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 Posted: Sat Dec 12, 2009 2:23 am
One
Shenavye: *Pokes her brother*
Leshem: >_> *eyes sister* What d'you want?
Shenavye: Humph! I like that! You haven't seen your beautiful sister in forever and now you shirk me? I wanted to say hi.
Leshem: *turns nose up* Who says I wanted to see you anyway...?
Shenavye: Everyone wants to see me, Leshem. It's just whether or not they decide to let it show.
Leshem: *smirks* Well, I'm not everyone am I? I'm me. And Iiii don't give a crap. >P *sticks out tongue*
Shenavye: *Smirk* That's funny, because you certainly give enough out of your mouth with what you say- when it's not stoppered by your foot.
Leshem: *opens mouth again for a second and then snaps it shut and just grunts at her* >C
Shenavye: You're so much more intellegent with your mouth shut dear brother ^_^ *Kisses his cheek* I haven't seen you in an age. Where have your been hiding?
Leshem: *eeww* *wipes off cheek* Thought you didn't want me to talk *sweetly*
Shenavye: I didn't say that. But, for right now, I kinda prefer the crap that you say compared to silence.
Leshem: Tch. I haven't been hiding *smiles again* Just staying away from you~ Cause you annoy me.
Shenavye: So you talk crap and I annoy. We all have our little talents.
Leshem: Yea yea, sure. *tosses a few sparks her way* >.>
Shenavye: *Holds up a crystal card to stop a spark landing on her cheek* At least you agree with me.
Leshem: *grumbles* Yea yea, sure whatever. >.>;
Shenavye: Why are you being so difficult? *Plops down on the ground* It's not like you have anyone else who'll talk to you.
Leshem: How do YOU know that? *walks up to a random other pony* Hi there! *smile*
Shenavye: *Flaps up, frowning* Because you're a brat! I have to like you, but everyone else gets a choice.
Leshem: *stamps foot when he's ignored and just huffs* Nobody has to like me.
Shenavye: I do. I can't imagine disliking you. That would be very hard.
Leshem: .... Why? What's so great about me to like?
Shenavye: Well. You're my brother. And... only you'll deal with me anymore. You have to like me too.
Leshem: *hmph* Where is it written down as a rule that I gotta like you? *but secretly he doesn't really dislike her either*
Shenavye: There isn't a rule written down, but don't you think it's better to have someone who'll be good to you no matter what? *Stares down to the right* I think my herd's just gotten tired of me. Everyone else grew up- even Jin has a mate now! *Frowns deeply, tears prickling*
Leshem: *sighs softly* Yea, we've been little FORever. But maybe it just means we'll be more awesome when we get big!
Shenavye: *Looks up* Yeah, you're right. And then, I'll show Jin what he's missing when he chose her over me. *Scowl shifts into a smile* Okay. I take back what I said about the crap. Sometimes you say cool things.
Leshem: *looks proud* Hm... you better let me approve of whoever you like when we get big, sister! >O
Shenavye: *Giggle* Well I don't like him- I just... don't like that he left the herd for her and left me alone. He's a dragon.
Leshem: Ooh... a dragon. Hm... *kinda thinks dragons are all arrogant or something for some reason* Well you'll find somebody better than him and make him jealous!
Shenavye: *Cocks her head and her mouth opens* Better and better! I never thought of doing that, Leshem. But I don't know any males to make him jealous with... any males that will make him really jealous, because his mate is a dragon too. *Sighs* Do you know anyone?
Leshem: Dragons aren't so great... *scoffs a bit* Uhmm... like, have you seen those Legend things? They're WAY better
Shenavye: *Blinks* No, I haven't. Have you? Are they really that cool? Are they pretty too?
Leshem: Yea! They're like huuuge... and awesome And they got wings too. There's two different kinds...
Dream: *drifts by overhead, as if on cue*
Shenavye: Like boy kinds and girl kinds or bad kinds and good kinds? *Notices Dream* Uh... uh... uhbuh... uhm... I think I saw her... when she wasn't so... shiny...
Leshem: Like uuhm... bad kinds and good. She's one of the good kinds... And yea, I think there's some way regular ponies can like turn into them. But I dunno... *frowns*
Shenavye: *Slow inhale* I could look that pretty one day, you think?
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Posted: Sat Dec 12, 2009 5:34 am
Two
Shenavye hovered into Fibula's clearing, following the sounds of quiet sobbing. She found Fibula crouched amongst the ferns, her hooves over her eyes, moisture beading from beneath them. "Fibula," said Shenavye to announce her presence.
Fibula jerked up and tore her hooves from her face and stared. Then she relaxed and let herself drop back into the ferns. "Go away."
"Why?" asked Sheavye. "I thought you might be hurt, so I came to see."
"To gloat, more like," snapped Fibula. "You can't lie to me, you're awful to everyone!"
Shenavye scowled. "What is wrong with you? What happened? You're usually so... well not nice but not like this."
"How would you know- you don't talk to anyone!"
"I talk to who I have to talk to," said Shenavye. She sat down next to Fibula. "I try not to talk to anyone I don't have to."
"Sounds like a miserable way to live," snapped Fibula, but with less of her previous bite. She was curious and pitying.
Shenavye lowered her head slightly. "I had a best friend once. He left me behind. I don't want to be left behind again."
"Oh."
"So what's wrong?" asked Shenavye.
Fibula bit her lip. She wanted o tell someone... and it may as well be someone who didn't speak much to anyone else, even if they didn't know each oter well."I did... something wrong. And now Grisamara is angry with me."
Shenavye winced. Grisamara was one scary pony. "So... what's she saying?"
"She wants me to do a portrait of her- a really really good one- to make up for it."
"Well... you can't really do such a good portait, can you? Is that why you're so upset?" asked Shenavye.
"I could get better, but I don't have someone to practise on without telling them."
"Why not me?" asked Shenavye. "I know."
Fibula blinked. "On you? Well..." she considered. "Yeah... I could do that. If I get really good at you, then I can do skteches of Grisamara!" She was getting excited now. "This si good!"
"Good," agreed Shenavye. "So where would you like me to pose?"
Fibula wiped her nose with her hoof and got up. "Uhm, in the sun over there." She got her pencils and paper and sat across from the best light.
Shenavye complied and the shimmering motes cast twinkles across her already shimmery skin. "Do you want quiet?"
"Hmmm?" asked Fibula, already busy with contour lines. "Oh, um... dunno...."
Shenavye shrugged.
"Don't move!" snapped Fibula.
"Okay okay!" said Shenavye shortly. She had cramps and aches by the time Fibula sighed and put down her pencils.
"Ahhhh," Fibula groaned. "It's not perfect but it's the best I can do..." She flipped the page for Shenavye to see.
Shenavye looked at the page, much smudged and slightly creased. The picture was... well not terribly good, but it wasn't overly bad. "It's... well it looks like me, a little," she said generously.
"Arrrgh! I know it's bad, but I have to start bad!" cried Fibula, scrubbing at her hair.
Shenavye picked up the portrait and patted Fibula's shoulder. "I'll come back tomorrow." She left.
Fibula sighed, took a drink and washed her face. She went into the main cluster of the herd and slept with Ramla Emuet that night. It wasn't until dawn that she realised that Shenavye must have taken the portrait.
-----------------
Shenavye returned to the glen when the sun was past its peak. "Afternoon, Fibula."
Fibula looked up. "Same spot as yesterday."
Shenavye nodded. Pleasantries were overrated and unnecessary. She sat in the sun.
Fibula sketched and Shenavye ached. The process yeilded bout the same result as the day before, but less mucked and more stremlined. Again, Shenavye took the paper.
"Tomorrow," said Shenavye, and it was not a question.
---------------------------
Fibula slowly improved and them moved just as slowly into sketching more than her subjects' head. Eventually, the sketches were half decent.
On the day when Shenavye was shocked silent by the art, she dissapeared for a fewminutes and returned with a sheaf of papers.
"What's this?" asked Fibula.
"All the portraits," said Shenavye, showing the first with the last.
"Oh," said Fibula. "I thought you threw... oh..."
"I wanted to see your improvements," said Shenavye sourly. Put side by side, the improvement was enormous. Like watching a stick figure put on flesh and then clothes.
"Wow..."
"Not good enought, yet, I think for Grisamara." Said Shenavye.
Fibula looked up sharply, a biting retort on her lips for this slight.
"But a very good improvement in any way."
Fibula grinned up at Shenavye. "Tomorrow?"
Shenavye nodded and scooped up the papers. "Just in case." she said and she hovered away.
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Posted: Sat Dec 12, 2009 7:04 am
Three
Dardanus plopped down on the ground and rolled around on the grass. The spot just between his wings itched and there really wasn't a better way to get to it.
Shenavye saw someone rolling and thrashing on the ground and dropped to investigate. "Are you dying?" she asked in her airy voice.
"No..." He said, rolling some more. "It's the only way to scratch this one spot on my back..."
Shenavye cocked her ead. "Why not get someone else to scratch it- or are you contagious?" She backed away a step.
"What's contaigious? Does it mean to be on fire? I can sorta do that."
"Contagious means you can get other ponies sick," said Shenavye. She picked forward. "What kind of fire stuff?"
"Oh..." Dardanus stopped rolling. "I'm not contagious. I just can't reach this one spot...and no one's ever offered to help me scratch it."
"I can scratch for you, if you like..." said Shenavye uncertainly.
"That would be nice, but you don't hafta if you don't wanna. It is kinda personal."
Shenavye shook her head. "No, sure I will. It's a nice thing to do. And I'm nice." She itched his back.
"Thanks!" Dardanus moved his wings so she could reach the spot better. "It's right between my wings."
"Oh!" said Shenavye suddenly. "That's the spot I can never reach too!" she itched a bit harder.
"Ahh..." He sighed with relief, his back hoof patting the ground with rhythmic thumps in time with her scratching.
Shenavye giggled. "You're funny. What's your name?"
Dardanus laughed too, "My name is Dardanus." He scrunched up his nose. "It's a mouth full. Or at least that's what my sister says."
Shenavye tried it out, "Dar-dan-us... It doesn't seem that hard. I'm Shenavye. Shen-a-vee. Your sister might think it'shard to say, though."
"Hey, that's pretty." He looked around before continuing. "And she's got a hard name too. Adelia."
"Adelia. Well maybe I'm just good with names." SHenavye looked at her foreleg. "Uhm, can I stop now? It hurts a bit..."
"Oh! Yeah, sorry. It just felt so good I forgot you were doing it."
Shenavye rubbed her wrist. "That's okay, I feel like that when someone's rubbing my back." She smiled. "So where are you from?"
"Nightmare Valley. How about you?" He watched her carefully, "I am sorry about your wrist though. If I could fix it, I would."
"Me too," said Shenavye brightly. "Most of the kids I talk to are from Dream but when I say Nightmare, they all get scared." She shook her wrist. "It's getting better."
"Why do they get scared?" Dardanus was confused, "It's not a bad place. Just different."
"Yeah but the Dream ponies don't get that different means different." Shenvye sighed. "They think different is bad. So then they get scared of me, like I could hurt them."
"But you can't hurt anyone. You're a good back scratcher." He nodded and grinned.
Shenavye smiled and giggled. "Thanks Dardanus. You're very nice, I think."
"Yay I'm nice! No one tells me that. Adelia says I was the last born and the ugliest. But I think that's just because she's afraid it's really her that's all those things."
"I don't think you're ugly," said Shenavye defensively. "You're... well you're not as petty as me, but you're a boy, and you shouldn't be pretty. Your sister sounds mean..."
"Thanks Shenavye. Adelia's not mean...she's just a little different, that's all. I don't think she's learned how to express herself very well yet."
"They say that about me," said Shenavye. "But I think I'm getting better. You're really nice to think nice of somone who says those things. My brother and I say mean things too, but we still like each other."
"Just because you like someone doesn't mean you have to get along. That would make things very boring. You have a brother? Cool!"
"I used to get along well with somone I liked... but I don't see him anymore." Shenavye shook her head. "Oh, yeah, I do," she said brightly. "I'm a seryph, and we have twins all the time, no matter what. Female Seryphs are very rare thougth. That's why there aren't a lot..."
"That means you're rare! You should have a body guard. That way nothing can happen to you!"
Shenavye giggled. "Well, no-one's ever thought to give me a body guard, but I can fly really fast. I've never met another girl seryph, though."
"Not even any adult ones?"
"Oh," Shenavye laughed. "Yeah, I just meant little girls like me. I've met my mum, and she's prettier even than me! I don't see her much..."
"No other little girls to play with. That's not fun." He was shaking his head. "You can play with me if you want, even though I'm not a girl."
Shenavye nodded. "I'd like to play with you. Want to race?"
"Sure! Where to?"
"Uhm, hm, fly to that tree over there and back?" asked Shenavye.
"Ok!" He jumped up in the air and waited for her to say go.
"Ready, steady- GO!" cried Shenavye and she set off, her translucent wings whirring.
Dardanus was not match for the lighter girl. "Hey! Good job! You won!"
Shenavye blushed and collased on the ground, panting. "You're fast too! I had to go fast fast to beat you..." She laughed.
Dardanus grinned proudly. "Thanks. I tired really hard too."
Shenavye smiled. "Are you the fastest at your herd?"
"I don't know. I don't get a chance to race that often. What about you? Are you fast in your herd?"
"I am pretty fast, but I think there are faster. I know the breezie in my herd is faster than me," said Shenavye.
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Posted: Thu Dec 24, 2009 5:10 pm
Four
Harmony tumbled out, falling nose over hooves, and hooves over head until she came to a stop, blinking confused. The last she remembered, she had settled in to nap on top of that nice hill....
Shenavye blinked, her eyes unfocused. She'd been dozing in the weak Nightmare Valley sun when something had fallen afainst the tree she'd been sunbathing in.
"Owie" came the soft musical voice from behind the tree. Harmony pushed herself unsteadily to all fours, and looked around, wincing as she smacked her horn into the tree. "Double owie."
Shenavye scowled downwards. "You're disturbing me, and I was here first," she said sourly.
"Oh!" She said, startled, looking up. "I'm sorry. Can you come down here? I can't see you."
Shenavye sighed and sailed down to the floor. "Never say I'm not the most gracious girl you ever met. I was comfortable up there."
"Thank you," he said with a small nod. "Oh! You're pretty!"
Shenavye paused. "Hmm. Thankyou. You're pretty too, but not as pretty as me because I'm sparkely and sprkles are prettier than no sparkles, but for having no sparkles, you're pretty."
"That's not very nice. You hafta be nicer," he said, nodding knowingly.
A twitch in Shenavye's eye preceded a change in mood. "And bashing into someone's tree while they think is nice?" she snapped. "I came down here to talk to you because you asked, that's nice enough! You don't even know me."
"Yes, but when you tell some one they're pretty you don't tell them that they're prettier, specially not when it's true!"
"Where I come from, it's impolite to lie," she said in a low voice. "Even if it's saying you're prettier than me, even to make you feel good. Lies are bad no matter what they say."
"I didn't say ta lie. I just said not ta add the part about you bein prettier. Jes say that they're pretty then stop there, then they get ta say that you're pretty too, otherwise they can't say nothin, and thats rude."
"It's not the same as telling the truth," sid Shenavye. "Even when you don't lie, not telling the truth is a lie too and it's still wrong. No-body's probably told you a lie, that's why you say that."
"I heard sometimes ya hafta lie to be polite, an being polites more important, anyhow, you dun go round saying everything all at once. You didn't tell me that tha skys all blue, cept when theres clouds or it's dark, so didcha lie bout that?"
"You didn't comment on the sky, and our sky in nightmare valley isn't blue. It's always grey. So there," snapped Shenavye
"I didn't comment none on pretty neither. You don't hafta say what anyone can see, silly. Course you're prettier then me, so you don't hafta say it. It aint lyin... it's.... it's bein polite!"
Shenavye scoffed. "Yeah you did comment on me being pretty!" She rolled hey eyes. "You must be a goldfish."
"It dosn't matter, yous till don't hafta say that you're prettier then some one else. Specially not when they can see that. It's not like I'm blind, then you'd hafta tell me!"
Shenavye smirked. "So everything I say is wrong, but when you say it, it doesn't matter? That's a lie. That's a big fat lie, you're a big fat liar and you're bad and, what's more, you're not pretty at all. I lied when I said that, but I didn't lie about lying like you, which makes you twice as bad," she said with airs.
"I never said that! I'm not a liar! I was tryin ta be nice an help you! But you're a big stinky head!"
Shenavye smiled widely. "You say that, but you're a liar, so everything you say is a lie, so I don't have to listen to any of the lies you say." Her smile held the self-satisfaction of one who had defeated an opponent.
"Well.... your.... wings look like mud! So there!" He huffed and turned, climbing back up the hill he had fallen down.
Shenavye's self-serving smile morphed into a grin and she flew off to the nearest river, returning within a few minutes, with a load of river bed loam. "I don't think you know what mud is!" she called from above Harmony. She giggled. "Here's a reminder!" She dropped it and flew back to the river to wash off the mud from her hooves.
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Posted: Sat Jan 09, 2010 3:44 am
Five
Gamell admired the way the room went salmon-pink when he held his glass of blood orange drink to his eyes. The glass cracked and clinked. With his father away at the mansion, Gamel was running the show. Which was an intensely boring job, because the show basically ran itself. He was simply sitting in Seto's chair and drinking his non-caffeinated beverages.
Gamell swung around in his chair. It wasn't like he could just leave. What if something happened. He was sure Seto didn't just sit here doing nothing when the day was slow.
The door opened with a long groan. Gamell made a mental note to tell Seto to get it fixed. It was unseemly for the CEO to have a sub-standard office.
"Hey."
Gamell swivelled around on his massive chair. He hadn't thought anyone had come in. He couldn't see her at first- it seemed she was the same coral colour as the drink he was looking through. He put the glass down on a coaster.
"Shenavye," he said in way of greeting. "What can I do for you?"
"You can tell me where Onii-Sama is," said Shenavye irritably, looking around as though Seto would be found hiding under a coffee table.
"He's out," answered Gamell. "At the mansion."
"Oh," said Shenavye and her face fell. "When did he leave?"
"Early this morning," said Gamell. "He's coming back later- but about dinnertime later, and you know his sense of time. Did you want him for anything in particular?"
"No," said Shenavye quickly. Then, "yeah."
"Yeah or no?"
Shenavye looked at him balefully. "He and I sometimes spent some time together."
"Right."
"He made an hour for me when I needed it," she explained.
Gamell nodded. "I see."
Shenavye frowned. "It's not like I whine to him."
"I know," said Gamell. "I was in your position once. Actually a bit worse."
"What's worse than being a teen indefinately?" retorted Shenavye. "I've been a teen longer than you were."
"Yeah. But I was a baby for a lot longer you've been a teen."
"Oh."
Gamell nodded. "So I understand. Did you want to talk to me?"
"No," said Shenavye with some suspicion. "Why are you so interested? Why would you offer?"
"Truthfully?"
"No, lie to me."
Gamell chuckled. "The thing is..." He slumped forward comically. "I am dead bored."
"You're a riot," said Shenaye drily.
"I know," Gamell downed the dregs of his warming drink like a shot of whisky. "Since I grew up, I got very eligible." He winked at her.
Shenavye smiled and then fought it off her face. "You're no help."
"You'll be very pretty once you grow up."
"I'm pretty now."
"True, but if I said that, as an unrelated male, that would make me a pervert."
"What?" asked Shenavye. "A pervert? No, that's woudn't make you a- really?"
Gamell nodded gravely. "I would be... ***** disciple. Crazy, huh? You're only three months younger than I am."
Sheavye nodded. "Um. I'm going to go, then. I'll see Onii-Sama tomorrow."
"Okay then, Shenny," said Gamell. "You going to last until then? Without your big brotherly chat?"
"I just had one," said Shenavye and she turned and left, her wings shimmering in the light.
"Well there's a speed-bump to my day," said Gamell to himself. "Now. More too-sweet orange crap! Yay!"
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Posted: Sat Jan 09, 2010 3:45 am
Six
Gamell stretched out on his back staring up at the stars. Ugh. He was bored again. Nothing really entertained him anymore. "I wish..." He sighed. "I wish I had the guts to finish that sentence." He hated living in this dull, meandering, peaceful village. But wishing was dangerous business.
He put his arms behind his head and closed his eyes. "Maybe tomorrow will bring catastophe and disaster." He slowly drifted off to sleep.
Someone brushed his long blonde bangs from his forehead. It was a soft touch and he didn't wake up. "Mmm," he murmured.
"You wanted something more exciting?" someone whispered in his ear.
Gamell frowned.
"Do you wish it was more exciting?"
"Mmm... yeah."
"'Yeah'? You wish..."
"I wish something exciting would happen."
The hand was gone, replaced with cold laughter.
Gamell's shocking blue eyes snapped open in horror. "Oh ****. What have I done?"
Then a chill rose up from the grass and the wind picked up and howled and a shadow enveloped him. He struggled and rolled over- onto hard stone.
"Where am I?" he damanded, gaining his feet and looking around, into total blackness.
"I think you know," said a breathy voice.
"Yeah well, I want to get out!" he was panting with fear, trying to quash his rising terror. This is an oubliette. And oubliette. A place for people to forget about. "Let me out!"
"Well..." A c***k opened in the wall and spilled out light, blinding Gamell. It opened more. A doorway.
"What? What do you expect me to do?" asked Gamell.
"Why, run the labyrinth, of course. In reverse. It should be easy for you."
"No! But I don't want to!"
"Well... there's something else."
The door closed, shutting Gamell in. He flung himself against the solid wall. "No! Let me out!"
"Would you have someone else run the labyrinth?"
"Yes! Yes, God yes, just let me out!"
"Then will you agree to be the game master?"
"Yes!"
"Done." An evil giggle followed the words and Gamell felt cold.
------------------------------------------
Gamell sat up. He was no longer in the oubliette, which was a plus. He was also not in his little match of grassy night, which was bad. He was in the middle of a circular room made of stone. On his eft was the magnificent horned throne of his grandfather. He looked around.
There were no goblins, and no-one else to ask what was happening. Even that stupid old vulture was gone from the mounted crown.
In the pit of his stomach, he knew what was happening.
"****."
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Posted: Sat Jan 09, 2010 3:47 am
Seven
Shenavye admired how her slouch-cap looked when she arranged her hair in different ways, pouting into the mirror.
Her door opened and closed.
Shenavye looked around. No-one there.
Something giggled behind her and shook her bed sheets. She turned to see what it was, but it was gone.
Something rattle her windows, but when Shenavye spun around to look, the door slammed again and the sheets rustles and the light flickered and went out.
"Who's there?" she shouted.
The sounds stopped, and then a terrible laughter began.
"What did you say?" she asked.
"Forfeit, forfeit, you are forfeit," many voices chanted in unison.
"What?' asked Shenavye, feeling very frightened now.
"Wah!" something shouted and a dark cloth was thrown across Shenevye's head, knocking her hat to the floor.
Shenevye ripped the fabric off and dropped it to one side. That was when she noticed that she was no longer in her bedroom. She was standing on a hill, looking over at what she thought was a maze, but one bigger than she had ever seen in her life. A tree grew beside her and it was hung with mirrors of all different shapes and sizes. The place was beautiful, in a desolate, ruinous kind of way.
"Where am I?" she asked. She noticed that the laughing voice which had taunted her was gone. Was she alone here in this grim place? "Hello?" she called. She was about to take flight for an aerial view of her surroundings, when a noise came from the tree. It was an odd vibrating noise, like a knocked television. One of the mirrors on one size had grown fuzzy and was no longer reflecting Shenevye or anything else she could see; it was showing a picture of somewhere else entirely.
"Damn this thing, I can't get the right signal- oh, there!" said Gamell, his distorted image in the mirror clearing up and he leaned back so the mirror showed more of him than a section of his purple coat. "Shenevye? Is that you?"
"Of course it's me," snapped Shenevye, speaking to the mirror. "Where am I? Why am I here?"
"Ahhh," began Gamell. Suddenly his picture was shown on many more of the mirrors, more than half. "We have been kidnapped," he explained finally. "The bottom line is that you can win both of our freedoms back if you get to the centre of the Labyrinth you see there- can you see?"
"Yes I can see!"
"Just making sure. "If you reach the centre of the Labyrinth within thirteen hours, you win both our freedoms."
"That should be simple; I can fly there," said Shenevye.
Gamell jerked back and the mirrors went dark; they showed black instead of reflecting anything. Then three mirrors snapped back on. "No, that's against the rules," whispered Gamell. "You have to traverse the Labyrinth, not fly over it." He glanced around nervously. "I'm not coming up with this; I am a prisoner as well."
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Posted: Sat Jan 09, 2010 3:49 am
Eight
"What happens if I don't make it?" asked Shenevye with growing dread.
"I don't know," said Gamell. "Nothing good." He paused for a moment. "You can say no, Shenevye. You can choose not to try." A mirror began to grow, like a rapidly ripening fruit, drawing it branch down with a slow creaking noise. It stopped growing when it was about a metre and a half square and began to show Shenevye a view of her bedroom. "You can step through here," said Gamell rigidly, "and you will be home and safe. But, if you don't win, I will..." he trailed off and took a breath. "I will not be able to come with you."
Shenevye looked at Gamell, studying him. He would never ask her to forsake her freedom for his, even though he was scared. But he wasn't going to tell her to save herself and run, either. "Don't worry," she said to him, "I will do it. I won't leave you here."
Gamell's tired face broke into a relieved, but strained, smile. The mirror showing Shenevye's bedroom suddenly shattered into a thousand pieces and the pieces shot right at her.
Shenevye shrieked and threw up her arms to cover her face, but the mirror glass became glitter as it fell and touched her skin.
"Are you all right?" asked Gamell worriedly.
"Yes, just surprised," said Shenevye. "What happens now?"
"From now you have thirteen hours to solve the labyrinth," said Gamell reluctantly. "You can do just about anything except fly." He sighed and opened his mouth to say something else, but stopped himself.
"It's going to be fine," said Shenevye. Then she turned and walked down the hill towards the great open gates. Closer to, she noticed that the gates were in a state of decay. The stones were crumbling and weathered and pitted. There was a pool near the gates, but it was thick and silty. This place had once seen better care, but no longer.
She walked between the mildewed gates and into the labyrinth proper. It appeared that she had two choices of directions. She could turn left or right, as there was only solid wall after the gate entrance. She turned and took a hesitant step and then an entire section of the stone paved path gave way and she plummeted down. Old spider webs broke under her in the darkness until her descent was stopped by an old canvas tarpaulin stretched under the hole. As soon as she hit the canvas, it split and dumped her the last metre to the cold, dusty ground. Above her, she saw the pathway swing closed and shut out the last of the sunlight.
"Shen!" came Gamell's voice from one of the walls.
Shenevye's eyes adjusted to the darkness and noticed that the place was illuminated in an odd way. the light didn't appear to originate from anywhere, unless it was the dust in the air itself. She disentangled herself from the torn canvas and made her way over to the wall, rubbing her sore bottom.
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Posted: Sat Jan 09, 2010 3:55 am
Nine
Under a thick layer of gritty dust and dirt, hung an ornate mirror. It was probably more suited to a lady's boudoir than a basement-like tunnel.
"I can't see you," said Gamell. "Can you clear off the mirror?"
Shenevye rubbed the mirror with her hand. "Better?"
"That's great, I can see you now,' said Gamell. "Oh," he looked concerned. "Are you hurt?"
"Not really," said Shenevye, wincing. "I'll be okay."
"Sorry," said Gamell sincerely. "They wanted to make sure you couldn't fly over the walls."
"Who's 'they'?" asked Shenevye.
"I don't know," said Gamell. "We can find that out later, you're eating into your allotted time."
"What do I do now?" asked Shenevye with frustration in her voice. "Can I even win if I'm stuck down in this... sewer? Is this even fair?"
"Yes, you can win," said Gamell and he sounded genuinely surprised. "I'm the game master and I don't cheat." He suddenly looked miserable. "I don't cheat, so I can't even help you out," he said reluctantly.
Shenevye smiled broadly to try and cheer him up, hoping her smile would be contagious and pass to him. "That's fine, Gamell. Just don't make it harder!" she said, laughing.
Gamell's face didn't change. "I hope I don't have to," he muttered. "I wanted to make sure you were all right. I won't keep you." With that, the mirror reflected the dark tunnel and Shenevye's shadowed face.
Alone in the dark tunnel, Shenevye continued on in the only direction she could as behind her was a dead end. The tunnel was made of cut stone and paved, so at least it was not a cave, but it smelled dry like the air itself was dessicated completely. She had expected a labyrinth to be full of twists and turns. She supposed there could have been turning she could have taken, but she could not see any further than she could touch and was lucky to see that much. The light was faded, like when you open your eyes after sleep before you're truly awake.
She wondered how much time had passed. A little time or a lot, it seemed the same to her, in the dark. Even what she could see of the tunnel was no help, as everything was well paved and identical. Shenavye noticed a column in front of her just before she tripped over it. The column was carved with a craggy, gargoyle-like creature. As she tried to make it out through the darkness, light began to shine from a coin in the gargoyle's claw. Shenavye covered her eyes against the sudden glare. When her eyes adjusted, she could see that she had come to a stop in a large chamber. She had emerged from the tunnel on one side of the chamber and there two huge stone doors opposite her.
Shenevye examined the doors closely. They would not give when she pushed them and they had no door handles or door knockers. It seemed that there was no way for her to progress.
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Posted: Sat Jan 09, 2010 3:55 am
Ten
"How do I get out of here?" she asked. The gargoyle grinned, capered and passed the shining coin between both of its claws.
As Shenevye looked, the gargoyle cackled. "Flip the coin, flip the coin and pass ahead!"
"How will that help?" asked Shenevye, actually relieved to be speaking to someone. "Will the doors open?"
"Heads the left, tails the right," replied the gargoyle. "Flip the coin and pass ahead!"
Shenevye thought for a moment. There was no other way to go further, but this thing seemed like a trick. "Where will I go?" she asked
"On!" the gargoyle said in a nasty tone unlike its earlier cheerfulness.
Shenevye was sure it was a trick now, but she took the coin and flipped it into the air. She let it fall to the ground and checked the result. Staring to the side of the coin was a pressed profile image of a man who looked a lot like Gamell, but not quite. "Heads," she said. She looked up at the gargoyle, but it was once again made of unmoving stone. Shenevye went back to the left hand door and, under the shine from the coin, it creaked open.
Shenevye hesitated before entering. The two options didn't feel right. Was there another way? She looked around the chamber, shining the coin around for light. Something caught her eye and she stepped backwards. One section of the wall was pitted and carved, but she could only tell when the light shone on it. She pushed the door. It didn't open, but she felt a small round indentation in the stone. It was the same size as the coin. She pressed the coin to the indentation and the door slid open, grinding on all sides.
Shenevye hurried through the opening in case it was timed, but she fumbled with the coin, trying to pry it out of the door so she could use it for light. For a moment, she didn't think it would come, but then it fell into her palm. She continued down the tunnel beyond the hidden door and heard the door grind shut behind her.
As she followed the long, straight tunnel, the first hint of change from the tunnels she had left behind was the smell. This tunnel smelled less like dead air. It was fresher, and even a little damp. She also noticed as she swung the coin around for light, that the tunnels were unpaved. They were made of darker, harder stone and seemed to have been carved and left unfinished.
Shenevye was surprised when she started seeing tunnels branching off her tunnel. She had been used to there just being one way. As it was, no matter how tempted she might have been to take a new path, she was afraid if she did she would backtrack herself and become lost. She continued down the tunnel. The only marker denoting the passage of time was the appearance of new tunnels opening along either side of her.
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Posted: Sat Jan 09, 2010 3:56 am
Eleven
She could have been walking for ten minutes or an hour... or even longer. Slowly, it came to her that perhaps she was running out of time. Should she start walking faster? Should she sprint? What would happen if she ran out of time down here? Would she ever find the way out of here?
Shenevye was beginning to panic, twisting her neck to see around her, and even turning in circles. It was while she was checking, or double checking, herself that she saw something reflect the light from her shining coin, her shimmer coin as she began to think if it. She retraced her steps and looked into the mouth of a tunnel branching off.
This tunnel was narrower than the others. It also appeared to have been made with more care, as the walls were smooth and parallel. Around the entrance to the new tunnel were arranged some shining material. In the monochrome light, Shenevye could not tell if it was bits of mirror embedded in the stone, or perhaps silver, or something she had no name for.
She decided that this new tunnel had some promise and might lead somewhere.
******************
Gamell hadn't been able to bring himself to sit on his grandfather's throne. Instead, he sat on the windowsill of the great window facing the labyrinth. He was doing just about as much now as he had been doing in Nigtmare Valley, but now he was scared stiff. He was afraid for himself and afraid for Shenevye, but he was mere afraid if what would happen if he was not totally impartial. He so far had done nothing to help or hinder Shenevye's progress, and he felt like the labyrinth was losing patience with him. He needed to do something. He just didn't know what.
The area around the horned throne exploded with purple light. As Gamell slid to his feet, he heard an absolutely irate voice cry out,
"GAMELL TREY. WHAT HAVE YOU DONE?"
With a guilty groan, he recognised his sister emerging from the fading lights with a goblin and Zared.
"Eerinna," he said reluctantly. "Are you trapped here, too?"
"Of course not," said Eerinna, striding forward, still using her princess voice. "I am a child of this place; I can't be trapped here. Do you think you're trapped here?" she looked at him narrowly.
"Aren't I?" asked Gamell miserably.
"I don't know who is trapped here," said Zared, "but our goblin just ran off."
"We don't need him," said Eerinna, smiling at Zared in a much more kind way than she had looked at her brother. "All we Need," she continued severely, turning to stare imperiously at Gamell, "is for you to finish the game."
"Hw can I finish a game I'm not even playing?" snapped Gamell, angry at his own uselessness and at his sister, who seemed to take all this magic stuff in her stride.
Eerinna tilted her head, peering at Gamell. "You're not playing? So... Shenevye is playing?"
"How do you know Shenevye is here?" asked Gamell, perplexed.
"That goblin told us. So she's running the labyrinth? For you?" she glared at him, as though he should be ashamed f himself for endangering a young girl.
"I didn't choose her! I didn't even ask to come here," he protested. "How can I finish a game I'm not playing," he snapped.
"You are playing," growled Eerinna. "If you're not running, then you're the master and you have to play the master."
"You seem to know an awful lot about this," said Zared, uncomfortable with being quiet for so long.
"Yes, you do!" said Gamell. "You know so much more about this than I do, you have goblin magic, you can come and go as you will. Why can't you be the game master?"
"The labyrinth chose you," Eerinna said, with a tinge of jealousy. "there is something only you can do, or give. But if you don't do it, it won't let either of you leave."
****************
Shenevye continued down the tunnel of mirror shards until she came to a section which was made totally of mirror, even the floor. She took two hesitant steps onto the mirror floor and felt it shift. She spun around anxiously to see the mirror floor behind her bend upwards and meet the floor in front of her, sealing without seam. The mirrored walls also bent towards her, meeting above her head.
Shenevye could hear nothing but her own panicked breaths as she recognised what had happened; she was now trapped inside a giant mirror ball.
She smacked the mirror, trying to crack it with her fists, then her feet. She scratched at it with the coin. "Help, help!" she cried.
She didn't know what she had expected by calling out for help, but nothing happened. She thought about that for a moment. So far, Gamell had spoken to her through mirrors. If she needed help, he surely would talk to her, even if he couldn't help, he would try and calm her down, wouldn't he? He wouldn't leave her in a ball all alone if he knew about it.
Did he know? If this stuff, she thought, smoothing the ball wall with her hand. If this stuff wasn't actually a mirror, then Gamell couldn't hear her, and if it wasn't a mirror, then it was something else. What was it?
Shenevye watched a bead of water slide down the ball wall. It had nt been there before. She touched it. It was cold.
"It's not mirror," she said slowly, "it's... Ice."
The texture f the ball immediately changed. It became clear, only as reflective as ice was. It showed flaws in the ice, cracks and breaks within it and on its surface. It began to bead with water as it melted.
It will take too long to thaw enough for me to escape and get to the castle, Shenevye thought. She used her talent to create some crystal cards and threw them at the walls, even I hovering in the air to use one to scratch at the top of the ball. Finally, she found a flaw in the ice and chipped away at it. As soon as she cracked the ice enough for the stale air of the tunnel to intrude,the entire ice ball shattered as though blown out by an explosion.
Shenevye rubbed herself to warm up from the cold and, avoiding the rapidly melting ice blocks, continued along the mirror path.
***********
"That was a really fantastic idea, Zared," said Eerinna, rubbing his shoulder bracingly as they watched Shenevye's progress together with Gamell through a large crystal she had conjured.
"Thanks," Zared said to Eerinna. "I wish it had worked."
"It did," said Eerinna, a little regretfully. "She flew. She has to be penalized for that. She isn't allowed to fly."
"That was only to stop her cheating by flying over the walls!" protested Gamell. The hard look on Eerinna's face told him that whether he wanted to or not, he would have to do something. "She couldn't have known that if she waited, the ball would take her through the underground underground and me,t at the door to the castle," he muttered. The hard look on Eerinna's face grew harder. He looked down. "Fine."
He waved them away from the large mirror on the wall and rubbed the surface. "Shenevye."
*********
In Shenevye's tunnel, a section of mirror shards coalesced into one large pane. Shenevye flinched backward, fearing to be trapped in another ball. Then she heard Gamell call out to her and saw his face.
"Yes, I'm here."
"You broke the flying rule, Shen," he said gravely. "You have a time penalty."
Shenevye scowled. "I would have suffocated in that ball," she snapped.
"you wouldn't have," said Gamell dully.
"I can't even tell how much time I have left down here," she continued angrily.
"then it shouldn't matter that you lose three hours," said Gamell, with a slight return to his flippant tones.
Shenevye only glared at him.
**********
That felt like hours ago. Shenevye had walked on until the mirrored walls ended and the tunnel widened into a great unending cavern filled with stalactites and stalagmites. As she continued, the stalagmites became carved with the images of sections of maze, or people in various poses, or hideous creatures Shenevye guessed were goblins.
The cavern walls receded so far that Shenevye couldn't even see them. She hoped she was going the right way.
The stalagmites became fewer and the stalactites became more numerous until Shenevye came upon a gigantic stalagmite, standing alone. It was as wide around as the largest tree she had ever seen and was met by a stalactite descending from the roof of the cavern. This stalagmite-stalactite column was carved with a series of mind-bending staircases, all seeming to go in different directions.
Shenevye stared at it for a long moment. She could continue throug the cavern, lit by the silver coin she held, or she could try and go up. The cavern roof was so high that she could not see if the stairs went anywhere.
'If I get stuck up there, I can always fly down... All it will cost me is a few hours,' she thought. Without giving heed to the accompanying thought that if she had less than three hours remaining, who could tell, anyway, she would lose, she approached the column and began climbing the hectic stairs.
The stairs delved into the column at times, forcing Shenevye to cross the very core of the column, making her break out into cold sweat. She hated very small spaces. She could deal with being underground, being in the dark, being in a space as small as an elevator, but thinking that she was inside the column of stone, a column possibly bearing astronomical amounts of weight made her sick.
She suddenly remembered when she had been stuck in a thorn bush. She had been beside herself with fear. Then, a friend pulled her out. He pulled her out by asking her to play with him, to draw some pictures, to be his friend.
'I'm doing this for an friend, now. I won't let him down.'
As she climbed, seemingly forever, she wondered if Gamell was her friend. He was the son of kaiba, the closest thing to a father she had, but he was not like her brother. He was very handsome, she had to admit. And he was nice and funny, but what she felt was obviously a stupid crush.
They had not sent a lot of time together, but she decided that, after this, she would either spend a lot more time with Gamell, or never, ever, speak t him again.
***********
"She's made it up out of the lower reaches of the underground underground," said Gamell unnecessarily; Eerinna and Zared could see through the same crystal ball he was watching through.
He glowered at Eerinna suddenly. "I know, you don't have to tell me I have to put up an obstacle for her, you don't have to tell me."
"I wasn't going to," Eerinna said seriously. "The labyrinth chose you to play and you know how."
Gamell said nothing. He seemed to be staring at thin air. "I think I have an idea, I just... Have to think about it for a minute."
Eerinna stepped away from him and went to red, who was staring out the great window.
"Was this place always like this?" Zared asked her.
"it used to have many creatures living in it," explained Eerinna. "the labyrinth draws its... Vitality from the creatures who live here, but I don't think even my grandfather has been here in a very long time.the labyrinth is just part of his kingdom. It is the part he is most famous for, but it is not the most glorious."
She rubbed the stone windowsill lovingly. "It is the very best place that I can think of. Even now in this state of decay..." she paused and her eyes greedily took in the sight of the sprawling labyrinth. "This place is where I work, I am everything here, everything I think of can be." she turned to Zared and showed him a very goblin king-like smirk of pure eagerness and delight. Then the look faded.
"But it chose him."
Zared had no idea of what to say. It looked like a dump. It seriously looked like a dump, a ruin, someplace which should be condemned. He had no idea how to make her feel better about apparently being passed over by a strangely sentient piece of real estate.
He didn't think she was bitter about it, or she would be being harder on Gamell. Zared had been shocked that Eerinna could speak the way he had heard her speak to her brother as they stepped out of the vortex of her power. It was not the voice of scolding, or teaching, or even yelling; it had been the voice of authority, of a ruler.
"I think I have it," said Gamell, looking over at them. "Can you help me, please?" he didn't sound like he was begging to Zared, but like he was asking a better student than him to help him understand a problem. Eerinna accordingly returned to the crystal. Zared could hear her and Gamell conferring, but he watched the labyrinth instead, trying to see what it was that Eerinna loved so much about it.
***********
Shenevye completed her ascent up the column of staircases and stood in an archway in the ceiling. She had not walked up a single staircase, but had had to crawl and climb across many of them and she was feeling weak. It did not help that the base of the stairs was now invisible in the darkness mof the underground underground.
She finished collecting her breath and moved on through the arch.
The air in the tunnel she followed was fresher than the other tunnels had been. It was lighter, too, lit more strongly by the dust motes of light, or whatever it was that lit the deep places under the labyrinth. The tunnel was paved in stone, rather than cut from the rock, and it seemed like it was used more often; Shenevye kicked up loose stones and once found an old basket someone had left behind.
Shards of crystal, maybe quartz, began to appear between the stones. As she walked, she saw more shards, until suddenly she faced a section of tunnel with so many shards of crystal clustered around its walls, floor, and roof that she did not think she could pass it without hurting herself.
If she tried to fly or even jump through the crystal, she would tear her wings. If she walked through, she would cut her legs. She hesitated. She could go back, back down the staircase... But that would be scary and waste a lot of time. Surely there must be a way through...
She gripped the silver light coin. "How do I get through this?" she asked.
As if in response, the coin lit up brightly, brighter than ever before, except when she had laid it in its recess in the door-wall in the gargoyle's cavern. She shone the light from the coin around and, with a shock, saw that some of the shards did not cast a shadow.
When she reached out and touched the first of these shards, it was not even really there.
The phantom shards continued in a winding path through the stabbing crystal passage until Shenevye made her way unscathed to the other side. She grinned and let out a huge breath. She had to admit that she had handled that pretty well.
*******
Shenevye continued along the path which branched off at odd points. She decided to take the path which seemed to be the brightest lit by the ethereal light. Eventually, she found herself at a three point intersection; the tunnel she was in ended in two paths leading to the left and right.
Shenevye had felt quite cheerful as she went, even having to remind herself not to hover with happiness and contentment as she went. The happiness leaked out of her as she stood in front of the two paths. This choice seemed like a win or lose kind of game.
It only made her feel more trepidation when she saw that both of the paths she could choose went immediately downhill; Shenevye would have to slide down them. She did not want to go back down to the deep reaches.
In front of her, adorning the dead end in front of the tunnel she had come from, was an elaborate carving of an odd castle.the castle was thick with a conical roof, more like a very wide tower with a single turret tower attached to the main turret by a covered bridge. Near the top of the main tower which made up the castle was a window which seemed to Shenevye to be cut needlessly deeply. It reminded Shenevye of a coin slot.
Shenevye excitedly slid the light coin into the slot. It went in and rattled through the wall. The door in the front of the castle opened outwards and the coin fell out into Shenevye's quickly raised hand, but nothing else hapoened, no secret door appeared, no light showed her the correct path to take.
She tried the coin in the slot again and again it fell out the front door. Finally, Shenevye pulled the door of the castle open herself. There was a chute in the wall where the coin continued to fall out. Shenevye touched it and felt a lurch; she was sucked up inside the chute, suddenly very small, and was thrown to the hard stone floor in the entry of a very real castle. The castle beyond the goblin city.
"Gamell?" she called
Gamell closed his eyes, nearly crying with relief. "She made it," he said quietly to himself. Zared nudged him and he stood up with startling speed. "Yes!" he shouted to Shenevye, though he was not sure if she could hear him or if he had simply heard her calling him through the crystal. He hurried to the door which lead out of the throne room and threw it open. "Up here, Shenevye! Up here,"
Shenevye heard Gamell and ran towards his voice. She dashed into room after room, up flights of stairs and got hopelessly lost. "Gamell, help!"
The coin forced its way out of Shenevye's grip and fell to the floor. It began rolling on its edge very quickly back the way it had come. Shenevye followed it closely. It bounced up a set of stairs and lead her through an open door where she found Gamell waiting for her, and, for some reason, Zared and Eerinna. She supposed she now knew where the ice ball had come from, considering Zared had ice powers, and the crystal shard maze, considering Eerinna had crystal magic.
"Shen," said Gamell with great relief. He went to hug her, but she pushed him away.
"What was this?" she asked him tersely.
"The Labyrinth..." Gamell said slowly, awkwardly. "It summoned me to play its game and summoned you as well. I don't know why it chose you and me instead of... Well, Eerinna and Zared, but it..." he leaned forward. "I'm not crazy, but I think it was lonely."
"a building, a kingdom, was lonely," said Shenevye flatly. Gamell waited for her to scoff at him and could feel Eerinna and Zared purposely staring away and trying to give them some privacy.
But Shenevye didn't scoff. "I suppose I see what you mean. It didn't seem very well cared for."
Gamell lowered his voice some more. "Are we okay?" he asked.
"Can we go home?"
"I'm pretty sure we can. Eerinna can take up home, since you won. You got here," said Gamell unsurely.
"Then I think we're fine," said Shenevye. "Im keeping this little thing here," she said, holding up the coin.
"Can I make this up to you somehow?" Gamell asked nervously.
"I think I had a fun time, even if I didn't choose it, but I would like some notice next time."
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Posted: Sat Jan 09, 2010 3:58 am
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Posted: Sat Jan 09, 2010 4:01 am
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Posted: Sat Jan 09, 2010 4:02 am
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Posted: Sat Jan 09, 2010 4:03 am
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Reply
