A/N: i don't own Labyrinth, although i wish i did

Labyrinth of Dismay

Chapter 1: a new begining

A white owl soaring. The sky is a glorious explosion of blue and mauve and lavender. The setting sun washes the clouds with a delicate pink tint. The bird swoops and spirals and we are right there with him. Then suddenly, below us, an extraordinary sight appears.
It is the labyrinth, an enormous maze of incredible mandala like intricacy. From our magnificent vantage point,the twisting walls interrupted here and there by lush forest, the complex web of waterways, the forbidding castle at the core. It is vast and magical, frightening and compelling at the same time. We would love to linger, perhaps fly lower and get a better look at this wondrous place, but the owl flies on. It seems to break through a film of weater glitter following it close behind as it perches on a lamp post that over looks a beautiful park.
It is an idyllic setting, warm and inviting. The late afternoon sun washes everything with a pink glow. Between the water and a line of lush fruit trees is a flower-strewn glade. A figure emerges from the trees and walks toward the water. It is a young woman dressed in a flowing white dress that swirls around her in the breeze. The pink light burnishes her hair and causes a gold circlet she wears on her head to glow. She is breathtaking, a vision of innocence and grace.
She stops to pick a flower and then turns suddenly as if she has heard something.
"Is it you?" she asks in a shy soft voice, she takes a few hurried steps and then stops, smiling shyly "Your Highness!" she ghasps, the girl curtsies deeply and then looks up through lowered lashes,
the shy smile still dancing on her lips. And then We pull back to reveal a crown perched on a head of tight curls. We are looking through the crown at the girl as she rises slowly, then looks boldly at the prince.
"Do not be swayed by my pleasure at the sight of you, my lord.
For though my father, the Duke, has promised you my hand, I cannot consent to be yours until the evil that stalks our land from highest hill to deepest dale is ..." she recites boldly her eyes are as calm and as hughty as her faceual features, her words trail off, a look of stunned confusion crosses her face.
"... from highest hill to deepest dale ..." she frowns her lips thining into a line, "Damn!"
She burrows one hand into the deep sleeve of her gown and pulls out a rolled-up soft-cover book. She rifles through the pages.
The prince is not a prince at all, but a sheepdog wearing a tin foil crown. He thinks his work is over and it's time to play and he lunges happily towards the girl who isn't a princess or even a duchess, but 24-year-old SARAH.
Sarah is knocked over by the playful dog. Beneath the gown which we can now see is homemade and not very grand at all, we see faded jeans and running shoes.
"Get off me, you monster!!" she ghasps The dog grabs the book out of her hand and runs away with it, hoping to be chased. Sarah doesn't follow, she just sits up and pulls the grass out of her tangled hair and sighs with frustration. The dog comes back over to Sarah, its tail wagging hopefully.
"If you value your mangy life, Merlin, you'll hand it over." she hisses The dog obediently drops the book.
On the cover of the book it says, MEANDER'S QUEEN a play in three acts by Robin Zakar. Sarah reaches for it and we hear a clock tower begin to chime, she leaps to her feet cursing and looks over at the dog.
"Damn it!!! I'm late, how come this always happens to me, this is all your fault Merlin." Sarah hikes up the dress's long skirts and runs back into the trees. The white owl still watching her screams loudly landing on the bench the dog had been sitting on and disappears in a cloud of glitter leaving a smirking goblin king sittin in its place. He hasn't changed in the nine years sence Sarah had defeated his labyrinth, his hair still in a white blonde disray, mis matched eyes, one blue the other green, were set in a sharp feautred perfect face. His body was still lean and muscular under his poet's shirt and tight black pants, knee high boots covered his feet, the silver and glod pendent flashed with the disappearing daylight. He stood and disappeared in another cloud of glitter leaving the owl to follow Sarah home.