Labyrinth

“Why do they call it a Labyrinth if it just goes on and on, with no turns or corners or anything?” Ianto sighed, leaning against a wall in order to get a bit of rest. Ianto ran a hand through his hair and, at that moment, realized that something was off about the section of wall right across from where he was sitting. Standing up, Ianto moved over to the wall, only to find that the wall had suddenly jumped back… revealing another path. Now Ianto had a choice to make… left or right? “I just had to clean out my pockets of coins…” Ianto muttered, shrugging as he turned right.

It was then that the real labyrinth began.

~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~

Far way from Ianto Jones, in the Castle beyond the Goblin City, Jack Harkness blinked in confusion as he looked around the strange room he’d woken up in. Although quite clearly a stone building, the room was elegantly furnished… and reminded him of some of the more obscure areas of the TARDIS.

“Hello Jack.”

Jack blinked in surprise, for standing in the doorway of the room he’d woken in was the Doctor… but he was wearing clothing that was unlike anything he’d ever seen the Time Lord wear. “Doctor?!?” Jack stammered as he stood on shaky legs. He was about to step forward when he stopped himself. “Your not him… who are you?” He hissed.

The man’s appearance shifted, changing from the Doctor into someone that Jack had never met before, with long blond hair and eyes which were two different colors. “My name is Jareth. You are in my Kingdom, because that young lover of yours wished you away.”

“What?” Jack blinked. “Ianto would never---”

“But he did.” Jareth cut him off with a yawn. “Now he has to find his way here… through the Labyrinth,” the man gestured to a bare wall, which suddenly opened up into a window, revealing the Labyrinth beyond.

“Why did you look like the Doctor?” Jack asked, turning back to face the mysterious man.

“I am the King of Goblins, I can take whatever form I wish,” Jareth turned to inspect his current form in a mirror which had appeared on the wall. “This form is what you would call my ‘true’ form.”

Jack, thinking that Jareth was distracted by his own reflection, had started to inch towards the door to the room. “I wouldn’t do that if I were you,” Jareth remarked and the doorway was instantly filled with goblins, all holding weapons. “My subjects are loyal to me… and your memories contain so many forms I can take…” Jack watched as Jareth’s face shifted, becoming that of the Master. Despite knowing that it wasn’t the Master who was standing in front of him, Jack still felt a wave of shame. “I wonder how Ianto would react to knowing that you betrayed him? Betrayed ‘me’?”

“Leave Ianto out of this,” Jack growled.

“I’m afraid I can’t… you see, Ianto Jones has challenged me. If he solves the Labyrinth then you may return to your world…if not then, according to the rules set down since before time, you must remain here, with me,” Jareth explained, before he swept past Jack and through the goblins, who parted to allow their King passage.

The doorway vanished behind the King of Goblins, turning into a solid rock wall. Jack sat down on the lavish bed and shivered slightly, wrapping his arms around himself as he wondered why and how he kept ending up in such bizarre situations. “Curse of the Companions,” Jack sighed.

~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~

Ianto had been wandering around the Labyrinth for some time, when he found himself confronted with two doors… and their guardians. One who “always lied” and one who “always told the truth”.

“I could never remember the answer to this…” Ianto sighed as he looked between the two doors. “I think its… not that’s not right!” He tried to ignore the fact that the guardians were laughing at him. “Stupid riddle…” Ianto growled before he stepped forward and pointed at one of the guardians. “Yes or no, would he tell me that this door leads to the Castle?”

The guardian seemed to think about the question for several seconds, before he decided on an answer. “Well… yes.”

“Then this door doesn’t lead to the Castle… if he was telling the truth they you would lie and the answer would be no. But if you were telling the truth then he would be lying and the answer would still be no!” Ianto sighed as the look of confusion on the guardians’ faces. “Well it’s not like I’ll live long enough to regret my choice!”

With that, Ianto opened the door in front of him and stepped inside. There was a second of joy at the prospect of having found the right door… and then Ianto screamed as he found himself falling down through what appeared to be a tunnel of wrinkly grey hands, which held him in place… and then asked him which way he wanted to go. Trying not to blush at the fact that several of the hands were quite clearly molesting him, Ianto was forced to make a quick decision and thus found himself falling down into a dark stone room.

“Where am I?” Ianto whispered, and watched in surprise as the darkness was chased away by Rose, holding a thick candle.

“I knew you’d get yourself in trouble as soon as I met you,” Rose sighed, placing the candle on the ground between them. “You’re in the oubliette. It’s a place you put people to forget about them.”

“I bet you know how to get out,” Ianto muttered, looking away from the young woman.

“Yes. A shortcut, one that takes you out of the whole Labyrinth!” Rose smirked, crossing her arms.

“I’m sorry, but I’ve got to keep going,” Ianto sighed. “Look, can I offer you anything in exchange for helping me to get to the Castle?”

Rose examined Ianto. “You’ll owe me,” she replied. “You don’t have anything I want,” with that she stood up and put a key into what appeared to be a solid wall. “Follow me,” she sighed, before opening a hidden door, which lead into an underground present of the Labyrinth.

After following Rose for a short distance, Ianto and Rose came across a small bird like creature, which Rose seemed to be afraid of… and Ianto soon figured out why. The little creature shifted, turning into the Goblin King, whom Rose quickly bowed before.

“What do you think you’re doing, Rose?” Jareth scowled, placing a strange mocking tone into the woman’s name.

“What you said to sir! I’m taking him back to the beginning!” Rose shrieked, terrified.

Jareth seemed satisfied with Rose’s answer, so he shifted his attention back to Ianto. “Now Ianto Jones, how are you enjoying my Labyrinth?”

“Piece of cake!” Ianto struggled not to whimper or obey the sudden urge he had to run away as fast as he could.

“Piece of cake?!?” the Golbin King growled, before gesturing to a clock which had suddenly appeared on the wall… a clock which seemed to be keeping track of the time Ianto had left to defeat the Labyrinth and rescue Jack. As the King gestured to the clock it speed forward… leaving Ianto with precious little time to find Jack and escape.

“That’s not fair!” Ianto growled.

“Not fair?” Jareth laughed, his head tilting to one side. “I wonder what your point of comparison is?”

~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~

Jack was sitting on the window seat in the room, looking out the window at the Labyrinth below. He was trying to catch a glimpse of Ianto, even though he knew it was probably pointless. While he watched the Labyrinth, Jack tried to figure out how he had gotten into this crazy mess.

“That young man of yours is quite interesting.”

Jack couldn’t stop himself from squeaking and falling backward as the Goblin King, who was wearing the Doctor’s face once more, appeared next to Jack on the window seat. “He is so scared of losing you… even though he doesn’t know just who you are!”
“What are you talking about?” Jack spat as he quickly moved away from Jareth.

“Your memories are so interesting…” Jareth practically whispered. “Despite being half-human, I’ve never quite understood them. However I do know that your memories are both your greatest strength and your worst weakness,” Jareth smirked, but there was a sort of sadness in his expression. “I wear the image of ‘the Doctor’, a subject… although I hate to call her that, stands by the side of Ianto Jones as ‘Rose’. I have kept the Labyrinth from your worse memories, but the catalogue of terrors you have witnessed is… well a horror unto itself,” Once again Jareth’s face shifted to that of the Master. “But for some reason your betrayal of this man is the worst memory you possess…”

“Leave me alone,” Jack whispered, turning away from the Goblin King.

“For what it is worth… I am sorry,” Jareth whispered as his face shifted back to his ‘true form’. “If it is any consolation to you, the end result of this trial will, I hope, help you sleep easier.”

Without explaining himself, the Goblin King stalked out of the room, leaving a very confused Ex-Time Agent behind him.

TBC