Nothing, Nothing tra la la?

By Adrienne Valentine

Summary: The Labyrinth is engaged in war, the King is weak and there are few willing to ally with him. While his Labyrinth provides sufficient defenses, it can only do so for so long and the the King knows it, waiting for the only one who can assure victory- the only one who had defeated his Labyrinth.

Genre: Adventure/Romance

Rating: T to be safe.

Disclaimer: I do only Maelle, Livius, Geoff and Erikr. Oh, and Ghillie of course. :)

Chapter Nineteen:

Do you remember me
Lost for so long
Will you be on the other side
Or will you forget me?

(Tourniquet by Evanescence)

The next 'morning' is when things changed. Maelle was the first to wake, as if startled from a dream, she sat up suddenly and frowned. Sarah wasn't there. Her things were packed and gone, and so was she. The moment the fae noticed it she sprung into action, first searching the area near her to see if someone had perhaps kidnapped her, but no, there was only one set of foot prints, and they were definitely Sarah's size. She had no idea when the girl had left or even where she had gone to. Maelle barely even knew her way around, and she had traveled the tunnels more than anyone else. She cursed and turned her attention to her remaining companion, who was still asleep. Hurrying over to him and shaking him awake, she waited until he became aware of what was going on and she knew he would remember her words.

"We must find Sarah before she gets herself into trouble." She said evenly, hiding her worry.

Geoff instantly lost all traces of sleep as he sat up abruptly, and jumping out of bed, quickly pulling together his things. She nodded as his actions and did the same, not bothering with cleanliness as she stuffed everything into her pack. Turning to Geoff, who she noted was strapping on his sword, she nodded and turned her attention back to the ground, wondering how the girl had moved without waking her while studying the footprints, slightly bent over as she followed them, saying not a word to Geoff, who merely followed in silence. Whatever reason she had left them in the middle of the night worried the fae. She once again blamed herself as fear and worry started to swell. She had been too harsh on her. The girl had probably believed that she hated her, which was not the case. She was just upset. Cursing silently to herself, she made sure not to miss a single print as she walked, moving as quickly as she could.

o0o

Jareth sensed something was wrong that morning. Sarah had visited him, briefly, before she seemed to pull herself away from him, looking slightly saddened. He had tried to scry her location since, but his attempts all failed. Nothing would show on his crystal- not even darkness. There was simply nothing, as if she was blocking his attempts consciously, as if she was trying to hide from him. He was worried and pacing his room anxiously, he had scried Elle and her human companion- hoping to catch a glimpse of Sarah, but become even more concerned when he found that she had gone off on her own. She had, apparently, snuck off in the middle of the night, without waking either of them, and left. Simply left. No one knew where she had gone to or why, and the fact that she had left while in the tunnels... He cursed loudly, wishing he had cleared those tunnels ages ago simply so now Sarah would no longer be in danger.

Broken crystals- thrown in frustration- littered the room, but her took no note of any of them, took note of nothing beyond his own thoughts. His magic was weak and therefore unable to properly control his domain as he had before, and with the idea that Sarah might be in grave danger- might even already have been injured, or worse- disturbed him. Making a decision, he stalked to his wardrobe, he tore open the doors and quickly grabbed what he needed- donning it as he did so. His 'armor', cloak, and sword- something he had not used in some time. After making sure his sword belt was secured, he moved to his door, opening it with a determination that left the little dog- who had come to check on the King, confused and dazed for a moment. The goblins he passed looked worried when they saw their king stalk past them, armed. Few actually knew of what plagued the king, and even fewer knew why, so the sight was a peculiar one for the goblins, and he quickly amassed a small entourage as the creatures began to follow him curiously.

He descended the stairs from his room to the lower-basement levels, unaffected by the troupe of goblins following him. As he approached the door the crowd behind him begun to whisper about themselves nervously. They knew what lie behind the door, the dangers that one would face. It was never opened for that reason. But as he stood in front of the door, producing it's only key, the chatter silenced instantly, the normally silly creature's holding their breath, fearing what lay beyond the door. For them, there was only death, as goblins were notoriously inept fighters, and they feared the same fate would await their King. As the Goblin King opened the door to the tunnels the goblins scurried away and scattered in fear.

o0o

Sarah panted as she trudged through the unlit tunnels blindly. Her torch had gone out more than an hour ago and she now having to rely on her other senses, and, more importantly, her intuition. She still didn't know what had possessed her to sneak off and leave her companions without as much as a note, but whatever it was still possessed her as she continued. She had worried, at first, that she would run into a dead-end, a wall, or, even more horribly, one of the creatures that dwelt there, but as time grew, so too did her confidence. She had run into no dead-ends, no monsters- and especially since her torch had burned out- no walls. She wasn't even walking with her hand to one of them. She didn't know where she was headed, or why it was so important that she go there by herself, but she did.

She had been walking for what she guessed was the better part of the day when she first received sign that she was nearing her destination. There was a dim light in her vision, and as she approached it, she took note of it's shape and realized what it was- a door. Quickening her pace excitedly she all but ran towards it, entering the open door without hesitation. What she found on the other side, however, was not what she was expecting.

A/N: This one's a bit jumpy, I apologize. I left it on a cliff hanger on purpose, though. Maybe you can guess, maybe you can't. I don't know. hehe.