A/N: This chapter is un-beta-ed, so that I could get it to you ASAP. Enjoy.
Disclaimer: Today's chapter is brought to you by (shudder) Jennifer Lopez, as I refuse to call her by that other name, in the song "I'm Real" (the remix, that is.) Surprise, surprise, I still don't own Labyrinth or any of it's characters. I'll let you know when I do.
Never and Forever
Chapter Three
Now I Can Breathe Again
"Okay." Sarah said aloud, stopping to get her bearings. "The river looked westish of the castle. And the castle," she said, turning to face it. "Is southish of me. I think. Which means..." She paused, looking around. "That I'm going in the totally wrong direction. Argh." Sarah sighed, frustrated. "I'm beginning to severely dislike this game."
Sarah looked up the passage, then back down again. "I think left would be the best option here. Which means there probably won't be a left turn for ages. Maybe I passed one?" She mused to herself softly, backtracking a few steps, still glancing both in front and behind her, to make sure that no dead-ends suddenly popped up. Eyes scanning the walls for some sort of hidden opening, she noticed a small chink in the wall.
"Pretty." She breathed softly, peering through the hole. The landscape on the other side of the wall was breathtaking, something downright inconceivable to Sarah's mind. A light, soft forest ran around the edges of some crumpled stonewalls. Wildflowers peeked above the feathery grass, fluffy clouds hovered lightly above. The scene looked positively, well, human.
"I want in." Sarah sighed softly, stepping back and running her forefinger around the crevice, which was slightly larger than a half dollar. Or was it?
Sarah stared curiously as the hole wavered, its edges blurring and becoming smaller, than larger. With a sharp SNAP the hole closed itself tightly around her finger.
"Shit!" Sarah gasped, trying to wrench her finger free. The hole had trapped her finger tightly, though not painfully, and she could not pull it out. "Let go!" Sarah yelled at the wall, pulling so hard she thought her finger would sooner break away from her hand than the wall. "Let me go, damnit!"
What if she never got free? Then Toby would be condemned to life as a goblin, and she would be permanently part of the scenery. What if the Goblin King saw her like this? That would be far too embarrassing, Sarah thought, and desperately continued trying to yank her finger free.
"What did I ever do to you, you stupid wall?" Sarah cried angrily, slapping her free hand against the rough surface. Sarah looked around desperately, for someone, something, anything to help her. But the way her finger was still tightly wedged within the wall suggested that nothing short of gnawing it off would win her freedom.
More alarming still was the fact that the Labyrinth had changed the minute her back had turned. From out of nowhere, two walls had closed up the sides, locking her in a relatively small box.
"What would I do even if I could get loose?" Sarah spat, stilling her struggles to catch her breath. The moment she relaxed, the grip the wall had on her finger seemed to slacken. "What are you, a Chinese finger trap?" Sarah asked in surprise. Gently she wedged her finger in deeper, than slowly pulled away. Her finger slid away from the hole as easily as if it had never been trapped there. Sarah brushed the dirt off her hands, and looked around her once again, though her surroundings had not changed. Four solid walls all around, except for that extremely dangerous chink.
Glancing around, Sarah realized that light began to pour from that little hole. In fact, the hole was not so little anymore, and getting less little by the second. It soon widened into a sweeping doorway, which Sarah dodged through quickly, so as not to be trapped again. She stepped out into the clearing on the other side, and as soon as she was through the wall closed up entirely with a soft sucking sound.
This other side of the wall was not remotely Labyrinth-ish at all. The crumbly walls, Sarah realized, looked like ruins of some old building, a giant one at that. A sharp wind was rustling the leaves on the trees, and Sarah could hear some low voices coming from inside the rubble.
Carefully picking her way through partly standing walls and rotting furniture, Sarah saw a group of short, burly men surrounding a fire.
"Patience and Gratitude my foot." One of them was saying to the others. "One of these days they'll get the lot of us killed, right they will – oye! Who are you?" The last question was directed at Sarah, of course.
"My name is Sarah." She answered, eyeing the men warily. She got the distinct impression that they were not men at all, but trolls, or something equally displeasing. "I was wondering if you could give me directions."
"And what's so wrong with where you are?" The troll replied quickly.
"Nothing's wrong with it." Sarah answered, blushing. "It's just that I'm trying to get somewhere and I don't have much time –"
"Nonsense. I suppose you're one of Jareth's girls, then? You'll have plenty of time to get to the castle, don't you worry." Interrupted another, significantly fatter troll with mud stains all over his clothes.
"I am not one of Goblin King's anything, thank you very much. And the last place I want to get to is the castle."
"Well that's too bad then." Laughed a young looking one. "You're already here."
"What?" Sarah asked, looking around. She could see the castle in the distance, far and imposing.
"They never know their history, do they?" The first one said to the others, who all nodded agreeingly, before turning back to Sarah. "Name's Hadian. And what Glant over there meant was that this is a castle. Or it used to be, afore the fire."
"Fire?" Sarah repeated despite herself.
"Yep. This used to be the royal castle, but then the Queen went bloody insane. You can see the damage." Hadian explained, gesturing to the ruins around them.
"Queen?" Sarah seemed to be limited to one-word sentences at the moment, her inane curiosity battle with her need to finish her quest.
"Jareth's mother, is wot I'm meaning." Hadian replied, smiling to reveal a mouthful of green teeth. "Always on the vindictive side, never took her to be the homicidal type though. Rumor has it she killed the King – meaning Jareth's father, acourse – "
"Not that we'd believe summat like that." Declared Glant as though this was something to be proud of. Hadian shot his a look of disdain, before continuing.
"No matter wot happened, Jareth and his mother had a falling out a few years back when they got in the fight to end all fights. Spells flying all over til the castle right collapsed around them. Now the Lady's taken refuge in the Elf Kingdom, and Jareth's become King..."
"Enjoy your history lesson?" Quipped another troll. The group of them laughed, as though this sort of thing happened all the time.
"Actually, yes." Sarah said, still processing the gamut of information. "But I really need to get to a river I saw from the castle. Is it anywhere around here?"
"You're on the right track." Haidan answered. "There's a path that goes thattaway through the trees," he said, pointing. "Tisn't really much of a forest, and if you follow the trail through the fields, you'll come to river right quick."
"Thanks." Sarah smiled, fighting back the urge to say 'this will be a piece of cake.' It had gotten through her thick skull that the vile King didn't like to be taken for granted...
"Sarah?" Sarah looked up suddenly, and saw Haidan beckoning her away from the other trolls. Sarah ran to catch up with him, as he strode out of the ruins and towards the trees. "See, just go straight through there –" He was saying, then lowered his voice once she got near. "I probably shouldn't be saying this." He murmured under his breath. "Against the rules, or summat, but whatever you do, don't go in the water. Got me?" Sarah only nodded. "Atta girl." Haidan said, louder this time, and turned and walked back to his company.
~
"Don't go in the river. Stay away from the river. Does the Goblin King really think I'm that stupid?" Sarah grumbled as she followed the path through a meadow with wildflowers and grass up to her waist. "He probably put Haidan up to saying that. Although," she said, standing on her tiptoes to see further ahead, "I think that's water up there." Sarah started running, and true enough, there the river was, not too far away.
"Yes! Yes!" Sarah cried, leaping up in the air ballerina-style as she ran. "It's only, what, six hours into the game and I've found what I'm looking for! This is... what was that?"
Sarah skidded to a halt, her ears picking up on a distant noise. "Oh no." Sarah sighed. "No no no no. I'm just going to ignore it." She told herself firmly, though now she was walking more slowly. "I have no obligations. I'm going to that river, and I'm getting the crystal. No detours. No pit-stops. One child is enough, I will not turn around, I do not care.... Damn conscience!" Sarah swore, turning away from the river and off the path all together to follow the sound of a crying child.
She ran through the field, blades of wheat whipping across her forearms, her feet constantly getting tangled in the underbrush. Suddenly she crashed through to a small, not quite circular clearing in the field, in the centre of which were several large, blue-gray boulders. On the middle and largest boulder, sat a goblin girl, quite clearly sobbing her eyes out. Sarah couldn't help but roll her eyes. If she had to deal with one more crying child today...
"Hey, sweetheart, what's wrong?" Sarah asked gently, kneeling down next to her. The girl could have been six or seven, at least if she were human she could have been. And she did look rather human at that, but her pointed ears, heart shaped face, and large eyes all gave her a rather otherworldly look. Sarah was quickly learning, however, that the Labyrinth had no end to its eccentric inhabitants.
"I'm lost." Sniffed the girl softly. "I was playing steal-the-babies with my brothers and ran out into the Labyrinth to hide, and now I can't find my way back."
Don't. Sarah's mind warned her. I know she's cute and pathetic, but unless you want your brother to grow up to look like her, you can't help her. You can't.
"I can try and help you find your way home." Idiot. "I don't know the maze very well, but I'm sure we can figure it out together." Now you've done it. Damn sense of good-will.
"Really?"
"Sure. My name's Sarah. What's your name?"
"Arianna. But only my mummy calls me that. My brothers call me Ari."
"Well, how about we get out of this field, Ari?" Sarah said, smiling reassuringly and offering Ari her hand.
"Okay Sarah." Ari replied, wiping off her tears with the back of her hand.
"Come here and I'll give you a piggy-back ride so you won't get stuck in the grass."
"A what?"
"Just come here." Sarah laughed. Here we go. She though grimly. Do-Good Sister Sarah will never find her way back to the river again. Oh well. I've still got seven more hours.
~
"Robert, no one's seen them at all tonight. None of her friends have talked to her, though Mrs. Kelley swears she saw a man fly through the window, but she is a bit batty, what does she think, that a robber flew inside?"
"Karen, you're babbling."
"I know, dear, I know." Karen said, breathing deeply and trying to calm down. "I just feel so horrible, we had that fight before we left – what if she's gone and done something she'll regret?"
"Karen, this is Sarah we're talking about. She's smart, and if she's in any kind of trouble she'll figure something out. I'm just going to go call the police – "
"The police!"
"Well of course the police! Who do you expect me to call when our children are missing?" Robert yelled, throwing his hands up in the air with exasperation.
"Robert, please don't yell at me." Karen requested quietly. Robert winced at his wife's soft reprieve.
"I'm sorry, dear, I am. I'm just so, so..."
"Scared?"
"I'll go call the police." Robert said, striding out of the room to leave his wife's last remark hanging in the air.
~
"So how old are you, Ari?" Sarah asked, in the sugar-sweet tone she usually reserved for Toby. The two of them walked hand-in-hand throughout the brightly lit forest on the other side of the castle ruins. Sarah, after deciding that she would definitely be investing in a compass once she got home, was following her instincts and hanging onto a mere hope that they were going in the right direction. Sunlight poured in around them, reflecting off Ari's golden hair and deep green eyes.
"One hundred and seventeen." Ari replied, smiling up at Sarah. "How old are you?"
"I'll be sixteen next month." Sarah said quickly, her voice loosing the supposedly kindly, though more condescending edge. "I'm not from around here." She said, answering Ari's unspoken question.
"Is that baby up in the castle yours?"
"Yes. I mean, no, he isn't mine," Sarah stumbled over her words at the thought of Toby. "I'm his sister." She declared finally.
"Why'd you wish him away?" Ari asked with wide-eye innocence. "Was he bad?"
"I don't really know why I said it. He didn't deserve it." Sarah answered sadly.
"No, he didn't." Came an arrogant voice from behind them. "And you did it because you're a spoiled brat."
Sarah turned to find the Goblin King, leaning casually against a dying tree trunk close by. Very close by. So close by that Sarah couldn't help but lock eyes with him for a moment, and hear her own breath echo in her ears, fast and sharp. Ari broke into an even wider smile, and then as though very keen to show off, swept into a shaky curtsey.
"Hello King Jareth." She said politely, and Jareth's smile turned quite genuine.
"Hello, Arianna. What are you doing out here in the middle of the Cassiopian Forests with this vagabond?"
"Excuse me?" Sarah cried indignantly. "I am not a vagabond, and I am certainly not a spoiled brat." Jareth's smile turned into a smirk, as though she had just proven his point.
"I'm sorry, is the phrase tempestuous bitch to your preference?" He asked congenially.
"You have –" Sarah started to splutter, before the Goblin King smoothly interrupted her.
"I dearly regret that I cannot stand here listening to you whine, Sarah, but you have a crystal to find, and I do believe you've only five hours left. I merely came to take the child off your hands."
"Not a chance!" Sarah exclaimed, pulling Ari closely to her side. Ari was watching the entire conversation silently, and looked to be quite torn between the two. "I know what happened last time I let you near a child, I won't let it happen again."
"Sarah, Ari is already a goblin. I won't do her any harm."
"Go to hell." Sarah said shortly, turning away and marching down the path, still holding Ari by the hand. Sarah's heart was pounding, and her cheeks were burning. Just walk away and breath. She ordered herself. That's not hard, is it? The goblin girl looked once over her shoulder and waved to Jareth, a wistful look in her eyes.
He sighed, and shook his head, white-blond strands castcading across his face, disguising his expression.
~
"This is my house, right over here." Ari exclaimed happily, at least an hour later. They had traversed through the forest without much further incident, except for some rodents of unusual size, at which point Sarah had swept Ari up in her arms and run with impressive speed. The forest had dissipated and turned into the edge of the Goblin City, after which Ari had been able to lead the way.
Sarah's thoughts were only dismal as they reached Ari's house. She didn't have enough time to go back the way she came, find the crystal and then – what exactly was she supposed to do even if she did find the crystal? Damn that fae for making the rules so ambiguous. Whatever happened to rewarding good deeds anyways?
"Arianna?" An old looking hag looked up sharply from the pacing she had been doing on her front porch. She had nearly run ruts into the dirt. "Arianna, is that you?"
"Mummy!" Ari yelled, and ran into the hag's arms, almost knocking the poor goblin over.
"Arianna, how many times have I told you not to go into the Labyrinth alone? You're not old enough to find you're own way out again!" Ari's mother began, lecturing her eagerly though still clutching her tightly.
"Leggo, mummy." Ari laughed, slipping out of her grasp and running back over to Sarah. "This is Sarah." Ari explained, leading Sarah over to her home. "She brought me back. She's a mortal girl."
"Yes, I can see that." Her mother said quietly. She knew the only reason mortals came to the Labyrinth. "Thank you for helping my little girl. The castle is right through there, you know –"
"I'm not going to the castle, actually." Sarah said helplessly. "I've been trying to get to this river, but I'm afraid my time will be up before I can get there..."
"A river?" Ari's mother interjected. "Why, the Poseidon runs by right behind that wall, if that's the one your looking for."
"Right behind..." Sarah trailed off, feeling ridiculously stupid. She had started out right next to it and hadn't even known! "Thank you." She replied hurriedly, before running off to the opening in the wall Ari's mother had indicated, and finding the Poseidon, the river she had seen the crystal fall into, right on the other side.
"Sarah's a nice girl, mummy. Aren't mortals funny lookin' though? And she said she was only sixteen. She said she wished her brother away. I wish I could wish my brothers away, then they wouldn't make fun of me anymore..." Ari chattered away as her mother listened quietly and pulled her inside the house.