Chapter 7: Miss Murder
The day after the rager, I got a letter from Maedhros (it got there quick, I had to say). Here's what it said:
Hey Maglor (aka Hotshot),
I was wondering when you'd write. I told Celegorm what you said about meat and he said to punch you for him. So yeah, punch. Take that.
I also told Dad what you said, and he just rolled his eyes and said that it was only a matter of time. Call me crazy, but I think he was trying not to laugh. And Mom was totally on the edge of crying. I think she misses you a lot. Actually, we all miss you. Much as we hate to admit it.
Melania sounds hot. Is she single? TELL ME.
As for Deep Lake, yes, you idiot, we've been there. We went there for a couple weeks on vacation last year, remember? That's where Rillian was from! (Thanks for helping me with her, by the way). I wonder if Melania knows her. You should ask her that.
In your next letter you have to tell me a lot more about Alqualonde, since your last letter wasn't very detailed. What's the food like? Are the girls cute? Are the parties any good? You know, all the interesting stuff.
Oh, hey, hold on, some of the guys want to add some stuff. Don't blame me for what they write.
CELEGORM: Maglor, you're an idiot. Meat is awesome. Ever wonder why all of us are smart and you're an idiot? It's because you don't eat meat. So there you go.
CARANTHIR: Have fun in Alqualonde. Don't come back.
CURUFIN: Dude, do not tell ANYONE I said this, but I heard Mom and Dad talking last night and Dad said he thinks he "failed you as a parent." Weird, huh?
AMROD and AMRAS: We miss you, Maglor! Write us!
Love, hate, contempt, etc,
Your family (most of the love is from Mom and Maedhros)
PS: I asked Dad. He isn't pissed at you.
I laughed and tossed the letter off in a corner of my room. I'd reply to it later.
It was the weekend, which meant that I got a day off, and so far I'd spent most of it in a state of blissful sleep. If Amlaith was going to make me wake up at eight every day, I deserved to sleep until noon every day.
So Deep Lake was Rillian's town! (Rillian, if you'll recall, was Maedhros' evil ex-girlfriend who'd tried unsuccessfully to get back together with him when we were staying with Aule) That was so weird I didn't even know where to begin. Especially since Melania didn't have an accent like Rillian's. But now that I thought about it, their voices did sound kind of similar. And Melania had probably spent so much time out of town that she'd mostly lost her accent.
"Some major coincidences going on here, I see," I muttered. "Interesting."
"What's a coincidence?" asked Amlaith, pushing aside my curtain-door and leaning into the room.
"Oh, nothing, just that I recently found out that my brother's evil ex-girlfriend happens to be from the same town as my only female friend. Weird, huh?"
"Yeah, that is weird. Small world, I guess. Anyway, I made lunch, if you're interested."
"Lunch?" I said. "What time is it?"
"Around twelve-thirty. You've been asleep for a good long time." He laughed. "I remember when I used to be able to sleep for that long. I miss those days."
"Yeah, it doesn't get better than this," I said. "I'm going to write a letter to my brother, then I'll come down for lunch."
"All right. See you then."
I picked up a pen and started to right back to Maedhros.
Hey, Maedhros,
Dad's reaction to what I said wasn't that funny. I think he's lost his touch (Now you have to tell me what his reaction to that was).
It's funny that you miss me, seeing as all of you treated me like CRAP back at home. Actually, you and Mom didn't. And the twins were okay. So I guess it was only Dad and the three C's that treated me like crap.
Yeah, Melania's single, but don't get your hopes up. I think you're too clean-cut for her.
In answer to your questions: The food here is good. There's a lot of fish (which I eat, seeing as fish aren't technically meat and anyway, it's good). Amlaith makes this stuff called the Mystery Green, and no one knows the ingredients in it. Amlaith says he might tell me. We'll see. Yeah, the girls here are hot, especially this one girl named (well, nicknamed) Serpentine who made out with me at this extremely awesome party we had last night, which I think answers your third question as well.
Hell yeah, I made out with a girl. You should be so proud.
Excuse me for a second, I'm going to reply to what the other guys wrote.
TO CELEGORM: Ever wonder why I rock and you guys can't sing at all? It's because I don't eat meat. So bite me.
TO CARANTHIR: I was actually considering not coming back, but now of course I'll have to come back just to spite you.
TO CURUFIN: Dad admitted a mistake? Wow. I have an effect on him even when I'm not around.
TO THE TWINS: I miss you guys too. Rock on.
Love (and a bit of hate towards Celegorm and Caranthir),
Maglor (aka Hotshot)
I folded up the letter and went downstairs to get some lunch.
However, a normal lunch at home was not to be, as there was a knock on the door almost as soon as I got downstairs.
"I'll get it," I yelled to Amlaith, who was in the kitchen. When I opened the door, I was greeted by none other than the lovely Serpentine, who threw her arms around me as soon as the door was all the way open.
"Can't stop thinking about you, Hotshot," she whispered breathily. "Want to go get lunch?"
"Um…okay?" I said, since I didn't appear to have much of a choice in the matter. "Amlaith, can I go out for lunch?"
"What? After all the hard work I've gone too…oh, I see," said Amlaith, coming out of the kitchen. "Well, I'm expecting some friends anyway. You kids go on ahead."
Serpentine giggled. "Perfect! Come on, Hotshot, let's go."
"So," I said, as we walked toward the town square. "This is kind of unexpected."
"Well, I'm sure with your looks and voice, you have girls showing up at your door randomly all the time," said Serpentine.
I laughed at that. Really laughed. "Good one, sister." She gave me a weird look, and I blinked. "Oh. You were serious."
"Why wouldn't I be? I'm a very honest person. And you are good-looking. Why would you think you weren't?"
"If you ever met my brother Maedhros, you'd understand," I muttered.
"But I haven't met your brother Maedhros, so what does it matter?" said Serpentine.
"Huh," I said. "Good point."
We bought our lunch and then sat down on a bench at the edge of the square to eat.
"Look, Hotshot, this has been driving me crazy," said Serpentine. "What's your real name?"
"It's Maglor," I said. "Not quite as cool as my nickname, I know."
"Nah, it's cool," said Serpentine. "It suits you. You, my boy, are solid gold."
"Thanks," I said. "What's your real name?"
She smiled self-consciously. "It's Alcarine."
"Alcarine," I repeated. "Well, nice to meet you, Alcarine."
"Nice to meet you too, Maglor," she said. We shook hands.
"Now," I said, "we have a bit of a dilemma here. Are we going to call each other by our real names, or by our nicknames?"
"Hmm," said Serpentine/Alcarine. She thought for a second. "How about we call each other by our nicknames when we're around our friends, and by our real names when we're just with each other?"
"Are we going to just be around each other a lot?" I asked.
"Of course," she said. "Unless you don't like me. Do you?"
"Uh, yeah, I like you," I said. "But, you know, I don't really know you that well."
"Well, I know lots about you," Serpentine/Alcarine said (I could not think of her as just Alcarine—I always thought of her as both names). "The gossip system in the underground works fast."
"Oh, really?" I said, grinning. This sounded interesting. "What do you know about me?"
"All right, here it is," she said. "Your grandpa's the king of the Noldor, you have somewhere between five and seven brothers—no one could really agree on the number…"
"I have six brothers," I interrupted. "But please, go on."
"Your dad was all insistent on you being a smith, and he made you go through this really lousy apprenticeship, but then you pierced your ear and quit your apprenticeship, and came here. I also heard rumors that you'd punched Aule in the nose, but I didn't think those were true."
"They're not," I said. "I'm not a very violent person. Mostly I just like to blackmail people."
"Cool," said Serpentine/Alcarine. "Well, as for me, my dad builds ships and my mom doesn't do anything, I have an older brother and a younger sister, and I have absolutely no idea what I want to do with my life since I'm not good at anything other than dancing."
I shrugged. "Hey, I'm not good at anything except music and I'm doing fine. You'll probably figure something out."
"I hope so," she muttered. "Otherwise my parents are gonna be pissed."
We sat there in silence for a while, until Serpentine/Alcarine sat up suddenly. "I'm bored. You want to go find everyone else?"
"Okay," I said. "Do we have any idea where they are?"
"Of course we do. I know where everyone lives, so it shouldn't be too hard."
"That's a useful bit of knowledge, knowing where everyone lives," I said. "Imagine the harm you could do with that."
"Huh, that never occurred to me," she said thoughtfully. "Interesting. Well, off we go. And Maglor?"
"Yeah?"
"Stop putting yourself down. It's not cool."
As we left the town square to go look for everyone else, I wondered if this meant that I had a girlfriend now.
