"Heh, this baby's kinda cute... not as loud as the others..." Aksel mused, playing a game that might have been patty-cake if not for the addition of the crystal sphere. Emil seemed interested, though he remained blank-faced.

"Utterly adorable." Aksel's favorite servant said, smiling at the child. Tino always loved the babies that Aksel whisked away.

"No where near as cute as Sigurd, though." the king sighed.

"You sure are taken with him, your majesty." Tino remarked.

"I can't help it... he's just so... different from all the other people I've brought here." Aksel said. "He's smart, he's cool and collected, he's not afraid to talk back to me, he's so gorgeous... but he'll never love me, I can tell you that."

"No need to give up hope, your highness." said Tino.

"There's never been any hope, Tino. He's got a life ahead of him, choices to make, people to meet... plus, I stole his brother. I'm sure that hasn't earned me any points." the king said sadly. "I'm a monster. Underneath these designer pants and boatloads of sparkles, I'm just a monster guarding the Labyrinth."

Secretly, Tino agreed with him, but he knew not to voice his opinions out loud.

"Well, your iciness, I recommend you just let whatever happens happen, and we'll see where that takes you."

"Alright, Tino..." Aksel said, smiling softly. "We'll see how Sigurd does, though he should know better than to go against a king when his brother is on the line."

The baby giggled as the Fae ruler bounced him on his knee.

Sigurd soon learned that keeping one hand against the wall was useless, as the walls had a very bad habit of changing around him. He couldn't even tell which direction he was going, as the sun remained in its highest point in the sky and seemed to have no intention of moving.

How long had it been? Certainly not more than an hour or so... time was hard to keep track of in this place. It was also very cold, despite the unfiltered sunlight. The ground was slightly slippery and the walls seemed to be made out of ice and snow, though they were entirely impenetrable.

The dead ends made it even worse. Whenever Sigurd thought that he was finally getting somewhere, he hit a dead end.

"Damn..." he muttered, finding himself in front of another small expanse of icy wall. He turned around, only to find another dead end. "Am I trapped?" he wondered, turning again. This time, he found two doors, and two creatures with shields in front of the doors. "Oh... this bit..." Sigurd sighed.

"Good day, lad." one of the creatures said kindly. "By any chance are you this 'Sigurd' fellow we've heard tell about?"

"And what's your blood type?" the other asked.

Sigurd stared at them. This wasn't how he remembered them from the book.

"Yeah, I'm Sigurd." he replied, deciding not to dignify the second creature's question with a response.

"It's a pleasure to meet you." the polite one said. His accent was definitely British. "I suppose you'll be wanting to go through one of these here doors?"

"It's the only way to go." Sigurd said with a shrug.

"Don't be silly, there are plenty of ways!" the slightly bloodthirsty one laughed.

"Like what?"

The two guards looked at each other, then back to Sigurd.

"We don't know." the second guard admitted.

"So I need to figure out which door I want to go through, correct?" Sigurd asked.

"It doesn't matter. They both end in traps." the British one said. The bloodthirsty one gasped.

"Arthur! You're not supposed to tell him that!"

"What does it matter, Vlad?" the Brit asked sullenly. "I don't care what the king does to me. Besides, this young lad might as well know... if he makes to the castle, then we'd have a chance of becoming ourselves again."

"Who were you before?" Sigurd asked. He was finding that most everyone he met in this Labyrinth had a story to tell. It was another reason for him to get to the center; maybe he could restore these people to their proper forms as well as find his brother.

"I think Vlad was a vampire, but he won't tell me." the Brit said. "I was Arthur Kirkland, fantasy novelist. I had wished one of my brothers here, and failed to solve the Labyrinth in time. I think he was turned into a fox..."

"Who do you miss in the real world?" Sigurd asked.

"How did you know I'm missing someone?" the Brit asked suspiciously.

"Everyone I've met in here is." the teen replied with a shrug.

"Most of us do..." Arthur sighed. "Mine was Alfred F Jones, an obnoxious American git who called himself a hero. I'm certain he's long dead, though. I've been working here longer than most people..."

"Sorry." Sigurd said, feeling a bit bad that he didn't have anyone who'd miss him back in Reality.

"No matter." Arthur said. "It was a long time ago, and I know I should move on..."

"He's totally head-over-heels for one of the byrds," Vlad told Sigurd in a stage-whisper that they both knew Arthur could hear, "but he won't admit it to himself. A shame, really. Yao's super cute."

"I heard that, you wanker!" the Brit exclaimed angrily. "And I'll have you know that my romantic life is none of your business!"

"It's not like you're constantly going on about it or anything." Vlad said, rolling his eyes.

"If you don't mind," Sigurd said sharply, "I really need to find my brother, so could you two stop bickering for a moment?"

"Fine!" Arthur relented.

"Which door is the least likely to get me killed?" Sigurd asked.

"Mine." Vlad replied. "You wouldn't think so, because I'm all fangs and stuff, but that's the beauty of it."

"He's right." Arthur said. "Behind my door, there's a hydra."

"Alright, then. Let me through." Sigurd said to Vlad.

"Wait a tic! Because you got to know which door to go through, I've gotta give you some difficulty! It's in my job description!" the maybe-vampire said,

"Fine. What do you have in mind?"

"Riddles!" Vlad said. Arthur groaned.

"He spends all his free time-and he has a lot of that- thinking up riddles. Good luck, Sigurd. You'll need it."

Sigurd thought for a moment, considering his options. He wasn't the best at solving riddles, but the clock was ticking and he could see no other solution.

"Alright. I have to get all three right, correct?"

"Yup!" Vlad said. "First riddle: What goes up a chimney down, but not down a chimney up?"

Sigurd racked his brains for an answer, then looked helplessly at Arthur. To Sigurd's relief, the Brit was miming opening an umbrella, which made guessing the answer easy. Luckily, Vlad didn't notice this apparent cheating.

"An umbrella." Sigurd said.

"Right! Next riddle: the moon is my father, the sea is my mother; I have a million brothers, I die when I reach land."

Sigurd made sure not to look like he was glancing at Arthur, who was moving his arms like the ocean, then waving.

"A wave." Sigurd guessed.

"Wow, you're good!" Vlad laughed. "Final riddle: a plane crashed, and every single person died. Two survived. Why?"

Arthur shrugged helplessly.

Sigurd had a moment of internal panic, then thought carefully about the wording of the riddle... ah.

"They were married."

Arthur slapped a hand across his forehead, ashamed at not being able to guess that.

"Correct!" Vlad said. "Man, I need to think up trickier riddles. You may pass!"

He stepped aside as Sigurd walked forward and pushed the door open.

"Thanks, you two." he said.

"No problem! I hope you find your brother!" Vlad said. "If you don't make it, we're definitely getting fired!"

"Watch your step." Arthur warned as the ground disappeared from beneath Sigurd and he fell.

"Hey Arthur, at night they come without being fetched, and at day they leave without being stolen."

"Stars, Vlad."

Sigurd you blatant cheater