Chapter Text
From where he knelt on the floor of his cell, Jareth couldn’t see out the high, narrow window, but he didn’t need to see the Labyrinth in order to know what was happening – the darkness in the middle of the day and the ever-present smell of smoke were more than enough to tell him his kingdom was burning.
Trolls had swarmed down from their mountain caves to loot and burn the Labyrinth. The goblin army was in no way a match for them and so they had fled, as well as every other creature living within the borders of his kingdom. Deep down, Jareth supposed he couldn’t blame his army – they were generally small, generally weak, and generally stupid. After all, they couldn’t even stop Sarah and her friends, what could he expect from them against a horde of trolls?
Sarah.
The mere thought of the young wisher who’d bested him was usually enough to bring a half-smile to his face but on this day, thoughts of her were a balm against the impossible situation he’d found himself in. At least there is no way for the trolls to go Aboveground. Sarah will be forever safe, no matter what happens next.
He inhaled sharply and his carefully constructed mental walls started to crack as the iron chains binding his arms to his sides bit even more into his bare chest and he let out an anguished cry of pain. Even the coldest chains burned fae skin like a red-hot branding iron, while merely exposure to the metal was enough to steal his magic and strength. At this point, it was only the force of his impressive will that kept him upright.
That’s when he heard it. Like every other time someone called on his form of help, he heard the wisher’s voice in his head. But this, this was different.
“I wish the goblins would come and take me away right now.” Her voice sounded hopeful.
His eyes widened. Sarah? Why would she call on my goblins now, so many years later? And why would she ask for that? “Forgive me, Sarah,” he said, his voice barely above a whisper but his tone as nonchalant as he could muster, “but I won’t be able to help you this time. I’m afraid I’m a bit … tied up at the moment.” He chuckled faintly at his admittedly stupid joke then grimaced as another lance of pain shot through him.
There was a loud bang on the cell door, startling him. “Quiet in there!”
He was tempted to stick his tongue out at the brute but it was so parched that even moving it to whisper was difficult.
“Did you hear me? I wish the goblins would come and take me away right now.” Sarah’s tone was impatient now and he could just picture her tapping her foot while she waited.
I really must disappoint you this time, he thought regretfully as the door opened and two large, gnarled trolls walked in, one carrying the bowl of rancid stew they kept feeding him. The other removed the chains and Jareth finally felt able to breathe again. Still, he ignored the stew left in front of him in favor of assessing his captors. They were intelligent for trolls, which meant they were only slightly more intelligent than the average goblin.
“Aren’t you going to show me all your army has accomplished?” He kept his tone haughty to show they hadn’t completely broken him but his voice was weaker than he would have liked. “Let me see with my own eyes my kingdom razed to the ground?”
The trolls looked at each other, shrugged, then one of them not-so-gently grabbed him and threw him over his shoulder. Jareth didn’t know what was worse – the pain of his skin against the troll’s leather armor, or the smell. By the time the troll set him on his feet on one of the castle’s balconies, he realized he had just enough strength for one attempt at escape.
“Jareth? I know you can hear me.”
And now I know where to escape to. With everything left in him, he changed into his owl form and soared into the sky, leaving the idiot trolls and his devastated kingdom behind. All he had to do was concentrate on Sarah’s voice… And just like that, he was Aboveground and soaring through a maze of skyscrapers. All he had to do was concentrate on her voice and he was led to an apartment building and an apartment with an open sliding glass door. With the last of his strength, Jareth flew through then crashed onto the sofa. The last thing he felt before the blackness took him was his body transforming.
And the last thing he heard was Sarah shouting his name.