Sorry I've been MIA! Super busy lately. Please enjoy! Little of a short informative chapter.

It's the small things in life you have to appreciate. Waiting for those huge opportunities only grind down your patience. One could find themselves waiting forever for something exciting to happen. It is the everyday little things that happen frequently enough to go unappreciated, but less enough to enjoy them when they appear. At least that was what Sarah was telling herself. Fast approaching her first month in the underground Sarah had fallen into a well packed routine.

The schedule Jareth had given her was extensive indeed. Wake up, attend a session or two, lunch, a session or three, dinner, bed. Sarah felt like she was in college all over again, but at least she had an idea what to expect in college. Chemistry in high school was practically the same as intro chemistry in college. Yes, the expectations were different and she paid for the class, but the fundamentals were the same at least. But this! This was like nothing she had ever learned. Never had she imagined the history of the underground to be so long lived and extensive. Then there was her class on Fey politics and etiquette and not to mention the fey types!

She had thought that her time in the underground would have been well packed with excitement and adventures. Finder herself inside studying most of the day left her with little time for exploring. Sarah was at least grateful she was a quick study or she was afraid she wouldn't even get sleep.

She kept these thoughts to herself not wanting to give the wrong impression. The classes she did enjoy, but she just thought there would be…more.

On the flip side she was learning heaps of new information and most of her teachers and instructors were heaps of helpful.

The current one was a short large nosed dwarf by the name of Reatc. Although Sarah was well over 3 feet taller than he was, he took great pride of looking down on her. Figuratively, of course. He wasn't unkind to Sarah, he was helpful in fact. Sarah's irritation laid in the fact that he was very proud that he knew so much more than she about practically anything Underground related. When Sarah asked a question or requested clarification, he would puff out his chest, hold his nose high, and then proceed into a long drawn out explanation or whatever the topic happened to be.

One particular interesting topic he spoke of was that of the Natural Council. The group of people she stood before on her first day and the very same group that had given her the opportunity in the Underground for a year.

Apparently magic isn't as simple as one would think, at least from what Aboveground folks would presume. As her instructor explained one day.

"Magic can be anything or do anything so it must have limitation placed to prevent calamity. The Natural Council keeps the order in the Underground. They keep the balance of magic by watching the proceedings of those of power and magic. They intervene when necessity arises or a Kingdom is in need of counseling or guidance. Other than that they intervene very little with the mundane movements of every day." He had told Sarah.

"Isn't the point of magic to be able to do what you want or desire?" She had asked.

"For a human perspective magic is almost anything not understood. You lack the understanding between magical nature and magical ability. You believe you are in a magical land of magical beings? We see it as another day or another creature. When a human is born with an extra ordinary ability do you call it magic?"

"I guess it would depend on the ability." He eyed Sarah as to warn her smart remark, but she wasn't attempting to be funny. If a person was born with the ability to light fire with their minds, then yes that's pretty damn special.

"Let's say that a human was born with the ability to hold their breath for let's say hours without assistance. Is this special?"

"Very."

"Good. Now for us a mermaid can do just that. Is this still magic or nature?" He asked her.

"Nature? I presume."

"Correct! Now if a mermaid was able to wield essence of fire? Is this magic or nature?" he asked again.

"Was she born with the ability or learned?" She asked him.

"Exactly!" He nodded approvingly at her, "You are starting to understand Sarah! You see somethings are quite normal for use that you might see as special, then there are things that are extra ordinary for us. These are the capabilities the Natural Council watches. A creature cannot be born with an unnatural gift that could swing the pendulum of chaos. One can learn, with the help of magic, to do something unnatural."

"I'm still a little confused because I see Jareth do all kinds of weird stuff."

"He is fey and as such he is already born with abilities that his majesty could advance. King Jareth is also a king and with his title he is blessed with more abilities. Then there is the labyrinth which also deals a good bit of magic in his lordships favor." He explained.

When Sarah inquired further about unnatural magic he explained, "Magic can swing from order to chaos in a blink of an eye. If a magical being went around doing as they please the world would warp and become unnatural. There are certain laws that must never be broken by magic or otherwise."

"Like what?" Sarah had asked.

"The simplest and most complicated is that of Life and Death. Above or Below it is the same. There is a natural flow, one lives and one dies. You can't return for the dead and you can't live forever."

"But as I understand some fey live forever." Said Sarah.

"A misconception." He responded, "Some fey live for a very, very long time, but they will pass one day."

Sarah thought back to Jareth. How old is he then? He looked to be late thirties maybe early forties. Would it be rude to ask? I'll have to ask that in etiquette. A sudden memory struck her, back to the time she was in the preach dream. At the time she wasn't sure, but now looking back on the moment she got the sudden impression that Jareth was trying to seduce her. How can that be? I was only a child. What if there isn't any age taboo in the underground and Jareth was trying to seduce me?! The thought enraged her, but was quickly replace by flattery. A smile touched her lips. Perhaps he was attracted to me…maybe he still might be… Sarah shook the thought from her mind as a light blush colored her cheeks. Much has changed since then, at least she has. Jareth on the other hand looks the same.

So lost in her thought she hadn't realized her teacher was still talking, " -Above and the Below are two sides of the same coin. If too much magic was released into the Above the border between them would disappear and cause unnatural disasters. As a kind of fell safe for these things the Natural Council was formed. They are the guardians of this realm. They keep the natural flow of things and make sure there isn't too much overlap between the worlds."

Sarah let out a sigh of relief, glad he didn't catch her day dreaming "If they intervene very little, then why did Jareth have to go to them to have the Labyrinth?"

"The Labyrinth needs a guardian to control the magic. Magic must be controlled, you see. Besides, the Labyrinth is really its very own creature. A fluke of magic really." He stopped and pondered, not sure if that was really the best way to explain the Labyrinth. Sarah got the impression that he really wasn't sure were the Labyrinth fell on the spectrum. She also knew he would never admit to not knowing anything even if she pushed the subject.

"We follow the guide line established by the council and that is that. Now if we can continue-"

Sarah tried to keep up with the rest of the lesson, but she was still caught up on the whole Natural Council thing. Was it because she was human and this as so foreign to her? What she really wanted to do was to talk to Jareth, but she still felt so awkward around him. He barely showed his face! She rarely saw him between her lessons and to her understanding was he is constantly busy with castle and Labyrinth business. They rarely made conversation past casual 'how you 'or 'the weather are is nice' during the few meals they had together. Dinner they would just sit and eat and trade their superficial conversation. Sarah new it wasn't because he was royalty of anything like that, she just didn't know how to communicate with him. Of course, of all the people she had met below he seemed the most in touch with her world. Maybe he can break this down a little more than this old man. She set her resolve! Dinner she would attempt to engage Jareth in a true conversation!

"Sarah! Are you even listening?!" yelled the dwarf

"Sorry, please continue."

Also, I just completed my other story called I Wish. A lot darker than this one, but it is completed! Check it out if you would like and let me know what you think. Love ya lots! Thank you!