Sorry to have taken this long. *bows* There's just so
MUCH going on right now. Baka reality. And so people
know, you can now find some pictures from this fic at phe-
chan.deviantart.com I think there are about 7 from the fics. Enjoy now. Ja
ne!
~Phe-chan
EHAB here. Elen sila lumenn' omentielvo and all that good stuff. ( We're extremely sorry that this is so late. Phe-chan was out of state, and my computer has had a virus. I hope everyone will agree that these were circumstances beyond our control. The first part of this chapter is the same as what you may have already read posted as Chapter Six, but there is a good deal more at the end. Chapter 7 should be up before Friday, if I can manage it. Thank you for all of the reviews! - EHAB
Chapter 6: "DDR and Driving Lessons"
Andrea flew through the deep darkness, wet cold pressing into her nightshirt. Silver fish darted about above her, though they wouldn't swim lower than the faint rays of sun. Loneliness echoed in this place. And yet, the lonely sounds became a song she could not shake from her head. She drifted, hypnotized by the soft melody. Then a shadow of thought, an unnamable urgency, opened her eyes.
Her mind panicked at the sight of being so deep into the water, and she fought to reach air, only to find she could go on without it. The strange thoughts pushed her down into the shadows, and she tried to remember what was important but had never known to begin with. A glimmer, very much like a star, was hiding in the shadows. It was this that she swam towards. It seemed to dance in tune with the water. She sank downwards.
Deep blue turned to black and colors even deeper. Still the glimmer seemed to grow. And suddenly, the glow was everywhere. Before her was a blinding pearl of sun and moon.
BEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEP BEEEEEEEEEP BEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEP!
Andrea's eyes opened slowly at the sound of the alarm clock. She reached towards the snooze button.
THUMP!
Andrea's eyes widened at the sight of the Elvish dagger planted firmly into the now silent alarm clock. She rolled over with a growl and poked her husband.
"You did it again." Legolas mumbled something in Elvish and slept on. Andrea tugged at his sleeve. He opened his eyes and blinked at her.
"You did it again. And I'm going to start hiding your daggers if you don't stop killing my clocks." She sat up and began to tug at the dagger. The blade stayed stuck tight.
"I am sorry, my Squee. I did not mean to," Legolas whispered earnestly, reaching around her and pulling the blade free in a smooth, easy motion. Andrea fell back down onto the bed and blinked up at the ceiling.
"Pancakes," she said after a moment, and got out of bed for real. She turned and pulled Legolas out after her, and the two headed for the kitchen to make breakfast.
An hour or so later saw Andrea sitting on the couch, curled in Legolas's warm embrace. And yet, there was something wrong. Very wrong. The little back corner of her mind was screaming at the part trying to relax. She felt tense, as if waiting for the world to move. The morning news played a report about an animal shelter adoption event. Andrea leaned farther into her love, smiling as he stroked her hair. But the feeling wouldn't disappear. Restless, restless, restless...
"Is something wrong?" Legolas questioned at Andrea's badly suppressed sigh.
"Just...wanting to get out and do something I guess. But...not driving lessons," she answered softly. Legolas leaned over and kissed her cheek softly.
"Did I scare you that badly?"
"Let's just say that I didn't know the car could go that fast." This comment caused the elf to chuckle. Andrea couldn't help but laugh back. "Would you mind going to the mall?"
"Not at all, but Squee..."
"Hm?"
"Not in bunny slippers." Andrea blushed.
"Right." Legolas's bell-like laughter followed her down the hall.
~*~*~*~
The mall was filled with people bustling about, and music blared from every store, mixing into something that wasn't music at all, but a welcome sound all the same. Andrea felt better in the middle of all the activity. She split a giant pretzel with Legolas as she scanned the windows for sales. Mostly, she shopped for him, buying a lot of blue and dark green. Legolas was amused at how his Squee could react so enthusiastically to every new outfit he tried on. He was glad she was acting like her old self again.
As they walked, toting multiple bags, one song seemed to blare above all the other noise. Legolas recognized it as something his wife had played before. Andrea stopped and grinned up at him.
"It's DDR," she said excitedly. And then she was pulling him into the group crowded around the arcade. In the center of the crowd was the strangest machine Legolas had ever seen. It was a screen and two platforms of brightly colored squares. The music was coming from it, and two people danced upon the squares in time, or almost in time, to the little arrows moving up the screen. Andrea laughed happily and dug a few tokens from her purse. The two dancing people on the platforms were earning cheers from the crowd.
"We can play some, too," Andrea exclaimed happily. She was almost bouncing in her excitement.
"Er...that's alright, Melamin, I would rather just watch..." Andrea gave Legolas a confused look but shrugged her shoulders.
"Alright then...but you don't mind if I go?" Andrea looked longingly at the strange contraption. Legolas chuckled and planted a soft kiss to the top of her head.
"Go on, Squee."
The two dancers finished their turn and Andrea bounced easily onto the platform as another girl stepped up to the second one. They each deposited tokens in the slots, and Andrea used the marked squares to scroll through the songs and looked at the other girl until a silent agreement was reached. Then it began.
At first Andrea stood stock still, and when the first arrow came, she was ready. Her light feet found the rhythm easily. Legolas blinked in surprise. The clumsy girl danced with a surprising balance. Still, she was no elf, and tripped when the song had ended.
"Oooouch."
"You fell again," remarked a cheerful voice. Andrea spun around from her seat on the floor.
"Megan! Ohayo." Megan grinned and waved the Squee and her elf over.
"You are coming with me," she said sternly. "I will not die alone."
"Wha?"
~*~*~*~
"Aaaaaaaaaaah! Uncle! I said UNCLE! SWEET MONKEYS MAKE IT STOOOOOP!"
"No, don't stop on the highway!" Megan screamed. Andrea hit the seat in front of her before being thrown backwards as the SUV raced down the road, an elf behind the wheel.
"Erynen..." Erynsir started, "our turn is the one you're passing." Everyone was flung to the side despite their seatbelts as the car swerved madly around and onto the smaller road. About the time that they did so, a short, square-ish figure stepped out into the direct path of the speeding vehicle.
"BRAAAAAKES!" Megan screamed at the top of her lungs. The SUV halted only inches from the figure. Megan, who had been clutching at the handle, fell forward as it broke. "...my holy fudge handle..."
"Hey isn't that a -" began Sivi. The figure raised a battle-axe.
"GIMLI!" Legolas yelled, leaping out. The dwarf stopped his attack on the car and blinked at the elf. Andrea looked at the empty seat, concerned.
"Was he wearing a seat belt?" she asked of the others. They shrugged as more figures came out of the trees by the road.
Aragorn looked at Legolas in amazement and shock. After a moment of staring, his mind formed only one sentence.
"What are you wearing?"
"Khaki cargo pants, sunglasses, and a green shirt," replied a cheerful voice from the car. Andrea slid rather ungracefully out of the high back seat. "Hiya," she added when she took note of the strange looks she was receiving.
"Hello again, Lass," Gimli said a touch gruffly.
"Gimli! Ohayo, Small and Fuzzy One," Andrea grinned happily. "Who have you brought with you?"
"Everyone, it seems," Sivi commented, stepping from the car and smiling sedately at the newcomers.
"Greetings, Lady," Galadriel said with inclined head.
"Hello, Lady Galadriel. Just call me 'Sivi,' please."
"As you will," the Lady of Light said deferentially, causing Aragorn to wonder just who this "Sivi" was.
"May I ask your errand, Lady of Elves?" Sivi inquired.
"Um... Sivi," Megan from the car, "you're standing in the middle of the road, our car's blocking two lanes of traffic, and you're talking to some people that the average New Yorker could only assume are late for their Broadway dress rehearsal."
"Right. My lords and ladies, would you deem it good to accompany us to a more appropriate place to dine and discuss?" Sivi offered courteously.
"We're gonna have to call a cab," Christina added. "Maybe two. All I know's we won't all fit in the SUV. We're squeezed tight enough as't is."
A car horn blared loudly. Legolas flipped one of his Elven knives from beneath his shirt and sent it whirling through the air until it embedded itself firmly in the offending motorist's hood. The driver looked as though he couldn't decide whether to roll down the window and start cussing or phone the authorities and report a mad knifeman on the loose. Legolas glared at him over the rims of his sunglasses, and the driver decided to do neither.
"We will come, assurèdly," Elrond said politely. "What is a 'cab'?"
~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~
A good half of an hour later, they arrived outside The Place. Celeborn thanked the taxi driver, still unsure what the strange man meant by "big tip," which seemed about the only thing the driver knew how to say in the Common Tongue. Legolas, who had ridden with the newcomers in one of the taxis after first retrieving his dagger, gave the man a few small, green pieces of paper, which apparently sufficed. They strode into the foyer, only to stand blinking in the whirlwind of colours, odors, and sounds.
"Onh-honh-honh, who eez zeece?" came a strange voice to their left. The newcomers jumped, but the voice continued unperturbed and was soon given a body as a pale, dark-haired boy with a hungry look in his eyes approached from the shadows.
"Andrea-chan, you have brought us... food?"
"Er -" began Andrea.
"Are zey sane? Are zey mentally sound? Zat eez to say... are zey... normal?"
"No, I'm afraid they aren't really very normal at all," Andrea said hurriedly.
"Ah..." the boy sighed, obviously disappointed. He darted back into the shadows, only to accost the party behind them, saying gleefully, "I vant to suck your sanity!"
"Amm... Squee?" Legolas queried.
"That's Zane. He's one of the Normalcy Vampires. Poor thing; he nearly starved a couple of weeks ago until somebody had pity on him and fed him their mother-in-law. He can't eat the Regulars' sanity - they don't have any. No one at The Place is normal."
"I see that," Faramir commented faintly.
They continued inside and found a table. Sarah was working that day, so they made sure to sit in her section. She found them quickly.
"Two things," she said when she had taken their orders: "One, Uncle Elmo went to see Andrea's mom, said he needed to talk to her. Two, Andrea, there's an arachnid in the corner with a pretty for sale."
"All that is code," Megan explained to the newcomers, "for: 'Sarah's Uncle Ulm - I mean, Elmo, has gone out of town to visit Andrea's mother, and there is a man in the corner who keeps a cartload of spiders as pets - and not necessarily in cages -, and who has something shiny that he would like to sell to Andrea.'"
"Oh," said Eowyn.
Andrea slid from the huge, round corner booth and darted across the room. They watched her haggle with the man for a while before Galadriel said,
"Actually, Sivi, we had hoped for an audience with you uncle."
"He should be back in a few hours," Sivi said. "Is it urgent?"
"Well, as a matter of fact," Celeborn began, and the newcomers told their story.
Just as Arwen was explaining, "Grandmother suggested we come to seek your counsel and your uncle's," Andrea came bouncing cheerily back with a beautiful gilded katana in a richly decorated scabbard.
"What did you get it for?" asked Sarah as she set their food down on the table and then sat down to join them.
"What is it?" asked Haldir, Erynen, and Erynsir together.
"It's a katana, silly; a Japanese sword. He sold it to me for five packages of tea, two giant pixi-stix, forty dollars, a favor, and one normal person's sanity," Andrea declared brightly.
"Oh, I didn't know Adam was a Normalcy Vampire," Megan commented.
"Yep. I'm gonna feed him my pet freshman."
"I've never understood why you collect swords, Melamin," Legolas said, shaking his head.
"Sivi does it, too," Andrea protested. "And how did you know I collect swords?"
"Sivi knows how to use them," Gil-galad pointed out.
"And yours aren't exactly that well-hidden, Squee," Legolas added with a smile.
"When we've eaten, how 'bout I call Jeremie and Bor -"
Christina stopped, realizing that Faramir, Aragorn, and the others - but especially Faramir - did not know that because of her efforts, Boromir yet lived. She changed her sentence.
"Y'know, Jeremie and his buddy he rooms with. We can all go to Central Park an' talk. It's noisy in here."
"It's alright with me if it's alright with Their Majesties," Sivi said easily.
"Most certainly; I would like to see one of the parks of this strange land," Eomer said curiously.
Sivi and Megan just looked at one another with a sort of mutual, tired smile.
~Phe-chan
EHAB here. Elen sila lumenn' omentielvo and all that good stuff. ( We're extremely sorry that this is so late. Phe-chan was out of state, and my computer has had a virus. I hope everyone will agree that these were circumstances beyond our control. The first part of this chapter is the same as what you may have already read posted as Chapter Six, but there is a good deal more at the end. Chapter 7 should be up before Friday, if I can manage it. Thank you for all of the reviews! - EHAB
Chapter 6: "DDR and Driving Lessons"
Andrea flew through the deep darkness, wet cold pressing into her nightshirt. Silver fish darted about above her, though they wouldn't swim lower than the faint rays of sun. Loneliness echoed in this place. And yet, the lonely sounds became a song she could not shake from her head. She drifted, hypnotized by the soft melody. Then a shadow of thought, an unnamable urgency, opened her eyes.
Her mind panicked at the sight of being so deep into the water, and she fought to reach air, only to find she could go on without it. The strange thoughts pushed her down into the shadows, and she tried to remember what was important but had never known to begin with. A glimmer, very much like a star, was hiding in the shadows. It was this that she swam towards. It seemed to dance in tune with the water. She sank downwards.
Deep blue turned to black and colors even deeper. Still the glimmer seemed to grow. And suddenly, the glow was everywhere. Before her was a blinding pearl of sun and moon.
BEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEP BEEEEEEEEEP BEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEP!
Andrea's eyes opened slowly at the sound of the alarm clock. She reached towards the snooze button.
THUMP!
Andrea's eyes widened at the sight of the Elvish dagger planted firmly into the now silent alarm clock. She rolled over with a growl and poked her husband.
"You did it again." Legolas mumbled something in Elvish and slept on. Andrea tugged at his sleeve. He opened his eyes and blinked at her.
"You did it again. And I'm going to start hiding your daggers if you don't stop killing my clocks." She sat up and began to tug at the dagger. The blade stayed stuck tight.
"I am sorry, my Squee. I did not mean to," Legolas whispered earnestly, reaching around her and pulling the blade free in a smooth, easy motion. Andrea fell back down onto the bed and blinked up at the ceiling.
"Pancakes," she said after a moment, and got out of bed for real. She turned and pulled Legolas out after her, and the two headed for the kitchen to make breakfast.
An hour or so later saw Andrea sitting on the couch, curled in Legolas's warm embrace. And yet, there was something wrong. Very wrong. The little back corner of her mind was screaming at the part trying to relax. She felt tense, as if waiting for the world to move. The morning news played a report about an animal shelter adoption event. Andrea leaned farther into her love, smiling as he stroked her hair. But the feeling wouldn't disappear. Restless, restless, restless...
"Is something wrong?" Legolas questioned at Andrea's badly suppressed sigh.
"Just...wanting to get out and do something I guess. But...not driving lessons," she answered softly. Legolas leaned over and kissed her cheek softly.
"Did I scare you that badly?"
"Let's just say that I didn't know the car could go that fast." This comment caused the elf to chuckle. Andrea couldn't help but laugh back. "Would you mind going to the mall?"
"Not at all, but Squee..."
"Hm?"
"Not in bunny slippers." Andrea blushed.
"Right." Legolas's bell-like laughter followed her down the hall.
~*~*~*~
The mall was filled with people bustling about, and music blared from every store, mixing into something that wasn't music at all, but a welcome sound all the same. Andrea felt better in the middle of all the activity. She split a giant pretzel with Legolas as she scanned the windows for sales. Mostly, she shopped for him, buying a lot of blue and dark green. Legolas was amused at how his Squee could react so enthusiastically to every new outfit he tried on. He was glad she was acting like her old self again.
As they walked, toting multiple bags, one song seemed to blare above all the other noise. Legolas recognized it as something his wife had played before. Andrea stopped and grinned up at him.
"It's DDR," she said excitedly. And then she was pulling him into the group crowded around the arcade. In the center of the crowd was the strangest machine Legolas had ever seen. It was a screen and two platforms of brightly colored squares. The music was coming from it, and two people danced upon the squares in time, or almost in time, to the little arrows moving up the screen. Andrea laughed happily and dug a few tokens from her purse. The two dancing people on the platforms were earning cheers from the crowd.
"We can play some, too," Andrea exclaimed happily. She was almost bouncing in her excitement.
"Er...that's alright, Melamin, I would rather just watch..." Andrea gave Legolas a confused look but shrugged her shoulders.
"Alright then...but you don't mind if I go?" Andrea looked longingly at the strange contraption. Legolas chuckled and planted a soft kiss to the top of her head.
"Go on, Squee."
The two dancers finished their turn and Andrea bounced easily onto the platform as another girl stepped up to the second one. They each deposited tokens in the slots, and Andrea used the marked squares to scroll through the songs and looked at the other girl until a silent agreement was reached. Then it began.
At first Andrea stood stock still, and when the first arrow came, she was ready. Her light feet found the rhythm easily. Legolas blinked in surprise. The clumsy girl danced with a surprising balance. Still, she was no elf, and tripped when the song had ended.
"Oooouch."
"You fell again," remarked a cheerful voice. Andrea spun around from her seat on the floor.
"Megan! Ohayo." Megan grinned and waved the Squee and her elf over.
"You are coming with me," she said sternly. "I will not die alone."
"Wha?"
~*~*~*~
"Aaaaaaaaaaah! Uncle! I said UNCLE! SWEET MONKEYS MAKE IT STOOOOOP!"
"No, don't stop on the highway!" Megan screamed. Andrea hit the seat in front of her before being thrown backwards as the SUV raced down the road, an elf behind the wheel.
"Erynen..." Erynsir started, "our turn is the one you're passing." Everyone was flung to the side despite their seatbelts as the car swerved madly around and onto the smaller road. About the time that they did so, a short, square-ish figure stepped out into the direct path of the speeding vehicle.
"BRAAAAAKES!" Megan screamed at the top of her lungs. The SUV halted only inches from the figure. Megan, who had been clutching at the handle, fell forward as it broke. "...my holy fudge handle..."
"Hey isn't that a -" began Sivi. The figure raised a battle-axe.
"GIMLI!" Legolas yelled, leaping out. The dwarf stopped his attack on the car and blinked at the elf. Andrea looked at the empty seat, concerned.
"Was he wearing a seat belt?" she asked of the others. They shrugged as more figures came out of the trees by the road.
Aragorn looked at Legolas in amazement and shock. After a moment of staring, his mind formed only one sentence.
"What are you wearing?"
"Khaki cargo pants, sunglasses, and a green shirt," replied a cheerful voice from the car. Andrea slid rather ungracefully out of the high back seat. "Hiya," she added when she took note of the strange looks she was receiving.
"Hello again, Lass," Gimli said a touch gruffly.
"Gimli! Ohayo, Small and Fuzzy One," Andrea grinned happily. "Who have you brought with you?"
"Everyone, it seems," Sivi commented, stepping from the car and smiling sedately at the newcomers.
"Greetings, Lady," Galadriel said with inclined head.
"Hello, Lady Galadriel. Just call me 'Sivi,' please."
"As you will," the Lady of Light said deferentially, causing Aragorn to wonder just who this "Sivi" was.
"May I ask your errand, Lady of Elves?" Sivi inquired.
"Um... Sivi," Megan from the car, "you're standing in the middle of the road, our car's blocking two lanes of traffic, and you're talking to some people that the average New Yorker could only assume are late for their Broadway dress rehearsal."
"Right. My lords and ladies, would you deem it good to accompany us to a more appropriate place to dine and discuss?" Sivi offered courteously.
"We're gonna have to call a cab," Christina added. "Maybe two. All I know's we won't all fit in the SUV. We're squeezed tight enough as't is."
A car horn blared loudly. Legolas flipped one of his Elven knives from beneath his shirt and sent it whirling through the air until it embedded itself firmly in the offending motorist's hood. The driver looked as though he couldn't decide whether to roll down the window and start cussing or phone the authorities and report a mad knifeman on the loose. Legolas glared at him over the rims of his sunglasses, and the driver decided to do neither.
"We will come, assurèdly," Elrond said politely. "What is a 'cab'?"
~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~
A good half of an hour later, they arrived outside The Place. Celeborn thanked the taxi driver, still unsure what the strange man meant by "big tip," which seemed about the only thing the driver knew how to say in the Common Tongue. Legolas, who had ridden with the newcomers in one of the taxis after first retrieving his dagger, gave the man a few small, green pieces of paper, which apparently sufficed. They strode into the foyer, only to stand blinking in the whirlwind of colours, odors, and sounds.
"Onh-honh-honh, who eez zeece?" came a strange voice to their left. The newcomers jumped, but the voice continued unperturbed and was soon given a body as a pale, dark-haired boy with a hungry look in his eyes approached from the shadows.
"Andrea-chan, you have brought us... food?"
"Er -" began Andrea.
"Are zey sane? Are zey mentally sound? Zat eez to say... are zey... normal?"
"No, I'm afraid they aren't really very normal at all," Andrea said hurriedly.
"Ah..." the boy sighed, obviously disappointed. He darted back into the shadows, only to accost the party behind them, saying gleefully, "I vant to suck your sanity!"
"Amm... Squee?" Legolas queried.
"That's Zane. He's one of the Normalcy Vampires. Poor thing; he nearly starved a couple of weeks ago until somebody had pity on him and fed him their mother-in-law. He can't eat the Regulars' sanity - they don't have any. No one at The Place is normal."
"I see that," Faramir commented faintly.
They continued inside and found a table. Sarah was working that day, so they made sure to sit in her section. She found them quickly.
"Two things," she said when she had taken their orders: "One, Uncle Elmo went to see Andrea's mom, said he needed to talk to her. Two, Andrea, there's an arachnid in the corner with a pretty for sale."
"All that is code," Megan explained to the newcomers, "for: 'Sarah's Uncle Ulm - I mean, Elmo, has gone out of town to visit Andrea's mother, and there is a man in the corner who keeps a cartload of spiders as pets - and not necessarily in cages -, and who has something shiny that he would like to sell to Andrea.'"
"Oh," said Eowyn.
Andrea slid from the huge, round corner booth and darted across the room. They watched her haggle with the man for a while before Galadriel said,
"Actually, Sivi, we had hoped for an audience with you uncle."
"He should be back in a few hours," Sivi said. "Is it urgent?"
"Well, as a matter of fact," Celeborn began, and the newcomers told their story.
Just as Arwen was explaining, "Grandmother suggested we come to seek your counsel and your uncle's," Andrea came bouncing cheerily back with a beautiful gilded katana in a richly decorated scabbard.
"What did you get it for?" asked Sarah as she set their food down on the table and then sat down to join them.
"What is it?" asked Haldir, Erynen, and Erynsir together.
"It's a katana, silly; a Japanese sword. He sold it to me for five packages of tea, two giant pixi-stix, forty dollars, a favor, and one normal person's sanity," Andrea declared brightly.
"Oh, I didn't know Adam was a Normalcy Vampire," Megan commented.
"Yep. I'm gonna feed him my pet freshman."
"I've never understood why you collect swords, Melamin," Legolas said, shaking his head.
"Sivi does it, too," Andrea protested. "And how did you know I collect swords?"
"Sivi knows how to use them," Gil-galad pointed out.
"And yours aren't exactly that well-hidden, Squee," Legolas added with a smile.
"When we've eaten, how 'bout I call Jeremie and Bor -"
Christina stopped, realizing that Faramir, Aragorn, and the others - but especially Faramir - did not know that because of her efforts, Boromir yet lived. She changed her sentence.
"Y'know, Jeremie and his buddy he rooms with. We can all go to Central Park an' talk. It's noisy in here."
"It's alright with me if it's alright with Their Majesties," Sivi said easily.
"Most certainly; I would like to see one of the parks of this strange land," Eomer said curiously.
Sivi and Megan just looked at one another with a sort of mutual, tired smile.