Heard About A Place Today Chapter 1-6

Disclaimer: The characters of Jareth, the goblins, Hoggle, or any other related to Labyrinth are property of Jim Henson Productions. We are in no way affiliated with this company. However, new and original characters, places within the Underground and evolution of the Goblin King are ours. We do not own any other miscellenous affiliations such as from shows, books, movies, etc. This story is for entertaiment purposes only. So please do not sue.
The contents of the fanfiction is written with a mature audience in mind. Comments are welcomed. Enjoy!! ^_^

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Chapter One: A Crystal, Nothing More

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"Wouldn't it be great if we could wish our sisters away??" Stephanie said, stretching unto her back across the carpeted floor and stared up at the ceiling.

"Yeah, some days it would be nice," Her friend Chantal said as she rolled over on the bed from her back to her stomach, to look down at Stephanie on the floor. She was staying at Stephanie's for the weekend since they lived a few hours apart.

"And be turned into goblins," Stephanie said as she sat up. They had started a discussion about different kinds of wishes, their methods and Stephanie had mentioned a story with a certain kind of wish, one by means of goblins. There the one that are wished away would stay in the castle belonging to the Goblin King for all eternity and be turned into a creature, one like them. "But I would feel sorry for him, the Goblin King I mean, and I'll have to go and get her." she finished with a sigh as she stood up and grabbed Legend; her favorite white teddy bear. "No one, not even the Goblin King, deserves to be stuck with her for all eternity."

Chantal slid off the bed and sat down beside Stephanie. "You're right," She said giggling. "It definitely wouldn't be fair for the goblins to have to put up with our sisters."

Stephanie nodded and giggled as well. They talked about other things and a few too many times, were interrupted by knocks on the bedroom door for little pointless things. Finally annoyed of being disturbed almost every five minutes, Stephanie got to her feet.

"Come on. Let's go for a walk by the school." Stephanie said grabbing Chantal's wrist, quickly rushed out her room and flew down the stairs. She turned the corner, left Chantal at the base of the stairs and stopped at the basement doorway.

"Mom, we're going for a walk!!" the brown haired seventeen-year old yelled into the basement. She waited for an answer before joining Chantal who was putting on her shoes. When they were ready, Stephanie closed the screen door behind them. It was a little after supper, the sun was still out and it was warm enough to go out without a coat. They walked in silence until they reached the side of the highway, which wasn't far, in fact it took them barely two minutes to get there. The traffic was light and soon they were on the other side. There was a hill on the left and a path leading into a small part of woods behind a High School, on the right.

"Let's try this way," Stephanie suggested, pointing right. "I've taken the left path too many times. It’s time for a change." The path was pretty much clear except for low branches which she pushed away so as not to scratch her face. Chantal's thoughts suddenly went back to their previous conversation.

"I wish . . ." Chantal whispered as she stopped walking. Stephanie heard Chantal say something but didn't quite catch it. She turned around.

"What did you say Chantal??" Chantal was gone. "Chantal, where are you??" Stephanie cried out as she searched for her friend. There was only silence. "You're not lost are you??"

There was a small breeze, it moved the leaves with a soft rustling. It was the only movement that Stephanie could see. She squinted through the thin trees, hoping to catch glimpse of Chantal.

"Come on, this isn't funny!!" A branch snapped behind her. "Chantal??" Stephanie whispered. Suddenly hands seized her shoulders. Stephanie screamed out in surprise.

"Gotcha!" Chantal yelled grinning.

"Don't do that!!" Stephanie said as she ran after Chantal, who ran out of the woods and was going up the steep hill.

"That wasn't funny!!" At the top, Stephanie finally caught up and only saw Chantal's back as though she was tying her shoes. She stood right behind Chantal. A small push and she would tip over but she decided not to have her revenge just yet. She took a step to one side of her friend.

"I'll get you back," Stephanie said as she turned around. "When you least-"

Chantal got up and stood facing her friend. "What?"

"You didn't!!" Stephanie said, her brown eyes widened as she stared at Chantal.

"Didn't what?"

Stephanie pointed behind Chantal, who turned around to face the direction her friend was pointing. The usual scenery of roofs, familiar houses, trees and the highway weren't there as Stephanie knew well; instead there was a rising sun, a small path leading toward a vast Labyrinth with a shadowed castle far off into the distance.

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Chapter Two : Thirteen Hours

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Chantal held open her hand for Stephanie to see. Sitting in the palm of her hand was a small glowing white crystal.

"Where did you get that??" Stephanie asked staring at the intriguing crystal.

"I found it on the trail," Chantal replied, she turned around and looked at the scenery behind her. "Do you have any idea where we are?"

"I'm not sure, but this place looks familiar, " Stephanie said looking around. An odd feeling came over her, it was pure excitement. "I must be dreaming," she whispered to herself.

"Familiar? Familiar to what?," Chantal asked confused. The nineteen-year-old girl looked at the Labyrinth then back at her friend with her hazel eyes, her short curly brown hair blowing in the wind.

"To the Underground," Stephanie replied simply, staring at the early light covered Labyrinth.

"The Underground? You lost me," Chantal said staring at Stephanie. Stephanie turned to face her friend.

"From the movie: ‘The Labyrinth'," Stephanie said smiling. Chantal wondered where the title seemed familiar, she concluded that it was connected to the day's conversation.

"Do you know what you did??" Stephanie said, her brown eyes glittering with excitement.

"I did? I didn't do a thing," Chantal said, continuing to stare at the Labyrinth in the distance. "I just bent down to pick up a crystal."

"Did you say the words??" Stephanie asked.

"What words?" Chantal asked confused.

"The words . . . that wished us away. You know, 'I wish the goblins would come and take us away,'"

Chantal clamped a hand over Stephanie's mouth. "Shh! They'll hear you."

"We're already here." Stephanie rolled her eyes, she was looking around. Something was missing. "Where's the Goblin King??"

"You are asking me? I have never been here before"

"I haven't been here either.I just assume he would meet us here." She looked at her watch. "Well, let's see. It's 6:00 o'clock and we have thirteen hours to pass that." she said pointing to the Labyrinth. She then walked a bit to see where a path would be to lead them down to the entrance.

"It gets dark at nine, that is in three hours," Chantal remarked, gripping her small backpack.

"Yeah in our time. Look." Stephanie turned to her friend and pointed behind her. The sun was rising, revealing the Labyrinth in all its splendor.

"Ack..time warps, gotta hate those," Chantal said as she shaded her eyes to look towards the sun.

"Come on. We're wasting time chatting here when we could chat while we're walking," Stephanie said as she descended the wind swept hill, towards the outer walls of the Labyrinth. She grinned, in her excitement she felt like Sarah for a moment, on a great quest to rescue her brother. But then again, this might be far better.

Chantal stared after Stephanie. "Hey wait for me!" she called and started after her friend.

They reached the walls and Stephanie started looking for an entrance. She looked as one who has been there before. The girl searched along side the main wall and squinted to see far off into the distance.

"Ha!! They've hidden the entrance." Stephanie ran off towards a pile of broken branches. She pulled the branches away, until two huge black double doors appeared.

"Hidden the entrance? I thought you said you haven't been here before." Chantal followed behind Stephanie.

"Hoggle and the door weren't by the pond. Also I sort of had a deja vu feeling. Maybe it was watching that movie too many times," Stephanie shrugged. She reached out to open them but they magically opened by themselves.

"Wicked," Stephanie said, her eyes glittering again.

"Now what do we do?" Chantal asked, peering through the open doorway.

"We either go left or right," Stephanie said as she looked both ways. The corridors seemed to stretch out forever.

"Well??" Stephanie asked Chantal.

"Right," Chantal suggested.

"Should we?? I mean, Sarah took that way but...I don't think we'll get to the castle. Unless maybe he changed it."

"Yeah... people with Labyrinth and castles usually change the path so that it's never the same..."

"All right," Stephanie took a deep breath. "Let's go."

"Okay! What are we waiting for?" Chantal grabbed Stephanie's arm and pulled her to the right. They were silent and were busy watching their surroundings. After walking for about ten minutes, Chantal suddenly stopped.

"What's wrong??" Stephanie asked looking back.

"How long does this go on for?" Chantal asked looking down the corridor. She then leaned up against the wall for support and fell through.

"Chantal!!" Stephanie rushed over. "I'm sorry. I forgot about hidden passageways."

"Now you tell me," Chantal replied sarcastically, she stood up and was now brushing the dirt off.

"Now we're getting somewhere," Stephanie said as she passed Chantal.

"I hope so. I'm tired of going in a straight line," Chantal said following Stephanie.

"Which way now??" Stephanie asked looking at the different passageways.

Chantal shrugged "I don't know. You choose this time."

"Hmm...this way," She said pointing left.

"Okay, let's go," Chantal said grabbing her friend's arm yet again and pulled her to the suggested direction.

"Now that we know what to do..." Stephanie said smiling as she went through a wall. "We'll get closer to the castle."

"The faster, the better." Chantal said looking around. "This place is starting to creep me out."

Stephanie smiled. "Oh??"

Chantal shook her head, "Just a feeling, I can't explain it."

"It is a little quiet and deserted, isn't it??" Stephanie looked around.

"It's a maze, who would want to enter a maze?" Chantal asked turning to Stephanie. "Oh, never mind."

Stephanie smiled and went through another passageway. Chantal followed in silence, looking around as she walked by. She then spotted a brown plant with eyes that followed her.

"Steph, wha..what is that?" Chantal asked pointing at the strange plant, backing away.

"Hmm??" Stephanie turned around. "Hey cool, it's a Lichen."

"A what? Is it safe?"

"What?? It won't hurt you. All it's doing is watching us..." Stephanie said as she looked at Chantal.

"See, look," Stephanie said as she reached over and touched it. It shied away from her hand. She frowned at the texture; it was cold and it was almost like gritty slime. "It's all good."

"Alright!" Chantal replied, still eyeing the plant.

Stephanie stood up and wiped her hand on her dark blue jeans. They walked on. Chantal kept eyeing the edge of the walls for more strange plants or creatures, keeping close to her friend. Stephanie shook her head.

"Hey look, we're getting closer," She said pointing towards the castle. Chantal looked in the direction Stephanie was pointing and spotted a large dark castle.

"How long do you think it will take us to get there?" A shrug was her friend's reply.

"Hey!!" Stephanie said as she ran ahead. On the opposite wall she saw a black clock with thirteen hours. She saw that an hour had passed.

"What? An hour has already gone by? It only felt like five minutes," Chantal asked walking up behind her friend. She eyed the clock then looked down at her watch.

Stephanie looked at her watch. She gasped. "Look." She made her friend glance at her left wrist.It had stopped at 6:05.

"Mine is still going, but it says 6:05 too," Chantal said, showing Stephanie her digital watch. "It seems time flows differently here."

"Tell me about it," Stephanie said.

"So what do we do now? Head towards the castle?"

Stephanie stared at her friend. "Unless you want to stay here, not reach the castle and be turned--."

"I never said I wanted to stay here. Let's go!" Chantal said, she turned and looked at the thirteen hour clock once more then back at the castle in the distance.

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Chapter Three: A Land Serene

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The two girls made their way down the corridor, Chantal following a few steps behind Stephanie. Stephanie walking along with a huge grin on her face. Time passed and Chantal was still looking around, being cautious. Strange birds sang in the distance.

Suddenly overhead, something flew by at a great speed.

Stephanie gasped, ducking and covering her head with her arms, behind her Chantal screamed. Stephanie turned around and saw a dark, almost black winged creature, clinging to Chantal's head.

"Get it off....GET IT OFF!!!" Chantal screamed, jumping around. The small winged creature began screeching, its large orange eyes whirling.

"Hold still," Stephanie said, trying to calm her friend down. Chantal stood still, slowly trying to stop panicking as Stephanie pulled the small creature from her friend's head.

"What is it?" Chantal asked, eyeing the creature. It's orange eyes focused on Chantal.

"I don't know. I have never seen a creature like this before," she replied, holding the creature under its winged arms.

"It's almost looks like a small dragon. Let me see," Chantal said forgetting the frightening encounter and taking the creature from Stephanie. "It's soft and furry, and it's kinda cute." Chantal eyed the creature. The creature began to scurry up to Chantal's shoulder where it sat, wrapping its tail around her neck.

"I think it likes me," Chantal giggled.

"Do you think your mom will let you keep it??" Stephanie asked grinning.

Chantal began to laugh. "We will have to see, once we get home."

Stephanie turned towards the castle in the distance. "Shall

we continue on our way?"

Chantal nodded.

A few minutes passed, the sound of their footsteps echoed off the stone walls.

"Look," Stephanie said pointing in front of her. "We are almost there. This should be a piece of cake!!"

The earth suddenly began to shake, a loud rumbling sound was heard. The Labyrinth began to shift around them, expanding and changing. Birds flew off with terrified cries.

The girls moved out of the way as new walls appeared around them. They had been in a light sand colored stone section and without moving, they were now in a dark green hedge section. Stephanie lost her balance and fell upon the hard stone flooring.

The dragon creature on Chantal's shoulder began to whine, its eyes whirling red in fear.

Chantal turned to Stephanie who was getting to her feet, once the rumbling stopped. "You know that this is your fault! You just had to say that we we're getting close to getting out of this never ending maze."

Stephanie's mouth dropped, looking around at the new walls. "Damn..."

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Chapter Four: Taking Things For Granted

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Stephanie remained still, her mouth open in shock, looking around the new surroundings; thanks to her remark, she figured.

"Steph, snap out of it!" Chantal said shaking her friend. "We can't just stand here and do nothing. We have to keep going."

Stephanie blinked. She then looked at her friend and slowly nodded.

"Okay, which way now?" Chantal asked. She unraveled the tail of her new pet from her neck, then cradled the creature in her arms. "I wonder if this little guy can help us get out of here."

"It's worth a try," Stephanie said, snapping out of the shock.

"First we should give him a name, I don't want to go around calling him the creature thingy."

Stephanie giggled. "Hmm...what about Bob??"

Chantal started laughing. "I don't think it suits him." She eyed the dark purple fuzzy creature in her arms. "Serek," She decided.

"I like it," Stephanie told her friend.

Chantal let Serek crawl back up to her shoulder as she pulled off her small backpack. She opened the pack and rummaged around inside and pulled out a small bag of homemade chocolate chip cookies.

"Hey Serek, would you like a cookie? If you help us get out of this maze I'll give you some," Chantal told the purple dragon thing. She broke a piece off the cookie to give Serek a taste. Serek chirped in delight, he launched from Chantal shoulder and flew above the two girls.

"Show us the way out Serek."

Serek chirped and flew off in search of the exit, Stephanie and Chantal following beneath him.

Suddenly Serek batted his wings harder and sped up, Stephanie broke into a run to try and keep up, she didn't want to lose sight of their guide.

"Hey!! Slow down!! Tell Bob to slow down a bit." she was ahead of Chantal so she was the first to turn the next corner and ran right into someone.

"Uh!!" Stephanie landed on her stomach. The impact was softer than she had anticipated. She opened her eyes one at a time.

She was staring into a handsome thin face with high cheekbones. Greenish blue eyes stared up at her from under dark elegant eyebrows which arched a bit at the outer ends. Stephanie blinked, gasped and pushed herself up to her feet and stood next to Chantal. She realized that she had been staring into the face of the Goblin King.

The Goblin King had blond hair, it was around shoulder length, the style was strange, almost wild looking. Spiky, was the word Stephanie thought of.

He got up and started to brush the sand from his sleeves of his long black coat, without saying a word. He was tall, fairly taller than Chantal, and he was wearing dark clothes, barely any distinctions.

Finally satisfied with his sleeves, he crossed his arms and stared at the two girls. The Goblin King then approached the two girls, looking first at Chantal then at Stephanie.

Chantal blinked as she saw Serek on his shoulder. Chantal looked up at the Goblin king.

"Hello!?" she dared to speak up. The Goblin King looked at Chantal with a raised eyebrow.

"Umm...can you help us? We kinda got lost," Chantal asked hopefully.

Stephanie turned to Chantal, her eyes wide.

Chantal turned to Stephanie "What?"

Stephanie eyeing the Goblin King, replied: "He's the Goblin King." At this he tilted his head to one side and smiled, revealing curiously sharp canines.

Chantal turned back to the Goblin King. "Oh!" She glanced at Serek who remained on his shoulder. "Does he belong to you?"

Finally the Goblin King replied. "No. I do not control where it wants to land."

Chantal pulled the bag of cookies from her pocket and held them up for Serek to see. The little creature launched from the Goblin King's shoulder and glided over to Chantal's. Stephanie continued to stare at the Goblin King.

He stepped forward to closer inspect the girls. More wishers like Sarah?, he wondered. He turned to Stephanie. This one seemed to know who he is, surely she must have knowledge about the rules and consequences. "I suppose you already know the rules?" he asked.

"Rules? What rules?" Chantal asked, confused.

The question brought a smile to his thin lips. "Your friend here, knows that you have thirteen hours to solve this Labyrinth." Stephanie nodded, her gaze never left the Goblin King, when Chantal glanced at her.

"Well," He stepped aside for them to pass. "You should continue, shouldn't you?"

"You aren't going to help us? That is just like kings with mazes!" Chantal mumbled.

The smile disappeared. Chantal turned to leave, Stephanie narrowed her eyes at him, wondering what he was thinking of conjuring at that moment.

"And just to warn you," The smile returned. "I don't play fair."

"They never do!" Chantal said, letting the last comment slide.

Stephanie stared at Chantal. Chantal turned to walk away.

"Come on Steph. It's very clear that he doesn't want to help us."

Stephanie passed the Goblin King, looking back over her shoulder. His arms were again crossed and was now leaning against one of the walls, a smile on his lips.

"I'm surprised that he didn't throw you in the Bog of Eternal Stench." Stephanie said as they were out of sight and hopefully hearing of the Goblin King, lest he get ideas.

"Oh? I'm surprised he didn't. I'm sure it would have amused him." Chantal commented.

Chantal turned to Stephanie. "What will happen if we don't get out of here before the thirteen hours are up?"

Stephanie stared at Chantal. Then continued walking pass her, obviously hiding something.

"What? Is something wrong?" Chantal asked trying to catch up.

Stephanie bit her lower lip. "We....."

Silence. "...turn into goblins."

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Chapter Five : How Do We Get Ourselves Into These Things?

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Chantal stared at Stephanie. "WHAT?! And you couldn't have told me this before we entered the maze?"

"I thought I had told you," Stephanie said sincerely. "I'm sorry."

"Okay, I forgive you. Now let's hurry up and get out of here," Chantal said.

"Right," Stephanie agreed.

They entered one hedge section of the maze. Once they stepped onto the path, they noticed that they could go either left or right. The girls looked both ways, trying to decide which direction to go.

"They both look the same," Stephanie reflected.

"We've been having pretty good luck going right. Should we try going that way again?" Chantal asked.

"Hmm..." Stephanie thought. "All right."

"Okay, let's get going then."

The girls turned to the right and started walking down the selected hedged corridor. They walked for about ten minutes when Chantal suddenly stopped.

"Steph! I think we have been here before, this spot looks familiar," Chantal told her friend.

"Oh!!" Stephanie frowned.

"There was another path just back a ways, why don't we try going that way?" Chantal suggested.

"All right. " Stephanie brightened up.

The two girls turned around and walked back the way they had come to the turn they had passed and continued down the new corridor; both girls in a bit brighter mood. A moment later they turned a corner and suddenly Stephanie stopped.

"How did we end up here again??" She asked confused.

"I don't know," Chantal confessed.

"It keeps changing!! What are we suppose to do??"

"I don't know, keep going around and hope we find the way out."

Stephanie sighed as she looked around for some helpful clue.

"What else could we do?" Chantal told her friend. " Come on...le'ts keep moving, a way out will pop up sooner or later, hopefully sooner." Chantal grabbed her friend's arm and pulled her down the corridor.

After going around in circles for about thirty more minutes the girls began to lose hope. They sat down on the path to rest. As they were catching their breath, Serek jumped off Chantal's shoulder and walked over to the hedge furthest from the many pathways.Chantal watched the small creature. Serek walked up to the hedge then through it.

"Hey, where did Bob go??"

"I don't know," Chantal said as she jumped to her feet and followed Serek where he had vanished. "Hey, there is a hidden path here!" Serek came back to see if they wre following.

"Wicked!! We'll get somewhere again!!" Stephanie said, running off into the new path.

Chantal laughed, starting to cheer up again. "I hope so." Chantal followed her pet and Stephanie through the hidden path.

Stephanie stumbled over something.

"Are you okay?' Chantal asked.

"Yeah," Stephanie stood up and brushed the sand of her black elbow length sleeve shirt, it had a red Chinese dragon on it.

Chantal looked around then spotted something in the distance. "Hey look, there is somebody over there." she pointed down the hedge corridor.

Hearing laughter, Stephanie ran down the corridor then suddenly stopped, something caught her attention out of the corner of her eye. She reached into the hedge next to her and pulled out two strange creatures by their tied tails.

Chantal caught up with Stephanie then stared down at the two strange creatures.

"What, and who are these two?" she asked.

The creatures tried to get free from her grasp. The twin creatures were short, plump and had grey skin, they were dressed in simple garb, shirt, pants, vests, all in warm tones of sand; similiar to goblins, if they would have encountered any.

"Let us free and..." one creature spoke.

"And we'll help you out of this dead end," the other continued.

"What dead end?" asked Chantal, looking down the corridor for the end.

The creatures pointed behind Chantal. The hedges had formed a closed wall. Chantal turned around while Stephanie looked up. The creatures were right, they were boxed in.

"Damn," Chantal swore under her breath, she turned to glare back at the two creatures. "You closed the hedge behind us," she accused.

"No we haven't," the one on the left said.

"We do not control these things," the other said.

"The Goblin King," Stephanie breathed. "You shouldn't have pissed him off Chantal." Chantal shrugged. What's done was done.

"All right," Stephanie paused to think. "What should we do with them??"

Chantal turned to Stephanie. "Should we trust them?"

"Hmmm..." Stephanie looked at Chantal, biting her lower lip in thought. "Well, we don't have any other choice, do we??" She looked down at the tied creatures. "You said you're going to help us, so...how do we get out of here??"

Both creatures looked at the girl.

"First you have to," began the first.

"Answer three riddles," finished the second.

"Riddles??" asked Stephanie. She then turned to Chantal. "Are you good at riddles??"

Chantal shook her head. "Not really."

"What are the rules??" Stephanie asked the creatures, still holding them by their tails.

"The rules are simple--" said the first.

"We ask you a riddle and you answer it," the second added.

"--Answer the three riddles correctly and be allowed through the door," finished the first.

Chantal turned to Stephanie "Well, it's worth a shot."

"What happens if we answer one wrong??" Stephanie asked one of the creatures.

"You will have to take the Goblin trail," one spoke up.

"Goblin trail??" Stephanie raised her eyebrows.

"Yes," the other replied. "People have come here and solved the riddles wrongly and have taken the long way."

"Most people who take the long trail don't make it out of the Labyrinth before the thirteen hours are up and get turned into goblins."

Chantal then turned to her friend. "I guess then that we will have to answer the questions correctly."

Stephanie nodded.

"Well," Stephanie said to the creatures. "Ask your first riddle."

"First," the first creature began.

"You must set us free," finished the second.

Stephanie looked at Chantal. "Should I??"

Chantal nodded.

"You'd better not run off," Stephanie said as she let go of the tails. The two creatures walked up to the side and stood in front of Chantal.

One began whispering to the other. Stephanie waited, hands at her sides, head tilted to one side, wondering the possibility that they were plotting their escape or worse, an attack.

"Before we begin, we would like to introduce ourselves," one creature told them.

"All right," Stephanie said as she went to stand next to her friend.

A moment of silence.

"Well??" Stephanie asked.

The creatures looked at each other and nodded their heads. The first one took a step forward and began to speak.. "My name is Snowden..." he told them.

Stephanie nodded her head, waiting for them to finish their introduction.

The second creature looked at his partner " No, my name is Snowden."

"No it is not. Remember?" the first argued.

Stephanie looked from creature to another, and Chantal only raised an eyebrow at the two creatures.

The creatures continued to argue, Stephanie looked at Chantal, she rolled her eyes, and shook her head.

Chantal then began to giggle.

"You know we're not going to get anywhere if they keep this up," Stephanie said to Chantal, almost smiling.

Chantal nodded, then turned to the two creatures and cleared her throat. "Excuse me! Could we get on with the introductions?"

The creatures stopped arguing. "Yes!"

The second creature looked at the first "Fine...you can be Snowden this time, and I'll be Ashby." the first creature nodded.

"Good. Then that's settled then. Let's get on with the riddles," Stephanie said looking at the castle in the distance, she wondered about the time.

Snowden and Ashby exchanged a look, then turned to face the two girls. Ashby, the creature on the right, then spoke up.

"Since there are two of you, you will be allowed to discuss amongst yourselves before you give your answers." The girls nodded.

"Let us begin," Snowden said.

Ashby then began to tell them the first riddle:

Come follow me, though I cannot move

Still I will lead you through the trees

Come follow me though I have no voice...

Ashby trailed off. Snowden then began to speak:

...To call you on the breeze.

These words are wild as they can be.

I know them...I know them well

Come follow me.

Snowden finished and both riddlers looked at the girls waiting to see how well they were at their games.

Chantal turned and looked at Stephanie, who was deep in thought. Chantal smiled. "This is an easy one!" She chimed.

"Are you sure??" Stephanie asked. Chantal nodded and whispered into her friend's ear. Stephanie then smiled. "Answer then."

"The answer is 'A Path,'" Chantal said happily.

"Congratulations," Snowden began.

"You are correct," Ashby finished. "Now for the next riddle."

Snowden began the riddle this time:

The beginning of eternity

The end of time and space...

Snowden trailed off and Ashby continued:

...The beginning of every end

And the end of every place

Chantal's smile disappeared and a look of confusion crossed her face. "You can answer this one Steph."

"Gee thanks!!" her friend said sarcastically. She then began to think half aloud to herself. Chantal tilted her head and looked at her friend, she then grinned mischievously and began to hum the 'Jeopardy theme'.

Stephanie turned on a dime and looked at Chantal. "CHANTAL!!" She snapped. Serek, squeaked and jumped off of Chantal's shoulder. "Do you mind??"

Chantal shut her mouth, trying to look all innocent. "Sorry, I'll shut up now."

"Every...beginning...end..." Stephanie mused.

Serek landed on Stephanie's shoulder and began squeaking in her ear. "Squeeee- eeeeeeeee!"

Stephanie's eyes lit up like she had been hit by a bolt of lightning. "I GOT IT!!" Stephanie then turned to Serek on her shoulder. "Bob, I love you!!"

Chantal raised an eyebrow in confusion.

"The Answer is--" Stephanie almost yelled with excitement, she then calmed herself before continuing. "--the letter 'E!!'"

"Correct again!" Ashby answered.

"Here is the last riddle. This one is a difficult one," Snowden told them. He then began the riddle:

The more there is...

Snowden trailed off once again. Ashby then finished:

...less you see.

Chantal and Stephanie exchanged confused looks. Both girls then began to pace around in a circle, thinking. A few minutes passed, but neither girls have come up with an answer to the final riddle.

Chantal suddenly stopped and turned to Stephanie. "We better hurry up and come up with an answer before it gets dark."

Stephanie's eyes grew wide. "Chantal, you're a genius."

"What?..what did I say?" she asked all confused.

"The Dark," she told her friend. Stephanie then turned to the two creatures. "The answer is 'the Darkness,'" She told them, a big smile on her face.

Ashby and Snowden looked at the two girls in amazement. "You two are the first to answer all three riddles," Ashby told them.

"You certainly deserve to take the shortcut," Snowden replied. The large double doors behind Ashby and Snowden slowly began to open. The tail tied creatures moved aside to let the girls pass.

"Woohoo!!" Stephanie exclaimed with a grin.

The two girls approached the double doors.

"Good luck..."Ashby began.

"...on your quest," Snowden finished.

"Thanks," Chantal replied. The two girls then walked through the doors, Serek still perched on Stephanie's shoulder.

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Chapter Six: Trouble With Royalty

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As the girls walked through the door, they found a totally different scene on the other side; instead of the hedge maze, they were surrounded by an vast forest. The mid afternoon sun shone through the trees.

"Wow!" Chantal exclaimed looking around.

"Yeah, wow!!"

"Now which way do we go?" Chantal asked, still looking around. Several paths laid in front of them.

"This way," Stephanie said pointing to the path directly in front of them.

The two girls started down their chosen path. Serek launched from Stephanie's shoulder and glided in front of them. After walking a while, the forest got dark. The sun had disappeared behind a large cloud. Suddenly an owl could be hear hooting above them.

Stephanie stopped in her tracks, spun around and looked through the trees, but nothing was there.

"What's the matter?" Chantal asked her friend, turning around to look at her.

"Nothing, I think I'm just being paranoid," Stephanie answered, her eyes searching the area. "Let's keep going." She took one more look behind her before they continued on.

As they took a step forward they heard laughter behind them. Stephanie slowly turned around and looked up to where the deep laughter had come from.

Up in a nearby large tree the Goblin King sat leaning on one of the branches.

Chantal turned around and when she spotted the Goblin King, she placed her hands on her hips. "Have you come to taunt us again?" She asked in a bored voice.

The Goblin King looked down at Chantal with an amused smile, and raised an eyebrow.

Chantal smiled back, her braces showing.

Stephanie elbowed Chantal, a nervous grin on her face. Chantal looked over at her friend.

"Fine, I'll be quiet this time," She said as she looked back up at the Goblin King. Chantal then pulled off her backpack and rummaged in it. She took out a roll of Life Savers, ripped open the package and popped the first one into her mouth.

Stephanie looked over at her friend, a puzzled look on her face.

"What are you doing??" She asked Chantal.

"Getting out a Life Saver," she told her. "Want one?" She asked as she held out the roll to Stephanie.

Stephanie sighed loudly as she shook her head.

"'Tay." Chantal then returned her Life Savers into her backpack. The Goblin King tilted his head and watched as the girls wondered what brought him there.

After several minutes of silence Chantal couldn't take it anymore."Are you just going to sit there and watch us?"

The Goblin King laughed once again. "You two amuse me."

"Yeah, so you decide to follow us, and creep us out by staying in the shadows." Chantal shook her head, curly brown hair bouncing. Chantal sighed. "Come Steph, there's no point in trying to talk to him, let him play his little game." Chantal grabbed Stephanie's arm and began to pull her away.

As the two girls walked away, they heard something behind them. Something swooped and nearly missed Chantal's head, as Stephanie felt the brushing of wing tips. In front of them the sun broke through the clouds, just as they caught glimpse of a white barn owl fly away down the path.

"Well, we must be going the right way since he's following the trail. Unless he's messing with us again," Chantal commented.

"Maybe, let's just keep moving, time is short." Stephanie replied.

Unknown to them, they were being watched by several dozen pair of eyes. As they continued walking down the path, the owners of the eyes followed, rustling in the bushes.

Stephanie stopped in her tracks. "Chantal?? Did you hear that??" she asked, looking towards where she had heard the noise.

The leaves of the bushes settled when she glanced on a precise spot.

"Hear what?" Chantal said, looking around and listening.

"That noise. There it is again." Stephanie spun around.

"I heard it that time. What was that?"

"I asked you first. Let's not stick around to find out." Stephanie took a step forward, it was followed by more rustling.

Serek landed on Chantal's shoulder and wrapped his furry tail around her neck. They turned back to the path.

Suddenly something jumped out in front of them.

"Eek! What is that?" Chantal half screamed.

"A goblin. This is not good," Stephanie said as she took a step back.

Suddenly several goblins appeared behind them. Chantal turned her head and saw them. "I think we have company. What do we do now Steph?"

"RUN!!" Stephanie yelled as she ran forward past the goblin in front of them. Chantal not too far behind her.

The girls ran as fast as they could down the path. Several dozen goblins popped out of the bushes and started chasing them. The hideous sound of the goblins' laughter could be heard behind them.

As they turned a corner, Chantal tripped over an exposed tree root. Stephanie stopped to help her friend up.

"Come on, we have to keep going."

They ran around another corner, what trees could do corners; Chantal running a little ahead of her friend. The sounds of the goblins faded into the background.

Behind her, Chantal heard Stephanie let out a cry of surprise. Chantal twirled around, expected to see that her friend had tripped herself.

No sight of Stephanie.

"Steph?!"Chantal cried out. "Where did you go? Steph?" Chantal turned around in a circle trying to figure out what had happened to her friend.

"STEPH?!?!" Chantal cried out one more time.

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Chapter 7-13 coming right up.