So... I keep forgetting to put warnings up on these things. This story has lots of sexy hanky panky fun. If you don't like that sort of thing read with caution.
Just as Gandalf was taken to his resting quarters, Adessa couldn't help but laugh at his comment and shuffle her wings a little more before she and Legolas were taken to their chambers in the trees. Once they had arrived at their room, their attendant opened the beautifully carved doors and stepped aside to allow them to enter. Adessa's wonder never seemed to stop, her eyes grew ever wider with everything she saw. The furniture was elegant and simple, perfect for the two of them and she loved it. Placing her folded cloak on the back of a chair, she was glad to find that their saddlebags and their personal bags were there as well. Going to the window, Adessa pulled open the window and the breeze instantly made the curtains dance wildly. Her hair and wings fluttered back and it caused her clothes to ripple in the air. She took in a deep breath of the sweet smelling air and let it out in a rush before turning back to look at Legolas.
"I feel light and refreshed... I will find the answers I seek here, I know it." She said quietly, slowly wrapping her arms around Legolas neck and leaned into him to kiss his lips. "Thank you for traveling with me, being my constant guardian and my love... I have never been this truly happy."
He wrapped his arms around her waist pulling her in snug against him and smiled. "It has been a pleasure." He replied and kissed her.
The kisses grew hungry, they hadn't had much time to themselves while on the road. His hands caressed her through her dress and one hand came up to rub just under the wing joint, a spot they'd learned was an erogenous zone for her. His lips slid along her neck teasing the skin over her collarbone. Adessa's breath caught in her throat and her eyes instantly closed to savor his delicate touch on her body. His breath on her flesh made her shiver slightly, heat rising to her cheeks and she began to feel weak in his arms again. Her shoulder-blades twitched at his touch and her wings nearly became limp as he caressed her back. Adessa touched his cheek and brought him back up to her awaiting lips where she poured her passion into her kisses. Oh how she loved him so, everything about him excited her and his eyes told her all she needed to know. She tugged at the laces on his tunic and giggled as she applied a little pressure with her hands to his chest, pushing him gently backward toward the bed.
"May we always be this happy." She whispered, kissing him again and unbalancing him enough to make him topple over backward onto the bed.
He dragged her down to him his hands working their way up under her skirts to tease her bare skin. "Always this happy and more." He murmured.
"And more." Adessa agreed with a smile, her hair cascading down over her shoulder.
She touched his cheek and kissing him passionately. Her hands traced over his tunic and untied the laces at his throat before traveling to the hem of his shirt and drawing it up and over his head. The lack of a shirt on him revealed smooth, slightly tanned skin free of hair and scars, nothing marred his perfect body. Adessa planted several butterfly kisses on his chest and shoulders, her fingers gently running over him as she enticed him. A devious smile touched her lips as her wings flapped and she took off, hovering over him for a moment before fluttering over to the windows and drawing them closed. Adessa turned back to him, all the while her wings holding her a fair few inches off the ground, and untied the sash around her waist, followed by the rest of her clothes until they trailed to the bed and left her bare, her smooth, pale skin shining in the sunlight that still streamed in through the windows. Fluttering her wings forward at an angle, she drifted seamlessly through the air and back to the bed and into the awaiting arms of her sensual lover, Legolas.
He pulled her in close then rolled her under him kneeling over her as he shed his trousers before laying himself over her every inch of their skin touching as he ravished her with kisses. Their lovemaking was long and sweet and left them both breathless and exhausted. They fell asleep twinned around one another in a tangle of limbs hair and her wings.
Her dreams were not so sweet. All around her fire raged and she heard the cries of men and women alike as they burned, turning her head she could see enormous beings moving in the flames, creatures that seared the eye with their unnatural forms twisted and hunched. She could hear a voice in the flames chanting something she couldn't understand and another voice, like every voice that was and ever would be responding in strident challenging tones. Suddenly the flames parted and a being who mirrored her form and face walked out to meet her. The Being was covered in blood and ash and her hair whipped back and forth in the hellfire wind. "You should not be here." The Voice that was all Voices said. "Your task is not on this plane, you must not fail us or all will fall to this hell. Right the wrongs, save reality."
A wave of fire swamped the Being and she was swept out of view and Adessa woke covered in sweat screaming.
"No!" She screamed, hurling herself up from her resting position on the bed and clutched the bedsheets to her body as a few tears started to form in her eyes and trickle down her cheeks.
Adessa covered her mouth quickly with her other hand to stifle any more cries and looked to Legolas, hoping she hadn't woken him. She shook her head and pushed back the covers from her body, grabbing a robe from a chair while she passed it and wrapped it around her naked body. Picking up her clothes from the floor and putting them with her saddlebags, she poured some water into a wash bin. She took the folded cloth from the side of the stand and dampened it so she could wash her face. When she looked into the bowl and saw her reflection, the droplets of water fell from her chin and caused the smooth surface to ripple.
"Why is this happening?!" She questioned horsley, keeping her voice down and pushing hair from her face. "Why can't the outside forces leave me alone in my happiness?!"
Looking back to the bed, Adessa shook her head, finished washing the sweat from her face and dressing in an off-shoulder, baggy shirt, a corset with silver embroidery, and a pair of form fitting black pants. Tying a light blue sash around her waist, Adessa left her feet bare and looked to the window, the moonlight shining in through the curtains and sparkling around her feet. Opening the windowpanes, she looked up to the moon and let the breeze blow back her hair. This is what she needed, a flight in the moonlight would help to clear her mind and with a deep breath she leapt forward and vanished over the balcony of their room. She let herself free-fall through the air for several seconds but it really seemed like a lifetime to Adessa until she opened her wings and flapped them hard, gliding between the trees. At the moment she didn't care who saw her, all she needed was time to herself and fresh air to clear her thoughts and plan her next move.
She was flying towards the stables when she noticed Artemis standing out in the moonlight, she was moving her hands in strange sweeping gestures, as she moved a bubble of purple light formed around her then started shaping itself into the figure of a man. The man was composed of purple light that swirled like a soap bubble, he held out his arms and Artemis moved delicately into the embrace. They began to dance to a song only Artemis could hear and other figures of purple light appeared and began dancing as well until Artemis was surrounded by a crowd of dancing purple figures who all seemed to be moving to a song Adessa couldn't hear.
Alighting down onto thick, nearby branches Adessa grabbed a branch at her side to help stop herself and carefully sat down to watch Artemis and her dancing partner from her crouched position. The shadows hid her well enough and the moonlight shifted between the clouds and created a beautiful light show below the canopy floor. Adessa sighed and settled on the branch with her wings folded and her back against the bulk of the tree. This was a good a place as any to think about what she was going to do next.
"If only these choices were simple to make." She sighed, looking up at the moon and it's shimmering beauty. "I just want to be happy with Legolas."
She took her time in examining all what the alter-reflection of her dream self had said and it was clear to her now what she would have to do. It made her heart ache to think of the path that she would have to tread now and even though she would have Artemis with her in her final decision, she would still be alone. Looking back down at Artemis dancing with her partner, Adessa left her final thoughts alone and watched them for a time.
Artemis stopped dancing and let the crowd around her fade, the figures popping like soap bubbles one by one sending showers of flower petals into the air. The final figure was harder to let go, she knew it was stupid to keep making likenesses of Iolaus. It made letting him go so much harder but she missed him badly. Finally his image too burst into a shower of purple flower petals and floated away on the breeze. She watched the petals as they spiraled up into the air and jumped a little when Galadriel stepped from the shadows. "You dance very well." Galadriel said softly.
Artemis inclined her head. "Thanks."
"Your partner, the last one you let free, who is he to you?" Galadriel asked.
Artemis thought about what to say. "Someone I loved very much." She replied simply and Galadriel nodded.
"Your friend Adessa wishes to stay here." She spoke as though to herself but Artemis nodded.
"I know. And I would let her if I thought either of us really had a choice."
Galadriel turned to face her fully her face half shadowed and Artemis felt her stomach clench, she was suddenly reminded that Galadriel was a much more powerful being than she was. "Why would either of you have no choice?" Galadriel asked.
Artemis lifted her chin, she'd be damned if she was cowed now. "Because we aren't the ones choosing where we go and when. We've been sent here by something greater than any of us, including you, to fix something and once it's fixed we'll be sent on to the next task, and the next and the next until we either save everything or die."
Adessa could easily hear what Artemis was saying and it sent shivers through her. Artemis seemed to self assured, so willing to accept what was happening but she also sounded defiant and angry. Galadriel nodded. "Then you have a choice, complete your task and move on or deliberately leave it unfinished to spare Adessa."
Artemis shook her head. "It's not that simple. I think even if I stood still and did nothing events would unfold to force us to complete our task."
"And you accept being a pawn? Being moved by the hands of fate?" Galadriel asked.
"I am a hand of Fate." Artemis replied firmly.
They stood in silence for a moment and Adessa could almost see their wills sparking off each others, two powerful strong women who stood as a rock in white water rapids. Then Galadriel nodded. "I had to test your resolve."
"I know." Artemis replied.
Galadriel turned and swept away, Adessa watched Artemis sag with relief and run her hands over her face before she turned and looked up into the branches right at Adessa. "You may as well come down. I know you're there Adessa."
A half smirk slipped onto Adessa's lips as she leaned forward from the tree branch she was sitting on and her outline appeared in the moonlight. Letting go of the branch, she fell toward Artemis and opened her wings, allowing them to catch an updraft before fluttering the rest of the way to the forest floor and hovering for a time, her arms crossed over her chest.
"I wasn't hiding if that's what you're thinking." She said quietly, her smirk never leaving her lips. "... Do you really think there will be no end to our journeys?"
Artemis quirked her lips in what might have been a smile but sobered again. "There might not be." She said quietly. "I don't know why we were chosen to be sent from World to World setting things right but I know that there is a never ending supply of things to fix no matter where you go."
"Then I guess that all we have left is our hope..." She started, letting her wings slow their beating until her was standing on the ground again. "...Hope that we will find the end and be reunited with the ones we love..."
She sighed heavily and an expression of confusion passed over her features before she looked at Artemis, knowing that she might have some insight as to what she had dreamed.
"I have to come with you Artemis, my nightmare said that my place isn't here and that I had to help fix many problems or else things would fall into ruins..."
"Your nightmare?" Artemis asked curiously.
Adessa pushed her hair from her face as another gust of wind blew past them and nodded absently.
"Yes, I woke up from a nightmare. I was surrounded by fire and destruction and then a figure came through the smoke. She looked like me except she was covered in blood! She said word for word, 'Your task is not on this plane, you must not fail us or all will fall to this hell. Right the wrongs, save reality.' Any thoughts to what she meant? Other than I have to leave... I might as well come with you at this point."
Artemis thought about it and the minutes stretched. "There has always been a voice in the void between the worlds when we are sent from world to world. A voice that sounds like every voice in the universe talking at once… I've always wondered what it belonged to, or who. You may have glimpsed an aspect of that Being."
Adessa laughed once and shook her head.
"Than that Being is scary and I don't want to see them again unless it is to send us home and with whom our hearts really lay with." She answered matter of factually and crossed her arms over her chest. "Now I have a slightly trickier question for you. Do you know why we're here in Middle Earth? Has Gandalf told you anything that could concern us?"
Artemis shook her head. "He hasn't told me anything." She took a deep breath and ran a hand through her hair. "In Greece we were brought by Zeus to stop a great evil, in New York we were sent to teach Raphael, Michelangelo, Donatello, and Leonardo how to accept themselves for who they are and in the process we stopped a dangerous chemical from being used on innocents. We seem to get sent places to set things right, or to solve an injustice. I don't know why and half the time I can't see the solution until it's already happened."
Adessa nodded at Artemis's explanation and tapped her chin thoughtfully, her mouth moving a little and forming silent situations where they could be needed here. Unfortunately without her memories and the abilities to piece together the information that she was lacking, Adessa couldn't fully comprehend why she and Artemis were sent to Middle Earth. She let out a sigh and used both hands to push her hair out of her face and rub temples to relieve the slowly growing headache.
"We have to talk to Gandalf on the morrow, though that might be sooner than we think..." She stopped for a moment and looked at the sky, noticing that the moon had set a considerably and the sky was growing lighter. "We'll have to see what he knows. I want Legolas to be present for that meeting, perhaps Lady Galadriel too, because having other open minds would be handy. Do you think the best place for our conference would be Lady Galadriel's library?"
"Probably if we want privacy." Artemis replied. "Though I for one am not meeting anyone at the crack of dawn. I'm going back to bed and you should too, I was only awake because of my own dreams." She yawned and stretched.
"I shall return to my sleeping chambers soon enough..." Adessa stated, giving her a curious look. "Oh? What dreams would be keeping you up my firefly?" Her wings fluttered a bit and dawn's first lights started to peek through the trees.
Artemis considered her for a moment. "Just dreams of things I've lost, and given up." She peered up at the moon. "Not nightmares though, not like yours. It's not important."
Adessa nodded and fluttered her wings a bit more until they picked her up from the ground and hovered for a moment.
"I wish I knew why I got the nightmares..." She said softly but shrugged it off and took flight.
The wind whipped her black hair back and darted in and out of the trees. Adessa didn't go straight back to her's and Legolas's shared chambers all at once and flitted through the gardens, ignoring the whispers of those Elves tending to the flowers and other bushes of the Lady Galadriel's Wood. She didn't even touch the ground as she ran her fingers gently over the flower petals and sighed tiredly. Even if she tried to, Adessa knew she wouldn't be able to go back to sleep for fear that her nightmares would return, there was no point in trying. After about an hour longer in the gardens, Adessa would come back here to stroll in them again with Legolas at a later time that day and took flight again. She flew up to their tree and balcony and landed on the railing, the curtains blowing inward with the wind her wings created. Sitting on the railing itself, Adessa watched the sun rise and bathe the woods in brilliant and warm light.
She was not surprised when a few moments after peching on the railing she felt Legolas strong arms wrapping around her and his chin rested on her shoulder. "Are you feeling better?" He asked softly and she knew that stealthy as she'd been he'd known she had woken and left.
"Only a little my love..." Adessa replied softly, feeling herself relax in his arms and her heart beat matching his own. "I am sorry if I woke you, it wasn't my intention to disturb your slumber."
He kissed her cheek his arms comforting around her as they both looked out at the dawn. "I would be a poor lover if I did not waken when my beloved left the bed in distress. I did not follow because you took such pains to leave without waking me."
A smirk touched her lips as they parted to speak again.
"I had a nightmare... again, they seem to come more frequently now." Adessa started, taking a deep breath of fresh air and letting it out again. "I suppose it means that I'm getting closer to finding out what I've lost... and in doing so we will finally figure out why Artemis and I were sent here to Middle Earth."
She rested her hands over his and drew random designs on his skin, loving how smooth it was under her fingers. Everything she had, everything she would acquire in her entire existence she would give up to keep this moment with her love forever. He turned her to face him with her still sitting on the railing her legs to either side of his hips while he cupped her face gently. "We will find the answers you seek my love." He reassured her and kissed her gently.
Adessa melted as soon as she felt his lips on her own and kissed him back. She loved how his soft words could comfort her to the point she could forget about everything that distressed her and enjoy the moment with him, he truly was the perfect lover for her. In this regard, she was blessed and she knew it. He was everything that she wanted in a lover and so much more. Leaning back a little from his petal soft lips with much force of will, Adessa breathed out softly and looked into Legolas's beautiful blue eyes, searchingly and smiled lightly.
"I don't wish to know the outcome of it all... but I must." She said, resting her hands on his chest. "Let this not marr a beautiful morning such as this. Come, we must eat and I wish to see more of this Wood. With you as my guide I shall delight in the moments we share together."
He looked over her shoulder at the sky with the pale pink dawn in the east. With a mischievous grin he picked her up and carried her back to the bed where he lay her down and lay himself over her. "Not even the cooks will be up this early my love. And I've suddenly developed a powerful thirst for your lips." He made good on his comment and kissed her like he could drink her down.
Adessa made a noise as if to protest, but it was cut off by Legolas and his sweet kisses. She succumbed to his love and gently touch that she savored over anything else. Leaning up as far as she could under Legolas's slim body, Adessa kissed him hungrily and ran her hands up his arms until they laced behind his neck and brought him deeper into their throes of passion. She wouldn't resist him, couldn't resist him even if she wanted to. He was everything to her and all she ever wanted.
When they finally came down for the morning meal the sun was high in the sky if not quite at it's noon day zenith and Artemis was sitting at a table with a plate of fruit and cheese and a leather bound book in her hand reading. She smirked up at them resting her chin on her hand. "Well good morning."
"Good morrow to you as well Artemis." Adessa said quietly, shaking her head and rolling her eyes at her, wings shuffling without a care. "Did you rest well after a time?"
She sat down with Legolas at her side and an attendant placed a fresh bowl of fruit, bread, milk, cheese, and tea between them. Thanking him politely, she picked at the various fruits before pouring herself some milk and sampling her food.
Artemis put a ribbon between the pages of the book she was reading and closed it. "I did, thank you." She had barely touched her food Adessa noticed but she seemed in decent spirits.
"Galadriel has asked for a private meeting with you Adessa. She thinks she may have a way to return your memories but she wants to speak with you alone first."
A small pit formed in her stomach and swallowing her food turned out to be a bit tougher for her than she expected. She took her cup of milk and sipped, her world turned upside down by this new bit of information Artemis had provided her with. She looked from Artemis to Legolas and then back down at her plate, not sure if she was hungry anymore or not.
"I guess I will talk to her after we finish eating."
Artemis gave her a sympathetic look then turned her attention back to her book. Legolas surprised both of them by speaking up and directly to Artemis which he rarely did. It was no secret that he didn't like her much. "Can we speak privately after Adessa goes to see Galadriel?"
Artemis blinked at him surprise plain on her face. "Yes… of course."
Adessa looked at Legolas and rested her hand on his arm, slightly concerned by his need to talk with her alone and by the fact he was talking to her at all. Shaking the thought from her mind, Adessa paced herself to finish the fruit on her plate and then stood up, the pit in her stomach growing slightly.