Disclaimer: I do not own any of the characters or setting in any way. I just love them so much I needed to keep it going :)

Chapter One: The not-so-perfect Ending

"But, should you need us." the little knight said.

"Yes, should you need us..." agreed the dwarf.

"I'll call. Thank you, all of you." her answer was.

These were the last sentences that were spoken between three friends with the gentle giant staying silent.

Sarah gave one last look at her three friends, Hoggle, Sir Didymus, and Ludo, before turning to meet her rival who was just a room away

This man was an enigma. Someone who completely eluded Sarah. He was all that existed in night, the good and bad that always seemed to be at war with each other in the shadows. He was as vicious as a predator hot on the hunt and unpredictable as a cornered animal. And yet, he still was something that could not be fully comprehended within the time Sarah had been battling the labyrinth.

Sarah stepped into this room to meet her foe. She was struck speechless. There were no words to describe what a bizarre world she had just entered (and that's saying a lot from where she just came from)

I suppose I'll find those words, however. This room was a large cube-like room with stairs that were on all six sides. It was like a taste of insanity that came from a trip into a dream. When you think you are walking up the stairs, someone could be walking down the stairs directly underneath you if the room flip-flopped. This kind of craziness was everywhere in this room.

A twinge of excitement ran down her spine and over her immense fear upon walking in this room. That painting was her favorite and she had spent many of hours imagining herself walking through it all, defying gravity so as to explore every nook and cranny of the enchanting room. This too was an enigma.

She took a breath and began down the first stairs available, then up the next set that presented itself. She came to the edge and that's when she heard his voice crawl eerily up to ear from beneath her. Sarah looked down to see her reflection like she was looking into a pool of water.

But wait! No... it wasn't her, it was him. Walking on the other side of her stairs as if gravity decided that, for him, it would reverse itself.

Finally the Goblin King had come out of the shadows for the final showdown between him and Sarah with her baby brother, Toby, on the line.

Sarah had foolishly wished her baby brother to be taken away by the goblins and the king was more than obliged. He came to her window and laid down the rules of the game. It was obvious right away that this was not some kind of joke and Sarah had wanted her brother back the instant she realized he was gone. This made the last thirteen hours a series of obstacles that tested her intelligence while facing dangers untold, numerous fears, while still making friends along the way. This was the Labyrinth. As complicated as it's creator.

Now, it was down to the wire and Sarah had made it to the castle beyond the goblin city. There was absolutely no turning back and no telling what lay ahead of her. All she knew was that her heart was set and determined to return her baby brother home at all costs. Any cost.

After the first initial shock of seeing the frightening goblin king directly underneath her, she noticed a familiar red and white striped figure from the corner of her eye.

"Toby!" Sarah yelled, trying in vain to capture the child's attention to coaxed him over to her.

The child seemed to not even acknowledge her and proceeded to climb on the stairs he was currently on.

Sarah then took off running up and down stairs, trying to get to the destination of her toddler brother, not even realizing her trip from the wall to the ceiling to the floor. The problem was, every time she looked up from her running it seemed that Toby was even further from her than before. The prospect of making it to Toby on time seemed to be getting worse and worse.

Sarah finally got herself into the position of being above Toby and he was just a jump away. Sarah took that leap without thinking twice.

As soon as her feet left the ground the clock started to ring. The ringing filled up her ears and all of her senses became aware of the cold hard fact as she plummeted down. Time was up.

"I lost!" her head rang.

"I LOST!"

Sarah fell down, down... down...

She slowed down and gently landed on a platform. Looking around she realized the platform was suspended in a desolate space, as if the entire room she was in just shattered and sucked away all of the underground only to leave some remaining ruble floating around her. It truly felt like the end if the game.

Questions plagued her mind. Where am I? Am I still in the castle? Am I now condemned to this terrible void for losing the game? OH GOD! Where is Toby?!

As her head spun in circles without any conclusions, there was a movement in the shadows. Sarah noticed this and held her breath. She took a step back, apprehensive at discovering what it was.

Suddenly the Goblin King stepped forward, dressed in cream breeches and poet's shirt with a high collared cape shrouded in white and cream feathers. His hair was a light blond that seemed to float in the air, creating the look of the feathers continuing from the cape onto his head. His high arched eyebrows and piercing eyes gave nothing away to what lay behind them. He looked exactly as how she always imagined him during the long hours of make-believe she played during simpler times.

Ahhhh, childhood imagination. If only she could go back...

Sarah did not say anything. Her mind swam to grasp a possible way of getting her brother back even though she had heard the bell toll. Could this really be happening? Maybe the ringing was just in her head and was cause by the sudden jump to Toby.

Sarah decided she would just let him say the first words just to see what the outcome really was. To see if she had really lost her precious, precious prize.

The Goblin King sized Sarah up. Then, a hint of a smile revealed itself in the right hand corner of his mouth, making her heart drop.

"You lose" he said quietly. The Goblin king turned around to leave with his hands folded behind his back and cape billowing behind him in a state of complete finality.

Sarah's temper started to rise and her flood of questions could not be contained any more.

"What do you mean I lose?! Where is Toby?! What's going to happen to me? This isn't how the game was supposed to end!!"

The Goblin King turned around once again with no sign of any emotion on his face.

"When I say you lose, I mean just that.." he paused for effect, then added "But you will be sent home right away, while you brother will be staying here with me as another goblin in my castle." With that, he turned once again to leave.

Sarah watched the Goblin King leaving, dumbstruck. Why couldn't this be a dream?! This has to be a dream! With every ounce of her being, she closed her eyes and wished that it was nothing but a dream. But deep in her heart she knew it was true and knew she needed to act quickly be fore it was too late for Toby. There was no going back to change the events that had occurred, but maybe she could do some the events yet to be. After all, there was no way she could live with herself without having her little brother around, knowing it was she who condemned him to the life of servitude to such a cold ruler, in the form of a brainless goblin no less.

As the king walked back to the shadows from whence he came from, the void Sarah was in started melting all around her.

"Wait, please! Don't go! Take me! Let Toby go home! I'm the one who deserves to be condemned because of my actions, not him!" She screamed her plea into the darkening world around her and then... nothing.

It felt like an eternity past.

Then there was a small light in the darkness. It moved in close to her, then far away in a taunting manner, like an adult hanging candy over a small child putting it in reach and pulling away as soon as the child tries to snatch it. She suddenly had the strong feeling that getting this light was the only way to get her sanity back. But getting to the point of almost having her fingers on it, the light would shudder as if frightened then bounce playfully away from her. It would get practically to the point of disappearing, then allow her to get near to it all over again. This happened several times and she could never grasp that wisp of sanity that teased her so, try as she might.

Panic had set in. Sarah's thoughts became wordless and existed only through emotions and they were running wild and making her heart frantically race. She broke off into a wild, reckless run. No longer was she focusing on the light. All she wanted was for this to end and her primitive instincts were dictating her actions and brought her to running. Adrenalin rushing, she felt as if she were covering vast lands of darkness. Her lungs felt as if they were being stabbed by thousands of tiny knives and they soon stopped taking in enough oxygen. Still, she ran.

Soon there was nothing left in her to keep her running; She collapsed and could no longer comprehend anything.

When Sarah came to, she was on the floor of a cell. The air was moist with the smell of mold tickling her nose. She looked around and there was a cot in the corner, with a hole in the ground for going to the bathroom she assumed. There were no windows, only a door. The room resembled the typical jail cell.

Everything that had happened during her trippy experience in the nothingness and before that was as clear as day in her mind and questions of what actually took place raked her head causeing it to hurt. Did the Goblin King take the deal? Maybe he decided to just take them both and get two goblins for the price of one!

"That seems pretty in character for him", thought Sarah, reflecting on all the perils she was forced to go through just because she said something stupid in height of emotion. Doesn't he know what it's like being a teenager?! And when she told him she wanted her brother back, wasn't that just as valid of a request as wanting him taken away? It seemed to her that this Goblin King was capable of anything. He would go through any means of getting what he wanted using power, fear, and deception!

Sarah walked up to the metal door. She grabbed the handle and tried to open it, already knowing it was locked. Still, she had to try. There was a tiny window on the door that she then looked out of. There was nothing to be seen that would let her know where she was, nobody to let her know why she was there, and nothing to give her any hope of escaping.

With nothing else to look at, she shuffled to the cot to sit. She felt like she had a few bruises on her side and knew she must have been just thrown into the cell and left on the floor to wake up on her own. How long had she been there for? From the feel of it, it had been quite some time. She really didn't want to know.

Well, it had to be only a matter of time before somebody came hopefully. So she sat and waited. Instead of just thinking about the same questions over and over again, she thought about the last time she ate. How long ago was that peach? Many hours ago, and that was just a single bite of food. Her thoughts just kept going in circles during the next three hours going from wondering where she was to Toby to food to her friends and then back around.

Her friends... she should have told them she needed them. Maybe they could have helped track Toby down before that damn clock tolled...

Suddenly she heard footsteps echoing down the corridor. They were loud sure steps that walked with a casualness about them. A sudden image came to mind of her being on death row and the prison guard was coming to finish her off. She sat on the cot in silence waiting to see if these footsteps where destined for her cell. Sure enough, the cell door slowly swung open and a shaded figure stepped in slowly. The silhouette was unmistakable though. Sarah held her breath.

"You have been brought here because I have graciously and generously accepted your deal. Your brother has been sent home to grow up and live a normal life. They no longer know of your existence. You, however, will take his place and you will fear me, obey me, and I will be your master. Is there anything you do not understand?"

"Are you going to turn me into a goblin?"

"No. I do not desire you to become a dim-witted goblin. There are plenty of those maggots running around here. You will be much more entertaining as you are." at this comment Sarah looked indignantly at the Goblin King and he added with a smirk, "Don't worry Sarah, I have no desire to make you my mistress. You are too young and too... naive. Know that this will not be a ball. And this will not be out of a book. You are here for eternity so know you place and accept it. There is little else you need to be aware of. I will leave you now until I desire your services. Felgun!"

At this a goblin came in with a tray of food and drink and set it on the ground and hurried back out of the door.

"Sarah, you are free to move about the castle, but beware: should you in any way break this agreement, I will not hesitate to give you an even worse fate."

With that, he left Sarah alone to accept her fate and eat her desperately needed dinner. It was something she never had seen before in her life and could not start guessing what it was. She gave it a taste and was very surprised!

"At least the food is good." and so it seemed that would be the only light in this dark cell.