Author's Note:
Thanks to dogredcat who was given two abstracts for this story and took the long winded one.
All characters belong to George Lucas and Jim Henson respectively.
I
Beyond the twisting labyrinth there stood a massive castle that towered over the Goblin City. Within the thick stone walls lived the King of the Goblins and his bride. Together they ruled the realm with a gentle hand and were held in high esteem by subjects and fellow rulers. The Goblin King was a tall imposing figure, slender and fair haired with an elegant drawl. His queen was a beautiful contrast. A woman of medium height and slender build. The Goblin Queen boasted the fairest skin in all the kingdom, dark hair and a soft gaze, she acted as mother to all in the kingdom.
Their kingdom was deemed by many to be quite strange, all their subjects being cast off children abandoned by their families "above ground". Over time these children grew, married and took in other abandoned children and raised them as their own. In fact, only a few goblins remained in the Goblin Kingdom, concentrated in the junkyards on the outskirts of the realm. They served as a constant reminder of a time before the benevolent king's rule when the abandoned met a more sinister fate.
The rules of the kingdom were very simple. Those who wished away children to the Goblin King after repeating words so powerful they must not be written out of fear some unfortunate child be wished away. The Goblin King would then offer them a choice; a chance to best the labyrinth and retrieve the child or a magic crystal. Those who choose to attempt the labyrinth were given thirteen hours to reach their child and if they failed had their memories erased and were returned home. If the child was not retrieved by the thirteenth hour, they then became subjects of the Goblin King and were passed on to a good family.
One rainy autumn night a young girl named Sarah spoke the words and the Goblin King arrived to take the child to the underground. Sarah refused the offered crystal and accepted the challenge of trying to complete the labyrinth in the allotted thirteen hours. Filled with determination, Sarah bested and outwitted the Goblin King at every turn. By the thirteenth hour, Sarah had not only defeated the labyrinth (the first to ever do so) and rescue her brother but she also managed to capture the heart of the Goblin King. Although she and her brother were returned to the above ground, she never forgot the Goblin King and he could not forget her.
Many years passed and the King of the Goblins had almost given up hope of ever seeing Sarah again. Until, on the tenth anniversary of their fateful meeting, Sarah wished herself away to the underground. Overjoyed, the king courted her in earnest and only a few months later she consented to be his wife. Celebrations rang out across the kingdom to mark the happy occasion. Thus, Sarah became Queen of the Goblins and co-regent of the realm.
