Feä Bond (Legolas x OC)

The Keeper of Time

Restless, Frances had given her stained clothes away to the elvish maiden, and gone wandering through the city. Floating away in her flowing dress, she went through many places without any clue about where she was going. Her bare feet were tasting the earth, crunching scattered leaves, touching the rough bark of Mellyrn trees and caressing the winter grass. But none of it felt real. And then when she realised that she was hopelessly lost the lady Galadriel appeared in front of her.

The ethereal elf did not utter a sound but Frances followed her nonetheless. She led her to a private garden adorned with a lovely fountain. Galadriel stood there and the light she radiated was nearly too much to behold. In her arms lay a pitcher of water, and she poured some of the transparent liquid into the fountain.

— "Well met, Keeper of Time."

The radiating presence before her was calling her back to reality. There was no escape from her icy gaze, no way to retreat within herself while the Lady commanded her mind to stand forth. Frances curtseyed.

— "Mae Govanon, my lady."

— "This mirror," she said, "shows things that were, and things that are, and things that yet may be. But even the wisest cannot tell which of those it may be."

Puzzled, Frances turned her gaze to the elf. From the very beginning she had never managed to shake the uneasiness that surrounded her, and she knew that this weird feeling came from her. Galadriel was neither good nor bad, even if immensely powerful. Contrary to her granddaughter Arwen, the Lady of the woodland realm was absolutely neutral. Frances had never enjoyed defying others, especially when facing such a dangerous being, for dangerous she was. But neither was she in the habit of backing down. And so she waited for Galadriel to state her intentions.

Suddenly the elf smiled, and her warmth engulfed Frances. Gone were the fear of spiders and the dark thoughts that had plagued her mind. Was she being tricked by the witch, or helped? She could not say. But still her heart seemed to expand, and the walls of silence were crumbling down around her. Panic should have seized her, for without those protections, Frances would be bound to face her fears and acknowledge the trauma she had just been through. But she felt strangely at peace.

— "Do you wish to look in the mirror?"

— "Should I?" she answered genuinely.

— "The choice is yours."

For eternity Frances rolled the questions and possibilities in her mind. The mirror would show her what she wanted. But it could also show her what she feared, what she wished for, or anything that could happen in another place and time. How would she sort it out if there was no way no know what was true?

What if she missed something, if the tide of the war could be changed by learning a very small detail? It was one of the most difficult decisions of her life. Eventually though, she came to a very simple conclusion. The choices of this life were hers, and there were still many possibilities to explore. She could not afford to be led astray by her fears and hope. Life was full of surprises, and as the Keeper of Time she was sometimes granted intuitions that helped her greatly. Best not to parasites those intuitions by some makeshift magic.

— "Then I think I shan't. Thank you very much. But I would, however, hear with great pleasure anything that you can tell me about the Keeper of Time for you know what I am."

Galadriel, if surprised, did not flinch an inch. She only set down the bucket on her arm, staring at Frances with intensity.

— "You see," continued Frances, "this pretty necklace didn't come with its user manual and Lord Elrond mentioned that you might know something more than his extensive library did not."