With her inside it, that should seal in her song’s power, too.
Who: Luthien, Harry Dresden and Elaine What: Testing the Power of Luthien’s voice When: Recently Where: A cafe and then Harry’s place status: complete Rating: PG
Harry had talked to her on the net and now was quite happy to meet her in person. This Luthien seemed like a good woman, and a smart person, and with her current changes, she seemed like she could use a little friendship. While making random friends wasn’t really his style, Harry found himself warming to her. Just because.
The cafe he chose, was referred to him by another, and he had chosen it because it seemed to be a Dreamer place and maybe a place to work a little magic.
So there he was sitting, awaiting her, and hopeful today would be a good one.
She walked into the cafe, looking like she stepped out of a storybook, even in jeans and a pink, light blouse. Luthien’s ears were noticeably pointed. She looked around for her new friend, and when she saw him, she smiled brilliantly.
Harry blinked and swallowed, then rose, and waved a hand. “Luthien! Over here. It’s good to see you.” He smiled warmly. The woman was like a dream given form. He felt that, if he had not been in love, he would easily have fallen in rather deep crush with this woman at first sight.
“Harry! My pleasure to meet you!” Her accent had grown a little different with her dreams. It was still vaguely European, but harder to place.
He smiled at her, extending a hand to her to shake and nodding. Her accent was as gorgeous as she was, and his cheeks heated. He was in love, indeed, but damn. He cleared his throat and sat once she did. “How are you today?”
“I’m quite good. I spent most of the morning in my studio, recording.” She smiled, the expression a little impish. “My singing skills have only gotten better.” They’d moved the gods, after all. She was actually a little nervous about how it would affect normal people.
“Oh yes? Good. We could use some new music, some good things to listen to. The world is getting weirder and darker for Dreamers.” He nodded, examining her and thinking she would knock people’s socks off.
“You dream, Mr. Dresden?” She leaned back in her chair, crossing her legs. “That’s a stupid question, I’m sorry. Mine are full of light, and wonder, and also utter darkness and despair. Love overcomes all.”
Harry grinned, and turned his hand over and Flicked his fingers, subvocalizing, something he had been working on lately. A small flame came to life in his hands, shivered, turned into water, and split into puffs of h and o. He sighed as he stared down at his hand, then shook his head. “I’m a wizard in my dreams. Here, the magic doesn’t work all the time,”
“Amazing!” Luthien leaned forward, staring at where the fire had been. “I’m an elf. Half-elf. My mother was something called a maiar, which you could call an angel.”
“Huhn. I met an angel in a dream one time. Weird, but cool.” He smiled at her. “What’s your homeland’s name?” He was curious, and a fanboy, who now wanted to know if he should know her.
“Doriath,” she replied, smiling. “A grand underground city, beneath a grand forest, in a land called Beleriand.”
Harry rubbed his nose. Why was that... oh shit. He stared, then chuckled. “Wow.” His startlement and fanboying was pretty much written all over his face as he stared at her.
“I take it you’ve read my story?” Her face crinkled up into another smile. When she’d discovered that, she’d been incredibly upset at first, but had come to accept it. The world had been remade several times, what was one more? Stories could survive through the ages.
Harry nodded, blushing. “I have. Sorry. You were one of my heroes as a kid.” He smiled lopsidedly. “It’s definitely nice to meet the person who is a person of here as well as the Dreamlady.”
“I might have to get you one of my albums then,” she replied with a wink. “I was really your hero? Me, not Beren?”
Harry nodded. “When I was a kid, my dad was a big bear of a man, but not the nice kind. The ally I had was a woman named Laura, who was a singer. She told me stories, including yours.” He smiled at her. “Imagining what you went through helped me get through my life, and become the man I am today.”
“I don’t know what to say..." Luthien felt embarrassed. She'd just done what she thought was right. What she'd needed to for love.
“You don’t need to say anything.” Harry nodded. “Just be you. How have things been going for you?”
"Very well." she found herself blushing. "I'm a little worried about how my...girlfriend will take some of this."
Smiling, Harry nodded. “I’ve been lucky. My girlfriend is a Dreamer as well, and she seems to come from my dreamworld.” He nodded. He knew he was incredibly lucky.
"I know Beren is out there, but he left several years ago." She smiled a little sadly, worried about what would happen if he returned.
Harry nodded and his mind went that same way. “What will you do if he returns? Do you know why he has not?” He was curious.
“No, I don’t. We were dating, and one day he left me, with no explanation. I don’t know if he got cold feet, or if my father scared him away. I lean towards the latter.” She sighed sadly. “His personality is much the same, my father.”
Harry nodded. “I’m sorry. Maybe he left to protect you from something?” He sighed. “Not that that helps.” He raised his water to her in salute. “Hopefully life will be better here, now.”
“Or maybe it’s a modern grand quest.” Luthien laughed softly. “I worry about if he returns. I hope he’s happy out there.”
Harry nodded. “I hope so too.” He smiled. “And other than relationships, how are things? You said you were singing. Are you making an album?”
“Yes. It should be done by the end of the month! My first one in the states. I’ve had to rerecord most of my vocals though, since I changed.” She rubbed at her throat. “So it all sounds the same.”
Harry nodded. “Makes sense. I’ll have to buy a copy, and ask for an autograph.” He grinned at her. “I’m sure it will be amazing.”
“You’ll get an autograph! I hope it’s not too amazing. I’m not trying to sway the Valar this time. Just the sales charts.” She winked at him.
Harry laughed, then hmmed. “Have you tested your singing yet?” He was curious.
“Only in the recording studio. What do you mean?”
“I mean... your voice in the stories swayed the hearts of the Valar because it contained power and beauty greater than mortal voices. Have you tried to see what effect it might have on people?”
He nodded.
She paled a little. “I’m afraid to.”
Harry nodded. “What if I could help provide a safer environment to try it. I’m a wizard there, and here, too. I’ll ask a fellow wizard, but it’s possible we could create a circle that would allow your power to be contained, and even cut off from others should it start... affecting them.” He smiled softly.
“..you would do that for me?” She looked a little shocked and touched. Maybe a little upset, but that was more at the idea her music might hurt people now.
“Of course. That’s what I do. I’m a wizard. I help people.” Harry nodded. For him, and for his other self, that was as simple and as true as it got. If you had power, you helped people. And if not, Harry had no respect for you.
Luthien laughed, delightedly. "When do we start!"
Harry laughed and then held up a hand. “Let me call and see if the other wizard is available now. If not, we can set a time and place for when we can do this, soon, and you can answer some more questions about what you know, from dreams and from how you feel, so we can be prepared.”
He pulled out his phone, an old school cell phone, as old school as you could get these days anyway and dialed up Elaine.
Luthien picked up her drink and sat back, at once nervous, but also excited. She loved new things.
Elaine always made time to answer Harry’s calls, so long as she was in between massage sessions and could get to the phone when it buzzed. She almost always kept it on silent or vibrate during office hours, but fortunately, she was just sitting down to check emails and make confirmation calls for the following day when Harry called.
“Hey, handsome,” she answered, knowing it was Harry’s number calling, “How are you?”
Harry face went soft and loving as he heard Elaine’s voice and he smiled. “I’m doing pretty good, love. At lunch with a new friend, who just might have become a sort of client.” Harry grinned at Luthien, nodding confidently. His voice was casual as he spoke. “Can you talk about Dreamstuff?”
“Glad to hear it,” she mused, smiling into the phone herself. Harry was doing very well at keeping himself in steady work, especially having only been in the area for less than six months; but he always seemed to make time to check in. She liked that. “Yeah,” she said, at his inquiry as to whether or not she could speak freely. “It’s just me and the dust bunnies.”
“Would you be interested in doing some ritual work? I’m talking to Luthien, Elaine, of Doriath, ancestor to Elrond and Aragorn.” His words were soft. “She needs someone who can shield to find out how her dream powers affect the world we live in.”
“Luthien.” Elaine spoke the name with mingled respect and disbelief. She was well aware of Harry’s fondness for the tales of Middle Earth, which he shared with both herself and their daughter. “Well, I know Fae and Elves aren’t exactly the same, but I suppose my experience in Summer couldn’t hurt. Where should I meet you?”
"My office, was my plan. I have circle and shield focuses there. Thanks, Elaine. " He smiled to Luthien, giving her a thumbs up. "We're on. "
Luthien grinned brightly, and clasped her hands on the table. She repeated from earlier. “When do we start?”
Harry grinned. "When can you meet us there? "
“My schedule is clear for the rest of the day,” Elaine said, glancing at the spreadsheet on her computer screen. “So...whenever you like.”
"Meet you there in a half hour., then. Love you. " Harry hung up and smiled at Luthien. "Let's make some magic. “
“Thank you, so much!” Luthien pretty much jumped around the table to hug him.
Harry flailed, then brought himself together and hugged her back. “You’re welcome. Come on, you.” He gently smiled at her. “Time to see how the Race of Man and the Race of Elves can fare in this alliance.”
He winked at her as he led the way out.
Luthien followed along with him. She’d taken the bus, so hopefully he had a method of transportation. She was eager and excited, and any chance to sing was good by her.
His jeep was waiting, and within minutes, he had driven them to his office, asking her shyly about her singing, and her work, then letting her in and explaining his job as a lawyer and a private investigator.
It was rather fascinating to Luthien, who spoke evenly and quietly as they drove. She walked into the office, seeming to almost float along the ground, her footsteps were so light.
Elaine had closed up shop, and sent a message asking her parents to pick Cora up from school that afternoon, just to be safe. She wasn’t really sure how long things with Luthien would run; especially when it sounded like there would be a bit of trial and error involved. She just knew she would be able to better focus on the task if she was not worried about being late for anything else.
Once that was taken care of, she headed to the office to meet Harry’s new client.
Harry had poured water for Luthien, and then pulled back the rugs in his office, moving aside the desk, to reveal the etched in stone circle there. He went over it with sea salt laced with iron and holy water as he explained the ritual to Luthien. Elaine’s arrival earned her a smile as he finished.
“-and with you in the circle, and one of us listening, while the other is shielded, your power can reach that one person and we can see what it does. The shielded person can, if it does affect the other person, close the circle with an effort of will, which will enclose your power to only you, freeing the affected person from it’s hold.”
Harry turned to Elaine. “You are both more experienced with Fae and a better judge of enchantment than I am, I think. I hate the idea of you being the target, but do you think you would be better in that role or in watching?”
Luthien sipped at her water, listening carefully. Magic wasn’t unfamiliar to her but this kind was. In her world, magic was a more subtle thing. It existed in all things and ebbed and flowed with nature. This would be a new experience for her.
To be honest, Elaine suspected she’d be better in both roles, but that wasn’t an option. She was more familiar with the subtle magics of nature, though, so she had a feeling she would be the better choice to referee the interaction. “I’ll watch,” she said, “You can be the guinea pig. Did I miss much?”
“Okay.” Harry nodded, steeling himself. “Not really. Just showing her the circle, a basic one I built, one which you can familiarize yourself with, then be ready to activate. With her inside it, that should seal in her song’s power, too.”
“What happens if it doesn’t,” Luthien asked, her voice filled with some trepidation. “I moved the gods to alter the natural state of my existence, after all.”
“If it doesn’t...” Elaine shrugged her shoulders, and shook her head. There was no real way of knowing, except to speculate based on the tales, and Luthien’s memories. “I expect there will be some unexplained natural phenomenon appearing on the news this evening, at the very least. But we should work out a signal so you’ll know to stop singing if it gets too much for me to shield against.” A safeword, so to speak.
Harry nodded. “Something simple, and obvious.” Then he grinned. “I have an idea.” He went to his desk and dug out something he carried to Elaine, unwrapping. A noisemaker from a party store.
“Guaranteed to be a sour note.”
That brought a laugh to Luthien. “That’s perfect. I love those things, but it should be a good enough signal for me to stop. Is there anything in particular I should sing?”
Elaine smiled, and nodded as she took the party favor. That should be plenty distracting, if there came a need for it. “I’ll leave the song up to your discretion, milady,” she said, “Thus far neither of us has heard elf-song outside of Dreams, so perhaps something simple to start?”
Harry nodded. “Something without too power in your judgment, to judge the low end of the scale.” He smiled. “If the low end causes problems, then we know the high end would.”
"Mmm...there's a song on my Euro album that might work. It's an up beat love song. I was trying to do something a little more American as an experiment!"
"All right, then," Elaine said, "Let me just walk the circle to prepare myself before we begin." It wouldn't take long, just a few steps, but it was a meditative ritual, and the mental preparedness was as important as the physical aspects of the ring itself.
Harry nodded and stepped back out of the way, smiling as he watched her, eyes warm, and caring. Elaine filled his vision in more than one way.
Luthien looked between them, and smiled happily, as she waited for Elaine to prepare the circle. She brought up the music in her heart, and prepared her song.
Slowly, deliberately, Elaine walked the circle, extending her awareness to take in the strength of the circle, and Harry’s intention has he had prepared it, making herself ready to infuse it with her will as well. Stepping back, she nodded, and raised a shield around herself--a protective bubble of air and will and energy. “Ready?”
“I am ready,” Luthien said, and glanced at Harry. “Are you?”
Harry nodded, centering himself, letting his core sink deep, deeper yet, to where only Elaine could touch it. Then he nodded again, as he faced Luthien, and smiled. “Ready.” And magic coiled in his gut, cold and ancient as he waited.
Luthien positioned herself, and then closed her eyes. She hummed a few notes that throbbed with power. Her world, as any who loved it knew, was born from song. Magic formed from it’s power, and words had great meaning. So she sang, her voice filling the room as though it as an amphitheater, notes gentle and tone loving.
Harry let out his breath in a sigh, and felt the song take hold before he even had a chance to say or do anything. His mind and heart seemed flooded with the power of it, as magic thrummed with magic, albeit of a different kind. Joy and love filled him, exquisite, sheer, utterly with no holding back. He loved Luthien, and Elaine, and Cora, and Thomas, and everything!
Tears hit his eyes as the song filled him with a longing, something missing, something lost...
Elaine watched closely, though the music she heard was muffled, muted by cotton in her ears and the shield she held around herself. She could see the tears in Harry’s eyes, though, and they tugged at something deep inside her that had nothing to do with Luthien’s singing and everything to do with the way she felt about Harry. Whether he laughed or he wept, she would laugh or weep with him; it had always been that way.
Clearly, whatever he heard moved him to empathy. But still, she waited just a moment longer.
The song rose into a crescendo after the chorus, and Luthien was no longer singing for either of them. She was singing for herself, and for Elphaba, and pleading to whatever gods that would listen, to let the other woman accept her, and accept her wish to be mortal with her. Luthien did not wish to live forever. She thought it a curse, and not a gift, especially in a world of mortals.
Harry whimpered, eyes wide, that longing becoming too strong to bear, that strain filling him. HIs heart hammered in his chest, and his soul seemed to rise toward it. And he did the only thing he could. He sang. It was a counterpoint to Luthien’s song. It was a denial of inevitability, and it was a song of hope and love, and in it and within him flared a fire.
Harry limned with brilliant white flame, flame that did burn, as something Else answered his call, Someone else heard, and a note of approval answered his song.
As that Fire came to life, Elaine thrust her gathered will toward Luthien, pouring energy from the shield around herself into the ring of earth and salt and stone. The circle closed with a snap, cocooning the singer within its bounds. Elaine’s ears popped, and she swallowed, glancing at her partner even as she focused on holding the circle.
“Harry?”
Luthien's music abruptly cut off. She blinked her eyes to clear them, and brought a hand to her mouth.
Harry sagged as the fire cut out as abruptly as it lit, and he stumbled, his mind clearing abnormally fast. He spoke one phrase, eyes flicking from Luthien to Elaine, and a smile on his face.
“There is yet hope in the world.” And his voice echoed for a moment, as if two voices spoke, and then?
Then Harry fainted.
Elaine stood, frozen for a moment as that Other voice shook her to the core of her being. Perhaps Luthien’s voice had reached the heavens after all.
She sprang to action again when she saw Harry collapse. Noting that Luthien was no longer singing, the wizard woman scuffed a foot across the salt line to break the magic circle, then rushed to Harry’s side; checking his vitals, and for any visible injury. Had that holy fire burned him? “Talk to me, Harry.”
“Oh god...” Luthien slowly stood, staring at Harry.”Is he all right?” She had healing power, she knew, she just had no idea how to use it.
Harry took a deep breath then, suddenly awake, and groaned. He cracked open his eyes and smiled at Elaine. “Hello, gorgeous.” He shifted and groaned. “I feel like a mac truck hit me, going eighty.” he winced and blinked away tears and then glanced at them both. “What happened? I remember you singing, and the feelings rising and knowing I had to do something, and then... nothing.”
He swallowed, and coughed. “I think I strained something.”
“You...” Elaine stammered, glancing from Harry to Luthien and back. “Your lips started moving, like you were singing along, and the next thing I knew, you were doing an impression of Moses’ burning bush.” She touched his forehead, then moved to grab him a glass of water. “There was this Voice that spoke through you, when the singing stopped. It said, ‘There is yet hope in the world.’”
“There is always hope in the world, as long as there are people to carry it within them,” Luthien said, fervently.
Harry nodded and sat up slowly. He groaned. “At least whoever it was, they were using classics?” He was trying to be flippant even as he was seriously disturbed. His dreams lately had included things that made him wary of the idea of possession. Very wary.
"Like you can complain about the classics," Elaine quipped, picking up on Harry's need to retreat into insouciance, and trying to keep her tone light. "Mister Staves and Firebolts." She smiled fondly. "anyway, I think Luthien's song has reached Whomever it was meant to reach."
“It wasn’t a failure,” Luthien assured them. “We proved I can move people. And I think I know what we can do to … not move people when I think.” For one, she was certain that a lot would be lost in translation in digital recordings. Life shows might be another matter entirely, but perhaps that wouldn’t be a bad thing, to move people to love and joy at concerts.
Harry stuck out his tongue at Elaine, grateful to her and grinning after. She always knew what to say. Then he smiled to both of them.
“I am sure there are filters that can be done. For sure, there must have been some at the recording studio, or else the producers might have proven they have hearts.” Harry quipped it, and then smiled. “And With Elaine’s help, I might be able to make you a portable circle, so to speak, to help diffuse some of the effect.”
Elaine nodded. Given the time and the resources, she was sure they could do anything if they set their minds to it. "You have a beautiful gift, Luthien. We'll find a way to make sure you can continue to share it."
“Thank you.” Luthien came over and hug them both in turn. She was profoundly grateful, and would have to think of the best way to thank them.