Chapter Text
It happened on a Tuesday—which, in Y/N’s opinion, was offensive. Tuesdays were for burnt toast and bad coffee, not magical abductions.
She’d only muttered something sarcastic under her breath. Something about how she wished she could disappear, or better yet, that her sister would just wish her away and be done with it. She hadn’t meant it, of course. But her sister—jealous, petty, and far too good at repeating things she didn’t understand—had heard.
“I wish the Goblin King would take her away!” she’d shouted.
And the world… shifted.
The floor vanished. The ceiling spiraled. Logic abandoned her like a fair-weather friend.
Y/N landed with a thump—on something that felt suspiciously like moss-covered stone. Her ears rang. Her mouth tasted like copper and surprise.
Then she heard it: the slow, deliberate sound of boots on stone. A voice followed, smooth as silk wrapped around a dagger.
“Well, well,” the man drawled, “someone’s been summoned.”
She sat up, blinking against the dizziness. The voice came closer, and though she couldn’t explain how, she knew it was smirking.
“Let me guess,” she said dryly. “Tall, brooding, overly fond of eyeliner?”
There was a pause—then a short, sharp laugh. “Clever. And accurate.”
Y/N turned her head toward the voice, her fingers digging into the moss as she pushed herself upright. The man—no, not quite a man—was now standing before her. She didn’t know how she knew he wasn’t human, but something in the air bent around him like light around glass. He was too still. Too poised. Too… deliberate.
“You’re the Goblin King,” she said, brushing dirt from her hands.
“And you are the girl who was wished away. Though you don’t look particularly distraught.”
“Sorry to disappoint,” she said. “I didn’t realize being kidnapped required a fainting couch.”
He stepped closer. “Not kidnapped. Challenged. There’s a difference.”
She raised an eyebrow. “Oh? Do I get a sword, or just a cryptic riddle and a time limit?”
He grinned, and it was pure mischief. “The Labyrinth. Thirteen hours. Reach the center, and you go home. Fail…” He let that word linger in the air like perfume. “And you belong to me.”
Y/N stood, brushing her pants off with theatrical flair. “I’ve had worse job offers.”
Jareth’s grin widened. “You are delightfully unbothered. Most scream.”
“I don’t scream,” she replied. “I file complaints.”
The Goblin King chuckled again, and for a moment, something sharp in his expression softened. Interest flickered behind his mismatched eyes. He stepped aside with a dramatic sweep of his hand, revealing the high stone walls of the labyrinth behind him.
“Then by all means,” he said. “Complain your way through.”
Y/N rolled her eyes and marched forward, past him, into the mouth of the maze. “Try not to cry when I win.”
He watched her go, head tilted slightly.
“Oh,” he murmured, mostly to himself. “This one is going to be interesting.”