FF6699: orphans at home in the labyrinth: 12/27/18

Next in the road narrative spectrum is the orphan at home in the labyrinth. As I haven't yet read or watched a narrative that fits this category, my post will be speculative based on the narrative elements.

Let's suppose that Sarah didn't go after Toby once he was kidnapped by the Goblin King. Let's suppose instead that Labyrinth was told either from Toby's perspective.

Toby, were he completely removed from his family would be an orphan and a sole traveler. Were Toby to grow up in the heart of the Labyrinth he would become a more powerful person than Gareth because he would be able to harness his orphan magic.

The labyrinth of Labyrinth looks maze shaped. It even has apparent blind alleys and traps. But even with the labyrinth constantly reconfiguring itself and even with the trap doors, and the bog and the city, all roads lead Sarah to Toby. The labyrinth is disguised as a maze to give it a sense of danger; call it protective camouflage.

An orphan who lives in a labyrinth would be easy to get to compared to one living in a maze. Protection from discovery would have to be through disguise, subterfuge, or magic.

An orphan who has to travel through a labyrinth to get home would be one tied to a longer path, a path of contemplation or ritual, than one who could go directly home. Corwin and his family from the Amber series by Roger Zelazny travel the pattern (essentially a magical only to them labyrinth) that helps them recharge, travel between dimensions, and do other magic things.

Finally there could the be house that is itself a labyrinth. It could be a literal spiral. It could be built that way for old arcane reasons. The orphan could be the last of their kind, the last one who can get to the center of the house.

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