Chapter 8: Harmonies

His silence was deafening. Sarah found herself feeling useless as Jareth made quick work of each puzzle and predicament the couple encountered. What did he mean they had to do this together? Even when Sarah offered sound advice, the Goblin King continued on whichever path he'd already chosen. Eventually the girl relented, leaving Jareth to himself.

Sarah bit her tongue to keep from interrupting Jareth's preoccupation with marking trees so they wouldn't be going in circles. Already tried that, she thought to herself remembering her trusty lipstick arrows which were tampered with by tiny goblins. This really wasn't worth their time.

Summerleigh,

Vast and green,

Fairer still,

Than the evening sea

Paradise,

You and me,

We'll make our meet,

At Summerleigh

Sarah closed her eyes and focused on the faint melody the night wind carried. Summerleigh? Sarah racked her brain trying to decide if she had heard of such a place before. It did sound beautiful. Perhaps she could seek out the source of the song while Jareth continued his pointless marking.

"Jareth, I um, need to pee," Sarah stated abruptly.

"Well there's no need to announce such a thing, just go," he responded nonchalantly, not so much as glancing away from his work. Sarah began to walk deeper into the woods.

"Wait!" Jareth yelled. "Where do you think you're going?"

"To pee!" Sarah retorted, flustered.

"I'm not going to watch you, just do it here so I don't have to worry about you!"

"No way, that's gross! You may be into that watersports stuff but I'm not," Sarah grimaced.

"I don't see what surfing and the like has to do with relieving your bladder but have at it," he granted her permission and waved her off. "Just don't go where I can't hear you, and if I call, come right away." Sarah grinned and started off again.

"And that means no matter what! I don't care if you aren't finished!" He added as the girl disappeared into the trees.

Summerleigh,

Wild and free,

Take my hand,

And come with me

Paradise,

You and me,

We'll make our meet,

At Summerleigh

Once free from the king's sight, Sarah increased her pace until she was nearly sprinting towards the hypnotic hymn drawing her in. The air surrounding her began to taste of salt.

"And that should do it," Jareth murmured aloud as he finished enchanting a line of trees along the path they'd toured so they didn't sparkle. Funny thing, usually my spells involve the creation of glitter, not the destruction. He chuckled to himself before his mind wandered back to Sarah, as it so often did. How long does such a task take for a woman? He pondered the question for just moment before calling out to her, thinking he'd allowed more than a generous amount of time.

"Sarah!"

Silence.

"SARAH!"

The only answer was the echo of his call. He could sense something was wrong. Sarah played the role of a brat well, but she was intelligent enough to heed his order to return when called in this puzzling place. Sarah may be a human, but she was far touched at a young age and always possessed a preoccupation with magic. She was still the picture a naivety, however…

Then he heard it: the song of the sirens. He cursed under his breath, casting a protection spell over himself so as not to fall victim to the scheming womanlike creatures. Sirens predominantly found their pleasures in luring men into their grasps, but were known to take a pretty girl or two as well. Sarah's femininity couldn't be relied on to keep her safe.

He arrived just as Sarah's head disappeared below the turquoise surface of a magical lagoon. The sirens were all similarly adorned with pastel sea shells complementing their shimmering, nearly translucent skin and hair black as night with a midnight blue sheen, braided with raven feathers. Having figured the girl was successfully drowned, they giggled and waved at the Goblin King before succumbing to disinterest and fleeing the scene. Wasting no time, Jareth discarded his tunic and simple boots and dove in after Sarah.

He pushed water behind him, diving deeper into the depths to reach the girl, silently praying to any entity that would listen for her safety. After what seemed to be eternity he reached her, embraced her with his left arm and ascended to the surface. He dragged her limp, wet body onto the hot sand and cupped her cold face. He leaned in so his face was mere millimeters from hers. He spoke ancient words into her mouth and magic filled her with it's warm glow.

A/N: I'm a terrible person and terrible writer but here, if you want it 😞 sorry it's pitiful