Maze of Emotions

Chapter 3

Outside the prison maze sat a large man in an ornate chair. He wore purple robes and gold rings on his fingers. The very same fingers were now drumming on the arm of the chair. One hand turned itself into a fist and came down hard on the said arm and the chair gave a creak.

"I must find out what his secret is!" The man got up from the chair and paced up and down the room, his every move was being watched by a jet black raven sitting atop a perch next the fireplace, its beady eyes never leaving its master's form.

"Lets see how they deal with the next room then we'll start to get serious!" He then threw back his fat head and gave a deep terrifying laugh.

Back in the prison itself things were getting heated to say the least. Gargamel had managed to pull off Papa Smurf's pants and the elderly Smurf still had time to be a bit embarrassed by the hand stitched love hearts on his boxer shorts, they had been a present from Smurfette and now his deadly enemy could see them!

They were now quite high up the ladders and Papa and Gargamel had to change ladders every now and again and run along a small gantry to get to the next ladder. They must have climbed at least thirty different ladders by now and they were both becoming exhausted. Gargamel had kept Papa's pants and tied them around his waist he did not want to lose one piece of his beloved Papa.

Something was driving him to chase this blue person as if his life depended on it and although his whole body ached he could not stop himself from climbing.

As for Papa, as he climbed the elderly Smurf noted that he could not see anything above or below him for more than 50 meters, it was as if the ladders were on a loop and they were climbing on a treadmill of ladders!

"I really can't climb anymore!" gasped Papa, but his 'lover' was gaining on him. He feared that if he climbed anymore that he might Smurf himself a heart attack. But would that really be preferable to being snogged by Gargamel?

He carried on climbing and ran along yet another gantry when he noticed a door. He went to it and turned the handle. It opened into a very dark room. There was no light at all.

Gingerly Papa moved forward testing the floor to make sure there was one there and then he felt along the wall from his left and he made his way slowly around the room. It was pitch black in there and he could not even see his hands moving along the wall.

The only light came from the open doorway which now had Gargamel silhouetted in its frame.

"Papa where are you? Come to Gargy! I'll find you soon!" Papa looked away and then continued to feel along the wall. But by turning away he did not notice in which direction Gargamel had gone.

Gargamel was doing the same as Papa, feeling along the wall but he had gone right instead of left and in the dark they were making their way towards each other.

The evil wizard was not making a sound and the Smurf had no way of knowing where he was. Papa did not want to shout out anything for fear of giving away his position.

For a few minutes they both stood stock still trying to hear for each other but neither of them heard any footfalls or breathing.

Instead there was another sound, that sounded like hissing and scratching. This new sound seemed to become louder the more they listened then they both came to the same conclusion at the same time...SNAKES!

Now Gargamel liked to think of himself as brave but snakes freaked him out! Ever since he last went to collect some Blue clay to make a new Smurf he had a fear of the snakes that infested the clay beds and when the clay exploded he only just managed to get away in time before the snakes turned on him. This memory made him let out an involuntary whimper of fear.

Papa heard the evil wizard's cry and deduced that Gargamel was on the opposite side of the room. Papa carried on moving but this time back towards the open door. He was not keen on snakes either and getting out of this room would be a good idea.

Gargamel could hear the Smurf moving on the other side of the room and he could see Papa approaching the light coming through the doorway and just as he reached it even the tiny oasis of light was extinguished. The door had slammed shut!

They were both trapped with the snakes in the dark. Gargamel could stand it no more, the fear he was feeling helped clear his system of the love potion and now he just wanted someone to hold his hand.

"Papa, where are you? I think that love potion has worn off. But don't you think we'd better stick together for now?"

"I don't trust you as far as I could throw you Gargamel!" answered the Smurf angrily.

Papa was just about to say something else when the room was bathed in light and once their eyes got accustomed to the glare they saw that the middle of the room was indeed full of snakes, deadly ones at that. All manner of pit vipers, cobras and mambas.

But something was preventing them from moving towards them.

They were trapped in a large glass cage with a large clock on the side and in the centre of the writhing mass of snakes was a signpost with just one word that they had both been searching for... FREEDOM!

Now that they could see that they were not in immediate danger they moved towards each other still keeping their backs to the wall.

"Um, I believe you have something of mine," said Papa Smurf

"Do I? Oh, these? How did they get tied around my waist?" replied the puzzled wizard. He untied the Smurf's pants from around his own waist and handed them to Papa.

Gargamel allowed himself a little giggle at the sight of the boxer shorts which the embarrassed Smurf heard but even he smiled at the absurdity of it all.

"You don't remember do you? Maybe its a good thing then." chuckled Papa as he pulled his pants back on. It had been scary to be chased by a love sick enemy but now he could see the funny side.

"We must Smurf a way out of here but how?" muttered Papa to himself.

**POP**

Another parchment scroll appeared in thin air and landed at his feet. The Smurf leader bent over to pick it up and the opened it and read out the contents out loud so that the wizard could hear.

This is your final test

Here you must reveal to each other

your deepest secret

Do not lie to each other

or you will suffer

You have one hour to spill the beans

If you decide not to comply then the snakes

will be set free and you

will have to survive them to gain

your freedom!

"Well that's not very fair is it?" Shouted Gargamel to the ceiling and shaking his fists.

"I'm not telling anyone any secrets and you can't make me!" Continued the enraged wizard who was pacing up and down the room in a rage, his face had gone red and he punched the walls a few times for emphasis but he merely ended up hurting his hand but the pain was nothing compared to the rising panic that he was feeling.

He did have a big secret one that even his mother did not know about and he would forever be ashamed and saddened that she could never know.

Why did this Goblin King need to know any of this? Why should Papa know anything? And as he paced up and down he became infuriated that the Smurf was just sitting there watching him.

"Well Papa? Do you have a secret you want to share with me?" shouted Gargamel.

But he just shook his head. The human kept pacing and shouted up to the ceiling again

"See? We don't want to talk to each other and we won't! If we stay silent then even your truth serum won't work as we won't be able to lie to each other, so you've lost and I demand that you set us free!"

Gargamel had finished his manic walk and just felt tired. He sat down heavily against the opposite wall to Papa and in between them the box of snakes continued to wriggle and writhe and the clock continued to tick and tock. They only had another thirty minutes or so left and each of them was trying to work out a plan to escape from their prison without being bitten.

After another ten minutes of just staring at the snakes Papa was the first to speak up.

"Gargamel, we should work together to get out of this. It's our only hope."

"I'd rather die than tell you or anyone else my secrets. Too many lives are at stake," replied the wizard

Papa was quite taken aback. Gargamel was willing to die to save others. Had he misheard? He was starting to think that this evil wizard did have some good in him and was worthy of his help, but what did this human in front of him think of the Smurf? True Gargamel seemed to have a bit more respect for Papa now that he was human sized but if they ever got out of this alive and he was back to being three apples high, then his attitude would change wouldn't it?

"Gargamel can you promise me something?" asked Papa suddenly feeling that he had to trust the human.

"Depends what it is?" replied the wizard looking puzzled.

"If I don't make it, will you promise not to hurt my little Smurfs. Please promise me this."

Gargamel did not answer for a couple of minutes and seemed to be thinking about the elderly Smurf's request with great care. Finally he spoke and Papa was almost moved to tears when he heard his most hated enemy say.

"Papa Smurf, you're not the only father in this room so I understand now"

Suddenly a screeching noise filled the room and they both had to cover their ears to protect their eardrums. The snakes were not affected as they were deaf anyway. They both watched in horror as the walls of the glass cage disappeared into the floor and the snakes started to slither out, their muscular bodies undulating across the floor.

Papa and Gargamel were on their feet and moving away from the snakes and trying to find a way through the thinning mass of writhing bodies towards the trapdoor when without provocation a black mamba turned back on itself and struck at Papa Smurf's leg.

The Smurf shrieked out in pain and on his ankle two bloody pinpricks appeared. The snake retreated and joined the others. Gargamel had seen what had happened and he ran over to the stricken blue being who was now gasping for breath and looking very pale.

"Please..please don't hurt my little ones." Papa gasped and then he was gone. Gargamel cradled Papa in his arms and stroked the elderly Smurf's face and beard and replied to Papa even though he knew he could no longer hear him.

"I promise Papa. But to be honest it looks like I have no choice in the matter either."

And as the wizard looked up he saw the snakes moving back towards him. Even the trapdoor marked 'Freedom' was taunting him.

Was he ever free in the first place, his obsession with Gold and catching Smurfs? His lonely life away from the ones he loved? He then felt the hot pain of half a dozen snakes biting him at the same time.

As his vision started to blur and he lay down next to the dead Smurf, his last conscious thought was..."Gruntag and Snotfest you are losers!"

The purple clad fat man jumped up from his ornate chair and threw off a contraption that had been attached to his head. He held the sides of his temples with his fists and screamed and screamed and then stamped his feet in anger. Bending over to pick up the contraption again he took it in his hands and threw it out of the open castle window and a large dragon just outside swallowed it whole.

"Damn that man to hell! He is stronger than I thought. I'll find out your secret one day Gargamel mark my words. I'll find out where your children are hiding and then I'll kill them one by one slowly...Mwa,ha,ha,ha!"

In the Smurf village Papa woke up in bed covered in sweat. For a moment he wondered where he was and then he lay back on the bed with his hands over his eyes and sobbed with relief

"Oh my Smurf, it was just a nightmare, nothing more!" He jumped out of bed and had a quick wash after pouring water into the washbasin and he ran out into the village square and almost knocked Vanity over.

"Hey watch it Papa! You almost made me break my best mirror, I could have had seven years bad luck!" shouted Vanity.

"Oh, my little Smurfs! I love you all so much. I'll always be here for you to protect you all!" replied the exited Papa Smurf.

"Erm, Papa are you OK? You're a bit exited aren't you?"

"Just glad to be alive and with my wonderful family" beamed Papa and together he and Vanity made their way to the mess hall for breakfast.

The hovel was filled manic laughter, Gargamel had jumped out of bed ,grabbed Azrael and was dancing around the dingy room holding the terrified cat in his arms.

"Oh Azrael I'm so glad to be back home with you! It was all a terrible nightmare, none of it was real and best of all I don't have to keep my promise to the Smurfs.

Soon Azrael, soon we'll have enough gold to escape this place and make a new life for ourselves as a family.

The End

Yes it was a bit of a cop-out to turn it into a dream but this story is linked to 'The Penultimate Solution' and Gargamel's family will be revealed in due time.

Thank you for reading.