Mana ngwen polne mai náne [Unfinished - Discontinued]

Upon hearing his nephew’s confession, Cáno couldn’t look away from his face. The face that turned from the usual smiles into a sour grimace. It was disheartening. Seeing his cheerful nephew look lost. Cáno could do nothing but hug and hold him. The child – he would be one, even when Enyo had his own family, to Cáno at least – hugged him back, and let him brush his hair away from his face. The air in the room seemed to change. From the mostly cheerful and happy one, into a more sombre, dark one. Just like that. In a minute, smiles faded and their worry returned.

“What do you mean, Náro didn’t recognize you?” Ina’s voice broke the silence. Cáno glanced at his eldest sister, who was standing next to Meda, hand on their eldest niece’s shoulder. “Is it the head wound?” Ina’s voice sounded broken, and it took all his willpower to not march over where she stood and hug her. Enyo needed reassurance too.

Speaking of his eldest nephew, at his chest, Enyo slowly moved out from his hug, and Cáno could only note how tall the nér, his nephew, already was. If it wasn’t for Naryo, he would be the tallest. But it was unlikely any one of them would be able to outgrow him. Naryo was destined to be tall. Possibly the tallest quendi he ever saw, and ever was.

“I don’t think so. He recognized everyone.” Enyo’s quiet voice was a yell to them. “He had no problem following my instructions, or the ones mityaruni gave him.” He chewed his lower lip, and Cáno gently placed his hand on his shoulder.

“Enyo, if you don’t want to share it-“

“He didn’t answer back through ósanwë.” Enyo blurted out, and Meda sucked in a harsh breath. Cáno could only look around the room helplessly and hug his nephew. “It was, as if I was speaking to a wall. Like, he wasn’t there at all. But his fëa never left for the halls. Or else we would have been greeted by Námo.”

Cáno hummed as he watched the others. This revelation was weird. He was happy that his brother was fine. Doing better and wasn’t close to dying now… But what Enyo said made him fear for Náro. His brother, some would say he was eccentric, while he would only roll his eyes. Náro liked to invent things, and he could be caught up in his projects but he was always there. After some things have been cleared up, and Náro would let them in, talk to them, they have been doing just fine. So why? Why did this happen now? Why did it have to happen in the first place at all?

“I think we should visit him.”

Cáno blinked up at Mahtan. The smith, while he wasn’t his father, and was closer to his elder brother and was more his father, was still someone he looked up to. He had treated him with kindness, and he didn’t felt pressured at all. Mahtan let him do things, experience them first hand and later would tell him why they turned out the way they did. If he knew the answer. And he never once blamed any of them. For anything. Both Ingo and Fíno were glowing when Náro and he started to take them to the smith. And even when only Náro took to smithing, Mahtan didn’t mind.

“I think ammë is with him now.” Enyo mumbled. “Maybe mityaruni and haruni could shed some light on this.”

“You did good Enyo.” Vanimë reassured him. “I’m sure things will turn out to be fine.”

“Náro was always the stubborn one. And he loves all of us dearly.” Ina smiled at their niece and nephew. Her eyes, the same one Náro had and their mother, Míriel did long before them, shined down on Meda. “He is also a strong one.” Yet the worry didn’t clear from her eyes.

“And he has us too.”

Cáno absentmindedly nodded at Lalwendë. “He does. And we have him.”

The clattering of the pans got stronger as the door to the room was opened again. Behind the heavy oak door stood Indis and Tanondile. The two nís, who had a mischievous light in their eyes, earning a groan from Mahtan. The brown-haired sculptor snickered at her husband’s expression and winked at Indis. Suddenly, Cáno wanted to run to his brother and hide.

“It seems like Náro will have a feast.” Indis smiled, yet something was different. Cáno shared a look with his brothers. “I think we should clean up the house. While Náro won’t be able to dine with us just yet, maybe tomorrow we could all visit him.” Her movement seemed off. More guarded and forced. Like something wasn’t right.

“Enyo dear, are you alright?” Tanondile pressed her hand against the boy’s cheek. “You look pale dear.”

“Is Náro fine?” Indis stopped in her movements, and even Tanondile seemed scared. Mahtan was leaning against his hands that rested on the table. His red hair curling around him and to Cáno, he seemed like a predator. Waiting for the perfect opportunity to ambush its prey and feast. It was chilling.

His eyes darted around the room, between the two nís that came in. And when neither would answer, he was the one who broke the silence. “We know that something is not right with him.”

Indis sighed and Tanondile hugged Enyo. “He is… Different.”

“How much? Is it- Was it the wounds?” Meda stood too, but couldn’t step away from her aunt. Ina looked pale, almost ghostly. “I know they were bad. I saw it. Mityaruni…”

“It’s not that.” Tanondile confirmed Enyo’s words. “But something else.”

“Ósanwe?”

The nisi shared a look. “What we are about to say is to be a secret.” Indis began while making sure the children in the other room weren’t listening on in them. “Neither of us wants a handful of elflings crying because of not understanding this situation.”

When they nodded, Tanondile nodded towards the table. “Sit. Please. It will hard enough for us to understand.”

“Is it that bad?” Faniel clutched her metal bracelet. The one their inventor brother made once she reached her majority. The first piece he made in his new forge. And Faniel never took it off.

“We don’t know yet. It could have been the fever-“

“He doesn’t have one mityaruni. He is healthy despite his…” Enyo gestured towards his torso. “Injuries. I’d say he never even got hurt but…”

“I know dear heart. I know.” Clouds sat out in Indis’ amber eyes, and Cáno noted how much his mother’s eyes seemed to dim. Her usual amber eyes always shined in the lovely shades of the stars Varda made. The same lovely stars they frequently watched together. But now those eyes, the very same ones Vanimë and Ingo shared, were dull and pale. Not there at all.

And he sat. Besides his wife who hugged onto his arm. Who held Meda’s hand and was the light in Cáno’s eyes. His eyes wandered around, landing on his mother. He breathed in, and found the air to be too cool. Burying his nose into Anairë’s hair, Cáno kissed her head. Caressing a thumb around her knuckles that were turning white. She had gripped his sleeve with such force, but he didn’t mind. He didn’t mind holding onto Faniel either. Their youngest sister looking worse then Enyo and he was already a pale one to begin with. He sat between Finrún and Eärwen, the Falmari nís gently moving her hand up and down on the boy’s back. While Meda held onto Ina and let her grandfather rest his hands on her shoulders. Lalwendë was next to Ingo, the two of them having their full attention on the two nís at the head of the table, while Vanimë was next to Faniel. On her other side.

“As you all know, or… If Enyo told you as much, Náro is awake.” Tanondile began, looking to Enyo for clarification. “He had said… Many things.” Tanondile glanced at Indis. But when it seemed the Queen had nothing to add she continued. “We sent Enyo out and he did confirm our suspicions.”

“What suspicions?” Ina grew scared as time passed. Her panic now affecting Cáno as well. What was happening?

“Náro… or Fëanor, his fëa…” Tanondile tried to speak but her words got caught in her throat.

“W-what’s with his fëa? And who is Fëanor?” Ingo leaned forward, fingers digging into the hard wood.

“Yonya…” Cáno wanted to cry. The pain in his mother’s eyes was terrible to look at. “His fëa is not his. It’s gone.”

Cáno’s breath was barely able to escape him. It hitched and he felt suffocating. Like someone was dipping his head under water and held it there for minutes. Like he couldn’t surface because something kept dragging him back. Like someone sat on his chest and was pushing everything out of him.

In an attempt to disprove his mother, he reached out. Tried to reach out to his brother, tried to get Náro’s attention but… It wasn’t there. His thoughts, they crashed against a hard wall. Finding nothing. Just like Enyo had said. Like Náro was gone but not truly.

“This can’t be…” His voice was but a whimper and he swore he saw the scared look in his brothers’ eyes. “Náro can’t… He can’t…”

“He isn’t dead yonya. A fëa is resting in the hröa. It’s just that… The fëa is different a bit.” Indis tried to calm her son down. Gentle hands burrowed into his hair, and Cáno looked at his mother. “Náro, our Náro is fine. He is alive, breathing and living.”

“But his fëa! What if, what if something happens?”

“Ingoldo, my darling. Your brother is a stubborn one.” Indis smiled. At least tried to sound sure of her statement. “I’m sure the Fëanturi will have an answer for us. They will help us. And Náro will be fine.”

He has to be. Cáno added mentally. Still, the missing bond… It felt wrong. He missed the gentle humming in his mind. Missed the overexcited brother that would unconsciously wake him in the middle of the night with his ideas. Missed the groan from Finrún when it happened, missed Ingo’s amusement and mischief. The sisters worry, joy and delight Missed their interactions. So much. And in these past two weeks, he had barely talked. He was trying to get to Náro. And he knew he wasn’t the only one. For he felt the fear that would engulf his siblings. And Ina looked worse each day.

“He does remember certain things too.” Tanondile sat. Fingers wrapping around an apple. “It’s just that… His memories are different. Things that yet need to come. Need to pass. Or so he thought.”

“Wait… Thought? Memories?” Finrún wrinkled his forehead. “Ammë, what- What are you talking about?”

The nissi shared a knowing look. And Cáno’s stomach dropped. Something wasn’t right. Something wasn’t right in the way her mother and Tanondile shared that look. Something happened, and neither were willing to share it. Like this secret could cause harm when spoken. And it lead him to wonder just what it was. Just what did Enyo miss when he was sent out? What else is there to be told? Beside the missing fëa. Or the switched fëa. And those memories? Or thoughts? Did something happen that the Valar were unaware off? How could this happen?

“Anë, what happened to Náro?” Mahtan sounded… Worried.

His wife sighed and closed her eyes. “We believe, that he is from a different time.”

Cáno sucked in a sharp breath. That can’t be. “What? How?” His voice was almost nothing, yet Indis managed to catch his words.

“We don’t know. We only know…” His mother, his always cheerful mother, looked lost and empty. “We only know that, he has memories. Of different times, and… That his fëa is- It’s him. The fëa is Fëanáro, just… Not ours.”

What?