Hey, I hope you all enjoyed the first chapter and here's me firing the next one at y'all. Enjoy!
x-x-x
Anya and Tara moved closer to each other under the powerful gaze of the group of creatures that had silently ambushed them. Whatever they were, these creatures had the most beautiful human faces, the only noticeable difference being their pointed ears. No, that wasn't accurate, the beauty of these creatures was inhuman, no mortal could be this beautiful-It was other worldly. And it wasn't just their appearance that set them apart from humans, their presence was somehow different. Perhaps it was the precision with which they held the bows trained perfectly on the two young women without a fault?
After one of them spoke, which immediately eased Tara a little considering they might be able to talk their way out of the situation, Anya became a little braver and took the tiniest step in front of Tara. Like a motion detector, the bows were even more strained after her slight movement was unwelcome. Anya slowly raised her hands "Whoa there!" She said "I'm not doing anything, please don't shoot. We're…uh…"
"My companion and I are just travelers, we're human" Tara cut in when Anya seemed lost for words. As she stood slightly taller than Anya, she placed a hand on the former demon's shoulder in order to calm her down a little. She wanted answers and it seemed the best way was to cooperate with the dangerous creatures holding the dangerous weapons "Honestly, we're simply lost. Can you please tell us, what is Rivendell?"
The auburn haired creature who spoke first raised one of his brows "You do not know of Rivendell? It is the home of Lord Elrond, of elves" Both women did a double take at this as if he had just told them the Slayer was right behind them. Elves? He waved his hand and the rest of his followers slightly lowered their weapons "You claim to be mortals? Yet you are so strangely dressed, unlike any mortal I have seen. These are troubled times and many spies of the Dark Lord pass throughout the world"
Already feeling a million questions forming at the tip of her tongue and trying to absorb so much information about elves, mortals and a Dark Lord, Tara raised her hands in a similar manner to Anya to clarify the most important part "We're not any kind of spies; I said that we are lost travelers"
"Perhaps you are and perhaps you are not" Spoke the auburn haired elf with his tone back in place "Only Lord Elrond will know what to do with people who foolishly wander around the woods of Rivendell. You will come with us, strange ones or you will perish"
"What? Hey buddy-" Anya began, taking a step forward but silenced under the bows that were raised once again.
"We will follow you" Tara gave Anya a meaningful look that said it was better to be quiet and live rather than dying almost as soon as they were revived. When the smaller of the two nodded in understanding, they followed the group under careful watch through the endless curtain of trees.
x-x-x
"I can't believe this, ten minutes in this place and we're already gonna be prisoners for life" Anya was fidgeting with her hands from her spot on the bench and giving nervous looks to the elf stationed to watch over them until someone arrived to question them.
"I don't know, this doesn't look like such a bad place to be a prisoner in, it's so beautiful" Ever the optimist, Tara was still looking at the unimaginable beauty of Rivendell. She thought that it had looked to be as such from far away but once they had arrived, it definitely struck her that they were in another world. Nothing on Earth was as beautiful as the mountain forests that surrounded them.
The white, marble-like rock of the mountains gently shone in the afternoon sun while the rushing water from the nearby waterfalls and rivers glistened like diamonds. Then there was Rivendell itself, where the very last intricate detail of the buildings looked like they had been carved from the rock itself. Statues were scattered in many places, so finely crafted were they that it looked like they had been the living beings themselves encased in stone, and ivy gently climbed everywhere so that everything blended together. It seemed like the most peaceful place in the world to Tara.
"Well, you never know" Anya shrugged, suppressing her own amazement at the natural wonder that surrounded her.
To their left, two figures suddenly emerged from beyond an archway. Two men. Or rather, an elf and a tall, elderly man. The elf was dressed in deep red and brown earthy-toned robes that barely moved as he walked, such was the grace of an elf. Though his face was stern, like all elves he was still handsome despite obviously being older than many of the elves they had seen so far. The thing that stood out the most about him to Anya was the silver, diadem-like headpiece that he wore which signified his importance.
"Lord Elrond!" Their guard stood even straighter if it were possible "These are the strangers that were caught close by" But even this guards eyes wandered over the old man standing beside Elrond, just as Tara and Anya's "You have arrived Gandalf"
The one named Gandalf looked tired and ragged, like he had returned from a horrible place and hadn't seen any peace in a long time. For a few seconds, Anya dreaded that this was another captive and his fate would be theirs. But the way their guard was looking at the old man in the pointed hat with such respect, as well as the fact that he was registered as just having arrived, made Anya realize that it was unlikely. Gandalf's eyes which were weary only seconds ago fixed on the two women who were now nervously looking between him and Elrond. Unless it was a trick of the light, the smallest smile danced across his face and his eyes gained a new brightness.
"Oh" He turned to Elrond "You have some interesting guests"
Elrond was now looking between Gandalf and the women "You say you are not spies but I have never seen mortals such as yourselves"
"We have already said, we're travelers" Anya crossed her arms. How many more times was she expected to repeat herself pointlessly?
"Where is it that you travel from?"
"From far beyond here" Surprisingly it was Gandalf who spoke up, something which both Tara and Anya were grateful for as they were completely clueless on how to answer Elrond's question. When Tara locked eyes with the old man, they seemed to tell her that he knew more about them than anyone in the room "They are no spies, I can assure you. Their people are a dwindling city not far from the Iron Hills in the east. So few of them are there that it's a surprise for even me to see them, not that there were many of those men to begin with" Whatever this man was saying, it seemed to be convincing Elrond. A small gleam had passed over his eyes, one too quick save for anyone but Gandalf to notice; a brief look that suggested he knew Gandalf wasn't telling him the entire truth. Fortunately for Anya and Tara, he was at least satisfied for the time being.
"And you would speak for them?"
"Yes" Gandalf gave them a smile "They are no more spies than you or I, no doubt these young women were simply fleeing their homeland in search of the world around them. It does not surprise me that they know so little of the world after heaving been so closed off from it"
"Uh, yeah, we were looking for a better place to live and we got so lost…" Anya trailed off, unsure of what else to say.
"It is just as Gandalf says, we mean no harm to Rivendell" Tara finished off with a smile.
"How is it that two mortals managed to travel so far in these troubled times" Elrond looked between the two of them once again, though this time he seemed more curious rather than suspicious.
It was Anya's turn to come up with an answer "We might not look it but we're more powerful than we appear. We have ways of defending ourselves, these are dangerous times afterall" She added vaguely.
"Yes, they are indeed" Gandalf added "I am afraid that I must rest for a while now. Frodo has not arrived yet?"
"No, Arwen had left to search for Aragorn not a day before you came to Rivendell. If Aragorn has found Frodo, then Arwen will bring them back" Now that the conversation was turning to subjects that Tara and Anya didn't dream of understanding, the two of them looked between each other. Were they cleared of being spies? What would happen to them now?
"Good, good" Gandalf said, snapping the women back to them "Tomorrow morning, after we have all rested, I wish to speak to both…" He paused realizing that he did not know either of their names.
"Anya Harri-" Anya paused, the smile briefly leaving her face. Firmly replacing it with another, she continued "Anya Jenkins"
"I-I'm T-Tara Maclay" Tara was torn between looking at the old man with slight admiration and concern for Anya.
"Such strange names" Gandalf remarked with amusement "In the morning I wish to speak to both of you" And just like that, the old man was leaving back through the archway from which he had come.
Elrond directed the elf that had been watching them "Bring them to beds so that they may rest" And without giving so much as another look he too walked, or almost floated rather, back the way he had arrived.
The elf then turned to walk in another direction through another archway "There are some beds which the Lady Tara and the Lady Anya may use" He waited until Anya and Tara were following him.
"Ooh, we're being called Ladies now" There was now heavy amusement playing around in Anya's voice and Tara couldn't suppress a giggle. Yes, if it was the two of them together, they'd get through getting accustomed to this world somehow.
x-x-x
When the breeze woke Anya the next morning, she was tempted to call out to Xander to close the window or ask if Andrew was sneaking around the rooms again. But when the sound of rushing water and a peaceful stillness rushed over her, Anya cracked her eyes open. She wasn't in Buffy's house, Xander wasn't anywhere in sight and there was certainly no Andrew about. All she could see was the outline of a taller curvy woman standing in the archway leading into the room, silhouetted against the morning sun and the beautiful material used as curtains bellowing around in the gentle wind. She was also aware that she had the most comfortable night's sleep she'd had in a long time.
"Tara?" She caught the attention on the witch standing, admiring the view. Tara had been up long before Anya, too excited and bewildered to sleep longer than she needed to. The morning rays had caught her quickly and the curtains that danced around in the slight breeze had been beckoning her to get up. She had looked over to see that Anya was still in a deep sleep on the opposite bed and so she had quietly snuck out of her bed to watch the sunrise. Somehow, the beauty of the place had caught her and she ended up being rooted to the spot a long time after the sun had risen.
"H-Hey, Anya, sleep well?"
"Better than well considering we're stuck in another universe with no hope of returning home" Anya sighed "Hey, Tara, I was thinking about something before we went to sleep. If we're in a different universe, does that mean the rules we're used to don't apply?"
"What do you mean?" Tara cocked her head to the side.
Anya rolled her eyes as she willed herself to get out of the bed. Usually Tara was the one who used her head all the time but since they had arrived, she seemed to be so dreamily caught up in their surroundings that Anya's mind seemed to working double time. "I mean, what are the universal rules here, like if there's such things as elves, does magic exist here? Do we still have our own abilities or have our bodies changed to fit with the 'rules' here? Because I don't know about you but I liked my body the way it was" Her hands clamped around her breasts as if to accentuate her point.
Tara seemed to contemplate what Anya had just said "Well, I haven't really tried using magic since we got here, I completely forgot about it to be honest. But if the rules of using magic are different here then I'm afraid of what'll happen so I'm gonna wait until after we talk to Gandalf, he seems to know a little about what's happened to us, I'm sure of it. Until then, no magic, I don't want it to effect me the way it used to with Willow"
"I'll say, I can't deal with another 'Dark Willow' on my hands" Anya then realized her mistake when Tara spun around on her toes to look Anya squarely in the eye. Something in her stomach told her Anya was hesitant about talking about Willow and now that she was wearing that guilty look on her face, Tara was sure of it. Something had happened while she was gone. Something to Willow.
"What do you mean by that?"
"Tara, sweetie, there's some stuff that I've gotta tell you about after you died. It isn't pretty so brace yourself"
x-x-x
Somewhere between calming a nearly hysterical Tara and trying to contain her own tears at the memories of what had happened, Anya recounted the events between Tara's death and her own; Dark Willow, the First Evil, Potentials, Buffy's plan to stop the First and also Willow moving on to forming a relationship with Kennedy. However, Tara didn't seem too surprised at that part. As soon as she heard that it had been almost a year since her death, she'd actually hoped that Willow wasn't holding on and grieving, especially now that they were never going to see each other again. Willow had been her world and she had been Willow's and the thought of Willow drifting around alone not only made her feel guilty but also made the ache in her heart sear with pain. Knowing that Willow was happy again and having the memories they shared now that she was alone in another world was all that Tara had. And she had always been good at moving forward with only what she already had.
"I can't believe she killed someone" Tara kept her hands over her mouth. Somewhere during her explanation, Anya had wheeled the young witch to sit on the bed when she looked pale and began swaying. That piece of information, more than anything had struck Tara numb and make something rise in the back of her throat "I knew that magic was too dangerous for Willow"
"But she got past it!" Anya clapped Tara on the shoulder in her own uncomfortable and awkward way "She was very well behaved with magic after that. Now, please stop crying, salty eyes are making me feel uncomfortable. I would greatly appreciate it if you did since I lack both the knowledge and the will to comfort you. I can go and see if I can find some alcohol if you'd like"
Tara only shook her head, thinking heavily about the burden that magic had caused on her and the people she knew. How could she ever dream to use it now? It couldn't happen, even if she was able to use magic.
"So, I was right" A wise old voice spoke behind them and they both swivelled to see Gandalf standing in the archway to their new room "You two do not come from this world, I sensed it as soon as I saw you. You were brought here by very powerful magic, magic I have not seen in an age, yet you seem to fit somehow. I cannot say I know much more but I imagine you must be feeling weary and afraid. Please, allow me to formally welcome you to Middle-Earth, you are most welcome"
"So you did know?" Anya stood from her spot of kneeling in front of Tara and joined her friend on the bed.
"Yes" Gandalf was leaning a wooden staff "Though I must say, the world from which you came sounds almost as dangerous as it is here"
"I was gonna ask you, what's all this about…" Anya sat up straight and put on a mocking stern voice as she mimicked what she saw to be an elf "Troubled times, dangerous, Dark Lord and blah, blah, blah" Though her imitation had earned her a chuckle from Gandalf and a trace of a smile on the distressed Tara, it seemed Gandalf was confused by the use of the word 'blah'.
"There is an evil growing in the south, in the land of Mordor" Gandalf looked between them gravely "The Dark Lord Sauron is returning to the world after he was thought to be destroyed and he seeks the One Ring, an object which granted him great power in the past and would ensure his dominion over every race on Middle-Earth" Though it was still a little confusing, both Tara and Anya felt a chill run up their spine at the mention of the name Sauron and the One Ring, a slight tingle even.
"Well, does anyone know where this ring is? How about you just, I dunno, destroy it?" Anya said almost impatiently.
"It was found, by the most unlikely person imaginable" Gandalf nodded "And is on its way here in the hands of Frodo Baggins, a hobbit of the Shire. A council will gather to determine what will be done with the ring"
"A h-hobbit?" Tara spoke up as she raised a confused eyebrow "You mean, like a dwarf?"
"No, dwarves are usually about the size of a hobbit and prefer to live in mountains, hobbits are probably one of the most peaceful peoples of Middle Earth, and they very rarely likely to leave the Shire. Which is why I said that the ring was found by the most unlikely person; it was a hobbit who also found the One Ring many years ago in the hands of a creature named Gollum, a hobbit named Bilbo Baggins. He is currently here in Rivendell as we speak if you would wish to meet him" Gandalf motioned with his staff to the outside. Immediately Tara's eyes followed the movement of the staff and Gandalf noticed "Do you feel magic, my dear? I heard Lady Anya say that you use magic too, in your world you were a witch. I am, in simplest words, a wizard"
"I thought so" Tara nodded, confirming that she did indeed feel the magic that was emanating from the staff "But I'm afraid to use magic here, I don't know what the consequences would be"
"My dear" Gandalf's face immediately took on a grandfatherly look "Magic is not a burden in this world, nor is it something unnatural. Magic is what makes up most of the world; it is a part of every living creature, both good and evil. Magic is not an evil, only those who choose to use it so are evil. I do not know how magic worked in your world but it is not something that can control an individual here"
"But that means…" Tara trailed off as a scary notion crossed her mind.
"If Tara can still use magic, then she doesn't have to worry about the magic becoming addicting like it did back in our universe" Anya rounded on Tara with wide eyes "You have to try it Tara, go, right now" She urged. Tara, however still looked terrified by the idea of it, how could magic not have a limit? What kind of crazy world was this that magic was allowed to be used with so little care?
"Anya, I can't-" But this time, Anya cut her off by tightly grabbing her hands and putting on a slightly more assertive tone.
"Listen Tara" She frowned "We're not in our world anymore whether we like it or not and we're just going to have to get over that. In our world people have to be careful about how they use magic because it doesn't come naturally and they get carried away with it, it was made that way for people like Willow who need a limit on their power. People like you who are so careful with it need to embrace it in a world like this. Maybe that's one of the reasons we were sent here, so that you could discover your own true power without worrying about things like consequences, besides you're far too righteous to misuse it anyway" The former demon added with a smile.
Tara was still biting her lip nervously but she shook off Anya's hands "Okay, I'll try"
She began to mutter a simple spell under her breath after she reached for a feather that had fallen out of her pillow. If all went well, the feather would begin to float. Smiling, she closed her eyes as she completed the spell and then opened them again only to see that the feather hadn't moved. A rush of disappointment coursed through her, after Anya's encouragement, she was beginning to think that maybe it would have worked after all. So she couldn't use magic here after all, now Anya would be let down. And now Tara was completely defenceless in this world. The disappointment was replaced by slight frustration when she thought about how useless she'd now be.
Sighing and reaching out to walk past Gandalf to get some air, she brushed against his staff and it was almost like the anger she was feeling was made real. She felt it suddenly burn through her entire body, focusing on the annoying feather still held in her hand. Within seconds, all the energy rushed to that spot and the feather began to smoke at first before it was set aflame by Tara's literal anger towards it "Oh, oh, oh! Oh no!" She quickly dropped it and began to step on it to put out the fire.
"I do believe that was magic my dear" Gandalf chuckled.
"What did you do to it?" Anya bent down and examined the charred remains of the feather.
"I don't know" Tara looked bewildered "I tried to make it float using a spell I knew, and it didn't work. I got a little frustrated, just a teensy bit, and when I touched that staff" She pointed to the staff, afraid to touch it again "It was like the anger became fire and 'poof'! Feather on fire"
"It would seem that you still have the ability to use magic, and I feel that you have yet to show your power" Gandalf observed Tara "But it seems like you cannot use magic the way it was used in your world, as your gods and incantations do not exist in our existence. Yet you managed to do magic when you touched my staff. I believe that you would have your power no matter which world or universe you are in but you can only use it in the way that all magic is used in that place"
"So what does that mean?" The two young women said in unison.
"It means that with training, you can come to use the magic of this world as you wish" There was an amused look now playing on the old wizard's face "And as long as I am in Rivendell, I am willing to teach you, to instruct you about the ancient languages and the magic that flows through our world"
"You mean like school?" Anya looked daunted by even the thought of learning ancient languages to learn enchantments. Tara, on the other hand, had a sudden glow on her face. A wizard was offering to teach her how to use the magic she wanted to understand!
"That would be amazing!" She clasped her hands together in an excited manner "When could we start?" Anya held back a laugh at how eager Tara suddenly was to learn magic. It was pleasant to see her enjoying her freedom to use magic.
But Gandalf never got the chance to answer the excited child before him as the sound of hurried feet and shouting in the distance caught their attention. Stepping out of Tara and Anya's room, they saw a woman more beautiful than any they had yet seen, an elf, hurrying in their direction. Her large blue eyes were somewhat distressed and her dark brown hair was disheveled. She bore a long scratch on her cheek as well "Arwen?" They heard Gandalf whisper in confusion.
"Frodo!" She shouted once she spotted Gandalf "I have brought Frodo but…He has been wounded by Nazgul!" The one named Arwen was looking more troubled by the second. Tara and Anya registered the shocked look on Gandalf's face and then turned to look at each other. Wasn't Frodo the name of the guy who was meant to be bringing this all powerful One Ring to Rivendell?