Introduction: Eek! I just reread the last chapter and discovered a bunch of typos I missed. I guess I have to reread these things at least three times to get them all correct. Sorry this took so long to get posted up. Summer does that to you. And on the name Jared, I don't know the correct spelling, I just made it up. Probably heard it somewhere before. But I'll keep my spelling of it.
Disclaimer: Me no own Labyrinth.
Excuses: I always wanted to explain the why and how of the Labyrinth and this chapter is my way of putting up my ideas.
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Prince Frog
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Chapter 3: Change Can be Bad to Keep Old Stories Secret
It was a lot easier to walk with longer legs, Hoggle reflected. No useless scuffling of feet, just nice and gentle stretching of limbs. And boy, he could he walk faster, too. Come to think of it, if he raced Sara, he could probably win. What a nice thought. Hoggle sped up, just a little, using his long legs for all they were worth.
Sara kept herself at a even pace, and somehow she kept up with him. Her hair was the same length as it had been a year ago, when they first met. If she was wearing any make-up, Hoggle couldn't tell. He did notice her skin was darker, slightly tanned. Hoggle had watched her go through phases when he used to visit her room and watch her in the Minute Mirror. She had gone through a distinct punk phase, actually dying her hair purple. Luckily enough, it was wash out, so she was back to her regular black. When she had briefly joined the drama group at school, she had begun wearing a ton of make-up, the pink glossy lipstick especially noticeable. However, she'd gotten into a fight with the lead of the play (he kissed her without her permission and she punched him in the face) and quit. Much to Hoggle's amusement, that had lead to the punk phase, but she eventually returned to her old self.
Sara eyed him warily. "Why are you looking at me like that?"
Hoggle blushed and looked away. "Huh... like what?"
"Like you're looking at me as if you're proud of me."
"Oh. Sorry. Is this the place?" They were standing before a cafe with strange gothic people sitting out on the patio. The goths gave them uncaring and unfriendly looks (the kind only goths can manage) as they stopped in front of it.
"Yeah. You like Starbucks?"
"Never had it, actually."
"Missing out in the Underground."
"You'd actually be surprised how good the food is there."
Sara smiled. "I don't think I'd eat anything fixed by goblins."
Hoggle declined to respond by telling her he actually fixed his own meals. Princes surely don't fix their own meals. Jareth didn't.
"C'mon. Order something and we'll get a seat by the window." She walked up to the counter and ordered a Grande Chai tea. Since Hoggle knew absolutely nothing about caffeene-laced beverages, he ordered the same thing. While they were waiting for their drinks, Sara looked him up and down again. "You know, you look nothing like Jareth for being his nephew."
"Um, well, people say I take after my mother."
"So your father is Jareth's brother?"
"Um, no." Hoggle had already decided that he was going to be the son of the only relative of the King's he'd ever met, his sister, Morgan. "My mother is Jareth's sister."
"They look nothing a like?"
"No, actually. My mother is very petite and delicate, but she has a big nose." Which was true about Lady Morgan, but that did not stop her from being incredibly attractive and commanding.
"Ah, here they are." The chai tea was sweet and amazingly rich and creamy. Could do with a bit of brandy though.
They sat in the corner of the coffee shop, by the window. It was a single round table with two chairs (a bit too small for the six foot Prince Frog). Sara's fine black hair draped her face as she bent down to sip her tea. Her lips were pink and looked very soft. She looked at him with a certain direct frankness in her eyes. "So, spill. Tell me everything about the Labyrinth and the Underground." She put her right elbow on the table and propped her chin up on her hand to look at him eye to eye.
"Right. Where to start? First of all, no one knows how the Underground became, it just always was. It's populated by everything, all the fantastic animals and peoples that the Aboveground writes about in books, like unicorns and dragons and griffins and things. It's been ruled by various dynasties. Before the Fae, it was the dragons, before that, the winged peoples, and so on. There's a whole lot of myths coming up with ideas about who first contacted the Aboveground, and why, but they're just legends."
"Fair enough," said Sara. "No one really knows how our universe started either."
"Any way, like I said, the Underground is currently ruled by the Fae. And they've always been around, since anyone can remember. Fae have always coveted the Aboveground, they always want what they aren't allowed to touch. King Jareth is the first son of the High King, Lord Raiden of the White sword. He was in line to inherit the Sword, only, he don't get along well with his father. Raiden had picked for Jareth a bride, but then it came about that Jareth already had a wife that he'd married in secret. A human girl. You gotta understand, I don't know a whole lot about this affair, before my time an' all, and the King really doesn't like to talk about it. So Jareth was disinherited from the Sword and banished along with his human wife. But the Queen, his mother, took pity on him, and gave him leave to create the Labyrinth. Only, it wasn't a Labyrinth, not back then, just a kingdom. He lived happily with his wife (who was granted immortality along with the Fae while in the Underground)."
"Then the Great War began. Jareth's younger siblings, brothers and sisters, had been fighting over the Sword, and the High King refused to do anything, preferring to let them battle it out. King Jareth himself was not drawn into it, long since given up on the White Sword. The War raged for one hundred years destroying more than half the Underground, until Lady Rune, the Queen and Jareth's mother, ended it herself by cursing every last one of her children and throwing them into exile."
"Jesus." Sara was shocked.
"Since then, the Royal Couple has only produced one offspring, my mother, Lady Morgan, heir to the White Sword. She gets along with Jareth. They're a lot alike," Hoggle said grimly.
"But what happened to all the princes that were cursed?"
"Princes and Princesses. They were sent to their elder brother, King Jareth, to stay with him until their penance is paid."
"But when I was there, I didn't see any other Fae other than Jareth."
"Well, you didn't see Fae, but you saw goblins, didn't you?"
"You're kidding."
"No, Lady Rune transformed all her own children into goblins, shortening their lifespan, and when one hundred generations have come and gone, she will take their children, remove the curse, and welcome them back into her castle."
"Scary woman," Sara breathed.
"Far more powerful than her husband. They always hated each other. The Queen's only love in life is her son Jareth, and when he was banished, she took the pain out on her husband."
"What about Jareth? You said he never married."
"His marriage to the human girl was never recognized by anyone, not even by the subordinates in his own kingdom. After the Great War, and Jareth found himself surrounded by his deformed siblings, he began to build the Labyrinth. No explanation why. Soon after it was finished, she left him, and returned to the Aboveground, to live out her days as a mortal."
"After he gave up the Sword for her?"
"Well, Jareth isn't great at long relationships. I don't think he ever wanted the Sword in the first place."
"Poor guy. But the thing he does, when he takes human children from the Aboveground, why does he do that?"
"Jareth's siblings needed mates. They're already inbred."
"They're forced to marry them?"
"Not really. The children are turned into goblins, and make their living as one, marrying is part of the natural order of things."
"You also said Jareth had a lot of fiancées."
"He has lots of woman. The Goblin King's family isn't the only Fae in the Underground. He also has a thing for mortals like yourself."
Sara sighed and leaned back in her chair, looking up at the ceiling. "Your history's a lot darker than I thought."
"That's not all of it," Hoggle said, sipping the tea.
"Hey, Frog, do you know a little guy named Hoggle?"
Hoggle nearly sprayed chai tea all over the table, but caught himself at the last minute. "Um, kinda, he's just a little dwarf, right?"
"Yeah, he's a friend of mine. Haven't seen him in a while. Is he okay?"
"Well, I'm sure... he's fine."
She smiled. "I'm sure he is. Tough little bloke."
There was a pause. "Jared seems like a nice guy." Total lie, but Hoggle very much wanted to hear about him.
"He is. Just a simple good guy."
"He does look a lot like... my uncle."
"I thought so too, at first, but his personality is completely different. Far too nice to be a Goblin King."
Jared's possessive face grinned nastily at Hoggle in his mind. "How much do you know about him?"
"Jareth said he would be my slave," she said quietly. Sara was still looking up at the ceiling, Hoggle couldn't see her face. "He said, 'Fear me, love me, and I will be your slave.'"
"Sara?"
"Did he mean that? Would he have let me become his Queen?"
"Sara, he's promised many girls that. Jareth keeps them for awhile, but in the end, he sends them away."
She looked down and smiled at him. Hoggle couldn't read her. "Looks like I made the right choice after all."
Hoggle would have given anything to know what she was thinking.
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Jareth the King of Goblins wrapped himself up in his silk cloak. The jewel-encrusted chair was uncomfortable. Staring impassively at the mirror, he shifted, stretching long agile limbs.
"Silly fool," he murmured to the air. "You have no idea what I intended for her. How dare you feed her your own lies. Do you have any idea how much it cost me to let her go? Half of my power. You haven't even told her the whole story. This game will finish my way on my terms."
His ivory hand made a fist, long nails digging into the skin of their owner. Blood leaked out underneath them. A grim smile displayed fangs. The Goblin King flicked his wrist, and blood splattered onto the Minute mirror. "Blood pact, you and I. Blood pact, my little Prince."
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I originally intended this to be a light romantic comedy, only I have a hard time doing that. This story has a mind of it's own. Please review and tell me if it's still okay.
Disclaimer: Me no own Labyrinth.
Excuses: I always wanted to explain the why and how of the Labyrinth and this chapter is my way of putting up my ideas.
------------
Prince Frog
------------
Chapter 3: Change Can be Bad to Keep Old Stories Secret
It was a lot easier to walk with longer legs, Hoggle reflected. No useless scuffling of feet, just nice and gentle stretching of limbs. And boy, he could he walk faster, too. Come to think of it, if he raced Sara, he could probably win. What a nice thought. Hoggle sped up, just a little, using his long legs for all they were worth.
Sara kept herself at a even pace, and somehow she kept up with him. Her hair was the same length as it had been a year ago, when they first met. If she was wearing any make-up, Hoggle couldn't tell. He did notice her skin was darker, slightly tanned. Hoggle had watched her go through phases when he used to visit her room and watch her in the Minute Mirror. She had gone through a distinct punk phase, actually dying her hair purple. Luckily enough, it was wash out, so she was back to her regular black. When she had briefly joined the drama group at school, she had begun wearing a ton of make-up, the pink glossy lipstick especially noticeable. However, she'd gotten into a fight with the lead of the play (he kissed her without her permission and she punched him in the face) and quit. Much to Hoggle's amusement, that had lead to the punk phase, but she eventually returned to her old self.
Sara eyed him warily. "Why are you looking at me like that?"
Hoggle blushed and looked away. "Huh... like what?"
"Like you're looking at me as if you're proud of me."
"Oh. Sorry. Is this the place?" They were standing before a cafe with strange gothic people sitting out on the patio. The goths gave them uncaring and unfriendly looks (the kind only goths can manage) as they stopped in front of it.
"Yeah. You like Starbucks?"
"Never had it, actually."
"Missing out in the Underground."
"You'd actually be surprised how good the food is there."
Sara smiled. "I don't think I'd eat anything fixed by goblins."
Hoggle declined to respond by telling her he actually fixed his own meals. Princes surely don't fix their own meals. Jareth didn't.
"C'mon. Order something and we'll get a seat by the window." She walked up to the counter and ordered a Grande Chai tea. Since Hoggle knew absolutely nothing about caffeene-laced beverages, he ordered the same thing. While they were waiting for their drinks, Sara looked him up and down again. "You know, you look nothing like Jareth for being his nephew."
"Um, well, people say I take after my mother."
"So your father is Jareth's brother?"
"Um, no." Hoggle had already decided that he was going to be the son of the only relative of the King's he'd ever met, his sister, Morgan. "My mother is Jareth's sister."
"They look nothing a like?"
"No, actually. My mother is very petite and delicate, but she has a big nose." Which was true about Lady Morgan, but that did not stop her from being incredibly attractive and commanding.
"Ah, here they are." The chai tea was sweet and amazingly rich and creamy. Could do with a bit of brandy though.
They sat in the corner of the coffee shop, by the window. It was a single round table with two chairs (a bit too small for the six foot Prince Frog). Sara's fine black hair draped her face as she bent down to sip her tea. Her lips were pink and looked very soft. She looked at him with a certain direct frankness in her eyes. "So, spill. Tell me everything about the Labyrinth and the Underground." She put her right elbow on the table and propped her chin up on her hand to look at him eye to eye.
"Right. Where to start? First of all, no one knows how the Underground became, it just always was. It's populated by everything, all the fantastic animals and peoples that the Aboveground writes about in books, like unicorns and dragons and griffins and things. It's been ruled by various dynasties. Before the Fae, it was the dragons, before that, the winged peoples, and so on. There's a whole lot of myths coming up with ideas about who first contacted the Aboveground, and why, but they're just legends."
"Fair enough," said Sara. "No one really knows how our universe started either."
"Any way, like I said, the Underground is currently ruled by the Fae. And they've always been around, since anyone can remember. Fae have always coveted the Aboveground, they always want what they aren't allowed to touch. King Jareth is the first son of the High King, Lord Raiden of the White sword. He was in line to inherit the Sword, only, he don't get along well with his father. Raiden had picked for Jareth a bride, but then it came about that Jareth already had a wife that he'd married in secret. A human girl. You gotta understand, I don't know a whole lot about this affair, before my time an' all, and the King really doesn't like to talk about it. So Jareth was disinherited from the Sword and banished along with his human wife. But the Queen, his mother, took pity on him, and gave him leave to create the Labyrinth. Only, it wasn't a Labyrinth, not back then, just a kingdom. He lived happily with his wife (who was granted immortality along with the Fae while in the Underground)."
"Then the Great War began. Jareth's younger siblings, brothers and sisters, had been fighting over the Sword, and the High King refused to do anything, preferring to let them battle it out. King Jareth himself was not drawn into it, long since given up on the White Sword. The War raged for one hundred years destroying more than half the Underground, until Lady Rune, the Queen and Jareth's mother, ended it herself by cursing every last one of her children and throwing them into exile."
"Jesus." Sara was shocked.
"Since then, the Royal Couple has only produced one offspring, my mother, Lady Morgan, heir to the White Sword. She gets along with Jareth. They're a lot alike," Hoggle said grimly.
"But what happened to all the princes that were cursed?"
"Princes and Princesses. They were sent to their elder brother, King Jareth, to stay with him until their penance is paid."
"But when I was there, I didn't see any other Fae other than Jareth."
"Well, you didn't see Fae, but you saw goblins, didn't you?"
"You're kidding."
"No, Lady Rune transformed all her own children into goblins, shortening their lifespan, and when one hundred generations have come and gone, she will take their children, remove the curse, and welcome them back into her castle."
"Scary woman," Sara breathed.
"Far more powerful than her husband. They always hated each other. The Queen's only love in life is her son Jareth, and when he was banished, she took the pain out on her husband."
"What about Jareth? You said he never married."
"His marriage to the human girl was never recognized by anyone, not even by the subordinates in his own kingdom. After the Great War, and Jareth found himself surrounded by his deformed siblings, he began to build the Labyrinth. No explanation why. Soon after it was finished, she left him, and returned to the Aboveground, to live out her days as a mortal."
"After he gave up the Sword for her?"
"Well, Jareth isn't great at long relationships. I don't think he ever wanted the Sword in the first place."
"Poor guy. But the thing he does, when he takes human children from the Aboveground, why does he do that?"
"Jareth's siblings needed mates. They're already inbred."
"They're forced to marry them?"
"Not really. The children are turned into goblins, and make their living as one, marrying is part of the natural order of things."
"You also said Jareth had a lot of fiancées."
"He has lots of woman. The Goblin King's family isn't the only Fae in the Underground. He also has a thing for mortals like yourself."
Sara sighed and leaned back in her chair, looking up at the ceiling. "Your history's a lot darker than I thought."
"That's not all of it," Hoggle said, sipping the tea.
"Hey, Frog, do you know a little guy named Hoggle?"
Hoggle nearly sprayed chai tea all over the table, but caught himself at the last minute. "Um, kinda, he's just a little dwarf, right?"
"Yeah, he's a friend of mine. Haven't seen him in a while. Is he okay?"
"Well, I'm sure... he's fine."
She smiled. "I'm sure he is. Tough little bloke."
There was a pause. "Jared seems like a nice guy." Total lie, but Hoggle very much wanted to hear about him.
"He is. Just a simple good guy."
"He does look a lot like... my uncle."
"I thought so too, at first, but his personality is completely different. Far too nice to be a Goblin King."
Jared's possessive face grinned nastily at Hoggle in his mind. "How much do you know about him?"
"Jareth said he would be my slave," she said quietly. Sara was still looking up at the ceiling, Hoggle couldn't see her face. "He said, 'Fear me, love me, and I will be your slave.'"
"Sara?"
"Did he mean that? Would he have let me become his Queen?"
"Sara, he's promised many girls that. Jareth keeps them for awhile, but in the end, he sends them away."
She looked down and smiled at him. Hoggle couldn't read her. "Looks like I made the right choice after all."
Hoggle would have given anything to know what she was thinking.
-----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Jareth the King of Goblins wrapped himself up in his silk cloak. The jewel-encrusted chair was uncomfortable. Staring impassively at the mirror, he shifted, stretching long agile limbs.
"Silly fool," he murmured to the air. "You have no idea what I intended for her. How dare you feed her your own lies. Do you have any idea how much it cost me to let her go? Half of my power. You haven't even told her the whole story. This game will finish my way on my terms."
His ivory hand made a fist, long nails digging into the skin of their owner. Blood leaked out underneath them. A grim smile displayed fangs. The Goblin King flicked his wrist, and blood splattered onto the Minute mirror. "Blood pact, you and I. Blood pact, my little Prince."
-----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
I originally intended this to be a light romantic comedy, only I have a hard time doing that. This story has a mind of it's own. Please review and tell me if it's still okay.