Greetings Readers welcome to part 3! this is the final part of Fruits of the labyrinth because this has been a long chapter and unfortunately I broke my promise of this part being shorter, I just got carried away and it's ended up being the longest XD but I promise this is definitely the last part as I want to move on with the story which I'm so excited to get started on so watch out for the next chapter to be uploaded soon :) As per usual there will be some 'fluffy' elements to this part with some dark elements mixed in so if you don't like fluffiness or darkness you have been made aware. please read, review, and enjoy!
Note: 'thoughts' and "Spirt voice"
Disclaimer: I don't own movies or books, characters, materials, songs, or anything associated with the Labyrinth, The Wizard of Oz, or Greensleeves
Fruits of the Labyrinth:
Part 3
Butterflies and bees were lazily sampling each flower to the next collecting their nectar and honey with birds singing happily and twittering in the neighboring trees as the king and his future 'companion' ventured away from the fruit trees. Cautiously walking beside the strange and attractive man, the sounds of the friendly and peaceful wildlife almost put Sarah's mind at ease but it was the menacing goblin king walking beside her that she had to worry about, She could still feel Jareths hand on her lower back guiding her to her supposed reward, he stopped abruptly halting them both and turned to face his beloved but his hand never moved.
"My dear Sarah, it has just occurred to me that you're not appropriately dressed again" he eyed her up and down with a small frown, not trying to hide signs of disapproval
"What? not this again, you're the one who put me in this stupid outfit" she complained
Jareth narrowed his eyes at her for her foolish insult which made her recoil slightly, with a quick jerk of his placed hand he shifted Sarah towards him, He moved his face closer to hers trying to intimidate her making her eyes widen in fear 'fear me, love me, do as I say' ran through his mind, seeing the fear in her eyes gave him a pleasant sense of accomplishment but he also knew he momentarily had her submissiveness. Already on edge, Jareth took advantage of Sarah's nervousness, he etched closer to her ear, his carved cheek almost touching hers "you know why I did it Precious" he whispered. Hearing Jareth so close, so intimately sent a shiver down her body, and even after he spoke he waited for a few seconds hearing the sweet sounds of her quivering, speechless reaction. Smirking to himself at his triumph, he moved back to standing beside her taking in the picture of Sarah's startled face.
"As I said, you're not dressed appropriately" He plainly stated and smiled as nothing had happened
Sarah still speechless was only managing to string a sentence together with her mind going all fuzzy "I...uh...What?" She said disorientated
Jareth chuckled to himself 'Perfect', he watched her trying to refocus herself which he found to be rather quite cutely amusing, he stood there with a large grin on his face watching her confused microexpressions, seeing her face twist and turn from one to the next within a matter of seconds he enjoyed that he had this effect on her.
Almost fully refocused, Sarah arched her back then stretched it reaching her arms for the sky "Why do I feel always so...' She thought for a second trying to think of the perfect word "dazed? when I'm here especially" Sarah wearily breathed to herself but even though that question wasn't for Jareth he answered anyway, shrugging his shoulders "I have no idea why" he lied.
The Spirit and Jareth increased their magical potency over the girl, so whenever she stepped foot into Labyrinth and filled her lungs with their magic, she was drugged almost instantly making her feel perpetual happiness like all her troubles had melted away and almost trying to seduce her so much that she forgets everything, that she had no family or anything. luckily, her family bought her a splendid digital wristwatch complete with timers and alarms for her most recent birthday seen as she was losing track of time a lot lately which concerned her parents, their daughter would go missing for hours, and whenever she returned home she'd form a poorly constructed excuse, there had been a few occasions where Jareth almost had her in his dastardly grasp by lulling her into forgetting but her powerful will always managed to pull her out or her annoying friends reminded her that it was hometime, there was the odd instance where the king reminded her to go home for the sake of appearances however those reminders were becoming rarer and rarer.
Feeling back to herself, for the most part, Sarah looked over at Jareth smiling to himself "What do you mean I'm not dressed appropriately? you mean I'm still wearing this dress covered in fruit juice and dirt which has also torn in several places" Sarah stretch out her skirt to show Jareth where the branches had ripped through her skirt and he couldn't help but notice some small scratches on her dirty face and arms, he folded his arms at her getting bored of her attitude towards him "I don't want you looking scruffy for when you go and enjoy your reward, now do you want your reward or not?" he raised an eyebrow at her. Sarah didn't know how to answer because he hadn't given a clue of what this 'reward' could be or told her flat out what it was and the problem is with Jareth the word 'reward' and 'punishment' seem to be synonymous with each other so Sarah had to be very careful when answering his questions at times, this time was no different.
Taking a moment to think, Sarah looked down at her soiled outfit coming to the conclusion that she agreed with Jareth 'I suppose it would be improper of me to accept Jareth's reward looking like I've been dragged through a hedge, not only that but what will they think when I get home after being out all day and I'm covered in juice' She looked up at Jareth waiting for her to answer 'I supposed I'm going to have to play along with his game' she mused much to her disappointment but she felt determined therefore she scrunched up her skirt into her hands putting them to her sides and she curtsied to him, "I'd be honored, your majesty" Sarah falsely grinned at her King, seeing his Sarah acting so obedient staggered Jareth leaving him with a slightly surprised expression but that quickly melted away into a devilish smirk as he never thought he would see his Sarah being so compliant to him, it excited him.
"Wonderful" he purred
Sarah continued with what she believed to be her best performance when she let Jareth poof her back into her tiered duck-egg blue dress she was wearing previously, her hair was clean and free-flowing again with fresh flowers entwined in her brunette tresses, her porcelain face returned to being dirt and scratch-free, she examined her arms to see her scratches had completely disappeared, she carefully lifted up the delicate fabric of her skirt exposing her ankles and calves to see the scratches there had healed too. This embarrassed Jareth, soon as he saw her lift her skirt he was sure to look away from her.
Sarah twirled and danced a little, happy to be back in clean clothing as well as being free of the juice, "thank you, Jareth" She smiled gratefully at him, "Now are we seeing my reward?" the anticipation was biting at her, "Well Precious, you forget. I, too, am covered in today's harvestings and it wouldn't be right that I, the king, to grant you your reward looking like a goblin on kitchen duty. Now would it?" he smirked at her gesturing the few small stains that were on his jacket but to him, that was 'covered'. In a fabulous poof of magic, Jareth completely changed into a different outfit, his usual silhouette but he was wearing a burgundy leather jacket and dark brown pants with matching dark brown pirate boots, in usual Jareth fashion he made sure his poet shirt was opened at the top revealing his royal pendant. Sarah gawked at him getting distracted again by his beauty, her eyes glued to him after he poofed, checking out every fresh detail with her eyes fixating on the small amount of his chest on show.
"Hello? Precious?" he questioned the awed girl looking a thousand of miles away, he smirked to himself
snapping out of her schoolgirl high school crush fantasy, she got annoyed at him waving his hand in front of her eyes "What?"
"No time for daydreaming Precious, Now shall we?" He offered his arm to her
accepting his arm, she looked up at him returning to her submissive, grateful performance "We shall" she grinned
The couple continued walking further and further to their secret location, arm in arm with each other until they finally reached the 'reward'
...
Greeted by an old wooden kissing gate, Sarah tried to see what was in the private meadow but it was hiding behind a mirage, everything looked blurry, she could make out the colors such as the greens from the trees and grass, could see the sky was still peach with some tints of pink but it was completely blurred like a beautiful painting that had been smudged. She couldn't make out any details of what was in therefore her guess as to what her reward was still a mystery, she tried to focus to see if she could make out anything specific with little luck.
"It's magic Precious" Jareth came up behind her stopping her intense focus, "I don't want anyone finding this place and peaking into my business so I put on a glamour that masquerades this meadow so no one else can find it in the Labyrinth as to them it just looks like an ordinary, plain meadow that they can't enter but it is so much more than that", the only response she could do was an 'oh' mesmerized by the glowing colors swirling around in the illusion "So is it behind here?" She asked looking back at Jareth who was watching her in amusement, "Yes it is Precious, now if you want we can stop looking at the pretty colors and go and enjoy your reward" he smirked teasing her, "fine" she sighed rolling her eyes at his sarcastic tone. Jareth presented her to the kissing gate, never seeing one before Sarah scanned it trying to figure out how to get through it.
"Ugh...Jareth, how do you get through this thing?" She pointed at the swinging gate
"It's simple Precious, but rather than explain, I'll show you" He flashed her an evil grin offering his hand to her
"...okay" She answered nervously, gingerly taking the goblin kings gloved hand
Jareth accepted her dainty hand and before she knew it he quickly yanked her so she was stood right beside him, she could feel his hand on the curve of her waist holding her to him "to the reward we go!" the king proudly announced, "Excited?" he purred at her with her response being a timid nod and an "Uh-huh". Taking a step into the unknown, Sarah closed her emerald eyes with Jareth confidently taking lead by making the pair walk through the gate, "Sarah, you might want to see this" Jareths golden velvety voice managed to convince her to open her eyes gasping at what she saw, she was walking through the illusions astounding colors, it was like the landscape had been painted by the essence of a kaleidoscopic rainbow. dazzling, shimmering, and changing in the most fantastical way.
looking back down at his Sarah amazed by the spectacular vision before her, the king was feeling victorious over capturing Sarahs agape expression 'yes my Sarah, look at all the wonderful things only I can give you' he smirked to himself, watching his queen being enchanted by his magic
"Oh Jareth, is this the reward?" clasping her hands together, she was captivated by its beauty and it filled her with joy, it made her want to dance
"No Precious, this isn't the reward" He chuckled, "However it wouldn't be wise to let go of me, this is powerful magic so venturing from me in here you could get lost forever" He advised making Sarah grab on tightly to him
"Almost there I can see it" he stated, continuing to lead the pair to their destination
"What? I can't see anything" squinting her eyes to focus on what Jareth was 'seeing', only to see the same shimmering colors
"Almost there" he claimed
"What? where? I can't see anything! this isn't just another trick, Jareth" Sarah whined like an inpatient child causing Jareth to look at her shooting her a fearsome stare
"You still forget yourself, Sarah, I could easily let go of you and have you wonder in here forever if you're going to complain or you could have some patience like a young lady should", His cold threat shut her up and she continued facing forward waiting for Jareth to tell her that they have both arrived, although they were both facing forward Sarah's head slowly dipped towards what was supposed to be the floor. Sarah couldn't lie to herself, Jareths threat hurt her along with his insult, the pair had been getting on well recently especially after the lightning incident but this reminded Sarah that he will always be there to put her in her place. She was quiet with silent tears filling her eyes.
"We're here" Jareth stated with a proud grin
Sarah steadily moved her head back up, her sadness melted away being replaced by a huge grin when she walked into the meadow but this was no ordinary meadow, this was a meadow made from a slice of heaven. Silken pink petals lovingly fell over the pair as a welcome to the meadow, showering them, Sarah looked down to see her feet wasn't on grass or the illusion anymore but what appeared to be fluffy clouds, 'they're so...soft' she thought to herself beginning to succumb to Jareth's alluring spell, looking around to see the sky was filled with peach, pink and lilac clouds being highlighted by the sun. Catching her eyes were two sage green, watercolored doves sophisticatedly landing into their nest in the treetop, nuzzling and adoring each other, but that wasn't what Sarah found odd, the trees in here didn't have leaves but had heads of clouds which reminded Sarah of cotton candy, and the bark was gilded by a sparkling gold with the scent of roses floating in the air. Sarah's face became truly joyous with Jareth patiently watching her enjoying her reward, It was almost as if Jareth handcrafted this from Sarah's dreams. Spellbound by the sight of her dream coming to life, Sarah clasped her hands again and her smile faded away from her, she was touched that someone gave her such a wonderful reward, it was even better than the gifts he had gotten her for her birthday. Overwhelmed by the meadows beauty and Jareths kindness, she broke down in tears.
Jareth turned to see his queen sobbing to herself, he was baffled as to why she was crying "Sarah-mine, are you alright? I thought you'd like this" Jareth asked her with sincere concern
Putting her sobbing on a momentary standstill, she faced the king redfaced and teary-eyed "It's beautiful Jareth, more than I could have ever dreamed" She paused to look even more at the romantic era setting, she looked down anxiously fidgeting with her left ring finger "no one's ever been this kind to me" She admitted lifting her right hand up about to wipe the tears with her sleeve but she was stopped by Jareth gently grabbing her wrist, he moved so he was stood in front of her letting go of her wrist and placing both his hands on her shoulders with a serious look, he gazed deeply into her sad eyes and his serious expression softened "Sarah, you should never be surprised at someone being kind to you, you deserve all the kindness and love both worlds have to offer" He paused, removing his hand from her shoulder his gloved hand came to her face with him caressing the tear away with his thumb, "I will give you all the kindness I have to offer Sarah, just as long as you" he purposefully didn't finish his sentence but Sarah knew the words he was going to say, she smiled at him.
The goblin king proposed his hand to her "Come my Precious, you must be famished after all the work" he grinned flashing his teeth, she responded by gracefully placing her fingertips into the palm of his gloved hand so he can lead her. As if by magic, a white blanket decorated with embroidered rose and heart motifs appeared underneath the fairytale-like tree with a full spread on display, Sarah was amazed by the sheer amount of food that fit on the blanket, there was elderflower and cherry cordial, triangle sandwiches, macaroons with an assortment of flavors, dark chocolate with lavender cake, pear Tarte Tatin, red apple and rosewater tea and all the treats being served on the Labyrinths finest porcelain with many more treats hiding in a clean, polished wicker basket with a blue and white gingham cloth covering them which reminded Sarah of Dorothy from her favorite childhood book 'The wizard of Oz'. Amazed by the extensive amount of treats, Sarah's eyes gleamed and she clenched her stomach feeling it growl at her, "I suppose one slice of cake couldn't hurt" she reasoned placing herself by the base of the tree along with Jareth, the full display was in front of the pair, she was amazed by the culinary delights because Sarah thought food that looked like this was only capable in the fancy magazines and movies.
"Wonderful" Jareth agreed, he encouragingly smiled at her trying to imply that it was okay for her to tuck in, Sarah examined all the sweet dishes growing slightly overwhelmed at how many options there were, 'gosh there's so many, I can't possibly decide' she looked at the three desserts closest to her, a lattice cherry pie, crepes with berries, and blackberry and lemon fool, putting her chin between her thumb and finger she pondered "umm" was the only thing Jareth was hearing from her as his patient facade was wearing thin, she quickly eyed him then back to the desserts 'Oh gosh, he's looking at me and I'm here not able to pick a freakin' dessert. just be honest Sarah, tell him you can't decide' she looked back at Jareth's gorgeous face and nervously smiled "I can't pick Jareth, there are so many lovely treats here and I can't possibly choose one besides I've got to get going soon" she admitted, Jareth looked at her then chuckled into his gloved hand which confused Sarah "That's quite alright Precious, there are many wonderful treats here, I suppose I should have assumed you'd eat them all besides I can keep some aside for Tobys next visit" He grinned continuing "and besides, I think I have a little something more to your taste" there was a tint of deviousness to his words when he brought out a crystal from behind his back making it twirl in his hand.
Sarah focused on the crystal which popped like a bubble in Jareth's hand, A white ribbed saucer with gold trim with a matching ornate golden folk appeared but that isn't what caught Sarah's attention but the delectable slice of peach galette being presented to her. The peaches looked soft having been boiled in a mixture of rich spices and had been meticulously arranged so they were overlapping each other in a circular fashion with tiny specks of almonds, the pastry crust has been cut to look like a wreath of leaves even some raspberries mixed in giving it a marvelous dark pink and golden brown swirl, the 'leaves' had been encrusted with brown sugar giving them a subtle sparkle. Sarah wanted to feel disgusted at seeing the peaches but the luxurious scent of the peaches with notes of cinnamon and vanilla intoxicated her senses, the dessert delightfully oozed onto the plate leaving Sarah's mouth-watering.
"is that for me Jareth?" she innocently questioned
"why of course, my Sarah" he grinned offering it to her, she carefully grabbed the delicate plate. Admiring it some more, she thought it was too lovely to eat whilst having some reservations about eating peaches again, she lifted her fork and cut off the first edge of the galette, she took one final look as to what was going to be her first proper taste of peaches in 2 years.
'Grandma told me to never eat anything the fae give' she thought about taking the first bite she briefly looked back over at Jareth who was still waiting for her to eat it, she sighed looking back at the morsel 'but I've already eaten fae food so, bottoms up' she convinced herself finally taking her first bite, she was greeted by the peaches sweet taste which was complemented by the subtle taste of vanilla and almonds, she didn't want to admit it to herself but one bite and she was hooked. Sarah destroyed the dessert in a ravenous hysteria barely giving herself time to chew the sweet but she did enjoy the sensation of the sugar lightly crunching on her teeth, Jareth raised his eyebrow at her wanting to be unimpressed at her unladylike behavior but he find it to be rather amusing seeing his Sarah finally enjoying peaches again. He burst into laughter.
"It's nice to see you enjoying peaches again, Precious" He laughed
Sarah turned to him hearing his roaring laughter, looking at him almost upset that she thought he was laughing at her. Slowly looking back down, she looked at the nearly decimated dessert feeling ashamed of herself for acting so childish in front of her dream maker, she glumly placed the near-empty plate onto her lap and looked back at Jareth heart-broken. The insensitive king continued laughing at her despite her expression with her sitting in silence as he continued but he finally stopped when he realized Sarah wasn't taking part in the fun.
"Why Sarah, what's wrong?" he asked concerningly
"you think it's funny to laugh at me" she spat back at him
"Sarah, I wasn't laughing at you" he leaned closer to her almost touching her with Sarah hitching her breath, he continued "I'm laughing because your hunger caught me by surprise and you have crumbs around your mouth" he smiled moving away from her as Sarah sheepishly brushes the crumbs off her mouth and dress.
"And besides, it's far too quiet around here so what do you say to some after-meal entertainment" He devilishly grinned, Sarah looked at him quizzically wondering what he was talking about so she just nodded and answered "Sure"
In true Jareth style, he wasn't going to tell her what he had planned but rather show her. Elegantly twirling his gloved hand into the air, a small harp materialized into his hand, it was pure black which had been lacquered giving it a brilliant shine in the sunlight. He gave it a proud look. Sarah watched in excitement eager to see what Jareth was going to play for her, placing his fingers on the strings he gave a few practice strums before he began his performance.
"Let's see if you know this one, Precious" he smiled, looking at the strings he began playing
The romantic melody of his manipulative serenade began to enchant and seduce the girl with every note kissing her senses, she closed her eyes and rolled her head back allowing the song to allure her, and every vibration of the strings made her body quiver with the devious goblin king looking back at her watching her enjoying every moment of her face being pure ecstasy 'almost there' he grinned to himself looking at Sarah smiling and giggling to herself. Sarah's grew eyes heavy wanting to fully fall asleep as Jareth continued harmoniously playing.
She was forgetting...forgetting...forgetting...WHAM!
it stopped hitting Sarah like a ton of bricks.
"This is Greensleeves!" She exclaimed thrusting herself up from her relaxed position causing the plate to fall from her lap.
the playing came to a holt with Jareth raising an eyebrow at her "Yes it is" he cooly stated preparing himself
Sarah sat trying to figure out where she knew the song from, "someone used to play it for me...a lady...there was a music box when I was little that played Greensleeves" her face became a pure concentration trying to figure out her familiarity to the song, this was making Jareth nervous but he maintained his cool composure trying to pass it off that he was unbothered at her recollection.
She continued, "A lady gave me a music box that played Greensleeves years ago...she would play it so I had something to help me sleep" she pondered making Jareth more nervous but she was too busy trying to remember to notice Jareths concern, "She gave me it so I could sleep before she went somewhere...where was it?...it was a play!"
"A play? sounds rather strange" the king breathed nonchalantly still trying to sell his act to her
"yes a play, she was an actress...she must have been important to me...who am I important enough to give me a music box?" she quizzed herself
"It was probably me who gave it to you Sarah, for one of your wonderful birthdays but could we please go back to me seduci-" he stopped himself cursing at himself for his stupidity but quickly changed back into his suave character "playing for you" he flashed her a grin. She ignored him with trying to remember being her only focus, she looked down scrunching her face 'who was it? I know it was someone from my past but I can't see her face' Sarah saw that she was in her childhood bedroom from when her parents were still married, the music box was twinkling 'Greensleeves' in the background and the female figure was right in front for her tucking her in.
"I'll be back home before you get up honey, Goodnight Sarah and sweet dreams" the unknown female figure leaned in and kissed Sarah on her forehead
"IT WAS MY MOM!" She exclaimed at him
"it's all coming back to me, I-I have a mom and a dad...I have a step-mom and a...baby brother...TOBY!"
Quickly Hoisting herself up from where she was laid, Sarah ran from the majestic fantasy leaving Jareth standing there calculating what to do next
"My mom! I have to get back to Toby! to my family" she ran like a goblin on fire
"Sarah Stop!" He bellowed at her from behind, his words made the girl stop in her tracks. A birth of new fear engulfed the 17-year-old with her itching her right hand towards her skirt pocket ready to grab her crystal and her face dropping any expression as she could hear Jareth stalking towards her 'he's behind me', the clammy feeling of sweat festered in her fists, she silently gulped to herself at hearing Jareth torment her from a few steps away.
'run'
"Don't run" they answered
the king was standing right behind her, she daren't turn but she knew he was there, she could feel the warmth of his body and his intimidating presence standing over her. Slowly he moved his hand up to her hair and brushed his fingers through it with Sarah silently freaking out to herself and the crystal firmly in her hand, the leather of his gloves touched the top of Sarah's ear as he brushed her hair behind her left ear. She hitched her breath. he leaned in so his lips were almost touching her,
"Stay here Sarah, Stay here with me. Forget about them Sarah as they'll forget about you. You can live in your dreams and stay here with me forever " he whispered
he brought his hand to the right side of her face giving it a slight stroke, suddenly with slight aggression his hand made her face turn so that she was looking directly at him. Scanning his handsome face her face remained expressionless, their eyes were locked in a battle of wills.
"Stay here with me forever, Precious" His face went dreamy as his hands cradled her face, closing his eyes he leaned his face closer to hers, Sarah's eyes widened twice their size when she realized he was about to...kiss her.
"I can't Jareth, not that I don't want to I just can't" She sorrowfully stated but unbeknownst to the enamored and distracted king, she sneakily pulled the crystal out of her skirt pocket with a cunning smile twitching onto her mouth "beside Jareth, thanks for reminding me it's my hometime" she mocked with a sweet smile.
"What?" he seethed
Sarah dropped the crystal to the floor releasing a gigantic poof of magic leaving Jareth to stand dumbfounded alone in the fantasy. His breath raised almost panting, his strange eyes widened with his hands shaking, he stood hatefully staring at the glitter that was left from where she poofed, shaking overtaking his body beginning to lose his composure.
"I. almost. had. her." he said blankly
"I told you it was too soon" they ridiculed
Crashing to his knees, the King roared as the fantasy collapsed all around him
...
It was all silent in the Williams House, Sarah poofed back into her room feeling empowered but mixed with some disbelief 'that was a close one' she sighed, thankfully relieved that she was unscathed by Jareths wrath. She had a silent celebration to herself giving herself a literal pat on the back "my will is as strong as his" she whispered to herself in glee but her celebration stopped when she saw the amber sunlight shining onto her bedroom floor, turning around to look through the window to see the orange sun poking through the grey wintery clouds 'no way', quickly turning to face the alarm clock sitting on her bedside table, she could clearly see in its digital red lettering 8 AM.
"Oh my gosh, I've been gone...for nearly a whole day" she questioned herself in disbelief 'I thought I set an alarm to stop all this'
the heroine went to touch her watch on her right wrist to find her watch 'It's not here' she frantically inspected both her wrists and arms to try to find her watch, looking down to see it wasn't on either wrist, she obsessively checked every nook and cranny of her dress trying to find it with the only thing she could find was the crystal that had returned to hiding in her pocket.
'I must have lost it in the fantasy' she reasoned
KNOCK KNOCK
"Sarah, are you okay?" it was her father
Robert opened her bedroom door and peered his head through but was surprised to see his teenage daughter was already up and dressed
"Oh, Morning Kiddo, it's nice to see you up and dressed this early" he smiled, Sarah remembered that she was still in the dress she went to the labyrinth in yesterday with barely anything looking amiss except for her misplaced wristwatch
"...yeah...um...in fact, I don't feel too good so if it's okay I'm going to get a shower and go back to bed if that's alright?"
"Yeah sure if you're not feeling too good, your mom was wondering what all the banging was about this early but now I see why" he grinned believing her lie, closing the door behind him. Awash of relief overcame her, she heavily flopped onto her bed but her mind was still buzzing thinking about everything all at once, the fruit picking, seeing her friends, the worms confession, the fantasy, and of course, Jareth.
'Stay here Sarah, Stay here with me. Forget about them Sarah as they'll forget about you. You can live in your dreams and stay here with me forever' swam around her mind
the whole interaction played and replayed over in her mind trying to figure it out and fill in the blanks but each replay became fuzzier and fuzzier. After puzzling for 15 minutes, she stared at the ceiling still in her dress too distracted to take it off.
"Or was it all just a dream?" she questioned to herself out loud, unaware she is forever being watched
...
"Hide hide!"
"We gots to be quiet"
"Quick Quick"
"Kingy is mad mad"
"never seen kingy this mad"
Back at the castle, numerous amounts of goblins scuttled and scurried around the castle trying their darndest to avoid their enraged king. Mainly hiding in the downstairs kitchen making sure every pot and pan was cleaned, they steered clear of the throne room since he returned from the fantasy especially when he gave some of his subjects a good kicking and slammed all the castle doors causing the wood to split with the only thing being heard from the throne room were things being smashed, thrown and broken along with shouting, insults and the occasional swear word.
"Maybe we got to checks kingy" a goblin shrugged his shoulders
"No! king will get super mad mad!" another said shaking in fear
"I'm sure kingy not that mad" the stupid goblin dismissed his slightly smarter friend
the smart one didn't know if his friend was being dumb or brave but he knew that the king was in the foulest mood the whole kingdom had ever seen him in.
"Maybe you quickly checks him" the smarter one suggested
the goblin duo scampered to the door outside leading into the throne room but it was strangely silent and all they could see was a white light flashing through the wood of the door. the dumb one placed his ear against the door trying to listen for any sound but all he could hear was Jareth panting.
"Anything?" the smarter one asked
struggling again and shaking his head "Nuttin" answered the dumb one
"Maybe you looks"
"I don't want to looks"
"We never know if no look"
shivers were crawling on the skin of the duos green and brown bodies, but the dumb one plucked up his little courage and peeked his ugly head through the door.
"Kingy, are you oka-" he was stopped
"Well? well?" the smarter one was getting anxious
The smarter one shielded himself in terror when his friend turned around with a bloodied face with pieces of broken plate stabbing through his green skin, his yellow tones eyes were enlarged and bloodshot in horror, some of his already rotted teeth were now barely hanging onto the gum and he was pale as a sheet.
he began babbling "Bir-bir-bir" traumatized by what he saw
the smarter one unshielded himself "spit it out man!"
"Bir-bir-bir-bird m-m-mon-ster" he gulped then he fainted.
Meanwhile, the king was nearly finished with his violent tantrum making sure every piece of furniture in there was destroyed by him.
"I've given you everything you awful, disrespectful child!" he threw another plate at the wall
"I could have turned your brother into a goblin but no, and this is the bloody thanks I get!" he threw another
He grabbed a tall metallic candleholder and smashed it against the grand clock, smashing into its 13-hour face causing the hands and numbers to fall off
"I should have just completely wiped your mind when I drugged you but I wanted you to see me as generous"
he threw the candleholder out of the window hitting the tree outside causing fruit to fall off it, he conjured a crystal scornfully glaring at his prize
"Everything I've done, I've done for you and this is how you repay me?" he seethed, smashing the crystal against the door
"JARETH CONTROL YOURSELF"
he stopped blankly staring at the stone wall still panting, he stood panting for a solid 5 minutes recovering from his blowup resisting the urge to throw something or go to Sarah's house and show her who is her king.
"have you finished?"
Realizing he was being spoken to, his eyes softened but he continued panting, Jareth took a sharp inhale and straightened himself from his arched over posture, his gloved fingers ran through his hair with his also fixing his outfit as he hates looking his version of untidy, something he also couldn't stand humans was how 'untidy' they were.
"yes, I'm better" he breathed
"You're an embarrassment. you let your disgusting temptations get the better of you again"
"yes, but, it's working" Jareth smirked to himself
the spirit went quiet for a second admitting to themselves that Jareth was correct, begrudgingly they decided that Jareth will have to seduce her. breaking their silence, they spoke:
"Hmmm maybe you are correct, the girl grows more into a woman every day and her passions for you are rising. I can feel her energy changing around you, she's more confident, more playful, more...flirtatious"
Jareth smirked at hearing the Spirit admitting they were wrong but in their usual battle of pride, the spirit made sure his small victory was short-lived and they also didn't want Jareths head getting bigger.
"I must admit, I admire that the girl managed to outsmart you, maybe she's not as gullible as you thought she was"
the king mused at the spirit's comment as he walked over to the window and looked outside at his fruitless landscape, he could see acres upon acres of barren trees making his smile so he finally let the sunset on this day. He turned back around to see this mess he had caused in his throne room, feeling slightly ashamed of himself for losing so much of his self-control.
Breaking his short silence, he sighed "Yes, maybe you're right..." He snaked his hand into his trouser pocket, he grabbed onto something bringing it up and opening his gloved palm for him to inspect, quietly chuckling to himself it then grew into a laugh, an evil maniacal laugh. He threw the item onto the floor
"Or maybe she's not as clever as what she thinks" he gloated, the item saw the bottom of Jareth's boot, and with a crunch, Sarah's watch was broken. Conjuring another crystal it was filled with the image of Sarah laying on her bed and just staring at her ceiling, a demented smile twisted onto his mouth thinking of the best way to punish her, it came to him 'as if it never happened', burning at her innocent face.
"And maybe, Sarah" his voice went higher with a mocking undertone "maybe it was all just a dream..." The dark character cast an enchantment onto her so that later that day, Sarah woke up to tell her family about the most wonderful dream about picking fruit trees, her 'imaginary' friends, a romantic picnic and almost kissing a handsome prince with Irene and Robert growing more concerned about Sarah's mental wellbeing. Sarah went about her usual day going to school, being with her family, and visiting the labyrinth completely forgetting about the event of the previous day.
Whilst back at the castle, the goblins were finally allowed back in the throne room to clean up the chaos their king had caused but there were two goblins who had gone missing with Jareth being left alone in his royal suite. Boots heavily clinked back and forth around his suite, Jareth gazed into his crystal at his Sarah after spending another day with her who had no recollection of the previous day only that her watch mysteriously went missing, He went on to lie to her about her possibly losing it at school or something. He paced and paced around his room just gazing at his queen, pretending to caress her angelic face feeling some small guilt about what he's doing to her until he was interrupted.
"So I see you've shifted her memory to make her believe she's dreamt up everything, very clever my king but just be careful that she doesn't become aware of what you're doing to her"
the king halted his pacing "She'll never get wise, I'm going to numb her mind so much all she'll ever know is me. besides, I have shifted her memories into dreams many times before and this instance is no different" he returned to his gazing of Sarah, she was having dinner with her family and could see that her peach 'allergy' had returned.
"Yes but your queen isn't as docile as you want her to be, remember her will is what's keeping her from you. the girl is strong."
"that might be but, foolish is the child that trifles with the goblin king!" tightening his grip on the crystal creating cracks at the top of it, squeezing the orb his intense grip made the cracks split down the body of the crystal making it shatter in his gloved hand. He smirked feeling pleased with himself, shaking his hand and brushing the crystal dust off his gloves, the iridescent crystal shards dropped to the floor then poofed away. It struck Jareth that he forget to do something.
"now If you'll excuse me, I have to see a worm about some pies"
...
And this it! Fruits of the Labyrinth is finally finished :D it has gone on longer than I expected unfortunately but I just get so many ideas for this fic that I can't help myself. I know some readers have been concerned about Jareth taking advantage of Sarah but fear not, this will be a slow-burning relationship where he has to wait but some readers enjoy Jareth's struggling to keep himself restrained around her however that Jareth and Spirit characters may become darker in upcoming chapters so be warned. I hope you have enjoyed 'Fruits of the Labyrinth' as much I've enjoyed writing it and please don't forget to comment and review!
Thanks for reading!
Razzlekid95