From: "alorindanya" <[email protected]>
Date: Mon Aug 5, 2002 5:59 pm
Subject: "Linda's Wish" Chapter 4/?


"Linda's Wish" by Alorin Danya

Chapter 4: Dangerous Touch

Jareth sat with a deep scowl upon his brow. The stories of the human
rebellion never made sense to him--if they did then
logically he shouldn't be alive. His mother was half human yet had
powerfully stable magic for one only half Fae. She was
borne near the time the Labyrinth was created, and it was said that
all borne of humans were considered as human,
unable to inherit equally with the Fae; yet she was never removed from
her Fae father, as was said happened to all half
breeds, nor was she prevented from marrying a Fae king.

Of the so-called human uprising, it had only been a small number of
humans. Yes, they had done horrible things under
their cunning leader, but they had no power once he was eliminated. It
was unfortunate all humans were marked as evil
once the ordeal was over. Not all humans felt the Fae were oppressive,
for not all humans had been forced into slavery.
It seemed only certain humans were chosen as slaves, usually only
those who tried to gain magic. The rest were allowed
to lead the non-magical lives they would have held in their home
world.

Jareth wondered what more he hadn't been told for the humans to be
feared so much by the other Fae kings. There was
certainly nothing threatening about the child lying in the center of
his throne room.

He stood up, wondering what he should do with her. If he kept her,
she'd only be another mindless body to crowd his
kingdom, yet should he give her to some other king as a slave, who
knew what fate would befall her then? Better to let
her live as a happy imbecile than to die a beaten slave. All Jareth
needed to decide was her new identity as a goblin.

Goblins retained the memories of their human lives. Though it wasn't
often that the memories would resurface, when it
did happen, the goblin could go insane or into a stupored depression
from the knowledge of what they had become. So
the goblins were persuaded to forget about their old lives. It was
well known goblins have a hard time thinking for
themselves, so the sooner they were told how to think, the sooner they
could be made to forget Earth and humanity. So
Jareth gave them odd jobs to do for the rest of their existence and
new names--to keep their human name would have
been a cruel way to remind them of who they once were.

Jareth paced the room, trying to think of a new name for her, but
nothing came to mind. He wondered if looking at her
would help. With heavy steps he walked to the sleeping child who lay
in the pit in the middle of the throne room. Despite
all the commotion the goblins were making, she still was in a deep
sleep. Her cheeks were flushed and her bright pink
pajamas enhanced the redness of her face. She didn't look at all well.

The goblins weren't used to those wished away, those unwanted like
them, not playing with them. One goblin came up
to the child and tried to shake her awake, but it didn't work. He
lifted his warty nose to his king in confusion as to why
she was so dormant. Jareth ordered him to get away from her, in just
as much confusion as his subject. Despite being
touched the child still slept when something so violent should have
woken her.

Jareth crouched down to the child, taking off his gloves before
feeling this little one's forehead for a since of her illness,
praying that he could keep the magic from his touch. He knew his touch
was dangerous and harmed those without magic
because the magic was so strongly a part of him; which is why he
isolated his skin by covering it. He could control the
magic somewhat when he needed to. With dormant skin he could feel she
was burning up. He hated her mother even
more; instead of being a mother and caring for her sick child she
neglected her and allowed her to be so ill. An audition
was not more important than a child's well-being. He would not let one
he would have control over be left to neglect. It
would be cruel if he ruled with such ignorance.

He gathered the child's limp body into his arms and sat on the floor
with her in his lap, right in the middle of the throne
room. The goblins curiously watched with almost a hush-the king was
doing something new. Jareth placed the child's
back against his chest and put his right hand over her heart, his left
on her damp forehead. He gave her the tiniest
amount of magic to enhance her own body's healing abilities. She
moaned and shifted a little with the changes occurring
in her body. Jareth's bare hands felt her temperature lower and he saw
her face lighten to a soft pink color. He removed
his hand from her head and held her by the sleeve as she began to
whimper herself awake.

Sarah opened her eyes. She looked around the room with wide eyes,
fright glowing in them at not knowing where she
was. The goblins cheered when she awoke and this scared her young mind
even more at seeing these hideous, smelly
creatures, most twice her size. She tried to move and run away but
found that strong hands held her. She turned to see
if she was safe, if this person would save her from the monsters. At
seeing a man holding her she clung to him for
protection; he was not a monster, even if a stranger.

'Perfect, she'll never let me go.' Jareth thought after his first
attempt at removing her from him, but she held to him even
tighter, her head so strong against his neck he nearly gagged at the
pressure. He had to show her goblins weren't
creatures to fear. She had to be comfortable with them; he had work to
do and needed them to watch her. He grabbed
hold of her little arms and wrapped his fingers around each of them,
pulling her body off of him and making her stand.
Her big eyes looked at her in fear now at realizing she didn't know
who he was.

"Where's daddy?" her tiny voice chimed.

"Your father is at home."

"Who are you?"

"I'm Jareth." He smiled.

Her grey green eyes turned from him and swept the room doubtfully.
"Jarwith.I don't like it here."

"And why not?"

She looked around at the noisy creatures, then whispered, looking into
his eyes, "Monsters."

"They aren't monsters. They're goblins."

The child gasped and her eyes went even wider, "Mommy told me goblins
would take me away."

"She told you?" Jareth scrunched his brow, disgusted at how Linda
could have said such a horrid thing to the child.

She whimpered as she nodded, "I don't want to be a goblin."

"Don't be afraid. They may be obnoxious, but they will not harm you."
Jareth smiled and he picked her up as he rose,
taking her closer to the goblins.

The closer they got, however, the harder she grabbed him by the neck
and pressed her body into him, squealing to get
away from them. She was unknowingly hurting him and it angered him. He
wasn't necessarily angry at her but at
whoever had taught her such fear. He backed up, trying to show her
they were getting away from the creatures, but he
tripped over a few in the process, causing him to stumble to his
knees. Still the child fussed. That was enough.

"Sarah, stop this!" Jareth shouted as he ripped the child's hands from
around him with his own. Her little fingers clasped
to his and she stared at him for a moment before her eyes glazed over
and her body began to convulse. His mind raced
with what could be wrong with her but then he noticed she was not the
only thing quaking. The whole throne room was
moving, seemingly pulling itself apart. Pieces of the ceiling crashed
to the floor while a crack grew on the throne room
floor, causing sections to crumble and the goblins frantically ran
around not knowing how to get away. Jareth realized
that something coming from the child was making the Labyrinth change,
but he didn't know how. Then he looked down
and saw that her hands were still holding his own-his bare hands. It
was his magic causing the change by invading her
little body.

Jareth quickly yanked his hands away from her and lay her on the
floor. No longer touching him, her body calmed and the
room became still. The goblins quickly lost their fear of what just
happened and inched their way closer to Sarah. Jareth
watched as ten goblins surrounded her, hesitantly poking and prodding
her to get up. She didn't react at all. The child's
eyes stared straight at the ceiling. Jareth swore if he hadn't have
seen her small chest rise and fall, he would have
thought her dead.

"What have I done?" He whispered as he looked at his bare hands-he had
never lost control before, never not paid
attention to what he touched and how. Jareth wondered at what he was
feeling, something foreign. It was as if he
hated himself for hurting her, but he tired to suppress it. He as a
king and could do no wrong. But he had and he didn't
know how to fix it. He immediately made gloves reappear on his hands
but was still hesitant to touch her and see what
damage he had caused. He ordered the goblins away from her and they
noisily scattered.

However, before he could even reach out to heal her, the room began to
shake again, as did her body. By some unseen
magic, everything in the room moved back into place and the cracks in
the stones healed themselves. Then both
Labyrinth and girl were again still.

Sarah blinked and sat up, her frightened face showing she regained
memory she was in a strange place. Jareth breathed
out in relief and reached for the child, but now she was afraid of him
for hurting her. She got up and ran to hide behind a
goblin that was bigger than her for protection. Jareth called to her,
still wanting to see if she was damaged, but she
refused him. "Fine then." He stormed to his throne and produced a
crystal; now that the child was well he could focus on
Linda. "Wonder what your mother will say when I tell her your new
name. Quake shall suit you nicely."