Another shorty.

There'd been a soft surprised "Oh" from the Beggar, one of child-like incomprehensibility at the words that had been spoken. A pin could have dropped.

At that moment Sarah had watched silently as something strange happened. It'd started around his shoulders and head and followed down to the ends of his cloak. His face faded into nothingness and his outline shivered for the briefest of seconds before his entire body seemed to deflate like a balloon.

It was like watching a bubble pop in slow motion.

Sarah had watched his cloak and hat flutter sadly to the ground along with a pair of dark gloves. At last it came to rest, still and unmoving. She'd hesitated, not knowing what had just happened or weather this was shock setting in, but cautiously Sarah had knelt down next to the pile of fabric and reached for something hidden within its folds.

Her hands touched and found what she'd been looking for. She lifted it away from the mothy blue fabric; a wooden mask featuring a beaky profile and eyes covered by an old bandage.

There was no blood. There was no dust. There was nothing.

He'd just simply disappeared.

...

That had been two days ago…

Sarah didn't remember much after that except waking up in an unfamiliar bed still holding onto the mask. The bedding had been lumpy but the quilts were worn from age in the best possible way. They were soft against her cheek and she felt centered and safe in her little nest as she woke up. There were curtains that had been drawn with only a sliver of yellowing light peeking through that indicated so. She'd pulled them aside and blinked.

There were Goblins everywhere. But unlike her nightmare they weren't acting aggressive; in fact it was the complete opposite. She recognized the interior of the Beggars cottage from before but where once the sparse living area had been was now occupied by a small goblin encampment. Some were on the table playing cards in the dim firelight, others were sprawled on the floor asleep or milling about. It was really sort of sad, there were fewer than she'd expected. By the fireplace sat Hoggle snoozing with his head propped up by his hand on the armrest.

"Hoggle?" she asked groggily.

He snorted awake. "Sarah? Oh thank heavens you're alright. We were all so worried about you!" he said hopping of the chair to go to her. Sarah swung a leg over the edge of the bed so Hoggle could reached up and give her a hug around the waist before letting go to fetch her a cup of tea. Apparently she'd appeared at the cottage two days after they'd last seen her and there was no trace of the Beggar in the Labyrinth. She'd woken up to a refugee camp with more questions than answers.

The group hadn't known what to do or where she'd gone, they'd been certain she'd been captured and everything was lost. But after those two uncertain days, she'd stumbled into the cottage before collapsing onto the floor. Hoggle said it had been the residual effects of the spiders venom she'd had swimming around in her system and had made her comfortable to sleep it off.

"I'm sorry I made you guys so worried. I honestly can't remember what happened before I came here except…"she trailed off softly, remembering something.

"Except for what?" Hoggle asked.

"After you guys left again it was just me and the Beggar. I—I remember saying how I wished I'd never met the Goblin King and wishing how none of this should have ever happened when he just started to—I don't know—there was nothing left of him at all when it was done except his cloths and a mask. He'd just…disappeared," she said blankly.

"Oh lord…" Hoggle said rubbing a gnarled hand over his troubled features. "Whatever's taken the King then has gotten ahold of the Beggar. And if they're powerful enough to do all of this and take the King, then we're looking at a seriously powerful sorcerer."

She nodded. "Hoggle…I think you're right. What are we going to do?" she asked.

"It seems to me that the only thing to do is find the rat responsible for all of this and relocate the King; I'm sure that if we do then we'll find the Beggar as well Sarah, so try not to fret too much." Hoggle said consolingly.

"But I can't! For some reason I feel like this is partially my fault. Hoggle…I'm scared." She said while holding the mug of tea a bit tighter, the feeling of heat spreading through her fingers. Sarah had managed to take a peek out one of the windows while Hoggle had gotten her some tea. The sky was twilight blue as if the sun were below the rim of the world after sunset. The entire Labyrinth was caught between night and day in a suspended state of twilight blue and grey sky.

Hoggle nodded. "I know Sarah. We don't expect you to know what to do, but you're the closest thing to a hero we've got now."

After that she'd crawled back into the bed and pulled the covers to her nose. There was no way she could sleep. And she didn't for the next few hours. The world had been thrown into chaos and she was considered a hero? She'd nearly laughed when Hoggle had said that. How could she face the Goblin King after everything he'd done?

"You asked that the child be taken. I took him."

"No…you can't…" she rebelled in her mind at the words.

"You cowered before me. I was frightening.

"You were…you still are," she admitted.

"I have reordered time and turned the world upside down for you Sarah! Just let me rule you and you can have everything that you want."

"Is this what you would have done for me? A world locked in limbo?" she shuddered.

"Fear me, love me, do as I command and I will be your slave for all eternity. Forget him…."

"Never! I will never forget him and who he is to me; what he means! He's more than my friend and I can't let him suffer a fate worse than death," Sarah said.

Her mind was silent, there were no more responses. At least enough for her to lay back and listen to Goblins snore while she drifted in and out of dreams.