Hi to everyone!
It seems that Inspiration and Time have decided to join for a while and let me continue with this story! Let's cross our fingers to keep it that way.
First of all, I want to thank Steve993 for his valuable reviews which always help me to keep going and are part of the compass of this fanfiction.
I also want to add that the reviews of the other readers are welcome.
And now ... let's see what happens.
Chapter 9: New friends
Erik entered the CIA facility in the same way he had left: with a determined step and completely convinced that the decision he had made was the most convenient one, at least for the moment. After asking where he could find Charles, he went straight to the office of the CIA's head security department, Stanley. On the way he met Lady Galadriel, who seemed to be heading towards the same place.
"Mae Govannen, Erik Lensherr" greeted with harmonious voice Lady Galadriel bowing slightly her beautiful head
"Uh ..." said the mutant not knowing what to say
"Good morning, Erik Lensherr" said Lady Galadriel when she saw his expression "or at least that's what the Edain would say"
Erik blinked several times. It was a fact, that beautiful female mutant had great power, but it was quite strange ... too strange and at first glance could be considered that was not exactly right in her mind. However, Erik knew that, although that strange mutant was mysterious, she was also wise and her power ... her power was great, he himself had experienced it in his own flesh. And not only that, he had immediately noticed that the so-called Galadriel made no sound as she walked, it seemed as if her delicate feet barely stepped on the ground. No doubt, or that woman was a mutant like no other, or was an angel disguised as a mutant.
"Uh ... good morning" he replied after a brief hesitation
"I'm glad you stayed" said Lady Galadriel with a soft smile
Erik shrugged.
"I suppose, after all, you're right. Being alone is not the best option, especially when the enemy has several ... 'friends' who support him "he said after a few moments with his gaze forward
"Enemy?" Repeated Lady Galadriel. "What enemy, Erik? You? Or Sebastian Shaw?"
Erik stopped abruptly and turned sharply towards her, and looked at her with a look that showed anger and at the same time fear; while she held his gaze calmly, but at the same time her blue eyes stared at him in such a way that Erik could have sworn that Lady Galadriel was seeing to the very depths of his soul.
"Me?" He repeated in a low voice that showed anger, but there was also a tremor in it.
"Your worst enemy is not Sebastian Shaw, Erik Lensherr" she answered "you are your worst enemy, and as long as you do not face yourself, you will not find peace anywhere"
"Peace?" He repeated mockingly. "Peace does not exist!"
"You really think so, Erik Lensherr? Or is it a lie that you yourself have fabricated? "
Erik was left without knowing what to answer because the answer, the TRUE answer was not one that he wanted to know since all his scheme of life and his world collapsed.
"However, to overcome two enemies it is necessary to have someone next to you" continued Lady Galadriel once she saw him remain silent "and staying not only you can fight against one of the two enemies of your life, but also you will have someone by your side and that, even in the future, will help you to face the worst of your enemies "
"I imagine that Charles and you, no?" Erik said ironically, already recovered after a few moments
Lady Galadriel smiled with an enigmatic smile and kept walking, leaving Erik astonished. It meant that they were not going to be just the three of them? It meant that they would be more mutants? Erik shook his head slightly and after a few minutes of astonishment, followed her.
The head of the security department was sitting in his desk chair in his office while Charles was leaning calmly in the window that was next to the desk.
"Hank turned that radar installation into a transmitter" was saying Stanley showing Charles a huge satellite dish "it's designed to amplify brain waves, so it could enhance your telepathic powers, help us find other mutants for our division"
"That indeed would be a good idea" said Charles "however, Galadriel can help us too. Her telepathic ability is great. Maybe if both use that transmitter, we could have better results than if I'm the only one I use it"
Charles had learned little by little that, perhaps he was no longer the main star in terms of mutants with telepathic powers, nor that he was the only one capable of understanding people better than anyone, since Lady Galadriel had shown him that, compared with her, he was what the mutant detested that this beautiful woman called him: 'child'.
Charles still hated that Lady Galadriel considered him as such, but he had also been honest and capable enough to accept that perhaps it was best for both of them to work as a team, for him to learn tricks and perhaps prudence from her. As for her? Surely something she would also learn from him ... although he had no idea what. Perhaps the simple fact of removing those strange ideas that she had, would be enough.
"Um… I'm not so sure" said Stanley "I mean, I know that Galadriel is very powerful but…"
"You don't trust me because you think I'm crazy" said a beautiful voice
Charles and the head of the security department almost jumped, scared. They haven't heard any rumble of steps. Had she also had the power of tele transportation?
Stanley couldn't utter a single word but blushed in utter shame. The words of the beautiful mutant had full of a tinge of irony and disapproval, it was a tinge that it was impossible don't feeling guilty and embarrassed.
"Galadriel… how..?" asked Charles astonished
"Though, this Adan doesn't trust me and still, he's hosting me here" continued with the same tinge and her gaze nailed in Stanley "I agree with him. You should be the only one who look for them, Charles. And not only you but Erik too"
Charles was going to speak when suddenly he heard a rumble of steps and almost immediately, Erik appeared standing next to the Lady of the Light.
"Seems that you made him stay too" said Charles mentally to Lady Galadriel
"Galadriel is right" he said while looking at her still with certain fear but mixed with complete agreement "if a new species is being discovered, it should be by its own kind. Charles and I find the mutants. No suits" he turned to Lady Galadriel at seeing the questioning look of Charles "and of course, if Galadriel wants to come with us, it'd be great" he added with a perfect mask that deceived to Stanley but not to Charles, and even less to the Lady of the Light.
There was a brief silence.
"First of all, that's my machine out there" said Stanley once recovered of the surprise "second of all, much more importantly, this is Charles' decision. Charles is fine with the CIA being involved. Isn't that right?"
"No. I'm sorry, but I'm with Erik. We'll find them alone"
The head of the security department turned to look at Lady Galadriel. Maybe for this time would be a good idea trust her and let her use the machine, so the CIA would look for the new mutant recruits.
"Why are you, suddenly, so eager of trusting me, Stanley Curtis" said Lady Galadriel, her blue eyes piercing his brown's
The so-called Stanley swallowed hard, but he still didn't give up.
"What if I say no?"
Charles, Erik and Galadriel looked at each other.
"Then, good luck using your installation without me or Galadriel" said Charles with a carefree shrug.
After defeating that group of 20 armed men, Lord Glorfindel and the group of four children had returned to the city as soon as possible. One might have thought that the children would try to get away from the Elf-lord as soon as possible, but that was not the case. They had realized that he had saved their lives at least once each of them, and therefore they were not in danger with him, on the contrary, it was rather convenient that he was with them. So, they allowed him to follow them to one of their many hiding places in the city. By the time they arrived, the darkness began to fall on the city.
Ororo dropped down nimbly from the roof of the abandoned house, followed by Ahmed, Ayesha and Abdul who, on stepping on the ground, uttered a moan of pain. The three children turned around, only to see two things, one of which stunned them. The first was that Abdul dropped himself slowly, apparently the pain in his left ankle was horrible; and the one that stunned them, which was that the strange man with the pointy ears fell with such grace that he did not even make a sound.
"Are you okay, Abdul?" Ayesha asked immediately approaching
"Yes, yes" the teenager lied rising up how fast he could "only that there was something on the floor that hurt me"
Everyone looked at each other. It was obvious that what he was saying was not true.
Lord Glorfindel approached Abdul slowly so as not to frighten him and not to run and hurt himself more; However, the teenager could not help but take a couple of steps backwards while his brown eyes widened in fright. The presence and bearing of the Elf-lord were impressive. What he said to that strange man with long golden hair and pointy ears had not been any kind, therefore, it would not be surprising if he wanted to harm him as revenge. After all, Abdul would do exactly the same.
But nothing farther from reality, because that strange man with pointy ears, leaned and observed for a moment carefully his ankle.
"Sit down" he said with a kind tone, but that did not admit a retort "I need you to sit down and be able to review yourself better"
Abdul, still fearful of what might happen, sat down slowly not without a wince of pain. The other three children approached their friend.
Lord Glorfindel knelt and began to carefully check the adolescent's ankle. Thanks to his keen look that he had as an elf, he could see clearly what had happened. Abdul's ankle was twisted, swollen and it was obvious that he would need a girdle to hold the muscle of his ankle if he wanted to walk without falling. He also could not afford to jump and run like he used to. A couple of days, maybe a week would be necessary to rest so that his ankle could heal well.
Lord Glorfindel regretted not having athelas at that moment.
"Do you have any medicine? Something that helps to reduce inflammation in his ankle? "
"No" answered Ororo
"But we can get it" Ahmed said. And without further ado he ran away without making almost any noise
The Elf-lord frowned. Where would he get it?
After about 20 minutes he came back panting. In his hand he had a small vial whose contents smelled very strange. Lord Glorfindel guessed that this strange ointment would be some kind of anti-inflammatory.
"This will help" said Ahmed
Lord Glorfindel very carefully began to apply that strange and odorous ointment and to rub Abdul's ankle, who was tearing tears of pain. Seeing this, the Elf-lord began to murmur strange words in language so rare and at the same time musical that none of the children had heard in their short lives. As if by magic, Abdul began to calm down. The pain was much less intense.
"I need a bandage, something that helps your ankle when walking" he said after a few minutes
"I brought that, too. I thought you would need it "said Ahmed giving him a package of bandages
Lord Glorfindel frowned again. Where would the child get everything from? And apparently it brought more things because in his backpack different objects were seen.
With great care, the Elf-lord began to bandage Abdul's ankle while muttering again those strange words, which seemed that by some strange magical power they prevented the pain from being intense.
"Alright" he said when he finished "now, it is necessary that for today you sleep with your leg stretched and your ankle recharged in something soft" he paused "you will also have to run as little as possible so that you recover soon"
"What?!" Abdul exclaimed "and how am I going to steal without getting caught?"
"Why do you have to steal?" Asked the Elf-lord "why do you have to steal?" He turned to the children "don't you know that stealing is bad? Why do you do it? Because I see that even you stole those medicines" added significantly seeing Ahmed's backpack
"Because we are not like you," Abdul said bitterly.
"Like me?" Lord Glorfindel asked without understanding. That was obvious. They were children of the Edain race and they were also from another realm called Earth, so the fact that they were different was more than obvious.
"Yes, of course!" Abdul replied, "you are a super ultra-millionaire who surely lives in a large mansion in Europe with hundreds of servants who obey your will "
"Not to mention that everyone will surely admire you" said Ayesha "simply your hair is something that does not look everywhere ... it looks like gold"
"Instead we ..." Ahmed said sadly
Lord Glorfindel waited for the boy to finish.
"We have to steal daily and not anything and not little, if we want to live" finished the child
"Do not have relatives?" Asked Elf-lord
"No," Ororo replied. "Abdul had to flee from his home as a child because he was always beaten and beaten; Ahmed was left with his grandparents, but they already died and they did not leave him any money; Ayesha was abandoned in the market and I ... my parents died in an accident "
Hearing such a thing, the heart of the Balrog Slayer was touched to the core. What terrible stories those were! What a terrible pain those children had suffered! It was not, then, surprising that they stole and that they had made fun of him and had tried to take all possible means away from him, beginning with his sword.
And unfortunately, the sad story of each of them would not end there. As he turned his face away while Ororo explained what had happened to each of them, he saw through his gift of foresight what would happen to each child.
Abdul would die murdered in the worst way, what seemed by the glimpses he had was that he would get into trouble and would have powerful enemies who would finally defeat him and kill him after tormenting him for a long time. Lord Glorfindel felt a great sadness. Abdul was the one who had the most bitterness in his heart. What kind of parents were the ones who beat their son in such a way that they left him almost unconscious on the floor, bruised and bathed in blood?
Ahmed. He would have for a while joy, he would find a young woman with whom he would marry and have a son. Unfortunately, in an attack in the middle of the market, his wife who was pregnant would die from a wound made by those strange objects, as well as her son who would die in the arms of Ahmed. After this, Ahmed would let himself fall into alcohol and gambling, ending up indigent and one day his death would come to be run over by crossing the street while he was drunk.
Ayesha. It would be the one that would die the youngest. Because she would grow up and become a beautiful maiden, many men would covet her; but Ayesha would not be content with anyone, she wanted a man who really loved her AND who was rich, mainly the second characteristic since Ayesha was tired of living in poverty. She would get it, but she would be unhappy in her marriage since that jerk would cheat on her with another one, and finally Ayesha would die giving birth, not to mention that her baby would born dead.
Ororo. She was the only one who had a promising future, but also at first full of pain. During some years she would still be under the yoke of poverty and of someone ... someone the Elf-lord could not distinguish, it was as if a shadow interposed, but it was a fact, the 'Boss' for whom the children worked was a mutant, dangerous and evil, but beyond that he could not know more. He also saw that she would meet a bald young man to whom she would steal his wallet from him, but this bald young man would notice because he, like Ororo and the 'Boss', was a mutant. He would be the one who would take her out of that terrible place and sad life and show her something better. His gift of foresight only allowed him to reach the point of seeing a young Ororo fighting for the good of other people with a power that the elf had never imagined: controlling the weather at will.
"May the Válar and Erú want this girl to use this enormous gift for the good of all" he thought "there must be some way of trying to teach these children that there is a better way"
"So, you see, multimillionaire, our reality is far from yours," Abdul concluded.
"I am very sorry for what has happened to you," the Elf-Lord said softly. "However, I see in you a good heart. Maybe you steal, maybe you do not like people (after all nobody likes to have their things taken away), but I think you have a good heart. That's why I ask for your help "
"And why should we help you?" Ayesha asked. "We do not even know who you are."
The Elf-lord sighed internally. He was sure they would not believe him ... if perhaps the one who believed him would be Ororo.
"My name is Glorfindel. I am the Seneschal of Rivendell and Lord of the House of the Golden Flower "he said" or ... well, I was Lord of the House of the Golden Flower "he added with a slight tinge of sadness
"What is a Seneschal?" Asked Ororo
"It's ... let's say the Military Captain of a place. The seneschal is in charge of directing the troops of a certain realm to protect him "
"Is it to say that you are a soldier?"
"Something like that"
"That explains why you have that sword"
The Elf-lord smiled.
"And why are you no longer part of the nobility?" Ahmed asked
Lord Glorfindel tilted his head confused.
"Yes. You said that before, you were the Lord of the House of the Golden Flower "
"Ah!" Said Lord Glorfindel "let's say I'm still but ... not like before"
The children looked at him confused.
"The city where I used to live, Gondolin, was attacked treacherously. I led the army of the House of the Golden Flower and together with other Lords we fought to save Gondolin "Lord Glorfindel had his eyes fixed on a distant point while in his mind the images of all the inhabitants of his city were renewed; the snarls of the dragons and the screams of terror of all the elves that had been trapped; the trap into which his soldiers had fallen and he; the full floor bathed in pools of blood of brave elves that fell like flies in the face of the onslaught of dragons and hundreds of orcs; the death of his closest friend, Ecthelion, in defeating Gothmog, ironically the Lord of the House of the Fountain had drowned; the cries of each one of the Lords of the Houses; his beloved fighting at his side without stopping for a moment, with that agility, speed and courage that characterized her, the mere fact of having her next in that difficult and critical moment, made everything more bearable; the flight through the tunnel of Princess Idril; the Balrog who had tried to attack them treacherously in the midst of their flight; the desperate efforts of his adored beloved to approach him and fight with him against the Balrog, but always prevented by dozens of orcs ... the last thing he saw was the gesture of horror of his beloved Wandering Star and her desperate cry 'Glorfindel! No!' at seeing him falling to the abyss along with the Balrog.
"Glorfindel! Glorfindel! "
The Elf-lord shook his head. He saw the children looking at him in amazement, but at the same time sad, even Abdul showed compassion for the first time. He wondered for a moment what it was that had caused them to change so suddenly
"You are crying," murmured Ororo
Lord Glorfindel immediately turned his hand to his face and found that, indeed, his cheeks were wet.
"Your city ... Gondolin ... was destroyed, right?" asked after a moment Ayesha
The Elf-lord nodded slowly.
"The enemies outnumbered us, their ferocity was totally ruthless, they were willing to kill every living thing ... and in fact they almost succeeded. Ther ... we were very few of us who managed to save ourselves, "he said, correcting himself. Surely if he told them the story of Balrog and him, they would not understand in the least.
"And how is it that you now live in that place ... Rivendell?" Ahmed asked.
"Well ... sometime later I met Lord Elrond who is the one who rules that realm ..."
"Realm?" Asked Ororo and Ayesha
"City" corrected Lord Glorfindel "Lord Elrond and I met each other some years ago and ... he invited me to live in Rivendell and to be the Seneschal of that city"
There was a silence.
"And where is that city ... that Rivendell?" Abdul asked.
Lord Glorfindel for a moment did not know what to say. He remembered that Lady Galadriel had said that she had told the so-called Charles where she came from. But if the so-called Charles being an adult and with a nice childhood had not believed the Lady of the Light ... what hope did he have in front of a group of children who had a sad past? But, there was no other way, because he did not have enough knowledge to say a reasonably credible alibi, and on the other hand it was necessary to get the trust of the children and hiding the truth was not the best option.
"The city of Rivendell is in a realm called Middle-Earth," he said after taking a deep breath, "and, I'm not a ... European, I do not even know what a European is. I am an elf, that's why I have pointy ears and I have more strength than men "
"Elf?" The children repeated without understanding. After all, they had never heard such a word.
"Yes. I am part of the Eldar race. Of the Firstborn of Erú Ilúvatar "
The children continued to see him as if they were seeing visions. They understood absolutely nothing.
"What is an Eldar? "What is that about Erú Ilúvatar? Why Firstborn? Where is that famous Middle-Earth? "Was the avalanche of questions asked
The Elf-lord made a gesture of silence. He could not explain everything to them. It would be necessary to tell them the whole story of Arda ... indeed, since the awakening of the Elves, and that ... was almost impossible. In addition, he had a very important task to fulfill.
Fortunately, Ororo seemed to notice it or at least decided that this was not so important at the moment and she said,
"When we left the garbage dump, you told us you needed our help. What do you want?"
Lord Glorfindel smiled to himself. Undoubtedly, Ororo was a girl who went straight to the point, a girl who was totally clear about her purposes. It was not surprising then that she had managed to steal his sword.
"I'm looking for a helmet made of mithril"
The children looked at each other.
"Mithril?" Abdul repeated, "and what is that?"
"It is a metal that is used to forge armor and shields, it is not common"
"So, it's very valuable?"
Lord Glorfindel sighed internally. Always the stealing mentality.
"Yes" he replied "do you have any idea where I can find it?"
"We had not even heard of the existence of that thing you call mithril"
"What do you want it for?" Ayesha asked
"Um ... it's something I cannot say" Lord Glorfindel said not knowing what else to say
"So, you're a spy!" Said Ahmed excitedly. "And what organization are you from? The CIA? The KBG?
Seeing the confused face of Lord Glorfindel, Ororo elbowed Ahmed to shut him up.
"We do not know where it is. We have never heard of the existence of a thing called this way "she said" but we know who will surely know "
"You do not plan to take him with Ismael, do you?" Ayesha asked surprised
"We have no other choice" answered Ororo
"You know he does not help without receiving something in return," Abdul told her.
"I will use my booty"
"And ... the 'Boss'?" Ahmed asked
Ororo shrugged.
"That ... I'll see later. Come on!"
Lady Galadriel, Charles, Erik, Raven, and Stanley had gone to the facility that Hank had adapted to find the mutants.
The young and brilliant scientist was nervous for two reasons. One, because he would show those mutants one of his greatest creations and those mutants ... they inspired respect, especially Galadriel; and two, because Raven would be there, and he was interested in what she would say.
"I… uh… I call it 'Cerebro'" said Hank nervous while turning on it and preparing everything so Charles could use it.
Everyone looked at him a bit surprised.
"As in the Spanish for 'brain'" he explained blushing. He cleared his throat "okay, so… uh… the electrodes connect Charles to the transmitter on the roof. When he picks up a… a…"
"Mutant" said for him Erik
Hank cleared his throat. He didn't like the word because it reminded him the deformity of his feet.
"Yes… uh… mutant" he said, "his brain sends a signal through a relay, and then the coordinates of their location are printed out here" he said while showing a kind of 'computer' of the decade of the '60s.
"You designed this?" asked amazed Raven
"Yeah"
Hank approached to Charles, who already had stood on a platform. He was extremely excited for testing this. He couldn't wait to find more mutants.
"Don't you want to try it, Galadriel?" he asked excited "this will be wonderful!"
"Indeed, it will" was the soft answer of the Lady of the Light. However, it was obvious that her answer at his invitation was a 'no'.
"What an adorable lab rat you make, Charles!" said wryly Erik approaching to the telepath mutant
"Don't spoil this for me, Erik" was a bit annoyed answer
"Oh! I've been a lab rat. I know one when I see one" he said with a wry and painful smile
Lady Galadriel frowned a little. She saw in his mind terrible images that made her astonished and a pang of sadness in her heart. Seemed that the Edain of the realm called Earth could be as cruel as Morgoth who had tortured in such a way some elves that now they're orcs. Indeed, this man, this mutant called Sebastian Shaw was very dangerous and as cruel as any of the servants of Morgoth.
"Ok, great!" said in that moment Hank checking for last time the electrodes of Cerebro on Charles' head "are you sure we can't shave your head? I mean… your hair can…"
"Don't touch my hair" was the immediate answer
"Alright, then" said blushing Hank "now focus and this thing will start writing the coordinates "perfect! Wonderful! Is working!" he said after a moment seeing that in the kind of computer of the decade of '60s started to write different coordinates.
Everything seemed that was going fine. Charles was smiling, delighted in what he saw. In his mind he saw all the people of the entire world, most of them looked in black and white, those were the people who were not mutant; but others looked in colors, those were the mutants.
Suddenly, he paled, and his breath was caught, his eyes opened wide.
"What is it Charles?" asked Raven worried "what is happening?"
"The machine is working fine" said Hank confused "uh… there should not be any problem"
"Charles!" called Erik
The telepath mutant blinked a couple of times.
"What is it?" asked immediately Hank "do you want us to stop?"
"No, no" said Charles pretending that nothing had happened "is just that is so… awesome! Looking all those minds! All those people!"
Erik, Raven and Hank looked at each other. Seemed that it had been only a moment of trance; but nothing further from reality because while seeing all the mutants around the world, he had seen a white-haired girl with silver glimmers and crystal blue eyes. But that wasn't what had astonished to Charles, it had been the fact that he had seen a mutant with very particular characteristics that he had only seen in another mutant: Galadriel.
He turned to her.
"You and I have to talk" he said mentally
In answer, Lady Galadriel bowed slightly her head in affirmative answer.
So, apparently Lord Glorfindel has won the trust of the children. Who will be the so-called Ismael? What does Charles want to know? And what will Lady Galadriel tell him about what he saw?
Waiting for your reviews, guys!