Well my goodness it's been a minute hasn't it! I'm back and with a new chapter!
This one was a little harder to get off ground than the other chapters, but once I figured out a few things everything sort of fell into place like it usually tends to do. :)
Hope you guys enjoy!
Chapter 8: Curiouser and Curiouser
Some time had passed since that fateful flight to the Above, and Derrick could tell almost instantly when he had returned, something was definitely different about his cousin. Jareth would usually allow for himself to be distracted when he lost interest in what was taking place at the present. It was a trait that many of those who chose to stay within the Goblin Castle knew and silently accepted in order to avoid one of his other less savory traits.
Jareth had the tendency for rash behavior; Derrick knew this and so did others who attended the court. Depending on his mood, he would switch from being relatively pleasant to decidedly unpleasant in the bat of an eye. Those most often at the brunt of his "outbursts" as some had taken to calling them were the same people who hovered around him who he could not stand. Jareth had little patience, if any for those whose only goal was to use social graces as well as other assets to cunningly move their way up the social ladder. These were the people he most often passively verbally offended or flat out ignored when formal events were called for at the Goblin Castle. Derrick knew these things and had even made sport of trying to guess who Jareth would flat out reject at a night of feasting or entertainment. However his cousin's rashness did have its less than amusing qualities, Nanny would attest to that, and in a way Derrick couldn't blame her. Jareth had a tendency to be flown by the emotion he was feeling at the time, the most common of these being his anger, so if a poor hopeful social climber did approach him, say at a stately dinner, with intents on wooing the young king into her favor, she would more than likely leave in tears from the disdainful words that would find their way over Jareth's tongue and pass his lips. But verbal assaults weren't his only vice. Derrick had once followed Jareth into an obscure location of the Labyrinth before during one of his more troubling rages, and the sheer ability for destruction that his cousin possessed worried him. Yes, Jareth had a temper, and if you were wise you would avoid it as much as possible.
But it was not his temper that had Derrick's mind puzzling as of late. No, it was more of Jareth's interest in literally flying off somewhere. Derrick had remembered the morning Nanny had come in a woke him (rather loudly he might add) out of his sleep, and upon his complaining had informed him that Jareth would be taking a flight about to clear his mind. A simple flight about had turned into an entire day spent in the Aboveground and Derrick positively confused by his cousins' distracted nature upon his return.
Jareth had not disclosed where he had gone or what he had done, but his behavior had changed. Whenever a moment of free time showed itself Jareth was gone in an instant, sweeping himself up into his owl form and taking flight off to that mysterious someplace. And when he wasn't literally flying off, he spent his moments engrossed in one of his crystal orbs, always turning it and clouding it over whenever Derrick managed to get close enough to possible glance at the images within. The curiosity was killing Derrick, the wanting to know what could possibly be so engrossing, so distracting, so delightful that it could hold the attention of his ever moving, ever active, rash cousin.
Jareth got a simple sort of joy out of aggravating his cousin, watching him try to catch a glimpse of what he found so amusing, so distracting. Yes, he took a simple pleasure from his cousin's frustrated curiosity. The only thing he found more amusing, was the contents within the small orb that now danced merrily about his fingers as he reclined in the mountain of pillows on his bed.
The happy little orb skipped around on his fingers, catching the light flooding in from the windows and splashing various merry shards on the wall as it went. The dancing shards of light on the wall reflected his mood rather well. He was, for lack of a more articulate word, happy. Maybe even content. He stopped the dancing orb, bringing it closer to his face, turning it just so the images inside began to take shape, cloudy and milky at first until the fog began to clear and brought forth the image of a young girl with thick raven hair and enchanting grey eyes. He could tell by her clothes she must have been at school, but her smile and her laughter suggested that classes were in recess at the moment. Her laugh bubbled out of the orb in his hand and filled his room, such an interesting sound it was, real, genuine laughter. So different from the simpering giggles or twittering laughs of the women who attended court, was this laugh, it was, refreshing.
The image of the girl now changed, now she was spinning around as a friend called her name, just before he threw her over his shoulder and began spinning her in circles, her peals of laughter growing with each turn. The brown haired boy that had hold of her was the same one that had spotted him that first day he had seen the girl, and had seemed to always notice him in his continuing visits. He found it almost as intriguing as the girl he watched, almost, but it was the primary reason he had not tried to get any closer. No, he had resigned himself to watching her from the tree line; humans were curious creatures, they could accept the simple happenstance of seeing a bird from a distance but being able to pick out specific details about a bird enabled them to recognize it, and nothing drew more suspicion from curious beings than the same thing appearing over and over again near them.
A thought occurred to the young king at the moment. If being seen, if being recognized was the problem then there was also a solution for that, wasn't there? He was Fae after all was he not! For that matter he was the Goblin King! Why should he be the one to bow out or change his movements for a mortal? If he wanted to get closer to the girl, then that was exactly what he was going to do.
In an instant Jareth had enveloped himself with magic, taking on his owl form as he had many times before in his recent journeys Above. Before he knew it he found himself at the edge of the woods that backed the school, and almost immediately spotted the girl he was looking for. Gliding behind a tree Jareth easily switched back to his Fae form, before conjuring a glamour that made him invisible to all accept his own kind. Hidden from sight Jareth proudly sauntered over to where the girl stood with her friends.
What he had taken for a recess of classes he soon realized was not the case, merely a class session that had been moved outside because of the weather. The class was sitting in little clusters on the grass doing their work while the teacher supervised their progress. The girl he spotted easily enough, she was sitting surrounded by her friends laughing and talking as they attempted to complete their work, completely oblivious to the eyes that watched them.
His invisibility making him bold Jareth placed himself on the grass next to the girl he'd been watch now for some time. Watching her through the crystal orbs had clearly not done her enough justice. The girl called Alice, the girl who dared question the fictional counter part of the Goblin King in a book he once though lost to humans sat near him, unaware, her presence was enrapturing him even more. The wind picked up, a slow breeze working its way across the lawn rustling papers as it went, tussling Alice's hair enough to stir up possibly the most interesting scent Jareth had ever caught before. Lavender and roses, and something else, something faint, yet familiar.
The girl named Alice began to lean back, preparing to simply fall back onto the lawn, causing Jareth to shift to the side and move out of her way. Propping herself up on her elbows the girl looked around confusedly for a moment, her eyes set in his direction. He watched as the confusion and the curiosity mixed and played out in her eyes, there was no way she could tell that he was there but at the same time he couldn't help but wonder why she seemed so intent on attempting to search for something she clearly couldn't see. But his amusement at her curiosity quickly changed to something else as he took in the full color of her eyes, the soft gray dappled with periwinkle that was so faint he wouldn't have even noticed it if it weren't for the fact that he was leaning in so close now. He became so trapped in those eyes that he almost lost where he was and what was going on about him.
One of the boys that the girl named Alice was sitting near called her attention away from his direction, distracting her with his jabbering. Jareth didn't care much for this. He wanted her attention back, though obviously it wasn't as genuine as if she were actually paying attention to him, but still he wanted it back. A bell tolled somewhere releasing the class before the teacher could, the boy was now dragging her excitedly off the grass and back towards the building. Not one to be denied what he wanted Jareth stood and followed the group into the building. He followed them as they walked through the crowded halls of the school, nagivating through the throng of students making their way to their lockers and out of the building or to after school activities, until they ducked into a side room in a back hallway.
The room was dimly lit, pictures hung from various positions on the walls. The boy pulled her off to a corner and began riffling through a folder.
"I took me a few tries, but I finally got it just right." The boy beckoned the girl named Alice closer as he finally removed what he was looking for from his folder. Jareth causally sauntered over to where they stood to catch a glance at what they were looking at.
"Wow Vincent! It's beautiful! It looks just like the one of my mom."
"You really like it? I'm glad, I mean, you're a great model but I'm glad it turned out as nicely it did. Do you really like it?"
"Yes, I love it! I can't wait to show it to Gigi!" the girl named Alice beamed as she held her copy of the image.
Jareth looked down at the image as the girl named Alice hugged the one called Vincent. The image was a black and white portrait photo of the girl. She was leaning forward on her elbows, the rest of her not visible in the image; her hands framing her face just so, fingers graceful, as her hair cascaded down around her taking up the majority of the space left in image before fading into the black edges create by the space behind her. Her eyes, striking, were staring straight at the viewer holding them trapped in a gaze that made one expect the portrait to take a breath at any moment. He had to admit it was rather stunning and the boy named Vincent had done a very well, very well indeed.
When he looked back up he saw the girl named Alice and the boy named Vincent joining the rest of the group as they left the room chatter about the copy of the image that she held, the one who remained was, he noticed, the same one who had spotted him on the first day. The boy was staring straight at him, though Jareth knew this was impossible he found it still rather unsettling. The boy stood in the doorway, appearing to sniff the air for something, whatever it may have been he seemed to have found it when his eyes became hooded and dark and what sounded like a low growl began to rumble out of his throat.
"Willis come on! I want to get home so I can show this to Gigi!"
"Coming." The boy now known as Willis called over his shoulder to the girl called Alice. Turning back to the room, he passed a last glance over the room. "I don't know who you are, where you come from or what your intentions are but you're not welcome here."
Jareth watched as the boy named Willis turned and took his leave, completely taken aback at what had just taken place. Walking out into the hallway he watched as the boy named Willis caught up with the girl named Alice and mussing her hair playfully as they joined their companions.
"My dear, dear Alice, how more intriguing you become with every passing moment."
Out of a shadowy corner of the photography room stepped a lone figure who, having over heard everything, wore a grin of intrigue and affirmation. Walking over to the table Kern picked up the photo that the young Goblin King had been looking over just a brief moment before. The girl in it looked gorgeous, this he could admit, this was something he was sure of. It was more than obvious that the Goblin King had acquired a sort of fascination for the girl, a fascination that could possibly turn into obsession if the situation continued. The only other thing that Kern was certain of was that his lady would like to know of this development as soon as possible.
As she had many days before, Queen Megara sat in her quarters, before her vanity scrutinizing the face that gazed back at her. Slender fingers ran across smooth, creaseless skin, pausing to tuck a loose lock of pristinely placed hair behind her hair. Yes, everything was in place everything was perfect, just as it should be. As she stood to make her way to the hidden room of mirrors and continue her morning routine, a shadow passed in front of her mirror catching her attention. Turning she saw the shadows begin to leach out of the corners of the room and from under the furniture, blending together, swirling into a tight funnel that with a pop formed the familiar figure of the minion she had sent out sometime ago.
"My lady." The figure smiled sweeping its lanky form into a deep bow.
"Kern, you've managed to find your way home. When I didn't hear from you I was beginning to this you'd been discovered."
"Oh my Queen, never! I'm hurt. To think you would question my skills simply because I was being thorough. Really it hurts me."
"Oh come now Kern, cease your dramatics. It seems as though you've returned empty handed however, is my son's life really that uneventful?" Megara sighed as she moved away from Kern to a high back chair.
"Oh, my Queen, I've returned with quite an interesting tale to say the least."
"Interesting, how so?"
"It would seem that your young king has been rather busy as of late. I will admit that following him throughout his courtly duties was rather less than amusing. Dull to be precise. I was beginning to think that I would have to return to you with the less that interesting story of my travels." Kern sighed dramatically as he made his way behind Megara's chair, leaning over the back of it bringing his face close to hers so she could clearly see his feigned concern.
"Luckily I was saved by some interesting developments that took place Above. It would seem that your son Goblin King has become quite infatuated with a young mortal female that resides above."
"A mortal girl?" Megara sniffed. "Well I can't say that I'm surprised. He is Fae after all, his woman chasing tendencies are in his blood. But a mortal girl? I would think that he would have better tastes that to pursue a mortal."
"Quite so, and you see I would agree with you whole heartedly if it weren't for the fact that I had followed your son so closely, my Queen. I've watched him hover over, wooing and stealing the attention of his own kind, drawing them close for his amusement and going about his way when he is no longer amused. He is a true Fae in that regards, but this mortal girl is different. He has not approached her yet but seems to have contented himself to watching her from a distance, or if he desires to venture closer he does so cloaked in invisibility. He seems to have a special interest in this girl."
Queen Megara paused for a moment, taking in all she'd heard, before dismissing it with a wave of her hand. "Let the fool do as he pleases. If he wishes to waste his time on some plain, frail mortal girl then he can. I care not for his ridiculous actions."
"But, my Queen, this girl is no plain girl, I've seen her myself." Leaning back over the chair, Kern extended his hand in front of his queen. A small cloud of dark mists began swirling together, slowly mingling and shifting; the picture he had taken from the photography room appeared hovering above his hand.
With so many other things on her mind at the moment Megara could honestly say that she didn't care what the mortal wretch looked like, whether she really was plain or beautiful, she had too much to worry about. A sideways glance however, changed everything. Megara's eyes grew large and color began to drain from her face as her lungs flooded with air that was sucked in through tightly pinched lips. Snatching the picture from Kern she found herself standing in front of the chair, her hands, no her whole body shaking.
"This- this isn't- it's not possible…" came barely audible words from lips of the Queen of Lunarwood. Kern, rather lost at this point began to move from behind the chair to his lady's side.
"My Queen?" the shadow man began cautiously. But Megara heard none of it. She was now fleeing the main room, heading straight to the hidden room of mirrors, leaving Kern were he stood.
Entering the room she looked around frantically until her eyes settled on the two mirrors she was looking for. Picking up the first she saw the two figures within slowly come into focus, a man and woman, both staring back at her with fury filled eyes; the kind of fury that only parents stolen away from their child could understand. The father's grey eyes were set on her, the woman in his arms pushed her mane of raven black hair out of her almonds and set her angry gaze on the woman before her.
Megara turned her attention to the second mirror, smaller than the first, a simple round thing that hung next to the prior. Picking up the second smaller mirror Megara attempted to call the figure within forward as she had just moments before. The image refused to become clear immediately, mist and shadows swirled within the contents of the mirror continuing to hide that figure within. After what seemed like an eternity of waiting the image finally began to clear, revealing the face of the person behind the glass. Megara's breath caught in her throat as it constricted, just before the most horrendous shriek ripped loose from her mouth, if not her very soul.
And that is all for chapter 8 guys!
Oh noes not another cliffhanger!
Stuff's getting interesting ladies and gents!
The Neon-Panda: I pardon your french! Yeah I kind of like Kern, he has many shenanigans ahead, and yeah stuff's going down!
