I got this chapter up within a monthish time! Whooo!

This chapter isn't written the best, though, I'll admit to that. If there's a lot of weird sentences/grammar that it distracts from the story just message/review and I'll go fix it. I'm just a little impatient to get to a certain part that I'm being a little lazy on that :P

Thanks again for all the reviews and follows/faves and hope you like!

~Mpenguin

Chapter 10

If there was ever a cancer for the soul, it certainly must begin with secrets.

That's what Ravie's gloomy mind thought as she sat in her spot in the Royal Study, listening to the threatening grumble of late summer thunder from far off in the distance. The Goblin King sat next to her, silently devoted to glaring at a misspelled word on his document and making every point to ignore her. It was not intentional, as Ravie first believed it to be, but rather a side effect of his verdict. His verdict that Ravie was simply a goblin, and thus did not have the capabilities he once believed she had processed. The thing that twisted Ravie's heart the most, however, was the simple fact that she had the power to eliminate all his prejudice.

But she wouldn't act, and that made everything much more painful.

Fortunately, her relationship with her friends suffered minimal injuries. Mimion, knowing that Ravie was suffering from a pain she could not know about, acted much more motherly towards her than before: not hesitating to do the 'shopping' or to clean up messes right away. Fifo too could tell something was wrong, but he took the opposite approach. He obtain the habit of suddenly glaring at Ravie, as if trying to figure out how to defuse a bomb, and of double checking rooms that she had just exited out of. Only Copperpot, in his sweet naivety, noticed absolutely nothing and so acted the same as he had before.

Letting out a deep sigh which did little to up lift her spirits, Ravie looked up at the clock. It was only one.

Great, she thought, her ears bending back in disappointment, only five hours left. Maybe if I 'accidently' trip and knock the documents into the candle, I could just blame lighting them on fire as a fault of my "situation" and he would let me go home.

But he can always repair the papers with magic.

Letting out a sigh of defeat and with one more bleary look at the clock, Ravie set to work again. The dull heavy silence of the room seem to have the power to slow down time, almost to a halt. The only reason Ravie knew that time still worked was because the thunder had arrived, roaring and crashing above. One had even clashed right above the castle, causing Ravie to jump above a foot into the air and tremble in fear and disgust at herself.

The Goblin King took no notice of anything.

Two o'clock came, chasing the thunder away and only a gentle drizzle of rain beat up against the window frame. Listening to the hypnotic rhythm, Ravie felt her body relax and her eyelids droop. She was at the point of drifting off into a doze when suddenly another crash of thunder sounded loudly within the room.

Ravie jolted up, her eyes widening, and she blinked in alarm to see that the sound had not been thunder at all. Rather it had been a female Fae, one that stood like a reflection of the Goblin King.

The King's sister Magenta

The Goblin King himself had not reacted at all from the suddenly appearance. In fact, he seem to make an effort not to. His miss-matched eyes had only slipped off the page for a mere second before nonchalantly returning.

Magenta did not seem to like this.

Her eyes narrowed threatening and her nostril flares, yet the Goblin King still didn't react. She then sucked up a huge breath of air and screamed "Jareth!"

"I'm right here, Magenta, no need to shout." The Goblin King said in his harsh smooth voice, "And would you please shut the door behind you."

"Jareth! What's wrong with you!" Magenta screamed, taking no heed of his words, "I mean really, insulting our mother like that! You know perfectly well what she does to us when you act out like that!"

And then, as if she had magically shed her voice and took on a completely different one instead, Magenta snapped "Magenta, why didn't you pressure him into getting a wife earlier? What sort of sister are you? Do you want the Goblin Throne for your son? Is that why you want him to remain single? Such a selfish girl you are."

"Griffith, you really mustn't hang around your brother much longer, your shenanigans are making him a laughingstock. Really, you are such a-"

"Magenta!"

She jumped a little, half startled to hear her brother's voice sounding so angry and half startled to see that he was suddenly standing.

Her fury, however, wouldn't back down and she shrieked, "Why, Jareth, oh why don't you just get married! Honestly, what are you waiting for?"

The Goblin King had at that point walked over to her and put his arm comfortingly over her shoulder. To her credit, Magenta didn't break down crying or even let out a sob. Merely the fury fell from her eyes and suddenly they appear more like pools of water than shards of ice.

"Come on, let's go for a walk." Jareth said, leading her towards the door.

She mumbled that she "didn't want to go on a bloody walk", but didn't resist as Jareth lead her out, shutting the door firmly behind him.

That firm click seemed to resounded like a gun shot in the room, leaving Ravie feeling small and worried. Yet she gave herself a quick little shake, trying to forget the scene that just happened.

After all, it wasn't any of her business.

Blinking down at the document beneath her, Ravie picked up her quill pen and was just about to make a mark when suddenly the door slammed again, and this time, Ravie fell off the table.

"Why in bloody hell are you jumping at the slightest noise?" Marcus' brisk voice cut its way through the air. Through the gap between the desk and the floor, Ravie could see his feet shifting irritability.

"Because apparently" Ravie huffed, pulling herself up on her knees and glaring at him, "Nobody in this frickin castle knows how to shut doors properly."

His reaction was not what she had been expecting.

Marcus' jaw fell quicker than Copperpot slipping on ice, his eye bulged dangerously out of their sockets, and his feet seemed to have trouble of keeping themselves vertical.

"What?" Ravie asked, feeling uncomfortable. She then stood up and looked down at him as well as the desk that she found was much more her size than it really should have been.

Oh.

"What. Did. You. Do?" Marcus wheezed, clutching his gut to keep himself from hyperventilating.

"Nothing! I swear!" Ravie said shakily, brushing her suddenly long bangs behind her ear with her trembling suddenly slim hands.

"Nothing! THIS doesn't happen when you do NOTHING!"

"Marcus, I swear! I didn't do anything! It just happened! I just- please, please don't tell the Goblin King." Ravie begged, rushing over and kneeing before him, tightly clutching his claw like hands.

"You're joking, right? Right?"

Ravie rapidly shook her head.

"Then you're raving mad!" He exclaimed, starting to hyperventilate again. "Absolutely raving mad! Not tell King Jareth! Why, he needs to know! He must know! I'm surprised he doesn't know!"

"And he will know!" Ravie replied soothingly, "Just...not now."

"No. No. I simply won't do it. I can't. Jareth is King, he needs to know. He needs to, he's our king."

"Marcus." Ravie said softly, gently squeezing his hands, "Please."

He then turned his gaze to look into her's and right before her eye, Ravie saw, actually saw, Marcus the Secretary Goblin turn soft.

"Alright." He grumbled, "But if he asks, I'm telling."

"Oh, thank you!" Ravie laughed in hysterical joy, giving him a quick hug.

When she pulled away, she smirked, amused to see him blushing bashfully, but before she could tease him about it, the door knob suddenly wiggled nosily.

"We gotta get you out of here!" Marcus urgently hissed as Ravie jumped to her feet.

"Yes, but how? And can I get out in time before the Goblin King or his sister or any other goblin sees-"

Marcus, at that moment, pulled out a large ancient looking tome and its whole bookcase suddenly swung forward.

"me."

"Are you only quick at talking back?" Marcus snapped, his usual mannerism returning to him. "Move!"

Ravie didn't hesitate a moment longer. As both of her feet made it safely over the threshold, she whipped around, intending to tell Marcus thank you, but the bookcase had just then fallen back into place, engulfed her in choking darkness.

It was as if Ravie had suddenly became both deaf and blind, standing there, in only complete silence and complete darkness. Slowly, she outstretched her arms, feeling around. Her fingertips gently grazed against the walls on either sides of her and a sudden noise sounded close by. Ravie jumped in alarm, and then took in a shaky steadying breath. It had only been her letting out her breath. Very cautiously, Ravie took a step forward. Then another, and another, all the meanwhile making sure she didn't lose feeling of the walls.

It wasn't very long, however, that she suddenly found herself colliding into something solid. Feeling the barrier before her, which turned out to be a very sturdy stone wall, Ravie began to feel the rising panic deep within her chest. She planted her feet against the floor, pushing with all her strength against the wall.

It didn't budge.

Taking quick calming breaths, she backed up, and then ran into it.

It still didn't budge.

Again, thrice more, and still no progress. But on the fourth time, as Ravie's shoulder rammed into it, it swung open as easily as if it had been a flimsy door all along.

Halting herself before slamming into the opposite wall, Ravie shunned her eyes from the sudden unbearably bright light that streamed through the windows. As her eyes slowly got use to the brightness, her ears slowly register the voices.

"Magenta, I think it's time for you to leave."

"No! Not until I put some sense into that delusional mind of yours!"

"There is nothing delusional about it whatsoever. I am perfectly sane."

"A King looking to get married for love isn't sane, Jareth! It doesn't happen. Let me say this to you one more time, love doesn't exist!"

Ravie stood there, listening as the voices rounded the corner and bounced off the walls. She would never have been able to tell you why, but she found herself completely enchanted by this argument. She felt herself drawn to it, and, without her full consent, she suddenly found herself wandering over to the voices. Before Ravie could so much as hear another syllable, however, the floor beneath her vanished, and Ravie found herself falling into a dark twisting tunnel.

Flying out and landing in a heap onto hard moist stone, Ravie lifted up her head, grimacing. Looking about , she was little surprised to see that this time she hadn't landed in the Bog, rather it was very familiar maze that resided not too far off from the Goblin City.

Tightening her jaw determinedly, Ravie made an effort to stand, but not even half way up, she collapsed. The pain came back. This time, however, something occurred that had never occurred before. Like a dream it appeared before her, yet it was so clear, it felt as if Ravie was watching it unfold for real.

Ravie

She was sitting on something that was moving back and forth as she pushed her feet off the ground.

Oh, that's right! It was her swing! Her favorite swing! The one with all those fairy stickers she had stuck all over the bright red seat.

She was swinging as high as she could in order to catch glimpses of her neighbor's dog. The small thing was barking like mad, chasing after the green and pink bone that the boy who lived next door threw.

She had always wanted a dog, a big fluffy one that would play fetch and cuddle up with her when she went to bed. But mommy was allergic, so the chances of that happening were slim to none.

The smell of hamburgers wafted through the air, and from the corner of her eye, she could see her father sliding a few cooked ones onto a green plastic plate. She turned back her head to watch the dog when suddenly her mother's voice yelled out:

"Sarah! Time for dinner!"

And so she leapt off the swing at the highest height, landing clumsily onto the long grassy lawn, and in a scrambled hurry she raced back home, where she could see her mother and father smiling at one another.

As quick as it came, as quick did it vanished, leaving Ravie alone with the pain that only just started to subside. Ravie, however, didn't care. She just wept.

Ravie cry hard and long, not caring to think about anything that was going on around her. She ignored the strangled yelp from far off in the distance, she ignored the sudden changing of the maze, she ignored the heavy footsteps that came closer and closer and she even ignored the shadow that suddenly casted over her.

What Ravie couldn't ignore, however, was the slow low voice that suddenly mumbled "You Okay?"

With the slightest movement of her head, Ravie looked up and her sobs suddenly choked in her throat. For there, with long orange fur that cascaded down, with huge curved horns gleaming menacing, and with a large mouth with large fangs sticking out, there stood the Monster.

As she laid there, frozen with fright, the Monster leaned forward and asked, "You Okay?"

Ravie couldn't respond even if she wanted to. Her eyes widen even bigger in fear as he suddenly made his way over closer to her.

Oh no, it's going to crush me, Ravie thought, curling up tighter into a ball.

Suddenly the ground beneath quaked as if a ton of rocks had been dropped onto it and Ravie, peeking her eye above her arm, was shocked to see that the Monster had plopped himself down right next to her.

Cautiously sitting up, Ravie eyed the Monster up and down several times, waiting for him to pounce, yet he didn't do a single thing. All he did was look her, looked at her with blank honest eyes, and tilted his head, smiling a simple smile at her.

Ravie then gave him a timid smile, thinking: He kind of looks like a big dog, doesn't he.

And that's when she remembered the vision, and she began to weep again.

The Monster eyes widen with alarm as he looked down at her and, very timidly, he asked "What wrong?"

"Everything. Everything is wrong."

"Why?"

But Ravie couldn't say anything more, could only sob hardier. Because how could she explain that all this time she had been living a lie? How could she tell him that she wasn't who she thought she was, that she wasn't what she thought she was? That for who knows how long she had been trapped in that form, completely separated from her past, from her family, from her friends, from her true self. How do you tell someone that?

"What your name?" The Monster said again, his face coming towards her timidly, trying to catch her eye.

Looking up into those huge brown eyes, she finally answered, "Sarah. My name is Sarah."

And Sarah wept her hardest upon saying that. Not because she was hurting or sad, but because nothing seemed to sound so true as that statement.

The Monster simply looked at her worriedly.

A yell suddenly cut through the air, catching both her and the Monster's attention.

"Nearby." The Monster rumbled, and Sarah nodded her head in agreement.

The both knew what they had to do. They got up and hurried over there, and Sarah, being the quicker of the two, arrived to the scene of the crime first. There she gasped.

For there was Hoggle, waving his arms helplessly in the air as a group of Patrol Goblins took turns poking him with sticks, all of them snickering with joy when the hit was successful.

Anger like she never felt towards her goblin-kind suddenly bubbled within her blood, and she bent down, blindly picking up a rock. Before she could do anything, however, the Monster had caught up to her and upon hear his labored breathing, the Goblins looked up and at them. They gasped in alarm as they saw him, squeaked in terror, and within a split second they had all scurried away, but not before one of them had successfully knocked Hoggle to his feet.

"Yeah! Be afraid you blasted pests!" Hoggle growled after them, wincing as he went to pick himself up.

Taking pity on him, Sarah went over and offered him a hand. He took it, stood up, and grumbled under his breath as he brushed himself off. It was only then that he took a glance at her and, with his eyes bulging out, he exclaimed:

"You!"

"Yes, me." Sarah said in a flat voice, slightly annoyed from his lack of gratitude.

"You're back?"

"Well, I never really left."

"Well, well, well." Hoggle said, puffing himself up, "Labyrinth tricker than you thought, eh?"

"No, I simply haven't decided the location on where to put my new summer home yet."

"Yer new summer..." Hoggle mumbled, trying to put the pieces together.

The Monster leaned forward and bellowed, "Home!"

Hoggle leapt in alarm and, looking at the Monster absolute terror, he let out a yell and scurried off.

Sarah covered her mouth to keep from laugh, and the Monster tilt his head from side to side, trying to figure out what he did wrong.

"Don't worry yourself too much, Mon-" Sarah halted at that, thinking a moment, before asking, "What is your name, anyway?"

The Monster looked at her for a moment, then the brightest smile came onto his face and he replied, "Ludo. Name is Ludo."

"Well, nice to meet you Ludo."

"Nice to meet you Sar-ha"

They both stood there, smiling at each other when suddenly there was the sound of something running into a wall nearby, quickly followed by a scream of pain.

They didn't even wait a second, both Sarah and Ludo hurried to the source. Flying down the corridor and whipping around corners, it wasn't long before Sarah left Ludo well far behind. Sarah quickly rounded the corner and nearly tripped over herself as she slammed into a halt. There laid a familiar looking tangle of fabric which moved edgily. Very faintly Sarah could hear something within mumbling furious under her breath things such as "Spoiled brat", "Ego probably the size of his bloody Labyrinth", and "For goodness sakes, he couldn't just poof me home?"

The realization of who that was slowly dawn on Sarah, and she whipped around, intending to run. But before she had the chance, two sharps pieces of ice suddenly locked onto her, locking her into place. The two of them stared incredulously at each other, too shocked for words until Sarah, regaining her sense, ran off.

"Hey! Halt!" Magenta shrieked, picking herself up and following. Sarah began to round the corner when something suddenly hit her back like a blast of freezing water. A sudden strong dizziness seep into her and Sarah found herself stumbling, falling. Her body hit the ground, just hidden from Magenta's view and then, suddenly, poof!

Magenta managed to round the corner and she abruptly halted, looking with confusion at the empty corridor. Looking about cautiously, she slightly twisted her wrists, causing what seemed to be blue and black flames to appear in hands. With her face set, she slowly stalked down the corridor, nearly attacking Ludo who had only just made it to the corridor.

She would late go to chastise herself for never wondering why a tiny Goblin was dead sleeping in the middle of maze