Chapter 6: Down in the Dungeons
Author's Note: Negotiations with Jareth have been completed! I can make him as nasty as I like in exchange for 3 pairs of opaque tights, some blue eye-shadow and a copy of "Robin Hood: Men in Tights".
Back in reality, we must continue with the story- read on…
Mab plummeted down at least fifty feet, before she felt herself being grabbed by several hands. Several of them caught her hair in a painful grip. About ten feet above her, Merlin was suspended, also held by the moving hands that protruded from the wall.
"Ouch!" she complained. To her surprise, two of the hands made themselves into the shape of a face, which, as they moved their hands, spoke.
"Would you like us to let go?" it giggled. The effect was amusing, strange, and fairly eerie. Mab wrinkled her nose in distaste, and then realised, too late, that it might be prudent to answer the question.
"No!" she cried as the hands abruptly let go of her. A few feet further down, more hands caught her again. She heard Merlin speaking to the hands that held him above her, and listened, trying to discern what he was saying.
----
Merlin stared at the hands in shock for a while. Below him, he heard Mab cry out, and he could just about see her suspended several feet below him if he craned his head around. He couldn't see Frik anywhere, leading him to guess that Frik must still be up at the top.
"Frik!" he called loudly, "We could use some help."
"What do you mean help?" asked one of the hand-faces, sounding fairly indignant. "We are helping."
"We're the Helping Hands," another one informed Merlin.
"Oh," said Merlin, uncertain as to what to say to this strange pronouncement. Quite frankly, the only help they seemed to be providing was to help his arms disconnect from his shoulders, "An important job?"
"Of course," yet another hand-face responded, puffing up with pride, if that was possible. "If we weren't here, who would catch the poor fools that fall down here? No-one, that's who. You'd have been a big splattered mess on the floor otherwise."
"True," agreed Merlin.
"Now," said the first hand-face, "Which way?"
Merlin was confused. "Pardon?" Numerous hand-faces began to explain it.
"Up or down?"
"Which way do you want to go?"
Naturally, Merlin's first impulse was to say "Up", but for a moment, he paused. Hadn't Frik said that the door was definitely the right way to Goblin Castle? Perhaps this hole led part of the way to the castle- after all, if this was just a trap, why would Jareth have bothered placing the helping hands there?
"Perhaps I should go down…" Merlin mused aloud. The helping hands let out a sudden burst of laughter.
"He chose down! He chose down!" they sang out in an evil-sounding chant. Merlin felt a sinking feeling in the pit of his stomach, which was only intensified by Mab's furious scream from below him.
"No, you idiot!"
"Wait!" Merlin tried desperately, clasping at the hands.
"Too late now," a hand face laughed back, as all of the remaining hands loosed their grip on Merlin. He fell down, clutching at the sides, gathering speed, then realised what was about to happen about two seconds before he crashed into Mab, and his momentum tore her away from the rest of the helping hands and downwards. A few metres down, the tunnel ended, and Mab and Merlin fell through several thick cobwebs into a large chamber, where they landed, painfully, on a stone floor. Looking up, Merlin saw a large metal grill fall into place over the hole they had just fallen through, and through it, he could hear the faint strains of the helping-hands' mocking laughter.
----
Back in the Goblin City, Jareth –who had seen the whole thing in one of his crystal balls- was in fits of laughter. He was laughing harder than he had in months- he was doubled over, clutching his ribs, and his eyes were streaming enough to make his eye-makeup run. He had expected them not to give up. He had expected them to solve the riddle. He had expected at least one of them to fall through the trapdoor- but to have Merlin and Mab both fall through it, and then for Merlin to choose down and bring Mab down into the Oubliette with him…
"Oh, well done Merlin!" he gasped, between gales of laughter. "Absolutely classic. Couldn't have planned it better myself."
----
Frik stared down into the long, narrow shaft that Mab and Merlin had disappeared down. He couldn't see either of them, just a tunnel of almost pitch-blackness, with things clinging to the walls that appeared to be moving.
"Master Merlin?" he called tentatively. No answer. "Mab?" Again, nothing. Frik didn't know what to do. He didn't want Merlin to get hurt –although he wouldn't particularly have minded Mab meeting a painful end in the tunnel- but equally, if something had happened to them , Frik had no intention of following them into the tunnel and allowing it to happen to him as well.
Eventually, he got to his feet and moved away from the hole. Whatever had happened to them, there was nothing he could do to help just standing here. He would have to carry on trying to get to the castle before they all ran out of time, and hope that Merlin and Mab would meet up with him on the way.
As he moved away from the tunnel, he heard a scraping noise. He looked back to see that the entrance had closed up completely.
----
Merlin was dazed for a few moments after they landed, staring up at the now closed off entranceway in horror. He was brought down to Earth by a movement beneath him, and Mab's voice.
"Get off me!" she hissed sharply. Merlin realised that he must have fallen on top of her. He hastily scrambled to his feet and backed off several paces before Mab could fling him against the wall. In the very dim light from the tunnel, he saw Mab pull herself upright, and dust herself off with slow deliberation. From what Merlin could see, she looked almost rigidly composed. Which probably meant she was blindingly furious, and about to cause Merlin a lot of pain. She looked up at him, and Merlin saw her eyes flash dangerously. He was right. With nothing but a slight narrowing of her eyes, she flung Merlin backwards against the wall, which he hit with a dull thud. He pulled himself upright, and went to throw up a shield before she could attack again, but before either of them could pull off any magic, the dim light from the tunnel began to disappear, until it vanished completely, leaving the chamber in pitch blackness.
Merlin peered around, trying to adjust his vision to the dark, but with absolutely no light whatsoever, even a wizard could not see. He staggered forward a few steps.
"Mab?" he called.
"I'm here, Merlin," she called back, in a voice that could have been coming from anywhere.
"That's not helpful," muttered Merlin, "I can't see you."
"I can see you," Mab replied. Merlin wasn't at all sure that was a good thing, and her tone of voice did nothing to reassure him.
"Where are you?" he asked, lurching forward again, trying in vain to see her.
"You're about to step on me," she informed him. Not wanting to anger her further, Merlin took a step back… and tripped over Mab's foot. He heard her snort derisively.
"That's not funny," he said through gritted teeth, pulling himself upright.
"Think yourself lucky it wasn't worse, Merlin," she whispered dangerously- Merlin could hear that she was absolutely serious. He struggled to his feet in the direction that he assumed Mab was in, and reached out to see if she was her. His hand touched her face and she slapped it away.
"Don't do that!" she snapped irritably.
"Where are we?" Merlin asked.
"We're in the Oubliette."
"The what?"
"We're in a dungeon." Mab explained in simpler terms. When she spoke next, her voice was choked with rage. "You idiot! How could you have been so stupid? We were going the right way! We could have done it, could have beaten Jareth. We had a chance. And you've condemned us both."
"Mab, we can still do it, if we move fast enough we can make up for lost time." Merlin reassured. "We just have to find a way out." He suddenly thought he caught a glimpse of her eyes shining in the darkness, small orbs of vivid green. They stared unnervingly at him. Without speaking, Mab clicked her fingers, and light appeared from nowhere, lighting up the chamber so that Merlin could see it as she could. The walls were uneven and rocky, but thick. The floor was sandy in places, but solid nonetheless. The ceiling was high, and the only hole in it was the now darkened tunnel, its entrance barred here, and closed on the surface. Merlin understood what Mab was showing him. There was no way out. He looked towards her. She stared at him with a contemptuous expression.
"Which "way out", Merlin? Can you see one?" The anger and contempt in her graveyard voice was laced with something that sounded a foreign emotion coming from Mab. Hopelessness. Merlin didn't say anything. He didn't need to. "I thought not." She turned away from him. Merlin sank to the floor.
"So what do we do?" he asked Mab, not really expecting an answer.
"Do?" she asked incredulously, turning back to face him, "There's nothing we can do. We sit here and wait for our time to run out." After another pause, she spoke again. "What possessed you to say down?"
"I thought it might be the way to the castle…" Merlin trailed off. Mab turned away again, picking a rock off the floor and glaring at it as though it were her personal enemy. "I'm sorry," Merlin finished lamely. Mab turned sharply on her heel to face him.
""Sorry"," she mocked angrily, "Oh, that's alright then. We're trapped in here. We can't get out. Jareth is going to make our lives hell for the rest of eternity. But as long as you're sorry." Merlin could have sworn that he saw tears in Mab's eyes at this point, which scared him nearly as much as her furious temper. "It's too late for sorry. It's always too late with you, Merlin. Too little, too late."
"Why are you just giving up?" he asked her, "Why won't you fight?" It only served to worsen her anger.
"How dare you!" she hissed, angry beyond all human comprehension, "How dare you accuse me of not fighting. I've spent the last five hundred years fighting to exist. You tried to get me to stop, to give up. You and my sister told me I should accept the death of the Old Ways. I didn't. I fought. I refused to give up, because I knew what would happen to me if I didn't. I've fought this far through the Labyrinth because I know what Jareth will do to me if I lose. Don't you dare say I don't fight."
"Then why aren't you fighting now?" Merlin pleaded.
"There's nothing to fight!" she cried in exasperation. "It won't do us any good."
"Oh, and standing there crying and doing nothing will?" demanded Merlin. Mab glared at him, then let out a terrible, ear-splitting roar of rage. It flung Merlin back against the far wall, it caught up the sand off the floor, and loose pieces of rock from the walls, and flung them around and around in a furious whirlwind. It caused a strangely flat piece of rock lying on the floor to tilt upwards and crash into the wall with an odd clicking noise. After a while, Mab's roar stopped, and the pieces of rock and sand fell to the floor. Mab stood in a cloud of dust, breathing hard, and still shooting a death glare at Merlin as he pulled himself away from the wall slowly and tentatively, hoping not to aggravate his fifty new bruises. He crossed the chamber to the piece of rock, which had remained apparently embedded in the wall, and attempted to pull it away from the wall. To his surprise, it came away from the wall as though it were a door on hinges. To his even greater surprise, when opened, what had been a bare stretch of wall appeared to now be a storage space, which, as Merlin opened the door, dropped several pots and pans out onto his foot.
"Ouch!" he complained, slamming the rock-door shut before more pans could fall out, and gripping his foot in pain. Mab stood at his side, staring at the door.
"Let me see," she commanded. Merlin moved away to allow her to move closer. Mab reached out to open it.
"No," Merlin informed her, "The other side." But, to his surprise, the door opened, revealing an entrance to a tunnel. The entrance was short- about waist height- but the tunnel itself appeared to be quite high. The two of them stared into the tunnel, then stared at each other.
"Well?" asked Merlin, "Should we go through it?" Mab raised an eyebrow.
"You'd rather stay here?" Without replying, Merlin turned back to the entrance, and ducked through it, Mab following him.
Rather than stepping into a tunnel, as they had first expected, they seemed to have entered a twisted corridor carved from the rock. Large stone faces stared out at them from every wall, which towered high above their heads. They went to follow it around a corner, when one of the faces boomed out at them.
"You're going the wrong way!" They jumped and turned to face it doubtfully.
"Is it telling the truth?" asked Merlin. Mab shrugged.
"I don't see any other path to follow. It could just be a false alarm." As they continued, more faces joined in.
"Turn back!"
"This is not the way!"
"Beware! Beware!"
More and more joined in yelling, adding to the cacophony. Merlin clapped his hands over his ears to prevent any damage to his hearing.
"SHUT UP!" Mab screamed loudly, dangerous magic beginning to crackle around her hands. All of the faces ceased their din, except one.
"The path you take…"
"Quiet!" Mab snapped at it. "Or you will be so many stone chippings on the floor."
"Oh, please," the face pleaded, in a quieter voice, with a slight northern accent. "I haven't been able to for such a long time." Mab rolled her eyes.
"Fine. But don't expect us to be impressed. I've killed creatures more impressive than you." The face looked distinctively nervous.
"Umm… actually, I… I have a sore throat. Perhaps I should rest it."
Mab smiled nastily at it. "Indeed." Mab turned away and began walking again. Merlin also turned away, mouthing "Sorry" to the stone face as he did so. Before the two of them could get very far, however, a crystal ball rolled between them, moving towards the end of the corridor, which led into a tunnel that appeared to run under the Labyrinth.
"Oh no," groaned Merlin.
Seeing no other possible course of action, the two of them followed it into the tunnel. Just inside sat a strange looking creature, dressed in a large heap of ragged clothes. It held a tin out in front of it, which the crystal ball seemed to jump into.
"Well, well, what have we here?" it asked in a high, nasal voice, peering at Merlin and Mab. Mab wasn't fooled.
"Jareth," she stated. The thing gave a cackling laugh, and Jareth stood upright, pulling off the disguise in one swift movement.
"Hello Mab, Merlin," he said, nodding to each of them respectively, "What a pleasant surprise to see you down here. What happened to your gnome friend?" Neither of them replied. He smirked. "No matter. He's really not important."
"What do you want now?" snapped Mab.
"Oh, I just wondered how you were finding the Labyrinth. Enjoying yourselves?"
"Not remotely," was Mab's reply.
"For once I agree with Mab," Merlin said.
"You know, you could always give up," said Jareth coaxingly, "Then you wouldn't have to do this any more. You could see your friends again."
"Never!" Mab snapped, "I'll never let you have me."
"You're going to lose anyway," said Jareth, "Why not just accept it?" The words were a long ago echo of what her sister had once said to her about the Old Ways being forgotten. "It's fate. Accept it." She hadn't accepted it then, and she wasn't about to accept fate now.
"I won't accept it!" she replied, "Is that all you wanted? You're wasting our time." Jareth laughed.
"I'm not the one who decided to take the circuitous underground route through the Labyrinth." Now it was Merlin's turn to glare at Jareth, turning slightly red as he did so. Unabashed, Jareth continued. "And no, since you ask Mab, I didn't just come down here to talk to you." Another nasty smile spread across his face, and he pulled out a crystal ball, which could only mean trouble. "I decided it was time to have the tunnels cleaned." With that, he tossed the crystal ball down the tunnel, away from Merlin and Mab. They peered into the darkness, but, as it was, they heard whatever was coming before they saw it- the sound of slicing blades and grinding wheels. Then the machine appeared- a huge contraption that appeared to be a large rotating circle, covered by blades sticking out at all angles, pointing forwards and looking dangerous. It filled the tunnel completely.
"Meet the cleaner," Jareth smirked, before stepping backwards and disappearing. Merlin stared at the machine in horror for a second, unable to believe that it would just keep heading straight for them, but it showed no signs of slowing. He turned back towards the tunnel entrance that lead back to the corridor, but it had vanished. He turned around and started running away from the cleaner.
"Come on! Run!" he yelled to Mab, unnecessarily, as she was already running. The two of them sprinted down the tunnel as fast as they could go, trying to outrun it. Merlin kept looking over his shoulder, and he could see that no matter how fast they were running, the cleaner was gaining on them. Ahead of him, Mab cried out and stumbled. He grabbed her arm before she could fall and pulled her along with him. Ahead of them, Merlin could see a large gate barring the tunnel. It looked locked. Merlin didn't know if it would pose a problem for the cleaner, but he didn't particularly want to get caught between them.
They reached the gate, and, as Merlin suspected, it was locked. Mab stepped backwards, and summoned a ball of magic, ready to blast the gate open, but, before she could, Merlin spotted a rickety wooden door along the side of the tunnel. If they could get that open, they would be out of the path of the cleaner.
"Wait, Mab!" he called, "Open this one!" He pushed it, trying to force it open. Mab turned to face the door and unleashed the ball of energy at it, shattering it into a thousand splinters. Merlin grabbed her and pulled her through the door just as the cleaner reached them. The two of them collapsed from sheer exhaustion, but still saw the cleaner pass them by, continuing on it's way along the tunnel. Merlin noted with amusement that it was run by a three small goblins peddling it from the back. Then he heard a screeching, ripping, crashing noise, as the cleaner passed through the iron gate blocking the tunnel, smashing it to pieces without so much as a pause.
Taking a deep breath, he stood up, and peered out into the tunnel after the cleaner.
"I never want to do that again," Mab hissed, pulling herself to her feet, and immediately sitting down again when the room began to spin. Merlin nodded in agreement.
"The tunnel isn't even that much cleaner," he observed. He heard Mab give a short laugh from behind him, as she pulled herself upright. He turned back to the rest of the chamber. A ladder was attached to the far wall, leading upwards as far as Merlin could see. "Come on," he told Mab, "We should try and head upwards again." The two of them began to climb. About halfway up, Merlin asked Mab.
"Why is Jareth suddenly after us? I'd never even heard of him before today."
"Because," Mab explained, with what passed in her for patience, "It's just what he does. He kidnaps people and then sets this challenge for the rescuers. He finds it entertaining."
"But why us?" Merlin asked, still not quite clear on this point. Mab thought for a few moments before replying.
"I don't know why he wants you, to be frank. Perhaps he just wants you as part of his collection."
"Charming man," Merlin said dryly. He suddenly realised that this was quite possibly the only civilised conversation he and Mab had ever had, bringing him to an abrupt and awkward silence. The idea of the two of them holding a civilised conversation was a topic that Merlin could not quite get to grips with. Reaching the top, he pushed aside the slab that covered the top of the ladder. Pulling himself up, he was surprised to find himself standing in what appeared to be a large ornamental vase in the middle of a courtyard of some kind. The walls of the Labyrinth were not stone here, but instead were large green hedges. He jumped out of the vase, into the courtyard. Behind him, Mab swung herself over the top of the vase with surprising agility and landed next to him.
Suddenly, an old man walked slowly into the courtyard. He was dressed in long robes, and wearing what appeared to be the long neck and head of a bird as a hat. As they approached, the bird saw them and squawked.
"Ah! Customers!" Merlin was surprised at the bird talking- generally, he found things with no body tended to be dead. He wasn't exactly sure what to say.
"Hello," he tried. The old man stared at him, looking tired.
"Greetings, young ones." Mab actually looked quite offended by this statement.
"I've existed from the beginning of time. I'm not young," she corrected. The man didn't reply, but that didn't stop the bird on his head.
"Well, you certainly look good for your age," he replied. "Much better than him," he said, nodding down at the old man, who glared up at him.
"Be quiet!" he demanded. The bird looked disgruntled and leaned back. "Now," the man continued, "How may I help you?"
"We're trying to get through the Labyrinth," Merlin replied. The bird interrupted again.
"No kidding!"
"Be quiet!" the old man snapped again.
"I don't suppose you know how to get through it, do you?" Merlin asked, not holding out much hope. The man sat quietly for a moment, not moving, seeming to consider the question. When he spoke again, he paused for effect.
"The road ahead of you is long and hard," he proclaimed.
"We're aware of that!" snapped Mab. The man stared at Merlin.
"You must be careful whom you trust, my friend." Once he had imparted this gem of wisdom, he turned to Mab, but not before the bird had rolled his eyes and chimed in.
"Ah, will you listen to this crap!" it exclaimed in irritation, "I hear this all day!"
"Will you be quiet!" the man snapped again. He turned back to Mab, "Remember, those who you consider enemies may turn out to be your greatest allies." Having said this, he settled back, and went to sleep.
"I think that's your lot," admitted the bird.
"That's it?" demanded Mab, "Vague warnings and nonsensical advice?" The bird nodded.
"Yep."
"A simple left or right might have been more use," Merlin told the bird.
"Don't look at me, I'm just the hat," it replied. "Please, feel free to leave a contribution in the donations box!" Mab just glared at it, until it shrank backwards and gulped.
"Hey, why don't you have this one on the house?" it offered nervously. Mab said nothing, just turned on her heel and walked away, Merlin swiftly following.
"Cheapskates," the hat muttered behind them, once they were out of hearing.
----
Frik trudged along, miserably. He wasn't having much luck finding his way through the maze so far, possibly because he was working from the theory of "If any kind of noise is coming from it, don't go there." Without Mab and Merlin to hide behind, the Labyrinth had become much more terrifying, which was why, when Jareth appeared in front of him, he screamed in a very high pitch, and jumped backwards.
The Goblin King said nothing, merely looked at Frik in a kind of amused distaste. When Frik realised that Jareth was not going to try and hurt, main or kill him, at least not for the moment, he spoke and attempted to sound brave and businesslike.
"Um, he-hello, Jareth… I mean, Your Majesty… I mean…" Frik trailed off, not quite sure what he meant.
"Flip…" he began in a tone that seemed almost companionable, in a superior sort of fashion.
"Frik," Frik corrected in a small voice.
"Yes," Jareth continued unphased, "You appear to have misplaced your two companions."
"Um," Frik said, not really sure what else he could say.
"Oh, you needn't worry," said Jareth breezily, "I've seen them. They're both fine. Somewhat off course, but unhurt."
"Oh," said Frik uncertainly. He didn't know why Jareth was attempting to reassure him, but it was probably about to lead on to something very nasty indeed.
"You don't sound all that overjoyed about it," Jareth said questioningly, "I'd have thought you'd be glad. They are your friends after all."
"Queen Mab and I have never been friends," Frik corrected automatically. Jareth smirked.
"Ah, yes, of course. Such a tragic incident, that business with your Morgan." Frik was surprised that Jareth knew about it, and that he was bringing it up. "Mab can be so unreasonable when she loses her temper."
Frik was angry that Jareth seemed to be dismissing it so casually. "Unreasonable? You don't know the half of it. She's petty, and cruel, and as soon as Morgan had served her purpose, Mab didn't care what happened to her. She killed Morgan because she dared to challenge her. She doesn't deserve to get through this Labyrinth." Jareth looked interested when Frik said that.
"Oh, you think so?" he asked. Frik nodded.
"I don't want Master Merlin to end up trapped here. He doesn't deserve to be. But Mab… I can think of no-one more deserving. She should suffer for what she's done." Jareth smirked.
"Then why have you never tried to make her pay?"
"I helped Merlin defeat her," said Frik, "But that obviously wasn't quite as effective as we thought. And how could I ever hope to make her sorry? One de-magicked gnome against the Queen of Magic. Those aren't my favourite odds." Jareth nodded, as though he understood.
"Perhaps I can help on that score," Jareth suggested. Frik looked up in surprise.
"You?" Jareth smirked, and produced a crystal ball, tossing it to Frik. In mid air, it turned into a plain-looking bottle, filled with a clear liquid. Frik caught it, and stared at it uncertainly. "What is it?"
"It's a present for Mab."
"What will it do?" Frik asked, looking at the bottle uncertainly, wondering if it was poison. He wanted Mab to suffer, but to poison her outright was something the now-mortal Frik found slightly distasteful.
"You don't need to know," replied Jareth, "Suffice it to say that it will benefit both of us." When Frik still looked unsure, he continued impatiently, "Come now, Frik, don't you want to avenge your beloved? Did she not mean enough to you to even try to strike back at her killer?" Frik flared up inside at the words. Morgan had been the only person he'd ever loved, and the idea of not avenging her when he had the chance was something he found indescribably disturbing all of a sudden.
"What do I have to do?" he asked, slowly.
"Just get her to drink some. It doesn't have to be that much, a mouthful will do," Jareth informed him. Frik nodded tremulously.
"Hurry now, Frik," Jareth instructed him, "You'll have to try and find your friends quickly." Frik scuttled off, glad of an excuse to leave the Goblin King's company.
Behind him, Jareth snickered. Frik was a coward, and a bumbling fool, but bumbling cowards could often be convinced into things that brave warriors could not. Jareth would keep an eye on Frik, make sure he did what he was told, and when he gave Mab the potion, Merlin's idiotic heroism wouldn't allow him to leave Mab behind and continue on to the Goblin Castle. Mab and Merlin would be his- and it would be through the betrayal of their own ally.
Author's Note: Ah, a nice long chapter. I'm off on holiday soon, so there won't be any new parts for a few weeks, but I'll try and get the next chapter posted ASAP after I get back. It would be really nice to get lots and lots of reviews to read when I get back. I take back what I said earlier, flames are now welcomed. Please!