The A-team to the Rescue in the Labyrinth!
Chapter Eight – Peach Champagne
Jareth was watching them every moment in his crystal. He turned into a white owl and flew out to the woods to meet them. He changed into his kingly stature and with his crystal instantly transported all of them to his throne room.
"Welcome, guests!" he said with arms out to his side, slightly bowing! Sarah, it has been such long while now, hasn't it? And my, you are so much more grown up! You look lovely in that dress, though it looks a bit worn from the escape as you do. Go and refresh yourselves, my guests! When you return, our celebrated champagne will be served and I will call in the goblins for entertainment." A goblin escorted the six of them to a place to freshen up.
When they returned to the throne room, Sarah addressed Jareth saying, "It was you who sent B.A. and the rest to rescue me! Thank you! You knew it would work! It even makes up for what you put Toby and me through years ago, you remember, 'Dangers untold and hardships unnumbered...'" "Please!," replied Jareth, "Don't repeat those lines, it hurts me to hear them again from your lips!" He didn't like re-living the past or guilt he held deep inside.
Sarah, still not quite used to the idea of Jareth being so incredibly helpful, replied, "Oh! I apologize for the flashback; I have a habit of dramatization since that's what I do now in college. Thank you for rescuing me from that horrible Werewolf Kingdom! I don't know what I would've done without everyone's help! Thanks, all of you! My family and friends must miss me dearly; I can't wait to see them again. That is, if you don't plan on keeping me here now!"
Jareth replied, "Sarah, I couldn't bear the thought of you becoming a werewolf, that's why I sent your friends. As it stands, I have no power over you; you've already defeated me, so you are free to do whatever you want, but please stay for entertainment!"
Sarah then walked up to Jareth. Approaching his throne, she studied his reactions closely and was all things combined; composed, graceful, serene, sincere, and unhindered. She knew how lonely Jareth had been while ruling goblins perhaps for thousands of years if a day and had pitied him ever since she left the Labyrinth.
She looked deeply into his stunning eyes and spoke softly; "You've shown you can be at least thoughtful, if not generous; perhaps greed won't plague the best of your days after all! I'll be glad to stay for the evening!" She then gave Jareth a polite and gentle kiss on his cheek.
Jareth's eyes lit up. He smiled brightly and his face transformed though he also looked downward in deep contemplation for a moment before looking back up at her again. Sarah blushed. She was pleased to see Jareth smile like that, actually incontrovertibly appreciative and cheerful! What an amazing difference!
In rescuing her, however, Jareth also wanted to avoid the possibility of Sarah, as Werewolf Queen, declaring war upon his kingdom for revenge, but purposely failed to mention that point.
B.A. said, "What about me? Don't I get a kiss too?" Sarah responded, "Of course, you especially deserve it!" She hugged B.A. and kissed him on the cheek. Jareth had a jealous look for half a second; the corners of his mouth tuned downward slightly. However, B.A. gave Sarah her locket back and Jareth smiled once again, pleased to see she wore it. Jareth remembered Sarah's kiss always.
Sarah and her friends then sat down together to wait for the champagne and goblin entertainment. B.A. looked at the clock and wondered how his friends were doing and if they would make it on time. He calculated it had been 11 hours and 47 minutes with 1 hour and 13 minutes to go!
Sarah then asked B.A. "Where are you from? How did you get here in the Underground?" "I'm from L.A., your home town!" he answered, "and your father hired us, I mean, me, to find you!" "Did Jareth bring you here?" she asked. "You could say that." answered B.A., remembering what Jareth told him about keeping quiet about the A-team and sending them to the Bog of Eternal Stench.
Hoggle, Ludo, Sir Didymus, and Sarah enjoyed catching up and remembering old times together. Ambrosius sat at Sarah's feet for Sarah to scratch his ears.
Hoggle and B.A. then talked about jewelry, Hoggle's favorite subject. B.A. gave him one of his favorite gold chains and Hoggle loved it. "What's it made of?" he asked. "Gold!" B.A. replied "Well, it looks nice!" said Hoggle, since gold wasn't nearly as valuable as plastic in the Underground. Hoggle liked it very much, though, a gift from a friend from the Aboveground who rescued him.
Hoggle then offered to trade one of his plastic rings for one of B.A.'s gold rings but B.A. said, "What kind' a fool you take me for!" Hoggle responded, "No kind' a fool! Who wouldn't want plastic for gold?"
B.A. replied, "What kind'a jive you talkin'?" Hoggle replied, "Oh! I would've never of guessed it! Plastic, not gold, is cheap in the Aboveground, is it?" He smiled, a little embarrassed, and continued, "Well, Sarah must've thought I was bats for all the racket I made over her plastic jewelry!"
"Sarah?" Hoggle asked, "Do you think I'm bats?" Sarah answered, "No, and even if I did, Hoggle, I wouldn't hold it against you. You're always so willing to admit to anything! That's one of the things I like so much about you!" Hoggle blushed and enjoyed the compliment. The dwarf planned to visit the Aboveground soon now that he learned plastic could be so easily acquired there and he could become wealthy.
The goblins entered the castle and Jareth walked over to give them their orders for the evening. B.A. noticed the Goblin King was sufficiently distracted and spoke quietly to Sarah, keeping his head downward so their whispering wouldn't be noticed; "Jareth threatened me to keep this under wraps, but…" and he told Sarah a brief synopsis.
Sarah replied quietly with her head down, watching carefully for Jareth from the corner of her eye; "So, Jareth's up to his same old tricks! I'm sure your friends will make it on time, especially if they're at all like you! I solved the Labyrinth when I was only fifteen, I'm sure they can! I'll do anything I can to help. I can't wait to meet the rest of the A-team!" B.A. replied, "Yeah! I pity the fool who calls himself Jareth!"
Jareth returned to his throne and the entertainment began. A goblin offered Sarah the famous (or infamous) Peach Champagne, a highly celebrated concoction in the Labyrinth and throughout the Underground. She glanced over at Jareth, squinting with her eyelids at half mast accusingly and facetiously; "I will pass on the champagne, thank you." she said, "Peaches from the Underground cannot be trusted, as I found out. I've had enough ballroom dancing for one evening, thank you very much!"
Jareth heard her reference to the peach incident. He smiled at her from across the room and lifted his champagne glass in tribute, thinking, "Ah, she does remember, if only she could stay with me in the Labyrinth! She would make a lovely Goblin Queen!"
Sarah smiled back at him, at first wryly, much colder towards him than she was before, then she corrected herself and smiled back in a brighter way, realizing he mustn't think she's "in the know" about the A-team.
"He can be quite enchanting, yet gives me no other choice!" Sarah thought, "He is gorgeous, but has hardly improved in generosity! He's charming yet cruel; seductive, not so sweet! What a pity! I learned life's not fair, he still needs to learn that greed gets him nowhere! I wonder if he ever will."
The goblins began the entertainment. They built a huge goblin pyramid by standing upon one another's knees, shoulders, heads, etc. Then they all fell down and rolled all over the place, quite comical. One of the goblins said, "Now, don't anyone try this at home, leave it all to us, the professionals!" Sarah laughed and said it reminded her of the Werewolf Castle crumbling before they got free. Ludo enjoyed it very much.
The goblins built one last pyramid as a finale since it was such a popular antic that evening. This time when they built the pyramid, Ludo called out like he was summoning rocks as goblins began to fall. This resulted in huge audience approval and laughter.
Of course, the rocks in Jareth's castle didn't fall since they knew Ludo was only joking, intelligent rocks as they were that could read minds. They only followed Jareth's commands anyway. The rocks in the Escher room were even more specially trained and charmed of course. Ludo knew all of this since, as he says, "Rocks friends!" (I wonder how Ludo would do in the Escher room!)