Holiday Crisis
Chapter 18: Falling From Grace
A/N and/or Disclaimer: As my good friend Drakelah once said of HC... "Will the cross-overs ever cease?" I mean, first Halloweentown, then Angel, a little Stargate (try to find it, I dare you) and now the Labyrinth? I don't own any of it, and that includes SC. I DO own Garz and Zarg. They are mine and only mine. I also own the other characters that cannot be found in any of the things I don't own, but I'm using in this fan epic. There ya go. *smiles* Enjoy!
* * * *
Destiny stepped onto bare dirt and stopped. When Merope popped out of the portal, she bumped into the girl. "Hey, move outta the way, would ya?" Then she looked up, and found herself staring in much the same manor. Before them loomed a giant Gothic castle atop a steep mountain with a labyrinth winding around it. The black sky held no clouds or stars, or birds. Nothing, it was a blank slate, devoid of anything. The trees around them were bare and gnarled. Life seemed to not exist in any form. The wind howled ominously.
"We're in trouble, aren't we?" Destiny looked at her best friend with worry in her eyes. She didn't notice how Merope clung to her arms.
"Yep. We are." Merope let go of Destiny, only to rest her hands on her sword hilt. She set her jaw. "But we must do this."
Destiny pointed toward the maze. "Do you see that thing? We'll never get through it! We'll be wondering lost forever!"
"You exaggerate." She felt as though they might be too, but began walking up the path anyway. "It'll take us twelve, thirteen hours, tops." Merope kept walking until she came to an iron gate. She shook it, and when that didn't work, she took a handful of tinsel out of her pocket and ran it over the hinges. The gate collapsed with a creak of protest and a dull thud. Dust rose in clouds from where it landed. She turned her head to look back at Destiny. "Come on, slowpoke. Don't just stand there staring. We're wasting time."
Destiny took a deep breath and followed her reluctantly. "I'm coming already!"
* * * *
"Join us."
Somehow, Chris had known this was coming all along. And yet it still took him by surprise. He cocked an eyebrow. "Excuse me?"
Kal licked his lips and smiled in a way that let the boy know his patience was wearing thin. "You have incredible power, Chris. If you let me, I could train you to be a great warlock." He paused. "Like me."
Chris waved his arms in front of him. "Whoa, hold on here. Back up. I'm a warlock?"
"Yes, technically I guess you already are one." Kal rubbed his chin and stared at the boy as though for the first time. Then he chuckled. "Don't tell me nobody told you that before."
DUH, Chris thought. "I thought I was human. I mean, my mother's human. My father's an elf... Well, half elf, but he told me the other half was human."
"And you believed him?" Kal waltzed over to a large throne and seated himself in it like he owned the place. He threw his legs over the arm of the throne and laced his fingers behind his head. "Ever wonder, then, why you can do magic?"
Chris snorted. "Me? Do magic? I don't think so, Kal."
"What do you think alchemy is? Advanced chemistry?"
DUH. Suddenly, Chris felt like a complete idiot. It was so obvious; he wondered why he never realized it before. Magic. He could do magic. The idea was preposterous, and yet at the same time quite a thrilling concept. He smiled.
But then, another feeling overcame him. His father had lied about Chris' abilities. He'd been brought up to think there wasn't anything special about him what-so-ever. WHY? He was a warlock, for crying out loud! And that wasn't special? Why had his father told him he was completely human, then? Perhaps...
Perhaps, his father was afraid of him. Afraid of his power.
Chris' eyes narrowed, as the anger continued to boil in his blood. "If I join you, would you teach me how to do spells and stuff?"
Kal's eyes lit up. "Sure! I'll make you my apprentice, teach you everything I know. And that's quite a lot, considering I am the most powerful warlock in thirteen dimensions."
Thirteen? "Wow. I'm impressed."
"Ah, don't be. As powerful as I am, I'm still beat by my Co-Regent. This is weird, because she's only really half witch. I guess that goes to show that bloodlines aren't as important as people make them out to be, huh?"
Chris nodded, excitement bubbling up within him. He could be powerful too, with the right training. "Say, where is this Co-Regent?"
"Oh, Marnie likes to spend a lot of time alone in her room. She'll be out for dinner. Care to join us later?"
"Sure. I'd like that." Chris bit his lip. "You don't mind if I take a little more time to consider your other offer, do you? I want to be sure that I'm making the right decision. I mean, everyone tells me you're the enemy."
"Well, as far as I'm concerned, THEY'RE the enemy. Ever think about that?"
"No." He shuffled his feet, considering this. What else about his life had been a total lie? Who was to say Kal really was the enemy? What if he was really the good guy and Chris' father was really the bad guy?
Suddenly, his mind felt cloudy. It became hard to think straight, nothing made since anymore. He shook his head in an attempt to clear it.
Kal got up, alarmed, just in time to catch the boy as his knees gave out. He looked down at him with sincere concern and shook him in an attempt to snap him out of it. "Chris, are you okay?"
"My head feels funny." His words slurred together. "I don't think I'm feeling very good all of a sudden."
"Hang in there, kido." Kal called for a servant. A rather large female troll wearing an apron and a hair net burst through the double doors. He handed Chris to her and told her to take him to a room. "Take care of him. I'm going to get Marnie." He looked at the boy, who barely clung to consciousness. "Don't worry. You'll be okay. I'll make sure of it."
Chris nodded, and promptly blacked out. The servant carried him away, leaving Kal seemingly alone in the throne room. He turned toward the darkest corner and smiled. "Well done, Marnie. I commend you."
Marnie stepped out of the shadows, a smile playing on her lips. One hand distractedly pulled the pendant on her necklace back and forth in front of her. "That was child's play. The boy will now think you came to his rescue, when his own father doesn't even care where he is. I have such excellent timing, don't I?"
"That you do." Kal chuckled as he put his arm around her and drew her as close as he dared. "That you do."
"Great performance, by the way."
"Why, thank you."
* * * *
The two girls had been traveling down this corridor for over a half an hour, and the end of it was still nowhere in sight. Destiny stopped and threw her hands in the air. "This is hopeless, Merope. You realize that, don't you?"
Merope leaned against the dirty stone wall and sighed. "Yeah, I'm beginning to think there's no end to it. In either direction. Even if that doesn't make any since."
"Well, obviously, it's a trick of magic. Otherwise we'd at least come to a turn or something."
"Okay, so what do we do about it?"
Destiny didn't answer immediately. She chewed on her bottom lip as she gave it careful consideration. "Maybe, there are ways out, but we just can't see them."
"That's right!" A squeaky voice yelped from off to their left, making both girls jump in fright.
"Yeah," a second, slightly lower voice said. "There's exits everywhere, you're just not looking at them right."
They turned to the source of the voices. Nothing. Then they looked down, and saw two short, very cute three-eyed monsters. One was taller than the other, and blue with a tail and floppy ears. The other was squat and purple with eight legs and tiny, armless hands sticking out of its cheeks. Both girls simultaneously raised their eyebrows.
"Who or WHAT are you two?" Merope asked after a beat.
"I am Garz," said the many legged one. He jerked a thumb at his taller companion. "And that's Zarg. We're brothers."
This earned a wearily exchange of glances between the humanoids. Merope looked extremely amused and all she could bring herself to say without bursting with laughter was, "Okay, then. Right."
Destiny decided she'd seen weirder things, and managed to put the awkwardness aside. "You guys can help us?"
"Yes, we can-" Garz started, but corrected him when Zarg elbowed him. "-But we shouldn't. We've been given orders to make sure no one gets into the labyrinth."
"By whom?"
Both made disgusted faces. Zarg made a gagging noise and blurted, "The All Powerful Kalabar Junior."
"You don't like him." Merope leaned down to be more at eye level with the creature. "Not that I blame you, or anything."
Garz waved his tiny hands around in an attempt at a wild gesture. "Before his father came here, it wasn't the Dark Dimension at all! It was a nice place, full of life! But then he started turning all the creatures into evil monsters... And... And..." Zarg broke down crying. Garz patted him on the arm sympathetically before continuing in a louder voice. "Kal's no better. He just lets everything go to waste... It's all in ruins, spare his precious castle."
"You know," Destiny said, lowering her voice. "If you help us get him out of power, I can assure you we'll let you and any of your friends come home with us. Our town is full of live and vibrancy. I think you'd like it."
Merope looked appalled at what her friend was saying. "Destiny!"
The two monsters exchanged looks. "Uh, can we talk about this for a minute?"
"Sure. Take your time."
They trotted off so they were out of the girls' hearing distance, but remained in sight. They huddled and discussed the situation. Garz started, "Should we trust them?"
"What could be worse than this? I say we trust them. Even if they're not telling the truth, Kal would be out of power. Maybe without him, the land could heal itself."
"You're absolutely right, brother. Absolutely right."
"So," Merope said as she leaned her shoulder against the wall, keeping her eye on the creatures lest they decide to run away or something. "What do you think their decision will be?"
"I dunno," Destiny answered. She was hovering near the wall, and felt something brush against her leg. She let out a small yelp and looked down. The thing looked like a plant, but it had eyes where there should have been flowers. They eyes winked at her, and made a high pitched, warped noise that sounded frighteningly like "Oh yeah, baby!" Wide eyed, she backed away slowly. She ran into Merope and yelped again. Merope rolled her eyes, quickly becoming bored with the whole mission.
Finally, just when Merope had decided to try to find her own way out, the monsters returned. "We will help you."
"Great!" Destiny smiled. "Lead the way."
* * * *
Chris opened his eyes, only to discover the room was spinning and blurry. He groaned and placed his hands over his eyes. "What happened?"
"I'm not sure," came Kal's worried voice. "But it seems you're recovering quickly."
Chris groaned again. "I feel like I was hit with a truck."
"Oh, boy. That bad, huh?"
"Yeah."
Kal put a wet cloth over the boy's eyes. In his best fatherly tone, he told him, "I was really worried there for a while."
"You were? Why?"
Kal made a snorting noise. "Why not? Are you used to people not caring about what happens to you, or something?"
Chris frowned, but didn't answer. Kal smirked, knowing Chris couldn't see. The boy was so close to giving in, Kal could almost taste it. Although why he was so obsessed with the boy, he wasn't quite sure. But he could feel the untapped power there, and he itched to harness it for his own wishes.
"I was thinking about my father, and... Ooooh..." Chris blindly clawed at the blankets covering his bed as another wave of pain swept over him. It was followed by another wave of panic. "What's wrong with me?"
"Calm down, getting upset won't help." Chris took a deep breath and forced his body to relax.
There was a knock at the door. Marnie opened the door quietly, and without invitation. She mouthed to Kal, "Now?" He nodded, so she carefully walked in. "Hey, kid, how are you doing?"
"Not good, who are you?"
"This is Marnie," Kal said quietly. "She's going to try to help you get over whatever is ailing you."
'Is that okay, Chris?" Marnie asked, sounding as sweet as she possibly could.
"Go for it. It can't hurt."
She reached into her pocket and pulled out a necklace like the one she wore, a black sun with an eye in the center. "Okay, I'm going to heal you with a magic talisman. It may feel funny when I put it on you, but I assure you, you'll feel instantly better. Alright?"
"Okay. I'm ready."
The two adults exchanged triumphant grins.
* * * *
A/N: Okay, now it's all coming together! I'm excited now, aren't you? Look, this chappy had no SC charas in it. What do ya know? Hey, I am going to finish this, I swear! So stay tuned, and don't forget to review! Reviews make me happy.
Chapter 18: Falling From Grace
A/N and/or Disclaimer: As my good friend Drakelah once said of HC... "Will the cross-overs ever cease?" I mean, first Halloweentown, then Angel, a little Stargate (try to find it, I dare you) and now the Labyrinth? I don't own any of it, and that includes SC. I DO own Garz and Zarg. They are mine and only mine. I also own the other characters that cannot be found in any of the things I don't own, but I'm using in this fan epic. There ya go. *smiles* Enjoy!
* * * *
Destiny stepped onto bare dirt and stopped. When Merope popped out of the portal, she bumped into the girl. "Hey, move outta the way, would ya?" Then she looked up, and found herself staring in much the same manor. Before them loomed a giant Gothic castle atop a steep mountain with a labyrinth winding around it. The black sky held no clouds or stars, or birds. Nothing, it was a blank slate, devoid of anything. The trees around them were bare and gnarled. Life seemed to not exist in any form. The wind howled ominously.
"We're in trouble, aren't we?" Destiny looked at her best friend with worry in her eyes. She didn't notice how Merope clung to her arms.
"Yep. We are." Merope let go of Destiny, only to rest her hands on her sword hilt. She set her jaw. "But we must do this."
Destiny pointed toward the maze. "Do you see that thing? We'll never get through it! We'll be wondering lost forever!"
"You exaggerate." She felt as though they might be too, but began walking up the path anyway. "It'll take us twelve, thirteen hours, tops." Merope kept walking until she came to an iron gate. She shook it, and when that didn't work, she took a handful of tinsel out of her pocket and ran it over the hinges. The gate collapsed with a creak of protest and a dull thud. Dust rose in clouds from where it landed. She turned her head to look back at Destiny. "Come on, slowpoke. Don't just stand there staring. We're wasting time."
Destiny took a deep breath and followed her reluctantly. "I'm coming already!"
* * * *
"Join us."
Somehow, Chris had known this was coming all along. And yet it still took him by surprise. He cocked an eyebrow. "Excuse me?"
Kal licked his lips and smiled in a way that let the boy know his patience was wearing thin. "You have incredible power, Chris. If you let me, I could train you to be a great warlock." He paused. "Like me."
Chris waved his arms in front of him. "Whoa, hold on here. Back up. I'm a warlock?"
"Yes, technically I guess you already are one." Kal rubbed his chin and stared at the boy as though for the first time. Then he chuckled. "Don't tell me nobody told you that before."
DUH, Chris thought. "I thought I was human. I mean, my mother's human. My father's an elf... Well, half elf, but he told me the other half was human."
"And you believed him?" Kal waltzed over to a large throne and seated himself in it like he owned the place. He threw his legs over the arm of the throne and laced his fingers behind his head. "Ever wonder, then, why you can do magic?"
Chris snorted. "Me? Do magic? I don't think so, Kal."
"What do you think alchemy is? Advanced chemistry?"
DUH. Suddenly, Chris felt like a complete idiot. It was so obvious; he wondered why he never realized it before. Magic. He could do magic. The idea was preposterous, and yet at the same time quite a thrilling concept. He smiled.
But then, another feeling overcame him. His father had lied about Chris' abilities. He'd been brought up to think there wasn't anything special about him what-so-ever. WHY? He was a warlock, for crying out loud! And that wasn't special? Why had his father told him he was completely human, then? Perhaps...
Perhaps, his father was afraid of him. Afraid of his power.
Chris' eyes narrowed, as the anger continued to boil in his blood. "If I join you, would you teach me how to do spells and stuff?"
Kal's eyes lit up. "Sure! I'll make you my apprentice, teach you everything I know. And that's quite a lot, considering I am the most powerful warlock in thirteen dimensions."
Thirteen? "Wow. I'm impressed."
"Ah, don't be. As powerful as I am, I'm still beat by my Co-Regent. This is weird, because she's only really half witch. I guess that goes to show that bloodlines aren't as important as people make them out to be, huh?"
Chris nodded, excitement bubbling up within him. He could be powerful too, with the right training. "Say, where is this Co-Regent?"
"Oh, Marnie likes to spend a lot of time alone in her room. She'll be out for dinner. Care to join us later?"
"Sure. I'd like that." Chris bit his lip. "You don't mind if I take a little more time to consider your other offer, do you? I want to be sure that I'm making the right decision. I mean, everyone tells me you're the enemy."
"Well, as far as I'm concerned, THEY'RE the enemy. Ever think about that?"
"No." He shuffled his feet, considering this. What else about his life had been a total lie? Who was to say Kal really was the enemy? What if he was really the good guy and Chris' father was really the bad guy?
Suddenly, his mind felt cloudy. It became hard to think straight, nothing made since anymore. He shook his head in an attempt to clear it.
Kal got up, alarmed, just in time to catch the boy as his knees gave out. He looked down at him with sincere concern and shook him in an attempt to snap him out of it. "Chris, are you okay?"
"My head feels funny." His words slurred together. "I don't think I'm feeling very good all of a sudden."
"Hang in there, kido." Kal called for a servant. A rather large female troll wearing an apron and a hair net burst through the double doors. He handed Chris to her and told her to take him to a room. "Take care of him. I'm going to get Marnie." He looked at the boy, who barely clung to consciousness. "Don't worry. You'll be okay. I'll make sure of it."
Chris nodded, and promptly blacked out. The servant carried him away, leaving Kal seemingly alone in the throne room. He turned toward the darkest corner and smiled. "Well done, Marnie. I commend you."
Marnie stepped out of the shadows, a smile playing on her lips. One hand distractedly pulled the pendant on her necklace back and forth in front of her. "That was child's play. The boy will now think you came to his rescue, when his own father doesn't even care where he is. I have such excellent timing, don't I?"
"That you do." Kal chuckled as he put his arm around her and drew her as close as he dared. "That you do."
"Great performance, by the way."
"Why, thank you."
* * * *
The two girls had been traveling down this corridor for over a half an hour, and the end of it was still nowhere in sight. Destiny stopped and threw her hands in the air. "This is hopeless, Merope. You realize that, don't you?"
Merope leaned against the dirty stone wall and sighed. "Yeah, I'm beginning to think there's no end to it. In either direction. Even if that doesn't make any since."
"Well, obviously, it's a trick of magic. Otherwise we'd at least come to a turn or something."
"Okay, so what do we do about it?"
Destiny didn't answer immediately. She chewed on her bottom lip as she gave it careful consideration. "Maybe, there are ways out, but we just can't see them."
"That's right!" A squeaky voice yelped from off to their left, making both girls jump in fright.
"Yeah," a second, slightly lower voice said. "There's exits everywhere, you're just not looking at them right."
They turned to the source of the voices. Nothing. Then they looked down, and saw two short, very cute three-eyed monsters. One was taller than the other, and blue with a tail and floppy ears. The other was squat and purple with eight legs and tiny, armless hands sticking out of its cheeks. Both girls simultaneously raised their eyebrows.
"Who or WHAT are you two?" Merope asked after a beat.
"I am Garz," said the many legged one. He jerked a thumb at his taller companion. "And that's Zarg. We're brothers."
This earned a wearily exchange of glances between the humanoids. Merope looked extremely amused and all she could bring herself to say without bursting with laughter was, "Okay, then. Right."
Destiny decided she'd seen weirder things, and managed to put the awkwardness aside. "You guys can help us?"
"Yes, we can-" Garz started, but corrected him when Zarg elbowed him. "-But we shouldn't. We've been given orders to make sure no one gets into the labyrinth."
"By whom?"
Both made disgusted faces. Zarg made a gagging noise and blurted, "The All Powerful Kalabar Junior."
"You don't like him." Merope leaned down to be more at eye level with the creature. "Not that I blame you, or anything."
Garz waved his tiny hands around in an attempt at a wild gesture. "Before his father came here, it wasn't the Dark Dimension at all! It was a nice place, full of life! But then he started turning all the creatures into evil monsters... And... And..." Zarg broke down crying. Garz patted him on the arm sympathetically before continuing in a louder voice. "Kal's no better. He just lets everything go to waste... It's all in ruins, spare his precious castle."
"You know," Destiny said, lowering her voice. "If you help us get him out of power, I can assure you we'll let you and any of your friends come home with us. Our town is full of live and vibrancy. I think you'd like it."
Merope looked appalled at what her friend was saying. "Destiny!"
The two monsters exchanged looks. "Uh, can we talk about this for a minute?"
"Sure. Take your time."
They trotted off so they were out of the girls' hearing distance, but remained in sight. They huddled and discussed the situation. Garz started, "Should we trust them?"
"What could be worse than this? I say we trust them. Even if they're not telling the truth, Kal would be out of power. Maybe without him, the land could heal itself."
"You're absolutely right, brother. Absolutely right."
"So," Merope said as she leaned her shoulder against the wall, keeping her eye on the creatures lest they decide to run away or something. "What do you think their decision will be?"
"I dunno," Destiny answered. She was hovering near the wall, and felt something brush against her leg. She let out a small yelp and looked down. The thing looked like a plant, but it had eyes where there should have been flowers. They eyes winked at her, and made a high pitched, warped noise that sounded frighteningly like "Oh yeah, baby!" Wide eyed, she backed away slowly. She ran into Merope and yelped again. Merope rolled her eyes, quickly becoming bored with the whole mission.
Finally, just when Merope had decided to try to find her own way out, the monsters returned. "We will help you."
"Great!" Destiny smiled. "Lead the way."
* * * *
Chris opened his eyes, only to discover the room was spinning and blurry. He groaned and placed his hands over his eyes. "What happened?"
"I'm not sure," came Kal's worried voice. "But it seems you're recovering quickly."
Chris groaned again. "I feel like I was hit with a truck."
"Oh, boy. That bad, huh?"
"Yeah."
Kal put a wet cloth over the boy's eyes. In his best fatherly tone, he told him, "I was really worried there for a while."
"You were? Why?"
Kal made a snorting noise. "Why not? Are you used to people not caring about what happens to you, or something?"
Chris frowned, but didn't answer. Kal smirked, knowing Chris couldn't see. The boy was so close to giving in, Kal could almost taste it. Although why he was so obsessed with the boy, he wasn't quite sure. But he could feel the untapped power there, and he itched to harness it for his own wishes.
"I was thinking about my father, and... Ooooh..." Chris blindly clawed at the blankets covering his bed as another wave of pain swept over him. It was followed by another wave of panic. "What's wrong with me?"
"Calm down, getting upset won't help." Chris took a deep breath and forced his body to relax.
There was a knock at the door. Marnie opened the door quietly, and without invitation. She mouthed to Kal, "Now?" He nodded, so she carefully walked in. "Hey, kid, how are you doing?"
"Not good, who are you?"
"This is Marnie," Kal said quietly. "She's going to try to help you get over whatever is ailing you."
'Is that okay, Chris?" Marnie asked, sounding as sweet as she possibly could.
"Go for it. It can't hurt."
She reached into her pocket and pulled out a necklace like the one she wore, a black sun with an eye in the center. "Okay, I'm going to heal you with a magic talisman. It may feel funny when I put it on you, but I assure you, you'll feel instantly better. Alright?"
"Okay. I'm ready."
The two adults exchanged triumphant grins.
* * * *
A/N: Okay, now it's all coming together! I'm excited now, aren't you? Look, this chappy had no SC charas in it. What do ya know? Hey, I am going to finish this, I swear! So stay tuned, and don't forget to review! Reviews make me happy.
