Yes I know I should finish my other fan fictions before starting this one, but I desperately needed to vomit this one onto before my head exploded. Enjoy!
It was another long night at the bar. Sarah sighed as she mixed her millionth martini, accepted a tip and waited for another order. It wasn't a bad bar. It had a better reputation than most of the others in town and the townspeople always gave her decent tips.
"Hey Sarah," Harry called from the other side of the room, waving his empty glass at her. "Hit me up with another one."
Sarah laughed at the guy and refilled his glass with beer. There was a kind of peace in the bar. Harry was here most Saturdays and drank himself stupid, John and James would always try their hand at picking up a girl or two to take home and Michelle would come most nights, usually with another bruise or scratch on her. In fact, Sarah knew all the faces in the bar so well, when someone new walked in the bar a minute later, she openly stared.
The stranger had short, dark hair, a leather jacket, ripped jeans and work boots. Something about him screamed bad boy in a stay away from me sort of way. The stranger made his way over to the bar and sat down.
"Can I get you something?" Sarah asked, wiping some suspicious liquid off the counter.
May, a waitress in the bar, saw the man and fled instantly, a look of horror on her face. Sarah looked at the man, a question burning on her lips. Suddenly, the man lunged at her. Sarah dodged just in time and the man fell behind the bar, taking a shelf of glasses and alcohols with him.
Sarah backed away from him slowly when she suddenly felt a hand on her shoulder. She blinked. Where was she? Sarah looked cautiously around. She was in a white marble room with a very high ceiling. Two thrones were sitting at the other end of the throne room, with marble steps leading up to them.
Sarah turned around to look at whoever was holding her shoulder. It was a woman, who only looked around 26, if even. Her light brown hair curled around her face and her long blue dress complemented her tiny figure well, despite her being several inches taller than Sarah. Her necklace had two small clam shells on it.
"Sorry for the lack of introduction," the woman said, smiling a little. "I'm Charlotte." She offered her hand. Sarah shook it carefully.
"Sarah."
"I know," Charlotte replied, sighing.
"Who was that man?" Sarah asked.
"No one who meant well," Charlotte replied, motioning Sarah to follow her. They left the throne room and Charlotte led her down corridor after corridor. They didn't meet anyone along the way.
"Where am I?" Sarah asked.
"The fairy kingdom."
"The what?"
"Come now, you didn't think the Goblin Kingdom was the only one around here did you?"
"No, it's just, why am I here?"
"Well, at the moment all the kingdoms are at war with each other," Charlotte said rather matter-of-factly. "No one's sure what started it, but the Goblin King and the Fairy King have too much pride to settle their differences and make a treaty."
"How long has the war been going on?"
"About ten years," Charlotte replied.
Ten years…that's how long it's been since she'd defeated Jareth and gone home; something she'd regretted every day since.
"It has nothing to do with you, Sarah," Charlotte said, looking at her. "You may have been the straw that broke the camel's back, but believe me, there was plenty of straw there to begin with."
"Who's winning?" Sarah asked.
"Well, the Goblin King won a battle a few days ago and the High King won the battle yesterday."
"Which side are we on?" Sarah asked, trying to sound indifferent.
"The High King's," Charlotte replied. "I know the feeling," she added to Sarah's scared look. "I don't want to be against the Goblin King either, especially not now, but I don't have much of a choice."
"Can't you send me over to his kingdom?" Sarah asked, almost begging. She didn't like being on this side.
"I can't. Right now, each kingdom has a magical protective wall up so that no one comes in or out, with the exception of the injured."
"Then what do I do?"
Charlotte shrugged, almost looking sad. "Hope the Goblin King wins."
They reached their destination. Charlotte opened the door. A huge bedroom, larger than Sarah's apartment was revealed. The gauze curtains around the four-poster bed fluttered in an unseen wind. There was also a roaring fireplace and a carpet, two chairs and a table between them.
"Is this my room?" Sarah asked, walking inside slowly.
"Yes. The door there leads to mine. For right now, you're to be my lady-in-waiting." Sarah gave Charlotte an offended look. "I'm queen," Charlotte added. "Look, if you don't want to end up in the dungeon strung by your toenails, go along with it."
"What do I have to do?"
"Follow me around and get me cheese and crackers from the kitchen when I want it," Charlotte replied. "Stay quite unless spoken directly to. There's more, but you'll learn that tomorrow."
"Tomorrow?"
"If you're going to be my lady-in-waiting, you need a little training," Charlotte replied. "Nothing painful, just things like how to dance, what not to say in front of visiting dignitaries and the like. Unless you'd rather me announce I have the Labyrinth's champion captive in the dungeon and unless the Goblin King surrendered she would be killed."
Sarah nodded. She wasn't scared of this woman, far from it. She could tell they would get along well. "Alright, I accept."
"Good." Charlotte took one of the shells off her necklace and another chain magically appeared. She put the new necklace onto Sarah. "Humans are looked down on in my kingdom. This is my way of saying 'if you mess with this girl, you are displeasing your royalty,' and believe me, no one wants to do that."
Sarah grinned. "Good night, your majesty."
"It's still Charlotte when not in the company of others," Charlotte corrected. "Good night, Sarah." She left through the door to her room.
"Good night," Sarah said to the closed door.
Soo...what do you think? Let me know!