"Keep the Magic Alive"
Chapter 8
By Aiijuin

Disclaimer: All things "Labyrinth" belong to Henson Companies as well as many other wonderful contributors. I own nothing!
This story is dark, and therefore is markedM+ for Mature content

Chapter 8: Daddy-Do?

Jareth King kept following the voice of his missing son, until he looked back and realized that Sahara wasn't behind him any longer. Immediately, he began to turn around as he called, "Sahara?"

No response.

He tried again, "Sahara?"

He was about to double-back when the crying child became louder. He furrowed his eyebrows and shoved his hands into his pockets. Sometimes being a parent was downright maniacal. Jareth shook his head and made the decision to go towards the baby instead.

Jaime is younger, after all, he thought. Outloud he muttered, "Foolish, headstrong girl is going to drive me into a multiple personality disorder…"

Another voice from around the corner said, "Quite often, you'll find that we are neither coming nor going…"

Jareth spun about to find the source of the voice and saw a bizarre old man, or something like an old man, sitting on a concrete chair of some sort, with a strangely shaped bird-hat upon his head. Jareth asked, "I'm sorry, I didn't quite catch that. What did you say?"

"Ach! The man deeedn't even leeesten to what you said," The bird-hat atop the old man's head uttered angrily with a strong Hispanic accent.

Jareth blinked and replied, "That's it. I've gone completely mad."

The bird-hat grumbled, "Hey, crazy man! You need to leeesten to what theees geezer is telling you! Not sure if it will help, but it couldn't hurt, huh?"

Jareth raised his eyebrows and shrugged, as he searched his pockets to see if his medication was still there. When he was assured that it was, the old man began to speak again, "I said, young man,…that sometimes, we are neither coming nor going…but find that we haven't moved at all."

"Alright then, thank you…" Jareth began with a hum and rubbed his hands together as he began to back away slowly. "That made absolutely no sense, but thank you anyway…"

The old man fell asleep as Jareth was sneaking away, but the bird-hat shouted, "Hey! Donate a contribution to the box please!"

Jareth grappled the prescription bottle out of his pocket and unscrewed the safety cap. He pulled out a tiny yellow pill and dropped it into the box. The bird-hat thanked him as he walked away again, and Jareth replied softly, "No problem. I think that it will probably help you more than its been helping me anyway. I actually need a hospital at this point."

He turned the corner and heard Jaime crying again. He began to run towards his son's sobs until he came upon….

A fox puppet dressed like Don Quixote while riding on a white, bridled, sheepdog? Jareth's entire face contorted and he smacked himself on the cheek a couple of times while muttering, "It's not real. It's not real. This is just a dream. You're having another one of those nightmares…."

"Why, Sire!" The fox exclaimed, "Thou art looking well today, your Majesty! 'Tis good to see you out and about at last! What shall I do for you today, my Good King?"

Jareth King didn't answer. He had his hands covering his mouth as he took slow deep breaths out of his nose. He kept nodding his head and was emotionally torn between laughing and crying at this point. Finally, after several more deep breaths, Jareth remarked, "I knew that I should have insisted that Sarah and I take that Disney cruise last year instead of celebrating Christmas in Jersey."

"Ah! The fairest lady Sarah!" The fox waved his staff and continued, "Yon lady, doth have I missed! Hark! May I ask, Good King, how might she be?"

"Better than me, I hope," Jareth mumbled.

"Hark!" The fox shouted again. "Dost thou hear a child crying in the darkness, Ambrosious?"

The sheepdog barked and Jareth blinked in disbelief. "That's my son, Jaime!" He shouted out of parental automation.

"'Tis the King's son? I didn't know, Sire, forgive me!" The fox apologized. "We shall find him at once, right Ambrosious? Tallyho!"

At those words, the sheepdog sprung forward and ran towards the crying child, while Jareth followed the animal duo with serious doubts about how he was ever going to return from this delusion.

When they reached a large ceramic planter on a pedestal, Jareth peered down into it. Jaime's cries were definitely coming from within. He thought that he could see a ladder inside, which lead downwards and he was about to use it, when he heard another voice from behind him.

"Jareth?!"

He looked around until he saw a rather large-headed tiny….person?

The fox removed his feathered hat and took a bow, "Ah! My dear brother, Hoggle! How art thou this fine day?"

"Aww, Sir Diddymus, why are ya' helpin' him?" Hoggle asked angrily without answering the fox.

Sir Diddymus turned to Hoggle and said, "But 'tis our king, my Brother. Do we not now respect him? I have sworn an oath, my Brother!"

"Now, what oath did ya' swear? …can't wait to hear this one…" Hoggle rolled his eyes.

"I have sworn my allegiance to those of the royal blood line, of course!" Sir Diddymus placed his hat proudly back unto his head. "Are we not the loyal subjects and protectors of this land, my Brother?"

Jareth cleared his throat and said, "So, sorry, but…um… my son is stuck in this hole, and I can't see how far it is to get down there… Does anyone have a flashlight? Jaime, hold on, … Daddy's coming!"

"I ain't believin' nuttin' ya say, Jareth! You're a despicable rat!" The dwarf furrowed his hairy, white eyebrows.

"Right," Jareth raised his eyebrows in doubt. "And should I be really concerned with a schizophrenic delusion telling me that it hates my guts? Look you're either going to help me or not. All I know is that my son is down there, and you can all sit up here and imaginarily chat amongst yourselves while I rescue him, or you can all imaginarily help me get him out of there."

Hoggle shrugged and replied, "I guess I'm damned if I do and damned if I don't either way."

Jareth grinned and tapped the dwarf on the arm while saying jovially, "That's the spirit! Now, does my paranoid delusion-elf happen to have a flashlight on him anywhere?"

Hoggle looked at Sir Diddymus and the fox just shrugged back. Hoggle finally pointed and said, "Ya know, Jareth… you'll probably bog me for this, but ya' ain't been right lately. Not since that problem with Sarah."

Jareth had his head down in the ceramic planter again, as he answered, "Look! I'm going to therapy twice a week, and I've had my medications adjusted thirteen times in the last three years. What more do you want from me? This is just another mental slip, and I promise that I'll tell Sarah when I come out of it in the morning….Now, be a good chap and hand me a light-source or something, so I can fish my son out of the well that he's fallen into…"

Hoggle blinked, "Jareth… you put him in there."

Jareth lifted his head out of the planter with his eyes wide in disbelief, "I would never harm my own child. I don't care how 'tra-la-la' I am at this time… I would never do such a cruel thing to my darling Jaime!"

The dwarf crossed his arms, "I told ya' you ain't been right lately…I watched ya' do it from behind this here shrub. He was runnin' away from ya' after he kicked ya' in the arm, and then, 'woosh!', ya' dropped the ground out from under the little tyke and sent him fallin' into the oubliette."

"That's impossible," Jareth stammered as he rolled up one of his sleeves. "See? My arm is uninjured. If I had done that, then wouldn't I have a bruise or mark? Jaime is quite a kicker after all…"

Hoggle pointed, "It wasn't that arm, yer' Majesty. It was the other one."

Jareth mused and rolled up his other sleeve while he grumbled, "This is impossible. I can't believe that I have to prove to my own delusionary friends, that I didn't throw my son down a……"

Jareth became speechless as he uncovered a rather new purple and blue bruise after he rolled up the sleeve on his upper forearm. He inhaled deeply and everyone became quiet, save but Jaime crying in the oubliette.