Chapter Five

"What are you on about, Goblin King?"

Sarah was shaking her head as she spoke. She turned in the general direction of where they had come up from the glittery trees and scanned the sand for the exit. The breeze was strong enough to blow her hair about, and she tucked a strand behind her ear as she looked around, ignoring the gaze of the King beside her.

"Sarah."

She waited for whatever he wanted to say next while she kept looking, but stopped when no further words came.

Sarah put her hands on her hips and cocked her head in the Goblin King's direction. He looked sullen as he stood there in his glittery black costume. His hair blew in the wind like hers, and his eyes darted from her to the castle in the far distance. His stance was not that of the menacing Goblin King from Sarah's dreams and memories. On the contrary, his arms hung limp at his side, his gloved hands flexing between clenched and relaxed as though he did not know what to do with them.

"We shouldn't stay here," he said suddenly and gestured to something at Sarah's feet.

When she looked down again, the hole they had come out of was back, and she could peer down to the grassy floor below. It looked darker down there than the castle on the horizon, although clearly it was daytime (as opposed to the night they had climbed up into).

"Oh!"

"After you, precious."

She ignored the pet name, knelt down into the hole, and found her footing on the ladder.

Jareth stayed a few paces above her as they descended and she considered what questions she should ask next as she moved with caution. The light of day was returning as they went, and she felt herself quelling the sensation of vertigo at the odd change. Did she feel like that when she was younger? Perhaps, back then, she was able to take the shock of the different Labyrinth places better.

When Sarah's feet hit the grass and she caught the sight of goblins darting behind boulders and trees, she took another look around at where she might be able to venture.

It all looked the same- trees for miles, glittery and mysterious, and the strange, burnt building that she had arrived in. It was only smouldering, but looked treacherous nonetheless, and the floating eyes of firies gazed out at her in amusement. She ignored those eyes and looked towards the building in the hope that it may contain answers. In the meantime, Jareth had reached the ground as well, and came to stand near her. He was staring quite intently, and Sarah took a subtle step away from him.

"Sarah," he said again, his tone little more than a whisper.

"Jareth."

He drew a breath.

"Can you please explain to me why I'm here?"

He frowned slightly in response, then looked down at the ground with a shrug, "I was going to ask you the same thing. I wasn't sure if I reached you."

"So, you were in my dream last night?"

"I don't know when I tried to reach your dreams, Sarah, but I clearly did."

Sarah huffed and turned away from him, ignoring that he moved to reach out for her when she did. She spied a little goblin with ears longer than a rabbit's. As she waved, it let out a little scream and ran off.

"They haven't seen you in a long time."

Her lips pressed together thinly and she turned back to the strange man, hands on her hips, "Jareth, enough with all the cryptic-ness. I need to know what's going on."

"I lost my kingdom," he answered matter-of-factly.

"Fine. I believe you. But how did you reach my dreams? You've never been able to be-"

"Of course I could," he interrupted, a dismissive, gloved hand waving through the air.

Sarah scowled, "Excuse me?"

"You were going to say you've never been able to do that before," when he repeated her words, his voice came out exactly like her own, and the disturbingness of it made Sarah take another step back from him. When he continued, he sounded like Jareth again, "But of course I could reach your dreams. I could always do that. You just never wanted me there. So, I didn't."

She flexed her jaw, completely unsure of how to respond. When the silence lingered, Jareth went on.

"Your hair is shorter."

"What?"

Jareth took a step back and cursed under his breath, "Never mind."

"King!"

He waved his hand dismissively at the little goblin that came trotting up to them.

"King!"

"What?" Jareth snapped impatiently as it tugged at his pants.

The little thing glanced nervously over at Sarah as Jareth knelt down to it, an expression of utter annoyance on his angular features. Sarah ignored the whip that was suddenly in the man's grip, not wanting to know where it had suddenly come from as he strummed it against his knee. The goblin whispered into Jareth's ear hurriedly, one eye still on Sarah.

"I see…" Jareth responded to the whispers, "No, that won't be necessary… What? No… Fine. Are they alright?"

Sarah turned away from the pair to go back towards the burning building. She found it unsettling to watch the King with his goblins. Especially bent down and listening so intently. Her memories of the man, while somewhat dashing and romantic, still pegged him as the villain, and she was not in the mood to imagine him as anything other than a villain in that moment. Certainly not a caring King to his subjects.

The ground crunched on her feet as she reached the entrance to the building, and she looked down to see beautiful pebbles below her. They sparkled in the light and reflected the leaves of the trees around them. Unable to stop herself, Sarah bent over and picked one of the little stones up. It was warm to the touch, like fire had only just been licking at it, and she turned it over in her palm. Her thumb ran over it, and it immediately cooled. It reflected her own expression, the sun above her, and the building in front of her.

"Beautiful…" Sarah cooed as she stared at it.

Away from her, still bent down by the goblin, Jareth pounced back to his feet when he saw what Sarah had picked up. He cursed again and the goblin cried out, scampering away.

"Sarah, drop that!" He called, jogging over.

Sarah could not hear him as she stared into the pebble. Its colours were magnificent, dancing in the light and changing with every shallow breath she took. The longer she stared at it, the more mesmerising it was. It was a strange, familiar feeling that she had felt years before. What was that feeling? Whatever it was, she had been in the Labyrinth when she had felt it, but she could not quite place the sensation. In fact, she could not remember anything in that moment. All there was, was the little pebble.

The world spun around her.

Oh, actually, she did remember this feeling.

Alice in Wonderland had given her the same feeling only minutes before.

A peach had done it a long time before that.

Her head spun and her feet felt as though they had lifted off the ground.

Somewhere in the distance, a familiar voice called to her.

Hands were reaching- grabbing- for her.

Jareth was desperately trying to bring her back, but she had been holding the stone for too long. He tried once more to reach out to her, but a moment later, and she was gone.

Sarah blinked the moment the stone disappeared from her hand. Her head hurt and she felt lost without the pebble. All that remained was glitter, and she dusted her hands off with disappointment. She had forgotten that things were not as they seemed in the Labyrinth. Had she picked up another portal?

One thing she knew was that she was no longer near the burning building.

But she was also not back in the library.

The pebble had taken her somewhere, and Jareth was no longer with her. It was cold, and she was inside a circular room made of stone. It was an old room with a faded rug in the middle. From the stone walls hung paintings of landscapes, and to the far side of the room was an iron gate. Was it a cage? Sarah frowned and moved closer to the bars- yes, it was. Something massive coward in the cage, likely asleep, and Sarah was suddenly very concerned for where she had found herself. She reached out to the iron bars and licked her lips to call out to the creature within.

"Well, well, well."

Sarah spun on her heels at the sound of the voice.

"Oh, for God's sake," she rolled her eyes, turning back to the cage to see what was inside, but it was gone.

All that stood before her was stone wall.

"Well, that's a sweet greeting."

"Jareth, I'm really not in the mood for these games. Where have you taken me?"

The King was leaning against the circular room's entrance with a smug smile on his face. His hair was pulled back in a way she had not seen it before, tied with a black ribbon and rather taut around his features. Glitter coated his brows, and his eyes were dark and villainous. The suit he wore was more terrifying than the getup Sarah had last seen him in in the Labyrinth- when she had bested him and made it back home with Toby. It was all black and tight and complimentary, with a popped collar framing his cheeks, and boots that looked heeled. His hands were gloved and folded across his chest to add to the smugness. He looked rather menacing.

"Jareth," Sarah prompted when he continued to stare at her.

"My apologies, Sarah, you just look so… ravishing. I understand it all a bit better, now."

"Are we in the castle?

He ignored her and entered the room.

The hairs on the back of Sarah's neck stood on end as the King stared at her. Something about his eyes. They were mismatched, as always, but darker. Predatory. Why was that? Sarah took an almost involuntary step backwards, her spine greeted by the cool stone behind her where once the cage had been.

"Now, now," Jareth laughed, "Where would you be going?"

He came to stand right in front of her, and Sarah could smell his musky scent. Something was very off with him. In comparison to the dream, and how he had approached her at work and the feeling of familiarity she had felt, this was… wrong…

"Jareth, I'm frightened. Please stop."

"I had always wondered if you were ever to return, what you would think of me. Fear is absolutely fine, for the record," he reached his hand above her and leaned against the stone, their faces mere inches from each other.

Sarah licked her lips, panic swirling in her chest, "What have you done?"

"Nothing. But I do wonder what Jareth has done. I didn't think he had enough power to bring anyone here anymore… let alone you." He laughed in a sickening way.

Clarity washed over her, and Sarah let out a little squeak of fear, "You aren't the Goblin King."

"On the contrary, Sarah, the King of Shadows- at your service," he stepped back and bowed dramatically, never taking his eyes of her, "Well, not really your service. I'm certainly not here to serve you."

She felt like prey in the eyes of a cat. A dangerous cat.

"What are you looking for? I hate to tell you, precious, but there's no escaping this castle." He grinned wider, showing his terrifyingly sharp teeth.

"Who are-"

Light flooded the room and a roaring whirlwind picked up. The landscapes that hung from the stone walls went flying with the wind, and stray, black feathers darted into the air from where they had been lying idly on the rug and stone floor. Sarah shielded her eyes but kept them open, spying hundreds of little bubbles burst forth from the light.

"How brazen!" The man before her cried out in laughter.

He looked like he was in pain with the sudden light that flooded the room, and he flicked the bubbles away from him like they were annoying flies. As his gloved hands hit out at them, Sarah watched some shatter like delicate glass against his skin. He cried out in pain and pulled his hand back to him, nursing the gashes that the bubbles had caused. Sarah tried to avoid them now, realising the danger that the bubbles posed, but when she inadvertently touched one it burst just as one would think it should- like a bubble of liquid.

Curious.

The shadowy man that looked like Jareth fell backwards, hissing angrily, and he turned around and made for the door. More bubbles hit his skin and shattered into shards, and they cut his cheeks and sent blood dripping to the stone floor. As he ran, Sarah felt anger swell in her gut and against her better judgement she ran after him. He was laughing still- had the audacity to laugh as he retreated, regardless of the pain- and Sarah reached the entrance to pursue him down the corridor.

A hand clamped down on her shoulder and pulled her back violently.

The wind rushed about her ears and she fell backwards with a hard thud.

Water crashed into her face, and she spluttered at the salty liquid that threatened to fill her lungs.

She had teleported again.

Again!

Frustration beat the desire to breath for a moment and Sarah cried out in irritation.

She was a pile of limbs and weightlessness, bobbing at the shoreline as wave after wave crashed against her body. She shivered uncomfortably, peering out at the ocean of purple water. The sand was pink on the beach behind her, and all around were mountains that looked more like cotton candy. A moment more and she realised she was resting against something- someone- and she rolled indelicately away from the body of Jareth, onto the sand below the water. Another wave hit her back as she tried to stand. Jareth's hands gripped her forearms and dragged her from the water.

Before she could yell at him, she coughed and spluttered, collapsing onto the warm sand.

"Breath, Sarah."

"What…" she coughed as she tried to yell, "What… is… what's happened?"

"I'm sorry, Sarah. I didn't think you'd wish to be in the castle. I hadn't even thought to warn you about the stones, I'm sorry. No one else has ever been able to use their power but me. They're like extensions of my crystals."

Sarah looked up at Jareth- the real Jareth- who knelt before her. His expression was concerned and sad, and Sarah ignored the anger she felt when she realised he was already dry.

Without thinking, he raised his ungloved hand to her cheek and pushed her wet hair out of her vision. He seemed out of breath and frantic, checking her for injuries or signs of pain. His fingers lingered at her cheek, and his concerned eyes stared down at her intently. Sarah took deep breaths as she tried to focus on steadying her heartbeat. Her head was filled with questions, and she had to think of what was best to ask first. Jareth, on the other hand, seemed quite lost in his examination of her features. His fingers drifted from her cheeks to her jaw, then to her neck. Every now and then, he dipped his head to examine a freckle, or her earlobe, or a strand of wet hair, and when he did so, he muttered something incoherently to himself.

The shock of the teleportation and water was wearing off, and Sarah picked herself up and came to lean on her knees as well. When she did, Jareth's hands stayed at her collarbone, and she gripped them in her own fingers and pushed them back across to his chest. They both ignored the little spark in each of them that the physical touch elicited.

"I-" Jareth said, looking back down at the sand like he was going to tell her to lie down again.

"Jareth, this has been a strange morning. I've teleported so many times that I'm fairly certain I should get a CT scan, and I've just met what I can only assume is your psychotic twin brother. Can you please explain what's going on?"

They knelt there staring at each other for a moment in defiant silence. Jareth was the first to yield. He sighed and waved his hand at her with a twist of his wrist, and Sarah immediately felt dry. She looked down at her jeans and puffer, and realised she was no longer wet at all. Her hair was even dry, and she flicked it over her shoulder in annoyance. Jareth's eyes followed the action and he looked even sadder.

They stood at the same time.

"You can start with where we are now."

"Labyrinth's sea."

"Yes, that makes sense," she answered sarcastically and rolled her eyes.

"My kingdom is great, Sarah. Well… it was."

"Yes, yes- very broody of you."

"What do you want from me, Sarah? You aren't supposed to be here. I didn't think I'd ever have to explain any of this to you."

"Why did you come to me in my dream then?"

"I thought it was my dream. I didn't-" Jareth growled in frustration and turned away from her.

Sarah let him take a moment. One thing she remembered about him was that he could be easily offended, and she did not want to risk taking two steps back with the man that had apparently just saved her from… from something.

She watched as he pointed towards one of the cotton candy hills, "My home is back that way," he said, "Will you walk with me? I'll explain… at least, I'll try to explain what's going on."

"This isn't a trick?"

"No tricks, Sarah."

Sarah looked him up and down. He looked defeated and tired, and she thought about the sad eyes that had stared up at her in the burning building. Was that the home he was talking about now? Just how far had the Goblin King fallen?

She pressed her lips together and folded her arms, but nodded when he waved a hand in the direction of the hills again, "Lead the way."

She thought she caught the hint of a smile on his lips when she started across the beach, and she ignored the feel of his hand against the small of her back as he guided her towards his home.