Chapter 3 – Unlikely Romance
While flying to the prison, Jane pesters
Mors with questions about the man who she is meant to be with.
“Is he handsome?”
“Yes.”
“Is he caring?”
“Yes.”
“Can he sing like me?”
“Yes.”
“Are you just saying yes to
everything I ask?”
“Yes, I have been answering yes,
but I’m not saying yes for the sake of answering your questions. You shouldn’t
be worried about who you’re meeting since you know God puts the right people together.”
“I’ve been wondering. Are you an angel,
an insect, or a mix of both?”
“You can say both. It is not a question
I have an answer for. What matters to me is my purpose rather than the
specifics of my existence.”
“Is that why you didn’t mind me referring
to you as my imaginary friend for so many years?”
“Yes. I taught you what you were
supposed to know about good and evil while being content with the possibility
that you didn’t believe in my existence.”
“Thank you for that. I’m sorry I
didn’t recognize the obvious.”
“It’s okay. It was worth it
watching you be happy and have fun while learning.”
Jane smiles and hugs Mors. He leans
up his head to touch hers as a way of returning his affection. They then arrive
at the prison where Jane’s husband to be is and land nearby to get a good view
of the place. It is a heavily fortified castle with multiple layers and a tower
that appears to reach to the sky like the Tower of Babel. An army of officers
guard the outside of the prison with multiple archers on every layer that light
fire posts as the sun begins to set.
“My husband is in there?!”
“The sinful always wrongly imprison
the innocent. He’s been in there for too long, and yet, he’s been steadfast in
keeping his soul pure.”
“He does sound like a strong and
good man. How are we going to get to him?”
“Even though I can break through
the walls while being unaffected by arrows, you aren’t as invincible. We are
going to have to call a friend to help us.”
The ground beneath them shakes
until it breaks to reveal the face of a spider. Jane and the spider look at
each other with curiosity until the spider breaks out of the ground and closely
examines Jane. She falls off of Mors in a panic and tries to calm herself.
“You weren’t as afraid of me when
we first met,” Mors points out.
“I’m not used to seeing huge
spiders up close like this.”
“Don’t be afraid of him. He’s just
curious.”
The spider looks into Jane’s eyes
until he closes them and touches her head with his. Feeling his affection, Jane
slowly pets the spider until she feels comfortable with it. Because Jane
returns his affection, the spider rubs his face against hers and makes purring
noises.
“Haha, it’s kind of like a cat. So,
it’s going to get us into the prison?”
“Yes. He will dig underneath the
prison and get you to your husband to be. Meanwhile, I will stay outside and be
ready to bring both of you out of the area. I will confront the enemy if you are
discovered. We are trying to keep this as quiet as possible because there are
pure souls among the guards.”
“Got it. Well, let’s go Mr. Spider.”
The spider nods as Jane gets on his
back.
“Mr. Spider? Is that the nickname
you’re giving him?”
“It’s not that creative, but it’s
cute. Don’t you think so?”
“He’s your spider so I can’t
complain.”
Mr. Spider wraps Jane in a
protective layer of silk when she settles herself on his back. This silk
protects her as they go into the ground and dig their way to the lowest level
of the prison. In the basement of the prison, they find a section of dead prisoners
who appear to have been put here to starve to death as a form of punishment.
Jane is horrified by this and tries
to ignore it, so it doesn’t get to her. The sound of approaching footsteps
makes Mr. Spider jump to the roof. Officers come to investigate the hole they
left only to be wrapped up in spider silk.
The two then continue along the
wall and carve their way through the prison’s walls to avoid officers and the
attention of the prisoners. Since the sun is setting and the prisoners are
heading back to their cells with the guards going to their homes within the
prison, there’s more darkness to hide in and fewer people to avoid. Along the
way, they come across two guards beating and mocking a prisoner as he crawls to
his cell. Jane’s anger builds, but she holds back.
The higher they go, the more
animalistic the criminals seem with the top layers holding people with satanic
markings on their bodies. Mixed in with these people are normal looking people
who silently pray to God.
“They really mixed up the wrong
kind of people together.”
They eventually reach the top where
most of the cells are small cramped rooms with a small window in them. Mr.
Spider brings Jane to the cell at the end of a long hallway and silently opens
the door for her, unwraps the silk from her, then points inside of the dark
cell.
“My husband to be is in this cell?”
Mr. Spider nods and keeps pointing.
“Who’s there?” a man’s voice asks
from the darkness.
“Um. My name is Jane. I was sent to
rescue you.”
“Ah, yes! The woman I was promised
to marry. I’m unbelievably thankful for you coming here to get me. I’m sorry
that you had to meet your prince this way and in this condition.”
Jane struggles to see the man in
the dark even as the setting sun slowly illuminates him. From what she can see,
he has bandages on his head, eyes, and body with his blonde hair being the only
attractive thing about his appearance. His cell has marks on the walls as if he
were trying to break them down with his fists and legs.
“Don’t worry about it. What’s your
name?”
“Jareth.”
“...”
“Is something the matter?”
“N-nothing. It’s just that I can
barely see you.”
“I’d step out of the cell, but I’m chained
to the wall. You don’t happen to have the key to them or a way to break them,
do you?”
“Mr. Spider, break his chains.”
“Mr. Spider? That’s an odd name for
a friend.” As Mr. Spider enters the room and breaks the chains, Jareth can
sense the spider. “Oh, so he is a spider. That’s interesting. God works in mysterious
ways, doesn’t He?”
“Yes, He does. Can you step out
into the light?”
“You’re going to have to lead me to
it. My eyesight isn’t particularly good to put it lightly.”
Jane reaches into the darkness and
brings the man outside into the torchlight outside of his cell to fully see
who he is. Her vision wasn’t playing tricks on her when she saw that he was
mostly bandaged with bandages also on his feet in addition to the other areas
already seen.
“What happened to you?”
“My family did this to me when I was
little. They carved satanic symbols into my body, eyes, hands, feet, and tongue
so demons could completely use me to kill a family. It was a horrifying experience
as I had no control over my actions, words, and thoughts. Fortunately, I was stopped
before I could kill everyone. I wonder how the last surviving girl is doing. I
hope she doesn’t hate me.”
Jane’s face splits open to reveal her
hornet face as she screeches in shock and attacks the wall next to Jareth with
her claws. She barely misses him as her claws make deep marks on the stone
wall.
“It is you!”
“What? Who is me? Are you…are you
her?”
“Yes! How could God bring us
together?”
“Maybe it’s why we were driven
apart at such a young age. Surely, us being reunited is a good sign that I’m
still worth being by your side.”
“I guess, but…”
A group of night guards arrives at the
cellblock since they heard the noise of the door being opened. Mr. Spider is
ready to fight, but Jareth steps forward ahead of him.
“Stand aside, Mr. Spider. I can
handle this.”
Jareth faces the guards and manages
to fight them without being hit. He flows through their attacks like an agile
ninja and knocks them out with several hits to their head.
“Woah! How can you fight with those
bandages over your eyes?”
“God gave me an increased sense of
awareness and sent me an angel to train me to fight. We better leave fast because
the rest of the prison will be on alert.”
“Can you get us out of here, Mr. Spider?”
Mr. Spider nods his head and breaks
down the wall in Jareth’s cell.
“That is one strong spider.”
“You better hold onto him.”
Jane helps Jareth onto Mr. Spider.
She expects them to crawl down the wall, so she holds on tightly only to be
taken by complete surprise when Mr. Spider leaps out of the hole. They plummet
to the ground until Mors catches them in the air.
“First a giant spider and now a
giant wasp?”
“I am more than a giant wasp,” Mors
points out.
“And he talks too. God is truly
great in creating extraordinary creatures.”
Mors lands far away from the prison
as Jane and Jareth catch their breath.
Not long after they land, Jane asks
Mors, “Why didn’t you tell me that Jareth was my husband to be?”
“Because I knew you wouldn’t want
to rescue him if I did.”
“Why? It’s not like I hate him or
anything.”
“But you also haven’t completely
forgiven him. You’ve just put the issue to the side for your entire life.”
“Jane, I-”
“It’s fine. My problem isn’t with
you.”
“Jane, let him talk.”
“Okay…”
“Jane…
The past is dead and gone
My sins forgive, penance done
A new life, a new dawn
I'm no longer the devil's pawn
I'm not who you think
Because I'm
Your Prince, Your Chosen One
Your devoted love until death
I will stay with you through it all
I will suffer for you and never
withdraw
I may not be who you expected
But I will be the one you deserve
I promise that I've changed
Your needs I will serve
I'm not who you think
Because I'm
Your Prince, Your Chosen One
Your devoted love until death
I will stay with you through it all
I will suffer for you and never
withdraw
Let me prove myself to you
My love for you is true
Let me prove myself to you
My love for you is true
Because I'm
Your Prince, Your Chosen One
Your devoted love until death
I will stay with you through it all
I will suffer for you and never
withdraw”
“I get it. Okay, I’ll give you a
chance.”
“Thank you, so much, Jane. I’ll do
everything I can to be faithful to God and you. You’ll know if I do something
wrong if I bleed.”
“You bleed if you sin?”
“Yes. It’s one of the holdovers
from my parents’ curse on me. That’s why I have to keep these bandages on. Plus,
I heard my scars, especially the cuts on my eyes are shocking to look at.”
“Can I see?”
“Okay.”
Jane moves closer to Jareth and
touches his face then slowly moves her hand down his chest. She stops and her
face turns red for a second.
“I-I’m sorry.”
“What are you embarrassed about?
You aren’t touching me for lewd reasons, are you?”
“N-no. The thought just popped up
in my head.”
“You shouldn’t let temptations get
to you.”
“Jane. Jareth. It’s been a big day.
You should get some rest.”
“Where are we going to rest at?
Back at the orphanage?” Jane asks.
“No. You need to rest while I fly
you back to the cities. By the time we get there, the cities will receive its
last judgment. The ones who managed to repent are out of the area while the
others who didn’t are still clinging to the rubble of their worldly
possessions.”
Jane and Jareth lay down on Mr.
Spider while being wrapped in his silk so that they don’t fall off him. Mors
then takes Mr. Spider and flies off to the cities. While laying down together,
Jane looks at Jareth who is trying to sleep.
“What’s the matter, Jane?”
“Oh, it’s uh. Nothing really.”
“I did tell you God gave me an
increased sense of awareness. Something is wrong.”
“It’s just that this whole day has
been so much. I’m a princess of justice who has an army of insects at my
disposal that I’m supposed to use to punish a countless number of sinners and
now, I have my husband to be with me.”
“It’s a lot I know. After
recovering from my injuries and exorcisms, I thought about taking my life, but
then an angel came to me and gave me a reason to live. God had let me be
possessed, almost wipe out a family, and then came to me and asked me to do
something for Him in prison. I spent days in my cell thinking it over and over
until I realize that I should do what He asked. If God sends you many
responsibilities, it means that He thinks a lot about you and that you can
handle it. It’s we who doubt the abilities and potential that He’s given us.
God and the angel taught me this.”
“I see. Thanks for the reminder.”
“So, does this mean you trust me,
and the past is long gone?”
“There’s no reason to hold onto it,
so yes. It does.”
“I’m glad to hear it. I was getting
worried that you’d never accept me. We should get some sleep now for the big
day tomorrow.”
As Jane and Jareth begin to fall asleep, Jane moves closer to Jareth and cuddles up to him as much as the silk allows as he does the same in return.
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