Title: The Hilariously Funny Forbidden Labyrinth (Part 1/1)
Author: Puck
Email: Mish_S_Mail@yahoo.com
Spoilers: FG and Labyrinth
Rating: 15- language and innuendo

Summary: What happens when the kooky stars of your favorite
trilogy get wished away into the magical mystical labyrinth of the
goblin king. .

THIS IS A PARODY!! DON'T CRUCIFY ME FOR POKING A LITTLE FUN.
THERE ARE NO SACRED COWS. EXCEPT BESSIE BUT LEAVE HER OUT OF
THIS!!!

*DISCLAIMER* The Forbidden Game Trilogy and all characters (Dee,
Jenny, Julian, Audrey, etc.) are the creations of L.J. Smith and
not me. The Labyrinth and all characters (Jareth, goblins, etc.)
are all of Jim Henson's and belong to the guy that owns the
copyright to Labyrinth. I am making absolutely no money at all on
this fanfic, I just really love Labyrinth and L.J. Smith and think
that they belong together. Here is a list of the "Players":

Jareth: The Goblin King, he rules the underground in which the
goblins dwell and in which people go to when they are wished away
by saying 'the right words.

Julian: A shadow man from one of the nine worlds (Neiflheim) in
Norse mythology. He is in love with Jenny and will do anything he
can to possess her body and soul. He tricked her into playing
three life-or-death games in order to save herself and her
friends. He died protecting her from the other evil shadowmen.

Jenny Thornton: Just your average every-girl, until Julian
kidnapped her and forced her to play three life-or-death games
along with her friends. She defeated him all three times. She also
taught him how to love.

Tom Locke: Jenny's boyfriend who had to give her up in order to
save himself. He and Jenny were reunited as equals in the end.

Dee Elaide: Jenny's best friend, she is a night-dark warrior with
the looks of Ankhesenamun. She loves a good fight.

Audrey Myers: Another one of Jenny's best friends. She is a
beautiful, sophisticated girl whom Julian gave the gift of
recognition to: she finally recognized her true love for Michael.

Michael: Audrey's very smart, but very opposite other. He is
rumpled and unhip, compared to Audrey's chic facade.

Zach: Jenny's cousin the photographer who learned that the real
world is better than any imaginary one.

Summer: Jenny's other best friend who was very muddled and
confused until she meets Julian, then she becomes very clear.

For those of you who have read the Forbidden Game, this takes
place after the third game. Only, with an alternate ending.
Julian's name was permanently carved back on the stave and he was
permitted to live on Earth by the "Supreme Goodness." (If you
don't get that, never mind) He and the others have become friends
since he did almost die saving them. However, he is still a shadow
man, and he is still in love with Jenny. Well, that's enough outta
me, so let's continue, shall we………..


*******************************************************************

The Hilariously Funny Forbidden Labyrinth


We were sitting in my living room, television lights dancing on
the pastel walls and lighting up the dark room. It had been months
since the 'incident' in the shadow world. Things had calmed down a
bit and the others were finally starting to accept Julian as a
friend, after all, he had almost died for them.

Well, me at least. Just now though, we were all enjoying a quiet
night with a movie, Labyrinth. My parents would be out of town for
the next couple of days, but no wild parties were planned. Even
months after the 'incident' they still had qualms about leaving me
alone. No wonder.

"What is up with those tights? I mean, look at him, his package
is hanging out!" This apparently disturbed the fashion fanatic
Audrey who hounded the subject with an annoyed voice. Copper hair
glinting as she shook her head, Audrey pressed her cherry glossed
lips together on a grimace.

"Oh, I don't know Aud, don't you think Mikey here would love a
pair?" Dee's somewhat skewed sense of humor sometimes was, well,
skewed. Her night dark eyes flashed as she baited Michael further.
"He could dance the magic dance for you."

"I never knew you thought about me that way Dee. You better be
careful though Audrey might get jealous," apparently Micheal's
humor was in good spirits, because he responded with his usual wit.

"Chill out you three, I happen to love this movie," I laughed.
Then, thinking of something witty, myself, I turned to Julian.
"So, Jules, you ever appear to some young unsuspecting girl in the
form of the Goblin King?" I asked teasingly, trying to picture him
with his frost blond hair long, spiked and teased.

Surprisingly, his fine boned cheeks began to show faintly pink,
as if blushing. Biting down on the inside of his lower lip, he
answered me in level tones. "I don't want to talk about it," those
few words caused a total attention shift. All eyes, filled with
amused curiosity, rested on his slim, smoothly muscled form.
Shifting his shoulders back in his black leather jacket, the
expression on his face changed to mocking amusement as he tried to
change the subject. "Since no one seems to be interested in the
movie anymore, what do you say we play a game?"

The surprised looks amused him further, but he quickly added,
"Like Monopoly or something." He used the term affectionately and
he actually smiled, a full fledged, ear-to-ear grin. Not the wolf
hungry one, and defiantly not a sensuous one.

"No way, you are not avoiding this topic since you gave us that
answer. Did you actually wear those tights, and that hair to try
and seduce a young girl?" Dee obviously could not get over this
topic, as she pressed Julian for further information. If it had
been anyone else but Julian, I would have been sure that he was
truly embarrassed.

"Dee, if you must know, I did the whole tights and hair thing,
but that was back in '86 when the movie first came out. Besides
she thought I looked rather attractive." Sounding fairly arrogant,
he held his head up, mocking hisown arrogance. "Although," he
added. "I did under no circumstances did I ever, at any point
sing."

"Now this is rich! I could just see this girl, all dewy eyed and
swooning," Dee batted her long eyelashes and clasped her slim
hands together in front of her chest.

"You mean to say that there is an actual Goblin King, and that
your him?" Tom spoke, amazed at yet another of Julian's many
identities.

"I don't know, all I did was use the situation to my advantage.
After the movie had already been made," Julian defended himself.

I thought it was strange though, that he didn't know if the
Goblin King was real or not. Oh, well. Brushing a long piece of
honey colored hair out of my eyes, I looked at the Dee situation
which was now escalating.

Dee was looking next to her, at Summer now. Still doing her
impression of the dewy eyed victim. Summer on the other hand,
looked unsure, winding a strand of thistledown blond hair around a
small, pale finger. Her cornflower blue eyes had gone wide; fixed
on Dee's night dark one's. Grabbing her fragile shoulders,
protected only by a thin, pink shirt, Dee looked at Summer with
mock-innocent earnestness.

Then, cocking her eyebrow, a sly smile began to form on her face.
Dee shifted her other arm to rest on Michael, who sat beside
Summer. While looking between the two, her expression shifted back
to a dewy one. Micheal's liquid spaniel eyes started to go wide as
he realized what Dee was up to.

"I wish," she started, her voice full of youthful ignorance.

"Dee," Michael cut in. Obviously he was about to start in with
the 'do not mess with things you don't know about' spiel of which
I did fully agree. Although, Dee was going on and apparently there
was no one to stop her.

"I wish," she spoke again, hushed. "I wish the goblins would come
and take you away!" At that, Summer flinched and Michael looked
away.

"Oh, come on, you guys really don't believe all that do you," Dee
scoffed.

With that, the lights went off, leaving us in complete darkness.
Even Julian was caught off guard, but only momentarily.

"Kenaz," he spoke softly, and a shimmering torch suddenly lit up
the room. Turning to look at Julian, I saw that the two spaces on
the other side of Dee were empty.

"Summer," I whispered. Dee had jumped up, positioning herself in
the Cat stance, ready for anything. At my voice, she looked down
and beside her to where Summer and Michael should have been.

"What the-." She trailed off, confusion settling on her face. Tom
grabbed for me, and turned to Julian.

"What's going on here?" His voice wasn't mistrustful, it was more
querying than anything. Julian turned his liquid cobalt eyes
toward Tom, worried but before he could say anything, the torch
winked out.

For a moment, the room was silent, except for Audrey's spastic
breathing. Without warning, the wind outside began to howl, and a
scratching noise at the sliding glass door set everyone on edge.

Spontaneously, drawers began to open and quiet laughter mixed
with wild chattering came from all the corners of the room.

"Something's going down," Julian sounded very serious.

"Can you see?" Dee asked.

"Yeah, what about you, because I do not believe what I am
seeing." He sounded very distressed, now. And with good reason,
the scratching at the door had intensified.

"A little, oh dear God!" Dee stopped, her breath hissing in.

"What in the hell is going on?" Zach had finally joined the rest
of us.

"The owl," was all Tom had to say.

Squinting, I looked at the glass door, my breath caught in my
throat. Moonlight streaming in, I turned to look at Julian from
behind Tom. Julian was shaking his head, when he looked to me. Not
me, but Tom. Following Tom's glance to the window, his eyes
widened in wondering horror.

At that moment, the glass door shattered in a shower of glitter
and shards. Flying into the room, the owl swooped at me, but I
instinctually covered my face with my hands. Then, it flew back in
front of the shattered door.

Wind whipped hair across my face, but I could see a white owl
coalesce into a dark shadow. Tom grabbed me and wrapped his arm
around me tight. Audrey was cowering behind Dee and Zach stood,
moving to stand between Dee and Julian.

It was him. The Goblin King. He looked exactly the same as he had
on the movie. Long, spiky blond hair just touching the collar of
his black leather cape. His whole outfit, in fact, seemed to be
made of black leather. He just smiled, the couch stood between us
and him. Julian cleared it in one leap.

"I don't know who you think you are," Julian spoke softly, yet
fiercely. His eyes were cold blue chips, matching the capricious
danger in his face. "But-."

"Don't pretend to not know who I am, I am Jareth, the Goblin
King. She," he nodded in the direction of Dee. "She summoned me,
you once pretended to be me, you know the drill. But, my business
is not with you, unfortunately." Jareth brushed past Julian,
leaving him biting his lip to control his anger. Jareth walked
past the couch toward Dee.

"Well, let me see if I remember how this goes." Resting his hand
on his index finger for a moment, Jareth continued. "Ah, yes. For
your friends, I will give you this. It's a crystal, nothing more.
But if you turn it this way, it will show you your dreams. Do you
want it?" Well duh! Dee would never give up her friends for a mere
crystal. She looked at him, almost amused.

"Sorry, but I'd rather have my friends back." Damn her! Dee was
enjoying this! Her barbaric smile was just a flash of bright white
teeth.

"Have it your way." He said, stepping away from the door to
reveal a twisting, winding labyrinth with a castle miles, it
seemed, away from the center.

"Whoa," Zach whispered almost under his breath.

Julian put a hand on Jareth's collar, he was just as tall and
even more menacing. Just now, he radiated danger.

"I don't think you quite understand, Jareth." Julian spoke his
name as if it were something not mentioned in polite society.
Lifting up his other hand to show Jareth, a bright orange ball of
fire had formed there. "You are to return Summer and Michael now,
and maybe I won't toast your ass."

Jareth just laughed. "Did I forget to mention that if you don't
make it in thirteen hours, your friends will turn into goblins and
stay with me in the Underground forever?" Anger and pride fought
visibly with self-control on Julian's face. Self-control won.
Fading into nothing, the fireball died.

"Oh Julian, I know who you are and what you can do. So I'll tell
you what, I'm going to let all of you try to find your way through
the labyrinth. Just remember, you only have thirteen hours to
solve the labyrinth before your friends become one of us forever."
And with that, he disappeared in a shower of glitter.

"Well, what are we waiting for," said Dee enthusiastically.
"Let's go!" She pulled Audrey around the couch to the door.

"Wait for us!" I called, not wanting to get separated even before
we started. "At least your on our side this time." I said to
Julian. He gave me a grim smile as he ducked out the door in front
of Dee. Tom released me and we walked to the door. Golden light
dazzled my eyes, the entire labyrinth seemed to be made of gold.
Well, at least we know the way in, I thought.

"The door should be around here somewhere," Zach said emotionless.

"Julian," I started. An intense look touched his face, but he
seemed to be looking within. "What's wrong?"

Shaking his head slightly, he said, "I don't think that I can use
my powers here." He sneered and added, "He, apparently, controls
everything through those crystals. I can't figure it out." He
didn't sound bitter, only vengeful.

"Hate to interrupt guys, but the door doesn't seem to be-
nevermind." Even as Audrey spoke, the door appeared in the wall.

"Say your right words," Julian murmured. A strange smile curved
his sensuous lips, like he was answering a challenge.

"Well, what are we standing around here for, let's get a move
on." Tom directed us toward the door. Opening as we approached,
the door slammed shut as soon as we entered. A giddy sensation
rushed over me, and I knew why Julian was smiling like that. I
could feel it too, the excitement of a challenge. This would be
more fun thanperilous. What did Sarah say, it would be 'A piece of
cake.

"Alright, now which way do we go?" Asked Audrey, sounding a
little better than she had back in the living room.

"Should we go left or right? Hmm, I don't know, how about right?"
Dee did her best impression of The Worm.

"Okay Dee dear, right it is, unless anyone has any objections," I
said more than asked. A couple of shrugs and a rakish grin from
Tommy decided the matter. "Oh, and remember to look at the walls
carefully. Anyone of them could be a way out." Going strait on
into what seemed like forever, the corridor had no visible end, or
entrances deeper into the labyrinth.

"Found it!" Zach called. He had been running his hands over the
walls trying to ascertain where the opening was. And there it was,
clear as crystal when you walked up to it. The bricks didn't seem
to fit as well when you got closer to them, it was clearly an
opening. Passing through, they found themselves in a closed in
room made of sandstone. Turning, I found that the opening behind
us had closed up. When I turned around, a huge Sphinx-like
creature made of sandstone formed the fourth wall directly across
from us.

"Now the fun begins," Dee grinned her most bloodthirsty grin.
Walking up to it, she placed her hand on it's giant face.

"Dee, get away from there. That thing might eat you alive." I
hoped that she wouldn't be harmed, and that the urgency in my
voice would compel her to stop being so reckless.

A grinding sound, like rock on rock, had started. All I could do
was gape at the creature, for the noise was the sound of it's
eyelids opening. The thing was alive!

"I am the great Sphinx, solve my riddle and you may pass. Answer
incorrectly and I shall destroy you." It's great booming voice
echoed off of the sandstone walls.

I stepped forward after a long pause, "Well, what's the riddle?"
At least we have Julian, he master of riddles on our side.

"What walks on four legs at dawn, two legs at noon, and three
legs at twilight?" It boomed expressionless. I glanced at Tom, he
glanced at Audrey, she glanced at Dee. Dee looked over at Julian.

"Hey Jules, you ever hear this one before?" She asked him easily
as if talking to me or Tom.

"Yes, I think I heard this one about a couple of thousand years
ago when Homer first wrote it." Liquid cobalt eyes turned to face
the Sphinx, "It's man." He said board. "Man crawls when he is
born, walks in his prime, and uses a cane in old age. Am I right?"
The Sphinx did not reply. It only opened it's jaws wide and
through them, I saw a thick rain forest or jungle.

"Pretty good," Tom said, nodding his head at Julian, green
flecked eyes steady, but not challenging. Julian just tilted his
head back. I had only seen him sullen once before and just then, I
wondered what was wrong with him. Wishing that I could just talk
to him for a few minutes alone, I guess I would have to wait until
another time.

"This looks like the fiery forest. I don't understand it's been
fairly easy so far, what gives?" Audrey almost sounded as if she
were complaining. Then again maybe she was; Audrey didn't seem to
have the best of luck with forests.

"That's the kiss of death," Zach stated pointedly. I had a bad
feeling in the pit of my stomach. Dee was going to far off ahead.
She was going to wander out of sight one of these times. I could
barely make out her khaki pants and red Polo as it was good
camouflage. Audrey remained off to the side, standing bedside Zach.

She must be missing Michael terribly, I remember how badly I had
missed Tom in the first and last games. Piercing through my
thoughts, was a horrible scream that I had only heard once before;
on an alien spacecraft in the first game. Dee was in trouble.

Running up ahead of the others to find Dee, all I saw was the top
of her head and her arms flailing wildly. Quicksand. Tom ran
around, trying to find a way to reach her from the bank.

"Audrey, Zack, try to find a rope or a branch to throw to her."
Screaming at them, I looked around and saw Julian. He was kneeling
by the bank, taking the belt from around the middle of his leather
jacket.

"Everyone, shut up," he yelled. All noise subsided. Everything
seemed to be moving in slow motion. Julian had the full attention
of everyone. "All right, Dee can you hear me?" Glistening like
mica in the shafts of light, the velvety nubbed head shook
slightly.

"Good. Now stop moving, that's why your sinking so fast. All
right?" She ceased flailing her arms in a futile attempt to pull
herself out of the muck.

"I'm going to throw you something and I want you to try and catch
it, Okay? Good, now here goes." He tossed the belt. Slipping from
between her fingers, I knew that she was going to start to panic,
the sand was almost covering her head. "I'm going to throw it
again. On three, one two three." He tossed the belt and she caught
it in a slim night-dark hand. "Hold on tight, I'm going to pull
you in." Reeling it in, he quickly hauled Dee up and out of the
sand. Slumping down on the ground next to where he kneeled, all
she could do was choke and sputter.

Concern flashed on Julian's face as he put his hand on her arm.
"You okay?" He asked uncertainly.

When her breathing finally slowed, she looked at him. "Yeah.
Thanks." Standing up, he held out a hand to her, which she
gratefully took. Coming out of my stupor, I realized what an idiot
I must have looked like standing there with my mouth hanging open.
I ran to Dee.

"Dee?" I asked uncertainly. She flashed her barbaric grin at me
once more.

"No worries," was all she said.

"Well let's get going, I have a feeling that this labyrinth is
going to be a little harder than we anticipated." Ever practical,
Audrey was already thinking about our next move.

"Hey Aud, how 'bout a hug?" Dee grinned mischievously and walked
slowly toward Audrey.

"Not in a white pantsuit thankyouverymuch," she replied backing a
way.

"How are you liking my labyrinth so far?" A new voice said.
Jareth stepped out of the shadows of the trees and into the light.
Just don't anyone say it's a piece of cake, I prayed silently.

No one did, at first, no one spoke. Then, the ever practical
Audrey Myers spoke up. "So far it has been difficult, you've
changed it since the last time." Keeping her distance and her
voice level, she made eye contact with him. Almost flirtatiously.
Was no one taking this seriously?

"Good answer, of course the labyrinth changes. Where would the
fun be if it was the same as the movie?" Even though I knew he was
bad, I couldn't help but marvel at the sound of his voice. It was
light and casual, and at times almost sing-song. And that accent
made it so sensual. Jenny, get a hold of yourself, I thought. What
is it with me and bad-boys. I guess Julian was right, I wanted
darkness to compensate for my light.

Snapping back into reality, I saw that Jareth was speaking again.
"Oh Julian, did I forget to mention that your powers are useless
here? I wasn't lying to you of course, I was simply withholding
information." Giving Julian a knowing conspirators smile, I
couldn't help but snicker at what Jareth said. Julian had said the
exact same thing to me during the game. Just now, though, Julian
was biting his lip, apparently not liking the side of this 'game'
he was on. The only one not laughing was Dee, Jareth turned to
look at her.

"I guess it's a good thing that I was generous enough to let your
friends play as well, or else you wouldn't have gotten very far on
your own." His mood had darkened a little.

"You never said anything about the labyrinth being life-
threatening," she said biting the words. Anger flashed through her
night dark eyes. Zach pulled at her arm, trying to keep her from
charging Jareth, concern showed in his wintry gray eyes.

"Through dangers untold and hardships unnumbered," Jareth quoted
to her, his good cheer had evidently returned. He reminded me of
Julian, not only because of his attitude but because he had
changed clothes. The shimmery black cape was gone, replaced by a
poet's poufy shirt and tight gray pants. I couldn't help but stare.

Tom nudged me and I found that Jareth was talking to me, but I
couldn't hold his gaze. My eyes had wandered, elsewhere.

"Excuse me, up here," he said. Turning several dark shades of
red, while the others laughed, I looked him in the face. "Jenny,
you've been awfully quiet aren't you enjoying your journey?" He
was definitely mocking me.

"No, my friend almost died. I hate it when people try to kill my
friends." Hey, at least I was being honest.

"Tell me about it," Julian murmured under his breath.

"Your wasting our time, so why don't you just say what you came
here to say and leave. We only have thirteenhours, which you so
love to point out." Tom was getting angry. He knew that this place
was dangerous. I sobered.

"Tommy, don't get your shorts in a bunch," he mocked. His voice
was velvety smooth. "I just came to remind you that two hours have
passed. That's all, I'll be going now." And with that, he
disappeared in a cloud of glitter.

"Man, what I wouldn't give to have my camera now." Leave it to
Zach to be thinking about his camera at a time like this.

"Wow, that disappearing thing is really obnoxious." Julian, the
master of the obvious.

"Now you know how I felt during the game," I replied sweetly.

"I don't think I like that guy anymore." Audrey spoke slowly,
changing the subject. Then we continued. The air was getting a
little cold, shouldn't a forest be hot, I pondered. Shivering a
little in my light tank top and cargo pants, I felt a jacket go
around my shoulders.

Putting it on, I glanced behind me to see Julian helping me into
it. Murmuring a thank you, he merely nodded and we continued on in
silence.

A stone clearing in the forest revealed two doors, guarded by the
little dog like animals holding shields. Finally, a way out of
this creepy forest.

Beside me I heard Julian's breath hiss in. I followed his gaze.
Tom turned to him and asked, "What is it?" Julian nodded his head
in the direction of the doors..

"Runes." Was all he said. So that's what was on their shields, I
never really noticed it before.

"I'll be dammed. What does it say?" Dee asked. Good thing we had
Julian here, this might be a clue to help us solve the labyrinth.
"Hmm, interesting. This one tells the truth and that one
apparently lies." Julian seemed dryly amused.

"It's not polite to call someone a liar. I speak the truth." Alph
said.

"Oh, what a lie!" Ralph proclaimed. Julian shifted visibly and
Audrey spoke to him.

"Could he have put those runes there to fool us? I mean, he
obviously knows you can read them, nes pas?" She had a good idea,
how did we know that anything in the labyrinth was truly as it
seemed. In the movie it sure hadn't been.

"Defiantly, they just proved that to us. Alph said that it wasn't
polite to call someone a liar, which is true. Had he been the
actual liar, he wouldn't have said that simple truth." It sounded
all right to me.

"Your reasoning is about as good as Sarah's, but what else is
there to do?" Dee replied. So she walked over to the door. "We
choose this one." With that, Alph got out of the way and the door
opened.

"I only hope it's not an obliette," Tom said, and reached for my
hand. I gave his a squeeze and let it go, he obviously wanted me
to hold it, but I thought that inappropriate considering the
situation that we were in.

"Why it's just another forest!" I exclaimed angrily. It was true,
on the other end of the tunnel was a green tree covered expanse.
"How are we ever going to get anywhere?"

"By walking," Tom said moodily. The hand thing had visibly upset
him.

"Halt! Who goes there?" An authoritative voice demanded. Looking
around, I found the voice to be coming from a face on a huge
redwood tree next to us.

"Just some people looking for the castle at the center of the
labyrinth. You wouldn't happen to know the way to the castle?" Dee
phrased her question perfectly, and the thing responded.

"I am Herne of the ancient forest, I know all about the
labyrinth. Why do you want to go to the castle?" He demanded.

"We're trying to rescue our friends, the Goblin King kidnapped
them." Dee remained calm, she seemed to enjoy this. It was her own
personal fairy tale where she was the warrior heroine.

"Oh, I can help you there. I've been looking for a way to hack
him off for years, heheheh!" Cackling loudly, the trees' face had
softened. His laugh sounded like that of an old grandfather's. "It
changes all the time, but, I do know the major obstacle that he
added most recently. It's a reflecting pool."

"A reflecting pool? That's all? Are you sure that's the most
difficult thing we'll face in the labyrinth?" Dee laughed
scornfully. Herne grimaced at her.

"That's all I can tell you besides this: it will be one of the
most difficult things you'll have to face. Now, leave me be, I
have to rest." With that, Herne closed his eyes and started to
snore. Loudly. Great, at least nothing here would surprise us. I
mean, after you've played a few games with Julian anything would
seem tame in comparison.

"I wonder what that's supposed to mean. A reflecting pool? Maybe
it reflects all of our faults, only magnified," Audrey's voice
quivered. Her beauty was one of her best qualities, I doubt she
wants to see all of the things wrong with even that.

"Somehow I don't think it's going to be that simple. He's too
confident, there has to be something more to this place than he
let's on. It's just been to easy so far." Julian sounded worried
for a moment. Then he added more confidently, and with a roguish
grin, "Or maybe he just needs some lessons from the Master Gamer."
His mocking voice was smooth as velvet. Standing there in a black
T-shirt with the sleeves rolled up and a pair black jeans, tight
over his muscles, Julian looked good.

"Well I'm just glad that the Master Gamer is on our side," I said
sarcastically, yet truthfully.

"Why when we have the Master Player," he replied back
seductively. His eyes had gone the color of blue only found at the
core of a flame. For a moment it seemed that no one else existed,
then Audrey interrupted with some alarming news.

"Guys, much as I hate to break the moment, Zach's gone." She was
looking at me seriously perplexed. Dee started looking around
crazily.

"He wouldn't have wandered off. Jareth must have grabbed him."
Tom said subdued. He was looking at me strangely, then he looked
down. Hitching his thumbs through the belt loops of his jeans, Tom
kicked at a rocklaying on the ground. I felt really bad about my
feelings now. But I couldn't stay on that with Zach missing.

"If we knew for sure that Jareth had him, we wouldn't have to use
out time searching for him. But I don't want to take the chance
that he's lost and not look for him." Quivering, I knew my voice
sounded on the verge of tears.This was so frustrating.

"Sunshine, get it together, we have to think of something. Too
bad Jareth isn't here, I would personally-" Dee was cut off by a
semi-familiar voice.

"What is it Dee my pet? What would you do personally?" Jareth
purred. Dee, who was leaning against a nearby tree, looked up.

"I would personally take those balls of yours and shove them up
your Goblin Queen ass." Dee voice was dangerous, yet she was
grinning in a most uncivilized way.

Jareth simply laughed at her and replied mockingly, "How very
interesting, do you want to go back to my castle and try?" He held
a black gloved hand out to her. Dressed in tight black pants and a
plum duster, he looked every bit the part of a seducer.

If it hadn't been profusely impossible, I would think that Dee
was blushing. But I do know for sure that Julian was chuckling and
Audrey was hiding a smile behind her perfectly manicured hands. "I
meant," Dee growled through clenched teeth. "Your crystal balls."

"Why Dee, how very kinky," Jareth was smiling a particularly
carnal smile. This seemed to annoy Dee more. He walked over to
her, and putting one gloved hand on the tree next to her
shoulders, leaned in close to her face.

"My offer still stands," he brought his other hand up to her
cheek. Visibly clenched, the muscles in her jaw brought out her
high cheekbones, making her look even more like Nefertiti. Before
he could touch her, though, she brought her arm up to block him.

"Don't," was all she said. He stopped and turned, then started
walking toward *gulp* me. Oh please don't, I prayed.

"What about you Jen, can I enter your labyrinth?" Raising an
eyebrow suggestively, he looked me up and down hungrily. All I
could do was pull Julian's jacket around me more tightly, and look
at Tom, wordlessly pleading with my eyes. Jareth also looked at
Tom but with a look of challenge. He stepped up toe-to-toe with
Jareth.

"Don't talk to her like that," his retort was less then stellar,
but it got the message across. Jareth squinted at him, sneering.
Tom backed up a little, albeit, still in front of me. Feeling a
hot flush go to my face, I was just thankful that he had defended
me in the first place. Someone else stepped in front of Tom, but I
couldn't see who it was due to him blocking me.

"Why don't you get your baby stealing, magic dancing, Homo-erotic
ass back to the castle so we can find it and beat you." It was
Julian! He spoke slowly, articulating each word so that Jareth
wouldn't miss a single one.

Looking around Tom, I saw Julian's clean profile. He looked like
a young knight facing down an evil sorcerer. Without his power,
even.

Eye's filling, I could feel a lump forming in my throat. But
there was something more important on the line now.

"Jareth," I said ignoring the comment. "Will you please tell us
where Zach is." Speaking in my most civil tone, I just prayed that
he wouldn't disappear.

"I don't know about that, Julian here has hurt my feelings, and I
am now most unco-operative." Jareth pouted. "Maybe if he
apologized….." he trailed off.

Julian rolled his cobalt blue eyes heavenward. Heavily sarcastic,
he apologized. "I am so sorry about your baby stealing, magic
dancing, Homo-erotic tendencies."

"That's not exactly what I had in mind, but I forgive you."
Jareth was quite sarcastic himself. "Young Zachary is at my castle
along with Michael and Summer. They are safe, for now. Just
remember, you have only nine hours left. Use them well." Turning
to Dee one last time, he spoke softly, "Dee. You have only to call
me and I will come. Your wish is my command." Winking at her and
laughing softly, he disappeared in a shower of glitter.

"Well," was all Dee said. She looked over at Tom and I, then
gasped, "Audrey."

Looking frantically around, Aud was no where to be seen. Gentle
laughter echoed through the air, then Jareth's voice came to us.
"Such a pity."

"Nine hours, let's get moving." Tom sounded heartless, but he was
very right. The only way to get them back would be to win the
labyrinth.

"At least she'll be with Michael," I whispered. I hoped she was
okay, I could picture Michael holding her and comforting her.
Tears rolled down my cheeks, I needed that kind of comfort right
now.

"Jenny?" Dee's flashing eyes came into my sight. "Look Tiger, you
have to snap out of it. We need everyone to get through this. We
still have to face the reflecting pool." I nodded, sanity
returning. Holding out her hand to me, I took it and she pulled me
up, dark muscles rippling.

"Let's go," I said steadily. Tom walked on ahead with Dee,
scouting, but still in our sight. Walking next to him, I chanced a
glance at Julian to find him looking at me, eyes the color of a
November morning. "You all right?" He asked lowly.

"Yeah. Yeah, I am." Giving him a wobbly smile, I turned my
attention ahead of us and concentrated on Tom's brownish head. As
if sensing my eyes on him, he turned around and gave me an unsure
smile. Half-smiling back, I wondered what he was thinking. They
turned around a corner of the forest path and were gone.

"Hey," Dee called to us. "The forest ends up here and your not
going to believe this!" Her voice was unabashedly excited.
Grinning at Julian, he raised his eyebrow and we started running.
Veering around the corner, I could feel the breath catching in my
chest. The gates to the Goblin City! We were there!

"How do we get in?" I asked, eyeing the twenty foot high wall.
Looking quite solid, the door posed a risk to our plans.

"Pushing," Tom said, flashing his devil-may-care smile. His good
mood returning. Dee grinned at him and they put their shoulders
against the door, pushing. I looked at Julian and shrugging, he
headed for the door. I followed. It didn't take much and the door
swung in.

"Watch out for Humongous," I cautioned. We wouldn't stand a
chance if we met up with him. But her was no where to be seen.
There was no second gate, or goblin army.

"This is definitely not a good sign," Julian stated plainly. Dee
looked at him and grinned one of complete blood lust.

"Chill Jules, we still have about eight hours left. This'll be a
piece of-." Clapping my hand over her mouth I hissed at her, "Are
you trying to get us all killed?" As soon as Sarah said it in the
movie, bad things happened to her. There was no way I would let
that happen to us.

"Will both of you calm down. Dee, don't do anything rash, we
still have to face the reflecting pool, remember?" Tom talked some
sense into her. When she nodded her head, I removed my hand from
her mouth.

"Let's get going, and keep your eyes open." Julian started toward
the shadow of the castle that lumbered over the Goblin City.

Walking through the deserted streets, I glanced around at the
houses. Unusually small, they seemed more like children's
playhouses than goblin's homes. Dirty and garbage littered, the
filthy town was full of scavenging cats and foraging chickens. How
awful to have to live like this, I wondered if the goblins chose
to live like this or if it were forced upon them. Without warning,
the sunshine unexpectedly stopped, replaced by a shadowy twilight.

"What happened?" I asked, suddenly worried.

"Spacing off again, Thorny?" Tom asked jokingly. "We're in the
shadow of the castle, I'll protect you." He was right. The giant
sandstone castle loomed over us, blocking out the sun and
swallowing us up in it's shadow. It was clear sailing to the
castle. One thing was different about the castle than was in the
movie. Off to the side of the door was a small pool of water
surrounded by beautiful flowers and plants. Orchids and palms and
ferns, every kind of tropical flower possible encompassed the
pool. Clear as one of Jareth's crystals, the pool was totally
smooth, almost like glass.

"We did it," Dee breathed out. "Haha, eat that Jareth," she
yelled into the air.

"Now what do you bet that pool over there is the reflecting
pool?" Julian asked with a grim smile on his face.

"Yep. And I guess Herne was wrong, we don't have to face the
reflecting pool," I stated, relived to have one less danger to
over come.

"Hey, anyone want to help me find the door?" Tom called out.
Julian and Dee went over to help find the door; I followed.
Circling the castle at least ten times, no door at all could be
find.

"Guess you were wrong Jen ," Julian dryly commented. "I don't
think the door will to the castle comes with a knob if you know
what I mean." Glancing over at the pool, he gave us a wry smile.

"How do you suppose we- I don't know- use it?" I asked as we
walked over to the pool.

"Maybe we have to jump in. Anyone for a swim?" Dee asked looking
way too innocent.

"I bet we drink it, in the movie Sarah had to eat the peach,
right?" Tom more stated then asked. He walked over to the pool and
glanced at it thoughtfully.

"I agree, it seems more logical than jumping in," Julian piped
up. Then, he too walked over to the pool and stood next to Tom.

"Doesn't hurt to try," I said looking at Dee. She shrugged and we
walked to the pool together, looking down at the unrippling
surface. Unease started to grind in my stomach. Before I could
speak my suspicions, though, the ever reckless Dee Elaide bent
down and drank the water she scooped up in her hand.

Tom and Julian looked at each other, bent down and drank. I
didn't really want to, but I knew it had to be done. For Summer,
Michael, Zachary and Audrey, I thought. Splashing my hand into the
water, I found it to be cold, not surprising since it was in the
shadow. Looking at Dee, I said, "Cheers." Then drank deeply.
Quenching a thirst I didn't even know I had, it felt refreshing
sliding down my parched throat.

A lightness was forming in my head and a darkness was starting to
fill my vision. I collapsed to the ground, but before the darkness
could overtake me, I reached for Julian who lay beside me. He
clasped my hand in his smoothwarm one and squeezed. Overcome by
darkness, I fainted into oblivion.

(This is Elle, the author, speaking now, the next part is in
third person and is what all of them experience after drinking the
water, thank you. PS, if you haven't read The Forbidden Game
Trilogy, the next part may get confusing, if you get lost, refer
to the list at the beginning.)

Dee woke up in a white, airy room. A large, white-steel canopy
bed sat in the center covered in panels of a see-through, white
material. The same material covered a set of open French doors,
leading out to a balcony. A figure was on that balcony. She got up
from the cold, white-tiled floor in one fluid motion.

Looking down at herself, she realized that her clothes had been
changed. No longer was she wearing her khaki pants and red Polo
shirt, they had been replaced by a long, white, gown. A tightly
laced, yet low cut bodice connected to a white tulle skirt over a
white satin under layer accented her leanness. Reaching her hand
up to her temples, Dee noticed the white, elbow-length gloves on
her slender forearms. Her feet were bare.

Walking over to the balcony, she stopped, the shadow was coming
toward her. Jareth stepped out of the shadows, white owl feather
cape rustling in the slight breeze. His face was all light and
shadow as he looked at her.

"Dee, you look absolutely fantastic in that dress. Do you like
it?" He asked. Walking toward her, he enjoyed the astounded look
gracing her face at this moment. She didn't stay non-plussed long,
however.

"So this is my reflection? I look like I'm going to prom, not
trying to save my friends." Her voice was scornfully confident.
Looking him up and down, she asked, "So how am I supposed to get
out of here? What is it that I'm supposed to?"

Smiling a sensuous smile, Jareth responded in a low velvety
voice, "Be honest to yourself."

Dee rolled her eyes. Jareth advanced a step toward her, putting
his hands on her shoulders. She looked at him sarcastically.

"And what's that supposed to mean? I am honest with myself."
Shrugging his hands off of her shoulders, Dee turned and walked
over to a full-length mirror. Her reflection didn't look like her,
it was too dressed up, too girlie. Dee preferred army fatigue and
sports clothes to fairly tale dresses.

"I can give you a little help but not much; figuring out the
meaning is part of the answer." Coming up behind her, Jareth put
his hands on her shoulders again. Pulling her close to his warm
body, she didn't resist. "Look at yourself," he murmured into her
ear. "You are strong and beautiful; a dark panther who hunts
alone. You have to admit to yourself that you don't need anyone's
help. You have to admit that all you need is you."

"That's all?" She asked, Jareth nodded. Dee thought for a moment,
eyes going dark, she had a vague feeling of wrongness in her
stomach. Although it sounded true to her, a voice, her voice came
to her, telling her differently. That's not true, it said. Who
helped you through your nightmare? Who cheered you on at all those
kung-fu tournaments? The voice was grittier, a strained whisper,
but Dee recognized it was her voice of truth. Who, no less then
two hours ago, saved your very life, huh? It was your friends,
they are your true strength Dee. Always remember that. . . .

"What exactly do I have to say?" She cleverly asked, he would
give her the answer, and she would turn it against him. Jareth was
smart, but he was overconfident. Had he looked carefully at her
eyes, instead of concentrating on her firm body, Jareth would have
noticed the spark of an idea in her eyes.

"Now, Dee," he said with mock sadness. "You know I can't tell you
that, you must figure it out on your own." Trailing down from her
shoulders, Jareth's hands came to rest on Dee's slender waist. She
knew what she had must do to get the answer out of him.

Rolling her head to the side, exposing her neck, she brought her
gloved hand up to rest on the back of Jareth's neck. Pressuring it
slightly, she brought his head down to the exposed skin at the
base of her neck. Kissing it lightly, Jareth sent shivers through
her body, but Dee never lost sight of her purpose.

"Jareth," she whispered headily. "I can't do it on my own this
time, please help me." Her breathy voice sounded unlike the normal
tone she spoke in. Dee just hoped that he wouldn't take the
obvious clue she accidentally gave him.

Without taking his lips off her neck, he spoke, warm bursts of
breath erecting the hairs there. "I would love to help you- but I
can't." His accented voice was thick with passion. Dee's plan was
slowly unraveling, then she had another flash of an idea. Yes, she
thought, but can I really pull it off.

Turning around to fully face him, Dee pressed herself against
Jareth's muscular form. Brushing her lips lightly against his she
begged one last time, lips still touching. "Please. . ." He could
hold back no longer, Jareth pressed his lips against hers
forcefully.

Kissing her long and hard, when at long last he pulled away, Dee
could see that the chips were down and she was winning. "All you
have to say," Jareth said, voice heavy with passion. "Is that you
rely only on yourself and you don't need anyone." His voice was
triumphant.

Looking at him shyly from beneath her soot black lashes she
spoke, slowly and clearly. "I rely on my self," Dee started.
Jareth looked down at her, delicious anticipation in his eyes.
"But I will always need my friends." Her smile was genuine and her
dark eyes flashed, contrasting with the smoky pearl whites.
Jareth's face twisted.

"Such a pity," he said, voice hard. As he disappeared into a
cloud of glitter, Dee's vision faded to black.





"Uuuh," Tom groaned and rubbed the back of his head. I must of
been out for a while, he thought, me and my dumb idea. Taking in
his surroundings, Tom's eyes were quickly drawn to a familiar
figure seated on a white garden swing. "Jenny," he said surprised.
"Where are we?"

"Don't you recognize this place Tom," she asked sounding hurt.
"It's our dream home." She got up and walked over to him while he
took in the surroundings. A two story colonial revival house with
a white picket fence, and a huge garden in the front. It was where
they had always talked about living after they were married.

"Thorny, is it really you?" He asked, unsure. He didn't know why
this was happening, didn't he have to face his reflection or
something?

"Of course it's me Tommy," she whispered, getting closer. "I
suppose I'm here to help with your inner reflection." She knew
that he would listen to her, he always had since the game.

"Well, how do I get through this," he said lazily. Should be
easy, he thought, this place isn't half as difficult as Julian's
game was. Green flecks standing out in his hazel eyes, he flashed
Jenny a cocksure smile. Although, something about her was
bothering him.

"It' so simple," she laughed, voice clear. "All you have to do,"
she paused dramatically, "Is admit the truth to yourself." Her
captivating green-gold eyes were bewitching him. But looking at
her golden skin barely covered by a thin yellow tank top, a light
went off in Tom's head. Jenny put her hands against Tom's chest,
feeling it through the thin aqua T-shirt.

"What truth?" This honestly perplexed him. She definitely knew
how he could get out of here, Tom decided. I must trust her, he
thought determined, ignoring the former thought. It was just some
of Jareth's trickery.

"The truth that your invincible, perfect," she gently chided.
Looking up at him, she smiled honestly. He stared down at her for
a moment, thinking.

"But Thorny, you know I'm not perfect. I was a total jerk to you
the last few months." Tom looked down at his feet, embarrassed of
her high esteems of him.

"You are Tom," she reassured. "To me." As she said this, she
reached up to kiss him. Before she could, though, a voice came to
Tom, he recognized it as his own. Why aren't you listening? First,
you didn't listen to Jenny, now your not listening to yourself? Do
what you know is right, not what you think! His could feel it
inside, this voice was pure, the thing inside him that he hadn't
listened to in a long time.

"No I'm not, Jareth." Tom established flatly. Jenny changed
before him, becoming taller, hair becoming shorter and blonder.

Jareth stood before in a long, black leather duster, covering
everything except his shiny black boots. He smiled, "Tommy, how
did you know?"

"Jenny was wearing Julian jacket, you weren't." Tom half-smiled,
glad to have found the fault. Jareth stepped back, still looking
confident.

"Yes, but now how do you get out of here?" Jareth began again
before Tom could open his mouth, "Don't worry Tommy, your perfect,
you'll figure a way our." With that, he disappeared, leaving Tom
with his thoughts.

Frustrated, he yelled after Jareth, "I'm not perfect or
invincible! I'm just a person." His voice was on the verge of
tears. Surprised by his vision darkening, his last thought was a
prayer for help.





White light dazzled Jenny's eyes as she opened them. Unadjusted
to the darkness, she was momentarily blind. When her vision did
return, Jenny began to notice her surroundings. She was laying on
a rough terry-cloth towel, placed on a patch of sand within the
vast beach that stretched before her. Waves rose up to kiss the
sand, receding back into white foam. Looking down at herself,
Jenny saw that her khaki cargo pants and light yellow shirt were
still in place. The only thing different, were her Doc Martin
sandals, they were laying unbuckled on the towel.

"Jenny?" An uncertain voice called out, it sounded like Tom. She
turned, looking for the source of the voice.

"Tom, is that you?" Jenny called out, squinting her eyes and
trying to shade them with her hand. As the figure came closer, she
could make out his brownish hair, his aqua shirt, and his blue
jeans. It was Tom. Excitement raised in her chest, she could face
her reflection with him.

"Jen, I was so worried," he breathed, hugging her tightly. His
arms were warm and strong, but not comforting. There was no
comfort here.

"How does this reflecting pool work? Do you know where the others
are?" Her voice was joyfully frantic.

"Whoa girl, one question at a time." Tom laughed. He trailed his
hand through her honey colored hair, down past her breasts. "I
already faced my reflection, I'm here to help you. You have to
face whatever it is about yourself that you are denying. I don't
know where the others are. Possibly facing their reflections."
Smiling at her, he took her hand and held it.

"So, it does reflect your faults. That's what I was thinking
before but I wasn't quite sure." Feeling triumphant about her
hypothesis, a smile grew on Jenny's face.

"Something like that. It reflects your true self, metaphorically,
of course." Tom's silly grin faded, he looked  solemn. "I don't
know what it is that your in denial about, you have to figure that
out for yourself, then admit the truth. Think very hard Jenny,
what is it your denying yourself?"

Jenny visibly squirmed. She knew exactly what she was in denial
about, Julian. I was sure that I loved him, she thought, but
that's the only thing that I could be fooling myself about.

"I-Tom, you probably don't want to here this, but it is the
truth. No, I mean it's my denial. Or, it's what I think my denial
could be." Pausing, Jenny looked into his face, seeing only
concern, she continued. "For a while, from the first game, I mean,
I-I've had feelings. No, I thought that I was having feelings
about Julian." Stuttering her way through, she blushed and looked
down at her feet, toes playing in the sand.

"I understand completely Thorny, he is- nice looking- so it would
be natural for you to have some sexual feelings for them. You must
have confused that for something else, that's all right, it
happens." Warm and comforting, Tom's voice reassured her that he
forgave her; Jenny breathed a sigh of relief. "So, that's it? What
happens now?" Suddenly her self-assurance failed her. If she did
what she had to do, then why wasn't she with her friends. Looking
up at Tom, she found no answer in his eyes, had he been wrong?

"I don't know Jen, maybe your not being truthful. Maybe you
really have feelings for Julian." A malicious quality had come
into his voice, as if accusing her. Jenny looked shocked. He can't
mean that, she thought.

Shaking her head in disbelief, Jenny couldn't believe his total
coldness. "Tom I love you," she whispered, pained. Unexpectedly,
she heard a voice, a clear voice of truth and decisiveness, it was
her voice. Jenny, look inside yourself, who do you really love?
Who excites you, who are you passionate toward, and who do you
want to really spend the rest of your life with? But most
importantly, chose what you want. The voice was brutally honest,
and she knew it. In a way, Jenny thought, haven't I always known
the truth? She loved Tom, but, in a different way than she had
before Julian.

"How could you even think that," she whispered intensely.

"Jen, I'm sorry. I just thought, you know, since nothing
happened…" Tom trailed off, looking ashamed.

"Maybe I should try again?" Speaking meekly, she looked up
innocently at Tom. Nodding, she continued, "I admit that I wasn't
honest to myself about my feelings concerning Julian." Pausing,
Jenny looked up at Tom expectantly, he nodded again.

Slyness crept into her eyes, and a cunning smile curved her lips.
"I said that I thought I felt something for Julian, I was wrong."
Tom's eyes glittered greedily, hanging on her every word. "I love
Julian more than I have ever loved anyone, including you Tom."
Vision fading to black, in the last instance, Jenny saw Tom's
sturdy face transpose to Jareth's flighty one.



Julian had never fainted before in his life, what a way to start.
Jenny, he thought, I hope she's all right. Standing, Julian took a
look around, it was his bedroom at his house in Vista Grande.
Every detail was the same, same blackwood, king size bed, same
black silk sheets and the same tiger striped bedspread.

Strange, he thought, then shrugged and flopped down, face up on
the bed. Closing his eyes, Julian could feel a warm shaft of light
coming from between a crack in the heavy, black velvet curtains.
Smiling, he soaked up the feeling of the light, since coming back
from the shadow world he found himself enjoying the warmth of the
sun.

"Julian?" Jenny's voice startled him, he sat up and looked for
her. She was leaning against one of the dark walls, between the
bathroom door and the closet door, smiling. Walking toward him,
Jenny smiled, a very sensuous smile. She sat down next to him on
the bed, Julian smiled warily.

"Jenny, what are you doing here?" He was suspicious by nature,
and this seemed to trigger his nature. She just smiled coyly.

"I get to help you to face your reflection," she said, putting
her hand on his. He looked down at it. "As long as we have some
time alone, I think I should tell you something." Jenny paused,
then continued, "I love you, more than I love Tom and I want to
prove it to you." She started to lay him down; he resisted.

"Face my reflection, what's that supposed to mean." Julian was
openly suspicious as he wondered whether this was an illusion.

"Yes, the reflecting pool, remember?" After he nodded, Jenny
continued. "You have to face the thing about yourself that you've
been denying. Now what could that be?" Jenny was slyly innocent,
as she put her hand on Julian's hardly muscled chest and tried to
ease him back. Again, he resisted.

"Denying, you mean like lying to yourself or not letting yourself
have something." Julian knew the meaning, but he didn't know what
he was denying. Purposely baiting her, Julian hoped she would
reveal a clue. She has got to be under Jareth's influence, he
thought.

"Lying to yourself. The reflection reflects the truth and you
have to accept the truth, out loud." Changing position, Jenny
straddled his outstretched legs before Julian could make a move to
stop her.

"So what am I lying to myself about, Jenny?" He couldn't think of
anything, he'd already admitted to himself that he couldn't have
Jenny, what else was there?

"I don't know," she pouted. Putting both her hands on his chest,
Jenny leaned against him with all of her weight. Julian didn't
budge, at that moment he was glad for his superhuman strength.

"Can't you give me some sort of clue?" Julian pouted in return,
goading her into giving him some info. He didn't know why, but he
felt wrong about what she was doing. If Jenny was under Jareth's
spell, Julian knew he couldn't take advantage of her, but he could
hardly resist. Jenny was Julian's life.

"Well," Jenny tempted. "It could possibly have something to do
with me." Looking at him from beneath her lashes, she smiled. He
smiled back, dryly thinking of the answer when an elemental
whisper came to him. Recognizing it as his own voice, Julian
listened, interested. You already know the answer Julian, you've
always known. What have you never truly admitted to yourself, what
have you always denied, even with Jenny. Admit it and set yourself
free. Julian smiled in spite of himself, he already knew what it
was.

"Thanks for the hint. I admit that I do have feelings, and care
for more people than just myself and you En." Julian stated
nastily, hoping that Jareth was watching. Unfortunately for him,
Jenny's features were changing. Like a very good movie morphing
effect, her face was becoming Jareth's.

"Sick," Julian yelled, kneeing Jareth off of him. Jareth looked
on angrily, as Julian's vision faded to black.





(This is Elle again, the rest of this story is back to being in
Jenny's point of view. Hope your enjoying it, and if your familiar
with both, doesn't Julian remind you of Jareth? Just a thought to
any future fanficers)



I felt the cold stone floor first, then I opened my eyes.
Adjusting immediately to the dim light, I saw the others laying on
the ground. Julian looked so innocent when he was unconscious. A
lock of frost white hair had fallen against his closed eyelids,
they fluttered, then opened. In fact, I heard a groan from my
other side and found Dee up and alert.

"We did it Sunshine," she said grinning. I couldn't help but grin
back. Across from me, Tom had a strange look on his face.

"Jenny," he said. "Was it really you in my Reflection?"

"No, was it really you in mine?" I retorted.

"It was Jareth in all of them." Julian stated blandly. A slight
blush was showing on his nicely chiseled cheekbones.

"Was he in yours too?" Dee asked.

"Yeah," Julian answered, he must not be in a talking mood, I
thought.

"What was yours about?" Dee asked unabashed.

"I would really rather not talk about it." He must of had a
singularly horrible experience. "What was yours?" He asked,
innocently.

"I had to admit that I needed my friends and that I can't do
everything without my friends." Her voice was plain and honest.

"That's not bad. I had to admit that I wasn't perfect or
invincible. Jareth tried to trick me into saying the opposite by
masquerading as Jenny. Could have been worse." It must have been
as hard for him as it was for me, having to face someone so close
to you. I hoped my turn wouldn't come soon, but when I looked
around all eyes were on Julian.

"What?" He said, kind of annoyed.

"C'mon, we told you ours. I personally guarantee that no one will
laugh." Dee spoke confidently.

Rolling his eyes, Julian spoke blandly. "All right, I had to
admit that I do have feelings and care for more people than Jenny
and myself."

"That's not bad, we already kinda guessed that though." Dee said
jokingly.

"I wasn't finished, Jareth was masquerading as Jenny," Julian said.

"So. . ." Tom prodded, when he was sure that Julian wasn't going
to finish.

"He tried to seduce me." Everyone busted out laughing. Julian
just rolled his eyes again. It was pretty funny!

"That is so Rocky Horror Picture Show," Dee got out before she
started to howl with laughter.

"But seriously," Tom chuckled. "How about you Jenny." My moment
had come, what would I say. I couldn't very well just go, 'Oh, I
had to admit that I love Julian more than you Tom, have a nice
life. Ps, can I push that knife a little further into your back?'
Yeah, right. Luckily, I was saved by the chiming of a faraway
clock.

"I guess I'll have to tell you guys about it later, we better get
moving." Thank you God, I prayed silently.

"Well, there's the entrance to the throne room, we have an hour,
so let's make the best of it." Tom stated practically. Getting up,
I noticed the castle looked exactly the same as the movie. I
wonder, was the movie based on the labyrinth, or was the labyrinth
based on the movie? There's a meaning of life question.

Entering the throne room, I saw where all the goblins were at.

"Man they're ugly," Dee stated plainly. The nasty little
creatures didn't seem to notice us. In fact, they were too busy to
notice anything besides the despicable acts a blue, slightly large-
nosed goblin was performing on a chicken.

"Wow that's gross," I said out loud. The chicken was making a
noise that I hoped I would never again have to hear in my life.

"There's the way to the Escher room," Tom pointed to a narrow
staircase spiraling upward and out of sight.

"I don't have a good feeling about this, where are the other?"
Julian asked sensibly.

"In the Escher room, like in the movie." Dee replied encouragingly.

We started up the staircase and came to a black onyx door. It
looked very solid, almost impassable. Julian cocked an eyebrow at
it, then, putting his shoulder to it, pushed. Through his T-shirt,
I could see all of his muscles tightening under strain. Opening
inward, Julian stepped into the room, we followed.

Gasping, I walked in and felt my eyes widening. The room was a
maze of stairs and doors going up, down, and sideways. Immediately
I wondered if we were on the floor, or the roof. We seemed to be
on the floor, but-. Jenny, I yelled at myself, snap out of it, we
have to find the others.

"Where are they? They're supposed to be here!" Dee was starting
to panic.

"They're…….safe," a voice above us said. I looked up, Jareth.

"Come down here so we can beat your skinny butt for good," Dee
said, calming down. Jareth jumped down to face Dee directly.

"I'm afraid it's not as simple as that," Jareth smiled grimly. I
bet he was angry from our beating him in the reflecting pool.
"Unless of course you want to leave your friends here…" he trailed
off.

"Never." Dee replied arrogantly. Then her face darkened, "So, are
you going to tell us where they are?"

Jareth laughed gently, "You have to figure that out for yourself,
and you'd better hurry, you have only forty-five minutes left."
Disappearing again, I started to become very frustrated at Jareth.

"I really don't like that guy," Julian stated plainly. I rolled
my eyes at him. He looked at me, liquid cobalt eyes amused.
"What?" He asked.

"You don't like him, because you two are so much alike," I had to
laugh, he really did remind me of Jareth, or Jareth remind me of
him. Whatever.

"What are you talking about? I am nothing like him, for one
thing," Julian sniffed. "He doesn't have my good fashion sense."

"Okay, you have better taste, but you both do that annoying
disappearing thing. And, you both used tricky methods to get what
you want. Not to mention your tight pants fetish," I trailed off
watching an expression of mock shock come over his face.

"I admit, the disappearing thing is annoying," Julian
rationalized. "But at least I had a warning plastered across my
game, and what's wrong with tight pants?" Julian pouted, haughty
lower lip extended.

"Do you two mind? I mean, forty-five minutes isn't exactly
forever," Dee announced sarcastically. Walking forward, I almost
bumped into Dee, who didn't move. She just gave me a funny look.

"Well, what are you waiting for Dee?" I asked and gave her a
playful shove. Face lightening, she said, "Nothing," then shook
her head and started walking.

"But where," Tom started, "do you think they are? This place is
huge; we can't just search the whole castle." Worry was creasing
his tan face.

"Jareth's pretty confident we won't succeed," Julian said in a
hushed undertone, almost to himself.

"How does that relate to where the others are?" Dee was getting
impatient, I could tell she felt at fault for wishing Michael and
Summer away in the first place.

"Think about it," Julian started, unaffected by Dee's impatience.
"No goblins attacked us in the city, no goblins attacked us in the
throne room and nothing obvious is standing in our way now." He
stopped, eyes going the dark blue of Nordic fjords, deep in
thought.

"And….." Dee wanted the point quickly. Seeing Julian's point, I
answered for him.

"I think what he means, is that we won't find them because Jareth
won't let us find them." Dee and Tom were staring at me like I was
nuts. "Maybe I said that wrong, what I'm trying to say is we won't
see them until after we get out of here. Remember? In the movie,
Sarah couldn't actually get to Toby until she won." I looked at
Julian to find him looking at me.

"You read my mind," he said silkily. Dee brightened.

"Then lets get out of here, Oh Jareth," She called musically. In
an instant, Jareth was before us, looking heady in his white-owl
feather cape and tight white pants. He was all light and shadows,
looking triumphant.

"Ten minutes left. You figured out the truth about your friends,
but what are your right words?" He was playing with us the whole
time. Jareth knew the reflecting pool would slow us down, and he
knew we would use up our precious little time trying to find our
friends. We hadn't even thought of what we would say to him.

"Won't the usual words work for us?" Dee's mind was exceptional
in a crisis, already trying to find the way to solve this puzzle.

"No. Sarah's words worked for her because she had always believed
in the labyrinth, you have to use your right words." Jareth seemed
sinisterly amused. Dee moved up a step toward him, I leaned in
close to Julian.

"What are our right words?" I whispered to Julian. Without
turning, he replied, also whispering.

"No clue." Now, I was starting to panic, we would lose our
friends. But, what could our words be. Where was that inner voice
now?

"So tell me Jareth, what are we supposed to say?" Dee was
commendable, trying to get information out of him. I could feel
our time ticking away, what did we have now, five minutes, six
minutes?

I could feel tears filling in my eyes, any minute they would
spill over. "Aren't there some cosmic laws against this?" No
plans, no words, no nothing, my mind was totally blank.

"Afraid not Jenny, the only laws that bind me are the one's of
the labyrinth; the rules that I have made." Jareth's smile was
tragic, but he had given me some information that I though could
be useful.

"Well, you said that once we got to the castle at the center of
the labyrinth that we could have our friends back and leave. We
got to the castle, now return us, Audrey, Michael, Zach and Summer
back to my house. You have to, seeing as though those were the
rules and we followed them." My argument was logical, you have to
give me that.

"Yes, but you still haven't said the right words," Jareth mocked.

"All right, here goes. From dangers untold, out of hardships
unnumbered, we have saved one another and fought together to get
to the castle beyond the goblin city. To take back the friends
carelessy discarded.." Faltering for a moment, we heard a clock
start to chime, Dee looked back at us worriedly. Jareth's smile
deepened.

"For my will is as strong as yours and my kingdom is great; you
have no power over me." Dee's words rushed out, barely in time.
The thirteenth chime sounded; we won! The sandstone walls were
melting into textured pastel one's. Jareth's form coalesced into
that of an owl, which flew off through the open sliding glass door.

"Thank God it's not still broken, I think my parents would send
me to Bellevue if I had to explain what happened." Happiness
flowed through me as I saw Audrey, Michael, Zach and Summer
sitting in front of us on the couch.

"Are you guys all right?" Dee asked good-naturedly.

"What do you think, we just had to spend hours with a bunch of
smelly, messy, stupid goblins," Audrey was being cross, which
meant she was actually feeling affectionate. Running over to them,
I hugged them all in turn.

"We were afraid you wouldn't make it," Summer frowned. I patted
her soft curls and looked into her wide wisteria blue eyes.

"But we did make it, that's what counts. Don't think of what
might have happened." I tried to reassure her, but a little doubt
still darkened her eyes.

Something was still gnawing at me, the truth. I had to tell Tom
about my feelings, and I had to tell him soon. Like now. I just
hope he understands.

"Tom," I started unsure. "Can I talk to you for a minute, in my
room."

"Sure." Tom replied uncertainly. Dee gave me a supportive look, I
wondered if she somehow knew. Nah. Walking toward my room, I
wondered just how to explain this to him. Letting Tom come in
after me, I shut the door after him.

"I don't know how I should explain this to you." Taking a deep
breath, I tried to explain. "I love you Tom," at this, his face
fell.

"But you love me like a brother, not like you love Julian." His
voice was taut, he understood, but he didn't like it.

"I didn't want to hurt you, I tried to make it work." Sounding
weak and pathetic, I just gave up talking.

"Jenny, I've sorta known for a while, since after the third game.
Just the way you look at him, the way you look at me. I know you
don't want to hurt me, and I appreciate that, really. I do hurt,
but I guess I'll just get over it. When did you figure it out?" He
smiled slightly, hurt evident in his eyes.

"In the reflection pool, I when I had to admit to myself who I
really loved. I'm sorry Tommy." Eyes filling, I could feel my face
twist.

"It's all right, whatever makes you happy Jen. Now, let's get out
there and grab some food, I'm starved." He headed toward the door;
I followed. Passing down the hallway, I heard noise coming from
the kitchen. Audrey must be cooking. I sniffed, apple-cinnamon?

"Hurry up ladies and gents, I'm cooking apple cinnamon pancakes,"
Audrey said cheerfully. Tom raced in, almost knocking Dee over as
she exited the kitchen.

"So," she said. Dee grinned, looking at my red, puffy eyes.

"So, what?" I asked, unsure of what she meant.

"So," she said gamely. "Did you give him the old heave-ho?" Her
dark eyes were innocently wide, showing smoky pearl colored whites.

"Dee, your horrible, it hurt telling him that I didn't love him
anymore." I was surprised at how flip she was being, she knew how
much I loved- still love- Tom.

"Whatever," she said rolling her eyes. "Look, just in case, for
some strange reason, you wanted to know, Julian's in the living
room, alone." Dee grinned mischievously and winked.

"Let me guess, Audrey just happened to need some help in the
kitchen." Suspicion present in my voice, Dee just flashed me
another wide eyed look.

"Well, that and Micheal had to set the table and Summer and Zach
went off some where to talk. Oh, I just remembered that I have to
call Abba, well, go get 'em tiger." With a punch on the shoulder,
Dee ran off to my bedroom to use the phone.

Taking a deep breath, I walked into the living room. Julian and
Zach were talking on the couch. As soon as I stepped in the room,
Summer, who was leaning next to the door to the kitchen went over
to Zach and pulled him into the kitchen. Julian looked over at me,
searching his eyes I could tell he didn't know. At least someone
in this house didn't know!

"Hey," I said lightly. Suddenly I thought that I should have
freshened up my make-up, or at least brushed my hair.

"Hey yourself," Julian replied, face lightening. I sat down next
to him on the couch, he turned slightly, facing me fully.

"I have to tell you something, so don't say anything until I'm
done because I'll never have the guts to say it again." Taking a
deep breath, I continued. "When I was in the reflecting pool, I
had to admit to myself the truth about who I really love and the
truth is I love you and-." Julian silenced my ramblings with his
lips. Pressing them lightly against mine, I could feel shocks of
dizzying sweetness, but something else, comfort. He pulled away
slightly, a lock of moon-glow colored hair falling into his eyes.

"I love you too, Jenny." Julian said, then he pulled me into his
warm embrace and the rest was pure happiness.


The End...(Or is it?)

Stepping up to the mirror, Dee pulled out a round, crystal sphere
from her khaki pocket. Laughing to herself she thought, I should
be a thief, no one even noticed me pocket it. Or Jareth hand it to
me, she continued thinking, raising an eyebrow. Looking eagerly
into the depths of the crystal, Dee took a deep breath.

"Jareth, come out and play," she whispered teasingly. Feeling a
presence behind her, Dee turned and saw a tall, darkly dressed
blonde man- Jareth.

"Well it's about time you called, I was begging to think you were
leading me on." Cat quiet, he closed the door, and stood mere
inches away from Dee. She could feel the heat of his body.

"Keep your tights on, I had to make sure there wouldn't be any
interruptions." She whispered huskily, pressing herself close to
Jareth.

He leaned in, caressing the night-dark skin of her cheeks,
preparing to kiss her. Dee pulled back, laughing. "I'm not one of
your floozies Goblin Boy," her voice was sarcastic but her eyes
were serious.

Jareth started to speak but she laughed again and pushed him
against one of Jenny's beige walls. Shock flared in his eyes as
Dee flashed him a barbaric smile and kissed him aggressively.
Smiling against the kiss, he wrapped his arms around her and they
floated for a while in bliss. Both Jareth and Dee had finally
found their equal.


The Real End

(c) Puck <lsmith5@flash.net>