You Have No Power
It was like the Escher room all over again. Only this time, the whole Labyrinth shifted and twisted around her.
The Bog of Eternal Stench hung over her head, the remains of its latest victim still twitching in its filthy waters. Over there, the fiery's forest was flipped up on its side. There were the remains of the junk yard, there was the corpse of the spider queen next to her enormous web, there were the shattered remains of the enchanted ballroom.
Sarah stood in the throne room of the castle. The roof had been ripped away and when she looked into the various doorways and windows, she saw other parts of the Labyrinth that couldn't possibly be contained within the castle. She caught a glimpse of the refugee town and her worried friends, but as she ran toward them, the scene disappeared, replaced by another portion of the Labyrinth.
"Bravo, Sarah." Jareth's voice seemed to come from everywhere. She couldn't see him, but she could hear him clapping. "Well done."
"Jareth, where are you?" she called. "Did we defeat Iribo? How do I get home? Where're my daughter and husband?"
"They're right here."
Sarah spun around, but it wasn't Jareth who'd spoken this time. Iribo held Ashley in his arms and Richard stood next to the Demon King, head down, not looking at her. Sarah's hands fisted at her sides.
"Give them to me," she said.
"It's not that easy this time, Sarah," Iribo said. "I've learned a few things from Jareth's defeat at your hands. While your adoration and servitude would be lovely, I don't need them. I don't need you. Not like the Goblin King did. My goals are so different from his."
"I know," Sarah ground out. "You want everyone to be demons and serve you."
"Actually, you've clarified that point for me," Iribo said. He handed Ashley to Richard before turning back to Sarah. His face was lined and he looked older. Tired. "Jareth and I agree on one point, my dear. You are exhausting."
A sick feeling filled Sarah. "What do you mean? I won. I reached the castle. Give my family back."
"Apparently you were right." The Demon King smiled, a cruel and heartless expression. "I am going to change the rules to suit my whim."
Cold fear gripped Sarah's heart. "No," she whispered, pleading.
Black shadows seeped into the room from every doorway and the cracks between the stones. They gathered around Iribo, Richard, and Ashley. Sarah whimpered as the shadows took on vaguely human shapes with glowing red eyes and glistening fangs.
Iribo lifted his arms. "I'm going to end it all. No more Labyrinth. No more king. Just—nothing."
"No!" Sarah cried.
She raced forward, her only thought go get to Ashley and Richard. Iribo clapped his hands together and the room split, a wide, yawning gap separating Sarah and her family. She crashed to the floor as the castle shook. Ashley's terrified scream filled the air.
Sarah looked up to see her beloved Richard twisting and deforming. Huge bat-like wings sprouted from his back and thick horns curled away from his forehead.
"Richard!" Sarah cried.
Iribo laughed. "That's not your Richard, my dear. He has been my creature from the beginning. I gave him the semblance of your husband in hopes that it would turn your favor in my direction. It seems nothing I planned for you has gone the way I'd hoped."
White hot rage filled Sarah, burning her fear away. She stood, staggering as the floor shook and swayed. She fixed Iribo with her gaze.
"Give me my daughter, you monster," she commanded.
An unreadable look crossed Iribo's face.
That's it, the Goblin King's voice whispered in her ear. She could almost feel his hands on her shoulders, lending her strength.
Ashley screamed again. Richard—no, the demon—was completely transformed. He looked like a Balrog, minus all the flames. Sarah felt her rage-fueled courage start to slip away. How could she fight a demon?
Steady, Sarah, Jareth murmured. He's nearly yours. Look.
She looked at Iribo again. His hair was limp and his mismatched eyes dull. His shoulders seemed bowed by some indelible pressure. The shadowy demons around him hung suspended, as if held in place by their king's indecision.
Sarah grabbed her fear with both hands—metaphorically speaking—and attempted to strangle it.
"How dare you," she yelled. "How dare you tear my family apart, and use my husband's face to trick me. How dare you drag me away from my world and drop me in this poor excuse of a Labyrinth."
Iribo seemed to shrink in on himself under tirade. "I did it for you, Sarah," he said.
"I didn't ask for any of this! I was happy where I was!"
"You were miserable." The Demon King and Goblin King's voices blended together. "You cried every night."
Where the Bog of Eternal Stench had hung overhead, a montage of Sarah's life appeared. In each scene she was sobbing, or trying to hide her tears from others.
Sarah looked at Iribo. Behind him, a ghostly Jareth appeared. Her expression softened. "Yes, I did. That's what happens when you love someone and they go away. You're sad. But you deal with it."
The two rulers' voices blended together again. "I was trying to deal."
"Maybe you were," Sarah acknowledged. "But I have to say, you've thrown quite a tantrum instead. How else do you account for the state of the Labyrinth? For all the people you've hurt?"
She took a deep breath. She was starting to understand, seeing the two men together. They were practically twins; dark and light. She hoped she was on the right track to heal the Labyrinth, and its ruler.
"When you lose someone you love, you cry and scream and sometimes you even have to fake a smile. But you also have to move on."
Sarah's voice caught on a lump of emotion in her throat. Had she moved on after Richard's death? Or had she clung to his memory to the point of alienating those around her?
"You have to let yourself heal," she said. "You don't drag others into your world and make them miserable as well."
She blinked and tears rolled down her cheeks. She knew she was guilty of making her family and friends miserable. She was no better than Iribo in her own way. But she could see that now, and she promised herself she'd change.
"Sarah," Jareth said, holding a hand out to her. He looked more substantial now, and Iribo seemed like the shadow.
The Demon King shrank back against Jareth. "I've had enough," Iribo hissed. "No more pain. No more sadness. You shredded me to pieces, Sarah!"
"I know," she said, talking a step forward, her feet at the lip of the gap in the floor. "I hurt you terribly. I was young and stupid and selfish. I'm sorry."
She held her hand out, reaching for Jareth, or Iribo, or both. Together, the Demon King and the Goblin King took a step toward her, Iribo's hand stretching out, like Jareth's, to reach for her.
The demons behind the Demon King exploded into shrieking movement. Sarah screamed as she lost sight of Ashely and Jareth. She backed up, then took a running start and launched herself over the abyss. The demons rushed forward to meet her and darkness engulfed her.
It took almost all of Jareth's remaining power—and Iribo's—to banish the demons and save Sarah and her child. Working together, the two kings stabilized the Labyrinth momentarily, then spirited Sarah and Ashely away to a quiet room.
"I told you she was amazing," Jareth murmured.
He sat on the bed where Sarah lay curled around Ashely and stroked her hair.
"I should have believed you," Iribo acceded.
The Demon King's body was translucent, ghost-like.
"Yes, you should have." Jareth sounded smug. "It would have saved us all this trouble."
"So, what now, oh Wise One?"
"I think it's time for you to rest. I've been at this job a lot longer. It's going to take a bit of doing to get the Labyrinth into shape again."
Iribo's form faded even more. "Forgive me. I made a mess of things."
"Yes, you did." A pause. "I forgive you. And I forgive myself."
Iribo faded completely as the two rulers became one again; the rift in Jareth's heart that had created Iribo now on the mend.
Jareth looked down at Sarah, a fond smile on his face. "So much trouble, for something so small."
He brushed Ashely's cheek with a gentle finger and the little girl smiled in her sleep. Jareth bent and kissed Sarah's forehead.
"Time to wake up, Sleeping Beauty."
A/N: One more chapter (the epilogue) to go! I'd like to thank all of you readers who stuck with this story. I've made you wait far too long between updates, and your loyalty means a lot to me. See you in the final chapter.