Author's Note: This story is multi-fandom, containing characters from not only the Inheritance Cycle, but also The Lord of the Rings and The Vampire Diaries. It is set in Alagaesia for most of the story, which is why I posted this in the Inheritance Cycle fandom, since the site didn't allow me to post this as a multi-crossover story. One thing to note here is that the timing might not quite make sense, as a result of all the different characters from different universes coming together.

Disclaimer: Any characters you do not recognize are mine, but everyone else belongs to their respective authors.

Chapter 1

"Pit-pat pit-pat" went the raindrops on the roof. The rain was complemented with bright flashes of blue-gold lightening, with booming thunderclaps added into the stormy melange. Charlotte went up to the window and examined the skies. She sighed, thinking, "It was supposed to shine today. Now I can't take that walk through the forest anymore." It was these days she did not fancy. In fact, they bothered her. The storm was not rare, yet it was not quite a common occurrence either.

That day had been like this too. The sky had been shrouded up in dark clouds, accompanied by constant heavy downpours, with not a sign of the sun. It was a Friday in May, 6 years ago, when she was 22. She had been having the time of her life with her then-boyfriend, Sean. She had met Sean in military college, at the RMC. He was a very handsome man, with a great sense of humour as well, which resulted in him having dozens and dozens of women craving his attention. His raven-coloured hair was usually messily strewn about, yet it seemed to have been put that way on purpose. It was more like it was styled that way. Many a gorgeous afternoon day, she had stroked his hair admiringly as they told each other stories of their lives, joked together, watched great movies together, and had picnics together. His hair reminded her of a room of chaos, scorched and marred by flames, only to realize that the flames were actually elegant and graceful. He had an impeccable physique too, which was expected from one of the top graduates of the RMC. His oasis-blue eyes always seemed to have so much depth and understanding in them. He was also a kind guy who was always willing to help others. He had seemed like the perfect guy… until one night, when he got too drunk at the bar. He was at the bar, downing and refilling the alcohol glasses over and over again. Charlotte was looking for him, as he had seemed very upset before, and when she found him, he was already in a very drunken state. She had said, "Sean. This is enough. Let's just talk it out, okay? Sean?"

Sean just looked at her with sad, downcast eyes and said, "I don't want to say it. I'm afraid it'll just make it worse."

Charlotte touched his arm affectionately and said, "Here. Let's go home and get you all cleaned up. Look, you've got wine on your shirt." She tried pulling him towards the exit.

Then Sean just suddenly exploded. "NO! You don't understand!" and pushed her away roughly. She fell to the ground. Charlotte got up and said, "Hey! Why don't you just TALK to me for once? Huh? Instead of just hiding everything from me. I'm your girlfriend. I'm supposed to know some of this stuff, aren't I?!" and pushed him back. Sean looked livid at being pushed, his emotions heightened over the effects of the drink, and said, "I CAN'T! After everything- no, this just isn't something I can do," and tried to kick her to the ground with a swift move.

Charlotte braced herself for the kick. For some reason, her muscles just froze up and didn't move to react to the kick. Normally, her martial arts skills would have enabled her to dodge, or to retaliate, but with Sean, she just couldn't do it. She didn't want to hurt him. However, the kick never came. She looked up to see another young man hold Sean's foot with his hand. The man was blond. He said menacingly and protectively, "Dare to hurt her again, and tomorrow, your pain will not be limited to your severe hangover."

Sean said, bewildered, "Who are you?" Then he looked at Charlotte and said, "You and him… you don't have a thing, do you?" He wore an expression of utter disbelief and betrayal.

Charlotte was quick to deny it. "What?! No! No! Just NO! And who are you to do the accusing anyway?"

The stranger just took Charlotte's hand and said, "Let's go."

Charlotte looked torn, like she was about to protest, but went along with the man, giving Sean a sad look.

Charlotte turned to the man. "Thank you, that was really good of you to do that."

The man said, "No, don't thank me. I just hate seeing that happen. Anyway-"

Charlotte's flashback was cut short by an impatient rap on her front door. Slightly disoriented, Charlotte shook her head quickly, as if to clear it, and shouted, "Coming!"

When she opened the door, her gaze was met by an annoyed-looking Caroline. "Ex-cuuse me! Do you know how long I've been knocking at your door?" Caroline said, raising her eyebrows.

Charlotte said, "Hey Care, sorry. I was kinda distracted by the rain. You know, it gets kinda loud sometimes."

Caroline's expression instantly changed to one of sympathy. "That again?" she asked, and gave Charlotte a supportive squeeze on the shoulder. "You okay?" she asked.

Charlotte said, "Yeah, I'm fine. They're just a bunch of thoughts after all. Six-year-old thoughts at that."

"Awww, you," Caroline said, and hugged her tightly. Then she pulled back and wore a feisty expression. "Look what I brought," she said in a sing-songy voice. She pulled out a bottle of wine out of her bag.

"Ooh, yum," said Charlotte, with an excited smile. "What's the occasion?"

Caroline questioned, "Hmm… must there be an occasion to have wine?" and winked. Then more seriously, she said, "Actually, there is. You know that special division we applied for a couple weeks back? Guess what? WE GOT IN!"

"OH MY GOD, YEAH!" Charlotte yelled. She was so happy. Her huge smile was replicated on Caroline's face. They linked hands and did a silly little dance together, out of pure joy.

The special division they had applied for was for people whose job was to fight against evil supernatural forces, and bring them down. A few years ago, a little after she became an elf, Charlotte realized that a lot of the world's havoc was actually wreaked by supernatural creatures. As someone who knew about them, as well as someone who wanted to help improve the world, she jumped at the idea.

The two girls spent the evening happily chatting about what jobs they would receive, what missions they would be responsible for, how many people they would help, how well they would defeat the 'baddies', and how much of a difference they would be able to make on the world, little by little.