InsaneJournal

Tweak says, "Why is the world spinning?"

Jareth (goblin_king) wrote in labyrinth_rpg,
@ 2009-03-01 09:57:00

Entry tags:

cimorene, complete, day one, faith lehane, gabrielle, giselle, helena campbell, hermione granger, jack harkness, jack sparrow, jareth, mercy thompson, robin of locksley, rose tyler, schuldig, severus snape, steerpike, willow rosenberg, yaten kou

Day One - In the Beginning
Who: Jareth and everyone!
When: Day One, early morning
What: The King addresses his court
Where: City of Illusions, town center
Rating: Anywhere from G to R, I suppose
Status: Complete

In the beginning, everything was nothing. There was a void, black and endless. In one split second, that changed. Where there had been nothing but blackness, the vaguest shape of something began to take form. At first, it was impossible to tell what, since there was still very dark. Slowly, an area of the void began to lighten, and something could be seen to move through the dim light. Before there was more than light and dark, he was there shaping the world.

The King of the Goblins and former Ruler of the Underground looked around at what he had done, little though it appeared to be. He laughed, and it was the first sound ever heard in that place. The light continued to build, and he liked that and encouraged it. For many seconds, almost a full minute, he was very busy. He could feel others coming from the strange Planet that he had escaped. He must be ready... buildings sprung into existance, and grass, and a forest around the edge of the town. He was very guided by the place he'd been before, but also by the first Underground that had been destroyed.

Things were still shiny and new, almost not quite formed, when the first of them arrived. He supposed he'd dragged them along with him when he'd done battle with the Planet, but he wasn't worried. They wouldn't know what was going on. In the blink of an eye, they were there. Cathal, Gabrielle, Faith Lehane, Mercy Thompson, Giselle, Severus Snape, they all popped into being. The surge of energy this brought was incredible, and the lines of the city he had created, which had been hazy and indistinct, firmed into a more solid state.

Jareth searched, then, through all of the worlds that he could reach into with all his millenia of practice. Before a full ten seconds had passed since the arrival of the first ones, those from Mirage, more were brought to stand beside them. Cimorene, Helena Campbell, Hermione Granger, Jack Harkness, Jack Sparrow, Robin of Locksley, Rose Tyler, Schuldig, Steerpike, The Doctor, Willow Rosenberg and Yaten Kou. There was no rhyme or reason to his selections. He simply grabbed those who interested him and took them.

Before long at all, in fact, before even five minutes had passed since he had first walked the void, he had a decent sized group. He would bring more, but later. For now, he had a doubtless very confused court to attend to, and it wouldn't do to keep them waiting. With a gesture, he stood in the very center of the group so they tended to form a circle around him. With a slight twist of his mind, he made himself appear to sparkle, to seem taller than he was, to get their attention.

"Welcome to the Underground." His voice rang out clear and strong through the clearing in the center of the town. "I am the King of this place, and I've brought you here. Some of you will be familiar with this process, as it has been done once before. For some, this is the first time. You will be glad to know it will also be the last." Through some trick of his illusions, he appeared to be looking at each and every one of them, though of course, that should not be possible as they were all arrayed in a circle around him.

"This is your home now. You will not be leaving." He snapped, and in front of each person hung floating in the air two things, a key with a number clearly inscribed on it, and a book. "This is what I shall give you. A journal, which I shall leave to you to figure out, and a key, which is to the room you have been assigned." As he spoke, an orange/red sort of light began to fill the sky to the east. Soon, the sun broke from the horizon and began to rise, casting light on what had largely been in shadow before.

The buildings, each and every one of them, were hung about in gauzy fabrics of all colors. Tents and pavilions were in abundance throughout the area, and from somewhere not so far off, a horse could be heard to snort to itself. It was the City of Illusions in it's Ren Faire guise, which Jareth had seen while on Earth and which had struck his fancy. "This is your home." He repeated. "I have made this city for you to live in. There are only a few simple rules. You may not attempt to kill each other. You may not leave. You may not attempt to go into another's room uninvited. It's quite simple, really."

Jareth didn't pause, didn't give anyone a chance to speak, or even really think through what he had been saying. "For those of you that would not be satisfied with simply existing here in this city, there is a choice. Brave my labyrinth." He gestured toward a wall, high and thick and imposing. A large gate, easily wide enough to drive two buses through, hung open. "If you solve the labyrinth and get to my castle at the center of the structure, you will be rewarded." He paused for just a moment. "Perhaps even with your freedom." He didn't specify further than that.

"That is all. If you have any questions, any of my servants will assist you." He snapped once more, and a short, funny looking goblin scuried up. "Of course, you are welcome to ask me in person... but only if you solve my labyrinth first." As the last words came from his mouth, he was already fading from sight. Seconds later, he was completely gone, leaving those he had brought in a strange sunrise in a completely new world. The goblin, however, remained, looking at the group impassively.

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severelyseverus
2009-03-01 04:15 pm UTC (link)

Snape stared at the space where Jareth had stood. He remembered the ridiculous man from Mirage. If all of the things he had just said were true, he was more powerful than the former Potions master had suspected. Well, well, he thought he was going to play god, did he? It remained to be seen whether he would be a success or failure. Snape was not about to hold his breath.

Snape looked around the circle at his fellow new inhabitants. He recognized a few of them, and wondered if they would recognize him. Absently taking the key and journal that hung in front of him, he pocketed them and pondered his first move. He had been relieved when Mirage took him away from his risky double-agency for both Voldemort and Dumbledore. If this place was no worse than that planet, Snape might not be interested in "braving" Jareth's labyrinth. He wasn't particularly interested in escape.

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dark_slayer
2009-03-01 04:27 pm UTC (link)

One moment, Faith was swimming in an icy waterfall, laughing and chattering to her new friend, Mercy. She actually found herself getting along with the dark-haired girl, which was a rare thing for her. But the next moment, she was falling through a black hole that seemed to open up out of nowhere. This was something she'd done once before, or maybe twice, depending on who you listened to. She wasn't really loving it any more this time.

She didn't scream as she fell through the mirky light. That was something she wouldn't do, give anyone the pleasure of hearing how scared she was. She landed with a thump, somehow managing to balance herself so that she took the impact but remained standing. She glanced around, dark eyes narrowed, as she saw other people arrive in a similar way.

Her attention was soon taken by the verbose Goblin King, and she had to admit, she wasn't loving what she was hearing. In all honesty, she hadn't been annoyed to be taken from Sunnydale to Mirage. It was a somewhat safer place, and on some level, that appealed to her. But getting taken again? And by a dude who seemed to talk a whole hell of a lot more than Mirage ever had? That didn't set nearly as well with her.

Only when his speech was done did she turn her attention to her fellow, well... victims seemed to be a good word. An eyebrow arched as she saw who she was standing beside, and she suddenly became very, very aware that she was completely and totally naked. She'd been swimming, but she hadn't brought a swimsuit. That hadn't stopped either her or Mercy... she smirked at the dark-haired man and tried to ignore her nudeness. "S'up, Skeletor? Looks like you got made all snatchy, too."

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severelyseverus
2009-03-01 10:41 pm UTC (link)

Snape had been so busy gazing around the circle at the others present that he hadn't thought to look at the people on either side of him. The red-haired princess, the muggle-dressed man with short brown hair, and the two blonde women, one in iron age garb and one dressed in muggle garb, looked like people he had seen on Mirage, though not for some weeks. There was a gentleman in medieval clothing, a couple of other relatively young people, and a man dressed as a pirate. Snape also thought he caught sight of one more person, but they moved behind the red-haired princess (what was her name again?) before he could look at them.

So it was that he was completely caught off guard when Faith spoke to him from a foot away. Turning to respond, he was once again surprised to find that she and the tattooed woman she had so recently become chummy with were completely nude. Fixing her and her nakedness with an unblinking stare in hopes it would make her uncomfortable, Snape swallowed to suppress his memories of their personal history, a history the existence of which she continued to deny.

"I beg your pardon. I did not get 'made' anything. How this happened is a complete mystery to me."

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bardictraveller
2009-03-01 04:37 pm UTC (link)

In all honesty, though she'd been taken to Mirage against her will, it hadn't been the worst thing that had ever happened to her. It shamed her a little, but she was rather glad she'd been taken when she had been. She hadn't really had to face the consequences of her own actions in bringing her best friend and soul mate back from the dead.

Of course, it would have been different if Xena hadn't already been on Mirage. She would have done everything she could, moved heaven and earth, to get back to the dark-haired warrior woman. But that hadn't been necessary. Though she knew that Xena would eventually, or not so eventually, chafe under the restriction of not really being able to fight and/or kill things, she had been rather relieved. She didn't have to make that choice, it had been made for her.

She was already planning her day as she awoke. She would look around Mirage a bit. After all, she hadn't really been around that long. There was lots to see. But it would seem that something else had another idea. As she kissed Xena's shoulder and made to roll out of bed, she found herself falling. It hadn't been so long ago that she'd been through this, and she wondered if she was going back home. Desperately, she groped for Xena, but didn't manage to catch hold before she was pulled in.

She landed in the middle of possibly the oddest scene she'd ever been a part of, and that was certainly saying something. She frowned to herself, running her fingers through short blonde locks in confusion. That confusion turned to anger as the one who called himself King spoke. She was pretty sure she didn't like his style. Too arrogant, too sure of herself, and she'd dealt with far too many of that type. With a soft frown, she turned to the person standing beside her. "Do you know anything about this?" Almost absently, she reached out and took the book and key, then simply stood there looking down at them.

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taylorwade
2009-03-01 07:25 pm UTC (link)

One minute, he'd been riding on his way to Nottingham Castle to rescue some captives from the Sheriff of Nottingham's gallows and the next thing he knew he was not only not on his horse, but was standing in a half circle with many other people listening to a very oddly dressed man addressing them as if they were his subjects. He also referred to himself as King. Robin was quite certain that Richard was the King, although he wasn't sure if his reign covered this so-called Underworld.

Robin was confused and he wondered if perhaps he'd fallen off his horse during his ride and had hit his head. Perhaps this was nothing more than a dream. Although it did seem real enough to him, and if it was a dream, he couldn't understand where he had come up with some of these people. The young woman beside him, for instance, was far to underdressed to be from his own time, and the weapons on her person told him she was a warrior. Women, while some might be trained in swordsmanship, were usually not trained with the strange weapons she had in her boots. He cast his gaze around as a key and book loomed before him. He took them from the air in which they hung and continued to glance around.

A man with greasy black hair that reminded him all too much of the Sheriff of Nottingham stood beside a ... Robin had to blink and then transfer the key to his other hand so he could rub his eyes and glance again. But his eyesight was not deceiving him, the woman was indeed naked. He averted his gaze and saw that another dark haired woman with many tattoos on her skin was rushing to see if the naked woman was alright. And another man of a descent he was unfamiliar with stood by, staring at people the way Robin was now.

The woman beside him spoke, and he turned to look down at her. "Be sure I know nothing of this, my lady. I have no understanding of how I've come to be here." He chanced his glance around again. Such a strange group of people, and none of them seemed to be from his time. The Gobling King faded from view and Robin was left utterly confused.

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bardictraveller
2009-03-01 07:57 pm UTC (link)

The blonde bard looked at the man thoughtfully for a moment. Rather attractive, she had to admit. And certainly less scary than the one who had called himself King, and who had made all sorts of frightening pronouncements. She smiled as brightly at him as she could manage, given the somewhat disturbing circumstances.

"Hi." She didn't quite bat her eyelashes at him. Okay, she could be a tiny bit of a flirt sometimes. But she didn't really mean it most of the time. It was just her way of relating to attractive people. And it always somehow came off looking much more innocent than it would under most circumstances for most people. She smiled at him and then tucked the key in a belt pouch. The book she held in one hand, basically ignoring it for now. There would be time to read later.

She glanced away from the man beside her for a moment to look at the others who were around. A dark-haired man who looked rather unpleasant, she rather thought she was going to make a distinct effort to stay away from him. A naked woman... she glanced away and then did a double take. Yes, most definitely naked. She blinked and then her gaze moved on. A dark haired woman covered with tattoos that ran over to the naked woman. She was naked as well. She didn't claim to understand, just kept looking. All sorts of different people, but not the one she really wanted to see.

She sighed softly, wondering if she'd been separated from Xena once more. If so, she had to find a way to get back to her. But first, time to check out the situation, to see if this man beside her was a friend or someone she was going to have to fight. She gave him another bright smile. "I'm Gabrielle." She looked at him thoughtfully. "I'm glad that you aren't a part of this abduction."

She frowned thoughtfully down at the book, not really seeing it. "Where do you think we are? Do you think that person was telling the truth?" She glanced over at the spot where the King had disappeared.