Chapter 2: Between Never and Me
The world turned on its head as the great white owl soared through the realms of the Underground. Each beat of its powerful wings brought it closer to its destination; the Between.
An ancient and terrible land, the Between lies just outside of reality. The paths to it are numerous and varied. Its ways can be found in archways and windows. It nestles itself within the quiet hours when the world hovers between day and night. It can be reached when old wizened grandfather clocks toll midnight. And it lies hidden in the first breath of newborns and in the last shuttering sighs of the dying. All creatures, mortal and immortal, have traversed its borders and walked its lands. A land both alien and familiar, to exist is to know the Between.
Jareth closed his eyes when he sensed that the boundary of the Between was drawing near. There was something inherently unnerving about crossing the border. It was not unlike being simultaneously somewhere and nowhere all at once. The first time he had visited the Queen, when he had been a youth and not yet a king, viewing the crossing had caused him to reel from the disorienting sensation and he had plummeted from the sky. He knew better now, keeping his eyes firmly shut till he felt the magic of the land settle against his feathers with unsettling pressure.
With some hesitation, Jareth carefully opened his eyes and inspected the lands below. The realm of the Between had no day or night, but was wrapped in eternal twilight. Landforms shifted and twisted in on each other, never truly being desert or forest. Soaring, ominous mountains simultaneously inverted into deep valleys. Land and water existed simultaneously in such a way that made the mind strain. There were no towns or cities, in the conventional sense. Nothing truly lived in this realm, but neither was the land unpopulated. What roamed the earth and soared through the sky were hideously beautiful things that captured and tormented the imagination.
Rising up from the horizon, cutting the sky like a terrible blade, the Castle of the Razor's Edge twisted into view. Colors, akin to those seen when eyes are closed, rippled across the castle's walls. No discernible architectural style seemed to be used and yet there was the unnerving sensation of shifting architectural designs. True to the land it ruled, nothing about the castle remained constant. Spires transformed into gateways or turrets in the blink of an eye. Yet the most intimidating thing was that the castle looked as if it was not constructed, but had always existed, and Jareth had a sickening feeling that it probably had. The Goblin King was ancient and very powerful in the eyes of Seelie and Unseelie courts, and yet the very essence of the castle looming before him was so much more.
In a flurry of feathers and swirling black cloth, Jareth landed before the imposing edifice in full battle armor. Disturbing movements in the walls of the castle, resembling organs shifting within a living body, twisted into a looming gateway. Large obsidian doors now barred the Goblin King's way, but opened with a soft rush of wind as he stepped forward.
The interior of the castle was just as unsettling as its exterior and Jareth struggled with the sensation of both being within and without.
"Your Majesty," a clipped and oddly accented voice, all rolled R's and trilled T's, broke the silence, "it is an honor that you grace our halls."
A tall dark man seemed to bleed out from the shadows and bowed to the Goblin King. "I am Prince A'tel, son of Her Majesty, the Queen of the Between and N'ix, third son of Clan Ma'rrow. It shall be my privilege to escort you to Her Majesty."
So this boy was one of her brood? That was none too surprising. Being the Queen of the Razor's Edge, she had many children. Due to the unique nature of the children's conceptions, wedlock was not needed to legitimize their status as royalty.
Instead of immediately answering the young man, Jareth subjected him to a scrutinizing gaze. Prince A'tel was part drow. His midnight black skin stood out in stark contrast to long, unadorned hair the color of moonlight. Pointed ears marking his heritage swept up above his head and from them dangled delicate sliver chains that chimed when he moved. He was painfully beautiful, the way many of her children were, with deep violet eyes; her eyes. His straight white hair seemed to interblend with the fabric of his white poet shirt. Both shirt and black leggings were deceptively simple, but upon closer inspection one could see richly beautiful and ornate designs of dragons that roiled across the silk.
With an air of disdain, Jareth finally spat, "Indeed, the honor is all yours." He was pleased to see the man's smile falter and an icy gleam enter those eerily violet eyes.
He smirked and continued, "I desire no pleasantries for I come offering nothing pleasant. Just lead me to your mother and stop wasting my time."
At that, Prince A'tel's smile vanished. He gave the Goblin King a chilled glare, a curt nod, turned on his heel and preceded to lead him down the twisting halls of the castle.
Jareth was no stranger to twisting corridors and doors that appeared to be walls. His Labyrinth was full of such obstacles, but they were all illusions. The Castle of the Razor's Edge held no illusions. Everything within it was jarringly real. Walls truly were doors and small, intimate rooms were cavernous. His eyes begged for him to label it all as tricks of light and clever reuses, but he knew too well that that wasn't true. An unpleasant shiver crept down his back as he recollected just how powerful the ruler of this castle was.
The rage that had spurred him into hasty action became a lead weight in the pit of his stomach. The Queen of the Between was no minor lord-ling or flighty fae queen that he could threaten or intimidate. Her wisdom, strength and power outshone even the queens of Winter and Summer. Nor was she fae, making her motives completely alien and unpredictable to him. She did not play by the rules of Seelie or Unseelie courts, but kept rules particular to her and her alone. It was only in her presence that Jareth ever felt immaterial. He was truly daunted by the enormity of whom and what she was.
It was with the dread of a hunted animal, and not the wrath of a conqueror, that Jareth entered the grand throne room deep within the very heart of the Between. Large ornate columns of twisting half-creatures lined the room and rose up to a ceiling that may have also been the sky. On all sides he could see the realm of the Between stretching out to the horizon, and yet he knew he was still deep within the castle. The floor was a twisting intricate mass of multicolored tiles that shifted its design to a rhythm that no sane creature could comprehend. It gave Jareth the sensation of walking on an uneven floor and caused him to stumble. Much to his chagrin, Prince A'tel traversed the daunting floors with the elegant grace of a cat.
At the end of the large throne room stood a white marble dais, upon which sat a terrible throne made of sharp obsidian blades. Their wicked edges gleamed in the eerie half light of twilight. Reclining elegantly upon the cruel throne, like a great serpent twining lazily about its horde of stolen gold, sat the Queen of the Between.
Prince A'tel's clipped tones broke the silence, "May I present Lilith, first wife of Adam, Queen of the Razor's Edge and ruler of the Between."
Jareth felt the trap snap shut around him. He had been goaded in to this place, drawn out of his hole like easy prey and now there was no escape.
"Mother," Prince A'tel continued, "I bring before you Jareth, son of the Wild Magic, King of the Goblins and ruler of the Labyrinth."
A sharp smile caressed Lilith's fair face as she addressed her son, "Thank you A'tel. You may leave us."
A'tel gave the powerful rulers a swift bow and left the hall. Jareth tried to ignore that it only took the man two short strides to reach the doors at the distant end of the throne room.
Now alone, Lilith's smile relaxed into a self satisfied smirk. She was stunningly beautiful, but with a sharpness to her features that filled one with unease. Long, straight sheets of raven black hair were pulled back from her face by a set of sickle shaped rubies, as if the bloodied claws of a demon were lovingly stroking her hair. She wore a tight black long sleeved top that clung to her graceful neck and flared around her face like red tipped bat wings, framing and accentuating her ivory skin. Another set of ruby claws, sown into her black leather corset, reached up to loving cup her beautiful breasts. The corset itself caressed her curves like a pair of delicately folded dragon wings. Black leggings peaked out from behind a pair of intricately decorated black and red thigh high boots. From her hauntingly beautiful face, deep violet eyes intently gazed at him as if she were divining all of his hidden secrets. Strewn across her lap, radiating menace was her terrible obsidian sword.
Jareth knew the stories behind that blade. It was the symbol of her duty, like his pendant, gifted to her by the Between itself. The sword was not meant for killing, though its deadly edge had cut many lives short. Its true purpose was not to kill its foe, but to remake it. The blade changed and transformed the very essence of those it struck, a terrible type of death of its own.
"Thank you for accepting my invitation, Jareth," Lilith cooed.
Anger flared anew as Jareth recalled the invasion of his dream. "A letter would have sufficed," he answered, voice dripping with menace. She may have trapped him, but he would not be so easily cowed.
Lilith sighed as if she were dealing with a particularly petulant child. "I did send you letters… and summons and envoys and…" her smile grew sharp again, "my daughter."
Jareth cringed at the memory of her daughter, Luciel, Lucifel's first child before the Fall, before he took up a new name; Lucifer. Her eyes shown like a pair of twin stars shinning out through the dark. They say she has her father's eyes.
"Yes, I remember that demon's spawn." Jareth spoke.
The Queen of the Razor's Edge descended the dais and had his throat in an iron grip in the blink of an eye. Fury exuded from her being as she effortlessly lifted him from the floor.
"That filth played no part in her conception." Lilith's eyes hardened as she tightened her grip, "Her father was the Morning Star, a seraph, and not the demon he became!"
She unceremoniously dropped him to the floor where on bended knee Jareth desperately tried to regain his breath. Lilith crouched down and locked eyes with him.
Her voice was soft, barely above a whisper, "You know why I sent Luciel and not one of my other children." It was not a question.
Jareth barely managed a nod.
Lilith stood, turning her back on him. In a voice full of despair, she beseeched, "Then why did you ignore my warning? Like you, Lucifel sought me out in search of the power he needed to obtain his goals. He had desired free will, for himself and the heavenly host." Lilith's shoulders sank imperceptibly. She turned back to him, her violet eyes filled with sorrow, "Through my bed and my guidance, I gave him the tools to gain the change he so desired. But like you he did not fulfill his contract with me, abandoning the changes within him, and he fell to ruin, becoming the demon he is now."
The Queen grew unnaturally still. When she spoke again, it held the same deadly power of her obsidian sword. "You see, Goblin King, once you begin to change, stopping the process unmakes you."
Indignation cut through the King's pain and struck his pride. With only a slight tremor, he rose from the floor. In a single stride he was within inches of the harrowing Queen.
"I did all that you asked of me! I shared your bed! I got the girl to wish away her brother!" Jareth could not keep the outrage from his voice.
Her eyes gleamed knowingly as they racked over his body; remembering every sensual curve, every desperate cry of that night. Her voice was a seductive purr, "You know better than most that sharing my bed was not a price, but a catalyst. Change is what I crave. Your transformation was the price and you, dear Jareth, have yet to pay in full."
"You told me I needed the boy to obtain the change I desired, but the girl won him back." He winced at the note of bitterness that crept into his words. "Thus our contract is null and void."
"Did you not get the power you desired to save your kingdom; the power you needed to save us all?" Lilith asked.
Jareth froze. He had been given the power he needed. The moment Sarah left the Labyrinth; it began to trickle into his domain. Within a few years, a torrent of mortal belief fell upon his kingdom, suffusing it with a primal magic, giving him all the power he had desperately needed. Since then, the flow of belief had only increased.
"I…" Jareth felt completely lost. He had noticed the change within his realm, but could not discover why it had come. He had been too distracted by dreams of the Labyrinth's Champion and left the issue alone. "I don't understand."
Lilith lifted a delicate hand to his face. The look she gave him was not of scorn, or contempt, but of pity. Jareth nearly crumpled under the weight of that pity.
"Oh Jareth," her forlorn voice cut him to his very core, "it was never about the babe."
She leaned in, holding the Goblin King in an embrace as pure and loving as a mother's touch. Delicately, she whispered into his ear, "Your essence has dwelt within my lands for far too long, dear King. To balance upon the Razor's Edge for fourteen years has cut you deeply. The repercussion for us all will be terrible indeed."
Stepping back, she continued, "You must choose soon, or you, the Labyrinth and all of reality is doomed…"
Her gaze shifted, falling upon someone behind him, "And you must choose as well, Champion, for you have been tied to the Labyrinth in such a way that it lives and dies by your whim!"
Jareth heard a hitching breath from behind him. He spun around and saw the fading image of Sarah, fear etched into her features.
A loud, mournful wail woke Sarah from her disturbing dream. Heart pounding within her chest, she could not remember where she was as another mournful call jarred her nerves. In time to eerie wail, the warning of her dream echoed through her mind, "You must choose…Champion… the Labyrinth… lives and dies by your whim!"