Chapter 3

(I claim no ownership if either 'The Labyrinth' nor 'Inuyasha' nor their subsequent characters or plots)

Far past the reaches of the Bog of eternal stench paced a most furious Princess, her anger could not be squelched for she had not planned for this outcome. Never in her life would she, no could she have predicted this outcome, never in her life had things gone so wrong for her. Now the little wench that deemed herself fit to take over Her place and upserb Her rightful spot on Jareth's throne, was too far outside her reach and would no doubt reveal her treachery to Jareth himself at first opportunity! Never before in the history of her life had her luck been so rottenly cast; it was as if the whole thing was planned-!!?

Princess Mizumi paused in her pacing freezing at the possibility that she had been duped. A thought more and she was pacing again only a fool would pass upon the position open to them and Jareth would never allow his current precious human to travel about his kingdom if he knew she was there. He was far too arrogant to let the little mortal wench wander aimlessly around his territory after that last one and the small rebellion she had caused regardless of how much he 'claimed' to love her. If he had been aware of her actions he would have sent the girl straight to his keep learned of her reason for being and stolen her precious little brother straight from her grasp.

Princess Mizumi gasped in fear and outrage, it was also possible that he would go for the unpredictable approach unaware that while he knew her so well she in turn knew him just as intimately, he would not be adversed to spying on her or even prematurely guessing her motives with his crystal ball. She rushed from her throne room her near desperation lending her speed as her daughters followed slowly behind her nearly walking as they made no attempt to keep up with her and for that for but a moment she wished to curse at them, but no she had to ensure her prize was still with her, that Jareth had not snatched him from her. Without this boy she would not have the bait necessary to draw forth that ridiculously foal wench who was trying to steal her thrown out from under her!

Souta himself was currently amusing himself within her study, she had foolishly given him run of the palace to placate him, it was only now that she realized how ridiculous she had been, after all she had already drawn the boy from his world there was no need for him to be comfortable any longer, especially now that Jareth might realize that she had him if he hadn't already. What a fool she had been, but no more, this was a war and in some wars for one side to win some had to die and this mortal boy was nothing but a means to an end. Best he knew that now and could therefore better know his place when his sister came to rescue him and she killed her. She had come too far and waited for far too long for Jareth to pull his head from earth and again take notice of her as was her due, to let it all be for not when or if Jareth decided to save the boy to further himself in to the retched mortals graces. No! She would not allow it both Jareth and his Kingdom were Hers by right! No one else had done more than she had for them, no one else was worthy of them!

"Drumlin!" Princess Mizumi called her youngest daughter forward however her sheer size prevented her from entering the small doorway. Three sets of eyes were now locked onto her and with a rather malicious smile more fit for the commoners and peasants however acceptable as she was just here with her family and a prisoner who no one would believe or hear from again after his sister got what was coming to her.

"Take him to the dungeons, lock him up, he is not to leave unless I come for him; and my dear you know my scent so well… if it is someone else that comes for the boy do not hesitate, eat him." Souta's shocked and frightened gasp was ignored as while the great hulking and terribly obese female did not speak her the answering delightfully wicked smile that lit her squat face was testimate enough that he should have gone to school today instead of following that skeleton dude that had told him of such great wonders. They had been so much like his sisters stories of the feudal era that he had just wanted to be a part of her world for just a moment. To be able to fight like he had heard she and her friends had, to be able to lift a sword like his own personal hero had who had used it to keep his sister safe throughout her journey as they were collecting the sacred jewel shards. To be great! What he wouldn't have given for that; and yet what they were trying to sell him now he wasn't buying- he wasn't completely helpless after all!

Souta moved towards the window being as the only other exit was blocked by the Princess's monster of a daughter who was reaching one of her large ham like hands into the room as if to reach him from even this distance but with Princess Mizumi coming up towards him, it was probably more of a hand off. However his intensions were quickly deduced by the self proclaimed royal as she stopped and a ghastly but chilling laugh passed her lips which she coyly covered with her hand as if she truly cared for the traditional Japanese 'kwaii' factor.

He didn't wait to find out why she was laughing however nor did he particularly care for her rather un-cute display as he rushed to the window and threw the once lovely glass outward so hard it broke against the castle wall which quickly cleared up the Princess's good humor. It was with disgruntled frustration he realized the source of her laughter as when he looked down to better judge his landing he finally realized just how high up he was and just how very likely he was to break something vital if he attempted to jump down from this height, oh what he wouldn't give for some demonic aspects right about now! Heck a night and shining hanyou… with dog ears would also be a welcome sight! For a second he closed his eyes and then just as quickly reopened them not trusting Princess Mizumi at his back in the least, he cringed mentally when neither his shining hanyou with dog ears and bearing the name of his hero Inuyasha appeared; nor when he didn't feel anything akin to what he thought demonic powers might have felt like. He leaned over a little farther to see if there was hand holds… nothing. Damn!

"Little fool, it's useless to resist there is nowhere you can go, attempt to jump from this height and it will surely kill you, and we can't have you dying until after your precious sister arrives to save you in just in case she needs to see you before she crosses the barrier. Notice nowhere in there did I mention you need be unharmed should you test my patience much longer." Princess Mizumi came forward no doubt to snatch him Souta however was having none of it. A trap, he should have known it was a trap, why else would demons be interested in giving him super powers unless it was a trap to get his sister to give them the Shikon no Tama? He was so stupid sometimes, Damn It! Souta jumped onto the window ledge if he was going it sure as hell wouldn't be quietly… but first he would get as much information as he could so that when Kagome did come he could pass it along.

Princess Mizumi froze and with a quick eye spotted as Moulin passed her sister's great bulk to streak into the room coming up on Souta's blind spot, she had to stall she knew until Moulin could catch the stupid little brat before he did something completely stupid, like kill himself before she was able to do it for him!

"Now, now don't be hasty there is no need for you to die yet; and even if you did survive the jump my guards would simply pick you up and drag you back,… they are so less kind than we are.."

"What barrier?" Souta demanded edging back smirking at her spitefully when she took an involuntary step forward before schooling her features again back to the placid mask of before.

"Why the barrier that separates the land of the banished from the Goblin World of course." Princess Mizumi didn't bother playing stupid with him as to do so would most likely send his attention wandering and may in turn cause him to do something more than reckless so instead she stated carefully as if he should have known this all along and she were only playing with him, his face turned slightly in his rather obvious ire and Moulin froze in her spot so as not to be spotted by his peripheral vision. The Princess cursed in her mind for a moment more before Souta spoke again. His right heel now perilously hung over the edge of the window sill into open space.

"So this whole time you've lied to me about becoming a goblin just to lure my sister here? Why not just kidnap me?" A truly mocking smile lit her face making the once nearly beautiful face seem nearly artificial and piteously brittle.

"No I did not lie to you about coming here you will indeed become a goblin subject to the rule of the King and Queen of the Goblin world, however there is a down side to this great boon to be bestowed upon the willing or no. To enter the Goblin Kingdom you must have a want to be here and you dear boy had that want, and while I may not have been able to lure your sister here with the same, you are the poor simpleton that will serve just as well as my pawn to bring her here." Souta nearly snarled at her as he turned to fully face her and hit her one for, girl be damned! However no sooner had be done this than Moulin no longer within his field of sight struck grabbing him from behind as he screeched his outrage and struggled with all his might cursing up a storm he was sure would have made Inuyasha proud. Mocking laughter filled his ears as the Princess watched his capture but Souta still had one more question that plagued him. How? Drumlin's ham like fist captured the front of his shirt and dragged him forward.

"Wait!" Souta cried in her hold knowing that she wouldn't but that he now had a listening audience as he was thrown over the gargantuan's shoulder like a sack of dirty potato's.

"How did you know about Kagome!" He demanded his glare piercing but without effect as everyone here seemed immune to such things. Princess Mizumi's voice trailed him down the hall as Drumlin headed for the dungeons.

"I always know who the competition is dear boy, wither or not your sister is a passing fancy of his matters little, what matters is I have grown tired of waiting for my throne and I will wait no longer." In a swirl of expensive silk she left headed again towards her throne room followed by her eldest daughter at a more sedate pace that only now could she appreciate, worry faded to nothing now that the one loose string had been successfully taken care of ignoring the boys outraged and confused cry of 'What??'

Once upon her throne a minute glance upon the extravagance of it had but a small frown grow upon her face as she realized that this was so minor in comparison to what she would soon gain once she killed that upstart little brat that was trying to steal her throne from her.

"Esker!" The Princess cried as Moulin took up a spot to her right looking as beautiful and as perfect as an old fashion geisha that for a minute of her life as she waited for her most trusted of henchmen to appear she was struck with jealousy. Yet her morose daughter saw none of this; as not a single emotion played upon her face as she artistically rearranged her bamboo umbrella to her other shoulder to keep the rain from her own personal cloud off of her person. Her attention was redirected when a particularly tall, extraordinarily slim, black suited man with what appeared to be a white and gray skeletal mask on appeared within the room bowing deeply and respectfully to her and then again less deeply but just as respectfully to Moulin who for all her abilities seemed as unaware as she was uncaring that there was someone in the room with them.

"Y…You Callllled Mmmyy Ladyyyy Prrincesssss." Neither the skeletal mask moved nor did his jaw as he with his head still ever respectfully down cast, let loose a mechanical sounding draw upon each of his words which had often left the Princess wondering if he had to speak in this way because he couldn't open his jaw properly to speak after Jareth had beaten him so savagely during his one and only attempt at gaining control of the Goblin Kingdom. Once he had been banished he had been all to happy to serve as her guard once she had offered the position to him knowing that the man once a great and powerful Goblin before Jareth had done whatever it was he had done, would not have lost all of his talents.

It had taken a fair share of her power and creativity to reanimate him though as his body had been mostly destroyed he still moved with more difficulty than she had initially expected as his body was still as of yet unaccustomed to its new mechanical parts, but it had been well worth the effort after all of these years as his unwavering loyalty had proved useful in gaining her title and the castle she now held.

"It seems my pray has not made it to the land of banishment and has instead landed herself in the middle of the Labyrinth. Find her, redirect her, and get rid of anyone that tries to prevent this, before that fool King finds out she's here and ruins everything! Go!" One second he was there bowing before her and the next he was gone blended in with the shadows that had not before been there. Princess Mizumi signed nearly dramatically only hard self education keeping her from performing the deemed too childish act as her temper had again gotten the better of her.

With a fluid twist of her wrist however the mirror stashed in the arm of her throne chair came free and she quickly scanned over her ever perfect features a frown marring the corner of her lips as she noticed a wrinkle that had not been their this morning when she had last checked and with a quick motion of her fingers it was gone and youthful beauty stared back at her.

"Soon." She promised her mirrored self. "Soon Jareth and his Kingdom will be ours." The mirror image of herself smiled back at her which in turn brought a smile to her own face and a laugh broke her lips to be echoed throughout her palace.

Inuyasha paced furiously outside Keada's hut impatience for the two occupants inside to come out already so that they could continue onward with his plan as the ponce that ruled the Goblin Kingdom was not known for his patience and since he did not know that they were coming to meet him to gain pass into his world he would have no need to stay longer than what he deemed necessary to finish his task. The flap to Keada's hut opened by a near hesitant hand and out stepped their only human female demon slayer. Who was valiantly tugging at Kagome's school fuku skirt with one free hand as if it might gain just a couple more inches if she did so while her other was vainly trying to cover her displayed neck and shoulders in what Inuyasha termed a 'tank top'.

"I don't think this was the wisest of idea's Inuyasha." Sango stated in a rather monotone sort of voice, she was feeling rather bare and more exposed than she had ever wished to be, Miroku was unconscious in the corner of the hut courtesy for once of Inuyasha when the monk had thought to protest by telling Sango just what she 'might' be getting into. Inuyasha however was quick to reassure Sango that he was sure that half of the things they said about the stupid per- er bastard were not true. Mind you he had never let Miroku finish with his warning before he had knocked him out and 'reassured' her then proceeded to tell her that if it at all got out of hand she just needed to get the permission and then knock the bastard into the seventh hell. He had been tight lipped when she had asked for clarification on his 'out of hand' and what was 'not really true.' Maybe Miroku was right about this..

"Don't worry it'll work, I seen it done plenty of times.. before..." He trailed off suspiciously and Sango felt her eyes narrow as her ire was raised and then she looked down, she stared suddenly blankly at the piece of parchment that Inuyasha had handed her, wondering if she had some how forgotten to read in the time in which she had learned and then stopped in favor of training with her father and learning the skills one needed to know to become a slayer, for there was no way that it said what she thought it said... Inuyasha would never be that stupid.. Then again..Inuyasha turned to stare inquisitively at her when a dark aura lept from her shoulders like a living entity, danger making the hairs on the back of his neck stand up and his ears flatten back.

Inuyasha avoided her first swing narrowly missing being biffed upside the head which instead had her fist just skimming past one of his fuzzy white ears which twiched maddly for a second and then promptly flattened back before he managed to steeling himself and give her a rather stony look that said he wasn't budging from this and he was going to make sure she didn't either.

"God damn it wench knock it off, I get it ok! It sucks but this is the only chance we have of saving Kagome! So overcome your petty human modesty and get ready to flash some leg!" Another swing this one with less motivation behind it as his words dug deeper.

"If You don't do this We can't help her, it's not like you have to sleep with the stupid bastard, just flatter him, puff up his ego, and get the pass, if he touches you bare with it until you've gotten your pass and then flatten him! The easier you look the less suspicious he'll be and the quicker you can get your pass!" Sango looked uncertain and yet resignation was quickly taking over she looked over at the unconscious monk before frowning in suspicion again.

"Why did you knock out the houshi?" Inuyasha couldn't stifle the self depreciative smirk that somehow made him look rather handsomely boyish.

"Keh! The bouzo is a possessive bastard like me he never would have let you do it." Sango's face flushed an attractive shade of pale pink as she looked over at the still unconscious monk, only to turn back bewildered when Inuyasha kneeled in front of her.

"Quit gappin' and get on this way is faster and if we don't make it before the bastard decides to leave he ain't waitin' for us." Cautiously Sango approached him unsure exactly how she was suppose to ride on his back when the only of their group to have ever been allowed even under the worst of circumstances had been Kagome and she didn't dare ride as Kagome had… it just seemed so-so inappropriate dressed as she was. Yet no sooner than did her arms hesitantly wrap around his neck then his impatience got the better of him and with a quick up right jerk he had her knees in each hand her arms nearly choking him, her personal hidden weapons pressing into his back uncomfortably and her scream ringing his ears as he quickly took off in the last known location of the Goblin King. Ignoring all this as he concentrated on the one thing that mattered to him.

'I'm coming Kagome!'

Jareth frowned as he stared within his crystal ball, what an unexpected turn of events. Things were not going as he had planned them. How… disappointing. Worse someone was helping out his beloved and he had a strong feeling as to who. Sir Didymus was not to have been in the Junk Heaps just outside his city, in fact if he recalled correctly the self proclaimed knight was to have been in the forest dealing with the infestation of Fireys who had multiplied not long after… what was that girls name again?

With a snap of his fingers a scroll appeared in his again gloved hand and with a vague look he scrolled down the list to find the number he sought. Ah, yes Sarah Williams he remembered her now, a very sweet and selfish little girl that had so hated her life before he had come along, who was also responsible for that brief rebellion, irritating but there had been worse times. Again his eyes vaguely scanned the scroll which quickly rolled through names and dates with a speed and number no human's eyes could ever hope to track.

A worse time had been and gone when a mortal girl had asked passage into this world and then… never taken it. It had been one of three times in its history to have ever happened to him however he was one to learn from his mistakes and after the second had so apparently forsaken his rather generous gift he had made it mandatory for all mortals that wished to enter his world to read his own self created manuscript. Although he could recall vaguely in the back of his mind a time in which a girl had come to him and asked entrance. He had regretfully declined to give it to her but it had been a welcome adventure after a recent heart break.

Jareth dropped the list which abruptly vanished as if it had never been before again turning back to his crystal ball in which showed his beautiful Kagome as she and her new companions headed through the maze not towards the bog however but towards the Door Knockers and the general direction of the yeti giant's home. A smirk appeared on his near angelic face, six hours was enough time for him to have waited to check upon her to see-even if he already knew she hadn't his Kagome was nothing if not driven and loyal and- to see if she was ready to submit to him.

Then again that was another thing that drew him so deeply and strongly to her, she didn't submit, she never gave up even when a situation regardless of how ridiculous it seemed or how trivial she gave everything she had to give unable to do any less. With a fluent move he grabbed his cloak from the back of his chair and pulled it on as he went to his window and in a flash of light he was gone and in his place was a beautiful snow white owl and in its talons it held a single glass ball.

'Here I come beloved.'

End.

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Yo! I got the chapter up FINALLY I have been trying for ages! Long story short I'm working from a crap computer that does not format well with others with lousy internet connection. I hope to have the next chapter up before the end of this month but… I want to concentrate on adding a single additional chapter to my other stories first. The reason why this one was up first was because it had the most reviews! SO all who wanted this one posted the reviewers win! Congratulations! Yep I didn't know it was a challenge either until my computer and typer went caput.

I want to thank everyone who has stayed with me so far, thank you! I'm so sorry for the lateness of updates and hope I get better but until I can get my new computer with better connection service its going to be slow for another couple months. Please bare with me and please not that while it is slow chapters will be posted by which ever story has the most reviews because popular and in demand I usually try and supply better. Well cutting this short I hope you enjoyed sorry for the bad grammar, spelling, shortness of chapter, and everything else I could later be flamed for. See you next chapter! P.B.