Disclaimer: I don't own any of the characters from the film Labyrinth.
I tried looking under my bed but didn't find any Goblins, let alone any
Goblin Kings. I did however find three psychotic cats that do belong to me
and keep trying to get at the goldfish and a two-year-old demon child who I
desperately wish could be wished away, but keeps resisting all attempts.
Oh and by the way, if you think the writing is strange, that's because I
live in England and not in America! Have fun! Araminta.
PLAYING THE GAME AGAIN
Sarah looked at the woman who had been her friend, confidant and mentor for the past ten years and a fleeting thought rushed by in her mind. She could help restore it and tame him.
"What is it Sarah?" The woman asked feeling Sarah's gaze on her as she poured them more wine.
"I was wondering if there was anyway to help my friends."
"Do you really want to go back? After what happened last time?"
"I'm stronger now, he can't do anything to me, and he never could! I realise that now."
The woman stood and walked over to one of her small tables. Picking up a covered object she returned to Sarah and placed it on the coffee table between them. "Focus Sarah, listen to your heart and intuition, when you are ready look into the crystal."
"There is no sense of challenge. No purpose anymore, life is dying within its walls. It has no guidance; its master has no desire for the game now. He doesn't care, for it or anyone of his subjects!" Sarah exclaimed in a faraway voice.
Jo cast a glance at the large amethyst crystal sitting on the table and connected with what Sarah was seeing. She gasped softly as she saw a handsome but cruel looking face, hinting at boredom, as he lounged on a throne, and then slowly dispersed.
"Was that?"
"Yes. That is Jareth the Goblin King; somehow he doesn't seem as impressive as he once did." Sarah replied with a detachment she'd never felt before when mentioning his name. 'Speak for yourself' Jo thought although something nagged at her she just couldn't catch the thought and solidify it.
"So what do you want to do?"
"I want to go back and shake things up a little. I want my friends to feel alive again. I feel guilty; if I had accepted his offer would it be any different?"
"We can't change the past."
"No, but we can affect the future." Sarah stated before dwelling back on her decision of ten years ago. "How can a fifteen year old girl know what she wants out of life? Dreams change!"
"Yes they do. I use to dream of marrying a fairy prince; I was twelve at the time."
"Now what do you dream of?"
"That I won't mess up the Handfasting of you and my cousin. Do you think he loved you true?"
"Who? Jareth!" Sarah laughed. "How could he when he wanted me to do as he said."
"All men want to be acknowledged as King! Smart women let them believe they're in control, but then women like us, have to be true to ourselves."
"Are you saying you would have done the same as I did?"
"Most probably! No man will ever have power over me! Finding a way in will take time, and I'd like Brand to be with us as well, he may come in handy. Once you two are Handfasted, we'll go and play in the Underground."
Once Sarah had left, Jo went upstairs to the attic to continue the task she had started several months before. When her Grandmother had died, Jo had inherited the three story house and all it's contents. In her will Amethyst Donnelly O'Neill had bade her only granddaughter to find her journals and to read them from start to finish. The journals began when her grandmother was thirteen; Jo was partway through her grandmother's eighteenth year.
Most of the entries were normal entries, some were notes about spells and incantations that her grandmother had performed she had yet to come across the meeting of her grandfather.
'Tonight was wonderful. We met in a glade in the forest, not far from here. He said that the veil between our worlds is thinner here, making it easier for him to come Aboveground. We gave ourselves to each other and then exchanged rings. Nothing fancy just plain gold Celtic knot bands, symbols of our everlasting love.'
Intrigued Jo quickly scanned the journal entries trying to find more about this mystery man of her Grams, and then she found an entry that had watermarks on the writing.
'He promised me that nothing would ever come between us, but it has. His father has ordered him to be wed, and as the only son he has to obey. Gadel tells me that it is a political match and that I am his only love. I hold his heart and in his eyes I am his wife. He has promised never to remove my ring from his hand, but that he will never be able to come Aboveground and see me again. His touch was magical, throughout our last moments together it was as if we could see into each others souls. Gadel told me, as we lay together that he wished that I was with child then he could have had reason to refuse despite the anger it would cause his realm. He swore that no matter what happened with his wife-to-be that she would never bear him a child, that the only person he was mated to was me. We watched the sunrise together and then kissed for the last time. Farewell my prince, my love, my life.'
'Liam proposed to me to-day and I have accepted his proposal, not because I love him, I'm fond of him and will make him happy and possibly come to love him in time, but because Gadel wish came true, be it far too late. I explained my situation prior to accepting Liam's proposal and he has not held my previous infidelity against me, saying he will bring the child up as his own. I thank the Goddess for his kindness.'
'Gadel's daughter was born to-day at the turn of the solstice. I have named her Chrysta. She has her father's eyes, a brilliant blue-violet colour unlike any human eyes, but then my darling babe is special she carries the blood of the Daemon Fae within her. She is the last of that line, if her father keeps his promise.'
The journal fell from her hands. Her mother wasn't human. She wasn't human. How could they have kept this a secret from her all her life? When she had questioned the colour of her mother's eyes after a biology class one day, having found out that two brown-eyed parents couldn't produce a blue-eyed child, she allowed herself to believe that the unusual colour was a throwback to a previous generation and a symbolic mark of their Wiccan nature.
A woman picked up the ringing phone despite the early hour. "Yes, Jo what is it?"
"Why didn't you tell me?" Demanded an indignant voice down the line.
"Because I thought it best not too." Chrysta replied knowing immediately what her daughter was taking about.
"Is there anything else I should know?" Chrysta remained silent for a moment and then looked across at the man by her side, who had also awakened at the sound of the phone. He read the question in her eyes and nodded. "Yes darling there is, but I'd rather not talk to you about it on the phone. Come by in the morning and I'll explain everything." The woman sighed deeply as she replaced the receiver.
"We knew this day would come my love. I actually thought it may have been sooner."
"I know. Can you stay my darling and meet your daughter in the flesh?"
Cormak looked at the woman who was his mate. He loved this enchanting woman will all his heart and wanted nothing more to please her, but the simple request was not in his power to grant. "I can't my love; you know I can only stay a few hours at a time."
"I know." Chrysta replied softly.
"Give her this as a token of my love and affection. If she ever makes her way back her safety will be assured."
"It looks so simple yet it's beautiful." She said looking at the intricately woven gold band with a single amethyst at its centre. It was similar to a ring she wore, one that Cormak had given her the morning after they had first lain together. "I wish ..." Chrysta began but was quickly silenced by his lips over hers.
Jo looked at the ring her mother had given her. It looked large, but once she placed it onto her middle finger of her left hand, it fitted perfectly. She was still struggling with what her mother had told her.
"So you are half Fae, and I am what exactly?"
"Well I suppose you are a little more than that. In fact Jo I need to tell you a little more about your Fae blood, you're a Princess."
"But aren't you? Grams called your father her prince?"
"It's complicated, there's minor royalty, Fae nobility, and then there's Royalty..." Chrysta began, but Jo stopped her.
"Mother please, I don't think I can cope."
"Ok, but this is very important. You carry strong Fae magick within you, you must keep control of your emotions, and I don't know what you could do. Fae magick is extremely dangerous to mortals."
"Then how come Grams had you?" Jo retorted wearily, it was all too much for her to take in.
"The Donnelly women are natural witches Jo. A Donnelly female has been the High Priestess of the Order of Aleitheia since it began, we are connected to the earth and all its creatures, as above so below, doesn't just mean the sky and the ground!"
"Why me, why didn't Grams have another daughter, how come you and Father haven't, seeing you're still together. Why am I an only child?"
"Fate and destiny."
"Well screw fate and destiny I've had enough."
"You can't run from your destiny Jordan Elizabeth Titania Amethyst Donnelly O'Neill." Her Mother shouted as her daughter ran from the garden.
"No, watch me!" Jo shouted back.
Sarah Williams and Brand O'Neill stood before the High Priestess, their hands bound by ribbon, facing one another, while their friends and family looked on. Their eyes locked together in their own silent vows as the High Priestess chanted:-
"Bless the fertile soil below,
Bless the plough that tends the row.
Bless the seeds and fruit and flower
And blessings on this new life shower.
Bless the Bride and Groom today
And bless their love that it might stay.
Bless their children and their bed,
Bless their lives – the newly wed.
Ladies and Gentlemen, I present to you Sarah and Brand O'Neill" Jo announced ending her officiating duties. "Welcome to the family Sarah, and you" she said to her cousin "had better take care of her!"
As guests and family congratulated the couple and celebrated, Jo decided to take a moment for herself and headed to her favourite spot in the garden. After a few moments she felt the air shift around her and felt a tingle on the back of her neck. Looking around she saw the opaque form of her grandmother, Amethyst O'Neill.
"Hello my special one."
"Hi Grams."
"That was a beautiful ceremony, you developed further than my wildest dreams, and I knew my choice was right."
"I miss you Grams, despite everything I found out!"
"Now, none of that, why do you think I gifted you the house and not your mother? If you need me, I'm not far away, neither are your friends." The spirit added cryptically.
"Grams, what are you talking about, none of my friends live near here they're all in town."
"Not those friends darling. When you were little you played with the fairies in the forest glade. Remember your childhood, Jordan and you'll find what you're looking for. Goodbye my special one!"
From Everyday Magic by Dorothy Morrison
PLAYING THE GAME AGAIN
Sarah looked at the woman who had been her friend, confidant and mentor for the past ten years and a fleeting thought rushed by in her mind. She could help restore it and tame him.
"What is it Sarah?" The woman asked feeling Sarah's gaze on her as she poured them more wine.
"I was wondering if there was anyway to help my friends."
"Do you really want to go back? After what happened last time?"
"I'm stronger now, he can't do anything to me, and he never could! I realise that now."
The woman stood and walked over to one of her small tables. Picking up a covered object she returned to Sarah and placed it on the coffee table between them. "Focus Sarah, listen to your heart and intuition, when you are ready look into the crystal."
"There is no sense of challenge. No purpose anymore, life is dying within its walls. It has no guidance; its master has no desire for the game now. He doesn't care, for it or anyone of his subjects!" Sarah exclaimed in a faraway voice.
Jo cast a glance at the large amethyst crystal sitting on the table and connected with what Sarah was seeing. She gasped softly as she saw a handsome but cruel looking face, hinting at boredom, as he lounged on a throne, and then slowly dispersed.
"Was that?"
"Yes. That is Jareth the Goblin King; somehow he doesn't seem as impressive as he once did." Sarah replied with a detachment she'd never felt before when mentioning his name. 'Speak for yourself' Jo thought although something nagged at her she just couldn't catch the thought and solidify it.
"So what do you want to do?"
"I want to go back and shake things up a little. I want my friends to feel alive again. I feel guilty; if I had accepted his offer would it be any different?"
"We can't change the past."
"No, but we can affect the future." Sarah stated before dwelling back on her decision of ten years ago. "How can a fifteen year old girl know what she wants out of life? Dreams change!"
"Yes they do. I use to dream of marrying a fairy prince; I was twelve at the time."
"Now what do you dream of?"
"That I won't mess up the Handfasting of you and my cousin. Do you think he loved you true?"
"Who? Jareth!" Sarah laughed. "How could he when he wanted me to do as he said."
"All men want to be acknowledged as King! Smart women let them believe they're in control, but then women like us, have to be true to ourselves."
"Are you saying you would have done the same as I did?"
"Most probably! No man will ever have power over me! Finding a way in will take time, and I'd like Brand to be with us as well, he may come in handy. Once you two are Handfasted, we'll go and play in the Underground."
Once Sarah had left, Jo went upstairs to the attic to continue the task she had started several months before. When her Grandmother had died, Jo had inherited the three story house and all it's contents. In her will Amethyst Donnelly O'Neill had bade her only granddaughter to find her journals and to read them from start to finish. The journals began when her grandmother was thirteen; Jo was partway through her grandmother's eighteenth year.
Most of the entries were normal entries, some were notes about spells and incantations that her grandmother had performed she had yet to come across the meeting of her grandfather.
'Tonight was wonderful. We met in a glade in the forest, not far from here. He said that the veil between our worlds is thinner here, making it easier for him to come Aboveground. We gave ourselves to each other and then exchanged rings. Nothing fancy just plain gold Celtic knot bands, symbols of our everlasting love.'
Intrigued Jo quickly scanned the journal entries trying to find more about this mystery man of her Grams, and then she found an entry that had watermarks on the writing.
'He promised me that nothing would ever come between us, but it has. His father has ordered him to be wed, and as the only son he has to obey. Gadel tells me that it is a political match and that I am his only love. I hold his heart and in his eyes I am his wife. He has promised never to remove my ring from his hand, but that he will never be able to come Aboveground and see me again. His touch was magical, throughout our last moments together it was as if we could see into each others souls. Gadel told me, as we lay together that he wished that I was with child then he could have had reason to refuse despite the anger it would cause his realm. He swore that no matter what happened with his wife-to-be that she would never bear him a child, that the only person he was mated to was me. We watched the sunrise together and then kissed for the last time. Farewell my prince, my love, my life.'
'Liam proposed to me to-day and I have accepted his proposal, not because I love him, I'm fond of him and will make him happy and possibly come to love him in time, but because Gadel wish came true, be it far too late. I explained my situation prior to accepting Liam's proposal and he has not held my previous infidelity against me, saying he will bring the child up as his own. I thank the Goddess for his kindness.'
'Gadel's daughter was born to-day at the turn of the solstice. I have named her Chrysta. She has her father's eyes, a brilliant blue-violet colour unlike any human eyes, but then my darling babe is special she carries the blood of the Daemon Fae within her. She is the last of that line, if her father keeps his promise.'
The journal fell from her hands. Her mother wasn't human. She wasn't human. How could they have kept this a secret from her all her life? When she had questioned the colour of her mother's eyes after a biology class one day, having found out that two brown-eyed parents couldn't produce a blue-eyed child, she allowed herself to believe that the unusual colour was a throwback to a previous generation and a symbolic mark of their Wiccan nature.
A woman picked up the ringing phone despite the early hour. "Yes, Jo what is it?"
"Why didn't you tell me?" Demanded an indignant voice down the line.
"Because I thought it best not too." Chrysta replied knowing immediately what her daughter was taking about.
"Is there anything else I should know?" Chrysta remained silent for a moment and then looked across at the man by her side, who had also awakened at the sound of the phone. He read the question in her eyes and nodded. "Yes darling there is, but I'd rather not talk to you about it on the phone. Come by in the morning and I'll explain everything." The woman sighed deeply as she replaced the receiver.
"We knew this day would come my love. I actually thought it may have been sooner."
"I know. Can you stay my darling and meet your daughter in the flesh?"
Cormak looked at the woman who was his mate. He loved this enchanting woman will all his heart and wanted nothing more to please her, but the simple request was not in his power to grant. "I can't my love; you know I can only stay a few hours at a time."
"I know." Chrysta replied softly.
"Give her this as a token of my love and affection. If she ever makes her way back her safety will be assured."
"It looks so simple yet it's beautiful." She said looking at the intricately woven gold band with a single amethyst at its centre. It was similar to a ring she wore, one that Cormak had given her the morning after they had first lain together. "I wish ..." Chrysta began but was quickly silenced by his lips over hers.
Jo looked at the ring her mother had given her. It looked large, but once she placed it onto her middle finger of her left hand, it fitted perfectly. She was still struggling with what her mother had told her.
"So you are half Fae, and I am what exactly?"
"Well I suppose you are a little more than that. In fact Jo I need to tell you a little more about your Fae blood, you're a Princess."
"But aren't you? Grams called your father her prince?"
"It's complicated, there's minor royalty, Fae nobility, and then there's Royalty..." Chrysta began, but Jo stopped her.
"Mother please, I don't think I can cope."
"Ok, but this is very important. You carry strong Fae magick within you, you must keep control of your emotions, and I don't know what you could do. Fae magick is extremely dangerous to mortals."
"Then how come Grams had you?" Jo retorted wearily, it was all too much for her to take in.
"The Donnelly women are natural witches Jo. A Donnelly female has been the High Priestess of the Order of Aleitheia since it began, we are connected to the earth and all its creatures, as above so below, doesn't just mean the sky and the ground!"
"Why me, why didn't Grams have another daughter, how come you and Father haven't, seeing you're still together. Why am I an only child?"
"Fate and destiny."
"Well screw fate and destiny I've had enough."
"You can't run from your destiny Jordan Elizabeth Titania Amethyst Donnelly O'Neill." Her Mother shouted as her daughter ran from the garden.
"No, watch me!" Jo shouted back.
Sarah Williams and Brand O'Neill stood before the High Priestess, their hands bound by ribbon, facing one another, while their friends and family looked on. Their eyes locked together in their own silent vows as the High Priestess chanted:-
"Bless the fertile soil below,
Bless the plough that tends the row.
Bless the seeds and fruit and flower
And blessings on this new life shower.
Bless the Bride and Groom today
And bless their love that it might stay.
Bless their children and their bed,
Bless their lives – the newly wed.
Ladies and Gentlemen, I present to you Sarah and Brand O'Neill" Jo announced ending her officiating duties. "Welcome to the family Sarah, and you" she said to her cousin "had better take care of her!"
As guests and family congratulated the couple and celebrated, Jo decided to take a moment for herself and headed to her favourite spot in the garden. After a few moments she felt the air shift around her and felt a tingle on the back of her neck. Looking around she saw the opaque form of her grandmother, Amethyst O'Neill.
"Hello my special one."
"Hi Grams."
"That was a beautiful ceremony, you developed further than my wildest dreams, and I knew my choice was right."
"I miss you Grams, despite everything I found out!"
"Now, none of that, why do you think I gifted you the house and not your mother? If you need me, I'm not far away, neither are your friends." The spirit added cryptically.
"Grams, what are you talking about, none of my friends live near here they're all in town."
"Not those friends darling. When you were little you played with the fairies in the forest glade. Remember your childhood, Jordan and you'll find what you're looking for. Goodbye my special one!"
From Everyday Magic by Dorothy Morrison