Morpheus stood dumbfounded as the remnants of the late King Jareth's medallion swirled around his feet. Clearly, he had underestimated how deep the Goblin King's affection ran for his beloved.

Never had he thought Jareth was capable of such sacrifice for someone else.

Sounds of soft sobbing brought him out of his thoughts. Turning around, he found that Sarah was out of the hourglass, covered in dreamsand.

He approached her, feeling deeply uncomfortable with the open display of grief that she had on her face.

He had seen mortals distressed before, both in dreams and reality, but her grief just felt so personal, and he had witnessed her love sacrifice himself for her.

He went on his knees, gently, as if he was approaching an injured animal.

"S- Sarah?"

He had never tried to say her name before now, and it felt strange coming out of his lips.

Once again, Morpheus was uncomfortable with the emotions he was feeling of guilt and sympathy. He had been so used to blaming others for his misfortunes that being forced to confront head-on with guilt was almost too much for him.

Sarah, half-heartedly, willed herself to wake up from this horrible nightmare. It was like carrying Jareth's face as his feathers fell off all over again.

In her heart, she knew that waking up would only bring her more pain. She had heard Jareth say how much he loved her as he crushed his medallion between his hands like mere clumps of sand.

She would not see her beloved again. She would not embrace him or tell him she loved him one last time.

She wanted to push Morpheus away. How she loathed her name falling from his lips. She lifted her head, letting out a visceral scream from deep within her chest.

High on adrenaline, she swung her hand forward, throwing dreamsand in Morpheus's face, unintentionally flinging her nails forward where they cut into his skin.

Combined with the dreamsand, Morpheus howled out in pain, rubbing his injured skin as she continued to clutch her chest, mouth wide open in a silent scream. After her next inhale, she screamed once more, her voice echoing.

All the inhabitants of the Dreaming felt it.

Matthew stopped mid-flight and fell down into Lucien's arms, who held the raven gingerly. The indescribable pain seeped into the dreams of those who were asleep.

Some dreamers wake up that night, wondering if they just experienced a heart attack. Some would dream of their own loved ones dying. But none with more pain than Sarah.

Morpheus, to his credit, did not retaliate against Sarah when he would have done so before without hesitation. He waited for her screams to subside into quieter sobs.

"Y-you said…" she collapsed again, the words coming out painfully slow. "You promised me…"

Morpheus had no idea what the hell she was talking about. "Promised, what, exactly?"

"That wherever I go, you will follow if I'll have you. You said you would be here as the world falls down. I wish you were here."

She looked up at Morpheus, her tears causing her vision to blur. After a pause, she looked down once more.

"But I'm here, and you're not. Jareth, where are you? You told me you were only a wish away. I wished you could be here, and you're not. You told me that the fae do not break their words. Why are you breaking your word to me?"

With every passing word, her voice became smaller and smaller, her tone reflecting the grief that consumed her.

Morpheus, unsure of what else to do, reached out to gently touch Sarah. She instantly flinched, swiping blindly at him again.

"Don't touch me!" she screeched at him.

Morpheus barely restrained himself from lashing out at her. This was his realm, and no one should be able to be so defiant without consequences. At the same time, he understood that she did not have the fullest grasp of his realm nor what truly happened to Jareth.

Loud, huffing footsteps and a flap of wings came behind him.

"Lord!"

Morpheus turned, relieved to see Matthew and Lucien. "Matthew. Lucien."

"We all felt it, Lord," Lucien said without preamble.

Turning, Lucien gazed at the tormented young woman before them. "Oh, no, the poor dear."

"What's going on with her?" Matthew asked.

Morpheus carefully stood, dusting the sand off his robes. "She is in great shock and needs to recover so I may speak with her. Do not let her wake yet."

Lucien had an idea. "The House of Mystery and the House of Secrets are nearby. Perhaps we shall send her there? It's closer than the castle."

Morpheus made a dismissing wave with his hand.

"See to it that she gets there. I will come by soon to chat with her."

Seeing Morpheus walk away, Matthew ruffled his feathers angrily.

"What the hell? He's not even gonna help us move her?"

"I doubt he could, even if he tried," Lucien answered.

She was clearly not responding well to Lord Morpheus and the Dream Lord was not a very gentle being.

Lucien gently sat next to Sarah. "Do me a favor, Matthew? Go get Cain and Abel to help us move her. We need to be delicate."


Cain and Abel, the keepers of the House of Mysteries and Secrets respectively, gently assisted in half-walking, half-carrying Sarah to the House of Secrets where Abel resided.

Abel heated up some tea for her while Lucien made sure that she had a warm blanket. In that entire time, she did not speak, but whimpered once in a while.

She hugged her legs and rocked herself back and forth, haunting green eyes blankly yet desperately trying to recede into the recesses of her mind when times were happier.

Abel came over with the tea.

"H-h-h-hello," he greeted, his stutter worse today than it normally was. "I m-made tea f-for y-you. It m-may help you f-f-feel better."

His hands shook as he set the little cup down on top of the saucer, relieved that he managed to not break it. He poured in the tea from the teapot and set that down quickly.

Sarah continued to stare blankly. There was no indication that she heard Abel, let alone understood him.

Cain glowered impatiently. It was bad enough that Morpheus just dropped her off without any warning or any care for whether they had other things to do, now they had to deal with her not even thanking them for their hospitality.

"He made that tea for you, so drink it!"

"Hush, Cain," Lucien warned him. "She is in deep shock. Go gently on her."

"Not my problem," Cain mumbled. "It's his, and he doesn't even have the gall to look after her himself."

Lucien sighed, unable to contest Cain's frustration. Placing a tender hand on Sarah, the librarian held up the tea. "Won't you have a drink, Sarah?"

Sarah stopped rocking, but her eyes were still blank.

"Just a sip," Lucien prompted her. "You will feel better."

Sarah finally turned to Lucien. She shook her head.

"I don't want to."

"Don't want tea? Then what do you want?" Cain asked gruffly.

"Don't want to feel better," she answered and continued to rock.

"Aww man, I know that feeling," Matthew sympathized, landing next to Lucien.

"When I was a human and felt like garbage, I didn't want to feel better either. I just wanted to be sad."

He hopped over to Sarah.

"You best drink that tea, Miss. He's gonna come back soon and wants to chat with ya. You'd want your strength for that, I'd wager."

At the mention of Morpheus, Sarah's eyes were clearer. A sense of purpose found their way back to her. She nodded, accepting the tea from Lucien, and sipped it without a word.

"D-d-do you w-want a b-b-biscuit?" Abel asked. "I made some this morning."

She looked deep in thought, then nodded towards his direction gratefully.


Morpheus did not look forward to meeting with Sarah again.

While he was gone, he did as much repairing of the Dreaming as he could. There were still consequences in the Waking World, but that would have to be dealt with later. For now, the Dreaming was unharmed.

However, he lost the Goblin King. The throne should not be left vacant for long. Usually, he would take over the Delegator of Dreams duties until another one was chosen by the Labyrinth, but seeing as he was still weak, he could not afford to wait.

Fortunately for him, there was already a candidate that the Labyrinth had approved of and one the kingdom itself would rejoice in.

Unfortunately for him, that candidate was Sarah. She was in grief, had no notice, no training, and would most likely kill him if she could.

Standing in front of the House of Secrets, he hoped that the others made her calmer and prepared for their meeting. He knocked, waiting a moment for Abel to answer him.

Abel clumsily opened the door. "M-m-my Lord! C-come in!"

"Thank you, Abel." Morpheus stepped in.

He saw Sarah sitting by the fire, a blanket wrapped around her with Lucien sitting next to her.

"My Lord," Lucien stood and bowed when Morpheus walked in. "Would you like any refreshments?"

"No, thank you." He was not here for a simple house-warming visit, after all.

Morpheus strode to the chair opposite to where Sarah was sitting. "I would like to be left alone with Lady Sarah."

They all looked at each other, slowly shuffling out of the room. Matthew touched his beak to her arm, as if giving her some of his strength before he flew away.

Morpheus sat down, observing her. She did not turn to him at all. Whether it was due to defiance, anger, the deep ache in her heart, or all of the above, he did not know.

For now, he would not demand deference from her.

"I am sorry."

Sarah said nothing, though her eyebrows furrowed in disbelief. So long as she wasn't yelling at him, Morpheus would let it slide.

"King Jareth was a dutiful monarch. Not always, but nearly so. His loss is deeply felt by the Dreaming. So is your grief."

Again, Sarah did not respond to him.

"Years ago, I was imprisoned by a magician. The Dreaming deteriorated. Only recently was I able to escape from my prison. In that time, I focused on regaining my strength and rebuilding the Dreaming. There were other obstacles, like the vortex. I had wrongly assumed you were one as well. I'm unsure how much you remember of me conversing with King Jareth-"

"I heard all of it and remembered all of it," she interrupted.

Her voice was hard and flat. She still did not turn to face him.

Morpheus nodded. The less he needed to speak, the better.

"My strength still has not fully recovered to where it was. The Goblin King, as my Delegator of Dreams, had taken some of my responsibilities. When my Delegator of Dreams dies, I must take over the responsibilities again until someone else suitable is chosen. If one is not quickly chosen, there is chaos, and the Faerie may try to take over the Goblin Kingdom."

He paused. No reaction from Sarah.

"You must understand that the Goblin Kingdom is tied to both the Dreaming, Destiny's Garden, and the Faerie Realm. That makes it particularly powerful, yet isolated. The burden of the Goblin Monarch is not one to be taken lightly. Fortunately for us, you are the Champion of the Labyrinth. That means the Labyrinth automatically accepts you as queen. Seeing your powers within the Dreaming, I conclude that you are fit to be my Delegator of Dreams, and I shall crown you as the next Goblin Queen."

He reached into his cloak and pulled out a pouch of dreamsand. Pouring it in his hands, he let the grains fall between his fingers and onto his lap.

The sparkling sand formed a silver horned amulet with a gold circle in the middle. The golden circle had a wave carved in the middle that resembled an infinity symbol. Sarah knew this amulet well, for it was the same one that rested upon Jareth's chest.

"Your duties as Delegator of Dreams is to give the Runners of the Labyrinth the power of a thousand dreamers for a time. Within the space of thirteen hours, you and the runners can manipulate reality that is inside the Labyrinth. Once that ends, they should have some insight into their purpose. Their destiny if you will."

Sarah turned every so slightly to Morpheus, quietly listening.

He continued, encouraged by her silent interest. "You are to care for the wished-away and send the runners back. You, as the Goblin Queen, are welcomed to the Dreaming and to my castle at any time. You may come for a visit or to read the books in the Library. At the end of your life, if you so choose, you may choose to remain in the Dreaming for as long as you'd like, until the Dreaming itself ends when the Universe does."

The amulet glowed and faded. "All of us will enter Death's realm at one point or another. Should you destroy the amulet, you would be forfeiting not only your duties, but your life."

He held up the amulet between them.

"Do you accept, Sarah Williams?"

Sarah was now looking at the amulet.

"And if I say no?"

Never had Morpheus seen such piercing eyes, and from a mortal no less.

"You can, but that would be neglecting your duty and your destiny. Do you truly want the Goblin Kingdom, with all your friends, goblins, and previously abandoned children to be left to the whims of the faerie? Do you want the Labyrinth to be used for their own gain, without a care for the others?"

She looked daggers at him.

"You're using my feelings of the matter to manipulate me. You don't care," she spat. "If you did, then why didn't you stop the former Goblin Kings and Queens, who were drunk with power and allowed their subjects to be taken advantage of? You only cared for your portion of the Goblin King, where it's tied to the Dreaming. And why would you want me to be queen when you were so intent on killing me earlier?"

For a brief moment, Morpheus understood why Jareth was so taken by her. She could stand on her own two feet without being unreasonable. Still, he did not appreciate being questioned so harshly.

"Do not come here and question my motives. You are a guest here in the Dreaming. I do not want to kill anyone. Even if I wanted to, I am duty-bound to not kill mortals unless they pose a threat to the Dreaming. It brings me no pleasure. I believed that you had to die in order to save the universe. Once you were no longer a threat, I let you go."

He stood, both hands holding onto the amulet's chain.

"I ask you again. Sarah Williams, Champion of the Labyrinth, I have seen you as fit to be the next Goblin Queen. Do you take this amulet and swear to uphold your duties as the Goblin Queen and Delegator of Dreams?"

Sarah gazed unblinkingly at him once more. She bowed her head. There was only one answer.

"Yes, I accept."

Once the amulet rested on her neck, it glowed and faded, forever hers until she died.

There was a moment of complete silence as the weight of the crown settled on Sarah's head. Morpheus sat down.

"Do you have any questions?"

Sarah exhaled sharply. "Jareth destroyed his amulet, and himself by extension, to save me. Why did he need to do that?"

"When he fell for you, he foolishly gave you power over him. That meant that you not only had your own powers as the first and only Champion of the Labyrinth, but you were able to use his. One can resign their position as the monarch of the Goblin Kingdom and as Delegator of Dreams. However, if you choose to destroy the amulet the way he did, you would be forfeiting your life as it is a contract of the oath you just took."

"So, once he died, I can't use his powers anymore?"

"Correct."

She bit her lower lip in thought. "Why aren't you worried about me doing the same thing now that I have power?"

She held her amulet. "What's to stop me now?"

"That amulet controls your magic. Instead of holding it inside of you all the time, you can draw from your amulet as you become more and more adept at using it. You can use it without consuming everyone."

She nodded slowly. The world turned into a haze.

"So, what do I do now?"

Morpheus waved a hand in front of her face. "I believe it is time for you to wake up and fulfill your duties, Queen Sarah."


Thought I would leave another chapter earlier as I'll be busy tomorrow. Thank you for those who have stuck around and have left reviews! I really appreciate it. I'm excited what you will think of the next few chapters. Have a great rest of your weekend :)