Some of you think Persie's personality is forced and her emotional turmoil is not realistic, but hold on for a moment. Sit down, buckle your seatbelts, and get ready to be educated.

First of all, those who deal with PTSD, depression, anxiety, and numerous other mental illnesses actually do often times experience emotional mood swings and oftentimes feel so much all of the sudden after it has been held pack for a period of time. It is hard for people who deal with mental illnesses to process their emotions like everyone else, so it is not uncommon for frustration, anger, terror, and raging depression to take place.

Every moment Persie goes from 0-100 is strategically placed in a time of intense psychological pressure, if you have not already noticed. Therefore, it is an accurate depiction of what someone like Persie would go through in this Universe where everyone around her in her past life has died traumatically.

How do I know all of this information? Well, for those of you who still doubt my education, just so you know I deal with all of these things on the daily, so by telling me this is inaccurate you are telling me my own experiences are inaccurate as well.

Just as you are telling others who do experience things and who may happen to read your comments that they are "overly dramatic" and "look fake" so thank you for that vote of confidence.

Those who know me know I normally don't do this, but after seeing uncultured swines comment things like that on my story which is meant to be a safe place of understanding and open mindedness- I almost deleted this story.

Long story short: this story contains traumatic and fragile content that must not be handled lightly. If the few who have commented on things that may be seen as harmful to other viewers, this story will be revoked as that is not something I tolerate.

For those of you who have not done this, I am so sorry for the inconvenience of this message, and hope you can understand my frustration. I was worried about this when I wanted to write this story, knowing that mental health is a prominent issue, but I wanted to create an accurate depiction of what would happen to someone in this position, and show Persie's growth as a way for someone to find hope in their own self-growth.

For those who have posted said comments, I am sorry that I felt the need to write this, but you left me with no choice.

For those of you who have not written comments like previously stated, I thank you so much for your continued support, and the reason why this story is still up is because of YOU.

As proof that the author is so not dead no matter what Roland Barthes has to say to the critics,

Ally Layne.

Do Not Go Gentle

Chapter 22: What Are Emotions, Anyway?

I gulped audibly and stood for a second. In the end, I decided my fate would not be to go down so easily, and I plopped down in the other chair while pushing my cloak into my body to have it lay nicely.

"You wanted to talk to me about something?"

Elrond looked at me from the side of his eye as he glided around the desk, and took his spot on his well-worn chair. "Indeed."

Goldilocks, however, didn't move a muscle or say a word.

My lips pursed and immediately my arms crossed in front of me as I allowed myself to lean back and prepare to take the brunt of whatever lecture was coming. "What did you want to talk about?"

Elrond placed his hands on the desk in front of him, kindly folded the same way Arwen does when she is about to talk about something controversial. Gods, why does this always happen to me?

"Well, Persephone, what do you think you have been called here to discuss this afternoon?" He asked, peering over at me with more knowledge than I could bear.

I sighed. "I know you want to talk about the feast and what happened. But I'm better now, and I swear it won't happen again."

Goldilocks coughed, and I turned to look at him, seeing his gaze still set on Elrond. "What was that, Lord Goldfish?"

A wry grin appeared on the blonde's marble face, and I did my best not to blush as he turned to lock eyes with mine. "It is worrying that you lost control of your powers at all, Milady Persephone."

My hands covered my face as I tried to hide the embarrassment that immediately took over my body. "Oh, gods, I know! That's never really happened before… I mean, it has happened before, but never when I was in a public place like that- oh wait, well, that's a lie, but-"

Elrond lifted a hand up to ease my blabbering. "Peace, Persephone. We are not mad at you."

Both my mouth and my hands dropped simultaneously. "You're not?"

Glorfindel shook his head as well, smiling brightly (as per usual). "No, Gwingil, we are not."

I turned to gauge Lord Elrond's reaction, and he was looking at Goldilocks knowingly. "We are hoping to help you figure out how to control your powers so something like last evening does not happen again."

I slowly nodded, still a little unsure if they were going to say "just kidding!" and start yelling at me.

Goldilocks looked at me knowingly. "We are not joking, either. Lord Elrond and I want to make sure you are okay after what happened yesterday."

I definitely blushed.

"Arwen spoke to me before you came in, and told me you were experiencing muscle pain?" Elrond asked, furrowing his brow.

Glorfindel's eyes widened slightly. "What would that be from?"

I shrugged, trying to avoid his bright eyes by turning back to Elrond. "Power exhaustion, most likely."

Elrond tipped his head to the side. "What do you mean by power exhaustion?"

I scratched my neck. "When I overuse my powers, usually after doing something rather explosive, I become really tired and it's like energy is pulled from my muscles to complete those actions. It's been worse than this, that's for sure," I explained. "One time I was out for a week."

Goldilocks looked concerned. "What did you do to put you out for a week?"

I smiled slyly. "I blew up a volcano."

They blinked.

"You… blew up a volcano?" Glorfindel reiterated, his eyebrows shooting past his hairline. "How in Arda did you manage to do that?"

I held up a finger. "First of all, Goldilocks, I wasn't in Arda when I did it. Second of all, it's a talent. Third of all, that talent might have something to do with how lava and water don't mix, as well as being the daughter of the earthshaker."

He looked at me in awe, and I felt my face become even redder at his open-mouthed stare.

Luckily, Lord Elrond jumped in to save me from embarrassment. "Forgive us, if it seems as though we did not believe you at first, Persephone. It is not… normal for us to hear of such things occurring because of one person."

I smiled. "It's all good. I have a habit of doing the impossible, anyway."

Glorfindel seemed to have noticed he was gaping, and turned away with pink cheeks. "There is something to be said about that, Milady."

I looked at him curiously. "What do you mean?"

He grinned wolfishly. "Perhaps it's your ability to dabble in the impossible that led the Valar to bring you here."

I snorted. "Just because someone thinks something is impossible does not make it so. I just like to prove people wrong, that's all."

Elrond grinned to himself. "Do you have any examples?"

Shrugging to myself, I admitted, "Well, there was a prophecy involving me when I turned sixteen."

"Sixteen? That is very young-"

I threw Glorfindel a look. "Do you want me to explain or will you just continue to interrupt me?"

His pink cheeks turned into a red blush. "Of course not, please continue, Gwingil."

I bit my cheeks to try and not smile like a kid in a candy store. "It was prophecized that I would die on my sixteenth birthday or Olympus, the home of the gods, would fall-"

"What?"

I turned to Glorfindel again, but this time was shocked to see the look of anger crossing his face. "What do you mean, what?"

Goldilocks didn't answer me right away, instead I turned to give Lord Elrond a look. And surprisingly enough, Lord Elrond was also sporting a fuming look on his face. "That is what you meant when you claimed that you were the child of the prophecy? It was foreseen that you were to die? Even at that young age?"

I nodded. "Such is the way of being a demigod. We tend to not live very long."

Glorfindel's features turned dark. "Why is that, exactly?"

"Besides the fact that we have the worst luck in the History of existence?" I sighed. "Well, for starters, monsters hunt us from the very moment that we realize we are the children of gods. Apparently, at age 13 to be exact, our blood becomes… enticing to them."

His bright eyes were not looking so bright anymore. "What monsters do you speak of?"

"I'm pretty sure you don't have any of them here in Arda, but for the most part they are a lot like Orcs, but there is a lot more variance in my world in what they can do and what they look like," I admitted. "There are some who look like and are as large as dragons, and there are some as tiny as those halflings or dwarves you have described to me."

Elrond leaned forward in his chair. "How are you still alive if you were prophecized to die?"

"You remember how I told you about that Battle of Manhattan and that first war I was involved in?"

He nodded.

"First war?"

I turned to see Glorfindel, who still seemed to be struggling with this overload of information. "Yes, Goldilocks, get with it. I've been through some crap times, okay?"

He heaved a large breath. "No, Persephone," I had to refrain from shivering at the sound of my name rolling from his tongue. "It is not okay."

I smiled at him sadly. "I've made my peace with it. I had to, or I wouldn't have been able to live as long as I have."

Goldilocks' eyes widened slightly before he turned away, his jaw clicking shut and ticking in frustration. "No child should have to go through war, no matter who they are."

I snorted. "Tell that to the gods who brought me here."

"So, how is the event of your survival linked to the Battle of Manhattan?" Elrond asked, bringing me back to the topic.

"Well, apparently it wasn't me who was fated to die," I revealed. "The guy I told you about, who allowed the Titan Lord Kronos to take over his body?"

"I remember, yes."

I sighed, turning my gaze away toward my boots, suddenly finding their laces to be interesting. "Well, he was able to take control in the end, and stabbed himself in his Achilles Heel, the only vulnerable point in his body."

"He sacrificed himself to save you?" Glorfindel asked lowly. I turned to him and knew better than to try to hide the silver lining my eyes.

"Yes, Luke saved us all."

He nodded, his eyes closing as he recited what sounded like an elvish prayer. "I am thankful for his sacrifice, for it means you get to be here with us today."

A tear leaked from my eye. "Thank you, Glorfindel."

The corners of his lips curved upward. "What, no Goldilocks?"

I shook my head, wiping the fallen tear away with the palm of my hand. "No, you were too nice for that nickname just then."

He placed a large hand on my shoulder for comfort, and I felt a faint tingling sensation run through my body starting at his contact. Warmth curved through my veins, and a faint feeling of peace surged through my soul.

"You deserve much more kindness than you have been dealt with, Persephone."

I grinned to myself, internally shimmying my hips in victory. He said my name again.

"Thank you, Goldilocks. That means a lot coming from you."

"How have you controlled your powers in the past?"

I internally cursed Lord Elrond for interrupting our little moment, and I turned to see him leaning on the desk with his hands clasped in front of his mouth. His eyes were dancing as I could tell he was fighting a smile.

I glared. That little shit. He knew what he had interrupted.

Glorfindel's hand eased off my shoulder and back to where he sat, crossing his arms once more. "Yes, how have you been able to do that before coming here, Gwingil?"

I shrugged. "Having friends around certainly helped, but there were a few instances where that didn't even stop me from letting go. It's more of a mentality thing, I guess. Whenever I'm under more…" I couldn't help but flicker my eyes to Glorfindel's before looking back to Elrond, "emotional duress, it's harder to control."

"Then what happened last evening? You seemed to be having a wonderful time from when I was with you," I heard Goldilocks claim, although I could hear the frown in his tone. I had to keep myself from looking at him or I felt that I would lose it again.

Elrond smiled at me knowingly. "I believe there may have been some preexisting matters, Lord Glorfindel," he covered. "Persephone has been under great emotional stress, especially after battling those Orcs the way she did."

Something in my eyes must have given him a silent thank you, as he nodded to me discreetly.

"I must not have helped with how I treated you after you arrived back to Imladris," Glorfindel concluded, sounding somewhat like a hurt puppy. "I should not have been so mad, I am sorry for any stress that must have given you."

I steeled myself, placing a smile on my lips before turning to look at him. I wasn't surprised to see that he could totally rock the kicked puppy wide-eyed look, but I decided I wasn't a fan to see that look on his face.

I preferred it when he smiled.

"I understand why you said what you did, Goldilocks," I assured him, pouring earnestness into every bit of those words. "I'm not mad at you, especially since you technically retracted what you said."

He grinned, and I very nearly swooned.

Two knocks sounded on the door before it burst open. "My Lords, my Lady, I am sorry for the interruption," a voice broke in. "But Lord Elrond, you are due in the council chamber to meet with advisors from Gondor for the trade agreement…"

Elrond looked over my shoulder and nodded. "Thank you for letting me know, Lindir." He looked between Glorfindel and I. "It was nice speaking to you about this, and I hope we can work on finding solutions to your problems in time."

I smiled. "I've been trying to control it for years, and I've still yet to master it."

Goldilocks chuckled. "It takes time, as Lord Elrond said. That is something you have not had, along with others who are devoted to helping you specifically."

My mind flashed to Chiron, who had been a big help at the time. But, there were more things for him to manage than just me. Even if it was usually me who made all the messes he had to clean up, there were still other duties that didn't involve being my chaperone.

Elrond stood from his seat, and we followed suit. "Thank you for your time, Lady Persephone."

I grinned up at him. "Thank you for listening, Lord Elrond."

He placed a hand on my shoulder with a fatherly gaze. "If you ever need to speak to me again, my door is always open to you, hûnneth."

Elrond gave me one last squeeze before walking out of the room and following Lindir to wherever the council chamber was. I kinda sorta have a habit of losing my sense of direction here.

I turned to see Goldilocks still standing there, but at some point, he had crossed his arms again and wore a smug smirk on his face. "Do you know what hûnnethmeans, gwingil?"

I threw my hands up in the air in exasperation. "No, no I don't! I don't even know what gwingil means, Goldfish!"

The sides of that stupid but cute smirk he wore started to edge up in a smile. "He called you his heart daughter, Persephone."

I jolted, both at the meaning and at Goldilocks saying my name… again. Gods, can this day get any more awkward for me? Why does Mr. Tall Blonde and Handsome saying my name make me feel all… girly?

Oh gods. Was I going to start liking pink frilly things and makeup and dresses? No, no, no. I can't let that happen.

"Uh, Persephone? Are you alright?"

I blinked. "Oh," I choked out an awkward laugh, my hand immediately reaching to scratch the back of my neck nervously. "Yeah, I uh, just got lost in thought."

The Blonde Bastard was already grinning, and I couldn't stop my blush in time. "Oh, really?" He asked, a brow rising knowingly. "What were you thinking about?"

I coughed. "Girl… stuff."

He nodded slowly, and I had to keep my curses to myself when I saw that his grin was only widening. "Are you mocking me?" I demanded.

Glorfindel shook his head but still didn't lose that shit-eating grin that was smacked on his face. "No, of course not. I would never mock a Lady."

I groaned before making a quick decision to turn on my heel to start walking out of the room. There was no way I could handle this right now, especially after last night. Nope. Not gonna happen.

That is, I was leaving until Goldilocks decided to wrap his hand on my arm to keep me in place. "Oh, no you don't. You are not running away from me again, Persephone."

Dammit. He must have known how weak I was after he said my name. Ugh. Can I get even more pathetic?

"But you're just so…"

He took a step closer. "So what?"

I took a step back, grabbing the door to Elrond's study while still keeping my eyes locked on his own. "You know what."

Glorfindel's smile widened even more if possible, and his eyes darkened as he took another step forward. We were only inches apart, now. "Tell me, Persephone."

I gulped, but this time my eyes flickered to his lips. I wondered if they tasted as good as they looked.

Woah. What the Hades am I doing? This is Goldilocks. Lord Goldfish. Not someone I could…

His smile turned smug. "Are you not going to tell me?" He leaned in slightly, his voice moving down to a faint whisper. "Or am I going to have to get it out of you?"

I let out a weak giggle, and couldn't put words together to try and talk my way out of it.

His eyes were so… blue.

Did you know I love the color blue? Because I really love the color blue.

He leaned in slowly, so close I could already taste the fruit of his lips… are we actually doing this? Am I actually going to have my first kiss… this is really happening. Oh, dear gods.

"Well, well, well. What do we have here?"

Fuck.

Glorfindel and I snapped apart from each other, and in the heat of the moment we hadn't realized someone, or rather, two someones walking down the hallway toward us. Oops.

"I don't know, gwanunig, perhaps we should ask them to replay it for us?"

"Elladan," Glorfindel barked, his eyes narrowing down on the first twin who had spoken, who was presently sitting and watching us cheerfully from his wheelchair. "What are you doing here?"

He hadn't let go of my hand. I wasn't about to complain.

Elrohir was the one who spoke up, "We just wanted to come and see if Persie was feeling okay today after last night."

I groaned. "Couldn't you have come like five minutes later?"

Elladan chortled. "Of course not, mellon. We are certified elder brothers. We must protect your purity at all costs."

I growled at the twins, ignoring the firm squeeze of my hand from Glorfindel. "I'll show you just how pure I can be," I threatened. "After I'm done slicing you both to pieces."

They obviously didn't take me seriously, as they laughed. "Oh, look, we made her mad!"

Elrohir laughed even harder at Elladan's cooing.

"I mean it!" I seethed.

"Hush, gwingil, they cannot handle their childish behavior," Glorfindel told me, obviously loud enough for elven ears. "One cannot expect much out of these two and their orcish manners."

Elladan let out a dramatic gasp, grabbing at his chest in horror. "And to think we were going to allow you to go on the hunting trip in my place!"

I paused. "What hunting trip?"

The twins looked between each other with matching grins. "I can't go on a hunting excursion tomorrow, and Ada is allowing you to go in my place," Elladan explained, before looking at Glorfindel curiously. "But I thought you were going to tell her that, Lord Glorfindel?"

The blond elf bristled at my side. "Stay out of it, Elladan."

I looked at him curiously. "What do you mean, Goldfish?" I took my hand from his and defensively crossed my arms. "Were you not going to tell me, or something?"

"Persephone," he reached out, trying to take my hand back in his, but I slipped it away from him again. "You had nearly drained yourself fully last evening. I did not think it would be wise to have you go hunting for orc so soon-"

I held up a hand. "First of all, Glorfindel, you have no right to make any decisions for me." I brought my arms back to being crossed tightly against my body. "Second of all, why on earth are you going hunting for orc?"

He pursed his lips but didn't respond.

I was about to start to let my anger seep into my veins just when Elrohir decided to answer for him, "There have been recent orc sightings in villages near Imladris. Ada has promised their protection, therefore we are going out to kill the creatures that are threatening their safety."

I nodded tersely. "I'm going."

Goldilocks shook his head. "No, you're not."

"Yes, I am."

His eyes darkened again, but this time it was for a completely different reason. "No, Persephone, you will not disobey me."

I glared, not backing down. "You aren't in charge of me."

"I am the General of Imladris," he hissed through his clenched teeth. "You will listen to what I say."

My hands clenched into fists at my sides. "I am not one of your soldiers, Glorfindel. You have no right to tell me what I can or can't do."

His nostrils flared, and I saw the muscles in his jaw clench even tighter. However, with some primal control that only someone as old as he could master, he took a deep breath and then relaxed his position.

He simply spoke, "You will not go on that hunting trip."

I shook my head at his simple order. "I will be going on that trip. It's not your call to make."

A wolfish grin made its way onto his face, and I could feel the power radiating off of him. He let his shield down, allowing me to feel just how strong of a presence he had. Anyone might have found an unhinged Glorfindel to be terrifying.

I shrugged it off. I've seen worse.

"I will not let you endanger yourself and others just to prove a point."

I rolled my eyes. "You are not in charge this time, Goldilocks. Besides, I saved Elladan, and that time I was unprepared. You should trust me."

His eyes narrowed. "That was a fluke. You are mentally not stable enough to go out and fight-"

"Don't tell me what to do."

"I will tell you-"

I, again, turned on my heel, ignoring the wide-eyed twins, and walked away from him. This time, however, he didn't try to stop me.

"Of course, you keep running away!" he called out after me.

I refused to turn around. I'll show him, I thought. He'll realize how wrong he is.

If only it were that simple.