Once Upon An Age
Disclaimer: I don't own anything to do with Tolkien's work but I do own anything that isn't real, etc. Basically I own anything I thought up. Don't know if this idea has been used before but **** happens. (Evil grin).
"Synopsis: It's the year 2004 and Elves do still exist among the humans of Middle Earth though nowadays it's just called Earth. No one remembers the history of Middle Earth and no one remembers about the Elves. However, Arwen still lives and she wants to lead the last Elves to Valinor, long since lost to them but she meets a young lady in her search who bears the blood of Isildur and of Aragorn and Arwen in her veins. Is she the bringer of hope to the last of the Elves? Only, to make things more complicated, everyone knows of Tolkien's Middle Earth and the Lord of the Rings… but that's just a book to them."
Chapter One: Through the leaves.
Arwen stared up at the sky in sadness. It had been many, many long years since her beloved Aragorn had left her and she had born her grief ever since. But now the world had changed and the Elves had been forgotten… aye, even Middle Earth had been forgotten. There were places like England and Australia and France and Russia and China… and the powerful America where once there was the Shire and Rohan and Gondor and Mordor and many other places as well as open seas.
The world had changed and she was still there, a living memory of times past. Arwen and the last few of the Elves who had never gone to Valinor still resided in a secluded place in Wales. They had lived through Egypt and Rome and Persia and through the Hundred Year War and the Industrial Revolution and the French Revolution and the time of Napoleon as well as World War One, World War Two and many other wars. They had seen humans all but dye out only to come back and start from the very beginning again.
From stone knives to steal swords and wood bows to muskets and cannons to guns and now to nuclear warheads and missiles as well as electricity and the Internet. Even in their haven the Elves had kept up to date with the time and with technology.
However they kept their selves separate from others as much as they could. A small few had been born to them in all that time and they numbered but three hundred strong with Arwen as their leader. She was still the Evenstar of her people and the years had not touched her, that was something she would love to tell her father, Elrond, should they ever meet again.
A few years ago, a man known as J. R. R. Tolkien came to the safe haven of the Elves, their sanctuary in Wales. He wished to settle down for a short while to write a book. Having heard of their place and that they opened their doors to scholars, he came to get ideas for his book.
And walked away with copies of Bilbo and Frodo Baggins original books; There and Back again: A Hobbit's tale. And The downfall of the Lord of the Rings and the return of the King. Tolkien was also gifted with copies of the Red Book and the Silmarillion.
One day he would be one of the most famous authors for having written "The Hobbit" and "The Lord of the Rings" trilogy… as Arwen had intended. It did not matter how the history of Middle Earth lived on, so long as it lived.
But little did Arwen and the Elves know that a young archaeologist would stumble upon obscure pieces of history which would lead her to their doors in possession of Tolkien's personal diaries and the books that they had given them.
Or that she would be the mirror image of Arwen.
"I will find you father…. I promise that I will find you and when I do, I shall tell you of all that changed because you would not have seen it happen." Arwen whispered to the fading stars in the night sky above her.
~*~*~*~*~*~
Her name was Ellette Arwen Eolande McCollum, a pure mouthful as many often told her. She generally called herself Elle McCollum and very rarely told anyone that her parents hadn't ever wanted a daughter and had decided to punish her with a name that was simply crazy.
She was an archaeologist who specialized in obscure areas of history, which suited her quite fine. Elle was on her way to England from the Himalayas, where she had just made a discovery that puzzled her to on end. It was just as bad as the books and diaries she had been sent by some nameless person.
'Could Tolkien have gotten his stories from somewhere else?' She thought, reading through the old and worn copy of 'The downfall of the Lord of the Rings and the return of the King', which claimed to have been written by Frodo Baggins and copied by an Elf named Delaney.
It was just a little to strange for her. After having had the diaries and books authenticated and having their age discovered, she was even more confused. The diaries were definitely Tolkien's as the age worked our right and she'd had the writing authenticated against a letter that Tolkien had written to her father.
Laughing, Elle remembered the stories her father had told her as a child about Tolkien. The two men had met in England at a conference and had shared a few interests. But that was neither here nor there she figured, it didn't affect what she would find out about this.
"Oh stuff this!" She muttered, closing the book and putting back in her bag. "I'm going to try to sleep before I go insane. When I reach England and meet up with Andre this will be all sorted out."
And having finished out her discman from her bag, Elle promptly placed the earphones in her ears, turned the music on and settled down to fall asleep with her head against the window.
*****
"Excuse me miss. Miss, it's time to get off the plane." A stewardess was shaking her gently once all of the other passengers had gotten off.
Elle blinked a few times and rubbed her eyes, "Oh what? Time to go? I'm so sorry, I didn't mean to sleep so long!" She quickly got her things together and stood.
The stewardess smiled, "No problem, it happens all the time. We're quite used to dealing with this kind of thing. Hope you enjoyed your flight and will use our airlines again."
When she made it to the lounge, Andre was there waiting for her with her cases in his possession. He waved her over, grinning brightly as he always was. Nothing ever seemed to dim his cheerful expression.
"Sweetie! There you are. I was beginning to worry that you might have sent your luggage but not bothered to come yourself." He gave her a quick hug before leading her out.
"Oh gosh no Andre!" She laughed, "I fell asleep as I often do but this time, I was woken by one of the stewardesses rather than a traveling companion."
He shrugged, "It happens. I always find it strange that you can fall asleep so easily on a plane but when you're on the ground you suffer from such extreme insomnia. Well, it doesn't matter now."
"Did you get my letter?"
Andre looked around and remained silent until they made it to the car park. Putting her two cases in the boot of his BMW, Andre told her to get in. It was only when they were driving that he answered her question.
"I did get your letter and the files Elle and I have to admit that it does sound far fetched. However, you did say that the authentication came back positive?"
"It did. But that doesn't mean it wasn't bungled."
"Mark did it didn't he? It'll be true."
She shrugged, "You're probably right. But it doesn't make sense despite what I found in the Himalayas."
Curious, Andre waited for her to explain.
"I found something you're not going to believe. I found a cave deep inside a mountain where people have very rarely been in the last century and I found something that could point towards this whole thing being true." Elle told him. "I'll show you the photos when we get to your place."
"We're not going to my place." He replied.
Ellette frowned, "What do you mean we're not going to your place? Andre, where are we going then?"
"To Wales. I looked up that place you mentioned, 'The Sanctuary' and it's in Wales. I spoke to someone called Macayle and she said that we were quite welcome to come and visit. But then, I did tell her we are writing a book together…." Andre looked sheepish and his grin was a little wider than normal.
She paled. 'Wales! Oh good lord, we're going to Wales!'. Turned to face Andre, Elle growled, "You know I hate Wales don't you?"
"Yes I do and yes, I know also that your parents virtually abandoned you in Wales while you were traveling with them. But we're going to this Sanctuary place and we're going to find out how it was that J.R.R. Tolkien got his hands on those books and why he refers to the place as being the true Grey Havens." Andre growled back.
"I'm not going to forgive you for this Andre. Not ever."
"What did you find in the cave?" He asked, trying to get her off the point they had strayed onto and back to the original.
It was almost as if she were a bird ruffling her feathers, "I found the doors of Moria… I found the doors just as they were described in the Fellowship."
Andre glanced at her, hearing the strange tone in Elle's voice. Saying nothing in return, he fell silent and listened to the radio station that he had playing faintly in the background. She stared out of the window, thinking wild and crazed thoughts to herself.
"What if Valinor is just another name for someplace like Valhalla or Annwn or the Otherworld? Do you know what I mean?" She asked quietly.
"Are you saying that we could be dealing with mythology being reality at one time? That Middle Earth was our Earth at one point but we've just forgotten where it lay?" Andre responded thoughtfully, seeing the point that Elle was driving at.
She nodded, "Exactly. Now, being the mythology buff that I am, my bets is that Valinor is Annwn and that Numenor was once to be found in some place in Europe. We're talking about when the world was still Gondwanaland is the time I would pin it. But what physical evidence do we have but what I found in the Himalayas? And is it something I would want to expose to the rest of the world if it did turn out to be true and we found the evidence?"
"Never ever do that Ellette Arwen!" Andre exclaimed, "If something like that was told to the world, then who knows what could happen! But as it is, we would never be believed anyway. No, let us find out what we can and then go back to living our lives as they were."
Resigning herself to thought, Elle was unaware that she had fallen asleep again. It was only when Andre had stopped the car and was trying to wake her up that she realized. In her dream, she had been in the car reading while Andre drove silently but as always, reality can be deceiving.
"Did I fall asleep again?" She asked in surprise.
He laughed at her expression, "You were snoring for a while back there. I should have thought you'd have woken yourself up. But gosh, you must be tired. Come, let's get something to eat before finishing out trip."
They got out of the car and Elle looked up at the McDonalds building and shook her head, "How can you want to stop here to eat Andre?"
"It's the only place that's open at this time in the morning Elle so let's get something to eat and have a short rest before we keep going. You look so pale!" He muttered when he looked at her complexion in the light.
When they walked into the fast food building, there were a couple of people in there eating burgers and chips. Seeing the food made Elle realize how hungry she really felt. They started off by ordering large 'big Mac' meals. While Elle found them a table in the corner, Andre paid for the food before taking it over to where she was sitting.
"I hate the idea that I'm about to eat McDonalds but I'm so hungry it doesn't matter." She was munching away on her chips when Andre noticed something about her he had never thought of before.
"Elle is it just me or are your ears slightly pointed?" He asked softly, hoping she wouldn't bite his head off for that question.
Elle stared at him, her waist length black hair pulled back in a ponytail to show her face and her delicate ears, which had, as he had mentioned, a slight point to them. When she had been a child, her parents had always kept her hair cut short in a bob to cover the slight difference of her ears but when she turned thirteen, Elle had rebelled and started to grow her hair. Her eyes were pale gray, the color of distant stars and her face seemed almost timeless but for the small laughter lines. Hers was a true beauty and at thirty-five, Elle still looked twenty.
"Yes, you're right Andre. I do have ears, which have a slight point to them. What is your point?" She snapped.
He paused for a moment before replying, "Well what if it is true? Could it be that the blood of the Elves runs still in our human veins?"
"Are you saying that there could be some of use who are descended from those Elves who did not go to Valinor? Arwen for instance." Elle's expression changed from bitterness to thoughtfulness.
"Exactly!" He exclaimed. "That is my point. What if these people at this Sanctuary are Elves or at least, descended from the Elves?"
"It does sound a little far fetched though Andre." She shrugged, "But then, I do specialize in obscure history and mythology so I'm willing to take the leap and see what your thoughts lead us to. I'm going to be very curious about what we'll find in Wales and I do hope that it will not turn out to be a dead end because that would break my heart so. This is something that I am truly interested in now."
Andre nodded, "I agree. You've gotten me involved and now I'm drawn in, hook line and sinker. Like you, I hope that this turns out all right and we find something…. But what if they don't want us to know? What if we never leave 'The Sanctuary'?"
"It was your idea to go there Andre. I'll leave it to you to stop that from happening." Elle laughed, finishing her burger and settling back in the seat to stretch out her wary limbs.
"Well I suppose we shall find out soon enough Elle, my sweet. Let's hope we're made welcome when we get there." He shook his head.
