The following day, the twins went to Erestor's office with the intention of telling him about their misadventure. While neither was excited about telling him, both knew it was necessary. Upon entering, they found him sitting behind his desk writing with one of his large, elegant quills. He was a striking elf and looked especially nice in his rich burgundy robe, but that isn't what caught their notice. It was the chain around his neck.
After exchanging a stunned look with his twin, Elladan asked, "Erestor, where did you get that locket?"
Erestor looked up, slightly surprised by the question. "I wondered when you two would show up. Come in and sit down." He smiled and set his quill aside. "This locket belonged to my cousin. He has always been my hero, but especially when I was an elfling. I thought Anor rose and set on him. He knew it too and was very good to me." Erestor motioned them over for a closer look. "You see the stylized and intertwined E's? It stands for Ecthelion. As an elfling I insisted that it stood for Erestor and Ecthelion. I will never forget the day he removed the locket from his neck and placed it around my own." Erestor closed his eyes for a moment and added, "It is the only thing of his to survive the fall of Gondolin, and it only did so because it was on my neck when I fled."
Taken aback, Elrohir asked, "Ecthelion was your cousin?"
"Yes, he was. He was a great elf."
"None better," interjected Glorfindel as he strode into the room. "Why are we discussing 'Thel?"
"They were asking about his locket."
"I don't remember seeing him without it, at least not until he gave it to you." Glorfindel stepped around the twins, laid a paper on the side of Erestor's desk and quizzically asked, "Why?"
Elrohir threw caution to the wind and said, "That is Elladan's locket. He gave it to Ecthelion when he was an elfling in way of thanks for helping us when we travelled to his time. We were lost and he…"
"Excuse me?" Glorfindel looked at Erestor who shrugged and looked just as puzzled. "Your father hadn't even been born when Ecthelion was an elfling."
Both twins replied, "It was magic."
The elder elves looked at one another and then back at the twins. They didn't say anything, but it was apparent that both thought the twins had lost their minds.
Elladan looked at Erestor and said, "It started with a book that was on your desk."
Erestor raised an eyebrow.
"It was a book containing magic spells." Elrohir cleared his throat and looked sheepish. "It was sitting on your desk underneath Dagor-nuin-Giliath through Dagor Nírnaeth Arnoediad; A Complete History." Elrohir pretended not to notice the incredulous look that Erestor sent his way. "We recited a spell, never expecting it to actually work. To our utter shock, it did."
"Exactly which spell did you recite? What was the title?"
"I don't know," Elrohir replied. "It was to something or someone called Sucellos. It implored him to take us to a different time for the betterment of all. Honestly, we thought it was a joke."
Erestor looked from one twin to the other in disbelief. "You recited a spell to a god you have never heard of?"
The twins nodded.
"I know the book you are talking about. Mel found it lying open on my desk. It is a copy of an ancient Numenorian text. After a thorough study, it was to be placed in the archives."
"Reading books won't transport you back in time." Glorfindel chuckled. "Were that the case, Erestor would have gone back to spend last Yule with his relatives in Gondolin. What else did you do?"
"We allowed our blood to drip into a candle's flame as we recited the spell."
Erestor put his hands over his face and shook his head. "Twin pere'dhel son's of a lord giving a blood offering to Sucellos…"
"Erestor, do you remember the story about the wicked sorcerer and the mouse that you and Ada used to read to us when we were elflings? We aren't sorcerers and didn't know what sort of thing one was to do when reading spells. Since we didn't know what else to do…"
"You copied the actions of a fictional sorcerer that was turned into a mouse." Erestor moaned. "You make us all so proud most of the time. Then there are days like today." His long suffering sigh was very similar to that of their father. "The magic of the edain is not ours to understand pen'neths. This necklace was given to me by Ecthelion but I did not ask its origin. It was unimportant to me then as it is now."
Elladan pursed his lips and started to speak only to be preempted.
Erestor held his hand up for silence. "I know. You wonder at its significance whether I do or not. Consider that the spell you recited includes the phrase 'for the betterment of all.' This necklace did indeed improve my life. After Ecthelion's death, it helped ground me. It was what I clung to when all seemed lost. This locket acted as a physical reminder of my cousin's love, spirit and strength. Without that comfort, I might not have become the elf that I am today."
Glorfindel nodded. "Erestor's life has touched many, but I believe your father's may be the answer to your riddle. It is his destiny to play a great role in Sauron's final destruction, but without Erestor's presence, he would not be who he is today." The captain chuckled and added, "In fact, your mother might not have ever consented to marry him. Therein may lay your answer."
With no small amount of awe, Elrohir said, "Our trip back in time did result in the betterment of all."
"Aye, pen'neth. Eru's song is not always within our understanding. Count this as one of the great mysteries of life." Erestor fingered the necklace and said, "Now, I must return to this document. It has to be completed by day's end."
When the twins were out of earshot Glorfindel said, "I've heard better excuses from an elfling. How could they think we would fall for such nonsense? You are going to let them think that the necklace is indirectly responsible for saving Arda?"
Erestor chuckled and grinned. "Oh please, you are the one that brought their father into the story; not me. I only made a small embellishment on the truth. It is true that, for a long time, it was the memory of Ecthelion that kept me alive and sane. A trinket had little to do with it though." Then he unexpectedly frowned. "But you know…now that I think on it…there was this card game. A few nights before Sauron's demise, Elrond and Gil-galaad were playing cards. I was there as well, but dropped out of the game before either of them. It was late and they were deep into their cups." Erestor grinned and shook his head. "Not often did they have a chance to let down and relax, but when they did…"
Glorfindel grinned. "Aye, I witnessed that a few times. They were quite a pair."
"That night, Gil-galaad was killing us at cards. Elrond had very little coin left with which to gamble but finally thought he had a good hand. Gil was just as sure that it was a bluff, but just in case, he raised the stakes to exceed what Elrond could cover. You know how Gil could be. Instead of money, he proposed an alternate bet; Vilya for my locket!"
Glorfindel snorted. "He bet a ring of power for that? Now why would he want your locket?"
"He was inebriated." Erestor blushed. "Besides, he would have given it back when I met his terms."
Glorfindel snickered.
Erestor quickly continued his story. "Over my strenuous objections, Elrond bet my locket. There was only so much that I could say since Gil was the one that goaded him into it. The outcome was that Elrond won the hand, and after a lot of cursing, Gil gave him the ring. They both passed out shortly afterward."
"I thought Gil gave Elrond the ring because of a Valar sent vision."
Erestor let out a very unprofessional snort. "Elrond isn't likely to tell all elvendom that he won a ring of power in a card game. I was there though and that is how it happened. Now I'm not saying that this locket is solely responsible for Vilya being on Elrond's hand, but…"
Glorfindel looked from Erestor to the locket. Both grinned and shook their heads. Almost as one, they said, "Nay, it couldn't be." Then Erestor looked down at the locket and asked, "Could it?"
Unknown to both elves, Galadriel smiled ethereally as she looked into her mirror. Before leaving she snickered and thought, 'By the will of the valar, yes it could.'
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