Title: Square One
Rating: PG
Content: Romance. I admit it :-)
Disclaimer: Labyrinth is property of its assorted copyright holders.
Note: Grammar is not my forte. Please overlook my lack of it. Oh, and this is a companion piece to The Morning After
Feedback: Please. :-) Whether you hate it or love it, please just let me know if you've read it :-)
Chapter Four
Jareth growled ferociously at the viewing crystal as he watched the two girls stumble down the hill at the entrance to the Labyrinth. With an elegant gesture of his hand, the crystal focused on Dolores' obnoxious friend.
His mouth pulled into a frown as he concentrated on the undeniably lovely face. The Goblin King leaned back in his throne as he continued examining the pretty girl, his mind in a whirl as it tried to recall ever seeing this "Sarah" before.
"Can't be," he grumbled as he flicked his fingers at the crystal. "If she really did defeat the Labyrinth, then she wouldn't be allowed back in."
With a small sigh, he turned his head to the sleeping
infant who lay quietly beside him. He traced a finger gently
over the dimpled cheeks, smiling softly as he began to wonder
whether Dolores would ever find the strength to defeat the
maze. He didn't think so, but it was too soon to be sure of
anything right now.
Sarah sighed with frustration as Dee leaned helplessly
against the gate to the Labyrinth, tears pouring down her face
as she attempted to persuade Sarah that this feat was just
beyond her.
"I can't do it. I really can't," Dee insisted as she rubbed at her eyes with the back of her hand.
Sarah just shook her head and gave Dee a frosty look. "You can and you will. Come on. Anyway, we don't want to idle around here... fairies and such," she replied, her shoulders convulsing in a pronounced shudder.
Dee seemed to look up at her words. "Fairies? Really?"
Sarah smiled as she patted Dee on the shoulder. "All around. Don't get excited though. I mean, they are beautiful and all, but nasty little critters."
"Sarah! Come on! Like, really?" Dee's wide brown eyes seemed to shine with more than just tears as she considered the thought.
Nodding slowly, Sarah smiled at her friend's whimsical expression. Funny, she thought to herself as she batted away something that flew by her ear, I never thought Dee had a creative bone in her body.
Dee's tanned brow suddenly wrinkled in thought. "Say, Sarah... do you hear something?"
Pushing out her chin as she bit her lower lip, Sarah listened carefully. It took her a moment, but soon she started hearing a soft chorus of "Sarah! Sarah!" chanting by her ear over and over.
She blinked as she looked towards Dee. "Yeah. That's weird. What's it saying?"
"I think someone is calling you?"
Sarah closed her eyes tightly as she concentrated on the soft voice.
"Yeah, I'm...OUCH!" she screamed as she suddenly slapped at her ear.
"What's wrong?" Dee asked, her eyes widening as she looked to Sarah with concern.
"Something's biting me. Run! Fairies!" Sarah screamed as she pulled Dee into the Labyrinth, her stray hand waving wildly about her face as she tried to keep from being bitten.
The huge oaken doors shut with a pompous swing, and both girls leaned against the opposing wall.
"What in hell was that about?" Dee asked, her lips twisted into a grimace.
"I'm... I'm not sure. But damn, that really hurt!" Sarah winced as she gingerly touched her injured ear.
"You are telling me that fairies just attacked you or something?" the short woman asked, a definite light sparkling in her eyes as she barely refrained from laughing.
Sarah glared at her.
"Come on, Sare. I mean, really. I didn't even see any out there!"
"They're small, okay?" Sarah grumbled as she prodded her poor ear. Suddenly, she crossed her eyes as she noticed a small figure hovering at the tip of her nose. "Dee...!" she whispered frantically as she pointed to the minute fairy.
Dee's jaw dropped gracelessly as she noticed the creature.
"I don't think I've ever seen anything so beautiful in my life..." Dee breathed softly, her eyes focused on the figure. The fairy seemed to primp vainly at Dee's words.
Mumbling disgruntledly, Sarah replied, "You won't think so when the damn thing bites you... OUCH! Will you STOP that?"
The fairy seemed to flutter smugly before Sarah's face, giving her a look of haughty arrogance. With a flicker of pale, iridescent wings, she turned away from Sarah and flew to Dee's ear.
Sarah rubbed her nose ruefully as she waited for the creature to bite Dee as well. Moaning tragically as her sensitive fingers found a small, sore bump on the tip of her nose, she glared evilly at the fairy.
"You aren't going to bite me if I answer, are you?" Dee asked as she looked at the prominent mark on Sarah's nose.
The fairy tittered, her slight voice seeming to echo in the breeze.
"What do you mean by that?" Sarah grumbled, holding her nose protectively. "I've never met you before today!"
With the roll of startling crimson eyes, the fairy turned the full weight (which isn't much, unfortunately) of her gaze onto Sarah.
Groaning loudly, Sarah frowned at the fairy. "Who on earth are you talking about?"
"Hoggle? You've seen him?" she gifted the fairy with a brilliant smile.
Enraged by Sarah's words, the fairy suddenly took off, obviously intent on wreaking more havoc with Sarah's pretty features.
"Hey, now..." Dee smiled patiently as she caught the fairy by the hem of her long, white dress. "You were looking for me, though?"
The fairy glared evilly at Sarah, her look promising retribution.
Dee wrinkled her nose as she looked at the fairy. "What's your name, anyway?"
"Larry?" Sarah grumbled, her brow wrinkled with annoyance as she considered the creature. "I thought faeries were supposed to..."
Dee cut Sarah off with a stern look. Don't provoke her, she mouthed with more than a bit of impatience.
"Oh, it's a beautiful name! It just sounds like an earth name, 'Larry'," Dee assured her, flashing the rampaging fairy a sincere smile.
Sarah's hand shot out as she tried to grab the fairy by the scruff of her neck, but Dee quickly stepped out of reach. Plastering a fake smile on her lips, Dee nodded towards the fairy.
"Okay, Dlaeri... what can I do for you?" she asked sweetly.
Sarah just leaned against the wall, looking down boredly at the eye-moss. The moss returned her gaze with interest.
"Please? You don't have to tell her... Just tell me," Dee asked with false humility, not really caring one way or the other if the fairy actually spoke, but feeling obligated to ask.
Dlaeri frowned for a moment, but flew off Dee's hand only to flutter by her ear. With a venomous glance back to Sarah as if she were ensuring she wasn't listening, Dlaeri began to whisper softly into Dee's ear. Dee nodded suddenly, nearly causing the fairy to tumble into the wall with the sudden movement.
"Oh, I'm sorry!", Dee winced as she looked at the fairy. "Really, I am."
Dlaeri nodded regally as she fluttered, once again, close to Dee's ear.
Sarah stood there dumbly as she waited for the fairy to finish up. Shrugging, she kneeled to the ground as she looked into the moss's eyes, nearly groaning as she noticed just how red and swollen the bite on her nose had become. With a small pat of "thank you" upon the moss's mass (Yeah, try saying that three times fast!), she turned back to Dlaeri and Dee.
"Really, thank you, Dlaeri," Dee sniffled as she smiled through another onslaught of tears. "I can't tell you how much I appreciate your help."
Dlaeri nodded slowly as she started to flutter back towards the oaken gates.
Sarah pushed out her chin proudly as she looked unflinchingly at the fairy, almost as if she were encouraging the fairy to do her worst. With a smug look, the fairy just ignored Sarah and flew from the Labyrinth.
"So what was all that about?" Sarah sighed as she looked back to the closing gate.
Dee just shook her head. "I can't tell you yet, Sare. She made me promise."
Sarah's brown eyes narrowed with suspicion and more than a little hurt. "Fine, then. Let's go. We've wasted enough time here."
Dee nodded as she finally looked around. "So this is the infamous Labyrinth, huh? Doesn't look so hard."
"Piece of cake," Sarah blustered, her feeling still wounded. Flinging her dark mass of hair behind her shoulders, Sarah started walking to the right.
"That way, Sarah? I don't know..." Dee called back, standing exactly in the same place her friend had left her.
Sighing impatiently, Sarah leaned against the wall, wondering why Dee refused to listen to her. Hell, she'd *been* through this maze before and triumphed! If the girl was half as smart as she thought she was, she'd just shut up and listen.
Dee shrugged her shoulders as she silently followed Sarah. "I don't think we should go this way."
Sarah threw her a winning smile as she started walking again. "Just trust me. It will take a little while to get there, but *trust* me..."
Dee just nodded silently as she followed behind, her shorter legs extending to their limit as she tried to keep up. Weariness grasped at her calves as she continued walking, her lungs threatening to explode if they didn't slow down.
"Sare... you *sure* it's this way?"
Frowning to herself, Sarah mumbled something in haughty affirmation. But the truth was that the sun had travelled too far into the sky and was beginning to worry her. If she didn't know better, she'd say they had been walking this path for several hours already. But no, that couldn't be. Sarah remembered *exactly* where the turn was. She tried to shrug off the feeling that they had passed that point long ago.
"Sare..."
Sarah paused in her steps as she turned to face Dee.
"Uh huh?"
"We there yet?"
"Not yet."
"Oh."
Running long fingers through her soft, brown hair, Sarah looked at Dee carefully.
"Sarah?"
"Uh huh?" she responded, stalling as she wracked her brains for possible answers.
"You once said that coming into here was like walking straight into chaos. Right?"
Sarah nodded, folding her arms across her chest.
Dee's voice faltered as she looked towards the ground. "I think we should go left. I mean, don't you think you are kinda taking it for granted that things are gonna be exactly the way you left them? I mean... Sare... two years is quite a while."
With a martyristic sigh, Sarah gestured for Dee to lead on. "Yeah, you just may have a point. Where would you go?"
Dee smiled as she immediately turned and started running to the left. "Come on. My baby's waiting!"