A/N: I, Sarai McDougall, do not own, nor have I ever owned, the Labyrinth or any of the characters therein.
Chapter Six'We remember you,' the disembodied voices echoed around Sarah as she strode on determinedly. Her run had slowed down to a brisk walk. The voices were making her nervous.
'That's not how you play the game; you're breaking the rules,' the voices squawked at her. Sarah took a deep breath, trying not to think about it, and kept walking. She'd almost, almost, rather be edging her way around the Bog. But she had chosen this path and there were Firey's here, somewhere, waiting to tear her head off. And she'd known it when she chose. It was her own fault, really, she reminded herself, if they did tear her head off.
She stopped, dead in the middle of where she was walking. She hadn't really handled the Fireys very well. Everywhere else she had gone she had made friends. Not here. Here she'd broken the rules, hurt people, and then run. If it weren't for Hoggle, she would have been trapped here too. What made her think she could scale that wall without him now? But that was beside the point. She owed the Fireys an apology even if they did rip her head off.
"I'm sorry," she shouted. "I should have played by the rules." She waited a moment, and hearing only silence, decided to keep walking. Well, jogging. Silence in the Forbidden Forest really didn't seem like a good thing. A Firey, just the one, stepped into her path. Oh shit, Sarah thought to herself, this is it. She froze. The Firey started to move it's head. And then it's feet. Two more jumped in behind it and started to join in the dance. Sarah was really, really confused. Three more Fireys jumped in behind the others and Sarah took a step backward. She really didn't want to leave the path. And she knew she had to keep going. How long had it been since Jareth had said it was thirteen hours? And she knew she still had to find a way out of here. Sarah briefly considered ripping their heads off again and making a run for it. But she knew that it would probably in the end be counter-productive.
As four more Firey's joined the dance, Sarah cleared her throat.
"While I love watching you dance, I'm kind of in a hurry. I'm running the Labyrinth and I need to get to the Castle," she announced.
"We know, we know, we know, we know, we know, we know, we know, we know," sang the Fireys. "But just stay and play awhile."
"I can't," Sarah begged them. "I've only got a few hours left." She took a tentative step forward.
"Stay and watch us," one Firey said.
"Stay and play," another chimed in.
"Take your head off!" screamed another as they advanced in on her.
"My head doesn't come off!" Sarah yelled. More Fireys joined the group as they continued to come towards her. She took another step back and nearly knocked a Firey over. She was surrounded. If she left the path, she knew she'd be lost. She felt hands grab her head and she knew she had no choice.
"I'm sorry," she cried out before running as fast as she could to her left, trying to count steps but knowing it would be useless in the end. She'd just left the path in the Forbidden Forest. She could consider herself lost.
Twenty minutes later, Sarah was completely lost. She sat down, exhausted and frustrated, at the base of a tree trunk, fighting back tears. She'd lost Micah. Lost the Labyrinth. Lost everything to Jareth. Lost her life. She shook her head. It wasn't fair. She almost laughed out loud at those words.
"Nothing is fair," she said aloud. "Life isn't fair. Why should I expect the Labyrinth to be any different?"
"Because it's a place made of dreams?" Jareth asked her. She stood up in shock.
"I didn't call you," Sarah accused him. Jareth gave his trademark half-grin.
"I know. I came to make sure you knew you were totally and hopelessly lost," he replied lazily. Sarah exhaled angrily.
"Thank you. I'm aware. Goodbye," she replied. Sarah had no use for him there. She didn't want him there.
"You still have twelve hours, Sarah," Jareth reminded her. Sarah glared at him.
"Thank you, Information Desk," Sarah replied snakily.
"Tut tut tut, Sarah," Jareth scolded her in a bored tone. "Sarcasm will get you nowhere."
"But wishes will? Thanks but no thanks, Jareth. I saw what happened to Micah," she tossed at him, starting to walk away for something to do.
"You left the path, Sarah. How did you expect to get back there?" he asked curiously. Sarah stopped and turned around.
"I didn't. But I figured that whatever you had planned for me… it wouldn't include having my head torn off and tossed around by Fireys," she said with a shrug.
"So you gave up? Forfeited? Because really Sarah, how much pleasure am I suppose to take in that? Don't you wish you'd had a better go of it? Gotten a little further? Not chosen to go into the forest?" Jareth offered. Sarah narrowed her eyes and emptied her mind.
"I do not wish for anything. I had hoped… but that is not important. What's done is done. I still have twelve hours," Sarah said, renewed determination settling in her mind. How dare he come to gloat? He hadn't won yet! Jareth grinned at her.
"Very well, Sarah. Would you like to know which way it is back to the path?" Jareth asked. Sarah laughed.
"Please, that would just be asking for trouble. Stop bothering me Jareth, I've got a Labyrinth to solve," she said as she stalked off. Jareth watched her for a moment before appearing back at the castle.
Jareth watched as Sarah found her way instinctively back to the path. He longed to know how she did it. She seemed to find her way on blind intuition once she focused on where she had to go. He wondered if the Labyrinth was helping her, but dismissed the thought. The Labyrinth was his. It was one of his subjects, loyal to him. He was its creator. Surely the Labyrinth gave its fealty to him, not some stupid mortal girl. She'd all but given up when he had gone to see her, and he knew it. Jareth knew the risks of what he had done, baiting her into continuing. She might still solve it, might. It was within the realm of possibility, but not probability. Unless she found every single shortcut from the Forest to the Castle, he was fine. But he didn't want this victory, the one he'd never wanted anything more than in his entire life, to be bittersweet. He didn't want her to give up before she'd started. He wanted her to fall to his charms. Or to his Labyrinth. But he wanted her to be so close she could taste it. And then to fail. Jareth wanted Sarah to spend the rest of her living days knowing that she was a hair's breath away from besting him for a second time. But she just didn't have quite what it took. He wanted regret and pain and almosts to haunt her. He wanted them to hound her. Torture her. To turn her into what he became when she won. Vengeful, bitter and angry - and desperate for a re-match. A re-match that would never come. He would be her lord and master for the rest of her natural born days. Until he could figure out how to be lord and master of the rest of the days of existence. She would be under his control until the end of eternity of he could manage it. All she had to do was fail. Victory was so close he could taste it. He laughed maliciously as Sarah stumbled back onto the path.
He'd lied to her. She only had eleven hours left. It would take at least twelve to get to the castle.
"Run, run, run, as fast as you can, little girl," Jareth said aloud as Sarah started to jog along the path. "You'll never make it."