[the phantom]

The morning sun rose slowly above the sea and crept across the decks of the many boats anchored in the Romenna harbor. Shiploads of elves had been arriving from Valinor and Beleriand alike, knowing that they would be welcomed with open arms by the many elf-friends that populated Romenna.

But though the locals were cordial and polite, many of them could not bring themselves to actually sport the colors of the elf teams- not when a team from just down the road was still in the tournament. Whatever bad blood existed between Romenna and Armenelos was not enough to overlook the fact that Armenelos was still the capital of their homeland, and the players were royalty. And it felt especially awkward to root against Elros, the first king of Numenor.

And so it was that, though the elves were treated extremely well, the stadium was certain to provide a home-field advantage for the lads from Armenelos, who had yet to give up a goal throughout the tournament, and had scored as many goals as any other team. Gondolin would have their hands full in the night match.

But the first match of the day was between Formenos and Tuna. Newspapers approached the game from many sides. Some focused on Feanor, and whether he desired to "stick it to" the city he had been banished from. Others talked of old versus young, with the original kings Finwe and Ingwe playing against the later leaders Feanor, Maedhros, and Celebrimbor. But the angle most often focused upon was that of Feanor and his parents.

How would they feel playing against each other? Feanor missed his mother growing up, and developed a strong double bond with his father. Would he really feel like competing hard against them? Would they? Would they be distracted? Would not Feanor relish the chance to see his mother work up close, and see where he had inherited some of his prodigious skill from? And would not Miriel wish to look upon her son as he played, so very proud of his abilities?

With these questions weighing on their minds, the full capacity crowd waited anxiously for Formenos and Tuna to take the field.....