"Josh! Josh, get up!" I shook my brother by the shoulder, trying to wake him up. There was a string of inaudible moans and groans before he managed to say something I could understand.
"Unghh, what do you waaant," he complained.
"Get up, Josh. They're gone."
"Who's gone where?" He mumbled, pulling the covers over his head.
"The company, they've all gone. Bilbo, Bofur, Thorin… Fili... All of them. Get up!" I hit him hard in the shoulder. Finally comprehending my words, he jumped upright from out of the covers.
"They're gone as in they left us?" He exclaimed, hopping out of the bed and throwing on his tunic and shoes.
"I've looked everywhere. All their things are gone from the courtyard. I… I can't believe it..." And I really couldn't either. I had woken just as the sun had come up and made my way to the courtyard to meet the company for breakfast. The entire time I had been going over my head what I would say to them, what I would say to Thorin. But when I got there, it was empty.
I had looked everywhere; the bathing springs, the training field, the kitchen, the gardens and courtyards, but I hadn't found a trace of them. Not until I ran into one of the Elves from breakfast the morning before, who told me that they had left through the valley just before the sun rose.
I found Josh's room quickly, needing any kind of reassurance, or some explanation as to why they would leave us behind without a word. Josh knew as little as me, and he was as upset as I was.
"B-but Fili was so confident Thorin wouldn't leave us behind? I don't understand. Bilbo is gone too?" I nodded, not trusting myself to speak. I felt like the thin ice I had been tip-toeing on for over the past month had just collapsed from under my feet, and I was at risk of drowning in the fear that was beginning to overwhelm me.
Sure, it was hard as hell being with the company, and half of them despised us, but they were all we knew. We had no other lifeline in this world, nothing else to grip onto and the anxiety was beginning to crawl up through my chest, taking hold of my breath.
"What do we do now? Where do we go?" Josh was still voicing his fears out loud. He had sat back down on the bed, elbows on his knees and running his hands through his hair in anguish. I was trying to get my breathing under control, but it was failing miserably.
The pain of rejection crept throughout my body and began to sting in what felt like physical agony. It felt like I was being crushed under an external pressure that I couldn't see. I sat heavily on the grey stone floor, trying to hold myself together. What else could I do though? We had been abandoned.
They didn't want us. They never did. Thoughts flitted across my mind in a cascade of emotional turmoil. Bofur left you. Bilbo left you. Gandalf left you. Even Fili left you. I felt sick thinking about Fili in particular. Was everything he had said just a lie until he left? Why would he do that? I understood why Thorin and Dwalin would leave us, but why would the others willingly leave us behind?
I scrunched my eyes closed to try and clear my head. Taking in slow, deep breaths, I allowed myself just enough clarity to think about what to do next.
"Josh, we need to go and find Arwen." I took several deep breaths in an attempt to compose myself, and then quickly stood up.
"Why?" He looked at me and I saw in his eyes what I felt myself. Hurt, rejection, fear.
"We need to find out where they went."
"But why, Amelia? They left us. They don't want us or need us." I didn't know if I could argue with that. We were useless, and they didn't want us, it was true. I wanted to give up, but I felt in my gut that wasn't the right thing to do.
I remembered back to the first night we were in Middle Earth, when Bofur told Josh stories of his home, the very home that they were going to reclaim. That was the day we had lost our own home, metaphorically and quite literally. That was the night Josh sat me down, and as determined as he was, convinced me that we should help the Dwarves.
"No, Josh. Most of them may not want us, but they don't know that they need us. Bilbo needs us." Josh looked at me blankly as I spoke, but when I mentioned Bilbo, I saw the spark in his eyes that I was looking for. It was brief, but his determination was still there.
"Come, let's go and find Arwen." We swiftly packed our rucksacks and moved through the halls to find the Elf. After searching for what seemed like forever, we stumbled upon another Elf who showed us to where Arwen was. We meandered through corridors until we came into a large, beautiful garden where she was kneeling in front of an enormous oak tree.
"Arwen, we need your help." I approached the woman, getting straight to the point. She stood up, finally looking at us. I saw sadness and even pity within her eyes; she already knew.
"Your company have left you behind," She stated. I nodded without a word, desperately trying to hold back the tears that prickled in my eyes.
"What do you ask of me, Lady Amelia?" Her words were kind and genuine; she showed more emotion than any of the other Elves that I had interacted with here, and it was a breath of fresh air to be honest.
"We need to see the King. Can you help us find him?" She smiled softly at me and replied.
"Of course. I will show you to my father, Lord Elrond." I was a little shocked to hear that he was her father. Did that mean that she was a kind of like a princess? The thought was quite strange. She didn't act like she was better than us at all, unlike Thorin.
Arwen led up a stone staircase, and through many corridors. My mind was a jumble of emotions and thoughts. Is this the right thing to be doing? Should we really find them? They did leave us for a reason. I had to try and block the thoughts from my mind and ignored the knot that grew tighter in my stomach with each second that was passing.
We came into another courtyard, though this one felt different from the rest. It was open, bar the dozen or so pillars that lined the far side, allowing the morning sunlight to shine through onto a perfectly carved table and chairs in the centre. There was a power here that seemed to fill the air, amplified tenfold from what I felt when we first arrived in Rivendell.
Looking around anxiously, I saw a familiar figure that just about made me jump for joy.
"Gandalf!" I cried, running to the old Wizard and wrapping my arms around him in a tight hug. Josh did the same as soon as I let go, and I looked up at him. It seemed that everyone was miserable today; Gandalf's lips were pursed in a tight line and his eyes were burrowed into a frown.
"Miss Amelia, Master Joshua... You should not still be here. You were supposed to leave with the company..." Through his words I could tell that he was quite surprised, and his frown deepened.
"They left us Gandalf," Josh whispered, his voice cracking in distress. Gandalf's surprise turned into anger, and I saw in the corner of my eye the shadows that begun to grow around him.
"Stubborn, foolish Dwarf! The idiocy of Thorin will get himself and those around him killed!" Gandalf began pacing in anger, muttering under his breath about Thorin's actions.
"It seems as though you had more faith in this Dwarf than what he should be credited for, Mithrandir." I turned around to find two tall, incredibly beautiful Elves. The one who spoke was Lord Elrond, the Elf I had seen at dinner a few nights ago. He wore an intricate crown that drew around his forehead and shaped his already sharp-featured face. There were small braids entwined in his dark hair that stretched half way down his long, slender body.
The other Elf was a woman with long, flowing blonde hair. She also wore a crown, silver and elegant, that gently wrapped around her forehead. Her dress clung to her body until it reached her knees, where it flowed down to her bare feet and trailed in a semi-circle around her. She. Was. Incredible. I was becoming a little entranced by the duo when the blonde Elf turned to look at me and smiled knowingly. Feeling a little embarrassed from staring at the two, I looked at the ground.
"Master Joshua, Miss Amelia; I don't believe we have had the pleasure of meeting." The blonde spoke in a silky voice that made me look up from the ground back at her, as she moved towards us and bowed slightly.
"I am Lady Galadriel. And you are very far from home." She peered at the both of us in curiosity, and I turned around to glare at Gandalf. He must have told her about where we were from, and that annoyed me a little bit.
Do not fear, Miss Amelia. Gandalf did not share with me your secrets. I have other ways of collecting information. I gaped at Galadriel. I could have sworn I heard her talk, but her mouth didn't move at all. She was still smiling at my slyly.
I have the ability to communicate with others inside their minds. Do not be afraid.
Like hell. I was absolutely terrified.
"How are you doing that?" She smiled, and the others looked at me knowingly. All except for Josh, who looked as though he thought I was going mad.
"Elvish magic, my dear child. You have questions to be asked, and we are willing to listen." Both she and Elrond smiled. I guessed from her freaky super mind reading that they both knew a lot about Josh and me, so I decided to ask them what we had spent hours theorising about since we first found ourselves in this world.
"How and why did we get here? Into Middle Earth from our world?" I was expecting there to be some great big revelation, but the answer Galadriel was supremely anti-climactic.
"There is an Old Magick present in this world and yours, which has been overlooked by many. Forgotten it may be, but still it lingers in the smallest corners of the unknown." That didn't answer my question at all, and I saw her smile almost humorously when I made it clear in my mind that I thought as much.
"But how did we get here? It could have been anyone that walked along the same path that we did. Why us? Why exactly are we here?" I waved my arms around me in frustration, looking between the two.
"Yes, it could have been anyone. But it was the two of you in particular. You must ponder on that; whatever power that allowed you access to Middle Earth, brought both of you specifically. There is most certainly a reason, though quite unclear it may be to some."
"What are we meant to do though? What is our bloody reason for ending up here?" I was starting to get upset again, my voice rising with each word. It was Lord Elrond that spoke this time.
"I think you have already found your reason for being here, Miss Amelia." I was about to say that I still had no idea what he was talking about, when Galadriel's voice flooded my head.
The company and their quest. I frowned at her, seeing the obvious dilemma in that.
"But they left us? They don't care about whether we are with them or not. They don't want us to help them."
"You already know that is untrue, child. Both of you have helped these Dwarves through your travels. Do not discredit yourself because another does not see the value in you. You are not useless, and you have much to offer them. But it is your choice; you can either help them in their quest or continue back home." The breath caught in my throat at her words.
"Home? You know a way to get back to our world?" She nodded slightly, before continuing.
"There is one way. It may not be reliable, however. There are few in Middle Earth able to harness the Magick of the Old World. I am one of these few. If it is your wish to go back, then I will help you."
I felt flooded with emotion, like a wave had just crashed over me. There was a way to get back to our world. I could go back to the simplicity of Earth. I could forget about all of this and it will just be a memory, a whisper of rejection and pain that was nothing more than a bad dream.
But did I want it? I felt like a dog that had been running after a car for the past month; I had finally gotten to the car, but what did I do with it now?
I thought about the promise that I had made to our mother, to look after and protect Josh. What sort of sister would I be if I didn't protect him? But either world we stayed in, he was going to be in danger. At least back on Earth, I had a better chance of looking after him. I didn't want to take Josh back there, but it seemed like the best idea. We had almost died here, and the very people we thought we trusted had abandoned us. I thought about the company, remembering over the past month.
I remembered back to when we first met Bilbo, and despite being bombarded with thirteen Dwarves in his home, he had still made time to listen to me when I was breaking down. He had looked after me, and I felt like he had become the closest friend I ever had. I remembered first being introduced to the Dwarves, and how curious some of them were to meet us. I remembered them singing songs and the pranks that Fili and Kili would play on all of us.
I remembered Bofur and his stories of Erebor and the Blue Mountains; I remembered helping Fili through his nightmares and I remembered picking vegetables and fruit with Bombur. I remembered learning about different medicines with Oin; I remembered listening to Ori speak about his parents, who were now stars in the distant sky, and I remembered saving Kili's life.
We had promised to help them on this quest, and despite Thorin's constant tirade of criticism towards us, they had started to feel like an actual family to me. My guard had slipped somehow, and had begun to feel attachment to these people… Then it really hit me. The reason their abandonment hurt me so much was because I had begun to care about them.
I thought about going home, and what it would mean. But it wasn't home anymore, I thought. I guess there was that old saying, 'home is where the heart is.' Yeah, I missed things about our world, but was my heart truly there? I had no family or friends there, not anymore. But here, I had found exactly that.
No, the better question was this; was my heart ever there?
I was caught between two promises though, and in trying to do one I would contradict the other. I had to make a compromise. I remembered my mums face the last time she saw me. It was filled with so much love and kindness. I had always wanted to be as compassionate as she was, and I think she would have wanted me to be as well. She would have wanted me to help other people. She wouldn't have wanted me to give up, and she would be so happy that we had finally found people who felt like a family, after so many years without belonging to one.
They did need us though. Even if half of the Dwarves didn't think so, I thought about Bilbo. He helped us when we needed it, and I thought about him being alone with the company that he felt like he didn't fit into. He needed us now, and that was all it took for me to make up my mind for good. No more room for doubt.
"Josh, what do you think?" He looked at me, obviously thinking over our opportunity and wrestling in his mind about the enormous decision that would ultimately change our lives for better or worse.
"I feel so betrayed that they left us Amelia. But they are our friends, and we need to try and help. Besides, I know what going back means. I made the decision a long time ago that I would not go back to our world, no matter what happened here." The hint of determination I saw in his eyes now dominated his features. He was no longer a scared little boy.
"Thank you for the offer, Galadriel, but we will stay and help our friends." She smiled at me, warmth lighting up her eyes. As I thought about how we were to get back to the company, another question flitted into my mind.
"Why can't we remember what happens next? You've looked into my mind; you know that this world is make-believe where we come from. How is that possible and why have we forgotten?" I had ideas about this, but they were nothing more than speculation.
"As you know, there are ways to travel from one world to the next. However, this does not mean that your world is running in synch with this one; as I said, it is unreliable. Any one individual not sufficiently experienced in the powers of the Old Magick could end up in a time that is a century, a millennium before or after their own time."
"Our current age that you speak of, that was recorded in your world, may have come from one who was able to harness this power to travel between worlds. There are others in Middle Earth, though very, very few, who are able to use this Magick. I imagine you already know the answer to your seeming loss of memory of these records. Those who see into the future have the power to bend the balance of nature to their will, but the balance of nature will not allow just anyone to do that."
"Do not underestimate your strength. You will need it, dear children." Galadriel bowed slightly, and with a small smile playing on her lips, she turned around and disappeared. Elrond promised provisions for both Josh and I, and himself and Arwen excused themselves to collect food and medicines.
Gandalf, Josh and I were left there by ourselves. I stood silently, still trying to absorb everything that the Elves had just said. It was a lot to take in at once, and I was starting to think that feeling overwhelmed was just a normal thing for me now. Gandalf was the first to speak in the absence of Galadriel and Lord Elrond.
"Master Joshua, Miss Amelia. We leave on foot as soon as we collect our provisions. We are to meet the company in the Misty Mountains, as I had arranged with Thorin. There, we will continue on. You must know that this part of our journey will not be easy, and I require the both of you to summon your strength, courage and bravery."
And with that, Gandalf left to collect his own belongings. I looked at Josh, and there was now a mix of determination and nervous anticipation in his expression. We left the courtyard to find the kitchens, where Elrond was overseeing several Elves collecting food and also medicine for us. After half an hour of collecting the things we needed for the next part of the journey, we were ready to leave.
Arwen met us at the bridge that led out of Rivendell. As we reached her, I saw that she was cradling bundles of fabric within her arms. She uncovered the cloth with her free hand to reveal several weapons; two of which I recognised as the dual knives I had used the day before.
"Master Joshua; you showed great improvement in the use of a bow in your time here, and I would like to offer this to you as a gift. This bow and the arrows that accompany it were expertly carved by the Elvish wood smiths of Rivendell. May it bring you luck and aid you in your journey."
"Miss Amelia; these are the twin blades that you used yesterday in the training field. I witnessed how entranced you became by the weapons, and I believe that they now belong to you. May they aid you in your journey and bring you luck."
I hadn't realised Arwen had been watching us yesterday, but I was glad that she had and was almost speechless at the kindness. I honestly never thought I would say that about a pair of knives, but they were so incredible, and were something that we would surely need on the rest of our journey.
"Thank you so much Arwen. I-I don't know what to say. Just thank you..." Smiling at Josh and I, she gave me an intricately knotted belt in which sheaths were attached to for my weapons. I tied the belt around my waist and put my weapons into their sheaths at either side of my body. She gave Josh some new clothes, which were much bigger than what he was currently wearing, and a leather arm guard to wear as protection while he shot arrows from his bow.
Josh, Gandalf and I said goodbye to Arwen, and we began our ascent out of Rivendell. I looked behind me every so often, feeling extremely sad to be leaving this peaceful paradise. Despite everything that Josh and I had dealt with in the time we were there, it was a truly beautiful place. I hoped that one day I might be able to come back, and maybe see Arwen again.
We continued further away, along paths that wound into the mountains around Rivendell. I looked one last time at the spectacular Elvish home, bidding it goodbye as we rounded the mountain path and it disappeared from view.
