"You still don't believe that I am here, do you?" Jareth asked when Sarah did nothing but stare. "Even after your stepmother just spoke with me?"
"How did you know she was my stepmother?"
"You forget Sarah, that we have history together." Jareth watched Sarah's expression saddened before she looked down at her feet. After a minute he could hear Sarah whisper something. "Sarah?"
Sarah looked back up at him and took a deep breath. "I never forgot. I spent the last ten years having people try to make me forget, but I never did." When Jareth didn't speak, she continued. "After my time in the labyrinth I would tell Toby about it. I told him stories of my adventure to save him. I told him about the goblins; about Hoggle, Sir Didymus, and Ludo." Sarah blushed and looked down at her feet again. "I told him about you. He always seemed to smile when I mentioned goblins or started telling him about the labyrinth. On the nights that I babysat, I would call on my friends. We would visit and they would play with Toby.
"One night I heard Irene and my father talking about me. It sounded like Irene was trying to convince my father that it wasn't right for a girl my age to be so alone. That I should be going out with my friends or going out on dates. I then heard them discussing how they got in touch with my school to see how I was doing and that according to my teachers I was dramatic and often in my own mind. My parents were growing concerned for me.
"Right around the time Toby turned two, he came into my room while I was talking with Hoggle through my vanity. Toby loved Hoggle, and wanted to show him his new ball. He threw the ball at the mirror not knowing Hoggle couldn't catch it. He hit it just right, that it knocked the mirror loose and it broke. I know now that my reaction is what caused my parents to finally seek help for me. At first I ignored what everyone was saying. But when I called my friends again,they didn't answer. I then started to believe what everyone was saying so I tried to convince myself that it was all in my head. I never forgot my time there, or my friends. Why didn't they answer me?"
"I'm sorry you went through all that. And I'm sorry, but they didn't answer because I told them not to."
"Why? They visited me for a long time before the mirror broke. Why tell them to stop?"
"I told them to stop because they can't be a part of your world. They can't fit in like Fae can. If they continued, their safety could be compromised. I was trying to protect them."
"Fae? Is that what you are?"
"It is, yes"
"Was Addy a Fae?"
"She was."
"You said she was your friend?"
"I have known Adella since we were young. We were to be wed. I was here today to help bring her back home. Will you tell me what happened? Please?"
Sarah started to tear up. But nodded her head. "Before I do, let's go to my apartment. I can grab my things from my parents home and then we can go. People will start showing up to the park and I'd rather not be so emotional in front of others."
Jareth agreed and the two of them walked to her parents to grab Sarah's things. When they got to her apartment, Sarah made a pot of tea and poured two cups. "You can sit wherever you like." She said as she sat at her dining table. Jareth ended up joining her at the table.
"I know it's hard to talk about Sarah, but I need to know what happened. I don't have much time before the solstice ends and I have to return."
"Today is my birthday. Addy and I went out last night to celebrate it and for us to spend our last night together before she moved. I guess her being a Fae is why she wouldn't tell me where she was from or where she was moving to. I ended up telling Addy about the labyrinth, since I had a dream about the other night."
"You dreamed of my labyrinth?" Jareth interrupted.
Sarah blushed and focused her gaze on her tea cup. "I did, and do frequently. So, I told her about my dream. And I showed her my drawing."
"Drawing?"
Sarah glanced at her bag in the chair next to her before looking at Jareth. She sighed and pulled out her sketch book and flipped to the page with the drawing of the labyrinth on it. Jareth stared at it for a while, taking in all the detail she gave it. "You draw beautifully Sarah."
"Thank you. It was after I showed her this picture that we left and headed back to her shop. She gave me her crystal ball. She was walking me home after that when a car swerved and crashed into her." Sarah started crying. Jareth reached over and placed his hand on top of hers. They sat quietly like that for a while.
"To Adella. May her spirit rest in peace." Jareth lifted his tea cup.
Sarah smiled sadly before lifting her cup as well. "Jareth, could you tell me about Addy? She never shared much about herself with me. She was my best friend and I feel like I don't know much about her."
"Adella grew up in the fae court. Like her mother, Adella was a seeress."
"You mean she could see the future? All that looking into people's future was real?"
"She could, yes. Adella and I grew up close. She was eleven years my senior. Her mother and my father were friends, so we saw each other often in our youth. Our friendship really started once I went to the labyrinth. She had an interest in the Aboveground and wanted to learn about humans. With the labyrinth I was also tasked with handling the children who were wished away. That allowed me to cross over when summoned. Adella would then ask a million questions about the homes I entered or about the human who was trying to solve the labyrinth. She wanted to learn everything she could that we would come up on the solstices together just to watch the humans. She loved being here.
"It was after you defeated my labyrinth that Adella started speaking of wanting to spend more than a day in the Aboveground. She would share with me all her thoughts and plans about how she would live up here. It was shortly after we were engaged that the high king granted her a chance to live with the humans for one year. He said it was a wedding gift for us. He is my brother."
"High king?"
"He is the king of all the Underground."
"But I thought you were a king?"
Jareth laughed. "I am the king of the goblins who live within the labyrinth. The goblins listen to my rule. But I answer to my brother. He was very generous to have let her live up here."
"I can tell that you really cared for her."
"She was a very close friend."
"Surely you cared for her more than just friendship? You were engaged after all?"
"Just because we were to be married does not mean we loved each other past friendship. Our engagement was more for convenience instead of love."
"Oh." Sarah looked away. She saw the corner of the box the crystal ball was in sticking out of her bag. She pulled the box out and set it on the table. "This was her crystal that she gave me." She opened the box and pulled out the crystal. "I always thought it would be heavier. And cold, but it's actually quite warm to the touch."
Jareth smirked and conjured up a smaller crystal in his hands. "Yes they are quite light."
"Hers looks different than yours."
"Different?" Jareth looked down at the crystal Sarah was holding.
"Yours is clear. I see colors in hers." They both watched as a small color swirl inside the crystal ball grew larger before illuminating the ball. The colors grew bright before fading. Sarah dropped the crystal ball and it rolled off the table before making a loud sound as it hit the floor and continued to roll. Sarah looked at her hands which had an aura of the color remaining before they too faded back to normal.
"Sarah?" Jareth leaned closer to Sarah and placed his hand on her shoulder when she remained silent, staring at her hands.
"I feel strange." Sarah turned her hands over and over. "What happened?"
"Adella." Sarah looked up at Jareth when he said Addy's name. "She left you her magic."
"Her magic?"
Jareth stood up quickly. "I must go."
"Go? Wait, go where?" Jareth walked over to her window and opened it. "What do you mean she left me her magic?"
"I'll explain later. I must go now. The solstice is ending soon and I need to speak with my brother." Jareth turned and placed both his hands on her shoulders. "Stay here. Don't leave. I will be back shortly."
"But Jareth?"
"Please. There is no time. Just do as I say." With that Jareth transformed into an owl and flew out the window.
Sarah watched him fly out of sight before looking back down at her hands and at the crystal ball on the floor. She walked over to it and picked it up. It did nothing. She placed it back in the box on the table. She looked over at her sketchbook still showing the picture of the labyrinth. She sat down at the table. She glanced back at the window, before turning to a blank page and started to draw while she waited.