The room was about to fall apart. Sarah didn't know how she knew other than the warning sensation scratching at her skull, and the not-voices spinning around her telling her it was time to run.

Everything was still solid, if in motion. Nothing about it made sense but why she was even still worrying about that? She tapped the stone with her knuckles. It was as firm as concrete. She checked over her shoulder in case a new set of stairs had made an appearance. There was nothing to see, but plenty to hear. Laughter reverberated in the distance. A witch's cackle.

She really thought she was going to win this.

First, Sarah had to get Jareth out. It would be great if he could do it himself, but there was no telling what condition he was in after whatever The Demoness had put him through. If she asked, he'd probably lie and say he was fine. Sarah was thinking her way around that problem when the stairs three floors below them suddenly vanished. It wouldn't have been a problem, but the splotchy black paint dripping down from above them sure was.

"Shit," Sarah whispered. "We have to get out of here."

"I take it the way you came in isn't an option," Jareth said.

"I don't think any way is an option," Sarah replied.

A crack like a gun whipped them in the back. Jareth nearly knocked Sarah over sitting up. He clutched her tight instead like he was prepared to carry her. Where he found all this energy, Sarah didn't know. Maybe she really had broken a curse with that kiss.

There was no time to blush over her tingling (and bleeding) lips. Jareth walked her backward into the wall and plastered them against it. The shadows matched his gait and had already made it to their level. Sliding around them like water.

"If you have any ideas," Sarah said, "now would be a good time."

"Do you know how my mother used to train me when I was a child?"

Sarah gawked at him and his casual non-sequitur. "Should I?"

Jareth threw a crystal, underhanded like a softball pitcher so Sarah didn't even see it until it was in the air. It exploded, shards cascading down on the shadows and freezing them in place. Literally. A layer of ice formed over them as they wheezed in pain and anger.

"Are you kidding me?" Sarah muttered.

Cracks in the ice were already forming, and a new wave of shadows rose to avenge their mildly inconvenienced friends. Jareth found a hole in the wall and tossed Sarah into the void. She swam through the air and watched Jareth blow the shadow waves back. Magic pulsed from his body in a golden glow. The Escher Room was now in a total meltdown, and the last thing Sarah saw before the hole sucked itself closed was a rain of dirt and rocks burying the shrieking shadows.

"Are they dead?" she asked, shaking her head as the inner gears went into overdrive. "Were they even alive?"

"We won't be seeing them again," Jareth said. "Lucky for us, Mommy Dearest never realized she had no control over that room. Otherwise, she never would've put me there."

"If you tell me this is all according to plan, I am going to be so mad."

"Well, your daring rescue wasn't part of it," Jareth said, smiling at her like no man ever had before, "but I can't say I didn't mind."

It would've been nice to indulge in the romantic climax this conversation was building up to. Sarah was almost tempted to go for it, but the memory of the goblins' dogpiling shadows kept her libido at bay. If Jareth shared her disappointment, he did exactly as good of a job hiding it.

"Later," Sarah said.

"Oh, yes…"

Sarah jumped into his arms. Magic coursed through his body into her, invigorating them both with fresh energy. Whatever void they were in took on shape, first abstract but slowly becoming clear as the outside of the castle. A shadow grappling with a goblin flew over their heads into the dirt. The goblin, bruised with a blood-stained shirt, stomped the shadow into the dust with a warrior's cry before pouncing on another one.

"Got 'em King!" he shouted. His monarch's safe return was just another piece of the epic he was living.

"Well done," Jareth said.

He snapped his fingers and the goblin's dagger turned into a massive sword that he could somehow still wield like an expert. The metal glowed silver. The goblin didn't miss a beat and speared the shadow through the middle. It exploded on impact and the pieces disintegrated.

They didn't have long to linger, and any residual fears Sarah had about the goblin's ability to fight the shadows were thoroughly abated. The castle shivered as the remaining shadows leaked out the windows and through cracks in the stone. It followed them as they ran through the battered village. Most of the tiny houses were still standing, but a few had been rendered smoky husks.

All of them cheered, raising their weapons and a few disgruntled chickens in honor of their king. Even Hoggle cheered, though he immediately started coughing into his sleeve when he saw Sarah watching.

"We must go," Jareth whispered to her.

"Go where?" Sarah asked.

"Don't worry, it will follow us, but you will be safe. We all will. I promise."

Sarah believed him. She didn't even need to think about it.

Shadows surrounded them. Jareth pulled Sarah flush against his chest. He didn't speak and she didn't ask what he was doing. The ground vanished and the goblin's cries turned to echoes. Sarah held her breath. She didn't know if they were falling or for how long. The shadows spread over their heads like a blanket. It was getting smaller, though. Farther away.

Then she was jerked left and nearly fell over. Jareth kept her upright and let go once she was balanced. They were in a school building. Sarah wasn't sure where, aside from that it was definitely her school in her realm. And it was far darker than it should've been this time of day.

"Where are the lights?" Sarah looked outside. The sun was at its zenith with minimal cloud cover.

"She is here," Jareth said, narrowing his eyes at the ceiling. "Somewhere close."

"What about Prof- Loki? Is he all right?"

"I can't imagine he'll have much trouble with these pests," Jareth said, "although, if they've chased him too far we might not be able to reach him."

The lights surged, momentarily blinding Sarah who'd been looking right at them. A series of pops rained glass down on her head. The pops ran in a straight line, down to a pair of open double doors leading into an auditorium Sarah didn't recognize. There was a sign out front, but it was too far away to read.

After the last pop, she heard a scream.

"Shit," Sarah said, running down the hall.

The closer she got, the easier it was to read the sign. 'Astronomy Showcase. Open to All.' Jareth appeared next to her and followed her inside.

It was hard to tell at first what had happened. Either the windows were tented or the shadows had finally gone the extra mile to blot out the sun. Sarah felt her way around, bumping into several people who didn't stick around long enough for her to apologize.

"Calm down everyone, it's just a power outage," someone was saying, "I'm sure they'll get it fixed soon."

Nobody was listening. They were all talking at once. A couple of kids shrieked and laughed as they took turns scaring each other. Someone had a flashlight, but it was weak and didn't show more than a few dozen exhibits. Students and parents fumbled around each other, but nobody could figure out what was happening.

Something clamped down hard on Sarah's arm and she almost shouted until Jareth shushed her. "It's here."

As dark as it was, Sarah saw the shadow flit across the ceiling.

"What do we do?" she asked.

A cascade of sparks illuminated the room. Long enough to watch a piece of the rafters plummet to the ground right where a lone young girl was standing. Above it, a formless shadow grinned and did a little spin.

The rafter fell slower than it should've, or maybe Sarah's senses had been heightened. The girl had enough time to look up, eyes wide. Not enough time to get out of the way. Sarah's eyes slammed shut as the beam landed with a sickening groan, waiting for screams that didn't come.

A few people were crying and demanding to know what had happened, but there was no viscera on the floor when Sarah finally dared to look.

The little girl was on the ground. It looked like she'd fallen over. Aside from that, she was unharmed, staring in awe at the man holding the rafter over his head like a piece of styrofoam.

"Be more careful where you stand," Loki told the girl. He threw the beam aside as the girl stood back up. "Run along now. You're far better off under the sky than in here."

The girl nodded but didn't move as Loki walked away. Eventually the last of the light faded and they were back in pitch darkness. Jareth fixed the problem with a crystal, something nobody else seemed to notice even as they wandered inches away from the light.

"Well, I see you've made your grand return," Loki said, his voice mocking even as he grinned at his old friend.

"You speak as if you don't revel in attention, Liesmith," Jareth replied.

Their moment of rapport lasted another few seconds before a hissing sound made them freeze. Jareth whirled around, readying a crystal as Loki summoned his knives.

"They're everywhere," Sarah said. They settled in front of her, creating a shield. "How do we find her in all this?"

"Oh, we'll find her," Jareth said. "She's never far, and she wouldn't leave all the fun to her minions"

"From that look, I take it you have an idea," Loki said.

"I might," Jareth said.

Whatever it was would have to wait. While the chaos in the auditorium had mostly passed, a distant crash drew Sarah's attention back into the hallway. Screams followed though they were too muffled to pinpoint their exact location.

"That was the robotics department," Loki said. Sarah looked at him and he shrugged. "I know where everything is on campus."

"I guess I shouldn't be surprised," Sarah said.

They slipped out of the auditorium, not that anyone had been paying attention to the random student, professor, and fairy tale king in their midst. Loki led them down the hall to the left. These doors were closed and it was pitch black inside, a few metal parts on a rolling cart pushed up against the window were the only thing Sarah could see.

There was talking inside, but no screaming yet. Hopefully whatever had killed the lights had left when it realized Sarah and Jareth weren't in there.

"Hail the Queen," a voice inside droned like a swarm of bees. It repeated those words as Sarah quietly pulled the door open. "Hail the Queen."

Fingers pressed into Sarah's temple. Before she could ask what Jareth was doing, light bloomed around the room, tinged with golden sparks at the edge of her vision. Sarah touched her eyes and nearly poked them out. Whatever magical night vision goggles he'd given her weren't the kind you took off, but she almost wished they were.

There were maybe a dozen people inside. Most of them wore lab coats and all of them looked more confused than scared. Two of them were muttering about the bioengineering kids pulling pranks. The shadow soldier marched in a circle around them. There was only one so far. If it saw them, God knows how many more would come.

"Hail the Queen. Hail the Queen."

"Is this dinner theater?" asked a man in a suit and sunglasses with a bored look on his face. "Because if I'd known I was getting free entertainment I would've brought you guys chocolates to go with the booze."

The shadow soldier stopped in front of the man and raised a sword to his face. "All must bow before the queen."

The man, who probably couldn't see that sword, smirked. "I'd kind of prefer King, but sure, Lancelot, I'll accept your fealty."

Loki blasted the shadow soldier to dust. The burst of light could hopefully be explained as just a wire short-circuiting. Otherwise, they just killed someone in front of a bunch of normies.

"What did you do?" Sarah snapped. "Now they'll find us."

"Exactly," Jareth said.

Howling rose from oppressive silence. It shook Sarah down to her core, weakening her legs so she had to cling even harder to Jareth. No one else in the room seemed to notice. They were talking about finding the circuit breaker. One person found a flashlight, but it immediately went out. Sarah didn't know why until she looked closer at the darkened walls and realized they were covered in black paint.

"Get ready," someone, probably Jareth, whispered to her.

It was hard to tell where anything was anymore, but then a leather-gloved hand slid into hers and then they were rising. First slow, then fast enough to send her stomach flying. Sarah caught a faint blink of light and a triumphant voice cried, 'found it!' Then they sped up and she had to shut her eyes.

The cold hit her first, followed by a blanket of warmth enveloping her like water. The whole campus was dark. Even the sun had dimmed. Sarah could see it all from her vantage point, high atop the university's tallest tower. These were old buildings, erected at a time when everything academic had to look like a medieval castle. Something was fitting about it as a swarm of shadows coated them in ice.

"I'm here," Jareth shouted at the wind. "I'm not going anywhere. Not until you face me!"

Wispy strands of shadow descended like hands. Thin and gnarled and rocking Sarah with the memory of punishing tightness around her body. They weren't grabbing, not yet. They waited for their mistresses' command. Shadow wolves and shadow soldiers took shape on all four ledges, creating a barrier between the roof and the outside world. A world that seemed to grow smaller and darker the more shadowy faces Sarah counted.

Somewhere in that hellish mess was The Demoness, prowling like a jungle cat, waiting for her prey to make a move so she could strike. Sarah didn't want to give her the satisfaction. Not after the woman had almost killed her. She had defeated her once. Together, they could do it again. As long as she remembered that, this was only terrifying as opposed to petrifying.

Jareth, with a dozen shadow wolves nipping at his heels, laughed. "Is that all? A few dogs and your meager footman? That's not a welcome fit for your king. If you have any strength at all in you, face me now!"

He spoke well for someone whose hands were shaking. Balling them into fists he threw a crystal at the first wave of shadow soldiers. Loki's shield protected them from the counterattack.

"Be careful," Loki said to Sarah, keeping her tight at his side. "He'll want you safe, and so do I."

"What's safe about any of this?" Sarah asked, raising her arms to make her point but immediately dropping them with a shadow serpent snapped at her. "I need to help him."

"How?" he asked.

That was a stupid question. Mostly because Sarah had no answer except clinging to him harder.

The waves of shadows slowly parted before Jareth. A slit became a gap spilling light into their enclave. It focused on Sarah and she had to shield her eyes against being blinded. When the world darkened again, that didn't ease her quaking bones as it should have. It only ground them to dust when The Demoness laughed.

"You have truly learned nothing," she said. She was bigger than she'd ever been before. Shadows wrapped around her like a princess gown, widening her shape until she wrapped around the entire front of the building. Cascading tendrils formed her hair and whipped at the unaffected Loki as he pulled Sarah behind him. Deathly white eyes and a toothy grin stretched grotesquely over her ears into what should have been a hairline. She bent over, almost folding herself in half to press her head into Jareth's. "To come back and face me when you already know it will be your demise. I don't know if I should pity you or just kill you faster."

"Funny," Jareth said, stepping closer to her. "I was thinking the same thing."

The Demoness stood up, and her body narrowed into a snake-like oblong that coiled around the roof. "Hmph, such foolish arrogance. You must have gotten it from your father."

A dozen crystals sliced her to pieces. They immediately reattached themselves but The Demoness growled in anger as Jareth summoned a new crystal and fashioned it into a sword. "I beg you, say another word," he hissed.

"Oh, put away that silly toy," The Demonsess said. "I must not have taught you properly if this is how you face me."

"I never needed you to teach me," Jareth said. "I was only a child, and I locked you away in a hole where you belonged. What do you think I can do to you now?"

"You can bow before your Queen."

Shadows formed at Jareth's feet and swallowed him whole. He didn't have time to even open his mouth. They squeezed him in, and he stumbled back and forth like he'd been hit, swinging the sword at night until he fell forward on his hands and knees.

"No!" Sarah screamed. She tried to run, but Loki's grip was just as powerful as Jareth's and he held her back. "What are you doing?"

"What are you doing?" Loki asked, forcing her to stand still and not struggle. "This is a force greater than anything you've ever known. What do you possibly think you can do right now to help him?"

"I don't know! But I have to do something."

"Not good enough. What are you going to do, Sarah?"

"Why are you asking me that? Why aren't you helping if it's so dangerous?"

"Because it isn't my place," Loki said. He let Sarah go, knowing that his words would hold her back. The shadows ignored them for now as they jeered and sneered at Jareth writhing in their trap. This might be the only moment of calm that Sarah would find, and she couldn't do anything with it but stand rigid. "It has never been my place, Sarah. Only yours. The labyrinth calls to you. She always has. So tell me, what are you going to do?"

The answer was there as surely as the sensation of standing at the edge of a cliff. Sarah had made so many leaps of faith. More than she ever thought possible. One day, while dozing off in class, she'd dreamed about running from the cleaners in that tunnel, all alone and out of breath. When she woke up, she told herself it would never happen again. Adventures like that never happened to the same person twice. Hell, for most people they never happened. What made her so special?

The first time she asked herself that question was the day she stopped talking to Hoggle.

Sarah straightened her back, feeling as brave as a Knight. "I'm going to be your best student, professor."

Loki grinned. "You always were."

Sarah ran to Jareth. The shadows swiped at her and she dodged with confidence. Her body moved in ways she never thought possible. No gymnastics classes in the world could do for her what knowing she was the hero of this story could. The Demoness couldn't hurt her, because evil never triumphed over good.

"Jareth!" Sarah shouted. She fell to her knees in front of him and buried her hands in the shadows.

The flash of fear that she'd lose her hands vanished as the shadows parted for her. They were cold and jelly-like. She dug through them, ripping off tendrils and gobs of black until the first hint of a white shirt appeared. Jareth groaned and punched at the shadows, working one of his hands out his bonds. Sarah grabbed it and pulled. His head came free with a sickly squelch and he sucked in fresh air like it was water.

Sarah pulled him out. He slashed at a shadow wolf jumping at her from behind. Green light bathed the shadows, Loki making sure none of them got out. The Demoness laughed like she wasn't cornered, and her enormous body grew even bigger.

"How cute," she cooed. "The little lovebirds together again. How I love a happy ending."

"We can beat her," Sarah said over The Demoness's jeers, "but we can't do it alone. The Labyrinth needs us, okay?"

Jareth pulled her close, out of the shadow's reach, and caressed her face. There was no squeak of leather against the skin, just warm flesh joining together. The shadows had ripped his gloves off.

"I love you," he said.

And Sarah smiled. "I love you, too."

She covered her hand with his and they gripped the sword together. Electricity zipped through Sarah's blood, either magic or resolve. Maybe it was magic either way. They held the sword and each other and faced the monster. The Demoness reared her head back to strike. Fangs formed in her bottomless pit of a maw, sharper than any snake. She roared at them, more monster than woman. Then she lunged with a killing blow.

Jareth and Sarah raised the sword and it met her face, pushing her back as the crystals shined. Shadows cried out in agony, the light eviscerating them. The Demoness shrieked in unspeakable rage and pushed harder. The light pulsed and grew brighter. Her shadows multiplied faster than they died.

Light and shadow wrapped around each other, neither side willing to give. Sarah gasped as the wind pushed her back an inch, but Jareth held her tight and didn't let her fall. She wanted to take that as reassurance, but his face was pained. This was taking all his power.

They pushed with all their strength, getting nowhere better than equal to The Demoness. She pulled more and more shadows into the mass of her body, absorbing her wolves and serpents and soldiers to gain more power. Meanwhile, Jareth was sweating, pushing his soul into this attack until his face turned sickly white. Sarah hugged him, pushing whatever she had inside her into the light.

The Labyrinth was a part of her. She was a part of the Labyrinth. That meant she could fight through her.

Something about that knowledge spilled strength back into Sarah's legs. She stood up straighter. Raised her arms higher. Jareth looked at her and she smiled. New light engulfed them both. It was warm and golden and it brought life back to Jareth's cheeks.

They pushed their magic into the sword, making a mile-wide hole in The Demonsess's defenses. She didn't seem so big all of a sudden. Her power was little more than a mild gust of wind. Shadows were only ever just that: shadows. Immaterial, impermanent, and never nearly as scary once you turn on the light.

"What-" The Demoness couldn't say anymore. In most stories, that 'what' would've been a loud, desperate 'no'. Sarah hated that cliche. She never realized it before now, but she did. It was the absolute worst. The Demoness wouldn't get her no. She wouldn't get anything. Never again.

Sarah screamed instead and Jareth joined her. Their voices mingled, all their emotions exploding out of them with the light. Destroying what remained of the shadows and engulfing The Demoness in a power she never could've understood.

Her mindless howl of fear shook the building. It could've broken the sky in half if it weren't for Loki's shield. Sarah closed her eyes, even though the light didn't hurt. Her body was ten times heavier as the magic faded and the sword fell from her hands. Exhaustion swept over her, and she wasn't aware of passing out until she awoke to dirt and pebbles in her mouth.

Forcing herself up, she slapped away the hand in her face, not realizing at first that it was Loki. He pulled her to her feet, and the ringing in her ears fell silent along with the smarting pain in her head and hands.

"Thanks," she panted. His magic healed her injuries but didn't keep her from being winded.

All the shadows were gone and it was a normal, beautiful sunny day in Spring once again. Looking over the ledge, people were milling about the exhibits like nothing had happened. All the lights were back on inside. There were no sirens or police or any hint that anything bad had happened that day other than a minor blackout.

The wind nipped at her hair, only to wrap around her and steal her breath. Sarah gasped, but a wave of joy extinguished her shock. It ran through her blood and she thought she could hear a voice in her ear say, 'Thank you…'

Jareth was in the corner, standing before a rapidly shrinking mass of shadows. It huddled into itself, no bigger than a person. The shadows faded, leaving behind a shivering woman with wild brown hair and pale skin stretched over an impossibly thin frame. She was wearing a simple brown dress, maybe some kind of old peasant grab. She had no shoes and her feet were scraped and bloody. Her face was plain, possibly pretty once before the darkness took over. Blue eyes focused on Jareth's filled with terror even as she tried to push back her bony shoulders.

She was just so… tiny.

Sucking in a breath, Jareth took her hand. "You told me once… that I had the power to move mountains. That I could be more than all of them combined. Did you mean it? Did you?"

The little woman tilted her head, studying every inch of him intently. She broke out in what was left of a smile and laughed through her final, choking breaths. Then she was still.

Jareth dropped her hand and stood up, backing away from her with an impenetrable look. He had cleaned himself up, always a vain one, and it would be easy to see him as unaffected in the face of his victory. Triumphant even.

Sarah knew better.

She walked up to him and touched his shoulder. "She never deserved you. Never."

He nodded, his whole body collapsing into her. Sarah held him tight as they fell to their knees, and she covered his face so no one would see him cry. She whispered in his ear that it was okay. He was okay. They were okay.

The evil was defeated.

A/N: It looks like the end, but it isn't. One more chapter to go!