Esmeralda was exhausted. The sun never moved and continued to beat down on them. She had no idea how long they had been in the labyrinth, but it felt like it had been days since they first entered it. Esmeralda couldn't wait until this was all over and she could go back home. She just wanted to get in bed with Phoebus and sleep for a week straight.

"Up where they walk, up where they run, up where they stay all day in the sun. Wanderin' free, wish I could be part of that world."

Ariel laughed at herself. What was I thinking? Who really wants to stay all day in the sun? This is brutal. Ariel pushed up the sleeves of her blue dress. Her sweat was causing her hair to cling to her face. Her once volumized bangs now hung down in her eyes, and she had to keep brushing them away.

"Esmeralda, do you have any idea how long we've been walking?" Ariel asked.

"No."

"Do you know where we are?"

"No!" Esmeralda snapped. "I don't know where we are, I don't know how long we've been walking. I don't know anymore than you do, so stop asking stupid questions!"

Ariel looked at Esmeralda like she had just slapped her. Esmeralda rubbed her forehead.

"I'm sorry, Ariel," Esmeralda said. "I'm just tired and hot and hungry and it's making me cranky."

"It's ok," Ariel replied quietly. "But could you try not to-"

"Shhh!" Esmeralda put her hand over Ariel's mouth. "Listen."

The girls stood very still and listened. In the distance they could hear someone screaming for help. They looked at each other, then started running in the direction of the voice. Suddenly, a small tree fell in front of them. Neither of them had time to react. They both tripped over it and fell into a large hole. As soon as they hit the bottom, the opening closed up and they were in complete darkness.

"Damn it," Esmeralda muttered. "Ariel, are you all right?"

"I think so."

The girls stood up and started to feel around. They were boxed in on three sides and could only go one way.

"I don't know about this," Ariel said. "It's probably a trap."

Esmeralda nodded, even though she knew Ariel couldn't see her. "Probably. But, we don't have any other choice. We have to keep going."

"Who do you think was screaming?" Ariel asked.

"Skyla, probably. This whole thing looks like a trap," Esmeralda replied. "We were probably getting close."

"Well, if we were getting close and she set up this trap, do you think we're now heading away from her lair?"

Esmeralda thought for a moment. "That's a good possibility, Ariel."

Ariel was suddenly very anxious. "That means we're never gonna solve the labyrinth and get out of here. Skyla's going to kill us."

Ariel's right, Esmeralda thought. I can't believe that after everything, this is how I'm going to die…

xxx

"It's so hot," Pocahontas said as she gathered up her hair and held it on top of her head.

Jasmine took out one of her hair ties and handed it to Pocahontas, then pulled her own hair up into a higher ponytail. Jasmine had lived in the desert her entire life, but even this heat was too much for her.

"Why isn't the sun moving?" Pocahontas asked.

"I don't know," Jasmine replied. "It does seem strange."

"I would think it's just another way for Skyla to make this even more difficult for us," Pocahontas said. "But, can she actually stop the sun?"

"Wait. Didn't…" Jasmine paused to think. "Didn't Marine say one of Skyla's powers is time?"

Pocahontas sighed. "Yes."

"So, just how long, exactly, is twenty-four hours when time has been stopped?" Jasmine asked.

"Well, that's just it," Pocahontas said, as she started putting all the pieces together. "We probably won't even get a full twenty-four hours. It seems like Skyla is making this all up as she goes along to screw with us. She could kill us at any given second and we wouldn't see it coming."

Jasmine's heart sank as she caught on to what Pocahontas was getting at. "Snow White probably isn't even here. Skyla has us trapped in here and she's just watching us sweat and squirm and will kill all of us anyway. We never stood a chance."

Jasmine kicked the wall in frustration. Suddenly a hole formed where they were standing and they both fell through. It wasn't a very long drop and Pocahontas landed on her feet. The hole closed up immediately and they were surrounded by nothing but black.

"Jasmine, are you okay?" Pocahontas asked.

"Yeah, I'm fine." Jasmine held out her arms. Her fingertips touched a wall on either side of her. She turned around and ran into another wall.

"I guess there's only one way for us to go," Jasmine said.

"All right," Pocahontas said. "Stay close."

The girls walked in silence for a couple minutes.

"At least it's cooler down here," Pocahontas said, feeling uncomfortable in the silence.

"Yes," Jasmine agreed. "But, where are we headed?"

"I don't know."

They kept walking for a while. Then, out of nowhere, a hand grabbed Jasmine's arm. Jasmine jumped back and whoever grabbed her screamed.

"Who's there?" Pocahontas asked.

"Esmeralda and Ariel," Esmeralda responded. "Who are you?"

"Jasmine and Pocahontas," Jasmine replied.

"Oh, thank God," Esmeralda said.

"I'm sorry I grabbed you," Ariel said. "We've been feeling along the walls as we walk. This is the first turn we've come to. Where does it lead?"

"Just to a dead end," Jasmine told her. "We fell through a hole and this was the only way we could go."

"Yeah, us too," Esmeralda said.

The four girls continued down the same path Esmeralda and Ariel had been on. Jasmine wondered if they would run into the other girls as well. Most likely, she thought. Skyla is probably rounding us all up to make it easier to kill us. We're about to come to the end of her twisted little game.