"Sky's Eclipse"
Chapter 42
By Aiijuin
*Disclaimer: I don't own anything Jim Henson or Labyrinth. 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 and adult situations. Gavin King is Jareth, the Goblin King, for those who have jumped into the middle of the story. Jeremy Eden is from the original Henson script of "Labyrinth" as the man who wrote the "Labyrinth" playbook that Sarah was reading from, in the beginning of the 1986 movie.
Be warned! Although this is a Sarah/Jareth romance story, it is also a profoundly dark fairytale!
**NOTE: Story numbering is behind by 1 chapter, because there is a prelude, which is not considered a chapter. Fanfiction . net automatically assigns numbers to the chapters by default, which I have not control over. Thank you!
Chapter 42: Certain Death
Terminal…
That was the final word on Sarah's condition.
She had been through more tests than her family could count, but everything came back with inconclusive or unsubstantiated results. Finally, one research specialist stumbled upon her illness listed in an old handwritten medical textbook from Europe.
The doctor took off his glasses and folded back a couple of pages on his clipboard chart. He paused for a moment before drawing in a deep breath and saying, "We do apologize for the length of time that it has taken us to analyze Miss Williams. Her condition is rare to be sure, and we haven't seen any actual recorded instances of it during this century. There have only been a handful of other documented cases like hers."
After another breath, the doctor continued, "Sarah's disease is known as d'Bourgeise Retroneurolysis. It was named for the first person ever recorded with the illness."
"Wow," Toby stammered, "that's some name…it sounds French…well, the first part anyway."
The doctor nodded and said, "You're absolutely right, Toby. The first patient was the daughter of a powerful Marquis who lived in a small Southern province of France over four hundred years ago. She was the Marchioness Lady Sarah Alvery d'Bourgeise de Alpes-Côte d'Azur. She was also the consort of an English Regimental soldier named Sir Jeremy Eden who inherited the estate after she died."
The entire room fell silent after the doctor has mentioned the word 'died'. Since nobody was brave enough to ask, Toby took it upon himself to prod, "So, Marchioness Lady Sarah something, something lived to a good old age with lots of kids and junk, and then died of natural causes at eighty-five, right? I mean, it wasn't this disease that killed her, right?"
The doctor wiped his glasses with his white lab coat and placed them back on his face. He looked at Toby and then answered, "I'm sorry I would like say that she had… However, the Marchioness died childless at the age of thirty-three."
Once again, it became so quiet that you could have heard a pin drop on the floor. Toby who seemed the only brave one, kept interrupting the silence, "But that was over four hundred years ago, right? She probably caught consumption or something stupid like everybody else did in that time and then died …. Besides, this is the twenty-first century. We are far more advanced now! My sister's going to be alright,… right?"
The doctor folded the papers back down on the clipboard and said apologetically, "I'm sorry Toby, but unless we happen to stumble on a miracle treatment right away, I'm afraid your sister's condition is terminal."
Robert bit his lip as Karen finally asked shakily, "So, that's it then? It's hopeless?"
"Mrs. Williams," the doctor began, "A Retroneurolysis disease is a very complicated thing to explain, so instead of getting technical, let me just say that we are treating it in everyway possible as long as Sarah continues to fight back. In the meantime, we're going to make your stepdaughter as comfortable as possible. She seems to have stabilized right now, but we're keeping her sedated in order to keep her brain activity dampened."
Robert asked between stifled tears, "You're going to try and help her, aren't you?"
The doctor nodded and said, "Of course, Mr. Williams. We won't stop trying, I promise."
Karen clutched Robert by the arm, but he had to walk out of the room. The news was too hard for him to bear. The doctor whispered under his breath, "Hmm."
Gavin looked up and asked softly, "Yes? Was there something else doctor?"
The doctor waved his hand and answered, "This is really odd, but as I'm looking through the other recorded victims of this illness, it seems that everyone of them were all Caucasian females, exactly thirty-three years of age, and named 'Sarah'. That's incredibly ironic, I think. I'm going to have to cross-reference these findings to be sure they are accurate."
Gavin raised his eyebrows as he pondered the doctor's last words. He wanted to ask Toby a question, but waited until Karen and the doctor left before he did so. Toby took deep breaths inward as he stared blankly at the walls. Gavin waited a moment and then moved closer on the couch to the teenager. He tapped Toby on the shoulder and asked, "Master Williams… I was wondering if you could use that computer of yours to look up something for me."
Toby blinked back into reality and said, "Oh, yeah…sure. No problem."
"Thank you. I'd appreciate it," Gavin replied.
Toby exhaled deeply and asked, "So, what did you want me to Google?"
"A name," Gavin responded. "The doctor mentioned a familiar name that keeps popping up everywhere lately. The man who inherited the estate of Marchioness Lady Sarah Alvery d'Bourgeise de Alpes-Côte d'Azur…"
Toby said vaguely, "I cannot believe that you actually remembered that entire name."
Gavin smiled weakly, "Neither can I, Toby, neither can I."
Toby shrugged, "Okay. So, what was his name again? I got stuck on the first name."
"Jeremy Eden," Gavin said clearly. "I'm curious to find out anything regarding this individual and where the estate, in which he inherited after the death of Lady Sarah, had originally stood."
"Sure," Toby began wistfully. "That doctor-guy said it was in Southern France. To be honest, I'm not really good at geography, but it's nothing that the internet can't solve."
"Thank you," Gavin said.
"No problem for me, but…" Toby answered. "I have to get home somehow. It doesn't look like mom and dad will be leaving here for a while, which I can't blame them for, but…well, you know…."
Gavin smirked, "How fast do you want to get there?"