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Crystalline Dreams
by: Dreamspinner and Delilah
Chapter 7



    Dreamspinner gasped as she heard the terrified shrieks of a woman echoing down the corridor. Oh no! Delilah! She had to get to her friend quickly. After reflexively clutching Gwydion's hand, she sprinted down the hall toward the source, a terrible sight meeting her eyes as she rounded the bend. Jareth was trying to kill Delilah! Anger like she had never felt before coursed through her pale frame, her skin became blinding to look upon, her hair turning into living flames which whipped and curled
about her.
'Valkyrie,' Gwydion thought in admiration before his anger surged in response to his wife's, his demeanor totally changing into one of an angry god. He glowed with green-fire, and the shadow of antlers appeared upon his smooth brow. Together they advanced upon the unsuspecting Jareth. Gwydion grabbed one of the goblin king's arms as he was choking the unconscious woman in his grasp, and Dreamspinner grabbed the other. Jareth did a double-take, not quite decided upon which apparition was worse. He grimly decided that Gwydion would do him the most damage, desperately hoping he was right in his assumption that Dreamspinner wouldn't allow her husband to actually kill him.
"Well, my love, what to do with him... let's see...hmmm...," Dreamspinner's lovely face had taken on a terrible beauty, and Jareth saw the ghost of great wings behind her blazing form.
Gwydion's deep musical laughter pierced Jareth's soul, "Allow me, dearest- oh you simply must allow me my sport with this one." They were a terrible vision to behold- one moonlight and flame, the other earthen shadows and green-bright fire. Gwydion almost yanked Jareth's arm out of its socket as he liberated Delilah, and Dreamspinner caught the unconscious woman before she could fall to the floor
and injure herself. She gently laid Delilah down, then turned to face the goblin king.
"You forced us here by taking our property, therefore you must bear all consequences of your actions. What did you expect? You deserve so much more than anything Delilah could possibly have done! How could you!" she hissed at him, her form radiating intensely pure light as she stalked her prey.
Jareth muttered, "You wouldn't be defending her if you knew what she has done."
"What? A child's pranks? You are the king of the goblins... I thought such things were your specialty. Can't receive as well as you give? Tsk tsk..," an unamused Gwydion slammed Jareth into the wall across from where he had just been choking Delilah, and the mirror image of the scene that had met them began to form. Jareth blindly called his magic to him, but it did not help. Gwydion brushed aside his magical attack as if it were but a child's first spell. He was choking, but before he could lose
consciousness, Gwydion dropped him.
When Jareth staggered to his feet, Gwydion smiled seraphically and said, "This is for my wife," and his fist connected with Jareth's jaw with an amazing crunching noise and Jareth knew no more.

"Well, what do we do with him now?" Dreamspinner asked softly as her ire drained away and she resumed her normal appearance.
Gwydion smirked, "The dungeon? The bog? An oubliette? Oh, the possibilities...," he nudged the goblin king's prone form with the toe of his boot.
Genna appeared beside them, "Childlings... remember to play fair," she jokingly admonished them as she smiled wickedly at Jareth, "Where would be the nicest place for him to wake? Hmmm... mayhap in his lively brother's kingdom, I'm thinking....Bane probably has much to discuss with him."
"That's too cruel. Even he doesn't deserve such a fate." Dreamspinner said as she curiously examined the fallen king. He was still breathing, which was a definite plus. His healing could wait until she was sure Delilah was safe. Dreamspinner softly crept up to the fallen woman, gently placing her fingertips on Delilah's temples and concentrated, calling her back to consciousness. As she called, she also healed, and she felt the woman's awareness hovering in indecision before it finally came to rest within her prone form. Delilah sat up with a gasp, both hands coming up swiftly to her pale throat where the imprint of Jareth's hands was taking on a ruby-red color. She glanced about in confusion when she noticed Genna, Gwydion, and Dreamspinner staring at her in concern.
"You are safe, Delilah. We're here now," Dreamspinner murmured softly.
Delilah looked about her and her gaze finally came to rest on the fallen king, "What happened?"
"Ah, we rescued you," Dreamspinner said as left Delilah to examine Jareth. She calmly knelt down by his side and experimentally reached out to touch him, seeing how badly he was injured. Gwydion had broken his jaw and a few ribs by her reckoning. With but a flick of power, she healed him, and he came to with a start, reflexively grabbing onto her as he sat up suddenly, his eyes locking with hers.
"Oh, it is you," he said with apparent relief.
She smiled knowingly, "Yes, I suppose it is."
"Remind me never to anger you again," Jareth winced as he pulled himself up from the floor and then staggered against Dreamspinner, who put a supportive arm around his waist. Gwydion watched all of this calmly, his arms folded across his chest.
Jareth noticed him and blanched, holding out a hand in supplication, "No more, I yield!" Delilah smirked at him from her position on the floor, muttering darkly, "Serves you right, you toad. I would have paid good money to see what you two did to him."
"Ah, Jareth...you know, you could have just undone everything Delilah mischiefed with your magic. You didn't have to try to kill her," Dreamspinner casually remarked. She let him go and he braced himself against the wall.
"I wasn't trying to kill her." he protested.
"Ha!" Delilah shot back.
"If I was going to kill you, *dear*, you'd be dead already," he retorted.
"Jareth, she nearly was dead, you fool! You are quite lucky we happened upon you when we did!" Dreamspinner snapped at him, and he subsided. He did not mean to get that angry. It became apparent that he had lost control, which is something no one has ever forced him to do before. It would seem that his dear little Delilah knew just what buttons to push. He would be more careful concerning her in the future. Very careful.

    Dreamspinner noticed what appeared to be a small blue crystal lying on the floor not far from Delilah. She crossed over to it and picked it up. The crystal rested serenely in her palm, and asked her to release its mistress from the confines of the labyrinth. Dreamspinner turned around slowly, and her gaze locked with Genna's.
"You- you are trapped here?" she asked uncertainly. Genna's face crumpled in mute agony as she nodded her assent.
"Who are you talking to?" Jareth asked, growing increasingly more alarmed.
"You can not see her?" Dreamspinner asked him slowly.
"See who?"
"Genna?"
Jareth noticed with alarm that Dreamspinner was holding the blue crystal from his study. Delilah must have picked up that ancient artifact when she was arranging things.
"Give me the crystal. You have no idea what you are doing, please give it back to me. It is not what it seems!" Jareth implored her.
"Neither are you, but that's beside the point. Does this make you nervous?" she asked with child-like fascination, as she twirled the crystal across her fingers. She suddenly pitched the crystal to smash into a billion tiny fragments on the wall. Gwydion was now standing beside her, eyeing the blasted section of the wall warily.
Genna applauded, "Well done! Yes! Well done, my childling!" and she gracefully walked up to Jareth and said, "Hello, remember me?"
"You are not real. You are a leftover dream which never happened," he said as he tightly closed his eyes.
"Well, how do you explain this?" she said as she tweaked his nose. Genna was really enjoying his discomfiture.
He opened his eyes and said, "I don't know."

********


    Bane opened his dark eyes and stared out into the darkness as though seeing images from far off in the distance. A shadow appeared at his left slightly behind him but he paid it no heed until the person spoke. He frowned at having been disturbed but shook himself and brought himself back to the deeds at hand. There was probably little more he could do for now. So close. So very close.
"What is it?" He snapped turning to the creature which backed up a little behind him. "We have another crystal." The creature held out its hand and in the palm sat a crystal glowing darkly. Bane reached out and lifted it towards his face. Tendrils came out and wrapped themselves about his face and he smiled.
"Very good," he handed the crystal back to the creature who looked at him in surprise. He sighed and decided to clear up the miscommunication before it asked or worse made an assumption at his motives. "We are not yet ready to use it. First we have to take care of my brother then we shall send the crystal to do its work."
"So he survived?"
Bane glanced at the other man and frowned. He hadn't heard him come in. "Of course. I expected no more."
"Then what was the point of instigating him with the human?"
Now Bane shifted pleased at being one step ahead of the man. "Genna is free, Justarus, thanks to that human and she quite annoyed with Jareth for shutting her away in that crystal and keeping her locked up for all those years, I'm sure. Now not only does Jareth have to deal with her, he has to keep from annoying both Dreamspinner and Gwydion and from killing Delilah."
Justarus shook his head. "I don't think Delilah's going to be a problem. After what he just got through he's going to be keeping tighter reigns on his emotions."
"Ah! But surely he will be forced to let a little slip as he tries to keep up his dance between all these distractions and annoyances. And don't write off our dear Delilah. She is still in the game."
"I can understand why you want Dreamspinner. All those nasty little nightmares she can weave for you, if you can convince her to come to your side. . ."
"And I will." Bane interrupted.
"I'm sure," Justarus sneered annoyed at being knocked off his thought track, "but where does this Delilah come in?"
Bane chuckled and produced a second dark crystal like the one he had returned to the creature. "She was a test, to see if these little beauties work. I implanted one in her. They work just like Dreamspinner's but give nightmares instead of happy dreams."
Justarus stepped forward and peered at the crystal in surprise. "But if you can make those why do you need Dreamspinner?"
Bane sighed and dismissed the crystal. "They are incredibly time consuming and draining to make. There are only three in existence and I've been working on them for five years now. Dreamspinner can produce one, maybe two, a night. Much faster. Besides, with her at my side my natural power is increased."
"So you've been using one on Delilah. Now we know they work. Why do you
say she is still in the game?"
Bane looked off into the distance, his eyes unfocusing again. "She can provoke my brother like no other. I plague her sleep with nightmares so when she awakes she feels more drained then the night before. As time goes on she's going to get more and more fatigued and eventually a point will be reached when she snaps and knowing my brother as I do he will react much like he did today. Then,once again, Dreamspinner and Gwydion will try to save her."
"And we'll be right back where we started." Justarus snapped.
"No. Realize that by this time my brother's patience will be worn thin by Genna and all the others. He may not stop and be as rational as he was this time. Even if he does manage to stop one time in the future he is going to be exasperated enough to foolishly attack and try to kill someone. Knowing his hatred for Gwydion it will probably be him. Now when Dreamspinner sees her beloved husband about to be killed chances are she's going to strike back and then Jareth will die. He can't stand against her power, especially when she's enraged."
Justarus shrugged. "Then we have one dead brother and an annoyed couple. How does this bring you closer to your goal?"
Bane chuckled at his cohort's impatience. "Simple. Without Jareth to reveal my identity to her I can trap her by assuming another form. With her safely in my grasp Gwydion will return to me along with his hunters and using my two new dark crystals they will serve me. And this time it will be permanent."

********


    Delilah caught herself stroking her neck with her hand and forced herself to stop. If she kept rubbing at it the skin would go raw and that wasn't something she relished. Swallowing was a problem but at least she could still breath. She watched as Dreamspinner picked up the blue crystal and flung it against the wall. Genna seemed to glimmer and become more solid looking but Delilah shook her head sure it was her imagination. The woman turned and walked over to Jareth who was
still leaning against the wall. She wished she could have seen what had happened. The two spoke and Delilah frowned trying to figure out was being said. A leftover dream which never happened. What was that supposed to mean? She shrugged and gave up when she discovered that contemplating it gave her a headache. Deciding that the floor was just a little too cold for her own comfort she struggled to stand. A wave of nausea flashed over her and she gripped at the wall for support. Dreamspinner turned a worried eye in her direction but she smiled wanly and waved her away. When she was sure that she could stand properly she straightened herself out and leaned back for a moment to catch her breath before pushing away from the wall and taking a few shaky steps forward.
"Genna, what's going on? How were you trapped by that crystal?" She asked.
The violet haired woman turned toward her. "I was never released from it," she said simply. Delilah paused not sure what to make of this answer. It was Gwydion who picked up on the hinted implication.
"He created you?" The man asked uncrossing his arms. Genna nodded and turned her attention back to the Goblin King who still refused to look at her. "He created me, like he did so many others, but he would not release me."
"Why not? Why would you create something but not give it its freedom?" Dreamspinner asked.
Jareth shook his head. "You were a mistake. I shouldn't have created you. That was why I would not release you." He said.
"Then why didn't you destroy the crystal? Even that release would have been better then the imprisonment you gave me," Genna said her voice wavering slightly.
"I couldn't. I made you with perfection in my mind, but that was my flaw. I made you too perfect. I made you too powerful. But I was proud of the accomplishment and couldn't discard you as I had so many others." Jareth replied.
"I don't understand. If she was perfect why could you not let her free?" Delilah asked still a little confused.
Jareth sighed and spoke as if he were lecturing a three year old. "If I released a creature more powerful than I into my realm I would be committing suicide. What if she decided she wanted to rule? Or change a few things? I would not have been able to stop her."
Delilah frowned not liking his tone of voice. She decided to direct her next question to Dreamspinner,"So why didn't destroying the crystal kill her?"
Dreamspinner smiled gently, "Because I only destroyed that which bound her. Genna had enough power of her own to reach out to me and allow my powers to amplify hers. Once locked with me, she became solid enough to withstand the shattering of the shallow world Jareth imprisoned her in."

    Genna moved to embrace Dreamspinner, holding the other woman tightly. They were of the same height and of similar beauty, Delilah noted. Dreamspinner smiled sweetly as she stroked Genna's violet hair, "So our roles are reversed now, it seems."
Genna looked deeply into Dreamspinner's young-old eyes and said with significant emphasis in the darkened hallway, "I name you Sister." Dreamspinner wiped away the tears that were flowing down Genna's beautiful face saying softly, "If it pleases you." Genna buried her face into Dreamspinner's lavender-scented red-gold locks, and the weaver began humming a soothing lullaby.
"Yes, it does," Genna said as she regretfully left Dreamspinner's comforting embrace and turned to face the goblin king, "Well, Jareth, I have no taste for your kingdom, so there. I wouldn't take it if you handed it to me on a silver platter!" Jareth had the grace to look ashamed.
Gwydion wrapped his arms about his wife protectively, and she turned in
his embrace to rest her head on his strong chest, sighing wistfully. Gwydion looked at Jareth with great disgust, "You are far worse than I gave you credit for, goblin king." Jareth raised his head and glared at Gwydion, and the two engaged in a silent war of wills until Jareth broke their contest by slumping to the floor in exhaustion. Dreamspinner untangled herself from Gwydion's tight over-protective grasp and turned to look at Jareth. He could not meet her eyes, so he kept his sight on the floor. She crossed over to him and pulled his face up by the chin, "Jareth, I thought you knew the rules of making. Whatever you create, you are responsible for... how could you be so cruel to one who loved you?" she sighed as she dropped his chin. He was caught and held by the silent pain in her eyes.
'Please don't look at me like that, Dreamspinner,' he sent her a wordless plea. She shook her head and he noticed the glimmer of tears beginning in her teal-bright eyes. When he tried to reach out to stroke her face, Gwydion started forward in warning, but Jareth paid him no heed, resolutely tracing her cheek with his finger. "Loved me?" Jareth murmured, clearly mystified.
"Does someone have to spell everything out for you, you dullard?" Genna snapped. All eyes turned to focus on her. "Yes, I loved him! I truly did! But what good was it? He kept me imprisoned all the same," she said bitterly. Dreamspinner silently regarded them both, her gaze traveling from one to the other until she made up her mind about something, "Well, mayhap all is not lost then," she said enigmatically.
Genna growled and displayed her perfectly savage-looking fangs, "I hate
him."
"Do you?" Dreamspinner craftily remarked, "You had your chance for revenge, yet you did not take it."
"I think it must be your influence," Genna smiled impishly as she deftly evaded the veiled implications of Dreamspinner's remark, "Besides, Gwydion had the situation well under control."
Gwydion chuckled darkly from his side of the room, causing Jareth to frown.
Dreamspinner glanced at them in warning, "If you two don't stop egging each other on, one of you is going to end up severely hurt. Stop this foolishness now-it ends here. Got it?" she said in exasperation.
"Got it," the two men answered in unison, then glanced at each other in surprise. They both smiled at each other knowingly like naughty children in the middle of some huge prank.
Dreamspinner sighed.

~~~~on to Chapter 8