Preface:: The Beginning:

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Being your slave, what should I do but tend
Upon the hours and times of your desire?
I have no precious time at all to spend,
Nor services to do, till you require.
Nor dare I chide the world-without-end hour
Whilst I, my sovereign, watch the clock for you,
Nor think the bitterness of absence sour
When you have bid your servant once adieu;
Nor dare I question with my jealous thought
Where you may be, or your affairs suppose,
But, like a sad slave, stay and think of nought,
Save where you are how happy you make those.
So true a fool is love that in your will,
Though you do anything, he thinks no ill. ShakespeareSonnet 57

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In each life there is a story, in each story there is a beginning and an end. With each end comes a new beginning. All which start must end full circle. Thus says the ancient wisdom.

I am here to share, or rather recount the events which changed my world forever.

Who am I you may ask, I am the nameless. I am the storyteller and tale weaver, the chronicler of the Underground. I am the faceless voice behind the rushed scribbles which serve as the only written account of this tale.

You may wonder how I have come upon such detailed information regarding this, how could I a nameless narrator know such intimate details of those involved? While I will never tell just how I shall tell you one thing, I was there. I was there at the start and at the end and for every part in between. I witnessed the hate and the passion, the love and the betrayal. I know the characters inside and out, know the plotline by heart.

So now where shall we start? The beginning, perhaps? Alright, but we must go farther back than just the beginning. We must go to the beginning of the beginning.

Within the Underground there has always been kingdoms, these kingdoms were ruled by mighty and note worthy kings and queens. Each and every one coming from a long and noble bloodline. If there were no heirs to take a throne a kingdom was handed off to the closest relative, some times being absorbed by a neighboring kingdom. This was how it was always done, this was the true way.

It was the way of every kingdom including Ailill, the horse kingdom of the North. Ailill was one of the triad kingdoms, the three oldest kingdoms that held the most ancient power. The rulers of these kingdoms the keepers of this power, both in control of it and bound by it. Their blood lines strengthened and their Queens producing many heirs. This is the way it has always been. At least until the fateful day which has forever been dubbed the day of mourning.

King Cionaodh found his wife, Medb, lying with his brother. Now King Cionaodh was a good king, an honorable king filled with morals who had ruled Ailill for seven hundred years. He held such a great love for his wife, such a passion that to see her in the arms of his brother was more than he could handle.

Upon seeing them embraced in a tangle of lovemaking, he drew his sword and plunged the silver blade through his brother's heart. Hearing the screams of his wife did little but enrage him further and the blade soon was driven through the womb of Medb. Had his only crime been the death of these traitors, then little would have been done. But upon slicing the womb of his wife he unknowingly murdered his unborn child. For this the council cursed Cionaodh, he would no longer live as an immortal. His days would be numbered leaving him only the length of a normal mortal. His throne would not be entrusted to those of his blood for he would have no children.

And so it was, upon the death of Cionaodh just ten years after the murder of his child, the kingdom of Ailill fell to ruin. Its subjects left to fend for themselves as no one wished to claim the throne in fear of a curse upon them.

Seeing this, the ancient council sought the wisdom of Ealisaid, the keeper of the Eastern Gates. In times of great need her wisdom was required. It was the way it was always done, just as it is done today.

Ealisaid warned that the throne of Ailill would continue to decay, that no one of the Underground would ever sit as sole ruler of the kingdom. In fear of the ancient power being lost they pleaded with Ealisaid for a turn of fate. She advised that what fate would hand them would not be to their liking. But still they pleaded with her.

And so it was that just twelve years after the death of King Cionaodh the Despised, Ealisaid spoke of her prophecy.

The throne of Ailill would remain vacant until she, the Maiden, from Aboveground would descend to claim it. This Mortal Maiden would be little more than a child, still young by mortal years. And upon her ascension to the throne she would be given the name Epona, the true name of the Queen of Ailill.

Epona would be a balancing weight within the Underground. She would restore what had been lost, or destroy it forever.

The Kingdom of the Labyrinth had once been a pure and beautiful place, but such purity couldn't last with a tyrant king on her throne. Unlike the punishment that befell Ailill, the Labyrinth befell living ruin, her kings forever to rule in devastation.

So Ealisaid made a way for this kingdom as well. Epona would unite two of the ancient triad kingdoms, Ailill and the Labyrinth and would restore both kingdoms to their former glory.

For making the way Ealisaid declared that a King of the Labyrinth would bring Epona to Ailill. He would be forced to answer every call of the young mortal women, and must test them through the Labyrinth. She stated that only those who defeated the King's Labyrinth would be considered as Epona. But many would defeat the King, mostly as the time grew nearer for her coming. And so Ealisaid gave the council a gift, the true knowledge of the prophecy, Epona's true test. Only they would be able to recognize who she really was.

And so it came about, the prophecy was spoken and all who came after awaited or even feared it. Most of all Jareth, King of the Goblins, Ruler of the Labyrinth.

For hundreds of years he was forced to attend to the needs of countless mortal women by taking children. But he was a foolish king, he was selfish and arrogant. And he had little need to study on any matter that did not please him. And thus it was not until his five hundredth year that King Jareth learned of the prophecy and his part in it.

Angry at the fact he was only a pawn in their little game and fearful that he would loose his kingdom to Epona he rebelled against Ealisaid and the council. He refused to simply let the girls run the labyrinth. He tested each himself, trying as he might to detour them from beating him, going even as far as testing those who won, twisting the game so he would be allowed to send the child back.

But even so, Jareth knew not fully of the prophecy. He did not understand the truth in it. For no one, not even Ealisaid could stop the true Epona from coming. For just as the labyrinth, nothing was as it seems. The truth of the test and the fate of the kingdoms could not be changed.

And so it came to be, twenty years after the mortal Sarah beat the labyrinth and unknowingly passed the chance to become Epona, there came a young woman. A mortal maiden who would change the course of history forever.

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Authors' Note: Ok so we got this out earlier then we expected. Anyway, first off thanx to Nerds for finding the sonnet for us.

Now I know Jareth and not even the OC was in this one, but they will be in the next chapter. Yes we will be starting each chapter with a poem, sometimes they will be known poets other times they will be ours.

And not the whole story will be written like this, this was just basicly our preface.

Ok for disclaimer go to author page, but no we don't own Jareth, the Labyrinth or anything from the movie, we only own the OCs and everything not in the movie. We also don't own the sonnet, thanx to the wonderful Shakespeare for that one!

Please review we would love you forever!