I raced to the small band at the edge of the circle, hoping to whoever would listen to my silent pleas, that Toby was okay. The circle was larger now, and the edge seemed so far away. My heart started racing faster and my speed increased. I began to feel a familiar tingle in my body and soon it felt like I wasn't touching the ground at all as my thought were intent on Toby's well being.

My destination came up faster than I expected and I tumbled somehow and landed among the tall green grasses, rolling right into something very hard. Still dizzy, I look up at what I had hit. It was grayish and looked nothing like Toby, though I knew it was human shaped. My vision cleared, but I didn't like what I saw. The little statue now looked down at me with a funny expression on his face. I tried to talk, but all that came out of my mouth was a squawk. I looked around myself, but couldn't see beyond the blades of grass around me. I hobbled to my feet and ended up being a little taller than the statue.

"Milady? What happened in there?"

I squawked again, trying to answer.

'Lady Sarah, I think you should try speaking to us with your thoughts.'

I stared at the really tall Serpent with wonder and thought to him, 'Where's my brother? Where is he?'

'Your brother fell asleep shortly after you entered the Shadow's lair.' Aethanvan turned his body around so that I saw a hand limping over his back.

I sighed and looked down at the ground, smiling, though I couldn't feel it on my face. Then, I saw the talons where my feet should have been. I gasped (if I could have called that gasping).

'What has happened to me? Why are you guys so large all of a sudden? What's wrong with me?'

"Milady, if I may, it seemed that you've turned into an avian appearance that you should easily be able to control should you calm down and focus. With enough meditation over your feelings you should be able to change back into your human form." The statue smiled as if it was always so natural for him to talk.

'What? Are you saying that I'm a bird right now?'

"To be specific, a type of Underground raven. Very nice body shape, I must say. This form must take after your human appearance seeing as your appealing curves are evident now."

I looked at the silent Serpent. 'Is this true, that I'm not human right now?'

The Serpent lowered his head. 'It is, milady. I think what happened is that the prophecy has come true. You've lost something very very dear to you; your humanity. I don't think you'd be able to get back to Aboveground now.'

My speeding heart skipped a beat and it hurt worse than when I was human. 'I'm not human anymore?' I asked to no one in particular.

'Yes, milady. I no longer sense the presence of a human, not accounting for your brother. You are a fae. Only the fae can shift into one animal without the act of magic. It comes naturally for them, probably because the fae that inhabited Aboveground were found out by the humans and were being hunted, so they cast on themselves to forever be able to blend in with their environment and the humans wouldn't know. Now, many centuries later, all fae could shift.' Aethanvan gave a sort of laugh. 'Call me insane, but a few days before the Shadow started burning everything in certain places and stealing more life than at first, I saw a fae run through to another neighboring kingdom, though he was in the shape of a silver four-legged creature. I was too far away to know what kind of animal he was.'

As I listened to Aethanvan, I felt the tingling again and noticed that the world was getting smaller. When he finished, I was standing on my human... fae feet. I also began to feel a powerful burn in my wounded arm. I looked at it, seeing the runes crowding around the wounds and speed up the skin regeneration process. I still had blood on my arm, but this new blood running from my cuts were silvery. It mixed with the red blood, creating swirls along my arm. I stared in awe, but knew deep in my heart that I was no longer human.

I sighed heavily. "Come on, you guys. I want to get cleaned off ASAP." I got looks of confusion from the Underground inhabitants. "As soon as possible, please?"

'Of course, milady. Hop on.'

I clambered up the Serpent's arm, holding the statue in my good arm, and settled behind Toby. He smiled in his sleep as if he was happy with my change.

Soon, after a well needed bath and being tended to by the Grassy Sea medics, I settled in the bed next to Toby. I was glad that there were some smaller rooms for guests that were not Serpents. Feeling the last two days of fatigue in my bones melt away as I snuggled in the sheets made me wish I was back in the Labyrinth. I laughed to myself.

I had that nice room and never had a chance to even nap in it when I decided to leave. Maybe I should go back. Wait... what? What are you thinking, Sarah? That's it, you've gone over the deep end. Go to sleep.

Following my own orders, my eyes felt very heavy and my heart rate slowed.

.*.*.

Good, I thought to myself as the dream crystal entered Sarah's room shortly after she fell asleep. I absorbed the spying crystal and waited for the tug. When it came, I was transported into the dream, replacing one of the silhouettes. Around me was an image of a peaceful courtyard, complete with a small fountain for ambiance. Everything here was made of polished slabs of snow stone that came straight from the longest and tallest Underground mountain range. With this special stone and a half moon present, everything had a slight aura of light accompanied by lurking shadows to keep one in the light.

I didn't have to wait long before the other silhouette was replaced by none other than Sarah. She looked around for a moment or two, taking in this scene laid out for her. She was smiling until her emerald eyes landed on me.

"What are you going to do first, Jareth? Bring out a Cleaner with newly sharpened blades and no way out or a Pit of Death with a group of stakes at the bottom?" She spoke with a lot of fear in her eyes, though she didn't show in her stance.

I thought back to when I brought her and her brother to my castle. She had slightly woken up. I was expecting her to start screaming then when all she did was tell me not to hurt her. What she suggested must have been what she meant. I have to see if I can take a look at these strange dreams that have been plaguing her mind after I talk to her tonight.

"Well?" Her voice brought me back. "What are you going to do to me this time?"

"Just talk to you, my dear." I watched a mask of surprise slip on her face.

"Talk? No torturing at all?"

I shook my head. "No, my dear. This night fares important of all nights. I must urge you to come back to the Goblin Castle. If anything has made your stay uncomfortable, I would deal with it. If someone has said or done anything ill of you, I would bog them and send them to an oubliette for the rest of their lives.

"Ha." She said sharply, sitting at the only snow stone bench. "I'd take up that offer for the bog, but that'd mean stench for you for the rest of your life."

I faltered. "Why me, Sarah?"

She rolled her eyes. "As if you don't know. But then again you are only a dream, so I'll tell you. I've only recently found out that you're willing to get rid of me because I prove as a threat to you. You said and I quote, 'She's bothered me before, but now she's done the worst possible way to take what I can't give.' I have tried to take away your pride when I rejected your offer in the Escher room and then I just had to make that wish and practically give myself to you." She sighed. "After I talked the real Jareth in that... Mirror's Keep, I knew that I had to leave the castle before he could extract his revenge on me. He sounded so angry at me."

That explains why she tried to avoid me, but I was so sure that I was more careful with my words. I looked at Sarah's depressed body. Apparently, not careful enough. I have my work cut out for me now. I walked over to Sarah and sat down next to her.

"In the mirror room, I was talking about a fae woman who wants me to love her as she loves me, but the thing is, mind you, that she doesn't love me at all. She just loves my land, since I have more than other kingdoms. She's now claiming battle with me." Sarah looked at me while I talked. It was the first time she's ever looked at me without turning away once. "When it comes to you, Sarah dear, I'm not angry at you for completing the Labyrinth. I'm actually pleased because I built it for a reason."

"What's the reason, Jareth?" She sounded so innocent then like a child.

"I'll tell you later when I know you're ready for the answer."

"Okay." She started to get up.

I grabbed onto her hand, keeping her down. "Knowing that I mean you no harm, will you come back to the castle?"

She rested her other hand on mine. "I only wish, Jareth. I also wish that all of this was true, all of what you just told me, but it's not to be. I don't even know why I should dream anymore. I can't go back home now anyway." She started to sniffle.

"Why, Sarah, what's wrong? What happened?"

"I... When I defeated the Shadow, the prophecy said that the slayer would lose something. I lost my humanity, Jareth. I can't go Aboveground anymore. Now I'm forced to forever wander the Underground searching for a place to call home. I was happy at the Goblin Realm, but it was you, Jareth, that drove me away. I mean... the real you." Tears and stifled sobs were starting to come.

I held her hand, hoping that it would be enough for her to grasp while she cried. At least until she curled up against my chest. I wrapped my arms around her, although her scent was strong and mesmerizing.

She began talking amidst her sobs. "I... miss my... violin so much. I miss.. running through the... Labyrinth... with my friends... helping me out. But most of all... I miss feeling... so excited around you... when you were trying to slow... me down during my run."

I smiled at that memory. In the catacombs, I could have sworn that I would have kissed Sarah when she was standing so strong before me. It later became a wonder to me how I had just passed by and sent the Cleaners after her. The other time I thought I would have kissed her was before she began her run. I had only slightly leaned over her shoulder when I caught her lovely aroma. I actually wanted to just give her her brother and spare her of the Labyrinth, but something kept me doing what I have done for other runners.

"Jareth?" Sarah interrupted my thoughts and memories again.

"Yes, Sarah?"

"Kiss me, please?" Her wet green eyes and soft cheeks glowed under the moonlight.

"Why would you want me to?"

"Because you usually do before I wake up and I like it. Please, I'm beginning to feel so far away from you." She lifted a hand to my neck, pulling me down to her.

I let her control me. If she thought I was a dream, I don't want to get too involved when she's not ready for the truth, but when I felt her lips on mine, my world came falling down. If her subconscious mind was able to do this to me, I wondered what her actual body would do. I let myself dive deeper into the kiss. Her nimble hands kept me close to her even though she was running short on breath.

A soft growl came from beyond the shadows, snapping me back to my thoughts. I broke the kiss, much to Sarah's protest. I looked around us sensing someone I did not want to encounter. From the other side of the fountain came that damned silver wolf.

"Sylvanius, what brings you here?"

'The fact that you're near my future, Jareth. I suggest you get away from her before I'll have to do something rash.'

"Jareth!" Sarah saw the wolf and held me tighter. "I thought my nightmares about that thing was over."

'Nightmare? My dear, I'm no nightmare. I'm the sweetest dream you'll ever have.'

"I think it's time for you to leave, Sylvanius." I hissed.

'Oh? And leave you two lovebirds alone? I think not.' He leaned down against the ground and leaped, sailing over the fountain. He landed neatly next to Sarah and grabbed a hold of her clothes. I tried to unclasp his jaws, but he had yanked Sarah out of my loosened hold and pinned her on the ground.

'You'll never win again, Jareth. I will claim her and use her fae powers for my needs.' The wolf's head looked at Sarah, who was scared stiff. 'And I'll possibly use her for the bedroom as well. What do you think?'

Anger flared up inside of me. "You mongrel!" I began to leap for him.

He laughed oddly in his wolf form. 'So much to learn, Jareth.' The wolf leaned over Sarah and ripped out her throat.

.*.*.

I woke up in a cold sweat with the morning sun peeping through the open skylight. I heard someone breathing heavily, practically gasping. No one else was in the room but Toby and I, though Toby was still asleep.

Calm down, Sarah. It was just a dream. Even though I tried to convince myself that it was just a dream, I had a sore throat and swollen lips. It was just a dream, I repeated to myself as I slipped out of bed and stepped under the light of the waking sun, stretching his arms out toward the shadows created by the moon. I breathed in, wanting to feel the warm rays kiss my skin.

My heart started to flutter again. This time I knew exactly what was happening and let myself sink into the feeling. Up I went, through the skylight and into the sky, keeping myself in a steady rhythm as I climbed higher and higher. There was a slight cloud cover, but that didn't stop me from meeting the sun's happy face. He seemed glad of my transformation. Joyousness spilled over the brim of my heart.

I flew, trying to get more control of my new form, testing out some tricks I'd seen Aboveground birds do, and drilling wispy holes into the clouds. If this form could express human-like emotions, I'd be grinning happily that had just been approved by a cute guy to the prom, or... something like that.

Wow. I thought sadly to myself. I never even went to prom. That dance was every girls dream to go to with their high school sweetheart by their side. But then, I never was like the other girls. Maybe, I started contemplating, because I was born here, it automatically singled me out among the humans, making me odd by their standards.

Then, I laughed, scoffed really. Just because I was born here didn't make me a fae on the dot... I hope. I started to remember my dreams about the history of the Underground. There was one dream showing my the life of a human, much like me, I realized. His mother was taken away to the Underground while she was in labor with him. Hours later, he was born with eyes a lot like Jareth's, but his eyes were the color of a fully grown rose. I remember the mother asking what was to happen to her child.

The king that took them away answered her. He said that the child was to grow as a fae prince. The mother asked if her son was human and the king said no. He told her that the magic in the air of the Underground is very concentrated and for every child from the Aboveground who has ever been birthed in the Underground was transformed as soon as they took their first breath.

The mother was starting to fade away. She asked the king an 'if' question.

"If I become better and am able to go back home with my child, would he still have the power and looks of a fae?"

"Nay, lady. The fae adapt to their surroundings. Over a course of time, your son would look human and have no special abilities, unless, of course, he returns to the Underground. Then, he would slowly, but surely gain his fae likenesses. Of course, that also depends on how old he is when he comes back. The older, the slower."

The mother was now gasping for breath, but she asked one more question. "What's his name, Goblin King?"

"He is... Oberon."

I remembered the mother smiling before she closed her eyes forever and me crying when I woke. Dying after giving birth to not just any child, but her child was worth shedding tears for.

If that dream was true, which it probably was, I was always a fae. So if that was that, what had I really lost when I slayed the Serpent ghost. I headed back to my room in hopes to get there before Toby woke up. I barrel rolled through the skylight and landed clumsily on the rug covered floor. I regained my balance and started to control my thoughts and emotions. The tingling feeling returned, starting in my talons and rushing it's way to my head.

Once again, I was at my usual height and still in the clothes I had on before I changed. I smoothed out my ruffled clothes and turned, facing really mismatched blue and gray eyes with wild blonde hair framing his face. Toby was watching the whole time.