She had a feeling inside of her that it hadn't worked. If she had known for definite that it would have worked then she wouldn't have said it so boldly. She opened her eyes slowly. Everything seemed a little blurry. When she had finally regained focus she realised that she was staring into a mans eyes. Well at first it seemed like he was a man but then she realised that it was actually the Wiseman, the large goblin-like bearded creature sporting a talkative bird on his head. Sarah screamed, which also caused the Wiseman and his bird-hat to screech also. She jumped back to get a proper look at the Wiseman. She couldn't believe where she was. The oubliette! The dark, small, enclosed underground cave where she had first been when she was trying to save her brother. She breathed heavily trying to get her thoughts together. She did wish to come to the Labyrinth, but for some reason she was terribly shocked that her wish had actually worked. And what a place to end up, the oubliette. It could have been the hedge maze, it could have been at the door knockers, but no. It was the smelly, miserable old oubliette. The place where you put people to forget about them.
"I'm sorry for screaming sir, you just scared me a little, I didn't expect that my wish would work" she said. "I didn't actually want it to work."
"Well then why did you wish it" said the bird cheekily.
"Be quiet" the Wiseman said to his hat in a hoarse voice making Sarah giggle in remembrance to the exact same thing he said all those years ago. "Wish. Ah yes." he said. " to have a strong feeling of wanting something to happen or wanting to have something, to have a desire to do or want something. You're desire was to come to this Labyrinth?"
"Actually I just came here to recover from the loss of my mother. It's not really a desire" she said.
"Ah, but what makes you think that coming here will help you recover?"
"Well I…just…I" she stammered.
"She doesn't have a clue, she's off her nut" said the bird making Sarah frown at it.
"Silence" said the Wiseman. "Sometimes to recover from a loss one must first accept that they have not lost their loved one, but have indeed found them."
Sarah frowned. She didn't understand what this meant.
"Well I'd better go, I've only got a day here and there's so much I want to discover" she said.
She walked over to the wall where she remembered the way in which Hoggle got her out last time. Only it was much harder this time as it was much darker, for she had no candle lit. She knelt on the floor and rummaged around with her hands until she found it. Then she picked up the board and pushed it against the wall. She hesitated to try and remember which side she was supposed to open. She pulled open the right side of the door and smiled to herself, proud that she had done it all on her own.
"Remember" said the Wiseman making Sarah turn around. She could only see him faintly from the light which crept in above the oubliette. "Things are not always what they seem to be" he said.
"Okay thanks" she said in an almost mocking tone, as she already knew perfectly well that things were not as they seemed in the Labyrinth.
She walked down a path which was dark and eerie. The silent moans and lost howls were much more frightening than the last time she had been there. Maybe this was only because she was all alone and had no annoying little dwarf to bug her, when secretly she was thankful for him being there.
"DON'T GO ON!" shouted a loud booming voice.
"THIS IS NOT THE WAY!" bellowed another.
Sarah had clearly forgotten about the false alarms, as they made her jump up and scream. For a place that was filled with an sinister silence a few seconds ago was now beaming with booming voices from the boulders which tried to discourage her. She rolled her eyes at them, knowing that they couldn't scare her anymore, especially when she wasn't trying to get anywhere specific anyway.
When Sarah had finally come clear of the false alarms she reached an empty corridor, or what she thought was empty. Her confidence suddenly melted at the sight of a strange looking creature. It was like a goblin but was much larger. It wore a shabby hat where Sarah could see strands of hair coming out from underneath it. It had small hands which wore black gloves, too small to be goblin hands surely.
"Ah, what have we here" it said in a high-pitched goblin-like voice.
Sarah sighed. She knew who it was. She walked over to the creature.
"Jareth stop fooling around. I know its you" she said arrogantly.
She pulled of the creatures head. But to her surprise it's head would not pull off.
"Ahhh!" it cried, "get off me."
"Oh" Sarah said as she leapt back. "I…I'm so sorry I thought you were, I…"
A cackling sound in the distance interrupted Sarah. She looked around and saw Jareth walking towards her clapping his hands and laughing cruelly. He wore black breeches, a grey ruffled shirt and leather boots. His hair was still wild and other-worldly. His posture was elegant but sturdy, and his malicious, mismatched eyes stared into hers.
"I have to say, that performance has put a little fun in my day. Terribly amusing." he said scornfully.
Sarah felt humiliated. She should not have mocked the wise mans words. He told her things aren't what they seem and yet still she assumed that the strange creature was Jareth. The Goblin King could see that she was embarrassed so he took the chance to gloat even more. He paced around her, something which she felt annoyed by.
"Sarah, do you enjoy making a fool out of yourself, because it's something you do an awful lot. Or are you just incredibly stupid?" he said still laughing.
"I was smart enough to defeat you" she bit back, not feeling scared of him at all.
Jareth's laughter suddenly turned to resentment as his face sharpened up.
"Yes, you were" he said bitterly. "But if you defeated me, then why ask to come back?" he asked curiously.
"I don't know, I suppose I just wanted to get away for a while. My mother just died and I found this book where it said that whoever defeats the Goblin King gets to wish herself away again, so I thought that I might as well give it a try."
Her reason seemed valid enough. Jareth stared at her with an emotionless expression. He did not want to pity her about her mother but he was not that kind of man to tease a girl about her dead mother.
"Yes, I was hoping you wouldn't find out about that wish" he said.
Sarah was a little offended by this.
"Really why?" she asked.
"Because!" he snapped returning to his evil self. "Why would I ever want to see the girl who defeated me!"
"Well I thought…" she said.
"You thought WHAT precisely! That I would welcome you back with open arms and let you parade around my Labyrinth like you own the place. If that was what you thought then you really are stupid."
"That's not…" she stopped herself before she said 'fair'. "I mean, I thought that you…well, had feelings for me" she said making Jareth appear a little shocked.
"Oh did you" he said. "And what made you think that."
"What do you think made me think that! How about the dancing in the ballroom and the words 'fear me, love me, do as I say', don't tell me you don't remember that."
"I say a lot of things Sarah and I do not remember all of them. But it is funny how you remembered those words, they must have had more of an effect on you then they did me." he said.
Sarah huffed. He was really making a fool out of her, even when he didn't have power over her anymore.
"You can't fool me, I know how you felt. You wanted me to be your Queen I know it."
Jareth laughed. Sarah was digging her hole even deeper.
"Really?" he said derisively. "Or is that what you wanted."
He was twisting all of her words.
"You disgusting vile creep, you…
"Sarah" said gruff voice. She saw Hoggle, the little dwarf, appear out of nowhere. He looked at her in curiosity like he hadn't seen her in years.
"Sarah what are ya doin' 'ere" he said.
"I think I should be the one asking you Hoggle, what are you doing here. Shouldn't you be off gardening somewhere. What if someone enters my Labyrinth without permission. You should be there to stop them!" said Jareth.
"Oh you know as well as I do, no one has come to the Labyrinth for months." said Hoggle.
Sarah smiled at him. She was proud of the fact that her once fearful friend was now facing up to the man whom he used to be terrified of.
"Hi Hoggle, I found out that by defeating this man…", Jareth rolled his eyes, "…that I get a free wish to come here" she said happily.
"Oh yes" said Hoggle, "and don't forget the other four wishes that you OWWW!"
Jareth had stamped on Hoggle's foot hoping that Sarah had not heard. But it was too late.
"What four wishes" she asked inquisitively.
Jareth shot an evil look at Hoggle which scared him a little.
"No it don't matter" Hoggle said.
"No, I want to know" said Sarah, "I have a right to know what I am entitled to." She looked at Jareth who gritted his teeth.
"Fine" he said. "Because you defeated me and because you found out that you could return to the Labyrinth, you get four wishes that you must use during your time here" he said.
Sarah's face lit up. She was shocked but at the same time excited that she had four wishes. Now she knew how Aladdin felt, and he must have felt powerful.
Oooh it just got interesting. What will she wish for? What will Jareth think of her wishes? What will the reviews be like? We can all find out soon enough. Next chapter up in couple of days folks. Chill ya later.