Disclaimer: Damn...still misspelled the word 'does' *runs in circles* sorry. I'm a bit hyper ^^; heehee. This will be my longest chapter! (so far) Well n e way, I don't own Labyrinth, though I do own a copy of the movie, and a Goblin King plushie doll...and the soundtrack…and I will get the book! I swear it!! okee, go on and read.

Crystal Dance

Chap. 3
By:
FireflyOfDeath

"Hey Marie, what's the hurry?" Sarah asked after they were out the door and headed to Sarah's car.

Marie jumped into the car. "Hm, hurry? Well I really want to read this book, it's just getting good. And yet my mother, if I stayed, would pester me about it, then she would take it from me and take forever reading it, then next thing I know, she'll lose it." Marie answered lightly tracing over the letters with the tip of her finger.

"...Alright, well when we get home, hurry up to my room before Karen stops us, alright?" Sarah responded entering the car using the door.

"Whatever."

*****

The dark blue car drove up Sarah's driveway. "Remember, run as fast as you can upstairs! K?" Sarah said as she closed her car door.

"...Fine. Let's just go inside! Its kind of creepy out here when it's dark..."

Sarah raised an eyebrow and nodded. "Let's hurry inside then..."

Marie and Sarah crept to the front door. Sarah slowly opened it making sure not to let it creak. "Come on...so far so good..." She whispered barely audible against the stiff silence.

Sarah made a dash towards the stairs, Marie following close behind her with her bag. As they were about halfway up the stairs the lights turned on.

"Where do you think you're going? Why weren't you home earlier Sarah?" Karen asked standing next to the light switch upstairs.

Sarah sighed rolling her eyes as she looked up at her stepmother. "I'm going to my room. I wasn't home earlier because Marie and I went shopping, and I went over to Marie's house and lost track of time."

"Ah. And just who is Marie?"

Sarah moved slightly to the side so Karen could see Marie.

Marie looked up at Karen. "I am Marie. Marie Ozmerick. It's nice to meet you Mrs. Williams. I'm sorry to come here in such short notice, and sorry to burden you but you see my mother went out of town for business this weekend..."

Karen nodded. "And what about your father?"

Marie shifted uneasily. It still pained her to remember her family she'd lost. She swallowed the lump that formed in her throat. "You see.... my father is...my father died when I was 12 years old, I'd rather not go too far into that subject..."

Karen stayed silent for a while then decided something. "Well then, you're welcome to stay here...I'll just be leaving you girls alone." She began to walk away when she turned around. "Don't stay up too late, Marie it was nice meeting you...good night." She left the room and Sarah and Marie continued their journey up the stairs.

"You're lucky. Usually it takes an hour to get past her." Sarah said reaching the top of the stairs and turning left into her room.

Marie followed right behind her and closed the door when she reached her destination. She turned towards Sarah. "So, shall we continue reading?"

Sarah shrugged. Grimm Tales was kind of freaky, but it was pretty interesting...not that she paid any attention to it, she was far too occupied reminiscing on the Labyrinth. Ever since she had set eyes on that damned book, and the coincidence of seeing the owl, she couldn't stop thinking of the Labyrinth, and Jar--, no, mustn't say his name...and the Goblin King...

Marie sat on Sarah's floor against the dresser using a pillow to rest her head on. She continued her reading.

Sarah watched Marie for a while. "...Where are you in the story?"

Marie looked up at Sarah causing the pillow to slip from its place and Marie to bang her head against the wood. "…O-Owe.... I'm where the girl is going to face the Goblin King." Marie rubbed her head a bit. "Why do you ask?"

"No reason. Can I read it when you're done?"

"Sure..."

"Than--" Sarah was interrupted from the sound of knocking at her door. 'Oh I swear! If that's Karen I'm going to be so pissed off...' She thought as she walked over to the door and opened it.

Marie glanced up as a small voice was talking.

The little boy gleefully ignored Sarah's words, which were telling him to get out, and he bounded up and sat at the edge of Sarah's bed. "What's your name?" he asked looking at Marie.

Marie looked at him, a strange emotion in her eyes. He reminded her so much of her little brother, Luke. "...My name is Marie...what's yours?"

Toby looked at her blinking a bit. "Toby! I'm Sarah's brother. What's that you're reading?"

Without looking at the book Marie responded, "Labyrinth..."

Toby thought for a bit. "Did ya know Sarah was in the Labyrinth once? She was trying to save me...and she had to fight against lots of ugly goblins!!" He made an impression of one stretching his face out.

Marie laughed a bit. Then Sarah ushered Toby out the room trying to think of how he remembered all of that.

"Your brother is cute...was he...I know this sounds stupid but, was he telling the truth about the Labyrinth?"

Sarah's eyes widened. "No!" She responded, perhaps too quickly. Her response startled Marie and she slipped her head again hitting the hard wood.

"Damn..." Marie mumbled rubbing her head. "I swear next time I do that I'm likely to develop amnesia"

Sarah scratched the back of her head. "er...sorry about that..."

"It's alright, I'm fine"

Sarah just nodded in response. "You can continue reading if you want..."

Marie looked around a bit. "Yeah, okay. But let's go downstairs to your living room its kind of cold up here"

"Heat...rises, it'll be colder downstairs"

"...Yea, but downstairs there's a little device called a fireplace."

"...Oh yeah, alright then let's go"

Marie got up and followed Sarah downstairs.

Once they got downstairs Sarah started the heater, and Marie and Sarah each sat on separate chairs and read their books.

**30 minutes later**

Marie shut the book and put it on the small counter, she shivered slightly. 'Why am I so cold? Usually I'm only cold in temperatures below 0....' She thought to herself, and then looked at her arms. Goosebumps...even the hair at the back of her neck was standing up. 'But why?' She looked over to Sarah who seemed to be toasty warm.

Sarah looked up from her book, and at Marie noting that she was no longer reading. "Are you finished?"

Marie only nodded in response. How could Sarah not be cold?

"Can I read it now?"

Marie nodded again, walked over to Sarah's chair, and handed her the book. "Sarah, I think I'm going to go up, and go to bed, I'll get like a sleeping bag for myself and everything"

Sarah looked at her. "Tired already?"

Marie only nodded for the third time.

Sarah shrugged. "I'll be up there in a little bit, I have to put out the fire and stuff, alright?"

Marie nodded for the fourth time, and began to walk upstairs. She walked to the closet across the hall from Sarah's room and got out a sleeping bag. She walked back to Sarah's room and set it on the floor. "Time to sleep..." she mumbled to herself, she turned off the light and climbed into the sleeping bag glad for its warmth. She closed her eyes and mumbled "...It would be cool if the goblins would come and take me away...I wish they would come and take me away...right now..." She closed her eyes and slipped off into a deep sleep.

A few minutes later Sarah crept into her room only to find Marie was gone. "...Marie...yoo-hoo...Marie??? Where'd you go?" She tried to turn on her light, only to find that it wasn't working. "...Probably just a bad bulb or something..." she reassured herself. 'Even though I just changed it yesterday...' she added silently to herself.

"You know it's not the bulb," a very familiar voice answered from the shadows. It was definitely a male voice, deep and had a sultry English accent.

Sarah's eyes widened and she turned around. "...Jareth...what are you doing here?"

"It should be obvious." He answered brusquely.

Sarah thought for a moment. "...Oh my god...she didn't did she?"

"What other reason would I have to be here?"

Sarah rubbed her temples already feeling the signs of a migraine coming on. "Well...you didn't have to take her…I mean she's too old to become a goblin..."

"Yes, and even if I could turn her into a goblin, why waste such beauty?" He smiled at Sarah's reaction, which was to glare a bit.

"Okay, whatever. So what do I have to do to get her back? I mean if her mom finds out that I've lost her daughter to roam forever in an oubliette or whatever, she'd kill me..."

"Sarah..." he made a 'tsk tsk' sound, and circled around her. "Have you not learned your lesson?"

She clenched her teeth trying to ignore the fact that he could still make her feel very unimportant and small. "What? I didn't wish her away, she did it herself."

He stopped circling her and stood in front of her. "...Yes, yet you wish to challenge me again..."

"Well, I very well couldn't let her be stuck there"

"She wants to be there..."

"Hahaha, probably won't when she sees the mess it is..."

Jareth glared at her, his mismatched eyes blazing into hers. "A lot has changed since you've been in the Labyrinth, let alone my castle."

"Changed? How so? Don't tell me you taught the goblins how to fetch a newspaper!" She made a fake gasp pretending to be fascinated.

"Hm, I see you still understand nothing"

Sarah shrugged not really caring. "I'll repeat the main road of our conversation. What do I do to get Marie back?"

Jareth sighed. "Fine, have it your way Sarah. This would be so much easier if you would listen to me, and not insist on challenging the Labyrinth. Just because you beat it once, does not mean you will beat it again."

Sarah rolled her eyes and placed her hands on her hips. "Yes, yes. That's nice. I see we've come to an understanding, so I will go through the Labyrinth again? Piece of cake..."

"Oh yes, and this time you will have no help from Hoghead or that hairy monster, or any of your 'friends' from your last adventure...if you make it through the Labyrinth this time, which I doubt, it will be nothing but pure luck..."

"Hoggle"

"Whatever"

Sarah sighed. 'Hoggle wasn't supposed to help me last time either, but he did! Why shouldn't he this time?' "let's just get on with it..."

Jareth sighed. "Such a pity..."

The ground beneath Sarah's feet shifted then became something else all together. She was back on the hill where she had first started last time.

"Your destination is the castle..."

"How much time do I have?"

"It does not matter...no one can beat this Labyrinth...If I limited your time...it would only mean that you would have no chance at all of beating the Labyrinth..." After saying that he disappeared from the hill in a cloud of glitter.

"...Alright then..." She looked over at the Labyrinth. "Come on feet...let's go...again" She added and started off down the hill.

*****

Marie rolled over on her stomach in bed groaning a bit. '...Bed…since when was I asleep in a bed?' she thought groggily. 'What time is it?' she slowly opened her eyes. "...This isn't Sarah's room...this isn't even Sarah's sleeping bag!" She looked at the bed she was sleeping in. "I like the colors though..." she added when she noticed that the bedspread was black, the pillows, sheets, and the bed skirt were all a dark red color. "...Where am I?"

"In my castle..." a deep voice answered her question. She noted it had an English accent.

"Whose castle? Who are you?" She asked in monotone.

Jareth stepped into the light of the small lamp, which was by Marie's bedside.

"...Just because you stepped into the light doesn't mean I'll know who you are." she said in a mocking tone.

"I am Jareth, and this is my castle."

"Oh, that's great now we're getting somewhere. Where's this castle? Who exactly are you? What year is it? What time is it? And most importantly...that fashion went out of date a long, long time ago"

Jareth ignored the last comment. "The castle is in the Underground, my kingdom. I am the Goblin King. The year and time are unimportant."

"The Goblin King? From that book?"

He only nodded in response getting quite bored to where this conversation was headed.

"Oh, well then...that makes things much clearer. You should have said that before. Now, what now?"

"You stay here."

"...Right. That's great, just great. Do I get any of my possessions from earth?"

"...Only one"

"Two"

"Fine"

"Great, I want my CD player and my CDs, and I want my computer"

"Alright." He twirled his hand slightly and they all appeared in the room, the CD player along with her hundreds of CDs on her bed and her computer at the edge of the room. "Great...all right thank y--" Marie looked around and shrugged when Jareth was nowhere to be found. "So I'm actually here, eh? ... Who would've thought?" She picked a CD out of the pile randomly and pulled out a Linkin Park CD. She sighed and shook her head. "Figures" she muttered. She put it in the CD player and put the headphones over her ears, and began to sing along with the song 'one Step Closer'. (A/N: Marie is also singing with it but I'm not gonna put the "", k?)

I cannot take this anymore
Saying everything I said before...
All these words they make no sense
I find bliss in ignorance...

The less I hear, the less you say
You'll find that I really wait

(Just like before...)
Everything you say to me
Sends me one step closer to
The edge and I'm about to break!
I need a little room to break
Cause I'm one step closer to the edge
I'm about to break!

I find the answers aren't so clear...
Wish I could find a way to disappear.
All these thoughts they make no sense
I find bliss in ignorance
Nothing seems to go away!
Over and over again...

(Just like before...)
Everything you say to me
Sends me one step closer to
The edge and I'm about to break!
I need a little room to break
Cause I'm one step closer to the edge
I'm about to break!
Everything you say to me
Sends me one step closer to
The edge and I'm about to break!
I need a little room to break
Cause I'm one step closer to the edge
And I'm about to!
Break!

*_*_*_*_*_*

"As you expected, Sarah wanted to challenge the Labyrinth..." Jareth said pacing around the halls while talking to his cousin, (A/N: what should his name be!? I've chosen these for YOU TO CHOOSE FROM: Brian, Conan, Darius, Eden, Everett, Gale, Galen, Hasan, Evan, or Rowan. For now I'll just call him Darius until the vote is made!!) Darius.

"I told you she would, from the stories I hear she has a stubborn streak in her." Darius replied as they both were walking down the many hallways. Darius had black hair cut pretty normally, and he had mismatched eyes much like his cousin's except his right one was gray and his left was green, he was also just as pale as his cousin was.

"Streak? She has no stubborn streak...it's her whole being..."

Darius smirked. "I had a feeling you'd say something along those lines...Who's her friend?"

"The strange one who's in my castle?"

"Yes."

"From what I learned from Sarah earlier, her name is Marie...she doesn't seem to be intimidated by me..."

"You're right that is strange, besides the fact that all women in the Underground and other kingdoms flock all over you for your 'beauty' and 'charm', I mean the only one who didn't was Sarah...which is why you're still stalking her..."

"Stalking? I think not! I am simply...following my prey..."

"Yes, yes whatever Jareth. I am your closest relative..." he stopped then added, "Who's not trying to kill you to get the throne"

Jareth shrugged then stopped. "Do you hear that?"

Darius stopped also and listened intently. He could hear someone singing:

"What do I do to ignore what's behind me?
Do I follow my fate to escape blindly?
Do I hide my pride away from these bad dreams?
And give into (? ^^; can't understand this part)
Do I let it go and try to stand it?
Or do I try to catch them red-handed?
Do I trust some and get fooled by phoniness?
Or do I trust none and live life in loneliness?

The sunlight burns the skin of sleeping men
I make the right turns but I'm lost within...
I put on my daily (??) but then
I just end up getting hurt again
By myself
I can't hold on!
It's all too much to take yea~
I can't hold on!
With sense of failure sinking in...

If I turn my back I'm defenseless
And to give into fate seems senseless!
If I hide my pride and let it all go on
Then they'll take from me till everything is gone!
If I let them go I'll be out done
But if I try to catch them I'll be out run...
If I'm killed by the questions like a cancer
Then I'll be buried in the silence of the answer!!"

Darius looked to Jareth. "...What is she doing?"

Jareth shrugged. "I don't know...why don't you go and find out?"

Darius nodded and disappeared in a cloud of smoke.

~*~*~*~*~*~*~
To be continued...

Firefly: ...er...R&R!!!!!!