Disclaimer: I do not own Labyrinth or Merlin

It was difficult to open her eyes much less move her limbs. She was completely drained mentally and physically; and completely covered in darkness. It wrapped itself around her but she could sense it was damp and cold, instead of warm and comforting. The first thing she could actually feel was an icy wet clinging to her skin. She could breathe, but it was ragged and forced. And as she drew one sharp breath after another, a deep sharp intake of damp air filled her nostrils.

Her body was shaking from the bitter cold and her wet skin. She was freezing and she could barely keep herself breathing. Her body was too numb for her mind to panic; all she could feel throughout her whole being was cold, mind-numbing cold. She felt herself helplessly succumbing deeper into the dark wet smothering her.

Still shaking, she felt the ground beneath her body tremble just slightly, almost matching her violent reaction. And as if on instinct, she flattened her body stiffly. She was still shaking but she could feel something crawl slowly up her arms, legs, and sides. It was cold at first but gradually became a tolerable heat. Something from the earth was reaching out to her on all sides, it wasn't smothering her or swallowing her whole, but it felt as if a ray of golden warmth was actually wrapping itself around her body. It was tender, comforting, and thawed every bone in her frozen body. Her breathing became normal again and gradually her shivering turned into a slight tremble.

Her trembling finally subsided and she slowly eased into the soothing warmth her body was now exposed to. The smell of fresh and cool air overpowered her senses, and she could hear the soft ringing of small bells beside her. So close to her and yet it seemed to be so far away.

A warm touch on her face lifted her out of the harsh darkness. Sunlight began to seep through her eyelids, almost forcing her out of her weary daze. She broke through her exhaustion and was warm and aware enough now to finally open her eyes.

It took time for her eyes to adjust to the soft light; eventually she was able to make out her surroundings to an extent. She lay in a small clearing of soft grass and damp earth. Tall trees softly swaying with the morning air slightly managed to shade her from the sunlight. Small birds flew in between the lush branches, chittering away. But the sound of their songs seemed strange somehow. It was louder and clearer than it had ever been before; nevertheless, the sound was a beautiful melody to her numb ears.

She took a few deep breaths before she slowly, painfully tried to raise her head. A stabbing pain in her skull took hold of her, and proceeded to travel down her neck and through her spine. A sickening moan escaped her lips as she thrust her fist to her throbbing head.

She squeezed her eyes shut and managed to bring her elbows up into a resting position, supporting her upper body with what strength she had in her arms. She was still exhausted physically, but her mind was awake and something kept telling her to stay alert and not to lie back down. The pain passed slowly, and she groaned again as she held her head in her right hand before she looked down at herself.

Covering her body was a long, thick tunic of dark green with a coarse circling her waist. It nearly went below her knees but a pair of sturdy, brown boots were placed on her feet and rose to just below her kneecap. Curious, she reached down slowly and flipped up just the hem of the tunic to find a pair of thick trousers on her legs. Each piece of clothing was comfortably and surprisingly warm.

She was still too weak to fully stand on her feet and stayed sitting where she was for what seemed like hours. She looked out ahead of her and saw a beautiful U-shaped valley not too far from her. The morning mist was just beginning to disappear from the bottom.

Sitting up a little bit more, she was able to recognize everything around her; the trees, the grass, the valley below her, and the hazy sky above her. She could hear the birds singing and the wind whistling softly. The sun behind the early morning clouds didn't provide much warmth, whereas the clothes she was wearing did.

She blinked once, twice, three times. Where on earth was she? She had never been here before, how did she get here? She couldn't remember…

Then something terrifying dawned on her, something that scared her right to the core. "…no…"

She didn't even know who she was!

She was beginning to feel nauseous. Her head started to spin. "No!" she thought, her thoughts a mixture of fear and anxiety. "I can't remember!"

Her heart began to beat faster and she felt panic rising to her clenched throat. She was fighting the tears in her eyes and when they did fall on her cheeks, she slapped them away. She had nowhere to go, no one to go to, she didn't even know her own name.

"What am I going to do?" she thought pitifully.

She was scared, helplessly scared. So she allowed her tears to flow freely. She wept pitifully while she hugged her knees to her chest.

She kept repeating the words in her head. "I don't know, I don't know, I don't know…"

She was lost and completely panic stricken. She had nowhere to go… she couldn't remember anything that had happened to her up until that moment. A heavy feeling of loss weighed upon her, and it almost crushed her.

Then, the wind started to pick up, and it breathed a bit of life into the leaves of the forest. She felt the cool wind on her back and for a moment, it had comforted her. Her shoulders stopped heaving and her tears became less. She slowed her breathing and let the wind flow through her hair and on her neck. It was so soothing, to feel the cool breath of air on her face and in her long, dark hair. The wind caressed her and calmed her, just as the Earth had done moments before. She closed her eyes and listened carefully to each rustle of each leaf, in each blade of grass.

"…go…" it whispered. "…the lake…"

Her eyes flew open. Had she heard a voice speaking to her? She took in her surroundings once more, but there was nothing here but forest and sky.

Still a little shaky, she rose to her feet and took a moment or so to balance properly on her two delicate feet. She stared ahead and looked down at the valley below her. It was a beautiful wide valley, with a new hazy mist coming down from the edges of the hills.

The wind picked up again, and this time instead of a whisper among the trees, it felt as if it were pushing her from behind. Slight, sporadic thrusts of wind blew at her back.

"The mist," she thought. "There must be water nearby. Maybe there is a lake."

At this last thought the wind began pushing even harder.

She realized then that she really was alone in this foreign world. She knew she would have to depend on her herself, on her wits, to get by anywhere or talk through anyone to survive.

It was a terrifying thought, but as she made her way down into the valley, the wind continued to blow through the trees and into her hair, sending slight chills through her body. But it caressed her skin like silk, she had never felt a wind like that, and she took a strange comfort in it.

She walked down into the U-shaped valley, through the wet grass and thick shrubs. Treading carefully and picking every loose hanging branch away from her face. She was still very apprehensive about her surroundings and kept her footsteps and her breathing at a slow and quiet pace. Thankfully, her boots had managed to keep the mud and water from seeping to her feet.

Still carefully watching her steps, she gazed up at the sky above her. The sun was still hiding behind the clouds and it didn't look like it would be coming out anytime soon. Gray clouds were coming in from her right and looked alarmingly low. If she were going to find something here she had better find it fast before the rains came.

It looked as if the source of the mist she had been following came from beyond a large hill just ahead of her. There seemed to be very few trees up on the top of the hill, and if anything, would provide a better vantage point for her if she were to find any shelter. She did not want to be caught deep in the valley when it started to rain. With that, she quickened her steps and began her ascent up.

He sat in the dark, brooding. Sitting on his window ledge during the dead of night seemed to be a frequent pastime as of late, although not a very pleasant one.

He had been deeply troubled and anxious the entire day. This morning was something he would have liked to forget about entirely.

It came gradually at first, like a soft wind seeping through the windows of his castle. The sensation he felt was at first peaceful and warm; a calm he had not experienced in a very long time. Then the frost came; an icy foreboding that hit him like a tidal wave. His body trembled in fear and he almost lost his entire self-control. Chills spread over his skin and his mind became blurry and weak. Never in his entire existence had he ever experienced something this pleasant and in a flash, was almost too painful to bear.

Perhaps his cousin had been right. It may have been a sign, a warning that his time was coming to an end, just like all other creatures like him. But there was that nagging throb in the back of his head. It wasn't exactly a feeling, it was a presence. It was her. The only problem was he hadn't the slightest idea who she was.

After the cold apprehension had passed, he felt a distinctly feminine presence, her essence, envelop around him. Although it was not unpleasant, it was not exactly welcome. Never had a presence such as this swept through his body, his surroundings, so easily, and so powerfully. It throbbed in his head and beat at his heart. This woman was strong, he could feel it.

It scared him and thrilled him all at the same time. But his crystals would show him nothing. It was as if she were being hidden from him deliberately.

As much as he hated to, he would call on his cousin tonight. Perhaps she may have an answer.

The Goblin King did not like it in the least. He had to find her, had to find this existence that seemed so powerful to him, and yet so precious.

She lay in a dark gloom, the chill of the night air starting to seep through the lining of her clothes, which had also become soaked by the rain. She had failed in searching for a lake. A lake? What madness had overtaken her this morning thinking she had heard a voice on the wind? It was probably nothing more than the result of fatigue, the cold, hunger... All of those things she was feeling quite distinctly at the moment.

The storm had come quicker than she had expected. Loose dirt on the hillside had turned into slick mud almost instantly. She had tried crawling on hands and knees up the rise, but to no avail. She had lost her footing and as a result, tumbled back down the hill and into a deep puddle of mud and rainwater. Through her sobs of frustration, she managed to crawl out of the pond of mud. She almost slipped back down each time she tried to climb back up the embankment, but managed to tread along the edge of the rising water.

She felt mud slither into her boots, up into her arms, and into her hair. She stared down at herself and groaned. She was covered from head to foot in mud and dirty water. Her boots were covered in about an inch of muck. Her tunic and blouse underneath were sticking to her like a second skin. Fortunately, the rain was keeping the mud in her hair from drying into chunks. If that was a fortunate side.

Finally, after about a mile of walking along the muddy valley floor, she found a large, overhanging tree along an easy slope. It provided a modest amount of shelter from the rain, and at the moment, the girl was grateful for any kind of protection.

She wrapped her arms around herself protectively, and pressed herself up against the trunk of the tree, shivering from the cold of the storm.

This is how she stayed for the past few hours; days it seemed to her. Endless hours in the dark of night, and with nothing but the wind and rain to keep her company. The sky began to gray, which meant that dawn would be here soon, but hunger and fatigue began to settle into her body; along with fear. She stayed hunched over in a pit where the tree's root had been exposed the whole of the night. The rain continued to soak her arms and legs, and streak stray mud over her hair and face. Through it all, she wept. She wept until she could no longer tell if it were the rain or her tears that streamed down her face.

She wept until she heard thunder rolling in the bleak, morning sky. But the distant thunder came with voices, men's voices. Her head shot up and she ran her hands quickly over her face to remove the excess of mud and tears. At first, she saw nothing but the hills choked with hard rain, then she caught sight of a dark cloud rising over the far hill just ahead of her. The cloud ran along the top of the ridge and steadily broke apart to reveal a mass of horses with their riders. There were only about ten horses riding together, but she kept close to the tree, hoping that maybe their riders would not see her.

She watched fearfully as three of the riders stopped in their tracks and broke away from the group. They turned their horses in her direction and shouted back to their comrades in indistinct voices. One rider had pointed directly at her.

They had seen her! They had seen the girl crouched beneath the tree hiding from the riders. One of the men from the bigger group shouted something to the other three, and two of the three men began to walk their horses toward her. The men continued to shout at each other in strangely blurred voices. She couldn't understand what they were saying to each other, it was like water had plugged her ears and everything that was said, she heard as a muffle.

She was too frightened to move. She held her breath as the men on horses came closer. They wore dark and hefty clothing, rounded helmets were placed on their heads, and worst of all… they were all heavily armed. She felt her heart beat like a sledgehammer against her ribs. Men. Strange men on tall horses with their weapons close by, coming closer… Her body began to feel feverishly hot, despite the cold rain.

She did the only thing she could think of. She ran.

She ran back down to the valley as fast as her tired legs would carry her. She heard the men's voices behind her; still very unclear. She ran until she felt her lungs would burst, and her limbs began to ache, but the voices were coming closer. She heard the tremor of the horses' hooves as if they were beneath her. All the while, her heart beat in a furious frenzy, more from fright than from the chase. She stumbled forward, her foot catching against something. The stumble turned into that of a fall, hands reaching forward to catch herself before she crashed to the ground.

She never felt the impending impact of her fall. Everything went black.

The King of the Goblins waited in the shadows, an eerie glow surrounded his cloaked form as he leaned casually against one of the stone pillars. He summoned his cousin here to this ring of stones. He did not allow her to come into his kingdom, that was his territory, and she reluctantly obeyed. He would like to think that they were equals, a King of Goblins and a Queen of Fairies. But she was also the Mistress of Magic, the High Queen, whether he liked it or not, she had had more power than he ever did. This also meant she had the power to make him wait. He waited for a whole day, and he finally received her message that she would meet him here tonight.

The air began to shift slightly. There was a brief but intense throb in the air itself before a pulsing light blinded his vision. The pillar of rock directly across from where he stood began to crumple and fold into itself before it stretched to its full height again. As it expanded, a dark figure emerged from the stone itself. The dark figure was a woman dressed in black and midnight blue, much like he was, complete with a dark cloak flowing down her back. Her hair was a dark black done halfway pulled upon her head, while his was golden blonde falling in long, loose spikes around his shoulders and halfway down his back; a sharp contrast to his dark attire.

She smiled when she saw him, and spoke in her otherworldly voice. "Jareth."

He regarded her coolly in turn. "Mab."

"Have you reconsidered?" she asked, with a slight twitch of her head.

"No."

Her smile immediately dropped.

"However, if you will be willing to help me with a slight problem, then there is a possibility I may join your cause."

"A possibility?" Mab asked, rather annoyed. She hated her cousin's shrewd arrogance.

"Yes." He walked out of the shadows toward her. "I've come across something rather interesting, although I am not quite sure what it is." He stopped in the center of the ring of stones. "If you would help me, or perhaps could even tell me what this is yourself; then I will reconsider. We do make powerful allies, as you yourself have told me many times before."

Mab smiled again, but with deep resentment. The Goblin King had always been cruel. He never helped anyone, or had even asked for it unless it was in his best interest. For the past forty years she had asked, even begged for Jareth, the Goblin King's help in the war against the new religion. Her world was dying, her followers were abandoning her. Soon, everything she ruled over, all of the power she once had would be gone forever. In the end, she would die. She tried for years, even up until just recently for his help. She had tried to make him see that he would be forgotten, just like her. His kingdom, his goblins, even the sacred Labyrinth the Fae fought hard to protect would disappear.

She regarded the lack of expression on Jareth's face with a mixture of triumph and suspicion. She and Jareth were never really close, even though they had been kin for as long as she could remember, it had just always been that way. And Jareth was a lesser Fae as far as she was concerned, although he would have begged to differ knowing his arrogance.

Nevertheless, Mab's defenses were now put on guard because of Jareth's sudden interest in her cause. In the end, she knew she would be forced to help him, but it would be on her terms without him even knowing.

Queen Mab moved away from the rock pillar closer to her cousin. "Well then," she said smiling again, "what is it you want to know?"

Jareth flinched before answering. "I felt something today, something unnatural. A presence that will not show itself to me."

Mab raised an eyebrow. "What do you mean?"

"Someone has been hidden from me. I can feel her presence, but my crystals show me nothing." Jareth's eyes darkened with each passing word, with each breath. "I wonder if you are still capable of finding a protected soul."

"How interesting that your crystals are no longer working for you," she replied without missing a beat. "And a protected soul?" she thought. "There hasn't been one of those in centuries. And it is a woman, or perhaps a girl? I suppose it doesn't matter to him…"

"Find her." Jareth made a fluid gesture with his wrist. At the tip of fingers rested a perfect, crystal ball. "And be quick." He tossed the ball at her unceremoniously.

If she could, Mab would have struck him down effortlessly for speaking to her like that. Like a peasant! And then throwing one of his crystals to her… But her power was waning and Jareth knew; he also knew she would help him regardless. Mab caught the crystal upper-hand. As soon as she did she threw it at the stone pillar behind her. It smashed into tiny pieces.

"Truly, we need to spend more time together." She had seen the black look on his face. However, she certainly could not look into one of his crystals, it was not her magic. She had to break apart his magic against one of her pillars of rock to form a new crystal; one that was raw and primal, one that held part of her own magic. She could not look into something beneath her, and the Goblin King certainly was.

She held out her hand over the scattered shards of crystal and rock. The pieces trembled for a moment, and then began to bounce slightly as one. They jumped several times off the ground before they flew together into Mab's outstretched hand. "That should not taken this long," she thought scornfully as she tightened her hand to a fist.

She extended her slim fingers and in the palm of her hand was a glittering cluster of pure crystal and gray rock. "Much better."

She did not need a crystal in order to see. The rock of the Earth Herself would open her mind's eye and allow her to see anything she wanted. Anything…

"Aaah," she breathed as she took in the image before her. It had indeed taken longer for her magic to form and expand, but she could still manage; more so than others. "He would love to see this, wouldn't he?" She blew softly on the rock in her hand and let the ensuing dust seep through her fingers.

She turned back to Jareth, who was looking truly dangerous, but Mab refused to be intimidated. She was Queen of the Sidhe, the Old Ways! She gazed back at the pathetic King of the Goblins, her eyes holding triumph.

"Your answer lies in Camelot."

Thank you to Anij and Kut Anime Kitty - ever the faithful reviewers. Again, I'm sorry for Solace.

Shalom y Amor