I don't own the following…
Books:
Mists of Avalon by Marion Zimmer Bradley
Monkey and the White Bone Demon- Adapted by Zhang Xiu Shi from a novel by Wu Cheng En
Druids by Morgan Llywelyn
Labyrinth by Jim Henson
Full summary: Sarah was betrayed by her father in the Aboveground and wished herself Underground. What she didn't know was that the betrayal was orchestrated by Jareth and his elder sister Annetha. A fae, posing as a mafia godfather in London was after Sarah. The reasons were unknown until certain facts came into the light. She discovers that Jareth was once the mystical 'Once and Future King' Arthur. More heartache and testing the boundaries for our favourite couple. Officially a crossover with Mists of Avalon but can be read without prior knowledge of said book.
Rating: T for language and suggestive themes
Genre: Adventure and many more.
Author's Note: This is the third and final segment in the Triple D trilogy. (Corny name, I know but it works).
Part Three: Desperation
In dire times, it has been noted that a captured animal will chew off the limb that is caught rather then wait around for the layer of the trap to manifest.
It has been doubly noted that a mother would rend and kill that who threatens her child then stand back and watch.
The assassin doesn't take notice of these points.
OXO
Chapter 1: History of Ainvar and a Journey through the mist.
A long time ago, beyond the memory of texts and scripts there a man was born,
as ancient in knowledge as he became in years.
He traveled through eons and those he scorns
To reach his destination mere
His name, you ask? Ainvar, King Ainvar, Ainvar of the Hills and the Mountains.
Ainvar of the Dragons.
The daring, conniving, monstrous Ainvar.
He was born an immortal of immense power; not human, fae nor any creature who was the mother of mythology. He was born from the womb of a human woman but his father was something else entirely. His father was Salemone, the son of a fallen god. Ainvar was taken from his mother and raised on the Aonian Mountain, far above the prying eyes of mortals where he learned the secrets of time and space, something not even the angelic Fae have mastered. His life was different among the gods, even those who were fallen. He ate with the father and the sons and bathed with the goddess as a boy. He was breastfed by the hybrids who at will could change their shape and mothered the race of the changelings. He was taught of history and what is found as myth by the muses who keep every story sacred. His name in essence was Ainvar, a scholar and magician, son of a beauty on earth and an incubus in heaven. He met all the great scholars of the time and taught them his knowledge, waiting out his life before the time in which he was needed.
Blessed by the goddess and anointed by her priestesses, he traveled to Great Britain where immortal and mortal lived side by side. He came across a young man there who had just received his first empowerment. Ainvar approached him in the guise of Merlin, a druid and magician to hide his true identity.
"I'm Arthur, Druid Merlin, in truth my name is Arthur Jareth Uther Pendragon. I am named for my forefathers and my father, Lord King Uther Pendragon." These names were indeed spelled out by the bones he cast that very morning. Fate was on his side.
"Ah Arthur, then what are you doing out here alone?" Ainvar, in the guise of Merlin went nearer to the young man, trying to gage his reaction. Arthur doesn't disappoint him.
"Old druid, I suggest you stay where you are. I may appear juvenile but I pray you are not a fool to believe what you see." Before Merlin could say anything else, Arthur twisted his hand and a perfectly formed crystal appeared in his palm. "I did say Pendragon but perhaps my mother's name would have been a better name to give. "Igrain la Fae, sister to Vivian, the Lady of the Lake, servant to the Goddess. She is greater known then Pendragon but of the same race."
Merlin peered at the blond haired man, not expecting his charge to be Fae, though given the prophesy of the once and future king, this is not to be unexpected. Ainvar grinned, "My boy, I am not here to kidnap you! Simply to talk to you."
Arthur frowned and rolled the crystal from hand to hand, showing promise but lacking the finesse that will accompany his actions in centuries to come. A woman called his name and both he and Ainvar turned to the voice. A beautiful girl with the appearance of just emerging to womanhood came running toward them.
"Arthur! Arthur! There you are! I've been looking all over for you!" the girl flipped her softly curled hair. It was the same shade as Arthur's but had a shine to it which made the blond come to life in a riot of golds.
"Morgaine, really! You knew I was out in the yard and can't you see I'm busy?" Arthur was indignant and glared at his sister. The girl was truly beautiful but she was also powerful. A different power then Arthur displayed, something deeper and subtly that gave her the strength to rule something more then mere mortals. He saw her future and saw the queen she would make. She truly was power but now was not her time, now was Arthur's time.
Morgaine looked at Merlin and her eyes widened and traveled far away as she saw. She came back to the present time and space and curtsied low to the druid. "My Lord Druid, how may I serve thee?" she asked formally.
Merlin grimaced, he had hoped no one would come across his real ties but such things can not be kept hidden by a seeress. "Lady Morgaine, you're time will come my dear and soon you shall serve no one but the Goddess."
She straightened and gave a tight lip smile, "May that time be far off, though I live to serve the Goddess along side my Aunt, the world will be a sad place indeed when I take the throne." She turned and hurried back up the center street in the village.
Arthur smiled a bit apologetically. "She dreads being high priestess and has been serving for almost eighty years. She was initiated when I was born and the burden of ruleship fell to me. Now that you met my favourite family, what do you want with me?"
Merlin smiled, "Come, my boy. Let's go speak with your father about letting you come into service with me. I shall teach you to be a good and just king and perhaps a few tricks to go along with your crystal conjuring." He placed an arm around Arthur's shoulders and led him up the road, following the path that his sister took up to the castle.
Uther Pendragon was an imposing Fae and he was quite a hopeless king however. He kept the true religion in the face of the growing young religion of Christianity and refused the people's participation, forcing them to continue worshiping the Goddess. Great Britain was on the edge of civil war.
Uther, as ignorant as ever concerning the needs of the people, allowed them to brew rebellion then stamp it out before it grew to a blaze. He gave Merlin permission to train his son and heir with the exception that Morgaine was to go with them. Merlin quickly agreed.
OXO
Arthur was trained in magic and leadership as well as in the ways of the Goddess and of God under the tutorage of Merlin. Merlin and Morgaine carried out a small affair in which she became pregnant. The pregnancy was harsh and before the end of the first trimester, she lost the child. The Fae are not allotted to produce as freely as other races and their bodies often can't handle more then one attempt. She was damaged and heartbroken, unable to bear the sight of the druid. She left, back to her mentor, the Lady of the Lake.
The seasons turned three times since the beginning of their training when the long awaited war was set into place. Arthur went to fight and before he could engage the battle was over, finished with the death of King Uther Pendragon. Arthur took up his father's sword, called Excalibur, the weapon of the true king, and called for the Reign of Peace.
It was the time of peace for the two religions were raised in harmony in the city of Camelot. For nearly five years when Merlin came to him with a mortal bride. Her name was Guinevere and she was a Christian child, raised in the ways of God and his son Jesus. She was beautiful with hair as long as Morgaine's but was honey to her gold. Soft blue eyes looked at him as they stood before the alter pledging eternal love for each other. Merlin did well in finding Arthur's true soulmate and now the peaceable kingdom had a queen as well as a king.
Morgaine returned with an infant in her arms shortly after the wedding. She claimed to find the baby boy in the woods just outside of Camelot. The mother was dead from a fall and her child survived. Morgaine named the child Mordred for he was a lovely boy and she raised him for a time before she was called away and he was to stay with her aunt, sister to her mother, and her husband, King Lot of Orkney and their one son. Her aunt was jealous of the Fae, for she wanted to be the queen her sister had been and now her nephew's wife was. She took the child and taught him how to destroy the Fae, how to hate them and how truly evil the Goddess and her ways were. Her purpose for the deception was simple, the more mortals she could turn the greater chance of an uprising against the long lived Fae would be. At his eighteenth birthday, he gathered most of the mortals in the Kingdom and beyond the Kingdom to attack. They did. What was a civil war against a bad King escalated into a war of religion. They destroyed faith in the Goddess and killed many of the Fae and fair creatures.
Merlin was devastated for he failed his duty of creating a world free of fear and hate for other species. He wanted a world of love for the earth and respect for the Goddess but it wasn't to be. He went to the Lady of the Lake and Morgaine and the other priestesses and together they created a portal into a liminal space. A place in between here and there, the present and the beyond. They created a portal and led those in danger through. They all left, without a word of complaint until all that was left was the King, his wife, sister and his teacher. This foursome stayed until the last possible moment, watching as their home and kingdom was destroyed before their eyes. They ran to the portal, needing to get through before Mordred could come and stop them. Morgaine and Merlin slipped through without incident and when Arthur was trying to get Guinevere to go through, an arrow whizzed by and pierced her in the back. It went through lung and heart and she was dead before she hit the ground. Arthur turned from his dead wife with fire in his eyes and hate growing in his belly. He drew his sword and faced Mordred before the portal. The fight was short and bloody and the sticky red substance covered Arthur's face and chest. It wasn't his.
He gathered his love to his chest and produced a crystal in his hand and with a shower of glitter the colour of his love's hair he disappeared, appearing again on the shore of a calm blue lake. Across the lake was a small island at the base of Mount Aonian and this is where he would lay to rest his wife. His dug the hole with his hands, wanting- no needing to feel the ground in which she would lay. After removing the arrow and cleaning her skin of blood, her laid her in the hole and covered her body with earth. The Holy earth on the shore of the Lake of Mist.
Arthur wept, lost and alone in this now mortal world where they would grow to hate his kind. He wept for the loss of his loved one and all the others of his race he could not save. He drew his sword Excalibur and with all his might tossed it in the lake. He sat like this for hours, unable to move, not wanting to move until he heard a sound behind him. A light was coming through the trees and a woman stepped through. It was Morgaine.
"Bother." She said, looking at the fresh earth and his devastated face. "Oh my baby brother!" she collapsed on him and held him as he cried anew.
They held each other close, one in pain for the loss and the other in pain from the betrayal. They settled and calmed sitting silently for a time, watching as night descended and stars danced on the surface of the lake. Finally Morgaine spoke.
"The mother told me where you were and what happened. I'm sorry I didn't wait, Arthur! I should have known!"
"Sister, this has been a disaster from the start. Your father should have been King instead we were left with mine. It's Uther's fault that the people behaved so enthusiastically to Mordred. They didn't trust me, I think. I look too young for them even if I'm not. They never fully understood us. Maybe it's better this way, to have separate worlds."
"It may be better but it's not easier, especially for you." She kissed his forehead slowly, "The Goddess has a gift for you, my brother." She whispered. "If people know who you are and where you are, you'll always be haunted by this damn prophesy. Once and future King be damned! Arthur will die here tonight, at the Lake of Mist and Jareth will be born. You're given a second chance at life, brother! And you never have to rule over mortals again!"
"I never want to rule of anything of a higher intelligence then the stupidest goblin, sister! I don't care for the throne, any throne and you know that."
She closed her eyes and concentrated on something the Goddess was saying to her. The connection, weaker then it has ever been and fading fast, was still there but not for much longer. She opened her eyes and smiled. "My brother, you shall get your wish. The Goddess knows how attached you are to this now mortal realm and so she's given you a task. There is a place in the inbetween, a large and wild Labyrinth. You shall take your throne there along with all the goblins that fled through the portal and reside there. You shall be King Jareth of the Goblins and Master of the Labyrinth. No need to worry at all."
He smiled slightly before his face fell again. "What of you, sister? Where will you go? They all know of our relation and of our mother! There is no way we can escape unscathed."
Her smile widened, "Mother has been out of touch for some years yet, she is already spreading rumor of her conversion to the Christian faith and her self initiation in the convent of Glastonbury. She will soon emerge and declare herself Queen." Morgaine laughed suddenly. "She's taking your title brother! She'll be 'High Queen of the Underground' and her word will be absolute."
Arthur smiled at his sister. "Underground? I like that. We were forced into exile, what better place then to live 'Underground'? And I wouldn't have expected anything else from Mother. She did like to rule didn't she?"
"Of course she did! It's woman's rule now. You men screwed things up brutally!"
"Of course we did, sister. Now, now what of you Morgaine?"
"Morgaine shall die at Arthur's side, not leaving her baby brother even in death. I will, like you, take on my second name." She shivered, "Though I think we need to modify it a bit. Anerika is a bit obvious. At least no one knows your full name except those you had to arrogantly tell!"
"How about Annetha? It's similar enough and it's pretty."
"It's absurd! But I like it. Annetha it is! Come along Jareth, you have a Labyrinth to rule and I have a Merlin to pluck." Her eyes flashed dangerously. Perhaps she didn't forgive him for the loss of their child after all.
He began to walk with her when he suddenly stopped pulling her back. "What else was the gift the Goddess gave me, sister?"
Morgaine Anerika La Fae paused and looked at him in confusion. "You told me because I loved the mortal realms so much that the Goddess gave me a gift!" he urged.
Her confusion lifted for a moment. "You have the power to grant wishes in exchange for something in return. You have the power to grant a single dream for mortal or fae or dragon or spirit or goblin or any other you may choose. Your crystals are key to your power. Why?"
He grinned. "Because I can grant my own wish." He formed a crystal in his hand and it expanded nearly a hundred times its original size and suddenly popped leaving glitter and sparkles cascading around them all, coating everything in a faint mist. The mist grew denser and spread out, covering all. The portal vanished, leaving in its place a multitude of thinner portalways throughout the veil of mist separating the two worlds. "If I am to grant wishes to those I want then I must first hear them. Come sister." He took her hand and disappeared through the mist.