Heir of the Labyrinth

Chapter 5: Rule Breaker

On the next day air in the Labyrinth had an unusual weight to it, as if something ancient and unyielding was watching again.

Jareth Jr. stood at the entrance of the never ending stairs, his heart pounding in his chest. He knew the rule he was about to break. It had been drilled into him ever since he was a child—the first, and most important, law of the Labyrinth: Never attempt to bend the Labyrinth to your will outside of its own accord.

The Labyrinth had a mind of its own, an ancient intelligence that worked with the whims of the Goblin King, but never bowed completely to anyone's command. Not even Jareth Sr., for all his power, dared to fully control it. The Labyrinth wasn't just a place—it was alive, temperamental, and sensitive to those who tried to dominate it.

But Jareth Jr. wasn't thinking clearly anymore. For weeks, he had been haunted by dreams—visions of something hidden deep within the maze. He had tried to shake them off, dismiss them as part of the Labyrinth's usual tricks, but the dreams had grown stronger, more vivid, as if something or someone was calling to him.

Standing there now, at the never ending stairs he clenched his fists. He wasn't trying to control the Labyrinth out of arrogance, he told himself. He was trying to uncover a secret, one that had been hidden from him all his life. It was something he needed to know, something his father hadn't told him. But if his father wouldn't answer his questions, then Jareth Jr. would have to find the answers himself.

He took a deep breath, reached out his hand, and muttered the incantation he had secretly learned—a spell meant to force the Labyrinth to show its hidden paths. For a moment, nothing happened. Stairs remained silent and still, as if mocking his attempt.

Then, slowly, the stones beneath his feet began to rumble. The stones on the floor shifted, groaning as they twisted, revealing a hidden staircase descending deep into the earth. The air around him felt thick, like it was pressing in on all sides. Jareth Jr. knew he had done something he couldn't take back, but the lure of the hidden stairs was too strong to resist.

He descended the stairs, each step echoing ominously in the silence. The deeper he went, the darker it became, until finally, he reached a stone door engraved with runes so ancient they were nearly indecipherable. The air was cold here, unnaturally cold, and Jareth Jr. hesitated for a moment. But his desire for answers—answers about his birth, his real purpose to be there, and the connection between himself and the Labyrinth—overcame his fear.

He placed his hand on the door.

Suddenly, a violent surge of energy erupted from the stone, knocking him backward. The ground trembled, the walls of the Labyrinth groaning in protest as if the entire maze were waking up from a long slumber—and it was angry. Jareth Jr. scrambled to his feet, but before he could react, the familiar shimmer of a teleportation spell surrounded him.

In an instant, he was no longer in the dark, cold chamber. He was standing in the throne room, face-to-face with his father.

Jareth the Goblin King stood there, eyes blazing with fury, his usual calm and amused demeanor replaced by something far more terrifying. He didn't say a word at first, but the tension in the air was palpable, pressing down on Jareth Jr. like a physical force.

-"What," Jareth Sr. said, his voice low and dangerous, "have you done?!"

Jareth Jr. tried to speak, but his mouth went dry. He had never seen his father like this before. Jareth Sr.'s eyes—those mismatched eyes that always carried a glimmer of mischief—were cold now, like stone.

-"I—I just wanted to know—" Jareth Jr. stammered, but his father cut him off with a sharp gesture.

"You just wanted to know?" Jareth Sr.'s voice rose, echoing through the throne room. "Do you have any idea what you've risked? What you've unleashed?"