Chapter Text
They say that good friends are like stars: you don’t always see them, but you know they’re there. This saying rings true for many, including Sarah Williams who’s dearest friends are often unseen by those around her. Only through her mirror can she speak to them and occasionally can they cross over to the Aboveground to be with her for a short time. Those moments were treasured dearly by the characters of both realms, but there came a time when even those precious moments ceased.
Years pass and time marches on and Sarah saw her friends less and less until they were but an old memory of what she seemed like an enchanting dream that she recalled all too well. By the time she had become a mother, she’d begun creating a children’s book that she called “The Underground” which told the tales of a young girl’s journey through the ever changing maze to save her brother. Many would compare it to Alice in Wonderland due to the silly nonsense and childlike style, yet there was always a sense of realism in the complexity of emotion and thoughts of the main character as if Sarah had experienced it firsthand.
Her daughters Linette and Feya often did ask her about the story and its origin. Sarah would smile and wind up one of the crystal ball music boxes; she’d tell her daughters as she watched the fey king and queen dance that there are times when the faerie realm and this would nearly connect and often people would experience the other realm through dreams for they were powerful. Like their father, however, they believed that to be a rubbish answer. Her granddaughter, however, was fascinated.
She’d always been close with her granddaughter from the day of her birth, for she would often watch her as her busy parents worked. Because of this, Ambrosia Hart grew up listening to Grandma Sarah’s adventures through the labyrinth and learned how to be clever and solve puzzles, how to dance like all the fae in the ballroom, and how to be strong and fight for friends and family.
Ambrosia often found herself to be daydreaming of the Underground and grinning as she imagined having her own adventure there just like the girl in her grandmother’s stories. She’d be cunning and courageous and reach the castle with Hoggle, Ludo, and Sir Didymus by her side. Even as she grew older to the age of nineteen, she would visit or call her grandmother to hear the stories again and again with the same fascination as when she was a child. Something about those enchanting tales just captivated the young woman.
Unfortunately, there comes a time in life when, like dreams and stories, things come to an end and Sarah was nearing hers. She smiled sadly up at Ambrosia who sat beside her, reciting the stories she knew so well, pausing when Sarah took her hand.
“Are you okay, grandma? Is something wrong?”
“No, my dear. It’s sweet of you to be with me but don’t you think you should be studying and with friends?”
“They’re busy,” she answered quickly. “Besides, I love hanging out with you and learning so much about the Underground. I never get tired of it. I don’t know how someone can be so inspired and dream up of such a place.” It wasn’t an entire lie, she did love these moments with her. Truth be told, however, she struggled to make friends in college. Her focus was mainly on three things: passing classes, her daycare job, and taking care of her grandmother.
“Do you want to hear a secret, Ambrosia?”
She nodded, leaning in.
“I really was whisked away to the Labyrinth in my youth. It’s real; all those stories, Hoggle, Ludo, Sir Didymus, Jareth.”
Ambrosia smiled and sat back. Though she didn’t believe that, she entertained her, knowing how much the tales and characters meant to the other. “Was Jareth really that cruel?”
“Not at all, but I didn’t see that then. Only after I left did I notice and soon grow fond of him.”
“Would you ever wish yourself back to tell him or to at least see him again?”
“No, I couldn’t. I wouldn't want him to see me like this now that I’m far too old and my own time is starting to end.”
“Grandma,” she gasped.
“It’s okay, Ambrosia, I’ve already accepted it. I’ve lived a wonderful and full life with no regrets. Or, well, I suppose I do have one regret.”
“Marrying grandpa?”
“No, Haywood is fine. If it weren’t for him, I wouldn’t have your aunt or mother or you.”
“Then what is your one regret?”
“That I stopped speaking with my dearest friends…” She stared up at the ceiling with watering green eyes, allowing old memories to return to her like a hazy childhood dream. "I can't remember why I did."
“Do you ever wish you could see them again? To go on one last adventure?”
As she laid back and shut her eyes, she hummed, “I do. More than anything every now and again. I wish,” she murmured quietly, allowing herself to fall asleep.
“Rest well, okay?” whispered Ambrosia as she rose from her chair and left the room. She glanced out the window, finding it had started raining. “Better hurry to class,” she muttered to herself, searching for her keys.
Thunder crashed loudly overhead, shaking the house, just as she’d made it to the door. Ambrosia gasped, catching herself on the couch. As she steadied herself, the power shut off and she was in complete darkness. “Oh great,” she sighed, dropping her bag on the couch, searching for her phone. “Come on, where are you- aha!” Just as she readied to dial her mother’s number, there came a loud thud from her grandmother’s room. “Grandma!” she gasped. “Grandma, are you okay? Gran-” she stopped in her tracks, hearing quiet whispering from the other side of the door. Her blood ran cold, her heart pounded horribly so that it echoed loudly in her ears. She swallowed the lump in her throat and grabbed the doorknob.
The door creaked open, allowing in the light of Ambrosia’s cellphone. Slowly, she shone the blue light around the room as she cautiously stepped in. “Grandma? Is anyone here?” Finding no one in sight, she hurried to Sarah’s bed and found that she too had gone. She gasped. “Grandma? Where are you?” As she frantically searched the area, she froze as she caught a glimpse of a man in the mirror. She rubbed her eyes with a shaky breath and took another glance into the mirror, finding the man still there. When she turned around, however, he was nowhere to be found.
“Ambrosia, I presume?” he said as he stepped closer.
“Who are you? Where’s my grandma?”
“She’s alright, I’m only granting a wish that’s long overdue.”
“What do you mean? Where’d she go? What did you-” she choked, turning again, finding the man towering over her. He was what she could only describe as otherworldly with the grace and elegance yet the dauntingness of a celestial being. He was no doubt a handsome man with alluring, unevenly dilated, blue eyes and a charming face yet he gave off an aura of near spectral or eldritch or- “You’re the fey, aren’t you? You’re the Goblin King.”
He didn’t speak, rather he walked, observing old photos of Sarah and her family through the years.
“That means the stories were true?”
“Very." He hummed, narrowing his eyes at a photo of her wedding. "Oh, Sarah, why settle for-”
“Hey!” She huffed, making her way towards the other. “I don’t care who or how powerful you are, give her back!”
He paused and scrutinized the other closely before he gave a chuckle. “You’re just like her. I’ve heard worse, but for her granddaughter, I’ll allow this-” and in the blink of an eye, they were in a golden field with a lone tree and just beyond, in the distance, the menacing Labyrinth that Ambrosia had heard of time and time again stood.
“Is that…”
“It is. You seem to have somewhat of an understanding on how this works.”
“I like to think I understand it quite well.”
“Of course you do, you’re all the same.”
“What do you mean?”
“You’re quite cocky and like to act as such to intimidate or impress your opponent. I warn you; your grandmother got into trouble because of that. I’d watch myself if I were you.”
“Why are you warning me?”
“To avoid the inevitable “that’s not fair” phrase as much as probable.”
“Alright then. I’m assuming you have her locked away in your castle at the center and I have thirteen hours to complete this, yes?”
“Quite smart of you, yes. I’m afraid intelligence alone won’t get you far though. Now, if you’ll excuse me.”
“Wait a moment!” As she turned towards the other, she’d found that he’d already disappeared. She groaned. “Okay okay. It’s just a dream, Ambrosia. You can’t possibly lose in your own dream.” She stared out towards the labyrinth where either destiny or doom awaited her within the walls. “Well, I might as well enjoy it then. Can't get too comfortable though. Okay... I’m coming to save you, grandma.”