Lost Soul

Disclaimer: Don't own anything. Idea for this is courtesy of Oscar Wilde and all his gayness. XP This is an AU fic, and there's no Arwen, so don't flame me for not sticking to movie/book-verse. Oh yes, and this will be eventual slash. Mild slash, but still slash. Enjoy.

Prologue

A story was once told… of how the jealousy of one ruined the life of another.

How he coveted the other's beauty and spirit such that he sought to take them for himself.

He loved, but his feelings were not returned.

So he did something that destroyed all he held dear…

He stole the very soul that had entranced him and took it for himself.

And that was the beginning of his end, and the start of another story in the circle of life.

= = = = =

The soothing tones of the Elf fell silent as he read to the boy enthroned on his knee from a large book. A gust of wind swept through the room, making the flames in the fireplace dance, as it whispered words in the Elf's ear, words only he could understand…

It was one of those moments where he had a blinding vision of what was going to happen. And he knew without a doubt that the Wheel of Fate had started to turn…

…And in its center was the innocent boy who sat on his lap, waiting patiently for the elegant fingers to flip the page and the deep voice to continue reading the tale of a Balrog slayer.

"Ada?" The Human child turned questioning eyes on his foster father.

"Yes, Estel?" Elrond blinked as he was jerked out of the reverie he had fallen into.

"You haven't finished the story yet."

Elrond smiled fondly at the boy he had grown to love as his own. "Indeed. My apologies, little one, I was thinking of other things."

"Besides," Elrohir interjected, "Aren't you getting a little too old for such fairytales? Someone declared just yesterday that he was a grown-up, now that he was 9 years and 3 days."

Estel shook his head violently. "No, I'm not! And, you're the one who's eavesdropping on the story Ada's reading to me; don't you think that you're the one who's too old for this?" His eyes glinted in victory as Elladan laughed at his twin.

"I think you taught him to pick out weak arguments a little too well, brother dear."

"I don't believe any of you is too old to be listening to fairy tales," Elrond smiled at his bickering children. "Some of these stories have a history behind them, and others are yet real, so not all of these are fairytales, but lessons we can learn… see?"

Estel sighed impatiently, "Just continue with the story, Ada."

Elrond stared thoughtfully at the Human sitting on his lap for a long while, as a cloud seemed to pass over his eyes. He gave a little nod as though reassuring himself and muttered, "Yes, perhaps it is time…"

The twins looked curiously at their father. "Ada?"

Elrond cleared his throat and began speaking in his calm tones, "I'll tell you that story again some other day, Estel. I've just recalled one that I'm sure will interest you… and the twins as well. It is somewhat of a legend among the Elves. Some say that these events have never happened, others say that they did…

"This is a story of how an Elf was robbed of his soul a long time ago."

= = = = =

TBC

Author's notes:

I'M BAAAAAAAAAAAAAAACK!!!!!!!!!!!!!! bounces around

After a long long long (about 5 months) hiatus since 'Forbidden Love', yours truly is finally back with another story.

First off, apology time. To those who were actually waiting for my side story to 'Forbidden Love'… err…. Sorry? " I did write the whole thing out…. I was about to type and post it when I reread it and realized how… silly the whole thing sounded. Seriously. I've no idea what possessed me to come up with a side story like that. So, once again, sorry that I didn't post it, but no worries, nothing major happened in it. It was just… sort of proof to myself that I could still write het pairings instead of slash.

Next, about this current fic. It's ongoing, so I'm still writing the later chapters. But not to worry, I think I should be able to post more or less on schedule (which is every fortnight) 'cos I've already written out at least half of this. I had intended to wait till I finished writing the whole thing before posting, but…. I got tempted. " And hopefully I won't get writer's block, 'cos I'm currently on holiday, so it's a really good time for me to write…. When I'm not working that is.

The idea from this comes from 'The Portrait of Dorian Gray' by Oscar Wilde. Those who've read it will understand what I mean as the story unfolds. Those who haven't read it should go read it. It's a test of how warped you are. Seriously. See how quickly you can spot the more, ahem, slashy parts in it. I also drew inspiration from a debate I was having with a friend over the ending to the book, which I'll go into detail at the end of this fic 'cos I intend to make use of it.

Last but not least, thanks for reading this fic, this sorry excuse for author's notes, and pretty please leave a review!

ps: I hate ff.net... it messed up all my formatting!!! and removed my asterisks!!!