I had fallen asleep and felt the pressure in my eyes that told me I had been crying when I passed out. My ears picked up some footsteps and the sound of a door being unlocked, and then the low creak of a door opening.
"Oh, Persie, it will all be well..."
I tried to open my eyes, open my mouth, let them know I wasn't fully sleeping... but I couldn't move a muscle. I was too exhausted to move, let alone try and fully awaken.
However, I didn't need to open my eyes to know that there were people surrounding me, and I felt two strong arms lift me and bring me to my bed.
"Annon allen, honeg."
Alma? What is she doing here?
The strong arms laid me down carefully on my sheets. "Nunna, nethig."
Nethig... sister? Aldarian?
A calloused hand, Aldarian's hand, caressed my arm gently. "Losta, mellon nin."
"We will watch over her," Arwen's hauntingly beautiful voice spoke from my other side. "You should go back to the feast, ada nin will want to know how his hûnneth is."
"I think it is lovely he claimed her as his heart daughter," Gerda's soft voice spoke from my feet. "She will need his support."
I felt Arwen's soft touch on my hand. "She will need all of us, mellon nin."
"Now get out so we can get Persie into her nightclothes," Alma's voice raised over the others, and I heard a slight scuffle from where she and Aldarian were standing. "You did your job in carrying her from the door, now let us take care of her."
I heard his deep sigh and tried to open my eyes to thank him, but the lids were too heavy to open. "I will tell the others she is in good hands."
The girls gave their thanks to Aldarian, and I heard him take his leave before I let myself fall back into the dark abyss. I was in good hands for now.
---
The next thing I remember is the feeling of warmth, and not just from the blankets that were draped over me.
I felt pairs of arms wrapped around me, and the heat that surrounded them brought warmth not just to my body, but to my heart. If this was some form of elvish healing, I was definitely all for it.
Slowly, I started to revive myself and tried to move even though everything was aching. I must have had a larger power explosion than I thought.
A low groan rang out from my mouth, and immediately the arms wrapped around me stiffened, and started to move.
"Persie, you are awake?" Arwen's melodious voice chimed.
I forced my eyes open, only to be met with three pairs of eyes looking down on me. "Hey," I rasped, only to be drawn into three different hugs.
"I am glad to see you with your eyes open," Alma muttered into my hair, just as I felt Gerda nudge my shoulder with her nose. I never took any of them to be the cuddling type but I guess the power of friendship does really move mountains.
"What happened?" I heard myself ask, which caused the others to slightly stiffen and move back to meet my gaze. "I feel like I was hit by a train."
Alma tilted her head. "What is a train?"
I pursed my lips and used my arms as leverage to push myself back into the headboard and sat up to see their faces better. "It's like a really, really big horse."
She nodded. "Understood."
"How long was I asleep for?" I asked, coughing to try and get my voice back to normal.
Arwen answered, "It is in the afternoon the day after the feast. My father thought you might be asleep for longer than this, but again I believe you proved him wrong."
"Are you feeling okay, Persephone? Do you need anything?" Gerda's pleasant voice asked, looking down at my figure with the peeled eyes of a healer. "If you would like, I can go ask for some pain relievers for your soreness."
I had to smile slightly at her frantic mother-henning and shook my head. "No, Gerds, it's all right. I've had worse."
She tutted, but didn't make any more comments and simply sat back at my side as a pillar of strength.
"So this has occurred to you before?" Arwen asked softly, taking my hand in one of hers again, before placing another hand on top of mine with wide eyes. "You feel so cold, mellon nin. Are you sure you are fine?"
I nodded. "Don't be getting all worried about me, now."
Alma rolled her eyes. "It is rather hard to not be worried about you when you keep on placing yourself in worrying situations!"
My mouth dropped open and I was about to retort when Arwen's hands suddenly squeezed mine, and I stopped myself. Alma did have a point, I guess. I would feel the same had she been in the same position.
Arwen leveled the blonde with her calming gaze before turning back to me. "You are worth being worried over, especially as you are our dear friend. Do not think any different."
"Our other friends feel the same as well, Persephone," Gerda claimed, smiling softly. "My brother even questioned me earlier as to if you were feeling better. Many people in Imladris truly care for you."
"Geren?"
She nodded happily. "Yes, even my brother cares for you as a friend should."
I looked over to Alma who was smiling contentedly. "Was it just me or did Aldarian help me to bed last night?"
Alma let out a giggle. "It was not just you. Aldarian made himself available as soon as he realized that we needed someone to help get you to your bed, and it was hard to get him to move from his vigil."
"Why would he-"
The blonde rolled her eyes. "Persie, Aldarian loves you and now that you and he are such good friends you two are bonded for life, at least, according to him."
I blinked.
"Elladan and Elrohir have been pestering me for updates on your wellbeing," Arwen chimed in, giving me a glowing smile. "They truly value you as a friend and a fellow warrior."
A slow smile started to draw on my lips. "You mean they aren't mad at me for messing up yesterday at the feast?"
Arwen moved a hand to place it comfortingly on my shoulder. "Of course no one is mad, except for Lady Mirwen and her crones." A mischievous grin flickered on her face. "And I do believe those Ladies deserve what came to them last evening."
Alma nodded. "Lady Mirwen especially! That ellith is always causing some trouble or another and she never gets any backlash for it. It is about time someone has put her back in her place!"
Arwen and Gerda laughed, and I felt as though I had no choice but to follow suit. "That is surely one way to put it!" Arwen agreed.
"I saw how she stepped in between you and Lord Glorfindel," Gerda commented shyly, her cheeks reddening by the second. "You should not have let her do that to you, Persie. The Lord seemed to be having a good time with you, even though there are talks of them having been together in the past, it is the past for a reason."
I let out a huff. "It's not that easy, Gerds. Not when someone like him is all gorgeous and perfect and everything and someone like me is just... not. Those things don't work out, okay?"
Arwen raised a flawless brow. "Who has told you such things, mellon?"
I bit my lip, struggling to figure out how to respond. "Well... no one, not really. But it's not that hard to figure out, once you've been through the shit I have. It's not like anyone would look at me and see all my emotional baggage and be stoked enough to have feelings for me, let alone anything more than that."
I was met with complete silence.
Then, I proceeded to be smacked with pillows and rampaging yells from the elleth I think of as friends. All I could do was cover my face and hope for the best.
"You-are-so-insufferable!"
Smack!
"Why will you not listen?"
Smack!
"Everyone loves you!"
Smack!
I finally got tired of the fluffed feathers hitting my face and grabbed Gerda's pillow from her hands and started to get my revenge. "Pillow fight!" I yelled, lunging at Alma who's eyes went wide and she started to run away at my sudden aggression.
Then, suddenly the room consisted of me chasing Alma with a pillow, and a serene Arwen and confused Gerda watching from the bed. "Stop chasing me!" Alma yelped as she nearly fell over a lounge chair.
"You're the ones who started it!" I yelled back, before throwing the pillow at her face when she turned back to glare.
"You are the one who cannot seem to understand that you are a beautiful, wonderful, and admirable being that we all care about," Arwen chimed in from where she sat on the bed. "Perhaps we would not find ourselves in this... pillow fight, as you referred to it, had you been more receptive to our beliefs."
I ran my hands down my face with a groan. "Why are you all so obsessed with this?"
Gerda stood up from where she was seated and walked over to me with her hands on her hips. "Besides the fact that your refusal to believe us is both reckless and selfish, we all know that you would do the same for us if the positions were flipped."
I let out a sigh, looking between my friends and seeing the same looks of relentless hope and love plastered on their faces. "It's not like this is gonna change in one night."
Arwen smiled, before gliding over and grasping my arms tightly. "We know that, Persie. We just want you to try."
Try. Okay. I think I can do that.
I slowly nodded and took in the looks of relief on their faces. "Oh, thank goodness, I thought I was going to have to wrestle you into submission," Alma muttered, leaning down to place her hands on her knees while still trying to catch her breath. "I am not used to running like that, mellon."
I raised a brow. "I am definitely going to get you to train with me, now."
She raised her hands immediately in a surrender. "No, no, that's not for me..." Alma pointed to Arwen, who watched in amusement. "Train with her! She's the one who can wield a sword and bow, for Eru's sake!"
Arwen? A warrior?
I looked over at the Evenstar, who simply folded her hands in front of her and possessed her Lady-like smile. "You can fight?" Thinking of the daintily beautiful elleth and trying to picture her as fighting with a sword didn't quite compute. "Seriously?"
She merely grinned. "I have been alive for a great many years, Persie. There are many things you do not know about me."
Alma nodded along, glad to have the spotlight off her. "It is true, she is deadly with a blade. The facade of her being a perfect Lady is all an illusion."
I grinned. "That seems like something we will need to test out later in the training ring," I told Arwen, who nodded excitedly.
"It has been many years since I have been able to spar with another female," she admitted. "Unfortunately not all ellith are allowed to learn how to use weaponry, especially those who are Ladies."
"Well, I'm certainly excited to learn what you know."
Quickly after Arwen and I's decision to spar, later on, Gerda decided it was time to get me ready for the day and quickly shooed the others out to get me dressed. Lord Elrond had told my friends that he wanted to speak with me about what happened at the feast, and Gerda wanted me to fulfill his wishes.
I adamantly refused to wear a dress, and I knew that what happened last night must have shaken Gerds to the core because she didn't argue. Normally, she would try and get me to reach out of my comfort zone, but this time I knew she could tell I was still on edge.
I greatly appreciated that about my new friends. They always seemed to be able to know what I needed, even if I didn't realize it myself.
She quickly let me change into some comfortable dark leather pants, a pair of black boots, and a white tunic before pulling a dark blue cloak over that draped down to the floor. I grabbed my pen and tucked it into a pocket within the cloak, perfectly in reach.
I quickly ate some food, really just some toast and fruit, that had been sent to my room most likely at Gerda's request. This morning, or rather, afternoon, I made the decision to allow myself to be pampered and took a moment to relax.
Gerda hummed a comforting tune as she braided my hair when I leaned back and closed my eyes. I was trying to get over the sudden bout of anxiety that swept over me at the thought of being summoned by Elrond, but he seems to like me well enough to not give me too much of a tongue lashing.
Dionysis was way worse back at Camp; if I can deal with Mr. D, then I can handle some Elf Lord that has claimed me as his "heart daughter."
"There. Now you look ready to meet with Lord Elrond," Gerda said, tying the braid at the bottom with a band. "I will accompany you there."
I nodded and hid my wince at the soreness in my legs as I stood up after being in a sitting position for so long. "Thank you, Gerds."
She grinned up at me bashfully. "You are always a pleasure to assist, Persie."
I couldn't help but roll my eyes. "I am pretty sure you are forced to say that to everyone you help but thank you for the vote of confidence."
Gerda giggled quietly. "Of course I never say anything ill to those I assist, but you are different because I value you genuinely as a friend."
I smiled, running my hand along the delicate braid hanging over my shoulder. "I'm glad to have someone as talented as you getting me ready every day. I mean, really, you're a life-saver."
She blushed. "What little I do is hardly any heroic work."
I chuckled. "Trust me, for someone as ill-adept at braiding and doing hair, you are a miracle worker."
"I think you could learn more with a little practice-"
I cut her off, "Nope, I'm not a fan of doing hair so I'll leave that to you."
"Very well then."
We head off to Lord Elrond's study, where I had been a few times before and knew how to make it there without relying on Gerda to give me directions.To be honest, I don't know if it's a good thing or bad thing that I knew how to get there from how many times I've been summoned.
But I would like to point out after the many times I've been kicked out of places, I still have yet to be kicked out of here.
Emphasis on the yet.
I may be Elrond's heart daughter, but I've been kicked out of Atlantis for better things than creating a whirlpool at a feast.
As we got closer to his study, I noticed Lindir standing outside of Elrond's door, patiently waiting. He heard our footsteps and immediately turned to see the two of us with a smile.
"Miss Gerda, I can take the Lady Persephone from here," he told her dismissively. "You may be excused."
I immediately turned to my friend, who had turned red from being turned away so quickly, and smiled affectionately while grabbing one of her hands into my own.
"Thanks for helping me this morning, Gerda, I'll see you later?"
A wary smile graced her features. I was so going to lay into Lindir once she left. "You know it was nothing-"
"Lady Persephone, we must not dally."
I kept a hold of Gerda's hand and turned back to face Lindir coldly. "Quit being a nincompoop and just wait one moment while I say thanks to my friend."
His eyes widened, and he opened his mouth to say something but I held a hand up for him to stop.
"Just don't."
I turned back to Gerda, who had her other hand over her mouth. She was probably hiding a grin from the looks of her twinkling eyes, and I immediately knew that it was worth it.
"I will see you later, Gerds."
She tore her hand away from her mouth and openly smiled. "I will see you later, Lady Persie."
I waved at her as she walked away, no doubt heading back to my room again to start cleaning everything up. I felt bad letting her be the one who does that, but she has always insisted on it being her job...
"Good afternoon, Lady Persephone," a soothing voice rang out from behind me. Well, a voice that was definitely not poor Lindir.
I whirled around, mentally excited in the whipping of my cloak that spun around with me. "Hey, Lord Elrond."
The Elf Lord in question merely smiled down at me and opened the door to his study and gestured for me to walk in. "I am glad you are getting along with Miss Gerda," he told me, faintly guiding me by my back as I walked into his study. "She has always been one of the kindest ellith who works for my family."
The door clicked shut.
I immediately headed toward my usual spot, in one of the cozy luxurious chairs that were seated in front of Elrond's desk. However, someone was already in it.
A certain large, strong, beautiful blonde was already sitting there with his arms crossed and his right leg propped up over his left.