Labyrinth Fan Fiction ❯ Thirteen Hours ❯ When worlds collide ( Chapter 6 )

[ T - Teen: Not suitable for readers under 13 ]
Chapter Six: When Worlds Collide




“Do you think we should knock to go see if they’re okay?” asked Danyelle.

“Maybe.” Stephanie nodded. “Just to let them know not to worry.”

“Good idea.” Davrin agreed. “I presume they are not accustomed to this?”

“No. Our realm has long past believing in fairytales. The movies we have are just fun tales, nothing more.” Stephanie stopped at the doorway. “This doesn’t happen everyday, so it’s difficult for them to understand.” she did a small rapid series of knocks upon the beige iron-like door. “Hello??” she inquired when a silent moment has passed. She tried again. When she again received no answer, she leaned over the edge of the steps and peeked into a gap in the curtained window. Movement caught her eye and she lightly tapped the window. “Hello??”

A small frightened scream was heard when she had knocked, then someone peeked out of the curtains.

“Sorry. Didn’t mean to scare anyone.” Stephanie said loud enough to be heard over the closed front window. The curtains were drawn back to reveal a man, who looked relieved. “We just wanted to make sure you were all right.” she continued.

“Yes, we’re fine.” Soon a woman and a dark haired teenage boy appeared next to the man. “We’re just a little confused of what’s going on.” he chuckled nervously.

‘I’ll bet.’ Stephanie thought and smiled politely.

“Do you have any idea to what’s happening?” the woman asked.

“Somewhat,” Stephanie replied. “but it’s a long story and we haven’t much time to explain.” she stepped down from the steps.

“We suggest you stay inside until all of this is over,” Danyelle said.

“Wait a minute! You can’t leave us here!” the woman said frantically. “Didn’t the police come with you? We’re stranded in Lord knows what!”

“Please remain calm. The police are handling what they can.” Stephanie turned to the others and gave them a the-authorities-are-useless-at-this-point look. “I agree that you stay inside.”

“You might get lost,” Danyelle added.

“Sounds to me like you are on a mission.” the man gave the group a quizzical look. Stephanie looked back again; Danyelle adjusted her visor and Davrin had previously lowered his wings. If the man saw a hint of them, or the way Davrin was dressed differently, he did not say.

“Let’s say we have a better grasp to what’s going on, and we might be able to do something.” Stephanie replied. The man nodded. She wasn’t sure if he fully comprehended what she meant. There was no time to go into full details.

“Steph?” Danyelle inquired. “Shouldn’t we get going?”

Stephanie agreed. She then turned to the family crowding at the window. “I’m sorry to leave you here but do stay inside, it’s not too dangerous but there’s so much chaos out there.” she smiled.

The group waved back to the man and the boy; the woman was still looking frantic.

“Well that was something,” Stephanie mused. She didn’t know what was to be expected once they would reach a trapped house or a wanderer. They were confused naturally; perhaps she expected a different outcome. She was glad that it passed calmly.

“Yeah,” Danyelle agreed.

“I wouldn’t doubt we’ll be meeting up with more people.” Stephanie laughed.

“That would be kewl to see someone I know.” Danyelle also laughed.

“Have humans truly lost the belief of seeing magical realms?” asked Davrin.

Danyelle shook her head. “Not all. Time has changed and our realm is very different from yours, we’re not used to weird things happening.”

“I see.” Davrin nodded. He had noticed their habitats were built differently and their garments but he hadn’t realized there was a big difference between the two realms. “I wonder if they would remember once our quest has come to an end.”

“I don’t know. The Goblin King might do a memory wipe, but there’s so many people…” Stephanie trailed off. She finally shrugged.

“I hope we make it in time,” Danyelle frowned.

Davrin squeezed her hand. “Do not worry Danyelle. We are making good progress and we shall find a way to solve this dilemma.” he reassured her. Danyelle seemed to blush as he gave her hand another squeeze.




Stephanie had started to walk backwards, not to solve a problem but to change scenery; also, she was tired of always turning around to respond through their conversation. Her hands were on her head, her fingers intertwined. The afternoon sun was still shining fiercely upon them, making more stops in the shade that they wanted. They reminded themselves that they were only going to stop if they needed to, for they had to make haste. The sun barely tanned Stephanie’s usual pale skin—or as her mother called “vampire skin” —it only brought out her childhood freckles across her nose. Danyelle took another sip from a water bottle; it was a warm day indeed. She pushed her sleeves passed her elbows again, she actually wished she had worn a t-shirt instead, but who knew she was going to walk a—billion miles—long distance. She placed the bottle back in the packsack that Davrin held.

“Thanks.” said Danyelle and returned the brightly colored bag upon her shoulders. They had taken turns to bear the half-empty bag.

Sirens could still be faintly heard outside the Labyrinth. The group wondered what the authorities were doing to handle the unnatural phenomenon. Sections of the Labyrinth shimmered in and out of the realms as though it didn’t know which realm it belonged to. The three of them passed a couple of merged houses before entering a forest section of the maze. The latest house they came across was not merged with the maze; instead, it was surrounded by large trees. The first, they hadn’t seen movement from inside; the curtains were shut and windows were barricaded with things they had found to keep whatever they were frightened of, out. With the second, they spotted people peeking but staying clearly inside, not wanting to venture out or ask the group questions, which was just as fine with them; they weren’t going to chat with every house they came across.

Noon came and went and it was into the late afternoon before they saw movement ahead. They had expected to see more of the lost wanderers who either had ventured out of their homes or had managed to slip by the entrance and the goblin guards that were sent out to control the situation. As they neared the figure, they heard soft humming. The figure turned out to be an odd creature that lightly bobbed its head in time with its song.

Stephanie groaned as they were not three feet from the creature.

“What?” asked Danyelle.

“Not this bird again!!” Stephanie said almost exasperated, even though the creature had done nothing yet. Just as she remembered, the bird still had the bright colors of orange, pink, red, some yellow, looking like some form of Firey. She wasn’t sure who evolved from who or if they were completely different creatures from one another. “Let’s hope its going to be helpful,” Stephanie muttered. She stopped herself. Even though it was confusing, it had helped her not too long ago when she had been bitten and had some odd Labyrinthine poison coursing through her veins. “This bird is just like the Cheshire cat from ‘Alice in Wonderland’.” she explained. “Speaks only in riddles.” she explained further to Davrin’s confused expression.

“Water, water everywhere,” it trilled lightly.
“—and not a drop to drink I suppose??” added Stephanie. The bird had actually stopped bouncing its head from one foot to the other like a soccer ball.

“No.” the bird creature replied. “Just water, water everywhere.”

“Right.” Stephanie muttered, seeing that it was not being very helpful today.

“Okay.” Danyelle said. “What the hell does that mean?”

“Who knows??” Stephanie sighed.

“A premonition perhaps?” suggested Davrin.

“It could be. But it’s really hard to figure out if it is really.” Stephanie shrugged.

“Noisy birds,” it seem to complain. Both Danyelle and Stephanie looked up. The creature obviously meant the helicopter that was passing overhead. The group waited for more but the odd Firey like creature started singing a song in a different language altogether.

“Is that it??” Stephanie asked.

“What’s it?” it asked.

“All that you’re going to tell us?” Danyelle put in.

“Tell you what?” it continued asking, oblivious.

“Bah!!” Stephanie said annoyed and started walking away, past the bright colored bird. “See??” She said, she didn’t care if it had saved her, it was still annoying. “I sometimes wonder,” she entered a stone section, leaving the riddling bird to its own amusement. Davrin and Danyelle followed close behind.

About an hour had passed—or felt like it, Stephanie couldn’t tell, her watch was on the fritz again; it didn’t matter in the Labyrinth and apparently, even with the merge it had stopped—when they came across a new dilemma.

Water.

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Note: Still working on Chapter 7, though it's pretty much typed up, just waiting for a few things to fix with Dani.