A/N: It's been a long time since I've written a Labyrinth fanfic. Fortunately, I have this story almost completely written already, and so I'll post new chapters every 1-2 weeks when I have time (starting Grad school soon so we'll see where that leaves me).
A couple of things to note before we begin: this story will contain allusions to r*pe and s*cide. There will be NO GRAPHIC DESCRIPTION and it is solely background, but I will place warnings on the chapter where it happens so please be aware of that. Also, this story is actually a crossover, but I'm not telling you yet what it's a crossover with. Don't worry, it's nothing super niche. Pretty much all of you will at least know about it even if you haven't personally consumed it. And if you look close enough, you might see some hints.
Anyway, with all that said, I hope you enjoy chapter one of The King of Nowhere!
Sarah had an A on her bi-weekly psych quiz.
She knew it before she turned the paper over to see that glorious letter in red. Professor Twill gave her that look. The one she always gave her favorite students when they'd once again proved why they were the only ones taking her lectures seriously. It was a look Sarah had come to recognize, though she'd only known the woman for as long as she'd been in her class. That smile and almost wink. Not a full one in case someone noticed and accused her of playing favorites. It gave Sarah the same sense of accomplishment as ending an all-nighter with a complete first draft of a paper on the less savory actions of heroic figures in Greek Mythology and whether or not they should be regarded as heroes at all.
This, admittedly, might not be the best comparison to draw (that same draft made Sarah's peer review partner burst into tears when she read it), but Sarah had learned to take the small victories no matter where they came from.
'Good job,' Professor Twill mouthed before moving on.
That was different, Sarah thought, circling the empty air around her A. Usually, when Professor Twill praised her, it was after class when everyone else was gone. Sarah smiled anyway. She couldn't keep it off her face, even when the girl next to her, with a big fat C on her quiz, shot her a glare.
The rest of the period was spent on a documentary about the Milgram experiment. Sarah took detailed notes for her next possible paper topic and had filled three pages of her notebook by the time Professor Twill turned the projector off and declared them done for the day.
"Remember to have your weekly case report ready on Monday," Professor Twill reminded the class as they filed out the door. "Late hand-ins will not be accepted."
Sarah's weekly report was on her desk at home, fully written and one final edit away from perfection. She crammed the last book in her bag and nodded politely at her classmates as she headed for the door.
"Excellent work today, Sarah, as always," Professor Twill said.
"Thank you, Ma'am," Sarah said. "I was wondering when the next extra credit assignment would be due?"
"I'll have to think about it over the weekend. Unfortunately, I've been so busy with my clinical psych students, I can't get much else done." Professor Twill shuddered and Sarah could only imagine what kind of overachievers she was dealing with. "Why aren't you in that class again?"
"Because I'm only a psych minor," Sarah said.
"And I grieve the loss every day." Professor Twill gathered her things and winked at her before departing.
It was just past two-thirty and the sun was shining, a rarity for this month. She took a whiff of the fresh, Spring air. It smelled like freshly planted flowers. There was a new patch in the courtyard. They added a splash of color to the drab greens and browns which had made up the majority of February and March.
The campus was an old one, dating back to the 1800s. Tall brick buildings, a chapel bell that rang every hour on the dot, and even a pair of actual ivory towers. They used those for astronomy and physics classes. From the outside, it looked more like an elite private academy for rich kids than a public research university, and yet here she was, one of several thousand students all with varying levels of concern for their studies.
It had been Sarah's third choice school, her first choice having rejected her and her second being too expensive. After a few months away from Maine and getting a taste of independent living, Sarah couldn't say she minded. There was something kind of charming about the wet, mountainous terrain of Virginia. Charming and, dare she say it, magical. She would be sorry to leave in a few months, even if her old first choice had changed its mind and decided she would be perfect for their graduate program.
She followed the well-worn path to the library. It was a long, yet straightforward trek from the psychology building. She could let her feet do the work and enjoy the budding leaves on the trees and the squirrels sniffing curiously at groups of students in the grass. Two guys had set up hammocks and used their backpacks as pillows as they caught a quick nap. A boy and a girl had all their books and notes out but had taken a break to devour each other's faces.
"Hey Sarah," said a guy she remembered from last semester's Chinese mythology class.
"Hi Ralph, getting work done?"
He had commandeered an entire table, even though he only had one textbook and nothing to write with. "Just catching up on some reading before my next class. It starts in…" he checked his watch, "five minutes ago."
"Got caught up drinking last night, huh?"
"Never go to the bar on a Thursday, not even for a hot chick," he moaned, rubbing his bloodshot eyes.
"I'll keep that in mind," Sarah smiled. "Good luck."
He groaned and covered his head with the book. Sarah would've liked to stay and encourage him to hurry up and get to class, but it was already a quarter to three and if she was one minute late getting to the library, a certain someone with a mouth bigger than her head would be on her ass. She was already two minutes behind.
Sarah walked through the glass double doors into the air-conditioned library at exactly three o'clock. She shivered at the sudden chill. No one could ever say they didn't have top-notch central air at this school, but she wished they'd be more aware of how they used it. It was warm outside, yes, but not that warm.
She greeted the librarian with a wave and took the elevator to the second floor where the private study rooms were located. Everyone was already seated and chatting amongst themselves. A squat redhead frowned as she buzzed Sarah in.
"Hey guys," Sarah said. "Hope I didn't miss anything."
The redhead folded her arms. "You're three minutes late."
"That's a new record," a boy wearing a backward baseball cap and baggy biker pants said.
"Thank you, Ronnie," the redhead intoned. Her eyes did not leave Sarah's face. "Sarah, do you care about what we're doing here?"
Sarah sighed. "Yes, Abby."
"Do you care that we're trying to prove mythology and folklore is a worthwhile major?"
"Yes, Abby."
"And that just because this school is known primarily for scientific research doesn't mean the humanities aren't just as important and deserving of attention and funding?"
"Yes, Abby. I'm sorry I was late. It won't happen again."
"See that it doesn't." Abby nodded like the conversation was over and Sarah was free from her wrath. It would've been a lot more intimidating if Sarah hadn't once seen Abby run away screaming from a shadow on the wall that turned out to be a potted plant. "Okay, now that Sarah has graced us with her presence, let's begin."
The agenda was pre-written on the blackboard in Abby's cluttered, yet unmistakable scrawl. Sarah read through it twice to get the gist of each line.
"Ronnie, can you please read us last week's minutes?"
Ronnie, who was putting together a drum solo with his pencils, looked up. "Minutes? Uh… it's been ten since we started. I don't remember how many it was last time."
If Abby's face got any redder, they might have to call an ambulance. "Whatever. Now, as those of you who paid attention know-" She shot a Medusa-like glare at Ronnie. "-we were discussing our presentation at the open house this month. We've only got a week to prepare and we still haven't settled on a theme."
"I thought we decided on warriors," said Eric, the large dirty blonde boy in the back.
"No, Eric, you suggested warriors fifteen times and we kept saying no," said Abby.
"Well, why? It would be fun!"
"Because you just want to get all the girls in chainmail bikinis," Jessie, the tall, short-haired girl next to Sarah, remarked.
Eric raised an eyebrow. "Are you saying you don't like chainmail bikinis?"
"That's exactly what I'm saying!"
"I kinda like them," said Chelsea in the far right corner.
"Can we please focus?" Abby snapped. "Thank you. Now, I have a few options in mind for us to vote on. Right now I'm leaning towards 'Food of the Gods' but 'Ancient World Fashions' is another good one."
"How about love stories?" Sarah piped up."There are a lot of famous love stories in mythology. I bet we could make a great presentation out of that."
"Of course, she would go there," Ronnie muttered to Peter, a dark-skinned boy who rolled his eyes.
Abby stared them into silence. "Hmm… that's not a bad idea. What were you thinking, like Hades and Persephone?"
"That and also Cupid and Psyche, Osiris and Isis, Tristian and Iseult. There's a bunch of them but those are the ones I know off the top of my head."
"Orpheus and Eurydice?" Chelsea said.
Sarah nodded. "That's a good one."
"Do Echo and Narcissus count?" Lisa, a petite, bespectacled girl at the opposite head of the table asked.
"Barely," said Peter. "Narcissus was an asshole."
"But Echo loved him for some reason," Jessie scoffed. "You'd think she'd realize what a piece of shit he was before she literally turned to dust for him. I don't get some people."
"Well, if it weren't for girls like that, Eric would never get laid," said Andy, a pockmarked freshman with a mouth too big for his face.
"Hey, fuck you," Eric said, shoving him.
The playful brawl was halted by another of Abby's glares. Sometimes Sarah thought she missed her calling as a drill sergeant.
"Enough already," she shouted, smacking the table until the laughter died away and all the cartoon halos were in place. "Thank you. Now. All in favor of love stories for our theme, say I."
"I," Jessie said, smiling at Sarah.
A few more 'Is' filled the room, until more than half of the committee had spoken up.
Abby, possibly disappointed that her ideas had been forgotten, clapped her hands. "All right. Motion carried. Let's move on. How are we going to advertise?"
The meeting continued for the next forty-five minutes, alternating between serious discussion and snarky asides from Eric and Ronnie. Abby burned through her glare reserve after a while and had to resort to speaking loudly over any disruptions until the clock struck four and the meeting was adjourned.
All things considered, it had been a productive day. The theme for the open house was chosen, they'd assigned everyone roles, and they even had a rough draft for their promotional flier. Sure the latter devolved into an argument between Abby and Eric over making everyone topless, but progress was still progress.
Sarah was practically skipping on the way back to her apartment. The last time she skipped, she was seven years old and her dad had taken her to the carnival. She ate so much cotton candy that day she was sick for a week. At twenty-one, that was still one of her favorite memories.
Which reminded her that she really should call home sometime. She needed to hear about Toby's first soccer game and find out when the next one was. This time, she was going to make it.
"You're in a good mood today," Jessie said.
"Am I?" Sarah pulled her long brown hair over her shoulder. She never liked tying it up; it just felt so good loose. "It's been a good day. I aced my psych exam."
"I thought you were only a psych minor."
"Grades in minors count, too," Sarah nudged her. "Or are you too busy swinging lacrosse sticks to notice?"
"I'd like to see you swing something." Jessie nudged her back, and being a significantly taller and stronger girl, it sent Sarah forward three steps. "Damn nerd."
"Damn jock."
The girls giggled all the way down the block to Sarah's apartment complex. Two years since they last roomed together and they could still match each other's barbs with ease. Strange to think Sarah had spent her teen years convinced that this kind of thing was only for cool kids. Not girls like her with their heads wrapped up in magic and monsters. It took a month in a cramped dorm arguing with Jessie over how to arrange fairy statues and soccer trophies for her to realize she could have both.
"You sure you have everything you need up there?" Jessie asked.
"Should still be in my desk drawer." Sarah swayed from one foot to the other, willing the WALK sign to appear with her currently dormant telekinetic powers. "It's just a list of ideas, but we should be able to work with it."
"I swear, it's almost like you planned this," Jessie said.
Sarah rolled her eyes. "It was a rough draft of a rough draft for a paper I didn't even end up writing. No need for conspiracy theories."
"Please, you know my cousin Johnny is the conspiracy nut in the family," Jessie said.
"Is he still talking about aliens?"
"Nah, he's moved on to Russian robot assassins. He even has pictures." The WALK sign appeared and Jessie sighed. "Finally."
They crossed the street and entered the building, taking the elevator up to Sarah's floor. Inside her apartment was slightly less of a cluttered mess than usual. The sink was empty and her books were neatly organized by Author. That was the most a working full-time student could hope for.
Sarah dropped her bag next to the couch and started for her bedroom/office. "It should be in here."
The desk was pushed up against the window to let in the sun. Or it would've if Sarah hadn't stapled the curtains together. Though the top of the desk was neat with pens on one side and notebooks on the other, deep within was a nuclear bomb. Sarah had forgotten about that until she opened the top drawer and a wad of loose leaf paper burst out.
"Do you ever organize anything?" Jessie asked.
"This is organized." Sarah opened the next drawer carefully. When nothing attacked, she pulled it out fully. "Look through these two first. I know it's in here somewhere."
She sifted through three-year-old class work, study guides, half-finished doodles, and shopping lists, all in order by 'screw it.' She pulled them out by the fistful, throwing away a few faded scraps and keeping the rest for posterity (or because she put too much sentiment into classes she'd never think of again). Jessie took the other drawer, taking much less care with Sarah's archives as she threw everything that wasn't of use into a pile.
Sarah finished the top drawer and moved on to the bottom. She glanced at Jessie to check her progress and saw her snickering at the outline of a gnome Sarah had sketched during a particularly boring 'biology for non-majors lecture.
"Is that a beluga whale?" Jessie asked.
Sarah snatched it and put it in her pocket. "Come on, keep looking."
"Yes, Ma'am, no need to crack the whip."
Sarah ignored that and went back to searching. So far, the bottom drawer was nothing but old short stories from her senior year of high school that she thought she'd burned years ago. Titles like 'The Princess in the Attic' and 'The Black Crystal' flitted past her eyes, too quickly for her to remember what they were about. It was just long enough for her to shudder at the memory of shutting herself up in her room with her father's old typewriter, thinking she was going to be the next Ursula K Le Guin. All the while refusing to even consider a creative writing class because 'I'm already past that level.'
God, she was insufferable back then. How had she never noticed?
"Did you find anything yet?"
Jessie was almost at the bottom of the drawer, hunched over the messy scavenger hunt with expert focus. Except when Sarah looked over her shoulder, she wasn't searching through any papers. She was flipping through a small red leather book. "What's this?"
Sarah glowered, about to snap at her that they had no time for this and to put it back. Then she saw the cover of the book and her stomach began to lift.
"Hey, Labyrinth!" Sarah took the book and turned to the first page. "I haven't thought about this in years."
Jessie leaned over her shoulder, scanning the first few paragraphs. "Baby stealing goblins, huh? Never heard of it."
"Yeah, I think it's an old Celtic story. I did a project on it in my Freshman year, but I couldn't find a lot of information…" Sarah trailed off, recalling those long ago days of putting on thrift store princess dresses and going into the park to recite monologues to the squirrels. Like this was a real enchanted land and she was the heroic queen harnessing her inner magic to save them all from destruction. Or just look weird to a bunch of joggers. Either way, Sarah smiled at the memory. "I sure did love it when I was a kid. I had this dream once where I was the girl in the story and I had to save Toby from the goblins."
"Did you?" Jessie asked.
"I don't know, it was a dream. And it was a long time ago… ah-hah!"
Sarah dropped the book and whipped a series of stapled pages out of the drawer. She held it in the air, like Arthur wielding Excalibur. Jessie backed up, having almost lost her nose in the crossfire. "Is that it?"
"Yup," Sarah said, flipping through the pages. Every piece of passable early adult handwriting was exactly as she remembered. From the Academia-friendly intro about the tragedy of Echo and Narcissus to the more upbeat conclusion about the power of Cupid and Psyche's love. It was trite. It was sappy. It was perfect. "Let's get to the library. We need to do a lot of polishing on this thing."
Jessie groaned. "Why are we having another meeting today? Isn't one hour with Corporal Abby enough?"
"Just come on," Sarah said, clapping her friend's shoulder. "Unless you want the robot assassins to get you."
"Oh, fuck off!" Jessie swatted at Sarah, who just barely dodged it and rushed out of the room.
The two girls giggled their way out of the apartment, slamming the door shut behind them. The shockwave sent the red leather book, precariously placed on the edge of the desk, toppling over. It landed on its spine, flipping open to the title page.
The library was never busy on Friday nights. If Sarah had to guess, her group was the first one the drowsy librarians had seen since after lunch. Finals were a month away and the nervous Freshmen who would've been scrambling to cram as much semi-useful information into their ears as possible had enough sense to take the weekend off.
Sarah and her friends took a table by the window, watching the sun slip slowly out of the sky and the moon rise to replace it. It was nearly full and pearly white. Sarah glanced at it when she found herself stuck on a word or slogging through an especially dense passage. Or if her study buddies just couldn't remember their indoor voices.
"How are we supposed to memorize twenty-six pages of Homer before Tuesday?" Ronnie shook his head in utter agony. "They must be on crack."
"Yeah, your mom deals some good shit," Eric snorted, knocking him on the shoulder.
The two commenced a shoving match, failing to impress their female companions. As Sarah and Jessie shared an eye-roll, Abby waved an uncapped pen in their faces.
"Are you guys up for some fake mustaches? Because I'm happy to help."
"Yeah, right," Eric said. "Like you would do that, Abby. You're so far past teacher's pet, they should give you an office."
"Well, excuse me if some of us want to graduate."
"Leave them alone, Abby," Jessie said, sharpening her pencil. "They'll kiss and make up eventually. Won't you guys?"
Eric and Ronnie immediately jumped away from each other. Eric gagged. "Geez, Jessie, do you have to take it there?"
"Nobody wants to see that," said Ronnie.
"I do," muttered Chelsea.
This could seriously go on forever, and as Sarah flipped through her textbook and slipped deeper into her thoughts, it probably did. Her eyes sucked in the words, her pen sailing across the paper. Notes on future essay ideas, guides for upcoming tests, and a few lines quoted verbatim for citation. She worked diligently as Eric and Ronnie continued to bait each other, Abby failed to maintain order, and Jessie watched from the sidelines, missing only a foam finger and a bag of popcorn.
Every now and then, she tuned back into their conversation. It was never about anything too interesting. She'd nod along with Jessie or laugh at a joke and then get back to work. Days could've passed like this. When Sarah checked her watch, it had only been an hour. One more and the library would close. She had to get as many subjects covered in that time and she couldn't afford distractions.
That would mean acknowledging the bad feeling in her chest.
She didn't know where it came from. Like water slowly turned up to a boil, she had been perfectly relaxed with her guard down. Then it slinked through her skin into her gut that something was wrong. Very wrong.
Sarah looked up. The shelves were behind them and mostly empty. Those students who were milling about paid her no mind, and nothing about them rang any alarm bells. She squinted down the nearest aisle. Nobody was there, but she still felt cold down her neck. A shadow appeared on the wall, large and round. Sarah's stomach seized, but then a girl with a stack of books appeared, duck-walking past them as she tried to keep the top book from slipping.
"Hey, Sarah, you awake?"
"Huh?" Sarah turned to find Jessie and Abby looking at her. Eric and Ronnie were still arguing, this time over their Dungeons and Dragons campaign. "Oh yeah… what?"
Abby rolled her eyes. "I was asking if we could meet up on Monday to discuss your outline. We need to make a few adjustments."
"Yeah, no problem," Sarah said, her eyes turned sideways as if attracted by magnets. "Just let me know when you're free."
That was enough for Abby, who went back to attacking her notebook with frenetic scribbling. Jessie kept staring, too cool for concern but feeling it anyway. Sarah smiled, hoping to set her mind at ease. It seemed to work. At the very least, Jessie didn't ask any questions.
They fell into an easy silence. Sarah smothered the itch under her skin and forced herself back to work. When one topic proved insufficient to distract her, she moved on to another one. She took notes, mouthed complicated words, and managed not to break any pencils. For a while, the only sounds were muffled footsteps and occasional whispers from Eric and Ronnie. As the clock crept closer to the hour, Jessie tapped Sarah on the shoulder.
"You thought about tomorrow?"
Sarah blinked. "You mean the party? I don't know, I might be busy."
"Seriously?" Jessie groaned. "I thought the whole reason we were busy today was so we wouldn't be busy tomorrow."
"I have a lot to do."
"So do I. I still make time to socialize."
"I socialize."
"This doesn't count," Jessie said.
"Gee, thanks," Ronnie said, hand on his heart. "I feel so loved by you guys."
"First time for everything," Jessie said before turning back to Sarah. "How about we just go shopping then? Around four o'clock?"
"I could probably do that." Sarah dug through her bag for her planner. "As long as the store doesn't need me to close one last time."
"I can't believe you're quitting the bookstore," Chelsea said with a dreamy expression. "I'd kill to work there."
"Hey, I'm moving soon, and it's not all it's cracked up to be," Sarah said. "You get a lot of paper cuts."
"Just think, one day, every one of us will have bestsellers for minimum wage college drones to stack into pyramids," Eric said, leaning his chair back. "That or we'll be flipping burgers at McDonald's forever."
"Not everyone can have such lofty goals, Eric," Abby said.
Eric snorted. "Says the girl who took three Norse mythology courses because she was hot for the professor."
Abby snapped her pencil in half. "Excuse me, I am not hot for anyone. I am a serious academic."
"Yeah, as serious as a fire in your crotch," Ronnie remarked.
He and Eric howled and high-fived each other, as Abby turned red as an apple and flexed her fingers in and out. "For your information, I happen to respect Professor Prince as an educator. His understanding of the Prose and Poetic Edda, not to mention advanced literary interpretation and analysis was refreshing after a semester of subpar teachers. I mean, yeah, he's handsome, but it's not like it matters."
"It does when you need an ass to stare at during lectures." They laughed again and performed a convoluted handshake to celebrate their lukewarm triumph.
They did succeed in making Abby's ears even redder. Assuming that could be considered an accomplishment. "Okay. While you two have your fun, I'm going to do some work. You know, because I care if I pass or not."
"Look, I'm just saying, you can't deny the female to male ratio in our classes has shot through the roof since Prince came along," Eric said.
"Much as I hate to admit it, they do have a point," Jessie said, licking her lips. "There are very few things I wouldn't let him do to me."
"That's disgusting," Abby said.
"Find me one girl, or guy for that matter, in this program who doesn't feel the same way," Jessie said. "Other than Sarah anyway."
Sarah shrugged. It was true that Professor Prince, with his classic Tall, Dark, and Handsome charm and soothing British accent, could make most anyone weak at the knee. Not to mention he was one of the smartest people on staff this year. He spoke of Frejya and Eir like they were old friends and was always quick with a witty remark. Listening to his lectures was like crawling under the covers with a book and a flashlight, long after she was supposed to be asleep, and losing herself in a tale of magic and wonder.
By all rights, she should be salivating for a guy like that. Still, she shrugged. "I'm just more into blondes."
A shadow, long and lean, slashed through the shelves, stretching jagged fingers at their heads. Sarah shrieked. Whirled around in her chair so fast, it nearly snapped at the leg. Her eyes were wild with fear at the sight of… a guy with a book. A confused guy standing in front of a perfectly intact shelf, who probably hadn't expected random women to scream at him today.
As he slowly backed out of sight, Sarah caught her breath and turned around. Everyone was staring at her, and she wished she could vanish into smoke.
"The fuck? Ronnie asked.
"Are you okay, Sarah?" Jessie asked, much more eloquently.
Sarah clutched her chest, waiting for her heart to slow. "I think I'm working too hard."
"No such thing," Abby, the only one who hadn't bothered to look up, said. "We're in the final stretch of our undergraduate career. Sleep and food must take a backseat. If you're seeing things, that just means you're passionate. Yesterday, I thought I saw a monkey dancing on my ceiling. That's what keeps me going."
"Get some rest tonight," Jessie fake whispered in Sarah's ear. "Otherwise, you'll turn into that."
Sarah smiled and nodded. Her energy was spent and it came out barely resembling either one. As everyone relaxed and returned to their normal routine, Sarah closed her textbook and pushed it aside. She didn't think she'd be getting much more studying done tonight. All she could hope for now was a warm bed and eight or nine hours of deep, uninterrupted sleep.
Sarah walked into her apartment to find the Goblin King sitting at her kitchen table, his feet propped up and a half-eaten apple in his hand.
"Good evening, Sarah," he said, with a wicked smirk. "We have so much catching up to do."