Heir of the Labyrinth

Chapter 3: The Goblin Prince's Humbling

Jareth Jr. paced through the ever-shifting halls of the Labyrinth, still feeling the weight of his reunion with his father.
The conversation had been heavy, and though it ended on a hopeful note, the dark warning of what lay ahead clung to him. But there was little time to dwell on grim prophecies now.

His father had given him an important task: to scout the edges of the Labyrinth where disturbances had been reported. Minor disruptions, Jareth Sr. had said, but they needed to be dealt with.

The son of the Goblin King was eager to prove himself, to show that he was ready to stand alongside his father. He had faced down ancient forces, battled shadows from forgotten corners of the maze.

Jareth Jr:
-„how bad could a few pesky disturbances be?" he asked himself

The problem, however, wasn't the disturbances themselves. It was finding them. Jareth Jr. had spent the last hour wandering in circles, the Labyrinth seeming to mock him by constantly rearranging its walls and paths. Normally, the maze responded to his will, but today it was acting stubborn, as if testing his patience.

"This is ridiculous," Jareth Jr. muttered under his breath, glaring at a stone wall that had appeared where an exit should have been.

Jareth Jr:
-"I'm the prince of this place! I should be able to navigate it with ease."

He flicked his wrist, trying to summon the magic that usually bent the Labyrinth to his will. The wall trembled for a moment, but instead of opening, it reshaped itself into a tall, smirking goblin face, its stone eyes rolling dramatically.

-"Oh, sure, your highness," the stone goblin face sneered.
"You think just because your dad's the Goblin King, you can order the walls around? Good luck with that."

Jareth Jr. groaned, rolling his eyes. "Even the walls are giving me attitude now."

The face made a rude noise before its features smoothed back into stone. Jareth Jr. clenched his fists and took a deep breath, reminding himself that he was better than this. He wasn't going to let a few misbehaving walls get the best of him.

Just as he was about to try another spell, he heard a familiar, gravelly voice from behind him.
-"Well, well, well, look who's lost in his own kingdom."

Jareth Jr. turned to see Hoggle or the „prince of the land of stench", the surly dwarf who had served as a companion to his father's enemies in the past. Short and hunched and perpetually grumpy expression, Hoggle was both a resident of the Labyrinth and one of its most reluctant participants. He had a tendency to pop up at the most inconvenient times, often with a sarcastic remark or a muttered complaint.

-"Hoggle," Jareth Jr. greeted, trying to keep the frustration out of his voice. "What are you doing here?"

"What am I doing here?" Hoggle replied, crossing his arms over his chest. "What are you doing here? You look like you've been wandering in circles for hours. Don't tell me you're lost in your own father's maze."

-„I am not lost," Jareth Jr. lied, his voice a little too defensive. -"I'm... just deciding which way to go."

Hoggle gave him a long, unimpressed look. "Uh-huh. Sure. And I suppose you just decided to take the scenic route through the most annoying part of the Labyrinth?"

Jareth Jr. huffed, brushing a hand through his messy dark glittering brown hair. "I don't need your help, Hoggle. I can handle this."

Hoggle raised an eyebrow and chuckled. "You keep telling yourself that, kid. But I've been around long enough to know when someone's in over their head. And right now, you're waist-deep in it."