Chapter 4: Enter the Labyrinth
Author's Note: Well, finally, the story takes us inside the Labyrinth. Yay. Also, as promised, will be going inside Jareth's head. Well, not literally. Brain surgery won't feature in the story, there being a lack of qualified surgeons and all (also lack of brains for them to perform surgery on- See goblins- not the brightest or most hygienic of creatures.)
Ladylillith, thank you for your comments. I do try my hardest to keep everybody in character when I am writing- except for Jareth, who I am making as nasty as possible- and you're right, Mab is a bloody difficult character to write, so I'm glad everyone is in character. You are right; Jareth is indeed a sick man. In future, I will give you prior warning before any mention of wedding dresses. I don't think there will be any in this chapter though, don't worry.
The three of them stood perfectly still, as though the scene was a particularly lifelike painting. Merlin and Mab were staring at each other, Frik was staring nervously between both of them, darting occasional glances towards the door of the Labyrinth.
Mab knew what the two of them were thinking. They would be thinking the same as her. On the one hand, they could try and put their difficulties –difficulties being, of course, an understatement- aside, and attempt to work together to solve the Labyrinth before their 13 hours ran out, then let Arthur and Mordred battle it out equally, and pray that the outcome would be to their advantage. On the other hand, they could go their separate ways, attempt to solve the Labyrinth before the other, and help give their respective protégé an advantage in the upcoming battle. But then there was a risk of the others solving the Labyrinth first, and then of course, there was the fact that Mab, Merlin and Frik together would most probably be able to solve the Labyrinth faster than Merlin and Frik without Mab, or Mab on her own, thus giving them a better chance of solving the Labyrinth within the stated thirteen hours.
Mab wasn't stupid. No matter how much more powerful she was than Frik and Merlin, Jareth would have seen to it that her powers would give her no advantage in finding the castle more quickly than they could. Jareth would also try his utmost to prevent her from getting there on time, and if he succeeded… Mab didn't even want to think about that particular possibility. Better to spend thirteen hours in the company of Merlin and Frik than to spend all of eternity with Jareth.
But if Mab was intelligent, she was also proud. She would agree to a truce if a truce was suggested, but she would not be the one to suggest it. It would seem far too much like pleading for help from the two traitors, and she would not give them that satisfaction. It was merely a case of wait-and-see if Merlin or Frik were intelligent enough to realise the mutual advantage of putting their own personal crusade for revenge aside.
Staring at them both with narrowed eyes, she waited for one of them to speak- she knew someone would break the silence and suggest something soon, if not to ease the tension that was palpable in the air around them, then at least to try and hurry the proceedings along before any more time was wasted. Eventually, Merlin cleared his throat.
"Perhaps," he began cautiously, "Perhaps it would be better for all of us if we were to…" He looked as though the words were leaving a particularly nasty taste in his mouth, "…To call a truce for now, until we've solved the Labyrinth." Mab stared at him unnervingly for a moment, then gave the smallest of nods.
"Very well. But mark this, Merlin, after thirteen hours, the truce ends. You and I still have old scores to settle." Merlin nodded.
"Naturally," Merlin replied evenly. Frik, standing next to him, looked considerably unenthusiastic about this new turn of events, but –rather wisely- decided not to say anything.
The three unlikely allies turned towards the Labyrinth, and walked through the gates.
Frik was the first to enter. He looked from one side to another, evidently rather surprised by what he saw.
"Well," he remarked, "It's not like any maze I've ever seen before."
Mab followed him inside. It didn't take long to see what had caused him to make the remark. There were two paths- one to the left, one to the right. Both ran completely straight for as far as the eye could see. There didn't appear to be any turnings, or any paths leading off to the rest of the maze from what she could see. She stared down both paths suspiciously- she couldn't for the life of her see where to go to start making progress towards the Goblin Castle.
Merlin entered behind her, confusion apparent on his face when he saw what Mab and Frik had seen. He went to speak, when the entrance closed behind him with a mighty bang that made all three of them jump and look back.
"Well," said Merlin slowly, "It appears we're stuck here now."
"Why, Merlin, are you thinking of giving up already?" Mab taunted, unable to resist a dig at Merlin's expense. Merlin glared at her. Frik, anxious to diffuse the situation- or to save himself from an outbreak of Mab's volatile temper – spoke up chirpily.
"Well, which way should we go?" he asked. "The perfectly straight path on the left, or the perfectly straight path on the right?" No-one answered for a moment as they all peered down both paths, trying to determine which looked the most promising.
"The path on the right has more branches on the floor," Merlin volunteered.
Mab sneered, "Oh good. It all becomes clear." Frik merely stared blankly at Merlin. Feeling rather stupid, Merlin turned red.
"Well, it's the only difference I could see. Neither of you volunteered anything useful, either," he said crossly.
"Right. Well then, in the absence of any other clues, may I suggest we follow Master Merlin's route?" Frik asked tentatively. Mab shrugged.
"Why not? We might find more branches, or something equally useful," she replied, her rasping voice laden with sarcasm.
Merlin politely waited for Frik to go first.
"Oh, no, please Master Merlin. You go first, I insist," said Frik, who was darting nervous glances at some kind of fungal growth that appeared to have eyes.
Merlin began walking, followed closely –and nervously- by Frik, and not so closely by Mab. At first, they walked cautiously and quietly, avoiding every branch and twig on the floor, in case they turned out to be snakes, or something equally unpleasant and dangerous. However, after the first few dozen yards or so, when there was still no turnings or corners in sight, they began to get impatient, moving quicker, and stepping on or over the plant debris that littered the floor. They came to a standstill when the perpetually nervous Frik stepped on a branch that snapped with a sharp, loud crack, causing him to jump about six feet into the air, then trip over the large log in front of him and fall flat on his face. Ignoring the gnome's groan of pain, Mab stepped neatly over him and drew level with Merlin, staring out into the distance.
"This is pointless!" she snapped in frustration, "There's nothing there."
"Of course there is," replied Merlin, "There must be a turning somewhere along here, if we carry on long enough."
"We don't have "long enough"!" Mab snapped back. "Perhaps you don't mind the possibility of spending eternity as one of Jareth's possessions, I do!"
"What?" asked Merlin in irritation and mock surprise, "The mighty Queen of the Old Ways is actually frightened? Are you scared of Jareth, Mab?" Mab hissed in fury, and Merlin drew back a little.
"Not as scared as you are of me, dear Merlin." Mab cooed in mock fondness, the singsong tone she was attempting somewhat spoilt by her harsh voice. Her unnaturally bright and piercing eyes seemed to glint dangerously, until Merlin was forced to look away. Satisfied that she had made her point, Mab drew back a little. "If you're so sure that there's a turning ahead, then continue," she said in a voice laced with cruel amusement, holding her arm out and pointing down the path.
Turning away from Mab, Merlin quickened his pace, until he was running down the path- still, no end was in sight. Behind him, he could hear Mab and Frik quicken their footsteps to keep up with him. He continued to run, running until his legs ached and his chest hurt, but there was still nothing. Behind him, he heard Frik call out.
"Wait… stop… Master Merlin…can't run anymore… stop." Merlin couldn't have run any further either. He slowed to a halt, breathing hard and clutching his chest. Frik drew level with him, and fell to his knees, gasping and wheezing, trying to gulp as much air into his lungs as possible. Mab looked in somewhat better form than either of them, but she still looked slightly paler, more breathless and more dishevelled than before. She also looked angrier.
"I told you. There's nothing there. This is one of Jareth's tricks," she ground out between gasps of air.
"There has to be," Merlin said desperately, but with considerably less confidence than previously.
"No, there doesn't!" Mab said, in loud exasperation. Merlin would have tried to shush her, but his lungs weren't up to large scale air expulsion, and besides, it probably wouldn't have worked. She continued. "This isn't the mortal realm. It's the Underground. This is Jareth's challenge. If we lose, then he gains a lot. If we win, he gets nothing. Did you really think he would make it easy for us?" Merlin didn't answer. Mab leant against the wall, her face stormy. No-one spoke for a while. Frik went to open his mouth a few times, then thought better of whatever it was that he was about to say, and closed it again. What could he say after all? The three of them had gambled their freedom on this challenge, and suddenly the odds stacked against them seemed to have become impossibly high.
In his palace in the Goblin City, Jareth lounged on his throne, staring at the scene in another crystal ball. He smiled nastily, as the realisation that they might actually fail his challenge crossed the faces of Mab, Merlin and Frik.
"Not giving up so soon are we, dearest?" he murmured to Mab's image, as rage and frustration clouded her beautiful features. He didn't really expect it of them- he was certain Mab would keep going until the end, and he very much suspected that Merlin would, too- desperation might even force the snivelling coward Frik to do the same. He knew that in all likelihood they would find their way into the rest of the maze soon enough, and then he would set more traps for them, more illusions, more tricks, until they either gave up or ran out of time. One thing was certain- they wouldn't reach the castle in time, not whilst Mab and Merlin were still constantly bickering and sniping at each other, and when they lost, Jareth would have a ringside seat to see the shock, the desolation, and the horror on their faces. He particularly wanted to see the look on Mab's face when she realised that she would forever belong to Jareth, with no chance of escape. It would absolutely destroy her, much more so than what Merlin had done to her. Having to bow down to and obey someone else- particularly when that someone was Jareth- was something that he knew the Queen of Air and Darkness would never be able to bear. The nasty smile teetered for a moment on the brink of downright evil as he thought that.
Thinking about it, he was actually rather glad that Mab had declined his original offer, forcing him to blackmail her into running the Labyrinth. Now he could use the threat of hurting Mordred to ensure her continued obedience. She could not be allowed to defy him as Sarah had…
Thinking about Sarah, as always, awoke a deep, black pool of anger within him. Sarah had been his one weakness- the girl he had fallen in love with, who had completed his Labyrinth, exposed his heart and weaknesses, humiliated him in front of all his subjects, and then had the nerve to turn away from his love, deny him her own love in return, caused him to become bitter, cold and cruel.
He had vowed he would never let that happen again. He would crush those who had laughed at him, and mocked him, show them that he was a force to be reckoned with. Sarah was shielded from his powers because of the words she had spoken- You have no power over me- but anything or anyone else he wanted, he would have, whether they came to him willingly, or whether he had to take them by force.
And, he thought as he watched the scene continue to unfold in his crystal, Mab and Merlin would make an excellent start. They didn't belong to him- yet- but he could still make them suffer, he could still affect their lives. It would certainly be interesting watching them try and complete his Labyrinth- almost as fun as it would be seeing them fail.
He did so love it when a challenger put up a good fight- and was brought to a standstill.
After a few minutes, Merlin stood up decisively, and glanced forward, in a way that indicated that he planned to carry on walking. Frik clambered to his feet, looking uncertain. Mab went to step away from the wall, to find that her hair was caught on a branch protruding from one of the walls. Gritting her teeth, she went about disentangling it.
"We should carry on," said Merlin.
"Are you sure that's wise Master Merlin?" Frik asked, nervous and tired.
"No, it's not," Mab snapped before Merlin could reply, still trying to untangle her hair from the branch. "It's idiotic. This path wouldn't end if we walked along it for thirteen years, never mind thirteen hours." Trying to ignore Mab, Merlin replied to Frik.
"We can't just sit here and give up."
"But there's nothing here!" Frik moaned piteously. Merlin tried to reassure him.
"Frik, somewhere along this path there must be a corner, or turning, or…"
"A door!" Mab's voice interrupted from behind, sounding surprised, or at least, as close to surprise as it ever sounded.
"Exactly," Merlin said to Frik, puzzled as to why Mab was suddenly backing him up. He wasn't looking, so he didn't see Mab roll her eyes at his back.
"No!" she growled irritably, "I meant there is a door here." Merlin and Frik turned back in surprise, to find Mab looking at what appeared to be a plain stretch of wall.
"Mab, that's the wall," said Merlin, cautiously, wondering if Mab was hallucinating out of desperation. Mab rolled her eyes again- she was getting very good at it- and stepped in a direction that should have taken her into the wall near Merlin and Frik. She vanished completely. Merlin and Frik stared at the spot where she had been moments before, which was now completely empty. Frik, whirled around in a wild circle, looking in every direction, including upwards, as though Mab was suddenly going to appear in the air above him.
"Mab!" Merlin called, "Where are you? This isn't funny!" He assumed she'd turned herself invisible, either to trick them or just to make fun of them. Then, as quickly as she'd vanished before, Mab appeared to step out of the wall.
"I thought you said you couldn't walk through these walls?" Merlin asked suspiciously.
"I didn't," Mab explained slowly, as though she was talking to a particularly dim-witted child, "There is a hidden doorway here. It leads to the rest of the Labyrinth. Now do you understand?"
"I can't see it," said Merlin, staring intently at the wall. Mab hissed in frustration, and pulled Merlin and Frik in front of her so that they were looking at it from the same angle that she was. Merlin's eyes widened, as he saw the narrow gap in the wall that was virtually impossible to see from any other angle.
"Now do you see it?" Mab demanded. Both men nodded. "Good." She released their arms, giving them a push forward for good measure. They entered the narrow gap, and entered another pathway, one that was filled with twists and turns and overlapping paths. Ahead of them was a signpost of some variety, except there were no signs on it, just skeletal hands pointing in every direction, with no writing to indicate what they pointed to. Over the top of the walls, they could see the rest of the Labyrinth, and beyond that, the Goblin City and Jareth's castle.
"Ah!" said Frik happily, "This is much more like it. This is what a maze should look like." Unseen by one another, Mab and Merlin rolled their eyes at his misplaced enthusiasm, and began walking forward.
In his castle, Jareth laughed bitterly. Trust Mab to be the one to find the hidden doors. Still, it didn't really matter. They still had a long way to go, and the hardest part was yet to come.
And the clock was ticking…
Author's Note: Yes, we finally got to see what makes Jareth tick. And, wouldn't you know, he blames Sarah for everything. Typical bad guy.