Welcome to Wonderland…

Chapter Six: Take A Left, Now a Right


Chris ran up to the entrance of the labyrinth. It was composed of thick marble walls that stood about ten feet tall, making it impossible for anyone to climb up over it to see or cheat their way through the maze. Jill followed after him at a brisk pace while Barry followed behind her at a very unenthusiastic slow walk. Chris stood at the mouth of the labyrinth and Jill walked over to his side. She was in shock at how nicely kept the walls of the labyrinth were. The walls were thick and marble and that stood about ten feet tall, making it impossible for anyone to climb up over it to see or cheat their way through the maze.

Oh great…This is going to make things more difficult.

"Here we are!" Chris said cheerfully. "The Great Labyrinth that has the Goblin King's castle right in the middle of it."

"Not to rain on your parade there, sunny boy, but there is nothing to be excited about," Barry grumbled, his ears flicking at Chris. "Don't you remember the stories about the labyrinth?"

"There are stories of this place?" Jill asked the bear.

Barry looked at her and nodded his head. "Yeah. Some nut job made this labyrinth for the Goblin King. His name was like…something Trevor-Anyway, the guy went mad and now his spirit or some bullshit like wanders around the labyrinth, scaring the morons that travel through it. Only so many have made it through it alive…"

"Wait…Chris said you made it to the castle before because you were part of the circus," Jill said thoughtfully. "Isn't there like a service entrance or something?"

Barry shrugged his huge shoulders and sat down on the ground. "Yeah…but I forgot where it is or what it even looked like."

"What do you mean you forgot?!" Jill shouted at Barry.

Barry glared at her. "I was in a cage that had a drape over it. What the hell were you expecting me to do? See through it?!"

"I was hoping you'd remember!" Jill shouted back at the bear.

"I got it!" Chris said, interrupting the two's argument.

"Huh?" Barry and Jill said, looking at Chris in confusion.

"It obvious! We just use a compass and we'll be able to get through the labyrinth in no time."

Jill rubbed a hand through her hair. "Um…that's great and all but-"

"But we don't have a compass, dumbass," Barry grumbled, finishing her sentence.

"On the contrary, my lady and bear friend," Chris laughed.

He reached into the green dress pants he had on and begin digging through his pants for something. Jill watched Chris in both amusement and disgust as he dug around his pants.

Must not watch…My god, am I getting turned on by this or something? Valentine! You should be ashamed of yourself. Checking out your partner like that! How old are we?

Jill face reddened as she continued to watch Chris. Barry looked up at her and nudged at her with his head.

"Young lady…why the hell are you looking at the man like?" Barry grumbled in a low voice.

"Don't blame me!" Jill hissed in the same tone. "What else am I suppose to look at, huh? That creepy bird in the tree or something?"

Barry paused and then shrugged. "Good point…"

"Found it!" Chris exclaimed at he pulled a compass out of his pants. He looked at Jill. "You want to hold it?"

"No!" Jill said quickly. "I mean, I don't know how to work those things and you're probably way better at it than I am."

Chris shrugged. "Okay then. Now let's get moving! We need to get to the Goblin King before moonrise!"

"But it's only like…two o' something in the afternoon," Jill muttered. "And why do we have to be there before moonrise?"

"Because that Trevor son of a bitch will eat us if we don't get the hell out of there before then," Barry said as he walked into the labyrinth. Jill couldn't help but laugh a little at how the way Barry walked now that he was a bear. It looked so…funny in a way.

"Are you ready Jill?" Chris asked suavely, placing a hand on her shoulder. Thankfully, it was not the hand that he had shoved down in his pants, making Jill more than relieved.

"Um…yeah," Jill responded. "Let's go or else we'll be eating Barry's dust."

Chris laughed. "Don't worry! It's not like Barry can move very fast as a bear."

"I heard that little man!" Barry roared.

Chris smiled and walked into the labyrinth. Jill stood still and shook her head.

"This is great…with friends like this; a girl can go far…" She grumbled before walking into the labyrinth.

Chris was ahead on the group. Barry and Jill followed after him, side by side. Chris looked at the compass and then looked at Jill and Barry.

"Okay!" Chris said. "The castle is south of the forest, so we just follow the arrow south and then we'll get there…eventually."

"What do you mean by eventually?" Jill asked.

"It means that's he going to get us lost," Barry grumbled.

"No! It means that we will get us out of here in like an hour or so," Chris said.

"But you said eventually," Jill pointed out.

"I did?"

"Yeah, you did," Barry butted in. "Now can we just get this over with? I want to get out of here without a major headache from the boy and before that Trevor guy comes."

"Alright, keep your fur on your body bear man," Chris said with a smile on his face.

"Yeah? And you try to keep the skin on your bones…" Barry growled.

"Stop arguing or I'll skin you both!" Jill shouted over the two.

Barry and Chris looked at Jill, wide expressions of fear on their faces.

"Um…I'll be listening to the lady now," Barry said quietly.

"Me too," Chris agreed.

The trio walked down the long marble hallway-ish path until they came to the first division. One way led to the left, the other to the right. The group stopped as Chris examined the compass.

"So where to now, oh smart one?" Barry asked.

"Hm…according to my compass, we were going south when we entered," Chris said thoughtfully.

Jill sighed and shook her head. "We already knew that Chris."

"I want to use the expression of 'right tighty, lefty loosy' but I don't think it'll work here."

Barry rolled his eyes. "No…you think?"

"But I think we should take a left!"

"Why left?" Jill asked.

"Because, people are usually expecting you to take a right so if you go in the direction that doesn't seem very obvious, then you'll probably get there!"

Barry and Jill looked at him blankly. If he gets us killed, I hope I'll see him in hell…

"That actually does sound kind of smart," Barry said, totally astounding Jill. "I mean, that's what the Goblin King wants, not for anyone to come near his castle."

"Now that you say it that way, it does sound pretty smart," Jill said quietly.

Chris smiled at them, a triumphant glow in his brown eyes.

"Alright then! Left it is!" He said cheerfully, and led the group to the left.

The trio walked through the marble walled labyrinth, listening to Chris's judgment as he looked at the compass in his hands. The sun began to sink down and by Jill's guesstimation, it was probably three or four in the afternoon. Since it was summer, thankfully, it wouldn't be dark for another few hours. But it seemed like they were walking around in circles. Jill couldn't see the castle from over the tall walls, but the apparent smell of feet was becoming very, very strong, making Jill want to gag.

"That's it. We're lost aren't we?" Jill asked, breaking the silence.

"We're not lost, Jilly Bean!" Chris reassured her. "We're almost there, I'm sure of it!"

"Yeah, that's what you said that early," Jill said in an angry tone. "The only thing that I'm sure of is the horrendous smell of feet and the sun almost damn near blinding me."

"That's actually a sign. Well, the feet part anyway," Chris said.

"Oh, yeah sure," Jill said sarcastically. "We're probably getting closer to some moron's dirty sock collection!"

"Actually, Jill," Barry said, tugging on her pant leg with his mouth to get her attention. "He's right. The castle smells like that so we're probably almost there."

"Do you still hate Chris or something? Because you're agreeing with him and awful lot in the past hour…"

Barry shrugged. "I guess not, but I'm still a little pissed at him."

The group came up on another T-division. They stopped and waited for Chris to make his judgment. He looked down at the compass and scratched his chin.

"I got it!" Chris shouted.

"What is it?" Barry and Jill asked in unison.

"Take a right," Chris said simply. "You'll see after we do."

Jill looked at Barry and shrugged. No choice but to believe him, I guess.

The two followed Chris right. Right led down a straight path with a large bush that was at the end of the path. The group instinctively quickened their pace to a brisk walk, almost a run. At the end of the pathway, they walked through the bush. It was thick and Jill could feel sharp twigs poking her as she walked through. Right now, I wish I had Barry's thick coat…

Then, fortunately, the bush gave way and the group found themselves in front of a giant castle. The walls of the castle were marble and white. Frames of windows and the large wooden door entrance were golden. There was a flight of stairs that led up to the entrance, shrubs and bushes planted next to the railing.

"Is this the place?" Jill asked.

"Uh-huh! This is the Goblin King's magnificent castle!" Chris announced. "Too bad such a jerkbag lives in it."

Jill looked at the very nice castle. Yeah, it was very nice but the smell of dirty feet was starting to bug her more than anything.

She smiled at Chris and hugged him tightly.

"Thanks for not getting us killed. You're the best Chris!"

"So does that mean I get my kiss?" Chris asked with a smile.

"Ugh…not in front of me please," Barry said, rolling his eyes. "Anyways, I'm not going in there with you guys."

"Why not?" Jill asked, looking at the bear.

"A bear walking around a castle is pretty strange and could provoke us, don't you think?" Barry asked, looking at Jill.

"Oh, I guess you're right. But what will you do out here?"

Barry shrugged. "Don't worry about me. I'll be fine if I hide in the bushes. There are some berries I can snack on while you guys do business. But if you guys get in trouble or Chris pulls anything funny with you, I'll be there in a heartbeat."

Jill smiled. There's the parental side of Barry that I know and love.

She walked up to Barry and hugged him. "Thank you Barry."

"No problem," Barry said. He backed out of her arms and shook himself. "Now get going before someone notices you."

"Right!" Jill and Chris said in unison.

"Be safe now," Barry said as he went back into the bushes.

"Bye Barry," Chris said. He turned to Jill. "You ready?"

Jill nodded and the two walked up the stairs to the large wooden door. The two were silent when they walked up the stairs, but halfway up Chris spoke.

"Do you really want to go back home?" He asked.

Jill looked at him. He had a cheerful expression on his youth face but there was disappoint in his eyes, like he didn't want to leave.

Jill looked down at the ground. "I don't know. I want to go back home, but I don't want to leave here either. I know that this place is odd and stuff, but feels kind of like home."

Chris nodded. "Alright. Let's just hope the Goblin King listens and hopefully he'll be able to bring you home."

They were at the large wooden door. Chris looked at the knob and grasped it. Jill looked at him with a brow raised.

"Um…shouldn't we knock?" She asked.

"Knock? Nah! If we knock, we'll more than likely get thrown into a dungeon. Besides, the entrance is never guarded so we can just walk on in. But when we get in, we have to be careful. If he or his minions catch us, we're as good as dead."

"Got it," Jill said, a little uncertainly.

Chris pulled the door open a crack, far enough for them to squeeze through quietly. Jill went in first and immediately, the smell of dirty socks and possibly rotten fruit hit her like a wall. She quickly covered her nose and mouth with her shirt. It helped a little, but not completely. Chris shimmied in and shut the door quietly behind him.

"You okay Jill?" He asked, placing a hand on her shoulder. "You look sick."

"I'm fine, just that smell is horrible."

"It is, just wait till you get to the throne room."

Jill didn't even want to think about. This Goblin King better be pretty powerful or she's going to throw everyone who is in the castle into a furnace.

"So how are we going to get there undetected?" Jill asked.

Chris looked around for something that could help. Then, he stopped two large vases that could hold him and his lady friend. They were on a cart too, which was currently unguarded.

"Those! We'll hide in the vases," Chris said, walking up to the cart. He took Jill's hand and dragged her to the cart along with him.

"Whoa…that's really convenient. Let's just hope they are going to the throne room."

Chris helped Jill into one of the vases and then got himself in the other. Footsteps came up shortly after, two sets of them.

"Alright!" Someone said. He had a high screechy voice with a hint of an English accent, pointing out that it was someone Jill couldn't have known. "I will take these to the throne room."

Wow…now it's just really convenient.

"Good," A different voice said. This was deep and smooth, like it belonged to someone who does the midnight broadcast of a love song radio station. "I'll go with you. These vases are pretty heavy so I'll help you."

And the cart began to move. The vase was kind of cramp, but soon Jill would be able to move and hopefully be able to go home. But, what about the people she met? Sure, she met them once before in her reality but if she left here; it was like losing a bunch of friends at once. And Chris…he was especially charming and kind in this world. She would be…sad if she left him.

Get it together Valentine. He's like this back home to you, so you won't be missing a thing, I think.

But still-

The cart stopped, ruining Jill's train of thought. She heard a door creek open and the cart began to move. Once again, the wall of stench hit her, making her want to throw up in her mouth. But this wall was more powerful, by like ten times. In the room had just gotten into, there was laughter and merriment, a lot of it.

Jill felt her vase being picked up and set on the ground. She poked her head out of the opening, just far enough so she could look around. She was in large room, right next to the door the cart came in through. Chris and his vase was set right next to hers. He poked his head out of his and smiled at her.

"It's pretty good they didn't notice us," Chris whispered to her, loud enough so she could hear from over the laughter and loud conversations.

"Is this the throne room?" Jill asked.

"Yep! The Goblin King is in here too."

Jill looked to the throne. There was a man sitting on the throne. A black-gloved hand covered his face so she couldn't his face. But he had on a white ruffled shirt, tight gray pants and black heeled boots that went up to his knee. His hair was blonde and looked like it belonged to a rock star that belonged in an eighties hair band.

"Is that him?" Jill asked. "The guy on the throne."

"Yeah, that's him alright," Chris said, his expression hardening as he looked at the Goblin King.

"Will you morons shut up?!" The Goblin King boomed, standing up from his throne.

He removed his hand from his face. Jill looked closely at his face. He had sunglasses covering his eyes and his face looked exactly like-

CAPTAIN WESKER?! HE'S THE GOBLIN KING?!

A/N: And there you have it! Thanks for reading, please review, no flames and all that good stuff. Thank you! :D