Chapter 8 - Monkey doodle

******

Disclaimer - Again, I own nothing.

******

Hilarity watched the crystal that now held an image of her cousin handing over the

directions she had written for the girl. She knew it probably wouldn't work as the

Labyrinth had a nasty habit of changing when you least expected it. She wondered if

the baby would turn into a Goblin automatically or if she would have to do it herself.

That was the last thing she wanted to do. Hilarity was the type of person who got on

well with kids and any idea of harming one made her stomach churn with anger. She

flicked though some more books she had found. She picked up an old exercise book.

The writing looked like someone had dropped a spider in ink and let it run all over the

page and she instantly recognised it as Jareth's untidy scrawl. Who'd have thought that

learning about a magic kingdom would be so deadly boring. Her friend had obviously

felt the same way during his childhood because the next few pages were covered in

doodles and graffiti (mostly of monkeys) the tutor had written "Must pay attention"

along the bottom. Hilarity smiled. The Goblin King was a man of many talents but

drawing was certainly not one of them.

Hannah was crying on the other side of the room now so she quickly went over to

comfort her.

"Don't worry, kiddo. It'll be OK. Your sister will be here soon." she whispered

encouragingly. The baby didn't seem convinced because she carried on crying "Yeah

you're right. I wouldn't count on it either."

"You seem to have you're work cut out, my dear." said a rather evil voice next to her

ear. Hilarity wizzed round and came face to face with...

"Ahh Knossos!" she said politely, amazed at how she kept her composure. "What are

you doing here?"

"I was just wondering if you needed any help. Running a Labyrinth can cause terrible

stress on the inexperienced."

"By 'help' you mean that you want to take over and I don't think the terrible stress will

be caused by the Labyrinth if I refuse."

"You catch on quick. Straight to the point I see. I admire that in a person. The people

of the Underground are usually so full of crap."

"Like you?" What the hell was she doing? This was definitely going to lead to trouble

yet her

mouth still kept on talking as if it had a mind of its own.

"May I remind you of my influence in this world, my dear?"

"Sure. Refresh my memory. What exactly is it that you do? I haven't heard anyone

mention you before." she said sarcastically.

"I am the overlord of the troll clans." he replied "My army is ten thousand strong and

we will happily invade this little hole of a kingdom if you do not surrender

peacefully."

"My future father in law is one of the most infamous dictators in the universe. Attack

the Labyrinth and he'll nuke you're troll army into oblivion." she would have to double

check on this but it was a good threat all the same. She had bluffed about the future

father in law bit. As much as she loved Danny she would never marry someone with a

name like Diabolicous!

"You have until sunset tomorrow to make a decision!" said Knossos who was starting

to lose his rag with this annoying creature. "I advise that you think about it as it will

be the only way for you and your relative to safely return home." with that he

disappeared in a menacing cloud of black smoke. Hilarity was not impressed. What an

arse!

******

Trin made his way back to the castle after he had given the directions to Emily. He

was confident that she would understand them and not need any more help. This left

him to concentrate on his plan. A plan so evil it actually scared him. A plan that

would destroy that bloody place once and for all and take all those freaky creatures

with it....

******

"Oh please stop crying!" moaned Hilarity as she tried to cheer Hannah up with little

success. She gave one of the Goblins a desperate look "What do I do? How does

Jareth usually handle this type of situation?"

"His Majesty sings to them, my Lady." the Goblin replied.

"Worth a try. But you lot are singing back up!" she took the crystal from her pocket "I

wish I had my piano."

******

Emily had made good progress since the rather strange young man had given her a

map with a set of instructions with an encouraging note from the girl who had

appeared in her room. It must be hard to be left in charge of such a dangerous place

and do a job you don't agree with, she thought. She could hear music playing faintly in

the distance. It sounded a bit like....The Jackson Five! What the...!