Charmed -:- Labyrinth

Author's Note(s):

Super thanks to CharmedOpal, Adorereading and lizardmomma for reviewing this fic! I'm so glad that you're enjoying it! And to Guest - I'll take your comments under advisement; send me a PM if you want to discuss the issue further, thank you.

I've excelled myself by updating early of all things, and this chapter even gets to be bit longer as well! Omg! I hope you Enjoy!

Chapter Four
-:-
The Greatest Hits of Ancient Egypt

"Any time now would be great!"

Chris glared at his older brother's back before returning his attention to the door in the ground. How was he supposed to know how to get the great massive slab of stone to move? There was no combination to figure out, no secret panel hiding an elusive handle… it was just a rock. The top of it was completely smooth, and the markings around the edges were purely decorative so far as Chris could tell.

Even Kirk's attempt of yelling 'open sesame' hadn't worked.

A huge grey storm cloud had formed in the sky, blocking out the moonlight; but in order to ward off the pack of bloodthirsty wolves, the teens had relit the old fires that circled the clearing. Now everything was bathed in a flickering orange glow, the flames casting long shadows in the night. The air felt heavy with the weight of a coming storm, the occasional rumble of thunder warning them of the sudden turn in the weather.

The wolves had gathered quickly once the witches had entered the clearing and discovered the potential exit, as if they could sense that their prey would soon escape. To keep them at bay Wyatt, James, Caleb and Ashleigh had positioned themselves at the four compass points armed with flaming sticks and Ashleigh's can of hairspray. The defence was working, for now, but with every minute that passed the wolves were getting bolder.

"How the hell are we meant to open this thing?!" Kirk yelled in frustration, kicking the side of the stone and then cursing when this proved to be a bad idea. "Are you sure this is even a door?"

Chris chewed his lip, ignoring Kirk's question as he forced himself to stop and think for a moment. With the pressure piling up on his shoulders he was just getting stressed out which wasn't exactly helping any. He needed to step back, and think outside the box.

They had excavated some of the items buried in the sand around the stone, and somehow Chris knew that they were there for a reason. Someone very vindictive had designed this puzzle; giving them the tools they needed to solve it, but also throwing in some more random stuff just to confuse them. There were ropes and poles and hooks as if they should construct some sort of pulley system, as well as a confederate flag, some fossilised remains and a coffee maker, of all things.

Someone was messing with them. As Chris stood there trying to figure it out he could feel some presence watching them. He could practically hear the condescending laughter as they ran around like ants waiting to be burned with a magnifying glass.

Irritated, Chris grabbed up the nearest metal pole and stepped up and onto the stone. He slammed the pole down and wedged it into the divide in the rock like a crowbar, putting all of his weight into it.

The stone moved.

Chris blinked in surprise, letting up for a moment and looking down to study the rock. The movement had been minute, less than a millimetre, but hit had definitely moved. Could it really be…? He called to Hayden and Kirk "Give me a hand here!"

Immediately his two assistants obliged, all of them grabbing hold of the pole and pulling with all their might. Wyatt and the others continued struggling to hold back the wolves, the crackling of their improvised torches and their shouts of alarm competing with the grunts and growls of the animals as they tried to tear them apart.

With a horrible sound like nails on a chalkboard, the door began to give way ever-so-slightly. Abruptly the stones dropped a little, throwing the three teens off balance. Kirk grabbed Hayden's arm as she nearly fell and she gave him a grateful smile. He then looked down at the stone that was now a shallow 'V' shape, the pole bent from the weight of it. "Guess that confirms it's the door."

"Yeah," Chris agreed, his eyes scanning the ground again. "But we can't open it like this."

"Huh?" Kirk asked. "Why not?"

"The stones are holding each other up," Hayden answered. She then held up her hands as a visual aid, palms down and fingertips touching like a bridge. "By pushing them apart we've given them room to lower slightly, but now they're far too heavy to push any further. Even if we could, if we're standing on top like this when they're pulled apart, we'll fall down with them."

"Less talking more working!" Wyatt yelled over as he smacked the nose of a particularly daring wolf with his torch. The beast whimpered as it pulled back, but another of its brethren quickly replaced it. "We can't keep this up much longer!"

"We need a rope," Chris instructed, hopping off of the door and crouching down to study the edge of the stones again, running his hand along the patterns on a hunch. This puzzle was designed to be solved, and if Chris was right about the solution, there had to be some way to tie a rope around the door. Hayden and Kirk set to finding the rope, as Chris finally found what he was looking for. Worked into the pattern were two thick bridges, grooves carved behind them to create handles that were practically invisible in the low light. "Here!"

A bright flash of lightening split the sky, announcing the start of a torrential downpour of rain. Thick heavy droplets fell like a curtain, instantly drenching them and extinguishing their fires. Thunder clapped dramatically and all hell broke loose.

"AGH!" James yelled suddenly. One of the wolves had taken advantage of the dying embers and leapt into the clearing, catching the witch by the shoulders and smashing him into the sand. James's torch he had been using to fend off the beast flew from his grasp and landed out of reach. He struggled and kicked to try and free himself from beneath the creature as he just about dodged the jaws trying to snap at his throat.

Chris stood quickly and made to climb over the stone to help; but then Ashleigh yelped behind him. Her hairspray had run out, the fires had died and the wolves were hungry. Making a split second decision, Chris snatched another pole, this one shorter with a jagged end, and ran to help her.

Wyatt was a little busy dealing with his own creature incursion, unable to run to anyone's aid, and Kirk and Hayden were working on opening the door, leaving James to fend for himself.

Or so he thought.

As he desperately tried to free himself, panting, shouting, screaming and avoiding those salivating jaws, a small voice in his head told him that he deserved this. He had always believed that there were two types of people in the world: the bullies and the bullied, and he had done everything he could to avoid being the latter. He had basically been a jerk his whole life – horrible, mean, short-sighted and prejudiced – believing that the only way to avoid being hurt was to hurt others first.

The last thing he had expected right then was to be saved by the half-demon he had tormented the most.

Caleb swung his snuffed out torch like a baseball bat, smacking the beast trying to rip out James's throat in the head with enough force to render it unconscious. The wolf flew backwards, skidding a little as it hit the ground and kicking up a cloud of sand. Caleb then looked down at James and offered him a hand "Are you alright?"

"Uh…" James didn't know what to say – 'thank you' wasn't exactly in his vocabulary. He took Caleb's hand, allowing the half-demon to haul him to his feet, a little embarrassed to find that his legs were shaking from his near death experience.

"Back up!" Wyatt shouted, still locked in battle with a wolf that just would not take the hint, no matter how many times the witch smacked it in the face. "Help them open the door!"

Caleb and James did as they were told, running over to Hayden and Kirk who were struggling with the rope, stuck in an impossible game of tug of war. They gripped the rope as well, adding their strength to the pot, and were rewarded with the gradual compliance of the stubborn stone.

Chris and Ashleigh backed up to the door as well, followed by the eager wolves. Ashleigh threw her empty can at the nearest beast, the metal making a great 'clang' as it bounced off of the creature's hard skull. The wolf gave its head a brief shake, and then growled menacingly. "I think I just made it mad."

"Down!" Chris shouted, grabbing Ashleigh's shoulders and pulling her to the sand as the wolf pushed back on its hind legs and propelled itself into the air. As they ducked it soared over their heads, claws raking mere inches above them, passing harmlessly by. It landed gracefully on the stone, but before it could attack again, the stone finally gave way. "Let go!"

As James and Caleb had pulled one of the stones away, the other half of the door had begun to lower, the support that held it up being gradually taken away. The weight of the wolf had been the straw that broke the camel's back, the two stones falling into the hole that they had been covering. The four teens released their hold on the rope at Chris's shout, preventing them from being dragged in too.

Immediately, the heavy rain stopped as if someone had just turned off a faucet. The storm cloud cleared, allowing the moonlight to reach them. But that wasn't the strangest thing.

Every single wolf ceased growling like a rabid beast and rocked back on their haunches like well trained dogs, eyeing up the teenagers as if they were waiting for their next orders. Their tails even wagged slightly like they were quite pleased with themselves.

"O-kay…" Ashleigh broke the sudden silence. "I think we should go before they change their minds and try to eat us again."

"Good idea," Wyatt agreed. They all then turned to the gaping hole in the ground while keeping a wary eye on the strange wolves. They just kept waiting patiently as the teens found the ladder that was carved into the side and climbed down one by one. Once they were all at the bottom of the pit, Wyatt looked them all over. "Is everyone alright?"

He received nods all round. Beyond a few cuts and bruises the seven of them were holding together pretty well. James had some claw marks in his shoulders that weren't too severe, and Hayden and Kirk had rope burns on their hands, but no one was complaining. Considering what they had already been through, things could have been a lot worse.

And who knew what was to come?

From the pit the teens then found themselves in a long winding corridor not unlike the one that had led them into the woods. Torches lit the way as the eyes of the characters carved into the walls followed their progress. They walked mostly in silence, far too tired and subdued to walk and argue at the same time.

Wyatt and Chris took the lead, though there really was only one way to go. Ashleigh, Caleb, Hayden and Kirk were in the middle with James tagging along at the back, an odd expression on his face that no one seemed to notice.

"I spy, with my little eye…" Wyatt randomly began.

"Oh hell no," Chris shut him down with a glare. "I am so not playing that game with you."

Wyatt quirked an eyebrow in challenge. "Afraid you'll lose like when we were kids?"

"You cheated!" Chris retorted indignantly, sounding a little like the kindergartner that would go crying to their mother, telling her all about how mean Wy was being. Wyatt burst out laughing, the upbeat sound infectious and making the others smile too.

"How can you cheat at I spy?" Hayden asked, totally perplexed, while Caleb and Ashleigh who had practically grown up with the Halliwells grinned knowingly.

Chris scowled at Wyatt who was still chuckling away. "He would come up with something that wasn't in the room, make me spend forever guessing, and then when he told me the answer he would orb the object there so I couldn't argue with him." It was then that Chris realised how whiney he sounded, which probably wasn't helping the 'baby' label he'd been tagged with when he had walked into senior year with Wyatt. "I was like five at the time."

"And he's never gotten over it," Wyatt finished with mock drama. "Traumatised forever by that cruel, cruel game."

Chris rolled his eyes. "Shut up, Wy."

They were all so caught up in the teasing of their youngest member that none of them really paid any mind to the fact that it was suddenly getting a lot warmer in the tunnel. The soft sand that dusted the sandstone floor got thicker and thicker, eventually taking over entirely. The tunnel began to lead upwards, a bright light shining through an opening up ahead.

"Technically I can't 'cheat' now," Wyatt pointed out, complete with air quotation marks. "Therefore you have no excuse for not playing. So; I spy with my little eye… something beginning with…"

They stepped through the opening and out into the next part of the game.

"…W. T. F."

"What the f…" Chris muttered, unintentionally answering as he caught his first look at the playing field. "Has this place never even heard of physics?"

They were in a desert. An unforgiving sun beat down on them from high in the cloudless blue sky, creating a haze over the odd red sand. There was nothing but dunes for miles in every direction, and as expected, the tunnel mouth closed the moment they had left. Within moments they could already feel the effects of the oppressive heat, but there was no escape from the sun's rays to be had.

"We are all going to die," Kirk declared optimistically.

"There's a way out," Chris said confidently, even as a headache began to form behind his eyes from the heat. "There's always an exit, we just have to find it."

"And how do you suggest we do that?" Kirk questioned, clearly not buying it.

'Hey you beautiful! Hey you beautiful!'

"What is that?" Caleb asked, all of them looking around at the sudden noise. The song continued to play, the beat resounding around the desolate wasteland making it difficult to place. Something flashed over the peak of one of the lower dunes. "Over there!"

'Okay, now I see, you just love the chase… Lucky for, you my dear, that's my favourite game!"

"We won't make it," Ashleigh murmured, having vaguely measured the distance. She had already taken off her long coat and over shirt, leaving her in a vest top and a short skirt. She draped the cotton shirt over her shoulders to stop them from burning, but abandoned her coat on the sand. "My mum and I went to Egypt last year – they told us all about the desert and the precautions we should take. We're not even the slightest bit prepared. I don't even have any water for Christ's sake."

"I've got water," Hayden replied, digging into her bag and pulling out a bottle. It was already warm to the touch but they passed it round regardless, each of them grateful for the brief relief.

"We've got no alternative," Wyatt shrugged. He lost his jacket as well, the others following suit as they tried to make themselves a little less likely to die. "The longer we stand here the less chance we have. We've got to go for it."

'Are you happy now? Are you satisfied? With the way that you let our love die?'

The music changed pace, the fast beat being replaced with violins and a slow bass. As they began their trek across the desert their conversation ceased. It was enough of an effort to put one foot in front of the other, let alone waste their hard to get breath on pointless words. They started off as quickly as they could, but the pace soon slackened until he felt as if every step was being made in slow motion.

About halfway they were beginning to stagger, their footing failing on the unstable sand that shifted beneath them. Chris dropped to his knees, feeling the ground burning his skin through his jeans until Wyatt grabbed his arm and hauled him back up. He didn't have the strength to thank him, but Wyatt understood regardless, and they kept walking.

The water bottle was passed around again, completely emptied the second round.

'Why does it feel so good but hurt so bad? My mind keeps saying 'run as fast as you can'! Troublemaker!'

Their destination appeared like a mirage, and for a moment, Wyatt was sure that was exactly what it was. He could hear the sound of running water. He could see the promise of shade created by tall palms. Could it be possible that in the middle of the barren desert there could be such an oasis?

They staggered into a stone courtyard, the suddenly hard bricks feeling strange after nothing but soft sand. The wide leaves of several trees cast cool shadows that felt so wonderful that Kirk let out a delirious giggle. But it was nothing compared to the gloriousness of the clear water that poured like golden rain from a water feature to the left of the heavenly space.

Once they had drank their fill they all ended up on the floor, propped up against various statues and tree trunks as they gradually recovered. It was still hot, painfully, painfully hot, but they didn't quite feel like they were going to melt back into primordial ooze where they stood anymore.

'I say 'I'm done' but then you pull me back… I swear you're giving me a heart attack! Troublemaker!'

"I think… I reco..cognise… this…" Ashleigh said slowly between deep breaths. "It sounds… like something… my mum… plays in… the car…"

"Oh yeah?" Wyatt asked. He sounded a little less winded, though all of them looked completely exhausted. He looked over at the blonde who was lounging beneath a palm tree with her eyes closed, her make up smudged with sweat. "Can you remember a name? It could be a clue or something."

"Google it," Kirk suggested sarcastically.

James then reached into his backpack and pulled out his shiny iPad7, the screen coming to life with a welcoming bleep. He then frowned. "Can't get a signal."

"I doubt 4G covers alternate dimensions," Kirk replied with a quirked brow. James opened his mouth to retort, but then seemed to make a conscious effort to swallow it, something he had never done before. Kirk blinked in surprise, but didn't comment.

'Now fear's on the run… we've already won… Now march with the band, raise your right hand… We've only just begun!'

"Olly… something…" Ashleigh muttered to herself, her face screwing up as she tried to remember. She remembered that it had been playing when she and her mother had had a particularly bad argument on the way to her grandmother's funeral. An odd choice of tunes, she recalled, but neither of them had really been listening regardless. They were too busy snapping at each other about something trivial as usual.

With some effort, Chris dragged himself up and onto his feet, making Wyatt look up at him. "Where do you think you're going?"

"I'm gonna see if I can find the door," Chris answered. The courtyard wasn't that bigger place, but the teens hadn't actually made it far past the threshold before collapsing in a heap. "If we stay here too long we're still going to cook – just a little slower than out there."

"I'll…" Wyatt tried to stand up, but failed epically and ended up back on the floor. "…stay here."

Chris grinned. "Good plan."

It's the moment of truth… I'm counting on you… This Army of Two… I've only just begun…'

It didn't take very long for Chris to find what he was looking for. In the centre of the courtyard there was a huge sculpture of a sphinx; a scaled down version of the one in Giza, sheltered on either side by several tall ferns. Sandstone walls lined the edges of the square oasis, interspersed with arches and palm trees. Hieroglyphs were carved into every vertical surface, broken only by larger pictures depicting pharaohs and gods performing their duties.

Past the sphinx, at the back of the complex, was a lowered platform that was sunk into the ground. It was a perfect square in shape, framing a floor mural of the river Nile and its east bank like an ancient map. On the wall behind was an almost exact replica, though as Chris studied it he noticed a few minute differences, like that game on the back of cereal boxes. In the wall mural there was a deeply carved rectangle that looked suspiciously like a door; the lines mirrored with a shallower etching on the floor.

'We got our eyes wide open… Feeling like we're almost there…"

The song changed one last time, and Chris realised that the music was actually coming out of the mouths of the statues, like an Ancient Egyptian sound system.

He headed back to the others. "Found it."

"Really?" Wyatt asked. "That was quick."

"This place isn't very big," Chris replied with a shrug. He then turned to Ashleigh who was just about managing to climb to her feet. "Do you remember about the music yet? I think Wyatt was right about it being a clue."

Wyatt grinned. "I'm just clever like that."

"It's Olly Murs, I think," Ashleigh said uncertainly. "It's like ten years old, some English guy who won Pop Idol or something… Does that help?"

Chris shrugged again. "Maybe. Come on, the door's this way."

Begrudgingly, the rest of the group clambered to their feet and followed him around the sphinx and into the puzzle area. They all took a look at the two murals, seeing the doorway cut into it as Chris had. "Okay," Kirk asked. "How do we open it?"

"Spot the difference," Hayden said immediately, and then looked to Chris for confirmation.

He nodded. "Exactly. The picture on the floor is missing pieces that are on the wall." He knelt down and picked up one of the shards of stone that were scattered around the floor mural like jigsaw pieces. "These pieces."

"That seems easy enough," Wyatt replied, picking up a shard as well. "Let's do this before we fry to death, shall we?"

'So this is what it feels like… Being at the right place the right time… I'm hanging on for dear life… Hoping we can make this a long night…'

As they set to work, the pieces quickly finding their way into the correct holes, Chris noticed that the last song kept replaying instead of moving on like it had done before. He began listening more closely to the lyrics, trying to figure out if it was trying to tell them something – or if it was just another one of those random things thrown in just to put them off.

'Right here, and now, feels like forever… Never touch, the ground, when we're together… Right here, and now, feels like forever… forever… forever…'

"Err… guys… we have a problem," Caleb announced once all but one shard was put in its proper place. He held up a handful of broken pieces – the fragments of the last part of the puzzle. "Does anyone have any crazy glue?"

"Damnnit," Wyatt muttered irritably. The heat was still getting to him, making him cranky and short tempered. Why could nothing ever be easy?

"Hang on…" Chris murmured. The last piece they needed was the reflection of what was probably the door handle. It was the only raised piece of the map, rising maybe two inches above the surface. Its corresponding slot on the floor was a thin line, and Chris was pretty sure he knew something that would fit in it. "James, can I have your iPad?"

"Huh?" James grunted. He didn't seem to have followed Chris's train of thought.

"Your iPad," Chris repeated. "We need it."

James sighed. "Will I get it back?"

"Probably not."

Reluctantly, James handed over his shiny new gadget, Chris having to yank it from his hand when he couldn't quite bring himself to let it go. "Thanks," Chris said, before he crouched down on the floor mural and slid the tablet PC into the slot. It fitted perfectly.

The ground shook a little, and Chris stood up and re-joined the others as they watched the door sink back into the wall mural. Wyatt then stepped forward and pushed it all the way open. A blast of cool air had him sighing in relief, and he turned back to the group.

"Let's see what's next then."

Two puzzles in one chapter – Chris is on a roll! Let's see if he can keep this up while I come up with even more fun stuff for them to deal with! *Evil Laugh*

Oh, and I'm also aware that Olly Murs won X-Factor, not Pop Idol, that particular mistake was on purpose :P The songs I quoted are from his album Right Place, Right Time - no copyright infringement intended or whatever...