"Sky's Eclipse"
Chapter 8
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 mostly used by Toby) and adult situations.
** 09/10/2009 Revised for clarity: Parenthetical phrases have been removed, grammar has been checked and corrected, Irene's name has been changed to Karen to keep the consistency of all "Labyrinth" fanfictions. --Most fanfictions recognize 'Karen' to be Sarah's stepmother's name and not 'Irene'.
Chapter Eight: Into the Labyrinth
Sarah awoke in the wee hours of the morning lying on a long plush sofa. It was placed in front of the grand fireplace, which was in the main sitting room of Gavin's mansion. She had a blue cashmere blanket tucked over her. Her shoes had been removed and placed on the floor next to the sofa.
As if by magic, Gröeg, the butler entered the moment Sarah's eyes fluttered open. He placed a tray of croissants and exotic flavored coffee on an ottoman next to her. Gröeg didn't speak, but bowed lowly and turned to leave the room. She sat up feeling strange. Sarah felt as if she were in a dream. She was disoriented from the unfamiliar setting. The smell of the wood crackling in the fireplace and candles burning brightly gave the room a sweet smoky odor. Sarah gazed at her surroundings. She couldn't tell what time it was, since the curtains were drawn and everything was dim. She looked at the tray of food for a moment before deciding to pick at one of the croissants. Sarah sniffed the coffee. The aroma was tantalizing. She looked at the cup for a moment and felt as if she were Alice in Wonderland. Sarah curiously looked for a tag on the coffee that said, "Drink Me."
When she didn't find anything out of the ordinary, she took a sip. After a few moments, nothing happened so she knew that the coffee and croissants were safe to eat. Sarah stood up, placed on her shoes, and exited the room to wander the mansion. Blackness was everywhere, but Sarah proceeded without fear. She navigated the corners and halls of the vast interior. Eventually, she found her way to the study, where she had fallen asleep. Sarah cocked open the door and peeked in. There were no curtains that covered the French doors. Outside, the morning sun had not yet risen. Stars shone brightly in the sky and the moon was full and white.
Sarah walked past the desk and up to the doors. She grabbed the knob of the left door and twisted it until it creaked open. She walked out onto the concrete patio. Before her stood the massive hedge maze that belonged to Gavin King. She looked around for a minute and then decided to walk down the stairs towards it.
Sarah couldn't resist the hedge-labyrinth. It stood there, practically begging to be challenged. It beckoned her to enter. She took one last fleeting look behind her and began to walk towards its entryway.
Meanwhile, Gröeg had, silently, followed her into the study, but turned to fetch 'King' upon seeing her turn the doorknob of the French doors. He vanished with a 'poof' into a cloud of smoke, leaving behind his ominous odor. He knew the Goblin King had strict orders for Gröeg not to disturb his slumber, however this matter concerned 'the princess'. The goblin decided it would be best to wake his sleeping king and not receive a severe punishment later.
A second later, Gröeg appeared in Jareth's private chambers of the Henkies Mansion. Much to the goblin's relief, Jareth was not sleeping, but nonetheless, looked annoyed at Gröeg just the same. The goblin knew his King had not adjusted to the day and night schedules as the humans had. Often, he had trouble sleeping during the full moon.
Oddly enough, Gröeg thought, some of the humans have trouble sleeping during the full moon also.
Jareth turned to his goblin servant and issued a rather forceful, "Well? What is it?"
The goblin bowed and responded nervously, "Y-yes, Sire, you see the girl… Gröeg means Princess Sarah…."
"What of her?"
"Well," Gröeg began, fumbling his fingers together anxiously, "You see, Sire… she's stepped outside…Sire."
Jareth stood up at attention. He snapped back, "What do you mean 'stepped outside'?"
The goblin cowered a bit and answered in a squeaky voice, "Princess awoke and Gröeg presented her with food and drink as Master asked. She hardly ate at all. She put shoes back on her feets, then walked the dark, dark halls, until she finds her way back to the desk room with the big window doors."
Jareth corrected Gröeg instinctively, "You mean my study."
Gröeg nodded, "Yes, Sire, Gröeg means the study room."
"And then?"
"And then, Princess walked up to the doors, …turned the knob, she did…, and outside she walked."
Jareth placed fingers pensively to his lips. He wasn't sure what Sarah was doing in the dark, at three o'clock in the morning, while taking a casual walk through his backyard where he grew his unsolvable hedge maze. Certainly, it was worth looking into!
He couldn't decide if he was going arrive as himself or as Gavin. He decided it would be too early to reveal his secret, so he transformed into the latter and manifested into the study.
The left door was open and blowing slowly in the wind. In the distance, beyond the doors, he saw Sarah standing at the white, rose-entwined trellis. He casually walked out the door and unto the patio. It was a balcony patio that stood high above the top of the hedge, but there were stairs that led down to where Sarah was.
Sarah was looking behind her. She did not see Gavin walking down the stairs towards her. Her eyes had a strange look in them. Sarah didn't seem to be focusing on her surroundings at all. Gavin looked at Gröeg, who appeared as the butler moments he had resurfaced in the study room. He gave his 'human butler' a threatening look. Jareth wasn't sure if the goblin had taken the initiative to place more enchantments on the coffee and croissants that were delivered to Sarah. Certainly, the Goblin King had no intentions of attempting another spell. At least, not directly after the last one had barely worn off upon its victim. Gröeg didn't see the glare from Gavin.
Gavin was about to call out to Sarah, but it was too late…into the hedge-labyrinth, she walked.
A look of panic spread across Gröeg's face. Gavin retained his composure better than the goblin. He knew she wouldn't get very far.
Or so he thought…
Gavin and his butler walked through the trellis where Sarah had stood moments before. He knew which way to go to find Ms. Williams. He looked on the ground at the fresh footsteps of his 'princess'. They meandered to the left path, to the right, and then, afterwards another right. Gavin realized Sarah was veering towards a dead end.
A smile akin to that of the Cheshire cat spread across his fair face.
She will have to double back again, thought Gavin. It will only be a matter of seconds and then she will be facing me.
After ten minutes had passed, Sarah had not returned. Gavin began to wonder if she might have become unconscious again. After all, she hadn't quite regained her senses from the magically laced tea. Gavin sneaked towards the dead end, where Sarah had gone. Gröeg was shivering, which was getting on Jareth's last nerve. 'Gavin' looked back at the goblin as if to suggest, "Why don't you wait here until I return!"
He couldn't stand to have a goblin pawing him like a frightened pup.
Such insolent behavior for a creature of the night, thought Jareth and he rolled his eyes expressively.
It wouldn't have mattered anyway. Gröeg heard the fluttering of a large bird, and instinctively he magically vanished. Although disappointed with the goblin, he was grateful to be alone at last. The footprints walked towards the dead end, and then as Gavin rounded the final turn, the footprints vanished without a trace.
Sarah was not there!
Gavin looked around, wondering if he had placed another turn behind him that was hidden. He circled about and retraced his steps.
Much to his dismay, there were no other paths that Sarah could have turned down. He strolled back to the dead end and looked at the side of the hedge. It showed no signs of being scaled.
Sarah, obviously, didn't climb the shrubbery, thought Jareth.
He looked up into the sky, and the moon shone back at him. It seemed to mock him.
He spent the next several hours until the sunrise retracing the steps of the hedge maze. There was no sign of Sarah. It was as if she had completely vanished.