DISCLAIMER: We've written this purely for our own and our readers' entertainment. We make no money whatsoever and we don't own anything (apart from the plot and our student debts, and you're more than welcome to take the latter if you so wish).
A/N: Neither gaia caecilia nor I are claiming to be any kind of expert on the scenes which we portray, so please don't shoot us down in flames for any historical mistakes, big or small, which may occur, in either this chapter or those following.
CHAPTER 25
Celeborn stared out over Arda – or 'Earth' as people were now calling it – the comparable ugliness (no point in beating about the bush) with his memories was hard to take. At least Virginia had never seen the world come to this, for she had spent her last years in Arda making and maintaining a memorial garden for Amrothos – it would have been such a pity for her to see it reduced to what he was seeing now. Another thing he was glad about was that she was buried in Valinor... yes, she had sailed along with Miriel and his grandsons, although Celeborn had never felt the inclination to share this piece of information with either Thranduil or Adindel. The decision had been rather sudden, but as always, she had never spoken of her thoughts or feelings on the subject – maybe she had finally been able to accept the Gift of Númenor. But then, what about his daughter's little Undomíel? She was...
Celeborn stopped himself, determined not to give Adindel anymore ammunition – one of the details in the cyclical arguments/taunts they sometimes found themselves in was that Adindel thought that Elves as old as Celeborn were evidently prone to far more 'depressingly contemplative introspection' than those of the 'younger generation'.
Shaking himself, Celeborn placed his concentration back upon the land before him – at least it was looking far, far better now than when they had first started out, but there was still a way to go and this thought further entrenched in the Lord's mind that he should stay, no matter how tough things became.
They had initially started out in makeshift camps, moving about the land nomad-like, because there were many areas which needed immediate attention in order to rid them of the fester and filth that had built up during the floods. The Elves were also unsure as to whether any dark creatures had survived, but fortunately it didn't appear so. The saddest thing was that neither the Dwarves nor the Pereniath seemed to have survived the recent devastation. Having said that, they had seen possible signs of Dwarf and or Pereniath habitation as they'd wandered the lands, but they were always old tracks and it seemed as if the old alliances were truly lost, if they refused to show themselves now.
Once they'd felt the land was safe enough, the humans had settled down into more permanent housing, though only of mud-brick and materials like that – it would take a while for the land to recover enough in order for proper crops to be sown and villages to be built.
XXX
The three Elves left their group at this point, wanting to explore further; as hoped, Ginny and Aragorn's descendants weren't the only ones to survive the floods. Upon these further wanderings, they found that the geography of the land had changed out of all recognition; absolutely nothing was as any of them remembered it.
Celeborn, Thranduil, and Adindel all sighed – things were going to be a lot harder for a lot longer than they'd supposed...
However, they hadn't counted on the innate adaptability in the face of adversity possessed by the Secondborn – perhaps being mortal in a world so devastated had had something to do with it.
One great civilisation was that of Mesopotamia – 'the land between the two rivers'. It was here that farming really began to flourish again and great settlements grew, but then Man's equally innate greed took hold and the Mesopotamians were attacked by rival countries, who wanted their resources, for these were still vital and valuable to any growing State.
One battle followed another and it saddened the Elves to see the land fought over so much, especially after all that had happened to it. But then, Nature seemed to take matters into her own hands and the courses of the Rivers Tigris and Euphrates gradually changed, leaving Mesopotamia barren and useless.
XXX
But changing rivers could sometimes make a great civilisation and eventually, the great land of the Pharaohs was born...
"Do you think he'll like it?" queried Celeborn, for what seemed like the hundredth time that afternoon.
The two brothers rolled their eyes as the leaves of Papyrus rustled insistently – a perfectionist Elf-Lord was not the best of travelling companions. Taking a deep breath, Thranduil laid his hand over the scrolls in order to still the rustling and looked at Celeborn straight in the eye.
"Imhotep (in order to fit in, the Elves took on new identities within each society they found themselves), please, Djoser will love your design – he'll be the first Pharaoh in this land's history to have a 'Step-Pyramid'. Who knows, he may even start a trend."
"You think?"
"Yes." Adindel joined in this time.
As ever, Djoser was thrilled with his Chief-Architect's design and ordered for building work to begin right away at the Saqqara Necropolis, just outside of Memphis.
Celeborn was an absolute nightmare on the way back their house – an insecure perfectionist was one thing, but an insecure perfectionist who now permanently had the ear of one of the most powerful men around was quite another.
XXX
It was during one of their trips west, to where the descendants of Ginny and Aragorn had settled, that the Elf-Lords decided to take a detour into the land of the Hellenes {Greece}, in order to visit some of the wonderful architecture that had sprung up during their absence. Something happened here which neither Celeborn, nor Thranduil, nor Adindel really knew what to make of. They knew some of the customs held by Men were steeped in tradition and whatnot, but this one was, to the Elves (and to be blunt), disturbing.
They were just strolling through the Agora of Athens when they were approached by a bearded man – a Hellene. He walked up to Celeborn first and started talking to him. Adindel rolled his eyes and continued walking – it was always Celeborn, wasn't it? The one to be most popular and mystical – granted, people of the Eastern Lands were generally enthralled with all of the Elves, given their blonde hair and pale complexions, but Celeborn always seemed to attract the most attention because he was taller and his hair was paler. Of course, there was also the glowing – OK, Celeborn had managed to tone it down, but he still seemed ethereal and...
"What did you just ask of me?" Celeborn sounded choked. Adindel turned; Celeborn was staring slightly agape at the Hellene (as was Thranduil) and if anything, he'd just gone even paler.
Walking back to the group, Adindel was able to witness the following scene:
The Hellene was frowning slightly, as if he had been slighted.
"I merely asked if you would be my erômenos – surely a great honour for you and your family? A fine youth such as you..." Here the Hellene reached out to stroke Celeborn's cheek, but Celeborn put his hands up defensively.
"Hey, I'm married, thank you." The Hellene frowned again.
"Already? Forgive me, but you cannot be anymore than twenty?" Exchanging a meaningful look with Thranduil and Adindel, Celeborn just smiled weakly and shrugged. Shrugging himself, the Hellene turned to Thranduil, who said (strangely abruptly),
"I, too, have a wife." The Hellene raised an eyebrow at this, but then turned his attention to Adindel.
The Elf felt a strange foreboding – a feeling probably not helped by the quick look Celeborn and Thranduil gave each other. Sensing a pause, the Hellene took a minute step forward, grinning slightly.
"What about you, boy – surely you don't also have a wife?" When the Hellene didn't get a response, he took another step towards his target, now smiling broadly. "Our relationship would be one of wonder and beauty. A very fitting way to end your education, don't you think? Come, I shall be your erastês and we shall..."
"NO!" Having finally woken out of his stupor, Adindel backed away.
"What have I said to have caused so much offence? You're not married, are you?"
"No... well, I..."
"A wife has already been procured for you? Well, I must apologise for my forwardness, though I must say your manners could be smartened up, but I forget that I was also a carefree lad in my youth..." The Hellene sighed. "Farewell to you all." And with that, he was gone.
Adindel turned to his companions.
"Was I just... propositioned?" he said hoarsely.
"I rather think we all were."
"Yes, but he backed off from you, once he knew you were married."
"Doesn't that tell you something? You should have married..."
"How was I supposed to know that in countless years' time I would be propositioned by a man with no leggings and a beard?"
"I thought you were supposed to be a Mage?"
Adindel opened his mouth to retaliate, but Thranduil stepped in between them.
"Please, you two, do you really think this is either the time or the place?" They started to walk on, but Adindel and Celeborn continued their bickering.
"If I had married, I probably would have faded long before now."
"Certainly would have saved me a whole lot of earache. " Celeborn's eyes flickered and he smiled slightly. "But then our evenings wouldn't have been half as interesting... going to have a drink to calm yourself? I'd be very interested to see what this episode adds to your little sketchbook."
"I won't get drunk."
"Oh, is that a challenge?"
"It's a fact." Celeborn shrugged at this; he was still grinning, though.
"Fine; I can wait – for all eternity if needs be..."
Thranduil looked between the two Elves and sighed – it was going to be a long night.
XXX
Celeborn, Thranduil, and Adindel were travelling south into a land that had been dubbed a 'Hellenistic backwater'. When they had visited the Hellene colonies in the south of the country, they hadn't really had much inclination to go much further north, being keen to get nearer to the Western Ocean and the lands where Ginny and Aragorn's descendants lived. Now, however, as they were taking a route over land, they had decided to satisfy their innate curiosities and explore a little.
A local merchant, who was acting as their guide, stopped his mule and cart, and, turning around to the Elves seated on their horses, he grinned and indicated that they should dismount. Having done so, the Elves walked up to him. The merchant turned back round, so he was facing forwards again. The Elves looked...
Hellenistic backwater indeed!
The merchant's voice then cut across their thoughts,
"Welcome, my friends, to Rome."
TBC.
A/N: Just a little explanatory note, so you know that we do know and understand what we're talking about...
The erastês-erômenos relationship (known as Pederasty) mentioned above did happen in Ancient Greece (though admittedly, not in the way portrayed!) It was a socially acknowledged relationship between an adult and a younger male (modern age estimates ranging from about thirteen to twenty for the latter). In the Archaic and Classical periods, Pederasty was widely accepted as part of a male's education and coming-of-age, especially in the upper classes. As an indication of physical maturity, the erômenos was sometimes as tall as or taller than the older erastês. Any sexual acts involved were not penetrative, which was most often seen as dishonorable or shameful to the one penetrated (the erômenos) – not that this would have comforted our darling Elf-Lords much!
(And, no, we most definitely haven't finished being evil to them :D)