Thank You for all your reviews! I have just a quick update- well, no update. My laptop is still away and I do not know when I'll be getting it back and I hate the clunking of these keys when I type! I'm am truly spoiled when i miss the soft tap tap tap of my laptop and the fact that i don't have to POUND the keys to death!! Thanks for the rant- enjoy!

Chapter One

"Your Majesty?"

"Yes?"

"He has returned." The goblin cringed from the wrath of his lord, waiting in terror for the explosion. He wasn't disappointed.

"What!" The king seethed through clenched teeth. "And you wait till now to tell me?" The king strolled down the steps leading to his dais and picked up the cowering little goblin and shook him like a toy.

The goblin was whimpering but he knew that if he didn't say it, the king would be even more displeased. "H- he's r-right out-side. N-n-now." The shaking ceased and the little goblin barely got to breathe a sigh before he was tossed through the- luckily- open window. After a few heart stopping moments of plunging downward, Keel managed to get turn his body and flap his small leathery wings so that he could float down more graciously. Once on the ground, Keel glared up at the window he was thrown out of before wincing at the pain in his neck and slouching into the village. "Let's see how long King Toby can go without his Page before coming out here to apologize." But even before he said it, he knew that it would be a lot less time until the burly guards came ripping through tavern after tavern to find him and drag him back in front of the king. Maybe he could get in one drink at least.

Jareth raised an eyebrow at his successor. He was just in time to witness as the boy tossed a goblin out the window. "Temper, temper." He said softly, flashing a brief snarl of pointed canines. "Is this why to try and send messengers ahead? Afraid to embarrass yourself with acts of violence? Petulant child!"

King Toby, ruler of the goblins and lord of the labyrinth pouted. "I thought to prepare for your return, nothing more."

"Clearly you didn't think of anything more. What have you done in my absence? Sit about all day, waiting for me?" Jareth asked with a wave of his hand.

Toby looked half expectant at that hand, hoping to see a crystal materialize but it didn't. No, the crystalline powers have been passed to him now and even after all the training, he was still unable to form a stable crystal which can do nothing more then spy on the happenings around the labyrinth. He shook his head and shrugged.

Jareth released a huff of exasperation. "You have tried my patients! I've attempted to help you time and again and yet you learn nothing! I suspected something like this would happen and so I have prepared." Satisfaction passed over his face and he smirked. "I am no longer your tutor, Toby. Let me introduce you to a cousin of mine who will be taking over." The doors banged open to admit a hunched figure with a slow, uneven gait covered from head to toe in rags and shawls.

The hunchback shuffled nearer and extended a gnarled, warty hand. "Sire." The voice emitted was no better then a croak. "I shall serve until the time you no longer need me…"

Toby recoiled from that hand and looked down, repulsion marring his handsome face. "That time will be short, I swear to you!"

The crone cackled and nodded. "You were right, cousin. It will only take a firm hand…"

Jareth had dropped his amusement, however. "You will treat her with respect. At this time, her fallen status is even more influential then your heightened one."

The crone raised her head, revealing her scrunched featured and long crooked nose. She peered at Toby with her one good eye before smiling a toothless smile. "No one bothers with the old ones, child. Do not fear me but respect me. I am called Rhea(1) and until such time as my husband may join us in your palace, I will appear like this."

Toby wrinkled his nose and shifted a step back. "Where is your husband?" He asked.

Jareth cleared his throat briefly. "A word of caution, Toby. If you enjoy being king of the goblins, do not, ever, mention his name. He is simply biding his time until such a foolish child will invite him here to dine and conquer." Jareth adjusted his cloak and snagged the ends to pull it close. "I have not yet found what I seek and I will not return another time until I do. Farewell, your Majesty." He pulled the cape in on himself until his body shrunk and shifted into the form of a grey owl. He vanished out the open doors.

Toby sighed and looked at the ugly little creature next to him. Considering that he is usually surrounded by goblins, spoke volumes.


Hades closed his eyes and listened to the sweet, soothing melody of his servant's singing. For once, in a very long time, he was at peace. It was the fourth month with his new servant and she has, so far, lasted the longest. And she offered to sing for him. He smiled, stroking a two headed snake as her voice lulled the beast as well. He hadn't felt this way since Persephone… No, Styx has yet to return her to him. He tired to convince her but the goddess' strength of soul sustained Styx more then a thousand mortal souls could and it would be death to the underworld if she were to die.

Instead, Styx offered up the soul of one of the lesser immortals within her waters. At first, she chose only women who looked like Persephone, hoping to slack some of the fading god's desire but he never brought a dead soul into his bed. He refused. Styx adjusted, of course, and sent him souls with a bit more talent. The last one, Darrian, was an artist. He was a sculptor fit for gods but his communication skills were atrocious. He didn't have an imagination outside what he could see. Then Styx decided to give him this angel. She wasn't a dead soul, or at least she wasn't a long dead soul. Her skin still glowed with pale warmth that reminded Hades of his love in a way that the look-a-likes never could. But, sadly, Sarah Williams, the angel with a voice was not his to take. Well, if he desired her, nothing could stop him but there was something in her eyes when she sang. Something that spoke of lost love and sorrow so great that she could never accept another man into her heart.

Hades had hoped her love would one day be directed at him but, alas. Her music was sweet and pure and she had effectively captured the broken heart of a god.

Sarah sang as she brushed her long hair with her fingers; the words and tune changing with her grief. There was no light, down in the Underworld, except the pearly glow from the river. She sat at the very edge, leaning against the flank and chilly warmth of Cerberus. Every once in a while, Styx would gently lap up over the side and caress Sarah's toes, leaving her shivering so much she would have to stop singing for a moment. It was odd. She was dead- or she died but why did she have a body again? This seemed like hell but it was cold, not hot. There was no heat and Hades did not torment her like she thought he would. No, she told herself again and again, Hades was not Satan. He was the king of the underworld not the king of hell. This is just where souls went. But then, where were they all? Sarah remembered Styx and how dreadfully empty it was. Shouldn't it have been overflowing with souls of the dead? On earth alone, there are wars being fought and hundreds of thousands of people were dying every week due to sickness, starvation…

But it was empty here. She looked over at Hades and saw that he slept. Slowly she brought her song to an end and sat in the silence, listening to the breathing of Cerberus and feeling his heart beating. Sarah placed one hand on her chest and nearly wept with pain to feel the soft rhythm of her heart. She was alive. She could feel the cold and the warmth at her back. She could feel the wetness of the waters of Styx but it was only torture. She could also feel the loss of her love and the pain it caused when he betrayed her trust. She shivered and raised her knees to her chest to cry into them. One of Cerberus's heads looked up and whined before lying down beside her to enclose her on two sides instead of one. She sobbed as quietly as she could, her body shaking. Sarah opened her mouth to breathe but tears ran into it tasting of salt. This was her first breakdown, in all the time since she was brought back to life. There was no human contact, nothing she could have any meaningful contact with. No one to answer her back when she asked questions. There was no one.

A hand touched her head and she looked up with her tear tracked face. There was no one except Hades, the King of the Underworld. His black eyes held concern and confusion but he still didn't speak. She laughed at her self for the foolish notions of a god trying to comfort her.

"I'm sorry, Lord."

Hades frowned a bit and Sarah didn't have to hear him speak to understand. She rarely did. His frown spoke of a question. Why are you sorry? Why do you cry?

"I suppose I'm not a good servant of a god. I'm too alone-."

He held up his hand and spoke, the first time in a month. "Would you like to go back?" his voice was like a rock grinder, echoing off the walls.

Sarah felt fear grip her heart. She was alone, yes but happy she could feel the loneliness. When she was in Styx, she had nothing except her sorrow to drowned in. "N-no, I don't want to go back. I'm sorry for complaining. Please, please don't send me away again!"

"I have given life to a dead person who was not once more ready to live. You must have had a vibrant life to be able to survive this long." Hades said again and Sarah stared at him in awe. This was the most he had spoken to her.

"I- I don't know. I don't think it was any better or worse then other lives." Sarah wiped her face on the silken cloth of her gown.

He sighed and shifted to crouch down beside her. "True, compared to the immortals whose souls have made it here, your life is ordinary but it was filled with a life that the others do not possess. You have experienced."

Sarah gasped. "Immortals? Is that why Styx is so empty?"

His brow creased. Have you not known this? His expression said clearly.

Sarah shook her head. "Then I shouldn't be here. I'm not Immortal! I- I was just in the wrong realm at the time…"

Hades frowned some more and creased his eyes before they widened again. "You are a human?" He wanted to laugh. It was an absurdity that he never before considered. He rubbed his forehead to try and ward off the thudding pain that was to come from so much talking. She was human. But mortal souls should not be able to make it here. Zeus sealed- he paused in his thought and slowly smiled. Zeus is no longer in power. Mortal souls are leaking through once more. Perhaps Styx can no return his love to him… He looked at the human, so frail and small now. She was indeed beautiful and a good servant… He wondered. "What happened to you? Why does a human feel such pain to rival that of an immortal's?"

Sarah smiled sadly. "I feel the pain of an immortal because I lost my heart to one." Very quietly and slowly, Sarah began to tell a story and Hades marveled at how he was unable to tell she was a human from her descriptions in her stories and songs before now.

(1)- Rhea is a Titan. She is the mother of Zeus and the wife of Cronus who will be making an appearance a little bit later on in the story.

Is this helpful if I leave footnotes about the gods and Titans and lesser immortals from greek mythology who will make an appearence? Just let me know and I can keep at it or stop if its wanted.