Chapter 1
I was never myself again. Not after the Silmarill had burned my hands. I had an old blanket draped around me. It had drifted to the shore just a couple weeks ago. I'd dried it and used it every night since. I had long ago lost track of how many days I'd been here but...It didn't matter. I'd been here for so long I felt like I'd wither away and die. But the thing was, I couldn't. I couldn't die. Then the day came. I looked at the road that had been built long ago by the mortals. Cars passed by as they normally did. I stood and walked over to the road side, stepping out. Unfortunately, there was a car coming right at that moment. The next thing I knew, I was soaring through the air at a speed that I could hardly comprehend. I hit the asphalt hard and I felt myself skid a couple feet. Great, now my back is all torn up. I thought.
"Oh, damn it you idiot. Why the hell did you even step out it the road? That was a really idiotic thing to do." I heard voice say sharply.
"Nam...?" Was all I could manage. The man rolled his eyes.
"Why in the hell did you step out in the road like that?" he asked again. I frowned, feeling a sudden sharp pain in my right arm.
"Ow." I groaned. The man grabbed my arm and pulled me to my feet. Luckily, it wasn't the arm that I'd felt the pain from. I cradled my bad arm next to my chest and I looked down. I nearly passed out. The bone was jutting out at a very awkward angle and there was blood everywhere.
"Ugh. Get in my car I'll take you to the hospital." The man grumbled. He led me to the car and opened the door for me.
"I haven't got all day! Get in!" He said, obviously annoyed. I stepped up into the car, looking around. This I was the most amazing thing I'd ever seen. The man closed the door behind me and I touched the glass. Everything was so complex. The man got in on the other side of the car and he turned a...key? Oh, so now they use keys I cars. I thought. The car suddenly revved to life and I shielded my head with my arms, wincing at the pain coming from my right.
"Nam ta tanya nat?!"* I yelled at the man.
"English, dude." He said, sounding more annoyed than he had when he hit me with his car.
"What is that thing?" I asked, calmed a little. I'd learned English over the ages and I was fluent in the language.
"And what kind of accent is that? Scandinavian?" He asked. "Because I can't understand you." He said.
"Then how did you answer me in the first place?" I asked. His eyebrows furrowed and he frowned, the car beginning to move.
"Oh, never mind." He said. I rolled my eyes. His car began to accelerate in speed and I found myself gripping the arm rest next to me very tightly.
"Hria cuilë." I said. The man stared at me as if I was the strangest thing he'd ever seen.
"Harie cooley?" He said. "What language is that?" I pounded my fist in frustration, quickly realizing that that was my broken arm.
"Amonta de' Toya!" I screamed, remembering the man's question. "The language is Elvish." I said, rubbing the spot of my arm right above the break.
"Elvish? Who the heck speaks elvish?" he asked.
"Me." I said. Now I was getting annoyed.
"My name is Maglor, by the way." I said, reaching out my good hand though it felt awkward because I was normally right handed.
"Erm, Tony Stark." he said, not taking my hand. I looked down, putting my hand down as well. I decided to try and find something to talk about because if we didn't soon, I'd probably blow my stack.
"So how far away is the house of healing?" I asked. Tony glanced at me, obviously worried about my health.
"House...of healing?" He said slowly.
"You sound like one of my old friends. Thor. You may have met him considering your
Scandinavian accent and your looks and elvish crap." Tony said.
"I'M NOT SCANDINAVIAN!" I shouted, probably louder than I meant to. Tony swerved to the left suddenly.
"I'm Noldorian!" I said, still with a slightly raised tone.
"Darn you I missed the exit! Now you're going to have to wait longer for your stupid little arm. Not that I care, anyways." Tony grumbled. "And what kind of place is Noldoria?"
"Noldor..." I grumbled. "And it's a race."
"Well, then where are you from?" Tony asked, and for the first time I noticed his oddly shaped beard.
"Valinor." I muttered.
"What are you from, Lord of the Rings?" Tony said.
"Lord of the Whatsit? By rings, do you mean the whole Sauron and my nephew Celebrimbor deal?" I said, "Because he was brilliant, but that was really stupid of him. Not the stupidest thing someone from my family has done, though. The whole Unbreakable Oath was pretty foolish of us, I'll admit that, and so were the kinslayings. But what would I know? Oh, a lot because I had to live it...yeah...I saw Daeron a couple hundred years ago...I wonder what he's doing...me and him are the only ones left I'm pretty sure. I haven't seen anyone else, but maybe they're just avoiding me...That would make sense seeing as I'm a kinslayer, a Feanorian and they say I'm kind of crazy last I checked."
"Can't imagine why." Tony mumbled. "We're here get out." He said. I looked at the car door and I tried to push it open.
"The handle." Tony said. I tried to turn it, but it failed.
"PULL." He said. I pulled on the door handle and I heard a click.
"Now what, Mr. Brainiac?" I asked.
"Push." He said forcefully. "Mr. Stupid." He grumbled. I pushed open the door and I rolled my eyes.
"That was simple." I muttered, again cradling my arm near my chest. The entire door thing was made ten times harder with the fact that I was using my left hand, plus, with my hands in the condition they were made it harder still. Tony led my to the hospital's entrance and he shoved open the doors, not bothering to hold the doors open for me. The right door slammed into my arm and I cried out, feeling a tear roll down my face. I was liable to cry out of pain instead of sadness or anger.
"Goodness would you quiet down?!" Tony said in a raised tone. Tony glared at me and I scowled right back. Tony and I walked up to the desk and the person there took one look at my arm and she sighed.
"Name?" she asked.
"Tony Stark." he said, smiling.
"His name." she said. Tony rolled his eyes.
"He said it was Maglor." Tony said.
"Last name, please?"
"He didn't say. What's your last name?" Tony asked my. I looked around.
"L-last name?" I stuttered. Tony nodded.
"I don't have one." I said. Tony turned back to the woman behind the desk.
"He said-" Tony started.
"I can hear!" She snapped. Tony scowled at her.
"Please wait a few minutes, all of our rooms are full right now." the woman said. I glanced down at her name tag. It said: Dr. Ferris.
"Thank you, Draferris." I said. The woman looked at me, then she wrote down a few things on he paper. I scratched my head, frizzling up my hair. I sighed and pulled it behind my ear, trying to untangle it slightly with my still heavily scarred hands. Dr. Ferris gasped.
"What?" I asked.
"Your ears!" She exclaimed.
"...What about them?" I asked.
"They're pointed like an elf's!" She said, obviously very surprised.
"I mean, there are some people that have pointed ears but yours are pointed pointed." she said. I rolled my eyes.
"And what's that supposed to mean?" I asked.
"Um, nothing, I guess." She said. Then Tony turned and looked at my ear.
"Why on earth would you think these were real?" Tony asked, grabbing my ear and yanking it to the side.
"OW!" I screamed, kicking Tony in the shin and hitting his hand away.
"Ow!" Tony said, though he didn't sound hurt at all. He folded his arms and glared at me.
"Those are my real ears I've had them since I was a baby." I said. Tony rolled his eyes.
"Sure, and I was born with this." Tony said, opening up his jacket to reveal a blue light shining through his shirt.
"What is that?" I asked.
"My heart, actually, but you probably don't want details, huh?" Tony said, zipping his jacket up again. I shook my head and I turned my palms up to check on them. They were slightly red, but it was probably just from me overworking them. Again.
"What's with your hands? Why are they all weird and white?" Tony asked. I clenched my hands into fists and I gritted my teeth.
"One word: Silmarill." I said.
"What in the heck is that?"
"Are those." I corrected. "And they're stones that burned my hands a millenia ago." I said.
"How long ago?" Tony asked.
"Over seven hundred years ago." I said. Tony rolled his eyes.
"I think he's insane!" Tony whispered to Dr. Ferris. She nodded and wrote down some more.
"Room 8 is free now. Go ahead in; Doctor Gordon is waiting." She said, gesturing down a hallway. I saw the room number clear as day and Tony said, "Come on, we don't have all day."
I rolled my eyes. Again. We walked down to room 15 and Tony actually held the door open for me this time. A very tall, red haired man glanced at me when I walked in.
"Ah! Hello, um," He glanced down at his paper. "Maglor. How are you?" He asked. His voice sounded eerily like Maitimo's.
"I've been better." I said, gesturing to my arm. He looked down and nodded. A
"Let's get that fixed up." He said. He took something sharp and plunged it into my shoulder as he pressed something down. I winced slightly.
"What was that?" I asked.
"Oh, just some numbness so you won't feel anything when I put your bone back in place." Dr. Gordon said. I nodded. The needle felt like nothing compared to the pain I felt when the Silmarill burned my hands. He put a mask on my face and he told me to breathe in deeply. Before I knew it, I was fast asleep.
When I came to, Tony and Dr. Gordon were standing over me.
"When do you think he'll wake up?" Tony asked.
"He's been out for six days, the laughing gas isn't usually that strong." Dr. Gordon replied.
"Maybe it has something to do with this Noldorian thingy he told me about." Tony said. I pretended to still be asleep.
"Let me know when he wakes up, because I've kinda grown on him." Tony said. I forced myself to stay still until I heard the door open. As soon as I heard Tony's hand go down on the door's handle, I sat up really quickly and I screamed, "BWAHAHAHAHAHAHA!"
I watched as Tony jumped about twenty feet in the air. I started laughing out loud; that was the best prank I'd pulled in years. Dr. Gordon, however, looked absolutely unscathed.
"I knew he'd do that." he said, chuckling. I looked at him, confused.
"Well, you see that little heart rate monitor over there?" He asked, pointing to a small contraption on the wall. I nodded.
"Well, when you were asleep, your heart rate went down significantly; I thought you were going to die. But then I saw it jerk back up. Something little Iron Man over here didn't notice." Dr. Gordon said. Tony folded his arms and let out a breath with a huff.
"Iron what?" I asked.
"Iron Man. You know...the Hulk, Captain America...Iron Man?" he asked. I shook my head.
"This guys doesn't know anything about reality, just don't listen to him." Tony said. Dr. Gordon nodded.
"Okay. Anyways, Tony over here invented a suit of armor that made it so he could fly and do all sorts of epic stuff with it." Dr. Gordon said. Then Tony started talking about how long it had taken for him to plan it out and how he met Pepper Potts and how all of his life had gone. While he was talking, Dr. Gordon started talking to me about my arm.
"Your arm will be fine, in fact, you'll probably be out of that cast in a couple of weeks! You heal really fast, Maglor." He said. I nodded a thank you and for the first time I realized the bright pink cast on my right arm.
"You got a couple scrapes on your back, but they're pretty much gone by now. Oh, and by the way..." Dr. Gordon said, pointing to my left hand.
"We fixed your hands for you the best we could." he said. At first, I don't really register that he's being truthful. But then I turned my hand over and dared to look down.
I felt like I was going to vomit. I was laughing so hard and I was clenching my hands into fists then spreading them out wide. No pain. I'd forgotten how wonderful it felt to actually be able to move my hands without any pain.
"Oh, thank you doctor! Thank you so much!" I cried. "How did you do it?"
"We removed most of the scar tissue and replaced some of it. We took your stitches out yesterday." Dr. Gordon said.
"We?" I asked. That's when Tony left the room. Dr. Gordon nodded.
"Tony's actually just left since the time I put you in a coma" He said.
"How did you put me in a coma?" I asked.
"Oh, elves must be allergic to a chemical in it or something. I really have no idea." Dr. Gordon said. I sighed in relief.
"Someone that actually accepts me as what I truly am." I said, feeling a large weight lift off of my shoulders. Dr. Gordon nodded.
"Oh course I'd accept you. I mean, my father was a mythology geek and he did scientific studies about elves. None proved that they were real, and the world was starting to believe that elves were little dwarf things, but smaller with pointed hats and such. Like Santa Clause's elves." He said. I started to tell him I didn't know who Santa Clause was, but I decided to keep my mouth shut.
"That's awful." is all I said. Dr. Gordon nodded.
"But I brought him here on day three you were out, and he drew some of your blood-" He started, but I must have winced pretty bad because he stopped talking for a bit.
"Anyways, he compared it to one hundred other human's blood – all different types, too – and none of them even came close to yours. He's proven that elves are real. Now, son, where do you come from?" he asked.
"Valinor." I replied.
"And where is that?"
"I don't know..."
"Do you know how many elves are left?" he asked. The question stung me as I realized that I was one of the two elves left. So I held up two fingers instead of saying anything to avoid tears. They seemed to flow better when I was talking. Then I remembered.
"My harp!" I said suddenly, "Where is my harp?"
Dr. Gordon shrugged but he said, "Tony would probably buy you a new one, though."
"But I don't want a new one." I protested. "I want mine." I said forcefully. Dr. Gordon nodded and he took out a small contraption. He clicked around for a couple seconds then he held it up to his ear.
"What are you doing?" I asked. He held a finger to his lip and he waited. Finally his face brightened.
"Hey, Tony? Yeah, I was just...no...what? Why wold I- oh okay. Do you have any time? Fifteen minutes at the most? Mmhmm, could you go down to the place where you found Maglor and try to find- oh what's with you and your complaining, he just wants his harp back. Go find it. It looks like...here, I'll give the phone to him so he can tall you what it looks like." Dr. Gordon said, handing the 'phone' to me. I held it up to my ear, just like he had and I started talking.
"So and so I don't know exactly what the harp looks like ask Emma okay." I said. Then I heard a voice on the other line. It was Tony's.
"Ugh, fine, I'll go find it, just don't expect me to be careful." Tony said. Terror started welling up in my heart.
"You had better be careful with that harp, Stark, or I'll run you through with my sword!" I yelled, reaching down to my side to feel the hilt of my sword. It wasn't there. I looked down, and sure enough I was wearing what looked like a purplish dress. I felt the blood rush to my face so I continued talking.
"Just make sure you're careful because that's practically all I have left." I said. I could tell that Tony was nodding and he didn't even say anything before the line went blank.
"You know, it's amazing that you can talk to someone that's not right next to you now. How did you mortals get so smart?" I asked. Dr. Gordon shrugged but he smiled. I nodded at him. I liked Dr. Gordon.
"Now, wheres my sword and cloak?" I asked him. Dr. Gordon knelt down and pulled a bag out from underneath my bed and sure enough, inside was my cloak and my sword. I sighed in relief. I reached down to grab them but I was stopped by a bright pink cast on my arm.
"Tony chose the color. He thought you'd appreciate it." Dr. Gordon said.
"Of all the colors that the world contains, Tony chose pink." I said in more of a statement tone than a question tone.
"Personally, I would've chosen blue because it matches your eyes very well." Dr. Gordon said. I smiled widely at him but then I remembered more. It felt like thorns were tearing through my heart.
"That...that's what Maitimo would've said." I whispered, sitting down on my bed. Dr. Gordon said down next to me.
"And who's Maitimo?" He asked gently, as if not to hurt my feelings further.
"One of my brothers." I whispered even quieter than I had before. I could tell that Dr. Gordon wanted to know more about my family, so I poured out everything my heart had to offer.
"Oh, Maedhros! My brother! His hair was flaming red as yours is and he was my only older brother. I was the second oldest out of seven. Celegorm came after me, then Caranthir and Curufin, and then the twins, Amrod and Amras, who also gained my mother's beautiful, silky red hair. They're all dead. All of them! Even my father! And my closest friend, Fingon. They're all dead.
"I've been wandering these shores for centuries waiting and waiting for my brothers to come take me away but they didn't and elves are immortal unless they're killed so I stepped out into the road and I was ready to set off and find something having completely forgotten about my sword and then Tony hit me with his car and then we're here and you sound so much like Maitimo I could listen to you speak until the end of my days and my heart would be tearing every time you spoke a word.
"Fingon was beaten into the dust by maces with his blue and silver banner, and he was my closest and only friend. I just wish...I just wish I could have thrown myself into that volcano along with Maedhros.
"I also wish the Silmarill hadn't burned my hand because for years and years I was only able to sing and never hear the beautiful chords of my harp and now I just feel like a totally dumb idiot.
"I want my harp I don't want any other that's why because it was pretty much the only thing I was left with after I threw the Silmarill into the ocean.
I couldn't even play it with my hands in the condition they were and now you've healed them but still I wish even more that I was dead with my family and I just want to leave this place but I don't know my way home and I think I'm going to start crying if I don't stop talking soon, but oh Maitimo!" I cried. Now I definitely felt the tears streaming down the sides of my face.
I laid down on the bed and I curled up into the best ball I could with my arm like the way it was and I sobbed. I sobbed until there were no more tears and even then I shook. Dr. Gordon placed a reassuring hand n my shoulder and when I looked up at him, he smiled sympathetically.
"I understand how much you want to die. But I promise you this...stay alive and I know that your brothers will come soon." Dr. Gordon told me. I sat up slowly.
"I wish that was a promise you'd be able to keep." I whispered into his ear, sadly looking around the room. It was really interesting to see all of these thingies moving on their own. And numbness? Where did that come from?
I made a bet that Fingon would've used numbness on my brother's hand it there was even such thing that long ago. The thoughts made me even more depressed than I already was. I brought the sleeve of my purple dress to my face to wipe away some tear streaks. Dr. Gordon patted me on the back.
"Don't worry, son." He said quietly. I buried my face into his shoulder and I whimpered slightly. Dr. Gordon didn't seem to care.
"Would you mind if I asked you your first name?" I asked the doctor. He shook his head and held out his hand to greet me as if this was the first time he'd seen me.
"Russell Gordon, but you can call me Russ, if you'd like." He said. I took his hand and shook it, remembering my brother's greeting.
"Russendol, but you can call me Russ, if you'd like." he would say. I bit my lip. Maitimo and Russell were too much alike. I could hardly stand it knowing that Maitimo was dead and Russell was a mortal human being. I heard the door latch shut and I looked up to see a familiar face.
"Here." Tony said, throwing me my old harp. It smelled like salt and it had a fine layer of sand over it, but that was okay. I mean, as long as I had my harp, everything would be okay.
"Thank you, Tony." I said. Tony rolled his eyes, but I stood up and embraced him in a hug; something that I hadn't really been able to do for thousands of years. I was very surprised when Tony didn't shove me away. If fact, he hugged me right back as if he hadn't been able to hug anyone in a while, either. The thought made me kind of sad, because everyone deserved a hug once in a while, right?
Tony let out a sigh and he drew away.
"What's wrong?" I asked. Tony shook his head.
"Nothing." He said, taking a few steps toward Russell, but instead of doing anything to him, he passed him and simply picked up a cotton ball. He sniffed it and shrugged, placing it back on the table. I looked at him strangely.
"Why? Just why?" I asked. Tony smiled at me but didn't say anything. So I decided not to say anything to him either.
"Hey, Russ?" I asked, though it kind of hurt me saying my brother's name when it wasn't really him.
"Yeah?" the doctor said.
"Do you have anything to clean this? Like a damp piece of cloth?" I asked. He nodded and he stood up, picking up what looked like a white handkerchief and he ran it under a stream of water for a couple seconds before turning the flow off.
"Here you go." He said.
"Thanks. I replied, and I got to work. I began humming a tune as my fingers got excited, knowing that they'd be able to play the instrument they'd wanted to for years and years finally. I polished the sides and I rubbed the strings, making them beautiful again. After a good half hour, the rag was now covered in soil and my harp was gleaming brand new. Time to tune it. I thought to myself, playing the strings and turning the knobs to put them back in tune again.
Finally, I played all of the strings, one after the other, and they were perfect. I started to play a song, though I was very aware of the two men in the same room as me. It didn't feel quite the same playing in a small hospital room as it did the outdoors, but that was okay. As long as I could now sing and have my harp as accompaniment.
"Naur vi eryn,
lanc I dalaf.
Mathach vi geven?
Nostach vi 'wilith?
Mab le I nagor,
Bad gurth ci ngalad firiel.
Dorthach ci mar han?
Dagrathach go hain?" *
After I'd finished with my song, I saw Tony and Russell looking at me in astonishment.
"That was..." the doctor started.
"Insane." Tony finished, smiling at me. I smiled back; I figured that it's would be good to make a friend out of him rather than an enemy. I glanced up at the ceiling and I sighed. I wanted to see the sky not some random material. Every time I looked up I expected the blue, but no, there was nothing.
"Well, Maglor, we're keeping you here for just two more days and then we'll release you." Russell said, smiling.
"Call me Kana." I said. Dr. Gordon looked confused.
"I have three names: Maglor, Kanefinwe and Makalure." I said. Dr. Gordon made an 'I knew that' face and I smiled at him. I played a few more chords on my harp, feeling the best I had in the longest time. I had friends, my hands, my harp...there was just something missing, and I could easily tell that it was my family.
"Could he be released now?" Tony asked. I looked at him and his expression genuinely looked like he wanted me released at that moment. Dr. Gordon pursed his lips but he nodded.
"Sure." He said, leaning down and grabbing the bag with my belongings with it. He brought it up to me and I mouthed a thank you, then I stood and placed my harp in the bag as well. I was about to leave when a voice stopped me.
"It was nice to meet you, Kana." the doctor said. Tony smiled and led me out the door. Right before the door closed, I turned around.
"Thank you." I said. Then the door latched shut.