Disclaimer: I do not own Labyrinth
Sara reached the top of the echoless staircase, not knowing exactly how long each step took, and stopped in front of a perfectly smooth black crystal wall which lay in her path.
'Ok…is this a bad sign?' she asked herself, her heart beating rapidly, her reflection staring back at her with a look of uncertainty.
Just as she was contemplating turning back, starting to believe that she was not worthy of her decision, a strong, invisible force pushed her towards the wall, catching her reflection for a split second, her expression one of shear terror as she braced herself for the painful collision. She stiffened her body and clenched her teeth, waiting for the impact…which never came.
Sara turned around to look at the black crystal wall for an explanation when she realized that a hole in the shape of her body was now in the middle of the wall. Fascinated and extremely curious, she carefully tip toed back towards the wall when she noticed that it was not a wall at all, but a gravity defying screen of extremely small black crystal beads which melded together to allow solid matter to pass through unharmed. She gasped with amazement as the beads slammed together and smoothed once more into their previous state.
A little startled, she remembered exactly where she was. Jareth's Palace in the Goblin City. Stranger things than this were certainly yet to come.
"Excuse me!" A small voice said below her, starling Sara out of her musing,
Are you Master Jareth's new mistress?"
Sara turned to behold a tiny brown creature in a simple black garment crafted into what looked like a dress.
'Ah,' Sara thought, smiling down at the being, 'This must be a goblin female.'
She kneeled down to get a better look at the gobliness. She was about the size of a five year old human child, and peering at her with anxious yet curious bright green eyes.
"Miss," she began squeakily again, "are you Master Jareth's new mistress?"
"Yes," Sara said suddenly, not pausing to consider the question, "I suppose I am."
A wide smile broke out over the creature's face as she clapped her small wrinkled hands together.
"I am so happy!" she exclaimed, jumping up and down enthusiastically, "We have not had a mistress in many, many years!"
Before Sara could question about Jareth's former mistress, the female goblin grabbed her hands and began chatting away happily.
"My name is Agnes Mistress…?"
"Sara," she said, filling in the blank and beginning to look around the room she assumed to be hers.
She was extremely pleased as she took in the room, which seemed to be straight out of the middle ages. The phrase "bed chamber" had never been the correct term for her room back home, but described this room perfectly. Lavish tapestries, depicting stories unknown to her, covered the stone walls, a cheery fire casting shadows on the smooth curved surfaces of the stones from a dark wood fireplace, mythological beasts intricately carved into the wood so it appeared they were guarding the precious fire.
Several very comfortable looking chairs filled the room, scattered around a decorative table or to a corner which, to Sara's delight, appeared to be her own little library. A silky burgundy curtain separated another part of the room, which she assumed to be the bedroom.
"Mistress, Mistress!"
Sara was jerked from her fascinated trance the décor of the room had put her under by Agnes's loud insistence.
"Yes?" Sara asked wondering what had caused Agnes to be so eager to get her attention.
Agnes, who had obviously been bracing herself for an outburst from Sara relaxed and gave a toothy grin.
"Master Jareth wishes to see Mistress Sara in precisely one hour."
Sara's nerves clenched once more as she thought about his command.
'Well, it's not like you could exactly avoid him, is it?'
She knew that, but couldn't he give her a little time to rest and think about what she had agreed to?
"Come, come!" Agnes squeaked excitedly, "Agnes will rid you of all your worries and turn you into a proper mistress for Master Jareth!"
Without another word from Sara, Agnes dragged her to a large and elaborately craved wardrobe made of the same dark wood the fireplace seemed to be. The gobliness stood up on tiptoe, barely able to reach the little brass doorknobs, and opened the double doors, moving out of the way so that Sara could see the contents inside.
Once again, Sara gasped with delight as she beheld the most beautiful dresses she had only seen in her imagination. All recreations of Medieval garments, they shimmered in the light of the fire in all colors of the rainbow, some dripping with diamonds and other jewels, others simple but still extremely elegant.
"I think this one will do!" Agnes said reaching into the wardrobe, again on tiptoe, to pull out a gown of layers of shear light blue material.
In the blink of an eye, Sara, who was before this still dressed in a dirty, patched white shirt and jeans, was transformed into a graceful lady, her hair pinned up into a sleek bun, and chandelier earrings of sapphires glittering with the slightest turn of her head. The dress Agnes had picked out minutes before she now wore and could see more clearly. It was a spectacular creation, with long, draping sleeves of the floaty, light blue material, coming to a square neckline, the empire waist decorated with sapphires exactly like her earrings, ending with a train that fanned out like a shimmering sea behind her.
"How did you…?" Sara stammered at Agnes, who simply chuckled.
"Goblin magic," she said simply, winking at her.
Sara walked over to a full length mirror which was positioned beside the wardrobe and looked at her reflection, pleased for perhaps the first time at what she saw.
'If only Daddy could see me now,' she thought sadly, 'he won't think of me as a little girl.'
She pushed all thoughts of her father and the family she had decided to leave behind to thoughts of what lay before her. What that was she had no idea, but maybe it would bring her more joy than what she had given up.
"Mistress Sara must go to Master Jareth now!" Agnes said suddenly.
"Ok…" Sara replied, a little more confident now that she appeared to be a dignified lady, "How do I get there?"
Agnes, who had been scurrying around the room, cleaning up what little mess they had made, pricked her ears and looked at Sara.
"He is coming!"
And with a small crack of noise Agnes was gone.
Ok, I'm really sorry about how long this update took, I started college at the University of TN and I needed to get settled, but without a few dramas! Now that my live is somewhat back to normal, I will really try to update a lot more frequently.
Please review! Love and Peace! Kupo!