Chapter 5:

What Doesn't Kill Me

Sarah looked over the sapphire pendant a moment before looking back to Sir Avian, wondering how things would piece together, what went into this whole process. "What do I need to do?" She asked after a beat.

"You have already touched the power of the Labyrinth, made it bend to your will by asking it politely as such. Words have the greatest powers of them all, which I am certain you understand." Sir Avian said with the slightest smile, and it was true. Words were wonderful things, and they were responsible for her wishes to be an actress and to study literature. By themselves, words are descriptors, names, and puzzles, but put together they can create that which has never been created before and inspire that beyond our comprehension. Stories and worlds can inspire generations and instigate more people to add to those worlds because of the love they carry for them.

"So… there are words I need to say, words that carry power. How come I've never been able to do it before?" Sarah asked curiously.

"You have to say the right words- Jareth, I am sure, can help teach you spells. But you my dear have said your right words twice before." Sir Avian reassured her, and it clicked. Gods, how could she be so dense? Of course she had used words properly when having the Goblins take Toby away and by telling Jareth that he had no power over her. Both times she had truly believed, even for just a brief moment, those words, and gave them that energy. That…. That explained so much.

"You have to believe the words you speak." Sarah said slowly, looking to them. "That's why-"

"They're the Believer." Sir Didymus popped up, finishing for her. "Now now Lady, put on the pendant and read the words, believe them, and then recite them." He said handing her an old and dusty book turned to a page full of text, with a smaller section penned in gold ink. Holding the book in one hand she slipped on the butterfly cut pendant over her neck and looked to the four surrounding her for some reassurance. Hoggle gave her a careful thumbs up while Sirs Avian and Didymus nodded. Jareth remained in the background slightly, but gave the slightest of smiles to her. What would things be like in a few hours, a few days, a few months? The prospects were infinite but she knew that as long as she worked with them all cooperatively things could be great. With a deep breath, she began to read aloud.

"Through the night's darkness and the day's peace, I have faith.

Through the danger and the torment, I have courage.

When the challenges arise, I will call upon the power,

When there are children lost, I will help them recover,

And when the worst seems here, I will believe in the better."

Closing her eyes as she finished, Sarah let the words settle in the air around them and fill with the energy of her belief, of the power of the Labyrinth. And something had changed- nothing too noticeable of course, but there was a sort of connectedness she felt to her surroundings more, the air had an extra electricity to it, and then something really did change.

Opening her eyes Sarah found herself in a large circular room with no ceiling, the orange sky of the Labyrinth at its sunset, with deep pinks and reds giving way to stars above and fading up into the night. Something in her knew she was not actually there, but a warm breeze crossed her skin bringing her to focus on the room around her and she realised that the pendant was in the middle, suspended in the air by nothing but magic, its form that of a rough sapphire instead of that of a butterfly as she reached toward it.

"Don't be afraid, Sarah." Came a voice to the side, startling her slightly. Looking over she saw a beautiful young woman with a long curtain of golden-white hair, slightly pointed ears poking into view, and wide eyes staring back at her, eyes with different colors like jewels glistening and changing in the light that she couldn't place. She was dressed in a simple white dress and around her neck there was the sapphire butterfly pendant, and Sarah realized that this woman was Jareth's mother, the previous believer. The woman smiled softly and offered a gentle hand. "I was wishing I would meet you soon."

"What is this place?" Sarah asked curiously. "You're Jareth's mother- aren't you?"

"This is not so much a place as a state of mind, dear Sarah." The woman smiled, looking to the sky and the pendant that hung in the middle of the room. "I am Jareth's mother, yes. I am Johanna." Sarah nodded slowly, trying to put things into perspective. She seemed so young- but that made sense, she had been one of the fae according to Sir Didymus, and from her little knowledge of magical races she presumed that they aged much slower than humans.

"I'm trying to be the Believer. I- I don't understand why-" Sarah began but was interrupted by the sound of another voice.

"We are here to help you take on the power Sarah." The voice was gruff but held a slight purr and when she turned to see the source she saw that they were surrounded by many people, all dressed in white just as Johanna was and wearing sapphire pendants in the shapes of different animals. This- she thought perhaps a man- had a pendant of a type of large cat and his eyes were green with slits like a cats. "We have all been through this as you are now, choosing this life."

"It is a life of devotion to a cause, Sarah, and we hope to prepare you for it." Came the voice of a shorter goblin woman, whose pendant was that of a koi fish.

"This is where you make the final choice. Are you sure you want to do this?" A creature she could not name spoke, with a pendant of a wolf around their neck.

"Yes. I have to save the Labyrinth. I need to." Sarah said looking to each of them.

"What makes you have to save it Sarah?" A man with dark hair covering his eyes almost completely asked, his pendant a snake. "Who said you have to drop your life to save it?"

"Nobody did!" Sarah said. "No one but me. It's become a part of my life and I can't bear to see it fall to shadow."

"So you care then, do you?" A small creature, a fairy it seemed popped up, tiny pendant a ladybug.

"Yes, I do." Sarah nodded. "And I won't be convinced otherwise."

"Very well Sarah." Johanna said with a familiar slight smile of approval. "What animal do you believe you fit well?"

"Animal?" Sarah asked, and she looked to the pendants and the one in the middle, waiting to be carved it seemed. She thought for a moment when it came to her. "A sparrow."

"Interesting choice." Spoke the man with cat eyes.

"Freedom but still elegant, like the snake." The man with dark hair agreed.

"And very useful." The little fairy spoke up as Johanna went and took the uncut sapphire from the middle of the room. It momentarily took on the shape of the butterfly and she held it out to Sarah.

"A sparrow." Sarah said aloud again, mostly to confirm for herself. She took the amulet and before her eyes it changed to that of the delicate bird she had chosen. As she put it on herself one by one the other Believers said their goodbyes and good wishes, fading from view, but Johanna remained. "So this is it. Yes?" she asked unsure.

"You are successful, and will do very well." Johanna assured her, giving her a gentle hug. "Can you do something for me please?" she asked quietly.

"Anything." Sarah replied, unsure what it would be and closing her eyes to the room.

"Will you tell my son that I am watching over him." Johanna said in a hushed voice, pulling away slightly. "And that he needs to remember that no matter what he sees, strength comes from within." Sarah nodded slightly in agreement and when she opened her eyes once more she saw that she was back in the little room full of books with Jareth, Sir Avian, Sir Didymus, and Hoggle, no more time having passed than the blink of her eye. Looking down she saw that the pendant had transformed to a sparrow as she had wished.

While Sir Avian and Sir Didymus applauded her success and they began to help her in a crash course of how to use spells in battle and what she would need to learn, she felt distanced from the room for a moment, taking in their words but not having to listen to them. She caught Jareth's eye as he turned to retrieve a book from across the room, and it may have been a trick of the eye, but she could've sworn that a tear had fallen on his face although all the same he seemed… proud. The symbol from his mother had gone, she realized, to be replaced by her own and she knew that she needed to tell him Johanna's message.

But just as everything in life goes, with them busying themselves to teach her how to succeed in combat things went on, in a blur of practice, failures, successes, trying to cover years of training in hours. As things came to a lull in the action Sarah reached out to Jareth, to try to tell him that they needed to talk when a goblin burst into the room, telling what she dreaded to hear.

"There's been an attack in the Labyrinth."

The first time Sarah had ridden a bike she was rushed into it somewhat, so excited to move away from the little low to the ground trike she had been used to pedaling around the driveway, usually pushing the ground with her feet more than trying to use any form of breaks, and never going quite fast enough to need those brakes. No one had told her how drastically different riding a bike with only two wheels would be from her trike and how difficult balancing could be at first. The bike was a simple one-speed, no fancy changing chains or handlebar brakes, and she had tested the brakes once or twice by then, just making sure that it would in fact stop the bike in its tracks.

For some reason she had thought that the prime test for her bike would be going down a large hill, not realizing that the momentary exhilaration of the speed she gained from going down could make her forget to brake and almost crash. She ended up swerving to avoid a parked car at the end of the hill and fell over onto one side, sliding her then tiny legs against the rough pavement and scraping up her calf and knee.

She had eventually gotten much better at riding a bike and managed to perfect her stops, starts, and turns, but she would always remember that feeling of almost crashing. She even had a scar on her calf to remember that experience by. Snapped out of her thoughts, Sarah watched members of the Labyrinth rushing to equip her with tips and tools and some limited armor before sending her off with Jareth to fight what they hoped would be a quick and simple defense of the attack on the grounds. She tried to catch a moment that seemed right to tell Jareth what his mother had told her but it all seemed wrong, the timing, the wording, the feeling of the moment… Something in her wondered how her first experience in this fight would go, how long it would take to develop that instinct that so many described in fighting as they left to go take care of the attack.

The traveling itself was quick as Jareth magicked them both to the forest, staying away from the actual place of attack in order to avoid being caught unaware. As they moved closer to their destination, she noticed trees and grounds grew familiar to her, and Sarah felt a great sense of unease realising this was the main campground of the Fireys. The quiet of their surroundings suddenly became even more deadly as she remembered the song they had sung so raucously when she had stumbled there before, wishing to take off her head just as they took off their own. Looking to Jareth she knew he was just as concerned as she, watching him check through the nearby grounds when they heard the sound of a loud snap of a breaking tree falling and loud yells in the forest nearby.

Picking up their pace Jareth and Sarah both heading in the direction of the sound and the bright light of flames blazing in the forest ahead brought a frown to Jareth's face as they moved even more quickly. Entering into the fray they saw that already there were Fireys fighting for control over their harm against creatures covered in shadow with eyes as red as rubies, and with a sharp blow Sarah was awestruck to see as one of the Fireys became infected with the dark shadows, struggling against its own limbs before succumbing to the darkness that had infected it, eyes turning that terrible red last as it turned on it's fellow Fireys in an attempt to turn them as well.

"Are they all creatures of the Labyrinth?" Sarah asked in shock, only now fully realizing that this mean Ludo had become one of these dark and shadowy creatures tinted by evil just as the Fireys were slowly becoming now.

"Yes. We must try to cast a spell of light to protect them." Jareth said, already casting spells to light the forest alongside the flames that consumed it. "Try to put out these flames, will you."

Sarah nodded slightly, her shoulders rising with the tension of the situation and the knowledge of what was truly happening. It took her a few attempts but finally she cast a spell of her own shedding water over the flames and putting them out slowly as a rainstorm, but as the flames died out the forest became dimmer and the shadow creatures began to get stronger with the increase in darkness. Even as Jareth cast more spells to light the surrounding areas Sarah could see that the effects were weak against these creatures, and she did her best to attempt to help cast more light only to see it become more and more ineffective against them.

"What's wrong, why isn't it working?" Sarah asked casting another spell alongside Jareth, confused as to why things weren't working.

"I don't know, it's never been like this before." Jareth replied having to take a step back as the remaining Fireys began to turn dark with their companions, and more red eyed creatures emerged from the depths of the forest. Behind them Sarah could see what looked like a cave or cavern of some sort covered in inky shadows with a strange sort of light beyond it, and her heart jumped into her throat as she realized that it was a wall of the Labyrinth, broken down and seemingly crumbling to pieces. She remembered once more what Jareth's mother had asked her to tell him, that no matter what he sees, strength comes from within.

As some small revelation that perhaps the issue was they were not working together a great crash came down in the distance and she could see the hole in the Labyrinth's wall getting larger and crumbling down. Pieces of rock and stone flew in their direction and the chillingly familiar sound of a deep cry drew her attention to a tall figure, vaguely furred figure in the distance stepped through, seeming to almost be at odds with itself as it moved. Sarah realized slowly that this must be her dear friend they had lost to the darkness, Ludo. It was hopeful and heartbreaking to see him fighting against himself almost, for he looked different from the others that she had seen, perhaps a bit lighter in shadow than the overtaken Fireys she watched fall to the shadowy substance. It seemed almost that his kind nature was fighting the influence of the shadows that overtook him, but the shadows were too strong for him, gaining strength from the power of the Labyrinth itself.

Relapsing from her momentary distraught realizations Sarah looked to Jareth once more. "How are we supposed to fight our friends? Will it kill him if we defeat the darkness?" She asked, and she saw creatures coming up from behind and she shot off another spell of light without even thinking, hitting it dead in the chest and for a brief moment she could see that it changed, that some of the darkness recoiled. Why this one out of all she was able to have some effect on she didn't know, but something clicked internally as she realized that she was letting the spell come as an instinct.

Together they cast more spells, working together to try to make the power stronger, and it worked for a little while, especially with that instinct.

Like riding a bike.

"We don't know what will happen because we have never had the chance to see what happens. It has never been this bad." Jareth said looking behind him and seeing very much the same thing that Sarah had just witnessed.

"So that's just it then? We try to stop them, we try to save the Labyrinth while we still can…" Sarah mumbled, thinking of how many lives could be lost to death, or darkness, or worse if they could not figure out a way to get beyond this point. They were going to need help.

"What should we do? We cannot possibly do this ourselves, not with this many creatures and so much darkness." Sarah spoke casting off other spells and trying to repeat the same end result on the Fireys as they drew closer and closer, like a massive horde.

"We need to fall back, get help from the other spellcasters of the Labyrinth." Jareth said decisively, pulling her out of the way as he sent a particularly strong spell at a creature that had almost snuck up on her. "Before your foolishness turns you into one of them." He snapped, and she could see just barely something other than anger- fear. It took her a brief moment to realize that he was looking into the distance behind her with an odd look and she turned to see what he was staring at.

"Fall."

It was a loud command from the distance, but not yelled. The word resonated through the woods and was followed by a total stop of all movement. She could even see the light beginning to come through the spaces of the leaves and wondered for a brief moment how long they had been out here, how long they had been fighting if it were truly becoming dawn. Judging by the sudden exhaustion that she felt she realized that they had been there for hours, as per the trick of the Labyrinth. Something about their voice though, seemed far too familiar.

Following the path of darkness she saw a hooded figure emerge from behind the darkened from of Ludo and calmly walk towards them through the chaos, not showing their face. This one, creature or person she did not know, was different. They were much like Jareth in a way… commanding the presence of their surroundings the moment they entered. Sarah could feel the hairs on her arms and the back of her neck raise with a cool chill as the figure approached them, taking their time. She glanced to Jareth then back to the figure as they finally reached them, reaching to let their hood drop as Sarah's eyes widened in shock. They raised a hand and let a grin slide across their figures as they cast a spell.

"Ah, Jareth, Sarah. So good to see you again."