Hi, haven't posted anything in a while, but this has been in my head for a while and I just needed to write this. This will have a few quotes from the film because that was the base plot. (If you have seen the film you will know what quotes I mean) and if you haven't seen Labyrinth, you should because this story will be similar to the original. The original is amazing and the songs are great. (Something I will not have in here because songs in stories don't always have the same feeling. I will add a link to the song that is supposed to be played during a certain scene (Like, this is supposed to start off with the beginning credits and have the song Underground by David Bowie playing.) (Underground: watch?v=Qga12-bAS4A) Anyway, here is chapter one. Hope you enjoy it.

A young girl with short pinkish hair walked down the empty park. Dressed in a simple cream dress, she looked to the sky, watching the clouds. How the world felt to this young girl was as if she was trapped. Why couldn't she fly like the birds in the sky? Why couldn't she be free from the family she was born to?

Her father barely paid her any mind after his new wife came into the picture. Now with a new infant brother, she found herself more in her head and the stories she read, wishing more and more they were true.

There was one story in particular that the girl loved more than any other. The story of The Goblin King and his horrifying labyrinth. The story was something the girl would turn to when she wanted a way out. She had read the pages of the book over and over again to the point that she knew the words by heart. How the words were her comfort and how the Goblin King was someone she felt like, if he were real, would be able to make her dreams real, and to confront him like in the story, would prove herself to him.

The girl felt eyes gaze upon her - looking across a brick wall black eyes stared at her. She smiled softly at the black cat before her before taking a more stoic expression. The cat lifted his head a bit - tail flicking.

As always, he was part of her fantasy. Even if he was just a cat, he was happy to get some much-needed attention.

Hinata started to walk at a slow, steady pace toward the cat. Her calm gaze rested on the sleek feline. Narrowing her eyes ever so slightly, she spoke calmly. "Through Dangers untold and hardships unnumbered, I fought my way here to the castle, beyond the Goblin City, to take back the Child that you have stolen. For my will is as strong as yours and my kingdom is as great….." Hinata paused and she broke character.

"Damn it. I can't remember that one line…." She scratched her head before sighing, taking her book out, she flipped through the pages until she found the line she was looking for. "You have no power over me." She looked at the cat. "Oh, Excalibur…." She shook her head.

The black cat blinked. He was named Excalibur as a reference to the sword - Hinata's late mother's favorite story. Her mother thought that a wonderful cat needed a name fitting to him. Why not name it after the sword of legend? Hina hated the name for the black cat, thinking it didn't fit, but once her mother passed, she kept the name in remembrance of her.

The cat stretched, tail flicking in the air. Hinata smiled softly at the cat. She suddenly heard a bell ring. Frowning, the young girl turned her head to the giant clock in her hometown.

Her eyes widened. "No… no no no… I am so late… Excalibur, we have to go home…" As she spoke, she just noticed the dark clouds. "Oh no… first I am late and now it is going to rain… I am so going to be grounded…. Come on, we should get going… come on." She motioned toward the cat who jumped from his post and trotted over to his owner who picked him up and stroked him as the rain started as a small drizzle before picking up quickly.

"Oh, Excalibur….." Hinata muttered. The cat ended up jumping out of the girl's arms, running next to her. Unlike most cats, he liked the water. He followed Hinata close to her feet and soon, the two came across a small, simple house. Hinata frowned as she saw her stepmother standing at the door, arms crossed.

Hinata brushed her drenched hair out of her face and faced the woman. "You are late…."

"I know… I am sorry. I lost track of time… But I am here now…." Hinata said.

"You are almost an hour late…" The woman said.

"I said I am sorry…" Hinata said.

The woman sighed. "Just get inside…"

"Alright…. Come on, Excalibur…." She motioned for the cat to follow. Kaiya put a foot down in front of the cat. She didn't approve of the cat and he was often outside.

"Not the cat."

Hinata blinked, processing what the woman had said. "What? Why can't he come in? It's pouring out here…."

"He can sleep in the garage… not in the house. We don't need a wet cat in this house." Kaiya said.

Hinata sighed. "Sorry, Excalibur…" She said, sadly to the black cat. The cat wasn't bothered by the fact he wasn't allowed in the house. He shook himself a bit and rubbed on Hinata's legs before trotting off to the side of the house, where a cat door was placed within a door to the garage.

Hinata walked into the house, right passed the woman who married her father. "Hina…." Kaiya said, turning to her husband's daughter. "Hina, I am talking to you."

Hina turned to face the woman. "What is it? Aren't you going to leave now to go out with my father?"

Kaiya sighed. "Yes… but I need to know I can count on you to watch Naoto. Your father and I don't go out that much-"

"What do you mean? You went out last weekend… how do you know I didn't have plans for tonight? You didn't ask me if I had any. You just decided I would watch Naoto." Hinata snapped.

"I would think you would tell me if you did have plans," Kaiya said. "You know you can talk to me…."

"Like you care…." Hinata sighed, rolling her eyes before heading to her room.

Masato walked into the room, carrying a sleeping infant. "Was that Hinata? Glad she got home safely… is everything alright?" He noticed his wife looking a bit troubled.

"No matter what I say… she hates me… I am not Ryoko…. She thinks I am just her stepmother who controls her life…"

Masato nodded his head. "I'll talk to her… just let her know that we are heading out. I'll talk to her more in the morning after she has time to calm down."

Kaiya nodded her head. "Very well…."

Masato walked to his room and laid Naoto to bed. Hopefully, he won't give his girl any trouble. Once he was in Hinata's room, he knocked. "Hina? Can… can we talk?"

"What do you want? Do you want to talk now? Don't you have a date with Kaiya?" Hinata called through the door, stripping her dress off and getting into a simple cream shirt with a skirt. She looked at the dresser, a photo of her mother, Ryoko, and her with their cat as a kitten. She looked so happy at that time. If only she hadn't died….

Masato sighed. He knew Hinata was not going to have a calm conversation. The storm within was still there. He would talk to her in the morning. "Kaiya and I will be back later tonight, I will say around midnight. Naoto is already fed and in bed… have a good night, Hina…" He left his daughter to calm down.

Hinata looked at the door and when she didn't hear anything more, she went ballistic. "You didn't want to talk to me… you never want to talk to me. You only have time for Kaiya and Naoto…" She hopped on her bed and buried her face in her pillow. She looked over at her shelves and noticed something was wrong.

Her stuffed rabbit, a toy she and her best friend got a pair of - though hers was a purple color while her friend's was a pink one - was missing. "Are you kidding me?" Going out of her room, down the hall, and right into her father's room, there was the rabbit right next to Naoto's crib. "I can't believe you… Detective Violet is mine… Kaiya needs to stop giving you her…" She yelled at the crying infant.

"Naoto… stop crying…." Hinata demanded of the child.

His wailings didn't cease. Hinata sighed and picked up the child from the crib, moving side to side and gently bobbing the infant up and down, trying to get him to stop crying. She gave small little hums here and there. It was all in vain.

"What will get you to stop crying?" Hinata asked, already knowing she will not get an answer. "You already ate, you aren't getting my rabbit…. And your mom won't be back for a while… just go to sleep and stop crying already…."

Naoto's wails didn't slow, they only seemed to get worse - how it was possibly was a mystery to the teenage girl. "Alright… ummm, how about… a story…?" Hinata asked. Naoto's crying didn't answer her question, nor did it show he had any interest in a story.

"Alright, alright…." Hinata sighed, swaying Naoto a bit. "Once upon a Time, in a kingdom quite like this one, there was a young girl who lived in a perfect world. That was until her mother died. And her father could not bear to look the young girl in her eyes… for it hurt too much to see the love of his life in the eyes of his young daughter.

"After some time had passed, The father of the girl brought home a new woman. Said it was his new girlfriend. That he had fallen in love with her. But in truth, she was a horrible witch who had cast a spell on the man.

"The young girl easily saw through the facade. Wishing she could find a way to break the spell the witch had cast on her father…. But it was too late… the witch bore a child, a spoiled young boy who was now her father's full attention, and an excuse for the witch to tell the girl to do whatever she wanted. The witch had taken over the girl's life, forcing her to be a slave of the house… she was always forced to stay home and watch the baby. Her father never said a word about how she was treated, only that she should do as her 'mother' said….

"The girl started to lose all hope that her life will ever go back to the way it was. However, she had a secret, It was even unknown to the girl herself, but she had someone watching her. The Goblin King. He ruled over this mystical world and rained over a castle within a mighty labyrinth.

"He had started to watch the girl with curiosity and saw how sweet, kind, and caring she was. He had fallen in love with her. The girl starts to become suspicious of someone in the shadows, and she starts to suspect, never confirming whether or not it was the goblin, King. But if it was, she knew of his power and how great it was. His power could do exactly what she wanted - get rid of the child.

"But the girl knew that if he took the child, he would turn the child into a Goblin. For that is the price that all children taken by the Goblin King must pay." Hinata sighed at the thought. If Naoto was gone, maybe her father would be for the grieving girl - she never got over her mother's death. "All one needed to do was call out to the Goblin King and say the right words…."

Hinata held Naoto up toward the ceiling, shouting, "Goblin King, Goblin King! Wherever you may be! Take this child far away from me…." She exclaimed.

Naoto's cries still rang through the room. Hinata sighed, bringing her brother down and placing him in the crib. Tucking him in, only for the blanket to come right off. Shaking her head, she started to leave the room, turning back to look at the sleeping baby.

"If only they were real… if only the story was real… if they were… they would grant my wish…" Hinata sighed again. "I wish the Goblins would take you away, right now…." She turned the light out and stepped out.

The girl only paused when the house was quiet. It was only seconds ago Naoto was crying his heart out. Now he was silent? That wasn't normal.

Turning toward the room, she hesitated. "Naoto?"

When she tried the light, there was no spark, no light - the darkness stayed.

"Naoto?"

The only light she got was the light from the quick strokes of lighting. The storm only seemed to worsen. Hinata suddenly heard rustling in the bedroom. "Naoto?" She called a third time.

Her heart was pounding as she approached the crib. Reaching in, she pulled back the blanket - her breathing hitched and her heart skipped a beat.

Naoto was gone.

The moment realization struck her, the window burst open, and the rain came into the room as well as an owl - flying through the room in circles until it was suddenly gone - a tall shadow covered Hinata as she slowly turned to face the very thing that cast the mighty shadow.

A man stood in the shadows of the room. His hair was a dark blond - short with some length to the left side of his face - his eyes a soft gray. He was dressed in a black outfit, a long cape, and leather boots.

Hinata could only stare at him with fear in her eyes as she realized who was before.

"You… it's you… you… you are the Goblin King!"

Thanks for reading chapter one. I am already having fun with this little idea. I do need to figure out which TR characters will be who, but I have pretty much all of them. At the end of the story, I will type who was supposed to be who. (Hina as Sarah was a given, as well as Naoto as Toby and Kisaki as The Goblin King). If anyone is confused on Peke J being called Excalibur, in Labyrinth, Sarah has a dog named Merlin and a toy named Lancelot, and technically, Peke J was called Excalibur by Chifuyu at first, so it was perfect. When you work and have school, you miss time to write, which is where I have been. But it also helps when you are lonely like Sarah(or me), it can free your mind to the fantasy world to create stories like this. I am writing this one because I want to feel some sort of connection again - and not being this feeling of abandonment. (Another reason my stories have been neglected was my disconnection feeling.) I hope to maybe talk to people in the comments. I don't know. I doubt this story will be read by anyone. I may have fun with it, but I doubt anyone else will. This is just something stupid in my head that if I don't write it out, it will fill my head until I get it out. I posted this on a whim. I wanted to have more backup chapters, but I had a roughish day and just wanted to make... maybe... make someone's day. See you next chapter.

~Akira

Posted: 4/25/2023