It's Only Forever

Jocelyn Crowe

 "Well, well... I guess you understood your Labyrinth after all," a melodic voice echoed through the grass, chuckling mischievously.

Jareth's face whitened, and he growled, "Come out, Jocelyn."

From the shadows of grass ahead of them came a woman about as tall as Jareth with long, sleek black hair and a beautiful blue dress with mirror-like white sequins at the bodice. Her black cape matched her hair and trailed behind her as she slowly walked toward them. Her smile was triumphant and gleeful.

Jareth pulled Sarah backwards until she stood behind him, so quickly that she felt surprised at his automatic reaction. He truly didn't trust whoever this Jocelyn woman was, so much so that he was willing to put himself in front of Sarah. 'Is this really to protect me?' she thought in slight awe, eyeing the fact that his hand still kept a tight grip on hers.

"Do you really think you can protect her now? Perhaps when you were still on the throne... but at this point?" her laugh was drawn out, a wicked gleam in her eyes. "You might as well have single-handedly thrown yourself into the fire."

"What did you take my throne for?" he demanded. "You already have very strong magic, what do you gain from stealing my territory?"

"So long as you were in the Labyrinth, I could not get in. But with all the time you spent away in that girl's world, it became so easy. The only powers you have without your Labyrinth are with your crystals and your owl form, which," Jocelyn gave a light laugh, "can't help you very much. So now I can easily destroy you..."

Sarah bent over to see Jareth's reaction, finding his expression had become stormy. "How do you intend to do that?"

"First, I'll give you a choice. Find your way to the center of the Labyrinth for your final showdown against me, if you dare to fight against your fate. If you want to continue living, then leave. Live the rest of your life with this mortal girl in her world.... Which way will you take your journey, Jareth the Goblin King?" Jocelyn gave Sarah a scathing look before she picked up her cape and flipped it in front of her, suddenly transforming into a crow and giving a long cackle as she flew away.

They were left in an uneasy silence, only broken by Serboa.

"This is very bad... Jocelyn Crowe is now completely unstoppable. Your best choice at survival would be to get out."

"Even if we wanted to leave, how does she expect us to do that?" Sarah asked curiously.

"Your intentions are what push you in or out of the Labyrinth," Serboa replied simply. "Everybody knows that."

'I didn't know that,' Sarah thought wryly, figuring it might be easier to leave the Labyrinth than she originally thought. Only to be tested after saving her friends, of course. "Well... I don't know about you two, but I have no intention of leaving the Labyrinth without a fight."

When Jareth replied, it was in a harsh tone. "Do you see how powerful she is now? I have no chance at beating her."

Sarah nearly snapped right back at him until she studied his face. It was uncharacteristically riddled with worry lines and pain. So, instead, she took a deep breath. "If you and I are going to have any chance at getting along, you're going to have to stop treating me like an idiot."

Jareth automatically glanced down at their combined hands, reminding Sarah that he still hadn't released his hold on her. As foreign as it was, she didn't feel any particular urge to let go — and it wasn't just because they were still surrounded entirely by grass.

Sarah locked her green eyes with his, entranced by the pale blue of his left and the chocolatey brown of his right. He stared back with such intensity, she almost lost her train of thought. "If... if you really, truly fell in love with me, I doubt it was because I was dumb. I beat you three years ago. It must be possible to beat her too."

"Sarah... she has more magic than I ever did," he said softly.

"She still has some sort of weakness..." Sarah insisted, lightly shaking their combined hands. "Why is she so set against you anyways?"

He took a deep breath. "It was so long ago...... Before I built the Labyrinth, Jocelyn and I were both chosen to be interns in a group called the Rescuers. There was a really bad fire, and her family happened to be stuck in there. They wouldn't let her in because she was attached to them, and could make some rash decisions concerning their safety. So they made me go in."

"All alone?" Sarah asked, eyebrows furrowed.

He nodded. "It was a sort of initiation into the group and, since she couldn't do it, they pushed me in. The main problem she has with me... is that I saved everyone except her father." Jareth's troubled countenance had Sarah rubbing the back of his hand with her thumb. "His leg got caught under a part of the ceiling that had collapsed. I didn't know how much time I had, so I brought the rest of the family out first, and was about to return for him when the entire building burned down to the ground...... He didn't survive. Jocelyn has blamed me for his death ever since."

"That was... absolutely not your fault," she replied earnestly, making Jareth's eyebrows rise up high. "Seriously, just you alone couldn't have been able to save him. You did the right thing and got everyone else out first, because you could save them. The majority saved beats the minority in the end."

Jareth shook his head dismissively. "I could have saved her father, too. I could have given the rest of the family directions on the way to get out, and done everything I could for Jocelyn's father."

All this guilt hidden beneath such an arrogant exterior made Sarah wonder, 'what else does Jareth hide within himself?' She ventured a different question, "What happened after that?"

"Jocelyn was angry. Didn't care what explanations I gave. She hated me for letting her father die. She swore revenge, and I was advised to make myself a safe haven — the Labyrinth."

'Interesting,' Sarah thought. She had never expected the origin story of the very place that she had once spent eleven hours to find her baby brother to have simply been created as a form of power and protection. "How did you make the Labyrinth in such a way that gave you more magic than you had?"

"I received help from a chemist, and some builders to begin with the castle. Magic was infused into the throne of the castle, and the Labyrinth magically grew around it."

"Wait... so what did Jocelyn mean when she said 'I guess you understood your Labyrinth after all'?"

"The fact that I understood how well it protected me is what she meant.... But, now that the Labyrinth is not mine, danger is everywhere around me." Jareth looked at Sarah, at her encouraging eyes, and smiled, "Fine. Who needs protection? Let's get the Labyrinth back. Together."

Sarah jumped around excitedly. Serboa screeched, "Watch it, don't unseat me off your shoulder!"