A/N2: All edited. One more and we'll start on new chapters! I must admit this little break is useful, because it gave me the extra time I needed to get ahead again and revamp my webcomic...

A/N: More definitions!
salmagundi \sal-muh-GUHN-dee\, noun:
1. A salad plate usually consisting of chopped meat, anchovies, eggs, and onions, served with oil and vinegar.
2. Any mixture or assortment; a medley; a potpourri; a miscellany.

New perspective chapter! I realize this bouncing POV thing I'm doing might seem a little odd, but… I blame that wholly on this being my first time doing it. The story itself demanded it, I'm afraid. Certain things needed to be told from times when no one else was around. Ripples…

Enjoy!


Chapter Nine : Eclectic Personas

The Goblin Castle towered over the meager salmagundi village, casting its great shadow over half of the vast Labyrinth at this late hour. Not that time meant anything in particular in the realm of the goblins. A sovereign with half the power of the current Goblin King could control weather, time, and of course, the entire topography, on a whim. Lady Night reared to the fore because the King wished to hold a Masquerade Ball, and adored tradition well enough to will it take place in Her dark arms.

High Lord Jareth, King of the Labyrinth and the Goblins had a nonsensical adherence to order, of a sort. As children, the quirk had always amused Calypso. He insisted on learning and performing spells and castings only at the appropriate time, in the customary manner. Calypso had learned early on that magic still worked regardless of when or where, or sometimes even how. She chose to perform her castings whenever she felt the need. This made her magic far more frequent and noticed, but even she had to admit that Jareth's had always been more potent.

Queen Calypso frowned on her brother's castle. Yes, he was the stronger mage, naturally. However, with perfect timing and preparation, he would be hard pressed to reach a standstill with her while she had the power of the Nixes Kingdoms backing her. The Labyrinth's castle was a testament to the boon of Ruling Power, however small Jareth's boon might be.

Before he had become King of the Labyrinth, Jareth had only the ruling power of the goblins. He had to seduce the enigmatic landscape into accepting him by natural charm and all of the power at his command. With the boon from the Labyrinth itself, he had then built the castle that now taunted her eyes with its power. It was built from the very rock of a preternatural spear of mountain in exactly one year, starting and ending on high summer day, and lay near the heart of the Labyrinth. With such precision, it harnessed the ever-changing energies of its mistress, the animal carnage and wit of the goblins it watched over, and the brilliant charm of its King.

Calypso wanted nothing more than to rip it from the skyline, and abolish every trace that it had ever existed. In particular, she focused her damning rage on the second tallest tower and the one just below it. She had not seen those towers in almost one hundred years, since the day she had come for their christening. She had not noticed them on her last visit to the Labyrinth, two days before the brutal murder of her daughters.

Eric had created and erected them, as a sort of take-home test to prove his mastery of the Labyrinth. She wanted them to crumble to dust and burn the flesh of anyone that had ever supported the madman. She wanted every particle that the human-turned-nix had ever touched to spontaneously combust and burn until nothing was left. Most of all, she wanted to feel the flesh twist and bend under her fingertips as she strangled the man himself, draining away every ounce of magic he had wrested from her brother, her world, and her daughters.

The rabid yapping and baying of the Ogthropes brought the Queen of the Nixes Kingdoms from her red thoughts. They had attacked a defenseless goblin that had crossed their path, a response to the emotions rolling from Calypso. The tiny thing had been torn into two pieces. One Ogthrope played with half while the other two tossed the remaining bit between them like a toy. With a thought and a gesture, she soothed them.

It would not do to enter her dear brother's castle with mad goblin hounds frothing at her heels.

Calypso again found herself frowning at the castle all over again. Standing at the base in a secluded goblin garden, it was even larger than the blond remembered. She had come with only her Captain to assure a quiet entry. Now that she stood dwarfed by the Labyrinth's spire, Queen Calypso had no desire to enter the main door, unattended. Nor did she wish to waste any more time than necessary.

"Come," she commanded the Ogthropes. They let out a collective yip then dashed to her ankles, gathering in a huddle before her. The Queen of the Nixes Kingdoms coiled herself about the goblin hounds, singing softly under her breath. Had anyone been watching, they would have seen the faint blue glow that seeped from her skin like smoke, swirling to form a perfect bubble all around her. Fully formed, the orb shrank in on itself, until it was no larger than the Queen's own fist. With the faint breeze, it began to rise along the wall of the Goblin Castle. Up, and up, and up, and in.

The blue bubble hovered into the window of the tallest spire, floating through a busy room. Goblins filled the throne room from edge to opening, tossing, fighting, eating, drinking, maiming, and generally doing disgusting goblin things. They didn't notice the dangerous bauble listing above their heads.

Along the wall farthest from the only door, sat the massive throne that had existed long before Jareth's rule. It was made of the bone of some massive creature from the dreams of mortals, cased in Labyrinth stone, and sealed with goblin blood. Calypso had said it was grotesque. Jareth had simply laughed and called it appropriate.

It was around this throne that the blue orb swirled. On it, the Goblin King had draped himself, one leg thrown over an arm of the throne as he rest against the other. Jareth ignored all of the room as he focused on an airy crystal in his fingers. Images flashed quickly through it, as though the King were searching for something. The blue orb glowed in amusement. The Queen knew he had lost the boy.

The glow caught Jareth's attention, and he twitched his head violently to look at it.

Suddenly noticed, the blue bubble floated away from the Goblin King, to stop near the heart of the room. It drifted downward, coming to rest on the dirty and broken floor like a loosed feather. It hesitated, then burst, like any other bubble that had ever touched stone.

In the wake of bubble fragments, Queen Calypso appeared, her head tilted upward as her golden locks flared in the rush of the high wind. The Ogthropes fanned out from her feet, snapping and snarling at any goblin that came too near.

And near they came, as every goblin that had been happily enjoying the highest room a moment before went rushing from it in a frenzy so fierce there would be bruises.

Calypso's smirk settled dominantly on her features. She couldn't have made a better entrance if she'd brought the entirety of the Nixes court to lay waste to the Labyrinth.

Jareth got to his feet, anger flashing quickly on his face before falling behind a mask that mirrored her own. Staring at him, she remembered how they had pretended to be one another when they were children and still undeveloped enough to pull it off. They had perfected that half amused smirk together.

"My darling brother," the Queen greeted. She pressed a hand to her heart and held it out flat to Jareth, a common greeting among family. She didn't expect it to be returned, and she wasn't disappointed. "I am pleased to see that you have finally broken your ward's enchantment on the Labyrinth. I was so worried."

Where Calypso's dulcet tones echoed from the walls of the newly emptied throne room, Jareth's darker ones did not follow. She had expected as much. He'd sworn to never speak to her again when she'd tried to topple his castle through their mirror. The mirror been enchanted by their mother in a set with the one Calypso kept to always allow them communication, even when their father had separated them. Jareth had smashed his when she'd threatened him.

The Queen shook her head back into the present. "So, you aren't even going to protest to explain that she did it? I must have misjudged how much you cared for this one. Perhaps you want to explain how she did it?"

Jareth crossed his arms over his chest. Crystal forgotten, it drifted in the air and dissolved a moment later. He kept his lips pressed in a thin angry line, no doubt willing her away with the glare he pressed on her from afar.

Calypso put one hand on her hip, dipping her head to let her golden curls fall over one shoulder as her other hand stroked the head of a resting Ogthrope. "I guess it's true; Girls mature faster. Thousands of years old, and still giving his sister the silent treatment."

This time, the Goblin King made a noise. He snorted.

"So attractive, brother. Is that what drew you to her? Faryn Talenka's gentle personality and attractive form. So alike to both her parents. With her, you'd never be without either of them. And she has little will of her own. Little Faryn just wants everyone to be happy. Oh, and her mommy back. Boo-hoo." Calypso felt the ripple of a brief pang of guilt. A ripple was nothing like an actual emotion, the nixes Queen had discovered years ago. It came in place of a moment when she thought she ought to experience an emotion. She should feel guilt for belittling Faryn's pain. Her most precious ones had been stolen from her by the same hand as young Faryn's. Calypso should be polite to, and proud of, Sarah's daughter for surviving so long as a gentle person.

She resented her instead. It was a much better emotion than guilt, anyway.

Her attack on the girl elicited no response from her stubborn brother. She decided to try a more direct approach.

"What do you think she'll do when she realizes that you don't have the runt any longer?"

Jareth's eyes narrowed to fine points as he sucked in his lower lip to bite and stay silent. Both knew it was impossible. Finally he snapped, "You have no right to interfere in the working of my Kingdom, Calypso."

Delighted, the golden twin could contain herself no longer. She spun on one heel and crouched to the Ogthrope at her feet, running her fingers lovingly along its twisted face. "Oh, he can speak," She exclaimed to the hound, as though it were the most fantastic thing to ever happen. Giving the Ogthrope a light pat, she stood proudly again and smiled at Jareth. "I'd begun to think you'd lost your voice. Surely my brother wouldn't be so inconsiderate as to neglect greeting his own twin."

Jareth's glower was just shy of heavenly damnation. He snarled at her silently, clutching his crossed arms even tighter, as though trying not to strangle her. The image amused Calypso to no ends. She wanted to laugh at having incensed her twin, but could not. She had a very specific goal in mind for this meeting. It was no cordial call of Queen to vassal, or sister to brother. As always, Calypso wanted something. Why lift a finger for any other reason?

As if from a mystical bag of tricks, she reached into her heart and pulled the masks of adoration and innocence, oozing them through her form. She beamed at her brother, her golden skin and hair practically glowing with the weight of such lofty emotions. Her voice didn't change as quickly as her face, coming out somewhat acidly as she warned, "I was unaware that I was restricted in any way in any of my kingdoms, my darling brother."

Calypso tilted her head to one side, a look that had always gotten Jareth on her side when they'd been children. Her voice came out sugary this time, finally in line with her charismatic ooze. "Let's not fight, though. It all works out in the end - isn't that what Eric was always saying?"

Jareth reacted as she expected he would. He barked a laugh of disbelief. She could see her actions soften him, slightly though. He was definitely talking to her again.

"First you ask not to fight, then you say his name," he said, shaking his head. "What do you want, my Queen," he asked, apparently tired with the conversation. He uncrossed his arms, letting them fall, defeated, to his sides.

The Queen of the Nixes Kingdoms was not one to show your tire of. She ground her teeth together in an effort to retain her hard won mask. Jareth would pay in time, she reminded herself. At hand was a more pressing matter. A more personal one. If she could reach the children, Jareth need only pay for teaching the Waste of Flesh his magic.

Self-assured once more, her masks fell into place without command. Three quick strides brought her to Jareth's side, and the goblin hounds surrounded them.

In defense, the Goblin King pulled his arms across his chest again.

Heedless of his stance, Calypso stepped closer, putting a hand on the juncture of his arms. "I want to make things right, Jareth," she promised. While she meant it honestly, she didn't mean it the way he would take it. It was time to lay the dice.

"I've brought you a gift."

Slowly, she brought her free hand about in a wide circle. The kegs of laced liquor she'd held in between worlds as she'd traveled coalesced by the far side of the room. Her hand came to a pause before the Goblin King's face, a blue crystal on her fingers. So similar to his own bubbles of magic, and yet so different.

"If you want to leave alcohol for the goblins, feel free," Jareth mocked. He had no idea that she'd done anything more than bring liquor for his drunkard goblins, nor would he before it was too late. She didn't expect him to accept her gifts, but she wished he would. It would make things so much easier.

Calypso's expectations did not fall through. Jareth brought up one hand, so similar to her own, and pushed the proffered gift away. "I don't want your crystal."

The Queen shook her head, as though he had just damned himself to eternal pain. It would only make things slightly more difficult. If the girl reached the castle, Calypso would have to discover another avenue to reach her. No matter, and no reason to let Jareth know that. Time was short. "Why must you always make things difficult," she implored.

Calypso turned from her brother, calling the Ogthropes to her with short clicks and whistles on her tongue. They swarmed her feet as she reached the archway that led to the staircase out, where she paused. Glancing over her shoulder she said forlornly, "I have to give the gift to her now."

Jareth gave his first look of heartfelt emotion; a grin that Calypso did not like the look of. His grin twisted as words came, ever so amused. "Oh, but you can't find her. Can you, little sister?"

The unexpected finally happened as she felt anger well in her heart as a response. It flooded until she was so full of the red emotion that she burst, letting loose a mad shriek that followed her down the stairs and away from the castle.

Jareth would know her wrath, but she would find that mistake of reproduction, first.

And she would destroy Faryn Talenka.