Disclaimer: See the prologue. I still don't own the Labyrinth or its characters.
Author's Note: As you've already noticed, there are some Pagan elements in this story. There are and will be some other references throughout the rest of the story that are contrary to some Christian, Hindu, and other religious teachings. This is not done to offend, only to make a richer and more complex story and background. I feel that all spiritual beliefs have merit and truth and, therefore, have no intentions of being blithe or offensive to any particular belief or system.
Theater
Releasing his hand, Sarah reached up to brush some hair out of her eyes, stopping short when faced with the red mess. "Ugh!" she grunted in disgust, nose wrinkling at the metallic smell. She looked up at the Goblin King and queried, "I don't suppose you could do anything about all this blood?"
He remained unmoving for several moments before giving her a brisk nod and saying, "That should be more to your preference," indicating her freshly cleaned state. While Sarah inspected herself, Jareth took the opportunity to check out his surroundings. Noticing the circle around them, he complimented, "It's a good casting. The boundaries are still sturdy even though you were absent for some time," he concluded, reaching up to graze his fingers along the invisible barrier just over their heads. "A perfect sphere, too. I'm impressed."
Sarah eyed him, unsure in the face of his obvious sincerity. "Uh, thanks," she remarked. "I guess I better close the circle and get out of here." In a show of extreme efficiency, she released the quarters and, after pouring out the melted wax, dumped the candles into her bag in less than a minute. As an afterthought, she murmured a quick thanks to Janus for opening the doorway to the Underground then stood to face the Goblin King who was smirking knowingly at her, a strange twinkle in his eyes.
"You're very welcome, Sarah," he responded cryptically as soon as she looked at him.
"What are you talking about?" she asked, brow wrinkling in confusion.
Jareth's smirk turned into a sly grin as his eyebrows rose in an innocent expression. "Why, I was simply acknowledging your thanks."
Rolling her eyes, Sarah quickly pointed out, "I hate to burst your bubble, but I was thanking Janus, not you."
"But, Sarah, you were thanking me. After all, I did open that portal for you to come through," he informed her, waiting for the inevitable reaction.
"Excuse me?" was her incredulous reply as she stared at him as if he'd grown a second head. Upon seeing his large grin, Sarah shook her head and laughed. "You are such an ego maniac." Stretching her wings, she informed him, "I'm gonna shift back, then we'll go to my apartment where you will explain just what the hell happened back in your labyrinth."
A playful frown overtook his features, and he pouted, "Changing so soon? I was hoping to get a better look at the new you."
Crossing her arms over her chest and cocking her leg slightly so her hip jutted to petulantly one side, Sarah narrowed her eyes at him in warning. "Look, I don't have time for this right now. For one thing, I don't want to be caught trespassing in someone's field in the middle of the night on Halloween—especially in what is so obviously a witch's circle. And secondly, my tail is spazzing in these jeans and starting to cramp up."
Jareth's eyebrows practically shot off of his forehead at that last admission. "Tail?" He craned his neck around in an attempt to look behind her, as if by doing that he'd be able to discern the appendage in question.
"Yes, a tail," she snapped irritably, twisting so that she remained facing him. Seeing the unrestrained curiosity flashing in his eyes, she conceded, "Fine, if it means that much to you, I'll let you get a better look later. For now, let's just get out of here." That said, Sarah quickly shifted back to a more human form, snatching her backpack from the ground and tromping off across the field in the direction of her car, not bothering to make sure the Goblin King was behind her. Soon enough, they reached the fencing and followed it to a tube gate mounted over a cattle guard set in the ground. Sarah hurried across the pipes and, tossing her pack on the other side, climbed over the gate with practiced ease. When she glanced around for her companion, she found him already on her side of the fence, leaning against her car. Going to the driver's side, she slipped behind the steering wheel, gesturing for him to get in. "Better buckle up," Sarah warned him, fastening her own seatbelt before putting the car into gear and heading down the gravel road fast enough to leave a cloud of dust behind her for half a mile.
The ride to the apartment was made in silence with Jareth watching the scenery pass his window and Sarah wondering what the hell she was thinking asking the Goblin King to come home with her. Toby was definitely going to think she'd finally gone off the deep end. Sarah sighed heavily as she pulled into her parking spot in front of her building, cutting the engine and getting out as she dragged her bag from the backseat where she'd thrown it earlier. Her keys jangled noisily in her hand as she marched to her door, hoisting the backpack onto one shoulder as she struggled to get the right key into the lock. As soon as it turned, she barged into the apartment, letting the bag crash to the floor and gave a very surprised Toby a wan smile in greeting.
The young man stood as his sister entered, noticing her drawn expression. He hurried to the refrigerator and withdrew a bottle of Guinness for her, asking sympathetically, "I take it the spell didn't work?" while he popped off the cap. Turning to hand her the beer, Toby nearly dropped the bottle upon seeing Jareth leaning against the living room wall as if he owned the place. "Shit!" he cursed, staring at him. "Shit, Sarah," Toby reiterated, "you brought home the goddamned Goblin King!"
Sarah walked to her brother, giving him a quick peck on the cheek as she took her beer and headed past Jareth to sit in one of the overstuffed armchairs decorating their living space. "Yup. The spell worked, and I went back to the Labyrinth."
It was then that Toby saw the shallow scratches on her arms and neck and hurried to her side, sitting on the arm of the chair and grabbing the arm not holding a beer to inspect it better. "What the hell happened?" he demanded, staring her down with intense cornflower blue eyes.
Knowing he wouldn't give up until he'd made sure she was okay and she'd had told him everything, Sarah took a swig of Guinness and relented. "I was on my way to the castle and had stopped for a drink of water when these creatures appeared out of nowhere and attacked me," she began, giving him a description of what she saw. "I managed to fight them off with the Goblin King's help," Sarah acknowledged with a nod in said ruler's direction, "but they got a few good hits in first." She paused and added in a slightly embarrassed tone, "And I, uh, had to shift to get free."
Toby ran a hand through his dark blonde hair as he considered what she'd told him. "Okay, but that doesn't explain why you brought him back with you," he accused quietly, waiting for that part of the story.
Defensive at the tone of his voice, she said hotly, "I had to get out of there before those things came back with reinforcements, and the Goblin King was nice enough to bring me back to the circle. Plus, he said he knows what I am," Sarah finished at a softer volume, an undecipherable expression flitting across her face.
Looking somewhat abashed, Toby asked gently, "Do you think he'll really help?"
Perturbed at being ignored and left out of the conversation, Jareth pushed off of the wall and sauntered toward them, saying, "He has a name." Grinning inwardly at their startled expressions, he snarked, "You do realize that I am in the room, don't you?"
Sarah was flustered at being called on her unintentional rudeness. Stammering, she admitted, "I, uh . . . I don't actually remember your name. I know Hoggle said it once the first time I was in the Labyrinth, but I didn't pay attention," Sarah finished, trailing off at the end.
Jareth was feeling slightly better since he'd turned the tables to a certain extent, so he smiled and informed them, "My name is Jareth, and yes, I do intend to answer your questions." He wandered to the other armchair and dropped himself into it, letting one leg dangle over an arm, the other foot planted firmly on the floor. Wanting to keep them off balance, he turned his pale eyes on the young man across from him, a slow smirk beginning to tug at the corners of his lips. "Tell me, Toby, what do you look like when you shift?" he queried slyly.
Both siblings stared at the Goblin King in shock, Toby finally managing to squeak out, "How did you know?" causing Sarah to promptly elbow him in the ribs and send him a murderous look.
Leaning back against the armrest, Jareth had to work hard to keep from laughing at their absurdity. "I suppose I should start at the beginning to prevent a multitude of questions as I explain your origins." He sighed as he gathered his thoughts, noticing Sarah and Toby shifting to get more comfortable for the telling. "Let me begin with a brief history lesson," he prefaced. "I'm sure you're both aware of the Human penchant for dividing the inhabitants of the Underground into two groups—a light court and a dark one, Seelie and Unseelie as you would call them. In actuality, the world is divided into two factions, but the lines are not nearly as clear as fairytales would make them out to be. The Underground consists of many races who are comprised of either Chaos or Order in varying degrees. They are one or the other, never both, though there is quite a large grey area in the interpretation of their actions. Good and evil do not enter into the equation." Jareth paused to make sure he still had their attention then went on. "The races of the Underground are much older than humanity, and through the years, some of the races mixed. This was only a problem when it involved both a Chaote and an Ordinate. The result was always a being of Chaos. For example, the children of Ogres and Elves are Orcs. Trolls and Elves have Gremlins. Incubi and Mermaids created Sirens. After several of these mixed races began to grow, a Counsel of both factions was convened and it was decided that there would be no more mingling of Chaotes and Ordinates. All who did would be stripped of their magick and banished."
Jareth stretched in his chair, working out some of the knots starting in his muscles, then turned back to his narrative. "Eventually, Humans came along. I'm not speaking of the biblical Adam and Eve; I mean the very first humans, Andan and Fonta. After a handful of centuries, while they were still a rather simple race, some found themselves in the Underground. There was some breeding of Humans and Undergrounders, but never with any of the mixed races. Of course, it was inevitable that some . . . unfortunate incidents would happen. Apparently, a small group of Humans stumbled through a portal between the worlds and ended up with the Gremlins, a very unscrupulous race of creatures. Many of the Humans were raped, and the resulting children were called Goblins. Something was different about this new race—they were like their Human parents and held both Order and Chaos in their genetic makeup, making them a neutral race—more or less." He continued to gauge Sarah and Toby's reactions as he spoke, smiling as they leaned further and further forward on their chair as they absorbed all he was saying. "It is important to note that at this time, spirit creatures also roamed both worlds freely and interacted with most of the races. You would call these spirits angels or djinn now. They saw the problems being caused by all the unpoliced gateways between the worlds. When the Counsel was once again called, the Spirits attended as well, and a contract was made.
"One of the Spirits would take corporeal form and teach the Goblins how to govern themselves and to control the portals, making them the guardians of all the gateways between the Overground and the Underground. He is the one who created the Labyrinth as a way to keep the relatively innocent Goblins safe and to prevent unwanted passage between worlds. At that time, Goblins greatly resembled their Human parents both physically and mentally. It has taken millennia of evolution and the odd Gremlin thrown in to create the race you're familiar with. Several years passed and the Spirit who was overseeing the Goblins fell in love with a daughter of one of the two main Goblin houses. Their child was raised to be ruler of the Goblins and appointed sole control of all portals. Once the Spirit felt the Labyrinth would be left in capable hands, he let his corporeal body die and rejoined his brothers and sisters. And now you have a basic background of the races of both our worlds," he concluded, settling further into his chair as he pulled a glass of ice water to sip in the resulting quiet.
Shaking off the stillness, Sarah immediately asked him, "What does this have to do with us? You tell us all this stuff, but I don't see how any of it applies to Toby and me," she grumbled restlessly, earning a nod from her brother.
Chuckling at her impatience, Jareth held up a hand in a placating gesture. "In just a moment, but it is necessary that you understand all of this in order for what I'm about to tell you to make sense. As I said earlier, Chaotes and Ordinates are forbidden to have any type of sexual liaisons with each other. However, there have been a handful of incidents since that ancient ruling. The most recent and notable was that of an Incubus of high military ranking who carried on an affair with a Harpy whose family, while not noble, was well connected amongst a great many of the Ordinate royals."
"Hold on," Toby cut in. "I thought Harpies were classified as evil, ugly bird creatures."
The Goblin King stifled a sigh and replied, "Only in more recent myths. Originally, the writers had it correct. They are beautiful winged women with only the slightest bird-like qualities, and they are creatures of Order, not Chaos. Now, if I may continue...?" he inquired of the young man. "As I was saying, these two had a rather lengthy affair that they managed to keep hidden until the woman ended up pregnant. Knowing the punishment in store for her if she remained with her family, she left them and came to me seeking refuge in my Labyrinth. Her lover soon followed and called upon our friendship to help persuade me to hide them. I did what I could for the couple for I'd caught them a few years before during one of their trysts. They'd slipped into my kingdom to get away from prying eyes, and I happened to literally stumble across them while walking along the edges of my lands to check the barriers. Even the Labyrinth couldn't keep them secreted away for long, and they were brought before a Counsel to decide their sentence. Neither would leave the other, so they were both stripped of their magick and banished from the Underground, any attempt at return punishable by death, and were subsequently sent Overground to live as humans.
"The Counsel didn't know about the pregnancy, and I kept that secret from them. I had no desire to see an innocent babe killed on the sole basis of the fact that it was a mixed breed. Besides, as long as the child had no contact with Underground magick, it would live and die as a Human and be none the wiser for it." Jareth fastened his stare on Sarah and gave her a cynical smile. "A slight miscalculation on the mother's part changed all of that. She gave her child books about fairytales, hoping to inculcate a love of the Underground in her, even if the stories weren't completely accurate. One book in particular became the girl's favorite, and she acted out the heroine's part often. Then, one night, when she was tired of her stepmother's nagging and sick to death of taking care of her baby brother, she wished her sibling away to the Goblins. And he was taken, so she ran the Labyrinth and won the game and got her brother back and grew up a bit in the process. But she also received something else on her trip, both she and her brother were surrounded by Underground magick during their time in the Labyrinth, and it woke up genetic codes better left alone. And the brother and sister gradually began to change into something different," he finished in a near whisper, eyes sparkling with mischievous glee.