The Ugliest of Things
Chapter 1: A Promise to the King
The boy was barely an inch taller than him, and the babe in his arms was half his size but he kept running. The darkness had already begun to sweep over the Labyrinth and soon he would be unable to see. His breath came out in shallow pants and his lungs began to ache as the air became unbearably cold.
The young prince, a tiny boy with wit beyond his years, stumbled to keep up with him. Confused and scared as he watched his home darken into nothing. Tear stains were clear on his unusually dirty cheeks and his bright blue eyes were constantly looking back towards his home, his castle.
Hoggle tried not to think of the cries the three year old had been screaming as the goblin had dragged him away from the battle… the ambush. Hoggle's own eyes had been tearfilled in the panic and terror that had washed over the Goblin City in seconds. He merely thanks the gods that the Princess had slept through everything.
He roughly pushed the boy into his oubliette and followed himself, shutting the door and ripping it from the wall. He looked down at the girl in his arms and saw she was fighting the sleep that held her securely, she was trying to make herself wake up… she was under a spell.
"Thank you, Your Majesty." Hoggle whispered quietly, knowing it was one of her parents who had, in an instant of clear thought, shielded their daughter from the horrors of the night.
"Hogwart, why are we here?" The Prince demanded, his voice loud and cocky, much like the man who had raised him.
"My name is Hoggle, and I made a promise to the King that I'd keep you safe. That's what I'm doing."
"By trapping us in an oubliette?" He demanded, hands on his hips.
"I'm not trapping you." Hoggle glared, waving his hand and a mirror shimmered in front of them, "I'm sending you Aboveground."
"What? No! I'm staying here."
"You're not." Hoggle demanded, "Highness," he sighed, a bit deflated, "Something bad's going on out there, something your father can't win against. I'm going to do everything I can to find a way to stop or fix this, but I can't do that when you're here. I promised I'd keep you and your sister safe."
The Prince, a boy that had been taught since birth that responsibility came first, backed down, "What do I do when I get there?"
"I don't know… Find someone who can help you, say nothing of the Underground."
"But-"
"Nothing."
"When will we be able to come home?"
"I don't know."
The boy bowed his head and paused a moment before looking up, "What's going to happen to Mom and Dad?"
Hoggle sighed and handed the boy his sister, "Be safe, My Prince." Then pushed them through the mirror.
The rain was cold and stung against his scrapped skin. His dark hair hung in front of his eyes and stuck to his cheeks. His sister was beginning to make sounds of distress against the wet fabric of his shirt, he could do nothing but pull her closer and kiss the blanket that was wrapped around her tiny body.
He limped towards the bright lights of a big building with people, mortals, running in and out and cars going by. He held his sister tighter as he edged through the shadows and watched for a few moments. His sister whined and he looked down, "Aliana, please… don't cry." He whispered, running a dirty hand over her plump cheek, her mismatched eyes staring up at him, nearly overflowing with tears.
She opened her mouth and he again whispered her name.
She closed her mouth with a whimper.
He slid down the wall and held her close, casting another look over his shoulder at the mysteriously busy building. He rocked his sister a little, like he had watched his mother do when the baby became fussy. He looked back down at her as she began to whimper, "I know, Princess. I'm not Mommy, and I'm defiantly not Dad. But, we've gotta be strong okay? Remember, this is our responsibility. We have to stay safe and strong for our people. Because we are the hope of our people, right?" he looked down at his sister and sighed. "Aliana, I don't know what I'm doing and I'm scared… Mom and Dad are in trouble, so is our kingdom but they sent us here. We need to be here until they call for us, until it's safe to go back… I don't want to be here, I don't want you to be here. I'd give anything for Mommy to be holding you again… Maybe one day we'll be safe again. We'll be back home again…"
"Honey? Are you alright?" came a soft voice from a few feet away.
The boy jumped and looked up, startled to see the older lady in a pair of maroon scrubs, "We need help."
The woman walked over, "My name's Leah, I'm a nurse. Are you hurt?"
"A little… We've been sent here by our parents because it isn't safe for us at home… can you help us?"
The nurse nodded, "Let's get you inside, okay honey? Let me see her." She said reaching out for the babe, the boy tensed, "It's alright, sweetie, I'm not going to hurt her I need to make sure she's okay."
The boy hesitantly nodded, looking down at his sister, and let the nurse gently take her.
"There, now take my hand and we'll get you both out of the rain. What's your name?"
"Jareth Hrothgar the Third."
"That's quite a name."
"It was my fathers and my grandfathers before me."
The nurse smiled, "Well, Jareth, what's your sisters name?"
"Aliana Armina."
"Beautiful names." She said as they entered through sliding doors that made Jareth stare, before he was surrounded in a foreign world.