A young Jareth laughed out in a burst of breath as he finally did it. The crystal orb rolled from the ball of his hand to his fingertip, and over in one smooth movement. Now it lie on the back of his fingers, cradled by his pinkie and index finger. He'd practiced for hours, and now he'd finally gotten the trick down. Sweeping his arm back and forth, the crystal seemed to float from one side of his hand to the other. But there was no magic in it, only practice.
When he'd seen the crystal in his mother's chamber, Jareth had wanted it so badly. She didn't even look at him as she said, "Crystals concentrate power and are dangerous, boy. I keep it as a reminder."
A reminder of what?
As soon as she'd left, Jareth snuck it under his cape and ran down to the courtyard then into the garden. He was now sitting with his back against a stone fountain, playing with it. He held up to the light, marveling at the rainbow colors that came from it. He saw something in the reflection and looked closer. Something moving. It had wings.
He felt a jolt of pain through him and he dropped the crystal. It hardly made a sound when it rolled off his finger tips into the snow. He doubled over on his knees, gasping. His spine crunched and he didn't even have the breath to scream. His shoulder blades shifted outward, his joints were changing. His knees cracked back, bending in a new angle. His tears blurred his vision.
What's happening to me!
The crystal on the began to glow. It rose up and multiplied into two, then five, circling around him.
Soon Jadis came storming through the garden. "Jareth! Where are you! You stole my crystal, you little bastard! I'll teach you to disobey-!" She gasped, freezing in mid-step as she came to the other side of the fountain.
Jareth looked up at her, crying. His eyes were black as pitch, his hair normally wild and layered, was now pushed back, with a crude widow's peak he never before possessed. His clothes lay a torn heap on the ground under his talons. His arms were stretched, arched and deformed. They were incomplete wings, the primaries stretched out like furred fingers. Spots lined his back and hair, his chest and belly white. Crystals floated around him as if they knew nothing of gravity. They seemed to be magnifying his power.
"Ma…Moth…er…" he said, straining to speak as he reached towards her. "Hel…help."
She stepped back, repulsed. "Stay away from me."
"Ma…ma…pul…plea-" He then cried out, his back, arching. His wings flapped furiously, his body shrinking, transforming still. Soon a barn owl flew up over the fountain as if in panic. The crystals followed almost lazily. Jadis leaned against a stone lion in mid-roar, watching him take off into the sky.