Chapter 6
Nothing, Tra La La?
Sarah stood proud and tall in front of a large mirror she'd found in Jareth's room. The room itself had fascinated her at first. The bed, a canopy, was made of solid black oak, with violet silk sheets and hangings. There were several chairs made of grey leather surrounding a black marble fireplace, an end table with a crystal ball on it… and, with further examination, Sarah had seen that her copy of the Labyrinth was laid carefully next to the crystal ball.
Now she stood in front of the mirror, dressed sharply in Jareth's clothing— a white poet's shirt and riding breeches hugging her legs. She'd also stolen a pair of gloves and knee-high black riding boots. Sarah giggled at her reflection; she had never known just how good the Goblin King's clothing looked on her. She'd also taken the liberty of turning the red crystal ball into a pendant, which now hung from her neck on a gold chain.
Sarah stepped forward and examined the mirror's design. The edges were rimmed with solid gold, and a single phrase in another language was carved repeatedly to circle the mirror.
Mea pretioso, pulchra amor.
"Latin?" Sarah guessed aloud, running her fingers over the words. She wondered what they meant… and what they meant to Jareth.
The mirror suddenly fogged up, and Sarah leaned in closer. The fog vanished and Sarah was looking at herself. But it wasn't her reflection in Jareth's clothes.
What the mirror now reflected was still her, but on the night after her adventure in the Labyrinth. She was sitting on her vanity chair dressed in the blouse and dirtied jeans and staring back at Hoggle's reflection with a saddened smile.
"I need you, Hoggle," said the Sarah in the mirror.
Sarah gasped and practically threw herself back away from the mirror. The image vanished, and Sarah found herself shaking with anger.
"So, the Goblin King had decided to spy on my conversations?" she fumed.
Sarah stormed away from the mirror, tried to ignore the stabbing pain in her head that was the beginning of a headache, and picked up the crystal ball to check on Jareth's progress.
Jareth was resting against the wall of the oubliette. Without light, there was no way to find the hidden exit, and he certainly couldn't search for it in the dark. He sighed, cursing Sarah. What was he to do?
Jareth's head drooped onto his shoulder, and he was just starting to nod off when there was a thudding of heavy footsteps.
"Who is it?" Jareth demanded, leaping up and glaring out into the darkness. "Declare yourself!"
"Kiiiiiing…" rumbled a deep and slow voice. Jareth sighed, recognizing the voice of that lumpy mound of red fur Sarah called a friend… or used to.
"Yes, you're that creature who communicates with rocks," he muttered. "Sarah's friend."
"Sarah here?" asked Ludo hopefully.
"No," Jareth said. "Why, has she belayed you as well?"
"Sarah… no call," Ludo said sadly, hanging his head.
Jareth sighed again. "Help me out here, beast. We have to find the secret exit. Can you assist me?"
Jareth immediately jammed his gloved hands over his ears as Ludo began to howl hoarsely, his roar making the walls shake. Jareth opened his mouth to shout for the wretched beast to stop his wailing, but at that moment a heavy boulder crashed through the trapdoor on the ceiling that Jareth had fallen through, causing the trapdoor to be ripped off its hinges and light from above to spill into the oubliette. Jareth blinked and saw Ludo, still shaggy and grinning crookedly with pointy teeth, hobbled over in the corner.
"Yes, well then," Jareth said briskly. "Help me find the door."
Jareth started to search the oubliette while Ludo shuffled around, kicking up dust and lifting rocks. For several minutes, they searched the small cavern in total silence (not counting the comical grunts Ludo made every time he lifted a boulder) but no door was hidden anywhere. By the time they'd searched for ten minutes, Jareth was cross.
"Where the hell is that door?" he muttered to himself. "Unless… there is no door anymore. Perhaps Sarah changed that as well!"
Jareth glanced at the boulder that had tumbled through the trapdoor, and then at the tiny pile of rocks Ludo had made.
"Luro," Jareth said suddenly. "I think I just found the exit."
"Ludo," Ludo grumbled insistently, but Jareth ignored him.
"Here, can you take those rocks and pile them up into a pyramid shape? Then we can climb up and get out of here."
Ludo nodded firmly and began hoisting the rocks to surround the large boulder, forming a pedestal-like step. Jareth quickly climbed up the pile and poked his head through the hole in the ceiling, where he was surprised to find that the Helping Hands had vanished. There was now only a slimy old ladder, which Jareth grasped tightly and thanked himself for wearing gloves.
"Come, Lubo," Jareth ordered, climbing up the ladder and trying not to cringe as he imagined all the bile that was getting on his nice, clean gloves. He reached the top of the ladder and slid back into daylight.
Jareth exited a stone pot and landed with a click of his boots onto the ground. He looked around, recognizing the hedge maze, and he also noticed a ragged old man with a bird hat sitting on a chair made of enormous, stone books. The Wiseman's eyes widened when he noticed Jareth.
"Your Majesty!" squawked the bird hat, before the old man could even open his mouth.
"Yes, yes," Jareth said impatiently, while Ludo struggled to squeeze out of the pot behind him. "Now, old man, can you help me? I assume you know what has become of the Labyrinth."
The Wiseman nodded and said feebly, "I spoke with the girl only a few years ago. Her heart seemed pure of deception at the time… I'd never imagined she'd steal your power…"
Then he straightened up and stared firmly at Jareth, which took Jareth by surprise. Under normal circumstances, the Wiseman would be cowering.
But, Jareth reminded himself with a sigh, these are not normal circumstances.
"Your Majesty, you must get to the castle before time's end!" said the Wiseman insistently, gripping the edges of the chair with his long fingers. "The girl… she is in grave danger!"
Jareth froze immediately.
"Tell me," he ordered.
"Your power… she stole your power! But she is a mere human. She cannot handle it for long. It has already begun destroying her. Soon, it will completely consume her and she will die."
"Saaraaah!" Ludo wailed.
"Do you know the shortest route to the castle?" Jareth demanded, and then growled when he realized he already knew how the old man would answer. The Wiseman couldn't tell him the route, he could only give clues. Jareth himself had forced this prospect when he'd still been in power.
"A route that has once been taken is the last route to the castle," the Wiseman mumbled.
Jareth swore loudly and kicked the stone pot in an effort to vent out his anger. He failed, however, and his anger only doubled when his foot began to throb.
"Come, Bludo," Jareth snapped, storming off into the hedges with Ludo shuffling behind him.
They came into a clearing, a dead end. Jareth spotted a little stubby dwarf waddling into the clearing as well.
"There you are, Hedgewart," Jareth said impatiently. Hoggle jumped and his look soured, making it quite clear Hoggle had been hoping that he wouldn't run into Jareth again.
"Hoggle," Ludo grunted, in correction and in greeting.
"Eh, hiya Ludo," Hoggle mumbled. "Any leads, Yer Majesty?"
"Hoggle, you know the way to the castle," Jareth said quickly. "Listen, you have to tell me. Sarah is in grave danger."
"Sarah?" said Hoggle, his look softening. Then it soured again. "I don't care about her no more. She's a no-good friend."
"Sarah friend," Ludo grumbled insistently, glaring at Hoggle.
"You must," Jareth demanded. "Sarah will die if you do not. My power is slowly killing her, and she won't give it back unless I make it to the castle in time."
Hoggle blinked and thought hard. Finally, with a grunt and a wave of his hand, he said, "Follow me then," and shuffled off into the hedges. Jareth followed him quickly to a stone wall.
Jareth recognized this test. It was the doors with the twisted-faced knockers— one with the ring in his ears and the other with the ring in his mouth. But there was something different now— a third door with a third knocker. This knocker had a big nose, and through it hung his own ring.
"Hey, I reconithe ooh thoo," said the knocker with the ring in his mouth. Ludo bumbled over to him and took out the ring out of his mouth, which he then handed to Hoggle, who took it with a look of disgust.
"How many times have I told you not to talk with your mouth full?" said the deaf knocker loudly.
"What did you say?" Jareth said.
"I said, 'I recognize you two'," repeated the knocker. "You're the King—"
"I know I am," said Jareth indignantly.
"— and your that big hairy thing," finished the knocker. "Where's your friend, the girl with the dark hair? The one who shoved the ring back into my mouth," he added crossly.
"Never mind that," Jareth said impatiently. "When the hell did he show up?"
Jareth gestured to the knocker at the far end, who glared at Jareth and said firmly, "Just because the knocker over there is deaf doesn't mean I am."
"A couple of hours ago," replied the middle knocker irritably. "And he hasn't shut up since. I might actually prefer the deaf one over there."
"What?" yelled the deaf knocker.
"Whatever, just pick a door," Hoggle said intolerantly, and then cowered underneath Jareth's glare.
"Let's try the new one," he suggested, and grabbed the ring and knocked.
For the second time that day the ground opened up and Jareth plunged through a seemingly endless tunnel, except this time Ludo and Hoggle were falling with him. Jareth landed immediately on Ludo's enormous, furry belly, causing the beast to grunt out petulantly.
"Turn back immediately," boomed an enormous stone head, sand spilling out of the corners of its mouth as it spoke.
"False alarms," Jareth said lightly, getting up and dusting himself off. "All right, at least we're on the right track."
Jareth, Ludo and Hoggle set off down the dirty tunnel, ignoring the cries and calls of, "If you continue, you shall surely die," "Take regard… beware of what lies ahead," and, "If you value your life, you should go back."
Jareth immediately stumbled over something rolling on the ground, and with further examination he saw in shock that it was one of his crystal balls. It rolled through the mouth of an arch, where Jareth could just make out the slender figure leaning casually against the wall.
"Ah," she giggled. "What have we here?"
"Nothing," Hoggle said instinctively, clearly not recognizing just who had asked the question.
Sarah smiled, leaned in close to Jareth's face and whispered amusedly, "Nothing, tra la la?"
Jareth smirked as well. "You tease. Wait a moment… are you wearing my clothes?"
Sarah laughed and tugged on her gloves. "Why yes I am, thank you."
"They become you," Jareth murmured softly. This was evidently not something she had expected Jareth to say, because her smirk slid off her face and she stared up at him with eyes as wide as coins. Jareth blinked; her expression was stunning him. She looked like her old self again— the innocent, easily flustered high school girl.
Sarah opened her mouth to reply, but her slack expression deepened considerably when she noticed Hoggle and Ludo standing in the background. Jareth smirked again as he noticed the three friends staring at each other. For a moment, Jareth could have sworn a look of guilt shadowed Sarah's face.
Hoggle looked away irritably and Ludo hung his head. This snapped Sarah to attention and she tore her eyes away to face Jareth.
"So, Goblin King," Sarah hissed, her smirk returning. "How are you enjoying my Labyrinth?"
"I must say, precious," Jareth said amusedly. "You are making this quite a challenge." Sarah's eyes narrowed, and Jareth exclaimed, "My apologies, you were expecting me to say 'It's a piece of cake' weren't you?"
"You annoy me," Sarah said briskly, leaning against the wall again. Now Jareth got a clear view of his red crystal ball hanging around her neck, and he was reminded of the danger she was in.
"You must listen," Jareth said quickly. "Relinquish the power back to me."
Sarah laughed at that. "And why would I do that? You haven't gotten to the castle just yet."
"The power is killing you," Jareth said earnestly, just as Sarah cringed and rubbed at her temples. "You see? That is a sign. My power cannot be handled by a human for too long."
"Then you'll just have to get to the castle, won't you?" Sarah smirked. She stepped away from the wall and swept her hand, just as Jareth clamped his hands around her waist.
They both vanished.
A/N: I suck at updating :) I'm sorry. I keep forgetting this story exists. The Latin in this fic is possibly wrong, but I'm not fluent in Latin so it's the best I can do.