-THE GAMES OF THE GODS-
-Disclaimer:-
CS: Not mine. At least, not until I find several trillion dollars worth of small yellow beads and use them to buy Tolkiens estate.
Glorfindel: Small yellow beads?
CS: Yes.
Rachel: I hesitate to ask...but why small yellow beads?
CS: Because they're the first thing that popped into my head.
Rachel: ...
Glorfindel: Riiiiiiight... *backs away slowly, followed by Rachel*
-11: Glorfindel-
While Glorfindel had said to come to his study after getting Liltalen settled, after getting Liltalen settled, I realized two things that delayed me from doing what he'd said. One, I was sweaty and sticky and wearing none-to-clean clothes, and two, I had no idea where Glorfindel's study was. I solved part of the first problem by going to my room - only stopping to ask for directions twice - and changing into a light blue cotton dress. It was possibly the plainest of all the dresses in the wardrobe, but it also looked to be the most comfortable, and for now I was in the mood to be comfortable.
After that, I checked on Kari and found her gone, along with the note I'd left for her. No help from her in finding Glorfindel's study, then. Instead, I walked out into the hallways and snagged the first elf I ran across and asked them where Glorfindel's study was. Surprisingly, they didn't know. I thanked them and wandered off, looking for another Elf. I almost literally ran into another after a limited amount of wandering, and once again asked where Glorfindel's study was.
"Why do you want to know?" the elf asked curiously.
"Glorfindel asked me to see him there so he could chew me out about galloping into Rivendell." I replied dismissively, starting to wonder if the location of Glorfindel's study was top-secret or something.
"Oh, that was you?" the elf said with a chuckle, and I nodded. "Well, follow me then, I shall show you to his study."
"No need to show me, just tell me and I'll be relatively fine." I replied, not wanting to bother the elf.
"No, you will not be fine." the elf said with amusement. "His study is possibly the hardest place to find in all of Rivendell."
"Well, I don't want to be a bother..." I said reluctantly.
"It is no trouble." the elf said dismissively, then motioned for me to follow as he set off down the corridor. As I followed him, I realized that he had been right about me not being fine if I'd tried to get to Glorfindel's study myself. It seemed at every intersection we came across, we turned, and once we even had to go behind a wall hanging.
"Geez, he really doesn't want people to find his study, does he?" I murmured after awhile, and my guide chuckled.
"No, he does not. This is just the quick way, though. There is a much longer way that is somewhat easier." he said.
"The 'somewhat' part of that statement scares me." I said dryly. My guide chuckled again, but then we fell into silence once more as he continued to lead me through winding corridors. It occurred to me after awhile that we were coming into a much less inhabited part of Rivendell and before I could stop it, the thought that no one would hear me scream popped into my head. I twitched, though my guide didn't notice it, as just about every horror scene that I'd ever read, watched, or heard about popped into my head.
Then I smiled ruefully. Only I could be in Rivendell and be reminded of horror stories. I silently reprimanded myself. These were Elves; nice, perfect, glowing beings. The only things they harmed were their enemies, which I was not one of. At least, I hoped I was not numbered as one of Glorfindel's enemies...that was the last thing I needed, a risen-from-the-dead Balrog slayer mad at me.
Before I could worry about it too much, though, my guide stopped in front of a door and announced that this was it. Without even bothering to knock, my guide opened the door and stuck his head in.
"Rachel's here." he said. I momentarily wondered how he'd known my name, but then figured he'd probably heard of me. Most Elves had by now, I was sure.
"Ah, thank you, Erestor." Glorfindel voice came in reply, and I started somewhat at the name. I scowled slightly at LORD Erestor, and he grinned back before waving and heading back off down the hall. Once he was gone, I tentatively pushed open the door to Glorfindel's study more, stepped inside - and gasped.
Whatever I'd been expecting, it hadn't been this. Glorfindel's 'study' was more of a greenhouse. There were plants EVERYWHERE, and one entire wall of the room was glass - a substance I hadn't even known they'd had in Middle-Earth up until this point - and showed that the study was fairly high up in the valley, overlooking the majority of the buildings in Rivendell. I couldn't even see to other walls for the plants, and the roof was so far above my head I had to wonder if it even existed. There was a desk in one corner with various writing materials and other things on it, but it was carved to look like a bent over tree and fit in almost perfectly with the surroundings. Behind the desk was a large rack, holding various weapons, and that was when I noticed that the ground in the center of the 'study' was made of dirt, like it was a sparring field. Study? Oh no, this was Glorfindel's playground. And somehow that made me even more uneasy than before.
"Quite a nice study, do you not think?" Glorfindel asked with amusement, pulling me out of my scrutiny of the room. I turned my attention to him where he stood leaning against a tree. I had to whack my inner teenie at that sight - he was practically smirking, leaning up against a tree and looking about ten times more sexy than normal. These Elven men were going to be the death of me with their sexiness.
"I'd call it more of an indoor garden and arena, myself." I replied carefully, pushing thoughts of Glorfindel's sexiness out of my head as I remembered what I was here for. Glorfindel considered my statement for a moment, and then nodded.
"I would, too. Elrond claimed I needed to have a study, however." he said.
"Well then I guess this is as good as anything." I said, shifting my weight from foot to foot. This casual conversation was not what I expected, and I was beginning to think that there was another reason entirely for him calling me here. My instincts are far too good, sometimes.
"Come, have a seat." Glorfindel said abruptly, pushing himself away from the tree and striding over to his desk. I looked around, but couldn't for the life of me see a chair for me to sit in. Heck, I couldn't even see one behind the desk.
"Where?" I asked, giving Glorfindel a curious look. A strange gleam entering his eyes was all the warning I had before he swiftly pulled a tall stool made from a tree stump out from underneath his desk and tossed it to me. Due to reflexes developed from Kari's habit of throwing things at me when I teased her, I managed to catch the stool. I shot Glorfindel another look, wondering how he had known I would catch it - or if he knew I would catch it. His face was impassive, however, as he pulled another stool out from underneath his desk and sat on it.
Shrugging, I placed the stool on the opposite side of the desk from him, so I could see all his weapons arrayed behind him, and then sat down. Glorfindel simply looked at me, his face unreadable, for a few moments, and then he casually picked up a quill and started twirling it between his fingers.
"You are quite the enigma, Rachel." he said. I arched an eyebrow.
"I thought I was here to be told off for riding into Rivendell at a gallop?" I asked.
"Ah yes, don't do that again." Glorfindel said, his tone only mildly scolding. "It alarms and scares the guards, not to mention everybody else." Then, with a wave of his empty hand, he dismissed the topic. "So, tell me, where do you and Kari REALLY hail from?" I almost choked, but opted to gape at Glorfindel in surprise instead - less fatal. Unless a fly flew down my throat. I turned my attention back to Glorfindel as he looked as me with amusement. "I am quite old, and quite hard to fool. And considering that you came SHOOTING OUT of a river at me, I am quite sure you do not come from Eregion, unless the Elves from Eregion learned how to master the element of water?"
"Shooting out of a river?!" I exclaimed. "You said you found us in a river!"
"Well, I did. Sort of." Glorfindel said vaguely, waving a hand through the air. "I guess it was more like I found the river, and then you found me." I looked at him for a moment, and then shook my head in amusement, suddenly reminded of my own crazy excuses that I kept giving Kari.
"Right." I said.
"So, where do you hail from?" Glorfindel asked again, putting down the quill and looking at me expectantly.
"Earth." I replied without hesitation. No sense in keeping up the lie if he knew it was a lie.
"Earth?" Glorfindel asked with an arched eyebrow.
"Yeah. It's either another world, in another universe, or a long ways in the future." I replied. "I don't want to be bothered to figure out which. All I know is there's no magic - or any thinking creature other than humans - on Earth, unlike here."
"Nothing thinking creature other than humans? You and Kari must have stood out somewhat." Glorfindel said curiously. I shifted nervously, deciding I wasn't really liking this conversation. It was bound to end up with me telling him about Tolkien's books about Middle-Earth, and that was something I never, ever wanted to have to explain. Glorfindel was expecting an answer, though, so I tried to hedge as best I could.
"Uhm, well, see, until Kari and I arrived here, we were...uh...we weren't exactly elves." I said.
"Indeed?" Glorfindel asked, arching an eyebrow. He looked so serious, that I gave into the childish impulse that occurred to me.
"Yeah. We were lizards." I deadpanned. Glorfindel shot me a withering look, and I grinned and elaborated, "Of the human variety."
"And did your appearances change any when you came from this...Earth?" Glorfindel asked.
"Kari's didn't, no." I said, looking at Glorfindel curiously, wondering what brought on that question. "Mine did rather drastically, though."
"How drastically?" Glorfindel asked, looking at me intently.
"Well, I used to be several inches shorter, and had dark black hair, and darker, blue-er eyes." I replied, and much to my confusion, Glorfindel nodded as if in satisfaction. "Why do you ask?" I asked, my curiosity getting the better of me.
"Because I see double whenever I look at you." Glorfindel replied. "At least, whenever you are conscious."
"WHAT?!" I exclaimed, utterly surprised. Glorfindel nodded.
"I see you as a typical Lorien elf, and then there's a fuzzier side image of you as you just described yourself when on Earth." he said.
"Well, that takes the fuzzy pickle." I said with a frown of thought. My mind was running a mile a minute, wondering what was going on, and trying to come up with reasons for it having happened. Unfortunately, my mind wasn't having much success.
"Indeed." Glorfindel said, only looking at me slightly oddly for my strange expression. "Tell me, how did you come to Middle-Earth?" That instantly brought my mind into focus again, and I shifted uncomfortably again.
"Fell in a river?" I tried, since I had rivers on my mind from his little revelation. Glorfindel arched an eyebrow, and I took a shaky breath. "Well, I can't really be sure, but...I think Kari and I were somehow transported here when we were just about to die. Or maybe we were already dead." Both of Glorfindel's eyebrows shot up.
"You died?" he asked.
"We may have. I don't know. I lost my hearing due to a lightning strike shortly before getting transported here, so I couldn't check easily to see if Kari was still alive before we came here." I replied with a shrug.
"A lightning strike? I think you should start this tale from the beginning." Glorfindel said. I laughed slightly.
"There's not much to tell. Kari and I were at home, it started raining, Kari decided to go out dancing in the rain and dragged me out with her, and lightning hit our house. The thunder from the lightning wrecked my hearing, and hurt Kari badly. So I risked running back into our house - which had been the target of the lightning strike and was now burning - and, uh," I paused, wondering how to explain a telephone, then just decided not to mention it and continued, "Contacted some people for help. The last thing I remember after that, before waking up here in Rivendell, was running towards the exit of the house."
"And that's all you remember?" Glorfindel asked quietly, his eyes boring into mine as if searching for something.
"Yes - no." I frowned as memories - impressions, really - surfaced that my mind told me were from that unconscious period between running out of the house and waking up in Rivendell. Almost reluctantly, I probed deeper into them, and then started talking about what I saw. "I remember - this is going to sound corny - but I remember a bright light. And a voice, talking to me. It was a...comforting voice. Soft. And slightly scary, though in a good way. I don't know what it said. I replied to it at the time, though. Can't remember what I said, either. That's it." I said. A strange looked flitted through Glorfindel's eyes as I said this, but then he shook his head and dismissed it.
"Very interesting." he said.
"Disturbing, actually." I said distractedly, still sorting through my newly-surfaced memories/impressions.
"I'm sure. Memories of death usually are." Glorfindel said softly, a pained look in his eyes.
"Hey now, I only THINK Kari and I might have died. It's just disturbing to have memories suddenly surface like that." I said. Glorfindel smiled slightly.
"No, Rachel, whatever you may believe, you died." he said.
"And how can you be so sure?" I retorted, suddenly angry. I wasn't scared of death - I disliked the fact that I'd have to leave the world and everyone I knew behind, but I wasn't scared of it. The thought of dieing and then coming back to life scared the shit out of me, though.
"I have experience in such things." Glorfindel said dryly. I rolled my eyes.
"Right, the almighty risen-from-the-dead Balrog slayer can tell from a simple description of vague memories and impressions that I died and then came back to life. Sorry buddy, doesn't cut it with me, even if you had exactly the same experience when you died." I said with a snort, and Glorfindel stiffened, his eyes narrowing. I had enough time to wonder if he was going to attack me before he spoke, his voice quiet and icy-cold.
"How do you know that I have died? Very few people know that, and you should not be one of them."
Shit. Didn't know I wasn't supposed to know about that. I mentally banged my head against a wall - I'd just lead the conversation in the exact direction I hadn't wanted it to take.
"Uhm..." I said intelligently. My mind was just pulling a blank on a convincing lie about how I knew about him dieing. "I guessed?" I tried, smiling tentatively.
"Try again." Glorfindel said, crossing his arms across his chest and looking at me sternly.
"Uh...youreallcharactersinbooksbackinmyworldandireadthosebooksandsoiknowallaboutyoupeople?" I spoke quickly, but amazingly, Glorfindel seemed to have gotten it. At least, his eyes widened in something akin to shock. Maybe he was just shocked at how fast I could speak.
"In books?" Nope, he caught it. I nodded hesitantly. "And what exactly do these books say about Middle-Earth?" Glorfindel asked. I hesitated, and then decided to just go for it.
"They tell of the history of Middle-Earth, from the Valar's creation of it to the end of the Third Age, and some of the Fourth Age." I said. "And they're surprisingly small books for having all of that."
"So...you know the future, then?" Glorfindel asked, looking at me intensely once more.
"Uh, sorta. I mean, there are thousands of possible futures that could happen. I just know one. It could be the future, but then again, it could not." I said nervously, suddenly really glad I'd watched the 'Andromeda' TV show and listened to Trance's babble about thousands of possible futures.
"And Kari? Has she read these books as well?" Glorfindel asked.
"Yes. Once. She was always more interested the mov-uh...plays." I replied, deciding it was best not to try and explain movies to Glorfindel. It still caught his attention, however, and he arched an eyebrow in interest.
"Plays?" he asked.
"Um, yeah, the tale of the end of the Third Age of Middle-Earth is kinda a legend back home." I said, rubbing the back of my neck nervously. Glorfindel stared at me for awhile, his expression thoughtful.
"Incredible." he said finally. I snorted.
"Hey, you're not the one in what you previously thought was a story." I said. "When you are, then you can talk to me about incredible."
"I suppose so." Glorfindel said. "So I take it your and Kari's name's actually are Rachel and Kari?" I nodded.
"Yep. We made up Elvish names for each other one day when we were bored." I said.
"Mm-hm." was Glorfindel's reply. He stared at me thoughtfully for a few more moments, then shook himself and stood. "Well, this has been a most interesting afternoon, Rachel." he said.
"For you." I grumbled good-naturedly, and Glorfindel smiled briefly. I absently noted that he should smile more often. It made him seem a lot younger, instead of making him look like a dreary old Elf Lord that has lived way too long and seen way too many things.
"Yes indeed. Anyway. As I see there being no harm in continuing your story that you and Kari are from Eregion, I shall not tell anyone of what we spoke of this afternoon unless specifically asked about it." he said.
"Thanks, you're munderful!" I said cheerfully, bouncing up from the stool. I resisted the urge to glomp onto him, however - I didn't think he'd take kindly to it. Glorfindel smiled again at my energy, and I couldn't help but smile back. Never mind I was already grinning.
"It is no trouble." he said. "Now come, I believe it is time for supper." Surprised, I looked out the window and saw that the sun was indeed very low in the sky. At that reminder of the time, my stomach decided to put in its two cents and growled noisily. Glorfindel and I both looked at my stomach in amusement.
"My stomach agrees with that." I announced. "Let's go." With that, I took Glorfindel's proffered arm, and we set off along the winding corridors to the dining hall.
"Hey, do you mind if I call you Glory?" I asked after a pause.
"'Glory'?" Glorfindel asked with an arched eyebrow.
"It's better than Dely, isn't it?" I replied with a shrug and a grin. "Or Findely. That sounds like a cross between fondle and spindly." Glorfindel just looked at me for a moment, and then started laughing.
Note to self: Make Elf Lords laugh more often. They are damn sexy when doing so.
----To be continued...with angst!----
(Finally)
-Authors Note:-
I seriously am loving all of you reviewers. Most of you are insane (like me), or at least halfway there, which makes all your reviews twice as funny.
And in other news, school royally sucks. So does lack of sleep. Mainly due to school. Ugh...I'm gonna go draw pictures of Glorfindel and Rachel now. (I want a scanner...)
~Crimson R. Starlight, R standing for Random
-Disclaimer:-
CS: Not mine. At least, not until I find several trillion dollars worth of small yellow beads and use them to buy Tolkiens estate.
Glorfindel: Small yellow beads?
CS: Yes.
Rachel: I hesitate to ask...but why small yellow beads?
CS: Because they're the first thing that popped into my head.
Rachel: ...
Glorfindel: Riiiiiiight... *backs away slowly, followed by Rachel*
-11: Glorfindel-
While Glorfindel had said to come to his study after getting Liltalen settled, after getting Liltalen settled, I realized two things that delayed me from doing what he'd said. One, I was sweaty and sticky and wearing none-to-clean clothes, and two, I had no idea where Glorfindel's study was. I solved part of the first problem by going to my room - only stopping to ask for directions twice - and changing into a light blue cotton dress. It was possibly the plainest of all the dresses in the wardrobe, but it also looked to be the most comfortable, and for now I was in the mood to be comfortable.
After that, I checked on Kari and found her gone, along with the note I'd left for her. No help from her in finding Glorfindel's study, then. Instead, I walked out into the hallways and snagged the first elf I ran across and asked them where Glorfindel's study was. Surprisingly, they didn't know. I thanked them and wandered off, looking for another Elf. I almost literally ran into another after a limited amount of wandering, and once again asked where Glorfindel's study was.
"Why do you want to know?" the elf asked curiously.
"Glorfindel asked me to see him there so he could chew me out about galloping into Rivendell." I replied dismissively, starting to wonder if the location of Glorfindel's study was top-secret or something.
"Oh, that was you?" the elf said with a chuckle, and I nodded. "Well, follow me then, I shall show you to his study."
"No need to show me, just tell me and I'll be relatively fine." I replied, not wanting to bother the elf.
"No, you will not be fine." the elf said with amusement. "His study is possibly the hardest place to find in all of Rivendell."
"Well, I don't want to be a bother..." I said reluctantly.
"It is no trouble." the elf said dismissively, then motioned for me to follow as he set off down the corridor. As I followed him, I realized that he had been right about me not being fine if I'd tried to get to Glorfindel's study myself. It seemed at every intersection we came across, we turned, and once we even had to go behind a wall hanging.
"Geez, he really doesn't want people to find his study, does he?" I murmured after awhile, and my guide chuckled.
"No, he does not. This is just the quick way, though. There is a much longer way that is somewhat easier." he said.
"The 'somewhat' part of that statement scares me." I said dryly. My guide chuckled again, but then we fell into silence once more as he continued to lead me through winding corridors. It occurred to me after awhile that we were coming into a much less inhabited part of Rivendell and before I could stop it, the thought that no one would hear me scream popped into my head. I twitched, though my guide didn't notice it, as just about every horror scene that I'd ever read, watched, or heard about popped into my head.
Then I smiled ruefully. Only I could be in Rivendell and be reminded of horror stories. I silently reprimanded myself. These were Elves; nice, perfect, glowing beings. The only things they harmed were their enemies, which I was not one of. At least, I hoped I was not numbered as one of Glorfindel's enemies...that was the last thing I needed, a risen-from-the-dead Balrog slayer mad at me.
Before I could worry about it too much, though, my guide stopped in front of a door and announced that this was it. Without even bothering to knock, my guide opened the door and stuck his head in.
"Rachel's here." he said. I momentarily wondered how he'd known my name, but then figured he'd probably heard of me. Most Elves had by now, I was sure.
"Ah, thank you, Erestor." Glorfindel voice came in reply, and I started somewhat at the name. I scowled slightly at LORD Erestor, and he grinned back before waving and heading back off down the hall. Once he was gone, I tentatively pushed open the door to Glorfindel's study more, stepped inside - and gasped.
Whatever I'd been expecting, it hadn't been this. Glorfindel's 'study' was more of a greenhouse. There were plants EVERYWHERE, and one entire wall of the room was glass - a substance I hadn't even known they'd had in Middle-Earth up until this point - and showed that the study was fairly high up in the valley, overlooking the majority of the buildings in Rivendell. I couldn't even see to other walls for the plants, and the roof was so far above my head I had to wonder if it even existed. There was a desk in one corner with various writing materials and other things on it, but it was carved to look like a bent over tree and fit in almost perfectly with the surroundings. Behind the desk was a large rack, holding various weapons, and that was when I noticed that the ground in the center of the 'study' was made of dirt, like it was a sparring field. Study? Oh no, this was Glorfindel's playground. And somehow that made me even more uneasy than before.
"Quite a nice study, do you not think?" Glorfindel asked with amusement, pulling me out of my scrutiny of the room. I turned my attention to him where he stood leaning against a tree. I had to whack my inner teenie at that sight - he was practically smirking, leaning up against a tree and looking about ten times more sexy than normal. These Elven men were going to be the death of me with their sexiness.
"I'd call it more of an indoor garden and arena, myself." I replied carefully, pushing thoughts of Glorfindel's sexiness out of my head as I remembered what I was here for. Glorfindel considered my statement for a moment, and then nodded.
"I would, too. Elrond claimed I needed to have a study, however." he said.
"Well then I guess this is as good as anything." I said, shifting my weight from foot to foot. This casual conversation was not what I expected, and I was beginning to think that there was another reason entirely for him calling me here. My instincts are far too good, sometimes.
"Come, have a seat." Glorfindel said abruptly, pushing himself away from the tree and striding over to his desk. I looked around, but couldn't for the life of me see a chair for me to sit in. Heck, I couldn't even see one behind the desk.
"Where?" I asked, giving Glorfindel a curious look. A strange gleam entering his eyes was all the warning I had before he swiftly pulled a tall stool made from a tree stump out from underneath his desk and tossed it to me. Due to reflexes developed from Kari's habit of throwing things at me when I teased her, I managed to catch the stool. I shot Glorfindel another look, wondering how he had known I would catch it - or if he knew I would catch it. His face was impassive, however, as he pulled another stool out from underneath his desk and sat on it.
Shrugging, I placed the stool on the opposite side of the desk from him, so I could see all his weapons arrayed behind him, and then sat down. Glorfindel simply looked at me, his face unreadable, for a few moments, and then he casually picked up a quill and started twirling it between his fingers.
"You are quite the enigma, Rachel." he said. I arched an eyebrow.
"I thought I was here to be told off for riding into Rivendell at a gallop?" I asked.
"Ah yes, don't do that again." Glorfindel said, his tone only mildly scolding. "It alarms and scares the guards, not to mention everybody else." Then, with a wave of his empty hand, he dismissed the topic. "So, tell me, where do you and Kari REALLY hail from?" I almost choked, but opted to gape at Glorfindel in surprise instead - less fatal. Unless a fly flew down my throat. I turned my attention back to Glorfindel as he looked as me with amusement. "I am quite old, and quite hard to fool. And considering that you came SHOOTING OUT of a river at me, I am quite sure you do not come from Eregion, unless the Elves from Eregion learned how to master the element of water?"
"Shooting out of a river?!" I exclaimed. "You said you found us in a river!"
"Well, I did. Sort of." Glorfindel said vaguely, waving a hand through the air. "I guess it was more like I found the river, and then you found me." I looked at him for a moment, and then shook my head in amusement, suddenly reminded of my own crazy excuses that I kept giving Kari.
"Right." I said.
"So, where do you hail from?" Glorfindel asked again, putting down the quill and looking at me expectantly.
"Earth." I replied without hesitation. No sense in keeping up the lie if he knew it was a lie.
"Earth?" Glorfindel asked with an arched eyebrow.
"Yeah. It's either another world, in another universe, or a long ways in the future." I replied. "I don't want to be bothered to figure out which. All I know is there's no magic - or any thinking creature other than humans - on Earth, unlike here."
"Nothing thinking creature other than humans? You and Kari must have stood out somewhat." Glorfindel said curiously. I shifted nervously, deciding I wasn't really liking this conversation. It was bound to end up with me telling him about Tolkien's books about Middle-Earth, and that was something I never, ever wanted to have to explain. Glorfindel was expecting an answer, though, so I tried to hedge as best I could.
"Uhm, well, see, until Kari and I arrived here, we were...uh...we weren't exactly elves." I said.
"Indeed?" Glorfindel asked, arching an eyebrow. He looked so serious, that I gave into the childish impulse that occurred to me.
"Yeah. We were lizards." I deadpanned. Glorfindel shot me a withering look, and I grinned and elaborated, "Of the human variety."
"And did your appearances change any when you came from this...Earth?" Glorfindel asked.
"Kari's didn't, no." I said, looking at Glorfindel curiously, wondering what brought on that question. "Mine did rather drastically, though."
"How drastically?" Glorfindel asked, looking at me intently.
"Well, I used to be several inches shorter, and had dark black hair, and darker, blue-er eyes." I replied, and much to my confusion, Glorfindel nodded as if in satisfaction. "Why do you ask?" I asked, my curiosity getting the better of me.
"Because I see double whenever I look at you." Glorfindel replied. "At least, whenever you are conscious."
"WHAT?!" I exclaimed, utterly surprised. Glorfindel nodded.
"I see you as a typical Lorien elf, and then there's a fuzzier side image of you as you just described yourself when on Earth." he said.
"Well, that takes the fuzzy pickle." I said with a frown of thought. My mind was running a mile a minute, wondering what was going on, and trying to come up with reasons for it having happened. Unfortunately, my mind wasn't having much success.
"Indeed." Glorfindel said, only looking at me slightly oddly for my strange expression. "Tell me, how did you come to Middle-Earth?" That instantly brought my mind into focus again, and I shifted uncomfortably again.
"Fell in a river?" I tried, since I had rivers on my mind from his little revelation. Glorfindel arched an eyebrow, and I took a shaky breath. "Well, I can't really be sure, but...I think Kari and I were somehow transported here when we were just about to die. Or maybe we were already dead." Both of Glorfindel's eyebrows shot up.
"You died?" he asked.
"We may have. I don't know. I lost my hearing due to a lightning strike shortly before getting transported here, so I couldn't check easily to see if Kari was still alive before we came here." I replied with a shrug.
"A lightning strike? I think you should start this tale from the beginning." Glorfindel said. I laughed slightly.
"There's not much to tell. Kari and I were at home, it started raining, Kari decided to go out dancing in the rain and dragged me out with her, and lightning hit our house. The thunder from the lightning wrecked my hearing, and hurt Kari badly. So I risked running back into our house - which had been the target of the lightning strike and was now burning - and, uh," I paused, wondering how to explain a telephone, then just decided not to mention it and continued, "Contacted some people for help. The last thing I remember after that, before waking up here in Rivendell, was running towards the exit of the house."
"And that's all you remember?" Glorfindel asked quietly, his eyes boring into mine as if searching for something.
"Yes - no." I frowned as memories - impressions, really - surfaced that my mind told me were from that unconscious period between running out of the house and waking up in Rivendell. Almost reluctantly, I probed deeper into them, and then started talking about what I saw. "I remember - this is going to sound corny - but I remember a bright light. And a voice, talking to me. It was a...comforting voice. Soft. And slightly scary, though in a good way. I don't know what it said. I replied to it at the time, though. Can't remember what I said, either. That's it." I said. A strange looked flitted through Glorfindel's eyes as I said this, but then he shook his head and dismissed it.
"Very interesting." he said.
"Disturbing, actually." I said distractedly, still sorting through my newly-surfaced memories/impressions.
"I'm sure. Memories of death usually are." Glorfindel said softly, a pained look in his eyes.
"Hey now, I only THINK Kari and I might have died. It's just disturbing to have memories suddenly surface like that." I said. Glorfindel smiled slightly.
"No, Rachel, whatever you may believe, you died." he said.
"And how can you be so sure?" I retorted, suddenly angry. I wasn't scared of death - I disliked the fact that I'd have to leave the world and everyone I knew behind, but I wasn't scared of it. The thought of dieing and then coming back to life scared the shit out of me, though.
"I have experience in such things." Glorfindel said dryly. I rolled my eyes.
"Right, the almighty risen-from-the-dead Balrog slayer can tell from a simple description of vague memories and impressions that I died and then came back to life. Sorry buddy, doesn't cut it with me, even if you had exactly the same experience when you died." I said with a snort, and Glorfindel stiffened, his eyes narrowing. I had enough time to wonder if he was going to attack me before he spoke, his voice quiet and icy-cold.
"How do you know that I have died? Very few people know that, and you should not be one of them."
Shit. Didn't know I wasn't supposed to know about that. I mentally banged my head against a wall - I'd just lead the conversation in the exact direction I hadn't wanted it to take.
"Uhm..." I said intelligently. My mind was just pulling a blank on a convincing lie about how I knew about him dieing. "I guessed?" I tried, smiling tentatively.
"Try again." Glorfindel said, crossing his arms across his chest and looking at me sternly.
"Uh...youreallcharactersinbooksbackinmyworldandireadthosebooksandsoiknowallaboutyoupeople?" I spoke quickly, but amazingly, Glorfindel seemed to have gotten it. At least, his eyes widened in something akin to shock. Maybe he was just shocked at how fast I could speak.
"In books?" Nope, he caught it. I nodded hesitantly. "And what exactly do these books say about Middle-Earth?" Glorfindel asked. I hesitated, and then decided to just go for it.
"They tell of the history of Middle-Earth, from the Valar's creation of it to the end of the Third Age, and some of the Fourth Age." I said. "And they're surprisingly small books for having all of that."
"So...you know the future, then?" Glorfindel asked, looking at me intensely once more.
"Uh, sorta. I mean, there are thousands of possible futures that could happen. I just know one. It could be the future, but then again, it could not." I said nervously, suddenly really glad I'd watched the 'Andromeda' TV show and listened to Trance's babble about thousands of possible futures.
"And Kari? Has she read these books as well?" Glorfindel asked.
"Yes. Once. She was always more interested the mov-uh...plays." I replied, deciding it was best not to try and explain movies to Glorfindel. It still caught his attention, however, and he arched an eyebrow in interest.
"Plays?" he asked.
"Um, yeah, the tale of the end of the Third Age of Middle-Earth is kinda a legend back home." I said, rubbing the back of my neck nervously. Glorfindel stared at me for awhile, his expression thoughtful.
"Incredible." he said finally. I snorted.
"Hey, you're not the one in what you previously thought was a story." I said. "When you are, then you can talk to me about incredible."
"I suppose so." Glorfindel said. "So I take it your and Kari's name's actually are Rachel and Kari?" I nodded.
"Yep. We made up Elvish names for each other one day when we were bored." I said.
"Mm-hm." was Glorfindel's reply. He stared at me thoughtfully for a few more moments, then shook himself and stood. "Well, this has been a most interesting afternoon, Rachel." he said.
"For you." I grumbled good-naturedly, and Glorfindel smiled briefly. I absently noted that he should smile more often. It made him seem a lot younger, instead of making him look like a dreary old Elf Lord that has lived way too long and seen way too many things.
"Yes indeed. Anyway. As I see there being no harm in continuing your story that you and Kari are from Eregion, I shall not tell anyone of what we spoke of this afternoon unless specifically asked about it." he said.
"Thanks, you're munderful!" I said cheerfully, bouncing up from the stool. I resisted the urge to glomp onto him, however - I didn't think he'd take kindly to it. Glorfindel smiled again at my energy, and I couldn't help but smile back. Never mind I was already grinning.
"It is no trouble." he said. "Now come, I believe it is time for supper." Surprised, I looked out the window and saw that the sun was indeed very low in the sky. At that reminder of the time, my stomach decided to put in its two cents and growled noisily. Glorfindel and I both looked at my stomach in amusement.
"My stomach agrees with that." I announced. "Let's go." With that, I took Glorfindel's proffered arm, and we set off along the winding corridors to the dining hall.
"Hey, do you mind if I call you Glory?" I asked after a pause.
"'Glory'?" Glorfindel asked with an arched eyebrow.
"It's better than Dely, isn't it?" I replied with a shrug and a grin. "Or Findely. That sounds like a cross between fondle and spindly." Glorfindel just looked at me for a moment, and then started laughing.
Note to self: Make Elf Lords laugh more often. They are damn sexy when doing so.
----To be continued...with angst!----
(Finally)
-Authors Note:-
I seriously am loving all of you reviewers. Most of you are insane (like me), or at least halfway there, which makes all your reviews twice as funny.
And in other news, school royally sucks. So does lack of sleep. Mainly due to school. Ugh...I'm gonna go draw pictures of Glorfindel and Rachel now. (I want a scanner...)
~Crimson R. Starlight, R standing for Random