Labyrinth 1. Prologue

The Moon Mad King

By Whiteinfinity21

Disclaimer- I don't own the movie the Labyrinth

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Prologue

_The story so far…_

The first part of the Moonlight Saga told of how the Champion of the Labyrinth grew restless and fed up with her boring, magicless mortal life. It described how she became totally consumed by moon madness and fled the Aboveground to the Lunar lands with the Moon Clan. For roughly four years, Sarah lived with the group of moon children in the Lunar Lands still without her moon name.

Then one night, Sarah totally became consumed with the moon madness on the night of the full moon and in a brilliant flash of moonlight, vanished from sight. The champion of the Labyrinth had a face-to-face meeting with the moon goddess herself where she was given her moon name, Luna, and an important task by Selene. After her meeting with Selene, Sarah, briefly returned to the Lunar Lands where she made her goodbyes to the clan of moon children she had been living with before she fell to the Underground.

Prior to her arrival magical energy had been building up in the Goblin Kingdom, causing the inhabitants of the Labyrinth to become rather restless and irritable, especially the Goblin King. Sarah's arrival that faithful night caused the energy to mysteriously dissipate, making the citizens and their king assume that things would be returning to normal.

Sarah's antics and mischief-making during the two weeks leading up to the next full moon turned that assumption on its head as the Moon Child merrily spread her brand of chaos across the Labyrinth. Many who had become the recipient of one Sarah's unwanted "gifts" tried in vain to stop her, but no one could catch the elusive prankster. Even the Goblin King himself did not escape the reach of the Moon Child.

Rumors ran rampant across the Goblin Kingdom after their monarch had seemingly disappeared into mid-air after he went out in search of the mischief-maker. Some said that he had been kidnapped by a past lover and locked in a dungeon until the Goblin King agreed to marry her while others thought that he had run away. Many followers of the Golden Chicken thought that he had retreated to an isolated area to contemplate the greatness of the Golden Fowl, but the citizens with even a semi-rational head on their shoulders dismissed such rumors as being pure rubbish.

Some thought that he might have been killed by brigands or political enemies while others thought that he had run off with the siren-harpy hybrid to have mad Fiery sex. Only a select few who had actually met the Moon Child had any real idea about what had befallen their absent monarch. Hoggle and Sir Didymus greatly suspected that the King had discovered Sarah somewhere in the forests within the Labyrinth on the night of the full moon and somehow, had vanished from the Underground entirely.

Everyone in the Labyrinth had their suspicions about what had happened to the Goblin King, some more correct than others. The only one who didn't have a clue about what was going on was one lost, lonely boy about eight years of age. Toby, spoiled and petulant like his older sister used to be, had wandered around in the Labyrinth for days, learning many valuable lessons in the process, before he had stumbled upon an aging knight that lived in the Bog of Eternal Stench.

The kingdom was thrown into confusion and turmoil after the King had not reappeared on the date he was supposed to return. Rioting and chaos was threatening to break out when Jareth and Sarah had returned, without anyone to see their less than grand entrance, in the throne room. The Goblin King putting his kingdom above his personal needs had spent the next twenty-six hours running around his kingdom averting the brewing crisis that his absence had caused.

It was because he was king and had all those responsibilities that Jareth had for all those years been unable to answer or even hear the moon's call. It had taken Sarah's presence in the Labyrinth to allow Selene to get past the wards around his dreams and finally let him dream of the full crystal moon.

Without an heir, the Goblin King never would have been able to answer the moon's call and he would have spent the rest of his life aching for something that he could never define. Sarah's purpose in the Underground was threefold. The main objective was to guide Selene's wayward child, the Goblin King out of all people, back to her. But to be able to do so, the King had to have an heir.

Here was where Toby entered the picture. Brother of the champion of the Labyrinth and the Goblin King's heart, the restless youth had wished himself away to the goblins, finally being able to get past the magic that was preventing him from returning with Demeter's help.

Since Sarah had won him back after wishing him away as a babe, until the moon goddess intervened, Toby had been placed beyond the reach of not only the Goblin King, but the entire Underground forever. But that didn't mean that other forces out there that were not part of the Underground couldn't contact the boy, as Demeter had doubtlessly proved.

Toby's rather untraditional arrival in the Labyrinth had solved many problems for many people rather nicely. For the Goblin Kingdom, Toby represented the future of the realm, a safeguard should anything, heaven forbid, ever happen to the current Goblin King. For Jareth, his dreams and hopes all rested on the young lad or more correctly the fact that he would eventually succeed him once the prince came of age, leaving Jareth to be able to fully pursue his destiny (and more importantly Sarah) under the crystal moon.

To Sarah, her younger brother was a confidant with which she could talk to about her old life and her birth world, a role that none of her other friends (however well loved they were to Sarah) could fulfill. And of course to Toby, coming to the Underground was an escape from his closed-minded family and a very longed for wish-come-true.

Now as the second part of the Moonlight Saga unfolds, Jareth finds out that the mantle of kingship rests more heavily on his shoulders as each year passes. Being the Goblin King had lost all appeal to Jareth after his brief foray with Sarah into the Lunar Lands where they became heart-mates and passionate lovers. But until Prince Tobias comes of age and takes over the Goblin Throne, Jareth is unable to join his lover except on the night of the full moon. Jareth's newly emerging nature and desires as a Moon Child conflict with the responsibility that comes with his crown.

As the years slowly pass by, young Prince Tobias grows and flourishes in his role as Jareth's Heir. He gains mastery over the Labyrinth as his studies progress while the current Goblin King becomes more and more distant from the people around him, preferring to stare at the moon, longing for Sarah's touch, instead of attending his duties.

This is the tale of how Jareth slowly becomes completely moon mad as he impatiently awaits the day when he can finally join Sarah under the moonlight for the rest of their eternity.

This is the tale of the Moon Mad King.


	2. Year one, sixth moon

The Moon Mad King

By Whiteinfinity21

Disclaimer- I don't own the movie the Labyrinth

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Chapter One- Year One, Sixth Moon 

_Has it only been a little under six months since Sarah fell to the Underground and tumbled back into my life?_ the idling Goblin King absently thought as he watched the antics of the goblins outside while he was eating lunch.

One goblin was pounding two rocks together with an avid expression on its face as if the motion of two rocks crashing together was the most fascinating thing in the universe. The small, wart covered goblin ignored the growing clamor around it, totally absorbed in smashing the two rocks it was holding against each other repeatedly.

Bored, Jareth watched as a trio of young goblins came running into the public garden, chasing a rapidly squawking chicken. The Goblin King sighed, seeing what happened next from a mile away.

The moment the goblin that was bashing his two rocks together caught sight of the distressed fowl, it threw the rocks into the air and joined the younger goblins in pursuit of the chicken. Of course, since the rocks were thrown by a goblin, they landed in the areas that could cause the most possible amount of chaos possible in the immediate surroundings.

The first rock went sailing up high and to the far right, hitting an ornamental tree with the force of a small rocket, not only causing the huge pot that it was planted in to break in half but also causing the tree to topple into the tree next to it. It was only logical that the first tree hitting the second would cause a huge domino effect, and by the time the dust cleared, all fifteen trees that lined the pathway had fallen over, blocking the main route into and out of the public gardens.

The goblins, not being the brightest creatures in the Underground, milled around the fallen trees on both sides in confusion creating a huge traffic jam at the entrance to the public gardens and it was only a few minutes later that the first fight broke out. Soon the entire mob of goblins and other assorted magical creatures were engaged in a free-for-all fist-fight, destroying a good portion of the surrounding garden in the process.

The second rock flying rock caused as much if not more chaos than the first one, if that was possible.

The second rock had the misfortune to hit the one of the apprentice cooks in the middle of the back of the head just as she was closing the door to the castle's chicken coop that was located near the kitchens. And of course out of all the apprentice cooks, the one that had been sent to fetch a few chickens to butcher for the King's dinner that night was the only fire sprite that worked in the castle.

The problem with fire sprites is that they tend to combust when they get startled, caught off guard, upset, ect. The only reason why this fire sprite had been allowed to work in the kitchens was because she had a major talent for cooking and exhibited unusually good self-control over her powers, meaning that it took a lot to set her off. Unfortunately, a rock hitting her in the back of the head fell under the category of "things that caused her to combust". And since she was right outside the chicken coop when the rock came crashing into her head, the subsequent explosion of fire set the hen house on fire.

The terrified squawks of the chickens inside the building caused an awful racket and any goblin within hearing distance came running to the scene, tripping over themselves and each other to either "save the emissaries of the Golden Chicken" or just out of plain curiosity. Within moments, the kitchen courtyard was swarming with goblins and less than three seconds after that, all the chickens exploded out of the burning hen house, scattering in all directions in their frenzied haste to get away from the fire. The effect was instantaneous.

There was a saying in the Underground: release one chicken near any goblin for a good laugh, release a whole bunch of chickens near a pack of goblins only if you have a death wish. It is a well known fact that three things shouldn't be left unguarded next to a goblin: alcohol of any type, explosives and chickens. To do so invites disaster.

In the absolute chaos that erupted by the flight of the chickens from the chicken coop, the fire spread to several nearby buildings and the madly churning crowd of goblins and frightened-out-of-their-wits chickens (not that a chicken is very smart in the first place, nor is the average goblin for that matter) destroyed the rest of the buildings in the kitchen's courtyard that the fire did not. It was obvious to any observer that the King's dinner would be rather late tonight.

The moment both rocks left the warty goblin's oversized, long-fingered hands, the Goblin King shot to his feet, barking orders left and right to the nearby servants. The castle guard, the one that was NOT made up of goblins that is, was summoned to stop the riot that was going on in the public gardens while the closest fire militia, again not made up of goblins, was sent for to put out the fire. The King himself threw several crystals into the kitchen courtyard that exploded over the living ocean of goblins below showering all the creatures below, goblin and chicken alike, with blue, sparkling sleep dust. The clean up of the incidents in both the public gardens and the kitchen courtyard lasted far into the night, leaving a certain monarch that preferred his pants to be form-fitting, very, very irate and grouchy.

By the time Jareth had finished issuing orders to prevent the situation from spilling out into the rest of the city, the goblin that had originally thrown the rocks was neck deep in the middle of the Bog of Eternal Stench.

* * *

For the rest of the night and even the next day, everyone, and I mean everyone, servants, goblins, petitioners, craftsmen, merchants, ect., avoided the Goblin King like the plague. No one was surprised by their monarch's behavior following the fire and the riot, such incidents tended to take place at least once every month, so the citizens of the Goblin City were well used to his violent, dark moods by now. 

It was for this reason and others that no one had ever challenged Jareth for his position, for if they managed to beat him, the winner would have to put up such stupid things on a daily basis, something that had driven the previous Goblin King stark raving mad. It was also for this reason that Jareth accepted Toby as his heir without any real fight, for the sooner he could dump his crown onto Toby's sandy-blond head, the better.

Such incidents also made Jareth incredibly jealous of Sarah's carefree existence as a Moon Child and long for the day that he could join her for more than the occasional wild night under the big, glowing moon.

Jareth knew that his outlook on life had been forever altered after Sarah had whisked him away from the Underground, not only setting his loins and heart on fire during that time that they had spent in the Lunar Lands, but also waking up his slumbering Moon Child nature.

Jareth sighed, watching the almost-full moon rise over the eastern horizon. Tomorrow night it would be the full moon rising over the Dragon's Spine mountains off in the distance and Jareth was more than ready for his monthly dose of absolute carefree recklessness and abandon that Sarah brought with her every time she showed up with the rising of the full moon.

A soft knocking interrupted Jareth out of his reverie.

"What?" he almost snapped.

"I have your dinner Your Majesty," the voice of his personal body servant spoke through the thick wooden door to his study.

"Leave it in my chambers," Jareth wearily ordered, turning back to the paperwork on his desk.

"I heard from a little worm that you had a rough couple of days," a husky voice whispered into his ear.

Jareth let out a surprised sound that sounded suspiciously like a yelp and whirled around jumping to his feet.

"Who's there?" he demanded to the suddenly empty air.

Quiet laughter filled the air and a soft pair of arms embraced him from behind. The scent of lilac, rosemary and moondust surrounded him.

"Sarah, is there any reason why you have invaded my study this evening?" Jareth asked a bit reproachfully.

"Do I ever need a reason to visit you, my moon owl?" Sarah countered, "besides I thought that you could use a night off to get rid of all that tension that has been building up in you for the past few days."

"Sarah, need I remind you that tomorrow is the full moon, not tonight?" Jareth snapped, "our agreement was that we would only do this on the nights of the full moon, I have a kingdom to run and I don't have the time to be tromping out at any random moment. So unless you are here to visit or help me with the paperwork, I kindly ask you to leave."

"And that is the exact reason why you need a night off tonight," Sarah announced.

Jareth finally turned around to face his errant lover.

"Sarah…" Jareth growled.

"Jareth…" Sarah purred.

"Don't even think abo-!" Jareth started.

He was cut off mid-yell as the pair vanished into the moonlight that was spilling in from the open window of Jareth's personal study.

Silence filled the chamber.

Almost an hour later a soft knocking was heard at the door.

"Your Majesty?" the king's body servant asked, "Your Majesty, are you there, your food has gotten cold."

The servant opened the door.

"Your Majesty…?"

The empty room echoed the servants' words back at him. It was obvious that the King was gone.

"Oh not again," he murmured before he left the room, shutting the door behind him, "looks like I have to go wake up the castle steward and inform him about this, again."

No sign was seen of Sarah nor the Goblin King for the next three days.

* * *

I really don't have any real plot outlined for this story. I think it will be more of a collection of events that showcase Jareth's POV as he slowly becomes completely moon mad. The tale will span the years from Sarah's second arrival to the Underground to Toby's coronation as Goblin King and months, if not years may be skipped between chapters. 

The next update for the Moon Mad King is a long way off. I still have to finish a story on another account of mine and complete In Her Shoes first. So don't get your hopes up for a fast update, sorry.

Please leave a contribution in the little box before you leave.


	3. Year Two, Second Moon

The Moon Mad King

By WhiteInfinity21

Disclaimer: I don't own the Labyrinth.

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Chapter 2- Year two, Second Moon 

"Sarah," Jareth groaned imagining the gentle, silken caress of his outspoken and whimsical lover. Her touches, even imaginary ones, always spread fire in the wake of her fingers on his body.

Even when the Moon Child wasn't anywhere near him, the mere thought of his lunar enchantress made the Goblin King all hot and bothered. With the exception of the nights during the full moon, Jareth never knew when (or where) Sarah would show up to throw chaos into his daily life. Still, despite the inevitable disturbance that Sarah's visits created, Jareth relished each and every one of them for the spice she add to his life.

As the months crawled by, Jareth found his demanding daily duties and responsibilities more and more chafing and restrictive. Thought he didn't show it, Jareth was feeling increasingly rebellious every instance he was pulled away from his free time to deal with some minor crisis or another. The urge to dump such problems on one of his underlings was becoming stronger every time some goblin caused catastrophe occurred. Though at the rate things were going, Prince Tobias was going to end up learning how to deal with such nuisances sooner rather than later.

A crash followed by a loud wail and the frantic squawking of a chicken heralded the arrival of the rather flustered nine year old Goblin Prince. An all-too-innocent was plastered on Toby's face, instantly giving away his involvement in the disturbance outside his study.

"To what do I owe the pleasure of this visit Tobias?" Jareth drawled, in a tone that said that he was not going to put up with any nonsense.

"Eh heh, lovely weather we're having today…" Toby rambled on, unsuccessfully trying to distract the highly perceptive Goblin King.

"It raining outside," Jareth remarked deadpan, a boom of thunder outside his closed window underscoring his statement.

"Oh right…" Toby sheepishly trailed off, "we I'll just be going-"

"-After you deal with the mess that you helped create," Jareth finished, "I'm not deaf, even that beast that your sister is friends with would have figured out your involvement with that 'accident' in the hallway. Besides, it's about time that you started learning about how to deal with such situations. Someday you will be king-"

_Only because you want to run off with Sarah_, Toby thought, holding in a snicker.

"- and you are going to be responsible for handling such fiascos on a daily basis," Jareth concluded.

"Bummer," Toby commented.

"Well what did you think being the king of a bunch of immature, bumbling, easily-distracted and accident prone little buggers entailed?" Jareth asked, "my position isn't all paperwork and having to deal with stuffy nobles (though I'll grant you that I have to put up with such things as well). Being the Goblin King is more akin to being a babysitter to a kingdom full of childish creatures with the attention span of a goldfish."

"You know what a goldfish is? I didn't think that they had them down here nor that you would know what a goldfish even is," Toby joked.

Jareth sent his heir a withering glare.

"Just because I don't bother to keep up to date with Aboveground pop culture doesn't mean that I don't keep track of the major events that occur Aboveground. My predecessor made that mistake and went to fetch a child from earth during a particularly bloody feud between two Venetian nobles and ended up getting himself gutted by appearing in the middle of one of their battles," Jareth informed his heir," now enough stalling, get back out there and deal with that mess that you caused in the hallway."

"Drat, I was hoping that he'd forgotten that by now," Toby muttered under his breath.

"I'll have you know that I have an excellent sense of hearing Prince Toby," Jareth replied, "and an excellent memory to boot. Having such abilities is just another requirement of my position."

Suddenly silence fell across the castle. A strange tingle went up Toby's spine. Jareth was standing up ram-rod straight and seemed to be listening intently to something. Then as if confirming his suspicions, the words rang out into the still air above the castle.

"I wish that the goblins would come and take you away right now!"

"That too is part of what the Goblin King must do," Jareth sighed, "go clean up that mess, I've been called Aboveground."

"Someone wished a child away?" Toby asked.

Jareth mutely nodded.

"So that is the tingly sensation I keep on feeling," Toby realized.

"It appears that thought you are not my heir by blood, the Labyrinth has recognized you as being the next Goblin King," Jareth replied, "you are already starting to feel the summons when a child is wished away. One day you will be the one who goes Aboveground to retrieve the unwanted and abandoned. It's a heavy burden, but it must be done."

Toby swallowed thickly, his heart suddenly heavy.

"This is why the Goblin King must be someone with the strength and patience not to break under the heavy responsibility of this duty but still have the compassion and understanding to care for their charges yet not become jaded in the process, "Jareth solemnly him, placing a hand on the boy's shoulder, "you already have these characters in you Tobias, all you need is the training and refinement to let those qualities shine."

And with that, Jareth was gone, teleporting Aboveground to deal with one of the more unpleasant duties that came with being the Goblin King. Toby sighed and went back out into the hallway to help clean up the results of his overenthusiastic actions. In that moment Toby got his first taste of real responsibility and took one step towards becoming the great king that he would be someday.

* * *

In the silent heart of the Labyrinth the Goblin King cradled an autistic, redheaded toddler in his arms. The incredible healing energies of the place had already removed most of the signs of abuse that the child had showed, but the big purple and black burse that covered most of the toddler's chest was still in the process of fading. Being wished away to the goblins was a merciful fate when compared to the life the child had been living Aboveground. 

Despite the lack of light, the heart of the Labyrinth bestowed a sense of comfort and safety, like a babe in its mother's womb. This was a place of creation, the source of all the magic that existed in the Goblin Kingdom and the surrounding lands.

"Let this child's true nature become reality," Jareth whispered the ritual words, setting the toddler on the soft sand under the Goblin King's boots.

The change was gradual. The toddler's chubby limbs grew leaner and her skin took on the deep, black-brown color of rich topsoil. The soft, curly red hair shortened and darkened into short mahogany colored spikes of fur. The child's body elongated slightly until she was about three feet tall.

Gone was the mentally-challenged human babe, instead a fully mature earth sprite lay in its place. Her eyes started to flutter open, giving a glimpse of the brilliant leaf green orbs beneath. Jareth summoned a crystal, not even noticing the slight strain that it took, and tossed it at the sprite. The earth sprite disappeared when the crystal touched her, sending the creature to her new home.

Jareth ran a weary hand through his disarrayed hair and vanished, reappearing back in his personal chambers. The familiar smell of lilacs, green tea and moondust washed over him a few moments later. He was not surprised in the least by Sarah's presence in his room. She had taken to showing up after every wish away had been taken care of.

Sarah didn't say a word, just enveloped the Goblin King in her warm embrace. Jareth shuddered slightly and let his body go limp in her arms. She murmured sweet nothings into his ear, chasing away the last of the tension that was still left in his body.

"It is times like these why you need the release that the moon can provide," Sarah murmured, "you have been doing this for too long and the duty is starting to wear on your spirit. Selene can never stand watching one of her children fade away like you were doing. The Moon Goddess knew what you needed and so she sent me and Toby to you."

"Something that I have become extremely grateful for," Jareth admitted, capturing Sarah's hand in his.

He started stroking the back of her hand with his thumb.

"The strain will only get worse as time goes on," Sarah responded with a sad smile," it will become unbearable at times. But never lose hope, I will always be there for you and the moon will always offer much needed respite."

"That is all I ask for," Jareth sighed.

"The coming years till the day when Toby ascends to the throne will be your time of tempering, your passage of transformation," Sarah informed the weary Goblin King.

"Time of tempering?" Jareth echoed confused.

"The time between when a Moon Child is first called and the time they receive their Moon Name," Sarah explained, "Selene always sends one of her Named Moon Children to support and guide her fledglings. My passage of transformation was a little over four years, yours will be closer to ten. I am here for you, as Selene wills it. I am your guide, your friend and your lover, by my own choice and heart's desire."

"And so you fell from the Lunar Lands to the Underground," Jareth mused, "and spread chaos in your wake as you traveled around in my Labyrinth."

The last bit he spoke with a bit of irritation. Sarah giggled not feeling any remorse for her actions during her first two weeks living in the Labyrinth.

"At least you know that your life with me won't be boring," Sarah brightly pointed out.

"Life is never boring for me, what with my scatterbrained, accident-prone subjects and all," Jareth spoke with a grimace, "but despite your penchant for mischief-"

"-which I haven't indulged in much ever since our first full moon together," Sarah added.

"-I wouldn't trade you for anything," Jareth smoothly continued, "you bring so much love and joy into my life Sarah. If anything you bring more stability to my daily routine."

Sarah who had about melted into a pile of goo at Jareth's loving words, couldn't help but chuckle at the irony of the last statement. As her laughter died away, the two simply basked in the easy, comfortable silence that grew between them. It was times like these where no words were needed to convey their feelings for each other that both had come to cherish.

"I wonder what will happen after your brother takes the throne," Jareth mused, finally breaking the silence.

"That's easy," Sarah responded, "we do whatever we want to do, go wherever we want to go. We find our happily ever after under the moon's grace."

"Sounds lovely," Jareth wistfully sighed.

"Yea, it does," Sarah replied.

Another silence stretched between them.

"So, are you up to a little excursion?" Sarah suddenly asked, effectively changing the mood of her visit.

"Why Sarah, you're not trying to lure me out of my castle to get me all alone so you can have your wicked way with me, are you?" Jareth teased.

"What makes you think that I won't have my wicked way with you right here?" Sarah drawled.

"Because it just isn't your style baby," Jareth replied, "you're a nature girl, not a city girl. You can't stand to be indoors for more than a few hours at a time. I know from experience pet, all that time you spent outdoors has made you wild and unpredictable."

"Then I suppose that there is no more point to our banter," Sarah announced, "time to go baby."

Jareth barely had time to let out a startled yelp before Sarah had picked him up bridal style and sprinted out of the king's chambers, her prize wriggling and squirming in her arms in a most delicious manner. The startled faces of the castle servants caused Sarah to smirk as she rushed by them.

"Sarah is this really necessary?" Jareth indignantly complained as he tried unsuccessfully to get out of her grip.

"No, but it sure is fun," Sarah laughed, "now stop squirming, I don't want to drop you."

By now Sarah had reached the threshold of the entrance chamber of the castle.

"A little help would be appreciated!" Jareth yelled to the grinning guards at the entryway.

"Now why would we want to ruin the Lady's fun your Majesty?" one of the burly guards shouted as Sarah ran by.

The guards cackled at the look of irritation that flashed across the Goblin King's face. Jareth muttered some rather insulting words under his breath about incompetent guards and their parentage as he was jostled about in Sarah's arms while she continued to race out of the castle.

"Thanks boys!" Sarah yelled as she passed the guards.

"No problem your Ladyship," the first guard brightly replied, "hope you enjoy your evening your Majesty!"

The moment she exited the castle and hit the moonlit main courtyard, the Moon Child and her still complaining armful vanished.

"Wish the Missus had some of Lady Sarah's enthusiasm," one of the guards wistfully commented.

"Lucky bastard," the other guard added.

* * *

Jareth appeared back in his room in the early hours of the morning looking thoroughly ravished. His hair was in absolute disarray and his lips were swollen from being thoroughly kissed. With a happy sigh the Goblin King dropped onto his huge feather bed. Jareth took off his boots before pulling the covers over his body, not even bothering to remove the rest of his clothing. 

_One thing is for sure_, Jareth thought as he drifted off, _my girl sure knows hot to get rid of stress_.

* * *

Sorry about the long wait, only recently did I get inspired to write another chappie for this fic. But I do intend to release another one within about two weeks, so at least that is something to look forward to. I know that I'm not the fastest updater out there, but that is because I don't have the luxury to put writing Labyfics above doing everything else. Life is like that. 

I always want to know what me readers think about my writing, so don't hesitate to leave me a review.


	4. Year Two, Fifth Moon

The Moon Mad King

By WhiteInfinity21

Disclaimer: I don't own the Labyrinth

* * *

Chapter Three- Year Two, Fifth Moon

"You certainly are calmer after the full moon has passed," Jareth remarked as Sarah came into Jareth's private dinning hall.

The sun was setting and the Goblin King was in the process of taking an early dinner. There was much to be done that night before the visiting dignitaries' arrival the next morning.

"The madness wanes after the full moon sets," Sarah replied as she sat down across from Jareth.

Earlier that day Sarah had sent Jareth a message informing him that she would be joining him for dinner but wouldn't be able to stay afterwards. The blond king was slightly disappointed but he really didn't need the distraction that was Sarah tonight as he completed the preparations for the arriving guests. It was going to be a late night for Jareth, one that would start after he finish his evening meal.

"You certainly are becoming a night owl," Sarah teased, referring to Jareth's habit of moon gazing that he had recently taken up.

"In case you forgot my other form is a barn owl," Jareth snidely responded.

"I meant it as a compliment," Sarah defended, "the increase in your nighttime activities just means that your circadian rhythm is adapting to the moon's cycle instead of the sun's. It is a perfectly natural change for your awakening nature as a Moon Child."

Jareth grunted and turned his attention to his food.

"What's gotten into you all of a sudden?" Sarah asked.

Jareth threw his fork down on his plate, shoved his chair back and sprang to his feet in anger.

"Jareth sit down," Sarah ordered.

The Goblin King drew in a shuddering breath, forcibly reining in his frustration. With slow deliberateness he sat back down and pulled his chair closer to the table.

"Now tell me what's eating you," Sarah firmly commanded.

"It's this whole Moon Child business," Jareth bit out, "I know that it is a part of who I am (you made sure of that), but these strange feelings and urges that I'm experiencing are making hell with my daily schedule."

At Sarah's understanding silence Jareth continued

"Do you know how hard it is for me not to nod off during my morning open court sessions? These changes that are happening to me are starting to interfere with my duties and that is unacceptable!" Jareth ranted.

Sarah placed a comforting hand on one of his own tightly clenched fists. At her familiar soothing touch, Jareth slowly relaxed.

"During those two months after I got back from my visit to the Labyrinth," Sarah recalled, "I was extremely irritable, I had no idea what the hell was happening to me and my sudden obsession with the moon didn't help either. It got so bad that I was suspended from school. Then my 'loving' parents decided to ship me off to military school to get me _straightened out_."

Sarah had Jareth's full attention, his troubles forgotten for the moment as he listened to his lover's tale.

"Their decision to get rid of me was the last straw," Sarah continued, "I ran away that very night, having no plan but getting away as fast as I could, and stumbled across the Moon Clan as they were visiting Earth on the Full Moon of the Autumn Equinox. Just like I knew that I had to find the unawakened Moon Child in the Underground, they knew that they had to meet me on that night so many years ago. The rest is history."

Sarah took a moment to regain her former train of thought.

"There is no need to shut me out regarding what you are feeling," Sarah emphasized, "I know exactly what you are going through. It will not be easy, but I will help you through this, I can teach you everything you need to know, ease the burden about learning and mastering your unique powers that you will develop as you complete your transformation from your birth form into a Moon Child."

"Sarah," Jareth sighed, "it's not that easy. There is just so much about this that is confusing. Some of these 'changes' that you mentioned are making a mess of my duties and responsibilities, these conflicting powers that are present in me are starting to overwhelm me, I don't know if I can keep this up…"

"Which is why you have me and Toby," Sarah reminded the tired monarch, "though he is still a child, he is learning fast. In time he will start to relieve you of your burdens as Goblin King while I can make the transition from mortal," Jareth protested at being labeled as a mortal, "that is what all beings that are not Moon Children are called by those of us that have Selene's grace, so do be silent and let me finish my sentence."

Jareth shut his mouth.

"As I was saying, I will make the transition from mortal to Moon Child easier for you, just like the Moon Clan did for me," Sarah continued, "I was chosen to guide you since I was the only Moon Child that had ever been in the Underground. Having established strong ties with the Labyrinth and some of its denizens made it easy for me to return and then locate Selene's wayward child that was located Underground."

Jareth scowled at being called a wayward child. Sarah blew him a kiss and wraggled her fingers at him, finally drawing a small smile from the moody Goblin King.

"Coincidently my first time in the Labyrinth was what woke up my latent affinity for the Moon and alerted Selene to the existence of an unknown Moon Child on Earth," Sarah added.

"How fascinating," Jareth drawled, the unspoken _not_ clearly being expressed by his body language.

"So what's this I hear about a golden chicken?" Sarah suddenly mentioned.

"Did you have to bring that up?" Jareth groaned, "it is something that I try not to dwell on. Besides, isn't there another reason why you came to dine with me other else than to grace me with you lovely (but highly irritating at times) presence?"

Sarah pouted. She had really wanted to know about the Golden Chicken incident. From what she had heard, it was a tale worth hearing in its entirety.

"Oh alright," she conceded, dropping the subject, "I just wanted to inform you that I'll be gone until the new moon. I have some things to fetch from Aboveground that will involve some difficulty in obtaining."

"I see," was Jareth's non-committal answer.

An uncomfortable silence fell between the two.

"So how are Toby's lessons coming along?" Sarah inquired finally breaking the silence.

"The boy is so impatient to learn that he often skips ahead in his lessons, not taking the time to integrate or master what he has already learned," Jareth replied with a slight frown, "with the exception of his arms master, he is driving his tutors out of their minds."

Sarah had to chuckle at that. As unpleasant as it was, the reality was that her little brother was thriving without the stifling, oppressive presence of his parents. A child with a mind like Toby's would only flourish under the influence of open-minded peers. Even to the blind eye, Toby had been suffering from lack of stimulation under his closed-minded parent's care, developing bad habits that if not stopped would have led him down a path of self-destruction.

"His impatience and habit of doing things impulsively is a problem," Sarah admitted, "it would probably be a good idea to increase his self-discipline lessons with Sir Didymus. He's probably the only one that can get Toby to do them, my little brother positively adores the old knight."

"Hmm, I'll make sure to mention that to the Prince's arms master," Jareth noted, "it may take a lot of brow-beating and hard-learned lessons but Tobias will make a fine king someday."

"I have no doubt of that," Sarah agreed.

The rest of dinner was spent discussing current affairs and the state of the Goblin Kingdom as well as the normal random topics that enter any causal conversation between two people. Both avoided mentioning Sarah's departure that would happen once dinner had ended, not wanting to spend the last of the time they had together for the next ten days in a forced, unpleasant manner. It was obvious that Jareth didn't want Sarah to leave, but she had no choice, her errands Aboveground had to be done.

It wasn't easy for Sarah either. She didn't want to be separated from her lover any longer than she had to, but if she wasn't firm in her resolve, she would never get up the courage to leave. It wasn't as if they were parting forever, it was only for ten days after all, but it sure felt like eternity to the Moon Child.

But as such things are wont to do, dinner finally came to an end and after a long, passionate kiss, Sarah reluctantly parted from Jareth. With one last yearning look Sarah stepped into a shaft of moonlight and vanished into the night.

Her departure hit Jareth like a physical blow. His heart cried out for his missing lover. Only gone for a few seconds and he missed her with his entire being. Oh how he wished that he could be with her!

It was then that the implications of her absence and how it related to their relationship in general hit him. Even though most of the time she was within easy traveling distance of him, they weren't truly together like they had been during those few precious days they had spent in the Lunar Lands the first time the Moon Madness had overcame him. During that time their souls had connected on the most intimate level, giving them both a great sense of fulfillment like they had never experienced before.

Oh how it had ached when they had returned Underground, the connection that their souls had formed dissolving with the setting moon. The absence of their soul connection hurt even to this day, Sarah's sudden absence only compounding the sense of desolation that he was feeling.

The only time that the ache ever left was on the nights of the full moon when the Moon Madness fell upon them and for a few fleeting precious hours the soul bond reformed. If it weren't for that one night every twenty-eight days Jareth was sure that he would have gone mad. His awakening nature as a Moon Child yearned for the nurturing presence of the moon endlessly while his heart and soul constantly craved the feeling of completeness that he only experienced with Sarah.

And from what Sarah had hinted, the feeling of disconnectedness and unfulfillment would only grow as the years passed, only to be relieved when Tobias finally came of age. At least that he had the knowledge that Sarah was going through a similar experience, not being able to engage him in a relationship any deeper than that of casual lovers. For as long as his soul was still tied to the Labyrinth Jareth was unable to fully join Sarah in the manner that his heart and soul cried out for.

Suddenly the future never looked so bleak to the Goblin King. The only hope that he could cling to was Selene's promise that he and Sarah would be completely united once he was no longer the Goblin King. In the meantime, Sarah was going to be his saving grace, keeping him from falling over the thin line between missing a piece of his soul and insanity.

Goddess, how he missed her.

* * *

Tugs at the heartstrings doesn't it?

Sorry about the ridiculous wait, I got distracted by discovering a new fandom. I am somewhat ashamed to say that I have spent the past few months avidly consuming BtVS fan fiction by the boatload.

Oh well, at least I finally got it done.

Reviews are like tips for waitresses, they are necessary for the survival of fan fiction writers, so please leave a contribution in the little box.


	5. Year Two, Twelfth Moon

The Moon Mad King

By WhiteInfinity21

Disclaimer: I don't own the Labyrinth.

* * *

Chapter 4- Year two, Twelfth Moon 

For the first time in decades Winter Solstice and the last full moon of the year fell on the same date. The entire kingdom was looking forward to the Solstice Festival even more avidly than was normal. The reason was because this year's solstice celebration was not a normal one, it was a Lunar Solstice Festival, an event that occurs only only one or two times a century. The events from the last one fifty-one years ago are still talked about with awe to this very day. A Lunar Solstice Festival is the sort of event that legends are created from.

But what makes a Lunar Solstice Festival so special you ask?

A normal Solstice Festival is a time of chaotic, good-natured merrymaking where the alcohol runs freely, the food is never-ending, and music, dancing, performances, and other such festival celebrations run for an entire twenty-six hours. Everyone in the Goblin Kingdom has the day off, including the king himself. All the social rules are dropped this day, everyone is an equal during the Solstice Festival.

Winter Solstice is always looked forward to after the months of cold and darkness that descends upon the kingdom once the last dead leaf falls from the branches of the skeletal trees. It is a celebration of all that has happened during the current year. Reaching the Winter Solstice means that the worst of winter is over and that in a few short weeks the snow will melt under the spring sun.

Now you take all that comes with a normal Solstice Festival and add in a full moon to the mix and the concept of the Winter Solstice celebration takes on a whole new meaning. Of course the Solstice Festival wouldn't be a proper city-wide party without the usual trappings that come with it (the food, the alcohol, the dancing and music, the alcohol, the street performers, the wide-spread free exchange of sexual favors, the alcohol, the rampant distribution of fairy weed to the masses..., and did I mention the alcohol?). And during the daytime all of these things can be readily found.

But the rising of the full moon is when the true magic of the Lunar Solstice Festival begins.

The moon that rises on the Lunar Solstice Festival is not the familiar crater marked orb that every creature of the Underground instinctively knows. No, the full moon that rises on the Winter Solstice comes straight out of the moon goddess' realm. The crystal orb filled with silvery mist is actually the physical manifestation of the goddess herself in the Underground, shedding her mystic light across the land. The wild lunar magic originating from the supernatural orb literally makes dreams come to life during the time the crystal moon is in the sky.

Those who were old enough to recall the last Lunar Solstice Festival had recognized and puzzled over the appearance of the full crystal moon two years ago that heralded the arrival of the the female Moon Child. What they didn't know was that Selene herself had to manifest in the Underground to be able to bring Sarah to where she needed to be.

The presence of not one but two Moon Children in the Labyrinth added a new twist to the Lunar Solstice Festival. No one knew what sort of effect the Solstice Full Moon would have on Jareth and Sarah and what effect the Moon Children could have on the festival itself. There was more than one citizen in the Labyrinth that was worried about what could happen with two active Moon Children on the night of the Lunar Solstice Festival (recall the chaos that Sarah strewed across the kingdom during that first month after her return to the Labyrinth). Most of the denizens of the Labyrinth however had no such concerns (mostly due to the fact that they were goblins) and went about with the preparations for the festival with giddy enthusiasm.

It would have helped however if Jareth or Sarah had been present during the perpetrations for the Solstice Festival. But as was starting to become common ever since Sarah had returned, the Goblin King had "mysteriously" vanished a week before the solstice and hadn't been seen since. To date, so far this had been the second longest time in which the Goblin King was absent from his kingdom. By now the king's advisors were no longer surprised by any unplanned absences of their king, especially during the days leading up to the full moon. Every time it happened, they just sighed and shook their heads muttering about how irresponsible Jareth was becoming and how Sarah was having a bad influence on the Goblin King.

Sarah was a force to be reckoned with and was a law onto herself (much like a certain Goblin King himself in fact). In other words, no one messed with her.

The Goblin King's absence, troubling as it was to some, had absolutely no impact on the preparations for the festival during the week leading up to it. Apparently the Solstice Festival was more important than a missing Goblin King to the majority of the Labyrinth's residents. Such is the nature of goblins.

* * *

Finally the day of the festival was at hand. From the moment the first glow of false dawn lit the eastern horizon, goblins and other magical creatures were stirring in their beds. Some of the more eager ones were spilling out into the street before the sun actually rose, making an early start to their revelry. By the time the sun had fully risen, the entire city was awake and the celebrations were in full swing. 

Everywhere one looked a different distraction was to be found: street performances, musicians playing in front of dancing crowds, food stalls, vendors hawking their wares, contests of every imaginable type and so much more. The carts full of barrels of ale, beer or wine were particularly popular wherever they could be found. There was more to see and do than one person could ever hope to experience in a single day.

All day long the festivities continued without stop. Alcoholic beverages were consumed faster than they could be supplied, food was eaten by the cartload, people cheered for their friends and family who were participating in various contests being held throughout the city, friendly haggling filled the air in the merchant quarter, music and groups of dancers were everywhere, and bawdy songs could be heard at every tavern, bar and inn. The entire population was out and enjoying the festival to its fullest.

A few minutes before sunset the activity came to a still and silence fell over the city. The sun slowly sunk down in a glory of reds, oranges and golds before vanishing behind the western mountains. Seconds later, with the last of the molten colors of the sunset still staining the sky in the west, the crystal full moon started to rise in the north-east as the city held its collective breath.

The residual festive, care-free emotions generated by the day's celebrations combined with mystical lunar magic of the crystal moon, igniting the imaginations of every creature present, big and small. This was to be a night of dreams come to life, where the impossible can become reality as Selene sheds her light on the Underground, sharing her magic with the children of the sun.

And then a curious thing happened. Just as the energies of the solstice full moon were starting to work its magic on the populace, the resident Moon Children returned, both caught deep in the throes of the moon madness. A single pure note rang out from the sky above the castle in the center of the Labyrinth, breaking the silence over the city.

The reaction was immediate. That single, clear note evoked something deep and primal in every creature that heard it. A fire was sparked in everyone of them and within seconds the entire Labyrinth was consumed by moon madness.

Wonders, each more spectacular and fantastic than the last sprung to life right and left. A sense of fulfillment descended upon all of those who had been touched by the moon madness, the connection between the moon and the soul coming into existence by the madness that infected all. Things happened that night that could never be described by mere words alone. Life long dreams became reality that night, a lucky few discovering the next morning that the effects of their dreams come true had been made permanent.

Creatures not known to existence roamed the Labyrinth under the enchanted silver moonlight. Wild lunar magic ran rampant across the kingdom creating new things everywhere it went, changing the creatures, plants, rocks, everything, that it touched. Many of the effects of the wild lunar magic only lasted during the time the crystal moon was in the sky, but a few anomalies were discovered in the following days by the more adventurous or curious residents of the Labyrinth.

Despite the wild, chaotic events of the Lunar Solstice Festival there were no harmful or malicious effects left behind by the crystal full moon, for the Winter Solstice was a time of peace and celebration, not damage or destruction.

And right in the middle of all this magic and mystical energy that was flying about all over the Labyrinth was Sarah and Jareth. Consumed by the moon madness, the lovers were united mind, body and soul. Their full moon celebration was a blend of dancing, ritual and love making. Floating high above the castle, bathed in the light of the enormous crystal moon overhead, they celebrated their love, life and their existence as Moon Children.

* * *

Deep in the depths of the Labyrinth, the Heir strode into the heart of the Labyrinth, drawn by the deep, resonating call of the ancient maze. The moon madness had placed him in a highly receptive state allowing Toby to be able to hear the normally inaudible murmuring voice of the Labyrinth. The ancient energies and alien sentience that was the equivalent to the soul of the Labyrinth had picked up on Toby's state and had sent its call out to Jareth's young heir. 

The low, thrumming call had instantly ensnared the prince, causing him to abandon the wild revelries and to enter the dusty, largely unused tunnels, seeking the source of the summons. As Toby ventured deeper the route he took while following the Labyrinth's call was burned into his memory.

Finally he reached the place from which the call was originating. Without even being consciously aware of his actions, the Goblin Prince stripped out of his festival finery and padded barefoot across the strangely warm, multi-colored sand, stopping in the very center of the Labyrinth's heart. Once he was in place, Toby opened his mind to the Labyrinth's voice , allowing everything else to fade into the deep recesses of his subconsciousness.

Sensing that the Heir was ready, the ancient sentience slowly unfurled from its usual semi-dormant state and embraced Toby, seeping into his mind, body and soul, laying the first strands of the bond that connected king to kingdom. Thus creating the bond in him that makes the Goblin Monarch both master and servant to the Labyrinth.

As the crystal full moon rose, peaked and then sank in the night sky, Tobias Stephan Williams al' Ferix, Heir to the Goblin Throne, underwent the first of many transformations that would enable him to fulfill his duties to the Labyrinth, the Goblin Kingdom and the Wished Away. Safe as a babe in its mother's womb, the young prince slept and dreamt as almost undetectable changes were wrought within him.

Overtime these changes would start to manifest in odd and unexpected ways, growing more noticeable after each subsequent trip to the Labyrinth's Heart made by the king's heir. These changes would have startling effects on Toby's blossoming magical abilities, abilities which often tempted the young prince into doing mischief, much like his older sister.

But of course, the unsuspecting denizens of the Labyrinth had no idea of this fact (much to their misfortune).

* * *

The Lunar Solstice Festival marked the start of many things which would have effects lasting for many years to come. As the full moon sunk below the western horizon, the magic faded as did the moon madness. The residents of the Labyrinth came aware as if emerging from a dream (as was the case for many). Slowly they wandered back to their homes exhaustion fogging their senses, to collapse into their beds or nests. Some of the goblins were so tired that they fell asleep where they fell much to the amusement of those who found them later in the afternoon.

Sarah had wandered back to her sleeping place in the forest, Jareth following behind automatically, still in a daze from their activities that night. The Labyrinth, after it was finished had transported Toby back to his quarters, the young prince hardly making a murmurer as he appeared back in his bed, safely tucked in beneath the covers. For the majority of the day the kingdom would rest, recuperating from partying for an entire twenty-six hours.

But this was not the case for the Goblin King, around mid-morning, he appeared in his study, and got to work doing the things required to keep the kingdom smoothly running. For Jareth, there was almost never any rest from his duties. As long as he was the king, he had to put the kingdom's and the Wished Aways' needs before his own personal desires, a thing that he was finding to be more loathsome as time went on.

* * *

Many legends and tales were born on that enchanted night when the Labyrinth had been gripped by a strange madness brought about by the full crystal moon. Inconceivable and baffling events happened that night, things that went beyond the imagination's ability to understand or perceive. Impossible and wonderful, awesome and enchanting, the Lunar Solstice Festival had been a night full of wonders and unlimited possibilities. No one went home from the Lunar Solstice Festival unsatisfied or unhappy. 

That night, as the crystal moon glided across the sky, was when Toby became the Goblin Prince not only in name but in essence. It also marked the beginning of the Goblin King's true descent into the moon madness. Jareth's madness was not to be the wild, all-consuming moon madness that comes upon a Moon Child on the onset of the Full Moon, but rather the type of spiritual malady that comes from the sort of hopeless yearning for a connection of fulfillment that is beyond one's reach. The only cure for the type of moon madness that was starting to grow in the Goblin King was the final and absolute joining of his soul to his love's and complete transition from mortal to Moon Child.

The cure that could only come after many long, weary years had passed.

* * *

Well, here we are. Another chappie done before the month is finished. If inspiration holds, hopefully I might be able to get another out before the second month of the year is upon us.

For the last three chappies I have been only skipping a few months between each chapter, but for the next, I will be skipping over an entire year. I am already five chapters into this fic and I need to have more plot progression. I have no idea what the next chapter will be about, I write them as ideas come to me.

Before you go, please leave a contribution in the little box. Muchas gracias.


	6. Year Four, Eighth Moon

The Moon Mad King

by WhiteInfinity21

Disclaimer: I don't own the Labyrinth.

* * *

Chapter 5- Year Four, Eighth Moon 

Ever since the Lunar Solstice Festival over a year and a half ago, Jareth had been having increasing difficulty with performing the more magical aspects of his position. The power that he had so effortlessly wielded in the past seemed to be slowly leaking away, drying up like a river during a drought.

He could still properly carry out all of the duties that required the unique brand of magic that the Goblin Monarch used but it was taking more out of him than it should be. Jareth felt the strain of his gradually diminishing powers the hardest when he had to deal with Wish Aways or Runners. Nowadays dealing with them totally wiped him out. Thankfully so far nothing of any magical nature had ever come up during the recovery period he underwent after each Wish Away was dealt with.

Toby, Jareth had noticed, had become increasingly twitchy and jumpy during the times that the Goblin King had to collect Wish Aways or test the Runners. The prince had taken to shadowing the Goblin King during the rare times that a Runner was in the Labyrinth. Jareth decided that he would have to start taking his heir with him whenever he was summoned away to deal with a wished away child. Judging by the boy's sensitivity, it was long past time he should have done so.

Jareth had even caught Toby several times listening intently for something, as if the boy could sense a noise just beyond his range of hearing. The Goblin King had his suspicions about what the prince was doing, suspicions which later proved to be true as he spied Toby sneaking into a tunnel under the castle that led to the Labyrinth's Heart.

_It seems that Toby has been communing with the ancient one_, Jareth thought, _I wonder how long this has been going on?_

It was no coincidence, as he later found, that every time Jareth felt a slight drop in the power of his royal goblin magic, Prince Tobias had just connected with the ancient deity, the source of the power that was used by the Goblin Monarch. Luckily, it turned out that the Labyrinth rarely called Goblin Prince to its Heart, for if it had been doing so, the Goblin King would have found himself powerless within a year. But the Labyrinth knew that the twelve year old needed plenty of time to adjust to the changes done to him after each trip Toby made.In all, Toby had only visited the Heart a total of three times, averaging a trip about once every six months.

Sarah had not been surprised when her lover had told her about this. Her unimpressed reaction gave the impression that she had been expecting something of the sort for quite some time.

When asked why she she seemed so nonpulsed by this, Sarah replied, "moon magic is not compatible with many other forms of magic. Barring select spiritual and physic gifts and a few forms of personal magics, one has to be emptied of all other forms of competing magic before the dormant lunar gifts are able to manifest."

"Lovely," Jareth ground out, trying his best to ignore the throbbing headache that had descended upon him after his departure from the Labyrinth's Heart having taken care of a Wish Away.

"Don't worry, the process is practically painless," she cheerily remarked.

"Practically painless?" Jareth asked with a pause.

"Mmmm, yes," Sarah muttered, lost in thought, "about the only pain associated with the emergence of a Moon Child's lunar gifts is the clearing of debris from the previously unused pathways within a person's energy matrix that the moon magic flows along in. From what I've heard, most awakening Moon Children only experience some mild discomfort when this occurs. "

Jareth looked unconvinced.

"It's really no big deal," Sarah reassured him, "it is never fatal."

"And how will I know when this is happening to me?" Jareth pointedly asked, "the moon madness interferes with my duties too much as it is, I don't need another distraction added on top of what I already have."

"Aww, poor baby," Sarah crooned.

Jareth glowered at her.

"I see that someone is still in a snit," she teasingly noted.

"If you're not going to be useful, leave," Jareth snapped.

Sarah's laughter echoed back at him as she abruptly vanished from the spot she had been standing in that was covered in moonlight from outside the window of his study.

"Irritating chit," Jareth growled as he got up and closed the shutters to prevent any other unwanted interruptions that night from the mischievous Moon Child.

Still , Jareth couldn't stop the fond smile that formed on his lips. Much as her cheekiness irritated him, Jareth was also hopelessly charmed by it as well and couldn't help but love her for it (despite it too). Somehow Sarah's presence never failed to lift his spirits, no matter how deep of a funk he was indulging in. She seemed to have a sixth sense to know when her lover needed her.

The woman led the charmed, carefree existence typical of a Moon Child, one that Jareth greatly envied her for. Jareth knew that someday he too would be able to live as Sarah currently did. He was more than ready to do so, impatient even, but it would be many long years until he would be able to join Sarah.

The prospect of the long wait made him incredibly weary. But Jareth didn't have the time to indulge in such wistful musings, he had a kingdom to run and a heir to teach and prepare for the day that Toby would succeed him.

A king's work never ends.

* * *

Short chappie this time, but I promise to get the next one out in a few days after I finish writing it. 

Please leave a review before you leave.


	7. Year Four, Eighth Moon part 2

The Moon Mad King

by WhiteInfinity21

Disclaimer: I don't own the Labyrinth.

* * *

Chapter 5- Year Four, Eighth Moon

"So tell me again why I have to do this?" Toby asked.

Jareth had to suppress his impatience with the prince's deliberately inane questions.

"We are doing this because you are coming into your magic and therefore need to develop stability and control to be able to safely use them," Jareth explained again, "your recent experimentations have not gone unnoticed and it is far past time you receive proper instruction on how to safely use your magic."

"But I still don't see why it has to be you who teaches me," Toby complained.

"Because, I am the only person in the Underground who possesses the same form of magic that you do," Jareth curtly replied, "my mother taught me to use the royal goblin magic and her father taught her, just as I will be teaching you."

"But can't this wait until after-" Toby tried again.

"Absolutely not," Jareth interrupted, "you have been trying to put this off for three days by now. No more excuses. We are not leaving this room until you learn how to connect with the Labyrinth while not in the Heart."

Toby swallowed his words at the look on Jareth's face. Minutes passed in silence as Toby waited for instruction.

Impatience finally getting the best of him, the words burst out of Toby's mouth.

"Well? Aren't you going to start?" he demanded, "tell me what to do."

"What do you think you should do?" Jareth countered.

"What do I- Huh?" Toby sputtered, "why did you ask me that?"

"Lecturing you about the royal goblin magic is useless," Jareth answered, "to truly understand the magic, you must discover for yourself how the magic operates. Just telling you how to do it won't help at all."

"So?" Toby asked.

"So what?" the Goblin King retorted.

"So what should I be doing then?" the prince demanded, "how am I supposed to discover how the magic works?"

"Ah, now you're getting somewhere," Jareth said with a secretive smile, "asking the right questions is the key to learning."

"The right question, huh," Toby muttered, "there are so many, where should I start?"

"At the beginning of course!" Jareth chuckled, "you are learning to connect to the Heart on your own without the Labyrinth first contacting you. Start from there."

"How did you contact the Heart the first time you tried?" Toby tentatively asked.

"Ask a different question," Jareth told him.

"Okay. What did you do to contact the Heart then?" Toby tried again.

"Much better," Jareth praised, "but instead of giving you an answer, I will ask you a question instead: what were you doing when you first heard the Labyrinth's call?"

"Give me a moment," Toby requested.

About a minute later he had his reply.

"It was during the Lunar Solstice Festival, I was playing a game with some creatures that kept on changing forms every few seconds that kept on changing the rules every five minutes," Toby recalled, "I was connected to the air, the trees, the rocks, the stream nearby, everything. It was like my mind, for the first time in my life, was wide open and clear…oh. Oh!"

The pleased reaction on Jareth's face told Toby that he had figured it out.

"So all I have to do is clear my mind and open it up-" Toby excitedly continued, "-and... and… I don't know."

The enthusiastic expression on his face crumpled as Toby realized that he had no clue what to do. Dejected, the prince starred at his feet.

"Toby, there is nothing wrong with asking for help when you need it," the Goblin King murmured, his voice causing Toby to raise his head to look at Jareth.

"So how can I do it?" Toby hesitantly asked.

"Remember your meditation exercises?" Jareth prompted.

At Toby's nod, he continued, "start with those. I want you to calm your thoughts and reach your center. Once you have done that, I will instruct you on how to lower your mental shields and 'listen' with your mind for the voice of the Labyrinth. In time you won't have to do this when contacting the Heart, but doing it this way is the best method to teach you."

Jareth waited until he felt the prince's mind go calm and blank. Sitting down next to his heir, the Goblin King allowed himself to slip into a light trance and sent out a gentle probe with his mind, lightly touching Toby's natural mental barriers. Startled at the foreign feeling, Toby came to with a start, breaking the mental connection that Jareth had started to build with him.

"Wha? What was that?" Toby asked astonished.

"That was just me trying to contact you with my mind Tobias," Jareth responded with patience having expecting such a reaction from the boy, "start again and this time when I contact you, I want you to relax and complete the connection."

"How will I do that?" Toby dubiously asked.

"It is hard to explain," Jareth replied, "so I won't. It will come instinctively to you. Now settle down and reach your center again."

Toby grumbled but complied with his teacher's orders. This time when the Goblin King reached out to the twelve year old, Toby accepted his mental probe and "invited" him Jareth's presence into his mind.

_Wow, you were right,_ Toby thought to Jareth as the connection slipped into place, _wait? How did I just do that?_

_Communicating mind to mind is instinctual for most people who can use their minds in such a manner,_ Jareth replied, _it's a talent you already possess and subconsciously comprehend, all you need to do is discover how to use it to contact the minds of other beings._

_This is too cool!_ Toby exclaimed, _I can't wait to tell Sarah about this. Bet that she doesn't know how to do this._

_I wouldn't count on that Tobias,_ Jareth corrected the boy with amusement, _how do you think your sister is able to listen to the Lady of the Crystal Moon? In fact, I think that I will get her to help tutor you in how to use your physic abilities. It will do both of you much good._

_What? No way am I letting Sarah poke around in my head!_ Toby wailed, _she would just use the opportunity to get blackmail material from my mind. _

_Have a bit more faith in your sister,_ Jareth sharply reprimanded Toby, _she has more maturity than to look through someone's mind without their tact permission. She knows the morals of using her physic gifts and follows them without exception._

_Now enough of this, it is time to continue your lesson,_ Jareth continued, _open your mind's eye and observe what I do as I lower my mental shields._

Then, firmly projecting the picture into Toby's mind, Jareth showed the prince the mental image he had of his own personal mental barriers, a wall of glowing wall of light, that sparkled with silver glitter, and pictured the wall slowly sinking into his subconscious.

The Goblin King's mind with all it's twists, turns, hidden chambers and false doorways, much like the Escher room that lay in the center of the castle, was laid open to Toby's inspection. The temptation to venture within was great, but Toby resisted, respecting Jareth's privacy, having no doubts to the fact that the Goblin King could dispel the boy if he dared try.

_Now I want you to build a picture of what you think your mental barriers look like,_ Jareth instructed, _then I want you to imagine the barrier slowly going down until it is gone. You will be taught at a later time how to create an opening in your barrier instead of taking the entire thing down, but for now I want to completely remove the barrier._

Toby tried picturing what his mental barrier could look like, but every time he tried imagining a picture, it swiftly dissolved in his mind. He was starting to get frustrated and Jareth could sense it.

_Relax,_ Jareth told him, _don't force it.__Let it come to you._

So Toby forced himself to relax, letting everything slide out of his mind once more as he found his center.

_Good,_ Jareth informed Toby as he saw what the boy did, _now open your mind's eye and look for the barrier._

This time Toby didn't even ask how to open his mind's eye, all it took was the desire to do so and suddenly he could "see" the interior of his mind that lay behind his mental barriers. It was a dizzying experience, and he quickly focused on looking for the barrier that surrounded his mind before he lost all sense of his self within his own consciousness.

Gliding further away from his center, Toby's astral form moved towards the barrier, ignoring the passageways and rooms that were zooming by. An eternal instant later he was there, craning his neck upwards to take in the endless mirror-like dome that completely enclosed his consciousness and protected it from outside invaders. Moving closer, Toby noted that it actually wasn't a smooth, unbroken mirror, but was made up of hexagonal shields, fitted seamlessly together with metallic colors rippling across its surface.

Toby touched the wall of six-sided shields and felt a low buzz coming from the structure. It was absolutely marvelous to him, everything and beyond he had ever expected or imagined.

_Toby, enough dawdling,_ Jareth's voice cut into his rapture.

Toby jerked his head around and felt his jaw drop open. Standing next to him was the Goblin King wearing a dove grey outfit with the typical skin-tight breeches, a loose silk, long-sleeved top and a cape covered with owl feathers. His teacher was obviously not amused by the prince's rude gaping and cleared his throat.

_Err, right,_ Toby belatedly regained his wits, _back to the lesson._

All it took to dismantle the thin, but incredibly sturdy wall of shields, was a light touch from Toby and the desire to see it retracted. Starting from the top of the barrier, the six-sided metal shields began moving to overlap the shields next to them. The empty hole at the center of his barrier quickly grew as the process continued. Soon all that was left was a single, thick shield that was attached to the arm of Toby's astral body. He was amazed by how easily all of this was coming to him, it was as if he had known how to do such things for his entire life.

_Excellent,_ Jareth spoke, _you are a natural. Now observe._

Entranced, Toby watched as the Goblin King lifted an arm and shot a green-blue beam of light tinged with silver off into the void that lay between the mental and physical levels of existence. Seconds later, a golden brown beam of light returned to him, embracing the line of power that belonged to Jareth and wrapped around his arm.

_Neat!_ Toby chimed.

_That's one way to describe it,_ Jareth chuckled, _but before you start shooting off mental lines all over the place, you should have a good idea of the person or place where you want to send your probe. Extend your senses, try to locate where the Heart is in regards to your location._

Unsure of exactly what Jareth had meant by extending his senses Toby imagined sending out a wave of thought into the empty space beyond, sort of like echolocation or radar . Focusing on his self-assigned task, both Toby and the Goblin King were slightly shocked when a bell-like sound resonated from the core of his subconscious and a series of waves rapidly shot past the pair, vanishing into the distance. Fractions of a second later a series of echoes came back at Toby, having bounced off of nearby minds and acquiring the color the colors associated with the owner of the mind Toby's thought wave had come into contact with.

Instantly homing in on the golden-brown colored echo, Toby shot out more of waves until he had pin-pointed the location of the Heart from the echoes that came back to him.

_Erm, that was very unusual,_ Jareth remarked, _just exactly will you call that technique?_

_Physic radar,_ Toby replied with a mental grin.

Sensing Jareth's confusion, he added, _it's an Aboveground thing, ask Sarah about it if you want to know the details._

_You certainly are full of surprises today,_ Jareth commented, _it appears that Selene's decision to choose you as my successor and Sarah's judgment about your abilities were right. _

Jareth paused for a second to recover his train of thought.

_Based on what I've seen from you so far, I assume that you already have an idea about what to do next?_ Jareth inquired.

Toby's response was to shoot a physic line out of his hand in the direction he had determined the Labyrinth's Heart to be. The color of his line was a brilliant blue, like the sky on a clear, hot summer day, so deep that one felt as if it was endless. Just like had happened when the Goblin King sent out his line, the Heart returned Toby's probe, establishing contact with the prince in less than a second.

Connecting to the Labyrinth like this felt exactly the same way it did when Toby was immersed in the Heart, warm, safe and loved. The feeling wasn't overpowering, merely supportive, warming Toby's heart and filling him with soft happiness.

_Enough Toby,_ Jareth's voice brought the prince back to awareness, _now that you have established contact with the Labyrinth's soul from outside the Heart, you should be able do it from anywhere within the kingdom. I want you to disconnect yourself and slowly come back to the outside world._

With reluctance, Toby gently unwound the Labyrinth's energy line from his arm and sent it back to where it had come from. He then detached the shield from his arm and left it to hang in the space in front of him. The single shield became two shields, then four, eight and so on, quickly replicating as they reformed back into their natural formation. The Goblin King's presence in his mind had withdrawn by this point and all that was left was for Toby to come back to the physical world. Flying back to his center, the prince allowed his awareness of the world of his conscious fade, bringing the feel of the outside world back with sharp clarity.

The sudden onslaught of sensations overwhelmed the twelve year old and Jareth had to rush to catch the prince before he hit the ground.

"Ugh," Toby groaned as he fought off the dizzy spell, "what was that?"

"After being immersed in your mind for so long, the outside world tends to overwhelm the inexperienced when they first come back," Jareth explained, helping Toby sit down in a nearby chair, "you'll be fine in a few moments. Just wait until you recover your equilibrium before trying to make any sudden movements."

"It feels like only a few minutes have passed," Toby commented.

"Time passes much more quickly than you would think when you are in your center," Jareth replied, "we have actually been at this for many hours."

"You have got to be kidding me," the adolescent grumbled.

"Now why would I do that?" Jareth innocently asked.

"That question doesn't deserve an answer," Toby snorted.

"Peach?" Jareth asked.

"What?" Toby blurted out at the Goblin King's abrupt change of topic.

"You need to regain your energy after all that you did today," Jareth responded, "learning how to use your mental abilities takes a lot of out a person."

Jareth held the ripe fruit out to the now starving boy. Toby didn't even hesitate, he snatched the peach out of the Goblin King's hand and gobbled it down with relish. Jareth chuckled and pushed the rest of the plate full of high-energy food at his heir, taking a handful of strawberries for himself. Between the two of them they cleared the plate in a few moments.

"Dinner will be in about an hour," Jareth mentioned as he strode out of the room, "I expect you to be clean and presentable, we're having guests."

_Wonder who is eating with us tonight?_ Toby thought as he quickly made his way to his rooms, _hopefully not those dull, haughty nobles that were visiting last week. I hope Sarah will be there, she always is able to make even the most boring and slow events so… interesting._

* * *

Sarah was in fact waiting for her little brother in his chambers.

"Hi squirt," Sarah greeted.

"Hey sis," Toby replied, "What's up? You coming to dinner?"

"I wouldn't miss this one for the world," she secretively answered.

At Toby's confused expression, Sarah added, "let's just say that some old 'friends' are coming to dinner tonight. Just don't tell Jareth about it, wouldn't want to ruin the surprise."

"I gotta see this," Toby smirked.

"Got to," Sarah corrected, "you are a prince after all, you need to speak like one."

"Whatever," Toby waved her off, "now get out of my room, I need to get ready."

"Aww, wittle Toby embarrassed to have his older sister in his room?" Sarah teased, taking to him as if he was still two years old.

"Sarah" Toby groaned, "go away!"

Sarah allowed herself to be chased out, laughing all the while.

"Sisters, can't live with them, can do without them most of the time," Toby sighed.

* * *

Part 3 will be up sometime this weekend. Please leave a review on your way out. 


	8. Year Four, Eighth Moon part 3

The Moon Mad King

By WhiteInfinity21

Disclamier: I don't won the Labyrinth.

Note: be on the lookout for flying lemons

* * *

Chapter 7- Year Four, Eighth Moon part 3

Sarah and Jareth were already seated by the time Toby arrived in the formal dinning hall. Despite the room they were in, both adults were dressed semi-casually. Jareth was wearing dark tan breeches, black, knee-high black leather boots, a light green silk shirt with embroidery on the cuffs and collar and dark brown vest with black trim going up the middle and on the sides. Sarah was wearing a simple forest green soft cotton dress with loose flowing sleeves from the elbow on down and a full skirt that would prettily swirl around her legs when she moved. A shimmering dark silver gauze belt was belted around her waist loosely, the swell of her hips the only thing that was keeping it from falling to the floor. The subtle touches on their clothing only enhanced the feeling of timelessness and wisdom from the couple.

Sarah looked magnificent in her simple finery, and judging by the frequent glances at her that Jareth kept on stealing, it was obvious that the Goblin King found her to be quite pleasantly distracting. Toby rolled his eyes, the Goblin King might be a grown-up but when his sister was around, Jareth became a moon-struck (literally), bumbling adolescent again.

"Ah Tobias. How nice of you to finally join us," Jareth called out when he spotted the prince lingering in the doorway.

"Oh give the kid a break Jareth," Sarah chided, "the guests aren't even here yet."

"Speaking of your guests, when can we expect them to arrive?" Jareth smoothly shifted his attention to his lover.

"Oh, they should be here anytime now," Sarah replied smiling.

Then Jareth heard the most wonderful sound. It was the most heavenly, enchanting and lovely thing he had ever heard. It was like liquid honey and ambrosia, it was pure music, it was... cursing?

"Oh goddess no," Jareth groaned in sudden understanding, "please tell me that it isn't who I think it is."

"Okay, I won't," Sarah smirked.

Helexa chose that moment to make her grand arrival. The harpy-siren hybrid glided into the dinning room in full-rant mode with a crowd of drooling males of several races trailing behind her. The halfling stopped her complaining when she caught sight of Sarah. Her dark amethyst eyes lit up and she swept over and swooped the Moon Child up into a hug.

"Oh Sarah, it has been far too long," Helexa fondly greeted, her now low, raspy voice at odds with the woman's stunning, exotic features.

With her blue-black hair that hung down below her waist, her dark amethyst eyes, fully-endowed figure, dark olive skin, and iridescent blue-green wings, the exotic beauty drew eyes to her figure wherever she went. To add to her allure, the siren-harpy also had fine, blue-tinged scales at her temples, in the hollow of her throat and along her collar bone. Her full smile revealed, sharp, needle-like teeth that pointed to a diet of mainly fish.

"Where is the rest of your band," Sarah asked looking back at the empty doorway.

"Cretan discovered a hidden bottle of whiskey in the rooms we were staying in and took it upon himself to drink the entire bottle," Helexa snorted, "the others are still trying to herd him up to the dinning hall."

_Great,_ Jareth thought grimacing, _only a day into their stay and the dwarf has already gotten into the alcohol. I pray that the evening passes quickly._

As if summoned by Jareth's thoughts, the dwarf came stomping into the room, the rest of his companions following closely behind. Cretan dropped himself into a chair and bellowed for some ale. Toby was trying to contain his laughter at the Goblin King's reaction to Sarah's old "friends".

The odd, child-like creature sat down between Toby and the dwarf, merrily chatting away. The tall, lanky goblin twins sat down next to Helexa who was sitting on Sarah's left. Jareth was at the head of the table with Sarah on his left and Toby to the right. The blond king sent a murderous glare at his lover before allowing a pleasant expression slide onto his face.

"My, it has been quite sometime since we last dinned," Jareth causally mentioned.

No one was fooled by the Goblin King's genial tone, it was common knowledge to all sitting at the table (with the exception of Toby who sat there confused by the undercurrents running between Jareth and Sarah's guests) that the last meeting between Jareth and the mismatched band of treasure hunters had ended in less than pleasant terms (for Jareth anyway).

"So," Jareth smoothly resumed, "what brings you to my kingdom this time?"

"We're following a tale about a priceless religious relic that had been lost in the depths of the Labyrinth," Kelin, the chobla, eagerly replied, "we think that it is in-"

"We're still not sure of its location and we will probably spend some days searching for it," Helexa interrupted, "but when our dear friend Sarah heard about our impending arrival, she immediately sent out an invitational for us to dine at the castle and catch up on what has happened in the years since we last met."

"Of course," Jareth drawled, "it was the polite thing to do after all."

"Indeed," Kelin piped up, "we would never miss the chance to see a fellow mischief maker."

The goblin twins snickered.

"Yes, well it turns out that our dear Sarah has outgrown that sort of behavior quite sometime ago," the Goblin King remarked.

_For the most part,_ he added silently.

"But enough chatter, the food is starting to grow cold," Jareth stated.

Taking their cue, the servants rushed over and removed the covers from the dishes that were spread across the table. Jareth's eyebrows rose as he took in the spread. There was spaghetti and meatballs, mashes potatoes and gravy, corn and peas, honey glazed yams, French fries, chicken-pot pie, fried onion rings, meatloaf, an odd casserole with cheese sauce and macaroni noodles, and something lime green cut into cubes that jiggled at the slightest jostle. Toby's eyes grew wide in delight as he saw the feast before him.

"Awesome!" he yelled, "I haven't had mac n' cheese, onion rings or green jello in years!"

"What sort of food is this?" Helexa asked poking the jello, it quivered in response, "is it even safe to eat?"

"Oh it's perfectly edible," Sarah answered, "I'm not surprised that you haven't come across many of these dishes. It's typical Aboveground fare from where I grew up."

"I see," the siren-harpy dubiously replied.

"This is delicious!" the chobla announced as he shoveled a revolting mixture of mac n' cheese, meatloaf, mashed potatoes and green jello into his mouth.

Jareth, Sarah and Helexa shuddered in disgust at the nauseating mixture.

The dwarf rolled his eyes as he continued to shove entire chicken-pot pies into his mouth from the pile he had amassed on his plate. The goblin twins had taken a bit of everything onto their overflowing plates and were currently lobbing peas at each other. Sarah was helping herself to the spaghetti and yams and added a bit of jello. Helexa was hesitantly nibbling on an onion ring, and discovering that it wasn't all that bad and plied a few onto her plate along with yams and a chicken pit-pie that was already there.

"Have some meatloaf and French fries," Sarah suggested as she saw that Jareth still had nothing on his plate.

Before he could stop her, Sarah had grabbed his plate and put a huge chunk of the disgusting meat dish and a good pile of French fries on it and deposited the plate in front of the Goblin King. Jareth curled his lip in disgust and shoved the food towards the chobla. Kelin happily added the food to his mixture and handed the plate back to Jareth.

"I take it that tonight's menu was your idea?" Jareth asked Sarah as he served himself some spaghetti and meatballs and some of the yams, those dishes being the only edible food that there was.

"Yup, figured that Toby deserved a special treat tonight," Sarah answered as she reached for the mac n' cheese.

Despite the odd selection of food and the guests that Jareth was less than thrilled to have, the Goblin King found himself enjoying the meal. Much as he loathed the group of treasure hunters, Helexa, Cretan and even the chobla made for amusing if not slightly interesting dinner companions. He reserved most of his attention for Sarah and Toby but more than once Jareth found himself being drawn into conversation with the others.

Everything was going just fine until the feud between the goblin twins got out of hand. It all started with Cretan insulting the intelligence of Kwi and Twi (the names of the goblin twins). In retaliation they threw a hunk of meatloaf at the dwarf, the meatloaf landing on Cretan's nose with a wet splat. The dwarf roared and hurled his entire plate at Twi and Kwi but it fell short of the twins and splattered food onto everyone on the left side of the table.

Helexa and Sarah sat there stunned. Slowly thier eyes narrowed and they glared at the offender that got their hair and clothing messy.

Toby decided that this was too good of an opportunity to pass up and shot a spoonful of mashed potatoes at Sarah, a big grin on his face. Giving in to the ineveitable, Sarah threw her mac n' cheese at Toby, getting some on Kelin as well. The chobla was absolutely delighted by the turn of events and threw a handful of the mishmash of food on his plate at Sarah and Helexa. The food started to fly across the table and Sarah noticed that Jareth was still untouched by the food fight.

_Well we can't have that now can we?_ Sarah gleefully thought.

Casually Sarah picked up a handful of mashed potatoes and gravy mixed with peas and smeared the concoction down the left side of the Goblin King's face. Jareth eyes, wide with shock, swiftly narrowed and he proceeded to dump his plate on top of Sarah's head. When the others noticed that Jareth was now game they decided that, despite the mashed potatoes and peas sliding off the side of his face, the Goblin King was not decorated with enough food for their tastes. As one they all threw all the food that they had in their hands at the Goblin King, successfully covering him from head to waist in splattered food.

The food fight lasted another twenty minutes until they had to stop due to the supply of food running out. Food was everywhere, on the floor, the walls, the ceiling, the furniture. The formal dinning hall was a complete mess and so were its occupants.

"Now that we have made a complete fools of ourselves," Jareth remarked peeling an onion ring from his hair, "how do you lot suppose this will be cleaned up, hmmm? It would hardly be fair to make the castle servants clean up this mess that you caused."

The Williams' siblings refused to looked abashed. Covered with splattered food they were not sorry for their part in the food fight the the goblin twins and the dwarf had started. Fwi and Kwi were cackling madly, Cretan had a smirk on his face, Kelin was beaming with

happiness and even Helexa was smiling despite all the food in her carefully groomed hair and wings.

"Well?" Jareth demmanded sweeping his hand towards the mess, "get working already."

They didn't budge and their smiles only grew wider.

Jareth snarled in disgust, "well if that's the case I suppose that you lot will be needing to wash off soon!"

Before they could react Jareth threw a brightly glowing crystal at them and in a flash of light they disappeared. Jareth knew that he shouldn't have done it due to the amount of energy it would take out of him but it felt damn satisfying to be able to get back at Sarah and her "guests" after that prank they had pulled on him almost five years ago. Sure, it was a petty move, but Jareth was known to hold grudges for years if it suited him.

A moment later Sarah appeared dripping wet and pissed off in a shaft of moonlight spilling in from one of the open windows.

"Enjoy your bath?" Jareth smirked.

"So much that I think that you should join the rest of us," Sarah growled grabbing the Goblin King by the arm.

"Now Sarah wait a moment," Jareth pleaded.

Sarah grinned nastily, yanked the Goblin King into the moonlight and transported them back to the freezing cold lake that she had just been dumped in.

"Hey look, Sarah's back!" Toby yelled as he spotted his sister come up.

"And look who I brought with me!" Sarah shouted back as Jareth surfaced sputtering indignantly.

"How nice of you to join us Your Majesty!" Helexa called.

"Why don't you join us for a swim?" Kelin chirped, "it is quite a lovely night for a midnight swim."

"Yes Your Majesty, feel free to join us as we_ swim_" Cretan menacingly gestured.

Jareth sighed as he took in the sopping wet group of creatures spread randomly around him and Sarah. The dwarf was obviously out for blood, the chobla didn't seemed fazed in the lightest and was apparently having great fun engaging Toby in a splashing war, the goblin twins were no where to be seen, Helexa was grimacing at having water in her feathers and Sarah... Sarah had a disturbing smirk on her face.

Jareth realized what her intent was just a second before she placed her hands on his shoulders and pushed down. Sarah knowing that Jareth would retaliate tried to make good her escape but one his hands got a firm grip on her right foot and pulled her under. She came up a few seconds later gasping for air as Jareth watched in satisfaction. The Moon Child took one look at the smug look on the Goblin King's face and sent a huge splash at him. Of course what happened next was completely predictable.

Jareth and Sarah got into huge water war, first pulling Kelin and Toby into the fray, then the dwarf, Twi and Kwi and finally Helexa as well. By the time they finally wore themselves out and crawled up onto the shore, the moon was starting to sink towards the western horizon.

Toby groaned at seeing how far away the castle was from where Jareth had dropped them. He was not looking forward to the long walk back. A sharp wind whipped by and Toby shivered, he _really_ wasn't looking forward to the long walk back. The thirteen year old wished that he could teleport like Jareth could.

"Hey J-man think you can magic us back already? I'm freezing my behind off over here!" Toby yelled at the Goblin King who was currently being fussed over by Sarah.

Jareth scowled at the nickname and wearily replied, "I don't have enough energy to get us all back. I can send you and possibly Sarah back, but after that I will be totally useless for the next twenty-six hours."

"Jareth you don't even have the energy to swat a fly!" Sarah scolded, "seriously, deciding to send us into the middle of the lake wasn't the smartest idea."

"Yes, but that wouldn't have been a problem if you hadn't invited this miserable lot over for dinner," Jareth shot back.

"They're my friends Jareth!" Sarah yelled, "you need to get over your jealousy already."

"I'm not jealous," Jareth pouted.

_I just can't resisit that bottom lip,_ Sarah thought as she captured said lip between her teeth and chewed on it lightly.

Jareth let out an appreciative groan. His hands started sneaking down Sarah's dress.

"Hey impressionable child over here!" Toby shouted, "stop with the kissy-face already!"

"God you are such a brat sometimes," Sarah groaned as reluctantly pulled away from the Goblin King, "okay Tobes time to get you back."

"About time," Toby grumbled as he walked over to Sarah.

Sarah grabbed his hand and both the Moon Child and the Goblin Prince vanished into the moonlight. Seconds later she reappeared and then returned the rest of the band of treasure hunters, one-by-one, until it was just her and Jareth left.

"My turn to hop on board the Sarah Express?" Jareth asked suggestively.

"Don't get any funny thoughts mister," Sarah warned as she took Jareth's hand.

Together they disappeared into the moonlight. Of course what she failed to mention to the Goblin King was that she had no intentions on returning him to the castle that night. But he didn't have to know that, he would find out in a few seconds anyway.

"Sarah why did you bring me here?" Jareth asked puzzled as he looked around.

"You can be too trusting sometimes Goblin King," Sarah stated.

"Is there any reason why I shouldn't?" Jareth retorted, smirking.

"Oh I can think of a few reasons," Sarah murmured.

"Do tell," Jareth drawled.

"Hmm, possibly because I have you trapped in the only Oubliette that has no way to get out from except by teleportation?" Sarah mused, "or is it the fact that I could leave you here for months before anyone could find you? I think that I really the idea of keeping you here for a few days as my prisoner."

"Did the thought ever occur to you that you could easily be trapped here?" Jareth countered.

"As long as I have access to moonlight, I can be anywhere I want to be," Sarah retorted.

"Ah, but the moonlight is no longer spilling in through the hole above," Jareth smirked, "you're just as trapped in here as I am love."

"How do you know that was exactly what I planned?" Sarah spoke in a low sultry voice, "I have you exactly where I want you. You are at my mercy Goblin King."

"Not necessarily a bad place to be," Jareth mused just before Sarah tackled him to the ground and immediately claimed his lips for her own.

"Mine," Sarah crooned, "only mine. My man, my Jareth, my lover."

"As you are mine," Jareth softly stated.

"Mmmm, yes," Sarah agreed, "but tonight,... well tonight you are _mine."_

"Mine," she growled.

"In-"

She sat up.

"every-"

Before he knew it, Sarah had flipped him onto his stomach and pinned his arms behind his back.

"single-"

Sarah pulled something from a hidden pocket in her still damp dress.

"way."

She snapped the handcuffs around his wrists.Jareth realized that he had been tricked struggled furiously against his bonds.

"Oh do keep on squirming lover," Sarah purred, "it only is making me more aroused."

Jareth sighed and gave up the fight. Obviously Sarah wanted to be in charge tonight and truth be told, he wasn't all that adverse to the idea.

"Good to know that you have realized your place prisoner," Sarah chuckled, "but I still need to do something before I can begin my_interrogation_."

Jareth shivered in excitement at the predatory tone of Sarah's voice.

"Hope you're ready lover," Sarah murmured as turned around.

"Sarah what-" Jareth yelped as he felt something tightening around his ankles.

Sarah lightly swatted his butt.

"The prisoner is to remain silent until further told," Sarah ordered.

Jareth mutely nodded and Sarah finished tying the rope around his ankles.

"Mmmm, much better," Sarah announced as she gently rolled him over and placed him in a sitting position against the stone wall, "there will be absolutely no escape for you."

Satisfied, Sarah took a moment to admire her handiwork. There the Goblin King sat, hands cuffed behind his back and legs tied together, absolutely helpless. His eyes were half-lidded and darkened with desire. He was so vulnerable like this but Jareth trusted Sarah with his life, he knew that she would never hurt him (any more than he wanted her to that is).

"I love you," Sarah whispered and tenderly kissed him.

"My heart is yours," Jareth replied.

"But now it's time for the interrogation," Sarah announced as she pulled back, reverting into her prison warden persona.

Jareth whimpered from the loss of contact as well as the promise laden words she used.

"So tell me Goblin King, do you realize what you're in here for?" Sarah drilled, leaning down, the front of her dress giving Jareth quite an eyeful.

"Well?" she barked grabbing Jareth by the chin and forcing to look her in the eye.

"Whatever it is, I'm sure that I'm guilty," Jareth purred, that sinful voice of his sending pleasant tingles down her spine.

"Ooh a tough guy," Sarah smirked weaving her fingers into Jareth's hair, "I know exactly how to deal with your type."

She yanked his head up and claimed his lips in a brutal, dominating kiss. Her tongue forced entrance into his mouth, sweeping along the interior and waging war with his own. It didn't take long to elicit a moan from her captive as she continued to nibble on his lower lip and stroke his tongue with her own before shoving it in as far as she could. Another moan was pulled out of him when she vibrated her tongue in his mouth, like one does when rolling their r's. Satisfied at his complacency, Sarah finally pulled back and smirked.

With his eyes drunk on desire and his lips swollen and red from her kiss, the Goblin King looked completely ravished.

_Yummy,_ Sarah thought.

"Are you willing to cooperate now tough guy?" Sarah demanded.

"Yes," Jareth whispered.

"Yes what?" Sarah taunted grinding her knee against his bulging erection.

"Yes Mistress!" Jareth gasped heaving his hips upwards, desperate for more contact.

"Good answer," Sarah rumbled, "now I ask again, do you know what you're guilty of?"

"No Mistress, I don't," Jareth replied.

Sarah pulled away from him again.

"Please," Jareth begged.

"Please what, prisoner?" Sarah responded.

"Please touch me Mistress," Jareth pleaded, "tell me what I did wrong."

"How can I deny the prisoner when he asks so nicely?" Sarah grinned, "but first, I think I need to remove some of that clothing you're wearing."

With that, Sarah slowly unbuttoned his vest and shirt, pulling them down along his arms leaving it to rest at his elbows, baring his glistening chest to the cool night air.

"Very nice," Sarah commented and then proceeded to drive Jareth into a wild frenzy with her hands and tongue.

She started at the hollow of his throat. Tracing it with her tongue, nipping with her teeth, blowing cool air onto his skin, lightly running her nails along his collar bone, she quickly reduced the proud Goblin King into a quivering heap. From his throat she moved down to his chest, attacking his flat nipples with her fingers and teeth. Rubbing, pinching, stroking, kissing and suckling, every thing she did to him only built up his desire, his moans, whimpers and quickly indrawn breaths indicating what effect her ministrations were having on him.

His arms were straining against his bonds as he wildly thrashed about as Sarah continued downward. Jareth in his lust clouded mind wanted to do nothing more than throw his teasing lover down and pound her until she lost all function of her limbs. But he had no chance of being able to do so, the handcuffs and his bound feet preventing him from being able to do anything but mindlessly flail around, seeking the release that Sarah was denying him.

Then, much to his dismay, Sarah suddenly stopped. She had a smug grin on her face as she stood up and took a moment to let Jareth stew in his frustration before speaking.

"You really want to know what your crime was?" Sarah asked.

Jareth let out a frustrated groan.

"You are guilty of theft," Sarah declared as her eyes fastened on the big bulge in her prisoner's pants, "a crime punishable by at least three months of incarceration. But I'm going to let you off easy and only keep you locked up for one night."

In one move, Sarah drew her arms out of the sleeves of her dress, letting it softly fall to the ground. Jareth's eyes fastened hungrily on her form, Sarah was wearing nothing under that dress but a small pair of lace panties. He felt his already aching errection hardening further.

"Poor little Goblin King, it looks like you have a little (or not so little) problem," Sarah teased stroking his erection through Jareth's pants, "all tied up and no where to go. Such a pity."

Jareth growled impatiently at her.

Sarah was starting to get tired of the foreplay. As satisfying as it was to watch her lover squirm helplessly before her, she was too wound up by now to continue teasing the Goblin King. Sarah wanted to ride him good and hard and she wanted to do it _now_.

With one sharp tug, Sarah pulled Jareth's tan breeches down and with a moan of relief from her lover, his swollen cock proudly sprang up.

"Not so tough now are we?" Sarah murmured as she pumped his shaft.

She rubbed her thumb over the tip of his penis, causing Jareth to gasp. Unable to help herself, Sarah spent a few more minutes playing with the Goblin King's cock. Her panties were beyond soaked now and the Moon Child could smell her own arousal. It was time to get down to business.

"Wanna know what you stole that got you into this predicament lover?" Sarah crooned.

"Sarah," Jareth growled, "please shut up and fuck me already!"

"As the prisoner requests," she replied.

Kneeling on all fours, with Jareth's body laying between her spread limbs, Sarah did a funny little wiggle, causing her breasts to bounce, momentarily distracted Jareth. Eagerly he fastened his mouth around one pert rosy nipple and started sucking on it. Sarah was too focused on removing her sopping wet underwear to reprimand him. She was getting nowhere fast as her lace panties were sticking to her legs as she tried to remove them. With a snarl of impatience Sarah ripped them off and flung them away.

Finally, with all barriers removed, Sarah wasted no time in lowering herself onto Jareth's cock, taking him all the way in. Both of them let out a sigh of relief. The Moon Child shifted about for a few moments, trying to find a comfortable position. She settled with wrapping her legs around Jareth's waist and got to work.

Bobbing up and down, Sarah rode Jareth's member, clenching her inner muscles tight every time she pulled up. By Jareth's enthusiastic babbling, he certainly was enjoying what she was doing and so Sarah upped the pace. While she was doing this, Jareth kept his mouth occupied by lavishing attention onto her breasts, Sarah's moans of appreciation spurring him on.

They came together, screaming each other's name, Sarah's tightly convulsing inner walls prolonging their organisms by several seconds. The blind, hot rush seemed to last for an eternity, but when it was over, Sarah lay panting on Jareth's chest while murmured sweet endearments to her.

"That wasn't too much for you was it?" Sarah asked with concern.

"It was wonderful love," Jareth reassured her.

Sarah made to get up to retrieve the key for the handcuffs from her discarded dress.

"Stay."

The single word from Jareth's lips halted her.

"But Jareth, I need to-" Sarah began.

"I don't care," Jareth persisted, "I like you right where you are. You're comfy."

"Yeah, but I'm the one on top," Sarah wryly pointed out.

"Mmmm, don't care," Jareth murmured, "you're warm. Don't move."

Sarah gave in. His stubbornness was just too cute to resist right now. With a happy sigh she snuggled back onto his chest.

"Much better," he sleepily purred.

"I still haven't told you what you stole," Sarah whispered.

"Oh?" Jareth asked, "and just what did I steal?"

"You stole my heart silly," she replied just as she was drifting off.

"The perfect crime," Jareth muttered as he too fell asleep.

* * *

Ok, it's a day later than I had promised, but homework, and my social life took up a lot of my time this weekend. As of now, I really don't have any idea when the next chappie will be done, it could be in a few days or in a few weeks. I will get it out before the end of February, so no worries about mutli-month spaces between updates again.

Reviews are greatly welcome and appreciated.


	9. Year Five, Sixth Moon

The Moon Mad King

By WhiteInfinity21

Disclaimer: I don't own the Labyrinth.

* * *

Chapter 9- Year Five, Sixth Moon

Everything was perfect. The food had come out exactly as he had ordered, the night was warm and balmy with a slight breeze, and the garden was in its full glory, the bright colors and smells of the flowers dazzling the senses. The Goblin King had his most competent guards posted at all entrances to the Queen's Garden to keep anyone from disturbing him and Sarah while they dined under the stars and the bright moon.

Candles and fairy lights were scattered across the garden, giving it a romantic, ethereal feel. Jareth had made sure that everything was perfect for Sarah tonight, it had to be. For he had finally, after five years, had mustered up the courage to ask Sarah a very important question.

The world held its breath as the air stilled. In slow motion Jareth watched shimmering motes of moondust gather in a swirling column. A dark shape slowly phased in, becoming solid as the figure transferred its matter from one place to another. Then in a blink of an eye the dust was gone and Sarah stepped out of the moonlight and walked into the shade of the ancient willow that Jareth was waiting for her under.

At that moment the Goblin King fell in love all over again. Sarah was dressed in a gauzy silvery-green, shimmering dress that went down to her knees and was held up by thin straps over her shoulders. She was barefoot and her hair fell unbound in sensuous waves to her waist.

Shyly Jareth's beloved looked up at him, a blush staining her cheeks as she took him in. He was wearing low slung, comfortable dark gray pants and an unbuttoned dusky blue cotton shirt that pleasantly exposed his nicely toned chest and stomach. The Goblin King was going for casual but sizzling sexy, a combination that was sure to distract Sarah all night. Her skin tingled as Sarah's imagination ran wild with ideas of what she would like to do to him in that getup.

The sly smile that her lips formed did not go unnoticed by Jareth and he eagerly anticipated Sarah carrying out those delicious ideas that she was surely making in that active imagination of hers.

Jareth offered Sarah his arm and she smoothly slid hers into his. Arm-in-arm he led Sarah through the small, chest-high hedge maze to a circular clearing that had a small, musical fountain in the center. A delighted gasp escaped Sarah's lips as she saw the small, intimate candle lit dinner laid out on a soft blanket near the fountain.

"Oh Jareth, this is wonderful," Sarah sighed.

He chuckled and led her over to the blanket. After they settled Jareth pulled out a bottle of thirty year old white wine from the ice bucket it had been cooling in. He uncorked the bottle with a small pop and filled two crystal wine glasses with the peach-tinged liquid.

Jareth handed one of the glasses to Sarah and offered a toast, "to our love."

"To our love," Sarah repeated as their glasses clinked together before both took a sip.

Once their wine glasses were emptied Jareth lifted the cloth covering a basket of warm butterrolls. He cut one in half and spread peach jam and sweet cream in the middle and handed it to Sarah. She gently bit into it, looking the Goblin King in the eye as she slowly licked off some sweat cream from her lower lip. Jareth swallowed his hungry growl and moved onto the next part of the meal.

Conversation between the lovers was kept light and they took turns teasing the other by feeding their partner food, brushing against the other in intimate ways and eating their food in a very suggestive manner. Both were humming with desire by the time they moved onto their dessert, a bowl of berries with whipped cream and chocolate sauce to dip the bits of fruit in.

By now their flirting teasing had deepened into full-blown, blatant sexual taunting. Sarah after watching Jareth roll a chocolate covered raspberry on his tongue in a manner that should be illegal was about ready to jump the Goblin King. Dinner had been satisfyingly romantic and sweet, but Sarah was ready to move onto the after dinner activities (read eight hour sex marathon). She moved to a crouching position and her muscles tensed, preparing to spring when- he pulled out a little black box from the picnic basket and got on one knee in front of her?

Sarah was totally caught off guard by this unexpected move.

"Sarah, while it is not custom in the Underground to do this, I find the Aboveground tradition of giving a female a ring to signify a man's intent to wed his woman very appropriate to us," he took her hand and spoke from the heart.

Sarah was staring at him slack jawed as he continued, "beloved, please accept this ring as a symbol of my love and intent to wed you."

_Oh Goddess, this can't be happening,_ Sarah frantically thought.

"Sarah, will you marry me and make me the happiest man in the Underground?" Jareth asked opening the small box and displaying a ring of intricately woven gold, silver and platinum metal threads.

"I…I…" she stuttered trying to compose herself.

He looked up at her with his heart in his eyes.

"Jareth," Sarah finally tamed her chaotic thoughts, "I love you, I really do, with all my heart and I will accept your ring as a symbol of our love, but I can't marry you."

"What?!" Jareth drew back as if stung, "what do you mean you can't!"

"I cannot tie myself to the Goblin Monarchy, my allegiance will always belong to the Moon," Sarah explained in a slightly strained voice, silently begging him to understand, "you must understand-"

"Understand what!" Jareth yelled, Sarah cringing back at his sudden fury, "understand that the woman who I believed had loved me refused to marry me? That you are refusing my suit for the second time?"

"But I do love you, I just can't-" Sarah desperately cried.

"Liar!" he accused.

"Jareth, listen to me!" Sarah demanded, teary eyed but determined, "you must know by now that as Moon Children we must be free to move about without hindrance. We go where we are needed, only answering to the Moon Goddess. We cannot be tied down to any one place or have duties that conflict with our nature. Your time as Goblin King is limited and your bond to the Labyrinth is already fading as your connection with the moon grows. You cannot deny these truths, deep down you already know this."

"You haven't changed at all, always making excuses, never willing to take responsibility for your words and actions," his voice was cold with fury, "you are still the same selfish, irresponsible, immature brat you were when you wished your brother away."

"What?" Sarah felt as if she had been stabbed in the back, "you can't mean that."

"Of course I do," Jareth snarled, "ungrateful bitch, only thinking about yourself. I can't stand to look at you anymore."

Sarah had had enough. She had tried reasoning with him only to be met with deaf ears. Ungrateful bitch was she! She'd show him just how much of a bitch she could be.

"And here I thought that you were a reasonable, decent person with a good heart. Obviously I was wrong. The man I thought I loved doesn't really exist," Sarah bitterly spat, "You are nothing more than a hot-headed, rotten, spoiled twit who throws temper tantrums and abuses your subjects when you don't get your way."

She started at him straight in the eye as she pronounced, "you're beneath me."

Jareth's body froze with shock as Sarah's cruel words broke his heart. The shock quickly gave way to anger again and the words were out of his mouth before he could think, "get out."

"What?" Sarah exclaimed.

"Get out!" he repeated louder, "leave!"

"If I leave, I'm not coming back," Sarah warned.

"Good, because I never want to see your deceitful face again!"

"Fine! I'm better off without you anyway!"

One minute she was standing there a few feet in front of him, fists clenched, anger and betrayal twisting her lips into a snarl as an invisible wind whipped her hair into a frenzy. Then the words spilled "fucking bastard" out of her lips and she was gone.

Jareth stood alone in the garden, their abandoned meal looking like a battlefield in the aftermath of a war. His jaw was tightly clenched and his hair had lifted off his head, a physical manifestation of his fury.

"Good riddance," he muttered. "Bitch."

He turned around to head back towards the castle.

The Goblin King only made it ten feet before he collapsed to his knees crying in despair.

* * *

Toby had never seen the Goblin King act like this before. When he was not brooding darkly, he was ranting and raving, storming around the castle and the Labyrinth. Many a creature cowered away from his fiery cursing and any goblin stupid enough to get near him in that state received a kick from the royal boot. And when he wasn't either brooding or yelling, Jareth morosely stared off into space, ignoring everything around him.

While the prince didn't know the exact cause of the wild, destructive mood swings currently plaguing the Goblin King, Toby had a hunch that it had something to do with that dinner Jareth and his sister had had in the garden over a week ago. He had been expecting to hear the sounds of celebration or at least some cries of passion as they made love coming from the garden that night as he went to sleep, but all he heard was lots of yelling followed by silence. Something had gone wrong, but the thirteen year old had no idea what had happened. Jareth refused to speak about it and the teen hadn't seen Sarah for over ten days.

The teenager had caught Jareth crying brokenheartedly in his chambers, behind locked doors a few times, but that was as close as he seemed to be able to get to the older man as he raged and despaired away. In fact, no one in the entire kingdom had seen either the Goblin King or Sarah for the last three days. Jareth because he had locked himself in his rooms and Sarah since she had figuratively had dropped off the face of the earth.

Jareth's duties were suddenly thrust upon the prince and the King's advisors as he stopped doing them. Even with their help, Toby barely was managing to keep the kingdom in one piece. He desperately needed Jareth to stop sulking and reassume his duties. At thirteen years of age, Prince Tobias had more maturity than the Goblin King had right now, though he had several centuries of age over the teen.

Toby hoped that they resolved whatever misunderstanding had sprung up between them, especially because the full moon would be rising in just two more days. He was worried what would happen to Jareth if he spent the night of the full moon alone, neither he nor Sarah, barring her first month back in the Labyrinth, had ever been alone when they had been consumed by the moon madness. Somehow he knew that Moon Children did not cope well with being alone in their most mystical yet vulnerable time, Toby had to get Sarah and Jareth back together before the moon madness overtook them or he feared that something awful would happen.

* * *

Jareth had never been so furious in his life. After all he had done for her, all the time they had spent together, this was how she repaid him? By breaking his heart anew? He had offered her the world and she had said no. There was only so much a person could take and Jareth had finally reached his limit. Sarah had gone too far!

If he ever saw her again it would be too soon!

His mood quickly changed from anger to sorrow as he realized again just what he had done in his pigheadedness.

He was absolutely miserable and his entire being was aching for Sarah. Oh Goddess he missed her so much. Sarah was right, he was nothing more than a spoilt, hot-headed fool, he should have listened to her back in the garden as she tried to explain things to him. Now he would never see her again and it was all his fault.

If he ever saw her again it couldn't be too soon.

* * *

Sarah sighed sadly. What was it about men that made them incapable of listening to reason? Sarah tried to explain things to him but she was sure that he had deliberately misunderstood what she had been saying.

Instead of acting like a reasonable adult and listening to why she couldn't marry him he yelled at her and told her to leave, that he couldn't bear to look at her deceitful face again. Despite his hateful words she wanted to go to him.

Sarah mentally slapped herself, _what am I thinking! He was the one who called a double-crossing liar, there is no way that I would demean myself anymore and go crawling back to him. _

If he wanted to apologize then he could come find her himself! Till then he could suffer on his own. She was better off without him anyway.

_Arrogant, stubborn jackass!_ Sarah internally ranted even as she wiped the tears that were still running down her face, _he'll realize soon enough that what I told him was the truth. He can go jump in the Bog for all I care!_

What did it matter that she missed him so badly that it hurt? So what if all she wanted to do was curl up in his arms? Jareth was a mean, nasty person that didn't deserve to lick the bottom of her shoes. It made no difference that she still loved him with all her heart. That she ached without him. None of it made any difference anyway…

Men are stupid.

* * *

Bah! Humans, fae, it don't matter what race they be, long-leggers are all the same. Their heads all too high up in the clouds to see what's happening at their feet. Always getting so caught up in their personal drama, unable to see reality. Fools the lot of them!

Take the Goblin King. He is a prime example of the narcissism and blind-sightedness that all long-leggers possess to some degree or another. Arrogant, haughty, self-important and utterly in love with himself, the rat who calls himself Jareth can't see past his hurt pride to see the big picture. The Goblin King was a fool if he ever saw one!

Sarah, ah Sarah.

Sarah on the other hand, while being more reasonable and perceptive than most of her kind was sadly too caught up in her stubbornness to be able to see the full truth either. Silly girl.

All this pain them two are suffering would easily be solved if they just went and talked to each other, but no! They both thought themselves as the wounded party and were unable to let themselves be the first one who threw in the towel.

What they both need is a good kick in the arse. Foolish long-leggers!

Not that he would be the one to administer the much needed kick to the king, oh no. He valued his hide and didn't fancy an experience with the Bog of the upfront and personal kind.

Besides, the fairies were starting to tear apart the ivy and eyestalks near the gate again. Those litter buggers had a date with the spray can or his name wasn't Hoggle!

* * *

Fwiend Sawah sad. Sawah and King have fight. King hurt Sawah, Sawah hurt King. Sawah misses King, King must miss Sawah. Ludo sad for Sawah.

Sawah should go see King. King needs Sawah.

Big Moon come soon. King and Sawah need to dance together under Big Moon. But Sawah too stubborn to go to King. Ludo need to find Toby, Hoggle and Bwother. Must get Sawah and King together before Big Moon. Make hurt and sadness go away. No longer be alone.

Ludo will help fwiend Sawah and King be happy again.

* * *

It was a lovely day in the Bog. The birds were singing, the insects were merrily buzzing away, there was nary a cloud in the sky and the sweet smell of roses and wildflowers filled the air.

In reality, the only bird song was the croaking of crows and the only buzzing insects were of the blood sucking kind that loved nothing better than to descend upon unwary travelers in black clouds, intent on making them absolutely miserable. A brown haze hung over the Bog and the only smell was that of the Bog itself. But Sir Didymus was an eternal optimist, always looking on the bright side of things (than and he had no sense of smell whatsoever).

_Aye, tis a sad day indeed when two people so in love quarrel_, Sir Didymus reflected while surveying the Bog for intruders, _it never ceases to amaze me when such a small misunderstanding can cause so much pain._

The wily old knight was, as usual, guarding the only safe passage across the Bog, keeping intruders from proceeding any further unless sanctioned by Sarah, the King or himself. The only time he was not at his post was when he was tutoring Prince Tobias about weapons and strategy.

It may not seem like it, but the rock bridge across the Bog of Eternal Stench was one of only three safe passages from the outer passages of the Labyrinth to the inner part. The first was only accessible by the royal family (and Sarah though Jareth didn't know it) and the second could be only be found by taking a left after passing through a specific invisible opening in the Endless Outer Corridor. The third was the Rock Bridge across the Bog.

The first passage could only be used by the King, his consort and the prince. The second was so hard to find that only one Runner had ever found it during Jareth's entire reign as Goblin King (some five hundred years, give or take a few decades). The third, the most well known and accessible one, was guarded by the Goblin King's most loyal retainer. It was an important job, one that Sir Didymus took very seriously.

The only he had ever failed at that particular duty was with Sarah and the only reason why he let her and her comrades by was because of his gut instinct. He had a feeling that the outcome of her run would be integral to the future welfare of the kingdom and so let her by to have a chance to reach the castle.

Sir Didymus didn't get such hunches very often. But when he did, he always followed them as his instincts had never led him wrong. A good warrior always listened to their instincts or else they would have a very short career indeed.

_Why when I was still a mere kit there was a time that my instincts led me to save an entire family of brownies from a rampaging blugger... but I am digressing. What is important is helping Lady Sarah and the King resolve their disagreement, _Sir Didymus thought as he heard a shrill scream followed by a loud splash, _besides, I am getting tired of fishing goblins out of the Bog._

* * *

"What, you want to know what I think? Well I'll tell you what I think."

A snore drifts up from below.

"I think that it stinks to be this geezer's hat! That's what I think!"

"Oh?"

"You meant about la chica de la luna loca and the King? Right."

"I don't see what the big fuss is about. So they had a lover's spat, no big deal. Now being stuck as the Wise Man's hat, that's what I call a bum deal."

The sound of quickly retreating foot steps can be heard.

"Hey wait! Where are you going? I'm not done talking yet!"

The Wise Man sleeps blissfully on.

* * *

"Didja hear?"

"Hear what?"

"King and Pretty Lady had a big fight."

"Fight? Like claw-cat and fang-dog?"

"No, more like biting faeries and grumpy gate keeper."

"Oooooh, that's bad."

"Yeah bad."

Silence falls over the two goblins.

Then a chicken walks past.

"Oooooh! Chicken!"

"Chicken?!"

"Chicken!!"

"Get chicken!"

"Get chicken! Get chicken!"

The cry spreads across the room and other goblins poke their heads and various other body parts in to investigate. The last thing that the chicken saw before it passed out from terror was a wall of giddy, excited and dirty goblins. Some of them were drunk as well, but then again, that's nothing new.

* * *

They tried, they really did. But two days just wasn't enough to meet and come up with a good plan to reunite the estranged lovers, let alone convince them to come out of isolation. Jareth still refused to leave his chambers and even Ludo, the one who knew Sarah's whereabouts most of the time surprisingly, had no idea where the Moon Maid was. The kingdom needed its king and the King needed his heart-mate. Both were missing the critical component that they needed to operate and if things weren't resolved soon, Prince Tobias feared that the Goblin Kingdom would sink into anarchy and chaos.

This was bad. If just one argument between the two resulted in this much confusion and potential for disaster, it was easy to realize why Jareth needed an heir so badly. The Goblin King was becoming unfit to rule the kingdom and would have to cede the crown over to his heir just on that fact alone. If Sarah had not been there to help guide Jareth as his awakening Moon Child nature emerged, the Labyrinth could have easily fallen to invaders by now.

It was all one big puzzle. The kingdom needed all three to operate now: Jareth, Sarah and Toby. Take one away and the entire thing falls to pieces. Sarah needed to be found and soon. She was the missing piece and she had to return to her place to complete the system.

Too bad that no one could locate her. All Toby and Sarah's friends could hope for was for the full moon to reunite the lovers out of necessity if nothing else.

* * *

An eerie silence fell over the Kingdom minutes before the full moon rose over the eastern horizon. Something was wrong, every creature in the kingdom could feel it. The tension in the air was thick. Something had been pulled tight and was liable to snap at any minute. Like normal when it came to matters involving the kingdom's two resident Moon Children, only a select few had any clue about what was happening. And the ones that did know had already gone underground, seeking shelter from the inevitable storm that was coming.

It was a haunting night. The silver light from the moon did not enchant like it normally did. There was something sorrowful about the silver orb in the sky, almost sinister if viewed from the right standpoint. This was not a night to be out and about, the normal safety granted to all under the full moon's influence by the two Moon Children deep in the throes of the moon madness was gone. Almost every creature was barricaded in their homes, nests or dens. Even the usual nocturnal animals were absent this night. Everything was unnaturally silent, tense. Fearful.

Then the muffling silence was broken by a pain-filled screech that came from the castle. It rang across the kingdom, sending a shiver down the spines of every goblin, sprite and other magical or intelligent creature in the Labyrinth. Something had snapped and that something was the Goblin King.

* * *

_Wrong, wrong, wrong! It is missing, gone. Hurts. Hurts so much. Where is it? My other half, my other soul? Why is it not here? I can't remember. Where is it? I must find it, she? Yes she, my other half. I must go to her, only she can make the tearing void go away. Oh Goddess it hurts so much, I have to hurry._

A figure stumbles out of a bed, half dressed and heads to the open window.

_How can I find her? I don't know where she is? Who is she? My other self? Who is she, why is she not here? I need her._

The figure, a man is crying as he looks at the rising full moon.

_Yes! The moon, Mother Moon can help me. Her light can guide me to my other soul. She can feel my soul pain. The goddess wants us to be together, to be one again. I must go to her. But how? She had not taught me how to use the moonlight in such a manner. I can do nothing unless I know how. I can't find her without the knowledge._

Despair fills the desperate man. He wants to jump out of the window and fly away.

_Fly away?_ The words trigger a memory that had been buried by the moon madness. An image of soaring silently under a star-strewn night. The feeling of the wind going through creamy white feathers, of it pressing against him as he dived after his unaware prey. His talons extended and snap! They closed around the shrew, breaking its spine before it even has time to struggle. Satisfaction fills him at his kill. He flaps away, landing on a nearby tree to consume his meal. A thin, sharply curved hooked bill rips into the warm, pliant flesh, tearing a chunk off. He swallows it in one gulp and tears another off. He continues until nothing is left. The hunger is abated for now.

He takes off, flying high above the forest. All he sees below him belongs to him. Here he is king. This is his land, his home. He rules both the skies and the earth. He is Master of everything below him. He is the Goblin King. He is….

The memory fades. But at last he has an answer. He will change into his other form and let the moon guide his wings to his other soul. His absent half.

He spreads his arms out as if to embrace the full moon. He can feel the change start to overcome him, the feathers erupting over his skin, his bones shifting, becoming lighter. His arms turning into wings, his legs shrinking, toes becoming sharp, curved talons. He is ready to become one with the sky, the night, to leave the earth below him entirely and follow the moonlight to his beloved.

Suddenly he comes up short. Something is holding him back, preventing him from fully embracing the moon. An inhuman screech comes out of his beak-like mouth. His vocal cords have already changed into that of a barn owl, he is incapable of making speech anymore.

He screeches again as he fights against the thing that is binding him to the earth. He cannot stand it! It is preventing from becoming a creature of the wind, the night, unbound by the earth below it. The more he fights against the bond that is holding him earthbound, the more pain he feels.

Something is tearing within him, it hurts so much. He has a feeling that something is wrong, that it is too soon for this to be happening, that he isn't ready for this. But he has no choice, the void in his heart and soul is devouring him. He must rid himself of this connection to the ground so he can become airborne and find his other soul.

His soul reaches out to the moon, taking strength from the goddess' light to fight against that which is preventing him from becoming an entity of the air. The bond stretches thin, grows too thin. It cannot stay intact against the pressure he is exerting on it. Then suddenly, without warning, it breaks.

Pain unlike anything he has ever felt before fills him. It feels as if something vital has been ripped from him. The physical pain is almost worse than the pain he is still feeling from being apart from his other soul. It is overwhelming, almost crippling. Desperately he reaches out to the moon, allowing Selene's light to fill and soothe the raw pain he is feeling from severing his connection to the earth.

Elation fills him. No longer is he in that nebulous halfway state. He is fully of the moon. Nothing holds him back anymore, he can join his beloved and never have to leave her again. Another screech, this time of triumph, comes from him. He opens his wings and takes to the wind, dipping, looping, spinning, doing an aerial dance to express his joy. He is now entirely of the moon, all he has to do is find his other soul.

He feels a tug on his wings. Instinctively he knows that it is coming from the moon. He follows the pull, the moonlight carrying him along on a silver wind making his flight effortless. Something drifts up to him from under the trees far away. It is a terrible, harsh sound. Full of despair and sorrow.

He listens harder. It is a song, of sorts. But instead of harmonious sounds, it is made up of harsh, dissonant screeches and wails. He has never heard anything so awful or sad in his life. He increases his speed, wanting to reach the source of the noise and make it stop. The wailing becomes louder as he gets closer and closer. It is making his bones rattle and his flight is becoming erratic.

The owl struggles to maintain control of its flight, letting out a frightened scream as he feels himself losing control. His sudden scream startles the creature that is the source of the wailing, causing it to stop. The owl awkwardly flaps, regaining control of his flight just meters above the trees. He is exhausted and can no longer fight the pull of gravity and the battering winds.

He finds a break in the trees and goes through. The pull of the moonlight is diminished under the forest's canopy but it is still strong enough for him to follow. Weaving around the trees he is coming closer and closer to his other soul. The void is disappearing. The pain is decreasing.

The woman dressed in a shimmering blue-silver gown sees the creamy white barn owl at the same time he sees her. She lets out a yell of delight and holds her arms open to him as he folds his wings and dives towards her. Just as he is about to impact he changes and collides with her, causing them to crash to the soft forest floor while he is laughing the whole time.

"My other soul, my beloved, we are together once more" he whispers awed as he buries his face in her dark, silky hair, "I love you, let us never again be parted."

"Jareth, my soulmate," she croons, her arms winding around him, holding him close as if to prevent him from ever leaving again.

Jareth throws back his head and lets out a wild, delighted laugh.

"Is it wonderful my Sarah," he tells her, "I have finally become full, become fully of the moon. Nothing can prevent us from being together anymore. We are the same now and can be as one forever."

"Good, good. We are finally right, finally whole," Sarah agrees, "look! The moon, it is glowing so brightly. Selene is beckoning, can you not feel it?"

"Then let us go," he got up and pulled her up after him.

The two glowing moon children walk over to the nearest beam of moonlight and step into it. They disappear in a flash, leaving the Underground behind them as they fly towards the moon.

* * *

The Labyrinth's shriek rattled Toby's bones as Jareth unexpectedly severed his connection to the maze. The physic shriek caused the prince to stumble, his hands shooting out in front of him barely in time to prevent his face from smashing into the stone floor. His nose was bleeding and his head was ringing in the after affects of the Labyrinth's cry of pain, but Toby knew that he needed to get to the Heart now. He stumbled about and swore every time he crashed into something his blinding headache preventing him from thinking straight.

An eternity later he stumbled into the closest tunnel that lead to the Heart and started running. There were no debris on the ground to make him trip, but more than once he stumbled over his own feet in his blind rush to reach the Labyrinth's Heart. Then he was there, falling face-first into the warm, soft sand that comforted and cradled Wish Aways as they were transformed into another state so they would forget their former lives and hardships Aboveground.

The Labyrinth was still in a pain-filled frenzy, caused by the sudden loss of its king and tightly clamped onto the Prince the second he landed in the multi-colored sand. Toby let out a strangled gasp and then went limp. There was no point in struggling, the Labyrinth would complete its connection with the teenager right here and now. With Jareth now lost to it, the Labyrinth needed the prince to fill in his role.

The sudden change was far too early for both the Goblin Prince and the Labyrinth, seeing as that Toby was nowhere near ready to take on the full responsibility of managing the Labyrinth and collecting Wish-Aways, but they had no choice now. Jareth's abandonment made it necessary for Toby to inherit the full connection to the Labyrinth that only the ruling monarch of the kingdom should have.

There was no finesse, no buffering against the sudden invasion as the Labyrinth filled Toby and completed the half-formed connection in a clumsy, hasty manner. It wasn't painful, just highly uncomfortable to Toby as he felt his bond to the Labyrinth solidify and become complete. Then it was over and Toby lay on his back on the sand gasping for air. He felt full to the bursting and overwhelmed.

His body couldn't handle the sudden change and was starting to go into shock. The Labyrinth could feel the prince's distress and instantly caused him to lose consciousness, barely averting the potential disaster that going into shock would have caused the thirteen year old.

The price for Jareth's premature freedom from the Labyrinth was too heavy and Toby had been the one who had received the punishment for the Goblin King's foolhardy actions under the influence of the moon madness. Things had radically changed pushing a burden upon the Goblin Prince that he was in no way prepared for. The consequences that Sarah and Jareth's fight in the garden twelve days ago had caused were devastating and the couple would learn of it the following day.

They would learn a harsh but much needed lesson, but at too high of a price. Their hurt pride had caused this and Toby had been the one to pay the price. What was done was done and could not be reversed. The only thing that they could do was to try and make things easier for Toby as he adjusted to his sudden change. But they could never fix their mistake, could never make things right, much to the guilt, regret and despair of all.

To be continued…

* * *

Wow, that was really draining to write. I hadn't intended to write that last scene with Toby in that way, but I won't change it. It is heavy and depressing and next chapter you will get to see the fallout from the events on the night of the full moon. Warning, it will be dark and a bit angsty as will the next few chapters after it.

This fic is about halfway through, only five more years until Toby's 18th Birthday, and from now on things will get much harder for Jareth as he starts to sink into madness and depression. This is all part of the plot, since I am trying to stick to the events described in the song in Moonlight Madness. Stick with me and I promise that none of you shall be disappointed in the way this saga ends.

Please tell me about your thoughts on this chapter before you move on to the next Labyfic, reviews help inspire me and make me write faster.


	10. Year Five, Seventh Moon part 1

The Moon Mad King

By WhiteInfinity21

Disclaimer: I don't own the Labyrinth.

* * *

Chapter Nine- Year Five, Seventh Moon

Toby awoke in the labyrinth's heart with a pounding headache and a parched mouth. It felt like he had been run over by a steamroller. Something… something terrible and unexpected had happened last night, but it was just out of reach. The prince felt different, as if he had been bruised all over both inside and out. Everything ached and tingled all at once. His senses were supercharged and horribly sensitive, it felt like a hot electrical current was running just beneath his skin.

"Oh Gods," Toby moaned as he sat up, errantly brushing off the sand that was clinging to his cheek.

The Labyrinth's Heart pulsed around him in evident concern. The previous night had been too taxing on the young prince, the boy had not been ready in any sense of the word to have the full burden of the Goblin King's magical powers thrust upon him at once. But the King's moon madness driven severing of his connection to his kingdom left the Labyrinth with no choice.

There had to be someone to be able to take care of the Wish-Aways, to manage the vast, twisting corridors of the maze and oversee the trials of the Runners as they tried to win back that which they had wished away. If Jareth hadn't taken Sarah's younger brother as his heir, there would have been no one to take on Jareth's abandoned duties. Toby had had the full magical duties of the Goblin King thrust upon him long before he was prepared or be able to take them on.

But what had happened over the course of the night was just the beginning of the young prince's troubles, for just moments later he felt it- that strange tingle/itch that meant that someone was about to wish a child away. But the sensation he was feeling now was ten times stronger than he had ever felt before. It felt like bugs were crawling under his skin, disturbing and slightly painful.

"**I WISH THAT THE GOBLINS WOULD COME AND TAKE YOU AWAY RIGHT NOW!"**

The words shook the very foundation of the Castle in the Center of the Labyrinth and rattled Toby's bones. He felt the magic of the Goblin King surround him and then he felt himself move _elsewhere_.

* * *

The first thing that hit him when he appeared Aboveground was the coppery scent of freshly shed blood combined with the stench of recently emptied bowels that was overlaid by a haze of terror, violence and death. Next the terrified shrieks of a set of young children reached him, his head instinctively whipping around to locate the source of the sound.

The prince had barely avoided retching when he first caught the myriad of smells that permeated the deceptively comfortable and normal domestic scene that had been transformed into a setting of horror and violence. When his eyes swept from the soiled, terrified children who were huddled in a corner to the children's parents who were lying in a puddle of blood in the entrance to the kitchen he emptied the meager contents of his stomach all over the cream colored shag carpet at his feet.

The thirteen year old had not had a sheltered childhood before he wished himself away to the goblins. He had experienced or seen all manner of things since becoming the Goblin Prince five years ago, but this was the first time he ever experienced death first hand. Toby fought the urge to retch again, trying to pull himself together so he could help the Wish-Aways.

Shakily he approached the sobbing children and tried to make sense of their terrified babbling that broke out once they realized that he was there to help. It took awhile to get them to calm down enough so that there was at least some coherency in their grabled speech, but slowly Toby was able to piece together the story.

The children's parents had divorced just seven months ago and after a bitter court battle the father had won sole custody of the children. The mother was a dangerous alcoholic that had come close to physically abusing her children on several occasions. After the divorce was settled the father moved to a different state and had got a restraining order against his ex.

Apparently the threat of jail time wasn't enough to deter the woman for long since she had barreled into their home around midnight. She had been clutching a bottle of vodka in one hand and was yelling and swearing at the father that he had stolen her children. The father had calmly told his children to go to their room and not to come out until he told them that they could.

The children, frightened by their angry, drunk mother needed no convincing and retreated to the shelter of their room. Once the children were gone the man had tried to reason with his ex-wife but the alcohol and her fury made her deaf to his words. A few seconds later there was a terrific _bang!_ followed by an ominous thud. The children, frightened for their father had rushed back into the kitchen and were met with a chilling sight.

Their mother was holding a gun and had shot their father in the chest. The woman had heard the children's approach and let out an angry, slurred growl as she raised the gun in a jerky movement and pointed it at the kids. The father, blood rapidly falling out through the hole in his chest, lurched to his feet and with a strength borne out of desperation and fear tackled the mother. In the resulting tussle for possession of the gun, he shot a bullet straight between the mother's eyes, splattering blood and bits of brain matter all over the room.

During the fight, the children had shrunk back into the corner opposite of their parents and had watched the entire thing with wide eyes, their small bodies frozen with fear. With his last breath the father had wished his children away to the goblins, knowing that their king would take care of them after he died.

Toby had arrived just moments after the man made his death wish and had promptly threw up, not being prepared for the scene that awaited him as he went to retrieve his first set of Wish-Aways. Once he had the entire story he gathered the children up in his arms and staggered under their weight. Light as they were the prince was still just a child himself, and he took a few seconds to balance himself before transported them all to the Labyrinth's Heart with the sound of police sirens off in the distance.

Once in the heart, the Labyrinth's magic instantly went to work, transforming the children into their new forms, wiping their memories of their life Aboveground and the horrific scene of their parents' deaths all at once. Prince Tobias suddenly bereft of all strength and willpower, still in shock from what had happened curled up in the middle of the Labyrinth's Heart and cried until he fell into a restless, nightmare plagued slumber.

* * *

Sarah for the first time in weeks woke up in the arms of her lover. It was a wonderful feeling, waking up like this, being surrounded by Jareth's love for her. She felt safe and warm, like nothing could go wrong. Their terrible fight seemed like a distant dream, like it had never really happened. The moon madness had done what no one else was able to do, forced them to look past their hurt feelings and pigheadedness to be able the simple truth. They needed each other, separate they were incomplete and became ailed by a malady of the soul.

Jareth stirred. Sarah breathlessly watched as his lovely bi-colored eyes fluttered open and fastened on her smiling face, warmth and love filling them both. Jareth drew her up and planted a soft kiss on her lips, a soft, happy smile curving at the corners of his mouth.

"Fair morning Sarah dearest," Jareth greeted.

"Fair morning Jareth mine," Sarah replied.

"Last night was… magical, beyond the ability of spoken language to compare," Jareth was so content, happy just to be in his other soul's presence. He didn't want to move at all.

"Yes, yes it was," Sarah agreed, "But I don't understand why Selene seemed so disappointed in us."

"Don't worry about it my love, instead rejoice that nothing separates us anymore, all barriers between us are gone. Forever," Jareth murmured.

"All the barriers between us are gone," Sarah weakly repeated, her face going pale, "Jareth just what did you do last night?"

A faint, puzzle look came across the Goblin King's face.

"My soul was aching for you so much, I had to find you no matter what. But I didn't know how to find you, then I realized that I could fly and the moon would guide me to you," Jareth was rambling, "but something was preventing me from flying away, keeping me from leaving the castle. So I pulled hard against what was keeping me ground, pulled so hard that it snapped. It hurt, but I was finally able to fly. I became complete, the same as you. Then I heard your song of sorrow, of despair and I found you. The soul ache was gone in that moment, then the Goddess called us…"

"Jareth? Just what do you mean that you pulled so hard that it snapped?" Sarah frantically asked, "what snapped Jareth? I must know."

A minute passed as the lines of confusion on Jareth's forehead deepened. Suddenly a look of distress crossed his face.

"Oh Goddess what have I done?" Jareth moaned.

"Oh Jareth you didn't," Sarah whispered, then she realized something, "oh no, Toby!"

"We have to get back to the castle right now," Jareth got up and summoned his magic to transport them back but found he couldn't.

"What is it? What's wrong?" Sarah demanded.

"The Labyrinth's magic, it's gone, I cannot transport anymore," Jareth replied in a pained tone, "and since the moon has already set, we will have to get back to the castle on foot."

"How far away are we?" Sarah hated to ask the question.

"At least five hours and that is if we don't make many stops," Jareth was already striding off, "we have to hurry, who knows what could happen."

Sarah silently agreed and hurried after him. They had to get back to the castle before something bad happened.

Too bad that they were already hours too late.

* * *

The castle was quiet when they entered. Too quiet. The buzz and chatter of the castle servants, the crashes, bangs and screeches caused by the ever-present goblins, the clatter from the kitchen and washroom, all was strangely muted or missing entirely.

"What's going on?" Sarah asked worriedly.

"Something happened," Jareth noted, "it's too silent."

"Where is everyone?" her words echoed off the walls of the empty entrance hall.

"I intend to find out," the King replied and strode off toward the throne room.

The mostly clean throne room (Sarah having put her foot down years ago, she was sick of walking over garbage and other things that didn't bear thinking about) was void of its usual entourage of goblins. So was the central hall, the mess hall, the public library, the main conference room, the ballroom, and the King's dinning hall. The normally bustling kitchen, washroom and servant's quarters were sparsely populated and the few servants that could be found were working in a hushed, almost listless manner.

The more places within the castle they looked, the more worried Sarah grew. Where was Toby? The Moon Child had a sinking feeling that something bad had happened to her little brother.

Frustrated after searching for almost two hours without any sign of the Goblin Prince, Sarah and Jareth split up. She headed upstairs to the royal wing and Jareth went off towards the soldier's barracks and training grounds.

After poking her head into what seemed the millionth lavish suite in the royal wing, Sarah had come to the conclusion that Toby was most definitely not located in one of the usual places he could be found in.

_Where is he?_ Sarah was past worried by now.

_There is only one place left that I can think of,_ Sarah thought, _oh Toby! Please be there!_

And with that she dashed out of the room and up the lonely, narrow flight of stairs at the far end of the royal wing.

* * *

When Jareth entered the common area of the barracks, the lone goblin in there was so startled to see the Goblin King that he dropped the piece of amour he was fixing, causing a loud clatter as it hit the floor.

"Yer majesty! What are ye doing he-" the creature abruptly cut off as the King raised an eyebrow, "I means, how can I help ye, majesty?"

"Have you seen the Prince recently?" Jareth asked.

"Ummmm," Jareth could tell that it was taking all of the creature's mental capacity to think of an answer.

"Nope!" he concluded brightly, "haven't seen fur nor scale of the Prince, nor have the others."

The Goblin King sighed, "that'll be all Glik. Go back to your repairs."

"Yessir!" Glik happily saluted, hitting his head so hard with his oversized hand that he knocked himself out. The goblin hit the floor with a thud.

Jareth sighed again, and left the room.

It was probably a good thing that there were hardly any goblins around. With the mood that Jareth was currently in, the Goblin King was likely to kick first, ask questions later. His exasperation and worry had combined to form an almost palatable dark cloud around him. Exasperation from searching so long without seeing hardly anyone, his worry for Toby (Jareth knew Sarah could take care of herself, the woman had a mean right hook, he knew from experience).

His feet ached, unused walking around so much. In the past if he needed to get somewhere fast, he usually transported or flew, depending on his mood and the urgency of the situation. The repercussions of his actions last night under the influence of the moon madness were really starting to sink in. He had severed his magical bond with the Heart, so he could no longer use the magic that the bond had bestowed upon him. All he had left was the magic he was born with and what talents he would develop as his Moon Magic grew. In other words, he was grounded unless the moon was up in the sky.

He hoped that Sarah was having better luck with her search than he was. There were a few more places on the castle grounds that he would check, but Jareth had little hope of finding Toby there.

The sound of his boots hitting the cobblestones echoed eerily as the Goblin King headed towards the private royal gardens. Like the castle, the grounds were devoid of any higher forms of life (though Jareth felt that goblins didn't fall into that category).

_This is getting me nowhere,_ Jareth impatiently thought.

Abruptly he turned around and headed back to the castle. Jareth somehow knew that the boy would not be found on the castle grounds, looking for Toby outside the castle would be pointless. There were only two places left unchecked that Toby could possibly be: in the Heart or in the place where Jareth himself often went to escape from the stress of his duties as the Goblin King.

While inspiring a feeling of safety and protection, the Heart was not a place that Jareth had visited often. For him, the Heart was like a womb, dark, warm, comforting, but the main purpose of the chamber, to transform human children into other beings so they can live in the Labyrinth, made the Goblin King avoid the place for what it represented; the carelessness and cruelty of humans.

No, Jareth knew that Toby would not be in the Labyrinth's Heart. That left only one place where the prince could be. The Goblin King nudged open the big, intricately carved wooden doors that separated the royal wing from the rest of the castle and slipped in.

The doors closed silently behind the King as he purposely strode down the long hallway.

* * *

He knew they were on their way up, that they had finally discovered his hiding place. He couldn't say exactly how he knew, he just did. Just like he knew that the castle was eerily empty, was silent like a tomb. But that was the way he wanted it right now. After what had happened he wanted the solitude, the utter absence of the normal clamor of the castle.

He could hear the sound of her footsteps echoing up the narrow spiraling stairwell, disturbing the stillness of the tower room. He wanted to be alone, but they didn't know that of course. Not after _he_ severed the bond, leaving him to suffer the backlash.

A second set of footsteps, much more distant than the first, could be heard now. The closer set of footsteps stilled. _He_ must have found her. The murmur of the quiet words they exchanged drifted up to him, further disturbing his solitude. It irritated him, _they _irritated him. _They_ were the ones that were ultimately responsible for what he had gone through.

His irritation started to swell, turning into anger as the emotion became hot. How dare they disturb him? Especially after what they did. They were the last people he wanted to see, he would even welcome the company of a mindless, destructive goblin over their presence right now.

The two sets of footsteps started up again, drew constantly closer as they climbed higher and higher. They were right outside the door to the room at the top of the tower. He suddenly wished that he had had the foresight to lock the door. Nothing barred their way, nothing was present to keep them from invading his refuge.

He wanted to be alone. But they didn't know that.

Later he wished that they had known, perhaps it would have averted all the suffering that was to follow.

* * *

The door groaned jarringly as it opened, finally shattering the unnatural stillness that had fallen over the castle.

Sarah and Jareth, upon entering the room felt a sudden trepidation. Toby's back was to them as he continued to gaze out of the open window. They could see the tension in his shoulders and knew that they needed to tread with caution.

"Toby, we were so worried," Sarah softly murmured, "I'm so glad that you're alright."

Toby stiffened.

"I'm not alright," he growled, "no thanks to the two of you."

"Toby!" Sarah exclaimed, "I-"

Jareth cut Sarah off and spoke to his strangely silent heir, "I know. We know that we, no that I did something horrible and that it affected you negatively. But please, you must tell us what happened."

"You want to know what happened?" he softly asked, "well thanks to your little _spat_ and your inability to swallow your pride and admit that you were wrong, you forced something onto me that I was in no way ready for."

The young teen went silent again. A grim frown crossed his face though his sister and the Goblin King couldn't see it as his back was still turned to them. He knew that if he saw their pitying faces he would say something he shouldn't.

"Oh no," Sarah whispered horrified, her hands clasped in front of her face as the unspoken implication of his words sunk in, "Toby, I'm so sorry."

"We acted stupidly and without thought," was Jareth's bitter self-recrimination, "I failed you and I failed my kingdom. I'm not fit to be the Goblin King anymore."

Their sympathetic and self-pitying words finally caused Toby's tenuously held fury to erupt. He whirled around eyes and magic blazing.

"Yes, you failed! You failed me! You were stupid and reckless Jareth!" Toby yelled, then he faced his sister, "and you're no better than he is! If you had acted like the sister and friend you're supposed to be then Jareth's stupid actions never would have happened in the first place!"

"Toby, there is no need to bring Sarah into this," Jareth reprimanded, "she had nothing to do with what happened to you, don't blame her for what is entirely my fault."

"Don't you dare defend her," Toby's growl reverberated across the circular room, "she's as much to blame as you are Goblin King. If it weren't for her pig-headedness and refusal to admit that she could be wrong, the two of you would have never been in the situation that caused Jareth to sever his magical connection to the Labyrinth to go seek you out."

"Tobias," Jareth warned.

"Don't you dare say anything. You have no right to judge me!" Toby shouted.

The prince's control over his unnaturally increased magic was fraying. His fury was combining with his still unstable magic and was causing the entire tower to tremble.

Jareth was instantly on the alert and alarm bells rang in Sarah's head. With the moon not in the sky neither Sarah nor Jareth had any access to their moon magic. If the Prince's magic exploded they had no way to defend themselves.

"Toby calm down, please!" Sarah's fearful plea cut through the red haze that was clouding his mind.

"Get out, get out now," Toby growled, "I may still love you as my sister but right now I hate both of you."

Jareth took Sarah by the arm and swiftly backed out of the room with her. The tower was still shaking as Jareth closed the door and continued as they hurried down the stairs.

"Oh Selene, I'm an awful person," Sarah sobbed when they got a safe distance away from the tower, "how could have I been so selfish that I ignored my only brother?"

"No you're not," Jareth corrected as he drew her into his arms, "you're not perfect but you're not an awful person. You're only human and therefore fallible, just like I am."

"But I'm not even human anymore! Becoming a Moon Child was supposed to make me a better person, but I'm still the selfish, spoiled brat that I was when I was fifteen," Sarah's tears were soaking his shirt but Jareth didn't care, she needed to get it all out or else she wouldn't be able to help Toby when he finally calmed down.

"Stop degrading yourself, you are a wonderful, caring person," Jareth comforted her, "I'm a lucky man to have you and I never want you to forget that. We just made a series of bad choices that had consequences that no one could have predicted."

"Everything will turn all right," he murmured, "I promise."

Somehow neither Sarah nor Jareth could really believe that.

* * *

I live!

Yes, after months of stagnating on my computer, I have finally finished this chapter of Moon Mad King. I'm sure that I'll be receiving a few death threats if I don't put the next one out soon, but the Halloween fic that I'm slowly working on should satisfy you all.

Please leave a review on your way out!


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