--------------------------------------------------------------------------- This is an entirely fictional story (as if you couldn't guess) and is not intended to imply anything about the sexuality of the members of NSYNC and the Backstreet Boys and none of these events actually happened in real life. Some of the phrases, places and text are copyrighted to Tolkien (thank you to Kyriel2@aol.com for pointing out that I forgot to add this...). Also, the characters "Hercules", "Iolaus", "Lilith" and "Jason" are copyrighted to the show "Young Hercules" and all other companies associated with the show. This story has hints of homosexual content but will move slowly in that area because of the storyline. Comments and suggestions are welcomed and should be sent to ensstyenlc@hotmail.com If you are 18 or older, you may proceed to read the story. If you are under 18 years of age, shouldn't you be studying or at least at a Pokemon website rather than here? ;-) --------------------------------------------------------------------------- Firstly, I would like to thank God for giving me the gift to write this in the first place. (Sorry I forgot about You in the first few thank you's) I would like to thank David from Nifty for letting me put my work on his site. I would also like to thank all the readers who have sent their feedback. Now let's continue the story, shall we? ___________________________________________________________________________ |The BSB NSYNC Chronicles - Chapter Seven|
Joey felt the earth shake. He glanced over at Nick to see if Nick had also felt it. Nick had a confused and frightened look on his face. He cautiously slipped his hand into the green and black plastic bag and drew out his sharktooth dagger. The earth tremored again, causing the ice sculptures to shake precariously, the snow accumulated on them falling to the ground. Another tremor. It reminded Joey of Jurassic Park, except that there were no puddles of water around. Nick must have been thinking the same thing because he froze in sudden terror. There was another tremor. The large castle doors flew open and a large man with pure white skin about 20 feet tall stepped out of the tall doors. His dirty blond hair was long and unkempt. His long beard was no different and it whipped about his chest, giving him a fierce look. His yellow eyes looked at the two young men. He grinned, revealing a mouth full of yellowish teeth.
"The lady of the castle wants to meet you," he boomed in a loud, growling voice that seemed to make thunder sound like a housecat compared to a tiger. The giant beckoned to the two stunned boys. "Hurry up! Queen Shareela does not like to be kept waiting."
Joey and Nick quickly obliged and stepped into the castle. The inside of the castle was enormous. The whole castle sparkled as though made of ice. At the end of the room, there was a staircase, obviously made for human-sized people. The giant pointed towards the staircase with his huge finger. Joey and Nick began to walk towards the staircase. As they climbed the staircase, they could see many more sculptures at each end of every step. Nick reached the top first and turned to wait for Joey. Joey climbed more cautiously, looking at each sculpture before moving up to the next step. When he finally reached the top of the staircase, he and Nick made their way to a large door at the end of a short hallway.
"Everything here is made of ice," Joey complained as he touched the door. "It's getting so cold and Levi's are not exactly winter clothes."
"Neither is Tommy Hilfiger's summer clothing," Nick agreed. Joey tried to push the door from the left. He struggled for a while before saying, "It's jammed."
Nick moved over to the right and began to push the door. It began to open slowly. Joey walked over and helped Nick to push the door open. They stepped into a large chamber which was pretty bare except for a throne (ice again? Joey muttered to himself) with a woman dressed in all white. At her feet, there were many wolf-like creatures except that they were bigger, fiercer looking and their fur was (yup, you got it!) snow-white.
"What is it with white?" Nick whispered to Joey. Joey shrugged and began to walk towards the throne. As he approached, Shareela stood up to greet him. She was very tall and looked half-giant. Her 8 foot tall slim figure was somehow very intimidating and Joey felt the urge to bow down and kiss her feet. She looked at Nick, then at Joey with her cold blue eyes.
"Welcome to my home," she said. Her voice was not as thunderous as the giant's had been, but it seemed more powerful and commanding. "I will get my servants to take care of you while you are here and I will personally teach you how to survive in this harsh world. I will not take 'no' for an answer."
Joey and Nick just looked at each other and then back to the queen. They both nodded. Shareela smiled and clapped her hands twice. Ten beautiful young women entered the room from behind the throne and beckoned the boys to follow them. Five of them took Joey and the other five took Nick to seperate rooms. They were both put in the rooms and given food and water before they were covered with blankets and put to sleep on the large king-sized beds in both their rooms.
Justin yawned and sighed. This is so boring, he thought. He glanced over to Estel who busy explaining the symbolism of the four elements and teaching the would-be mages of the different Faerie races about voice inflections and hand gestures. Justin glanced at his other classmates. All the creatures of the Faerie seemed to have almost boundless patience and determination. Justin in his boredom flipped his wrist and caused a small gust of wind to blow through his hair. He mentally controlled the wind to fly to the nearby desk to his right where it blew the scrolls of a young fairy girl to the floor. The green-eyed, delicate faced girl turned over to him and smiled a soft, playful smile. Her featheredy wings fluttered and flapped and an even bigger gust of wind blasted back to Justin, causing an open bottle of ink to toppled onto his lap. The black ink soaked into his blue, green and yellow elven clothes, which felt like silk but had the strength of leather. Justin waved his hand over the stain and caused the ink stain to disappear, giggling a little. An annoyed minimite to his right zapped him with a small shock of lightning, causing his already curly hair to curl even more. Irritated, Justin returned another small shock to the minimite. The minimite fluttered his dragonfly wings and lifted off the ground. He sent a small bolt of ice into Justin's shirt. Justin gasped and retaliated with a small fireball. None of the students were worried. The crystal dome that they studied in was enchanted with many spells that caused all magic cast inside it to be nothing more than a tingle. A large fireball hitting Justin would feel like being hit by a microwaved sponge ball. The minimite dodged the fireball and sent a colorful beam of rainbow light which spread out like a fan. The light dazzled Justin and he began to lose conciousness. He shook his head and countered the spell's effect. A blast of lightning zoomed past his head and hit the minimite. He turned around to see the fairy girl smiling mischeviously. The minimite growled in mock anger and let loose a bright flash of light towards the fairy. The butterfly-winged sprite sitting next to the minimite also let loose a flash of light, towards Justin this time. The lights missed both Justin and the fairy and they both flashed in front of a brownie that was busily studying the scroll in front of him. He jolted back from the scroll and stood up, his tiny two-foot frame bristling with electrical energy. He shot it towards a giggling elvin, mistaking her as the interruption. The elvin was surrounded by bright light as she called on her innate ability to levitate. She shot up quickly and the electric sparks missed her, striking a woodling and a grig who were discussing the contents of a certain spell book. The woodling thought the grig had zapped him. The grig had also mistakenly thought that the woodling had zapped her. The strange centaur-like creature leaped as high into the air as her cricket body would take her. She blasted a small sonic wave towards the woodling but missed dismally due to the woodling's ability to meld into plants. The woodling popped out of the grass again and giggled. The sonic wave hit a young centaur who reared and snorted. His flailing hooves struck a young kender in front of him, her topknot coming undone. The contents of her pouches flew all over the classroom. A heavy silver spoon hit a red-eye on the back of his head. He glanced at the centaur with his red eyes. Calling his natural ability, shot a beam of red light from his eyes which knocked the centaur off-balance. The centaur tripped and fell onto an irda who was practicing a spell. The jolt broke his concentration and a bright red flash of energy flew straight towards Estel. Estel jumped in shock and turned around. All the students froze in fear of what their teacher might say.
"Who did that?" Estel asked, narrowing his eyes. The burly, blue-skinned irda raised his hand nervously. Estel glared at the student, who shifted nervously under his gaze. Suddenly, to the surprise of everyone, Estel grinned. He held his right hand in front of him. A blue light began to glow and he pointed at Justin. A blast of water sprayed from his finger like water from a hose. The force pushed Justin backwards, soaking him to the bone. The mischievious look on Estel's face let the student's know that he was joining in as well. Justin snickered and threw a magnetic thrust towards Estel, causing Estel to become dizzy as his internal compass was disrupted. The other students laughed and began to throw magic at each other again. The classroom became noisier and bright flashes of light filled every corner as the students began to have magical battles. Estel winked at Justin and said telepathically,
Justin grinned and flung an ice blast towards Estel who raised his hands and melted it before it reached him. The magical battle lasted for another hour and Estel finally sent the exhausted students home to rest. He stood at the door of the dome as he waved goodbye to the last of his students. Then he turned and walked to Justin, who was sound asleep sitting on a chair with his head resting on the desk. Estel placed a small kiss on Justin's cheek. He hugged Justin, but it was to connect himself to Justin so that he could teleport them both to AJ's and Tilkeleb's house.
Tilkeleb trotted to the front door of his house when he heard the knocks. He traced his horn in a circle, causing a blue glow to emit from the door. The door opened revealing Estel carrying Justin in his arms.
"Are the others here yet?" Estel asked. He glanced at the sleeping Justin. Tilkeleb shook his head.
"Do you want to place him onto AJ's bed first?" Tilkeleb asked, motioning to Justin with his spiral ivory horn. Estel nodded and followed Tilkeleb to AJ's bed. He carefully laid Justin down on the nest-like bed. All elven beds were nest-like so Justin unconciously curled up, since his own bed was of the same design. He looked like a small child, calmly sleeping.
"Isn't he cute when he does that?" Estel cooed, his hazel eyes brightening at the sight. Tilkeleb grinned his horsey grin in agreement.
"What? He's sleeping?" AJ complained from behind the two sylvan creatures. "How will he wake up in time for dinner? It's only two hours away."
Estel smiled and chanted a short phrase. His hand glowed pale blue and he touched Justin's forehead. The light was absorbed into Justin and he fell into deeper sleep.
"He will wake up at dinnertime," Estel said. "This spell is like a programmed wake-up timer."
AJ nodded and went off to prepare dinner.
Justin sat next to Estel at the dinner table and watched his friends eat. He wasn't feeling particularly hungry. He played with the grapes on his plate while staring at nothing in particular. JC and Lance were talking about how their training with Paxon was going along while AJ kept trying to top their problems with the difficulty of his training as a Unicorn Knight. Brian kept mostly to himself but would whisper occasionally to Lalaith who was sitting next to him. Estel glanced at Justin.
<You're not eating,> Estel said. Justin jumped a little at Estel's voice.
<I'm not very hungry,> Justin lied in reply.
<What's going on?> Estel asked kindly. <What are you thinking that's making you so depressed?>
<Nothing much,> Justin replied. <I just feel like I should be doing more. I mean, I'm learning magic and all and it seems right, but yet not right. I feel like my body's going to waste withour exercise of some sort or something.>
<Oh,> Estel replied. <You want to be like a Battlemage or Bladesinger?>
<Huh?> Justin asked. <What are those?>
<They're the same thing,> Estel replied.
<Ahh, I see,> Justin said. <I would love to be like that. I miss performing and I my body feels like I'm neglecting it.>
<Performing?> Estel questioned curiously. <You were a dancer before?>
<Not really,> Justin said, wondering how to explain boybands to Estel. <I perform with a group. We're like both singers and dancers.>
<That's interesting,> Estel replied. <Are AJ, Brian, Lance and JC in your performing group?>
Justin shook his head.
<Wow! You must really miss it,> Estel replied sympathetically. <I think I'll have to train you personally.>
<Train me personally?> Justin asked. <As what?>
<A Bladesinger,> was Estel's reply. <I am a Bladesinger. We fight with swords and magic. We are bards that fight. Since you are a singer, becoming a Bladesinger should be easy for you. We'll talk about it in the morning. Right now, you should eat.>
He reached out and picked up a piece of biscuit-like wafer bread called lembas. He gave it to Justin who took it and began to eat. Justin felt like a weight had been lifted off his shoulders. He began to eat with renewed hunger. Estel grinned at him and Justin grinned back. They burst into laughter, much to the confusion of the others at the dinner table.
After the hearty dinner of lembas, fruits, vegetables, fish and nuts, JC pushed himself back from the table and sighed with satisfaction. AJ laughed at JC's actions.
"You look like someone who hasn't eaten for a week and was suddenly given his favourite food," AJ grinned. Justin, Brian, Estel, Tilkeleb and Lalaith laughed at AJ's joke. JC and Lance looked at each other, both remembering how torturous it was to feel like they were going to die from starvation. They both knew the statement was funny, but neither could bring himself to laugh. Catching their depressed glances, Justin asked, "What's wrong?"
"What's wrong?" JC said, his voice seething with anger. It raised in volume as he continued to speak. "What's WRONG?! HOW WOULD YOU FEEL IF YOU WERE LOST AND STARVING, WONDERING WHEN YOU WERE GOING TO DIE?"
"JC, calm down," Lance tried to comfort JC. JC ignored him, stood up, and continued to rant. "AND THEN GETTING ATTACKED BY BANDITS WHO COULDN'T GIVE A DAMN ABOUT YOU! HOW WOULD YOU REACT TO SOMETHING LIKE THA..."
JC was interrupted in his ravings when Lance's tongue enter his mouth. Lance kissed JC passionately, flicking his tongue in and out of JC's mouth in a seductive manner. JC began to moan with pleasure. He was going to kiss Lance back when Lance pulled away.
"That was the only way to stop you," Lance giggled. JC sat in his chair again, totally drained by Lance's kiss. Their friends just sat and stared at them, stunned. Brian finally cleared his throat and spoke.
"How would you feel if you were kidnapped by strange creatures with menacing voices?" he asked softly. AJ and Justin both signaled to Lance and JC to keep quiet. Both of them hoped that Brian would tell them what had happened to him, as he had been skillfully evading their questions. Brian stood, remembering the terror he had felt when he found himself teleported away from his cousin.
"I was with Kevin," Brian began his story, "and we were wandering through the forest. We saw this campfire and walked there to investigate, hoping that the campers would pity us and give us food and directions. As soon as we stepped into the lighted area, the world turned black and I heard this menacing voice say 'You are mine, human. Destiny lies before you, but you will not fulfill it. I will kill you before that.' The voice somehow just filled me with terror and despair. He blacked out completely. It was a short time that I woke up again, not more than three minutes according to my watch. I was surrounded by creatures that were a greenish-black in colour and had coarse hair all over them. They spoke in a language that seemed to make them even more menacing."
"What did they say?" Lalaith asked. Brian closed his eyes and began to speak.
"Bubhosh sharku durbat, glob pushdug snaga," Brian said. As he spoke, he seemed to become more menacing. His voice had a cold gruffness to it. The candles that lit the room extinguished. Everyone felt a chill of evil and began to shiver. Lance gripped JC tightly in fear. JC tried to hide his own fear to ease his younger lover. Justin began to whimper. Brian stopped speaking, tears in his eyes.
"That is something I never want to hear again," Justin shivered, a tear falling from his eye. "It reminds me of all my nightmares combined into one and then magnified ten times."
"If gentle Brian spoke like this and made us all scared," AJ observed, "then he must have suffered a lot, just by listening to the monsters speaking."
"What are those creatures, Estel," Justin asked. Estel and Lalaith hung their heads. Finally Estel lifted his head and spoke.
"I am not sure which race the creatures are because Brian's description is very vague. But I know which species they are."
"Which species are they?" AJ asked, exasperated by Estel's way of beating around the bush.
Estel lowered his head again. He mumbled something that no one could catch.
"Pardon?" AJ said.
"I said that they are Faerie Folk as well," Estel said, looking up.
"WHAT?!" AJ shouted, jumping from his seat. "THESE MONSTERS ARE ELVES?"
Estel looked at AJ and said, "No, they are not. But our races are related. Just like centaurs are related to elves, so these monsters are related to elves as well. They are from a different division of the Faerie, called the Dark Faerie."
"They could never be elves," Brian said softly. "I learnt from different scrolls in the temple library about the two divisions of the Faerie."
"But how did you get here?" Justin asked. AJ seated himself on his chair to listen to Brian's story.
"It was nighttime when I was captured," Brian began again. "I could hear their words and I wondered what they meant. I later learnt from my rescuer that the words meant 'The great old man will rule all, foolish dungfilth slave.' While I was tied to a tree while they made a big fire and began to cook and eat some creatures that they had killed. Suddenly, from nowhere I heard a voice singing 'Praise God from whom all blessings flow.' (Story paused Author's note: Although I am writing in English, Brian, AJ, Lance, JC and Justin are speaking in Quenya. Just to clarify things a bit. The song is supposed to be in Quenya, but it isn't translated because of the above reason.Story unpaused) They heard it too and turned around shouting words that could only be vulgarity. The singing stopped and then a young elf, though I did not know it at the time, stepped into the light cast by the fire. He looked at me and smiled. The monsters rushed at him and he turned to face them. Quicker than I could see, he had drawn two swords, one in each hand. He began to fight with the creatures, four-on-one. He fought for a few minutes before all the creatures were dead. Then he sliced at the leather straps that bound me to the tree and said, 'Destiny awaits you, child. Seek God and fulfill the future.' Then he placed his hand on the tree that I tied to. The tree glowed green and he said 'It's a good thing they didn't find out about this. This tree has a staircase towards my home, the town of Caeranos. Go to the city and look for a priestess called Lalaith.' Then he was gone. I stepped into the tree and it closed up behind me. I climbed the stairs and that's how I got here."
"Wow!" Lance said, awed. "That must have been quite an experience. I wish I could have entered the tree."
"I got in by another tree," Justin said.
"Really?" JC asked suspiciously. "Are you just making that up to compete with Brian?"
"No I'm not," Justin said. "I've had quite an experience too"
"Not the way I'd put it, but yeah," AJ grinned. Lance glanced at AJ.
"What do you mean?" he said. AJ looked at Justin in surprise.
"You didn't tell them?" he asked Justin.
"Tell us what?" JC asked.
"That he fell three hundred feet and died?" Lalaith questioned. Justin shot her a look of anger. JC and Lance looked at the solemn faces of their friends, then at each other. They both began to laugh at the same time.
"That was a great joke, you guys," JC said, wiping tears of laughter from his eyes.
"That was no joke," Justin said in a monotone. JC and Lance stopped laughing and looked at Justin.
"I was resurrected by Brian and Lalaith," Justin stated. JC and Lance blinked in wonder.
"Wow...er...we didn't know," Lance finally stammered out. Justin smiled at his friends.
"At least I'm alive and kicking now," Justin grinned. The solemn mood was lifted from the room and the conversation turned to something more light-hearted.
Justin opened his eyes and yawned. He could hear the sounds of birds singing in the trees on which his house was built. Squirrels chattered, their voices seeming to tease Justin for waking up late in the morning. Justin stretched. He began to walk to the 'bathroom'. The elves had constructed an advanced pipe system which provided them with 'tap' water and 'flush systems'. It was all magical, though, and thus had no waste products at all. Justin removed his clothes and stepped into a polished wooden bathtub. As he stepped in, a magical spring of water appeared at one of the ends and began to fill the tub with water that was the perfect temperature. He lay back in the tub and began to think about what to wear, something that he still thought of, even though all his clothes were of the same or similar patterns and colours. He closed his eyes and relaxed, thinking of falling asleep again. He was asleep again before he knew it.
Estel wondered where Justin was. He had waited for Justin to come for breakfast, and now was lunchtime. Where could he be? Estel wondered. He walked about the house, searching for Justin. Finally, he checked the bathroom. He glanced over to the bathtub and saw Justin sleeping there. The still water was crystal clear and Estel could make out Justin's body from the chest down through the water. He knew that Justin had a thing for him. It could be seen in his eyes when he talked. Estel longed to kiss the young man and leaned in towards Justin's face. I can't love him, Estel thought, pulling back, a tear beginning to form in his eyes. I'm older than him by many years and his life will be over before I know it.
Estel wiped his tears from his eyes with his shirt sleeve. He reached out his slender arm and touched Justin's shoulder and shook it slightly. Justin stirred and slowly opened his eyes. He looked into Estel's almond-shaped, cat-like hazel eyes. As always, they showed little expression that Justin could read. He suddenly remembered that he was totally naked and he blushed a deep red. He quickly moved his hands to cover his modesty and stepped out of the tub, grabbing a pink towel from a branch that grew across the ceiling, forming a permanent towel rack. He wrapped the towel around his waist and grabbed his clothes.
"I wondered where you were for breakfast," Estel said calmly.
"I missed breakfast?" Justin asked, shocked. "What time is it now?"
"It is slightly past noon," Estel replied. "Lunch is waiting for us, and then we have to pack before we leave."
"Pack?" Justin queried, furrowing his eyebrows. "Where are we going?"
"We are going to a place called The Academy," Estel turned towards the door of the bathroom, which was, as all typical Faerie doors, a purple curtain that was drawn over the doorway. "There you will learn how to fight, and I am following to tutor you in Bladesinger magic."
"Why can't you teach me to fight?" Justin asked. "You're a Bladesinger as well. You could teach me to fight."
"I cannot teach you to fight like an elf," Estel replied. "You have to learn how to use a sword and shield, something which I cannot teach you."
"You don't use swords and shields?"
"I don't use shields," Estel replied. "No elves use shields. I use two starswords. They are the weapons of Bladesingers. You will be given a starsword but you will have to be taught to use a shield properly. Humans are too clumsy to use two weapons."
"Why can't Paxon teach me, then," Justin asked, feeling slightly miffed. "He teaches JC and Lance."
"JC learns to use the raztar, a weapon that has nothing in common with a sword. As for Lance, his sword is designed to be wielded with two hands. He has no need for a shield," Estel explained with his ever-calm voice that sometimes drove Justin mad like it was doing now.
"So basically you're kicking me out of your house because I can't use two weapons?" Justin asked sarcastically. He felt angry with himself as well. Does he suspect? Justin asked himself. Is that why he's sending me away?
As if to answer his unspoken questions, Estel said, "I'm not kicking you out of the house. I said I was going with you, remember?"
Justin was about to argue when a rumbling noise filled the room. Justin blushed and looked shamefully at the floor.
"I think you should eat your lunch now before you cause an earthquake," Estel joked, his hazel eyes sparking with silent laughter. Justin quickly put his clothes on, his back to Estel. When he was done, he turned around and realised that Estel was no longer in the room. How does he move so quietly? Justin grumbled in his mind.
After a quick lunch of fruits, bread and berries, Estel passed Justin a leather backpack, instructing him to pack one or two sets of clothes and food to last for a few days. He left the house, assuring Justin that he would be back soon. Justin quickly packed his clothes. He was about to open the cupboard which contained lembas, the elven waybread that would not only fill his hunger but would also revitalise him and refresh his energy, when he heard the flutter of wings. A small brown sparrow was perched on the windowsill, a piece of parchment tied to its leg. Justin slowly reached out to touch the bird, hoping that it would not fly off. To his surprise, the sparrow hopped onto his wrist. Justin untied the note from the sparrow's leg and it flew out of the window, disappearing as quickly as it had appeared. Justin unrolled the parchment and read the message. The words were written in the smooth, flowing script of the elven language.
Dearest Estel, How have you been? It has been a long time since I last saw you? How are the others? Tell them I miss them. I heard that you were promoted to Archmage. Quite an accomplishment! This is the first time a Bladesinger has been an Archmage at the same time. I am really proud of you! I can't tell you how much I miss you, especially in the old days when the two of us would just sleep in the forest without anyone to interfere. I miss those close, intimate talks we had. I can not write much more now, the parchment is only that big. In any case, I will be back in Caeranos in a month or two. I hope you will be there to meet me. Anyway, hugs and kisses to you. Tell Lalaith to keep smiling and praying, Nirnaeth to keep singing, Larel to keep tending the trees, Alegifu to keep grinning and flirting, and Stile to, well, just be Stile! And tease him about Alessa for me, too! See you soon!
Love, Gil
Justin stared blankly at the message. He felt like tearing it up, just as his heart was torn up at the moment. He blinked tears from his eyes. His hands began to tear the note when he heard many footsteps approaching. He quickly stuffed the note into a pocket in his shirt and turned around, pretending that nothing had happened. He turned around and saw JC, Lance, AJ, Brian, Estel and Lalaith entering the front door.
AJ stepped into the house, looking smart in his silver and white leather armour with the emblem of a unicorn over the left breast of the shirt. It was the uniform of the Unicorn Riders, an elite group of mounted knights. JC and Lance were both dressed in identical skin-tight black leather armour as well. Brian and Lalaith were hand-in-hand, both smiling on their pleasant faces. Their brown, blue and white clerical robes were strangely made, for they seemed to bring out the curves of Lalaith's body and the muscles of Brian's, and though it may have seemed revealing, it somehow also failed to cause any feelings of attractiveness though it did make them look better. Estel's clothes had changed. He was no longer wearing the robes of the Archmage, but instead was wearing light brown leather armour. His soft sandles had been replaced by forest green leather boots, and the leather belt around his waist had two pale blue scabbards inscribed with runes and studded with gems on either side of his body. The hilts of the swords both had sapphires embedded into their pommels. A grey-green cloak hung from his shoulders. In his arms, he carried a large sack.
"Hey! How come you guys are all here?" Justin asked cheerfully, carefully keeping his sadness hidden.
"What? and miss an important moment of your life?" JC grinned. "Never!"
"Important?" Justin asked.
"Yeah!" was Lance's enthusiastic reply. "We couldn't wait to celebrate you leaving! Now we can party without the baby!"
"Hey!" Justin growled in mock anger. The others all just laughed. Finally, they all settled down, and AJ summoned Tilkeleb from the figurine.
"Dearly beloved, we are gathered here today to witness the bonding of a man," Brian began, a cheeky grin crossing his face. "That's all I can think of right now, so Lalaith will have to handle the ceremony."
Lalaith bowed her head in reverent prayer. Brian calmed down and began to pray as well. As they prayed, Estel stepped forward, carrying the sack with him. He motioned for Justin to stand in front of Brian. Estel stood in front of Lalaith and faced Justin. Slowly, he removed the contents of the sack. Justin was disappointed that he could not see what the contents were. There were two packages, both wrapped in blue cloth and tied with vines. Estel handed one package to Lalaith and the other to Brian. Then he stepped towards AJ, Lance, JC and Tilkeleb. Justin watched Lalaith, wondering what was going on. The lovely elven priestess closed her eyes, ignoring him. She opened her eyes again and smiled.
"We are gathered here to witness the induction of the warrior Justin Timberlake into the status of Bladesinger," Lalaith spoke, her musical voice. "Will the nominator please step forward?"
AJ stepped forward. He looked at Lalaith who nodded slightly. "I hereby nominate Justin Timberlake to become a Bladesinger."
"He cannot be nominated by any Bladesingers," Lalaith said. "Are you affiliated with the Bladesingers, Alexander McLean?"
"No, I am not, Revered Daughter," AJ said. "I give my word."
Justin realised that all of his friends had already known abou this and had practiced the ceremony before. He wondered when AJ had nominated him. He smiled at AJ, who gave him a wink, before stepping back.
"Will the Bladesinger representative please step forward?" Lalaith said.
Estel stepped forward and bowed.
"As a member of the Bladesingers, do you accept the nominee Justin Timberlake into the Bladesingers?" Lalaith recited her part of the ceremony.
"The Bladesingers do accept Justin Timberlake into our ranks," Estel replied. "We call Joshua Chazez and James Bass as referees."
JC and Lance stepped forward and bowed. "We both agree with the nominee Alaxander McLean and recommend Justin Timberlake's induction into the Bladesingers."
"Do we have a member of the clergy who also agrees that Justin Timberlake should be induced?"
"I speak as a member of the clergy," Brian said from behind Justin. "The church accepts Justin Timberlake's induction into the Bladesingers."
"Then it is done," Lalaith finished. She opened the package that Estel had given her and pulled out the contents. She motioned for Justin to turn around and face Brian. As Justin turned, he was handed a folded pile of leather.
<Wear it now,> Estel's voice came into Justin's head. <This ceremony is private, and only the closest friends are here.>
Justin removed his clothes, blushing slightly. He quickly put on the tight but comfortable leather armour. Brian motioned for him to turn around. Justin turned and felt Brian put a cloak onto his shoulders. Lalaith stood before him, holding a pale blue scabbard with a sword inside. Both looked exactly the same as Estel's. Lalaith handed him a shield with the symbol of the flag of Caeranos, a circle of vines around a tree, on the front. He slipped the shield onto his left arm. Lalaith handed him the jeweled hilt of the starsword he placed it around his waist to his left. His friends walked outside of Estel's house. As they stepped out, AJ and Tilkeleb turned right, Lance and JC went left. Lalaith placed her hand on Justin's left shoulder and Brian did the same to Justin's right. Estel stood in front, his back facing Justin. He walked out of the doorway followed by Justin, Brian and Lalaith. As they stepped out of Estel's house, Justin looked around the city. Every platform, bridge, arch, clearing and even large branches were crowded with Faerie Folk of all sorts. Even the Faerie-kin like pegasi and unicorns were present. Justin realised that all the citizens of Caeranos were present to witness this event!
<Draw your sword, Bladesinger,> Estel said proudly. Justin drew his starsword. The starsword was light and Justin pulled it out easily. As he held it up, pointing towards the sky, the starsword's silver blade was suddenly covered with blue flames. Loud cheering emitted from the crowd, and the whole forest shook with the stamping of feet, flapping of wings and overall cheering and clapping. He noticed other Bladesingers standing on a nearby platform. There were only irdas, red-eyes, elves and fairies present as they were the only human-sized bipedal Faerie, and thus the only races suited for the fighting styles of the Bladesingers. He watched as the Bladesingers all raised their starswords to the sky, and saluted him. The blue flames from all the swords were eye-catching and everyone watched as the Bladesingers saluted Justin again and again, up to a total of seven times. The crowd began to cheer again and the sky was filled with the colours and lights as magic was released into the sky, their effects more beautiful than fireworks on Independence Day. Justin felt tears grace his eyes. He was touched that all the citizens were present for such an event. As the crowds began to gather in different places, the sounds of music and dancing filled the evening. Bonfires began to spring up and Faeries were dancing, clapping or playing musical instruments around them. There were tables filled with food of all sorts all over the city, where the Faeries could partake of refreshments whenever they wished. The celebration lasted well into the night and suprisingly did not end when the sun began to rise the next morning. Only in the afternoon, the citizens of Caeranos ceased their celebration and began to clean up. Justin and Estel did not help with the clean-up. Both of them had left at noon, making the long journey to the Academy run by the centaur Cheiron.
Justin and Estel stood before the academy doors, tired out after their two-day trek through the forest. Estel pushed the door open and saw no one at all in the practice rooms, except Cheiron.
"It is lunchtime," Cheiron explained. He bowed as much as a centaur could bow towards Estel and Justin. "It is good to have visitors from my home come to the Academy. Especially when the visitors are of one of the highest ranks in the city. Welcome to my academy."
Cheiron directed the two Bladesingers to the cafeteria where all the students were. Their arrival was unexpected and all the students ceased their chatter to check the newcomers out. Justin glanced around the room at the wooden tables and benches. His eye was caught by the sight of two familiar faces.
"Justin?" one of the cadets asked, his voice carrying across the silent room. ------------------------------TO BE CONTINUED------------------------------ How was this one? Well, email me and tell me about it. I like getting response from people. That way I know what most people are expecting and find a way to surprise them... ;) Anywayz, emails of all sorts related to the story should be sent to ensstyenlc@hotmail.com Ciao for now!