Lithêl sighed, staring into the cold, clear water, fingers pulling through and disrupting the reflected stars. Although she'd admitted that she would be unable to aid their progress for several days and had been worried that Beatrix wouldn't allow her to accompany them any further, she hadn't taken into consideration just how much power Beatrix had gained. No rowing was being done at all, but because the boats were now 'enchanted to glide through the water as if they were birds' as Galadriel had ended up putting it, they were moving at a fairly fast pace. She snorted. Poor Galadriel was probably having fits trying to figure out what possessed her to say that.

"We're landing for the night!"

At Boromir's cry, the boats lurched onto the shore quite suddenly, throwing everyone out and, although the Fellowship could think of no reason for this, Lithêl began laughing. Perplexed, they studied her for a few minutes before accounting it to some extreme amount of pain from her wounds and continued setting up their camp. They obviously didn't realize how terribly funny it was that Beatrix didn't have as much control as she thought. That was all right though. It might be better they not know. Only Beatrix began to have slightly more suspicious thoughts about their newest companion. Really, when she thought about it, she had no reason of keeping the girl with them.

"Why are you here?" she asked testily as Boromir helped Lithêl off the ground where she still lay from the fall from the boats.

The girl returned her gaze with wide eyes. "I am following my lord steward until our paths part at Minis Tirith." She paused for effect. "Are you not heading in that direction? The way you have gone so far leads there, does it not?" She bowed her head. "However, as you are the obvious leader here, I will obey whatever command you bestow upon me."

'Frodo' nodded, satisfied. "Indeed, it seems like our path is to Minis Tirith, but in actuality it is to Mordor to destroy the one ring, a weapon of great power, 'ere Sauron wields it against us."

This was the moment she'd known was to come. Beatrix was testing her loyalties, of course, but also how she thought. Lithêl drew a deep breath and gave a sharp nod. "It's a fine goal, to be sure," she started, unable to help herself. Luckily, she'd skipped out on the pirate's accent and so it was not noticed by the imposter. "But it seems to me that if we are able to destroy this weapon"-'Frodo's' eyes were glittering as he anticipated her answer-"then we could do better than prevent Sauron from overcoming Middle Earth. We could be the ones to wield it and destroy him."

Gandalf overheard and shook his head somberly. "Your goals would begin as innocent as thus, but soon you would begin to crave more power. Banish those thought from your head now, for before too long the ring will begin calling to you."

Lithêl put in place an innocent mask over her face and glanced quickly at 'Frodo', then stared. It was there. In the fall, the ring had fallen from the hobbit's shirt and was hanging in plain view. Lithêl tried to look away, but she could hear it. It was in her head-begging her to right the timeline by taking her rightful place as its bearer. A hand clamped down upon her shoulder, shaking her out of the trance.

"Greater than you have fallen to its power. Do not look at it, nor covet it, for it brings naught but destruction," murmured Aragorn. Not bothering to notice whether she would heed his words, he stalked over to 'Frodo', reprimanding him for displaying the ring so. Three words into his tirade his eyes glazed over and he stumbled away, mumbling incomprehensibly. Lithêl tried to appear nonchalant about the oddness of the situation, as none of the others were remarking on it. Once Aragorn was gone, 'Frodo' turned to enter the forest, motioning for Lithêl to follow. She did.

When they were a few hundred yards in-far enough that no one else would hear, but not so far they would get lost, Beatrix turned to her true form. Lithêl had to force herself to seem surprised and gasp, but she backed up instinctively, ready to run. Beatrix seized her wrist. "Wait-I will not hurt you."

Lithêl was skeptical, but forced herself to calm down. Beatrix didn't know who she was, not yet. With any luck it would remain that way, but not if she gave away that she knew Beatrix. "Who are you?"

"My name is Beatrix." The 'Sue fingered the ring lovingly. "I am an enchantress of great power, but I have been weakened by that fellowship of men. I must cling to that other form to prevent more harm from befalling me."

Lithêl tried to nod understandingly, but there the ring was. The one ring. The one...

"-Bring it to Mordor, of course, but I won't drop it into that volcano thing. Instead I'll have to gain control of Sauron. That one might be a bit harder than the rest. Will you help me?"

Lithêl blinked, unsure as to what Beatrix had said, but recognizing the look in her eye. "Of course, m'lady."

Giggling, the impostor resumed her form as Frodo and skipped down to the water's edge to play with Boromir, who was resisting the ring far better than he did in the books.

"Lithêl!" She turned to face the bushes, which were wriggling quite a lot more than they should have been. Out popped the real Frodo's face, along with Farothor's, both of which which were grinning.

"Is that her?" asked Farothor. The other two nodded quickly. "Then let us remove her presence from this plane of existence."

Frodo nodded eagerly, not wanting to carry the ring to Mordor, but likeing even less the idea of what his impersonator would do with it. Only Lithêl looked away.

"What is wrong?"

Lithêl glanced at Farothor, then at Frodo. "I - there's nothing I can do now. She has to stay until Mordor, then we can take the ring and throw it to the fire."

The canon characters were flabbergasted. " But - but why?" questioned Frodo.

"Everything's so messed up, I'm afraid you won't be able to make it to that place. Many will die that should not." She bowed her head. "Gandalf at this point should have fallen into the darkness. The fellowship should have received parting gifts and lembas from the Lady of the Wood. And. . . . and what should be about to happen is something I'm not sure I could allow."

"What?"

She just shook her head. "Much that once was, is now lost, and much that is now shall never be again."

The two didn't seem to understand her meaning, so she dropped it, smiling wistfully at them. It was amazing how quickly Frodo was recovering from his time spent with the ring. She enjoyed seeing him as he should have been. 'Maybe Beatrix is right. . . at least partially. He shouldn't have to carry that burden. If we do this. . .' She shook her head. The fate of Middle- Earth was supposed to be in Frodo's hands. Besides - what if she took the ring, brought it to Mordor, and then tried to keep it and had no Gollum to bite off her finger? Not that she wanted Gollum to bite off her finger, but it was the same concept.

"Frodo, Farathor. . . . You should leave now. I don't want her to discover you."

Frodo frowned, but walked away, motioning for Farathor to follow. Once they were out of range of Lithêl, Frodo grinned. "Follow me."

*** As Lithêl already half-expected, Boromir survived the battle against the Uruk-hai. Strangely enough, the hobbits Merry and Pippin were allowed to be taken away, perhaps because of Beatrix's lack of attention to them. Lithêl seriously doubted if they gotten to have any say thus far in the story. Unfortunately, once their absence was noticed, she was swift to proclaim that she would follow. Had someone asked her, Lithêl would have said that Beatrix just wanted to see Helm's Deep and Minus Tirith. Faramir would be there.

As to how Boromir had survived, it was not clear. Several of the fellowship insisted he was not, and even Boromir believed he was merely a ghost until Beatrix, using her persuasive 'Sue powers, taught them otherwise. Bored, Lithêl wandered to the river, where their boats were still lying tipped over. She blinked. Two figures were already there. She blinked again. It was Frodo and. . . . Sam? But wasn't he - no, thinking back, she hadn't seen him for a while, since before Boromir 'died'.

"Frodo?"

The two hobbits didn't hear her, and now she saw why - Frodo was in a boat, and moving across the river. Sam was attempting to follow. She held her breathe, hoping that canon would hold true in this case.

It did. Frodo plunged his arm into the water, grabbing the other and pulling him up from almost certain drowning. They glanced back quickly at her, then continued rowing to the other side of the Anduin.

"But. . . . how? Wasn't Beatrix controlling. . . ?"

"Sam's love of the ringbearer has righted things once more." Aragorn turned to face the 'Sue. "She will notice the ring's absence soon. You should leave before then."

"Where?"

"Follow them - you, for now at least, seem to be the only one who is not swayed by its power. Hurry and protect them and the ring from her. Prevent her from returning them."

Lithêl nodded, morphing back to Akki's shape. With one last glance at the ranger, she disappeared through what seemed to be a rip in the air.