Sarah flopped face down onto the bed with a sigh at the simple joy of being horizontal. She had managed to kick her shoes off, but was too exhausted to deal with her clothes. There was always the option of using magic to undress, but in her current state, she wasn’t certain if the attempt would fizzle out or start a fire and decided that being clothed and unsinged was the safer option.
There had been a recent spate of girls wishing themselves away. Sarah and Jareth had been passing each other like ships in the night as they answered each summons. When your geographical reference was a child’s bedroom, the Labyrinth seamlessly translated the exchange and the wishers were currently in isolation, it had taken them a while to realise that the girls all came from the same community.
Sarah’s initial contact with them gave her the understanding that they were terrified and their current circumstances were so dire that they didn’t care if the price of being taken was to be turned into a goblin.
The deep trauma was obvious, but their healers had given a fuller picture. You didn’t wish yourself away to an unknown outcome unless you were desperate. The bedrooms Sarah had seen were what she would have regarded as belonging to fairly well off families. The girls had sizable rooms that weren’t shared with siblings, rooms that were littered with school books and plush toys and at first glance they all seemed to be healthy.
Reports from the healers changed that narrative. Several of the girls bore evidence of self harm, all bore signs of sexual assault, but more disturbing was the news that two of the wishers were pregnant. Jareth had gone very quiet when he learned that a ten year old was expecting and Sarah didn’t hold out much hope for the rapist to be surviving for long once he was identified, but that would have to wait until they had dealt with their new arrivals.
“You look as exhausted as I feel, my love.”
Sarah startled, not realising that she’d fallen asleep until Jareth had woken her. She rolled over and blinked up at him, noting that while he still looked as impeccably dressed as always, his eyes were heavily shadowed. Sarah reached out and pulled him into bed, wrapping her arms tightly around him.
“The younger girl won’t survive the pregnancy, but I doubt that the older one is emotionally or physically equipped to handle it.”
Jareth nuzzled into Sarah's neck and hummed his agreement. “The healers have been working with the families who will be accepting those girls. The women are getting the magical equivalent of Above fertility hormones and they’ll be able to transfer the embryos across.”
While Sarah wasn’t sure she’d be as excited about a surprise pregnancy, she supposed if you’d been trying to conceive for centuries and had just been gifted with not one, but two children, then you would perhaps have a different perspective.
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ninetydegrees
Context
2025-01-28 09:42 (UTC)Sarah flopped face down onto the bed with a sigh at the simple joy of being horizontal. She had managed to kick her shoes off, but was too exhausted to deal with her clothes. There was always the option of using magic to undress, but in her current state, she wasn’t certain if the attempt would fizzle out or start a fire and decided that being clothed and unsinged was the safer option.
There had been a recent spate of girls wishing themselves away. Sarah and Jareth had been passing each other like ships in the night as they answered each summons. When your geographical reference was a child’s bedroom, the Labyrinth seamlessly translated the exchange and the wishers were currently in isolation, it had taken them a while to realise that the girls all came from the same community.
Sarah’s initial contact with them gave her the understanding that they were terrified and their current circumstances were so dire that they didn’t care if the price of being taken was to be turned into a goblin.
The deep trauma was obvious, but their healers had given a fuller picture. You didn’t wish yourself away to an unknown outcome unless you were desperate. The bedrooms Sarah had seen were what she would have regarded as belonging to fairly well off families. The girls had sizable rooms that weren’t shared with siblings, rooms that were littered with school books and plush toys and at first glance they all seemed to be healthy.
Reports from the healers changed that narrative. Several of the girls bore evidence of self harm, all bore signs of sexual assault, but more disturbing was the news that two of the wishers were pregnant. Jareth had gone very quiet when he learned that a ten year old was expecting and Sarah didn’t hold out much hope for the rapist to be surviving for long once he was identified, but that would have to wait until they had dealt with their new arrivals.
“You look as exhausted as I feel, my love.”
Sarah startled, not realising that she’d fallen asleep until Jareth had woken her. She rolled over and blinked up at him, noting that while he still looked as impeccably dressed as always, his eyes were heavily shadowed. Sarah reached out and pulled him into bed, wrapping her arms tightly around him.
“The younger girl won’t survive the pregnancy, but I doubt that the older one is emotionally or physically equipped to handle it.”
Jareth nuzzled into Sarah's neck and hummed his agreement. “The healers have been working with the families who will be accepting those girls. The women are getting the magical equivalent of Above fertility hormones and they’ll be able to transfer the embryos across.”
While Sarah wasn’t sure she’d be as excited about a surprise pregnancy, she supposed if you’d been trying to conceive for centuries and had just been gifted with not one, but two children, then you would perhaps have a different perspective.