Trin Genedril: Through the Looking Glass

Beta: Ilye

chapter one

Prague, 2011

David sat in the plush armchair, flipping through the pages of a very thick scrapbook. It had been six years since he had left the United Sates. Seven years since meeting the vampires.

The pictures in the scrapbook showed various travels the threesome had taken. Erestor wanted to show David the world, so long as they always moved east. So, they had travelled to China, Russia, and Japan; David had seen great monuments, stood on holy ground, and walked paths he had never dreamed he would walk.

And at every turn, Maglor and Erestor had been with him. They had delighted in his youthful exuberance. The vampires loved to spoil him, to show him off wherever they went. David had never felt as happy and content as he did with them, and he hoped that an end never came to that bliss.

Six months ago, Erestor had asked to go to Prague. After sharing that moment with David in the quiet of Erestor and Maglor's apartment where David had tasted Erestor's blood, Erestor had told David the story of Glorfindel. David had known some of it from that merging of their beings, but the whole story had torn at David's heart. To see Erestor's tears, to feel such loss and yearning was more than David could handle. He had been ill for days with depression, and when Erestor had asked to return to the last city he and Glorfindel had been happy in, neither David nor Maglor could refuse him.

A knocking sound shook David from his memories. He stood up, puzzled, and walked to the door. They weren't expecting anyone, and people rarely dropped by this far away from the main road. He opened the door, and his mouth fell open. Two figures stood in the doorway, one tall and dark with shocking electric blue eyes, and the other hiding behind a curtain of golden locks.

"Who are you?" the dark, otherworldly creature asked in a voice that sounded like thunder.

David swallowed hard as the blond looked up, meeting his eyes with a haunted sapphire gaze. "I am David. I live with Maglor and Erestor," he admitted, thinking that these two beings knew who and what his lovers were.

"Live with them?" the golden Elf asked softly.

"Yes." David stepped back, motioning for the two to enter. "Please, come inside and I will get them." He hadn't even turned to seek out his partners when the two vampires walked into the main room, both laughing at something Erestor had said. They stopped as soon as they noticed the threesome in the room, Erestor's eyes wide and Maglor's already-pale skin whitened.

"Glorfindel?" Erestor breathed and stepped forward. Maglor's hand shot out immediately, keeping Erestor at his side.

"His companion is not one I would approach, meleth," Maglor warned, glaring at the Vala.

Those piercing blue eyes rested upon Maglor, a hint of what David thought was sympathy churning in their depths. "Do you believe I have come to curse you a second time, son of Fëanor?" Námo asked.

"Well," Maglor drawled, "I don't think you came for tea and cake."

"Very true. I bring a gift, as well as a decree from Manwë." Námo took Glorfindel by the arm and placed him in the space between David, Maglor, Erestor and himself. "This is our gift to you, Erestor. Glorfindel has spent many years trying to change the Doom Maglor has placed you under, just as Maedhros spent many years pleading for his sibling. A Doom is not easily changed, and this one we had never intended to lift. The decree is this: You will never return to Aman. Never walk among your kin again. You are not Elves, and only Elves are admitted into the Blessed Realm."

David tilted his head in confusion. "Of course they are Elves. What else could they be?"

Námo was not used to being asked questions in the middle of pronouncing a decree and paused for a moment before responding. "They are something other now. The Elven spirit is not bound to the body, and yet, theirs are. It has withered, twisted, and become something not of Aman. What has been done cannot be changed, and so their doom is set."

Tears coursed down Erestor's cheeks. He would never again set foot in what was once his home? "I have done nothing to deserve such a punishment!" he cried. "I died! I went to war because the Valar called for it. I fought darkness; I fought evil; I died in that stinking pit of filth! I should not suffer such a separation from my home and my kin."

Now David was certain it was sympathy in the Ainu's eyes. "Child, sometimes fates are decided without the gods assigning blame. What has been done to you cannot be undone. Can you tell me if there is one Elf among all those is Aman that you ache to see?"

Swiping at the tears angrily, Erestor nodded. "The one you have brought with you."

A kind smile came to Námo's harsh face. "He is our gift to you, Erestor. I have brought him from Aman to you. When I leave, he will remain." He turned to Maglor. "Your lover has found another, Maglor, and we believe it is better that way. He urges you to find another--"

"Another?" Maglor asked hollowly. "As if finding love is so easily done. Why is he among the Elves when it was he who brought this curse into being?"

"He died," Námo said simply. "He had only been as you are for a matter of years, not millennia. His spirit was still Elven while yours is not. And love for you is that simple; you found it several years ago, though you refuse to accept it. Let him go, Maglor, and allow yourself to love once more."

Erestor rubbed the back of his neck, his brow knitted in thought. "You said you brought us a gift. If this is the gift, I think I want to return it."

That was when Glorfindel stepped forward almost anxiously. "No, we brought you a gift, melethen. I am that gift."

Námo's countenance softened. "He was the only one in Aman you could not live without. Now he is by your side. I have delivered my message, as well as our gift to you, and now I shall depart. We will not soon meet again, Children of Ilúvatar -- for that is what you will always be, even if you are no longer counted among the Quendi."

The four of them watched Námo walk through the doorway, disappearing into the dark cold beyond. Without a motion from any of them, the door slammed shut, and a sense of finality hung heavy in the room. Erestor then turned eager eyes onto the love he had bid farewell to centuries ago.

"You are truly here to stay?"

Glorfindel's smile was serene and angelic, perfection in Erestor's eyes. "Aye, I am truly here to stay, unless you no longer want me."

Erestor blinked several times. "Why would I no longer want you?"

"You have had Maglor by your side all this time, and now this Man. Where would I belong?" Glorfindel asked sadly, holding his hands out at his sides.

"You belong with me! At my side!" Erestor cried out as he swiftly crossed the short distance between them. With an anguished sob, he threw himself into those open arms, clinging tightly to the love that had brought him from the shadows.

Glorfindel stroked his darkling Elf's hair and kissed his temple, holding as tightly as he was held. "Then by your side I will remain, so long as you make one choice."

"A choice?" Maglor echoed. "What choice is that?"

"You need to decide, Erestor," Glorfindel said softly, forcing Erestor back enough so that they could see each other's eyes. "I am still an Elf, an Elf in a world that has long abandoned me. I will fade. The Valar cannot, or will not, protect me from a fate long ago decided. The choice is simple: you either watch me fade over the next fortnight, or you make me as you are."

The room fell silent. Erestor stared at Glorfindel with wide, unblinking eyes. Slowly, blankly, he shook his head. "N-n-no," he stammered. "I will not condemn you to walk as I walk."

The light in Glorfindel's eyes seemed to dim. "Then you condemn me to become but a wraith," he replied soberly. "It is either as a vampire or as a ghost, Erestor, and you are the one to decide."


	Navigation multi-story arcs next Translations meleth - love melethen - my love		Trin Genedril: Through the Looking Glass Beta: Ilye chapter one Prague, 2011 David sat in the plush armchair, flipping through the pages of a very thick scrapbook. It had been six years since he had left the United Sates. Seven years since meeting the vampires. The pictures in the scrapbook showed various travels the threesome had taken. Erestor wanted to show David the world, so long as they always moved east. So, they had travelled to China, Russia, and Japan; David had seen great monuments, stood on holy ground, and walked paths he had never dreamed he would walk. And at every turn, Maglor and Erestor had been with him. They had delighted in his youthful exuberance. The vampires loved to spoil him, to show him off wherever they went. David had never felt as happy and content as he did with them, and he hoped that an end never came to that bliss. Six months ago, Erestor had asked to go to Prague. After sharing that moment with David in the quiet of Erestor and Maglor's apartment where David had tasted Erestor's blood, Erestor had told David the story of Glorfindel. David had known some of it from that merging of their beings, but the whole story had torn at David's heart. To see Erestor's tears, to feel such loss and yearning was more than David could handle. He had been ill for days with depression, and when Erestor had asked to return to the last city he and Glorfindel had been happy in, neither David nor Maglor could refuse him. A knocking sound shook David from his memories. He stood up, puzzled, and walked to the door. They weren't expecting anyone, and people rarely dropped by this far away from the main road. He opened the door, and his mouth fell open. Two figures stood in the doorway, one tall and dark with shocking electric blue eyes, and the other hiding behind a curtain of golden locks. "Who are you?" the dark, otherworldly creature asked in a voice that sounded like thunder. David swallowed hard as the blond looked up, meeting his eyes with a haunted sapphire gaze. "I am David. I live with Maglor and Erestor," he admitted, thinking that these two beings knew who and what his lovers were. "Live with them?" the golden Elf asked softly. "Yes." David stepped back, motioning for the two to enter. "Please, come inside and I will get them." He hadn't even turned to seek out his partners when the two vampires walked into the main room, both laughing at something Erestor had said. They stopped as soon as they noticed the threesome in the room, Erestor's eyes wide and Maglor's already-pale skin whitened. "Glorfindel?" Erestor breathed and stepped forward. Maglor's hand shot out immediately, keeping Erestor at his side. "His companion is not one I would approach, meleth," Maglor warned, glaring at the Vala. Those piercing blue eyes rested upon Maglor, a hint of what David thought was sympathy churning in their depths. "Do you believe I have come to curse you a second time, son of Fëanor?" Námo asked. "Well," Maglor drawled, "I don't think you came for tea and cake." "Very true. I bring a gift, as well as a decree from Manwë." Námo took Glorfindel by the arm and placed him in the space between David, Maglor, Erestor and himself. "This is our gift to you, Erestor. Glorfindel has spent many years trying to change the Doom Maglor has placed you under, just as Maedhros spent many years pleading for his sibling. A Doom is not easily changed, and this one we had never intended to lift. The decree is this: You will never return to Aman. Never walk among your kin again. You are not Elves, and only Elves are admitted into the Blessed Realm." David tilted his head in confusion. "Of course they are Elves. What else could they be?" Námo was not used to being asked questions in the middle of pronouncing a decree and paused for a moment before responding. "They are something other now. The Elven spirit is not bound to the body, and yet, theirs are. It has withered, twisted, and become something not of Aman. What has been done cannot be changed, and so their doom is set." Tears coursed down Erestor's cheeks. He would never again set foot in what was once his home? "I have done nothing to deserve such a punishment!" he cried. "I died! I went to war because the Valar called for it. I fought darkness; I fought evil; I died in that stinking pit of filth! I should not suffer such a separation from my home and my kin." Now David was certain it was sympathy in the Ainu's eyes. "Child, sometimes fates are decided without the gods assigning blame. What has been done to you cannot be undone. Can you tell me if there is one Elf among all those is Aman that you ache to see?" Swiping at the tears angrily, Erestor nodded. "The one you have brought with you." A kind smile came to Námo's harsh face. "He is our gift to you, Erestor. I have brought him from Aman to you. When I leave, he will remain." He turned to Maglor. "Your lover has found another, Maglor, and we believe it is better that way. He urges you to find another--" "Another?" Maglor asked hollowly. "As if finding love is so easily done. Why is he among the Elves when it was he who brought this curse into being?" "He died," Námo said simply. "He had only been as you are for a matter of years, not millennia. His spirit was still Elven while yours is not. And love for you is that simple; you found it several years ago, though you refuse to accept it. Let him go, Maglor, and allow yourself to love once more." Erestor rubbed the back of his neck, his brow knitted in thought. "You said you brought us a gift. If this is the gift, I think I want to return it." That was when Glorfindel stepped forward almost anxiously. "No, we brought you a gift, melethen. I am that gift." Námo's countenance softened. "He was the only one in Aman you could not live without. Now he is by your side. I have delivered my message, as well as our gift to you, and now I shall depart. We will not soon meet again, Children of Ilúvatar -- for that is what you will always be, even if you are no longer counted among the Quendi." The four of them watched Námo walk through the doorway, disappearing into the dark cold beyond. Without a motion from any of them, the door slammed shut, and a sense of finality hung heavy in the room. Erestor then turned eager eyes onto the love he had bid farewell to centuries ago. "You are truly here to stay?" Glorfindel's smile was serene and angelic, perfection in Erestor's eyes. "Aye, I am truly here to stay, unless you no longer want me." Erestor blinked several times. "Why would I no longer want you?" "You have had Maglor by your side all this time, and now this Man. Where would I belong?" Glorfindel asked sadly, holding his hands out at his sides. "You belong with me! At my side!" Erestor cried out as he swiftly crossed the short distance between them. With an anguished sob, he threw himself into those open arms, clinging tightly to the love that had brought him from the shadows. Glorfindel stroked his darkling Elf's hair and kissed his temple, holding as tightly as he was held. "Then by your side I will remain, so long as you make one choice." "A choice?" Maglor echoed. "What choice is that?" "You need to decide, Erestor," Glorfindel said softly, forcing Erestor back enough so that they could see each other's eyes. "I am still an Elf, an Elf in a world that has long abandoned me. I will fade. The Valar cannot, or will not, protect me from a fate long ago decided. The choice is simple: you either watch me fade over the next fortnight, or you make me as you are." The room fell silent. Erestor stared at Glorfindel with wide, unblinking eyes. Slowly, blankly, he shook his head. "N-n-no," he stammered. "I will not condemn you to walk as I walk." The light in Glorfindel's eyes seemed to dim. "Then you condemn me to become but a wraith," he replied soberly. "It is either as a vampire or as a ghost, Erestor, and you are the one to decide."