Disclaimers: I do not own The Lord of the Rings, The Chronicles of Narnia, "Star Wars", and "The Haunting". They belong to J.R.R. Tolkien, C.S. Lewis, George Lucas, Disney, and Shirley Jackson. All other canon material belongs to their respected owners. All original material belongs to me the authoress of this fanfiction story.
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Welcome to the first part of my fanfiction mini-trilogy, The Chesapeake Manor, part of my Second Age Anthology, my Origin Series, and my Long Series. :) I know I said there would be more excitement, but we'll see where this fanfic mini-trilogy takes us. Sound good? :)
Enjoy. :)
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The First World is destroyed. The Universe is created by the Emperor-beyond-the-Sea, with his son Aslan's help. So many lives were at stake. So many were lost. The time Before the First Age and the First Age had seen so much peril, so much hurt and sorrow, so much pride was shown that the price was paid instead.
The Shadow Empire rose and fell, as Qua'ra Holdo, now called Scar-ra, predicted. Alindor, the Golden House Cat who was a Druid and a Shapeshifter, too, reigned in the Land of Talking Animals, before his untimely death towards the end of the First Age, leaving his title passed on throughout the next generations.
But of those who suffered the most, the dragonoid Parker Dooley proved this to be true. As Maranguan, Parker formed the Shadow Empire, even the idea for the Shadow Squad was his own. As he became whole and good again, Parker lost his dear, darling human wife, Eliza Bowler-Dooley, to a Force Power brawl against the Sith Emperor Vitiate, upon which Eliza's life was lost.
Parker was devastated. But then, he found closure after looking up how Vitiate died by the Hero of Tython, a Jedi Knight, with whom he met later on. It gave Parker some needed closure, after everything he endured.
After the time Before the First Age ended, Parker visited the Chesapeake Manor in the First Age with his great-grandson, his lookalike in his human-hobbit form, Terrence Dooley. If only for a short time, for now we must return to the Chesapeake Manor during the Second Age. And that is where our story begins.
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Parker observed the three-tiered buttermilk frosting cake on the table. A white cover had been placed over the long table, as well as two long benches set on opposite sides of the table. An assortment of other long tables with chairs and benches had been placed throughout the Portal Realm's pavilion, giving everyone gathered the chance to celebrate, for today was Parker Dooley's one hundredth birthday party.
Parker was a dragonoid with a thin, muscular, humanoid, lizard-like body and a dragon-like head. His scales were smooth and in a light reddish color. His short snout had a tipped end pointed up towards the sky. He had yellow cat-like eyes, long, furry red ears, three-fingered frills, with black tips towards the end of the frills, resting on the sides of his head, and two short, curvy, wavy grey horns. His black claws, resting on his fingers and his toes, were retracted, since he wasn't in combat. His black spikes ran from his back down to his medium-sized tail, which curled around his feet.
As Maranguan, Parker had red eyes with pinkish hues in the whites of his eyes. Burns, bruises, and long jagged cuts ran on his body, tail, head, and face when he was in his wicked/neutral state. As he returned to the light, returned to being good and himself again, the burns, bruises, and cuts faded away, as well as his eyes returning to their normal shade of yellow, but with a twist: swirling red mist flowed in the yellows of his irises as a result of being between the light and the darkness.
In his human-hobbit form, Parker looked like his hobbit brother-in-law Tobias, his great-grandson Terrence Dooley, and the gentle-hobbit, as well as his descendant, Frodo Baggins. Parker, in this form, had bright blue eyes, pale skin, fair elvish features, short pointy ears, a cleft in his chin, and soft, thick, curly dark brown hair resting on his head and the tops of his feet.
Something unique about Parker, since he was a shapeshifter, was that when he transformed, his clothes changed with him, fitting with the form he turned into. Today, he wore a blue long-sleeved shirt, a floral red waistcoat, maroon suspenders, and brown breeches. He was in his dragonoid form, but at least he looked dashing and he was impressing his human wife, Eliza Bowler-Dooley—a human woman, turned spirit, with brunette hair, green eyes, and pale skin, who was dressed in a blue country dress—who accompanied him on this special day.
Parker raised an eyebrow at Eliza, shortly before looking around the pavilion. Everyone he knew who was a spirit, with the exception of Frodo Baggins, the scarred lions and lionesses, and Aslan—all living beings—attended his party. He thanked them all for coming, before turning to his cake and blowing out the three blue numbered candles that said "100" at the top of the cake.
Cheers and applause were given. Parker smiled, kissing his human wife on the top of her head, while rubbing her right arm for support.
The cake was cut into several pieces. Each piece, with its vanilla and chocolate swirled pound cake, were passed onto the spirits, Frodo, Aslan, and Parker. Parker ate the first piece of his cake, delighted by its chocolatey-vanilla texture from the pound cake and the creamy buttermilk frosting. It truly was a cake he wanted to continue eating, if he could.
As he eventually sat down to eat the rest of his cake, thoughts raced across his mind. He was a hundred years old, still feeling like a young dragonoid. Did it mean he would live on for centuries? Would he ever get the chance to live that long? He had to wait and see where Aslan would send him to, if such a thing were possible.
Parker peered over his shoulder. Frodo joined him, also carrying a piece of Parker's cake on a small plate. The lad smiled to the dragonoid, clearly enjoying himself. Who could blame him? Parker couldn't. He nodded, figuring it was too good a day to pass up some cake.
"Happy birthday, Parker!" Frodo said, smiling at the dragonoid.
"It certainly is," Parker said in return, turning his gaze back to his cake, still sitting on the table. He looked around, spotting Aslan speaking with Tobias and Eliza. "I wonder how Aslan's doing?"
"Why don't you ask him?" Frodo said, curiously. He looked at Parker, telling him, "This is your party. You have the right to speak with Aslan."
"Maybe I will!" Parker said, finishing eating his cake, before getting up and approaching the Great Lion of Narnia. "Aslan, we need to talk."
Aslan faced him, determined. "Parker, I've been meaning to speak to you, too. You'll go with Frodo back to the Chesapeake Manor, after your party is over. The Second Age has begun a week ago for us, one hundred years into the Second Age for everyone else that's living outside this realm and in other in-between worlds."
"What?" Parker asked, stunned. He was at a loss for words. It was sort of what he wanted to ask Aslan, but this was too quick! "Aslan, you can't be serious! Don't I get a break?"
"You've had a break. Fifty years' worth in five weeks here, a full Age and a portion of the Second Age in the Universe," Aslan said, speaking the logistics of the timelines of the Portal Realm and the Universe. Parker tried doing the math, but nearly failed. Time was so complex, wasn't it?
"This doesn't make any sense!" Parker said, confused.
"Oh, trust me, it makes sense, when you look at things from a different perspective," Aslan said, calmly.
"So," Frodo announced between bites, "we're heading to the Chesapeake Manor? You sure Parker's not going to knock me out with another spell, remind me why we came to the Chesapeake Manor in the first place."
"You were after some salt, the last time we met, Frodo," Parker said, kindly.
"Which got dumped after you knocked me out! Now, Aslan had to send more salt to the Shire!" Frodo said, peeved.
"That's not how I remember it happened," Aslan said, calmly, remembering bringing the salt to Samwise Gamgee, Frodo's future best friend and companion, second into Parker knocking Frodo unconscious.
"Boys, please calm down!" Eliza said, trying to stop Parker and Frodo from arguing. "No more fighting! I have enough lookalikes to deal with for the time being!"
That sent Parker, Frodo, and their lookalikes into a fit… well, so far there was only Parker, Frodo, Tobias, and Terrence Dooley as the lookalikes who complained the most. The way they all sounded similar drove Eliza nuts! Well, at least their vocal tones were slightly different, or so Eliza could hear, as well as Parker's lookalikes' personalities could be shown from the way they spoke. She needed to figure this out. Oi! Did it have to be this way? Wasn't there a party that didn't need lookalike drama?
"Okay," Eliza screeched, preventing Parker, Frodo, Tobias, and Terrence from protesting further, "okay. I know you weren't arguing! Were you arguing?"
"No," Parker, Frodo, Tobias, and Terrence said in near unison.
"Would have fooled me if they were arguing," Terrence said, a bit annoyed.
"Yeah, it doesn't surprise me if Parker and Frodo weren't debating at all right now," Tobias said, his voice overlaying a bit with what Terrence was saying.
"We weren't arguing, were we Parker?" Frodo announced, getting the light red dragonoid's attention.
"Of course not!" Parker shook his head, facing Frodo. "We were just having a heated discussion, which may have well been about past events."
Frodo raised an eyebrow, shaking his head in an unsurprised manner. "It was in the past. Why are we discussing this again?"
"Why are there so many lookalikes?" Eliza asked Parker and Frodo, ballistic and freaking out. "It's difficult keeping track of you all, without screwing up!"
"Hey! It's not that bad, Eliza!" Tobias said, stunned.
"After all," Janet, a dark-haired woman with brown eyes and pale skin, pointed out, joining her husband Tobias, "Parker and Tobias are the first lookalikes. Give them some credit, Eliza. Tobias did say there would be more lookalikes who looked like him and Parker."
"Thanks," Frodo said, shrewdly. 'That solves my problems."
"It's not that bad, Frodo," Parker said, serious. "It could be worse. We could end up meeting two lookalikes who are, in fact, twin brothers."
"Actually, that's where you're heading," Aslan said, calmly.
"What?" Frodo asked, confused.
"Come again?" Parker asked, alarmed and confused.
"Where you're going, you will meet twin brothers. The time of the twin lookalikes has come and will remain throughout the Third Age," Aslan explained. "Of course, it doesn't matter what you do, you and Frodo are heading to the Chesapeake Manor to meet with these twin brothers."
"What's their names?" Frodo asked, munching down on the rest of his cake.
"You must discover that for yourselves," Aslan said, happily. "Now, finish up and meet me by the portals, Parker and Frodo. The time has come for you to meet the next two lookalikes." He walked away from the pavilion, not looking back to see who followed him.
"Well, that ended the party," Tobias said, curtly, smiling at Eliza, who rolled her eyes.
"Right," Parker said, turning to the crowd of spirits and living beings, creatures, and animals, telling them, "finish eating and drinking the last of your food and beverages. The party is over. You can take the leftovers home with you."
"What will you do?" Eliza asked, alarmed.
"I'm going to meet with Aslan," Parker announced, turning to Frodo, "if Frodo will come with me."
"Of course. Anything to get out of this realm," Frodo said, finishing eating his cake, before throwing away his trash and following Parker back to the portals, where Aslan stood.
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The Portal Realm was an in-between world, the world Parker, Frodo, the spirits, and the scarred lions and lionesses were currently staying at, along with the other shapeshifters and anyone who came with them for the third Shapeshifter's Migration, a migration that traveled throughout time, space, and the Ages.
A purplish-dark blue sky loomed over the Portal Realm's horizon. The colors brown, blue, green, purple, and yellow rippled across the grassy field and mountainous region. Some portals floated in the air, while other portals stayed to the ground. The portals' rims were in different shades and colors, while the glassy surface had rippled water or had swirling mist in the glass surface.
Spirits were alive in this in-between realm, allowing them to stay alive for however long they wished before moving to other realms and worlds, returning to their spirit forms an instant later.
As Parker and Frodo met with Aslan, the Great Lion of Narnia presented them with a new portal, a portal with a red and black rim revealing a manor with a large field bordering the Land of Dragons and the Land of Talking Animals. The manor looked worn with age, but also newly furnished.
It was the Chesapeake Manor: a manor where spirits moved to and fro throughout the house. Only Parker heard a rumor that the manor wasn't really haunted, which was a relief since Parker wouldn't have to deal with troublesome spirits, making the manor live up to its name as a haunted manor.
Aslan looked at Parker and Frodo, telling them kindly, "After you."
"Parker, you go first," Frodo said, getting the light red dragonoid's attention. Parker stared at the gentle-hobbit, determined.
"Why do you want me to go first?" Parker asked, curious and confused.
"Well," Frodo was about to burst out in anger. He gladly would have done so. Something held him back, unfortunately. He didn't know what. Still, he answered as best he could, while his anger showed. "So, you don't knock me out again! Remember Parker?"
Parker was stunned. Frodo knew what he was thinking. That scared him, too. Did Frodo have the ability to read minds? Parker could read minds, read a person's thoughts, emotions, and know what they were thinking. It made him wonder if Frodo could sense things, too. Then again, Parker was already finding Frodo an interesting gentle-hobbit.
"Right. Thanks Frodo!" Parker said, a little annoyed by his reaction. The light red dragonoid turned to the portal, darting through it and coming out the other side before the iron gates of the Chesapeake Manor. He looked back at Frodo as the gentle-hobbit arrived via portal on the manor's land.
Frodo looked at him curiously. Now, what was their plan?
"So, what do we do now?" Frodo asked, joining the light red dragonoid by the gates.
Parker stared at the iron gates, sighing. This was not what he had in mind. What was he about to experience this time? He hoped he wouldn't have to knock anybody out!
"I don't know, Frodo," Parker breathed in and out, sighing a second time. "I don't know." He turned to Frodo, telling him with confidence, "But this time, we'll do it together, not apart."
"Right," Frodo said, staring at the gates in confusion. "Together. Right."
Parker hoped they wouldn't run into any trouble, but this was beyond them. Oh, who were they going to meet here this time? That was an excellent question, one he felt sure would be answered in due time.
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Thanks for reading. :)