Disclaimer: [Insert standard fanfiction disclaimer here]

Chapter 2

It's just a moment
This time will pass

The early light peered through the windows to illuminate the bedroom where the Goblin King slept. He groaned in disapproval at this obtrusion, unable to ignore the calling of a new day. Sitting up, he briefly looked over to his left before leaving the bed.

"Did I not tell you two to leave before morning?" he tersely asked as he swiftly put on his trousers. "Or do you have difficulty hearing?"

The wheat blonde rolled over on her side to face him as the sable haired male sat up fully. She rested her head in her hand and batted her eyes at him.

"Oh, Jareth, your sense of humor has always been a bit dry," she crooned.

"Besides," the male said as he rubbed his face. "You can't expect us to wander your castle at night. There are goblins everywhere."

Jareth tossed a billowy shirt over his head and walked toward the bedroom door. He turned around and pointed to the spot above both their heads. An elaborate thirteen hour clock appeared which they both turned around to look at.

"You have until the clock strikes thirteen to leave this dwelling before I have guards escort you out," Jareth stated.

The male merely gave Jareth an incredulous stare as his companion's mouth dropped as she clutched the blankets to her chest. "You must be joking. You're only giving us five minutes?"

"You were given all night," he proclaimed before he walked out of the room, leaving them alone in his chambers. Shuffling down the hallways of the castle, Jareth finally made his way to the castle's kitchens, willing to eat anything that was available.

"Where's the bloody tea?" he demanded as he leaned against a large wooden table.

"Here, Your Majesty," a servant said, placing the hot cop in front of his master. "I'm slightly surprised that you are here so early."

"I'm becoming bored with this conversation," Jareth quipped as he walked away. "Bring me my usually breakfast in the dining hall." The servant shook his head as he turned his attentions to fulfilling his King's wish.

When he arrived in the dining hall, he slogged his way to his seat at the table in unceremoniously flopped down in his chair, placing his cup of tea on the table.

"I knew it was a mistake to make a habit of visiting father," he sighed as he rose from his chair to look out the window. He mentally cursed himself for being so permissive to bring back two well-known languid social climbers.

Yet what does that say about me? he thought as he stirred the minuscule spoon in his cup.

Without warning, a sharp pain hit Jareth in the middle of his chest, causing him to grab his shirt before doubling over in agony.

"What-" But before he could say anything more, the pain began to spread across his entire body, sending him writhing on the floor. An odd light enveloped his body as he attempted to gain control. He struggled to cry for help but couldn't; his ability to breathe was severely inhibited. He was even unable to lift his hand in order to use his magic.

All he was able to do was open his mouth while releasing an agonizing scream before his vision went black.

Vernon van Voorst's cane clicked against the cement floor as he shuffled from one end of the room to the other. He glared at the small and ancient limestone dais with words and symbols that he couldn't possibly understand.

"How long is it going to take to set up?" he asked, growling his displeasure. "Are all these candles necessary?"

Geoffrey sat at a rickety folding table as his attention turned from the large leather tome in front of him to the several pages of loose leaf paper.

"One translator said there was no need for the candles, but another one did," Geoffrey explained. "We're not taking any liberties here. Perfection is key. Did you not say that once?"

Vernon huffed out his discontent but remained quiet. He sat in a chair as he watched three other men follow the orders that Geoffrey was giving them. His withered, cold hands held tight to his cane, trying his best to not get in anyone's way. He had been waiting nearly half his life for this moment. This moment was too important, too crucial, to allow his impatience to muck up the final steps of this journey.

Geoffrey squinted at the pages in his notebook. "Shit," he spat as he walked up the stairs.

"Where are you going?" Vernon yelled.

"To figure something out," he said as he walked out the door. "Obviously."

A quick elevator ride to the fourth floor and few steps led Geoffrey to his desired location.

"Sarah!" he barked, slamming the door open. She jumped in her chair before she swiveled around to face the rude intruder.

"Yes?" she responded. Geoffrey walked over to her desk and dropped the notebook in front of her.

"Explain this," Geoffrey demanded, pointing to a particular paragraph.

Sarah leaned over to look at the passage he was referring to. "Um, I didn't translate this section."

"That is none of my concern," he said quickly with impatience underlying his tone. "This is too generic, is it not?"

"Is this time sensitive?"

"Very," he shot back.

"Well, I need the original," she muttered. As soon as she uttered those words, Geoffrey was gone but soon reappeared with one of the old tatter tomes that she had become accustomed to. With the help of a post-it note, he soon found the corresponding passage and handed it to her.

"Umm…" Sarah mumbled as she looked back and forth, comparing the two.

"Come on," Geoffrey said, trying to hurry his employee. "Time sensitive, remember?"

"All right. All right," she said. "Uh, it's not just too broad; it's the wrong word."

"What do you mean?"

"Someone translated this as 'to lighten'. That's a bit incorrect," she explained, grabbing a pen to make corrections.

"So, we don't need to light up the entire room?" Geoffrey asked. "In theory- the room that is described in the passage is not lit up entirely?"

Sarah looked up to give him a fleeting peculiar glance. "No, you need actual light, a candle, several candles- in a circle to be precise."

"How is that different than lighting up the entire room?" he asked. She turned the book around to face him, pretending as though he could actually read what she was pointing to.

"Later in the paragraph it refers to a circle of light," Sarah explained. "The object to be captured needs to be encircled with light, and I doubt whoever wrote this thousands of years ago knew about florescent lighting."

"Thanks," Geoffrey said as he snatched the books away and left her office.

"Why won't people shut the door when they leave?" Sarah grumbled as she turned off her computer, deciding to retire for the day.

Vernon used the help of his cane to rise to his feet when he heard the door open. "It's about time," he croaked out.

"I'm going to sleep so well when this is over," Geoffrey mumbled, briefly dreaming of the day when all this would be over. "Hey, you two!" He pointed to two workers resting against the wall in the far corner. They stood up straight, awaiting instructions. "Get the candles around the room and place them around the circle, bordering the dais."

"Is that necessary?" Vernon asked.

"Of course, it is!" Geoffrey shouted, letting his exhaustion get the better of him. "Everything we're doing is necessary."

"Fine. Fine," he muttered, defeated.

Nearly a half hour later and several slow, mind-numbing rotations around the room, Geoffrey reached into pocket to pull out a small velvet bag.

"You never told me how you acquired those," Vernon said as he watched Geoffrey meticulously place the small gemstones around the circle, in between the lit candles. "I wrote all those checks, paid all those people to travel all over the world."

"I'd rather not think too much about how we obtained these," he muttered as he rose to his full height. Vernon merely shrugged in response. Geoffrey grabbed a small podium and pushed it to where he was most comfortable, placing his notebook on the stand. "Let's get started. We'll finally see if this works."

"Finally," Vernon huffed out.

Pain.

All Jareth could feel was pain.

A pain he never felt before in his life. The silent screams turned into audible cries of agony. He couldn't see anything yet was able to understand a few words.

"What did you do?"

"…dying?"

"Can't die."

Jareth grabbed his side as he struggled to sit up as his body slowly shook away the paralyzed sensations. He blinked slowly as the darkness faded from his vision, allowing him to see. However, his sight was still blurred.

"Gah!" he yelled as he found even the act of pulling himself up from the ground painful. As his vision gradually cleared, he looked from side to side to see where he was.

"If you injured him," a voice yelled, his hearing finally returning to him. "I'll have your throat."

Candles, Jareth thought as he considered his surroundings. Gemstones.

He looked down at his gloved hand, quickly noticing what was underneath him, shocked to see an artifact that he assumed was previously lost to time. He soon pieced everything together as his shock turned to rage. He turned his attention to the two humans gawking at him.

"Can it hear us?" the older man asked.

"It should," the other one answered. He held something in his hand and carefully considered it. "I wonder what this does."

"Give it back," Jareth calmly demanded- his voice low and graveled. He rested his arm on his knee, unable to stand due to the feelings of exhaustion- something he never really experience before.

"You!" Vernon yelled.

"Me," Jareth responded, bored with the outburst from the human. "Now, give me back my things and release me."

"No!" he shot back as he approached the small dais as quickly as his legs allowed. "Not until you give me what I want- what I worked so hard to get." Jareth tilted his head to the side, confused by his words but said nothing. "Immortality. Give it to me, and I'll gladly let you go."

A large grin spread across Jareth's mouth as he let out a low chuckle. "Excuse me?" he remarked.

"You're the God of Time," Vernon accused.

"God?" Jareth repeated in amusement.

"You are able to control all," he stated. "For your life, grant me immortality."

Jareth ignored the demand as he glared at the other, slightly younger man who had possession of his necklace. "I'll be getting that back- one day."

"One day?" Vernon sputtered. "Today! Give it to me today, and you can have your damn jewelry back!"

Inhaling deeply, Jareth moved to lie down on his back, staring at the shadows created by the candles. He really was not used to feeling so fatigued.

"Why the hell isn't it listening, Geoffrey?" Vernon asked.

"No one ever said you could control the being once it's here," Geoffrey answered. "Only that you could capture it."

Vernon turned and walked toward the stairs. "Whatever it takes. Do no- I repeat- do not allow him to be released until he gives me what I want." Jareth continued to lounge, appearing unaffected by the words he just heard.

"But what if he doesn't give up," Geoffrey asked.

Vernon got to the top of the stairs and opened the door. "What part of 'do not release' is hard to understand?"

Cara paced back and forth as the rest of her family sat quietly in their father's office.

"This can't be happening," she said, distraught. "Why are you still allowing this to happen?"

"It is happening," Janus said, casually. "And unlike your dear brother, we don't meddle."

"But you can!" Cara interjected.

"We don't even know where he is," Elisabeta calmly stated. "Now, please, sit down." Cara took a seat next to Elisabeta.

"Father can find out, can't you?" she said in an accusatory manner. "And I bet you already know. Don't you?"

"Hold on. Where are the twins?" Mabon asked. The young looking male with long grey hair sat in a chair next to the couch, lounging as though there was no care in the world. "Why do they get to skip out on family fun night?"

"You're not helping," Cara spat.

"Neither are you," Mabon retorted. He leaned forward to study her face. "Remember. You are half-human. Be a shame if all this worrying caused wrinkles."

"Shut up," Cara seethed. "You are also half-human? Or have you forgotten?"

"Do you see me rampaging out of control?" he asked. "I have nothing to worry about."

"Cara," Janus voiced boomed, ceasing the squabbling. "Until he returns, you will be in charge of the Goblin Kingdom. Keep those little hellions with their border."

"But-but," Cara stuttered, looking to Elisabeta and then over to her father. All the while, Mabon cackled at the dumb-struck look on her face.

"Cease your juvenile ways," Janus said as he glared at his son.

"I have no way to fulfill all of his duties," she stated. "I can't do Dreams. I can't do Wishes."

"You must have misunderstood me," Janus said. "You are in command of the kingdom. That is all. End of responsibilities."

"What? Without Jareth or someone to take his place," Cara posited as she looked at her hands in her lap. "Who is going to take the unwanted children? Who will allow the gift of wishing to humanity?" With a horrified look, she glared at her father in disbelief. "Humans won't be able to dream."

"Humans brought this upon themselves," Janus sneered as he rose from his chair. "They can live with the consequences."

Sarah walked absentmindedly through the busy streets on her way to work. She hasn't been there for nearly five weeks, ever since Geoffrey rudely rushed into her office at the end of the day. A companywide email was sent to telling all employees to not come to the main office. Every day, she- along with others-received similar messages to not come in. As the days turned into weeks, Sarah assumed they were shutting down the office for good- it was an old building after all, and van Voorst wasn't spry himself. However, no communications were sent out for the week. So, like every Saturday, she made her way to the old brownstone.

"Excuse me," a booming and gruff voice said. Sarah quickly stopped in her tracks, unaware that she nearly ran into two large men. She pulled her headphones out of her ears as she took a step back from them.

"Um," she hummed as she checked the building to see if she made a wrong turn. Seeing that she was at the right location, she gave an apprehensive look to the two guards.

"I'm gonna need to see some ID," the man with the flat top said.

"What… What's happening?" Sarah asked apprehensively, deciding to not give him her identification.

"Vernon van Voorst wants only employees that he approved of entering the building," the blond man stated. "So, we need your ID and employee badge if you work here."

"But why?" she asked, finally searching through her bag.

"That's above our pay grade, ma'am," flat top man said.

"Ma'am," Sarah whispered to herself. She grabbed her driver's license and employee badge and handed them to flat top. "Here."

After searching and finding her name on the list attached to the clipboard, the two moved to the side, allowing her entry into the building. When Sarah walked through the front door, something seemed amiss. The place was always a little quiet, but now the quiet felt unnerving. The receptionist ignored her, as usual, as she made her way to the elevator. Before she arrived at the elevator, she noticed another guard standing outside the door she believed led to the basement. She never went down there; she never had a reason to. When Sarah finally made it to her office, the silence was broken by her office mate- the always talkative Nadine. Her real name was Natalie, but she went by Nadine for reasons Sarah never truly cared to discover. Sarah found out the hard way that one innocent question about Nadine soon led to a detailed story that lasted at least five hours, a lunch break, and a walk to the subway station.

"What the fuck is happening here?" Nadine exclaimed as soon as Sarah walked through the door.

Sarah rolled her eyes as she shut the door. "At least, let me give us some privacy before you yell. Everyone can here you."

"Okay. Fine, but as if there are other people out there. So… what they fuck is happening?" she hissed.

"I don't know," Sarah said calmly, putting up her sweater and purse. "I literally just got here. How long have you been here?"

"I got here about an hour ago, and it has been creepy as hell here," Nadine said. "It's super weird here."

"True," she said, sitting in her desk chair. "But it's always quiet here."

"Yeah, but… but." Nadine looked around the room quickly as though searching for a hidden camera. "I think some people have been fired. There are fewer people here."

"Well, maybe they got a different email," Sarah shrugged. "Maybe they were told not to show up until next week or something."

"No. They're not here," she said, urgently. "Their offices are empty."

"Why do you know this?" Sarah questioned, a little suspicious.

"I went to the offices on the third and fourth floors," Nadine answered. "All personal items have been cleaned."

"Why are you so nosey?" Sarah asked.

"Why are you not?" Nadine countered. A quick rap on the door ceased their conversation.

"Uh, come in," Sarah called out.

Vernon slowly walked into the office with Geoffrey trailing behind him.

"Mr. van Voorst!" Nadine exclaimed. Sarah said nothing, but her bulging eyes and overall tense demeanor gave away to how disturbed she was by the appearance of the founder of the historical society in their office. He never talked to anyone buy Geoffrey, leaving the talking to underlings to his right hand man.

"My two favorite linguists," Vernon said with an odd smile, since he was not known to give anyone a smirk.

"Who? Us?" Nadine asked, prompting Sarah to gently nudge her arm.

"As you can see, this place is a comparatively empty to what you are accustomed to; we've trimmed some fat so to speak," he stated, leaning against his cane. "Those hangers-on… but you two, and the other three on the second floor, you've proven yourself. Geoffrey here," he patted the man on the back. "He will give you your new assignments." And with that, the old man left the office.

"That was weird," Sarah mumbled.

"Pay him no mind," Geoffrey said, dismissively. He handed both women a manila folder. "Instructions and so forth. You know how this goes."

"Um, yeah about that," Nadine interrupted as Geoffrey attempted to make a quick exit. "Are our jobs in danger? Vernon just admitted that he fired like three dozen people."

"Those people were redundant," he explained. "All they did was Latin, Ancient Greek, and Arabic translations. You two have made yourself valuable with your knowledge of Old Persian, Sanskrit, Aramaic, and Aka-Ak-"

"Akkadian, sir," Sarah said.

"Ha! Well as long as you know what you're doing," he chuckled as he turned toward the door. "No need to worry, you two. If things continue the way they are, you will be here for a long time if you wish." With that, he left the pair alone in the office.

"Well, that's a relief," Nadine said as she turned to face Sarah. "Nice to know we made ourselves useful."

"You should call your mother and tell her that learning Old Persian wasn't a waste of time," Sarah teased. "All those Latin and Middle High German lightweights are gone, yet you're still here."

"Ah, man," Nadine moaned as her shoulders slumped. "I never got the phone number for that guy that worked on the third floor. Now, he's gone."

"Are you serious?" Sarah asked. "You said that you've been following him around for nearly seven months. Shit or get off the pot."

"Hey, pot meet kettle," Nadine sneered as she crinkled her nose. "Have you set a date or are you just going to pretend that you are not wearing that shiny rock on your left finger?"

Sarah pulled a face as she reached into her purse, finding an envelope and a bagel, and tossed the envelope at her office mate.

"Ooh, is this for me?" she teased as she opened the envelope. "Oh, an actual invitation. No save the date?"

"Check the date," Sarah said before biting into the bagel.

"Holy shit," Nadine exclaimed with a laugh. "Are you actually going to have a dress to wear in four months or do you plan to find a prom dress off the rack?"

"That's the great thing about this job," Sarah said between chews. "Working only weekends is actually a plus when planning a wedding."

"Be honest- you're not actually planning this are you?" she asked.

"Nope," Sarah said with sureness. "Patrick's mom basically took over planning as soon as he called her with the news. If Karen is lucky, she gets a call on whether someone in the family is allergic to shellfish.""

"But haven't you always dreamed of what your wedding would look like?" Nadine asked with concern in her voice.

Sarah sat still for a moment to consider her words. "Not really. Is that weird?"

"According to all those wedding mags, it is," she shrugged. "But marriage freaks me out. So, I'm not much of a standard on whether that is normal."

Let's just hope that I can make it through the day without being bombarded by phone calls," Sarah grumbled. "Because I really don't care what type of fine china is used at the reception."

"Fair warning," Nadine said. "I will be attempting to steal some table wear at the wedding. I just know Patrick's family is so fancy that they won't even notice things like that missing. "

"What?" Sarah asked while laughing.

"Don't ask so many questions," she said, waiving off any concerns. "Otherwise, you'll be implicated."

"What took you so long?" Vernon snapped when Geoffrey walked through the door and came down the stairs. "How long does it take to drop off an assignment?"

"They were concerned. I can't blame them," Geoffrey said as he stood by the old man. "You fired nearly everyone in here. Has he said anything?"

"No. For these past two weeks, it's been lounging there like it is on holiday- just staring at the ceiling," he said.

Geoffrey moved to walk around the magical barrier. "I'm pretty sure it is a he."

"Does that matter?"

"Might help to get what you want," he shrugged. "Hopefully, the girls upstairs will have something soon. Utilizing a more powerful magical spell might help. A little pain might help his procrastination along. Seems as though the current spell is still containing him, holding strong."

"What do you want, hm?" Vernon said as he walked toward the barrier to glare at the obstinate creature before him. "I'm a man of my word. Just give me what I want, and I'll release you."

Jareth continued to stare at the ceiling even after having to listen the old man berate him. Thankfully soon, the man left with his lackey. Too bad he still wasn't alone. The room was always occupied by at least two human males that seemed worthy for their size than their intellect. Jareth had to listen to the man who called himself Geoffrey list simple instructions to these humans for nearly half an hour. He had no idea how long the spell would hold him, and from what he was able to overhear, he was going to be held here for long while. And did he hear something about more pain?

Damn, he thought. He has yet to recover from the pain and exhaustion that wrecked his body when he first came here, over a month ago if his counting was correct.

Jareth slowly sat up, catching the attention of the guards. He studied the inscription on the sandstone that was to be his jail for the foreseeable future. He barely recognized the language. Human language was varied and diverse throughout the millennia. He never bothered with maintaining any knowledge of a language that humans deemed extinct. What he knew for certain was that the old man who bothered him daily went to great lengths and trouble to get this immortality that he craved, and Jareth surmised that he won't be freed even if he gave the old man what he wanted- even if he could give him what he wanted. Jareth knows better than most that once a human gains power, they tend to only want more power. And he'd be damned if he was going to turn into someone's genie.

The magical barrier caused him difficulty in being able to see clearly outside his confined space. His eyes squinted, struggling to see the lit candles and gemstones placed around the dais. Jareth let out a small sigh as he almost dropped to his lounging position, finding it difficult to hold himself up. He knew that he was able to muster enough patience to wait this experience to its conclusion. Keeping him bound to this place required an exact routine and mind- numbing attention to details. Humans were never perfect, after all. They always had a way of mishandling important events.

Wait, he told himself as he exhaled slowly. Just wait.

A/N: Life's been busy so as always, I thank you guys for reading my story.

Til next time!