Through A Child's Eyes

By: Neko-chan

A/N: I know that some of you thought that the previous chapter would be the only chapter in this fic. Well, you were wrong! D Anyway, here's chapter two...and, eventually, all will be revealed. All will be revealed in time... *dramatic music plays* ^_^



Chapter Two

Jareth walked down the marble-floored hallway. His footsteps echoed around him, surrounding him with their lonely sound. Lonely...so very lonely. His father had left--once again on another of his 'missions.' And the goblins had gone with him.

The young boy's lip curled in disdain. His father, Simiaron, continuously visited the Mortal Realm, looking for young girls to trick and for more goblin subjects. After all, more goblins were made each time a girl visited the Labyrinth.

So stupid...so easily manipulative. Why would anyone bother with a creature as vain and as stupid as they are? Jareth thought to himself as he wandered deeper into the castle. Unknowingly, his leather-clad feet took him down to the dungeon, where the latest of Simiaron's goblins lay huddled in a cell.

The young Prince paused for a minute, staring through the bars into the large yellow orbs that were the goblin's eyes.

"Home..." it whimpered. "Want to go home... Mommy and Daddy and Tanya..."

Jareth snorted. "This is your home now. Those other people didn't want you. So why would you want to go back to them? We'd probably treat you much better than they ever did. And besides, you saw how Tanya--your own sister--preferred my father's lies over her love for you. So what's the point of returning?"

But the little goblin was still too young to understand. "Mama!" it wailed. "Daddy! Tanya!!!"

Jareth frowned and slowly stepped back away from the goblin. Why? he thought. After all that happened, why does the little one still want its family? Why? What is so important about them? It'll eventually learn that here, family doesn't matter...if you don't survive, then you die. That's the way this Realm is run...the way it's always been run.

Thinking deeply to himself, Jareth made his way back up the stairway, his eyes unfocused as he mulled this over. What was so important about family? Personally, he couldn't see what the little goblin was missing. His father was more often than not gone, traveling in the Mortal Realm or playing yet another of his 'games.' So, of course, Jareth didn't know what true family was...did that even matter?

At this, the young Prince stood silently in the hallway. Did it...did it really matter? What would it be like to have a real family? A family who cared for him...a family who loved him? Would he then understand why the pitiful creature continued to wail for its home and family?

Jareth's frown deepened; he snapped his fingers and quickly disappeared...only to reappear just outside the Labyrinth's walls.

"Your Highness!" a gruff voice exclaimed in surprise. Blinking in puzzlement, Jareth turned around and was amused to see a little elderly dwarf--rare in the Labyrinth--collecting shiny stones to add to his collection...which was attached to a belt on his waist.

"Oh, hello Hogwart," the young Prince said absently as he returned his attention to the land that lay before him. Empty for miles around...no life, no water, no anything. Just death. Or, if a person was cynical, they would say that it was as empty and as dead as the heart beating in the Goblin Prince's chest. But, then again, I'm not that type of cynical person.

"Hoggle," the dwarf corrected automatically. Unknown to him, Jareth allowed a small smile to flicker across his face. He knew that the dwarf's name was Hoggle, but it entertained him to watch the dwarf mumble his actual name while watching the Prince for retribution. Not very nice, Jareth knew. But it was still funny.

"Which is the way out of this Realm?" Jareth asked softly as he continued to look out over the desert-like land.

"No one knows. No one except for the King and his closest goblins, of course," Hoggle answered slowly. "Why? Are you planning on goin' out there, your Highness?"

Uncertainty, death, no magic, no food, no good clothes, dangerous creatures...Jareth knew that he would face all of these things and more if he went. But...how could he not? He already told himself that he would go. He had to go... "Yes," the Prince finally answered.

And that was that.