Title: Shunned
Author: Raven-Mistress for the Incarnate
Category: Labyrinth
Rating: Pg13-R
Summary: A child, not quite a girl, but still not a woman, is hated by her father and forgotten by the world. What happens when she receives a birthday gift from her aunt, the gift of a small, leather-bound black book, with the words 'Labyrinth of Logic' printed on its cover?
Authors Note: I would appreciate reviews. ~Raven~
Disclaimer- I own nothing.
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Constance stood on shaky legs, facing the last imposing marble statue and pushing the memories left by the first two from her mind. The wind was deathly still as she inspected the fine silver platter; it was beautiful and skillfully crafted, just like the ones before. But the vial that it seated was not bright in color as its predecessors had been. It was pure and devoid of all color. It looked almost like water, but even with all her naiveties she knew that it was anything but.
She reached a small, pale hand out and grasped the vial in what was almost a steady hand. She quickly brought hand back and pulled the cork stopper from its resting place and carelessly tossed it into the fountains pool.
As she brought the small, glass container to her lips it barely registered in her mind that the liquid was odorless. Without pausing, she consumed the contents and waited for the inevitable motion sickness to occur. But after several moments, nothing happened. The grove remained quiet and still and she remained stationary.
Shrugging delicately she replaced the vial and turned around, she happily gasped as her eyes were met with the sight of an opening to the outside world; one of the large trees was missing from it's place between the pillars, revealing and earthy brown path that cut it's way from the closed off court yard and through a thick, dark forest.
She quickly through aside her inhibitions and ran through the pool, creating loud splashes and leaving many ripples in her wake. Her movements were quick as she ran to the opening, she wanted out so bad, her time was running low and she had to navigate through that dark forest and find her way to the castle. Her life depended on it.
Despite all of her hopeful thoughts she stopped, this was all too easy; all of the other challenges had required to exert her mental strength and had been solved by using logic, this couldn't be the end. Gently, she reached her hand out to the opening; but she was met with resistance. It almost felt like there was a sheet of glass standing between her and her destination.
Something in the back of her mind flared up and she sensed eyes on her. She quickly turned around, half-hoping, half-dreading that the Lamian King was with her. She didn't know how to react when her eyes fell on the forms of three identical fey males.
They were all tall with burnished red hair and bright, yet in some mysterious way dull, green eyes. Their skin was as pale as ivory and their handsome features were still and lifeless. Each wore a thick, silver chained necklace that bore the Greek symbol for either past, present or future. She looked past them and saw that the fountains pedestal was empty, the statues were gone. Her gaze drifted back to the strangers before her and the realization slammed into her like a ton of bricks.
Present stepped forward, and in a dark and almost ominous voice spoke, "You have learned many truths, all different in content but similar in that they are all related to you. They affect you deeply and will mold and shape your future." paused and looked at his comrades briefly; he received a nod from either before continuing his odd and foreboding speech, "To pass beyond this point in the game, you must realize the common truth."
He looked at her pointedly, and she understood that it was time for her to either answer or forfeit. She cast her gaze down as her brow furrowed with concentration, "The common truth." she muttered as she tapped a thin digit against her temple, "But everything was so, so different. It was completely opposite of the norm." she thought aloud. 'Completely opposite' rang through the air for a short moment before her head snapped up and she locked her gaze with that of present, "Nothing is what it seems." She spoke evenly with all the confidence she could gather.
After a moment of quiet she aloud her gaze to slide over to Future and was astonished to see his face brighten with a smile. She quickly looked at Present once more, only to have him nod and wave his arm broadly towards the path.
Without a second thought she smiled at the living statues and quickly turned and fled down the path and into the dark forest.
~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~
The room was cloaked in a veil of darkness; three small votive-like candles were the only source of light. Shadows were cast upon the walls and furniture, giving the room beautiful and ornate room an almost sinister quality.
Perched high on the windowsill, gracefully spinning a crystal that held a slight tint of blue was the kind. His brow was furrowed in intense concentration as he starred out at his beautiful and vast kingdom. Everything was so different from the times of old, everything was so much more civilized, there was a large gap in-between the lower class and upper class and all of the creatures in the Underground seemed to be more concerned with appearances and their own social and political gain to even give a thought about others. He despised that manner of thinking, there were so few left that he felt he could trust and so many that he knew he needed to keep under a closely guarded watch.
These were the reasons why he remained shut off from the Underground and its inhabitants, he attended the many balls' and parties' that served as more of a political function than a source of entertainment. He would sit by and idly watch as others enjoyed themselves, he knew full well that most did not want to be in attendance, but it would be rude, even considered an insult and it would forever tarnish ones reputation if they did not attend. And everyone wants to maintain a good reputation.
When the time came for the more influential guest to convene in a more private area he would go and only say as much as was needed, Jareth was the more social and talkative out of the twins anyway. They both considered most of those evenings were a waste of both of their energy.
His thoughts were brought to an abrupt halt as someone began to rapidly beating upon his chambers' door. His head snapped to the direction of the offensive sound and he accusingly bit out "What do you want?"
"Y, Your Majesty?" a young, male voice stuttered from the opposite side of the thick door, fear obviously showing in his voice.
"What is it Westley?" The king sighed as he forced himself to speak kindly to his young fey page.
From behind the door the dark haired fey heaved a sigh of relief; he had never seen his king in angered state, no one had. Some spoke of seeing him frustrated (usually with his twin), but he was almost always calm and passive. Regaining his composure the page asked "May I enter, Sire?"
His reply was the simple opening of the large door. He took quiet, but measured steps into the room and closed the door behind him. He faced his king before announcing "The girl has entered the Forest of Nightmares. If she's anything like those before her, she'll surely go mad."
"The problem is, she is nothing like the rest." the king muttered as he turned and faced his kingdom again.
"What do you mean?" Westley asked, his gray eyes taking on a look of intrigue as he carefully watched his lord and master.
"It's nothing for you to concern yourself with." Tristram spoke in a clipped tone as he faced his younger page once more and with a strong voice commanded him to return to the thrown room and send orders to the Captain of the Guard instructing him to place sentries at all castle entryways.
Westley hastily exited to do his kings bidding, leaving Tristram alone to his thoughts once more. He looked out into the falling twilight and sighed "Why must you intrigue me so, young Halfling?"
-To Be Continued-
Thank you for patience, I've been so extremely busy lately that I've barely had time to sleep. I'm going to try and have many more chapters put out soon. I'm sorry for the delay and thank you to all who have taken the time to read and review.
~Raven~
Author: Raven-Mistress for the Incarnate
Category: Labyrinth
Rating: Pg13-R
Summary: A child, not quite a girl, but still not a woman, is hated by her father and forgotten by the world. What happens when she receives a birthday gift from her aunt, the gift of a small, leather-bound black book, with the words 'Labyrinth of Logic' printed on its cover?
Authors Note: I would appreciate reviews. ~Raven~
Disclaimer- I own nothing.
~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~
Constance stood on shaky legs, facing the last imposing marble statue and pushing the memories left by the first two from her mind. The wind was deathly still as she inspected the fine silver platter; it was beautiful and skillfully crafted, just like the ones before. But the vial that it seated was not bright in color as its predecessors had been. It was pure and devoid of all color. It looked almost like water, but even with all her naiveties she knew that it was anything but.
She reached a small, pale hand out and grasped the vial in what was almost a steady hand. She quickly brought hand back and pulled the cork stopper from its resting place and carelessly tossed it into the fountains pool.
As she brought the small, glass container to her lips it barely registered in her mind that the liquid was odorless. Without pausing, she consumed the contents and waited for the inevitable motion sickness to occur. But after several moments, nothing happened. The grove remained quiet and still and she remained stationary.
Shrugging delicately she replaced the vial and turned around, she happily gasped as her eyes were met with the sight of an opening to the outside world; one of the large trees was missing from it's place between the pillars, revealing and earthy brown path that cut it's way from the closed off court yard and through a thick, dark forest.
She quickly through aside her inhibitions and ran through the pool, creating loud splashes and leaving many ripples in her wake. Her movements were quick as she ran to the opening, she wanted out so bad, her time was running low and she had to navigate through that dark forest and find her way to the castle. Her life depended on it.
Despite all of her hopeful thoughts she stopped, this was all too easy; all of the other challenges had required to exert her mental strength and had been solved by using logic, this couldn't be the end. Gently, she reached her hand out to the opening; but she was met with resistance. It almost felt like there was a sheet of glass standing between her and her destination.
Something in the back of her mind flared up and she sensed eyes on her. She quickly turned around, half-hoping, half-dreading that the Lamian King was with her. She didn't know how to react when her eyes fell on the forms of three identical fey males.
They were all tall with burnished red hair and bright, yet in some mysterious way dull, green eyes. Their skin was as pale as ivory and their handsome features were still and lifeless. Each wore a thick, silver chained necklace that bore the Greek symbol for either past, present or future. She looked past them and saw that the fountains pedestal was empty, the statues were gone. Her gaze drifted back to the strangers before her and the realization slammed into her like a ton of bricks.
Present stepped forward, and in a dark and almost ominous voice spoke, "You have learned many truths, all different in content but similar in that they are all related to you. They affect you deeply and will mold and shape your future." paused and looked at his comrades briefly; he received a nod from either before continuing his odd and foreboding speech, "To pass beyond this point in the game, you must realize the common truth."
He looked at her pointedly, and she understood that it was time for her to either answer or forfeit. She cast her gaze down as her brow furrowed with concentration, "The common truth." she muttered as she tapped a thin digit against her temple, "But everything was so, so different. It was completely opposite of the norm." she thought aloud. 'Completely opposite' rang through the air for a short moment before her head snapped up and she locked her gaze with that of present, "Nothing is what it seems." She spoke evenly with all the confidence she could gather.
After a moment of quiet she aloud her gaze to slide over to Future and was astonished to see his face brighten with a smile. She quickly looked at Present once more, only to have him nod and wave his arm broadly towards the path.
Without a second thought she smiled at the living statues and quickly turned and fled down the path and into the dark forest.
~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~
The room was cloaked in a veil of darkness; three small votive-like candles were the only source of light. Shadows were cast upon the walls and furniture, giving the room beautiful and ornate room an almost sinister quality.
Perched high on the windowsill, gracefully spinning a crystal that held a slight tint of blue was the kind. His brow was furrowed in intense concentration as he starred out at his beautiful and vast kingdom. Everything was so different from the times of old, everything was so much more civilized, there was a large gap in-between the lower class and upper class and all of the creatures in the Underground seemed to be more concerned with appearances and their own social and political gain to even give a thought about others. He despised that manner of thinking, there were so few left that he felt he could trust and so many that he knew he needed to keep under a closely guarded watch.
These were the reasons why he remained shut off from the Underground and its inhabitants, he attended the many balls' and parties' that served as more of a political function than a source of entertainment. He would sit by and idly watch as others enjoyed themselves, he knew full well that most did not want to be in attendance, but it would be rude, even considered an insult and it would forever tarnish ones reputation if they did not attend. And everyone wants to maintain a good reputation.
When the time came for the more influential guest to convene in a more private area he would go and only say as much as was needed, Jareth was the more social and talkative out of the twins anyway. They both considered most of those evenings were a waste of both of their energy.
His thoughts were brought to an abrupt halt as someone began to rapidly beating upon his chambers' door. His head snapped to the direction of the offensive sound and he accusingly bit out "What do you want?"
"Y, Your Majesty?" a young, male voice stuttered from the opposite side of the thick door, fear obviously showing in his voice.
"What is it Westley?" The king sighed as he forced himself to speak kindly to his young fey page.
From behind the door the dark haired fey heaved a sigh of relief; he had never seen his king in angered state, no one had. Some spoke of seeing him frustrated (usually with his twin), but he was almost always calm and passive. Regaining his composure the page asked "May I enter, Sire?"
His reply was the simple opening of the large door. He took quiet, but measured steps into the room and closed the door behind him. He faced his king before announcing "The girl has entered the Forest of Nightmares. If she's anything like those before her, she'll surely go mad."
"The problem is, she is nothing like the rest." the king muttered as he turned and faced his kingdom again.
"What do you mean?" Westley asked, his gray eyes taking on a look of intrigue as he carefully watched his lord and master.
"It's nothing for you to concern yourself with." Tristram spoke in a clipped tone as he faced his younger page once more and with a strong voice commanded him to return to the thrown room and send orders to the Captain of the Guard instructing him to place sentries at all castle entryways.
Westley hastily exited to do his kings bidding, leaving Tristram alone to his thoughts once more. He looked out into the falling twilight and sighed "Why must you intrigue me so, young Halfling?"
-To Be Continued-
Thank you for patience, I've been so extremely busy lately that I've barely had time to sleep. I'm going to try and have many more chapters put out soon. I'm sorry for the delay and thank you to all who have taken the time to read and review.
~Raven~