Chapter 3: Higher Ground

(Maedhros)

Home sweet home.

Yes, if by "home" you mean "ginormous North Side mansion that's still too small for seven kids, two parents, a huge dog, and several servants" and by "sweet" you mean "insane and very loud."

Of course, I hadn't even been away from home that often. I'd left about three days earlier to go see Maglor's first official gig (which was amazing; more about that later) and convince him to come home so things could go back to normal again. Seriously, I'd never thought Maglor had that much importance in our family, but when he was gone, all hell broke loose.

So anyway, yeah. Home sweet home. Here I was, and boy, did I need to get out for a while. I love my family, but they can be really annoying sometimes. Therefore, I did what I always did: rounded up Fingon and the rest of my friends and went down to the swimming hole.

"Okay, dude, where you been for the last couple days?" asked my buddy Eriol (total player; at this point in time I think he was dating three girls at the same time). "Haven't seen you around."

"Yeah, and you really missed him, didn't 'cha, Eriol," said Fingon, elbowing him. Eriol, of course, punched him back, and the two got into a brief fistfight.

"Anyway," I said. "Enough of that. Me and Fingon were in Alqualonde."

"Why were you there?" asked Dan (yes, his name was just Dan. He had two older brothers, so I think his parents were getting a little lazy by the time they named him). "Doesn't everyone in Alqualonde, like, pierce their noses and smoke weird stuff?"

"I hear the girls are pretty hot, though," commented Eriol.

"Shut up, you horny asshole" I said. "We were there to see my brother Maglor's first official gig and then convince him to come back home because without Maglor around to yell at my dad had no outlet for his anger so he took it out on us."

"Dude, your brother's weird," said Narquel (aka Narc), shaking his head.

"Yeah, but he's a really good singer," said Fingon. "Someday he's gonna be richer than all of us."

"That's a scary thought," said Dan.

"Okay, why are we talking about Maedhros' weird brother when we could be talking about more important things?" asked Eriol. "Guess who I have a date with tonight?"

"Let's see…it's not Tarimire, Maikavin, or Anarya, is it?" I asked.

"Nope. I dumped Tari and Maika…they were getting too clingy, and I think they might have been starting to suspect that each other existed. Anarya's still good, though…think I'll keep her around for a little longer."

"You're a womanizing asshole, man," Dan said. "I mean, I'm jealous of you and all, but seriously. You have issues."

"So maybe I'm just too much man for one girl, ever thought about that?"

"Okay, so who do you have a date with?" prompted Narc.

Eriol grinned evilly. "Minya."

We all gasped and looked appropriately awed. "No way, man!" said Fingon. "The Minya?"

"Hell yeah, the Minya," said Eriol, looking very pleased with himself. "She was all over me at that party last week."

"Sweet," I say. "I didn't go to that…was it fun?"

"Meh, it was okay," said Eriol, shrugging. "The music sucked."

"Well, we're Noldor. What do you expect?" said Narc. "None of us know shit about music."

"I know stuff about politics," I offered.

"I know stuff about food," said Fingon.

"I know stuff about girls," said Eriol.

"I know nothing," said Dan. "So ha."

"Dan, that's not something you're supposed to be proud of," said Fingon. "What would your dad say?"

Dan shrugged. "Who knows? I hardly ever see the guy. He works, like, 24/7."

"Same here," I said. "My dad's a workaholic."

"My dad is way too clingy," said Narc. "He keeps trying to have 'guy talks' with me. Like I really want to talk about personal stuff with my dad."

"All parents suck," said Eriol, shaking his head. "Remind me not to have kids."

"Well, with all your girlfriends, aren't kids kind of an inevitability?" I said. He punched me.

"Anyhoo," said Fingon. "My kid sister Aredhel nearly got stomped on by a horse the other day."

"That chick is nuts," said Dan. "She thinks she's a dude."

"She's more of a dude than you," said Narc, grinning.

"Stop interrupting me!" snapped Fingon. "I'm trying to tell a funny story here!"

"Speaking of which, I've got a funny story…oh, go ahead, Fingon," I said. "But hurry up. Other people want to talk."

"Okay, so I was hanging around in the stables, right? Because it's way quieter there than in my house. So in comes Aredhel, and she's like, 'Hey Fingon. Can I pet Millionaire?' And I'm like 'Hell no,' 'cause you all know that Millionaire's like my dad's most prized horse and plus he's totally vicious. And she says, 'Whatever. I'm going to.' So then she actually does, and Millionaire, he almost bites her hand, and then she kind of trips and falls over because she's so surprised, and Millionaire's about to stomp her, and I just manage to get in there and save her sorry ass before she gets her leg broken."

"Who would name their horse Millionaire?" said Eriol. "You're just asking for trouble that way."

"I didn't name it. My dad did, when he was my age."

"He was probably drunk," I said. "Anyway, time for my thing. So there's these people at a dinner party. And they're arguing whether men or women were more trustworthy. 'No woman,' says one guy, 'can keep a secret.'

"'I don't know about that,' says this blond chick. 'I've kept my age a secret since I was twenty-one.'

"'You'll let it out some day,' the guy says.

"'I hardly think so!' says the blonde chick. 'When a woman has kept a secret for twenty-seven years, she can keep it forever.'"

"I don't get it," said Narc.

"I did," said Eriol. "Not dirty enough for my taste, but it was still funny."

"You've gone downhill in the dirty joke department, my man," said Fingon.

Narc laughed. "Hey, I just got it! She's forty-eight."

"Yes, Narc, that was the joke," said Dan, rolling his eyes. "I thought I was the one who knew nothing."

"You know nothing; he understands nothing," explained Eriol. "There's a difference."

"Now that we know that, what do we do?" I asked.

"We par-tay, man!" whooped Narc. "Speaking of which, I'm having a party day after tomorrow. You guys are coming, right?"

"Sure thing," said Fingon. "If I can lie convincingly to my parents."

"I don't have to lie to my parents," I said smugly. "My dad doesn't care what I do. And my mother is too busy dealing with my brothers."

"Your mom's hot," commented Eriol. I, of course, punched him.

"Yeah, but she has a weird accent," said Dan.

"That's because she's from up north," said Fingon. "Beer country."

"Ooh," said Narc. "We should go there."

"We go there every fall," I said. "It's pretty cool. Lots of sheep."

"Hot girls?" asked Eriol.

"Is that all you ever think about?"

"Um…no. I think about food sometimes, does that count?"

"Not really," said Fingon. "Everyone thinks about food."

"On a completely unrelated note, what time is it?" I said. "Mom wants me home by three."

"Well, judging by the amount of daylight left, you're a half hour late," said Narc, genius that he was. "You better run, dude."

Since my mom was kind of weird about being on time, I quickly got out of the hole, dried off, and ran back to the North Side. As I was going into the house, I ran into Maglor on his way out.

"Hey," I said. "Where are you going?"

He shrugged. "Gonna go re-explore some. Nothing to do inside."

"I thought that everyone in Tirion was an annoying snob and that the whole city was just a way for everyone to show off how much money they have?"

"Well, it's more interesting than my room, especially seeing as I have no money."

"Hmm. Makes sense," I said.

"So," said Maglor. "Before I leave and wreak havoc on the unsuspecting townspeople, mind if I ask why your pants are all wet?"

"Oh, yeah, that. I was down at the swimming hole with the guys," I explained. "Probably shoulda brought a change of clothes."

"How true. Is Eriol still going out with three girls?"

"Wait. How did you know about that?"

Maglor grinned. "I know all, my friend. Being invisible has its advantages."

"Good point. Hey, that reminds me. My buddy Narc is having a party in a couple days, and I'm gonna go…do you want to come?"

"Would I be welcome?" asked Maglor, raising an eyebrow. "I don't exactly get along with your friends. Remember when you had that party where everyone got really drunk, and one of the windows got broken, and I kinda told Mom and Dad about it and then your friends beat me up?"

"How could I forget that? But don't worry, man, they'll accept you more now. You've changed a lot."

"True dat," said Maglor, nodding. "Well, I'll think about it. Peace out."

Wait a minute, bro, said my inner paranoid voice. You sure this is a good idea, bringing your new-and-improved brother to Narc's party? He might upstage you.

I ignored it. After all, I was Maedhros. The hottest, most popular guy in Tirion. No way could Maglor, different as he was now, upstage me.