Sorry for the delay,I've taken 3 days on and off to write this.Just for TarahW,I've added a lot of dialogue and hope that that answers some pressing questions!Thanks to my reviewer for the 5th Chap,it's a great help when people review.It makes my day.P.S Sorry if anybody got 3 000 alerts saying that I've uploaded a new chapter,it took me 4 tries to get spaces between my paragraphs,and then I gave up and made lines.Lazy bugger.

Enjoy!

The walk back past the ballroom was silent and quick. Before Sarah knew it, they were in front of Jareth's study, and he opened the oak door. She saw that there was already someone inside, a girl, no older than herself, but she seemed familiar.

Sarah walked in, sitting herself down on the first chair she came to, next to the girl. She contemplated her with a gentle gaze when Sarah noticed something odd. Her eyes, they were different. Piercing blue and calm brown. Jareth's eyes.

This last thought had barely entered her mind before he spoke.

"Introductions. Sarah, Aislin. Aislin, Sarah. You will have guessed who she is by now, no?" The last comment was aimed at Sarah. To tell the truth, she didn't want to say anything for fear of being wrong. The old Jareth was having that effect on her. After another moment of silence, he continued.

"Aislin is my sister."

"From where?" she asked, looking up at him.

"…That doesn't matter. What matters now is that we talk." He tried to continue but was interrupted by the girl - Aislin,

"Or, rather, you talk, we listen and nod occasionally." Her voice had the same accent as his, but hers was softer and less…Sarah had no way to put it.

"Exactly," he replied with a smirk. "That's the way it's always been, no?" He sat down opposite them and draped on leg over the chair's arm, his favourite position. His throne position.

"Which one of you is gong to ask the first question?"

"I will." Said Sarah. "Not, to sound rude, but you've got a sister?"

"Yes. You didn't think I was born in the Underground did you?" he laughed, more a bark than anything else.

"Well, yes, actually." What was it Diadalos had said when she'd asked if he was from here? Of course, where else. "Where did...do you come from then?"

He paused a little before answering. "A place between worlds. Or maybe just another world, unlike here or yours. If you saw it, it would seem like a mix of both your Earth culture and Underground culture."

"There are lots of things in common with both these worlds." Added Aislin. "For example, most of the words are French or English, as you call them. To us, it's all one language."

Jareth nodded and turned to his sister.

"Now for you. Why are you here?" To Sarah's ears, the question was harsh, but his sister didn't seem at all phased.

"I only found out how to. I…" she stopped, searching for the words. "I missed you. None of us knew where you'd gone and what might have happened. Mom especially."

"I came here, to the Labyrinth."

She muttered something under her breath then, frowning, before her eyes lit up and she realised something.

"Labyrinth? In the stories you told me, it was real?"

Sarah didn't understand, and asked "What?"

"When I was young, before I came here, I used to tell my sister stories of goblins, as you can imagine, and a labyrinth. The very same story…"

"In the book. Was that yours?"

Jareth stopped to think for a bit, staring into space.

"Yes. Well, in a way. I wrote it. Not about here, before you ask again." He added, catching her wanting to say more. "When I wrote it, I…I actually created the Underground."

Both of them looked at the Goblin King with a surprised expression. She knew that he was powerful, no matter what he or she had ever said, but to create a whole new world? That seemed beyond even a god's limits.

"But…when, why, how?" asked Sarah, she knew the same question was on Aislin's mind.

"I don't know" he replied almost immediately. "I wrote it when I was young, when I was taught to read and write. I never really remember what I put; it just appeared in my thoughts, fully-formed." He became lost in his thoughts, quiet and still as he went back.

"That was when and how. But why? I…I would say that I'm not sure but that isn't true."

"It was him, wasn't it?"

Aislin's interruption made him look up, catching her with a swift glance.

"Renaud think his name was Readmit was him who told you the stories."

"No." Jareth said quickly. "No, that part…that's complicated."

A momentary pause as a guest passed outside the door, heels clattering on the stone floor. The masquerade continued as normal, even without the Goblin King.

"I'll explain then. In the Underground, the one I wrote, the Labyrinth was ruled by…by another Goblin King. Ancient, powerful and he ruled for eons without disruption. Then, when I wrote, he realised something, the power I used to create it. It interested this king and he came to our world, me and took me to the Underground the same way I brought you."

Jareth looked at Sarah now, who was listening intently as if in a trance. She snapped out of it suddenly, meeting his gaze. A question was running through her mind, but she couldn't exactly word it.

"That was the first time. The second time came four years later, near my seventeenth birthday. The second and last time, I was put to the test and succeeded in reaching the castle, this castle, beyond…"

"Beyond the Goblin City." finished Sarah, the words spoken unintentionally.

"Precisely. During this time, I was also back in Marbre -my world- asleep and oblivious to the distress I was causing." A small smile lifted at the corners of his mouth and he continued with a chuckle. "I woke up after a while in the king's company, to my parents' relief, and I saw him again soon. At a ball and under the guise of Renaud, one of my father's close-friends. Whom, of course, I had never heard of. That very night, he convinced me to follow him to the Underground, with intentions of making me Goblin King."

Next to her, Aislin let out a sound of exclamation.

"That was your ball, the one just before you were set to become Prince of Courts, no?"

Jareth nodded and sighed.

"That was another reason I came. To escape the thought of being a Prince of Courts. They act as inferior leaders to the people of my world. I was to become one of hundreds and that wasn't what I had in mind."

He stopped talking and Sarah took the opportunity to ask the question on her mind.

"But there's one thing I can't understand. You said that you made the Underground when you were young, but the Underground had been ruled by this king for ages. How?"

"That is a very good question to which I have no answer." He shrugged and smiled again. " The only thing I can think of is the time differences between worlds, but even that won't be enough to account for such a gap.

"For example, when I left, I was 7 years older than my sister. Now, however, we are the same age. The same with your world and the Underground. Three years passed for you, only three months here.

"But I digress. Back to my story. Where was I? To the king, I displayed unimaginable powers, I suppose that they even matched, or bettered his own. Nonetheless, I was the new Goblin King, young, unprepared and unaware of what I could do. He urged me to use it often, but I never really had control over them, I needed guidance and he provided it. I became a ruler under his wing."

Sarah noted that his tone was warm, full of emotion. The last time she had heard him speak like that was last time, the end of her visit. His plea…

Love me, fear me, do as I say and I will be your slave…

"But why, Jareth?" Aislin was asking. "Why put us through it all? You don't realise how devastated we were when Mom found out you were gone."

"You think I didn't see?" he retorted in an icy tone. All the warmth was gone now, and to Aislin, she was sharply reminded of Phanes, their father.

She bristled at his words and said

"You saw. But you didn't care, Jareth. If you did, then Summanus would still be alive."

The look on Jareth's face was a mix of confusion, anger and disbelief.

"What are you talking about?"

"He did become a warrior, a good one, too. Fought some times and won, until he didn't come back. Just the once. Guess who he lost the fight against."

Sarah could see that he knew before his sister muttered the word, just one word.

"Goblins. If you'd have cared, Goblin King, you would have watched it and called them off as soon as you saw them attack."

Her face was a mask of anger and grief, the telltale signs of tears there. Her clenched fists showed that much.

"Aislin." came Jareth's voice, cool and calm despite his sister's obvious distress.

"Aislin, listen to me."

"No." she whispered shaking her head sadly. "I should have never come, you won't come."

"Ai-...come where?"

Raising her head just a fraction so Jareth could see her face, streaked with tears. Those mismatched eyes glistened, framed by dark lashes.

"Home." was her answer.

A while later, when Jareth had left in a theatrical flourish, Sarah talked to the calmed-down Aislin.

"You know Jareth better than I do. What's he really like?"

"He-..." she paused, frowning "I don't really know what he's like now, but when he was young, when we were young, he was always quiet, calm. Quick to annoy at times, and stubborn when he didn't get his way."

A smile formed on her face, emphasising her pretty features. She and Jareth were alike only in looks, and even then, they had subtle differences that set them apart.

"Father always prided in Summanus before Jareth. That's our other brother, Summanus, the eldest."

"The one that became a warrior?"

"Yes. He didn't look like either of us; he was our father's son."

Sarah nodded, picturing the three siblings, although imagining Jareth without the smirk and witty expression was proving difficult.

"And you?" asked Aislin.

"What?"

"How did you end up in this story?"

"Oh." replied Sarah, smiling slightly. "That's a long story. I'm not even sure that it's..."

She broke off, pondering.

"That it's what?"

"Real." As soon as the words escaped her mouth, she realised how strange it sounded. She was here, how could it not be real?

She nodded, it felt the same way. The Underground was unreal in itself, the goblins, fairies and Bog of Eternal Stench was just the icing on the cake.

"Now you tell me about your Jareth." she said, placing a slender hand on Sarah's shoulder. She looked up, snapping out of her thoughts.

"My Jareth. He's hard to explain. Powerful, sly…and unfair." She added with a laugh. "But he changes, it seems like he's not even sure of who he is. Sometimes he's sharp and witty, other times he's almost vulnerable and emotional. It's all very strange." She finished with a sigh.

"I just…I can't help but wonder what would have happened if he'd stayed." Muttered Aislin, almost to herself. "Maybe things would have been different. Summanus might still be…"

"Alive." finished Sarah bluntly

Aislin nodded again, fixing her gaze on the seat the Goblin King had just vacated. The whole Labyrinth seemed silent, the masquerade guests didn't exist, the clock on the wall didn't tick. Perfect silence. Except for one thing.

Outside the window arch, the leaves on a tree rustled slightly as a large barn owl came to land there. Its black eyes were wide in the darkness and it contemplated the scene inside with a placid expression. A slight breeze ruffled the white feathers on its back and wings, it took no notice.

Neither did the two girls in the room, not even when it swooped down to rest on the window ledge, talons clicking on the stone. It listened as they talked about the Goblin King, his ways, the things he did. It watched them both intently; impossibly still and focusing it's gaze on each in turn.

But suddenly, it turned its head in time to see a hawk fly past some metres away. Hopping onto the other side of the window, Jareth changed back into his Goblin King to the surprise of both his guests.

"Jareth!"

He ignored Sarah and watched the hawk disappear into the back night again. An anxious expression crossed his face; he frowned and narrowed his mismatched eyes at it.

"What did you mean by home?" he asked, aiming the question at his sister. Aislin stared back for a moment before answering.

"Home. Marbre. There's someone you need to see."

The Goblin King turned back to her, calm as ever, eyes fixed on her face intently.

"You can't expect me to come on just your word, Aislin. Who is this someone?"

"I can't say. I've made a promise." She had done no such thing, but better to get him there under false pretences than not at all.

Jareth crossed his arms over the dark blue material of his jacket, fixing his sister with a hard stare, which she returned without hesitation.

"Jareth need you to come." She murmured, averting her eyes almost humbly. "Please."

For one moment, Sarah thought she recognised a small glimmer of defeat in the Goblin King's eyes, pity maybe. That was before the hawk came in through the window behind him.

Spinning around, he took a few surprised steps back, before assuming his usual regal posture. Both Sarah and Aislin didn't know how to react to this and stared in silence, but Sarah guessed what would happen next.

Upon entering the room, the hawk transformed, its dark brown wings disappearing and becoming a waistcoat. Now, there stood a man, one Sarah had seen before.

"Diadalos..." she muttered, recognising him at once. He was the same as before, only this time he seemed much taller in the confined room.

She chanced a glance at Jareth, and was surprised to see that he had taken the uninvited Diadalos' arrival in his stride. Currently, he was standing to one side; arms crossed again, a calm expression on his face.

"Sarah, how lovely to see you again." He answered, nodding his head in a sort of bow. He looked towards Aislin, still seated.

"Aislin, no?" He smiled, revealing surprisingly white teeth. Behind him an unknown to Diadalos, Jareth sneered and rolled his eyes just a bit.

"How did you…?" she began to ask, frowning.

He smiled again.

"Underground, I read minds,chère." He walked over and took her hand, planting a formal kiss there. "Enchanté, Aislin."

Diadalos made to stand back up before saying,

"And Jareth."

Turning round, he spotted the Goblin King next to the window, leaning slightly on his elbow. The unmistakable look of boredom on his face was directed at Diadalos, who ignored it completely and continued.

"It's been a while, no?"

"A while wasn't long enough, I see." He now directed a question at Sarah with unexpected force. "How do you know him?"

She looked up at the Goblin King and said

"I-…I was going to tell you. Eventually. When I was…thinking, I met one of the guests. Diadalos." she nodded in his direction, who Jareth shot another look.

"And she doesn't even know who I am, Jareth." Diadalos added in a cheery tone. He raised an eyebrow and folded his arms now.

A moment of silence from him. "Diadalos. Former Goblin King."

"Former, initial and first Goblin King." He said, correcting Jareth, who rolled his eyes theatrically again.

"Renaud." All three of them turned to Aislin, she had made the comment. She observed Diadalos through her mismatched eyes and repeated.

"You're Renaud, aren't you?"

"Yes." He said, smiling once again. Sighing softly, he addressed Jareth in the tone of an old friend asking for news.

"So, Jareth, what have you done with my Labyrinth?"

OKay guys?Got your muddled-up storied-out brains back in order?I certainly have.Please review,please?