The Valar really really suck. So I guess I had better prioritize retrieving the Silmarils for you, if failure is damnation and success is Doomed.

That'd be nice of you. 

I am not abandoning you to this mess. Sun above, what a catastrophe.

You could call it that. Thank you.

Remember what I said about judging myself by my own standards instead of other people's? I couldn't live with myself if I walked away from something like this. She gives a mental sigh. Speaking of the Valar's failings, your uncle thinks Mandos might act to prevent theft once the possibility comes to his attention. So instead of starting with your brother and working my way up my new plan is to get strong enough that failure ceases to be at all likely and then grab a whole bunch of people all at once. Illia and I are composing a list. Your brother, then your cousin, then your grandfather, then the people who died on the ice, then your dad--that part mostly to avoid offending your cousins, we plan to present the order as 'approximate,' I'm not planning to leave him languishing if it comes down to it--then the people who died in the recent assault. Of course this isn't intended to be comprehensive or final, obviously it's going to get edited some between now and the relevant time.

There's also everyone who died at Alqualondë, and in the other battles in this war.

Yes. At some point I'm going to have to weigh my likely capacity at any given point against the possibility that someone's died who knows what I'm up to, Mandos will be forewarned, and I won't be able to save anyone.

Who knows what you're up to? And we can commit to not going to Mandos when we die. The soul has a choice.

What's the alternative? You, Maedhros, Amrod unless I'm getting the twins' names mixed up and it's Amras, anyone any of you have told, anyone who overheard us when I was realizing the possibility at your fortress, Fingon, the King, everyone in that room where I was discussing it, anyone any of them have told, um, anyone who was at that one dinner where Illia brought up the fact that humans have same-sex marriage because our marriages don't involve soul stuff...it didn't initially occur to us to try to limit the information.

Alternative is to just ...wander. Morgoth can get a hold of you that way, and also it's supposed to be unpleasant, but if it wasn't forever...

I don't think information about human marriage customs will prompt Mandos to worry. Fingon didn't say anything stupid in response, did he? He's smarter than that.

I mean Illia brought up the resurrection thing at the same dinner, she clarifies. What do you mean by anything stupid?

My cousins are a little thoughtless, that's all.

Apparently it got awkward enough that Illia now refers to it as The Subject That Has Been Dropped to Fingon. Does that count?

With all due respect to your sister there's some stuff she should really just reserve judgment on. It sounds like she's figured that out.

I'm confused. I suspect I'm going to remain confused until I can put it out of my mind on the grounds that it's none of my business.

Good idea.

I'll talk to you when I get back or discover any more earth-shattering revelations I want details on.

Later.

And then the sisters can continue plotting until someone comes to get them for dinner.

Someone eventually does. "Is all well?"

"Illia told me about the Doom."

He nods. "It hopefully will not affect you two."

"I don't expect it to. I'm still horrified by the fact that it exists."

"We did some pretty terrible things that prompted it."

"I would have more sympathy with that--not necessarily any, but more than I do now--if Morgoth wasn't there needing to be stopped."