As she approached, she spotted a figure kneeling on the edge of a pond. She felt her mood soar as she ran over, calling "excuse me! Excuse me?"

The man looked up, a disgruntled expression on his face. "Yes?" he responded, but when he saw her, he shook his head and looked back in the pond. "Oh. It's you."

"Can you help me get through this labyrinth?" Alex asked. I've seen him somewhere before, she wondered, but where?

"Hmm…" was the only response he got as he took a water sample and swished it around in a glass. Great, she thought, feeling defeated, the only person I find doesn't even take the time out of his day to talk to me. She was about to walk away when something sparkled in the corner of her eye.

"Oh, how sweet!" she exclaimed. The lights were fairies! She tried reaching for one when the man hit it with some sort of spray. She shot a glare his way as he called, "58!"

"How could you? You monster!" Alex cried, watching the little blue light drop to the ground. He scoffed at her as she stooped to the ground to rescue the sprite. Just as she grabbed the small figure, however, a pain shot through her finger. "Ow! It bit me!"

The man laughed at her exclamation, spraying the fairy again. "What did you expect fairies to do?"

Alex pouted up at him. "I thought they'd do nice things, like granting wishes."

"Shows what you know, doesn't it?"

She didn't particularly like this conversation, but if it meant getting her father, she would have to endure any sort of person she met.

"You're horrible," she said finally, eyeing up the brown-haired man before her. He turned his brown eyes on her; they were still filled with laughter.

"No, I'm not. I'm Hoggle! Who are you?" he asked, momentarily distracted from the fairies.

"I'm Alex."

"That's what I thought," he replied, spraying again. "59!"

Forget about the fairies, she thought. "Do you know where the door to the Labyrinth is?"

"Maybe."

How frustrating! "Well, where is it, then?" The man – Hibble? Hobble? – looked up to see her standing with her hands on her hips.

"Where is what?"

"The door, damn it!"

"What door?"

"Oh! It's hopeless asking you anything, isn't it?"

"Not if you ask the right questions," he said teasingly, his brown eyes sparkling in her direction.

Alex sniffed indignantly, and was about to walk away when it occurred to her.

"How do I get into the Labyrinth?" she requested, and his face lit up with a genuine smile.

"Ah! Now that's more like it. You get in there," he pointed toward an ancient wooden door that popped up in front of them. "You're really going in there, aren't you?"

She turned to see his face filled with wonder. "Yes, I'm afraid I have to." They walked through the door together.

"Cozy, isn't it?" he asked, seeing the slight grimace on her face. "Now, would you go left or right?"

Alex glanced around, confused. "They both look the same to me."

"Well, you're not going to get very far," the man laughed, and Alex glared at him.

"Which way would you go?"

"Me? I wouldn't go either way."

Who would've guessed that the first person she met would be so infuriating? "If that's all the help you're going to be," she replied, her voice dripping with venom, "you can just leave."

The man huffed at her words. "You know your problem?" he asked, "You take too much for granted. Take this Labyrinth… even if you reach the center, you'll never get out again."

"That's your opinion."

"Well it's a lot better than yours."

Enough socialization with this jerk, she decided. "Thanks for nothing, Hogwart!" she called as she walked off to the right.

"Oh! It's Hoggle, and don't say I didn't warn you!" The doors slammed shut behind him, and Alex was alone in the Labyrinth.

She headed down the corridor, not being able to shake the feeling that there was something wrong.

"What do they mean 'Labyrinth'? There aren't any turns or corners or anything! This just goes on and on," she sighed. Hogwart's words bounced around in her head.

You take too much for granted…

"Maybe it doesn't," she said finally, "maybe I'm just taking it for granted that it does!"

Alex ran for what seemed like over a mile and there were no turns or corners or anything. She finally stopped, beating her fists against the walls in frustration. A little worm crawled out of a crevice in the wall, unnoticed by the girl.

"'Ello!" it said finally, and Alex jumped back.

"Did you say hello?" she asked. Of all of Loki's oddities, I never would've expected a talking worm to be on the top of his list.

"No," the worm explained, "I said 'ello, but that's close enough."

"You're a worm, aren't you?" Better safe than sorry, she determined, this might be a trap.

"Yeah, that's right," he replied slowly, put off by her rather obvious question.

"Well, do you know the way through the Labyrinth?"

"Me? No, I'm just a worm."

"Oh." Well that was disappointing.

"Come inside and meet the missus!" the worm offered, but Alex declined.

"I have to solve this Labyrinth," she clarified, "There aren't any turns or openings, it just goes on and on!"

"It's full of openings!" the worm declared, "it's just you ain't seen 'em!"

"Well, where are they?" she enquired.

"There's one right in front of you!" he happily replied. At least I know now there are some friendly people in this Labyrinth, Alex mused, thinking back to Loki and Higgle. But when she turned around, all she saw was an expanse of wall, just like everywhere else.

"No, there isn't," she contradicted, stepping closer to the wall.

"Come inside and have a cup of tea!" the worm put forth again, but this time she only shook her head.

"But there isn't an opening."

"Of course there is! Try walking through it, you'll see what I mean."

"What?" Is he serious?

"Go on, then!" he urged, and Alex sighed.

"That's just a wall," she insisted, "there's no way through!"

"Things aren't always as they seem in this place," the worm stated, "so you can't take anything for granted."

Might as well, she thought, and took the worm's advice. Much to her surprise, there was, in fact, an opening!

"Hey!" she exclaimed, and headed down to the left.

"Hey! Hang on!" she heard the worm call after her, and she walked back to the opening.

"Thank you, that was incredibly helpful!" A very nice change of pace.

"But don't go that way!" he replied, and Alex glanced down both ways.

"Oh, thanks!" she said, turning right this time.

Once she was gone, the worm shook his head. "If she had kept on going down that way, she'd have gone straight to the castle!"

Meanwhile, Alex could see the castle in the distance. The sight of it instilled a new hope in her, and she said to herself, "I'm coming, Dad."