Chapter 12 - Advice for the Birds

Chapter Twelve: Advice for the Birds



The group came across another hedge maze, the sun was slowly setting.

Stephanie was looking at the sun, her eyes narrowed deep in thought.

"I was wondering Jareth," the girl on his back started.

"Hmm?" he said, tilting his head to one side, listening.

"In the Underground, do you only have a thirteen hour day or something?? I ask, because the sun seem to set around twelve,"

Jareth was silent for a moment. "Only when a person traverse the Labyrinth, time arranges to the person, or rather, the ruler arranges time accordingly to the person. The sun sets near the end of the time limit to show emphasis." He paused. "A sort of warning, if you will."

"But wouldn't it confuse the inhabitants of your realm??" Stephanie asked.

"From what I can tell, they do not notice," the Goblin King shrugged.

Stephanie nodded, satisfied with the answer he had given.

Chantal, ahead of them, walked up a couple of stone steps in a half spiral. The extremely short stairway, led to a platform where a large sundial lay embedded in the floor.

"Ah bloody hell!" Jareth cursed as he saw the time. 12:05. They barely had an hour to complete the Labyrinth and settle the throne taking situation.

Jareth sighed and said in a tired voice. "My powers are waning. I do not think we'll get to the castle in time,"

"What?!" Chantal said as Serek squeaked.

"Don't be so pessimistic, Jareth." Stephanie said giving his shoulders a squeeze. "We'll make it, all right??" No response from the Goblin King.

"Which way Jareth??" Persisted the girl on his back.

'She's right. The castle is within reach, we might still have a chance of regaining my throne. There's no time to rest now, we have to find the quickest way to the castle. Even though my powers are fading, I will still have my instincts of the whole Underground and-'

The sound of snoring broke the Goblin King's thoughts. He glanced from out of the corner of his eye.

Chantal had turned around at the snoring. She could've sworn that the old man wasn't sitting a moment ago, in the stone chair shaped as books. Serek chirped at the newcomer with the dusty strange clothes.

Stephanie grinned at the old man's hat, which was the neck and head of a strange looking bird.

"Steph, isn't that-?" Chantal pointed towards the Wiseman.

"Yep." her friend said as Jareth started looking around. He was looking for the correct path to the castle.

"Do you think he'll be able to help us?" Chantal asked Jareth.

"I doubt it," the Goblin King mumbled as he rolled his eyes.

"You seem to forget that you've asked, on several occasion, our advice m'Lord." a high, stuck up sounding voice said.

Chantal looked up as Jareth turned around.

The bird draped upon the Wiseman's head, blinked its yellow eyes.

"A long time ago," Jareth said with a shake of his head. "Before he fell asleep during his advice."

The bird-hat looked down at the snoring Wiseman. "True," it said. "and when his advice actually made sense."

Jareth smiled at the bird.

"Basically the advice given will be useless to help us," Chantal asked as she approached the stone chair.

"It all depends on how you interpret the advice given." the bird replied.

"What about your advice??" Stephanie said with a slight shake of her head.

"Mine will be the same, though at time I tend to help more,"

Chantal turned to Stephanie and smiled.

"For a price of course," it said innocently looking up and then back at the group from the corner of its eye.

"Should've known." Chantal said rolling her eyes, her hands on her hips. She looked at the Goblin King. "Do you have anything?" The Wiseman's hand, controlled by the bird, reached out and shook the contribution box. Something clinked inside the wooden structure.

Jareth, a hand out, snapped his fingers. Two odd colored coins, appeared in the air, he grabbed them in a quick gesture, for he was still holding the eighteen-year old girl on his back. He took a step towards the bird and placed the coins neatly in the slot. The coins clinked against each other as one fell onto the other and the box returned upon the lap of the Wiseman.

"Thank you. Now for my part." the bird-hat said and cleared its throat. "'The way forward is sometimes the way back.'"

"But isn't that-" Stephanie started, because that was exactly the advice that the Wiseman had said to Sarah.

The bird was not finished, it stared at the two girls. "'So you must remember that you are in a place where everything seems possible and nothing is what it seems.'"

The group waited patiently for more.

Nothing.

Chantal blinked. "That's it?"

"Yes." the bird said turning to her.

"This advice was already said!! Basically you're repeating the Wiseman's words!! You ripped us off!!" Stephanie glared at the bird.

"I have not! For the situation that you're in, the advice is properly given." it objected.

Jareth sighed and turned around before Stephanie could say any more to the bird.

"Should've asked that dumb rambling bird, it would've given it for free." Chantal mumbled following the Goblin King.

"Thanks for your help!!" Stephanie yelled back over her shoulder.

"You're welcome! And remember: 'Things aren't always what they seem in this place, so you can't take anything for granted.'" it replied, either oblivious or had ignored the sarcasm in her tone.

The Goblin King stopped and thought for a moment, which direction to choose?

A moment later, they were on their way towards the castle.

"I wonder why your powers are slowly fading since we are getting closer to the castle. What I thought, was that your powers would become stronger once we got close enough." Chantal said.

"We're running out of time, that is why my powers are fading."

Chantal nodded and it was silent again.

Precious minutes ticked by.

"Bloody hell! I swear that we're not getting anywhere." he mumbled to himself. Chantal had a hand to her chin in thought. "'Things aren't always what they seem to be in this place...'"

"Jareth calm down!!" Stephanie said to the still mumbling Goblin King. Amazingly enough, he listened.

"Look, let's handle this logically. There has to be a way to the castle, all right??" she said. Jareth nodded.

"All right. Let's backup to what the bird had said, okay??" there was a pause of silence.

"I have nothing." he shrugged. "You were right, the advice was repeated."

"Hmm...maybe, won't hurt to try," Chantal said, confusing the others, as she pushed on one of the hedge walls. "Okay, that didn't work."

"‘...the way forward is sometimes the way back...'" Stephanie said softly to herself, then suddenly an idea came to her like a bolt of lightning. "Let's go back!!"

"What? Are you mad?" Jareth said. "I am not turning around!"

"Will you just listen to me for once!! 'The way forward is sometimes the way back.' If we go back to where we came from,"

"Chances are it will lead us forward, to the castle." Chantal finished, a grin on her face. "Steph! That's wicked!"

"Hey!! Wicked's my word!!" her friend laughed. "Well, what are we waiting for??"

"I'm still not sure," Jareth said looking back at the girl.

"It's worth a shot." Chantal said.

"Yes, if we had more time." Jareth argued.

Stephanie sighed.

"Well, it's up to you. We're just here to help you out."

"All right, fine." he sighed and turned around.

The fate of his throne in their hands now.



O O O O O O O O O



Jareth sighed making Chantal turn around.

"What? What is it now?" she asked him.

"Nothing. Just thinking about how easily the Underground can be taken."

"Don't worry Jareth, we'll get it back." Stephanie said reassuringly.

"Somehow." added Chantal. The Goblin King only nodded with another sigh.

Silence followed as they continued towards the castle. Pebbles, dried leaves and twigs snapped under their feet.

Suddenly Jareth stopped in his tracks and turned around sharply causing the girl to tighten her weak grip around his shoulders.

"Woah!!" When cloth settled and he had stopped turning around, she asked: What is it Jareth??"

"Hmm. Someone is following us." he replied, his eyes searching.

"The Fireys maybe?" Chantal asked. "I sure hope it's not those creatures that chased us."

"No," Jareth said shaking his head. "I only sense one presence, not several."

"I wonder if that's a good thing." Chantal said with an uneasy laugh. "Maybe we should keep going."

"Very well."

"Come out, come out, whomever you are!!" Stephanie yelled suddenly not only startling Chantal but the Goblin King as well.

"Steph! What are you doing?" Chantal said, her hazel eyes wide. Her friend said nothing and seemed to be waiting.

Leaves rustled and a figure emerged from behind a hedge.

"It's only Heggle." Jareth mumbled helping Stephanie onto a broken down pedestal. He had brushed aside loose pieces of what used to be an urn.

"Haggle." Chantal said correcting Jareth.

"HOGGLE!!!" Stephanie and Hoggle said in union.

"Sor-ry!" Chantal giggled.

"Cor! Maybes I should change me name." the dwarf mumbled angrily.

"Poor guy has an identity crisis." Stephanie said turning to Jareth. "At least get his name right because I know you can."

"Perhaps I do not want to," he chuckled.

"Now that's being ignorant. Stop teasing him." Stephanie said.

"All right, fine!" Jareth grumbled leaning on the pedestal beside her, his arm rested near a jean clad leg covered in dust.

"No matter. Why's are you still here? I thought by now you'd be at the castle." Hoggle said shuffling his feet.

"We had a few minor setbacks." Chantal said smiling at her friend.

"Hey, not my fault!! If his 'highness' here would've waited for me," Stephanie said poking Jareth's arm.

"I? You were slow in the first place my dear girl." Jareth argued.

"Don't you start Jareth. I'm warning you."

"Oh? Are you threatening me?"

Hoggle looked at Chantal who shook her head and rolled her eyes as the two continued to argue.

Chantal cleared her throat. It did nothing to disturb the 'discussion'.

"Um...hello?"

"-and for that matter-"

"-oh really?? In that case-"

"Guys?"

"-indeed. Perhaps I shall-"

"-pasta vazoo!! Do you have to be such an a-"

"GUYS!!!"

"WHAT?!?!" Stephanie and Jareth both looked at the girl, interrupted from their heated 'discussion'. Hoggle had his hands over his ears.

"How about less arguing and more traveling, hmm?" Chantal said, hands on her hips.

"Yes, right." Jareth mumbled. Stephanie sighed and nodded.

"Good." Chantal replied her hands remaining on her hips.

The Goblin King helped Stephanie onto his back again.

O O O O O O O O O



"What about that way??" Stephanie suggested from Jareth's back as he turned left and right. His eyes were closed now, trying to sense his way towards the castle.

He sighed.

"We're running out of time." he sighed again, opening his eyes. "If I ever get my powers back, I'll make sure that there would be no possible way to take over the Underground, or my powers."

"We'll make it Jareth. Just remember what the Wiseman- I mean the bird-hat, had said. Trust me." Stephanie said as he lifted her up because she was slipping again.

"All right." he then thought for a moment. " This way I believe."

Chantal followed the Goblin King.

"Do you want to stop a while?" she asked him suddenly. "I mean, carrying her must be tiresome after a while."

"You're right." Jareth said a grin starting on his features, he gave Chantal a wink. "What do you mortals eat in your realm?"

Whap!

"If you're not careful 'your highness', you might regret it." Stephanie said, she was strong enough to smack him at the back of the head.

"Why? You're not going to hit me again are you?" he asked, looking back at the girl.

"If you're not careful with your words." Stephanie said. "Besides, I'm not that heavy."

Hoggle raised his eyebrows. What had he missed? The Goblin King getting hit by a mere mortal? Perhaps he should've stayed with them, things would've been more interesting.

"Didn't you deserve it in the first place?" Chantal asked, now knowing the story of what happened. They had told Chantal what happened before Hoggle rejoined the group. Jareth had protested at Stephanie's version. An argument had started.

"Perhaps I did." Jareth said with a shrug. "Obviously someone thought I needed a reminder." the girl on his back said nothing.

"Anyway, let's keep going before we arrive there too late." Chantal suggested. "And before another argument ensues."

Hoggle was ahead of the group, not daring to be too close to the Goblin King, due to past conflicts. Chantal was next and not too far off, Jareth and Stephanie.

"When will you be strong enough to walk?"

"I don't know. Maybe not until this is over." Stephanie joked.

"Hmm. Maybe I should drop you off right here then?"

"Try." Stephanie warned poking him in-between the shoulder blades. Jareth winced.

"I think I'd rather not." he replied. Chantal laughed.

Hoggle turned around and waited for the rest of the group to catch up. Several minutes later after going down winding corridors and through hidden passages, something ahead of the group caught Chantal's eye.

"Hey what's this?" Chantal asked rushing forward passing Hoggle. A wooden lever protruded from a stone wall, cobwebs covered the simple handle.

"That's a lever." Jareth replied smugly.

"Yes, she can see that Jareth. More information please." Another poke from behind made him wince again.

"If I recall this lever stops travelers from entering the Goblin City."

"Yes but no one has ever came that close other than-" Hoggle stopped but added sheepishly: "Sarah."

Jareth glared at the dwarf. "Yes I know that." he shifted his weight to one foot. "These girls have also traversed the Labyrinth and reached the castle. Sarah had sheer luck."

Hoggle had an sorry-I-brought-Sarah-up look on his face.

"So what does the lever do?? I mean, what stops the people who make it this far??" Stephanie asked before an awkward silence would follow.

"It doesn't work." Everyone turned to Hoggle.

"What do you mean it does not work?" Jareth demanded the dwarf. "Of course it does. I may have lost my powers but not my memory."

"Or your mind." Stephanie added, making Chantal giggle.

"Cor! It's so old, the lever probably won't even move."

"Perhaps it has not been used yet, but I wouldn't be too sure about it Hoggle." the Goblin King said, looking at the lever then at the dwarf.

"Cor! Half the stuff in this dumb Labyrinth is crumbling and in ruins and I'll prove it to you!"

"Hoggle, do not touch that lever." Jareth said taking a step forward. Serek on Chantal's shoulder, squeaked.

"Like I says before, I don't have to listen to you." Hoggle reached up over his head to grab the lever.

"I wouldn't do that if I were you." Jareth warned.

Hoggle shivered but pulled the lever anyhow. The clicks and whirs of gears was heard and everyone held in their breaths.

Silence.

"See?" Hoggle said, a smug smile on his face.

A rumbling sound came from behind the group. Serek squeaked and chirped loudly. His eyes whirring red in fear.

"Why me?" Jareth groaned, his head back asking some unseen force.

"No time for that!" Chantal said pointing behind him.

A giant crystal came rolling down the corridor, blocking any possible means of evading it.

"Pasta Vazoo!!" Stephanie said.

"Run!" Chantal yelled turning left, following Hoggle who had already run off. Jareth ran off following the girl, the crystal, rolling not too far behind them.

Chantal grabbed Hoggle's hand and helped him run faster. They followed the twisting and confusing ways of the Labyrinth. For some strange reason, the crystal followed them, in any directions they were going.

Amidst the rumbling of the crystal and the breaking of objects in its path, Jareth heard someone humming an unknown tune, unevenly and loudly by his ear. Chantal also heard it, but she recognized it.

Stephanie was humming the 'Indiana Jones' theme!

She almost neared the 'finale' of the song.

"Stephanie!" Jareth said in union with Chantal's: "Steph!"

"Sorry!!" Stephanie laughed despite the danger of getting squished. "I just couldn't help it!!"

Chantal shook her head.

"Hey Indy, where's your whip to get us out of this situation??" Stephanie laughed over the rumbling noise of the giant crystal.

"I do not know of this 'Indy' that you speak of, nor do I own a whip," Jareth said as he ran. "but one more comment and I'll-"

"All right, all right!!" Stephanie said. "I'm done!!"

"Good." he said.

"Hurry!! The crystal is almost at our backs!!" Stephanie said looking back.

"I'm hurrying!" the Goblin King yelled back. Chantal jumped over a large dead tree branch. Serek's squeak was barely heard over the rumbling.

"Left! Turn left now!" Jareth yelled to Chantal ahead of him. She turned the corner sharply, almost hitting a wall.

Suddenly the stone maze disappeared as she stepped onto a large path.

"No way!" Stephanie said disbelieving as she wondered where the junkyard was.

"Go! Do not stop now!"

Chantal ran past a large archway, followed by the Goblin King. The crystal rolled loudly and slammed against an entrance of the Goblin City. A few pieces of the archway crumbled to the ground.

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