I wish I could say that I had a cooler origin story, I really do. A splitting pain in my side, death, something like that. Something dramatic and sort of... final about it. But no, my origin story is about as boring and clichéd as they come.

One day, about a week ago, I was walking through downtown Portland, OR.

The OR stands for Oregon, if you don't know. Sorry, I tend to go off on tangents a lot. It's a problem.

Anyways.

I was walking around downtown Portland. I was crossing Pioneer Square when there was a big flash of light and the ground beneath me kind of melted a bit. I remember falling and nothing after that until I woke up (presumably) several hours later.

Like I said, super boring origin story, I know. It's like something out of a 90s or early 2000s anime.

Oh, anime is sort of a cartoon thing from where I'm from. Moving pictures of people drawn with exaggerated features. It's kinda weird, I know. Pretty popular, though.

I should say who I am, huh? I'm Maria. Maria Duilach. I know, it's a weird last name. Apparently it's Scottish, which I'd explain but I really can't. My mum named me Maria because A. apparently it's a version of her grandma's name (Mairi, also Scottish) and B. apparently it can mean rebellion? I've only ever heard of it meaning things like loved or beloved, but that's just me.

Right, right, back to the origin story.

Like I said, I was walking through Pioneer Square when there was a big flash of light, I fell through the square itself, and then I remember falling a bit. When I woke up, I was in an inn of sorts. A middle-aged couple had found me somewhere in Chetwood and immediately brought me back to Bree, to their friend's inn. I don't remember any of this, this is just what they've told me.

Anyways, when I woke up I left the room I had been sleeping in and wandered around trying to figure out where I was until I ran into (figuratively) someone who worked for the innkeeper. They managed to find the innkeeper who immediately started asking where I was from. Nobody there had heard of Portland, OR. In fact, they thought I was a liar and perhaps a spy. A spy from where I don't know, but it took a solid day before they really started believing me. At that point they decided that they were very much out of their league with me and that they would need to counsel someone who was a tad bit wiser than they were.

So they took me to Rivendell, and that's where I've been ever since. Lord Elrond heard out my story, and while he treated it with skepticism, he does appear to be open-minded towards it.

See, now this is where the story gets really weird. Where I'm from, Lord Elrond is a fictional character - one that I've known of since I was... 6 years old at least. This entire place is fictional where I'm from. Bree, Chetwood, Rivendell, the whole thing. They all exist in a series of books by this guy named J.R.R. Tolkien. There's also a bunch of movies by this guy named Peter Jackson (movies are kinda like anime - moving pictures, but movies are more realistic than anime is). I've known these books my entire life. I can't count how many times I've read them or how many times I've seen these movies. Yet I've never read anything about a girl from another world suddenly appearing in Chetwood.

Lord Elrond is totally stumped about what to do with me. For the moment, I'm just staying here with him in Rivendell where I can't do any harm. Not like I'd be able to anyways - I'm not exactly a fighter. I was always more the scholarly type. I'm decent at throwing things (knives, javelins, I'm even decent at archery), I just don't think that I have what it takes to actually swing a sword at somebody or hack at somebody with an axe. I'd rather sit inside and read about it.

I've been here in Rivendell for a few days now. It doesn't seem like I'll ever be able to go home, not unless another bright flash of light and floor melting happens again. It wasn't exactly likely to happen the first time it did, so why would it happen another time? Unless Lord Elrond either figures out something to do with me or something pretty big happens, it looks like I'll live out the rest of my human life here in Rivendell.

A/N

Obviously this first chapter is a bit on the short side; I'll update it again hopefully within the next day. I really wanted the first chapter to focus a lot on Maria and establish her a bit as a character at first.

I should probably clarify a few things: she's explaining what things like anime are because she's writing to people of Middle-earth. Naturally they have no idea what anime is. Thorin & Co. will be showing up in Rivendell in the next chapter. Like I said, I wanted to really focus on Maria as a character in the first chapter to give a really strong starting point. More will be revealed about her as time goes on when she interacts with other characters.

Anyways, I hope you enjoyed this first chapter! Please review and whatnot. The next chapter will be quite a bit longer- I'm aiming for between 1500-2500 words.