Disclaimer: Of course, I bow to Jim Henson for his creation of the 
Labyrinth and all its wonderful characters. Roy, Irene, and Joey are 
mine, but that's about all that's original. The concept I'm going for 
with Capri's is what happens at Joe's Crab Shack…and if you haven't 
been there before, I highly recommend going there at least once in 
your life.

For those of you who have been wondering, SARAH IS IN THIS CHAPTER!!! 
But not for very long, but I promise, after this chapter, she is 
almost the main character; okay, she and J share time, but anyway, 
they eventually will meet, but not until around Chapter 8. But please 
don't let that discourage you from reading/responding. ~Alorin


"The Thief, The King, and The Son" By Alorin Danya

Chapter 4: What's In A Name?

Jareth and the Carlson's sat down at a booth, the menus spread before 
them. Though people were merely sitting at tables, and a few waiters 
and waitresses were balancing trays between tables, the noise was 
unbearable. There was loud music going and every thirty minutes the 
waiters were required to put on a performance--dancing the Macarena 
or the like. They had entered Capri's during one of these acts, so 
it had been difficult to ease past the waiters to get to their 
table. Jareth found the place to be a bit unnerving, and he sat 
ridgely, having not been around so many people at once in nearly a 
thousand years. If he could, he would have vanished everything 
chaotic from the room, but that was no longer in his power. 

He tried to focus on the menu instead of the multiple things going on 
around him and Irene noticed his discomfort. "Your majesty, are you 
okay?"

Jareth smiled at her, "Irene, if I am going to fit in with this 
world, you must not refer to me by my title."

"Oh." She smiled, but shifted uncomfortably in her seat.

"I must confess, I'm not used to seeing so many noisy bodies in one 
place. Not even the goblins were this active-accept they were quite 
capable of creating chaos."

Irene laughed, "This is nothing. It's just a restaurant. Just wait 
until you get to a nightclub. Now those places are really wild."

Jareth looked confusedly at the menu; there were pictures of the food 
but everything was unfamiliar to him, "What cuisine do you suggest? 
Let it be anything but chicken."

"Why not chicken?" Roy asked, sipping on his beer.

"Because we have them in my world and nothing much else."

The man laughed, "Let's get you the all American favorite then, a 
cheese burger."

Irene whined, "Roy, isn't that too common? Shouldn't he try something 
like filet minion?"

Jareth smiled weakly and shook his head, "I'll try this cheese burger…
mostly because I cannot pronounce the other."

After they took their order, Roy cleared his throat, "So, about 
tomorrow's job hunting. I'll give our niece a call in the morning, 
see what she has available."

"Available?" Jareth asked.

"Sarah's a temp agent." Irene added, "She finds people jobs. The 
dear helped us out with so much when we needed it. I'm sure she'll 
find something for you."

"Sarah." Something about the name, hearing himself say it tickled the 
back of his mind and images of the girl from the pictures in their 
apartment surfaced, "The girl with dark hair from your photographs?"

"Yeah," Irene said, then frowned in thought, "She's the one who has 
told Joey the stories about you."

Jareth cocked an eyebrow in confusion, "I do not know her, unless 
perhaps she was wished away herself. But I've kept all the children 
wished to me the past two decades."

"What did you say your kingdom was called again?" Irene asked 
suddenly.

"The Labyrinth."

She nodded, "That's what she called it."

The girl from the pictures was certainly not old enough to have had a 
child of her own to have wished away, and none of the children wished 
to him years ago had been named Sarah. "How does she know?"

"She let Joey borrow her book once that has the story of the 
Labyrinth in it." Irene added hopefully.

"She has one of the books!" Jareth straightened his body and sat up.

"What is so important about a book?" Roy asked before again sipping 
his beer.

"There are only four books in existence that connect your world to 
mine--essentially connecting them through my kingdom. If I can get 
to the book, I might be able to get back to my world."

"Wonderful," Irene said.

Jareth stood up to leave, then looked down at them when they didn't 
move, "Well, come on."

"We haven't eaten yet." Roy said, then looked around to make sure no 
one was paying attention to them. "Sit down. Don't be in such a 
hurry. I'll call her when we get home."

Jareth remained standing for a moment, glaring at the man for being 
so forward with him again, but he sank back into his seat, "I hope 
for your sake delaying does not hinder my return. I have been away 
for a day already and do not know what the Labyrinth will do without 
me there to control it."

"Why, what could happen?" Roy asked.

"It is a live being. It spreads like a vine, destroying everything 
it touches as it grows. You could say I am its gardener and keeper." 
Jareth frowned, "The other kings of the Underground prefer for it to 
remain in its own territory. If it gets too out of hand, they have 
the combined power to destroy it, thus kill all who live within. As 
king of my people, no matter how loathsome they are, I cannot allow 
that to happen."

* * *

Sarah rang her hair out with a towel before flipping it and brushing 
her fingers through it to loosen the tangles. She never bothered 
with blow-drying it; hot air only caused damage and she was proud of 
her healthy long locks. She heard the phone ring but hardly gave it 
a second thought--there were three other people in the house who 
could answer it.

A few seconds later she heard a knock on the door, "Hey, Sarah, it's 
for you." Her eight-year-old brother said through the door. She 
cracked it open only enough for him to fit his hand through and give 
her the receiver, "Thanks, Tobes. Hello?"

"Sarah, it's Joey." She heard her younger cousin say with urgency.

She smiled, "Hi, I haven't seen you in ages. Is something wrong?"

"Yeah, they're letting him stay here, like it's all okay and he's 
normal."

"Who?"

"Jareth. He's exactly like you said he'd be."

Sarah blinked and swallowed, then shook her head, her voice 
shaking, "Excuse me?"

"The Goblin King, he's here."

Sarah tried to remain calm, ignore what her cousin was telling 
her, "Joey, does your mother know you are making prank calls?"

"This isn't fake, Sarah." Joey moaned.

"Put her on, NOW!"

"I can't. She's out to dinner with dad and HIM. He's got `em brain 
washed or somethin'."

Sarah was pissed-off at her cousin for doing this, "Joey, this isn't 
funny. If you…"

But he shouted, "Fine, don't listen to me either."

Sarah didn't know if she was relieved or angered further that he hung 
up on her. Her heart was in her throat at even hearing mention of 
the Goblin King. Joey knew how she feared and hated the monarch of 
the Labyrinth, and his joking around like this was not funny. He 
didn't know how much hearing that name hurt her.

She stared blankly into the mirror as she ran her fingers over her 
neck, thinking back to the last time she had seen the Goblin King--
the only man she'd ever loved.