11 FIREYS

As she walked through the forest Sarah began to realise how ridiculous they must look. A human, a fox riding a Jaguar and a seahorse-goblin hybrid. Still, this was the labyrinth, what did she expect? Even so the thought of it made her giggle.

"Something amuses you fair maiden?"

"Not really Sir Didymus, just thinking how we must look to others."

"Which others?"

"It doesn't matter, just random thoughts of a crazy mind."

"Oh, I see." Replied Sir Didymus with a very confused expression on his face.

Just as that moment Sarah saw a flash of red in front of her was suddenly aware they were in fact not as alone as she'd thought. It took a few seconds for her to recognise the colourful creatures dancing round her, and she couldn't keep the smile from her face as the first one came up to her and started to sing.

"When the sun goes down,

When the sun goes down,

And the…"

"Wait a minute, wait a minute, oi, Firey's, shut it!"

It took a few minutes and one of the Firey's had to be smacked over the head with a stick, which sent his head flying and the rest of them into fits of laughter, but eventually all the Firey's had all their limbs attached and were quiet.

"Don't I know you?" asked the first Firey. "You look familiar."

"Did you take my leg for a walk last week and never gave it back?"

Asked one of the other Firey's hopping around her in a circle until the first one grabbed his one remaining leg sending the body flying forward with his momentum whilst his leg stayed in the others hand and caused the rest of them to fall about again.

"No, no, no, she's the goblin who we put back together wrong." Shouted another through his giggles.

"She's not a Goblin, she's a giant pixie!" The banter was flying back and forth rapidly now as the Firey's got more and more excited.

"Without wings?" The legless Firey asked.

"Wings? I thought they were socks!" Another Firey exclaimed, laying down on the ground, pointing at his feet that appeared to be covered in moss.

At that the first Firey grabbed the head of the last firey who had spoken, detaching it from his shoulders and put it so they were at eye level.

"Have you guys been at the magic mushrooms again?"

"No, yes, maybe, I can't remember, which mushrooms are the magic ones?"

"They'll be the ones that are magic, idiot, like we have any others."

"Oh yeah, then I guess we have." At which point the head burst into giggles again.

"I give up." He said dropping the head, which then had the body crawling round in circles trying to find it, only to collapse on the floor in laughter as soon as it had.

All through this Sarah had been trying to conceal her laughter, but the Firey's mirth was too infectious and she was soon laughing away, only to sober up when she saw the look on Sir Didymus' face, who obviously didn't find it entertaining. Still, she had to have some fun.

"But I thought you guys just wanted to have a good time?" She asked the head Firey.

"Well yeah, but this is insane, I mean look at them they can hardly stand up, how are they supposed to sing and dance if they can't stand?"

"Good point."

"Then again, it does look kinda fun. You wanna join in?"

"What? Are you kidding, just being in the Labyrinth is enough of a trip for me, I don't even want to think what it'd be like being on magic mushrooms. Anyway it's more entertaining to watch these guys." She replied once again erupting into giggles as one of the Fireys removed two of its fingers and attached them to its head like horns and began chasing another like it was a bull.

"You know what though, you still look familiar, you been here before?"

"Well yes actually I have."

"I knew it. Wait a minute. You're the girl whose head won't come off!"

At this point all the other Fireys stopped what they were doing and stared at her, which was unfortunate for one of them as it was in the middle of being thrown around a circle of Fireys in various pieces, and was dropped all at once. Immediately the hands and feet began scurrying around in random directions in an effort to find the body. Sarah almost began laughing again but the strange stares she was getting from the Fireys was enough to stop that. She was just about to say something to try to break the tense silence when she felt a sharp tug on her left ear. Glancing up sharply she saw a Firey hanging down from a tree behind her.

"Nope, still don't come off, not even an ear. You know, I'm thinking you're not a Firey, girl."

"Of course not. I'm a human."

"What's a human?"

"Ooh, ooh, I know this, I know this." Samael cried out, holding his hand up as though he were a kid in class.

"Well don't dither about it, if you know tell them." Sir Didymus said, obviously exasperated by the whole experience.

"A human, is a person, like a goblin, kind of, but a different colour, and bigger, and with more hair, on their, on their head I mean, and erm, see they don't come apart like. They're just one big thing. They're like the Goblin King. He's a human." Samael finished triumphantly.

"Jareth's human?" Sarah asked.

"Why of course." Didymus answered.

"But I thought, I mean he looks human, but I figured with him being in the Underground that he was an Underground creature."

"Well of course he is now Fae, but he has not always been Underground fair lady."

"What? You mean…"

"I'm afraid I've said too much already, you must ask him yourself, it is not up to me to tell."

"But…"

"No, dear lady I cannot say more."

"I suppose you're right."

"So if you're human," the first Firey continued, "Then why are you here? Twice?"

"Well the first time I wished my baby brother Toby away and had to run the Labyrinth, and this time, I really don't know. One minute I was Aboveground, and then I woke up here."

"A mystery, I must say." Said Sir Didymus.

"Yes, a mystery I really must solve, so once more I must leave you Fireys, although I'm rather glad I don't have to run this time, you guys really are scary when you're trying to remove someone's head."

"We meant no offence, we'd just never come across something that couldn't take things off."

"How is that possible, surely people wish people away all the time?"

"Not any longer, fair maiden." Sir Didymus answered. "Humans are less inclined to believe in the Labyrinth these days, and without faith, they cannot wish people away. And the Labyrinth is enormous, there are miles and miles of which you have no seen, you could spend years exploring with little chance of you hitting the same place more than once, so few people ever see this place."

"And yet I've managed to find it twice?"

"Well yes, that's even more of a mystery, although I feel it may have a simple explanation. You want to be here. You're friends meant a lot to you, even those you didn't get along with when you first ran the Labyrinth, they were all part of that experience, and you want to meet them again. Two years is a very long time to be away from friends, maybe your subconscious is guiding you through the Labyrinth, or the Labyrinth itself could be doing it."

"But then where is Hoggle, where's Ludo, why aren't they here?"

"That I do not know my Lady, but be assured there is an explanation, you just have to find it."

"Then I guess we'd better move on, goodbye Fireys, and I promise if I get back to Aboveground I'll have another party and invite you all, 'til then, don't lose your heads."

With that Sarah, Sir Didymus and Samael walked off with Sarah giggling to herself, it was a lame joke, she knew that, but something about the Labyrinth had put her in a good mood