Labyrinth II: Return to the Underground

Chapter 3: "World Of Unending Night"

"I've been there to his world of unending night. To a world where the daylight dissolves into darkness…"


An unfriendly wind blew around Aurora, tugging at her hair and clothes. It hissed in her ears as she tried to shield herself from it.
The desolate expanse of the portion of the Underground she was in was disheartening. Rust-hued plains extended seemingly forever in every direction. Dust swirled around her ankles mischievously and deposited its color onto her blue and white running shoes and blue jeans.


Aurora sighed and began to follow the outer retaining wall of the Labyrinth, trying to decided where to begin her search. Entering the Labyrinth, she knew, was pointless. Unless Sarah's thinking was so clouded that she wandered back into the maze, she wouldn't be there. If Sarah was in the Underground, Aurora suspected that she would be on the opposite side of the Labyrinth, near the Plain of Endless Day. Her gaze wandered to the horizon where the lights from the Crystal Kingdom caught her eye. Her stomach flip-flopped as she looked at the glittering citadel nestled snugly in the Mountain of a Thousand Caves.

An unpleasant thought crossed her mind. Sarah did not know about the existence of the Crystal Kingdom, but what if Jareth had told her about it. Any girl who ever read a fairy tale would want to go there; Sarah would be no exception. The thought of having to return to the Kingdom made her physically ill and Aurora had to stop. Would Jareth really be so cruel as to do that? She put her hand on the wall of the Labyrinth for support. He was angry with her and so it was possible. She once knew him well enough to predict his moves but that was a very long time ago. Or was it? It didn't matter what the passage of time was. She no longer knew what to expect from him.


She pulled herself together and continued on. Eventually she would come across a Dweller, an inhabitant of the Underground, of an Undergroundling, a child or creature of the Underground, that might be of some help. Then again creature Undergroundlings weren't known for being terribly bright.


More vegetation began to appear as Aurora approached the Far Side of the Labyrinth, and with it life. She heard a chirping coming from one of the nearby trees and wandered over to inspect it. As she expected, the melody was coming from a tiny- rat-like creature with powerful hind legs- a Rang- tang. Because of the Rang-tang’s ability to match its fur to its surroundings, Aurora could only tell its location by the minute purple claws that stood out on the slate gray Skaggle tree.


"Excuse me," Aurora said politely.


The song stopped. "Yes?" replied a shrill voice.


"Could you kindly help me, please?"


"Dunno. Maybe."


"I'm looking for someone," she said in a little girl's voice.


"Who?"


"A Rang-tang called Kemper."


"Rory?" the creature asked incredulously. It turned royal purple and twitched its tiny green whiskers.


" It's me, Kemp," Aurora confirmed in her normal voice.


Kemper let out an impossibly high-pitched whistle.


"Well, well, well," he spoke in the typical rapid-fire, Rang-tang way. "Jareth finally brought ya home! I neva thought he would."


"He didn't," she looked away. "My niece is here and as soon as I find her, I'm leaving."


"Oh," Kemper was silent. "Need help lookin’ for her?"


Aurora nodded. "Have you heard of anything unusual going on?"


Kemper thought about this for a moment and puffed out his cheeks as Rang-tangs do when they're thinking.


"No, can't say I have," he said finally. "Though there was a commotion with the Ne-Ne Whals this morning’."


Aurora wiggled her nose. The sun rising could cause a commotion with the Ne-Ne Whals, but it was a starting point.


"Thanks, Kemp," she turned to go and felt a light thump on her shoulder.


"Mind if I go with?" Kemper asked perching on her shoulder.


Aurora grinned. "Nope. I could do with some company."


The Ne-Ne Whals lived in their own community nestled within the Dream Hills. The gray and white hyperactive balls of fur with gleaming red eyes where not very sociable creatures and it was normally hard to find any of them outside their burrows, making the Dreams Hills a peculiar place for them to live. The Hills were usually filled with people and creatures who were attracted by their surreal beauty and fell asleep there.


The Ne-Ne Whals were out in droves which surprised both Aurora and Kemper.


"…picked me up she did, the oversized goblin. Picked ME UP!" one of the creatures was shrieking as the two drew near. He was jumping all over the place not caring what or who he bounced off of.


Kemper scratched his head. "I dun get it," he said, his face marred with confusion. "They were going on about this earlier. Why are they still on it?"


Aurora frowned. "I don't know. But it is odd that they should carry on for so long. It's not like them."


Kemper leaped easily down from her shoulder to the ground and hopped over the upset bunch. Aurora stayed out of sight, knowing
that the rang-tang's presence would be more welcomed than her own.


It took Kemper a good while to calm the Ne-Ne Whals down enough to talk to them. Once he did, they were eager to recount their tale.


Kemper came back to Aurora and balanced on her knee. He twitched his nose and sat back on his haunches.


"This is what I could get outta them," he said with a flick of his bushy tail. "Some girl came through this morning and fell asleep in the Hills. She woke up just as the Ne-Ne's were coming up to eat. She saw them, went all girlie, and picked one up. Well, you know how they hate to be picked up. It bit her and she left."


Aurora wrinkled her nose. "That's it?"


Kemper shrugged. "Yeah, that's it. Sound like your niece?"


"Sounds like it could be. Did they know where she went?"


"One said she headed for the Gardens of Forgetfulness, another said the Labyrinth. Then the others said she went somewhere else. None of them could agree on anything."


"Great," Aurora sighed. "We're back where we started."


Kemper jumped to her shoulder. "We could head over to the Gardens of Forgetfulness. Lot's of humans tend to wander over there after they visit the Dream Hills.


Aurora stood up and brushed off her jeans. "Might as well."


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Jareth watched Aurora and Kemper from the Dream Hills through narrowed eyes. He knew that Aurora could easily find Sarah if he didn't intervene. He smiled to himself in that sly way, plotting his next move. He moved on from the Dream Hills and disappeared into the landscape.


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To get to the Gardens of Forgetfulness the duo had to go through the Forest On the Edge Of Forever. Aurora remembered the days she used to spend in the Forest. It was a beautiful place: Tall slender Flarrow Trees extended their delicate branches to sky. They were very different from the squat, dingy Skaggle trees that dotted the Plains of the Underground. Flarrow trees were a light lavender color with smooth glossy bark and velvety heart-shaped leaves of pastel blue and yellow. A thin pink mist always lingered around the bass of the Trees where dainty green shoots and tiny Faerie Flowers grew. She paused at one of the Trees and ran her fingertips over the carving in its trunk. Her eyes filled with memories and lost dreams. She quickly moved on as Kemper caught a glimpse of the writing on the tree. He nuzzled Aurora's cheek gently and remained quiet.


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Sarah wandered into the Forest On the Edge of Forever and, because of the Forests size and the nature of the Underground, she never saw nor ran into her aunt. Dreamily, Sarah made her way through the Forest despite her forefinger persistently throbbing in pain.


"How beautiful this place is," she said out loud and smiled to herself. "And how perfect a place to meet Jareth in."


She blushed as she thought about him. She had to admit that she was disappointed that she had yet to see the Goblin King.


"What if he doesn't know I'm here? she cried, suddenly panicked. She was tempted to run to the Castle Beyond the Goblin City and announce her presence, but the Forest was so beautiful that she didn't wish to rush through it.


"Besides", she reasoned to herself, "I don't want to go through the Labyrinth again and it would be much more romantic for Jareth to find me."


Once again she blushed at the thought of the Goblin King. How foolish she had been a year ago. Sarah sighed and wandered on.


At one of the Flarrow Trees she stopped and inspected it. There was an elaborate design carved into the trunk. In the center of the design were the elegant letters M A J. Maj? she peered curiously at the word. What on earth is Maj?


Sarah forgot the letters for they meant nothing to her and forgot the carving as well. She decided to cut through the Forest because a garden in the distance caught her attention.


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A pair of golden eyes watched Sarah as she ventured off the path that wound through the Forest on the Edge of Forever. They had heard all that Sarah had said and they burned with jealousy. The eyes followed Sarah out of the Forest.







"I wish I could say that you've been like a father to me, but I've never had one so I don't know what it feels like. But if there is anyone in this universe that I could choose to be like or make proud of me- it's you."
~Tasha Yar to Captain Picard~