Chapter 14: Fear

A sharp kick in the side was Sarah's wake up call. She jumped and grunted in pain, looking around to see who had done it. Not surprisingly, Todd stood before her, arms akimbo, frowning down at her. "Let's move," he growled as he started to walk away.

Sarah scrambled to her feet before he got too much farther. She'd learned the hard way that the collar worked very well whether it was she who got too far away from him, or he who walked faster. She caught up just as he turned the corner around the hedge.

The previous day they'd walked for hours and hours, but despite Sarah's best efforts, she couldn't find the markers from her previous trip. Instead they'd dealt with an entirely new kind of labyrinth, a darker one. Besides the death of the foliage all around them, it was evident that the labyrinth had changed in other ways. It had been about three hours into their journey when they came upon an open area in the maze with several choices for exits. Todd had looked to her as if she should have known which way to go, but she'd had no idea. This hadn't happened to her last time, so she picked a path at random. Unfortunately, it appeared that some paths led you right back where you started as was made clear when they trudged back to the same open area an hour later.

She'd been truly afraid of Todd harming her then, but the lividness in his eyes was kept in check and he allowed her to try again. The second path meandered along then doubled back the same way the first one had. She'd practically ran from him towards the third path, the collar kept her in check, but she made sure she kept far enough away from him that he could not reach out and throttle her like she was sure he wanted to. The third path had gone on and on until they'd reached a dead end. Sarah had turned to find Todd approaching her with murder in his eyes. "What do you want me to do? This isn't my fault! The Labyrinth was NOTHING like this last time I was here!" she'd yelled at him.

"I expect the Lady of the Labyrinth to know SOMETHING about how to navigate it!" he'd yelled back.

"Well you're wrong! I was lucky last time, nothing more! That and I had help!"

"Well where is this help then, huh?"

That had hit her kind of hard. He had a point; they hadn't seen a living being their entire time in the Labyrinth. She was starting to worry about what had happened to everyone. There had been a hope inside of her that she would find her old companions and they could help her out of her predicament, but it appeared it was only a false hope. She'd turned away from him then back to the stone wall and her eyes nearly popped out of her skull. Where before there had only been a dead end, was now a door in the wall. She pointed at it mutely. Todd had stepped around her towards the door; he'd examined it a moment, before pulling it open. On the other side of the door was the entrance to the hedge maze, which was where they were now.

They'd spent the night huddled in an alcove of the hedges, a small fire fueled by some of the nearby debris kept them somewhat warm. Todd had wanted to keep going through the night, but Sarah had convinced him that traveling the Labyrinth in the dark was probably the stupidest thing they could possibly do. Todd had finally agreed to wait out the night.

Now, it was early morning and they were weaving their way through the brown and dying hedges. Sarah, as much as she didn't really want to talk to Todd, felt that she should get some idea of why he needed to navigate the labyrinth. "So," she started, looking back at him. "Why do you need to get through the labyrinth?" she asked taking the most direct approach.

Todd studied her for a moment before answering. "My Master wants me to retrieve the treasure that is guarded at the center."

Sarah scoffed, causing him to raise an eyebrow. "I've been to the center. There isn't any kind of treasure; just a rickety goblin city and twisted castle."

"Just goes to show what a mortal knows," he muttered. "The treasure is an intangible made tangible and hidden where no mortal could hope to find it."

"What?"

Todd growled, he didn't really want to discuss this with her, but there wasn't much else to do besides continue walking. Sarah noticed his reluctance, but did not retract her question. How could something intangible be made tangible? "It is theorized by many, that the Underground and the Aboveground are connected by one thing only: belief. The human's belief in the supernatural is what keeps the two worlds tethered together." Sarah's eyes widened as she struggled to grasp what he was telling her. "However," he continued, "as you know that belief is dying and the connection between the two worlds grows weaker."

"But, isn't that a good thing from your perspective?" Sarah interrupted. "I mean call me crazy, but I'm pretty sure your king hates humans."

Todd smirked, "Yes. It is true that King Zuul despises humans, but he does believe they have their place."

"Their place?"

Todd turned to face her, a lascivious grin on his face, "On their knees, serving us. You are a lesser being than us. Your natural magic is insubstantial, and your hold on how to connect with and control what little natural magic you have is practically non-existent."

Sarah stopped walking, her hands were on her hips and she was glaring at him. Todd stopped as well to stare back at her, his arms crossed over his chest in an intimidating pose. "And that makes us lesser than the fae? How so? Magic is only one aspect of life. Just because you can control it doesn't mean you are superior."

"Ah, but there is also the fact that the fae are immortal. We cannot die a natural death."

"That doesn't stop me from driving an iron dagger through your heart," she muttered.

Todd's lewd grin turned into an irritated frown. "I'd like to see you try, mortal. You couldn't get close to me unless I allowed you to."

"Then I'd wait till you slept," she retorted.

"Do you want me to tie you up?"

Sarah scowled; she didn't want him getting close to her at all. "Well I don't have a weapon of any kind anyway, so there wouldn't be much point, would there?"

His lewd grin returned, "Oh but Sarah… there's more than one reason to tie a person up."

She gulped and tried not to let her fear show, but she could tell by Todd's reaction that she was failing. He chuckled then turned and continued to walk along the path. Todd had made it clear that he wanted her in front of him, so she'd had to get past him when she caught up. She couldn't stop the shiver that ran through her when his hand brushed along her arm as she passed.

They continued walking in silence for a time. They still hadn't met any other living beings along the way, for that matter they hadn't met any dead ones either unless one counted the foliage. The lack of other beings besides themselves really was starting to concern Sarah. It was almost as if everyone had upped and left, simply migrated out of the labyrinth. It had occurred to her that perhaps it was because of the degradation of the labyrinth that everyone had left. She wondered if what Todd said was true, if the decay around her was because of Jareth, and if so why had he let this happen?

Her train of thought derailed suddenly though as the ground beneath her opened up and she fell. She heard Todd scrabble for purchase behind her as he fell too. The dark tunnel steepened and suddenly she was airborne only to land a second later on her backside. She rolled to the side as Todd came hurtling in after her. She groaned as she got up, sure that there would be bruising later. The darkness was so complete Sarah could barely see her hand in front of her face. She heard Todd groan as well, "Where the hell are we?" he demanded.

"An oubliette," Sarah answered automatically.

"What?"

"A place you put people to forget about them," she responded remembering what Hoggle had told her from her first journey.

o O o O o O o

Jackie stumbled over a branch as she and Jareth made their way through his labyrinth. They had been walking for hours upon hours, only stopping for brief breaks. When Jareth had told her to dress for a three-day hike, he hadn't been kidding. When they'd appeared on the hillside and she'd initially looked over the labyrinth, it hadn't really seemed that far. What she'd failed to include in her calculations was the miles upon miles of weaving maze, and while Jareth did an amicable job of finding shortcuts, their journey was still proving to be much longer than she would have thought.

Of course, they might have gone faster if Jareth hadn't spent so much time lamenting over his treatment of his maze. It appeared that everything was dead or dying and they had yet to meet any beings. Jareth had spent the first few hours of their journey describing to Jackie the splendor of the labyrinth at its full glory. She had to admit, what he described sounded brilliant, but what she saw was only death.

It was towards the end of the day when they were walking through part of the stone wall maze. Jareth was convinced they were getting close, but Jackie hadn't seen any sort of trail. "Jareth?" she addressed the fae. He turned back to her, waiting for her to catch up so they could talk. "Do you know why Todd took Sarah?"

"I'm afraid it has to do with she being the only one to have successfully navigated the labyrinth."

"Okay, that makes sense, but that indicates he needs to get to the center for something. Do you know what?"

Jareth sighed and ran a hand back through his unruly hair that he'd tied back into a ponytail. "Yes," he replied simply.

Jackie waited for a minute than asked, "Care to share?"

"It is an object representing the human's belief in the supernatural."

"Okay," she said slowly.

"The object was placed under the protection of the labyrinth by the High Council, which was why I was in so much trouble when Sarah made it through to the center. If a mere mortal girl could do it, who's to say an UnSeelie fae couldn't?"

"So they sent you to our world as punishment?"

"Yes, being cut off from my magic has been irksome to say the least, but other than that I can't say that this sojourn has really been a punishment as the usual definition implies."

Jackie smiled at that, thinking of her best friend and the fae before her. "No I don't suppose it is. So what'll happen if Todd gets his hands on this object?"

"I've been thinking about that and I've settled on two possibilities. Either the UnSeelie intend to use it to break ties entirely with the mortal world or they intend to bring the mortals to heel."

"Meaning?"

"Ever heard of slavery?"

"No! They wouldn't! That's barbaric!"

"I quite agree, but many of the UnSeelie view the human race as beneath the fae and believe they should take their place as our servants."

Jackie's face paled. "But that's only the UnSeelie, right?"

"For the most part… there are some Seelie who view mortals as lesser creatures as well, but they wouldn't dare to suggest something so unsavory as slavery."

"I'm not sure if that's a relief or not." Silence passed between the two as they walked a ways more. "So, what would happen if the UnSeelie broke ties with the mortal world? That wouldn't be as bad would it?"

"Compared to the enslavement of the human race? No, but it's bad enough in its own respect. For one thing, the two worlds would be completely cut off from each other, meaning I could not attend the wished away nor could there be any contact whatsoever between the two worlds."

"Meaning you and Sarah would never see or hear from each other again..."

Jareth nodded then continued, "That and there are some who theorize that the human belief in the supernatural helps support the magic here in the Underground, so if we were cut off then there is a possibility that magic would die here as well."

"Wow… so wouldn't the UnSeelie being screwing themselves over if they cut ties with the mortal world?"

Jareth raised an eyebrow at the slang, but nodded. "It's only a theory though. Besides, I'm guessing they will go with the first option of enslavement."

"How pleasant…"Jackie deadpanned.

Jareth chuckled, "Quite."

They walked for a while longer before Jareth suggested they stop for the night. "But won't we lose more ground on them? I thought we wanted to catch up before they reached the Goblin City?" Jackie protested despite her aching legs.

"Aye, we do, but it is beyond idiocy to attempt to navigate the labyrinth at night. If Todd knows this he will stop as well, and if he doesn't, I'm sure Sarah will convince him to. She knows the hazards of this place well," he smirked at some memory Jackie didn't share.

"Alright then," she settled down, leaning back against the wall of the hedge maze they'd entered not very long ago.

Jareth settled down as well, shedding his pack and gathering kindling for a small fire. They'd just finished with a small dinner when a noise startled them both. Jackie glanced at Jareth who held a finger to his mouth, indicating for her to remain silent. He rose and moved around the fire toward the place where the sound had come from. Jackie sat silently, her ears on overdrive straining to hear any other sound, but Jareth was so quiet, she couldn't even hear his footsteps. A sudden scuffling sound made her jump again, and she debated going to help Jareth until she heard the sounds of greeting. It seemed Jareth knew whatever was hidden in the dark. Jackie strained her eyes to try to see whatever was approaching with Jareth. It sounded like it had hooves. Just then Jareth emerged from the darkness, a creature at his side. Jackie's eyes widened as she realized the creature was a faun, a man with the bottom of a goat. "Jackie, I'd like for you to meet Puck. Puck, this is Jackie, a mortal from the Above," Jareth made the introductions.

Jackie rose on unsteady legs to greet the faun, who held out a hand for her to shake, which she did hesitantly. "Pleased to meet you," Puck said. "As much as I would love to be staying and get better acquainted," he smirked at her before turning to Jareth, "I be here with a message from your Uncle Oberon."

Jareth crossed his arms. "Oh?"

"Aye, he wishes to inform you that despite the lack of activity in your labyrinth, your subjects be well and whole. Because of the degradation of the labyrinth, many have sought refuge elsewhere and King Oberon has granted asylum to any who seek it. He simply wishes you to know this so you don't worry. He also be saying that if you don't fix things up soon, he'll be quite displeased."

Jareth nodded, that certainly sounded like his uncle, "And how did he know I was back?"

It was Puck's turn to cross his arms, "Are you serious, Jareth? You called upon his Queen to bring you back to the Underground. Of course he be knowing you're back."

Jareth pinched the bridge of his nose. "And the High Council?"

"Nay, they do not know, nor will they be finding out from my master or his wife. They be fond of you, Jareth, as am I. You have naught to fear from us."

"Thank you, Puck," he said clapping the faun on the shoulder.

"Aye, besides, I haven't pulled no trickses lately, and pulling one over on the High Council be just too good to pass up!"

Jareth chuckled, "Remind me if the High Council grants me my kingdom back to thank you."

Puck smirked a devilish grin. "I must be going now. Places to be, people to prank."

"Thank you again, Puck," Jareth called out as the faun disappeared into the darkness.

Jareth watched the faun go then returned to his spot beside the fire. Jackie watched him, her face scrunched up as though trying to figure something out. "There was more to that than what I saw wasn't there?" she finally commented.

He glanced up at her, "What do you mean?"

"I mean, he wasn't just here to tell you your subjects were safe, was he?"

Jareth smirked, "No," he paused for a moment. "Puck and I have a long history. Many pranks, jokes, and tricks were involved when we visited my aunt and uncle. As a result we've developed a different kind of relationship, one that only those who regularly run from trouble have."

"Got in a lot of trouble as a kid, huh?"

"What? No, I said we ran from trouble, I never said we got caught. Often times, there was no evidence against us." He smirked again. "No, Puck had a dual purpose in showing himself tonight. It wasn't just to reassure me about my subjects, but to also let me know he's willing to help if we have need of him. My aunt and uncle cannot do anything without gaining the attention of the High Council, but Puck, being a faun, can get away with more things."

"Well that's good… I think."

Jareth chuckled, "Yes, we may need his help before this is over." He looked up from the fire to see Jackie yawning. "Perhaps it's best if we sleep now. We'll need to be up as early as possible tomorrow."

Jackie nodded and curled up on her side, her pack acting as her pillow and a small blanket she'd packed overtop of her.

o O o O o O o

A sudden light illuminated a small area around Todd. Sarah shied away from the light; as her eyes adjusted though, she could see that he held a crystal that was emitting a soft white glow. "Damnit!" he cursed. "They know we're here."

"Not necessarily," Sarah mumbled, rising to her feet.

Todd turned on her, "What do you mean?"

She shrugged, "Just that the labyrinth has tricks of its own to prevent people from reaching the center. This wasn't necessarily caused by an outside influence."

He stared at her for a while, letting what she'd said work through him. "How do we get out?"

"I don't know. The last time I was in an oubliette I had help getting out."

"How did you get out?"

"There was a door that depending on how you unlocked it would lead to different places."

Todd turned about to examine the small space around him, searching the walls for a door of some kind. Sarah searched with him, only to see smooth rock wall. She wasn't sure what was worse, being stuck in an oubliette with Todd or him forcing her through the labyrinth? She sighed and sat back down against a wall. Her limited experience in oubliettes wouldn't be much help. Maybe if they stayed here long enough, someone would find them and help her.

She glanced back up to see Todd still examining the walls. Her eyes narrowed as she thought of what he'd done to Jareth. She hoped he was okay; there had been blood trickling from his head, however she guessed that was probably from a piece of plaster… she hoped it wasn't anything serious. She hoped he would come for her, but she couldn't see how he could. He was stuck in the Aboveworld with no magic and only Jackie for help.

She slumped further back against the wall; her situation seemed hopeless. If she helped Todd succeed, then the human race would become slaves, and she really didn't want to think what Todd would do with her personally. However if she failed, she still had to contend with Todd and hope to God she could fend him off despite his advantage with magic. God-willing, she could give him a good kick where the sun didn't shine and it would discourage him, because with the collar she couldn't run. She let out a sigh and let her head flop back against the wall. It landed harder than she planned and she found herself falling backwards as the wall behind her fell out. A small squeak escaped her as she flopped back against the floor.

Todd rushed into her line of sight, a surprised look on his face. "Not that I'm complaining, but what did you do?" he asked looking at the newly opened tunnel.

"Nothing, just pounded my head against the wall," she replied standing and rubbing a hand over the back of her skull.

They both looked at the piece of wall that was now lying on the floor. It had some kind of ruin on it that Sarah assumed was goblin or fae, although a glance at Todd showed he didn't recognize it either. Assuming the goblins could write and read, this was probably a word or phrase from their language. Little did either of them know that it was indeed in the goblin language and read, 'Pound Head Here', and if the king knew how his goblins were defacing his oubliettes there would be many more of the rambunctious creatures getting bogged.

"Lead," Todd's sharp command came from behind her.

She scoffed, but led the way into the tunnel, Todd's crystal illuminating the space before them.

Sarah speculated that he sent her before him in case there was something down there, but she doubted it, judging by the lack of other beings prior to this point. A cool breeze floated down the tunnel, chilling her and she was glad she'd worn a sweatshirt. She was just starting to wonder if this was the same tunnel with the false alarms when a low growl was heard ahead of them in the darkness. Sarah stopped dead in her tracks. Todd nearly bumped into her. "What?" he snapped.

"There's something up there. I heard it growl."

He scoffed, "I didn't hear anything and we haven't seen a single creature since entering this labyrinth. Get moving!" he shoved her forward.

She stumbled a bit before catching her balance. Sparing a glare back at Todd, she continued forward at a more hesitant pace. Perhaps the growl had been a figment of her imagination. Still, she walked slowly through the dark tunnel until another low growl was heard. She stopped again, "There! That!" she whispered.

Todd made a growl of his own, neither confirming nor denying that he'd heard the sound. Instead he made another glowing crystal and gently tossed it down the tunnel, illuminating the area ahead of them. It stopped after a minute, standing perfectly still in the middle of the tunnel floor. Both fae and human gazed in silence as a pair of eyes gleamed from the darkness on the opposite edge of the field of light. They glowed a greenish color the same way a cat's eyes glowed when a light hit the retina just right. However these eyes were much larger than any house cat's. Sarah stifled a gasp and backed up a step and Todd's face paled as the creature stepped into the light. It was huge, taking up a good half of the tunnel, and looked like a cross between a wolf, lion, and some kind of demon with pointed horns sticking up from his mane and a long forked tail flicking back and forth.

Having no weapon, Sarah backed up even further, hoping the creature wouldn't attack if left unprovoked. Unfortunately, Todd didn't share this idea because he pulled a crystal from thin air and threw it at the beast, another crystal in his hand before the first had struck. A blinding light filled the tunnel as the first crystal struck the beast and it let out a deafening roar. Sarah lowered her hand from her eyes that she'd put up against the light to see the beast charging forward, seemingly unharmed. Todd threw the other crystal, another flash of light filled the tunnel and the beast was thrown against the wall, sliding forward a bit with the momentum of its charge.

Sarah held her breath as it skidded to a stop right in front of her. It didn't move immediately and she took the opportunity to look it over, searching for some kind of weakness or perhaps to see if Todd had knocked it out. Grey fur covered the expanse of its sleek body and a darker gray mane surrounded its neck, making it look fiercer. Sarah looked down at the massive paw near her shoe to make a startling discovery. The paw was going through her shoe, as though the beast were a ghost or an illusion. "Get away from it, you stupid mortal!" Todd yelled.

Sarah didn't listen, and instead knelt before the beast, hesitantly reaching out toward it. Her hand moved toward the beast's arm, but instead of feeling the course fur, it went through the arm. This wasn't real. Her eyes widened with the realization. Suddenly the beast rose and growled at her, its fangs snapping at her face, but Sarah knew the truth now, that it was illusion and could not harm her. "MOVE, HUMAN!" Todd yelled, pushing her away and throwing another crystal at the beast who was thrown to the floor again.

"Stop! It's not real!" Sarah yelled from her position on the floor behind Todd.

Todd turned to glare at her before looking back at the beast who'd regained his footing and was facing them, no longer growling, but looking at Sarah with respect. It was almost as though she shared a telepathic link with it, the realization came to her that suddenly. Fear was the absence of knowledge. There was nothing to be afraid of from the beast because she now knew more about it; knew it could not hurt her. Both human and fae watched in awe as the beast gave Sarah what looked like a small bow then disappeared in a poof of glitter. The tunnel was dark and silent except for their heavy breathing.

The silence was broken when a bit of wall opened across the tunnel from them, revealing an alcove with a ladder leading up. Sarah slowly got to her feet and walked over to the ladder, testing its strength with her foot on the bottom rung. She could feel Todd's presence behind her and she started to climb the ladder before he could yell at her to move. She was strongly reminded of her first time through the labyrinth when she'd been following Hoggle. The ladder led to a closed door, Sarah heaved against it with her shoulder, pushing it up and over on its hinges. Day light greeted them as they climbed out of the tunnel. Sarah brushed herself off as she waited for Todd to join her.

Looking around, she saw they were much closer to the castle that she would have suspected. In fact, they were just outside the gates to the Goblin City. She drew in a deep breath, trying to calm her nerves. Even if they did make it into the castle, Todd still needed to find the object that represented the human belief in magic. She had no idea what that was, but she hoped it was difficult to find.

o O o O o O o

A/N: Thank you all for reading once again! Just a small notice for those who noticed it, I changed the rating back to T because in all reality, the scene in chapter 11 was not that graphic and I don't intend to make any other similar scenes all that graphic either. Though be warned, there will be violence in upcoming chapters.

Labyrinth (c) Jim Henson & Co.