Augustine opened her eyes slowly, feeling utterly wonderful and relaxed. That lasted about two seconds before she noticed the starry sky and the eerie surroundings and jolted up, her eyes wide and a gasp escaping her lips. A clock, marvelous creation that seemed taken out of Louis XIV personal collection, ticked ominously next to her, hanging from thin air, with nothing to support it. Well, laws of gravity be damned! That was the Underground and Isaac Newton's pathetic little theories had no value whatsoever.
Augustine's eyes widened as she saw the clock. She had been out almost a whole our! That put her in disadvantage and she hadn't ever entered the damn Labyrinth yet! She groaned inwardly, knowing that probably his royal Egoness was watching and she had to appear confident and resolute in his eyes. You know, just to piss him off. She laughed silently, knowing that it would take more than just to look confident to infuriate the Damned.
"Well, let's get started" she mumbled to herself, descending from the small hill and almost bumping into the huge, imposing doors of the Labyrinth. They were enormous and seemed to go on and on till they reached the skies. Thee was a big lock, the size of her bed probably, that held the two doors together, aided by a big chain of thick links that where bigger than her closed fist. The message was clear: The Labyrinth was clearly, irrevocably and positively locked
"He really thinks that will fool me?" she muttered to herself "Things aren't always what they seem on the Underground, or at least that's what I read. So if these doors appear to be locked, then there are not locked at all"
Easy enough, when the girl touched the doors with the tips of her fingers it opened widely, revealing the splendorous maze that twisted and turned before her. But that did little for Augustine's peace of mind. The fact that she had had no problems whatsoever entering the Labyrinth only unnerved her all the more. She felt as if a thousand pair of eyes where watching her, waiting for any fatal mistake, any stupid slip, and it would be forever over.
'What a comforting thought' Augustine thought gloomily 'Maybe I should stop talking to myself for a couple or hours…'
She shook her head, trying to decide what path to take. The right one or the left one? Deciding that doubting wouldn't do, she turned to the left and began walking, noticing with some pain that she had somehow twisted one of her ankles later when she had fallen from the stairs. The reminded her of her left hand, that should have been bandage but, when she looked, it was healed.
"What on Earth…?" she exclaimed, eyeing her hand with confusion shining in her clear ice-blue eyes.
"Magic" she whispered finally, sighing wistfully. She closed her eyes, trying to remember what had happened after he had muttered that single dreadful word in her ear: she had stumbled back, felt dizzy and collapsed in the floor, but… She hadn't hit the ground, she was sure of that. And now she had some tingly, yet exquisite sensation running though her veins, the sensation of warm and yet deliciously chilly magic caressing her…
"Oh, snap out of it, girl…" she muttered to herself, shaking her head, her locks of reddish hair following the movement "It's his magic, for goodness's sake!" she added, her usually milky-white cheeks acquiring a beckoning pink tone.
She gathered all her strength and started running down the path she had chosen, feeling as if a thousand knives where stabbing her on the ankle.
"When this is over, I swear someone else is going to get pushed down the stairs" she swore aloud, trying to ignore the pain and the tingly sensation that mixed into a bittersweet feeling that washed over her body.
And she kept running.
"Run, run, my little minx, let me see how far you can get" a voice taunted, deep and somewhat British. The voice came from a room lit by torches hanging from stonewalls, the fire almost dancing, changing from red to blue, purple, black, green and orange. The walls were covered by tapestries and portraits but mostly they were bare, adding a rustic and cold touch to the dark chamber. There was a cage, finely carved and made of the best steel that the human (and inhuman) eye had ever seen. The cage was large and held a number of fifteen or sixteen prisoners inside, none of them looking particularly happy. In front of the cage, levitating a little from the floor was a crystal ball the size of a 29' inch TV, in which a scene was displayed. The prisoners stared intently at the magic crystal ball, peering inside to see. A few meters from them, half-hiding in the shadows that seemed to be alive and moving freely, forming eerie and yet graceful forms in the walls was Gareth, King of the Dragons and called the Damned, watching with interest how his new mouse was doing in his Labyrinth.
She was surrounded by the stone walls of the Labyrinth's Main Hall, a passage that was known for proving people's belief and patience. She was running, clearly favoring her right leg and trying not to wince in pain. A few wisps of hair had escaped her ponytail and danced around her pale face. The blush that had graced her cheeks for a while was gone, leaving the moonlight paleness adorning her features. He remembered her confused and glazed expression when she had stared at her left hand, which was completely healed. She had recognized his magic as the one responsible for that surprise and he had seen barely a hint of shock and the phantom of an emotion in her eyes before she had gone back to normal, the blush as the only proof that she had felt anything at all.
"At last she is up and about" a voice muttered from the cage. The Monarch turned his gaze for a second and looked at the only adult inside the prison. The Professor looked terribly relieved after he had seen his student wake up, seeming not to mind the hour that had been wasted already. He concluded that he cared a lot about the girl, who probably was the only student in that damned classroom of his that paid him any kind of attention and represented challenge.
He too had been slightly worried when he noticed that time was passing and the girl wasn't recovering her senses. He had even thought about bringing her round with magic, but he had decided against it. He wasn't supposed to show any kind of goodness towards anyone, particularly humans. But it was getting a tad too tedious just looking at her form lying on the grass, or that is what he told himself to justify his urge to make her regain consciousness with a spell. It was simply enough, a soft, lingering kiss in her forehead would do the trick, but something inside him told her it wasn't safe ground to touch the girl in any way, much less kiss her. He had paced restlessly in his Throne room, now less crowded but still inhabited by creatures of different races, who seemed unnerved by their King's agitation and impatience. They seemed more interested in the humans in the cage, studying them with their heads titled to a side and an amused expression in their faces. Some of them, though, refused to even pay attention to them, feeling obviously above them, superior in every way.
Oddly enough, Constance was wearing a similar look of snobbish superiority mixed with disgust and fear, which she wasn't going to admit, of course. She tried hard to stay away from the bars, fearing that one of those creatures would come close and try to touch her or something worse. She flinched when Justine, one of the few people in the classroom that could be considered a close acquaintance of Augustine touched her arm to scare her, laughing after the girl let our a high-pitched scream. Professor Aberline was professional enough to stifle his own laugh and to try and shoot a scowling look towards Justine, but her failed miserably as his eyes danced with amusement for a while before his attention was turned again to the big crystal orb floating in thin air, and to the sight of the red-haired girl approaching the doors of the maze.
Gareth had been both mortified and thrilled when he had seen her easily seeing through the lock's façade. He had had the assurance then that he was facing a worthy challenger, but he had hoped that she would have to think a little to defeat his illusion and step into the Labyrinth. He had allowed his eyes to lit up when he had seen her come round, gingerly and gracefully standing up and gazing at the clock with utter disbelief and shock but he kept his cold mask on that time.
Now, as he saw her running though the never-ending passage, he was pondering where the right time to confront her would be. For some reason he was eager to do so, magic tingling in his hands and urging him to teleport to were she was just to tease her, to mock her, to challenge her…
Damn, things where quickly starting to get out of control. His own magic, that recognized him as its only master and Monarch was on the verge of defying him for a stupid need to see a mortal! That was something deplorable in his eyes.
Feeling as if he had been cheated by his own power he crossed the room and sat on his throne, wearing an angry look. Justine whistled when she saw his positively fuming expression and mumbled to herself something that sounded suspiciously close to: "Boy, that's one pissed off Fae…" Fortunately for her the Dragon King didn't hear her. His whole attention was focused on Augustine's image inside the crystal ball. She had stopped running and was staring intently at one of the walls at her left side. Apparently, she had heard something.
The well-known devilish smirk of Gareth appeared on his lips and his eyes lit up instantly, gleaming with a malevolent light.
"Well, well, well, let the real challenges begin" he muttered to himself while he leaned on his throne, his slender legs crossed and one of his hands absentmindedly holding his cane while his eyes devoured the petit form of the mahogany-haired girl inside his Labyrinth…
"Hello? Did someone just say something?" Augustine shouted above the stonewall she was facing. She was tired of running and not getting anywhere, so she had welcomed the strange noise she had heard as an excuse to stop and, maybe, talk to someone who might have an idea of how to stop running in a straight line "Please, is someone is there, talk to me! I think I'm going to go insane!" she pleaded then, slumping to the floor with a sigh. She was alone, and had been defeated before the adventure even started. What a waste…
"And what's the problem with going insane?" a voice chirped suddenly, half-amused and half-annoyed "I've been insane for over five centuries and you don't hear me complaining!"
Augustine's head jerked up upon hearing the response and she tried to hide her joy while she apologized for 'insulting' the man.
"It's not that I have something against mad people, sir" she said politely, standing up and looking at the wall, knowing that whoever was talking to her was on the other side "It's just that I don't think it will help me resolve the Labyrinth"
There was the sound of shrill laughter and snickering. The man that was speaking to her shushed whoever was (or were) laughing and asked for a little bit of manners.
"I'm trying to talk here!" he admonished before turning his attention to the red-haired girl again "If you want to cross the Labyrinth, then you will certainly loose it before you finish. A maddening place, this is, young lady"
Augustine was starting to silently agree with the mystery man she was talking to, but she pushed that thought aside, for it wouldn't help at all. She tried to think of a way to get her new acquaintance (?) to tell her how to get past her straight-line dilemma without being obvious.
"Sir, if you don't mind, why do you say you are mad?" she asked, trying to get a hold of the conversation. Her interlocutor seemed to be puzzled for a while and then laughed wholeheartedly,
"Well, it's just because I really am. Or maybe I had too many cups of Tea…" he said aloud, laughing again "By the way, young lady, do you wish to accompany me for tea? I assure you it's one of the finest teas you'll ever taste" the stranger invited casually, as if he wasn't aware of the fact that there was a huge wall separating them and that it was the middle of the night.
"B-But, S-Sir-r" she stammered, her eyes wide and her jaw dropping "It's the middle of the night!" she blurted out. A chuckle was all that she got as an answer.
"You are saying nonsense, my dear. It's almost four o'clock, Tea time! You must hurry if you want to accompany me for Tea, because I can't serve Tea after four o'clock!" he said then, as if the thought of serving a cup of tea a second after the mentioned hour was simply dreadful. Augustine saw her chance to get out of the straight corridor and asked nonchalantly:
"And how do I get to where you are, sir? There is a wall between us; I can't just walk through it!"
"And why not?" was all the answer she got "It isn't as if you would crash into it or anything of the like"
Augustine closed her eyes and sighed, running a hand though her slightly damp hair, a painful reminder of the 'staircase incident' and thought grimly: 'The man wasn't kidding. He is really insane. He lost it completely' But then memories came flooding back into her mind: memories of people whispering near her, looking at her with a certain look and shaking their heads in surrenders, as if she was some kind of lost case. A child who had lost her grip on reality… a freak, a weirdo… They all thought she was crazy, or mentally ill. Few had ever believed in her… Just as she wasn't believing a man who was, in a way, trying to help her.
"Might as well give it a shot" she said aloud, shrugging and taking a deep breath. She eyes the wall and her heart almost sank at how painfully real and solid it looked, so she shut her eyes and then launched at the wall, without thinking or rationalizing the situation. She kept running, without stopping till she realized she should have crashed against the wall a long time ago. She then stopped, timidly cracking one eye open. The scene that met her gaze made her gasp: in front of her was the most beautiful bower she had ever seen, entirely made of white, flawless marble, with vegetation circling the columns. There was a rounded table in the center, made of rich cherry wood and covered with a white mantel with lace trimming it exquisitely. An excellent tea set of porcelain and decorated with blue drawings was set for five people and comfortable-looking chairs finished the whole thing off.
"Your tea awaits you, young lady" someone said behind her. Augustine swirled around to face her strange helper and instead saw… The Mad Hatter of Alice in Wonderland. His top hat was slightly titled to a side, two Aces adorning it, one of Hearts and the other one of Clubs. The jacket of his suit was burgundy and made of velvet, while his pants where midnight-blue. He wore a white shirt with ruffles in the collar, and a bow-tie of the most unusual shade of forest-green. His shoes were crimson, and shinned as if they had just been polished. To make the longs story short, he looked every inch the character she had read about in the fantasy book when she had been a little girl.
"Well, make haste, dear, the tea won't drink itself, you know?" the Mad Hatter ushered, pushing her towards the bower, where three people had already took their seats. They were the most unique trio of friends: and elf, a fairy-boy and a hobgoblin all… totally and utterly drunk. They were swinging their teacups from side to side in one of their hands as they held them high in the air and chanted a song in a slurred tone, hugging each other occasionally. It was a pretty pathetically funny sight to behold.
"Don't mind them, young lady" the Mad Hatter said, drawing a chair for her to sit in "they like to drink whiskey before tea, add rum to their tea, and then drink some glasses of sherry" he commented nonchalantly, sitting down next to her and pouring some tea in her cup.
Augustine eyed the warm liquid with a weary gaze, not wanting it to be spiced wit rum. She lifted the cup gingerly to her nose and smelled… vanilla. Sweet, tantalizing vanilla. She smiled at the Mad Hatter and took a sip confidently, instantly feeling better. She hadn't realized, but she had been shivering since she had stepped into the Labyrithn. It was no place to be soaking wet in the middle of the night.
"The tea is delicious, sire. Just what I needed. Thank you very much" she said heartily "And, may I ask, sir, what are you doing here, instead of with Alicia?"
The Mad Hatter smiled, pleased to see that she knew who he was, and then cleared his throat to answer.
"Well, I was created by a woman who wrote a book, as you well know and was read by so many people who believed in it, children, that the book itself and its characters came to life. We existed in a realm created by the children's minds but, as they laid us aside to play with other toys instead of reading our story our world begun to fall down. We parted, each one of us going to different realms, but still keeping in touch. Well, most of us" he shrugged "I found a nice little place to have tea, and I'm quite pleased with my situation. This is a very interesting place to live in" he paused and grinned rather madly "Filled with riddles and puzzles, it is a challenge to the mind and the body both"
He stopped and their three other companions cheered, proposing a toast for the Labyrinth of King Gareth and for the best rum they had ever tasted, toast which was accompanied by several hiccups. Augustine wondered for a minute why they didn't pass out from all that alcohol, but then again, things never happened they way they should in the place she was in.
She felt kind of silly, sipping tea in what looked like the middle of the night, but she shrugged those thought's off. It was then when her companion noticed something that made him jump in his seat.
"You are bleeding, my dear… Your head…"
Augustine looked confusedly at him and then shook her head, rising a hand to touch the back of her head.
"You are mistaken. This is just water, not blood…" she commented lightly, but when she drew her hand back and stared at it, she was it was stained with blood. She drew in a sharp breath and then remembered hitting her head against the wall in front of the staircase when she had fallen down and landed. She hadn't noticed that it was bleeding, but it didn't really matter. It wasn't half as urgent as her left hand had been.
"It's nothing. I've seen worse" she assured him, trying to cover the violet bruise on one side of her neck and the cut in her right arm. She wasn't blushing or acting embarrassed, she was rather retreating into herself, an unconscious defensive tactic. The Mad Hatter understood her and patted her gently, his madness forgotten for a brief moment.
"I understand. I don't want to press you, my dear" he said gently and the froze in his spot, staring at something, or rather someone right behind her.
"Oh, but I do want to press you, my precious" a voice whispered directly into Augustine's ear. The girl didn't even flinch, her eyes darkening as the only proof she had acknowledged his presence at all "What a pity…"
She shuddered then, his three last words echoing in her mind. Mockingly accurate, derisively true. It was really a pity she didn't want to tell him, because he was going to found out anyway.
"An accident" she heard herself mumble foolishly, her tone calm and collected yet her body shivering from something she knew he knew wasn't cold. She wasn't sure what it was… Maybe it was fear, apprehension, anger or his deliciously warm and enticing breath tickling the sensitive skin… She didn't know. What she did know was that the thick wall of coolness and serenity she had developed over the years was about to collapse because the tingly feeling in her blood had increased the moment he had stepped into the bower. Damn him a seconds time, if one hadn't been enough for him.
His rich, British laugh filled her ears and her senses, and in a irrational moment she closed her eyes to see if he would have gone away when she opened them. But, very on the contrary, he sized his opportunity and lifted her to his feet, guiding her inside the bower. The table, the Mad Hatter and the Drunken Trio had disappeared, leaving only the red-haired girl and her assailant.
"You don't really expect me to believe that, do you my dear?" he drawled, sounding rather patronizingly, his hands resting lightly on her shoulders, making all the hairs on the back of her head stand up. She clenched her fists, showing an extraordinary amount of self control. The thing was that she wasn't sure if she was restraining herself from running away, punching him in the jaw or… surrendering to him.
'Better not go there' she warned herself 'It's dangerous territory. And, on top of it all, my hormones decide to react like common teenage hormones just now! Aren't they sweet?'
"Now, now, will you tell me the truth or will I have to…" he paused to lick his lips, a gesture that Augustine heard more than saw "pull it out of you?"
Augustine wondered briefly how he managed that threaten to sound utterly sinful, but it was probable a part of the show he was putting on to make her loose, and she was decided to prove him that she was no damsel in distress for him to take advantage of, and that not all women fell into his arms by only listening to the sound of his voice.
"They are bruises of the Body… They don't matter much" she said softly, laughing a short, bittersweet laugh "You shouldn't be concerned about them"
He tried to ignore the pain he felt in the bottom of her voice, and simply touched her hair with one of his hands gently, uncovering the bleeding wound in the back of her head. She winced and tried to escape his touch, but he held her firmly with one of his hands.
"Oh, but I'm not concerned, my dearest, I'm simple curious" he paused to apply pressure on the shoulder he was holding, ever so slightly "The sooner you tell me, the sooner you'll be able to continue your journey. The clock is ticking, and time's short. Tell me what happened"
She sighed, controlling the turmoil of anger, sorrow, helplessness and raw fury that brought the memory of the so called 'accident'. She was good at hiding or keeping her emotions at bay, but still it was painful to do so.
"I was pushed from the top of a staircase. Happy now?" she asked, her tone soft yet sharp at the same time "I hit my head with a wall when I landed. As for the peeled knuckles… I punched a wall with my bare hand" she paused when she sensed his surprise "Anger management, a moment of weakness, call it whatever you want… Is that all?"
"I fear that my answer to that question will have to be no, my dear" he said with a sigh, absentmindedly kissing the back of her head to make the wound disappear and moving his lips to her throat, obviously intending to do the same with the purple and red bruise there. As soon as she felt his lips on her neck she moved rapidly away from him, smiling.
"I won't fall for that, Dragon King. As I told you before, my bruises are bruises of the Body. The bruises of the mind I learnt how to heal them with time… And as for the bruises of the Heart… I have learnt from past experiences that they don't heal at all, you know? The broken heart remains like that no matter what. So I decided that it was better not to let someone in, because nothing that can't reach you can harm you" she paused to smile once more, this time an icy smile that could rival his own chilly smirk "In other words… I can't feel anything for anyone. I lost that ability a long time ago… As a survival mechanism" she finished explaining, looking at him, as if expecting something. What she got was a booming laugh from the Fae King in front of her.
"I see that you are proving to be more than I could have ever expected. My little Ice Queen, since now this is war and everything goes" he smiled wolfishly, showing his pointed teeth "I'll conquer your mind, little one, no matter what is costs me"
She glared at him as he faded, the table, the trio of babbling, slurring friends and the Mad Hatter reappearing. She smiled at her new friend and asked him to point her the direction to the Castle beyond Lumiara.
"You have to go now to the Egyptian Maze, and the challenges there are great. Unfortunately I was banned from that place a long time ago, but fear not, for we shall meet again" he said with a laugh "After all, hour tea was rudely interrupted and in my watch is four o'clock always!"
Sure enough, his clock was stopped at four o'clock exactly. Augustine chuckled, remembering that the Mad Hatter was, after all, a madman, in spite of the fact that most of the time he seemed pretty normal for a place like the Labyrinth. She waved goodbye and she traveled the path she had been told to follow, suddenly noticing something triangular and of the color of golden sand. Not very far from her, rising imposing in the midnight sky, was a perfectly built pyramid. That promised to be interesting.
Author's Note: Hi everyone! I can't believe I updated in a fairly decent amount of time! Aren't you proud of me? Well, anyway, this chapter is a little bit spicier, but I didn't want them all mushy and corny together on the third chapter of my fanfic! Sorry but they have a long way to go before that. And you know me, I want them to suffer, I want you to suffer. Let's face it, people, I'm evil (laugh maniacally).
Well, now speaking seriously, I thank all the people that not only have reviewed once, but that review each chapter, telling me what they think about it. It means a lot to me, and it has been terribly helpful. To the people who do this, a big, big thank you from the bottom of my heart. I would send you a mini-Gareth to each of you, but my muse monopolizes them and doesn't let me have even one…
as for the speech of Augustine about not letting anyone in, I'm guilty as charged. That's one of my flaws, that and let all my emotions bottle up till I explode… Well, old habits die hard, and I'm afraid in certain way to let people close to me. That has never brought me anything but pain.
Well, let's pass to a more cheerful subject, I wish everyone a Merry Christmas, a Happy Hanukkah and a terrific New Year. May you receive the presents and the blessings you wished for. And this chapter is dedicated to my little brother, Santiago, who today turns fourteen (he is not so little anymore). He is not here, but wherever you are, little bugger, I want you to know I am thinking of you, in spite of all the nasty comments I make about you. I don't say this very often, but I love you and you know that (now I'm getting all mushy…)
Hugs and peaches to you all, people. See ya soon,
Sabi (who just can't wait to Christmas Eve to eat turkey…)
