Disclaimer: (Sigh) I wish it were mine, really, I did. Because then I could have Jareth all to myself and no one else could touch him. But, alas, he beloncg to Henson and company… so sad…

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Labyrinth: the Dream Never Ends

By: Eriksleadinglady

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Chapter 4: So some survive and others die

As soon as Jareth vanished from sight, he reformed outside, above the castle, in his owl form. He knew what he needed to do, although he hated it. This morning's incident troubled Jareth, and he needed to get some answers. Thus he decided to go to Granatia, where his family lived – or at least what was left of his family. Jareth remembered the day clearly when his mother and sister had passed on…

A young Jareth walked through the halls of the Granatian castle, looking idly at the paintings on the walls. He had seen them many times before, true, but for some reason, today they all just looked more beautiful. Perhaps that was because today he finally learned how to produce perfect magic crystals. Now, he was on his way to becoming an expert warlock, like his father.

All of a sudden, there was a loud bang! of a door being slammed shut. He turned to his left and saw a commotion of people throwing about their hands in grand gestures. Some of them were yelling, something like "… I don't know what happened!" "What do you mean?" "She's just…She's just…" "Gone? Gone? You can't lose her!" "We already have." Then a woman came out of the room and approached who seemed to be the leader. She whispered into his ear and he said, "Two? The second?" A quiet whisper. "No… impossible…" "So young…"

Attracted by the commotion, Jareth wandered over to the people. Upon seeing him, the people stopped talking and bowed at their waists. A tall, dangly man stepped forward, cleared his throat, and said, "Why, Lord Jareth. What… What are you doing here? Are you not supposed to be at your lessons?"

Jareth flashed him a huge smile and said proudly, "Because I got let out early! Look!" Then Jareth focused really hard, his eyebrows scrunching together, and with a wave of his hand, he created a beautiful, shiny round crystal. Jareth smiled in triumph and held up the crystal so everyone could see it.

"Why Lord Jareth!" exclaimed the same, tall man. "That is remarkable! You are well on your way to becoming just like your father!"

Jareth hung his head shyly as a little proud smile came to his lips. His twisted his foot, embarrassed by such a compliment. "Thank you."

Then, from behind Jareth, footsteps came hurrying up, moving very quickly, and everyone turned to look at who it was. Jareth grinned when he saw his father, King Luandin. "Father!" Jareth cried as he ran toward him, preparing for a hug. But his father only pushed him aside and hurried over to the others.

"Where is she?" he asked, his eyes enlarged with concern.

The people were silent for a moment, exchanging glances, all asking 'Who's going to tell him?' At last, a woman stepped forward with long, blonde locks and ruby red lips. "Perhaps you should come inside the room." She looked at Jareth, then back at the king. "It may be too much… to handle."

Jareth's father nodded his head and followed everyone else as they went inside the room. Jareth was about to follow, but his father stopped him. "You had best wait out here."

"But why? What's happened, father?"

"I don't know… I don't know."

Then Luandin went inside and closed the door behind him.

0o0oo00o0o0o0oo0o0o0o0oo0o0o

Jareth wasn't sure how long he waited, but it seemed like an eternity. When at last his father came out, Jareth was asleep on the floor. Luandin smiled weakly and went over to pick him up. Gently taking Jareth into his arms, the father whispered, "At least I still have you, son."

Luandin looked up when he heard quiet footsteps coming. "What's happened, father?" a young boy asked.

Luandin only looked at him. "Your mother and sister are dead. Now, go back to sleep, Jouegh."

Then he walked away, leaving a screaming, crying son behind on the floor all alone. Even though he was the twin to Jareth, he was not loved by the same standards as his brother. So he was left to the care of a nurse and was never really looked at twice by his father.

Jareth's mind paused at the memory. It was never really certain as to why his mother had passed on. Some believe that his father had had an affair while others believe that his mother was the one with the affair and had, out of guilt, passed herself on. Jareth, however, refused to believe either story. Such a terrible feat was not possible by either side. Actually, it was impossible. After saying the vows, his parents had eternally bound them to one another, making them unable to ever have an affair. There are rumors, though, that talk of such magicks to overpass the vows, but the power such a spell would use would more than likely kill the user. Jareth knew his parents were powerful, but not that powerful.

His sister, on the other hand, had passed on because of the loss of her mother. It was told to Jareth some days after the death of his mother that his sister had been in the room at the time of the passing on, and, out of grief, passed herself on, as well.

Thinking on such things made Jareth's mind wander to his twin, Jouegh. Jouegh was never much liked by his family, and actually, only his sister ever paid him much mind. They would sometimes play together outside, and Jareth, now looking back on it, realized that his sister was the only one who ever truly cared for Jouegh. A memory struck him for the evidence…

His sister, Paulina, ran through the house as a tiny boy followed her. The boy was very small, but he still tried to keep up with his older sister. There was a smile on his face as he chased her, and there was one on hers, as well.But the fun ended when Paulina was stopped by her father. All smiles vanished from their faces as he loked at them sternly, arms crossed over his chest.

"Just what do you think you're doing?" The king demanded of Paulina.

"We're just playing, father," she replied defiantly. "I see no problem in that."

This caused Luandin's face to swell red in anger. "You dare to question me, Paulina? I have told you time and time again to not run around inside this house!"

Curious to the noise, Jareth wandered into the room and hid behind a counter as he watched the scene unfold.

"Well, maybe if you would give him more attention, I would need to play father and sister to him!"

This caused Luandin to bring up his fist and smack Paulina across her face, knocking her to the floor on her side. She lay there for a while, too shocked to move. When at last she did, she looked coldly at her father and rose to her feet. Rising to her full height, she looked him straight in the eye and said, "You do not deserve to be king or father of anyone."

"I suppose it's fitting then that he is not my son, nor is he your brother." But, once that was said, he immediately took it back, realizing what he had implied.

Paulina still stared him straight in the eye. "You dare to accuse my mother of adultery?"

Luandin looked at his daughter pleadingly. "You know I do not think such things. I said what I did out of anger, nothing more. Please, just forgot I ever said anything."

"What's said is said," Paulina said quietly before she turned away and left.

The memory brought a certain emotion to Jareth, but it was so fleeting that he couldn't quite place it. After that conversation he had witnessed, that phrase, "What's said is said," had become one of Jareth's favorites. To him, no sentence was truer. Not only that, but Jareth thought that his sister had handled the entire situation quite well. He thought that perhaps if he, too, were to be so dignified, he would need to have that saying. And it had worked well with Sarah; he never regretted a thing he said now, either.

But not only did that conversation bring Jareth new meaning to life, but also, what Luandin had said had started the rumors that one of them had an affair. The news got out because, in the room at the time, a servant was cleaning a window and had overheard. And, being the gossipers that servants are, news spread quite quickly, perhaps even causing the queen to pass on.

After this conversation also – which it turns out had many effects – his twin had never been the same. Jareth supposed that after seeing ones father beat ones sister and saying that one was a bastard child, that it would change ones being. However, even though the title of bastard was being implied to both himself and Jouegh, Jareth felt as though it did not apply to him. Perhaps this was because he always felt that he was disconnected from Jouegh, even though they were twins. But Jareth never suspected that he was illegitimate. Jouegh, perhaps, but never himself.

This thought came from the fact that Jouegh was nothing like himself. Jareth being regal, charming, acute to a persons feelings, and well poised was nothing like Jouegh: rude, bothersome, uncaring, and aloof. Having these traits caused Jouegh to get into much trouble. Like his coming of age party… thought Jareth sourly.

It was Jouegh's one-thousandth birthday party, which meant that he was now of age and on the market, so to speak. Jareth had his party the week before, not wanting the light to be on more than one of them for the special day. But being at Jouegh's party had left Jareth quite bored, but he was not the only one.

Jouegh stood across the room, his back against the wall, stirring a drink absentmindedly. Although he and Jareth – who wore tight gray pants and a white, silk shirt – were nearly identical, Jouegh was easy to tell apart from his brother, since he was dressed in all black – loose slacks, a button up shirt all the way to his neck – and his hair was cute shorter in more of a shaggy style. But it was noted by many that upon occasion, Jouegh's hair would grow to Jareth's style, making them look even more alike. However, Jareth had never seen such a thing.

Leaving the wall, Jouegh took his drink and went to mingle with the other nobles at the party. But, knowing his brother, Jareth followed him somewhat closely, just to keep an eye on him for any tricks.

However, just as he had suspected, Jouegh did not keep in line. After mixing himself with some very high nobles – the king and queen of Scotslond – he pretended to be very interested in the conversation and strategically placed himself next to the queen. Jouegh glanced down once, looked up and smiled, and then looked down again. Then in an instant, Jouegh's hand had struck out like a snake and grabbed the queen's breast. She gasped and looked over at Jouegh, horrified. Jouegh immediately fell to the floor in a fit of laughter and had to be dragged to his feet by his father.

Jouegh was still laughing when Luandin held him firmly by the arm.

"My apologies, Queen Amitna," the king said as he bowed. "I do not know what Jouegh was thinking, but you can be sure that he will be rightly punished."

The queen pressed her dress as she said, "I hope so."

Then an embarrassed Luandin and a still laughing Jouegh left the room and were not heard from for the rest of the night.

Now, as he was flying over the forests of Kilfwood, Jareth knew that his brother had something up his sleeve. Jouegh had pulled many pranks like that on numerous occasions, causing their father much grief and embarrassment. But Jouegh was never sorry for any of the tricks, which got him some good whipping each night. One time, Jouegh's tricks had gone so far (he actually permanently turned a king into a sock) that he was banished from Granatia and sent to live far away.

After this mornings incident of being in "two places at once", Jareth was sure that Jouegh had something to do with it; he was the only one who would have been able to pull that kind of trickery.

Jareth had to go see his father in order to find out what, if anything, his brother was planning. Obviously, it had something to do with Sarah, otherwise, he would never had had lunch with her and lied about the marriage. Perhaps his father, being a seer, would be able to help with that.

At last, Jareth reached the Granatia Kingdom and flew to the doorstep of his father's castle. When he landed, he transformed back into his Fae form and stepped inside. But once he was inside, he wanted to draw back immediately. What once to used to be a bright, tidy, beautiful castle, was now nearly pitch black, with everything torn into shreds. The paintings that used to hang lavishly on the walls were all torn down, with holes for the faces. The rugs were charred and ripped in many places, like a claw had scratched through them. Of the vases and plants that used to be there, all were smashed to the ground, the contents in a splay of dirt, leaves, and flowers. The furniture that used to adorn the palace was tipped over and the fluffy contents were matted across the floor in squished bunches.

Jareth walked slowly inside and instantly heard crunches of glass beneath his boots from broken windows and glasses. His eyes widened in wonder at what could have happened here. His father was getting old, yes, but he was still a very powerful man and not to be taken lightly. Whoever had done this must be very powerful indeed.

Jareth continued walking along the hallway to his father's room, using an illumination spell to light his way. What he saw appalled him, to say the least. Everything that his father owned, everything that he treasured was trashed, thrown everywhere in broken pieces.

He nervously approached his father's bedroom door, which was ajar, and he noticed that there was a faint light inside already. Slowly he walked into the room, slightly afraid of what he might find. When he saw his father, his heart nearly stopped beating in his chest.

His father was thrown across the bed, half naked, staring up at the ceiling. His arms were tied up above his head with rope, and his legs were at an unnatural angle with the lower leg twisted ninety degrees at the knee. His face was in a look of fear – his mouth agape, eyes wide – and he was completely still as death.

Jareth tried to keep his emotions inside as he inched towards his father to untie him from the position. With a swish of his hand, his father was untied and placed peacefully on the bed, like he was in a slumber, with his eyes and mouth closed.

Jareth stood at the end of the bed, his eyes closed and his head hung in mourning. His fists were clenched in rage, and he didn't have to think twice about who had done this atrocity: Jouegh.

When Jareth opened up his eyes, they were a deadly red, glowing in the dark. Then he let out an unearthly wail that was heard across the kingdom, and that was when everyone knew that the King of Granatia was dead.

0o0o0o0o0o0o0o0o0o00o0o0o

Sarah sat on her bed, staring out her window, wondering where Jareth had gone. He had only been gone a couple of hours, and, for a moment, Sarah wondered if he would ever come back at all, or at least within a day. She had seen that look on his face right before he vanished, and it had terrified her like nothing she had ever seen before. If a look could kill, it would have been the one that he had held – the look of death itself. And his voice had been so cold, like ice. Sarah shivered even now just thinking about it. She only hoped that he would be okay.

Rising up from her bed, Sarah walked over to the balcony, stepping outside and into the cool night air. She felt the slight breeze press against her face and began to feel more relaxed. Closing her eyes, she just focused on herself and the breeze, letting it consume her senses. Taking her out of her peace, a voice spoke from behind her.

"Sarah…" it said. The voice sounded so familiar to Sarah, and yet was not so familiar at all.

"Sarah…" it repeated, and at last, Sarah turned around to face it. Just as she had suspected, it was Jareth, dressed formally in a blue suit, adorned with white cuffs and shirt.

Sarah blinked her eyes slowly and looked at him through her lashes. "Oh Jareth…" she said in a slight whisper. "You've returned."

Jareth began taking slow steps towards her, making himself appear large and imposing, with his chest puffed and taking creeping strides. "So I have, Sarah. So I have."

Finally he stood before her on the balcony, his platinum locks blowing in the breeze and lightly hitting Sarah's face.

"I was worried," Sarah said, her breath catching in her throat at how close they were to each other.

He reached out and grabbed a piece of her hair gently, feeling the texture of it, its softness. "I'm fine, my dear. Nothing to worry about."

He leaned in closer to her as though he was going to kiss her, but just as Sarah was about to close her eyes, she reeled away in bewilderment.

"You're… you're not Jareth," she stammered out, her eyes wide with fear.

Jareth cocked his head. "Of course I am. What are you talking about, you silly little girl?" he asked as he took a step towards her. But she only took another step back.

"Stay away from me," she said forcefully.

"Tsk, tsk, Sarah," he said as he approached her with his hand out-struck. "That is no way to treat your king."

Suddenly, panic seemed to seize Sarah as she tried to move her hand, but found she couldn't. She tried to move the rest of her body too, but found that she was stuck stark still in her position, her back pressing lightly against the railing. The only thing that she could do, however, was breath, but even that seemed to come as a pain. She tried to speak, but her voice wouldn't come.

Still with his hand out before him, Jareth sat down playfully on the railing opposite of Sarah and stared at her with narrowing eyes. "You know," he began, becoming more and more annoyed, "no matter how many times I try, no one ever seems to take me for Jareth. Now why is that? Where is the difference between the two?"

He flicked his wrist in Sarah's direction. "Speak," he commanded.

"I..." Sarah tested, and found that she could indeed speak. "The eyes…"

Realization came into his own black and silver eyes, which were very different from Jareth's own blue and green ones. "Ah... so that's it..." He paused. "You know, they do say that character lies in the eyes. And what is that other saying? 'The eyes are the windows to the soul?'" He laughed. "So there's my one flaw I suppose. But, the eyes are the identification cards for oneself, so they cannot be changed."

"Who are you?" Sarah questioned.

Jareth pouted. "He never mentioned me?" Sarah shook her head. "Ah well, I don't see why he would, that pompous bastard. But, to answer your question." He rose to his feet and bowed before her. "I am Jouegh, exiled prince of Granatia, and brother to Jareth."

Sarah seemed taken aback. "Brother?" she nearly spat the words.

"What? You don't see the resemblance?"

Sarah stayed silent.

"Oh, come, come now, don't be rude. I asked you a question," he stated harshly. "Now answer!"

Sarah swallowed hard. She didn't like this at all, not one bit. "You two are nearly identical," she finally said at last.

Jouegh nodded. "Twins, yes. Sad isn't it? I have to look like that fruit for the rest of my life." He swooshed his hands over his body, and immediately his outfit changed into a black jacket, black dress shirt, and semi-loose black matching pants. His hair changed from the mullet style to a chin length shaggy style. "At least I have better fashion sense," he offered with a wry smile.

"Get away from her!" they both heard a voice bark from the doorway.

Jouegh turned around immediately, and lost his concentration, letting Sarah move again. In one instant, Sarah ran past Jouegh and got behind Jareth.

A smirk lit Jouegh's face. "Ah, brother, how nice of you to join us."

"Don't call me that," Jareth growled. "You are not my brother."

Jouegh brought a hand to his chest. "Why, brother, I am ashamed."

"As well you should be."

Jouegh pushed aside the comment. "No need for the insults, Jareth. I didn't come to argue."

"What do you want?" Jareth asked through clenched teeth.

Jouegh seemed to ponder this for a moment. "The usual. I want claim to your throne. Abdicate it and... Ah, what's that saying? 'No one gets hurt'?" He laughed. "That's the worst saying I've ever heard! How about… Abdicate the throne and I might let you live?" He paused. "No, no, that's not right. Let's see… Abdicate your throne and… well, I was never good at negotiating. Just give me the throne."

"No, I don't think I will," Jareth responded with his chin high.

Jouegh stomped his foot. "Don't be so stubborn! I haven't got all night!"

"I will not give over my throne so easily," replied Jareth calmly as he shrugged off his jacket. "You know I was always a better fighter than you."

Jouegh sighed. "You know, I was hoping for a clean kill, not a fight, Jareth." He removed his jacket as well. "But if you insist, dear brother, I suppose I will just have to kill you in front of her. After all, I am not that same boy that I was all those years ago."

Jareth walked briskly over to Jouegh and stood several feet in front of him. Jouegh looked him over with a smirk on his face. "I just thought that it would interest you to know that when I killed him, he screamed like a little girl, begging for mercy like a pussy. He barely put up a fight. I suppose you will be the same, since you will always be daddy's little girl."

Jareth let out a yell of frustration as he produced a crystal in his hand and held it out to Jouegh.

Jouegh dropped his jaw. "Aw, a cute little crystal?" He began to pace. "I don't want your games, Jareth," he said harshly. "I want your magick!" he yelled as he cupped his hands straight out in front of him and shot a line of ice at Jareth. The ice flew forward at the speed of light and when it hit the crystal, Jareth's magick kicked in and a shield of green light surrounded Jareth. Jouegh continued to press on with the ice, but it couldn't get through the shield that Jareth held to so tightly.

"You… can't hold that forever!" yelled Jouegh as his ice began to come out in larger cycles.

"I don't have to!" responded Jareth as he pushed his shield forward with all his might rocking his body to gain more power. This caused the shield to change directions, and, instead of covering to Jareth, it flipped upon itself, imploding into a line of green light. It shot forward at Jouegh and overtook his ice. The light hit Jouegh directly in the chest, sending him to the ground on his back.

Jouegh instantly rose to his feet, pressing out his clothing as he did so. "That was uncalled for, Jareth," he replied calmly as he looked his brother in the eye.

"Leave," commanded Jareth icily.

Jouegh turned his back on Jareth and walked out onto the balcony. Before he left however, he spoke calmly to Jareth from over his shoulder. "Now you've ruined all my fun." Then he turned into a raven and flew out over the castle, disappearing into the night.

Once he was gone, Jareth turned around to face Sarah, who was standing there, her mouth wide with shock. He sighed as he ran his fingers through his hair. Turning away from her, he walked over to the balcony and leaned on the rail, his head hanging down in thought.

Behind him, he heard Sarah's footsteps as she placed herself next to him. He knew that she would have many questions, although he did not wish to speak of the answers. But, he supposed, if not now, then when?

"Twin… brother?" Sarah asked as her first question of bewilderment.

Jareth sighed. "Yes. He was banished, however, as an adolescent and sent to live in the Middle Kingdom. There he only became worse, developing magick unseen by others. Still, I can beat him easily." He gave an uneasy breath.

"What is it?" Sara was worriedly. "There's something that you're not telling me."

He stole a glance at her. "When you are here, do you sense anything… profound?"

Sarah was silent for a moment, pondering this. "There's… a little something in the air, I suppose. I can barely feel it, though." She paused. "What is it?"

"The Labyrinth."

"The Labyrinth is its own being?" she questioned, although she could guess the answer.

Jareth nodded absentmindedly. "It is a very large, powerful entity. It is the center of all magic."

"Your magick?"

"Not just my magick, Sarah, but all magicks," he replied sounding completely despaired.

"So this is where all magick comes from? No matter where you're from?"

Jareth nodded. "I am able to use some of its energy because I am its master. There are those, however, who would harness that energy for evil, if they could ever get their hands on it."

"Like your brother…" Sarah added, comprehension finally beginning to set in.

"Exactly like my brother." He took a deep breath. "Every since he was banished, he has wanted something greater, something more profound than anyone could ever imagine. He knew where to get this power, but when he tried, he found out that I was the ruler. He vowed that he would one day over take my throne and take the magical power away from the Labyrinth, suck everything from it like a leech," he spat out.

"He is very dangerous indeed, but when I tried to tell my father just how dangerous he was, he refused to listen. He refused to believe that his own son could ever become such a monster. But now, that betrayal and anger of a son has killed him. And now, he will try to overthrow me."

"But even if he did manage to take the throne from you," Sarah said hesitantly, "would the Labyrinth even allow him to take its magick? I mean, it must have some sort of powerful mind of its own."

"The Labyrinth has a primitive mind, and does not know how to stop someone from misusing its powers. That's why its leader is so carefully chosen. If someone did manage to get control, the Labyrinth would not know what to do. Besides, it does not know good from evil, only what its master tells it to do." He paused, thinking. "Truthfully, no one knows the full extent of all the power that the Labyrinth can do. No one has been a witness to the magical abilities of the Labyrinth directly. Only through the Goblin King are some of the powers shown."

Sarah nodded and then became quiet, carefully thinking this over. After hearing what Jareth had just told her, she knew that it was a much larger problem than she had previously presumed. She never knew that the Labyrinth was actually alive; she just thought that it was just regular land, like the Americas or Germany. But no, it was actually real and held its own magical power. A power so great even, that everyone's magic came from it. What if…

"Jareth…" she asked, the fear causing her voice to shake. "If your brother manages to get power over the Labyrinth and does suck it of its magick, does that mean that everyone else will lose their magical abilities, since it gives them all that power?"

Silently, Jareth nodded.

"Oh my God…" Sarah whispered.

Jareth laughed hollowly. "If Jouegh gets the Labyrinth, he gains the entire world, Underground and Aboveground. Nothing will be able to stop him."

Sarah shook her head. "Surely there is something somewhere that would be able to stop him. I mean, Aboveground, we have weapons. Very, very powerful weapons," she added as an afterthought.

Jareth turned away from the balcony and looked straight at Sarah. "You don't understand!" he yelled. "The Labyrinth is more powerful than anything manmade or magic made! Its power is unfathomable and untouchable! It can stop manmade objects from even touching it!"

"But we have atomic bombs and nuclear weapons!" argued Sarah. "Surely…"

Jareth threw his hands up in dismay. "No! When the Labyrinth wants to be unharmed, it stays unharmed! None of your fancy little weapons that you pathetic mortals make will be able to stop it, stop him."

Sarah began to walk away, sick of his pessimistic attitude. "Well excuse me for trying to think of a solution! We'll just sit back and do nothing!"

"You know that's not what I meant, Sarah!" he replied as he tried to be reasonable. But sometimes, it was just so hard with this girl… "But there is something much greater at work here, and I need to figure out a way to stop it!"

She stood there, silent for a moment, beginning to feel bad for what she was saying to him. Here he was, his world trying to be taken apart by his own brother, and here she was, trying to act like she knew more about the situation than he did.

"I'm sorry Jareth," she finally conceded. "It's just that… it concerns my world too. And there are some things that I'm sure you don't know about it. I just thought that... well... maybe something would be able to help."

"You're ideas were not completely off base, I will admit," Jareth responded grudgingly. He'd be damned if he'd ever thank this girl.

"That's a start," Sarah said with a slight smile. "Now, tell me more about you're brother and what he has done thus far…"

0o0o0oo0oo0o0o0o0o0o0o0o

The black raven flew high above the towers, going back into his realm, where he held the power. The Middle Kingdom, or what was left of it, was now his palace, his free domain of rule. The land that once used to be lush with greenery was now stone and rotting bone, with an occasional black, rocky volcano filling the surrounding areas with lava. Honestly, Jouegh liked the effect of the volcano; it made his stony castles look more able to rule, more sinister and commanding. The sight of such imposing figures made everyone that passed through know that this place held great power. It was strong and menacing, perfect for an omnipotent ruler who knew what was best for everyone.

That was what he was doing; he was preparing the universe for the ultimate peace. No more silly little wars played by the people, for that was a waste of life. Why waste life when it can be used to further his power and be put to good use? Now, in his new world, everyone would follow him, and his perfect era, as ruler, would begin and last forever.

At last he reached his own private pillaring castle, which was made a black stone and spiraled upward in a cone. In the area around it, his armies were gathering. Armies upon armies of trolls, witches, wizards, orcs, wolverines, vampires, everything dark that had been cast from its own land was here, at his command. There were thousands of them lining the lands, their own little tents and villages filling the barren wasteland.

All of this would be the power that would help him overtake the Labyrinth and take control of its magick. Jareth was unaware of it, and Jouegh would like it to stay that way. A surprise attack would be necessary in order to overthrow his brother. He could not allow him time to gather an army of his own, although, even if he did, it would be nothing compared to his own.

At last the bird swooped in over his armies and landed in his regular form upon the sheer ledge that overlooked his growing army. He raised his hands as he prepared to address them. In order to get their full attention, he shot a line of black fire across the plains and hit the last tree in the area – tall, charred, and broken. It caused a large fire on the tree and everyone looked toward Jouegh, waiting for their king to speak.

"My people," he shouted out over the many heads, "my obedient servants of the night! Hear me now and listen as you prepare yourselves for battle! The time is drawing near when we shall take over all worlds. Soon, we shall abolish all beings who oppose us, and soon we shall harness the greatest power ever known to creatures: the Labyrinth!" Thunderous applause echoed throughout the valleys. "Soon, we will march onto the land of Goblins, and overtake their land, as well as overthrowing their king! We need only to secure one more item, a certain dark-haired beauty," a few cackles resounded throughout the group, "and then we will be ready to take over them all! Prepare yourselves for battle!"

When he finished, all the creatures erupted into cheers and shouts, applauding their fearless leader and King.

Jouegh smirked to himself. Soon, my brother, I will take over what is yours, and you will watch as your world falls apart right before your very eyes.

A/N: Omg, this chapter took a long time to write cuz I had to add in those flashbacks, which I initially did not have.

So… a twin, huh? It shall be picking up soon because Jareth has a problem on his hands… and a dangerous one at that.

Please let me know what you think! They're my little pieces of heaven on earth… That and cherry turnover's from Arby's… Mmmm….Thanks!

The Wild-eyed boy from free cloud (Who is really a girl),

E. Ll