Hard Lessons

Disclaimer: This story is owned by JRR Tolkien.

Summary: As Mandos foretold, "...the lies of Melkor though shalt unlearn in bitterness..." This is a fanfiction dealing with this foretelling.

Ch.1 The truth unseen before him.

Feanor stood in the gloom of Mandos' halls. His bright and fierce eyes seeming to pierce the shadows as he searched for a way out. Unseen by him in a corner stood the Lord of the Halls himself, gazing coldly at the elf.

"Release me Mandos. I have no desire to be here and all you prove is that my words were correct! We are nothing but slaves and prisoners to you!" The elf cried out in his rage as he searched the shadows for the being he hated second out of all beings in Arda. First place was reserved for Morgoth.

Mandos did not answer. He did not need to answer the elf provoking accusation. He was just doing what Eru himself had ordained.

Feanor hit one of the walls in frustration and yelled to be released. Mandos barely caught tears on the edges of the proud elf's eyes as he slid against the wall.

"If you will not release me then let me see my Adar." He pleaded desperately. His voice betraying his true desires to the remote Vala.

Again, Mandos did not answer. He just watched the elf as he knelt against the wall with his head bowed. Mandos knew that the elf believed himself most likely forgotten. Tears slipped down from the elf's face as his chest heaved a little. Feanor's fea shone with his grief and pain.

Now we are truly getting somewhere... The Vala thought as he leaned slightly forward. In order for Feanor to heal, he had to grieve. For only through grief could understanding and wisdom arise from the ashes of destruction.

Feanor wept as seeming to rock back and forward against the darkness around him. His anguish plain to see.

"Am I wrong to believe this is the Halls?" Feanor mumbled aloud in his melancholy, "Or is this then the Void? The place to which I am to be forever cursed to be if the Vow failed?" He asked aloud to the silence all around him.

He stood upright all of a sudden and screamed in anger at the world, "Am I to be cursed forever because I did wrong out of love?" He whirled were he stood looking more frantically. His face twisted in outrage as he searched for a source to vent his ire on.

"Is it wrong to love and desire revenge for a loved one who was hurt!" He cried outloud. "Or is my Race to alien to be understood?" he screamed as he tried to be heard.

"Are the Valar so dead in their hearts that they cannot understand the need for revenge? To right a wrong committed by one who killed and took all they loved?" He inquired of the shadows around him. His face twisting into a look of disgust.

He clenched his fist and snarled, "Then wise was I to choose exile! For how could I dwell content in the knowledge that none do care! None cared for any of us... none save my father!"

Mandos listened on as Feanor ranted at the air that did not even flutter in response to Feanor's anger. He wanted Feanor to see his wrong, even if it meant keeping him here alone until he could understand the words he had said. The words with which he condemned Melkor and himself with.

Feanor leaned back against the wall and closed his eyes. Restlessness made him fidget where he stood. "He stole everything." Feanor said flatly as his eyes were closed in a sudden despondent mood. His anger seeming to melt away as all he received was an unchaining darkness.

"He took my Silmarills, drove Nerdanel and I apart, and he killed my Adar. All the on top of the alleged 'peace of Valinor' that he broke! And to think... the Valar blamed me for breaking the peace of Valinor! It was broken long before I drew a sword upon Fingolfin the Usurper!" A humorless smile spread across his lips. His expression was taunt as he just leaned against the sturdy stone wall.

"Morgoth came, a thief in the night, and took all. Then what do the Valar do? They sit up on therir lofty mountain and brood. They did nothing else! They did not care! They would not even listen to us!" Feanor cried in angered frustration.

"We told them what had happened earlier! We warned them what we were hearing and the fact that Morgoth was behind it! Yet, we are chastised by the Valar!" Feanor grated out as he turned his head slightly to the side.

"No one cares." Feanor whispered, "No one cares..."

Mandos shook his head, Feanor is to wrapped in his own frustrations to see what hangs before his nose. For all the intelligence that Feanor is famed for... he sure cannot see the truth when it hangs before him.

"Feanor. It is time." Mandos said sternly into the darkness causing the shadows to swirl as the room changed. It was time for feanor to unlearn all the lies that he had taken for truth.

Please Review, I will be writing more soon. Yet I would like to get feedback on how this story is going so I can decide how the next chapter will go.

Thanks for reading!