"D...Dying?" Kate whispered, not believing her ears. She looked at
Jareth and tried to read his expression. Maybe he was just playing
with her. But no. She knew he wasn't. This wasn't some sort of trick
concocted by the ever-clever Goblin King. He might be a player of
many games, but she knew deep inside that he would never, ever
pretend weakness. "But I thought you were immortal."
Jareth raised a regal brow and crossed his arms over his
chest. "Whatever gave you that idea?"
"Well, for one you are a Goblin King, and you seem to rule over this
Labyrinth or Underground, or whatever you call it. And because you
obviously have powers and a crystal ball and...and you certainly
aren't human."
He nodded, looking slightly smug. "That is true."
"And you seem ageless."
"I am."
Kate frowned, frustrated. "Well then?"
Jareth inhaled deeply, stroking his chin with his black gloved
hand. "You could say that the Labyrinth is my heartbeat. I live
because it does, I am strong because it is strong. I am magical
because it is magical. But if the Labyrinth dies, I die with it."
Kate was still confused. "So you are saying the Underground is
sick...even dying? But why?"
Jareth was silent a moment, as if choosing his words very carefully.
When he finally spoke, his tone was softer than she had ever heard
it, and for the briefest of moments, the mask was thrown aside and
she could see his torment. "The Labyrinth keeps me alive," he said
slowly, "But Sarah kept the Labyrinth alive. She believed in this
place, with all her heart, and she loved it. While she lived, it
flourished and grew strong. Her memory MADE it alive, don't you
understand? And now that she is dead, there is no one left to believe
in it."
"I believe in it!" Kate cried, taking a step toward him. "How could I
not? I'm here, aren't I? So your problem must be solved. The
Labyrinth must live. And if it's as simple as all that, I can go back
and I can tell everyone that it does exist, and that you exist..."
"You still have no clue, do you?" Jareth asked, anger flashing so
violently in his eyes that they looked like flames. "You haven't even
SEEN the Labyrinth. You haven't SEEN anything. Your eyes haven't been
opened, you haven't looked...really looked. You live in a glass
bubble, dearest Kate, a bubble of your own romantic creations. You
see only what you want to see, but you never see the truth."
"How can you say that?" Kate cried, feeling a strange mixture of
sadness, anger, and panic. "I have SEEN everything! I'm not blind!
And unless I'm hallucinating, in which case I must be even crazier
than people think, I know I am here and have seen your castle and
have seen you."
Jareth shook his head. "You have seen only what you have expected to
see. Since you were a child you have listened to stories that your
Aunt Sarah told, and you fabricated what the Underground is and what
it should be - even what I am - in your mind."
Kate clenched her fists tightly together at her sides and
yelled, "Then what can I DO?"
Jareth said, "You can open your eyes and see the Labyrinth for what
it is, and believe in it."
"Then show me!" Kate yelled, "Show me what it really is."
Jareth took a step back, and his tone was calm when he said, "As you
wish."
Suddenly, everything turned into mirror, and Kate found herself
looking into her own reflection. But not just any reflection, for she
was wearing the scarlet gown from her dream. The first thought that
came into her mind was, "I look like something out of a fairy tale."
But just as quickly as the image appeared, it began to change,
warping into another image. She thought she heard laughter in the
background...the cackle of goblins mocking her. In a blink she was
staring at herself...her true self. She knew this, because it was her
plain old boring reflection staring back at her. Blue jeans and a
white sweater, her body void of the sparkling jewels. She looked
very, very plain indeed. There was a flash of lightning from
somewhere, and suddenly the mirror began to crack, crumbling all
around her. It was terrifying, as if being in one of those mirrored
houses at a carnival, only to find all the distorted glass breaking
and falling all around you. Kate screamed and tried to shield her
eyes. The mirror shattered into millions of pieces, all of them
falling straight toward her...
Kate was just about to crumple to the ground and roll into a tight
ball when the ground gave way beneath her, and she found herself
falling...falling...falling into an endless sea of blackness. She
screamed again, but quickly her feet found footing again, and the
blackness and the mirror vanished. She found herself standing on a
dirt ground, and when she looked up, she gasped at what she saw.
She was standing in the middle of a vast wasteland, like a desert.
Before her rose crumbling ruins that seemed to be ancient...like the
remnants of some long-forgotten city.
A weight settled at the pit of her stomach, and Kate suddenly knew,
without a shadow of a doubt, that this was the real Labyrinth.