Jareth's Return

Dori(11)

She woke to the sound of muttering, pacing and the annoying repetition of the DVD menu. Dori looked up through bleary eyes to see an agitated blond figure doing the pacing. Her clock read ten thirty in the morning.

Now is as good a time as any, I suppose. "Are you okay?" Her voice was scratchy from sleep.

"This movie, what is it?"

"The Labyrinth. I suppose I should have shown it to you sooner." She sat up and rubbed her eyes. "I'm sorry." She said through a yawn. "Did you not like it's portrayal of you? It doesn't seem very accurate to me."

"You're right it's not bloody accurate! I'm not anything like this. I am not a cruel man." His accent became more Scottish with every word, sending shivers down her spine. "Have you any idea who this girl is? What evils she has lain upon my kingdom? Are you mad woman?" Jareth was no longer pacing, but standing facing her, gesturing with his arms and flailing about.

"What are you talking about?"

"This tale is all wrong. The girl. Sarah. She is the greatest nemesis that my kingdom has ever encountered. This is a convoluted version of how the Necromancer ruined my kingdom."

"What?" Dori was not awake enough for this.

"Are you hard of hearing?"

"No, I'm not hard of hearing. I just woke up, so excuse me, sir, if I don't react well to the bombardment of nonsense!" She threw off her blanket and stormed to the bathroom. She did her business mentally grumbling about stupid, rude, early rising kings. After washing her hands and brushing her hair and teeth, she went downstairs to find breakfast.

He's probably still hungry. The man eats like a horse.

Dori decided it would do no good to leave him hungry, so she made enough French toast and bacon for three people. Taking two pieces each and a glass of chocolate milk for herself, she sat at the table to eat and wait. She was about halfway done when he finally came out.

He followed the point of her fork to the kitchen and made his plate, grabbing the premade drink from the fridge and joined her. There was silence while they ate. It wasn't until they both finished that she spoke up.

"Are you ready to explain? Properly?"

Jareth swallowed heavily. "The story, the movie. It happened long ago, it's real. But it's wrong. That's not how it happened, remotely."

"Okay. What happened, really? Who is Sarah supposed to be?"

He sighed, already exasperated. "Have you not yet surmised it yourself? I told you what the movie was. She is the Necromancer, you foolish girl."

Welp. I wasn't expecting that.

"Ooo....kay. Tell me the story, then, Jay." She suddenly felt bad for calling it nonsense.

He sighed "Long ago, many centuries, in fact, I had a task to take all the children wished away by their horrid keepers, to my kingdom. The person that wished them away would either let them go or try to fight their way through the Laybrinth. If they choose to try to get the child back, and they didn't give up in the thirteen hours they were granted, then they got the child back. If they gave up, the child stayed-you'd be surprised how many gave up on saving their children. The children whose parents or siblings or babysitters didn't try, became a part of my kingdom. A child under the age of about five couldn't be transitioned into a Goblin safely, without risk of dying. Those under five were adopted by a family, changed and lived happily, those above five were also adopted, but by a family of humans that served the castle. They, too, learned to serve and lived happily. Now-"