Babe in the Labyrinth

Are There Really Any Happy Endings?

How long?...

How long had it been since that day?...

The day when She destroyed His plan and defeated him at his own game?..

Years.

Many long, long years ago.

They both remember that day, as it was a memory that they would find they could never erase from their pasts no matter how hard it was to forget its existence.

The day where Sarah Williams completed the Labyrinth and defeated the Goblin King. Where she refused his offers to tempt her into staying, to be his, and forget about her baby brother she had foolishly wished away.

The day when she realised how much power she truly wielded over people, people who would look down upon her only to see her as a little girl and nothing more. When she realised that being an adult didn't mean she had to bite the forbidden fruit, to forget her childhood entirely, to remain in the box her society constructed for her to sit in. When she learned  to become an adult, she would have to learn from her past mistakes. She needed love to give her strength, friends to give her courage, and stories to give her hope. She had to embrace her childhood with open arms and be thankful for all she had learned in those precious, tender years. Learning from her mistakes, and challenging authority when it tried to submit her to things she did not yet wish to partake in. That is how she grew, how she realised her love for her brother was indestructible, and that the real love she found in her friends and family was greater than any fairytale dreams she had dreamt before.

But who was to say that the Goblin King had learned his lesson?

Well, he didn't. Not quite.

Defeat was a taste that did not taste well on the tips of fey' tongues. They were a species whose mastery was in the art of deception, manipulation, and string pulling. Obeying the sacred laws to obey the promises and bargains made, yet always finding a way to twist the words so that they got what they desired whilst still remaining under the terms of contract and oath. Giving little and taking a lot was the way of the fair folk. It was very rarely they ever failed in the pursuit of what they wanted, and especially by humans. So if that weren't enough to bruise the ego of the Goblin King, the fact a mere human child— a little girl— who should have been the easiest target to bend to his will, was the one who defeated him, well it was certainly pummelled his ego until it was covered in bruises.

But he wouldn't stand for defeat. Not by her. He would regain his dignity, and he would get what he wanted. He would prove that Sarah's act of defiance was purely a fluke, a spur of the moment action that just so happened to occur at the right time.

He would beat her. One day.  A day she would least expect it, but he would need time to carefully craft each detail to his plan. This time, he would not be so careless and arrogant in his successes. He would not underestimate her abilities and turn a blind eye to her, not realising she was crawling her way to victory whilst he draped over his throne entertaining a babe. No, he would make sure that as he rebuilt his realm, he would leave no stone unturned, no cracks in his schemes. He'd give her a battle she'd be forced to fight for if she wanted that sweet triumph to be her own again. Every waking moment, he took carefully into consideration, taking each second into account as he plotted how he would resume his role as ruler.

But time in the Underground ran quite differently to the world we live in. It runs much slower, less predictably.  Weeks were equivalent to days in the Goblin City, a year may only be a few months. The King had full control over time in his world, so it was a mystery how long everything really lasted.

To Jareth, the plan he had been putting together since his defeat  seemed like hardly much time to him at all. It ran by him without so much of him blinking an eye, he was consumed by his thirst for victory. Oh, how he didn't know that the girl he was seeking revenge on wasn't a girl at all...the young girl was long gone.

*

Once Sarah had entered her years of study at university, she had no encounters from the Goblin King or his minions again. During her late high school post-rescue mission years, she  would ocassionally see shadows from the corner of her eye or hear the rustling of papers from insider her bag, but every time she checked there was nothing there. Ludo, Didimus and Hoggle would visit her on the odd occasion like her birthday or Christmas, with no reports of Jareth stirring up trouble or more helpess children being whisked away agaisnt their wills that required their valiant heroine to go and retrieve. Yet apparently, there had been no wishes the king had acted upon in a long time, so everything was rather peaceful.

This puzzled Sarah greatly; the fae so intent on winning her over had just..gone quiet? Considering Jareth was the most flamboyant and self-confident being Sarah had ever encountered, she found the concept of him ignoring her and his baby-napping duties quite disturbing. Quiet didn't seem like a word that accompanied the King too well.

Her worries about the Goblin King plotting a comeback soon faded away from her mind as the years followed, and all last remnants of possible romantic desire of him disappeared after meeting a boy. Sleek black locks, warm brown eyes, a charming smile, and the pleasant name of Eric. It was during a college production the two had met, with Eric being the lead choreographer as well as fellow actor alongside Sarah as the leading role. After some many conversations spent at rehearsals and class, they found they had a lot more in common besides their involvement in theatre. Eric was the eldest child to two younger brothers and baby sister, he lived with his aunt and uncle when his parents were experiencing a messy divorce when he was in his teens, he loved to read and write, and had a shameless obsession 80s cartoons.

A few weeks since the show had ended,  the two had developed feelings for one another. They had been on several dates before becoming a couple, and one summer night he proposed to her by the lake where she once confided in him she used to rehearse scenes from her little, red book with her white costume flowing behind her and a flower crown fitted on top of her head like a princess..she of course, said yes.

They had been together in marital bliss for some time now, years had passed and the two lived comfortably in their own home with their two dogs, Arthur and Puck . She hadn't even considered thinking about what the Goblin King would think about this...she hadn't thought about the Goblin King at all.