Note From Author: As much as it pains me to cull the writing that I slaved so many hours over, FFnet is cracking down on adult content and purging anyone who has violated the TOS or had a complaint levelled at them, or even has the wrong rating. Someone was removed for having a swear word. Already, several Authors I know have had their stories removed without warning and you'll probably seeing stories in your Favourites vanishing. So, despite the original rating I have given it in the details below, you will not be seeing any of the adult content in the Fanfic below. It will only have as much is allowed by the site, then you will see a note to go to my site to see the full version. Unfortunately, this will mean whole sections of the Fanfics will be missing, and descriptions changed, and it's going to confuse a lot of my readers as to what is going on. There might even be only half of a Chapter before telling you to go to the Site, so you might just want to go there right off the bat and read the full version. Reviews are still very much appreciated for the Fanfics, either on my Site or FFnet. So, you can find my Fanfiction completely uncut on my personal site Destiny's Gateway. FFnet really went downhill the day they removed our all the adult Fanfics up here, and they destroyed a part of an Author's creativity when they want us to make no mention of something that's so much a part of every day life. Sex. As the largest Fanfiction site on the net, where else would we get the majority of our readers from, if not on here? I really want to keep all the lovely reviews from the readers who have loved my writing up here on the site and also let you know that the Fanfic exists, so I'm keeping most of it up here, but you won't be seeing above the allowed T rating.

Hugs,
Princess Destiny

(To FFnet Admin - I am changing all the Chapters of this Fanfic to take out the adult content, but it might take me a day or so. Please do not delete the story before I am done! This message in brackets will vanish when it is complete.)

Title: Forever Crystal
Author: Princess Destiny
Email: In Profile
URL: destinysgateway DOT com
Rating:M 15
Summary: A rather dark and sensual Fanfic. Sarah paints a picture of the Labyrinth, freeing Jareth, who immediately kidnaps Toby again. Sarah, forced to go through the Labyrinth for the second time discovers everything has changed...including her feelings for the Goblin King.
Couple: Jareth And Sarah
Chapters:1/2
Status: Completed
Year Completed: 1999
Size: 40 KB

Comments: Hi everyone! I dug out this old Labyrinth Fanfic. Actually, it's the very first story I ever wrote for this fandom, so don't be too critical. It was written back in 1999, and I had just changed from writing Sailor Moon Fanfics, to this fandom. The Goblin King is seriously sexy. It was intended to be the first part in a Series, but I never wrote a Sequel.

Original Notes: I rate this story er M17 because of some of the content. It's rather sensual and dark in some places. All the good places :) Lets say my nature came out a littttllle too much in this one. Any minors should evacuate now! Encounters between Jareth and Sarah are not NC17...But definitely not PG either. ::Wicked grin::

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FOREVER CRYSTAL

By Princess Destiny

'Young woman. The way forward, is sometimes, the way back.'

"How true" Sarah murmured, staring intently at her canvas. The colours were nearly right. The sky, such a unique colour as it had been, was the most difficult. A blending of orange, red and grey. Nothing invented had that colour, so she had to create it. The teacher, Ms Chambers walked slowly behind Sarah, grey eyes on the canvas with interest. Sarah didn't even need to turn to feel the woman's intense curiosity.

"Wherever did you come up with this amazing idea, Sarah?" Miss Chambers leaned closer, adjusting her thin wire-framed glasses on her nose. Sarah paused; paintbrush held aloft as her painting was inspected critically. "The colours are masterful, the strokes in so many different ways. I'm sure you didn't learn that here."

"No," The young woman murmured softly in agreement. "I studied painting for a long time before attending this place. I've been wanting to paint this good for about five years now. I was fifteen when I started."

"You have talent, my dear," The teacher patted Sarah lightly on the shoulder, then moved on. "And a very vivid imagination also."

'Oh yeah. Do I ever.' Sarah grimaced slightly, touching the paintbrush to the sky again with the greatest of care. This was going to be her masterpiece. The painting that got her into the area she'd always secretly dreamed of. Before she wanted to be an actress, she wanted to be an artist. To paint murals, for herself and Galleries.

One more stroke and she was done.

Sarah put the brush down carefully, pushing back her chair so that she could stand. She made sure nothing was close enough to brush against or knock over the stand and then walked towards the window. Outside, the sun shone down as usual. Leaves fell steadily in the autumn wind and students laughed and talked in the courtyards below.

She was on the second story of the Art Building of the Californian University. It had taken her years of intense study and neck-breaking work to get her into the place. They accepted only the best. But now, she could safely say, she was a part of their elite numbers.

Sarah turned her head, leaning back against the glass, arms crossed. She stared back at her mural; the immensity of what she had done hitting her. It seemed...Almost alive. Each stone of the Castle. Each thread of the royal blue jacket. Even the tiny green hedges, barely visible over the tall imposing walls.

Another student, Steven, got up from his owns stool and walked over to where she was leaning. He crossed his arms also and faced towards where Sarah's eyes were fixed. "Impressive, Williams. Very impressive." He whistled in admiration.

The dark-haired girl blushed slightly, her dark eyes still tracing the walls in the picture unconsciously.

"It looks so real. How long did it take you?" He asked her, seemingly unable to take his eyes from the picture himself.

Sarah had to admit, it was mesmerising. Almost as much as the original thing. "Five years really. I wanted to be sure to have it perfect in every detail. So I studied for a long time to become the best artist that I could be." She said quietly, eyes distant.

"You got the idea for this five years ago?" Steven questioned almost incredulously. He brushed the fringe from his eyes, looking back at the picture. "Was it a dream?"

"A dream?" The dark-haired girl echoed. Her eyes shuttered. "Yes, a dream."

He walked away from her, studying the picture closer. He took in the tall imposing walls, lush green hedges, amazing sky and the grey-stoned Castle in the centre. "It's a maze, right?"

"A Labyrinth actually," Sarah corrected, going to stand right in front of the painting. Her hands were sweating slightly, gripped together. "I'm going to call it Forever Crystal."

"Anything to do with that guy standing before the Labyrinth?" Steven teased lightly. "Really, looks so real, it's like he's a living person. Those eyes too, so cold and mocking. It's like his eyes follow you everywhere."

"I love his taste in clothes," Jennifer stage-whispered from behind Sarah. "He's absolutely gorgeous Sarah. I wish he'd been in my dreams."

'I wish he'd stayed in mine.' Sarah wished, not for the first time in many years. If there was one thing she regretted, it was never being able to see the Goblin King's handsome face again. He was gone. Destroyed by her own words. But she'd make sure she would always remember him through this picture. I was rather uncanny, how she's painted him so well. Every detail was perfect; right down to the moon pendant he'd worn around his neck.

"Did he happen to give his name and number?" Jennifer teased, grinning. She reached out to touch the man's face.

Sarah slapped the hand away almost violently and the other stared at her in disbelief. "It's wet, Jennifer." She gritted, trying to cover her reaction. The thought of someone touching her painting was almost like a physical blow.

"Oh, sorry," The blonde smiled guiltily, holding her hands behind her back.

"He's scary. Mocking, cynical, haughty," Steven noted, studying the Goblin King's handsome face. "It's like he knows something that you don't. And his eyes are old. Ageless."

Sarah was stunned. She looked back at the picture and realised that he was right. She's included all of that in just his eyes and face. The very way he was standing before the Labyrinth proclaimed that he was ruler there. He was in charge. Danger; that was what he radiated. "I didn't realise I remembered hi-my dream so well." The dark-haired girl admitted.

"This guy seems so real, he's giving me the chills," Jennifer said, backing off slightly. "But the name, I like it. Forever Crystal, like the one in the guy's hand."

Sarah looked down at the crystal held in one gloved hand, held out towards her as if in offering. She didn't really know what had compelled her to add him that way. It had just seemed to flow out of her.

Something caught the corner of her vision. Sarah turned her head to the tree just outside the window. Her heart froze, brown eyes widening in shock. An owl sat there on the almost bare branches. A snowy-white owl. It's eyes, an unusual blue-grey, pinned her to the spot. Then, before she could gasp, it spread its wings and flew away.

Sarah ran to the window, trying to follow its path through the blue sky. She saw it far above, circling as no owl ever did. It came between Sarah and the sun, then disappeared.

She watched the sky frantically for a moment, wondering if she'd been seeing things. She hadn't seen an owl like that since...The night she went to the Labyrinth. It had been there, in the park. Watching her and Merlin as she studied the words to the play. And then later, in her living room, after she had said the words.

'You have no power over me!'

'Sarah no!'

"Weird huh?" Jennifer said, peering up at the sky. Sarah hadn't even heard the girl move next to her at the window. "An owl in the daylight? In California?"

Sarah sank back onto a stool at the base of the window, eyes wide and stunned. It couldn't be! After all these years. Her eyes raised to the painting, meeting those of the Goblin King's. His eyes seemed to glitter at her mockingly. She was riveted, her mind in chaos. Of her own accord, her lips moved and words were almost whispered under her breath.

"He's...back."

Sarah lugged the large canvas into her front door with difficulty. She could have gotten a courier or something, but she most strongly did NOT want someone else touching her painting. She pulled it up the stairs carefully, not letting it touch the floor. The carpet made no sound under her boots as she carried the picture into her bedroom and shut the door. She'd waited until it had dried, then wrapped it in brown paper and taken it straight home with her. It was so good, she was sure someone would have stolen it, given half the change!

"And you are all the more dangerous now. Of what I suspect is true," She told it as she ripped the paper from the painting. The Castle, the Labyrinth and then The Goblin King were revealed.

Sarah gritted her teeth, carrying the heavy painting over to the far wall adjacent her bed. She's already had a frame made of silver, a silver plaque at the bottom with the words 'Forever Crystal' inscribed. She had also hammered in, a large hook the week before. Sarah lifted the paining with difficulty, straining to get it high enough for the hook. It took her several goes, missing the hook, but she finally managed to get it up on the wall.

She stepped back, eyes going automatically to the Goblin King. She'd sworn, years ago, never to speak his name again.

"It serves no purpose..." She murmured, half-lifting a hand to touch his face. Sarah realised what she was doing and let her finger freeze, a centimetre from the Goblin King's handsome face. "Even speaking your name might summon you." She whispered to the painting, letting her hand fall.

She'd tried to forget so many times. But she'd failed, as she always had. He'd filled her nights, her dreams. Even when she was awake, she recalled their encounters and that of the other Labyrinth creatures. Hoggle and the other's she had never seen again after that night. Inside, she knew it was because j-the Goblin King had lost his powers. Perhaps forever. So many questions had plagued her also. Had he been destroyed? Trapped as an owl for eternity? What happened to the Labyrinth without their King? And why,why had she felt so guilty for destroying the evil Goblin King?

"He took Toby, we played a game. And I won," Sarah said quietly, trying to convince herself. It was all very well to say these things, but how could she deny the turmoil she felt inside, when the remembrance of his mocking smile made her heart beat crazily? The way, sometimes during their encounters, his eyes said one thing and his mouth another. Older now, she could define her emotions and his, to a very small extent. Some things weren't clear. She drew and painted so that she wouldn't forget. There was her diary too. Sarah had read back over it so many times. She'd written it the same night she'd gotten Toby back and destroyed the Goblin King.

'The words though,' Sarah's eyes were distant as she recalled some of what she had wrote.'They seemed so childish, so cold and uncaring. WAS I cruel?'

'You are cruel Sarah. I need your cruelty, just as you need mine...'

What had he meant? What had he been trying to tell her, that night in the Escher Room?

"Your eyes can be so cruel,
Just as I can be so cruel,
Though I do believe in you,
Yes I do..."

The doorbell rang, the shrill chimes striking into Sarah's reverie like a battering ram. She blinked, stunned at where her thoughts had been. She's remembered something else. Something new. In the Escher room, all she had been caring about was Toby. But now, she could recall hearing jar-The Goblin King's voice. Singing to her. The bell went again. She frowned, stomping out of the room.

"I'm coming!" She called out; sure she knew whom it was already. The girl flung open the front door, eyes widening as she saw what was there.

"Sarah!" Toby shrieked shrilly, throwing himself at her.

Arms clung tightly around her waist, almost knocking them both off balance. Sarah hugged her little bother back, slightly fazed by the object of her thoughts appearing on her doorstep so suddenly. She looked beyond Toby, down to the road and saw Karen and her dad getting out of their expensive blue car.

"Hi honey!" Her dad called up, waving. He went around the side of the car and pulled out some clothes, wrapped in plastic to keep them fresh. Karen went to the boot and unlocked it, pulling out two suitcases quickly.

Sarah watched with astonishment as the plastic items, two cases and a little brother were deposited at her feet.

"Thanks for this, Sarah," Karen said swiftly. She kissed Toby and then Sarah's cheek. She headed back to the car, getting into the passenger side.

Her dad kissed her forehead, ruffled Toby's hair and reached into his jacket. He pulled out his wallet, removing several hundreds and depositing them into Sarah's hand.

"Thanks honey! We'll be back for him in a few days," her dad called, retreating down the walk.

The dark-haired young woman watched with stunned eyes as her dad got back into the car and drove off, leaving Toby with her.

"What's for dinner? Sarah?" Toby demanded, stepping back. He sighed when she didn't answer, reaching for one of the large suitcases and trying to drag it into the house.

Sarah snapped out of it, taking the suitcase from him. She grabbed the other and gestured to the plastic-covered clothes. "You get them. They're lighter." She told him, turning to go back into the house.

"You knew I was coming...right, Sis?" Toby grunted, the clothes held over his head so as to keep them from dragging on the floor. He made it to the couch in her lounge and threw the clothes over an arm. He flopped down into a chair too big for him and switched the TV remote on.

"Coming?" She muttered vaguely, staring at the TV without seeing it.

"We sent you a letter a week ago?" Toby shouted, turning up the volume. Sarah went quickly into the hall, to where she usually put the main. It was on a tray in the foyer. Her brown eyes widened at the pile, almost overflowing onto the floor. She'd been so busy with the painting and classes that she'd completely forgotten to read any of it!

"Oh no," She said under her breath, sorting through the large pile and throwing the rest onto the floor as she went. "Garbage, you can win $5000 instantly, junk, junk, bill, postcard, letter-" She paused, recognizing the pale pink of her stepmother's custom-made envelopes. Her name was on the front in Karen's scrawling writing. Sarah opened it slowly, pulling out the perfume-scented pink letter.

'Dear Sarah,

As you know dear, we take a holiday this time every year.
Unfortunately, the woman who usually minds Toby for us
has fallen ill and is in the Hospital. Your Father and I
would like for you to mind Toby for us.

We know how close you two have become over the years.'

"Lovely, you trust me finally." Sarah said sarcastically, looking towards the lounge room. It had taken years to gain her stepmother's trust with her precious son. If only she'd known exactly what her step-daughter had gone through for the little boy...

'We'll drop him off sometime in the afternoon. Make sure
you're home on the 20th, dear.

Love,
Karen and your Father.'

She was furious. "Great. Just great!" She cried, throwing up her hands in exasperation and anger.

Toby's blonde head peered over the top of the couch. "You forgot?" He questioned. "Mom says you forget things a lot."

"Oh, does she?" Sarah gritted, stomping into the lounge. She flung herself down next to Toby, crossing her arms.

Toby watched her with interest. An eight year old was ever-curious, she remembered ruefully. "Are you pouting?" He asked curiously, eyes on her lips.

The dark-haired girl realised with surprise that shewas pouting and stopped it. "No, I am not pouting. I didn't forget you either." She frowned darkly at the TV, where the Power Rangers were beating up the latest Monster Rita Repulsa had thrown at them.

'How unrealistic!' She thought scornfully. She's seen monsters and these one's looked as fake as-

"Earth to Sarah! I asked what was for dinner?" Toby waved a hand in front of her face teasingly. "Twice." He added.

"Let me fix something up," his sister replied, jumping up. Sarah headed into the kitchen and opened the fridge door. Maybe McDonalds would be better.

Toby poked his head under her arm, eyes widening at the sight of the barely filled fridge. "You do eat," He asked doubtfully. "Right?"

"I eat lots," Sarah protested, shutting the fridge with unnecessary force. She went to the cupboard and yanked it open, searching for soup. "Just...well, I usually eat out."

"Takeaway?" Toby said enthusiastically, his blue eyes lightening.

Sarah stared down at him, fixated for a moment. Toby's eyes were so like the Goblin Kings. Why hadn't she seen that before?

"-pizza!" The boy finished gleefully.

She blinked, looking away. Her eyes fell on the phone on the wall. "Pizza it is," She said resigned. It seemed all she'd had lately was pizza, and Chinese and takeaway of some sort.

"Great!" Toby shouted, racing back into the lounge room.

Sarah went to the phone, thinking. Was it too early for Pizza? The dial tone began and she punched in familiar numbers.

"Gino's Pizzeria!" A cheerful voice announced from the other end.

"Yes" Sarah said, "I'd like to order-" She broke off as she heard a strange whispering noise. She pulled the phone from her ear and looked at it.

"Hello? Miss?" The Pizza guy said, sounding far away.

Sarah shook the phone, frowning. She brought it back to her ear, but the whispering was still there. "We seem to have a bad connection," She said in embarrassment.

"Sound's fine down this end," The Pizza guy puzzled. He kept up his cheerful nature though. Obviously what he'd been hired for, but it was getting on her nerves. "If you'd like to hang up and try ag-"

The phone went completely dead this time. "Hello? Hello!" The dark-haired girl shouted into the phone, banging it on the bench.

Toby wandered into the kitchen eyes troubled. "Looks like we're getting a storm, Sarah." He pointed out the window.

Sarah blinked. The sunny sky outside had turned as dark as the night, great rolling clouds obscuring the sun. She hadn't even noticed the room getting darker!

"I turned on the lights when you were yelling at the Pizza person and banging the phone on the bench," Toby said, as if it were an entirely sane occurrence. Then again, Toby and Sarah weren't exactly what you'd have called 'normal children'. She'd been to a fantasy world with Goblins, trolls and fairies. He had been the guest of the mighty Goblin King himself.

"You're giving me that look again," Toby muttered nervously, hands clinging to the end of the kitchen counter.

Sarah stared at him. "What look?" She asked cautiously.

"Oh you know," Toby flapped a hand around, trying to describe what he had seen. "Sort of...glazed eyed. You go somewhere else."

"Oh..." His sister was bemused. She had no idea she'd done it so many times that it had been categorised as a 'look'. Did she really think of the Labyrinth that much?

"Is it a nice place?" Toby demanded, following his, sister back into the lounge. The TV was dead also. Strange that the lights weren't.

"Its-" She thought of a pair of mocking blue-grey eyes. Was it a nice place? Thinking of a man she'd destroyed, but couldn't stop thinking about. "Let me think on that one," Sarah sighed, looking around her. "At least we have the lights."

A moment later, the lights went dead. They stood there, uncertainly. "You had to say it, didn't you, Sis." Toby grouched, flopping blindly onto the couch.

It was almost too dark to see, but it was Sarah's house, so she knew where everything was anyway. She carefully avoided the coffee table and sat down next to Toby on the couch. "Say what?" She demanded irritably.

"You know?" Toby said with exasperation. "At least we have the lights? You were asking for it. Every time you say something like that, it goes and happens."

Sarah stared at Toby's barely visible form in the gloom of the lounge room. "Huh." She said in astonishment. "You really are like me."

'And that wasn't exactly a complement, according to Karen,' Sarah thought darkly. 'It's a downright insult to my stepmother, thinking that way!'

"That's what mom says," The little boy went on, oblivious to Sarah's private thoughts. "She say's I'm more like you everyday."

"Well," Sarah ground out. "At least she trusted me with you."

"She didn't have a choice," Toby said cheerfully. "I was there when she almost called everyone she knew in her little phone book. Then she sent the letter, so you couldn't say no. I wanted to come anyway."

"What a delightful Step-Mother my dad gave me" She said sarcastically.

Toby didn't pick up on it. "You and Mom are really getting along better. She said you used to be a real handful. Head in the clouds-"

"Yes," Sarah, said quickly. "Thank you Freud!"

"What?" Her brother asked, confused.

Sarah grabbed his hand, pulling him to his feet. "You go get your jacket and I'll find my wallet." She whispered, trying to feel where the wall was.

Toby fished around in his pocket, coming out with a small flashlight. He switched it on, illuminating his face. "I can find my jacket with this, right?"

"Yeah, it's on my bed," She murmured, heading away from him and back into the kitchen. "Hurry up, we're eating out!"

"Great!" Toby shouted, rushing for the stairs.

Sarah rolled her eyes as she head him thumping upstairs. She finally found her key's, by feeling along the wall next to the phone. They were usually on a hook there. As she was turning away from the kitchen bench, the whispering began again. This time, it wasn't in the phone. The girl froze, visions filling her head. Was there an intruder in the house? She hadn't thought of that before and the Pizza guy had said he hadn't heard anything down his end.

And then the power had gone out.

"Toby!" Sarah shouted, running blindly towards the front foyer. There was no response. She felt fear fill her.

She stumbled up the stairs, hoping she didn't tumble back down and break her neck. She made her way along the hall towards her bedroom. A breeze stirred through her hair and she stopped dead, looking down at her feet. All along the hall, coming from her room was a ghostly white fog. It was no higher than her knee's, but glowing more steadily brighter by the minute.

"Toby?" Sarah whispered, unnerved. She walked slower towards the bedroom, feeling a deja vu. This had happened one before. She moving around in the dark, the power off, calling for Toby.

"Toby?" She tried again. She reached the door to her bedroom and saw it was slightly ajar. She stretched out shaky fingers and pushed the door open lightly. It made no sound as it flew open. A billow of glowing fog emerged, covering her completely for a moment. She felt suffocated. Sarah breathed a sigh of relief as it dispersed, then caught her breath in shock. The wall was glowing! No, not the wall, she realised. Her painting.

"Oh no," The dark-haired girl breathed, disbelievingly. She moved into the room, eyes on the picture. She couldn't see anything else anyway. Practically everything in the room was obscured by the fog. Her furniture merely shadows. It was scary, she admitted. Her brown eyes focused on the painting. Sarah moved closer.

It was glowing, the Labyrinth, the castle, the Gobl-She gasped again, a hand coming to her throat. The picture of the Goblin King was gone! He wasn't there at all, though the rest of the painting was. The fog blew in front of her face. Sarah bit her lip, trying not to cry out, as her vision was totally obscured. Her skin crawled and then she felt something touch her hair. It was a light touch, gentle.

Sarah shivered, spinning around. Soft material brushed her cheek lightly before whatever had touched her withdrew into the glowing fog.

"Who's there?" She demanded boldly. There was no answer. She backed against the wall next to the painting, seeing it's glowing lines from the corner of her eye. Even the glowing was in detail and colour. The hedges greed, the castle grey, the walls in different tones of earth colour and the sky a brilliant red-orange. "Please..." She whispered, feeling fear, but determined not to show it.

"Please what?" A thousand voices whispered from about her.

The girl clutched at the wall behind her frantically, trying to find a purchase in the smooth paint. She didn't want this! She wanted Toby and to get out. She could feel that her eyes were too wide as she stared blindly into the glowing white cloud around her. Nothing was clear in the room. Nothing but obscure shadows.

.

.

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To Be Continued...

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Comments: The next Chapter will be out in a few days.

Hugs,
Princess Destiny