Okay, so I may have to go back and rework Chapter one. It doesn't flow quite the way I want it to. Don't make me beg though, PLEASE REVIEW! Please please please! Good or bad, I don't care, just review! I need to know if you guys think this is worth doing right!
Disclaimer: I don't own em, I just like to play with em -evil grin-. Well, I do own Val, so I can do whatever I damn well please with him.
Val and Dale left the bar in a drunken stupor to stumble back to their dorm room… without female company. Dale slurred.
"I ssstill think I hadd a shot with that red head, wwwhat was her name? Oh yeah, Georgia, or was it Joanna?" Val chuckled. He was considerably less drunk than Dale (he'd only had a beer and a couple shots, whereas Dale had almost half a fifths worth of bourbon shots in him). But Val was drunk enough to question his vision when he saw the blond man that had been leaning against the wall watching him as he walked down the sidewalk disappear. He shook it off, probably because of the booze, and kept walking. They teetered together, laughing and poking fun at each other.
"You didn't have a hiccup chance in hell hiccup with her and you know it." Val retorted. He saw the same man again about a block later, standing under a street light. He went to point the man out to Dale, but yet again he disappeared. 'Strange,' he thought. He filed the encounter away in the back of his mind, but still didn't pay much mind to it. If he had been sober he would have been alarmed, but at the moment his only concern was getting his much too inebriated friend home and into bed. They continued their playful banter until they got to the top of the stairs and headed to their dorm room. Val noticed wisps of blond hair and what seemed to be the edges of a lanky body vanish around the corner at the end of their hallway. 'What the hell?' he thought to himself as he practically drug his friend into their room.
"Last stop buddy," Val said dropping his faltering friend off his shoulder.
"See, you feel better now, huh? That's what happens when you hiccup come out with me." Dale collapsed on his bed, bleary eyed and only about half aware.
"Yeah I guess. You okay man?" Val asked, concerned. It had been a long time since he'd seen his friend this drunk.
"Yeah yeah man, I just neeeed to sleeeep it off," he giggled, "Maybe I'll find that chick again someday." That was the last Val heard before Dale started snoring. Val shook his head. Dale sure knew how to overdo it sometimes. He decided to get back to work on his song; maybe an unclear mind would help bring it new perspective. He pulled up the file on his computer and listened to it. Not worried about disturbing his roommate, he turned the volume up. Closing his eyes, he relaxed, breathing slowly. He tried to picture the notes dancing about in his mind.
"Valerian…" His eyes shot open as he thought he heard his name whispered from somewhere. He looked over at Dale who was breathing, but that was it. He shrugged, content that it was just his drunken mind playing tricks on him, he settled back to listen to his song again.
"Valerian…" Son of a bitch, that time he knew he heard it. He looked around his room, stood and checked on Dale, then went to his door and opened it slowly poking his head out and around the corner. The hall was silent, and finding no one there he shut the door resting his forehead against the frame for a moment sighing. 'I need to get some sleep' he thought. He turned back to his computer and almost jumped out of his skin as the man he'd seen on the street was lounging across his bed. He suddenly felt very sober. His heart began to pound.
"What the shit? Who are you and what are you doing here? How did you get in?" he went to grab for something, anything to defend himself with incase things went downhill, but there was nothing suitable within arms reach. 'Hand to hand it is then,' he thought. He put his back to the door and wished for the best. Then the man spoke.
"Settle down, Valerian, I'm not here to hurt you." His voice was low, but not threatening as Val had expected. It was smooth and mild, it sort of reminded him of opium incense. Val shook his head to bring his thoughts back to why this man was here.
"Answer me, who are you and how did you get in here? How do you know my real name? You were watching me on the street, following me. What the fuck is going on!" Val went on guard as the man moved and then rose from the bed and walked toward him. He kept his head low, but he was still taller than Val would have thought. He was maybe six feet, wispy blond hair, high cheekbones, perfectly teasing lips. He was dressed in black riding boots, tight black breeches and a billowing white poet's shirt that was open enough in front to make out a beautifully pale yet well-muscled chest. He walked with a regal air, like Val would imagine a king would walk.
"My how you have grown in the years since I've seen you, in person, of course. Reflections in crystals just aren't the same, you know." The man kept his eyes low, which Val thought was odd.
"You're still not answering my questions, who are you, why are you here, and how in the HELL did you know my real name?" Val was getting pissed now, more so than he already was.
"Feisty, aren't we? All your questions will be answered in good time, I swear." The man sat in Val's computer chair and spun it around like a small child might, "I do love your music," the man gestured toward the computer, "Won't you play this song for me?"
"I don't have anything to play… wait a minute, answer my questions!" The man snapped his fingers and suddenly an acoustic guitar materialized in his hands. Val jumped back in shock. 'Now I know I'm losing it.'
"How in the hell did you do that?" The man smirked and offered Val the guitar.
"Magic. Sit, play, and I will explain everything." Val was cautious, but took the guitar and looked it over. It was a real guitar … pulled from thin air. 'I've got to be dreaming, or maybe someone slipped me something at the bar.'
Val didn't take his eyes off the man as he moved to his bed and sat, placing the guitar in his lap. The man didn't move, only sat and listened as Val began to play. He seemed at ease, and unconsciously Val relaxed a little. The music flowed easily from his fingers as it never had before. Absently he closed his eyes and the song became something new. He fixed the riff in the middle, and it took a whole new meaning. It was incredible. The song ended and Val opened his eyes, not realizing he'd closed them. The man sat in his chair, seeming not to have moved at all. There was only the soft sound of Dale snoring lightly.
"Now it's your turn, answer my questions." Val was impatient now. He had played this man's games long enough. Now he wanted answers. The man sighed heavily.
"As you wish. You see I know you, Valerian. We met a long time ago, you were two, I believe. Yes, exactly two," What was this man talking about? Val didn't remember him at all, and a man like this would have stuck out, "You were so cute with that little mop of hair all on top of your head. I knew you were destined for great things, even then," the man looked up at Val for the first time meeting his eyes. 'My God!' Val was stunned. His eyes, they were the same eyes he'd been dreaming about for as long as he could remember. The same sea green and black and coffee brown that haunted his dreams and nightmares every night were now sitting right before him. The man continued through Val's bewildered expression, "You recognize me now, don't you? Your mother tried so hard to complete my Labyrinth. She loved you very much. So much in fact that she sacrificed her own life Aboveground for you. You never believed your father did you? You should have held more stock in what he told you. It was true." Val's jaw dropped. How did he know all this?
"What do you know about my mother? How do you know my father? What are you talking about?" Val's voice held an aggression he'd never heard before. He rose, his posture positively threatening as he walked toward the man in his computer chair. He wanted answers, and if he had to beat them out of this man then so be it. The man rose and rushed at Val, knocking him back into the wall behind them. Val was surprised enough he couldn't move as the man leaned in to whisper into his ear. The man's breath on his skin gave Val chills.
"Allow me to introduce myself. My name is Jareth… the Goblin King."
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