Just Hold On
By: AvitarGirl
CATEGORY: General
WARNINGS: None
AUTHOR’S WEBSITE:
http://www.geocities.com/JediLeia172/Arica.htm
CHAPTER 1: Movie Night
Popcorn was good. It was a comfort food; at least it was for Vala. She was sitting in the middle of the floor in Sam’s living room watching Pirates of The Caribbean. She wasn’t exactly sure what had made her pick this movie, besides her newly found crush on Johnny Depp, who she’d only seen in Sleepy Hollow and Finding Neverland, but it didn’t really matter. It was a distraction, and that’s just what she needed right now. A distraction. The last thing she wanted to thing about was what had happened earlier that day. She didn’t want to remember the anger that had risen in his voice or the tears that had formed in her eyes that she just barely managed to shed in private. Thank God for Sam. She had found Vala curled up in a ball hidden in the corner of her lab. Crying. She’d gone over to her, asked her what was wrong. When Vala found that she could hardly talk, Sam had taken it upon her self to get her new friend away from the base, and away from the visual memory of whatever had happened. Vala wasn’t sure exactly why she’d done this for her, but she was grateful.
Sam glanced over her shoulder into the living room. Vala
was practically three feet in front of the television now. Sam smiled to
herself. She remembered seeing Cassie do that the first time she’d seen a TV.
She’d been so excited. It surprised her at just how childlike Vala was, in many different ways. She saw the world in a
different light. Everything was new to her. It reminded her of the day that she
and Daniel had come running to find Teal’c watching TV.
Daniel. Now there was a person that she’d like to have a talk with. Find out
what it was that had happened, and why she’d found Vala
curled up on the floor in HER lab, as if she were hiding. With a sigh, Sam
attempted to put the thought out of her mind. She’d find out sooner or later.
She finished with the hot chocolate and went to sit on the floor beside Vala.
“What’d I miss?” Sam asked handing a mug to Vala,
glancing at the screen.
“They just captured Jack Sparrow” Vala said staring
intently at the TV set. “By the way, what’s a unic?”
Sam nearly choked on her hot chocolate from shock and laughter. “You’ve never
heard of a unic?”
Vala shook her head with a curious look on her face.
“Should I have?”
“Well” Sam said still trying to stifle a laugh. “A unic
is a man who can’t…you know.”
A look of understanding came over Vala’s face and she
giggled. “OH! Okay!”
Now both Sam and Vala were giggling. It was
definitely a much needed laugh too. Vala laughed so
hard her face turned red, and Sam almost spilled her hot chocolate.
Just then the doorbell rang.
The two attempted to get their giggles under control. Sam managed to do so
first, and went to answer the door. Vala just lied on
the floor taking deep breaths, still a bit giggly.
“Hey Vala?” Sam called.
“Chinese food is here.”
“Oh yay!” Vala said getting up off the floor, nearly tripping her
bunny slippers as she made her way to the kitchen.
Sam handed Vala her container of fried rice then
grabbed her container of kung pao
chicken. The two women went back into the living room and curled up onto the
couch. Sam unpaused the
movie, and for a while the two friends ate and watched in silence. The only
sounds that were heard were the sounds of Johnny Depp
arguing with Orlando Bloom.
“You know” Vala started, “I teased Daniel about that
once.” she said, the slightest sound of pain in her voice. “I’d asked him if he
was even capable of…you know.”
Sam nodded slightly.
Vala gave a slightly sarcastic laugh. “I suppose I
won’t be talking to him much anymore.”
“Vala” Sam asked gently. “What happened? The way I
found you, I thought maybe he might have even hit you, not that I’ve ever heard
of Daniel doing something like that but…”
“No, he didn’t hit me” Vala said, a far away look in
her eyes. “If he’d have done that, things might have ended better.” She looked
back at the television. “How long did the General say we could have off?”
Sam turned her attention back to the television. “You avoided the question” she
said glancing at her friend out of the corner of her eye.
“I’ll tell you” Vala said gently looking down and
picking at her food. “I will…just…just not now.”
Sam gave her a pat on the shoulder. “Whenever you wanna
tell me is fine.”
Vala smiled. “Thanks.”
“And General Landry gave us the weekend.” Sam added.
“Good” Vala said, turning back to the TV. She shoved
a spoonful of rice into her mouth. “Let’s get back to Johnny!”
Sam laughed and agreed. For now that was the best thing to do.
CHAPTER 2: Girls’ Day Out
Sam made her way downstairs and into the kitchen. “I’m coming” she fussed at
the phone, not bothering to look at the caller ID before answering it. “Hello”
she said with a irritated tone.
“Carter?” came the sound of Jack’s voice.
“Sir?” she asked sounding perplexed. “Why are you calling me at
“Camron called me.” Jack said yawning.
“Oh no!” Sam grumbled sitting down on one of the
barstools at the kitchen counter. “What happened?”
“Well it sounds like Danny-boy got a little drunk and pissed” Jack said, not
sounding like he believed it much himself. “
“Dang!” Sam cursed. “Sir, I can’t let him see her. Not
while he’s like that. He could either hurt her, or get himself hurt.”
“Yes” Jack said, sounding slightly amused at the thought of how his two friends
met. “I can see how that poses a problem.”
“I mean it, sir” Sam said earnestly. “Vala still
hasn’t said what happened. I think she’s afraid to.”
“Carter,” Jack started, “why don’t you take Vala out
for the day? You know? Let her see the city, take her to the mall while I fly
in and knock some sense into our mild mannered archeologist.”
Sam smiled. Jack always had a way with words. “What good will that do?”
“I dunno” Jack said in his very ‘Jackish’
way. “But I think that Daniel will realize what he’s done if I come and ‘talk’
with him.”
Sam sighed, resigning herself to the plan. “Okay, sir. If you think it will
work…”
“I know it will work.” Jack added quickly. “This is me planning to talk sense
into Daniel. Not Cameron.”
He was right. Although the new leader of SG-1 was usually pretty good with most
situations, Jack was the best one to call when the situation had something to
do with a certain archeologist whining.
“Alright,” Sam said with a yawn. “Any other reason you called?”
“No, Not really” Jack said pausing for a moment. “Goodnight, Sam.”
Sam allowed herself a small smile at hearing Jack use her first name.
“Goodnight, Sir.”
* * * *
“So” Vala said taking a bite of her pancakes. “What
are we doing today?”
Sam had decided not to tell her friend about the conversation she’d had with
Jack a few hours ago. The last thing she wanted to do was upset Vala. Not when she was just starting to seem like her old
self again.
“I think we’ll go to the mall” she told her. “They say that shopping usually
helps when you’re upset.”
Vala thought for a moment. She hadn’t really done
shopping for the pleasure of it, not on this planet anyway. She had a few
things that she owned from going shopping with Daniel, but that had been quite
some time ago.
“Alright” Vala agreed. “Sounds like fun.”
Sam smiled. Good, at least her friend was open to doing something besides
sitting around the house eating ice cream and watching movies all day. That had
never been Sam’s style. When she was upset, she went out and did something for
herself. Granted she didn’t always spend money doing something, but she would
window shop or go to the park and read, or go out riding on her motorcycle. She
didn’t want Vala to fall into that trap of wasting
her life moping about.
“Great” Sam said finally, before taking another bite of her breakfast. “After
we finish breakfast, we’ll get ready and go out. There are some wonderful
stores I think you’ll like.”
Vala grinned excitedly. “A girls’ day out” she said
taking a sip of her orange juice. “This will be fun.”
* * * *
“I don’t know, Sam” Vala said a distasted look on her
face. “I’m not much of a reader. I leave that to Daniel.”
Sam smiled. For the past ten minutes she had been trying to explain to Vala that not all books were as boring as the ones that
Daniel had in his office. “Just look at it” She insisted.
Vala cautiously took the book, and read the title.
“Labyrinth” she stated. The look on her face was of total confusion. “You want
me to read a book about mazes?”
Sam groaned. “It’s a story, Vala. It’s like watching
a movie only with words.”
“You mean it’s a novel?”
“Yes! A lot of books on this planet are novels.”
“You could have said that you know” Vala grinned.
Sam groaned and walked away, muttering something under her breath. Vala smiled to herself. She knew that Sam was trying to
help her, and she was grateful, but she hadn’t realized that Earth had other
books besides the boring type of history books that Daniel always read. Daniel.
Why did she keep thinking about him? Wasn’t she supposed to be thinking about
other things while she was shopping? After breakfast Sam and Vala had gotten themselves ready for an entire day of
shopping at the mall. They’d hit Victoria Secret, Macy’s, JC Penny’s,
Nordstrom, Blockbuster, and now finally Border’s Bookstore. It had been a great
day. She had about five huge bags of stuff, two of which Sam was carrying for
her. But every time she saw a shirt she liked, or a dress, the first thing that
popped into her head was if Daniel would like it. She just couldn’t help
herself. Sighing, Vala went up to the cashier and
bought the book. I hope Sam is right about this, she thought to herself.
CHAPTER 3: Confession is Good for the Soul
The drive home from the mall was surprisingly quiet. On the
drive up, Vala had been talking almost the entire
time. Sam had never seen her so excited. She’d practically ran
to the car when they had left the house. Sam glanced at her companion. It was
the book. Vala had her nose in a book, specifically,
the book she’d pointed out to her. Labyrinth. She’d
never read it herself, but Cassie had raved about it. She had told Sam all
about how she and her best friend, Sarah, would just read through it and
pretend they were the star characters of the story. That had been years ago,
Sam noted. Cassie was now about five years ago. Cassie wasn’t a teenage girl
anymore. She was an adult who didn’t have much time for reading, except for
what she read for college. Sam smiled to herself, thinking of how she met the
little girl and how close she had gotten to her over the years.
With a content sigh, Sam pulled up next to her house and parked the car.
“We’re here, Vala” Sam told her as she turned off the
car.
“I know” Vala said not looking up from her book.
“Just give me a second.”
Sam shook her head and went to get the bags out of the trunk.
Vala closed the book, bending the corner of the page
she was on so she wouldn’t loose her place. It was surprisingly good. Not a
novel, as Sam had said, but a play. She found herself enjoying it much more
than she had thought.
Vala climbed out of the car and moved to help Sam
with the bags. The two women started walking up the sidewalk to the front door
but stopped short.
“Daniel” Sam said confused.
Daniel was sitting on the porch step. He looked tired, angry, sorry, and
downright miserable.
“What are you doing here?” Sam asked. She took a glance at Vala.
Her friend was looked as if she had been frozen still. She didn’t move or
speak, but she had a slightly frightened look on her face. Sam turned back to
Daniel.
Daniel slowly stood up and walked over to Sam, careful not to come to close for
fear of angering her. “I’d like to talk with Vala if
that’s alright” he said. It was both a statement and question at the same time.
His eyes pleaded with Sam to let him talk with her.
Sam sighed and looked at Vala. Her friend was already
opening the front door of the house, apparently she’d moved when Daniel had
gotten too close.
Daniel glanced behind him to see Vala go into the
house, glare at him, and slam the front door. He dropped his head, let out a
sigh, then turned back to Sam.
“What happened with you two?” Sam asked flat out.
Daniel looked like a child who had stolen a cookie from the cookie jar and had
gotten caught. “It’s complicated” he said finally.
“Well” Sam started. “I’m an astrophysicist. I think I’ll understand
‘complicated’.”
* * * *
Daniel and Sam sat at her kitchen table, drinking coffee. Actually in Sam’s
mind it was more like drinking with the enemy. Vala
had stormed upstairs to her room and hadn’t come down since. She had not looked
at Daniel since before Sam had let him into the house. She had just poured
herself a cup of hot chocolate, grabbed her book and ran upstairs.
“I didn’t mean to hurt her” Daniel started. “It’s just that every time she does
this, I never know if it’s true or if it’s a game.”
“What happened, Daniel?” Sam asked patiently.
Daniel sighed. “I was in my office working on deciphering the text from
P8X-575. Vala came in and started pestering me.”
“I assume by pestering you mean -”
“Flirting”
“Right” Sam nodded with a not so surprised look on her face.
“Anyway, we started arguing and I yelled at her.” Daniel took off his glasses
and pinched the bridge of his nose.
“Daniel, you yell at her all the time -”
“No” Daniel interrupted her. “Sam, I yelled at her. Not just fussed at her and
told her to leave me alone. I yelled! I don’t just yell at people unless I have
a good reason, but I yelled at her.” He sighed running his hand over his face
before putting his glasses back on. “I scared her and that’s something I never
ever meant to do. She ran so fast out of the room I barely saw her leave!”
There were tears in his eyes now, Sam noted. It wasn’t that she hadn’t seen him
cry before, she’d seen that a lot, but Daniel wasn’t a cry baby either.
Sam sighed and got up from her seat and moved to pull her friend into a
comforting hug. “Its okay, Daniel. I’ll see if I can
get her to come down and talk with you.”
“It’s not okay, Sam” Daniel insisted pulling away from her. “She thought I was going
to hit her or something, simply because I raised my voice!”
Sam bit her lip in thought. He was definitely frustrated and he needed to calm
down. “Daniel, calm down, have another cup of coffee and I’ll run upstairs and
talk to Vala, okay?”
With a sigh the young archeologist agreed and got up to get another cup of
coffee. Sam glanced at him before mounting the stairs. Convincing Vala to talk might take a while.
* * * *
Vala looked up from her book just as she heard the
sound of someone knocking.
“It better be Sam” she muttered under her breath. “If it’s Daniel I wanna throw him into the Bog of Eternal Stench!”
Vala sighed and got up and went to the door. “Who is
it?”
“It’s me, Sam” came her friend’s voice.
Vala unlocked the door and opened it, letting Sam in.
For a moment the two just stood there, Vala waiting
expectantly for Sam to say something, anything!
“Well?” she asked.
“Daniel wants to talk to you and apologize to you” Sam said gently.
“Well I don’t want to talk to him” Vala said flopping
back down onto her bed. She picked up her book and started reading.
“Vala, he’s really upset.” Sam told her. “He knows
what he did and he’s afraid he’s lost you.”
“He never had me to begin with!” Vala said her voice
like ice.
Sam sighed. What can I say, she thought. It’s not like
I can force her to go down there. Sam walked over and sat on the edge of Vala’s bed. Her friend didn’t look up.
“Vala, please?”
Vala looked up from her book. Sam gave her a pleading
look and Vala sighed. “Alright already!” with that
she dropped the book on the bed. “But if he tries something…”
“I beat him up” Sam told her gently. “I promise he’s not going to do anything.”
“If he does, I’ll beat him up!” Vala fussed and with
that she headed downstairs.
* * * *
Daniel looked up from his coffee mug just as Vala
came downstairs. She looked extremely angry and he knew he was the main cause.
Just simply the way she carried herself as she walked towards him showed her
anger, not to mention the look on her face and in her eyes. If he hadn’t known
she had cried from what Sam had told him, he would have never known.
“Sam said you wanted to talk to me?” she asked not looking at him.
Daniel stood up. “Vala, I’m so sorry.”
She glanced at him for a moment then walked past him into the kitchen, poured
herself glass of water, then walked over and sat on the stool beside him. “What
specifically are you sorry for, Daniel?” she asked. “Are you sorry that you
hurt my feelings or are you sorry that you hurt my heart?”
“Vala” Daniel sighed. “I…”he sighed again “I’m sorry
for everything. It’s just…you throw yourself at me and that’s just…”
“Just what?” she asked. “I wasn’t throwing myself at you, Daniel. I all I did
was a little harmless flirting. You shouldn’t have gotten so upset with me! The
only time I can see that you should have gotten upset with me was when I went
to your room, and I only ever did that once. I’m a different person then I was
when I came through that gate last year! You treat me like I’m going to do
these terrible things, you just assume…” she trailed off.
“Vala what do you expect?!” Daniel’s voice began to
rise. “You came into my office dressed in that…outfit that you love so much and
you started flirting with me! How was I supposed to know whether or not you
meant everything you said?!”
“OH!!!!” Vala screamed and got up from her chair. She
stormed out into the living room and sat down on the couch, her head in her
hands. “You men are so difficult!”
“Men are difficult?” Daniel yelled sarcastically as he walked into the living
room. Vala glared at him hard as he continued. “I
think women are the real trouble makers! All you do is confuse
the issue!”
Vala stood up, the anger in her eyes so obvious that
even though Vala was no longer a Goa’uld host, he was
sure they could still glow. “I wish the Goblins would come and take you away,
right now!”
CHAPTER 4: Who Are You?
“I wish the Goblins would come and take you away right now!”
Vala yelled infuriated by Daniel’s words!
“Oh and you expect that to make things better?” Daniel yelled back.
“I’m so tired of you badgering me and -” Vala stopped
in mid sentence as she looked around the room.
The power had gone out.
“Lovely” she said running her hand through her hair. “That’s just great.”
“Stop complaining and start looking for flashlights” Daniel muttered angrily.
Vala walked out of the living room to the kitchen.
She looked through a few of Sam’s cabinets, finding nothing. As she walked past
the stove she noticed that the kettle was still heating up the water.
“Daniel, come here a minute” she called, anger no longer in her voice.
“What is it?” He said coming up beside her to see what had gotten her
attention.
“Sam said that this was an electric stove.” Vala said
curiously. “If the power is out then how come the stove is still on?”
Daniel’s brow furrowed in confusion. “Try the lights again” he told her.
Vala walked over and flipped the switch. “It’s not
working.”
That wasn’t normal, Daniel thought. He walked over and picked up the phone.
There was no dial tone.
“Phone’s dead too” he said glancing around the room.
“Daniel what’s going on?” Vala asked.
“I don’t know.”
Suddenly Daniel felt something brush past him. Vala
was on the other side of the room, it couldn’t have been her. He would have
seen her.
Cabinets started opening and slamming closed. “What the -”
“Daniel!” Vala yelled. “What’s going on?”
Both heard strange little giggles and saw little objects, which they couldn’t
quite make out in the dark, running around the kitchen. Daniel grabbed Vala’s arm and pulled her out into the living room. If they
stood by the back door, maybe they could see what the things were.
Whatever the things were, they were small, some of them furry, but definitely
quick. Vala found herself to
be confused and scared all at once. What if they were sent from the Ori, or if they were sent by Ba’al!
The thunder cracked loudly, causing Vala to jump and
move to stand behind Daniel. The archeologist almost found himself grateful to
the strange creatures for at least allowing him to be near Vala
without her backing away or trying to smack him.
Suddenly Daniel turned to face the glass door. There banging into the door was
a white owl, trying to fly into the room! Had the world gone crazy?!
“Daniel, I don’t know about you, but I don’t want that animal to get in here.
It might have rabies or something!” Vala fussed
grabbing Daniel’s hand and pulling him back away from the door.
Before they could get back far enough, the door flew open! Wind blew in the
rain as owl flew into the room. It circled Daniel and Vala
until Vala fell to the floor.
“Daniel!” She yelled. “Get it out of here!”
Daniel didn’t get a chance to answer her, before the owl circled him, and he
disappeared right before Vala’s eyes!
Angry, worried, and scared, Vala turned to see the
owl fly to the doorway. In a bright, sparkling flash, the owl transformed into
a man!
Vala stood up eyeing the man carefully. He was pale,
slim built figure, long and wild blonde hair, and his eyes were blue, yet they
didn’t match. He wore all black. Black boots, leggings, gloves, and cape. Over
his shirt he wore what looked like a breast plate, but Vala
wasn’t sure.
He seemed amused at her stares, and smirked, still not speaking.
“Who are you?” She asked, attempting to regain her composure. “Where’s Daniel?”
“One question at a time, my dear” he said. His accent was, if Vala remembered correctly from one of her talks with
Daniel, British.
“Alright” Vala said, clearly not amused. “Who are
you?”
“You know very well who I am, my dear, after all you are the one who summoned
me.”
Oh crap, Vala realized! He’s the Goblin King!
CHAPTER 5: Foolish Wishes
Vala cursed aloud, smacking her
forehead with her palm.
The Goblin King raised an eyebrow at her action, but said nothing.
“You’re the King of the Goblins” Vala said, not
believing her own words. “From the story I bought yesterday.”
“Surprise” he said with a smirk.
Vala continued to rub her forehead. She was getting a
headache, and something told her that the arrival of this man had caused many
people headaches.
“That’s just great” she muttered glancing up at him. “So why are you here
again?”
“Have you forgotten already, my dear?” he questioned taking a few steps closer.
Vala stepped back. She wasn’t afraid of him, it was quite
possible that he wasn’t even real, but still she felt a sense of dread at not
having at least a zat gun handy.
“Where is Daniel?” Vala repeated her question from
before. Her voice was filled with anger, concern, and fear. She scolded herself
quickly, for she knew his answer.
“His in my castle” The Goblin King answered simply. He pointed to the glass
door.
Vala looked out and where she had once seen other
houses and a street, she now saw in the distance a large maze with a castle at
its center.
Cursing again, this time much louder and in Goa’uld, Vala
turned back and looked at the King of Goblins.
“Do you wish to look for him?” he asked almost mockingly.
To her surprise, Vala actually found herself debating
the issue! Daniel had hurt her terribly. So what if he had to stay in a goblin
city for a while. He deserved it! Vala’s eyes met the
Goblin Kings for a moment. “Not yet” she said simply. “If you don’t mind I’d
like to leave him in your custody for a while.”
“I see” He said thoughtfully. The look on his face was a mix of amusement and
curiosity. “You do realize that if you don’t accept this offer now, you may
never get him back” he warned.
An angry smirk came over Vala’s features. “Oh I
understand” she said then added “you do realize that if I want something, I
always get it back.”
“A challenge?” he questioned.
“Perhaps, in time” she offered. “Give me time to…cool down and then when I call
you, we’ll see what happens.”
The Goblin King smirked, an evil twinkle in his eye. “We shall see.” He answered.
“You have 13 hours to ‘cool down’ as you say. If you do not have the proper
challenge within that time, or if you do not call me, your poor Daniel will be
lost to you forever.”
With that the Goblin King faded from site, as did his Labyrinth.
Dang! What did I just get myself into, Vala scolded
herself. How are you going to come up with a challenge that would satisfy a
Goblin King? All she had wanted was to come up with a way to stall him just
long enough for her to tell the general and the rest of SG-1. Looks like you
had best find out where Sam is and get back to the SGC, she told herself.
* * * *
Vala had all but refused to tell Sam what had
happened to Daniel until the two of them had gotten back to the SGC.
Considering she had yet to learn to drive, she had not wanted her friend to go
into hysterics and get them into an accident. They didn’t have time for that!
Thankfully Vala and Sam managed to get in to see
General Landry right away and call an emergency meeting with the rest of SG-1. Vala, however, had gotten herself so stressed out and
worried in the last ten minutes that she nearly passed out in the General’s
office.
“Help her up!” Landry said to Sam. The two of them helped Vala
into a chair, and then Landry called Doctor Lam up to his office.
“I’m fine” Vala muttered rubbing her eyes, tiredly.
“Oh, well I beg to differ” Landry said. “What the heck have you two been up to
these past few days? I thought that you had a problem with Doctor Jackson.”
“I do, but that doesn’t mean I want harm to come to him!” Vala
yelled at the general.
“What’s up sir” Came the sound of Cameron Mitchell’s voice has he poked his
head in from the briefing room.
“Help Colonel Carter bring Vala into the briefing
room and then we’ll all find out” Landry said, and with that he walked out of
his office and into the briefing room to sit beside Teal’c. This was going to
be a long day!
CHAPTER 6: Time is Short
Vala had not lifted her head off
the desk since the scolding had started. Landry had been so angry with her
after hearing what had happened and her part in it that he walked out in the
middle of the briefing. Although she knew that the rest of SG-1 was upset with
her, they didn’t show it and for that she was grateful.
Carolyn Lam came up and stood next to Vala. She
rubbed her back to get her attention then handed her a glass of water and a few
pills.
“Take these” she instructed. “We can’t have you getting sick now. We need you.”
She offered Vala a gentle smile glanced up at the
rest of SG-1 then headed for the door. “I’ll be in the infirmary if you need
me” She called back to Vala.
Vala nodded. “Thank you.”
As Carolyn closed the door behind her, Vala returned
her attention to her teammates. Teal’c was leaning back in his chair looking at
Vala with an amused smile, which was a rare thing for
the
“What?” She asked.
“I find it amusing, ValaMaldruan, that you have
wished away DanielJackson.” He said simply.
Vala was afraid to ask why he found it amusing but
didn’t get to ask.
“So let me get this straight”
“Well if I’d have known that he was real I wouldn’t have done it!” Vala said raising her voice.
“Vala…Vala, calm down” Sam
said gently. “We know that you wouldn’t have done it if you had known.”
Vala stared into her glass of water. She felt
terrible for wishing Daniel away. No matter what he’d done to her it was still
wrong, and two wrongs never make a right.
“Do you at least have that book that you said he’s from?” Cameron asked.
“It’s in my bag” Vala said not looking up.
Sam sighed, glanced from Vala to Cameron, then got up
and went into the General’s office. She quickly returned with both the bag and
book.
“Okay”
“All I know is that in the story a girl wishes away a child or something and
has to get it back.” Vala said looking up. She felt
herself wanting to cry but didn’t. Now wasn’t the time for tears.
“I’m the one who suggested it to her” Sam said. “I haven’t read it myself but
Cassie has.” Realization came over Sam’s face. “Her best friend is obsessed
with the story!”
“Oh that’s great!” Vala said standing up. “How does
that help us? Hmmm? How? I don’t see how that’s going
to get us any closer to saving Daniel!”
“She might know something” Sam insisted. “I’ll call Cassie and have her and
Sarah here in a matter of hours.”
“How far away from the base do they live?” Cameron asked.
“A few hours, probably about two hours, but it will depend on traffic.” Sam
told him as she headed to Landry’s office.
“Well I guess that means that while they get here, we have to think of a
challenge for this Goblin King.”
* * * *
Cassandra Fraiser ran down the hall of her little apartment to her best
friend’s bedroom. She knew that they didn’t have much time and she had to do
something before it was too late, or else she’d never see Daniel again.
Like Jack, Daniel had been somewhat a father figure to Cassie. Although Jack
did the more fun things, Daniel was always someone she could talk to when she
couldn’t talk to Sam or Janet. I’ve already lost Janet, she thought to herself.
There’s no way I’m going to loose Daniel too!
Cassie didn’t bother to knock on the door when she came to it. She flung the
door open and turned on the light. “Sarah! Sarah, get up now! Quick!”
“What?!” The girl asked climbing out of her bed so fast she nearly fell
over. “What’s wrong, Cass?”
“Do you remember my friend Sam?” Cassie asked as she threw her friend a bunch
of clothes so she could change.
“Yeah…” Sarah said slowly, it was definitely too early for this. “What about
her?”
“Well” Cassie started not sure how tell her friend what happened. “There is
this new girl that works with Sam and Daniel…and the other day she and Daniel
had a fight.” She stopped went to her room across the hall to grab car keys.
“And?” Sarah called.
“And…and you know that book you love so much? Labyrinth?”
Cassie asked.
For a moment Sarah just stood there, thinking. It had been about five years.
Five long years since she’d read that book, soon to be six years.
“Sarah Williams!” Cassie shouted. “Earth to Sarah?”
“What? Oh! Right, yes, yes I know what you’re talking about” Sarah said
as she finished getting herself ready.
“Well apparently the ‘Underground’ is real and Daniel has been ‘wished away’ to
the Goblin King.” Cassie said exasperatedly. She grabbed her purse and coat
then headed for the door. “Come on Sarah, we have to get to the
Thirteen hours. The thought came to Sarah’s mind like a flash of lighting. You
have thirteen hours in which to solve the Labyrinth before your baby brother
becomes one of us forever. And you thought you would never see him again, she
chided herself.
“Sarah come on!!!” Cassie yelled from out in the
hallway.
“Coming” she called back turning out a few lights. She rushed to the door and
closed it behind her. “I guess I’ll be seeing his royal goblinness
again” Sarah muttered under her breath. “At least this time I’ll know what to
expect.”
CHAPTER 7: Exchange of Stories
“Well it’s been two hours” Cameron said looking at his watch then back at Sam.
“Cassie should be here any minute.” Sam told him. “Have you come up with a
challenge to for the Goblin King?” She glanced from Cameron to Vala.
Vala gulped. “Not yet” she said worriedly.
“Well you had better think of something fast” came
General Landry’s voice as he entered the briefing room. “Colonel, the guard at
the front just called up. Our guests have arrived. I want you to personally
escort them up here.”
“Here, sir?” Sam asked curiously. “It’s true that Cassie will obviously know
about the Stargate, sir, but what about her friend?”
“There is a possibility that she may need to know about the gate for us to
complete this mission, colonel. For all we know, this ‘Underground’ that is
mentioned in that book of Vala’s could be on a
completely different planet.”
Sam winced. In all her rush and worry she had not thought of that possibility.
“Yes, sir” she said then left the room to greet their guests.
Landry turned his attention to Vala, Cameron and
Teal’c. “Have you any ideas about this challenge?”
Vala let her head hit the desk and let out a groan.
“None, I’m afraid, GeneralLandry” Teal’c offered.
“Vala’s offer of a challenge was only to give us time
to think of how to rescue, Jackson, sir.” Cameron said, knowing his commanding
officer already knew this information.
“I’m well aware of that, Mitchell, but we still need a challenge.”
“Can we not reason with this Goblin King?” Teal’c asked.
“I don’t think so” Vala muttered, her voice almost
inaudible from her head being on the desk.
“Well perhaps when Colonel Carter returns with Cassandra and her friend.”
Landry said. “In the mean time I want you all to arm yourselves with zat guns. When this ‘Goblin King’ does come, I don’t want
any chances taken that might compromise this facility.”
“Yes, sir” Cameron got up from the table and headed for the door. “Come on T
let’s get those zats and let Vala
be alone for a little bit.”
The
Once Cameron and Teal’c had left the room, Vala
lifted her head up. Her eyes were red, and her face was tired. She stood up and
slammed her hand down on the table in frustration! How could she have been so
foolish! She should have known! It wasn’t like strange things had never
happened to her before. Her life had gotten rapidly stranger since she had
joined the Tauri. That should have given her some
sort of insight right there, but it hadn’t. She had been so full of anger
towards Daniel that she had said something stupid, and now she was paying for
it.
“I don’t have a challenge for this Goblin King!” she grumbled to herself. “I
wouldn’t know what to say to him! He was wonko and
probably wouldn’t accept the challenge had I come up with one anyway.”
“Don’t put yourself down so hard, Vala”
came Landry’s voice. She had thought that he’d gone back into his
office…apparently not. “Well think of something” he told her gently.
Landry was upset with Vala, of course, but she had a
tendency to remind him of Carolyn when she had been a child. He knew that Vala was a grown woman, but that didn’t mean she didn’t
have many childlike qualities.
“I just can’t believe I said something so foolish” Vala
confessed wiping away the single tear that had been left to fall. “What must
Daniel be thinking? He must be furious with me! How will he act when we get him
back? What if we can’t get him back? What if…” her voice trailed off and Vala allowed the tears to just start to fall.
Landry sighed and walked over to her. He couldn’t stand to see her cry. He
pulled Vala into a comforting hug. “It’s going to be
okay, Vala. Don’t worry about Doctor Jackson. I’m
sure he’ll understand.”
“He’ll be so angry…” she said in a whisper.
“Shhh, its okay” Landry pulled back and looked at her
straight in the eye. “I think that once Doctor Jackson see’s
how upset you have been over loosing him, he’ll forget to be angry.” Landry
offered a comforting smile.
Vala tried to smile back but couldn’t. She sniffed
and nodded. “I hope so. I never meant to send him off to some strange land with
goblins…not really.”
Landry chuckled. “I’ll bet Doctor Jackson is asking all about Goblin culture,
and hasn’t even realized what’s going on yet.”
At that, Vala managed a small giggle. “Well at least
he won’t be bored.”
“Sure” Landry said. “He’ll be so excited when you guys get there, he’ll
probably have an entire briefing for us all about goblins.”
“What’s this now?” came Cameron’s voice.
Vala and Landry looked up him.
“Daniel will probably have a briefing on Goblins when he get’s
back. It is a different culture for him to explore.”
Cameron smiled. It was good to see Vala getting along
with the General. She needed a father figure in her life and it looked like for
now she had one.
“GeneralLandry” Teal’c said a slightly hesitant look
on his face. “If DanielJackson returns with a
briefing on Goblins, may I be allowed to…‘skip’ his briefing?”
At that, Landry, Vala, and Cameron all laughed
wholeheartedly.
“If Doctor Jackson has that type of briefing when he get’s
back, we’ll all skip it Teal’c.” Landry told him with a smile.
Just then the phone in Landry’s office rang. He excused himself and went to
answer it. Vala looked after him for a moment then
turned her attention to Cameron.
“You have a zat gun for me?” she asked.
“Sure” Cameron said handing one to her.
Vala put the zat in the
holster on her belt. Cameron and Teal’c did the same with theirs. Now all they
had left to do was wait for Sam to return with their
guests.
* * * *
Finally after twenty minutes of waiting, Sam came back with Cassandra and her
friend.
“Sorry it took so long” Sam said as she entered the briefing room.
General Landry swiveled his chair to face her. “Colonel Carter, I assume this
Cassandra Fraiser and…”
“Sarah Williams” the girl offered, extending her hand.
Landry smiled and shook her hand. She appeared to be quite grown up. “It’s good
to meet you. We are hoping you can help us with a little problem.”
“I’ll do my best” Sarah offered.
“I’m sure you will” He said kindly. “Let me introduce you to Colonel Mitchell, Vala Malduran, and Teal’c.”
Sarah smiled and noticed Cassandra walk over to give the man named Teal’c, a
quick hug.
When their attention returned to Landry, he motioned for them to have a seat.
Sarah and Cassie exchanged slightly worried glances and took their seats.
“Vala would you like to explain the situation?” Sam
said gently.
“Okay, well” Vala said attempting to regain her
composure. She felt so strange lately. Definitely nothing like herself, heck
she wasn’t even acting like herself. What was wrong with her? Focus, she told
herself. Focus on what’s important, and worry about emotion later.
“Well” she started again. “I had been reading this book called Labryinth, as you already know. Sam suggested I go down to
talk with him and try to sort things out, so I did. I went down to talk with
him and our talking quickly became arguing. Then in the middle of our argument
I said to Daniel, ‘I wish -”
“Stop!” Sarah said quickly, interrupting her. “Don’t
say the words, just continue with the story.”
Vala nodded, a slightly freaked out look on her face.
“Umm, okay. Anyway, the moment I said the words, the lights went out. We began
to see strange little things running around the house slamming cabinets and
running and hiding.”
Sarah nodded. “The goblins” she stated matter-of-factly.
Vala continued. “Then there was this white owl. It
started banging on the glass door in the living room. I’m not sure how it
happened but the door managed to open, it flew in and circled Daniel. Then he
was gone.”
“Then what happened?” Sarah asked, looking as if she already knew the answer.
“The Goblin King appeared.”
Sarah sighed. “What did he do?” She asked. She was sure she knew exactly what
had been said and what he had done, but need to hear it and be sure.
“The King offered me a chance to find Daniel.”
“And you didn’t take it?” Sarah asked.
“No, I made a deal with him. I had thirteen hours to come up with a challenge
and if I did not call him by the end of that time and have a sufficient
challenge, I don’t get a chance to get Daniel back.” Vala
stated, her eyes were no longer tearful, but were sincere, focused and worried.
Sarah thought about this a moment. It was certainly different from her
encounter with the Goblin King. “Did he offer you anything? Your dreams?” she
asked curiously.
Vala stared at her for a moment. “No he didn’t. Why?”
Sarah sighed. She knew that it would come up, how else could she explain her
knowledge of the Goblin King or Labyrinth? “Because I’ve been through the
labyrinth and I have met the King of the Goblins.”
“What?” Cassie asked, shocked at her friends words. “Are you serious?”
Sarah nodded.
“What did he look like?” Vala asked,
wanting to be sure they were talking about the same man.
“He has wild blonde hair, mismatched eyes, obscure dark clothes, and a British
accent. He’s sarcastic, and has an air of arrogance about him.” Sarah said. She
knew she could say more but didn’t.
“That’s about what I remember.” Vala said wide eyed
for a moment.
“You say you’ve been through this labyrinth before? When? Why?” Sam asked.
“About five years ago, before I met Cassie, I wished away my baby brother Toby
to the goblins. I had been babysitting him and he had been crying. I was
fifteen and I didn’t really think when I did it. Then the power went out in
Toby’s room. I went in, tried the lights and I couldn’t get them on. I walked
over to Toby’s cradle and pulled back the sheets to see nothing there. After
that I heard strange noises and saw things running around the room, I was
scared out of my mind!”
“Then what” Vala asked quietly.
“He came” Sarah responded in kind. “He offered me my dreams, then when I told
him no and kept asking for Toby, he showed me where he was and asked me if I
wanted to look for him. I had thirteen hours to solve the labyrinth, but as I
went through it I ran into him a few times and he took time away from me. I did
solve it but I didn’t do it alone.”
“What do you mean?” Sam asked.
“I made three friends along the way that helped me though the Labyrinth. If I
hadn’t had their help, I doubt that I would have Toby back.” Sarah turned to Vala. “He didn’t offer you your dreams,
that’s strange.” She said more to herself than anyone else.
“But he still is allowing me to run the Labyrinth, provided I have a challenge
for him.” Vala said then added with a sigh, “which I
don’t have.”
Sam glanced at the clock. “We don’t have much time left either.”
Landry sighed. “Well let’s get to work”
CHAPTER 8: Familiar Acquaintances
SG-1 had been trying for the past nine hours to think of a challenge for the Goblin King. The problem was, how do you challenge an immortal being? He wasn’t an Ancient, but he wasn’t a Goa’uld. He was a being that was in his own category. He was the Goblin King, and he didn’t just accept any challenge. It had to be something that he wanted, something that would give him an incentive to return Daniel to them.
“We might as well just call the guy now” Cameron said in frustration as he
paced around the room. “We aren’t getting anywhere and maybe if we don’t come
up with something he’ll just give us something we have to do.”
“Yeah but do we really want to risk that, I mean, who knows what he’ll come up
with for us.” Sam offered, leaning on the back of her chair.
“I do not see how we have a choice, ColonelCarter”
Teal’c replied. “We must get DanielJackson back to
safety.”
Just then, General Landry, who had been on the phone with the President, came
back into the briefing room.
He sat at the head of the briefing table and sighed. “The President has given
you the green light to call up this Goblin King and hope that he gives you a
challenge himself. I don’t see what other options we have.”
Everyone in the room looked at Vala expectantly.
She gave a look of surprise. “You want me to call him here? Now?”
“Yes” Landry told her. “It’s better for you to call him in our presence than
alone, don’t you think?”
“I don’t even know how to!” She said quickly. “…and I don’t think I should call
him the same why I did the last time. Then all of you might disappear.”
“I can do it” Sarah offered from the corner of the room.
“You can do what?” Sam asked a look of disbelief on her face.
“I can call him” Sarah said walking towards the table, her arms folded across
her chest. “I’ve never tried before but it has worked with my friends.”
“Whoa!” Vala said getting up from her seat. “Are you
sure that this is a good idea?” I don’t want him getting angry at us, only to
take it out on Daniel.”
“He never harmed Toby” Sarah assured her.
Vala looked back at Sam and Cameron. The two colonels
exchanged glances.
“We’ve tried everything else” Cameron said.
Sam shrugged and nodded. “I’d hate to think of having my best friend stuck with
Goblins forever, so we have to do something.”
“Alright” Landry nodded in agreement. “Call up the Goblin King.”
All eyes in the room were suddenly on Sarah as she closed her own eyes. A quick
memory of a ballroom passed through her mind, but she pushed it away. “I need
you, Goblin King” she stated then opened her eyes.
“Well” Vala asked. “Where is he?”
“Right behind you” came the Goblin King’s voice.
Vala spun around, bumping into Teal’c. “Whoa!” she
muttered in shock. Teal’c grabbed her arm to steady her.
The Goblin King, however, paid them no mind. He walked towards Sarah till he
was almost touching her.
“So” he stated. “Why did you call? I know you call your friends from time to
time.” His gaze now locked on Sarah’s face. “Why call me?”
Under normal circumstances, Sarah would have yelled or mocked the Goblin King,
but now she found it hard to do so. His gaze was intense, yet playful, and his
smirk was amused. He appeared to harbor no hatred towards her, which only made
responding to his questions harder.
“I…I…” Sarah stuttered.
Vala could watch no more. “She only called you
because -”
“Shut up!” The Goblin King interrupted her, not turning but only breaking eye
contact with Sarah for a few moments. “I didn’t ask you.” He spat out, angrily.
“I asked Sarah” he finished, his voice calmer and gentler as he returned his
attention to her.
Vala’s interruption helped Sarah remember herself.
She suddenly felt strength return to her and matched the intense gaze of the
Goblin King. “Vala is right, I called you because she
did not know how to.”
The look on the King’s face became angry for a moment, and then washed away. He
turned from Sarah and walked towards Vala. It was
clear that had not been the answer he had been hoping for.
“Your time is up” he stated. “Do you have a challenge, or do I keep your Daniel
locked up in my castle forever?”
“I…” Vala trailed off then looked at the General
pleadingly.
He nodded to Vala then turned to the Goblin King.
“I’m General Landry” he said a commanding tone to his voice. “My team has not
come up with a challenge for you that they felt to be adequate.”
The look on the King’s face became pure anger. “Then you have lost your friend”
He stated, looking around the room. “What a pity.”
This couldn’t happen. Sarah wouldn’t let it. She glanced at Cassie who had been
standing over next to Cameron, who had a gun pointed at the Goblin King. She
had to do something, it wouldn’t be fair to her friend
to loose another person that was so special to her. She looked at Vala. The woman looked as if she’d lost something she held
so dear that she couldn’t live her life without him. I have to do something,
Sarah told herself. She knew only one thing to do, and it wouldn’t be easy.
“Jareth wait!” Sarah pleaded suddenly.
The Goblin King turned to her, a smirk on his face. “Jareth? So informal my dear Sarah?
My, my, how things have changed.”
Sarah held her head up high. “I have a challenge for you.”
A sparkle came to his mismatched eyes. He stood still for a moment then crossed
his arms over his chest thoughtfully. “Very well, my dear.”
He said the intense look returned to his gaze. “Do tell me what this challenge
is.”
Sarah glanced around the room at the others. Everyone was surprised to hear her
suddenly speak up. “Allow SG-1 and me to run the Labyrinth. If we do it in
thirteen hours, then they get Daniel back. If not, I will stay in the
Underground in his place.”
Jareth smiled wickedly at her. “I accept, but only
with a few modifications to the challenge of my own.”
“Like what?” Sarah asked, fear evident in her eyes.
Before another word was spoken, Sarah and SG-1 found themselves up on a
hillside, over looking the Labyrinth. Jareth turned
and pointed a clock that appeared to be hanging from nothing. It was simply
there.
“You have nine hours to solve the Labyrinth. If you do, then Daniel will go
free. If you don’t, both he and Sarah will remain in the Underground,
forever.”
Before Sarah could protest to his changes to her challenge he disappeared.
“Nine hours huh…” Cameron commented, pulling out his zat
gun. “I guess we might as well get started. Lead the way, Sarah.”
Sarah let out a sigh. “Okay, but just so you know now, nothing is what it seems
in this place.” With that Sarah led Cameron, Sam, Vala
and Teal’c down to the Labyrinth.
CHAPTER 9: New Friends and New Thoughts
As Sarah and SG-1 made their way down to the Labyrinth, Vala found herself lost in thought. What was Daniel doing? Was he alright? Would he be angry with her? What would he say to her when she got to him? All these things were running through her mind in a repetitive loop. She could picture his face, his normally warm and gentle blue eyes turned angry and cold as ice. Who was she kidding? He would be furious with her, and he would have every right to be. No matter how she tried to convince herself other wise, she knew that she had to get Daniel free from his prison. If he wanted her to leave through the Stargate when they got back, she would do so, but she had to do her best to correct the wrong that had been done. Accept the consequences, no matter what happened.
“Hoggle!” The sound of Sarah
calling this name brought Vala from her reverie. “Hoggle? Are you here? Hoggle?”
Sarah looked around the entrance of the Labyrinth. She turned to SG-1. “Can you
guys look around for dwarf? His name is Hoggle. He
helped me the last time I ran the Labyrinth. He opened the doors for me.”
“Wait”
Sarah gave him an irritated glare. “Can you just let that go and help look for
my friend? Please?”
Sam stifled a laugh; Teal’c raised an eyebrow giving a slight amused smile
while Sarah and Vala continued to search for the
little man.
“Hoggle?” Vala called, glancing around then turning to Sarah. “Are
you certain he’s here?”
“No” She stated, still looking around. Then a memory flashed into her mind. She
turned to Vala. “Look for a dwarf that’s spraying
fairies.”
Vala gave her a confused look. “Alright.”
The two continued to search around the entrance until Vala
heard the sound of someone counting.
“One hundred and sixty five” the voice said.
As Vala drew closer she saw a little short man with a
spray can chasing fairies. He wore a loose white shirt with a brown vest,
trousers, and attached to them were jewels. Slowly she approached the little
man.
“Excuse me” She asked carefully.
The little man turned to face her. “Yes? What do you want?”
“My name is Vala. My friends and I are looking for a
little man by the name of Hoggle? Is that you?” her
voice was hopeful.
“Aye it is? What do you want from me?” he said turning and spraying another
fairy. “One Hundred and sixty six!” He said with a
whoop of delight.
Vala rolled her eyes, knowing she would not get
anywhere. She called to SG-1 and Sarah over her shoulder.
Sarah rushed over. “Hoggle!” she shouted excitedly,
hugging him before he had a chance to register what was happening.
“Sarah?” he asked. “Is that you?”
She pulled away from her little friend, looking at him carefully. He hadn’t
changed a bit. “Yes Hoggle, it’s me” she said
offering him a smile.
The little man gave her a smile. “Well then” he said putting down his spray
can. “It’s great to see you, Sarah” he gave her another hug. “But what are you doing
here again? You didn’t wish that baby away again?”
“No” Sarah told him. “Actually my friend wished away one of her friends, and we
have to get him back. Can you help us get into the Labyrinth?”
“Sure, I suppose.” He offered walking them to the doors of the Labyrinth.
The doors opened with a creek then came to an abrupt stop, dust flying as they
did so. Hoggle turned to Sarah. She was staring at
the open doors, just as she had done the first time she had come.
“Sarah?” he questioned. “Why are you here? Jareth has
never let anyone run the Labyrinth more than once.”
Sarah glanced down at her friend. “I’m here to help my friends.” She stated.
“Other than that…I’m not sure why I’m here.” She smiled at her friend. “Will
you help us?”
Hoggle nodded. “His majesty will not be pleased with
me but…yes; I’ll do it for you, Sarah.”
Sarah felt a tap on the shoulder. Vala gave her a
slightly irritated look. “Aren’t you going to introduce us to your friend?”
“Oh sorry, Vala” Sarah said quickly. She turned to Hoggle. “Everyone this is my friend Hoggle.
Hoggle, these are my friends Vala,
Sam, Cameron, and Teal’c.”
After the quick hellos, Cameron suggested not waisting
anymore time, and moving into the Labyrinth. “Which way do we go next, Sarah?”
“Umm, the last time I think I took a right.” She said starting that way.
“You think?” Vala asked.
“I’m positive” Sarah told her assuredly. “Now we have to find that worm.”
“Worm?” Sam asked.
“There was this little worm that I spoke to last time. He showed me an opening
in the walls that I hadn’t seen before.” Sarah explained.
“There are no openings” Sam said looking around.
“Things aren’t what they seem” Sarah reminded her.
Sam shrugged. “Okay, well, lead on.”
* * * *
Jareth appeared out of nowhere in his castle. He no longer donned his dark attire. Instead he wore a white poet shirt, black vest, gray leggings and matching grey gloves. He walked through a sea of goblins in disgust. He didn’t mind them really, but did they have to be messy in his thrown room?
“Enough!” He shouted. “All of you out!”
The drunken goblins ran from the room, bumping into each other as they went.
Some of them shouted their apologies to Jareth as
they left. He rolled his eyes, again wondering why he had to be the one to deal
with these stupid creatures. He walked to the stairwell at the left of his
thrown room. As he continued through the Escher room, many thoughts crossed his
mind. He remembered watching Sarah chase baby Toby around the many stairs in
this room. Though the room itself defied gravity, Sarah had not known that at
the time. She could have walked anywhere in the room, just as he had done, or
Toby had done. His thoughts continued to the song he had sung to her. Had she
even been listening, he wondered. She had been so busy chasing the child…
Enough, he told himself; time to bring yourself back
to the present.
He continued through a number of stairwells until he made it to another long
hallway. When he reached the end, he opened the only door that was there. The
room was filled from floor to ceiling with books lining all the walls. In the
center of the room was a desk with a few comfortable chairs placed around the
room. He looked around the room till he spotted what he was looking for.
“I trust you’ve found something of interest?” he asked.
Daniel Jackson looked up from the book he had been reading, slightly surprised
at the sight of the Goblin King. “Actually yes” he answered, standing. “This
library is fascinating.” He said waving his arms around the room. “This place,
this culture…it’s all fascinating.”
Jareth nodded as he looked around his study. “I’m
glad you have found something to do with your time.”
Daniel nodded. “It could take several lifetimes for someone to collect this
much knowledge on a foreign culture.”
“I trust you have many questions?” Jareth asked.
“Yes…definitely!” Daniel said picking up one of the many books he had stacked
by his chair.
Jareth held up his hand. “I will answer all your
questions in time.” He stated. “I came here to tell you that your friends have
begun their trek through my Labyrinth.”
Daniel nodded concern slowly coming to his features. “What about Vala? Is she alright?”
“Your Vala is fine” Jareth
told him calmly. “although, she does not quite realize
the reason why she is truly running the Labyrinth.”
Daniel nodded then glanced at the Goblin King, confused. “Why is she running
the Labyrinth?”
“Why to discover what is truly important, of course.” Jareth
answered nonchalantly.
“I don’t understand” Daniel said carefully.
Jareth sat down in the chair at his desk, leaning
back and crossing his arms over his chest. “Vala must
decide why she is doing this. Is she doing this for herself, or for you; either
way it does not matter to me. It will affect her relationship to you, however.
She will either push you away, simply because of her own feelings, or she will
be selfless and do whatever is best for both of you.”
Daniel sighed. He had no idea where Jareth was going
with this but decided not to ask anymore questions on the subject. Ever since
he had gotten here, he had been confused. He now knew how he had gotten here,
and why, but he still could not seem to make up his mind what was going on. Was
the Goblin King evil for having taken him away, or was he simply part of a
tradition that had been going on for hundreds of thousands of years?
“Well” Jareth said, a crystal suddenly appearing in
his hands. “let’s see how your friends are doing shall
we?”
CHAPTER 10:
Jack O’Neill stormed through the halls of Stargate Command.
He had a bone to pick with Landry. He wasn’t usually one to show his emotions
but his humorous and playful mask had to come off when it came to the lives of
his friends, particularly SG-1. Why had no one told him what was going on and
worst of all, why did he have to hear about it in his meeting with the
President of the
When he reached the office of General Hank Landry he knocked on the door hard
and loud.
“Come in” came the General’s voice.
Jack opened the door and quickly shut it behind him. When he turned he saw
Landry sitting behind his desk and Cassandra Fraiser sitting in a side chair in
his office.
“Cassie?” he questioned.
“Jack” Cassandra stood hugging the man that had been one of the closest people
she had to a father.
Jack pulled out the young girl’s embrace and looked down at her. “What are you
doing here?” he turned to Landry. “Hank, what the heck’s going on?”
Landry sighed and motioned for the three of them to go into the briefing room.
Once they were all seated he began to explain the situation as best as
possible, even knowing that Jack had already heard the summarized story from
the President.
“So” Jack said, sounding rather confused. “You’re telling me that because Vala read some book, she wished Daniel away in a fit of
anger and now SG-1 is on a rescue mission?”
“SG-1 and Sarah” Cassandra corrected him. “Without her, the Goblin King might
not free Daniel.”
Jack leaned back in his chair, rubbing his eyes and temples in frustration.
“I’m confused. Did this happen while they were on a mission or what?”
“No, Sam said it happened at her house” Cassie said slightly irritated herself.
“Aparently the Goblin King made a deal with Vala. For the first thirteen hours we were trying to come
up with a challenge for the King of the Goblins. When we failed to do so, Sarah
quickly came up with a challenge of her own for the Goblin King.” Landry
explained. “They have to run a Labyrinth of some kind to get Daniel back. We
aren’t sure of much more than that because the Goblin King, Sarah, and SG-1
disappeared before he told us what the modifications to Sarah’s challenge
were.”
Jack sighed. He was getting a headache. “So why weren’t you two taken? You said
Sarah was taken.”
“Sarah specifically said ‘allow SG-1 and me to run the Labyrinth’ so that’s why
we are still here.” Cassandra explained. A look of worry washed over her face.
“I hope they are okay.”
Jack reached across the table and padded the young girl’s hands. “I’m sure they
are.” He turned to Landry. “Were they armed?”
“Yes, they all had Zats, but Sarah.” Landry told him.
“Although, Sarah told us that she had ran the Labyrinth when she was fifteen.
I’m hoping that means that they don’t need the weapons. Of course, it never
hurts to be cautious.”
Jack nodded. His thoughts momentarily flashed back to his first thoughts of
when he’d heard what had happened to SG-1. Samantha Carter, his former second
in command of SG-1, now in danger, possibly for her life, and he wasn’t there
to protect her. She can handle herself, a voice inside his head told him. Had
you been there none of this would have happened, another voice said.
“Jack there really isn’t anything that we can do, other than sit and wait for
them to return with Doctor Jackson.” Landry said pulling him from his thoughts.
Daniel. What the heck did his best friend do stupid enough to get himself
wished away? ‘Wished Away’ what a strange term, Jack thought, again getting
himself distracted from what was going on around him.
Jack forced himself to tune back into what Hank Landry was saying.
“In the mean time why don’t we all head down to the mess hall” Landry said
glancing at Cassandra. “You must be starving.”
Cassandra nodded and sighed. “Hungry and worried.”
Jack stood from his chair and walked over to Cassandra, giving her a bear hug.
“They’ll be okay, we just have to brave with them while we wait.”
Cassie nodded a memory popping through her head. ‘You’re very brave remember’
Sam’s words echoed into her mind, bringing a smile to her face. She looked up
at Jack.
“I’m very brave” she told him.
Jack smiled without a word then gave her another quick hug. He turned to
Landry. “So about that food?”
* * * *
“Sarah there is only a very few talking worms that I know of in the Labyrinth” Hoggle told her as they continued to walk down the long
tunnel that was the beginning of the Labyrinth. “Are you sure you don’t
remember what he looks like?”
Sarah sighed and continued to walk beside Hoggle.
They were waisting time and she knew it. It was only
a matter of hours before he would show up to taunt her again.
“I think he was blue with hair…” She said thoughtfully. “And he had the same
accent as the Goblin King.”
A smile came to Hoggle’s wrinkled little face. “
Sarah smiled. “is that his name?
“Well he’s the only blue worm I know of in the entire Labyrinth that has that
accent.”
“Well what are we waiting for?” Vala said, joining in
the conversation as she walked behind Sarah and the little man. “Let’s start
calling his name and looking for him.”
SG-1 began looking in every nook and cranny in the walls of the Labyrinth,
calling the worm’s name. Teal’c, Sam and Cameron looked in the higher areas
while Sarah, Vala, and Hoggle
looked lower. Finally they came a spot that Sarah
found familiar.
“
A little blue worm popped his head out of the hole. “Hoggle
my good friend” he said cheerfully. “How are you this fine day?” He looked
around at the other’s, his eyes settling on Sarah.
“Well I’ll be, I never thought I’d see you again. How
are you, missy?”
Sarah smiled. “My name is Sarah, and I’m doing just fine. It’s nice to see you
again,
“Do you have time for a cup of tea?” he asked
“Not at the moment” Sarah said sadly. “We actually came to find you because we
were searching for the part of the wall that you showed me before that had the
opening.”
“Well its right across from you, there”
Sarah thought about that for a moment then turned to
“You’re quite welcome, Sarah” he said turning back to Hoggle.
“See you again soon, my old friend.”
“I hope so too,
With that the little worm disappeared back into his whole in the wall.
Hoggle turned to Sarah. She had already gone through
the wall but had not moved to the left or right.
Sarah turned to the dwarf. “Hoggle,
which way should we go? Last time,
“We should probably stick to the way you went Last time, Sarah.” Sam offered.
“It’s the way you know to go.”
“But the Labyrinth keeps changing” Sarah told her. “What if it’s different?”
“We have to get to Daniel” Vala said quietly.
“Whatever way is quickest.” She turned to Hoggle. “Which way?”
Hoggle thought for a moment. He and SG-1 walked
through the wall to Sarah.
The little man continued to look back and forth, left and right. “I say we
go…left.”
Sarah glanced at Sam and Vala. Both women shrugged
and began to follow the little man. So they weren’t going the way she went last
time, Sarah thought. That didn’t mean that the Labyrinth hadn’t changed. She
could still very well run into her other friends along the way. He’ll still
find us, she thought irritated. Either way she had to keep going. She was doing
this for her friends, right?
CHAPTER 11: Anywhere But Here
SG-1 followed behind Sarah and Hoggle through the twists and turns of the Labyrinth, glad to be out of the long tunnel that they had started off in. After a half an hour of walking in silence beside Vala, Sam finally got her friend to talk. They talked about everything from what they thought of the plants they passed were, there next shopping trip, and finally, Daniel.
“I just hope he’s alright” Vala said.
“He’s fine, Vala” Sam assured her, not quite feeling
assured herself. “He’ll be very happy to see you when we get to him.”
Vala smiled. “Oh yes I can just see it now” she
smirked. “It will end up just like when we first met.”
Sam shook her head remembering the story that Daniel had told her about the
crazy woman that had tried to steal the Prometheus. Who knew that someday that
very same crazy woman would be a part of SG-1? Sam was pulled from her thoughts
when they came to a clearing in the Labyrinth
Hoggle walked over to a tower with hands pointing in
all directions. Looking at it thoughtfully.
“Ptah!” he muttered waving a hand at it and began to
walk to a weave of bushes to the right of them.
“Hoggle, I came to that tower of hands before. I know
I did.” Sarah said following him. “I could see the castle from here before
though.”
“There is more than one of them towers in the Labyrinth, Sarah” Hoggle told her as they walked.
They continued to walk for quite some time, until they came to another wave of
tunnels, these however, were made from rock.
“These look familiar” Sarah muttered, nervously.
“They aren’t the same ones that we came through last time” Hoggle
assured her.
“Still, what if he shows up?” Sarah said looking glancing
around her quickly.
Hoggle chuckled. “He won’t, not for a while. We’ve
only been running the Labyrinth for about an hour an a half.”
Sarah nodded, still not convinced.
As they continued wondering through the twists and turns of the dark, damp
tunnels, Sarah found herself lost in conversation with Sam and Vala, while Cameron and Teal’c followed directly behind Hoggle, asking the little dwarf questions about the
Labyrinth as they went on.
“So tell us again about what happened to you the last time you were here,
Sarah?” Vala asked. “How long before the Goblin King
showed up to you the second time?” She wanted to gather as much intelligence on
this place and its King as possible.
“When I was here last time he came when I was about four hours into the
Labyrinth. Since we have only Nine hours total now, I think we can expect him
much sooner than I did.”
“I just hope we don’t have to go near the Bog of Eternal Stench this time” Hoggle said, joining into the conversation.
Both Cameron and Teal’c stopped short.
“The Bog of Eternal what?” Cameron asked looking
slightly disgusted.
“The Bog of Eternal Stench” Sarah told him. “It’s disgusting, trust me. You
don’t want to know.”
“That just sounds gross” Vala muttered under her
breath.
Sam nodded in agreement.
“Believe me, it’s way worse than gross” Hoggle muttered. “We almost fell into it the last time.”
“I almost fell into it twice” Sarah corrected her little friend.
“Oh yeah” Hoggle muttered. “I forgot about the
bridge.”
Cameron looked from Sarah over to Teal’c. The tall Jaffa raised his eyebrow, a
mix of confusion, amusement, and disgust graced his features. “I suggest we
continue on ColonelMitchel.”
Hoggle glanced around his companions and shrugged. As
he walked on Sarah and SG-1 followed along. All too quickly they came out of
the dark tunnels and into a dark forest. A path wound around the trees over
rocky terrain. A single ray of sunlight shown clearly through
the many tree branches.
Sarah instantly recognized where she was and nearly turned around and headed
back.
“Sarah what’s wrong?” Vala asked grabbing her by the
arm.
Sarah let out a deep breath. “Sorry, I just don’t want to run into those things
again.”
Sam put a gentle hand on the young woman’s shoulder. “What things?”
“The Fireys” Hoggle
muttered a slight angry tone to his voice. “I forgot about thems
guys.”
“Well we can’t turn back now.” Cameron said pulling out his Zat
gun.
“
Sarah nodded. “Thank you”
* * * *
Jareth watched curiously through his crystal as the
other humans helped Sarah sit down on the grass momentarily. Instead of going
in the directions that she was sure of she had gotten that little dwarf to help
her yet again. Higgle was it? He could never remember
the name exactly; but it didn’t matter. With the help of the dwarf, they had
reached the forest much faster than Sarah had the first time. They were soon to
run into the Fireys…and after that, he decided, they
will run into me.
“How are they doing?”
Jareth glanced at the direction of the young
archeologist. “They are moving quicker than I expected” the Goblin King said
attempting to keep the irritation in his voice to a minimum. “but they are not sticking to the path that Sarah came on
before. Although the path they are on now is similar, it is much
more…dangerous.”
Daniel looked up from the book he was reading in alarm. “Are they alright, is Vala alright?”
“They have yet to run into the real danger as of yet. You needn’t concern
yourself.”
Daniel slammed the book he was reading closed and stood up. He walked over and
stared into the fireplace at the front of the room. Not concern himself? What kind of statement was that? How could he not
worry?
“You honestly expect me to sit here and not worry about them? The people I care
about most in the world are out there!” Daniel said turning back to face the
Goblin King.
Jareth sat in his chair, pinching the bridge of his
nose. How he hated it when human adults were wished away. He much preferred the
children. They had no worries as their friends and family members ran the
Labyrinth to save them.
Letting out a sigh of frustration the Goblin King spoke.
“I assure you, Doctor Jackson, I have never let anyone die in my Labyrinth. If
your friends do encounter something, I will have no choice but to intervene.”
Daniel turned and stared into the flames of the fireplace. He was getting more
on edge as the minutes passed. He wanted nothing more than to go to Vala, and apologize for everything that had happened in the
last few days. In the last few hours that he had been in the castle, he found
himself thinking about what had gotten him here in the first place. The more he
thought about it, the more he realized that it hadn’t been Vala’s
fault. He had pushed her away, snapped at her, and for what? All simply because
she was there; she was the one thing he wanted that he wouldn’t let himself
have.
After having told Vala about Sha’re,
Daniel had found himself spending much more time her. He had even taken her off
base a few times, one of them resulting in a very dangerous situation. Every
time I get to close, he thought to himself, someone get’s
hurt. He couldn’t allow Vala get that close. That’s
what landed him here. The two of them had resumed their interesting
relationship not long after Vala had been kidnapped.
Despite that, Daniel had spent a lot of time thinking. He should ask to have Vala put on another team, or he should not see her so much.
So when she came into his office, again trying to provoke him, he snapped. It
hadn’t helped the situation that Vala had been
flirting, but he shouldn’t have snapped. He should have calmly told her to
leave him alone and that he was not good for her. That he cared for her too
much to allow her to get in harm’s way again.
Sha’re was
taken as a host because of my carelessness, he thought to himself, I don’t want
something to happen to Vala too.
* * * *
“Are we good to go?” Cameron asked turning to Sarah.
The young woman let out a sigh. “I suppose so. We have to face those things
sooner or later.”
“Ah the fireys are nothin’,
Sarah” Hoggle said waving at her concern. “They’re
just overly excitable.”
“So overly excitable that they tried to take of my head, remember?” she added.
“I didn’t let that happen now did I?” Hoggle asked.
“No”
“Alright then” the little man said.
As they continued on through the dark forest, they began to take in their
surroundings. The trees surrounding them were sparkling different colors.
Purple, blue, pink, orange, yellow sparkles were embedded in the bark of the
trees. The few streams of sunlight that came through the trees set off the
sparkles.
“It looks magical” Vala said absently with a smile on
her face as they walked.
Sarah stifled a laugh when she saw Hoggle roll his
eyes at her. “Of course it’s magical, it’s the Underground.”
Vala stuck her tongue out at the little dwarf, but
said nothing.
They continued on for about ten minutes in complete silence. Sarah hadn’t
remembered the forest being this large, but then again, she had only stayed
long enough to realize how much she wanted to get out.
“So Teal’c” Cameron said attempting to start a conversation as they walked.
“Ever seen anything like this before?”
“I have not, ColonelMitchel. In my many travels I
have never seen anything like this.” Teal’c said his voice monotone.
Suddenly there were strange loud noises coming from all directions.
SG-1 had their Zats out ready in seconds. Sarah stood
behind Sam and Vala. The creatures jumped out from
everywhere. They were all red, each one crazier looking than the last. They
began to sing and dance around.
“What are they?” Sam asked glancing at Sarah.
Sarah gulped unable to speak.
Hoggle glanced at his human companions. “Their the Fireys.”
CHAPTER 12: What’s Worse than
Lions, Tigers and Bears?
There were five of them, singing and dancing around them. They were wide eyed, skinny, gangly things with multiple shades of red fur. One of them started a fire as he sang and removed his arm throwing it into the fire, only to have his arm grow back.
“What the heck is with the red furballs on crack?”
Cameron said glancing at Sarah while he turned to point his Zat
out to the Fireys dancing around him.
Neither Sarah nor Hoggle knew how to answer Cameron’s
question.
The firey’s danced closer backing SG-1, Sarah and Hoggle into a circle. Dispite the
confusion, none of the team member’s knew what to make of the creatures.
Vala found herself watching the firey’s
closely, fascinated. They had great harmony as they sang to the up-beat tune.
“Vala!” Sam nearly yelled.
The former thief was…grooving to the tune of the song.
“Hey” one of the firey’s said. “She’s got the idea!”
Three of the firey’s came around to dance by Vala. They continued to sing their song:
Chilly down with the fire gang
Think small with the fire gang
Bang heps with the fire gang
When you think its wild
Chilly down, Chilly down
As they sang, with Vala dancing along to the song,
the creatures came close enough to grab Vala.
“Vala don’t let them touch you” Sarah shouted.
It was too late. Two of the firey’s grabbed Vala and began to yank at her limbs.
“Hey what’s up with this? Her arms ain’t comin’ off!” the first firey
said.
“She’s like that other girl that came through here!” the second firey said as he pulled at Vala’s
head.
“Get off of me you little disgusting creatures!” Vala
yelled pulling at them.
Sam tried to get close enough help her friend but the other firey’s
blocked her path. She glanced at her teammates then back to Vala,
feeling helpless.
“Hey” said a third firey staring at Sarah. “Is that
the little lady right there?”
“Yeah, I think you’re right, brother.” The first firey
said.
Sarah moved behind Cameron and Teal’c.
“Get off me!” Vala yelled. “Do something somebody!”
she yelled to her friends.
Hoggle, who had been trying to get away from one of
the other firey’s himself, moved over to SG-1. It was
obvious what they should do, but he wasn’t sure why they had yet to act. He
pulled at Teal’c’s pants leg to get his attention.
The tall
The first firey that had been pulling at Vala’s head fell down onto the ground with a yelp.
“What the heck was that?” one of the other firey’s
said sounding surprised and scared.
“I don’t know but let’s not stick around to find out!” another of the firey’s said.
The two remaining firey’s that had been pulling on Vala let go of her and went to join their friends as they
ran off.
“Yeah that’s right” Vala yelled. “You keep running!”
she turned back to her friends.
Sam and Cameron each had smirks on their faces.
“What?” Vala asked. She smiled and turned to Teal’c.
“Thank you!”
“You are quite welcome, but it was not my idea ValaMalduran.”
Teal’s told her then indicated to her that in fact it had been Hoggle.
“You had him do that?” Vala asked.
“Well I didn’t want them hurting one of my friends.” He said quietly.
Vala looked up at Sarah, who was out of breath, still
from fear. They both smiled at Hoggle’s shyness.
Vala moved to the little man and gave him a tight
hug. “Thank you, Hoggle.”
“Aw, it was nothin’.” He told her.
Vala stood back up and turned to her friends. “Shall
we continue on?” she asked.
“Can you give me a moment to catch my breath?” Sarah asked.
Vala turned and looked at the others. They nodded in
consent.
They moved through the forest till they came to a clearing. Vala
and Sam found a fallen tree and sat down. Cameron and Teal’c stood and kept and
eye out for any other fireys that might show
themselves. Hoggle, deciding that it was best to deal
with his issues while they took a break, went off for a moment to find a private
place to relieve himself.
Sarah sighed and walked on a little farther away from the others. She found a
tall oak tree and moved to lean up against it. She was so tired. The fireys scared the wits out of her. She was still shaking.
She rubbed her temples. To top off the rest of it, she was getting a headache.
“Hello Sarah” a voice purred into her ear, sending shivers down her spine.
“Jiminy Crickets!” Sarah jumped back away from the tree.
He was leaning against the tree, his arms crossed over his chest. He watched
her amused.
“What do you want?” she managed.
The fae king walked towards Sarah until she had
backed into another tree. Sarah felt anger well up inside herself. She had no
reason to be afraid of him. After all, he did not have power over her.
Jareth ignored her question. “The fireys
are interesting creatures” he commented. “They are fools, but they are also
some of the most loyal creatures in my labyrinth.”
“You didn’t answer my question.”
“It is a foolish question, Sarah” he told her. “You know what I want.”
Sarah rolled her eyes. “Yes I suppose I do. You want to annoy me, keep me from
finishing the labyrinth in time to help my friend.”
Jareth smirked. The spark that Sarah had had as a
teen, the total defiance was still intacted. “I came
to ask you if you were enjoying yourself.” He stated simply.
Sarah glared at him. She didn’t understand his game. And you thought human men
were confusing, she chided herself for getting into this mess.
“I’m doing what I must” Sarah answered.
A genuine smile came over Jareth’s features. He
backed off a little.
“So different” he commented as he stared at her. “Yet so much
the same.”
Sarah was confused by his comment but didn’t get a chance to ask what he meant
by that. SG-1 appeared from each side of the tree, all their Zats were pointed at the Goblin King.
“You know” Cameron said positioning himself between Sarah and the fae king. “I’ve been meaning to ask. What’s
with the Khan eighties hair?”
“I don’t think that the Goblin King has hair like Khan,
“We’ll when we get
Vala moved forward, putting her gun to Jareth’s chest. “Speaking of Daniel…”
“Vala don’t.” Sarah said warningly.
Jareth looked surprised at Sarah. “So concerned for
me, Sarah?” he gave her a wicked smile. “I’m flattered.”
Fire came to Sarah’s eyes. How dare he, she muttered. “Be careful, Vala” she warned. “Don’t forget that he is a fae and he can do magic stuff.”
Vala turned back to Sarah and smiled. “I won’t forget
believe me.” She turned back to Jareth. “Now, about Daniel. I want to see him.”
“I’m afraid that’s not possible.” Jareth stated
simply.
“Make it possible!” Vala ordered. She moved the Zat up to his neck.
“I can’t do that. Nor do I want to.” The Goblin King told her.
On impulse Vala pulled the trigger back, zatting the King of the Goblins!
Jareth did not cry out in pain, nor did he fall to
the ground and pass out. He stood grinning wickedly. He moved his hand up to
push the zat gun away from his throat. He glanced at
Sarah then back to Vala.
“As you can see” he stated. “Your weapons have no affect on me.” He started
moving towards Vala, backing her up against the tree,
similar to how he cornered Sarah.
“Leave her alone!” Sam shouted.
“Get away from her!” Cameron yelled moving towards the Goblin King.
With a wave of Jareth’s hand, Cameron was frozen in
place. Sam and Teal’c found themselves similarly frozen.
“Jareth” Sarah said calmly. “She wants to see him.”
Finding that she had been the only one that had not been frozen, besides Vala, Sarah moved towards them. “How would you feel if you
couldn’t see the one you cared for?”
That struck a nerve. Jareth’s head snapped over,
gazing at Sarah. How little she knew, he thought to himself.
“I can not let you see him.” He said slowly turning his attention back to Vala.
Vala’s eyes were filled anger. “Then tell me how he
is!” she ordered.
“He is as well as anyone who has been wished away.” Jareth
told her, growing exasperated.
Vala felt tears come to her eyes. She wasn’t getting
anywhere. The Goblin King spoke in riddles, telling what she wanted to hear,
yet somehow not telling her at the same time. If only she hadn’t made that
stupid wish. If only she hadn’t overreacted to Daniel’s anger. Had she
understood where he was coming from when they had fought, maybe they wouldn’t
be in this position.
Vala tried to move, but found that she could not. She
glared at the Goblin King.
“You had better treat him well because if you don’t. I will find a way to
destroy you!” she yelled in his face.
Jareth moved away from Vala
and turned to Sarah. Both women had fire in their eyes. Vala’s
eyes were filled with pure hatred. Sarah on the other hand, seemed confused.
She was obviously angry, but was trying to understand what was going through
his head…he could see it in her eyes.
As he walked past Sarah, Jareth stopped bending down
to Sarah. “So cruel.” He whispered in her ear.
Sarah shuddered. Did he have to do that?
Suddenly a clock appeared. It hung out of thin air. Jareth
moved his hand clockwise. He was taking time away!
“You have now six hours” he said, his tone bitter and angry.
“But that’s not…” Sarah stopped herself.
“Not what?” Jareth said moving past her again. “Not
fair, Sarah? Let me tell you something. Life is never fair!”
Before anyone could say anything further, Jareth
disappeared.
SG-1 found that they could move again. Cameron found himself muttering angrily.
Teal’c swore in Goa’uld, grateful that the only one who could understand him
was Vala. Sam checked to make sure she and her teammates
were not injured from the magic that the fae king had
used on them. Vala sat down on the ground in front of
the tree. Sarah moved to sit beside her.
“Daniel is fine, Vala” she said. “I promise. He was
just trying to scare you.”
“How do you know for sure” Vala said hands over hear
eyes, trying to do whatever she could to get rid of the massive headache that
had been brought on by the royal pain.
“When I ran through the Labyrinth, I could hear Jareth
singing to my baby brother Toby. I think he was trying to keep him from crying.
When I got to the castle, Toby was fine.”
“Yes but Toby was a baby.” Vala pointed out.
“And Jareth said that Daniel was ‘as well as anyone
who has been wished away’” Sarah quoted.
Vala nodded, hoping that Sarah was right. Suddenly
she felt herself let out a giggle.
Sarah was both curious and glad to see Vala cheering
up. “What?” she asked.
“I had a picture in my mind of the King of the Goblins singing to Daniel.”
Sarah tried to picture it and found herself laughing.
“That is funny.”
As they laughed, Sarah stood then held out a hand to help Vala
up. They rejoined the others, who were explaining to Hoggle,
who had just made his way back, what had happened.
“We had better hurry” Sam said. “We have even less time than before.”
They slowly made their way through the rest of the forest and back to winding
green hedges of the Labyrinth.
AUTHOR’S NOTE: for those of you who didn't get the "Khan" thing...watch Star
Trek II. That's what gave me the idea. And yes i know
that The hair styles are different, but still it made
me think of it. Anyway, hope you guys enjoyed this chapter. :-)
CHAPTER 13: Nothing is What it Seems
Daniel wandered through the halls of the castle. He’d been left alone for quite sometime and dispite the fact that he had been fasicated by all that he had read in the Goblin Kings’ study, he was curious as to where the man had gone off to.
He rounded the corner of the hallway to find a dead end in front of him. To the
left was a door and to the right was another long hallway that seemed to go on
forever. Daniel turned to the left and looked curiously at the door. It was
very gothic in appearance, stretching from floor to ceiling, with intricate
designs carved into the wood. The handle was a simple medieval style with a
lock on the front of it.
Curious, Daniel tried the door. It wouldn’t budge.
“Find something interesting?”
Daniel spun around to find Jareth standing behind
him. The fae king was obviously angry, by Daniel’s
actions or by something else, the archeologist was unsure.
“Oh um” Daniel started trailing off.
“That door is locked for a purpose, Dr. Jackson.” Jareth
told him sternly.
“I’m sorry. I didn’t mean to intrude.” Daniel apologized.
Jareth visually seemed to let go of some of his
anger. “Come” he told him. “I have had a few of my servants prepare a meal. You
must be hungry.”
Daniel glanced back at the door before following the Goblin King. He had to
find out what the fae was keeping behind that door.
* * * *
Yet another hour had passed by as SG-1 continued through the twists and turns
of the Labyrinth. They had come across a number of interesting creatures.
Fairies, which Hoggle had threatened to spray if they
came to close, Gnomes, who tried to get Vala to solve
a riddle when Hoggle told her that they were the
guardians of unknown treasures, and a few roaming goblins.
“I still don’t see why I couldn’t at least have tried to pick up a little
trinket while I’m here” Vala said sounding genuinely
confused.
Sam smiled saying nothing.
“Were on a mission, Vala” Cameron replied as he and
Teal’c walked ahead of them.
“Do you honestly think that I’ve forgotten that? Colonel?”
Vala spat back, annoyance easily heard in her tone.
“Could you’s guys be quiet?” Hoggle
muttered stopping the group. “I’m trying to concentrate.”
For a moment all was quiet in the Labyrinth. No birds, no rustling of leaves,
now howling or other noises from the creatures hidden from view. A cold wind
swept through the Labyrinth, an unnatural sense of fear accompanying it.
“What was that?” Sarah asked her voice hardly above a whisper.
Hoggle gulped. The look of fear on his face was
stronger than it had ever been when they had been in the presence of the Goblin
King.
“Hoggle, do you know what that was?” Vala asked moving to Sarah’s side.
The little dwarf took in a deep breath. “I’m not really sure” he told them
looking around hesitantly. “But it’s not good.”
* * * *
Cassie sat in the briefing room of the SGC spinning her chair round. She had
been here for what seemed like forever. It had been well over thirteen hours
since SG-1 and Sarah had disappeared with the Goblin King. She was beginning to
wonder if time was different where ever they were. Jack and General Landry were
still in the mess hall but she couldn’t sit in there. She had been unable to
eat; worry was overtaking her like a bad illness. At first she thought she
would be able to eat, but every time she thought about her friends, her
family…she couldn’t.
Just then there was a knock on the briefing room door. Cassie spun her chair
around to find Carolyn Lam standing by the door.
“Hi”
Cassie got up out of her chair and walked over to the window, looking down on
the stargate. She folded her arms across her chest
and leaned her head on the window. “Are you going to tell me I need to eat
something too?”
Carolyn walked over and stood beside her. “Now why would I tell you something
that you already know?”
“True” Cassie replied.
There was a long pause. Each lost in their own thoughts and worries.
“I know you’re concerned for them.” Carolyn said, breaking the silence.
Cassie looked up at her, tears threatening to come from her eyes.
“We’re all worried.” The doctor added gently.
“They’re my family” Cassie said wiping away the tear that had fallen down her
cheek.
“I know” Carolyn said pulling the young woman into a gentle hug. “And we have
to be strong for them. Besides, somehow I think that the Sam and Vala are going to give that Goblin King a run for his
money.”
Cassie laughed pulling away slightly from Carolyn. “And Daniel will probably be
boring him with some sort of history lesson.”
“Daniel’s history lessons bore most people” came Jack
O’Neill’s voice from the doorway.
Cassie and Carolyn looked up to see the General walk into the room.
“What have you two been up to?” he asked.
Cassie and Carolyn looked at each other then back at Jack. “Nothing”
Jack did a perfect impression of Teal’c, and then sighed. “Okay. I’m going down
to the V.I.P room to watch TV for a while. You wanna come Cass?”
Cassie smiled. “I think I will.”
Turning back to Caryoln she mouthed a ‘thank you’ and
then followed Jack out of the room. The doctor had been right, things would
turn out okay. It was just a matter of time.
CHAPTER 14: Never Loose Hope
“We should keep going” The little dwarf said heading towards a group of caves in the distance.
“What was that Hoggle?” Sarah
walking in step with her friend.
“I’m not sure, but I do know whatever it was…it ain’t
the kings magic.” He moved to the entrance of the cave
looking inside before motioning for his companions to follow.
“So that wasn’t the Goblin King doing that?” Cameron said curiously. He glanced
at Teal’c who simply raised an eyebrow.
“Naw. We’d know for sure if
it was him.” Hoggle moved through the dark caves
slowly. He moved his hands out in front of him until he felt a table. Feeling
the table through the dark he found what he was looking for. Pulling a small
match he lit the candle that he had been searching for and held it out in front
of him. “Ah, much better. Follow me.”
“I don’t like these caves” Sarah muttered as she looked around. “They’re dark
and creepy.”
Vala moved up in step with Sarah and Hoggle. “I’ll zat anything that
comes too close.”
The walls of the caves glittered ever so slightly, much like the trees in the
forest. They were damp and cold to the touch and became more so as the group
continued through them. They soon came to an opening in the caves that had
several other tunnels connected. Hoggle chose a
direction and continued to lead the group forward.
“How much farther do we have to go in these caves?” Sam called questioningly up
to the little dwarf.
“I’m not really sure.” Hoggle called back.
Cameron made a face slightly irritated. “You’re not sure?”
The dwarf rolled his eyes. “Look I never timed it when I came through these
caves before, alright?” Hoggle replied.
After that, the group continued in silence. No one wanted to distract their
guide from his task of getting them through the dark, damp caverns.
The group continued through to another cavern that was slightly less dark than
the previous caverns. The walls of this cavern, however, were not the normal
gray, glittered walls. They had a reddish tint to them and the glitter looked
more like droplets of blood or paint. They walked on a little farther only to
find it was a dead end.
“Looks like we gots to turn around.” Hoggle muttered, irritably.
Just as the group turned to go back, a wall came down in their path preventing
then from going out the way they came in.
“What’s goin on?” Cameron yelled to the little dwarf
angrily.
“I don’t know!” Hoggle yelled in response. “That ain’t never
happened before.”
Teal’c walked over to the cave wall and tried to move it. Cameron moved to
assist him. They pushed hard until they finally decided it was not going to
budge.
“Feels like old times, huh?” Cameron said to Teal’c.
The
“Now what are we going to do?” Vala said. “I don’t
see any ancient puzzles for us to solve here.”
Everyone turned to stare at the little dwarf.
“Don’t look at me!” Hoggle said putting his hands up
in his defense. “It ain’t ever happened to me before
either.”
Sam stepped over to Vala and Sarah. “Sarah, would Jareth ever resort to locking us up into a cave to prevent
us from winning?”
“I don’t think so. When I was here last, he sent a big machine run by goblins
after us that was called the cleaners…and he took time away as I ran; but I
don’t think that he would cut us off from the rest of the Labyrinth.”
Sam nodded, thoughtful. “Could it be that something else has locked us in
here?”
“It’s possible.” Hoggle said joining the
conversation. “Jareth, like any King, has enemies.
Most of them choose not to show themselves. Jareth is
one of the lower king’s in the Underground in status but he is also one of the
most powerful.”
“He doesn’t seem all that powerful.” Cameron said, muttering something under
his breath angrily about a stoned eighties haired looking Goblin King.
Sam attempted to hide her smile at Cameron’s grumbling. She turned back to Hoggle, Sarah and Vala. “So what
should we do?”
“We’ll we need to find a way out of here.” Vala said
looking around the room.
“We can’t” Hoggle told her.
Vala turned back to him. “Why not?”
Hoggle bit his lip and attempted to explain. “Well
this is like a makeshift oubliette. In a normal oubliette there should be at
least one hidden way out that most people would never find. Here there is no
way out.”
“We can’t give up now!” Vala muttered. “We’ve come
too far! I can’t leave Daniel to get stuck there for the rest of his life.” She
turned to go and sit on a rock in the corner of the room.
Sarah sighed looking around at her friends. She didn’t know what else to do
herself, and she, like Daniel would be a prisoner of the Goblin King if they
didn’t get out in time. She moved over to sit beside Vala.
Vala looked up and glanced at Sarah then resumed her
staring at the floor. “I can’t just leave him here. I was so rude to him. I
didn’t even give him a chance to tell me why he had done the things he did. Now
we’re stuck here and I’ll never get him out of here.”
“Well” Sarah said taking a deep breath. “First of all, never
say never.”
Vala managed a little smile at that. She moved her
hands to her temples in an attempt to soothe her throbbing head.
“And secondly, things aren’t what they seem in this place.” With that Sarah
stood up and looked around the room.
“What is you doin, Sarah?” Hoggle
asked.
“The opposite of what you said I did when I first came here.” She said glancing
at him with a smile. “I’m not taking anything for granted.”
A light came to the dwarfs eyes and he smiled. He stood up and began to feel
along the edges of the opposite wall.
“Find anything yet?” Sarah called over to him.
“Not yet.” Hoggle answered her. He turned to Vala. “Vala, could you hold the
candle up so I can see?”
Vala looked from Hoggle to
Sarah. She saw only hope in their focused faces. They were determined to get
out of trap. She turned back to Hoggle. “Sure where
do you want me to stand that will help you see the best?”
* * * *
Jareth stared through his crystal watching Sarah and
her friends. He had done nothing to stop them in their journey through the
caves, and was just as confused and concerned as they were.
“How are they doing?” Daniel asked taking a sip of his drink.
“To be honest, I am not quite sure what has happened.”
Jareth said curiously. “Those caverns never have
cave-ins, and yet your friends and the dwarf have managed to get themselves
trapped in one.”
“Will they be able to get out?” Daniel asked. “You’re not going to just sit by
and let them run out of air in there are you?”
Jareth glared at Daniel. “I assure you, Doctor
Jackson, I may be cruel, but I have never allowed anyone to die in my
Labyrinth.”
Daniel nodded his head and looked away. “Right” he muttered, more to himself
than to Jareth. He looked down the hallway towards
the direction of the door that he had seen earlier. Something in his gut told
him he needed to go back. The problem was getting there without Jareth’s knowledge of it. He sighed. For now he would just
have to wait for the right moment.
“Ah, finally” Jareth said almost mockingly.
Daniel turned back to the Goblin King curiously. “What?”
The fae smirked. “They found the opening in the wall,
or rather Sarah did.”
Daniel made a face. Was Jareth proud of Sarah? He was
still unsure of what exactly the king’s feelings were on the girl. Daniel took
off his glasses and rubbed his eyes. He had way too much to think about. Right
now he had to focus on what was behind that door, how to get back there, and
hope that Vala and the rest of SG-1 were doing okay.
* * * *
“See?” Sarah smiled as she walked in and out of SG-1’s line of sight. “We would
never have seen it if we had just come into the room and looked around.”
“I can’t believe I didn’t think of it as soon as I came into the room.” Hoggle smiled up at Sarah. “Great job,
Sarah.”
Cameron walked over to where Sarah stood to get a closer look. It was crazy but
the wall was farther back in the spot where she stood.
Vala stepped forward next to where Sarah stood. “Well
that was fun” she looked down at Hoggle. “Where to next?” She handed him the candle.
“Left or Right?” Sarah asked him with a smirk.
“Well we should probably go…left.” The dwarf moved towards the left just enough
for everyone to get a chance to come through the wall. Once Sam, Teal’c and
Cameron were through, he continued on to the left.
As they walked, the walls seemed to get narrower, and the group began to walk
single file, Hoggle leading the way with Sarah behind
him. Vala and Sam were in the middle with Cameron and
Teal’c at the end. It was strange; most caverns were wide enough for the
cleaners to come through. This one would never have been wide enough.
There was a cold breeze that came through the passageway. Hoggle
stopped.
“That breeze again.” He said worriedly.
“Hoggle what is it?” Sarah asked, bending down to her
friend’s height.
Just then the candle blew out, and everything went dark. SG-1 pulled out their Zats, once again, ready to shoot if something came too
close.
“What’s going on, Hoggle?” Sarah said grabbing the
dwarf’s hand. “First that creepy cave and now this?”
Hoggle took in a deep breath. “I don’t know, Sarah, I
just don’t know.”
CHAPTER 15: Closing In
For a long moment all you could hear was the sound of the wind blowing through the tunnel. The tunnel was now pitch black. The group hadn't realized just how much light that little candle had been giving them until it was out.
"Well this ain't so bad" Hoggle said shrugging. "I'll just get out another
match and relight -"
"The walls are closing in!" Vala shouted
interrupting the little man.
"What?" Sarah and Cameron yelled at the same time.
Vala placed her hand on the wall gently. She could
feel it moving in towards her. “Look!”
The other’s turned and felt the wall moving in on them.
“What are we gonna do now?” Hoggle
asked.
Teal’c pulled out his Zat and tried it on the wall.
No effect.
“It appears we must try and hold it open ourselves” The Jaffa said, his voice
monotone.
“You think?” Cameron yelled as he began to assist Teal’c in pushing against the
wall.
“This won’t hold for long” Sam said as she and Vala
began to do the same.
“We’ve got to do something.” Vala fussed. “I hate
small spaces!”
“This is all Jareth’s doin’”
Hoggle yelled, attempting to help Sarah as best he
could.
“Are you sure?” Sarah barely managed to ask as she felt the wall on either side
of her getting closer. Pretty soon the walls would squish them. It was getting
hard to breathe as it was.
Hoggle looked at her, genuine fear on his face. “No
actually I’m not.”
“Well that’s just great” Vala muttered cutting into
the conversation. “If we make it out of this, I’ll never wish for anything
again.”
“I’ll hold you to that!” Cameron yelled at her. “Believe me; we’ll all hold you
to that!”
* * * *
Jareth sat on lazily on his throne…bored. For the
past twenty minutes, he had been sitting, staring at the clock, hitting the
side of his boot with his riding crop. He had gotten tired of checking in on
Sarah and her little band of friends. Quite frankly, after their last encounter
he had been royally pissed off…literally. They had no right to challenge him.
He was the King of the Goblins after all. He was almost surprised that for once
his anger had not been directed at Sarah, but at her companions. SG-1 was
starting to give him a headache with their collective attitudes. Vala, only one who technically needed to run the Labyrinth,
had been very defiant. Jareth could see why she and
Sarah had been getting along so well. Both were very strong willed.
Jareth’s thoughts were interrupted by the sound of
Daniel entering the room. “Have you checked on Vala?”
he asked moving to stand in front of the Goblin King.
Jareth looked up at him, boredom mixed with anger and
stress, on his features.
“I have not checked in on your friends in the last twenty minutes. In all
likelihood they will not have gotten very far in that time.”
Daniel felt a small smile come to his face. Jareth
didn’t know much about SG-1 or its resourcefulness. He was making assumptions
simply on one fact…Sarah. Well the fae king would
just have to learn it the hard way.
Daniel stifled a yawn. He was getting fairly tired and bored himself. After
all, he was waiting to be rescued and waiting was not any easy thing to do for
him. He desperately wanted a cup of coffee.
Just as Daniel was about to speak, Jareth stood. His
face now alert, anger, worry and fear came over him. He turned to Daniel.
“Remain here.” With a wave of his hand he was gone.
* * * *
The walls were getting to close for comfort anymore and SG-1 knew that if they
didn’t think of something they weren’t going to make it much longer.
Vala found herself hyperventilating. She was too
closed in. The space was between her and the walls on either side were hardly
wide enough for a mouse to get through. She took in a slow deep breath in
effort to calm herself. This can’t be the end, won’t be the end she told
herself over and over. You have to get to Daniel. She fought hard against the
pressing wall. Do it for Daniel, if nothing else she repeated over and over in
her mind. For Daniel…
“Were gonna be okay, Vala”
Sam told her, grunting as she pushed against the wall. “Don’t worry. We’ll get
out of here in no time. Just close your eyes and push up against the wall.”
Vala snorted. “Easy for you to say!
You are not Closter phobic.” Vala made a quick last
glance at her friends before closing her eyes and taking Sam’s advice. She
didn’t have much choice. If she didn’t, she was afraid she might be sick.
Sarah wasn’t handling the situation much better than Vala.
“Hoggle, I think this is worse that any cleaners!”
she muttered.
“You said it!” The dwarf said. His short stubby legs were no longer even on the
ground. He had barely enough room to stand.
Sarah found it getting hard to breathe. How could Jareth
do this? Did he really hate them that much? Sarah’s eyes began to flutter
opened and closed. Her breathing was getting slower. She glanced past SG-1 to
see if there was anyway that they could go back to where they came from only to
find that the tunnel had collapsed behind them. No escape.
Just as Sarah felt herself beginning to fall and loose strength, she felt a
pair of strong arms come around her waist.
“Sarah?” she could hardly hear Jareth’s accented
voice, but let go of the wall and gripped his leather
jacket with her hands.
In a flash of glitter, SG-1, Hoggle, and Sarah were
transported into the next chamber of the caves. Jareth
held Sarah’s weak body close, helping her stand. She was still flittering
between consciousness and unconsciousness.
Hoggle, Vala, Sam, Cameron
and Teal’c fell to the ground, butting heads as they went down. They had been
leaning and pushing onto the wall for far too long.
“Ouch!” Vala muttered rolling over onto her stomach.
“Couldn’t you have prevented us from falling over somehow?” she sent Cameron a
quick glare for bumping her head then returned her attention to the Goblin King.
Jareth glared at her saying nothing. He turned his
attention back to Sarah. Her hands were still gripping tightly onto his jacket.
She seemed to be in a state of shock, looking everywhere but at Jareth. Her breathing was still shallow but at least she
was aware now.
“It’s alright, Sarah” he said gently rubbing her back with his hand in an
attempt to calm her. “You’re going to be fine.”
Sam, who was now sitting up cross-legged between Cameron and Vala, made a face. Oh yeah the Goblin King really hates Sarah,
she thought amused. She looked over at Vala. Both
women smirked knowingly then looked over to Cameron, who simply shook his head
and stifled a lightly irritated yet knowing laugh.
The members of SG-1 glanced up at Teal’c, who had moved to stand. He raised his
eyebrow in confusion, and stared at Jareth, clearly
understanding the situation yet becoming confused all at the same time.
The
“ColonelMitchel” he said getting the Cameron’s
attention.
The leader of SG-1 stood up and looked to see what it was that had upset Teal’c
enough to pull out his Zat. At first it had appeared
to be pointed at Jareth, but it wasn’t him that had
concerned the
A white tiger was advancing towards them.
CHAPTER 16: Prophecy
Jareth let out a sigh mixed with
irritation and spoke. “Hello Laverna”
In a flash of glitter the tiger transformed into a woman with wavy fire red
hair and emerald green mismatched eyes. She was tall, slender and had the same
arrogance about her that Jareth did. Her skin was
pale and sparkled when the light hit it. She wore a snow white gown with black
fur trimming the edges. Around her neck was a simple silver chain. Hanging from
the chain was a black and silver charm in the shape of a tiger.
She walked slowly towards Jareth, with purpose and
smirked audaciously. “Ah Jareth!” she pronounced his
name icily. “The mighty Goblin King finally has come to rescue his mortal
girl?”
Jareth counted to three before responding. “What do
you want Laverna?”
Laverna looked at her nails, absently picking at them
as she spoke. “It took you long enough. After all I have been taunting at them
for quite some time now.” She glanced up at him and smirked. “I’m surprised you
didn’t notice. Getting old are we?”
Jareth let go of Sarah, standing almost protectively
in front of her. “Am I getting old?” he asked tilting his head to one side with
a smirk. “I’m not the one who seems to have forgotten why they are here.”
Laverna jutted her chin out defiantly. It seemed that
no matter what species you were, you just didn’t insult a woman’s age.
With a sigh of irritation, Laverna spoke. “I have
come to speak with you about something of high importance” she said, sounding
bored.
Jareth crossed his arms over his chest. “It would
have been easier to get my attention by appearing in my castle, would it not?”
“Where would be the fun in that?” Laverna smirked and
glanced over at Cameron. She walked towards him slowly.
On instinct, Sam, Vala, and Teal’c moved in next to
the leader of SG-1, pulling out their Zat guns.
“I believe that Jareth has already shown you how
those have no effect on our kind?” Laverna said
stopping directly in front of Cameron. She gazed at him with a smirk and spoke.
“Oh yes I believe that my way is much more enjoyable than yours, dear Jareth.”
Sarah stared at the encounter with irritation and curiosity all at once. Who
was this fae woman and what did she want? Anger
flushed over Sarah all at once.
Sarah moved over to the fae woman so quickly that Jareth hadn’t had time to stop her. She yanked at her arm,
turning the woman to face her. “You are wasting our time!” Sarah spoke angrily
at the fae woman. “You are interfering in matters
that do not concern you!”
Laverna smiled at Sarah, clearly angry at her. “Quite
a little spitfire you have here Jareth.”
In that second, the fae slapped Sarah hard across the
face. “You will not speak to me in such a manner, child!”
Sarah glared at her ready to scream but was stopped by Jareth’s
hand on her arm. Sarah felt Jareth move to stand
beside her. She glanced in his direction then quickly back at Laverna. She had seen Jareth’s
eyes filled with anger before, but never this much. She couldn’t look at him.
Jareth’s voice was quick, angry and icy when he
spoke. “You will not touch her again, Laverna. If you
have a disagreement then you will address me and only me.”
“Very well your highness” she said mockingly. “Shall we return to your castle
and discuss the dilemma there?”
Jareth let go of Sarah’s arm slowly. “Very well.”
In a flash, Jareth and Laverna
disappeared, leaving only glitter behind.
Vala let out a sigh that she hadn’t realized she had
been holding and moved over to Sarah. “Are you alright?”
Sarah nodded, now moving her hand up to where Laverna
had smacked her. “It still stings a little.”
Vala placed a cold hand gently on the side of Sarah’s
face, she could feel the heat in her face. “It will
probably sting for a little while longer.”
“I can’t believe you stood up to her like that” Sam piped in curiously. “What
in the world possessed you to do that?”
What had possessed her to do that? Sarah shrugged. “I’m not really sure.”
“What I wanna know” Cameron said coughing slightly.
“Is why a strange immortal alien would walk over and check me out while she’s
yelling at someone else?”
At this both Sarah and Vala managed a laugh while Sam
and Teal’c simply smiled.
“Laugh if you want” came Hoggle’s
voice.
Sarah turned to see the little dwarf standing beside her. “Hoggle! Where were you?”
“I wuz hidin’ behind those
rocks” He said pointing to a cave exit.
“I don’t blame you there” Vala commented.
“Hoggle did you know who that woman was?” Sam asked
bending down to his height.
“Laverna? I’d better not say
anything.” He said moving towards the cave exit. “We should just keep moving
on, and get to the castle.”
“Hoggle!”
Sarah yelled, stopping the little man in his tracks.
“I ain’t telling, Sarah!” He crossed his stubby arms
over his chest. “It’s too dangerous.”
“How so?”
Hoggle sighed. “Please, Sarah, for once just trust
me. I ain’t gonna put you
in no more danger, not if I can help it.”
“Will you tell us if we need to know?” Sarah asked firmly.
“Only if I have ta tell you
will I tell you.” The dwarf agreed. “Now let’s get outta
these caves, before something else happens.”
* * * *
Daniel wandered through the various hallways of the castle. What was behind
that door? Why had the Goblin King been so firm about staying away from it?
He turned the corner and walked down a much narrower hallway until he came to
the hallway he recognized that lead to the kitchen. He rounded several more
turns through halls until he came to the one he was looking for. The door he
was searching for was here somewhere, he knew, and continued wandering.
As he walked on he could hear raised voices, one of them sounding like the
Goblin King, but he could not make it out to be sure.
Daniel followed the sound until he came to a door. Ironic, he thought, I was
looking for this door. Slowly and quietly Daniel leaned up against the door
listening in.
“We had a deal, Jareth” came
a woman’s voice. “You would not interfere with the for the goblin children once
they come to my care and I would not interfere with your methods of the
Labyrinth. You are in violation!”
“How am I interfering? I have done nothing and sent no one to your lands!
Explain this to me!” Jareth responded angrily.
The woman grumbled exasperatedly. “You know of the prophecy! How
can you be so blind?”
“The prophecy has nothing to do with this! You have no right to barge in
when I have people running my Labyrinth, and you have no right to interfere
with their run!”
“I have every right! I must protect what is mine!” the woman replied bluntly.
“You own nothing, Laverna.” The Goblin King stated
with disgust. “Those children are not your slaves!”
Daniel listened closely but Laverna said nothing. Prophecy? Goblin Children? What was
the fae King talking about?
“I suggest you leave” Jareth said coldly. “If you
continue to interfere I will be forced to take action.”
“This is not over, Jareth, I assure you.” Laverna spat back to him.
There was a moment of silence before Daniel heard Jareth
speak again. “One more thing, Laverna.
If you ever dare touch Sarah again…you will suffer greatly.”
Daniel could hear footsteps coming to the door and quickly moved away out into
the hall, rounded the corner and hid. He peeked out and saw Jareth
walking down going in the opposite direction of him. Relieved he leaned his
head back against the wall and sighed. What he heck was going on? What was this
prophecy and why was that woman so determined to stop it from coming true…and
what did she do to Sarah?
Daniel took another quick peek out into the hall. When he saw no one was there,
he quietly went to the door. This time when he tried the handle, it opened. He
peeked into the room, check to see if the woman was there. The room was empty.
Daniel quietly opened the door the full way and let himself in. Once inside he
looked around the room. It was nothing extravagant about the room. It was dimly
lit by a few candles along the wall. There were no windows to speak of, no
hidden magical creatures or magical devices, just an old fireplace that seemed
to have been out of use for a long time, and a simple round table with a single
book. Daniel moved closer and picked up the book. It was a thick, leather bound
book. It had no title on it’s cover or on it’s side.
Daniel opened it, careful not to rip it apart. Surprisingly most of the pages
were blank. Daniel moved to stand by on of the candles on the wall. When he
did, he looked at the book carefully. Why would a room be locked with a single
book inside it that was completely blank? Carefully Daniel continued to flip
through the book until he reached the center. One page in the entire book had
writing on it:
Five will enter
Three must go
Two must stay to face their foe
Those who stay
Must break the curse
But reaction from the Wished Away
Must come first
Two Ravens come to say the words
One is never to return
The other will fly beside the Owl
While the angry Wild Cat growls
The Wished Away will then be set free
For one of their own had been in need
Raven and Ancient side by side
Never again to break their stride
Peace will once again be found
For they were there as the world fell down.
Daniel stared and read the poem over and over. What was this? Was this the
prophecy that the woman, Laverna had spoken of? What
did it mean? Daniel stood and placed the book back on the table. He needed
answers and he needed them soon.
To
be continued…
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