A Constant Struggle: The Quest to Restore the Light

The crisp night air was much better than being inside that stinking castle. Jareth walked over to the edge of the balcony and looked down at the courtyard. The guards were already making their rounds, torches in hand and spears glistening in the moonlight. He could hear them muttering to themselves about how dark everything was, as if they hadn’t said it a thousand times before.

He leaned against the railing, took a long look at the sky, and sighed.

“She’s going to kill me.”

He was referring to his mother, the queen, who had given him two impossible tasks. One: find the light, and two: find the princess. But he just wasn’t sure where, or who, to look. How were they supposed to be found? Were they dead? Were they hiding? Had they run away?

He didn’t really think they were dead, but he had no clue where else to look. His mother had been vague when she had told him to find them. She hadn’t even specified what their names were, and she had left no other clues. It was almost like she had wanted him to fail.

“Go on, then,” he whispered to himself. “Get it over with.”

Jareth walked back into the hallway and headed for his mother’s room. He knew she wouldn’t be asleep yet, but there was little else to do at this hour.

As he neared her chambers, he heard her voice. The sound of her laughter rang out, and he stopped to listen. She laughed again, followed by some sort of retort, and he bit back an angry sigh.

“Fucking idiots,” he muttered. Why couldn’t they just leave her alone? What good would it do to bother her now?

He turned around and walked off in the opposite direction. There was nobody to talk to, not until morning when the servants would begin their chores.

“C’mon, Jareth, you can do this,” he said as he made his way back to his rooms. “You have to try.”

The heavy doors swung open, their hinges creaking. The moonlight from the balcony spilled in, illuminating his bed and the surrounding area. He sat down on the edge of the mattress and took off his boots, setting them aside. When his hands were free, he lifted his shirt and pressed his hands against his stomach.

His skin was warm to the touch, and as he dug in his fingers, the pain seemed to lessen. Maybe there was a chance that he could actually pull this off, after all.

“Okay, we’re gonna need some weapons.”

He stood up, pulled his shirt back down, and began to pace. He didn’t have any money, or any sort of treasure to barter with. And even if he did, what good would that do him?

“There has to be something,” he said. “Some kind of weapon.”

He fumed as he paced. Everything he’d tried so far had failed miserably. First, he’d gone to see the witches. They had told him that he needed to find the light, but they refused to tell him where it was. Then he’d gone to see an old sage, hoping he might know something. The man had just shrugged at him and told him to keep searching.

Now, he was all out of ideas. He had wandered aimlessly through the kingdom, asking everyone he met if they knew anything. Most of them had said no, or that they didn’t want to get involved. The ones that did say something, he could hardly believe. One man told him he should look in the mountains, while another insisted that he search the plains. Then he’d met a young boy who’d told him it was in the ocean.

“Of course it’s in the ocean,” he said to himself. “That’s where everything is.”

He closed his eyes and sighed. There had to be something. One thing he could do. One place he could go.

A flash of inspiration struck him. He raced over to his desk and began to rifle through the drawers. There was no time to waste.

He tossed aside everything that didn’t look promising, until finally his hand closed around a small wooden box.

“Yes!” he yelled, pulling it out.

He didn’t bother opening it. He would figure that out later.

“This is good. I’ll take this.”

He put the box in his pocket and went back to the fireplace. He grabbed a couple logs, a few sticks, and a handful of coal.

“Now, where did I put that?”

He searched the room until he found the small iron box. His father had given it to him, telling him it was important. He’d never opened it, but now he would use it to make his own weapon.

“Just gotta get rid of this stuff first,” he said.

He took the lid off the iron box and dumped out the contents. Two things fell out -- a key and a golden ring.

“Not exactly what I had in mind,” he said.

He shoved everything in the box aside, and set the iron box down on the floor. He took the logs and the sticks and laid them on the floor, then he got the coal and spread it out.

“Now, let’s see here,” he said. He picked up the key and turned it over in his hands. “Heh. This is perfect.”

He put the key down on one end of the logs and got the ring. He placed it next to the key, and then he got the coal.

“Alright, now here goes nothing,” he said.

He held the coal over the ring and key, and waited. The coal began to glow red hot, and he took it away.

“Ha!”

He stared down at the glowing coal. As he watched it, the coal slowly turned molten and began to drip down onto the logs. The wood caught fire, and suddenly the entire pile was ablaze.

“Yes!” he yelled. “Yes! I did it!”

He threw his hands up in the air and jumped up and down. He was so excited that he couldn’t stop moving.

“I did it! I did it! I did it!”

He thought he heard a noise from outside his door, but he ignored it. He was too busy celebrating.

“I did it!”