DISCLAIMER - I don't own Sarah or Jareth or the Labyrinth (unfortunately) they belong to Jim Henson & Co, and I'm definitely not making a profit from this. (Bummer) All other NPC's are a figment of my own imagination.

THIS CHAPTER CONTAINS SCENES OF RAPE - IF YOU DO NOT WANT TO READ IT JUST IGNORE THE FIRST SECTION OF ITALICS! YOU HAVE BEEN WARNED!

Chapter 5 – Falling

The hard baked ground hit her feet making her stagger on the uneven incline as she looked down from the vantage point over the expanse of the Labyrinth, basking in the morning sun. She stopped and listened, but couldn't hear a thing, as though she were only gazing into the depths of a photograph. No birds sung, no clock behind her ticking away, though she knew that there would be one somewhere, counting down her minutes.

She couldn't quite put her finger on the problem, but there was something wrong. Not only in her, but also with the Labyrinth, it was… missing something…

"Perhaps you're missing some of your memories too." She told it as she walked down the hill towards the open and inviting doors amidst the roses.

Sarah brushed her fingertips across the face of one of the pitted and aged wooden doors, and noticed that it must have stood in this position for some time, for there were weeds and rose brambles holding it in place, and one of its hinges had broken. Looking across at its mate, it bore the same fate. Sarah sighed. Definitely something wrong.

Walking into what should have been a never-ending passageway, she felt sick. The passageway was there, but it had been skewed onto its side, like some huge monster had come along and pushed the whole thing over. It was a rather bizarre feeling to be standing on a wall looking across at what should have been a floor. Wanting to get out of there as fast as she could, now that she remembered so much about the Labyrinth, Sarah looked for a hidden exit, and found one almost opposite the gates. Climbing through the unseen hole in the wall was a small chore considering it was above her, but as soon as she had made it through, she found herself on her back looking up into an azure blue sky.

"Its not going to be as easy as I thought." She said to herself as she picked herself up off the floor and dusted off her black dress. She couldn't help but admit that it was a rather beautiful dress, and quite tastefully cut too. Stopping the random thoughts from distracting her Sarah began to explore this new part of the Labyrinth, and marvelled at its perfection. The floor was covered in perfect black and white squares, leading off into different paths, and spaced between the walls and corners stood massive chess pieces, made from stone and marble and quartz.

"Well I'm not going to find what I'm looking for here." She said walking past a huge horse, on which rode an equally huge Knight. "I don't recognise any of you."

Eventually she made her way into a pathway lined with Bishops and a set of doors at the end.

"Now I do recognise you, but there was something else, and you weren't here…" She stood and looked at the doors, trying to think of a connection between them.

"I should warn you, one of us always tells the truth, and the always lies…"

Sarah couldn't help but smile.

"Sometimes the paths we choose are right as well as wrong. There isn't ever just black and white, just lots of shades of grey, I can't remember who taught me that, but I thank them." She said trying to choose which door to go through. She jumped as the first section of the wall fell away from the top of the doors, and then with a resounding crash the whole wall fell away to reveal a ravaged landscape.

"What happened, why is the Labyrinth falling apart?" Sarah gasped climbing over the rubble to gaze out at the broken walls and toppled statues. "Well there's only one way to go and that's onward… or over and onward." She sighed gathering up her dress and climbing over a broken statue of a young maiden. Eventually she had to stop. The effort of climbing over and through walls whilst trying not to trip over her dress was beginning to tire her body, so she sat down.

"I don't seem to be getting anywhere."

"Sometimes the way forward is also the way back…"

"But I don't have any "Back" to go to. I have nothing left, except my memories, and they are missing! I feel like the Labyrinth looks. Shattered, and broken! I don't even recognise my own body!" She yelled into the silence, tears forming in her eyes. The body that had let her down had been attacked and hurt in so many ways. Sometimes the best option was to stop trying to forget or to remember and just live.

"But I don't want to live either…" She said sadly taking the milky crystal out of the dress's hidden pocket. "My scars are what made me, me. What made me fight in the first place. The only things that made me realise that I was still alive, after everything.

The dark alleyway flashed before her. She knew she shouldn't go the short way home though this part of the city, but it was only a little way before she reached the main streets again, and she was tired. The bag cut into her shoulder and threatened to cut off her circulation as it banged constantly against her hip.

"Its your own fault." She muttered to herself. "Too much reading is bad for you." She skirted round a large bin and didn't even have time to register the man as he reached out and grabbed her throat.

"I've been waiting for you." He wheezed, pulling her back towards him. She tried to prize his hand from off her throat, but he had already snagged her bag from her shoulder and thrown it to the ground, making her yelp in pain as it tore her grandmothers ring from her finger. She could feel the hot blood running slowly down her fingers as the man pushed her against the dirty wall, tearing off her coat and wrapping her hands in it so she couldn't reach him.

"My money… in bag… take it." She whimpered through the gasping need to breathe. He just laughed and stuck his tongue down her throat. She screamed, but no one would hear her, she tasted alcohol and cigarettes before she bit his lip hard. He smacked his fist across her face, making her ears ring, her eyes watering and obscuring his face.

"You'll pay for that, bitch." He snarled into her ear as he continued to rip her clothes from her, hiking up the long skirt and squeezing her breasts painfully. He chuckled and bent down, biting hard on one of her nipples making her scream again, fighting to get away. Kicking her feet out from underneath her he straddled her and continued to touch her, laughing manically as she fought through the pain to get away from him. He finally succeeded in tearing away her pants and pushed his fingers into her making her freeze in terror. Her first time, and it would be by this freak that got off on hurting girls. Her reasoning mind told her. Her unreasonable mind told herself to fuck off and leave her alone. The man on top of her grunted as he undid his trousers before pinning her down to the ground, spreading her legs until she thought she was going to split right up the middle. She somehow managed to free her hand from her coat and scratched him across the face, leaving deep cuts that bled on to her exposed body, he tensed and back handed her across her other cheek, leaving her spitting blood.

"Crying for your mummy won't help you now. You'll always be a little whore. Dirty and used." He said spitting in her face as he forced himself into her, smothering her screams as he broke her maidenhead and pushed on. He grunted in pleasure as he pulled himself out slightly before thrusting into her again and again. She had stopped screaming, stopped struggling, it only made it hurt more, and as she felt him release himself inside her, she resigned herself to being just a piece of flesh, torn, broken and shattered for the rest of her life, at least until he killed her. He stood up from her and laughed as she made a halfhearted effort to cover herself up. "Nothing but a little whore." He said kicking her hard in the ribs before walking away, wiping the blood from the cuts on his face and lip. She lay there in the dirt, shaking so much that she couldn't even get up, she felt so dirty, like nothing would ever make her clean ever again. She never knew how long she had lain there until the policewoman had found her. Never cared that they had to perform surgery on her broken body, never cared until James had finally managed to get her to talk to him.

"Oh James!" Sarah wailed turning and throwing up behind a pile of bricks, retching and sobbing as she remembered what had happened to her.

"Princess Lucia." One of the High Seats called as the noise in the courtroom subsided after the mortal had passed through the gateway.

"Yes My Lord."

"The Court has some questions for you."

"Of course My Lord."

"When did you first learn of your brother returning from the Aboveground with the mortal girl?"

"When his slave Isenith came to me in my domain and asked for my assistance. I went to my brother immediately to find out what the problem was."

"What did you find?"

"My brother rarely deals any more with the mortals who pass through the Labyrinth himself, not through boredom, or lack of concern, but because of the promise and laws you have made him abide by. The Labyrinth was always a law unto itself, and the more mortals it takes memories and emotions from, the stronger it becomes. He can not control it as he once did, because of these laws, for he feared that she would come again to the Labyrinth on her own and that he would not realise who she was until he had made contact, against your express wishes. So when I found him with her in his guest apartments, I realised at once who she was, and why he was so distraught. My brother is by no means stupid, and he knows of the spies you have set around his kingdom, and those of the Unseelie host." Lucia sighed.

"Yes, yes, but what did he want you to do? Hide her?" One of the other High Seats interrupted.

"No My Lady. He wanted me to save her. He told me that she had spoken the words, had wished herself away to him, but that she was dying. He wanted me to save her from her injuries."

"And what were the extent of these injuries?"

"She was paralysed from a wasting disease that the healers in the Aboveground had been unable to stop. Her heart and lungs were weak from the other injuries she had received in a… car accident…" She paused running her mind through the memories she had borrowed from the girl.

"She had numerous scars and wounds across the whole of her body, and several unhealed breaks to her bones. There was also previous trauma to her body inflicted I believe when she was raped some years ago. There were multiple scars across her wrists, a past time I believe to be popular among disillusioned mortal children. They believe it helps them to feel less or some thing." Lucia shrugged her shoulders, admitting her inexperience with the ways of mortals.

"Anything else?" The older of the 3 High Seats asked, quite shocked at the list of injuries.

"Her mind was almost as traumatised as her body, but that could be fixed with as much ease as her body. My Lady, I must tell you that she has the gift." Lucia continued looking behind her to where her brother stood, stony faced and unmoving.

"I beg your pardon?"

"She has the gift My Lady. I do not know how she has it, but the child has so much magical potential it is staggering." She shook her head, still impressed by the mortal. "If she were not quite so human looking with her dark hair and dark eyes, I would swear that she were Fae."

The noise that sprung out around the now crowded courtroom made Jareth wince as he tried to concentrate on what Sarah was doing in his Labyrinth, he could feel her terror at having to re-live the memories she had buried away for so long in order to find what she was looking for, it made his heart ache. His Labyrinth was twisting beyond his control in its need for her to remember, to make it complete again that he thought he would go mad from its cries.

"The Labyrinth gave her the magic." He sighed looking down on them all. The Fae around him stopped and stared at him incredulous.

"King Jareth, explain yourself!" The High Seats exclaimed, all 3 of them sinking back down into their chairs in shock.

"I did not realise until she spoke the words to me the first time that the Labyrinth had given her power. It was not my doing, and had I known what it was going to do I would have prevented it."

"Why did you not tell us this sooner?" Screeched the youngest of the High Seats.

"It was not necessary at the time to inform you. She said the words, and I was bound by my promise to let her go with her brother. She returned to the Aboveground and that should have been the end of it. I had no idea until she called me that she had retained the link with the Labyrinth. She said it had been calling her. Had I been able to keep an eye on her, I could have removed the potential from her, without her noticing."

"Just how strong is she?"

"She is my equal." Jareth sighed, wishing they had not asked that particular question so that he wouldn't have to tell them.

"How can this mortal POSSIBLY be your EQUAL?" The High Seat screamed getting out of her seat and walking across the room towards him, not noticing that her hood had slipped back from her face. Jareth mentally groaned.

"Elindah, sit down before you trip over your own ego." He snarled as she came face to face with him.

"Elindah De'Manalath you are out of order. Return to your place immediately or you will be removed from this court!" The male High Seat shouted at the young Fae who was glaring at Jareth.

"If you think that you will get away with making this mortal powerful, you're wrong Jareth. You will be mine regardless of anything you do." She whispered viciously as the other High Seat dragged her back to her seat, trying to cover her rage-mottled face with her hood. Jareth simply stood with his arms folded and watched her, a smirk on his perfect face as she fought off the attentions of the other High Seats.

"How many hours does she have left?" The male High Seat asked, looking down at the court orderly who shuffled his papers and tried to work out how long the mortal had.

"7 hours and 18 minutes." Jareth told them, not removing the smirk from his face.

"Then I suggest this court take a recess until her time is up, there are many things that we need to discuss privately. King Jareth, Princess Lucia, you will please remain in the antechamber where we can reach you." The High Seat proclaimed standing up and dragging the still fuming Elindah after her, the male Fae following her. The rest of the Seelie Court followed them, and then the open balcony started emptying of the curious Fae public.

Destiny Hunter -wow so okay she was raped then she got in a car crash and then she got a virus? im so confused! good story anywyas

Thanks for the comments, basically the timeline goes - Age 15 enters the Labyrinth, Age 17 goes to college, Age 19 Moves to the "City", Age 22 Gets raped whilst walking home in the "City", Age 25 Is in a car crash that kills her family, and whilst recovering in hospital she contracts one of those superbugs which leaves her paralysed. - thats when she calls Jareth. Sorry if it was a bit confusing!

Solea - Good fic. I'm hooked.

Thanks! I'm glad you liked it!

TheShadowCat - A very interesting story so far. Keep up the good work and update soon please.

Cheers, new chapters available now!