Hey guys! Sorry this chapter is a little long and rambly ßnot a word. There's a lot I want to do with this and I have a ton of ideas but I just don't know how best to set it up. Oh and it may seem a little weird near the end of this chapter but ya know when you're bored and you sit and stare at something for a long long time? Yeah I do that a lot. Anyways that's what sarah's doing at the end incase anyone think shes a crackhead or something. Also the end has elvish which I will explain later. Enjoy and review PLEASE
"Diole lle" she said to him. He took the bag of groceries and ambled out of the store, weaving through the hundreds of people in the streets. Quickly the man surveyed those in front of him. There were blondes, brunettes and redheads. Some were tall, some were short, some were white, and some were black. He saw many differences in the people in front of him, yet today they were all one. He walked along for a little while, adjusting the bag in his arms, until finally he saw what those in front of him had been thirsting to see their entire lives, thirsting to know their entire lives for it was on this day that their differences disappeared, their languages disappeared and all were simply known as life.
101 years previous…
"Good Morning class," said the overly excited Biology teacher as he stepped in to the lab room. He looked over his students and noted one thing they all had in common. They were tired. Of the more than 50 students facing him this morning, not one of them looked properly rested.
'College students,' he muttered under his breath with disdain. He was used to this and knew he would have to open up discussion with something interesting this morning, or lose them all to that hapless state known as daydreaming.
` "Ok, to start off our new Genetics unit I would just like to have you all try a little experiment," he began. At the groans of the overly taxed, or just plain lazy, students, he said, "Oh come on now, you don't even have to use any of the equipment, I'm just going to hand out these little strips of paper to all of you, alright?" He passed out the strips of paper until each of his 50 zombies had one in their hand.
"Alright, now everyone take the piece of paper and place it in your mouth," he instructed. He received blank stares but ignored them. One by one the students put the paper in their mouths and soon a collective groan spread over them.
"Ugh! Oh my god that's disgusting!" squealed one of them from the corner. Another agreed with her and accused the biology teacher of trying to poison them. He merely laughed at their reactions before proceeding with his lecture.
"Please, don't worry class. I am not trying to poison you; I'm merely testing you. I see that many of you have tasted the substance on that piece of paper but I also see many blank stares from those who cannot taste it. For those of you that cannot, you are not missing out. This is a natural chemical found in many products particularly cucumbers and cola drinks and for those who can taste it, it's absolutely disgusting. But to many it is completely unnoticeable. The only explanation behind this is that some of you have the taste buds that allow you to taste it and others don't, it's all a matter of genetics." He explained.
He walked through the rows of fireproof tables and surveyed his students as he talked. He stopped when he came to one of them.
"Sarah, please stand up," he ordered. She looked at him quizzically but did as she was told. "Everyone please look at Sarah's ears. Do you see how her earlobes are different from yours? They are connected. This is typically a recessive trait, but as we will learn later, it does pop up now and then."
"Sam, will you please stand up too," he asked another student across the room. "Ah, see class, Sam has the same type of earlobes as Sarah. Sam did you taste what was on the paper?" he asked.
"Yeah, I did but it wasn't that bad, I don't know what everyone was groaning about," he said.
"Yeah, I didn't understand that either." Sarah said confused.
"Sarah, what part of the world are your ancestors from?" the teacher asked. Sarah got a rather dark look on her face and refused to look into her professor's eyes as she said,
"I don't know, I was adopted Mr. Thranduil."
"Whoa, so was I," added Sam with a hint of amazement in his features. He liked the fact that he and the prettiest girl in the class shared something in common; it made him think that maybe one day he might actually get to know her.
The professor didn't know what to say. He feared that he might have embarrassed his students and mentally kicked himself for selecting two of the most quiet in the class.
"Well," he said, suddenly remembering the video he had lying on his desk, "because I know all of you didn't sleep last night and were up partying instead of studying for my class, I decided that a video might be just what you would want today." There were some quiet "thank you's" and "you're the best Mr. T" from the back of the room as he loaded it into the VCR. "I expect you to take notes!"
In the dark of the classroom Mr. Thranduil watched the expressions on Sarah and Sam's faces. He had never noticed it before but both looked remarkably similar. Sarah had long black hair; she always had to tie it up during labs because it had a tendency to go everywhere at once. Her eyes were dark as well, they didn't seem to have a color and though they were pretty they always had seemed dull and lifeless to Mr. Thranduil. Sam was the same way. His hair was not long but very black. It had a bit of a curl to it that Sarah's did not but still looked much like hers. His eyes were dark too, but his often twinkled, they seemed to be alive, they were never dull and Mr. Thranduil found himself glad that he had one student who looked at his lesson plans with interest, interest that was reflected in his eyes. Their noses were similar too. Sarah's was long and rather pointed at the end. It would have been considered ugly on many others but on Sarah's face it fit. Sam's was not as long but was still pointed and fit his face as well. Their lips were similar in size and fullness. Mr. Thranduil found himself wondering if by some freak accident they were twins, separated at birth and now reunited in his biology class.
"Sarah!" called a voice from the opposite side of the quad. Sarah stopped and turned around only to see Sam calling to her. She sighed to herself as she realized that he was, once again, trying to get her attention. He was cute, she had to admit that, but she had sworn off guys ever since arriving at college. Now was not the time to bother with things like that. It had taken a lot just to get her here.
She had never been a very good student. It wasn't that she wasn't smart, and it wasn't that she partied too much. She was just never that competitive about things like schoolwork. She liked to spend her days doing whatever pleased her. Sometimes it was trying to paint a mural on a wall even though she had no artistic ability. Other times she liked to write stories that went on and on with no real conclusion. Then there were times that she would just stare off into space thinking about a crack in the pavement. All of it, though seemingly odd behavior, was simply her way of finding out about who she was. Each task taught her what she was good at. Each story taught her how to teach what she knew to a reader. Each crack in the pavement gave her time to sort out how her mind worked. And so she had lived this way, all through high school, going to school and then coming home to her own every night.
"Hey Sarah," said an out of breath Sam as he jogged up to her. Here she was trying to actually focus on her real schoolwork and here was yet another distraction.
"Hi Sam," she said nicely.
"So that was pretty crazy today," he said. Sarah looked at him blankly before he added, "you know, how we're so similar, our ears and everything."
"Oh yeah! Sorry, it's early." She replied laughing at herself.
"So you're adopted too huh?" Sam asked. Sarah nodded in response. Sam could tell by the way she had acted in class that this was a sensitive subject for her but he was compelled to ask.
"Well, do you want to maybe get some coffee or something?" Sam asked. He was being bold, he was being brave, but it all fell down in his face.
"I'm sorry Sam, I just don't have time for that right now. It's not that you aren't a really nice guy, it's that I just don't have time for a boyfriend," she said. Sam was crushed but decided that it would be best not to show it.
"Well, I'm sorry for asking but I just, ya know, thought I would take a risk," he said with the brightest smile he could produce at the moment.
"Yeah, well, I'll see you later," Sarah said.
"Yeah, later," Sam mumbled before shoving his hands in his pockets and returning to the lonely bench currently occupied by his lonely backpack and jacket. He sat down and watched Sarah leave feeling quite lonely himself.
Five hours later Sarah's homework was successfully completed. Well kind of. To be honest she still had two journal entries to catch up on but found that she wasn't interested and knew she could finish it during her favorite time of day known as 'later'.
Lifting her head up, Sarah scanned her apartment. She needed to do some cleaning but, once again, she simply wasn't interested. She grabbed a book and leaned back on her bed deciding to distract herself by finally finishing the story that had been laying on her desk for months now.
A few pages into it and she started getting frustrated.
"Why can I NEVER concentrate on ANYTHING IMPORTANT?" her mind screamed at whoever would listen. Throwing her book on the bed with force, Sarah grabbed her sweatshirt and shoes and threw them on. She found her keys by the door and left her room more frustrated than she had been in a long time. She knew that when she got like this it was best to get some perspective, somehow.
Running across the street brought her to the campus but she didn't want to be near things that she could NOT concentrate on. She looked north and without a second thought began walking.
She walked and walked and it was an hour before she realized that she had reached the destination that had secretly implanted itself in her head before she had even woken up that morning.
Towering above her was the most beautiful thing she had ever seen. Here in the middle of an uptight, upper class, residential neighborhood was a beacon, with an almost blinding glow. It rose up to a height far surpassing all other buildings in its area and was surrounded by gardens. It had nine sides; all with came together at the top and pointed towards the heavens.
Sarah was in awe. Of course she recognized the beauty in front of her. It was the Lye'rina Temple, a gathering place for some obscure religion she had never heard of before. She knew that there was at least one of these temples on every continent and this little place just north of Chicago, Illinois was the site chosen years ago for it to be built.
She had always found it to be a beautiful place but today it seemed to be calling to her and so she began her walk up the numerous steps surrounding the structure and entered the tower. Looking up she gasped, inside the tower there was light from a thousand windows all shining down on her. The room's walls rose all the way to the top, supported by nine white 'columns' that curved in at the right height. The walls were carved delicately with markings of peace and long vine type carvings wound their way around them all the way to a height at which Sarah could no longer see.
Sarah found herself wanting to stay in this place for as long as possible and as she marveled at the beauty above, her legs carried her to one of many chairs near the surrounding walls. She sat and she watched and she thought. For the first time all day she was able to stay in one place and she thanked whatever god there was for that. She settled in and began to simply think.
She settled into a trance like state and hardly noticed as worshippers strolled quietly around her, she hardly noticed as the sun began to set and cast a red glow into the temple. Her world was her mind and as she thought the world around her began to change without a thought from the one so caught up in it. Time stopped, wind stopped, movement stopped and she was one.
Nae saian luume' ElearNae saian luume'
Sarah suddenly lost her train of thought and opened her eyes. There was no one there. No one that could have spoken.
"What did I hear?" she said quietly to herself. She could have sworn that she had heard a voice, a very quiet voice, but a voice nonetheless. It had been clear and sweet but unfamiliar to her.
Nae saian luume' Elear
Nae saian luume'
She heard it again only this time it was stronger and louder. Sarah was getting scared. It was dark in the temple, there were lights but they were very faint and there was not one other soul in the building that had held several just moments ago. She saw the sun setting to the west of her and she was shocked that she had been there as long as she had.
Shaking herself out of her daze she grabbed her coat and stood up, certain to make it to the door and out of that place before she heard more voices. But with the first step she took she fell to the floor. The wind was knocked out of her body as she lay there in shock from falling so quickly. Suddenly very sleepy Sarah resisted with everything inside her as her eyes began to close almost against her will. She refused to sleep, she refused to lose control of her situation but as the warm numbness, which comes with the pulls of sleep, swept over her she gave in, forgetting everything around her.