Labyrinth- Jareth's Return

12. Mind's Labyrinth Part 2

Jareth slowly picked up the soft item and gawked with a smirk on his face. "Why does the past always haunt us when we regret our mistakes?" He whispered to the peach that sat in his hands. He turned it over analyzing every inch of it in awe. "Such an innocent thing yet leaves behind such a lasting impression." Jareth shook his head with a sigh. "I'm assuming you are the next key." He mumbled to it as rotated it in his hand.

Jareth looked around the enclosed walls that surrounded him and frowned. He walked along the walls holding the peach in a zig zagging motion as if finding the piece of the puzzle on the stone until he covered every inch of it before cursing to himself. "I guess not everything is as simple as the first." He raised the crystal ball that he held in his other hand to his face and stared intently at it, squinting his eyes as he analyzed the light that glowed from within. "Is this even the key?" he inquired as he raised an eyebrow at it. Jareth watched the light flicker blue before going white again. "Then, what, pray tell, am I supposed to do?" He continued to stare at the ball before the light faded away.

Jareth groaned and sighed in agitation as he went back to analyzing the peach before sliding down onto the ground, leaning against the wall behind him. Shutting his eyes, he took a deep breath before releasing it as he tried coming up with a solution. Suddenly, his eyes shot open as he looked down at the peach again. "You don't think..." He mumbled before laughing to himself. "Like a piece of cake, ay?" Holding his breath, he took a bite out of the peach. The sweet, sticky juices dripped down his face as he chewed the soft insides before swallowing.

He waited a moment before taking another bite, then another, until all that remained was the pit of the peach. Wiping his face, he stared down at the pit of the fruit as he turned it over in his hand. Jareth groaned and yelled out in agitation as he chucked the pit across the yard as if it just insulted him. "What the hell am I supposed to do?! Beg for a key?!"

The pit bounced off the wall before rolling along the stone ground. As it came to a stop, it began to glow a slightly dim yellow light. Jareth, on the verge of ripping his hair out, stopped then slowly glanced up to the new found light in the dark enclosure. As he stared into the direction he tossed the pit, he watched as the light slowly dimmed then glowed repeatedly. Standing up, he walked hesitantly toward the now tiny ball of light on the ground. As he went to reach for the light, a strong wind swirled around him before the walls that once surrounded him disappeared to nothing. The once stone tomb he stood in now turned to black as he struggled to get closer to the light. The wind continuously pushed against him as he felt his feet struggle to take another step. The ground below him was nothing but a black void. The wind blowing around him became dark and blinding. Aside from the dim yellow glow flickering before him, he could see nothing else. The less he fought the wind, the dimmer the light became.

As he struggled to look at the light he felt hands grabbing his shoulders and neck pulling him back and tightening around him like tentacles. He gasped for air as he still forced another step toward the light. "You are a failure.." The voice hissed in his ear as he frantically tried to pull the arms from his neck. "Your father was a failure.." It continued. Jareth froze at the mention of his father. "Just give up, she will never love you." Jareth slowly stopped struggling as he felt a tightness in his chest.

"I can't give up, she needs me.." Jareth forced himself again, taking two more steps forward. "The kingdom needs me." Jareth choked as the slithering arms tightened around his throat like a noose. The voice hissed again as images suddenly flashed around Jareth. Jareth stopped to look and watched as a vision of Sarah kissing Dracius appeared. "See.. she doesn't need you...." Jareth froze as he watched the half breed of a king embrace the woman he loves before him. His hands loosen from the binds that constricted his neck. "No.. she couldn't.." Jareth whispered as he watched the scene progressed. Before him, Dracius held her as her legs wrapped around his waist. Jareth gritted his teeth, "She doesn't love you.. Just give up.." Jareth's anger built up inside like a volcano ready to erupt. His fists clenched at his sides before gripping the arms on his neck as he started to take deep breaths. "I can't give up as long as he is still breathing!" He yelled as he trudged forward with new found strength.