Greetings readers welcome to part 2! in this chapter we see a little more of Sarah and her friends with some interacts between Sarah and the spirit and we also get another familiar face. This chapter is by far the longest therefore it's going to be split into 3 parts with the ending of this chapter in part 3. Please don't forget to leave comments and reviews, enjoy!
Please note: 'thoughts' and "Spirit voice"
disclaimer: I do not own the Labyrinth movie or book, characters, materials, songs, or anything
Fruits of the Labyrinth:
Part 2
A lonely meadow in the mid-afternoon, wildflowers dispersed across the ground brushing against the tall grass, dots of reds, pinks, yellows, purples, and blues romantically mixing into each other. Weeping willows smoothly tickled the heads of the flowers and grass, silver birches bark glowing in the sun making them reflect the light which made the meadow look all the more beautiful, silent breeze gently pushed along the pollen in the air with shimmers of magic glimmering in sky. This is Jareth's private meadow, one he plans on showing Sarah one day.
Grandly stepping into his meadow, the goblin king ungloved his hands letting his naked fingers caress the grass and flowers, Jareth very rarely removed his gloves so allowing himself the sensation of touching something as delicate as flower petals were indescribable to him therefore he savored this moment, basking in the sun, he closed his eyes enjoying its warmth and the feel of the flowers tantalizing his fingertips.
The only thing he could hear was the gentle breeze whispering to him.
He peaked his strange eyes and looked down at the flowers still lazily swaying in the wind, he pondered to himself what he was going to give Sarah and whether or not she'd understand it. thousands of noiseless voices were speaking to him about what Sarah's reward should be.
The language of flowers has been used by the Fae for centuries, they use flowers for any meaning whether it's small or large, they understood how a flower and its arrangement can speak without words, and the Fae understand the significance of a flower. Fae taught humans the language of Flowers in the time humans and fae were still living together, however since the fae and mortal world split there has been some loss in translation with Humans buying flowers without understanding them. Jareth also plans on teaching Sarah the importance of this lost language.
The idea flashed to him as he smirked, he knew Sarah wouldn't understand the meaning of her gift but that was part of his fun. He smiled, gloriously bathing in the sun.
...
*Whilst Jareth was at the castle*
Sarah muttered under her breath about the lazy, stupid, handsome Goblin king making her way down to her friends as they were gathered under a pear tree already bickering with each other.
"I don't wants to do this! I'm only doing it because Jareth told me to!" Hoggle exclaimed, folding his arms in an adamant sulk
"But Sir Hoggle, we have been requested by the King to harvest these fine fruits before day's end and I cannot refuse the king" Sarah had to admire Didymus' loyalty to Jareth no matter how dumb his requests were.
Sarah looked over to the tallest of the trio, sweet Ludo just looking happy to be with them and the task was simple enough for him.
"And what do you think Ludo?"
"LUDO PICK FRUIT" Ludo had his wicker basket in his mouth for some reason leaving his arms free making Sarah giggle at his simplicity.
"an' how we supposed to get all the fruit, we only have dang one ladder between the four of us" Hoggle complained still annoyed.
Sarah looked over to see there was a single ladder propped up against the apple tree opposite them, Sarah stood there for a good moment with the trio looking at her for an answer.
"I've got it" she snapped her fingers at her eureka moment
"Okay, we only have one ladder so, I'll take the ladder that way I'll be able to reach and it lightens the workload if we pick separately, Ludo you're tall enough to reach and you can use both your arms with the basket in your mouth" Sarah encouragingly smiled up at Ludo to make sure he understood her, he pricked his ears up which Sarah took as a sign that he understood.
"And what about us, Fair Sarah?" Didymus innocently questioned
"Okay, umm..." Sarah paused again, looking over Didymus and Hoggle "Seen as you two are the smallest, it would make sense for you, Didymus, to climb on Hoggle's shoulders so you can get the higher hanging fruit then you can pick separately for the lower hanging fruit, you can even use Ambrosius for help" She smiled confidently.
"But I don't wanna do that!" Hoggle burst
"What do you suggest then?" Sarah challenged back
"Well...I...uh..." Hoggle went quiet, growing annoyed with himself at his struggle to come up with a different suggestion
"I got it! That I go back to outer walls sprayin' fairies an' let you lot have your fun" Hoggle chuckled
"and you face Jareth" Sarah teasingly warned
Hoggle grumbled to himself, begrudgingly picking up his basket from the ground "fine, c'mon Didymus" Hoggle trudged to the base of the pear tree "I'm glad you came to your senses, dear brother" Didymus joined him with him soon beginning to climb onto him leaving Sarah with Ludo "Okay Ludo, you see that tree over there" Sarah pointed over to the cherry tree standing behind the pear tree "You take that one, but you gotta be careful with those cherries, okay? and no eating them too" Sarah waited for Ludos's look of acknowledgment "LUDO PICK FRUIT NO EAT" she smiled at him feeling his heavy feet lightly thudding on the grass making his way to the cherry tree, luckily the grass cushioned against Ludos harsh often clumsy steps, he could probably do one powerful stomp and all the fruit would fall thus ending the task faster but Sarah knew Jareth wanted this task to be tedious and time-consuming for them and she knew he wouldn't be happy if she 'cheated' him at his own game, although the thought crossed her mind.
"Right, looks like the apple tree is mine", she said to herself aiming her eyes over to her target, Sarah felt the grass blades and daises sweeping against her ankles when she made her way towards the apple tree. The ladder itself was propped up against the base on the tree and looked as though it could reach the highest fruit, it was old however with Sarah noticing its signs of age on its worn steps this made Sarah nervous, 'it must be good if it's been used so often' Sarah gave the ladder a slight shake to check its sturdiness with it barely moving from its place 'seems okay', putting her wicker basket into the pit of her elbow, Sarah lifted her foot onto the first step on the ladder.
"Ello your majesty" this small but familiar voice halted Sarah, the voices chirpiness sounded so familiar but she couldn't put a name to the voice, looking around she tried to find its owner only to see her friends busy at their task.
"Hello?" She responded
"I said 'Ello, your majesty" the chirpy voice repeated
Sarah's anxiety began to rise at the faceless voice with her head rapidly moving from side to side "Who's there?"
"It's only me, Look down your majesty" Sarah followed the instruction, seeing a tiny, furry blue face cheerily smiling up at her in the hollow of the apple tree just by where her lifted foot was. Lifting her foot back down onto the grass she crouched down so she could talk to him properly.
"Oh, it's you little worm!" Sarah smiled with joy as she hasn't seen the worm since her first time in the Labyrinth and it seems he's found a new home
"Of course, it's me, your majesty. Nice day for an apple pick, isn't it?" He chirped, the worm didn't look too different from her first visit except he was wearing a tiny straw sunhat with a red ribbon tied around it matching his eyes
"Oh no, little worm. I'm not the king" She giggled, Sarah wondered before if the little worm either didn't have good eyesight or wasn't very intelligent seen as he thought she could somehow fit into his previous home but she was intrigued as to why he was addressing her by a royal title.
The little worm laughed shaking his head "I know you're not the king, your majesty, you're the queen" He nodded
"the queen?..." Sarah questioned in disbelief
It seems Jareth magic has been working, every night Sarah dreamed of nothing but him, and during the day her mind was just filled with thoughts of him, she could barely think about anything or anyone else anymore her mind was so clouded, she wanted so desperately to talk about him but she knew she couldn't unless it was to Toby. Her family even knew there was something up with her, constantly occupying her mind and distracting her, Robert even asked Irene what was wrong with his daughter as he noticed Sarah's face blanking and her eyes glazing over, her grades had even dropped due to this, Irene just responded: "The girl is in love, pretty deep from the looks of it".
the little worm continued talking however he might as well have been talking to himself as Sarah's mind blanked, the worm's words became noise to her, everything slowed down around her as her face went dreamy, her imagination taking over her thoughts. the small flowers near her feet released a smell, a mysterious but familiar masculine smell, the scent traveled to Sarah's nose besotting her with Jareths addictive fragrance, she felt an overwhelming feeling of euphoria overtaking her body, her pupils widened and her eyes unfocusing themselves gazing blankly at nothing but all she could see was her dream.
"That's right child, dream...dream of Jareth"
To the worm, they were in the meadow but to Sarah, there was a fog of soft pinks, blues, and greens with golden sparkles mystifying her, feeling slightly nervous but in awe, she wandered aimlessly into her dream, the fog cleared to reveal she was back in the ballroom however it was empty until Jareth's beautiful face materialized looking exactly the same as he did in her first visit, the dream Jareth then melted into a full-body image in front of her wearing the same clothing too, Sarah looked down to see she was no longer wearing her harvesting outfit but that dress. He was a truly mesmerizing and addictive sight to her. He seemed to be dancing with someone but she was yet to see his partner, the dream Jareth danced and twirled with his invisible partner, and his eyes fixated on them, softly gazing at the invisible body full of love and admiration with his occasional laughing and smiling. that wonderful but eerie song swam into her mind
There's such a sad love
Deep in your eyes.
A kind of pale jewel
Open and closed
Within your eyes.
I'll place the sky
Within your eyes.
"I'm going to be queen..." she breathed dreamily with a giddy smile twitching at the corners of her mouth
"Your majesty? Your highness? are you alright?" the little worm was confused by Sarah's blank reaction with her just sitting beside him staring at nothing, but in Sarah's mind, she was walking towards her desire
There's such a fooled heart
Beating so fast
In search of new dreams
A love that will last
Within your heart
I'll place the moon
Within your heart
"I'm going to be queen" She giggled, still despondently gazing over at nothing but the images dancing in her mind, she continued giggling to her herself almost psychotically with her eyes still being dilated and the hairs of her body shivering to leave goosebumps, she reached out her hand to try to touch the images dancing before her. she stopped laughing.
The dream Jareth stopped dancing looking Sarah directly into her glassy eyes, "Come, Come join me, my Queen. I've been waiting for you" He said reaching out his hand to her offering her to dance
"Jareth...My dreams..." alone tear strayed from her starry eyes. her hand almost joining his, dying to feel the smooth leather of his gloves and the anticipation was burning her, Sarah was growing all the more desperate to touch his hand and join him accompanied by more tears flowing from her spellbound eyes.
"say yes to your dreams" the spirit and the dream Jareth said in unison
the concerned worm was startled by Sarah's entranced actions, therefore, he mustered all his might to help bring her out of her daze and let out an almighty "YOUR HIGHNESS!"
"huh?" Sarah turned from the dream thinking that someone in the distance was calling for her then she looked back to see everything was gone except from the dream Jareth standing alone under a spotlight lowering his hand, his face disappointed and Sarah looked down to see she was back in her harvesting outfit, she looked back at the dream Jareth whose hand had fully lowered to his side.
"Maybe next time" they said
"What? No! my dreams!" the darkness of reality was sucking Sarah out of her fantasy, her hands hungrily clawing trying to reach dream Jareth, and more desperate tears flowing from her eyes. It went black.
In a flinch, she was back in the meadow breathing heavily feeling like she'd just been slapped in the face
"Are you alright?" he questioned her with her still heavily breathing, her pupils went back to normal and her vision unblurred
"What?" She looked back at the little worm with beads of sweat embellishing her forehead, still panting
"I asked if you're alright, your highness" the worm said confused
Sarah stood back up straight and smiled at the worm
"What? Oh no, Little worm, I'm not the King" she smiled, The worms little face looked at her suspiciously feeling a sense of deja vu and unease with Sarah completely forgetting her daze.
"...I know you're not, you're the *sigh* queen or at least you're going to be" he answered confused and exasperated.
"What? No, I'm not the queen" Sarah responded in disbelief
"Well no, not yet. You've still got the marry the King of course" The worm nodded
"Marry the king?" she questioned
The worm's red eyes widened in worry that she would fall into a trance again, he focused on her actions watching her face and eyes but it seemed that she was just mulling it over. He made sure he interjected before she could potentially do it again.
"Well yeah, when you come to live 'ere forever, you're going to marry King Jareth" He smiled although there was worry still in the back of his mind
Sarah stood for a few moments absorbing what the little worm was saying and whether it was true or not, 'this can't be true' she pondered 'is that why he wants me here or is there something else to it? and if it is true do I say anything or keep quiet? hmmm' She looked back down at the worm sweetly smiling at her 'it wouldn't be wise of me to confront him otherwise who knows what would happen plus I dread to think what he'll do to the worm if he finds out it was him who said something' her face grew more concerned fearing for the little worms safety 'best keep this to myself'
"Well, I best leave you to it your majesty, The missis 'as a pie baking and you've got them apples to pick, it was nice seeing you again" he did a small bow and with that, the little worm scooted back into his hollow leaving Sarah to her task.
"...nice seeing you again" Sarah stood still dumbfounded at her discovery, She leaned her back against the bark of the apple tree then allowed herself to ease down so she was sitting underneath the trees whispering leaves for a few moments trying to figure out what to do with this information. The smooth breeze caressed her soft face, apple sweetness filled her nose as she could hear her friends mildly arguing with each other, this reminded her of her task.
hoisting herself back up "come on then feet"
...
Many hours passed with the sun never seeming to move its place, it almost seemed like a permanent mid-afternoon or cruel trick that Jareth has cast so that Sarah and her friends have no idea how long they've been doing their task.
Sarah was nearly at the top of her final tree nearly covered head to toe in sticky fruit juice and her braided updo resembling a bird's nest and the trio growing more annoyed with each other although Ludo was too preoccupied with sneakily eating some of his harvestings. Each group filled at least 20 baskets each with them poofing away when filled and replaced with an empty basket at the bottom of the next tree so the group has no idea how many baskets they've actually done, another cruel trick by the king. To make matters worse, the ladder had to be manually moved by Sarah instead of poofing to the next tree so not only were her arms aching from picking the fruit but from having to transport the ladder from one spot to another with her faith in the sturdiness of the ladder quickly dwindling as she felt some of the ladder steps slowly beginning to snap in her hands and under the pressure of her feet, she figured it was more suited for goblins rather than human girls.
"last few plums" she breathed in relief, the top of the tree gave her a wonderful view of the labyrinth, she took a moment to absorb the sight feeling the light breeze softly run through her scruffy braids, it was so quiet. Sometimes the Labyrinth was the only place she felt she could be at peace and be herself, no one to judge or bully her, she could be a free as she wants with little to no consequences, somewhere for her to clear her mind and think (when she wasn't obsessing over Jareth), nothing could hurt her and a place where she is adored. There had been many occasions where Sarah privately considered just saying yes to staying there already but she stayed Aboveground so Toby could remember his sister and create precious memories for them both but Underground there were no bullies, no Irene, nothing but her dreams.
the breeze nuzzled her face, she closed her eyes and let out a wistful sigh 'maybe I should just say yes, I might as well I'm going to be queen', Sarah opened her eyes briefly looking down at Hoggle, Ludo, and Didymus and they were covered in fruit juice too even from afar Sarah see fruit juice and pulp smeared across Ludos mouth obviously been eating whilst she wasn't looking but that wasn't her problem. The loose braids had fallen down to her lashes and tickled her lash ends with the breeze making them sway slightly, she returned her gaze back to the landscape view of the Labrinth 'I could be the queen of all of this, queen of them, queen of the goblins...Jareth's queen' her mind fogged with an image of Jareth smiling at her 'that smile...No! Snap out of it!' Sarah shook her head, 'just these last few plums and you're done, the more you dilly-dally the longer it'll take and it's already taken long enough' she gazed up at the peach-toned sky annoyed that it had barely changed.
An unpleasant shiver ran down her spine, 'peach' she cringed
turning to face the last three plums she had to collect, Sarah repositioned her basket so that it was gently laying on top of the leaves leaving her hands free to grab the remaining fruit, she reached her hand for the first plum "gotcha!" she smiled to herself placing it into her almost full basket then reaching for the second "easy target", Sarah should have known better not to say those words with the basket falling through the patch of leaves on the floor with some of the plums coming loose from the basket, sprawling themselves across the grounds and some splattering.
"DAMMIT!" she shouted into the air
"Fair maiden, are you alright?" it looked like the trio had finished their assigned trees with Sarah being the last to finish. Hoggle, Ludo, and Sir Didymus were looking at Sarah in concern, going over the base of her tree.
"Yeah, I'm okay. Just dropped my basket but I'll be fine" She gave them a reassuring smile
"Well we're finished now, so we'll wait for you sweet maiden" Didymus stated
"Take your time, take your time" Hoggle responded sarcastically and Ludo stood there as usual
Aiming her eyes back at her last fruit, she gave the plum a determined stare, the final, single, annoying plum. Sarah lifted up her stained, sticky apron to create a makeshift basket, it was there ripe and ready to be picked 'come here you little...' the dark purple, grey tinted fruit shifted into a mixture of orange, yellow, and pink before her very eyes. A peach.
"What the?" Sarah retracted her hand in disgust
*flashback*
Sarah hadn't touched a peach since her first visit even feeling nauseous at someone simply mentioning the color. In the previous summer, Irene made her famous iced tea, and every year she does a different flavor, that year was peach. Irene walked into the patio proudly presenting her 'freshly' made iced tea ready to give to her family, Robert was sat in his chair with his legs lazily crossed reading the newspaper while Toby playing with Lancelot on the patio floor, and Sarah was sitting on the floor leaning against one of the pillars of the house by the front door not too far from Toby reading Romeo and Juliet, it was just the cool and refreshing drink needed for a lazy summer evening.
"Come and get it" Irene placed down the tea on the patio table on a serving tray looking ever so proud of herself, trying to be the model housewife
"Thanks honey, I'm sure it will be your best batch yet" Robert looked up from his newspaper at Irene with a smile
"Oh Robert, you say that every year" Irene chuckled playfully slapping his arm
"Well am I right or am I right?" Robert said before taking his first sip
Irene hadn't made Toby any because she thought he was too young for tea, therefore it was just the three of them having the tea but Irene had yet to reveal the flavor. Sarah lifted herself up from where she was sitting, almost sticking to the house's pillar due to how warm it had been, she straightened herself leaving her book on the floor.
"C'mon Sarah, your mom has been making this all-day" Robert beckoned over to Sarah, Sarah felt her skin crawl
this sentence annoyed Sarah for 2 reasons: that Irene had already pre-made the tea the day before leaving it in the refrigerator overnight and the Robert had the audacity to call Irene her mom. Robert was sometimes ignorant to his lack of tactfulness.
Irene took a sip "mmm Delicious"
"I agree, best you've made honey" Robert smiled at his wife, she leaned over to give him a kiss for his compliment
Sarah grabbed her glass off the tray, it was ice cold to the touch with droplets of condensation running down the tall glass tumbler, the ice had frosted over the outside of the beverage and the cubes were jingling together on the inside, there was even a slice of lemon. the cool sensation of the drink was a welcome feeling given how hot the day had been even though it had been a lazy day, Sarah still visited the Labyrinth.
Sarah could see the drink itself had a peachy tint to it hoping it was going to be mango or apple, about to take a sip she opened her mouth, and the cool beverage just about touched the tip of her tongue
"mmm wonderful peach flavor" Irene smiled, and Robert nodding
Sarah immediately closed her mouth at those dreaded worse and almost choked, she slowly moved the glass from her mouth. the color from her face had disappeared
"Di-did you j-just say p-peach?" Sarah squeaked out clearly disturbed
"yeah why? What's wrong Sarah?" Irene asked, concerned at Sarah's sudden disturbance
"yeah, what's wrong kiddo?" Robert asked, moving up from his chair
they watched Sarah's face turn paler, she was standing perfectly still but her fingers were twitching, at first, it was minor but that the glass started rattling in her hand making the ice jingle louder, the rattling even made Toby look over at his distressed sister.
"Sawah?" The delightful and curious 2 year old questioned his unsettled older sister
SMASH
The glass had slid out of Sarah's hand onto the patio floor in an explosion of tea, ice, and glass. Frantically, Irene darted over to Toby worried in case any of the glass came near him with Robert angry at something staining his brand-new, expensive patio.
"Dammit Sarah, what's wrong with you?" He hissed, looking down at the shards of glass on the floor and peach tea sticking to the floor wood
Shivering in a cold sweat, Sarah gulped and abruptly stated "I've got to go to the bathroom", Sarah budged past her father sprinting to the upstairs so she could throw up the tiny amount of iced tea that merely touched her tongue. When she got up the following day, Sarah apologized for her strange behavior to her family but then proceeded to lie to them about how she has developed an 'allergy' to peaches. Robert and Irene knew she was lying to them. Sarah hasn't let anything peach past her lips since and avoids anything to do with them like the plague.
*end flashback*
Sarah glared at the despised fruit, her eyes burning feeling nothing but disgust and hatred for the fuzzy offensive object. She stared at it hoping it was combust from her intense hate until she saw something move, a damp brown spot grew on the peaches skin, the spot darkened into murky dark brown then sank into itself growing mold in the process it was putrifying but that wasn't the worse part the moving thing inside revealed itself, the head of a hideous green maggot poked through the decayed skin wiggling and worming its way around the rotting flesh. Sarah could feel nausea rising in her stomach.
'Why did Jareth do this to me?' She questioned herself
"Because you challenged him"
"Who said that?" looking away from the 'peach', Sarah checked over her shoulder and to the sides to see who these strange voices were but as per usual there was no one there.
Hoggle was growing impatient with her apparent stalling, shouting up to her "C'mon Sarah, just that last darn plum then we're finished" Hoggle was about ready to throw off his apron in a childish tantrum with Didymus sighing at him and Ludo trying to wipe off the fruit juice from his mouth with the fur on his arms which just resulted in him spreading and smearing it more.
Glaring daggers at the innocent 'peach', the maggot reverted back into its pit, sweet juicy flesh growing itself back leaving no sign decay was even there, its skin morphed back into a fuzzy golden-orange but suddenly deepened back into a deep jewel-toned purple-red turning back into a plum, without a second thought Sarah grabbed it making sure not to look at it or to touch it for long when she plunked it in her apron.
CREEK
Something was feeling weak underneath Sarah's feet
CREEK
it was the ladder
SNAP
Crashing through branches and Leaves, Sarah plummeted screaming at the top of her lungs trying to perilously grab onto whatever she could to stop her fall but it proved to be useless, closing her eyes ready for her unpleasant and inevitable landing however she didn't meet the ground as violently as she expected, she was cushioned by something soft but strong, she could feel that she wasn't on the grassy floor but that she was being lifted, almost like she didn't weigh anything. Before opening her eyes, Sarah felt around her so she could figure out what was holding her, her fingertips traced over a smooth leather giving it a slight squeeze to feel lean yet strong upper arms hiding underneath, she fixed that hand to this stranger's upper arm and used her other hand to aimlessly feel out for anything more, she could feel...breathing, her hand ventured toward the breathing sensation on her hand, her middle fingertip was greeted by a soft pair of thin lips lightly breathing and she moved her hand from the stranger's arm to his chest to feel a warm metallic pendant. The masculine smell of Jareth hit her. 'Crap'. Startled, Sarah realized who it was making her quickly retract her hands from him, slowly peaking her eyes open her vision was met by Jareths handsome face with Sarah turning the shade of a plum. It didn't help that Sarah was imagining the tree branches romantically flowing behind him and that sky had almost turned pink with blossoms elegantly cascading too.
"Falling for me are we, Precious?" Jareth smiled her a cheeky grin with his teeth on display
"I...umm..." is all she could muster, it was almost impossible for Sarah's face to deepen but somehow she managed it
"You and your friends have been rather quite busy from what I can see" Jareth looked up and scanned over the vacant trees
Dazzled by his beauty, Sarah looked up at him and took advantage of that she could appreciate his beauty without his steely gaze stabbing her back
"Hm?" he looked back down at her waiting for a response
"Uh" she quivered out of her admiring, "Err...yeah...apples and plums and...peaches" Sarah whispered the last part leaving an acerbic taste on the tip of her tongue.
"I see" Jareth returned to scanning over the trees
The only thing they could hear was silence with the breeze tenderly pushing through the Labyrinth and the only thing that Sarah could do was to continue her silent analysis of Jareth with her expression a mixture of embarrassment and studied him wonderstruck 'you need to stop this Sarah, you see him every single day for crying out loud yet you're acting like one of those dumb girls at school whenever they see the jocks' she briefly looked over at the trees too 'but he's certainly not a jock from school and I could...end up...being...queen' she turned her attentions back to Jareth's face and refocused on his jawline, his wild wispy hair, the blueness of his eyes and those lips 'those soft lips...I wonder what it would be like to...' Sarah mentally slapped herself 'NO Sarah! you need to be strong around him. You're the hero and he's the bad guy'
So lost in thought Sarah didn't realize what was going on until her eyes widened to see Jareth's face was inches from hers.
"Did you have fun?" he purred
"er...Yes" she coyly answered
'be strong around him' she promised herself
Twisting her face into a more serious expression, Sarah folded her arms and changed her answer "Well if fun is how you put it then yes we had fun but we would call it hard labor which we've been doing for hours and all we have to show for it is sticky clothes and no thank you"
"You know, I could drop you Sarah" Jareth gestured that she was still being held bridal style in his arms
"Oh" she looked down at remember that she was still in his arms
"Well you could put me down" She said matter-of-factly
Jareth gently placed Sarah back onto the grass, making sure her feet her firmly on the ground and she was straightened up. Brushing his clothes, Jareth got some smears of fruit juice and pulp on his jacket "Well, this is annoying. Now can you see why I changed your attire" Jareth continued his wasted attempt of removing the juice with his hands only making it smear more.
"Jareth, I'm literally covered head to toe in the stuff" Sarah gestured her caked outfit
Jareth didn't bother even looking at her as he was too busy fussing over his own outfit "Yes, but at least you know why I did it and besides, you wouldn't want that lovely outfit you had earlier to get ruined but either way you'd complain" he teased, his eyes finally meeting hers and he flashed her a wicked grin
Making her feel flustered at his teasing she figured she could play along with his game "Oh look Jareth, you've missed some" She smiled with a mocking sweetness
"Where?" he asked sarcastically, trying his best to not look bothered
'two can play at this game' She thought confidently
Sarah coquettishly stepped over to Jareth with a small but sweet smile on her face, her eyes beaming with flirtatious mischief and her arms loosely behind her back, she came up close in fact Jareth was almost taken aback by how close she was to him, Jareth didn't know what to do with his Sarah being so close to him especially it being the first time she's approached him, it's usually been him being the one to initiate closeness between the both of them. for the first time around her, he felt weak.
Close to his face, their eyes met as Sarah gazed up at him with Jareth still not knowing how to react, the innocent feminine smell of her sending his mind into a frenzy, he felt like a lion hungrily staring at a lamb pretty much offering itself to him but he knew he had to resist otherwise he could spoil everything. He studied her.
"No, don't do it!" The spirit commanded inside his head
'but she's right there...so close, I can smell her, her hair, her face...her eyes, those damned innocent eyes' he cursed at himself
"she isn't ready yet"
Sarah continued looking at Jareth deep into his unusual eyes no matter how difficult it was for her with the both of them still standing there studying each other in silence, not even a great distraction could unfocus them from each other.
"Say yes to your dreams, my child"
'those voices again, who are you?' She questioned
"You've always known me child but here, here is the man of your dreams, and now's your chance"
'I can't, not that I don't want to I just...can't'
"There is the stain" Sarah plainly stated, Jareth looked down confused to see she was pointing at his chest "What? there's nothi-" before he knew it, Sarah lifted her finger up and swiped up from his chest to his nose. Jareth stood there dumbfounded as to what happened as Sarah walked away from him trying her best to contain her laughter but laughter got the better of her, "oh really mature Sarah, I thought you were better than the 'something you're shirt' trick" Jareth said sarcastically, much to her surprise Jareth was more unimpressed by how unoriginal her prank was rather than being pranked himself, "I'd had thought being around an ultimate trickster like myself, you be a bit more creative" he chided, "Well, it's not the only trick I have up my sleeve" she cheekily smiled.
"There you are, Sarah. what the heck happened to you?" Hoggle approached the couple from behind along with her other friends
"You were just in the tree and you fell and...and" Hoggle paused "Oh, your majesty. I didn't realize we were in your grand presence" Hoggle erupted into a series of frantic bowing and Jareth rolled his eyes at his pathetic and insincere groveling
"Hello haggle" Jareth sighed
"Greetings your royal highness" Sir Didymus lifted off his hat and respectfully bowed at his king
"HELLO KING" Ludo greeted
"Well fellows, I can see you've done a mighty fine job today" Jareth smiled at the trio with them all feeling pleased with themselves
"However, this isn't anywhere near the amount my goblins can do in a day" Jareth breathed with Hoggle, Didymus, and Ludo now feeling ashamed of themselves
"But there's only been the four of us and there are hundreds of them!" an annoyed Sarah interjected
"With the highest of respects your highness, but fair Sarah is correct" Didymus stated much to everyone's surprise
"MORE GOBLINS PICK MORE" Ludo agreed with his brother
"hmm...I see I suppose you all have a point and I am a fair king after all therefore you'll all be excused for lack of numbers" Jareth reluctantly agreed
"YES!" the friends cheered in unison, Sarah gave all her friends a hug as a thank you. the group celebrated their small victory with Hoggle and Didymus doing little dances and allowing Sarah to join them, She twirled under Didymus' arm whilst he was stood on top of Ambrosius and she danced with Ludo like how you dance with a toddler, grabbing onto his large paws making them sway from side to side. this was simple enough for him. Jareth watched the group in their small celebration whilst leaning against the tree, he sometimes felt small pangs of jealousy when he saw his Sarah smiling and laughing with others, He jerked himself up from his leaning position to intrude on their fun but mainly because he wanted Sarah to himself.
"I hate to be that one but dwarf don't you have fairies to stray" Jareth evilly smiled at Hoggle intimidating him
"Why, yes your highness, I do! I'll be right on it. thank you for reminding me, your most gracious goblin king" Hoggle answered back nervously, bursting back into a series of panicky bowing, making sure he scarpered before anything could happen to him
"and Didymus, don't you have to guard something" the king stated
"Your word is my command your highness" removing his hat again, Didymus bowed at Jareth then looked over towards Sarah "Fair Sarah" he nodded his head to her which she reciprocated
"and that just leaves you...err..umm" the rock callers name escaped Jareth with Sarah whispered over to him "Ludo"
"Ah yes, Ludo. there are some rocks that need to be called just by the edge of the mountains, understand?" He ordered
"LUDO MOVE ROCKS" Ludo turned to leave behind a trail of light thudding "BYE SARAH BYE KING"
Jareth placed his chin between his index finger and his thumb to look as though he was thinking as he knew it was just him and Sarah left, he eyed her up and down with Sarah was looking at him waiting for an answer.
"What?" She asked
"What to do, what to do with you Sarah" he sang pretending puzzled even though he knew what he was going to do, she raised her eyebrows at him waiting for an answer
"well?" she asked growing impatient with him
"Well, I suppose I could let you go home" he said nonchalantly, hearing this statement made Sarah smile because she wanted to do home hours ago but Jareths stupid task prevented her from doing so, He could see her eyes beaming with excitement but the goblin king has other plans in mind
"But, if you go home, you won't be able to have your reward" he shrugged
"my reward?" she asked puzzled
"Yes, your reward. You think that I a gracious king wouldn't say thank you for all your hard work" He flashed a grin at her
"Well, okay but I can't stay for that much longer" she agreed
"Wonderful, and I assure you, Sarah. things will be just peachy"
The ominousness of the goblin king's words filled Sarah with a silent dread making her feel tense, his mouth twisted into a devilish smile at her putting his hand behind her back leading her to her unknown reward but Sarah tried to hold onto the small hope that here, nothing is as it seems.
...
Gosh, what a long chapter! there was part 2, part 3 will be the ending of this chapter and will hopefully be much shorter than this one, then will be moving onto what will be chapter 5. I hope you've enjoyed it so far and thank you for reading!
Razzlekid95