Disclaimer - I do not own Jareth, The Labyrinth, or anything I havn't made up. However, I do own Deborah, Roxy, The Storyline and anything I have made up.

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"Oh whadda' beautiful morning! Oh whadda' beautiful day!"

"What the...?"

"I've got a beautiful feelin', everything's goin' my waayy! Rise and shine!"

"Oh for goodness sake...what's the time?" Debroah pulled the covers over her head as she mumbled to a very bright, very chirpy Sarah.

"8 'O clock! You should be up."

"Which utter idiot was it that told me you wern't a morning person?"

"That would be Jareth. I did try getting him up this morning but I wasn't as successful."

"Poor Jareth! He suffered the same..." Deborah mock wailed in her attempt to get rid of Sarah. All the queen heard was a muffled cry.

"Debs, I'll count to three and then if you're not up, I'm taking drastic action."

"1..."

Deborah didn't move. She just closed her eyes and tried to sleep.

"2...Debs I'm warning you...3! Right thats it!" And with that, Sarah tore the covers off of the bed, leaving Deborah hunched up in ball in the centre. She then clicked her fingers in different directions around the room. Immediately, alarm clocks were ringing all around the bedroom in the places Sarah had clicked. She then waved her hand toward the balcony and the doors flew open, bringing a rather nippy breeze into the room.

"ALRIGHT, ENOUGH!" Deborah shot up, eyes ablaze. Sarah laughed and clapped her hands. The noise ceased and the doors shut. Roxy then began barking loudly at her owner before joining her on the bed. Sarah continued laughing and Deborah had to hand it to her, she knew how to get some one up.

"One day, I will get such revenge that you shall be begging on your knee's for mercy." Deborah growled. Sarah just laughed even more and busied herself by delving into Deborah wardrobe.

"Don't mind me, you just go through my stuff...fine by me." The girl grumbled.

"Stop moaning, I'm helping you. We have an incredibly busy day. Especially you, as you've got that 'trip' with Jareth. Don't ask me what it is, I don't know, he hasn't told me."

"Eh?"

"Do you ever listen?" Sarah looked at Deborah over her shoulder.

"I was thinking!" Deborah continued to bite her lip.

"What was it about? Your boyfriend?" Sarah's tone was deeply annoying and mocking. She was grinning and standing with her arms folded, eyebrow raised.

"What boyfriend? I don't have a boyfriend!" Deborah said, irritated.

"Oh no? Well who was that divine man you were with last night?"

"I'm going for a bath." Deborah muttered, pinging off of the bed, grabbing the dress Sarah was holding and storming into the bathroom. She slammed the door. She'd been thinking about Ian all the back last night, all the way back to her room where Autumn was waiting, all the time she was getting ready for bed, she was thinking about him as she was going to sleep and she was now thinking about him first thing in the morning. She knew she'd never see him again.

"It was good while it lasted." Deborah mumered. She looked at the dress she was holding. She didn't even like it much. After a while of sitting in the bath, Clara decided to throw herself into what ever the day bought her and try not to think about the dancer.
Easier said than done.

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"How far is it?"

"About half a mile my lady." Didymus said in his high and mighty voice.

"Then why on earth am I wearing this?" Deborah bunched the black silk dress in her hands and raised her eyebrows.

"Because, you will be speaking to a very highly respected person."

"How are we getting there? Dare I ask?" Deborah kept her eyebrows raised.

"On horseback my lady."

"In a dress?! Let joy be unconfined!" Deborah cried in mock glee.

She was secretly nervous about finding out about the whole mind thing. Why did she have to do it? Why couldn't Jareth go down there? It's his Labyrinth. Deborah stepped out of the room and shut the door behind her. She'd left Roxy with Sarah so she didn't worry too much about her room.

As Didymus was way to small to take Deborah's arm, he held on to the hem of her skirt as they walked towards the main entrance. At least, thats where Deborah assumed they were going. She hadn't expected it to be Didymus when she had heard a knock at her door. She had opened it expecting to find someone of human size. Instead she found the fox, minus his dog.

Just as Deborah was thinking about the dog that looked uncannilly like Sarah's old pooch, there was an almost ear splitting cry from next to her feet.

"AMMMBROOOSSSIIIOUSSS!"

"Ga, Jesus, What?!" Deborah exclaimed, forgetting etiquette.

"My lady, you are going on horseback, I am going on my noble steed." The small fox said a matter-of-factly.

"Wha..." Deborah only just clocked what he meant as a rather unruly looking old english sheep dog rounded the corner of the corridor and came racing toward them. She noted it was wearing a saddle.

"Ah. His dog." Deborah muttered. Didymus mounted his 'noble steed' and they were off again. This was certainly going to be a strange trip.

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Riding in a dress was suprisingly comfortable. Deborah liked to think she looked like someone out of a movie. With her hair piled on her head, a long and elegant black dress, a beautiful horse to ride. Then again she probably didn't.

Deborah looked out over the approaching Labyrinth. They had not gone through Goblin City, as Deborah had expected, but they had gone right and along the top of the city, on the outskirts. It was beautiful, in it's own way. Sir Didymus was riding...if it could be called riding...in front of Deborah and was keeping up quite well. Not once did Deborah fear that she was going to squash the fox or indeed his dog. Ruby behaved herself fantastically and Deborah smiled at the horse.

Finally, they came to a long, almost road-like structure. It was bordered by beautiful, full tree's. There were all kinds of autumn colours. Reds, yellows, oranges, rusts. An array of them showered the leaves. It was almost like a tunnel. You couldn't see the sky through the tree's who's branches formed a canopy over them. Beautiful and strange looking birds flitted from branch to branch and exotic flowers were dotten inbetween the many tree trunks. The ground was carpetted in lush grass that looked undisturbed.

Deborah looked around in wonderment until her eyes rested, as she and her fox friend sat at the entrance of the walkway, on a branch on a tree not 4 feet away. On it, sat a beautiful barn owl. It stared at the sixteen year old, atop her chesnut horse, and she could've sworn it winked. Her eyes widened for a second before she realized what, or more to the point, who, it was. She laughed a shrill and toxic laugh before kicking Ruby into action. The copper horse nickered loudly and began to canter down the emerald grass.

"My lady...wait!..." The fox tried but failed to retrieve his charge.

Deborah was laughing happily. She didn't even know where she was going and the walkway looked to be endless. "Leave her to go. She's happy." Didymus heard a well spoken voice in his head. He walked foward on his white and grey dog calling out in his shrill voice

"Yes your highness."

Deborah came to a stop apon hearing the fox's voice. "Didymus?"

"Yes my lady?" He shouted from the mouth of the lane.

"Stop talking to yourself!" She laughed again and began to canter off once more. Didymus tried to do the same but Ambrosious wouldn't have any of it and just stood there, barking at the owl in the tree.

The owl just stared at the dog through it's beady eyes before swiveling it's head to look at Deborah who was fast becoming in the distance. If the king had been in human form, he would have grinned but, as he wasn't, he hooted and took off, soaring through a gap in the tree's and off in the direction that Deborah had been going.

Soon he was directly overhead. She was galloping now but Jareth had no problem keeping up. He ducked down so he was on her left, just visible on the outside of the wooded path. As she glanced his way, she caught a glimpse of the owl and nearly shrieked in suprise but just grinned when she realized. Urging Ruby faster, Deborah let the breeze flush her face and the horse take her wherever it damn well pleased. Jareth internally grinned. Two could play at this game.

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"My lady, we should get going."

"I know but it's pretty here." Deborah panted, still flushed from her race. Didymus and Ambrosious had finally caught up with Deborah at the end of the long walkway. Jareth, toward the end, had veered off and up above, out of sight. She had found herself faced with two beautiful iron gates that were closed. Through the bars, there was a path that was long and winding and led into a cluster of tree's. Beyond and around that, lay the labyrinth. Deborah could no longer see the caste and she wondered where on earth they were. She didn't really mind, she was high on...well, she didn't really know. The excitement of being out she supposed. Her thoughts were interupted suddenly when Didymus piped up from the side of her.

"Asyria, Mesopotania and THRACE!"

"I beg your pardon?!" Deborah looked down at him in suprise.

"The password my lady. Please, proceed." She flicked her head up and found the gates were creaking open. Tentativley, Ruby took a few steps foward, then decided it was safe, so began to trot down the dusty path. Didymus kept up well, and was rather enjoying himself, telling Deborah all about the history of this, or the different opinions on that.

Deborah just listened politley and added 'yeah's' and 'no's' where appropriate.

She watched different types of wall go past. Red brick. Grey brick. Stone. Hedge. Then finally, when Deborah was begining to wonder when they were going to run out of materials to see, the wall started to disolve into tree's and she suddenly found themself standing just inside the mouth of a large cluster of tree's.

"It's a wood." Deborah said conclusivley.

"You're observant missy." Didymus replied.

"Indeed I am. Are we to...proceed? As they say..."

"Yes my lady, we shall." Deborah had a dull feeling of apprehension in her stomach. She had always been secretly afraid of dark woods. Especially when she was only accompanied by a small fox, a dopey dog and a horse.

The wood was dense. You could only see about 3 feet in to the sides of the path before there were too many tree's to see through. The pathway was grassy, just as the other had been. It felt airy, yet you couldn't even see the sky if you looked up. Didymus seemed to know where he was going.

Deborah was beggining to wish she was back at the castle, tucked up with Roxy in the library with a cup of coffee and a book. But here she was, riding a horse through a deserted, dingey forest, with a fox for company. She got so bored of just walking that after a while she slumped over ruby's neck and shut her eyes.

"Is there something wrong my lady?!" Didymus asked, his tone a little anxious.

"Just...lack of sleep Didymus. Nothing to worry about." Deborah kept her eyes closed and trusted the horse.

"Thats a releif." Didymus sighed.

"It is rather." Deborah said, sounding sarcastic but knowing Didymus wouldn't notice.

"Nearly there my lady."

"Oh goody." Deborah said sleepily. The sixteen year old sat up after a while and noticed they were indeed getting closer to the end.

Deborah could see more light at the end of the wood. She wondered what an earth was so special that they need to walk all this way. She began to hum a tune that sort of resmbled 'changes' and drummed her fingers on the saddle.

Finally, when Deborah thought she could bear the bordom no longer, they reached the end. "Aha. Here we are"

What stood in front of Deborah, truly amazed her and all she could do was sit astride Ruby, with her mouth wide open.

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