I picked up the bat again and stood up. I heard laughter every now and then which creeped me out.
'Who are you? Where's my brother'?
'Why Y/n, you know exactly who I am'. I thought and my eyes widened.
'It can't be. I must be dreaming. The Goblin King? Well I thought he looked like an ugly goblin himself'.
'I assure you, you're not dreaming'.
'Then where is my brother or I'll bash your head in for intrusion'.
'You are different from your mother, she was much calmer than you'.
'What are you talking about'?
'Y/n, go back to your room. Go back to reading your silly books and forget about the baby'.
'He's my brother, how can I? And I didn't mean it. I didn't think it was real'.
'I've brought you, a gift'. He made a crystal ball appear.
'What is it'?
'It's a crystal, nothing more. But if you turn it this way and look at it, it will show you your dreams'. He started to do tricks with it. 'But this is not a gift for an ordinary girl who takes care of a screaming baby'. He held out the crystal ball and I slowing went to grab it but he pulled away. 'Do you want it? Then forget about the baby'. I thought.
'I-I can't.
'Y/n...' I watched him turn the crystal ball into a snake.
I wasn't scared. I loved snakes.
'Don't defy me'. He tossed the snake at me and I panicked for a second but soon calmed down.
It turned into a scarf as a goblin appeared and ran away.
'You're no match for me, Y/n'.
'You wanna bet fancy pants and I happen to like snakes. Where is my brother'? He pointed to the window.
'He's there, in my castle'.
I saw a castle in the distance surrounded by a cool looking labyrinth. I tried not to smile.
'Do you still want to look for him'?
'I- is that the castle beyond the goblin city'? I turned around to see the room was gone.
'Turn back, Y/n. Turn back before it's too late'. I scoffed.
'Are you kidding? I still need my brother back and it will be fun', I whispered the last bit.
'What a pity'.
'Besides, it doesn't look that far too me'.
'It's farther than you think, time is short', he said into my ear. 'You have 13 hours in which to solve the labyrinth before your baby brother becomes one of us, such a pity'. He disappeared.
If I lose Henry, my mother will hate me even more. Besides, I always love an adventure. I noticed that I still had my bat so I grabbed some vines and tied it around my bay, swinging it around my back.
I walked around and saw a goblin doing his business.
'Dude, gross'.
'Excuse me'. He pulled up his pants and I laughed. 'No one ever comes here. Say yous look familiar'.
'Well I haven't been here before'.
'Yous Sarah'. I frowned.
'How do you know my mother's name'?
'Mother'?
'She's been here before? Look, do you know how to get into the labyrinth'?
'Asking the right questions, I see. It's right through there'. I looked at the doors and walking into the labyrinth.
'How can I trust you-'?
'Hoggle'.
'Hi, I'm Y/n. How can I trust you Hoggle? For all I know, a goblin could be working for the Goblin King'.
'How do you think Sarah got out of here'?
'You helped my mother'.
'It doesn't look like you do'.
'Yeah, you're right, Hogbrain'.
'Hoggle'.
'I know, I was teasing'! I called after him. The doors closed. 'Okay, left or right'. I looked left and started to walk.
It was about 10 minutes and it seemed to go on for ages. There was no openings or turns. I kicked a wall and sat down in frustration.
'It probably goes like this for miles'.
'Allo', I heard a small voice say. I turned my head and crawled away when I saw the... plants? I mean it had eyes.
'What the-'
'Over hear'. I looked closely and saw a worm.
'Is that not weird'? I asked saying about the plant thing.
'That's quite common here in the labyrinth. Come in and meet the Mrs'.
'No thanks, do you know a way out of here, there doesn't seem to be openings'.
'They're are, don't always take this for granted around here. There's one right behind you'. I turned around and looked at the wall.
'What'?
'Things are not always what they seem here'. My eyes widened.
'Please be a secret door, please be a secret door'. I put my hands out but they went right through. 'Huh, that was boring. I thought it would be a secret door'. I went right.
'Hey, don't go that way'. I stopped and went back. 'The other way'.
'Oh okay, thanks'.
I continued to walk the other way but I was lost again. I thought.
Maybe I can climb the walls. They're not that high. I shook my head.
'No, that would be cheating, he didn't explain the rules but it's obvious'. I sighed. I continued walking. 'Not this way'.
I turned back but the path I came from wasn't there anymore, it was a dead end.
'What? You're joking. That's not fair. Hey, are you having a laugh as well'! I screamed to the sky. 'It's not fair'.
'That's right, it's not fair'. I look and see two door with four guards. Well, two guards upright and two guards down where their jewels supposed to be. 'But that's only half of it'.
'This was a dead end before', I pointed out.
'No, that's the dead end behind you'. They all laughed.
'It keeps changing. What am I supposed to do'? I asked.
I was a little annoyed at the mysterious ways this labyrinth works, but I guess that's how adventures are.
'Well, the only way out of here is to try one of these doors', the red bottom guard said as I looked
between the doors.
'One of them leads to the castle at the center of the Labyrinth, and the other one leads to....certain death', the blue bottom guard said, letting in a dramatic pause.
'Which one is which'? I asked and looked at them.
'Uh, we can't tell you', he said.
'Why not'? I asked as they looked at each other.
'Uh, we don't know', the red bottom guard said as I crossed my arms over my chest.
'But they do', he blue bottom guard said as they both looked up to the top ones.
'Oh, then I'll ask them since your the ones up where their groins supposed to be', I said as I shifted my eyes to them.
'No, you can't ask us. You can only ask one of us', the top red guard said.
'Yes, it's in the rules, but I should warn you, one of us always tells the truth and one of us always lies'.
'Where's the rule book then, huh'?
'We don't have one'.
'Well that doesn't make much sense, innit'?
'That's a rule too, he always lies', the red guard said, gesturing to the blue guard.
'I do not, I tell the truth', the blue guard said in defence.
'Oh what a lie', the red guard said as the bottom red guard started laughing as they argued.
I walked up to the red side as they stopped fighting and laughing.
'Alright, answer yes or no. Would he tell me that this door leads to the castle'? I asked as he started talking with the bottom guard then looked at me.
'Uh, yes'? He said in more of a question.
'Then the other door leads to the castle and this door leads to certain death', I said and looked at the door.
'How do you know? He could be telling the truth', he said as I looked at the blue guard.
'But the you wouldn't be, so if you told me he'd say yes, I know the answer is no', I said and put my hands on my hips. 'It's always like that, take Indiana Jones'.
'But I could be telling the truth', he said as I looked at him.
'Then he would be lying, so if you told me he said yes I know the answer would still be no', I said as I felt smart.
'Wait a minute...Is that right'? He asked, looking over at the blue guard.
'I don't know, I never understood it', he said as they began to laugh.
'No, it's right. I figured it out. I think I'm getting smarter', I said with a smile and opened the blue guard's door and walked in. 'It's a piece of cake', I said then jinxed it as I fall through the floor.
Suddenly, I was caught by some mossy hands to see them all over. I should of checked before I walked.
'Stop it, please. Help'! I yelled up.
'What do you mean, "help"? A set of hands said, making a face.
'We are helping', another pair said.
'We're helping hands', some other pair said as I looked around.
'You're hurting me a bit, fella's'.
'Would you like us to let go'?
'Oh, no no no, please don't'.
'Well then, come on, which way'? A pair asked me as I was a little confused.
'Which way'? I asked softly and looked at them.
'Up or down', one said as I nodded a little understanding.
'Come on, come on'.
'We haven't got all day'.
'What is your big decision for'?
'Which way do you want to go'?
'Yes, which way'? They all started talking as I looked down.
'Well, since I'm pointed that way, I guess I'll go down', I said as I looked at them.
'She chose down', one pair said as I was a little
confused.
'She chose down'? One asked and started laughing, making me think I chose wrong.
'Was it wrong'? I asked when I was suddenly being
dropped.
'Too late now', I hear one say as I fell past it and into a dark room.
I looked around and suddenly heard a noise.
'Who's there'? I asked as a light lit up, showing Hoggle.
'Me'. He chuckled as I was glad to talk to someone.
'Oh, it's you, Hogbrain', I said with a small smile then looked around again, now that there's light.
'Hoggle'.
'I know, teasing again'. This place was interesting and
mysterious.
'I must admit, Jareth had a nice place with lots of cool and interesting creatures'.
'Yes, well, I knew you were gonna get in trouble as soon as I met you, so I come to give you a hand', he said as I continued to look around.
'Oh, you're looking around now, aren't you? I suppose you've noticed there ain't no doors, only the hole. This is an oubliette, the Labyrinth's full of them', he said as I smiled a bit.
'Really, I didn't know that. It's depressing actually'.
'Oh, don't sound so smart. You don't even know what an oubliette is'? He said as I looked at him.
'I assuming a big dark cave', I said and tilted my head a little.
'It's a place to put people to forget about them...now what you gotta do is get out of here, and it just so happens I know a shortcut out of the whole labyrinth from here', he said as I shook my head.
'No, I'm not giving up now. I've come too far....no, I'm doing okay', I said and sat down, thinking
through it.
'Of course you are, but it gets a lot worse from here on in', he said and smiled a bit.
'Really? Like more booby traps and stuff'?
'You're strange'.
'Why are you so concerned about me'? I asked softly as he looked taken back by that question.
'Well, well, I am, that's all. Nice young girl, terrible black oubliette', he said and gestured to it as I saw bag of jewels on his waist.
'You like jewelry, don't you'? I asked as he put a hand on his bag when I turned to him.
'Why'? He asked cautiously.
'If you help me solve the Labyrinth, I'll give you this', I said and took off my bracelet I made as he gawked at it.
'You like it, don't you'? I asked with a small smile. I dangled it in front of him.
'So-so', e said and turned his back to me.
'Oh, okay', I said and stood up as he quickly turned to me. 'I guess I'll have more of an adventure finding my brother'.
'Uh, tell you what, you give me the bracelet and I'll show you the way out of the Labyrinth', he said as I put my hands on my hips and looked down at him.
'You were gonna do that anyway', I said as held the bracelet.
'Yes, well that is what would make it a particularly nice gesture on your part', he said as I knelt down.
'I would've just given it to you anyways. I'll tell you what, if you take me as close to the centre you can go, you can have it'.
'What is that anyway'? He asked, looking at it.
'Uhhh, weaving thread and beads', I said, looking at the beaded bracelet.
'Well, I don't promise nothing, but I'll take you as far as I can. Then, you're on your own, right'? He asked as I nodded.
'Right'! I said with a smile and handed him the bracelet.
'Ooo, beads', he said as I giggled softly. He walked over to a rug and moved it to reveal a wooden slab door. 'Oh, here we go', he said and held it against the wall then opened it as pot and pans fell out. 'Damn...broom closet', he said and closed the door again. 'Well, can't be right all the time', he said as I agreed.
He opened the door against to show an exit.
'Ahh, this is it. Come on then', he said and walked in as I followed in amazement and looked around.
We entered a cave like area as I looked in around with interest. Suddenly, I found myself thinking about Jareth. He wasn't bad looking for a Goblin King. I shook my head when a voice cut me off of my thoughts.
'Don't go on', a stone face said as I looked in amazement and lightly touched it.
I continued walking with Hoggle until another one warned us.
'Go back while you still can', It said as I smiled in wonder.
'This is not the way'.
'Take heed and go no further'.
'Beware, beware'.
'Soon it will be too late'.
A few more warned us as I watched with a smile.
'Oh, don't pay any attention to them, they're just false alarms. You get a lot of them in the labyrinth, especially when you're on the right track', Hoggle said. 'Oh shut up', he told one stone face.