Chapter 2: A Trick of a Treat
Michael walked solemnly through the labyrinth, his pace discouraged long ago. The world around him was quiet, even the sound of his feet against the pavement sounded foggy, muffled, as if the land around him was trying to hide the sound. The silence did, in no way, help his mood. Is she scared? Is that Jareth guy hurting her? I have to find her! Yet, even as he thought the words, the world around him began to shift. The strange, ominous sky that was supposed to be above him was now mingling, and dancing with the ground below; twirling, and interchanging with one another in a slow, ominous, waltz. As the boy stood watching, he was too entranced to notice his legs were slowly losing in the struggle to remain upright. Soon the waltz was joined with a strange mixture of notes, almost too strange to be called music, as Michaels head unnoticeably fell to the ground, and his eyes drifted closed.
IN THE CASTLE
The king watched elatedly as the boy fell to the ground. I can hardly believe it! The boy actually fainted from hunger. Jareth smirked as he furiously tried to contain his raging giggles at the notion. I suppose humans are quite weak after all. As he thought, he gracefully stood from his chair and went over to Karolie, who was busy playing with the goblins, her newly found friends.
"My, my princess, you certainly seem to be having fun!" At the sound of his voice Karolie turned from where she had been chasing her tree favorite goblins; Gonkle, Rifen, and Rauok, and looked at the king. Suddenly, her face brightened and she went running into Jareth's crouched embrace, red-gold hair trailing behind her like a banner. "Jareth!" the sound came out like tinkling bells and echoed through the chamber, testifying to the child's delight.
"That's right, little princess. Now, let's get you some food, we don't want you ending up like your brother." He cooed to the little one, and proceeded to shout at his personal go-for, Tyken, to prepare something sweet for Karolie.
LABYRINTH
Michael was awakened suddenly at the sound of mumbling somewhere near him. As he tried to sit, he noticed, for the first time, that his stomach was twisting in the knots of hunger. "Man, how long have I been here?" He hadn't meant to voice the thought, but in his daze he must have forgotten to keep it quiet. Looking around he saw a strange little creature sitting a few feet away. It had a pointy nose, which was about the only thing you could see, it was also wearing a brown hat; like that of a pirate, and over its shoulders was a dark cape.
"Well, what have we here?" The things voice was horrid, scratchy and high pitched; it grated on Michael's ears. "The hell are you?!"
"You know well who I am Michael." As the creature spoke, its voice morphed into something smooth, lyrical, yet stern and dangerous. With a flourish of the goblin's cape, Jareth now stood before the boy, holding the disguise a moment before throwing it to the ground. Michael stood frozen, still as a statue, his face losing color in a mixture of fear and anger; all much to the king's amusement. Before Michael could say anything though, Jareth spoke "You have been wandering for three days, and you are still far from your mark."-Suddenly a crystal ball appeared in the man's hand-"and you must be famished, here"-then the ball turned into a peach-"a gift."
A/N: hey guys, so here it is. In case you're wondering, the reason he didn't feel hungry was magic (of course) and yes, Jareth is a total sweetie to Karolie. Karolie is no longer afraid of the goblins, after having Jareth explain to her that they wouldn't hurt her, and punished any of them who scared her… In truth she was only afraid of their appearance.
Hope you liked it, please review! 3 and goblins!
P.S. (when I say that Tyken is Jareth's Go-for, that just means sort of a personal hand maid, but not really… Tyken is just Jareth's favorite to boss around.)