Chapter One:

The Past is in the Past

It was the beginning of summer at the Williams household, and although the sun shone altogether too brightly and grass had begun to turn brown from the lack of rain, there were still trees outside and a shaded porch to sit upon. An aging sheepdog waited patiently under the tree, brown eyes searching the surrounding areas for a sign of his humans' return.
At the slightest sign of danger, he was prepared to bark and let whoever it was- mailman or passing by pedestrian alike- that he meant business when it came to protecting his home. Sarah should be home soon, he thought to himself, settling at the top of the stairs once more and letting his head rest upon his paws, perhaps this visit will be good for her. Perhaps it will help her remember.

The crooning off-key voice of Sarah's father had her just about in stitches as they drove her back from the airport. "Cannnnn you feelll, the loveee tonightttt~"

"No- dad please-" Sarah gasped out between laughs and pressing a button on the car's stereo to try to change to a station on the radio, but instead had accidentally turned the volume up to a nearly ear-piercing level which she quickly dove to correct.

"Awe come on Sarah, Toby loves that song." Her father chuckled good naturedly, casting his daughter a sideways glance as she struggled with the car stereo between gasps of laughter. It had been a long time since Sarah had laughed like this, and despite her protests a content smile had found its way to her face, beaming with the simple joy of spending time with one of her favorite people on earth.

"It's only because he loves Lion King." Sarah quipped with an over-exaggerated eye roll, still persisting with her fiddling of the stereo as she sought out a familiar station. "I got him the poster for his birthday. Every phone call we've had in the past few months has been about Timon and Pumbaa and, I quote, 'the scary evil weird dogs'."

Her comments were quickly interrupted as the static on the stereo cleared to another song, which her father swiftly fell into singing as well- "From the day we arrive on th-"

"No!" Sarah squealed quickly, switching it again. She bit her lip and glanced at her dad, "You'd think that you'd be tired of listening to those songs."

"I would, however it does start to sort of grow on you after a thousand or so listens," Her dad quipped with a grin and she just shook her head, trying to bite back another laugh as she had finally caught her breath.
"Why don't you just put in that tape?" He suggested, nodding to the cassette player in her lap. "Surely that must be bearable music, hmm?"

"Oh this- it's the mixtape that Bea made for me a few months ago; 'Songs you must listen to, Sarah'." She mimicked the voice of her best friend, carefully pulling the cassette from her walkman and inserting it into the stereo; the tape swiftly picking up where she had left off on the plane. "Oh, I like this one-" She grinned, humming along before picking up to sing along with it. "-like Dolphins, like dolphins could swim.."

Her dad starts to chuckle.
"Oh so you can sing along to the stereo but I can't?" He asked teasingly, and in a fit of childlike joy she just stuck her tongue out at him as she kept up her (considerably quieter than his) singing. "This sounds familiar. Are you sure it's not in the Lion King?" He joked, causing her to burst out with laughter, all hope of regaining her breath before they got back to her childhood home lost once more.

"No, I think I would've remembered. I don't even know who this is, honestly. Bea didn't label any of the songs." Sarah noted, still bemused as her dad began to hum to the music, nodding to her.

Though nothing will drive them away

We can be Heroes, just for one day

We can be us, just for one day

"Maybe I can help figure it out for you," He smiled. "It's good."

The bird was in the tree again, a surprisingly large barn owl he had been unable to run off with his 'ferocious' barking and snapping as he had with the other neighborhood cats and pigeons alike, but that didn't matter at that particular moment. He knew the owl was waiting for Sarah, just as he was, though he doubted that it would dare interact with the young woman while she was here. It could be considered as strange, certainly, but not so strange one wouldn't dismiss the site of the thing.

The collar around his neck itched with sweat and the electricity of an oncoming lightning storm. The tag named him Merlin, a fine name as far as he was concerned, but not quite as fine as his true one, the name he only allowed the use of in the Underground. The familiar sound of a car came down the street and his ears perked as he saw it. Karen opened the front door with a long, high pitched squeak that he wished they would oil, and suddenly the bony hug of a growing boy surrounded Merlin as the car pulled into the driveway. This child, Toby, was the second in this family he had watched over now. The more that Merlin aged, the more he hoped that soon he might be able to return to the underground and rest without worry for the Williams family.

"Be careful Toby, you'll squish him." Sarah called to the boy as she got out of the car, although as she crossed to the duo she found herself giving the dog just as much of a squeeze as he had, ruffling the hair of her brother for good measure and feeling a strange wave of nostalgia pass over her taking in the house and her old street. Toby had hit a growth spurt since she'd last seen him as well which didn't help.

Nearly ten years had passed since she had last been whisked away to the underground, and she had graduated high school and traveled to college to become a theater major—with a minor in fantasy literature. Gradschool was set to start soon, and though she had her own apartment in New York, yes, but it was Toby's birthday this week and she had flown out to visit him and her dad.

And Karen.

It was a shame they had never managed to get onto better terms with each other really, but with an 'overactive imagination like Sarah's' it simply 'isn't healthy' and 'causes Toby to have bad dreams'. This was untrue of course; when she asked Toby about the nightmares, he always described them with an air of awe and wonder she knew that were in fact, dreams.
Dreams about a castle and maze, about crystals and music and laughter. The staircases that did not obey the laws of physics. Chickens and goblins and owls. Up until about six months ago, Sarah had had bits and pieces of similar dreams, dreams she had since tried to push away and refocus upon her life. Upon the now.

Unfortunately Karen was not able to stay on good terms with Sarah with that dangerous 'imagination'. This week, however, Sarah was determined not to let that small fact affect the week ahead; she was here for Toby. Unlatching the leash to free Merlin from the overheating yard, Sarah went inside with her bag and Toby holding her hand, another wave of nostalgia hitting her.
The house really hadn't changed at all in the time since she'd left.

Well, there were more toys about, toys for a child about to turn eleven and she quickly noted that a few of the things that had gotten hidden away in her closet ten years ago had made a reappearance. Making her way to the stairs, she almost stepped on her old desk labyrinth. She shook her head, tiptoeing her way to safety.

"Now, Toby, I thought I asked you to pick up your toys a half hour ago?" Came Karen's chastising voice, and Toby hung his head, still scratching under Merlin's chin absentmindedly.

"Sorry momma." Toby sulked, almost- very nearly- looking truly sorry. Sarah bit back a small smile, knowing he usually was just trying to find the easiest way to get someone to help him the way she had when they were growing up, and crossing back to him she nudged him gently with her elbow.

"I'll help you put them away then we can go and play with them in my room, alright?" Sarah bargained, causing the young boy to grin, and she noted Karen's grateful smile as she headed back into the kitchen, where Sarah could smell something delicious cooking.

Together they made quick work of the mess and headed upstairs with a box of toys, Toby chatting excitedly about a story he very much wanted to play out with the bears, featuring Lancelot as the hero of their story.

Mostly clean of knick-knacks and toys, Sarah's room was the one part of the house to have felt the most change over the years. All her old dress up costumes she had donated to her high school drama department as a parting gift; and most of her personal things were in New York now; but a small black box sat on the old vanity with no card or other such decorations. She dismissed it for the time being, going instead to her closet to retrieve the bears that Toby had been talking about.

There was a knock on the doorframe to which both Toby and Sarah replied, 'come in', still engrossed in the story being slowly enfolded.

"You forgot this in the car." Their father said, holding up Sarah's cassette. "I rewound it for you."

"Oh! Thank you, dad." Sarah smiled, standing and retrieving the tape, happy it hadn't been left to the mercy of a hot car. Her father simply waved a hand, as if to say 'it's nothing' and tousled Toby's hair before heading back downstairs, and she could hear him singing 'Can You Feel the Love Tonight' once more, the giggles of Karen echoing from the kitchen which Sarah couldn't help but to smile at.

She popped the tape back into her walkman for safekeeping and set it on her vanity along with the black box to resume play with Toby until dinner came, not noticing the barn owl residing outside the window still watching; waiting.

"I don't see what's wrong with peaches. You used to love peaches when you were a little girl." Karen said to Sarah the next afternoon as she rolled out a ball of pie crust on the floured counter. Sarah was reluctantly peeling and cutting peaches and apples for pies.

"I just- had a bad experience with a bad peach when I was fifteen, remember?" Sarah huffed, causing a frown from Karen.
Every time she'd tried to eat a peach or anything peach flavored, it always took her back to the Labyrinth, and these memories of complicated, mixed emotions of him.

The Crystal Ballroom and that beautiful dress. The music, the glamor, his eyes on her and no one else; the chemistry that had drawn them together from across the room. Even now it made Sarah's stomach flutter with an uncertain, hopeful feeling- but it had all been a trick to make her lose time. She could've lost Toby. It had been a test she had nearly failed, and who knew what would've happened if she'd never escaped that diaphanous, crystalline ballroom.
She would never admit to herself that she had wondered what it would've been like if she had stayed.
It was the guilt that kept her from eating peaches really, the kind that made her stomach turn and a nausea at the thought that made her refuse the very concept of a peach these days.

"Yes, a worm or something. But these are fine. That was ten years ago. I swear, Sarah, you can't let one bad peach ruin all peaches for you." Karen rationalized putting the crust in a pie tin. Ignoring her, Sarah got down two bowls to mix up the pie fillings in. "Besides; Toby specifically asked for a peach pie instead of a cake this year."

"Well that's great but I just don't like them." Sarah snapped quietly, swiftly putting an end to the discussion as her stepmom looked at her with a worried expression as she put the peaches in one bowl and the apples in the other before getting out brown sugar, cinnamon, and butter. Karen rolled out the other ball of dough.

"Can you please help with watching the boys tonight?" Karen asked after a long moment, voice softer as she changed the topic of discussion. "We have seven coming over and four of them are spending the night."

Sighing, Sarah nodded. This was what made her relationship with Karen feel so complicated- she knew, as an adult, that she was trying her best. That being thrown into motherhood with an angsty 16 year old and a young baby had her stretched thin, a reason her father tried to make sure to take her out regularly for
"Yes. I will help with the boys." She answered, calmer now as she brought over the bowls of pie filling. They situated the cut up fruits in the pie crusts and then topped them, a lattice crust for the apple and a plain crust with shapes cut out from a cookie cutter for the peach. She put a pie bird into each, not so much for functionality purposes but rather for appearances.

They placed the pies into the oven.

"HAPPY BIRTHDAY TO YOU, HAPPY BIRTHDAY TO YOU, HAPPY BIRTHDAY DEAR TOBY HAPPY BIRTHDAY TO YOU!"

Toby grinned blowing out the two big '1' candles that Sarah had stuck into the peach pie, and seven other ten and eleven year old boys started chatting and over all descending into chaos; some singing the extra 'and many more on channel four, roller skates on channel eight', one or two doing the classic 'you look like a monkey, and you smell like one too'.
All things she could remember as a classic part of her childhood experience. Times may have changed, but little kids sure hadn't.

Well, maybe not little kids. Toby came up well to her shoulder now, and she was sure that with his parent's height he'd at least match her if not surpass her in height in just a few years. For just a moment she remembered a flash of him as a baby, before she decided that she wasn't going to let her selfishness get in the way of her protecting him; of how sweet his little face was when he wasn't crying. Blinking out of it, she smiled absent mindedly as her brother approached her. He was positively beaming, getting the first slice of pie along with some ice cream. The boisterousness of the party stilled as the boys began to eat rather than talk. Sarah got up with her dad to retrieve presents.

"Looks like he has enough presents; one of these might just show him his dreams have come true." Her father jokes, catching Sarah off guard and causing her to look at him oddly for his strange choice of words; stilling momentarily before shaking it off as her father went off to Toby to try to get in his 'pinch to grow an inch' that she could remember he'd always do when they were little.

"I've brought you a gift." He'd said.

"What is it?"

"It's a crystal; nothing more."

Sarah shook her head slightly, trying to think about something else. Think about how excited Toby will be to play with his new toys with his friends.

"But if you turn it this way, and look into it, it will show you your dreams."

They brought over the gifts for Toby just as the pie and ice cream were finished up. Karen and her father had gotten him a new bike. He'd also gotten a Walkman, like she had, and some tapes, a board game, a few video games, a new baseball mitt and ball, and several action figures and comics. Sarah gave a copy of Labyrinth along with his poster from Lion King. It had been a last moment addition, and one that hadn't been properly wrapped, but something had possessed her at the bookstore in New York to buy it for him.

Karen gave a slight disapproving look, but it softened when Toby turned ecstatic. Plays weren't exactly the ideal gift for a rambunctious eleven year old boy with a wild imagination, but it was clear that he was happy. That was all that mattered.

After a while three of the boys left, leaving Toby and the remaining four playing with his new and old toys in the backyard, making up stories and playing catch alike, radio sending music softly into the early evening air. Sarah sat on the back porch to keep an eye on them, reading over the play she wanted to audition for when she got back to New York, glancing up periodically. After five years of living in New York, she'd learned to multitask and weed out what sounds were important and what weren't.

It took her a while to recognize that that song had come on again, the same song from her tape. The artist's voice seemed familiar but she couldn't place where she'd heard it before. To her, it was a faceless singer, a name and music. She'd never actually seen what he looked like, and if she had she'd know exactly who he reminded her of.

I, I will be king

And you, you will be queen

She jumped as a stray throw sent the baseball her way, knocking the script out of her hands and the eerie familiarity of the words made her remember what Jareth had told her all those years ago; Just love me, do as I say and I will be your slave. Toby ran over and said a quick 'sorry' before going back to his friends.

If she had been fifteen still, she probably would've said 'it's not fair' that she had to watch them. But, it was fair. Karen and her father were inside, cleaning up from the mess of pie and pizza and doing the dishes, and she got to get a few minutes of peace while she made sure a bunch of ten and eleven year olds didn't burn down the backyard by accident.
When she was in high school, most of the day Karen had to deal with Toby and everything it took to run a household during the day, and deal with a fifteen year old girl who was still grieving a distant mother and dealing with puberty to boot. She had tried hard to be a mother figure to Sarah, never trying to overstep that boundary and letting her call her by her first name, and it was only with the clarity of having grown up she realized how much worse things could've been.
And to be honest, considering she wasn't going out with friends or on dates, she would've probably been hanging out with Toby even if Karen and her dad stayed home.

She'd grown up, and after nearly losing him to the Labyrinth she didn't mind taking care of Toby at all.

"Goodnight Sarah." Toby said, hugging her tightly. He and his friends were staying in the living room tonight so they'd have room to spread out and could watch the Lion King. Of course.

"Goodnight." Sarah replied softly, leaning over to kiss his head despite the boy's protests, casting a glance to his friends. She smiled as he went to lay down and went upstairs to her room, sitting down at her vanity after changing into pajamas. Brushing out her hair, she looked at the box again, humming, remembering it was there.

She set down the hairbrush and took off the lid of the box.
There was a sort of fine dark blue material with specks of silver wrapped around an object. As she picked it up she saw a note at the bottom of the box, reading simply; 'Sorry to be late for your birthday.' The object was surprisingly light, as though it were made of air, but it had a definite weight in a way that was unexplainable.

She furrowed her eyebrows and unwrapped the object to reveal a crystal ball, causing her eyes to go big and drop it on the bed, staggering backwards from the shock. It was exactly like the one the Goblin King had offered her nearly ten years ago.

"This is not a gift for an ordinary girl."

She bit her lip and cautiously picked up the crystal again, deciding to give it a cursory glance, and found herself surprised at what she saw. Looking into the crystal, Sarah was surprised to find that she did not, in fact, see her dreams. But then again, that wasn't true. She could vaguely remember what she saw and recognized them as dreams; but they were the dreams of a child. Her dreams from when she was maybe five or six years old.

The part that had shocked her was that she was looking at the Castle Beyond the Goblin City.

But not as it was when she last saw it; things seemed brighter and happier, albeit covered with the same film of confusion that seemed to linger over her own memories of the Labyrinth as a teen.
Coming into focus, she saw someone whom she hadn't spoken with in several years, disbelief clear on Sarah's furrowed brow as she leaned over the image on the crystal. Yes, it was definitely her mother, with dark brown waves very much like her own, but she was so much younger. These weren't Sarah's dreams, were they?

"Why am I seeing this?" Sarah wondered aloud, just above a whisper. Outside the window, thunder rolled suddenly announcing the arrival of a summer storm, causing her to jump and look outside just in time to see a flash of lightning across the sky bringing a soft rain shower along with it. Was it an answer to her question? No, that's silly to think about, she rationalized. I'm thinking too much like an writer, trying to make the weather become a part of my own personal horror story.

That had been something that always bothered Sarah- it always felt like she was waiting for her story to start. Like she was missing some key thing in her life she couldn't place her finger on- something she had had chalked up to the depressive episode she'd gone through nearly a year ago. Her parent's divorce, her father's remarriage, the Labyrinth, the uncertainty in her life leading her from school to acting and back to grad school, intent on becoming a teacher instead.
Everything made it seem like she was going through back-story rather than life. She was… undergoing character development. I am most definitely overthinking this. And this crystal was just the icing on the cake. Or the ice cream on the peach pie... She would get a crystal when she'd just given her last reminder of that night to her brother, like something bigger making sure that she didn't forget about the Labyrinth yet.

It was like… it wasn't done with her yet.

Going over to sit on her bed, Sarah held the crystal up to the light of the window, trying to decide what exactly it was she was seeing. Thunder rolled once more and she focused on her mother and the Labyrinth. Questions filled her mind and for a moment she hoped that perhaps she could see into her mother's mind, discover why she was in the Labyrinth... Why she'd left them.

There had to be a reason.

Lightning struck and the crystal lit up, sending her into a daydream much as the peach had so many years ago, but so very different from before and placing herself inside the memories of her mother.

August 7th, 1977.

Monday.

3;00pm.

The William's Household.

Linda Williams was having a very bad, rotten, stressful day.

It had begun with her six year old calling home at two in the morning from a friend's house because she was scared of the lightning storm that had raged outside. The rain had drenched the entire neighborhood, and when Sarah went outside that morning to run in puddles, Linda had slipped in the grass and become covered in mud.

Her husband had been called into work on his day off, and because she had Sarah to look after, Linda had been unable to go to an audition and lost a chance at much needed work, and her agent flaked on her again.

But this was the absolute worst part of the day.

Sarah had begged that she read her The Labyrinth again. She had read it countless times and over the past few weeks it had just made her more and more annoyed, reading of goblins and princes when she knew that in reality, you never got the prince.

Just the goblin.

Well, that wasn't completely true. But it was a sad fact that Linda had to admit that she had fallen out of love with her husband almost completely. and maybe that was part of what had set her off; the stress of monotony had just become too much.

As Sarah asked her questions and interrupted and tried to come up with songs for the play, Linda had snapped.

"Sometimes I wish the goblins would come and take you away, Right now."

The words had been meant to be powerless, taken right out of the play. But when Sarah's eyes went big and scared, and the thunder began again abruptly, Linda took her eyes from her daughter for perhaps a second as the windows blew open to reveal a large hawk as she screamed in alarm.

She had wished her daughter away and the only way to get her back was to run the Labyrinth.

Sarah's view shifted, and all at once it was though she was her mother, she was herself as a child, and she was laying on her old bed crystal in hand.

In the throne room in the Castle Beyond the Goblin City.

A young Sarah cried in fear for her mother. It was her biggest dream and worst nightmare, to be taken into the Castle and to be surrounded by goblins and mean fairies and most threatening of all, the Goblin King himself. A soothing voice sang to her, calming her, and after a few minutes of realizing that she was not being harmed, Sarah had settled enough to look up at the man who sang so softly to her. The first thing that registered to her tiny mind was that he seemed tired, but hopeful.

His face was lined faintly and had soft creases when he smiled at the little girl who sat with him. His hair had once been ebony, with the sheen of a raven's wing reflecting blue and purple and green as the light hit it, and she could've sworn that she saw one or two feathers poked into the long tendrils that escaped a short braid. His face was lightly bearded and framed with ears that held a slight point. Silver had begun to slip through around his hairline and ears, but with a crown of braided silver matching the hair it made him look all the more regal. His eyes were a deep blue. The same blue as Jareth's.

"What is your name, child?" He questioned after a moment,

"Sarah." Young Sarah replied after a moment, seeming uncertain if she should tell a stranger. The man nodded thoughtfully, and waved his hand to magic a crystal into existence. Sarah cooed in awe, reaching to touch the crystal. An image of her mother running through the maze appeared before her, and though young Sarah couldn't see it, the man's brows perked with surprise.

"Your mother has more passion than most who have run my Labyrinth." He stated thoughtfully. "She may yet rejuvenate the Labyrinth after all, the amount of faith and belief she possesses. It would be a good time for her to do so quickly, as other matters are becoming more pressing." He had added the last part mostly to himself. For some reason Sarah was struck with the consideration that maybe those who traversed the Labyrinth gave it power.

Sarah looked up at him confused. "What's your name?" she asked shyly. Her curious nature had never wavered even in the face of danger.

"My name is Ezequiel." The Goblin King said looking at the young girl for a long moment, something much like curiosity lingering behind his gaze, and before she could try to mispronounce his name he continued, "I am the Goblin King. However, you may call me Zee. I know you will not remember me, Sarah, but names and words carry importance."

Sarah nodded, having the ability to pronounce one syllable much easier than many so confusing as Ezequiel, A goblin entered, running through with a moderate sized staff that was decorated with jewels, Sarah realized that Zee held one of the same general make. A young boy, perhaps ten or eleven years old in appearance, ran in after the goblin, shouting for him to return it in an attempt to be menacing. Zee chuckled lightly until the boy with white blond hair tackled the goblin to the ground to get back the staff.

"Jareth. Be careful." Zee chastised solemnly to the boy, causing him to jump slightly and look at the Goblin King and the young Sarah sitting with him. He went over to the pair and murmured a 'sorry' before getting distracted by the crystal in the King's hand.

"Is there someone running?" He asked, dusting off and straightening his clothing.

"Yes… A good one." Zee replied, looking into the crystal once more. "How is your mother?"

"She fell back asleep halfway through tea." The young Jareth mumbled, a strange expression alighting his features that Sarah couldn't quite place.

"Hopefully this will help ease her. It will be good for the Labyrinth to have some belief returned to it." Said Zee, and though Sarah didn't quite understand what that meant, she knew it must've been important.

In the tunnel of arms and hands. Linda.

"Up or Down?"

It was a very simple question and Linda needed to answer before they changed their minds. If they had minds that is; they were after all many many hands in a tunnel. How many seemingly simple questions had she answered throughout her life?

Will you marry me? Are you really quitting your job to become an actress? Are you going to keep the baby? Do you want a trim or a full cut? Do you trust me?

Yes. Yes. Yes. Just a trim. Yes, I do.

When she looked back on all of her choices she wondered why she had answered as she did, always a snap judgment with almost no thought involved. And since this morning she had been asked so many more...

Did she want her daughter back and safe? Of course! Up or down?

Down didn't seem like a good idea. It was dark and she was almost completely sure that there wasn't any light. It simply didn't feel like a good way to go. The hands holding her shoulders hurt, her whole weight being held in a few painful places on her body. She knew what was up. And maybe that was what she always chose. What was familiar.

Will you marry me? Yes, I know you well. Are you going to keep the baby? Yes, it is mine. My flesh and blood. How can I not? Do you want a trim or a full cut? Just a trim, it's what I'm used to. Do you trust me? Of course I do, I know you. She believed she always chose what was familiar.

But... Are you really quitting your job to become an actress? Yes.

It hadn't been something she'd done since high school but she knew that she had always loved it so, so much. It was unfamiliar and different, and one of the best things to happen to her. She had excelled until she had to be home for Sarah. And yes... that was pretty darn great too, even if she did get on her nerves.

Up or down? Up was familiar. Down was terrifying.

"Down." She said finally as the impatient hands passed her down deep into the darkness. It was a strange darkness, not made of shadows or color. It wasn't black it was just... nothing. But even as this realization of falling into nothingness hit her she realized that the darkness was retreating as her feet hit firmly on the ground.

Maybe that was the key to the Labyrinth. Choose what isn't familiar. Take risks.

Something in Sarah made her heart ache for her mother. She felt as though she had found something she had been missing for a long time.

Within the hour she reached the castle. All too easy, wasn't it? At the start of her journey the distance seemed so much more daunting… But the joy of seeing her daughter safe again filled her to the point that she didn't care that it didn't make any sense. The King she'd met only once was very cordial to her, congratulating her on her quick work.

Ezequiel discreetly sent them home, back to happiness. Sarah hugged her father as the memories of the day faded into all but bedtime stories that had never been told.

The next day, Linda took the path that had been scaring her before. She left.

That must be the reason. Sarah could tell that her mother had found an answer to a question she didn't know she had been asking, and suddenly she was looking through the mismatched eyes of a young boy with spiky hair.

"Why did it end so suddenly?" A young Jareth asked Ezequiel.

"Her choices- they changed from scared of the unknown to brave." Ezequiel said slowly, looking to his son. "Once they realize that they need to choose a new path, a new perspective, that is when the path becomes clearer than ever."

"It doesn't make any sense!" Jareth complained. "The darkness... is it gone for now?"

"It is never gone. It hides in shadows and under beds. It is within the pages of the books we forget to read, underneath the objects that lay forgotten. It preys on codependency and fear. Which is why the runners are so important."

"And what if they lose?" Jareth asked quietly. "Isn't it more fun for us to win?"

"There are no winners of our Labyrinth, Jareth. If it were a maze and we had a race... then there would be winners. But our Labyrinth is special, and when it looks into the heart and soul of a runner it creates one path that they must travel through in order to learn. Do you understand?" Ezequiel questioned, smiling slightly.

"No." The boy said in a somewhat bored tone. "If the Labyrinth creates the path, why do we help sometimes?"

"It is the role we must play to help them the most, and we must stick to our script as necessary." Ezequiel assured.

"But- what if we don't want to act like that to a runner-"

"That is how we find our caretakers, Jareth. It's why we must be vigilant, keep an eye on the runners." Ezequiel cut him off. "When we don't know how to act because the Labyrinth stops telling us, that is how we know that they have power here."

Sarah sat up suddenly, giving her head a rush. "What?" she asked quietly aloud, looking around to see herself. Was it a dream? She was distracted at the sound of Merlin scratching on the door, and she got up to let him in.

Peeking out the window all signs of the storm from before had disappeared. The crystal was nowhere to be seen, and though her logic screamed at her to ignore the previous visions she warily pulled her blanket over herself after getting into bed.

Merlin jumped up on the bed and Sarah smiled a bit, wondering what advice he might give her if only he could speak.

"I guess I just had a strange dream, Merlin, no need to worry." She said softly, leaning forward to kiss the old dog between his furry brows. "Goodnight."

Internally Merlin sighed, knowing that her experience would leave her disoriented. He could see the crystal on the floor under her bed when he came in, knowing she would probably discover it in the morning.

He could sense a change coming, and wondered vaguely how the rest of their friends were handling the increasing shadows back home.

Sarah grabbed her music player and turned it on, closing her eyes and trying her best to disappear into the music. As she fell asleep the song she couldn't get out of her head came on once more just as the batteries died, and Merlin's ears perked up hearing it faintly.

"We could be heroes... just for one day."

He hoped the words of the human's song could be true.
Things were becoming dire, and if they didn't make a move soon… He shuddered at the thought, deciding he would watch over her as she slept tonight. It was good that she had found the crystal, good that she had come to be reminded of what once was.

If the scent on the wind and whispers from the Underground was anything to go by, she would need the rest she'd get while she was here.
It was the most they could hope for, to remind her, to prepare her.

She was their last chance.