Chapter Four: A Silent Web.
They say that there is a world between dreams and reality; a world made of hopes and promises that never come to pass. It was the sort of place where little children would never have to grow up, where fantasies could run amok, where there were no limitations or boundaries because it was made out of imagination.
But it had a dark side as well.
It could also be a world of bad dreams; nightmares where your fondest wish could be twisted and bent until it was nothing but a mockery of hope, where you simply couldn't stop your darkest fears from becoming real because they were just as much a part of you as your good dreams were.
Sarah was staring at a note from that halfway-world.
There was something strange about being presented with proof, however small, that your dreams weren't just images from a sleeping mind. A door of possibilities had just been opened before her very eyes, and Sarah wasn't sure what she thought about that. On the one hand it meant that there really was more to the world then so many people thought. This could be an opportunity to make something for herself that others wouldn't even be able to imagine. On the other hand, it meant that the Labyrinth had probably been real as well, and while that wasn't entirely bad, it was problematic. She remembered wishing Toby away, a gargantuan maze, a few funny looking goblins, and that she was supposed to have matured. Beyond that she had a few flashes of memory, but they were vague feelings, only half formed.
Someone was trying to remind her of a world that she had apparently taken for granted. But why, what was to be gained by her recovering such things?
'Of course, this note could always just be a coincidence,' she thought while staring down at the curling script. But Sarah had stopped believing in coincidence a long time ago. That wasn't to say she thought everything happened on purpose (like spilling soda on the rug, she was pretty certain that wasn't crucial to the grand design of the universe) but most things seemed to happen for a reason.
"I wish I could remember," she whispered to the darkened room, "then maybe I would know what's going on."
He needed a weapon, something that he could use to charm the humans and then turn against them. There had to be some way to lull them into a false sense of security long enough to ensure his victory.
There was an aspect, an entire dimension, of this new land that wasn't being fully realized. He would find it, harness it, and wield it like an angry god. Those mortals would regret having ever challenged him.
Sarah didn't remember closing her eyes, couldn't remember having lain back down on the bed, but she must have because she was fairly certain that foggy, endless voids only appeared in dreams. 'Of course, I have been known to be wrong,' she thought with a snort.
There was something ahead of her (or at least she assumed it was ahead of her; there wasn't a floor or ceiling anywhere, so she really didn't have any point of reference). It seemed to suffer from the strange affliction of all her current dreams, namely that it was made entirely of shadows.
"Oh, it's you," an echoing voice intoned.
"What?" asked Sarah.
"Shows how much you know, don't it." The figure began to take shape.
"I don't understand. What's going on here?" she demanded, but the voice carried on as though it hadn't heard her at all.
"Even if you make it to the center, you'll never get out again." Now there was wispy white hair under a leather cap.
"I just do. Nice young girl, terrible black oubliette." Concerned blue eyes appeared under giant bushy brows.
"Of course you are, but it only gets harder from here on in." Hands, large and gnarled, connected to oddly slim wrists.
"Who are you?" she asked confusedly.
"Let me put it this way: what choice have you got?" Legs, short and stubby, connected to an equally compressed torso.
"That's not fair; them's mine!" Rough trousers and a leather vest, over a thick off-white shirt, blinked into existence.
"Why'd you have to go and do a thing like that?!" A face, large and wrinkled, formed over a short neck and slim shoulders.
"I know you, don't I?" Sarah whispered, mesmerized, and caught in a sudden whirlwind of remembrance. A short old dwarf, grumpy but sweet at heart, cowardly but brave when it mattered most. A friend.
"It's Hoggle!" his voice growled out, seemingly annoyed.
Her consciousness shifted, and she tried desperately to wake up, but the harder she struggled, the faster and farther she seemed to fall back into sleep.
He could have laughed at how simple the answer had been.
Dreams. Humans had thousands of dreams. They thrived and survived on them. Being Fae he had the ability to see past a mortal's body; he could look into their very soul and find out what they wanted most. Being a King he had the power to bring those wishes to life. 'And I will, too,' he thought with a smirk. 'Won't they be sorry,' he laughed to himself. Even the most vigilant man could not deny his deepest desires, and this King would be more than happy to grant them. But the mortals would soon find out that there would be a price to pay, and that he was neither a patient man when collecting debts nor a kind one.
He grinned wickedly, thinking of all the awful things he could do to the lost souls that would soon haunt his domain.
A web quietly began to weave itself throughout the new land. It zigzagged through narrow corridors, spiraled through gloomy caves, snaked through silent forests, and formed its center to always surround the King. Power surged down its endless stands, and the web became an invisible menace, everywhere and yet nowhere at all. Energy leaked out of impatient tendrils, eagerly awaiting the first victims it would be able to wrap around and stifle in a cocoon of poisoned fantasies.
He let out a cold chuckle, slowly testing his new awareness. He would be ready. Whatever the humans tried, he would be ready to do whatever necessary to prevent them from ever making it to his home.
He let out another chuckle, this one sounding ominous. There would simply be no escaping him, he thought with smug grin.
A/N: I would like to make a comment on the speed with which I have been updating lately. Mondays, Wednesdays, and Fridays I only have two morning classes, so I'll try my hardest to write and update on those days, but I cannot promise that I will always be able to do this three times a week.
Also, I would like to ask that you please leave a review. This story is thus far completely un-beta'd; I know there must be some things that I'm doing wrong, and I won't be able to improve if no one is willing to give me feedback. So please, in the interest of progress, leave me a little contribution. Thank you very much for your help!
Disclaimer: All characters and settings from Labyrinth do not belong to me. Anything unrecognizable as having come from the aforementioned title either belongs to me or to folklore. Any similarities between this and other stories are purely coincidental.