"Sky's Eclipse"
Chapter 37
By Aiijuin

*Disclaimer: I don't own anything Jim Henson or Labyrinth. Gröeg was originally designed by Brian Froud and catalogued by Terry Jones in Brian Froud's "The Goblins of the Labyrinth". This fanfiction is rated M for some harsh language and adult situations. Gavin King is Jareth, the Goblin King, for those who have jumped into the middle of the story. Jeremy Eden is from the original Henson script of "Labyrinth" as the man who wrote the "Labyrinth" playbook that Sarah was reading from, in the beginning of the 1986 movie.

**NOTE: Story numbering is behind by 1 chapter, because there is a prelude, which is not considered a chapter. Fanfiction . net automatically assigns numbers to the chapters by default, which I have no control over. Thank you!

Chapter 37: Along Came a Spider

Toby returned to his house at approximately seven-thirty in the morning. Much to his surprise, Jessica was waiting for him there.

She must have skipped school today too, Toby pondered.

Jessica looked upset as she approached Toby and embraced him tightly. He grabbed her by the hand and led her around to the back of the house to prevent his mother and father from catching him out of school. Jessica began to cry as Toby tried to calm her down. He became frantic and imagined the worse.

What if her parents had found out about them… What if she was pregnant?

Toby shook it off and figured no matter what, he could deal with the ramifications. Dealing with Jareth, however, was not going to be so easy.

Toby hugged her again, and whispered, "Hey, Jessy, don't cry, Hon. What's the matter?"

Jessica sniffled and answered, "Oh, Toby! I'm so sorry! I should have told you earlier, but I just was so afraid."

Toby braced for the impact of what Jessica had to tell him. It seemed bad at this point in the conversation. Jessica sat down and Toby followed suit. She clung to his arm and said, "I know we promised from the beginning, 'no secrets'. But…"

Toby nodded and waited for her to finish. After a deep breath Jessica finally continued, "But I just couldn't say anything from the start."

Toby had to know. "What is it?" He asked.

"Well," Jessica began, "You know your stories of the Goblin King?"

Toby raised his eyebrows in utter confusion. Now, he had no idea what Jessica was going to tell him, since it didn't involve the words, 'baby' or ' my parents'. He wasn't even under the assumption that Jareth was going to enter into this conversation at any point. It reminded him that he had to tell Sarah the truth, before she wandered accidentally over to Gavin King's house and was kidnapped.

"Yes," Toby answered after a minute of silence.

"I- I…" Jessica stuttered. After clearing her throat, she confessed, "I was appointed by him to distract you. Oh, Toby, I'm so sorry!"

It took a moment for the words to sink in, but finally, Toby stood up with his mouth agape. He bellowed, "What!?"

Jessica pulled the hair away from her ears and revealed that she had pointed elf-like ears. Toby, of course, took it like any boy his age would… "WHAT THE FUCK! You have Mr. Spock ears!?"

Jessica lowered her head and answered, "They're not 'Spock' ears, Toby. I'm an elf."

Toby shook his head in disbelief. His stomach began to turn at the thought that he had been tricked by a girl whom he thought had really loved him. He had risked everything for her, and was grounded because of her. He told her all of his secrets, including the ones about Sarah and Jareth. Toby closed his eyes and wanted to break something or beat something until it bled. He thought of marching back to Henkies Estate and taking care of Jareth before he captured Sarah. Toby shook in fury, until finally he kicked his mother's tin garden bucket across the lawn like a football. It flew over the neighbor's fence and landed on the grass with a thud. Toby shouted out in rage, not caring if anyone, including his mother or father heard him.

Finally, he collapsed to the ground and clenched his teeth in bitterness. He couldn't face Jessica. Toby was furious with her, but ashamed that he had been tricked so terribly. Jessica tried to grasp his hand, but he pulled away.

"Don't touch me!" Toby spat at her.

"Toby," Jessica whispered, "I really am in love with you. It's not an illusion. I wouldn't be telling you this if I didn't feel this way. I – I have to talk to you about what you saw last night at the mansion."

This captured Toby's attention. He hadn't realized anyone had seen him, and now he became fearful that Jareth knew that Toby had been there. Toby asked, "What? You mean you know I was there? How?"

Jessica took a deep breath and answered, "I knew, because I had been turned into a spider and was sitting on my web under the posts of the balcony. I saw you listening at the doors, and I saw you when you tripped backwards down the stairs. I also saw you while you were crouched beneath the balcony where Jareth stood. You looked very frightened, and I felt so bad."

"Okay, stop," Toby demanded. "How come you turn into a spider? I mean what is that all about? Who are you? What are you, besides an elf?"

Jessica put her hand up to silence Toby. She whispered, "How about I start from the beginning?"

When Toby nodded and shrugged, Jessica started, "My father, the High Elf King Edoram, is one of the Ancient Kings of the Underground. The Ancients, as they're simply referred to, were the original rulers of the land before the time of the Great War. They are the fairest of all beings and the most powerful. They are also the caretakers of the smaller races that inhabit our immortal realm. Jareth is among the original Ancients as well as many others. My father said he was the wisest of them all and none paralleled his intuition or imagination."

Toby frowned, "He doesn't seem all that wise to me."

Jessica patted Toby's shoulder and continued, "My father, of course, speaks of the time before the Great War. Nowadays, our lands have been plunged into despair and doubt. Rumors of wars overshadow our immortal domain as the kingdoms are turning against each other. Most of the Ancients no longer speak to one another, and the gathering of the great powers has been lost forever it seems. The Ancients have dubbed the desolation that remains, 'The Curse'."

Toby interrupted again, "What exactly is the curse? And why do you turn into a spider? C'mon, at least tell me that…"

Jessica smirked and said, "I'm getting to that, Toby…"

"Okay," Toby began, "But it feels like your giving me the Tolkien version of 'Why I turn into a spider', that's all… Really, it's simple! All you have to say is, 'Toby, I become a spider because…yada, yada, yada…"

Jessica laughed and nudged Toby with her elbow. Raising her eyebrows, she peered deeply into his eyes and asked, "Do you want to understand why, or would you rather hear the condensed version?"

"You mean I get a choice?" Toby prodded mischievously.

"No," Jess smiled and after Toby shrugged again, she resumed, "The Curse is not definable because nobody really knows how it began. The Ancients are aware of its presence, but none of them are willing to admit that it is problematic. The truth is, Toby, I don't believe that the Ancients, like Jareth and my father, even know what the Curse truly is. My father has studied it, but without the great powers presenting their findings together, I'm afraid that the cause will never be found, nor the solution."

Toby cleared his throat as Jessica shifted the conversation, "When the rumors of wars began, it was discovered that the Elf Kingdom was poorly protected against virtual attack. We only use blades and bows with arrows for battle… My father fearing the worst, decided to contract Jareth to help him develop more sophisticated weaponry. As you probably know, goblins are great designers of machinery and weapons that fire projectile munitions."

"Wait now," Toby twisted his mouth in confusion, "those little monsters make machines and weapons? Since when? I thought they were just kidnapped babies that were turned into goblins… at least that's what Sarah said."

Jessica put up her hand to signal Toby that she would explain. She nodded and replied, "Your sister is correct, but those are the newest goblins. The original goblins that were with Jareth from the beginning were stronger and smarter. They are responsible for designing the Humongous, cannons, and entire armies made of magical meets mechanical that could not be stopped by mortal man."

"Whoa," Toby shuttered.

Jessica continued, "Anyway, the Goblin King had no desire of gold or silver or any other wealth that my father could offer, so King Edoram offered me as dowry to King Jareth in exchange of sophisticated weapons that would protect the borders of our kingdom."

Toby stopped Jessica again, "Wait! Are you saying you're Jareth's wife?"

"No," the she-elf shook her head. "I was offered as his wife, but Jareth had little interest in me. You see, Toby, I'm not really his type."

"Go on," Toby prodded.

"When I was initially brought to Jareth by my father's consent," Jessica started, "his first glance at me immediately told me that I would find no peace with him in his castle. I am a weaver, and he desired no tapestries be hung in his castle. I tried to water his flowers, but he said he liked them shriveled and brown. I tried to cook his meals, but Jareth very seldom dines in the presence of anyone. Anything I offered wasn't acceptable to him…"

"What a jerkoff," Toby muttered.

Jessica shushed Toby and finished, "I returned to my home to consult with my father on what I should do, and that's when I was accused of fraternizing with enemy forces. The goblins told Jareth that I was leaking secrets back to elven spies, and as a result, he placed an enchantment upon me."

"Let me guess," Toby began. "He turned you into a spider, but only when he doesn't have any use for you."

Jessica nodded and said, "Yes. My real name is Arachni. I am an elf princess and the master weaver within my kingdom."

Toby folded his arms and thought for a moment. Then, he asked, "Shouldn't you have enough power of your own to counteract with Jareth's spell against you?"

"I'm half-human, Toby," Jessica winced. "And Jareth is much too clever to be outdone."

"…unless you're my sister…," Toby corrected.

Jessica's face lit up and she beamed, "Your sister gives me hope! She's really amazing, you know! I've seen other girls like her be tricked into the Goblin King's Labyrinth. All of them were the same: Fair-skinned, dark haired, green eyed…"

"All of them?" Toby asked.

"Well," Jess began, "not at first. Jareth brought in the most beautiful, exotic girls with cocoa dark skin, and lovely black eyes, but then he started refining his choices little by little. One by one they became fairer and then he started seeking those with lighter eyes as well. Eventually, Jareth lured just the green-eyed, dark haired girls into his lands. Soon, he began to narrow his search by sound of their names. He started finding girls with the names of 'Sophia, Sora, Sinead, and Shasta."

"'S' names," Toby breathed.

"Yes," the elf agreed. "Then, again, the Goblin King refined his search with names that just sounded like, 'Salina, Samara, Sandra, and Sarah. Which brings us to your sister Sarah, and Jareth's obsession over her."

"I don't get it, Jess, or should I call you Arachni?"

"'Jess' is fine, Toby," Jessica assured.

Toby continued, "Well, I don't get it… Jareth keeps tricking these girls, and specific ones at that. What's he after anyway? Does he have a vendetta against gals that look like my sister or what?"

Jessica shrugged, "I don't know. He thinks he's in love with them before he tricks them into his Labyrinth. He showers them with 'special magic powers' and once he brings them in, he loses interest in them… especially after they run out of time within his Labyrinth."

After a pause, the she-elf continued, "Which brings us to the current era. I remember those short years ago, when your sister ran the obstacles of the Labyrinth. She was confident, and unlike any other from the start. Most girls used to wince and cry in fear when they were confronted with the overview of Jareth's Labyrinth. I think what captured my attention the most is that Jareth found a girl exactly like himself in personality. I have to admit that your sister was very spoiled and bratty when she first entered the into gates of the Goblin King's challenge. As time ticked away, I saw her quickly evolve in maturity, mastery, and wisdom. Before the very end, she became a conundrum and equaled King Jareth's power."

"That's because Jareth underestimated the Williams family," Toby scoffed proudly and flexed his biceps. "We kick ass!"

"Jareth thinks its something family related as well," Jessica said. "That's why he's been watching your family for a while as a human."

"Yeah. I know. I just discovered this last night at the mansion. We've been played for fools, and now are the bait for Sarah, right?" Toby asked rhetorically.

Arachni lowered her head in sadness, "Toby, I never meant to hurt you. I really DO love you, and I'm terribly sorry for everything."

"Hey," Toby began, "That's okay, you're here to help us right?"

Tears began to fall from the she-elf's eyes again and she sniffled, "No. I'm here to stop you from warning Sarah about what you saw."

Before Toby had time to comprehend her words, Jessica transformed back into a spider, and bit Toby on the hand. He shouted, "The Hell?!?" and flung the spider to the ground.

The venom traveled up his arm quickly, and he fell to the ground unconscious in seconds.

Toby awoke in the intensive care unit of the regional hospital. His head hurt. He had an intravenous drip plugged into his left arm and wires attached to his chest. The teen could hear the monitor beeping rhythmically as it displayed his heart and brain activity on the screen overhead. Sarah was sleeping on the visitor chair next to Toby's hospital bed, while his mother and father looked nervously at his face. He looked at his mom and said weakly, "Yo."

Karen Williams covered her mouth with her hands and gasped, "Oh, Toby! My poor, Toby!"

Sarah stirred and woke up. Robert walked over to his son's side and squeezed his hand. He said in an enthusiastic voice, "The doc says that you will probably be moved to a minor wing with less wires hooked up to you in a day or so. How are you feeling, kiddo?"

"Like crap," Toby replied with a half-assed smirk. It was all he could manage at the moment. "What happened?"

Robert was about to respond when Karen instinctually intervened, "You were bitten by a poisonous spider, Honey. You went into shock and started convulsing. If Sarah hadn't come downstairs to find out why she saw my garden bucket flying over the fence of Mr. Prickett's yard, then you probably would have died!"

Karen started to blubber and the rest of her words made no sense. Robert clutched his wife by the shoulders and escorted her from the room. He called to Sarah as he walked away, "Sar, I'm going to take your mother down to the cafeteria and calm her down. Do you want anything while I'm down there?"

"No. I'm fine, dad," Sarah answered. "Thanks."

Robert nodded and Sarah was left isolated with her brother in the ICU room. She looked at him and smiled, "Hey, squirt! It looked bad there for a while, but you pulled through in the end."

Toby smiled back, but found he was too exhausted to say anything else. His heart rate jumped higher, as a nurse from the monitor area walked in to look at his IV. Sarah finally changed the subject, hoping casual conversation would distract Toby from the gloominess that surrounded him. She started, "Wow! Will you look at all these flowers? You're girlfriend, Jessica and her parents sent you the biggest bouquet here. B-Man gave you a naughty card with half-naked women on the inset."

Toby chuckled softly.

Sarah continued, "Even Mr. King sent you a gift. It's wrapped, so I'm not sure what it is, but when you feel well enough, I'm sure you'll be happy to open it. I didn't realize that you had so many friends. I think your entire high school sent you cards and gifts."

Toby nodded, and the nurse administered another needle with a red plasma-like solution into his intravenous tube. His heart rate lowered again as the fluid began to flow into his veins. Slowly, he nodded back off to sleep. The nurse wrote on Toby's medical chart, pulled the privacy curtain back into place, and then exited the room. Sarah eyes traveled down under Toby's bed as she whispered, "All's clear, Hoggle."

The dwarf tiptoed out from under the medical bed and said, "Whew! Your stepmom is a scary lady, Sarah."

"She's not that bad, once you get to know her," Sarah replied with a chuckle. "Thank you, for saving Toby's life. I don't know what I would have done without your help."

"Well," Hoggle began, "I can't take all of the credit, ya'know. You told me to watch yer brother, and I did what you said. Arachni is a powerful being, Sarah. I don't want'ta mess with her, if I don't have ta. Mind you, she ain't as scary as Jareth, but she works with him sometimes, so I'm afraid of her too."

"And so," Sarah began, "Jareth's begun his attacks against me at last. I had really hoped that we could have put our differences behind us and just talked like two people. I really like him, actually."

"Feh!" the dwarf grimaced. "I don't see why ya'like him. He ain't no good! He's never done anythin' nice fer nobody neither! Yer' as bad as he is, with the hopeless romantic stuff. The only problem is, yer' a genuine, kind friend, and Jareth ain't nobody's friend!"

"I guess it was inevitable that Jareth would spring his traps using Mr. King as bait," Sarah mused. "I'm glad you gave me a warning about that though. I was about to go to his house that morning Toby was bitten. I can't believe that Jareth's so jealous sometimes."

"Ah, believe it!" Hoggle stammered.

Sarah continued, "You know, the strange thing is, I have no interest in Gavin whatsoever. I guess Jareth's just gauging his basis of Mr. King's constant attentions towards me. I wish I could warn Mr. King of the danger."

"Well," Hoggle crackled, "Why don't you? I mean, you can make wishes and they'll be granted. Just wish for that 'King'-guy to be brought here and you can tell him everything."

"Oh, my gosh, Hoggle," Sarah lifted her chin. "You're right! Thank you! That was extremely helpful!"

Hoggle blushed, "Ah, it was nuthin'. Jus' don't kiss me fer tellin' ya!"

He vanished from sight as Sarah contemplated how and when she would conveniently wish Gavin to her presence and explain what was going on. She had a terrible feeling that Mr. King would suffer a fate worse than Toby's if he kept antagonizing the Goblin King to jealousy.