Disclaimer: I don not own the Labyrinth, if I did do you think I would be sitting here writing this?
A/N: Once again, I am sorry for the short last chapter, and the cliffe at the end. This is the second to last chapter, one more to go!
Lady Saffron of the Daggers: He is not as evil as you might think…well you'll see.
Lady Galriee: Well you'll hate me for this chapter too…heck…I hate me for the cliffhangers! She won't have to…
draculasbride2008: Thank you!
Sarah's blood ran cold; she heard the firm words and the British accent. "You are out of time," the Goblin King said plainly. Above the ground, at the top of the stairs and in front of the castle's main doors stood Kara and the group facing the Goblin King who had previously been leaning on the door. He was now no more than two feet in front of them and his face was an expressionless mask. Ludo had to keep Kara from collapsing to her feet as a look of horror came up on her face. Down in the tunnel, Sarah was seriously debating about whether or not to go running up to Kara's rescue. But she stopped when she heard his voice again.
"However," the Goblin King began again, "I will grant you back your sister." Kara's face was immediately relieved. Sarah's heart felt much lighter and she stayed to see if he and anything else to say. "This Labyrinth is for testing the will of the wisher. Usually, when I give them the choice to turn back before they even start, this is the first task. You passed; you showed me that you truly did want to try to get her back. May I be the first to say that my Labyrinth is not easy, and to even get this far…takes effort. So that said, I believe that you have proved yourself, finished or not, that you truly love your sister. Those who give up do not love who they wished away and so we give them wished away a chance for a better life, but a lot of thought and determination by you, has shown me that Haylie would have the best life with you." The king paused here and Kara considered his words carefully, as did Sarah.
"If you learn anything from this place," he began again, "let it be to appreciate those around you who love you, to not take anything for granted, to be careful of wishing out loud, and to chose your path wisely." With that, he summoned a crystal and dropped it. Kara and he disappeared.
Kara appeared in Haylie's room and she rushed to the child's bedside. When she found her sleeping silently, she breathed a sigh of relief and spoke a loud her thanks to the Goblin King. She kissed her sister and gazed at her lovingly when she left her room. She paused at the door to her own room and thought about the Goblin King's words. She smiled and took his words to heart, she grew older that day and the two sisters were insufferable after that.
In the Underground
Hoggle, Ludo and Sir Didymus stood stunned in front of the door. They did not expect that kind of reaction from the king, when he had said her time was up, they were sure that was the end of that, and yet, Kara was back home with her sister now, both of them safe and sound. They shook their heads collectively and started back down the stairs. The door that Sarah went in was locked now and they silently wished her well. They all went their separate ways, knowing they would see Sarah soon.
Sarah still stood in the same spot she had been in for the past hour. Something in his voice made her wonder, were all journeys through the Labyrinth like this? Had he changed since she last left? Her mind was reeling at the thought. She stood undecided, she knew know what to do…but not what to say. This wasn't going to be any easier, she felt regret at what she had done before and knew she had to mention that to him. But where to go, and what to say was a mystery. She slowly started to walk again but did not get very far when a familiar lavender smell reached her nose. She saw Rosaline up ahead and she walked to her.
"How are you doing dear?" Rosaline asked kindly. Sarah looked at her and answered, "I am horribly confused and have no clue what to say to him…" Sarah trailed off miserably. Rosaline smiled and answered, "You'll know when the time is right." "Will you ever give me a straight answer?" Sarah asked incredulously. Rosaline laughed and shook her head no. Sarah sighed and rolled her eyes in exasperation. "You're almost as bad as him," Sarah made this off-hand comment. Rosaline's smile was thin, as though she were hiding something. "What?" Sarah asked, catching the look. Rosaline smiled warmly and said, "Good luck my dear," and then promptly vanished. Sarah let out another exasperated sigh and kept walking.
Elsewhere
The Goblin King was pacing his study, as he so often did these days. He had no idea that every moment that passed Sarah was getting closer. She was on his mind though, and had been ever since he had seen her, few things could distract him from the thought of her. She frustrated him and caused him many sleepless nights with the thoughts of her. Sometimes he was angry at her, other times he just wanted to tell her…no he couldn't, both literally and figural. When she had uttered those six terrible words, he was thrown out of her life. Nor could he tell her if he could, he was too much of a coward. But it was his own fault he was that way, but he didn't have the courage she did, or thought she had. He sighed and sat down at the window, wishing he could see her again.
Back with Sarah
Sarah found the path going upwards and she started to wonder where it was going to come out, she hoped it wouldn't be anywhere near where the Goblin King was. She started to think about where she wanted to met him and immediately an answer came to mind: the Escher room. She figured that would be the best place to go, since that was the last place she had seen him and the place where she had said those words, those words that had kept them apart for the last six years. She sighed and kept walking, never faltering in her resolve.
The tunnel kept gently slopping upward but it didn't seem to be any steeper or showing any signs of coming up into the castle anywhere. She stopped and looked around, it was still dimly lit, though now that she thought about it, she had no idea where the light was coming from. She looked and the walls and saw intricate carvings of leaves and vines, as well as small Labyrinth symbols. She placed her finger on one of the symbols and traced it lightly to the center. This Labyrinth was a lot easier to solve than the one outside the city, that one she supposed went on for miles. She let her hand fall back to her side and she kept walking.
Soon she reached a circular chamber, it was brightly lit from the skylight above it, an opaque window to who knows where. She missed the design on the floor and she tried to walk to the door. She was thrown back however, as soon as her foot tried to cross and ancient line. She looked down on the floor and saw a Labyrinth design, leading to the center where the door was. The room was shimmering and every now and them she could see a glittering mist appear. "Oh no," she said to herself softly. It was a Labyrinth in itself, and one she would have to solve before she could get to the door.
"Well, come on feet," she said smiling as she quoted her younger self. She stepped into the Labyrinth and suddenly she was surrounded by high walls and could no longer see the room. "Oh great," she mumbled, "this just keeps getting better." She started walking through the curved corridor when she came upon a fork. A child-like fairy was sitting on part of the wall. She looked like the white fairies out in front of the Labyrinth (the bigger one) except she was about the size of a three year old and her hair was in ringlets. At the moment, her eyes were closed but they snapped open in a second to reveal bright, ice blue eyes. Sarah jumped back a little, somewhat startled.
"I am the resident Pixy of the miniature Labyrinth, my name is Aysel," said the faire looking girl. Sarah nodded and said cautiously "Nice to meet you…I'm Sarah." "Yes I know, and you're here to get to the door…am I right?" Sarah nodded. "Of course I am," the Pixy said importantly. "Now, I will appear at every two way fork in the road. I am here to give you hints about which turn to take. If you guess right, then you will be on the right path…if not…well then, I let you find out on your own, I pray that you don't have to." Aysel finished and sat with a mischievous smile on her face and mirth twinkling in her bright eyes.
Sarah nodded again and decided that this small Labyrinth should not be underestimated just because of its size. "Well then here is your first hint:
One way is right, and one way is left.
But is right right and left wrong?
Or, is the riddle older than that order
Chose the way of truth, or the way of lies
Chose left or chose right…"
Sarah thought for a moment, the riddle seemed to lead her to chose the right, but a couple of lines told her otherwise, "Or, is the riddle older than that order; Chose the way of truth, or the way of lies." Those lines made her want to choose left. She was pretty sure that the riddle would be older and the way of truth was always what was left. Because most people chose lies over truth to get their way out of trouble, and right over left, then because she chose right first she knew that the right way to go would be left.
"Left," she said voice ringing confidently. "If you have chosen right, I will see you soon…if not…then your journey ends here," and with that, Aysel vanished. Sarah was annoyed with the pixy's answer, it didn't tell her if she was right or not. She huffed quietly and went left. She walked for a while, and so far nothing bad had happened. The path mad another turn and she found herself facing Aysel again. Aysel was smiling a girlish grin and said, "So mortal, it appears you chose right." Sarah nodded, smiling only slightly. Aysel was getting a little annoying.
"Very well then, here is your next riddle:
So left you chose first but now what is right?
Is the answer the same or different?
Tell me this: is the moon and sun alike?
And realized it was pointing to the right. Every verse pointed her right. The first line when is said right instead of anything else. And the last line gave her the answer to the second line. The moon and sun were different so the answer was different. She said her answer again, though she knew she would get no reaction. "Right." Aysel nodded and vanished again leaving Sarah to her choice. She went right and continued walking. She hoped that there would not be too many more of these riddles, they were getting old. Again when she turned the corner and sure enough, there was Aysel. This time her face looked serious.
"This is your last riddle, get this one wrong and the consequences will be dire.
This Labyrinth is as old as time
Born of the same era
So the riddles are not always easy
But lying will get you nowhere
The keepers of time and this Labyrinth
Do not lie, and will not let you
And so now you must decide
What is in your heart."
Aysel pointed to two carvings on each side of her. One of them was a heart in the Middle of the Labyrinth and the other was a tear surrounding a dark Labyrinth. Sarah didn't have to think for long. She went left, which had the carving without the slash. She was suddenly standing in the center with the door and the high walls no longer surrounded her. She shook her head to clear it and walked through the door.
She found herself at the bottom of a staircase. She walked up it and came to another door. She opened this one as well and found herself standing across from the Escher room. She smiled and said, a little sarcastically, "How covenant." She was about to enter when she saw a goblin cross her path, she stopped him and asked "Will you tell the Goblin King that there is someone waiting for him in the Escher room?" The goblin nodded warily and hurried off.
Sarah crossed the corridor and entered the puzzling room. She smiled and started running up stairs. She kept going until she got to a place that was far enough away from the main door and where she could still see it. She sat down and waited, trying to gather up her courage to tell him finally.
With a certain King
The goblin Sarah had found went to the Goblin King's study. He knocked nervously on the door. "Yes?" came the Goblin King's annoyed reply. The goblin opened the door and stepped in, bowing as he did so. Not making eye contact the goblin stuttered out his story. "There…is…s..someone here t..to see y..you, they are in th..the Escher r..room." The Goblin King looked up from his work and sighed in exasperation, "Did they say who they were?" "No, your majesty," came the timid reply. The Goblin King sighed again and poofed out of the room, leaving a very confused, scared, and startled goblin behind.
In the Escher Room
The Goblin King appeared outside of the room, he walked in and asked, "Hello? Who's there?" Sarah's heart was pounding and there were butterflies in her stomach. She tried to calm her breathing before she said anything. She hoped her voice wouldn't sound too weird when she spoke.
"Jareth," she breathed. He looked up at her and her eyes met his. Sarah gasped slightly, memories hitting her hard. "Sarah?"
A/N: I know, I know…another evil cliffe…oh well if you review I'll get the last chapter out sooner! Anyway, thank you to all of my reviewers and see you soon!