Disclaimer: I don't own The Labyrinth. It is the property of the Jim Henson Co. I am not making any financial profit from this work of fiction nor will any be sought. This is for entertainment purposes only.

Trapped

Chapter 10 – Losing Hope

The throne room was dark, filthy, and barbaric in its design. As he entered into the chamber, Jareth sneered at the overbearing stone features; they had not grown on him during his reign. If anything, he could hardly tolerate this place. The unforgiving stone lacked any warmth and never failed to leech the liveliness straight out of his spirit.

Having to step over chicken bones, droppings, and unidentifiable liquids puddled across the floor brought another grimace to his face. Jareth had been struggling for years to desensitize himself to the shabby appearance and lack of hygiene of the Goblin Kingdom and its citizens. Apparently, he still had a long way to go.

The room stood grimly empty and still, devoid of its usual frivolity. Jareth had fully expected this when he chose to come here, but now faced with the emptiness inside this room, he wished he'd chosen anywhere else.

Throwing himself recklessly onto his throne, Jareth took in his gloomy surroundings. He was shocked to find, in a strange twist of irony, that he missed his subjects' insufferable cheerfulness and mayhem. 'How peculiar…' he reluctantly admitted, 'that it feels wrong to be in here without the chickens…'

Even if he could ignore his distaste for live poultry, he would never enjoy spending time within these walls; it was in this very room that his freedom had been taken from him. Unfortunately today, Jareth was just melancholy enough to venture in, but with the goblins gone the memories were beginning to become too oppressive for him.

Jareth sighed miserably into his fist, after all this time he still yearned for his home.

He scowled at the path his thoughts were taking him and jolted from his throne. 'That is the past!' he angrily chastised himself. 'This is my home now!' Stalking toward the window, Jareth's boots clicked loudly on the stone flooring. He fervently hoped the sunlight might settle his agitated nerves and brighten his mood as he perched himself on the ledge and breathed deeply.

It had been so long since he had last seen the paradise that was his native land, but he could still picture it clearly. The land itself had seemed to glow with vitality and untainted virtue; it was a stark contrast to this barren wasteland. He clenched his eyes shut to block out the view.

Out this window all Jareth saw was the reminder of what he had lost. It had cost him everything when he had come to the Goblin Kingdom.

He had been such a trusting fool.

"What do you mean no way home!"

Only after Sarah had repeated her panicked shriek a second time, did Hoggle fully realize what he had let slip. His large eyes bugged out and he once again began frantically struggling to get away. Even in his desperation to flee, Sarah's weigh on top of him was too substantial to overcome.

"Damn me and my big mouth!"

"Hoggle?" she spoke shakily. Her friend clenched his jaw at the vulnerability he heard in her voice. "I can't go home?" He stubbornly refused to look at her. There were no smoky candles to blame any tears on this time.

"Sir Hoggle I must protest!" the fox loudly interrupted. "The Lady Sarah can return the way she came. That is how these things work…"

Sarah gasped and jerked back from Hoggle, nearly tripping on her robe in her haste. As she staggered to her feet, Hoggle sat up. Remaining on the dusty floor he stared at his bandages, feeling only minimal pain from his blistered and bleeding hand. It was his heart that caused him the most pain, it ached with intense shame. 'I wish there'd been another way…' He would never forgive himself for breaking that mirror.

The young woman turned towards Didymus. "It's broken."

"I beg your pardon?" the knight questioned in alarm.

"The mirror," Sarah repeated flatly, "it's broken. Hoggle broke it to keep the goblins from getting through."

Sir Didymus began to nervously twitch his tail. "Oh dear…" They all sat in uncomfortable silence, milling over this latest news.

"I's didn't know how t' tell ya."

She couldn't bear to look at him. This was perhaps the worst shock she'd experienced thus far; it was hard for her to believe it. "There has to be another way."

"Oh, there is," Hoggle squirmed uncomfortably in the face of her detachment, "but you's ain't gonna like it."

Her dull eyes slowly rose to his, shining with a fragile hope. Hoggle just shook his head as if they'd already been defeated. "He's the only one strong 'nough to go Above without a portal. And I's would be willing ta bet everything in m' jewel pouch he's won't take ya."

Sarah groaned miserably. No one needed to voice just who "he" was. She wandered over to the window and plopped down next to Ambrosius. She absentmindedly started stroking the dog in a vain attempt at seeking comfort.

"I must object, Sir Hoggle! Our king is honorable! Surely he would not hesitate in granting a lady's request, particularly one as dire as this."

"Honorable? Naw," Hoggle snorted, "but you's right, he's wouldn't hesitate." Hoggle glanced sharply between Didymus and Sarah. He looked as if he were to going to be ill. "But fer what price? His kind don't do nothin' fer free."

Didymus opened his mouth, affronted at Hoggle's negative generalization of the Fae. "An' arguin' over sterotypes won't matter at all!" Hoggle snapped as if they'd had this conversation a million times before. He harshly jerked his thumb towards Sarah. "Cause this time it's her."

Once again overcome with emotions and unable to restrain himself, Sir Didymus began to fidget and flit about his hut. "Then even more assuredly because it is the Lady Sarah!" the fox raised his voice and postured theatrically. His inability to control his zeal caused his tail to bristle behind him comically as he snarled. "His Majesty must escort her safely home. His very nature as a fae demands that he serve the one he …"

"Don't you's dare finish that!" Hoggle roared. Sarah was startled out of her state of shock by his infuriated reply. "I's admit there's something there, but it ain't that!"

Sir Didymus continued to twitch as he came to stand as still as possible beside the dwarf. The knight patiently gave him a long suffering look.

"Brother Hoggle," he said softly, just loud enough that only the dwarf could hear him. The fox's words, for once, were lacking their usual fervor. Sarah unconsciously leaned forward and tightened her grip on Ambrosius' fur, causing the dog to whine in slight discomfort.

"You know that I am . . . intimately acquainted with the symptoms of a broken heart. Trust me when I say this: his Majesty assuredly suffers them all." At the slight sound of his steed's keening Didymus closed his eyes and sighed, his heart heavy with regret. After a long moment, Didymus turned pointedly to stare into the dwarf's disbelieving eyes. "I swear it on my Lady."

They both knew he wasn't talking about Sarah.

Hoggle blanched at the blatant reference to the knight's tragic past. It always made him queasy when other's shared anything emotional. Hoggle found it impossible to reason with Sir Didymus whenever he mentioned the Lady Theodora.

In the face of Sir Didymus' sorrow and utter conviction, Hoggle began to second guess himself. Sir Didymus guarded his past as faithfully, if not more so, than he had ever guarded the dilapidated bridge in the Bog. Even still, Hoggle had made up his mind about the Goblin King decades ago and there was nothing the fox could say that would ever make him fully trust Jareth.

He hunched over and self-consciously scratched his chin. Out of the corner of his eye, he took in the rugged appearance of his first real friend. Sarah was sitting alert across the small room and Hoggle was loathe to discuss any of this nonsense in her presence. "But he's don't even know her…" he bit out softly, "How's can he's claim t' love 'er?"

"His Majesty has made no such declaration."

Hoggle stared at Sir Didymus as if he had finally lost his mind. Or what little had remained of it. "Wha..!" he hollered in shock. "Then why's we even arguin'! If he ain't said so, then he don't! We's just wastin' time!"

"Ye are forgetting," Didymus reprimanded after seeing the confusion on Sarah's face, "His Majesty is of the Fae. His kind are … secretive when it comes to matters of the heart."

Hoggle grudgingly grunted an affirmative. Everyone knew how unforthcoming the Fae could be. 'Cryptic, conniving bastards the lot of them,' he glowered.

Sir Didymus prattled on, delighted to share his limited knowledge with Sarah, who for once, was listening intently to his every word. "Some say they experience love at first sight, others that they cannot even feel the emotion. But we do know his Majesty can feel other emotions, we've seen them ourselves . . . so why not love?" He paused before turning back towards Hoggle. The dwarf glared darkly at him, knowing what he was about to say. Didymus showed no hesitation as he gestured toward Sarah. "And why not for our Lady?"

Sarah sucked in a breath.

"Stupid fae n' their complex 'motions," Hoggle said under his breath before shouting, "I's not buyin' it!" A thick cloud of dust lurched up into the air as the dwarf angrily stomped his foot.

The hut was beginning to grow unbearably stifling to Sarah. Her throat and eyes burned from the irritation of the newly kicked up dust and the implications of the conversation. The more she listened to her friends, the more desperate she became to escape the small structure.

'Oh God, there's no way home. He's got no reason to let me go and I've got nothing to offer in exchange. Didymus has to be wrong – there is no way he could…' Sarah's stomach faltered at the possibility. Overcome with nausea, Sarah stumbled for the door. "I need some fresh air," she gasped lightly as she harshly yanked it open.

"You's ain't gonna find any out there!" Hoggle called after her, his words resonating with the barest hint of mirth.

Of course, he was right. Sir Didymus' hut was smack dab in the middle of the Bog of Eternal Stench, but Sarah found she could mostly ignore the smell in favor of the calming effects of the cool breeze and the near silence. She leaned against the wall of the hut and bent over to brace her hands on her knees. She focused on taking deep, calming breaths. Sarah's heart was still racing, as were her thoughts. It was impossible to wrap her mind around any of this.

Sir Didymus seemed convinced of Jareth's affection for her. She almost laughed at the thought before sobering as she considered Hoggle's words. 'He didn't try to deny Jareth's feelings… he just argued what they were.' She dropped her head, allowing her long, ratty hair to shield her momentarily from the world.

"What am I going to do?"

Jareth turned from the window, fully aware that his intense feelings were being manipulated by the dream fruit. The dwarf had done his job spectacularly well. 'A little too well…' Jareth grumbled, dejectedly running a nervous hand through his hair.

The Goblin King had not expected the dream fruit to be so magically potent. Even with all his talents, Jareth was slowly becoming susceptible to its enchantment. It was doing a marvelous job of twisting his hopes and dreams against him; preying on his desire for peace and quiet.

After ruling over the rowdy goblins for centuries, surely no one could blame him for desiring some quiet solitude.

The fruit was distorting his inner desires so artfully that he almost missed when his dream had subtly begun to morph from quiet relaxation to haunting isolation. In the unnatural stillness of the dream, the Goblin King was suffocating from his aching loneliness. This haunting isolation was beginning to take its toll and it left Jareth with too much time to dwell on the past.

He shivered at the thought of when this nightmare would twist for the final time to confront him fully with his greatest fear. He was not so naive as to not know what form it would take.

If the goblins could get Sarah to hurry up, he may not have to face it alone.

Jareth was quickly losing hope of that possibility. He began to pace. 'This time, I may not recover…'

Some experiences were not meant to be relived.

"Try to not look so unhappy to see me, Jareth," the rakish young man laughed. He stood leaning casually against the filthy stone wall, looking very much out of place in his pristine finery. "After all, how many decades has it been?" The man that looked back at Jareth was eerily similar, in manners and appearance. His sharp aristocratic features and coloring easily betrayed their connection.

Jareth cringed as he looked around himself and the memory the dream fruit had chosen to torment him with. He could feel the weight of the restrictions it placed upon him; nothing could be altered, only endured.

Jareth had been in no mood to humor his companion back then; he was even less inclined now. Resigning himself to this cruel torture, Jareth surrendered to his role. "Just the one, little brother," he said in a clipped tone. His past and present voices resonated together as the memory continued on as it had once before.

"Aw, well …" the younger man cleared his throat and replied merrily, "it felt much longer." Jareth found he did not like being on the receiving end of his own trademark smirk, especially the second time around.

Reliving the shock of finding himself surrounded by menacing goblins then unwittingly seized and transported into another country was not a pleasant experience. After realizing what was happening, Jareth could barely restrain himself from striking the man before him. But giving in to the urge would accomplish nothing; after all, it was not really his brother, just a phantom from his own memories.

Ironically, his current thoughts were nearly identical to the ones of his past self. They overlapped within Jareth's mind in a confusing jumble of emotions. He struggled to quiet his present raging thoughts and unsuccessfully attempted to peacefully merge with the consciousness of his younger self within the memory.

With his current resentment and heartache, it was impossible. Jareth instead chose to resign himself to watching the remainder of this memory as if from afar. He hoped the emotional detachment would lessen the sting of the past.

'I should have seen this coming…' his past-self seethed. 'Bregan had always been intrigued by this place. I just wished he'd left me out of it. How could he bring me to some place so … foul.' A more youthful Jareth looked down with disgust at the black creature strutting around his feet before mirthlessly booting it into the air. The chicken screeched in outrage as it was launched across the throne room.

The term could only be loosely applied to the chamber and Jareth gazed with aversion at the filthy chaos and misshapen goblins surrounding him. There was nothing grand about this realm; he would never understand Bregan's all-consuming fascination with the Labyrinth. Jareth hoped his time here would be short.

Sneering at the creatures that filled the rustic stone room, Jareth stiffly waved his right hand in a circular motion, effortlessly calling a crystal to his palm. His companion instantly lost his lackadaisical manner at this show of power and vainly raised his arms in preparation to shield himself. He knew firsthand what Jareth was capable of.

In the far corner of his mind, Jareth savored the memory of fear on his brother's face.

Bregan swallowed thickly. "Come now, big brother," he stuttered out, "there's no need for that…"

Jareth slid his eyes from the orb to his brother, a malicious smirk growing on his face. Since childhood Jareth had always been playfully mischievous, yet in all their years together Bregan had never been so terrified of his older brother.

"No need?" Jareth sneered at his surroundings, "I really do believe there is." Taking the crystal in both hands, Jareth crushed it between his palms. Bregan cringed at the explosion of energy it released. The raw, overwhelming power of Jareth's magic had always been terrifying to witness.

When the smoke had cleared, Jareth's eye's danced with mirth. He smiled mockingly as he began to brush the glitter off the leather gloves now covering his hands. "Much better," he sighed as he adjusted them haughtily, "don't you agree?"

Thankful to be unharmed, Bregan let out a sigh of relief.

"Now," Jareth drawled with superiority, "shall we get on with this farce?" The younger man tensed again as Jareth summoned another crystal. It danced hypnotically over Jareth's covered fingers as he strutted around the primitive throne room, being careful not to step on any wayward goblins. If he could help it, none of the surrounding grime would come in physical contact with his person.

"I can only assume you've wished me away to the goblins," he gestured vaguely at the leering assembly encircling them. Not sparing a glance for his younger brother, he continued strolling around the room. "A curious decision . . ." he paused to gaze inside the crystal, "as the goblins know to never meddle with the Fae." The diminutive group cringed back further at the unspoken threat, helpless but to watch the brothers' exchange.

Jareth sauntered around, inspecting the perimeter of the bizarre pit in the floor. "We are too strong to be kept captive and most of our kind are magically gifted enough to navigate the Labyrinth." He stopped to look commandingly at Bregan. "But you already knew all this…"

His brother shrugged nonchalantly. "I wanted to see if it would work," Bregan answered honestly.

Jareth snorted. "Apparently it has."

"And …" Bregan continued as if he hadn't been interrupted, "I wanted someone to celebrate with."

At this Jareth raised a sweeping eyebrow. "And what, pray tell, are we celebrating?"

His younger brother grinned mischievously. "I am finally ready to return home. My research here in the Labyrinth is done," he said, spreading his arms wide in an overly theatrical bow. Despite his playfulness there was pride and excitement in his voice, as well as, a small taint of anxiety.

"Mother will be thrilled," Jareth quipped, his voice thick with sarcasm. "Why not invite her instead?"

At this, Bregan laughed heartily. "Are you mad! The Queen Mother … surrounded by goblins?" He shook his head at the ridiculous notion as Jareth hid his own smirk. "You might be able to get away with tricks like that, but as second in line I am," he smiled cheekily, ". . . currently expendable."

From his voyeuristic perspective, the older Goblin King hissed viciously like a wounded animal. 'How could I have not seen…?' he rebuked himself. The bitter memory continued on regardless of Jareth's anger over the past.

"Well, that, and I always was Mother's favorite…" Jareth goaded his younger brother.

Bregan's grin stretched even farther. "You can't be serious!" he laughed. "The only reason Mother never did anything to you was because she couldn't!"

Jareth's answering smile was playful and genuine. "I don't know what you are talking about…"

"If Father hadn't bribed the Dwarves for that protective ward…!"

"And what king wouldn't want to protect his heir?"

"Everyone knows it's the only thing that's kept Mother from maiming you!" Bregan pointed out with glee before falling into a fit of hysterical giggling. Jareth minutely nodded his head in consent, able to concede graciously to what was a widely accepted truth at court.

His younger brother took a long moment to calm down before clearing his throat. "Besides it had to be you," Bregan said, finally explaining why he had selected Jareth to be wished away. "I didn't want my next reunion with Mother to be my last," he said with all honesty. "I decided you were the … safer choice in summoning."

"I'm honored."

Despite his recent good humor, Jareth was less than thrilled. No sane person willingly wanted to spend any amount of time in Goblin Territory. Besides Bregan, that is. And after summoning him in this manner, Jareth decided that his younger brother's sanity was clearly debatable.

"Can we not take this reunion back home? Then we can celebrate both of our returns from this horrid place."

"Not yet," his brother motioned to a crude table and chairs set up by the window. "There is a strict sequence of events to follow when being wished away." He glared viciously at the goblins out of the corner of his eye. "But I've requested a slight alteration, so that we might share a final meal together before I depart."

Jareth looked dubiously at the set up, then the creatures cowering throughout the chamber.

"Don't worry, big brother, it's all edible. The goblins touched nothing," he said encouragingly. "I did it all myself." There was a mischievous twinkle in his eyes, much like a cat that had finally caught the elusive canary.

"That isn't very reassuring, little brother," Jareth mocked before sighing, "but who am I to turn down a meal prepared by a prince? Besides you'll need your strength before facing the Labyrinth."

"Excellent! Excellent!" Bregan said, clapping his hands together enthusiastically. "Once you've tasted Labyrinth cuisine, you'll never be the same!"

Author's Note:

Oh my, I've done it again. It's been two months between updates. Ugh, I really need to work on that… but this chapter is a bit longer (nearly double!) so that should make up for its tardiness. (Lame excuse… I know.)

Hopefully, this chapter wasn't too confusing. It was kinda a pain to write Jareth's perspective of a past memory while at the same time experiencing it. If anyone's totally confused, PM me and I might be able to explain it better one on one. And if anyone has any bright ideas on how to go about writing these types of confusing scenes, I'd love to hear it!

I'm getting into the grittier details of the story now and Jareth finally has gotten some major screen time. Woo-hoo! I know a lot of you have been dying to see more of him. My next hurtle will be to somehow get Sarah and Jareth in the same room. Don't worry, I have a plan! Let's just hope it doesn't take ten more chapters before that meeting.

To everyone who has left a review (Unnamed Wanderer, Honoria Granger, thomasahagney, find your North Star, Demonic Host, kayellecee, LibbyMay, mmmflarfle, peachesletmefanfic, and guests) – bless you! Rereading your encouragements was one of the few things that helped me push through this chapter.

Again, thanks to everyone who's been reading. I have really enjoyed writing this.

-Casually Late