Finding Megan

WARNING: It is necessary to read part one of this series (Finding Jessie) to understand this second part.

Yes, I realize that this could be posted into several categories but chose Romance because ultimately both parts of this story are about the hero's relationship with his soul mates. Please enjoy.

A little help pronouncing the elven names...

Lauflorian (The hero) is pronounced "Lah-flo-wren"

Jeselaflia (A heroine) is pronounced "Jeh-cell-ah-Flee-yuh"

Lemminkainen (The antagonist) is pronounced "Lee-min-Kay-nin"

Megyenna (Title character) is pronounced "Meh-gee-Ah-nuh"

Finding Megan (Part two of Finding Jessie)

A story by R.C.PeterGabriel, all rights reserved.

I certainly hope you've made constructive use of your time, while I was away. As my apprentice, I expect you to have enough drive to keep yourself busy. I realize you're human and need to sleep, but that still leaves sixteen hours a day for you to study. I will be ... disappointed if I find your skills have slacked in the least. I'm sure you recall Lemminkainen lamenting about my needing to punish him constantly.

Speaking of Lemminkainen, I carried out his final contract the day after Toni moved into the penthouse. The act actually made me feel guilty for the very first time. I reasoned that ending an incarnation, or speeding a soul's journey beyond the veil, really didn't harm them (Sure, people grieve over that kind of stuff, but that's just because they can't see the big picture.)

However, in the case of Lemminkainen-the-unwise, I knew I was ending his existence. I knew I didn't have a choice because I had accepted the contract, but after it was done, I remembered I was ending Megyenna's existence also. I owed it to her to find her, explain what was happening, and protect her from all possible harm. I knew this would take a great deal of time and having just found Jessie after almost nine hundred years, I put the search for her on hold.

In retrospect, I should have scoured Kain's mind for other helpful information prior to carrying out the contract, but that would have been rude, and I really didn't have a reason to punish him again. Because of this, it took a few weeks to locate where Lemminkainen had been hiding Jeselaflia, and retrieve the few belongings she wanted to keep.

Toni asked me if she could take Jeselaflia shopping and show her around the city. Because Halloween had passed, this required an illusion to hide Jessie's elven heritage, but since I was forced to use one, she didn't seem to mind. It took me months before I could stand looking at myself in the mirror. Like I said before, I like humans well enough, and I love Toni, but looking like a human took getting used to. Anyway, shopping gave them more time to get to know each other. It's amazing how much fun two women can have while shopping with a Centurion AmEx card.

Jessie had always been adaptable. I'm sure it's because she's so submissive, and therefore always 'went with the flow'. I, on the other hand, only pretend to adapt well. Like my face looking human, and learning to live in a major human city, instead of deep in the enchanted woods of Arda, took time. I only came here because other than you and my emissaries, I'm the only one that knows this planet is habitable. It's a (near) perfect hideout. Jeselaflia however, seemed to take to looking human like a dragon to gold.

Well, a few weeks later Jessie convinced me to test Toni's magical aptitude. I was all for it, but worried. I explained that if she had no magical ability reading a real spell would simply look like a bunch of random symbols and letters. However, if she had enough ability to see the magical script for what it was, but didn't have the strength to contain the magic, it could make her insane, or worse, a vegetable.

She was eager to try, so I took us all to my island, where several ley lines cross. I started her with a very simple illusion spell that creates a few colored lights called 'Dancing Lights'.

To all of our amazement, Kitten looked at the spell, closed her eyes, made the somatic gesture, and spoke the verbal component flawlessly. Usually, a proficient spell caster would have to study the spell for about an hour before being able to cast it. She had taken less than ten minutes!

Within a week she was casting spells allowing for basic images. Unfortunately, she didn't seem to have any aptitude for any kind of magic other than illusions. However, her illusions seemed to be very detailed, and therefore, more realistic.

Then one evening while wishing I could bond with Toni, and stay bonded to Jessie. I realized that it was that very thought that had led to the whole issue with Lemmenkainen to begin with. I also realized that I had put off looking for Megyenna, long enough but I had no idea where to start looking. There were over four hundred planets known to be inhabited by sapient beings. Although most were not known for being home to Eldar, even searching a tenth of the planets was going to be a very formidable task! The fastest way would be to find her while sleeping, but of course, I couldn't do that. I did, however, know someone who could.

Jessie was eager to help. She understood the gravity of the situation and said she'd do whatever it took to help Megyenna. It took twenty-seven days for Jessie to find out what planet she was on. As it turned out Megyenna was in the seventy-first year of her current incarnation. If you remember your conversion, that would be eighteen, almost nineteen in human years. (Old enough to think she knew everything, and too young to realize she knew almost nothing.) As a result, sleep wasn't something she had done for a year or so. Which made it hard to find her, and impossible to locate her exactly.

For almost four weeks, I was again without Jeselaflia. Granted, I could see her and even touch her, but that wasn't the same thing. So once again, I turned to Kitten for distraction. (Not that she was a 'second choice' per se, Toni just wasn't Hîr Fêa) We took to exploring the city, both of us knowing hidden treasures of social enjoyment.

As you might expect, I was able to give Toni some experiences reserved only for the wealthy elite, but we both seemed to have more fun in less aloof, and therefore friendlier, working-class hangouts. Although as usual there was one exception, the idle rich can be very naughty. If you enjoy watching, as we both do, finding the right exclusive sex club was important.

Now don't get the wrong idea, I made sure Toni spent time studying her illusions daily but she wasn't my apprentice. She was my lover and employee. She enjoyed tending bar and didn't want to give it up right away. That being the case, I let her cast the occasional subtle spell, on our patrons. That proved to be a great way for her to practice. She started advancing at a remarkable pace, so after a detailed cautionary lecture, I gave her access to my spell and research library.

As I watched her scanning the covers of tome after tome, I wasn't surprised she stopped on my Monster Manual. (Technically a massive exobiology textbook, but the wizards who penned it wanted a 'fun' title.) The tome is so large, it's impossible to move without magic. I used telekinesis to move the volume to one of the study tables.

The book contains all known anatomical features of every known sentient species of the habited planets. The information even includes descriptions of innate magical abilities. Some species obviously had more information than others. A few only had my own notes because they were so rare no one had been able to study them. Other species like Eldar, Humans, Dwarves, etc. were only made reference to and then you were directed to the additional tomes. They each had so much available information they required their own.

While Toni lost herself in the wonder of discovery, I set out the tomes on the eldar, and humans, (The more she knew about a species, the more detailed an illusion she could create) as well as those on 'Illusionary Theory', 'Why Natural Colors are Important', 'Believing is Seeing', and Trickster Tork's infamous 'Fooled You, Didn't I?'. (Tork being the only known orc to be both literate and able to master illusion. It isn't known whether or not Tork was unique in his talent. Most agree that the process of granting literacy to orcs in order to test the possibilities, is a dangerous and utterly pointless task.)

While Kitten studied the art of illusion, I began a deeper study of Majick. Instead of an idle curiosity of whether or not it was possible to have multiple Hîr Fêa, I now had a genuine need to know whether or not Megyenna could be saved. It only took a few days to realize that I needed to look at the creation spells directly, to understand how the two worked in unison during the creation of the Elven race. Because of that, I needed to get back into the archive, so I planned a trip to Arda.

Toni wanted to go with me, but she was nowhere near experienced enough to take into the archive. When I mentioned to you before that no one was ever allowed access, I meant it. The archive was housed in a fortress protected by both magical and physical traps, as well as eldar, and monster guards. If you make it past the elven guards, you then have about one-hundred miles (assuming you take the shortest route) of trekking through monster-infested, pitfall-laden country.

The fortress itself was an altogether tougher obstacle to overcome. Not only did it have an abundance of physical and magical traps, but due to the material of the fortress itself, anything that dies inside is trapped. Your soul or spirit is unable to leave. This of course creates another layer of security in the form of very angry undead. (Fortunately, I own a broach granting invisibility to undead.)

Several days of preparation for my trip included legal matters that I needed to take care of here on this planet. I transferred ownership of my island, as well as the club, and the building it was in, to Kitten. I also hired two separate companies to manage the club and the building. The only thing the employees thought they knew, was that Toni and I were taking an extended holiday.

Kitten didn't know any of this or the fact that she was suddenly very rich. I didn't want her to realize that I might not come back. I did leave the portal between the island and our guest apartment open but told Kitten not to go through without me unless Jessie said to. (Jessie would feel it if I passed on.) If you're wondering, I saw only to Toni's future, because I already had contingencies in place to care for Jeselaflia if something happened to me.

During the trip itself, I had many advantages getting back into the archive over my first entry. One, I knew the most direct path needed to get to the fortress it was housed in. That in itself saved me many weeks of backtracking and countless traps that didn't have to be overcome. I also knew the layout of the building, and I was far more skilled than I was the first time I had been there.

I also had no intention of spending two days trying to copy a single spell. Instead, I spent five days disarming every trap and disenchanting every spell that had been cast to protect the fortress. After that, I spent another full day, and simply took every scroll, tome, and scrap of reference material in the whole place, but left behind one small item.

Knowing what I do about Hîr Fêa, I didn't like the idea of leaving Spirits behind to suffer forever, (Don't judge, I may manipulate the governments of almost every habited planet and take money for killing people but that doesn't mean I'm okay with destroying a being's life essence.) So I used a Dwarven invention to crush the entire fortress into dust.

Unlike the weapons of mass destruction that you humans invented, that small rock didn't leave behind decades of radioactivity. The ingenious Dwarven mages were able to reduce an entire mountain to the size of a plum. Unfortunately, I was only able to acquire two, before a production mishap caused the loss of that particular skill.

From what I understand 'Mountain Seeds', among other things, require several full wishes (and a mountain of course.) to create. Regardless of how they are made, the beauty in their use is three-fold. One: I was able to free all of the trapped spirits from the fortress. Two: my magic aura can't be recovered from the site. Three: the High Eldar Council's description of the event, told of an unknown power buildup, that had somehow activated the 'Creative Majick' spells stored at the site. They felt that the buildup resulted in the creation of a brand-new mountain, as well as the total annihilation of not only the fortress but a twenty-mile radius around it.

The secondary impact blast killed all living things in an additional eighty-mile radius around the 'newly formed' mountain. Although there was extensive quake damage for another fourteen hundred miles, (and yes quite a few injuries) no eldar were killed.

The council members feel vindicated about their controversial use of authority to prevent the scholarly study of the obviously dangerous Ancient Majick. Because they have accepted that version of history, no one will ever think to look for someone to blame. (Yes, it was nice of me to remove all the monsters from the area when I shut down the archive ... I like to help where I can.)

The site is quite beautiful now that it's had nearly five millennia to recover. If you ever travel to Arda, you should take a look, but then again, all of Arda is beautiful, so go or not, it really doesn't matter. I just enjoy it, because to tell you the truth the area around the fortress had been an eyesore before I redecorated. (It also reminds me that there is a high probability that I'm in possession of the only copies of Ancient Majick that exist.)

By the time I returned, Jessie had awoken, and after a vigorous reaffirmation of our mutual attraction, she presented me with the bad news. I was going to need to search an entire planet. I did know that being the equivalent of an eighteen-year-old human, Megyenna would be a very social person. She would most likely want to be in a more populated environment, and probably seem almost needy, if not desperately so, due to her incomplete spirit. Hopefully, her peers, parents, and possibly area clerics would have noticed a sudden change. If any or all of them had noticed a difference in her, she would be easier to track down, because of rumors, and concern.

Fortunately, I found her in just under six months. Unfortunately, her plight had become more than just well-known. Clerics from every elven deity, as well as several non-elven deities, were all trying to understand the cause and implications. It would only be a matter of time before one of the priests using divination spells, asked the right series of questions, leading them to me. It was unlikely they would understand Majick well enough to deduce the right questions, but as I said, it was only a matter of time.

I didn't cause the 'Binding' to break, which was the real tragedy, but I had caused Lemminkainen's death. They wouldn't care that he himself had broken the Binding, or that he himself paid me to kill him, only that ultimately, I had ended the existence of both he and Megyenna. I needed to put a stop to their inquiries before that happened.

The self-appointed, theological assembly, was understandably zealous in this situation, and almost never left her side. Observing her from somewhat of a distance, I could tell that even in her needy state, her obvious depression and the constant hounding were taking their toll.

Catching Megyenna alone, and in a suitable location, took another three weeks. I cast proof against detection on her before porting us off-world, and securing her in the last place they would look...my vault. Returning to her village, I spent the next week altering everyone's memories to believe she had died and was therefore unrecoverable, even through intervention by a deity. She would be remembered, and have dozens of legends spoken about her, but never be looked for. (Yes, it would have been kinder to remove all memories of her, but that would have taken several months, if not years.)

When I stepped out of the portal having returned from that final foray, I was greeted by the sight of a half-dozen ogres bearing down on me. They were too close to cast anything strong enough to stop them. So with no other choice, I dodged to the side, while my weapons were called to hand.

With practiced ease, my vorpal sword lashed out, removing the closest limb. The roar of rage that followed was defining, as arterial blood sprayed across my face. The stench of hot breath and body odor was almost enough to make me retch. Had I not felt the presence of magic, I would have teleported far enough away to cast 'Meteor Swarm' but instead, I cast 'Dispel Magic'.

The ogres all blinked out of existence, along with their racket and rank stench. I glanced up and to the right, being drawn to the presence of my 'Soul Mate'. What I found were Jessie and Kitten on the bedroom balcony laughing jovially. I was overjoyed and sprinted into the house to join them.

"Kitten!" I exclaimed as I scooped her into my arms. "That was fantastic! Visual, auditory, olfactory, and tactile! I felt resistance as I severed the bone! That was literally the most complete illusion I have ever encountered!"

Giddy with pride, Kitten asked, "Was it really that good, or are you just hoping to get lucky?"

"Kitten, if we had been on a planet where magic was prevalent, I might not have realized it was an illusion! The only clue was the magical essence. I assumed a Mage had followed me back and was attacking with summoned monsters."

"She had me believing you came back two days ago," said Jessie. "If I hadn't realized I couldn't feel our bond ..."

I looked over at Jessie, only to find her blushing profusely. "If you hadn't realized you couldn't feel our bond, what?"

Kitten moved over behind Jessie, grinning from ear to ear, and stroked down her arms with her fingertips. I smiled, as I watched the goose flesh rise, and Jessie shiver through a small orgasm.

After a few moments of hesitation, Jessie said. "I ... We, uh. She ... made me believe we were going to make love! I almost came before I realized it wasn't you! It felt so real! I could even taste your skin, your lips, your ... "

Needless to say, I was impressed. To fool an Elf through illusion is difficult enough, fooling an Elf with my experience was very difficult indeed, but to fool an Elf into believing she was with Hîr Fêa, was a testament to Kitten's extraordinary talent! A prodigy if ever there was one!

"Well to be fair," interrupted Kitten. "I do get to watch you two, for hours at a time, and you've been in me. I know what it feels like when you touch, Boss Man. I doubt I could have convinced any other Elf she had been with her Soul Mate."

Regardless of that probable truth, the young human that had captured my heart was the greatest illusionary talent I had ever heard of. I have hired the best gnomish illusionists known to cast, a few of whom could possibly match her skill, but only because of several centuries of practical experience, not after eight months of book learning! That being said, as extraordinary as she was, I had no idea how her talent could possibly help in the least. The situation with Megyenna, wouldn't be fixed simply by making us believe that it had.

After spending several days making up for seven months of forced celibacy, I freed Megyenna. She was understandably upset at being taken from her home, on top of her already depressed state, had left her nearly catatonic. I was finding it difficult to see the once beautiful and vibrant young woman I had known previously, hidden within the withering shell.

It was Toni, who suggested I ask a psychiatrist for advice, so I took a trip into the city in search of one willing to talk to me without seeing the patient. No luck until finally, I called a crisis hotline and found someone willing to discuss Megan's case. The conversation was protracted and frustrating for me. It's much harder than you might think to explain the situation, without revealing that your friend who is an elf, is suffering from having half her spirit destroyed and being kidnapped on top of it, without lying. I certainly didn't want the counselor to think that I needed institutionalizing for being delusional, but I needed accurate information.