Mischief and Magic Chapter Five

Chapter 5: Down the Rabbit Hole

Sarah glared at the crystal ball sitting innocently on top of her coffee table. It was a whitish opaque and had a faint glow that pulsed rhythmically, like some kind of living jewel. The Goblin King had told her that it would emit the small amount of magic that the goblins would need, nothing to worry about. It would not break and would just look like a baseball or something equally innocuous to other people.

In exchange, he had said, Sarah would call for him on a semi-regular basis, so that he could make sure that she wasn't "ruining his goblins what with her silly mortal ideas and feminine notions", and to ensure that the crystal was still working. He promised her that no harm would come to her, and warned her that she had best accept this deal, as he would not offer his generous assistance again. Sarah, unable to find anything objectionable other than his pompous attitude, had begrudgingly accepted the crystal and the terms. She had ignored the alarm bells going off in her head and the little voice that told her that this 'bargain' was far too easy.

She had asked how any of this pertained to her 'beating him again', as that had been his reason for wanting to bargain with her in the first place, but he had only given her an enigmatic smile in response.

He had looked curiously at her goblins as if there was something puzzling about them, and then, warning her not to forget her part, had flown off into the storm.

Now, the next day, she couldn't quell the growing feeling that something was amiss, that not all was as it seemed. She carried the crystal everywhere with her, as the Goblin King had insisted, always expecting something bad to suddenly happen. But it just sat there, all deceptive innocence, like some kind of benevolent soap bubble. Sarah was not fooled. There had to be some kind of mistake she'd made, some loophole she had missed. Despite his claiming otherwise, Sarah did not believe for a second that he had done this out of the goodness of his heart. She had accepted out of concern for her goblins, now she hoped she hadn't made a serious mistake.

She smiled as she looked over at the goblins, who were entertaining themselves with a game of twister.

"Right foot on blue!" cried Dell, crouching over the spinner like a dragon guarding her hoard.

"Linnie can't reach!" squeaked Linnie from somewhere under the other three.

"Dat's not right, dat's left!" Complained Oog tto One-eye. "Youz cheatin'!"

"Am not!"

"Left hand on yellow!" Dell demanded.

"Wait, I'm stuck…"

"Right foot on blue," Darry repeated slowly, reaching precariously for a nearby circle.

Darry stared to slip, and their arguing turned into muffled yells as the larger goblin collapsed on top of them with an "Ooof". Sarah watched with mild amusement as they untangled themselves and dissolved into riotous laughter.

"Again, again!" They cheered, smoothing out the game.

"Left hand on red!" Dell demanded impatiently.

Sarah looked at Lurk, who had decided to refrain from the game and instead sat next to her on the couch while she studied, picking through a bowl of fruit loops.

"Well, they certainly seem to be in good health." She told him.

The small grey goblin gave her a little smile and went back enjoying his snack.

Her goblins were fine, and would continue to be fine, but Sarah couldn't shake the feeling that she had been tricked. And as if the bloody crystal wasn't enough to worry about, she was also worried that something had happened to Hoggle. The previous night had been rather distracting and overwhelming, so she hadn't noticed until this morning that her friend hadn't come back to check on her as he had said he would. When she tried to call him through the mirror, there was no answer. She had called Sir Diddymus and hurriedly explained everything to him, and he had promised to see if he could find out what, if anything, was amiss. After she had finished her classes for the day, she had run straight home and tried calling for him again, still nothing.

So now she sat, working on her mythology essay, trying and failing to keep her mind off her troubles. What could have kept Hoggle from coming back? What was Aphrodite's son's name? Was he alright? What was Aeneas the prince of again? Did Hoggle get hurt trying to help her?

Finally, she threw down her pen in frustration and started pacing the length of her apartment; glaring at the crystal every time she passed by it. The goblins, as if sensing her stressed mood, kept uncharacteristically quiet. Finally she could bear it no longer.

"Sir Diddymus! Are you able to talk right now?" She called into the mirror.

"My Lady?" She let out a deep breath in relief.

A very muddy Sir Diddymus peered out at her from her bedroom mirror, with an equally muddy Ludo behind him.

"Any news? Did you find him?" She asked.

"Yes we have, but we are having trouble getting him out-"

"Out of what?"

"He appears to have fallen into a rather deep pit whilst trying to hide from His Majesty." Sir Diddymus informed her. Well, that explained the state they were in, at least.

'That rat!' Sarah fumed "Is he hurt?"

"He is unharmed, my Lady, but does not wish to leave the hole, and we cannot lift him out against his will, it is too dark-"

"What do you mean; he doesn't want to come out? Does he plan on staying in there forever?" She asked, exasperated. "What could be so terrible that he would want to stay in a filthy hole?" She wondered aloud.

"I'm not sure of the specifics, my Lady, but several goblins were overheard discussing a plan to torment him for the King's amusement-"

"That's horrible!" Sarah gasped.

"Shall we continue trying to liberate him, my Lady? Or dost thou wish us to leave him be?"

Sarah pondered. What she wanted was to be able to talk to Hoggle herself, he was always there for her, and now she felt helpless to do the same for him. She looked up sharply as a thought struck her.

"Sir Diddymus, you and the others use this mirror to come and go between worlds, do you think I could use it, as well?"

"I do not know my Lady, try reaching forth, and picturing the forest outside of the garbage city, if you can."

Sarah focused intently, picturing clearly in her mind the strange plants and glittery trees, remembering the tangy otherworldly smell and mentally wished she could really be there and then reached forward and—

Her hand pushed against the mirror, solid and unyielding.

She tried again, no luck.

"It's no use," she sighed. "Nothing is going my way lately." She pouted glumly at her knees for a moment before feeling a tap at her shoulder. She looked back and jumped. Oog was there, as well as the rest of her goblins. She didn't know when they had abandoned their game and come into the bedroom or how much they had heard, but now they all stood behind her, round eyes shining and staring at her strangely.

"Lady want to go Underground?" Implored Oog, pointing a clawed hand at the mirror.

Sir Diddymus suddenly gave her an enigmatic smile. "Perhaps, my Lady, a bit of goblin magic is what you need."

Her eyes lit up and she turned to Oog. "Can you take me through? To the Underground?"

He nodded happily, as did the others, as they closed in about her, still wearing that strange look on their misshaped faces.

"And bring me back here again?" She added.

"Lady haz the secret path, always near her, we show her, we show her," One-eye whispered excitedly.

"This isn't the first time you've mentioned this 'secret path'," Sarah noted warily. "What is it? Can't we just use the mirror?"

"Mirror not for peoples," Oog explained briskly. "We knows how to walk the path, we walks it for years now." The others were pressed close around her now, leering and shifting excitedly from foot to foot.

"Come Lady," Oog urged, grabbing her hand and pulling her to her feet. "Come, close your eyes, Oog will guide youz feet to the path."

"And you will be able to bring me back again, right?" Sarah pressed.

They nodded impatiently, starting to giggle manically and nudging her forward, bubbling over with a kind of nervous energy. Their behavior was unnerving, but, strangely, Sarah was not afraid.

"Alright," she conceded, closing her eyes. "Lead the way."

At this they nudged her forward more insistently, murmuring excitedly. Sarah wondered how she hadn't run into any of her bedroom furniture by now, as the goblins continued to lead her blindly. Suddenly Sarah felt a piercing coldness all around her, a cold so sharp and penetrating that her very bones felt to be made of ice and her breath was stolen from her lungs. She took another step and noticed that she seemed to be walking on air, and felt that there was no up, no down, and it was dark and so cold, and then she was turning, slowly at first, then spinning faster and faster and faster and she felt as if she were being crushed and pulled apart at the same time—

And then there was solid ground under her feet again. She fell to the wonderfully warm, solid earth, gasping and shivering. Opening her eyes, she watched as the dazzling forest around her slowly came into focus. Her ears were ringing, and it was a moment before she could make out the voice of Sir Diddymus, calling for her from a short distance away.

"I'm here," she managed in a small, weak voice.

"I'm here!" She managed a little louder, but still not loud enough. As her vision focused she looked around for her goblins and noticed with alarm that only four remained and that they were getting further and further away, chasing each other gleefully through the foliage.

"Goblins of mine come here, right now." She called weakly.

They stopped their wild game and came over to her.

"Where are the others?" She asked dazedly.

"Dell and One-eye stayed behind to guard the path" Oog informed her. "Why Lady sitting on the ground?"

"Lady Okay?" Darry asked with concern, patting her shoulder.

"Yah, I'll be alright, I just wasn't expecting that," She stood up shakily and tried to rub some feeling back into her limbs.

"Can one of you go and get Sir Diddymus and Ludo and bring them here?" She asked, leaning against a tree, legs still too shaky to walk just yet.

Lurk nodded and took off in the direction where the little knight's voice was still calling.

A few minutes later, Ludo came crashing through the brush, followed by Sir Diddymus and Ambrosias.

Lurk sat happily on Ludo's shoulder, pointing over to where Sarah and the other goblins stood under a tree.

"Sawah!" Ludo cried happily.

"Hey big guy, how you doing?" Sarah greeted him.

"My Lady, you made it! Thank goodness, I was worried when we didn't see you right away. Are you well? You look a bit peaky."

"I'm alright." Sarah assured them. "Traveling by goblin express was rather unpleasant though."

"Do you need to rest a while?" The little knight inquired courteously.

"No, we best be moving, I don't want to draw any unwanted attention."

Sarah had realized belatedly that waltzing into the Underground uninvited might not have been the best of ideas. She wondered if the Goblin King would be aware of her visit, and how he might react. Would he try to keep her there? Make her run the Labyrinth again, this time for her own freedom? Would her goblins go up against their old king for her? She began looking around nervously, as if expecting him to jump out from behind a tree at any moment, crowing triumphantly and ordering his minions to drag her away.

As she took in her surrounding, she noticed with a strange pang that this was the exact spot where she had eaten the hallucinogenic peach five years ago. 'Nope, not going to think about that right now.' She thought stubbornly. Sighing, she shook her head. For better or worse, she was here now, she thought. Might as well do what she came for.

"Can you take me to where Hoggle is, Sir Diddymus?"

"Of course, my Lady, right this way," he said with a small bow.

Sarah followed her friends through the forest with her four goblins trailing along behind her. 'What a strange procession we make' she thought bemusedly. A fox riding a dog, an enormous orange beast, herself, a tall, stick-thin goblin with hot pink hair (which had been braided and woven with flowers by Linnie earlier), a fat goblin wearing a kilt, looking like some kind of enormous celtic potato, and the two smaller goblins bouncing along behind. If the Goblin King did come for her, she would probably have plenty of time to get away while he laughed himself silly, she mused. Following a crooked dirt path through the thick foliage, they soon arrived at Hoggle's hole. It resembled a fox den, but much larger. Sarah could see how someone could have fallen into it on accident, it was almost completely obscured by tall weeds, some of which had been pulled, she assumed, by Ludo and Sir Diddymus.

Squatting down near the edge and peering down into the darkness, she thought she could make out some movement. "Hoggle, are you down there?"

"Sarah? What're you doin' here?!" Came an alarmed reply from the bottom of the hole.

"I had my goblins bring me. I've come to get you out of this hole." She informed him briskly. "Ludo has a rope right here, he'll lower it down and you can grab on and we'll pull you up."

"No! I'm staying right where I am, and you have to get back Aboveground right now, Sarah! What are you thinkin' coming to the Underground? Have you lost your damn mind?" He hollered up at her.

"I came here because I was worried about you! And I'm not leaving until you come out of there." She said stubbornly.

"No! I'm staying right here. That rat has some mischief planned for me again, and I can't take it anymore! The last few years he's been worse to me than ever before, and I've had enough! I'm just gunna sit here till he forgets who I am."

Sarah felt bad for a moment, she was sure his ongoing friendship with her was at least partially responsible for his troubles, but she was not about to give up and let her friend sit alone in a dark muddy hole having a pity party.

"Fine, then, I'll just have to come down there and get you myself." She said impatiently, grabbing the rope and beginning to lower herself into the hole.

"What are you doing, you crazy girl? I'm not coming up, I mean it!"

"I'll tell you what I'm doing," She called down to him, pausing in her descent. "I'm going to come down there and tie you up, then Ludo is going to haul us both back up here, where you will sit and talk to me about what is going on and let me help you."

"Don't you dare! You try to tie me up and I'll, I'll… oh forget it, you bloody impossible girl. Stay up there Sarah, you win, you win. I'll come up." He grumbled in defeat.

"That's more like it," Sarah grinned, hauling herself back up to stand by her amused companions.

They hauled up Hoggle, who was muttering darkly and covered head to toe in mud, then made their way over to a nearby creek so that her three friends could clean up a bit. After they had rinsed most of the mud off, Sir Diddymus and Ludo hugged Sarah and bid her farewell, promising to call on her later. They had been away from their posts for most of the day and had to hurry back and hope their absence had not been noted.

Sitting on a log, Sarah patted the spot beside her and Hoggle sat down, not meeting her eye.

"I've let you down, Sarah, I was supposed to be distracting Jareth from finding out about your goblins, instead I ended up hiding away like a coward." He said dejectedly, staring at his feet.

"Oh Hoggle, I don't hold it against you, Sir Diddymus said that he was after you. Won't you tell me what's going on?" She implored him.

"Oh, you'll just laugh at me," He began.

"I promise, I won't laugh." She assured him.

He sat there quietly for a moment, deciding whether or not to tell her.

"He was going to turn me yellow!" Hoggle burst out suddenly.

"Yellow?" Sarah asked, giving him a blank stare.

"Yes, I overheard some goblins talkin' about it; can you imagine me walkin' around bright yellow from head to toe, looking like a bloody daffodil? Even the fairies would be laughin' at me." Hoggle fumed.

"That dastardly villain." She said with a smirk, trying very hard not to laugh at the mental image of Hoggle as a flower.

"Oh, forget you," Hoggle waved a hand dismissively at her and jumped down off the log.

"Hoggle, wait, forgive me, it's not funny at all." She lied, putting on a convincingly serious face.

"Doesn't matter. We need to get you home before Jareth finds out about you being here, and finds out his missing goblins are with you, now."

"Um, too late, he knows about the goblins." She informed him regretfully.

"WHAT! Are you alright? He didn't do nothin' to you, did he?"

She stood up, lifting her arms out at her sides and turning in a slow circle. "I'm perfectly fine, see? Although I suspect he is up to something, he came to my apartment last night and wouldn't leave until I agreed to accept a crystal from him. He was acting suspicious about it, and the terms of the deal were just too easy. "

"A crystal? What for?"

She filled him in on the deal she had made, about how he had said that goblins needed magic to survive and how all she had to do in return for the crystal was invite him over on occasion to check on the goblins.

"Well, he was right about the goblins needin' magic, and you are right about him being up to something." Hoggle informed her regretfully.

"What do you mean?" She asked worriedly.

"Sarah, you've been had. You are surrounded by magic, have been as long as I've known you. You don't need some crystal to supply magic for your goblins; just being around you would have been more than enough. And there is no way Jareth didn't know that, any creature familiar with magic can tell it's there just by lookin' at you."

"Then what did he want me to take the crystal for?" Sarah exclaimed in alarm.

"I don't know, but if I was you, I would get rid of it as soon as possible."

Sarah nodded, staring at her feet and trying not to panic. She knew she should have trusted her instincts and not gotten distracted by her tendency for heroics.

"Come on, let's get you home little lady," Hoggle said, taking her hand and beginning to lead her over to where her goblins were playing.

"No."

"What? Why not?"

"No. Not just yet, anyway. The Goblin King wants to play me for a fool, I'm not just going to go home and pout about it. I can't let him get away with it." She said with a look of angry determination.

"Oh, no," Hoggle groaned. "What stupidity are you planning now?"

Sarah didn't answer him right away, angrily thinking about the triumphant smirk the Goblin King had worn when she had agreed to his terms and accepted the crystal. She bet he was sitting in his throne room right now, telling the goblins how easy it had been to trick her, mocking her, laughing at her. She knew she should just leave it well enough alone, but her pride had been deeply wounded by His Royal Glitteryness. She had quite literally fallen at his feet and then begged him to stay, while he had mocked, ridiculed, and insulted her. And leered at her, she remembered with an angry blush. Despite all that, she had taken a leap of faith and accepted his 'help', only to discover now that it was all a trick. He likely thought her easy prey. She wasn't sure what kind of game he was playing, but she had no intention of letting him win it. She needed to show him that she was not going to play by his rules, that he still had no power over her. She looked over at the bushes near the creek where her goblins were hiding, flinging rocks and mud at unsuspecting birds and other varied wildlife. Noticing that Oog's hair was now a fetching shade of mint green, a plan began forming in her mind.

Turning to Hoggle with an innocent smile, she reached into her coat pocket and pulled out a jeweled hair clip and held it out to him. "Can you take me to the castle beyond the goblin city?" She asked sweetly, only half in jest. He let his head fall into his hands and groaned.

Jareth glared at the chicken before him as if it alone was responsible for all the woe in the world.

"How did they get there in the first place?" He demanded. The tan-colored bird eyed him curiously, tilting its head to one side.

"They should not have been able to get Aboveground, not without being wished for, which I would have known about the moment it happened," He continued indignantly. "It makes no sense; goblins cannot transport themselves between worlds, not without a wish, not without me." The chicken fluffed its feathers in what he chose to construe as an empathetic manner.

"It must have something to do with the magic clinging to her, not that I have any answers as to that, either." He bit out, leaning forward and tapping his lip with a finger. Thinking again of the Labyrinth magic that had been so prominent around Sarah last night, he shook his head in dismay.

"Well at least she took the crystal, now I'll know if she's in any danger and be able to protect her." He sighed. The chicken pecked the floor indulgently. He had led Sarah to believe that the crystal was needed to keep her goblins well. In reality, it was a type of alarm system. If anyone tried to harm Sarah, he would be magically alerted.

"Not that she'll ever know," He sighed bitterly.

Jareth had frequently imagined what a potential reunion with Sarah would be like; he had in fact created a quite colorful fantasy about it, the details of which varied depending on his mood and the time of day. It usually involved him rescuing her from some unspeakable evil, causing her to throw herself at him in gratitude. Other times he was the unspeakable evil, and she would realize that she was powerless to resist his seductive charms. Now that was another dream shattered. He had not been prepared to see her face to face, to see her gazing at him in awe, to breath in her sweet smell when he got too close, to see that beautiful defiance shining in her lovely green eyes. All the longing and loneliness of the past few years had crashed down upon him and he had regrettably lashed out at her in frustrated anger.

"She is just a mortal, how is it she can undo me so easily? I have faced off against some of this world's most terrifying beings, powerful immortals, and always I have had impeccable self-control, yet this slip of a human can undo me with a look. She drives me to distraction! As a child she defeated me, conquered me, without even trying to do so or being aware of what she had done." He said incredulously.

The chicken clucked supportively.

He slouched forward on his throne, head resting in his hands and sighed.

Her innocence in all of this was infuriating, for he had no defense against it. After seeing her again, he knew that he would not be content with just looking at her in crystals, he wanted the real thing, he wanted her, and he would not settle for less, not this time. Hopefully she would keep her end of the bargain and call for him soon, he thought with a devious smirk, pleased with himself for having gotten her to agree to that.

He nodded towards his feathered audience, satisfied with having something to look forward to, and leaned back on his throne, throwing a leg up over the armrest and staring out of the window contemplatively. Now he would just have to find ways of keeping occupied, he told himself. Other than the missing goblins yesterday and his thwarted plans for the dwarf, his kingdom had been unusually quiet lately. Perhaps something exciting will happen soon, he thought hopefully. Maybe the brownies would revolt again, or get into another theatrical quarrel with the fairies. Or, maybe he could just send a few goblins to the bog, or kick them out of the window, they would like that-

He was suddenly snapped out of his thoughts by a small goblin, wearing what looked like a colander on its head, bursting dramatically into the throne room and running up to him to him with one hand on his head, trying to keep his 'hat' from falling off.

"Your Majesty, your majesty!"

"Yes?" He asked, straightening regally and looking down his nose at the little goblin imperiously, as if he had not just been pouring out his heart to a piece of poultry.

"The hedge maze is on fire, Majesty!"

The room became instant chaos, everywhere goblins in varying states of inebriation started yelling and running around in circles, crashing into each other in the confusion.

"Quiet, you cretins! Pay attention!" The creatures froze in whatever awkward position they had been in and turned to him.

"Get out into the Labyrinth and chase everyone away from the hedge maze." He commanded. Several dozen goblins stared back at him stupidly.

"Well, go!" His subjects finally obeyed, snapping themselves out of their stupor.

'Be careful what you wish for,' He mused as he leapt from the window ledge, transforming and spreading his wings and soaring off in the direction of the blaze.