Date: Mon, 17 Apr 2000 02:49:15 GMT
From: LHW . <ensstyenlc@hotmail.com>
Subject: The BSB NSYNC Chronicles Chapter 7

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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? ;-)
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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?
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|The BSB NSYNC Chronicles - Chapter Seven|

Joey felt the earth shake. He glanced over at Nick to see if Nick had also
felt it. Nick had a confused and frightened look on his face. He cautiously
slipped his hand into the green and black plastic bag and drew out his
sharktooth dagger. The earth tremored again, causing the ice sculptures to
shake precariously, the snow accumulated on them falling to the ground.
Another tremor. It reminded Joey of Jurassic Park, except that there were no
puddles of water around. Nick must have been thinking the same thing because
he froze in sudden terror. There was another tremor. The large castle doors
flew open and a large man with pure white skin about 20 feet tall stepped
out of the tall doors. His dirty blond hair was long and unkempt. His long
beard was no different and it whipped about his chest, giving him a fierce
look. His yellow eyes looked at the two young men. He grinned, revealing a
mouth full of yellowish teeth.

"The lady of the castle wants to meet you," he boomed in a loud, growling
voice that seemed to make thunder sound like a housecat compared to a tiger.
The giant beckoned to the two stunned boys. "Hurry up! Queen Shareela does
not like to be kept waiting."

Joey and Nick quickly obliged and stepped into the castle. The inside of the
castle was enormous. The whole castle sparkled as though made of ice. At the
end of the room, there was a staircase, obviously made for human-sized
people. The giant pointed towards the staircase with his huge finger. Joey
and Nick began to walk towards the staircase. As they climbed the staircase,
they could see many more sculptures at each end of every step. Nick reached
the top first and turned to wait for Joey. Joey climbed more cautiously,
looking at each sculpture before moving up to the next step. When he finally
reached the top of the staircase, he and Nick made their way to a large door
at the end of a short hallway.

"Everything here is made of ice," Joey complained as he touched the door.
"It's getting so cold and Levi's are not exactly winter clothes."

"Neither is Tommy Hilfiger's summer clothing," Nick agreed. Joey tried to
push the door from the left. He struggled for a while before saying, "It's
jammed."

Nick moved over to the right and began to push the door. It began to open
slowly. Joey walked over and helped Nick to push the door open. They stepped
into a large chamber which was pretty bare except for a throne (ice again?
Joey muttered to himself) with a woman dressed in all white. At her feet,
there were many wolf-like creatures except that they were bigger, fiercer
looking and their fur was (yup, you got it!) snow-white.

"What is it with white?" Nick whispered to Joey. Joey shrugged and began to
walk towards the throne. As he approached, Shareela stood up to greet him.
She was very tall and looked half-giant. Her 8 foot tall slim figure was
somehow very intimidating and Joey felt the urge to bow down and kiss her
feet. She looked at Nick, then at Joey with her cold blue eyes.

"Welcome to my home," she said. Her voice was not as thunderous as the
giant's had been, but it seemed more powerful and commanding. "I will get my
servants to take care of you while you are here and I will personally teach
you how to survive in this harsh world. I will not take 'no' for an answer."

Joey and Nick just looked at each other and then back to the queen. They
both nodded. Shareela smiled and clapped her hands twice. Ten beautiful
young women entered the room from behind the throne and beckoned the boys to
follow them. Five of them took Joey and the other five took Nick to seperate
rooms. They were both put in the rooms and given food and water before they
were covered with blankets and put to sleep on the large king-sized beds in
both their rooms.

Justin yawned and sighed. This is so boring, he thought. He glanced over to
Estel who busy explaining the symbolism of the four elements and teaching
the would-be mages of the different Faerie races about voice inflections and
hand gestures. Justin glanced at his other classmates. All the creatures of
the Faerie seemed to have almost boundless patience and determination.
Justin in his boredom flipped his wrist and caused a small gust of wind to
blow through his hair. He mentally controlled the wind to fly to the nearby
desk to his right where it blew the scrolls of a young fairy girl to the
floor. The green-eyed, delicate faced girl turned over to him and smiled a
soft, playful smile. Her featheredy wings fluttered and flapped and an even
bigger gust of wind blasted back to Justin, causing an open bottle of ink to
toppled onto his lap. The black ink soaked into his blue, green and yellow
elven clothes, which felt like silk but had the strength of leather. Justin
waved his hand over the stain and caused the ink stain to disappear,
giggling a little. An annoyed minimite to his right zapped him with a small
shock of lightning, causing his already curly hair to curl even more.
Irritated, Justin returned another small shock to the minimite. The minimite
fluttered his dragonfly wings and lifted off the ground. He sent a small
bolt of ice into Justin's shirt. Justin gasped and retaliated with a small
fireball. None of the students were worried. The crystal dome that they
studied in was enchanted with many spells that caused all magic cast inside
it to be nothing more than a tingle. A large fireball hitting Justin would
feel like being hit by a microwaved sponge ball. The minimite dodged the
fireball and sent a colorful beam of rainbow light which spread out like a
fan. The light dazzled Justin and he began to lose conciousness. He shook
his head and countered the spell's effect. A blast of lightning zoomed past
his head and hit the minimite. He turned around to see the fairy girl
smiling mischeviously. The minimite growled in mock anger and let loose a
bright flash of light towards the fairy. The butterfly-winged sprite sitting
next to the minimite also let loose a flash of light, towards Justin this
time. The lights missed both Justin and the fairy and they both flashed in
front of a brownie that was busily studying the scroll in front of him. He
jolted back from the scroll and stood up, his tiny two-foot frame bristling
with electrical energy. He shot it towards a giggling elvin, mistaking her
as the interruption. The elvin was surrounded by bright light as she called
on her innate ability to levitate. She shot up quickly and the electric
sparks missed her, striking a woodling and a grig who were discussing the
contents of a certain spell book. The woodling thought the grig had zapped
him. The grig had also mistakenly thought that the woodling had zapped her.
The strange centaur-like creature leaped as high into the air as her cricket
body would take her. She blasted a small sonic wave towards the woodling but
missed dismally due to the woodling's ability to meld into plants. The
woodling popped out of the grass again and giggled. The sonic wave hit a
young centaur who reared and snorted. His flailing hooves struck a young
kender in front of him, her topknot coming undone. The contents of her
pouches flew all over the classroom. A heavy silver spoon hit a red-eye on
the back of his head. He glanced at the centaur with his red eyes. Calling
his natural ability, shot a beam of red light from his eyes which knocked
the centaur off-balance. The centaur tripped and fell onto an irda who was
practicing a spell. The jolt broke his concentration and a bright red flash
of energy flew straight towards Estel. Estel jumped in shock and turned
around. All the students froze in fear of what their teacher might say.

"Who did that?" Estel asked, narrowing his eyes. The burly, blue-skinned
irda raised his hand nervously. Estel glared at the student, who shifted
nervously under his gaze. Suddenly, to the surprise of everyone, Estel
grinned. He held his right hand in front of him. A blue light began to glow
and he pointed at Justin. A blast of water sprayed from his finger like
water from a hose. The force pushed Justin backwards, soaking him to the
bone. The mischievious look on Estel's face let the student's know that he
was joining in as well. Justin snickered and threw a magnetic thrust towards
Estel, causing Estel to become dizzy as his internal compass was disrupted.
The other students laughed and began to throw magic at each other again. The
classroom became noisier and bright flashes of light filled every corner as
the students began to have magical battles. Estel winked at Justin and said
telepathically, <I see you are no longer bored with this lesson.>

Justin grinned and flung an ice blast towards Estel who raised his hands and
melted it before it reached him. The magical battle lasted for another hour
and Estel finally sent the exhausted students home to rest. He stood at the
door of the dome as he waved goodbye to the last of his students. Then he
turned and walked to Justin, who was sound asleep sitting on a chair with
his head resting on the desk. Estel placed a small kiss on Justin's cheek.
He hugged Justin, but it was to connect himself to Justin so that he could
teleport them both to AJ's and Tilkeleb's house.

Tilkeleb trotted to the front door of his house when he heard the knocks. He
traced his horn in a circle, causing a blue glow to emit from the door. The
door opened revealing Estel carrying Justin in his arms.

"Are the others here yet?" Estel asked. He glanced at the sleeping Justin.
Tilkeleb shook his head.

"Do you want to place him onto AJ's bed first?" Tilkeleb asked, motioning to
Justin with his spiral ivory horn. Estel nodded and followed Tilkeleb to
AJ's bed. He carefully laid Justin down on the nest-like bed. All elven beds
were nest-like so Justin unconciously curled up, since his own bed was of
the same design. He looked like a small child, calmly sleeping.

"Isn't he cute when he does that?" Estel cooed, his hazel eyes brightening
at the sight. Tilkeleb grinned his horsey grin in agreement.

"What? He's sleeping?" AJ complained from behind the two sylvan creatures.
"How will he wake up in time for dinner? It's only two hours away."

Estel smiled and chanted a short phrase. His hand glowed pale blue and he
touched Justin's forehead. The light was absorbed into Justin and he fell
into deeper sleep.

"He will wake up at dinnertime," Estel said. "This spell is like a
programmed wake-up timer."

AJ nodded and went off to prepare dinner.

Justin sat next to Estel at the dinner table and watched his friends eat. He
wasn't feeling particularly hungry. He played with the grapes on his plate
while staring at nothing in particular. JC and Lance were talking about how
their training with Paxon was going along while AJ kept trying to top their
problems with the difficulty of his training as a Unicorn Knight. Brian kept
mostly to himself but would whisper occasionally to Lalaith who was sitting
next to him. Estel glanced at Justin.

<You're not eating,> Estel said. Justin jumped a little at Estel's voice.

<I'm not very hungry,> Justin lied in reply.

<What's going on?> Estel asked kindly. <What are you thinking that's making
you so depressed?>

<Nothing much,> Justin replied. <I just feel like I should be doing more. I
mean, I'm learning magic and all and it seems right, but yet not right. I
feel like my body's going to waste withour exercise of some sort or
something.>

<Oh,> Estel replied. <You want to be like a Battlemage or Bladesinger?>

<Huh?> Justin asked. <What are those?>

<They're the same thing,> Estel replied. <They both are able to cast spells
and fight with weapons. They use both mind and body.>

<Ahh, I see,> Justin said. <I would love to be like that. I miss performing
and I my body feels like I'm neglecting it.>

<Performing?> Estel questioned curiously. <You were a dancer before?>

<Not really,> Justin said, wondering how to explain boybands to Estel. <I
perform with a group. We're like both singers and dancers.>

<That's interesting,> Estel replied. <Are AJ, Brian, Lance and JC in your
performing group?>

Justin shook his head. <Only Lance and JC. Brian and AJ are from a different
group. But all of us are singers and dancers.>

<Wow! You must really miss it,> Estel replied sympathetically. <I think I'll
have to train you personally.>

<Train me personally?> Justin asked. <As what?>

<A Bladesinger,> was Estel's reply. <I am a Bladesinger. We fight with
swords and magic. We are bards that fight. Since you are a singer, becoming
a Bladesinger should be easy for you. We'll talk about it in the morning.
Right now, you should eat.>

He reached out and picked up a piece of biscuit-like wafer bread called
lembas. He gave it to Justin who took it and began to eat. Justin felt like
a weight had been lifted off his shoulders. He began to eat with renewed
hunger. Estel grinned at him and Justin grinned back. They burst into
laughter, much to the confusion of the others at the dinner table.

After the hearty dinner of lembas, fruits, vegetables, fish and nuts, JC
pushed himself back from the table and sighed with satisfaction. AJ laughed
at JC's actions.

"You look like someone who hasn't eaten for a week and was suddenly given
his favourite food," AJ grinned. Justin, Brian, Estel, Tilkeleb and Lalaith
laughed at AJ's joke. JC and Lance looked at each other, both remembering
how torturous it was to feel like they were going to die from starvation.
They both knew the statement was funny, but neither could bring himself to
laugh. Catching their depressed glances, Justin asked, "What's wrong?"

"What's wrong?" JC said, his voice seething with anger. It raised in volume
as he continued to speak. "What's WRONG?! HOW WOULD YOU FEEL IF YOU WERE
LOST AND STARVING, WONDERING WHEN YOU WERE GOING TO DIE?"

"JC, calm down," Lance tried to comfort JC. JC ignored him, stood up, and
continued to rant. "AND THEN GETTING ATTACKED BY BANDITS WHO COULDN'T GIVE A
DAMN ABOUT YOU! HOW WOULD YOU REACT TO SOMETHING LIKE THA..."

JC was interrupted in his ravings when Lance's tongue enter his mouth. Lance
kissed JC passionately, flicking his tongue in and out of JC's mouth in a
seductive manner. JC began to moan with pleasure. He was going to kiss Lance
back when Lance pulled away.

"That was the only way to stop you," Lance giggled. JC sat in his chair
again, totally drained by Lance's kiss. Their friends just sat and stared at
them, stunned. Brian finally cleared his throat and spoke.

"How would you feel if you were kidnapped by strange creatures with menacing
voices?" he asked softly. AJ and Justin both signaled to Lance and JC to
keep quiet. Both of them hoped that Brian would tell them what had happened
to him, as he had been skillfully evading their questions. Brian stood,
remembering the terror he had felt when he found himself teleported away
from his cousin.

"I was with Kevin," Brian began his story, "and we were wandering through
the forest. We saw this campfire and walked there to investigate, hoping
that the campers would pity us and give us food and directions. As soon as
we stepped into the lighted area, the world turned black and I heard this
menacing voice say 'You are mine, human. Destiny lies before you, but you
will not fulfill it. I will kill you before that.' The voice somehow just
filled me with terror and despair. He blacked out completely. It was a short
time that I woke up again, not more than three minutes according to my
watch. I was surrounded by creatures that were a greenish-black in colour
and had coarse hair all over them. They spoke in a language that seemed to
make them even more menacing."

"What did they say?" Lalaith asked. Brian closed his eyes and began to
speak.

"Bubhosh sharku durbat, glob pushdug snaga," Brian said. As he spoke, he
seemed to become more menacing. His voice had a cold gruffness to it. The
candles that lit the room extinguished. Everyone felt a chill of evil and
began to shiver. Lance gripped JC tightly in fear. JC tried to hide his own
fear to ease his younger lover. Justin began to whimper. Brian stopped
speaking, tears in his eyes.

"That is something I never want to hear again," Justin shivered, a tear
falling from his eye. "It reminds me of all my nightmares combined into one
and then magnified ten times."

"If gentle Brian spoke like this and made us all scared," AJ observed, "then
he must have suffered a lot, just by listening to the monsters speaking."

"What are those creatures, Estel," Justin asked. Estel and Lalaith hung
their heads. Finally Estel lifted his head and spoke.

"I am not sure which race the creatures are because Brian's description is
very vague. But I know which species they are."

"Which species are they?" AJ asked, exasperated by Estel's way of beating
around the bush.

Estel lowered his head again. He mumbled something that no one could catch.

"Pardon?" AJ said.

"I said that they are Faerie Folk as well," Estel said, looking up.

"WHAT?!" AJ shouted, jumping from his seat. "THESE MONSTERS ARE ELVES?"

Estel looked at AJ and said, "No, they are not. But our races are related.
Just like centaurs are related to elves, so these monsters are related to
elves as well. They are from a different division of the Faerie, called the
Dark Faerie."

"They could never be elves," Brian said softly. "I learnt from different
scrolls in the temple library about the two divisions of the Faerie."

"But how did you get here?" Justin asked. AJ seated himself on his chair to
listen to Brian's story.

"It was nighttime when I was captured," Brian began again. "I could hear
their words and I wondered what they meant. I later learnt from my rescuer
that the words meant 'The great old man will rule all, foolish dungfilth
slave.' While I was tied to a tree while they made a big fire and began to
cook and eat some creatures that they had killed. Suddenly, from nowhere I
heard a voice singing 'Praise God from whom all blessings flow.' (*Story
paused* Author's note: Although I am writing in English, Brian, AJ, Lance,
JC and Justin are speaking in Quenya. Just to clarify things a bit. The song
is supposed to be in Quenya, but it isn't translated because of the above
reason.*Story unpaused*) They heard it too and turned around shouting words
that could only be vulgarity. The singing stopped and then a young elf,
though I did not know it at the time, stepped into the light cast by the
fire. He looked at me and smiled. The monsters rushed at him and he turned
to face them. Quicker than I could see, he had drawn two swords, one in each
hand. He began to fight with the creatures, four-on-one. He fought for a few
minutes before all the creatures were dead. Then he sliced at the leather
straps that bound me to the tree and said, 'Destiny awaits you, child. Seek
God and fulfill the future.' Then he placed his hand on the tree that I tied
to. The tree glowed green and he said 'It's a good thing they didn't find
out about this. This tree has a staircase towards my home, the town of
Caeranos. Go to the city and look for a priestess called Lalaith.' Then he
was gone. I stepped into the tree and it closed up behind me. I climbed the
stairs and that's how I got here."

"Wow!" Lance said, awed. "That must have been quite an experience. I wish I
could have entered the tree."

"I got in by another tree," Justin said.

"Really?" JC asked suspiciously. "Are you just making that up to compete
with Brian?"

"No I'm not," Justin said. "I've had quite an experience too"

"Not the way I'd put it, but yeah," AJ grinned. Lance glanced at AJ.

"What do you mean?" he said. AJ looked at Justin in surprise.

"You didn't tell them?" he asked Justin.

"Tell us what?" JC asked.

"That he fell three hundred feet and died?" Lalaith questioned. Justin shot
her a look of anger. JC and Lance looked at the solemn faces of their
friends, then at each other. They both began to laugh at the same time.

"That was a great joke, you guys," JC said, wiping tears of laughter from
his eyes.

"That was no joke," Justin said in a monotone. JC and Lance stopped laughing
and looked at Justin.

"I was resurrected by Brian and Lalaith," Justin stated. JC and Lance
blinked in wonder.

"Wow...er...we didn't know," Lance finally stammered out. Justin smiled at
his friends.

"At least I'm alive and kicking now," Justin grinned. The solemn mood was
lifted from the room and the conversation turned to something more
light-hearted.

Justin opened his eyes and yawned. He could hear the sounds of birds singing
in the trees on which his house was built. Squirrels chattered, their voices
seeming to tease Justin for waking up late in the morning. Justin stretched.
He began to walk to the 'bathroom'. The elves had constructed an advanced
pipe system which provided them with 'tap' water and 'flush systems'. It was
all magical, though, and thus had no waste products at all. Justin removed
his clothes and stepped into a polished wooden bathtub. As he stepped in, a
magical spring of water appeared at one of the ends and began to fill the
tub with water that was the perfect temperature. He lay back in the tub and
began to think about what to wear, something that he still thought of, even
though all his clothes were of the same or similar patterns and colours. He
closed his eyes and relaxed, thinking of falling asleep again. He was asleep
again before he knew it.

Estel wondered where Justin was. He had waited for Justin to come for
breakfast, and now was lunchtime. Where could he be? Estel wondered. He
walked about the house, searching for Justin. Finally, he checked the
bathroom. He glanced over to the bathtub and saw Justin sleeping there. The
still water was crystal clear and Estel could make out Justin's body from
the chest down through the water. He knew that Justin had a thing for him.
It could be seen in his eyes when he talked. Estel longed to kiss the young
man and leaned in towards Justin's face. I can't love him, Estel thought,
pulling back, a tear beginning to form in his eyes. I'm older than him by
many years and his life will be over before I know it.

Estel wiped his tears from his eyes with his shirt sleeve. He reached out
his slender arm and touched Justin's shoulder and shook it slightly. Justin
stirred and slowly opened his eyes. He looked into Estel's almond-shaped,
cat-like hazel eyes. As always, they showed little expression that Justin
could read. He suddenly remembered that he was totally naked and he blushed
a deep red. He quickly moved his hands to cover his modesty and stepped out
of the tub, grabbing a pink towel from a branch that grew across the
ceiling, forming a permanent towel rack. He wrapped the towel around his
waist and grabbed his clothes.

"I wondered where you were for breakfast," Estel said calmly.

"I missed breakfast?" Justin asked, shocked. "What time is it now?"

"It is slightly past noon," Estel replied. "Lunch is waiting for us, and
then we have to pack before we leave."

"Pack?" Justin queried, furrowing his eyebrows. "Where are we going?"

"We are going to a place called The Academy," Estel turned towards the door
of the bathroom, which was, as all typical Faerie doors, a purple curtain
that was drawn over the doorway. "There you will learn how to fight, and I
am following to tutor you in Bladesinger magic."

"Why can't you teach me to fight?" Justin asked. "You're a Bladesinger as
well. You could teach me to fight."

"I cannot teach you to fight like an elf," Estel replied. "You have to learn
how to use a sword and shield, something which I cannot teach you."

"You don't use swords and shields?"

"I don't use shields," Estel replied. "No elves use shields. I use two
starswords. They are the weapons of Bladesingers. You will be given a
starsword but you will have to be taught to use a shield properly. Humans
are too clumsy to use two weapons."

"Why can't Paxon teach me, then," Justin asked, feeling slightly miffed. "He
teaches JC and Lance."

"JC learns to use the raztar, a weapon that has nothing in common with a
sword. As for Lance, his sword is designed to be wielded with two hands. He
has no need for a shield," Estel explained with his ever-calm voice that
sometimes drove Justin mad like it was doing now.

"So basically you're kicking me out of your house because I can't use two
weapons?" Justin asked sarcastically. He felt angry with himself as well.
Does he suspect? Justin asked himself. Is that why he's sending me away?

As if to answer his unspoken questions, Estel said, "I'm not kicking you out
of the house. I said I was going with you, remember?"

Justin was about to argue when a rumbling noise filled the room. Justin
blushed and looked shamefully at the floor.

"I think you should eat your lunch now before you cause an earthquake,"
Estel joked, his hazel eyes sparking with silent laughter. Justin quickly
put his clothes on, his back to Estel. When he was done, he turned around
and realised that Estel was no longer in the room. How does he move so
quietly? Justin grumbled in his mind.

After a quick lunch of fruits, bread and berries, Estel passed Justin a
leather backpack, instructing him to pack one or two sets of clothes and
food to last for a few days. He left the house, assuring Justin that he
would be back soon. Justin quickly packed his clothes. He was about to open
the cupboard which contained lembas, the elven waybread that would not only
fill his hunger but would also revitalise him and refresh his energy, when
he heard the flutter of wings. A small brown sparrow was perched on the
windowsill, a piece of parchment tied to its leg. Justin slowly reached out
to touch the bird, hoping that it would not fly off. To his surprise, the
sparrow hopped onto his wrist. Justin untied the note from the sparrow's leg
and it flew out of the window, disappearing as quickly as it had appeared.
Justin unrolled the parchment and read the message. The words were written
in the smooth, flowing script of the elven language.

Dearest Estel,
How have you been? It has been a long time since I last saw you? How are the
others? Tell them I miss them. I heard that you were promoted to Archmage.
Quite an accomplishment! This is the first time a Bladesinger has been an
Archmage at the same time. I am really proud of you! I can't tell you how
much I miss you, especially in the old days when the two of us would just
sleep in the forest without anyone to interfere. I miss those close,
intimate talks we had. I can not write much more now, the parchment is only
that big. In any case, I will be back in Caeranos in a month or two. I hope
you will be there to meet me. Anyway, hugs and kisses to you. Tell Lalaith
to keep smiling and praying, Nirnaeth to keep singing, Larel to keep tending
the trees, Alegifu to keep grinning and flirting, and Stile to, well, just
be Stile! And tease him about Alessa for me, too! See you soon!

Love,
Gil

Justin stared blankly at the message. He felt like tearing it up, just as
his heart was torn up at the moment. He blinked tears from his eyes. His
hands began to tear the note when he heard many footsteps approaching. He
quickly stuffed the note into a pocket in his shirt and turned around,
pretending that nothing had happened. He turned around and saw JC, Lance,
AJ, Brian, Estel and Lalaith entering the front door.

AJ stepped into the house, looking smart in his silver and white leather
armour with the emblem of a unicorn over the left breast of the shirt. It
was the uniform of the Unicorn Riders, an elite group of mounted knights. JC
and Lance were both dressed in identical skin-tight black leather armour as
well. Brian and Lalaith were hand-in-hand, both smiling on their pleasant
faces. Their brown, blue and white clerical robes were strangely made, for
they seemed to bring out the curves of Lalaith's body and the muscles of
Brian's, and though it may have seemed revealing, it somehow also failed to
cause any feelings of attractiveness though it did make them look better.
Estel's clothes had changed. He was no longer wearing the robes of the
Archmage, but instead was wearing light brown leather armour. His soft
sandles had been replaced by forest green leather boots, and the leather
belt around his waist had two pale blue scabbards inscribed with runes and
studded with gems on either side of his body. The hilts of the swords both
had sapphires embedded into their pommels. A grey-green cloak hung from his
shoulders. In his arms, he carried a large sack.

"Hey! How come you guys are all here?" Justin asked cheerfully, carefully
keeping his sadness hidden.

"What? and miss an important moment of your life?" JC grinned. "Never!"

"Important?" Justin asked.

"Yeah!" was Lance's enthusiastic reply. "We couldn't wait to celebrate you
leaving! Now we can party without the baby!"

"Hey!" Justin growled in mock anger. The others all just laughed. Finally,
they all settled down, and AJ summoned Tilkeleb from the figurine.

"Dearly beloved, we are gathered here today to witness the bonding of a
man," Brian began, a cheeky grin crossing his face. "That's all I can think
of right now, so Lalaith will have to handle the ceremony."

Lalaith bowed her head in reverent prayer. Brian calmed down and began to
pray as well. As they prayed, Estel stepped forward, carrying the sack with
him. He motioned for Justin to stand in front of Brian. Estel stood in front
of Lalaith and faced Justin. Slowly, he removed the contents of the sack.
Justin was disappointed that he could not see what the contents were. There
were two packages, both wrapped in blue cloth and tied with vines. Estel
handed one package to Lalaith and the other to Brian. Then he stepped
towards AJ, Lance, JC and Tilkeleb. Justin watched Lalaith, wondering what
was going on. The lovely elven priestess closed her eyes, ignoring him. She
opened her eyes again and smiled.

"We are gathered here to witness the induction of the warrior Justin
Timberlake into the status of Bladesinger," Lalaith spoke, her musical
voice. "Will the nominator please step forward?"

AJ stepped forward. He looked at Lalaith who nodded slightly. "I hereby
nominate Justin Timberlake to become a Bladesinger."

"He cannot be nominated by any Bladesingers," Lalaith said. "Are you
affiliated with the Bladesingers, Alexander McLean?"

"No, I am not, Revered Daughter," AJ said. "I give my word."

Justin realised that all of his friends had already known abou this and had
practiced the ceremony before. He wondered when AJ had nominated him. He
smiled at AJ, who gave him a wink, before stepping back.

"Will the Bladesinger representative please step forward?" Lalaith said.

Estel stepped forward and bowed.

"As a member of the Bladesingers, do you accept the nominee Justin
Timberlake into the Bladesingers?" Lalaith recited her part of the ceremony.

"The Bladesingers do accept Justin Timberlake into our ranks," Estel
replied. "We call Joshua Chazez and James Bass as referees."

JC and Lance stepped forward and bowed. "We both agree with the nominee
Alaxander McLean and recommend Justin Timberlake's induction into the
Bladesingers."

"Do we have a member of the clergy who also agrees that Justin Timberlake
should be induced?"

"I speak as a member of the clergy," Brian said from behind Justin. "The
church accepts Justin Timberlake's induction into the Bladesingers."

"Then it is done," Lalaith finished. She opened the package that Estel had
given her and pulled out the contents. She motioned for Justin to turn
around and face Brian. As Justin turned, he was handed a folded pile of
leather.

<Wear it now,> Estel's voice came into Justin's head. <This ceremony is
private, and only the closest friends are here.>

Justin removed his clothes, blushing slightly. He quickly put on the tight
but comfortable leather armour. Brian motioned for him to turn around.
Justin turned and felt Brian put a cloak onto his shoulders. Lalaith stood
before him, holding a pale blue scabbard with a sword inside. Both looked
exactly the same as Estel's. Lalaith handed him a shield with the symbol of
the flag of Caeranos, a circle of vines around a tree, on the front. He
slipped the shield onto his left arm. Lalaith handed him the jeweled hilt of
the starsword he placed it around his waist to his left. His friends walked
outside of Estel's house. As they stepped out, AJ and Tilkeleb turned right,
Lance and JC went left. Lalaith placed her hand on Justin's left shoulder
and Brian did the same to Justin's right. Estel stood in front, his back
facing Justin. He walked out of the doorway followed by Justin, Brian and
Lalaith. As they stepped out of Estel's house, Justin looked around the
city. Every platform, bridge, arch, clearing and even large branches were
crowded with Faerie Folk of all sorts. Even the Faerie-kin like pegasi and
unicorns were present. Justin realised that all the citizens of Caeranos
were present to witness this event!

<Draw your sword, Bladesinger,> Estel said proudly. Justin drew his
starsword. The starsword was light and Justin pulled it out easily. As he
held it up, pointing towards the sky, the starsword's silver blade was
suddenly covered with blue flames. Loud cheering emitted from the crowd, and
the whole forest shook with the stamping of feet, flapping of wings and
overall cheering and clapping. He noticed other Bladesingers standing on a
nearby platform. There were only irdas, red-eyes, elves and fairies present
as they were the only human-sized bipedal Faerie, and thus the only races
suited for the fighting styles of the Bladesingers. He watched as the
Bladesingers all raised their starswords to the sky, and saluted him. The
blue flames from all the swords were eye-catching and everyone watched as
the Bladesingers saluted Justin again and again, up to a total of seven
times. The crowd began to cheer again and the sky was filled with the
colours and lights as magic was released into the sky, their effects more
beautiful than fireworks on Independence Day. Justin felt tears grace his
eyes. He was touched that all the citizens were present for such an event.
As the crowds began to gather in different places, the sounds of music and
dancing filled the evening. Bonfires began to spring up and Faeries were
dancing, clapping or playing musical instruments around them. There were
tables filled with food of all sorts all over the city, where the Faeries
could partake of refreshments whenever they wished. The celebration lasted
well into the night and suprisingly did not end when the sun began to rise
the next morning. Only in the afternoon, the citizens of Caeranos ceased
their celebration and began to clean up. Justin and Estel did not help with
the clean-up. Both of them had left at noon, making the long journey to the
Academy run by the centaur Cheiron.

Justin and Estel stood before the academy doors, tired out after their
two-day trek through the forest. Estel pushed the door open and saw no one
at all in the practice rooms, except Cheiron.

"It is lunchtime," Cheiron explained. He bowed as much as a centaur could
bow towards Estel and Justin. "It is good to have visitors from my home come
to the Academy. Especially when the visitors are of one of the highest ranks
in the city. Welcome to my academy."

Cheiron directed the two Bladesingers to the cafeteria where all the
students were. Their arrival was unexpected and all the students ceased
their chatter to check the newcomers out. Justin glanced around the room at
the wooden tables and benches. His eye was caught by the sight of two
familiar faces.

"Justin?" one of the cadets asked, his voice carrying across the silent
room.
------------------------------TO BE CONTINUED------------------------------
How was this one? 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... ;)
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Ciao for now!