Chapter 4
The next morning Mercy awoke to find Vincent gone. Feeling a little bereft, she reprimanded herself. She knew nothing further was going to happen from this. It had been one amazing night though. She decided she had better get up and get dressed. But as she did her mind kept straying to Vincent.
Vincent upon arriving at the throne room found Alice. "Has the messenger arrived back yet with the news from the Labyrinth?"
"Yes, just last night."
"And?"
"Well it seems the human girl's presence in the Kingdom is needed to balance out all the negative energy and power that has been introduced to it. It seems they had some periods where evil energy had seeped into the land though the cause was different from our own." Alice was careful to leave out the part about the King falling in love with the girl.
"Yes, so they've had a human girl stay in the Labyrinth for many years. There's something your not telling me . . . Wait isn't the King's wife human? I think I did hear a rumour about that. How's that possible?"
"The human must have some magic ability."
"What about Mercy?"
Mercy had come down from her room, but stopped when she heard her name and listened.
"She has the ability," Vincent continued. "All we have to do is just hold her here forever and things will return as they were? I don't think I could stand her being here. I can't be in the same Kingdom with her, or even the whole Underground. I would go insane. Having her so close by is a kind of torture. What about after the Kingdom is restored? Will we still need her then?"
"I don't know your majesty . . ."
Mercy turned from the conversation in numb disbelief. So he had just used her. He couldn't stand her being here a minute longer. It was all an act. Tears began to burn in her eyes. She didn't think she would care. Didn't think it would hurt, but it did. She couldn't stay here a moment longer. Especially knowing what Vincent had done and what he wanted to do. Keep her there until his Kingdom was restored then toss her aside or possibly even kill her. Mercy started to run. She didn't know where she was going, she just ran.
"I can't stop thinking about her," Vincent confessed. "I didn't think I could ever get fooled and fall again. This can't go on. It'll only cause suffering."
"But Vincent, you are basing this on the actions of one woman. She may not be the same as Ethyl was. She is a victim like your mother."
Vincent thought about that for a moment. Maybe Alice was right, but he wouldn't take any chances. She had to remain in his world, but that's all she would be doing. The last thing he needed was to fall in love with her.
Just then one of the pythons slithered quickly over to them. "The girl has run into the forest!"
"What!?" Suddenly fear seemed to grip his heart. He dismissed it as being from the fact that he may lose his only means of saving his land, but he was afraid it was really fear of losing Mercy.
Mercy ran through the forest not looking back until she collapsed on the ground from exhaustion. She wasn't there long before she heard something crashing through the trees roaring angrily. She peered cautiously around a tree trunk and clamped her hand over her mouth to stifle a scream.
A creature twice her height was stomping around on cloven hooves. It stood upright on two hind legs. It had short arms, a sharp horn protruding from its forehead, and one giant eye in the centre of its head. It's eye was red and glowed in the moonlight. It hadn't seen her yet, so she slowly backed away before turning to run again. But as she glanced back over her shoulder to see if it was following her, she ran into something sticky.
Mercy struggled to free herself, but it was no use. Pausing to examine what she was caught in, to her horror she discovered it appeared to be a gigantic spider's web. She managed to turn her head, but screamed when she saw the huge black widow spider, slightly bigger that herself, crawling down the web towards her.
Vincent heard Mercy's scream and hurried on. What would he do if he was too late?
"A black widow's bite is 15 times as poisonous as that of the rattle snake . . ." Mercy didn't know where she'd heard that before, but that was all that was running through her mind as the spider's deadly fangs became obviously clear. This is it, she thought and squeezed her eyes closed. When she felt the web shake violently, she opened then again and found Vincent.
Vincent grabbed a hold of one of the spider's legs and, with super human strength, pulled it off it's web. Mercy's relief only lasted for a second as she saw him struggling with the black widow. It was horrible to watch. The spider had reared up on its back legs and its front legs came down on Vincent. They swatted him and held him as it tried to get a good bite on his neck, but Vincent fought back.
Then suddenly he was knocked to the ground. The spider came down on him, but he rolled away and managed to get behind it. He grabbed at it's legs, pulling a few off. Mercy turned her head, trying not to throw up. Vincent quickly flipped the spider onto its back. Its remaining legs trying to gain purchase on the ground to turn itself back over. Vincent quickly grabbed two thick branches that were laying on the ground and used them like a stake and mallet to hammer one through the black widow's chest. It let out a horrible screech before it ceased to move altogether.
Vincent stumbled over to Mercy. He ripped though the web that held her with what strength he had left and pulled her loose. Then he collapsed to the ground. Mercy stared in dismay and horror at his condition. He had a deep gash on his forehead and bite marks around his neck. His clothes were torn and bloodied. She felt tears burning her eyes He was a terrible mess and he had done it all to save her. Even if it was just because she was needed to save the land, she couldn't let him die.
She crawled over to him. "Vincent!" His breathing had become laboured. She had to get him back to the castle. Alice would know what to do. She put one of his arms over her shoulder and half carried, half dragged him back to the castle. Somehow she knew the way. She felt a power coming from the castle that was directing her. Finally they came out of the forest ascended the steps of the castle.
"Alice! Alice!" she called once inside the castle.
"What is it?" He came slithering up to her then saw for himself. "Quickly this way." Mercy followed Alice into one of the bed chambers and realized that it was Vincent's. "Put him on the bed. No one else must know about what has happened to the King. There is not much we can do for him. We'll have to wait."
"But what about the bites?"
"They weren't deep and she didn't bite long by the looks of it. Vincent is very powerful, but the truth is with the Kingdom dying his strength has been waning. He would never admit that but I can tell. We can only wait and see. As for you, you can wait here until he wakes up and face the King's wrath for your foolish actions. Vincent obviously has fallen under your spell, for him to go risking his own life to save yours."
"Only to protect his only means of saving the land. I heard you two talking. He can't stand to be around me."
"Because he's in love with you!"
Mercy gasped. "That can't be."
"He's trying to fight it but he's afraid he will give in and it will be the demise of not only him but the entire Kingdom. I shouldn't have told you, but you should probably know, even though Vincent hasn't admitted it to himself yet." With that Alice slithered out of the room.
"What have I done," she sobbed. Had Vincent ever hurt her? No. Only her heart, she thought, but that turned out to be a misunderstanding. He could be intimidating, but she also had no doubt as to what he was capable of. He hadn't done anything yet, but how long would it be before he hit her if she argued with him? She shivered then turned to look at him. Laying in sleep his face had softened and he looked younger. Who was she trying to kid? She knew he would never hurt her like that. She was trying to find a reason not to love him. Not to care. There was none. He had risked his life to save her and no matter the reason, he didn't deserve to die for it, especially not for her. She had to do something.
She walked into the room that joined the bedroom there was a large stone tub filled with water she stuck her hand in it and was surprised to find it was hot. She found some cloths and towels and soaked them in the water. Then she took them back to Vincent. She wiped the blood from his forehead and neck she hesitated a second before taking off his shirt and wiping the blood from his chest, shoulders and arms. She pulled the covers over him when she was done and gazed at him a while. She couldn't help it. Her fingers moved to brush the hair that was soaked with sweat back from his face.
Suddenly a hand grabbed her wrist. Mercy jumped, not realizing that he was awake. "I'm cold," Vincent said with eyes stilled closed.
"I'll find you some more blankets." She shifted to leave.
"No," he said and pulled her body over his on the bed. "I want you. There are worse things than me to be afraid of, as I think you've just discovered."
Somehow she felt warm and safe right now with him. She rested her head on his chest.
"Why did you go into the forest? I told you not to leave the castle."
"I didn't realize what was out there. I know you just saved me so that your chance of saving your world wouldn't be lost, but thanks for saving me anyway."
"That still doesn't explain why you left. I told you it wasn't safe."
"I overheard you and Alice and I know it shouldn't have mattered but you made me believe you wanted me when really you were just using me. That's what really hurt. I couldn't stay around here anymore."
"The reason I didn't want you here is because I did want you." Mercy turned to look at him with confusion. Even though Alice told her how Vincent really felt about her she just couldn't believe it. "The reason this world is the way it is was because of a woman I fell in love with. I didn't want to make the same mistake again with you. I was afraid that that's what was happening and I know it could only bring misery and destruction like before."
"Not all woman are like that."
"Well I figured you would be the death of me and it looks like I was right."
"What do you mean?"
"I just don't have the power anymore to heal myself. It's gone with all the other magic in the Kingdom. This world is dying and my time has finally come. Unfortunately I can't send you back Aboveground. Tell Alice to take you to the Labyrinth. Maybe Jareth, the King there, can help you."
"No you can't die! You've fought for this too long to give up now. Stay with me!"
"I'm afraid it's much too late. My time has passed away."
"Wait, I was told the only reason I could have gotten here was by having some sort of power or magic. Maybe I could help. I have to try." Remembering Vincent healing her, she placed her hand on the gash on his forehead. She concentrated hard on healing him and felt the power flowing through her and radiating out from her palm. It worked! Now she placed both hands on his heart but Vincent shackled her wrists with his fingers and pulled her hands away.
"You can't! Using that kind of power could kill you so there's no use in saving me. I would just die without you to save our world anyway. I've lived for hundreds of years, gone to hell and back. Your life has just begun. Just lay here with me." Even as he was dying he couldn't bring himself to be sentimental, but he still wanted her to know how he felt in his own twisted way, so he sang . . .
"I used to be so in control
But reality is losing its hold
Now I don't know where to begin
Just look at the state that I'm in
My mind is in total decay
I'm comin' to take you away
There's nothing more that I can do
This maniac's in love with you
Your biggest fear has just come true
This maniac's in love with you
My heart has been strapped in a straight jacket love
The therapy boys say it fits like a glove
I'm crossing the line in my brain
The line between pleasure and pain
It takes all I've got to survive
This madness will eat me alive
There's nothing more that I can do
This maniac's in love with you
Your biggest fear has just come true
This maniac's in love with you
There's nothing more that I can do
This maniac's in love with you
I'm all locked up inside of you
This maniac, this maniac . . .
I just don't know where to begin
Just look at the state that I'm in
My mind is in total decay
I'm comin' to take you away
There's nothing more that you can do
This maniac's in love with you
Your biggest fear has just come true
This maniac's in love with you
There's nothing more that you can do
This maniac's in love with you
Your biggest fear has just come true
This maniac's in love with you
This maniac's in love with you . . ."
Mercy smiled at sarcastic attempt to tell her he loved her, but Vincent's chest suddenly ceased to rise and fall and she knew he was gone.
He couldn't be dead. He just couldn't. He was the only one who she knew in her heart wouldn't hurt her. She needed him. Her life wouldn't be worth living even if she did manage to get back home. Not without him. She loved him. She could heal him. She knew she could. She had to at least try.
She placed her hands over his heart again. Concentrating with everything she had, she tried to heal him. At first it seemed something was happening, but then there was nothing. She just wasn't strong enough to rid his body of all the poison. Looking at his neck, she saw the veins around the punctures had turned dark, the venom obviously spreading. The only thing left to do was to try and suck it out. Sealing her lips tight over his neck, she sucked. She lifted her head nearly gagging, and spit the blood onto the floor. She continued with the other bites, there was even one on his chest. Finally when she had finished. She put her hands over his heart again. She put all her power and all her love into it.
"You can't go, I love you," she whispered. After what seemed like an eternity, to her amazement a glow settled over Vincent. His skin turned a more healthy colour, His hair even turned a light brown and the stains faded from his face. Then she felt his heart beat. Just as he took his first breath, she collapsed.
Vincent opened his eyes. It didn't seem like he had arrived back in Hell. It wasn't hot enough or dark enough for that. He tried to sit up but there was a weight on his chest. Maybe he was in Hell after all. Then he looked and realized it was Mercy lying on his chest and she wasn't breathing.
She had obviously saved him, but as he predicted it did not end well for her. He turned her over and saw his poisonous blood running down her chin. Quickly he took her to the bathroom and washed her tearstained face, doing his best to wash out her mouth as well. A lump caught in his throat when he discovered a small black stain remained at the corner of her mouth which he could not remove. No doubt testament to her own brush with the Hell he had brought with him.
He placed her back on the bed. And attempted to bring her back. Then cursed. He needed rest to regain his power. "I told you not to do it. Even if I could save this world without you, what would be the point if you're not in it. I don't think I could go on without you . . . I - I love you," he breathed. He gathered all his strength and tried again. Mercifully it finally worked.
Her eyes snapped open and the first thing she saw were his clear blue eyes. She smiled and marvelled at him, reaching up a hand to tangle fingers in his now brown hair. "You're eyes are blue," she smiled.
He stared at her, puzzled by the first thing she chose to say after their near death experience. "They were a long time ago, how did you know?"
"Because they're blue now."
"What?"
"See for yourself."
Vincent gave her a strange look but stood and went to the mirror on the wall. They were blue again. And his face was no longer stained. Even his hair had lightened back to the colour it once had been. But his joy was short lived. He sighed, "Oh, Mercy."
"What's wrong? You're alive. I did it."
"But what price did you have to pay?"
"What are you talking about?"
"You shouldn't have risked your life for me. I almost didn't have the strength to save you."
"But you did." She stood on unsteady feet and made her way over to him, glancing in the mirror. She saw the small stain at the corner of her mouth and rubbed at it, but it wouldn't come off.
"I'm sorry," he said quietly, holding his breath.
"For what. This is nothing. It's a small price to pay to have you back."
Vincent put his arms around her. She was real. She was alive. "I can't understand why you did it."
She looked up into his eyes. "Because I love you."
His heart which seemed to be made of cold stone, had cracked. Normally he wouldn't have believed her, but with what she had just done, he had no doubt she truly did love him. "And I love you too."
Mercy smiled, her own heart warming. She never thought a man would ever truly love her. "I think we should get some sleep before we both drop dead again."
Alice was on his way to check on Vincent when he and Mercy nearly stepped on him in the hallway.
"Hey Alice," Mercy greeted him.
"You're Majesty . . ." Alice spluttered in shock over his appearance. He looked like his old self again. "What happened?"
"I died and Mercy saved me." Not stopping to explain, he continued on to the Throne Room. There he found everyone displaying uncontained excitement.
"Your Majesty, the Kingdom! The Kingdom!"
"What is it? The end hasn't come now, has it?"
"No the Kingdom is coming back to life!"
Vincent turned to Alice who had now arrived behind them. "There was something you didn't tell me about the prophecy, wasn't there?"
Alice and Mercy looked at each other, then laughed.