Short chapter, one big scene, basically. Mortality has a bitter price, as Elros discovers. The truth about the fall of Gondolin is revealed, and Keladron makes a move on Glorfindel.
Elrond does have a lot of tragic events in his life. Not only does he lose his parents, but he also loses the sons of Feanor, who carry him and Elros off in a raid and treat them like their own children. He then loses Elros to mortality and Gil-galad in the last alliance. To make things worse, Arwen chooses to have the same fate as Elros, and goes off to die with Aragorn, who Elrond had come to regard as a son. And, if you go with this story, Elrond also loses Thranduil to duty. After all, according to popular belief, Thranduil and Elrond aren't the best of friends during the War of the Ring.
Poor Elrond.
When Elrond Met Thranduil
Elros dashed into the library, slamming the massive door and shoving the deadbolt in place to keep it closed. He ran from door to door, locking each one and shoving the occupants of the library out. He couldn't risk anyone stopping him. This was something he had to do, but Glorfindel and Gil-galad wouldn't let him.
Speaking of Glorfindel and Gil-galad, he heard them slam into the first door he locked, and then heard Glorfindel's curses moments later as the door didn't even budge. Elros' eyes widened. Apparently, Glorfindel learned a lot in Mandos, since Elros, well versed in crude and obscene sayings in ten languages, didn't hear one he recognized.
Glorfindel and Gil-galad weren't stupid. It would only take a moment before they started working on the hinges to get the door off. Elros shoved a few tables against the door and pushed some huge armchairs up against those, hoping to slow the two older elves. He then turned to the daunting task at hand. He needed to find a tome that would tell him how to become mortal.
"Surely someone has been a half-elf and became mortal in the past few millennia! There has to be an instruction manual somewhere around here!" Elros ran his fingers along the spines of the old books, reading quickly. "Return of the Noldor, no, Encyclopedia of Fleas, ew, why do we have that? Prayers and Rituals to the Valor, maybe, Different Shades of Violet . . . what? There are different shades?"
After pulling out as many books as he could quickly find that looked promising, Elros climbed into the loft of the library and started reading. If a book proved useless, he would simply let it drop to the ground, not caring about the mess or damages. The elves seemed to have given up on the hinges, seeing as how even with them removed, the door wasn't budging, and were now simply trying to break their way in using force. Elros stopped reading long enough to watch as the door splintered under the onslaught. "By Eru, what are they using?" At this rate, they'd be in shortly, and Elros hadn't even found a good book yet!
Just when he thought it was over, and he'd been caught, Elros was rescued by the most unlikely of people. Keladron, after drinking much of the elves' strongest wine, saw the object of his desires trying to batter his way through the library doors. Gil-galad had left, trying to hunt down Elrond. He hoped the younger brother would be able to talk some sense into Elros.
Glorfindel was alone and totally focused on getting Elros out of the library. He didn't hear Keladron come up. It wasn't until Keladron spun him around and pinned him to the door with a kiss did Glorfindel even realize he had company. Cursing his inattentiveness, he slammed his knee into Keladron's groin. The man crumpled, squealing in pain. Glorfindel spat on Keladron's body and wiped his mouth before turning back to the door. This time, however, he stayed alert, in case anyone else tried to sneak up on him.
After a pause in the attack on the door, progress resumed, but at a slower pace. Elros, on the other hand, dove into the last book with a passion, breezing through the pages and praying this one would help him.
It did. On page 165, there was a section titled "Invocation to make a request of the Valar" that was completely dedicated to asking the Valar for a favor. A favor was what Elros needed. Leaping out of the loft, he gathered the necessary items. Luckily there weren't that many. He needed something sharp, so he found a knife used to trim pens. A butter dish, with the butter scraped out, provided a shallow bowl to catch the blood he needed, and the fireplace held the necessary fire.
Elros used tongues to hold the small blade in the fire until it became red hot. Maneuvering it carefully, he made a fist and bit his lip, then cut into his wrist. The pain was intense, but not completely unbearable, as the blood dripped from the wound into the dish. Careful not to utter a sound other than the prayer, Elros began whispering the incantation that would ask for the Valars' aid.
"A Elbereth Gilthoniel o menel palan-diriel, le nallon sí di-nguruthos! A tiro nin, Fanuilos! A Elbereth Gilthoniel silivren penna míriel o menel aglar elenath! Na-chaered palan-díriel o galadhremmin ennorath, Fanuilos le linnathon nef aear, sí nef aearon!" He wasn't sure what the words meant, being written in an ancient tongue, but he felt them heavy on his tongue. Drawing forth a stick from the fire, he touched the flame to the blood in the dish. "I wish to be mortal!" he cried, finishing the ceremony. The blood burst into flame, and Elros, drew back with a gasp. According the book, that was a sign the Valar had heard and would fulfill the wish.
The door swung opened, when Elros realized his mistake. It opened outward, his blockade was completely useless. The bolt served as a makeshift hinge as Elrond pulled it open from the wrong side. Glorfindel, on the other side, looked a bit sheepish, having forgotten the door opened outwards too. Elrond sighed and shook his head. Adults needed help with everything.
Gil-galad climbed over the furniture barrier and knelt beside Elros, taking in the charred dish, the blade resting partially in the fire, and the gash in his wrist. "Elros," he whispered, closing his eyes. "please tell me you did not use the invocation to make a request of the Valar."
"If you had just told me, I wouldn't have," Elros whispered, hanging his head.
"You mean you wouldn't have made all this mess," Glorfindel amended. "Instead, you would have snuck in here late one night and performed it anyway."
"Did I mess up?" Elros asked, looking up at the older elf. "I just wanted to be mortal, but will this invocation make a mess of things?"
Gil-galad opened his eyes, and drew Elros to him. The young elf sounded so lost and forlorn, he needed a hug. "The invocation has only been performed several times in history. Each time it was performed successfully, a disaster always followed the wish granting, usually costing many lives."
Elros buried his face in Gil-galad's shoulder. "So I did mess up, and messed up pretty badly. Now people are going to die because of me."
"What type of disaster?" Elrond asked, curious. "Could it be prevented?"
Gil-galad glanced up at Glorfindel, who shuddered. A haunted look was in his eyes. "The last time the invocation was used," Gil-galad started hesitantly, "Gondolin fell victim to the Balrogs and the evil that surrounded them."
"What was the wish?" Elros asked.
"A foolish maiden wished for her beauty to surpass that of Lady Galadriel," Glorfindel whispered. "She was beautiful for five minutes, then killed by the Balrogs."
"What have I done?!" Elros moaned.
For a little while here, I think this story is going to focus more on what troubles Elros is going to face with his new mortality, and how Gwyddia will react.
~Crawler
Oh, translation of Elros' invocation.
O Elbereth Star-kindler, from heaven gazing afar, to thee I cry now in the shadow of death. O look towards me, Everwhite! O Elbereth Starkindler, white-glittering, sparkling like jewels, the glory of the starry host slants down. Having gazed far away from the tree-woven lands of Middle-earth, to thee, Everwhite, I will sing, on this side of the Sea,
here on this side of the Ocean
The first part, O Elbereth . . . look towards me, Everwhite! is what Sam cried in RotK, in Cirith Ungol. The rest is an Elven hymn. I thought it was fitting, and I didn't even butcher the grammer! ~skips with glee~