Hours later, Sarah and Toby had joined Robert and Irene at the dinner table, eating the casserole Irene had made.
"So, Sarah," Robert began, wanting to make conversation. "Irene said you were with a friend this afternoon."
"Yeah, I was," Sarah replied. "She needed my help today, so I had to go down and see what I could do. We were planning on meeting tomorrow, too."
"And who is going to watch Toby?" Irene spoke up. "You know my canasta team is meeting tomorrow."
"I'm taking Toby with me, of course," Sarah said, forcing herself not to snap. "My friend likes Toby a lot. She doesn't mind me taking him along."
"Which friend is this, anyway?" Robert asked.
"Stacey," Toby chimed in, grinning widely.
"Toby!" Sarah scolded in a low whisper. However, it was too late.
"Wait, Stacey?" Irene cried, her tone filled with annoyance. "You mean that girl who stayed over the night you disappeared for three days?
"It wasn't Stacey's fault that happened," Sarah spoke through clenched teeth. She hadn't forgotten how Irene seemed to blame Stacey for that period of time when she'd been missing from this world, back when they'd gone to the Underground to help stop Jareth's reign of cruelty. Ever since that day, Irene hadn't bothered to hide the fact that she was actually glad Stacey had disappeared from Kent.
"Then what did happen?" Irene demanded. "Because one minute that girl is over for the night, and the next you vanish completely!"
Instead of replying, Sarah got up from the table, taking her plate with her.
"I'm eating the rest of my dinner in my room, thank you," Sarah announced icily. Ignoring Irene's demands to sit back down, Sarah walked out of the dining room stiffly. However, she didn't go straight to her room, secretly making a detour through the kitchen to get more food. A small part of her was grateful that she had an excuse to leave dinner early. It gave her the chance to smuggle some food out for Theseus, Sir Didymus and Ludo, who were all waiting in Toby's playhouse outside.
Over at Wayne's house, Hoggle was busy wiping down the tabletop with a damp rag, but he paused momentarily to spare a glance at Stacey, who was washing the dinner plates in the kitchen sink. He couldn't fight the smile upon thinking back over the last few hours.
The indoor market had proved to be quite the experience, and even now, he was amazed at how many food options people had in this world. So much so, he wondered how people were able to make a decision on what to eat each day. Regardless, they'd ended up settling on a dinner of roasted chicken and red potatoes, with a side of and peas and carrots. Stacey had taken care of doing the actual cooking, as she was the one who was familiar with operating the stove and oven, but they had worked together to prepare the meal, with Stacey cleaning and seasoning the chicken and Hoggle slicing the potatoes and carrots. And, as their dinner had been cooking, Stacey had brought out a thin disk-shaped object she'd called a record, which turned out to be something that played music. She had said that the music on the record was sung by a musical duo known as Simon and Garfunkel, and that she had grown up listening to their music. They'd ended up listening to the record during dinner, and Hoggle remembered his surprise at hearing that one of the songs was 'Bridge Over Troubled Water', the same song Stacey had taught him shortly after they'd first met.
As they continued to clean up from their meal, they listened to the weather report on a radio that had been placed on the kitchen counter. According to the report, a sudden cold front was moving into Kent that night, and there would be a huge thunderstorm starting in a few hours.
"I wonder if Wayne's going to make it home alright," Stacey sighed, her worry evident on her face as she glanced out the nearby window.
"Stacey, I'm sure he'll be okay," Hoggle assured, pausing in his task of wiping down the tabletop. "If it gets too bad for him out there, he'd probably find an inn somewhere." Daedalus, who had been drinking from his old water dish nearby, hopped up to Stacey's shoulder, where he lightly tugged on a lock of her hair. In response, Stacey stroked the small owl's head with a finger, realizing that he was trying to agree with Hoggle.
"Thanks, you two," Stacey smiled at her friends. "I guess you're right. Anyway, would you enjoy a tour of Wayne's place, Hoggle? After all, until this whole mess with the Agnostic's over, it's as good as your place, too."
"I'd like that," Hoggle agreed, smiling back at her. Grinning widely, Stacey began to show Hoggle around the house.
Across town, Sarah was in the process of clearing out her sock drawer while Sir Didymus stood by her side, watching her work.
"I'm sorry that I can't offer you anything more comfortable than this," Sarah apologized to the fox, placing a spare dishtowel into the improvised bed. "I never played with dolls that much when I was little, so I don't have a doll bed stashed away somewhere."
"I thank ye for your consideration, Lady Sarah," Sir Didymus gave a respectful nod of gratitude.
At that moment, a distant rumble of thunder was heard, announcing the storm was beginning to approach. Instantly, Sir Didymus turned to the window, leaping up onto the windowsill with one jump. It only took a second for Sarah to guess what was on his mind.
"That's right," Sarah winced in guilt. "Ludo's out in Toby's playhouse right now. That storm's probably going to scare him tonight."
"Lady Sarah," Sir Didymus turned back to her, "I am very grateful you went through the trouble of fashioning me a place to rest my head tonight. But I am afraid that I cannot abandon my brother when he is in need."
"That's okay, Sir Didymus," Sarah smiled, picking him up in her arms. "I understand completely. In fact, if it wasn't for the fact that it would lead to too many questions from my dad and stepmother, I would go out to stay with him during this storm, too."
After checking the hallway, making sure the coast was clear, Sarah carefully snuck back downstairs, being extra careful to not make any noise that would alert her parents. Before long, she reached the back door. Placing Sir Didymus back on the ground, she opened the door wide enough for the small fox to slip through.
"Good night, Didymus," Sarah whispered after him as Sir Didymus headed off to join Ludo in the playhouse.
Closing the back door again with a smile, Sarah turned and started to go back upstairs. As she made her way back to her room, she passed by Toby's bedroom door, which had been left open a crack. From inside his bedroom, Sarah could hear Toby laughing about something. Peering in, she saw that Toby was sitting up in bed, dangling a ribbon in front of Theseus, who was batting at it in a cat-like way.
"Toby," Sarah whispered, stepping into the room. "It's late. You better get to sleep before Mother finds out you're still up, okay?"
"Okay, Sarah," Toby replied, obediently lying back onto his pillow. Theseus, calming down instantly, went and curled up at the foot of Toby's bed. After tucking her brother in, Sarah turned and left the room, switching off the light as she went.
"Good night, Toby, Thesus," Sarah called over her shoulder as she closed the door behind her, making sure to leave it open a crack.
"Night, Sarah," Toby's voice called out from behind the door.
Hoggle sat against the wall in Stacey's small attic room above Wayne's workshop. The room was mostly bare, with a storage bed beneath the window, a dresser filled with clothes, and three shelves filled with books and various owl memorabilia lining an otherwise bare wall. The only other thing within the room was an old birdcage suspended from the ceiling, where Daedalus was currently roosting.
At the moment, the dwarf was flipping through an old photo album that was filled with pictures of Stacey growing up; Stacey at age eight, dressed as an owl for Halloween, a nine-year-old Stacey standing next to Wayne at a beach somewhere (according to the words written beneath the picture, they were at a place called Brady Lake), and yet another picture taken when Stacey was ten, and in the middle of a chess match with someone who he surmised was a member of the Akron Chess Club.
"I see you found that photo album Wayne put together." Hoggle started suddenly at the sound of Stacey's voice as she appeared at his side, wearing a simple cotton nightgown. He hadn't even heard her walking up the ladder to her room after her trip to the bathroom.
"I...I didn't mean to snoop…" Hoggle tried to apologize, setting the book aside.
"You weren't snooping," Stacey shook her head. "I already told you, Hoggle. I have no secrets from you." However, as soon as she said this, Stacey's smile faded.
"What's wrong?" Hoggle asked in concern.
"It's just…seeing this place again," Stacey spoke quietly, looking around the room. "Wayne kept everything in my old room exactly the same. It's just how I left it, that night I was going to spend the night at Sarah's."
"Were you expecting somethin' else?"
"I don't know. Maybe I was thinking, after two years, Wayne would have had everything packed away somewhere, or would have sold everything and started using this room for extra storage."
"It looks like Wayne really cares about you," Hoggle pointed out.
"Yes, I know," Stacey gave an odd twisted smile. "Just makes me feel even worse for abandoning him the way I did."
After a pause, Hoggle reached out to lightly squeeze Stacey's hand in comfort.
"It'll be okay, Stacey," Hoggle assured.
"Yeah," Stacey nodded, still not quite convinced. "Maybe. Anyway, we'd better get to sleep. We'll need to be well rested if we're going to come up with a plan on how to take care of the Agnostic."
Nodding in agreement, Hoggle made his way into the far corner of the room, where he started to curl up for the night.
"Oh, no, Hoggle," Stacey announced, stopping him by placing a hand on his shoulder. "You're staying in my bed. I'm taking the floor."
"What!?" Hoggle gaped at her. "But…that's not right. It's your bed, so…"
"Yes, and you're my guest and friend," Stacey insisted. "I want you to be comfortable here."
"But.."
"Look, I'm going to sleep on the floor no matter what you do, okay?" Stacey took up a tone of finality. "So you might as well take the bed." Hoggle met Stacey's eyes for a moment, recognizing that she was adamant about this.
"Thank you," Hoggle relented, heading back towards Stacey's storage bed. For a brief moment, Stacey smiled after him, lightly touching the faint scar on her right shoulder, the souvenir from her encounter with the Tarasque years ago. But when Hoggle settled down on the bed, Stacey turned off the lights and curled up on the floor, covering up with the spare quilt she'd borrowed from the linin closet.
The promised storm raged over the town of Kent, with thunder crashing loudly and lightning flashing across the sky. Within Stacey's room, the sound of the howling wind and raindrops pelting relentlessly on the windowpane proved loud enough to wake Hoggle up. Sitting up, it took the dwarf a few seconds to remember where he was. The moment he remembered, his eyes immediately fell upon the dark shadow he knew was Stacey, asleep on the floor.
At the same moment he glanced down at Stacey's sleeping form, a bolt of lightning illuminated the room, making it possible for Hoggle to make out the look on Stacey's face. Even though it was clear she was still sleeping, her expression was restless and filled with anguish. Immediately, Hoggle realized Stacey was having a nightmare, and he quickly climbed off the storage bed to kneel at her side.
"Stacey?" Hoggle spoke urgently, trying to shake her awake. "Stacey, wake up."
The sky over the Labyrinth was completely darkened by clouds, making it difficult to tell if it was day or night. The ominous sounds of thunder rang through the air, but not a single drop of rain ever fell. Atop the Castle beyond the Goblin City, Jarerth stood alone, glaring at the dark storm clouds in intense fury. After a moment or two, an unidentifiable form materialized out of the storm clouds. Instantly, Jareth and the indistinct form were completely shrouded in darkness. However, Jareth showed no reaction to the darkness that was now surrounding him, and began to shout out in anger.
"Agnostic!" he cried, rage filling his every syllable. "You've laid siege to my home and my family, destroying everything that crossed your path, and I will not allow it. I swear to you I will not rest until I see you destroyed as well."
In response to Jareth's vow, a low, cruel laugh seemed to come from every possible direction, followed by a voice that was indubitably evil. There was no doubt that this was the voice of the Agnostic.
"You, Goblin King? You do not have the power or the means to stop me. The only one who has that power is the child your precious Susan cares for the most. But now, thanks to you and the fears that fill your mind, I know right where to find her."
As the Agnostic completed its statement, a pair of red and yellow eyes pieced through the darkness; eyes more terrible than anyone could ever imagine.
Stacey sat up in a flash, her scream escaping from her lips before she could stop it.
"Stacey!" Hoggle cried urgently, grasping her arm carefully. "Stacey, it's okay! It was just a nightmare!"
"Hoggle?" Stacey turned to the dwarf in shock, fear-induced sweat coating her forehead.
"You're okay, Stacey," Hoggle repeated, keeping his voice calm for her benefit. "Whatever your nightmare was about, it's all over. You're safe now."
Stacey took a moment to try and steady her heavy breathing, but to no avail. Instead, she moved forward and pulled Hoggle into a tight hug. At first, the dwarf was too surprised by the unexpected embrace to do anything, but as his shock wore away, he reached out to pat Stacey's back in comfort.