A/N: The original has extreme right alignment for the text in bold, and extreme left alignment for the italicized text. Unfortunately, FFnet won't let me use my left alignment, and it just looks funny without it. :( Bah. So much for my experiment.

Fable

Insects sang in the night,

casting a spell of

serenity

over the land.

"Traitor!" The Queen screamed

as she was dragged down the steps of her

Castle and thrown to the dirt

at the foot of the Goblin City,

"Fiend! Useless Scum! I shall see you pay!"

Jareth said nothing as the

Sidhe guards surrounded the woman, keeping her from

reaching their king and his companion. She spat

and

seethed,

clawing

at thick armor with broken fingernails.

He could see the blood on her fingertips.

Few of the braver

goblins watched the scene from behind

the rickety huts that signaled the beginning of the city.

Finvarra lazily unrolled a parchment and handed it to a portly figure,

crossing his arms and smirking down at

the crazed being that he had cornered.

The man cleared his throat twice, thick white mustache

twitching underneath a reddened nose.

"His Majesty, King of Fairies, Gate Keeper

and Guardian, hereby decrees the land of the Labyrinth

and its Goblin peoples under his jurisdiction and rule. The creature known

as the 'Goblin Queen' is henceforth removed

from her station,

stripped

of her title and

exiled

to the Labyrinth

indefinitely.

The man known as Jareth is hereby

granted the title 'Goblin King' and charged with the

task of guarding and maintaining

the land of the Labyrinth in His Majesty's

stead. So His Majesty has said, so it shall be done."

"You hear that, you stupid little gits," Finvarra

shouted at the goblins, who cowered at the sound of his voice,

"I'm the one who holds the power here! Your

precious Queen can't keep you any longer!

You have a

new

master

now!"

She woke with a start.

There was a particularly lumpy bit of ground

that was digging into her side and the

rock that had seemed ever-so-comfortable a moment

ago suddenly wasn't the ideal pillow.

Dragging a dirty hand across her eyes, she

rolled over and curled up on her other side,

trying to find a more suitable spot for

sleeping.

"Cozy, isn't it?" He laughed, "Now. Would you go left? Or right?"

"They both look the same."

"Well, you're not going to get very far now, are you?"

"Which way would you go?"

"Me? I wouldn't go either."

"If that's all the help you're going to be, you can just leave."

"You know what your problem is? You take too many things for granted.

Take this Labyrinth. Even if you get to the center of it, you'll never get out again."

"That's your opinion."

"Well it's a lot better than yours!"

"Thanks for nothing, Hogwart."

"Oooh, it's HOGGLE! And don't say I didn't warn you!"

It didn't help. Instead, she found herself

with a face full of flora

that would bend in the slight breeze just enough

to tickle her nose.

Defeated, she pushed herself up to a

sitting position. The moon

hung low in the sky, glaring down at

her with its menacing yellow

gleam and casting eerie brown-black

shadows across the rocky terrain.

She shivered a bit as some distant

screech was carried upon the breeze.

Her companion was sleeping

quietly nearby, head pillowed on

her bundled-up apron. For a

moment, she was jealous of the other

woman's ability to silence her mind

enough to get what little

much-needed sleep they could grasp.

Readjusting her form,

she tried once again.

Knock Knock

(That's dumb!)

Who's there?

(Won't play!)

Such pretty words his tongue does weave!

(If you like him so much why don't you marry him?)

Choked with Lies and Ash and Soot

she walks again walks again walks again walks

Blue Bells, Cockle Shells

Evey, Ivy

(Over.)

Her mind wouldn't stop.

"She took my name!" The little man wailed, "She took my NAME!"

She traced the stars.

"There's such a sad love – Deep in your eyes..."

She tried counting sheep.

"Avaa," she sing-songed, trailing her

fingers in the small puddle and

smiling at the ripples,

"Ava, Sweetling,

I know you haven't

forgotten

me..."

She half-sang what she could of a long

forgotten lullaby,

humming the melody

when the

words failed.

"Jack? Jack?!

Jack, wake up!!"

Her thoughts

whirred on

without her.

"Mama, why are you

crying?"

By the time the great white

barn owl

found them,

she was sobbing with

hysterics -

helpless against the onslaught of

voices that

clamored

for her

attention.

She didn't notice the smooth

transformation from

beast to man. Or

feel the warm leather

gloves against her bare forearms.

Or hear the comforting words that

were mumbled

in the

darkness.

"There's a leak somewhere.

I can feel it,"

His eyes narrowed

as he purveyed his kingdom,

"The only question is,

where is it and

how did it get there?"

"Make it stop," She begged,

"Just make it stop."

He could only

hold her tightly

and stroke

her hair.

Cinderella,

Dressed in yella,

went upstairs to kiss her fella,

made a mistake and

kissed

a

snake,

how many doctors

did it take?

"What's happening to me?"