It was the next day after she beat the labyrinth that she became aware of it. At first, all she knew was that her food tasted... Wrong. She thought it was just thought she was coming down with a cold, and thought nothing of it.

She went to school, and acted as though nothing unusual had happened the night before. Her fellow students sensed it though. It was her best friend Louise who said something about it.

"What happened to you? You seem to have grown up over night. I haven't heard you say that something wasn't fair." She said as they got in line for their lunch.

"Life isn't fair. And besides, what can I use as a base to compare if something's fair?" She replied. She had a smile on her face that Louise could only describe as though Sarah was in on a joke -- yet it also had an edge to say that the only other person who could understand the joke wouldn't listen. Shrugging it off as part of the new maturity, they started discussing school work.

Sarah got a great shock when she got her serving of dessert: peach cobbler. Sitting down she stared at it as though it was going to attack her. When she felt someone tap her shoulder she jumped, glaring at the responsible party.

"Sorry," Alice said, raising her hands in defense. "I was just trying to find out if you were planning on going to the school dance, because my mum won't let me go unless I double with someone."

"Um… I doubt it. You know as well as I do that most of the guys would rather cut off their hand than to ask me out." She replied, munching on her fries.

"What about that one guy in drama you were telling me about yesterday? I thought you said he seemed to have been giving you the eye." Louise asked, wiggling her eyebrows.

"I don't know. I doubt he'd ask me though. Hey, does your food taste weird to anyone else?"

"You mean, weirder than it normally is?" Alice replied, causing all of them to laugh. "Hey, what's your beef with the cobbler anyways?"

"What do you mean?" Sarah asked.

"Well, normally you eat your dessert first. Yet today you've been avoiding it like it's going to poison you or something. You won't even touch any of your food that's near it."

"I just… want to do something a bit different." She replied, grabbing the plate to prove her point. Picking up her fork, she took a small bite, insides shaking. Pausing for a moment, she realized that it almost – Almost – tasted like the fruit she was used to. She continued to eat the rest, and went back to her other food, which didn't satisfy her nearly as much.

That night as she slept she dreamt of the Labyrinth, and of other places she had never visited but knew instinctively to also be part of the Underground. When she woke, she felt as though she had never closed her eyes. Shrugging it off to restless sleep, she got ready for the day.

Her life continued in much the same way it had before her adventure, with a couple of noticeable differences. At first, she came up with simple excuses as to why her food never had as rich taste as before, such as that she was sick, or it wasn't made right. The only thing that seemed to come close to satisfying her was peaches.

The second difference was that she was losing weight, and fast. Irene started to worry, claiming she had an eating disorder. She left pamphlets about anorexia and bulimia around the house, which only caused Sarah to roll her eyes. Secretly she worried about her weight loss as well, but wasn't able to explain what was wrong with her. She ate just as much as she used to, but it just didn't seem to be sustaining her.

She assumed that was to blame for her continually being tired. She would sleep each night, but just as that first night when she woke she felt as though she had never closed her eyes.

After a few weeks of her trying to continue with her life in spite of everything she was forced to admit to herself that something was wrong. She went to the doctors but all he said was that she was losing a lot of weight, and was she eating like she should? She assured him that she was, and thanked him for his effort.

Meanwhile she continued to lose weight, and feel exhausted. The only time she felt like she used to was in her dreams. The only other time she felt close to the way she had before was when she was talking with her friends.

They too had noticed her changes, but they had assumed it was just something that mortals did. It wasn't until she said something about how she was worried did they realize it wasn't natural.

"Sawah sick?" Ludo asked, breaking the shocked silence that fell after her admission.

"Yeah Ludo, I think I am," she replied. After a second she brightened, and offered sweets to distract them.

However Hoggle wasn't fooled. He was the oldest and most world wise of the three, and he had an inkling of what might be happening.

When he returned to his home he started to ask each of the older citizens what they knew of the times when the fae and mortal lived together, and with each answer he received his fear and suspicion grew.

He knew he was correct when he asked one of the selie court when they came to visit.

"The lothlong is when a person withers away because of a longing for the worlds magic and unseen. It was the cause of many deaths in the time before the entrances were hidden."

"And... What causes it?"

"Eating food of our world. Why do you ask after such thing so solemn and sad master dwarf? Is not the times of mortals visiting is long past?"

"Not here they ain't." Hoggle muttered heart broken.

"Of what do you speak?"

"As ye know, our Majesty is charged with the care of children who have been lost or forgotten by they parents. Well a few months ago a young girl wished the goblins would come and take her younger brother away. When she asked for him back he made a bet with her."

"Jareth the heartless even considered giving the child back?"

"This woman was... Different. And he ain't so heartless anymore.

"But while she was running the Labyrinth she ate a peach. Isn't there any way to save her?" Hoggle pleaded.

"I'm sorry my young friend, but the only way to save your mortal friend is if she were to forget that she ever came to our fair realm."

Hoggle nodded his understanding dejectedly, and started walking home.

Two sets of eyes watched him go, thinking quietly. Finally the silence was broke when Jareth took the last couple of steps to round the corner. "My Lord, how may I be of service?" He asked.

"Your Majesty," came the reply, as the other man stood and bowed. "Her Supreme Royal Majesty, Queen Titania requests your presents tonight for a gala event her husband the Royal Consort, His Royal Majesty King Oberon has planned."

"Tell her Majesty I am honored by the request but will be unable to attend to her tonight as I have a prior engagement. Also please inform our Supreme ruler that as a way to show my deepest sorrow I will be attending the next few weeks of court," Jareth replied, wincing slightly even as he said the words.

The other man bowed again, and said "I will inform her Majesty. I'm sure she will be sorrowed to hear of your unable to attend, but will be overjoyed to hear of return after such a long absence from court." Jareth nodded his head, and waved his hand in dismissal. The other man looked at him for a moment, before he smiled unnoticed in understanding.

As Sarah fell into bed that night she didn't notice the small owl sitting on the branch outside her window. She was too exhausted from keeping up appearances to notice much of anything anymore.

She had spent the last hour struggling to stay away long enough to finish her homework. As scared as she was to admit it, she knew the constant fatigue wasn't caused by the emotional strain she had gone through. It was being caused by something else, and for the life of her she could figure out what would be causing so many problems. She was asleep the second she closed her eyes.

She wasn't aware when her windows was opened, or when the owl came in and transformed into the one man she tried to avoid thinking about despite the fact he was always there lingering in the back. Nor did she feel the crystal he summoned and set on her chest.

As it touch her chest it started to glow, and change color. If you looked closely you might have caught the flash of an image from the past. Jareth however only looked at her face, peaceful for the first time in many days.

"Ah Sarah, this should not have been your fate. Please allow me to undo what I can for you." He said, reaching forward to touch her, before thinking better of it. Sighing, he examined his surroundings. It had continued to change after that first night back. She had put back some of her posters, as well as the pictures of her mother. Some of her more loyal stuffies were in there place, but it was plain by the layer of dust on them they were no longer for play. Gone were the small nic-nacks and bobbles that held her to childhood.

Turning back to her, he realized that the crystal was no longer glowing. Picking it up, he watched the colors spin and dance, reminding him of a moment they had shared not long ago in an identical sphere. Rolling it along his hands, he watched her for another moment. "I shall not be so cruel as to take away everything. If you wish you shall still have your friendship with the beings of the faerie world, but only in dreams you wake up from and don't remember what was happening."

He watched her for another moment before he could bare it no longer. Turning around, he put the crystal into his pocket before transforming into an owl. Flying out the window he entered his own realm through the entrance in the park.


If anyone is actually watching me rather than just the stories anymore and bothers to read this know that I am going to eventually post the final chapter of "What's Real?". The only thing that's stopping me is the fact that I typed like 3/4ths of it at my grandparents house and keep on forgetting to grab it while I'm there for lunch. (It's so nice to work near grandparents... they provide you with food if you forget to grab some.)

Anywho, this is going to be a new "series" (I use that not as a multi-fic but more multi-chapter.) I do have the plot all figured out, and am actually working on the first chapter as we speak. I'll post it as soon as I get done. (Which might be quite soon since I get the chance to write a lot at work.)