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Sarah uncovers a family history she never knew existed. |
| Disclaimer: Labyrinth and all related characters belong to Jim Henson Productions. Chapter titles and quotes are the property of the Really Useful Group. All non-canon characters and places contained in this story are exclusively the author's and not be used elsewhere. Lyrics to Little Girlare the sole property of the author. "Sometimes it seems if I just dream, somehow you would be here..." The sound of jet engines thundered throughout the Dublin International Airport. Outside the terminal, an American Trans Air passenger plane touched down and taxied to a slow stop. A massive body of people unloaded from the airliner and made their way to their various destinations. Sixteen-year-old Sarah Williams struggled to break free from crowd, nearly tripping in the process. Once she had some space to move about more freely, she sat the bag she was carrying down and stood on her tiptoes to better scan the crowd. She was supposed to be meeting her aunt. Sarah had been six the last time she had seen Aurora, her mother's sister, and was worried about recognizing her. Her mother had written her and told her that she would know Aurora as soon as she saw her, but Sarah remained skeptical. Time passed and Sarah began to fear that her young aunt had forgotten her. Just as she was about to begin a search for a phone, the crowd before her suddenly seemed to part and in the center was a beautiful woman. Sarah's jaw dropped slightly. The woman looked just like a fairy-tale princess with an ethereal beauty. The woman smiled slightly and moved towards Sarah. As she got closer Sarah saw that the woman was actually a girl, not too much older than herself, who bore a striking resemblance to Disney's Ariel. Sarah knew immedately that this was Aurora. "Sarah! Is it really you?" Aurora hugged her niece warmly. Sarah hugged her tightly in return. memories of her childhood with Aurora came flooding back and she realized just how much she had missed her aunt. Aurora broke the hug first and stepped back from Sarah, eyeing her critically. Then she broke into a sunny grin. "You've grown-up into such a beautiful young lady! Sarah, you're stunning!" * * * On the third morning of her summer long stay, Sarah awoke and blinked against the sun that was pouring onto her face. She sighed dreamily and closed her eyes again. However, she didn't stay like that for long. She had a castle to explore today! Sarah had been expecting Aurora to live in one of those quaint, post card perfect Irish cottages , but instead Aurora had brought her to a bone fide castle deep in the heart of Galway. Aurora never exactly said how she came to live in Carrick Dun, other than it was a "gift" of sorts from an old friend. Sarah naturally had a million questions about someone who gave castles as gifts for no real reason, but Aurora's answers were vague and not really answers at all. Sarah had little to dwell on the gift-giver; the last two days had been a bit of a blur for Sarah filled with late-night talks with Aurora and sight-seeing throughout Galway. Sarah had discovered that her aunt was every bit the dreamer that she was and they had spent the previous afternoon and evening sharing their daydreams. During one point in the conversation, Sarah had, for some unexplainable reason, blurted out that she still carried a torch for a certain king and prattled on about her love. When she had realized what she was saying, she had blushed profusely, thinking that Aurora must have thought that she was a silly child to be talking as though the king were a real person and not just a figment of her imagination. But Aurora did not laugh; she was very serious about the matter. Sarah frowned as remembered the look on her aunt's face; it had been marred with a peculiar expression. Brushing away the thought, she slipped her feet into her slippers, slid off her white satin canopy bed, and headed down stairs. Aurora was already up and dressed. "Morning, sleepyhead," she smiled. "I was afraid that you wouldn't be up before I had to leave." "Where are you going?" Sarah asked as she buttered a piece of toast. "Into town. I've got some business that needs to be taken care of." Aurora paused to finish her coffee. "Besides I thought you might enjoy exploring the castle on your own." Sarah tried unsuccessfully to conceal her joy. "I wouldn't mind you being here, though." Aurora came over to Sarah and kissed her cheek. "Of course you wouldn't, but it's more fun to discover Carrick Dun's secrets on your own than with someone who knows them all already. Just remember what we talked about last night- everything is open to you except my room. There's nothing interesting in there anyway. I'll be home for dinner." After Aurora left, Sarah didn't eat any more breakfast. The cook, Birdie (BRY-Dee), told Sarah to get dressed and to stop by the kitchen before she took off so she could pick up a box of food in case she got hungry during her escapades. Sarah was in the west wing of the castle walking down a corridor and looking for a door to open. She turned a corner and was disappointed to find herself in the hall where Aurora's room was. She was about to go back the way she came for she had no intention of invading her aunt's privacy, when she caught a glimpse of an unusual doorknob. It appeared it be a blue crystal sphere instead of the common brass knobs of the other doors. Upon closer inspection, Sarah saw a golden "A" in it's center. This must be Aunt Rory's room, Sarah thought and turned to leave. "Open the door." "What?" Sarah whirled around to see who had spoken, but she saw no one. She began to laugh at herself. "I'm letting my imagination run a little too wild," she said to herself as she began to leave again. "Your aunt is hiding something from you." The voice, or rather the quiet echo of a voice, spoke again. "Open the door and find out what's inside." Sarah froze. There was a vague familiarity about voice, though she could not place it with a face. She turned slowly, her heart hammering in her ears. The corridor was empty. No shadows scurrying to the corners. No creaking stairs. There was nothing. Sarah's eyes locked on the door of Aurora's room. "Do you remember me, Sarah? Do you?" Mesmerized by the melodic voice, Sarah shook her head. "You don't? Pity. Why don't you open the door. I'm waiting for you. Just open the door. Please." The voice seemed so sad, so lonely, so needy.... Sarah was shocked to find her hand on the crystal knob and her aunt's warning came back to her. But she couldn't stop herself and she turned the handle to the right. It clicked and refused to budge any further. Sarah let out a sigh of relief when she found that the door was locked. "To the left, Sarah. Turn it to the left." Sarah's hand obeyed as though it was independent of the rest of her body. The door opened. * * * "Rory. Hey, Rory." Thomas Nolan waved his hand in front of Aurora's crystal blue eyes. "You all right, girl?" he asked when she looked up at him. She frowned. "I don't know, Tommy. I-I have the strangest feeling that something's wrong." "Wrong with what? The publishing company?" "No, no. At home. With Sarah." "Your niece, right?" he asked. She nodded. "Rory?" She looked back at him. "Go. This all can wait 'til later." Without a word, Aurora left the restaurant. * * * Sarah cautiously entered her aunt's room, afraid of who might be waiting for her. Once she was fully inside, the door slammed shut behind her causing her jump. Laughter flooded her ears, then dissipated as quickly as it came. Sarah was captivated by her aunt's room. There was a canopy bed in the center much like the one in Sarah's room, but this was draped in royal blue velvet and silk with gold trim. The furniture- dressers, tables, chairs- looked as though they could have been from the time when the castle was first built, yet somehow they look brand new. There were crystal objects all over the room. From the chandelier to the animal figurines on the mantle. In one corner was a large mirror hanging over an elaborately carved vanity. On the vanity sat an exquisite jewelry box. It was gold-plated with detailed gold roses wrapped around it. As Sarah opened the box she noticed a large white feather had been placed through the slot where a lock should be. She carefully removed the feather and pushed back the lid. Music filled the room. Sarah knew she had heard the song the box played before, but she could not remember anything about the music. The box was filled with all sorts of costume jewelry that looked real. Sarah put several rings on her fingers- rings of diamond, sapphire, emerald, and amethyst. She piled bracelets on her wrists. She hung sapphires from her earlobes and draped necklace upon necklace around her neck. It took some time for Sarah to get a set of golden combs encrusted with garnet to hold her hair up. She grinned in delight at her reflection in the mirror. She then turned her attention to the closets. She opened the heavy oak doors and was amazed to find a wardrobe full of dress-up clothes. They were the clothes of a princess! Dresses in every color of the rainbow, ball gowns, nightgowns. "Why in the world didn't Aunt Rory want me see this stuff?" Sarah wondered aloud as she chose an emerald gown made of a velvet like material and trimmed in intricate gold embroidery. When she finished dressing she admired herself in the full-length mirror she had found on the inside of one of the wardrobe doors. All I need now is a crown. Surely Aunt Rory has one around here somewhere. Sarah caught a glimpse of something glittery on the top shelf of the wardrobe. As she felt along the shelf, her hand caught on something and sent a book flying to the floor. Sarah made a mental note to pick it up and continued her quest for the sparkling object. It turned out to be just what she wanted. With the diamond tiara nestled in her dark hair, she shut the door and was bending down to pick up the fallen book, when she saw a large chest hidden between the wall and the wardrobe. Forgetting the book, Sarah knelt next to the chest and lifted the heavy lid, resting it against the wall. Inside was a large leather-bound book with gold lettering spelling out Sketchbook on the front. Sarah opened to the first page and gasped. Her eyes widened in disbelief and the color drained from her cheeks. Memories from a year ago when she wished Toby away came roaring back. Frantically she flipped through the entire art book. Every page was filled with sketches of her king. Jareth. They were signed with her aunt's unmistakable signature. Jareth... a wave of emotion broke against her. The voice she had heard was his. The music the box played was his song. But how did her aunt know about him? Was this why she had placed her room off limits. Sarah forced herself to put the book back where it belonged and to close the chest again. She leaned heavily against the stone window and look out over the landscape. The land had a surreal look to it. There seemed to be two layers to the view. The top layer was light and bright; the other was dark and grim. Sarah knew the lower level was Jareth's realm and she desperately wanted to go back there. But she had no brother in Ireland to wish away. Sarah abruptly left the window and swept the book off the floor. As she had expected it was a copy of Labyrinth. She flipped through it looking for something... She went to the last chapter. Chapter 13. Sarah frowned. Thirteen chapters? It must be a misprint. My book only has twelve chapters. She went back through the book, slowly this time, looking for the apocryphal chapter. It didn't take long to find it. She poured over the book taking in every word, every mark of punctuation. She threw the book down when she was done. She knew how to get back to the Labyrinth. |
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