I looked into his beautiful blue eyes and knew that he was mine, and I was his.
Forever and ever.
Together while the very last star burned out, and past that.
I knew that without a doubt. As certain as the coming of dawn.
Love filled my heart, and with it, an unshakeable resolve.
Without another word, I grabbed his hand and pulled him into the Workshop.
No time to get dressed, and besides I would have had us both stripped naked when we arrived there anyway.
I dragged him urgently down, to the wine cellar, to the secret door, and to the Workshop behind it.
Immetly, I set out to work.
I clasped our hands together with a series of ribbons made of different materials, imbuing them with magical energy to enhance their divinatory properties.
Then I set them ablaze, melting them in alchemical acids, covering them in dust, and tossing them into the air to observe their patterns.
Before me were hastily constructed altars adorned with different idols and offerings, each representing a different aspect of the mystic arts. I chanted incantations in ancient tongues, calling forth the powers of the universe to reveal the true nature of the bond between us.
For an hour, I frantically delved into the arcane mysteries, performing a myriad of divination rituals, trying to discern the exact nature of our newly forged bond.
With a steady hand, I poured our mixed blood into a dozen different bowls filled with various substances, each with its own mystical significance.
Archer had watched me work with a fond, bemused expression, patiently submitting to my demands.
But after I stopped, he asked, "What have you found out?"
"Well, we are married," I said simply.
"It took you an hour of all this," he gestured towards the occult paraphernalia scattered around us, "to find out that we were married?"
"No. I knew the first time I looked into your eyes," I replied, feeling a bit offended. "And you should have known that too. No, what I wanted to understand was precisely what that means."
"That we are married?" Now he was just being obtuse.
"My family has examined over a hundred different kinds of supernatural bonds that could be defined as marriage."
He snorted.
"You have something to say?"
"Nothing…" He raised his palms in a peace offering.
"Unfortunately, there were no Eldar in that world. So, I thought about using fairies as the nearest analog."
"And how did that work?"
"Not at all. There was some slight resonance about true love, perhaps, but too faint to be conclusive. So, in the end, I just ran every test my family ever performed to determine the characteristics of this marriage."
"And you plan to tell me the results any time soon?" he added impatiently. I understood. He was neither particularly interested in the details nor could I share enough to properly explain.
"Well, our fates are linked in some way. Don't ask what exactly that means, since I don't know. We are also marked as married, for those who can see it. And by that, I mean all of the elves, and probably some spirits. Also, I'm not sure, but there seems to be some fidelity component here. I think that other elves would not find either of us sexually attractive anymore. If I'm reading this right, it's a similar mechanism that prevents attraction among close kin. So, not completely reliable. I found no mechanism for either communication or the transfer of energy between us. That was all. Most of the tests I ran were negative."
Archer nodded slowly, taking in the information. "So, what does this mean for us?"
"It means we are bound together in a way that can't be easily undone," I replied. "But I'm a little worried about that fidelity component. I don't like things that interfere with my free will. But I would like to visit the library for references."
"So, I just have to keep you satisfied so you won't stray," he said, smirking. That wasn't what I meant at all, and besides, he didn't have to sound so pleased. "I don't really have a problem with that."
With those words, he pulled me into an embrace and captured my mouth in a searing kiss. It ignited a flame that drove all frantic thoughts buzzing in my head into silence.
But all of them.
I ordered my slime familiar to engulf both our cocks and bind them together with its tendrils. His hands roamed all over my back before settling on my ass. I had returned the favor.
Each little movement rubbed our members together, and slime also constantly moved to add delicious friction.
When I could feel orgasm nearing, I grabbed his hair and pulled it. I quite liked his hair long. That broke our kiss and exposed his throat, and I began to nibble on it. He would have a nice hickey later.
The thought of marking him pushed me over the edge.
We came together. Slime drunk all that delicious cum.
I guess in the end we did have sex in the Workshop.
Usually, sex is a messy business, but thanks to my familiar, we were both completely clean afterward. That was an advantage to belonging to the established Magus lineage, spells do get perfected over generations.
I then turned my attention to a small but significant task. From my familiar, I carefully extracted a single drop of our commingled essence and let it fall into a waiting bowl.
"What are you doing now?" Archer asked stretching like a tomcat.
"Testing if sex had strengthened the marriage bond," I replied, watching the color change.
He moved behind me and began to work my shoulders. "Did it?"
"The test is negative," I replied, relaxing in his touch, then added, "But it may just problem of the increase being too small to measure. That is easily solved. I just need to increase the quantity of copulation. The more the better."
"I like the way you think."
But even after very rigorous testing, I had not managed to detect any growth in our bond.
Very rigorous testing.
After thoroughly exhausting this method of data gathering, it was time to move research in another direction.
As I began to dress, Archer's voice cut through the quiet. "Going somewhere?"
"Yes, to the library," I replied, thinking of the vast repository of knowledge at Elrond's house. "I need to delve into some local references about this. Do you want to come?"
"No, but let's have a meal together before you leave," he suggested, pulling on his pants.
"A meal? But..."
"Of course, you'll eat before you go," he insisted, interrupting me as he slipped a shirt over his naked torso. "I'll whip up something quick."
"There's really no need..."
"You will eat before you leave," he stated sternly, a firm tone that sent a new wave of warmth through me. "Is that understood?"
I nodded, conceding. A light meal wouldn't hurt, after all.
True to his word, it didn't take long for Archer to prepare and serve lunch. It was indeed light—a vegetable soup paired with a fresh salad.
It was delicious, as were all meals prepared by Archer. Becoming an Elf seemed to have only enhanced his culinary skills.
He was right; I did feel better with a full stomach. Although I didn't hold much hope for groundbreaking discoveries on this library visit, the journey was necessary. If nothing else, I would be able to add the information on Eldar marriage to the lore encoded in my Magic Crest.
I didn't encounter anyone on woodland paths between my home and Last Homely House. That wasn't unusual; there weren't that many people nowadays here in this hidden valley. And soon it would be even less.
Like the Mysteries, Eldar were fading from the world. The ancient race of Elves was facing the same fate as the Magi, dwindling in number and relevance in a world that no longer had a place for them.
Twice I had been caught in such a twilight existence.
But there were differences. Elves had accepted their fate. Magi had not.
In defiance, Magi had turned vicious and cruel. As their resources dwindled they turned on each other, like the rats in a too-small cage.
Yet there was hope. To reach beyond what was allotted to them.
In acceptance, Eldar had become melancholy. Lingering like a morning mist, and like it soon to be gone.
Yet there was haunting beauty in it.
As I walked through the forest, the sound of the nearby waterfall grew louder, its roar echoing through the trees and interrupting my thoughts. The path led me closer to the river's edge, and I could see the water cascading down the rocky cliffs in a dazzling display of mist and foam. It was a sight that never failed to leave me in awe, but one that I had seen many times before.
Still lost in my musings, I continued on the path, which grew steeper as I climbed higher.
Having experienced both I must say that I prefer defiance to acceptance.
It was purely a personal preference. I believed morally Eldar were in right, but then I made no great claim of being good.
Not Eldar had not attempted to defy their fate. What were the Rings of Power, that last desperate attempt to hold onto at least a portion of Middle Earth?
With the destruction of the Ruling Ring, all hope for us would be lost.
But what were the alternatives?
Not destroy One Ring?
To use it would just exacerbate the problem.
To hide it? Well the Dark Lord was winning. Unless the tide was somehow turned.
I needed to think more about it. But later.
As I passed the waterfall, I was nearing the gardens. As I got further from the noise and closer to the gardens, I could hear faint voices. It seemed that the gardens were not empty. Since both Elrond's and my house were on the same side of the river, I approached from the side gardens, rather than from the ford that led out of our hidden sanctuary.
It was the twins.
They appeared to be in the middle of an argument, but their disagreement was cut short as they noticed my approach. Well, it was their home, so I shouldn't be too surprised to find them there.
We exchanged quick greetings. And the one twin asked "Have you found Fano? Was your gift well-received?"
But then the other twin added slyly, "No need to ask brother. I think that we can see that went very well. Very well indeed. Perhaps a little too well. Rin, you really knew what you were doing when you chose that knife as a gift."
"Knife? I had forgotten about it." I replied. It was true. With all that happened, it completely slipped my mind. "After you left, I was no longer in the mood to work. I went back home, where Fano was waiting for me, immensely after you left."
"So the gift was you. Like something from a song.." But then he added with more concern, "But are you sure you both made the right decision? It is against custom to hurry so much.."
I forgot that. They could see that I was now married. It cast conversation in a new light. "But not against the law. I see no value in long engagements. We both knew what we wanted. Why waste time?"
So I was never best at admitting that events had deviated from my plans. Much better than admitting that I wasn't thinking about it.
"If you would not wait a year as it is custom, you could have a small window between announcing your intentions and consummation," one twin said.
"Yes, enough to organize a celebratory feast," and others added.
"We were in no mood to wait, and you know how much I love feasts. There were precedents. Eldar have married in exile or on the road." I said back.
It was a bit churlish and ungrateful towards one's House and kin to just elope... And there were not many of close kin, for either of us, to take into consideration.
I didn't know what to think about that. On one hand, it was easier. Especially if we were to leave this World too. Either by willing it or by accident.
After all, I still had little idea what had happened both times. Or was it three times? Because I remember two jumps, yet four worlds. Did this begin with Rin or had it predated him?
But how? With Rin, there was a simple explanation. Learning Sorcery was dangerous.
To return to the point. Rin had no close kin on this side of the Sea. Father met the mother in Gray Heaven as her family planned to leave. She alone stayed, yet it was not to be, for she grew ill after my birth. That was the reason we had moved to Imladris, for their renowned healers.
In the end, it was in vain. Even Elrond's legendary skill was not enough.
And he soon followed, lost to the grief. I guess I wasn't enough.
I did have more distant kin on this side of the sea. From father's side, for he was of royal descent. Like the twins, and their formidable grandmother. But many generations separated us from our shared ancestors. More on my side than theirs.
Fano's situation was even worse. He was the only survivor of an Orc attack on a Wandering Company when he was very young. Orcs had spared him for a moment for a worse fate. It was a great fortune that those rangers arrived before those dark designs could be enacted. Although he did always feel that was.
"But, you're not in exile," one twin commented, drawing me back from my musings, "Nor on road."
"Don't say anything brother, or he may run into one," the other twin joked.
"Exile is a state of being, not a place," I returned.
"Only you Rin, would think of going into exile in your own house," the second twin said.
"So what are you doing here? Shouldn't you be spending more time with Fano?" the first twin added.
"I am visiting the library," I said.
They looked at each other and nodded. "That would do," they said together.
Rin the Elf was as much a bookworm as me—one more point of him being just my projection on this world.
After that we talked some more, then I said goodbyes and continued to the library. I encountered a few more people on my journey, but no one was close enough for me to speak with them with more than a brief greeting.
The library was situated on the second floor of the southern wing.
It was a huge hall, built with two levels, housing books, artifacts, and scrolls. Fortunately, Elrond himself was not currently there. As a fellow bookworm, this was the place where he could most often be found. I was not in the mood to be scolded, no matter how gently.
Other scholars were milling about, and not all of them were Elves.
I left them to their work and started with my research.
There wasn't much to go on.
Definite work was Namna Finwe Miriello, the Statute of Finwe and Miriel.
That was a record of debate among the Vala about the first divorce. It was relevant for my research because in this debate many matters concerning the Eldar, their fate in Arda, and their death and rebirth, were examined. And especially what marriage was to Eldar.
Unlike with Edain, to whom that was a custom that could be modified depending on the society, certain facts of Eldar marriage were unchangeable.
I was not sure what to think about it. There was something about it that didn't sit well with me.
I also found a much shorter debate, about the first same-sex marriage. Where Vala debated whether it was part of Eru Ilúvatar's plan or the consequences of that Marring.
In the end, they decided either way that they had the right to try. And if it worked it should be treated like any other marriage among the Eldar.
The other books and scrolls didn't contain that much more than what I had already known about Elven marriages.
To summarise what I have found:
There was no 'till death would tear apart. Elves' marriage transcended both life and death. The only way one could be considered divorced was as if there was no chance to be together until the end of Ea.
Two, the marriage was exclusively between two people. No more.
Three, what I already experienced: Elves could sense in the voices or eyes of other Elves whenever he or she was married or single.
Four, the only thing really required for Elves to be married was sex.
The books said that also there was a need to invoke Manwë and Varda as witnesses to the marriage. But I had experimentally proven that seemed to be more custom than an absolute requirement.
Five, Elven marriages were of free will. Rape and forced marriage murdered all known Elven victims.
"Rin, just the Elf I have been looking for," a voice interrupted my research. The tone was gentle but chiding.
Elrond had found me. He looked a lot like his sons, or better to say his sons were alike to him. His age was impossible to discern from his face, except for his eyes which to me seemed ancient. And somewhat sad.
"Lord Elrond…" I started to speak, then stopped, not sure what to say.
"Your formality announces your guilt, kinsmen," he said, subtly accenting the last word. "I know that both of you are not fond of celebrations, but there are reasons for our customs. And where is your ring?"
"I am still in the process of making it?" Even in my own ears, it sounded like a poor excuse.
He sighed, closed his eyes, and rubbed his forehead ring under the silvery circlet he wore. "And what are you urgently researching?"
"Eldar marriage." I tried to sink deeper into my chair.
There was no point in trying to conceal what I was doing. But I could see how it looked. Well, I had no idea what conclusion the lord of Imladris and my elder kin, even if not very close one, was arriving at. But I was quite sure that they were not painting me in the best light.
"Wise of you, wiser still have you have done before the act," Elrond said gently and it was more cutting for it, "It your blood carries that fire. For good or ill, we shall see."
"It's not like I started war, or staged a rebellion," I defined myself.
"But great things often have small beginnings," he wisely replied. He sighed, sounding tired beyond measure. "Do as you will. You have broken no law. Rudeness is no crime. And besides, a minor scandal may do us good. We have grown a little too settled. But one more thing, you may make a ring you will give to Fano to wear, but one that you wear should be one he gives to you."
And with these words left, he mutters softly to himself. I couldn't hear what he said, but I had no doubt that it was about me. And maybe Archer.
After exhausting all resources I left this new bond and library alone and went home to focus on a new subject of research. I had done some of it before, when I had gotten access to new supernatural phenomena, by traveling to a new World.
But now I both had another date point, the magic inherent in yet another World, and well access to a well-equipped Workshop.
Unfortunately for the next few days, I was busy receiving numerous well-wishers. I now knew why people held wedding fests, instead of simply eloping. It was to deal with all this nonsense at once, instead of piecemeal.
But still, I had time to finish the kitchen knife. Few people bothered me in the forge. I had also started the work on a simple gold ring.
And once there was less interruption I turned my attention to what mattered.
Once I finished with preliminary work I dragged Archer again into my workshop. I know that was a breach of etiquette, but there were some results of my research that I needed to share with him.
There were several items laid out. I knife I made for him, I had it finally finished, a bowl filled with quicksilver, another in which I had put my familiar, a thin box with glowing crystals embedded in them, and one glowing rock.
"So here we have examples of, well let's call it magic for now, from three worlds. I think that magic is the most generic term for everything." I began my lecture, "First we have a recreation of supernatural phenomena, standard modern magecraft, and by that, I meant post Age of Gods magecraft, not Modern Magecraft as a separate discipline." I pointed at my familiar. "You should be familiar with it, so there is nothing more to say about it.
"Next is," I said gesturing towards the bowl filled with quicksilver, and the box " what I had suspected and now definitely confirmed is delegation of Authority, also known as thaumaturgy as practiced during the Age of Gods. That isn't a great surprise considering that that World was still in what we could term the Age of Gods."
"Like this one?" he asked, looking at the box.
"I don't think so," I replied. I wanted to explain what I had done with the box, but for now, I kept to the topic. "I am not sure this World had any true Age of Gods."
"What do you mean?" he asked, his brows furrowing in a very cute way.
I can guess why he was confused. The First Age and what predated it certainly sound like an Age of Gods from an outsider's perspective, but there were significant differences.
"Ainur are outsiders," I stated.
Of course, there was more to it as Greek Gods were alien spaceships in Worlds from where he came from, but then I had no natural way to explain that knowledge since it came from yet another world, in the form of a video game, and the level I which had yet to play.
So I skipped it. "Even if they were involved in the creation of Ea, they are not of it. Age of Gods is where a world is made of gods. The sky is a god, the earth is a god, or more common goddess. Or for example, remember the world we just came from."
"Must we?" He sighed. "I was not very fond of it?"
"Why?" I asked. "You did get to play the hero."
"I have outgrown that phase, and I am not someone who enjoys being among child soldiers."
"Still. That would be a good example. Even if that world seemed modern and there was, to our knowledge, no supernatural species save man, it was in what would be the term Age of Gods."
"I think I understand." He nodded. "But how was that World in the Age of Gods?"
"Because that God was omnipresent. So God was the World and the World was God. To reject God was to reject the World. Such existence could only be called a devil. In contrast, even if this world has both Elves and Dwarves and Dragons, the closest thing to gods does not make the substance, they just inhabit it. After all, Ulmo rules the waters but is not the water itself. In a way, Melko came closest by pouring essence into elements of Ea and trying to make it part of himself."
"So this is an example of magecraft from the Age of Gods?" he said tapping the box.
"Yes," I said smiling, "and as such, we can freely share our discoveries from it. But more important was that it's a delegation of Authority. Actually, if I am not wrong it is two Authorities, one individual and one we share."
"The elements, iron for me and quicksilver for you."
"Yes, and the other is harder to define. It is some subset of Creation or something like that. I suspected maybe this: In the beginning, was the Word, and the Word was with God, and the Word was God."
"I don't get what you meant by that."
"Sorry, I will try to explain it clearly. In essence, that skill we learned allows treating symbols as objects, and vice versa. For example, we could use alchemical symbols of Mars to create fire, or set radio to receive divine messages. In the sample, I made I used crystal as lightbulbs, repeated alchemical symbols of Jupiter as wires, pentagrams as logic gates, hexagrammic scheme as battery and solar panel, and made a counter."
"Solar panel and battery?"
"Yes, that was a bit complicated: Sun for power source, Saturn for harvest. Jupiter for power and Pluto for accumulation. With few other things to properly stabilize it. It's carved on the other side. Feel free to examine it."
"So you have managed to reinvent electricity." He said after turning the box around and examining the carvings on the other side.
"I guess so. I mean if I was really doing that I would use river power, or sheets of obsidian to make a better panel. They're also not the best accumulators, I would connect them to better ones. But remember this delegation of Authority, so it can only be made by those blessed by that particular god. In this World just you and me."
"I see. And our new innate abilities?"
"You mean the Eldar's ability to infuse their creation with spiritual aspects or the deep lore?"
"Either. I suppose they are direct use of Mystery rather than recreation?"
"No. The closest I can compare them is science. Or in application technology."
"What!?"
"It surprised me too."
"How?"
"Well, they both depend on natural laws to work. Require no invocation of external power, no blessings. The knowledge can be freely shared. Remember here are two planes of existence, Seen and Unseen. One of matter and energy, another of spirit. But both of them are natural parts of the world, subject to natural laws. So Eldar, who knows the proper lore, can manipulate Seen using the Unseen. "
"So weird dimensional science?"
"Yes. Do you want to learn deep lore?"
"No. I am not very interested in that. So you made this knife for experiments?"
Well, I originally made it as a gift to him, but then I decided to use it for experiments first. "You can have it. I am done with it. It should need neither sharpening nor cleaning."
"Thanks." he said, "Can I have the box too?"
"No problem. I have further use for it. It was just proof of concept. It will count to ten and then restart from the beginning. Now, I have found one interesting side effect. Have you tried to summon your element?"
"Sword?"
"Not that one. I meant one that you were granted power over in the last World we visited. Iron."
"No, I really didn't need any iron, since we arrived in Imladris."
"If you did you would have noticed. Summoning element counts as creation, which in retrospect was obvious considering the source. So naturally, we can enchant it during creation. Since the process is rather quick, the alterations we make should be simple. The problem I found was that I knew no Eldar craft that worked with quicksilver. Most work conserving liquids was about drinks, which would be a total waste to apply to something so poisonous. So I used enchantment for shaping glass, which gave some unexpected results."
And then I poked the mercury within the bawl. First, there were ripples and then liquid metal began to flow shaping itself into a small metallic tree.
"Pretty," he said.
"But mostly useless," I replied, poking the small metal tree. It dropped back into liquid, "But that mostly means that I need more work on mercury. Maybe increase reflection or add weapon enchantment. You are lucky. Iron is pretty well documented."
"But I don't know any of them. You are a smith in this World and not me."
"Well, I could teach you. I have an idea. Just go to my smithy and try to add my hammer to your Reality Marble."
"Will it work?"
"Worth a try. But to return to the point I was trying to make, of all this only magic belonging to this World should work."
"Didn't you say it was just weird science?"
"You know what I meant. Both versions of magecraft depend on foreign support, whether it is the existence of a particular god or a spell carved on a foundation. Neither which is present in this world."
"So it isn't like this is a new discovery? We were both able to use magecraft in the previous World."
"Once may be an anomaly. Two is the beginning of a pattern."
"There is something else. I had not been completely idle. There is something else, but you dragged me here before I could pick them up. Wait a moment." And with that, he left.
He was soon back bringing with him five objects.
Two swords, a bow, a full set of elven armor, and a cloak.
I remember making those swords. They were the proof of my successful learning of the secret of the forge. I had been so proud then. Those twin blades were the first true success Rin had in forging weapons. One he kept for himself and the other he gave to Fano.
The armor was inherited from my father in this world. He left behind when traveled west.
The cloak was a gift from the twins. They brought it from one of their visits to Lorien.
The bow was new to me.
"Look deeper. Remember the radios," he said as examined the object he had brought.
And then I saw it.
Like before. One object was superimposed over another.
My sword was also a device I made to try to find weak points in dimensional walls.
His sword didn't have one, but two objects merged with it—a familiar practice blade, and that weird angel plushy.
The bow was also a radio.
Within the armor was both the soft blanket and the sinister tome.
And my cloak held with it both radio and my amulet.
"Interesting," I said looking them over, "It seems that objects belonging to me had merged with others that are also mine. And the same situation with the ones that are yours. Nice work finding them."
He nodded and then added, "I have found the swords first. And then I looked for others. Besides what I have brought there was nothing else. How does that fit your theories?"
"Perhaps it's debris caught in our wake as we transfer to another World?"
"Huh," he grunted.
I could agree. That explanation was weak.
"There is another anomaly," I said, pulling the modern key from my pocket, "I really want to find out what this key unlocks."
Two happened almost simultaneously as in an answer to my requests. One, Archer's eyes widened in surprise, and two I could feel a disturbance behind me.
"That is something behind me, right."
He just nodded.
I turned and saw something I didn't expect to see in Arda. A rectangular structure made of wood and painted in a distinctive shade of blue. It was roughly the size of a telephone booth and had a hinged door that swung outward. On the door was a round sign with the words "Police Public Call Box" written in bold white letters.
To be precise, an old-style British police box.