Meridias

  When Alicia got to school it was 9:13 am. She went to her locker and got the books that she’d need for her classes today and then sat down in front of it. Moments later her friend Stephanie showed up and sat down next to her. “Hey, Steph!” Alicia said happily. Stephanie’s blue eyes glowed warmly. “Hey, Alicia! Are you ready for finals next week?”

  “Yeah, I’ve been studying pretty much all week. I can’t wait until next week is over,” Alicia said half-heartedly. She was glad that the school year was almost over but at the same time she wished that she’d have more time to get up the nerve to talk to Elunduil. Stephanie picked up on Alicia’s unenthusiastic tone. “Wow usually you’re more excited about summer. I’m guessing that it’s because of Elunduil, isn’t it?” Stephanie asked. Alicia sighed and nodded. Her friend stared at her thoughtfully for a few moments while she played with her short brown hair. She then had a stroke of inspiration. “I know, you should ask Elunduil to study with you!” Alicia looked at Stephanie excitedly as the idea sunk in. “That’s a great idea!” She checked the time and saw that it was nearly 9:18. “I could go ask him right now. He should still be in the library,” she said. Stephanie got to her feet. “You should definitely ask him now! If you don’t hurry he’ll disappear.” Alicia chuckled and got to her feet. Elunduil did have the tendency to not be where you expected him to be.

  The duo went down the main hall towards the library. They were slowed down because there was a large amount of people moving through the halls. It was close to the time that the first bell would ring to warn people to get to class. When they got to the library Alicia and Stephanie stood near the entry way and scanned the computers for Elunduil. They spotted Tanis and Tim on the far side of the room but Elunduil was nowhere to be seen. Alica let out a disappointed sigh. “He must’ve headed to band. We should’ve passed him on the way here,” Stephanie said. This was part of Elunduil’s famous disappearing act. No one was sure how he did but he seemed to be able to navigate through the halls without anyone noticing. If you were already following him then you wouldn’t lose him in the crowd. Maybe. The first bell rung through the speaker system and everyone in the library began leave to go to their classes. “I guess I’ll talk to him after band,” Alicia said and the pair left the library and headed to the band room.

  Once in the band room Alicia spotted Elunduil already sitting with some of his fellow trumpet players. He spotted them and waved causing Alicia to blush. She weakly waved back and Stephanie laughed at her friend’s embarrassment. Alicia and Stephanie got their instruments and went to their separate sections. Stephanie played the clarinet and Alicia played the flute. Today they were taking the instrument part of their final since they’d just finished their final concert for the year earlier this week. Everyone would take turns going into rooms just outside the band room to record their playing. Next week they would be taking a test on music terminology.

  While they waited Alicia thought about what she would say to Elunduil after class. She knew it was just a simple question but the thought of asking it made her extremely nervous. She would’ve talked to Elunduil right now but he was two rows behind her and she was afraid to ask him the question out in the open. Her turn to play came and she gladly went out into the hall and into one of the recording rooms. A couple minutes later she came out and was relatively confident about her performance. She passed by Elunduil in the hall as she went back to the band room. “Good luck!” she said shyly and heard Elunduil go, “heh.” She put her instrument back into its case and waited patiently as everyone else finished their recordings.

  Soon everyone was done and they had to wait for the bell to ring before they could leave. Alicia looked over her shoulder to make sure that Elunduil was still there. It was a silly action but considering how quickly he could vanish made her check just to be sure. She was right to look since Elunduil had moved to sit in the back row where he was talking with some classmates. The bell rang and everyone moved to pile out of the band room. In the time that it took Alicia to get up Elunduil had already made it to the door. She tried to call out his name but for some reason the words wouldn’t come out and then he was gone. Stephanie came over and said, “Wow he moves quickly. You just can’t seem to get to him in time today.” Alicia weakly agreed and kept the fact that she’d faltered to herself. They went their separate ways as they headed to their next classes.

  In her next class Alicia tapped nervously on her desk when she wasn’t jotting down notes on questions that they’d probably see on their finals. When the bell rang she hurried out of the room and to the cafeteria even though she knew that there was no way that Elunduil could eat his food before she got there and vanish to the library. When she got to the cafeteria she quickly spotted Elunduil and let out a sigh of relief. Good he’d only just started eating. Alicia stood there for a moment as she stared at him from afar. He was laughing and talking with people that a month ago he’d normally never interact with so directly.

  One month ago... that was when Elunduil had suddenly disappeared during the middle of the school day. No one had realized that he was missing until later that night when it was reported on the news. The next day Alicia met with two of Elunduil’s friends, Tanis and Tim, and they talked about what had happened. Tim then had the idea that they should go looking for Elunduil themselves and mentioned a promising lead that he’d heard earlier that morning. Little did she and Tanis know that Tim really did know, or at the very least suspected where Elunduil had gone. The group met up after school and following Tim’s directions they came across a strange building in the forest by Mt. Hood. While Alicia and Tanis had checked the area around the building Tim had opened the door and gone inside.

  When she and Tanis found the open door, they investigated. They found, to their amazement, a portal machine. Guessing that Tim had gone through the portal, the two decided to step through and were amazed at the world on the other side. They were surrounded by huge trees every direction they looked that had to be more than 100 feet tall. The portal disappeared leaving them no option but to venture through this forest and hopefully find Tim. Hours later they reached the edge of the forest and spotted a city across the plains. They would have gone to it but a floating bus shot past them causing them to look back which led them to discover a closer town, Ellicia. When they’d arrived at Ellicia they were greeted by an elf and he took them to see Tim who apparently was known to the elves. They found Tim and were reunited with Elunduil who had been fighting the black knights that constantly attacked the elves.

  They learned that Elunduil could use magic and that he’d come here to help the elves deal with the Knights of Ragnarok. The next day Alicia helped Mr. Elden and his adopted daughter Cerra, an elf, in making repairs to the damaged buildings. The black knights attacked and she, Cerra, and several other elves were captured and taken to Ragnarok. Alicia ended up meeting the Leader and talking with him briefly. She was imprisoned for about a day and a half. She heard from the others that Elunduil and Tim snuck into Ragnarok with the hope of rescuing her and the others but were discovered and forced into a bizarre tunnel called the Internet; a place that was influenced by the thoughts of those who entered it. They brought a man called Scott Howard with them who had been acting as an informant to the elves but had been found helping Tim and Elunduil. He brought back news that Ragnarok’s laser cannon was all but complete and ready to destroy Ellicia.

  The elves had then gathered their warriors and marched against Ragnarok while Elunduil and Tanis went with a smaller group of elves to sneak into the city and stop the laser before it fired. Tanis split from the group and went to the main battle to help Tim and the two managed to turn the tide of the battle. Elunduil got separated from his group of elves and went to the top of the tower alone where he fought and defeated the Leader in a desperate battle. He reached the weapon and with help from the Sword of Time he managed to destroy it. He should’ve died from the blast but somehow a desperate attempt to save himself resulted in a human-shaped being named Ar
k appearing and saving him from the inferno. Alicia and the others had thought Elunduil had perished until he and Ark showed up moments later. She’d been so relieved that he was alive that she’d actually hugged him briefly. After that they’d returned to Mr. Elden’s home in Ellicia and rested before returning to their world where they found out that Meridias was actually a virtual reality and that the portal had been a gimmick. The black knights had merely been programs that had somehow appeared in the world. Mr. Elden just needed someone capable of dealing with them so that the world was safe when the game was made public.

  Alicia had been a bit disappointed that the world wasn’t real but was also amazed because it had seemed so real. All the people they’d met had personalities of their own and interacted with them just like any other person would. Elunduil had also changed after being in Meridias. He wasn’t any more socially inclined than before but he seemed to be more at ease speaking his mind to other people. It was nice because she could hang out with Elunduil and he’d treat her like he would any other friend. She was also able to learn quite a bit about him through their interactions. Tanis had won a DVD player so during lunch she’d find him, Elunduil, Tim, and Joel playing against each other in a popular fighting game. Tanis tended to be aggressive and take a lot of risks while Elunduil was more defensive and analyzed and exploited his opponent’s openings. Tim was the balanced one of the group and Joel... tended to be the first to die. He wasn’t as good as the others at the game but seemed to enjoy it despite that.

  Elunduil was actually talking to Joel at the moment and looked up when Tanis came to the table. Alicia let out a chuckle when Elunduil offered Tanis some of his fries. Elunduil was always pretty nice like that. Except when she’d played against him once in the game. He didn’t go easy on her but neither did he really do anything other than pelt her from afar. Only when she tried to attack him would he counterattack with everything in his arsenal. Her thoughts were interrupted as her turn to get food arrived. She got what she wanted and paid the person behind the counter then went over to sit by Elunduil and the others.

  “Hey,” she said as she sat down next to Elunduil. He returned the greeting and returned to his conversation. “-that’s when the garden gnomes attack!” he said in response to whatever the others were talking about. This elicited a few chuckles and Elunduil turned to Alicia. “What’s up?” he asked. Alicia was about to respond when she noticed that Joel’s eyes were bulging out of his sockets as he stared intensely at a cookie the size of a plate. “What’s up with him?” she asked and Elunduil looked over at Joel then chuckled. “Oh, this is great! Look away for about two seconds and then look back.” Alicia didn’t understand why she had to look away but she did, counted to two, and then looked back. She let out a gasp when she realized that the cookie had disappeared and Joel’s hands and face were littered with cookie crumbs. “How did he?” she stammered in amazement. Elunduil chuckled at her surprise and said, “It’s kind of his thing. He can devour just about any cookie in moments. Though it should be noted that you probably shouldn’t be anywhere near him if you have a cookie yourself. He can somehow smell it.”

  Alicia made a mental note about Joel’s quirk and would’ve asked Elunduil her question but found herself quite nervous and decided to eat her food instead. She noticed that Tim was also at the table and guessed that he must’ve gotten here just before she did. Elunduil chatted with his friends some more while he ate. Soon enough he was done and Joel said, “To the library!” Afraid that she wouldn’t get another chance to talk with Elunduil she tried to take a breath to speak but ended up breathing in the milk she was drinking. “You okay there?” she looked up and saw Elunduil looking at her with an expression of amusement and mild concern in his eyes. “Uh, yeah.” Alicia coughed a few times to clear her lungs.

  “Come, Elunduil!” Joel called. Alicia watched Elunduil as he looked to his friends who were waiting. For a moment she was afraid that he was going to leave but was surprised when he said, “I’ll catch up!” He waved his friends away and sat back down. Alicia let out a quiet sigh of relief. “You’re staying here with me?” she asked coyly. He shrugged and in a playfully mocking tone said, “Someone has to keep you from drowning yourself in milk.” His eyes looked amused and Alicia laughed embarrassedly and felt her face turning red. She distracted herself by returning to eating. She felt glad that Elunduil had been concerned about her.

  “Uh, Elunduil?” she asked.

  “Hmm?”

  “Um, do you want to, you know, maybe study for finals today after school?” Elunduil’s gaze was unreadable as Alicia stared into his eyes. She could feel her heart pounding in her chest. He tilted his head to one side. “Sure, why not?” he answered. Alicia was ecstatic. She’d been worried that he’d say no. “Of course you’ll have to come over to my house since I’m still under house arrest.” He rolled his eyes. Alicia felt sorry for him. His mom had basically grounded him until the end of the school year because she was afraid that he’d get kidnapped again. “All right. We’ll meet by the buses after school then!” she said and Elunduil nodded. Her heart was still pounding as they parted ways outside the cafeteria a few moments later when. She still couldn’t believe that she was really going to his house later and hurried to tell her friends.

  A couple hours later Alicia was tapping nervously on her desk. She kept checking the time and agonized at how long the last few minutes had seemed and that the closer it got to three the more time seemed to slow down. She swore that the minute hand had been stuck at one minute before three for the past ten minutes and was starting to get worried. Finally the bell rang and Alicia all but ran out of her class. She paused for a moment as she realized that she’d pulled one of Elunduil’s disappearing tricks and chuckled to herself. Maybe he was starting to rub off on her? With that hopeful thought she raced through the halls and to her locker to get her stuff before heading out to the buses.

  When she got to the buses she searched through the crowd for Elunduil. Sometimes she’d spotted him and his friends hanging out near the auditorium exit but today he wasn’t there. She made her way to the back of the crowd and tried to see if she could spot him from afar but didn’t have any luck and wondered if he’d already gone when she heard a loud “Boo!” behind her and someone touched her shoulder. Alicia jerked around in surprise and mild fear then laughed weakly when she saw Elunduil. “You meanie!” she said hitting him lightly in the shoulder. He liked pranking her. Elunduil responded by sticking out his tongue. “We’re over here,” he said and motioned for her to follow him. The duo headed to Elunduil’s bus and got on it. They got a seat that both of them could sit in thanks to Joel who had been saving the spot, and the bus left the school.

  A few minutes later they arrived at Elunduil’s stop and bid goodbye to Joel. Alicia followed Elunduil as he led the way down the road towards his apartment complex and to his home. “Here we are,” he said as he unlocked and then opened the door. He took off his shoes and put them near the door and Alicia followed suit. She looked around the house and spotted a picture of a child hanging on the wall by the back door. “Is that you as a little kid?” she asked. Elunduil looked at picture and nodded. “Yeah, before my glasses. Joel thinks I look like Spock,” he replied with a shrug. Alicia giggled and went to look at the picture more closely. Little Elunduil had little pudgy cheeks and his mouth was open in a silly smile. “You were a cute baby,” she said playfully. “Eh, I wouldn’t know.” Elunduil tossed his backpack on the ground by the coffee table and waited. Alicia sat opposite from him while wondering about what he’d said.

  “You don’t think that you can be cute or attractive?” she asked with her heart racing.

  “No,” he said. Alicia sighed with disappointment. She was being too subtle. Still... Elunduil looked pretty serious about his answer. Did he really not think of himself as an attractive guy? Perhaps she had approached from the wrong angle. “What about being cool?” she asked.

  “No. It’s not something that I really
understand.” Alicia found herself frowning at Elunduil’s response. She felt that it was weird for someone to not think or feel that they were cool or attractive though she wasn’t sure why. “Just so you know I’ve never actually studied,” Elunduil said.

  She stared at him in surprise. He’d never studied? His friends all said he was smart and he’d even said that he had an ‘A’ in biology right now so how did he do well on all of his tests? “Okay so you’ve never studied before? That’s... impressive. I guess you can help me study first so you understand the process,” she said and got out her notes. She knew Elunduil well enough to know that he was uncomfortable doing something that he had no previous experience in. She decided that they would start with band since they would both be taking that test on Monday. “All right this will be easy. All you have to do is tell me the terms and I’ll try to define them.” Elunduil nodded and picked up the paper. “Grandioso.”

  “Play grandly.”

  “You’ve been studying with Stephanie,” Elunduil observed. Alicia meekly laughed and nodded. “Right, well then. Legato.”

  “Play smoothly.” Elunduil methodically went through the rest of the list occasionally stopping when Alicia couldn’t remember what a term meant and reading it for her. By the time they were done Elunduil’s brother, Felras had come home from middle school and quietly went upstairs. “Wow he looks almost exactly the same as you!” Alicia said.

  “He’s a bit skinnier looking though,” Elunduil replied with a shrug. Alicia laughed and picked up the paper. “Now it’s your turn!” She went through the list in order and found that Elunduil got most of them on the first go so she decided to pick a random term to see how he did. “Vivace.”

  “To play in a brisk, vibrant, and spirited manner.” Alicia couldn’t help letting out a couple of chuckles. “No wonder you don’t study. You have a good memory,” she said. Elunduil shrugged off the compliment. “I guess but I didn’t get all of them at first.”