Broken stairs and fallen, stone walls, lay in heaps around the foundation of the north corner of the castle. The Escher Room, which once had been a room of magnificent beauty and clever deception, had been reduced to rubble. The dust had yet to settle, and had filled the air with a fine sprinkling of stone, which glittered in the air.
A lone figure crouched among the debris. The jacket he wore, which was made of the finest silks and softest leathers, was covered in grime and filth, the shine of the intricate jewels were now muted by a fine layer of dust. Eyes, one blue and one brown, normally filled with such confidence and arrogance, were narrowed in confusion and disbelief. His white, blonde hair, which fell in uneven layers below his narrow shoulders, glittered and shined with a ferocity to rival starlight. He knelt there, slowly turning a crystal ball over and over in his elegant, gloved hands.
He was like a stone statue, hardly moving, but for the crystal, and he continued to turn it over and over, his eyes focused on an image within, one only he could see. His mouth, turned down in frustration as he whispered, so low it was barely audible, a single word, repeated… 'Sarah'.
…
The party had ended and Sarah's room was covered in glitter, streamers, and confetti. Her friends, Hoggle, Ludo, and Sir Didymus, had slipped back into the mirror and back into Sarah's dreams. She would miss them, but hoped that she would see them again.
She shook herself free of confetti, and pulled a blue streamer from her hair, wondering how she was going to explain this mess to her parents. She squared her shoulders and got to work, and 45 minutes later she had most of the room cleaned, with the exception of the glitter, which had nestled into the fibers of the carpet and would need a vacuum to pull it loose.
As she threw the last bits of confetti into the trash she wondered briefly if her parents would notice it in the bin. Deciding not to worry about it, she collapsed onto her bed and turned the nights events over in her head. Already it seemed like a dream. Had she really wished her brother away to the Goblin, only to have that wish come to fruition when the Goblin King, himself, showed up in her brothers room? Her run through the Labyrinth, which at the time and seemed so unfair and difficult, now felt like the product of her over active imagination. She stood and walked to her window, throwing it open to watch the sunrise, it's morning rays chasing away the shadows in her room and finally, she felt a sense of triumph.
She had done it! She had faced the Goblin King in all his glittery, narcissistic glory and she had defeated him. A smile appeared on her face as she remembered the look of disappointment in his eyes as she had uttered the final words, 'You have no power over me!' She laughed out loud and closed her eyes, playing again in her mind, the last sight she'd had of him, as his face fell and he'd thrown the crystal in the air.
A knock on the door pulled her from the memory and Karen's voice came from the other side, "Sarah? Are you awake?"
"I'm awake." Sarah replied and turned from her window. As she did, she thought she saw movement from the corner of her eye. The mirror. The surface of it seemed to ripple, and as she moved closer to it, the rippling increased. She crossed her room slowly, with each step she felt more and more apprehensive. When she was less then three feet from the mirror, something broke the surface and flew past her, to land across the room. She whirled on it with a gasp.
A single, crystal ball lay in the center of her room, and she instantly recognized it for what it was. She approached, cautiously and when she was close enough she knelt down, reaching out to touch it. Her fingers were inches from it, and she held her breath as one made contact. The crystal immediately shattered in a spray of glitter and from within, a single word broke the silence. Sarah recognized the voice immediately and she felt the blood drain from her face. 'Soon.'