Part 9
Rating: M
Thanks so very much to knifeedgefic for the super-speedy beta, and, as well, to lightup_tea and for their feedback.
Cross-posted at Labyfic.
Advent
Part 9
I turned another corner - and there -
“Yes!” I heard my voice bounce off walls to my right and my left - but there, coalescing out of the darkness, I saw the faint outline of a door. I ran up to it and touched it. It wasn’t bright at all. In fact, it was flickering in and out of my sight, as though it hadn’t made up its mind to be real or not.
“No - stay here, door, you hear me?” I felt around for a doorknob but couldn’t find one. “OK. Focus. Come on. Pick a door, any door - what is behind door number one? …”
I knew that I was babbling. It’s just that I had run so long, and so far, that I felt I might fall over any minute. I pressed one hand against the door. It felt like it was made of wood. Then I pressed an ear against it - I didn’t hear anything except my sister crying out. I tried knocking; that didn’t do anything at all.
Then I thought to the way the magic had always worked; back when I was Prince of the Forest. I could see things so much more clearly. If only I could do that here …I tried to focus on making that outline real, so I could see it again. Not just an image, not just a memory - a real outline of a real door. Like the one to my room. It always stuck in the summer, when things got humid. It was made of a sort of cheap wood; I had almost broken it, once, when I had slammed it after an argument with my mom. It was the first door I had learned how to unlock.
I closed my eyes, remembering. Jareth had told me how to unlock it.
I don’t know what it was about that memory that made things work. It seems a small thing, really. But for whatever reason, I found the doorknob and turned it. I heard a -click- and felt the door start to swing open.
Then I stopped. Did I really want to go inside? Would my room be there? I wasn’t sure.
After all, I could smell something … charred. And I could hear snarling - there could be wild animals there, like in the forest.
If it was my room, though I knew there would be one of the enchanted Advent doors there, just as I knew that Jareth was there. That my sister was there … But all of those things might have changed. Things could go in the blink of an eye from safe and warm, cocooned in sleep, to frightening and horrible.
It reminded me of a dream I had had once. I had fallen asleep full of marshmallow sugar, and had woken up only after I heard the scream of that deer - really high and shrill and cut off all of a sudden …
I took a step forward, and blinked.
I wasn’t in a forest, or the Labyrinth. I was in my room at home after all. I reached out and touched the door. The wood felt splintery beneath my fingertips.
“Does this mean I’m back?”
My words fell - thump - clunk - into the air of my room. The thick, stagnant air - somehow more humid than I remembered. I sniffed. I could smell something burnt, sweat and blood and something else -
“Maybe it’s wearing off.” Maybe, I thought, I was less ‘mindlessly enchanted’ now, and more ‘tired.’ I blinked and turned to look my bed. My quilt was gone, but everything else looked normal.
Then I looked in the middle of the room.
I saw Jareth there. His back was to me. He was crouched over something. I heard him panting, which I only remembered from when I had seen him hunt in that dream.
My stomach lurched. Then I saw that even though his hair was darker than normal and matted with sweat, there was no blood in it. The dream wasn’t real. I felt myself calm down.
I couldn’t see Jareth’s face. It looked like he was adjusting different pieces of his clothing, unhurried and languid. He shook his hair back, ran a hand through it, and caught up his cloak. Then he slung the cloak around himself and uncoiled to his feet in one fluid motion.
“Jareth?” I said.
The Goblin King turned, and stared. “Toby!” His voice was a rasp. He coughed to clear his throat, and grinned at me, wolfish. “I am so very pleased to see you - and to see that you found your way back yourself. Very well done.”
“Thanks.” I tried to focus my eyes. Maybe I wasn’t as un-enchanted as I thought. Hadn’t something just -
“This is where I leave you, prince.”
“Really?”
“Yes.” He tipped his head back; I saw red marks on his throat. “I honestly had not thought I would. But …” the grin was back, wider, “something changed.”
“What?”
“Ah …” He drew a hand across his mouth. “That is - not important. What is important is that you know that you would have been as a son to me … but that you will always be a prince to me. And to your fellows.”
“Oh.” The warm sleepiness was coming back again. Perhaps it was being so close to the magical door that did it. Its golden light pulsed in a way that made me sick to my stomach.
“Live well, Tobias.” The Goblin King had stepped forward. I looked down. He was extending a hand. I saw a weird circle on its back - scars as fine as hair crossing over and over and looping around each other in a silvery pattern. I held out my own hand.
He didn’t shake it, as I thought he might. Instead, he touched my wrist.
The rune there vanished.
“Live well,” he said, gazing at me. “I named you a Prince in the Labyrinth. This shall make you a prince among men. Live well, and do good works.” The light in his eyes blazed. “And so farewell.”
“Wait -” I heard my sister’s voice, strangled, and caught a glimpse of my quilt, bright red and yellow, as she broke free from - wait. How had that ...? I didn’t understand - had she had been hiding behind him or something.
I saw her try to twist free of his arm, but he caught hold of her shoulder. I saw his knuckles go white.
“There now.” Jareth bent to my sister’s ear. “We have a bargain, Sarah -” he licked at the glossy sweat on her temple and she flinched - “Mind that you keep to it.”
Sarah turned her face away. He buried his face in her hair. I saw him kiss her - once, twice, and start to scrape his teeth over the back of her neck - she pushed at him and he pulled her back, clutching her as if he would never let her go.
“My only love, my heart’s true mate - mine -” Then he turned to face me. He was breathing hard. “Make your farewells.”
Farewells? I blinked. Things felt like they were moving fast, all of a sudden. “Um, goodbye?” I said. “Thank you for the Labyrinth. I mean, for my visits.”
The Goblin King inclined his head. His eyes flew to my sister’s mouth as she wet her lips. “Toby? You're -- alive?”
“My love, my only one.” Jareth was sliding his hands over her face, tracing her features, tangling his fingers in her hair. He bent to her ear, swift as a bird. “Of course he’s alive. I keep to my bargains. Now come along.”
“Wait …” I said. My tongue felt thick and my mouth didn’t seem to work. “Sarah? Why are you going?”
“I -” She raised her chin. “Toby -- I’ll come back to you. I promise.”
“And you call me cruel … you - making a promise you will never keep.” I almost didn’t hear Jareth’s whisper, but I caught his smile, glinting teeth, as he stepped back against the dimly glowing golden door, holding Sarah close.
She stared at him, her face white. “We’ll see.”
“Yes.” The Goblin King's smile had gone. His eyes were veiled. “I suppose we shall.”
Reaching down with one bare hand, he slid his fingers along until he found a latch. He looked back at me as he lifted it.
And I realized that I recognized that look. The expression that had been in his eyes whenever he had gazed at my sister, through this entire long night. I hadn’t been able to place it - I had thought it was a dream.
It wasn’t, though.
It was the look the Goblin King had in his eyes, when he ate the deer’s heart.
I saw a splash of blood on Jareth’s face. I saw the golden door start to shimmer.
“Wait - wait,” I gasped. “No - Sarah, I don’t want you to do this - please, no, Sarah!”
“Toby -” she said. I saw the tears on her face. “Be happy.”
Jareth said nothing. He merely gazed at me, his face suddenly remote and ageless. Then he raised a hand - the one not gripping my sister by her shoulder. He closed the golden light into his fingers, twisted in every flicker and filament of magic from the room around me, and then pulled his hand down to his heart.
And just like that, the golden door, and both of those within it, winked out of existence.
It didn’t really hit me for about a minute. I just stared at the wall, numb. Then I said, “No.” I walked up to the wall and ran my hands over it. “No - it can’t be.”
“No,” I said. Then: “No!” I screamed it so loudly that my parents came running to see what was wrong.
They were of no comfort to me.
Thanks so very much to knifeedgefic for the super-speedy beta, and, as well, to lightup_tea and for their feedback.
Cross-posted at Labyfic.
Advent
Part 9
I turned another corner - and there -
“Yes!” I heard my voice bounce off walls to my right and my left - but there, coalescing out of the darkness, I saw the faint outline of a door. I ran up to it and touched it. It wasn’t bright at all. In fact, it was flickering in and out of my sight, as though it hadn’t made up its mind to be real or not.
“No - stay here, door, you hear me?” I felt around for a doorknob but couldn’t find one. “OK. Focus. Come on. Pick a door, any door - what is behind door number one? …”
I knew that I was babbling. It’s just that I had run so long, and so far, that I felt I might fall over any minute. I pressed one hand against the door. It felt like it was made of wood. Then I pressed an ear against it - I didn’t hear anything except my sister crying out. I tried knocking; that didn’t do anything at all.
Then I thought to the way the magic had always worked; back when I was Prince of the Forest. I could see things so much more clearly. If only I could do that here …I tried to focus on making that outline real, so I could see it again. Not just an image, not just a memory - a real outline of a real door. Like the one to my room. It always stuck in the summer, when things got humid. It was made of a sort of cheap wood; I had almost broken it, once, when I had slammed it after an argument with my mom. It was the first door I had learned how to unlock.
I closed my eyes, remembering. Jareth had told me how to unlock it.
I don’t know what it was about that memory that made things work. It seems a small thing, really. But for whatever reason, I found the doorknob and turned it. I heard a -click- and felt the door start to swing open.
Then I stopped. Did I really want to go inside? Would my room be there? I wasn’t sure.
After all, I could smell something … charred. And I could hear snarling - there could be wild animals there, like in the forest.
If it was my room, though I knew there would be one of the enchanted Advent doors there, just as I knew that Jareth was there. That my sister was there … But all of those things might have changed. Things could go in the blink of an eye from safe and warm, cocooned in sleep, to frightening and horrible.
It reminded me of a dream I had had once. I had fallen asleep full of marshmallow sugar, and had woken up only after I heard the scream of that deer - really high and shrill and cut off all of a sudden …
I took a step forward, and blinked.
I wasn’t in a forest, or the Labyrinth. I was in my room at home after all. I reached out and touched the door. The wood felt splintery beneath my fingertips.
“Does this mean I’m back?”
My words fell - thump - clunk - into the air of my room. The thick, stagnant air - somehow more humid than I remembered. I sniffed. I could smell something burnt, sweat and blood and something else -
“Maybe it’s wearing off.” Maybe, I thought, I was less ‘mindlessly enchanted’ now, and more ‘tired.’ I blinked and turned to look my bed. My quilt was gone, but everything else looked normal.
Then I looked in the middle of the room.
I saw Jareth there. His back was to me. He was crouched over something. I heard him panting, which I only remembered from when I had seen him hunt in that dream.
My stomach lurched. Then I saw that even though his hair was darker than normal and matted with sweat, there was no blood in it. The dream wasn’t real. I felt myself calm down.
I couldn’t see Jareth’s face. It looked like he was adjusting different pieces of his clothing, unhurried and languid. He shook his hair back, ran a hand through it, and caught up his cloak. Then he slung the cloak around himself and uncoiled to his feet in one fluid motion.
“Jareth?” I said.
The Goblin King turned, and stared. “Toby!” His voice was a rasp. He coughed to clear his throat, and grinned at me, wolfish. “I am so very pleased to see you - and to see that you found your way back yourself. Very well done.”
“Thanks.” I tried to focus my eyes. Maybe I wasn’t as un-enchanted as I thought. Hadn’t something just -
“This is where I leave you, prince.”
“Really?”
“Yes.” He tipped his head back; I saw red marks on his throat. “I honestly had not thought I would. But …” the grin was back, wider, “something changed.”
“What?”
“Ah …” He drew a hand across his mouth. “That is - not important. What is important is that you know that you would have been as a son to me … but that you will always be a prince to me. And to your fellows.”
“Oh.” The warm sleepiness was coming back again. Perhaps it was being so close to the magical door that did it. Its golden light pulsed in a way that made me sick to my stomach.
“Live well, Tobias.” The Goblin King had stepped forward. I looked down. He was extending a hand. I saw a weird circle on its back - scars as fine as hair crossing over and over and looping around each other in a silvery pattern. I held out my own hand.
He didn’t shake it, as I thought he might. Instead, he touched my wrist.
The rune there vanished.
“Live well,” he said, gazing at me. “I named you a Prince in the Labyrinth. This shall make you a prince among men. Live well, and do good works.” The light in his eyes blazed. “And so farewell.”
“Wait -” I heard my sister’s voice, strangled, and caught a glimpse of my quilt, bright red and yellow, as she broke free from - wait. How had that ...? I didn’t understand - had she had been hiding behind him or something.
I saw her try to twist free of his arm, but he caught hold of her shoulder. I saw his knuckles go white.
“There now.” Jareth bent to my sister’s ear. “We have a bargain, Sarah -” he licked at the glossy sweat on her temple and she flinched - “Mind that you keep to it.”
Sarah turned her face away. He buried his face in her hair. I saw him kiss her - once, twice, and start to scrape his teeth over the back of her neck - she pushed at him and he pulled her back, clutching her as if he would never let her go.
“My only love, my heart’s true mate - mine -” Then he turned to face me. He was breathing hard. “Make your farewells.”
Farewells? I blinked. Things felt like they were moving fast, all of a sudden. “Um, goodbye?” I said. “Thank you for the Labyrinth. I mean, for my visits.”
The Goblin King inclined his head. His eyes flew to my sister’s mouth as she wet her lips. “Toby? You're -- alive?”
“My love, my only one.” Jareth was sliding his hands over her face, tracing her features, tangling his fingers in her hair. He bent to her ear, swift as a bird. “Of course he’s alive. I keep to my bargains. Now come along.”
“Wait …” I said. My tongue felt thick and my mouth didn’t seem to work. “Sarah? Why are you going?”
“I -” She raised her chin. “Toby -- I’ll come back to you. I promise.”
“And you call me cruel … you - making a promise you will never keep.” I almost didn’t hear Jareth’s whisper, but I caught his smile, glinting teeth, as he stepped back against the dimly glowing golden door, holding Sarah close.
She stared at him, her face white. “We’ll see.”
“Yes.” The Goblin King's smile had gone. His eyes were veiled. “I suppose we shall.”
Reaching down with one bare hand, he slid his fingers along until he found a latch. He looked back at me as he lifted it.
And I realized that I recognized that look. The expression that had been in his eyes whenever he had gazed at my sister, through this entire long night. I hadn’t been able to place it - I had thought it was a dream.
It wasn’t, though.
It was the look the Goblin King had in his eyes, when he ate the deer’s heart.
I saw a splash of blood on Jareth’s face. I saw the golden door start to shimmer.
“Wait - wait,” I gasped. “No - Sarah, I don’t want you to do this - please, no, Sarah!”
“Toby -” she said. I saw the tears on her face. “Be happy.”
Jareth said nothing. He merely gazed at me, his face suddenly remote and ageless. Then he raised a hand - the one not gripping my sister by her shoulder. He closed the golden light into his fingers, twisted in every flicker and filament of magic from the room around me, and then pulled his hand down to his heart.
And just like that, the golden door, and both of those within it, winked out of existence.
It didn’t really hit me for about a minute. I just stared at the wall, numb. Then I said, “No.” I walked up to the wall and ran my hands over it. “No - it can’t be.”
“No,” I said. Then: “No!” I screamed it so loudly that my parents came running to see what was wrong.
They were of no comfort to me.