InsaneJournal

Tweak says, "Timey-wimey wibbly-wobbly"

sarah_williams (sarah_williams) wrote in mirage_rpg,
@ 2009-02-15 20:10:00

Entry tags:

arrival, complete, day 32, jareth, sarah williams

Day 32: Intro
Who: Sarah Williams & Jareth
What: Sarah arrives
When: Day 32, just before sunrise
Where: Garden
Status: Complete
Rating: PG at the moment

It was so quiet that Sarah could have heard a pin drop. If she had been paying attention. She was more focused on something else. Something that had settled in her stomach like an icy ball of dread. Her knuckles were white as she held the blankets tightly to her chest, eyes wide, staring straight up at the ceiling.

It's finally happening.

The clock was ticking in the hallway. The clock that had been there 3 years ago. The one that was safely at her father's house a thousand miles away with Irene and Toby and their perfectly normal, ignorant lives. She had no clocks in this apartment. None that could tick, that is. Yet there it was. Tick. Tick. Tick. Tick.

He's finally coming back for me.

Something about the room changed. It wasn't as dark anymore. Light was creeping in through the blinds? No, it looked more like cracks in the walls of the room. Sarah sat up straight as an arrow in the bed with a muffled cry in her throat. Tears began to stream down her cheeks and she opened her mouth to scream.

Then the garden.

At first she thought she must have passed out or had been dreaming of being in her own apartment a few moments ago. Because this garden looked exactly like the one in which she had been practicing her lines all those years ago on the night she first visited the labyrinth. Upon inspection she saw she was indeed wearing the long, white dress she had used for playacting then and the wreath of flowers in her long, dark hair.

It was all a dream? All of it?

"Am I fifteen again? That's not f-" and she stopped herself, feeling the old petulance rising and the fear subsiding. And as it did she realized that this garden was nothing like the one she had practiced in. In fact, it was so dissimilar that she reached up to be sure she hadn't imagined the wreath of flowers in her hair. But it was still there.

"Where am I?" she whispered.

(Post a new comment)

labyrinth_king
2009-02-15 08:50 pm UTC (link)

He may be a fae creature, and the King of the Goblins, but he did still sleep. And in his dreams, he was in his owl form, watching a girl. Not just any girl, of course. It was her. The one who had rejected him, the one who had destroyed his world, quite literally. It was a strange moment, and he awoke quite out of sorts.

At first, he felt quite out of sorts. For though he awoke in a room that looked exactly like his own bed chambers in the Castle at the center of the Labyrinth, it didn't feel right. Slowly, he came back to himself and remembered what had happened. A few short days ago, he'd been brought here by some mischievious sentient Planet. Perhaps it was understandable that this revelation didn't exactly comfort him.

He slipped out of his stone bed, piled high with pillows in all shades, and scrubbed his eyes free of sleep. The really interesting thing to him was why he'd been dreaming of her again? After all that had happened, she should be the last thing on his mind. But the dream had come anyway, and he who caused such strange and vivid dreams in others didn't like having it done back to him.

He would wander, he decided. He had yet to fully see the resort, and he would like to know what his prison looked like. It didn't take long to dress himself, to breakfast, and then to head out. It was still before dawn, and that surprised him slightly. What had awoken him? While not exactly a late riser, he also didn't tend to be up quite this early without cause.

Well, no matter. He was out now, and it was lovely. So dark, mysterious, and really very beautiful. He would never forget this was a cage, but at least it was a lovely prison. He barely paid attention to where he was walking. His black-booted feet made no noise on the dew-dampened grass, which was alright with him. he liked to surprise people, not that he thought anyone was about.

Someone was, though... his oddly-mismatched eyes narrowed as he tried to pierce the darkness with his gaze. Someone in a dress, with flowers in her hair... his entire body stiffened. "You..." His voice was not angry, nor passionate. Just simply disbelieving.

(Reply to this) (Thread)

sarah_williams
2009-02-16 01:41 pm UTC (link)

Sighing in relief that her fears of Jareth having finally returned for her had not come true, Sarah tried to take in the garden around her. Had she wandered in her sleep again? This didn't seem familiar at all. The only comfort she had in the total foreign surroundings was that it was too beautiful to be anything from the Goblin King's realm.

She stood slowly, brushing flower petals from her dress, pressing her hands firmly down the front of herself as if to continually convince herself that she was real, that this was really happening. The reality was what was difficult to grasp for Sarah though. The sun was just beginning to creep over the horizon and the colors were muted. It was dreamlike and she suddenly began to feel as though she were no longer corporeal but a spirit. Floating between the flowers. She smiled and twirled childlike in a circle.

Her heart stopped. She stumbled out of the circle, suddenly grounded. The darkness of a figure in shadow. It looked so much like him. She stood frozen, heart racing. Her fingers began to tingle and she reached out one hand in a defensive gesture.

"No. You can't be."

(Reply to this) (Parent) (Thread)

labyrinth_king
2009-02-16 02:38 pm UTC (link)

"So that was the dream..." He spoke softly, as if to himself, and then focused completely on her. "Is it possible, Sarah, that it was my will that brought you here?" Or was it still a dream? It did feel a little like that, and he became annoyed. He inflicted dreams on others, he didn't have it done to him!

He wasn't quite sure he liked this thought. Not that he objected to kidnapping people, obviously he didn't. But he liked to be aware of what he was doing, and he hadn't been this time. A frown formed on his lips and he shook his head. No matter, it was done now... though a slight feeling of unease remained.

The Goblin King stepped forward, out of the shadows, revealing that it was, in fact, him. Though he didn't think she had much in the way of doubt about that. A slight smile touched his face now as he looked at her, and there was a strange look in his eyes. "It was only a few days ago that you destroyed my home..."

But that didn't seem quite right. Once more, smile turned to frown and his eyes narrowed thoughtfully. "But you, you have aged at least three years." He said it almost like an accusation. "And you have been through much, from the look in your eyes. What have you done to yourself, Sarah?"

(Reply to this) (Parent) (Thread)

sarah_williams
2009-02-16 03:30 pm UTC (link)

It was seeing him in the flesh that began to destroy the fear that had been building up inside of her over the past 3 years. It was happening. Now, in the present. And he hadn't sauntered to her with his temptations and whispered promises of freedom within possession. He had kept his distance, strangely enough. Confusion washed away the last vestiges of fear and she watched him step from the shadow with little more than a soft gasp.

She had been sure that when she saw him again (yes, it had always been when -- not if) he would be angry and murderous. She had destroyed his home, stolen something he believed to be his rightful property, and rendered him powerless where she was concerned - something no man, especially a Goblin King could bear well. She had known he wasn't dead. She always believed that he was waiting, biding his time, seeking new ways to regain his power over her and then he would spring and she would be helpless.

When he spoke she was instantly back in the few moments of dancing with him inside the crystal ball. His voice had mesmerized her into near complacence then and she had spent many nights wondering if she might have reacted differently had he not left her alone among the strange masked men and mocking women...

But what he actually had said struck her and she was brought back to the present. She had aged and she was sure that he saw how her body was sharply angled, too thin beneath the white dress. Her face was pale and her eyes were hollow and darkly rimmed from lack of sleep, among other things. She was grateful for the sleeves of the dress. They hid other tell-tale signs of the past 3 years.

Relief flooded her and she smiled to herself. She had the advantage. She had the years after the night in the labyrinth in her favor and he had not had the time to plot his revenge or gather new power over her yet.

Then she looked at him carefully before speaking, folding her slender arms across her chest. "It's been 3 years since you stole Toby. He doesn't remember but I always will."

(Reply to this) (Parent) (Thread)

labyrinth_king
2009-02-16 08:41 pm UTC (link)

Something was wrong, here, or at the very least different. The last words she had spoken to him echoed through his head, the words that had destroyed his kingdom, his world. You have no power over me... apparently, they were true. Perhaps he had approached this wrong, perhaps he should have been raging, or punishing her. But he found that he couldn't. He was still too new, maybe that was it. He was too out of his element here on Mirage.

For a moment, he considered threatening her as he had when they'd first met. In fact, he came very close to doing just that. But then his face fell into the same expression of resignation that he had worn in the split second after she had rejected his offer and quite literally broken his world, and he sighed.

"Oh, Sarah." He shook his head and kept his distance, though he did start pacing, he never drew near to her. "You asked that the child be taken... if anything, I hope you learned to be careful what you wish for." But there was no real heat to his words, just a simple stating of the facts.

"I suppose I should be attacking you." He gestured and a crystal appeared in his hands, "But there is little point to that, am I right?" For she would surely see through any of his illusions. It felt odd to admit something like that, but it was the truth and they both knew it. There was nothing really to be gained in pretending otherwise. He gestured once more, and the crystal disappeared. His eyes, quite penetrating, fixed on her despite his pacing.

"It seems to me that you have changed." He looked her over quite thoroughly, and wasn't entirely pleased with what he saw. She was beautiful still, he doubted anything could change that, but... "You, my escaped Persephone, have become a Queen after all. Not my Queen, though... a Queen of destruction. You destroyed my home, and now you have nearly destroyed yourself. Are you here, then, to ruin this?"

He was starting to get a little angry, but kept it under a tight rein of control. "You may try, but you can't destroy me." He stopped pacing abruptly, and simply looked at her. "If that's why you're here, you should leave. You may continue to track me down, if you wish, but I will always find a new place. I am immortal, as you could have been." His tone was slightly superior, but mostly just matter-of-fact about the whole thing.

"Tell me, do you ever wonder if you made the right decision? Or would you, perhaps, prefer to continue down this path that you have laid before your feet? I have seen human death, and you don't have much time left, you know." It was true, while he'd been hiding in the human world, he'd seen death, and he knew signs of self-destruction. She had them in abundance.

(Reply to this) (Parent) (Thread)

sarah_williams
2009-02-16 09:43 pm UTC (link)

Sarah allowed her mind to gloss over the things he said - Persephone! - that struck chords of romanticism in her. The sort that brought to mind starcrossed lovers and forbidden things. She could not spend any time with those thoughts in his presence. They had begun to take hold while she had been in his labyrinth. Insinuating themselves into her so that once the adrenaline had worn off and she was at home again, she'd lie awake thinking about him and the what ifs of a fifteen year old had taken flight. It was stupid to let him try to coerce her again now. Dangerous. Instead she forced herself to focus on the anger she felt for him.

"Track you? Track you? You're the one who snaps his fingers, breathes a whisper, and things beyond anyone's wildest imagination begin happening. You're the one who took a selfish little girl's foolish wish and made her pay a price that even a grown woman would have had a hard time settling. Thirteen hours in a labyrinth where every living thing or illusion was set against me with my brother's life at stake. You said I had no basis for comparison where 'fair' was concerned and maybe I didn't back then. But I do now. And no matter what I may have done - what you did was not fair!" She took a deep breath and the sun finally rose enough to spill across the horizon, casting her thin features in an almost angelic glow but she only felt cold.

"I've lived my life so afraid that you would come back and you would be ready to kill me for what I did. I haven't wanted anything more than to be safe and loved. Destruction is not my goal and it never has been. So why would I track you? Don't mess with my mind anymore, Jareth. King or not, you're the one who pulled me here, wherever this is."

Sarah swallowed hard, feeling her fingers begin to clench into fists and a knot slowly form in her stomach. The relief she'd felt moments ago replaced itself with the pangs of anger and guilt that she'd kept buried beneath the layers of self-hatred and fear she had allowed to grow in the past 3 years. She loathed herself for having wished away her brother. For what she had become in such a short time, an almost hollow version of herself. For not completely hating him. For ... having, at times, felt sympathy for him. And more. If she was honest.

Tears welled in her eyes with the tide of emotions. She had always been within an inch of the breaking point because she was of two minds about this man, this immortal who stood before her. It was too much for her to handle and she turned her face away from him. He was right that she was probably near death. She did not consciously wish for that but it was all too much. No one understood what she'd been through. Her fairytales and fantasy worlds had been destroyed along with his castle.

She turned her gaze to him again. This time the mask was up and her eyes were steely with resolve. She pushed her shoulders back and said quietly, "Please tell me what game I must play this time in order to go home. I'd like to get started now." Her voice broke slightly mid-sentence and suddenly she was just a very young girl, lost inside an emotional maze of her own making.

(Reply to this) (Parent) (Thread)

labyrinth_king
2009-02-16 11:44 pm UTC (link)

"Not anymore." He thought back to a bowling alley, being forced to put on those hideous shoes, and shuddered in disgust. He might as well not be a King of anywhere, not here. He ruled over himself, and his illusions, but that was all. And what's a king without a kingdom? "I could defend myself from your words, but I will not. I did what I did, and you countered me."

It was, he thought to himself, an incredible thing for him to admit such a thing. But these were incredible circumstances. Again, the king without the kingdom had no reason to be as arrogant. And he couldn't help but eye her a bit warily. She had shown that, not only did he have no power over her, but she even had some over him. She had broken his whole world with a sentence from a silly play.

The sun came up, illuminating the fae creature. His mane of wild hair seemed to glimmer, as did his odd, mismatched eyes. "Ah, yes. It wasn't fair." His agreement was sudden, and somewhat difficult to expect. "It wasn't fair for me to take the child. But I did it anyway, for my own reasons. You might be surprised to learn they had very little to do with you." Mentally, he added at first, but she didn't need to know that part.

"You could have been safe, and certainly..." There was the slightest pause before he continued on. "... loved. You chose otherwise." Suddenly, he laughed and shook his head. "Oh, it would be nice to pretend that I brougth you here, that I could do such a thing. It's possible the Planet picked you from my very dreams, I suppose, but that's all I had to do with that."

With a soft sigh he turned away slightly, looking away from the bright light of the sun. It was a lovely morning, but he didn't notice. "So you will kill yourself, then, through your actions because of what I've done." It was a hard thing to accept, deep down. "Well, perhaps it is just as well Mirage brought you here. I don't think it will let you die." And he still cared about that, about whether she lived or died, despite all the reasons he had not to.

Jareth could feel her gaze on him, but he didn't turn back to her. He didn't dare. "No game, I fear. No labyrinth to solve, no puzzle. Only a Planet who is lonely, and brought me here from the brink of destruction." At the sound of her tears, he turned to face her as if pulled against his will. "I do have a sort of power now, don't I? I could tell you nothing, leave you to figure out this strange place on your own." A smile found its way onto his lips, and he approached her for the first time since she'd arrived. "It's your choice, Persephone." He decided he liked that nickname. "You can follow me and learn where you are, or you can stay here and infringe on the Planet's dubious mercy."

(Reply to this) (Parent) (Thread)

sarah_williams
2009-02-17 08:08 am UTC (link)

It was hard to imagine that Jareth, as powerful as he'd proven himself to be, had no control over their current situation or surroundings. Some part of her told her not to believe him. That he had lied to her in the past. Except she knew he had never lied. He had always done exactly as he said he would do. He had manipulated her with assaults on her senses, forcing every emotion to rise in her at some point or another throughout her journey in his labyrinth. But he had never lied.

And so they were on a Planet? A lonely planet. Were they together and alone or were there others with whom she might seek refuge if he chose to suddenly lose the façade (oh yes, it had to be an illusion!) of control and resignation. There did not seem to even be much triumph in his eyes as he realized that he did indeed hold some power over her now.

Of course he did. Sarah had trained herself to be ready for a war with him when he finally re-entered her life. The ultimate test of physical combat. Yet here he was, calm and she was not prepared for this. She felt herself tremble and breathed in deeply, holding it as if to hold herself still. When she let the breath out she was a little more clear minded.

"I have no plans to kill myself. I have no plans for destruction, Jareth. Only self-preservation. And your speaking to me about safety and love(??) had I chosen to stay with you..."

Sarah allowed her voice to trail off because the truth was that it chipped away at her will and she was, in a lot of ways, fragile in her unpreparedness for this version of the goblin who had tormented her dreams and waking hours for three years. He could see how she walked the edge; he'd commented on it. So he was at his games again and the footing was different now. No brother held in the balance. No possibility of death. And Sarah a captive audience. She had to find a way to bolster herself against the inevitable.

Shaking her head she said, "Nevermind. Show me this place, this new prison. I guess we had better get used to each other's company."