Disclaimer: I do not own Jareth or the Labyrinth.
Susan led them to a gate at the edge of the ruin. "Through there," she said. "I don't know what's after this gate."
Dan stepped forwards, through the gate. Natalie followed him.
"Foggy," Magdalene commented. Natalie didn't reply. It was an understatement.
She could see her feet, so she could walk without needing to feel her way. But aside from that, she couldn't see anything. Not even her sisters and brother.
"Where are you?" Susan asked from behind her.
"I'm here," Natalie said loudly. "Come to the sound of my voice."
Dan stumbled into her. A moment later, Lene put her hand on Natalie's shoulder. "Which way?" Susan asked.
"We have to be careful, or we'll end up walking in circles," Lene replied. She frowned. "I don't see how we're going to get through this-"
"QUIET!" Natalie snapped. In the silence that followed, she listened carefully. There it was-the sound of a brook. She closed her eyes, to concentrate on her ears.
The place was positively alive with sound. She could hear the brook, she could hear animals scurrying, she could hear birds singing.
Natalie had always loved music. She'd taken piano lessons for the past seven years, since she was four. She could hear meaning in the songs; she could hear happy songs, sad songs, come-here-there's-food songs. She concentrated. After a few minutes, she figured out a tune that would convey, in music, her need for help. She whistled.
A bird swept down from the trees. Natalie concentrated. This was going to be difficult. She whistled a melody that managed to convey the idea of a search, then threw her head back and cried in a way as much like a goblin as she could.
The bird flew ahead of her, whistling a song that called to Natalie to follow.
Natalie stepped forwards, pulling Lene and Dan with her. "What-" Dan began.
"Shh!"
Natalie led them in silence, listening to the bird. It led them to what sounded like a brook. The bird landed on Natalie's shoulder and made a sound that sounded like drinking.
"The goblins come here to drink," Natalie said aloud. "There must be a way for them to get out." She paused, then listened again.
Something was coming in. From the way it was tramping along, it had to be a goblin. "Hail!" Natalie shouted.
"What are you?" a goblin voice snarled.
"Please, can you tell me which way to the castle at the center of the Labyrinth?" Natalie asked.
The goblin snarled and made a very rude noise. Natalie heard drinking, and then she heard the goblin's footsteps running away.
"I think that it's on the other side of this brook," Natalie said. She bent down and put her hand in the water. She leaned over, pushing the hand in up to her upper arm. "It feels too deep to wade," she said.
"Then where do we go?" Dan asked.
"I don't know-wait." She paused and listened. "There's music coming from that way," she said. "I think that it may be our best chance."
"Well, then, let's go to it," Lene said.
Natalie nodded and led the way.
They came upon a flutist. Natalie could barely distinguish its outline. "Hello?" she asked.
The music stopped abruptly. Natalie heard a scuffling noise, like someone small trying to run away. Desperate, she pursed her lips and whistled the tune the flute had just been playing.
The scuffling sounds stopped, and the creature came back. It blew one questioning note on its flute.
Natalie frowned and pictured Jareth. She had heard music when he'd appeared. She whistled that tune.
The response was immediate. The flutist hopped off of the rock and jumped backwards, playing its flute, and leading them forwards. Natalie followed it, pulling her brother with her. "What-" he demanded.
The flutist played a shrill, painful note on his flute. Natalie clapped her hand over Dan's mouth and whistled the most soothing tune she could think of. After a moment, the flute music took up again, sounding more mournful. The bird hopped off of Natalie's shoulder, and flew forwards, singing.
The fog cleared, revealing a huge stone maze. Natalie could see the flutist. He was short, with pointed ears and wearing bright red. He handed Natalie a rock, and played an A on his flute, then darted away.
The bird resettled itself on Natalie's shoulder. She heard a noise and looked down. The rock was playing an A note as well.
She turned. The note became a B flat. As she continued turning, the rock played the rest of the chromatic scale, falling an octave at D, and returning to A when she was back where she started. "It's a compass!" she said. "We're supposed to go-that way." She went towards the A, into the maze.
It was long and twisty. At times, they ran into T intersections where neither way led in the A direction. But they kept going, moving in a direction as close to the A note as possible.
Then they turned a corner and stopped suddenly. Before their feet, a void stretched. It was filled with globes of light, and lines of light connecting them. The lines kept twisting and bending around, and the globes kept moving, dragging the lines with them.
Behind her, Natalie heard Magdalene inhale. "Dragons and fog, and magical musical compasses, that doesn't surprise me," she said, "but-graph theory?"
