Soul stopped and looked up at the ominous stone wall impeding his progress. He had been looking for a way into the Labyrinth for what he felt like hours, and he was sure he was almost out of time. In reality, he had been searching for maybe five minutes. In that time he had found that, not only was there seemingly no conceivable entrance to the structure, but the walls were so tall that he wouldn't be able to scale them even if he could find a handhold.

"Thirteen hours...what a joke," the teenager muttered as he continued walking, the staff of the scythe in his hand causing little rings of dust with every step. He was getting tired, and it was so very hot out in this heat. He didn't know if he was still in Nevada or not, but he knew that not much was different. With a heavy sigh, he turned and began walking again, only to find his gaze drawn to something flying around just ahead.

"What is that thing?" he asked himself, adjusting the scythe on his shoulders so that it was more comfortable. It looked like a small human with wings. He held a hand out to it, only to have it stab him with a tiny knife.

"Gah! Little bastard! It was at about that time a small man wearing strange clothing came along and sprayed it with what looked to be an old-style bug sprayer. He had what could only be described as ugly facial features, with warts all over and a long, crooked nose. After a quick glance up at the scythe wielding youth, he chuckled and continued his work of meticulously spraying down the small flying people.

"What are you laughing at, old man?" asked Soul, baring his teeth. The man merely shook his head.

"Them's fairies, so you know."

"What?"

"Fairies. Were you dropped as a child, or are you deaf?" asked the man, looking up at the boy. Soul narrowed his eyes but after a moment turned away to observe the fairies once more.

"Weird. I thought fairies would do good things," he said thoughtfully.

"Well, shows what you know, don't it?" the small man said as he sprayed another, muttering a number as he did so: keeping count.

"Guess it's just wishful thinking..." Soul thought, and bgan to follow the man with a bored look on his face, his eyes darting up to the wall of the Labyrinth every few seconds. The small man, on the other hand, continued to spray the fairies, each one falling helpless before his feet. After about ten or so fairies, Soul lost his temper and stepped in front of the man, making him stop.

"Is this all you do? Spray fairies? Don't you ever go inside this place?"

"I don't see how I should tell you nothin' rude as you are," he replied, stepping around the boy and continuing his seemingly endless job.

"Fine. Just let me in."

"Let you in what?"

"What?" Soul asked, bewildered for a moment before snapping his focus back, "The Labyrinth!"

"Well that's awful rude of ya, yelling at people you don't know."

"Well how do I get in?"

"To what?" the little man asked, hiding a small smirk rather expertly.

"The Labyrinth," answered Soul, getting more and more frustrated by the second. Seeing this, the little man spoke up.

"You haven't been asked the right questions."

"Hmmmph..." Soul huffed, thinking about the scythe on his back, "Well, can you show me how to get into the Labyrinth?" The man stopped there and his eyes widened as a small smile showed itself on his stoney features.

"Ahhh. Now that's the right question. You gets in through there," he said, pointing toward the wall. On it, a large door was just opening slowly. Soul could've sworn it wasn't there before. Shrugging, he turned to thank the portly little man, but he was already gone.

"Oh well," he muttered, walking toward the door. He stepped up to it and looked back and forth, seeing nothing but an endless corridor either way.

"Cozy, innit?" came the little man's voice, scaring the Soul so badly that, had it not been already, his hair would have turned white. He swung the scythe down at the man but he ducked it.

"You really are rude, you know," Soul said, putting the scythe back over his shoulders. His breath was still coming fast and hard, but he turned back to the paths before him nonetheless.

"Soooo..." he began, noting that the old man was still next to him, "which way do you think I should go to get to the center of the Labyrinth?"

"What does it matter to me? Would you be goin' left...or right?"

"Well which way would you go?"

"Me? I wouldn't go either way," the man said, and Soul glared at him before stomping past him.

"Cool. Thanks for nothing...er..."

"Hoggle. And either way you go, even if you get to the center of the Labyrinth, you'll never find your way out again. Best to stay outside."

"That's your opinion."

"Well it's a lot better than yours. And don't say I didn't warn you."

"Whatever old man. I can't turn back now, can't I?" Soul replied back, retaining what little cool he had left. Hoggle had been getting to him for some reason. He chalked it up to all the stress he'd been having lately.

"Yeah, and now I have a big ass maze to solve on top of it...but I won't quit. I'm coming Maka," he thought, watching as Hoggle turned and the door closed. Soul, turning to look down each path, decided on taking the right. He stretched his legs a little, thinking that eventually he'd hit a turn if he sprinted, and took off. The air made his hair blow back as he ran, avoiding any obstacles with the agility gained only from training tirelessly with Maka. Thinking about her egged him on, but after five minutes he was winded and skidded to a halt, panting and wiping the stinging sweat from his eyes.

"This isn't a Labyrinth...it's just a freakin' hallway. There are no turns or doors or anything it just keeps going and going...this can't be fair," he said angrily, gritting his teeth as he slammed the blade of the scythe into the ground, embedding it a little in the stone.

"Easy there, kiddo. Of course there's turns, it just that you ain't seein' 'em," came a small voice from right next to him, and Soul looked over to see a small worm.

"Do you know the way through then?" asked Soul, not hiding the small glimmer of hope he had.

"Me? Nah I'm just a worm," it replied and, ignoring Soul's tired oh, continued, "You look tired. Why not come inside and have a nice cup of tea?" While Soul was enticed (he could use a nice beverage at this point) he shook his head and looked to the left and right, searching for turns he may have missed. Not seeing them, he looked back to the worm.

"You said there were turns, but I haven't seen any. What am I missing?"

"Well, look there's one right in front of ya."

"There's...nothing there? Just more wall," Soul replied, looking at the wall ahead of him.

"That's the thing about this place," said the worm matter-of-factly, "Not everything's what it seems in this place. You can't take anything for granted."

"No, really it's just wall," Soul stated plainly, plucking his scythe up and taking a step forward.

"Come on inside and meet the missus," the worm replied, before noticing he wasn't paying attention anymore, "Well, just try walking through it and you'll see what I mean." Wary to take this small creature's advice but out of idea's himself, Soul slowly walked toward the wall, closing his eyes when he was sure he was about to make impact. The only problem with that was that he kept walking. Stopping, he opened his eyes wide and, for the first time since he got here, Soul smiled his big sharks grin.

"Wow! Thanks little dude that helps a lot!" he said, turning to the left only to hear the worm yelling for him to stop.

"No don't go that way!"

"What...?

"Never go that way!"

"Oh. Well thanks again!" Soul said, taking off to the right before the worm could stop him. As Soul left, the worm muttered to himself.

"He shoulda just kept goin' forward down that way and he would gone straight to that castle..."

Woot! Two down in two days? A.T.B. is back, bebeh! Well, maybe not. Anyone read and review and such. I'm trying to keep close to the storyline of the Labyrinth but I can't work miracles, so if things are a bit different or I leave something out, don't worry too hard. Thank you for reading!