Maria rolled out her sleeping bag as Ridel worked on setting up a makeshift tent made with bed sheets.

"Okay okay. Putting David Bowie aside, I mean really aside, he is not an issue, don't you think that the labyrinth would be awesome? Amazing? Spectacular perhaps?" Asked Maria.

Ridel sighed "Yes. You know even with David Bowie it would be okay." She said, fumbling with the sheets.

Maria smiled. "Ah. I see you are on the path to the dark side, Good my young apprentice."

Ridel biffed her with a pillow. "Everything is proceeding as I have foreseen." Came Maria's muffled voice.

"Just cause I don't hate him doesn't mean I'm in love with him like you. There is middle ground you know." Said Ridel turning back to her work with the sheets.

"Well that's good then! It means that I don't have to share." Maria smiled and flopped across her mattress on her stomach.

Three hours later found the girls giggling madly inside a surprisingly well put together sheet tent. They were nearly at the bottom of a box of candy. Courtesy of post hallows eve sales.

"Look I'm Jareth!" Said Ridel turning to show her friend her excessive eye shadow. This sent Maria into another fit of giggles. Ridel put on a fake indignant look. "Don't laugh at your king, or I shall suspend you head first in the bog of eternal stench!" she said in a bad fake British accent.

The giggles intensified. "No more please! Oh! My poor heart." Maria wiped a tear from her eye as she tried to stop laughing.

"Naw, I couldn't be the goblin king." Ridel went on. Plopping down on her mattress and rubbing the make up away. "I'm not glittery enough."

A strange thing that sugar and 3:00 in the morning have in common is the fact that everything seams ten times funnier. You fall into an almost drunken state ware you don't choose your words because you think that whatever you say will be bloody brilliant anyway. It was because of this that Maria made her first mistake.

"Oh Ridel STOP! I'll say them, I'll say the words!"

Ridel grinned. "I doubt it." She said. "How are you going to manage if you can't even breath?" With that she pounced on Maria and started tickling her mercilessly. Maria shrieked and laughed loudly, trying to roll out from under her friend.

"I W-Wish" She managed before laughing loudly again. There was a loud banging on the door.

"I though I told you girls to be quiet!" Came the muffled but loud voice of Ridels mother. Ridel rolled off of Maria.

"Sorry mom! We won't do it again." She said. Maria was gasping for air and laying on her back. A huge grin splitting her face. Ridels mother grumbled something along the lines of "Yeah right." And shuffled back down the hall to her room.

Ridel looked over at Maria to see her glairing at her. Even though she was struggling to keep the corners of her mouth turning up. It made her look tragically funny to Ridel. She clamped a hand across her mouth and tried not to laugh.

"I wish the goblins would come and take you away, right now." She said balefully, turning her head and staring at the top of the tent. She started to giggle.

To her surprise there was no answer from the other mattress. Maria's giggles subsided as she noticed that Ridel was, in fact, not in the tent anymore. "Uh… Ridel?"

Suddenly she heard the scratching of many small claws scurrying across the hard wood floor. She froze for a second, then came to the conclusion that Ridel was probably just trying to scare her. She poked her head out of the tent, but saw only the empty bedroom. "What the crap?" she whispered.

She was startled by a chorus of gruff high pitched laughter that seamed to come form every dark corner of the room. She gasped and ducked back into the tent.

Suddenly she Ridels window fly open, and the beat of large wings. Maria shivered as she heard the wings stop and the thump of boots take there place.

'oh my go, this can not really be happening.' She thought to herself over and over again.

She hugged her pillow tightly to her chest. It was a sort of anchor to reality which reassured her that it was not possible for Goblins to come take people away.

She watched the shadowy figure of a man walk slowly around the tent, until it came to a stop by the entrance.

Maria gulped audibly and hugged the pillow even tighter. She heard the British accent in the familiar voice as he apparently asked one of his goblins, "In there then?"

A second later the sheets were pulled back to reveal none other than Jareth, king of the goblins. He smirked down at Maria as she stared wide eyed and open mouthed, reminiscent of a gold fish.

"Uh… y-you're, you're the... The." She stammered.

"the Goblin king?" He supplied.

Maria gulped again. "yeah… him." She said. Funny how all of her strength and bravery evaporated in his presence.

"I am indeed." He said. And looked her in the eyes. He was satisfied to see she was afraid.

"Umm… You took Ridel… didn't you…?" She gulped out.

"I see you catch on quick." His mocking tone was starting to get on her nerves. Which gave her a little bit of backbone. Sure it was okay when he was talking to Sarah like that, but Maria was one of his biggest fans!

"Well" she said, standing up on rather shaky legs. "Give her back, it was a just joke."

"You said the words." He said smugly, examining his gloves for apparently no reason other than making Maria upset.

She flushed. "But, I didn't mean it!"

"Oh you didn't?" he said, looking back up at her and raising an eyebrow.

She groaned. They were practically reenacting the movie, and she remembered how well these lines had worked for Sarah.

"Please Jareth, She's my best friend! Look I made a stupid mistake. Please give her back."

"Maria" He said using her name for the first time. "Go to sleep, but forget about your friend. There's nothing you can do to get her back. It's beyond your power." He turned to leave.

"Wait! What if I run the Labyrinth!" She blurted out.

Jareth stopped. He smirked while his back was to her. This was almost to easy. He put on a serious face and turned around, again rising an eyebrow.

"Do you really think you could possibly get through my Labyrinth Maria?"

She nodded her head defiantly, although inside she wasn't so sure.

"Yeah, I could do it. Piece of Cake!" She gasped and covered her mouth as a round of "Oooooo"s came from the hidden goblins.

Jareth was not entirely amused. "I think not." He said icily. "Besides, what do I get out of letting you run my Labyrinth? I could just keep your friend and save myself the bother."

Maria began to despair. "Uh… I don't have any-" Jareth cut her off with a wave of his hand. He suddenly had a mischievous look on his face.

"I'll tell you what Maria. If you can get to my castle in the center of the goblin city in thirteen hours, you and you friend may go home."

She looked up hopeful again.

"But!" He continued. "If you fail, you and your friend are mine. Do we have a deal?"

Maria felt her heart sinking into the pit of her stomach. But what could she do? She was the one who had started all this, and it was her reasonability to at least try to save her friend.

"Alright Goblin King. I accept your challenge." Again the goblins broke into uproarious laughter. Jareth smiled smugly and pointed at a thirteen hour clock that appeared out of nowhere.

"Well then, let the game begin. Your time starts now. I'll be waiting." His voice trailed after him as he slowly faded from in front of her.

"Wait!" Shouted Maria. "How do I get to th-" She turned around to find that instead of the other half of the bedroom (as one might expect to see) she was facing out of doors. There in front of her, bathed in orange light was the labyrinth.

She stared agape for a few seconds. Then squared her shoulders and started out on her journey. "Well… Come on feet."

888

AN: Chapter two. I hope you liked it. Even if you didn't, I would not begrudge a review. Not-so-subtle-hint Not-so-subtle-hint

Anyway, Love Y'all!

Ridel