I do not own Labyrinth. Although I would love
to be able to take credit for something so wonderful and creative,
I must be content with the story you see before you. The plot of my fanfic
(and not the subject!) is the product of myself and my friends in the Magic
Hall. This one's for y'all! ^_^
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Love was not something old to the Goblin King. He had never experienced it, never gave it or received it. Never knew it. Until it was too late.
Jareth sat moodily in his little stone castle. The
goblins were...where were they? The King looked around and saw one goblin
idly sipping from a chalice. "Excuse me...Skrann, is it?" The goblin jumped
guiltily and looked up. Jareth smiled disarmingly. "So, do you enjoy the
ale, Skrann?" He asked politely.
"Uhmm..er...aye, yer Majesty, I does." Skrann shuffled
in some discomfort.
"Why, whatever is wrong, my dear Skrann? Why do
you avert your eyes so?" Jareth added some injured concern to his tone.
"I..uhhh...well..."
"Perhaps you are lonely. I see that none of your
friends are around today. Come, come sit by my throne and we'll talk."
The goblin nervously stood and replaced himself next to his king.
"Ah, isn't that better?" Jareth asked, grinning
in a friendly way. "So, where exactly are these friends of yours?"
"They..uhh...they's outside. Yungle found a little
sumpthin', so 'e did. And uh...they's out there lookin' at it." Skrann
was shaking, his ale sloshing onto the floor.
"And what exacly was it that Yungle found?" Jareth's
tone was softer.. and therefore much more dangerous. Skrann knew it.
"Twas a..uhmm..a..." But Jareth was gone. Earlier
that day, while exploring his crystal collection, he had found something
missing.
A group of goblins clustered in a tight circle out
in the courtyard. Jareth strode towards them, his features a dark contrast
to the bright sunlight. Skrann followed close behind, feeling wretched
because his friends would, like as not, lynch him for getting them in trouble
with Jareth. The goblins spun around as their king's shadow fell over them.
The goblin called Yungle stuffed something behind his back. Jareth smiled
again. So much like little schoolchildren, caught with their mother's favorite
jewelry. "And what have we here?", he asked them.
"Uhh... nothin'...," one muttered.
"Nothing? Nothing?" He extended a gray-gloved
hand and the crystal flew from behind Yungle and into Jareth's possession.
"No, nothing at all." He smiled in malicious pleasure. Reaching out another
hand, he picked Yungle up by the scruff of his neck. He stared the blubbering
goblin in the eye and said, "If you touch my propery again I will tip you
straight into the Bog of Eternal Stench, do you understand me?" Yungle
snuffled and nodded quickly. Jareth dropped him hard and turned on his
heel.
There was a crack! Jareth cursed. His sight
crystal was broken! It was a special crystal that allowed the Goblin King
to see what was happening in his Labyrinth, which was in construction.
A way for him to make sure no one was slacking. A way for him to play God
in his little universe. As he patched it, something began to glimmer, deep
inside the crystal. As Jareth looked closer, he could see a shape...
Sarah sobbed into her pillow, soaking it with salty
tears. Her red eyes stared bleaky out into the darkened room. She shivered,
pulling her gray fuzzy blanket closer around her ears. More sobs. Over
in the corner, a black dress moved in the little wind from the air conditioner.
Sarah saw it and wept harder. Dead!Dead-dead-dead-dead! The only word that
could pass her mind and into her concious. Deaddeaddeaddead, and over and
over like a chant until it was all that existed, everything, and what a
terrible eternity!
The Goblin King watched her with a little smile,
a smile unlike any he had used before. This was so much more interesting
than watching the green-but-slowly-working-his-way-up Hoggle trip over
paving stones! The girl was what, ten years old? What could have possibly
caused so much pain to one so young?
"Sarah! Go to sleep!" A loud male voice interrupted
the girl's mourning. She covered her head with a pillow, snuggling her
teddy bear, Lancelot, closer. "Sarah! You won't bring her back by crying,
honey." the voice said more gently. "Now get some rest. Big day tomorrow."
Sarah. Jareth covered the crystal and sighed. Poor
thing. Before he took the power from the crystal he looked around the girl's
room. An odd red thing with button eyes and red yarn hair sat grinning
next to a bookshelf. He started, annoyed because he was startled. It looked
just like a weird animal that had taken up residence in the Labyrinth.
The Firey was wild. Was he ever! He peered closer. Where had she
gotten it? Then he knew.
Aileen.
The King didn't used to be surrounded by only mindless
goblins. There had once been someone else, someone of his same species.
Her name was Aileen. They weren't human or goblin, Jareth and Aileen. Childhood
friends. But never lovers. She had left too soon. Jareth was heartbroken
that day. She had turned her head away from his questioning eyes. The beautiful
dark-haired woman had fallen in love with a creature from the Aboveground,
and she went to him. Jareth indulged in his own cruel belief that Aileen
was unhappy with him. It was the only reason he could think of. What could
an Abovegrounder give her that he could not? So he was miserable. And his
broken heart festered.
Wow. Jareth sat down abrupty in disbelief. No. No!
This Sarah....Aileen's...daughter???? Couldn't be! Though it would explain
the stuffed Firey and the Hoggle bookend (Aileen had always had a soft
spot for the dwarf when he was growing up-was this why Jareth was so hard
on him?). But look at the girl! She was so unhappy. With Aileen as a mother
(Jareth's heart leapt, and he pushed it back down sternly) who could be
sad? Who could be... He saw the black clothing. Even in the dark bedroom,
the dress jumped out at him. Now, Jareth had seen enough of the Aboveground
to know what a black dress and a weeping child meant together. "She should
have known. Should have known she could never survive up there for long.
All her fault...dead...Aileen!" The king gasped in wonder as a black tear
welled in his eye. He caught the liquid onyx on his finger. He stared at
it. It glittered like the crystal in his other hand. And inside that crystal,
Sarah, daughter of Aileen, cried as well.
