Chapter Nine-A Very Dangerous Game

 

“Oh, obviously.” Muttered Stephanie. “I mean, we’ve done this so many times before, why stop now?”

“It’s okay.” I smiled to perk everyone up. “Those riddles are like mosquito bites: annoying, but ya love to scratch them!”

Immediately I regretted my ‘pep talk’. The group stared at me, their looks ranging from wide-eyed surprise to narrowed, angry eyes. “Anyway,” I continued uneasily, “let’s get this over with.”

I glanced at each box. Nothing special. They were exactly how the riddle described them: big enough to hold whatever object you’d want to send to someone, with a large locking ring. “Any hints?”

“No,” answered the voiceover monotonously. “Just pick a box.”

“Boy, that’s fair.” Northstar rolled her eyes. The rest of us groaned. “Well, at least I didn’t say ‘It’s not fair’!” And the groaning commenced.

“Okay, this should be a snap.” Daisy faced the group. “Just look for one with a flaw; something that stands out. And that’s our box!”

So we each took a box, picked it up and examined it. Trouble was, they were all different.

Labyrinthian sighed. “Mine has a blue spot on the bottom.”

“This one’s got a funny smell.” Sesana backed away from hers.

“There’s a pouch in mine,” giggled Anakerie. A few other snickers were heard. Those who hadn’t read “The Package”-and there weren’t many of them-only stared, confused.

“So much for that idea.” Daisy sighed.

“It was a good one,” I assured her. “But you know His Majesty is making it hard for us.” She nodded.

“I say just bloody pick one!” Raven threw her hands up in the air.

“Last time we picked the wrong thing, we ended up in an Oubliette.” Protested Starlight.

“You got out, didn’t you?” Raven said matter-of-factly. “So let’s just try our luck. Crystal Boy can’t hold us here forever.”

With a shrug, I was with Raven. There were too many ways to torture Jareth should he try to keep up against our will.

“Alright then, which box?” Wolfie inquired. If only it were that simple! Despite Raven’s words, I knew some of us were worried about the consequences of a wrong answer.

“That one.” Guinevere pointed to a box covered in glowing stripes. Our King was nothing if not creative.  The Listians nodded their agreement and Guinevere opened the box.

She reached in and retrieved a small piece of paper, then read it aloud: “Congratulations, Listians. You’ve earned your way to the next country.”

The boxes vanished. A path lit up, and the Listians and I followed it, not wasting any time.

 

*                      *                      *                      *                      *

 

“Singapore.” I spread my arms, indicating the country we were gazing at.

“Who lives here?” Queried Anya.

“Collin.” I replied as I consulted my crystal.

With twenty-one of us, we must have been quite the sight. But our focus wasn’t on how we looked to the semi-crowded city we were approaching. It was finding Listian twenty-two.

 

*                      *                      *                      *                      *

 

“Here’s her house.”

Before the Listians had a chance to force me to the front of the group, I went ahead and knocked on my own.

A few minutes went by. Worried faces returned. These waiting scares weren’t helping.

Someone advanced to the door and looked us over, then with a yawn, opened it.

“Yeah?”

“Are you Collin?”

Another yawn. “Uh-huh.”

She was short, with black hair and (when they weren’t closed) black eyes. She had on a somewhat wrinkled shirt and jeans.

“We’re the Labyrinth List.”

“Oh, hey!” She rubbed at her eyes, then shook her head quickly. “Sorry, I was sleeping.”

“Really, dear? We hadn’t noticed.” Raven spoke up. Stephanie elbowed her in the side.”

“Sorry we woke you, Collin,” I began sympathetically, “but we need you to come with us. We have a sort of ‘mission’.”

“Sure!” Collin grabbed a light jacket and shut the door behind her.

“I have to warn you-” I started. But I was cut off by a loud sound whizzing above us.

Looking up, I saw a skywriting plane. Slowly, it formed white, fluffy words:

 

One day, centuries ago, an alchemist brought a small bottle to the king.

“This bottle”, said he, “holds a liquid so powerful that it will instantly dissolve anything it touches.”

How did the king know the man was lying?

 

“Aw, how sweet,” said Rhonda sarcastically. “He included a king in that riddle.”

“The alchemist was crossing his fingers.” Joked Beth.

“This one is simple,” Collin remarked. “Do I just answer?”

“Yeah, if you think you know it.” I nodded.

Collin wet her lips and replied, “If the liquid dissolved anything, it would also dissolve the bottle.”

Within a few quick movements, the words overhead disappeared, as did the plane, and everything around us faded away.

“Brava, Miss Collin.” A figure in black materialized before us.

“Speaking of kings…” Rhonda muttered.

Jareth strode forward and grasped Collin’s hand, planting a kiss upon it. Collin roughly seized it back.

“Clever girl. And a wonderful List member, as I’m sure all of you would agree.”

“Quit mocking us, Jareth!” I ordered. “We know you’re annoyed by the quantity of Listians.”

“Oh, my, such big words.”

“Okay, okay, we know you two are madly in love with each other, but you can stop bickering now.” Raven said as she stepped between us.

“How’s Cheralyn?” Lori asked. A chorus of voices repeated the question simultaneously.

“Cheralyn is well.” The King answered simply. “However, I’ll need to keep her for further recuperation.”

“Then what are you doing here?” Anakerie spoke up angrily. “Did you come to gloat? Because you can do that anytime, can’t you?”

“Calm yourself, Anakerie.” Jareth raised his hands. “Your esteemed Listian is resting comfortably. No harm will come to her.”

“The question remains.” Labyrinthian glared at His Tightness through her glasses. “Why are you here?”

“Have we forgotten already?” Jareth cocked his head the side. “The second half of your riddle?”

“Which would be?” Jess asked impatiently.

Jareth reached into the folds of his cap and pulled out two vials. One with red liquid, the other with blue, both with corks inside. He held them slightly apart.

“As in the riddle, one of these vials holds a liquid that dissolves anything. Although, magic keeps said liquid from eating away at said vials. In order to proceed to Australia-your last country-one of you must drink from one vial. If you choose the correct one, you’ll be on your way to the end of the road. If not, well…I’m sure you can guess…”

“You’re asking us to risk the life of one of our own!” Tawyna was horrified.

“There’s no way!” Anony said firmly.

“We won’t do it!” Northstar agreed.

“Well then,” Jareth smiled, “forget Australia.”

Oh, the urge to shout “That’s not fair!” was agonizing. “You can thank your favorite Listian, of course.” The King added, smiling.

I felt my face grow hot and my fists clench.

“I know I’m to blame for all of this, but you don’t have to keep rubbing it in!”

Without a second thought, I snatched the vial with the blue liquid and pulled out the cork. I took a quick, deep breath and drank the contents.

The Listians stared at me, wide-eyed with surprise and worry. Jareth’s expression was somewhat similar, until he smiled once again. This time, it wasn’t an annoying smile, but rather one of admiration. A breathless moment went by.

“It, um, tasted like watered down cough syrup.” I shuddered. I honestly couldn’t stand the stuff.

“It was.” Jareth replied. “Actually, they both were.”

Closed eyes and relieved sighs spread among the group. I rejoined them, putting on a somewhat happy face.

Stephanie came up to me, pulled her arm back, and socked me on the arm. I was more shocked than hurt, but I rubbed the spot anyway, and look at my friend, confused.

“Don’t you ever scare me like that again!” She commanded. Then she gave me a strong hug.

“I’m sorry.” I returned the gesture.

“Honestly, you didn’t think she was in any real danger, did you?” Jareth inquired.

“Of course we did, you maniac!” Starlight put a hand on my shoulder. “You’re known for your dangerous stunts. Look what happened to Cheralyn!”

“A dreadful mistake on my part, I assure you.”

“Yeah, well, no more!” Wolfie affirmed forcefully. “This ends now.”

“You’re stronger than this, naturally. You’ve proved yourselves to be as such by making it this far. Do you really want to quit when you only have one country left?”

Some inspirational speech. Obviously we hadn’t wanted to play this game in the first place.

“We’re ready for the rest of this adventure.” Raven declared. “After all, girls, it’s not like he’s purposely trying to kill us, is it?”

“That’s the spirit.” Jareth nodded.

“Quiet you.” Raven glared at him.

“We do only have one country left.” Guinevere pointed out.

“To come all this way and then stop would be a waste.” Fire Dstany established.

“I’m in,” Sesana sighed.

“Me too, I guess.” Anya shrugged.

“Yeah.” Jess agreed. “Ditto for me.”

“Might as well finish what we started.” Lori joined the large group that wished to continue the journey.

“And you, dear girl?” Jareth turned his gaze on me. His eyes burned into mine. I could see them urging me on.

“Yes. I’m in as well.” I said almost defiantly.

“Very good. Then by all means, proceed.” He disappeared as quickly as he’d come.

“Why do I feel like an idiot who got suckered into some sort of scam?” I murmured.

“Well, he generally seemed to want us to go on.” Michaellah said.

“He also generally had us convinced that those vials held dissolving liquid,” argued Alex.

“Let’s go.” Coaxed Moonbaby. “We only have Australia now.”

I held my crystal and closed my eyes and, cringing past the memory of what might have happened with those vials, I thought Australia.

 

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