Adventures of John: Twist in Time
Chapter 1: The Ring Bearer
Things have been pretty quiet in Arendelle. Hans is still on the lamb, but at this point I think that a lot of people are starting to agree with me that he won't be found. Zane and Alana are a true delight, the two most beautiful babies I have ever seen. Our friends from Corona came for a visit, little Dawn squealing in laughter as she saw the two newest royals. Rapunzel and Eugene still worry about what they are going to do with their youngest child's magical hair, but they have decided, with a little help from Elsa and I, to wait until Dawn is old enough to make the decision for herself whether or not she wants to keep the hair. We are still getting letters from various kingdoms, asking about betrothals, but we have turned them all down. If our children are going to marry anyone, it will be for love.
In the ordinary world things are going… well, it's actually really boring over here in our universe. No alien invasions, no world-consuming horrors, just school, tests, and homework. Endless homework. I am really sick of the homework. Every time things quiet down I am content for a while, but it never takes long before I start going a bit stir crazy. I've gotten far too used to this whole "mortal danger" thing. Luckily I didn't get too crazy before the next adventure was thrown on me rather unexpectedly.
. . . . .
School was just ending for the day, and I was sick of it. Mondays are the worst. I was ready to flop down into my bed and fall asleep until Friday, but of course that wasn't going to happen. I was probably going to end up eating an apple while I played one of the old computer games I had found hiding around the house. But before I could do that, something strange happened. Preoccupied as I was, I didn't see the object until I stepped on it. Looking down, I saw a large strip of leather with smaller strips coming off of it. Picking it up, I examined it to find that it was something that you would strap to your wrist, much like a watch, except there was no clock, only a large piece of leather covering a metal contraption with several buttons.
I opened to leather case to get a closer look at what was inside and a note fell out. I picked up the note, which was written on old, yellowed paper. "Hold on tight," it read. "No, seriously, hold on," it continued. It was signed simply "Jack." This wasn't anything Frosty Boy would have sent me, so was it from my old first mate over in the Void? And what did I need to hold on to?
I was suddenly jerked off my feet, holding on to the device as hard as I could as it sent my flying. For a moment I thought I could see myself falling through a vortex of blue energy, and then it was gone and I fell onto the ground, grass and dirt filling my mouth.
. . . . .
I spat the soil out of my mouth, pulling myself to my feet. I found myself in the middle of a forest, gnarled old trees all around me. Wiping myself off as best I could I trudged through the forest until I finally came to a road. Well, road is a generous term. It was a dirt path that made its winding way through the forest, but it was much wider than most such paths, so I suppose one could call it a road if they wanted to, though it would be a bit of a stretch. I began to walk up the path, hoping to find civilization sooner or later. I strapped the thing to my wrist, looking at it intently. There was only one thing I knew of that looked like this and could teleport someone. This was a vortex manipulator, a particularly uncomfortable form of portable time travel, which led me to a guess as to the "Jack" that left it for me. But why give me his vortex manipulator, and where had it sent me?
The sun set as I walked, continuing down the road. Suddenly I heard the sound of running feet, and before I could move out of the way a quartet of sprinting midgets ran straight into me, knocking my legs out from under me and sending the five of us sprawling to the ground.
"We're so sorry sir!" one of them exclaimed, picking up his pots and pans which had fallen out of his over-stuffed pack. "We really must be off!"
I stared in shock as I saw who was speaking. The first thing I noticed were their feet, which were covered in thick, curly dark hair. The one with the frying pans was fat and had a head of curly sandy-colored hair. "Samwise Gamgee?" I asked. That means… Turning around I saw the fourth member of the party, completely ignoring the pair of mushroom-hording jokers that were next to him. "Frodo Baggins," I muttered. "It is truly an honor to meet you."
"Who are you?" he asked, pulling himself to his feet. "Your clothing is… strange."
"Yes, I suppose it is," I replied with a chuckle as I stood up, brushing myself off. I snapped my fingers and my modern clothes were replaced by leather and chain mail armor, much more subtle than my usual red and gold. "Better?"
"Are you a wizard?" he asked in wonder.
"Or an elf?" Sam added.
"I am not an elf," I told him. "I suppose that wizard would be an accurate term for what I am, though I am very different from your grey-robed friend Gandalf. I do, however, know about your ring, and the danger it carries with it."
"Would you take it?" he asked, pulling out his necklace, and the ring which dangled from it. Now, it is every nerd's dream to hold the One Ring, but looking at it, I felt more than simply the desire of a nerd to hold an item from his favored fandom. As I stared at it, I could feel it pulling at me, at my very soul. I saw what I could do if I possessed the ring. I could bring magic back to earth and still keep it safe from the creatures of magic. I could create a permanent portal connecting Earth with Arendelle, allowing me to be with Elsa my whole life, and not just half of it. I could take control of the governments of the world from idiots like Barack Obama and dictators like Kim Jun Un, creating a better world where education is quality and everyone is safe while maintaining their freedoms. I could stop the senseless war between Order and Chaos and ensure both security and freedom for the entirety of the universe.
I jerked my hand back, suddenly realizing that I had begun to reach for the ring. I closed my hand into a fist, breathing deeply as I did so. The allure of the ring was greater than I had imagined. Frodo didn't realize how lucky he was to be a simple hobbit. The ring gave him no power other than the ability to turn invisible. The One Ring increases the power you already have. If I were to have the ring and all the power it could give me, I could literally make all my dreams become reality. The cost however… I couldn't even imagine the true horror of the cost. I stepped back, shaking my head.
"This is your burden to bear," I told him. "And so you must bear it until the end." Suddenly there was the sound of hoof beats and I realized what point in time this was. These four hobbits were on their way to Buckland, running from the Black Riders. Not only that, but I was disrupted the timeline. I had somehow ended up in the past of Middle Earth and could have changed the outcome of the War of the Ring. "I have to fix this," I muttered.
I sent a burst of energy into the woods, sending trees falling to the ground until the path was completely blocked and anyone that wanted to go past would have to trudge around through the woodland shrubbery. Then I grabbed each of the hobbit's heads in turn, erasing their memories of our encounter. Finally I vanished into the woods and the hobbits continued on, oblivious of my tampering or of the fallen trees in the forest behind them. I felt a chill come over me as there was the noise of a horse's shrieking neigh. Looking back I saw the Ringwraiths, the Nazgul, riding on their black steeds. I could feel their rage as this obstacle in their way, but they did not sense my presence.
They began to make their way around the roadblock, and I prayed that I had slowed them down enough to give the hobbits enough time to make it to the Buckleberry Ferry, but before I finished the prayer I felt the sucking feeling again, and the vortex manipulator on my wrist sent me through space and time yet again, the destination as mysterious as the reason I had the device in the first place.