Everyone Knows This Is Nowhere

By: TooDiffer2BReal

Chapter 2

Life is full of turning points. Some are mere curves in the road. Others are traumatic in ways that you never forget.

Sarah Williams had experienced plenty of curves in the road that was her life but a large majority of her turning points had been of the kind that she would never forget. She had experienced far more turning points of the traumatic, unforgettable type than most average humans would in only twenty-three years of life.

This particular event was one of those unforgettable ones. But then finding out that the man of one's dreams - both literally and figuratively - the very man whom she had been pretty much in love with since she was a teenager, was dying, tended to be quite traumatic. And that was the very reason that Sarah found herself returning to the Labyrinth eight years after her first trip through at fifteen to save its King.

Sarah landed on the ground with a thud, she glanced around her and recognized the outer wall of the Labyrinth. "We have to go through the Labyrinth?"

"Yes," Hoggle said, not sparing her a moment as he marched right up to the entrance and into the Labyrinth. He paused briefly to glance at her, "Coming?"

"Of course," She hopped to her feet and hurried after him. The doors closed behind her but she paid them no mind as she followed He, who was hurrying forward in a single-minded manner.

Though the Labyrinth had exactly been gorgeous or in perfect shape on her first trip through, she noticed that it now appeared to be a little worse for wear. She noticed a few crumbling walls and she didn't see as many of the strange eye plants that she had seen the first time.

"Don't fall behind," He grumbled, as he turned sharply and the Labyrinth suddenly changed.

Before them stood a door and she had a fairly good idea where it would lead. He proved her right when he pushed said door open and peered down into a seemingly endless hole.

"Don't worry, no helping hands in this one, just a ladder," He smirked and he turned and lead the way down into the underground of the Labyrinth.

"Why are we going down?" She asked, peering after him, hesitating to follow.

"Easy to get through the Labyrinth faster and unseen," Hoggle responded.

"Unseen?" Sarah looked around suddenly, "Who don't we want to see us?"

"Fae," He said simply, staring up at her from the bottom of the ladder.

"Fae?" She frowned.

"Yes," He grumbled, gesturing with his hand, "Now come down here before someone sees ya."

She glanced around once more before turning and starting down the ladder. "Can we get to the castle this way?"

"Of course, I know all the best secret passageways," The dwarf stated matter-of-factly. He turned as soon as Sarah's feet hit the floor and began walking down the dim passageway. Sarah was forced to duck to avoid some low hanging spider webs.

"Cleaners ain't worked in a long time, not since Jareth fell ill," Hoggle gestured to the utter unkemptness of the tunnel.

"How long has Jareth been sick? How long has he been dying?" She asked as she stumbled slightly over the uneven pathway.

He glanced back at her for a moment, regret in his gaze before looking forward again, "Time don't move the same here as it does in the Above."

"How long, Hoggle?" She demanded.

"About eight years Above time," He growled continuing to stomp forward.

"Eight?" Sarah gasped, "This is my fault isn't it? Eight years ago was how long ago I ran the Labyrinth!"

Hoggle cringed slightly, "I knew ya was gonna say that so I ain't sayin' no more about that subject."

Sarah remained silent, starring down the tunnel. The underground passageway was long and dirty. The walls weren't smooth. Spider webs were everywhere, hanging from the walls and ceiling. Water dripped from the ceiling and down the walls. If not for the well worn, smooth path and the occasional torch, she would have thought that she was merely in a cave.

Though long, the tunnel wasn't straight. There were several sharp turns and even a few forks. She didn't really know how Hoggle knew where he was going, perhaps he frequently used these tunnels, but that wasn't what she was thinking about at all.

"Listen," Hoggle sighed, "don't blame yerself."

"How can't I, Hoggle?" Sarah said, "I know he wasn't the ultimate villain and that I cruelly threw all his work back in his face. Damn, I love the man and he probably hates me."

Hoggle paused and turned to look at Sarah, slightly wide-eyed.

Sarah blinked down at him, "What?" She went back over her words in her head and her own eyes widened, "Oh. I…I mean…Oh it doesn't matter, as I said he probably hates me. After all he's dying because of me."

"Ya can't blame yerself," Hoggle repeated, "It comes down to a whole lot more than just you."

Sarah growled, "Then explain it to me, tell me everything."

Hoggle looked at the ground, "He needs to tell you." He turned to walk away.

"Hoggle," Sarah called after him, "Then tell me why this is happening. Why will the Underground die with him? You told me a little but there has to be more. Why can't he pass the throne to someone he chooses so the Underground does fall apart."

"The royal line is old." Hoggle explained. "To hold the throne ya gotta have royal blood. There ain't no one but Jareth with royal blood except his parents and they already passed on the throne to him so they can't take it back. The throne can only go forward not back. It all has to do with the magic that flows through the Underground."

Sarah winced. His parents, she'd never really thought about Jareth's parents. Surely they must despise her. She knew all this somehow led back to her and her decision to refuse Jareth's offer, even though Hoggle wouldn't tell her exactly how.

"Really it's that magic that is killin' Jareth." The dwarf said. "Ya see, the magic is sorta like a whole, thinking entity. It decides what it feels is right and wrong but it ain't really smart or logical. However, usually it's easily controlled in most matters except for a few. This High King of Queen controls it but Jareth ain't in no shape to control anything."

"So, the magic is what? Running rampant?" Sarah questioned.

"It's destroyin' itself and the Underground, not on purpose of course," Hoggle stated grimly. "Without the High King to keep things controlled everything falls apart."

Sarah frowned, "Why doesn't the magic spare the High King from it's what do you call them…? Rules. Obviously those rules aren't working very well, after all it is destroying itself. Oh will, destroy itself."

"Don't think anyone should be exempt from its decisions, I guess." Hoggle shrugged, "Like I said, it ain't super smart. It may be ancient but it's power of thought ain't. It's sorta like a child that needs to be looked after. It kinda has a scewed sense of right and wrong. It has always been there, it manipulates the Underground and it's creatures, gives magic to those creatures and lands, but that is it."

Sarah scowled, "Alright, I got it."

Hoggle looked back at Sarah, "That's good, cause that's about all I can tell ya."

Sarah sighed and looked around the tunnel again. She noticed the it had changed. As opposed to the rough hewn walls and the worn smooth floor there were smooth carved walls and ceilings and brick-laid paths. The tunnel was better lit, torches were more frequent. Water didn't drip from the ceiling or down the walls. The tunnel looked more like it had been made rather than carved from the earth.

"We're under the castle," Hoggle commented.

Sarah blinked, "Really?"

"Faster when you don't have to go through the whole maze," He smirked.

Sarah followed Hoggle around a few more sharp turns at which point the hall darkened significantly. She began to get the feeling that these tunnels were even less frequently used then the ones under the Labyrinth.

"These are secret passages around the castle. I wish there was one that took us right to Jareth's chambers but there ain't so we'll get as close as possible." Hoggle said as he paused at the bottom of a ladder.

He began to climb but he paused and looked down at her, "When we get into the castle be as quiet as possible, we wouldn't want to get caught by any guards."

Sarah nodded and followed him up the ladder.

Once at the top of the ladder Hoggle crept down a narrow hallway that had one sharp turn before they reached a dead end. Sarah watched as Hoggle pressed a stone on the wall and it vanished before her eyes. The dwarf stepped into what she guessed to be some sort of closet. He eased the door open and peeked out. From what she could see it was dark in the hall, if her eyes hadn't been adjusted to the dark already she probably would have been near blind. She wondered briefly why the torches were extinguished but dismissed the thought. When Hoggle beckoned her to follow she edged into the hall behind him.

"Be careful," THe dawrf whispered, "There may be a few goblins lying around in the hall-"

At that moment Sarah thought that perhaps he should have warned her before they entered the hall because before he even finished the statement she toppled over one of the creatures laying in the middle of the floor and crashed to the ground.

"They like to trip the guards," Hoggle sighed, hoping the goblin didn't wake.

But the goblin did just that and upon seeing Sarah it let out a loud whoop and danced around her chanting, "Lady back, lady back."

This noise has several other goblins awake in seconds flat and soon there was a roaring cheer in the hall and a rabble of dancing around the mortal woman still sprawled on the floor.

Hoggle cursed and began to berate the goblins but they weren't listening to him. Sarah scolded them and they began to quiet down but it was far, far to late. Guards were coming to investigate and while under normal circumstances they would have steered clear of the goblins, merely looking to see why the goblins were so rowdy so late at night, usually it was over a chicken or some other livestock. However, as soon as the guards spotted the mortal women in the middle of the crowd they surged into action.

They paid no mind to the fact that the goblins actually liked this women or that she was very successfully calming them down. They simply kicked the things out of the way and immediately arrested the trespasser.

Several goblins launched themselves at the legs of the guards they so despised, taking their opportunity to attack. They clawed and bit at ankles and legs. Several scaled the bodies of the guards and tore at the arms and hands attempting to free Sarah. As a result the goblins were kicked and flung across the room, bouncing off walls. They immediately bounced right back up though and gave chase. Until Sarah ordered them to stop.

"All of you, stop!" She scolded over her shoulder, "I will be absolutely fine."

The goblins stopped in the hall, staring after her. They looked back to Hoggle, who hadn't done anything the moment the fae had seized Sarah.

"What we do?" Mud looked up at Hoggle.

"Kinga free Lady, we tell him," Squitch quipped.

Hoggle shook his head, "He can barely get outta bed, he won't be able to save her. Not only that but the moment they find out who she is, they won't care what he says. He's been pretty much replaced in the courts for now. "

"Lady go to dirty cell," Paste looked down as if he could see through the floor into the cells he spoke of.

"I know, the dungeons ain't no place for a lady." Hoggle said. "I'll figure out something'."

Sarah paced in the dingy cell. It looked quite medieval and she was glad that they had forgone chaining her to the wall with the shackles that hung from iron rings. It was wet, dark and moldy. She'd caught a glimpse of a torture chamber on the way to the cell and really hoped that they didn't use it anymore. The imprisonment facilities were medieval but she certainly hoped that law and punishment wasn't.

She really had no clue what they were going to do with her. She wondered if she would get some sort of trial or if the guards would just do with her what they thought fit her crimes. She knew the later most certainly wouldn't go well.

She sighed as she walked from one side of the cell to the other and ignored the rats she could hear scurrying around.

"Hey!" The guard standing beyond the bars yelled, "Stop that or I'll chain you up to the wall so you can't move."

Sarah glared at him but moved to the center of the cell and straightened the frayed, torn, dirty blanket before plopping down on it. She sat glaring at the iron bars and listening to the steady drip-drip of water.

Just as she was wondering how long she was going to have to spend in these conditions. Another guard waltzed up to the cell door and unlocked it. He nudged the door up with the toe of his boot, avoiding touching the bars with his skin, and marched up to her.

She simply stared at him and obviously he expected her to jump to her feet at his presence because he grabbed her forearm and hauled her up. When he released her arm, she glared and brushed at where his hand had been.

He growled at her and shoved her out of the cell. He ushered her down the hall and right toward the room she fear most. Her eyes widened and she resisted slightly, her bravado faltering.

The guard shoved her harder and she didn't have to look to know he was sneering down at her. "Good news," He snarled, "We've decided what your punishment will be."

Sarah shook her head and planted her feet as he tried to push her into the room. "You can't do this."

"Sure I can," He rumbled, "You don't just trespass in the castle without consequences, mortal."

"You don't understand," Sarah pleaded.

"Listen, just deal with this or it'll be much worse," He snapped.

"I wasn't trespassing!"

"Well, I don't know who you are and neither does anyone else." He explained, slowly as if talking to a very small child. "You obviously weren't invited and that is called trespassing."

"No really," Sarah continued, "I came here to help the King."

"Really?" He let out a bark of laughter, "And what does a human like you expect to be able to do?"

"I don't know," She clenched her teeth, "I don't know but I felt responsible. I felt the need to come and do something."

He snorted, "There's nothing you can do. He'll die and we'll all follow soon after him."

"Hoggle said I could do something," Sarah stated, "He said that I was the only one who could fix this."

The guard frown, "Just who are you?"

She frowned, wondering if it was smart to tell him her name. She sighed, just her first name couldn't hurt, "Sarah is my name."

"Sarah?"

She nodded.

"Sarah?"

"That's what I said," She snapped.

"Have you run the Labyrinth?" He questioned.

She paused, knowing right where this was leading and certain that it would land her in a worse situation that this one. She told him anyway, having no other choice, "Yes, about 8 years ago."

He roared, turning her roughly around and dragging her down the hall. He flung her roughly back into the cell. She slammed to door shut and roughly locked it. He yelled down the hall, glaring at her through the bars. Another male came storming down the stone corridor, every thundering step echoing.

"Tell the court we have Sarah," He barked.

The other fae looked into the cell with wide eyes before fleeing to carry out his order.

"You're full of surprises, aren't you?" He mocked.

She stared forward, ignoring him.

"You should have kept you mouth shut," He smirked and turned. He laughed as he walked down the hall and it echoed ominously.

When the laugher faded, she sat alone in silence and darkness. She stared blindly in front of her. Suddenly a goblin appeared in front of her, holding something glowing in his hands.

"We sorry," Mud mumbled. "We get lady put here."

Sarah frowned, patting him on the head, "It's ok, it's not your fault."

"I bring you glow. So it not so dark." He held up the small glowing orb.

She didn't know exactly what it was but she took it, grateful for relief from the darkness. "Thank you."

"I stay?" He looked up at her with wide, innocent eyes.

Sarah nodded, "That would be wonderful."

He smiled and curled up against her side, quickly falling asleep. Though it was silent she was grateful to have another being in the cell with her.

She heard steps echoing off the stones and she quickly pulled the blanket over Mud and into her lap, hiding him sufficiently. She shoved the glowing ball into her pocket and place a hand over it so it was dark again.

"Sarah?" She heard Hoggle's voice.

She gasped and called, "Hoggle?"

She pulled the glow back out of her pocket and illuminated the area around her. The dwarf appeared outside her cell, holding a bundle.

"I wish I could get ya out, Sarah but that guard took my keys when he moved in. He has the only keys in the castle now. I haven't been able to steal 'em back no matter how hard I try." He sighed, "I brought ya food and a clean blanket."

Sarah shifted Mud and stood to walk to the bars. She reached through to grab what he offered. "Thank you."

"Yer gonna be in a worse situation now that they know who ya are," He murmured.

She nodded, "I know. I don't blame you. I'll figure this out. I promise. I'll save him."

He nodded and looked down the dark corridor, "I have to go but I'll be back."

She returned to Mud, sitting and silently eating the food that Hoggle had given her. She wrapped herself in the clean blanket and dozed.

When she woke the next morning, Mud and the glow were gone and it was once again dark. She didn't sit long before the guard from the day before came into her cell and jerked her up. He slapped some iron shackles on her wrists and dragged her from the dungeons.

Outside the castle she was thrown into a black carriage with bars on the windows and locks on the doors, all with not a word from the guard. The carriage jerked forward and continued at a fast pace well into the night. Sarah didn't sleep. She was being treated as a prisoner, a felon, in a land that she didn't know. She hadn't gotten to Jareth and she didn't know if she would be able to return to him before it was too late.

Finally, she assumed sometime in the middle of the next day, they stopped. When Sarah was pulled from the carriage she could see a bustling city and she was being dragged toward the lavish looking castle at its center. Every person they passed glared at her with hate, disgust, loathing. She felt like a monster.

She was led in silence, the guard refused to even look at her. She didn't understand what was going on until she was thrown into what reminded of a sort of courtroom. Suddenly it dawned on her, she was getting her trail, for what exactly she didn't really know. It certainly had to be much more than trespassing.

She stood in the middle of the room on a circular platform, with railing around the outer edge. Around the room, higher up, was seating for those who were interested in watching the trail. In front of her was a line or seats raised, two higher than the rest. This was were the court would sit.

She watched in silence as people filled the higher seating, glaring, snarling, spitting. Then a guard came into the room and commanded all to rise.

Aristocrat filed into the seating in front of her, but the two raised seats were left empty. As soon as the court had taken their seats, the audience was seated and the proceedings began.

One member of the court stood and stared down at her, "You are being charge with trespassing on the royal property of the Goblin Kingdom, trespassing in the Underground and the destruction of the Underground and it King."

Murmurs went up in the crowd, angry hisses, and a gavel was banged and order called. Sarah winced, knowing that somehow they would blame her for that, after all she even blamed herself.

"How do you plead?" The aristocrat asked once the crowd quieted.

Sarah gulped, "Not guilty."

Once again the crowd hissed, shouting angrily at her. She stood tall, back straight, unafraid. She'd come here for a purpose, she'd come here to fix the wrongs that she felt she had done and their opinion of her didn't matter.

"Well, then," He commented, "I suppose we just have to discuss your punishment."

Sarah gawked, "Wait, that's it? No witnesses, no evidence, no nothing?"

He smirked, chuckling, "Our law works differently than yours."

"So why bring me here?" Sarah asked, "Why not just pass your sentence with out dragging me from the Goblin Kingdom? You didn't need me here to say two words. You could have just decided and had those in the Goblin Kingdom deal out my so called punishment."

The aristocrat glared at her, "Our decisions aren't to be questioned."

"Well, I'm questioning them, aren't I?" She snapped.

"I don't think you understand the way things work here," He barked.

"No, I do, believe me." She smiled, "Your lifestyle, your morals, your laws are much like that of the medieval era in the Above. We've long since moved passed that."

The man sputter slightly before glaring. He turned and left the room, the rest of the court quickly followed him out, ready to deliberate.

Sarah knew she'd probably shot herself in the foot but she hadn't been able to hold in her distaste. Somehow she got the feeling that if Jareth had seen how his courts were being handled he wouldn't have been very pleased.

A/N: Sorry this took so long. Both my beta and I have been busy what with the holidays right as I finished it and with finals coming up and term papers due, etc. So I sent it to another beta who had more time and she kindly edited for me.

This one kinda fell to hell, there is a LOT of dialogue but that's just how it worked out. This chapter isn't as good or interesting as the last one but it is necessary stuff for the rest of the story. I know a lot happened in this chapter, or maybe you don't feel that anything happened, it could go either way but I don't intend for this story to be very long anyway. So let me know what you think. The third chapter is going to take a while because I have finals that I need to finish but then I have 3 weeks of break so I should be able to finish it by around the beginning of January.