Things were going fine as Sarah and her two friends were enjoying each other's company as if the time had never passed, until two elven soldiers approached them with swords drawn. Two goblin guards that were posted at the gate saw the action and came running with spears drawn, giving the trio time to run inside. Hoggle slammed the doors behind with his blue eyes large with fear. "Those were elves. What are elves doing here?"

"We have to tell Jareth," Sarah stated, not wanting to stand around a discuss about the intruders. Jareth said that they were after her and now she nearly placed her friends in danger. He had to know.

"How? I don't want to do all that walking again like last time!"

Then there was a pounding on the gates, causing the three to jump back.

"I'll take that there are elves," a smooth voice stated behind.

They all turned around to the Goblin King who had a sword at his hip with his eyes locked on the doors behind them. "Hogwart–" "Hoggle!–" "Take Sarah and go. Creature, you go the other way. Unfortunately, you'll just slow them down. I'll take care of them."

Before Sarah could say anything, Hoggle grabbed the her hand and ran to the left as the beast lumbered in the opposite direction. "I'll see you soon, Ludo!" Then she couldn't help, but look back as the King drew his sword, gestured the gates open, causing the two elves to stumble in. She looked ahead of herself to see where she was going as she heard swords clashing against one another. "Is he going to be alright?"

"He's going to be fine!" Hoggle cried out of panic. "I heard he's an excellent fencer."

She looked at him, surprised. "Really?"

"Well, he's the king, isn't he?"

Recognizing the fallen branch that she and Jareth had passed, she made a sharp turn into the wall with the goblin behind her, took a right, then another sharp left– Entering the garden. She looked behind, seeing that no-one was following, she slowed to a stop, panting for air. "Jareth better be okay…"

"He has to be," Hoggle grumbled, gasping for air. "Or that Nalth will be in charge and I personally prefer Jareth over her!" He looked around in wonder. "How did you know that this turn was here?"

"Jareth showed me."

"Huh." He folded his arms, studying her, unamused. "You and Jareth are becoming best pals, aren't you?"

She scoffed at those words since the King wasn't the easiest person to get along with. "Please. I don't enjoy being stuck with him." Then added, "No offense to him."

"None taken."

She turned around to find an emotionless Jareth with his sword sheeted and a large bloodstain on his left shoulder along with a tear in the white fabric. An elf certainly managed to get a good slice in, but hopefully he got worse.

"That was quick…" Hoggle murmured.

Sarah stared at the wound. "You're hurt."

"Nothing awful. One is dead and the other is a prisoner, who I will now attend to. Not only that, but they killed two guards." He walked passed them, heading to the castle.

Concerned, Sarah began to follow him with Hoggle at her side. "I'm sorry about your guards, but you are going to get that looked at, aren't you?"

He glanced back at her, puzzled. "Of course. Why wouldn't I?"

She gave a small shrug. "Just concerned." It was true. If it weren't for her, he wouldn't have been in that situation in the first place. "Also… Thank you."

Jareth slowed to a stop, turned to her and genuinely replied, "You're welcome." Then carried on his way.

The trio took an eight minute shortcut to the castle where Jareth wanted the human to meet someone just in case of any injuries or illness since they didn't know how long she was going to stay for. Agreeing, Sarah followed him to the alchemy room on the main floor of the castle with Hoggle at her side.

"The one you're going to meet," Jareth began as they neared an average-sized wooden door on the right of the dimly lit hall, "is the alchemist of the castle. Her name is Altha and she is, well, you'll see." He opened the door to a small room with herbs hanging from the low ceiling and bookshelves stalked with bottles of strange liquids and ingredients. The scent of strong herbs was enough to make Sarah wince.

"Hello, Your Majesty," a croaky voice of an old woman greeted, who was standing by a fire pit, string a pot on the right. She was not a goblin, but a being that was a little shorter than Sarah, had grey-blue skin, and was dressed in an old, dark-green dress with a brown hat over her head. The alchemist looked at her guests and her amber eyes narrowed at the sight of the King. "What in the gods' names did you get yourself into?" The elder approached him with wonder, studying the wound.

"Elves."

Her wrinkled face would've paled if she was human by the way she looked at the King. "In the Labyrinth?"

"Close. They got through the gates and killed two of my men."

The elder shook her head as she walked to one of her shelves on the far wall. "Sit and I don't like more than two people in my chambers."

Sarah turned to her friend with disappointment. "Sorry, Hoggle…"

Hoggle waved a hand, already turning to leave. "Yeah, yeah. I'll be out here." With that, he walked out, closing the door behind him.

"Who is this, then?" Altha asked, opening a drawer, pulling out a cloth and a glass bottle filled with a clear liquid, then returned to the King, who was sitting on a stool by the fire.

"My name is Sarah," the woman politely answered with a kind smile. "Sarah Williams."

"Oh, I remember you." The elder gave her an amused smile like a grandmother. "The champion of the Labyrinth."

Jareth rolled his eyes. "Can we just get this over with?"

Altha turned to him with annoyed eyes. "Not my fault you were cut with a sword." She uncorked the bottle and carefully poured a little bit of the liquid onto the clean rag. "Shirt."

He removed his vest and shirt, revealing a thin and pale body with the strange, golden amulet around his neck, glimmering in the fire's light. The two-inch cut on his shoulder was deep and still bleeding. "The elves are getting more nerve," he quietly announced as the healer gently cleaned the wound.

The thought of putting her own friends' lives in danger shook Sarah to the core. If Jareth hadn't shown up when he did, she didn't want to think what would've happened. Maybe some more guards would've shown up? Either way, if something that was to happen again, she needed to be ready because next time, Jareth probably wouldn't be able to get there in time.

The alchemist sighed, "I'm glad that you didn't marry her."

"I would rather have poisoned myself," Jareth dryly murmured, then smirked at Sarah.

Sarah gave a small smile and shook her head, catching his humor.

The alchemist corked the cleaning solution and placed it on the stoned floor beside her. She patted her dress as if looking for something, then snapped her fingers in remembrance. Spying what she wanted on the shelf across the room, she held up a hand and a spool of black stitching and a needle started to levitate off the far shelf, then drifted towards her, landing in her pale hands. Tying the needle to the stitching, she proceeded to sew the wound. "Thanks to your human body," she began, "it will take five to seven days to heal."

The woman's eyes blinked.

Human? Jareth was– or used to be– a human?

Jareth gave the elder a warning glare, but she didn't notice.

Altha cut the stitching with a sharp claw, tied it, and then stepped back. "Done." She picked up the bottle by her boots and returned to the shelves to put the items away.

The King carefully threw on his bloodstained shirt, draped the vest over his arm, and gave the elder a polite smile. "Thank you, Altha." He walked to the door and opened it for Sarah.

"Any time, Your Highness," she said with a smile. "Do come again."

Sarah blinked at that comment, wondering that was even a proper thing to say for a healer.