~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~
Chapter 18:
Lemures got to the rock first and brought it down upon Jareth's shoulder. The cave vibrated with the roar of pain from the Goblin King. He felt the bones shatter and the rock cut through the skin. The evil fae rolled over and got onto his feet. The king was still on the ground in agony. Lemures kicked him brutally in the stomach and ran to find the crystal.
Puck was not having any more luck than Jareth. The Scottish fairy had pinned him to wall and was threatening to pull his arms out of his sockets. Puck fought as hard as he could but had to realize that his strength was failing him. "You are mine, Trickster!" growled Wynne. Anger had transformed her once small pretty face into a snarling monster.
"Sorry, kid, I just don't think it would work out between us," Puck responded, not being able to help it. He wrenched his arm free of her grasp and tore at her wings. She howled in distress and turned to see her wing hanging limply.
"You!" she screamed, "I will never be able to fly again!"
"Always believed insects shouldn't be able to fly. Makes them even more annoying, don't you think?" He grinned maliciously and bounded away. Under his carefree exterior, all he wanted was to protect his lord's daughter. Narcissa still lay on the dirt, hardly breathing. Puck swatted at the ghosts, feeling as if he was in polar waters. They sucked all the warmth out of him and so when the fairy finally caught up to him, Puck was not very happy. He whirled upon her and summoned the last of his energy in a great blast of power. Wynne yelped and rocketed backwards, through a sheet of phantoms and into the wall of the cave. Puck wheezed for a few moments before he realized that his comrade had fallen.
Rushing to where Jareth was, Puck observed the spirits hesitation. They had no direction without their leader. Lemures was nowhere in sight.
~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~
Keziah entered the room slowly and quietly. She did not know what to expect from the wise old fae surrounded by the fabric of the canopy bed. The room was full of drapery, not a single inch of wall was seen. It glowed dimly blue, casting a light about the bed, the only piece of furniture in the room. At the far end of the chamber, a set of tall glass doors opened onto a balcony. Stars shined down and Keziah realized that it had been over a day since Narcissa had been kidnapped. Her own silver dress whispered softly across the floor.
She approached the bed and looked through the translucent cloth to the dream fae. Brown hair fell across his youthful face. It was amazing to think that he was one of the elder fae; he looked far too handsome. His eyes were closed and his breathing was minute. Daring to break the silence, she gently called his name.
Immediately, Morpheus responded, "Good evening, child."
"Morpheus," she said, curtseying. It was out of habit only; his eyes were still shut.
"I want to tell you something, Keziah. Something that no one knows but myself. Not even your Grandfather knows," he spoke with deliberate phrases. The princess could tell he had thought this conversation over. He continued, "I am trusting this to you because I have watched you over the years and have come to realize that, of all fae, you are one of the most kind and generous. Not to say that immortals like your mother are not kind and generous but you have another quality. You have not seen the cruelty of the world yet. Not truly, and because of this, I believe that you will have the most compassion for my secret."
Keziah held her breath. It was true, she was only thirty-three years old, but she did not know anyone had thought of her as anything but a silly child. Morpheus sighed, "Do you know Lemures's history?" The princess only shook her head but the dream fae knew her answer already. "He was a bright boy, actually and quite powerful. I remember everyone saying how far he would go in life. But then, tragedy came to his house. His mother and father died suddenly during a trip to the mortal world. No one knew how and no one was without grief. They were even related to your family by a marriage centuries back; a younger child of a noble decided to marry for love, not power, to a 'common' fae. So although they had been minor fae, they were extremely considerate and loving. Then, it was discovered that the boy, Lemures, had power over the spirits of the wicked and that these spirits had consumed the lives of Lemures's parents."
"How awful," breathed Keziah, not able to stop interrupting, "So he did it accidentally?"
"Yes, he did. Unfortunately, the rest of the fae were furious. No one should have power over evil like that. Lemures was shunned and hated. It is no wonder that he grew up to despise us all. We acted unforgivably towards him; he was just a child, eight or so, and no one cared enough to take him in. We, in fact, feared him. Ironic, isn't it?" he asked with a weak smile, "Our fear and hatred caused this crises, nothing else. If we had looked past his strange abilities and taught him how to use them properly, our society would have one less problem. Ah, but we will reap what we sow, as the mortals say."
There was a pause. "What happened then, Morpheus?"
~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~
Apollo paused in the hall while Ion passed by silently. The young Athenian king stared straight ahead, ignoring his father. The powerful fae shook his head in despair and sighed audibly.
Ion faltered but chose to continue, until a voice broke out.
"My son! Please, talk to me," Apollo called out. The young king turned to face his hated father.
"Don't you dare call me your son! I am no fae's son in spirit; my true father is Xuthus, my mother's husband, who raised me to be king of Athens. I have avoided you for a long time, I can certainly stand to avoid you for centuries to come."
"Why are you so bitter towards me, Ion? Your mother loved me, why shouldn't you?"
"My mother is dead, Apollo. And she never loved you. You forced yourself upon her and then left her to bear me alone in a cave. Only with the greatest luck did I survive and find Creusa again."
Apollo stared at him incredulously, "Is that what they told you? That I raped your mother and abandoned her?"
Ion gave him a hard glare and remained silent.
"Oh, gods… they did tell you that. No wonder we've never talked civilly. Why didn't you tell me? Never mind, I know why; you weren't talking to me," he sighed in exasperation. "Listen to me, Ion. I never touched your mother without her consent. We were in love, we truly were. Your mother became scared when she got pregnant… she left and didn't tell me where she had gone. Back then, being unmarried and with child spelled death. After she had you, she left you in that cave. When she came back and you were gone, she blamed me, although the priestess had picked you up. She swore me off and married Xuthus."
"Why should I believe you?"
"Why shouldn't you? I am the fae of truth… I am incapable of telling a lie. I loved Creusa, but I can't help it if she decided that I was the cause of all her problems. She left me, Ion, not the other way around. And if I had known about you back then, I would have raised you as a fae should be raised."
Ion looked at his hands. It would have been nice to learn to control his powers, but he was also happy the way his life turned out as it was. "I shall think about your words," he murmured before leaving.
~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~
Puck leaned over Jareth and was greeted by a pool of blood surrounding the king. The trickster touched his shoulder lightly and saw that it had become utterly useless. The Goblin King moaned in pain. He gently pushed Jareth to a more comfortable position and then mumbled, "I'll be right back. I must see to the queen."
"Watch for Lemures. He has the crystal. You must get to the crystal. It will send the spirits back to hell."
Puck stopped dead and turned back to the Goblin King, "But… you are the only one that can use it! I have no gift for those crys…"
Jareth interrupted, wheezing in pain, "It doesn't matter. Once the hand of a person who is loyal to Oberon touches it, it will work it's magic by itself." He put his head down and the trickster grimaced to see the Goblin King's blond hair turn red from his own blood. He had to get away from the sight.
Puck stumbled over to Narcissa. Her breathing was easier now, but her forehead had crusted blood on it and she was still unconscious. "Wonderful," he murmured, "I'm stuck in this cave with a lunatic searching for a little glass ball and a ticked off fairy. And no one to share the experience with me." He looked up to check on Wynne and his breath caught in his throat. No one was there. He groaned, "This can't be good."
"I disagree, my friend. This is quite a fortunate turn of events."
Puck groaned again. Directly behind him, Lemures stood. One hand was wrapped around the waist of a sour looking fairy. The other held the crystal.
~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~
Morpheus was in a small coughing fit and Keziah frowned as he rejected all her moves to help. Finally, the coughs subsided. The princess's brown eyes were wrought with concern. She had never received anything but kindness and compassion from this man. She remembered with a slight jolt that he was her godfather as well. Her parents must have loved the fae enormously to give him the position of godfather over their first born child. Keziah shook her head, realizing that she had thought of her mother in the past tense. "She's alive," she whispered to herself, "Have faith."
The dream fae waited patiently for Keziah to raise her head before he continued. "I feared Lemures along with the rest but something about him made me, and my brothers, fear him even more than the others. He controlled the wicked dead from the Underworld. As you know, Death and Sleep are closely related, especially in the Greek fae culture. They are, in fact, the brothers Thanatos and Hypnos. It terrified me to see Lemures have complete control over something so close to my own domain of power. And so, without anyone's help, I decided to do something about it."
"I approached Lemures one night when he was about fifteen. Full grown in shape, but not in mind and I worked this, sadly, to my advantage. I told him that no one would ever care for him if he continued to have ultimate power over the spirits of the dead. I went on to say that the power should have been given to Hades, if anyone. He must have received it by a freak accident. Lemures was already fragile at that point and nearly broke down. He clutched at my robes and cried out, 'I never meant anyone harm, least of all my parents. Please teach me to control it.' But I turned from his pleas and told him that the only way anyone would receive him again was if he gave up that particular power completely. 'Please,' he pleaded, 'I have no other powers to speak of. That's all I have left. I am only a minor fae, how can I get by without even that one unique ability?' His speech only succeeded in alarming me more. As the minutes dragged on, I noticed he became more and more resentful. Finally, I gave in. To a point."
Keziah watched wide-eyed. She had never pictured Morpheus as the cruel, calculating type. "What did you do?" she breathed.
"I gave him conditions. He had to give up his capability almost completely. The only allowance I made was that he could call upon the spirits for every hundred years he lived. The other restriction was that the lemures could only be in our world for a fortnight, no more," Morpheus paused, "So I placed that spell upon him but no one noticed. Of course, I had gotten my security so I didn't care all that much. But he became bitter and cold and well… you see what he has become. A killer and a traitor."
"But, that wasn't your fault!" Keziah insisted.
The fae gave a weak smile, "Yes, I'm afraid it is, my dear. I know the fae society. It would have taken a couple more years but as soon as another crises struck, Lemures's strange ability would have been forgotten. It was forgotten, actually. The fae all dislike him because he has become so bitter and cruel." He sighed. Despite everything, he felt better now. The two-and-a-half century-old secret was out.
While the princess gazed at him, Morpheus fell into a deep sleep.
~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~
"Interesting little contraption, really," said Lemures, twirling the crystal. "Amazing that something so small can hold so much power. It's too bad that I must smash it."
Puck glared at Lemures and shivered. The phantoms were holding him to the ground. Some floated around Lemures. The trickster could hear a soft whispering.
"No!" screamed the evil fae suddenly. He stalked towards the cave's entrance, followed by a few of the ghosts. Wynne looked on nervously as Lemures began to talk, seemingly to himself, "How many times must I tell you? You are under my control. Not one of you little rodents are to be released after this is over."
The entire cave shook with the soft but insistent hiss of the phantoms, "But you promised…"
"So sorry," Lemures responded in a mocking, impatient tone, "Once I gain control of the fae empire, I will need you constantly. The curse will be undone and you will be my slaves."
Wynne shook perceptibly. Her broken wing hung pathetically but at the moment, she did not seem to notice, or care. "Maybe," she started, "you should listen to them, my love. They are powerful creatures."
"They are powerful because I made them that way!" screeched Lemures. He was irate.
The crystal still rested in his hand and Puck eyed it, wondering how to get to it. All he had to do was touch it and wait for the phantoms to disappear. Meanwhile, the evil fae yelled louder. "No one helped me reach this point! I had to do this myself! And if I wish to hold onto my power… the gods help whoever tries to stop me."
He had backed up to the dark stone circle, which had held a blazing fire only a short time ago. Lemures held up the crystal and was about to dash it to the ground when a jet of black came towards him.
The small glass sphere flew up into the air and towards the sharp rocks. Puck closed his eyes, not wanting to see the undoing of the fae culture.
~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~
Review people!
By the way – the story of Creusa and Ion was taken directly from mythology. She was a king's daughter, was raped by Apollo and bore a child. When she went back to the cave, she saw the boy was gone. Later she married Xuthus and they went to Delphi to try to get a blessing for having a child. Apollo's priests told Xuthus that Ion, the foundling altar boy, was now his son. Creusa recognized some belongings of Ion's, and realized she had found her son. Athena appears and says that Ion is Apollo's son and will become king of Athens.
We're in the final stretch here… so once again I must thank everyone who has reviewed and of course, my wonderful beta reader: Baloo.
Chapter 18:
Lemures got to the rock first and brought it down upon Jareth's shoulder. The cave vibrated with the roar of pain from the Goblin King. He felt the bones shatter and the rock cut through the skin. The evil fae rolled over and got onto his feet. The king was still on the ground in agony. Lemures kicked him brutally in the stomach and ran to find the crystal.
Puck was not having any more luck than Jareth. The Scottish fairy had pinned him to wall and was threatening to pull his arms out of his sockets. Puck fought as hard as he could but had to realize that his strength was failing him. "You are mine, Trickster!" growled Wynne. Anger had transformed her once small pretty face into a snarling monster.
"Sorry, kid, I just don't think it would work out between us," Puck responded, not being able to help it. He wrenched his arm free of her grasp and tore at her wings. She howled in distress and turned to see her wing hanging limply.
"You!" she screamed, "I will never be able to fly again!"
"Always believed insects shouldn't be able to fly. Makes them even more annoying, don't you think?" He grinned maliciously and bounded away. Under his carefree exterior, all he wanted was to protect his lord's daughter. Narcissa still lay on the dirt, hardly breathing. Puck swatted at the ghosts, feeling as if he was in polar waters. They sucked all the warmth out of him and so when the fairy finally caught up to him, Puck was not very happy. He whirled upon her and summoned the last of his energy in a great blast of power. Wynne yelped and rocketed backwards, through a sheet of phantoms and into the wall of the cave. Puck wheezed for a few moments before he realized that his comrade had fallen.
Rushing to where Jareth was, Puck observed the spirits hesitation. They had no direction without their leader. Lemures was nowhere in sight.
~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~
Keziah entered the room slowly and quietly. She did not know what to expect from the wise old fae surrounded by the fabric of the canopy bed. The room was full of drapery, not a single inch of wall was seen. It glowed dimly blue, casting a light about the bed, the only piece of furniture in the room. At the far end of the chamber, a set of tall glass doors opened onto a balcony. Stars shined down and Keziah realized that it had been over a day since Narcissa had been kidnapped. Her own silver dress whispered softly across the floor.
She approached the bed and looked through the translucent cloth to the dream fae. Brown hair fell across his youthful face. It was amazing to think that he was one of the elder fae; he looked far too handsome. His eyes were closed and his breathing was minute. Daring to break the silence, she gently called his name.
Immediately, Morpheus responded, "Good evening, child."
"Morpheus," she said, curtseying. It was out of habit only; his eyes were still shut.
"I want to tell you something, Keziah. Something that no one knows but myself. Not even your Grandfather knows," he spoke with deliberate phrases. The princess could tell he had thought this conversation over. He continued, "I am trusting this to you because I have watched you over the years and have come to realize that, of all fae, you are one of the most kind and generous. Not to say that immortals like your mother are not kind and generous but you have another quality. You have not seen the cruelty of the world yet. Not truly, and because of this, I believe that you will have the most compassion for my secret."
Keziah held her breath. It was true, she was only thirty-three years old, but she did not know anyone had thought of her as anything but a silly child. Morpheus sighed, "Do you know Lemures's history?" The princess only shook her head but the dream fae knew her answer already. "He was a bright boy, actually and quite powerful. I remember everyone saying how far he would go in life. But then, tragedy came to his house. His mother and father died suddenly during a trip to the mortal world. No one knew how and no one was without grief. They were even related to your family by a marriage centuries back; a younger child of a noble decided to marry for love, not power, to a 'common' fae. So although they had been minor fae, they were extremely considerate and loving. Then, it was discovered that the boy, Lemures, had power over the spirits of the wicked and that these spirits had consumed the lives of Lemures's parents."
"How awful," breathed Keziah, not able to stop interrupting, "So he did it accidentally?"
"Yes, he did. Unfortunately, the rest of the fae were furious. No one should have power over evil like that. Lemures was shunned and hated. It is no wonder that he grew up to despise us all. We acted unforgivably towards him; he was just a child, eight or so, and no one cared enough to take him in. We, in fact, feared him. Ironic, isn't it?" he asked with a weak smile, "Our fear and hatred caused this crises, nothing else. If we had looked past his strange abilities and taught him how to use them properly, our society would have one less problem. Ah, but we will reap what we sow, as the mortals say."
There was a pause. "What happened then, Morpheus?"
~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~
Apollo paused in the hall while Ion passed by silently. The young Athenian king stared straight ahead, ignoring his father. The powerful fae shook his head in despair and sighed audibly.
Ion faltered but chose to continue, until a voice broke out.
"My son! Please, talk to me," Apollo called out. The young king turned to face his hated father.
"Don't you dare call me your son! I am no fae's son in spirit; my true father is Xuthus, my mother's husband, who raised me to be king of Athens. I have avoided you for a long time, I can certainly stand to avoid you for centuries to come."
"Why are you so bitter towards me, Ion? Your mother loved me, why shouldn't you?"
"My mother is dead, Apollo. And she never loved you. You forced yourself upon her and then left her to bear me alone in a cave. Only with the greatest luck did I survive and find Creusa again."
Apollo stared at him incredulously, "Is that what they told you? That I raped your mother and abandoned her?"
Ion gave him a hard glare and remained silent.
"Oh, gods… they did tell you that. No wonder we've never talked civilly. Why didn't you tell me? Never mind, I know why; you weren't talking to me," he sighed in exasperation. "Listen to me, Ion. I never touched your mother without her consent. We were in love, we truly were. Your mother became scared when she got pregnant… she left and didn't tell me where she had gone. Back then, being unmarried and with child spelled death. After she had you, she left you in that cave. When she came back and you were gone, she blamed me, although the priestess had picked you up. She swore me off and married Xuthus."
"Why should I believe you?"
"Why shouldn't you? I am the fae of truth… I am incapable of telling a lie. I loved Creusa, but I can't help it if she decided that I was the cause of all her problems. She left me, Ion, not the other way around. And if I had known about you back then, I would have raised you as a fae should be raised."
Ion looked at his hands. It would have been nice to learn to control his powers, but he was also happy the way his life turned out as it was. "I shall think about your words," he murmured before leaving.
~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~
Puck leaned over Jareth and was greeted by a pool of blood surrounding the king. The trickster touched his shoulder lightly and saw that it had become utterly useless. The Goblin King moaned in pain. He gently pushed Jareth to a more comfortable position and then mumbled, "I'll be right back. I must see to the queen."
"Watch for Lemures. He has the crystal. You must get to the crystal. It will send the spirits back to hell."
Puck stopped dead and turned back to the Goblin King, "But… you are the only one that can use it! I have no gift for those crys…"
Jareth interrupted, wheezing in pain, "It doesn't matter. Once the hand of a person who is loyal to Oberon touches it, it will work it's magic by itself." He put his head down and the trickster grimaced to see the Goblin King's blond hair turn red from his own blood. He had to get away from the sight.
Puck stumbled over to Narcissa. Her breathing was easier now, but her forehead had crusted blood on it and she was still unconscious. "Wonderful," he murmured, "I'm stuck in this cave with a lunatic searching for a little glass ball and a ticked off fairy. And no one to share the experience with me." He looked up to check on Wynne and his breath caught in his throat. No one was there. He groaned, "This can't be good."
"I disagree, my friend. This is quite a fortunate turn of events."
Puck groaned again. Directly behind him, Lemures stood. One hand was wrapped around the waist of a sour looking fairy. The other held the crystal.
~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~
Morpheus was in a small coughing fit and Keziah frowned as he rejected all her moves to help. Finally, the coughs subsided. The princess's brown eyes were wrought with concern. She had never received anything but kindness and compassion from this man. She remembered with a slight jolt that he was her godfather as well. Her parents must have loved the fae enormously to give him the position of godfather over their first born child. Keziah shook her head, realizing that she had thought of her mother in the past tense. "She's alive," she whispered to herself, "Have faith."
The dream fae waited patiently for Keziah to raise her head before he continued. "I feared Lemures along with the rest but something about him made me, and my brothers, fear him even more than the others. He controlled the wicked dead from the Underworld. As you know, Death and Sleep are closely related, especially in the Greek fae culture. They are, in fact, the brothers Thanatos and Hypnos. It terrified me to see Lemures have complete control over something so close to my own domain of power. And so, without anyone's help, I decided to do something about it."
"I approached Lemures one night when he was about fifteen. Full grown in shape, but not in mind and I worked this, sadly, to my advantage. I told him that no one would ever care for him if he continued to have ultimate power over the spirits of the dead. I went on to say that the power should have been given to Hades, if anyone. He must have received it by a freak accident. Lemures was already fragile at that point and nearly broke down. He clutched at my robes and cried out, 'I never meant anyone harm, least of all my parents. Please teach me to control it.' But I turned from his pleas and told him that the only way anyone would receive him again was if he gave up that particular power completely. 'Please,' he pleaded, 'I have no other powers to speak of. That's all I have left. I am only a minor fae, how can I get by without even that one unique ability?' His speech only succeeded in alarming me more. As the minutes dragged on, I noticed he became more and more resentful. Finally, I gave in. To a point."
Keziah watched wide-eyed. She had never pictured Morpheus as the cruel, calculating type. "What did you do?" she breathed.
"I gave him conditions. He had to give up his capability almost completely. The only allowance I made was that he could call upon the spirits for every hundred years he lived. The other restriction was that the lemures could only be in our world for a fortnight, no more," Morpheus paused, "So I placed that spell upon him but no one noticed. Of course, I had gotten my security so I didn't care all that much. But he became bitter and cold and well… you see what he has become. A killer and a traitor."
"But, that wasn't your fault!" Keziah insisted.
The fae gave a weak smile, "Yes, I'm afraid it is, my dear. I know the fae society. It would have taken a couple more years but as soon as another crises struck, Lemures's strange ability would have been forgotten. It was forgotten, actually. The fae all dislike him because he has become so bitter and cruel." He sighed. Despite everything, he felt better now. The two-and-a-half century-old secret was out.
While the princess gazed at him, Morpheus fell into a deep sleep.
~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~
"Interesting little contraption, really," said Lemures, twirling the crystal. "Amazing that something so small can hold so much power. It's too bad that I must smash it."
Puck glared at Lemures and shivered. The phantoms were holding him to the ground. Some floated around Lemures. The trickster could hear a soft whispering.
"No!" screamed the evil fae suddenly. He stalked towards the cave's entrance, followed by a few of the ghosts. Wynne looked on nervously as Lemures began to talk, seemingly to himself, "How many times must I tell you? You are under my control. Not one of you little rodents are to be released after this is over."
The entire cave shook with the soft but insistent hiss of the phantoms, "But you promised…"
"So sorry," Lemures responded in a mocking, impatient tone, "Once I gain control of the fae empire, I will need you constantly. The curse will be undone and you will be my slaves."
Wynne shook perceptibly. Her broken wing hung pathetically but at the moment, she did not seem to notice, or care. "Maybe," she started, "you should listen to them, my love. They are powerful creatures."
"They are powerful because I made them that way!" screeched Lemures. He was irate.
The crystal still rested in his hand and Puck eyed it, wondering how to get to it. All he had to do was touch it and wait for the phantoms to disappear. Meanwhile, the evil fae yelled louder. "No one helped me reach this point! I had to do this myself! And if I wish to hold onto my power… the gods help whoever tries to stop me."
He had backed up to the dark stone circle, which had held a blazing fire only a short time ago. Lemures held up the crystal and was about to dash it to the ground when a jet of black came towards him.
The small glass sphere flew up into the air and towards the sharp rocks. Puck closed his eyes, not wanting to see the undoing of the fae culture.
~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~
Review people!
By the way – the story of Creusa and Ion was taken directly from mythology. She was a king's daughter, was raped by Apollo and bore a child. When she went back to the cave, she saw the boy was gone. Later she married Xuthus and they went to Delphi to try to get a blessing for having a child. Apollo's priests told Xuthus that Ion, the foundling altar boy, was now his son. Creusa recognized some belongings of Ion's, and realized she had found her son. Athena appears and says that Ion is Apollo's son and will become king of Athens.
We're in the final stretch here… so once again I must thank everyone who has reviewed and of course, my wonderful beta reader: Baloo.