Thanks for all the reviews :) The next few chapters will not be quite as full of cliffhangers, as it is time for some explanations of the Labyrinth and magic... but don't get too relaxed, the cliffies will be back - and with a vengence! ;)
DreamBubble: Labyrinth minds think alike - in the beginning I was actually thinking of making the WiseMan the old king, but he seemed to harmless to be a villain, and I needed a villain more than another link to the movie. Concerning the sacrifice - that will be explained later...
Neko: Glad you like. I'll be twisting it slightly different, but an opposing Sarah could definitely also have made a good story...!
The castle looked so much smaller from above. It was all yellow sandstone and grey roof tiles and the windows were few and far between. In one tower she saw stained glass windows which might be where her room had been last night, and in the same tower furthest up was a grand balcony overlooking the Labyrinth. It caught her attention because something glittered and shimmered on the stone tiles of the balcony, covering the sandstone walls in prism rainbows, and when she got closer, she noticed a lone figure there sitting on a stone bench – all clad in black and with bowed head. Jareth. He didn't look up or move when she silently landed on the opposite tower roof, but seemed withdrawn and lost in thoughts, his shoulders slumped and his head hidden in his hands. He looked… dejected and lonely, and Sarah almost felt bad about spying on him like this. The glitter around him was broken crystal and it was everywhere, as if he had shattered a hundred crystal balls one by one.
Just a few hours ago she would have felt triumph at the sight, but with fear gone and most of her anger, she looked at him and felt only compassion. He may have behaved despicably, but if he really had been alone for 350 years, it might not be surprising that he didn't know how to behave towards others. Or how to handle that his carefully laid plans were challenged. You're really daft, Sarah, she thought to herself – coming up with all those excuses for his behavior. But she remembered rejection and broken dreams all too well from her own life and knew what it was like. Before the Labyrinth; when her father had only had eyes for his new wife and son and little love left for his daughter. And after the Labyrinth; when she had had to hide from the world due to the peach's effect and because of that had lost the few friends she'd had.
Making up her mind, she launched herself into the air again and flew the short distance to the other tower and the balcony. Careful to aim for the section with the least shards of crystal, she landed with a soft thud on the stone tiles. After folding her wings, she let the warmth and energy flow through her, and with very little effort, she was back to her own form, complete with the green dress she had donned that morning.
"Are you so eager to defy me again that you even seek me out here?" Jareth's voice was low and emotionless, and he didn't look at her, but had lifted his head to stare out across the Labyrinth. "I see you found your owl form already. You have rejected me twice now - why not just fly away, if I am that abominable to you?"
Sarah winced and went to the bench to be closer him, because somehow – after her tiredness and aches had disappeared - his presence was not nearly as overwhelming or intimidating as before. It was much easier to believe right now that he had once been just a young mortal man and not the fearful Goblin King. Instead she studied him with her new sharpened senses, where in addition to heightening the smells and sounds, her vision was also clearer, even without the help of her bird-eyes. She noticed all kinds of little details about him – his pale skin and firm muscles, the glittering around his eyes that looked like fairy dust, and the smell of spices… no, it was magic that smelled that way - much stronger now and also present on herself, although not quite as strongly. He was clad all in black leather with a long flowing petroleum-blue cape, and his unruly hair had matching blue highlights.
"You are not abominable, Jareth," she sighed and seated herself on the bench, not quite touching him. "You are just… well, you can't take for granted that everything will happen the way you want it. I am not your subject like the goblins - you are not my king."
He didn't answer, but kept staring towards the horizon. She sighed.
"I could have flown away," she agreed and stared hard at him. "But I came here, because I want to know everything and you have the answers. All the magic, all my abilities, how to make crystals. We need to talk – you owe me that much."
Jareth turned his head sharply to look at her and there was fire in his mismatched eyes.
"Owe you?" he said in a strange tight voice. "Yes, I can see why you would think that."
He jumped up and distanced himself from her, his sparkling velvet cape billowing behind him. "Will you stay afterwards?" he asked abruptly. "Not that I can't track you down and drag you back to the castle wherever you go, but it would be more… convenient if you stayed of your own accord."
"Jareth, stop that, I'm not afraid of you anymore," she warned. "And yes, I'll stay here for now – unless you give me reason to leave."
"You should be afraid of me, Sarah dear," he said and his eyes glittered dangerously, as he looked at her, but she met his gaze squarely without flinching, and finally he sighed.
"What a change – I hadn't realized…" his voice trailed off, but then he smiled slightly and relaxed, settling back against the balcony. "I can start by telling you how it was for me, if you like. It didn't feel any different at first, except that all my old wounds and bruises had vanished instantly. It seems as though the Labyrinth heals both physical and emotional wounds during the transformation. Also my eyes – I had trouble seeing long distances before, but suddenly all my senses were more than perfect. Sight, hearing, smell, taste. The rest came over time. I no longer needed to sleep or eat as much, and my clothes and body seemed to stay clean on its own. It was as if both skin, hair and fabric had taken on a different texture – I was truly not mortal anymore."
Sarah ran a hand through her hair – it did feel cleaner and healthier than she would have expected, given that she hadn't washed it in two days.
"The old king, Cederick," Jareth said the name slightly contemptuously and with distaste. "He taught me to transport myself and others, so I would be able to do my duties as master of the Labyrinth. And he had provided me with a full Goblin King costume, before I was transformed, so I didn't need to perfect my shape-changing skills immediately. The magic – I shouldn't have been surprised, but growing up with my father's teachings, it took a long time to embrace the magic fully and explore what my new body was capable of."
"What are you capable of?" she asked, too curious about his powers to dwell on why he obviously didn't like the old king. "Shape-changing?"
"Yes, and you will be, too, eventually. Look." He turned around and in an instant his black clothes were replaced by his normal blue pants and white shirt, and the blue highlights had disappeared. He turned again a second later, and then he was in his white suit with the large feathery cape, and after the third turn, he was back in black.
Sarah blinked and nodded approvingly. That suddenly made an awful lot of sense – both as to why the room for the night had been so sparsely equipped, but also how he could always be dressed in such fancy costumes. And she had sometimes wondered how he even got a hold of the costumes – it didn't seem like the goblins would be very handy with needle and thread.
"Can you teach me?" she said and stood, immediately thinking about what she would like to change shape into.
"Yes, but one thing at a time," he cautioned. "Transforming between human shapes is for some reason much harder than animals."
He demonstrated by shifting into an owl and then a white lion, before returning to normal. "I spent months making my first new human shape, whereas the owl only took a day. But then again - all the Kings of the Labyrinth have had an owl shape, so I was certain I could at least do that one."
"Well, that's why I tried with an owl," she agreed and went to the balcony's railing to look out across the Labyrinth, "because you had already shown me I would be able to do it. And it is rather practical with a flying beast with the great distances in this Labyrinth."
She looked back at him and grew serious. "Jareth, I want a truce and we need to establish some ground rules between us. I really want to learn from you, but I will not be forced to be… your consort or mistress. You may have been able to intimidate me before, but I meant what I said before – you don't scare me anymore. I have powers like you now and I will fight you every step of the way, if you try something. And I really don't want to have to do that."
He frowned at her for a moment, but then a sly smile graced his face. "I accept your truce. And I will agree to not do anything you don't want me to…"
His tone suggested that he was certain she would change her mind, and Sarah scoffed and shook her head. "In your dreams, Jareth…" she muttered under her breath, but he seemed not to have heard and waved at her to follow him.
"Come, let's go inside – there's something you should see." He went inside without looking back, and she shrugged and slowly followed. At least they seemed to have an understanding now, and she was still curious to know more. The power inside her was ever present and she needed to know everything – learn everything, so she could fully embrace this new situation. Even if it meant she had to put up with Jareth's mood swings.