Project: Underground Chapter 1-5

Disclaimer: The characters of Jareth, the goblins, Hoggle, or any other related to Labyrinth are property of Jim Henson Productions. We are in no way affiliated with this company. However, new and original characters, places within the Underground and evolution of the Goblin King are ours. We do not own any other miscellenous affiliations such as from shows, books, movies, etc. This story is for entertaiment purposes only. So please do not sue.
The contents of the fanfiction is written with a mature audience in mind. Comments are welcomed. Enjoy!! ^_^

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Chapter One: Help Wanted

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"This day couldn't be any more boring!!" Eighteen year old Stephanie sighed aloud. She was in her room, lying on the carpeted floor, her legs on her bed, a strange yet comfortable position. "The Devil You Know" by Econoline Crush, was blaring out of her headphones.

It was a Friday, the afternoon had just started. It was grey and cold outside. The wind howled, snow flew across her curtainless window. It was during Christmas vacation, all the visitors and the commotion of the holidays were over. Her mother and Gilles, who was like her step-father, were both at work and Jennifer, her sister, was downstairs in the living room watching television; so she was practically home alone.

Stephanie sighed again as the song ended and her cd player, programmed to random, chose the fifth song: "Home".

"If I wasn't here, I wouldn't mind..." she sang softly along with the lead singer. She then got up, stopped her cd player, took off her headphones and walked over to her closet where a shelf held her large collection of cds. She chose one of her Bon Jovi cds, turned around and stopped dead in her tracks.

There, a perfect iridescent crystal hovered at her eye level.

Stephanie's eyes widened, she didn't move or blink.

Her and Chantal's adventure through Jareth's Labyrinth had been several months ago. Memories of the journey flooded her mind again as it did after their return when she was reprimanded several times in class to pay attention. She was amazed on how easily distracted she was to anything connected to the Labyrinth.

The dog next door barked at a passing car, breaking Stephanie's thoughts. The cd case fell to the floor.

She blinked.

The crystal had vanished.

Stephanie looked around her and hurried to the window, she looked out of it, expecting a white barn owl to be perched in the only tree next door or flying away.

Nothing, no owl, no Goblin King.

"Another hallucination. You're expecting way too much Steph," Stephanie frowned as she straightened her long dark greenish-black waistcoat over her black short sleeved shirt. "I have to..." she started to say as she passed her fingers through her dark shoulder length hair, the front was cut in layers. "get my mind off the Labyrinth," she headed towards the door, but as she reached out for the doorknob, she got a chill.

Stephanie's eyes widened when a familiar shadow had loomed over her and the door.

She gasped, turned around and backed up against the door.

"Jareth!!" she whispered.

The Goblin King stood in the attire of his familiar black knee-high boots, black pants, a strange poet shirt beneath a short dark blue waistcoat, a hint of the sleeves showed at the ledges of his usual black trench like coat. His left arm was leaning against the door, just above her head. His face was just inches from hers.

Seeing Stephanie's reaction, he couldn't resist.

"Did you miss me, Stephanie?" Jareth asked as he tilted his head with wild hair to one side, his sharp vampiric like canines showing, especially at the mention of her name.

"Why-why are you here??" Stephanie demanded, keeping her voice down, low as possible for Jennifer not to hear.

He walked to the centre of the small semi-clean room and bent down to pick up the fallen cd case. He turned it over to look at the cover, his back to her.

"Well??" Stephanie said.

Finally he turned around, a sigh escaped from him.

"I have...a situation," the Goblin King said.

"What kind of situation??" Stephanie asked intrigued as she moved away from the door and towards him. He placed the cd case on her white dresser.

"The Underground," he paused not revealing anymore. He tried to keep calm.

"Ah bloody hell!" Jareth muttered under his breath. Stephanie waited patiently. "I need your help,"

"Help??" she repeated, her eyebrows raised.

"Yes," he said wincing at the word. He sighed again and glanced at the few objects that cluttered the dresser, picking an object up to closer inspect it. He placed it back in its original spot. He then regarded her in silence for a few moments. Stephanie was in thoughts, toying with her pendant that was around her neck: a silver barn owl in mid-flight, holding a crystal in its claws. It was the pendant from her adventure to the Underground. She looked up and caught Jareth regarding her with his intense eyes, she quickly stopped and hid her hands behind her back.

"I'll help you," Stephanie said. "Whatever the situation is." The Goblin King stared at her with his greenish blue eyes, trying to figure out if her answer was sincere.

"Jareth, do you want my help or not??" Stephanie said sternly.

Jareth blinked. "Sorry," he said making a crystal appear in his right hand; it had rolled down the length of his arm, he turned his hand over in a fluent movement and caught it. He glanced into the depths of the crystal, he frowned.

"I'll explain everything once we're in the Underground."

"Wait!!" Stephanie said as she turned around to her closet. She grabbed her black running shoes, quickly put them on and tightened the laces. They passed her ankles, almost like a boot.

"All right, I'm ready." she said as she stood up after grabbing a pack of gum out of her schoolbag and placing it in one of her back pockets. "Don't forget, I have to be back, way before supper." Jareth nodded as he held out his hand. Stephanie looked at his hand, then at him.

"Well?" he asked, his smile returning slowly.

"Chantal is going too, right??"

Jareth took a deep breath. "Yes," he said through clenched teeth.

Stephanie put her hand in his and they disappeared in a bright light that shone against her pendant.

Stephanie blinked as a soft breeze blew some strands of hair around her face, her lips were parted, almost in a smile.

She was back in the Underground.

Chantal untwisted the cap of the fish food container as she watched her always hungry fish, swim excitedly near the surface.

"You guys are always hungry," she mumbled at them as she reached into the container, pulled out some food and placed it into the aquarium. The twenty year old girl watched as her fish ravened at the food. Chantal giggled as her platies and guppies fought over the food.

"You sure have some pretty fish there," a voice behind her said.

Chantal gasped and turned around quickly nearly knocking over the container of fish food.

There, behind her sitting on her, for once, made bed, was the Goblin King from the Underground. It had been several months since her and Stephanie's adventure to the Labyrinth.

"You?" she said with a groan.

"Yes me!" He replied with a grin.

"Did you miss tormenting me that much?" She asked half angrily. "What are you doing here?"

"What a nice greeting," he said sarcastically as he looked around Chantal's half messy room.

"Well, what do you expect? You startled me," she said staring at him.

"I'm sorry. Old habit," the Goblin King apologized as he leaned back on the bed. Chantal raised an eyebrow, she couldn't believe that The Goblin King had just apologized to her.

"You never answered my question," she told him accepting the apology. "What are you doing here?"

"I have a bit of a dilemma and I would like your assistance in trying to solve it," he told her.

"Oooo! Cryptic of what?" She teased. She looked at Jareth's face, his expression revealed exactly what he was thinking; that he couldn't believe he was asking her for help. This ‘dilemma' he was having must be more serious that he was letting on. It was a good thing she had watched the Labyrinth movie with Stephanie after they had gotten back from their adventure. For now she felt more prepared at what to expect in the Underground.

Chantal sighed. "Alright, alright. I'll help. But just what is this ‘dilemma'?"

"Just a small problem in the Underground," he told her, still not revealing anything to her.

"What about Stephanie?" Chantal asked, for she sure wasn't going to go to the Underground alone with Jareth.

"She is already there waiting for us," he told her as he stood up.

"Oh? Okay, I guess if Steph has already agreed to go, I will too," Chantal told the Goblin King.

"Good!" he said as he prepared to depart.

"Hold up!" Chantal interrupted. "I can't just leave like that. I know I'm home alone and all, but I want to get a few things first." Chantal picked up her blue small backpack and emptied out most of its contents onto her bed. She then went to her desk and found her two flashlights and extra batteries and placed them inside her pack.

"I'll be right back!" She told the Goblin King as she dashed downstairs before he could say anything.

Five minutes later she returned carrying two water bottles, a pocket knife and a small bag of cookies. She placed all of the items into her pack and zipped it up. She then turned to go back downstairs.

"What else are you getting?" Jareth asked her, crossing his arms over his chest.

"Nothing! I have to turn off MSN and YM, then let my dog, Jaycie, in the house. I just let her out before you showed up, and it's cold out there," she replied as she ran back downstairs.

Not too much later, she returned upstairs with a black, part lab, dog following behind her. The dog was whining, she knew that Chantal was going somewhere and wanted to go too. When Jaycie saw Jareth she approached the Goblin King and jumped up on him, wanting to see his face. Jareth just stood there looking down at the black dog.

"She seems to like you," Chantal commented. Chantal grabbed Jaycie's collar and pushed her out of her room. "Enough Jayce! Go downstairs! GO!"

Jaycie obeyed and went downstairs, still whining a bit.

"Are you ready yet?" Jareth asked almost impatiently.

"Just about," Chantal replied as she crawled over her bed to the window and opened it. "I just need one more thing."

"Serek!" Chantal yelled out of the window.

"Squeeeeeee!" A high pitched sound came from the large pine tree in the back yard. A small purple creature jumped from the tree and glided over to the window. Once at the window, he scurried inside and climbed Chantal and settled in his perch on Chantal's shoulder and wrapped his tail around her neck.

"Do you know how hard it is to hide this guy?" Chantal asked, without expecting to get a reply. Chantal grabbed her pack and slid off her bed. "I'm ready to go now!"

"Finally!" Jareth groaned.

"Hey! I'm not that slow!" she said as she poked him in the side of the arm. Jareth winced as they vanished in a flash of light.

As Jareth was waiting patiently as he could on Chantal, Stephanie by this time had stopped staring at the Labyrinth. Without hesitation she walked down the hill. The sky was still fairly dark, dawn was approaching.

"Is it always dawn whenever someone gets here or is it just coincidence??" she wondered aloud as she reached the outer wall of the Labyrinth. The Labyrinth she had noticed was larger and more complex from the last time she came to the Underground. She saw no entrances. She reached out to touch the wall, to find hidden openings, when a strange feeling went up her spine.

"Woah!! What was that??" Something was wrong, she withdrew her hand and backed away from the wall. Stephanie wrapped her arms around herself, waiting for Jareth to return with Chantal.

"I wonder what this situation is and I wonder why Jareth needs our help," Stephanie asked aloud as she walked along the outer wall of the Labyrinth.

Time passed, she had ventured a bit down the main wall, looking for an entrance and keeping an eye for Jareth's return.

"And why is it taking so long??" she said turning around. "And who am I talking to?? Great!! I'm talking to myself again!!"

"Obviously," someone giggled behind Stephanie. She turned around with a grin.

"Chan!!" The two girls hugged each other, then Serek who felt left out, let out a big: "Squeeeeeeeeeeeee!"

"Bob!!" Stephanie giggled as Serek glided over to her, she gave him a big hug.

"I never thought I would see this place again," Chantal said as she gripped her backpack. "But this time I came prepared."

Jareth let out a mumble.

Chantal turned around and stuck out her tongue at him.

"So that's why it was taking so long," Stephanie said smiling.

Chantal nodded at her friend. "Yeah, and that guy wanted me to just get up and go," she said looking over at Jareth.

Stephanie just shook her head and said with a smile. "The nerve of some people."

Chantal laughed.

Stephanie then became serious as she turned to Jareth. "Well, here we are. Now what is this situation Jareth??"

Chantal crossed her arms and looked at the Goblin King.

Jareth placed his hands behind his back and started to pace.

"Well?" Chantal asked impatiently.

"I can't get to the castle," he grumbled.

"What? What is that supposed to mean? You can't get to the castle?" Chantal asked confused.

"I cannot get to the castle," the Goblin King repeated.

"What happened?" Chantal asked.

"I'm not sure," he grumbled. "I left the castle for a walk and upon my return there was some magical force around it that prevented me to enter."

"How can we help you??" Stephanie said shaking her head.

"Help me get into the castle and figure out what is preventing me from getting in there," he told Stephanie, his voice calm.

"But how are we any good to you?" Chantal asked, giving the Goblin King a sideways look.

"You two did a great job of overcoming the Labyrinth's magic the last time, that I thought you two would be a good choice to help me with my dilemma," he explained still looking at Stephanie.

"All right," Stephanie said. "Who do you think it could be??"

"That is if it is a person," Chantal put in.

"Couldn't be the goblins. I'm sorry to say that their brain power is not so high to conduct a plan and I doubt they would defy me," Jareth said as he looked into the distance. The large castle didn't look any different.

"Well," Stephanie said turning around to stare at the castle. "Do we have a certain time limit or something??"

"We have thirteen hours since the throne was taken over to get it back. If I don't, I'll get overthrown."

"Since the throne was taken over? How much time has that been?" Chantal asked getting worried.

"Not sure exactly, no more than an hour."

"That still enough time to get there," Stephanie replied. "No use wasting time. So let's get moving!!" she said grabbing Chantal's arm.

"Wooooooaaaahhhhhhh!" Chantal exclaimed as she got partly dragged by Stephanie.

Jareth sighed and followed.

"Where are we going Steph?" Chantal asked her friend.

"I promised Jareth that I would help him get into the castle and I intend to keep my word," Stephanie told her friend.

"Alright! I guess we will figure out what to do when we get there," Chantal replied and Serek squeaked.

"Right," Stephanie said. "We'll start by figuring how to get into the Labyrinth."

The two girls walked down the outer wall, the Goblin King following behind. The great wall of the Labyrinth towered over them as they looked for an entrance.


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Chapter Two: Vanished Doors

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"Where did the doors go? Weren't they here the last time we were here?" Chantal asked as she looked around for the entrance.

"It must have vanished whenever the castle became shielded," Stephanie replied looking around too. She then turned to the Goblin King. "Do you have any ideas??"

Jareth just crossed his arms and raised an eyebrow.

Chantal turned around. "Hey, hold on a sec! Isn't that dwarf supposed to live around here somewhere?"

"Yeah!! I wonder if he is around," Stephanie said looking around. She spotted the small pond, but no little dwarf in sight.

"Damn, maybe if he was around then he could help us inside," Chantal sighed.

Jareth just shook his head. "How would that incompitant little dwarf help us?"

Chantal shrugged. "It was just an idea. You never know where you will get help."

Jareth groaned. "Fine, fine!" He walked up to the wall, a hand on his hip, almost glaring at the wall. "HOGGLE!" he yelled out.

Suddenly a rock in the wall moved and a pair of eyes appeared.

"What do you want?" a voice said from the other side of the wall. The eyes then darted over to the Goblin King. "Oh! It's you."

"Get out here Hoggle!" Jareth snapped.

"You have been kicked out of the castle, I don't have to listen to you anymore," Hoggle replied.

"I am warning you Hoggle! I still have my powers. Do not try my patience," Jareth said dryly.

Hoggle's eyes grew wide, he quickly closed the rock window and opened the door and came out. The little dwarf stood in front of the Goblin King, a frightened look on his face. He looked over and spotted the two girls.

"Who are your friends, Majesty?" he asked.

"My name is Stephanie, and this is my friend Chantal," Stephanie stepped in before Jareth could reply.

"Hello!" he said with a little bow. The objects in his bag of baubles clinked together with a pleasant sound. He seemed a lot friendlier than he was with Sarah at the beginning, Stephanie noted.

"Hello!" Chantal echoed as she smiled. Serek let out a little chirp.

Jareth crossed his arms and stared at Hoggle then at Chantal. "Now that the pleasantries are done, can we get going?"

Chantal grinned and motioned towards the small door. "After you!"

Stephanie sighed and shook her head. "I'll go first!!"

She turned towards the open door, she crouched down and walked through the door. Hoggle followed right behind her with no trouble at all. Chantal turned toward the Goblin King.

"You first," she said motioning for him to go through the door.

Jareth mumbled something under his breath and walked towards the small entrance. He bent down and started to squeeze his way through. All of a sudden, he groaned.

"What was that Jareth? I didn't make that out!" Chantal asked.

"I think I'm stuck!" the Goblin King grumbled, trying to push himself through the doorway.

On the other side of the wall Stephanie tried to hide a giggle. "This sure isn't a good day for you is it??"

"No! Now help me get unstuck!"

"Say ‘please'," Stephanie said with a huge smile on her face.

Jareth grumbled and gave a warning glare at the girl.

"What? I can't hear you!!" Chantal said from the other side.

"Please help me," he grumbled, closing his eyes.

"Well I guess that is better than nothing. Hey Chan!! Help me. You push and I'll pull with Hoggle." Stephanie yelled at her friend.

"Aw...do we's have to? Can't we's just leave him there?" Hoggle asked, eyeing the Goblin King.

"We promised to help him, that is why we are here, so that is what we are going to do," Stephanie told the dwarf.

"We pushing yet?" Chantal yelled from the other side.

"Bloody hell!" Jareth cursed.

"Hush or we will leave you there," Chantal told him.

"On three!!" Stephanie yelled.

"You aren't going to do like the last time are you?" Chantal asked recalling the time Stephanie had took a running leap of a platform in the Escher room.

"No, not this time. Ready??"

"Yep!"

Stephanie and Hoggle took hold of the Goblin King. Stephanie grabbed hold of one arm and placed a foot upon the wall next to Jareth as Hoggle grabbed hold of the other. Chantal placed her hands upon his back and got ready to push.

"One!! Two!! Three!!"

Stephanie and Hoggle began to pull and Chantal pushed.

Jareth winced as he felt his back slightly scrape against the small doorway.

"Ack! He's really stuck," Chantal said as she continued to push.

Suddenly Jareth was free and fell inwards. Stephanie and Hoggle had stumbled and backed out of the way, but Chantal had been pushing so hard that she fell forward, right onto the Goblin King.

"Do you mind?" Jareth asked staring at Chantal who was on top of him. Chantal just stared at him and she got to her feet.

"Don't ask for my help next time!" She told him as she petted Serek's little furry head.

"Shall we continue??" Stephanie asked.

Jareth got to his feet and looked at Stephanie. "Sounds like an idea."

Hoggle grumbled and followed as the two girls and the Goblin King started down the passageway.

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Chapter Three: What About Shortcuts?

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"Cor, I don't see why's I gotta go along," Hoggle grumbled to himself.

Chantal, who was walking ahead of the dwarf, turned around and looked at him. She sighed and shook her head.

Stephanie turned around and smiled at Chantal.

"Is he always like this?" Chantal whispered to Stephanie.

"Yeah, I guess. He's not one who likes to help people," Stephanie said. Perhaps it was because he gets punished for any show of friendship.

As though to reply to Stephanie's comment, Hoggle grumbled some more.

Chantal stopped and turned to stare at Hoggle. She then looked up at Jareth with a pleading look, asking if he could do anything to shut him up.

Jareth sighed.

"Hoggle, be quiet for a while will you?" Jareth said his hand to his eyes. "You're giving me a headache."

Hoggle, who didn't want to defy the Goblin King at this point since the last threat, shut his mouth and continued down the passageway. Chantal rolled her eyes and followed the dwarf.

The group continued down the corridor, which seemed like forever, with no end or turns in sight. Chantal started to grow impatient.

Chantal stopped in mid-step, Stephanie, who was only a couple steps behind, rammed right into her.

"Ow!!!" Both girls said at the same time.

"Chan, why did you stop??" Stephanie asked rubbing her shoulder.

"I just thought of something." Chantal said as she paused for a moment, thinking. "What about the shortcuts?"

"You mean the hidden passageways??" Stephanie blinked.

"Yeah!" Chantal said. "Couldn't we use those?"

"You know, I almost forgot about those," her friend said. Chantal turned and looked at Jareth.

Jareth raised an eyebrow in reply.

Stephanie walked up to a wall and tried to find an hidden opening. She couldn't find any.

"Maybe they're further up," she said to herself.

Chantal started checking the wall along the other side. "Nothing here either."

Stephanie was far ahead. "Pasta Vazoo!!" she had raised her hands in frustration and dropped them to her sides.

"Now what?" Chantal asked.

Both girls turned toward the Goblin King.

Jareth was silent for a moment. "You can't take anything for granted," he said. "You've been here before so you know what to expect."

Chantal groaned.

"So what do we do now??" Stephanie asked.

Hoggle started to grumble and began looking around. He returned to the girls.

"There is a shortcut over there." The dwarf told them, pointing towards where he had found a hidden passageway.

"What??" Stephanie said disbelieving.

Chantal and Stephanie followed Hoggle to the hidden passageway.

"Why didn't you tell us that you knew where the shortcuts were sooner??"

"I just found this one," Hoggle grumbled. "All of the normal shortcuts are gone."

"Oh," Stephanie replied.

"Well what are we waiting for?" Chantal asked. She walked into the passageway and stopped dead in her tracks. "Ack! What is that?" she exclaimed.

A greyish hand was pointing towards her.

"Those are the pointing hands," Jareth replied simply.

"Do they actually point in the right directions or are they false alarms??" Stephanie said looking at the other sets of hands, each pointing in a different direction.

"I think they just point all over the place to confuse people," Chantal mused.

"Probably," Stephanie said looking at her friend. Hoggle just grumbled something behind them.

Jareth rolled his eyes at Hoggle, annoyed.

Chantal looked at the hands then back at Jareth. "They can't hurt us, can they?"

Hoggle turned. "They like to pull hair!" he grumbled.

Stephanie turned to Hoggle with a half laughing half shocked expression on her face.

"For bloody hell Hoggle!" Jareth said suddenly as he turned and walked towards Hoggle. Hoggle backed away as the Goblin King came closer.

"You could have chosen to leave as you please," Jareth said. "But instead you've decided to stay. I've had enough of your complaining."

Hoggle began to shiver in fear.

"You don't have to be so hard on him, Jareth," Chantal said in a quiet voice behind the Goblin King.

Jareth turned to Chantal, he smiled, revealing his sharp canines. He then lowered himself to Hoggle's level.

Chantal raised an eyebrow and watched the Goblin King. She wasn't sure if she fully trusted him yet.

"I'll give you the choice again. You either continue with us and stop your complaining or," the Goblin King gestured with his hand.

Hoggle lowered his gaze.

"Or you can go on your own way," the Goblin King finished.

Hoggle shuffled his feet in thought.

"Well what are you waiting for?" Jareth asked the dwarf.

Hoggle looked up and grumbled quietly. The Goblin King tilted his head to one side. Hoggle then ran off in another direction, disappearing around an unseen corner.

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Chapter Four: Lost friends

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"I didn't think he could run that fast," Stephanie said looking in the direction where Hoggle had run off.

Chantal looked towards all the hands in the passageway. "Shall we continue on our way?"

"Yeah, but which way??" Stephanie agreed looking at the hands that pointed in different directions.

Chantal turned to Jareth. "What do you think?"

The Goblin King looked at the castle and looked at the ways pointed out. He thought for a moment.

"This way," he said suddenly heading toward a passageway.

Chantal followed him, Serek sitting on her shoulder, tail wrapped around her neck as usual.

"Hey, wait up!!" Stephanie said running after her friend and the Goblin King.

"Don't get left behind Steph!" Chantal giggled. Stephanie stuck her tongue out at her friend.

The three of them pushed their way through the pointing hands. They poked the girls and tugged on their clothing, but didn't stop their progress through the passageway.

Once on the other side, Chantal readjusted her shirt. "Touchy little guys aren't they?"

"Yeah, tell me about it," Stephanie said, her hands behind her back, tying up the ribbons of her waistcoat.

Jareth, ahead of the girls, was adjusting his coat.

Chantal looked around. "Now which way?"

Jareth didn't say a thing and continued down a new section of the Labyrinth, one of the directions pointed by a hand.

"I guess this way," Stephanie said, following Jareth.

Chantal shrugged her shoulders and followed her friend and the Goblin King. "Follow where our royal king takes us."

"He seems to know more where to go than we do, maybe it's instincts," Stephanie said quietly to Chantal.

"You are probably right Steph. it just kinda feels like we are playing follow the leader. If we are here to help, why are we following him around all the time?" Chantal asked, she gripped onto her necklace and began playing with it, almost nervously.

"Maybe," Stephanie started but then was lost in thought. "I wonder..." Finally she shrugged. "Perhaps it has something to do with how to get into the castle."

"It could be. Why doesn't Jareth just zap us right to the castle?" Chantal asked Stephanie, but loud enough for the Goblin King to hear.

Jareth stopped suddenly and spun around. His expression on his face held a hint of annoyance. " I cannt just 'ZAP' us to the castle because there is a spell or barrier that prevents me from using any kind of magic to get near the castle."

"'Tay, 'tay! I didn't know. I guess I should have but I didn't think of it," Chantal rambled trying not to look the Goblin King in the eye. "Shall we continue?"

"Yes, and haven't I said that before?" He said as he turned and looked back down the corridor.

Serek tightened his grip a little bit as Chantal shook her head.

Stephanie was still in thought. She wondered how he sensed where the right path to the castle was. Instincts as she suggested, but even then...

"It's just like how I felt that something was wrong with the Labyrinth," she blurted out her thoughts.

Chantal turned and looked at her friend and nodded. She could also feel that something wasn't right here. It felt different than the first time she had been here.

The Goblin King had stopped for a moment and stared at the two girls. This was the first time that mortals had sensed anything from the Underground; espicially ones that are not from his realm.

"Oh?" he asked obviously intrigued.

All Chantal could do was nod, she couldn't explain what she felt.

"Just like when you went to get Chantal. While I was looking for the entrance, I got up to the wall and I placed my hand on it when a chill went up my spine," Stephanie said as she walked closer to Jareth.

Chantal approached the wall and placed her hand on it. Nothing felt strange or unusual to her at the moment.

The Goblin King watched, his eyes narrowed in thought as Chantal approached the wall. He watched her confused expression.

"And you?" he asked.

Chantal shook her head. "Nothing. Though it might just be the outer walls to keep people out," she suggested.

"You might be right," Jareth paused to think about it.

All of a sudden around a hidden corner, came flying this black dog. It ran past the Goblin King and the two girls without stopping for a second look or sniff.

Stephanie looked at the vanishing dog for a moment. "That dog looked familiar," she said.

Just then a voice yelled, "Bebe!" Which was "baby" in French.

A long light brown haired girl came bolting around the corner after the black dog. She was running so fast that she didn't see the group in front of her and rammed right into Jareth.

Chantal's eyes grew wide. Another human in the Labyrinth?

"For bloody hell! No one ever watches where they are going anymore?" Jareth grumbled as he recalled the last time Stephanie had ran right into him making them both fall to the ground. He turned around and stared down at the new girl.

The girl had bounced off Jareth and fell backwards onto the ground, landing on her rump. She was now rubbing her hands and started looking around. The new girl had winter black boots that went to her knees, light blue jeans and a long sleeved red shirt; her thick navy blue winter coat was tired around her waist by the sleeves.

Jareth made no attempt to help the girl up.

Stephanie had pushed Jareth out of the way. "Bianca??"

"You know her, Steph?" Chantal asked her friend then looking down at the girl.

"Yeah. She's one of my friends from school," Stephanie held out her friend's glasses that had fallen off.

"Oh! Hi!" Chantal said smiling.

Bianca took back her glasses and started cleaning them. After she was done, she smiled at Chantal. "Hi." She said, then turned to Stephanie who was holding her hand out to help her.

"Was that your dog that just ran by?" Chantal asked pointing in the direction the dog has run past.

"Ya." the girl said. "She ran off. I figured she was chasing something; a goblin perhaps now that I think of it. I chased after her and ended up here. So anyways, um ya..."

"Looks like you need some help getting her back," Jareth commented.

"Ya," Bianca looked away from the girls and focused her attention to the Goblin King, who she had bumped into. Her eyes widened in fascination.

"Oh hi!" she said extending her hand to Jareth, who only raised an eyebrow.

"Wow, pretty hair..." she murmured, pointing at him.

Chantal's eyes grew wide for a moment. "I have an idea!" Stephanie turned to look at Chantal, Bianca still stared at Jareth.

Chantal giggled. "We use Serek to spot and chase the dog back this way!"

"That's great!!" Stephanie agreed.

"Who's Serek?" Bianca asked.

"Bob is Chantal's dragon purple thingy," Stephanie giggled.

"Bob?" Bianca was was really confused now.

Serek stuck his head out from Chantal's hair and squeaked.

"Oh, he's so cute and fluffy and soft." the young girl said extending her hand and petted Serek carefully on the head.

Jareth mumbled. "Really Stephanie, call the dragon by what Chantal had called it, instead of confusing the poor girl."

"This is Bob slash Serek, " Chantal giggled. "And it's okay Jareth, he knows both names."

"Eh," the Goblin King said as he walked past the girls, as though he didn't care anymore.

"Don't mind him," Stephanie said. "It's not his day right now." Bianca blinked and nodded, a bit confused.

Chantal held out her arm and Serek crawled over to it. "Can you find the black puppy, Serek?"

Serek squeaked and launched from Chantal's arm. Stephanie watched Serek leave, then turned to Bianca.

"This place is so cool, except for the really stinky pond. Oh! It was so gross," Bianca said pinching her nose.

"Glad we haven't passed that way yet," Stephanie agreed.

"It shouldn't take Serek too long to find your pet," Chantal told them. "He's had practice finding Jayce for me in the bush behind my house."

Stephanie grinned. "So we continue right or should we wait for Bob to come back with Bebe??"

"Wait for Serek to chase Bebe this way. It shouldn't be long now," Chantal said as she stood on the tips of her toes trying to see down the passageway.

Stephanie started toying with her pendant again, Jareth crossed his arms over his chest waiting patiently as he could as Bianca continued to stare at him. Something glinted upon his chest, catching Bianca's eye. It was his pendant, which was an odd sicle shape, a mix between gold and copper in color; with an odd design in the middle.

"Oh I want it! I want it!" she said as she eyed the pendant, which made the Goblin King raise an eyebrow again, glancing oddly at the new girl. Stephanie held in a giggle with the same look on her face.

Chantal shaded her eyes and squinted. She spotted a dark object coming their way, very fast.

"Get ready," Chantal warned. Serek came flying right towards them with Bebe right in front of him.

Stephanie stepped back. Chantal looked back at the Goblin King. He just stood there, arms crossed, waiting patiently. She turned back and watched the approaching pair.

Bebe approached, growling at Stephanie as she passed her and headed towards Jareth.

"Beeeee!" Bianca called as she walked over to her dog. Bebe lowered her head, and came to a stop in front on her owner. Bianca had a hand on her hip and the other was waving in front of her dog's face as she reprimanded her pet in French. She then reached down and grabbed Bebe's collar, clicking on her leash so that she wouldn't get away again.

Serek glided over to Chantal and landed on her extended arm. "Good job Serek!"

"So Bianca," Stephanie said. "how did you get to the Labyrinth??"

"Well like I said, I was taking Bebe for a walk in the deep snow at Gilies Lake. Since there was no one around, I took her off her leash and she must have seen something and ran off. It was weird. Then the next thing I knew, I'm running down a sandy hill instead of trudging through snow." She paused. "Chased her all over the place too," the girl finally finished.

"I know what that is like," Chantal said rolling her eyes thinking about her own dog.

Stephanie smiled. "Now that all this is over with, maybe we should continue??" she said, hinting towards the Goblin King with her eyes.

"Yes, if you please," Jareth mumbled.

Bianca looked at Stephanie. "Where? What? I'm confused."

"We're going to the castle at the center of the Labyrinth," Stephanie said. Then realized that it sounded more like a quote.

"And if you want to know why, this guy over here kinda got locked out somehow and needs our help," Chantal said rolling her eyes, pointing her thumb at Jareth.

Jareth mumbled something under his breath.

"And don't mind that, " Stephanie said to Bianca. "He's being doing that a lot lately."

Bianca turned to Chantal then glanced at the Goblin King. "Locked out?" Bianca snickered. "What happened?" she asked, trying not to laugh out loud. "After all isn't he supposed to be powerfull and stuff?"

Chantal shrugged. "We aren't positive. But one thing's for sure, Steph promised to help the Goblin King out."

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Chapter 5-8 up next.