Chapter Fourteen

Jareth The Goblin King considered himself several things. Powerful, brilliant, and deviously dashing were all adjectives Jareth proudly described himself as.

However, high-tempered was something Jareth knew was painfully true as well. His temper had caused much pain in the past – not only his but other's misery.

It was his uneven temper years ago that caused Jareth to be kicked out of his home in the first place. His incessant tantrums and acts of revenge had added to this fuel that ended up with Jareth landing outside of the Labyrinth. Yet if he thought back now, it was definitely somewhat a blessing in disguise – he wasn't of court material and it had been proven several times already.

It was his temper that caused Jareth to set the Cleaners on Sarah and to toss her and Higgle into the Bog all those years ago. Regrettably, this brought about more of Sarah's dislike of him, and his heightened role as villain to her heroine.

It had been Jareth's temper that caused him to send out his pathetic army on Elisa. Instead of discouraging the challenger, it had instead led her to more comrades helping her in her quest.

It was definitely lucky that Jareth was able to keep a calm face even as he was thinking up plans to vanquish the girl.

What was it about this bushy haired girl that made his blood boil? It seemed that everything she did was in order to annoy him and get under his skin. Sarah had not been like that. She had had a distinct passion - the remarks of how easy his Labyrinth was had made him proud of her, and yet long for her more. Yet nothing she did seemed to bother him the way Elisa did!

She was entirely different. Elisa was unpredictable – once he thought he had her figured out she did something entirely out of her seeming character, foiling his plans. The girl was working too well with her time – she had used up six hours and was more than halfway to the castle. She had freed and befriended the dragon – a valuable asset that helped her save copious amounts of time. And worst of all he was finding he respected her – which could lead to dangerous, clause-related results.

At this groundbreaking thought, Jareth did something he hardly ever did – he left the throne room and didn't rush to where the Runner was. Instead he went to his tower to brood - something he did quite often, but not usually when action was occurring in the Labyrinth.

He reclined in one of the several window seats in his tower room. Jareth rested his head against the walls' corner and gave himself a few minutes to relax and forget the Labyrinth.

It didn't take him long to realize that wasn't working. The girl just refused to leave his mind! The clause, that wretched clause – for which he would curse the Wiseman for eternity – was being pulled into play. It wasn't on its own – Jareth's heart and body were able to work on independently, but the clause pointed things out so casually so that he was halfway falling for the runner without realizing it!

Words had power – Jareth and the Labyrinth taught it to every runner, the moment he showed up to claim the wished-away. Words were what caused Jareth to first become Lord of the Labyrinth and King of the Goblins. Words bound him in a non-physical way – yet in a way just as strong. And this magical binding was like a contract with certain rules and clauses to be followed. There were hundreds of them – and no physical rule book in existence. It made no difference to Jareth as he knew what they were the same way he knew where each path in the Labyrinth led to.

Some of these rules were obvious – 'If someone said the right words he must go and claim the wished away and challenge them to the Labyrinth.' Or 'The wished away must be returned once the Runner has solved the Escher Room.' Others weren't so obvious and others were hardly enforced and more like guidelines. The Labyrinth's magic was connected to Jareth's and so had as much control over him as he had over it.

Jareth's scowl deepened. One of the final clauses to being connected to the Labyrinth was that he must follow the wisher's words – especially if they said the right words. Elisa's words said that the Goblin King was in love with her and that he'd given her certain powers. The wishing was obviously the power – once he'd found the goblin who whispered to her the words they'd be in the Bog before they could say 'Uh-oh'. However, Jareth had not been in love with Elisa and the Labyrinth was all too eager to fix that…

If he thought about it though – it wouldn't be the end of the world. Certainly not. It'd probably be pleasant in fact. Elisa was of a nice age and seemed accepting of the magic – and wasn't ugly at the least. She had a unique look about her and her siblings were amusing. Gwenhwyfar was coming along nicely and Cathasach should follow as well if things were to go according to plan. It just was…well, it just was that she wasn't hand picked like Sarah was, he supposed. It wouldn't be bad – he'd seen the way the fans of the movie had fawned over his character, practically worshipping him. Jareth thought he could get used to that – it just was he wasn't expecting it. It was a different surprise than the time he gave in to his curiosity and showed up at a fan's sleepover.

Jareth shuddered at the horrible memory and pinched his nose. The whole thing was just too complicated. What he needed to work on was making sure Elisa failed while still following the basic rules. He couldn't just drop her in an oubliette and constantly drop her back into it once she'd escaped. He needed to know more about what she did and where she was before he made any plans.

With that thought, Jareth summoned a crystal. He gave it slight spin on his fingertips, before letting it just rest there as Elisa's image appeared.

Jareth recognized the area as a mildly copse-like area of the Labyrinth. Elisa and her band were veering slightly away from the castle – a minor time bonus, but Jareth was already thinking of how to put that to his advantage.

The Goblin King transferred the crystal to the other hand, putting it into a new light. He noticed that her male comrades were ahead of her. Odd, as Elisa had been apace with them before – perhaps she was growing tired and would give up?

Jareth nearly laughed at that. That didn't seem likely with the way that the unpredictable girl kept moving…she was more likely putting on a front and thus trying to surprise him. Not unlike before…

At that, he winced in memory and resisted the urge to rub that sore spot. Sarah would never have done that, he thought wryly. But then again she wouldn't truly have a civilized conversation with him either.

A flurry of color in the crystal grabbed his attention. Brow furrowed, he looked back at it to get a better view. He spun the crystal to and fro, trying to see what the bright red was until he managed to glimpse the intrusion. Once he realized what it was, Jareth gritted his teeth in anger.

He'd rescued that pixie from severe slavery four or so years ago. Jareth had made rather a nice deal with her – she (Quin? Nina?) would guard the stream for five years outdoors, and she'd be able to return home in less than half the time normal terms called for. For a pixie – impulsive folk – to be away from their home source as it was called, was illness-inducing. Working indoors though often led to fatal results – the redhead had been quite lucky that Jareth had come across that market when visiting one of his awful sisters.

But she'd betrayed him! He'd given her one order – an incredibly important one, but not difficult – to carry out, yet she'd failed and let the ever-growing problem, Elisa, cross!

Jareth snarled, and stood to grab a leather jacket – he doubted he needed the emphasis to his anger and violent nature, but it couldn't hurt – and threw it on. The crystal from before was dropped and rolled away but Jareth didn't pause to retrieve it, instead pulling forth another one while focusing on the area where he'd last seen them.

His surroundings changed, and Jareth was in the copse. His timing was impeccable – the dragon and sphinx had fallen back, talking to Elisa about the spirits knew what. She was walking backwards – rather foolish, so she didn't see or hear his soundless arrival. The others of the group most certainly did though…And they said pixie's eyes always stayed at one diameter, no matter what feelings they were expressing!

"No really," Elisa was saying. "What I don't understand is what you're all so worried about!" she paused, and seemed to notice the others' wide eyes, and how they had stopped. The girl paused too, hands on hips. "Oh come on! He can't be that bad. He's the King!"

A smirk spread across his face as Elisa continued her speech.

"I saw how he was – the goblins all seemed to think he was fine. You all call him by his first name even! He can't be truly evil – really he can't. Besides he's just a guy with magic powers that form into glitter. Hello? Lame much? And he has the crazy hair – and those pants! It's hard to imagine someone completely cruel and heartless who clearly has some transgender issues."

The dragon – Glaw, he believed – gave a short hiccup, and gestured behind the Runner but she misinterpreted the gesture.

"Are you trying to say you're a homophobe? That's awful! I thought people were more open-minded here – or at least that's what all the fanfic says. There's nothing wrong with a guy liking a guy or a girl liking a girl! It's great when someone comes out of the closet instead of obviously-" Jareth's smirk tightened – not from anger he realized but resisting the urge to laugh. Odd… "-hiding their true feelings! I know he liked Sarah prissy-pants and all but you can swing both ways and Bowie did so it would make sense if the Goblin King was too. I mean seriously I don't know anyone who wears as much make-up as he does! Somebody's been playing…"

Elisa's voice trailed off, and Jareth noticed her shoulders tense.

"Knowing my luck, he's right behind me, isn't he?"

Jareth quickly composed himself into a lazy look of contemplation which helped hide his real emotions quite well, as the Runner turned slowly, tugging one of the locks of her hair.

The look on her face was quite good – it seemed Jareth had won this miniature round and had surprised her for once.

"Shit," said Elisa, still tugging her hair. "I really have to shut up."

"An excellent idea," Jareth returned, strolling lazily forward. She didn't stand up straight, but shrunk back quite a bit. Quite interesting. Elisa still stayed frozen in one spot, as he leaned in towards her and clicked his tongue. "What have you been up to this time, Elisa?"

Her brown eyes grew wider, but she said nothing. Jareth resisted the urge to roll his eyes as well as the one to move closer, and leaned away. Still ignoring her companions, he found himself circling her. "First you free the dragon, next you defeat my sphinx, solved my trickiest oubliette, sent my army to another oubliette, and now you have my subjects committing treason." The pixie's gulp was quite audible. Jareth ended up circling once more, before reclining back against a convenient tree. "Haven't you caused enough trouble and are ready to quit?"

That got her attention. "Quit? I'm not quitting." Elisa snapped. "And it's not my fault your goblin army is incompetent."

So she was no longer afraid then…how amusing. Jareth's mouth curved upward on one side, "Wouldn't it just be easier on you – you must be tired – if you gave up now? No more endless walking…why you'd even have had accomplished something." He carefully left out the part of letting her go home. He wasn't sure what he'd do with her if she gave up…it'd depend on the Labyrinth…

She set her chin, and finally let go of her hair, crossing her arms across her chest. "Oh shut up. I'm going to beat you and your labyrinth. Got anything else to say?"

Her companions were nearing behind her – in fact the wolf was at her side, close enough for his foreleg to rub against her knee. Was she standing up like this because of putting on a front? So she had some pride then, he definitely could use that but first to deal with the pixie…

"No," he said calmly. "I've got traitors to deal with." Jareth turned away from her for a moment, and strolled over to where the pixie still was, gripping her spear like a lifeline.

"You."

The pixie looked up, and the gulp could be seen sliding down her throat. "Your Majesty…"

"You disobeyed a direct order from your liege. Did you not?" He said briskly.

"I thought-"

"Did you not?" Jareth growled.

The redhead (Aquina? – yes, that was it,) jumped. "I did, your Highness. I beg your pardon – I had no idea…"

"Do you think I care?" gestured Jareth.

The pixie shook her head, and nearly opened her mouth when the damned Runner interjected.

"It's not her fault!"

Again, she surprised him. Another mark was set on her side of the slate. He would have thought she would have moved on more in the copse with her other companions in order to gain back this bit of lost time.

Jareth turned back, giving a little sniff as he did so. "Oh really?" he said sarcastically. The damned girl was getting under his skin again…

She pulled her hair and seemed to be rethinking things again. Elisa's eyes fell someplace behind him – on the pixie – and her resolve seemed to grow.

"Really," she said firmly. "I tricked Aquina."

He doubted that and told her so. Elisa sighed and ran a hand through her hair, bringing his attention to it yet again. The sphinx interjected then.

"Your Majesty – if I may be so bold, she is telling the truth. She nearly convinced Glaw and myself-"

"Shut up," Jareth interjected, and brought his attention away from the matted wolf and back towards the true problem. Elisa of course. "How did a mere slip of a girl like yourself trick one of my sentries?"

The Runner wrinkled her nose, but then said, "My necklace." To the pixie she said – "Come on Aquina, give it to his Majesty."

Jareth couldn't puzzle this out, but turned at the tinkling of a chain. The pixie hesitantly held out the hung brooch to him and he grabbed it. It didn't take him longer than a second to realize the issue. Again, Jareth had to resist the urge to do something he shouldn't – this time it was bang his head against the tree nearest.

The sigh he made instead and the closing of his eyes to control his nerves gave the wrong impression to Elisa though.

"Erm, do you understand then?" she said nervously. "They thought that because it was an owl I was some sort of noble and I couldn't really get out of it…"

Her pride stuck out then, and the knowledge of it gave Jareth the focus to concentrate on the here and now instead of the incompetence of those around him. "Yet you went with it anyway, didn't you Elisa?" he smirked.

Surprise filled her face. "Well sort of but it was by accident – not really my fault…"

"But did you try to stop it?" He didn't let her answer and shook his head, "Tut, tut, Elisa – not such an example now are we?"

"I never claimed to be one!"

"Your manner suggests it – you wouldn't want anyone to know that you do anything less than satisfactory, now would you?" He knew he'd struck her there. "Won't let yourself give in to those urges to not be the representation of moral conduct, will you?"

Elisa clenched her teeth, and tugged sharply before saying sternly, "Just because some people like to follow some codes of dignity doesn't mean it's a bad thing." Her voice wobbled at the end, but she pushed on. "Come on guys – we're wasting time." She turned to leave, the dragon and wolf following. The pixie didn't try to edge past him – she seemed to realize that she would lose more by following. The dragon and wolf had truly nothing to lose as the former was a renegade outlaw who couldn't be caught unless by mermaid-spun rope -- which couldn't be summoned by crystal and was known for weighing down the carrier no matter how light it may first seem. The wolf had nothing to worry about as he was protected by being the Runner's companion.

But Jareth snarled out, his emotions flaring, "And so you'll leave the pixie here alone to face my wrath?" He left them out yet he could tell she was thinking the unsaid words 'that you caused.'

She turned, hair spreading about her face, letting only bits of it peek through. "Too much to hope for then that you'll be kind?" She turned to Glaw. "Guess what? You're right – he is evil." After her former declarations, it stung a bit more then it should have.

Elisa turned back towards the Goblin King, and stomped up towards him. "I do believe in doing what's right – and you're just not doing what is. I'm the one who caused Aquina to betray you," at this she gave a small apologetic smile to the pixie around him. Jareth fumed at this but she continued, "If you have to punish someone – punish me."

Jareth didn't expect this either, but wove it into the formulating plans in his head. Damn, she had to interfere with everything!

"As you wish," he snarled, pulling a crystal from the magic in the Labyrinth and throwing it to right above her head. He saw the surprise on her face before she disappeared in a burst of light. He ignored the clause-affected part of his mind and turned to the male companions of the Runner.

"Your Majesty…"

The invocation was never finished as two more crystals landed over their heads and they disappeared as well. They were sent to the same area that Elisa was currently in – he thought their arrival wouldn't help her much. Jareth made a mental check on a certain inhabitant of the Labyrinth and found him near enough to assist if things went too badly there – but not so near that Elisa didn't get what her false bravado deserved.

Jareth focused his attention on Aquina. The pixie was standing there, trembling – a mockery of the proud species the pixies usually were.

One eyebrow rose and it was enough to send Aquina on to her knees, prostrate before him.

"Your Highness! You've seen the item – I thought –"

"You thought wrong," said Jareth coldly. He held out the necklace still in his hand, and the sunlight reflected off of it. Was it coincidence that the tacky material was in the shape of his other form? Jareth didn't think so, and had it vanish to a place only he would find. At the moment at least.

"I believe we had a deal, Aquina of the Backwaters," he hissed. "You work for me for five years letting none pass the stream that wouldn't be desired and I'd let you free. I gave you the freedom of being outdoors, solitude, and a simple order. And yet you betray me in an instant – because of a shaped piece of mortal metal!"

She whimpered on the ground.

"What I should do," he said as if only thinking of it. "Is send you back to the slave traders." the pixie shivered. "Or at the very least, I should send you to work for Cook in the kitchens." He paused. "But I have a much better idea – and if you follow these very simple orders our original deal will be resumed…you'll be free to return to the Backwaters in two moon's time as originally promised."

Aquina looked up with fearful – yet hopeful eyes.

"Will you follow it?" he asked arrogantly. He knew the answer already – nothing would shake the pixie's desire to return home.

Jareth didn't resist the urge to give a violent, triumphant laugh.

A/N: I was shocked by the amount of answers to the riddle you guys gave me. I honestly thought there wasn't one...damn you Disney Insider for giving me the wrong information!

This chapter would have been horrible shape if Sennethe hadn't beta'd it. Thank you!

Please take the time to hit the little button below. I'd love to know what you think of this chapter and Jareth's narration!

Posted: 7-31-08