was taunting him with his own words to her to turn back and forget Toby.

"So what do you honestly think you can do to me hmm? You've just seen a tiny bit of the magic I can do."

"You're magic won't work here Jareth. I thought you would have already realized that after your little swim in my lake."

Jareth was ready to bite. The other man clearly wanted to tell him the reason his magic suddenly wasn't working.

"What exactly did you do? Blocking spell of some sort?" Jareth called out.

"I told you this is MY opera house. Everything in it is mine. I control it."

"Bull. I did magic in your opera house earlier. You saw it."

"Yes but that was before I knew the secret. Sarah told me. I know how to stop you and you magic from controlling me or my domain. Yes Sarah told me. You have no power over me!"

"Damn." Jareth swore.

"Mwaa haa haa haa! You'll have to face me as a man. Turn back Jareth or you will be dead within the hour."

"I'll take my chances you masked freak"

"Come then monsieur. Let the dance begin."

Jareth stepped forward. As he did the Punjab lasso tightened around his ankle. He had not seen Erik attach it during their struggle under the water. The rope pulled taught. Jareth had just enough time to take one last breath. The rope pulled him into the lake. It pulled him fast and hard through the water to the opposite shore. The mechanical contraption retracted the rope pulling him forward towards the house. Jareth tried to break free but there wasn't enough time. Erik laughed as he watched Jareth being pulled into the house. Last stop—the torture chamber.