AN: Well, here's another post. We're coming close to the end, but there's at least four more posts (I might combine the last two). I just want to thank all those who have reviewed so far. I love readin them all. And all questions will be answered soon, so fret not. Don't you just love foreshadowing? Anyway, you know the drill. Please, read, enjoy, and review!
Jareth walked to the window of his throne room and looked out onto his vast Labyrinth. He had not seen Sarah all day, but he knew she was in the Labyrinth. Even though he could watch her through his crystals, he did not want to. The first time she had made her journey, it had been interesting since they were technically fighting each other, but he was not bored enough to watch her socialize with her friends. What concerned him though was the setting sun.
He had warned Sarah to be back before dark, but she purposefully defied him. While a part of him wanted to go in search of her, another wanted her to suffer for her defiance.
Jareth shook his head and decided that he would find her tomorrow. Stepping back from the window, he turned to the throne room and looked over the goblins with a sigh. Thoughts of Sarah breeched his mind again, and a smirk crept onto his face.
She would learn her lesson.
"I suggest we stop here for the night." Maxim said in the middle of a garden. They had been traipsing around the hedge maze for a long time, and while they did not stumble upon the wiseman, they did find a small garden filled with rose bushes and fruit trees. The area reminded Sarah of Alice in Wonderland and this did not sit well with her.
"We're painting the roses red." Sarah said as she gently touched a white rose. Maxim looked at her but did not ask for an explanation. Instead, he checked the fruit trees.
"We can have a humble dinner of fruit and then catch some sleep." Maxim said, picking a peach from the one tree. He was about to take a bite when Sarah and Hoggle saw.
"Don't!" They both yelled, shocking Maxim into dropping the peach.
"What is wrong?" Maxim asked, bending over to pick up the peach again.
"It would be better not to eat that." Sarah tried to explain. "I had a bad experience that came from eating a peach from the Labyrinth once."
"Really? Well, then I will take you word." Maxim said, walking farther into the garden. "There are benches over here. They might make a suitable place to sleep."
"Listen, Maxim," Sarah said, following him over to the benches, "I might as well tell you, Jareth warned me about being in the Labyrinth after dark."
"Why would he do that?" Maxim asked, not worried by Sarah's tone.
"He didn't tell me anything except that I shouldn't be here in the dark." Sarah said, noticing the Maxim was not taking her seriously. "I'm just trying to tell you that it might be dangerous."
"Don't fear, Sarah." Maxim said. He reached into his jacket and unsheathed a rather sharp dagger. "I am armed, and if we build a fire, I will keep watch and insure your safety."
"But the Labyrinth is not always easy, you should know that." Sarah tried to explain, but Maxim seemed to be convinced that he could handle what would come. Deciding to leave him to his delusions, Sarah sat down on one of the benches. It felt like she had walked miles and her legs were burning. Maxim sat down next to her, and she promptly inched away from him.
"What happened with the peach?" Maxim asked.
"The peach?" Sarah asked. Hoggle approached them and sat on a bench next to theirs. He watched them in silence as Sarah explained. "Oh, well, Jareth tricked me into eating a peach and it did something funny to me. I forgot who I was and I had this strange hallucination."
"Hallucination? What was it of?" Maxim asked. She didn't understand why he would ask her such pointless questions, but since he was not willing to tell her about himself, she obliged.
"I was in a beautiful gown and I was walking through a ball. Everyone had masks on, I think they were pretending to be goblins." Sarah said, trying to remember everything. She thought it would be hard to conjure up these images, but it was fresh within her mind. "The room was white but it was filled with color, and Jareth was there. We danced...and..."
Sarah had looked over at Maxim and saw that he had paled significantly. Maxim turned to her and asked, "What was he wearing?"
"Jareth? Uh...something blue, and his hair sorta matched it. Why?" Sarah asked, puzzled by his odd question.
"He shared that memory with you..." Maxim said, trailing off into his thoughts. "Why would he do that?"
"What are you talking about?" Sarah asked, alarmed with what she heard. "Maxim?"
Maxim turned to her and seemed to just notice that she was sitting next to him. "The masquerade ball, the one with everyone pretending to be goblins, that really happened."
"Maxim, speak some sense to me." Sarah said. He was still pale and she looked over to Hoggle for help. But Hoggle would not meet Sarah's eyes, and she realized that he knew the reason for Maxim's displeasure.
"The Masquerade was a trick. That was when Jareth banished me from my kingdom and took over. But why would he share that memory with you?" Maxim asked, looking at Sarah, searching for an answer.
"I...I don't know." Sarah said, shaking her head and falling into a thoughtful silence.
"You know, Sarah, Hoggle tells me that when children are wished away they turn into goblins within thirteen hours." Maxim said, breaking her thoughts.
"Yes, that's why I had to save my brother, Toby." Sarah said, looking down at her feet.
"When I ruled, children that were wished away by unloving people lived in my kingdom, but they did not turn into goblins." Maxim said. Sarah's eyes snapped up to him and saw that he had regained some of his color.
"Wait, then why do they turn into goblins now?" Sarah asked.
"That is Jareth's pwn doing." Maxim replied with a cold snap.
"That monster! How can he do that to those poor kids?" Sarah asked. She turned her eyes back to Hoggle, but he had wandered back through the fruit trees, away from them.
"What concerns more than his deeds are your loyalties to him." Maxim said, shocking Sarah.
"Loyalties? What loyalties do I have to him?" She asked with anger.
"He trusts you enough to give you one of his crystals. And he brought you to the Underground to live within his castle. Now why would he do that?" Maxim asked, looking into Sarah's eyes for the truth.
"I don't know. I have no easy explanation for any of his actions." Sarah said, shaking her head.
"I must believe you, because that is the only choice I have right now. But you must realize that when I reach my castle, you must give your loyalties to me." With Maxim's words, Sarah realized what she was doing. She was leading this man to Jareth to usurp him, and Sarah could not help but to laugh at the prospect. After all the pain that he had inflicted upon her, she would have her revenge. But did Jareth really ever hurt her?
"You have my loyalties, Maxim." Sarah said.
Maxim built a fire with the help of Hoggle while Sarah searched the garden for fruit, other than peaches. The sky darkened as they sat around the fire, eating apples. She was not sure if the apples would have the same effect as the peach did, but both Hoggle and Maxim seemed to think they wouldn't. And indeed, there was no reaction.
Finished with their makeshift meal, Sarah stood with the intention of retiring to one of the benches, but something was off. She turned to look at the benches that stood behind her, but could not see them. They had been engulfed by the black velvet of the appoarching night. Even looking up to the sky, Sarah could not see any stars, nor a moon. Something was terribly wrong.
"Maxim, it's too dark out here." Sarah said with a quiver in her voice. She turned to look at Maxim, and could barely see him in the encroaching darkness. But she was still able to make out a faint hint of worry upon the part of his face not hidden by shadow.
"It is, My Lady." Maxim said, his voice wavering. "Stay close to the light of the fire."
Sarah nodded and returned to the fire's side, but as she watched the flames, she noticed that they were not as bright as they once were. "Maxim, what's happening?"
But when Sarah looked up, neither Maxim or Hoggle were in sight. Her breathing became tense, knowing that he friends were lost somewhere in the darkness, and she returned her gaze to the flames. There were only the smoldering ashes of the fire to keep her company.
And slowly, those embers winked out in the suffocating darkness.
AN: Hello again. We're so close to the end...yet, I'm curious. Anyone have any guesses as to what will happen?