Author's note: Okay, I have GOT to stop loosing the notebook I write the rough drafts in! Sorry about the abhorrently long delay. I would like to dedicate this chapter to War Princess because she specifically threatened to throw a tantrum if I didn't post soon. She's also the best reviewer I have, along with Angelis-Sensei (sorry Nyx, but you still aren't too great at literary reviews). Thanks to every one who reviewed. Here's the chapter I promised.
Mornië Alantuva - Chapter Two – Punishments and Problems:
(Somewhere on a road near Imladris)
"What's wrong, Mithrandir," asked a younger looking man with auburn hair and beard and bright blue eyes.
"Nothing, my boy," the Istar replied, looking up from his ring, "just Narya telling me something, but nothing bad."
"It has some importance. You had that far-off look in your eyes, grandfather, the one that means you're seeing something a thousand miles away."
"No miles at all, Belthilion," Mithrandir replied cryptically, "Merely Elsewhere." (A/n: the e is supposed to be capitalized.)
"You're worse than my father! At least he speaks in normal speech, albeit very vague speech, instead of always speaking in riddles," Belthilion declared with a sigh.
For a moment, Mithrandir seemed lost in thought over this declaration and then he said in all seriousness, "You do have a point there. Culfin doesn't speak in riddles half as often as he should do. I'll have to have a word with him next time I see him." Here he paused for a moment, his face still wearing the look of seriousness as he looked pointedly at his grandson. Then with a sigh he said, "Alas, I suppose not everyone can speak in riddles all the time." Then his voice lost a little of its solemn tone. "It must have something to do with existing before the beginning of time." With this having been concluded, he watched the other Istar's expression until it changed from intense concentration to understanding.
"I see. What you saw or sensed through Narya was that another one of the Ainur went to Haedor." Mithrandir nodded in satisfaction at this interpretation, but said nothing to expand upon it. "But who went, and why?
"That, my boy," the Grey Wizard said with a smile, "is something you shall have to find out later. I believe that Lord Elrond is expecting us for lunch and we shall certainly be late if we sit here pondering riddles all morning. Come along now," he ordered, beginning to once again walk along the path that would lead them to Imladris. "And, if we miss lunch, then we won't have anything to eat until supper. After all, we can't all be lucky enough to be hobbits and have seconds and thirds of every meal, now can we?"
Shaking his head in amusement, Belthilion compliantly followed, silently pondering whether his grandfather's behavior was just the act he claimed it was or if the man had actually gone senile. During ramblings such as the one the other wizard had just given, Belthilion was not completely certain.
(Imladris, The Palace, Elernil's Bedroom)
Waking abruptly, Elernil forced his heart and mind to stop racing. "It was just a dream, just a very realistic dream," he told himself, though he didn't believe a word of what he had just said. For he had long ago learned how to tell the difference between a mere dream and a vision. And that had been no mere dream. Unable to stop himself, his mind leapt into gear. Mentally, he reviewed what he had seen and tried to make sense of the conversation. He knew that the woman on the thrown was Morwen Firnitári, Tenshi's mother, the Haedor's Goddess of death and rebirth, queen of the Underworld. He had met her several hundred years ago when he had joined his grandfather, Culfin Palantír on a journey to Haedor. At that time however, Tenshi was nowhere to be found and he had assumed her gone forever. His vision proved him wrong however. Tenshi was alive and apparently well, if her temper was anything to go by. Nothing that the queen talked about was of any importance. He had already known that the maia Runya, daughter of Morwen and Leuliantë was Tenshi's eldest sibling. It was his wife's ranting in English that had provided him with some very enlightening information. Apparently, Marine, who he recalled was know as Maia in Haedor, was still there and still working for Morwen. Culfin, needless to say was still there, but Elernil had already known that. However he had not known that Belthilion, Culfin's son had returned to Endor. Upon remembering that Mithrandir was supposed to arrive any time now, Elernil realized that if Belthilion had returned, then he in all likelihood would be making an appearance as well. The most valuable piece of information that he had garnered from the dream was the fact that Runya, the Maia of whom there had been neither word nor sight of for over three hundred years, had been summoned to her mother's court. That implied that the situation in Haedor had grown worse. Though how that was even possible, Elernil could not fathom. The only time he had been there, the magical beings in that world had been in the middle of a vicious war. After a long and difficult struggle, his grandfather, Culfin, with the aid of his uncle, Belthilion had killed the evil they had been fighting, a wizard they had called Grindewald. The war had been gruesome and terrible, but even at its pinnacle, there had been no need to ask the help of the Ainur, at least not any of the one's who had existed since the dawn of time. If Runya's help were needed, than the magical beings of Haedor were in deep peril. The eldest son of Elrond shuddered to think what kind of power could have risen there, what kind of destruction was taking place, that Haedor was in such dire need of assistance.
'Adar should know of this,' he thought. Then he said aloud, "and I have a strange suspicion that he will be discussing exactly that with Mithrandir tonight." Pushing those thoughts of worry and fear into the back of his mind with all the force he could muster, Elernil rose from the bed and began to prepare for lunch.
Meanwhile, a floor below his room, Celebrían, along with all four of the children, was standing just outside the door to her husband's library. She knocked softly on the door and all four children looked at each other, exchanging identical expressions of dread, when Lord Elrond opened the door.
Taking in the sight of the children, all four of whom were still dripping wet, one of whom was pouting, two of whom were glaring, and the last of whom was ignoring the two glaring boys in favor of keeping her face devoid of emotion. When he saw that his sons' robes had been burnt off up to the knee, where there were expansive singe-marks, he raised one eyebrow in consternation. After a moment of staring at them, 'the look' plastered on his face the entire time, he asked, without thinking that he should probably have directed the question to his wife, "What in the world have you four managed to get yourselves into this time?" Of course, the loud burst of speech that immediately followed this question was not even remotely coherent, due to the fact that all four children had started speaking at once. To make matters worse, they had then proceeded to start arguing with each other over who was telling the truth. With an inaudible sigh and a momentary glance toward the heavens, as if to ask, 'why me,' Elrond raised both his hands in a halting gesture and cleared his throat loudly. All arguing ceased immediately and all four of the children turned back to face him, all but one of them suddenly seeming to find the white tiles of the floor quite fascinating. The only child who wasn't looking at the floor was the one who had previously been so stoic. She did have her head lowered like the other three and thus managed to look appropriately apologetic, but her eyes were raised and focused intently on her grandfather. She clearly wanted to say something. However, he decided, she would just have to wait until he knew what had taken place.
"Celebrían," he asked, this time wisely preventing another shouting match to break out among the children, "what did they do?"
"I'm not entirely sure if this is the complete truth, since the girls said one thing and the boys another, but if I understand correctly then it happened like this. Arwen and Lorwen were sitting by the water pool in the gardens when the twins ambushed them, pushing them into the water. According to Arwen, the boys were trying to drown them, but this is obviously an exaggeration. When the girls climbed out of the pool, they were infuriated, which is perfectly reasonable. I have no idea what Arwen tried to do, but apparently, Lorwen was angry enough to accidentally set the twins' robes alight with her elemental power, which as you know, occasionally gets out of control. To put the fire out, the boys jumped into the pool. Thus you have four children soaking wet and two with burnt clothing." She finished her interpretation of the events firmly and then, with a quick glance at the four elflings standing behind her, added, "I believe that you would be best able to make sure they all face appropriate consequences."
Elrond also spared a glance at them, his eyebrow still raised. "Indeed," was his only response for some time, as he studied all four of them, evaluating the account he had just heard and mentally assessing who was most at fault. After a moment, his expression returned to normal and he looked at his wife once more. "I think I have a few ideas that would be suitable punishments for each of them." He then led the children into the library, where they were likely to be given yet another lecture before being assigned punishments.
He shut the door and turned around to look at the children, who still had their heads bowed in an attempt to act respectful, and fixed them with a chastising look, before saying in his scolding tone, "Now who would like to tell me, one at a time please, what happened?" The twins shifted from one foot to the other without looking up or saying a word. Despite the look in her eyes, Lorwen remained silent, though did not look so much ashamed as she did unobtrusive. Arwen, who had been the one pouting earlier, was the first one to answer the question.
"It happened exactly like Naneth said. They pushed us in the water and then Lorwen accidentally lit their robes on fire." Her dark brown hair fell on either side of her face like a curtain. She didn't look at the twins or Lorwen, but very hesitantly raised her eyes to meet her father's. "But please don't get mad at her, Ada. She didn't mean set their cloaks on fire." Even at the age of nine, Arwen knew that if someone like Lorwen, who had magic, used their magic to possibly injure someone else who could not likewise defend his or herself, then consequences were very, very severe. Apparently Elrond could read from his daughter's expression exactly what she was worrying about.
"Don't worry, I'm not mad at her. I know she wouldn't hurt the twins knowingly," he reassured her. Then turned to the twins and asked, "Besides Lorwen accidentally lighting your robes on fire, did either of the girls try to retaliate at all?"
Both of the boys, looking ashamed, shook their heads and simultaneously muttered, "No, Adar." Looking back to the girls, Elrond made up his mind.
"Arwen, from all of your stories, you didn't do anything at all, and you, Lorwen, did what you did completely unintentionally, so neither of you will be punished." Then he rounded on the twins. "You two, on the other hand, seem to be the ones at fault and so you will spend the next week helping to reorganize everything in my library by alphabetical order." Elladan and Elrohir both looked horrified at this notion, but wisely, neither of them protested. When Elrond spoke again, his tone was not quite as chastising, and nearly pleasant. "Now all of you will go change into something more suitable than the cloths you are wearing and then come immediately down to lunch. We are expecting visitors, and I will not have any of my children or grandchildren causing a scene by arriving late or by looking unkempt." The four children very willingly complied and nearly raced out of the library, leaving the Lord of Rivendell to sit in peace until lunch.
As it turned out, it was not the children, but the visitors who caused a scene at lunch. The boys were by far the most quiet and subdued they had been in weeks, and the girls were talking excitably but not loudly enough to be impolite. The adults, meaning Elrond, Celebrían, Elernil, Glorfindel, and Erestor (the last two always took their meals with the royal family) were conversing amongst themselves. The meal proceeded in this manner for about twenty minutes, until, during a natural hush in the conversations, Celebrían and Lorwen, neither looking up from their plates, suddenly announced softly and in unison, "The visitors have arrived." Elrond, Erestor, Glorfindel, and the twins all turned to stare at Lorwen. It was a well know fact that the Lady of Imladris had the gift of sight, but none of them had ever seen the slightest hint that the ebony-haired little girl possessed it as well. Lorwen didn't seem to notice their stares however and started talking to Arwen once more. If Celebrían was surprised, she certainly did not show it. And no one seemed to notice that neither Arwen nor Elernil had found anything the least bit strange about Lorwen knowing their guests had arrived. After several minutes had passed and none of the males had looked away from Elrond's only grandchild, Celebrían gave them all a very pointed look. This seemed to bring them back to the present because Erestor and Glorfindel immediately resumed talking and the boys recommenced eating. Elrond looked momentarily at his wife before turning to face his eldest son, only to realize that Elernil was not at the table. A very confused expression came over his face, before the sound of the door to the dining hall being opened drew his attention. Elernil, it appeared, had taken it upon himself to great their visitors, likely because of his father's lack of awareness.
When the two guests entered the room and were recognized, the children, including the twins, all leapt out of their seats and rushed across the room with exclamations of, "Mithrandir! Mithrandir!" The four little elves surrounded the wizard, who in comparison, towered over them. None of them had ever met Belthilion before and in fact, none of them even knew that that was indeed the name of the man accompanying their favorite wizard. Content to just watch as his grandfather was veritably ambushed by the group of overly-exited elflings, Belthilion smiled from where he stood off to the side with Elernil, not the least bit offended that he didn't receive the same welcome.
Soon, the Grey Wizard drew attention to his companion, and Belthilion then had to greet the members of the royal household, but not before Elernil had whispered, "Uncle, I need to speak with you, and preferably without my father present. It has to do with Haedor." This was acknowledged with a nearly imperceptible nod and then the formal introductions began. Some time later, lunch was finished and everyone split up into various groups. The twins were permitted to go play so long as they didn't cause any more trouble –their punishment would start the following day- and Celebrían took the two girls down to the stables to have their riding lesson, as they had planned to do that entire day. Mithrandir announced to Elrond in very quiet tones that he needed to speak to him privately. Elrond agreed and the two departed to his study. Taking that as their cue to leave, Erestor and Glorfindel disappeared off to their various duties. That left Elernil and Belthilion alone, just as Elernil had requested.
After following his nephew down a hallway or two and up several flights of stairs, Belthilion found himself standing in the prince's own study. He took the seat offered to him and waited patiently as Elernil also sat down. "What was it you needed to talk to me about? You mentioned Haedor. What's going on?"
Elernil sighed. "I was hoping you could tell me."
"What is that supposed to mean? Come now child, you aren't one of us wizards. There really is no need for you to be so very vague," the auburn haired Istar prompted.
"This morning, just before lunch, I fell asleep and as I slept I had a vision. It involved certain people, certain familiar people. And it gives me reason to believe that the magical community in that place is once more in peril," the elven prince replied, no more straightforward than before.
His uncle sighed exhasperatedly. "For Valar's sake. I never should have let you spend so much time with my father at that bloody school of his." The Istar apparently didn't notice his employment of an English word. Elernil almost didn't catch it either, because it was a translation of the word into Sindarin, but he had to hide a smile. Who had spent too much time in Haedor? "You are beginning to be nearly as vague in your speech as he is. Tell me plainly. What did you see?" Indulging his long absent uncle, Elernil recounted in great detail the contents of his vision. When he finished, Belthilion was sat back in his chair and stared into space for a time a look of worry on his face.
"That is indeed a troubling thought, my boy," he said, not aware of how much he, sounded like his father and his grandfather for that matter. His nephew however, was struck by the incredible resemblance between the two and he would have laughed had the situation not been so serious.
"So you don't have any idea what's going on?" Elernil waited impatiently for an answer.
"I'm afraid I don't," replied Belthilion, his bright blue eyes lacking much of their customary twinkle, "I returned from Haedor over a century ago. The magical community was at peace when I left. It is very disturbing that a maia as powerful as my grandmother needed to be called into the fray. It also bothers me greatly that there is such hostility between your wife –who I had no idea was still alive- and those from Endor who have answered Morwen's call for aid. And I don't like the idea of Marien getting any more involved than she was in the first war. From the way Narvanariel spoke of her, it seems she is all too entangled in the affairs of that world. I have no news of any importance except a few facts about your mother and half-brother. Your mother has gone into hiding with her husband for an undetermined length of time. Don't be alarmed," he quickly said, seeing the expression on the elf's face, "I don't believe she's in any personal danger. She told me she was 'disappearing' so that she could reappear later when the time called for it without people wondering about her age or her husband's age or Thanatos' sudden disappearance off the face of the earth." Elernil gave a start at this, but once more, his uncle put his fears to rest, or at least tried to. "Elernil, when I say that your brother disappeared off the face of the earth, I meant it quite literally. He's been taken to the underworld by Morwen for training. He is safe. Nothing can threaten him there, not so long as he is under Morwen's protection." This however was not what Elernil wanted to hear.
"You mean to tell me," demanded the comparatively much younger man, "that that madwoman has abducted my brother and that he is now indubitably involved in one way or another in this unknown but likely quite perilous crisis, and he's apt to do something that could get him killed?"
Belthilion looked up at his nephew, who had, at some point during his tirade, stood up and was now staring down at the Istar with a murderous death glare that could easily rival his father's. "No. I just told you, the last I knew, Thanatos was being confined indefinitely to the Underworld. He's not allowed to go, as he calls it, 'topside'." This apparently provided Elernil with the slightest amount of relief, because he was able to gather his wits and sit down again. Belthilion continued, "What you've told me cannot go uninvestigated. I'll have to return to Haedor as soon as I can get to the portal."
"I'm coming with you," Elernil declared, unwavering determination quite clear in his nearly obsidian eyes.
"Your father isn't going to like that," Belthilion warned apprehensively.
"I don't care," was the stubborn response. Elernil had made up his mind and no one was going to be able to prevent him from doing exactly as he planned.
I didn't plan to end it there, but the chapter became very unexpectedly long. I hope you enjoyed it. I know there's not much to comment on, but do be kind and review. Things to ponder: (keeping in mind that this is a LotR-HP crossover). Who does Belthilion remind you of from the HP verse? If he looks and sometimes sounds exactly like his father, Culfin, then what HP character is Culfin's alter ego/alias? Also, if Elernil also has a similar alias, what is his name in the HP-verse? In your opinion, did Lorwen really light the twins' robes on fire by accident, or did she do it on purpose? If any of you are reading Nyx Nox Night's By Blood, does Elernil's brother's name ring a bell? What will come of Mithrandir and Elrond's meeting? Feel free to answer these questions, or ask other ones, in reviews. Theories on what you think will happen are also welcome. The next chapter will be posted very soon, as long as you review. Last time I asked for reviews, I got three. I asked for six. Since this chapter is about three times as long and has much more in it to think about, I request at least nine. Nine reviews is not asking for too much when the chapter is fourteen pages long. Anyway, the next chapter will expand upon Lorwen's eerie ability to know things ahead of time.