#i have fought my way here to the castle beyond the goblin city

[creulsummer]

Through dangers untold and hardships unnumbered, I have fought my way here to the castle beyond the Goblin City, to take back the child you have stolen. For my will is as strong as yours- and my kingdom is as great. You have no power over me.

[kawaii-90s-nostalgia]

Through dangers untold, and hardships unnumbered... I have fought my way here to the castle beyond the Goblin City... To take back the child you have stolen. For my will is as strong as yours, and my kingdom is as great. You have no power over me!

[justa-lil-guy]

Day 23: Favorite Hero (Real or Fictional!)

Sarah, The Labyrinth

"Through dangers untold. And hardships unnumbered. I have fought my way here to the castle; beyond the goblin city, to take back the child that you have stolen. My will is as strong as yours, and my kingdom as great...You have no power over me."

🌕sources

[megs-mostly-past-random-fandoms]

In My Sister’s Place (Part 2 of 2)

Here you are, lovelies! Part 2 of “In My Sister’s Place”. As always, familiar characters are NEVER mine!

Fandom: Labyrinth

Warnings: A bit of angst, but a happy ending. 

Pairings/Characters: Jareth the Goblin King x fem!reader, mentions of Sarah and Toby

Your eyes burned with tears that you hastily wiped away. First the obelisk, then the ballroom, the fireys fiends, and the Bog of Eternal Stench. You were quickly becoming overwhelmed with the Goblin King's labyrinth. And yet, every time you saw said king, it sent pleasant shivers down your spine and your heart began racing. You weren't sure if it was your hopeless romantic self or if the labyrinth was messing with your mind and heart, but you could feel yourself coming to care for the Goblin King.

         Your mind raced every time you thought back to the ballroom and how he'd held you close to him. How he'd gazed into your eyes. If you hadn't known better, you'd say he cared for you as well. But then you recalled how he had your baby brother and how scared Toby must feel. It set you back on the path and, before you knew it, you had made it into the castle.

         The Goblin King appeared again just as you set eyes on Toby. He practically begged you not to take him. He toyed with you using a never-ending staircase. As you tried to figure out what to do, you came to a realization. Maybe…perhaps, the Goblin King was simply lonely. Maybe he longed for someone to love, just like you. And just maybe, you could be that person. You thought and thought, your mind and heart pulling you in separate directions. Eventually, you made up your mind to save Toby and, by extension, your sister's sanity and guilt.

         The ticking of the clock echoed in your ears as you raced to where you were certain the Goblin King and Toby would be. Your legs were shaking and your heart was doing flip-flops in your chest when the Goblin King reappeared yet again. "I've won. I beat the labyrinth," you stated. The king looked pained as he watched you watching him. "Then you know what must be said, precious." You nodded, but before you could speak again, he held up a crystal. "You can stay, you know. Stay and never be worried about your siblings again. They will be happy. Sarah at home with her costumes and toys. The baby here with me…and you. Just remain here with me. Love me and I shall be your slave."

         You shook your head. "I don't want that. I want Toby safe at home. I want Sarah to finish growing up knowing that someone is looking out for her. I w-want someone to love that loves me as much as I do them. An equal partner in all things.  If I stayed, you would change to what you think I want you to be, just as you change the labyrinth. I'd want the chance to l-love you as you are." The king looked hopeful for a moment.

         "But I can't. No until I know my siblings are safe and that what I'm feeling for you isn't simply a trick of this place," you concluded. With tears in your eyes, you stepped forward and placed a soft kiss to the Goblin King's cheek as you mumbled a soft apology. You then began reciting the speech you'd learned by heart long ago, noticing the Goblin King's pained expression deepen with every word.

Through dangers untold and hardships unnumbered,

I have fought my way here, to the castle beyond the Goblin City,

To take back the child you have stolen,

For my will is as strong as yours, and my kingdom is as great…

You have no power over me.

         No sooner did you finished speaking did you find yourself back in your home. You felt thin arms wrap around your middle and it took you a moment to realize that it was Sarah. A soft cooing caught your attention behind you. Toby. Safe in his crib. You breathed a sigh of relief just as an overwhelming sadness came over you. You helped Sarah settle Toby down to sleep and then lead her to her room and told her everything.

         "You must have been so frightened," she commented. You attempted to smile. "I suppose. I truly don’t believe the Goblin King was all that bad. He merely did what you asked of him. I think, in his own strange way, he was trying to show that he was lonely." Sarah huffed. "He deserves to be lonely. I bet you made more friends in the labyrinth than the Goblin King has ever had."

         "Sarah," you sighed, shaking your head. You knew she couldn't understand at this point. She was still so much a child. "Nevermind. How about I introduce you to some of the friends I made?" Her face lit up in excitement. "You can do that?!" You laughed and gave a little shrug. "They did say they would always be here if I needed them. And the magic of that place obviously works here as well." You glanced in the mirror and thought about the friends you'd made and how much you'd like to see them again as you closed your eyes. When you opened them at the sound of Sarah's laughter, the room was full of the people you'd met.

         After spending a little time with them all, you excused yourself to return to your own bedroom. Your heart was heavy. When you had opened your eyes, you had half-hoped that the Goblin King would be there as well. Of course he wasn't. You closed your door behind you, leaning against it. Your eyes traveled to the window and you froze.

         Perched on a branch just outside your window was a white and brown owl. Without hesitation, you threw open the window, inviting the owl inside. Tears began stream down your face when the owl flew in and instantly transformed into the very being you'd been thinking of. You hadn't even realized you'd moved until you hugged him close.

         "You came back," you said, your voice muffled by his vest. He stood slightly stiffly, as if your contact was unexpected, but after a moment, you felt his arms go around you. "You say that as though you missed me," he stated. You looked up at him with tears still running down your cheeks. "Why are you crying, precious?" he asked. "I'm so sorry," you replied, "I c-couldn't leave Toby there. I didn't want to hurt you, but I couldn’t leave him."

         The Goblin King laughed softly. "Why are you laughing? And why aren't you angry with me? I-I bested you. I left you alone." He cocked his head to the side as if he were thinking. "Do you know what I am? What I truly am?" he asked in return. You thought a for a moment. "Fae? Is that right?" He nodded. "Yes. And Fae like myself, have one true, ever-lasting love in their lifetime. You, my precious thing, are mine. That is why I came back. That is why I cannot remain angry with you."

         "How do you know?" Your voice was barely above a whisper now. It was a lot to process, but you couldn't deny that you'd felt something powerful within you every time he was near you. "An unexplained connection. A pull and feeling we cannot place. The longing to be near each other without understanding the reason behind it. I know you felt it in the labyrinth and the ballroom. And even more so in the castle."

         You nodded. There was point in lying to him about it. "What happens now?" you asked. He cupped your cheek. "Now, you make a decision, Y/N. You may remain here or return with me. Be my queen." You bit your lip. "Will you love me?"

         "I already do. You are my Y/N. My precious love." You gazed into his eyes. They were light and bright with emotion as he waited for your answer. You weren't sure how you were going to explain things to your family, but you knew your choice within mere seconds. Your face drew closer to his. "You never did tell me your name," you said softly. "Jareth."

         "Jareth," you whispered back before finally pressing your lips to his, sealing your fate as his. His Y/N. His love. His queen.

(a/n: I hope you like it and that this part was worth the wait!)

Forever Tags: @fizzyxcustard​ @supernatural4life2022​

This Story Tags: @urlocalfanficwriter​ @bwila-bussy​ @evilunicorns4minions​ @princess-ofthe-pages​ @boofy1998​ @ultimatreality​ 

[moonkake-143]

𝐄𝐝𝐝𝐢𝐞'𝐬 𝐋𝐚𝐛𝐲𝐫𝐢𝐧𝐭𝐡 | What's Said is Said

Goblin King!Eddie X AFAB/Fem!Henderson Reader

Edited by the lovely: Jen

(please go and check out her stuff its amazing and without her you wouldn't be reading this right now.)

Content: Slow-burn, one-sided pining from Eddie, love at first sight, angst, swearing, minor injury, blood, minimal to no use of Y/n

Summary: You never believed the story you told your little brother would end up becoming a reality, so when a mysterious man named Eddie claims to be the Goblin King after your brother goes missing, you can't help but be skeptical- but he's handsome, and you can't help but fall under his spell. One thing is for sure, though- you need to find Dustin, no matter the cost.

A/n: This will most likely be the only time I put one of these at the start of the fic. But the start of this is FINALLY here, I'm sorry it took so long to come out me and my editor have been busy and only recently have we gained some free time to finish this chapter. This idea has been on my mind for months and I can't wait for you all to dive into this 80s Labyrinth inspired fic!!

Chapter 1/? {wc: 3.8k}

Masterlist

Part 1 Part 2

        Hawkins, Indiana was no stranger to bats, especially around fall, so you paid no mind to the one that flew over your head, hanging from the very tree you relaxed under. Lover's Lake was always popular at sundown, but when the sky was still painted blue and the stars had yet to say hello, it was your secret spot, especially when you wanted to escape for a few hours to read. Your current interest was a red leather-bound book that comfortably rested between your hands.

        The title had faded from the cover, but the first page named it The Labyrinth- it was a mysterious novel with no author listed. You had saved it from the depths of your local thrift store where it had collected dust, begging for you to take it home, beckoning you to uncover its secrets. In your free time, you had thrown yourself into the book, unaware of how long you had spent underneath the tree with Dart, your golden retriever, who lay quietly beside you.

        “Give me the child.” Your words carried along the wind as you read, with theatrics fit for a proper dungeon master. At the sound of your voice, Dart’s ears perked up and he tilted his head. His wagging tail gently thumped against the dirt, mixing with the sound of small waves lapping against the bank.

        “Through dangers untold and hardships unnumbered, I fought my way here to the castle beyond the Goblin City, to take back the child that you have stolen.”

        You turned the faded yellow page, a small smile gracing your features as Dart sat up, giving you his full attention.

        “For my will is as strong as yours, and my heart as great.”

        As if listening intently to your story, the bat hung silently overhead, its ears twitching.

        “For you will never have power over me…”

        Before you could finish the scene, a roar of thunder shook the ground, causing you to jump and shut the book with a loud thud. Dark grey clouds littered the once-blue sky, the air heavy and humid.

        The bat which had hung over you flew away, and Dart gave chase, barking in its direction.

        “Dart!” You shouted.

        Shoving the book into your bag, you bolted up from your place under the tree, your fantasy fading as you brushed the dirt from your jeans. As if the rumbling thunder and barking dog weren’t enough, your wristwatch let out a beep that was all too familiar.

        “Shit! Come on, Dart! Mom’s gonna be so pissed!”

        You pulled your bike up from the side of the tree, hopping onto the seat and peddling away. Letting out one last howl as the bat disappeared into the branches, Dart turned to run after you, and before you could even curse the sky, the rain came pouring down.

        Peddling as fast as your legs could manage, you made it into town, turning sharp corners and crossing streets, taking as many shortcuts between houses and through back-alleys as possible to avoid the downpour.

        By the time you had made it to your street and turned into your driveway, you and Dart were thoroughly soaked. Ditching your bike, you followed Dart as he ran into the garage, furiously shaking the water from his fur. Trying to catch your breath, you wiped the rain from your face, your wet clothes clinging to you uncomfortably.

        Closing the garage, you left Dart there to warm up, letting yourself inside to escape the dreary cold. Despite the warmth of the house, you shivered as your doting mother came to greet you, holding your fussy three-year-old little brother.

        “Dustin, look who's here!" She chirped. "Only twenty minutes late!”

        “I know, Mom. I’m sorry, okay?” You huffed, kicking off your wet shoes and socks. “…Put him down so he can walk- you need to stop babying him.”

        “You know I rarely get to go out with the girls…and he's still my little Dusty-Bun.”

        “You go out all the time! I’m always stuck babysitting!”

        “You know I only have you babysit when it doesn't interfere with your plans.” Your mother’s beloved ginger cat, Mews, rubbed against her leg as she held Dustin, who looked between the two of you with interest, his blue eyes staring you down.

        “Well, you didn't even ask!”

        “I assumed you would tell me if you did! I’d like you to have plans, really! You should be going out and having fun at your age- maybe meeting a boy!”

        Pushing past her, you grabbed a towel from the bathroom and stalked to your room, slamming the door shut. Everything was so infuriating. When you pulled your book out, you found that it had gotten wet, and with a huff, you threw your bag into your desk chair. Shivering, you wrung the water from your hair, quickly changing out of your soaked jeans and sweater, and into something warm and more comfortable.

        Wrapping the towel around your shoulders to catch the water still dripping from your hair, you flopped into bed, shutting your eyes and soaking in the rare quietness as raindrops pelted the window. It was nice to be left alone.

        But good things don't last, and your illusion of silence shattered when your mother eventually pushed the door open, her honey blonde hair meticulously curled, with makeup swiped on with precision, and that dress. It sparkled and shined, catching your eye the moment she walked in. It was like you were four again and watching her get ready to go out, trying on different pairs of heels as your dad struggled with his necktie.

        But you remember that you're almost nineteen now and your dad left- he left you and your pregnant mother for a woman half her age. You shook your head, trying to forget those memories, and when you finally tuned back in, your mother was at the end of her usual speech.

        “-back by midnight, I already fed Dustin and put him in his playpen. Make sure to tuck him in, alright? You know he's still scared of thunder. I love you…both of you.”

        The older woman was closer to you then you realized as she leaned down to kiss your forehead, though she left the room quickly, her high heels muffled by the carpeted halls. You heard her walk to the garage, start the car, and disappear into the evening, leaving you alone with your little brother.

        Letting out a frustrated sigh, you went looking for a hairdryer, laying your poor book across your desk and peeling the damp pages apart. Finding your mother's on the bathroom counter, you plugged it into the wall and with a whir, began wafting hot air over the wet book, hoping it wasn't too badly damaged.

        A sudden clap of thunder shook the house, and as you jumped, Dustin shrieked at the top of his lungs. The cry was ear-piercing and nearly drowned out the roar of the hairdryer- you could hardly hear yourself think.

        With a frustrated groan, you switched it off, stomping to the living room. Dustin's playpen sat in the corner, filled with colorful plastic toys and stuffed animals that had once been yours. He stood at the edge of the pen with outstretched arms, red-faced and wailing your name as tears poured down his cheeks, his blanket laying forgotten on the ground.

        Clicking your tongue, you gently picked Dustin up and carried him to your mother's room, with Mews silently watching from the sofa. He clung to you for dear life, his cries shattering your eardrums as another crack of thunder rang out.

        “Come on Dustin, stop crying! You're a big boy now, you can't be afraid of thunder!” Your voice was stern, which only seemed to make him wail louder, snot dripping from his nose.

        Sitting him on his racecar bed, you grabbed a tissue box from your mother's nightstand. Wiping his face, you made him blow his nose, your patience wearing thin as the tears kept coming. After disposing of the tissues, you tucked him under his blanket, sitting on the edge of his bed.

        “Fine, do you want a story?!”

        Sniffling, Dustin nodded, his small hands tightly gripping the blanket.

        “Once upon a time, there was a beautiful young girl whose mother always made her stay home with the baby. The baby was a spoiled child and had everything for himself, so the girl was practically forgotten.”

        Thunder roared and a flash of lightning illuminated the room, making Dustin bolt upright, his eyes glassy and full of fear.

        “But what no one knew was that the King of Goblins had fallen in love with the girl, and she too had fallen for him, granting her certain powers.” You waved your hands for effect, trying to distract him.

        A crash of thunder rang out, and Dustin whined fearfully, still sniffling.

        “So one night, when the child had been left to his older sister, she called upon the goblins for help…”

        “Listen!” The nest stirred- they were all awake now, eyes wide and ears pointed in her direction.

        “Wha happen?” Dustin lisped in a small voice, his hand reaching for yours and gripping it tightly.

        “'Say your right words,' the goblins said, 'and we shall take the baby to the Goblin City and you…will be free.'”

        The goblins gasped, their crazed red eyes staring at you from their disgusting nest in the Goblin King’s manor. Some had horns, others had sharp teeth, and some were dressed in remnants of armor, but they all had malevolent eyes, their ears prickling with excitement. They could feel the words that you wished to say but could not voice, felt the meaning, the anger, in the desire.

        “But the girl knew that the Goblin King would keep the baby in his castle forever and ever, turning him into a goblin- and so she suffered in silence.”

        “Isth da king evil?”

        “I don’t know, Dustin…but he loved the girl endlessly." You tucked him in again. "With a heavy heart, he watched the girl endure torture for months- until one day, after coming home from meeting with the Goblin King did she suffer cruel and harsh words from her mother. Ungrateful she was for raising her son, the young girl could bear it no longer...”

        Your voice fell into a mere whisper, and Dustin's brown curls fell against the pillow, his eyelids struggling to stay open.

        The rain pattered against the window, and you sighed when the boy finally let go of your hand, breathing softly and evenly as his arm fell to his side. Just as you had begun to stand, the silence disappeared with a sudden strike of thunder, and Dustin's eyes shot open in terror. He screamed, desperately clinging to you as tears welled up in his eyes again.

        “Hey, it's okay!”

        You could hear Dart barking from the garage as you stood up, wrapping your arms around Dustin. Pacing the room, you hummed a melody to try and calm his frustrating cries, but he dug his face into your shoulder, soaking it with tears.

        “Come on Dustin, stop it!” Your words came out fierce, yet your actions showed otherwise.

        “It’s scawy!”

        “I know it's scary, but you're a big boy, aren't you? You need to fight the fear.”

        You tried to shush him, rocking him back and forth just like you did when he was a newborn, only he was heavier now.

        “Dustin, please be quiet…or I’ll say the words.” You looked away from him, your voice lowered.

        “Wha words...?” He sniffled.

        “I wish...no, I can't...I shouldn't..."

        “Everyone, wake up! Listen!” Every eye, every ear and every goblin was awake now.

        “Is she going to say it?!” An excited goblin asked.

        “If you would shut up, I could find out!”

        “Who are you telling to shut up?!”

        “Both of you- quiet!” Another goblin smacked the bickering pair in the head.

        Dustin hiccupped, and when another roar of thunder shook the house- the loudest of them all- did his wails reach the highest of decibels. He trembled frightfully, tears streaming down his bright red cheeks as he clung to you for dear life, burying his face in your shoulder. With a defeated demeanor, you cried out in mock sacrifice, quoting the story.

        “I can bear it no longer! Goblin King, Goblin King, wherever you may be, come and take this child far away from me!”

        “No! Don take me! I be good! Pinky!” He promised.

        “Oh, that's not it!” The goblins let out crestfallen sighs.

        “It didn't even start with ‘I wish’...”

        You clicked your tongue and cuddled him, shaking your head.

        “Oh stop it, you little gremlin- nothing will come get you. But the girl cried…Oh, I wish…I wish...”

        You knew the words but couldn't bear to say them. Anger, jealousy, and sadness filled your thoughts as you looked at your younger brother; the child which you raised, the one that stole the best years of your adolescence from you. His crying slowly ceased and his breath calmed as you held him, the weight on your shoulder heavy. He was some form of asleep, at least for now.

        With a weary sigh, you put Dustin back to bed, gently tucking him under the blanket. As the downpour became a light rain, your mind wandered to your true thoughts- the ones the goblins could clearly see.

        “I wish I could say the words to let the goblins take you away…” You muttered, grateful for the boy's soft snores that covered your frightful words.

        One goblin let out an annoyed huff, trying to spell it out for you.

        “‘I wish the goblins would take you away right now.’ Not so hard, now is it?”

        Rubbing your temples, you headed towards the door.

        The goblins watched tensely, biting their nails with chattering teeth.

        “Did she say it?” A large, dense goblin suddenly asked.

        “Shut up!" They yelled in unison.

        A sudden clap of thunder rang out, causing you to jump. Behind you, Dustin screamed in fright, crying once more, wailing for you- all your hard work wasted.

        Gripping the doorknob, you took a deep breath and closed your eyes, saying the wish you had never thought you would utter aloud.

        “I wish the goblins would come and take you away…” Standing in the doorway, you heard his wails hush once again.

        The goblins were so quiet they could hear a pin drop in their nest.

        “...Right now.”

        The door shut behind you, the clouds letting out a final battle cry before plunging the house into complete silence. There were no more cracks of thunder, the rain had stopped, and you didn't hear Dustin anymore.

        As you stood outside the room, you began to worry.

        You flung open the door, eyes darting around your mother’s dark bedroom. It was silent. No whine, no cry, and no calling of your name in the midst of a frightful thunderstorm. You hurried into the room, panic overtaking your features as you pulled back Dustin’s bedsheets, your heart sinking.

        Nothing. He was gone.

        “Dustin?! Come out, this isn't funny!”

        But there was no answer- not from your brother, at least.

        The sound of laughter rang out as something scurried around the room, the closet door slamming open and shut. You spun in its direction. Nothing was there. From the corner of your eye, you saw something crawl under the sheets of your mother's bed, but when you turned to look, it had disappeared into the floor. Your fear only escalated.

        “Dustin! Where are you?!”

        The high-pitched laughter only grew louder as you panicked, anxiety coursing through your veins as you spun around the room, your heart racing in your chest. The wind raged outside as you searched for your little brother, head spinning and eyes whirling. The window panes shook and clattered, a bat slamming against the glass over and over again. You felt ready to pass out. There was too much going on.

        With a roar of thunder, the window shattered. Gasping, you shielding your face from the burst of glass shards that now littered the carpet, the raging wind chilling you to your core. You heard the flapping of wings from somewhere in the room, and when you lowered your arms, you saw the bat. It dropped to the floor in a puff of thick smoke, growing and contorting into a towering figure. Your heart stopped.

        “Jeez, took you long enough to call for me! I thought I would have to meddle a bit more.” The voice was manly, cheery, and full of mirth, the chuckle turning into a bodacious laugh.

        Fear encompassed your body as you stumbled back, tripping over a giggling goblin and falling backwards onto the carpet. A stinging pain sliced through your hands as you landed on shards of glass, but all you could do was stare up at him with wide eyes and tear-stained cheeks.

        The man was captivating, with round brown eyes that seemed almost hungry, and dark hair that framed his angular face, falling around his shoulders in loose curls. His outfit resembled something out of a Renaissance fair, with a flared poet shirt and corset, his dark pants tucked into tall lace-up boots. The long velvet cape over his shoulders sparkled and shined like the night, as if the very stars had been woven into it, extravagantly fluttering in the wind that blew through the broken window.

        “...Where is he?” You found your voice, hands trembling slightly as they balled into bloody fists.

        “Where is who?”

        “My little brother!”

        Stepping closer, the man leaned down to your level. On closer inspection, he had freckles and a fanged grin- his teeth were sharper than any human's. You glared and forced a fire to your eyes, but his held no malice as he looked you over, his gaze landing on your trembling hands.

        “Who are you?! What have you done with Dustin?!” You demanded.

        His hands seized yours and you hissed in pain, the smell of iron hitting you as he held them up, his intense eyes seeming to sparkle. You winced at the sight of the injury- glass bits were embedded into your palms and a large gash ran through the center of your left hand, blood oozing from it.

        The man gently cupped your hands, passing his fingers over the wounds with dark, concentrated eyes. The throbbing pain dissipated as you recoiled, staring down at your injured palms. Before your very eyes, the glass in them crumbled into into sand, disappearing before the grains could hit the floor, and the blood seemed to flow back into your cuts, your skin sealing itself shut.

        Shock, confusion, and panic overtook you as you began to hyperventilate, your heart pounding. How could this be? You felt the glass pierce your hands, you smelled the blood- but not even a scar had been left behind.

        You quivered, hyperaware of how close this man was to you and how he definitely wasn't human.

        “Who are you!? What are you?!”

        “Me? I’m Eddie! You should already know that much, since you're the one who invited me here! I’ve been waiting ages for your call!”

        “Invited? My call?” You stammered. “…No…you’re the Goblin King...?!”

        “The one and only!”

        “No! It was a mistake! I was only telling a story- I didn't mean it! Bring him back!” You scrambled to your feet, shoving Eddie with newfound courageous force. He stumbled, his eyebrows scrunched as he held his ground, dusting off his cape.

        “My dear, what’s said is said- you're the one who wished him away. Story or not, it was in your heart.”

        “But I didn’t mean it! Please give him back!”

        “I’m afraid I can’t do that, but I brought you something better!”

        Eddie plucked a crystal ball out of thin air, its glass catching the glimmering rays of the faded moonlight.

        “Look into it, tell it your deepest wish, and your dreams will come true. Forget about the baby~” The crystal shimmered as it called you, beckoning for you to take it.

        “All my dreams?” You reached out with a slight tremor, your voice soft.

        “Yes, all of them.”

        Blinking, you froze, fingers mere inches from the crystal- how could you forget Dustin? Dustin, your little brother, who was probably terrified, was all alone somewhere far, and here you were ready to forget him. How could you think such a thing?

        “Where is he?! Tell me now!”

        You slapped away his outstretched hand, and the crystal orb tumbled to the ground. It shattered, and you gasped as a snake sprung from the fragments. Threatening to strike at your toes, you jumped from it, and the serpent slithered away into the darkness behind you, disappearing under your mother’s dresser.

        “Your brother is in my manor. If you wish to see him again, you will have to find your way through here.”

        Eddie stepped aside, the scenery outside the window changing from the dreary darkness of Hawkins to a bright landscape with rolling hills, covered in a lush green hedge labyrinth, and at the center lay a grand manor- it was like nothing that you had ever seen before. You stepped towards the window, and your mother's bedroom disappeared from around you.

        Where was this place?

        “I'm in the mood for a little game..." Eddie leaned in, his voice like honey in your ears. "If you do not reach your brother in the next, let's say thirteen hours, he'll remain here for eternity..." An ornate clock appeared behind Eddie, the hands moving before your very eyes. "...But if you can solve my labyrinth before time runs out, then the both of you may return home.”

        You flinched, your cheeks flushed from how close he had been.

        “So, what will you do?” He whispered the question like a prayer, his sparkling chocolate eyes drawing you in, drowning you- but you had to look away, eyeing the manor from your place on top of a grassy hill.

        “It doesn't look that far…” Your voice trailed off.

        He let out a laugh that warmed your very soul, the sound deep and rich, his grin sharp and toothy.

        “It’s farther than you think. But don’t fret- I shall benevolently monitor your progress, Miss Henderson- or should I call you…” He whispered your name as if it was a sin, his lips quipping into a smirk.

        Your eyes widened- you had never told him your name.

        “How did you-?”

        His eyes twinkled mysteriously, the clock chiming as it disappeared from thin air.

        “Good luck sweetheart, you're gonna need it!” With a gust of wind and the flutter of his cloak, Eddie vanished in a cloud of mist, his voice fading from your ears.

        You stared down at the manor, the labyrinth seeming more enormous than it had at first glance.

        But you had to get to the center and find Dustin- even if it meant encountering the peculiar Goblin King again.

        Fighting off a blush, you started walking.

Taglist: (if you want to be added or removed from the list let me know here!)

@sh0wthyself, @fracturedarkness 

[the-common-cowgirl]

It’s Only Forever, Not Long at All…

Chapter 1: Into the Labyrinth

Labyrinth AU Mini-Series. Each Chapter based on the chronological soundtrack of the cult classic film, Labyrinth (1986).

Goblin King!Aemond Targaryen x Fem!Reader

Rating: Ch. 1 is General

Summary: Life at home is not fair, your only escape is your beloved fairytale novel, The Labyrinth. However, everything is about to change when you make a heat-of-the-moment mistake, causing you to strike an unfair deal with the one and only, Goblin King.

Warnings: teenage angst

Word Count: 2960

A/N: I know chapter 1 doesn’t delve too far from the original story, however, it’s pivotal for the remainder of the story so I kept it closely canon and will start separating in chapter 2.

Series Masterlist

Thunder rumbles distantly as you make your way across the park. The skies are gloomy overhead but you pay no attention. No, your mind isn’t stuck in the present. It dances to a realm where a handsome king holds you in his arms as you stare deeply into his eyes: in love. You clutch the fairytale novel, The Labyrinth, close to your home-made, hand sewn corset you made all by yourself after becoming infatuated with this book nearly four years ago. Now at eighteen, your childish obsession has somewhat taken over your life.

Your bedroom was covered in “Labyrinth” memorabilia. You had learned to sew garments that fit the fantasy world you pictured in your mind, creating an extensive array of different pieces. Your step-mother had a music box crafted for your sixteenth birthday, as a way of trying to grow closer to you. It was a miniature version of yourself in a big, white, puffy fantasy wedding gown and hair done up in pearls and beads in an intricate way. You loved that version of you in that music box so much that you had set out to remake the gown, it had taken two years but it was nearly finished and you couldn’t wait to put it on.

Your stepmother’s attempt at becoming friendly with you had worked, until it didn't. She had merely suggested one night recently that you should pursue a degree in fashion after you graduated since you loved sewing garments so much. The suggestion infuriated you, for she had been so close to understanding what fueled your passion for creating things, yet so far. You only created and learned to sew because of your love of reading, specifically your love of this book. How could she be so blind to not see that? That night a verbal fight had ensued between your step-mother, father and yourself. A fight so bad, your step-mother picked up your baby sister, you baby half-sister, and left the room.

The residual feelings of unease still lingered in the home, weeks after the fight. Which led to now, in the park, you reciting the main character’s words to the Goblin King and the air around you as a way to escape your home-life and reality, if only for a short while.

“Give me the child. Through dangers untold and hardships unnumbered, I have fought my way here to the castle beyond the Goblin City to take back the child that you have stolen. For my will is as strong as yours, and my kingdom is great,” your mind trails off as you try to remember the next line.

“Ugh,” you groan and hit the book in your hand to your head, maybe a little too hard as it stings slightly “ I can never remember that line!” It’s true, you couldn’t, but you were also in the middle of trying to memorize the entire book so you should’ve given yourself more grace. You open the book to the page and passage in which you are trying to recite. Reading the words on the page aloud to yourself, “You have no power over me.”

As suddenly as you read the line, a large, snowy white owl swoops overhead, capturing your attention to the sky and a single raindrop falls onto your cheek as you head is cast upward to the rapidly darkening sky.

Which reminds you that you probably need to be back home by now. Your father had asked you to babysit your sister so he and your step-mother could go to a local fundraising gala and socialize the night away. The rain starts to come down harder now and you make your way back toward your home, running over the park’s bridge, right by the gazebo. Then when you reach the street, the clouds let loose and the downpour begins. You’re showered with water as you spring down the street, across a neighbor’s backyard and when you finally reach the back porch of your home that you found refuge from the wet in, you realize that not only are your garment’s soaked, so is your favorite book.

Grumbling angrily to yourself as you step into the house, past the kitchen and dining room and into the receiving room as you head up the stairs. Your self pity is stopped abruptly in your tracks as your stepmother calls from the bottom of the stairs, appearing from thin air.

“You’re late,” she called and you turned around halfway up the steps, “and you’re drenched!” She shrieks and turns to your father who is just out of sight, “Paul! Please explain to your daughter about punctuality and being presentable!” Her hair is in an updo as she puts on her earring. Her dress is a beautiful pale, satin pink; she’s the epitome of punctual and presentable.

Your father appears from the other room, “Y/N, you were not supposed to leave the house without our permission. Do you not remember that you're grounded?” His voice is stern but softer than your step-mother’s.

“I’m eighteen dad, you can’t ground me!” You stomp, childishly on the stair you’re standing on above them, water droplets falling with your action.

Your father brings up his pointer finger in warning, “As long as you live under my roof, I can still ground you. Now,” he raises his finger and points above you to the second floor, “Please take good care of Sarah tonight.”

“She’s already down for the night,” your step-mother adds as your father walks into the other room, “But if she wakes, just-”

“I know, I know,” you cut her off, “rock her to sleep and sing her her favorite songs and while I’m at it, why don’t I just give her my favorite things?” You raise your arms in a dramatic shrug.

Your step-mother sighs and grabs the baluster of the staircase, “Y/N, please do not disrespect me,” she says with a soft-sternness too familiar to you from her mouth; a plea. “I’m trying Y/N, but you’re making it,” you roll your eyes and start to walk further up the stairs, “so hard!” Her last two words are yelled to you as you go to your room, slam the door, and fall face-first onto your bed trying to drown out her yelling from downstairs.

They make you angry, both of them. They didn’t understand you or your interests. But, your father at least had the good sense not to bug you about what he didn’t understand; she didn’t. She’d constantly ask you about the book, about your projects, about the different characters, all to only ask once more, as if she didn’t store away information so important to you in her mind. You’d assumed if she truly wanted to know you, she’d make an effort. The nicest thing she had done was getting you that music box but even then, she made it more about your hobby of sewing than your passion for the fantasy element.

After some time, you heard the front door slam and that seemed to wake Sarah. You took a deep sigh, internally cursing them for waking your sister, half-sister. Pulling yourself from the bed, you made your way across the hall in the direction of the screaming to your father and step-mother’s room where Sarah had been sleeping. As you opened the door, the screaming intensified and you covered your ears as you approached the crying toddler in her pink-striped pajamas. You picked the toddler up as she continued to scream, not soothed by your presence in the slightest. You bounced her trying to sing against her wails, pacing around the room hap-hazardly as Sarah’s screams only seemed to worsen. As you passed her cradle for the third time, you recognized a stuffed animal she had been sleeping with to soothe her; your stuffed animal toy. The one your mother had given you when you were a baby.

Of course they’d give Sarah your things, she was your replacement with your father’s new wife. She was their precious girl, you were just a product of his last marriage to them, an inconvenience. You thought bitterly about how your step-mother wanted you out of the house, away at university and out of her hair and then she could play “perfect” family with her perfect daughter and no more. Just the three of them, the way it was meant to be.

And in that moment, all your anger seemed to snap.

You raised Sarah up in the air, still screaming and recited the fateful words, the words no one should say, yet…you did.

“I can bear no longer!” Tears streamed down Sarah’s face, “I wish, I wish…Goblin King! Goblin King! Wherever you may be, take this child of mine far away from me!” The wind rattled against the windows, making your heart skip a beat, wondering if somehow this chant had in fact, worked. But when you looked outside, you had just realized the sky was dark and the sun had set. You turn your attention back to Sarah as she continues to scream. “Ugh, Sarah,” you were impatient but now more relaxed as you let off steam. Laying her down, still crying, you grabbed the stuffed animal from her crib as she reached for it and walked back to your room briskly, to where it belonged. As you made your way across the hall, back toward the room Sarah was in, you heard her screaming abruptly stop. Your hand lingered above the handle of the door, wary as to why Sarah had stopped crying.

Opening the door, you called out, “Sarah?” Looking at her crib, you could see movements beneath the blanket but you couldn’t see her face. As you neared the crib, it moved sporadically, not in the way Sarah would move if she had fallen asleep. “Sarah?” You reached for the blanket to pull it from her face to make certain she was alright but the blanket moved again and you heard mischievous laughing from beneath. Your heartbeat quickened as you snatched the blanket from the crib to reveal nothing; Sarah was not there.

Behind you, you heard shuffling along the floor, then laughing as you turned, seeing a figure go underneath the queen bed skirt. Bending down in search of Sarah, you lifted the bed skirt to see nothing. “Sarah?” Your heart beat was quickening as you looked for your baby sister. “Sarah, this is not funny.” Something touched your leg and you jumped, looking down to see nothing. Shuffling was heard across the room and laughing from three different places were heard. You looked all around you in a panic, shadowy figures that resembled cats were hiding and peeking out from all around the room. You screeched as the creatures slowly emerged.

Suddenly behind you, the windows burst open with a warm gust of air and you quickly turned to be flooded with the white feathers of an owl. Covering your face so to not get scratched you shouted in fear. Then, the air was gone, the noise was gone, it was still. Slowly lowering your arms from your face, you were met with a towering, silver haired figure in a long coat, tight pants, knee high boots and an eye-patch….staring at you with a mischievous glint in his remaining eye.

And you knew.

“You’re him aren't you? You’re the Goblin King!” You accused, stepping back in fright. “I want my sister back, please, if it’s all the same.”

The corners of his mouth quirked, “What’s said is said.” His stern voice held finality.

“But I didn’t mean it,” you pleaded.

His smile grew from your words, “Oh you didn’t?” Raising a single brow.

A creature, a goblin, ran from behind you, frightening you into another shriek, between your legs and behind the King who waved his hands in front of each other and procured a glass-looking ball from what seemed thin air, like a magic trick. “I’ve brought you,” the orb danced across his fingertips as he transferred it from one hand to the other, “a gift.”

You felt inclined to take a step toward him but refused that feeling, “What is it?”

“It’s a crystal, nothing more. But, if you turn it this way and look into it,” he turned the crystal closer toward you, “it will show you your dreams. But it is not a gift for an ordinary girl who takes care of a screaming baby.” He looked down to the crystal and his smile turned upside down as he looked up to you mischievously and threw the crystal at you, turning into a snake midair and landing on your chest. You screamed in terror as the snake fell to your feet and spun in tight circles, turning into a goblin and who laughed up at you.

When you raised your head to look at the king and you were suddenly in a new place, a realm of some sort, his realm. It was a dusty landscape and he stood above you, a warm wind blowing his silver locks across the tall black collar of his dust jacket. He raised a hand aside himself and procured an image of an ornate, golden grandfather clock whose hands spun sporadically. “You have twelve hours in which to solve the Labyrinth before your baby sister becomes one of us, forever.” He grinned devilishly, “At the center of the Labyrinth lies the Goblin City, and, my castle. You will find us there, waiting.” He pointed out beyond you.

You looked behind you to the massive maze in which you had to make it through in order to save your baby sister. At the center, far off in the distance, sitting atop a hill was a large castle: your destination.

“Turn back, turn back before it’s too late,” his voice rang behind you. As you turned you realized he had gotten closer, strangely close to you.

“I can’t,” you professed. “Don’t you know why I can't?”

He laughed deeply as he stepped backwards and began to disappear, “Such a pity.” His voice echoed around you, taunting you, encouraging you to fail.

You took a deep breath, stilling your mind and readied yourself for the task at hand. Turning, you set off and hurried down the hill to the tall, light dusty stone walls of the Labyrinth. Beginning your adventure into the world you had loved from pages for so long, that had now somehow, become your worst nightmare. You had to save your sister. You had to undo what you had caused. You had to solve the Labyrinth.

As you reached the towering walls you looked for an entrance into the maze and found there was none in sight, so you ran along the walls one way till you were nearly out of breath. Not seeing an end in sight, you turned and ran back the way you came and past that, until you were sorely out of breath. There was no entrance in sight, nothing but high stone walls that went on forever.

Feeling defeated and angry, you fell to the ground on your bottom, yelling, “It’s not fair!” Picking up a rock and throwing it to the wall without it to bounce back, rather, going through the wall. This puzzled you and you tilted your head.

“Life’s not fair,” a gravelly voice sounded behind you, causing you to startle. You saw a strange looking goblin walking about, spraying fairies and paying no mind to you.

“Hey! Don’t hurt them,” you reach out to scoop up an injured fairy that had been sprayed by this goblin. It looked at you with its little eyes and cute wings. You wondered why he had sprayed a thing so innocent and minding itself.

Then you felt a sharp sting in your hand and dropped the fairy, “Ow! It bit me!” Holding your hand to your mouth to stop the small pain.

“What did you expect a fairy to do?” He grogged and turned toward you as if we were dull.

“I don’t know…nice things like granting wishes?”

The goblin rolled his eyes, “Shows what you know, don’t it?” He returned to spraying the fairies but you had an idea.

Jumping up, “Hey, you live here don’t you? Why don’t you show me how to get into this place?” You put your hands on your hips with renewed hope.

The goblin and his sprayer turned, “Well, have you tried to get in?”

You furrowed your brow in confusion, “I’ve looked but there doesn't seem to be an entrance-”

“Just go through it,” he replied hastily, bored with your presence.

This puzzled you further. “Go through it?” You echoed and he merely nodded his head.

To get in you just walk in.” He spoke as if it were the plainest answer possible, the impossible.

Intrigued by his suggestion and oddly believing this goblin despite what help he offered to be very impossible, you decided to try it. So, you turned and walked to the stone wall with trepidation, hands raised. As you neared the wall, your hands slowly disappeared, then your arms, then you were on the other side of the wall, in the Labyrinth.

Elated, you returned back to the outside to thank this helpful goblin. “Wow, I just go through it!” He only rolled his eyes and returned to spraying the fairies. “Thank you, uh,” you hadn’t gotten his name.

“Hoggle,” he offered while paying you minimal attention.

“Thank you, Hoggle!” Excited, you slipped back into the maze. Turning around, you looked at the high walls before you and exhaled a deep sigh. Into the Labyrinth you went in search of your sister, to right your wrong, to defeat the Goblin King.

Let me know if you’d like to be added to the taglist! As always, reblogs, comments and likes are appreciated but not necessary. ❤️❤️

IOF,NLAA Taglist: @sassysaxsolo @fan-goddess

[theonlinemuse]

“Through dangers untold and hardships unnumbered, I have fought my way here to the castle beyond the Goblin City to take back the child that you have stolen. For my will is as strong as yours, and my kingdom as great — You have no power over me.”

[ labyrinth remake ] ➼ requested by anonymous

leah sava jeffries as sarah williams

[ymaohoh]

Labyrinth AU

Hellcheer prompt

“Through dangers untold and hardships unnumbered, I have fought my way here to the castle, beyond the goblin city, to take back the child that you have stolen. My will is as strong as yours, and my kingdom as great…” Chrissy stepped towards him, her chin held high in defiance. She was no longer the dreamy girl who wished away her little brother on a whim, weary from the constant abuse from a nagging mother and absentee father. Her words were true; she had fought through many hardships and dangers to reach the heart of the Labyrinth. To reach him, its maker.  He loomed before her now, dazzling in white silks. He looked every inch the romantic love interest from those secret novels she read late at night. He was so beautiful it made her heart ache.  “Stop! Look what I'm offering you. Your dreams…” Eddie eyed her like she was something untamed and dangerous. Nobody had ever looked at her like that before. She realised she liked it.  “My kingdom as great… my kingdom as great… damn, I can never remember that line….” She willed herself to think, to remember. She had uttered the words so many times playing pretend as a child.  “I ask for so little. Just fear me. Love me. Do as I ask, and I shall be your slave.” His words felt like velvet against her skin, tempting her with images of what-could-be. She saw herself in a white voluminous dress (like a bride, a heroine) with a dazzling crown on her head. She saw herself sitting on a gold throne beside him, ruling over the land as Goblin King and Queen. He would teach her how to control the Labyrinth and harness its magic for her own. He was offering her the moon on a string. The chance to live in a world where she could do whatever she wanted and never grow old.  With him.  With a gasp she remembered the next line of the script. Now all she had to do was say it and she would win. The dream would come to an end and she would be plunged back into her boring lonely life where all she had to look forward to was becoming Mrs Jason Carver. Her lips trembled but the words - you have no power over me - died on her tongue.  His eyes were so soft and inviting. He held out his gloved hand, willing her to accept it.  And with a grin, she did. 

[roboticdreamz]

"Through dangers untold and hardships unnumbered,

I have fought my way here to the castle

Beyond the Goblin City,

To take back the child you have stolen.

For my will is as strong as yours,

And my kingdom is as great...

You have no POWER OVER ME."

[uselesshunger]

“Through dangers untold and hardships unnumbered, I have fought my way here to the castle beyond the Goblin City to take back the child that you have stolen. For my will is as strong as yours, and my kingdom is as great.You have no power over me.” 

(via Sarah's book Hardcover Journal by RegallyEvil)

[belamourelysianlimerence]

I can't live within you

{It is then ending of his story, but you turn it into a chapter}

"Give me the child."

"Y/N, beware. I have been generous up 'til now. I can be cruel."

He strolled up to you, straining to show confidence.

"Generous? What have you done that's generous?"

"Everything!" He shouted.

"Everything that you wanted I have done. You asked that the child be taken. I took him. You cowered before me, I was frightening. I have reordered time..."

He circled you now, like a vulture. Faster and faster, and your eyes could barely keep track of him.

"I have turned the world upside down, and I have done it all for 'you'!"

He stops. His cloak like tattered and torn pieces of silk and feathers, whipping in the air like an irritated owls wings.

"I am exhausted from living up to your expectations of me. Isn't that generous?"

"Through dangers untold and hardships unnumbered..." but something was wrong...

He looked like a ghost of his former self....

"I have fought my way here to the castle beyond the Goblin City..." You knew how this ended...

"For my will is as strong as yours, and my--"

"Stop! Wait.. look Y/N, look what I am offering you..... your dreams..."

The crystal ball he held only reflected and magnified what you already knew to be true.

"My kingdom as great..." This is the end for him...

"I ask for so little..." Isn't it?

"Just let me rule you. You can have 'everything' that you want..."

Every-thing?? You look away.

"My kingdom as great... Damn. I can never remember that line..."

That line, that line. It always ends with that line.

"Just fear me, love me, do as I say, and I will be your slave!"

Slave. Slave? I don't like that...

You repeat the whole verse in your head, two or three times. It's always this line that bothered you.

Finally, you look up at him.

"You have no power over me."

This is it. This is the end.

He will disappear in a flood of satin, morphing into that well known creature that escapes into the night. Wings beating like a broken heart.

The clock chimed.

..........

He smirks. "No." It was barely a whisper.

He lowered his arm...

"Y/N..." He smiled at you. A look on his face you had never seen. As if he was proud of you. And then his smile slipped into sadness.

The world moved slowly.

But what if it was different?

You grabbed him by the wrist which seemed to startle him.

"Yet, I'll still need you."

He tilted his head to the side, in question.

And you kissed him in response.

A goblin king fell to his knees and was held in the arms of the only one he could not live within...

Time froze. The clock ticked no more and all around was a deafening silence.

The Crystal slipped from Jareths gloved fingers, and smashed into glittering pieces on the cold stone.

You.

[xalygatorx]

Powerless (2017) | Chapter 3, "The Girl Who Forgot Everything"

Years after Sarah’s wit and bravery saved her brother and brought the Labyrinth to its knees, her daughter Andie is transported to what remains of that same fantastical place, somewhere she thought only existed in her favorite childhood stories. To find her way back home, she must traverse what’s left of the crumbling kingdom, find a way to set both moments and magic in motion again, and even save the Goblin King, himself. But who will save her from him?

Powerless is a SFW slow-burn romance between Jareth and an original female character. The story overall contains descriptions of fantasy violence, mild suggestive content, and grief regarding family illness. Chapter-by-chapter warnings will be provided as well.

Summary: Andie contends with the door guards before finding herself having tea in a crack in a wall. Her new worm friends give her potentially useful information regarding the Goblin King and other residents of the Labyrinth that might help her.

Pairing: Jareth x Fem!OC

Warnings: None

Word Count: 3.2k

"How did the beginning go?"

A smile of anticipation and clearing her throat to prepare. "Through dangers untold. And hardships unnumbered. I have fought my way here to the castle; beyond the goblin city, to take back the child that you have stolen. My will is as strong as yours, and my kingdom as great—"

"You have no power over me!" Andie had finished triumphantly.

Her mother had grinned and shaken her head a little. "Exactly. I could never remember that line when I was your age, despite being obsessed and, well, very taken in by the story." 

"It's the only part I can always remember. Do you remember it every time now?"

Sarah had smiled as if she'd had a secret just hiding beneath the surface of her words. "Every time."

Andie heard her mother's voice in her head reiterating the tale again and again and the conversations they'd had in her childhood about the heroine's speech to the Goblin King and the ups and downs in the journey, conversations that had slowly fallen to a minimum as she grew older and the stories remained stories of a perceivably distant past.

"Not so distant now," she murmured to herself as she looked at her stone-dusted sneakers. She'd finally given in and sat down against the wall once she'd come to a fork in the path, her head resting back against the sand-colored rock behind her as she contemplated both paths without much commitment. Andie swallowed and grimaced when it stung—the flesh of her throat felt raw with thirst and she was starting to lose hope of getting out of this wretched place. Of course in this world of nonsensical things, her body's needs were still applicable and persistent, and there was nothing to sate them growing or springing in the Labyrinth's reaches. Had those weird monkey creatures not swarmed on her in the forest, she might've checked out some of the plant life, but that option was long gone. The cleaner had likely chopped it all into an enormous salad by now.

Good lord, I must be hungry if even a salad sounds good, Andie thought miserably just as something moved out of the corner of her eye. Her eyes followed the movement and she realized it was a stone square in the floor rocking around in place until a tiny creature lifted it free, chattering madly about foot odor while what she assumed was a companion yammered back from below the opening. It was the ugliest little thing she'd ever seen, even taking the cake from the bird creatures she'd seen earlier, but she needed help. "Excuse me?"

The thing whirled in her direction and gave a high-pitched squeal before dropping back down, the tile clattering back into place. "Hey, wait!" Andie shouted, scrambling to the tile and attempting to pry it upright with her nails. When that failed, she attempted to use the dagger point, but it was to no avail. "Dammit," she murmured as a few stray tears of frustration slid down her cheeks. She swiped them away and stood up, looking down both pathways considerately. "Left," she sighed softly after some time, her tone lacking any form of confidence even as she straightened her posture and began her trek down the path.

Andie's nerve withered the further she walked, coming to forks again and again and having to choose based on whims. She finally chose wrong, coming to a dead end and just finding herself relieved that another cleaner didn't pop out of the wall. She turned around and began to head back the way she'd come, saying softly, "There's no rhyme or reason to this place…"

"And why should there be?"

Andie stopped in her tracks and turned slowly, her eyes widening when she saw two doors with double-headed guardsmen—both of whom resembled playing cards in their configuration—at posts before each. "That… That was just a dead end. Where did you come from?"

"A dead end? You mean behind you!" The guardsmen all snickered, putting their faces behind their armor and chuckling at her.

Andie looked behind her and the path she'd come from had been sealed and was now, just as they said, the dead end. "This is a horrible place. I suppose I'm lucky the entire place doesn't just turn upside-down."

"I would not say that too loudly, girl," one of the bottom guards chuckled and the other three laughed merrily as if this were all some large inside joke. "The walls listen, you know."

"Okay," Andie muttered dismissively, though she didn't doubt that there was likely some truth in his words. "So, what now? I can't go back that way. I assume I have to talk to you two… Or four…"

"Indeed, miss. You've got to decide on a door."

"One leads to the castle at the center of the Labyrinth. And the other leads to—" He paused for dramatic effect. "—certain death." The guards collectively ooh-ed. Andie had the feeling she was supposed to be impressed and arranged her features to appear so, thinking maybe this would up her odds for getting their help. "But we cannot tell you which is which. You have to decide for yourself."

"Do you know which leads to which?"

The top guards looked at one another, seeming to be prepared for this. "We do."

"But you can't directly tell me… Right?"

"Well, we can… However, you can only choose one of us to ask," the red guard said.

The blue guard then chimed in, "But we should warn you: one of us always tells the truth."

"And one of us always lies," the red guard added. "I'll tell you now, miss, I make it a habit to tell the truth!"

The blue guard guffawed, "What a lie!" Andie arched a brow at them, taking what she could from their banter, already formulating a guess as to who was who. Finally they all stopped and stared at her expectantly. "Well? We're ready! Do not even think of asking us about each other because we—"

"What's two plus two?"

The guards both faltered. "…What?" the red guard asked, bewildered.

Andie directed her question at him. "What is two plus two?"

The red guard paused heavily before answering, "…Six?"

Andie looked at the blue guard. "Now you."

"Four," he mumbled in defeat.

"Perfect," Andie praised, asking, "which door will take me to the castle?"

The blue guard sighed noisily before relenting. "…His."

"Thank you," Andie said and moved to the red guard's door, which swung open for her at the gentle press of her hand. "It's been fun, you two. Er, four."

Just before she let the door swing shut behind her, she heard the blue guard say to his companion, "Sharp, that one. More direct than that other girl that came through here before."

Andie hesitated before leaning back through the gap and asking, "What girl?"

The blue guardsman looked startled, but answered, "It was millennia ago, before the Labyrinth was destroyed. A girl came through—younger than you—and had a really backwards method of solving our riddle. Smart, just had the wrong idea."

"Do you know what her name was?" she asked quietly.

"No? Why should we?"

Andie frowned and shook her head. "No reason. Thanks."

She was almost through the door again when the blue guard noted, "You know, she looked a fair amount like you. Mostly in the eyes. She was the last human we saw come through here. Never did find out what happened to her."

"Do we care?" the red guard asked doubtfully.

The blue guard shrugged. "How do we know if we care if we don't know?"

"Hm. Fair enough," the red guard relented.

Andie paused thoughtfully before stepping through the door and shutting it behind her. "For the record, she made it out," she murmured under her breath, looking down the new pathway. The walls of stone had become walls of hedge, but not much else had changed. Better than certain death, at least.

"I should've asked him for directions… Or some answers to all this," Andie murmured, even though it seemed as though they were pretty clueless apart from what their job entailed. "At least they were borderline sane. Hopefully they're not the only mostly stable ones in this place."

She ended up having to stop again after a few more turns, so exhausted she was afraid she'd collapse in a more inopportune environment if she didn't rest. Andie sat down against the wall and it seemed as soon as her back hit the wall and she loosed an exhale of relief, that large portion of sky she'd seen swirling with dark clouds and lightning flashes shifted overhead and rain began to pour down all around her. Andie winced a bit and peered up at the angry gray cloud, but soon simply opened her mouth and tilted her head back, the droplets like tiny little blessings on her aching throat.

After a few minutes of catching water past her lips and in her hands to sip, Andie decided she was done with the downpour, despite it seeming far from done. After her thirst had subsided, she realized she was back in the sandstone maze paths, but only for a few more feet. This was yet another mismatched section of maze, but it looked oddly familiar…

"Allo!"

Andie jumped, but glanced left for the voice's origin. Then right. And then left again. Finally, she turned a bit more and noticed a blue spot out of the corner of her eye. "Oh… Was that you?"

"Sure was," the tiny little caterpillar or worm, she couldn't tell which, said chipperly.

"Well, then… Hello to you, too." She couldn't help but notice the worm was toting a little red umbrella with a hole on the side and found the entire scene rather charming. "Say, do you know the way? To the castle at the center of the Labyrinth?"

"Oh, blimey, why would you want to go there?"

"Because I'm trying to find a way back home. I'm not from this place and I don't know where else to go."

"Just you, then? No baby to find?" the worm asked with polite concern.

"Um… No? Why would there be a baby?"

"That's just what the way of things were last time is all. She was looking for her brother, she was."

"Who was?"

"Come on inside, you're soaking wet!" the worm suggested.

She glanced doubtfully at the crack in the wall. "Inside?"

"Yeah, my home is right here! Come on inside and meet the missus."

Andie's eyes widened and she realized where she recognized his voice from. "Wait, were you the one trying to get my attention earlier?"

"Yes, that was me! You looked a bit lost."

"I am lost. How could someone not be lost in here?" Andie wondered dismally.

"By staying in the same place, I suppose. Though that doesn't seem to count for much anymore, as you can see," the worm commented. "Come along!" He began to shuffle along to the crack in the wall.

"I can't fit in there," Andie protested.

"Sure you can!" the worm insisted, poking his little head out. "Just come in!"

He disappeared back into the crack and Andie frowned deeply at the small space, thinking it couldn't be that easy. Andie chided herself for taking advice from a worm even as she stood, closed her eyes, and hesitantly took a couple of steps forward. When she didn't hit a wall within that second step's span, she felt very confused and opened her eyes only to startle at the sight before her. The blue worm was now as high as her shoulder and they were in a very small, homey kitchen. 

A kettle steamed on the stove while another worm—this one a nice shade of purple—somehow put together a tea tray. The first worm looked very pleased as he said, "See? Nothin' to it! Dear, we have a guest for tea!"

"Oh, lovely!" the other worm said with approval.

"Can I help?" Andie offered, wondering how the female worm managed to make up tea with no hands to work with.

"Oh, no, dear, it's almost ready," she said. "Have a seat." Andie looked around and saw that the blue worm had shuffled up to a table nearby, looking at her expectantly with a pleasant smile on his face. She followed suit and ended up on her knees at the table to be the right height, at last until the lavender worm turned around. "Oh, dear, Aldo, she's not a worm! Go 'n' get her a proper seat!"

"Do we have proper seats?" Aldo asked in surprise.

"Yes, yes, in storage!" she fussed, rolling a tea cart to the table. The blue worm still looked surprised, but inched off toward a hallway leading away from the kitchen.

"Your home is quite—"

"Quaint?" the lavender worm guessed.

"Adorable," Andie finished with a smile.

"Oh! Well, thank you, miss. What's your name again?"

"Andie," she replied, moving a tendril of rain-soaked hair from her face.

"Oh, I should be getting you a blanket, dear, you're soaked through. Anyway, my name is Grita. You already met Aldo, yes, indeed," Grita said as she inched toward a blanket folded nearby. They both had accents that resembled a softer form of the Cockney variety. " 'Ere you go, love." She draped the blanket around Andie's shoulders.

Andie pulled it more snugly around herself, refusing to question the physics of this place anymore where kindness was given. She said, "Thank you. What happened here? Or has the Labyrinth always looked like this?"

"Oh, no, it was all in one piece years upon years ago," Aldo remarked as he inched back in, a stool on his back that he shifted into an upright position for Andie at the table. "Then it broke into what you see out there."

"What happened?"

"The magic left, I imagine. Or it stopped." Grita looked concerned as she nudged the tray onto the table. The cups nearly scattered, but Andie reached out and caught them, earning a grateful look from them both. She still hadn't a clue of how they managed to cook or make tea in this place, but there was tea steeping in the pot and little sandwiches on a plate, sure enough. Andie picked up a sandwich, wondering what these worms ate, and nearly praised the heavens that they appeared to be just lettuce and tomato on toast. She could work with that. "Large cracks just began to appear from the center and here we are."

"And you have no idea what might've caused it?"

Aldo looked down thoughtfully. "Well, there was that girl. She passed by just hours before everything fell to pieces." He inched a little closer. "You know, I 'eard she defeated the Goblin King at his own game, she did. Threw everything he could a' her and she still walked out of 'ere with that baby. At least, that's what good Sir Didymus said after."

"Sir Didymus?" Andie repeated, prompting more of an explanation.

"You'd be able to find him in the Bog, though I don't recommend you go there," Grita assured her.

"Why not?" She rather wanted to talk to this fellow if he knew something more than the others she'd met. "Is he…well, nice?"

"Very, he's got quite an energy about him. And no one wants to go to the Bog, 'cept him because that's his post. Lost his sense of smell awhile back, he did… Elsewise, he's mental," Grita chuckled. "The Bog of Eternal Stench lives up to its name a thousand times over, so I hear. Never been there, myself. Never felt so inclined."

"I wouldn't either, it sounds dreadful," Andie murmured as she took a long sip of tea now that it had cooled, having put down three finger sandwiches while discussing Sir Didymus and the Bog. "Sorry, I haven't eaten in… Well, a long time now. My manners are slacking."

"Oh, don't worry about that, love, help yourself."

"Thank you," Andie said with relief, glad someone in this place was kind and level-headed. "So is the Goblin King still around?"

"I'm sure he is since all the rest of us are," Aldo noted. "I haven't 'eard of anyone seeing him since the collapse though."

"He's not in his castle?"

"It's unlikely anyone's gone there, dear," Grita noted. "It was avoided anyway and now that it's in shambles, it's doubly dangerous. Especially if he's there."

"Is he evil?" Andie asked warily, wondering if she should be going elsewhere to find her ticket back home.

Aldo paused before correcting her. "Unforgiving is perhaps better. While in his good graces, there are no quarrels, but outside them…"

"Understood," she said, relaxing a little. Maybe he would help her then.

"Don't be so sure, sweetheart," Grita warned her. "He may hold a grudge toward humans like you for what that young lady pulled on him those thousand years ago."

"Even more so since you resemble her so," Aldo said thoughtfully, eying Andie curiously.

"I just want to get out of here," Andie reasoned. "I'm not asking much. I just need help."

"How'd you get 'ere in the first place?"

"There was a glass peach in…my bedroom," Andie began, editing out the connection to her mother for now. "And when I picked it up, the leaf cut my finger and I fell. When I woke up, I was here. And it turned into this." She showed them the dagger. "Do you have any idea why that is?"

He peered at the dagger with a focused look on his face. "Well, it's goblin magic, I can tell that much, but apart from that…I'm 'fraid not, dearie," Aldo said, sharing a bewildered glance with his wife.

Andie frowned, disappointed. "I see. Well, thank you for the food and tea… I suppose I should keep going."

"You're welcome to stay and get some rest awhile," Grita offered.

"Thank you, but I feel much better now that I've eaten. I can hopefully make a good amount of progress before I'm tired again," she insisted gently, thankful that they were being so hospitable.

"Well, at least pack up some sandwiches for your journey," Grita countered instead.

Grita got her a handkerchief and Andie stacked the rest of the sandwiches at the worms' behest before tying it off, also taking a small canister of water with her before they'd allow her to leave. After more thank-you's, Andie stepped out of the crack and was once again her normal size and out in the pathway she'd moved from.

"Take care now!" she heard the small voice behind her and turned to see both Aldo and Grita peering out at her with smiles.

"You do the same. Goodbye," Andie replied fondly before beginning on her way again.

"Oi!" Andie stopped and turned. "If you come across Hoggle, he may be of help to you, too!"

"Great, thanks!" she called back, waving and walking on. "Sir Didymus and Hoggle. And perhaps the Goblin King… Well, at least that's a start."

Next chapter: Chapter 4, "One of Us"

[andyb3nn3tt]

Inktober 2022 No. 1: The Owl . “Through dangers untold and hardships unnumbered, I have fought my way here to the castle beyond the Goblin City to take back the child that you have stolen.” . 26 years ago something amazing happened. . The creators of Star Wars and The Muppets joined forces, along with a Monty Python founder and one of the greatest recording artists of our lifetime, to create a movie experience to remember. George Lucas, Jim Henson, Terry Jones and David Bowie combined their unique, singular visions to create LABYRINTH. . This month I’ll be exploring all the corners of the corridors, bridges, caverns and swamps of this movie world as I work my way through my 6th INKTOBER. So I’ll be easing my way back into illustrating some real people - in addition, of course, to the gang of worms, chickens, goblins, fairies, fireys, fungus, and multitudes of other creatures. I’m playing fast and loose this year, with just a skeleton of a list that I’ll refine as I go; hopefully the results will be positive. Thanks to all who follow along; like, share follow! . Coincidentally, LABYRINTH was released TODAY on Netflix US, in case you want to take your own walk back through the maze to the Goblin City. I recommend it. . 40 minutes, 7.5x11”, @drphmartins Black Star and Pen-White ink with a @speedball_calligraphy 107 nib and @pentelofamerica medium-point black pigment Color Brush on @strathmoreart 400-series watercolor paper. . Soundtrack: Björk - Fossora . #ink #Inktober #inktober2022 #Labyrinth #GeorgeLucas #jimhenson #davidbowie #terryjones #starwars #themuppets #montypython #jenniferconnelly #owl #barnowl #youremindmeofthebabe #imovethestarsfornoone #b3nn3tt https://www.instagram.com/p/CjL4IlBOjX0/?igshid=NGJjMDIxMWI=

[patheticbatman]

October 2019 Story

I deleted the original unfortunately, so this is a repost. I drew this when I was 17, and was very excited to post this for spooky month when I was 18. To be honest, I had a spookier one in the barrel, but I wanted to save that for my first 'anniversary' of posting these, lol. And hey, this one is a little fucked up (affectionate) if you think about it a bit.

Adapted by A.C.H.Smith from the Jim Henson, Brian and Wendy Froud film Chapter One :The White Owl

Nobody saw the owl, white in the moonlight, black against the stars, nobody heard him as he glided over on silent wings of velvet. The owl saw and heard everything. He settled in a tree, his claws hooked on a branch, and he stared at the girl in the glade below. The wind moaned, rocking the branch, scudding low clouds across the evening sky. It lifted the hair of the girl. The owl was watching her, with his round, dark eyes. The girl moved slowly from the trees toward the middle of the glade, where a pool glimmered. She was concentrating. Each deliberate step took her nearer to her purpose. Her hands were open, and held slightly in front of her. The wind sighed again in the trees. It blew her cloak tightly against her slender figure, and rustled her hair around her wide-eyed face. Her lips were parted.

"Give me the child," Sarah said, in a voice that was low, but firm with the courage her quest needed. She halted, her hands still held out. "Give me the child," she repeated. "Through dangers untold and hardships unnumbered, I have fought my way here to the castle beyond the Goblin City, to take back the child you have stolen." She bit her lip and continued, "For my will is as strong as yours … and my kingdom as great …" She closed her eyes tightly. Thunder rumbled. The owl blinked, once. "My will is as strong as yours." Sarah spoke with even more intensity now. "And my kingdom as great …" She frowned, and her shoulders dropped.

"Oh, damn," she muttered.

Reaching under her cloak, she brought out a book. Its title was The Labyrinth. Holding the book up before her, she read aloud from it. In the fading light, it was not easy to make out the words. "You have no power over me ..." 

She got no further. Another clap of thunder, nearer this time, made her jump. It also alarmed a big, shaggy sheepdog, who had not minded sitting by the pool and being admonished by Sarah, but who now decided that it was time to go home, and said so with several sharp barks. 

Sarah held her cloak around her. It did not give her much warmth, being no more than an old curtain, cut down, and fastened at the neck by a glass brooch. She ignored Merlin, the sheepdog, while concentrating on learning the speech in the book. "You have no power over me," she whispered. She closed her eyes again and repeated the phrase several times. 

A clock above the little pavilion in the park chimed seven times and penetrated Sarah's concentration.

She stared at Merlin. "Oh, no," she said. "I don't believe it. That was seven, wasn't it?"

Merlin stood up and shook himself, sensing that some more interesting action was due. Sarah turned and ran. Merlin followed. The thunderclouds splattered them both with large drops of rain.

The owl had watched it all. When Sarah and Merlin left the park, he sat still on his branch, in no hurry to follow them. This was his time of day. He knew what he wanted. An owl is born with all his questions answered. 

All the way down the street, which was lined on both sides with privet-hedged Victorian houses similar to her own, Sarah was muttering to herself, "It's not fair, it's not fair." The mutter had turned to a gasp by the time she came within sight of her home. Merlin, having bounded along with her on his shaggy paws, was wheezing, too. His mistress, who normally moved at a gentle, dreamy pace, had this odd habit of liking to sprint home from the park in the evening. Perhaps that owl had something to do with it. Merlin was not sure. He didn't like the owl, he knew that. 

"It's not fair." Sarah was close to sobbing. The world at large was not fair, hardly ever, but in particular her stepmother was ruthlessly not fair to her. There she stood now, in the front doorway of the house, all dressed up in that frightful, dark blue evening gown of hers, the fur coat left open to reveal the low cut of the neckline, the awful necklace vulgarly winking above her freckled breast, and -- wouldn't you know? -- she was looking at her watch. Not just looking at it but staring at it, to make good and sure that Sarah would feel Giulty before she was accused, again. 

As Sarah came to a halt on the path in the front garden, she could hear her baby brother, Toby, bawling inside the house. He was her half brother really, but she did not call him that, not since her school friend Alice had asked, "What's the other half of him, then?" and Sarah had been unable to think of an answer. "Half nothing-to-do-with-me." That was no good. It wasn't true, either. Sometimes she felt fiercely protective of Toby, wanted to dress him up and carry him in her arms and take him away from all this, to a better place, a fairer world, an island somewhere, perhaps. At other times -- and this was one -- she hated Toby, who had twice as many parents in attendance on him as she had. When she hated Toby, it frightened her, because it led her into thinking about how she could hurt him. There must be something wrong with me, she would reflect, that I can even think of hurting someone I dote upon; or is it that there is something wrong in doting upon someone I hate? She wished she had a friend who would understand the dilemma, and maybe explain it to her, but there was no one. Her friends at school would think her a witch if she even mentioned the idea of hurting Toby, and as for her father, it would frighten him even more than it frightened Sarah herself. So she kept the perplexity well hidden. 

Sarah stood before her stepmother and deliberately held her head high. "I'm sorry," she said, in a bored voice, to show that she wasn't sorry at all, and anyway, it was unnecessary to make a thing out of it. 

"Well," her stepmother told her, "don't stand out there in the rain. Come on." She stood aside, to make room for Sarah to pass her in the doorway, and she glanced again at her wristwatch. 

Sarah made a point of never touching her stepmother, not even brushing against her clothes. She edged inside close to the door frame. Merlin started to follow her. "Not the dog," her stepmother said. 

"But it's pouring."

Her stepmother wagged her finger at Merlin, twice. "In the garage, you," she commanded. "Go on." 

Merlin dropped his head and loped around the side of the house. Sarah watched him go and bit her lip. Why, she wondered for the trillionth time, does my stepmother always have to put on this performance when they go out in the evening. It was so hammy -- that was one of Sarah's favorite words, since she had heard her mother's costar, Jeremy, use it to put down another actor in the play they were doing -- such a rag-bag of over-the-top cliches. She remembered how Jeremy had sounded French when he said cliches, thrilling her with his sophistication. Why couldn't her stepmother find a new way into the part? Oh, she loved the way in which Jeremy talked about other actors. She was determined to become an actress herself, so that she could talk like that all the time. Her father seldom talked at all about people at his office, and when he did it was dreary in comparison. 

Her stepmother closed the front door, looking at her watch once more, took a deep breath, and started one of her cliched speeches. "Sarah, you're an hour late ..." Sarah opened her mouth, but her stepmother cut her off, with a little, humorless smile. "Please let me finish, Sarah. Your father and I go out very rarely--" 

"You go out every weekend," Sarah interrupted rapidly. 

Her stepmother ignored that. "-- and I ask you to baby-sit only if it won't interfere with

your plans." 

"How would you know?" Sarah had half turned away, so as not to flatter her stepmother with her attention, and was busy with putting her book on the hall stand, unclipping her brooch, and folding the cloak over her arm. "You don't know what my plans are. You don't even ask me." She glanced at her own face in the mirror of the hall stand, checking that her expression was cool and poised, not over the top. She liked the clothes she was wearing: a cream-colored shirt with full sleeves, a brocaded waistcoat loosely over the shirt, blue jeans, and a leather belt. She turned even further away from her stepmother, to check on how her shirt hung from her breasts down to her waist. She tucked it in a little at the belt, to make it tighter. 

Her stepmother was watching her coldly. "I am assuming you would tell me if you had a date. I would like it if you had a date. A fifteen-year-old girl should have dates." Well, Sarah was thinking, if I did have a date you are the last person I would tell. What a hammy -- no, tacky -- view of life you do have. She smiled grimly to herself. Perhaps I will have a date, she thought, perhaps I will, but you will not like it, not one bit, when you see who's dating me. I doubt you will see him. All you will know about it is hearing the front door shut behind me, and you will sneak to the window, as you always do, and poke your nose between those horrid phony-lace curtains you put up there, and you will see the taillights of a wicked dove-gray limousine vanishing around the corner. And after that, you will keep seeing pictures in the magazines of the two of us together in Bermuda, and St. Tropez, and Benares. And there will be nothing at all you can possibly do about it, for all your firm views on bedtimes and developmental psychology and my duties and rolling up the toothpaste tube from the bottom. Oh, stepmother, you are going to be sorry when you read in Vogue about the cosmic cash that Hollywood producers are offering us for -- 

Sarah's father came down the stairs into the hall. In his arms he was carrying Toby, clad in red-and-white striped pajamas. He patted the baby's back. "Oh, Sarah," he said mildly, "you're here at last. We were worried about you." 

"Oh, leave me alone!" Afraid that she might be close to tears, Sarah gave them no chance to reason with her. She ran upstairs. They were always so reasonable, particularly her father, so long-suffering and mild with her, so utterly convinced that they were always obviously in the right, and that it was only a matter of time before she consented to do as they wished. Why did her father always take that woman's side? Her mother never wore that look of pained tolerance. She was a woman who could shout and laugh and hug you and slap you all within a minute or two. When she and Sarah had a quarrel, it was an explosion. Five minutes later, it was forgotten. 

In the hallway, her stepmother had sat down, still in her fur coat. Wearily, she was saying, "I don't know what to do anymore. She treats me like the wicked stepmother in a fairy tale, no matter what I say. I have tried, Robert." 

"Well ..." Sarah's father patted Toby thoughtfully. "It is hard to have your mother walk out on you at that age. At any age, I suppose." 

"That's what you always say. And of course you're right. But will she never change?" Holding Toby in one arm, Robert patted his wife on the shoulder. "I'll go and talk to her." Thunder rumbled again. A squall of raindrops clattered on the windows. 

Sarah was in her room. It was the only safe place in the world. She made a point of going

all around it each day, checking that everything was just where it had been and should be. Although her stepmother seldom came in there, except to deliver some ironed clothes or to give Sarah a message, she was not to be trusted. It would be typical of her to take it into her head to dust the room, even though Sarah made sure that it was kept clean, and then she would be bound to move things around and not put them back where they belonged. It was essential to ward off that disturbing spirit. 

All the books had to remain in the proper positions, in alphabetical order by author and they were positioned according to affinities known only to Sarah. The curtains had to hang exactly so that, when Sarah was lying on her bed, they symmetrically framed the second poplar tree in a line that she could see from the window. The wastepaper basket stood so that its base

just touched the edge of one particular block on the parquet floor. It would be unsafe if these things were not so. Once let disorder set in, and the room would never be familiar again. People talked about how upsetting it was to be burgled, and Sarah knew just how it must feel, as though some uncaring stranger were fooling around with your most precious soul. The woman who came in to clean three times a week knew that she was never to do anything to this room. Sarah looked after everything in there herself. She had learned how to fix electric plugs, and tighten screws, and hang pictures, so that her father should have no need to come in except to speak to her. 

Sarah was now standing in the middle of her room. Her eyes were red. She sniffled, and chewed her lower lip. Then she walked over to her dressing table and gazed at a framed photograph. Her father and mother, and herself, aged ten, gazed back at her. Her parents' smiles were confident. Her own face in the photograph was, she thought, slightly over the top, grinning too keenly. 

All around the room, other eyes watched. Photographs and posters displayed her mother in various costumes, for various parts. Clippings from Variety were taped to the mirror of the dressing table, praising her mother's performances or announcing others she would give. On the wall beside the bed was pinned a poster advertising her latest play; in the picture, Sarah's mother and her costar, Jeremy, were cheek to cheek, their arms around each other, smiling confidently. The photographer had lit the pair beautifully, showing her to be so pretty, he so handsome, with his blond hair and a golden chain around his neck. Beneath the picture was a quote from one of the theater critics: "I have seldom felt such warmth irradiating an audience." The poster was signed, with large flourishing signatures: "For Darling Sarah, with all my love, Mom," and, in a different hand, "All Good Wishes, Sarah -- Jeremy." Near the poster were more press clippings, from different newspapers, arranged in chronological order. In them, the two stars could be seen dining together in restaurants, drinking together at parties, and laughing together in a little rowboat. The texts were all on the theme of "Romancing on and off the stage." 

Still sniffling from time to time, Sarah went to the small table beside her bed and picked up the music box her mother had given her for her fifteenth birthday. The memory of that gorgeous day was still vivid. A taxi had been sent for her in the morning, but instead of going to her mother's place it had taken her along the waterfront to where Jeremy and her mother were waiting in Jeremy's old black Mercedes. They went out into the country for lunch beside a swimming pool at some club where Jeremy was a member and the waiters spoke French, and later, in the pool, Jeremy had clowned around, pretending to drown, to such an effect that an elderly man had rung the alarm bell. They had giggled all the way back to town. At her mother's place, Sarah was given Jeremy's present, an evening gown in pale blue. She wore it to go with them to a new musical that evening, and afterward to supper, in a dimly lit restaurant. Jeremy was wickedly funny about every member of the cast they had seen in the musical. Sarah's mother had pretended to disapprove of his scandalous gossip, but that had only made Sarah and Jeremy laugh more uncontrollably, and soon all three of them had tears in their eyes. Jeremy had danced with Sarah, smiling down at her. He kidded her that a flashbulb meant that they'd be all over the gossip columns next morning, and all the way home he drove fast, to shake off the photographers, he claimed, grinning. As they said good night, her mother gave Sarah a little parcel, wrapped in silver paper and tied with a pale blue bow. Back in her room, Sarah had unwrapped it, and found the music box. 

The tune of "Greensleeves" tinkled, and a little dancer in a frilly pink dress twirled pirouettes. Sarah watched it reverently, until it became slow and jerky in motion. Then she put it down, and quietly recited from a poem she had studied in her English class: 

"O body swayed to music, O brightening glance, How can we know the dancer from the dance?" 

It was so easy to learn poetry by heart. She never had any difficulty in remembering those lines, whenever she opened the music box. In fact, she reflected, it's easier to remember them than to forget them. So why was she having such trouble in learning the speech from The Labyrinth? It was only a game she was playing. No one was waiting for her to rehearse it, no audience, except Merlin, would judge her performance of it. It should have been a piece of cake. She frowned. How could she ever hope to go on stage if she could not remember one speech?

She tried again. "Through dangers untold and hardships unnumbered, I have fought my way here to the castle beyond the Goblin City, to take back the child you have stolen …" She paused, her eyes on the poster of her mother in Jeremy's arms, and decided it would help her performance if she prepared for it. If you're going to get into a part, her mother had told her, you've got to have the right prop. Costume and makeup and wigs -- they were more for the actor's benefit than for the audience's. They helped you escape from your own life and find your way into the part, as Jeremy said.

And after each show, you take it all off, and you've wiped the slate clean. Every day was a fresh start. You could invent yourself again. Sarah took a lipstick from the drawer in her dressing table, put a little on her lips, and rolled them together, as her mother did. Her face close the mirror, she applied a little more to the corners of her mouth.

There was a tapping on her door, and her father's voice came from outside. "Sarah? Can I talk to you?"

Still looking in the mirror, she replied, "There's nothing to talk about."

She waited. He would not come in unless she invited him. She imagined him standing there, frowning, rubbing his forehead, trying to think what he ought to say next, something firm enough to please that woman but amicable enough to reassure his daughter.

"You'd better hurry," Sarah said, "if you want to make the show."

"Toby's had his supper," her father's voice said, "and he's in bed now. If you could just make sure he goes to sleep all right, we'll be back around midnight." Again, a pause, then the sound of footsteps walking away, with a slowness measured to express a blend of concern and resignation. He had done all that could be expected of him.

Sarah turned from the mirror and stared accusingly at the closed door. "You really wanted to talk to me, didn't you?" she murmured. "Practically broke down the door." Once upon a time, he would not have gone out without giving her a kiss. She sniffled. Things had certainly changed in this house.

She put the lipstick in her pocket and wiped her lips with a tissue. As she went to throw it in the wastepaper basket, something caught her eye. More exactly, something that was not there caught her eye. Launcelot was not there.

Rapidly, she rummaged through her shelf of toys and dolls and cuddly things, dogs and monkeys and soldiers and clowns, though she knew it would be fruitless. If the teddy bear were there at all, he would have been in his appointed place. He had gone. The order of the room had been violated. Sarah's cheeks were hot.

Someone's been in my room, she thought. I hate her.

Outside, the taxi was pulling away. Sarah heard it and ran to the window.

"I hate you," she screamed.

No one heard her save Merlin, and he could do no more than he was doing already, which was to bark loudly, in the garage.

She knew where she would find Launcelot. Toby already had everything his baby heart could desire, had so much more than Sarah herself had ever had; yet more was given to him, every day, without question. She stormed into the nursery. The teddy bear was spread-eagled on the carpet, just tossed away, like that. Sarah picked Launcelot up and clutched him to her.

Toby, full of warm milk, had almost been asleep in his crib. Sarah's entrance aroused him.

She glared at the baby. "I hate her. I hate you."

Toby started to cry. Sarah shuddered, and held Launcelot still more tightly.

"Oh," she wailed. "Oh, someone … save me. Take me away from this awful place."

Toby was howling now. His face was red. Sarah was wailing, Merlin was barking outside. The storm delivered a lightning flash and clap of thunder directly above the house. It rattled the windows in their frames.

Teacups danced in the kitchen cupboard.

"Someone save me," Sarah begged.

"Listen!" said a goblin, one eye opened.

All around him, on top of him, beneath him, the nest of goblins stirred sleepily. Another eye opened, and another, and another, all crazed eyes, red and staring. Some of the goblins had horns, and some had pointed teeth, some had fingers like claws; some were dressed in scraps of armor, a helmet, a gorget, but all of them had scaly feet, and all had baleful eyes. Higgledy-piggledy in a heap they slept, in their dirty chamber at the castle of the Goblin King. Their eyes went on opening, and their ears pricked up.

"All right, hush now, shush." Sarah was trying to calm herself down as much as her baby brother. "What do you want? Hmm? Do you want a story? All right." With barely a moment's thought, she picked up on the thread of The Labyrinth. "Once upon a time there was a beautiful young woman whose stepmother always made her stay with the baby. The baby was a spoiled child who wanted everything for himself, and the young woman was practically a slave girl. But what no one knew was this: the King of the Goblins had fallen in love with her, and given her certain powers."

In the castle, the goblins' eyes opened very wide. They were all attention. The lightning and thunder crashed again, but both Sarah and Toby had become quieter. "One night," Sarah continued, "when the baby had been particularly nasty, the girl called on the goblins to help her. And they said to her, 'Say your right words, and we'll take the baby away to the Goblin City, and then you'll be free.' Those were their words to her.

The goblins nodded enthusiastically.

Toby was nearly asleep again, with only a light protest remaining on his breath. Sarah, enjoying her own invention, leaned closer to him, over the side of the crib. She was holding her audience in her spell. Launcelot was in her arms.

"But the girl knew," she went on, "that the King of the Goblins would keep the baby in his castle forever and ever, and he would turn the baby into a goblin. And so she suffered in silence, through many a long month … until one night, worn out by a day of slaving at housework, and hurt beyond measure by the harsh, ungrateful words of her stepmother, she could bear it no longer."

By now, Sarah was leaning so close to Toby that she was whispering into his little pink ear. Suddenly he turned over in his crib and stared into her eyes, only a couple of inches away. There was a moment of silence. Then Toby opened his mouth, and began to howl loudly and insistently.

"Oh!" Sarah snorted in disgust, standing up straight again.

The thunder rolled, and Merlin gave it all he had.

Sarah sighed, frowned, shrugged, and decided there was no way around it. She picked Toby up and walked around the room, jogging him in her arms, together with Launcelot. The small bedside light threw their shadows on the wall, huge and flickering. "All right," she said, "all right. Come on, now. Rock-a-bye baby, and all that stuff. Come on, Toby, knock it off."

Toby wasn't going to knock it off just for being jogged. He felt he had a serious grievance to express.

"Toby," his sister said sternly, "be quiet, will you? Please? Or --" Her voice lowered. "-- I'll … I'll say the words." She looked up quickly at the shadows on the wall and addressed them theatrically. "No! No! I mustn't. I mustn't. I mustn't say … 'I wish … I wish …"

"Listen," said the goblin again.

Every glowing eye in the nest, every ear, was open now.

A second goblin spoke. "She's going to say it!"

"Say what?" asked a stupid goblin. "Shush!" The first goblin was straining to hear Sarah.

"Shut up!" other goblins said.

"You shut up!" said the stupid goblin.

In the hubbub, the first goblin thought he would go crazy with trying to hear. "Sh! Shhh!" He put his hand over the mouth of the stupid goblin.

The second goblin shrieked, "Quiet!" and thumped those nearest to him.

"Listen," the first goblin admonished the rest. "She is going to say the words."

The rest of them managed to silence themselves. They listened intently to Sarah.

She was standing erect. Toby had reached such a crescendo of screaming, red in the face, that he could scarcely draw breath. His body was straining against Sarah's arms with the effort he was making. Launcelot had fallen to the floor again. Sarah closed her eyes and quivered. "I can bear it no longer," she exclaimed, and held the howling baby above her head, like a sacrificial offering. She started to intone:

"Goblin King! Goblin King!

Wherever you may be,

Come and take this child of mine

Far away from me!"

Lightning cracked. Thunder crashed.

The goblins dropped their heads, crestfallen.

"That's not right," the first goblin said, witheringly.

"Where did she learn that rubbish?" the second scoffed. "It doesn't even start with 'I wish."

"Sh!" said a third goblin, seizing his chance to boss the others.

Sarah was still holding Toby above her head. Outraged by that, Toby was screaming even more loudly than before, which Sarah would have not thought possible. She brought him down and cuddled him, which had the effect of restoring him to his standard level of screaming.

Exhausted by now, Sarah told him, "Oh, Toby, stop it. You little monster. Why should I have to put up with this? You're not my responsibility. I ought to be free, to enjoy myself. Stop it! Oh, I wish … I wish …" Anything would be preferable to this cauldron of noise, anger, guilt, and weariness in which she found herself. With a tired little sob, she said, "I wish I did know what words to say to get the goblins to take you away."

"So where's the problem?" the first goblin said with an impatient sight. Pedantically, he spelled it out. "'I wish the goblins would come and take you away, right now.' Hmm? That's not hard, is it?"

In the nursery, Sarah was saying, "I wish … I wish …"

The goblins were all alert again, biting their lips with tension.

"Did she say it?" the stupid goblin asked brightly.

As one, the rest turned on him. "Shut," they said irritably, "up."

Toby's tornado had blown itself out. He was breathing deeply, with a whimper at the end of his breath. His eyes were closed. Sarah put him back in his crib, not too gently, and tucked him in.

She walked quietly to the door and was shutting it behind her when he uttered an eerie shriek and started to scream again. He was hoarse now, and louder in consequence.

Sarah froze, with her hand on the handle of the door. "Aah," she moaned helplessly. "I wish the goblins would come and take you away…" She paused.

The goblins were so still, you could have heard a snail blink.

" … right now," Sarah said.

In the goblins' nest, there was an exhalation of pleasure. "She said it! " In a trice, all the goblins had vanished in different directions, save only the stupid goblin.

He squatted there, a grin dawning on his face, until he realized that the rest had left him. "Hey," he said, "wait for me," and he tried to run in several directions at once. Then he, too, vanished.

Lightning flashed and thunder hammered the air. Toby gave out with a high-pitched screech, and Merlin barked as if all the burglars in the world were closing in.

To Be Continued…

Labyrinth Explanation As you probably guessed, the title is a copy of the logo from the actual movie.

This story is a little different from my other ones; it comes from a modern story with copyright laws protecting it. However, I am just doing this for fun, and going from what the internet seems to says about parodies and fan-art, this is okay as long as I’m not making money off of this. Just thought you should know.

Okay! So the first picture is a little funny looking. It’s supposed to look a lot like the opening picture in the movie, with Merlin added in. But I’m glad to say all the pictures improve from there.

I don’t have much to say about the second picture. I just tried to make the stepmom look vaguely like the Evil Queen from Snow White.

I am EXTREMELY proud of the third picture. I spend hours copying the very cluttered room of Sarah. In fact, I was so proud of myself, I forgot to add Sarah! I had to add her in later.

The fourth picture was difficult to add a goblin to; at first I was just to have one peeking out from under the dress. It didn’t work though, sadly.

The teddy bear was really difficult to add to as well. Oh well.

The next one is supposed to look like the balcony scene from Romeo and Juliet. I figured a silly story like that would appeal to a girl like Sarah, with a head full of dreams and impetuosity. The dress she’s dressed in is from later in the movie; her Romeo is just the Goblin King.

So, the goblins in the picture full of goblins are based on the movie goblins. Most of my other goblins honestly look more like Dobby from Harry Potter, but these are true Labyrinth goblins. I added a couple to the ones already in that scene in the movie; you can see them on the right, though I think you can tell.

The last picture is my second favorite from this story. I think my perspective is a little funny, but I like to think you can see the concern, annoyance and indecision on Sarah’s face.

Additional notes from years later

At the time I drew this, I didn't understand that goblins were often used, especially more recently, to make fun of other people's facial features and the like. I don't think Labyrinth was made with that intention, but if that upsets you, please know I understand and my later art is more mindful of that.

IRL, I 'publish' these stories in little books of 3-5 tales, and I used to try and add a visual theme to connect between those tales. The first four, Snow White, Cinderella, Sleeping Beauty and the Little Mermaid, they all had mothers named after each other. Snow White's mother was named Undine (water nymph), Cinderella's mater was Schéiwaiss Puttel (Snow White), Rosaline's mama was Pelenén (another name for Cinderella) and Ondine's mom was Bella-Durmiente (kinda obvious for that one).

This story was paired with Mulan, The Amazing Maurice and his Educated Rodents, and The Princess Bride. So the common theme was that I included a goblin in every picture - including the titles. Try and spot them!

Original post can be NOT found here, sadly.

And I've ordered the original copy, to honor the author, but if you're curious, you can find the Labyrinth novelization here. I don't think this was an authorized upload, but it helped me when I was working on this story and it's still up 5 years later!

[trambrosia]

This is fucking great, made me weep, chew drywall, etc

I died, and you carried me. I gambled, and you covered my bet. You kept the faith, and were the instrument of both my vengeance and my grace. And now I have fought through time, and the River, and Ianthe the First—fought and bested Ianthe the First, and I hope I never fight her ever again … Will you not look at me now, Cam, and know me? — Nona the Ninth (24)

Not saying these are all deliberate references, but Labrynth tickled my brain when I was reading and I looked up more.

I was naked, and you clothed me. I was sick, and you took care of me. I was in prison, and you visited me — Matthew 25:36 (ISV)

Lord, make me an instrument of your peace. Where there is hatred, let me sow love; where there is injury, pardon; where there is doubt, faith; where there is despair, hope; where there is darkness, light; and where there is sadness, joy. O Divine Master, grant that I may not so much seek to be consoled as to console; to be understood as to understand; to be loved as to love. For it is in giving that we receive; it is in pardoning that we are pardoned; and it is in dying that we are born to eternal life. Amen. —attributed to St. Francis of Assisi

Through dangers untold and hardships unnumbered I have fought my way here to the castle beyond the Goblin City to take back the child you have stolen, for my will is as strong as yours and my kingdom as great. You have no power over me! — Labrynth (1986)

I have fought the good fight, I have finished the race, I have kept the faith. Now there is in store for me the crown of righteousness, which the Lord, the righteous Judge, will award to me on that day—and not only to me, but also to all who have longed for his appearing. — 2 Timothy 4:7-8 (CEB)

After he said this, he showed them his hands and his side. When the disciples saw the Lord, they were filled with joy. — John 20:20 (CEB)

[Ianthe's body] placed its arms over the flooding wound in Camilla’s side — Nona the Ninth (24)

I hope I never fight these demons again, I wish that I could see you screaming again, Came in my life and now you leaving again, He go to sleep and get to dreaming again, He see your pictures, get to fiending again, You got me begging you to see you again, Hoping I see your face — You'll Be Sorry, BLEU (2020)

[yasanuova]

“Through dangers untold and hardships unnumbered, I have fought my way here to the castle beyond the Goblin City to take back the child that you have stolen. For my will is as strong as yours, and my kingdom is as great. You have no power over me.”

"Через неисчислимые опасности и бесчисленные трудности я пробилась сюда, в замок за городом гоблинов, чтобы вернуть ребенка, которого вы украли. Ибо моя воля так же сильна, как ваша, и мое царство так же велико. У вас нет власти надо мной.”