The Assassins' Guild - Week 6 News

Alas, all the targets in this town seem to have allied themselves with magic more powerful than me as yet again I was unable to ensnare them. Or perhaps it is my methods of approaching them that makes them out of my reach. Regardless, I do enjoy documenting my attempts and will continue to do so until my time runs out.

So, I found myself sipping wine in the unexpected company of an old acquaintance the other night. Unexpected, I say, because I did not expect him to be so knowledgeable about our world of magic and spells. He even appeared to be familiar with some of the people I might be interested in crossing paths with.

'Have you heard of The Gentleman?' He asked me as I poured him another glass.

'Yes, I have. He appears to be a powerful entity in my opinion,' I replied, taken aback by his sudden question.

'Really? I hadn't realised he was such a big shot,' he said with a surprised look. 'Though, come to think of it. I have heard rumours about him... oh man, I still remember that time when he subtly transmuted himself into a fiery woman at the [PLACE OF LEARNING REDACTED] because of an impromptu prophecy that he would die otherwise. I thought it was hilarious.'

[A precaution wise and glorious. -J]

'He survived thanks to that. There is nothing dishonourable about his actions, I dare say,' I defended him; somehow, his story resonated with me. 'What about this other one, Garfield the Deals Warlock. Do you know them?'

'The name doesn't ring any bell... maybe conjure up a vision of them?'

'I would if I could. There seem to be some interference with my powers at the moment and I cannot obtain a clear picture. All I get when trying to reach out for them is a confused mesh of four different people merged together,' I said, yet I still tried to show him the face of my target.

'Maybe they are not human... but I can tell you that they cannot be the person you think they are. That one is The Gentleman's fated woman,' he commented after taking a good look.

'Well, well, this is interesting. I thought Garfield the Deals Warlock was The Gentleman's sweetheart, but maybe I was wrong. It is of little importance to me who they are; presently I am more pressed to pursue other targets.'

'Pray tell me more about this,' he urged me.

'I have received updates on the location of a couple of people I would like to pay a visit to. Would you like to accompany me?'

'For a price.'

'Of course,' I replied, my eyes glittering with interest. 'What shall your prize be?'

'Let's see...' he leaned forward serving himself another glass of wine. 'I have no interest in titles and I am well-off with money, what about a heir?'

'Excellent! I am well-acquainted with kidnapping babies. Deal!'

And thus the plan was set into motion. It was on a dark night when me and my fellow man ventured on a hunt which would lead to no results. With hopeful hearts, we stalked uphill, towards windy tops and dark paths. The place we looked for was not an easy one to find, we went around, twice, with no sign of the damned mansion. It seemed as if space had been warped around the area and we were unable to see past our noses.

Wisely, I cast a spell and all at once a house appeared from nothingness. Curtains and windows and lights materialised in front of us. I walked fast past the opening and glanced at the only occupant inside; she seemed focused on divination of some sort and did not notice me. For a short time, we waited outside in the cold, discussing on what to do.

'You're the one with the magic here. Do something!'

'I brought you along so that you could break in for me and I would use their surprise to my advantage,' I replied flatly.

'Oh ok. I wasn't expecting to be the one doing this.' He searched his pockets for something, maybe some sort of weapon or disguise.

'You gotta earn your pay, dearie.'

'Alright. What story do we sell them?'

'We are missionaries sent here by the Goblin King to "re-educate" them. That is close enough to the truth.'

'Given that I don't even know who this "Goblin King" you speak of is, I'd say your story is at best a debatable lie.'

'I don't know who they are either, and this lack of knowledge has been annoying me for a while. Ah, now it is not the time to investigate these matters. Now we have some actual job to do.'

'Yes. I will knock...'

'Maybe just tell them we are here on our behalf because we want to meet squigglysquids.'

'You know, honesty never does good to villains.'

'Let's just try for once. A small effort to bring a big change.'

'Alright. I am knocking.' And so he did, for four times he knocked and then we heard a responsive knock on our side. The girl had interrupted her divination to come and hail at us from behind the glass.

'Who are you?' she asked and we both found ourselves looking for words.

'We are here for squigglysquids,' my ally declared.

A look of realization passed across her face then. 'I am sorry. I know why you are here, but she genuinely isn't in.'

I balled my hands into fists, trying to control the urge to smash the fragile window open and go see for myself if that were true. 'That's fine. Thank you,' I replied instead. Defeated we had to leave. It turned out my location spell had failed me once again, and that the next target was much further than we had expected.

'I know where that place is, we won't get inside easily,' my companion commented when I showed him the map.

'Let's at least try to go and have a look.'

It took us a good half hour of trekking through the woods near the edges of the realm to find the impenetrable fortress which housed Aisling O'Loughlin. Once we got closer, it became clear that it was almost impossible to break into it. We looked around for a weakness, a crack in the walls, but found nothing of the sort. Thick, solid bricks separated me from my target and to make matters worse the crows standing atop the building started staring at us with malicious eyes. I was sure they were enchanted and whoever was watching us was probably a monster of the dangerous sort.

Disheartened by now, we went back to the entrance: perhaps we could try and disguise ourselves for residents. Yet the intimidating attire of the guard standing watch made us desist from that purpose. He wasn't one to be misled by simple tricks, if one were to judge him by his wizard staff, and I certainly needed to acquire more magic in order to defeat his spells. We waited, for twenty more minutes, to see if anyone could let us in. Yet in the end we had to leave, empty hand-ended and with frozen limbs.

'I am afraid your request for an heir will have to wait. I will not snatch any kid from their mother's arms for nothing,' I unpleasantly announced as he invited me for more drinks. 'And I shall retire for the night,' I added before disappearing into dark smoke.

Honestly, the future is not looking bright for me and I fear my life might reach a sudden and inglorious end within the next few days.

'I need some meat. Seriously, one can never go too many days without it and survive,' I murmured to myself as I waited outside of [COLLEGE REDACTED] with my hood on, afraid my friend had sold me out. So, I was relieved when they appeared from behind the gate. Once again, I followed them inside, through the same route we took the other time, still aiming to make a meal out of Cherry Pie. Up we went on a spiralling tower and at the top we found the door invitingly unlocked.

I hesitated, my instinct alerted. Was this a trap? Well, she knew I had been here before. Someone was definitely inside: I could hear people chatting. Granny wouldn't be happy if I didn't take action. Granny wouldn't be proud. So, I took her shotgun out: one bullet was going to decide my fate as a hunter. Slowly, I turned the handle. Even slower, I pushed the door slightly, before opening it at full speed. There was a girl sat by the table and a blurry figure rushing to the side - I had no time to fire. I took one step in, but then bounced back as I feared she might have armed herself in that split second. Undecided, I hid behind the still open door, afraid the other would fire at me. Eek!... Should I go inside and risk or run away?

Moments seemed to last much longer, but then I decided it was not worth it. I couldn't do it. So, I run out and closed the door behind me. Afraid she would come after me and get me on the stairs, I held the door shut from the outside. Someone from the inside tried to open, but I did not let go, left hand on the handle, right one holding a gun. It was lucky that I had a friend with me. Selfishly, I gestured to my accomplice to come and hold the door closed for me while I ran away, which they did much to my delight. So I ran, down two flights of stairs before turning back to check whether my ally was still alive. I heard a door open, but nobody seemed to have fired a bullet. There were voices, people speaking and then the unmistakable sound of a door being locked. I had lost my chance but not my head, thankfully.

My friend came down with no scratches and we left, taking the same route as when we came in. It was a Sunday, a perfect day to go and chase Anne Oldman or so we thought. We reached her house, which wasn't far, in a few quick steps.

'I think their friends might be so annoyed at the people coming here to kill her that they might just help us get Anne Oldman,' my friend suggested.

'Mmm....I wouldn't be so sure. Perhaps.'

As before I hid while my accomplice knocked, I can't help some shyness when going on a hunt in broad daylight. We were lucky: we didn't have to wait long for a reply. Some ambiguous creature opened the door, unsure whether or not they were a threat I did not move from my hiding spot.

'Are you an assassin?' I heard them ask to my friend, who might or might not have replied truthfully to that.

Curiosity won me over, then, and so I took a peek. I was just on time to see a blue-furred being turn around and ask their friend upstairs, 'They are assassins. Do you want any assassins?'

An inaudible sound came from a room inside the house, then the enemy's ally turned back towards us. 'I am sorry, they don't want any assassins.' So, we were once again locked out of a door. With no better idea on where to go and with many of the targets living far away we decided to keep going south. There was a rumour about a very big, edible, animal living that way. I was armed and this time ready to go down in a fight. What could possibly go wrong?

Everything, apparently, starting from the fact that the house was at least two floors tall and there was no doorbell. Knocking wouldn't really work, would it? What if we accidentally awakened some worse monster nearby?

'Are we sure this is where this...uh...Alder Skrilth lives?' I asked wishing we were in front of the wrong den and just leave as soon as possible before someone spotted us.

'Yes.'

'I think this is also where Jareth lives.' I pointed out with an alarmed look.

'Yes.'

'How do people even get inside this building without a doorbell?'

'Maybe we could ask Jareth to let us in and then we kill Alder Skrilth?'

'I don't think that is going to work...unless you can use telepathy and mind control.' I looked back at the house for a bit, this was the last place on earth where I wanted to be at that moment. That building just screamed danger from all sides, including the underground basement which I couldn't really see.

'Should we just go then?' My friend suggested after a couple more minutes.

'Yeah, let's go get Barry Bluejeans instead. He seems more approachable. I mean, I had plans for him for tonight but I might as well take the chance now.'

We walked back up, past the pretzel-shaped roots of angry trees, past the heinous lodge of unfamiliar creatures and then up the bridge. We passed the glass door to our next target's domicile with ease, but a robust man with fearsome features called us back.

'Are you here for brunch?'

'Yes,' I replied, perhaps a bit too abruptly, because he asked for our permits before letting us through the gates. I was prepared, however, in case he had stopped us. Another friend was waiting for us inside, comfortably asleep in his bed until I woke him up to ask for help. He didn't join our party, but we still managed to track Barry Bluejeans's room down. We knocked, but received no reply. He might have been out, or just unwilling to greet us.

'Another dead end.'

'So it seems,' I convened.

'Should we get some food?'

'That's what I am trying to do...'

'I am vegetarian.'

'Oh, sorry. Let's go get something for you then.'

We walked back, through a side road and stopped in [PLACE OF FOOD-PROCUREMENT REDACTED] to get some cheesy stuff. Sitting on a nearby bench, I crossed my legs and put my hood on, lest someone with not so virtuous intentions might pass by.

'You know, I think Jareth is being nice. I mean, for all of the murders we hear about, there is still lots of us who are alive. Also, I am concerned about M. I think they are not who I thought they would be! I mean, I thought they weren't even real, just a fictional entity...And now I am just confused. Should we go to [COLLEGE ALSO REDACTED] and see if we can get Bambi? We have got about twenty minutes before [SHADOWY MEETING REDACTED] starts.'

'Yes, let's go.'

[COLLEGE ALSO REDACTED] was an entirely different matter. The building itself was a maze, with several squared grassy field placed at random angles. Nobody questioned us as we walked inside. Nobody stopped us when we moved from the old-fashioned graceful side to the ugly post-modernist multi-storey space-ship imitation at the back. I mean, were we still supposed to be in a fantasy universe? Because this seemed to fit more in a sci-fi setting.

Anyway, three out of four gates were open, but the one leading inside the cave we needed to access was locked. Thankfully, generous dwarves going out held the door open for us and we sneaked in. The layout of the tunnels wasn't hard to figure out, as the dwellers there appeared to be organised creatures. It was all pointless, in the end, as we stepped inside a giant empty room. There was no one there: Bambi was probably out or worse, dead already.

'You know, at this rate I might just attempt doing something reckless. I do not wanna go down and disappear in a boring way. I kinda yearn for that fight to death, that adrenaline kick you get right before dying...like, I am fine with perishing, but I want to go down in a fight, not cease to exist by some godly action like famine and starvation. If worst came to worst I could always stab Jareth at [SHADOWY MEETING REDACTED]. You know I have been thinking about this every single week?'

[Oh, have you now? That is interesting. -J]

'Would you be prepared enough for that in order to survive?'

'The important thing now isn't surviving: it's how I go down in the most spectacular way ever. I do not aim to "survive" till old age like granny, no...I want to live, to breathe and to kill. Have you ever heard of an old Red Riding Hood? No? Me neither. I am going to die young and in a badass way, hopefully.'

'But then no, you can just try and backstab Jareth today.'

'Nah, on a second thought, I couldn't possibly stab Jareth. Not a good idea, they are scary.'

'From what I have heard they have got quite the reputation.'

'Indeed.'

We left [COLLEGE ALSO REDACTED]'s labyrinthine insides behind us and walked out through a side gate. This was the end of our journey or so I had thought. Instead, we walked through a back door and into a tavern to replenish our energy after the unsuccessful hunt. Once inside, we sat on a bench where we were slowly joined by an innocuous bunch of mythical creatures. It is a festive period, so I decided to indulge myself in cakes and mulled apple juice. Taken in by the warmth of the company, I had forgotten the original reason why I had ventured out and was belatedly listening to the happy talks of the folks around me. It was then that Jareth suddenly called upon me and pointed at an obscure figure passing by our table. 'Red Riding Hood. That's Barry Bluejeans.'

I looked back at him, caught off guard by his actions. 'Why are you telling me this?' Why are you helping me identify him? Was what I actually wanted to ask.

[You try leaving behind the instincts of a veteran player. Notifying one's companions of threats in the area is second nature, especially when one's been rendered particularly alert and on-edge by a mis-oredered potion of wakefulness. -J]

[Besides, had it transpired he was there on your account, it would have been far more amusing to watch had you been given a fighting chance. -J]

'He's another target.'

'Yeah I know. A [YEAR REDACTED] [SUBJECT REDACTED] from [COLLEGE REDACTED], right? I know everything about him: his house, his looks, his eating habits...I went to his place today, but couldn't find him there. I am gonna get him at some point, I've got a plan,' I half-replied half-though, you can never know if it's a good idea to reveal your future plans of murders.

Now, I am not sure if I want to believe that, in truth, Jareth is really a softie and he's taken a liking to me given my very pitiful attempts and scores. I mean they might also have been wickedly trying to encourage me to take some action there and then just for the fun of it. [Oh, would I do such a thing? -J] So I don't know what to make of their help in identifying another target; I don't know if they are just an evil creature with a hidden kind heart or a very cunning, seemingly kind, yet truly evil being. Nevertheless, once I stepped back into the cold I immediately went to get some berries and then ran back home: famished, but alive.

Nevar. 8pm, half running from your living quarters into your college. I think you saw me, and I sure as hell saw you. Shoulda woulda coulda got you as well. What stopped me? Maybe the crippling paranoia that has befallen us all this open season, maybe I didn't trust myself, maybe I was just being nice. Point is, you got lucky. Hopefully see you soon....

In a land of myth and a time of magic, I stood in wait for an hour outside a large cave busy with cave gremlins. Among the gremlins I knew to be 3 more threatening individuals whom I planned to end. I had spotted one on the way in but had been too slow to take action and he had entered the safety of the gremlin crowd, so I waited patiently.

As the gremlins began to file out I spotted one of the targets, Agrajag the Mostly Harmless, I quickly burst from my hiding place, dispelled my charm of invisibility and cast forth a blade or two from thin air, propelling them into the chest of Sean. I could see from the lack of surprise on his face that he had expected something like this. I suppose, in the labyrinth, the odds are notin our favour. I then quickly fled, knowing that others might have seen my brutal murder and might make chase.

As I went past a puddle I noticed something about me had changed, it seems all my magic is beginning to impact my appearance. Thankfully it matters not, all those who see me will quickly meet their end.

#Labyfession1977

Imagine actually going to lectures

(This post was made by goblin disaster gang)

Tell me, do you bleed?

I was about to abandon myself into Morpheus's arms on Saturday night when a flash of light caught my eyes. A vision appeared before me and an ominous wind carrying hints of a new threat blew my way. Of course, my system was sparked awake by a shot of adrenaline and my brain fired up in trepidation. Ah, what was I to do if then sleep eluded me in the dead of night? But of course I did what I do best, I started scheming in the dark.

Despite the late hour, my most unreliable recruit from [COLLEGE REDACTED] promptly replied to my call. He would not make a deal with me unless I could guarantee his safety. Negotiating with him was not easy but in the end we came up with a plan. Luckily, next up was far less challenging to organise as one of my agents informed me that Lord Farquaard was expected to attend the [EVENT REDACTED] at [COLLEGE ALSO REDACTED]. Thus satisfied I went to sleep.

Well then, you can imagine how delighted I was when my not-so-trustworthy ally stood me up on a cold Tuesday morning, because he failed to wake up! I would have gladly spent a few more hours in the company of my duvet myself, yet I dragged my body out of its soft warmth and materialised outside of the [PLACE OF LEARNING REDACTED]. The structure was open to me and, despite its deceptively complex looks, I was familiar enough with its outline to reach the correct location where my fated meeting should have taken place. Should have...because Barry Bluejeans never showed up. I had expected this outcome: he doesn't appear to be the type to take unnecessary risks. I still waited for one more hour around the [LOCATION REDACTED WITHIN PLACE OF LEARNING REDACTED] amiably chatting with an acquaintance about my various failed attempts. Yet, without my ally support I had no chance to take Barry Bluejeans over, since his looks remain a mystery to me. Thus, I resolved to leave. Perhaps nightfall will bring me some good fortune.

And ever and on we go

Never to learn or grow

Pillars of peace estranged

I guess some things never change

We fall, we fall again

Stare through empty window panes

We fall, we fall again

I guess some things never change...

----------------------------------------------

Haruto Amo...

If there's one thing I can say about the guy, it was that his methods, even if they are real different to mine, work.

Decent sort too... had a mentality that meant he'd protect people he cared about, no matter how much that put him in harm's way.

I'd like to say that I'll mourn for the guy... that I felt some level of anger, anguish, anything.

But... just disappointment. He lived a life of violence like me, see? Sooner or later, it gets us all... our luck runs out or we make a mistake.

Inconsistency is the enemy of adventurers like us.

I'd like to say that I cried for him, but I don't think I'm biologically capable... after all, my tears would melt my face off.

Gobbo... I've been in this game too long... and I'm not talkin the laby-... maze, I'm talkin adventuring. Cause, when I heard of his death, my first thought was to analyse the structure of alliances between those left in the maze and try and figure out how that would be affected like.

I think I'm more bothered by how... unbothered I am than by his actual death.

Ah... there it is.

Took me a while, but apparently this idiot can still feel something besides boredom.

It's not rage or anguish or anything... just... sadness... like I'm carrying a goblin king damned mountain on my back (yes, I just likened you to a god, slip of the tongue or something... after all, we both know yer somethin more like a real powerful sorcerer, don't we?). I actually knew Haruto Amo's name without looking it up... and... well, I don't know if I'd go as far as to say I actually cared about him more than anybody else, but...

The guy had my respect, ok?

And here he is, another corpse to add to the pile.

Don't even blame his killer... after all, only one of us can come out of this... if nobody else had killed him, I'd have had to eventually...

It still don't sit right with me. I'm not sure why, to be honest... I guess... I'll... I'll think on it some more.

---------------------------------------------

I close both locks below the window
I close both blinds and turn away
Sometimes solutions aren't so simple
Sometimes goodbye's the only way...

And the sun will set for you
The sun will set for you
And the shadow of the day
Will embrace the world in gray
And the sun will set for you

-----------------------------------------

Mine... and I guess, for this one, Haruto Amo's...

-Alder Skrilth

I won't make a habit of it.

Following my ally's tip I teleported to [COLLEGE REDACTED] once the sky was dark enough to hide my features. I walked through a green barrier and then into a small chamber where several humans were consuming alcohol. My target was not there and neither was my informant, I lamented to a senior member from [COLLEGE ALSO REDACTED]. He offered help then and in a matter of minutes he managed to summon my ally there. Thirty-five minutes in and Lord Farquaard had yet to make an appearance, I pointed out to the man sitting next to me who promptly offered me a drink, stating that he also was there waiting for someone who was supposed to turn up. With my patience running thin, I inadvertently revealed to my Scottish acquaintance from [YET ANOTHER COLLEGE REDACTED] the true motive of my visit and he advised me to just "let go" and enjoy the rest of my evening, at which point I decided to get up.

My eye caught sight of an unspecified creature in the company of a friendly woman. Perhaps I was a bit too haste in approaching them, I certainly think I was too desperate by that point to care. Neither of them posed a threat I ascertained, still it was unwise of me to show them my dagger, needlessly endangering myself.

'Oh wow, we have a similar thing at [PLACE OF LEARNING REDACTED]' she commented. 'But it's much more ruthless than this.'

'Allow me to disagree; there is plenty of bloodthirsty creatures in here.'

'Yeah, ok. Can you shot someone in this room?'

'No... I left my pistol in my coat over there. Besides, such modern weaponry is unfashionable, nothing beats the feeling of a dagger sinking into alive flesh in my opinion,' I replied with a pleasant smile.

'Then what was the most amusing weapon you ever came across?' The creature on my right asked. As a matter of fact, neither me nor them knew how to qualify their existence status, so I will just keep it vague.

'Honestly more than weapons I am interested in amusing deaths, of those I can tell you a fair bit, dearie.'

'Fine then, what is the most recent one you have heard of?'

'Mmm... let me think,' I started, covering my chin with my right hand. 'It would be the one where an unfortunate soul walked back to their dwelling place only to find an armed assassin outside their door, waiting for them. Upon making eye contact, the doomed victim apologised to the soon-to-be murderer for making them wait and then most likely successfully died.'

'Ah-ah,' they laughed loudly and I giggled along.

'Although, I believe my first kill is even more comical, from a reverse point of view,' I announced in a theatrical way. 'I went after this person fully armed, my weapon pointed at her at short distance. I should have shot her in the back, but I didn't; I called out for her. She turned, realised, "No," she said.

"Yes," I replied. "Well, no... I don't want to do this either." Still, I had no choice, even if I did not want to take a life as my soul had yet to be corrupted then. "Is it fine if I kill you?" I asked,' I stopped there and shook my head from side to side in disbelief. 'Such a fool I was, giving my prey the opportunity to retaliate against me. What kind of assassin asks their target if they are glad to be killed?'

'This is actually very funny,' the woman on my left commented between laughs. I half-smiled, conscious of the fact that time was running short for me. Indeed, a glance at my pocket watch confirmed that soon I would have had to leave. It might have been late, but it was not yet the end of the night and I knew of another place where my target was rumoured to hang around. Bidding farewell to my companions for the night I ventured through silent roads with shaky hands. Once alone it was hard to ignore the grimy atmosphere permeating the air.

There was a queue outside the cave where I was headed to: a group of creatures of mixed races stood in a line, waiting to be admitted into the depths of the madness which was below. Trolls, fairies, imps and even heroes, all were welcome in this cauldron of hysteria. I knew my magic would be weak in there, but I still crossed the gate without hesitation. I had descended into Hades once before, I could do it again. I had to abandon my pistol at the entrance, a worthy price for admittance into the deepest circles of hell. Lights fired and bounced against the walls from all sides, blinding my sight. The scent of sweat was not strong but still noticeable to my sensitive nose. And the crowd was crazy, figures of all shapes and sizes were engaged in a delirious dance, where shouting and singing merged into the same thing.

I looked around, recognising a few faces. A pixie I had exchanged drinks with once nodded at me, I knew I owed them money, but decided I would come back to that later. While queuing for drinks, I located a friendly faerie which could be useful to my plans and tapped them on the shoulder. Taken by surprise they spun around and greeted me with a glittery smile. Excellent! Now I had a potentially sacrificial pawn to aid me in my quest. To show them my gratitude I purchased us both some primeval adrenaline shots from the Oni behind the counter. Then we plunged into the amorphous mass of bodies, followed by a witch in training and a tall Ent. There must have been a portal nearby, I realised, as creatures from all worlds were present in the room and not too many of them were of the goof fairies type. In fact, I am sure I spotted quite a few witches and even some ogres. A vampire smiled at me, exposing his pointed teeth as I passed by him. I did not miss the chance to glance at the evidently drunk Kitsune which was dancing next to a Cyclops.

Dulcet tones would be a euphemism for the resounding noises which hammered my sensitive ears. Still, I moved along, pretending to blend in while keeping my eyes open for both potential threats and my target. It was entertaining, watching the creatures around me let themselves go and twist their bodies in the most creative ways to the rhythms of music. This was sure to end with an orgy of Dionysiac fashion, which I had no plans to take part into. A group of satyrs forcefully pushed me out of their way as the moved across the floor and I found myself further closer to the centre. My eyes were caught by the colours which sparkled from both the ground and the glassy ceiling, reflecting off the bodies of the glitter-demons dominating the top part of the arena.

It was then that I inadvertently looked left and saw him. This creature I had heard of, yet never encountered in person. Surely, there had been occasions where I had thought I had spotted him or his folks, but never before I had made direct eye contact with them. Thus, I was confused at first, when he reacted to me, his eyes widening slightly as he recognised me. I searched my mind trying to remember who he was, a kobold? No... that wasn't it. Although, he looked familiar, worryingly familiar as I witnessed his expression slowly mutate into a wicked smile which promised nothing good.

A thousand different thoughts loudly clashed in my head when he extracted a small yet deadly weapon from somewhere around his body. Who the hell was this guy and why was he armed? Why was he creepily smiling at me while holding a weapon? Finally, my memories came back all at once and I was even more puzzled by his appearance. I thought he was dead...is he not dead? Sure thing this place was so absurd in its form, with beings from the netherworld attending, so why would Mandos's corpse not be there too? Only, I suspected it wasn't a corpse the one I had met, more like the alive version of one of the Generals of the Goblin Army in real flesh and blood. I stepped back defensively, my mind phasing out everything else surrounding us. I shook my head in denial, this cannot be... Is this how I will reach my end?

He smiled, knowingly as if he were able to read my mind. My hand went to my pocket, I had my dagger with me but in the frenzy state I was in, I was not able to draw it. What if he is just a moving corpse? What if he wants to murder me? What if he has gone mad and wants to erase me from history? There shouldn't have been any what-ifs crowding my head at such a critical time, yet I was unable to act, inert, frozen by fear. All I could do was try and step back while the crowd pushed me forward. Paralysed, I watched in horror as his eyes moved between me and his weapon with a psychotic look. Then he made a move, a faint with no real intention of harming me. Still, I fell for it and reacted the only way I could. I grabbed my faerie, who was totally oblivious to what was going on, by the shoulders and placed them between me and Mandos.

'No! No! No! No! No! No! No! No! No!' I shouted in terror as hard as my lungs could sustain while hiding behind them. Yet my screams were swallowed by the infernal roar emanating from the crowd around us. I do not recall what happened then, I think he laughed and sheathed his weapon. Now wary of the danger I moved out of the room to a colder corner to discuss a plan with my faerie. It was with renewed caution that I went back in. I could now see at least a couple of goblins, if my eyes weren't playing tricks on me, dancing in the crowd. Mandos approached me again and we exchanged a few words.

'I thought you were dead.'

'I get resurrected because I am a servant of Jareth.'

That's nice, I thought, maybe next time I will do the same. At any rate, he made it clear he was just fooling around and had no intention of murdering me. That is not to say I trusted him, he might have been friends with someone who would actually seek my death. So I lied, when asked, I said I was disarmed. Perhaps that was a bad choice, but it was a safe choice. And I must admit, [PLACE OF REVELS REDACTED] takes on an entirely different flavour when there are assassins involved.

Later, the Pixie from before found me and I went for a drink with him, the person I was looking for wasn't there and as I was soon to learn they had already passed away several hours earlier. It might be too late for me to redeem myself now, but that is not to say that I won't try.

In a land of myth and a time of magic, I knew that my end drew close, only the strongest four would make it through the next few days, for Jareth is soon to cast down lightning on all those who are not worthy. Yet I was the fifth strongest, not good enough. There was only one option left open to me, destroy a being more powerful than myself. Take down the giants, stand upon their shoulders!

So I went in search of Lord Farquaard, the strongest of them all. A deadly foe by all accounts. I searched and searched and he could not be found, for days I have been lurking, hunting, prowling yet he seems elusive, hidden from me, as the light of day is hidden from us all down here in the labyrinth. As my hopes dwindled and I had begun to make peace with my incoming death, I spotted him across a large cavern, I ran for him, I charged and as I did I sent forth a hail of burning daggers conjured from the air. He fell down, and I felt his strength merge with mine.

Now I am the giant.

There was a time when Peanut Butter would have mourned the loss of his only friend. If anything, he was mourning the missed opportunity to gain a WHOLE HOMEMADE CAKE by betraying Jelly himself. He wasn't sure if Peanut Butter went with cake, but it had to be a better dessert combo than with Jelly. Not that it really mattered, since there was nobody left to hear his mourning.

Or was there?

Peanut Butter sensed something. Something must have made him sentient, and miserable. A wizard, perhaps. Or maybe a witch or a warlock. Peanut Butter sensed they were still out there, and that maybe - just maybe - they'd encounter each other soon.

Peanut Butter was going to meet a human.

Thunder only happens when it's raining
Players only love you when they're playing
Say people they will come and they will go
When the rain washes you clean, you'll know, you'll know

--------------------------------------------------

I'll be honest. There's... a lot to being a good adventurer... some people do it via planning... some do it with moment to moment skill and prowess... others seem to get by by luck.

The important word is 'seem'. See, if you're looking for them, opportunities are everywhere... it's just about grabbing them by the throat when you see em.

Take the guy I passed on the way out of... well, his room.

I wasn't totally sure if he was the guy I was after or not, but figured I'd follow him to find out... then somebody said 'hi' to him... used his name too.

Then he went towards the right door and I knew I had it.

You can call it luck if you like... but I get 'lucky' a lot in my profession. More than... more than I should if it was just luck.

I prefer to think of it as a random fluctuation of opportunity... there are times you will be lucky, capitalise on em... there are times you will be unlucky... recognise them and damage limit what you can.

Bad luck: The fact that a guy so close to me had me as a target, meant he was able to damage my amplifier.

Good luck: The fact that I stumbled on a little enchantment that I was able to work into a few small twigs.

A flick of the wrist, a twig sent flying at the guy and...

Well, I would say 'dead', but...

"What just..."

"Oh, they bind magic... and ensure that we can't hurt each other. Since yer held in the labyrinth by magic, yeh'll probably be exorcised fairly soon like... think that means that yeh'll still be alive, but it might not be pleasant."

"Oh... well, I guess since I'm only here for a little while longer... want some tea?"

I mean, I was hesitant, sure, but...

"Err... yes?"

So, that's the story of how I finally found out what 'tea' tastes like.

And the story of how I rejected the premise of this thing.

(to clarify, they were shot with a nerf gun, this is just me embellishing)

Mine and mine, once again, alone...

-Alder Skrilth, aka Jiro Twitch

---------------------------------------------------------

Now here I go again, I see the crystal visions
I keep my visions to myself, it's only me
Who wants to wrap around your dreams and,
Have you any dreams you'd like to sell?
Dreams of loneliness,
Like a heartbeat, drives you mad
In the stillness of remembering, what you had,
And what you lost and what you had and what you lost

In a land of myth and a time of magic, Axl N' Rose came at me with a knife, however, in this particular corner of the labyrinth I had cast an enchantment to ensure that any weapon used would be useless (it was OoB). As she threw the knife, it turned into a pen and bounced off me harmlessly. I informed her of the enchantment and she fled! Will some people never read the magic tomes (the rules)?

I might have many flaws and perhaps not giving up is one of them, yet that is exactly what has kept me alive for so long. It is in that spirit that I armed myself again and went out to try my luck today. There was one person which had escaped my eye so far, a magician I had not yet attempted to reach. I came to know about this fellow while looking for the true identity of the vampire I met in the underworld party the other night. Coincidentally, a common acquaintance mistook said vampire for a wizard they were friends with and revealed his name to me. I was surprised to learn later that he had recently risen to power and was now a fearsome creature. It seemed as if greater forces had tried to direct me towards him, since our paths had came close to crossing not once but twice over the past forty-eight hours. Ah choices, the future my senses are able to grasp is blurred and nothing is certain nor set in stone. Had I been at [COLLEGE REDACTED] for [REVELRIES REDACTED] on Tuesday I would have been able to terminate his existence there and then, yet instead I was in [COLLEGE ALSO REDACTED] pursuing the ghost of his most recent kill. And, if only I had been more attentive to this world's machinery, I could have paid him a visit on Wednesday when I visited [COLLEGE REDACTED] to attend [ENTERTAINMENT REDACTED]. It was almost as if Fate was toying with me, I thought in dismay as I left my mansion.

Nevertheless, at least I had been correct in predicting that he would not be back to his place until enough time had elapsed after his educational duties had ended. Thence, I arrived in [COLLEGE REDACTED] at 3pm after shopping for some potion ingredients and magical straws at the market. My faerie had informed me that they would be around at that time and we decided to team up to take down the powerful warlock Merlin. Ours was not a terrible plan, merely a not well-devised one. Without doubts, we should have thought this through before acting. I do not consider myself to be naive, but in this case I confess I was careless. I feared he might have been expecting me, or if not me in person he probably was aware someone would soon knock at his door asking for permission to enter. I suspected he would not be willing to risk his position. For there was no reason to do so since he had already acquired the power he needed. If anyone after me were to murder him, I compliment them on their success in advance, for I failed yet again.

Me and the glittery faerie from Tuesday night decided it would be a good idea to brew ourselves a warm drink before taking action. Thus, we sat on comfortable soft chairs inside a safe haven they had access to and sipped from our cups while I waited for the signal that my barrier had been trespassed. Anything magical moving through it was bound to cause a resonance across the fabric of space and alert me of their presence. For two hours we waited, then I felt a reverberation, my skin tickled and I stood up. 'He is here!' I announced, eyes shimmering.

Immediately we moved out, into the cold night. We walked on the shadows cast by the sinister candlelight shining upon the paths leading to his accommodation in order to conceal our presence. The sortie had started well, yet as all faeries my accomplice revealed to be rather unreliable. They fell prey to nerves and I should have foreseen it but something obfuscated my seer powers. I cast a spell to render myself invisible yet it proved to be no match against Merlin's masterful magic skills. The faerie knocked on the door and a voice resounded from the other side. There was only wood separating us and yet it felt as if he was speaking from a different realm. 'Merlin,' my faerie said.

'Who is it? What do you need?'

'I am just a simple faerie wandering the human realms in need of your help. I have heard great things of you and thus came this far to seek for your help. You are the great wizard Merlin, aren't you?'

'Yes I am. What kind of help do you need?'

'I am seeking some ancient scrolls rumoured to be in your possession. Scrolls with magic so powerful it cannot be inscribed on paper and has to be passed down through visual images thanks to the forgotten language.'

'And who is the creature standing next to you?'

'What do you mean? Nobody is here with me.'

'I see you have allied yourself with the darkest and most heinous type of creature to ever set foot on Earth. I can see right through his spell.'

At that point, I decided there was no reason why I should hide myself anymore, my spell had been seen through. 'Hello, I am just a friend.' The odious word left my mouth with a scratchy feeling, as if I had been hurt by the sound.

'He is not from this parts and unfamiliar with our type of magic,' the faerie said nervously.

'I see. I commend your efforts, servants of the darkness. I know what your real business here is and this door shall not open until the end of times comes. Now go and do not come back.'

Seeing as his defences were too strong, I started leaving at that point. But then I heard him call my name, 'Rumple? Is that you?' and halted in my steps, turned around and asked him, 'How do you know my identity?'

'I have been paying attention, Rumple. There is not that many people I do not know the faces of who are still alive.'

In one last desperate attempt, I blurted out, 'Then won't you come out and claim this life of mine? You could easily take it given your greater powers.'

'Yes, but why risk? As I said, this door will not open again until this is all over. I bid you a good night.'

'Farewell, dearie. May you fare well against the monsters you are soon to face, that is if you're still alive by tomorrow,' I replied before taking my leave.

Now I may be a coward, but apparently I am not the only one, since Merlin as well sins in cowardice this late in the game.

My attempts on Merlin might have failed but there was still fresh meat in the game which I could hunt. With one day to go, I resolved to consult an oracle for the best course of action I could take and promptly received an answer. Garfield the Deals Warlock was my next designated target, as Merlin kindly had offered a definitely generous amount of information to aid me with the kill. The prospect of wasting a morning when time was so little and so precious didn't appeal to me at all, though. I therefore decided to move out early in the morning to try and snatch Barry Bluejeans's life away from him.

It was way later than I expected when I left my home, not so much dreading for my life as I knew that nobody would be coming after me this late in the game. The path I took was narrow and the grey skies upon me did not presage good news. Stepping above dead leaves and cut branches I spotted a Cheshire cat hiding into the thick foliage of the trees surrounding the road. It temptingly smiled at me, almost making me forget what I was there for. I stopped myself just on time before I could get caught by the creature into a trap made of soft fluffiness from which I am sure I wouldn't have been able to get away.

I hurried into a maze of cement and vines, past the glass doors where powder sparkles into fire and water rushes into whirlpools. Down two flight of spiralling stairs and finally arrested my walk just outside of the room he was supposed to be in with twenty more people.

I am outside of your door. I telepathically contacted one of my accomplices who was in there as well. I will wait for when you come out and then follow you into the next meeting before making the kill. I can disguise myself as one of your Brethren since I once was a [PROFESSION REDACTED] as well.

I waited but no reply came from him. Annoyed at the lack of response I resorted to my seer powers again. It was then that I noticed, my prediction, my plans, it was all in the past... I was one day too late to catch him as he had already left the building by this point, if he ever came there on this fated day that is. Desperate, since noon was soon approaching and my life was getting shorter, I begged a gnome to help me. I have never once in my life stepped so low as to bow to another non-human being, not since I gained the power of Dark Magic. And yet, there I was, in a mad crowd of fantastical beasts of mixed races, threatening to run over me as I tried to make conversation with a creature of the Earth, uncaring at this point whether anyone heard my words. From what information I could steal from him before the masses swallowed him away I gathered that Barry Bluejeans was predicted to appear in a nearby location this afternoon. Thus discomfited but not yet dead I convened with some more acquaintances to consume a meal together.

It is a hard choice I am now facing. Should I go after Barry Bluejeans, who potentially will not come later on or should I rush down South to try to catch Garfield the Deals Warlock? On one hand there is the newly acquired information I obtained from the gnome about Barry Bluejeans which could lead to an horrible outcome with me sitting and waiting for someone who just wouldn't show up. On the other front, there is the generous offer from two other almighty forces Merlin and M of valuable intelligence on Garfield the Deals Warlock. The only downside is that I might have to travel to the farthest location on the map on my own, a trip I am not very willing to take given that with the end of this season approaching, my magic is drying up and my leg has started giving me pain again. In the end my mind has settled into a defined plan, I shall go see Barry Bluejeans first and if he misses his chance to be dispatched from life then I will go after Garfield the Deals Warlock.

In a land of myth and a time of magic, I sit, atop a stalagmite, and watch as the clouds begin to form in the labyrinth, the crackles of electricity jumping between them as Jareth prepares to summon a mighty storm. A storm that heralds death, death to all those who, unlike myself, are unworthy in Jareth's eyes.

I think of those I have killed, those who rest now, who are free from Jareth's games. First and foremost, my daughter, my child, Tor, why did Jareth have to drag her into this mess? Then there was Neep, who tried in vain to strike me down as she breathed her last breath, futile of course. Next was, Johnthehandyman, who suffered the consequences of trust in this dark underworld. After him came Agrajag the Mostly Harmless, who's soul appears to have gone elsewhere, perhaps reincarnated, only to be struck down again I'm sure. Finally, the mighty Lord Farquaard himself, who's love of his homeland, Duloc, drove him to seek victory, so that he might return there and make it great again.

Am I a monster? Have I become the very evil which caused Uther Pendragon to outlaw magic in the first place? Will I ever be forgiven for the lives I've taken, and the lives that others have taken while I've sat idle and done nothing. Only time will tell. Though I suspect the answer is no.

Ah, many things have happened over the span of a few hours on that critical last day and recounting them all after a so long makes me feel like an eternity has passed when in truth it has only been a few mortal days. The final Duel is fast approaching and yet I am here, writing about the mysterious ways Fate works, still not quite certain that this is the way the story was meant to go. Still struggling to grasp the true meaning of the events that occurred on that night. I had last left an update on my, sadly failed, attempt on Barry Bluejeans on Friday morning and I had plans to try my luck with him again. I will now proceed with my narrative and enlighten posterity on why I am still here writing even though I was supposed to be dead. But first, let me digress and expand a bit on my relationship with M, for some backstory is relevant to understand the final act of our mismatched tales. To this day, the circumstances under which we met are still obscure to me; it was most likely at one of those dastardly loud and alcohol infused dinners that humans seem to pamper themselves with so often these days. This was long before I had been turned into the soulless corrupted being that I am now. It was on friendly terms that me and Brown Reaper met an intriguing couple of other attendees sitting across our table. His name might not have stuck to my mind, but his clothes certainly did. I have to admit, there was style in his choice of hat and the way he wore it. His finely weaved white collared shirt, his old-fashioned gloves and assorted black lace around his neck gave me hope once again for human's fashion sense. I complimented him, twice, on his attire yet soon forgot about his existence. He was, however, ever-present at the back of my mind; I was reminded of him at the least convenient moments by a warning voice echoing through my ears. I did not know the meaning of those premonitions then, but now I do. Even dead, he still comes back to torment me and I cannot find rest after what happened between us.

It was not until several weeks later that I once again was made aware of his presence: under a protection spell, I was unable to break through his masterful disguise. His name eluded my memory, his face even more so. I knew nothing of him, yet he knew who and what I was. My friend, my only true ally, Brown Reaper had accidentally slipped some information to him on the fated night when M had tried to claim his life. There wasn't much he could tell him, for he had already died by my hand and his empty shell was merely a trap, a bait to lure other souls in. Yet, I had miscalculated something and now, now M knew of my existence. It was already unforgivable of him to attempt on my, tragically already dead, ally, yet what Brown Reaper's ghost revealed to me in a vision was even more appalling. M intended to claim the power of the Quill for himself, he was not content with aiming for the Ring alone, he needed the Quill as well.

Now, some might have joined these hideous games for the thrill of the hunt, some because they want to be haunted, others for the glory or the power...others might even be stuck in this curse without a clue as to why. In my case, I was in it for the Quill and nothing more, its power is many times more alluring, and addictive, than the Ring itself. Oh, yes, I am a coward. I was afraid, yet I was tempted. The thought of letting Jareth know of my existence was disquieting to say the least, yet the promise of the prize was too much for me to resist. That is why I brought my trusted Brown Reaper along with me to this world. And this is also why, after all the effort I had put in it, I came to naturally dislike M. Even without a name and a face, he was still a valid target for my unfair distaste. I acknowledged him as my rival and I do not like having other competitors go against me. He needed to be eliminated, if not by my hand by that of someone else. Yet, how to get him was the real issue, I had no information on his real identity and with my memory failing me I did not know his looks either. The last warning I got from my deceased ally was the least reassuring possible as well "Watch out for his weapon, this one is a powerful foe." I needed a plan if I wanted to survive once everyone in this mess became fair game to every other alive soul to walk through the Labyrinth. I thought a bounty could possibly do it. Surely, the promise of a prize would prompt more people to go after him, I reasoned. But then I realised that even so, without a name, making a general statement about a wanted kill was not going to work. I refrained then from taking any action, until the clock stroke the last warning and tables were turned upside down. My name was now publicly available and so was his. Oh, I was surprised to realise we had met in the past, despite my evident lack of recollection of that moment. I tried to reach out for my ally once again, but he lied, sending me into even more confusion as I was dead certain it was M who had killed him. Reading their chronicles did not help either, as I was baffled by the mention of anther unknown creature, "K", whose existence I seriously doubted. Indeed, for a while I believed the two of them to be merely fanciful constructs coming out of nothing in this warped place. I set out to investigate then, I posed as Red Riding Hood and hopefully my imitation was good enough to fool most people. Thence uttered the fateful sentence 'I am concerned about M' that and then it was only a matter of time until a light was shed on my doubts confirming my suspicions that it was indeed M who had killed Brown Reaper. I wish I could say that I went after him there and then, but I didn't. I let him breathe some more, partially because I was afraid, but mostly because I felt it was unjust on him since he was putting so much effort into meting life after life. Mind you, I never forgot he was my rival, I was merely saving him for last, in case I ran out of options on who to kill. Despite this, I suspect he feared I would come for him as much as I dreaded him appearing on my doorstep on a cold winter morning. It was on this terms that we reach the night after my failed attempt on Merlin when I, having lost all hope, and unwilling to get into a futile fight with M decided it was time to contact him via other means. With less than twenty-four hours to go I realised I no longer cared about my survival and that I could not stand this tribulation anymore. I needed to know, how and why we met in the past. I needed him to lift the enchantment and let me see him for who he was.

Needless to say, he did not trust me one bit and was rather distant with his replies. I bore no ill-intentions towards him at the time, beside wishing for his death. I was sincerely impressed by his skills and deep down I knew, I was well-aware, that he deserved the Quill more than me and writing this down in here makes my fingers bleed, but I have to admit I appreciated his alternative story-telling too. I admired his bravery, yet I loathed his morals which I was and I still am unable to comprehend. I reassured him several times over that I would not go after him, even as I suspected that his death was the best I could hope for my own survival. We never stroke a deal, not in the strict sense of the word at least, yet our exchange of information and promises not to kill each other are close enough for me to say that breaking my word felt at least displeasing.

Hence I doubly reassured M I was not going to kill him, by restating my lack of interest in him to his griffin friend I happened to meet on the road a few hours past noon. Thence I went walking to my unscheduled appointment with Barry Bluejeans who promptly stood me up. For three hours I waited in the [PLACE OF LEARNING REDACTED], and for three hours he wasn't there. I was lucky, I found a spot right next were Barry Bluejeans was predicted to materialise. For two long hours I waited there, exposing myself, doubting my senses, mistakenly thinking that another studious of the ancient language of the world in a blue jumper with square glasses was him. I became so frustrated and paranoid that once the gnome from before showed up I did not believe him after he told me that the creature in a blue dress was not Barry Bluejeans. I thought he was covering up for him. I thought it might still be worth killing him just in case and then execute the gnome as well...

With such thoughts exciting my mind I inadvertently agreed to go scout the nearby golden mine for Barry Bluejeans together with the gnome. It was full of dwarves and a few faeries, even a Greek God, but no Barry Bluejeans could be seen. My suspicions on the gnome grew exponentially as the blue-clothed being had left by the time we made it back to the disturbingly empty halls of the [PLACE OF LEARNING REDACTED]. I thanked him coldly and then waited for some more time, until it became clear that Barry Bluejeans was not going to be at the [PLACE OF LEARNING REDACTED] on that day. I had expected as much, he was a careful man; still it had been worth a shot. On the bright side, my long unfruitful wait had not been entirely unproductive, as M had contacted me with some last minute advice on Garfield the Deals Warlock, out of spontaneous magnanimity. 'Don't go after Garfield the Deals Warlock,' he had said, though he refused to disclose the reason.

I knew, however, that there could only be one reason for him to say so and that was either he believed Garfield the Deals Warlock to be dead or about to be. I reconsidered my dire situation as I prepared to teleport back home, my leg was really giving me a hard time and there was more work I had to do that night in order to survive. Too much work, I thought as I discarded the option of attempting on a pseudo-dead Garfield the Deals Warlock. It was just not worth it. My philanthropic fellow M might have been as well lying to me, yet I doubted he had any motive to impede my ascension. Thus, I resolved to head back and take my time to excogitate another plan. I was about to leave that damp and muddy place for good when a much unexpected creature crossed my path. Smaug appeared in front of me, the dead Smaug who no one the less had been murdered by M in a stylish, yet disputable and frankly upsetting way. I was taken aback by this apparition, unprepared to face the fire of a greedy Dragon. Smaug wasn't there to roast me, as it turned out, for a Dragon's flames are rather ineffective from the afterlife.

When enquired about my status, I was blunt, I disclosed that I had been involved in dark dealings since our last meeting and, as a result of that, my life was about to end, yet I was not going to do a thing about it. I had lost all hope and honestly I was tired and feeling the weight of my age as the cold seeped through my old bones. 'I am on the brink of death,' I announced with a self-commiserating smile.

'Oh that's sad...'

'I could try to get M but I promised I wouldn't go after him. Besides he is unlikely to be home at this time.' I clicked my tongue in distaste, my eyes darkening; I should never have promised him to let him be.

'Oh, yes, M, that is a good target. He travels to the edge of this world and crosses the barrier between realities to join the [SOCIETY REDACTED], supernatural creatures not affected by the curse of the Labyrinth as they are not dwellers of these lands, but come from a much farther, much more obscure and complex world of Fantasy. I used to be able to do that as well, before he took my life,' Smaug revealed.

I do not know if the sparkle in the chill wintery air I saw at that moment was of vengeful nature or simply a figment of my imagination, yet I would have never suspected such an ancient being to wish for revenge against an uprising Hero. Still, as the Villain in this play, I could not refrain from contemplating the option of taking it upon myself to accomplish the unspoken request which had just passed between us.

'I promised him I would not kill him, so I won't. I cannot,' I repeated in dismal. There must have been some other way of doing this, I could still attempt on all of the other targets before midnight. Thus bidding farewell to Smaug I retired to my home to devise a new plan. Eating dinner gave me no satisfaction as I frantically contacted the only creature I could still count on at such late time. An Elf among my old acquaintances who was sure to help me in times of need. Elves are cryptic creatures, but this one was a young fellow I had managed to recruit for my impure deeds and they promptly replied to my call. Still, this was a long shot and it threatened to go against my only principle. Thread carefully, Rumpelstiltskin, I heard a voice of warning. For lies and deceptions will turn against you once the Fate of this world is sealed.

Close to the seventh hour past midday, it was already dark and harshly cold when I left again, this time with less than an ounce of hope into my heart. I had not planned this through, it was much an impromptu decision to contact the Elf, another [MEMBER OF SOCIETY REDACTED], a traveller across the lands of Untold Tales from which creatures unfamiliar to most in our world spawned from as temporary visitors to the Labyrinth, unfazed by its curse as Jareth holds no power onto those domains. We needed no magic beans to jump through that dimensional gate, as the doors would be opened for us by a much stronger sorcery than our world could possibly contain. It was with much haste, therefore, that I reached their place and waited into the cold outside of a back-gate for them to open the door to the fortress which housed both them and another target. There was no time to go after Cherry Pie, though, as we fast walked out through uncharted roads, past columns of trees and decadent walls adorned with thorns.

'He is probably not there; I am talking to him right now. If he were [PARTICIPATING IN SOCIETY REDACTED] he wouldn't be able to focus enough to attend a telepathic conference with me,' I pointed out. 'He might deign us of his presence later in the evening, though. Hence, I will come.'

'Are you sure you want to do this?' The Elf questioned me; their piercing blue eyes cutting thought my amber ones.

'Hihhihi...,' I giggled in response, enthusiastically gesturing with my hands. 'Well, dearie, I can effortlessly justify my presence there given my sincere fascination with mingling with characters from other Realms. As you know, I have enough connections with both outsiders and amphibious beings to bridge the gap between the two Worlds, if I wanted to. I may as well argue that my inquisitive mind has taken a sudden interest in the overlapping between the multifarious [SOCIETY REDACTED] society and the shadowy [THERE ARE NO GUILDS, OF ASSASSINS OR OTHERWISE, IN CAMBRIDGE] on the day my life is supposed to end. This is totally not suspicious and definitely genuine, I am sure your mermaid friend will not suspect a thing. Besides, I am credible enough as a Monster to act the part and make people believe me. The only one who is going to be suspicious is M, if he even is there.'

We had almost reached the location by then, and I still had no recollection of M's looks. To make things worse, I was not one bit sure I really wanted to barge into a random group of entities of disputable nature, many of which are most definitely not akin to anything from this world, to test my luck with a much alive, much fearsome, enemy. Besides, there was a particularly specific one creature I did not wish to meet on those premises and the danger of coming across them made me hesitate once again. Just as we were about to enter the room, I stopped and looked at my elfish companion with an unsure expression.

'Do I really want to do this?' I asked more to myself than to them. Nobody could answer that question for me and the answer was no, I did not want to. An unidentified wizard of some sort opened the gates for us and stared at me, enquiring if I was in the right place. I confirmed I was indeed meant to be there, as one of the Elf's escorting guard. Using a spell to trick the gatekeeper into confusion I slipped into the next corridor, half-hiding my body for fear that someone could recognise me. Unfortunately, I could only grasp a blurry picture of what was on the other side before I had to retreat, my magic was not very effective once I had stepped through the dimensional gap and the guard had resumed her stance.

The danger of an infelicitous encounter with the aforementioned ambiguous creature was not negligible at this point and I deemed taking the chance to find M among the crowd unnecessarily harmful. Consequently, I sent my accomplice out forward, asking them to alert me in case they spotted M. Yet, as I left the metaphysical Realm, I knew he would not be showing up tonight. Incidentally, he had just told me so via telepathy.

I was left with very little choices then. I went back, walked past the same thorns-covered walls, through the same dark alleys until I bumped into an acquaintance of mine which hijacked me for ingredients' shopping. He needed advice on poison preparation and I was at hand so why not waste time helping him when my life was at a stake? I suppose keeping in telepathic contact with M was no longer essential as I stepped through a magical barrier which impeded me from making any conversation with him for a while.

'The herbs you are looking for are here,' I said through my teeth as the juvenile God stood before me. He was not experienced in the subtle art of poison brewing and surely lacked the elegance which is required for that. He had a witch dictate him the recipe, he told me while I trotted beside him with an exasperated look on my face. The lack of contact with the outside world and my only current source of knowledge was slowly but surely driving me nuts.

It was only several minutes later that I excused myself and went to Nevar's place. It seemed that finally fate had decided to smile upon me as another inhabitant of that land was just about to enter the shelter where he resided. She even pointed me to the correct room before disappearing with some friends inside a warmly lit chamber. Left outside alone in the corridor I knocked on Nevar's door. As someone had suggested, some people tend to forget who they are so I thought it would be nice of me to remind him his true identity when he asked for mine. I was at my wits' end and I told him so, wishing that he would be as desperate as me to open that door. I heard an ominous noise then, the lights flickered twice in the room and I backed away, arming my gun. I had no insight on what sort of magic I was expecting, but it certainly was not going to find me unprepared.

I knew he was going to open and that I would only have a few moments to bury him before he killed me. What I did not know was that the girl who let me in would be coming out of the room next door and surprisingly enquire about Nevar's health. I certainly couldn't tell her that I was about to murder him. 'I think he is doing fine, dearie,' I said before the door sprung open and an armed Nevar shot at me, miraculously missing anything vital. He got my arm, I think, his bullet just grazing against my coat, but I did not have time to check, as I ducked down immediately the moment he appeared out of his room and fired a bullet half a second after he had pulled his trigger. I got him on the right shoulder, but he still managed to fire once more before his right arm became unavailable. With a bleeding leg, I dragged myself out of that place, cursing under my breath for my stupidity. I should have been more sagacious, I should I have had a more credible story and perhaps I shouldn't have attempted on his life with a single-bullet gun. I was lucky to be alive.

He got me in my good leg, for [NOUN CENSORED]'s sake! I thought as I kept staggering through the roads, my mind in a frenzy, heading back near the centenary tree outside of [COLLEGE REDACTED] where the roads were better lit. This truly was the end...I contacted Merlin, the adrenaline still flowing through my veins. I thought I shot him in the guts, but my eyes failed me at the critical moment...he looked still alive when I left, so I assumed it was his arm that got the most damage.

You should go back and finish the job. He replied.

There is no way I can break through his protection twice: he knows my magic now. I need a better success rate to attempt again.

There is a chance he might be dead, lying in a pool of his own blood and other debris as we speak now. You should check with Jareth. He's the one who runs the Labyrinth, he will know whether Nevar is dead or alive.

Jareth's reply will never make it on time...I am afraid letter correspondence is not as fast as telepathy and without doubt the clock will strike me dead before I manage to get my queries to him. I dragged my leg behind me, checking my back in case Nevar had decided to come after me and take advantage of my wounded state. Fortunately, the alley was empty and I kept moving forward, unavoidably leaving a noticeable trail of blood on the soil.

Use telepathy! He is usually very responsive.

I suppose that is true, I thought to myself and not to Merlin Yet I had never contacted Jareth in such a personal and direct way before and I was not very much inclined to do so even in front of death. Alas, extreme situations call for drastic measures and I resorted to the means of magic to contact him. My message was short and perhaps a bit too colloquial: my old timorous self resurfacing for a moment as I feared Jareth might not welcome my silly account of the facts.

I am afraid he is not dead. He declared making my heart sink. You saw the bullet in his shoulder and that is what the true reality of this world is. You are both alive.

I see. I sarcastically commented more to myself than anyone else, the irony...I got so close and let the chance slip through my fingers because I did not have the guts to keep my eyes open while firing a gun. Truly a shameful act I could only atone for with my inglorious death. And yet, I still did not give up. Merlin's motivational speech renewed my strength and gave my feet the energy to step forward despite the hallucinating pain shooting though my upper right leg. On the other hand, oblivious to my dealings with Merlin, M encouraged me to go on as well.

And I just could not let go of my life yet. Not when I had come so close...I briefly stopped to recover some energy while paying my respects to the Princess of the Night sky: a full moon hiding behind a blanket of vaporous clouds. Then, with the remnants of my life force, I scrambled into the dark court of [COLLEGE ALSO REDACTED]. Lyra Viria lived there and I had been told she was an easy target; how easy to kill she was I will never know because I could not find her home. It took me some time, a deceitful conversation with two perplexed witches and several disapproving frowns from a squad of ogres passing by to get me into that building and then she wasn't even there! Disappointed I related the events to M before running at full speed to get to the dark cave hosting [PLACE OF ENTERTAINMENT REDACTED] where some drama was unfolding. I had offered myself to a bunch of Onis for that night, a Kabuki play I was forced to attend despite my precarious state of mind. The presence of my fairy ally in there did not make things any better and I turned away in disgust at the sight of their loathsome fairy dust. The lack of communication was again abysmal and I could only grow more and more restless as I tried to enjoy the performance. I squirmed on my seat, mentally calling for M despite the evident barrier obstructing my powers.

It was not before one hour and fifteen minutes later that I was finally free to hunt once again. Honestly, most people would have given up by now, but not me. I just can't let go. And so I ran, into the night, through the cold air, under the full moon. Faster that I ever had, with no time to stop and admire the magnificent astral formation. I ran to my elfish accomplice's house again and we rushed to Cherry Pie's room. I doubted she would open. I doubted she would respond at all. Yet, she did. For a few long minutes we stood silent, hoping that she would open the door for us without having to say a word. I cursed my bad luck: a common acquaintance had just revealed that they lived too far to come over and help me persuade her to come out. In the end, I resolved to tell her the truth, revealing that she was still alive, a fact that she was not very happy to listen to as she had thought she was already dead. I offered to help her reach the other side, yet she politely refused explaining that she was not ready to take that route. I realised it was a lost cause and just let it go. There was no point in arguing with a soul about to fly to heaven in a few minutes refusing to accelerate her passing.

'We could go for Lyra Viria again but I doubt she is going to open,' I said as I frantically scrolled the list of names still available. M was still in contact with me and I felt supported. Despite everything, talking to him in the past few hours had made me realise that I truly wished for him to get through this ordeal unharmed. It is weird for me to develop feelings for another being, but his disinterested help had moved me. That is, until he told me something that made me change my mind. He was actually going through with it, his plan, the one he had mentioned before while I was running towards [YET ANOTHER COLLEGE REDACTED]'s dark silhouette.

[Flashback to several minutes earlier]

'I am currently entertaining the idea of dying valiantly just before the clock strikes midnight and lose my chance of escaping the Labyrinth forever by attempting to kill Jareth in protest for their verdict of a double kill.'

I was shocked. I wasn't expecting that, my Sybil eye had failed to see such a future. I did not reply for several minutes, unable to recover from the surprise but also considerably busy running through the roads to reach [YET ANOTHER COLLEGE REDACTED].

'Talk to me,' he had said when I was silent for too long.

'Yes? Why the protest?'

'It is unfair and unjust. Axl N' Rose's death. It was a well-orchestrated kill and she shouldn't be dead.'

'I suppose, but Jareth's ruling is final.'

'If I die, you can take my place and take care of things after my death. I shall entrust you with my legacy.'

'I know, but I'd rather earn my spot among the glorious by murdering Cherry Pie than succeeding you,' I replied and, oh, the way he misinterpreted that is amusing. I never meant to be righteous and I never meant to be considered his apprentice either. 'How would you even get close to Jareth?' I questioned.

'I have my ways; it might be a suicide mission but I do have a valid plan. Remember the unkillable Alder Skrilth?'

Then I realised, he was not going to die, this was going to work in his favour and a bitter flavour filled my frozen mouth as I waited outside of [YET ANOTHER COLLEGE REDACTED] to be let in. 'Tell me,' I asked, mistakenly thinking that his plan involved me, but he did not consider it worth sharing.

'Try talking me out of it,' he challenged me.

'Oh dearie, you won't die...I mean, do not die! You should not throw your precious life away for such trivialities...is Jareth even at home?'

'I think he must be. Otherwise no harm in trying.'

'What's the plan?' I tried again. And again it was "irrelevant". I was getting tired of waiting into the cold and my ally had just arrived so we walked in to get Cherry Pie...

[End of Flashback]

'I wanted Axl N' Rose to make it together with me. There is no reason why I shouldn't take such course of action now. If I escape with my life and Jareth's then I wish you well. If not and I die, then you will take my place and carry out your duty.'

'Poor Jareth, I desire to witness this act of loyalty and revenge you are about to carry out. Would I be welcome to materialise over to his place?' Despite everything, I found this turn of events very amusing and the prospect of seeing Jareth either being murdered of killing M sounded delightful to my ears. This was the last-minute unexpected twist in the plot that every character in a book wishes to see.

M did not seem to like the idea of me coming over, however, as he suggested I go find more targets somewhere else. 'Please, do me a favour. If you die, die with a dash,' I begged him. I truly wanted to see the scene unfolding, the surprise, the incomprehensible reasoning behind his moves, the final moments of struggling before life left either one or two bodies...it was calling me, telling me to go watch it turn into reality. 'But do not die,' I added trying to not sound too eager to have them die in a double-kill, just for the scenic effect it would have had if it had happened. 'And I don't think anyone would open their door at this hour,' I concluded.

'Well, anyone but Jareth,' the Elf standing above my shoulder commented and I silently agreed.

We moved out, still debating whether to turn left or right, [COLLEGE ALSO REDACTED] or Jareth's house. In the end, it was my curiosity which decided the outcome, I spun on my feet and cursed at the world and at my destiny. 'To the hell with everything, I am going to die, I might at least enjoy a spectacle before that happens! Let's go to Jareth's house. I would rather spend my last half-hour alive in a meaningful way, enjoying myself rather than struggling to survive until the last second. And if M has already killed them, then I can just stay in there waiting for their thunderboltion act in their company for a bit.'

We ran fast, through the zig-zag walls of the crumbling world coming down around us. We were out of breath but I was still breathing, still alive enough to feel the pungent iced air enter my lungs. 'I still am not sure if I want to go through with this,' I said. 'I definitely want to see him kill Jareth because it's amusing and hilarious in a way. Or at least try to kill. On the other hand, I do not know if I want to assassinate him, it would be very unfair to do that given that he has worked more proficiently than me. I will make up my mind once we are there,' I decided.

Too soon we reached the house and I still had not come up with a cover story to allow us in. After the previous experiences of the night with the other doorbells, my nerves weren't strong enough to persuade Jareth to open the door, not strong enough to hold a ten-second-long conversation with him for the matter. I asked my ally to ring the bell for me, action which they refused on the grounds "It is more suspicious for me to be here out at night than you, since you are on a murderous quest trying to keep alive anyway".

'I suppose that is true. We could claim you are possessed by an unspecified something and we need his magic to help us treat you.'

'And we would have left [YET ANOTHER COLLEGE REDACTED], my house, to walk all the way down here, in order for Jareth to cure me?'

'We were already here, taking a night stroll and we wish to drink some tea. He would never refuse to open his door to friends in need for tea,' I suggested.

'Maybe. Maybe just try the truth?'

'Oh yes, of course. I can already see this working "Jareth, this is Rumpelstiltskin. Listen, could you please open the door? I need you to let me into your house because M is coming to kill you and I wish to prevent that, or at least make sure she is dead by the end of all this." This will absolutely get us inside.' I shook my head: me and Jareth were not on strictly unfriendly terms, but I doubted he would aid me in an assassination plan if he truly was supposed to be omniscient and impartial at the same time. 'Maybe we should have kidnapped the mermaid at the outer-worldly gathering you attended and carried them along. I have heard rumours that they sometimes entertain themselves at Jareth's house in the company of Alder Skrilth's deceased corpse as well.'

'I think that would look even more suspicious given the hour. It is twenty past eleven at night...'

'As far as I am aware they always said they wanted to try drugging Jareth late at night for unscrupulous purposes. Perhaps this could have been the right occasion to try that. Yet, we have more pressing issues to worry about right now. Press the button, Elf,' I ordered, patience running thin.

Something I had not expected attracted my attention, a movement on my left side, an apparition I had not predicted. I turned slowly as two more people approached the mansion. I did not recognise either of their faces, yet my instinct revealed their identities to me. On the left stood M, recognizable given the sophisticated hat and trench coat style which screamed DANGER loud and clear to my ears. The one on the right I failed to recognise, yet I then came to know them as "K". The obscure and elusive "K" whose existence was cloaked in mystery.

A moment of tense silence followed. I suspect M probably had not anticipated finding me there just as much as I was not expecting to meet him on the doorstep outside of Jareth's house. I thought he was already inside, readying himself for his suicidal mission. We stared at each other, my hand into my pocket brushing the lower end of my gun, my mind reminiscing Brown Reaper's last admonishment "Be wary of his weapon". And I was, without doubts; not knowing what sort of magic tricks he was capable of, I refrained from pulling out my pistol.

Seconds stretched into minutes as no words were ever said, yet our eyes spoke volumes to each other. We were at an impasse: neither of us could take a valid step without breaking the fragile balance which had settled between us. It was as if time had come to a standstill, nobody dared to make a move. Even if M felt that there was no reason why he should kill me, I was convinced he would, given that my presence there clearly pointed at my betrayal of our feeble agreement and consequently hesitated on what to do. Should I try to shoot him? I do not want to, though, I thought measuring the distance between us. It was at that moment that a figure appeared on the door, a Dragon from the looks of it. I was confused, I thought my Elf comrade had rung Jareth's bell.

'Wait, you're not Jareth' I stopped mid-sentence, unwilling to reveal to Emily and his allies that me and my accomplice were there to alert Jareth of the danger. 'You are not the person who lives in room one. Did you press the wrong button?' I asked the Elf.

'I never pressed anything,' they replied to my surprise.

'Oh, I thought you did...'

I looked back at M, then moved away from the door. I could sustain the tension no more, and made way for them to enter, as I could not think of any other better option. It was not for me to take his life at such a time, not with my heart feeling utterly defeated by his unforeseen appearance. Not when we were outnumbered. Nevertheless, we tailed them through the front door and for the first time in my life I stepped foot inside Jareth's house. I felt their eyes on me, perhaps confused as to what exactly I was doing there. I did not realise that "K" had no idea of who I was, while M did not seem in the least interested in defending himself. I was too distracted looking for Jareth's lair which I deduced was deep down several layers of earth.

I believe someone tried to question me, yet in the excitement of the moment my mind did not register the exact sequence of actions. I moved into a circle of silence, though, and raised my eyes on them. We stood still for a few more second, exchanging confused looks and half- sentences while I tried to think fast on how to disentangle me from the situation which had arisen. This seemed to be the night of fortuitous encounters as I spotted a creature I would have never dreamt of meeting again - not under such circumstances anyway. A fire faerie from my distant past was looking at me from the narrow entrance to their room.

'Oh hello,' I said a bit too energetically, startling both the Dragon and the Elf.

'Hi Rumpelstiltskin,' they surprisingly recognised me, despite the fact that we only briefly met a very long time ago in an underground dwarves gathering.

'You are a [PROFESSION REDACTED] aren't you? A faerie from my same land,' I replied, my eyes glittering as part of my brain perceived the danger of getting distracted while also at the same time trying to divert my enemy's attention by doing something unpredictable, such as talking in a familiar way with their own ally.

'Yes, that I am.'

There was a pause then, until when M finally suggested that they all moved into a room to discuss the "plan". I watched them leave as me and the Elf stood outside, thinking of going to Jareth's room, before the door opened without any warning and we were invited inside.

Thunders reverberated through my ears as I stared at them stare back at me, with a questioning look. He is going to kill me. I concluded. There is no excuses I can come up with to explain the motives behind my actions. I stepped into the room as if stepping into my own grave, prepared for a vicious attack which did not come. The Elf came along, and we suddenly found ourselves in the awkward position of being in a narrow space with two alive murderous souls potentially hiding weaponry below their cloaks, which they were ready to fire any moment.

'Well, this is not what I had planned,' M announced.

I relaxed my shoulders a bit, leaning against the wall behind me, not letting go of the gun in my pocket. He wasn't going to kill me, not yet at least.

'But I can edit my plan to make it work,' I heard him say. I looked at him and he looked at me, and so did "K". He questioned my presence, most certainly afraid I would murder M.

'I was going to have a word with Jareth about Nevar. In all honesty, he should be dead. A hit like that under his arm, straight to the axillary artery is bound to be a lethal shot.' I was climbing upon mirrors and I knew my poor explanation did not stand a chance when "K" looked at me unconvinced. I decided to change strategy then. I was as candid as snow with them, I gave them the real reason which had prompted me to come to Jareth's house on that momentous night. 'And I want to witness this, the moment you go and murder them. I want to see the expression on their face as they realise that life is about to leave their body. It will give me the utmost pleasure to be a spectator to the grandeur and dramatics of your act in my final moments.'

I doubt this version of the story convinced anyone. It is a pity really, that when someone tries to be legitimately honest others should doubt of their good word. Still it seemed to satisfy M enough to let me on the details of the plan; my guess is that he did not care for his life anymore, only for his righteous revenge.

'So, Jareth owes my Dragon ally here some gold supplements as a prize for winning a contest launched a few eons ago. We will introduce myself as a partisan lending his power to the Dragon's cause and retrieve the owed payment before striking him down with my poisonous vials,' he concluded showing us the weapon he was going to use to carry out the execution.

I automatically tensed at the sight of the dangerous flammable liquid, yet made no move to extract my gun. I had faith he would not murder me in such a coward and tasteless way and I was correct in my judgement, as he replaced the weapon back inside his coat. His plan sounded perfectly sensible. There was no reason why the Goblin King should refuse them an audience on those grounds, despite it being very late at night. Moreover, M's words and actions had confirmed that he was definitely not interested in my death as all he could see at this point was his quest. What was the uneasy feeling that agitated my mind, then? What was my heart truly craving? I questioned myself. If it was M's life, I could always take it after he had survived Jareth.

'You will survive,' I predicted in a histrionic outburst which surprised myself a bit as well. 'He will not be expecting you as you have no reason to attempt on his life from his point of view.'

Cold sweat ran along my spine, the unsettling feeling that something was off would not leave me. I wanted to escape the room, run to Jareth and wait there instead, possibly warn him just in order to overthrow M's plan.

'Yeah, he won't. There is too many of us, only a few can go.'

My eyes widened in fear, afraid to be left behind. 'I want to come and witness his death, for...personal reasons as well. I will not change my mind on this, I want him dead too' I reinforced my previous statement, for the first time in a long while straight out lying - I did not want Jareth dead, but I did want to see his dying face which made matters complicated inside my mind. There were way too many voices speaking at once, prompting Rumpelstiltskin to commit different sins he could not undertake all at once.

'Are you sure he will let you in, though? You could just let me and the Elf go ahead of you and get into his room. I could conjure a valid distraction to cloud his senses and then my elfin accomplice here could open the door for you. This would lower the chance of him pulverizing you before you even get close enough to attack him.' I was trying hard to instil some doubts into him now while considering the option to notify Jareth beforehand in order to give them a chance to fight back.

'And which better excuse would you have than us to allow yourselves into his rooms?'

'The Elf here is friends with Jareth, from old times. We...we were going to pretend that they are possessed by some entity of unknown origin and ask for their help with an exorcism.'

'And that is sure to work,' M sarcastically replied.

'Believe me, dearie, it is very much credible, given this particular elf's past records. Otherwise, we could simply go with "I am here because I know that M is coming to kill you and I want to cut his legs first. Could you please kindly let me into you room so that I can murder him?"' I vaguely gestured with my hand as if what I had said was of trivial importance and carried no hidden meaning whatsoever.

'Oh so you want to kill him!' someone in the group exclaimed.

'Not at all,' I replied with a sheepish look.

'That's the cover story,' M clarified for them.

'Ah! The cover story. But what if it is not a cover story...?'

'It matters not!' M said. 'We are going downstairs together. Me and Dragon...and Rumple.'

'Aren't you also trying to reach for the stars?' The dragon blurted out in my direction. 'If so why don't we let him claim Jareth's life instead?'

I looked at her, refraining myself from revealing that even killing Jareth would not allow me to survive the night. For obscure reasons I will never know, M did not betray that information either.

'Maybe I should just kill him myself,' I agreed trying to go along with the Dragon to avoid them from suspecting that my only chance to get out alive of that house was to kill M. That would be the perfect revenge, wouldn't it? Taking the chance of avenging his dead ally from M. There could be no greater pleasure than crushing his plans so. It might be deplorable, yet it is even more rewarding than taking his life, I thought to myself meanwhile.

'And what motive would you have?'

'He ruled that Nevar is to live, when his wound should have killed him. I have reasons for wanting him dead as much as you do.' Oh, the opportunistic speech of a true Machiavellian, this plot is get more and more contorted.

'Fair enough. But I want to make the kill myself.'

'Then I shall be a mere spectator to your ascension to unfading glory,' I declared before we set off.

The stairs leading to Jareth's chambers were slippery and twisted at the wrong angles. More than once I had to watch my feet to avoid crashing down on M and her Dragon friend. Once down into the narrow aisle I realised that the door to Jareth's room was unlocked. We could have just intruded without asking for permission, but that was not in M's style I gathered. He knocked and a voice which I recognised as Jareth's reached us from the other side. I moved back making space for M and the Dragon to enter the dimly lit room, unsure if I should follow.

One of my inner demons likes theatrics and I was sincerely hoping that there would be some fight occuring before me that night. I popped my head inside, trying to make eye contact with Jareth before it was too late. I might have smiled, perhaps blinked, yet he failed to pick up any signals I sent his way. What seemed obvious to me was of obscure nature to him apparently. I stepped into the room, pupils quickly adjusting to the lack of light and immediately noticing what I suspected to be Alder Skrilth's presence on the side. I also took a good look at Jareth, curious to see him in his true form, thrilled to meet the all-powerful being orchestrating everything behind the curtains in his own lair. I was dumbfounded by the sight which met my eyes: fluffy blankets covered the body of a small creature, which was neither intimidating nor vicious, resting in a bed in the darkest corner of the room. He seemed busy with some important paperwork and failed to react at all to my plainly suspicious appearance.

'Is there any more of you?' He asked.

'Well, yes.' I turned around, gesturing for the Elf to come inside. M's voice attracted my attention and I looked back in his direction. I phased out what he was telling the Goblin King to distract him, trying to come up with an idea of how to alert him of the danger without M noticing. This could not be, the fight I had risked my life to see happening, it just wasn't happening! Despite the terrible rumours I had heard on his account and the few public occasion where we had met previously, Jareth's current demeanour was affection-inspiring, the portrait of innocence. One might even go as far as to suggest that he was scarily cute.[You'd be astonished by how frequently I provoke such a reaction. -J] I was shattered by the discovery. Jareth. Goblin King. Cute. That was inconceivable. I turned to the Elf standing beside me, long forgotten emotions suddenly rekindled into my heart. 'Should I just murder him now?' I asked the Elf, talking about M. Then warily bit on my lower lip as the Dragon looked at us, seemingly picking up on my words. M, however, was too involved in his plans to notice anything.

I heard him introduce his final act, 'Oh, and also...' And before I could say or do anything to stop him, he was throwing poisonous vials at Jareth, setting him on fire. I saw the Goblin King close his eyes as the poison made contact with his face, the deathly expression of surprise mixed with pain which I was waiting for.

Something stirred inside me then. He had taken the Goblin King down, M was a dangerous foe. What if he turns around and shoots me as well for good measure? I acted on an impulse, driven by forces I fail to comprehend. It was perhaps my survival instinct taking over, maybe it was the sight of Jareth dying in front of me that made me do what I did. I had always disliked M, ever since the moment Brown Reaper had told me that he was looking for the Quill. He did not know, not even in his death, that the only reason prompting me to kill him was the rivalry I felt with regards to his narrative skills.

I stepped forward, past the Red Dragon. I extracted my weapon from my pocket and moved it into my right hand. Everything unfolded as if taking place in a slow motion film. I made sure to be as close as possible to Brown Reaper's back before pulling the trigger, I watched the bullet hit him with guilt piling up at the back of my throat. I wanted to hide, to disappear, disintegrate into tiny ash pumices at that moment. I wish I could deny that I did what was the most predictable move of the night. Yet I can't and I have to take responsibility for that. I have to bear the final look in M's eyes which will be forever etched into my cursed soul.

At that moment, as his Dragon companion mourned his loss through ruby red tears, I felt ecstatic. Yes, I had made it, adrenaline shot through my body. I had finally taken the life of the one who had attempted on my truest ally. Finally, Smaug's soul could rest in peace knowing that I had put an end to M's rise to power. I hoped they knew, all of the ones M had killed to get to that point, that their thirst for revenge had finally been quenched by my single act.

I took it upon myself to gather all of the darkness contained in this world. To steal the thread of my life from the hands of the Moirai and sever its end myself, in a way that I fancy befitting of my character. Henceforth I shall no longer regret my past nor fear what comes next. There is no more need to lie or hide behind half-truths. O, M, it was not for any Ring that I fought my battles - it was for the Quill. My sole obsession, the promise of which led me to betray the one closest to me in this life. I am sure the Ring has its own charm, but it all pales in comparison to the elegance and finesse of the ultimate reward one could ever hope for: the Golden Quill. If you ask yourself why did you die, the answer is for the Quill. Your motives will never be clear to me, but as I stand upon these papers, inking my soul down on them, I have come to ascertain my own motives and what drives my dagger into the flesh of others. Your actions confounded me, I keep interrogating your ghost on the meaning of life and of your death. Yet all I receive is more riddles, are you a sphinx to tease me so with enigmatic dilemmas? Why did you let me kill you? Surely you must have seen that coming... Why did the carpenter let the treasurer betray her? You reply, such profound questions I do not know the answer to. Because he was born to be the sacrificial lamb? And God said so...? Does this make it any easier for the treasurer?

'No...he was tormented by guilt,' I whisper into the candlelit room I am in, alone with my ghosts. 'Yet, in our world, God...Jareth never prompted you to sacrifice yourself though! This still doesn't explain why you would hand me the chance to join the Duel on a silver plate at the last minute. Especially since you are much worthier of that position than me.'

'Did the carpenter do it for the treasurer?'

'What did you do it for?!' I internally screamed then as M's ghost threw an exasperated look at me for failing to understand him. We are too different me and him, we could never figure each other out, I guess. It matters not, however, since the clock had struck the midnight as I was, true to myself until the last minute of the games, cowering in fear, hiding in a safe spot inside Jareth's residence together with my accomplice.

Merlin was the first to announce that we were safe to me as I updated him on my newly found luck. I will soon have to face him and Barry Bluejeans in the Duel, a fight for the Ring which has somewhat lost his appeal. M deserved more in this life than a backstabbing death, I acknowledge that, yet I also am aware that his death was brought upon by my greed and cowardice. Homo homini lupus est, as they say, and I am nothing but a weak human coated in a dark armour made of magic. I'll steal the words from other worlds to say one last good bye to you, M:

My soul, corrupted by vengeance

Hath endured torment, to find the end of the journey

in my own salvation

And your eternal slumber

[Loveless, Act IV; FFVII]

Verses from afar I know by heart now, they fit in so well I could not resist the temptation to engrave them on this papyrus scroll below your death's chronicles. You have forgiven me, but the world will not. To the Will of the world I am and will always be a Villain. Rumpelstiltskin.