A/N: I'I don't own the Labyrinth, its characters or anything related to it. I'm just having some speculative time with alternative storylines that could take place afterward.
The Land That Is Not
Chapter 18
The sun had started its descent and painted the sky with dark crimson and purple. Sarah stole a hurried glance behind her, afraid of what she might see. Her gaze met dry skinny trees, leafless and dead on the rocky hillock, their dark silhouettes etched against the distant shimmering visage of the Labyrinth and its green fields and twisting turns. Farther, a needle-like castle stood erect, perched precariously on the slanted mountain, gleaming in the waning red light of the setting sun. She let out the breath she hadn't realized she was holding.
With a twinge she wondered what Jareth would do when he realized she had gone. Would he magic himself to her, demand her to come back? He had said he could find her wherever she went. Or could he? She glanced at her old ring, gleaming in her finger and heard an echo of the Wiseman's words in her ears.
"This is a boon. You gave something of you out of your free will years ago. It holds its own charm, tied to your past self. If you wear this ring, the King won't be able to find you. However, realize, if you decide to leave now, you might not be able to return…"
Sarah turned her back at the Labyrinth and the memories, shoving the regret at the furthest corner of her heart.
At each of her step, the terrain changed. The scrawny trees sprouting from the barren and dry land became more sparse and the ground turned into fine sand that rattled underneath her sandal-clad feet. She cleared the last of the rollicking hills, and was greeted by an endless sea of sand: the beginning of the wastelands. Sarah barely discerned teeth of the mountain range shooting from the ground far in the distance. It would take days to reach them, she realized with a sinking feeling.
"Well, nobody said it was going to be easy," she muttered and glanced up to the darkening sky. She would be forced to stop when the night fell, but she didn't dare to stay here, so close to the Labyrinth. So close to… Sarah left the thought unfinished and stole one last hesitant look behind her shoulders before she stepped on the shifting sand.
She had barely started walking when she heard a faint noise, a desperate shout for help. She listened closely, wondering if she had imagined it. There it was again, a high-pitched scream. She knit her brows realizing that the voice sounded familiar. Curious, Sarah diverted her steps, skirting the sloping dune, and stopped at the sight.
The sand shifted in masses, creating a sound unlike anything Sarah had ever heard before. An enormous snake-like creature with a huge horned head slithered in circles, creating rings of sand around itself if the ground somehow had become liquid. The waning light glistened on the huge scales that reflected myriad of various shades of blue. Her mouth gaped open. Was it a dragon? She didn't discern wings but the creature surely looked otherworldly.
Then she recognized the small creature in the middle of the hissing, twisting body. A hairy, scrawny creature whimpered in fright, its head hid underneath its hands.
"Itys!" her words came out before she controlled them.
At the sound of her voice, the massive reptile stopped and turned his scuted head to her direction.
"Who dares to intervene with mighty Arur's prey?" the monster growled, his voice a deep hiss that rattled her nerves. The monster flicked the air with his forked tongue, and the black pupils of his ringed amber eyes narrowed to slits when he spotted Sarah standing on the sand dune.
Too terrified to move, Sarah only stared at the beast.
"Ah, a human…" the reptile hissed, a scaled head slithering closer to her, but his tail still kept circling around Itys. The poor goblin didn't dare to even move or look up. "It's been a long time since I last tasted human flesh..." Sarah was sure she discerned a gleeful note. "Tell me why shouldn't I eat you too after this scraggy little goblin?"
"Why eat it at all?" Sarah was surprised to hear her voice didn't waver. "You know that the Goblin King won't look kindly on those who feast on his minions."
"Bah!" the snake growled. "A goblin outside of the gates of the Labyrinth can only mean it has been banished!" He gave a sinister smile full of curved white fangs. "The Goblin King won't even care if this pitiful little life ceased to exist."
"This goblin certainly hasn't been banished, I assure," Sarah replied calmly, the wind tugging her white skirt. She silently told herself she shivered because of the cooling air, not because facing a pair of lidless yellow eyes that barely concealed an smoldering temper beneath them. "Itys," she raised her voice. "Can you confirm this?"
The goblin, despite terrified, appeared to calm down as her voice penetrated his petrified ears. "Miss Sawah Williams is here?" he squealed, peeking between his fingers, and whimpered at the sight of the keeled blue scales.
Startled, Arur halted, and his eyes flashed with fury. "Sarah Williamsss…" he hissed. His body sprung to motion, Itys forgotten. Sarah swallowed when the monstrous body of the snake glided over the sand, creating a ripple at its wake, and started orbiting her. "Famous Sarah Williams herself?"
She forced her chin up and met the reptilian eyes. "Herself."
"And pray what brings revered Sarah to the wastelands of the Underground?" he brought his broad, triangular head closer, the tip of the pale tongue quivering merely inches away from her face.
"That would be none of your business." She refused to cower in front of this beast. "Let Itys go. He is not banished."
"Ha! We will see that," Arur hissed and turned his attention back to Itys while his body kept coiling around Sarah. Sarah grimaced at the sound of the scales scraping against the sand. "Goblin, tell me has the Goblin King thrown you out of his precious little kingdom. Is that why you are here?" Arur spat.
Itys squeaked and hunched in a tight ball, not daring to peep a word.
"You beast," Sarah said through her gritted teeth. "You've terrified him out of his mind. He won't talk if you keep on intimidating him like that."
"And that delights me, for silence," Arur hissed with a fanged smile, "implies consent."
Sarah stroke an errand hair from her face, thoughts racing. "Let me talk to him. Itys will listen to me."
The beast let out a laugh, more like a snarl. "I rather ate this little snack now."
"And dare facing the Goblin King's ire?" Sarah demanded with a strange certainty that was the last thing the creature wanted.
Arur hesitated.
"Wouldn't you trust the champion of the Labyrinth to tell you the truth?" she inquired, and the beast let out a grumble.
"Very well, Sarah. You may ask him, but if he fails to talk, I'm going to devour both you and your little goblin friend."
"I agree," Sarah nodded. "Now, let me go through."
The impenetrable wall of scales slithered farther allowing Sarah pass. She kneeled next to Itys and touched his shivering shoulders. "Itys…wouldn't you look at me?"
After a moment the little goblin stopped trembling. It took even longer time for his face to peek through the hairy little fingers. "Miss Sawah will look after Itys?"
"Always," she replied soothingly. "You know I would not abandon you."
"But Miss Sawah left the Labyrinth…" Itys hickuped.
"To find my brother," she consoled him. "I will return," if I can, she added silently.
She heard an irritated hiss in her ears, "I'm waiting…" the unspoken threat loomed in the air like a promise.
"But Itys, why are you here?"
He hickuped. "Itys saw Sawah leaving the castle, looking so sad. Then Itys hid because the Hat scares him. And when Sawah ran again, Itys thought…maybe she needs Itys' help…?" His words trailed away, and he sniffled, pressing his little head against Sarah.
"It's alright, Itys," Sarah sighed, not sure she believed her own words. What would she do with Itys tagging along with her? He wouldn't be able to cross the desert. Hell, she didn't know if even she would be able to do that!
Still hugging the trembling goblin, Sarah lifted her chin and met Arur's gleaming eyes. "You heard him. He's under the Goblin King's rule," she challenged the beast.
Arur snarled, revealing his sharp fangs, "So I heard." He didn't relent but kept on sliding around Sarah and Itys. "However I am still to have my dinner, and I see no claims on you."
She pressed her mouth tightly together. "You would be stupid to threaten me if even you, beast of the wasteland, know who I am."
The monster chuckled, "Oh, true. Your name is known far and wide, for isn't it because of you the Goblin King has been overthrown. Who wouldn't be more grateful than the one whom he cast out…" Arur slithered closer, voice soft and full of menace.
"You have a funny way of showing appreciation," Sarah snorted.
"What could be a better reward than becoming my meal? I am feared all over the Underground, and there is not a creature who wouldn't tremble at the sight of my beautiful scales or the sound of my name." Arur slithered around her and purred in the satisfaction of Itys trembling and burrowing his face deeper in Sarah's arms.
She stroked Itys' knotted hair soothingly. "Yes, I can see you're a true star."
"You dare to mock great Arur!" The triangular head jerked closer as he whipped his tongue with an angry hiss.
"I would never even dream of that. But you told that the Goblin King have expelled you from the Labyrinth. By your own admission you have revealed that you have no power over his subjects; and following that logic, you cannot have power over the one who defeated his labyrinth and him."
"Insolent woman," Arur glowered but didn't deny her words.
"Listen, I propose a trade," she said, meeting the beast's eyes levelly.
"Ha, a trade! What possibly could you offer to tempt me?" Arur barked and glanced at Itys, licking its mouth.
Relieved that the little goblin had his head still burrowed in her chest, Sarah asked, "You wish to return to the Labyrinth?"
"And be governed by its ruler?" Arur's eyes flashed with anger.
"Look, I get it. You're mad at Jareth for throwing you out," Sarah said while whisking her hair out of her face. "However, if you really wanted to get back in his good graces and earn your way back, you'd help me to find my brother."
"Finding your brother doesn't fill my belly. I have been hunting for days," Arur hissed, but Sarah could sense his resolution wavering.
"Consider that then," she pleaded. "How often did you have to go hungry in the Labyrinth?"
The question rattled the beast, and he stopped, looking over Sarah to the direction of the Labyrinth. Finally, he turned to study Sarah. "I admit I have thought about…returning." She heard a deep longing in his voice. "You truly believe the Goblin King would pardon me?"
She contemplated, realizing she didn't know what kind of a crime Arur had made for Jareth to banish it. "Road to redemption needs to start from somewhere. Why not from here, at the edge of the Labyrinth's border?"
Arur remained silent, eyes focusing inward. "Very well, Sarah Williams. I will help you to find your brother. But should you prove to be wrong and the Goblin King sneers at my request and keeps his unfair verdict unchanged, I shall have you as my dinner."
She forced down the lump in her throat and met Arur's yellow eyes without a flinch. "It's a deal."
o O o
"Where is she?" Jareth charged through the door into Phaedra's room.
She arched her eyebrows, silently annoyed with two similar disruptions in one day. "I have no idea what are you talking about, Jareth. Kindly enlighten me."
"Who do you think? Sarah of course. She's disappeared. What did you do to her?"
Phaedra closed the book she'd been reading. "What is it with both you and her to assume the worst and accuse me for all your problems. I have not seen her since midday when she barged here full of hot fury."
He rubbed his face. "Of course she would do that. You tricked her…" His eyes narrowed, "…as well as me, your own kin. I do not appreciate you meddling with my affairs."
She flicked her wrist as if to demonstrate her words. "I only gave you two the push you desperately needed."
"Needed?" Jareth's nostrils flared. "Don't you go assume you can decide what I need."
"Jareth, you are too proud to admit that you are attracted to her. Maybe even care for her. Yes, she bruised your ego when she both rejected and dethroned you, but how could she have known what was at stake. You are beyond petty in humiliating and torturing her like you have done. It doesn't become you." She eyed him carefully. "You do realize that is more akin to something your father would do."
He pursed his lips. "And you think sending her to me naked like some kind of a water sprite was what she wanted? What I wanted?"
"I do not recall you driving her away," she said gently, and a faint blush colored his cheeks. Before he had time to gather his wits, she continued, rising on her feet, "Now, Jareth, please start from the beginning and explain what you mean by saying Sarah has disappeared. I thought that shouldn't be possible?"
"It shouldn't, but I'm unable to find her. I sense her presence at the back of my mind, but when I try to focus, she slips away like a shadow. Somehow she is pass my reach, and I don't understand how that has happened." Jareth started to pace frustration and worry playing on his face.
She tapped her chin thoughtfully. "For someone to be able to veil her from you must be your equal."
"I'm well aware of that! But equal in power? There are only few in this world, if any."
"Do you think Tereus could use Toby if he is behind Sarah's disappearance?"
Jareth stopped and thought. "Toby is not yet of age. His powers are not going to manifest in full before he is fully grown." He gave her a pained look, uncomfortable of the topic, but she ignored his anguish.
"Yet he has a connection to the Labyrinth, doesn't he?"
"He does," he said with a grunt. "But it is strong enough for minor items only, such as dreaming of the Labyrinth, or glimpsing through its eyes. The only reason Tereus has been able to hide Toby from me is Toby's undeveloped connection to this world."
"I see…Since you bound Sarah to you as your subject, her connection to you and the Labyrinth should be fully established."
"Precisely, and because you were the last person I know for sure met with her before she vanished I need to ask again if you did or said something to her?"
Phaedra's veil slid from her head as she ran her fingers through her hair. "Jareth, I didn't speak with her for long. She wasn't very pleased with me and left immediately after she had given me a piece of her mind. I do believe she also resigned from her position as my maid-in-waiting." She had decency to look a bit sheepish.
Jareth frowned. "And that's all?"
She sighed. "Yes. I'm sorry, but that is all that transpired. I fear it won't explain how she disappeared or help us to find her."
"Us?" Jareth gave her a curious look.
"Jareth, you cannot stretch your attention to locate two people at the same time, can you? And if Tereus is able to hide both Sarah and Toby from you, he is either very strong, or has someone to help him. Either one of these options makes me very wary. It would be unwise to meet him on your own."
He considered and finally nodded. "Very well, Phaedra. If you insist, but…" he lifted his fingers at her, "…do refrain from tinkering any more with Sarah's and my relationship."
Phaedra promised that in all earnest, "Of course, Jareth. No more meddling. Now, in order find both her and her brother… did you ever check that book Tereus gave to Sarah? Is it still in her home?"
He snapped his head up and stared at Phaedra. Small creases of displeasure appeared on his forehead when he realized his oversight. "No. I had forgotten about it. What do you know about it?"
"Nothing else what I've learned from Sarah…but I feel that it might be important." Phaedra said slowly. "I would like to go and look for the book and find out if it reveals anything about Toby's whereabouts and possibly Sarah's too."
"You?" He quizzed.
"You need to stay in the Labyrinth. Despite your situation, you are its master, and if you venture away to the outer world, you will leave it exposed and vulnerable. You cannot allow that now, not when both Sarah and Toby are missing."
Jareth didn't like her words, but he was also wise enough to realize that she was speaking the truth. "Very well Phaedra. But if you sense anything that might be dangerous, you leave at that instant. Do not risk yourself."
She almost smiled. "Jareth, I am your senior and your aunt. Do not tell me what to do or not do. My mother, the Witch Queen of Crete, taught me herself. There are not many alive who can threaten me."
"Yet, even your mother was succumbed in the end," he said quietly.
"We all do in one way or the other." She shrugged and pulled her veil back on her head, walking next to Jareth with the hems of her dress sweeping the floor. "I will leave immediately for there's no time to waste." She looked at him and he nodded slowly.
Phaedra had already reached the door when he spoke, "Phaedra, you are aware it is most likely a trap."
She almost smiled, her hand on the handle. "Of course it is, Jareth. I'm counting on it."
She pulled the door open and stepped into the darkness.