Chapter Fourteen - Trip to the Bog
******
A/N to Daemon Fairie Queen - Don't worry, the hair stays. It was just a maternal
complaint.
******
Arian retreated to a dark balcony away from the chaos of the ball room. Her mind
reeled with what Erestine had told her. Her pulse quickened with shock and her
breathing began to become erratic with panic. This could not be happening. It was too
big, too scary. Why? Why her? And HOW?!?! She knew she was good at lots of
things, but saving a kingdom! It was impossible. She gasped for air which suddenly
felt viscous and stuffy. Cold metallic energy coursed through her veins and she found
herself again longing to trace the familiar shapes of words beneath her fingers. She
couldn't. It was dangerous! Tell that to her hands. They were already seeking out her
secret pocket where the pencil and note book lay. The urge was far too strong.
*She wished to be somewhere away from the claustrophobic crowd. Where no
soul would go!*
Only then did she realise the seriousness of what she had written. She could be sent
anywhere. Probably somewhere so desolate that death would be sure to follow. She
desperately tried to scribble in some more detail, but her fingers and hands were
already beginning to fade into thin air. It was too late...
******
Jareth stepped out onto the balcony where he thought his daughter had gone. She had
looked incredibly distressed and it seemed like the perfect moment to get back in her
good books and offer some comfort. It was probably that idiotic prince Theodorus,
that kid was bad news from the start. He drew back the curtain to find nothing but a
panoramic view of Ethon's capital and the night sky. That was strange! He could have
sworn Arian had come this way...
******
Arian landed with bump onto the earthy ground and instantly knew exactly where she
was. It was pitch black, but vision meant diddly squat when it came to recognising this
place. The smell said it all.
Oh crap! She had just teleported herself to the Bog of Eternal Stench! Damn poetic
irony!
Luckily she seemed to have landed in anything particularly nasty, but it was too dark
to be trying to find a way out and any number of disgusting accidents could happen.
She couldn't move, no matter how tempting it was. She then noticed she had landed
next to a small pile of rocks and sat bolt upright against them, cushioned by the soft
moss. It was pointless trying o sleep so all she could do was sit quietly and wait until
morning and ignore the revolting smell that clung to everything around her like a
viscous oil.
******
She awoke the next morning, stiff and nauseous. The few blissful seconds before she
realised where she was and before the putrid smell reached her nostrils again were
short lived. How the hell had she managed to sleep through That?!! Still is was dawn
and a few pale strands of light slipped between the thick branches of the slimy trees.
There was the Bog in all its glory. Now it was light, Arian gasped at how close to the
edge she had been. That was lucky, a few feet to the left and she would have met a
very noxious end. Her eye fell on the note pad she had 'borrowed' the night before a
short distance away and she gleefully snatched it up. This was her ticket out of here.
Her pencil was poised above the ivory paper...when she heard a loud moan come from
nearby!
Frozen to the spot, she looked on in horror as a small pile of...something began
moving towards her. It looked like an overly ripe compost heap! Arian screamed with
terror.
"Don't worry, missy. I won't harm ya." said a familiar voice from inside the many
layers of mud and bog water.
"Hedgewart?" she squeaked uncertainly.
"Hoggle!!" said the heap.
"What happened to you?"
"What does it look like!!" snapped the Hoggle heap angrily. "I'll stink forever because
of you!"
"What do you mean 'because of me'? I didn't ask you to come sneaking round the
castle in the early hours of the morning!" Arian argued. "And I definitely didn't ask
you to mess up my whole life by telling me my whole existence has been a lie up this
point!"
"I thought you wanted to know the truth."
"Well the truth sucks!" she yelled. It sounded pathetic and childish but she said it
anyway "I wish I'd never met you because then I wouldn't have all these unanswered
questions and then I would be happy!"
"I was only tryin' ta help!"
"No. You just wanted to get me curious so I'd learn how to go Aboveground and take
you to this precious Sarah person you were babbling about!"
"How did you know that?!" said Hoggle, his bushy eyebrows shooting up with shock.
"It's obvious you two were friends and she hasn't called you since. Well guess what!
She's the one destroying this place. The defeat has rendered the Labyrinth obsolete and
it's me who's expected to clean it up."
"What do you mean?"
"I mean that my family thinks I can save this place and they're counting on me. And I
can't do it! It's just too great a task!"
She slouched back against her rock and didn't say anything. The smell was getting
pretty distracting so she scribbled down a few lines of writing and transported them to
a different part of the Labyrinth.
"How did you do that?" said Hoggle with amazement "I thought you said you were
crap at magic."
"I just write things down and they happen." replied Arian, a little shocked that the
smell was still present. She then remembered it was coming from Hoggle and wrote
something down.
Hoggle jumped when he found himself cleaner than he had been in years and smelling
slightly of Cologne.
"Cor! Thanks, missy!" he squeaked.
"I didn't do it for you. You were beginning to make me feel ill." said Arian coldly.
"So everything you write happens?" asked Hoggle.
"Everything so far." said Arian. "There must be something that doesn't work." she
thought for a moment. "Higgle?"
"Hoggle!" said the dwarf.
"Whatever. Would this girl be able to help? Save the Labyrinth that is."
"I dunno. For all we know she could have forgotten about this place."
"But it would be worth a try, right?"
"It's probably the best course of action. If you want to solve a problem you should go
to it's cause..."
Arian considered this for a moment, then scribbled some more notes down and a dark
swirling portal appeared out of thin air. Inside it, if they looked closely was the image
of a small hill under a bright cloudless sky with some duck swimming in a nearby
pool.
"Wow! You are good!" cried Hoggle. "Not even 'is Majesty can do that!"
******
A/N to Daemon Fairie Queen - Don't worry, the hair stays. It was just a maternal
complaint.
******
Arian retreated to a dark balcony away from the chaos of the ball room. Her mind
reeled with what Erestine had told her. Her pulse quickened with shock and her
breathing began to become erratic with panic. This could not be happening. It was too
big, too scary. Why? Why her? And HOW?!?! She knew she was good at lots of
things, but saving a kingdom! It was impossible. She gasped for air which suddenly
felt viscous and stuffy. Cold metallic energy coursed through her veins and she found
herself again longing to trace the familiar shapes of words beneath her fingers. She
couldn't. It was dangerous! Tell that to her hands. They were already seeking out her
secret pocket where the pencil and note book lay. The urge was far too strong.
*She wished to be somewhere away from the claustrophobic crowd. Where no
soul would go!*
Only then did she realise the seriousness of what she had written. She could be sent
anywhere. Probably somewhere so desolate that death would be sure to follow. She
desperately tried to scribble in some more detail, but her fingers and hands were
already beginning to fade into thin air. It was too late...
******
Jareth stepped out onto the balcony where he thought his daughter had gone. She had
looked incredibly distressed and it seemed like the perfect moment to get back in her
good books and offer some comfort. It was probably that idiotic prince Theodorus,
that kid was bad news from the start. He drew back the curtain to find nothing but a
panoramic view of Ethon's capital and the night sky. That was strange! He could have
sworn Arian had come this way...
******
Arian landed with bump onto the earthy ground and instantly knew exactly where she
was. It was pitch black, but vision meant diddly squat when it came to recognising this
place. The smell said it all.
Oh crap! She had just teleported herself to the Bog of Eternal Stench! Damn poetic
irony!
Luckily she seemed to have landed in anything particularly nasty, but it was too dark
to be trying to find a way out and any number of disgusting accidents could happen.
She couldn't move, no matter how tempting it was. She then noticed she had landed
next to a small pile of rocks and sat bolt upright against them, cushioned by the soft
moss. It was pointless trying o sleep so all she could do was sit quietly and wait until
morning and ignore the revolting smell that clung to everything around her like a
viscous oil.
******
She awoke the next morning, stiff and nauseous. The few blissful seconds before she
realised where she was and before the putrid smell reached her nostrils again were
short lived. How the hell had she managed to sleep through That?!! Still is was dawn
and a few pale strands of light slipped between the thick branches of the slimy trees.
There was the Bog in all its glory. Now it was light, Arian gasped at how close to the
edge she had been. That was lucky, a few feet to the left and she would have met a
very noxious end. Her eye fell on the note pad she had 'borrowed' the night before a
short distance away and she gleefully snatched it up. This was her ticket out of here.
Her pencil was poised above the ivory paper...when she heard a loud moan come from
nearby!
Frozen to the spot, she looked on in horror as a small pile of...something began
moving towards her. It looked like an overly ripe compost heap! Arian screamed with
terror.
"Don't worry, missy. I won't harm ya." said a familiar voice from inside the many
layers of mud and bog water.
"Hedgewart?" she squeaked uncertainly.
"Hoggle!!" said the heap.
"What happened to you?"
"What does it look like!!" snapped the Hoggle heap angrily. "I'll stink forever because
of you!"
"What do you mean 'because of me'? I didn't ask you to come sneaking round the
castle in the early hours of the morning!" Arian argued. "And I definitely didn't ask
you to mess up my whole life by telling me my whole existence has been a lie up this
point!"
"I thought you wanted to know the truth."
"Well the truth sucks!" she yelled. It sounded pathetic and childish but she said it
anyway "I wish I'd never met you because then I wouldn't have all these unanswered
questions and then I would be happy!"
"I was only tryin' ta help!"
"No. You just wanted to get me curious so I'd learn how to go Aboveground and take
you to this precious Sarah person you were babbling about!"
"How did you know that?!" said Hoggle, his bushy eyebrows shooting up with shock.
"It's obvious you two were friends and she hasn't called you since. Well guess what!
She's the one destroying this place. The defeat has rendered the Labyrinth obsolete and
it's me who's expected to clean it up."
"What do you mean?"
"I mean that my family thinks I can save this place and they're counting on me. And I
can't do it! It's just too great a task!"
She slouched back against her rock and didn't say anything. The smell was getting
pretty distracting so she scribbled down a few lines of writing and transported them to
a different part of the Labyrinth.
"How did you do that?" said Hoggle with amazement "I thought you said you were
crap at magic."
"I just write things down and they happen." replied Arian, a little shocked that the
smell was still present. She then remembered it was coming from Hoggle and wrote
something down.
Hoggle jumped when he found himself cleaner than he had been in years and smelling
slightly of Cologne.
"Cor! Thanks, missy!" he squeaked.
"I didn't do it for you. You were beginning to make me feel ill." said Arian coldly.
"So everything you write happens?" asked Hoggle.
"Everything so far." said Arian. "There must be something that doesn't work." she
thought for a moment. "Higgle?"
"Hoggle!" said the dwarf.
"Whatever. Would this girl be able to help? Save the Labyrinth that is."
"I dunno. For all we know she could have forgotten about this place."
"But it would be worth a try, right?"
"It's probably the best course of action. If you want to solve a problem you should go
to it's cause..."
Arian considered this for a moment, then scribbled some more notes down and a dark
swirling portal appeared out of thin air. Inside it, if they looked closely was the image
of a small hill under a bright cloudless sky with some duck swimming in a nearby
pool.
"Wow! You are good!" cried Hoggle. "Not even 'is Majesty can do that!"