The Labyrinth

Chapter Five

Turn on the Lights!

By Ronin S. Oath and mudrakdragon1

Shawna glances around the long tunnel that lay ahead of her with a sense of foreboding. 'I hope I chose the right door…'

Clink

Click

"What the hell was that?"

Creeeeeee

Bang!

Shawna swirls around, just as the door slams shut on its own. 'I really hope I chose the right door.' Turning back to the path which lay ahead, Shawna moves forward. Never expecting the ground to fall out from underneath her until it was too late…

-

Casadena jumps as the door closes behind her, her eyes wide with what appears to be fear. "That was a little too strange to be a good thing," she says out loud to herself before continuing down the path which led to lord-only-knows-where. "Now that Shawna's gone, I'm all alone… all by myself in the labyrinth… with no one to talk to… all alone…" Casadena sadly sighs to herself. "Guess I need to make a bit of noise so I won't have to be all by myself… like I am… in the labyrinth… right now…" Pausing where she stood, Casadena takes off her all-around pack, and searches through it until she finds a 15K golden flute. "I guess this will do for now," she mumbles, replacing her all-around pack back over her shoulders, then placing the 15K golden flute up to her lips.

The sweet melody of Casadena's flute circled throughout the labyrinth, reaching all the way to the Goblin King's castle where Jareth rested on his throne, watching them with a keen eye. But what's more important here, is that the beautiful melody which seemed impossible for a human to play, reached the ears of Bombadil de Old.

Bombadil de Old is a pretty old man- as if you couldn't tell- who lived to serve Jareth as had his father, and his father's father, and his father's father's father, and his father's father's father's father, and many more before hence since. Entranced by the beastly charm of the flutes' song, Bombadil de Old follows the sound until he comes upon our story's Casadena.

Casadena, still playing away without a care in the world, keeps walking through her chosen path, hoping deep down to find Shawna soon so that they could find the Goblin King's Castle and get whatever they wish most. At about this time, Casadena lowers her flute, looking quite lost within thought. "What is it I want most? Shawna wants to marry the she-man and live forever as the she-man's queen… that or to be the riches girl in the world, then marry the she-man so that she may live forever as the she-man's queen. But me… What do I want?" But before she could finish her thinking, the ground opens up underneath her, and she falls like a rock in water.

Upon seeing this, Bombadil de Old rolls around the labyrinth floor, laughing until he explodes such as all goblins do when they too hard…

-

"Took you long enough ta get here," Shawna comments dryly once Casadena lands in the open hands off the wall beside her. "These hands told me that both of those door-guard-things lead here, so we were kinda screwed back there."

Still holding her flute in her hands, Casadena glances from her friend to the multiple hands attached to the all, then back to her friend. "Konnichiwa!"

Shawna rolls her eyes just as the hands begin to speak.

"So do you want to go up or down?"

"We already been up," Casadena informs the speaking hands as she replaces her 15K golden flute in her all-around pack. "Down!"

"Cas-" before Shawna can finish, the hands drops them both, "-ADEN-" Shawna hits the ground with Casadena landing, sitting up on top of her.

"Shawna?" Casadena calls, glancing around herself. "I wonder where Shawna went…"

"Casadena," Shawna's mumbled voice sounds.

"Where are you, Shawna?"

"Um… you're kinda sittin' on me," Shawna replies. "Get the hell off of me!"

"Huh?" Casadena looks down to find Shawna under her. Standing up, Casadena reaches down, and pulls Shawna to her feet.

"Finally," Shawna mumbles, dusting herself off.

"Where are we?"

Shawna glances around, though it is nearly too dark to see anything. "Hm… No doors… No windows… Total darkness… Where else could we be?"

Casadena's eyes grow wide. "Santa's workshop?"

"No, dipshit," Shawna replies, trying to hold in her laughter. "We're in an oubliette."

"Looks just like Santa's workshop to me," Casadena repeats with another glance around. "Without the toys."

Shawna slaps Casadena on the head. "Who in the hell came up with an oubliette anyways?"

"Two twins names Oublie and Etta."

Shawna blinks, staring at Casadena. "How the hell do you know this?"

"Oublie and Etta always caused lots of trouble," Casadena continues. "Then one day, they dug a large hole in the ground so that when someone walked over it, it would fall in on them, and they'd be trap forever and ever. The only problem is that when the two of them covered the hole, they forgot where they placed it. They didn't care much, mind you, so the two of them just went home, thinking that if someone fell it, then they'd know about it the next day when they came out to play. Well… As you can imagine, Oublie and Etta completely forgot about the hole they dug the day before, and the two children went out playing in the-"

"Could you hurry up a bit?"

"M-kay. Let's just say that both Oublie and Etta fell into the hold. The town was quiet for years upon years, and everyone thought that the two troublemakers skipped town, such as trouble makers do. Then one day, while the Three Little Pigs were fetching water for the Seven Dwarfs, Pinocchio came across a large hole in the ground. Being a boy made of wood; Pinocchio ran over to the Three Little Pigs and told them of the hole… Later, they found the bodies of Oublie and Etta. Thus is how we have an Oubliette."

Shawna sighs, shaking her head. "I thought you had something there… until you started talking about fairy tales."

"But the hole the two dug was only five feet deep."

"Riiiiight. I guess we just have to sit and uh… um…"

"Bake pancakes!"

"How the hell do you expect us to bake pancakes in an oubliette?"

"Uh…"

"There's not even a shred of light seeping into this hell hole!"

Suddenly a torch flickers to life, lighting the whole area.

Shawna blinks, adjusting to the brightness. "What the-"

Casadena, meanwhile, spots someone moving directly behind her friend. "Hobble!"

"Huh?" Shawna turns around, her eyes traveling down to the goblin-like creature. "Hibble."

"Hoddle?"

"Fiddle?"

"Little?"

"Shittle?"

"I thought it sounded like Hoqqle…"

"Hodo?"

"Hobo?"

"Hondle?"

"Handle?"

"Hiddle?"

"It's Hoggle!" Hoggle growls out.

-

Hold the crystal ball in one hand, Jareth rubs his temples with the other. "Why oh why did I ever let them into my labyrinth?"

"But you didn't let them in," a boiled goblin answers.

"Yea," a second goblin agrees. "They gots in their selves… Remember?"

Jareth gives both goblins a pointed look.

"Well it's true," the first goblin grumbles.

To Be Continued…