I don't know when exactly I realized that everything was changing. I don't even think there was a set event that it happened. But by the time I started realizing the changes, and the feel of magic, it was way too late. Not that I'm even sure anything could've been stopped...or that I would've wanted to stop it.

So let's take a step back and go from the beginning. My freshman year had started at Marietta College in Ohio just fine. Everything seemed normal. At one point, I realized that I was far more outgoing than I had been, but I had thought it was from being in a new situation with new people. But that's only the start. People seemed to like me. I seemed to mediate more. I also seemed to be a lot shorter than I used to be. But that's probably because most of my friends were insanely tall. There were still plenty of shorter people at the school, but I didn't interact with them as much. And then the odd feelings started. I started to realize how my friends were feeling long before they realized they felt odd. I started to have amazing intuition. It was almost like seeing the future.

And then the portals opened.

At first no one knew what was happening. People just seemed to disappear off campus. They weren't answering their phones, the police got involved, and they couldn't find any evidence anywhere, and still people were disappearing. For days friends would stay in each other's rooms, no one wanting to be alone. Classes were cancelled, and still people went missing, room by room.

I was the last one left. I had been with a large group of my friends, we were all in my room, since my roommate and I had loads of food and a lot of floor space. I went to the bathroom which was only three doors down, and when I came back, they were all gone. That's where the story really starts.

That's when everything really changed.

I didn't know how to feel. A part of me was wondering if this was some elaborate prank. While I really doubted it, I was almost hoping everyone would jump out suddenly and shout, "Surprise!"

I figured since the people I really cared about were gone, there wouldn't be any harm in wondering around. Either I would disappear, or I wouldn't. If I disappeared, maybe I would find out where everyone was going, and if I didn't, I might find some clues to solve this...mystery.

Good gracious, I sound like some girl in a murder mystery…

I grabbed my jacket, even though it was an oddly warm November day, and wandered out of the room. As I stepped into the warm air, I realized I really had nothing to look for or to actually do. I went to take a step down the porch steps and found myself falling into a black abyss.

I couldn't scream. It felt like there was no air in my lungs. My arms were flailing in the air but there was nothing to grab onto. There was no light.

No end.

But then, out of nowhere, a great light swelled instantly right in front of me and I landed, with surprisingly very little force, on a patch of grass. While I tried to catch my breath, I rolled over onto my back, looking around at the sight in front of me: the foliage was a brighter and deeper green than I'd ever seen outside of my television screen. The sky was a clearer blue than Arizona in the summer. The air smelled sweet, like flowers and pine trees.

And there was a hoard of elves standing right in front of me, pointing sharp things in my face (they had pointy ears and looked like Gods so what else would they be?).

"Who are you stranger and what are you doing in our forest?" One of them spoke.

"Heck if I know! Where am I? Who are you? I swear, if I fell into the Lord of the Rings, I'm going to murder someone. This was not—"

"Gwyneth?" I was interrupted mid rant by a vaguely familiar voice. I looked around, jerking my head trying to find the source of the voice when a hand was placed on my shoulder. "I remember you being small, but you're a lot smaller than I thought you were…"

"Michael!" I spun around and attacked the hulking figure behind me, feeling tears well up in my eyes.

"Woah! Missed you too, but you're cramping my style…" he joked.

I pulled away and put my hands on my hips, looking at him as a mother would a child, and said, "Michael, we've talked about this. You only think you're cool."

"Oh, ouch! I can just leave if you don't want me here..." he sassed, starting to back away.

"Oh no you don't! These elves are ready to murder me, and you seem to be one of them so do NOT leave me alone with the sharp, pointy things!" I squealed, grabbing onto his arm and yanking him back. He laughed.

"They aren't going to kill you unless I tell them too...or it's self defense. So don't do anything stupid. But come on," he started yanking on my arm, dragging me through the ranks of elves, "You're most likely really confused so...hang on...how did you know they were elves?" He stopped us mid stride and looked down at me, looking a bit unnerved.

"Hello? Pointed ears? Kind of a dead giveaway if you ask me…" I said. He looked thoughtful for a minute and shrugged, before continuing his long strides.

"Michael, even on Earth I couldn't keep up with you and now there's another foot height difference! Slow down!" I yelled as I was awkwardly falling further and further behind. Instead of slowing down, he came right back, scooped me up bridal style and continued his walk...although it was more of a sprint if you ask me. "Michael! What is wrong with you! I'm too heavy, you're going to drop me! Put me down!"

"Oh please, you're the lightest thing in the world...no seriously, you weigh nothing. Why do you weigh nothing? Agaron!" Another elf with blonde hair came forward. Michael started talking gibberish (although, if I had to guess, it was probably Sindarin) and the elf handed off his bow and quiver, and suddenly I'm being passed from Michael to Agaron.

"What on this good Earth is going on?!" Unfortunately for the poor elf, I was not comfortable being held, so I was clinging to him like a baby.

"If you continue to squirm, I cannot promise I will not drop you," the elf said. I froze and looked up at him.

"...he talks...he talks the language of my people…" I started to grin like an idiot.

"Gwyneth, you're being weird again...and I'm not kidding, it's creepy how light you are. I'm stronger than I was before, but you're lighter than an elfling…"

"But Michael…" I whined, still not moving.

"Before we move any further, you should know that in this world, I'm not Michael...surprise! My real name is Legolas."

I slowly turned my head to look at him. If he weren't an elf, he would be blushing. He already looked awkward at my stare. "As in...Legolas? Legolas, Legolas?"

He rolled his eyes. "Now that we know you can pronounce my name...yes."

"But...how? When? What's really going on?"

I was put back on the ground as he held out his hand. "Come with me. Someone's been waiting on you. You're the last one to come through the portals for a reason...just don't ask me what that reason is. No one tells me anything."

He pulled me along behind him (a little slower than before, thank goodness) as we walked through the forest. Just as I was about to start moaning about "Dad, are we there yet?" we came to a gap in the close trees, and I could see our destination.

Peter Jackson got Mirkwood completely wrong. While the city is made of wood and has a giant fence-like thing running around it, it's definitely not as dark and devoid of beauty as he made it. The wood seemed to glow as if Lady Galadriel was inside. The trees surrounding seemed to lean away, giving the city as much sun as possible. The structures of the buildings (from what I could see) seemed to tower over the rest of the forest, which only added to the grandeur of the city.

"Wow," was my excellent reaction.

I heard snickers behind me.

"Pretty cool, huh? C'mon, we've got to get you inside," Mic—I mean Legolas said.

Still feeling utterly confused, I followed him inside, feeling the stares of many strange elves on my back. He never stopped, and never looked behind him. This was his domain now, where he was a prince, not a human earthling, someone that had to show confidence and authority at all times. He was an elf, which meant now everything was strictly business.

All work and no play.

When he finally did stop, it was just outside a very big and grand door. If I had to bet, I would say it led to the throne room. Either that or it's a bathroom, because that would definitely be something the elves would do to mess up the humans.

"Alright," he turned to look at me, his eyes slightly soft, "in you go. Good luck, deep breaths, and don't faint."

Well...that's reassuring.

I walked around him and pushed open the door on the right, and entered, thankfully, the throne room. It wasn't empty, but there weren't many people.

"Hello? I just appeared out of nowhere and Legolas said there's someone waiting for me?" I called to the people who were talking quietly in a far corner. I somehow heard a gasp from the woman over there, and she spun around, her hair flying around and hitting her face...her face that had a striking resemblance to my own.

"Minaiwen?" the woman whispered.

"Uh, sorry?" I was trying so hard not to be rude but this was all so weird.

"Ah," the man beside her spoke, looking and sounding so arrogant and annoying I would guess him to be Thranduil, "the princess has returned."

"Excuse me? I'm sorry, I have no idea what you're talking about…" I came here for answers, not to form more questions.

Suddenly, wings popped out of the woman's back. Not bird wings or angel wings, but fairy wings. "Welcome back! I know this must be very confusing, but I assure you, things will get easier. To begin with, I am your true mother. You were born in Middle Earth in a place known as Faema Forest. It is the home of all the Fae. Seventeen years ago, an evil came back into the forest, one we had not seen for a long time. It began to eat away our forest, and the Faery Light. You were only a year old, but possessed the strongest Light that anyone had ever seen. You were even more powerful than the Maiar, although in different ways, of course. The darkness saw this, and began to tear away at your life, forcing us to take action. The Maiar came to help, and found the only way to correct this would be to send you to another world entirely. This kind of magic was dangerous, but better that than have the darkness consume you.

"Your were sent to Earth, whether it is our future or another world, we are not sure, but it seemed safe. Then, when you turned seventeen, we knew it was time to start shepherding you home. Many races and many kingdoms sent delegates and volunteers to help in any way to bring you back. So we created the guise of a college in a small town, used a little magic to plant the ideas in some heads, and sent many people over to work on bringing you back."

"So Marietta never existed? Ever? And all my friends were just disguised and were really just bringing me back? What about their parents? Their friends? How did all that work?"

"Many of them in that extra year they spent there grew attached to other mortals. A few stayed and simply faked disappearing, and really just used some magic here and there to get away," my supposed mother said. "And as for your other friends, if I am not mistaken, they were quite excited when they came back through to see you again. Was Legolas not excited?"

"Valid point. This is still weird. And who are you really? Why are you here? Why was I so powerful?"

"Well…"she shared a glance with the elf that was still standing there, "Thranduil is your father. twenty five years ago, when we first met, we fell in love almost instantly. His first marriage was stately, and not out of love. Since he had produced an heir to the throne already, he felt more at ease to follow his heart, so here we are today. When you were born, i had gone back to our own forest, because that is the best place for my heir to be born. You are the princess to the Faeries. You are royalty on both sides. Your friends also mentioned a few things that I can explain: your meditation and empathetic feelings are from your elf side. Your short stature, intuition and social skill is from the Faery side. You will find many other things emerging as you learn about how to be an elf and a Faery."

"Not to be the bringer of bad news, but I don't exactly look like a Faery...I don't have wings for starters," I pointed out.

She rose a single eyebrow and seemed to look over my shoulder. "Are you sure about that?"

I looked behind me and sure enough, wings had somehow appeared. They were somewhere between bright and pastel colors; a swirling mix of blues and greens and purples, seeming to exude light. They were glowing and sparkling and I'd never seen anything so beautiful in my life.

"You will find many things start to change the longer you are here. Your ears will become pointed, your features may shift slightly, your power and Light will grow. It is all natural though, so not to worry." she smiled warmly and delicately, coming to stand beside me. "Welcome home, Minaiwen," she said, before pulling me into a hug.

I hugged her back, still feeling confused, but oddly at ease. I felt another set of arms wrap around me, and I shifted my head slightly to see Thranduil...er, my father...embracing my mother and I.

"Aww, group hug!" Michael's—no, dang it, Legolas' voice drifted through the room before a body slammed into all of us and we let out a collective groan, trying as a mass not to fall over. "So does my baby sister know everything now?"

"Why am I not surprised you lied?" I murmured.

"Is that really something you would have wanted to hear from me?" he asked just as softly.

"No."

"Good. By the way, there are a lot of letters coming in already by bird that are requests to visit. Ready to see everyone again?" my brother asked.

"Heck yeah!" I squealed.

Yeah, things definitely changed.

Alright guys, this is the beginnings of an idea for a story. If you like it and would like more let me know. If you have any idea for how it should continue, that's even better. I wrote this pretty quickly, but any feedback is also appreciated.

Thanks everyone!