Disclaimer: I do not own any characters from the movie Labyrinth. The Labyrinth characters and events in the movies belong to Jim Henson, may he rest in peace as his legacy lives on through all of us. I seek to make no profit from this venture and I promise to return everything back the way I found it.
Set Me Free
Story by Jessica Arbuckle (Jessi, Princess of Impatience)
June - undetermined, 2005
Chapter Two, A Queen's First Magic…
Hoggle stared out at them from the mirror in shock.
"He's still a blasted bird? Why?" he said, appearing next to them. He looked up sourly at the owl and it snapped at him, climbing up to Sarah's shoulder to glare imperiously down at the dwarf.
"Oh, stop it," she scolded the bird with a tap on his talon. "I know what you are probably wishing you could say and you two will get along." She turned to Hoggle.
"Apparently, my dear friend, it seems as though the Goblin King has gotten him and I into quite a pickle. Apparently in saving Toby, I turned him permanently into an owl and became the new Queen of the Goblins." Sarah shuddered and the owl hooted with annoyance at the disturbance.
"The story is true?" Hoggle said furiously, looking from Sarah to the owl and back again.
"You knew about his?" Sarah said angrily. She turned her head to glance at the owl. "I already know you knew about this. Couldn't either of you have seen fit to just say something?" Hoggle grumbled as the owl flapped his wings, sending her an indignant look.
However, only Hoggle could speak his indignation. "Yeah, but I didn't think it was true! I thought it was just a story."
"No," Sarah said, leaning forward to open the drawer to her vanity and pulling out the red book. "This was supposed to be 'just a story' too and look where we all ended up," she said hotly, but relented at Hoggle's sad look.
"Oh, Hoggle, what's done is done," she said softly, laying her hand on his shoulder. The bird on her shoulder made an odd choking sound as Sarah turned her head in panic. She was greeted by mismatched eyes that were sparkling with open humor.
"Oh, what's so funny now?" she growled, thinking back over the last moments until she recalled what she just said. She glared at the owl and muttered under her breath as she gave him a sharp poke in the chest. She instantly regretted it when she saw the bird wince.
"Oh dear, I am so very sorry Jareth!" she cried, reaching up to transfer the bird to her forearm as she gently stroked his head and back. The owl's eyes closed briefly and she panicked, fearing the worst.
"Hoggle, do you know how to fix bird wounds?" she asked, daring to cradle the bird close to her body.
"Lemme see him," Hoggle said gruffly and Sarah sank to the floor, bringing the owl on level with the dwarf. Hoggle's rough fingers tentatively examined the wound. "This isn't too bad, but I fear he's lost a bit of blood from it reopening. But Sarah, if you are the Goblin Queen, you can fix him. I'm thinking we have to go back home first, though," Hoggle said.
"Fine, let's go, I can always come back after he's fixed and tell my family some story about where I am going," she said, cradling the bird against her chest again. The weight of him seemed to increase and she looked down to find his eyes closed and his breathing shallow.
"Let's go now! Hoggle, how do I do it?" she asked anxiously, Hoggle already just a reflection in the mirror.
"Look past me and see the room. Concentrate on the spot right in front of you beyond the mirror and think about it and you'll be there," Hoggle prompted.
Sarah looked into the mirror, amazed that she could now see what must be Hoggle's home. She concentrated on the empty chair in front of her and suddenly, she was in it.
She rose quickly, looking at Hoggle. "Ok, how do I fix him?"
Hoggle looked nervous. "I don't really know. I just figured it had something to do with those crazy balls."
Sarah thought back to all the times she had seen Jareth with a crystal, how it had effortlessly appeared in his hand. She shifted the unconscious bird in her arms to free her hand and she looked own at her palm. 'I need something to heal Jareth,' she thought desperately and in a flash, one of the crystals appeared in her hand, the weight of it cool and warm all at once. The feel of it made her skin itch crazily and she wonder in passing if that was the reason he always wore the gloves. Before her skin could itch out of control, or grow any hotter or colder than it was right now, she touched the crystal to the owl's wound. It burst and as it did, she saw the wound begin to close and the crusts of blood in the snowy white feathers disappear. In a matter of a minute, the wound was gone.
She sighed in relief as the owl blinked sleepily up at her and struggled faintly. She collapsed in the chair, exhausted by the effort of calling up the crystal, and placed the bird on her knee. He crept up her leg close to her and reached up, nuzzling her cheek gently with his hard beak as his mismatched eyes glowed with gratitude. She smiled down at him, stroking his soft feathers unconsciously as she fell asleep almost instantly.
"Well, you've certainly got us all in a predicament, haven't you Jareth?" Hoggle said and the bird swiveled his head sharply, snapping his beak.
"Oh, don't snap at me you overblown bit of fluff. I just hope she is going to be able to handle all of this, especially when she figures out the truth of the way to hand back all of this that's been dumped on her." The owl's eyes narrowed and Hoggle smiled grimly. "Oh yes sirree, I knows. Just as I knows none of us can help her, not even you, even if you could find a way."
The owl turned his head back to regard Sarah's sleeping form. Hoggle walked forward, also gazing at her.
"Oh, don't you worry, I knows she can handle it. She's got this way about her, that makes you want to follow her just because she's so brave and warm and… good," Hoggle said softly, his eyes meeting the owl's. "O'course, you knew that already. You'd be blind not to. I'm sure once she gets the hang of all that magic, she'll shine like the Queen she was meant to be."
The owl hooted softly and Hoggle smiled. "Don't ask me how, but I knows you agree. Odd I can understand you better as a bird than as a person. Maybe being a bird is doing you some good?" Hoggle asked.
The owl shrieked, beating his wings as Hoggle began to laugh. The noise drew Sarah from her short slumber and she opened her eyes to find the owl staring at her.
"Are you ok now?" she asked worriedly, sitting up straight. The owl hooted softly and turned so Sarah could see his side. There wasn't a mark left on him, not even a feather out of place. "Good, I was so worried about you," she admitted before closing her mouth quickly. What in the world had made her admit that out loud? The owl gave her a startled look before quickly covering it with an unreadable expression.
She held out her arm to him so he could grasp it. "I really need to go back and give some kind of excuse, so maybe you could just wait here? Of course, I have no idea what kind of excuse to give them."
The owl flapped his wings and stared at her hard. She stared back, knowing he was trying to tell her something important. What she wouldn't give to be able to understand animals right now.
"What, do you have an idea? I can't imagine what kind of excuse you would think might work. If only I had some way to convince them any story I make up is the truth." The owl screeched sharply and she grinned. "That's it, isn't it? I can use one of those crystals to create some kind of story that they will be forced to believe?" He flapped his wings and ruffled his feathers, clearly pleased she had caught on.
"Alright then, down you go while I concentrate," she said as she lowered her arm so her could perch on the arm of the chair. Once he was settled, she concentrated on her open palm. 'I want my parents to think they've sent me off to a special acting private school where I live on campus.' A crystal appeared and with it, the itchy cold-hot sensation.
"Ok, I'm going now before this thing fries my skin," she said, quickly walking to the mirror and appearing on the other side.
Once again in her room, she went quickly to her door and opened it, crossing to the hallway of her parents' bedroom. There her father, stepmother and brother slept peacefully. She blew the crystal out of her hand and it circled the room before silently popping, sending showers of a sparkly material down on the three of them. She sighed, going in to first place a kiss on her father's head and then on her brother's cheek. She patted her stepmother's hand gently.
"I'll miss you all so much, but I promise to come back and visit," she whispered before closing their door and returning to her room. She took one last look at it and went to the mirror, about to go through it when she paused.
"Merlin," she cried and ran out of the room. A few minutes later, she came back, a shaggy gray and white dog at her heels. She was itching her hand again.
"I can't believe I almost forgot about you! I'm so sorry boy," she said, patting his head. "Let's just hope they believe dogs are allowed at this school I've made up." She grinned down at the dog and he barked.
"Shh, you'll wake them up. Ok, let's see if I can try this with a large passenger," she said, grabbing his collar firmly in her hand and stared at a spot just in front of the chair before appearing on that side. She marveled at how easy it was already becoming, even with Merlin in tow.
She smiled at Hoggle and the owl, who sat silently looking between her and the dog. The owl flapped nervously and Sarah laughed.
"Oh Jareth, calm down, Merlin couldn't hurt a fly if he even wanted to!" The sheepdog moved forward, sniffing Hoggle curiously. Hoggle reached out and patted his head quickly and Merlin licked his hand, moving towards the owl. The bird's feathers were fluffed up, making him look almost twice the size he normally was. He froze as the dog began to sniff him. Merlin whined quietly before poking the bird forcefully in the chest with his nose and letting forth a joyous bark.
"See," Sarah said, coming to stand next to the owl, "he likes you!" She laughed when the owl gave her a baleful look. "Ok, I get it, you aren't thrilled he's four times your size. Well, let's go wrangle some goblins… and track down some of those fancy gloves," she said, itching her palm.
a/n: Please R/R, I would just adore it!