Appendix 3: Games We Play
A collection of short tidbits revolving around games, both literal games and more abstract ones. Some of these stories are interconnected (namely , "A Feathery Issue" and "Melkor VS Fingolfin and Thorondor") and some are not. In the first three, Melehtiel and Umatimon are around the same age, in the last one is Melehtiel older already.
Virodeil's 100 Prompts #87: On My Own
Appendix 3.1: Melkor In Jail
He didn't know why he kept coming there, observing their life without ever showing himself. He didn't even know why he hadn't told the others about it. But in opposite to what his brother liked to say about him, he was extremely good at keeping secrets, even secrets of the doomed kind… As he was standing in the inner garden of Minas Morgul once again, he heard a pitiful sound, something between a sob and a sniffle. He carefully approached it. Against the border of the fountain sat a girl in a black dress, with her knees hugged tightly to her chest. On her head stood a rather large spiky metal crown, and she looked as if she had been crying. And before he knew it, he made himself visible and set himself down on the fountain border next to her.
"Why are you crying?"
The girl sniffled and looked up, something between surprise and worry in her teary eyes. She didn't ask who he was though, just answered softly,
"We're playing "Melkor In Jail". Or, well… I am. My brother just goes to do something else and tells me to leave him alone for three ages." She sniffed again. "It's not fair. My brother is only a few years older and he never wants to play with me anymore. He only wants to do grown up stuff."
"Like what?"
"Helping father in the forge, or horse-riding, or learning languages, or playing music. It's stupid."
"You think those things are stupid?"
Melehtiel shook her head, making the impressive crown wobble a bit.
"No, but I'm too small still to do most of them, or I'm just bad at them, and no one wants to play with me. Mom is always too busy with the salesmen and the pesky diplomats, and I'm not allowed with her anymore because I did the Glorfindel Trick on the ambassador of Khand."
In his quiet observations, he had gotten to see the famous Glorfindel Trick more than once, so he knew what she was talking about. He couldn't help but smile.
"That's a pity."
"It's not, because diplomats are boring, but I don't want to be alone all the time and now Umátimon never wants to play anymore I'm always alone. I have no friends."
She wiped away new tears, as she looked sadly at her feet.
"Are there no other children in Minas Morgul then?"
The girl shook her head again and frowned.
"There are, but they are stupid. They never want to play games I like and they think I'm creepy and mean and they just don't get it. Only Umátimon gets it and now he's too big to play with me so I'll be alone forever."
She sobbed, and he carefully extended hand and patted her back, a little awkwardly.
"Maybe you should try to play the games the other kids want to play for a change, then you won't always be alone."
"But…" Melehtiel sadly sighed, "You don't understand it. They want to play House, or Garden, or Hairweaver's salon! They say that fighting is for boys and that my crown is ugly. And the boys don't want to play with me because I'm a girl and they're not allowed to play with girls and they're scared of me."
"I don't think your crown is ugly."
The girl smiled gratefully.
"Thank you! My dad made it so I could play Melkor, and he's going to put gems in it for my begetting day, but I like it so much already that I wear it always."
"Even in bed?"
"Even in bed. But mom always waits until I'm in reverie and then she puts it on the bedside table."
He chuckled.
"I can see why. It looks heavy."
"It's lighter than it looks." She said with a knowing air. "Who are you, anyway?"
"Well, you're Melkor and you're caught by Námo, and I'm keeping you company, so that makes me the Lord of Mandos, no?"
Melehtiel nodded pensively.
"Makes sense. You know, this game is not so bad, when you're with me. You're nice. Will you play with me again tomorrow?"
The girl looked pleading, and he sighed.
"I'll see what I can do. I am very busy most of the time, so it may not be tomorrow that I come. I have duties, and…"
"But you will come back some time, right?"
The Doomsman respectfully bent his head with an unexpected smile.
"I will."
Virodeil's 100 Prompts #12: Betrayal
Appendix 3.2: A Feathery Issue
"Well, it IS pretty impressive."
The bird made an approving sound, and Melehtiel grinned and continued.
"But dad is going to get a nerve cramp when he sees it."
Now a rather panicky bird noise followed.
"No really, this is going to be a small natural catastrophe. He might make Orodruin erupt. What were you thinking?"
The bird indignantly screeched, and Melehtiel chuckled.
"Let me guess, you want me to keep it a secret, no?"
The bird nodded its head. Melehtiel waited for a moment, and then a wide grin formed on her face. The next moment she was putting her extraordinary loud voice to good use.
"Moooom! Daaaad! There's an eagle in the garden!"
Immediately Sinistra and Sauron apparated outside, as eagles were still considered major bad news. They didn't find any suspicious birds though, only a triumphantly grinning Melehtiel and a red-faced Umátimon sitting on his favorite spot in the tree. As their parents questioned them about the supposed eagle, Umátimon sent his sister a glare.
"You traitor."
Melehtiel only grinned…
Virodeil's 100 Prompts #52: Retaliation
Appendix 3.3: Melkor VS Fingolfin and Thorondor (Or, an important life lesson)
It had been an epic battle as usual, and as he had been playing the good guy, he had lost. It was the usual routine. His chest hurt, his head hurt, his leg hurt, everything hurt, and Melehtiel thought it was absolutely hilarious to just kick him again while he was already "dead". Oh, he had kicked her too, stamped her foot, punched her in the face... but he never hurt her as much as she hurt him, physically. And normally he just took it for what it was and allowed her to have her fun, she was his little sister after all... only now he really hurt, and not only physically. Just the day before she had betrayed the only secret he had felt really scared about having, while he had trusted her. He had told her because he trusted her and she had betrayed him just to have a good laugh. It hurt more than anything she could physically do to him, and it made him angry, angrier than he had ever felt... And that anger fueled an idea that he would never have had otherwise. Ignoring his injuries he got up, roughly pushing his sister aside.
"You know, actually this isn't accurate. Melkor never got the chance to defile Fingolfin's corpse. Do you know why?"
Her eyes widened, and before she could answer he transformed and attacked her with a fierce bird-battle-cry. Melehtiel barely had the time to turn her head before his claws scratched the side of her face, leaving deep, bleeding marks... A moment later he already felt guilty, transforming back and looking in shock at his sister, who was holding her hand against the side of her face while blood ran through her fingers, eyeing him with a look of panicked non-understanding. It seemed she was so shocked that she didn't even cry...
"Melehtiel... I..."
"You... you a-actualy hurt me..."
Her voice sounded both surprised and frightened. She was rapidly growing pale, and he could only just catch her before she collapsed on the floor...
...
Sinistra had healed the gashes, but Melehtiel would always have a large thin scar on the side of her face. It wouldn't be visible unless she cut her hair very short, but it was there nevertheless, a permanent reminder of what he had done to her. Umátimon felt horrible. He sat outside his sister's room, sometimes peaking inside at her pale, sleeping form only to be overwhelmed by guilt. He had actually hurt her... and she had seemed so surprised, as if she had had a rock-solid faith that he would never truly cause her pain. Eru, he was sickened by himself...
"Umátimon, fîl-gaz..."
He hadn't noticed his mother approaching. He looked at his feet and bit his lip until he tasted blood. She would be so disappointed in him... How could she still call him "little bird" after what he had done to his own sister?
"Umátimon, look at me."
She crouched down and tilted his head to her with a finger. A kind smile graced her lips, but her eyes were sad nevertheless. Umatimon wanted to cry.
"I'm s-sorry... I d-didn't... I..."
Sinistra shook her head and wrapped her arms around him. His first instinct was to push her away, but she had a tight grip and he had no choice but to relax eventually.
"Why do you hug me? I am a bad person."
To his surprise, she chuckled.
"You, a bad person? Umátimon, fîl-gaz, you couldn't be a bad person if you tried." She calmly rubbed his back. "Don't ever think you are bad. You have the kindest heart of all of us here."
Not understanding it, he quietly sobbed,
"But I hurt her! Badly!"
Sinistra pushed him away a little and looked him in the eyes, sharp obsidian orbs meeting teary golden ones.
"Hurting people doesn't make you a bad person, Umátimon. Can you tell me why you hurt her?"
"She... S-she..." He tried to look at his feet again but his mother tilted his head again so he couldn't look away. "She betrayed m-my secret. I told her about m-my animagus because I trusted her. I t-thought she w-wouldn't tell. But she did, just like that. And she always hurts me, and I was s-so angry, and..."
"Sssh... Don't cry, fîl-gaz." Sinistra patted his hair, and gave him that piercing, sad look again. "I know you never want to hurt or wrong anyone... But you must understand this, my son. Sometimes you will find that people hurt and wrong you. And there is no shame in defending yourself. There is no shame in attacking to retaliate either. Neither makes you a bad person."
"But... I s-shouldn't have done t-that. S-she is my sister."
"You probably shouldn't. Melehtiel shouldn't have broken your trust either, but we all do things we shouldn't sometimes." She smiled sadly. "True strength is not in fighting as much as possible, fîl-gaz. It is in knowing which battles to fight. Having limits in what you are willing to take from someone and being willing to defend those doesn't make you a bad person. It makes you a strong person."
"I wish I didn't hurt her."
"And that, my dear, is what makes you a good person."
...
Sinistra had given Melehtiel something to sleep along with a blood-replenishing potion, and the young half-maia had slept the rest of the day. When she woke up, it was evening already. Someone was sitting on her bedside.
"Dad?"
"I'm here."
Sauron kindly stroked over his daughter's head, careful to avoid the newly healed gashes that were still angry red lines against her pale skin. For a while, they said nothing at all. Melehtiel knew she would have to start.
"Umátimon hurt me."
The answer was immediate.
"And why did he do that?"
It wasn't posed in an accusatory way, more like an interested question. Melehtiel caught the softly glowing eyes of her father in the dark, and sighed.
"I... I think he was angry. Because I got him in trouble about his eagle form."
"What did you learn from this?"
"But he never hurts me! He doesn't like to fight, he always pretends and he never hits hard! He's weak, really!"
"I repeat my question. What did you learn from this?"
"I... I d-don't know."
"Think better."
"He only hurts me when he's really angry?"
Sauron shook his head.
"Nay, Melehtiel. What you must learn from this is that there is no such thing as a person who will never hurt you."
"But... Mom never hurts you. You never hurt mom."
"You misunderstand. It doesn't mean that there aren't people you can trust, or people you can love, but it does mean that everyone has the capacity to wound you if you push them far enough." His eyes glowed a little stronger as he continued. "Your mother would hurt me if I pushed her far enough, and if she pushed me too far I would hurt her too. We don't, because we know our limits." Melehtiel cocked her head to the side, and Sauron went on. "Know your limits. Know those of the people around you. The most peaceful person can easily become a fearsome enemy if you don't learn this lesson, daughter."
"I... I think I understand. I... I hurt Umátimon when I told his secret. And... it came back to bite me in the face. My brother became my enemy because I overstepped his limits."
"Yes." Sauron hesitated. "You know... I once knew someone who had a brother who was in some ways very much like Umátimon. Pensive, quiet, peace-loving... He was as different as could be from this person I knew." Melehtiel nodded in understanding, and her father continued. "This person, who was a rather close acquaintance of mine, called his brother weak as well."
"And he overstepped his limits and his brother became his enemy?"
"Indeed." Sauron sighed. "But it didn't happen by accident. He chose for his brother to be his enemy, because he thought him weak and scorned his ways."
"And?"
"You call your brother weak as well. Do you scorn his ways? Do you want him to be your enemy?"
Melehtiel looked at her father and softly answered,
"I... I don't always understand him. I don't really understand why he is as he is."
"He thinks the same about you."
"Really? But... there's nothing strange about how I am, it's completely natural!"
"It is natural for him too to be the way he is. You are both very different people, but you each have your worth and talents. There is no weakness in being one way or the other."
"Then... there is weakness in scorning the other, because then you make an enemy you don't really understand. What you don't know is always more dangerous."
Sauron smiled, surprised at the insight of his youngest child.
"Correct." He observantly looked at her. "You will always have enemies, because not all points of view are compatible. It isn't bad to have enemies, but it is bad to make them where they shouldn't be. Your brother loves you, and if I'm not mistaken, you love your brother as well. Your points of view are different but not incompatible. Learn from each other and become stronger for it. The world will be hard enough on you already without you being hard on each other."
Melehtiel nodded.
"I will carry my scars with dignity. They will always remind me that my brother is strong too. They will remind me of his limits."
"I am proud of you, daughter." Sauron smiled warmly and softly stroked over her head, making her feel tired and sleepy again. Melehtiel's eyes slowly unfocussed, but right before she slipped in reverie she whispered,
"Love you too dad."
Virodeil's 100 Prompts #20: Gems And Jewels
Appendix 3.4: To Find A Silmaril
Sinistra noticed her daughter wearing a rather pretty necklace with a blue stone in it, of Haradrim design. Knowing that neither Melehtiel nor her father used that particular style in their work, Sinistra assumed it was a gift. The young half-Maia was reaching adolescence, and her mother realized well enough that the girl's beauty would soon attract admirers, if it hadn't already. She held her heart for the day Melehtiel would decide she wanted a lover…
"Received a gift, daughter?"
Melehtiel grinned and touched the necklace possessively.
"Yeah. It's not my usual style, but it's pretty, no?"
"Who gave it to you?"
Melehtiel caught her mother's meaningful look and rolled her eyes.
"Oh please, it was one of dad's engineers. He'd been eyeing me for weeks in the forge. He offered the thing to me, asking if he could court me."
"And?"
"And what? It's a pretty necklace! So I took it, and I said I wasn't interested in him but thanks anyway for the necklace."
"But that's…"
"Rejection, mom. Mordor Style. Besides, I did give him a chance."
"Oh?"
"He asked what he had to do so that I would allow his courting of me, and I told him that if he could find me a silmaril I would consider it."
"Melehtiel! That's cruel!"
"No, it's not. I didn't ask him to bring me a silmaril, he just had to find me one. All he had to do was point out Ëarendil in the sky and he would have met the request. It was a test of wits, really. It's not as if there are many stars visible here, most of the time; he could hardly miss it."
"Still."
Despite everything, Sinistra had to smile. She didn't have to worry about her daughter's love life; Melehtiel was apparently perfectly capable of taking care of that herself…
(Author's Apologies)
You had to wait long enough for it, so here is a long appendix #3!
I must note, these appendices are things I mostly wrote while I was still developing the main storyline, and I used the promptlist of Virodeil from Faerie Fanfiction to get to know my characters a little better. They are not really worked out and quite possibly of lesser quality than the main story.
Umatimon has an animagus form at such a young age, because his magic develops faster than he does, thanks to his elvish aging. Not to mention that he has magical maia heritage, which may have helped as well.
Melehtiel doesn't recognize Namo because he doesn't appear in his most ominous form to her; he might even be in disguise.
Eärendil can be seen in Mordor, even through the deck of clouds (as I seem to recall from Frodo and Sam's journey through Mordor), and that star is actually a silmaril so Melehtiel's "quest" for her would-be-suitor wasn't impossible.
In his conversation with his daughter, Sauron refers to Melkor, obviously. You may have noticed that Meletiel and Umatimon resemble Melkor and Manwë a bit in where their talents lie; this actually happened by accident while I worked my way through the prompts, and when I noticed it I thought it funny so I somewhat exploited it. However, other than that pair of unfortunate siblings, Umatimon and his sister manage to overcome their differences for the greater part, and maintain a good relationship even after their mother's death. They have the advantage of a father who doesn't draw favorites, of course. (Yes, he spoke to Melehtiel while Sinistra spoke to Umatimon, but when you read closely you'll see that they actually told each child the same things.)
So, please review! I hope you like it!
