It is surprisingly difficult to pretend that something which is so clearly there, isn't.
But then, Sarah mused, wandering half-lost in thought down the rain-soaked sidewalk, after a lifetime of practice one does get used to it.
It hadn't really been her whole life. It had started when she was 15, but the time before that was someone else's life. Someone who could go outside without worrying who or what they would see. Someone who didn't live in constant fear. Someone who still believed in magic.
Now she didn't need to believe in magic, because it was quite unmistakably there. Everywhere she turned there was some creature of myth or another, and they would all certainly leave nothing left of her but dust if she gave any indication that she knew they were there.
And to think that according to legends that disregard all reality, the Sight is some sacred gift, Sarah scoffed to herself. Squeezing around other briefcase-laden pedestrians, she carefully avoided looking at the tiny fairy who also weaved among the humans, occasionally biting one and laughing when they slapped at the spot it had long since vacated. Some gift this is.
Well, maybe it was a gift. A gift from someone she'd rather forget. Someone who had burst through the windows on that cliché dark and stormy night, filled her life with magic and danger and fear and turned her world upside down.
And offered her a gift…
One she hadn't accepted, but had seemingly ended up with anyways.
Ever since that night, the night she had called on Him—Sarah shivered slightly—she had been able to See. She Saw the world as she suspected it had always been. Filled with magic: filled with fairies and goblins and dwarves and brownies and will o' the wisps and elves and monsters and fairy rings and things that shouldn't have been and occasionally, very occasionally, a flash of piercing blue eyes in two different shades or a glimpse of pale gold hair. But Sarah could never quite catch up to those last two things.
Sarah strode towards the bus stop up ahead. She lived in a crowded New York city, but people used taxis, not buses. Therefore, the bus stop (consisting of a small glass shelter littered with graffiti and a dilapidated wooden bench) was nearly empty, save for the small goblin huddled on the corner of the bench. Sarah did her best to sit as far away from the goblin as she could without seeming suspicious.
Thinking of goblins reminded her of Him. She couldn't wait until she finally got the opportunity to give him a piece of her mind and then demand he take his unwanted gift back. And that was the only reason she wanted to talk to him, she told herself firmly. That was it. If not for this curse, she'd be happy not to see him again for the rest of her life and every lifetime after that.
And it really was a curse. Sarah wasn't stupid. She knew that if she let on that she could see the creatures, they would quite happily tear her apart. If her eyes lingered on one for a second too long, if her expression changed in the slightest upon seeing a particularly repulsive creature, if she showed any fear or surprise or awareness—it would be game over. The fae would not want their secrets getting out. They were largely unseen and unknown, and that was how they liked it.
Sarah wasn't foolish enough to think that He would save her. Hell, he probably wanted her dead. Maybe that was what this was. A long-winded and cruelly ironic way of killing her. To doom the girl who had longed for magic in her life to a fearful and suspicious life, and eventual horrific death, all because of what she had wanted most. What she had wished for.
Sarah chuckled quietly to herself, ignoring the goblin's sleepily curious glance. Now that was a clever plan. She'd have to applaud him for it, when she finally found him. She knew she would find him, eventually.
Undoubtedly, he wanted her to call him. And she was certainly tempted, but she just couldn't bring herself to give him the satisfaction.
Beside her, the goblin stretched and began adding to the graffiti on the walls. Sarah kept her gaze fixed ahead.
Too fixed, perhaps.
After about five minutes of her sitting motionless and wishing the bus would arrive, already, Sarah risked a glance at the goblin and found it staring back at her. The two made eye contact that lasted just a beat too long, and then the goblin's eyes narrowed. It hissed in satisfaction and promptly disappeared.
Sarah sighed, a long-suffering and actually somewhat relieved sigh. The gig was up.
She knew what would happen next. Perhaps it would be better this way. She would at least get to express her…displeasure with his gift, before he killed her. It was preferable to being torn apart by some sharp-fanged, blood-scented creature lurking in the dark of an alley.
Wasn't it?
Just as she began to seriously ponder this question, he appeared beside her. No glitter cloud, no dramatic entrance, just empty space one moment and him the next.
Sarah didn't look at him and he didn't look at her.
Finally, after an eternity of silence and stillness and frozen time, he spoke. "I'm rather disappointed, Sarah. All these years and you make an amateur mistake."
She scoffed. "I imagine you'd have preferred I called on you myself and begged you to take this horrible curse away." Her voice was heavy with sarcasm, but also laced with bitterness, and he did not miss it.
He sighed, an imitation of regret. "Oh, Sarah. I thought this is what you wanted? You wanted magic, you wanted adventure, you wanted to be special, and I have only ever given you what you wanted. I have tried so very hard to fulfill your expectations."
Words from long ago echoed through her mind. "Isn't that generous?" she murmured, and earned a quick, sharp-toothed grin from him. There was silence for a while, almost peaceful, and then he said, simply,
"Why do you think I am here, Sarah?"
Slowly, gradually, as if she was dealing with a very dangerous and temperamental creature (which she most certainly was), Sarah rolled her shoulders, exhaled quietly, and turned to look at the Goblin King.
He hadn't changed. But Sarah didn't remember ever being as shocked by his beauty as she was now. He was still a perfect picture of otherness, his hair golden and charmingly uneven, his clothes dark, close-fitting, and well-suited to him. His face was still perfect and inhuman and intimidating and alluring and suddenly Sarah realized she had been staring for too long. He raised an eyebrow slightly and she remembered that he had asked a question.
Sarah cleared her throat slightly. "Well, I assume you're here to finish me off. That's been the long-term goal all along, hasn't it?"
A look of genuine surprise crossed his face, followed by bemused amusement. "You…Sarah, if I wanted you dead, you would be dead. Now, if something else had killed you, something more…unsavory…, well, I would not have minded very much." The Goblin King shrugged. "But you have been smart enough to survive thus far, and I think it's time we end this charade. You don't belong here, Sarah."
Sarah, who had been frowning quite deeply at his words (what did he mean he wouldn't have minded?) looked up at his last sentence, eyebrows drawn together. "Excuse me? I don't belong here? You- are you trying to drag me off to the Labyrinth? After you just said you wouldn't care if I was dead?" And if I don't belong here, it's because of you. It's all because of you.
The Goblin King's eyes narrowed. "I am not trying to 'drag you off' to the Labyrinth. It is where you truly belong, and I suspect you know that. And as for the other part…think of the past several years as a test, of sorts. You proved your intelligence in knowing to hide from us, and your cunning in successfully doing so. You already had the sense of adventure and magic within you. Many would lose their minds in your place, but you have proved your strength. And," he touched her hand lightly, a sweet shock going through her at the brush of his leather glove on her skin, "if it makes any difference, I am glad you are alive."
"What…" Sarah shook her head, feeling as if things were getting slightly out of control, "what was this 'test' for?" She studied his face, searching, hoping, and dreading all at once for any sign that this was all a joke, a predator playing with its prey before going in for the kill. But she could detect no levity; his expression was solemn and almost anticipatory as he rose and stepped out of the bus shelter, leading her with him.
The pair stood in the middle of the impossibly empty New York street. Sarah suspected some time altering was occurring. The blank grey sky looked down on them as the Goblin King, still lightly holding Sarah's hand, spoke. "You have a choice once again, Sarah. You can remain here, in this world that suffocates you, with this life that is killing you, or you can join me. For many years, the Labyrinth has searched for a suitable queen, and many have fallen short. You, however, have conquered the Labyrinth and solved the tests set before you. You showed kindness and selflessness in solving the Labyrinth and rescuing your brother, and you proved your resourcefulness and strength of mind in surviving all these years in a world where you did not belong, with death inches away if you so much as looked at it. The Labyrinth has chosen you as its own, Sarah. Please," and the Goblin King conjured a crystal and held it out to her, eyes beseeching her, "come home."
Sarah was aware that she was trembling slightly. She couldn't think, couldn't understand. This had all been some cruel test? Why should she do anything to help something that would risk her death just to see if she was right for the job? And for that matter, why should she help someone who wouldn't have cared if she had died?
But Sarah looked up at the Goblin King and knew he had lied. Someone with such desperation on their face, such pleading in their eyes, could only have been feigning indifference. He cared. Whether he cared for her specifically, or whether he was simply unbelievably lonely, Sarah couldn't say, but he did care.
Unable to believe that she was actually considering this, Sarah thought of what she had in this world. She had never had more than a cordial relationship with her parents, even after The Night, and while she loved Toby dearly, she knew he would be fine without the sister he only even saw once every few months. She didn't have a social life, couldn't afford to when just going outside was nerve-wracking. And her job as an artist (she didn't have to leave the apartment to go to work and she could acknowledge the creatures she saw everyday by painting them, and it was completely acceptable!) could be done anywhere.
Sarah knew her answer.
There were so many unknowns, but she honestly didn't have anything to lose. She looked the Goblin King in the eyes, and almost gently reached out and took the crystal from his outstretched hand. An expression of surprise and complete joy lit up his face, and Sarah smiled too. She didn't know if he loved her or if he ever would, but she would be where she belonged, and for now, that was all that mattered.
A swirl of glitter swept around the two of them, faster and faster until they were completely engulfed, and then slowed and drifted to the ground. Time resumed. Cars and people filled the street, and the sounds of shouting and cars honking began again. The ever-busy, completely non-magical city was back to normal, and the only sign that anything out of the ordinary had ever occurred was the dusting of glitter on the dark grey pavement.
A/N: So that was just something I had in my head and had to get on paper. It's my first fanfic, so I would really appreciate any criticism you guys have so that I can improve! Thanks for reading!