-THE GAMES OF THE GODS-
-Disclaimer:-
CS: Not mine...Though my new scanner is mine! *hugs scanner*
Glorfindel: Uh...why are you hugging your scanner?
CS: Because I love it?
Rachel: That's...kinda weird...
CS: But amusing.
Glorfindel: Oh?
CS: *nods* Think of the possibilities! The strange looks you could get out of people! *evil grin*
Rachel and Glorfindel: ...O.o
Elrond: Yes, she is insane. I diagnosed it after the first chapter...
-22: Talks-
After getting a scarily small amount of sleep, snapping off the heads of about a dozen servants on my quest to get breakfast, and a barely satisfactory breakfast once I did find it, I finally made my way to Elrond's study. I knocked lightly on the door when I arrived, and almost immediately there came a 'Come in' from beyond the door. Cautiously, I opened the door and stepped inside.
It is quite safe to say, I think, that the only resemblance between Elrond and Glorfindel's studies is that they both have papers and writing materials on the desks. Everything else was different. For one, you could see all four walls, and the ceiling, of Elrond's study, and for another, there was a total of one house plant in the room, resting on the windowsill and fluttering in a morning breeze. There were also no weapons visible. Instead, there were neatly arranged, carefully organized shelves containing books...and books...and more books...and oh, look, a jar or two of medicine.
I realized I was smiling with amusement as I approached Elrond's desk, which he was sitting behind watching me approach. Whether it was amusement at Elrond's study, or at Glorfindel's, though, I couldn't tell. I did, however, smooth my expression to one of faint amusement - the best I could do, no matter how hard I tried - as I stopped in front of the desk, looking down at Elrond where he sat. Belatedly, I curtseyed slightly. Thankfully, as a high-ranking Lady of Gondor, my curtsey was more respectful, so it didn't need to be deep or elaborate. I probably would have fallen over if I'd had to do a deep curtsey. Of course, I always figured I would fall over whenever I had to curtsey, no matter the depth.
Do I have faith in my sense of balance? No, not really.
"Good of you to come, Rachel." Elrond said with a smile, breaking me out of my thoughts.
"Well, it was a hard decision, but I figured Elladan had to get his temper from somewhere, so it might be better to show up." I said dryly. Elrond smiled wryly, shaking his head, but chose not to comment.
"I asked you here because I wanted to invite you to a council I'm going to be having soon." he said.
"Ooo, I get an invitation to the infamous Council of Elrond?" I asked with a grin. Elrond arched an eyebrow.
"Infamous?" he asked.
"Well, it will be soon..." I said with a shrug.
"So I take it you will come?" Elrond asked.
"Yep. And I'll drag Boromir along by his hair if I have to." I replied, rolling my eyes. "He needs to get his dream deciphered, anyways."
"Ah yes, about that. Do you know what this dream of his is?" Elrond asked curiously.
I eyed Elrond suspiciously. "Yeeees...why?"
"I was hoping perhaps you could tell me of it ahead of time so I might be able to explain all of it during the council." Elrond said with a light frown. I paused, considering.
"I suppose it can't do any harm. You probably know everything in it already, anyways." I said. "Looking over Gondor, the east grows dark, then a voice coming from a pale light lingering in the west - probably one of the Valar - says:
"Seek for the Sword that was broken:
In Imladris it dwells;
There shall be counsels taken
Stronger than Morgul-spells.
There shall be shown a token
That Doom is near at hand,
For Isildur's Bane shall waken,
And the Halfling forth shall stand." Elrond's eyes widened as I spoke, and when I finished, he frowned thoughtfully and leaned back in his chair.
"Isildur's bane..." Elrond murmured after a moment. "I take it that means the One Ring?" I nodded. "But the token..." Elrond frowned. "I can not imagine what that would be." He was looking at me as he said this, and I arched an eyebrow as I looked back at him.
"I thought you wanted me to shut my mouth about what I knew of the future." I said.
"Of events, yes." Elrond said practically. "Deciphering dreams is another matter." I chuckled.
"Elrond, you would have made an awesome lawyer on my world." I said.
"Lawyer?" Elrond asked, arching an eyebrow.
"It would take awhile to explain." I said, shaking my head. "The token is the Ring, as well."
"Ah. Thank you." Elrond said. I nodded.
"No problem. You probably would have figured it out on your own, anyways." I said. "Now I just have to continue resisting telling everyone what the future holds...as it is, those poor hobbits, and that poor ranger, aren't going to know what hit them when they arrive in Rivendell." I finished with a slightly crazy grin, and Elrond gave me a wary look.
"What ARE you going to do?" he asked.
"Uh...make some dirty people have a bath?" I tried, still grinning. Elrond paused, and then sighed in resignation.
"Try not to get yourself mistaken for an enemy and run through before they realize you are not a threat?" he asked.
"Who says I'm not a threat?" I asked, my grin widening.
"Unless you have learned how to fight in the past 800 years, Kari says so." Elrond said, rolling his eyes.
"Drat her and her tale-telling." I mumbled. Elrond chuckled. "Anyways, was that all you wanted to see me for?"
"Yes, it was." Elrond said with a smile.
"Ah, good. Now, out of curiosity and because everyone else I know who's currently in Rivendell might bite my head off if I went to talk to them, where's Bilbo hanging around these days? I wanna meet the old hobbit..." I said. Elrond blinked, then shook his head and smiled ruefully.
"I suppose his adventure could be considered part of the War of the Ring..." Elrond mused.
"No, not really, but I never said I only know the history of the War of the Ring." I replied cheerfully. "Heck, I could tell you all sorts of shit about the First Age, but there's really no need, since you were around for some of it and probably already know the rest." Elrond looked at me in surprise.
"Really..." Elrond said, a strange look in his eyes. I nodded.
"So, do you know where Bilbo hangs out, or do I get to get lost again?" I asked.
"He is usually in the library." Elrond said, standing from his chair. "Come, I shall show you where it is."
"No need to trouble yourself." I said, arching an eyebrow.
"It is no trouble." Elrond said, eyeing the papers scattered across his desk as if they would bite. I grinned, and then let myself be shown the way to the Library of Rivendell. Which took up just about all of Rivendell. Well, not really, but it sure looked like it. Elrond grinned almost mischievously at me when my jaw dropped at my first sight of the library.
"This place is biiiiiiiiig..." I said in a daze, looking around. "How do you find anything in here?"
"I have an excellent memory." Elrond said dismissively.
"And personal slaves to organize the books for you." said a familiar voice from nearby, and I turned to see one of the twins inspecting a shelf of books intently.
"Ah, Elladan, glad to see you decided to show up today." Elrond said cheerfully. I eyed Elrond, and then edged away from him. This was probably the first time I'd seen him truly cheerful when Celebrían wasn't around. The fact that he was being cheerful in relation to Elladan doing something he obviously did not want to do did not help matters.
"Erestor threatened to make him sleep in the library if he did not start showing up to help." Elrohir said dryly, appearing on the other side of Elrond.
"Did he now?" Elrond said with amusement. "I am not sure that would be entirely good for the books, but at least it worked." I could see Elladan roll his eyes even though he wasn't facing us. Elrohir and Elrond chuckled, and I just shook my head.
"Evil Elves. Who woulda thunk it?" I mused. Elrohir arched an eyebrow at me.
"You are one to talk." he said, an edge in his voice. Then, at a stern look from his father, Elrohir bowed slightly and said, "If you'll excuse me, I have work to do." before disappearing into the library again. Elrond frowned after him, and I arched an eyebrow. Apparently Elrohir was still annoyed with me.
"I probably deserved that." I commented.
"No, you did not. Elrohir had no call to say that." Elrond said, shaking his head.
"I said probably." I said with a shrug. "And anyways, he had to deal with Kari's grief as well as his own. That couldn't have been pleasant, I'm sure."
"No, it wasn't." Elladan commented from where he was still inspecting the shelf of books.
"Talk or work." a familiar looking Elf-lord said, suddenly appearing beside Elladan. "Not both. You make mistakes when you do."
"I'll talk then!" Elladan said cheerfully, making as if to come over to where Elrond and I were standing.
"No, you will work." the Elf-lord said sternly, grabbing Elladan by the arm and pulling him back towards the shelf. Someone - not me - sniggered as Elladan grumbled and got back to work, with the Elf-lord - who I now remembered was Erestor - disappearing into somewhere in the depths of the library again. Elrond caught the snigger, as well, and led me over to its source.
"Ah, Mírëría!" Elrond said brightly as we turned a corner and found an Elf maiden inspecting a shelf of books much like Elladan had been. Said Elf maiden looked up in surprise when Elrond spoke, and looked even more surprised when she noticed me.
"Lord Elrond, Lady Asira." Mírëría said after a barely noticeable pause, curtseying deeply.
"Tell me, is Bilbo in the library?" Elrond asked. Mírëría paused, seemingly thinking, and then nodded.
"I believe he still is. Up in the history section, as usual." she said.
"Excellent." Elrond said, and without so much as a wave, he set off again, with me following, presumably heading for the history section of the library. Eventually, Elrond paused, and looked around as if thinking, and I resisted the urge to ask if he'd gotten lost. It became apparent that he had simply been trying to think of where Bilbo would be, however, as he soon led me deftly through the stacks and stopped by a comfortable looking chair placed in front of a small fireplace that had an equally small fire crackling away inside it. In the chair, sound asleep, was a (very) little man with white hair, and big feet sticking out from underneath the blanket draped across his lap. Resting against his chest, open somewhere in the middle, was a book.
Elrond smiled in amusement, then bent down and made as if to tug the book out of Bilbo's hands. With a start, the hobbit woke up, instantly clutching the book tighter so it couldn't be taken from him. Elrond let him keep the book without a fight, having succeeded in what he wanted to do, as Bilbo now sat up straighter and blinked sleepily up at the Elf-lord, desperately trying to wake up enough to make sense of what was going on.
"Ah, Lord Elrond!" Bilbo said cheerily after a moment. "Good morning!"
"Good morning indeed." Elrond said, still looking very amused. "What are you reading today?"
"Oh, this? It's about Dwarven architecture, very fascinating." Bilbo said, nodding approvingly at the book he was holding.
"Architecture can be fascinating?" I asked, arching an eyebrow. Bilbo looked over at me in surprise, seemingly having not noticed I was there.
"Bilbo, this is Lady Asira, from Gondor." Elrond introduced. "Asira, Bilbo Baggins."
"Pleased to meet you." Bilbo said politely, nodding in my direction, and I smiled and nodded back.
"Same." I said.
"From Gondor, you say? I didn't know there were any elves in Gondor." Bilbo said, looking at me curiously.
"There aren't anymore." I said with a grin.
"Oh." Bilbo said, looking slightly confused.
"I was just staying in Gondor for a short while. As far as I know, I was the only Elf there, so now that I've left, there are no Elves in Gondor." I elaborated. Bilbo nodded in understanding.
"So what brings you to Rivendell, then?" Bilbo asked curiously.
"The Steward sent me with his son to ask Lord Elrond's advice on something." I answered.
"The Steward, you say? He rules in place of the King, right?" Bilbo asked, almost eagerly, and I nodded. Then Bilbo started peppering me with more questions about Gondor, and neither of us noticed when Elrond quietly excused himself to get back to his work.
----To be continued...with BOB!----
(And apologies and stuff...But mainly Bob!)
-Authors Note:-
Well, I forgot about 6 times that I was going to upload this chapter, but I did remember before the end of the day! Go me! *does a little dance*
In other news, it just snowed here. It is cold. It is white. It looks like Christmas. I listened to my (very old) *N Sync Christmas CD today. It was amusing.
And on that note, thank you to all my reviewers, you're all superb, and for the most part, incredibly understanding about me slowing down to do NaNorWriMo. :) If you all are feeling a little deprived, though, you can always go check out my friend and my's webcomic that's linked to from my profile - it's an auto update, and we have a whole bunch of comics done, so you can get amusion from that if you want. [end shameless plug]
Off to play with my new scanner, now!
~Crimson Starlight
-Disclaimer:-
CS: Not mine...Though my new scanner is mine! *hugs scanner*
Glorfindel: Uh...why are you hugging your scanner?
CS: Because I love it?
Rachel: That's...kinda weird...
CS: But amusing.
Glorfindel: Oh?
CS: *nods* Think of the possibilities! The strange looks you could get out of people! *evil grin*
Rachel and Glorfindel: ...O.o
Elrond: Yes, she is insane. I diagnosed it after the first chapter...
-22: Talks-
After getting a scarily small amount of sleep, snapping off the heads of about a dozen servants on my quest to get breakfast, and a barely satisfactory breakfast once I did find it, I finally made my way to Elrond's study. I knocked lightly on the door when I arrived, and almost immediately there came a 'Come in' from beyond the door. Cautiously, I opened the door and stepped inside.
It is quite safe to say, I think, that the only resemblance between Elrond and Glorfindel's studies is that they both have papers and writing materials on the desks. Everything else was different. For one, you could see all four walls, and the ceiling, of Elrond's study, and for another, there was a total of one house plant in the room, resting on the windowsill and fluttering in a morning breeze. There were also no weapons visible. Instead, there were neatly arranged, carefully organized shelves containing books...and books...and more books...and oh, look, a jar or two of medicine.
I realized I was smiling with amusement as I approached Elrond's desk, which he was sitting behind watching me approach. Whether it was amusement at Elrond's study, or at Glorfindel's, though, I couldn't tell. I did, however, smooth my expression to one of faint amusement - the best I could do, no matter how hard I tried - as I stopped in front of the desk, looking down at Elrond where he sat. Belatedly, I curtseyed slightly. Thankfully, as a high-ranking Lady of Gondor, my curtsey was more respectful, so it didn't need to be deep or elaborate. I probably would have fallen over if I'd had to do a deep curtsey. Of course, I always figured I would fall over whenever I had to curtsey, no matter the depth.
Do I have faith in my sense of balance? No, not really.
"Good of you to come, Rachel." Elrond said with a smile, breaking me out of my thoughts.
"Well, it was a hard decision, but I figured Elladan had to get his temper from somewhere, so it might be better to show up." I said dryly. Elrond smiled wryly, shaking his head, but chose not to comment.
"I asked you here because I wanted to invite you to a council I'm going to be having soon." he said.
"Ooo, I get an invitation to the infamous Council of Elrond?" I asked with a grin. Elrond arched an eyebrow.
"Infamous?" he asked.
"Well, it will be soon..." I said with a shrug.
"So I take it you will come?" Elrond asked.
"Yep. And I'll drag Boromir along by his hair if I have to." I replied, rolling my eyes. "He needs to get his dream deciphered, anyways."
"Ah yes, about that. Do you know what this dream of his is?" Elrond asked curiously.
I eyed Elrond suspiciously. "Yeeees...why?"
"I was hoping perhaps you could tell me of it ahead of time so I might be able to explain all of it during the council." Elrond said with a light frown. I paused, considering.
"I suppose it can't do any harm. You probably know everything in it already, anyways." I said. "Looking over Gondor, the east grows dark, then a voice coming from a pale light lingering in the west - probably one of the Valar - says:
"Seek for the Sword that was broken:
In Imladris it dwells;
There shall be counsels taken
Stronger than Morgul-spells.
There shall be shown a token
That Doom is near at hand,
For Isildur's Bane shall waken,
And the Halfling forth shall stand." Elrond's eyes widened as I spoke, and when I finished, he frowned thoughtfully and leaned back in his chair.
"Isildur's bane..." Elrond murmured after a moment. "I take it that means the One Ring?" I nodded. "But the token..." Elrond frowned. "I can not imagine what that would be." He was looking at me as he said this, and I arched an eyebrow as I looked back at him.
"I thought you wanted me to shut my mouth about what I knew of the future." I said.
"Of events, yes." Elrond said practically. "Deciphering dreams is another matter." I chuckled.
"Elrond, you would have made an awesome lawyer on my world." I said.
"Lawyer?" Elrond asked, arching an eyebrow.
"It would take awhile to explain." I said, shaking my head. "The token is the Ring, as well."
"Ah. Thank you." Elrond said. I nodded.
"No problem. You probably would have figured it out on your own, anyways." I said. "Now I just have to continue resisting telling everyone what the future holds...as it is, those poor hobbits, and that poor ranger, aren't going to know what hit them when they arrive in Rivendell." I finished with a slightly crazy grin, and Elrond gave me a wary look.
"What ARE you going to do?" he asked.
"Uh...make some dirty people have a bath?" I tried, still grinning. Elrond paused, and then sighed in resignation.
"Try not to get yourself mistaken for an enemy and run through before they realize you are not a threat?" he asked.
"Who says I'm not a threat?" I asked, my grin widening.
"Unless you have learned how to fight in the past 800 years, Kari says so." Elrond said, rolling his eyes.
"Drat her and her tale-telling." I mumbled. Elrond chuckled. "Anyways, was that all you wanted to see me for?"
"Yes, it was." Elrond said with a smile.
"Ah, good. Now, out of curiosity and because everyone else I know who's currently in Rivendell might bite my head off if I went to talk to them, where's Bilbo hanging around these days? I wanna meet the old hobbit..." I said. Elrond blinked, then shook his head and smiled ruefully.
"I suppose his adventure could be considered part of the War of the Ring..." Elrond mused.
"No, not really, but I never said I only know the history of the War of the Ring." I replied cheerfully. "Heck, I could tell you all sorts of shit about the First Age, but there's really no need, since you were around for some of it and probably already know the rest." Elrond looked at me in surprise.
"Really..." Elrond said, a strange look in his eyes. I nodded.
"So, do you know where Bilbo hangs out, or do I get to get lost again?" I asked.
"He is usually in the library." Elrond said, standing from his chair. "Come, I shall show you where it is."
"No need to trouble yourself." I said, arching an eyebrow.
"It is no trouble." Elrond said, eyeing the papers scattered across his desk as if they would bite. I grinned, and then let myself be shown the way to the Library of Rivendell. Which took up just about all of Rivendell. Well, not really, but it sure looked like it. Elrond grinned almost mischievously at me when my jaw dropped at my first sight of the library.
"This place is biiiiiiiiig..." I said in a daze, looking around. "How do you find anything in here?"
"I have an excellent memory." Elrond said dismissively.
"And personal slaves to organize the books for you." said a familiar voice from nearby, and I turned to see one of the twins inspecting a shelf of books intently.
"Ah, Elladan, glad to see you decided to show up today." Elrond said cheerfully. I eyed Elrond, and then edged away from him. This was probably the first time I'd seen him truly cheerful when Celebrían wasn't around. The fact that he was being cheerful in relation to Elladan doing something he obviously did not want to do did not help matters.
"Erestor threatened to make him sleep in the library if he did not start showing up to help." Elrohir said dryly, appearing on the other side of Elrond.
"Did he now?" Elrond said with amusement. "I am not sure that would be entirely good for the books, but at least it worked." I could see Elladan roll his eyes even though he wasn't facing us. Elrohir and Elrond chuckled, and I just shook my head.
"Evil Elves. Who woulda thunk it?" I mused. Elrohir arched an eyebrow at me.
"You are one to talk." he said, an edge in his voice. Then, at a stern look from his father, Elrohir bowed slightly and said, "If you'll excuse me, I have work to do." before disappearing into the library again. Elrond frowned after him, and I arched an eyebrow. Apparently Elrohir was still annoyed with me.
"I probably deserved that." I commented.
"No, you did not. Elrohir had no call to say that." Elrond said, shaking his head.
"I said probably." I said with a shrug. "And anyways, he had to deal with Kari's grief as well as his own. That couldn't have been pleasant, I'm sure."
"No, it wasn't." Elladan commented from where he was still inspecting the shelf of books.
"Talk or work." a familiar looking Elf-lord said, suddenly appearing beside Elladan. "Not both. You make mistakes when you do."
"I'll talk then!" Elladan said cheerfully, making as if to come over to where Elrond and I were standing.
"No, you will work." the Elf-lord said sternly, grabbing Elladan by the arm and pulling him back towards the shelf. Someone - not me - sniggered as Elladan grumbled and got back to work, with the Elf-lord - who I now remembered was Erestor - disappearing into somewhere in the depths of the library again. Elrond caught the snigger, as well, and led me over to its source.
"Ah, Mírëría!" Elrond said brightly as we turned a corner and found an Elf maiden inspecting a shelf of books much like Elladan had been. Said Elf maiden looked up in surprise when Elrond spoke, and looked even more surprised when she noticed me.
"Lord Elrond, Lady Asira." Mírëría said after a barely noticeable pause, curtseying deeply.
"Tell me, is Bilbo in the library?" Elrond asked. Mírëría paused, seemingly thinking, and then nodded.
"I believe he still is. Up in the history section, as usual." she said.
"Excellent." Elrond said, and without so much as a wave, he set off again, with me following, presumably heading for the history section of the library. Eventually, Elrond paused, and looked around as if thinking, and I resisted the urge to ask if he'd gotten lost. It became apparent that he had simply been trying to think of where Bilbo would be, however, as he soon led me deftly through the stacks and stopped by a comfortable looking chair placed in front of a small fireplace that had an equally small fire crackling away inside it. In the chair, sound asleep, was a (very) little man with white hair, and big feet sticking out from underneath the blanket draped across his lap. Resting against his chest, open somewhere in the middle, was a book.
Elrond smiled in amusement, then bent down and made as if to tug the book out of Bilbo's hands. With a start, the hobbit woke up, instantly clutching the book tighter so it couldn't be taken from him. Elrond let him keep the book without a fight, having succeeded in what he wanted to do, as Bilbo now sat up straighter and blinked sleepily up at the Elf-lord, desperately trying to wake up enough to make sense of what was going on.
"Ah, Lord Elrond!" Bilbo said cheerily after a moment. "Good morning!"
"Good morning indeed." Elrond said, still looking very amused. "What are you reading today?"
"Oh, this? It's about Dwarven architecture, very fascinating." Bilbo said, nodding approvingly at the book he was holding.
"Architecture can be fascinating?" I asked, arching an eyebrow. Bilbo looked over at me in surprise, seemingly having not noticed I was there.
"Bilbo, this is Lady Asira, from Gondor." Elrond introduced. "Asira, Bilbo Baggins."
"Pleased to meet you." Bilbo said politely, nodding in my direction, and I smiled and nodded back.
"Same." I said.
"From Gondor, you say? I didn't know there were any elves in Gondor." Bilbo said, looking at me curiously.
"There aren't anymore." I said with a grin.
"Oh." Bilbo said, looking slightly confused.
"I was just staying in Gondor for a short while. As far as I know, I was the only Elf there, so now that I've left, there are no Elves in Gondor." I elaborated. Bilbo nodded in understanding.
"So what brings you to Rivendell, then?" Bilbo asked curiously.
"The Steward sent me with his son to ask Lord Elrond's advice on something." I answered.
"The Steward, you say? He rules in place of the King, right?" Bilbo asked, almost eagerly, and I nodded. Then Bilbo started peppering me with more questions about Gondor, and neither of us noticed when Elrond quietly excused himself to get back to his work.
----To be continued...with BOB!----
(And apologies and stuff...But mainly Bob!)
-Authors Note:-
Well, I forgot about 6 times that I was going to upload this chapter, but I did remember before the end of the day! Go me! *does a little dance*
In other news, it just snowed here. It is cold. It is white. It looks like Christmas. I listened to my (very old) *N Sync Christmas CD today. It was amusing.
And on that note, thank you to all my reviewers, you're all superb, and for the most part, incredibly understanding about me slowing down to do NaNorWriMo. :) If you all are feeling a little deprived, though, you can always go check out my friend and my's webcomic that's linked to from my profile - it's an auto update, and we have a whole bunch of comics done, so you can get amusion from that if you want. [end shameless plug]
Off to play with my new scanner, now!
~Crimson Starlight