Chapter II: Into the Labyrinth
It was nighttime by the time Cerridewn arrived at her gray-stone dwelling. Stars sparkled in the placid sky. The night was calm, her spirits, however, were not.
Nervous and jittery, the girl opened the door to her home.
"I'm home," called Cerridwen to no one in particular. Her parents were gone. On business, they had said. Tyia was nowhere to be found. Cerridwen guessed that she was still at the theater or possibly spending the night at a friend's house. That was a girl that did as she pleased.
She sighed.
She should have been happy. She had just gotten the LEAD in the Mishler Theater's latest musical! She wasn't lonely. . .or depressed. . .something different.
~*~
Dib paced the floor of his bedroom. Something was wrong with his friend but he didn't know what.
"I wish I knew. . ." he muttered to himself. The very first time he had entered that theater Dib had sensed that something wasn't quite right. He told himself that it was just a theater but his paranormal instincts told him otherwise.
Dib shook his head and began to type at his laptop.
"Zim was acting weird today," Dib reported out loud and continued on, "Well. . .weirder than usual. He didn't do any of his annoying arrogant rants. He just sorta sat there with this creepy grin on his face. Zim's up to something. My paranormal senses tell me that it's something evil."
Dib paused before typing again.
"Okay. . .so he's ALWAYS up to something evil but. . .I dunno. It just seems REALLY evil this time. Man, that was so. . .lame."
Dib clicked off his computer, frustrated. Everyone was acting creepy anymore! First ZIM now Cerridwen. Then a horrible thought came to him: What if Zim was linked with Cerridwen's odd behavior?
Nah, that's just stupid. That obnoxious green alien didn't even KNOW Cerridwen.
Little did Dib know just how wrong he was.
~*~
Cerridwen pulled her blankets up over her head and closed her extraordinary gray eyes, prepared for sleep. It never came. She rolled over on her side. This was normal for her though. Normal for an insomniac not to sleep.
"I am your Angel. . ." The voice came, barley more than a whisper.
Her eyes snapped open. She shot up in bed and listened hard.
"I am your Angle of Music. . ." There it was again!
Cerridwen whispered fiercely, "Who's there? I'm warning you. . .I've got boots!"
The voice paused at this off-putting remark but brushed it off.
"Come to me strange Angel. . ."
"It's you!" she said, hushed. "But. . . you've only come to me at the theater. . ."
"Come to me my Angel. . ."
The voice sang beautifully. It lulled the young girl into a state of tranquility. She soon forgot her worries and made her way toward her mirror.
"No, no, no!" the voice snapped impatiently. "I'm over here!" it called from the window.
"Oh!" came Cerridwen's puzzled response. "I thought you were coming from the mirror."
The voice, or whatever it was, snorted. "The mirror? Please. Come over to your window. . ."
Cerridwen began to open the said window.
"No! Close your eyes first."
"Umm. . .okee. . ." Cerridwen was quite perplexed by this whole thing but whatever made her Angel happy. . .
"Ohhhh this isn't working!" the voice huffed. "Just stay there and I'LL come in and get you."
The next thing Cerridwen knew, she was being pulled through her window. An odd slender, silver, metal appendage of some sort was wrapped around her tiny waist. Then a mist was sprayed in her face. The last thing Cerridwen saw was a pair of eerily glowing red eyes before she fell from conciseness.
~*~
Zim's metal mechs clicked as he paced the floor of his lab. When was that ridiculous Cerridwen-human going to wake up!? HOW long could humans sleep for!? Zim shot a glare to the girl in question. She was sleeping peacefully despite the stone hard table she was upon. Her dark brown hair fanned out beneath her head.
Geh! WHY did all of those filthy humans have to come with that hair? It was simply disgusting! And her remarkable gray eyes. . .so mysterious. . .so different. . .so. . .completely awful! And her skin was of a horrible white color. Oh well. At least it wasn't AS pink as the rest of those grotesque beings.
"Mmm. . .?" Cerridwen stirred.
The Irken's eyes widened as he watched the girl awaken. First one orb-like eye opened. . .then the other.
"Ah, you're awake," Zim crooned to her.
"All right. . .where the Hell am I?"
Okay. THAT certainly wasn't the reaction the Invade had expected.
"You are in the, eh, labyrinth of The. . .Phantom! Yes!" Zim silently congratulated his genius.
Cerridwen raised an eyebrow at this. "Are you. . .you're. . .my Angel of Music. . .?"
"Clever child," he sneered. "For a foolish human larva you're not so dumb."
She shot back with a: "Gee thanks."
Zim brushed her sarcasm aside and began to talk about how she was going to help him. Cerridwen just sat there, still not quite understanding what her Angel was talking about. She had been having these 'lessons' with him for over a month now and he had never behaved THIS strangely. She hated to interrupt her mentor but her patience was as tall as she was and that was only about four feet. . .
Cerridwen opened her mouth to speak but was cut off before she began when a little green creature came zooming into the room screeching something nonsensical at the top of it's lungs.
"Wheeeehooooo! Hiya Master!" whatever it was shrieked and latched itself onto "The Phantom's" head. It yanked hard at the two long skinny appendages sticking out of the being's head. Zim let out a very pained yell and Cerridwen couldn't help but feel compassion for him. She vaulted off of the metal table on which she was laying. Gently she picked up the little puppy-shaped animal from The Phantom's head and set him down on the table.
"GIR!" Zim howled, "Why must you insist on doing that every time you enter a room!?"
"I dunno. . ." the creature, Gir, said and stuck his tongue out adorably. A giggle rose from the depths of Cerridwen's throat. She hadn't remembered the last time she had truly laughed. It was puzzling.
"Now," her Angel said, "before my idiot ro-dog says any more let me tell you why you are here."
As Zim began his little speech Cerridwen's eye drifted about the room. She took in beeping objects, blinking lights from what appeared to be a computer, and about a hundred or so devices that she couldn't name if you paid her. This was the strangest place she had ever been in. And that included paying a visit to Katie's house. She shuddered at that memory.
"And in conclusion-are you even listening to meee!?" the little being raved. Uh oh. She hadn't been and now he was mad. " You ungrateful huuuuman! I take you into MY lair-a place that you could only DREAM of-and you won't listen to a WORD I have to say!!"
"Sorry," she said in a quivering voice.
Zim loomed over her on his silver mechs. He reached into his long black cape. Cerridwen had a wild thought that he was going to kill her, how she was not sure. Instead, he whipped out a fiddle. Cerridwen could only stare at the instrument in unspeakable awe. It was a beautiful fiddle of deep cherry wood. The Phantom-Irken drew the bow across it's strings and a glorious sound rippled throughout the air.
"Preeeetyyyyy. . ." cooed the little dog.
Cerridwen could only watch. Her magnificent gray eyes glazed over and her lids became heavy as her Angle of Music continued to fill her spirits with a delicate tune. You could almost see the tendrils of music hanging in the air. For the third time that night she slipped from consciousness.
~*~
"No, no. O-of course not, My Tallests! I won't call you unless it is important ever again." Zim;s voice woke the sleeping Cerridwen again. This time his voice was different. It was normally strong and bold when she had heard it. Now it was. . .skittish? And perhaps there was some fear in the mixture as well.
"Well ZIM, we just wanted to let you know that we'll, eh, umm," one of the people Zim was speaking to stumbled for the right threat. He was taller than Zim and seemed to be talking from one of the many monitors that surrounded the lair.
"We'll never give you another, eh, mission again," the other person said. He was tall too, with purple eyes unlike the other one who had red eyes like Zim.
"Of course, My Tallests," Zim hurriedly replied, "I'll do whatever you wish."
"Really?" the red one asked. Zim nodded.
"Cool!" came the answer from his purple co-ruler.
"You'd even destroy yourself for us?" the red one questioned.
"Umm. . .yes? If you ordered me to. . .I suppose." Zim shifted nervously as if wishing he could disappear.
The purple being mused, "I'd say do it. . .but then there goes all the fun of seeing you suffer."
"Heh?"
"Just tug on your antenna really hard!" cried the red tallest, excitedly.
Zim stared at them for a beat then sighed and gave his antenna a painful looking yank. He let out a cry, which made Cerridwen's heart go out for her muse. The taller beings laughed at this then the screen went blank. Zim massaged his thin appendages tenderly.
"Who were they?" the girl quietly asked.
Her Angle of Music jumped at her voice. Zim turned to her.
"Eh. . ." He was lost for words.
"They pick on you because you're different, right?"
"That is nothing for you to know."
"But it's true, isn't it?"
". . . . . . . . "
"If it helps. . .I'm mocked because I'm not normal," she offered. Zim looked up into Cerridwen's silver-gray eyes. Oh how she could gain him the control he needed!
"I was trying to explain to you earlier but you refused to listen," Zim snapped.
"Well, I'm listening now," was her reply.
The smallest Invader studied her for a moment. "Very well," he decided out loud and off came his mask.
"Oh!" Cerridwen took in the pale green skin tone and burning red orbs that were his eyes. Zim's antenna twitched nervously again, as she stood there wide-eyed. "Well?" he asked impatiently.
"Y-you're. . .the Opera Ghost?" stammered the minuscule girl.
"If only you knew, Cerridwen-human, if only you knew."
It was nighttime by the time Cerridewn arrived at her gray-stone dwelling. Stars sparkled in the placid sky. The night was calm, her spirits, however, were not.
Nervous and jittery, the girl opened the door to her home.
"I'm home," called Cerridwen to no one in particular. Her parents were gone. On business, they had said. Tyia was nowhere to be found. Cerridwen guessed that she was still at the theater or possibly spending the night at a friend's house. That was a girl that did as she pleased.
She sighed.
She should have been happy. She had just gotten the LEAD in the Mishler Theater's latest musical! She wasn't lonely. . .or depressed. . .something different.
~*~
Dib paced the floor of his bedroom. Something was wrong with his friend but he didn't know what.
"I wish I knew. . ." he muttered to himself. The very first time he had entered that theater Dib had sensed that something wasn't quite right. He told himself that it was just a theater but his paranormal instincts told him otherwise.
Dib shook his head and began to type at his laptop.
"Zim was acting weird today," Dib reported out loud and continued on, "Well. . .weirder than usual. He didn't do any of his annoying arrogant rants. He just sorta sat there with this creepy grin on his face. Zim's up to something. My paranormal senses tell me that it's something evil."
Dib paused before typing again.
"Okay. . .so he's ALWAYS up to something evil but. . .I dunno. It just seems REALLY evil this time. Man, that was so. . .lame."
Dib clicked off his computer, frustrated. Everyone was acting creepy anymore! First ZIM now Cerridwen. Then a horrible thought came to him: What if Zim was linked with Cerridwen's odd behavior?
Nah, that's just stupid. That obnoxious green alien didn't even KNOW Cerridwen.
Little did Dib know just how wrong he was.
~*~
Cerridwen pulled her blankets up over her head and closed her extraordinary gray eyes, prepared for sleep. It never came. She rolled over on her side. This was normal for her though. Normal for an insomniac not to sleep.
"I am your Angel. . ." The voice came, barley more than a whisper.
Her eyes snapped open. She shot up in bed and listened hard.
"I am your Angle of Music. . ." There it was again!
Cerridwen whispered fiercely, "Who's there? I'm warning you. . .I've got boots!"
The voice paused at this off-putting remark but brushed it off.
"Come to me strange Angel. . ."
"It's you!" she said, hushed. "But. . . you've only come to me at the theater. . ."
"Come to me my Angel. . ."
The voice sang beautifully. It lulled the young girl into a state of tranquility. She soon forgot her worries and made her way toward her mirror.
"No, no, no!" the voice snapped impatiently. "I'm over here!" it called from the window.
"Oh!" came Cerridwen's puzzled response. "I thought you were coming from the mirror."
The voice, or whatever it was, snorted. "The mirror? Please. Come over to your window. . ."
Cerridwen began to open the said window.
"No! Close your eyes first."
"Umm. . .okee. . ." Cerridwen was quite perplexed by this whole thing but whatever made her Angel happy. . .
"Ohhhh this isn't working!" the voice huffed. "Just stay there and I'LL come in and get you."
The next thing Cerridwen knew, she was being pulled through her window. An odd slender, silver, metal appendage of some sort was wrapped around her tiny waist. Then a mist was sprayed in her face. The last thing Cerridwen saw was a pair of eerily glowing red eyes before she fell from conciseness.
~*~
Zim's metal mechs clicked as he paced the floor of his lab. When was that ridiculous Cerridwen-human going to wake up!? HOW long could humans sleep for!? Zim shot a glare to the girl in question. She was sleeping peacefully despite the stone hard table she was upon. Her dark brown hair fanned out beneath her head.
Geh! WHY did all of those filthy humans have to come with that hair? It was simply disgusting! And her remarkable gray eyes. . .so mysterious. . .so different. . .so. . .completely awful! And her skin was of a horrible white color. Oh well. At least it wasn't AS pink as the rest of those grotesque beings.
"Mmm. . .?" Cerridwen stirred.
The Irken's eyes widened as he watched the girl awaken. First one orb-like eye opened. . .then the other.
"Ah, you're awake," Zim crooned to her.
"All right. . .where the Hell am I?"
Okay. THAT certainly wasn't the reaction the Invade had expected.
"You are in the, eh, labyrinth of The. . .Phantom! Yes!" Zim silently congratulated his genius.
Cerridwen raised an eyebrow at this. "Are you. . .you're. . .my Angel of Music. . .?"
"Clever child," he sneered. "For a foolish human larva you're not so dumb."
She shot back with a: "Gee thanks."
Zim brushed her sarcasm aside and began to talk about how she was going to help him. Cerridwen just sat there, still not quite understanding what her Angel was talking about. She had been having these 'lessons' with him for over a month now and he had never behaved THIS strangely. She hated to interrupt her mentor but her patience was as tall as she was and that was only about four feet. . .
Cerridwen opened her mouth to speak but was cut off before she began when a little green creature came zooming into the room screeching something nonsensical at the top of it's lungs.
"Wheeeehooooo! Hiya Master!" whatever it was shrieked and latched itself onto "The Phantom's" head. It yanked hard at the two long skinny appendages sticking out of the being's head. Zim let out a very pained yell and Cerridwen couldn't help but feel compassion for him. She vaulted off of the metal table on which she was laying. Gently she picked up the little puppy-shaped animal from The Phantom's head and set him down on the table.
"GIR!" Zim howled, "Why must you insist on doing that every time you enter a room!?"
"I dunno. . ." the creature, Gir, said and stuck his tongue out adorably. A giggle rose from the depths of Cerridwen's throat. She hadn't remembered the last time she had truly laughed. It was puzzling.
"Now," her Angel said, "before my idiot ro-dog says any more let me tell you why you are here."
As Zim began his little speech Cerridwen's eye drifted about the room. She took in beeping objects, blinking lights from what appeared to be a computer, and about a hundred or so devices that she couldn't name if you paid her. This was the strangest place she had ever been in. And that included paying a visit to Katie's house. She shuddered at that memory.
"And in conclusion-are you even listening to meee!?" the little being raved. Uh oh. She hadn't been and now he was mad. " You ungrateful huuuuman! I take you into MY lair-a place that you could only DREAM of-and you won't listen to a WORD I have to say!!"
"Sorry," she said in a quivering voice.
Zim loomed over her on his silver mechs. He reached into his long black cape. Cerridwen had a wild thought that he was going to kill her, how she was not sure. Instead, he whipped out a fiddle. Cerridwen could only stare at the instrument in unspeakable awe. It was a beautiful fiddle of deep cherry wood. The Phantom-Irken drew the bow across it's strings and a glorious sound rippled throughout the air.
"Preeeetyyyyy. . ." cooed the little dog.
Cerridwen could only watch. Her magnificent gray eyes glazed over and her lids became heavy as her Angle of Music continued to fill her spirits with a delicate tune. You could almost see the tendrils of music hanging in the air. For the third time that night she slipped from consciousness.
~*~
"No, no. O-of course not, My Tallests! I won't call you unless it is important ever again." Zim;s voice woke the sleeping Cerridwen again. This time his voice was different. It was normally strong and bold when she had heard it. Now it was. . .skittish? And perhaps there was some fear in the mixture as well.
"Well ZIM, we just wanted to let you know that we'll, eh, umm," one of the people Zim was speaking to stumbled for the right threat. He was taller than Zim and seemed to be talking from one of the many monitors that surrounded the lair.
"We'll never give you another, eh, mission again," the other person said. He was tall too, with purple eyes unlike the other one who had red eyes like Zim.
"Of course, My Tallests," Zim hurriedly replied, "I'll do whatever you wish."
"Really?" the red one asked. Zim nodded.
"Cool!" came the answer from his purple co-ruler.
"You'd even destroy yourself for us?" the red one questioned.
"Umm. . .yes? If you ordered me to. . .I suppose." Zim shifted nervously as if wishing he could disappear.
The purple being mused, "I'd say do it. . .but then there goes all the fun of seeing you suffer."
"Heh?"
"Just tug on your antenna really hard!" cried the red tallest, excitedly.
Zim stared at them for a beat then sighed and gave his antenna a painful looking yank. He let out a cry, which made Cerridwen's heart go out for her muse. The taller beings laughed at this then the screen went blank. Zim massaged his thin appendages tenderly.
"Who were they?" the girl quietly asked.
Her Angle of Music jumped at her voice. Zim turned to her.
"Eh. . ." He was lost for words.
"They pick on you because you're different, right?"
"That is nothing for you to know."
"But it's true, isn't it?"
". . . . . . . . "
"If it helps. . .I'm mocked because I'm not normal," she offered. Zim looked up into Cerridwen's silver-gray eyes. Oh how she could gain him the control he needed!
"I was trying to explain to you earlier but you refused to listen," Zim snapped.
"Well, I'm listening now," was her reply.
The smallest Invader studied her for a moment. "Very well," he decided out loud and off came his mask.
"Oh!" Cerridwen took in the pale green skin tone and burning red orbs that were his eyes. Zim's antenna twitched nervously again, as she stood there wide-eyed. "Well?" he asked impatiently.
"Y-you're. . .the Opera Ghost?" stammered the minuscule girl.
"If only you knew, Cerridwen-human, if only you knew."