-THE GAMES OF THE GODS-
-Disclaimer:-
CS: I own absolutely nothing - except this very large box of Belgian hedgehog chocolates! *hugs chocolates*
Chocolates: HELP US! SHE'S GOING TO EAT US!
CS: Of course I am, that's what chocolates are for! Too be eaten!
Chocolates: But we have feelings, too, and we don't like being eaten.
CS: ...you're chocolates! Inanimate objects! You can't think, or move, let alone have feelings!
Chocolates: Yes we can!
Rachel: Crimson Starlight's a chocolate murderer!
CS: Shut up, you, or I'll have you go try and find Gandalf's hat and get eaten by the Balrog and THEN where would you be?
Rachel: Inside a Balrog?
Glorfindel: *twitch* No Rachel, you would be dead.
Rachel: But what if I grabbed Gandalf's ring before getting eaten and -
CS: TRUST ME, you'd be dead! Right Mandos?
Mandos: ----
CS: *giggles*
Galadriel: And the lesson for this disclaimer is -
Elrond: Chocolate makes authors more crazy than normal.
Galadriel: (But at least it gets me into disclaimers...)
-42: Memory-
My bath was actually quite relaxing, and once I was done with it, I found I could do nothing more than drag myself to my bed and collapse into sleep. The bed was soft, and I had the most wonderful sleep I had had in quite a long time. I think the only way it could have been better was if I had a sexy elf-lord to snuggle up to.
Hunger woke me later, and I found that it was early the next morning. My stomach was growling quite loudly, and I sat up with the intention of finding food - only to find myself looking at some on my bedside table, steaming hot and smelling delicious. I blinked in surprise, and then glanced around the room, but nobody was there. Anymore. I paused, wondering who had dropped the food off, then decided that Glorfindel had probably at least had some part in it. Him or Galadriel, wanting to get me out of bed. I shrugged, and then dug into the food, finishing it off quickly.
I was still slightly hungry when I finished, so I headed out of my room with the intention of finding the kitchens. Once again, however, my intention was thwarted, as the instant I stepped outside an Elf emerged from the shadows and informed me that Lady Galadriel wished to see me. As I followed the Elf to meet Galadriel, I absently wondered how long he'd been waiting for me to emerge. I decided that he'd probably been the one to bring in the food, and had just waited until I emerged.
Eventually, my guide stopped at a door, bowed to me, and left. I considered just entering, but then I remembered Creepy Galadriel from the Fellowship of the Ring, and I knocked. An airy voice - which I recognized as Galadriel's - told me to enter, and so I did. Upon entering, I found myself confronted by not only Galadriel, but Celeborn as well.
"Come, sit, Rachel." Galadriel said, motioning to a chair once I'd made a little curtsey. I took the seat quietly, and then looked up at Galadriel and Celeborn, waiting for them to speak. Galadriel, it seemed, was doing the same as I and waiting for someone else to speak first, so it ended out being Celeborn who spoke next.
"You have had a most interesting life, Rachel." he said smoothly, and the thought flashed through my head that Marton Csokas barely did the Elf Lord justice. Cate Blanchett did a fairly good Galadriel, but there was some sort of quality to Celeborn that I doubt any human would ever be able to capture - and his voice was just to die for. He probably had a wonderful singing voice, as well. Ah, who am I kidding? All Elves have wonderful singing voices - even I seemed to have acquired one. I mentally shook myself and pulled myself back to the conversation at hand.
"So some people would say." I replied.
"Only some?" Galadriel said, arching an eyebrow delicately. "You have contrived your own false 'death' and wandered Middle-Earth for over 800 years. I find it hard to believe that any would not find that interesting."
"Orcs wouldn't." I said with a shrug. Galadriel and Celeborn exchanged looks.
"They hardly count." Celeborn said, and I shrugged again. "Lord Elrond tells us that you, like Alkarisil, know of the future of this age."
"Doesn't anybody ask me before they tell people about that?" I asked with some annoyance. "Darn Glory, setting a precedent." Galadriel looked amused, and my annoyance almost flared into anger before I remembered that this was Creepy Lady, keeper of an Elven ring of Power.
"You do know of the future?" Celeborn persisted, and I nodded.
"Indeed I do." I said. "And a good deal of the past, as well."
"At this time, it is not the past that matters." Celeborn said. "That you know the future is what concerns us."
"Even here in Lothlórien, it would be dangerous for you to let slip pieces of what you know." Galadriel put in. "You cannot even let on that you know what the future is going to hold - the results could be disastrous."
"I will say this once. I may be terminally insane, but I am not an idiot." I said firmly. "I know that letting it slip that I know of the future, or that letting slip pieces of that knowledge, could be disastrous. I also know that I will not be able to hold it all in, no matter how hard I try. That's part of the reason why I agreed so easily to come here - for one, it takes away much of the temptation, with those I have the most knowledge of far out of my reach. For another, Kari is here, and talking with her should lessen the amount of slips I make."
"I doubt it." Galadriel said softly, and I looked at her sharply, ready to give her a piece of my mind, but the look on her face stopped me short. "Kari does not recall anything from before you and she arrived in Rivendell." Galadriel elaborated, and I looked at her in stunned surprise.
"Why not?" I asked.
"When Estel first came to Rivendell, she found the attempt to keep her knowledge to herself a bit overwhelming. She spoke with Glorfindel and Gandalf a few times about it, but she could not tell them much, and the stress of trying to keep from saying anything told on her. Eventually, when the roads were becoming too dangerous to travel, she came here to pass along Lord Elrond's request for Arwen to return to Rivendell, and stayed on here herself. She then asked me to temporarily block out her memories of what she knew."
I wasn't quite sure how long I sat there, staring at Galadriel in shock, but I knew it was a good length of time. Thoughts flashed through my head occasionally, gone almost as soon as they were finished - I was far too surprised to latch onto anything coherent. I did, eventually, and I followed through on that first coherent thought - I got up and left the room, not looking back at Galadriel and Celeborn, who were starting to show some concern.
Outside of the room, I paused for a moment, and then made my way down, out of the tree. If Galadriel and Celeborn called after me, I didn't hear as I headed off into the forest at a brisk trot. I knew I was going to get lost, wandering in the forest, but at this moment, I WANTED to get lost. And the walking helped bring me back into my own, letting me think once more.
It was becoming painfully apparent to me that my faked death had a harder impact on Kari than I had originally thought it might, or had ever imagined it would have. Kari loved her privacy, and her free will - she always had, and I doubt even 800 years could change it. So the fact that she let Galadriel into her mind to block out her memories of the Fellowship spoke of how hard it was for her to deal with them. This whole return thing of mine was not going to be a pretty sight when she found out - if she even recognized me.
If she remembered nothing from before we arrived in Rivendell, then Kari would not, presumably, remember what I looked like before. She would only remember me as a blonde-haired, blue-eyed Elf that jumped off a cliff to her death. She wouldn't even remember all that much of my personality - I'd left Rivendell after being there less than a week. Granted, Kari and I had spent a lot of that time together, but it would still not be enough for her to recognize me. Of course, just seeing me might shock her repressed memories into surfacing.
The question was, if Kari didn't remember me, did I even want to try and get her to remember me? I had no trouble keeping my knowledge to myself. Or rather, I could just ramble on to Glorfindel if I was having trouble. He was discreet, and would not repeat any of what I'd said - and since Galadriel had blocked Kari's memories, I could probably tell her, as well. Though why I would talk to Creepy Lady after she blocked my friend's memory of me I had no idea. I think Morgoth would return and take over all of Arda before I did that.
I wondered, then, if Elrond knew of what Galadriel had done. Or Elrohir. It was entirely possible that Kari had asked Galadriel not to say anything, and just to let her remember everything when Arwen's escort arrived in Lothlórien, since that would be the next time Kari would see either Elrond or Elrohir. Of course, I'm not sure Kari even remembered that Arwen came through Lothlórien with an escort once the war was over.
I sighed, suddenly tired, and flopped down at the base of the nearest tree. For a change of thoughts, I started humming a Christmas song and recalling Christmases from when I was young. That, of course, eventually brought me to Kari's Yuletide Feast, and I blinked in surprise, wondering suddenly how she could be holding it when she didn't recall anything from home. Then Haldir's words came back - Kari held it every year. She probably started the tradition before she had her memory messed with, and was just keeping it going now.
Then, with growing horror, I recalled how Haldir had claimed that she had said she didn't know the reason of it, and I had told him that she did and he just needed to prod her into saying it. I jumped up and headed back for Caras Galadhon - at least I headed in the direction I was pretty sure Caras Galadhon was in - meaning to find Haldir and, if necessary, explain to him all about Christmas just so he wouldn't ask Kari about it and wake her memory inadvertently. If he told her the bit that I'd told him in an effort to help pry the information out of her, and it stirred her memory, she would know who I was in an instant, without even seeing me. If it woke her memory.
Even with my frantic thoughts, some part of my brain registered the presence above and in front of me before it dropped in front of me, and I was able to swerve out of the way. I slowed to a stop, and then whirled to face the Elf, scowling, intending to give him a good scolding. When I saw it was Glorfindel, however, I just walked over to him and poked him in the side, causing him to make a funny noise and skip-jump away from my finger. I nodded in satisfaction, and then turned to leave again.
"Wait." Glorfindel said, and caught my arm. "I do have a reason for jumping in front of you."
"That's nice to know." I replied crisply. "But I have a rather pressing matter to attend to -"
"Already?" Glorfindel asked, arching an eyebrow. "We have not even been here a day."
"I can get myself into deep shit in far less than a day, Glory." I replied in annoyance. "I'm surprised you haven't figured THAT out by now."
"You said a 'pressing matter', not 'trouble'." Glorfindel pointed out. "What have you done this time?"
"Oh, nothing I can explain. You wouldn't happen to know where Haldir is, though?" I asked, suddenly realizing that Glorfindel just might know, since he and Haldir had seemed to be good friends.
"Yes, I do." Glorfindel said, a disturbed look entering his face.
"Where?" I demanded, starting up an internal chant of 'please don't say with Kari'.
"When I left him, he was speaking with Kari about her Yuletide Feast." Glorfindel said. "He was attempting to get the meaning for the feast from her, since you said that she knew it." I let out a stream of curses.
"Where was that?" I asked. Glorfindel eyed me.
"Why do you wish to know so badly?" he asked. "I thought you wished to stay away from Kari until the time was right to reveal your presence?"
"Kari doesn't remember me looking like this at the moment." I snapped. "Galadriel zapped her memory. Haldir's questions just might unzap her memory, though. So where are they?" Glorfindel looked at me, stunned, for a moment, and then adopted a thoughtful look.
"That would explain." he murmured softly.
"Explain what? No, I don't want to know. I just want to know where Kari and Haldir are so I can stop Haldir from re-awakening Kari's memory and causing her to go psycho on me." I said.
"I left them quite some time ago to look for you, Rachel. Haldir and Kari's conversation is no doubt long over, and whatever consequences that came from it beyond your control." Glorfindel said in a tone that I knew was meant to be soothing - but panic about Kari's reaction was filling me, and I was not soothed. I let out another string of swears, and turned to run off again - I was of half a mind to head back to Rivendell or Gondor, anywhere far away from Elves and the problems they invariably caused in my life - but, unexpectedly, Glorfindel grabbed me by the shoulders, spinning me to face him once more, and held me firmly in place. He stared at me sternly as I tried to get away, cursing him the entire time, only relaxing his grip when I subsided, crossing my arms and glowering at him.
"You knew you would have to face Kari. That you could not pick the time or place is unfortunate, but you must deal with it, Rachel. You cannot run. Not again." he said, and I looked at him with slight surprise, wondering how he had sensed my intentions when I had barely figured them out myself. "Kari's memory might not even have been woken, besides." Glorfindel pointed out.
"I doubt it." I said with a sigh. "I doubt it very much."
"Then she shall find you and you shall resolve your problems with her. If not, you can leave her be until you have discerned how best to wake her memory." Glorfindel replied sensibly. I paused, and then nodded, before looking up at Glorfindel curiously.
"You make far too much sense." I said, and Glorfindel chuckled, letting his arms drop from my shoulders.
"Several thousand years tend to cause that." he said.
"Not to mention death." I added, Glorfindel gave a little shudder.
"Yes, let us NOT mention that." he said, and I laughed before draping my arm over his shoulders (as best I could, considering how short I was) and pulling him along with me as I headed back to Caras Galadhon. Well, Glorfindel had to correct my course slightly, but that was to be expected. This IS me we're talking about.
When we entered the city, I removed my arm from Glorfindel's shoulders, knowing I would get funny looks from various elves, and also suddenly remembering the answer that had started up conversation between Glorfindel and me again. As we headed back to our flets, I watched Glorfindel out of the corner of my eye, wondering what was going through his head, and why, if there had been more to it than the wine, as he had said, he hadn't made anymore moves to that effect. Or maybe he had but I hadn't recognized them, being too used to the forward advances of men from my world, or just Men in general? I really was rather clueless about Elvish customs.
That was another thing Kari could help me with - along with stopping me from running away in a panic is I, for some reason, started worrying about becoming a Mary-Sue again. Kari could be fooled once, but after that - not a chance. She would see right through any attempt I made to leave and drag me back, by my pointy l'il ears, kicking and screaming, and make me confront what I had run away from. Yes, she was the most wonderful friend, indeed.
My thoughts barely slowed as Glorfindel and I split ways, him heading off to his own flet and I to mine. This time I was so distracted that my mind didn't sense the presence ahead of me, even as I opened the door and stepped inside my flet. In fact, it wasn't until I had shut the door that I bothered to glance around the room, and then my eyes latched onto the intruder and I froze.
"Hello, Rachel." Kari said icily.
----To be continued...with, uh, Kari...----
(Isn't that a stunning surprise?)
-Timeline note:-
Arwen returned to Rivendell in 3009 of the Third Age. So, Kari wandered around without remembering the Lord of the Rings and its events for approximately nine years.
-Authors Note:-
This time in Crimson Starlight's Editting News - I changed all the 'Lothlorien' and 'Lorien's to 'Lothlórien' and 'Lórien's. Because I re-read the Lothlórien chapter in the Fellowship of the Ring and realised that the 'o' has that funny thing over it. (I have no idea what it's called, though I'm pretty sure I've been told at least half a dozen times) I haven't re-uploaded any of the chapters that it's in, though. It will just be in this chapter and the following ones - unless I decide to re-post all the chapters for this story at some point...(Which I never will! This things going to be a monster in length when it's finished, and I'm NOT going to be re-uploading 50+ chapters!)
In other news, you know what I realized the other day? Haldir has been a major character in every single one of my chaptered stories to date, and has been a main character in one of my one-chapter-wonders. And he's looking to put in a good appearance in this fic, too. The darned Elf must be sleeping with my muse or something to keep sneaking into my stories this way - *I* certainly don't start out intending to have him be an important part of the stories. I was going to follow the books for 'Sightseeing in Middle-Earth', but then decided otherwise at the last moment, and thus Haldir was introduced at Helm's Deep - Glorfindel was originally going to be Elisandra's father in 'No Eyes Needed' - and Haldir's friendship with Glorfindel just kinda popped up in this one. O.o Maybe he's stalking me...*looks around fearfully*
Thank you to all my reviewers, you all get boxes of cyber-chocolates! I'll see y'all again on Thursday with my normal insanity! Unless you write a review which I feel, in my strange hyper-active way, needs a response. Then you'll be hearing from me sooner. But the next chapter will be up on Thursday!
Now I'm going to go write more...
~Crimson Starlight
-Disclaimer:-
CS: I own absolutely nothing - except this very large box of Belgian hedgehog chocolates! *hugs chocolates*
Chocolates: HELP US! SHE'S GOING TO EAT US!
CS: Of course I am, that's what chocolates are for! Too be eaten!
Chocolates: But we have feelings, too, and we don't like being eaten.
CS: ...you're chocolates! Inanimate objects! You can't think, or move, let alone have feelings!
Chocolates: Yes we can!
Rachel: Crimson Starlight's a chocolate murderer!
CS: Shut up, you, or I'll have you go try and find Gandalf's hat and get eaten by the Balrog and THEN where would you be?
Rachel: Inside a Balrog?
Glorfindel: *twitch* No Rachel, you would be dead.
Rachel: But what if I grabbed Gandalf's ring before getting eaten and -
CS: TRUST ME, you'd be dead! Right Mandos?
Mandos: ----
CS: *giggles*
Galadriel: And the lesson for this disclaimer is -
Elrond: Chocolate makes authors more crazy than normal.
Galadriel: (But at least it gets me into disclaimers...)
-42: Memory-
My bath was actually quite relaxing, and once I was done with it, I found I could do nothing more than drag myself to my bed and collapse into sleep. The bed was soft, and I had the most wonderful sleep I had had in quite a long time. I think the only way it could have been better was if I had a sexy elf-lord to snuggle up to.
Hunger woke me later, and I found that it was early the next morning. My stomach was growling quite loudly, and I sat up with the intention of finding food - only to find myself looking at some on my bedside table, steaming hot and smelling delicious. I blinked in surprise, and then glanced around the room, but nobody was there. Anymore. I paused, wondering who had dropped the food off, then decided that Glorfindel had probably at least had some part in it. Him or Galadriel, wanting to get me out of bed. I shrugged, and then dug into the food, finishing it off quickly.
I was still slightly hungry when I finished, so I headed out of my room with the intention of finding the kitchens. Once again, however, my intention was thwarted, as the instant I stepped outside an Elf emerged from the shadows and informed me that Lady Galadriel wished to see me. As I followed the Elf to meet Galadriel, I absently wondered how long he'd been waiting for me to emerge. I decided that he'd probably been the one to bring in the food, and had just waited until I emerged.
Eventually, my guide stopped at a door, bowed to me, and left. I considered just entering, but then I remembered Creepy Galadriel from the Fellowship of the Ring, and I knocked. An airy voice - which I recognized as Galadriel's - told me to enter, and so I did. Upon entering, I found myself confronted by not only Galadriel, but Celeborn as well.
"Come, sit, Rachel." Galadriel said, motioning to a chair once I'd made a little curtsey. I took the seat quietly, and then looked up at Galadriel and Celeborn, waiting for them to speak. Galadriel, it seemed, was doing the same as I and waiting for someone else to speak first, so it ended out being Celeborn who spoke next.
"You have had a most interesting life, Rachel." he said smoothly, and the thought flashed through my head that Marton Csokas barely did the Elf Lord justice. Cate Blanchett did a fairly good Galadriel, but there was some sort of quality to Celeborn that I doubt any human would ever be able to capture - and his voice was just to die for. He probably had a wonderful singing voice, as well. Ah, who am I kidding? All Elves have wonderful singing voices - even I seemed to have acquired one. I mentally shook myself and pulled myself back to the conversation at hand.
"So some people would say." I replied.
"Only some?" Galadriel said, arching an eyebrow delicately. "You have contrived your own false 'death' and wandered Middle-Earth for over 800 years. I find it hard to believe that any would not find that interesting."
"Orcs wouldn't." I said with a shrug. Galadriel and Celeborn exchanged looks.
"They hardly count." Celeborn said, and I shrugged again. "Lord Elrond tells us that you, like Alkarisil, know of the future of this age."
"Doesn't anybody ask me before they tell people about that?" I asked with some annoyance. "Darn Glory, setting a precedent." Galadriel looked amused, and my annoyance almost flared into anger before I remembered that this was Creepy Lady, keeper of an Elven ring of Power.
"You do know of the future?" Celeborn persisted, and I nodded.
"Indeed I do." I said. "And a good deal of the past, as well."
"At this time, it is not the past that matters." Celeborn said. "That you know the future is what concerns us."
"Even here in Lothlórien, it would be dangerous for you to let slip pieces of what you know." Galadriel put in. "You cannot even let on that you know what the future is going to hold - the results could be disastrous."
"I will say this once. I may be terminally insane, but I am not an idiot." I said firmly. "I know that letting it slip that I know of the future, or that letting slip pieces of that knowledge, could be disastrous. I also know that I will not be able to hold it all in, no matter how hard I try. That's part of the reason why I agreed so easily to come here - for one, it takes away much of the temptation, with those I have the most knowledge of far out of my reach. For another, Kari is here, and talking with her should lessen the amount of slips I make."
"I doubt it." Galadriel said softly, and I looked at her sharply, ready to give her a piece of my mind, but the look on her face stopped me short. "Kari does not recall anything from before you and she arrived in Rivendell." Galadriel elaborated, and I looked at her in stunned surprise.
"Why not?" I asked.
"When Estel first came to Rivendell, she found the attempt to keep her knowledge to herself a bit overwhelming. She spoke with Glorfindel and Gandalf a few times about it, but she could not tell them much, and the stress of trying to keep from saying anything told on her. Eventually, when the roads were becoming too dangerous to travel, she came here to pass along Lord Elrond's request for Arwen to return to Rivendell, and stayed on here herself. She then asked me to temporarily block out her memories of what she knew."
I wasn't quite sure how long I sat there, staring at Galadriel in shock, but I knew it was a good length of time. Thoughts flashed through my head occasionally, gone almost as soon as they were finished - I was far too surprised to latch onto anything coherent. I did, eventually, and I followed through on that first coherent thought - I got up and left the room, not looking back at Galadriel and Celeborn, who were starting to show some concern.
Outside of the room, I paused for a moment, and then made my way down, out of the tree. If Galadriel and Celeborn called after me, I didn't hear as I headed off into the forest at a brisk trot. I knew I was going to get lost, wandering in the forest, but at this moment, I WANTED to get lost. And the walking helped bring me back into my own, letting me think once more.
It was becoming painfully apparent to me that my faked death had a harder impact on Kari than I had originally thought it might, or had ever imagined it would have. Kari loved her privacy, and her free will - she always had, and I doubt even 800 years could change it. So the fact that she let Galadriel into her mind to block out her memories of the Fellowship spoke of how hard it was for her to deal with them. This whole return thing of mine was not going to be a pretty sight when she found out - if she even recognized me.
If she remembered nothing from before we arrived in Rivendell, then Kari would not, presumably, remember what I looked like before. She would only remember me as a blonde-haired, blue-eyed Elf that jumped off a cliff to her death. She wouldn't even remember all that much of my personality - I'd left Rivendell after being there less than a week. Granted, Kari and I had spent a lot of that time together, but it would still not be enough for her to recognize me. Of course, just seeing me might shock her repressed memories into surfacing.
The question was, if Kari didn't remember me, did I even want to try and get her to remember me? I had no trouble keeping my knowledge to myself. Or rather, I could just ramble on to Glorfindel if I was having trouble. He was discreet, and would not repeat any of what I'd said - and since Galadriel had blocked Kari's memories, I could probably tell her, as well. Though why I would talk to Creepy Lady after she blocked my friend's memory of me I had no idea. I think Morgoth would return and take over all of Arda before I did that.
I wondered, then, if Elrond knew of what Galadriel had done. Or Elrohir. It was entirely possible that Kari had asked Galadriel not to say anything, and just to let her remember everything when Arwen's escort arrived in Lothlórien, since that would be the next time Kari would see either Elrond or Elrohir. Of course, I'm not sure Kari even remembered that Arwen came through Lothlórien with an escort once the war was over.
I sighed, suddenly tired, and flopped down at the base of the nearest tree. For a change of thoughts, I started humming a Christmas song and recalling Christmases from when I was young. That, of course, eventually brought me to Kari's Yuletide Feast, and I blinked in surprise, wondering suddenly how she could be holding it when she didn't recall anything from home. Then Haldir's words came back - Kari held it every year. She probably started the tradition before she had her memory messed with, and was just keeping it going now.
Then, with growing horror, I recalled how Haldir had claimed that she had said she didn't know the reason of it, and I had told him that she did and he just needed to prod her into saying it. I jumped up and headed back for Caras Galadhon - at least I headed in the direction I was pretty sure Caras Galadhon was in - meaning to find Haldir and, if necessary, explain to him all about Christmas just so he wouldn't ask Kari about it and wake her memory inadvertently. If he told her the bit that I'd told him in an effort to help pry the information out of her, and it stirred her memory, she would know who I was in an instant, without even seeing me. If it woke her memory.
Even with my frantic thoughts, some part of my brain registered the presence above and in front of me before it dropped in front of me, and I was able to swerve out of the way. I slowed to a stop, and then whirled to face the Elf, scowling, intending to give him a good scolding. When I saw it was Glorfindel, however, I just walked over to him and poked him in the side, causing him to make a funny noise and skip-jump away from my finger. I nodded in satisfaction, and then turned to leave again.
"Wait." Glorfindel said, and caught my arm. "I do have a reason for jumping in front of you."
"That's nice to know." I replied crisply. "But I have a rather pressing matter to attend to -"
"Already?" Glorfindel asked, arching an eyebrow. "We have not even been here a day."
"I can get myself into deep shit in far less than a day, Glory." I replied in annoyance. "I'm surprised you haven't figured THAT out by now."
"You said a 'pressing matter', not 'trouble'." Glorfindel pointed out. "What have you done this time?"
"Oh, nothing I can explain. You wouldn't happen to know where Haldir is, though?" I asked, suddenly realizing that Glorfindel just might know, since he and Haldir had seemed to be good friends.
"Yes, I do." Glorfindel said, a disturbed look entering his face.
"Where?" I demanded, starting up an internal chant of 'please don't say with Kari'.
"When I left him, he was speaking with Kari about her Yuletide Feast." Glorfindel said. "He was attempting to get the meaning for the feast from her, since you said that she knew it." I let out a stream of curses.
"Where was that?" I asked. Glorfindel eyed me.
"Why do you wish to know so badly?" he asked. "I thought you wished to stay away from Kari until the time was right to reveal your presence?"
"Kari doesn't remember me looking like this at the moment." I snapped. "Galadriel zapped her memory. Haldir's questions just might unzap her memory, though. So where are they?" Glorfindel looked at me, stunned, for a moment, and then adopted a thoughtful look.
"That would explain." he murmured softly.
"Explain what? No, I don't want to know. I just want to know where Kari and Haldir are so I can stop Haldir from re-awakening Kari's memory and causing her to go psycho on me." I said.
"I left them quite some time ago to look for you, Rachel. Haldir and Kari's conversation is no doubt long over, and whatever consequences that came from it beyond your control." Glorfindel said in a tone that I knew was meant to be soothing - but panic about Kari's reaction was filling me, and I was not soothed. I let out another string of swears, and turned to run off again - I was of half a mind to head back to Rivendell or Gondor, anywhere far away from Elves and the problems they invariably caused in my life - but, unexpectedly, Glorfindel grabbed me by the shoulders, spinning me to face him once more, and held me firmly in place. He stared at me sternly as I tried to get away, cursing him the entire time, only relaxing his grip when I subsided, crossing my arms and glowering at him.
"You knew you would have to face Kari. That you could not pick the time or place is unfortunate, but you must deal with it, Rachel. You cannot run. Not again." he said, and I looked at him with slight surprise, wondering how he had sensed my intentions when I had barely figured them out myself. "Kari's memory might not even have been woken, besides." Glorfindel pointed out.
"I doubt it." I said with a sigh. "I doubt it very much."
"Then she shall find you and you shall resolve your problems with her. If not, you can leave her be until you have discerned how best to wake her memory." Glorfindel replied sensibly. I paused, and then nodded, before looking up at Glorfindel curiously.
"You make far too much sense." I said, and Glorfindel chuckled, letting his arms drop from my shoulders.
"Several thousand years tend to cause that." he said.
"Not to mention death." I added, Glorfindel gave a little shudder.
"Yes, let us NOT mention that." he said, and I laughed before draping my arm over his shoulders (as best I could, considering how short I was) and pulling him along with me as I headed back to Caras Galadhon. Well, Glorfindel had to correct my course slightly, but that was to be expected. This IS me we're talking about.
When we entered the city, I removed my arm from Glorfindel's shoulders, knowing I would get funny looks from various elves, and also suddenly remembering the answer that had started up conversation between Glorfindel and me again. As we headed back to our flets, I watched Glorfindel out of the corner of my eye, wondering what was going through his head, and why, if there had been more to it than the wine, as he had said, he hadn't made anymore moves to that effect. Or maybe he had but I hadn't recognized them, being too used to the forward advances of men from my world, or just Men in general? I really was rather clueless about Elvish customs.
That was another thing Kari could help me with - along with stopping me from running away in a panic is I, for some reason, started worrying about becoming a Mary-Sue again. Kari could be fooled once, but after that - not a chance. She would see right through any attempt I made to leave and drag me back, by my pointy l'il ears, kicking and screaming, and make me confront what I had run away from. Yes, she was the most wonderful friend, indeed.
My thoughts barely slowed as Glorfindel and I split ways, him heading off to his own flet and I to mine. This time I was so distracted that my mind didn't sense the presence ahead of me, even as I opened the door and stepped inside my flet. In fact, it wasn't until I had shut the door that I bothered to glance around the room, and then my eyes latched onto the intruder and I froze.
"Hello, Rachel." Kari said icily.
----To be continued...with, uh, Kari...----
(Isn't that a stunning surprise?)
-Timeline note:-
Arwen returned to Rivendell in 3009 of the Third Age. So, Kari wandered around without remembering the Lord of the Rings and its events for approximately nine years.
-Authors Note:-
This time in Crimson Starlight's Editting News - I changed all the 'Lothlorien' and 'Lorien's to 'Lothlórien' and 'Lórien's. Because I re-read the Lothlórien chapter in the Fellowship of the Ring and realised that the 'o' has that funny thing over it. (I have no idea what it's called, though I'm pretty sure I've been told at least half a dozen times) I haven't re-uploaded any of the chapters that it's in, though. It will just be in this chapter and the following ones - unless I decide to re-post all the chapters for this story at some point...(Which I never will! This things going to be a monster in length when it's finished, and I'm NOT going to be re-uploading 50+ chapters!)
In other news, you know what I realized the other day? Haldir has been a major character in every single one of my chaptered stories to date, and has been a main character in one of my one-chapter-wonders. And he's looking to put in a good appearance in this fic, too. The darned Elf must be sleeping with my muse or something to keep sneaking into my stories this way - *I* certainly don't start out intending to have him be an important part of the stories. I was going to follow the books for 'Sightseeing in Middle-Earth', but then decided otherwise at the last moment, and thus Haldir was introduced at Helm's Deep - Glorfindel was originally going to be Elisandra's father in 'No Eyes Needed' - and Haldir's friendship with Glorfindel just kinda popped up in this one. O.o Maybe he's stalking me...*looks around fearfully*
Thank you to all my reviewers, you all get boxes of cyber-chocolates! I'll see y'all again on Thursday with my normal insanity! Unless you write a review which I feel, in my strange hyper-active way, needs a response. Then you'll be hearing from me sooner. But the next chapter will be up on Thursday!
Now I'm going to go write more...
~Crimson Starlight