Last time:
"I will have Riki as my bride," Iason said.
"Riki, save me!" Riki thought silently.
"I'm coming, Aki. Hold on!" Riki called.
Ch. 4
(In the Labyrinth)
Riki didn't know how much time he had been running. All he knew was that he had to hurry. Who knew what the Goblin King was up to?
Along the way, he had been marking the stones on the ground with the drawing charcoal he always carried just in case inspiration struck. Unknown to him, unfortunantly, tiny creatures who lived underground didn't like having their stones marked and kept turning them over or around when Riki's back was turned.
"You got it?" asked one. "I got it... Sshh sshh shhh!" The other replied. They turned the newly marked stone around just as Riki turned back.
Riki turned in circles as he looked around. 'I know I've been here before!' he thought angrily. He looked at the ground and clenched his fists in rage. "Some shithead has been changing my marks! This place sucks! It ain't fuckin fair!" He yelled to no one in particular. "You're right! It's not fair! That's only half of it though!" shouted a jolly voice followed by loud laughter.
Turning around Riki came face to face with a couple of odd goblins. One dressed in blue and the other in red. Both held large stone cards. From the bottom of each card peeked another head identicle to the on on top only upside-down.
Riki saw a door behind each of them and assumed they were being gaurded by these strange creatures.
"This was a dead end a minute ago," Riki said surprised. "No, that's the dead end behind you!" said one of the heads dressed in blue. This was again followed by laughter. Riki looked and saw that he was right. "It keeps changing! What am I supposed to do?" he asked.
"Well the only way out is through one of these doors. One of them leads to the castle in the center of the Labyrinth and the other leads to..." One of the creatures imitated dramtic music "Da da da dum..." the first creauture finished. "Sudden death!" All of them said in unison, "Ooooooh!" for a more dramatic effect. Riki rolled his eyes at this.
"Which one is which?" he asked.
The gaurds looked at each other and one of the bottom heads replied, "We can't tell you," Riki was getting angry. "Why?" The gaurds laughed once more. "We don't know!" said the bottom head and then glanced up at the head on top. "But they do." Riki sighed. "Okay, I'll ask them," he said. The top head held up a clawed hand.
"No, you can't ask us. You can only ask one of us. I should tell you: One of us always tells the truth and one of us always lies." He gestured to the gaurd in red. "He always lies," The red gaurd shook his top head. "I do not! I tell the truth!" The blue gaurd laughed.
"What a lie!" The gaurds broke down into more laughter.
Riki had had enough. "Okay, tell me," he said to the blue gaurd. "Will he tell me this door leads to the castle?" he asked. "Yes." The gaurd said. "Then the other door leads to the castle and this one leads to sudden death." The gaurds glanced at each other in shock. "How do you know? He could be telling the truth." The blue gaurd said.
"But then you wouldn't be. So if you told me he said yes, the answer is no." Riki said. "I could be telling the truth!" the gaurd said again. "Then he would be lying. If you told me he said yes, the answer is still no. Now step aside!" he said to the red gaurd.
"This is a piece of cake!" he said happily just before a trap door underneath his feet fell out from under him.
Down, down Riki fell. Suddenly he was caught by what felt like mulitiple hands. "Help!" he called. "What do you mean 'help'? We are helping." said a voice. "We're Helping Hands." said another. Sure enough, all around Riki were thousands of green hands that seemed to sprout from the walls.
The strangest thing about them was that the hands, usually four or five at a time, formed a face when they spoke. "C'mon, which way? We haven't got all day." Riki didn't know what they meant. "Which way?" he asked dumbly.
"Up or down?" The hands said impatiently. "Well, since I'm pointed that way, I guess I'll go down." Riki replied. "He chose down!" the hands chanted. "Was that wrong?" Riki asked frantically. "
Too late now!" The hands yelled as they suddenly dropped poor Riki.
It felt like forever, falling throught the darkness. Abruptly, Riki landed hard on his ass. Above him, the hole was covered and Riki was left alone in darkness. After a while he heard a footstep and the sound of a match striking. "Who's there?" he asked. He hoped it wasn't the Goblin King. The looks he gave him sent chills up Riki's spine.
Instead he heard another familiar voice. "Me," it said as light filled the room. Katze. "Oh, you." Riki said. He wouldn't admit it but he was happy to see him. "Yeah. I knew you were gonna get into trouble from the start so here I am. This is an oubliette." he said.
Riki blinked at him. "A what?" he asked. Katze glared. "An oubliette. Labyrinth's full of them. People who get stuck here never get out again." There was a pause. Then, "Well, let's get out of here." He walked over to a door Riki had just noticed and opened it.
Whips, crops, and other torture devices tumbled out. "Damnit, Omaki!" Katze cursed. Then, to Riki's amazement, Katze closed the door and opened the other side. This time, there was a tunnle on the other side.
They walked throught the door and closed it behind them. "Nothing is what it seems here so you can't take anything for granted." Katze said casually as he lit another smoke. Riki nodded.
(In Iason's castle)
Iason watched Riki being rescued through his crystal ball and cursed the red-head. He had planned to keep Riki in the oubliette safely until the thirteen hours were up and then he was going to collect him, take him back to the castle, and at last claim him forever as his own.
"I guess that scar I left on Katze's cheek has taught him nothing." It was time to go to drastic measures. Aki was practically jumping for joy. "See?! My brother is so clever and smart! He's gonna save me and we'll go home together!" Iason glared at him over the crystal.
"I told you, Aki: You are home. Soon, very soon, I shall MY Riki by my side forever. No boyfriend, no uncaring parents, and no pesky little brother. He will be mine and mine alone. He's going to look so pretty sitting with me on my throne." He waved his hand and a golden crown similar to his own, only a bit smaller, appeared.
He imagined it on Riki's head with that beautiful, lush black hair. "Very pretty indeed. My beautiful Riki. " he said a bit dreamily.
Aki asked shyly "What are you gonna do to me?" Iason broke from his fantasy of he and Riki ruling the Labyrinth and Goblin City together forever. "You? You, my boy, will be turned into a goblin of course. Perhaps I'll erase Riki's mind of you and those dreadful parents. He'd be happier with me if he doesn't have those memories I think."
Aki had tears running down his face. "Riki's gonna win. He's not gonna wear your stupid crown or sit with you on your stupid chair!" he yelled. Iason smirked. "We'll see," he replied. Aki shook his head and whispered, "You're a bad man." Iason snapped his fingers and ordered a goblin forward. "Get him out of my sight!" he commanded.
Aki was dragged off to somewhere.
Iason returned to his crystal. "Don't worry, my darling. I will take care of you always." he promised as he watched Riki follow Katze down the tunnle.
Ice Demon Allysandra: Per your request, I have added another chapter. Review please!