(¯`·._.·[ Into the Labyrinth ]·._.·´¯)
POV - FRODO BAGGINS
Like a dark shadow, the Black Gate bars the entrance to the shadow lands of Mordor, an impasse of iron and black stone. On the other side the Dark Lord waits for his ring to be returned, biding his time.
At the other end of the world lie the rolling hills of the Shire: vibrant and green, endless and forever. In the shire live the hobbits, happy and content in their hobbit holes. Our story begins in a particular hole with a particular hobbit.
... ... ...
Frodo Baggins sat down for dinner, taking a moment to breathe in the mouth-watering aroma. His plate was stacked high with savory buttered trout he had caught in the stream earlier that day. Seated next to it was a cup of red wine, positively delectable, but not nearly enough to satisfy a hobbit's thirst. He would pour a second cup later, and maybe a third after that, he decided.
As Frodo was about to begin, a knocking came on his door that was so loud it startled him, causing him to drop his fork.
"A moment, please," he called out, a hint of irritation in his voice. He looked around his home: it was clean, no doubt, just as a hobbit hole should be, but he had not made the necessary preparations for visitors. The thought hit Frodo suddenly that his food supply was low and that he might have to share his dinner. He took one last somber look at his untouched plate before answering the door.
When Frodo was inches from the door, the knocking came again, louder this time than last. Instead of replying, Frodo opened the door, welcoming his guest inside. To his surprise, no one was there.
A joke, Frodo thought to himself. He was livid now. "Where are you?" he yelled into the darkness, forgetting his sleeping neighbors.
There was no reply. He stood a few moments more, listening intently, searching with his ears for the ruffian. As he went to close the door, a barn owl flew past him, darting inside his hobbit hole.
Frodo abruptly whirled around, expecting to find the bird pecking away at his fish, but instead he was astonished to find a man, tall and slender, with golden hair cut in layers, smiling knowingly back at him.
"My dear Frodo, where do we begin. . . . "
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POV - SANSA STARK
It was midday when Sansa Stark bounded to her room, slammed her door, and collapsed onto her bed, crying hard. Usually it was her little sister who spoiled everything, but today was different altogether. Sansa wished with all her heart that she had listened to her lord father; King's Landing was truly a dangerous place, and she realized now just what he had meant by that. Sansa found herself missing Winterfell fiercely, along with the cold. She thought it was too hot here. The heat made people do cruel things, like slaughter her father.
Consumed with longing, Sansa reached for her satchel, looking for anything that might remind her of home. Upon opening it, she spied foremost her precious jewels: rubies and pearls and ornate necklaces made of silver, then her lavish silks, and lastly, a tattered book with yellowing pages. Delighted, she reached for the book, recognizing it instantly.
The Labyrinth, she read out loud. It was her favorite book. Old Nan had given it to her when she was little, and she could never be more thankful for it. For the first time since she had become a lady, Sansa unwittingly allowed herself to be immersed in that world of goblins and adventure and hope.
... ... ...
Unaware of the hours that had flown by, Sansa jolted upright at the sound of someone's fist hammering down her door. She hurriedly slammed her book closed, shutting her thumb between the pages in the process. "Who's there?" Sansa called, nursing her finger.
"Your king, sweet lady."
It was Joffrey. Sansa's spirits sank. "Y-your Grace . . ." she stuttered, abashed, "I will be right there." Quickly, Sansa lifted herself up and opened her door, afraid of annoying her betrothed.
Joffrey pushed passed Sansa and into her room, barely noticing her, a wicked smirk on his face. "You are so lucky, my lady."
Sansa groaned inwardly. "Why is that?"
"You have me. I could have honored my mother and left your father to rot on the Wall; instead, I showed him mercy."
"Yes," she croaked, "yes, you could have. . . ."
In a fury, Joffrey spun around and clasped his hand around her arm, nails digging into her flesh. He shook her violently. "I am your king," he repeated over and over.
Sansa's will broke and she relented. "You are my king," she acknowledged with contempt.
Joffrey smiled triumphantly and released her arm, leaving it hanging limp at her side. His eyes wandered to her bed and then to her satchel. He sauntered over and snatched the satchel, turning it upside down and spilling its contents onto the bed. "Since you are my lady," he began, eyeing the gems with lust, "and I am your king, all of your treasures are mine."
"No!" Sansa shrieked, tears welling up in her eyes.
Joffrey only chuckled. "You sound like your horsefaced sister." As his eyes scanned over the jewels, he noticed the book. "And what's this?" Joffrey picked up the rugged thing and began inspecting it uninterestedly.
Alarmed, Sansa approached the king, desperate with grief. "Please, no, not my book!" She reached for the book, but he pulled it away. She stretched her body further, until she was standing on the tips of her toes, but he managed to keep the book just out of reach. She realized how stupid she must have looked and went back to pleading. "Please," she insisted, "you can keep everything else, Your Grace."
Joffrey looked incredulous. "My lady, would you really give up everything else in order to keep this?" He looked the book over inattentively.
"Yes!" Sansa was resolute.
"Then so it shall be." Joffrey began ripping pages out of the book, leaving them in a pile on the floor. When he was finished, he dropped the cover on top of the pile and made for the door. "Have fun with your book, my lady," he said; then, remembering courtesy, added, "and thank you for the jewels."
Sansa could not believe her eyes. She whirled around, tears stinging her cheeks, and stupidly reminding herself of the prayer from her book, she howled after him, "King Joffrey, I wish the goblins would take you away right now. I hate you!"
And that was all it took.
Six goblins, Sansa counted, entered through her window and a barn owl with them. Its talons extended, the owl descended toward the king's face, but Joffrey blocked the attack with his arm. He recoiled in pain, as the talons sunk in, cursing the old gods and the new. Goblins took Joffrey from all sides and began hoisting him off the ground, conducting him toward the window.
Joffrey looked to Sansa, afraid. "J—just," he began sputtering, "just what black magic have you called on me, Sansa?"
This time it was Sansa's turn to laugh. "The darkest kind," she replied, looking straight through him.
Joffrey was mad with rage. "Sans— My lady"—he writhed and kicked—"tell them to put me down! I am your king!"
"Not anymore where you're going, buddy," one of the goblins contested.
"My lady," Joffrey spat, anger swelling within him. "My bitch."
And just like that, he was gone, and Sansa was alone, blessedly alone.
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POV - RYUK
"I sent you to the human world to retrieve your Death Note. How is it that after all this time spent with your human, he just disappeared?"
Ryuk fidgeted uncomfortably under the old man's stare. "Well, the details are a little fuzzy, but—"
"Nonsense." The Shinigami King's voice crackled like thunder. "You will tell all the details, and with the greatest possible clarity, or you will never receive another notebook ever again."
Ryuk felt beads of sweat beginning to form on his forehead. Slowly, nervously, he mopped his brow, all the while trying to concoct a formidable excuse. "Well, sir," he started, lowering his eyes, "he was . . . taken to another realm."
The king's patience was faltering. "Which realm?"
Ryuk gulped, his voice hitching in his throat. "T—the Underg—ground, sir."
"Ryuk," the king bellowed, his voice high and shrill. "If you do not find your Death Note before Jareth does, I will turn you to ash."
Ryuk was mortified. "C—c'mon, old man, you can't be serious. Jareth is . . . he is . . ."
"A monster," the king finished. "A powerful monster that will soon have a Death Note in his hands. Begone, Ryuk."
Ryuk watched in terror as the king and the dead, dark Shinigami realm disapeared, leaving an all too familiar landscape in its place. He stretched his wings and took flight, his form a piceous shadow in the night sky.
Light, Ryuk pleaded to the stars, hoping against hope, Don't let Jareth have the Death Note.
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POV - LOKI LAUFEYSON
"Loki, no!"
Falling. He was falling.
Loki felt coolness running down his cheeks: he was crying, again. Surprised and ashamed, he quickly rubbed the tears away. He braced himself, ready to be torn to shreds inside the abyss. He closed his eyes and, for a second, every decision he had made brought itself into question.
Did he make the right choice? What did Thor think of him now? Would he ever be able to gain his father's respect? What had he done wro—
He hit something, hard. Loki opened his eyes. To his surprise he was lying in the middle of a forest, surrounded by trees.
A voice came from somewhere behind him. "I see you've made it safely."
Loki turned, startled. "Who are you?" Not seeing anyone, save for an owl in a nearby tree, he added, "Where are you?"
The owl flew down to greet him, transforming into a man. "Who I am is unimportant. It is who you are that is important, Loki of Asgard."
The man caught Loki off-guard. "How do you know my name?"
He smiled widely. "I know the names of all those summoned here." He didn't know what it was, but something about the man's toothy smile unnerved him. It's almost as if he means to mock me, Loki thought to himself.
"I demand to know where I am and who it was that brought me here!"
The man walked circles around him now, his mismatched eyes peering at him, studying him. Laughing, he said, "You are in my Labyrinth. I brought you here, but if you meant to say, 'Who summoned me here?', well, I can't tell you that."
Loki's eyebrow twitched in agitation. "What is the purpose of this?"
The man looked disappointed. "You fall into an abyss, someone saves your life, and you question it?" He shook his head. "Loki, Loki, Loki," he chided. "When will you learn?"
"Don't talk as if you know me," Loki muttered, his warning to the man that fragile lines were being crossed.
"Very well. I know of you, and I am aware of your"—he paused, searching for the word—"'accomplishments.'"
Loki smirked, a plan forming in his mind. "Are you? Then you are aware of my birthright. Return me to Asgard, and I promise I will repay you richly."
The man's expression darkened. "You have come to a dangerous place far from Asgard. But don't despair, someone may come looking for you."
Loki thought for a moment. After such a colossal failure, he was sure to face exile. There was only one reason anyone would come for him: punishment.
"I highly doubt it," he mumbled under his breath, shaking his head. When he looked up, the man was nowhere to be found.
Loki cocked his head east. He heard singing.
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POV - JOHN WATSON
John Watson awoke to the sound of gunfire in his apartment. He studied his flatmate sleepily. "This again, Sherlock?"
Sherlock raised his gun and shot at the wall once more, burying three bullets in the wood. "Bored!"
"Then, for the love of god," John pleaded, "just take a case."
Sherlock lowered his gun, considering the idea.
... ... ...
POV - 3RD PERSON LIMITED - JOHN WATSON/SHERLOCK HOLMES
"That's ridiculous," Sherlock said, keeping his eyes on his tea while John jotted down notes.
The girl in front of them clutched her dress tightly, appearing agitated. "I'm telling the truth!"
Hiding something, Sherlock noted. "Your version of it, maybe."
"Mr. Holmes," she began, looking directly into his eyes as if it would prove her innocence, "I've seen them."
"We're going to need more than that, Jenny." The detective moved to the far wall and began examining his other cases. "What are you hiding, Jenny? Why should I waste my time trying to solve your case when you refuse to be honest with us? No." The detective began pacing around the room, hands folded behind his back, as a realization hit him. "You're afraid, but of what?" He continued his analysis out loud but in a quiet, hurried voice the other two could not follow.
John sighed, pinching the bridge of his nose. "Sherlock, you're being rude."
"No, it's alright." The girl paused, looking down. "I haven't been entirely truthful—"
"We know." The detective returned to his seat and reassuringly took her hands in his. "Who are you afraid of, Jenny? We won't let him hurt you."
John wondered how Sherlock had come to deduce that the perpetrator was male but refrained from asking, deciding that he would save the explanation for later, at a more appropriate time.
"His name's . . . Jacob. He started the chain letter, and that's when everyone started disappearing, like I said."
"Now what was written in the chain letters? Be as exact as possible."
Jenny shifted uncomfortably. "I can't really . . . say them. Last time I said them, they came and took my cat away." Jenny fished in her pocket for her cell phone and handed it to Sherlock. "It's all there, in the messages between Jacob and me." The detective gently took the phone and began examining its contents. "I—I didn't think it would work on my cat; that's why I said them," she added.
Feels guilt, the detective further noted. "I wouldn't expect it to work at all," he said, looking at the last message in the list. "Say these words out loud, directed at anyone, and then foreward this message to five people, or I will wish you away tonight. 'I wish the goblins would take insert-name-here awa—' "
Jenny attempted to snatch the phone out of the detective's hand but failed. "No. Don't. Please. Not out loud."
"John, hold her down."
The army doctor looked at Sherlock, bewildered. "What?"
"Hold her down."
Sherlock stood as John wrapped his arms around the girl, mouthing 'sorry'. "Jenny, I believe that there are disappearances going on at your school, but I don't believe that they have anything to do with this chain letter, and I'm going to prove it to you."
The girl fought against John miserably, scratching and biting him. "Mr. Holmes, STOP!"
"I wish that the goblins would take John Hamish Watson and myself away"—Sherlock paused, furrowing his brows—"right now. Is that really necessary? Does it expect me to say 'sometime next week' or something more vague like 'on the last moon of autumn, on the threshold of wint—' "
"Sherlock!"
Before Sherlock could turn around, goblins had rushed both men.
Jenny looked down, tears forming in her eyes. "I'm sorry. I'm so sorry," she said, fleeing.
And then they too were gone.
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POV - SELINA KYLE (CATWOMAN)
The jewels, the beautiful, sparkling jewels, were within her reach.
A gruff voice came from behind her. "Catwoman."
"Batman," she hissed, looking up as two figures stepped into the light. "And if it isn't the Boy Wonder. How purrrrfect." Waisting no time, she lunged at the bat's chest, scratching him with her claws, and sidled out of his reach before he could catch her within his burly arms. She dodged the Boy Wonder's attack from behind, anticipating it, and slipped expertly into the shadows.
"Selina," Batman yelled into the darkness, "this has to stop."
"Who's that?" she called out teasingly.
"Let's quit playing games, Selina Kyle. The fun's over. It's time to reveal your identity to the police, face your punishment, and abandon Catwoman. You can do it willingly, or I can do it for you."
"No," Selina said, searching in the darkness for an exit. "The fun isn't over until you catch me." Finding a window, she lifted it swifly and made for the streets. She knew they would catch up to her in minutes, so she began hatching a plan that would shake them off her trail.
"I can help," a man offered, stepping out from the shadow of a building ahead of her.
Selina stopped in her tracks. "Who are you?" she asked, peering at the gorgeous stranger.
"Doesn't matter, babe."
"How can you help me?"
"Now you're asking the right questions!" The pretty man's face lit up so brightly she swore he looked like he was on fire. "I can distract your . . . friends."
Selina was not convinced. "You're going to hurt them, aren't you?"
The man raised his hands, feigning innocence. "Me? Hurt someone? Never."
"You're lying."
"Clever woman." He put his hands on his hips and sauntered toward her. "What we both do is none of the other's buisiness. An act of self preservation is nothing to feel guilt over. He would have told the police and had you arrested again, and this time they would have found a match, Selina." She did not reply, and he said, "I can only help you if you help me, and you know the correct choice."
Selina furrowed her brows. Just how public was her identity?
The man shrugged, smiling. "I know what you're thinking. 'How?' Oh, it'll come to me." He began to vanish, disappearing to whatever strange place he had come from. "But for now, make your wish and worry no more, Selina Kyle."
A/N -
Premise: I thought it would be interesting having, in my opinion, the three greatest detectives of all time interacting with each other. But I decided to go beyond that. I decided to make a realistic AU where characters from multiple, completely unsimilar stories could theoretically interact, where villains and heroes could, albeit terribly, work together to save themselves from a common enemy (who has motivations of his own that have to do with many if not all of the characters and worlds incorporated into the story).
Sorry about the Frodo cliffhanger. All characters mentioned here, including Frodo, will be interacting in their new environment next chapter. Though that is not to say that all of the characters are in the story yet or that they will all be meeting in one area. :D I might have modified the events of the actual stories slightly, but I've tried to stay as true to the stories as I can.
Here are a few things to note: I have written the LOTR and ASoIaF character perspectives based on their books, but of course with my own voice. The rest of the POVs are written in a general way. I had to improvise with Batman. For those who have read the comics, It's not specific to any Age or AU or Earth. I'm creating the back story based on a little bit of everything, namely the Selina/Batman romantic tension in many of the earlier comics and Hush, and I'll incorporate more as I see fit, so events may fall out of their original timelines. Consider it my own Earth 18932980373.
Things to note about Jareth:
My Jareth has more powers than might be alluded to in the movie and comic. His motivations might seem strange, but it will all make sense. I'm choosing to ignore the comic as canon. Sorry.
Things to note about my Batman universe:
- Dick Greyson is the current Robin. Pre-Jason Todd, Tim Drake, etc.
- Catwoman does not know the identity of Batman, but he knows her identity (a feature in many of the comics).
- Catwoman is currently acting as a burglar and is not reformed.
- Bruce, knowing her true identity, is seeing/dating Selina Kyle in an attempt to reform her. I'm sorry if you don't like the way Batman is characterized in this. He isn't as cold as he seems; that I promise.
If you have any requests or characters you would like to see, please review and tell me. I will consider them all. I have most of the story worked out in my head, but I still feel like it's not expansive enough. I'm looking mostly for characters in the Marvel, DC, ASoIaF, and LOTR universes; I pretty much have my Sherlock and Death Note characters picked out, and you guys haven't met all of them yet.