Dancing through life without a care in the world was hard to do in this day and age. Things were going wrong wherever you looked, no matter where you turned there was some turbulence or turmoil. The beauty and wonder of a child's fantasy was lost to the harsh, reality that could knock the wind out of your brain and leave it gasping for breath. The child's fantasy became the teenager's, which changed so drastically in just what it was and how it was formed that it left a young brain spinning, wondering what had happened in only a couple of years.

Toby was sixteen this year, his birthday four days past and his sister one day gone back to college. Even Sarah had left behind her stories and costumes for the life of an adult, and, as scary as it seemed, her little brother seemed trapped in the same lifestyle she had. Her old, red, leather-bound Labyrinth book had almost become his religion.

He found himself dressing in elaborate costumes, things unheard of in the early 2000's. Things that hugged his rear in all the right places, things that clenched around his chest and made it obvious that he couldn't be a girl, even if his hair was growing longer and hanging around his jaw bone instead of near his ears. It remained blond, but dyed black streaks ran through it. His eyes were still the crystal blue of his youth, and something about them made him gaze at them in the mirror for hours at a time.

People called him narcissistic because he stared at himself so often. But, when he stared into the mirror and watched the person within it, he hardly saw himself. There was someone else in there, beckoning him, something entirely different than what he had here that wanted him.

Leather-clad hands and hard muscle invaded his dreams, whispers and cries of the name 'Jareth' filled them, and sweat and uncomfortable coiling in his stomach was what he was left with when he awoke.

There was definitely something odd about him that he wanted to look into, but he didn't know how it would work out, or if he could even find a way to investigate.

It had ultimately been his foolish greed that had lost him the child. He wanted the girl, but she had wanted something else, something familiar. Through the years, she had changed, lost her imagination, refused to believe what had happened to her. He fell out of love with her hard, and it had hurt him deeply.

He had wrecked so much, destroyed anything that made him think of her, changing his city and even the Labyrinth itself. He wanted the world to feel pain like he had. It gave him purpose.

Then, he had found something calling. Someone who's mind was open to his influence. The child, Toby, who he had not cared to keep a hold on. He was lost, confused, hurting. He was teetering on the edge of fantasy and logic, dreams and reality. He was vulnerable.

It was then he set his sights on him, and had planted the memories into his dreams, sent his voice and his touch to the boy in the wind. That small, red book gave him everything he needed. This time, there would be no getting away. He filled Toby with notions of him being more, and he took great joy when the boy sat and stared for almost hours, trying to get to what was inside him.

Slowly, he started to make himself familiar, to evoke the dreams of what had happened so long ago, leaving out the affection he had shared for Sarah.

Then, that night, he left a small round, seeming glass orb in the boys hand. Inside, were two small, purple things that looked a little like pills and a little like eyes. To blur the boundaries between the future, and his own true dreams.

His dreams had spawned a crystal ball in his hands. His mind was swirling with the possibilities, and his body was hot with a mixture of confusion and too many doses of his pills he already took. Sure, his parents loved him and took good care of him, but he just wanted...more. It felt so meaningless around here, like all he did was take up space. The pills sitting within seemed to promise him something more, they almost spoke to his very core. He could easily just slip them past his lips, close his eyes and become doused in the world that he had once been a part of. He had very little recollection of what had truly happened, but he had dreamt of stairs seen in MC Escher's work for as long as he could remember. The very crystal resting in his hand inhabited these dreams, even, bouncing up the stairs to a Toby who slowly matured over the years.

Shifting the globe to rest in his left hand, he took his right and prodded it with his fingertips. The ball bubbled and rippled like water under his touch, and he blinked a little, reaching in and plucking the eye-like pills from their casing. It didn't seem to care, only bubbling like water would when you took something from it. The pills seemed to stare back at him, but he didn't mind. Standing in his bathroom, he cautioned one more look at himself in the mirror, making a decision. Did he want to be taken away from here? To go somewhere where everything would be better, where life itself would be at his own demand, or would he stay here, where nothing would ever fall into his lap, where everything would be a scrape for him and he'd never come out on top?

The pills soon met the back of his throat, sliding down while he did the same, sinking into the lavish bath tub of his parents' house. He shuddered some as his clothed body hit the water still filling the tub, the crystal splashing at his legs once his hands fell. Eyes slid shut as they hit water, but it didn't take long before he felt himself gently fall onto a mound of dirt and slide down to its base to rest almost lovingly in the hands of the earth. Finally, his eyes slid open again and he looked around, taking in the glitter everything seemed to hold. It was amazing, truly, honestly amazing, the way everything shone like it had a purpose.

Finally. The boy was in his world. He put his hands on the boys shoulders, standing behind him. "Look at that...everything there in front of you. I made it all for you Toby." His voice was a gentle whisper in the boys ear. His physical form was gone before the boy had a chance to know anything more, and instead the small round orb rolled down from the hill, enticing Toby to follow it.

"Don't you want it? All your dreams?" Yet again the voice was just words carried in the air, but Jareth knew what he was doing. The boy was thrilling, but he knew that his wants would not be fulfilled by simply stealing the boy. He wanted Toby to want him, to want that world. He had to discover it all by himself.

The ball slowly started to roll away, round a corner, out of sight but only just. This was what he had missed, luring him in, giving him promises and the things his heart yearned for. Teasing the boy.

Slowly, rocks moved together, shining brightly like jewels they spelled out 'This way to the Labyrinth' and pointed towards where the ball had rolled away to.

Come on, everything you desire, someone to love you and give you your life back, to stop you becoming like her. Just follow me.

The voice... He'd heard it before, for sure. Not just in his dreams, either... He recognized it from long ago. It had said so many things about him before, but he could hardly remember them. All he knew was that voice soothed him and made him calmer, made things seem so much better as they formed and shifted around him.

"Yes..." His words left his lips of their own accord, making him confused and wonder just what had happened to his voice. It seemed slightly different than the last time he'd heard it, but for all he knew, he could have totally shifted forms. But, when he spoke again, he realized it was his own voice, he just hadn't heard it so clear in a while. Usually he was full of mumbles and quiet, so it was something he wasn't used to, except in his head.

His feet moved along behind the crystal, following it and the voice in hopes of finding the happiness promised. He wanted so desperately to be happy and to find a place where he belonged that, at this point, he would follow anything as long as he could get himself a place to belong.

The crystal ducked behind a corner and he followed dutifully, like a dog after a pen light. His want was so pure that he even stumbled some trying to keep up, peeking around the corner as if he feared it had left. He followed it around more twists and turns, down narrow alleyways made of bushes, and finally came to a stop. Then, there it was.

Grand doors splayed out before him, attached to high walls that both intrigued and startled him. He'd been, originally, the center of the labyrinth. This was him having to actually solve it, which struck him as kind of odd. Where was his sister to do all the hard stuff for him?

"Is this it?" He questioned to the disembodied voice, wonder and awe in his eyes as he gazed at the entrance.

"What do you mean 'is this it?' Do you think that he would be leading you around blindly?" The words came from a small creature, with an ugly face and a large nose. He huffed and kicked his feet as he walked, and obviously wasn't very happy. "What are you doing here anyway? You don'ts belong here."

Jareth sighed, watching Hoggle talk to Toby. He hadn't expected any of them to still live anywhere nearby, he had taken no interest in them at all. They were her things, and he did not care for them. The creature then seemed to see something out of the corner of his eye, and suddenly turned and ran away.

He smiled, having revealed himself for the briefest moment was enough. The doors flung open, inviting Toby inside. "All this for you Toby, haven't you always wanted that? Someone to give you beauty?" This time he laid a hand on Toby's hip, and then faded before the boy had time to turn around.

Inside, he was laughing. He was enjoying it too much. It was like leading a mouse with a piece of cheese. To think, if it wasn't for her, Toby would have always been here. He would have grown up adored and given everything he could have asked for. He would have been Jareth's when he reached a good age. He wasn't sure if he should make that clear to the boy. Like before, he guessed the only thing that might make him want home was his sister. He couldn't have that.

The creature almost confused him, and he had bent down with his hands on his knees when he saw it. It spoke to him, but he didn't quite get what he meant. You don'ts belong here. Why not? He wanted to belong somewhere, and here was as good a place as any, right? That thing was just sore, that was all. Especially when it turned tail and ran away. That left him alone with the voice that haunted his dreams, the one he wanted to hear more of, the one that rubbed its velvety smoothness against his ears and caressed his brain.

The hand on his hip made him yearn for more, but he found that he couldn't possibly find anything to grind on, to touch, to be near. It almost hurt. But... All he had to do was go forward, into the labyrinth. It was made for him, after all, and what kind of gift would it be if he let it rot in the mud? Stepping tentatively forward, he began to creep inside and found his way into a corridor that didn't seem to end or begin, it just went on, and on, and on into the horizon on both sides. The doors gruffly shut behind him and he glanced back at them, before looking forward.

His stomach growled rather loudly, already, because it had been far too long since he had last eaten, and his belly was already protesting that so much movement would require energy, which required food.

"Lost? Hungry? Come with me, we'll sort you out. You can stay with me and the misses, eat food, rest, sleep. No where to be going anyway."

The voice didn't seem to come from anywhere in particular, but it was almost mocking. Jareth cursed himself. This was him, his heart, his doubts. They were trying to push the boy away, to scare him. How could he have been so blind as to think it was all going to be so simple?

"Toby...come to me, you know the way. You've always known to come to me." It was a whisper, and the warm lips of the man just touching his ear. In a way, Jareth wished that he could just take the boy, but that's not how things were allowed to work. Once someone was taken, it could never happen again. He could only aid him, lead him slowly.

He had built that part the same, a test to see if Toby could let his desires overcome his senses and take him deeper into the Maze.

Hoggle ran, not sure where he was meant to be going, but upset. This wasn't any place for any boy! This was Sarah's place, he had always thought so, always kept it clean and good for her and her memory. He had been forgotten long ago now, and it had burned him. Still, he kept a faint hope she might come back to him, maybe, one day. Still! No place for a boy to go and put his grubby hands on things. Why was he there?

Blinking a little, the boy looked around but found nobody of interest to talk to. He shrugged slightly and began to walk right, choosing the direction simply because that was his dominant hand. He walked, at first, just admiring everything as he followed the want of that voice, those lips, just something more than the teasing hints he was getting. It was almost unfair, really, to think that he could be stuck like this all by himself in this labyrinth, alone, without the man who he wanted so badly to meet to be there for him. What if he lost him forever?

"I want to find you..." He whimpered, stepping forward and tripping over a vine he hadn't been paying attention to. He hit the concrete hard and the breath was stolen from his lungs for a few moments. A dust cloud of glitter formed around him and made him cough some as it tried to enter with his next breath, but that didn't stop him, either. He stood, slowly, but he did it, and made his way forward. All he had to do was keep going, he had to get to the body that housed that milky, creamy voice. He wanted it more than anything.

TOBYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYY YY!

Whatever voice boomed into the world, cracking the skies like thunder, sounded upset and confounded and almost sick with worry. But... For some reason, it didn't worry him that he recognized the sound to be his mother's. His brain couldn't have cared less, to be honest, because that voice, the male voice, was on his mind like nothing else ever had been before. He didn't care what silly trolls had to say about him being there, nor what anything else did. He simply wanted to make his way to that voice.

Maybe...a little more help wouldn't hurt. He wouldn't give it away, but he could help. When he heard that voice however, it almost made him feel sick. He tried to shut it out, and muffled the noise. Toby was his now, they shouldn't waste their breath. He winced as he watched Toby fall over though, raising dust around him.

He slipped his arms around the boy, standing behind him like always. This time, gloved hands were visible, and a long strand of hair ran down Toby's neck. "Don't damage yourself. You'll make me very unhappy." His voice held no note of anger, more a sweet and teasing tone. "Am I unfair to challenge you like this?" Unfair, that word had slipped in and out of his dreams for years. Everything was unfair, unfair.

Unfair was to give someone everything and ask almost nothing in return, and be refused. Unfair was to waste his time with hope, when he should have been focusing on Toby. Unfair was what that girl had been to him for so long. He wasn't unfair, he was loving and giving. He, Jareth, the goblin king. Who else would build such a maze, and make such a city to impress one person?

Truthfully, he didn't want for his parents to draw him out of this. He desperately clung to this world, wanting so badly to stay in a world just for him, created for him and presented to him by the man of his dreams. He didn't know of a face to put with his name, but he still breathed the one he knew to be behind him, oh so suddenly.

"Jareth..." He shuddered a little, pushing back into the other's body and hands entwining with those placed on his stomach. He didn't want this to leave, not again, he almost felt at home in these arms, with that voice whispered in his ear. "I'm sorry..." Was next, those eyes wanting to turn and find himself face to face with the man he'd become somewhat obsessed with, but he knew he would lose this. "It can't be fair, life just isn't. That's the best way to figure it out, you know?"

Unfair happened to be everything in life, you just had to have a way to work around it, right? His sister had taught him that once she had figured he was old enough to understand her and pack it away in his memory. Besides, it was Jareth himself that taught her that, that life was unfair, but that was just how it was. And, now, he had come to bring fairness to the land, and, most importantly, to the Goblin King.

He smiled, impressed with his answer. "You're a smart boy. Here, for you." He faded, but left another orb in the boys hands. He couldn't keep doing it, but it was easier from the point on. Well, not easier but less fair. He was sure that the boy would have a better time working out things that weren't fair.

He could feel Toby's world, tugging at him, trying to draw him back, but he did his best to stop the lines between the two worlds blurring. He walked into the hall, and sat down on his large chair, small goblins running around and throwing things. He felt strongest inside his towers, it was his and he had complete control. Outside, it was slightly limited. He was enjoying himself though. Every time he got to touch the boy he felt Toby's heart beat faster, and it was a truly beautiful feeling.

Beauty was something that wasn't often around. There was hardly anywhere in the whole place that was truely beautiful, and certain not any person. That's what attracted him to those outside. They had to worry about loosing their faith in dreams, they had to 'grow up'. To forget what was real, to forget what was truely best and settle for whatever people wanted from them. No more, not for this boy.

Holding the orb carefully, as if he were afraid to shatter it, the boy smiled some at the compliment and the good fortune. He walked forward some more, doing his best to watch where he treaded so he wouldn't trip again, now paying more attention to his surroundings. It was a labyrinth, right? You just had to have the eyes to see it. And, Toby, having spent years dreaming of paradoxical stairs, had learnt much about illusions and how to see through them.

He walked a line for some time, just holding his crystal in his hand, until he came to a spot that could take him right or left, and it was yet to be determined which way he wanted to go, or which way he thought was right. Raising an eyebrow for a moment, he looked between them, only to see wall on both sides. Where to go, where to go... He vaguely wondered what the crystal would do, if it would lead him on like the first one had, or if he would simply have to trust his own heart and find his way. It would be much easier if he had something in his pocket...

With one hand, he reached into it the front one on his hoodie and groped around. He pulled back half a pack of gum, a bus token, and two mini sharpies, each of a different color. Well, if nothing else, he could mark the way he came, as long as he was careful and smart about where he marked, right? Walking to the left, this time, so as not to leave the direction out of his trek, he grabbed a branch of seemingly dead tree and made a blue mark on it before going inside and heading with the direction he had been going in.

Hoggle was following him. It was hard, he was hardly very practised, but he had taken offence to the boy walking around, and as he watched him mark something that annoyed him further. When the boy was just out of sight, he jumped and snapped the branch and threw it over the high wall. Pleased with himself, he then continued to follow him.

Jareth was watching the boy, laughing as he marked his way. When did that ever work? When did life ever give you the chance to turn around and try again? This time it wasn't even his own work that had to wipe them away, foolish Hoggle was doing the work for him. He had been so bitter the last few years. He had wanted Sarah for his own, and in a fit of foolish rage, Jareth threw him out of the city. This also meant he didn't have any direct control over him, the same was he didn't over Toby.

He would just have to look after himself for a bit. He could do that couldn't he? He had survived being with them once. He thought back then, to Toby on the stairs, playing with the ball. He had been so happy, so much happier with that ball, with his wants being fulfilled. Sarah had taken that away from him, had made him deal with a life of horror and fear and misery. Jareth could have protected him from all of that and so much more.

This didn't seem right. There was just something about the way everything settled around him that just... Honestly, there was something wrong. He turned, fairly good at keeping track of where he'd been, and began to head back in the direction he came, no longer paying attention to where he was walking because he knew the path he'd taken. At least, he knew it until he hit a small creature that made him fall backwards on his ass again and nearly lose the poor crystal that had become a part of his hand, for now.

Sure, he may not have had his marks, but that didn't mean he was any worse at following his own directions.

"What are you doing here? I thought he said this was made for me..." He sounded a little airy, as if it made him happy that he was being treated with special attention. It was almost a smug voice he used, almost, because he felt so special to have captured the Goblin King's attention, even if he didn't know who the man was past his name.

"For you?" He laughed and waved one small podgy hand in the air. "This is not your place no matter what Jareth tells you." He was about to open his mouth again and shout something very insulting, but then realised that he only came up to about the boys waist, and promptly ran off round some corners. He had never been that brave before, but he was angry that there were people around. He was angry that the things were changing so much.

Jareth watched Hoggle, and started to get on edge when he talked about it being Toby's. It was his, he had torn down nearly everything and rebuilt it, all for him, to test him this time. Hoggle wanted it to be Sarah's, but she was gone. She had left Hoggle just as easily as she had left him and her brother behind. Still...she wasn't important. She had been a play thing, something to keep his mind busy.

He was almost proud that Toby had repeated his words. It was going to have to be something he made him do more often. He did have such a lovely voice. He wondered momentarily if Toby could sing, that would be interesting. Come on boy...keep going, keep going. You'll never get here if you let yourself get so distracted.

That made him stiffen some and he coughed slightly at what the troll was saying to him. It was his, he didn't care what the little thing told him. Jareth told him it was for him, and he'd never lie to him, ever. At least, he had that hope stashed away in his head. Please don't hint that you're capable of lies. He didn't want for it to happen, the thought that Jareth would be able to lie to him worried and almost sickened him. Now, he was running back to where he came, across the isle in which he had started, and bolted down the right direction in the other side.

Holding that Crystal in his pocket, now, he charged forward, hopping over limbs that reached out to make him fall. The next turn he took was a left, then another left, a right, another right, and then he went straight for as long as he figured he should. The labyrinth stretched on and on forever, it seemed, but he didn't mind running it for at least a while. Yawning and stretching after a moment, needing a break after running, he looked around to try and get his bearings. Then, all of a sudden, he was hit by an amazing idea. These walls were solid rock...

He had enough experience climbing fences and other sorts of barriers to get upon one of the walls and at least have a look to see where he was going and if he was even going in the right direction. The wall held enough width to it for him to be able to walk comfortably on it, and he was good when it came to walking on little areas. Step, step, step, tap, tap, tap. The toes of his converse hit the concrete easily, and he even hopped from wall to wall, using an unfair way to get to his own destination.

Jareth could feel the fear in Toby's heart that what Hoggle had said was true, but of course it wasn't. He was also impressed to see him walk and jump along the top of the walls. Such a smart boy, seemed to know just what to do. He had fallen for a good one at least. However, he didn't know how long it would take for the Maze to change and ruin the boys brilliant thinking. It only took a little while for it to adapt. It was like a living thing, thinking, moving.

The ground shook a little, and then a little more, trying to shake him off. It didn't like being cheated. Things started to stir and move under the ground, feeling that the boy was getting closer and closer to the Goblin city. So close, and yet still so far away. He didn't want to have to wait, but was was a few measly hours to a whole lifetime? He wanted to show Toby his power, that he could give and please, but also take and hurt.

People are thought that much better of if you know they could hurt you, but they don't anyway. At least, that's what he always thought. Then again, he got plenty of respect from the goblins by sticking his boot up their rears every so often. They squirmed and laughed and gambled and sung behind him, all around him. Yet he did not care. There was only one creature that he cared about, and it was slowly making it's way towards him. The prey was coming to the hunter.

Moving like a cat across the rock that trembled beneath his feet, the boy finally dropped onto the dirt and looked around at where he had managed to get himself into. It was an enclosed space one second, but one area opened up to two large doors with large knockers. He looked at them as if he was staring into the void of all the people he'd come to know as they passed through his thoughts and then finally fell away. All he could think of were those hands around his waist, that whisper against his ear.

Walking up to the doors, he looked them over while chewing his lip, head tilting some as he thought.

"It's very rude to stare!"

Somehow, he expected to hear this and looked up. He'd almost been living in this world in his dreams, and that meant that things didn't shock him as much as they should have anymore. He purred a little at the thought that no one could take this away from him, and nobody could tear it apart. The thought struck him that this was a fantasy, but it was the perfect place to start a new world for himself. He knew the hurt heart he had held in his old world was a heart that worked in this one. And it excited him more as he bounced.

"How do I get through?"

"What? I'm sorry, can't hear ya."

Jareth could almost tell now what the boy was thinking. Little things he did changed when he thought about the Goblin King, and he liked being thought about immensely. Not too far to go either, he was fast, driven by his wants. A smart boy. He was broken from his thoughts of Toby by a small goblin running into his leg. He turned, and kicked the small creature away. They hardly seemed to feel pain, and he did enjoy sending them across the room. Ugly, dirty and strange they were. Nothing like him at all. He wanted that contact from Toby, some one like him.

He had already planned what to do with him when he got to the castle. To make everything just perfect, to let him know how special he was. He knew that those stairs had lived in the boys dreams all these years, but he would make them real for him again, perhaps tell him the story of what had happened before again.

He looked back to the boy, watching him stand at the doors, asking them for advice. Nothing in the Labyrinth ever seemed to know what it should. They were all a little mad. Then again, the Labyrinth was mad itself, the Goblins were mad. Even he was admittedly a little out of the ordinary. He liked it that way. Nothing was ever boring.

He loved to think about him exceedingly. Toby could do no more than think of him, getting to him, reaching him, and making himself feel special in his arms, making everything perfect. He was ultimately obsessed with reaching something worthwhile, something that cared about him just as much as he could care about it, something that made him feel alive instead of stifled. And he felt that this new relationship he had to work for with the goblin king was something to strive for. Something that would turn his life of pain and confusion into something so perfect he would never want to go back.

He hoped he would make it to the castle soon. That his cheating method of getting around the labyrinth was something that worked in his advantage and would get him there faster. His yearning desire made him itch with discomfort, making his wiggle in place as he did his best to think of what to do. What did you do with doors with knockers and nothing else? Knock.

Reaching forward, he grabbed the knocker of the creature with it in its ears, making him whine as it twisted among them. Finally, the door swung open and made him curious; he was now stepping into an odd place, a room much like his own in his old world confusing him. Had he really gone so far as to leave the world he wanted so badly by choosing the wrong door? His brain seemed to yell at him to go back, but he couldn't. It had closed behind him.

"What, now?" He questioned, chewing at his lip as he listened to something odd outside. It sounded like the roaring of a great beast, but he didn't know of any in his neighborhood. Making his way to the door, he found his way crawling through a good deal of trash, before his head peeked out of a hole and he saw the large, orange creature who seemed to be in a state of torment.

TOOOOOOBYYYYYY!

That voice broke through the sky and a crack of lightning burnt through the world, striking the nearest trash pile on fire and making him shudder. That one sounded more dangerous to the world. It almost sounded like Sarah.

He wasn't doing too badly, even if he had cheated. However, when he heard that voice it made him crumble. He felt like he could hardly breathe, and his head swam. How could she...she was meant to be off, she had left hadn't she? Left her precious baby brother alone when he needed someone most. He had to do something, he could let her take him away again. He just hoped that she didn't know what was happening to him, that he was involved.

He pulled himself together. She was just a girl, maybe once she had power over him, but no more. She had given that up, she had changed everything. She was no longer Sarah, she was just a girl, like any other girl. Still something in his mind asked if he was sure of that. Of course he was! She had left the book, left him and her brother and her toys. Had left Hoggle and everyone else. Still, she was a threat.

"Toby...don't listen. She left you when you needed someone, when you were hurt and confused. I'll always be there, I'll do anything for you and you know that." A small kiss on the boys neck, his fingertips stroking down his back. That should be enough. It was dangerous Jareth to be there, if she could break apart bits of his world. He was already trying to stop it, but he had to have power, which he had the most of in the Castle. Still, Toby deserved that little bit more encouragement.

Was there no end to the damage that girl would do? She broke him and his heart, she teased him and tortured him. She had taken the boy away from him, and then left him when Toby needed her. She had left everyone who truly cared about her behind, and now she wanted to ruin his world again, to pull Toby back home. So he could suffer like every one else. The boy wouldn't be dragged away again.

That voice hit his heart and, because of the current aspect it wanted so desperately to meet, it made it twist and turn in an unsavory way that had him nearly retching. He stumbled forward, ignoring the creature that seemed to blink at him as he ran past, heading toward what seemed to be the goblin city. He knew his destination was right there, just inside, something that would make him happy.

However, he had read the book and he vaguely wondered if he would have to fight the goblins to get to their king. To obtain Jareth, did he have to fight through them and get his prize, or did he just make it? The feelings of the other, whether he be there or not, made him crave more and desperately want to navigate to the appropriate place.

Sarah, though, seemed to be trying to call him back. His parents' voices joined hers, all of them wanting him to wake up. However, he tried to push more into the world he had now anchored to, pushing through what seemed to be a thick fog filled with wrapping weeds that hadn't been there before, ever. They were trying to keep him away from the one he was going to be with forever, the one he wanted to love him and keep him safe and sound from the worries of the 'real' world.

A hand seemed to almost snatch at him and he managed to dive away, the name of the man he wanted to stay with passing his lips. "Jareth..."

His head was pounding, trying his best to keep Toby safe of them, to help him focus on trying to get to the Goblin City, to be where someone would be there for him. It was getting too much, it was hard to block out Sarah alone, but harder to block them all out, and he was finding it hard to do so.

In the distance, just in front of Toby, something disappeared around the corner. Jareth smiled, pulling the boy a little further in. He wanted to make extra sure that there was no extra temptation to go home, to make sure that even if things got a little bit harder, he wouldn't give up.

So far Toby hadn't seemed to have found anything too hard. He had gone through the right door, managed not to get hopelessly lost and hadn't even gone back to the beginning again. Maybe he had made it too easy. It was meant to be a challenge, to really make him want to reach the end.

Suddenly, he thought back to when Toby was only a toddler, laughing with the Goblins around him, sitting on Jareth's leg. It was odd for him to think of him like that. Toby had grown so much, he was...extraordinary. The Goblin King had not aged a day, or at least from what he knew he hadn't.

His own head matched that of the Goblin King's, blood pounding an anxiousness through him that felt almost horrific. He could hear the tone of his sister's voice, could feel the pulls and shakes on his body to try and force him out of the world. He tried to keep his main goal in mind, to make sure he knew where he wanted to stay for the rest of his life and make sure he made it there like he had promised himself he would.

Noting something that seemed to shimmer ahead of him, he wandered forward, the world suddenly starting to glitch and shift around him. Things popped up that he was sure didn't belong. He only had one chance to get it out before it was too late, and he could feel that.

"J-jareth..." He whimpered, his legs crumpling beneath him. "I want you...please...take me back." And with that, the world was ripped from him, and, in turn, him from the world. He gasped a little and closed his eyes, and when he opened them again it was to the frightened face of his big sister, summoned to the hospital he now lay in because of her brother's seeming attempt at suicide. Whatever had been in his stomach had been pumped out, and now the near-drowning victim was safe and sound at home.

And he hated it.

"Toby....are you alright?" She was currently the only one in the room, her parents having had to leave for some reason or another.

"I..." He whimpered, then, "Jareth...?" All he could think of was the Goblin King and getting back to him. Of course, the name made Sarah stiffen and she shook her head.

"No, Toby, don't even think about him. He doesn't need to control you." But he wanted him to.