Disclaimer–Me no own. You no Sue.
Author's Note: Supposedly the Labyrinth changes with every hour. Hence, I've taken the liberty of changing things about–adding a few things here and there, and taking others out, meaning that the description of things may or may not be "canonical", depending on how you see them.
"Drat," Melissa cursed, as she reached yet another dead end. Two hours of walking, climbing and occasionally kicking the walls in frustration (though she would never admit to it) had brought her no closer to the heart of the Labyrinth, let alone her sister.
"Now, don't do that," said a voice from behind her, as she began to climb once again. "There's a better way to get where you're going."
Warily, she dropped back to the ground. "And that would be?"
"Pick a door," said the same voice–out of nowhere, it would seem, for she could see no one–in the same calm way. "One leads to certain doom, and the other–to the center of the Labyrinth. Turn and look for yourself."
Slowly, afraid that something might suddenly spring from the shadows and attack her, Melissa turned around. Before her were two doors, one red, one blue.
"Do I get any help?" she inquired of the silence surrounding her. There was no answer. Whoever the voice had belonged to had left. Somehow she was unsurprised.
"Well . . ." she mused, "Red's always been my favorite color." She reached for the handle.
"You didn't answer," observed Amy. "Why don't you love 'Lissa?"
"Hmm?" asked Jareth, looking up from the crystal he was watching the girl's progress with to meet the child's eyes. "Why don't I love your sister?"
Amy nodded. "Because she said that you love her," she informed him.
"I can assure you I most certainly do not," answered Jareth in the most solemn of voices.
"Then why not?" asked Amy seriously.
"Because," said the goblin king, sighing in a melodramatic fashion, "My heart belongs to another."
"Who?" Amy pressed.
"Myself?" suggested Jareth wryly. Amy gave him a blank look. "It was a joke," said Jareth flatly.
"Oh," said Amy.
"There was another, once," Jareth continued. "But she is long gone away, grown and married by now, I would imagine, most likely with children of her own."
"What was her name?" Amy asked, persistent in her questioning.
A thoughtful look crossed Jareth's face. "Her name was Sarah Williams, though I can't imagine why you would wish to know."
"Sarah?" asked Amy. "Sarah's the one who gave Melissa her Labyrinth book."
For perhaps the first time in his life, the goblin king was rendered speechless.
One step through the doorway, the floor gave in and Melissa found herself falling, presumably to her demise. "Oh, well," she thought blankly, unaccustomed to falling or to the thought of death. "I had a good life." With this in mind she braced herself for the landing.
It never came. Instead, she felt herself caught–grasped–by a pair of hands. For one gut-wrenching moment, she believed that instead of death by falling she would suffer death by strangulation–the hands firm about her shoulders were entirely too close to her neck for her comfort. She did not have much time to dwell on this, however, for just then a group of six hands–the entire shaft, she realized, dismayed, was covered in hands–formed a face and began to speak to her.
"Well, which way?" asked the face, in a rather brisk manner.
"Which way?" echoed Melissa, confused.
"Which way do you want to go?" the hands inquired. "Up, or down?"
"Um . . ." replied Melissa, trying (in vain) to recall if her copy of The Labyrinth had said anything about a shaft of hands. "Up?"
"That's a first," said another "face," this one directly to her right. "Usually they choose down."
Melissa chose not to think about this.
"You are acquainted with Sarah Williams?" Jareth finally managed to say.
Amy nodded. "She used to be our sitter."
The restraint in Jareth's face was visible. "Sarah would be in her late twenties now, wouldn't she?"
A thoughtful look crossed Amy's face. "I think so. My mom says she's still young, which is why she should be getting married while she still can enjoy it," she said solemnly, in a way that left no doubt that she did not understand what her mother had meant.
If Amy had been perhaps slightly older, she would have wondered at the look of sheer relief that crossed Jareth's face. "So Sarah is not married yet?" he asked, in a slightly strangled tone.
"No," said Amy firmly. "Sarah says she doesn't want to get married just yet."
"I see," muttered Jareth. One could almost see the wheels in his head turning.
"Up," as Melissa found out, was most likely the wrong choice. Upon going up, she found that the hole she had fallen into was only the first step down a very long and winding path that led, apparently, no where. Determined to find Amy, she kept walking forward–until she realized, with dismay, that she was walking in circles. While the tunnel did not curve in the least, she found that she had passed the same point three times, and would be passing it for the fourth if she was not careful. She stopped short.
"The book made things sound so much easier than they really are," she sighed, and, turning, began to walk back toward the shaft of hands.
A sound as of the clink of crystal on stone stopped her. "Jareth," she muttered.
"Indeed," said the Goblin King, stepping out from behind one of the tunnel's supports.
"What do you want," snapped Melissa. Tired, covered in dust, and having recently realized that she had been going the wrong way, she was in no mood to exchange words with Jareth.
"I thought that I might give you a hand," said the Goblin King smoothly. "After all, you only have eight hours left."
"Bite me," muttered Melissa under her breath.
Jareth looked affronted. "I'd rather not, thank you. Now, do you want my help or not?"
"Why are you offering to help me?" asked Melissa tiredly. "You're the Goblin King. The one who took my sister away in the first place. You're not supposed to offer help–you're supposed to offer me my "dreams"–whatever that means."
"Let's just say that you and I have a mutual friend," replied Jareth. "You are acquainted with Sarah Williams, are you not?"
"Yeah," said Melissa cautiously. "Why does it matter?"
"Sarah was one of the few to best my Labyrinth," answered Jareth. "She and I have much to discuss."
Melissa raised an eyebrow. "Um, if Sarah bested your labyrinth, she's pretty quiet about it."
"Wouldn't you be?" asked Jareth, smirking. "After all, who would believe that you were taken Underground and made to find your way through a maze to get your sibling back?"
"Good point," admitted Melissa.
"Besides," continued Jareth, "Sarah's besting my labyrinth was years ago. I doubt she still remembers exactly what happened. By now she must believe it to have all been a very strange dream."
"All right, all right," snapped Melissa. "I believe you."
"Good," said Jareth silkily. "Now, here is what I want you to do . . ."
"What?" protested Melissa, when Jareth had finished. "That's not the way the game is supposed to work!"
"Whoever controls the labyrinth makes the rules," said Jareth delicately. "You may either take my offer, or reject it, and continue to fight your way through the maze."
Melissa sighed. "I don't see why you're going to all this trouble just to try and talk to Sarah. She probably doesn't even remember who you are."
Jareth merely smirked.
Note: Okay, you win. More than a hint of Jareth/Sarah, and the plot has taken a major twist, possibly for the worse. x.x Review? Please?