"Keep the Magic Alive"
Chapter 13
By Aiijuin
Disclaimer: All things "Labyrinth" belong to Henson Companies as well as many other wonderful contributors. I own nothing!
This story is VERY dark, and therefore is marked M+ for Mature content
Chapter 13: Danse Macabre
The music was light and chipper as crowds of masked people swirled about on the white marble dance floor. The candle chandeliers hung sporadically about the ballroom and covered the entire area with a bright luminescence. The whole place was incredibly teeming with various human-like individuals and there didn't seem to be enough room to move about the place amiss all of the full gowns that the female attendees wore.
"Please," Sarah pleaded as the Goblin King twirled her around, while he was adorned lavishly in his sparkly-blue formal jacket ensemble that he reserved only for this occasion.
She was exhausted and leaning on him by this point. He made a rather over-emphatic pout at her, and then purred, "Oh, now why the long face, Darling? Isn't this what you always dreamt of so long ago?"
Sarah glanced across the strangely twisted room and saw her daughters huddled at the top of the stairs. They had been clothed exactly as she was in pristine white, satin gowns with silver embroidery that meandered throughout the gown and sparkling crystals near the bodice and puffed sleeves. The sea of people were pointing mockingly and laughing at them. Sarah turned back to the king and cried, "You said that you'd let them go if I surrendered to you, Jareth…"
The Goblin King raised his eyebrows as wisps of blue-colored hair mingled with his golden blonde locks, and then fell about his face randomly. He smiled deviously and replied, "Yes, I thought about that arrangement, but then I realized that you would probably play the same tricks as last time and I simply can't have you scampering away, whilst leaving my kingdom in shambles again…. now, can I?"
Sarah ignored his question and asked, "Where's Jaime?"
"Who?" The Goblin King responded with a puzzled look.
"Our son… Jaime?" Sarah whispered, because she was so frazzled that she could hardly speak at this point. "W-Where is he?"
"Ah! The blind little mouse! Yes," The King of the Goblins exclaimed excitedly, "You know, I think I will call him 'Jareth', because he's got my eyes…even if he can't see out of them."
"Where is he?!" Sarah asked forcefully this time, as she tightened her hands around the Goblin King's gloved fingers.
"Well, since he brags so incessantly about how he can 'see' better than everyone, I decided to test him against my Labyrinth from the very beginning."
Sarah furrowed her brow furiously, and gave the king a shove, "YOU! You sent Jaime outside by himself into an unknown place? He's only three!!! What kind of crazy nut are you?!?"
She paused as she remembered who she was talking to. The Goblin King snickered and chided, "Don't worry, Mom. If he's half as good as he says he is, then he'll be just fine… unless he chooses the door that leads to certain death… He's quite a smart child, nonetheless, so I'm confident that he'll be fine…for now. And speaking of children, I was utterly shocked when I discovered that you had children sometime ago."
Sarah turned her head to the side and glanced at him strangely as he continued, "You see, I had stopped your previous marriage from ever occurring, and just in the nick-of-time I should say…but then, some years later, I realized that another man must have snuck in under my ever-watching gaze, and I was completely unaware of it until after your third daughter, Sahara had been born to you."
Sarah backed away as the king grappled her closer again. He scolded, "No, no. I'm not finished talking yet, Dearest. Now then, who is the man… this 'Mr. King' as you call him? For I'd very much like to meet with him."
Sarah paused because she absolutely didn't know how to reply to him. What was there to say to him? How could she answer, who she assumed to be, an insane person?
The King of the Goblins finally muttered, "Oh, come now, Darling. You can tell me. If you don't, I'll find out anyway. I have my sources."
He spun her around again, as she nearly tripped over her own feet, because they hurt so badly, and then he continued, "I will admit though, he is quite an ever elusive fellow. I wonder how he's managed to stay hidden for all of these years. I can't even see him within my magic crystals… Mmm, I wonder if Higgle's behind this madness?"
"His name is 'HOGGLE'!" Someone spat from across the other side of the ballroom, as the room fell silent and all of the masked people turned to look. The Goblin King had a strange look overshadow his face as Sarah twisted about to see who had been the source of the voice. Although it sounded very familiar to her, the whole concept of whether it was actually true just seemed highly impossible. As she caught a glimpse of the figure that pushed its way through the cluttered room, her eyes opened in shock.
"J-Jareth?" She whispered.