"Sky's Eclipse"
Chapter 35
By Aiijuin

*Disclaimer: I don't own anything Jim Henson or Labyrinth. Gröeg was originally designed by Brian Froud and catalogued by Terry Jones in Brian Froud's "The Goblins of the Labyrinth". This fanfiction is rated M for some harsh language and adult situations. Gavin King is Jareth, the Goblin King, for those who have jumped into the middle of the story. Jeremy Eden is from the original Henson script of "Labyrinth" as the man who wrote the "Labyrinth" playbook that Sarah was reading from, in the beginning of the 1986 movie.

**NOTE: Story numbering is behind by 1 chapter, because there is a prelude, which is not considered a chapter. Fanfiction . net automatically assigns numbers to the chapters by default, which I have not control over. Thank you!

Chapter 35: Nothing…Tra-la-la!

Jareth had awoken the next morning in his gigantic, soft bed within the Henkies Mansion. The sun was just beginning to creep through the window coverings. Gröeg tapped at the door lightly. Jareth asked in a pleasant voice, "Yes?"

Gröeg smiled. He peeked in to see his master was rubbing his eyes and stretching out of 'human' habit. Gröeg carried the silver breakfast tray over to the side of the bed and laid it on the table for his king. The goblin commented, "Gröeg thinks it is going to be a beautiful day, does he not?"

"Oh, yes, wonderful," Jareth beamed, then he looked around for a second and asked, "When did I get home last night?"

The goblin butler answered, "Gröeg knows not, Sire. King didn't come in through the front door, lest Gröeg would have opened it for him."

"Well, Sarah certainly didn't carry me in," Jareth muttered. Then he chuckled at the thought of her struggling to carry him up the steep stairs of his mansion.

Gröeg tapped his protruding lips with his gnarled, bony fingers and replied, "Miss Sarah didn't even drive up to front door, Master. Perhaps King flew home from carnival last night…"

"I most certainly did NOT, especially not during that rainstorm," Jareth corrected the goblin.

For the Goblin King, it didn't matter anyway. Despite last night's fiascos at the carnival, his dreams had made everything worthwhile. He awoke feeling rested and in the best of moods. Outloud he bragged, "Oh, what a perfectly wonderful dream I had last night."

Gröeg poured Jareth's tea and asked, "What was dream about, Sire?"

"Nothing that I find appropriate to tell to prying goblin ears, Greg," Jareth smirked with his pointed eyebrows raised mischievously.

"It's 'Gröeg'," Gröeg corrected with a huff and then finished, "Sire."

At that, Jareth heard a moan come from Gröeg. He turned to the goblin to ask, "What's the matter?"

Gröeg shrugged, "Gröeg said nothing, Sire."

"Of course," Jareth blinked and shifted the bedspread up to his neck. "But you did moan, and don't think I didn't hear that."

Gröeg's eyes shifted in confusion. He was going to defend his statement, but Jareth snapped, "Oh, just leave the tray and I'll get to it eventually. Hmm?"

Gröeg nodded, and lifted the silver lid from the serving tray, so the aroma of the food filled the room. Then, the little goblin proceeded to draw the curtains open and allow the sunlight into the room. Jareth was about to snatch a croissant from the platter when he heard a familiar voice say, "Mmm, that smells delicious…"

Gröeg quickly spun around to search for the source of the voice, but found Jareth was already wide-eyed and doing the same. Gröeg said, "That sounds like Miss Sarah…"

"Shh!" Jareth hushed the goblin. He jumped from his bed and tied a robe around him, which he had grabbed from a nearby hook fastened to the door. He looked under his bed as Gröeg searched behind the wardrobe and under the desk.

Nothing!

After several minutes of thorough seeking, an arm shot out from under the rumpled bed covers. Gröeg nearly jumped onto the ceiling in fear, while Jareth closed his eyes.

It wasn't a dream, he tightened his face in disbelief.

Gröeg pointed and said with a mixture of innocence and shock, "Miss Sarah was hiding in your blankets, Sire. Was she playing game of 'hide and seek'? Gröeg thinks her clothes are hiding too…"

"LEAVE!" Jareth pointed to the door, hoping the goblin wouldn't say anything else to make this moment more awkward then it already was.

Gröeg quickly vanished from the room with a cloud of smoke, leaving Jareth in solitude with Sarah's naked body shifting about in his black satin sheets. By all means, this should have been a moment of triumph for the Goblin King, but he felt more displaced by Sarah's presence. What had transpired between them last night was not a dream, nor was it something he had concocted! He sat back down on the edge of the bed and placed his head in his hands.

First, she steals my power, he lamented silently.

Then, she steals my throne, he grimaced.

Now, she has stolen me, he frowned.

He was absolutely miserable over the fact that Sarah kept getting the better of him no matter what he did. He summoned a magic crystal and gazed into it.

It revealed nothing, but its presence made him aware that his powers had shifted back to him again.

Still sleeping, Sarah began to turn in the sheets again, when Jareth groaned, "Oh, do go home already."

At that, Sarah had been returned safely back to the Williams household and placed back into her own bed by magic. He hadn't used any spells, fruit, or potions on her, and hoped that she would believe the whole thing was a dream as well. He arose to stare out of the window. After a few moments of inner reflection, he untied the curtains and let them fall back over the glass to stifle out the sunlight.