AN: Hello you guys! Well, my Labyrinth one-shots got such a wonderful response, I decided to do a whole story! (With much encouragement from practically all my Twitter people and Laura, of course! Probably wouldn't have posted it if they all didn't support me, I love you guys with all my heart.) I hope this does the movie justice. Those who don't know the movie, I hope it all makes sense! (I need to stop saying 'I hope'.) I still suggest seeing the movie, on youtube even, if you must. Its a wonderful film.
There will be several plot changes, because these boys are so slashable. The boys have—very determined—minds of their own in this story, and like brats they want to do what they please. So I'll let them. As long as they behave. Kendall is in time out at the moment, he wanted to take Logan right when he showed up. James isn't even in the story yet and he's getting very antsy over the Kogan. He will have to wait.
Anyway...enjoy!
To all my readers, whether you review or not, you all mean the world to me. Just getting favorites and alerts make my day, just knowing you read my material makes my year. Thank you to those who have supported me from Howl, from Prisoner of Your Smile, to One Is Good But Six Is Better, to now. It means the absolute world to me, its a wonderful feeling. Thank you all so much, from the bottom of my heart. (No, I'm not disappearing, I only felt the need to appreciate you guys!)
Enough of the sappy stuff!
Now, on with the story!
Any questions, don't hesitate to ask!
Edited by my lovely Laurie-baby (RumbleRoar846) (Who I love oh so much and she's my babycakes and I don't know how I write ANYTHING without her and I can't write enough about her so I will end this run-on sentence about her before it gets too insane. I love you.) :)
"Give me the child." A teenage boy speaks to a camera sitting atop a tripod. He is dressed in a white buttoned shirt—one he bought two sizes too big for the costume—open under a leather medieval vest (it was his father's, once upon a time). His black-brown hair is a little longer than he usually keeps it, due for a cut soon. The pants he wears are tight, but not the skinny jeans of the current style. They're special, being a pair he bought at the local renaissance faire (it cost him almost four months' allowance). The boots were of the same period style; those cost him a year's allowance.
The boy continued his passionate speech: "Through dangers untold and hardships unnumbered, I have fought my way here to the castle beyond the Goblin City, to take back the child you have stolen. For my will is as strong as yours and my kingdom as great…" The boy paused, confusion etched on his porcelain face. "For my will is as strong as yours…and my kingdom as great…. Damn." He grimaces, "I can never remember that line."
The brunette boy pulls out a small leather bound book, entitled Labyrinth, and it falls open to the ending pages. "You have no power over me." As the last word is read, thunder sounds through the park he is practicing in, lightning flashes in the distance and more booms are heard. The boy looks to the clock tower as his Old English Sheepdog barks from its perch on a bench.
"Merlin! Oh my god! I don't believe it! Its seven o'clock! C'mon, Merlin, let's go!"
The brunette reaches for his camera and tripod, nearly dropping both in the small pond, and races off towards home.
By the time the sopping dog and owner arrive home at 8pm it's still pouring rain, and his stepmother is enraged. His camera might be a little ruined, too.
"Oh, it's not fair!" He calls.
"Oh really?" The woman glares at her stepson. "Well don't stand there in the rain."
The boy pouts. "Alright. C'mon, Merlin, inside."
"Not the dog!"
"But it's pouring!"
The woman looks to the dog, "Go on! Go into the garage!"
The brunette boy is exasperated, mildly horrified that his stepmother is such an evil…tart! "Go on, Merlin! Into the garage, go!"
As the dog trots to the small garage, 'mother' and 'son' walk into the house towards the kitchen.
"Logan, you're over an hour late—"
"I said I was sorry."
"Please let me finish. Your father and I go out very rarely—"
"You go out every single weekend!"
This time she ignored the brunette's interruption, "And I ask you to babysit only if it won't interfere with your plans."
"Well how do you know? You don't know what my plans are; you don't even ask me anymore."
"Well, I assume you'd tell me. I'd like it if you had a date, you should have dates at your age!"
Logan only glared at the woman; his father entered the kitchen at that point, holding his little brother Toby who was whimpering. "We were worried about you, Logan." He said.
The boy was exasperated. He turned to go up to his room, taking stairs two at a time. "I can't do anything right, can I?"
Logan's step-mother only sighed, "He treats me like a wicked step-mother in a fairytale no matter what I say."
Up in the boy's room a simple music box played in the background, a beautiful little song that was romantic and full of fantasy. Within the room his mother's old dolls were kept, along with stuffed animals from Logan's youth, and theatre posters from school plays and musicals. Logan sat at a large black vanity where more Broadway posters were tacked onto the mirror. They were of the musicals his mother once starred in.
He read from a very familiar book, one named Labyrinth. The book once again fell open to the boy's favorite pages as he recited his favorite lines avidly:
"Through dangers untold…and hardships unnumbered…I have fought my way here to the castle beyond the Goblin City...to take back the child you have stolen." A knock sounded on the door.
"Logan? Could I talk to you?"
Logan gritted his teeth, "There's nothing to talk about. You better hurry or you're gonna be late."
"We've fed Toby and put him to bed. We'll be back around midnight."
Logan snarled at the door, "You really wanted to talk to me, didn't you?" Logan slammed the book down, "You practically broke down the door!"
He then picks up the book, gingerly examining it for damage. It's quite an old book.
As Logan finishes, he scans his room, finding one special stuffed animal missing from its designated little cubby.
"Lancelot! Someone's been in my room again! I hate that! I hate it!"
Logan stormed off to his parents' room, knowing the stuffed bear would be there. But instead of being in the crib with Toby, which he would have preferred slightly over the bear's newly appointed spot: on the dusty and dirty hardwood floor.
Logan snarled yet again, angry at the world and at his brother especially. Now that there was Toby, no one cared about Logan. He was Cinderella while Toby was both of the evil step-sisters, doted upon and loved to death. His father's attention was all on Toby and his step-mother; he gave up everything he loved for the damned woman and practically ignored Logan. The brunette was tired of it. Sick of it.
"I hate you! I hate you!" He runs, picking up the poor bear and cuddling it close to his chest. The bear still smelled of his mother's once-tiresome perfume. "Someone save me, someone take me away from this awful place!"
The rain that started falling earlier had now brewed into a full blown thunderstorm. Thunder cracked loudly and lightning flashed obnoxiously. Toby was afraid of the storm, of course, in being so young. Logan was about to pull his own hair out.
"What do you want? Do you want a story? Huh? Okay." Logan smiled devilishly, knowing exactly which story to tell. "Once upon a time there was a beautiful young boy whose evil step-mother always made him stay home with the baby. And the baby was a spoiled child and he wanted everything for himself, and the young boy was practically a slave. But…what no one knew was that the king of the goblins had fallen in love with the boy, and he had given him certain powers. So one night, when his stepmother had been particularly cruel to him, he asked the goblins for help."
A group of goblins huddled together, sleeping. The cave looked to be dark and dreary, moist and dripping. But one awakes, for he heard the calls of the enchanted boy, the boy who had claimed the heart of the Goblin King.
"Listen!" It hissed.
"'Say the right words,' the goblins said, 'and we'll take the baby to the Goblin City and you will be free.'"
More goblins stirred, hearing the cries of the boy, all awakening to, hopefully, hear the right words.
"But the boy knew that the king of the goblins would keep the baby in his castle forever and ever, and turn it into a goblin! So he suffered in silence, until one night, when he was tired from a day of housework and hurt by the harsh words of his stepmother, and he could no longer stand it."
The baby continued to cry, lightning and thunder frightening the small child.
"Oh, all right, all right!" Logan picked his baby brother up out of the crib, coddling the little boy and shushing him. For all the talk that Logan put forth, he still loved the little bundle of annoyance.
"Knock it off. Come on, kid. Stop it! Stop it!"
Yet Logan does have a breaking point.
"I'll say the words!" He was threatening his brother now, simply because he was oh-so tempted. "No I mustn't…I mustn't say." Logan smiled creepily at the small child…wishing it all could be true.
The creatures waited. But, goblins never were the most patient of creatures.
"Say the words!"
"Shh!"
"Come on, now!"
"BE QUIET!"
"I wish…I wish…" Logan grinned evilly, showing off his pearlescent teeth.
"He's going to say it!"
"Say what?"
"Shut up!"
"You shut up!"
"LISTEN! He's going to say the words!"
"I can bear it no longer!" Logan hoisted the child up high above his head, "Goblin King! Goblin King! Wherever you may be, take this child of mine far away from me!"
The goblins sighed, groaned, and moaned.
"That's not it!"
"What was that?"
"Where'd he learn that rubbish?"
"It didn't even start with 'I wish'!"
The baby continued to cry, and Logan was done with trying to stop it, setting the child down into the crib.
"Oh, Toby, stop it! I wish I did know what to say to make the goblins take you away."
"'I wish the goblins would come and take you away right now!' that's not hard is it?"
Logan glared into the dark room.
"I wish…I wish…"
"Did he say it?"
"SHUT UP!"
"I wish the goblins would come and take you away," Logan shut off the light to his parents' bedroom, "Right. Now."
Logan paused as Toby ceased his wailing.
"Toby?" He asked experimentally. "Toby? Are you alright? Why aren't you crying?"
Logan walked back into the room, the light switch seemingly shorted out. Logan's brain went into overdrive as he ran to the crib, throwing the blankets back.
Toby was gone.
Just…gone.
Suddenly chaos reigned. The brunette jumped as he witnessed drawers slamming open-and-closed, quick little shadows darting across the room, under the bed and covers. Gibbering and gabbering sounds coming from every corner, the lightning and thunder had only intensified. Logan had to be hallucinating.
A large snowy owl was clawing at the balcony doors; Logan could practically hear the scratches being left in the wood and see the marks being left on the window panes.
Lightning still thundered outside as the room was in anarchy, calling out his little brother's name.
"TOBY!"
As a particularly loud thunderclap sounded, the balcony doors broke apart. The creatures ceased their rowdy nature within the room and the snowy owl flew over the brunette boy, knees cracking on the hardwood as he fell to the unforgiving surface.
Logan was afraid to stand and face the thrown open doors, and even more afraid of what was there. A murderer? Rapist?
He finally worked up the courage. Sheer white drapes billowed innocently around a large frame of a man, sensually caressing his own body. Logan kept his head low, starting from the man's feet and working up.
Leather boots covered his feet up to his knees; skintight velvet pants adorned his muscled legs, making Logan want to rub his cheek along the luxurious material.
An obscenely large bulge was also showing erotically through the material. How did these ridiculous pants exist? Logan lingered on the outline longer than he'd like to admit.
Matching the pants was a long, blue velvet coat, complete with bell sleeves and extravagant shoulders. Logan craved to touch the fabric, yet again. More so, he wanted to slip his fingers into the man's flowing shirt which opened in a deep V on his chest. The brunette wanted to caress the creamy firm skin, explore his body.
That's when Logan looked at the man's face, and was dazzled, to say the least. Logan was frozen due to the piercing gaze of those yellow-green eyes. One was the color of fine golden topaz; the other a dark lush green comparable to the Irish hills.
"You're him aren't you? You're the Goblin King."
He only smirked down at the young boy, a large eyebrow rising in a condescending manner.
Logan stood, feeling so small under his stare, but even rising didn't help that. "I want my brother back."
"What's said is said." The Goblin King purred.
"But I didn't mean it!"
"Oh, you didn't?" The Goblin King looked downright amused.
"Please, where is he?"
"You know very well where he is."
"Please bring him back, please!"
"Logan…" The King strut about him, eyeing up the innocent boy, "go back to your room. Play with your toys and costumes. Forget about the baby." Logan squirmed under the gaze. He felt like the King was looking beyond his clothing, roaming his body ceaselessly.
"I-I…I can't." The brunette could barely breathe.
But not in a bad way.
This was a problem.
The King made his way to Logan's front, "I have brought you a gift." As his hand rose up, a small round crystal materialized upon his elegantly gloved fingers.
Logan gaped, "What is it?"
"It's a crystal, nothing more. But if you turn it this way," he twisted and turned the clear glass over his fingers, making it twirl and flip, "and look into it, it will show you your dreams. But this isn't a gift for an ordinary boy who takes care of a screaming baby." The King paused, still looking into Logan. "Do you want it?" The brunette's gaze flicked to and fro from the King and the crystal, and then nodded slowly. He did want it. "Then forget the baby."
"I can't…" But Logan wanted to. So badly. "I appreciate what you're offering, but I want my brother back. He must be so scared…"
"Logan…" The blonde gave a smirking snarl at the boy, "do not defy me."
Logan saw the King transform the ball to a snake, and then flung the slimy scaled creature at Logan.
The boy cried out as it wrapped around his delicate neck, fingers grappling at the snake and slamming it to the floor…where it transformed into a giggling Goblin. He jumped as all the goblins, presumably, peaked out of their hiding places and laughed at him. He whipped around to see, and they just disappeared into their places.
The Goblin King smirked at Logan, already loving how intimidated the small boy was. How easy to dominate he would be. "You're no match for me, Logan."
Logan stood his ground, "I need my brother back."
The King's smirk fell as the glow outside the balcony transfigured orange, instead of the blue of the night. The blonde man pointed in the direction of the light, cape still whipping about him due to a nonexistent wind. "He's there, in my castle."
Logan walked over to the balcony, curious. What was shown was a world of desert, ginger and red. In that world sat a gargantuan, intricately perplexing Labyrinth. Past the Labyrinth's gnarled, cruel walls:
The castle beyond the Goblin City.
"Turn back, Logan." Logan jumped and turned, noticing that he was no longer in his parents' room. He was in the land of the Goblins, at the edge of the Labyrinth. "Turn back before it's too late."
"I can't. Don't you understand that I can't?"
The Goblin King's gaze softened at Logan's silent plea.
But just as it appeared, it vanished.
"What a pity." The words were clipped with a hint of anger in them. The Goblin King's lips a tight line of disappointment.
Logan decided to ignore the exchange, turning back to the larger than life puzzle before him. "It doesn't look that far…"
"It's farther than you think, and time is short." The King waved his hand in a flourish, and a clock with an extra hour appeared out of air. "You have 13 hours in which to solve the Labyrinth before your baby brother becomes one of us, forever." The King's voice starts to echo as he fades out, disappearing entirely, leaving Logan to start his journey in solving the Labyrinth.
Logan jumps at the King's last words: "Such a pity."
"The Labyrinth…" The brunette took in a large breath, testing out the air of such a mystical land. "It doesn't look that hard," Logan bluffed to himself.
"Well…come on feet."
Logan tripped down the hillside as he started his journey to the castle beyond the Goblin City.