Just slightly outside the college campus, Ilene and Zephyr were lying on their backs in the crunchy fall leaves blanketing the ground.
"Look, Astrogeek," Zephyr pointed up at a cloud, "That one looks just like Saturn."
"No, Flyboy, it doesn't," Ilene retorted, "It looks like any ringed gas giant. Could be from any solar system with one."
"Yes, but as a culture reference, it would have to Saturn because that's the one most people are familiar with," he persisted.
"Are we talking about pop culture or astronomer culture?"
"Ah, the technicalities! You kill me, Astrogeek."
Awkward silence had reigned as the two walked to a clear spot, desperately searching their minds for the right questions to ask. After reaching the clearing, Zephyr had flopped on his back had patted the ground next to him for Ilene to lie down. She had sighed and sat down as well, thinking of nothing better to do, when Zephyr tried to convince her that a cloud was Saturn.
"Flyboy?" Zephyr asked with a smug smile a minute later.
"Astrogeek?" Ilene responded in kind, but she found the nickname to be annoying rather than endearing.
"Fair enough," he said, "I'll keep calling you Astrogeek, and you can call me Flyboy any time you like."
Ilene rolled her eyes, "There's just no arguing with this guy. Although, I have gotten used to worse nicknames before."
"Aren't we supposed to be getting to know each other?" she said.
"Yes," Zephyr answered, rolling over so that he could see Ilene better, "Why don't you tell me about yourself?"
"Why don't you go first?" Ilene rolled over to be on even ground with him.
"Ladies first, Astrogeek."
"Please. Only when it suits your fancy. You first." And then, "I could do this all day."
"I guess we have learned something about each other," Zephyr said mischievously.
"What?" Ilene said, though she already knew the answer.
"We're both-" Zephyr started.
"Stubborn as an ox," they finished together. Obviously, both had been told this exact thing before. Both smiled slightly, with something in common, it would be so much easier to go on from here.
"So where are you from?" Zephyr asked.
Ilene answered, despite being irked that he managed to ask the first question, "A tiny little farming town in Idaho." She asked his question back at him and added one of her own, determined to one-up the smug bastard, "Where are you from? Why become a pilot?"
He smiled, clearly seeing what Ilene had done, and responded, "I'm from a small town in Alaska. You can only get anywhere by flying, and I always wanted to fly so far away, into the clouds that danced and played in the sky."
"What are you doing all the way over here on the east coast?" Ilene said, incredulous.
Zephyr smiled slyly, "Not so fast. I get to ask you a question of my own first. Why are you an astrophysicist? And, hmm. What else? What's your favorite food?"
"The stars were crystal clear in the Idaho sky, and I wanted to know more about them and why they twinkled down on us. I like muffins. Now tell me."
"What kind of muffins, Astrogeek?"
They went on like this for quite a while, asking and answering questions. By the time Ilene got up and pulled the leaves out of her hair to go to class, she felt that she knew Zephyr better than anybody else she had met in her life. Even the irritating nickname was starting to grow on her. In fact, she would have even considered him a friend.
However, whenever there is happiness in the world, there is an equal amount of unhappiness elsewhere. It doesn't matter if it is sadness or anger, but it must be there. Miles and miles away from Ilene's happy fall east coast university, there was a college in the Great Plains of America. In this college, there was a boy who was feeling a mixture of both sadness and anger strong enough to balance out Zephyr and Ilene's happiness.
He had the same blonde ponytail as Zephyr, the same lanky build, and the same sparkling blue eyes. In fact, he looked to be either his twin or doppelganger. But where Zephyr's eyes sparkled with hope and happiness and joy, his burned with passion and ambition and revenge. Revenge for crimes against him that seemed too great for anyone who had only recently celebrated their twentieth birthday. Revenge so strong it could even be described as a hatred for the world.
In some ways, his hatred could be understood. Unbeknownst to the party which had breakfasted together, they had all been adopted; all from the same place and under the same incredibly mysterious circumstances. The headlines for the adoption of Jojo, the eldest read "NEWBORN WITH NO PARENTS ADOPTED". When thirteen more babies like this happened over the years, they became a source of many conspiracies, and all but one of them was adopted by a loving family seeking adventure. Obviously, the one never adopted was the boy with revenge in his eyes and hate in his heart. Eventually, a large New Jersey foster home took pity on the blonde baby who couldn't seem to get adopted and took him in. It was a state funded home, and many children had passed through it before, but during his time, they were low on money. The boy managed to scrape enough money out of science fair scholarships, jobs, and petty thievery from his fellow orphans and people on the streets to go to school and major in nuclear physics.
He was drawn to destruction. Several of the foster home psychiatrists had talked to him about it, but he could never explain. He liked it when other people's work ceased to be. He loved the elegance of a well executed destroying. He was addicted to taking away other people's prize possessions and wrecking them. He especially loved it when people noticed that his destroying skills made him rather good at building as well.
He felt a great deal of in injustice in his life. The first: not being noticed for his talents most of the time. The second: not being adopted by a loving and caring family like his fellows. The third: being picked on at school because of his incredible intelligence and antisocialism. The fourth: being saddled with the most horrible of names humanly possible.
All of the unnamed children to pass through that foster home were named after Greek and Roman mythology; there had been Hercules, Athena, Venus, Apollo, and Perseus. So many other unnamed children had been through before that they were running out of unused names. The few left would not be given to any child wishing for normal and healthy development.
The boy's name was Thanatos.
The Angel of Death.
So this is my guilt chapter. I have a ton of excuses for why its been three weeks since I uploaded, but you don't care. Also, I really could have done better on this one, but I didn't. So sue me.
Actually, I like the way the story is developing so far. I think the next chapter will be all Thanatos and his life. Not three chapters in row. I don't think I could last that long without writing Arthur or Zephyr. They're quite fun. (This is where that chart I suggested last chapter will come in handy.)
For those of you who care "What kind of muffins, Astrogeek?" is my favorite sentence that I've written. I like it quite a lot.
And, okay I must say this. If you can't tell who Ilene, Zephyr, and Thanatos are, it's time to reread the Silmarilion. Just saying. Later plot will depend on you knowing the human identities of the Valar.
Also, all my love to Caranthir, the unloved Feanorian.