A/N Sorry I really haven’t been able to reply to my reviewers lately. I love you guys, please keep Reviewing and I will try to get back to you soon. Many thanks to slayer9649 for beta-ing. ~*// flashbacks//*~

Chapter 6
Elladan POV

The Loss of Paradise

I lean against the wall of the long hallway catching my breath. My lungs refuse to inhale for what seems like hours, but is only a few moments. As I look back, I realize I have not even walked very far. The white door still stands luminescent against the onslaught of black that I enter.

I can’t believe that I almost assumed that I was free. The repetition of the voice calling my name is still engraved in my soul. I will never forget its strong timbre. That voice held power. I almost lost my life to the lies that I was feeding myself. I realize now that what I want is not in the Halls of Mandos.

~*// I feel the wind caress my face and the gulls cry as they fly across the sky. Rainbows cover the sky in their blinding array of colors. There are elves singing and dancing in all their glory. I know I am home. This is where I want to remain forever. A butterfly lands on my nose and I start to giggle as its wings flap, tickling my nose.

“This is paradise brother!” I say. “Isn’t it wonderful?” I can’t help but to spin in circles as I did when I was a child. ‘Ro and I used to have spinning contests when we were younger. Elrohir is smiling and I think that he is remembering those times.

Elrohir suddenly ruins my mood by saying that because this place is absent of our family, that it is not paradise. This is perfect! I can’t understand why he thinks that we need them to live in harmony. //*~

I was so angry at Elrohir for abandoning me after he entered the Halls with me. I never thought that my brother and I *could* chose different destinies. I was so devastated. I don’t ever want to feel like that. If we ever have to choose our future like Ada did, I promise that I will choose with my brother. We were meant to remain together forever.

I long for my brother. I now see what he has been seeing all along. It’s making me sick. The walls scream with the agony of Middle Earth. The noise is deafening. It seems ironic that I am walking towards the darkness and not towards the light. This tunnel is making me claustrophobic. Oh Valar, help me!

Elrohir, I need you! Please come help me, Elrohir! My knees give out and I fall to the crimson floor.

~*// “I don’t care what you want, Elrohir! This is my choice whether you choose to remain with me or not!” I say.

“Brother, you don’t mean that! You love me. You need me and you’ll realize that before the end of this journey. Good bye, brother”

In a whirlwind of color Elrohir leaves the Halls of Mandos and I am left all alone.

“Elrohir! Wait!” I cry. I never thought he would actually leave! //*~

“Elrohir!” I cry. Suddenly I see very familiar boots in front of my face. I look up to see my twin staring down at me. Oh, Elrohir, I’m sorry.

“Elrohir,” I breathe lightly, “I’m so sorry, brother. I need help.” My eyes are bloodshot, and I can’t seem to get up. Elrohir embraces me saying that he will always be there when I need help. I feel ashamed that I have to rely on my brother. He doesn’t seem to understand that as a developing warrior, independence is required. However, as a twin, it makes me feel safe to be in his embrace.

“Elladan, we must leave.”

“Okay, ‘Ro.” We both get up and walk hand in hand down the long hallway.

~*// “Elrohir!” My cries are swept away by the wind. Cursed wind! I still feel a connection with him, but my pleas are not sent. The wind grasps my desperate calls and strangles them. I begin to doubt how like paradise this place is, surely if it is ignoring my needs, it is not all it is said to be.

I move forward and try to catch a few of the sparkles left over from when Elrohir disappeared. It might be all I have left of my brother to hold on to. I take a small vial that is on a chain from around my neck. It holds medicine; Father always says to have some handy. I empty the vial and capture the rainbow mist. I then put the chain back around my neck, the safest place that I have. The mist disappears as if it was waiting for me to do that. I feel a tear slide down my cheek, but I wipe it away quickly. I can’t be seen crying!

I turn around quickly to admire my new home. I am not blessed with the beautiful scene of butterflies, dancing elves, and rainbows. Instead in front of me there is a blindingly white figure, staring down at me and in the background, only black. //*~

The light has officially disappeared and I can’t see my twin who is right next to me. The candles ran out awhile ago. I can feel him hyperventilating slightly. He hates the dark almost as much as I hate small places. We can only get through this together. Our hands are still clenched together, sweating slightly, but entwined. I know that we can get through this.

I need to find a light for my brother. He hates this dark, he is uncertain about our progression and it scares him. There has to be something that produces light. I should’ve grabbed one of the candles from before, but it’s too late now. I know! The vial, the rainbow mist, that will give Elrohir at least enough light to relax slightly.

I pull out the vial, and indeed it does produce a miniscule amount of light, but it is enough. Elrohir looks into my eyes. I smile at him and he mouths a thank you. He is about to ask me where I got the mist, but I shake my head. I’d rather keep this secret to myself. Maybe when we are older I will explain to Elrohir about the mist.

After what seems like forever, we make it to a light. When we get closer, I realize that it is coming from the ceiling and that we are required to climb a ladder to get there. Great! Elrohir is more than a little frightened of heights. His face grows pale as he also realizes what we need to do.

“I skipped this when I came here earlier,” he says. He lets out a big sigh before grasping the edges and taking the first step up. I follow soon after. When we are almost at the top I look down to see how far we’ve climbed. A white figure stands at the bottom, supporting the ladder. He gives me a nod and I continue up the ladder with a smile.

~*// “Mandos!” I say surprised. Mandos shrinks to my size so that we are eye level to each other. He looks at me in despair. I don’t understand why. His blue eyes burn into mine.

I suddenly am forced to relieve my memories. Elrohir and I as Elflings, we were being thrown into the air by Glorfindel and Adar. Our first reading lesson in Westron. Elrohir’s first injury, a paper cut. And many other memories. After painfully relieving what I am being forced to lose, Mandos lets my mind free and I no longer see the happy times.

I shunned myself from those future memories that could’ve been just as pleasant. A tear falls again, but this time I can’t brush it away. It is followed by many others, which turns into sobs.

“Young one, do you want another chance?” Mandos says to me, his voice over-powering. My eyes light up. There is a slight chance, a small hope, that I can return! I nod my head vigorously.

“Then go, child! Your family awaits you!” he says. He leads me to a passageway under a rock. He tells me that through there I can re-enter the world. I now realize that the white door where I entered has disappeared.

“You can enter, but not exit through that door,” Mandos says to me reading my mind.

“How come Elrohir was able to leave so quickly?”

“He for one, was being revived by your father, who has skill in calling people back. He also wanted badly to return and he quickly changed his mind about this place.”

“Why can’t I leave that quickly?”

“Full of questions, aren’t we, young Elladan! You have been exposed too long to the Room of Waiting. You need to exit physically, rather than mentally as your brother did.”

“Room? That wasn’t the Halls?” I ask. He looks at me surprised.

“You didn’t think that that was the Halls, did you?” I smile sheepishly.

He sighs before saying, “The Room of Waiting is a sort of “dock” to the halls. It’s still death, but it’s for easier passing to the Halls. The Room of Waiting takes the form of what the subject wants most. But it can’t take the shape of any creature in particular. Which is another reason why, when your brother knew that paradise was where your family was, he was able to exit quickly.

I thank him and enter the small tunnel. Claustrophobia sets in and I shakily crawl toward the corridor that I was trapped in for so long. In the distance I hear, “You will be in the same place you entered.” Sure enough I surfaced right at the white door. //*~

End of section 6. There should be about one or two more stories and this series will be completed. Thanks to everyone that had read and/or reviewed this.