My initial fear of seeing the goblin king again was covered with teasing and my own comic relief. Now, hearing his threats, my fear returned and I felt like a mouse in his little maze again. He strode forwards with purpose with me slowly dragging behind. I didn’t like Jareth having this much control. As if he could smell fear, he smiled ahead of me and turned another corner with purpose.
“Why can’t you just poof into the middle of the labyrinth?” I asked cursing myself for questioning him again. He remained silent while tapping his finger on each block and mouthing numbers. “Jareth” I said a little louder. Swiftly, he turned in the dust and pushed me against the wall. “Sarah if you don’t keep quiet I will carry out my threat right here, right now” He said looking into my very soul. “Then, Answer. My. Question” I ground out. “You want to know why I became powerless. I am powerless because of that man on my throne. Getting to the middle is the only way I can reclaim my abilities. That room is all I had left, period” He finished breathing deeply.
Roots and vines slowly moved behind my back, pushing into my skin. I tried to move from the hold the vines were getting on me we Jareth pushed me back again. “Jareth, the vines…” I said wincing not from pain but from my imaginations placing them as snakes. I had feared snakes ever since my first ever encounter with Jareth when I knew him only as the goblin king. His hold loosened and I pulled free. The vines rushed back into the walls and the black fog replaced it. I held my stomach trying to get rid of the sick feeling fear had brought me.
The sun had risen to late morning but being this deep in the labyrinth, with the fog it could easily be misguided as evening. Every once in a while a rock would crumble to the ground from the walls and block our paths or the ground would break open threatening to drop us into abyss. Plants grew from the cracks waving around like it was underwater, and eerie noises would scale the labyrinth walls in search of us.
I saw a break in the labyrinth right as Jareth did and my spirits rose, this could be the middle! We emerged from the tight labyrinth to a strange stone circle. Grey stone climbed high into the sky with four statues along the circles edges. In the middle of the large circle was a platform with stone flowers around it and some type of material draped over the top, but the stone forbid me to understand what the material was. The atmosphere was freezing and the room brought upon a natural fear inside me. This place didn’t feel right at all.
Stone gargoyles sat on perches a couple feet below the top where the grey stone ended. They were fat little creatures. The only thing scary about them was their sharp, pointed wings and gnarled teeth. Their faces were turned towards the beautiful women of stone of around them in protection. The gargoyles sat perched on their pedestals ready to take flight in case of anything that could harm the statues.
The statues of the beautiful women were stunning. Despite being in stone, their completion was flawless. The dresses they wore that were tinted with unseen color, flowed down to their gorgeously sculpted feet. Each wore a crown of flowers, different types for each girl, in their flowing hair that was woven together by strong braided like vines. I felt naked and filthy in their presence as I stood in my jeans and flannel shirt.
The first girl, who stood closest to me on my left, was the shortest; she held youth in her face with the simple beauty of innocence. She looked about sixteen and cradled a baby fawn in her arms, looking down at it lovingly. The next girl, who stood tall with grace and pose, was the most beautiful. She held no smile on her face but had the power to steal the attention of any wondering eye; she held only a mirror in her hands.
The third girl wore a dress that molded into the ground and was sewn together with clean roots and leaves. She gazed up towards the sky with a brilliant smile on her face. Her arm was raised with bird on the tip of her finger and in her other hand, held palm up just below her chest was a sprouting tree. The fourth and final girl on my right stood the tallest and proudest. Her hair flowed wildly as if picked up by the wind and her face was stern. She held a spear placed firmly into the ground. She stood with her shoulders back placing intimidation in any person who saw her.
“What is this place?” I asked in awe taking a shuffle step forwards. “Stay back, I didn’t create this. He must have made it and he makes nothing for just admiring” Jareth said trying to turn around but the walls had already changed enclosing us into the vast space. I walked up to each girl admiring their design. I stood on top of the platform and glanced down at the girls and Jareth. “If they attack us just offer them a crystal of their dreams. They don’t have brains, so I am sure they would love a shiny object” I said smirking at Jareth as I stood turning in circles on the platform to see everything.
A noise thrummed throughout the circle. I quickly stepped down from the platform and looked around alert of anything out of the ordinary. “Now you’ve done it” Jareth hissed right as a gargoyle howled into the air. The stone creatures high on the pedestals came to life, stretching their wings. Upon seeing Jareth and I, the gargoyle creatures dove off the pedestals right towards us. I rushed over to the tallest girl with the spear and tried to take it out of her hands. When it was too heavy I braced myself for an attack.
I noticed a movement out of the corner of my eye. Looking over, one of the fingers of the girl I was standing by moved. Her arm twitched then sending a wave of movement through her body. I stood in shock as the statue came to life. She threw her spear at the gargoyles attacking Jareth and they scattered. With a nod of her head she forced the creatures back up onto their pedestals to glare down at the intruders.
“Hello” The girl said holding her spear proudly. “Hello” I replied dumbstruck. Suddenly all of the statues of the girls had come to life. The smallest danced in circled with her light white dress dragging on the ground below the dark fog that covered the ground everywhere. I looked to the side of her to the most beautiful of them at and found her humming a melody as lovely as silk. Her perfectly placed crown of rose’s complemented her red dress with a golden sash in the middle. The girl with the tree sprouting from her hand twirled her free hand causing it to grow up and the roots to grow through her fingers.
The eerie stone space made me shiver. The four girls slowly made their way towards me and they smiled a brilliant smile special to each with their own purpose. “Hello” They each said circling me. “Hello” I said. They all reached for me touching my arms, clothing, and hair in wonder. “Please do come with me” The most beautiful said reaching out her hand for me to grasp. I accepted hesitantly and walked with her over to where she stood originally. I glanced back at Jareth and rolled my eyes when I saw him charmed with the other girls occupying him at the moment.
“You are very beautiful” She said caressing my cheek and touching my hair. “Thank you” I smiled. She motioned for me to sit on her bench and I sat. “My name is Beauty. You my dear are the most beautiful princess I have ever seen” She said. “I’m not a princess” I said feeling my blush. “That is what the king calls you” She whispered to me. “Oh, he says that to tease me” I said feeling embarrassed. “No, no the new king! He visits us often and speaks to us. He calls you princess! You must mean a lot to him” She said. “I’m sure he meant someone different” I said shrugging.
“Can I show you something?” Beauty asked. I nodded and she gracefully stood, assisting me as I stood as well. She held my palm upwards. She touched the tip of her finger to the middle of my palm and instantly I felt something that tickled my hand and up my arm. My mind began to get hazy then and I saw everything in beautiful color. The stones turned from cracking and grey to smooth marble and the platform I had stood on was draped in gorgeous velvet.
“You are beautiful” She said looking down at the new dress I wore. I gasped taking in the breathtaking site. My clothes were gone, replaced with a long silver dress that draped over my body off one of my shoulders like the dress of a goddess. She handed me here mirror and I looked into my straight flowing hair with crystals throughout. Beauty turned me in a circle and smiled. The statue with the tree in her hand stood by me and smiled handing me a red rose to stick in my hair.
“You should stay with us princess. The king would love to meet you” The beautiful statue said. “In here no trouble can get to us and the king gives us everything we desire” The youngest girl said twirling along beside us listening to the conversation. “That man you travel with, he is a nasty man. He hurts people for fun. Stay with us and we will be sisters! Stand on our pedestal and be one of us never being denied of anything your heart yearns for” The little one added. Maybe I should, I thought spinning around in my dress. “But there is one thing” The beautiful one said walking around me. “You will give up that man over there. He has a hold on you that you need to break. It would be wise to push him away, for all he offers is hurt and loneness” Beauty said.
“This king…” I started. “He is so powerful and passionate about his kingdom” The earthy statue said. “There is no place better than here” the little one said. “We will show you love and security. You hold more beauty than any one of us. Sarah you are our princess” She said pulling my arms with ease towards the velvet podium. She held my palms up and pressed her palms to mine. A wind blew through the circle lifting our dresses slightly and blowing our hair.
A cry broke out across the space but I did not look. My hands were glued to beauty’s hands and my eyes to hers. The cry began to take form into words; it came out rugged and strained. “Sarah! Please come back to me!” The voice cried. I tried to turn to the voice but Beauty stopped me. “It is only your imagination. Do not listen to nonsense. He will only use you for his own gain. Rid yourself of that with us!” She said smiling.
I looked down at my silver dress and saw my tanned skin start to crack. I gasped and saw it turn to stone. “It’s okay, that happens before you get more beautiful. When you become one of us your beauty enhances” She said. “It’s for the best” I nodded with her. All at once the cry broke through once more and my dress flashed before my eyes. It turned a strange peach color making me jump. “My dress!” I gasped. “It is normal” She said holding tightly to my hands making me cringe. “You are changing” She said.
My mind spun as my legs became as smooth and stone. I shut my eyes tightly and opening them to see my dress once more. What did it mean? I wondered. “Sarah!” I heard the cry again. Everything suddenly pieced together. I remembered it all. Five years ago I was given a peach and sent into a dream world. It was Jareth! He was trying to telling me something. Peach dress… was it fake? It was! In a struggle I tugged at my palms and yanked back. “No!” I yelled. My dress flashed back silver and I grew frantic.
In a whirlwind, the bond between Beauty and my own palms was broken and I fell backwards. She yelled with her head raised and the gargoyles began to move. “Princess! He tries to trick you! Please stay with us where it is safe away from him” She said holding out her hand. When I pushed away her hand she seethes. “My kindness stretches so far. Please don’t refuse me. Refusing me is refusing the king and he will be very angry!” She hissed.
Hands grabbed at my shoulders pulling me backwards and to stand up. The gargoyles above howled out jumping off their platforms and creating a wind from their wings that almost knocked me over. Stone hands reached for me and sharp wings blurred around me. I turned in circles trying not o trip on my dress. Jareth pushed and guided me in every direction, shielding me from the pointed jabs of the winged goblins.
I looked into Jareth’s face and saw determination. The wall was reopened, but closing. I closed my eyes from the wind, cries of anger, and threat of the statues. We ran out of the circle and fell to the ground. The statues were charging after us but when they tried to go beyond the walls their stone shaved off.
The stones fell together leaving Jareth and in the dark. As it all started, the chaos stopped. “What were you thinking?” Jareth demanded. “I… I don’t remember” I said feeling shaky with a garbled memory. With shaky hands I looked up at Jareth and for once I saw warmth in his eyes as he looked at me. It was over, and silence never seemed so precious. “Hold tight Sarah, it hasn’t ended yet but your time for finding my crystal is almost up” Jareth said yanking me from my precious silence.