--------------------------------------------------------------------------- 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 Eight| All the cadets turned to look at Chris. Somehow, Justin and Hope did not hear Chris' exclamation. Chris gaped at the familiar yet foreign look that his friend now bore. The weeks Justin (as well as JC, AJ, Lance and Brian, though Chris did not know about them) had spent with the Faerie had changed him. His face was cheerful but solemn at the same time. His eyes twinkled with laughter but he was cool and calm. He was graceful and elegant but yet retained a sense of hidden power. He reminded Chris of River, Rabbit and Hope, though it had been a long time since he had last seen the latter. He was a bit shocked to see Justin alive and well with Hope, the sam person who had abandoned them to die. He looked at Howie. Pain and fear was written all over Howie's face. Chris patted Howie's back in reassurance. Jason gripped Howie's hand a little tighter to lend him some encouragement. River and Rabbit were as calm and reserved as usual and they did not call out to their brother.
"Go for it, Howie," Jason encouraged Howie. "He should understand. Hopefully he will forgive you." He smiled his charming smile at Howie. Howie smiled back with his equally charming smile as he let go of Jason's hand and stood up to greet Justin and Hope. Chris got up with him and walked towards Justin as well. The other cadets went back to their conversations and their food.
"We should go and greet the friends of our friends," Jason said, his gaze always on Howie. He began to stand but Rabbit pulled him down. Her jet black eyes bore into Jason and she mouth the word no. Jason pouted a bit and sat again. Hercules glanced back at his moody friend. What's eating him? Hercules wondered.
Justin and Estel watched as the two familiar people walked up to greet them. Though they were familiar, Justin somehow could not seem to recognise them. It was not surprising, because their clothes were different. Chris' hair was cut very short and he had shaved his goatee. Howie's goatee had also been shaved off and his hair was long, reaching up to his shoulders. They both walked towards Justin with smiles on their faces.
"Ni sinta llie?" Justin asked politely, the smooth, beautiful words flowing like water from a calm river. Chris and Howie looked at each other blankly, and then back at Justin. River and Rabbit's sensitive hearing caught the words as they watched the confrontation. River stood up, followed by his sister, and headed to Hope and Justin.
"Ni sinta llie?" Justin asked again, puzzling the duo even more.
"He said 'Do I know you?'" River translated. "Vedui, beleg Megilindir, osta tel'Quendi."
"Vedui, toron en Estel," Justin replied, smiling. He tapped his fist to his heart and then on River's heart. He repeated the greeting to Rabbit, saying, "Vedui seler en Estel."
River and Rabbit repeated the greeting ritual and then smiled. Chris began to feel left out. He was surprised that Justin had not recognised him and was a bit angered because of that. He asked River and Rabbit for a translation on what had been said.
"River said 'Hello, mighy Bladesinger, protector of the Faerie.'," Rabbit translated for Chris and Howie.
"And he replied 'Hello, brother of Hope' and 'Hello, sister of Hope.'," River finished. He looked at Justin and asked, "Lle sinta melloneamin Chris ar'Howie?"
Justin's eyes widened at the names. "Chris? Howie? Amin n'sinta! Nae saian luume' ar'cormamin lindua ele lle!"
"Err...could you speak in a language that we DO understand?" Chris asked, raising his right hand as though asking a question of a teacher. Justin blushed a deep red and bit his bottom lip. He opened his mouth to speak. Weeks of not using any language other than Quenya had caused him to become a bit rusty with what the elves called 'human speech'. He managed to slur out, "I'm sor-ry, I didn't realise. It has been toooo long, and heart of mine...err...my heart sings with...what's the word?...please?...no...err...pleasure! That's it, pleasure."
Chris and Howie laughed at Justin's pitiful attempt to speak. "You obviously have not been speaking English at all since you've been away," Howie joked. Justin nodded his head in agreement, trying to focus his thoughts on remembering the language that he had not spoken for almost a month.
"AJ, Brian, JC, Lance and I did not quena...err...speak English at all in Caeranos," Justin explained. "If you were to meet them, you would not be able to understand them either."
"You were with Brian and AJ?" Howie asked in unison with Chris, except that Chris had said Lance and JC instead. Justin nodded his head.
While the three friends reunited, Estel looked at his siblings. He hugged them both and kissed them on their cheeks, the traditional elven greeting for siblings. They also returned the greeting. They did not have to ask each other about how they were, for Alegifu and Stile had been faithfully sending letters by owl to Estel and vice-versa.
"Have you heard from Gil yet?" Alegifu asked in Quenya, breaking from her brother's embrace. Estel shook his head.
"I haven't heard from him at all. He usually sends me a note or something every two months, and the usual delivery time came and went without a sign. Even if no one was in because of the celebration, the messenger would have waited. They usually do. Unless something happened," Estel said, his voice tinged in sadness. "It's just not like Gil to do domething like that."
"It must be hard, wondering and worrying about him like that," Stile said sympathetically. "I know how close you two are. You've always been close, ever since the 'accident'. I think I can understand how you feel. I miss Alessa everday."
"It's not the same," Estel said. "It's similar but not the same."
"Justin? Justin are you all right?" Chris said, waving his hand in front of Justin's face, breaking Justin trance.
"Mani? Manke?" Justin said, lapsing back into Quenya. He looked at Chris' concerned face. He pretended to not have heard the conversation of Estel and his siblings. Who is Gil? Justin wondered. Is that why Estel seems to take no notice of me, when he obviously knows that I like him? Justin let the miserable thoughts run through his head, ignoring Chris, who had resumed waving his hand in front of Justin's eyes.
Jason looked up from the table where he and his friends were seated. "I think it's safe to introduce ourselves now."
Hercules nodded, wondering why Jason was so rushed to greet friends of Howie's. Iolaus shook his head, his blond curls flying into Lilith's face.
"You guys can go ahead," Iolaus said. "I see a certain laydee that wants some attention from me."
Jason, Lilith and Hercules all rolled their eyes and said at the same time, "Good luck, Iolaus! Maybe she'll decide to be nice today and just hit you instead of killing you."
Iolaus pouted and walked off to talk to the cadet, who immediately turned and walked the other way when she saw him coming. The other three cadets walked up to greet the two newcomers. Howie turned and saw them coming. As Jason neared the group, he heard Howie say, "This is a friend of mine. His name is Jason." Am i just a friend? Jason thought, his face falling as he drew nearer. He noticed the eyes of the curly-haired human looking at him. He recognised the same pained expression that he had seen in his own eyes when he thought of Howie. And he noticed that the boy had also recognised the look in his own eyes. I've got to talk to him later, Jason thought. At least I'll know someone who can understand what I'm going through.
Lilith reached the group first. "Hi, my name is Lilith."
Estel's eyes opened wider and looked at her closely. "Have I seen you somewhere?"
"Not that I know of," Lilith replied, puzzled with the unexpected reply.
"You were with the Amazons, right?" Estel asked again. Lilith nodded, a small smile forming on her face. "I knew I saw you somewhere before."
"Hi, I'm Hercules," Hercules said, clasping Estel's wrist. Estel bowed and said, "And I am Hope."
"Hercules?" Justin asked, surprised. "Aren't you the son of Zeus?"
Estel, Alegifu and Stile turned to look at Justin in surprise. Hercules looked a little shocked but remembered that Howie and Chris had known who he was. He wondered why the elves were looking at him in such a strange manner. All of them had narrowed their eyes, glaring at him.
"What's wrong?" Hercules asked, suddenly fearful.
"You are the son of a Valar?" Estel said, spitting the word Valar. Hercules nodded cautiously, wondering what was in store.
"Did you two know about this?" Estel asked his siblings. Alegifu and Stile shook their heads in surprised denial.
"I take it you don't like the gods?" Hercules asked the obvious question.
"Gods?" Estel sneered. "The Valar are nothing but powerful tricksters. They were originally great beings sent by Eru to watch over his creations, but when they came down to the earth, they began to trick all the Peoples into worshipping them instead. When the Faerie refused, they created monstrous beings to attack our homeland Faery. They captured our friends and families and transformed them into creatures of ugliness and evil, perverting the Faerie. Thus the corrupted Dark Faerie came into origin."
Hercules took a step back. "Are you sure? Not all the Valar are evil."
"Not all," Alegifu said. "But they were still part of the whole thing. Those Valar who are not worshipped help people without their knowledge and without expecting payment. Those who are worshipped may not be evil, but are misguided."
"They hate the Faerie, though," Stile said. "We are the only species that are powerful enough to defeat them, and even destroy them, though it is not an easy task."
"I didn't know," Hercules said. "Are you going to kill me because I'm the son of a Valar?"
Estel carefully listened to Hercules' words before he spoke. "I take it you are not full Valar?" Hercules nodded. "My mother is human."
The expressions of the elves softened. Alegifu said with relief, "Then he is Maiar. He is not obligated to the Valar."
"What's that supposed to mean?" Lilith asked suspiciously.
"It means that he is powerful but is still mortal, and thus has a choice on whether or not to obey the Valar, just like all mortals do," Stile explained. Hercules, Jason and Lilith sighed with relief.
"By the way, what is a Bladesinger?" Chris asked, trying to change the awkward subject.
"Bladesinger's are one of the types of fighter-mages," Estel said. "We are the protectors of the Faerie, which is the name of our species. Cheiron is also from the Faerie. It is one of the highest ranks in the cities."
"And Justin's a Bladesinger?" Howie asked. Justin smiled proudly.
"Yes. His nomination was accepted by the Acting Leader and I was the representative chosen for the ceremony," Estel replied.
"Acting Leader?" Alegifu asked, concerned. "What happened to Graelynia?"
"She has disappeared and no one knows where she is," Estel replied grimly.
"How does one be nominated to be a Bladesinger?" Chris asked.
"Someone who is not a Bladesinger nominates someone who he thinks would be a good addition," Stile explained. "Graelynia decides whether or not to accept the nomination. If she does, a representative Bladesinger who has the closest relationship to the nominee becomes a representative to tell the nominee that he can be a Bladesinger. I will explain the rest of the ceremony next time."
"Except that Celandra decided this time, since Graelynia is missing," Estel said, causing a silence to fall upon the group.
"Now can we eat?" Justin asked, breaking the silence. "I'm getting very, very hungry."
The group headed back towards the table they had occupied. As Jason and Stile walked off to get food for Estel and Justin, the others made smalltalk. Jason and Stile soon returned to the table, carrying two bowls of some sort of stew or soup. Estel and Justin looked at the disgusting masses of brownish-yellow food, looked back at each other and pushed the bowls away, causing all the others to laugh at them.
"It can't taste as bad as it looks and smells, can it?" Justin asked, his face grimacing at the stench of the slop-like stew. The looks on the faces of his new friends, as well as old ones, helped him decide that the food was not worth eating. He sighed deeply, his hungry stomach growling with hunger. "What I wouldn't give to have even a small piece of lembas."
"I think I still have some of our travelling food left in my pack," Estel said. He reached into his backpack and drew out a small leather pouch. He opened it and poured it out into his hand. Small pieces of lembas, almonds, dried apples and mangoes, a very small slice of salted venison and a starfruit fell out onto Estel's palm, his small hand barely containing all of the food, especially the starfruit, which fell onto the table.
"That's all I have left," Estel said sadly. Justin brightened a bit and began to seperate the remains equally between Estel and himself. They finished their food quickly, though it was barely satisfying. After lunch, the two were shown around the academy and brought to their sleeping quarters. Justin began to fear the next day, which would be the day he and Estel started their training.
"Damn training," Joey groaned as one of the servants, a young woman with pure white hair, reminded the two men of their lessons with Brosrkorzg, a scro magician. They had been trained by the grumpy scro two days after they had found the castle, which was nearly two months ago. Joey sighed again. "Brosrkorzg works us too hard."
Nick did not agree with him. He eagerly grabbed the white silk robe given to him by Shareela and put in on to get ready for their lesson in magic with Brosrkorzg. Joey put on his own robe, which was the exact same colour as Nick's. The two strode out of their room, the magical robes keeping them warm in the freezing atmosphere. They walked down the ice corridor until they reached another door, also carved from ice, just like everything else in the entire place, except for the occasional stone statue. Outside the door stood two statues, one ice and the other stone. Both were of beautiful, slim but dangerous women with pointed ears. One of the women had a strange swords in her hands, the hilts of the swords having a sapphire each studded into them. They were the only parts of the statue that were not stone. She had leather-like sculptured armor around her and a very fragile-looking piece of thin stone that formed a cloak. The second statue was carved from ice and depicted a lightly armored female archer. The life-like statue was scarier since the arrow was nocked in the bow, ready to be released. Joey marveled at the workmanship of the sculptor and wondered why someone would have stuck an amethyst as an arrowhead, instead of just carving it. The earrings on the ice statue were also carved of ice, except for the rubies that hung from the short chain.
"I wonder who the sculptors are," Joey commented as he pushed open the door that led to their practice room. "I haven't seen anyone in this palace that has enough skill to carve something like this. They're all so clumsy."
"I don't really care," Nick said, walking through the now open door. "I don't bother looking at the statues. Not worth the time."
He walked into the room, not waiting for Joey. Joey reached out and touched one of the sapphires on the statue. A feeling of sadness washed over him, touching his heart and almost caused him to cry. He reached out with his left hand and touched the other sapphire. There was a bright flash of light that only he could see, and when it cleared, there was nothing but grass as far as the eye could see. A haze began to form in front of him and began to solidify, transforming into a perfect likeness of the statue. The only difference was that the person was real. The woman looked at him with sad black eyes. Her short black hair was tied in a bun at the back of her head. She lowered her weapons and placed them into their sheaths.
<Who are you?> she asked, her eyes seemed to bore into his soul.
"My name is Joey," Joey replied. He wondered if she had heard him. The woman nodded slowly.
<I am Graelynia,> she introduced herself. <How did you get here?>
"Where is this place?" Joey asked in response.
<This is my prison,> Graelynia replied. <My body is trapped as stone, and my conciousness is trapped in this place. Even though there are others like me, I am the only one in this place. It tortures the mind while trapping the body. As the statue erodes, my physical features will erode as the statue, until I am totally destroyed. The process is long and very painful. I can only hope that someone will restore me, or that the statue is shattered so that I may truly die.>
"Are all the other statues like this?" Joey asked. Graelynia nodded in response.
<You are a special person, good and powerful, the Chosen One> Graelynia complimented him. <Only the Chosen One in the prophecies can do this. It is said that he will give hope and encouragement, and eventually freedom to those like me.>
"I think they've got the wrong person," Joey said, suddenly fearful.
<I don't think so,> Graelynia said, a smile forming on her face. <You have already given me some hope and companionship, something which I will treasure. You will one day free us all, whether by restoration or by death, you will free us all.>
The vision suddenly faded away, leaving Joey awestruck. He found that he was no longer touching the statue and that Nick was standing in front of him.
"Not worth the time," Nick said, pushing the door open. He walked into the room where Brosrkorzg was waiting for them. Joey reached out and touched a sapphire of the statue. It twinkled a little, then faded and Joey thought he heard Graelynia's voice in his head saying, <Be brave, Chosen One. They way is hard but you will succeed.> Joey smiled to himself and walked into the room, closing the door behind him. He didn't see the sapphires on the swords glow a little, before they faded again. The statue seemed to smile. ------------------------------TO BE CONTINUED------------------------------ How was this one? It was a bit shorter than I wanted it to be, but I wanted to start on Kevin next on the next chapter. 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 Also, I want to start a website based on the characters for the story and I'm having a bit of problems with pictures for Estel and his family. I'm gonna take people (pop stars or actors) who fit the description of Lalaith, Estel, Stile, Alegifu, Nirnaeth and Larel(who will both become major characters later in the story). I would like some feedback on who you think should play the part. The descriptions of the siblings may be found in earlier chapters of the story but if you can't find them (or are too lazy to), email me and ask about them and I will describe them for you. Hope to hear from you guys soon! Ciao for now!