Willow awoke in the morning to a blinding brightness. She
covered her face with a pillow and groaned. "Who opened the
curtains?"
She groggily stepped out of bed and made her way towards the
windows. She'd gone a couple of feet when her eyes focused and
she realized that the windows were not usually on this side of the bed.
And more importantly as far as her knowledge went, Buffy's house
did not have a room with an open balcony. She walked out onto it and
stared over the railing.
::And she definitely doesn't have a view of a waterfall and a
fairy tale kingdom. I'm dreaming. This is one of those very lucid
dreams. Wow, I have a great imagination.::
A melodic female voice caused her to jump and turn
around. "Mae govannen, Hiril Tathar. Im Arwen, sell o Hîr
Elrond."
"Huh? Say that again?" Willow stared at the regal woman in
front of her. Her hair was long, brown and wavy. Some of it was
pulled away from her face in small braids, revealing pointed ears.
She also noticed the purple gown that she wore, it looked as if it
had come straight out of medieval times. Belled sleeves and all.
"My apologies. You are not familiar with the language of the
elves. I said it is good to meet you, Lady Willow. I am Arwen,
daughter of Lord Elrond."
"The elves? Lord Elrond? Wow what kind of dream is this?"
"It is no dream. I assure you. It may seem strange here, no
doubt it will take time getting used to, but you must believe this is
real. And you are not out of your mind." Arwen's assurances
somehow brought her to reality. She was not asleep.
"What am I doing here? Are you some type of demon?"
"No. I am an elf. This is Rivendell, an elven kingdom located
in the lands of Middle Earth, and I am the daughter of its ruler."
"Why am I here?" Willow was on the verge of panic but upon
looking into the dark crystal blue of Arwen's eyes, she was
calmed.
"Come, Willow, we will ready you for the meeting with my
father. All will be explained then. And tonight we will hold a feast
in your honor, to welcome you."
Willow looked down and saw that she still wore the Scooby Doo
pajamas she had put on the night before. Arwen called in her
attendants and clothes were provided for Willow. When she was
dressed, she was led to a room where a tall man was standing, reading
what looked like an ancient scroll.
"Father, I have brought our guest." She turned back to the
curious red-head."Willow, this is my father, Lord Elrond."
Elrond greeted her. "Mae govannen young one. I am glad you
are awake. Please, follow me and we shall sit and talk. I will answer
any questions you need answered. And when you cease to think of any,
I will fill in the blanks." The graceful elven man brought the
two
of them to a table that sat nearby. When they all gathered around it,
Willow took a closer look at Elrond. She could see the resemblance
between the two elves. They had the same facial structure and color
of hair, which in his case was long and braided so it fell down his
back. On the top of his head was a silver crown that looked like
vines, woven together. One difference was that his eyes were a steely
gray, and when she looked into them she swore she could see wisdom
that spanned the ages within their depths. It was then she felt the
magic, these beings were quite powerful.
"How old are you." She heard herself saying.
"Over 6,000 years old child." Elrond admitted.
Her eyes widened considerably. "That's like...wow."
She managed to overcome her shock. "So are elves the people on this
planet?"
"We are one of the races. The first created among them."
"Are there humans then?"
"If you mean people like you, yes there is a race of men.
There are many different peoples, some bad and some good. It would
take a long time to explain them all."
"Ok. Why am I here Elrond?"
"You wished it. Iluvatar, the supreme deity heard you. His
daughter Nienna of the Ainur sent you to us, they felt you deserved a
better home."
"These are your gods?"
Arwen answered. "And yours as well. Though I suspect you may have
called them by other names in your home world."
Willow started to feel sad. This meant she had prayed herself
away from home, into a strange place, which she may never return
from. "So I am here to stay?"
"Yes, they believed it was best for you. It may seem a
sacrifice now, but they would not have done it if you were to be
unhappy here. They have given you this as a gift. And they have also
given you the life span of the elves so that you may appreciate this
place longer than your mortal years would have allowed."
"So I'm stuck here, and I'm immortal. Great." She didn't seem
pleased.
"Willow, I will do my best to help you to love it here. I
know you will miss those you left behind, but we will attempt to make
up for that as much as we can."
"Am I to just live here with the elves then? I have no other
purpose?"
"That is a very good question. No, you haven't been sent
here just to live a normal life. You shall be a warrior when the time
comes. We have troubles here, the same as anywhere else. You know
that very well, as you have been a warrior before ever coming here.
So it should be no surprise that you will be again protecting the
innocent and helping us fight an evil that is threatening us."
All this information seeped into Willow's brain. The reality
of it became hard to bear. Her eyes grew moist, what had she done?
"I need to be alone." She said simply before leaving the two elves
to stare after her sadly.
covered her face with a pillow and groaned. "Who opened the
curtains?"
She groggily stepped out of bed and made her way towards the
windows. She'd gone a couple of feet when her eyes focused and
she realized that the windows were not usually on this side of the bed.
And more importantly as far as her knowledge went, Buffy's house
did not have a room with an open balcony. She walked out onto it and
stared over the railing.
::And she definitely doesn't have a view of a waterfall and a
fairy tale kingdom. I'm dreaming. This is one of those very lucid
dreams. Wow, I have a great imagination.::
A melodic female voice caused her to jump and turn
around. "Mae govannen, Hiril Tathar. Im Arwen, sell o Hîr
Elrond."
"Huh? Say that again?" Willow stared at the regal woman in
front of her. Her hair was long, brown and wavy. Some of it was
pulled away from her face in small braids, revealing pointed ears.
She also noticed the purple gown that she wore, it looked as if it
had come straight out of medieval times. Belled sleeves and all.
"My apologies. You are not familiar with the language of the
elves. I said it is good to meet you, Lady Willow. I am Arwen,
daughter of Lord Elrond."
"The elves? Lord Elrond? Wow what kind of dream is this?"
"It is no dream. I assure you. It may seem strange here, no
doubt it will take time getting used to, but you must believe this is
real. And you are not out of your mind." Arwen's assurances
somehow brought her to reality. She was not asleep.
"What am I doing here? Are you some type of demon?"
"No. I am an elf. This is Rivendell, an elven kingdom located
in the lands of Middle Earth, and I am the daughter of its ruler."
"Why am I here?" Willow was on the verge of panic but upon
looking into the dark crystal blue of Arwen's eyes, she was
calmed.
"Come, Willow, we will ready you for the meeting with my
father. All will be explained then. And tonight we will hold a feast
in your honor, to welcome you."
Willow looked down and saw that she still wore the Scooby Doo
pajamas she had put on the night before. Arwen called in her
attendants and clothes were provided for Willow. When she was
dressed, she was led to a room where a tall man was standing, reading
what looked like an ancient scroll.
"Father, I have brought our guest." She turned back to the
curious red-head."Willow, this is my father, Lord Elrond."
Elrond greeted her. "Mae govannen young one. I am glad you
are awake. Please, follow me and we shall sit and talk. I will answer
any questions you need answered. And when you cease to think of any,
I will fill in the blanks." The graceful elven man brought the
two
of them to a table that sat nearby. When they all gathered around it,
Willow took a closer look at Elrond. She could see the resemblance
between the two elves. They had the same facial structure and color
of hair, which in his case was long and braided so it fell down his
back. On the top of his head was a silver crown that looked like
vines, woven together. One difference was that his eyes were a steely
gray, and when she looked into them she swore she could see wisdom
that spanned the ages within their depths. It was then she felt the
magic, these beings were quite powerful.
"How old are you." She heard herself saying.
"Over 6,000 years old child." Elrond admitted.
Her eyes widened considerably. "That's like...wow."
She managed to overcome her shock. "So are elves the people on this
planet?"
"We are one of the races. The first created among them."
"Are there humans then?"
"If you mean people like you, yes there is a race of men.
There are many different peoples, some bad and some good. It would
take a long time to explain them all."
"Ok. Why am I here Elrond?"
"You wished it. Iluvatar, the supreme deity heard you. His
daughter Nienna of the Ainur sent you to us, they felt you deserved a
better home."
"These are your gods?"
Arwen answered. "And yours as well. Though I suspect you may have
called them by other names in your home world."
Willow started to feel sad. This meant she had prayed herself
away from home, into a strange place, which she may never return
from. "So I am here to stay?"
"Yes, they believed it was best for you. It may seem a
sacrifice now, but they would not have done it if you were to be
unhappy here. They have given you this as a gift. And they have also
given you the life span of the elves so that you may appreciate this
place longer than your mortal years would have allowed."
"So I'm stuck here, and I'm immortal. Great." She didn't seem
pleased.
"Willow, I will do my best to help you to love it here. I
know you will miss those you left behind, but we will attempt to make
up for that as much as we can."
"Am I to just live here with the elves then? I have no other
purpose?"
"That is a very good question. No, you haven't been sent
here just to live a normal life. You shall be a warrior when the time
comes. We have troubles here, the same as anywhere else. You know
that very well, as you have been a warrior before ever coming here.
So it should be no surprise that you will be again protecting the
innocent and helping us fight an evil that is threatening us."
All this information seeped into Willow's brain. The reality
of it became hard to bear. Her eyes grew moist, what had she done?
"I need to be alone." She said simply before leaving the two elves
to stare after her sadly.
