It was foggy. A blanket of white shielded the courtyard from the city down the hill, from the sky and the rising orb of the Underground sun.
"Jareth!" a voice caught me from behind. I turned, startled but smiling.
"Sevdana…" Giddy on the feel of her name in my mouth, I lunged after her without thought, my feathery limbs latching upon air as she spun on out of my reach yet again with a splash of glitter.
"Bet ya can't catch me…" she teased me from several meters away. She was probably right, but I wanted to catch her anyway. I'd have to think of a better plan than leaping blindly at my moving target.
Inspiration sung as I pulled a new bauble from the folds of my shirt, betting she hadn't seen anything like this before.
"Oh, what's that?" she halted in her skipping and teleporting, brown hair in a mess falling into the corners her mouth. I wanted to touch those strands, pull them away from her lips and then suck on them myself to see if we tasted the same.
"It's a magical crystal. It's extremely powerful," I announced, trying to sound as impressive as I could with that squeaky voice of mine. Sometimes making it come across manly just backfired and made me sound ridiculous, so I kept it at its natural pitch, hoping I still sounded formidable.
She came in closer, but not too close. She was smart. But also curious. Eyeing the object from a distance her interest quickly gave way to over-dramatized indifference. Ah, she was playing again.
"Oh, my uncle has lots of those. I see them all the time." She looked away with an exaggerated wave of her chin.
"Do not." I teased, knowing it was just a ploy. She wanted my crystal.
"Of course I do, silly boy, what do you think I do with my days? Play with dolls?" she started swaggering as though she was some grand high fae, breaking down into giggles at my reaction. I was grinning motionlessly. I knew I had her this time.
"I bet you really want to feel it in your hand. I filled it up with magic myself." I let the offer dangle in the air. She did a few twirls on the square stones just to emphasize her total lack of interest. I knew she was interested though.
"There's a price though if you want to hold it."
"Nobody said I wanted to." She crossed her arms and looked off to the city covered in mists.
"Sevdana, I'm magic. I know you want to." I could tell my steady approach had gone unnoticed.
"I don't know what you're talking about," she huffed. This time though I could tell she was genuinely off guard, so I grabbed her by the wrist and pulled her into me. She gasped but didn't struggle. Her big, wide eyes were staring into mine in all their green, innocent glory. I gulped and held course.
"Sevdana, look into it." I commanded her.
"Why? What will it do to me?" She let her hair resettle around her cheeks. I still wanted to catch a strand of it.
"It will show you your dreams," I insisted suggestively.
"That's all?" She feigned disappointment. I resolved to continue unfazed.
"Well, there's a price…" letting the insinuation work itself into her features.
She looked at me with pure and piercing fae eyes. I could have melted then and there. A smirk started to spread on her cheeks. My heart began to race. My plan was working.
"A price so I can see my dreams?"
"It's fair enough, don't you think? I worked a long time on this crystal. I read hundreds of books to find the magic for it. It won't let you down, I promise. It's the first one, and I wanted you to have it." I kicked myself for blurting too much out at once. I was spoiling the game by being my stupid, dopy self again.
"What's the price," she teased, drawing my heart out onto a tightrope wire.
"A…" I hesitated, but steeled myself with resolve, "A kiss, nothing more."
"Nothing more? Hmm…only if I like what I see in your crystal." She fingered the sleeve of my shirt tentatively.
Inside I was leaping for joy. Of course she'd like it, I'd put my very soul into it.
"You accept?"
"Let me have it, so I can see if I like it."
I handed my young fae life's work to her in the blink of an eye, watching my white boyish hand stretch itself out towards her chest. She gave the crystal a quizzical look before gingerly picking up the orb with her delicate fingers. I thought my chest would burst.
She stared into it a long while. I watched her as she seemed to fall deeper and deeper under my spell. Then at last I registered a click in her face, a withdrawing, and realized she was coming back out of the crystal. Surprised, the next thing I heard was laughing.
Somehow the crystal fell to the ground and shattered upon impact. The laughing continued but receded from me.
"Guess I didn't like it as much as you thought I would, Jareth!" The taunting tone hit me and nailed the lid on my already devastated spirits. She had run to the other side of the courtyard and was headed for the door. I knew she'd be out of sight in an instant. I didn't feel like chasing her.
"I would never kiss a fae like you!" She stuck her tongue out across the way at me and then disappeared through a marble frame.
I collapsed on the stone beneath—stone now sprinkled with the vain fruits of months and months of loving labor. A shard of crystal caught my reflection and warped it, bending my features out of proportion. It didn't matter, I looked ridiculous enough without a crystal to accentuate the fact. My hair was a tangled mess of unkempt curls and stray locks. My face pale, thin. Eyes were clouded by thick glass—funny how with all the magic in the world, the Underground had yet to invent contacts or some sort of magic treatment for fae eyes. No, I couldn't blame her. But I had hoped…
xXxXx
[years later]
"Sevdana?" I muttered unthinkingly from my crystal. No, it couldn't be. Of course it wasn't. But she looked so much like her. Ah this mortal creature. Sarah, was her name I quickly learned.
Admittedly, I was unnaturally fascinated. It has always been in my disposition to observe. The tendency was only exacerbated by the experiences of youth. But this time it was out of control. I watched that girl for years wondering if she would ever give me reason to appear to her. Watched her more than I'll ever admit.
Slowly, I found magic spells in books to modify my effect, my appearance. I didn't want to make the same mistake twice. This girl would be overwhelmed by me, taken by my very presence. She was going to see how beautiful and terrifying I really was when I wanted it to be. This one wasn't going to laugh at me and run away.
As time dragged onward, I observed my slow transformation in the mirror of my chambers. Every morning my breath was taken away at the progress in my appearance. The goblins grew uneasy around me. My subjects fell into an awkward silence on the subject. My temperament shifted. I became more and more the spoiled and handsome brat I'd worked so hard to craft myself into. Other runners came and went. I savored my effect on them. But Sarah I watched. I waited, it would be soon. Any day now. She was old enough. Old enough to appreciate the man I had become. My nights were filled with images of that emerald-eyed creature swooning in my kingly arms. Oh, how I wanted her to love me without reserve…
Then one day she called.
xXxXx
"What is that?" …couched in a whimper that made my heart do somersaults.
"It's a crystal," I assured, "nothing more. But if you turn it this way, and look into it…it will show you your dreams."