Chaos Unleashed: Chapter Fourteen

Kaia's POV

"...In a shocking turn of events, the trilogy masterpiece known as "The Lord of the Rings" has seemingly vanished into thin air. Fans of the epic across the globe have reported their books to have no print and their movies to show no more than a blank screen. What had happened to the story loved by so many? Find out after the break."

I exhaled and leaned back in my seat on the couch, drumming my fingers on the armrest in my anxiety. The Fellowship was now all crowded around the television, ranging levels of confusion on their faces. Erin looked absolutely torn up as she sat on the ground flipping through her beloved books to find nothing but blank pages, just like the news reporter had said. I, on the other hand, was more panicked than anything else. How the fuck does such a huge story just disappear? And all over the world, too! It didn't seem possible, but it was. The proof was right in front of us.

When the commercials ended, we paid close attention to the reports on what had happened. People were saying that it had just happened on a whim, just like we'd seen. There hadn't been a big bang or creepy wind...it was just...gone. Like some kind of Supernatural shit or something. I was insanely confused just trying to figure out how it had happened, much less why.

The news suddenly switched to a live interview with Peter Jackson himself, and I pitied the clearly flustered Kiwi as he tried to answer as many questions as he could. "I-I just don't really know what to do, I mean..." He seemed heartbroken, too. "What do you do when y-your life's work just...vanishes into thin air?"

The interview ended shortly after, changing back to a reporter behind a desk giving more details about the worldwide fiasco, though there really wasn't much else to say. No one in the room spoke for several minutes; we were all still in a state of shock. A thousand different thoughts races though my mind, but there was one that I knew had to be asked. "So what are we gonna do?"

It was such an obvious question, but no one knew how to answer it. "...Is there anything that needs to be done?" Merry tried. "I mean, what happens now that these movies and books are gone?"

"I don't see why anything would happen," Gimli said. "We're still here." He gestured to the Fellowship.

I nodded. "Yeah...I guess."

"No," Erin suddenly spoke up. "No, this isn't just some weird thing. This is serious."

I frowned. "How so? I mean, I get that this stuff just disappeared, but-"

"And I guarantee you that it didn't just happen for no reason." She looked up at me, and I could see the urgency in her eyes. "Think about it. One of the best selling and most popular stories of all time doesn't just stop existing."

"But what would the cause of this be?" Boromir interjected. "Have we done something wrong?"

"No, no," I assured him. "There's no way this is our fault. We didn't do anything." I paused, then looked back to Erin. "...Right?"

There was another long silence that stretched across the room before Erin spoke again. "...Not necessarily."

I stared at her, confused and now worried by the somber tone of her voice. "What?"

She took a breath and continued. "You guys have been here for awhile. A couple months now. And I think that...with you not being in Middle-Earth for so long, we...we might've changed the outcome of everything over there."

My eyes widened, as did several others'. "What?!"

"B-But...how is that possible?" Pippin asked.

Erin looked just as uneasy as the rest of us. "Well, there's a lot of things that happen to you all on your quest, and if you weren't there to set those events in motion, then...it only makes sense that stuff would play out differently."

"Oh my God..." I said quietly. "So you're telling me that we may have just put the fate of Middle-Earth in danger?"

"Possibly."

"And that's why the movies and books don't work," Merry said, putting two and two together. "Because...that's not what happened anymore." Erin just nodded.

The tension in that living room was insane. "Then something must be done!" Legolas said immediately.

"But what?" Boromir asked again. "If what you're saying is true, is there any way to change things back again?"

"Can we just return to Middle-Earth?" Frodo questioned. "Have you found out anything else about that?"

All eyes turned to Erin once again, and she sighed. "Uh, a little. I've still been trying to figure out how you even got here in the first place."

"But if something got us here to being with, then there must be a way for us to go back," Aragorn broke in.

"We have to at least try!" Boromir said. "Who knows what's happened now that things have changed?"

A pause, and then Sam's voice was heard. "...D'you have any idea what might happen, Erin?"

She bit her lip. "I...well...no. I mean, if I had to guess... No, I can't even guess."

"Damn," I muttered. "So then basically none of the stuff from Lothlórien on has happened now?"
"Pretty much," she replied. "And I have no idea how bad that could affect things there. I guess maybe it could be good that the Ring isn't even in Middle-Earth for Sauron to retake, but...this could seriously be really bad for everyone else. Who knows what he'll try and pull?"

"Our families and homelands are in danger," Boromir confirmed. "We can't just sit here and do nothing!"

"I know, I know," Erin said. "And of course I'm gonna try my hardest to send you guys back where you belong. As soon as I can."

"Same, man," I nodded. "I'll help you with that. I can do some research."

"What can we do in the meantime?" Frodo asked.

She shrugged. "Nothing for now. Just...try not to freak out too much, I guess." There was another moment of silence, and then she stood. "...I, uh...I guess I'll go get on that now." Erin gave a short little wave before turning and quickly running upstairs. From there, everyone else slowly started to break off as well, but it still remained mostly silent. It was like a bomb of dread had gone off. I still sat on the couch, not even paying attention as Aragorn touched my shoulder briefly while walking past. I just continued to stare at the empty books Erin had left behind on the floor, thinking the same thing as everyone else.

We're so fucked.

oOo

Erin's POV

I stumbled up the last few steps, catching myself as I kept running to my room. As soon as I reached it, I threw the door open and shut it behind me after I'd entered, reaching the foot of my bed as stopping to catch my breath. But heavy breathing quickly faded into sobs catching in my throat, and within a minute I was on the floor with my knees pulled up to my chest, trying not to cry loudly for others to hear. The Fellowship was stuck here with no way to get home...and it was all my fault. Despite what I'd been telling everyone else lately, I'd barely done a thing to try and research how to send them back. I hadn't ever wanted them to leave in the first place.

I couldn't remember the last time I'd felt this guilty. It's all my fault...I got them here somehow, and I was too lazy to send them back. They could've gone home weeks ago. Maybe everything would be okay then. I wiped a few tears away hastily. But no. I was just too selfish. I was having too much fun with the Fellowship in my house to care about sending them home. I didn't do the research like I should've. I put it off. And now everything might fall apart. The entire timeline's been changed. Middle-Earth is in danger because of me.

"Why am I such an idiot?" I muttered. Middle-Earth had always been like heaven to me, and now I was the one putting it at risk. All those innocent people... Their families are probably wondering where they are. What if they think they're dead? I shuddered. I don't want this. I'm responsible for everything. The Three Hunters weren't there to find Gandalf because of me. Helm's Deep may never have even happened because of me. Rohan might be destroyed because of me. Oh God, what have I done?

Suddenly, I heard a soft knock on the door. "Erin? Are you in here?"

Kaia. "Yeah," I said, my voice cracking.

She opened the door, and her face instantly fell when she saw me sitting there. "Oh fuck, man, you okay?"

I cried. "Kaia, it's all my fault. I've ruined everything."
She closed the door again and came over to sit next to me. "What do you mean?"

"I didn't send them back," I explained. "I kept putting it off because I was having so much fun living with them...doing stupid stuff together and showing them around our world." I sniffed. "I was literally living with characters from a story that changed my life, and I loved it. I loved it so much, and I didn't want them to leave. So I just kept them here."

She frowned. "But I thought you said-"

"I lied," I said, sobbing. "I haven't done research in weeks. Weeks, Kaia. I'm not any closer to finding them a way home than when they first got here."

I could tell it caught her off guard when she didn't immediately reply. "...Oh."

"I'm so sorry!" I cried, hiding my face in my knees. "It's my fault! All my fault! And now Middle-Earth might be overtaken by Sauron because they're not there to destroy the Ring like they should!"

"Erin, no," she said, laying a hand on my back to comfort me. "You don't know that."

"What else do you think is gonna happen, Kaia?" I said, suddenly angry as I looked at her. "Do you think Sauron's just gonna take five because the Fellowship's not there? No! He could take over other realms so easily now...so easily, and..." I couldn't say any more. I lowered my head again.

I heard Kaia shift beside me. "Erin, listen to me. We still have time. We've got a shot at this. All we have to do is hurry up and find a way to send them home. Maybe we can get them back before anything seriously bad happens."

"The books are gone, Kaia! The movies don't work. Lord of the Rings no longer exists. You don't think something's gone horribly wrong already?"

She didn't answer that for awhile, instead choosing to pull me into a hug. We sat there for awhile until I'd just about cried myself dry, and then she finally stood. "...I'm gonna head downstairs and heat up some leftovers for dinner, okay?" I nodded. "You gonna be alright?"

"...Yeah. I guess."

"Okay. Find me if you need anything." I kept my head down as she walked out, not moving until I heard the click of the door shutting.

I blinked as I looked around my room, noticing that it was nearly sunset outside. After taking a moment to calm down, I stood up and walked over to the window, staring outside. The sky was painted a brilliant reddish pink, with licks of orange here and there. It was a beautiful sight, really, but I wasn't in the mood to enjoy it. I glanced at my reflection in a mirror, cringing at my red puffy eyes and messed up brown hair.

Exhaling, I grabbed a brush and fixed it up as best as I could before walking over to my desk and grabbing my iPod. Is there even a way to fix this? I though, walking over to my bed again and sitting down. I put my music on shuffle and stared blankly out the window again as RED'S "Nothing and Everything" began playing. ...I hope so.

oOo

Kathryn's POV

I groaned in frustration and scrapped what I'd been working on for the fifth time. For the past hour or so I'd been on my laptop working on editing my own little fan music video for Final Fantasy, but no matter what I tried, I just couldn't seem to get it right. My mind wasn't fully focused, either...I was too busy internally flipping my shit over what Kaia had told me once I got home.

I'll admit, I was kinda panicked over the whole disappearance of the movies and books, but now, like everyone else, I was much more concerned about how we were gonna get the Fellowship out of here. Obviously they couldn't stick around for much longer, which was sad to think about. I'd had a lot of fun living with them for the past few months. But now it had to end somehow, like everything else good in the world.

On top of all this, I'd noticed another thing today that scared me. We were running out of money. So far we'd been able to keep everyone fed, clean, and sheltered with all of us girls working double jobs, but it wasn't holding out quite as long as I thought it would. Kaia had come to us not long ago with news that her band was on a temporary hiatus until they could 'get all their shit sorted out,' so we weren't getting money from her in that area, and Erin wasn't doing too well, either. Her commissions had been slowing down lately. I hadn't gotten a babysitting job like I used to do all the time in several weeks...we were all just kinda slipping, and it wasn't reflecting well in our bank accounts. I suspected we'd only last a month and a half longer before we'd seriously be low on cash unless things picked back up for all of us with our side jobs.

Throw all this into one big pile, and you've got yourself a very stressed out Kathryn. And a stressed out Kathryn is not a happy Kathryn for anyone. I didn't exactly know how to break the news to the Fellowship, either. Erin, Kaia and I had agreed to not tell them about it for now until we were certain that it was gonna become a serious issue, but I had a twisted feeling in my gut that it was only gonna get worse from here. And it wasn't like we could start asking our parents for money, either. Erin flat-out refused to even bring it up to her parents, and while Kaia and I were a bit more open to the idea, we realized that they probably wouldn't go for a 'hey I've got eight grown men living with me that I need money to pay for' pitch.

I played back what I'd edited so far, frowning. No, now that timing's off. Damn it! I deleted what little progress I'd made and closed my computer, leaning back against the pillows of my bed and staring up at the ceiling. What the fuck is happening to this house? I wonder if the Middle-Earth gods are punishing us for stealing their people away. Which reminded me...

I opened my laptop once again, quickly pulling up the internet and trying to do a little bit of research on how we could get them home. When I talked to Erin, she'd said that she was trying to focus on figuring out what got them here to start, and then figured she could use that as a base to produce some kind of plan to get them back where they belonged.

After a bit of digging, I came across a page full of information about Middle-Earth history; how it was created, who did what, all that jazz. I wasn't reading it too closely until I hit a small section about a third of the way down the page. "Teleperion and Laurelin...the moon and sun...Hmm." I read through the paragraph a little bit more, but didn't get much else out of it. I then decided to take a more direct approach and just Googled stuff on inter-dimensional travel. Oddly enough, I found quite a few theories that talked about portals being most accessible through objects or places of great power. Is there something here that was powerful enough to transport them here?

I got up from my bed and went downstairs, finding Merry and Pippin sitting on the couch of the game room, as usual. Merry was playing Legend of Zelda: Twilight Princess and struggling, while Pippin watched from the sidelines, teasing him. "Hey guys!" They both looked up at me briefly. "Do you know where Erin's at?"

"Outside, I think," Merry answered.

"Thanks." I sped through the kitchen and out the back door. Sure enough, Erin was there, a bow pulled taut in her hands. She fired an arrow at one of our trees as I went up to her, hitting her target rather well. "Erin!"

She looked at me. "My name!"

"Dude, I might've just found something about – wait, why do you have Legolas' bow?"

"He's doing artwork upstairs," she said. "Told me I could use it to practice with if I wanted."

"Practice? He's been teaching you archery?"

"More or less. I'm not very good at it, though. It's a lot harder that I expected it to be."

"Oh." I shook my head. "Either way. I think I found something that might help us with getting them all back to Middle-Earth. Do the names Teleperion and Laurelin sound familiar to you?"

She gave me an odd look. "Teleperion and Laurelin? Yeah, the Two Trees of Valinor. What about them?"

"Are they connected to the moon and sun at all?"

She nodded. "After the Valar created them, they were destroyed by Melkor and Ungoliant. But one flower from Teleperion and one fruit from Laurelin were able to be preserved, so then the Valar turned them into the moon and sun."

"And I guess they're pretty powerful things, right?"

"Yeah, sure." Erin fiddled with the detailed design on the smooth white wood. "So how's that connected to Middle-Earth travel?"

I brushed a bit of hair out of my face. "I found something online that talked about portals being activated by objects with lots of power. Do you think that maybe that's how they got here?"

She shook her head. "I doubt it. The sun and moon are in the same sky a lot during the day, and I also remember finding something saying that most portals for inter-dimensional travel open and close quickly. But hey, I could be wrong." She shrugged. "I'll have to look into it."

"Okay," I said. She nodded and turned away, about to go retrieve her arrows, but I snagged her arm, pulling her back. "Hey, Kaia told me how upset you were." A look of shame passed over her face. "I just wanted to tell you not to worry about it so much, okay? We'll get through it, just like we always do."

She nodded, but I could still see doubt in her eyes. "Yeah. Thanks, Kathryn."

A/N: Yay, another chapter! C: Hope you guys like this one, because this is when things finally start getting good. ;) Also, DID YOU SEE THAT NEW DESOLATION OF SMAUG TRAILER?! I had my share of freak-outs about it, hahaha.