Disclaimer: I do not own Labyrinth, or Jareth. Jim Henson & Co. do.
Rating: PG-13 (For use of improper language)
Author's note: Again! I lied! DIE YOU LYINGNESS! It's becoming a habit, some one review with a smack for me…Hoggle will be in this one, of course.
"Open!" Didymus shouted at the door to the city as though it would respond, "Open the door!" He growled and barked like a dog. This was not good. The last thing Jaclyn wanted was the entire Goblin City on her tail.
"Sir Didymus!" she hissed, "Quiet down! You'll wake the guard!" She motioned to a sleeping goblin that wore rusted armor. "Please!"
Didymus kept on as he was. "Let them all wake!" he shouted, "I'll fight them all here and now! Open the door!" He slammed his staff into the wooden gate.
"Please, for my sake, be quiet!" Jaclyn grabbed him a little roughly, but she needed her point across, "You are a brave knight, but there are moments when bravery is foolishness, so please stop this!"
Didymus was silenced at last for quiet a long moment. "Yes, Milady," he said finally, "For you, anything. Let us go quietly." He mounted Ambrosious as Ludo pushed the gate open. The guard didn't even stir at all.
As they stepped through the old wooden doors, they found themselves at yet another doorway. Upon its surface was the emblem of fire and slowly it began to glow blue.
"What's that?" Jaclyn asked as the glow intensified.
Ludo approached in curiosity and touched the blue emblem. A beat passed and nothing happened. Then suddenly Ludo cried out and pulled his big hand away in pain. "Hot!" he exclaimed.
"Oh, Ludo!" Jaclyn said, grabbing hold of the beast's arm. "Are you okay?" She looked at his hand and saw a burn mark. "It must be some kind of defense," she stated, "We can't touch the door."
The emblem glowed even brighter and soon a small yellow flame began to dance on the wood. The flame grew and grew and as it grew it got hotter and changed colors. From yellow, to red, to green, and finally blue, the hottest. The flames surrounded them.
"Oh no!" Jaclyn exclaimed putting her arms up to protect herself from the intense heat. "What do we do!" She couldn't open her eyes without having the brightness hurt them.
"I'm coming, Jaclyn!" the voice was all too familiar. Jaclyn fell backwards just as the flames began to mysteriously subside.
Jaclyn took a short, quick breath of cool air and relaxed slightly. She peeked out from behind her arms that were still raised defensively. She then saw her rescuer. "Hoggle!" she said happily. She crushed the cat in a tight hug.
"Ow!" he said quietly at first, "…ow!" He repeated himself loudly and struggled to free himself of the hug.
"I knew you would come back!" she released him, "I'm sorry. I'm just so happy to see you!"
"You are?" he asked meekly, "You aren't angry for my giving you that peach?"
"Of course not!" she said, "Jareth told you to. You were following orders, it's a rule of the game." She was suddenly reminded that Jareth had rules to follow as well. It wasn't entirely his fault that she was there. She pushed any other thoughts away and made her top priority getting her brother back. "Let's go!"
Ludo cautiously touched the door to find it sopping wet. He pushed it open and it swung on rusted hinges. "Screech!" it wailed loudly.
Jareth bounced Toby on his knee and listened to the child's laughter. "Such a lively chap, it would be a shame to let him go," he muttered. Then again, he didn't want this game to go on. He really wanted Jaclyn to go home happy, not loathing of him. "Not like the ones before her." He had never really loved any one like he loved her, so it would be quite a painful blow if she hated him.
"Your Majesty!" came an urgent beckoning, "The girl and the cat and the squirrel—!"
"What is it?" Jareth snapped. Oh, how he disliked it when they interrupted his thoughts.
"That girl who ate the fruit," the guard had just barely entered the room at this point, "The one who forgot everything! She's in the city! She's at the gate!"
"What?" now this changes everything. "Stop her! Do what you can to stop her. Don't make it easy for her. Take the child and hide him!"
He handed Toby down to a sentry from his throne. This was not what was supposed to happen! Then again, the rules do not prevent some one from actually winning his game. Maybe this wasn't so bad after all…or maybe it was…
He ran to his window and looked out. He could see his army exit the castle below and track four small figures in the city. He could pinpoint Jaclyn easily. This was not what he planned, not at all. He knew, though, she would soon be in his castle. He had to make the proper preparations. He made his way to his Esher Room.
It was chaos, hectic, positively insane. Everywhere she looked there was another goblin with a large gun, spear, or cannon. This was not good. For some reason her first thought was 'Where is Jareth?' but then she remembered that he was the antagonist in this story. She yelled for her group to follow her as she ducked behind a building.
"This is bad," she said, "Hold on!" She peeked out to see if anyone was there. Again her mind went to Jareth. She could not get over the fact that she had danced with him. She had been so close to him. And she didn't even know that it was…HIM…The goblin king. She could feel his touch, his arm around her waist. This wasn't the time for that now! "Let's go!" she said, the coast was clear.
She ran down the street with her friends in front of her. She tried to keep her mind on her brother, but the same thought kept creeping it's way into her head. Jareth was in that castle.
