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Oh, Now Why the Concern?	By : jinx1764 Category: G through L > Labyrinth Views: 11163 -:- Recommendations : 0 -:- Currently Reading : 3
Disclaimer: I don't own Labyrinth, don't make any money, this is a work of fanfiction.

Chapter List
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Sometimes the Way Forward…

Toby reluctantly grasped the hand held out towards him. The black leather slipped over his bare skin and made him shiver. Looking up from his huddled position next to Sarah, he met the mismatched eyes of the Goblin King leaned over the bed. Jareth was all draped black and glitter, smothered in a woodsy smell. His cloak swam on the bed, crawling toward Toby. This wasn't the same Jareth he remembered from before. The thin line of his mouth, and the sad but stubborn look in his eyes reminded Toby that things had changed.
"Tobias," he said softly as his fingers twitched. "We must go."
"Where?" he asked not wanted to leave Sarah's side. Jareth's hand tightened around his as he coaxed him over the bed farther from her. Toby reached his other arm back, gripping Sarah's arm to the last as Jareth drew him away.
"You must release her, Tobias."
"But what if she wakes up all alone, what if she wonders where I am?"
Kneeling at the side of the bed, Jareth positioned him so that he sat on the edge at his eye level. "She will not wake alone. Hoggle will stay with her." Jareth nodded toward the dwarf who stood nearby. "Is that not so?"
"Yes, yer majesty." Hoggle stepped closer and patted Toby's arm. "I'll be here 'til ya get back. Don't ya both worry, I'll take good care of Sarah."
"You promise?"
Hoggle pounded his chest. "Cross me heart!"
"Well…"
"Come now, Tobias, time grows short to save your sister." Jareth stood, tugging Toby's hand lightly.
Sliding of the edge of the bed, Toby held onto the Jareth's hand as if he were saving himself, then cast a lingering glance at the bed. Sarah lay serene and motionless except for the faint moving of her chest as she breathed. Her arm that he'd dragged with him now lay outstretched and pointing at him. Toby frowned. He should fix that before he left.
"I'll take care of her," Hoggle said as he quickly tucked Sarah's arm back to her side.
"Oh… thanks."
"Yer welcome, Toby. Now you go on and be a hero."
"Yeah," Toby plucked at the seam of his trousers, "a hero." Jareth's tug urged him into walking, and Toby allowed him to lead him from the bedroom as he kept his eyes on his sister until the last moment. With a resigned sigh as he the door shut of his view, Toby trudged along next to Jareth through the stone hallway.
"So where are we going?"
"We go to speak with someone."
"And he'll know how to save Sarah?"
"I believe he'll know how to begin to save her."
Brows raised, Toby looked up at Jareth. "Begin to save her?"
Jareth glanced down as he tightened his hand. "What we attempt is potentially dangerous and uncertain. I, myself, have never attempted it, but I believe it can be done. Therefore I want to consult one who knows more than I in such matters."
"Uh… okay. So he'll know what to do?"
Jareth smiled. "I believe so, yes."
"And if he doesn't?"
With a suddenly blank face, Jareth said, "I do not wish to entertain such thoughts, do you?"
Toby gulped and shook his head, wishing Sarah was here to make Jareth speak normally, though somehow he understood him anyway.
"I thought not." Jareth drew him close as he slowed his pace. "Now stay close, my boy."
"Why-?" A shimmering wall appeared, and Jareth steered them through it. Toby cringed and huddled closer to Jareth, grateful for his engulfing cape and forest scent. The shimmering tickled his skin and clung to his nose when he breathed. He sneezed, then wiped his nose. "Sorry."
Jareth chuckled. "Magic can be irritating to the senses on occasion, but it is harmless if intended to be." He frowned, and his fingers clenched Toby's. "That is … magic should be harmless unless directed to be otherwise." They shared a look. "It seems I am not as fully knowledgeable in this area as I'd thought."
"Magic?"
"Mmm…" Jareth nodded.
They stepped out into a stone room. Wait… Toby saw the yellowish-brown sky covered with dingy clouds. It was like a garden but with only a few plants in pots, and everything seemed really beige and old. Jareth continued walking, turning corners and leading Toby farther into the stone maze.
"Where are we, Jareth?"
"We're in my Labyrinth…"
"Really?" Toby said, eyes widening. "The same one Sarah had to solve?"
"Yes, though a very particular part," he said, adding under his breath, "which I tend to avoid."
"Don't you like it here?"
Growling, Jareth's nostrils flared. "One might say that."
"But if you don-,"
"Ach! What's wrong with you?"
Toby's head swiveled around at the shrill voice, but all he saw was an old man dressed in older robes wearing a weird skinny bird hat. He was slumped in a chair made of large books and leaning to one side as if he was sleeping. Toby glanced at Jareth, who was grimacing—nose wrinkled and teeth bared.
"Hey, sleepyhead! Wake up! I'm bored!"
Toby jerked back to the old man, who was now grumbling and snorting. "Will you be quiet? I'm trying to sleep!"
Who is he talking to? Toby thought.
Suddenly his tall, skinny hat with a bird's head perched on top moved! "You've slept all year, old man!"
"Only to avoid your nonsense!"
"My nonsense! I'm the one stuck on your head. That's nonsense!"
"Ahem." Stopping them a few feet away, Jareth cleared his throat. Both the bird hat and the old man jumped, their heads pivoting towards them.
"Your Majesty!" the hat said, bowing, but Toby wasn't certain he sounded serious due to his odd accent.
The old man stayed in his seat, but bowed at the waist. "King Jareth, it is an honor to see you again."
"Wiseman," Jareth said a tight voice. "Hat." He still held Toby's hand, but Toby could feel the tension radiating through his arm and wondered what bothered Jareth about talking to this Wiseman.
"It has been too long since your last visit, Your Majesty."
"Indeed."
"I do hope nothing is amiss."
Jareth did drop his hand then and began pacing, hands at the small of his back. He looked at the pair from beneath his long hair as he circled slowly. "Amiss? By Danu, why would there be anything amiss?"
"Ahhh…," the hat started, "because of the bad advice he gave you last time?"
"Hush you overgrown crow!" the Wiseman said, waving a hand upwards.
"Well, it was bad! Even I said so, remember?"
"Another word, Hat, and you'll be living in the garage heap!" the Wiseman said.
Jareth paused mid-step near the Wiseman. "Why threaten him, when he is correct. Your advice nearly brought down my kingdom. It did cause great destruction to my Labyrinth." Jareth leaned forward at his waist, placing him eye level with the old man who back away, sputtering. "If it were not for you, things might have ended up very differently."
"I… I only thought to help revitalize your kingdom, Your Majesty."
"Hmm, did you?" Jareth sniffed, then stood. "Fortunately for you, things were set to right," Jareth turned away, "in the end."
"Jareth?" Toby said in a small voice.
Jareth faced him, his mask slipping and his stance relaxing a bit at meeting Toby's gaze. "Yes, Tobias?"
"What about Sarah?"
"Sarah?" Hat said. "THE Sarah?"
Jareth growled and glared over his shoulder at Hat. "Watch your next words very carefully."
"Oh of course, wouldn't dream of, I mean she's a wonderful sucker, girl, lady! She's a wonderful lady and we've missed her!" Hat said while Wiseman groaned and hid his face in one hand.
Eyes narrowing, Jareth turned back to the Wiseman and Hat. "I have a question for you, Wiseman, and you'd better answer well on pain of banishment."
Hat gasped, jerked straight up and back. Wiseman groaned again and sat up.
"What's banishment?" Toby asked.
Without breaking his stare with the two, Jareth answered, "If they fail me this last time, they will be exiled from the Labyrinth and my kingdom for the rest of their days. Which, believe me, is considerable."
Toby shrugged. "So?"
"Little boy," Hat said, "don't you have any idea what's outside the Labyrinth?"
"No."
"Nothing! That's what. Nothing for miles and miles and forever!"
"That's true, Jareth?"
He nodded once, and Toby lowered his head to study the stone walkway. He would banish them for giving him a wrong answer?
Jareth's hand clenched his shoulder, and Toby looked up. "You must understand, my boy. I do this for your sister."
"Sister?" Wiseman said. "This is the Lady Sarah's brother?"
"It is," Jareth said.
"Ahh!"
"Then she has returned?" Wiseman asked.
Jareth released Toby's shoulder and scowled. "That. Is none of your concern." Wiseman's body quivered as he shrunk beneath Jareth's stalking glare. Placing a hand to either armrest, his cloak draping them, Jareth hovered over until Wiseman and Hat coiled in on themselves. "What is your concern is answering this for me, correctly."
"What, Your Majesty? Anything!" Wiseman said.
"Where is Sarah's soul, and how do we retrieve it?"
Wiseman's eyes got big, his bushy brows arching. "H-her … her soul?"
"Eiyeyeh! Now we're in it!"
Jareth's eyes flicked up once, but he didn't budge. "Well? No words of wisdom?"
Toby held his breath as he watched all three frozen together in a staring contest. Would Wiseman know the answer? Would they be able to save Sarah? Jareth had said he wasn't sure if he'd get an answer.
"Please!" Toby grabbed Wiseman's robe and tugged. "Please tell us!"
Wiseman blinked his oversized eyes and turned slowly towards Toby. "Sometimes what seems like the easiest decision is actually the hardest." He looked back to Jareth. "Sometimes the path to life requires one to let go of control."
"What?" Toby flung his arms up and stepped back. "But that doesn't make any sense at all!" Wiseman and Jareth continued staring in silence. "Jareth? Jareth, make him give a better answer!"
"That was the better answer, little boy!" Hat said with a sniff. "And it was free!"
With a resigned sigh, Jareth stood, keeping his eyes on Wiseman. "He is correct, Tobias."
"What? How? I didn't understand that."
Jareth turned towards him. "I did." He held out a hand. "Now we must go and find your sister before it's too late, my boy."
"You really understood that?" Toby asked as they walked away.
"Yes."
"Tata! Adios! Good luck!" Hat said, then leaned down and muttered, "Geez I sure hope they don't come back."
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Oh, Now Why the Concern?