Ghost of Imladris

by Mirrordance

The longest night of the year reveals the restless spirits of Rivendell to its visitor Legolas, as he joins Estel and the twin sons of Elrond in their yearly ghost-hunt. Lord Elrond in turn discovers that his boys needn't be outdoors to find trouble

2. part 2

Author: Mirrordance

Title: Ghost of Imladris

Summary: The longest night of the year reveals the restless spirits of Rivendell to its visitor Legolas, as he joins Estel and the twin sons of Elrond in their yearly ghost-hunt.  Lord Elrond in turn discovers that his boys needn't be outdoors for trouble to find them…

PART 2

* * *

      Legolas and Aragorn shot up awake almost at the same instant, just before the door to Estel's suite burst open with Lord Elrond's entrance, and a harassed-looking Amadis in his wake.

      Legolas had fallen asleep the old chair next to Estel's bed, and the sun was now high in the sky.  He seemed just as surprised to find himself there as the Lord of Imladris, his guard and even his friend.  All he recalled of the night before, after he and Estel talked, was that he was loathe to leave, strangely reassured by the human's presence.  He must have drifted to sleep.

      ~Curse your magic doors, Lord Elrond,~ Amadis muttered, sauntering straight for the secret passageway in Aragorn's closet, again mistakenly thinking that his charge must have passed this way.  He narrowed his eyes in irritation over being outwitted yet again, especially when his tracking senses quickly concluded that this was not the path Legolas had taken to enter this room.

      Were there any other passages apart from those in the closets, he wondered.  He looked at his impishly smiling Prince.  He would get no answers there.

      Lord Elrond sighed as he looked at his adopted son and the smirking Mirkwood royal.  There was a lightness about Legolas' demeanor that was a marked improvement from how he had looked when he arrived.  While his revived spirits and glimmering eyes were indeed a treasure, he in turn was rapidly draining the spirits of his aging guardian. 

      ~It would be better for everyone all around, Prince Legolas,~ said Elrond, ~if you would kindly, regularly inform Master Amadis of your whereabouts? He caused a wild ruckus so early in the day.~

      Legolas and Aragorn turned to look at the scowling old elf.  It was almost as scary as the mirror ghost to think of this forbidding elf as causing a wild ruckus.

      Aragorn looked at Legolas wryly, wordlessly telling him, You had better behave.

* * *

      Elrohir read through the words of the song from the piece of paper Legolas had used to write it on.  His hand was curiously careful and cursive, as if he heavily considered every word.  The Prince of Mirkwood absolutely refused to sing it aloud, or even say it aloud, and with due justification.  They needed to study it first.

      Elrohir, Elladan, Estel and Legolas sat around a table in the very library of their previous adventure, pondering their next course of action.  The round table before them was covered in books of Rivendell records, and maps of Middle-earth.

      "One must wonder from where you would know this, Legolas," said Eladan, looking over Elrohir's shoulder, "Curious indeed."

      "Perhaps in childhood," said Legolas, "It eludes my memory.  Must only mean it was very early in my youth.  Either way… she is undoubtedly of Teleri descent.  It is her love for the sea, and 'tis her song.  She might have lived near the Sea.  Perhaps the West, in Lindon."

      "If she does hail from there," said Elladan, "She had come an insanely long way to be found near the forests of Rivendell."

      "Didn't your father hail from Lindon?" Elrohir asked Legolas, "He had come from Lindon to build a kingdom in Mirkwood.  Perhaps she was part of the host that made the move, and was left behind along the way."

      "Nay," said Legolas, shaking his head, "None were left behind that I have ever heard of.  Amadis, incidentally, was of the group that made its way from Lindon to Mirkwood with my father."

      He, the twins and Aragorn looked at the old guard who settled so royally and comfortably upon a corner of the room that he looked as if he had established a kingdom there.  The group did not mind discussing their secret in his presence because not only did they have little choice, he truly couldn't seem to care less.  He didn't even look up at them from the book he was reading.

      "Well?" Legolas pressed, knowing that even if he feigned disinterest, Amadis was always very much aware of everything around him, "Did you lose an elf girl on the way?"

      ~We arrived in the new realm without incident,~ he said neutrally, turning the page of his book and continuing to read it, ignoring the inviting silence.

      Elrohir frowned, "Well she is certainly not of Rivendell, or those who had gone here with my father, for the records would show.  And as you say, not of Mirkwood.  She must have been from Lindon then."

      "That doesn't really say much," pointed out Legolas, "We are all of us practically from there, in one way or another."

      "Undoubtedly," said Aragorn, "She must have run aground some orcs to have been disfigured as she was.  Elves, or even any humans are hardly ever born so."

      "Taken from her home in Lindon, perhaps," said Elladan, "or a traveler, accosted along the way to elven kingdoms such as this, or perhaps Mirkwood or Lorien.  Many perilous ways lie between Lindon and Rivendell where she was found.  Perhaps she was even from the siege of Eregion.  One that our father's host was not able to save and bring here.  Or…"

      "Or a salesman," added Elrohir wryly, "or a witch.  Or a walking tree, for all of these or's, we might as well not have guessed anything at all."

      "Not Eregion, certainly," pointed Legolas, "They are predominantly Noldor—"

      ~I am glad to see,~ said Lord Elrond from the entrance to the library, ~That you are finally taking a more academic interest in our histories.~

      Legolas stood up and looked at him earnestly, wordlessly inquiring if Lord Elrond's reply was done and if he ought to return to his father with the message in haste.

      ~Sit down, Legolas,~ Elrond told him royally, ~I have not finished with my letter.  And are you really in such a hurry to leave?~

      ~Of course not, my lord,~ Legolas said politely, reclaiming his seat and glancing at his friends.  Elrohir was looking at Elladan and then Estel, as if seeking his permission to reveal their secret at last, the price to pay for more information.  His brothers shrugged.

      ~Ada,~ said Elrohir tentatively, ~This mirror wasn't always here, was it?~

      Elrond's brows rose, beginning to have an understanding of the situation.  ~I see you have encountered the solstice ghost.~

      ~We wish to discover her identity,~ said Elladan.

      ~With that I myself could not help very much,~ replied Elrond, ~You have been making little queries about her over the years and you know that we never discovered who she was.  Half-mad was she when found, humming an old tune that even I have not ever heard.  Eyes torn and tongue cut, skin scarred by abuse.  There was little hope for her.  And you are correct, the mirror once hung in a room in the House of Healing.  And it is only in these latest years that she has been referred to as the Solstice Ghost because in the years after she died, her ghost replayed her suicide again and again, night after night.  When we moved the mirror, she only returned but once in a year, the midnight of the winter solstice.~

      Elrond's eyes narrowed, ~This wouldn't be the reason why you return home every year, is it? Because if I remember correctly, you have been inquiring subtly about her for centuries, and that first time you'd have seen her would make you very, very young and--~

      ~Oh, Ada,~ said Elladan nervously cutting him off, ~It's over and done with and we are more than old enough now.~

      ~Of course you are,~ Elrond told him indulgently, ~But for your curiosity I beg you to be careful.  Such restless spirits never come in predictable forms and powers.~

      ~We are always careful,~ Elrohir promised him, before the Lord of Imladris left the room, looking at him with suspicion.  Resting in Elrohir's glinting eyes was already a plan.

* * *

      Legolas launched himself towards Estel's balcony, the human already waiting for him there.  This night was not as bright as the previous, but it was still well-lit.

      "This plan doesn't sit very well with me," Legolas told Aragorn as they gathered their breaths for the jump to Elladan's balcony.

      "Understandably so," Aragorn told him, "And if at any time you hesitate to a point where you feel the need to halt this madness, then you must do so.  Because this places you at great risk more than any of us.  Either way, ghosts are ghosts, and they are already dead.  We needn't risk our lives to satisfy our curiosities."

      Legolas looked on ironically as the human launched himself over to Elladan's balcony, risking the deadly fall.  But in Estel he detected more than curiosity.  He felt the human was actually looking after all of them.  If he cannot stop his friends and brothers from their madness, then he would surely join them to try and keep them safe.  Another irony, this wiry human keeping three elves safe.  Well, from the moment he met him, Legolas knew that Estel was unlike anyone had had ever, or would ever meet.

      Landing neatly on his feet, Aragorn waved Legolas over.

      From Elladan's balcony they jumped to Elrohir's, and then walked through the same passage way to the library.  Looking cautiously about, the four stopped in front of the ghostly mirror.

      "Are you certain you are willing to do this?" Elrohir asked Legolas.  It was his plan, but he was now plagued by uncertainty and responsibility, because it put someone else in danger.

      "Yes," said Legolas coolly, "I would tell you otherwise."

      Wordlessly, they took the mirror from the wall, Elladan and Aragorn carrying it from opposite ends.  Scurrying through the lavish grounds of Elrond, they headed single-mindedly towards the House of Healing, Elrohir once again at point, Legolas following.

      They peered into the empty rooms one by one, trying to place which one had a view similar to that which they have seen in the mirror.

      ~This one,~ Elrohir and Legolas said at the same time, stopping before the door.  The other rooms they met with some uncertainty, but this one, which lay least used at the end of the hall had a potent sadness about it that could not be denied.

      "It's almost midnight," Elladan pointed out, as he and Aragorn laid the mirror to rest against a wall, looking about and wondering where they should put it up.

      "Here," Aragorn said, studying the angle of the wall facing a part of the balcony and the moon.

      Legolas and Elrohir picked up the mirror and hung it.  The four looked at the reflection, finding it a strange sensation to be standing in the very scene which had long haunted their childhood only as a passing vision.  It was eerie to look at the ghostly scene in the mirror and find it as a reality also around you, when they had only been witnesses before.

      "Are you sure?" Elrohir asked Legolas again.

      "Yes," said the elf, "we might as well get it done with."

      ~She should be by any moment now,~ Elladan said, ~If it is indeed true as father said, that she replays her death each night when the mirror is here.~

      Legolas' breath caught as he saw the shadow start to pace.  The group fell into silence as her humming sounded, and started to become louder and louder.

      The shadow stopped before the mirror, just as it had the previous night.  And then her figure loomed as it moved closer and closer and closer.

      Gathering his will, Legolas began to sing with her.  His voice seemed to embrace hers, matching note by note, filling in the words that she could not.  Her song was a call, his, a response, even as the melody was one. 

      Breathlessly, the three brothers watched, awaiting any changes in how the story unfolds.  Elrohir thought that if they wanted a breakthrough, they ought to see what she would do if her call was replied to, and Legolas knew precisely how.

      For a moment, the outcome seemed unchanged, she, oblivious.  She stepped forward into the moonlight as she always had, showing her horrid face.

      And then she stopped, as if she was staring at them, although her hollow eyes could not have been able to do so.

      Her spindly hands with their long, thin fingers moved not towards her face, but through the mirror.

      It was pale and crooked in the night, and for a moment Legolas thought it was just an illusion that could not touch him, but he saw its shadow on the floor, and he realized it really was there.

      Halting his song, he stepped back, watching the hand move towards him with wide eyes.

      Her own song stopped, and she seemed to be struggling to say something.

      Legolas felt Estel's hand on his arm, pulling him back from the mirror, as the hand drew ever nearer.  The ghost insistently reached forward, her whole arm moving outside of the mirror and into reality, followed by her shoulders, her face…

      The three elves and the human stepped back, watching her in horror. 

      ~Return from where it was that you came,~ Elrohir told her, his voice shaking just slightly, ~This is no longer your time.  Your suffering is long ended.  Let it rest.~

      Not heeding him, forward she moved, towards Legolas.  She struggled to speak, saying things that sounded angry, despairing, longingly at him.  Grief and anger.  Despair, hope.  A wild mix of passions that, either way, she decided only he could answer to.

      ~You must run,~ Aragorn said to Legolas, pushing the elf behind him, ~Run, Legolas.~

      ~Not without you,~ Legolas whispered.

      ~She does not have a care for the rest of us,~ said Elladan, ~Back away to the door, Legolas.  Please.~

      Taking slow steps backward, Legolas moved away, and this seemed to make her more agitated.  Her voice was louder now, more angry than sad.  She raised both hands towards him.

      Legolas' hand touched the door knob, and he made a step towards the hall.  This seemed to enrage her.  Suddenly, the door flew from him and shut, barely allowing him time to step back into the room and get his hand out of the way.

      He reached for the knob again, but it would not turn.  Steeling himself, he turned to face her…

      Screaming madly, she threw herself at him.  Elrohir in turn threw himself between them, and though she seemed solidly there, she went through him completely in a blast of freezing cold that sent him shivering and witless to the ground.  Unhindered, she went straight towards Legolas, her scraggly hands gripping his face, her thin fingers digging into his flesh, searing cold.

      Weaponless, Aragorn looked towards the mirror, seeing what had happened to Elrohir and knowing there was no physical way that he could stop her, save for this…

      Elladan ran towards his fallen brother, watching in horror as Legolas was straddled to the floor, her fingers digging into his eyes as he struggled and cried out in pain, the sound encased by her mad ranting.

* * *

      Amadis heard the distant sounds of the skirmish and screaming, and he knew at once that his charge had successfully outwitted him again, most likely at his own peril.

      The entire house seemed already astir by the strangling sounds and cackling, freezing air that assaulted the night.

      Turning the knob of his Prince's suite, he found it empty.  Growling in worry and annoyance, he saw that Lord Elrond had just run short of the door, also looking within it.

      ~I should not have been surprised,~ he said, ~My own sons' rooms are empty.  Come.  I may know yet what this is about.~

      The two elves ran past scurrying servants and down a flight of stairs towards the library.  There, Lord Elrond's teeth clenched as he found the mirror taken from the wall.

      ~Those mad fools!~ he exclaimed, his robes rustling as he turned from the library and stalked towards where he thought he may find his sons: the House of Healing, idiotically courting a despairing ghost.

* * *

      Elladan threw himself at the ghost to stop her from attacking Legolas further, only to hit the ground hard, never even feeling her harsh coldness.  He gathered his feet, confused until he turned to try to stop her again, and instead found her gone.

      Glancing deeper into the suite, he found Elrohir shaking on the ground, curled against his side with Estel hovering over him.  Shards of the mirror were around them, its pieces glinting in the silver moonlight; Estel had sent it crashing to the ground, and in his own worries, Elladan had not even heard it.

      Elladan turned to Legolas, whose shaking hands were covering his face.  His body was trembling in cold, shock and pain.

      ~Come now,~ he said to Legolas soothingly, the healing ways he had gleaned from his father taking over his fears, ~Let me see.~

      Taking a shuddering breath, Legolas let Elladan guide his hands away from his face, and Elladan's jaws set in anger when he saw what had been done to his friend.

      His wide eyes involuntary leaked tears, stained with blood.  The cursed ghost had tried to take his eyes out…

      ~She did not want you to see her,~ Elladan murmured, brushing at the tears gently, and running his palm across Legolas' eyes.  The Prince blinked responsively, and Elladan was relieved that the ghost did not succeed in blinding him.

      However, he was still injured and, like Elrohir, he shivered inconsolably.  Elladan looked up at Aragorn, who was removing his outer robes and covering Elrohir with them.  The human glanced at him, looking worried and regretful.  His own hands were bleeding, and for a moment Elladan knew not why, just before he realized that he mirror had been so heavy it took two of them to carry it, and Estel must have struggled with taking it from the wall and sending it shattering to the ground.

      ~Crude,~ Elladan told Estel quietly, trying to make him smile, ~But still very much effective.~

      From outside the door they heard rushing, and it was immediately followed by harsh pounding.

      ~Elladan, open this door right this instant!~ Elrond demanded, his voice muffled.

      Elladan looked at Estel miserably as he rose from the ground and stepped towards the door, ~Why did he have to name me?~

      ~Elladan…~ his father called from beyond impatiently.

      ~Yes, ada,~ he sighed, trying to turn the knob but finding it stuck, almost frozen.  He turned it, and pulled at it and twisted it, all to no avail, even as his father was demanding for him to act quickly, and a growl from Amadis prompted him more.

      ~This door is practically wielded shut,~ he called from within, ~I cannot open it short of trying to tear it down.~

      ~Is everybody well in there?~ Elrond asked.

      Elladan glanced at his brother and friend on the ground.  ~Relatively speaking.~

      ~I do not fancy the sound of that,~ he heard Amadis grumble.

* * *

      ~Neither do I,~ Elrond murmured, looking towards his servants, who had gathered outside the door with him, ~Take this door down.~

      They scurried about, not really keen on the brutal style of the orcs and take a battering ram to the heavy, intricate face of the door.  Instead, they went on a quest for tools.  The soldier in Amadis set his jaw and rolled back his eyes in impatience.

      Stalking towards the room next to the one where his wild charge and his friends were locked, he searched for a cabinet, looking for a secret passage that would lead to the next room.

      Lord Elrond trailed him curiously, asking, ~Amadis, what on Earth are you doing?~

      ~I'm looking for a secret passage,~ he answered, ~Like the ones that connected the suites together.~

      Elrond's eyes narrowed, ~Those passages in the suites did not directly connect one room to the other.  They wound around in a most labyrinthine way, leading to all sorts of exits.  You go through one that you find in this room, it may take you at least an hour to get to where you intend to go.~

      Amadis' brows furrowed, ~Then I do not quite know how Legolas could move unhindered in secret…~

      He walked absently to the balcony, his thoughts weighing heavily against him.  He supposed he could just wait for the servants to tinkle with the door until it fell…

      Looking towards his right, he found the balcony to the next room, the room where Legolas was.  The gap between his balcony and that one, deep as it was, was just an arm's length away.

      ~Curse that wicked boy!~ he muttered, putting the pieces together in his mind, even as the child in him saluted the ingenuity, and prepared to replicate it.

      ~Amadis!~ Elrond exclaimed, just as the guard leaped to the next balcony.

* * *

      Amadis landed cleanly on his feet, and he stalked into the room with steely eyes, his heart constricting at the sight before him.

      Shards of a mirror was tossed about, each reflecting the silver of the moon, casting the room in an eerie blue-white light.  One of Elrond's sons lay on the ground shivering, and near the door was his own Prince, trembling and bleeding.

      ~What ails him?~ he asked Elladan and the human darkly.

      ~It is the cold of the ghost that assaulted him,~ Aragorn replied, ~She had also injured his eyes.~

      Amadis fell to his knees next to Legolas, just as Elrond went soaring into the air and landed on the balcony, heading straight towards the fallen Elrohir.

      Muttering as he berated his Prince, Amadis nevertheless gathered him into the warmth of his arms, and rubbed at his freezing hands.

      ~You should not have stirred up old ghosts,~ he said softly, ~They may be restless, but we needn't be restless about them.~

      The room was painfully quiet now, save for the ragged breathing of the two elves, and the subtle tinkering of Elrond's servants from beyond the door, out into the halls.

      Tightening his grip around Legolas, Amadis began to sing… Of the sea, of a lost love, of a promise…

* * *

      ~What are you doing?~ Aragorn whispered harshly, knowing the song well, it belonged to his childhood, and it belonged to a ghost that they all now wished would just rest…

      Amadis, for a moment, seemed to be ignoring him.  He sang, and stopped only when the shards of the mirror started to glint brighter, and shake, making sharp little clattering sounds that seemed to make its way to his bones.

      ~I…~ said the old guard nervously, ~I used to sing to him in his youth.  Not… not always.  It was a game, I know, and his charms might have won me over, but I did not have to let him know it…~ he continued nervously as the shards shook harder, glowed brighter, ~H-he was bitten by a spider in the woods when he was young.  They all said he would d-die, riddled with fever and deep in his delirium, it is this song that seemed to ease him, and lend him comfort…~

      The glowing of the mirror shards suddenly burnt bright it a flash, engulfing the room in a blinding yellow that assaulted their eyes.

      From within it stepped out the ghost of the winter solstice, still humming, eyes still hollow, crooked hands still yearningly looking for something, or someone.

      ~Lucia…~ Amadis whispered raggedly, recognizing her immediately, ~Lucia…~

* * *

      The ghost moaned in a most unearthly manner as she moved towards Amadis, the old soldier laying down his charge gently on the ground and rising up to his feet, stepping toward her bravely, and with equal longing.  He looked at her with tears in his eyes, his hands reaching out to touch her.

      ~Do not--~ Elladan was telling him, but shushed when his father looked at him pointedly and shook his head.

      ~What has befallen you?~ Amadis asked her softly, his eyes searching her face, trying to understand her broken words.

      She was achingly making replies that at first made no sense, which was frustrating her as much as it did him.  Her clawing hands reached to touch his face, her tone angry.

      She moved as if she meant to tear out his eyes, and with more sadness than actual fear, Amadis let her touch him.

      ~This is not you, Lucia,~ he whispered hoarsely, weakened by the frigidity of her being.

      Her spindly hands tightened at his face, though suddenly, their pale grayness seemed to meld to a healthy flesh color, the scars dimming and vanishing.  Her mouth began to form broken, intelligible words that soon revealed a soothing, quiet voice. 

      ~You have found me at last,~ was the first thing they had understood from her, and her grip against his face turned more slack, and more warm.

      Her face was suddenly a restored beauty, eyes a distinct color of golden brown from the hollow ones that the twins, Estel and Legolas had known.  Her very skin glowed and warmed the room, warmed the night, warmed the memories that plagued them.

      Amadis had looked at her with love, and this time, his eyes were the mirror that reflected the beauty that he had known.

      ~What happened to you?~ he asked her softly, ~I thought you were to wed.  It is why I left with Thranduil, I could not bear to see you wed to anyone other than me…~

      ~I could not,~ she answered, ~I was going to but I could not.  I tried to follow after you, but I was attacked, and enslaved.  But now here we are, together again at last.~

      ~Lucia,~ Amadis told her achingly, ~It is centuries too late.  I love you, but am not fool enough not to know this…~

      ~I know,~ she said softly, ~But I will see you again.~

      She stepped closer to him, ~As it had before,~ she told him, ~It is in your loving that I am set free…~

      He took her in his arms, and felt her warmth and reality for one sacred breath, before she vanished in a flash of brilliance.

* * *

      Legolas was sitting up in bed, watching Amadis busy himself with settling his injured Prince wordlessly and very efficiently.

      Back in Legolas' bedroom suite, the two of them were alone and quiet, somewhat unsure of what to do with each other, instead falling into careful routine.

      As Amadis gathered the ends of the blanket towards Legolas, the younger elf took the guard's hands and stared at him, until he looked him in the eye.

      ~I am very sorry,~ Legolas said to him, referring to what fate has befallen him and his beloved.

      Amadis set his jaw and nodded, just before he pretended to misunderstand the Prince, ~You will be more sorry if I discover you jumping across that balcony again.~

      Legolas' lips quirked, though he hurriedly composed his expression, and his eyes were dark and serious, ~You know what I mean.~

      Amadis watched the Prince's face, finding determination there and surrendering to it.  Amadis sighed and sat next to Legolas' hip.

      ~She was being courted by myself and a nobler elf,~ Amadis told him, ~It was plain to see where she should have gone.  So I left with your father.  I didn't know she would follow me, and in this journey was she caught and tortured.  It is a shame what fate we were given, yes, but ultimately, it was a love that had no place in this world.  Perhaps in the circles that lie outside of it, as it is now, she and I stand a better chance.~

* * *

      It took Lord Elrond another week to compose his reply to King Thranduil.  He had awaited the scars to fade from Legolas' newly acquired wounds, and for him to rest and recover before finding him fit to be released into the world.

      Although… Lord Elrond did hesitate if he ought to just send the boy away as soon as possible, before he found anymore trouble in Imladris.  Elrond suspected that if anything would befall the Prince of Mirkwood, it would be both his and Amadis' heads in a platter.

* * *

Greetings, King Thranduil!

      I could now confidently vouch for the good health and revived spirits of your son, and return him much recovered into your care.

      I must admit that in this trip, young Legolas was not able to keep the world still, and managed to find one of Rivendell's ghosts.  He, with my sons and your faithful Amadis, effectively released it from its despair and no more could be said of this matter, nor does it beg for any further action.

      Your son has a wild passion about him that is repelled by my logic and all at once envied by my heart.  He is much like my own children in this respect and though they do know to 'stir up trouble' as you had said, and as I well know from past and latest experience, they have a fine way of stirring up the right ones, and rectifying the situation most properly and in ways that deserve great praise.

      With this in mind, I would like to extend an open invitation to Rivendell addressed to your impulsive heir, as I am certain that my children would always be happy to receive him, as I undoubtedly am (which I realize only after I have caught my breath and all they have stirred up rests once again).

      Between the four of them, I have a feeling our children are set to turn the world upside down, and only then would we all come to realize it is how things should be after all.  They are such giftedly mad fools, and all the Valar help them and all who stand in their way for it.

                                                      Sincerely,

                                                      Lord Elrond      

P.S.

      If I may be permitted to say, I believe that after your son's vacation, it is your faithful Amadis who is now in dire need of one.  The doors of my Home are also very much always open to a man of such admirable…restraint.

THE END

October 27, 2003

SOME IMPORTANT NOTES:

On the plot.  An ancient mirror, a ghost and childish adventure.  I suppose what inspired me to write this piece is the coming of the Halloween season, even as the story is set in December (when the Winter Solstice happens).  I hope it fits your holiday mood :)

On the style.  I've recently been reading a critique of Tolkien's books, and it was distinctly said that all that he shows and adds to the story has a purpose.  I too wanted all the elements of my story to tie together in that way.  I don't know if I had achieved it, but I certainly made it a point to try.  For instance:

      On the idea of the Winter Solstice.  The longest night of the year, the shortest day.  Older cultures celebrated it and it was generally believed that the night was so long people feared the sun would never rise.  This is why I made it such that Lucia takes her life on the Winter Solstice; she feared the sun would never rise, she had lost her hope.  Her name, however, came from I think the Latin root for 'light,' and this is the visual image that had followed her at the end of the story.

      On Amadis.  His name comes from a piece of Spanish literature depicting a brave knight.  You might have noticed that a recurring theme for Amadis throughout the fic is that he is often forgotten.  Always quiet and on the outskirts, always at the P.S. of a letter.  This is precisely how he fits into the story; forgotten, but a pivotal part of it towards the end.

On the timeline with my other fics.  For those who have read my piece "Allies," which is an account of how Legolas and Aragorn met, you may have guessed that this piece follows it.  "Allies" was originally meant to be the first of a trilogy: how they met, then a sequel telling of the challenges along their friendship, and then how they part—which was supposed to be my fic "Journey's End."  But ultimately, I decided to make "Journey's End" a story all on it's own (its style is very different from Allies), and anyway I pretty much have a habit of making sequels or prequels that are independent of my other stories, so it is convenient for readers who do not feel like searching for the other stuff, at the same time satisfying those who had enjoyed the kind-of timeline that has already been created.  Needless to say, a story following "Ghost of Imladris" will follow very soon.  I already have the basic storyline.

On the Tolkien timeline.  I have fallen in love with Tolkien's literature and the idea of investigating a ghost through the history of Middle-Earth is one that I could not resist, hence the scene in the library with a smattering of the history of the Elves in Arda.

On the characters.  Once again, I used the perception of the other characters as an avenue to express my own opinions.  For instance:

      Legolas.  As in all my other fics, I am obviously fascinated by him and I wanted him to be a mix of the book version and the movie version.  The Legolas you see here is strong, intelligent and charming.  He also has a wild streak that Elrond, Thranduil and Amadis speak of.  I liked the idea of pairing up this fiery character with an painfully bland guardian.

      Aragorn.  He is not as visible in this fic as I regularly make him out to be, but as I usually depict him, he is strong and 'like a rock.'  Always dependable.  Always stable and responsible, and a reassuring presence.  His bond with Legolas is subtler here than in most of my other pieces, but it is still definitely very consciously placed there.

      On the twins.  It is only recently that I've truly come to appreciate them; my earliest stories did not feature them at all.  But I think the dynamic of their relationship with Estel has a lot of potential, and could not resist on playing with it :) I'm not quite sure if you can detect a distinctiveness between how I depict them, but in this piece I think I made out Elrohir to be more crafty.  It was he with all the ideas, for instance, and it was he who tried to save Legolas when his idea backfired.  I am awaiting to see them in the movie so I have a broader base, though :)

      On Elrond and Thranduil.  The overburdened father's club is how I have learned to refer to them in my mind.  Their characters in this story I depicted very briefly through the letters.  I like showing them as wise and outwardly stern, but also with a lot of heart.  I try to imagine a profoundly worried and frustrated parent who cannot put a leash to their children, but in the end sigh and find with great relief that their children managed to survive, and consternation that they turned out to be right.

To Platy.  I do try to listen, I do! :) It's just that I always think of myself as a reader first (and an extremely impatient one) so I post in quick succession, as if I were the one who was awaiting what would happen! Oh well! :)

Anyway, I hope it was a fun piece, as it was really meant to be.  C&C's always welcome! :)