"You… it's you… you… you are the Goblin King!" Hinata exclaimed.

The man - the very king of the Goblins - smiled. "Smart girl… I am the Goblin King; you may call me Kisaki." Kisaki dipped his head a bit.

Hinata looked toward the crib and then back at Kisaki. "I want my brother back… I know you took him…"

Kisaki hummed and walked toward Hinata, who stood her ground. "That is not what you said. You wanted my Goblins to take your baby brother away."

"I didn't mean what I said… It was just part of the story…" Hinata protested.

"You still said them, and from your voice, you wanted this to be true. You wanted your brother to be taken away… and you asked that task to be done by me…" Kisaki said.

Hinata swallowed. "I… I know what I asked… but can I have him back? I really didn't mean it… if I had known that-"

"You wouldn't have said it?" Kisaki asked.

"I… I don't know…" Hinata said, looking to the side.

Kisaki nodded his head, walked towards her, and smiled. "Just be happy he is no longer here. With him gone, you are free."

Hinata shook her head. "I must have him back, where is he… please… I need to know."

Kisaki sighed, shaking his head with a smile. "You know my story; you know exactly where he is… don't you?" he eyed her with slight curiosity.

Holding her breath, Hinata nodded her head. "I do… and I know you took him because I asked… but I am begging you… please bring him back. He must be scared… Please bring him back…." Hinata begged.

Kisaki smiled slightly before heading over to the worried girl, settling himself right in front of her. "Go to your room and just… simply enjoy what I have done for you. Your wish has been granted." He grinned. "Forget about your baby brother."

Hinata shook her head again. "I can't do that. What I said maybe what I want, but he is still my brother. I can't abandon him." The girl insisted.

"Hmmm, how about… you take this gift I brought for you." Kisaki offered. Hinata frowned in confusion. Seeing the confusion in her eyes, he held his hand out and a crystal orb suddenly appeared. "This… is a crystal. Something as stunning as you." Kisaki said with ease, starting to pass the crystal from hand to hand - Hinata seemed slightly mesmerized by the crystal, not taking her eyes off the orb for even a second.

"If you were to turn it in a certain way, like so… it can show you what you really want, what you desire. However, this gift is only for a special girl… like you. And you are not the type of girl who needs to be burdened with a crying child. The very child I have saved you from." Kiskai smiled, pleasure could be seen reflecting in his eyes. "Do you want my gift? All you need to do is say yes."

"No…. I want my brother back." Hinata instated again. She didn't need to see her dreams, not if she already knew what she wanted.

"Why can't you just forget the baby?" Kisaki asked.

"Why can't you understand that I can't forget about him… I just want him back. This was all a misunderstanding. So please-"

"Hina!" Kiskai exclaimed. "I do not think it wise to defy me." He said, anonymously.

He looked at the crystal, snapped his fingers and the crystal changed. Becoming a long, scaly, hissing snake. "If you defy me… it won't be pretty." He tossed the snake at Hinata - the snake wrapped itself around Hinata's neck as she struggled to get it off. Once she had thrown the snake off, it shriveled and squirmed - as if it was in pain - until it became a small creature that hisses at Hinata and scampered away.

Hinata made a small gasp and covered her mouth. She heard laughing behind her, but as she turned her head, she saw nothing. Hinata looked back at the Goblin King.

"Thinking you can always get your way with me… is foolish. I am above you, Hinata. I am more powerful than you can think." Kisaki said.

"If you are so powerful, why can't you bring my brother back?" Hinata challenged.

Kisaki hummed, stepping to the side. "You want him so badly… go get him… he's in my castle. There." He pointed out the window.

Despite knowing that the outside would just be the view of her neighbor's house, Hinata was still curious as to where the Goblin King was pointing to. Looking out the window, Hinata gaped a little as she was astonished as to the sight before her. A grand stone castle in the distance, a city surrounding said castle - and a vast labyrinth full of twists and turns. "It can't be…"

"Oh, but it is, Hina." Kisaki grinned. Hinata turned to look at him and noticed that she wasn't in her parents' room anymore - the whole house was gone, and she was outside somewhere unknown.

"The great castle within the heart of the Goblin city," Kisaki confirmed. "Are you still as confident as you were a moment ago about getting your brother back?"

Truthfully, the answer was no. Her heart dropped when she saw how far it was. She couldn't let Kisaki know that. "I can handle it," Hinata confirmed, though doubt clouded her mind.

Kisaki hummed. "You really think you can handle this? I doubt it… let's make a wager for this, shall we? Thirteen hours to get to my castle… and I will give Naoto back to you."

"That's it?"

"You said you could handle it…. I think what I have offered is fair." Kisaki said.

"Hmmm, alright… I will make it to your castle in that time… I will save Naoto." Hinata promised.

Kisaki simply hummed. "Very well…. If you think you will beat me…" he trailed off before smiling, "I shall be watching you…." He said as he faded away - leaving Hinata alone.

Reality struck Hinata as she realized that this was real and not a dream. She had to get through the Labyrinth to save Naoto or he would be lost to the Goblin's curse forever.

"I got this… I have to… for Naoto…" She said to herself as she made her way down the small path, leading the grand walls of the Labyrinth.

She came to a stop when she noticed that she wasn't alone. There was someone here. "Um… excuse me?"

The person stiffened and looked over. Hinata observed this person, not knowing who or what he was. He had golden eyes - almost like coins - with black and yellow hair. Something that was off about this person, was that he had a tail that split at the end and two sharp ears atop his head. "Can I help you?" He asked with a grin.

"Ummm," Hinata shook his head. "Sorry, you threw me off… What are you?"

"I'm what is known as a Bakeneko." the creature answered.

"Is this not the labyrinth to the Goblin King's castle?" Hinata asked. "I kinda thought… you the first creature I would have met here… was a Goblin."

The Bakeneko's tail flicked. "I was a goblin… until I was kicked out of the castle… anyone who lives outside the castle is something other than a Goblin… I used to live there with the King… now I work below him way away from him." the cat creature hissed.

"Oh… I'm sorry." Hinata said.

The creature shrugged. "I take it you are Hinata?"

"I am… and you are?"

"You can call me Kazutora." He introduced himself with a small dip of his head.

"While it is nice to meet you, I really need to get into the labyrinth, can you help me?" Hinata asked.

Kazutora didn't answer her, his ears turned to a sound that caught his attention more. He crept forward and pounced on what seemed to be a fairy. "Haha, that makes forty." He purred to himself.

"What the… why did you attack such a sweet creature?" Hinata exclaimed, going over to the fairy and picking her up. "How could you do such a th- ah!" She dropped the small fairy and Kazutora looked amused.

"Let me guess… the fairy bit you?" Kazutora purred.

"I… yes…" Hinata nodded. "Why did it bite? I thought fairies granted wishes."

"Not here. Nasty little vermin. That's why I take them out when I can." Kazutora said.

"I… see…." Hinata hummed, feeling disappointed that the fairy wasn't as nice as the stories made them out to be.

Sighing, she might as well get into the labyrinth - the sooner the better. "Do you know how to get into the labyrinth? From what I can see, I don't see any doors." Hinata said.

Kazutora purred, "I may…" he said mischievously.

"Can you tell me how to get in?" Hinata pressed.

"Hmmm, I don't know," Kazutora said.

"You are no help… no wonder you are placed here and not in the castle," Hinata said under her breath. Kazutora's tail flicked.

"You know I can hear you, correct?"

"Hmmm, but I said the truth… you haven't been very helpful at all." Hinata countered.

"I can be helpful…. But to the right question." Kazutora hinted.

Hinata thought for a moment and her face sparked in realization. "How do I get into the Labyrinth?"

Kazutora's ears twitched, and his tail flicked. "Now that is the right question. If you look toward the giant walls, you will see the doors to the Labyrinth there." He had his tail pointed to the wall behind Hinata and there was a door - a door that wasn't there before. Hinata stared at the door, wide-eyed and in utter disbelief.

"That… wasn't there before?" She said but wasn't sure herself.

"Was it?" Kazutora grinned, eyes glinting. Hinata frowned and decided that it was best to just get started. The sooner she solved the Labyrinth, the sooner she would get Naoto back.

"I… thank you…" Hinata said, walking towards the doors, she entered the gate and looked left and right. The thing about a Labyrinth is that there is only one way in. The way in is the way out and while a maze a person is trying to go from the entrance to the exit. In a labyrinth, the goal is to get to the center. It was a fifty-fifty chance that if she went left, she chose the correct path. Hinata looked left and right, over and over again, not sure which was the right path - they both looked the same.

"You really want to do this?" Kazutora poked his head into Hinata's vision. "You do know that once you go in… you may never come out. Kisaki made this maze to mess with people, so that you can never get out." He purred.

Hinata flinched back in surprise. "I… I don't have a choice. I need to get to Kiskai to get my brother back."

Kazutora frowned. "Oh… well… have fun… good luck…. You are going to need it."

Hinata hummed. "Thank you…" She said, softly. She wasn't sure if she meant it, seeing as this creature didn't help her much at all.

"Later…." The cat creature purred before leaving back through the gate doors only for those gates to close. Hinata stared at her way in, doubt filling her head. She shook her head and looked back at her choices. They both looked the same. Left or right… which way?

A/N: Hey y'all. I hope y'all enjoyed this second chapter of this story of mine. Kazutora has entered the story. In the movie, Hoggle is a Goblin but because I didn't feel completely right about turning Kazutora into a Goblin I went with a Bakeneko. That is a Japanese cat yokai known for its shape-shifting abilities and mischievous behavior. I thought it would work well for Kazutora. (Although, I did describe him more like a nekomata because of the twin tails. I thought that if I was to cross these two together, I can put together some of the spiritual side of the Japanese culture I enjoy (Like Spirited Away). So yeah, I had done a change there. But I had to do it. It would be more fun. See you in the next chapter.

~Akira

Posted: 5/11/2023