Something was wrong.
Someone was screaming, but she couldn't distinguish who over the ringing in her ears.
"Tati! Tati, you have to wake up! Tati!"
She tried to tell the voice that she didn't know who 'Tati' was, but her lips wouldn't open.
Her limp body was lifted up and rested against a form, a warm golden light erupting before her closed eyelids.
The voice was reduced to whispered pleas, a hand tightly grasping her own, rubbing circles into the back of it.
The sensations began to fade and she was surrounded with darkness, her toes hanging over the lip of a cliff that went down, down, down. She couldn't see the bottom, nothing but a shroud of impenetrable blackness, a swirling mass that seemed to suck in all of the light.
Two bright lights blinked into existence behind her, but she didn't turn, wrapping her arms around herself as she stared contemplatively at the mass.
"Young one, you must move away from the edge." The light that reminded her of the cold light of the stars rather than the warm light of the sun tried to grasp her shoulder to pull her back, but she shied away.
"Please, you must move away."
"Why?" Her voice was soft, refusing to turn away as she continued staring.
"Your brother is waiting for you."
A brother? She couldn't remember a brother so she remained silent.
"We won't be able to save your fëa from the darkness if you go any further."
"Why save me? I don't even know who you are."
Raising her head, she added a whisper to herself. "I don't even know if I'm worth being saved."
The golden light came closer and she involuntarily leaned into the safety and warmth that radiated from the hand that rested on her shoulder.
"Everyone is worth being saved in some way or another. We would rather cast ourselves into the fires than abandon those in need."
Curling an arm around her shoulder, the golden light gently led her away from the edge of the cliff. The darkness roiled, but the cold light held it back, cleaving it in two as it tried to reach out with tendrils of shadow to pull her back.
The barren landscape grew lighter the farther away they moved from the edge. She felt comforted by the light, it's presence a balm on her turbulent emotions.
It was soothing in a way that unlocked memories of a time long passed, of playing in the snow with a familiar boy as two faceless figures walked sedately behind them. It felt like nights bundled up in blankets with two comforting presences on either side of her and the boy, curled up in front of the fireplace as they cradled steaming cups of hot cocoa in their hands.
She stopped, twisting her hands together as her emotions bubbled over, a stinging in her nose and behind her eyes growing stronger as her breathing picked up. "I want to go home."
The golden light stopped and turned around, kneeling before her and gently lifting her chin up to look into eyes that were as blue as a cloudless summer day.
"I know you do little one, but before we can bring you home, you must allow us to lead you out of this dreadful place. Do you trust me?"
She found herself nodding, a tear being wiped away by a gentle thumb, carefully pulling her forward until she had her head resting on their broad chest, arms encircling her body while a chin rested on the crown of her head, gentle circles rubbed into her back as she sobbed silently into the shirt in front of her.
"You do not have to be afraid little one, my friend and I will help you."
Gratitude that seemed to erupt from her chest bubbled up as fresh tears. The golden light gently dislodged her again and smiled gently as fingers wiped away the tears. The colder light approached from behind and she shrunk into herself a bit before the golden light stood up and offered a hand, squeezing her fingers gently as she took it, leading her farther away from the edge of the cliff.
The light grew brighter and brighter until she shut her eyes and held on tighter to the hand holding hers. There was a brief sensation of falling before she felt something soft underneath her.
She opened her eyes and looked up at the ceiling that was made from a light coloured wood, delicately arching ceiling beams carved with strange symbols.
Someone launched themselves at her, wrapping small arms around her neck as they cried.
Nicholai. The thought came to the forefront of her mind, the dark head of hair shuddering as fresh tears soaked her neck. "You remember!"
Oh. I said that out loud.
A chuckle from her right had her turning her head until her coffee-coloured eyes met familiar blue ones. "You did indeed."
All of a sudden she couldn't breathe as memories rushed to occupy the spot in her head that they had before.
"Nico." A lump formed in her throat as the boy drew back, holding her hands as she tried to force out the words that just wouldn't come.
"I-"
Scowling she tried again.
"We-"
Desperation began to form, her breathing picking up as tears started to fall again.
"Nico, you-"
Nicholai-Nico, nodded grimly as he understood what she was trying to say. "I know Tati." He hesitated and looked around before meeting her eyes again.
Tatiana felt her face crumble as she struggled upward, shrugging of the large hand that tried to guide her back down, and threw herself at her twin, sobbing noiselessly into his neck as he had done to her.
Nico ran a hand down her back, face buried in her hair as he murmured quiet 'I knows' as tears dampened her hair.
The two older men quietly stood from their chairs and left the room to give them some privacy, talking quietly while they kept an ear out for anything wrong in the room.
"You were dead."
Nico nodded sharply, gripping her tighter as she continued.
"You were dead and then they killed me."
They both heard two sharp gasps outside the room but decided to ignore it.
Nico pulled away, closing his eyes and touching his forehead to hers. "How?" His voice was soft and hoarse after he had screamed her name when he woke up and realized that she wasn't breathing.
Tatiana chuckled wetly before pulling away and furiously wiping her eyes. She gestured in the general direction of her abdomen before answering dully, her eyes dim. "Stabbed and throat slit."
A fresh wave of tears erupted from his eyes as he pulled her into a hug again, crushing her against him. "I'm so, so sorry I wasn't there to protect you."
Tatiana punched him. "You couldn't have you ass, you were dead!" She softened her tone and burrowed her head into his neck again. "It wasn't your fault. There was nothing you could've done. We were both drugged halfway to hell before we could've made a move."
There was a soft knock on the door and they scrambled to untangle themselves, sitting hand in hand while Nico faced the door, scowling as he positioned himself in front of his sister.
The two men walked in and Tatiana couldn't help but gasp, her mouth falling open as she watched them draw closer. The two men looked at each other before turning their gaze to the siblings on the bed.
"What's wrong young one?"
Nico gasped as well when he saw what she had seen.
"Your ears. Are they real?"
The two men exchanged glances again. "Yes, they are real. I would've thought you would recognize us as one of the Eldar."
Nico flushed. "I was a little busy panicking over the fact that my twin wasn't breathing. Besides, I don't even know what the Eldar means."
Tatiana gasped again, but when Nico turned around, she was staring down at herself. "Um, Nico? Why are we, toddlers?"
Nico looked down at himself as well. Sure enough, he was much smaller than he was used to.
"You didn't know you were children? How old are you two?"
The brown-haired man, or whatever he was, stepped forward, his brows drawing together in a frown that made them want to apologize for every wrongdoing that they had ever committed. "We're twenty. Of course, we wouldn't be toddlers, we should be fully grown by now."
The golden-haired one stepped forward as well. "Children of the Eldar are not fully grown until they reach their first century."
"...what?"
"...you did not know?"
They exchanged wide-eyed looks.
"Of course we didn't know that We're human!"
The two Eldar looked at them with pitying eyes. The golden-haired one brushed his hair back and motioned for them to do the same, watching with concern as they felt the pointed tips of their own ears.
"I don't understand-" Her voice had dropped to a whisper -"We were human. How-" Tatiana swallowed as Nico remained silent, still sitting in shock as they tried to process the information.
"Those questions can be asked later after you have been situated with a proper guardian."
"But we've been adults for two years already. We don't need a guardian."
"That may have been the case for your life as humans, but as you can see, our children age much slower than humans, dwarves, or hobbits and don't reach maturity until their first century as I might have mentioned earlier."
Nico shook himself out of his daze. "We don't like it, but we won't complain because this is all new and I just need a safe space other than the room where my sister stopped breathing to fully let the situation sink in. By the way, I've been calling you brown-haired one and golden-haired one in my head this entire time so it would be great if we got your names."
They both seemed to startle, bowing slightly. "My apologies. I am Lord Elrond and this is my senschenal Lord Glorfindel. I welcome you to Imladris."
"Nicholai and Tatiana Silvad, but you can call me Nico."
Lord Elrond smiled softly. "Very well Master Nico, Lady Tatiana."