"Come on Jordan, come and play with us."
"Where are we going?"
"To an adventure, its fun, come on."
In her dreams Jo followed the beautiful flying forms, through woods and past silver streams, until they reached a large wall.
"Where are we?" The young Jordan asked her friends, while the elder one looked on.
"It's the Labyrinth. Come on it's only a game." One of the friends insisted while the other four worked on opening the large doorway.
"Alright." The ten year old stepped through and looked up and down a long corridor. "Which way do we go?"
"Depends on where you want to be." Celandine said the fairy with blonde hair and pale yellow wings and small yellow tunic dress.
"Well what's at the centre?"
"The Goblin King's Castle. This is his realm, but you don't want to go there, he's boring no fun at all, keeps throwing his goblins in the Bog." Iris advised. She was dressed in dark blue with purple wings and dark hair.
"Mind you some of the Goblins deserve it!" Fennel commented, flying around Jo and pulling one of her braids, so she followed him.
"Fennel, stop it you're hurting me!" Jordan complained trying to bat the green winged fairy away, but he flew out of her arms reach still holding onto the red hair. Before she knew it the little girl had followed the fairies through an invisible gap straight ahead of the entrance and was inside the huge maze.
"How do you know where you're at?" She asked narrowly avoiding a moving wall.
"Because Sage, keeps flying above the walls and keeping track of the direction we're going in silly. You're so dumb sometimes Jordan." Marigold stated she was the eldest of the fairy friends. Her wings were a golden orange colour, her hair was a light red, and similar to Jordan's and instead of wearing a tunic she wore a little white top and tiny skirt.
"Nearly there, coast is clear." Sage said flying down to join the group sitting on top of Jordan's head crossed legged.
"Do you realise that you look like a diamond sitting on her head like that?" Celandine teased Sage. His silver tinged wings twitched in annoyance but he refused to rise to the bait. Sage was a little in love with his charge and her hair was very soft and silken to the touch.
"Jo doesn't mind do you?" Sage was the only one who shortened her name.
"No Sage, you stay there as long as you like."
"Princess's pet." Fennel whispered into his friend's ear and flew off before Sage could react.
Eventually they reached a dense woodland area, where the fairies started to play with funny looking orange creatures that sang, danced and removed various parts of their bodies. Jordan quickly joined in and was laughing and singing happily, ducking to avoid the Fireys attempts to remove her head. Suddenly Marigold caught hold of the young girls top and pulled her away.
"Hide. If they see you, they'll attack you, then they'll inform him and you'll be stuck here forever."
"Who? What?" Jordan asked as she noted the concern in the fairy's voice.
"The Labyrinth Fairies. They have clear wings. They don't like us and they don't like humans. Go on we'll find you and take you home when we've finished."
"Promise?"
"Promise!"
Jo sat in one of the larger trees not too far away waiting for her friends. Suddenly a man appeared by her side on the branch. "What is your name child?"
"What's yours?" Jo countered curiously looking up at him. He was dressed in a plain black tunic and pants, black ankle boots covered his feet and black gloves covered his hands. His blond hair reached to his shoulders in spikes. The she noticed his funny eyes. Grams had always told her to take notice of everything around her in case something bad happened.
"I asked first." He countered silkily.
"I am Jordan Elizabeth Titania Amethyst Donnelly O'Neill."
"That's a long name for a little girl!"
"Grams and Mummy call me Jordan, except when I'm naughty."
"Hello Jordan, I'm Jareth. What are you doing in my Labyrinth?"
"Well I was playing with my friends, but they're fighting the labyrinth fairies! Will you play with me until they come and get me?"
Jareth looked at the young girl by his side in amazement. She had no fear of him whatsoever. Her bright red hair fell to her waist, where her lilac T Shirt met blue jeans, despite it being tied in high bunches, and her shining blue-violet eyes regarded him artlessly. "Haven't you been told not to play with strangers?"
"Yes, but you're not a stranger I know your name and if I know your name I have power over you."
"Who told you that nonsense?" Jareth laughed to hide his growing sense of unease about this little girl.
"Grams. She's a witch, so is my mummy and I am too."
"I see. So my little witch, what do you want to play?"
"How about catch?" Jordan suggested "Only I left my ball at home and there are too many trees around here!"
"I can solve that. Do you trust me? Do you believe anything is possible?"
Jordan rolled her eyes in response, "Duh, I've just said I'm a Witch, of course anything is possible, and I think that if you meant me harm you would have done it by now"
"You are too smart for your own good!" Jareth commented with a hint of annoyance.
"Mummy says I'm an old soul."
"Just take my hand Jordan." He replied holding out his hand. She slipped her tiny hand into his and a moment later found herself in the gardens at the Castle in the centre of the Labyrinth.
"We're at the Castle! Do you know the Goblin King?"
"He's a friend of mine." Jareth replied unwilling to reveal the truth for the moment, "why?"
"Iris said he's boring and keeps throwing Goblins in the Bog. Whatever that is"
"Really!" Jareth stated as he pulled some crystal balls out of nowhere and began to manipulate them around his hands.
"How did you do that? Can I have a go?" Jo had always been intrigued with crystals.
"I thought you wanted to play catch?" He said and floated a crystal ball across to her, wondering what she'd do.
To his surprise, as it floated past her, Jordan held out a hand and said "crystal." The crystal hovered for a second and then floated into her small hand. She tossed it and caught it a few times, obviously gauging its weight and then tried to move it around her hand. Failing miserably. Undeterred Jordan sat down on the lawn and tried again. After a while she rolled the crystal away from her and then willed it to return, slowly it moved to her, and she smiled and laughed in delight.
Jareth was stunned. Never had he seen a child manipulate his crystals the way she did. He sat down next to her and watched as Jordan sent the crystal one way then another, backwards and forwards, then finally around them both in a circle, before it stopped immediately in front of her. Once again she picked the crystal ball up and balanced it on the back of her hand, but as she moved her hand it fell to the ground.
"Why can't I do it?" Jordan demanded of the Goblin King in frustration.
"Perhaps your hands are too small, for the crystal." He suggested.
"Then make the crystals smaller for me!"
"I beg your pardon?"
"If you pull them out of thin air, then you can make them any size you want. Anything's possible."
"Won't someone be missing you?" He suddenly asked trying to change the subject. 'Definitely too smart for her own good' Jareth thought.
"No. Grams knows I go playing with the fairies. Please Jare, make the crystals smaller and show me what to do!"
"Are you hungry?"
"Jare, stop being difficult."
"Jordan stop being so precocious."
"I'm ten, what else should I be?" At her reply Jareth laughed richly, she delighted him and was nicer to look at than the Goblins, more intelligent too.
"Do you really want to learn?"
"Yes."
"Fine, I'll teach you, but I can't do it in a day, you'll have to come back regularly and practice and listen to what I tell you. But before your first lesson, we're going to get something to eat. I'm hungry even if you are not."
"Thank you Jare," Jordan said flinging herself into his lap. "I love you; I'll be your friend for ever and ever."
Jo watched the scene end, with her younger self holding the Goblin King's gloved hand, walking along by his side as they walked to the Castle, and she slapped herself on the forehead. 'What on earth was I thinking?"
The feeling stayed with her when she final woke, and the first thing Jo did was head upstairs to the attic and her Grams' journals for the year she was ten. Skimming quickly through the pages Jo found what she was looking for.
'Jordan went missing for most of to-day. I saw her heading to the glade, but she was away for far longer than normal, I have to admit I was a little worried. She returned at twilight, clutching several small crystal balls and talking non-stop about her magickal forever friend with blond hair and mis-matched eyes. I have a feeling that my special one has found her future, far earlier than we expected. I have had to wait until she was asleep before taking the crystals away. At the moment she doesn't understand how powerful they are or how strong her connection is to them. When she is older, Chrysta and I will explain the Underground to her.'
'Time to visit mother again' Jo thought after reading the entry. 'But first where are my crystals?'
For two hours Jo searched the attic and then the unused rooms in the house. Eventually on top of a wardrobe in her Grandmother's room she found two black cases that radiated intense power. Carefully she lifted them down and stared in horror as she noticed that they had combination locks. Taking the cases downstairs she finally made herself something to eat and a much needed coffee. As she ate she pondered the possibility of the combinations.
Later after exhausting all the important family dates and then the not so important ones, she headed over to her Mother's house.
"Hello darling, what's troubling you?"
"Why can't you be like all other Mother's and blithely ignore their daughters' feelings?"
"Because my main powers are empathy dear, it's not something I can easily turn off with you. You have a strong mind that demands to be acknowledged."
"I know I suck at shielding. I do keep trying."
"Darling we have such a strong bond I'd be able to overcome any shield you put up."
"My mother the wise ass!"
"My daughter the smart ass! So I'll put the coffee pot on and you can tell me all about it!"
Briefly Jo explained how Grams had told her to remember her childhood and about the dream she had about meeting Jareth and then reading of her Grandmother's journal for that event.
"Oh yes, your magickal forever friend. I honestly thought that one day you wouldn't come back."
"Why?"
"Well after meeting Jareth you'd go Underground once or twice a week if you could manage it, more during the holidays. Sometimes you'd play with your friends, who incidentally were actually your bodyguards from your father's realm Arcadia, the rest of the time you were with Jareth. Every time you came back from visiting him, you had more crystals. Grams would take them away, Jareth would give you more. Anyway just before you stopped going Underground, you had a teenage row with Grams, said if she wouldn't let you keep the crystals you'd stay with Jareth and never return. She refused to give them to you and you ran off. I found you later in the glade sobbing your heart out because you couldn't get through the veil."
"Why? Did Grams block the way?"
"No darling, that was the day you started you monthly cycles. You'd stopped being a child and couldn't enter the Underground as you could before."
"Do you remember the date?"
"It'll be in my journal for that year!"
"Do you write down every little detail?" Jo asked incredulously.
"Just as well I do isn't it? Besides the day your daughter changes from child to maiden is a very important day."
Chrysta returned with the date on a piece of paper. "Why the sudden interest in the Underground and the Labyrinth again anyway?"
"We're going back to right a wrong!"
"And who exactly is we?"
"Sarah, Brand and I, although technically Brand's just there for support."
"Sarah? What's Sarah got to do with this?"
"Sarah defeated the Labyrinth ten years ago! She has a close tie to it and says that something is not right. So we're going to correct it and then everyone can live happily ever after or to the best of their ability anyway."
"Oh my. Now I remember, your father visited me not long after the event. Said that Jareth was furious for a chit of a girl being able to solve it, compared her to another infuriating child he once knew but never mentioned any names. Cormak thought it was hilarious naturally, and proceeded to get Jareth drunk to ease his suffering."
"Are you telling me that my father and Jareth are friends?"
"I believe so yes. Cormak's slightly older but they've been friends since boyhood."
"Great my so called magickal forever friend is almost the same age as my father and I was going to stay with him!"
"Jo. Age is different for Fae, they're immortal after all. Some manage to remain youthful in their outlook, others age before their time."
"What attracted you to my father?"
"He's extremely handsome, but he has an air about him. Calming, peaceful, loving, always looking for the good, but aware of the bad. I fell in love with him as soon as I saw him."
"When was that?"
"When I was thirteen, I played with the fairies too, but I never went Underground, just stayed in the glade. I'd wish for him and he'd come and play. Over the years our friendship grew until we felt it was right, and we mated for life."
"So I'm not exactly illegitimate then?"
"Only in this world my darling."
Jo stood and hugged her Mother. The two women looked like twin sisters as they embraced. "Thanks for everything, Mum. Hopefully this will unlock the crystals and they will lower the veil. But I need to work out the incantations and regain my skills first.
"Where are we going?"
"To an adventure, its fun, come on."
In her dreams Jo followed the beautiful flying forms, through woods and past silver streams, until they reached a large wall.
"Where are we?" The young Jordan asked her friends, while the elder one looked on.
"It's the Labyrinth. Come on it's only a game." One of the friends insisted while the other four worked on opening the large doorway.
"Alright." The ten year old stepped through and looked up and down a long corridor. "Which way do we go?"
"Depends on where you want to be." Celandine said the fairy with blonde hair and pale yellow wings and small yellow tunic dress.
"Well what's at the centre?"
"The Goblin King's Castle. This is his realm, but you don't want to go there, he's boring no fun at all, keeps throwing his goblins in the Bog." Iris advised. She was dressed in dark blue with purple wings and dark hair.
"Mind you some of the Goblins deserve it!" Fennel commented, flying around Jo and pulling one of her braids, so she followed him.
"Fennel, stop it you're hurting me!" Jordan complained trying to bat the green winged fairy away, but he flew out of her arms reach still holding onto the red hair. Before she knew it the little girl had followed the fairies through an invisible gap straight ahead of the entrance and was inside the huge maze.
"How do you know where you're at?" She asked narrowly avoiding a moving wall.
"Because Sage, keeps flying above the walls and keeping track of the direction we're going in silly. You're so dumb sometimes Jordan." Marigold stated she was the eldest of the fairy friends. Her wings were a golden orange colour, her hair was a light red, and similar to Jordan's and instead of wearing a tunic she wore a little white top and tiny skirt.
"Nearly there, coast is clear." Sage said flying down to join the group sitting on top of Jordan's head crossed legged.
"Do you realise that you look like a diamond sitting on her head like that?" Celandine teased Sage. His silver tinged wings twitched in annoyance but he refused to rise to the bait. Sage was a little in love with his charge and her hair was very soft and silken to the touch.
"Jo doesn't mind do you?" Sage was the only one who shortened her name.
"No Sage, you stay there as long as you like."
"Princess's pet." Fennel whispered into his friend's ear and flew off before Sage could react.
Eventually they reached a dense woodland area, where the fairies started to play with funny looking orange creatures that sang, danced and removed various parts of their bodies. Jordan quickly joined in and was laughing and singing happily, ducking to avoid the Fireys attempts to remove her head. Suddenly Marigold caught hold of the young girls top and pulled her away.
"Hide. If they see you, they'll attack you, then they'll inform him and you'll be stuck here forever."
"Who? What?" Jordan asked as she noted the concern in the fairy's voice.
"The Labyrinth Fairies. They have clear wings. They don't like us and they don't like humans. Go on we'll find you and take you home when we've finished."
"Promise?"
"Promise!"
Jo sat in one of the larger trees not too far away waiting for her friends. Suddenly a man appeared by her side on the branch. "What is your name child?"
"What's yours?" Jo countered curiously looking up at him. He was dressed in a plain black tunic and pants, black ankle boots covered his feet and black gloves covered his hands. His blond hair reached to his shoulders in spikes. The she noticed his funny eyes. Grams had always told her to take notice of everything around her in case something bad happened.
"I asked first." He countered silkily.
"I am Jordan Elizabeth Titania Amethyst Donnelly O'Neill."
"That's a long name for a little girl!"
"Grams and Mummy call me Jordan, except when I'm naughty."
"Hello Jordan, I'm Jareth. What are you doing in my Labyrinth?"
"Well I was playing with my friends, but they're fighting the labyrinth fairies! Will you play with me until they come and get me?"
Jareth looked at the young girl by his side in amazement. She had no fear of him whatsoever. Her bright red hair fell to her waist, where her lilac T Shirt met blue jeans, despite it being tied in high bunches, and her shining blue-violet eyes regarded him artlessly. "Haven't you been told not to play with strangers?"
"Yes, but you're not a stranger I know your name and if I know your name I have power over you."
"Who told you that nonsense?" Jareth laughed to hide his growing sense of unease about this little girl.
"Grams. She's a witch, so is my mummy and I am too."
"I see. So my little witch, what do you want to play?"
"How about catch?" Jordan suggested "Only I left my ball at home and there are too many trees around here!"
"I can solve that. Do you trust me? Do you believe anything is possible?"
Jordan rolled her eyes in response, "Duh, I've just said I'm a Witch, of course anything is possible, and I think that if you meant me harm you would have done it by now"
"You are too smart for your own good!" Jareth commented with a hint of annoyance.
"Mummy says I'm an old soul."
"Just take my hand Jordan." He replied holding out his hand. She slipped her tiny hand into his and a moment later found herself in the gardens at the Castle in the centre of the Labyrinth.
"We're at the Castle! Do you know the Goblin King?"
"He's a friend of mine." Jareth replied unwilling to reveal the truth for the moment, "why?"
"Iris said he's boring and keeps throwing Goblins in the Bog. Whatever that is"
"Really!" Jareth stated as he pulled some crystal balls out of nowhere and began to manipulate them around his hands.
"How did you do that? Can I have a go?" Jo had always been intrigued with crystals.
"I thought you wanted to play catch?" He said and floated a crystal ball across to her, wondering what she'd do.
To his surprise, as it floated past her, Jordan held out a hand and said "crystal." The crystal hovered for a second and then floated into her small hand. She tossed it and caught it a few times, obviously gauging its weight and then tried to move it around her hand. Failing miserably. Undeterred Jordan sat down on the lawn and tried again. After a while she rolled the crystal away from her and then willed it to return, slowly it moved to her, and she smiled and laughed in delight.
Jareth was stunned. Never had he seen a child manipulate his crystals the way she did. He sat down next to her and watched as Jordan sent the crystal one way then another, backwards and forwards, then finally around them both in a circle, before it stopped immediately in front of her. Once again she picked the crystal ball up and balanced it on the back of her hand, but as she moved her hand it fell to the ground.
"Why can't I do it?" Jordan demanded of the Goblin King in frustration.
"Perhaps your hands are too small, for the crystal." He suggested.
"Then make the crystals smaller for me!"
"I beg your pardon?"
"If you pull them out of thin air, then you can make them any size you want. Anything's possible."
"Won't someone be missing you?" He suddenly asked trying to change the subject. 'Definitely too smart for her own good' Jareth thought.
"No. Grams knows I go playing with the fairies. Please Jare, make the crystals smaller and show me what to do!"
"Are you hungry?"
"Jare, stop being difficult."
"Jordan stop being so precocious."
"I'm ten, what else should I be?" At her reply Jareth laughed richly, she delighted him and was nicer to look at than the Goblins, more intelligent too.
"Do you really want to learn?"
"Yes."
"Fine, I'll teach you, but I can't do it in a day, you'll have to come back regularly and practice and listen to what I tell you. But before your first lesson, we're going to get something to eat. I'm hungry even if you are not."
"Thank you Jare," Jordan said flinging herself into his lap. "I love you; I'll be your friend for ever and ever."
Jo watched the scene end, with her younger self holding the Goblin King's gloved hand, walking along by his side as they walked to the Castle, and she slapped herself on the forehead. 'What on earth was I thinking?"
The feeling stayed with her when she final woke, and the first thing Jo did was head upstairs to the attic and her Grams' journals for the year she was ten. Skimming quickly through the pages Jo found what she was looking for.
'Jordan went missing for most of to-day. I saw her heading to the glade, but she was away for far longer than normal, I have to admit I was a little worried. She returned at twilight, clutching several small crystal balls and talking non-stop about her magickal forever friend with blond hair and mis-matched eyes. I have a feeling that my special one has found her future, far earlier than we expected. I have had to wait until she was asleep before taking the crystals away. At the moment she doesn't understand how powerful they are or how strong her connection is to them. When she is older, Chrysta and I will explain the Underground to her.'
'Time to visit mother again' Jo thought after reading the entry. 'But first where are my crystals?'
For two hours Jo searched the attic and then the unused rooms in the house. Eventually on top of a wardrobe in her Grandmother's room she found two black cases that radiated intense power. Carefully she lifted them down and stared in horror as she noticed that they had combination locks. Taking the cases downstairs she finally made herself something to eat and a much needed coffee. As she ate she pondered the possibility of the combinations.
Later after exhausting all the important family dates and then the not so important ones, she headed over to her Mother's house.
"Hello darling, what's troubling you?"
"Why can't you be like all other Mother's and blithely ignore their daughters' feelings?"
"Because my main powers are empathy dear, it's not something I can easily turn off with you. You have a strong mind that demands to be acknowledged."
"I know I suck at shielding. I do keep trying."
"Darling we have such a strong bond I'd be able to overcome any shield you put up."
"My mother the wise ass!"
"My daughter the smart ass! So I'll put the coffee pot on and you can tell me all about it!"
Briefly Jo explained how Grams had told her to remember her childhood and about the dream she had about meeting Jareth and then reading of her Grandmother's journal for that event.
"Oh yes, your magickal forever friend. I honestly thought that one day you wouldn't come back."
"Why?"
"Well after meeting Jareth you'd go Underground once or twice a week if you could manage it, more during the holidays. Sometimes you'd play with your friends, who incidentally were actually your bodyguards from your father's realm Arcadia, the rest of the time you were with Jareth. Every time you came back from visiting him, you had more crystals. Grams would take them away, Jareth would give you more. Anyway just before you stopped going Underground, you had a teenage row with Grams, said if she wouldn't let you keep the crystals you'd stay with Jareth and never return. She refused to give them to you and you ran off. I found you later in the glade sobbing your heart out because you couldn't get through the veil."
"Why? Did Grams block the way?"
"No darling, that was the day you started you monthly cycles. You'd stopped being a child and couldn't enter the Underground as you could before."
"Do you remember the date?"
"It'll be in my journal for that year!"
"Do you write down every little detail?" Jo asked incredulously.
"Just as well I do isn't it? Besides the day your daughter changes from child to maiden is a very important day."
Chrysta returned with the date on a piece of paper. "Why the sudden interest in the Underground and the Labyrinth again anyway?"
"We're going back to right a wrong!"
"And who exactly is we?"
"Sarah, Brand and I, although technically Brand's just there for support."
"Sarah? What's Sarah got to do with this?"
"Sarah defeated the Labyrinth ten years ago! She has a close tie to it and says that something is not right. So we're going to correct it and then everyone can live happily ever after or to the best of their ability anyway."
"Oh my. Now I remember, your father visited me not long after the event. Said that Jareth was furious for a chit of a girl being able to solve it, compared her to another infuriating child he once knew but never mentioned any names. Cormak thought it was hilarious naturally, and proceeded to get Jareth drunk to ease his suffering."
"Are you telling me that my father and Jareth are friends?"
"I believe so yes. Cormak's slightly older but they've been friends since boyhood."
"Great my so called magickal forever friend is almost the same age as my father and I was going to stay with him!"
"Jo. Age is different for Fae, they're immortal after all. Some manage to remain youthful in their outlook, others age before their time."
"What attracted you to my father?"
"He's extremely handsome, but he has an air about him. Calming, peaceful, loving, always looking for the good, but aware of the bad. I fell in love with him as soon as I saw him."
"When was that?"
"When I was thirteen, I played with the fairies too, but I never went Underground, just stayed in the glade. I'd wish for him and he'd come and play. Over the years our friendship grew until we felt it was right, and we mated for life."
"So I'm not exactly illegitimate then?"
"Only in this world my darling."
Jo stood and hugged her Mother. The two women looked like twin sisters as they embraced. "Thanks for everything, Mum. Hopefully this will unlock the crystals and they will lower the veil. But I need to work out the incantations and regain my skills first.