Author's Note: So here I am again, delivering a very late update. Eh, at least I had time to cook up some new ideas, including a name for our unnamed "nothing" of a character... hehehe! Now that I have two out of four classes done for the semester, I'll have no choice but to channel all of my writing here. I know, it's heartbreaking, isn't it?

No clue what songs would go well with this chapter. If you have any to suggest, please do!

- Vampirateloyal

7. AN INVITE YOU CAN’T REFUSE

“Sarah? Well bud… we’re trying to find that out ourselves.” Hoggle tried to explain carefully to the wide-eyed toddler.

“She needs our help?” Toby asked in a loud whisper, his large eyes growing rounder as he spoke.

“Exactly. We want to help her and Jareth if we can.” Hoggle sighed and straightened up, stretching his limbs as far out as they would go. His joints gave a slight crack, then Hoggle sighed with relief. He turned to Ludo and Didymus, who sat waiting on further instruction. “We need to get out of here, now.”

Didymus hopped down from his saddle. “Go? But we’re where we wanted to be all along! Why should we leave?”

“It’s useless wasting our time here without Sarah and the king!” Hoggle replied. “What are we going to do if Rivan arrives, poke him to death with that little spear of yours?”

Didymus scoffed, slashing his “little spear” through the air in a criss-cross motion. “Are you questioning my ability to defend my kingdom, Sir Hoggle?”

“Not at all.” Hoggle answered calmly, with a slight edge of irritation to his voice, “But our defenses will be shot with the wave of his hand. With Jareth gone from the throne, Rivan is the most powerful being in this realm now.”

“Not really.” Didymus argued. “Whatever tore us away from Sarah and Jareth earlier is no pushover! Which is why we should stay here, where it is safe.”

“I see your point, but what makes you so sure that we’re safe from… whatever that thing was, just because we’re inside this castle? It could very well come along and swallow the castle with us in it!”

“I rather doubt that! The End does not move, you know.” Came a disembodied voice from behind Hoggle that made everyone jump.

“What the… who’s there?!?!” Hoggle demanded in an attempt to be brave, though his entire body was trembling in obvious fear.

Toby stared at the globe-sized crystal that was mounted on the wall opposite Jareth’s throne and raised a pointer finger in its direction. Everyone else stared as a red smoke began to move inside the sphere. The sudden light poured itself over the stone floor towards them and then grew so bright that everyone had to cover their eyes for a moment.

“Ah, so Jareth hasn’t returned yet, I see.” The voice came again, this time accompanied with a face. The bright white head that now stood out against the blood-red smoke looked very much like a comedy mask, complete with hollow eyes and a slight smile. The figure bobbled slightly as it continued to speak. “Well, I suppose you will have to do, since the king is obviously still in the middle of a nervous breakdown.”

“Who are you supposed to be?” Hoggle stammered uneasily.

“It’s rather typical that Jareth hasn’t told you about me. Allow me to formally introduce myself. My name is Rorrim… I’ve been the king’s advisor since his coronation.”

“Why wouldn’t I know about you?” Hoggle pressed. “Jareth tells me everything!”

Rorrim's smile grew slightly larger. “Oh, really! I hate to break it to you, but Jareth has a number of skeletons in his closet, none of which he’s confided to anyone besides me, I can assure you of that. I know more about the king than any of you put together. And he isn’t all I know about…”

“What do you mean?”

“Well, perhaps ‘advisor’ was the incorrect term to describe me. I suppose I’m more correctly termed as an ‘oracle’. This strange force that you speak of, for instance… I know it well. And I can assure you, it will not come here.”

This got everyone’s attention. The group huddled closer around the crystal. Rorrim took this as a sign to continue.

“The thing that you escaped – rather miraculously, I might add – is beyond the boundaries of our existence. No one can step outside of it without disappearing from this world, because no one can exist after The End.”

“I got them back though!” Toby spoke suddenly. “They were in my dream!”

Rorrim nodded – or more technically, bobbed - at Toby, then continued. “Toby’s mind is one of the two things that created this world and everything in it. You were able to exist again in his mind because it is in a place beyond this kingdom where The End cannot touch you. Then he wished you here again. Thanks to Toby, you’re a part of The Story once more.”

“The Story? That’s all we are? Just a story with an end?” Hoggle gasped.

Rorrim nodded. “You can thank our dear Sarah for that. This world existed in her mind before one of her characters managed to become real enough to document everything permanently. The book was delivered to her in secret; she simply thought someone had left it in the park that day.”

“Who did leave it then?”

“Why, I did, of course.” Rorrim answered proudly. “Because of that book, Sarah’s memories never died. Instead of fading like most fantasy worlds, this one became stronger… strong enough to become real, grow and develop into the likes of which even Sarah isn't aware.”

Didymus spoke suddenly. “But if Miss Sarah is another creator, like you say, why didn’t she have the power to save us as well?”

“Sarah is in our realm now, which means she’s a part of The Story. Because of this, I’m afraid her memories of you have also vanished… you don’t exist to anyone in this world now until you enter it again. Your presence alone will be enough to restore every fragment of your existence to them both.”

“Then that settles it! We have to go find them!” Hoggle exclaimed. “Nice meeting ya, Ronin, but we’ve got a kingdom to save.”

The smoke began to glow faintly again. “It’s Rorrim!” the face snapped. “And I’m afraid that I can’t let you leave.”

Sarah and Jareth stood perfectly still as one fiery broke away from the group that surrounded them and stepped nearer for a better look. “Well well well! Look who we’ve found snoopin’ through our forest again!” the little creature teased as he tugged Sarah forward by her arm.

“Let go of me you little weasel!” Sarah screeched.

“Still as mean as ever! Come on, you gotta remember me! Bonfire night? Dancing? Throwing my head into a ROSE BUSH!”

Another fiery leapt forward and grabbed the other fiery by the shoulder. “Easy, Flambé, easy! I think we’re in the presence of royalty here!”

The fieries all turned their eyes in the direction of Jareth, then backed away several paces and bowed in unison. “My king, our most sincere apologies. We did not know that this lady was in the company of such importance.”

“Importance? I don’t care if SHE’S the queen, Scorch! Her head is still mine!” Flambé growled.

“Now now, you know the policy isn’t a head for a head, pal. We ditched that rule once we realized how hard it would be to keep count!”

Sarah cleared her throat. “Excuse me, but my head does NOT come off. At least, it shouldn’t. Not unless you plan on killing me!”

“See pal?” Scorch piped up, patting his friend on the shoulder, “I knew there was a logicalized explanation for everything! Hows about this, king and Miss…”

“Sarah.” Sarah filled in.

“Miss Sarah. Hows about we forget this whole mess and invite you to our little get-together this evening!”

Oh, Lord no! Sarah thought to herself as she tried to scramble together an excuse. “Gee, that sounds very nice, but uh… we just can’t tear ourselves away from our duties at the moment! Kingdom in a state of panic and all that, you know?” Sarah snapped her head in Jareth’s direction. “Uh, little help here!” she ground the words out through her clenched teeth.

But Jareth only smirked at her obvious state of panic. “Actually Sarah, this might be a wonderful idea! After all, the fieries know their way around this forest. Perhaps they could help us to get out of here.”

“Absotively Posilutely, your Graciousness!” cut in yet another fiery, followed by a sea of murmured agreement. “We can get you wherever it is you need to go! Just follow us!”

“If they decide to go head-hunting tonight, I’m tossing them yours.” Sarah growled at Jareth as the band of fieries half-dragged them deeper into the heart of the forest.

Rivan continued to push through the thick brush, confident that he was less than a hundred yards away from the castle at this point. He confidently blasted his way through the last of the forest growth, only to find himself at another dead end. He roared angrily and spun on his heels. The damned labyrinth had tricked him again!

“I’ll get to that castle if I have to blast this entire realm into ash to do it!” he spoke quietly, yet deliberately. More sniggering was heard amongst the clumps of nearby bushes. Rivan roared again and sent a fireball hurling at the plants, sending the inhabitants scurrying in all directions. He then began to stomp further into the trees, in no particular direction.

After several minutes of aimless wandering, Rivan finally burst through the forest once again. What met his eyes this time, however, was far from just a dead end. No, this sight caused him to turn his face away and almost wish for yet another solid wall of forest.

“I don't believe it... could this possibly be it?” Rivan wondered aloud as he braved another glance into the heart of The End.