Hey guys. I know that I haven't been updatin' my stories for awhile but I'm BEGGIN' ya here, Please hang in there. Grad year is really piling it on me and my graduation is less than a month away. Anywhoha, this is not an AU but think of this as re visitation of the movie. Enjoy!
Disclaimer: I don't own the Labyrinth yada yada yada...must I do this everytime?
The Labyrinth
Once upon a time in a far away land, there was a beautiful princess who loved nothing more than to read stories. Particularly, stories about knights in armor, dragons, slumbering princess's who awaited true love's kiss, and any other fairy tales, especially about magical creatures. She had many friends and a grand life, but this was short lived. Her mother, the queen, died when she was but a young child and her father remarried another, when the princess was fourteen springs old. A queen who was very mean and unkind to the princess. The evil queen would make the princess stay at home, doing the chores and looking after her baby brother who was now 2 winters old. In a quick turn, the princess's life became sad and lonely.
The only escape she had from her sorrowful life were the adventures of her books. Sometimes, she would sneak out of the castle to reenact her stories in the nearby forest or meadow and go exploring with animal friends. But one day, the queen caught the girl sneaking back into her room and became enraged that the princess was not at home where she thought she should be. She locked the princess in her room and told her, "If you ever want to leave the castle grounds again, you must complete the assigned tasks whilst your father and I go to a royal ball in a neighboring kingdom." The queen left locked princess in her room, not knowing the princess was immediately heart-broken.
As the princess lay down on her bed crying, her tear stricken face next to the pillows, she whispered softly into her pillow, "It's not fair," as if hoping that no one would hear her soft plea.
But what no one knew is that someone did hear the princess's cries. Far away, in the kingdom of Underground, the ruler of the massive labyrinth and all of its land, the Goblin King, had heard the princess through his magical crystal balls. You see, the Goblin King had lost his heart to the young princess and vowed that if she were to call upon anything, he will immediately grant it, no matter what the wish. However, the princess did not know of this pledge and wished for something dark.
While the king and queen were out, the princess was left to watch her baby brother who did not stop crying. The babe continued its relentless cries and the princess tried everything from his favorite toys, reading him stories, to bouncing him on her shoulder, but nothing worked. The princess finally became frustrated and tired from all her attempts of calming the squabbling baby. Giving up, the princess cried, "I wish the goblins would come and take you away," as she placed the crying baby in his crib and walked to the bedroom doors and out the room, "Right now." She closed the doors as she heard something.
The crystal balcony doors slammed shut, the wind started to howl outside with the force of magic, small goblins began to infiltrate the room with the slightest of ease, wing beatings were heard against the windows as if something was trying to get inside the room. The princess ran back into the room and to the crib to found it bare. She knew what had just transpired; her baby brother had been kidnapped…by the goblins. Then, the crystal doors were forced open under the pressure of the roaring winds and the princess became frightened, shutting her eyes from the rise of the whipping winds that twirled her loose, ebony hair around. As everything became disturbingly calm, princess slowly opened her eyes to see a dark silhouette standing in the middle of the door frame, the shadows merging his body with its own darkness, obscuring the image in the princess's eyes. The coarse shine of the silhouette's mismatched eyes held the only light of the room. As he walked out the shadows towards her, the princess could see who this strikingly handsome outsider was. The Goblin King.
The princess pleaded for her brother's safe return, but the Goblin King wouldn't allow it. He offered her dreams to her, but the princess's will remained strong and her wish remained the same. With the love for the princess so strong, the Goblin King gave her a chance to reclaim her brother. He transported both the princess and himself to the fields before the Labyrinth. The assigned task was that she must complete the Goblin King's labyrinth in 13 hours or have her brother lost to her forever. With immense courage, the princess accepted the King's challenge and entered the Labyrinth and its twisting illusions.
As the princess continued through the puzzling twists and turns of the labyrinth, she made friends with many of its creatures to help in her quest. A dwarf who has very afraid of the King but held a great heart, a big, red yeti-like monster who was kind and could summon rocks at the sound of his ghostly howl, and very chivalrous fox who rode on top a sheep dog. Together, they overcame many of the challenges of the Labyrinth, but not without some of the King's trickery's and temptations.
Along the way, the troupe became very hungry and tired. As they sat down for a quick rest in the forest, the Goblin King appeared to the dwarf in the shadows. The King gave him an enchanted peach and told him to give to the princess. The dwarf knew that this was another form of the king's tricks and did not want to harm the princess, but the king commanded that he give the charmed fruit to her or be sentenced to the Bog of Eternal Stench where even getting a drop of the bog's water on you, the putrid smell will stay with you for the rest of your life. With a reluctant sigh, the dwarf slowly walked back to the group as the king disappeared into the shadows once more. As the party once again started their journey towards the castle, the dwarf pulled aside the princess to give her the fruit. She thanked him for the treat and took a bite of the peach. Then the princess began to feel faint and unsteady. Grief overtook the dwarf and he ran away from his terrible mistake and the princess as she slowly lay down against a small tree, sinking further into the arms of oblivion.
Once the princess came to, she found herself in a beautiful ballroom where all the people were dancing. The princess also noticed that her attire changed into a beautiful sugarplum gown with matching silver hair dress. Music filled the air as she strode past the crowd that covered their faces with unusual masks. She paid no mind to the ongoing looks of the court and made her way towards the ballroom center. As she reached the middle of the room, the princess found that the Goblin King was waiting for her. He took her by the hand, and led the princess into a breathtaking dance of magic and love. As they danced, singing could be heard as the couple became the center of attention. The princess began to feel entranced and spellbound as she continued her waltz with the Goblin King. The princess became gradually aware that she was slowly losing her memory and resolve of finding her baby brother due to the magic of the Goblin King. At the last second, the princess fled from the Goblin King's embrace and ran towards the end of the ballroom, pushing past the crowd of dancing couples. At the end of the room, she found that the ballroom was not in a giant palace, but rather, in a crystal bubble. The princess grabbed a chair from a nearby table and flung it at the glass wall, causing the whole room to dissipate right before her eyes, ignoring the screams and cries coming from the ballroom as the ground beneath her feet to give way and fell into complete darkness.
Once her feet felt solid ground, the princess quickly gathered her sights from around her. The princess found that she was in the huge wasteland just before the Goblin City gates. The princess immediately heard the cries of her guardians who were in search of her and met up with them at in middle of the wasteland. With the fox and the monster at ease with safety of their lady, they continued onward towards the city but at the gates, they met with the dwarf who wanted to ask for the princess's forgiveness for giving her the enchanted peach. The princess and the others pardon him with kindness and acceptation as troupe became whole again. The party quietly sneaked into the city's slumbering streets but was caught between a battle with the goblins. As they tried to avoid the bombarding canons and charging foot soldiers, they finally made their way to the Goblin King's castle and throne room, but found that the princess's baby brother and the Goblin King were not there.
Running almost out of time, the princess found the King's escape route, but as she tried to pursue the escape path she told her friends that she needed to do this by herself. The troupe sadly agreed to this but told her that if the princess were ever to need them, she would call for them. As she climbed the stairwell, the princess finally came to a room where logic was non-existent. Staircases were the only objects in view; gravity cease to exist, up was down, down was up, and going up one stairwell would lead to another plane of confusion. The princess finally found her brother. But as she would race down one stairwell, the baby would be on another. What the princess didn't know was that the Goblin King was watching her attempts, growing to love her even more as she tried with all her might to save the baby. The princess caught up with her baby brother sitting on the floor below her. She hesitated momentarily as she gathered her courage and jumped towards him.
After what felt like an eternity of falling, the princess's feet touched the ground, noticing the quick change of the room. Sensing a presence near her, she turned around to see the Goblin King stepping forward from the shadows. He walked towards her; defiance shining his mismatched stare. He offered the princess again her dreams, his love, and his heart as he spoke, "Just love me, fear me, and I will be your slave."
Even though the princess was greatly tempted, she kept her bravery and her heart on her baby brother as she disputed, "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!"
At those last words, the bell tolled for the final 13th hour. Magic and wind swirled around the princess as the room began to disappear. As everything calmed down, the princess noticed that she was back in her baby brother's room. As she looked over the crib, the princess sighed with relief to see her baby brother sleeping peacefully. Thanking the gods above silently, the princess tucked the young baby into his crib and went back to her room with a light heart and tired expression. But as she walked down the corridor to her room, the princess noticed a white owl perched on a tree branch outside the window. She walked over to the window, catching a glimpse of the owl's mismatched eyes before the bird spread its wings and took off in to the night. Now, the princess wondered, "Was it truly the last I have seen of the Goblin King?"
Don't worry, Chapter two is soon to follow.