Chapter 8
Sarah didn't move. She just stared at him, rooted to the spot as she tried to process his words and what he had become. It didn't make sense. He looked, well, he certainly didn't look like the Jareth she remembered. But those eyes. Those mismatched eyes were still those of the Goblin King that she remembered. No matter what the rest of him looked like, those eyes still held her captive.
She coughed to get his attention. He paused and turned back toward her, still averting his eyes. She wrung her hands anxiously as she took a half step toward him. "Jareth, look at me," she pleaded.
He glanced up at her face and their eyes locked. Sarah stared into his eyes, keeping her gaze locked on them because those eyes were Jareth, not the rest of what he had become. "I… ah… you- you… looking like this..." She waved a hand to indicate his current form. "You scare me." Her voice was small as she made the admission, but she did not look away.
He started to turn away but she darted forward to place herself directly in front of him again. "You scare me," she repeated, "But that thing back there, scares me even more." She pointed behind him, to where he could sense the rapid approach of the enemy.
"Sarah-" he began, but she cut him off.
"I need answers, damn it, and you have them! So as long as you dont bite me, or tear me to pieces, I think we can work something out between us..." Hesitantly she brought her hand up and cupped his cheek feeling the smooth vines rub up her fingertips as she couldn't help but notice how soft the feathers were on his face. "You scare me, but I know that inside this… it's you, Jareth. And I- I trust you. Now pull your head together and tell me what this all means."
He was completely shocked as she touched him without fear, despite the fear he could see in her eyes. His eyes widened as he realized that she was truly going to stand here at his side, despite the way her looked. His battered heart swelled. His Sarah… his ever adventurous and determined Sarah, was right here in front of him. She was willing to stand beside the monster he had become to save them all. He almost told her then, of what was in his heart, but there was no time. She had commanded him to tell her what she needed to know.
The soft feeling of her hand on his cheek intensified as she caressed it gently and Jareth leaned into the feeling slightly. He took a shuddering breath. "Read what it says," he told her gruffly. "I'll do my best to explain it. Hurry!"
She withdrew her hand and bent down to scoop up the tome she had dropped earlier. As she read from the book, the lingering feel of her touch was a distraction, one that he was unwilling to banish just yet. He savored it, even as he focused on the words she was reading. When she got to the end, she repeated the last part, and Jareth could hear the frustration and confusion in her voice.
"... 'Inside your heart is the bridge to the Aboveground. It is no longer a single source of power for the king, but a shared one between the two of you. Should another control it, all that is will cease.
Replace that which has been stolen and the land will heal. In order to seal the wound, you will need two essences and a pure wish of pure selflessness…' I don't understand, Jareth!"
She closed the tome and looked at him, waiting for him to speak. A tremor rippled through the ground and they both glanced back toward the darkness spilling out of the tunnel. They were nearly out of time.
Jareth thought quickly about what she had said. He thought he knew what needed to happen, but his heart broke at the thought. Hoping that he was wrong, he launched into a brief explanation of what the passage told her as he prepared to meet their enemy. "We are bonded, you and I- to the Labyrinth and to each other. Magic flows between us, yours into me and mine into you, and we both share in the lagic of the Labyrinth itself."
"So, I… control the Labyrinth just like you?"
Jareth nodded. "Yes, but with the Heart in the hands of the enemy our power in that regard is limited. We must regain the Heart or the Goblin Kingdom will fall into darkness, along with the other kingdoms in the seven realms. As the guardians of the Labyrinth, it is our task to protect both your realm and mine: the human world and the fae world."
He glanced over at her, trying to gauge her reaction to what he was telling her. She was staring intently at him, her face betraying nothing of what she was feeling. He sighed. The next part would be the hardest to tell her. "We must take back the Heart and return it to the Labyrinth. Without it, she cannot heal. However, it will require more than just the Heart. We are bound to her and the Labyrinth will need the essence of both the Champion and the King to heal."
"And the last part?" Sarah asked softly.
"A wish of pure selflessness…" Jareth said softly. "It will- it will also require a… sacrifice." He spoke slowly, hoping she she would understand what needed to be done. He couldn't bear to speak any plainer of what would be required. "Only then will the Goblin Kingdom be made whole and protected once again."
He couldn't look at her. Bitterly, he regretted that she had come back. He berated himself for not being able to protect her, the kingdom, or the Labyrinth. Then he heard her determined whisper and his heart sank, even as he rejoiced in her strength.
"I'll do it... Now that I know what's expected... I'll- I'll do it.. I'll help you protect the Labyrinth and the seven realms from this asshole." Her voice grew stronger as she continued. "I'll put him 6 feet under if I have to. Did you see what he did to Ludo, nobody touches my friends and gets away with it. I'm gonna kick his evil ass." She spat, the venom in her voice surprising him.
He glanced over at her, smirking as best as he could with a mouth full of fangs. "That's the Sarah I know"
She looked up at him and winced "That's kinda scary when you do that, no smirking until you're back in the form I remember, 'kay?"
A crash distracted them. They both snapped their heads toward the sound, bracing themselves for whatever was coming. Jareth snarled in frustration. "So much for getting a breather."
A patch of earth nearby crumbled into dirt as two golems emerged, dragging Hoggle with them. He struggled in their grip, trying desperately to free himself.
Sarah screamed, stiffening in fear as she saw them squeeze the dwarf's neck painfully, lifting him up so that his feet dangled above the ground. One of the creatures turned it's dark red gaze to Sarah and opened its mouth. A voice issued from the wide jaws, a voice that was certainly not from the golem.
"Come to me at the heart of the Labyrinth, Sarah. Or more will die."
"Sarah, don't do it! You don't know what he'll do to y —" Before Hoggle could even finish his sentence, a horrible wet tearing noise filled the air and Sarah screamed in pain as she watched Hoggle being torn apart and eaten, piece by piece, by the golems.
Jareth was enraged. In his true form he was as strong, if not stronger than, the golems. In a whirl of feathers, vines, and moldering earth, he tore at the stone creatures. Reducing them to mere rubble.
Sarah simply knelt down and hugged her head to her knees, sobbing as she replayed the death of her best friend over and over in her mind's eye.
Raging, Jareth shredded the golems with his talons. He screamed his challenge at the swirling clouds above, confronting their enemy as he dug the hardened bones of his talons into the last of the stone golems.
"Coward! Are you too scared to fight us face to face?" There was no reply save for an intense swirling in the clouds above them. Snarling, Jareth whirled around, searching for another enemy to vent his rage upon. "If you think you can break us with such a pitiful display, you will find that you are sorely mistaken!"
Thunder rumbled and lightning struck the earth close by. Jareth laughed without mirth, his guttural voice lowering as he looked over at Sarah. "If you want the Champion so badly, then come and take her!" As he issued that final challenge, he curled up around Sarah, sending his essence rippling out around them in a protective circle.
He held her close, shifting the vines that grew over his body to that all she touched were the soft feathers that covered him. He pulled her into his lap, rocking her as she sobbed despairingly at the loss of her friend. "Shhhhh," he crooned. "You were his best friend, Sarah. You cared about him when no one else did. Hoggle would have given anything to protect you." He pressed his forehead against hers and overlaid the memory of Hoggle's death with those of all of his conversations with the guardian since Sarah had left the Underground with Toby.
"If you want his death to have meaning then we must take back the Heart." Although his words were harsh, his voice was soft as he held her. To soften the blow of his seemingly callous words, he shared his own sorrow at the death of the dwarf with her. "If you want to end this then we must brace ourselves, because more will die if we don't stop him."
His words didn't lessen the blow of losing Hoggle in such a violent fashion, but they did give Sarah the strength she needed to go on. Slowly her sobs ceased and she sat limply in his embrace. "I hate him," she whispered fiercely. "I will hurt him as he has hurt my friends, and even you won't be able to stop me, Jareth." Her hands clenched for a moment before she took a deep breath and pulled away from him.
Jareth wanted nothing more than to keep her safe in his arms, but he let her go. Wiping her eyes she stood and loudly announced, "Listen up, asshole. You want me, come get me. Because I'm not impressed with your smoke and mirrors. Honestly, I don't think you can beat me. You're nothing!" Her eyes flashed, all trace of tears gone as she allowed her anger to take over. She screamed up into the sky, "All this is just a piece of cake, you bastard!"
Jareth shook his head and and sighed as he stood, the vines shifting to cover his body once again. "That's going to get his attention. If you want to hit a fae where it hurts most, then you go after their pride."
The clouds roiled angrily, lighting flashing garishly from cloud to cloud before crackling toward the ground with a smell of ozone. The blast hit so close that they struggled to maintain their footing. Sarah and Jareth froze as the sneering voice of the other fae followed quickly after the flash, echoing all around them. "You seem to forget, weakling King, that it is I who hold the Heart of the Labyrinth, not you. Your Champion is a fine prize, yes, but I don't need her to fight you. With this Heart, your fetid creatures are MINE to command. Shall I demonstrate?"
The earth shook again, and all around them, endless creatures spewed out of holes that appeared in the ground. Some they recognized, and others they didn't. Sarah's immediate bravado faded as several grabbed her, pulling her away from Jareth.
He howled, lunging for Sarah, but it was too late, she'd already been consumed by the earth and carried away.
A short burst of laughter rose from the corridor as he dug frantically at the earth. "Like I said, all bark and no bite. Such a pity."
Just like that - the creatures were gone - and so was Sarah.
