Labyrinth: An Owl's Story

Chapter 1

Takes place 8 years after the movie Labyrinth, after Sarah defeated the Goblin King and was sent home with Toby. What Sarah and her labyrinth friends didn't realize is that Jareth in his owl form were watching the party from outside her bedroom window before flying off into the full moon.

While circling over the labyrinth past the magic barrier, that separates the Aboveground and the Underground, Jareth's mind was so preoccupied with thoughts of losing Sarah that he didn't notice that goblins were aiming a makeshift dart blow-dart gun in his direction. He was hit right into the tip of his left wing, struggling he tried to glide to safety but instead going yeep. His mind dizzy from the poison in the dart, his last thought before he fell into the earth was the tender picture of Sarah holding baby Toby.

Eight years later,

Jareth finally escapes the hold of the goblins and flies off into the rugged firey forest. He met many other owls there who told him the real truth of his parents. These owls were his family. They invited him for diner and he accepted the offer. He finally got to meet his parents after his birth. He had been told by the goblins that his parents were killed by human intruders who had dug their way into the city. Also the goblins let him believe he was royal, which in reality, he really was. But this royalty was not just royalty over the goblins, but the elves of the entire Underground, which his own family reigned over the whole Underground, including the High Kingdom of Blaze, which also oversees the entire goblin kingdom.

They tell him a secret too, which they had to close the hollow up in order to do things. The family had a prophecy. Every year, when a new owlet, which is how all of the family members were always born, comes, the family finds one owl who is willing to become a human, owl, and elf all at once. Well, when little Jareth was born, the family had to find a owl as usual. This time however, all the owls looked at the secret family book that was always read on a night when an owlet is born, they read that this very night, the family would have to take their young chick to the goblins, and given the life of a human, elf, and owl. So it was little Jareth who had to have this done to him, which the family did not want to do. Some of the family did not want this to happen, but unfortunately, this book was the secret book, so they had to obey it.

They had already named the poor little owlet, so they took him to the goblin city and let him live there. They went back home and went to sleep for the day. But, they had not read the prophecy right. It said that this was not allowed in the family, only to a owlet who had been born on that very night already. If this was done though, the family would be stuck as owls, not finishing the family prophecy.

No one ever knew what happened to the family of owls. Some had said that they had turned into dust. But others already knew of the prophecy.

What the royal family forgot to tell Jareth was that there was cure to the prophecy, if Jareth could find a human to love and cherish, but she must accept him for who and what he is in order to save the entire royal family. When Jareth head the news, all the years of grief turned into anger and frustration.

"It seems that someone forgot to check the gously book again!" screeches Jareth. "And you just now tell me this old gously prophecy that has ruined my life for 200 years!"

His sister Lady Golda fluffed out her feathers in a shrugging gesture, which made her look even bigger than ever.

"Will you stop saying gously! It is not at all proper for royalty, plus it is making me go chinks!" she screeched at the top of her lungs.

"Will you all please shut your beaks!" Queen Getha came into the conversation. "your father and I are trying to sleep in here!"

"We are so sorry your highness, but we are to cooped up in here that we just want to kill each other." This time Toby spoke for the young group of owls.

His feathers were not as golden today as usual. Since he had been turned into an owl because of the prophecy, he was not himself for a few moons. He and Jareth and gone looking for Sarah when Toby's transformation took place to warn her, but she had disappeared without a trace. Toby had just turned 10 years old in the Aboveground time. The family had noticed this and became worried. But he was calm this time when he spoke.

"When should we leave for the throne room Jareth?" asked King Tekiak.

"I don't think we should go in day, the clouds look as if it is going to rain today," said Toby.

"Well then maybe I can make the decisions instead of an owl who has never flown in his life, is really a human, and wants to have the throne! And keep your talons off Sarah when we eventually find her."

Jareth was in no mood in staying all day in a hollow close to Toby. Though Toby was Jareth's adoptive son, due to the prophecy timing Sarah wasn't in the right room when the curse was passed over her house to change her into an owl to find Jareth, rather Toby changed into the owl form. Yet, Toby still remembered Jareth since he was a baby and knew he could trust the former Goblin King. The same night Toby was changed, Sarah had already left for her first year of college, she didn't learn until 2 hours later from her parents that Toby had disappeared and they found and owl flying out of her bedroom. Sarah did try calling her friends through her vanity mirror to learn if the Goblin King had taken away her brother again, but to her disappointment, her own friends explained that they had not seen the Goblin King since the night she defeated him.

Many thought him to be dead or residing in a faraway kingdom. Sarah was tempted to summon the Goblin King himself like she had before, but her own pride kept her from calling to him, worried about what he would say or do. She didn't want to admit that she cared about the Goblin King's well being. Jareth and Toby tried to find Sarah, but Toby had forgotten which college she had traveled to, and well, owl talons are difficult to use when checking the yellow pages or type on a keyboard. Every flight through the magic barrier between both worlds was draining them of their energy, so each journey was made in short flights and different locations.

After a year of Underground time, each trip made Jareth more frustrated and determined to find Sarah. His family had advised him to find another or chose an owl from a neighboring clan, but he refused his family's past experiences and decisions didn't give Jareth any reason to trust their judgments. Yes, they were family and he loved them, but like any family they were not perfect. He wanted Sarah, precious, innocent, stubborn, beautiful and determined, yet sweet Sarah.

Jareth looked blankly into the hollow, silent, not making any sound at all, which was strange for him because he always had something to say. Lady Golda noticed this first.

"Jareth?" Lady Golda looked at her brother with a worried face.

"What? Oh, sorry," his eyes were wide at her voice, and answering her unasked question, said "I am fine sis, it is quite alright, I am just fine."

Then he looked at his sleeping mom. She had more gold in her feathers than before. He guessed it was from the sunlight from outside. He put a wing over his face to block the sun ray beams, but also the far away sad look in his eyes.

"Jareth, it is me, Toby," Jareth woke at the soft and calm voice of his hollow mate "You need to wake up. It is probably time to go."

"Is any of the other awake yet?" Jareth asked tiredly.

"No, but if you think it is time to go, then maybe I should."

Before Jareth could answer, Toby rushed to the other side of the hollow to wake the others.

'Maybe I should have just not gone with the book, that grossly book' He thought slyly.

"Toby said it is time to go, is that right?" yawned Duke Satean.

"Yes, is that really true that we are leaving this early in the night?" this time Lord Efra asked.

"Yes, it is true." Answered Jareth, but he was not so sure.

It was time to get on with their mission, or was this an only mission for him?

"Please leave a contribution in the little box!"

Labyrinth Wiseman's bird