Interlude: Among other fellows

Elrohir knew his brother very intimately and understood him in a way that can only come from being with a person for thousands of years. It was an innate knowledge and a well known fact: If you had Elladan, Elrohir wasn't far.

The only thing that confused Elrohir, the only thing that made him so incredibly bewildered, was Elladan's fascination for the human, Lady Enid of Saldia, formerly called Haven.

Not that Lady Enid and the rest of her family felt like humans. Being an elf made him very sensitive to the thrumming of everything living and while the lady felt like a human, there was an echo of something decidedly not in her blood.

But that was beside the point. The point was, Elrohir had never seen his brother focus all of his attention into one person with such intensity. It was rather unnerving that he couldn't understand why.

Elladan knew what he felt, of course. He didn't have to voice it out loud. Matters of incomprehension aside, they still had dozens of other things wherein they understood each other perfectly. This was one of those.

"You are confused," Elladan finally said, voicing the perplexing feelings in him.

"Yes," he responded because lying about it was beyond him. He wanted to understand and lying would be detrimental to it.

Elladan nodded. "You will have to write to Ada. But I will explain it as best as I can." Here, he paused to gather his thoughts and Elrohir was fleetingly thankful that patience was genetic.

"It was like looking in the Mirror of the Wishing Stars," Elladan said slowly, his voice soft. "Everything was dull and colorless and even with how we elves see the very essence of the world, it just seemed mundane and ordinary."

Elorhir interrupted, recognizing the direction it was going. "And then you see into the Mirror and the world blazed into color," he said.

Elladan laughed because that was a direct quote from the dwarf that had glimpsed into the Mirror.

"Not quite," Elladan said, chuckling with mirth. "But the idea is there. Brother, she just lives so differently!" The last was said with raw feeling. "All these years, ever since Nana was driven mad by the orcs, my mind – our mind has been consumed by the feeling of bitterness and vengeance. And then she took one dance with me and for a moment – just for that one moment, my mind cleared of hatred and bitterness and I could hear the music playing to the very bare bones of my being. And…it was like breathing for the first time."

Elves were eloquent and very good with poetry. But Elladan wasn't the sort to do that. Elrohir could feel his eyes going so wide that they hurt. He understood a bit more now, yet he was left with more questions. Perhaps he was going to take Elladan's advice and write to Ada after all.

"Do you wish to join her in marriage?" He finally managed.

His brother merely raised an eyebrow because really, the answer was there. After a moment, they eventually laughed.

"A change of the question, then," Elrohir said with a smile. "When are you going to join with her in marriage?"

Here, Elladans cheeks tinged with the pink of embarrassment. "Ah! Lord Hodur sent me a letter after several weeks of correspondence with Lady Enid. He said that I was starting the custom of their family, which unexpectedly makes things more difficult for myself. It is a process, you see. First is the courtship letters, then the gifts and then the settling of the contract. The last would be the dance, which would really end everything. I had not known I was doing the courtship letters until he told me that since I had already started it, I might as well finish it."

Elrohir could have kept away his laughter if Elladan had not pouted. But he did and Elrohir had to ask in-between chuckles, "And which part of the process are you in?"

The pout evolved into a scowl. "Another two months of gift giving," he said.

Elrohir laughed again. There was a definite whine in Elladans voice. "Do not be quite so hasty, brother," he said when his mirth subsided. "I'm sure this process has a reason."

"I didn't mean to start it in the first place," was the rejoinder that had Elrohir letting out another peal of laughter.

Theoden was a born and bred King of Rohan and as such, acted accordingly. In that capacity, he also subconsciously liked to ensure the safety of his House and in conjunction, his Heir.

It only took one visit from the well-rumored and extremely charming Lady of Haven, now Saldia, and then his world has twisted into different proportions. He had known that the Dunlendings were enemies but they were inconsequential in the face of orcs and trolls, like mere flies among a herd of cows. He didn't even think about befriending them.

Theoden still remembered how her green eyes had flashed as she said, "A few months ago, I touched Prince Theodred's hand and I saw him die." It was one of the most frightening statements he had ever had the misfortune to hear. It had done wonders in changing his mind about the Dunlendings and how to go about befriending them.

Of course, it had helped that he received weekly messages from his son regarding the integrity of character of the Leaders of Saldia. The mention of Lord Hodur surprised him. He hadn't known that he blind potions brewer that had cured his sires eyesight was that Hodur and had survived a journey to the north all by himself.

From those facts, it was a simple thing to send one of his scouts to the Dunlendings with a request for a meeting. There had been an uproar amongst his captains and things had been dicey and tense while negotiations were underway. The Dunlendings had probably sensed the tensions and had gone without their armor…Well, as much armor as the reports stated. Nobody alive could really give an accurate report on the appearances of the Wild men but the reports of dark hair, steel and a lot of fur had always been consistent.

But it paid off.

The outer-lying villages, which were always subject to attacks near winter, were left alone and the efforts and money that would have gone to repair the effects of an attack weren't spent. Theoden had to look in astonishment at the surplus he had seen in the reports from the treasurer. He hadn't even known that he was unconsciously setting aside funds for the Dunlendings's attacks.

And his captains wondered why he was smiling more often these days!

The decision to send his heir to Saldia for his education may have been on a whim once he'd heard about the education and knowledge it preached, but he'd never regretted in even once. Theoden's own education had mainly taken place in Gondor beside his sister but the recent gulf in the relations between Rohan and Gondor made him hesitant to send Theodred there. The appearance of Haven was timely and it almost made him think that the Valar had something to do with it.

Prince Theodred didn't waste his education either and had gutted out and revised their entire military system and made it even more efficient. There were complaints of course because, heir or not, Theodred was still younger than all the captains. Then there were lesser injuries and casualties were nearing zero, all complaints dried up.

Theoden thanked the Valar for Lady Gryffons wisdom in letting someone with a tactical mind teach his son.

(In Saldia, Heather and Draco both sneezed simultaneously.)

Even Eowyn was different. There was a marked difference in the way she held herself. Before Saldia, she had pestered Theoden to be taught the sword and to be allowed to join the men in the border patrols. Sending her to Saldia had been for his peace of mind and for the general peace of his household – the tantrum she would throw if left behind would have been legendary – and he had been half-convinced that she would return even worse. Instead, she had returned sharper and more feminine. The pleas for joining border patrol had stopped as well and she had smiled sweetly at him instead and asked to wander the villages that dotted Rohan. Warily, he had agreed, not knowing what he was agreeing to.

It only took three weeks for him to realize that Eomer's groans and complaints had a reason. The entire country had somehow found itself an Internal Peace Enforcer and she was also teaching the women and children how not to be bullied.

There went the peace of his country after the men complained and he had to make it official somehow, because nearly all of Eowyn's recruits were women. (And happy women meant a happy country.)

Lady Gryffons recent letter just cemented the fact that constant and continuous association with her would head to insanely shocking (he really had not expected that of Eowyn) and migraine inducing events.

The letter said:

Greetings, King Theoden:

Old friend, I understand that I have been remiss in my missives and Prince Theodred had assured me that he has told you. But recent reports from my Brotherhood has told me that you remain ignorant of everything that your heir has done.

I will be blunt: He has asked me to station additional men from the organization because of the increased efficiency of the orc and troll attacks.

Hodur has pointed out to me that I might as well ask you now that it has happened.

Would it be very troublesome for you if I were to erect a permanent place there for my Brotherhood and for Eilys's Order? You will, of course, have to provide them with food and the basic essentials but that is a small thing for the service they will render your country. Your country will become a stopping point, right after Saldia and that will increase the traffic for your inns as well.

Notify me of your choice soon, my friend.

Gryffon of Saldia, formerly named Haven.

He had to reread it several times before Theoden gestured a servant to call for his son.

Really, the nerve of the boy!

Phobos remembered a time when he cared and allowed it to show.

Before Haven – Saldia, the children were cruel and the adults even more so. Compassion and mercy was a weakness and everyone around him and his twin had scented that weakness like sharks with blood in the water. So he did the only thing he could, he stopped caring and everything became numb. Deimos did the opposite and he had burned with his rage and his anger at everything. A small, really tiny part of them had never stopped caring. Both of them just learned to hide it better.

Sneaking into a supply caravan was one of Deimos's better ideas – though he certainly wasn't telling his brother that. They'd wound up in a town, still incomplete and filled with haphazard buildings but the people had been smiling and laughing. It was such an unnerving sight that both of them froze and felt no small bit of shock.

They'd been determined to start fresh and place everything behind them. However, years of habit were hard to undo and it really was so difficult to feel anything when you haven't cared for years. Still, everything had worked out and the magic of the town wound up thawing Phobos's ice and chilling Deimos's fire until Phobos was merely apathetic instead of numb and Deimos became sarcastic instead of a sociopath.

Becoming Lady Eilys's apprentice, and later, her assistant, was blamed entirely on Deimos. Between the both of them, the one with the unhealthy curiosity had always been Deimos and it had gotten them into worse trouble than anyone could imagine.

The hospital had been one of the main buildings and Lady Eilys had been so happy to see it finished that she'd invited everyone to see it. There were plenty of impromptu tours after that and Deimos had been curious and had dragged Phobos. They wound up separated from the rest of the group and then wandered into a roped off corridor. Deimos's inherent nature kicked in again and both of them checked out why it was roped off.

The rest, they would say, is history.

Phobos begged to differ. It wasn't exactly history in his mind yet because the torturous training Lady Eilys had put him and his brother through wouldn't allow itself to become musty and dusty and forgotten. Every time he stitched a person up, he remembered three hellish days of no sleep, hemming all the healer robes in the hospital. Every time he assigned a proper dose for a potion, he remembered holding a wooden practice sword and facing Lady Eilys, holding a sword of her own, who whacked him every time he got it wrong. Of course, he was allowed to block, but the woman was fast. Knowing who trained her, it was no surprise.

But it was extremely difficult to label the years he spent as an apprentice as hell. There were the times when Lady Eilys would suddenly come up to both of them, with absolutely no concept for personal space, grab them and then take them to whatever had caught her interest. Whatever it would that made her interested, however, were potentially dangerous or extremely embarrassing, or even worse, really strange. All of it had the similarity being that they were all satisfying to witness, with a hidden lesson in each.

Camping, for example, had the potential to be dangerous and extremely embarrassing for both brothers. But nightfall came and Lady Eilys taught both of them to map the stars and to navigate by it if they were ever lost. The embarrassing still happened the following morning when Deimos cooked and the result was a sludge of goop that Phobos would swear he saw move.

When the apprenticeship had ended and both of them had been free to go their own way, it had taken no difficulty to stick with Lady Eilys and become her assistant. The change from apprentice to assistant was a different kind of hell though.

It was widely rumored that Lady Eilys was terrible with management and it even generated much laughter when Lord Hodur incredulously wondered out loud how she managed to train two able apprentices. To have it confirmed was amusing...and not so amusing once Phobos realized what that entailed for her self-appointed assistants.

He learned more about Saldia's management and how it ran more than he liked.

He didn't resent her though. Lady Eilys radiated an adorable sort of helplessness once faced with paperwork. She was like Lady Gryffon in that aspect in that she procrastinated as much as possible except that Lady Gryffon, once she started something, would never stop until it was finished. Lady Eilys would flit around her work station like a butterfly, leaving half-finished paperwork behind.

Deimos once wondered how she was related to the other Founders since she was so different. Phobos, who was usually assigned to join her in her rounds in the hospital, merely raised an eyebrow and switched places with his brother. He witnessed Lady Eilys smiling down an extremely stubborn patient. Inexplicably, the man cowered as though faced with Mandos, the god of the dead.

"Please drink you potion," Lady Eilys had said softly while smiling like a cat. "I hear that my healers are complaining about you. But do remember, captain. As long as you are here, they are responsible for your life."

The captain gobbled down his potion like he was held at sword-point. Deimos understood how she was related to the Founders and Phobos had laughed.

Each of the Founders radiated an air that made them hard to ignore. When they were together they shone. Lady Gryffon shone especially brighter than the rest. Initially, it had made him angry on his teachers behalf since she had the tendency to fade into the background in the face of her siblings. And then he realized that the four of them operated smoothly, and in a way that needed all four of them. The absence of one would render their operations less efficient.

Take the recent debate that he had the good fortune to witness all by himself.

"How in magic's name shall we deal with this?" Lord Hodur had demanded. "Four months of travel is not a good distance for a vassal state."

"Better transportation," Lady Gryffon said immediately. "That's what I thought when I first heard of it."

Lady Enid had immediately gone into tangents and calculations. His teacher had only furrowed her brow and borrowed a map.

"We can have a boat," Lady Eilys spoke up, making all of them fall quiet.

"Nobody knows how to build a proper ship," Lady Enid interjected. "Only the elves do and the Corsairs of Umbar, but those lot are pirates."

Uncharacteristically, Lady Eilys rolled her eyes. "You really did forget, Enid. My branch of the family used to be seafarers before we settled. There's probably a manual on ships somewhere in my mind."

There was an astonished silence and it was broken by Lady Gryffon laughing. "That's brilliant!" she cried. "So I'll leave that to you and Hodur."

While Lord Hodur had spluttered and complained, Lady Gryffon turned and winked at him. Phobos barely restrained himself from groaning because really, that meant a dozen more sleepless nights.

And then Lady Eilys turned to him that night as they were settling the night shift in the Hospital. "Phobos," she'd said with lightly concealed panic. "Help me with the paperwork for the new Shipyard."

Sometimes, he wondered why he stayed with his teacher, especially since his brother kept getting distracted by Lord Hodur's assistant. Then he remembered his old life of painful loneliness and general numbness. Compared to Lady Eilys's cracking a bad joke just to infuriate him, that life was monotonous and completely depressing.

He wouldn't change it for anything in Arda.

"I sometimes miss those days when you wouldn't dream of talking back," Lord Hodur remarked dryly.

Meiran scowled, knowing what he meant.

She classified her life as before Saldia and during Saldia. Before Saldia involved her thirteen siblings and a lot of remarks that were aimed to bring down her self-esteem just because she had been born a girl. During Saldia involved a lot of yelling and insults from an irate Lord Hodur, which would result in Meiran breaking down into tears a lot. Then Lord Guiomer had commented on her lack of backbone and she'd found the hidden steel in her that could fight back and draw blood with just her words.

Lord Hodur, after his initial surprise when she first snarled back, had looked pleased. That had been strange. Then again, anything that dealt with the Founders was strange. Especially Lord Hodur.

Take, for example, her second month into the apprenticeship. Meiran had been as startled as anything when he had suddenly whipped off his blindfolf to stare at the potion ingredient that had been bothering him. She had been shocked into silence upon finding out that her teacher wasn't really blind, nevermind that his eyes glittered and shone like starlight.

Of course, he didn't react like a normal person at all when he realized she was sitting by his fireplace. He had simply looked at her - and by the Valar being on the recieving end of such a stare was like having your soul removed and examined by a Master Healer - and raised an eyebrow. "You have anything to say, silly apprentice?" he drawled.

Her temper, which always simmered in his presence, boiled over. "I am not silly!" she'd snapped. "And since how long have you been able to see?"

"Since I was born," he'd answered dryly. "The eyes are new, though. An accident. Do we continue discussing this or shall I keep on with the inventory?"

He was touchy about it, she had realized and never brought it up again. The one thing she had understood about her mercurial and temperamental teacher was that he was practical about everything and incredibly vain about his looks. That he had to cover his brilliant eyes for the sake of practicality - because it would be extremely difficult to talk to people when they are busy staring at your eyes - must have rankled at him.

The training he put her through, though, would surely have made Sauron and Morgoth proud.

She'd had to identify potion ingredients blindfolded and by scent, brew all sorts of potions while sleep deprived and under pressure. That hardship, coupled with Lord Hodur's impressive temper, would have been enough to make any sane person cry. Meiran wondered what that said about her sanity seeing as she'd stayed with him for more than ten years. Probably nothing good.

Everything wasn't about training though, or Meiran would have run for the Gap of Rohan ages ago. In between brewing potions, Lord Hodur would sometimes tell stories that had hidden meanings. Finding out what it meant - what it was really about - was her unofficial assignment. She'd only ever disregarded that once and the disappointment that had flickered all over his features, however briefly, had made her determined not to let him feel that disappointment ever again.

Meiran had gradually realized, as the story telling grew more frequent, that the stories were all about the lives of the founders before they created Saldia. It was a humbling and inspiring thing to understand because with how much respect and influence the founders had, it was easy to forget that they were human as well, no matter how young they all looked. For the Saldians, the founders had been immortalized. Meiran was no exception to that and hearing the stories allowed her to treat her teacher normally. The adjustment wasn't that difficult for her since his temper ensured that.

Lately, however, her teacher had started to remove his blindfold when he was alone, or just in her presence and his startling eyes were always shadowed, dark circles underneath them emphasizing that he was getting lesser sleep than usual. To punctuate that, his cluttered desk was actually clean and free of paperwork, and all his research journals were filled with scribbles and formulae. (He'd actually had to make new ones since he'd run out of them.)

All of it pointed to the fact that somehow, Lord Hodur was worried about something. This was further confirmed by Lady Gryffon having the same haunted air and how battered the training posts were with the number of times she had thrown daggers at them.

Which, somehow, led to Faramir becoming her student. And that made absolutely no sense since her teacher had more free time with the completion of all his paperwork. It didn't help matters when Deimos found out and absolutely refused to leave her alone with her student. For lessons or anything else.

And that was how Lord Faramir ended up learning potions brewing and healing at the same time.

Meiran loved her master, she truly did. But sometimes, she wished he would actually order her to do something instead of floundering around about it for ages. The delay in Faramirs permanent placement had somehow caused Lord Hodur to come down with a cold when he'd tried to teach Faramir and had fallen asleep in the middle of a lecture because of his exhaustion and terrible sleeping habits. She'd had to wrestle the responsibility of Faramir's education from him.

Honestly, that stubborn man! And people wondered why she never left after her apprenticeship? Her poor master wouldn't survive it if she did.

DELETED SCENES:

Scene 1

How Cailyn found out that Lord Guiomer's smile influenced the sun
(And how Guiomer was fascinated by the combination of chocolate and red hair)

When she'd first met Guiomer, he had been in such a morose mood that it had shocked Cailyn.

Cailyn, like many before her, heard about the peace and prosperity that Haven - before being renamed Saldia, had. The ones who'd spread the rumors had been the Order of Healing, which was being headed by Lady Eilys of Saldia. It was inevitable for the rumors not to talk about Lady Eilys, her family and the city in general. Lord Guiomer, of course, featured in the stories a lot, given that he was Lady Eilys's favorite and only nephew.

They called him Guiomer the Fortuitous. Among the founders, there was another man and the people called him Hodur the Untouchable. Back then, in such a small city, people viewed both of them as the balance on the scales. People had only ever seen the two of them serious at the same time and that was when Lady Gryffon fell ill for two weeks.

Cailyn had not grown up in Haven, but she had heard stories about it from wandering merchants, passing mercenaries and returning townspeople, who had heard about the susurrus of peace and gone to confirm it. Overnight, people had packed their bags and left. Cailyn's brother, being even more stubborn than Caradhras himself, had refused to leave the inn he had inherited from their parents. Cailyn, however, had made up her mind and knew she wanted to leave with the rest of the people.

It had taken a bit of stealing, a lot of planning and then packing up all her belongings in secret. Because she wasn't an ungrateful brat, she had waited until business picked up again after the town almost became a ghost town. Then her brother had finally found a wife and barely noticed she existed aside from the occasional tip he gave her for wiping the tables.

Ordinary people would have been upset. Cailyn had planned it and had actually laughed as she finally allowed herself to leave. She knew it probably was a bit mean to do so without actually telling him, but Cailyn sent a small portion of her earnings from the Bakeshop (five gold pennies every month) to him once she'd established it anyway.

Starting the Bakeshop had not been part of any planning though.

She'd arrived in Saldia, almost lost at how large everything was and how busy people were. An orphan had found her and taught her the mechanics of how things worked. Before she could protest, her new friends had dragged her to Basic Education class, which had been personally taught by Lady Enid back then.

It was a brilliant and beautiful thing to be literate and for Cailyn, it was almost like having the whole world open up to her. To further cement it, Lady Enid caught her in the Library, nearly buried under all the books she was reading. All of them tended to mention the chopping and slicing and Lady Enid certainly noticed that.

Lady Enid had carefully cross-examined her if she was sure that she wanted cooking and not potion brewing - because somehow, people confused the two - and gave her a book that she still kept carefully wrapped in black cloth. It was called, "One thousand things to try in your kitchen." Half the things mentioned were strange and undecipherable. The other half started the groundwork for the Bakeshop.

She'd started young and it drew in people so by the time she had reached a respectable age to marry, Cailyn was too busy and too happy to even think about it.

And then Lord Guiomer wandered in during a slowday, looking so bleak and morose that she wondered what had made Guiomer the Fortuitous, the ever-cheerful one, sad. Perhaps an invasion?

"Chocolate Mountain Cake," she had said then, surprising him as she placed the dish in front of him.

"Your pardon, my lady?" he asked after he'd recovered.

"That's the name," Cailyn clarified. "Though the wait-staff like to call it Little Erebor."

Lord Guiomer let out a bark of startled laughter. "That's ridiculous! It looks nothing like the Lonely Mountain," he said. He reached to his belt to pay for it and Cailyn stopped him with a hand to his shoulder.

"It's on the house," she said. He protested and Cailyn shook her head firmly. "You look like you need it, my lord," she insisted and she wondered where she was getting all her courage to actually contradict and touch Lord Guiomer.

And then he'd smiled and Cailyn stopped wondering. Lord Guiomer really looked better with a smile on his face. He seemed to influence the sun as well since she'd returned to the kitchen flushed and fanning herself.

(LOL. She is soo in denial.)

Scene 2:

Pamphlet for Career Day:
Why you should become a member of the Brotherhood!

Benefits:

[1] Flexible work time

[2] A life of adventure and travel

[3] A work with the Dunedain

[4] Meeting a lot of new faces

[5] The experience of sword fighting without the pressures of war

Details:

The Brotherhood is an organization that doesn't only belong in Saldia, we belong to Arda and to the people. We serve to exterminate the darkness that Morgoth and Sauron have left in our world. We aim to create a clean and free world.

As of the moment, there are a thousand of us that seek to remove the darkness and corruption, and we are spread as far as the Northern Woods and Rohan.

If you wish to help see the last of orcs and trolls, we are interested in you.

Note: We accept donations for the continuous operation of our organization.

(LOL. Like, I wanted to do that instead of just putting that in the question and answer portion. Hope it answers some questions. But seriously, the Brotherhood and the Order have a reputation(kinda like ANBU in naruto) and most people wants to have the good rep that comes from serving an organization like that.)

On the matter of the Mirror of the Wishing Stars, it was very briefly mentioned in the book of LoTR, but I cannot seem to find a mention of it in the internet, no matter how many times I input it in google.

The Mirror was first mentioned by Gimli, when he said that the great god of the forge, Aule, looked into the mirror and saw the world as he would make it. Since he is also the god of the earth, he was responsible for the major landscaping. The dwarves made him their major god. So it was Gimli's great wish to see into the mirror and see the truth of the world.

With Heathers letter to Theoden, it was her way to tell the king about the stationed men of the Brotherhood. Think about it, it's a long-term settlement in another country and people need supplies. She can't keep sending supplies over, so she just ended up telling Theoden, a way of asking for reparations and help in keeping her men supplied too. If Prince Theodred gets scolded for it, really it was his fault for going behind his father's back when he could have used the official channels.

Questions:

Precise Place and location of Haven:

Eriador and Enedwaith. The River mentioned is the River Greyflood. Just google it.

Coins and Currency:

No need. Totally. Arda seems to have a universal currency and Hermione understands the difficulties of foreign exchange enough that she didn't encourage her siblings to create their own.

Banks:

Getting there. The idea is there, but the formal system for it hasn't been introduced yet, you see.

Government system:

Constitutional Monarchy. Google that too. The Doctrine of the Separation of Powers isn't fully enforced yet, seeing as the Judicial, the Legislative and the Auditory is only one (the four of them) and the Executive is only the Committee. The Doctrine will be fully enforced during the time when Guiomer takes over for Heather.

How do they find time for everything they do?

Simple. The thing is, the four of them emerged from war. You don't come out of that unscathed. They don't need as much sleep as ordinary people so five hours is already a lot for them. In the dark of the night, when everybody is asleep, they do separate projects and finish spare paperwork. Also, three out of four of them are really efficient. (Sadly, Luna is only efficient in the operating room.)

How to be a soldier, healer and brewer:

Initial fee is only eight gold pennies, with an additional ten silver pennies per year. A bit expensive but that covers living expenses and full equipment each applicant is given, along with repairs for damages during the year and health checks for each student. Some orphans save their work money to do that and there is always a way to earn money in Saldia so everyone really gets to learn. But basic education is free, like reading and writing.

Sorry for the late update. Nearly half a month late or so... The added scene is my way of asking for reparations.

Oh, and this chapter is largely influenced from me reading Vixen Tail's Deja vu no jutsu fic. Especially that kidnapping bit. Ah, anyway. This is my way of wrapping up several loose ends and questions.

Shamelessly promoting my own stories. If you liked this, try Journal of a Mysterious Witch and the other one, Magic, Distress calls and Right Hooks.

Please R&R. (And that goes for this story and the aforemetioned stories I am promoting.)

~Hallen

P.S. (Another 400+ reviews to get to my dream of a thousand reviews. Yay!)