12-17-2009, 11:15 PM
Hello everyone.
This is just something I've been working on -or started and have been meaning to continue.
Let me know what you think. :]
Disclaimer: This is a fanfiction based off of the movie 'The Labyrinth'. I don't own some of the characters or settings. Though, some things are mine, and I would appriciate if it stayed that way. :]
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I think it would be safe to say I may have changed some things. I'm not so sure, but I re-copied what I had written in word. Fixed some minor mistakes. So, re-reading it would be a bad idea before I update it. :]
Also, any critique, and ideas are welcome!!
I really need someone to help with grammar and spelling. You know 'you can't use a semi colon there moron' type deal? :]
UPDATE!!!: I finally updated it, and I plan on updating more often! You may want to reread it... I've changed a few things. But the new stuff is more OOC and of my original creation so that the plot can finally move on!
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I.
Pity.
It was not something the Goblin King knew. The word was – as the humans’ say- ‘not in his vocabulary’. He had never practiced the virtue, and he certainly wasn’t going to start now. Though, the virtue had been a reoccurring trait in his dreams...or, night mares? Her eyes filled with it as they stood in front of the labyrinth. The section of his kingdom that he made for her, and her alone. She held the baby, his heir, her brother, and watched with those god damned pitiful eyes as his kingdom crumbled beneath his feet. They always say if looks could kill, but hers...well, they destroyed. His fists clenched, the leather of his gloves gave a silent scream as the material stretched over his knuckles. This was always the first sign that he was getting annoyed, but the goblins were too busy dancing like mind-less dimwits around the awaiting perpetrator to notice. His throne room had forever been the playground to the goblins, it was no different now; they laughed when he grew frustrated, and disappeared at just the right time before he struck them.
Slumped back in his throne, legs crossed one over the other; the Goblin King growled before swinging his legs back over until they were firmly planted on the rough stone that made up the floor. His torso soon fallowed his legs until he stood erect; the dancing goblins stopped –the laughter didn’t-, awaiting the Kings response to the cowering trolls plea.
”Pity? You want me to show you pity” His voice was soft, but with a sort of impending doom laced in and around the words.
“M’lord....P-pl-please!” The troll murmured, his wart filled hands fiddling with the dirtied fabric that barely covered him. Unlike goblins, trolls were thin creatures...sickly thin compared to the size of their head. Their voices were gruff, and they always seemed to have warts upon them; most likely from dwelling in damp places....like under bridges.
Jareth scoffed, flicking the creature with swift movement of his hand. The troll fell back –knocking down his crystal ball in the process. Whimpering, and pleading to the Goblin King as the troll tried to stand back up, Jareth sneered at the creature, kicking it off his leg. ”Take this filthy thing to the dung-“ He stopped, a wicked grin crossing his features. Today, he was not in a good mood, good moods were hard to come by these days, but today... today he was feeling really wicked. He turned on his heel, and almost pranced back to his seat. Turning swiftly, he grabbed the ends of his velvet cape, as to make sure he didn’t sit on it, and gracefully sat down. ”Take him to the bog.” The laughter stopped, and an audible gasp went through the room.
He sent them away, after the troll was dragged off howling. In the past seven years, Jareth had really come down on the inhabitants of his kingdom. Ruling with an iron fist, if you sneezed out of place...you’d get punished. He had become an absolute tyrant. By now every creature in his world knew why. Sarah, the human girl who captivated their kings dreams, and so harshly turned him down. Some say that she would come back, and save them from the ruler... others thought she would stay away if she knew what was good for her.
Jareth on the other hand was a mixture of the two. His outward image portrayed a cruel being, who would never let the mortal back into his world... But on the inside, he wasn’t so sure; would he go to her if she asked? No certainly not! It was her who humiliated him, her who, in all her selfishness never stopped to look what he was really offering her. He remembered the conversation well.
Fear me.
Love me.
Do as I say, and I will be yours!
He took in a quick intake of breath, and began walking up a set of stairs. They led him to a room, where stairs were all around, it was the same delusion room where he had laughed and watched Sarah chase after her brother. Why did that girl have to be so god dammed persistent? Any other mortal would have accepted his gift, and for the price of one annoying baby brother. Maybe it was he who was too persistent, but her words still haunted him in his dreams.
He considered himself the master off all things trickery, so to be beat at his own game was a vital blow to his ego.
You have no power over me.
He winced. Yes, a vital blow indeed, because somewhere in between stealing away his heir, and playing games with Sarah...he became infatuated with the girl. ‘Is this why you keep a close eye on her?’ No! It was only to keep a close eye on Toby! His goblins in the shadows of the boy’s life....forming him to be a proper ruler. Yet, when the opportunity came, he sometimes allowed himself to see how Sarah was doing, allowed himself to watch from the sidelines as Sarah grew more and more detached from childhood stories every day. In a way, it hurt him. That she was allowed to forget, and he was only able to grow more bitter. Seven years might seem like a lot to a human, but to an eternal it was nothing. Yet....it still felt like forever.
Jumping down from the sideways staircase, Jareth headed back to the throne room. It was time he checked up on things in the human world. There was someone in the room, unexpected, but no problem. It was a dwarf-goblin, Hoggle. Though, Jareth took great amusement out of miss-pronouncing his name. ”Hoogle, I trust you got rid of the troll?” Jareth asked, mockery lacing his voice as he walked to the center of the room. Hoggle jumped, and began muttering about ‘bidding’ and ‘names’.
“Yes Jareth.” Why did he keep him around again? Maybe it was because he knew the little dwarf missed the human as much as he did. Though, he had yet to admit it to himself.
Grinning, he turned to the crystal ball, frowning when he realized it was still on the floor. With a flick of his hand, the ball rose up, along with the stand. He placed it in the stone, and waved his hand around it. The sight shocked him. In all seven years he had never seen Sarah cry, yet there she was, lying on her bed crying. It had been awhile since he last checked up on her....on her brother. The sudden display of emotion she was showing sparked the perfect idea in Jareth’s head. ”Hoggle, I want you to bring this to Sarah’s room.” Jareth said, pulling a leather bound book out of seemingly thin air. The ancient script on it read ‘Labyrinth’.
The look on the goblins face looked as though he thought Jareth was crazy. Which, in a sense was true, but he was also impatient. “B-But Jareth! She don’t remember us!”
”Which is why we’re going to give her a reminder.” He threw the book at the whimpering goblin. With a few muttered protests, Hoggle scuttled off.
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”That bloodied Jareth! Makin’ me do all the dirty work...” Kicking a shirt out of his way, Hoggle looked around the room. It was very...clean –and there were lots of shiny things!-. His eyes locked onto a picture, of a slightly older Sarah and a toddler who he guessed to be Toby and before he knew it he heard footsteps down the hall and cursed to himself. Diving under a bed, book in hand, he hid. His eyes opened wide as an older looking Sarah stormed into the room, still crying like she had been when he saw her through the orb. He wanted to call out to her, comfort her, but Jareth would have his head. Instead, he took in her crying form. It had been seven years since he saw her, well...seeing her in a crystal orb didn’t count.
Knocking something over as she slammed her door, Sarah groaned, got up, and reached her hand under the bed to pick the object back up. Hoggle’s eyes went wide, as her hand shot towards him and in a panic he shoved the leather bound book into her hands; feeling as guilty as he did after he gave her the peach seven years ago. That was the first time she entered the Labyrinth, to seek out her baby brother...and brining Hoggle along for the ride. The dwarf-goblin had never been on the good side of the Goblin king, but helping Sarah through the tricks and traps of the Labyrinth sure didn’t help his case. ”Stupid bog....” He cursed, as she looked over the book. He supposed he could leave now, not knowing what Jareth was playing at. Probably another spy tool... Or maybe he really just did want Sarah to remember them?
Kicking at a rabid dust bunny that was nibbling at his shoe, he got distracted, and didn’t see what was happening before it was too late. Sarah already had that gleam in her eye, or maybe it was just another tear threatening to fall? Either way, she seemed to remember her favourite childhood story, and the ‘dream’ it had given her seven years prior. He heard Sarah speak the words, and the lightning struck. "I wish the goblins would come and take me away….Right now!"
“Sarah! No!” Hoggle squirmed his way out from the bed, but it was too late. This is what the tyrant was planning! A flash of lighting struck across the sky, and thunder soon followed. An owl struck the window, blowing it open and sending Hoggle flying back under the bed. Rain fell into the room, soaking the floor and everything else it could touch. The owls wings flapped violently, soon turning into a man. Jareth himself, stepped through the window ledge.
II.
Sarah walked back into the room, after another mandatory trip to the bathroom to blow her running nose and rinse her tear stained face. Her eyes were red and puffy, glazed as more tears treaded on the brim of her eyes, threatening to fall. How could she have stormed off like that on them... What had began as a peaceful family dinner turned into a shouting match which Sarah had lost, storming out before her emotions got the best of her. She may have cried, but she would never cry in front of that woman. Sadness turned into regret, and she could feel the regret churning in her stomach, forming into something worse. It bubbled, anger brimming before boiling over, her thoughts taking a turn for the worst. It was all her fault. No, it was all their fault. Her father for finding another woman after mom died. That same woman for thinking she could replace her mother...And Toby...She loved her annoying pesky half brother, but it was because of him that Sarah disciplined herself to grow up and away from her childhood.
Slamming the door, as if it could clear her head, she let out a groan as a candle fell off of her dresser, rolling under her bed. Reaching under, she didn’t think anything else would be under there so she let out a gasp when her hand collided with something softer than the hard glass she was expecting. Pulling the unknown object out, her eyes widened, and she looked at the book. 'The Labyrinth', it was called.
The tale of a beautiful girl and the Goblin King. Sarah remembered falling in love with it. Remembered falling in love with him - with Jareth. She remembered, on another stormy night when she had been taking care of Toby, and so desperate for the story to be true wished that the goblins would take her brother away and never bring him back. She had fell asleep, feeling guiltier than she ever had before The guilt led her to an odd place, and Sarah found herself in an elaborate dream, retrieving Toby from the grasp of the Goblin King - her Goblin King - and waking up the next day, feeling slightly empty. Like there was a hole that the fantasy of the book could no longer fill for her.
Opening the book, Sarah sat down on her bed. The light blue sheets wrinkling as the bed sank from the added weight. Her fingertips traced over the title, her mouth formed a delicate ‘O’ as she struggled to remember the words. "I wish the goblins would come and take me away….Right now!"
“Sarah! No!”
Sarah’s arms flew up to protect her face from the cold rain as something smashed into the window, letting out a small scream, she stood up, her eyes trying to see what was now lying on her floor. Leaning over the creature as it flapped its wings; sending Sarah stumbling backwards. A man soon stood in its place, and Sarah knew who it was immediately.
Was she dreaming? Had she cried herself to sleep, allowing a suppressed memory to surface? She couldn’t be seeing this. Blinking, she took in the form of the Goblin King. Light blonde hair, ostensibly shocked into place... The traditional dark victorian style clothing, the kind in which only seemed to hold a place on stage now-a-days, the man before her seemed to wear with ease. Taking a step forward, drops of rain pelted her face, yet the Goblin king seemed to remain completely dry.
Surely he wasn’t real, he couldn’t be real. He had been a dream, a figure of her imagination. Yet, ever so tempted by the chance that he was something tangible, Sarah reached out to touch him. When her hand didn’t slip through him, when he didn’t disappear, Sarah’s eyes filled with shock. She moved her hand along him, running it down his chest, his arms, he was patient as he let her explore, to remember. Her hand finally traced down along his arm once again and came to rest there, as she entwined their fingers together.
“Hello Sarah.”
Sarah quickly let go of his hand and took a step back. Drying her eyes so that only the stains of the tears were left as evidence. Swallowing back any last sob that threatened to pass her lips she knew she had to be strong now. Jareth had come to take her away- no... He had come to save her, because she asked him to. “H-hello Jareth”
“Ah, so you remember!” He said delighted. As he took a step towards her and looked around the room. His eyes darted around excitedly; though the room itself was kind of lacklustre. Just the room of another student who couldn’t quite afford to live on her own and thus shared living expenses with another drama and literature major. But he already knew what the room looked like, he was simply taking his time; trying to make Sarah nervous.
“Yes, I remember...So, what is it you’re going to steal away from me this time?” She asked, testing the waters. She saw his face light up, but refused to squirm under his gaze.
“That’s not what you asked of me, dear Sarah. You asked that I come take you away.” He stepped closer to her now, leaning down to her level so he could look her in the eyes. “Is that what you really want Sarah?” He asked, taking her wrist and leading her to the window. Sarah struggled in his grip, trying to pull away but it was no use.
“Stop! Let her go Jareth! She don’t wanna go back with you!” Hoggle said, wriggling out from under the bed. Both stopped to look at the dwarf goblin, and Sarah’s eyes widened as she remembered more of her dream, or her adventure really.
“How can you be so sure, she did ask after all.” Jareth replied, his voice sounding too sweet to be sincere. Sarah now took the time to break his grip, and Jareth laughed. “Besides, who said I was taking her with me. I thought you might enjoy her when I make you Prince of the Bog” Hoggle gasped, and stepped away.
“Yer a bloodied tyrant Jareth!” Hoggle yelled, before disappearing back under the bed. Sarah quickly dropped to her knees and looked under the bed, but he was gone, all that was under there were dust bunnies, and her fallen candle.
“You won’t do it.” She said, standing back up and glaring at Jareth.
“Wont I?” He asked, smiling.
“You haven’t done it yet, you’ve had many years to do it... why now?” Why now, after seven years. I thought I left him behind...
“Because Sarah, I don’t want you to grow up.”
Eyes wide, she took a step back, her voice faltering. “I-I am grown up. I’m twenty two now Jareth! I’m an adult... You can’t treat me like a kid anymore!”
“Oh Sarah, you know you’re lying. You still dream about it, I know you do. The masks the dancing... You want it, you want it all. But you can’t have it, do you know why Sarah?”
“I-I don’t...You don’t know what you’re talking about...I don’t...”
“It’s because of them Sarah, your father, your step-mother...and don’t forget little Toby. You should have left him with me, than you wouldn’t have to worry about growing up Sarah... No responsibilities, just you and your books, and your little scripts.” She didn’t want to believe him, but he was saying how she felt. She was still a kid at heart, blaming things on everyone else, not taking any responsibility for her actions.
“But I beat you. Your labyrinth is gone, and I don’t need you anymore!”
“Oh, Sarah...you’ll always need me. But if that’s how you feel than I guess I’ll just be leaving.”
“Wait! No-!” Sarah jumped forward, but her head collided with a crystal orb, and sent her stumbling back, fatigue washed over her, and she let herself fall into the pain as her head found its way onto her bed.
“Sarah.”
“Sarah”
“Sarah, wake up, are you okay?” Emily stood over Sarah, a look of concern on her otherwise childlike face.
“Hmppm....Where’d he go?” Sarah slurred, sitting up. A small trickle of blood rolled down her face, dried now.
“Who? You must have been dreaming. Your candle fell, I guess it hit you in the head or something.” Emily helped her sit up. “Look, you okay?”
“Oh...yeah...Just a bump.”
“No, not that... Your parents called, said you had a fight.”
Crashing back down to reality, Sarah sighed. “Oh...yeah. It’s alright Emily, I’m fine.”
“Alright, well... I’m going to go make some brunch... you should go get cleaned up, you look horrible, no offence.” Emily offered a smile before leaving the room. Sarah watched her go, frowning. Quickly sliding off the bed, she got on her hands and knees and looked under the bed. The candle was still there....but there was no book. Sighing, she leaned against the bed.
“Guess it was just a dream after all.”
III.
Hoggle kicked at the fallen leaves beneath his feet. He was mad at Jareth, mad at himself, but mostly mad at Jareth. He had let the Goblin King once again scare him with threats of the bog. “That Jareth, he’ll pay, one day! Oh he’ll get what’s coming to him... I hope Sarah’s alright.” Sighing, the dwarf goblin continued walking through the thick trees. Plants from the bog had taken over the labyrinth, leaving the maze to become nothing more than a wasteland, long forgotten by Jareth.
The trees suddenly got denser, and Hoggle mumbled something about being lost. He had known his way around the labyrinth, but this? These were just inhospitable surroundings, just trees and forgotten things. Some of the trees were not even trees. One had costumes sprouting out of crown buds, another had fairy tale books, and one even had dolls hanging from its limbs. Some of the goblins had dubbed this place ‘the land of the lost’. Though, those were only the ones who didn’t like to play in Jareth’s castle.
Ducking under a coat-hanger limb, Hoggle missed the branch sticking out from the ground. His foot hooked around it, and before he even had time to curse, he was rolling forward tumbling through thick bush until he stopped in the underbrush of a very large tree. At first, he thought he had hit his head, or maybe the fumes of the bog were getting to his head, because never before had he seen so many different creatures sitting together talking in quite a manner as this.
Fairies, Trolls, and Goblins alike. Porcelainians, Foxes, Fireys, Worms, Minicreetchers, Yetis. It was a sight too see, and it confused the Dwarf Goblin more than anything. Among the chaos of debates and arguments he could hear bits of conversation.
“This has gone on too long I say! Too long!”
“There still appears nothing we can do about it.”
“Oh, but we need not do anything...the moon has neared its millennia mark.”
“Whas that supposed to mean?”
“You are young, stupido. I’ve been here very long, very long indeed... I remember when Jareth was first crowned Goblin king.”
“Not always was he ruler?”
“No, there was a beginning.”
Hoggle inched closer, grunting and groaning as he did so. Luckily the noise was still loud enough to cover up his noise. But he soon sat still as all went quiet to listen to the little Porcelainian talk.
“My people have been around since the great mystics created the underworld. Carved by the very bone of God when he perished after making it. Jareth is young in the scheme of things, and is but the descendent of the first god of which my people came. When his body reached its peak, he was given this land to rule over...though, the underworld runs for miles, many different lands. It is the counterpart to the human realm, and each soul has its part... we all know who this land belongs to.” Heads nodded in agreement. “Jareth has forgotten the other souls he rules over though, he has neglected his duties. This is why the vast kingdom he rules will be taken from him by the elders when they come to check on things.”
“We will be free!”
“Free free free!”
“No more Jareth, no more bog!” Cheers sounded throughout the meeting.
“Wait, there is more.” Silence once again. “I have spoken with my siblings in the neighbouring kingdom. They say that Queen Laruien expects to take this land. She is Jareth’s twin sister. Both given joining lands to rule over and watch. Sibling rivalry runs deep within them, and both hate the other deeply. There is no doubt in my mind that this land will be as neglected in her delectate hands as it is now.”
“I have been there though! Her land is magnificent! Glorious, no bogs anywhere in sight. Just pure water!”
“Ai, that is because she is opposite Jareth. The Goblin king chose to rule the creatures of the night. The ones that were imagined by little boys and girls. She, on the other hand. She rules over the things that children dream of. All that is good.”
“We are children’s nightmares!”
“Ai”
“Then, whatever ruler rules us, we shall make it a living nightmare for them!” Cheers all around. Hoggle watched wide-eyed. It seemed, that bloodied Jareth had a rebellion on his hand.
--
“Who is there?” A voice called out suddenly. The crowd of roaring beasts went silent.
“Who is there.” It repeated again, Hoggle now stricken with fear could see that it was the little porcelanian speaking.
The ground abruptly gave way from beneath him, or rather, he was lifted from the ground.
“Hoggle! Friend!” The booming voice of the rock mover sent the smaller creatures scattering.
“Hello friend Hoggle.” Greeted the small creature, as she looked up curiously at him. “Has Jareth sent you to spy on us?” She asked, others around the group were now glaring, looking ready to attack as if the Goblin King himself where hiding in the bushes.
“No! No! Ludo put me down this instant!” Hoggle said, first pleading with the porcelainian, than squirming in Ludo’s hold. “Yes yes I’m glad to see you too.” Hoggle finally said, noting Ludo’s expression. The rock mover smiled, pointing to Hoggle and yelling “Friend!” To the crowd.
Once Hoggle was settled on the ground many people than came up to him. “Welcome to the revolution, mate.”
IV.
Jareth entered the throne room again, his face contorted into an ugly scowl, and his eyes alive with anger.
“She thinks she has groan up!” He stated, pacing around. Still after all this time she dared to deny him. She was the one who called to him! She was the one who said the words again. Even if he had planted them there for her to find, to grow into that tiny thought that pushed the words from her lips. “Little Sarah still has a lot to learn!”
“What could you possibly teach to a little human girl Jareth?” A female voice interrupted, the voice bounced off the walls, and the tinkiling high pitched laugh that fallowed seemed to bore into every crevice of the room.
The Goblin King turned swiftly, a beast like snarl coming from his throat. “Laruien.” He said, in a tone much more civil that the look plastered on his face. He smoothed his features now, the wrinkles of anger disappearing. “To what do I owe the pleasure?” He asked sarcastically, his tone more demanding and crude than the words led on to be.
“I’ve just come to remind you that your father, whom you haven’t been to see in over seven years is finally coming to wheeze his last breath.”
“You know as well as I do that he’s been on his ‘deathbed’ for over a hundred years, what makes you so sure that now is the time?” He replied angrily.
“Oh, I don’t know... I might have accidently given him the wrong dose of herbs.” The woman said sweetly, running a hand through her long blonde curls.
“You always were a malicious little thing. What is it this time, did he refuse to give you a pony?” He asked, now leaning against the wall opposite to her, arms crossed and a frown evident on his face.
“What would I want with a pony?” She said again, the shrill laugh once again piercing the walls. “No, I wanted something much bigger, I guess you have forgotten this too. It’s almost time for the millennia eclipse. That means a new ruler can be chosen to rule over the realms.”
“Oh, and what realm did you think you were going to get giftwrapped by daddy?” Jareth asked, his brows narrowed.
“Yours.” She said simply. At this Jareth stood, his feet barley brushing the floor as he moved to the other side of the room, his hands clamped on the side of his throne as he glared down at his sister.
“You know as well as I do that unless I die or step down no one can take my place.”
“And seeing as how you’d never step down, and you certainly are in good health I’ve had to turn to the third option.”
“What is that supposed to mean?” Jareth asked, menacingly.
“Your kingdom is in ruins. The royal inspection is only a few months away. I doubt you could rebuilt it in time.”
“Perhaps it is your own kingdom you need be worrying about.” He said, glowering at her.
“Oh, we shall see... Wont we?” And with that, she stood from his throne as if it were her own, kissing her brother on both cheeks before she vanished in a cloud of silver smoke.
V.
Jareth had set out soon after her departure. A little vacation from himself is what he needed best at this moment. He was getting to mixed up in human emotions, confusion clouded his mind and a little thing like love was beginning to stain his heart.
“Jareth dear, is something on your mind? You look as lost as yesterday is to today.” Jareth looked across the table to his mother. She looked like a grey haired child, despite the lines etched in her face, she still looked as youthful as she had 1000 years ago. Her childlike innocents distressed him, he could not imagine one so delicate dealing with the torment that is being ruler of the underworld.
“You’ve always had a way with words mother.” Jareth said in a voice more liquidly warm than he had used in a long time.
“Well, someone has to keep the piece now that your father is sick. Many are preparing to try and grasp the throne.” am
“Well, they’ll just have to wait until he is good and cold than!” Jareth said, his voice rising as the anger in him bubbled over spilling over his lips.
“Don’t talk so rash my boy, you have been gone a long while... This is old news.” Jareth’s lip stuck out now, it was like his mother to subtley remind him of his absence. “I am not worried, their untrained hands cannot touch us my dear.”
Of course... But what about the devious claws of his sister?
Last edited by x_cannibalisticcows; 11-18-2010 at 02:09 AM..
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