Curse of the Goblin King

By: OtakuSailorV

Chapter Nine

The wind moaned, the trees shivered under a false breeze, the castle loomed out of the mist, dark and foreboding. It leered down at the two that dared to try and escape it and then spun back to hide amongst the mist once more in a dizzying way.

The air grew chill, a fearful shudder ran up Erutis' spine and made every hair on her body stand on end as a shriek of despair ripped through her very being. She could not hear it with her ears, she simply felt an overwhelming amount of pain and sadness fill her as she looked back at the castle.

Chris did not seem to notice anything at all save for his companion's strange behavior as her eyes caught the evanescent outline of the castle. She did not look at him as she spoke of someone crying; he could see her shiver involuntarily.

"Erutis?" he questioned, wondering what had come over her.

Erutis shook her head, tearing her eyes away from the castle and looking back at Chris in a panic-stricken way. He had a worried look on his face, and she quickly covered up any emotion she would not want him to see registering on her face.

"Nevermind," she said gruffly and strode off, boots clunking loudly on the turf. She crushed sticks and dead leaves underfoot with a heavy stride, trying to appear annoyed so that Chris would not ask any questions.

She herself was not too sure what she had experienced just then. She wanted to believe that it was another of the Goblin King's tricks to try and scare her or entice her somehow, but she was not so sure. The pain had not been hers, and yet in a way had been. Somehow she had felt as if she might actually cry - hearing those mournful, inhuman wails of sorrow and despair. Even now she could feel some aching throb in her heart, with each footstep it seemed to grow worse. She grit her teeth and bit her bottom lip to stop them from releasing the tears she refused to ever shed.

'Especially not for him!' she thought to herself indignantly. She would forget the floppy haired King as soon as she returned to her village, she knew it. In fact, she was forgetting him right now .

Stubbornly, she trudged on, forcing herself to think of other things. Things that did not in any way include that beastly Goblin King and his stupid castle. She was determined to think as little of him as she possibly could.

The walls of the castle grew dingier, the beautiful marble cracked and shifted, and the rich tapestries and ornate woodwork on the chairs disintegrated and became dust and ash as they once had been. The vases and pedestals fell, crashing to pieces and scattering across the broken marble. The curtains became torn and faded, flapping uselessly against the wind that blew in through the shattered glass in the windows. The wood groaned as it bent under the weight of the huge doors which now hung on crooked hinges. They swayed uselessly whenever a strong gust blew through, making a sick creaking noise as they did so.

The smell of damp and decay filled the rooms as a layer of dust settled over the place, making it looked abandoned, lonely, a haunted house sitting among broken trees.

Through the dirt-encrusted window panes of the central room of the upper part of the castle could be seen a lone figure moving restlessly. It jerked about, an apparition, a ghoul haunting the dismal castle; blindly seeking something that was no longer there.

The room was dark, and the inky black shadow of the specter was hardly visible against the dirty windows and the wildly flapping curtains that blew around every so often. However, if one were to look hard enough, they could see a flicker of ghostly movement beyond the opaque glass and a shiver would roll down their spine at the sight.

Inside the castle, on the topmost floor it was easily seen that all the doors were open save for the door leading to the central room, where the specter in the window resided. Going to the tarnished knob, it turns easily, giving a shriek and rattle as it jiggles about uselessly. The door is locked; the ornate woodwork's paint is flaking off and scratches and dents can be seen, carved mercilessly into the lovely wood. It is the only door that is locked in the entire castle, and there is no key.

Beyond the door, there can be heard the whisper-soft goings on of the specter that haunts that singular room, moaning in both physical and emotional pain. The room is filled with dust, more even than can be found in the rest of the castle. Everything in the room has gone un-touched for years; the dilapidated furniture is still covered in white sheets, awaiting the return of those who would enjoy their soft comfort.

The Goblin King, ruler of the castle and the surrounding forest, is standing in a dark corner of the room, watching out of the dirty window with a dismal frown. His eyes followed the path of the young woman and her friend, a burning form of jealousy settled in his heart while the sadness and his curse ate away at him.

He had planned on luring the girl here and keeping her until his curse was undone, but how foolish of him! He had totally lost sight of his goal in but a matter of a week, following the girl's every step while she resided there. This was his punishment, the work of his curse was it not?

He sighed to himself, closing his eyes and leaning back against the wall for a moment thoughtfully. They were still in the forest, he could go after them, but what would be gained in the end? Forcing her to come back would only make her despise him more. And who was to say she didn't already? This wretched curse kept him from doing so many things, caused him so much pain, and now the loss of this girl…

"Live as a monster for a thousand years," he mused to himself as he stood and walked to a pedestal in a corner of the room that was covered with one of the white sheets. A cloud of dust went up as Krayon grabbed it roughly and tossed it aside, revealing a gold hourglass beneath.

It shone radiantly, the most beautiful thing in the entire castle hidden beneath a crummy white sheet in a dark room where its splendor went to such waste.

Krayon looked at it with hate-filled eyes, looking about ready to strike it and send it to the harsh floor below where it would surely dash into a million pieces. He held back though, contenting himself with the thought of such a deed as he looked at how little sand was left in the hourglass. A painful throb eased in his chest, where his heart should have been, but Krayon did not bother to squeeze a hand over the pained area. Instead he winced and narrowed his eyes at the hourglass again before covering it over with a sheet once more.

Making a sour face, he turned aside from the hourglass, his cloak flapping behind him.

Erutis glowered at Chris as they finally came back to the path that led to out of the forest. Unfortunately, Chris had no map and thus did not know which way they should take to get back to the village.

She was inwardly worried, thinking that soon the Goblin King would notice their absence – or rather hers, really – and come flying from the castle in a rage. She had her hand on her sword, fingering the hilt thoughtfully as her gaze shifted back and forth, trying to catch some glimpse of an attacker. Then again, she had never been able to sense the Goblin King until he was practically on top of her when she was in the castle, so who was to say that out on the battlefield she would do any better? She was confident in her abilities as a swordsman, but with that confidence came knowledge of when she was out-matched. Just seeing the Goblin King fight with Chris had been enough for her to be sure; she was a good fighter, but not good enough to defeat the Goblin King if he decided to attack.

"Look, let's just go this way," she grumped and started to trudge down the dirt road. She wanted to run, but the thick fog that hung in the forest did not allow her to see more than possibly five feet in front of her, running could be dangerous.

Chris followed, grumbling to himself that he was going to say the same thing if a certain androgynous swordsman hadn't butted in. Erutis shot him a dark look, but didn't bother to beat him over the head for the comment, she was far too distracted and agitated to waste time smacking Chris around.

"So, what happened between you and the Goblin King?" Chris finally broke the eerie silence that shrouded them.

Erutis' eyes darted in his direction for a moment before she went back to staring ahead angrily. "Nothing, Chris," she replied firmly.

"Yeah right, you two were in that stupid castle for a few weeks before I came," he grunted angrily, frustrated with her for not telling him what was going on. "It's not like he just left you all alone in there the whole time. He must have done something."

"You're right, he didn't leave me alone, and he did do something," Erutis was mainly talking to herself, but with Chris walking alongside of her, it was hard for him not to hear her words as well. Memories replayed over in her mind again and again, seeming almost melancholy and distant.

Chris watched her, unsure, his friend was acting strangely. Ever since he had come to fight the Goblin King – and rescue her, of course – she had been acting very different. Almost like she was a- Chris put the thought aside. No, Erutis couldn't possibly have changed that much in so short a time. It was just a small difference, she was more pensive and less likely to strike him for his rude comment's now and it made him wonder what was on her mind.

Erutis blinked and frowned, her brows stitching together in annoyance. "Look, nothing bad happened. I'm not even sure why the louse kept me around without killing me or doing anything to me, alright?" she barked at him.

Chris made a face, but once again dropped the subject. He wanted to know more, but he had a mind not to push Erutis too far. He didn't wanna fight with her while they were trying to escape from the Goblin King. Maybe when they got back tot he village she would say something, though he doubted it.

Krayon looked out of the window longingly, his eyes tracing over the tops of the barren tree limbs that clutched at the shroud of fog, blocking his vision of the tiny village that lay but a few miles away.

They were almost through, just another mile or so and they would be beyond his reach. If he left now, he could easily catch up to them, but in the end it was still useless. His curse would not be undone if the girl hated him.

"This is a very bad predicament," he mumbled to himself as he laid his chin in his hand and leaned against the window. He was determined to watch over her until she left his forest.

A thought occurred to him then that maybe he had been wrong, maybe he had got the wrong girl and she was not the one to break his curse after all! A faint glimmer of hope sparked, only to be snuffed out once more by the reality of his situation.

Given the time he had left according to the hourglass, it wouldn't matter if she were or not. For even if the real girl to cure his curse were to show up right this second he knew he would not have enough time to make her fall in love with him. It was a useless, wasted effort. Even the short period of time he had had with Erutis was probably not enough to make her even think of him fondly. She hated him; he could see it in her fiery eyes. So, all hope was lost and there was nothing left to do but sit and wait for his last breath.

He smirked to himself despairingly, giving a brief snort of derision at his current state. "To die shall be an awfully big adventure," he said.

Krayon's last line taken from the book "Peter Pan." Wonderful story, I suggest you read it or see the play. Even the Disney movie doesn't do it justice. Peter Pan fangirl

I think this story has switched from Labyrinth-based to Beauty and the Beast-based. blink blink

I would like to thank all of my reviews, as always andalso I would like to thank Kei the Incarnadine Goddess for placing all of my EruKra Demon Diary stories on her c2 Community, 'UnFancy Love.' I feel so special...

Speaking of stories- due to a change in rules here at I have taken down all of my songfics (those that were not deleted) and would like to inform everyone that if they still wish to see my songfics, or my future songfics, they can visit my account which is accessible through a link on my profile. Thank you.

Thanks again minna-san! This story shall only have two more chappies, so enjoy! Heehee.

Review Please?