It's three in the morning and my best friend is getting bored so I'll be brief:
First off, major apologies for the time it took to write this (one year, w007!) and this chapter isn't finished anyway --; But here's what I got. This shall be forever known as the two-year flashback. It's almost done though (cough). Thank you for reviews and encouragement (and threats) everyone! Here's chapter 18 for those of you actually still here.

-

"And then," Unithalus laughed, bringing his tale to a close, "Eli was so drunk that he was stumbling about the apartment, singing the Schnitzelbank song at the top of his lungs!"

The other two did not laugh as they ate. In fact, Rheas noticed they looked nervous, as though hiding something. With a sigh, Elithantos finally spoke up.

"Uni, that was you."

Unithalus glared at his cousin skeptically. "No, it wasn't me."

"Yes it was. I don't even know the damned song, and why do you think Hana had to tell you about it?"

"Because I was out of town, stupid."

Now it was Hanathel's turn to sigh. Reaching across the table, she placed her hand upon her cousin's and said, "Uni, dear, for some reason, whenever you're drunk, you think you're out of town."

"I do?" the Drow inquired worriedly.

Hanathel nodded.

Eyeing her and Elithantos a moment, Unithalus picked up his glass of water and took a delicate sip. "That's kinda creepy," he muttered into the glass.

Rheas, sitting across from Elithantos (beaming as his cousin sulked at the loss of his humorous tale), ate in silence. He did not need say anything, as the three Elves proved to be entertaining without provocation. Unithalus flipped a chunk of tomato sauce over at his cousin with his fork.

The Drow wore a black bandana tied around his head, his long hair pulled up into a high ponytail that reminded Rheas all too much of Toby. Elithantos had changed his attire since the afternoon, now donning a pair of baggy jeans and a white tee shirt a chain around his neck. Hanathel was the only one of the three to remain in one outfit for the entire day.

"Did you find what you were looking for?" Hanathel asked Elithantos, serving herself some more spaghetti.

"Yeah, though I had to battle a vicious mold monster to get it. Just how old are those Girl Scout cookies down there?"

"It was nothing that may attract…unwanted attention, is it?" she stressed, her eyes flicking over to Rheas a moment, as though worried mentioning such a thing in front of him was a bad idea. This only intensified his interest.

"I doubt it," Elithantos scoffed.

"Good, we don't want to repeat what happened last time. What will we do if, say…Uni's sister shows up?"

"Well," Unithalus mused, "I suppose we knock her out, tie her up and gag her, throw her into the storage closet and forget she's there."

"I like that idea!" Elithantos exclaimed. He and Unithalus shook hands, beaming. Hanathel only shook her head.

"You have a sister?" Rheas smirked.

Unithalus groaned and stuffed a fork-full of spaghetti into his mouth, so whatever he said about his sister was not understood. Swallowing, he said, "She takes after Mum."

"So do you!" retorted Elithantos.

"I know," the Drow smiled proudly. He then added with a glint in his red eyes, "But I'm not the one who stayed home, am I?"

"'You have any siblings?" Elithantos inquired Rheas before slurping up some noodles rather loudly and sending bits of sauce flying towards Unithalus.

"Two," Rheas replied flatly, "neither quite agree with my pursuits and never leave me in peace."

Elithantos rolled his eyes at that, his chin resting in his hand. "I know how you feel, my brothers were always roughhousing. Drove me mad!"

"Would we be able to tell?" Unithalus muttered.

"At least my dad doesn't have horns coming out of his head!"

"Hitting below the belt now, are we!?"

The two Elves proceeded to bicker, flinging food at eachother at appropriate intervals. Rolling her eyes, Hanathel sat back and continued her meal in silence. Rheas followed her lead, refilling his glass and sitting back to enjoy the show.

"Boys…" he heard her murmur under her breath.

-

The many photo albums were piled up on the floor. There were far more than Rheas could have imagined, though after opening one and immediately spotting a photograph from the late nineteenth century, he could see why. He and Hanathel sat together on the couch, he turning the pages while she explained the photographs. He could not imagine having such an extensive memory as she had. She could easily retell, in amazing detail, events depicted over a century ago.

He could not help notice how close she sat to him. It was, of course, the most convenient way for her to see the photographs and to point out specific objects in them, but so often her arm would brush against his, and he noticed with much awareness each time. He did not mind her company, he found. She was lovely, yes, but better still she spoke so clearly and with interest in her subjects, and never did she speak down to him.

Once, as he observed a black and white picture of the three cousins horseback riding, he felt her lay her hand upon his head, her fingers slowly moving through his hair. It was a strange feeling indeed; he did not jerk away, as was his wont, but found himself frozen. His face felt uncomfortably warm.

"You have nice hair, did you know that?" she said softly, casually, as though it were perfectly natural for her to be commenting on his hair, of all things.

"Erm, no?" For the first time in his life, he suddenly felt extremely stupid.

"Well, you do. You should grow it out."

"When was this one?" he said loudly, turning back to the photo album. She laughed as his voice broke. Nodding, as though understanding his discomfort, Hanathel peered closely at the photograph, her brows furrowed in remembrance. She did not get a chance to tell him, though, as Unithalus, followed closely by Elithantos, strode into the room.

"I'm bored," the Drow announced loudly.

"Whoopty-doo," Elithantos growled, flopping himself onto the couch next to Hanathel.

Unithalus had changed his outfit yet again. Black slacks and a jacket, and a white collared shirt. He was even wearing a tie and his black shoes were recently shined.

"I am so bored," he continued, "that I am going out tonight." Seeing no reaction from those sitting before him on this news, he added, "Anyone want to come?"

Staring at the oddly attired Drow, Rheas could no longer hold back his curiosity. "Where are you going?"

"Dancing," Unithalus replied with an eye-roll, as though it was the most obvious thing in the world. He focussed his attention on Hanathel, saying, "I could use a partner."

Elithantos whimpered and slumped. Rheas lifted an eyebrow inquiringly, but the blond Elf waved his unasked question aside. Hanathel rose from her seat and stretched.

"I'm going to have to change," she stated, "Eli, why don't you, too?"

"Oh no, I'm not going!"

"Come on, it'll be fun, the four of us."

"I'll stay and keep the kid company." He gave Rheas a pleading look from the corner of his eyes. "Going out with Uni is as fascinating as watching paint dry!" he whispered to the thirteen-year-old fiercely.

"I can hear you," Unithalus snapped at his cousin.

Rheas shrugged. "I wouldn't mind going out."

Elithantos muttered to himself angrily. Rheas could faintly hear him say something about betrayal. "I'm not changing!" he declared at last. Hanathel shrugged and walked to the thin stairway.

"I'll be down in a minute," she called as she disappeared.

"Great," Elithantos grumbled.

Rheas, watching her leave, suddenly caught Unithalus' probing eyes. He was glaring at him warningly, and Rheas shot his own right back.

"Stop looking at my cousin like that."

"Excuse me?" Rheas smirked, unable to believe that the Drow was daring to go in such a ridiculous direction.

"You heard me. I know how you thirteen-year-olds think. Little hornballs, you are."

Rheas decided not to grace him with a well-deserved retort and instead laughed scathingly, taunting, as though the Drow had not warned him away, but instead opened new possibilities. He suspected that Unithalus was actually trying to mess with him rather than threaten him anyway. This proved true when Unithalus flashed him a quick smile.

Waiting in silence, Unithalus paced around for a moment before pausing to check his watch, and then resume pacing yet again. With a snort, he came to a stop.

"Women!" he proclaimed, shoving his hands into his pockets, "Always taking their bloody time!"

"It's been two minutes," Elithantos sighed in irritation, "But if you're going to fidget, why don't you go get the boy's clothes? They should be dry by now, and he can't possibly go out as he is."

Unithalus eyed his cousin testily. "Why don't you, if it concerns you so much?"

"'Cause you're the one already standing."

"Oh…fine." With that, the Drow marched out of the room towards the larger stair leading down below. The second he was out of sight Elithantos leapt to his feet.

"Finally!" he exclaimed and immediately began rooting around underneath the couch pillows, "I thought they'd never leave…Hey, I got something I wanna show you, kid."

"I have a name," Rheas growled, dropping the photo album onto the floor with a loud thump.

"Good for you! Powerful thing, that. Aha!" He pulled out a thin white box, carefully tied shut with brown string. Dropping himself back onto the couch in triumph, he scooted towards Rheas and held out the box, whispering excitedly.

"I had to really dig to find this in that room, I wasn't kidding about the mold monster, you know." Tearing off the string expertly, Elithantos flung the box lid off and, reaching inside, pulled out a dagger.

It was the finest piece of metalwork Rheas had ever seen. Granted, he had never taken a big interest in weaponry, but he had seen many in museums and at festivals. The silver blade ran entirely through the hilt, ensuring it would not break off at the guard, and had small runes carved into it. The hilt itself appeared to be of ivory and in the shape of a dragon, its tail wrapped around the guard while its body and neck coiled about the grip. The tiny head, jaws clenched about a disc of obsidian, formed the pommel. In place of eyes it had small rubies.

"Wow," Rheas murmured, gazing at it longingly. He extended his hands, "May I?"

"Of course!" Elithantos laughed, gently handing the dagger to him. "No need to fidget, it's stronger than it looks."

Indeed, the moment Rheas took hold of it, he felt an odd surge of power swarm from it, but then it was gone. Ivory and steel were cool in his hands, but not uncomfortably so; it was as though the dagger were made for him alone.

"It's magnificent."

"Isn't it? 'Forged for us by an old family friend just before we took off. He knew we were planning to run, supported us, actually. He wasn't too keen about what our parents were doing and thought if there was anyone who could stop them…" He stopped, as though realizing what he was babbling about.

"And what were they doing?"

"Aw," the Elf smirked, waving Rheas' question away, "you know parents. Had some ideas of what they wanted us to do with our lives that we didn't agree with. Me, I wanted to be an English teacher, and I was, until the compelling call of Uncle Sam."

"You fought in the war, I saw a photograph."

"Damn straight! I fought in a lot of wars, kid. Uni's not the only one with horror stories." With a sigh, Elithantos stared at the floor in silence. Rheas placed the dagger back into its box.

"Why show me such a thing? It does neither of us benefit, aside from showing off."

Elithantos shot him a swift glare, though it melted away into a yawn. "Is that what you think I'm doing? No, I have other ways of showing off if I wished. I only leave a question. Do you like it?"

"It is a splendid piece of work, I admit."

"Then it's yours."

"I have nothing to give you for it. And I do not take gifts," he added, seeing the Elf start to argue.

"Listen," Elithantos began patiently, brushing back a stray lock of his hair, "I know what you mean, trust me. The thing is I have little choice. That dagger has saved my life more than once, and it has done so for Hana and Uni as well. It has served each of us well, but now we have to pass it on, else lose it forever. It's done nothing but sit in storage for the past decade, and I think you could find a use for it. In fact, I know it."

"Even so," Rheas said firmly, "I cannot take such a thing for free."

"Then we'll find a way to make payment! I'm desperate to get that off my hands." He sat there twiddling his thumbs for a mere moment before he snapped his fingers as the idea came rushing in through his pointed ears. "Brilliant! You'll work for it."

"Oh?"

"Recall those books downstairs, the ones outta order?"

"You wish me to organize them."

"Organize them, dust them off, and flip any sagging shelves and we'll call it even. Don't give me any 'I'm letting you off' crap cause it's a bigger job than it looks. You do that and the dagger is yours, agreed?"

Rheas gazed at the dagger in thought. Did he really want such a thing? How could it possibly benefit him any more than a common dagger from the shop could do? But holding it in his hands, he had felt such strength and power swell from it…

"Agreed."

"Great! Go ahead and take it now, looking at it brings back some memories I'd like to stay buried."

Taking the brown string from Elithantos, Rheas tied it about the white box and slipped it into a large inner pocket of the red duster. Somehow, he felt satisfied to have it.

"You can start tomorrow," the blonde smiled, leaning back into the couch pillows with his hands behind his head, "You don't mind staying an extra day, do you? 'Cause that's how long it's gonna take to do those books."

"I guess not, I still haven't figured out where I'm going yet, so." Rheas stood and stretched his arms above his head until he heard his back pop. The dagger in his pocket made the duster suddenly feel awkward on his shoulders. "Those runes on the blade," he said casually, "what do they mean?"

"That's the dagger's name. Silly, but the forger was always a little funny that way."

"What's its name?"

Elithantos suddenly looked nervous. He regarded Rheas a moment, as though regretting his decision, and Rheas could see, for one moment, fear in his eyes.

"Godslayer."

-

"Here you go, boy," Unithalus announced, tossing Rheas a bundle of clothing, still warm from the dryer, "Hurry and get changed, I want to be out of here before the damn sun rises."

Relieved at having his own clothes back, though not without a belying sense of apprehension, Rheas dashed up the stairway. When back in his room he could deposit his new dagger into the drawer of his nightstand where it would be safe. Safe from what, however, was unknown to him, but he felt a growing sense of possession of the dagger, and was unwilling to let it go now that he had it.

"And bang on Hana's door while you're up there!" the Drow hollered after him.

-

He had not been ready to go back on the streets, he discovered. He would glance about him too much and jump whenever someone passed by too closely. As if he had not been enough of a nervous wreck most of his life already, he thought in annoyance.

The relief of wearing his own clothes had died immediately upon leaving the Elves' home, and he suddenly wanted them off again more than anything. He felt foolish for it, but it felt as though the layers of cloth he had come to rely upon for comfort had betrayed him, had not stopped hands from reaching flesh. But there was little he could do about it, and speaking of it would only reveal a weakness he was not going to give his hosts the advantage of knowing. As soon as he got hold of some new clothes, he would discard these.

Traveling down the sidewalk at an easy pace, Rheas would look up about him, scanning for their destination, though he had no idea what that would be. The sky was a dark strip between the tall buildings, the stars hidden by the bright city lights. Through the drone of cars and the occasional honk, the voices of those around him blurred to a dull hum, and he could only distinguish the voices of those they passed if he bothered to do so. It was strange how much more alive the city seemed to be at night, when all acts of nature could be pushed back and let mankind revel in their own accomplishments. The thought disturbed him; nature itself more of a hindrance to the spirit of humanity? The survival of Man relied upon what the Earth provided him, yet his spirit remained glorified in himself. Were humanity to dedicate itself solely to its survival, it would lose all that it was capable of creating, but to only rejoice in that progression would surely prove its downfall.

He gazed absently at the bare trees that had been planted here and there along the sidewalk. The fight for balance was not an easy one, and it would only be a matter of time before the scale was tipped. But which way?

The Elves were accustomed to traveling together and naturally fell into order. They walked in single file, at least five feet between them, Elithantos leading the way, Hanathel behind him, and Unithalus bringing up the rear. Rheas found himself walking between Hanathel and Unithalus. Every now and again, their short line would be disrupted as one of the Elves would find an interest in something and stop. Most often this was Elithantos and his love of admiring parked cars.

When they finally reached their destination, Rheas wondered briefly of its nature. On the outside, the building was plain and somewhat dirty, but inside seemed nothing short of a subdued Shangri-La. There was a strict formality, both in some mannerisms and in dress, and Rheas feared for a moment that he and Elithantos -who, in their common street clothes, stuck out like sore thumbs- would be asked to leave. But other than a few disdainful glances from the other patrons, they were both ignored. Aside from that, there was music, movement, and fresh laughter wafting throughout that lightened the mood to something more relaxing and enjoyable.

Their coats were removed and Unithalus was given some warm greetings. He was apparently well known here, but didn't bother to introduce Rheas or Elithantos to anyone. Were he anyone else, Rheas may have been insulted, but he preferred to remain in the background. Elithantos was used to being the dogged tag-along and spent his energy on looking bored.

The building was split into two levels. Upstairs was nothing but a balcony running along the four walls and looking down to the dance floor, tables placed abundantly for those either resting or not partaking in the activity below. It was here Elithantos led Rheas while Unithalus and Hanathel vanished into the crowd. They each settled into a chair at a table, Rheas leaning on the railing as he watched the movement of bodies on the dance floor.

He had decided against inquiring Elithantos what kind of dance Unithalus liked as they had made their way up the stairs. By the dress and age of those present even someone as thick as Cameron could discern that this was certainly no anarchic omnium-gatherum that many modern youth claimed as dance. But it was neither the slow, creeping along of something so old fashioned that only those in their graves bothered with it. Rheas could see the band where he sat and leaned over the edge a little, smiling slightly at the sight of familiar instruments.

"Jazz?" he asked himself, then turning to Elithantos, "What, we got the Jitterbug coming up?"

"I hope not," the blond elf muttered.

"I was kidding."

"I'm not. Uni really got into the swing craze while he was still in Europe. He's an original Swinger. I think that's what got him into trouble over there."

"Trouble?"

"Yeah well, you know. After the Nazis took over, they weren't too keen on American influence. But I really doubt that was it, Uni's always liked political intrigue, getting his fingers into everything. That 'prolly damned him more than anything. That and being a Drow…"

That had not been what Rheas had meant; he was inquiring what kind of trouble Unithalus had gotten into, not how he got it. He could have figured that on his own. But that was probably a delicate area, and not one he should be prying into…openly, anyway. He returned his attention to the dance floor as the band struck up a new tune.

It was not like the movies Rheas had seen. There was no wild spinning and throwing girls over heads. Without the proper choreography such a thing would be dangerous in the crowds, afterall, but he still felt a little disappointed.

"I don't see Hana or Uni."

Elithantos pointed to the far end of the dance floor, "Over in the Cat's Corner, that's where all the pro's go. Uni's been doing this for over sixty years and still has the same physique as when he started, he's 'prolly one of the best swingers around. Hana's just a good learner."

"Indeed," Rheas mused, watching her. Now that he had seen them, it was hard to lose track of the pair, Unithalus with his long silvery-white hair, and Hanathel, as always, wearing red. They moved together with such grace that it made all the other dancers seem clumsy, robotic. If there had been any doubt that he was in the company of elves left in Rheas' mind, it vanished with the exoticness of their movements. Frankly, he was quite impressed.

"Do they always dance together?" he asked, slumping on the railing.

"Well, I offered once or twice but Uni wouldn't have me."

Rheas raised one eyebrow.

"I was being sarcastic," Elithantos sighed. "Uni always sticks with one partner. As much as he thinks of himself as a regular Casanova, he's not much of a social slut. Hana agreed to dance with him once and he hasn't taken another since."

"You make it sound like he's taking wives."

Elithantos rolled his eyes. "It's probably how he dates, actually."

Rheas recalled the photograph in Unithalus' study and decided to inquire about it. Elithantos was clearly bored, and bored people usually talked more freely.

"I saw a photograph of Uni and some woman in his study. Pale-haired, kinda looked like Liv Ullmann…"

"Oh, her. I'm guessing that's Marie, he mentioned her in one of his letters. She was his dancing partner for a while, back in Germany."

"She looked like more than a partner."

"Undoubtedly. Uni's not exactly shy around women, you know?"

"What happened to her?"

"Who knows. Maybe Uni just got tired of her. Maybe she got tired of him. That's what usually happens."

Satisfied, Rheas returned to his slumping. He wasn't sure how long he watched the dancers, but he was so relaxed at some point he thought he might melt right off the rail and onto the floor. He nearly did when Elithantos tapped him on the shoulder.

"Kinda boring unless you're doing it, huh?"

Rheas yawned in response.

"I thought so. Come on, let's go."

Rheas slid out of his chair and stretched. "Where are we going?"

"Somewhere more our scene. Hurry up. Don't worry about those two, they know my hang-outs."

-

"This better?" Elithantos had to shout over the music for Rheas to hear him.

"Yeah." Rheas popped the tab off his soda and gulped it down; just being in this place was making him sweat.

The club was dark save for the warm red lights around the walls and the bright lights on the stage. The boy and the elf sat back in one of the booths while a crowd surged in a primal form of modern dance between them and the stage. The band, a wild group of unknowns, wailed and spewed out music through hardly-adequate speakers. Not too bad, Rheas thought. But despite the new surrounding, his fatigue was beginning to wear at him and he found himself no more energetic than before. Elithantos, now a much happier elf, barely noticed and at some point vanished to go flirt with a young woman at the bar.

Rheas had reveled in his solitude once, now in an open place he wanted nothing more than to hide under the table. And he hated himself for it. Within minutes he had worked himself into a foul mood, and he felt all the more disgusted.

With an irritated sigh, Elithantos dropped back into his seat. "Women suck, kid. Never forget that."

"Indeed she would have, had she gone with you. I suggest heightening your standards, elf. The common dreck hardly becomes you."

"Huh," Elithantos mused as he regarded the young teen, "maybe it's true what they say about heavy metal and violence."

"I'm hardly violent, Eli."

"Were you capable of it, I would think otherwise. No, I don't think it's the music but your experiences. And at this point, I understand them."

"Regardless of how cozy we seem to be getting," Rheas snarled, "you hardly know me!"

"Perhaps…" Elithantos trailed off, distracted as the band started up a new song. Rheas was about to continue his point but decided against it. The elf had let it go, and Rheas was not about to waste his energy.

It was sometime through the next song that the day caught up with him and Rheas' exhaustion took over. He dozed off where he sat and did not stir until Hanathel, recently arriving with Unithalus, shook him awake. Rubbing his eyes, he got to his feet and groggily followed the three elves out of the club.

The cool night air roused him considerably. Yawning, he pulled himself into his sweatshirt and pulled up the hood. His legs felt weak the whole way home.

-

Not the end of the chapter, but I'll either add more later or just cut it short. Uhm, yeah.
Again, sorry for the time taken to update. Senior year and moving, ya know.