Chapter Text
Five years had passed since Sarah Williams wished away her baby brother to the King of the Goblins, daring to run through dangers untold and hardships unnumbered, thirteen hours she’d been granted to solve the puzzle. Five years after she had befriended Hoggle, Ludo and Sir Didymus, the four of them banded together as a group of unlikely heroes lunging into battle on the King’s doorstep and coming out victorious; she had been named their first ever champion of the Labyrinth.
What should have been five short years leading into her young adult life felt horribly drawn out and heartbreakingly empty. Sarah had eaten their food, mortal food never tasting quite right after, and the smell of peaches forever turned sour. She had danced, falling victim to daydreams and nightmares recalling the ballroom and the King. She had been offered the world and she had turned it away, choosing to return above ground, never quite the same mundane Sarah she was before that night. She never forgot the Labyrinth, nor the folk who inhabited it, and no matter how hard she tried to forget him, Jareth was a constant melody playing in the back of her mind.
Toby had started to grow into his own tiny child self and Sarah would often babysit him for her parents, only this time she didn’t wish him away. They’d play video games and hide and go seek and they’d battle invisible monsters, they’d fuss over Toby’s unfinished homework, and make pacts to never tell mom that Sarah had let Toby have three scoops of ice cream for dinner. He was a good little brother and Sarah had become rather fond of the child she’d wished away. He was truly starting to feel like family despite the mother they didn’t share.
At eighteen she moved out of her parent’s house; leaving her toys, the mirror she often used to call upon Hoggle and the others, and the window where a pale owl could be seen watching from a tree branch above all behind. Not the little red book though, that she kept tucked away in her new apartment’s closet; the call of it feeling something akin to intoxicating. She wanted to forget the Labyrinth, move on and grow up. Sarah had dreams just as she had before, though these dreams were devoid of magic and fairytales altogether. This was the real world, and she needed to focus on getting an education, a job, maybe finding a romantic partner down the road.
But the King of the Goblins had fallen in love with the girl...
When they danced in the ballroom Jareth had looked at her like nothing else in the world existed. He’d whispered promises of love and crafted her heart’s deepest desires right before her eyes as they swayed back and forth in the hazy dream. But she was only sixteen, and when she shattered her own fantasy, refusing him, his mask slipped and his cruel nature was revealed. Jareth never loved her. He was simply playing a game of cat and mouse, and Sarah had only narrowly escaped. Though she never stopped wondering what life could have been like if she’d said yes; to live in a perfectly crafted fantasy, not a care in the world, a puppet in dreams. Maybe that was her punishment. Life wasn’t fair and her dreams weren't either. And somehow, miserable though it may be, Sarah had to accept that.
The cry of her alarm clock sounded through her tiny studio apartment like a banshee wailing in a swamp. Sarah groaned and blindly reached across a mound of pillows to smack the dreaded tone into quietness. Squinting in the barely there morning light filtering through her draped windows, the clock read 6 AM. Sarah wanted to scream, or cry, but mostly scream and fall back into her dreams. She’d been having
the
dream. The one where she ate the peach and forgot everything, dancing in the arms of a not so human man. Rubbing her tired eyes and willing herself to sit up, Sarah got out of bed and went about her morning routine, fiercely pushing Jareth from her mind.
Wearing her go to I Woke Up Late outfit, (a pair of worn jeans with holes in the knees and a size too big band she-barely-listened-to t-shirt) she pulled her dark hair into a messy knot at the base of her neck and could have spent more time brushing her teeth and checking for remnants of dried drool at the corners of her mouth before pushing her feet into an old pair of oxfords, grabbing her school bag, keys, and long jacket, rushing out the door without breakfast. She was late for her english class and the walk to campus was fifteen minutes she didn’t have to spare. But that’s just the way it goes when you spend too long dreaming about a one Goblin King and his stupid, flowery promises of love.
“ Come on, feet.” She mumbled to herself, looking up at the gray sky that threatened to pour down on her any moment.
It rained a lot in Oregon. Sarah both loved and loathed it. The smell and the sound of the raindrops falling, along with the vibrant shade of green the trees transformed into when the sky was dark and gloomy, were among a few of Sarah’s favorite things. Getting soaked from a downpour before school however was not. She’d love to own a car, but it just wasn’t practical for someone like her on a student budget; she could barely afford her apartment as it was even after working all of those odd jobs throughout high school. Life was ridiculously overpriced.
About halfway through her walk her stomach grumbled, so in a moment of weakness she decided to stop for a coffee and a pastry at her favorite shop. She was already late so why should she suffer? She walked inside the little establishment, the loud indie music consuming her entirely. Letting her bag fall heavy on one shoulder she began digging through the mess of it to find her wallet. Junk, junk, junk. Oh, this is all just junk! Realizing she must have left her wallet in her apartment, Sarah began backing out of the line and made to leave the shop. However, as she did, a light tap on her shoulder from behind drew her attention to a boy, though he certainly did not look human. Sarah just knew these things after her time spent with them.
“Need some cash?” Asked the boy, his face perfectly beautiful as lips spread into a knowing smirk, dark hair falling into his deep blue eyes, hiding the points of his sharp ears. The Aboveground clothing he wore did nothing to hide the fact that he did not belong there. It was like trying to smother the small light leaking through the crack underneath your bedroom door late at night, when you’re risking being caught by your parents staying up too late reading fantasy novels when you’re meant to be asleep. There’s just no hiding the obvious.
Sarah’s mouth hung open dumbly, her heart racing in her chest, palms beginning to sweat. What was she even supposed to say? Should she mention Jareth? No, that would be stupid. But maybe Jareth sent this… creature to deliver a message? Though why would Jareth reach out? Sarah had rejected him and caused havoc throughout his kingdom. If Sarah was king she’d make damn sure meddling champions never sought their way back. Could the Goblin King be in some kind of trouble? She had taken too long to respond which caused the boy to place a hand on her arm. The touch startled her from her thoughts and she recoiled immediately, eyes moving from the boy while scanning the shop to see if any of the tired writers and fellow college students with their large cups of espresso had noticed the unusual pair. They hadn’t.
“Who are you.” She whispered through gritted teeth, it was a demand rather than a question and she might as well have said ‘what are you’ instead. It only made the fae creature’s smile widen.
“Why Sarah…” he tsked as if she was a stupid child asking stupid questions. “You know I won’t tell you that, try asking a better question.” He titled his head and regarded her curiously. It made her feel uneasy like a bug being watched under a microscope.
Fae did not lightly reveal their names to mortals, it was unwise to do so, as they could then be called upon after their tricks had been played and used for wishes if the human was smart enough to wish correctly. In fact, it wasn’t even Jareth who had given his name to Sarah, it had been Hoggle. She briefly wondered if her friend had been punished for that…
Her voice seemed to come out a bit more steady this time, more like her attitude heavy sixteen year old self.
“If Jareth wants to speak to me you can tell him to come and do so himself.” Resisting the urge to place her hands haughtily on her hips, she let them hang awkwardly at her sides. Knowing better than to get cocky with Their kind.
“The Goblin King will want to speak with you alright, though he is not the one who requests your presence,” He waited a moment before continuing as if to let that sink into Sarah’s stupid mind. “As champion of our realm you have secured a royal title. The Labyrinth saw fit to let you continue your life Aboveground until you were of a later age. Their patience is growing thin, as is Jareth’s rule. You, Sarah Williams, have been summoned to stand before the High Court and accept their judgment regarding your rule. In fact, we have but one hour before your hearing.” He then looked down at his wrist at an old watch without a working face; time was such a strange concept both Above and Below.
Her mouth was hanging open dumbly once again and she desperately wanted to tell the boy that this was absolutely unfair. She couldn’t go to some High Court, she was already late for class!
“And if I refuse?” She tried to sound confident but her voice was small and revealed how scared she was. And who wouldn’t be, if a beautiful creature not from our world showed up at your local coffee shop making demands?
The boy raised a dark brow and stared at her with a rather mocking expression as he stated as plainly as if he was telling her to have a good day, “Then the debt you owed had not become Champion will be repaid. Your baby brother will be one of us forever.”
Jareth’s voice rang in her ears, he’d said those same words to her all those years before she’d accepted to run the Labyrinth. He’d warned her then and she foolishly did not listen. She ran the Labyrinth and won back her brother only to have fallen victim to the hidden tricks of making a deal with the Faerie. There’s always a catch, she remembered reading in one of those old books about Fae. How stupid she’d been then only magnified how stupid she felt now.
It’s not fair.
You say that so often I wonder what your basis for comparison is.
Sarah met the boy’s dark eyes, the same determined expression she wore back when she’d accepted her deal with Jareth shone in her eyes once more. “Take me to them.”
The boy smiled and nodded his head.