"Sky's Eclipse"
Chapter 6
By Aiijuin
*Disclaimer: I don't own anything Jim Henson or Labyrinth. I am not trying to steal other character names from people's fan fiction, but I cannot think of a better name to use for Jareth's alter ego in my story. Gröeg was originally designed by Brian Froud and catalogued by Terry Jones in Brian Froud's "The Goblins of the Labyrinth". This fanfiction is rated M for some harsh language (which is only used by Toby) and adult situations.
** 09/10/2009 Revisions made: Many overdue grammatical corrections have been made, and removal of the subsequent parenthetical phrases have also been executed. I have further changed Irene's name to Karen, because most "Labyrinth" fanfictions recognize Karen as the proper name for Sarah's stepmother.
Chapter Six: For the path you take could lead to....
Gröeg presented his king with a prepared breakfast. The whole Henkies Mansion was dark and gloomy. It retched of old-musty- house-smell.
Gröeg drew back the curtains in his king's private sleeping chambers. Jareth groaned at the sight of his food and the sunrise. He had been living in the human world for such a long time now, that he was beginning to weary of it. For one thing, it was highly predictable. The seasons occurred like clockwork. Winter followed fall, and spring followed winter, and so on, and so forth. Round about they chased each other without end or interruption.
Night and day were also inevitable. The world became quiet at dusk and loud again at dawn. The birds sang the same worn out tunes over and over. People lived the same boring, hectic, schedules day in and out. Time was not reordered at anyone's command. Its hands could not be moved forward or backward in anyway. Everything was entirely too linear for Jareth's liking. However, Jareth's bane of human consistency was also the underlying attribute to recapture Sarah in his Labyrinth.
He arose from his bed and stretched. The gravity of this world was taking its toll on his body. Now, he understood why humans hunched so often. Normally, Jareth had entered into the human realm to spend several hours there. Before dawn, he would return to his kingdom once again. This was the longest amount of time he had ever been away from his castle at any given era.
Still, Jareth gleamed. A realization had entered his mind. Sarah had returned and very soon he would have her as his conquest. Then, he would return home with her and display her as his prize, as he had promised his goblins.
The sun rose high into the sky and midday had come, as Jareth knew it would….lousy, predictable, world of the mortals!
Jareth walked down the vast, marble staircase from the top balcony. Despite the bright noonday, it was cool and dark inside the mansion. Gröeg was at the bottom of the stairs about to ask Jareth a question, when there was a light tap at the door. Jareth snapped at Gröeg, "Whoever it is, send them away immediately. I have little interest in receiving visitors today."
He was in a bad mood.
Gröeg nodded and opened the door a crack, transforming into a human moments before he was visible as a goblin. Jareth was walking away, when he recognized the voice on the other side of the door.
It was Sarah!
Gröeg was finishing his dismissal of her, "…I'm sorry, Miss. The master will see no one today, he's extremely busy and won't be disturbed…"
Quickly, Jareth doubled back, transforming into Gavin King. He looked into the mirror and checked all was in place, then he shoved Gröeg aside before the man/goblin could close the door.
Gavin interrupted, "Dearest Sarah, my apologizes. I was terribly busy with paperwork this morning; and my thick, little, servant - in his ignorance - didn't realize I was accepting guests again."
Gröeg twisted his mouth in aggravation, but remained silent. There were days when he didn't enjoy being a loyal subject of the Goblin King. Gavin goaded his 'butler' away from the doorway, until only he and Sarah were standing there.
Sarah was dressed down from her luscious little outfit the night before. She wore a graphic tee and a pair of stone washed blue jeans. Her hair was pulled back in a chignon twist and held neatly into place with a banana clip. She wore little makeup, but nonetheless, looked lovely in Gavin's opinion.
King held the door ajar and leered deeply into Sarah's eyes. Sarah either didn't catch on to his stare, or she was completely ignoring it. She began to talk before Gavin was able to bestow longwinded compliments on her.
"I was out walking along the old abandoned path behind Eschelle Farm this afternoon, and thought I would stop by to apologize for everything that transpired last night," she began.
Gavin lowered his arm. He began to shake his head in protest. He acted as if her apologies weren't necessary, but Sarah had not finished, "May I come in?"
Gavin smiled widely and answered, "Yes, please do!"
He stepped away from the entryway to let Sarah in. Once she walked through, King closed the door behind her. Because she turned her back on him, Sarah didn't notice the devious twinkle on King's face. He narrowed his eyes and smirked.
Sarah was taking in the sights of the Old Henkies Estate. There were carved gargoyles hung in various places around the room and a few musty tapestries depicting scenes of unicorns and fairy rings. A stone bust of a ghoul sat on a pedestal of carved oak. There was a ceiling mural of centaurs, minotaurs, and men feasting together on grapes and wine. Two massive iron armors stood at attention, like knights, holding axes on each side of the foyer staircase. The house lacked electricity, but had lit wax candles burning softly and releasing tiny amounts of smoke. Sarah felt a wave of disorientation spread across her. Although only several feet away from the door, she had nearly forgotten where she had entered. Frightened, Sarah spun around and nearly bumped into Gavin. He stood dangerously close to her, yet she didn't back away. She looked into his eyes for a moment before saying, "You know, Mr. King, I have the strangest feeling that you and I have met before."
Gavin threw his head back and laughed, "Yes. We did, Ms. Williams."
Sarah stiffened up, "Where? When?"
Gavin finished, "Why, just last night at your parents' house."
Sarah realized she had walked right into his joke. Her green eyes looked away for a second, as she laughed inwardly. A smile of embarrassment crossed her lips. Gavin King chuckled softly, and then he patted her on the shoulder. As Jareth, he knew it was enough to make her change the subject. He didn't want to be discovered, yet. He felt the need to toy with her a while longer. Sarah had eluded him years ago, and left him for a screaming baby. He had intricate plans to repay her for her betrayal.
Then, Jareth remembered he was supposed to be Gavin, and needed to behave for the moment. Again, the disarming, enthusiastic, smile of Mr. King returned. He ushered Sarah into a study that abutted the grand foyer. He nodded sternly at Gröeg. The "butler" understood. It was teatime. Gröeg walked towards the kitchen to mix his 'special batch' of tealeaves. When administered to a human, it would make them susceptible to suggestion. Jareth would be able to extract any information he desired from Sarah. If she had impending plans against him that were instigated by Toby's warning last night, he wanted to uncover them. He planned on making Sarah talk about the Goblin King to 'Mr. Gavin King'. It would be the easiest way to dismantle any plots she had that could interfere with his. If Gröeg's magic tea held long enough, Jareth had a few games planned for Sarah too.
He knew she had only arrived, but he was impatient to trap her and return home. The only reason he still lingered about the human realm, in his opinion, was Sarah Williams. She was his only goal and his only objective. He promised himself that he would never stop pursuing her, until she submitted to him.