Chapter 14: "That is the Way of Things"
She sniffled.
Alex sat on the floor, cradled in Mathis' arms. Lilly… dead? Impossible. And that fool had run off without hearing why, or how. She knew what Elena had become, but hadn't been able to tell Jareth. She didn't know much about the woman, but still. Alex knew what kind of danger Jareth was in, and was furious that Mathis wouldn't let her go after him, something about twice as likely to die. Pfft.
She finally pulled together her will and summoned one of Jareth's crystals. There stood Jareth the Idiot, the expression on his face a mixture of anger and confusion. He was saying something, she could just make it out.
"Elena? What are you doing here? What has happened here?"
"Oh… someone was snooping where they didn't belong." she whispered.
He shivered, there was something different about her, something… "Elena, stay away from me."
"Why, Jareth, are you frightened of little old me?" she asked as she looked up at him, raven hair falling away from her death-pale face, revealing blood reds eyes burning with a hellish fire.
"Actually…" he began.
"Hush, my love. All will be better, now. I do not blame you for getting rid of me, but the witch who bound you to another. I will set you free, my love, and we shall be immortal in our love and dominate all. Together we can be invincible." she crooned as she walked toward him.
"Who has done this to you, what have you become, Elena?" he moaned.
Rasping laughter answered, "I let go of my kingdom and moved on. Then HE came to me."
"Who came to you, Elena?"
"Hmmhmm," she chuckled, "wouldn't you like to know."
He grimaced, "yes."
"The one your father fears."
"The lich? But he was vanquished… wasn't he?"
Again came the rasping laughter, "no."
"You… have become his servant, then."
"Of course."
Jareth, the Goblin King, suddenly seemed afraid. Alex knew him enough, Mathis might not even see it, but Alex saw fear in the Goblin King. Then she felt it. She felt his fear, and it made her afraid. She saw Elena walk even closer to him, pinning him against a wall, her eyes hungry for him. He shuddered and tried to push her away.
"Do you know, my love, how long I have looked for a way to rid you of this curse? But now I know. I know how to make you forever mine." She stroked his face and Alex seethed with rage. She saw, felt his fear, his hate of the woman before him. She felt his sorrow at being taken from Alex. She felt his anger at himself for doing this to Elena. She felt it all. Raged surged within her, her and Jareth's both, as the undead woman leaned in to kiss him.
She screamed, purple hair flying as she shook her head, "NO!" The crystal ball in her hand shattered and weakness overcame her. The rage was cut in half, the fear of Jareth suddenly destroyed. She tried to summon another crystal, but the magic would not answer her call. She tried everything she could think of in those seconds as she sat on the floor, before she began to weep. Her dress faded to its natural silver state, no magic inside her to give it the power to shift. The bond was… broken.
"Oh, my child…" she heard Mathis whisper.
She blinked through her tears and turned to look at him, surprised to see tears in his eyes as well. He looked mortified, enraged, sorrowful, and dejected all at once. He shook his head, spreading his hands wide. His mouth worked without sound, but she knew he understood what had just happened, and was sorry for her, for Jareth, and for all who would tremble at the Lich's coming. She stood and walked toward him, face resolute.
"If there was anything that could be done…"
"Anything? Would you truly do anything for me, Mathis?"
"Of course, you have brought my son back from what he was becoming, I owe you all. You know of something that could be done?"
"Take me home. I need to see what Lilly was working on. I've lost everything that I ever held dear to me, I'll not lose Jareth as well. I love him, Mathis. I'd do anything for him."
Mathis shivered at the cold tone of voice that the girl used, "Very well. I will need some time to prepare."
A single nod was all he got before she headed to her room, presumably to get ready, herself. Things were about to be taken up a notch. They would be prepared.
She stood in the center of the room, thinking. Knee-high black boots tapping on the floor when she turned to look at one or another wall or desk, black pants and shirt clinging to her willowy form and seeming to absorb the very light around her, black cloak swirling with magical energies of camouflage just barely hidden from the human eye. Her emerald eyes seemed to be crackling with energy as she thought and her rage filled her. Mathis stood at the door and waited.
"Lilly went looking for someone, but she really didn't know what she was looking for. I'll bet anything she went to Elena's hut looking for the person orchestrating the events in mine and Jareth's lives. Instead she found Elena."
"Indeed. As I have said before, Elena was heartbroken that Jareth never accepted her back. It seems she was found by the Lich, her anger and rage drawing him, and he helped her become one of the undead to gain the strength cut your bond
"The question on the table is: what do we do now? Do we go after Elena?"
"I think not." replied the mage. "We have not enough power to stand against her, yet. I am not strong enough to attack such a powerful vampire."
"How was she out during the day if she was a vampire?"
"Because she was strong."
"So strong?"
"Could she have taken Jareth from you otherwise?"
Alex nodded, "Do we find who Lilly was searching for?"
"I believe that that would be our safest bet. Maybe this 'old lady' that she was looking for will be able to help us."
"Perhaps."
"Do her notes say anything about where to look?"
"Elena's cottage."
"But…"
"I think we should start with Luc."
"Jareth's friend?"
Alex nodded, "The same."
"Why?"
"He was the one who told Jareth and I that we were tied, I'll bet he knows who did it."
Mathis sighed, "Let us find Luc, then."
Alex felt the shift around her, Mathis was much more gentle with it than Jareth. It simply seemed like mist shifting around her, while Jareth made a sudden jump and everything would change abruptly. She saw the green glow in the highest tower and led Mathis through the castle. Upon reaching the tower, Alex hammered on the door with a gloved hand.
"Just a moment." said a muffled and slightly confused voice from behind the door. After some shuffling and thumping noises which Alex suspected was a pile of books falling over Luc opened the door just a tad and peeked through with one brown eye. "Alex?" he whispered. "Alex, what are you doing here? Don't you know that you could get killed?"
"I need information Luc."
He frowned at her iron tone and opened the door a little further. His robes were as black as the clothes that Alex had donned and his eyes had dark rings under them, along with being slightly red and puffy. "Of… course. I'll take you down to a better place for conversation."
They followed the gloomy magician along many corridors and up and down many staircases until they stopped in a cozy, yet forgotten parlor. A wave of his hand and the room began to clean itself, another wave and the fire burned brightly. He sunk down into a large chair and let out a great sigh, his weary eyes closed in the pain of a memory.
"How did you learn that Jareth was tied to me?" Alex asked suddenly as she stared at the mirthless fire.
Luc's eyes snapped open and he leaned forward, all traces of weariness forgotten, "Why do you want to know that?"
"The tie was broken."
The young mage stared at her for a few seconds in disbelief, before slowly, quietly saying, "The Seer told me long ago."
"How long ago?" demanded Mathis.
"A few days before he had been pushed too far."
Mathis let out a humorless chuckle, "Yes, he was pushed a little too hard, wasn't he?"
Luc studied the older mage with a slowly dawning comprehension, "Mathis."
Mathis chuckled again, "The same."
"Who and where is this 'Seer'?" Alex asked impatiently before Luc had a chance to reply to Mathis' presence.
"The Seer is an old woman who lives in a forgotten Realm. It is said that she was once a ruler of the Council, but was forced out of position because of her powers of foresight. She is older than most members of the Underground and knows many things."
"Where is she?"
"She finds you, you don't find her."
"How can I…"
Luc raised a slender hand and sighed wearily before saying, "Those who seek her are always lost. She finds you, you don't find her. But I'll tell you what little I know. She lives in the nexus realm, the contradictory realm, the realm that no one can rule. She uses great power and cannot be found by those who seek her. Those who are pure of heart and just of decision may perhaps call to her by standing on a cliff of water overhanging a sea of sand and singing her song. One has to know in their hearts what her song is, the name cannot be spoken, because it has no name. If she answers this calling, she will answer one question and give one foretelling before disappearing, never to be seen by that person again.
"That's all I know about her legend. I'm sorry I can't help more. Now, I beg you tell me: what has happened to my friend?"
Alex stiffened, "Elena the Vampire broke the tie and has him in her clutches. I don't know what has happened to him after that, but I'm doing all I can to find someone to help me."
"Elena the… Vampire?" echoed Luc.
"That is what she has become." explained Mathis.
"I am sorry I can't help much with the Seer, but…" Luc suddenly seemed to take on a new level of resolve as he said, "But I can help you with vampires. Elena-- if she was strong enough to break the tie-- will not have given Jareth the full curse, just enough to keep him under her control. But just that much of the curse will demand that he drink blood and stay out of sunlight. It will also mean that he cannot disobey her."
"Is there no way that he could disobey?" Mathis asked.
"Well… Not that anyone knows, no. But I'd be a monkey's uncle if he doesn't figure out some way. He has a strong heart, and a determined mind. If he truly wants to stand up to Elena, he will, if only to die."
"Can the 'curse' be lifted?" Alex asked.
Luc paused to think for a while, "From Elena, no. But perhaps Jareth's could. It would have to be done before Elena is destroyed, otherwise he will die with her."
"How long would it take for you to figure out how to lift the curse from Jareth?" Alex pleaded.
"Give me until tomorrow at sunset. Meanwhile, you go see if you can get the Seer. I've no doubt that the key I gave you was to the nexus realm, am I right, Mathis?"
Mathis chuckled, "Bright lad, Luc. Yes, the nexus realm."
"Good, hurry then, and I will see you at sunset." Luc said as he stood and hurried out the room.
Mathis took Alex's hand and shifted them back to the door in Karesh. As they found their way back to the Haven, Alex pondered what they had learned. Not much. Lilly had gone looking for the Seer, even if she hadn't known that that was who she was looking for. Luc had been told long ago about the tie that Alex and Jareth had shared. Elena had Jareth captured and Luc was working on a way to free him. They were about to fight a hopeless battle. Crap.
Standing on the watery cliff and looking at the breakers of sand beating up against it, Alex began to hum that lullaby, the one that Jareth sang her to sleep with the last time she had slept. She didn't notice Mathis silently creep away, she didn't notice that old-- timeless-- words had begun pouring from her mouth; words of peace. She didn't notice the chill wind that wrapped around her like a frosty blanket. She didn't notice a high soprano voice join her quiet alto.
The song ended, yet continued and Alex stared at the sandy sea. "You have a beautiful voice." Alex spun to see an old woman dressed in a tattered red dress staring at her with emerald eyes.
"You're the Seer." Alex said.
"I am. And before you ask and waste your question, I may only answer one, and then I will give you a Sight." Her voice was both light and weary, yet it was not the voice of an old woman. Alex couldn't quite say what her voice sounded like, it just… was. It was timeless, like her eyes.
"There are so many questions that I wish to ask."
The Seer nodded, "That is the way of things."
Alex pondered for a time before asking, "What is it that is most important for me to know?"
"Ahhh," the Seer smiled, "So wise! You truly are the one for Jareth. This will be a long answer. Let me first give you some history. You know of the Lich, yes? Well, he was once one of the fey, like Jareth, but went bad. His lust for power and his greed for pleasure drove him down a best forgotten path and he became one of the most feared beings ever. This power comes with a terrible cost, however. He needed a place of power in which to live. The most powerful realm was, of course, this one, but it rejected him, shutting off all of its doors and providing only one key.
"This key was given to the ruler of the Labyrinth, the next most powerful realm in the Underground, so that the ruler of that realm would have the power to stand up to the Lich. This, the Labyrinth did for many years, decades, even centuries, until Mathis assumed command. He fought against the Lich valiantly, but was overcome. The rest of that history you know well enough. I, however, took a great deal of power to make Mathis have another son. At Jareth's birth I tied him to you, knowing that he would lose himself, and that only you could bring him back.
"The day Jareth truly lost himself, I told Luc. He didn't believe me, not until after Jareth had assumed the Goblin Throne. By this time, Mathis had found this realm with his key and had begun to get supplies for his Haven. Jareth grew and was challenged by many mortals. All fell. I wrote a book about the Goblin King and gave it to Sarah when she turned five. Ten years later, she wished her step-brother away to Jareth through my promptings and beat him at his own game. I didn't help her.
"Now that he has found you and learned to love you, he has been taken from you and the tie I made broken. This is what you must know:
"Death will claim your heart and life, and love will bind him tight to thee, the kiss you wish shall come with peace, three times ask your hand must he.
"The Dead One knows just what you fear, he will take your peace from you, but know your heart and life is near, he will fight the Dead One too.
"And now your Sight." The Seer said as she finished the rhyme. Alex's head was already spinning, trying to figure it out. As the Seer raised her hands to place them on Alex's brow, the young girl murmured "Go not to the elves for counsel, for they will say both no and yes."
The Seer chuckled and nodded, "Yes, that is the way of things. Here is my gift to you, your Sight."
Alex flinched as the old woman pressed her cold hands on her brow. Involuntarily, Alex closed her eyes. Then she saw. She saw pieces of a puzzle lining up to form a picture of Jareth, only this Jareth had eyes the color of blood, and his hair was-- though still the wild mane that she loved-- raven black. The puzzle gave way to real life and she saw Jareth holding a sword at a girl's neck, her neck. Tears were streaming down his face, yet he wasn't able to make the killing stroke.
That scene vanished to be replaced with the crumpled form of Jareth lying at the feet of that beautiful, dreadful man she had witnessed in Mathis' memory: the Lich. He was laughing, holding his long hands out to his sides, basking in the death of a man, eyes glowing red. Alex-in-the-vision screamed something unintelligible at him and rushed towards him, swords of flame appearing in her hands as she danced the dance of death.
Again the scene shifted and she saw herself. Just her face, nothing more. She seemed… different. It was her same face: slight dusting of freckles, small acne problem, pale skin, green eyes. Green eyes? Her eyes looked just like the Seer's! The same emerald green, the same joviality and weariness. They had the same eyes!
The vision faded and Alex stared into those green eyes that were so much the same as her own. The Seer seemed sad, "So. That's how you knew about Elena."
"What do you mean?"
"Do you not see, girl? You have Sight."
"Huh?"
The Seer smiled, "My dear, I'm afraid I've answered your question, and one other besides. Good luck to you, I have done all I can."
"But I have more questions than when I began."
Again the Seer smiled, "That is the way of things."
Alex watched in frustration as the woman disappeared. Finally, she trudged off to find Mathis and wait for sunset. She had a lot to think about. How could she have "Sight"? She was human, right? She didn't voice any of her thoughts for Mathis, but they buzzed around her head all the same. She actually dozed off, but nightmares of Jareth with black hair and red eyes haunted her, even after she woke up.