"Sky's Eclipse"
Chapter 52
By Aiijuin
*Disclaimer =Labyrinth (c) Henson, Lucas, Jones, Froud; Gröeg (c) Brian Froud; Winkin', Blinkin' & Nod (c) Mothergoose Nursery Rhymes; Captain James Hook (c) Sir James Barry (Referred to in Chapter 51); and The Fisherman & His Wife (c) The Grimm's Brother (Referred to in Chapter 51). Torok is from 1986 movie Troll, but his character has been changed around to meet my story expectations.
Be warned: Although this is a Sarah/Jareth romance story, it is also a profoundly dark fairytale!
Rated M+(Adult Scenarios, Abrasive Language, Innuendos, Sensuality)
**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 52: The Sea of Dreams
A clear and starry dusk fell over the Sydney cityscape of Australia, while Toby and Gavin sat far off the coast in a rowboat that they had rented hours ago. Gavin was highly uncomfortable with the ocean and its waves. Toby could see the reluctance in his traveling companion's eyes as he tried to reassure him that they were safe.
Gavin kept repeating for the last half-hour, "It shan't be long now… I hope."
Every swell of water which had rocked the boat higher than Gavin would have liked, sent him jumping towards the life vests. Toby swore that Gavin was about to take flight on the next big wave with the way he was 'perched' on his seat. Gröeg pawed his nervous master, which wasn't making the disguised Goblin King feel any better.
Goblins hate water too, thought Jareth regretfully.
Just as Jareth could hear another wave rushing towards the side of the boat, he thought he saw something flying overhead. Toby stood up with wonder in his eyes. He rubbed them twice to make sure that he hadn't fallen asleep and was dreaming.
It was a wooden pointed shoe that farmers wore in order to protect their feet from pecking chickens and geese. It was flying high within the air with two bedposts that arose parallel to each other from behind the tip. A single white bed sheet was tied across both posts and acted like a sail on a ship mast. Of course, the shoe was large enough to fit several grown men upon it, which was fortunate for Toby, Gavin, and Gröeg who was only pretending to be a man.
The wooden shoe hovered closely to the surface of the ocean. A silver and gold spun net was tossed over the side, and it landed right next to the rowboat where Gavin, Toby, and Gröeg sat. Joyfully, Mr. King climbed onto the net first, without worrying about who was aboard the ship. Gröeg followed moments after, and then Toby led out a sigh and climbed the elaborate twine.
When he finally reached the top of the shoe's steep sidewalls, he landed on a soft mattress-like deck. It was so comfortable that Toby immediately wanted to go to sleep… that was until he saw who was navigating the shoe-ship.
Infants? Toby's jaw dropped.
Yes! There were three little babies that looked as if they could hardly walk yet or put two sentences together, let alone navigate a wooden shoe across the sky and fly to the hidden Isle of Time that they sought.
Two of the little infants smiled at Toby as he walked towards them. The two that smiled were girls. One had wispy blond hair with large, beautiful, mismatched eyes, while the other had jet-black hair with vibrant hazel-gold eyes. Then, there was a little boy baby, who was adorably cute with large emerald green eyes and nearly-black tufts of hair that stuck out everywhere. He was slightly smaller than the girls and looked a bit younger too. He wasn't as good-natured as the female infants, and seemed upset. He was whimpering while running about in circles and flailing his arms as if winding up for a good cry.
Toby's eyes widened as he turned to Gavin and said, "These babies are the boat's crew?"
"It's a shoe, Toby," Gavin corrected him.
"Whatever," Toby stammered as the little blue-brown eyed girl winked sweetly at him, while waving her hand and giggling. He laughed as her smile reminded him of his sister Sarah's for some reason.
The other little girl, with the black hair and hazel-gold eyes, sat blinking into the wind as the wooden shoe lifted high into the air again. She didn't pay much attention to Gavin, Toby, or Gröeg, but stared into the clouds while pulling the silver and gold net back aboard the ship.
The little boy baby immediately ran up to Gavin upon hearing his voice, and grappled the lower right cuff of his pant leg. He proceeded to put the pant leg into his mouth and cried a bit, while getting slobber and snot all over Gavin's clothing. Gavin picked the infant up and looked into his eyes. The boy baby held out his arms towards Mr. King, denoting that he wanted to be cuddled closer to the man. He seemed very insecure and was difficult to console.
Wind flowed into the bed sheets that were tied to the bedposts and made the shoe sail forward. Toby looked down and saw that they were gliding high above the ocean and sailing on what looked like a river of crystal light. The stars began to flitter about in the sky like glowing fish that were swimming upstream. The little blonde girl tapped Toby's arm and said in the cutest voice while pointing, "Fissshy!"
The black-haired girl blinked again and cast the net out into the skies. It caught the swimming stars, which began to drag the boat faster ahead on its journey.
Toby sat down upon the deck of the shoe and said, "Now, I've seen everything."
Gavin cuddled the tiny baby boy upon his chest. The child immediately settled down, rested his head on King's shoulder, and then began to suck his thumb. Gavin turned to Toby and remarked, "At least you can't say that you've never done anything…"
King sat down next to Toby as the little girl ran up, grabbed the disguised Goblin King by the arm, and then climbed up into his lap. However, she wasn't resigned to rest her head on his shoulder as the boy had, but turned to point at the sea of stars. He nodded towards her enthusiastically.
Toby looked at the blonde girl again and she winked at him a second time. He smirked, "Well, she must be Winkin', and the brunette girl must be Blinkin', since she keeps blinking into the wind. I guess that makes the little boy, 'Nod'…although, I haven't seen him nod at all. He just looks kind of miserable to me."
"He's a baby, Toby," Gavin chided. "You weren't very pleasant all of the time when you were a baby… I'm sure."
Blinkin' began to pull the net filled with wriggling stars back unto the deck. After it was fully wound in, she loosened the mesh, and set the stars free into the skies again. They shot out with their bright tails twinkling behind them. Winkin' clapped her hands and said, "Wee! Bye-Bye!"
"Oh, did you like that?" Gavin crooned softly at her and she turned back to him and hugged him tightly while giggling.
Toby grinned. He watched as the infants doted on Gavin and thought of what it would be like to be father himself one day. After that, he thought of Jessica and ran his fingers down the back of the little blonde girl's head endearingly. The children seemed to have a calming effect on the travelers, not to mention that the shoe was very warm despite the cold evening sky that sparkled about them. Gröeg was nearly asleep in the corner of the deck, as he leaned against soft pillows that were piled up high in that area.
Then, Toby remembered that they were on a quest. He turned to Gavin and said, "Um, is it any use to tell them where we are supposed to be heading?"
Blinkin' tugged Toby on his sleeve and pointed to the right-side of the ship and mumbled, "Big Twee…"
Toby replied, "No, we need the Isle Beyond Time. Do you know where to find it?"
Again Blinkin' repeated, "Twee!"
Toby sighed, and said, "It's hopeless trying to communicate with infants. I figured that this wasn't going to be a very good idea from the start. We could be stuck sailing the skies forever at this point, or at least for the next sixteen years, until they graduate from wooden sailing-shoes and learn to drive cars…"
"You worry too much, Master Williams…," Gavin whispered groggily, but Toby interrupted him.
"Sarah, Mr. King! Don't you remember that we need to save Sarah, and we're running out of time?"
The little boy baby opened his eyes at Toby's words and nodded, "Ma…ma….ma"
"A nod! At last, that kid nodded! Well, it's official, he's 'Nod'," Toby laughed.
Winkin' clapped her hands again and rubbed at her blue eye with her balled fist. She repeated what Nod had said except more emphatically and clearly, "Mama!"
Toby shrugged and looked about. He said to Gavin, "I guess one of us reminds of her mother, and since you have the long pony tail…. Well, it had better not be me."
Gavin laughed lightly, until the hazel-eyed Blinkin' pointed to the stern of the wooden sailing-shoe again and said, "Gob-Kween…n' Big Twee!"
It was enough to capture the attention of both men. Toby sat up and said, "Oh my god! That girl just said, 'Goblin Queen in Big Tree'…whatever that means, but these babies actually know where we're heading. I can't believe it!"
Nod stroked Gavin's face gently, smiled, and nodded again. His green eyes shone brightly against the night sky. Then, he rubbed at his rosy, velvet-soft, baby cheeks with the back of his hands and embraced Gavin again. Gavin purred to the baby boy, "The Goblin Queen? Mmm? You're taking us to see her?"
Nod nodded again and said, "Ma…ma."
Toby nearly jumped into Gavin's lap as he asked the baby boy, "'Mama!?' The Goblin Queen is your mother… I mean, Mama?"
Gavin's eyes opened widely in disbelief, as Toby stood up quickly. He shouted while he shot one last look at the little blonde girl with the mismatched eyes, "These kids belong to the Goblin King and Queen!"
Gavin inhaled and then held his breath in shock.
Was Toby right?
Toby continued, "They're dream children, don't you get it? Who better than to sail the ship of dreams, but the children of the only two individuals who are Master and Mistress of dreams and illusions?"
Gröeg corrected the teenager from behind him, "No, babies are not yet born and one girl is not the child of Goblin King or Queen, but is the she-child of Troll King and Queen. See? The blinking girl, she does not hugs Master or come close, because she is differents."
Toby asked, "Who's the Troll King? Sorry, you lost me there, Mr. Gröeg."
Gavin began to piece things together in his mind as he muttered quietly, "This ship or shoe is akin to a womb… or is it the mind of an unborn child? Perhaps it is their dreams… Mmm, Torok's child is not yet born either, and Sarah's child… the Winkin' girl, is my…which makes sense since the two girls are identical in age.…and the Blinkin' girl has Trollie's hair and Sashya's eyes…. but who is the boy?"
Nod clung to Gavin tightly as if he were afraid to let go. Gavin shifted the baby boy to his other shoulder, after Winkin' had finally jumped over to Toby and was tapping his nose lovingly. She giggled as Toby touched her nose back and then she pecked him on the chin with a tiny kiss.
Gavin flipped open the blue book, but it was too dark to read anything. Toby, who had caught words from Gavin as he spoke his thoughts outloud, also pieced the mystery together in his mind. Finally, his eyes lit up and he laughed, "The dream that I had at d'Bourgeise Estate wasn't about The Marchioness' unborn baby… My dream was about the original Goblin Queen Sarah, before the shockwave hit…. She must have been trying for a baby with Jareth back before that thing decimated their kingdom."
Gavin shook his head, "No, no, no… Immortals originally didn't breed like humans, Toby. This is a new and strange concept in the Underground."
Toby looked at Nod and said, "Yeah, well that's assuming Queen Sarah has always played by the rules. I think the she was going forego the natural laws of the Goblin Kingdom and try things the 'human way'. She must have wanted children. Or maybe she just got bored with planting flowers all day long around the walls of the Labyrinth, and wanted to try something different and exciting."
Gavin continued to shake his head, "No. Impossible! Even if that were true, then this baby would be nonexistent. The Goblin Queen died, remember?"
Gröeg kept nodding and shaking his head towards both men, because he didn't know who was right and who was wrong. This whole conversation was beyond his understanding. He had contributed the only fact he knew.
"Well, I have a feeling that we're about to find out some really strange things when we get to the Isle Beyond Time." Toby finished as the ship calmly sailed through its nightly journey within the sea of dreams.