Part One - Coming to an Understanding
("You have no power over me!")
The game had been played. The child had been returned home safely and the girl - the girl was celebrating her victory over the goblin king. The owl took a final glance through the window that separated him from the revelry inside. His features were impassive but had he been in his human form the triumph that he felt would have been clearly stamped over his face.
She had made her way through the Labyrinth. She had stumbled and almost fallen and yet she had succeeded. Throughout her journey she had displayed bravery, sincerity and a strong affinity for the creatures that surrounded her. No creature was beyond her sympathy and it seemed that they flocked to her in their eagerness to betray their master and creator. In her own mind the girl had won and banished the evil goblin king but he did not feel defeat.
She had declared her independence with the words, despite his best efforts, and in the morning would probably go on to pack away the remnants of her childhood. The stuffed toys would be passed on to the safekeeping of her brother, her treasures would be safely placed away from prying eyes into boxes that would only get opened when she was feeling particularly wistful and the fairytales...
Those fantastic stories that had shaped her childhood and her expectations of life, the evil stepmothers and worlds where there was always a handsome prince to rescue the fair maiden. Would she still believe in them now that she had encountered the Labyrinth and experienced her own fairytale?
Or would the words ensure that that realm of fantasy would be forever lost to the girl? At the moment she was too exultant to spare a thought to these lost dreams, though her observer had not been so neglectful.
Reaching his destination the owl swooped down and settled upon a lone tree in a clearing on the outskirts of town. The wind ruffled his soft down and the movement rippled through the entire length of the bird as the creature quickly distorted and stretched, shifting into human form.
("You have no power over me!")
The game had been played. The child had been returned home safely and the girl - the girl was celebrating her victory over the goblin king. The owl took a final glance through the window that separated him from the revelry inside. His features were impassive but had he been in his human form the triumph that he felt would have been clearly stamped over his face.
She had made her way through the Labyrinth. She had stumbled and almost fallen and yet she had succeeded. Throughout her journey she had displayed bravery, sincerity and a strong affinity for the creatures that surrounded her. No creature was beyond her sympathy and it seemed that they flocked to her in their eagerness to betray their master and creator. In her own mind the girl had won and banished the evil goblin king but he did not feel defeat.
She had declared her independence with the words, despite his best efforts, and in the morning would probably go on to pack away the remnants of her childhood. The stuffed toys would be passed on to the safekeeping of her brother, her treasures would be safely placed away from prying eyes into boxes that would only get opened when she was feeling particularly wistful and the fairytales...
Those fantastic stories that had shaped her childhood and her expectations of life, the evil stepmothers and worlds where there was always a handsome prince to rescue the fair maiden. Would she still believe in them now that she had encountered the Labyrinth and experienced her own fairytale?
Or would the words ensure that that realm of fantasy would be forever lost to the girl? At the moment she was too exultant to spare a thought to these lost dreams, though her observer had not been so neglectful.
Reaching his destination the owl swooped down and settled upon a lone tree in a clearing on the outskirts of town. The wind ruffled his soft down and the movement rippled through the entire length of the bird as the creature quickly distorted and stretched, shifting into human form.