It struck Jareth, when they had arrived back in the castle to find the goblins swarmed around a newcomer who he could only guess at the identity of, that Tsuki's brother and her were remarkably visibly alike. The boy, surrounded by Jareth's goblins and actually smiling at them, had the same long black hair, his laying untied down his back; they had the same eyes, though closer look made it clear Akito's were a darker red than Tsuki's. They had the same sort of shape to their face but his was paler and he was thinner than she was; he looked to be thinner than Jareth, his long sleeve shirt and pants mostly hanging off his body, and it seemed to the Goblin King that the boy was more than just sickly. He was dying, it hung on him, clung to his skin, and though the boy was smiling and talking gently to the goblins, and Jareth saw the happiness in his new charge's eyes as she saw him and ran over to him with Wisp as usual at her feet, and he saw the way the other Kokuryuu smiled at his sibling too and hugged her, the Goblin King wasn't fooled and he was aware of why he wasn't the heir. Akito Kokuryuu was destined to die a human death, sooner still; his sister Tsuki was only one between the two of them to be named, who could be heir, because Akito would die far too soon to be anything but a footnote in history.

He wondered if that knowledge made Tsuki sad; it was not simply the idea of the girl he had newly stolen away as being sad that intrigued him, nor did it bother him, but rather an inquiry to know. What was it she saw when she looked at her brother, was it fundamentally different than how Jareth saw Akito or anyone else, how Jareth saw anyone? What lingered in the minds of humans, even half ones like the girl, when they gazed upon others that was not amusement or annoyance or as he felt for Sarah a deep painful love? Or perhaps, was it love that she saw when she looked at her brother, like the love Sarah felt for Toby? Jareth did not know.

"Jareth." Her voice called him out of his thoughts and the Goblin King looked at her as Tsuki, turned to face him, Akito standing beside her and regarding him with a slight tilt of the head and quizzical look.

Jareth stared for all of a minute before smiling once more and stepping towards her, regarding Akito with interest. "So this is your brother? You two really do look remarkably alike."

"So we've been told," Tsuki said with the air of someone being polite only for the sake of it; obviously this was something so common it left her cold.

Akito smiled though, even at Jareth, and the warmth of the smile left him taken aback some. Such childlike kindness in those eyes was reflected but this was no child; it was unnerving more than welcome but he swallowed it back as the person in question spoke, his voice a soft tenor akin to Tsuki's own voice, "Good evening Your Majesty. Your subjects were telling me about you. I must say I've never met a Goblin King before."

The idea that his subjects could tell anyone anything coherent was ridiculous, the majority of the creatures who saw his throne room as a party room were either too drunk to form words or their minds were that of young children still: hence the "Kingy" and "girly" business. He glanced at the goblins themselves, raiisng an eyebrow at them and his subjects scurried around, talking all at once and making as always no sense until he raised a hand, silencing them immediately and turned back to Akito before him. He gave him a smile though it was a cold and cruel and forced thing. "Well now you have. It is...nice to meet you, Akito."

The boy himself seemed to take it kindly and bowed his head slightly in form of respect. Jareth happened to notice Tsuki who looked at him with a rather annoyed look and it occurred to the king that she had read what Akito had not in Jareth's expression, and the Goblin King simply gave her a smile, unbothered and unconcerned by the way she looked at him. She would understand soon though that she noticed it, that she had paid attention was certainly not unwelcome sight.

For now though it was night and the goblins were bouncing as they did in the night; thousands of years as king and he still found it surprising that they could even more energetic at night. He waved a hand dismissively and they all scurried out of the room, all save Wisp who kept their vigil beside Tsuki; Jareth did nothing to stop the goblin and kept his attention on the siblings before him. "You know why you were brought here, Akito?"

He shook his head and turned to his sister, obviously waiting for her to tell him herself. She looked embarrassed and hesitant, rubbing her head some and looking away. "Um well..."

"Your father was the king of demons and your sister is going to be their new ruler," Jareth said with all the delicacy of ripping a bandaid off an arm.

Tsuki gave him another disapproving look and Akito blinked. "Oh...really?"

There was a distinct lack of disbelief and it bothered Jareth more; the goblin king gave the same smile as before and nodded. "Really. I am going to teach her how to rule and since she did not wish to leave you alone back in your old home, I had my goblins go retrieve you. You'll be staying here too while she's here I suppose."

Having met the sickly boy now he did not find the idea of keeping himself around very appetizing; his whole being just rejected him and while it seemed excessive to even him he did not wish to question777 what were in their core his instincts. The instincts of a king, of a ruler, were not something that one could dismiss carelessly after all. But Tsuki was currently his charge, his to teach and as long as she was around so it seemed would be her brother and this he would need to just accept. Not like but accept, though Tsuki likely would have words for him treating her brother in any way she might seem unkind or wrong; he was used to Sarah's own way of doing that, he was prepared for whatever it may be that Tsuki brought to the table on that front, especially in light of her reaction to his treatment of the goblins and Wisp in particularly before.

Akito seemed to accept this new fact of life without worry, nodding and smiling some before looking upon his sister again. "Well as long as I do not have to leave Tsuki's side, I suppose it doesn't matter where we are."

She smiled in return and it was nearly enough to make the Goblin King retch. But he kept this to himself and gestured towards the door. "It is late and though my goblins might be happy to wander about and cause mayhem, I am certain you two are wanting to sleep."

Honestly he wasn't too sure on Tsuki; she seemed to look towards the large open space in the throne room that looked out over the Labyrinth instead of towards the door, and he could see her eyes reflect the shadows that even in the night it appeared were only too visible to her. And the thing in her eyes was there again and there was no slumber in her eyes; she was awake now, perhaps more than she had been before.

He did not know himself how true this was, how much her skin seemed to prick in the night and she felt an awareness she didn't know but that did not feel unwanted fill her veins in place of blood. She did not wish for sleep but the unconscious was fought by the focused and her mind told her that while she might not Akito did. Her brother needed his sleep and that honestly she needed it too, she'd been awake how long? How long since she woke in the Aboveground? How many hours since meeting Jareth had passed? It was unnatural and her brain told her sleep. But her mind told her to explore.

Turning to Jareth with hesitation, forcing her head towards him, she nodded. "Yeah, sleep sounds good.

"Well then," Jareth said and smiled, opening the door, "Follow me and I will show you to where you two will be staying until you can go home."

Akito looked to Tsuki as she walked over to the Goblin King and followed him out into the hallway. Softly he spoke up as he caught up to the two, walking beside his sister, "So we get to go back to the house after all? I thought you were going to be a queen, Tsuki."

"Not that home," Tsuki told him gently and Jareth rolled his eyes some; admittedly the boy hadn't seen the kingdom yet, he hadn't felt what Tsuki had when she'd seen what was her new land, but it didn't change that it had to be obvious that they wouldn't be going back to the Aboveground, or Tsuki wouldn't. Maybe Akito could but the girl was theirs now, she was one of the Underground rulers now and she would be staying.

The hallways of the castle were a lot like the Labyrinth itself; many ways to go but very few that meant anything or went anywhere. The state of things made sense to him, Jareth never got lost unless in the sort of mood where the mind would be willing to forget and things got muddled and then he always got lost but he always found his way in the end. Else how would he be there to guide the two Kokuryuu? But for them they did not know this; Tsuki had a feeling of it, she had seen the Labyrinth, she had heard his explanation of how it worked and why it worked and it seemed logical to think that the castle in which he lived and ruled from would follow similar rules. Akito not so much and found himself a bit confused as they walked down a hallway, turned around, walked the opposite direction and managed to find their way to an entirely different hallway; he clung to Tsuki's arm and she had to walk a bit slower, lagging behind Jareth as the two tried to follow. This didn't actually escape his notice, he was quite aware of what was going on, but he neither slowed nor spoke, just continued forward with the knowledge that they wouldn't be lost either. He'd just find them again if they did.

Nor did it escape his attention their follower; as they had for a while now Wisp walked at Tsuki's feet, seeming even now unwilling to leave the side of the girl. Once more it crossed his mind this odd common sight; goblins followed who they would. They were required to obey him, required to fear him, but they did not follow him willingly. Jareth had to force them, command them, and though they fought to defend themselves, for the thrill of the battle, for the amusement of a break in the everyday insanity, they did not fight for him. The goblins preferred Sarah or Tsuki who showed them kindness; they preferred Toby who laughed and played with them in the way a child would; they did not prefer Jareth who kicked them and demeaned them and showed them only enough kindness so as to further what he wanted. To him this was what was necessary, to be the Goblin King was to be cruel, but watching Wisp look up at Tsuki with such a look that the goblin never gave him, it left a bad taste in his mouth. Like a peach gone bad, who only gave the worst of nightmares instead of the sweetest of dreams. This though was not to be spoken or expressed; it did not matter, there was no reason to dwell. He walked on without another thought to the goblin or any goblin.

A set of double doors was waiting at the end of the line, and for it's credit it was literally at the end of the hallway as well. He stopped, standing before them and the two stopped soon after, watching him as he hesitated in speaking, "Here you go; admittedly I only expected one guest so you two will need to share but I'm sure as siblings you won't mind."

Siblings did that, didn't they? They shared rooms? He didn't really know; of course he had siblings but what it had been living with any had become over time more than a little blurry. Whatever it had been he doubted he had been as unnerving as Akito; he only looked at Tsuki at this point and she nodded, not looking at him though. Her eyes were set on Jareth, watching him carefully as if suspecting a trap. But of course that would be silly, it would not be smart of him if he tried to trap her now, before she could understand how to fight back, before she was worth playing with like that. No, until she was a worthy opponent she was not going to see the traps he could lay, the games he could play. He settled for smiling at her, trying so hard just to seem innocent but the look she gave him, eyes narrowed, proved that she wasn't anywhere near convinced. Or maybe fooled.

Akito pulled on her sleeve towards the doors. Even without the words she seemed to understand and glancing at Jareth again she then opened the doors and let her brother go in first. From what she could see it was a rather nice room, large with a dresser and vanity, a fourposter canopy bed on the other side of the room that even from where she was she could tell would easily fit both of them; it was definitely nicer than her room in her house, something she did expect from some sort of fantasy adventure straight out a book or movie. But this was real, she had to believe at least; her brother walked inside and disappeared onto the bed, Wisp following soon after to explore the room, much to the eye rolling of Jareth. Tsuki hesitated for a moment before turning to Jareth. The king was watching her and he raised an eyebrow at her. "Is something wrong with the room? I expect it's nothing like what you are used to but still I don't think that would be a bad thing."

"You'd be cuter if you didn't open your mouth," she said straightfaced and he blinked, seriously appearing taken aback by this and then he started to laugh.

Honestly he just thought it amusing; he'd be tempted to think all human girls were sharp tongued, Sarah certainly was, but he had met enough to know it wasn't like that. But being told underhandedly like that to shut up, it was hard not to laugh at the fledgling queen who dared talk like that to him in his own castle. He smirked once done laughing and leaned down to her, face to face. "You will find that mouthing off to the wrong person will not end in laughter so often now that you're royalty. Watch what you say and who you say it to or you will not like the consequences."

"Just figured I'd get in one possibly last snide remark before I have to start filtering myself more," Tsuki responded without missing a beat and he half expected her to stick her tongue out at him, though that may be more the fact the majority of the people he dealt with on a regular basis were just that kind.

She didn't though, she did seem to try to control herself on that front; instead she choose to lean in and kiss his cheek, a light touch before pulling away and turning to go into the room. She spoke over her shoulder, "Thanks by the way, for putting up with me and my brother while I learn what I need to. Also don't lean into girl's faces like that, it's creepy."

Tsuki closed the door behind her and Jareth had to admit to being left sort of dumbfounded. Primarily because she thanked him, it seemed like such a silly and small thing really, but being called creepy wasn't something he was used to either. Pretty maybe, cruel, evil, but not creepy. With a light shrug he turned on his heel and hummed to himself as he walked away and towards his own rooms; even Goblin Kings needed to sleep.

The next day was greeted with exactly what one might expect: a bunch of roosters loudly crowing outside, the sun blazing through the window and a small swarm of the black chickens that infested the Labyrinth flying in through the window to bother anyone in the room. Wisp was the first to wake, being a goblin of the kingdom and well-aware of these events; they stirred from the armchair they had nested in the night before and as one chicken flew about pass them, they frowned, reached out and grabbed it by the throat. Wisp grumbled, jumping out of the chair and grabbing more chickens, "Shush chickens, girlie and sick boy are sleeping; Wisp will put you back outside but you have to be quiet."

The chickens, being chickens, didn't understand and struggled and ran and clucked loudly, making the goblin chase them around, still carrying around the ones they managed to catch. The noise continued on for quite a while, Wisp's calls for the chickens to stop and crashing about as they tried to grab them, the chickens running and clucking; Akito was first to wake, whining slightly as he got up but Tsuki was the one to do something.

A chicken was about to jump onto the bed but a sword went flying and the creature screamed as much as a bird could, flying away as the blade got lodged in a wall. The rest of the creatures, as if aware of the darkness they had released upon themselves with their actions, flew out the window; a few almost even took Wisp with them but they managed to let go, landing on the chair instead. The sword stayed stuck and gave the goblin a glance to look at it, a strange sight; it was not a sword as Wisp new, not one of the all-too-big or shabby blades used by others. It was long and thin, the blade catching the light and shimmering; it shone and Wisp couldn't help walking over, trying to grab it, trying to take it, their goblin tendencies about to win out when the blade was pulled out and Wisp looked to see Tsuki standing there, holding the sword by it's handle. The handle was the only worn part, wrapped in tattered cloth that hung off it and covered the entirety of it, from tip to guard; Tsuki moved swiftly and smoothly slipped it into a black lacquer sheath, decorated with a crescent moon engraved near the top of it. After it was sheathed she hung it across her back, looking almost all too comfortable dressed in her clothes from the day before with the sword across her back; she looked at Wisp and she seemed not to recognize them at first then smiled, gently and lightly before leaning down and patting their head. "Hey, good morning Wisp. Did I scare you?"

Wisp blinked then shook their head. "Chickens was scared, Wisp is not scared, Wisp is confused. Is that pretty sword yours?"

Tsuki glanced back at the sword then nodded. "Yeah, it's mine. So do you know what we're supposed to do now that's morning? Are we supposed to wait here for Jareth or go find him or what?"

Wisp furrowed their brow and Tsuki could tell they didn't know; that was a bit troublesome, but she couldn't fault the creature for being unaware. She patted the goblin's head again and then looked over at the bed; Akito had woken up but seemed to have gone back to sleep quickly enough, coughing and shivering in bed. She was tempted almost to get him too, bring him along in case something happened but no, it seemed better to her just to leave him be for now. For many reasons, not least of all being the unknown factor of this place; she knew the Labyrinth was strange and part of Jareth's will but she didn't know how far that went, or to what end.

Opening the door to the room, making sure that at least Wisp was beside her, she stepped outside in look of Jareth to find out what to do next.

And nearly fell down a flight of upside stairs.