The tension was so thick you could cut it with a knife, and Stormlight didn’t care how cliché that sounded. The Seiryu-sichiseishi faced the Suzaku-sichiseishi, and it looked as though both sides would leap into an all-out brawl at any given moment, rules or no rules. She was now immensely glad that Jareth had taken both magic and weapons—and certain werewolves—but that didn’t mean they couldn’t beat each other to death! She sighed. Men were so uncivilized. And my mother actually wants me to marry one of these creatures? Puh-LEAZE!

"Okay, listen up!" she snapped, deciding that somebody had better do something before all hell broke loose. "Let’s all just keep our heads here, got it? I don’t think beating each other to bloody pulps will solve our problems, and they certainly won’t get us home…or have you already forgotten what Jareth said?"

Thirteen pairs of eyes were suddenly fixed on her, and she gulped and took a step back, abruptly wishing she’d kept her mouth shut. Neither group looked particularly happy at the moment…

"You."

How was it, Stormlight thought darkly, that Nakago managed to turn the simplest of words into a curse vile enough to give a sailor’s mother heart failure?

"As I understand it," Nakago continued, stalking toward the increasingly nervous Listian, "You are the reason we are all here in the first place."

She gulped and attempted to hide behind Chichiri. "Well…er…you’re not far wrong…" she replied with a nervous smile. "See, I said some things that sorta got Jareth mad at me…"

"And how does that involve us?" Nakago pressed, following Stormlight as she continued to back away from him, tripping slightly over exposed rocks, roots, people’s shoes… The Suzaku Seishi, she noticed apprehensively, were not bothering to intervene.

"Well…see…he seemed to think that I wasn’t being a good Listian and writing stories about him like I’m supposed to do, and since I’m…uh…familiar with the story of all of you and Suzaku and Seiryu and everything that’s going on and all, he decided that maybe I’d get some inspiration if he took us and threw us all into his Labyrinth for awhile. He gets…jealous easily."

"Is he your boyfriend or something?" Miaka inquired innocently.

Stormlight choked. "Hell no!" she sputtered. "Me and Jareth?! Don’t make me laugh! He’s just a…guy I know, is all. Who happens to be in possession of a great amount of magic and who also happens to think he owns me. So, whatever he says goes." Nakago was closing in on her, and she quickly raised her hands to stop him from getting closer. They inadvertently ended up being pressed against his chest. Holy cow, this guy has muscles! she thought. Wait a sec. Focus…focus… He’s the bad guy, remember? He wants to hurt you. Badly.

"So in other words it is entirely your fault that we’re trapped in this cursed land," Nakago growled, taking her hands in his own in a powerful grip. She winced.

"Um…you’re missing the bigger picture here… I’m a victim, too, ya know! And I’m also the one who’ll get you through this Labyrinth in relatively good condition, so long as you don’t kill me first."

"Have you been through it before?" Yui asked suspiciously.

"Well…technically, no, I haven’t. But I know enough about it to at least warn you about the traps and creatures you’re bound to run into," Stormlight replied. "Besides all that, if Blondie here so much as lays a finger on me, Jareth’ll throw him headfirst into an oubliette! He doesn’t like his ‘property’ messed with."

"Perhaps I’m willing to take that chance," Nakago stated seriously.

"Back off, Tinkerbell!" Stormlight snapped, dancing out of his reach. "Look, time isn’t gonna stand still for us, so I say we get started before the three days are over already!"

"I agree," Miaka said, keeping a wary eye on Nakago. "Let’s get started! Stormlight, you’re with us, right?"

"Er…I guess so," Stormlight replied as Miaka dragged her over to her Seishi.

"But that isn’t fair!" Yui protested, running forward and latching onto Stormlight’s other arm. "Why should you have a guide when we don’t? Besides, you still have more people than we do, so she should come with us!" She began pulling Stormlight back toward her Seishi.

"Eh?" Stormlight squeaked, digging in her heels and leaving little grooves in the dirt. Yui was a lot stronger than she looked…

"Hold it!"

Stormlight suddenly found herself stumbling in the opposite direction as Miaka grabbed arm with both hands and yanked. "That Jareth guy brought her here to help us!" the Miko complained. "So she’s not going anywhere with you!" She gave a fierce pull on the Listian’s arm to prove her point.

"HEY!" Stormlight yelped. "I am not a rubber band, ya know!"

She was, of course, ignored.

"She’s coming with me!" Yank!

"No way! She’s staying with me!" Yank!

"HEY! Ren and Stimpy! You keep this up and you’ll both end up with me! I’d like to keep my arms attached to my body, if ya don’t mind!" Stormlight yelled, exasperated.

They both blinked at her as though they’d never seen her before. Then, looking properly sheepish, they let her go. She glowered at them as she rotated her shoulders, trying to get some feeling back into her arms. "Now, are we through playing tug-of-war with my body," she asked sarcastically, "or are you ready to listen to my suggestion?"

"Which is…?" Yui prompted after a moment.

The Listian sighed. "Well, this may be a completely foreign concept for you, but how about we try…cooperating?"

She paused expectantly, and was rewarded with blank looks all around.

"Cooperating?" Miaka asked doubtfully.

"As in…working together?" Yui looked like she’d just swallowed a particularly nasty insect. Or maybe one of those biting fairies that were always flitting around.

Stormlight raised her eyes skyward and sighed. "The concept is not that difficult to understand. I mean, they teach it to three-year-olds on Sesame Street all the time!" she snorted.

"But we’re enemies!" Yui cried. "We all hate each other!"

Stormlight shot her a disgusted glance. "First off, you are the one that hates Miaka, not the other way around, as she’s tried to tell you many times," she bit out. "And secondly, if Miaka and her group do hate you, it’s only because you and your Seishi have done nothing but provoke that hatred in the first place, so the fault is yours." Her voice was like ice, and Yui stared at her, wide-eyed.

"H-how would you know that?" she challenged, albeit a bit shakily.

Stormlight fixed her with a dark, meaningful look. "Trust me," she replied shortly. "I know."

And for some reason, Yui believed her.

"Look," Miaka interrupted, "what purpose would it serve for us to work together? I mean, we’re supposed to get the Shinzaho before they do!"

"What do you want, a manual? We travel together and watch each others’ backs, and once we reach the gates to the Goblin City, we can all go our separate ways to reach the castle. No doubt the goblins will be sent out to stop us, and we’ll be too busy fighting them off to worry about each other anymore," Stormlight explained.

"G-goblins?!" Miaka yelped.

"Yes, goblins! Why else would Jareth be called the Goblin King?" the Listian pointed out dryly. "They aren’t very intelligent, but they’re loyal to Jareth, and there are more of them than of us. Plus, they have weapons."

"Well, this sounds just peachy," Tamahome muttered. "I thought the point of this race was to be against each other."

The girls looked around in surprise; they hadn’t noticed the Seishi closing in on them.

"It is!" Stormlight replied, addressing the whole group. "Which is why this is so perfect! It’s all about revenge! I mean, can you just imagine the look on Jareth’s face when two groups of sworn enemies come strolling into his city together?" She grinned evilly and rubbed her hands together. "Maybe that would teach him to go snatching unsuspecting people from their worlds just to ease his boredom!"

"But won’t that make him mad?" Tasuki asked.

Stormlight shrugged. "So? He always gets mad at me. I’m used to it. He won’t do anything."

"Are you sure about that?"

This question came from Soi, the only female member of the Seiryu Seishi—or any of the Seishi, for that matter (not including the other two beast gods which really had no part in this anyway…). Stormlight had always wondered why Soi was the only female, but she did kind of like her, even if she was on the wrong team. She had integrity…sort of. It wasn’t really her fault she just had lousy taste in men…

"Well, not completely," the Listian replied slowly, "but I really don’t think Jareth’ll care much. I mean, he loves the unexpected; he certainly won’t be expecting everyone to team up! As long as he’s been alive, it takes a lot to keep him interested in something. No doubt he’ll be going nuts wondering if you’ll be able to keep from breaking the rules and murdering each other in your sleep."

There was silence as they pondered the idea. "Well," Hotohori began slowly, "it’s a rather intriguing notion…"

"Yes, but it’s rather unusual, isn’t it?" Mitsukake replied.

"Um…in case you haven’t noticed, this whole situation isn’t what you’d call ‘normal’," Stormlight pointed out. "What have we got to lose? You aren’t allowed to maim each other anyway, and admit it, wouldn’t all of you feel better being able to keep a constant eye on each other and not worrying on whether you’re winning or not?"

"A good point," Soi replied.

"I refuse to have anything to do with those murderers!" Suboshi snarled, glaring hatefully at Miaka. "I would sooner die!"

"Get it through your thick skull…they did not kill your brother! He fell into the river and was swept away!" Stormlight snapped. "I saw it happen, so I ought to know!"

Suboshi switched his glare to her, muttering under his breath. But he didn’t pursue the argument.

"So?" Stormlight pressed, ignoring the questioning (and somewhat suspicious) stares being directed at her. "Can we do this or not? And can you please decide sometime before the twenty-second century arrives?"

Surprisingly, it was Yui who replied, "I vote in favor of traveling together."

"Lady Yui…" Nakago began.

"No. Nakago, what choice do we have? This Labyrinth looks huge, and we need someone who at least knows what we’ll be up against, or we’ll never make it through in time. You don’t have weapons or power anymore. I can tolerate traveling with her if it’ll help us reach our goal in the end."

"But what if we’re led into a trap?"

This question came from the one member of the Seiryu group who, up until then, had not spoken, had not even been noticed, really. Miboshi. Stormlight frowned as she regarded him. This one was tricky, and considering he wasn’t a child monk so much as a not-so-nice demon summoner who simply possessed the body of one—literally—he wasn’t really what she’d call a trustworthy kind of guy. I wonder if Jareth took that into account when he took the Seishis’ powers, she thought nervously. An evil spirit isn’t quite the same as a human, after all…

"…be leading them into the same trap, which really doesn’t benefit anybody," Yui was saying, dragging the Listian’s thoughts back to the present. "For now, I say we set aside our quarrels and just work on getting through this. When we reach the city, like Stormlight said, then we can go our own ways."

"That makes a lot of sense, no da," Chichiri approved.

"Yeah, for someone so smart and practical, Yui sure has her priorities mixed up," Tasuki replied cattily, earning a glare from both Yui and Miaka.

"She’s just confused!" Miaka defended. "And who wouldn’t be, having to hang around them all the time? They’re kinda mixed up themselves, don’t you think?"

Suboshi growled, starting toward Miaka with clenched fists, but Yui’s hand came to rest on his arm, stopping him. "Now isn’t the time," she said coldly. "Don’t do anything stupid to ruin our chances at winning."

"Yes, Lady Yui," he replied sulkily, backing off.

"Nakago?" Yui pleaded. "Please, I really think it’s best this way."

"Very well, Lady Yui," Nakago replied darkly, "but only because it is your wish."

"Thank you, Nakago," Yui said gratefully. "This will all be worth it in the end. You’ll see."

"Wonderful! Now that that’s settled, what say we actually get started?" Stormlight exclaimed. "There’s the entrance. Just keep walking, look out for pitfalls, and try to stay together. Jareth’ll probably try to separate us, just to throw us off track. If that happens, keep heading for the castle. We’ll meet again eventually. Oh, and if you do fall into an oubliette, do not choose down."

"What’s that supposed to mean?" Tamahome asked, looking somewhat disgruntled.

Stormlight grinned slyly. "Well, if you fall in, you’ll find out," she replied mysteriously, earning a black look from him in reply.

"Hey, whose is this?" Nuriko asked, holding up a large green and red patchwork velvet bag.

Stormlight blinked when she saw it. "That’s mine," she replied, and Nuriko tossed it to her…with perhaps a bit too much force, since she ended up sprawled on the ground when she caught it.

Nuriko sweatdropped and grinned sheepishly. "Eh, sorry about that. I don’t know my own strength," he quipped.

Stormlight merely grunted as she staggered to her feet and dusted herself off. So, it did come over with me, she thought, patting the stray dust from the bag. In all the excitement, she hadn’t even seen it laying there. Then she realized that of course it would have to come with her. It held her notebook, after all, and she was supposed to write a story about all this. But was it always this heavy? She frowned and opened the bag, checking its contents. Everything was in there—including her makeup and wallet, which she highly doubted she’d need anyway—but what was this at the bottom? "I don’t remember putting any clothes in this thing," she muttered, pulling out two pairs of shorts and some T-shirts (not to mention some unmentionables). "Cute, Jareth. You just think of everything, don’t you?" she muttered sarcastically, hastily shoving it all back into the bag. Well, at least she wouldn’t have to wear the same clothes three days in a row. "Although shorts aren’t exactly the right clothes to be hiking through a Labyrinth," she complained to herself.

No sooner had she spoken when she felt a strange tingle pass over her body, and looked down at herself as Tasuki, at the same moment, suddenly exclaimed, "What the hell?!" Her jaw dropped when she discovered that she was now decked out to the nines in a shimmering ball gown—which suspiciously resembled the one Sarah had worn in the movie—complete with several million dollars worth of diamond jewelry and a pair of crystal shoes with six-inch spikes that Cinderella could have envied.

"Gyaaaaahhhh!" she exclaimed, immediately losing her balance in the uncomfortable shoes. She began to fall backwards, arms windmilling frantically, and braced herself for an ungraceful landing in the dirt. Instead, she landed against something warm as a pair of arms locked around her waist to steady her, and she looked up into Hotohori’s startled eyes as a blush immediately covered her face. "Er…sorry," she muttered, attempting to stand up; gave it up when she couldn’t keep her balance on the blasted heels, and kicked them off in a fit of angst, trying to ignore the shocked stares of both Seishi and Miko alike.

"What happened to you?" Miaka asked, bewildered. "You look like a princess in that dress!"

"VERY funny, Jareth!" a thoroughly embarrassed Stormlight hollered, whirling to fix the turrets of Jareth’s castle with an evil glare. "I suppose you think you’re pretty cute, dressing me up like a Barbie doll!"

Disembodied laughter was her only answer, and she clenched her fists. "Change me back!" she demanded. "And if you ever try that again, I’m gonna…"

Before she could finish her rant, another tingle of magic passed across her body, and she found herself dressed in a pair of soft, tan-colored pants, brown leather boots, and a forest green poets shirt complete with embroidered vest. She sighed with relief. "Better," she muttered. "Much better. At least I can move in this stuff…even if I do look like Robin Hood." Adjusting the collar of her shirt, she turned around to find twenty-six eyes all fixed intently on her. "What?!" she yelled, glaring at them, and every gaze was abruptly fixed on anything other than her. Muttering to herself, she slung her bag over her shoulder and walked toward the entrance.

She looked at the closed doors doubtfully. They looked very big, and very heavy. In the movie, Hoggle the Dwarf had merely pointed at them, and they’d opened, but no way would Jareth make things that easy for her. Sighing, she put both hands against the doors and pushed with all her might. Of course they didn’t budge.

"Stand back," Suboshi commanded arrogantly. "Let a man handle this."

Stormlight glanced up at him, as much annoyed by the fact that, even though he was nearly ten years younger than she, he was still taller, as by his arrogant tone. "Sure, kid. When you find one, you’ll let me know, right?" she retorted, thus earning the Glare of Death. Yui smirked, and even Nakago looked amused. Miaka openly tittered, but quickly fell silent when Suboshi directed his glare at her, instead. He backed away several paces, then rushed at the doors, slamming into them with his shoulder and succeeding only in bouncing off and landing spread-eagle on the ground, moaning as little stars danced in his eyes.

Stormlight snickered as she bent over him. "Ouch," she said in mock-sympathy. "That’s gonna leave a mark."

"Shut up."

"Okay, now it’s my turn!" Nuriko strutted up, preening a little as he rubbed his hands together, before bracing himself against the doors and pushing with all his might. His arms trembled slightly with the strain, and his eyes were squeezed shut as a bead of sweat trickled down his cheek, but, incredibly, the doors began to slowly creak open. He stood back, panting slightly, and wiped his brow with his sleeve. "See? Nothing to it!" he bragged.

"Sugoi!" Miaka squealed, throwing her arms around him. "Nuriko, you’re the best!"

"I know," he replied humbly as he patted her head. "You just couldn’t get by without me."

"Wait! How come he still has his strength?" Tasuki asked suspiciously. "Didn’t Jareth take away all our abilities?"

"Nooooo, he took away all your magic," Stormlight corrected. "Nuriko’s strength isn’t magical, it’s…er…natural. Sort of." She scratched her head, trying to figure it out.

"Look at it this way, no da. Even though your magical abilities have been taken, Jareth didn’t take your natural speed or fighting abilities, no da," Chichiri supplied. "It isn’t like he sealed Suzaku away or anything, na no da."

"Even though he could have, if he’d wanted to," Stormlight warned. "He has that kind of power. But I guess he didn’t want to leave everyone completely defenseless. That’d ruin his fun, if we got defeated on the first day."

"I get it. I think," Tasuki replied, scratching his head.

"Well, ponder it later! Time’s not slowing down any, and we’ve got a long way to go!" Stormlight exclaimed. She shouldered her bag again and marched into the Labyrinth. "You guys coming, or what?"

"This place is creepy," Nuriko complained, gazing at the high walls on either side of them and the narrow, brush-strewn passage that stretched in both directions as far as the eye could see. His gaze fell on a clump of lichen growing out of the wall right at eye-level with him, which appeared to have eyeballs growing out of it that were staring determinedly back at him, blinking ever so often. He gulped and hastily backed away, nearly mowing Tasuki over in the process. "Creepy," he repeated firmly, making a face. "So, boss, which way do we go?" He looked at Stormlight expectantly.

The Listian blinked at him, then shrugged. "Beats me. Pick a direction," she replied carelessly as everyone face-faulted.

"Is this what you call guiding us?!" Tamahome yelled, glaring at her.

She glared right back. "Hey, I said I’ve never been through here before!" she defended herself. "One way is as good as another, so just start walking!" To prove her point, she marched down the passage to the right, deciding on a whim to follow Sarah’s original route. Even if it was only in a movie, at least it was something to follow, and maybe it’d actually get them somewhere.

They walked in sullen silence in a line; the passage was too narrow and choked with branches and weeds to allow more than two at a time to pass. The sound of feet scraping against rock was the only noise. It was a rather uncomfortable silence, and Stormlight wished to high heaven that somebody would say something! She finally got her wish when Miaka, who was walking with Tamahome somewhere in the middle, broke the silence. "So…uh…Stormlight, you’re a writer?" the Miko called out curiously. "What do you write?"

"Stories, mostly. A few poems, when inspiration strikes me," Stormlight replied. "It’s kind of a hobby, although I want to be a full-time author someday."

"So, I’ve been wondering, is Stormlight your real name?" Yui asked from her place just behind her. She sounded highly doubtful about it, and the Listian smiled.

"No, actually, it isn’t. It’s a name I took when I started writing stories for Jareth, like a pen name, you know? I use it on the Internet. It’s kind of like a second identity," she replied.

"So what is your real name?" Yui asked.

Stormlight smiled slyly. "Well, I don’t think you need to know that," she teased. "Besides…" She cast a mischievous glance over her shoulders at the silent Seishi, who were clearly listening even though they were trying their hardest not to appear to be doing so. "I wouldn’t want to confuse anybody or anything…" she finished innocently, earning a few muttered exclamations from various males and more than one insulted expression.

"Very funny," Tamahome grumbled.

Miaka laughed at him before releasing his arm and skipping ahead to join Stormlight (carefully avoiding Nakago and Suboshi on the way). "So when does this passage end, anyway?" she asked, looking ahead with a frown. "Aren’t there supposed to be turns or something?"

"Coming right up!" Stormlight stopped abruptly, causing Yui to yelp and stop dead in her tracks, as well, which caused Nakago to stop…which in turn led to something rather like a domino affect—or more like a train wreck in the noise department—as everyone promptly ran into each other and fell over amid startled and rather colorful curses. Stormlight looked back to see everyone sprawled out on the ground, and she giggled, sticking a hand behind her head. "Er…sorry about that," she apologized. "I’ll give more warning next time…"

"Yes, that would be appreciated," Yui sniffed, struggling to her feet.

Stormlight began to feel along the wall, grimacing at the touch of the damp, slimy rock beneath her fingers as she searched for one of the hidden openings. "What are you doing?" she heard Suboshi ask suspiciously, and glanced back to see that everyone was staring at her like she’d lost her mind.

"I’m looking for hidden passages," she replied, stepping over a branch. "There’s gotta be one somewhere…"

"I don’t see any passages," Suboshi exclaimed haughtily, crossing his arms.

"That’s why they’re called hidden passages, you dingbat!" Stormlight snapped. "Help me look, or we’ll be standing here all day!"

Suboshi muttered a few choice words under his breath as he, too, began to feel along the slimy walls. "It’d help if I knew what I was looking for," he grumbled.

"Trust me. When you find an entrance, you’ll know," Stormlight replied distractedly, moving further along. "Come on, I know there’s one around here somewhere… Check the other wall, too."

After several more minutes of searching, with no results, Tasuki growled and straightened up. "This is pointless!" he complained. "There’s nothing here!"

"If Stormlight says there is a passage, then I trust her judgment," Hotohori defended her. She looked at him in surprise and he smiled at her. She fought down a blush and smiled back before turning away again.

And Jareth wonders why I like this guy so much?

Tasuki crossed his arms stubbornly and leaned back. "Yeah? Well, you go ahead and keep looking! I’m takin’ a brea-AAAAKE!"

Stormlight turned around just in time to witness Tasuki fall right through the wall, arms flailing madly as he hit the dirt. "Ouch," he muttered sulkily.

"Alright!" Stormlight squealed. "Great, Tasuki, you found one!"

"No @#%$ kiddin’!" he snarled, standing up and fingering a growing lump on his head.

"Great! Let’s go!" Stormlight exclaimed, marching into the passage. She caught Tasuki by surprise by dropping a quick kiss on the cheek. "Great job, Tasuki"

"AAAK!" Tasuki yelled, scrubbing at his face while his friends snickered at him. "Now you cut that out!"

Stormlight merely laughed at him as she started down the passage.