A/N: Thank you to my reviewers!
Labyrinth Mistress- I'm glad you liked it!
corrina wasylenchuk- Thank you very much!
GreyKing- Here is the explanation, sorry about that….
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crystal13moon- Thank you and here is the update
darkforces- I'm glad you like it.
Now on with the chapter!
Disclaimer: I do not own Labyrinth…I just wish I did!
They continued to walk, it had been a while since they had said anything. Kara kept looking at Sarah out of the corner of her eye. Sarah's look was far away and it looked sad…almost like she was crying softly. Kara wanted to comfort her…but didn't know how. Sarah took a deep breath and began again, "Well, after that I finally did remember Toby and I made it to the Goblin King's castle. When I got there however, he seemed more determined than ever to try and stop me. He…promised me my dreams again but he seemed like he was pleading." Sarah's voice died down as she considered this.
"His final attempt was…well it might have had something to do with me being here. He said, 'Fear me, love me, do as I say and I will be your slave.' But…it wasn't just what he said it was how he said it. He…I don't know." Sarah finished lamely. Kara regarded her carefully before realizing, that even if Sarah herself didn't realize, how Sarah felt about a certain Goblin King. Kara asked cautiously asked, "How do you feel about him?" Sarah's head shot up and her eyes held confusion, fear and unsureness. She shook her head and answered, "I don't know…supposedly that is why Rosaline sent me here…that and a wish I guess." Kara tilted her head, "A wish?" she asked.
Sarah nodded slowly and replied, "Yes, apparently I made a wish in my dreams. She won't tell me what it was, she just said that I had to figure it out." Kara nodded and wondered what the wish was. She figured it had something to do with the Goblin King, why else would Sarah be here? "Sarah?" Kara asked. "Hmm?" Sarah replied. "Where did Rosaline come from?" Sarah's brow furrowed as she realized she didn't know. She thought about it, and she really didn't know that much about her. "Well, she was one of my customers in my bakery, but I always thought she was normal. I only figured out she wasn't yesterday…" Then they heard the sound of laughter. Sarah's eyes widened and she hid again, leaving Kara bewildered until the Goblin King showed up.
He had the usual smirk on his face as he showed up in a puff of glitter. "Do you always have to use so much glitter?" Kara asked annoyed. The Goblin King smirked and answered, in a very arrogant way, "Yes, it makes my appearance all the better." Kara rolled her eyes and muttered something that he didn't quite catch. He was bored so he decided to taunt her. "You only have seven hours left…why haven't you reached my castle yet?" The smirk on his face grew wider. "Because! This Labyrinth is impossible!" He put on a look of mock pity and said, "Tsk, tsk, tsk…it isn't impossible. Someone has solved it before." He didn't mean to mention that, but now he had.
Kara noticed his slip of tongue and decided to exploit it. "Who in the world could actually solve this ridiculous thing?" She yelled trying to sound annoyed. It seemed that she had done it quite well because he did not catch on. The King's eyes became guarded and he replied, in a dangerously soft voice, "Her name was Sarah, I believe," he tried to sound detached but he was failing miserably. Kara played her part and looked confused, "Who was she?" she asked in an indignant voice. The Goblin King began pacing and he finally answered cryptically, "My greatest adversary…and…" but he did not continue. "Finish the labyrinth or your sister will stay here forever." With that he faded out again.
Kara's triumphant smirk was evident on her face. Though, as it did for Sarah was confuse her. Sarah raised an eyebrow and asked, "Why are you smiling?" Kara put on an innocent face and said, "Oh nothing, nothing at all." Sarah looked skeptical, but she didn't say anything. They kept walking and they came to a set of doors. Each door had creatures guarding them, hiding behind red and blue shields with crests. These were the doors Sarah had faced six years ago, and she was prepared for them this time.
One of the creatures started to say, "Here are the rules," But Sarah held up her hand. "I know what they are, I can only ask one of you," "Yes and," the creature began again. But Sarah cut him off, "One of you always tells the truth and one of you always lies. Isn't that right?" The creatures conferred with their partners and then called across the way, "Is that right?" "Uh…yes…" The other said slowly. Sarah nodded and walked over to one of them and asked, "Would he tell me that this was the door to the castle?" The creature looked at her and then slowly nodded. Sarah said thank you and motioned for Kara to follow. Sarah opened the other door, but before going on said, "I should warn you, we will fall into a bunch of green hands, and when they ask which way you want to go…please say up. Going down would be bad…trust me." Kara nodded and they continued down the corridor. Sure enough, a trap door opened underneath them and they fell into the green hands that immediately grabbed them and asked them which way they wanted to go. They both hurriedly cried, "Up! We want to go up!" The hands all laughed and brought them back up.
They came to another passageway, one Sarah had not been down. But they kept walking and talking about different things. "It's been just me and my mom for a while now," explained Kara. Sarah had asked her about her life as they had walked. "My dad died when I was five, Haylie was only six months old." Sarah patted Kara's arm, "It must have been hard." "Well yeah, but mom always did a good job. She's always been there for us, it's just been a lot to deal with lately." Sarah waited for her to continue. "My mom had to take a different job and the hours required me to watch Haylie more, which wasn't a problem at first but we have been fighting a lot lately." Sarah nodded, understanding what it was like. "I never meant for this to happen," Kara said sounding like she felt ashamed. "No one does…we aren't perfect…we just do the best we can. And the important thing is that you are going after her right?" Kara nodded but then asked, "But what if I don't get there in time?" "You will," Sarah reassured her, "I'll help you the whole way. And who knows? Maybe we will run into some old friends of mine." Kara smiled and said, "Thanks Sarah, it really helps."
They came upon the forest when, again, Rosaline popped up. Sarah had questions for her this time and was prepared to ask them. Rosaline smiled at the both of them before finding Sarah's determined gaze. She sat cross-legged in the air and smiled and asked, "So then Sarah, what questions do you have for me?" Sarah blinked in surprise; she hadn't known she was that obvious. "Well…you could start by telling me where you came from?" Rosaline said in a smooth tone, "Here of course." Sarah raised her eyebrow in confusion and Rosaline decided to elaborate, "In the underground. You were a special case Sarah. You can't just win the Labyrinth, among other things, and except to go back to life as it was before. You cannot look me in the eye and tell me that it has…can you?" Sarah tried, but Rosaline was of course right.
Life hadn't been exactly normal for Sarah, things had always seen a little off since she got back. Normal, everyday things seemed…different. Sarah couldn't exactly say how, or point it out, it was more of a nagging subconscious feeling. When Sarah didn't say anything, Rosaline smiled and said, "See?" Sarah pulled a bit of a face before she asked, "But why would I need a Fae guardian?" Rosaline answered, "Because, you did not only leave with yourself intact but you also left with a bit of magic from the Labyrinth. The Fae council could not allow that to go array and cause chaos…so I was chosen to watch over you." "Fae council?" asked Sarah.
Rosaline sighed and gave the cryptic answer of, "You'll meet them soon enough." Sarah wondered about what that meant but Rosaline interrupted her thoughts. "Dears, you need to get moving. We have wasted enough time here, Sarah be careful," Rosaline added pointedly before fading out into a lavender breeze. Sarah shook her head in confusion before they resumed walking. "Sounds like you have an interesting adventure a head of you Sarah," remarked Kara. Sarah nodded in agreement and sighed. She wondered what events would unfold and where she would end up. It was terribly disconcerting when your life was turned upside down and fate decided to add magic to the mix.
Meanwhile
The Goblin King sat on his throne once again. Kara's little sister stood, with strawberry blonde curls and bright green eyes, staring at the disarray around her. She hadn't cried, she had only watched. The Goblin King found her stare and reaction to his throne room unnerving. He sighed and got up, he stared the goblins in the room into silence. "I am leaving, if anything happens to this human child…I will dip you head first into the Bog of Eternal Stench and put you in the Oubliette to rot for years to come. Am I understood?" The goblins nodded deftly and watched in fear as he left the room.
He walked upstairs to one of the windows in his castle. He threw himself on the ledge and huffed. He was getting annoyed, he really could not stop think about Sarah. So he finally just gave up and conjured a crystal. He held it in his hand and looked at it before saying, "Show me Sarah Williams." The crystal swirled with different colors of light but did not clear. He waited a while before his brow really started to furrow. The crystal never showed her, it was as if it couldn't find her. He dropped the crystal and it disappeared before it hit the ground. He poofed out and went aboveground. He landed just out side Sarah's current house, he had meant to land inside but found he could not.
He tried again and failed. He heard the soft sound of laughter and the smell of a lavender breeze. He sighed knowing what was coming. Rosaline appeared with a smirk that could match his usual one. "What are you doing here Rosaline?" he asked tiredly. She smiled this time and answered, as if it were the most obvious thing in the world, "I am Sarah's guardian. Do I not have a right to be here?" He raised an eyebrow and calmly said, "I was not aware that she had a Fae guardian." Rosaline smiled mysteriously and asked, "Do you think she could leave the Labyrinth unchanged?" The Goblin King tilted his head and asked, "Changed how?"
"She solved the Labyrinth did she not?" He nodded and she explained, "Well, some of the power of the Labyrinth went with her, she is no longer a mere human. She has powers that, have yet to be discovered by her or anyone else." The king thought over this and nodded to show he under stood but he still had questions, "Well…alright but why are you preventing me from seeing her? I have done it before and have it has never been this difficult." She laughed and replied in an obnoxious way of hers, "Because." He stared her until she relented and elaborated her answer.
"She requested privacy and wanted time to think. Now that is all the answers you get from me your Majesty," and she bowed out. "I asked you not to…call me that," he finished lamely after she disappeared. He made an aggravated noise and pooffed back to his castle. When he got there, he sulked. "It's not like it matters," he mumbled to himself. 'But you know it does…' said the annoying voice in his head. It was the Labyrinth. They were connected and yes, the Labyrinth had a mind of its own. He could bend its will occasionally, but for the most part, it was more powerful than he. 'No, it really doesn't,' he told it firmly. 'You can try that, but both you and I know it does matter. So much so that you actually miss that girl.' The Goblin King gave up and realized that the Labyrinth was right. He did miss her, but he couldn't let his feelings rule him. He already tried that…needless to say, it didn't work. He shook his head to clear hi thoughts and when on his way.
Elsewhere
Sarah and Kara had reached the forest. Very quietly Sarah said, "We have to be quiet or we might run into the Fireys." "Fireys?" Kara asked looking confused. "They live here," Sarah explained, "They like to sing and dance but they can take themselves apart…they might try to do it to us too and it would just be a lot less complicated to not have to deal with them." Kara's eyes widened and she nodded. They walked quietly without saying word and made it through fairly quickly. They made it to the wall and Sarah was at a loss. Kara looked up and then at Sarah waiting for her to do something.
"I had help getting up there…" Sarah mused quietly. She stared up and then straight at it. She stared for a while then looked around. There, to the right, was a set of stairs. She tilted her head at them and said, "Those weren't there when I was here." "I guess you can't take anything for granted in this place," mused Kara. Sarah smiled wryly and replied, "One of the first lessons you should learn here." Kara raised a quizzical eyebrow but Sarah just smiled and walked to the stairs. Kara shook her head and followed her. They made their way up the stairs but when they got half way up, the stairs opened up and the fell through.
The girls let out startled screams until they landed on hard packed dirt. Sarah's nose instantly wrinkled and she struggled to breathe. Kara moaned, she had landed on her back and had the breath knocked out of her. When she came to she made a face and asked, "What IS that smell?" Sarah took the time to look around and said, "It's the Bog of the Eternal Stench…" Despite the smell, Sarah smiled. It was where she had first met Sir Didymus. She got up and brushed her self off and she then helped up Kara. She led Kara around the Bog saying, "Don't touch it, it will make you smell forever…no matter how many times you wash." Kara nodded and held her nose.
They walked to the bridge and as soon as they tried to cross, Sarah heard the clatter of small feet. "Halt! Who goes there…. My lady?" A small fox-like creature with an eye patch looked up at them. Sarah smiled and did a small curtsey; Kara was still in awe that a fox…looking thing had talked to them. "My Lady Sarah it is you!" Sarah knelt down and hugged the small creature while he eagerly welcomed her back. "We've missed you here lass, you have you been?" Sir Didymus asked her innocently. "I tried to call you, but I couldn't. Something prevented me from doing so…I'm so sorry," she said honestly. Sir Didymus smiled and replied, "That's quite alright my lady, why don't you come see the others?" "They're here too?" Sarah asked looking hopeful. "Yes, Brother Ludo and Sir Hoggle."
"Lead the way!" Sarah said getting up. She then remembered Kara. "This is Kara," she told Sir Didymus. "Pleasure Lady Kara," Sir Didymus said bowing. "Kara," said Sarah, "I'll explain everything to you in a minute…I promise." Kara nodded and followed the two to Sir Didymus's home.
A/N: Thank you once again to my reviewers and please review!