Summary: Sarah, Toby, and co. venture into the Labyrinth to rescue Layla, and unknowingly fall into a trap.
Warning(s): Other than some anxiety and yelling, I don't think there's any this chapter, as always, please let me know if I missed anything!
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No matter how much Sarah willed her body forward, both feet stayed cemented to the floor. A fire of protest burned in every fiber being. It screamed and begged not to go through the window, desperate not to return to the world she’d spent so many years running from. “Layla is there, I have to get her back. I can’t afford to be afraid right now,” Sarah told herself. She knew deep in her heart of hearts that if the roles were reversed, Layla wouldn’t hesitate to get her back. Unable to shake the sensation of being watched, Sarah tore her focus away from the window, and realized all eyes were on her.
Her vulnerability was something new to Toby, who looked at her with a sense of worry and understanding. Almost as if it finally dawned on him just how hard their venture would be on her. Beneath his concern though, Sarah saw excitement. The same rich desire she’d once had to see a world only ever described by printed words on dead trees.
Jareth had no such sentiment. She met his leveled stare only to realize she couldn’t quite make out what thoughts danced behind blue and brown. What his eyes failed to convey, his body did. Stiff as a statue with both hands folded at his front, though one thumb tapped against the other. His impatience was ill-received, it swept Sarah’s features up in a storm of annoyance.
“Come on, Layla’s waiting,” she offered her hand to Toby.
Toby jumped a bit as he was referred to, the boy had gotten distracted trying to decipher the hidden language his sister and the Goblin King seemed to have. He took her hand with a nod, “right.”
In unison the Williams’ siblings entered the portal, neither bombarded by a wave of nausea or any other form of disorientation. Instead it happened like they’d simply walked out the front door. Except said door led to a desert-like world. Deja Vu hit Sarah with enough force to send her fifteen years into the past, to the story night when she first made her wish.
The Labyrinth stood both familiar and foriegn, thin cracks that hadn’t been there before littered the ground beneath her feet like veins. When she surveyed the land, sand no longer carried in the wind, and the air itself had changed. Heavier. Almost suffocating. It all seemed like a shadow of its former self, no longer urging her to rise to the challenge of conquering winding halls and hidden passages.
“Whoa,” Toby drank in the world around him, a wide smile blossomed on his lips. “Come on Daeg let’s explore!”
Sarah tightened her grip on his hand when he tried to charge headfirst without a second thought, “hey wait-”
The words died on her tongue when Toby looked at her with a slight pout, a plea in his eyes for her to let him go.
After several long moments of consideration, a heavy sigh escaped her. Sarah relented, allowing him to run with his Fiery companion so long as he promised to stay within her line of sight. She couldn’t fight back the smile at watching Toby run down the path, his fiery struggling to keep up even while running on all fours.
The smile died in an instant, her head turned to look over her shoulder, “what happened to the part about not having to run again? Why bring us to the beginning and not just straight to the castle?”
“So you may see the extent of the damage done here,” Jareth raised a hand so Girven could hop into his palm, kneeling down, he placed the Spriggan on the ground. “You will not go through the Labyrinth, Girven will lead you around to the hidden entrance. Won’t you?”
A gnawing type chatter came from the Spriggan as it nodded.
Sarah’s eyes widened, “What?! You’re just gonna leave us here?”
Her hands balled into fists, alongside his current decision to leave Girven as their escort, the matter-of-fact way he’d spoken made Sarah’s blood boil. Why did it sound like he was pointing the blame at her? She rolled her eyes and pinched the bridge of her nose, sucking in a deep breath in an attempt to quell her anger. He had no power over her. Even though she was willing to bet his claim of there being a “hidden entrance” had been something he installed after her victory. She wouldn’t fall prey to his petty jabs.
Before anything else could be said, Jareth vanished, and a white owl took his place. A screech tore across the sky as it ascended towards the castle in the distance.
He probably wouldn’t hear it, but Sarah wanted to get the last word in. She cupped her hands around her mouth and shouted, “asshole!”
Girven pinned its ears with a displeased whimper.
“Oh, sorry,” she winced. “Uhm, lead the way, I guess?”
Sarah wasn’t sure how they hadn’t managed to set foot in the Labyrinth but still reach the Goblin City. She stood beneath the archway, fingertips tracing the brickwork. There were marks, both old and new. One in particular stood out to her, thin, like it had been made by the strike of a blade. Sarah jumped when a bark echoed around her, “Didymus?” Her head whipped around as she searched for the knight, except he never appeared to her. Only his phantom barks continued.
“What, is someone here?” Toby’s head whipped around as he halted.
Daegmund sing-songed under a mumble meant only for the boy’s ears, “Wooh-hoo, tha little lady gone loco."
Girven reached one of its small hands clutched at Sarah’s pant leg. Big eyes looked up at her curiously, the Spriggan’s bushy mane of brown swished to the side following its head tilt.
“I’m fine,” Sarah shook her head and rubbed the tension pooling between her brows. “I just…thought I heard something.”
Rather than hold the group back with her hallucinations, she pushed ahead of them. Sarah had found her way to the castle once, she could do it again with or without Girven’s guidance. She was champion of the Labyrinth afterall.
The damage Jareth spoke of worsened the closer they got to the castle, half of the goblin city appeared to have been struck by some kind of landslide. Fallen buildings and piles of rubble still scattered the stone below. The fountain in the city square no longer spouted water, based on the black ring around the inside, it hadn’t for a while.
Daegmund clumsily descended down from Toby’s back, the Fiery just as awe struck by the city he’d likely never seen. Sarah watched the bright orange creature move about, and torment a few goblins who dared to leave their homes. She still found it strange how different Daegmund was compared to the other Fiery she encountered, he never once tried to take off Toby’s head, or arm, or any other part of him. Her train of thought came to a halt once they reached the doors to the castle.
“It’s so quiet, where are all the goblins?” Toby wondered aloud.
Daegmund flicked an ear towards Girven, “Da little one be sayin’ Kingsy called ‘em all in.”
“Come on,” Sarah bent down and offered her hand for Girven to climb onto, “let’s get inside. The faster we find Layla the faster we can get out of here.”
Toby followed close at Sarah’s heel, concern brewed in his eyes. He’d never seen his sister act the way she did. Almost like they were going into a haunted house instead of a mythical castle. His eyes fell to her free hand, the one picking at a loose thread on the seam of her jeans. He reached out and took her hand in his, giving it a light squeeze. When Sarah looked down at him he only smiled in return.
Sarah kept her brother shielded as they turned the corner, a dark curtain blocked the archway that would have let them look into the throne room. Pulling it back some, she watched the scene before her play out. Each goblin in the room shrank back to burrow into the nearest crevice and corner they could fit into as Jareth circled the room, both hands on his hips. In that moment she realized she’d never seen Jareth interact with the goblins, she’d only heard the music and obnoxious laughs carry in the wind back when she was a runner.
“Enough of your squabbling and excuses,” he snapped. “Where is Styx? I specifically put her in charge!”
From the otherside of the room a woman- no. She was half a woman. From the knees down she had the legs of a bird, sharp talons clicked against the floor when she entered the room. Lavender waves spilled about halfway down her back, from what Sarah could tell. She didn’t recognize the woman at all.
Styx folded clawed hands at her front, wings falling from her arms like bellowed sleeves, “I am here, majesty.”
“I demand an explanation. How is it that a human girl was taken when I ordered no wishes to be granted in my absence,” Jareth directed a glare to three goblins who skittered under her wings for protection.
“Majesty, please,” Styx begged as she safeguarded the goblins. The two dark feathers poking through her waves pinned like the ears of a sad puppy, “I am at fault. Do not punish them. There hasn’t been a wish for many weeks, they were simply a little over-excited.”
“You can only coddle them so much, Styx,” Jareth grumbled. “They may have been children once, but they are n-”
Toby covered his mouth too late to catch the gasp, he inched further behind Sarah when he realized they’d been spotted.
“Ah, it would seem our guests have arrived,” The Goblin King waved a hand at the three goblins huddled around Styx. “You three, prove yourselves useful and bring the girl here. She will return Aboveground at once.”
Sarah squeezed Toby’s hand behind her back as she stepped fully into the throne room, “if Layla wasn’t running then where were you keeping her?”
Styx’s feathered ears perked at the sight of the small group, she took it upon herself to answer while Jareth sat upon his throne, “well, given that Layla had been mistakenly taken as one who was wished away, she would need a runner to claim her. However in this case since your brother has already been in the Labyrinth, he could not challenge to get her back. In rare cases such as this, ones who are wished away with no runner are simply confined to the castle. Your friend has kept the kitchen staff quite entertained with her culinary skills.”
“Oh thank god,” Sarah sighed in relief. “I thought she’d be thrown in a dungeon or something.”
“Come now, dear Sarah. We aren’t heathens,” Jareth snorted.
Toby looked around his sister towards Styx, “So…Layla is okay? She isn’t mad at me?”
The avain woman smiled so bright it could put the sun to shame, she shook her head lightly, “no, young one. I’ve seen to it that your friend is treated with great care.”
“Sarah! Oh- Toby!” Layla beamed as she rushed in ahead of her goblin escorts, she threw her arms around Sarah’s neck. Safe and sound, and not a single scratch on her.
“Layla,” Sarah stumbled at the force of the hug, but nonetheless held onto her friend like a lifeline. “I’m so sorry this happened, you should never have been brought here.”
Despite the arguably traumatic experience of being kidnapped by goblins, the redhead didn’t seem the least bit frightened. She’d all but taken over the castle kitchen for goodness sake. “But Sarah, it's wonderful here! Everyone has been so lovely! Of course, it was a bit scary at first but really, everyone has been so kind to me. A few of the goblins in the kitchen even showed me how to make grit cakes!”
“I’m just glad you’re not hurt,” Sarah dismissed her own negative bias surrounding the castle. Layla seemed so happy, she wouldn’t squander that.
“Me too,” Toby added, throwing his arms around Layla apologetically.
Their reunion was interrupted by Jareth, who cleared his throat and rose from his throne, “yes, well now that your friend has been reclaimed, we can resume progress on more important matters. Styx will prepare sleeping quarters for you. Tomorrow, Sarah, you will be led to where the convergence first occurred. Perhaps then you will be better equipped to bring an end to this matter.”
Sarah went eye-wide, “What?! No, absolutely not, we’re not staying here!”
“I fail to see where I gave you an option,” Jareth sneered. “You leave with Styx at first light.”
An Archive of Our Own, a project of the Organization for Transformative Works
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Ch. 18: Fireflies in the Snow
Afternoon in the city, on the weekends, in a major market square, was always a sight to behold. Even more so during the holiday season, when strings of lights glittered against the sky and gold ribbons adorned every street lamp, when silver tinsel danced across the storefronts and the smell of hot cocoa wafted through the air.
New Dawn was only a week away now, and the frantic scramble to find perfect gifts had whipped up into a frenzy. The Mighty Nein practically had to hold hands to stay together through the bustling crowd, and Nott had opted for riding Caleb’s shoulders to avoid getting swept away. Similarly, perched up on Yasha, bouncing along to the gait of their stroll and her feathers ruffling in the breeze, was another special friend who had been retrieved for this particular adventure.
“Your name is Kiri?” Caduceus rumbled, adjusting his bag to fit over his shoulder. “Is that short for anything?”
“Yes, I’m very sweet,” she chirped back.
He nodded in mild confusion. “It’s short for you being sweet?”
