IC inbox (Drift Fleet)

[bythewaves]

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[bythewaves]

But it was my fault. [ Maglor says softly ] I know how my family works, Sorey. It was my suggestion - and I could have talked Maedhros out of it, if I wanted. That is my role, Sorey - I am his eyes and ears, but also his conscience. And whether or not Maedhros wants it, he has Father's ability to command, and neither Fingon nor Grandfather have the will to want to oppose him.

[monolike]

[Sorey's brow furrows. There's some kind of disconnect here that he's missing, he knows it.] Maglor...the way you talk about your family, it kind of sounds like you guys are all parts of the same soul. Like you're not completely separate beings.

[bythewaves]

[ Maglor blinks and then shakes his head ]

It was not my intent to give that impression! But we are... very close, Sorey. Too close, perhaps - but our family was always a little... strange. Maedhros and I fought together for hundreds of years, long after we were all that we had left...we... the way we were, at the end... Sorey, we were utterly dependent on each other, and very wrong for each other, but by then there was no one to tell us no. We have not... learnt how to untangle ourselves, yet.

Fingon and Grandfather... both of them hold much guilt for the way they died, although neither could help it. But their deaths... hurt Maedhros and I, and they both know it, how their deaths changed the course that we might have taken. In some ways, they both blame themselves. They will not gainsay us, even when they should.

[ Softly, almost to himself ] Finrod and Turgon were wise to leave, I think, although it did not save them, in the end. But Galadriel escaped, and that is something, at least.

[monolike]

[Oof. That sounds like fifteen tons of issues to unpack with a two-ounce spoon, but Sorey doesn't think he's even halfway near qualified to help out with that. Especially since Maglor's already aware of it and isn't exactly asking for his help.]

...if you like, I can explain what you've told me to Mikleo and it might help him understand, though he'd probably appreciate it more if he heard it from one of you.

[bythewaves]

[ He is the most crazy, sorry Sorey! ]

I... I do not know how to talk to him. [ Maglor admits ] I seem to only make him more angry.

[monolike]

Okay. I'll do my best.

-I really do think you all should stay, though. If you were that worried about Sora and the rest of us, being on a different ship if this happens again will just make you even more worried.

[bythewaves]

True.

[ Maglor sighs softly ]

Your counsel is wise, and I suppose if you think it will not hurt, I will stay. Thank you, Sorey.

[monolike]

Mmm. [Sorey nods, a quick bow of his head.] Thanks for explaining your reasoning to me.

[bythewaves]

No, thank you for listening. [ Maglor shakes his head ]

Your world is very fortunate to have you.

[monolike]

I don't know if I'm that important, but thanks for the compliment. [Sorey stands and rests a hand on Maglor's shoulder.] Don't worry too much about Mikleo. And...I hope that you and your family can find some semblance of peace here.

[bythewaves]

Every life is, in their own way. [ Maglor hums softly, startling at the touch although he does not pull away ]

But a light so bright as yours, a soul so generous - that is rare, and precious. Thank you very much, Sorey. You really do remind me of Master Frodo.

[monolike]

[oh my god stop]

Is this Master Frodo a friend of yours?

[bythewaves]

[ He but speaks the truth! ]

No - but all who live in my time know his name, for he was the saviour of us all.

[monolike]

Oh wow, he sounds really important. Is he an elf too? [Maybe some other kind of king? Or like, a religious leader, since he's a savior?]

[bythewaves]

He is. [ Maglor says, and shakes his head with a soft laugh ]

Oh no! Master Frodo is a hobbit - a halfling, we would say, for they stand no taller than about half my height. He would insist he did nothing special, but Master Samwise and he, they carried the Enemy's Ring right into his lands, under his very nose, and destroyed it there where it was made, in the only place that could unmake all the enchantments laid upon it. And is so doing they robbed the Enemy of all his power and unmade HIM as well.

[monolike]

That's-

Do you mean the same enemy you and your family were fighting against all those years? He got right of that same enemy? [Because if that's so, then it means Maglor has a peaceful home to return to, and not the horrendous mess Sorey was afraid of.]

[bythewaves]

Not quite. [ Maglor shakes his head ]

Sauron was Morgoth's lieutenant, so you can think of him as a shadow, an echo, a reflection of his Master. He was cleverer, by far - a schemer, and a lier. But Morgoth was by far the more powerful, and more brutal. Sauron is gone, and I think it will be many Ages of the world before he rises again, and Morgoth the same, but they are both Ainur - beings a bit like Sorey, I think? They cannot be slain, for they are a part of the very fabric of the world itself.

[ Softly ] Indeed, the wise have long theorised that Morgoth so inefected our world that the only way to truly defeat him would be to destroy the world itself...

[monolike]

[Sorey isn't sure if he specifically is all as important as Maglor claims, but he does know about the Shepherd legend, as well as the Lord of Calamity. Beings that always seem to rise again in history in pairs.]

...that sounds like malevolence.

[Sorey sinks down onto his seat, elbows on his knees.] Our world's lost a lot of its written history, but malevolence has been around for as long as even the oldest seraphim can remember. Maybe that's like our Morgoth; a sickness of the world that can only ever be treated, but never cured.

[bythewaves]

[ Maglor thinks so, so there ]

Maybe. [ he says softly, sadness threaded with steel ] My folk call it the Long Defeat, and yet we oppose it at every turn. No reason to give it more a foothold than it has already.

[monolike]

Maybe someday in the future, they'll have Morgoth contained. [Sorey shifts his weight.] ...I don't know if it means much to you, since I can only speak as a human being, but in my world the Shepherd legend is about people who take up the title again and again against the fight of darkness. It's never completely defeated, but there are times of peace.

I think maybe those moments of peace are worth the fighting, even if sometimes the battle seems endless.

[bythewaves]

Oh, he is - at least, as much as is possible. The Powers of the World threw him out beyond the Doors of Night at the end of the First Age. He can no longer actively influence our world. But his poison runs deep, for he was one of our world's builders, you see.

[ A smile ]

Good. That is good. And you are correct - on such foundations is Hope founded, that day will always follow night.

[monolike]

[This might be a good opportunity to try and explain it in a relatable way, okay,] Malevolence is like that too. It's intrinsic to the structure of our world, but it's completely toxic. ...that's why Mikleo and I were so against the branding. Things like that invite poison, where we're from. We've seen it happen here, too.

Do you see what I'm saying?

[bythewaves]

Like the way Shadow lingers. [ Maglor murmurs softly ]

I see. That is why you were worried? Is that what happened? [ That time on the planet ] Did we hurt you?

[monolike]

[What happened on the planet is such a complicated mess that Sorey is still trying to sort it out himself, but...] I...think so, maybe. Not because we felt dismissed or disrespected- well, no, Mikleo feels that way, but for me it was more like...

[Sorey folds his arms and frowns thoughtfully. How to put this...] Back home, and here too, I've sworn to do everything I can to prevent these things from happening. I'm...not on particularly steady ground after what I did and my inability to convince you or your family feels like a huge failure on my part.

Ah- [Holds out a hand,] not that that's your problem, I'm not looking for an apology. I'm just trying to make my feelings clear.

[bythewaves]

You could not help it. [ Maglor says gently ] That is what I was told. I am sorry that you feel so - please do not! We are old, and more than a little mad, maybe, and very set in our ways. You could have commanded us, and I might have yielded, but we have been lords and kings and we do not yield easily to others. That is not your fault, but ours, and I am sorry that we have hurt you so.