[ARCHIVED]

       𝕿𝖍𝖊 𝖈𝖍𝖆𝖒𝖕𝖎𝖔𝖓 𝖔𝖋 𝖍𝖎𝖘 𝕷𝖆𝖇𝖞𝖗𝖎𝖓𝖙𝖍 𝖜𝖆𝖘 𝖆𝖓 𝖔𝖉𝖉 𝖈𝖗𝖊𝖆𝖙𝖚𝖗𝖊. A feather was left on her pastures as a token of defeat and acknowledgement of being equals. There was little to no animosity between them as powerful beings with equal amounts of power and pride, and the feather was a token of his admission to his defeat. It was odd, truly, to watch the mighty Sarah Williams just continue through her life as if she had not bested him at his own game with all of her admirable qualities; bravery,kindness, wit and pride. She attended her mandatory classes and as Jareth’s owl wings soared through the sky, it had been fascinating to him how much the mortal plane had changed in the years of his absence. 

         𝕿𝖍𝖊 𝖐𝖎𝖓𝖌 𝖎𝖓 𝖍𝖎𝖘 𝖔𝖜𝖑 𝖋𝖔𝖗𝖒 𝖍𝖆𝖉 𝖙𝖗𝖎𝖊𝖉 𝖆𝖕𝖕𝖗𝖔𝖆𝖈𝖍𝖎𝖓𝖌 𝖍𝖊𝖗. It was truly out of no malevolent intent, but purely out of the curiosity of wanting to know about the world he had mostly abandoned. A world of high ceilings of concrete and glass windows and yet every time he tried swooping in, an inexplicable pain shot through his body, taking him out of course more than usual and forcing the king to retire to a nearby tree. Iron and salt was everywhere she went. Had she really been this scared of him? His villainous heart should have been content at the terror he had incited within her and yet the victory rang hollow. And then the king of the goblins had fallen in love with the girl. He was bound by the narrative she had set for him; there was no escape. 

         𝕿𝖍𝖊𝖗𝖊 𝖜𝖆𝖘 𝖔𝖓𝖑𝖞 𝖔𝖓𝖊 𝖒𝖔𝖗𝖊 𝖙𝖍𝖎𝖓𝖌 𝖍𝖊 𝖈𝖔𝖚𝖑𝖉 𝖙𝖗𝖞. Summoning all the magic he could, he pats the tip of his beak in his owl form and urges the doors to open, summoning a crystal ball and rolling it onto the floor, to her feet. Flapping his wings and summoning his magic, Jareth transported himself back into his own realm, his own crystal ball in hand, hoping to the spirits that Sarah would accept his peace offering. Upon entering his own private chambers, the only room in the castle that had no trace of any goblin or creature in sight. “Champion, hear my pleas.” 

Thoughts were hurried as Sarah smoothed the sheet over her mirror, turning to collect her tools. Across the bed was an array of things. Box of salt, candles, bottle of moon water, bundles of dried herbs. It was just enough in time, but the wards would need to be fortified after she could replace the missing iron and mirror shards. Reaching out for her things, Sarah suddenly froze.

A cold shiver ran up her spine as something tapped against her sneaker. Slowly, she looked down. It was transfixing, that little crystal. A perfectly smooth orb of immaculate sheen, reflecting only deeper into it’s core. Sarah recognized it the second her eyes landed on it, but something deeper gripped her as well. A deeper longing that had been shoved to the back of her well organized mind. A longing that clawed and thrashed it’s way to the front and forced her hand down to touch it.

The second Sarah’s fingertips touched the warm surface of the crystal, a shock ran up her arm. It was useless to pull away, the crystal already gripped tight in her hand as the magic coursed through Sarah. Pure magic, undiluted by Aboveground denial and blindness. The magic she’d craved since being spat out of the Underground. A magic that brought tears prickling to her eyes. And she heard him.

         𝕿𝖍𝖊 𝖍𝖆𝖗𝖘𝖍 𝖆𝖓𝖉 𝖈𝖗𝖚𝖊𝖑 𝖘𝖔𝖚𝖓𝖉𝖘 𝖔𝖋 𝖙𝖍𝖊 𝖔𝖈𝖊𝖆𝖓 𝖋𝖊𝖑𝖑 𝖉𝖊𝖆𝖋 𝖙𝖔 𝖍𝖎𝖘 𝖊𝖆𝖗𝖘. Once she uttered the words, there was no turning back. One longs for the other as two souls separated, finally whole again. How doomed they were, how horrid it all will be! Never in their history has there ever been a successful union between human and merfolk, and yet as Jareth stares into eyes as green as freshly dewed pasture, he understands how poets can write sonnets that defy the stars. 

      𝕿𝖍𝖊 𝖐𝖎𝖘𝖘 𝖚𝖕𝖔𝖓 𝖍𝖎𝖘 𝖈𝖍𝖊𝖊𝖐 𝖜𝖆𝖘 𝖈𝖍𝖆𝖘𝖙𝖊 𝖆𝖓𝖉 𝖞𝖊𝖙 𝖋𝖎𝖗𝖊 𝖈𝖔𝖚𝖗𝖘𝖊𝖉 𝖙𝖍𝖗𝖔𝖚𝖌𝖍 𝖍𝖎𝖒. It betrayed his senses and defied logic, but the unquenchable urge to pull his chin up just slightly, so he may capture the salted lips that adorned her face with his was a temptation too great, but alas, his respect for her outweighed his desire of his own carnal pleasures. Who knew if she even understood what a kiss was. Was it a mortal custom? How did the merfolk show affection towards one another? 

        𝖂𝖆𝖛𝖊𝖘 𝖈𝖗𝖆𝖘𝖍 𝖍𝖆𝖗𝖉𝖑𝖞 𝖆𝖌𝖆𝖎𝖓𝖘𝖙 𝖙𝖍𝖊 𝖘𝖍𝖔𝖗𝖊. The sound makes him gulp loudly as the raw desire through his body mellowed out by the salted air. “Will I–” He takes a moment to collect his thoughts, licking his lips. “Will I ever see you again?”

"I don't know." Sarah whispered.

The wind swept around the couple, nearly carrying away her words. She wished they would. She wished the winds would take away those horrible words and give her better ones. Ones that made Jareth smile and her pod understand. Words that made everything make sense and seal her to the seat there. Words that would give them a happily ever after.

But no matter what, they would be a world apart. So Sarah choked down what could have been and steeled her heart to look into those loving eyes. That was love, wasnt it? Not in so many words, but few were ever spoken. Sometimes, Sarah didn't say a word. She just sat below and water for a few extra moments to watch the excited gleam as Jareth waited for her.