Work Text:
This is written in Jareth’s POV:
It is late in the day, and I am sitting with my leg over the arm of my throne as usual while listening to the endless squabble of my goblin subjects.
If I am being completely honest, I really could not care less about who owns which chicken, or who had which vegetable taken from their garden that morning. All my thoughts are with my beloved wife, Sarah, and how I wish I were with her and her family Aboveground for their family celebration of Thanksgiving.
I had to send Sarah to her family alone this year, as I was forced to stay behind and sort out the mess that some of my goblins had done.
Closing my eyes with a sigh, and after pinching the bridge of my nose in habit, I have decided that I have had enough of the Goblin Court. Standing up and schooling my facial features, I stalk down the dais with my brown, knee-high boots, the heels making their noise on the cobblestone flooring.
My goblin subjects become silent as they watch me when I turn around to face them all.
“ENOUGH!”
My voice rings high and loud.
“First, you all commit a huge delay that forces me to stay away from my in-law family in the Aboveground world for a special tradition. Then, I am forced to send the queen to her family alone because of your idiocrasy, and now you want me to sort out which chicken and vegetable belongs to whom. Well, not this time. My ruling stands as this… Everything will stay where it is. The chickens and vegetables will not be traded back. Now I have spoken.”
With that, I leave the throne room, heading for my private chambers with my mind still filled with my beautiful wife and the parting that was forced upon me just hours ago.
“I don’t understand why I can’t be here with you, Hun. What happened to the kingdom is NOT your fault. You should be able to come with me and enjoy our Thanksgiving dinner with my family.”
Sarah looks up at me with her confused yet dazzling emerald-green eyes as she takes in the damage to the Labyrinth’s walls herself. She knows that I will oversee the misguided goblins myself; she is just sorry that I will be missing a delicious turkey dinner.
“Do not worry, Love. The Labyrinth herself will be able to fix its walls. I will just have to deal with the five subjects that are now down in the dungeon. It will not take long.”
Sarah hugs me when I bend down for a passionate kiss. Her arms hold me tight as her lips move to my ear, whispering words that only I can hear.
“I promise that I will send you some of our dinner, Hun. That way, you will feel like you are with us.”
Before I can reply, she has kissed me lightly and disappears from the Underground.
With the memory of my wife’s promise, my stomach starts to grumble in anticipation of eating some of the delicious hot food that will be on its way very soon.
I am lost in thought of digging into hot roasted potatoes and some of the most delicious turkey that I have ever had. I just need some of Karen’s savoury gravy to top it off with, and a big slice of pecan pie for dessert. By now, I am practically salivating, and my stomach is screaming out in frustration and impatience.
“Kingy! Kingy!”
One of my goblins by the name of Smells comes rushing down the corridor towards me, shaking me out of my reverie.
Taking a moment to remember where I am, I turn around and look down to the goblin who is shouting at me.
“What is it, Smells? Can’t you see that I am on the way to my private chambers to await what the queen will send through to me?”
“B-b-but Kingy. There’s a big, weird chicken bird walking through Labyrinth.”
That stops me in my tracks, as I do not know if he is telling the entire truth or just exaggerating.
“What are you talking about? What weird chicken?”
Suddenly, I feel an unwanted presence just the other side of the Goblin City towards the Firey Forest. I know that it is not a runner,
Hoggle has been given the day off from his usual gardening duty, and Didymus has decided to join Ludo in the mountains for the next few days. I know he considers the rock caller his brother.
With the three of them busy, I know that I do not have to worry about tripping over the small fox or coming into contact with the cowardly dwarf.
I vanish towards the Firey Forest to investigate this unwanted presence, and I am completely surprised to find a living, breathing turkey walking the forest garden bed.
For a minute, I cannot even comprehend what stands in front of me. I am expecting a home cooked meal, not a living bird. I have a feeling that my beloved Sarah has sent this by mistake, and it causes me to laugh uncontrollably.
Watching the turkey move around and peck at the ground makes me wonder over how Sarah could have made such an error.
Granted, her magic is still in the learner’s stage, but I never thought that I would have to actually kill my dinner. Before I can decide on what to do, Smells appears, all excited, along with another goblin called Munch.
“See, Munch. I told ya,” Smells squeals excitedly.
“Oh, wow. That is a big, weird chicken. Kingy, can we keep him? Please?”
Quickly, I know that I have to say something before things get out of hand. I know that if word spreads, all the goblins will be at me to keep this bird.
“The answer is no. No, you cannot keep it. I will have to find a way to send this bird back to where it came from.”
Throughout this small discussion, I find that the turkey has been scared off by the appearances of Smell and Munch and their over-enthusiasm.
I look around for said bird, as I know that it cannot have gone too far in such a brief time, but indeed it has. For some reason, I think hearing the calls of the elusive turkey near to where the blue and red guards are. So, I vanish, leaving Smells and Munch on their own.
The first thing I hear is the tell-tale sound of the lunatic guards, but I decide to completely ignore them and focus on the scent and sound of the turkey.
“Gobble, gobble.”
There it is, pecking at the ground as the blue and red guards start their joking attitude, watching the scene before them.
“What is that?”
“I dunno. Looks like a chicken but without any feathers.”
“Never thought I’d see that.”
I cannot take much more, as I have to try and catch that bird.
“That is enough. Please be quiet, for I have to catch that bird.”
Drawing out a crystal, so that I can capture it, and without wanting to scare it away again, I have to move slowly.
Quietly, and without noise, I walk over to where the turkey is nibbling on the ground. Before I can throw the crystal, the turkey disappears, and I am dumbfounded.
A second later, I think, I feel it wandering the outer rim of the Labyrinth, but I cannot figure out how a flightless bird could get that far in such a fleeting time. I have my suspicions but have yet to have any proof of the Labyrinth spirit’s interference.
Transporting myself to the outer rim of the Labyrinth, sure enough, I see that bird once again, nibbling on what greenery it can find.
The little blue worm is watching it with curiosity, but he decides to stay quiet and see what I will do about it.
William looks up at me with his blinking eyes as I slowly walk over to the turkey, holding the crystal in my hand. But again, it disappears before I am able to get close enough to capture it.
“Dammit to hell. Again, so close,” I whisper under my breath. “I have a strong feeling that the Labyrinth spirit is playing games with me.”
“What do you mean, Your Majesty? What was that thing?”
I sigh in frustration.
“That is an Aboveground turkey. I fear our queen has sent it here by mistake. She promised me a nice, hot turkey meal but due to what happened to the Labyrinth’s walls, I was forced to stay here. She tried to send me some of it, but unfortunately, the bird is alive.”
I am not one to be known for patience, and at this moment, I am getting close to becoming very impatient.
I have to start thinking strategically if I am ever going to beat the Labyrinth spirit at her own game.
I have a few inclinations of where she may drop the turkey next, for so far, everywhere that bird has been, is where Sarah has been on her run.
I can feel the bird pecking away near the False Alarm tunnels. It is game on, and I vanish.
Very soon, I arrive in the corridor of the False Alarms where all I can hear is the signature pecking of the beak from the turkey, and that insolent noise that comes from its throat.
“Gobble, gobble.”
“What is that? Looks like a large chicken.”
“No. Chickens have feathers. This one does not.”
“You need glasses. Look at it, you clod. Of course, it has feathers. The king will have to fix your eyes, or you will have to just become a stone column. What is the use of a blind alarm?”
“Humph. I was half asleep. We have not had a runner here for a long time.”
“It should go back. Doesn’t belong here.”
I sigh and pinch the bridge of my nose as I listen to the rock-faced false alarms state the obvious before slowly and very carefully stalking my prey with my crystal.
The sound from the heels of my boots, clomping on the concrete floor, making the sound echo through the stone covered corridors as I walk towards the bird, give my intent away. Suddenly, a different noise that sounds like a voice ringing in my head.
“Not yet, My King. Catch him if you can.”
With that, the turkey has again disappeared, and my frustration grows even more. The voice inside my mind comes from the Labyrinth spirit, and she is laughing.
“What game are you playing, Gia?”
“Whatever do you mean, My King? I thought people played games on Thanksgiving.”
“I believe, you are mixing up Thanksgiving with the Aboveground celebration of Christmas, Gia. I was forced to stay behind and punish those who dared to desecrate your walls when I should have been enjoying a wonderful meal with my wife and her family.”
“Oh, Your Majesty. You should have left with your queen, as you should know that the Labyrinth walls fix themselves with magic. When that turkey arrived, I just couldn’t help but have a little fun. The queen will get a hold on her magic soon, but in the meantime, enjoy catching the elusive bird, My King.”
With that, Gia’s voice vanishes from my mind, and once again I am on turkey hunting duty. This time, I sense that it has moved to the outer rim of the Junkyard, and I am not happy. I do not want to run into Agnes, as she just won’t shut up, and I do not have time to listen to her complaints.
Now that I know Gia is behind the turkeys’ flightless roam through my Labyrinth, I just have to catch that bird and send it back Aboveground before my Sarah arrives home.
Sure enough, I hear it before I eventually locate it over towards the Goblin City gates that border the Junkyard. At least now, I am in the right environment to capture that bird, as the noises will not scare it away should something fall from the high piles of junk.
“Oh, my, what is that? Ahh! It’s alive.”
Closing my eyes as I hear Agnes’s shrill screech, I think for sure the turkey is going to run away, but it doesn’t.
It seems quite happy pecking away at something on the ground, and this time I take my chance, throwing the crystal directly at it.
Bullseye!
The turkey disappears into the crystal, and I hear Gia’s laughter in my head and her light applause as I win her game.
I walk over to the crystal that is now on the ground and pick it up before looking into its centre.
“You have cost me a lot of time chasing you around the kingdom and Labyrinth today. Through the Firey Forest, down into the False Alarm tunnels, putting up with the blue and red guards, the outer rim corridors of the Labyrinth, and now to the Junkyard. Unless I keep you in there, Sarah is NEVER going to believe the journey I have had today, or what the Labyrinth put me through.”
Agnes is busy watching me talking to a bird that is inside a crystal, I know what she wants, but there is absolutely no way that wish will be granted.
This is my prize, and proof to my wife; so, with a wave of my hand, I transport back to the throne room to await my beloved queen to come home.