Labyrinth Fan Fiction ❯ Project: Underground ❯ Strange reflections ( Chapter 7 )
[ P - Pre-Teen ]
By: Stef hanee 
Non Anime: Labyrinth Fan Fiction | Genre(s): Action / Adventure / Fantasy | Type: Fanfiction Sequel | Uploaded On: 02.25.2007 | Pages: 3 | Words: 2.4K | Visits: 350 | Status: Completed
Non Anime: Labyrinth Fan Fiction | Genre(s): Action / Adventure / Fantasy | Type: Fanfiction Sequel | Uploaded On: 02.25.2007 | Pages: 3 | Words: 2.4K | Visits: 350 | Status: Completed
Chapter Seven: Strange Reflections
"I doubt that is going to help," Jareth told Chantal as she continued to pound the ground. He waited.
Chantal stopped and looked up. "Ahhh, Steph! You did this on purpose to leave me alone with him," she mumbled and sunk to the ground even more. Serek landed on her shoulder and rubbed his head against her cheek.
"Can't we go down another oubliette and find her?" Chantal asked Jareth.
He shook his head. "The oubliettes aren't connected." He paused. "She made it out of the oubliettes last time. I'm sure she will make it out again and meet up with us."
Chantal nodded.
"We better get going," the Goblin King said as he turned back around and continued poking his way across to the other side. Chantal quietly followed behind.
Stephanie groaned. "Why do these things always happen to me??"
She pushed herself into a sitting position and looked around the oubliette. The first thing she noticed was that the walls were covered in reflective glass.
"Odd. Very odd." she said aloud, her voice echoed in the dim lit room.
Stephanie got up, walked over to one of the mirrors and stared into it. She then poked it, her reflection did the same. She placed her hands on the solid mirror and she looked more closely, there seemed to be an exit reflecting in the mirror behind her. But when she turned around there was no exit. Only a solid rock wall.
"Creepy!! I think it's time to get out of here now," she said, turned to her left and saw a narrow hallway. "Well that looks promising," she said as she took her hands off the mirror. She gave the mirrored exit a last look and walked towards the hallway.
Behind and unknown to her, her reflection still stood there, hands flat upon the mirror. It poked its head out of the mirror and looked in the direction Stephanie had gone. It smiled and retreaded back into the mirror and out the exit.
"Finally!" Chantal exclaimed dropping to the ground with a thud. She pulled out her water bottle again and took a huge gulp of water.
It had taken her and Jareth fifteen more minutes to cross the oubliette field. Jareth stood nearby, still holding the poking stick, he didn't say a word, lost in his thoughts.
Chantal recapped her bottle and replaced it in her pack. She took a quick look back at the field they had just crossed and sighed. She had been separated before from Stephanie in the Labyrinth, but this time was different. She was alone with Jareth, the Goblin King. Even though she had accepted to help him out, she didn't fully trust him. He was, of course, the villain.
Chantal got to her feet and looked at Jareth. "Well, we better get moving before out time runs out."
Jareth nodded. He put down the branch and gestured for Chantal to lead the way.
She took one last look behind her, hoping Stephanie would be standing there, but there was no sign of her friend. With a sigh, Chantal continued down the path, Serek on her shoulder and Jareth not too far behind.
They walked a short way in silence, when they suddenly came up to a small cube sitting on the path. Chantal walked up to it and stared down at it. The cube was no bigger than one of those Rubic cubes, but was solid black. Chantal turned around and looked at Jareth with a puzzled look on her face.
"Don't look at me. I have never seen anything like it," he said, approaching the cube. He bent down to pick it up.
Chantal's eyes grew wide and she reached out and touched Jareth on the arm.
"NO!"
It was too late.
The cube let out a flash of light and suddenly they were surrounded by darkness.
"You stupid fool!" Chantal cursed. "You couldn't tell just by looking at it that it was a trap? Geeze!"
Serek hissed at Jareth in the darkness.
Jareth grumbled, but didn't say anything else.
Chantal sighed. "Well, usually where there is a way in, there is a way out. Right?"
"Well it's possible," Jareth replied simply.
Chantal shook her head in the darkness, then pulled off her backpack and unzipped it. She reached inside, feeling around for something.
"No, that's not it. Where the heck are you?" she said as she felt around.
"What are you doing?" Jareth asked.
"AHA!" Chantal said as she pulled out a flashlight and flicked it on. The light beamed right into Jareth's face, causing him to wince. "Oops! Sorry! Didn't know you where there."
Chantal handed Jareth the flashlight. "Hold this please. Thank you." She looked into her pack to see if she could find the second flashlight.
"A little light over here? Geeze!"
"You said to hold the light, not to point in a certain direction," Jareth nearly snapped.
Chantal rolled her eyes and groaned. "Men! All the same. Please shine the light in my bag so I can find my second flashlight. Thank you."
She pulled out the second light, but when she turned it on, it glowed for a moment then flickered out. "Damn! Light over here for a minute more."
Unzipping the small pocket on the front of the bag, Chantal pulled out two batteries and replaced the dead ones with the new.
"There! Now, let's take a look around here," Chantal said flashing the light around her. Jareth did the same. She noticed four black walls. Most with some kind of text on them, one that had three smooth stones protruding from the wall.
"Looks like some kind of puzzle," Chantal said as she turned back to one of the walls that had writing on it. She shone the light on the wall and saw the words were in English. She started reading them.
Black within,
Trapped within.
"Ya, well that makes sense, considering the situation we are in," Chantal said aloud. She turned to the next wall.
Caress the light,
By solving the puzzle.
"Well that is some hope," Jareth said and Chantal moved to the next and final wall.
A black box, a trap box.
Set by the double.
"Okay. Now what?" Chantal asked looking over to Jareth.
"Hey! Don't look at me," he said glaring at her.
"Why not?" Chantal snapped and glared back. "You got us into this mess."
She spun away from him and began reading the wall to the left next to the wall with the protruding stones.
"It's some kind of clue, but they don't seem to be much of a clue," she said, mostly talking to herself.
Jareth groaned.
"What? Don't mock me for talking to myself. I seem to be able to solve puzzles and problems better if I talk my way through it. Especially programing. So, shush!" Chantal told him. She turned to the wall with the stones.
"Hey, each stone has a number above it. '1' , '2' and '3'. All right, now that might be of some use."
Chantal turned back to the other three walls and read the clues carefully over and over again, trying to figure it out.
"Aha!" Chantal said aloud. She stood facing the wall opposite from the wall with the protruding stones. "The walls coincide with the protruding stones. This wall to my left is 'A', The wall in front of me is 'C', and the wall to my right is 'B'. You can tell that this is so because each clue starts with A, B and C. But..."
"But what?" Jareth asked impatiently.
"I know the order, but where do we start? 1, 2 and 3 probably don't correspond to the same walls as they are named alphabetically. But hold on...if I'm facing the wall with the stones, wall 1 could be the wall to my left and wall 3 the wall on my right. Leaving wall 2 the wall behind me, the wall between the two others."
"Well what are you waiting for then?" Jareth snapped.
"Well I didn't say I was positive. I'm just trying to think logically," Chantal said, still staring at the protruding stones. "Well it's worth a shot."
She walked up to the stones and touched the stone with the '3' above it. She paused for a moment, then she touched the stone with the '1' above it, then the stone in the center. All the stones began to glow and the four walls began to shake.
"Oh no! Maybe I was wrong," Chantal squeaked. Serek echoed her.
Suddenly there was a flash of light, blinding them.
Once their eyes returned to normal, they found themselves back on the trail, still at the edge of a forest, no black box in sight.
"Yeah! We are out!" Chantal said as she jumped up and hugged Jareth. Jareth smiled a little.
Realizing who she has just hugged, Chantal pushed away. "Ack! And next time, don't touch anything."
O O O O O O O O O
Stephanie sighed. "Pasta Vazoo!! I'm getting nowhere fast!!" she stumbled around in the dim oubliette. "This is deja vu all over again." She mumbled. She looked around the room but still couldn't find any exits.
"Great!! How am I supposed to get out of here??" she twirled around, looking up. Then she stopped. Very faint sunlight could be seen above her in a round tunnel. Vines could be seen dangling within reach.
"Ha!! It's a piece of cake!!" she blurted out. Her eyes went wide as she slapped a hand over her mouth.
Nothing happened.
She breathed out, relieved. She knew uttering those words could always prove disastrious. Stephanie aligned herself to one group of vines and struggled and jumped, trying to reach the hanging vines. The girl finally grabbed onto some vines and began to climb, her feet at the round wall, helped her ascend more quickly. Her progress was good.
Suddenly her foot slipped on the slimy mildewy wall and she was swung roughly to the other side.
"Ow!!" Stephanie cried out, hanging onto the vines as they twirled her around. She almost lost her grip. She continued to thump against the wall. She held onto the vines, her eyes closed as she slowly stopped spinning. The sound of training of the vines stretching under her weight was heard. She opened her brown eyes and looked up.
"Oh!!" she groaned and looked desperately around for more vines.
"Yes!!" she breathed and tried to reach out. She stretched her arm as far as she could, the vines were far from reach, she'd have to swing herself across. Pushing herself from the wall, after swinging for a minute, her fingers brushed against the pile of vines. The snapping of a few vines was heard.
"Just hold on!!" she told the vines. "Where are those 'Helping Hands' when you need them??" She swung hard and finally managed to grab hold of the new vines. Stephanie sighed, relieved as the vines she'd left, fell down into the darkness of the oubliette.
Stephanie looked up and saw an opening in the wall above her. She climbed until she faced the opening. The girl pushed herself onto the bottom of the opening. The tunnel was small enough for her to pass through on her hands and knees. She started to crawl, hoping that the tunnel would actually lead her somewhere and with an exit.
'Damn there goes my jeans again,' Stephanie thought.
The tunnel started leading slightly upwards, her progress echoed against the walls and ceiling. She coughed as some dust swirled around her. Soon sunlight appeared and lit the tiny tunnel.
Finally!!" Stephanie said squinting in the light. Her hand touched a bar.
"Aw!!" she sighed and saw the barred closure in front of her. All this trouble only to be barred in.
"Damn!!" she swore and started to shake and pull at the bars "Come on!!" she put a foot beside the doorway and pulled some more.
After a moment, she let out a short scream of frustration.
"Pasta Vazoo!! This bites!!" she sat with her legs crossed and folded her arms across her chest, glaring at the doorway. She was pondering the idea of going back to the vines and continue climbing up.
"Why do I always get stuck in these stupid things anyway??" she yelled and leaned sideways against the thick bars.
Click.
The barred door opened and Stephanie fell.
"Right...should've just pushed instead. Idiot." she muttered to herself. "They should have signs that say "push" at least!!" she added as she crawled through the doorway and into the warm sunlight.
"I doubt that is going to help," Jareth told Chantal as she continued to pound the ground. He waited.
Chantal stopped and looked up. "Ahhh, Steph! You did this on purpose to leave me alone with him," she mumbled and sunk to the ground even more. Serek landed on her shoulder and rubbed his head against her cheek.
"Can't we go down another oubliette and find her?" Chantal asked Jareth.
He shook his head. "The oubliettes aren't connected." He paused. "She made it out of the oubliettes last time. I'm sure she will make it out again and meet up with us."
Chantal nodded.
"We better get going," the Goblin King said as he turned back around and continued poking his way across to the other side. Chantal quietly followed behind.
Stephanie groaned. "Why do these things always happen to me??"
She pushed herself into a sitting position and looked around the oubliette. The first thing she noticed was that the walls were covered in reflective glass.
"Odd. Very odd." she said aloud, her voice echoed in the dim lit room.
Stephanie got up, walked over to one of the mirrors and stared into it. She then poked it, her reflection did the same. She placed her hands on the solid mirror and she looked more closely, there seemed to be an exit reflecting in the mirror behind her. But when she turned around there was no exit. Only a solid rock wall.
"Creepy!! I think it's time to get out of here now," she said, turned to her left and saw a narrow hallway. "Well that looks promising," she said as she took her hands off the mirror. She gave the mirrored exit a last look and walked towards the hallway.
Behind and unknown to her, her reflection still stood there, hands flat upon the mirror. It poked its head out of the mirror and looked in the direction Stephanie had gone. It smiled and retreaded back into the mirror and out the exit.
"Finally!" Chantal exclaimed dropping to the ground with a thud. She pulled out her water bottle again and took a huge gulp of water.
It had taken her and Jareth fifteen more minutes to cross the oubliette field. Jareth stood nearby, still holding the poking stick, he didn't say a word, lost in his thoughts.
Chantal recapped her bottle and replaced it in her pack. She took a quick look back at the field they had just crossed and sighed. She had been separated before from Stephanie in the Labyrinth, but this time was different. She was alone with Jareth, the Goblin King. Even though she had accepted to help him out, she didn't fully trust him. He was, of course, the villain.
Chantal got to her feet and looked at Jareth. "Well, we better get moving before out time runs out."
Jareth nodded. He put down the branch and gestured for Chantal to lead the way.
She took one last look behind her, hoping Stephanie would be standing there, but there was no sign of her friend. With a sigh, Chantal continued down the path, Serek on her shoulder and Jareth not too far behind.
They walked a short way in silence, when they suddenly came up to a small cube sitting on the path. Chantal walked up to it and stared down at it. The cube was no bigger than one of those Rubic cubes, but was solid black. Chantal turned around and looked at Jareth with a puzzled look on her face.
"Don't look at me. I have never seen anything like it," he said, approaching the cube. He bent down to pick it up.
Chantal's eyes grew wide and she reached out and touched Jareth on the arm.
"NO!"
It was too late.
The cube let out a flash of light and suddenly they were surrounded by darkness.
"You stupid fool!" Chantal cursed. "You couldn't tell just by looking at it that it was a trap? Geeze!"
Serek hissed at Jareth in the darkness.
Jareth grumbled, but didn't say anything else.
Chantal sighed. "Well, usually where there is a way in, there is a way out. Right?"
"Well it's possible," Jareth replied simply.
Chantal shook her head in the darkness, then pulled off her backpack and unzipped it. She reached inside, feeling around for something.
"No, that's not it. Where the heck are you?" she said as she felt around.
"What are you doing?" Jareth asked.
"AHA!" Chantal said as she pulled out a flashlight and flicked it on. The light beamed right into Jareth's face, causing him to wince. "Oops! Sorry! Didn't know you where there."
Chantal handed Jareth the flashlight. "Hold this please. Thank you." She looked into her pack to see if she could find the second flashlight.
"A little light over here? Geeze!"
"You said to hold the light, not to point in a certain direction," Jareth nearly snapped.
Chantal rolled her eyes and groaned. "Men! All the same. Please shine the light in my bag so I can find my second flashlight. Thank you."
She pulled out the second light, but when she turned it on, it glowed for a moment then flickered out. "Damn! Light over here for a minute more."
Unzipping the small pocket on the front of the bag, Chantal pulled out two batteries and replaced the dead ones with the new.
"There! Now, let's take a look around here," Chantal said flashing the light around her. Jareth did the same. She noticed four black walls. Most with some kind of text on them, one that had three smooth stones protruding from the wall.
"Looks like some kind of puzzle," Chantal said as she turned back to one of the walls that had writing on it. She shone the light on the wall and saw the words were in English. She started reading them.
Black within,
Trapped within.
"Ya, well that makes sense, considering the situation we are in," Chantal said aloud. She turned to the next wall.
Caress the light,
By solving the puzzle.
"Well that is some hope," Jareth said and Chantal moved to the next and final wall.
A black box, a trap box.
Set by the double.
"Okay. Now what?" Chantal asked looking over to Jareth.
"Hey! Don't look at me," he said glaring at her.
"Why not?" Chantal snapped and glared back. "You got us into this mess."
She spun away from him and began reading the wall to the left next to the wall with the protruding stones.
"It's some kind of clue, but they don't seem to be much of a clue," she said, mostly talking to herself.
Jareth groaned.
"What? Don't mock me for talking to myself. I seem to be able to solve puzzles and problems better if I talk my way through it. Especially programing. So, shush!" Chantal told him. She turned to the wall with the stones.
"Hey, each stone has a number above it. '1' , '2' and '3'. All right, now that might be of some use."
Chantal turned back to the other three walls and read the clues carefully over and over again, trying to figure it out.
"Aha!" Chantal said aloud. She stood facing the wall opposite from the wall with the protruding stones. "The walls coincide with the protruding stones. This wall to my left is 'A', The wall in front of me is 'C', and the wall to my right is 'B'. You can tell that this is so because each clue starts with A, B and C. But..."
"But what?" Jareth asked impatiently.
"I know the order, but where do we start? 1, 2 and 3 probably don't correspond to the same walls as they are named alphabetically. But hold on...if I'm facing the wall with the stones, wall 1 could be the wall to my left and wall 3 the wall on my right. Leaving wall 2 the wall behind me, the wall between the two others."
"Well what are you waiting for then?" Jareth snapped.
"Well I didn't say I was positive. I'm just trying to think logically," Chantal said, still staring at the protruding stones. "Well it's worth a shot."
She walked up to the stones and touched the stone with the '3' above it. She paused for a moment, then she touched the stone with the '1' above it, then the stone in the center. All the stones began to glow and the four walls began to shake.
"Oh no! Maybe I was wrong," Chantal squeaked. Serek echoed her.
Suddenly there was a flash of light, blinding them.
Once their eyes returned to normal, they found themselves back on the trail, still at the edge of a forest, no black box in sight.
"Yeah! We are out!" Chantal said as she jumped up and hugged Jareth. Jareth smiled a little.
Realizing who she has just hugged, Chantal pushed away. "Ack! And next time, don't touch anything."
O O O O O O O O O
Stephanie sighed. "Pasta Vazoo!! I'm getting nowhere fast!!" she stumbled around in the dim oubliette. "This is deja vu all over again." She mumbled. She looked around the room but still couldn't find any exits.
"Great!! How am I supposed to get out of here??" she twirled around, looking up. Then she stopped. Very faint sunlight could be seen above her in a round tunnel. Vines could be seen dangling within reach.
"Ha!! It's a piece of cake!!" she blurted out. Her eyes went wide as she slapped a hand over her mouth.
Nothing happened.
She breathed out, relieved. She knew uttering those words could always prove disastrious. Stephanie aligned herself to one group of vines and struggled and jumped, trying to reach the hanging vines. The girl finally grabbed onto some vines and began to climb, her feet at the round wall, helped her ascend more quickly. Her progress was good.
Suddenly her foot slipped on the slimy mildewy wall and she was swung roughly to the other side.
"Ow!!" Stephanie cried out, hanging onto the vines as they twirled her around. She almost lost her grip. She continued to thump against the wall. She held onto the vines, her eyes closed as she slowly stopped spinning. The sound of training of the vines stretching under her weight was heard. She opened her brown eyes and looked up.
"Oh!!" she groaned and looked desperately around for more vines.
"Yes!!" she breathed and tried to reach out. She stretched her arm as far as she could, the vines were far from reach, she'd have to swing herself across. Pushing herself from the wall, after swinging for a minute, her fingers brushed against the pile of vines. The snapping of a few vines was heard.
"Just hold on!!" she told the vines. "Where are those 'Helping Hands' when you need them??" She swung hard and finally managed to grab hold of the new vines. Stephanie sighed, relieved as the vines she'd left, fell down into the darkness of the oubliette.
Stephanie looked up and saw an opening in the wall above her. She climbed until she faced the opening. The girl pushed herself onto the bottom of the opening. The tunnel was small enough for her to pass through on her hands and knees. She started to crawl, hoping that the tunnel would actually lead her somewhere and with an exit.
'Damn there goes my jeans again,' Stephanie thought.
The tunnel started leading slightly upwards, her progress echoed against the walls and ceiling. She coughed as some dust swirled around her. Soon sunlight appeared and lit the tiny tunnel.
Finally!!" Stephanie said squinting in the light. Her hand touched a bar.
"Aw!!" she sighed and saw the barred closure in front of her. All this trouble only to be barred in.
"Damn!!" she swore and started to shake and pull at the bars "Come on!!" she put a foot beside the doorway and pulled some more.
After a moment, she let out a short scream of frustration.
"Pasta Vazoo!! This bites!!" she sat with her legs crossed and folded her arms across her chest, glaring at the doorway. She was pondering the idea of going back to the vines and continue climbing up.
"Why do I always get stuck in these stupid things anyway??" she yelled and leaned sideways against the thick bars.
Click.
The barred door opened and Stephanie fell.
"Right...should've just pushed instead. Idiot." she muttered to herself. "They should have signs that say "push" at least!!" she added as she crawled through the doorway and into the warm sunlight.