Babe in the Labyrinth

Babes With the Power

Even though Sarah was lucky enough to fall in love and found her new partner in the greatest of coincidences, Toby had a much more difficult life than what his dear sister did.

Ever since his kidnapping when in his infancy, Toby spent his toddlerhood being ridiculed by his mother for being silly in his fantasies after claiming he could see creatures running around his room at night or the silhouette against the wall that would disappear if he stared for too long. It was obsessive, everywhere he looked he was laughing or screaming at the sight of another creature, terrified they'd come to take him away or being hysterical at their goofy antics. It nearly drove her to insanity, and whenever she tried to find out the root of why he saw such creatures, he could never give her an answer. He didn't know why he could see them, what they were, why they had such fascination with him. He vaguely remembered things— a strange chair, the smell of straw, something round and shiny that caught his eye, and the faint melody of some cheery tunes hat always compelled him to want to start dancing due to its catchy nature..

Toby was about ten or eleven when Sarah fully explained to him what had happened all those years ago; about Jareth, her foolish wish, the journey to save him and the friends she had made as well. Toby believed this with absolutely no question whatsoever . Not because Sarah was older and therefore should know wiser than himself, but  because it suddenly put all these missing pieces o of the puzzle of his fuzzy memories together...it also explained why his left socks kept disappearing from his drawer.

With his sister's teachings and explanations in mind, Toby had incidentally developed an anxiety about being home alone or out in public without Sarah's "You have no power over me!" clause being able to put in effect. Sarah herself wasn't entirely sure if the phrase was what had caused her to expel the Goblin King or if it were she herself, so Toby had assumed either way he's much safer with Sarah in case he would be taken away again. The Goblins seemed mostly harmless, although he didn't always take their presence as a positive sign, especially when they weren't plainly trying to communicate with him and play games. He studied up on fairy mythology along with folklore to do with the goblins. Each time he sat down at his computer desk near the window to type up homework due the next day or to watch videos online he placed a line of salt by the windowsill, just in case that Jareth in his  barn owl disguise got any ideas again. Was it over the top and dramatic? Yes, but he had been whisked away to a magical realm when he was a baby and Sarah Williams was indeed his sister.

Toby, like Sarah, went to university and became a playwright for the local theatre's productions and that was where he met his future wife; Madeline.

Madeline Hart or Maddie for short, was a sweet and bubbly young girl with a passion for acting like Sarah did once upon a time. Her face was splashed with the faintest trace of freckles especially across the bridge of her upturned nose, her chestnut locks were often  a tangled nest of waves cut just above her shoulders. She was always laughing, smiling, a happiness that was contagious. It was not just her adorable demeanour and appearance that caught the young boy's attention but the talent she possessed was so breathtaking to watch when she was onstage saying her lines— as though she was a real character pulled out form the pages of a storybook. She could go from her sweetened state to a ferocious warrior, a snarling villain, a meek damsel, a humorous clown. She could be anything and everything, but the best performance was when she was simply her gentle self.

The two married after a few years of dating and leaving roses outside the dressing room and late night movie marathons, and they were the happiest couple there ever was! They scraped together their money, with some help from Sarah and Madeleine's parents, they bought their first house and finally Toby got to escape living with his mother. Early into their marriage, Maddie fell pregnant and thus their first child was born. They named her Rose after Madeleine's grandmother Roseanne, and because of the gifts Toby left after every performance for his beloved.

Sarah proud of her little brother's accomplishment in becoming a new father, and embraced her little niece with all the love she could give. She had plenty of books and dolls to share with her, and her first gift from her father was Lancelot— the tattered, old bear that once had belonged to Sarah in her own youth.

A few days after the birth in hospital, all their friends and family had gathered to congratulate the couple and fawn over the newest baby Williams. Sarah, amongst all the festivity had managed to pull Toby aside for a much needed conversation.

"Toby, I really am proud of you, and I know you'll be a great father..but I can't help worrying about all this," the eldest admitted with a sigh as she shut the door quietly behind her and plonked herself down on the bed beside her brother, looking awfully grim all of a sudden. "What do you mean? She's a happy, healthy baby and Maddie is doing just fine so I don't see what you're panicking about, Sis!" Toby chuckled, quirking a brow teasingly at his sister before she suddenly stared at him with the colour drained from her features, hands tightly clenched in her lap and Toby felt all sense of amusement die.  "You know who worries me Toby, that evil creature who took you away from me. We're lucky he and his Goblins haven't tried to mess with us as of late, but what if he manages to find out about this? What will happen to Maddie, or baby Rose? I doubt he's forgiven me for what I did, what if he tries to hurt you—?" She began pouring out the words like they were an endless stream of worries and panic, fear slipping off her tongue and rolling out with nothing to hold them back.
"So what? Sarah," he paused and gripped her shoulders, noting the tears forming like glistening pearls in the corners of her emerald eyes. A moment of silence enveloped the two before Toby at last spoke, "I've done all that I can to prevent him from harming this family. I know he's a monster for what he did, but he never did harm me when he had me. He could have, but he didn't. I think hurting a defenceless baby is a little low, even for his grey morals. Besides, I'm willing to take him on if he tries anything," he reassured her with a smile and shifted a hand to gently caress her face before she swatted it away dismissively. 
Sarah was insistent, crystalline tears dripped off her chin and her lip trembled, "Toby, you don't know what he is capable of. Sure, he never hurt you— but he had nearly killed me and the others! You were only a baby, you couldn't comprehend what he was—" Toby had finally snapped and rose from the bed with white anger searing his veins.

"Sarah, he can't harm us anymore! Stop acting like he has control over you! You defeated him! He tried to convince you that you were powerless when really it was you who and power all along!Don't forget that..." he lowered his voice and kneeled down at her feet, his hands clasping her own and holding them atop her knees. "Hey... you're the bravest and strongest person I know, Sarah...the baby will be fine.." he whispered, feeling the tremors in her hand begin to cease and the rattling of her breath to ease into a steady pace.  "You're right...I'm just being paranoid...but Tobes, do we tell her?" Sarah asked with a sniffle.

"No. Not now. We're lucky that Maddie and Eric didn't leave us after we first told them, but they stood by us.. unlike Mom or Dad...We'll tell her when she's old enough to understand; when she's able to draw the distinction between a fairytale and reality, when we know she won't be so easily tempted by his offers...so she knows what to do if Jareth tries to take her away from me..." Sarah too rose off the bed to wrap her arms around her brother's shoulders and rested her aching head against his chest. The curve of a smile ran over her lips as a funny thought entered her mind, "You mean when she's at an age where she isn't as dumb as I was?" she posed aloud to her brother. Toby chuckled and ruffled Sarah's silky locks. "Well when you put it like that, it makes me sound like a jerk, Sarah. So let's stick with my version for now."