Labyrinth - Gundam Wing Style Part 3
In fantasy stories, castles are told to be places of wonder. Those huge finely built structures of stone that are surrounded and guarded by heroic knights, fire-breathing dragons and enchanted plants. There's always a beautiful princess trapped in the highest tower and a dashing young prince ready to ride in on his horse and save her. Or the castle holds a kind and loving king with his beautiful and wise queen. From their home they rule the lands with justice and compassion, reaching forward to take care of their people.
Rarely, if ever, are castles told to be things of dirt, danger and filth. But that is exactly what Solo saw when he looked around him. One minute he'd been sitting in his room at his computer, the next he was sitting in a circular indent surrounded by high stone walls, literally crawling with creatures he'd only dreamed of. At first he'd blinked, thinking it was some weird dream, but when the hundreds of sets of curious eyes didn't disappear then he knew something else was going on. Just where the heck was he?
Now granted, he had no idea if he really was in a castle, but there were a few things that pointed to that conclusion. First of all there was the structure of the room he was in. The walls were made of roughly cut marble like stone, which rose up around him and stopped at a ceiling made of exactly the same material. Also, the floor he sat on was of the same stone, polished to smoothness by thousands of small feet and the wear and tear of years of use. Out side the window he could see clouds, a dark sky seemingly caught somewhere between night and day, as if nature itself couldn't decide what time of day it was and decided to stop everything until the problem was resolved.
But of all the strange surroundings the biggest hint to Solo that he was in a castle was the large stone chair sitting on one side of the room. Notably not a single one of the strange little creatures around him sat near the chair. In fact they all stayed away from it and didn't even glance in its direction, which lead Solo to believe it was a royal throne of some sort that it belonged to someone of great importance. Solo snorted softly, with his luck and judging from the strange creatures around him; the owner of that large stone chair was probably a giant ugly troll.
Standing to his feet the creatures around him went silent and all watched him with wide eyes. Before they'd been scampering around him, speaking in hushed squeaky voices about things that Solo didn't care to hear, he wasn't really interested. But he was interested in the large throne before him, if nothing else with its brightly embroidered cushions it looked much more comfortable then his spot on the floor. Stepping toward it he realized that it was polished to a smooth shine, and it glimmered in the strange twilight coming from the window and various hanging light orbs around the room.
Reaching forward he ran his fingers over the edge of the cushions, not all surprised to find the fabric to be very like silk, soft and velvety to the touch.
"Don't do that!"
Solo jumped as one of the creatures in the room hissed at him. Glancing down to his feet he found a few of them tugging at his jeans, trying to urge him away from the throne. Frowning he shook his leg from their grip. When they let go he turned his attention back to the throne and stepped closer to it, running his hands over the intricate embroidered designs.
All around him it was as if the world itself were holding its breath. There wasn't a sound, no one moved in the room but Solo. All the little creatures were frozen, just watching him with wild and scared amber eyes, waiting for something to happen. A small amount of them almost shivered with fear, but Solo didn't notice. Leaning forward he brought his face closer to the designs, trying to figure what the heck they were. Red, green and purple thread danced across the fabric in gentle twists and turns, circling from one cushion to another as if they were all connected, which he knew they weren't. Frowning he took a step back, thinking perhaps that would help him figure out exactly what he was looking at. But as he stepped backward he bumped into someone.
Solo whirled around in surprise to find another boy, about Duo's age, standing behind him with his arms crossed and a disapproving look on his face. Solo's eyes locked with the boy's, finding them to be the brightest blue he'd ever seen, deep sapphire flames seemed to dance within those eyes, making them change color just slightly with each second. Solo swallowed, whoever this person in front of him was, he wasn't human!
"Where am I?" Solo choked out, trying to calm his fear. It occurred to him that he could have asked this question of any one of the strange little creatures now cowering at the other boy's feet, but he felt strange talking to things that had to be a figment of his imagination. They were figments of his imagination right? This couldn't be real!
The boy tilted his head to the side just the tiniest bit, almost as if to say the answer should be obvious, even to Solo. "You are in my realm," he responded quietly, his soft voice sending a shiver down Solo's back.
Solo took a step to the side as the other boy moved around him and gracefully draped himself upon the cushioned throne. A small smile of contentment crossed his face and his eyes drifted back to Solo.
"Your realm?" Solo wondered softly.
The boy gestured to the window.
Turning slowly Solo moved toward the window, the many small creatures around the room parting around his feet so they wouldn't be stepped on. As he walked sound slowly drifted back into the room and the creatures began whispering back and forth once again. Soon it was all in full swing, with them dancing around and talking, yelling at each other like ill disciplined children. But Solo wasn't paying attention. All he cared about was the view the window provided him.
He found he was indeed inside a castle, or at least in some structure which included a tower. Below him the landscape rolled out to reveal something one could have only imagined in, perhaps, a very twisted fairy tale. A huge maze surrounded them, made of various materials, almost as if it were some grand garden decoration. Each building material was arranged in an artful fashion so it wasn't merely intimidating to look at, but also beautiful. And it was huge! He would have sworn the twists and turns of the labyrinth that surrounded them carried on for miles! Even if he did ever wish to get out of this tower there was no way he'd find his way out of the maze surrounding them. In fact he pitied anyone who even stepped foot in there.
"Why did you bring me here?" Solo asked without looking back at the boy behind him. He couldn't stop looking at the maze below him; it was such a wonder.
"He asked me to."
Solo turned at that and looked at the boy in confusion. "He?" He frowned but something spoke up in his mind. The last words he remembered his brother saying before he'd appeared here. Duo had made a wish, a wish that someone would come and take Solo away... "Duo asked you to?"
The boy nodded. "He's in there, you know." The boy added softly after a moment of silence. His voice was filled with amusement. "He's quite stubborn."
Solo turned back to look at the maze. Duo was in that labyrinth surrounding the castle?! Oh man! There was no way he'd find his way out! "He's supposed to get through and find me isn't he?"
The boy nodded, still clearly amused at the thought.
"What happens if he makes it?"
The boy stood up and shrugged, causing the silvery feathers on his cloak to ripple. "Then you go home."
"And if he doesn't?"
The boy chuckled, very softly. "Then I choose my prize." With a soft whisper of feathers and movement the boy was now standing behind Solo, his eyes also gazing out at the magnificent structure.
"He won't make it," the boy whispered softly, his face near Solo's ear.
At those words Solo felt his heart drop and his stomach clench up. The strange boy behind him was right. There was no way anyone could make it through that maze. He bit his lip and just continued to stare out the window, but he couldn't summon up any hope. He had no idea what the strange boy behind him would choose as his prize, but whatever it was... Solo had a feeling he'd be looking out at this view for a very very long time.
~*~
With a hard and heavy sigh Duo dropped to the ground and seated himself upon a thick piece of wood. Almost immediately there was a crack and the rotting wood shattered beneath him, causing him to land hard on the uneven stone covered ground. Duo gave a small cry and shifted to rub his now very sore butt.
"Great, just great. Of all the places for you to sit down Duo, ouch!" He winced and pulled a particularly sharp rock out from under him and threw it down the passageway, watching it skip and few times then land quietly on the ground. He sighed once more. Closing his eyes he leaned his head back against the wall and took a break, letting himself relax. He'd long ago lost how long he'd been walking and he was now most definitely lost in the labyrinth.
After several twists and turns he'd completely given up on trying to figure out which was he was headed or which way he'd come from, it was just too much. So many twists and turns that it made his head spin. In fact, he could have sworn that whenever he hit a dead end and doubled back the walls switched on him. And if that were the case then there was no point in trying to keep track, so instead he just kept wandering, picking turns and passageways at random and just hoping for the best. Had he been better prepared he might have tried to draw a map, but once again if the walls moved then there was really no point.
"At this rate I'm gonna be stuck in here forever," Duo muttered angrily.
"OH? Great! That's all we need! Another human trapped in the labyrinth!"
Duo's eyes snapped open and he looked around, but he didn't find a single person around him. Shifting he sat up and peered around again, this time his eyes settled on a little white rat with bright blue eyes and a bright annoying pink bow on her tail. He blinked and looked again, but the rat still sat there, glaring back at him.
"Did you just...?"
The rat nodded and gave a small hiss. "Yeah, that was me. And yes I was telling the truth, there is no way Heero-sama would let you wander around here until you die. We don't like your kind here."
Duo frowned. "Wonderful," he noted in a sarcastic tone. "So then what will happen to me if I don't get through the labyrinth?"
The rat seemed to grin at that and another crawled up behind her, this one's fur holding a murky yellow tint and her tail split at the end to become forked. Both rats grinned at him. "Simple," the yellowish rat murmured. "He'll probably give you to us, we haven't had a real treat in a long time."
Duo's eyes widened and he stood up, taking a few steps back from the pair. Not that he was particularly afraid of rats but he didn't like the way these two were looking at him, and he definitely didn't like what the last one had just said. Lets just say that the prospect of being devoured by dozens of rats was not one he wanted to try out.
The two rats jumped down from their ledge on the rock wall and moved toward him, still grinning. "Or we could just clear up everything now. You really don't want to walk around this labyrinth much more, do you? How about we save you all that trouble."
Duo shook his head and kept backing up, turning slowly around another corner. "Uhh, no thanks. I really don't mind the walk, it's good exercise." He swallowed as he noticed a large amount of rats slowly flowing from the hole where the first two had appeared. His eyes widened and he backed up faster as they approached him.
The first two, the ones with the pink bow and the forked tail, dove at him. Duo dodged out of the way and whirled around, bolting down the passageway as fast as he could move. Behind him he heard the small feet, scurrying after him as fast as their little feet could carry them, which was far too fast for his comfort. Turning around a corner, he chanced a glance over his shoulder, only to find the passageway behind him covered from wall to wall with thousands of small furry bodies. Duo forced himself to run faster and as a consequence wasn't paying attention when he turned the next corner.
He saw the large hole in front of him but wasn't able to stop. Stumbling over the edge he gave a cry and he tumbled down into the darkness.
~*~
Heero glanced up as a small bell rang in the large chambers. Around him the various goblins and creatures were taking more of an interest in Solo, actually trying to talk and joke with him. Beside that Solo seemed to be calming down. After his initial shock had worn off he'd flown into a fury and demanded to be released, even attempted escape. These actions had lasted for about an hour until he finally gave up.
Well, no, gave up isn't the right phrase. Instead he'd stopped trying after Heero had completely informed him of the hopelessness of the situation. He'd even offered to let the boy into the labyrinth so he could find his own way home. Solo had declined.
For a young teenage kid he took the facts pretty well, he didn't seem that surprised that his brother had wished him away or that his brother was now searching for him. In fact he seemed to have settled to the fact that all he could currently do was wait, which was fine with Heero. As long as the kid was semi-contented he wouldn't panic and wouldn't realize what was actually going on.
Currently Solo's attentions were occupied by a small group of goblins that were attempting to teach him a rather simple game. The rest were clustered around; watching in amazement as the human boy joined in and attempted to learn. It wasn't often that they found humans in their company, and even then the humans didn't last long. But it was a welcome distraction. Heero knew that all the small creatures held the same wish as himself. Just this once, maybe just this time the transformation wouldn't happen. Maybe the human boy would remain human and continue to stay with them. But no, in the end they always changed.
He directed his attention back to the bell and stood from his throne, moving toward a small abandoned well in the back corner of the room. He seated himself quietly on the stone edging and dipped a slender finger in the water, watching the murky reflections swirl around. Before him a young face appeared; it was the boy from the entrance of the labyrinth.
"What have you to report?" Heero asked in a low tone. He made sure the others in the room didn't hear him, he didn't want to distract Solo or remind him of where his brother was.
Trowa flowed up from the water so his head broke the surface, but otherwise remained floating gently. As he spoke the gills on his neck rippled, getting used the breathing air from both the water and above it. "He has fallen into the oubliettes."
Heero frowned. This was a most interesting turn out. Duo had managed to reach the oubliettes already? Even given a map or living in the labyrinth for most of their lives not many could make such good time, especially when they were only on two legs and had no magic or special talents. Still, Duo's persistence only made him more intriguing, even if Heero had no intention of letting the boy win.
"Shall I leave him there, sire?" Trowa asked softly.
A moment's thought and then Heero shook his head. No, it would seem too much like cheating to leave the boy locked up as his hours ticked away and his brother transformed. Better to let him still have the illusion that there was a chance to win. Better to let him think he still had a fair chance. Cheating only works when the other party doesn't notice what you are doing.
"No." Heero chewed thoughtfully on the end of one finger. "I have a better idea, take him back to the beginning."
Trowa raised a thin, scaled eyebrow but knew better then to ask questions. "Beyond the door?"
Heero nodded. He realized he wasn't exactly being fair to the boy, but he wanted his prize and why not take advantage of the current situation? If the opportunity arose he would take it; it was just that simple. He'd deal with Duo's complaints after the fact. But he was determined not to lose, especially with this human. His eyes focused back on Trowa and he frowned. "Go."
The merboy nodded and dropped back into the water, disappearing from sight with a flick of his webbed and scale covered feet. Soon the water settled and Heero was left watching a muddied reflection of the old stone ceiling. A moment later he dipped his finger in the water again, causing the reflection to fade away once more. Yet this time it was replaced with the image of a dark room filled with nothing but a small form.
Setting his chin on one knee Heero gazed into the water at the unconscious beauty before him. The human boy was a mystery to him, and a rarity. It was very rare for one his age to be so enraptured with the things humans called 'fantasies'. Finding a young boy who was so lovely and so well versed in the worlds, which weren't his own, was certainly a find. Heero wasn't about to let him go. Not now, not ever. He felt he wanted to possess this beautiful boy before him, and that's exactly what he decided to do.
He would possess Duo. Duo would not make it through the Labyrinth. And in the end Heero would claim his prize.
TBC...
Back to Snow Tigra's Fanfictions Page