Those Cruel Eyes Edition 1

Chapter 24

Sarah reached out in the river for the fantastic scene unfolding before her. She saw Jareth's pain through the years after she disappeared, the death in his eyes. She watched him marry Isadora and have their first child. She saw his desire for her when he saved her, the desire, hatred, and pain growing each passing day, the way he would linger longer and longer at her bedroom door as time grew. She saw the look in his eyes when he had to leave her. She saw the truth of Hoggle, the seed of Darkness being sewn into his heart by jealousy, his hatred towards Jareth and Sarah after he caught them in bed together.
Sarah surfaced, gasping for air like a fish, trying to make sense of what she saw.
"Oh no, Emmeline!" she cried out, fearing for what could become of her. She got up from the muddy banks of the stream and took off running.
Sarah was fighting through the trees and weeds of the jungle, distinctly remembering her fear when she realized Ludo had disappeared. "Ludo, where are you?" Sarah asked to herself, recalling that statement she had uttered herself so long ago. If she closed her eyes, it would feel as if she was here searching for her brother again.
But it's not my brother I'm saving this time, Sarah thought, It's my daughter.
Sarah pondered what was ahead of her, what lies ahead. She strained to remember her suppressed recollections. They came back easily and vividly, full of texture and colour. A bit surprised, she shook her head, then remembered that this was the exact same area where she was ambushed by the Fireys.
If I remember correctly, she thought, there's a wall up here somewhere, hopefully with the rope Hoggle used to help me. She ran ahead and found the imposing stone wall with a small rope hanging off the top. Sarah grabbed the frail rope and began to hoist herself up.
"Do you have enough upper arm strength to even try?" A sneering voice called down to her from the top of the stone wall.
"Hoggle!" Sarah called, trying to look happy to see her former friend. Recalling his comment, she looked at her small biceps and laughed frivolously. "You're probably right. The most I can do is hold on. A little help?" she requested teasingly.
One corner of Hoggle's mouth turned up, and then he yanked sadistically on the rope, sending Sarah shooting up in the air but landing gently by his side.
"Whoa," Sarah gasped breathlessly, adrenaline rushing through her veins. Hoggle brushed his hands together as the deplorable rope crumbled to fragments in his spider-like fingers.
"Hoggle?" Sarah asked quietly, immediately making Hoggle's internal alarms go nuts, "Why... did you leave so suddenly? Earlier when we were watching Jareth's first task?"
Hoggle's face flushed and his blood froze. He broke out in a sweat and his hands shook. "I... I got a message... the goblins needed me for something..." he stammered. He always had been a horrible liar, and he prayed that Sarah wouldn't notice.
Sarah gave him a look which told him that she wasn't convinced, but dropped the matter. She was silent as they just sat there for a moment. Hoggle was staring at his feet as Sarah studied him. After a moment, she got up from the wall.
"I must go and try to find Emmeline."
Hoggle grabbed her hand. "No, Sarah. You can't." He looked down sadly, his shoulders sagged as if holding unendurable weight. "Jareth... had one of his rages. He killed her."

Emmeline was still in the Oubliette, sitting in the middle of the floor, doing absolutely nothing. Her eyes were closed, and she was sitting cross-legged in the middle on the floor in a typical meditative pose. Inexplicably, a small opening in the wall towards the right exploded through the rock. Jareth walked in through the opening.
"Hey, Emmeline," Jareth said urgently, holding out a helping hand. "We must go immediately before Hoggle gets whiff of our ruse."
Emmeline opened her eyes and used Jareth's outstretched arm to help herself up. Jareth tried to catch her eye as they fled the Oubliette, but she kept her eyes glued on the path in front of them. The pair ran through the stone tunnel in front of them until they came to a punched-out wall to the right of them. Inside, there was a rotting wooden ladder which the two climbed up silently.
After a moment of climbing, Emmeline broke the silence.
"Is all of that true? Are you really my father?"
Jareth sighed. "Yes,"
Emmeline was silent a moment. "Did you really ditch me to become Goblin King like Aiden- I mean Hoggle- told me?"
"No! I would never. You were conceived by... mistake. I had an affair with your mother and that produced you." Jareth said.
Emmeline was silent, until her head hit a hard, terracotta lid.
"Ow," Emmeline moaned, rubbing her head. She pushed up the lid and found herself in a big pot surrounded by hedges. She climbed out and was astonished once again by how unkempt the Labyrinth is.
Jareth climbed out after her and carefully replaced the lid. Jareth glanced over to Emmeline and saw her craning her head to see over the monstrously overgrown hedges.
"What are you looking for?" Jareth said abruptly, startling Emmeline.
"The castle," she replied without glancing back.
Jareth joined her in her search for it, struggling to see his castle over the brambles.
"Well, we are wasting precious daylight standing here, searching for the ruins of your castle." Emmeline says nastily. She turned on her heel and stalked onto the path ahead of them.
Jareth was stunned and guilty, feeling that Emmeline's newfound hostility was his fault, and their relationship's undoing. Damn you Hoggle, Jareth thought, and damn me too.