Chapter 2

"When we fear things I think that we wish for them ... every fear hides a wish"

"The brave man is not he who does not feel afraid, but he who conquers that fear."

--


The sun was just rising, a new dawn spreading over the horizon, highlighting the leaves golden. When the faeries awoke, stretching their transparent wings, readying to lay out the morning dew, they were the first creatures in the Labyrinth to feel it; their small bodies crumpling. The larger creatures of the forests began to fidget uncomfortably, some howling. Goblins were not smart creatures by nature but they had acute senses, and they too felt it. They could have hunted and fought well if they weren't so lazy; their cousins the Trolls were examples of what the Goblins could be if they ever applied themselves(and ate human flesh), while not particularly agile, trolls were all brute strength.

The Goblins usually were loud and boisterous, generally due to the consumption of one too many barrels of ale, which generally led to the chasing of chickens or other regrettable behaviors that their King kicked or dumped them in the Bog of Eternal Stench for.

This morning the chickens were watching the Goblins hesitantly, clucking nervously as the Goblins moved slowly and silently around the palace, making no move to chase any of the birds. The palace was eerily quite, no giddy laughter from the goblins, only solemn faces. A young goblin girl was crying to her father, the most sound at all in the palace, and he quickly hushed her. She asked him in a broken whisper why she felt so bad, why it felt like she was empty, she added then that she had already ate breakfast and the pain wouldn't go away still.

The goblin father was a simple minded creature, but it didn't take much to realize that every one of the Goblins in the City was feeling the same way as his daughter; he felt the same way, like their was a void in the center of his gut. He didn't know why they all felt this way. He held his sobbing daughter as he stared at the empty throne.


"What's that bastard wants with you?" Hoggle shouted his face turning into a scowl. Didymus said nothing, his face looking clearing torn between support of his King and of his Lady. Sarah couldn't believe it! He was so arrogant thinking that she would just come to him; did he think that she would overlook everything that had just happened? Forget him taking her brother? Him sending the Cleaners after her? Him drugging her? Even though it was you who wished away your brother, a small part of her whispered. She shook the stray thought from her head.



"I have no idea what he could want," Sarah said, then angrier spat out "But there's no way I'd ever do anything that he wanted!" A few hours ago he had almost killed her, now he was calling her? What nerve! Sarah got off the bed and began to walk around the room, she slipped on her slippers and walked over to her dresser to pick up her brush, she beat out a rhythm absently on her other palm with the brush as she paced the room, still angry.

"That Jareth! Thinking he can just do as he pleases! Eh, makes me so mad!" Sarah was on the verge of agreeing with Hoggle when a thought stuck her. She bit at her lip, not really liking the idea...But…

"Sir Didymus?" He looked at her, waiting. She hesitated,

"Wouldn't out of anyone Jareth be able to tell me more about this new magic I have?" She wasn't that afraid of him, she just hated him; but if he could provide her with information about what was happening to her, it would be worth it to go to him. Didymus nodded,

"Yes, not many know about Severancing and such, the King would surely be able to answer any questions you have."

"Are you both crazy?! You just escaped from 'im why go back?"Hoggle demanded, "Whats more, why would Jareth even want to help? 'ave you ever known 'im to be helpful?" there was a brief silence.

"Hoggle if I beat him before without magic I think I can handle myself even better now that I have it," she smiled sheepishly, "even if I don't exactly know what I'm doing." Hoggle just glared at her,

"I don't like it!" Sarah really didn't like the prospect of asking Jareth for anything either, but who else, enemy or not, did she know who was adept at magic? That left her with little options. Jareth would know about it, just like Didymus had said. She looked up at the little fox, suddenly curious.

"Didymus, hey, if not that many know about Severancing how did you know about it?" The little fox looked very proud.

"I was one of his majesties personal guards for many years, and one learns an abundance of information pertaining to magic when one is in such a close proximity."

"Feh! Personal guard? The Goblin King ain't never had no guard I've seen."

"His majesty wasn't always King of the Goblins; I protected him in his youth when he lived as a prince of the first realm." That was news to Sarah; it was hard to imagine Jareth as anything but as a King, without his Goblins and mockery. It was impossible to imagine him as a child. Her thoughts were pulled from Jareth when the tingling increased it's intensity.

"Ugh. This stupid prickly feeling won't go away." Sarah complained, it now felt like her entire body had sleeping limbs, it was annoying.



"You must dismiss the call of his magic." Didymus said easily in response. Like it was that simple, like picking or hanging up a phone.

"I don't know how. " Sarah emphasized each word, irritated, stomping back to flop on her bed.

"Hmmm. Well then I suppose it's good that you decided you wanted to see him." Again Didymus was vague. Sarah thought absently that he just liked being asked questions so he drew everything out. She sighed,

"What's that suppose to mean?"

"If one doesn't dismiss a call, the magic assumes that the recipient has accepted and it will take you to the caller." Sarah's eyes went wide. While it was true that she had stood before Jareth, defiant and bold she had been terrified, despite her claim of no fear.

"WHAT? I'm not ready yet! Yeah I said I wanted to ask Jareth but that's when I decided what to say, when I was more confident about--" her words trailed off in the air and she was gone in a sudden burst of glitter.

"Sarah!"Hoggle jumped too late to where she had just been, grabbing at air. His small chest was heaving, he muttered, "Jareth you had better not hurt 'er."

"I too, though I serve my King most faithfully, worry about the Lady. Shall we return to the Labyrinth and ascertain her safety?" Ludo got up as quickly as his huge body would allow and vanished. Didymus and Hoggle quickly followed suit. Hoggle was shocked that when he finished his Transportation back to the Labyrinth that he was actually within the city itself. He was alarmed; it had never been that easy to reach the castle. Had Jareth wanted them to come here?

After searching the City for an hour, and then bravely entering the castle without a struggle and without Jareth popping up and demanding what they were doing, the trio realized Jareth wasn't in the City or the Castle. Hoggle's uneasiness returned, would Jareth ever leave his castle so easily accessed without even being there?

Hoggle eyed all the Goblins they passed curiously, they all seemed to be sleep walking, barely enough energy to keep moving forward. Hoggle experimentally tapped a Goblin on its forehead and it abruptly fell to the ground, its armor making a loud clatter against the stone floor. Hoggle grimaced at the noise, and then looked down at the Goblin at his feet; he was snoring.

"Gobbblins, fall!" Ludo seemed to find the process of knocking over Goblins fun, he wasn't cruel, more he like a child-beast who thought of it as a game. He had knocked over about five Goblins before Didymus yelled,

"Brother! No, one never attacks a defenseless opponent! That is too dishonorable!" Didymus jumped onto Ludo's shoulder, pulling on his ears like one would pull on horses' reigns. Ludo stopped looking over at Didymus,



"Dees-on orable?" His big head was cocked to the side.

"Yes. Dishonorable. Very good, brother." Hoggle just rolled his eyes, muttering under his breath.

They left the palace, venturing into the lands, searching without direction. It was almost like they had never even stopped their journey through the Labyrinth, now instead of trying to get to the center of the Labyrinth they were looking for their previous companion, they were starting backwards.

They came upon a pack of boars in the forest, while generally passive creatures, they could be suddenly aggressive if scared so Hoggle shouted out to them that they were passing by them, that they meant no harm. There was no response. Hoggle paused, staring at the group of tusked boars, realizing the pack was being unusually slow-moving and all shared an absent expression. They approached them slowly. Hoggle even quickly patted a smaller pig on the head. The young boar glanced at him blankly but made no other move. Didymus was sniffing around curiously. Abruptly Ludo started to cry softly. "Brother what grieves you?"

"Roooocks. Roocks hurt. Rocks friend!" Ludo was howling for the rocks but none came. A few pebbles by huge clawed his foot rattled then stopped shaking almost as if they had lost the energy to move. Ludo bent and picked up the pebbles almost tenderly, cradling them.

"The rocks are hurtin'?" Hoggle asked, Ludo nodded and continued to cry. Hoggle was uncomfortable trying to comfort the beast, he patted one of his big hands. "What the hell is going on 'ere?"

"Every creature, down to the very rocks of the Labyrinth seems to be effected by some malady." Didymus observed.

"Yeah, 'cept us. Everyone 'cept us." Hoggle whispered, confused and a little scared, wanting now to find Sarah more than anything.


I guess I have to work on my landing, she thought as she spit snow out of her mouth and pushed herself to her knees.

"Snow?" It was just registering. She squinted a bit in the darkness, then a cloud moved past the moon and the landscape was clear. She took a breath, it was beautiful, flat and white and endless. "What is this Antarctica?" The wind kept blowing her hair in her face so she pushed her hair behind her ears with one hand, realizing belatedly she still held her brush in her hand. She took a step forward and almost fell over again; she looked down at her feet. Her pink owl slippers had snagged on a jagged piece of ice, she bent over and carefully pulled it free. As she stood she looked at her hands, they were bare, but they were completely warm still. What the…magical perks?



She stepped forward again, not sure about her direction, just walking forward. It felt strange here, it was beautiful yes, and even though her body was still warm this place made her feel cold, isolated. This place was deceptive. She had barely been here a three minutes and she knew that, this place wasn't anyplace someone would seek to come to. That arose the question, why was Jareth here?

She looked around, scanning the area for Jareth. Even if he was her enemy he was at least someone. She had no desire to stay here any longer than she had to, but she didn't even know how to get home.

"Jareth!" Her voice seemed strange in this place, small next to the wind. "Jareth!" She kept walking forwards, calling his name. A few minutes later she started getting desperate. Where was he? She felt tears burning her eyes. Was this another cruel trick of his? She started to run, calling him, her voice getting hoarse. "Bastard! My life isn't a game!" She whispered.

She absolutely refused to cry. She took a deep calming breath. Think, Sarah, think. She recalled Hoggle closing his eyes to concentrate on her magic in her bedroom. Was it that simple? Just a little concentration? She exhaled and closed her eyes, sitting cross-legged in the snow. This must look so random; she thought before she shut out stray thoughts and put all her efforts into focusing. She had to of sat there for a good ten minutes thinking different incantations in her head, even repeating home, home home, home, like some mantra in her head. She was on the verge of giving up when she felt a tug. She opened her eyes, fully expecting to see someone there, touching her. Another tug, pulling her to her feet and pushing her gently to the left.

"What, what is this?" She asked aloud. A whisper, light and almost indiscernible on the wind came to her,

"Just go. Make haste" Sarah hesitated only a moment longer. She hurried off quickly in the direction she was tugged.

"Jareth!" She continued to shout for him as she ran forwards, a sense of urgency set in her. She was running when something caught her eye and she stopped, breathing hard. She walked forward, making out his form lying face down in the snow.

He still dressed in the white clothes she had seen him in last, and they, with his pale skin and light hair, easily camouflaged him in the matching snow. What had caught her attention was a patch of dark as she ran, right next to his body. She got closer to him, his figure remained still. She crouched beside him, instantly wary. She cautiously touched his exposed skin at his neck and at once pulled back, he was like ice. She inched closer her hand keeping herself balanced, she yelped when she felt something wet on her fingers, she brought her hand closer to her face and immediately felt bile rising in her stomach at the unmistakable metallic smell of blood.



AN: Hmmm. Where am I going from here?hahaha. Thank you for the reviews! I love them. Please continue to critique me.