*~ * Jareths' POV *~*
"I understand, don't worry about it Lilith. I love you too, and I'll do anything you ask of me. Take your time with this. I'll see you tomorrow, alright love?"
She nodded and smiled. "Bye."
"Bye."
The mirror disconnected and I was stuck in my stony room alone once more. I banged my fist on the wall in frustration. I shouldn't have told her that. She'll never see me the same again. All because of this stupid curse!
I sat in my bed with my hair clutched in my hands. How can I make her see? How can I make her see that I'm still me, I'm still the same as when she first met me? That I'm not the monster everyone thinks me to be?
"Kingy?"
I looked up to see a goblin standing in my doorway.
"What do you want?" I snapped.
The goblin cowered at my harsh tone. I sighed and placed my head in my hands once more. "I am sorry, please continue."
"The goblins in the food place in the Aboves spotted King Jeremiah with Lilith, Kingy."
My head immediately snapped up at the mention of Jeremiah. "Did they say anything else?"
"They left togethers, and that's all they knows."
I snarled and punched the wall again. If Jeremiah had found her, Rolan wouldn't be that far behind. I have to get to them before he does.
"Does anyone have anything on Rolan's whereabouts?"
"No, Kingy. King Rolan ain't been on the radar for a long time."
"Crap. What about Ulantier? Has he been up to anything?"
The goblin shook his head once more. "Nopes."
"Well then, I guess we're going to have to find them by ourselves."
"How, Kingy?"
I smiled and conjured a crystal. "Why, we are going to scry, of course."
The goblin giggled and screeched, "We're going scrying! We're going scrying!"
Laughter echoed through the castle as goblins all around heard the goblins screech. The goblins absolutely love it when we go scrying. I ran out the room and flew to my throne room, where all sorts of goblins had gathered in their pit. I held the delicate crystal in my hands and gazed into it, willing it to show me Lilith.
Nothing.
I growled and tried something else. I willed it to show me Jeremiah.
Nothing.
I yelled and threw the crystal at the wall, shattering it into millions of tiny pieces. The goblins around me began to murmur.
"Kingy can't scry no mores."
"Has kingy's magic gone aways?"
"Kingy isn't strong no mores."
"Quiet!"
All the murmurs stopped immediately.
"I am not weak, I can scry, and my powers have not 'gone away'. Someone is blocking my scrying! Now stop being such imbeciles and find me Rolan!"
The goblins began shouting and hooting, running amok until they were all finally out of the throne room. I slouched down into my throne and placed my head in my hand. I poked around in my head, trying to find Lilith, but I couldn't sense anything. It's as if she's dead! But she's not dead, right? There's no way Jeremiah or Rolan would kill her. She's too precious to both of them. Ulantier however is another case entirely. Ulantier would tear her apart even if she posed just a minor threat upon this world.
I spent what felt like hours pondering over different ways to find her, and none of them seemed to be good options. The only one that seemed slightly plausible would be to scour every part of the land in the Underground as well as the Above. It's not only extremely impractical but also requires much more manpower than I have.
"Kingy, it's times for yous to sleep. Yous been awake too long. Come, come."
The little goblin startled me out of my thoughts and pulled me to my room, where I simply collapsed and fell into a dreamless sleep.
In what felt like minutes I found myself awake and drenched in sweat. I rolled myself out of bed and fell onto the floor. I wanted to get up, yet I couldn't find the energy nor the will to do so.
So there I laid, sprawled out across the floor for hours, contemplating whether it's worth it to get up. I wasn't going to find Lilith. I may never see her again. So what's the point? She wouldn't love me anyway, with the whole curse thing and all. Why should she love me? Not even my father loved me once that stupid curse was placed upon me. I became the son he could never be proud of. The son that caused his wife to forget everything about them. The son that ruined everything he touched.
I laid there for so long that the next time I took a glance out my bedroom window, the sky was darkening.
"Well, there goes one day of my now miserable existence."
I closed my eyes as the sun slowly lowered onto the horizon and thought of my lost Lilith. How I did so wish she were here with me. Then maybe I would become motivated enough to get up and live again. All I wanted to do was swim in those beautiful emerald eyes, to touch her soft lips with my own once more. I wanted to sing to her all the songs I should have before. Before she was stolen from me.
Before I knew it, I had fallen asleep to an imaginary tune within my mind.
Love me, love me, love me, say you do.
Let me fly away with you,
For my love is like the wind,
And wild is the wind.
Wild is the wind.
Give me more than one caress,
Satisfy this hungriness.
Let the wind blow through your heart.
For wild is the wind,
Wild is the wind.
You touch me,
I hear the sound of mandolins.
You kiss me.
With your kiss my life begins.
You're spring to me,
All things to me.
Don't you know, you're life itself!
Like the leaf clings to the tree,
Oh my darling,
Cling to me.
For we're like creatures of the wind,
And wild is the wind,
Wild is the wind.
You touch me,
I hear the sound of mandolins.
You kiss me.
With your kiss my life begins.
You're spring to me,
All things to me.
Don't you know, you're life itself!
Like the leaf clings to the tree,
Oh, my darling,
Cling to me.
For we're like creatures in the wind,
And wild is the wind.
Wild is the wind.
I woke with those lyrics still lingering in my ears, reminding me of the sad reality of my situation. I may never get to sing those lyrics to her. I may never be able to show her how much I love her. How much I really value her.
I stood now, no longer wanting to waste away on the floor. I wanted to make sure that she did hear those lyrics. That she heard the music I had crafted especially for her.
I straightened myself up so that I looked presentable for my subjects, though there was no hiding the dark circles under my eyes nor the fact that my eyes were blood-shot. My hair stood up in odd angles around my head with tangles everywhere. How could I let myself fall into such a decrepit state? I am a king! I need to look presentable at all times, no matter how broken I am.
I combed through my knotted hair, returning it to what it once was. I then quickly washed my face in a basin and clothed myself in fresh clothes. I glanced in a mirror and smirked. I look normal. Well, as normal as I could get in my current state. I grabbed my staff and headed out the door to face my goblins.
As I neared the throne room, I could hear the clatter of my goblins. Dear lord my goblins are loud! I sighed and stepped down the stairs and into the gaggle of goblins below me. As soon as I stepped off of the stairs, the clatter around me stopped. All the goblins peered up at me curiously.
"What? Don't let my presence interrupt you. Carry on."
Almost immediately, the clatter started again. I waded through the rowdy goblins until I reached my stone throne, where I sat and waited. Minutes later, I felt a new presence flicker on in my mind. No, not a new presence, a familiar one. One that I had been missing for far too long.
I sat up in my throne on alert, my heart racing and chest contracting. She's back. My Lilith is back.
*~* Lilith's POV *~*
I looked into those eyes, those eyes filled with pain and disbelief.
"Lilith? I-Is that really you?"
The goblins around us looked on expectantly as we stared at each other, completely forgetting about Jeremiah beside me.
"Yes, Jareth. It's me." My voice almost broke as I spoke those words. I'm back. I'm actually back.
"I'm sorry to break up this touching reunion, but I need to speak with you Jareth. Alone."
Jareth's eyes snapped over to Jeremiah, the love in them replaced with pure hatred.
"And why should I speak to you?" He spat. "You stole her from me! You had no right to do that, Jeremiah." Jareth's head twitched, his eyes switching between his and the other guy's.
"Jareth, calm down," I said as I stepped toward him. "You need to calm down. He can explain, trust me. He can explain."
Jareth looked up at me with pain suddenly in his eyes. "You don't know the Hell I've been through because he took you. I couldn't even function, Lilith. Don't tell me 'he can explain.' I won't accept an explanations from him," Jareth said with a glare toward Jeremiah.
I gently grabbed his chin and tilted his head toward me. "Jareth, I know. I can see what you've been through, but I've been through my own trials as well. I was stranded in a forest with barely any food or water for two days! But I didn't let that cloud my judgement. I listened to his explanation because I knew it was my only chance in figuring out my past and my future. Now it's your turn so you can figure out our future."
Jareth looked at me with misty eyes. "Lilith, I... I'll listen to him. But not until we have some time alone," Jareth said with a glare toward his brother and goblins.
Jeremiah nodded reluctantly. "Understood."
Jeremiah and the goblins scurried out of the room in seconds, leaving Jareth and I alone in the throne room. I turned to look at Jareth, but was caught off guard when his lips crashed to mine. I moaned and leaned into Jareth, running my hands through his silky hair. We broke away for air, panting.
"I love you so much Lilith," Jareth mumbled into my collarbone.
"I love you too, Jareth."