The courtyard within the Goblin City was filled with a festive air. Everywhere you looked, garlands and multi-colored pennant banners were hanging from rooftops, and everyone moving about were dressed in their finest clothes. Even Ludo had been dolled up, with a gold trimmed shoulder cape secured around his neck. However, the yeti's attention was pulled away from his current task of securing the tent pavilion that had been set up in the center of the square when he heard the argument brewing behind him.

"No, no! Don't put the bunting around the base of the fountain! That's where the flower garland was going!"

"Oh, don't be silly! The bunting is far better! See? It'll hide the cracks in the stone masonry better!"

"And it'll be easier to get noticeably wet, too! You know that fountain has a tendency to splash water. With the flower garland, we can use that to our advantage. Give the illusion of dewdrops over the flowers."

Letting out a low noise of exasperation, Ludo turned to see Daedalus and Sir Didymus standing nearby, arguing over decorations. Shaking his shaggy head, Ludo stepped over to the pair and gently nudged them apart.

"No fighting," Ludo rumbled. "Get along. For Stacey."

"Ah, you're right, my brother," Sir Didymus said, relenting. "Today is a day for joyous celebration. We can't let ourselves forget that."

"Perhaps a compromise is in order," Daedalus suggested.

Before the two of them could even begin to decide on their compromise, Thesus suddenly appeared, scampering over to them in an urgent matter.

"Cu-chu!" he exclaimed. "Cu-cu-chu!"

"Woah! Slow down, Theseus!" Daedalus instructed, hopping down to stand next to the gremlin. "What about Stacey?"

Up in the castle, the Goblin Princess, Stacey, was sitting by the window in the room that had once been her nursery. The room had undergone significant changes since she'd moved into the castle over two years ago. Since then, the crib and multiple playthings had been replaced by a majestic four poster bed and various other bits of furniture, from a fine looking mahogany wardrobe to a marble vanity adorned with a hairbrush set crafted from the finest silver available in the Underground. However, Stacey didn't seem to notice any of those things, simply staring off into space as her mind wandered.

Her thoughts were interrupted when a voice spoke her name.

"Stacey?" Daedalus called out, hopping into the room through the open door. "Are you in here?"

"Over here, Daedalus," Stacey replied, unmoving from her spot at the window, which she'd been staring out of. Immediately, Daedalus clicked his beak in concern. All it took was one glance to see the anxiety on Stacey's face.

"What's wrong?" Daedalus asked, moving closer to her.

"Why did I think I could do this?" Stacey lamented. "Why did I think I was ready for this?"

"It might be a little late to back out now," Daedalus noted. "Considering everyone has already arrived and is waiting for the ceremony to begin in the square."

"You're not helping," Stacey remarked, turning away from the window and beginning to pace the room.

"Well, perhaps it'll help if you said what you were so nervous about," the diminutive owl pointed out. "You seemed quite sure of things yesterday."

"I was," Stacey agreed. "And I suppose I still am. I haven't changed my mind, at the very least. Just…"

Daedalus was about to open his beak to urge her to continue when there was a soft knock on the door. Seconds later, Hoggle, not even waiting for a response, entered the room.

"Hoggle, what are you doing up here?" Daedalus exclaimed. "You're supposed to be down in the square!"

"I know, but I heard from Sir Didymus, who heard from Theseus, that she was in need of a friend right now. So, I couldn't just stand around down there, doing nothin'."

"It's all right, Daedauls," Stacey spoke up before the owl could reply, stepping forward in the process. "He may stay."

Hoggle's eyes widened when he caught sight of Stacey, who was wearing an elegant off-the-shoulder ivory dress with golden embroidery across the bodice. "Cor. You look beautiful!"

"Thank you for that, Hoggle," Stacey said, a faint blush coloring her cheeks. "You don't look to shabby, yourself."

"Yes, well…" Hoggle muttered, averting his eyes in embarrassment while tugging at the clean silk tunic featuring a golden infinity symbol, which had been specifically tailor-made for him to wear for the occasion. "Let's focus on you right now, shall we? What exactly is troublin' you?"

"I believe she's nervous about going through with the ceremony," Daedalus explained.

"What's the problem?" Hoggle asked, concern filling his gaze. "You're not havin' second thoughts, are you?"

"No, it's not that," Stacey replied, shaking her head. "I know it sounds crazy, but… isn't there some way we can skip all this pomp and circumstance? Can't I just…sign my name to a scroll and let that be it? Simple and to the point, you know?"

"Is that what the problem is?" Daedalus asked. "You're nervous about the ceremony itself?"

"I know. I'm just being silly."

"You're not being silly at all," Hoggle comforted. "There's nothin' wrong with being nervous. You just have to remember you have nothin' to worry about. In fact, you actually have the easiest job there is. All you really have to do is walk down to the tent pavilion and respond to a few questions. It's the Wise Man who has the hardest job, seeing as he's the one officiating everything. Knowing him, he might end up falling asleep in the middle of everything." In spite of her trepidation, Stacey let out a low chuckle at Hoggle's remark. Emboldened by that response, Hoggle stepped over to her side and placed a supportive hand on her arm.

"Besides," he continued. "It's like you said. This is all just pomp and circumstance. The ceremony today isn't going to change anythin'. It's just takin' what we've all known to be true these past two years and making it official. Nothin' more than that."

"Thank you, Hoggle," Stacey replied, casting a warm, grateful smile his way.

"You feelin' any better?" he inquired.

"I think I am." However, Stacey's smile faded a bit when her gaze fell on the old painting that hung on the far wall. It was the portrait of the late Queen Susan, who had died under tragic circumstances when Stacey had been a year old. Noticing where Stacey was looking and realizing what she was thinking, Hoggle let out a sad sigh.

"I know," he consoled. "I wish Sarah could have been here today, too."

"We just have to remember she has her own life to live in the Aboveground," Stacey said. "She'll be away at college now, so it's only natural that she wouldn't be able to find time to visit that often. Still, it's a shame she couldn't make it to the ceremony. Especially since I wouldn't have found my way back to the Underground in the first place without her."

The wistful moment was broken when a small goblin poked his head into the room.

"Begging your pardon, your majesty," he said. "But it's time for the ceremony to begin.

"Thank you, Shinjee," Stacey responded with a nod. "We'll be right down."

"Are you still nervous?" Hoggle asked, concern in his eyes.

"A little," Stacey admitted. "But I think I can handle it."

"Alright then," Daedalus stated, visibly pleased with how Stacey had gotten past her misgivings about the day. "Let's get you down to the square. We've got your coronation to get underway."

"Yeah, we do, don't we?"

After taking a steadying breath, Stacey turned and followed after Shinjee, with Hoggle and Daedalus close behind her. As such, there was no one left in the room to notice a few flakes of snow falling onto the window pane.

6 Months Later

It was a warm, clear sunny day in Kent, Ohio when twenty-year-old Sarah Williams looked out her bedroom window, just letting her mind wander. She was currently home for the summer months after completing her sophomore year at the University of Michigan School of Music, Theater and Dance, but she was not that excited about it. Even after three years of living in this town with her family, she had no attachment to it. A large part of her couldn't wait to return to school, just so she could get out of this town again. In fact, the only reason she even bothered coming back to Kent for the summer was to spend time with her six-year-old brother, Toby. The chance to spend time with him was worth putting up with her step-mother, Irene, who always made it clear that she didn't approve of Sarah's aspiration to be an actress.

Sometimes, Sarah couldn't stop herself from wondering if Kent would be more inviting if she'd really bothered trying to make friends here, but at the same time, she knew it wouldn't be a good idea. Once she graduated from her school and got an acting job, she had no intention of remaining here, and would be moving to a place of her own without hesitation. Having friends here in Kent would only make the move harder.

In fact, there was only one person Sarah had actually became friends with in Kent, and that had been Stacey, whom Sarah had met after her first day at Theodore Roosevelt High School. However, it had been quite a while since Sarah had last seen Stacey, along with her other friends, Hoggle, Ludo, Sir Didymus, Theseus, and Daedalus. Part of the reason for their length of absence from Sarah's life was that they didn't live in Kent. In fact, they didn't even live in this world at all. Stacey and the others were all from the Underground, a magical world that Sarah had visited on two occasions. On her last visit to the Underground, Stacey had given her a magical pendent that she could use to travel to and from the Underground any time she wanted. But so far, Sarah had hesitated from using it as often as she'd have liked to. It turned out that when she went to the Underground last time, she had been gone from her world for nearly four days. When she'd returned home, she'd found that her father and step-mother had actually called the police to report that she had been missing, and had probably run away. Sarah wanted to avoid a repeat of that experience, and had so far kept her visits to the Underground to a minimum. And ever since she enrolled in college, she found she had even less free time to venture to the Underground, on account of her need to study for her classes. Many times, she often found herself wondering what her friends were doing, and if they missed her as much as she missed them.

At that moment, the bedroom door opened and Toby stepped in, carrying his favorite teddy bear, Lancelot.

"Hi, Sarah," Toby grinned happily climbing onto Sarah's bed.

"Hello, Toby," Sarah returned his smile, stepping over to her little half brother to ruffle his curly hair. "What's going on?"

"Mom went out shopping," Toby announced. "You're supposed to watch me again."

"I guess I should have expected that," Sarah sighed to herself. That was probably the only reason Irene wanted her around- watching Toby. On the positive side, Toby was at that age when he tried to act like a big kid, which meant that he rarely cried anymore.

Turning, Sarah started to look through the jigsaw puzzles she kept on her shelf, searching for one that would interest Toby, but as she was searching, a voice suddenly cried out.

"Sarah!"

Sarah's back stiffened, her eyes widening. That had been Stacey's voice. She was sure of it. When she turned to look around her room, however, all she saw was Toby looking back at her. One look at his face, however, told Sarah that he'd heard Stacey's voice, too.

"Stacey?" Sarah called out, still looking around the room and trying to figure out where Stacey's voice had came from. Unfortunately, there was no sign her anywhere, until...

"Sarah!" Toby suddenly cried, pointing at the small television that sat atop Sarah's dresser. There, on the television screen, was the image of Stacey, her face greatly distressed.

"Stacey!" Sarah gasped, hurrying over to the television, staring at the image of her friend in amazement. Stacey's image within the TV screen was very hazy, and when she spoke, her voice kept fading in and out, making it sound like a bad radio signal.

"Sarah!" Stacey's voice rang out urgently. "Sarah…. Underground…. danger!"

"Stacey, what's wrong?" Sarah exclaimed, clutching the edge of the dresser in worry.

"We ….help," Stacey continued. "Ple….come back!" With that, Stacey's image completely fizzled out and was lost.

"Stacey, wait!" Sarah cried, now extremely worried. For a long moment, Sarah continued staring at the black screen, hoping that Stacey's image would appear again, but to no avail.

"Sarah?" Toby asked hesitantly, sliding off the bed.

"Something's wrong," Sarah whispered, turning back to her brother. "Stacey sounded like she was in real trouble. I have to go back."

"Back to the Underground?" Toby's eyes widened. Sarah had told him all about her adventures in the Underground as bedtime stories, and he always loved hearing about that other world. "But Sarah, what about Mom and Dad? Last time you were there, they were really scared when you were gone." Sighing in exasperation, Stacey grabbed a pen from her desk and ripped out a clean page from a notebook, writing a hasty note.

"There," Sarah announced, placing the note on the foot of her bed. "I've told them not to worry, and I'll be back soon. Toby, I need to go. My friends might be in trouble. I have to help them, now!" As Sarah talked, she slid open her drawer and carefully took out the silver pendant Stacey had given her, but as she held it in her hand, Toby grabbed her arm.

"Sarah, I wanna come, too!" he begged, looking up at her beseechingly.

"Toby, you can't!" Sarah shook her head. "You're too…"

"I'm a big kid!" Toby announced stubbornly. "I wanna help Stacey, too!" Sarah took a long moment to think, finally realizing her predicament. She had been so worried about her friends in the Underground; she almost completely forgot that she couldn't leave Toby alone in the house. On the other hand, she couldn't just wait around for Irene to return home, either. Now when her friends were possibly in serious trouble. The more she thought about it, the more she realized that there was no other choice. She had to take Toby along.

"All right," Sarah reluctantly gave in. "Give me your hand." The moment Toby was holding her hand, Sarah held out her pendant, closing her eyes and making the wish to return to the Underground. Almost instantly, Sarah and Toby disappeared, leaving the empty room behind.