Wind blasted the two girls, sending shocks of cold across their flesh and everything around them spun. Sarah closed her eyes against the sensation, unwilling to believe what was happening. She knew that the world around her was black and everything was spinning faster and faster.
In a fraction of a heartbeat everything stopped. Sarah stumbled and fell, not onto the sandy beach, but stone paving.
Gasping, Sarah opened her eyes to an astonishing sight. There was an immense stone wall. It was a cracked, decaying thing that brought nervous dread creeping through her being.
No plants of any kind grew along the walls and the sky itself was dark and cloudy.
Amy stood next to Sarah, trying to catch her breath, her eyes wide with panic.
"Sarah, are you seeing this?"
All Sarah could do was nod. Immediately Amy groped for her friend's hand and Sarah grasped it tightly. "Amy I don't feel so well."
Sarah couldn't stop seeing that man's face. It felt like the world was moving up to greet her. His voice sounded like the one from her dreams that crooned that melody to her.
Overhead thunder rolled and they could hear distant lightning clash. A sudden cackling caused both of the girls to turn around in panic.
Jareth stood before them, menacing in the darkness. Sarah gasped and backed away as Amy followed suit.
"You have 13 hours in which to solve the labyrinth or your baby will be mine." Jareth spoke mockingly at Sarah.
Feeling brave with the thought of losing her child, Sarah strode forward to him.
Once again neither could break the other's gaze, "Whoever you are, whatever you are, you will not take my child from me. You will not win."
"Sarah!" Amy hissed then and the Goblin King's eyes shot down to Sarah.
He cocked his head, his expression turning cruel. "I am the Goblin King and this is my kingdom, my labyrinth."
He gave Sarah another long look, as if he too were trying to figure out why he couldn't look away, and then he vanished into the wind.
Amy turned to Sarah, her eyes wide. "What do we do?"
Sarah closed her eyes for a minute. "We show this Goblin King he doesn't frighten us. We beat him at his own game."
"Do you think we can? How do you even enter this thing?"
"I don't know Amy, but we have to try right? How can this even be real?" Sarah paused as her eyes passed over the dilapidated fountain. A shiver sent waves of shock coursing through her body.
Dizzy sensations floated through Sarah's head, causing her to stumble. She looked again to the immense walls of the labyrinth and felt something stir deep inside of her.
Almost out of reach, words floated into Sarah's mind and she whispered, "Maybe I'm just taking it for granted that it does."
Amy glanced at Sarah quizzically as Sarah started forward. Softly, Sarah's hands met the stone walls and she had to take deep breaths to steady the piercing headache that had started as soon as she laid her eyes on the labyrinth's ruined state.
Sarah's mind kept returning to the man over and over again, the Goblin King. But what no one knew…
"I'm so sorry Sarah; I didn't know Assana would do this to you, put your baby's life at risk." Amy spoke then, coming up behind her friend and startling Sarah out of her thoughts.
Finally, Sarah saw it among the endless wall. There was a crack that couldn't be seen upon first glancing. Sarah headed over there immediately and her slender fingers found the gap and pulled.
The entrance to the labyrinth swung open in another moment, leaving Amy standing there stupefied.
"How did you do that Sarah?"
Shaking her head, Sarah whispered, "It was just a gut feeling I guess. I don't know why but this place seems familiar to me and yet strange at the same time."
Taking a few more steps, both the girls entered the labyrinth, and the big entrance slammed shut behind them. The noise was deafening but then there was silence, as if the rest of the labyrinth was dead inside.
From their very first glance, the inside of the labyrinth looked bleak and dead. The walls were crumbling and all of the vines were nothing but dead remnants lying on the ground. The very air was stuffy. It was as if nothing there could live.
The corridors were endless, stretching infinitely left and right.
"I guess now we choose a direction and take it?" Sarah spoke out loud, although the wheels in her mind had begun turning.
Amy closed her eyes in thought, "Wait a second. Let me remember what the girl did in the book."
Sarah immediately shook her head, confused, "what book Amy?"
Amy saw her opportunity then, to see just how much she could tell Sarah without hurting her. "Just a book I read about a girl who goes to find her baby brother after she wishes him away to the Goblin Kingdom, where the Goblin King was actually in love with her."
Sarah held out her hand and leaned on the stone wall to support her, "Amy why would we be in the same place as a book you read?"
She felt fear and panic swell inside of her in a heartbeat and then it was gone.
What was left was a feeling that she needed to go left. "Let's go left and see where that leads us."
On the girls walked in that straight line, seeing no turns and feeling deflated emotionally. It didn't take long for Amy to get upset and stop completely.
"I admit Sarah; I'm a bit guilty here."
Sarah frowned, pausing a minute to rest her back on the side wall, her hand on her stomach where the baby's foot was. She had since settled down in Sarah's stomach. "What do you mean?"
"I don't remember which way she went."
A burst of laughter came from Sarah's lips, "nothing is ever as it is written in books Amy. We'll be fine. Have faith in yourself. After all, this is some crazy dream right? It can't be real." Even as she spoke those words to Amy, Sarah felt deep in her heart that she didn't really believe them.
Vaguely, Sarah became aware of the wall she was leaning against. She felt the warm breeze of stale air and turned towards the direction it came.
"Of course, how could I be so dense? Amy you should have known too. This labyrinth is full of illusions. There is a turn right here."
Amy frowned, "Are you sure? I don't see anything."
Sarah grabbed Amy's hands and pulled her, not into solid stone but a path that was laid before their eyes.
Amy's eyes widened in astonishment at the path that was now before them, "I would never have seen that."
"Come on then, let's go."
Now that Sarah knew where to look, finding the different paths was an easy task and she began to relax, not willing herself to worry over the time limit. After all, how could a labyrinth take 13 hours to cross?
She refused to take notice of the small twinges of pain that had begun to twist in her stomach.
Braxton hicks contractions, nothing more. I still have plenty of time. She reassured herself.
Almost as soon as she thought that, the labyrinth came to a dead end. No matter how many times she felt with her hands along the walls there was now no way out, even behind them.
"How long has it been?" Sarah asked Amy then. She hadn't even given thought to how long they had been walking since they entered the labyrinth.
"I think we've been in here an hour maybe but it feels longer."
Sarah nodded, "Okay, 12 hours left and we need to figure out how to get around this."
"How, Sarah? This is clearly a dead end. We've made a huge mistake, and it's obvious now that this labyrinth changes whenever it wants to."
Laughter escaped Sarah's lips and she shook her head at Amy, "Of course it does Amy! That's how we're going to beat it."
"Sarah, are you okay? How can we beat it, this is not the nice little place from the book I had. This is different, frightening."
Even though they were surrounded now on all sides by the crumbling stone walls Sarah kept smiling. "This is just another puzzle after all. Now the question is if we go over or under. We obviously can't go over, it might hurt the baby, but we could go under."
"Umm, Sarah exactly how are we going to go under the labyrinth?" Amy asked, looking down onto the admittedly solid stone pavements.
There was another shock, another shiver of something Sarah couldn't grasp and then she smiled. Something came forward in her mind, full of hands and darkness. "What about an oubliette?"
As soon as Sarah spoke those words the ground beneath their feet opened up and darkness swallowed them whole. Sarah found something to brake her fall while Amy screamed and hit the floor with a loud thud.
"Sarah what did you just do? What did you say?" Amy asked hysterically. Is she remembering?
"What? This should lead us out of here."
"Sarah, do you know what an oubliette is?"
"Of course I do Amy, don't be ridiculous."
"SARAH! There is only one way out of an oubliette, through the top!"
Rolling her eyes, Sarah began tracing her hands over the rough dirt floor. She couldn't see anything but somehow she knew what she was looking for.
This place though, was not like the memory at the back of her mind. The floor was unusually cold and damp.
A strong scent was slowly climbing its way up to their noses. Something was making Sarah nervous but she continued feeling the floor, sure she would find something if she kept on.
All was silent inside the oubliette except for Amy muttering to herself somewhere near Sarah. Apparently Amy wasn't a big fan of the dark. "Sorry Amy, but this was the only way."
There was a huff, and Sarah knew to leave her friend alone for the time being. Instead Sarah finally found it. Her fingers met wood where before there was only dirt.
Sarah called out ecstatically, "aha!"
Upon lifting it up Sarah was relieved that she really had discovered a door. As soon as she had done so the candles on the walls flamed up and they could see the expanse of the large oubliette they were in.
Amy's eyes were wide orbs as Sarah placed the slab of wood that was a makeshift door against the solid wall. "Now all we need is to find the keys."
"Sarah! How did you do that? How did you know?" She has to be remembering. There's no way she would have known about the door.
That statement made Sarah stop in her tracks. "I don't know Amy. It is like this gut feeling I suddenly get and then I know what to do. What's strange is that it's almost like I've been here before."
As she spoke, Sarah rubbed her hand over her stomach where the pain had started to intensify, "I have been having the strangest feeling since we got here. Honestly, this place excites me beyond anything I've ever felt and I don't know why. Amy everything here is dead or dying, but when I look around I can almost see a completely different labyrinth, and I don't know why."
Amy took her friend's hands in her own and looked into her eyes, "I don't know either Sarah. Maybe it's a good thing. Maybe it has something to do with that strange potion Assana had you drinking."
"Yes, that must be it."
It dawned on Amy then. Assana sent us here on purpose. That makes perfect sense! Sarah beat Jareth's labyrinth before when he was trying to practically woo her so if his memory is gone and hers is as well maybe Sarah beating the labyrinth will wake them both up.
Assana did convince him to drink that potion in return for us running the labyrinth. He had the whole dose at once too. Sarah only had sips here and there because of the baby.
"In any case Sarah, let's keep following whatever crazy intuition you are having. Maybe it will lead us out of here." Amy spoke then. I have to trust Assana's judgment. Sarah is already running through this labyrinth from memory.
"Agreed."
Now that they could see in the dim light of the candles, they searched top to bottom for a set of keys, finding none. They had a door with no way of opening it, and Sarah was growing angry.
They were now left with 11 hours to solve the riddles and make it out.
"There's one thing I don't get Sarah," Amy started.
"What?"
"We haven't seen one goblin, dwarf, fairy, or anything else that should inhabit this place. It's barren here, aside from the Goblin King himself."
"I know. I didn't say anything but you are right. This does feel off."
Sarah walked over to the door again and tried opening it to no avail. Anger welled up inside her, over their situation, which was as bizarre as it was scary. In a fit of rage she yelled at the door, "Open already!"
With a bang the door swung open, revealing a dark passage beyond.
Did Sarah do that? "Sarah, how did you open that door?"
Sarah glanced over at her friend, "I-I don't know. Amy what's wrong with me?"
Sarah stood there in the dim light shaking. I knew how to enter the labyrinth and then to find the hidden path ways. I thought of the oubliette to get us out of that dead end and of the door that was hidden on the floor. How do I know all of this? Then I made the door open, I felt it, like icicles flying out through my fingertips
The passage led out into a larger underground area with great stone heads lining the walls. The girls stood there and stared at them in wonder. They were immense in size but something was missing.
Some of them were cracked while the others just looked dead. She couldn't explain it to herself but Sarah felt like they should be talking back.
Sarah felt something tugging at her and she walked faster down the passage with Amy close behind her. Her mind had flitted back to the Goblin King again and how he made her head spin.
They rounded a corner and Sarah stopped in her tracks, staring at an empty space at the opposite wall.
"Sarah what's wrong?" Amy asked.
Sarah's face was blank, the color draining as she stared at that empty space.
Inside Sarah's mind things were starting to fall into place, one feeling at a time. A scent stronger than all of the decaying labyrinth walls filled Sarah's being and she breathed it in.
"Peaches," Sarah muttered to herself, causing Amy to step forward.
Sarah took off running despite her already hurting belly. She did not know the direction she was heading.
There was only a feeling gripping her. Her head felt free, weightless, and her memories were starting to form.
Amy ran behind her, calling for Sarah to slow down. She couldn't though; there was a massive weight on her chest begging to be released.
They continued running for a while until Sarah finally began to slow, edging towards a clearing ahead of them.
It was a courtyard with a stone fountain that no longer spilled water.
A terrible sadness filled Sarah as she looked around the clearing. The plants were dead, the fountain was broken, and the entrance to the hedge maze was dying.
Sarah felt the weight beginning to lift off her chest as she stood there frozen.
"Sarah, are you okay?"
"Sunlight…peaches." Sarah kept muttering, her pale hazel eyes going back and forth, wide with wonder. Suddenly she reached out and placed a hand on the wall to keep from falling.
"Sarah! Please tell me what's going on. You're scaring me!"
Sarah closed her eyes. Dizziness swept through her and it was all she could do not to pass out. Everything was coming back to her at once in a single wave of memories.
Amy stood beside her friend, unsure what to do. She didn't know what was happening and was becoming very frightened.
Sarah let the memories wash over her as if they had never left her. Suddenly she could see herself as a young girl acting out that little red book in the park while the owl watched over her. He was always protecting her.
In another beat Sarah saw herself in the same labyrinth; only then the labyrinth was alive and full of adventure and wonder while she and her friends worked to solve it.
Then she could see herself in a ballroom dancing with the deceitful Goblin King, but feeling at the same time as if she belonged there.
In another flash she was standing up to him, after finding her baby brother, and was telling him he had no power over her.
Sarah then remembered all of her friends coming into her room after saying they'd always be there when she called.
Then there were the long and drawn out high school years in which Sarah couldn't get the memory of the labyrinth out of her head. She remembered finally calling on Hoggle, learning she had as much power as the Goblin King and then entered the labyrinth once again through her bedroom mirror.
Sarah could see clearly then the days that followed. She remembered the way that same Goblin King looked at her the night she crossed back into the labyrinth, of their teasing conversation, and most of all the feeling that there was something changing between the two of them.
Also, the memory of the other labyrinth where Hoggle tried to kill her came. That was the first time she actually called for Jareth. He came and took her from that place. It was also the first time he really held her, and his calling her Precious sent shivers through her other than annoying her.
With a laugh Sarah that startled Amy in the clearing, she remembered before her father's dinner party when he showed up in her room while she was almost naked.
How he had smirked and jested which drove her into throwing things at him to get him to leave. That was also the night she first saw Daire. She also remembered infuriating the Goblin King that night and losing contact with him and the labyrinth completely.
With a jolt Sarah remembered the day at the pool with Amy, Amy's little sister Valerie, and Toby when Sarah found the little girl with the gorgeous golden hair at the pool.
Your fault, she had said, no chance now. All gone. Then the little girl had looked at Sarah with crystal blue eyes when Sarah tried to hold her, to comfort the child's tears and said you can't. Not now, not ever. He's back. Her name was Melody.
Not long after that Sarah had been in her room before bed, holding the doll that held Jareth's likeness and reality had dawned on her. She had fallen in love with the Goblin King.
Daire had stolen her then, taking her to his kingdom of nightmares. Sarah barely made it as far as she did until finally it dawned on her and she called out but what no one knew was that the girl had fallen in love with the Goblin King, and so she gave him back his power over her!
Jareth had rescued her then, although Sarah had passed out and came to once she was back home in her room. Amy was there and Sarah told her friend of her being the girl from the labyrinth, and that she had to go to him.
Then Sarah stepped forward into the Labyrinth where she found Jareth. The two of them then learned of their love for each other and vowed their love, promising forever, and that night Sarah became one with Jareth the Goblin King.
Then, a little over twenty four hours later which was too short a time everything changed. Daire invaded the labyrinth.
Then, holding Jareth at blade point while using magic Sarah couldn't comprehend, Daire taunted her.
That was when Sarah chose to do the only thing she felt was right. In a second she told Jareth she loved him and then cast a memory spell on Daire and Jareth.
Sarah thought that it would be better for everyone if she had never went to the labyrinth, that Jareth would be saved.
The rest was a blank slate. That was when I woke in the alley and then again in the hospital. I had disappeared from the labyrinth.
My memory was gone of anything to ever do with the labyrinth. That was why my head hurt every time I was around certain things. All of my memories of the labyrinth, of Jareth, were being blocked.
Another contraction brought Sarah's attention back to her belly and the baby that was inside of her. My baby, our baby. Sarah's hands cradled her stomach.
She closed her eyes and remembered the feel of Jareth holding her in the quiet of his room late into the night, his hands in her hair, skin caressing skin, his lips on hers as she melted into his warmth. Their baby was made from pure love.
Sarah turned to Amy, tears streaming down her face. "I remember everything Amy."
Her friend rushed to her and pulled her into a hug, letting Sarah get control of herself.
Sarah turned first towards Amy and then to nowhere in particular.
She shouted, "Assana I know you can hear me."
"Yes dear, I can hear you." Came the sudden English voice, and Assana appeared beside Amy, who jumped in fright.
Sarah's eyes were for Assana's mismatched eyes though. They were so much like her son's.
"That's why you took me in isn't it?" Sarah started, "That's what that potion was you've been giving me all along wasn't it? You were trying to help me remember."
Assana nodded, smiling sadly, "I had to do what I could for my son's love and for my granddaughter."
"Assana," Sarah continued, "when I found you talking to Jareth he said his memory was his problem but you seemed to think otherwise. You also said he wasn't the son you remembered, that he had changed. That he was doing dark things now."
Assana looked down, "yes Sarah, I'm afraid so. His memory of everything about the two of you is gone. He and that villain Daire have allied and have begun doing dark things together.
I'm afraid my son has turned to madness. You see this place, how it's changed? Everything here is dead. He no longer cares for it the way he used to. Whoever is wished here wind up dying Sarah.
Jareth is very rarely in his own castle. Everything is in disrepair and what's worse is that Daire's creatures have begun inhabiting the labyrinth. You're my only hope now Sarah. Defeat his labyrinth again. Make him remember you."
"I cast that spell to save Jareth Assana. Daire was going to kill him because of me. I didn't mean for the spell to backfire and hit me instead of Daire.
I'm sorry Assana, but if Jareth has allied with Daire then maybe that's the safest place for him right now. Daire won't kill an ally. I'm still standing by my actions. I'm going to keep Jareth safe."
"Sometimes Sarah, we have to fight for those we love, no matter the costs, and what are you going to do if you don't win the labyrinth and he takes your baby from you? With no memory of you Sarah we have no idea what would become of your daughter."
Sarah looked down to her swollen stomach and then back to Assana. She's right. This isn't just about me anymore.
"I'll win the labyrinth Assana. I have to. It's the only way to protect them."
"You have to try to get him back Sarah, for all our sakes. Please listen to reason, Jareth is not the same King he was with you, this is no life for him."
Sarah frowned, trying to push away the sadness. I would give anything to have him back but I have to keep him safe. She doesn't understand.
"Assana, back before I went to go and be with Jareth I saw this little girl at a pool. She had gorgeous golden hair and the clearest crystal blue eyes. At the time I thought she was just lost and scared. Then she spoke to me strange things. She left with Daire I believe, saying things like no chance now when I tried to hold her."
Assana's eyes widened, "that is startling news Sarah, news I'm afraid will only complicate this situation if it is true."
"What do you think it could be?"
"Hopefully Sarah, that was not the precious baby that is growing inside of you. We can only hope that the path you are taking is the one that will spare her if it is. As for Jareth he already took the potion. You can't stop him remembering now. As to how long it will take for him to remember I can't say."
"What else may we face in here? Where are my friends?"
"Daire's creatures are now wandering the labyrinth Sarah, and I'm afraid Daire himself hasn't lost his memory. I'm sure he remembers you plainly. Why else has he poisoned Jareth's mind so?
He has Jareth harming anyone who enters the labyrinth. My guess, Sarah, is that he hopes Jareth will take you out before regaining his memory. As for your friends, Jareth has them locked in his dungeons."
"So what should I do then, which path should I take?"
Assana stepped forward and placed a tender hand on Sarah's shoulders, "Sarah you must follow your own instincts."
"What should I do about Amy? I don't want her to get hurt." Sarah added.
"I'm afraid she's as stuck here as you are until you both solve the labyrinth."
Sarah took a deep breath, "he doesn't need to remember me though. I have to keep a distance. I have to win and get out of here, and maybe without me being here he won't remember.
I know you want him to, to get him back Assana but Daire was going to kill him.
Jareth is cocky and full of life and laughter and Daire is the darkness. I know he is. I've been there. No matter how powerful he is Daire still got to him once before."
"You turned Jareth's head before when he discovered you. There is a presence about you that is strong and beautiful Sarah. I believe in you, as he must have.
You are as stubborn as he told me, once upon a time ago. I can see that now. You two were made for each other. When he remembers you, the two of you can work out a way to get rid of Daire. You need to do this together. And if you do you have the collective force of the family he refuses to acknowledge. We will help you Sarah."
Sarah smiled then, a sad smile but her eyes were confident, proud. "I will fight for him Assana, but I won't make him remember me. I will do everything I can to keep him safe. I won't let Daire hurt him."
Assana left then without a second's notice, leaving Amy and Sarah in the clearing.
Unbeknownst to them, Daire was listening too. He could see Sarah was pregnant with the Goblin King's child. He knew then what that would mean if Jareth remembered. He began to form a plan. After all, the labyrinth had many twists and turns, many of which could lead to certain death.