What To Do With Lily...

The little mouse stirred slowly stretching and walked about the cage before realizing where she was. A massive squeal of rage emerged from the tiny mouse in the cage as she saw Rhena standing hand in hand with Jareth, who was grinning widely. She scrambled up the cage to the roof, tripping over her paws in the process. She then began to squeak very loudly at Rhena, as if cussing her out and scolding her for stealing Jareth.

Jareth, who could turn into an owl at will, could understand perfectly what she was saying as was appalled at the language she used extensively. Rhena could also understand perfectly and instead of yelling back, she doubled over laughing. The change Lily had undergone had not only changed her appear to that of a mouse but also changed the pitch of her voice, making her sound something along the lines of a very angry squeaky toy.

Jareth was proud of Rhena, not just because she was able to handle Lily's insults but because she had done something no one had ever done before, she had saved Jareth's life. Every other goblin or creature in the kingdom would have left him to rot and be tortured by this odious woman, who now was safely packed away in a cage. Rhena really cared about him, enough that she had risked her own life to save him. He owed his life to this girl and his love as well.

"Rhena," he said quietly, "I love you with every fiber of my immortal being, every bit of my heart belongs to you and only you. I am forever in your debt for saving me and I would like to state a proposition." Rhena raised an eyebrow, hoping what she thought was coming wouldn't. Jareth stepped forward and grabbed both her hands in his. "Will you stay with me in the Castle forever? I cannot possibly live without you, love and because of this I'm afraid I won't take no for an answer." he said smiling. Rhena breathed a sigh of relief and nodded. Jareth grinned and pulled her in for a much needed hug.

Rhena and Jareth both looked up when they heard a banging from the cage. They laughed as they watched Lily grab the bars and shake the cage in anger. She may have been a mouse but she had quite a bit of strength behind one push that sent her cage flying off the counter. They both jumped back as water, food and wood chips spread around the cage, a small Lily laying without movement from within the cage. Jareth approached first, clearing bits of debris off the floor for Rhena walk behind him. Jareth quietly opened the cage and picked up the small mouse. Rhena covered her mouth with her hands and frowned as Jareth gave her a sad look and placed the mouse on the counter.

Tears ran down Rhena's face as she thought of the person she had been before the fragile mouse form that lay before her. She thought of her parents, siblings and friends, how they would mourn for her. Jareth's face turned to a mask of nothing, no emotion showing on his face whatsoever. Rhena could tell he was hiding his pain, after all, he was the person who had brought her here in the first place then dropped her like a hot potato when he had seen Rhena. She tried to think of a way that this wasn't Jareth's fault, the only conclusion she could come up with was that it was her fault. If she hadn't been so close to the monarch, none of this would have happened. He would be happily living with her, probably trying to find some way to keep her here.

She sobbed in her hands, not for her death but for the plan she had finalized in her head. She would leave the Goblin Kingdom forever. Ever since she had met Jareth, she had only caused him pain and grief, she didn't want to hurt him anymore. She didn't look up as she walked down the marble steps to Jareth's office. She shuffled through the papers, trying to quickly find a blank piece to write an apology/goodbye letter to Jareth, before he got there. She found a blank piece attached to several others and tried to tear it off but stopped when she saw writing on the front of one of the pages. She read the letter quickly:

Dearest Lily,

I am sorry if I gave you the wrong impression. We are merely friends and just that. I had no plans to marry you or even have a reasonable relationship with you. I saw how upset you were and decided to try and help you. I did not expect you to become so... attracted to me. I apologize for any pain this may have caused you and I truly wish I could find a way to make it up to you without making things worse. The truth is that I have only known you for a few days and am not ready to take a big step when we have not even finalized our courting. I hope you can forgive me and in time, maybe we can become friends.
 
Sincerely,
Jareth Le Roi, King of the Goblins

This letters looked as if it had been written about a week ago and shocked he had felt this way before. He had never truly cared for her in the first place. This made Rhena smile but also brought her heartache, she still had to leave the kingdom and quickly. Knowing Jareth, he would never allow her to do such a thing, he would be crushed. All she wanted was to make Jareth happy and if this is what it took, then she would do it without a single complaint. She finished her letter, marked it with her seal and laid it out on his desk before quickly taking off out the window once again.

Jareth sat quietly for a moment, taking in what had just happened. His head played it like a movie, over and over and over again, making him feel crazy. He put his face in his hands and sobbed. This was all his fault and he could never forgive himself for doing this. He looked back up at the counter, gasping as he saw the mouse was gone. He looked around cautiously and wondered if when fae died, if they just vanished. He knew for a fact that mice didn't and he was positive nothing had carried it away.

He shouted as he felt a pinch on his neck and instinctively reached up and grabbed at his neck. He stared at the angry brown mouse glaring at him, holding a sharp sewing needle. She stabbed it down into his hand and as he released her, she ran into a small hole in the wall. He followed, outraged, to the hole and roared, "You'll pay for this!", clutching his neck. Jareth shouted down to the goblins and ordered them to smash anything that came out of that hole in the wall. The goblins were delighted to do what he said, smashing things was their specialty and they couldn't resist seeing what would happen to a mouse on contact with a large mallet.

Jareth stomped down the hall, still clutching his neck, hoping to God she didn't puncture one of his major arteries. He searched the castle high and low but couldn't find Rhena. She had only left just a few minutes ago, where could she be? He walked into his study, giving it a good once over before turning to leave the room. He looked at his desk a moment, seeing the sealed envelope and the note he had written beside it.

He picked them both up and folded his letter up and placed it in his pocket. He opened the other and read it several times before actually getting what it said. He let the letter float to the ground and he stared straight ahead, not moving, not even breathing. In a giant rush of energy, he scattered the things on his cabinet to the floor, shattering several of his floating orbs. He reached up and pulled hard on his hair, leaning against the wall crying.

He was in so much pain he could barely speak, which made it incredibly difficult to order all the goblins to search the Labyrinth, the City, and the Bog. After his crying had subsided, he morphed to an owl and flew out to the forest. If Rhena was anywhere, she would be here.

Author's Note

I lied a bit when telling this story. You see, Jareth is too manly to actually cry but to show how much pain he was in, it was the only option I had left. :/ Sorry Jareth.