My Strange Persephone

Part six: homesick

Galadriel sat on the side of the cart, turning her ring over and over in her hands as the rest of her traveling party woke up. Should she tell Adar about the ring's vision? She didn't want to make it weird, but she also felt like he had a right to know. Adar got up, bringing the still sleeping baby Grendel with him. If Galadriel was going to say something, it was going to have to be now.

"I read your mind last night." Galadriel blurted out. "Well, rather, my ring did. You see, you used to have it, and it kinda likes you, so it's more attuned to reading your thoughts." Adar smiled. "The ring likes me?" He asked. "Well, I hate to break it to your ring, but I'm kinda taken." Galadriel rolled her eyes. "I meant that it thinks you're a good wielder." She said. Adar nodded. "I know." He said. "I was using this wonderful thing called sarcasm."

Galadriel sighed. "I have to tell you something." She said. "You were thinking a lot about your parents last night. About Morgoth. Adar...I saw what happened the night he took you. He used some kind of magic to make you forget where you came from."

Adar was quiet for a few seconds. "I know." He finally said. "Morgoth said that my parents had died horribly, and that memories of them would only cause me pain. So he asked to erase my memories, and I said yes." Galadriel gave Adar a hug, this time being careful not to wake the baby.

"But that was a lie." She said. "Your mom died, yes, but your father's still alive." Adar gave that shrug he always did when he was trying to pretend nothing was wrong. "I don't really care about your elven king." Adar said. "If that's what you're trying to do, I'm not really interested. He was the one that approved of the elves killing my children. So far, the one that's apologized is you, not him."

Ah. So that's what this was all about. "You know, I'm sure the other elves would accept you more if they knew you were the king's lost son." Adar shook his head. "I could make you see reason. I can't do the same for him. He just thinks of my children as orcs that killed his wife and stole his son." Galadriel didn't want to point out that this idea wasn't entirely wrong.

"Okay. It doesn't have to be today, or even for a while, but will you please just talk to him? I'm sure he's missed you." She said. Adar sighed. "Fine." He said. "But if he won't apologize, I don't want to talk with him anymore. I have no use for a father that views my children as monsters."

"So, when we get to where the elves stay, should I use my elven name?" Adar asked. Galadriel raised an eyebrow. "You have one?" She asked. Adar nodded. "Adar isn't my actual name. It's more like a title. Morgoth gave me a real elven name, the masculine form of the one I was born with." Galadriel nodded. "Yeah, that might be best when we're around the elves." She said. "So, what should I call you here?" Adar smiled before he replied.

"Celeborn."

*

Adar didn't know what to expect when he arrived at the place the elves were currently occupying, but it wasn't this. As soon as the cart passed through some kind of magical barrier, the burned and scorched lands around them melted into green and flourishing forests. Adar had grown up in a cabin in the middle of the woods, and could navigate through any forest, easily. The only time he'd ever lost a chase in a forest was against Sauron, but he'd been cheating. Needless to say, Adar knew the woods like the back of his hand. But he'd be completely lost in these forests.

"What is this place?" Adar asked, as he looked around in wonder. Gilgalad smiled. "This is the new homeland of the elves." He said. "New Lindon." Adar watched a bird he'd never seen before take flight, and land in a tree above. "This forest is like none I've ever seen." Adar said, which seemed to make Gilgalad sad, for some reason. "When I created it with the rings, I based it off where your mother grew up." The king said. "I know Morgoth tampered with your memory, but I thought that seeing this would at least bring some memories back."

"High King Gilgalad." Adar said. "You were the one that authorized the elven armies to kill my children, were you not?" He asked. Gilgalad looked surprised. "Well, of course." He finally said. "I wanted to wipe every last one of Morgoth's creations off the face of the earth." Adar frowned, and raised his clawed hand. "You do realize that I too am one of Morgoth's creations."

"I didn't mean it like that." Gilgalad stammered awkwardly. "I meant that I wanted to burn all the monsters that took you and your mother from me. I just wanted the two of you back." Adar nodded. "So, when someone took your child from you, you were angry, right?" He asked. Gilgalad nodded. "Well of course." He said. Adar clenched his fists. This man didn't even see the verbal trap he'd walked into. "So you understand that I'm angry that you took my children from me."

Gilgalad looked down. "You really see all the creatures as your children, don't you?" He asked. Adar nodded. "They are my children." He said. "I don't see them that way, that's what they are." Gilgalad sighed. "But you're different. You actually came from me." He said. Adar shrugged. "The Uruk came from me." He said. "Sauron made them from a combination of both of our blood." Gilgalad looked like he'd be sick to his stomach.

"You're my son." He said. "That's the end of the story. I lost you for so many hundreds of years. Just tell me what I have to do to get you back." Adar sighed. "Well, for one thing, apologize and mean it." He said. "Right now, you don't see my children as anything but monsters. If you say you're sorry now, it'll be disingenuous."

Gilgalad frowned. "I will never be able to give an apology that I mean, then." He said. "Because those things killed your mother and kidnapped you. I will never be able to see them as anything but monsters." Adar looked up, meeting the high king's stare head on, and not looking away. "Then I guess you'll have to wait a few more centuries to 'get me back.'" He said sarcastically. "But you've already waited so long already, so I suppose you can wait a little more."

Adar could tell that Gilgalad was getting angry. Kings typically didn't like being told that they couldn't have something. "You are my son!" Gilgalad repeated, more forcefully this time. "I am your family, not those monsters. What would your mother think, if she could see you now?" Adar clenched his fists, and when he did, his talons bit into the palms of his hands, drawing blood. He raised his bloody hands to show to the king. "She would see that my blood is that of a Uruk." He said, as he turned around to leave. "But she would think me to be less of a monster than you."