4. Of Broken Spells and Forgotten Dreams
"Sarah! I can't find Toby's blue sweater anywhere!" Stepmother's voice echoed in second floor.
Sarah rushed out of her room again, silently counting the minutes until her family will be gone and she will have some peace and quiet. Today was the day of their departure, but of course, some last moment packing issues were inevitable. Toby was probably the only one who showed zero anxiety about upcoming trip. To keep him out of way, Sarah had settled him in her room, giving few sheets of paper and color pencils to keep the boy occupied while everyone else slowly were slipping into slight panic mode.
After helping to find the sweater, spare pair of socks and few other little things Irene hadn't even thought of packing, Sarah got herself a cup of coffee and returned to her room. Toby was sitting on floor, drawing something eagerly. Curious, she bent down and picked couple of sheets, frowning at what she saw. Every paper sheet from both sides contained drawings of weird creatures, but among them, she saw a figure of what looked like man with long, billowing cape and very tousled light hair. For six years old, Toby was no da Vinci, of course, but he did managed to capture the essence of these people...or creatures...and there was a drawing of clock as well, but instead of regular twelve hours, this one had thirteen hours marked on it.
"Toby? Why did you drew such clock? Clocks have only twelve hours on them." She pointed at her own alarm clock on nightstand.
"Yours is normal, this is goblin clock." The boy simply replied, continuing to draw something that looked like simple ball, but in middle of it, he had drawn a face, a girl with dark hair. "And this is you. In crystal ball."
Sarah's frown deepened. "And they say I have wild imagination. Toby, you know that none of it exists for real? It's just...in stories." She felt uneasy by these drawings, and was startled, when Toby dropped the pencil, stood up and stomped his foot down angrily.
"Not true! It's all real! These are goblins," he pointed at creatures in drawing Sarah was holding in hand, "and that is their king! Real king! And they have these clocks, and you are in crystal ball here!" By now he shouted from top of his lungs.
"What is going on here? Toby, how many times I told you to not scream at your sister?" Irene, lured by the loud voice, poked head into the room.
"She doesn't believe goblins are real! They have their own kingdom and king, and chickens and everything!" Toby was almost crying in anger, and before anyone could stop him, he run out of room.
Irene shook her head, but thankfully there was no time to waste with asking for explanations, and she closed the door, leaving Sarah alone, but not before giving her slightly suspicious look. Sarah ignored it and instead collected the drawings, sat on her bed and examined them. If she had to be honest, Toby did behaved strangely. He had some weird obsession with goblins, and Sarah could put hand on Bible and swear she had nothing to do with it. Of all the things she could have her imagination about, goblins and anything related to it, was not among them.
His obsession began in rather innocent way at first - he renamed their old dog Merlin and called him Jareth instead, always addressing him as 'majesty' or 'your highness', then he asked if they could keep chicken in house - Irene strongly objected to it - because goblins have chickens in their castle. Next, he used his toy blocks and every toy to make something like huge maze all over living room floor, claiming that in center of it is where the Goblin City is, and often Sarah heard him humming song, something about magic dance. Finally, Toby dug out father's old tennis balls, offering them to every family member, claiming those are made of crystal and if one looked inside, they could see their dreams. And now this.
Robert and Irene, of course, believed it was nothing but little child's fantasies, but Sarah couldn't help but feel creeped out by it. Something about Toby's antics felt distantly familiar, yet strange and unknown at same time. Sometimes she even felt like she could sing along with him the strange magical dance song, even though she could swear she never heard it before.
Her thoughts were interrupted by father's voice who called her downstairs to help with their luggage. Sighing, Sarah stuffed the drawings in her vanity mirror's drawer and left the room to see her family off.
Hoggle had a vague idea how to cross over to Aboveground while avoiding the fog, which kept everyone else locked into the Labyrinth. All he had to do was to get to his small cottage just outside the walls, near the entrance. When Jareth sent the scouts recently - and Hoggle accidentally had eavesdropped when he gave them instructions - he provided each of them with crystal, filled with strong protective magic which kept them safe and repelled the fog, and also they could transport their holder from one place to another in case of imminent danger. It had taken certain amount of his powers, and the king needed a day to recover after such extensive use of his strength, but it had been worth it, since they returned unharmed. Unfortunately - or maybe in this case, luckily - some of goblins forgot to return the crystals, and Hoggle found them on floor, while arguing with Sir Didymus after their confrontation with the king.
Hoggle decided to put them in use once he would reach his house in case if the mirror which usually allowed them to pop into Sarah's room, would not work for some reason. He run along the empty city streets as fast as his legs carried, and stopped only when he reached the gates. Catching his breath, he took one of crystals out of his bag. Theory was one thing, practice something different, but he would rather die than not at least try. Clutching the crystal in hand, he began to pry the gate open, preparing to enter the fog filled labyrinth, when someone tapped on his shoulder, startling the dwarf. He slowly turned, expecting the worst of all possible options, but...
"What are thou lookin' at?" Sir Didymus snatched the crystal out of speechless Hoggle's hand. "Thou shall not think we let thee go alone on this noble quest?"
"Go to Sawah!" Ludo nodded. "Fog baaaad."
"Thou have more of these?" The knight glanced at the crystal.
Hoggle slowly nodded, still unable to wrap his mind around the fact that his friends decided to join him after all. He pulled two more crystals out, handing one to Ludo - the beast had been given one earlier as he had been among the scouts, but whether it was fully clear to him what it was for, was unknown even to Jareth. "I've one more for Sarah. Let's go. These should keep us safe until we gets to my house - overheard that rat tellin' that to scouts before they left."
"My brother, thee wit puts me in standstill." Sir Didymus decided to not ask how Hoggle came across these crystals as he obviously did not got them from the king, but at this point it was irrelevant. After giving nod to Ludo, the knight stepped aside when the beast pulled the gate open, and all three friends slipped into the fog. As soon as they did, the magic of crystals activated, creating glimmering, almost transparent bubble around them, keeping the fog away, forcing it to part before them as they made their way through the maze, taking shortcuts known only to permanent inhabitants of the kingdom.
Hoggle did not slowed down one bit, until they reached the outer wall, and once again Ludo pushed the large gate open, allowing the friends to finally step into sand covered field that stretched around the main wall. The dwarf led them to his small cottage and snuck inside, briefly relieved to see that his belongings were intact, even if the place itself was inhabitable without constant protection shield. He rushed to the dust covered mirror and wiped the glass surface with his sleeve, clearing his throat. "Sarah?" To his dismay, nothing happened. The mirror remained still, showing only their own reflections. "Sarah, are you there?" He tried again, but still nothing.
"Now what, have thee any other plan?" Sir Didymus asked, after they waited for several minutes, each of them trying to call for Sarah, but mirror stubbornly remained still and silent.
"Well, I... maybe... " Hoggle scratched his head, thoughtfully eyeing the crystal in his hand. Of course, it was designed to teleport from one place to another, but...could it take them between the realms? The dwarf was not sure of it. "We can try to use these...to teleport to her, mayhaps?"
"Crystals...good. Take us to Sawah." Ludo nodded, his big mouth opening in wide smile, looking down at his friends.
"Just... just focus on Sarah. Wish to be there." Hoggle suggested, unsure if he was trying to convince Sir Didymus or himself. "That should do it...I hope." He murmured under his nose.
It took some bit of patience and time to explain Ludo what he had to do, and in meantime, Hoggle already closed his eyes to concentrate better. He thought about the girl who had stumbled upon him at the very gates of Labyrinth, seeking the entrance. The girl who ended up in oubliette and instead of following Hoggle out of entire Labyrinth, refused to give up and instead bribed him with shiny plastic bracelet - which the dwarf still wore around his wrist even after all this time. He thought even about Jareth's threat to make him prince of Stench if Sarah would ever kiss him - which she did, unfortunately, but even though he was coward, her kind heart could not had it in her to hate him, instead forgiving him and assuring they were still friends. And friends they remained even after she went back home.
Hoggle thought about Sarah's home, her room in which they spent so many happy times, probably the happiest ones in his entire life. The more he thought about it, wishing from all his heart to be there, the more he felt his body growing lighter and lighter, close to tearing off from the earth, his head grew dizzy and...
BAM!
With loud grunt, Hoggle landed on, judging by the feel and smell of it, freshly mowed lawn. He didn't moved, sprawled on ground, doing mental inventory if his limbs were all intact, then carefully opened eyes and pushed himself up in sitting position. Sir Didymus had landed nearby, but already was up on his feet, ready to fight and protect, but Ludo had fallen into the shrub, and now sat, shaking his large head, his long ears flapping.
Relieved that at least they had managed to make this journey together, Hoggle stood up, brushed grass from his pants and examined their surroundings. Looking over his shoulder, he felt immense tingling of joy, recognizing the house and the yard in which they ended up. Another surge of memories rushed through his mind, and he sighed in moment of absolute happiness.
"Ah..." The knight inhaled deeply the warm summer air and scent of blossoming flowers that grew in neat flowerbeds, lined beside the house. "I forgot how lovely 'tis time of year is. Maybe I shall petition thy king about change of scenery for my sacred duty?"
"Keep dreaming." Hoggle grunted - he was trying to help Ludo to get up, the beast still unable to find the right coordinates after trip between realms.
Suddenly, all three of them nearly got heart attack. Some boy played with ball nearby and accidentally kicked it into bushes right next to Ludo, rushing toward them to retrieve it. The friends froze, expecting to hear the scream at any moment when the boy would see them... but nothing happened. The kid run to the bush, fished his ball out, swept his gaze over the very place where the friends were, and...calmly turned, running away.
Hoggle let out a breath he didn't realized he'd been holding. How was that possible... were they somehow invisible? But... Hoggle cast the look at his friends and noticed they, just like himself, were still clutching the crystals. Of course, that was the answer to his unsaid question. "Cor... these things make us invisible." He grinned, stating the obvious.
"Hmm...thee are completely true." The knight agreed in surprise. "We shall let go of them so our fair maiden could see us again."
"Hush!" Hoggle abruptly hissed and unnecessarily tried to blend with the nearest shrub, because the house door opened and four people came out and down the porch steps, carrying large bags. Two older people began to put these bags in strange metal contraption on four wheels. Hoggle remembered that Sarah named it 'car', a device humans used to travel around. He looked closely and recognized girl's father and stepmother, then his gaze focused on the other two.
Young, raven haired woman tried to calm overly excited blonde boy who fidgeted next to er, then knelt down and hugged him tightly. Yes, Hoggle recognized the boy. My, how big Toby had grown, he thought, but sudden realization almost knocked him off the feet. If these were Sarah's parents and her brothers, it meant that the young woman was... was it really Sarah?
"Be good boy, Tobes, and behave. And when you meet uncle Chris, take example from me." Sarah chuckled, opening the car door and helping the boy into backseat.
"I'll have to remind Chris to check his life insurance, if Toby indeed takes your advice to heart." Robert joked, pressed a light kiss on Sarah's forehead, then walked around the silver Audi to take his place at wheel, starting the engine.
"Have a good holiday, Sarah." Irene still felt somewhat guilty about incident with Davis - she admitted she had met the boy day before and advised him to ask Sarah out on prom, but just as girl suspected, they both were furious to hear what had happened, and Irene had profusely apologized for trying to set Sarah up with him. Giving Sarah quick hug, she smiled a little awkwardly, then sat in car too.
Hoggle, Sir Didymus and Ludo watched how the car moved out of driveway and into the street, soon vanishing from the view, followed by Sarah's gaze as the girl waved goodbye to her family, then, after moment of hesitation, she picked a wicker basket that stood at the foot of porch steps, and walked away, around the corner. "Hurry up, we must get in her room while she's still outside." Hoggle panted, putting his whole strength to support still somewhat dizzy Ludo, Sir Didymus, while not much of help, sticking to beast's other side, giving at least moral support.
"Thee forget, fair maiden can't see us." The knight groaned, pushing his little body against Ludo's leg to help steer the beast up the porch steps and inside the house.
"Invisible we may be, but not un-touchable," Hoggle was out of breath, cruising across the entrance hall and setting course to the stairs. "Ya think Sarah ain't gonna feel if she bump into us, or if yer staff pricks 'er backside? Little Ludo alone block whole stair room." The dwarf regretted they did not left Ludo behind - he was no pixie, not even goblin in weight category.
After lots of huffing and puffing, they finally reached second floor. Ludo appeared to get back at least some of his sense of balance, at least he could move around on his own without knocking things apart. Finally free from walking support beam duties, Hoggle pushed open Sarah's door and... froze with his mouth hanging open.
It took him few minutes to recognize this really was the same room they had visited so often before. But how much it had changed. No toys or storybooks could be seen, once stuffed in every crook and nook. Once lively room now seemed so empty and lifeless. Except for old vanity table and few posters of a strange man (Sarah named him Dave Bowis or something like that) on a wall remained the same. Those were the only things that assured Hoggle they hadn't missed the door and walked into wrong room.
"Looks that Jareth's spell is stronger than me thinks." Hoggle squinted at Sir Didymus who stood in similar confusion.
"No," the knight shook his head slowly, "I do not believe 'tis the doing of our king. He did not changed the fair maiden, only took her memories of thee, of the Labyrinth. No...I think...I think our lady is...grown up."
"But...her toys and books?" Hoggle once again let his gaze roam around the room. "Ye don't think she threw it all away?"
Sir Didymus frowned. Indeed, he recalled that among the huge collection of Sarah's toys, he had noticed some that reminded him strongly of Labyrinth and its inhabitants, themselves included. Maybe those things could stir her memory somehow? It didn't seemed as very strong guess, but better than any. But where Aboveground humans kept their junk? And then he clicked his tongue.
"In our former visits, our lady brought us higher up, in the attic." He said. "It was full with many old things. Let's start our quest in there...wait for me, Sir Hoggle!" The knight called after Hoggle who already was half-way to the steep stairs that led to attic.
One by one, they climbed up into attic - Ludo had to duck his head low to not leave his horns in ceiling as peculiar decoration. Once up, Hoggle and Sir Didymus quickly found several boxes, piled in the furthest end near small window. Trying to be as quiet as possible - nearly impossible task - they sneaked over and literally snorked into boxes.
"Heh, I found something!" Hoggle's head popped out of one box, followed by hand, holding brown stuffed beast toy. "This one looks like ye, Ludo, only in more acceptable size." Ludo only rolled his eyes, but before he could open mouth, from other box the knight emerged, holding a wood figure in his paw.
"Behold, thy twin, Sir Hoggle." The fox barely stifled laughter. "If I look close, this small Hoggle appears to look better than original and..." Hoggle made a huge leap at Didymus and forced him to vanish back into the box, teeth snapping and grunting sounds following as both friends wrestled around.
Ludo didn't started the brawls, but he often was the one to finish them, and this was no exception. Grabbing the box in his huge hands, the beast turned it upside down, pouring entire content on floor, Hoggle and Sir Didymus included. Rubbing their sore backsides, both pranksters found among the toys one that looked like the knight, and firey one, and Hoggle also dug up the music box and few books...including one very familiar little book with red cover and title, printed in gold letters.
Meanwhile Ludo hadn't ended empty-handed either. He held something in his hand and growled. The sound was half-irritated, half-nervous, but relentless, drawing his friends' attention.
"What ye got there?" Hoggle quietly asked, although if no one had not heard their recent hubbub and came to investigate, it meant that for now the coast was clear of any living being.
"What upset thou so much, my brother?" Sir Didymus just as quietly inquired.
"Goblin king." Ludo growled.
"Whe-whe-where?" Hoggle stuttered, his anxious gaze darting around, while Sir Didymus vanished under the box, leaving only small tip of tail outside. He was brave and yes, he was daredevil (sometimes), but not when His Majesty was concerned and especially in such illegal trip.
"King. Here." Ludo lowered his hand to Hoggle's eye level.
The dwarf let out loud, relieved huff, and chuckled, seeing the delicately made figurine in Ludo's hand which very accurately resembled the Goblin King, even his whip and crystal ball in outstretched hand was depicted to smallest detail. Hoggle took the figurine and stuffed into his jewel bag to take it along to Underground. Examining their findings, the friends felt very satisfied. "I think it should do for the start." Sir Didymus stated, his paws full with toys. "Now, I shall go first, make certain our lady is not back yet. Await me at the ladder, my brethen."
The knight quietly sneaked down, a little unsteady under the weight of his cargo and stopped, pricking his ears. The house was silent, not a single sound could be heard...no, that was not true. If he listened more carefully, he could hear faint sound of water running and china clanking. Apparently Sarah had returned back inside and right now was in kitchen downstairs.
Sir Didymus gave the signal to his friends it was safe to come down, but Hoggle convinced Ludo to wait for them in attic - he didn't wanted to risk the chance the huge beast tripping over his own feet and falling. The blast from that would shake the whole house, and more than likely get Sarah's attention in the way neither of them wanted. Once Hoggle climbed down and joined the knight, they quietly slipped back into Sarah's room and placed the toys and books in most visible places - on her bed and vanity table - then they huddled in the corner to not get into Sarah's way, waiting when she would walk inside.
Sarah walked down the small hallway to her room, quietly humming under her breath, but as she stepped across the threshold, her feet rooted on spot, perplexed at the changes in her usually neat room that now had gained status of relative chaos. Her bed and vanity table were full with toys which she cleared out years ago and stored in attic, and good part of floor was covered with books which clearly did not came from her current selection, and Sarah could swear there was none of it just minutes ago.
Had Merlin, her old dog, was still alive, she could try to put blame on him, but the attic hatch was always closed, and no dog, not even one trained in circus, was not able to climb the steep ladder, open the hatch and carry down all this stuff in so short time period. And Merlin was not even here, Sarah had specifically went outside to feed him while he slouched in sunlight behind the house in one of his favorite spots. Then... how? Or... by whom?
Sarah opened closet to dig out an old box from its depths, and began to pick the books and toys up to put into the box and carry back to attic, all the while trying to solve this puzzle in her mind - who brought all this stuff here, because she knew she didn't do it. What she didn't see, thanks to the crystal magic, was Hoggle's hand that reached toward her bed and turned the key, winding up the music box, while Sarah's back was turned to him, collecting two plush toys from vanity.
With a startled, strangled cry of fright, Sarah spun around, staring at the music box that began to play by itself, the melody so enchanting, yet sad... she felt the music swirling in the air almost as something palpable, warm and soft, tugging the strings of her heart, and she wanted to dance...
White chandeliers... marble floor... distant laughter... beautifully decorated ballroom... a masquerade... she walked deeper into the room and saw him... he removed his mask, and she froze under his deep, penetrating gaze... his mismatched eyes followed her through the crowded room as she tried to find him again... she turned, and once again he was standing right before her... he brought her toward him, leading into dance... she wished nothing but for the dance to never end...the clock chimed twelve...shattered crystal glass...and she was falling...falling...
Sarah slid down on floor, trying to breathe slowly to calm down. What was happening to her? The visions in her mind - were they real, or her once so vivid imagination was working against her? She could swear none of it ever happened... yet why it felt so real, so...
Something thudded on floor beside her, and Sarah startled again, almost afraid to look at the source of sound. It turned out to be small book with red cover, the golden print letters on top formed word The Labyrinth. The girl frowned. It had been years since she last seen this one. Slowly, she reached toward the book as if vary it might show teeth and bite her at any moment.
Sir Didymus risked to use his invisible paw to swiftly flip the book open in place where the silk ribbon bookmark was put in.
This time Sarah did not held back the squeal, pulling her hand back. Something was very, very wrong here. She did not believed in ghosts, but after what she just witnessed, the logical part of her brain ended up with huge gag, tossed in bag and flunked out the window. 'Get a grip, it's just a book', she told herself, then counted to three, shot hand forward like cobra during attack, grabbed the book and held her breath, waiting if unknown presence in her room will show itself again. When nothing happened after she had counted to thirty, Sarah finally paid attention to the book, and few lines, underlined by her own hand once, caught her eye.
"Through dangers untold and hardships unnumbered..." She slowly read aloud. "...I've fought my way here to the castle beyond the Goblin City...for my will is as strong as yours...my kingdom is great... "
Jareth's magic was strong, but he underestimated Sarah's power of will, and as soon as she read those words, his magic that clouded her mind, began to crumble and fall apart, leaving her writhing on floor, clutching head which suddenly exploded in massive pain, the memories flooding her mind all at once.
The stormy night... left alone to babysit... saying the words in moment of childish anger... Toby's gone... arrival of the Goblin King... the Labyrinth... falling into oubliette... the Cleaners... fireys... Bog of Eternal Stench... the poisoned peach... the Goblin city... battle with goblin army... jumping into abyss to reach Toby... the confrontation... the pleading, painful look in Goblin King's eyes...
"You... have... no power... over... me..." Those last fateful six words now broke across Sarah's lips again as she laid there, eyes tightly shut, breathing heavily as if she just had run a marathon, her heart drumming fast against her ribcage.
She finally remembered everything. Her careless words summoned the Goblin King who took her brother away, and when she persisted to get him back, he finally relented, presenting her the challenge of solving the Labyrinth in thirteen hours and reaching the center, if she wanted to save Toby from turning into goblin. The task would've been impossible to do, if not...
Sarah's eyes shot open, and she sat up abruptly with a loud gasp. In matter of seconds, she was digging through the box contents, retrieving three toys that resembled her friends who had helped her throughout her journey and later visited her so often. An enormous sense of loss washed over her, and Sarah clutched the toys close against her heart. "Hoggle...Sir Didymus...Ludo..." She whispered. "Oh...I wish I could see you again..."
Hoggle grinned, hearing her saying the words. Even though there was no technical need for it, her words would've brought them here regardless. He was about to let go of the crystal and turned head to give Sir Didymus signal that they could reveal themselves now, but... he froze at blood curdling sight. He was staring at his own mirror image. One look at the knight made the scant hair on back of his head stand up, seeing two foxes, frozen like statues, each watching the other, waiting which will move first.
The dwarf looked back at his own twin, and saw that it had similar crystal in hand like his own, but this one was gleaming in black color, and Hoggle felt cold shiver run across his spine. There was only one person in the Underground who used such crystals. Swallowing the initial desire to run for the cover, Hoggle cursed at himself and was about to grab Hoggle #2 by collar, but it evaded swiftly and kicked Hoggle in shin, but in meantime across the room the sound of wrestling, accompanied by snapping and scraping teeth, could be heard, because Sir Didymus had launched into duel with his twin. Chomped in each other's tails, they rolled around the floor like fluffy, growling furball. Seeing that, Hoggle let out a growl of his own and leapt at his counterpart not worse than any professional wrestler.
Sarah could not see a thing, but the unmistaken sound of fighting made her hair on back of her neck tingle and stretch up in fear. Something indeed was in her room, and she had little wish to await until this something reveals itself. She jumped into bed, but it was wrong move as she instantly realized upon receiving painful kick at her ankle. The next logical move was to make a run for the door, but this maneuver also failed, because something very soft bounced against her knees, and this something didn't hesitated to sink very sharp teeth into her calf.
Seeing that her way out was cut off, Sarah sought refuge on vanity table, pulling legs tightly at herself. With shaky hands grabbing everything she had there - lipstick, cream tubes, tissue box and other cosmetic - she began to throw all of it around in various directions, because it seemed the noises came from several places at once. Nevertheless, something continued to trash her room apart, knocking chair apart, kicking her slippers each to separate direction, tearing apart the box with books, although random 'OW!' and 'OUCH!' confirmed that at least some parts of Sarah's make-up kit did hit the target... only what kind of target?
In meantime, Sir Didymus somehow managed to untangle himself from his counterpart, and he dropped the crystal which rolled across the floor, but the other fox did the same, still snarling at him. Sarah watched with widened eyes the pair of crystals, one transparent, other pitch black, rolling toward her and vanishing beneath the vanity table, and then her jaw dropped open. Was she seeing double already, or were there two foxes in front of her?
"Sir D-didymus...?" Her gaze darted between the two.
"My lady," Sir Didymus #1 bowed.
"My lady," Sir Didymus #2 repeated his movements and even the tone perfectly.
"What is going on here?" Sarah exclaimed, her voice slowly reaching dog hearing limit, while the noise that usually can be heard if two wrestlers kick each other and rip clothes, continued.
"My lady," Sir Didymus #1 continued, "we came to..."
"My lady, we came to..." Sir Didymus #2 mimicked the other fox to the dot.
"Don't listen this one," The first knight bared his teeth at the other. "'Tis not the real me."
"Don't listen this one..."
"ENOUGH!" Sarah's nerves were strained to final limit, and she snapped, exclaiming in shrill voice. "What is going on here? What is that noise?"
For the answer, another pair of crystals, identical to first, rolled under her bed, and the girl clasped hand over mouth to stifle half-scream, half-laugh, seeing two Hoggles, both clutched into each other's shirt. One of them sported black eye, other had cut lip, but that did not stopped them from attempts to kick the other. Aside of different damage, both looked like perfect mirror image of each other, just like Sir Didymus and his twin. 'Schizophrenia just got a whole new meaning', Sarah suddenly thought about something Hoggle once spat at her in Labyrinth. "So that's what he meant by saying 'Hoggle is Hoggle's friend." She murmured, even though by the look of these two, friendship was completely written out of the list of even theoretical relationship matters. "Why... why are you in pairs?"
"We've lots to tell ya, Sarah, but first we gots to deal with these..." Hoggle gruffed and panted, struggling to get a better hold on his false twin who already began to squeak like trained parrot, "We've lots to tell ya, Sarah... " It was all he managed to say, before he was silenced by triple voiced - by Sarah, Hoggle and one of Sir Didymuses - yell. "SHUT UP!"
Suddenly the loud, heavy steps behind the door got Sarah's attention, and she finally risked to leave her safe spot on vanity table and began to look for something to use as weapon. But before she could pick up what was left of chair to use it as long desired baseball bat, the door creaked open, and very large head with pair of twisted horns, rusty shade fur and long ears poked inside. "Sawah... Sawah friend!"
"LUDO!" Relieved like never before, Sarah reached the beast in two leaps, yanking the door open to reveal him in full size, but then froze, carefully peeking beneath Ludo's large arm. "Ludo, I hope there's only one of you!" She fully had enough with two spare doubles - if Ludo had another massive shape behind him, she would probably start to scream in frustration.
"Ludo. Friend. Alone." The beast's mouth curved in smile, revealing his fangs, which could scare anyone who didn't really knew that Ludo was one huge sweetheart.
Sarah let out a breath of true relief, and hugged her friend. "Ludo, help me to figure out what's going on with Hoggle and Sir Didymus," she glanced over her shoulder, but instead of four, only two of her friends stood, shaking in hysterical laughter. "Wait, where did the other two...?"
In response Hoggle pointed at trash can where fake Hoggle's backside and wiggling feet could be seen, sticking out, but second Sir Didymus was trying to bury himself beneath the bed pillows, only his tail was left outside.
"Dark smell. Bad smell." Ludo growled.
"They got scared of him." Hoggle laughed heartily. "We explains ya ev'rythin', just give a good kick on those freaks..."
"Ahem, ahem," Sir Didymus meaningfully cleared his throat, raising eyebrow and daring the dwarf to continue.
"Freaks by nature, not look, chill, would ye?" Hoggle rolled his eyes. "Lets give 'em good kick back where they come from!"
He crawled around the floor, collecting the crystals, keeping theirs, and was about to shove the dark ones into pockets for the fake counterparts, but he didn't had time to even blink before Ludo grabbed fake Hoggle by waistband, popping him out of trash can like cork from champagne bottle, then, ignoring dwarf's squirming, he knocked the pillows aside, picked the fake fox in other hand, and flung them both out the opened window.
Sarah gasped in horror and leapt at the window to see if they were still alive, but Hoggle and Sir Didymus beat her to it, and she stood on toes behind her friends, craning neck to get a better look. Without hesitation, Hoggle threw the dark crystal balls down, right on top of both impostors (who had landed in Irene's cherished rose bush). "Greetings to yer host!" The dwarf shouted after them, when they vanished as soon as crystal hit them.
At long last they all could breathe easily, and Sarah pulled Hoggle and Sir Didymus in embrace. "How could I ever forget about you?" She shook her head, eyeing her friends and how ragged they looked after literally fighting themselves. "Wait, before you explain anything, let me take care of these wounds." Sarah assessed Hoggle's black eye, scratches on his face and arms, and torn shirt, one sleeve barely hanging on, and Sir Didymus, while surviving without any visible injuries, had his tail looking like bottle brush, and in very worn shape. "Don't disappear on me! I'll be right back!"
Sarah didn't know what would be safe to use, so she settled to very simple things - clean piece of bandage, clean water, then run downstairs to raid the fridge for some ice, wrapping the cubes in handkerchief. A brush, needle and thread complimented her very simplified medical kit, and she returned to her room. To her delight, her friends were still there, waiting, only Hoggle looked a little bit like caught in some mischief.
It needed some persuasion, but eventually Hoggle surrendered, taking the ice pack and pressed it against his eye, while knight brushed his tail to give it back some decent look. The dwarf didn't even protested when Sarah began to stitch the torn sleeve back in place, sitting in awkward silence. Only when she was done, and Didymus put away the brush too, satisfied to get some dignity back, Sarah finally sat on floor, looking at each of them.
"Please, tell me, how have you been?" She asked. "Why did I forgot about you...about everything? And even if I did... why you never came to visit to remind me? Did... he forbid you?"
"Sarah," for the first time Hoggle didn't even winced when Jareth was mentioned, even if his name was never actually spoken, "it's a long story to tell ya, and we'll have chance, necessary even to tell yous about it all, but now we're out of time. Lucan knows about ya, we sees the evidence just moments ago. We mustn't linger here any longer."
"Who knows? What... why...?" Sarah frowned, utterly puzzled.
"M'lady, now's not the time to ask questions! We need thy help, fair maiden!" Sir Didymus interrupted. "We humbly plead thou, come with us, back to the Labyrinth."
His words left Sarah completely speechless, million thoughts and questions swirled in her mind at once as she stared at her friends. Return to the Underground, back to the Labyrinth, ruled by one very temperamental and, for lack of better word, potentially vengeful Goblin King? Sarah was fairly certain he was not someone to take lightly being beaten in his own game, and she was not tempted to see for herself just what he could have in store for her. But the look on her friends faces spoke that something very serious was going on down there, otherwise they would never ask this from her, especially because whenever Sarah had so much as mentioned that perhaps she could try if her vanity mirror portal could work for her to enter Underground through it to visit her friends in return, they were adamant to talk her out of it.
"Sawah. Please." Even usually so calm Ludo now had look of pure worry on his face.
"Sarah, we all are in grave danger! Without yer help, we all might die, and...and king too." Hoggle put the end to any possible arguments that were about to come across her lips. "Please, come with us."
Sarah quickly weighed her options. She did not fancied seeing Jareth again, but... what could he do to her? He didn't had any power over her, did he? Words held power in the Underground, that much she had learned, and unless she claimed otherwise, his hands were pretty much tied. And even if not, she beat him once, could do it again.
Sarah had nagging, uneasy feeling that His Majesty likely was blissfully unaware about his subjects trip to Aboveground, but she could not leave them in hands of fate in face of unknown - to her, at least - danger. They were her friends, for heaven's sake! She owed them a lot for their help, when she needed them in Labyrinth. Besides, she had two weeks, during which she could do anything she wanted, as long as she didn't crashed the house down. And if her family insisted for her to be more social and make new friends, why not? Whoever said that she have to do that in this realm? Sarah grinned, imagining how she would pick the phone and call her father to tell him she's going to visit friends in magical realm... yes, that would go well.
Without saying a word, Sarah stood up, feeling her friends' gazes burning holes in her back, when she pulled backpack out of closet and began to move around, along the way taking at least two trips to downstairs, raiding pantry while packed some essential things needed, like spare clothes, some food both for herself and her friends (she always had certain aversion toward peaches, and now she at least remembered why, that's why she wanted to avoid another situation like that one, when they got incredibly hungry while heading to the castle), water, and few other things, then grabbed Merlin's leash.
"We have to take my dog along - I can't leave him unattended for days." She firmly said, making it as statement, not request, but neither objected. Sarah felt that she could request taking entire furniture along, and they would agree, if only it would get her to go back with them. "Alright. Let's not waste time, then. I'm ready, let's go!"
