The Labyrinth on Bourbon Street 2

How To Make a Foe

Allie had a habit of sleeping in on weekends. Sebastian was an early riser. It took the chiming of the toaster oven to almost wake Allie up, and that was at ten in the morning. Allie finally wandered her way into Sebastian's little kitchen nook at around ten thirty, and Sebastian was at the table, examining Lapis's book. 

"Good morning..." Allie murmured awkwardly, scratching her scalp with her fingertips. She had slept in her red biker's jacket, and her morning hair was as malleable as taffy. Sebastian swallowed his giggles and greeted her warmly. 

"Coffee?" He asked, already pouring her a cup. 

"You're too sweet." Allie gushed, pulling her chair closer to his. "So what can you find out?" She looked over his shoulder.

"First," Sebastian said, pushing the book aside. "Tell me everything you can about the Goblin King, from what you remember."

Allie strained her brain. "He is incredibly spoiled." She started out. "He has everything he could ever want, but for some stupid reason, he is never satisfied. It was as if he has kind of reluctantly inherited his position and would much rather be somewhere much nicer."

"And that's why he had an eye for Nola?" Sebastian interrupted.

"That would make sense." Allie agreed. "He likes the finer things."

"And what did he want with Lapis?" Sebastian added. "Like, even though she's beautiful and has a dazzling personality, why would he pick her out of everyone else?" 

"Ah, now there's something I don't know." Allie disputed. "When he came to us last year, he just said that she 'called on' him." 

"So that's how we get in contact with him and get him to bring us to the Underground?" Sebastian changed the subject, circling back around quite well. 

"I guess so." Allie concluded. That was really all she had to say about the subject. "Lapis is the one that called on him, not me."

"Well," Sebastian exhaled, his reaction revealing that he couldn't find out much. "As you said, that the Goblin King is very superficial, and he'll only help you if he deems you worthy or you have some kind of sacrifice for him." 

"Do we have something that he'd like?" Allie asked, looking around Sebastian's empty little apartment. 

"Not in here." Sebastian denied. He pointed to an aging wooden piano in the corner of the room. "The nicest thing I have is my spinet over there, but it's not too pretty." 

"Is there anyone we know that he would deem worthy to help?" Allie pondered out loud. 

"I don't know," Sebastian dropped the book on the table. "You were the one who interacted with him, what did Lapis do?"

"She offered him a bet." Allie recalled.

"We could do that." Sebastian's face brightened up.

"She offered him a bet, but he only accepted it because he got what he wanted out of both ends of the deal." 

"So that brings us back around to the 'not having anything to offer' problem..." Sebastian summed up.

After a moment of silence, Sebastian started to think out loud. 

"What did he think of you when you met him?" He asked.

"Not much." Allie answered. "I honestly think that I was just bait to dangle in front of Lapis."

"Not sure if this is going to solve the problem, but there are some magic words that you can say to summon the goblins' attention." Sebastian commented. "But the stupid book doesn't even say what they are."

"God damn it." Allie groaned. "I wish we knew what to say..." 

Sebastian flipped through the pages of the book and glanced over the spidery handwritten words. "I wish to visit the queen of the Goblin City." He muttered, his voice rising.

"What did you say?" Allie asked, a sneaking feeling telling her that he was on to something.

"I wish to steal the queen of the Goblin City and make her my own!" Sebastian called out, louder this time.

He was definitely on to something. "I wish to punch that rat Jareth right in his smug face!" Allie said, her voice building.

"Seriously?" Sebastian's eyebrows rose in worry. "And he doesn't hate you?"

"He doesn't hate me, but he will." Allie promised with a devious smile. "Come and get me you son of a bitch!"

Sebastian and Allie stood up, calling out phrases that started with "I wish" that mostly hinged on threats to Jareth's ever-expanding ego.

"Hold it!" Sebastian shouted. His lips twitched into a frown. "We're getting nowhere."

"Not just yet." Allie said, at this point coming across as completely delirious to Sebastian. "Jareth entered and walked her off the balcony. Do you have a balcony anywhere in this apartment?"

Sebastian let out a breath. "It's just out the bedroom window, knock yourself out." He said, sounding like he was reevaluating his life choices as he spoke. He slowly trailed behind Allie, about ready to confront her.

"SEB!!" Allie squealed at the top of her lungs. "SEBBY!!"

Sebastian bolted toward the balcony, thinking that she was just two clicks away from jumping off in her hysteria. He yanked back the curtains and was suddenly shot in the face with a putrid, intense gust.

He peeked his eyes open, and struggled to keep them from closing in the wind. The two of them were faced with the colorless landscape that was the Underground City. The colors were dull and murky. It was oddly blurry, like the painting was rubbed in layer of petroleum jelly. But the scenery was as two-dimensional as a matte painting.

"What..." Sebastian muttered. "In the name of everything holy..."

The frame of Sebastian's balcony door started to tremble in the wind. Allie turned around and opened the door, and was greeted with literal nothingness. It was as if someone had took a celestial eraser and wiped Sebastian's apartment clean off of the balcony.

Sebastian was still trying to contemplate the situation at hand. Either they were both completely, simultaneously delusional, or they were both entirely stable. But either way, the only direction for both of them to go was forward. Well, that wasn't entirely accurate, either. They were deprived of the option of turning back.

"I guess he heard us." Allie mumbled, eyes widening to the size of tea saucers.