A/N: Finally got a beta, editing as I go along. :D

Out of the 48,000 students at Texas A&M University, 22,000 are female. Out of those women, 13,000 have brown hair. Only 203 have brown hair and green eyes. Of those scant two hundred, four are from the East Coast. Only one has a little brother. She and her little brother are singular individuals, with the traces of their otherworldly friends visible about their person, if one had the eyes to see them.

Sarah was far from home, working on her master's degree at a university in the middle of Texas for many reasons. One of them was obvious: Texas was as different from her home as a cat was different from an owl. She also wanted to get as far away from her family as possible. While she had the love of her now 11 year old brother, Toby, her father and step-mother viewed her as a bad influence on him. Apparently encouraging a young boy's imaginative fancies was not appreciated. Her mother cared little for her only child, as she was the last reminder of a relationship that she wished dearly that she could forget. She attempted to solve the problem of her daughter in the same way she solved all her problems- by throwing money at her. So it is with this money that Sarah Williams could afford to give herself a strong education in literature and history, culminating in a master's of comparative literature and cultures, allowing her to study stories, and the environment that fomented such ideas. She has few friends, preferring her studies and her books to the wilds of the human spirit. She lives alone, and likes it that way. She is not sure what will happen once she receives her master's degree. To her, the future is hazy.

The campus was beautiful this time of year. Now that October had finally rolled around, the Texas heat had finally eased, dropping below 90 on a regular basis. The marching band could be heard all across the campus- a heavy rhythm to get the students going on their way to class, with the drum line forcing their steps to move ever faster. Sarah was on her way to her last class of the day, Mythologies 301. She was one of three graduate students in the class, so she always felt so much older just by being there. The sun was setting on the campus in a blaze of glory, allowing Sarah a brilliant view as she walked to class, but all too soon she was inside, pulling out her course book, and settling in.

The professor, Ms. Duncan, as she preferred to be called, looked around the room sternly.

'How many of you have forgotten about your thesis? Your subject is supposed to be turned in for my approval today.'

While many of the students murmured, or stirred in their seats, Sarah was not concerned. She'd had her topic picked out for weeks. 'Creation Myths' was simple enough, yet there was enough there to write 30 pages or more. The students called out their subjects, and Ms. Duncan told them 'yes' or 'no', or gave them a tip on where to find some good information on their particular subject. Sarah didn't pay attention, instead focusing on the outline of her thesis that she had already completed. She liked being ahead of the game, in case she got sick and couldn't finish the paper on time. Suddenly, while contemplating where she could find some alternate translations for hieroglyphs on the Ancient Egyptian creation myth, the student behind her announced his chosen subject, 'Creation myths!' Sarah whirled around and glared at him. He pretended not to see it, but smiled triumphantly when he got approval.

'Well, Sarah? What subject did you have in mind?' Ms. Duncan asked.

'Ms. Duncan, I was hoping to cover Creation Myths...' Sarah stammered.

'No, no, no. That subject is being covered already.'

'But I've already got an outline and 10 pages written...'

'Why did you start when you didn't know if you'd get approval?'

'Well....'

'Exactly. See me after class.'

Sarah deflated. All the hard work she had put in already, gone. Ms. Duncan seemed unconcerned, launching into her nightly lecture. Tonight's topic: Fairy Dwellings.

While Sarah seethed about her hard work being pointless, the professor brought up the lecture points on the board.

"Why do fairy tales and myths attribute the 'Underground' as being the home to fairies?" Ms. Duncan wrote in bold, slanting script across the whiteboard.

'Some theories attribute fairies as spirits of the dead, which would be a simple explanation as to why they live underground. Barrows found across the world are attributed to both burial sites and fairy mounds- gateways to the kingdom of fairies. There is also the medieval theory that fairies were also devils, or perhaps angels who were not good enough for Heaven, but not bad enough for Hell. If they were devils, then Hell would be their home, which is simply always inferred as underground.'

The longer the professor went on, the more Sarah felt disturbed. Fading memories came back to her, of a time when she wished away her baby brother to Goblins, to a kingdom Underground, with a Castle at the center of a Labyrinth, beyond the Goblin City. She had long attributed these memories to a flight of fancy, or perhaps just a dream. But sometimes, they were so clear....

Sarah shook off the bout of strangeness, and diligently took notes for the rest of the hour.

'Ms. Duncan, you asked to see me?' Sarah asked as the last of the students left the classroom.

'Ah, yes. Sarah, I don't want you to think you're in trouble, I just wanted to point out that it was a little silly to start writing a paper before you'd gotten approval for the topic.'

'Ms. Duncan, I swear James just looked over my shoulder and saw that I had that written down... I don't think he's done a bit of research...' It's just not FAIR!

'Be that as it may, he got approval before you. So, you need a new subject.' The professor motioned for Sarah to sit down by her desk.

'There's not really much left from the list....' Sarah pouted.

Ms. Duncan pulled out the offending list. She glanced over it quickly, running her fingers through her shocking red hair with a sigh.

'Sarah, how much do you know about Irish legends?'

'Only what we covered today. The singing stone, stuff like that....'

'Why don't you cover the Underground in Irish folklore?'

Sarah stared at her professor, eyes wide. Ms. Duncan met her stare with her own eyes narrowed.

'Is there a problem?'

'No! Not at all, I just... where would I get my research?' Sarah scrambled to recover her train of thought.

'I have several books on Irish legends myself. The campus library is also quite good, perhaps you've been there?' This was said with a bit of sarcasm, as Sarah was known to haunt the library quite often.

'Um. Okay, I guess...'

'You should get started right away, Sarah. I know you will find your research to be particularly enjoyable.' Her professor said with a smile. Sarah took this as a dismissal, and turned to flee from the classroom.

The campus clock tower chimed 9 o'clock as Sarah walked back to her car. The marching band was packing up after its evening practice, so the riotous music had stopped, and the only sound left was the chatter of happy, if exhausted, students making their way off of the field and towards their own destinations. Sarah's little Malibu was waiting for her in a pool of yellow light, looking solemn and alone.

She had to shake this mood off.

She tossed her books in the backseat, perhaps a little more roughly than normal, and then climbed into the driver's seat. As she turned the key in the ignition, a flash of white caught her eye- but when she turned to see what it was, there was nothing there. She shook her head in another effort to shake off the bout of moroseness, and drove home.

The drive was uneventful, at best. Pulling into her driveway, she saw her cat sitting on the windowsill in the living room, probably waiting for dinner. Sarah opened the door to her tiny, cozy home and sighed. Here she found a mix of peace and recklessness, a bit like organized chaos. Her black lab, Myth, bounded up to meet her with a joyous bark, while the tabby cat she had named Marian made her delicate way from the window to the couch, and finally to the coffee table, to purr a greeting as well. Sarah dropped her bags and gave both of her pets their due attention- Myth was let out in the backyard, and Marian got her Fancy Feast. Sarah tossed a toy in the yard for Myth, sipping a sweet tea (oh, what a southern joy!) and swatting the bugs away from her bare arms and legs. Imagine wearing shorts and a short sleeved shirt back home this time of year, she mused.

Sarah heaved a sigh, and brought the dog inside. She had to face this paper tonight, while she still had the guts to start over. Literature 301: Legends, Myths and Fairy tales was an easy class for an undergrad, she had heard, but the additional coursework heaped upon grad students could get tedious. So far, this hadn't been the case, and Sarah had actually enjoyed Ms. Duncan's unique lectures, but the change of topic on her paper had killed her optimism. Sitting at her desk, she cracked open her laptop and brought up the internet. A quick Google search brought up a few results on 'Underground', but most of them involved varying forms of music or spelunking adventure clubs. A Wikipedia search proved just as fruitful. Searching 'fairy dwellings' gave even fewer results. 'Underworld' linked her a few books, mainly things like Neverwhere. Sarah found a total of four useful websites to introduce her to the subject- this subject looking more daunting by the minute! Daunted, she clicked the first link and began to read.

In the distance, clouds boiled up and thunder rumbled.

By the time she had made it to the second website, she was a little disturbed. While none of the information was terribly thrilling, or even new, it was all beginning to give her a crazy feeling in her stomach.

The air began to feel heavy, as if to say, 'Take cover!'

The third link had her feeling full of dread.

Outside her window, lightning flashed and thunder cracked almost simultaneously. It was dangerously close.

The fourth website was by far the most interesting- it had her riveted, even through her terror at both the storm and things half-remembered. It spoke of a mighty people making an island habitable, their magics and their mighty leaders. Sarah knew so little about the Tuatha de Danan, the Children of Danu, that this information was fascinating. And then, abruptly, they all disappeared, going 'Underground.' There was no mention of what this place was like, only that it existed. The Children of Danu faded away.... all except for one. The bastard child of one of the last kings of the Tuatha de Danan, Ethur, and a human girl, the Gatekeeper watched the way Underground. His land was a half-place, on the edge of both the Underground and Above, as both a guard against humans and protection for them. 'He rules over a Labyrinth of unruly creatures and changelings,' Sarah read aloud. 'These creatures are sometimes referred to as goblins.'

The thunder cracked again, and in a flash, the lights went out.