Eru Help Me

VIII

No sooner had Nenlissë walked a few meters into the forest than Turko nodded to her and pointed to a tree, and in silence they began to climb it. With a little more difficulty on the human girl part than the other cat there as she liked to call him, impressed by his feline moves and address. When they arrived between the leaves, Celegorm, sitting on the branch to Nenlissë's right, took out of his bag the map they had prepared that afternoon.

"Well, we're here and our sleeping place is here, being careful not to make too much noise and not to run into anyone, it shouldn't take us more than a good three-quarters of an hour to get there.

-Okay fine. From what I could see on the sheets in the living room, Finrod and Angrod should be around here. Knowing that they also went towards the lake at the beginning. So we shouldn't run into them.

-As for Artanis and Aegnor, they've been keeping a safe space around the gardens so well that we'll have to be extremely careful."

He nodded and put the map back in his bag. Let's go and play the fool in the trees. Eru thanks, they are quite close to each other so you don't need to be Spiderman to go from one to the other. And just like in Hunger Games, they arrived at their sleeping spot without a hitch.

"Let's climb a little higher, the branches look pretty s-"

Turko cut himself off in mid-sentence, holding up a hand to silence his cousin. His ears twitched slightly, probably to get a better sense of the noise that Nenlissë poor hearing did not hear... Trusting him completely on this one, she froze, waiting for his next instruction not to move even a hair.

They waited at least ten minutes before our protagonist could hear Artanis' faint voice pierce through the woods. Merde.

"Where are Nenlissë and Turko hiding...?" Artanis said, loud enough so her sister and cousin could hear her.

A deeper voice answered her, undoubtedly Aegnor's.

"From what we could see, they should be around here. And even Nenlissë should be able to hear us."

Nenlissë could see the evil smile forming on her little sister's lips. (Holy fucking shit) Putain de bordel de merde. We're screwed. She thought, feeling cold sweat running down her spine.

"Nenliiissëë... Tuurkoo... Don't hide anymore and come give us victory!"

Nenlissë finally met Turko's gaze and saw only pure panic. If he's panicked then we're really in a mess. He motioned for her to hold her breath. What do you mean hold my breath? I may have been a swimmer before but I can't hold my breath for more than three minutes! And they can hear my fucking breath?

"Normally... this is the tree they were planning to spend the night in. The question now is... have they arrived yet? Aegnor voice sounded

-There's only one way to find out, my dear brother."

Before they could react, the tree they were standing on began to shake badly and unfortunately, Nenlissë was too busy wondering how she was not going to die of asphyxiation and so she was not holding on well enough. With a ridiculous scream, she fell. Her back and ribs were lacerated by the branches she fell through. The last thing the girl saw before she reflexively closed her eyes and waited for the impact with the ground was Turko's hand with a piece of her sleeve torn off in it.

She fell. Again and again. Then came the long-awaited shock. A flash of pain shot through her spine, her head was filled with a heavy buzzing sound and everything was blurred as she opened my eyes. Her mouth filled with a warm, metallic-tasting liquid. Blood. Way too much blood. Voices echoed around her, and shapes moved. Two, no three. Six, seven, eight... more and more were coming. Someone is crying. Artanis? Nenlissë wanted to move to reassure her sister that it was nothing, but none of her limbs responded. Her vision became permanently black. Then it went white. Am I dying? Me? Die? Eru. Please, please, please.

All she could see was a bright white and the silence around her was so great that it had become a hum. Nenlissë tried to move her limbs again but still no reaction. Where the hell am I? In heaven? In hell? In the void? The young human could ask herself these questions, but no one was going to answer them. And then, a black spot formed in her field of vision. Tiny. But it grew bigger and bigger as if the thing was coming towards her. She tried to make noise and wave, but even if she managed to open her mouth, no sound would come out. Wait. Am I not breathing? What's that? You don't breathe when you die? But well, that's logical, but really? Shocked. She waited for the thing to come to her. And so she waited for what seemed to her like an eternity before she finally saw the shape of the thing. A man? In any case, he must have eaten a torch, because he was glowing like crazy. He (she?) approached me and broke the silence.

"What were you doing in the cellars of Mandos at that hour?"

His voice was melodious as if he were singing rather than speaking. But at the same time, there was a force of authority in it.

"Eru I presume? And there are times to die?" Nenlissë responded to his question with another.

Eru (?) laughed softly and shook his head.

"That's me, young human. And no, Mandos doesn't have a schedule. He works twenty-four hours a day. I meant to say that it's not time for you to die yet. He said softly,

-My time? What the hell am I doing here then, Nenlissë tilted her head to the side, not understanding why she was here.

-It seems to me that your thread of destiny must have slipped out of my hands.

-Thread? Are our lives just a ball of yarn to you?"

He swept her reply with a flutter of his hand in the air and began to speak again as if nothing had happened.

"You are still promised great things. I still need you, Nenlissë.

-I have no words in the chapter then?

-Nenlissë, I offer to send you back to the world of the living. And for nothing in return. Who would not accept that?

-What if I want to die? What if I don't want to do great things? This isn't fan fiction, damn it!"

Eru smiles at Nenlissë before placing a finger on her forehead.

"Don't worry, everything's going to be fine."

And he pushed her. And she fell. Only to get up again immediately. I am in bed. My room? Wait a moment. Why... are there people in my room?

"Er... Are you Artanis?"

Artanis she presumed turned sharply towards her and Nenlissë could see that she was very tall. You'd think she was my age. 19. Before the girl could ask her assumed sister about her appearance, Artanis threw herself on top of Nenlissë and took her in her arms, crying her eyes out.

"You're finally awake Nenlissë!

-Awake? A-Artanis, how long have I been unconscious?"

She seemed to hesitate and did not answer her sister but went to the door, gave orders to a servant, and then returned to her bedside.

"I know this will confuse you, but... you've been asleep for over 100 years. Without age.

-A hundred years! What the actual fuck?"

My God. What happened? Where are we in the story? Has Melkor returned? Has Fëanor gone mad? Is it the end of the world? Nenlissë thought, alarmed, and took her sister's hands in hers, wanting answers.

"Artanis. I must know. Did something happen while I was unconscious? Something big. Like something to do with the Valar?

-Alas, yes. Melkor, a vala I hope you never meet, has been released and is roaming freely over our paradise..."

Damn it Eru. I hate you.