"Sky's Eclipse"
Chapter 55
By Aiijuin
*Disclaimer =Labyrinth (c) Henson, Lucas, Jones, Froud; Gröeg (c) Brian Froud, Winkin', Blinkin' & Nod (c) Mothergoose Nursery Rhymes. Torok is from 1986 movie Troll, but 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 55: Just Fear Me, Love Me, Do as I Say…
Little Jareth Junior was cleaned, clothed, and fed by the fairies. After, he was returned promptly to his father. Jareth happily cradled his newborn son within his arms. The child was small and fussy, but it didn't seem to bother the Goblin King. The dwarves exchanged their stories with Toby about everything that they could possibly recall after their arrival to the mortal realm. Like Jareth, they had no true recollection of exactly what had happened that caused this catastrophic event to occur, nor the source of their expulsion from the Underground. They didn't even recall the shockwave that the Goblin King described from his dream at d'Bourgeise Estate.
The teenager discovered that the barn owl, was only a pet of the queen's and not really anything in disguise despite his wariness towards the creature. Jareth finally stood up and said with a disappointed sigh, "Mmm, I suppose that there is nothing else then… Nothing in this place can help save Sarah Williams."
Higgle took off his cap again in respect towards the Goblin King and remarked, "Yer' Majesty, Queen Sarah said that you would know what to do when the time was right. Of course, ya' never showed up the day she died, but if this 'ere Sarah-girl is the same Goblin Queen come back into a different body, then methinks you'll know what to do before her time runs out again."
With that Jareth, Toby, and the others walked back to the exit of the Isle Beyond Time, where Gröeg met them with a gleeful and relieved smile. The dwarves and company wished the travelers safe passage and good luck as they waved goodbye. When Jareth and Toby were outside, the teenager turned to the king and asked, "Can't you put them back into the Goblin Kingdom with your powers?"
Jareth shook his head and reminded Toby that there was a negation spell that effected his own magic. The teen nodded in return and replied, "Well, that sucks… So, what now? I mean, what are you going to tell Sarah?"
Jareth sighed as he transformed back into the rouse of Gavin King. He looked at Toby and answered, "When your sister becomes upset, bad things happen to her and to others, so I'll just have to remain Gavin King until I discover a way to help her…"
Toby kicked a few rocks along the sandy soil and muttered, "I guess you're going to place that spell over me again too…"
Mr. King raised his eyebrows, "I believe that you will remain silent for the sake of your sister's condition…however, if you feel that you might have a 'slip-of-tongue', then I'll be more than happy to reinstate the hold upon your memories. I swear you won't remember a thing."
Toby held out his hand and said, "No. I'll be fine. I'm going to avoid you for the most part anyway. I have school, and I'm sure a lot of homework that I have to get caught up on…"
Gröeg, who had been silent, finally interrupted, "Gröeg thinks Master Toby has about three months of homework to gets caught up on…"
Gavin and Toby turned to the goblin-butler with curious looks on their faces. Gröeg continued, "King and boy have been within the Isle-Tree for nearly three months… did you not know? Gröeg almost thought that his master had forgotten him and left the Isle without him back to Castle Beyond the Goblin City. Him was very afraid…"
Toby stuttered, "W-Wait a minute! Are you actually serious? We've been inside of that rock-tree….um, volcano… or whatever it is… for the last three months?!?"
Gröeg nodded nervously, "Yes."
Gavin looked incredibly disturbed. This didn't leave Jareth very much time until Sarah's thirty-third birthday to find a solution for her. Toby summed up Jareth's feelings in two syllables, "Ho- SHIT!"
Jareth grabbed Gröeg by the sleeve, and the goblin-butler, believing that he was in trouble, cringed in fear. The Goblin King then turned to Toby and said, "I hope you don't mind if I drop you right off at home without saying goodbye…"
Toby nodded to show that he understood. A second later they vanished from the shores of the Isle Beyond Time. Gavin reappeared back at Henkies Estate accompanied by only Gröeg. The butler opened the door of the house, and found the other disguised goblins bustling around within. Gavin ran into his study, with Jareth, Jr. hugged tightly against his chest. The baby was sleeping with its head snuggled under Gavin's shoulder like Nod had on the flying shoe, because essentially Nod and Jareth Junior were the same child.
He barked orders at the disguised goblins. They all quickly scattered as Mr. King entered and tried to remain out of the Goblin King's path for the remainder of their stay. That's when Jareth heard her voice ring out…
"Oh my god! You're back! Where have you been?" Sarah clambered as she swung her arms endearingly around Gavin while giggling.
He turned around, as she backed away for a second after seeing the newborn on his shoulder. She smiled cautiously and asked, "Who does he belong to?"
Gavin blinked for a moment, and was about to answer when he noticed her baby bump.
Wow, Jareth thought as he gaped at Sarah's pregnant belly. Her pregnancy had obviously progressed very quickly judging from the size of her tummy. Outloud Gavin pointed to her abdomen and said, "Oh my! I've only been away for three months, right?"
Sarah blushed, chuckled, and rubbed her protruding gut, "Yes. Only three months… although, I know it doesn't look like it. You see, he's been reordering time in there…
After pausing for a moment to recollect her thoughts, Sarah patted at her bellybutton area and continued, "Some days I don't show at all, then other days, I'm as big as a whale… or at least I feel that way. I'd like to say 'It's not fair', but at this point I think it's really very funny. Especially, when it happened while I was over at my parent's house three weeks ago for dinner…Karen swore that I had eaten too much cake and Daddy didn't know what to make of it… he just kept saying, 'Oh, dear, Oh, dear'. Not to mention that my clothes weren't made for a late stage of maternity, so my shirt became a midriff halfway through dinner and I looked frightful with my belly popping out."
Gavin laughed as Sarah finished, "If you think that's bad, you should see my obstetrician trying to set an exact date of delivery for the baby. It goes up a month, then back three months, and then bumps up five months. Last week, he admitted me to the hospital for delivery, after it was discovered that I was at forty-four weeks along. They were going to induce me, but once I arrived at the neonatal unit, the baby shrank back down to his normal twenty-two week stage and all the nurses gave the OB/GYN a nasty look…."
"No, no… not a 'he', Sarah. It's a girl… your unborn baby, I mean," Gavin corrected.
Sarah raised her eyebrows curiously, and asked, "How would you know? I personally have a gut instinct that it's a boy, even though I haven't really confirmed any gender. I actually want to be surprised. However, I'm fairly certain that my assumptions are correct here…"
Gavin shook his head in disagreement. Sarah blinked skeptically and asked, "Okay, how about we make a little wager, then? I say that he will be a boy and you believe that he will be a girl…So, what did you want to bet against me?"
Gavin chuckled, "Ha! How about love, fear, and total obedience for starters?"
Sarah contorted her face and answered, "That's a bit sexist and outdated, don't you think? If you want all of those things, then you can buy pet dog and never notice the difference."
Gavin rubbed his chin and pondered for a moment. Then, he stated, "Perhaps you're right… Mmm, I know! How about this…if I win, then you'll have to live with me forever and ever?"
Sarah tilted her head and replied jovially, "Wow, that's a steep price! I guess I'll have to counter with an equally steep wager… If I win, you become my slave forever and ever. Fair enough?"
Gavin nodded and smiled like a Cheshire cat. Sarah patted her stomach as he replied, "Deal! Well, be prepared to finally lose, my Dearest. I assure you… She isa girl. By-the-by, why would you think that girls are tamer than boys anyway?"
Sarah laughed but didn't answer. She hugged Gavin close again, and then lightly kissed him on the cheek. The baby on his shoulders made a few sputtering sounds, but settled again. Sarah held out her arms and asked, "May I hold him? He looks so adorable."
Gavin took the newborn from his shoulder and carefully handed him over to Sarah, "Of course, my Dear. I think you'll need the practice for her, very soon.."
Sarah rolled her eyes at him jokingly, but thanked him, and then immediately cradled the baby in her arms. She affectionately crooned to the child and kissed it while feeling it's tiny, soft hands and ears. Next, she fluffed the newborn's fine black hair between her fingers. Sarah turned to Gavin and asked again, "Who does he belong to anyway? You can be honest…Is he yours?"
Without looking directly at Sarah, Gavin answered, "Well, more or less… You see, I rescued him after his mother had died, and now I suppose he's mine."
"Aww, the poor little thing… Yes, you are you, Baby," Sarah cooed to the tiny new infant. "What's his name?"
Er…
Jareth hadn't counted on Sarah pummeling him with questions so soon after his return, and he really hadn't thought of a pseudo-name for Jareth, Jr. He responded very slowly with a slur, "Um….Jareth?"
Sarah did a double-take. She half-giggled and half-exhaled in shock. Finally, she asked with a smirk, "His name is 'Jareth'? Um… why did you name him this?"
'Gavin' panicked, which was very unlike him, and decided to lie, "Well, you see… I'm not very good under pressure and…um… customs was pestering me about the child's name was and …..I …I …I suppose that it was just the first name to roll off of my tongue. I panicked… I'm sorry. They wrote up the papers and now he's stuck with it for good I'm afraid."
He didn't expect Sarah to believe him, since his story was pretty weak and poorly rehearsed. However, much to his surprise she nodded with a grin and replied, "Okay. I suppose I'll let you go on that one. Although, he really doesn't look like a 'Jareth' to me, I suppose he's adorable enough to pass for one…."
Gavin exhaled in relief, as Sarah finished, "…but if the Goblin King chooses to take him away, then it's your task to marathon through the Labyrinth in order to bring him back, not me. My obstacle-course-running-days are officially over until after my son is born."
Gavin sat down in his office chair with a smirk as Sarah took her normal seat in the chaise across from the desk. Baby Jareth slumbered quietly against her chest, that is, until he tried to turn his head to be breast fed. Sarah jumped at first and exclaimed, "I think he's hungry!"
The baby fussed as Gavin magically procured a bottle from under the desk. He placed it on the desktop and said, "Here he'll like this better."
As her very pregnant stomach was getting in the way, Sarah had trouble leaning over to pickup the bottle. Gavin had to raise from his chair and walk it over towards her. He apologized as he did, and she waved it off with another laugh.
He watched as she placed that baby's bottle into its mouth, and then suddenly recalled that time was against him now. He absolutely needed to begin his research at once, in order to find a solution or spell that would reverse Sarah's mortality before her powers returned and killed her. He snapped his fingers for Gröeg and shouted, "Come at once!"
Sarah flinched. She wasn't ready for King to switch moods so abruptly. Gavin apologized, "I'm sorry, Sarah. I know that I've just returned from abroad, but I'm working on a difficult and extensive case. I have a lot of research to do, so if you will excuse me please."
Sarah arose from the chaise, bowed lightly, and replied, "Um, maybe you won't mind if I go buy a few things for little baby Jareth. You'll need some furniture and clothing and formula and such …."
Gavin procured his magical 'Visa' card and handed it over to Sarah without a second glance. He said in a huff, "Yes, yes. Buy whatever you need… Don't worry about the expense, my Dear. Have fun!"
If Sarah had been a teenager, then her eyes would have lit up brightly after a wealthy, deviously attractive man had handed her a major credit card and told her to 'have fun'. Sarah giggled as a immature voice inside of her head screamed, "Shopping Spree!"
She promptly called Karen on her new cellphone that her father had purchased for her. Fifteen minutes later, her stepmother picked her up in the minivan and took them out for some hardcore baby shopping.
When Sarah had returned six hours later with baby Jareth and nearly a moving van's worth of items, she peered into the study and saw that Gavin's office had thousands of large books scattered all about the floor. He was standing over them and glancing at each of the pages with a concerned look upon his face.
Gavin snapped at his butler, "Nothing. I can't seem to find anything in here. It looks like I'm going to have to call in a research lackey to hasten my search. We have a deadline here and I cannot fail this task."