"No! Ow, you're hurting!"

"Hurting? No, we're helping."

"We're helping hands!"

Jake, a young boy not yet twelve, struggled against the hundreds of hands supporting and grabbing him. "Get off, let me go!"

"Which way?" the hands asked him. "Up or down?"

"I definitely don't want to go down," Jake blurted out, frightened.

"He chose up!"

"He chose up?"

"He chose up! Ha!"

"Was I wrong?" he demanded fearfully, but the hands simply laughed as they started passing him back up the way he came.

"Oomph!" Jake landed, hard, on a ground that was unfamiliar. Groaning audibly, he took his time straightening up, and when he did, he was flabbergasted.

In front of him was what looked like a giant crystal, like the ones the King had, but in building form. It shined brightly, sticking out like a sore thumb amongst the forest that surrounded it.

"You shall not pass!" A small creature that looked strangely like a fox atop a dog screeched at him. Next to the odd animal was an even more eccentric creature that resembled an orange yeti.

"What's in there?" Jake asked curiously, coming closer to both the building and the things guarding it.

"Nothing of which shall be seen by your prying eyes, young scoundrel!" The fox-dog thing shouted at him again, brandishing an unfortunately sharp-looking sword at him. The orange yeti nodded slowly, yet vigorously, in agreement.

Jake frowned, quickly looking around him and spotting what seemed to be a pile of (please not human) bones. Picking up one gingerly, he threw it as hard as he could into the forest. "Go get it!" he yelled at the dog-thing, and it quickly bounded after the bone, screaming, "AMBROSIOUS! Ambrosious, no, get back there at once!"

One creature taken care of, Jake strode confidently up to the orange yeti. "I'm Jake," he said. "And I want to go inside."

"Ludo can't," The creature shook it's head. It held a menacingly hard-looking rock, but Jake was unperturbed.

"Alright, well . . . I guess - Look, something shiny!" Jake pointed to the side abruptly.

"Shine - ey?" The yeti repeated as he looked quickly to the side, allowing Jake to slip past him and inside the building.

"That was too easy," Jake laughed to himself, before stopping and taking in where he was.

It was just a wide, circular room, with what looked to be glass or mirrors as the walls. The floor was pale gray and resembled concrete. The room itself was expansive and empty, save for one small creature sitting in front of one part of the wall.

"Hello?" Jake called out tentatively and the thing quickly turned to look back at him.

"Oh," it said sadly. "Just you. A runner. 'Got me hopes up for nothin'."

"I'm Jake," he said hesitantly, approaching the ugly humanoid carefully. "Who are you?"

"I'm Hoggle," it said, turning back to the mirror. "And she don't come out for me no more."

"Who?" Jake asked politely, now directly behind the thing called Hoggle.

"Never you mind," Hoggle said harshly. "I know I don't deserve to see her, but I's still wants to. She used to come out all the time for me, but now she don't come out for me no more. Just him. Just him."

"I see," Jake said, though he really didn't see at all.

"I loved her, see," said Hoggle. "But she stopped callin' me after and then that rat made this room and I could see her anytime I wants 'ta. Now she just hides and don't come out to see me. Not even to hear how much Hoggle misses her."

"Hmm," Jake murmurred, bored.

"Hockin!" A loud, booming voice suddenly echoed throughout the room. Jake turned quickly to see the Goblin King striding imperiously towards them. "I thought I told to stay out of this room!"

Hoggle ignored him, just stared in apt wonder as a beautiful lady appeared on the glass, looking curiously out at them. "Get out!" The King bellowed loudly, his voice echoing, a crystal appearing in his hands. He threw it at the open-mouthed Hoggle, who vanished as soon as it hit him.

The lady in the glass looked like she was stifiling a laugh.

It took a moment for the King to notice Jake, who had quickly became silent. The King had calmed, the lady's presence soothing him, and he turned to Jake briefly.

"I see you found my glass room, boy," the King said, his voice much kinder but more preoccupied. He went up to the glass and kissed it reverently where the woman's cheek would have been. She blushed and danced away, her flowy dress floating about her.

"It's very nice," Jake said honestly.

"What do you think of it?" The King asked, his eyes following the gorgeous woman around the room. "Of her?"

"She's beautiful!" Jake said appreciatively with a blissful smile.

"Yes," The Goblin King agreed, his face expressionless as he reached out to touch her unreal, outstretched hand. "Yes, she is."

"Why is she here?" Jake asked curiously, watching the lady in the glass smile adoringly at the King before flitting away, across the room, and briefly disappearing. She came back in a different dress, this one dark green, form-fitting, and infinitely more adult.

"Not that one, my sweet," The King murmured, not loud enough for Jake to hear. "This boy's eyes are much too innocent for that dress."

She nodded, like she understood, and disappeared once again. "She's here," the King said in response to Jake's earlier question. "Because I need her to be here."

"Is she real?" Jake asked, the lady returning, this time in an elaborate white dress, looking much younger than she had before.

"Ah, yes," said the King, mostly to himself, with a small smile. "That one is my favorite. Thank you, Sarah." The glass lady giggled inaudibly, grinning widely at the Goblin King before beginning to dance around the glass by herself to a silent tune. The King watched her longingly for a moment or two before turning his attention back to the boy. "She is very real," the King said. "But she is only a copy."

"Sarah? That's her name?" Jake cocked his head, waiting until the King nodded before continuing. "Who is she?"

"Just a girl," said the King. "The one who got away." He paused, turning his gaze back to the dancing form of the lady. "She disappeared and I have yet to find her again."

"Why can't you find her?" Jake asked sympathetically.

"I have no power over her," The King answered with a wry smirk. "Or so she believes. So she has ensured."

Jake didn't fully understand what the King meant, and paused and thought for a moment. "You know, she looks awfully familiar."

The man cocked an eyebrow and turned his head to look at the boy. "Is that so?"

"Yeah," Jake nodded. "She looks kinda like that lady on TV. The one that makes movies? My mom likes the one she's in where she's that lost princess." Jake paused. "In fact, I think her name's Sarah, too. Sarah Williams. Yeah, that's it!"

The King began to steadily and stealthily approach the boy, his eyes beginning to burn. "Oh? And do you know where Sarah Williams might reside?"

"She lives with that guy in Brooklyn. Everyone knows that," Jake shrugged. "She practically advertises it. 130 Blossom Lane, in the heart of Brooklyn. She likes meeting her fans; my mom went there to meet her once. There was lots of security and stuff, but my mom said she was really nice and meeting her was worth it."

"I'm sure it was," The King purred. A slow, predatory smile creeped over the Goblin King's face and the lady in the glass stopped dancing, her face expressing horror, her hand over her mouth in dismay. Somewhere, a clock started to chime. "Dear boy," the King was directly in front of him now, and he leaned down to be closer to Jake's height. One. Two. Three. "You have just done me a great service. And to thank you, I'll be returning your sister home."

"That's awesome, thanks!" Jake grinned, watching the King stand and turn away from him. Four. Five. Six. The room started to sway, suddenly, the colors darkening and brightening simultaneously. Seven. Eight. Nine. "Hey. Hey, wait! What -?" Ten.

"But unfortunately, that means you'll be turning into a goblin in her place," said the King, his back to the boy. Eleven. "Such a pity." Twelve.

The clock chimed thirteen.

"NO!" Jake screamed as he slowly began to shrink, his vocal cords distorting, speech beginning to leave him. The Goblin King ignored the boy, instead turning his attention to the glass Sarah, who had come to be before him, her hands outstretched to him beseechingly.

"I'm sorry, pet," the King said gently, running a finger along the surface where she seemed to reside. "But I've got the real you to find." She shook her head fiercely, tears leaking down the sides of her face, but the King tore himself away from her and strode away. As he started to leave, the room began to shake.

The moment that the Goblin King stepped outside of the glass room, it began to break. The glass lady had her mouth open in a silent scream as the glass splintered and shattered and crumbled in on itself. In the middle of the chaos, a newly turned goblin huddled into a small ball, his last conscious thought wondering why he had just betrayed the most beautiful woman he had ever seen.


Re-edited. I've got a plotline starting now, folks. But it's darker and more sinister than I could've ever forseen - so hold on tight, because you're in for a bumpy, M-rated ride!