Wow, everyone's been just great with the reviews of this story. I actually
considered leaving it as it was for a while after the fourth chapter, and
then I got feedback saying that they hoped I would continue with the next
parts soon. Unfortunately, not all of you leave your emails addresses, so I
can't write back to thank you. I guess that's why I'm doing it here. But
anyway, I'll get back to the story now as I know that's what you want to
read and what you are here for. Just thought I'd let my appreciation for
all of you be known. Thanks guys, you help a lot!
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A glorious white owl glided over the buildings in the centre of the Labyrinth. Beautiful markings across its face singled it out from others of its kind; made it special. This was no ordinary owl.
Curbing its wings slightly, it perched down on the outer window sill, stationed to watch in. A girl and her little brother stood alone there, heedless towards the fact that they were at that moment being watched.
"It's just that he doesn't seem so bad," the younger boy spoke. "I'm not saying that I'm on his side or anything."
"You don't know what he's done; what he's capable of doing!" the girl said, striding restlessly back and forth. "There's history there that you couldn't possibly understand."
"Well maybe I would have a chance of understanding if you tried telling me something about it," the boy said, following her but not too closely as to crowd her. "I'm not some stupid little kid, you know. I'm able to sometimes put a few things together eventually."
The girl sighed. As the owl watched on with interest, it seemed as though most of the fight just drained out of her.
"You're right. Somehow you've been dragged into this, again. You deserve to know why."
Although her words were stating one thing, everything about her manner was stating quite the opposite. Whether the boy chose to ignore the signs or was just oblivious to them, he made no open reaction to her demeanour as he came and crouched down next to her.
"You want to know about the Labyrinth? Why everything here seems so familiar to you?" The girl made a soft scoffing sound, but even so, went on with the tale. "I mean it should be. You probably spent more time around here than I did!"
"Spent more time. How could I have spent time here?" the boy asked incredulously. "I've never set a foot around here in my life!"
"That's not true, Toby," the girl said, giving the younger boy with her a name. Her bowed her head, and the next words that came out of her mouth were vaguely muffled, but not so much that the owl could not make out what was being said.
"It was a long time ago, true. You were still very little. I don't even think that you had fully learnt how to walk yet." The girl squeezed her eyes shut, and now even the boy Toby couldn't deny the very real pain that it was costing her to tell him this. In an unthinking act of comfort, he shuffled closer to her and wrapped an arm around her shoulders.
As platonic and brotherly as the motion was, the owl on the window sill, unacknowledged by either of the two in the Stair Room, bristled slightly, before consciously soothing ruffled feathers.
"It was a dark night. Storming. Your mum and dad had gone out for the night. They were always going out together." A trace of the bitterness left over from her childhood slipped into her voice here. "I was left at home to look after you. I remember that you were crying. Nothing I could do would quiet you. I was young too. It wasn't my responsibility to have full care over a baby."
The girl paused, taking a breath for the crux of the story now that she had given it setting.
"It had been a book I'd been reading at the time; the Labyrinth. In it was a character, the Goblin King." Toby's eyes widened as he recognised the title from the blonde white haired man who had introduced himself before. "It was said in the story that if one just wished for a child to be taken away by the Goblin King, the Goblin King would sweep him away to his castle within the walls of the Goblin City and turn him into a Goblin."
Toby's eyes widened. The girl still refused to look straight at him. The owl watched on silently.
"I didn't know; I didn't know that it was real. I didn't know what to do and with you crying, and my anger and my father, and you, and I guess I just said the words without thinking." As the girl lifted her head and looked forwards, it was as though her gaze was sightless to what was really there; as though she was seeing in front of her the scenes from the past.
" 'Goblin King, Goblin King, take this child far away from me'." She dropped her head and closed her eyes as the quoted words left her mouth. "And then the next thing I knew, he was at the door, and you were gone from your room. Gone. to here." Again, another pause. Then, "He said that the only way I could get you back was to go through the Labyrinth and get you before the 13 hours was up. He lied. He cheated; setting forward the course of time several hours. but in the end, I still managed to get there."
By this time, Toby was sitting in a stupor, totally unaware that his legs had gone dead from the lack of blood circulation running there in the crouched position that he had maintained for the whole of this story. Wisely though, he remained silent for the time, instinctively realising that her story was not yet up.
"When I'd finally found you, he face me yet again. Offered me. everything. But the price. was too high." For the first time since starting her story, the girl looked up into Toby's eyes and found the wetness in hers was echoed in his own. "But I already had my baby brother back. and that was enough."
With a sigh that signalled the end of the story, the girl seemed to collapse into herself, as though the effort of keeping such a thing inside of her for so long, only to finally let it out freely had cost her greatly. But as Toby sat there, numbly thinking on everything he had just heard, he realised that his sister was looking at him very strangely. It took a moment to realise, but he recognised the look of someone scared that her every word was about to be disbelieved and made ridicule of.
"Oh sis!" he cried, turning to hug her tightly. "Sarah. I can't believe you kept this from me, all this time. But now." He released her slowly and took another look around them. "We're very obviously back here again. So what do you suppose he wants this time?"
From the window sill, the owl squawked loudly, making itself known to both Toby and Sarah for the first time. Immediately, Sarah recognised it for what, or rather, who it was. Showing for the first time how indeed quick he was on the uptake, Toby noted the look that suddenly came over her face, and correctly interpreted the reason for it in an instant.
"Oh god. He's come to settle the score of the last time. He wants you back, this time. his way."
*
~*~**~*~**~**~*~*~*~**~**~**~*~**~*~
A glorious white owl glided over the buildings in the centre of the Labyrinth. Beautiful markings across its face singled it out from others of its kind; made it special. This was no ordinary owl.
Curbing its wings slightly, it perched down on the outer window sill, stationed to watch in. A girl and her little brother stood alone there, heedless towards the fact that they were at that moment being watched.
"It's just that he doesn't seem so bad," the younger boy spoke. "I'm not saying that I'm on his side or anything."
"You don't know what he's done; what he's capable of doing!" the girl said, striding restlessly back and forth. "There's history there that you couldn't possibly understand."
"Well maybe I would have a chance of understanding if you tried telling me something about it," the boy said, following her but not too closely as to crowd her. "I'm not some stupid little kid, you know. I'm able to sometimes put a few things together eventually."
The girl sighed. As the owl watched on with interest, it seemed as though most of the fight just drained out of her.
"You're right. Somehow you've been dragged into this, again. You deserve to know why."
Although her words were stating one thing, everything about her manner was stating quite the opposite. Whether the boy chose to ignore the signs or was just oblivious to them, he made no open reaction to her demeanour as he came and crouched down next to her.
"You want to know about the Labyrinth? Why everything here seems so familiar to you?" The girl made a soft scoffing sound, but even so, went on with the tale. "I mean it should be. You probably spent more time around here than I did!"
"Spent more time. How could I have spent time here?" the boy asked incredulously. "I've never set a foot around here in my life!"
"That's not true, Toby," the girl said, giving the younger boy with her a name. Her bowed her head, and the next words that came out of her mouth were vaguely muffled, but not so much that the owl could not make out what was being said.
"It was a long time ago, true. You were still very little. I don't even think that you had fully learnt how to walk yet." The girl squeezed her eyes shut, and now even the boy Toby couldn't deny the very real pain that it was costing her to tell him this. In an unthinking act of comfort, he shuffled closer to her and wrapped an arm around her shoulders.
As platonic and brotherly as the motion was, the owl on the window sill, unacknowledged by either of the two in the Stair Room, bristled slightly, before consciously soothing ruffled feathers.
"It was a dark night. Storming. Your mum and dad had gone out for the night. They were always going out together." A trace of the bitterness left over from her childhood slipped into her voice here. "I was left at home to look after you. I remember that you were crying. Nothing I could do would quiet you. I was young too. It wasn't my responsibility to have full care over a baby."
The girl paused, taking a breath for the crux of the story now that she had given it setting.
"It had been a book I'd been reading at the time; the Labyrinth. In it was a character, the Goblin King." Toby's eyes widened as he recognised the title from the blonde white haired man who had introduced himself before. "It was said in the story that if one just wished for a child to be taken away by the Goblin King, the Goblin King would sweep him away to his castle within the walls of the Goblin City and turn him into a Goblin."
Toby's eyes widened. The girl still refused to look straight at him. The owl watched on silently.
"I didn't know; I didn't know that it was real. I didn't know what to do and with you crying, and my anger and my father, and you, and I guess I just said the words without thinking." As the girl lifted her head and looked forwards, it was as though her gaze was sightless to what was really there; as though she was seeing in front of her the scenes from the past.
" 'Goblin King, Goblin King, take this child far away from me'." She dropped her head and closed her eyes as the quoted words left her mouth. "And then the next thing I knew, he was at the door, and you were gone from your room. Gone. to here." Again, another pause. Then, "He said that the only way I could get you back was to go through the Labyrinth and get you before the 13 hours was up. He lied. He cheated; setting forward the course of time several hours. but in the end, I still managed to get there."
By this time, Toby was sitting in a stupor, totally unaware that his legs had gone dead from the lack of blood circulation running there in the crouched position that he had maintained for the whole of this story. Wisely though, he remained silent for the time, instinctively realising that her story was not yet up.
"When I'd finally found you, he face me yet again. Offered me. everything. But the price. was too high." For the first time since starting her story, the girl looked up into Toby's eyes and found the wetness in hers was echoed in his own. "But I already had my baby brother back. and that was enough."
With a sigh that signalled the end of the story, the girl seemed to collapse into herself, as though the effort of keeping such a thing inside of her for so long, only to finally let it out freely had cost her greatly. But as Toby sat there, numbly thinking on everything he had just heard, he realised that his sister was looking at him very strangely. It took a moment to realise, but he recognised the look of someone scared that her every word was about to be disbelieved and made ridicule of.
"Oh sis!" he cried, turning to hug her tightly. "Sarah. I can't believe you kept this from me, all this time. But now." He released her slowly and took another look around them. "We're very obviously back here again. So what do you suppose he wants this time?"
From the window sill, the owl squawked loudly, making itself known to both Toby and Sarah for the first time. Immediately, Sarah recognised it for what, or rather, who it was. Showing for the first time how indeed quick he was on the uptake, Toby noted the look that suddenly came over her face, and correctly interpreted the reason for it in an instant.
"Oh god. He's come to settle the score of the last time. He wants you back, this time. his way."
*