Chapter 6

Unexpected Friends in Unexpected Places

It brought Jareth immense satisfaction to watch Lara Tyler's pale face sink into the blackness of the Oubliette, her eyes wide and fearful. Serves you right, you little viper... He glared at the broken sword in his hand before tossing it impatiently aside. The steel was far too thin. Her blade was castle forged for brutality. That's the only reason she... No. She hadn't won. Was she not the one descending to rot in the dark whilst he was the one left standing? Besides...had they been dueling properly with matched blades, she wouldn't have had a hope in hell. Jareth turned from the trap door and prepared to leave, but was stopped in his tracks by a thin quavering sound emanating from the chasm.

"No... No, no, please, no..." Lara's voice echoed faintly up from the depths. Jareth half-turned to face the dark opening. She sounded so weak. So frail. Much to the king's disgust, he could feel some sort of...pang tapping through his chest. He immediately stifled it. She was getting what she deserved. Exactly what she deserved... Wasn't she? Don't you dare...don't you dare, Jareth. Part of him was drawn to look down into the blackness once again...to call for the Hands to halt the girl's descent and bring her back up into the light. This too, he fought down.

"Girl is afraid of the dark, Boss," a voice said from behind him. Jareth nearly jumped out of his skin. He gave an undignified gasp and whipped around, a menacing snarl forming itself upon his features as soon as he recognized the speaker.

"Clutch! You little cretin! Where have you been?! Why the bloody hell did you let her walk the walls?! You were supposed to slow her down, not let her do whatever she bloody well pleases!"

The little goblin yelped in alarm and stumbled backwards, nearly falling off the wall in his terror. Jareth rolled his eyes as the creature scrambled forward and flung himself at the king's feet. "Clutch sorry, Your Majesty! Clutch bad! Clutch-"

"Shut up!" Jareth snapped. Clutch immediately clapped his hands over his mouth. "What did you say about the girl?"

"Mmff gmmffff mmhhmmmffffg-"

"Take your hands off your mouth."

"Clutch said girl is afraid of dark. She says so at Scary Door. Good plan to drop her in Oubliette, Boss. She so scared, she never find her way now!"

Jareth was momentarily stunned. Lara? Afraid of the dark? If she had spoken so at the Door and it had opened for her, then it must certainly be true. It would also explain why she had taken to walking the walls. He frowned and looked toward the trap door. It seemed so strange...so out of character for a girl as fierce and insufferable as that one to be afraid of something so simple as the dark. Something so natural. Darkness, Lara? Really? He wondered why. He wondered if she was just irrationally bothered by it, as some humans tended to be... Or perhaps something had happened to her in her short lifetime to spark this fear. Something that she could not bring herself to face...something bad enough to send her up the walls. Had he but known...

What? What would you have done differently, Jareth? This knowledge of her strange weakness shouldn't have changed a thing. In fact, he should have been thrilled at this discovery, at this new power he now held over her. But all Jareth felt was a rising unease at the back of his mind... It was one thing to trick his opponents and slow them down...quite another to exploit their greatest weakness so mercilessly. Their greatest fear... Her frail voice echoed through his mind once more. "No, no, please, no..." And hadn't she practically begged him to get her out of there? Him? There was that pang again. Tapping and tugging, feeling disturbingly close to something like...sympathy. Jareth's scowl deepened. Enough. Enough of this. That kind of thinking would have to stop. Right now.

"Clutch, I gave you a simple job to do. You failed. Give me one good reason not to throw you in the Bog this very instant!"

Clutch's yellow eyes widened in dismay. "Noooo, Majesty! No Bogses! Clutch do better! You see! Clutch make sure girl stay in Oubliette, Boss! Clutch keep her in scary dark til Time's Up! You see, Boss! Clutch-"

"Alright, alright, shut up, will you?" The king massaged his temples in attempt to ward off the headache that Clutch's shrill howling was beginning to induce. In attempt to ward off the sympathy... "I'm going to give you this one last chance. But, I want you to keep your distance for as long as possible. I want you to let the darkness do its work. With any luck, she will be reduced to a blubbering mess before she even gets close to an exit. If she does happen to stumble upon one...then you make your move. Not before. Do you understand me?" Good God, even his own words tasted of guilt. He almost hated saying them.

Clutch nodded his head so vigorously Jareth thought it might fly off like a Firey's.

"Also..." he continued. "In order to win her over and gain her trust, you must convince her that you are her friend. And the best way to do that is to tell her how awful you think I am."

Clutch looked at him aghast. "Your Majesty not awful!" he cried indignantly. "Majesty is the bestest, kindest, awesomest, goodest-"

"I know, I know..." Jareth waved a hand dismissively. "But, Lara doesn't think that, now does she? If you just pretend to hate me, she will trust you immediately." Why did he feel disappointed? It was the truth. She hated him. Any fool could see that. But. He. Didn't. Care...right? "Do you understand?"

"Clutch understand, Boss. Clutch is good at playing pretend. I's gonna do a perfect job. You see!"

Jareth nodded. "See that you do..." With that, the king gave the goblin a swift kick that sent him toppling into the abyss. Clutch yelped only once before falling stoically silent and allowing the Helping Hands to carry him downward. Jareth made sure to mentally ask the Labyrinth to rearrange and drop Clutch where Lara couldn't see him. As he said before...it wouldn't do for her to have company too soon. Despite all these ridiculous pangs and tugs and taps of sympathy, the Goblin King was still very determined to win. This time...

—x—

Breathe, Lara... Remember to breathe. I couldn't tell if I was upside down or right side up. In and out, Lara... In...and out... I couldn't tell if I was still falling or if I was sitting still. Lara...Lara, don't... All I knew, all I could see, all I could feel was black pressure. Pressure from all directions. Enclosing, compressing, constricting. My chest was so tight I thought my ribs might crack. I didn't know whether my eyes were open or closed, but I did know...I did know that it was dark. It was dark and cold and I was four years old again. I was back in that well and the walls were closing in.

Where was Will? He had saved me last time. He had found me. He had brought Grandad with the rope ladders... Where was he? "Grandad? Will?" My voice wasn't even a whisper. It was so thin, I felt the slightest breeze might blow it away. "Will..." The pressure was so intense...so heavy... I felt my consciousness flickering in and out. Flashes of image began to pass before my eyes. Voices from my memory swirled through my head. Remember to breathe, Lara... Just breath. ...You assume too much... AUNT LAWA! ...Have you always been such a bother? ...You wouldn't let that happen...would you, Aunt Lara? ...You have thirteen hours in which to solve my Labyrinth... Thirteen hours before the children become mine...forever... "Ello?"

I frowned. I'd never heard that voice before.

"Ey... Are ye dead or what?"

I'm hallucinating... I'm going to die.

"Oi!" Something poked my shoulder, hard.

My eyes snapped open and I sat up in an instant, only to hiss in pain as piercing, blinding light filled my existence. I squeezed my eyes shut again.

"Oh good, yer alive! Oi! She's alive!"

"She's alive!"

"She's aliiiiive!"

"She's alive?!"

"Oh, thank goodness!"

Gingerly, I opened my eyes the slightest bit, putting up a hand to shield them from the light. It flickered yellow and orange, dancing gracefully and banishing much of that dreaded pressure. Torches. Dozens of them. All burning in a wide half-circle around me...and all firmly gripped in the fists of very short, stocky...well, I wanted to say garden gnomes, but that wouldn't have been quite accurate. They were humanoid at least, all bearing short strong arms and legs and all having little round faces. Large eyes rested over big noses and huge round ears stuck out from under swatches of muddy brown hair. There must have been at least thirty odd, male and female. Young and old. Some had beards, some wore hats or miners' helmets, some carried shovels, hammers, and picks as well as torches. The males wore grubby overalls while the females wore roughspun dresses of brown, grey, or green. They were too small to be midgets. Too rough to be toddlers. Too...well...friendly looking to be goblins.

"Eeee, we thought ye'd never wake up!" said the nearest cave...gnome...guy. He looked to be one of the older ones, with a long grey beard sprouting from his cheeks and chin, grubby spectacles perched upon a bulbous nose, and beady black eyes lined with wrinkles. He wore an old felt hat with melting candles lining its brim, a leather tool belt (into which he had tucked his beard), and a necklace made of various chunks of stone.

I blinked at him stupidly, trying to find my voice. "W...what?"

"You were lyin' there fer a good long while! Ye kept whimperin' an' moanin'. My Byrda thought ye was dyin'!"

"Tha's not true, G'vorrin, ya old cave toad!" One of the females, a plump little woman in a green dress came bustling forward. Her reddish brown hair was much longer than she was tall and had been braided into a thick rope that wrapped twice around her little shoulders like a scarf. "Don' ye listen to 'im, love. We knew ya wasn' dyin'."

I watched her a moment before parting my lips again. "What happened? Who are you? Where..." For the first time, I looked around to get a better feel for my surroundings. I was sat on the rough stone floor of a massive tunnel with high, arching ceilings. Stalactites and stalagmites grew up and down between rough grey bricks, glittering slightly in the torchlight. I felt the pressure ease off even more when I realized just how large and open an area this was... I could handle openness.

"Ye been sleepin' fer 'bout...what? Half'n hour?" the woman (obviously Byrda) said, glancing back at one of the other gnomes.

"Not quite twenty minutes since you found 'er, Mammy," said one of the younger males, checking the battered pocket watch that hung from his belt. I reached up to touch a sore spot on the back of my head. I must have fainted... I'd never done that before. God, I was an idiot. Nice going, Lara, you coward.

Byrda nodded. "Ye were out cold when th' Hands brought ye down. I never seen anyone so pale... 'Cept th' king, o' course..."

Mention of that lying, cheating, sorry excuse for a king sparked anger in my chest, but what Byrda said next captivated my interest.

"Tha's why I called th' family."

"Family?" I looked out over all those little faces.

"We're th' Under fam'ly," the bearded gnome with the hat said proudly.

"Th' Unders from under th' Underground!" sang one of the little females.

"I'm G'vorrin Under," said the bearded fellow. "This is me wife Byrda. Tha's our oldest son Tock. Our daugh'er Myrr. Me brother G'vor an' his wife Nessy. Their kids Grendy, Sylla, an' Bo. Me other son Byr. Cousin Jod. Byrda's sister Kass. Her 'usband Doff, who 'appens ta be me other cousin..." He went on to tell me the names of every last Under. Each smiled and waved or squeaked a "hello" when pointed to. I couldn't help but feel a grin spreading across my own face. I should have been paralyzed with fear for being so far underground. I should have been a blubbering mess. But, the Unders seemed to banish all of that with their blessed torchlight and their huge smiles and their gravelly voices. They were friggin' adorable.

When finally the last Under had been named (G'vorrin and Byrda's newborn granddaughter Enna) G'vorrin turned to me with a grin. "Now tha's everybody. I know, there's a pile o' us. But, we all live happy as bugs in rugs down 'ere. We got a deal with tha king, y'see. S'long as we keep the walls n' bricks n' passages o' th' Oubliette in tip top shape, we git ta mine whatever we want. We Unders are miners first and foremost. Now...wha's yer name, love?"

I was still grinning. "It's really lovely to meet you all. My name's Lara."

"Lara!" Byrda chirped. "Tha's a pretty name. Tock, when ye have a daugh'er ye should call 'er Lara!"

"Good idea, Mammy!"

I almost blushed. I'd known the Unders for barely five minutes and they were already talking about naming a child after me.

"Ello, Lara," G'vorrin said, extending a stubby hand for me to shake. "You're th' new Champion, aren' ye?"

I shook his hand and nodded soberly. Though, at that moment I really didn't feel like much of a champion.

G'vorrin studied me a moment. "Normally, I don' condone wishin' a child away. If'n yer gonna have kids, ya better be takin' care of 'em. But, at leas' yer doin' tha right thing. Yer tryin' ta fix yer mistake and yer fightin' ta git yer baby back. I truly admire tha'." Byrda and the rest of the Unders nodded their agreement.

"It's my fault," l said quietly. "It really is all my fault. But, I didn't say the words. My niece, she...she got angry and wished for the goblins to take her little brother. When the king arrived, I told him that I wanted to run in her place, so he...he just...took her as well. An entrance fee, he called her. None of this would have happened if I hadn't read them that stupid book. My sister is going to be heartbroken... It's my fault." The weight of such a loss struck me again. Much to my disgust, I felt hot tears welling behind my eyes. You like to think you're so brave, Lara... Look at you now, you wreck. Great... I'm gonna start blubbering in front of them all.

"The king's taken two children?" G'vorrin asked, almost incredulously.

I nodded, stupid tears beginning to burn fiery tracks down my face. "Callie's only five... And Alec...Alec isn't even three yet." I pictured them huddled together up in that castle, clinging to each other and frightened out of their minds.

"His Majesty mus' be desperate, if'n he's taken two fer one..." the Under patriarch mused, rubbing his bearded chin thoughtfully.

Byrda stepped forward with a little spotted handkerchief and began to dab gently at my eyes with it. "Now, don' ye fret none, Lara... Yer gonna get those babies back. We'll 'elp ye. Won' we, G'vorrin?" She shot her husband a quick glance.

G'vorrin nodded, still rubbing his chin. "Aye. I hate goin' agains' tha king...but when there's children involved there's only one thing ta do. Unders! Ye all agreed tha' we should 'elp young Lara?" Every last Under chirped, squeaked, or grunted their approval. I never in my life thought that I'd feel such a wave of affection for a clan of cave dwelling garden gnomes.

G'vorrin grinned. "Then it's settled. Jorkhin, give us yer map."

One of the Unders, a male wearing an old miner's helmet, jumped in surprise before looking down at his feet awkwardly. "Aw, give over, G'vorrin... Ye know Unders don' carry maps."

"Aye, but you do. Yer jus' as bad as our old Gran'da fer gettin' lost. Ev'ryone knows it." The rest of the family mumbled in agreement.

Jorkhin sighed and shuffled forward, pulling a folded square of parchment from his shirtfront as he did so.

"We'll get ya a new one, Jor," said Byrda. "Don' be sour."

G'vorrin took the map and unfolded it on the floor in front of me. The Oubliette was vast upon the faded brown of the parchment, all twists and turns...false tunnels and dead ends. G'vorrin tapped the map with a stubby finger. "Now...we're here... An' the quickest way to th' castle is through there... Give us yer charcoal, Tock." He then proceeded to mark out a route for me, explaining each step as he did so. "It's gonna be a long walk...but in th' end it'll save ye more time than navigatin' th' Labyrinth itself... There. Finished." He straightened up and handed me the map. "If ye can't follow that out o' 'ere, then there's nothin' more I can do fer ye." He grinned broadly and I smiled my thanks.

"Do ye want one o' us ta go with ye, love?" Byrda asked. "It can be a bit grim all on yer own... We can't all go, but I'm sure one o' me boys will be glad ta volunteer."

Tock, the one with the pocket watch, stepped forward. "I'll go with 'er, Mammy. I know these tunnels like th' backs o' me hands." He grinned at me.

I really did want him to go with me. I wanted it so badly. A companion would make my journey through the dark so much easier. The very thought of the Unders leaving me alone down there was beginning to make my head spin again... "Won't you get into trouble if the king finds out?"

"Tha's a risk I'm willin' ta take," Tock said fearlessly. "I got twelve little brothers an' sisters o' me own. An' me wife is expectin' our third baby in tha' fall. So when it comes ta children, Miss Lara...I'll do anythin' ta see 'em home safe."

I almost teared up again at the little fellow's bravery. His words made my decision for me. There was no way in hell I was going to allow the Goblin King to harm them. Not on my account. "Thank you, Tock. But, I'm not willing to risk you or any member of your family over this. You've done more than enough for me already and I can't even begin to repay you."

Byrda placed a hand on my arm. "You jus' get those kids back, Lara. That'll be repayment enough."

I parted ways with the Unders with several well wishes, my map, a torch, and a handful of little stones that the youngest ones had insisted were lucky. G'vorrin, Byrda, and Tock were the last to bid me farewell as the rest of their family disappeared down a narrow side tunnel. Tock stepped forward and placed a tiny silver whistle in my hand.

"If'n ye need anythin', Miss Lara," he said, closing my fingers around the whistle. "Anythin' at all, ya jus' give a whistle. You'll be heard an' help will come. Might not be tha help ye expect...but help will come." I thanked him.

Byrda stepped forward and gave me a motherly hug. "Ya sure I can't make ye any san'wiches for tha trip, Lara?"

"Oh, Byrda..." G'vorrin said, prying his wife's arms from my neck. "She don' 'ave time fer food. She bes' get goin' now. Ye can make 'er a crackin' good feast when she comes back." He turned to me then. "When it's all said an' done, Lara... Ye will come back, won' ye? We'll all be wonderin' how ye go. I know some o' us..." He gestured to his wife and son. "Meself included...won' be able ta rest easy until we know ya made it."

I smiled at him. "I'll let you know if I can. I promise. Thank you so much for this. Really... I can't even begin to-" G'vorrin raised a hand, silencing me.

"Say no more, Lara... Jus' get those kids back."

Author's Note: Another day... Another entry... I hope you lot didn't find this one too dull. I really did enjoy creating the Under family. Funny thing was...I hadn't intended to include them at all. They just sort of wrote themselves. In the end, I can't help but thing that they add a small element of charm.

I had another interesting thought whilst writing this one... What would our Jareth see if he were to open what sweet, simple Clutch refers to as the "Scary Door?" It's worth some contemplation, I think... Any ideas?

As always, I do not own the Labyrinth or any of its original characters. Clutch, the Unders, Lara Tyler, and her family, however, are all mine.

Thank you all, beloved readers. Enjoy!