Note: I have decided to give up authors notes, simply because they do not
answer any questions, or give any pre-requisites to anything. So, heartily
despaired, I will save my writing for the chapters. Oh yea, and Nancy, was
the last bit enough Strider and Arwen for ya? Har…
Chapter 6
"I'm tellin' ya Sam, the Elves are representative of the sun." Frodo explained, slipping through pages in his notebook with one hand with the other skimmed the Anigua in front of him looking for information proving his case. Sam sat next to him, his brow furrowed in thought and disagreement.
"I just don't see it. I mean, they're people Frodo. An entire race. Maybe if there was one elf, but an entire people can not be a metaphor. Its just too complicated."
The hobbits and Lis sat on a large rug in the middle of their main room in The Pen. The five hobbits' quarters all lead into the large center room, affectionately known as "the hobbit hole." It was their sanctuary from the rest of the school, housing their computers, their own personal bookshelves, and filling cabinets bursting to overflowing with papers. The entire room gave the impression of a computer lab that had been attacked by a fraternity during rush week. Very much in keeping with the hobbits themselves. They were all on the short side, though all were taller than Bilbo, poor thing. All had messy curls and round, jovial faces. But that was where the similarities stopped.
"What about the un-archetypal importance of the number nine? Most mythologies use sevens," Merry piped up from under his own pile of notes. A pair of black-rimmed, square cut glasses with tape across the bridge, were hanging precariously at the end of his nose, while his quick brown eyes darted over page after page while his fingers hurriedly flipped through them.
"Most, that doesn't mean all, Merry." Pippin said quietly as he sipped a Styrofoam cup of coffee. The steam swirled about his face as his hazel flicked from Frodo to Merry's papers and back again, not too sure which argument he should join. In the end, he relaxed onto a large beanbag chair and sipped his coffee. He caught Lis's eye and smiled.
"What do you think of all this, Lis? I mean, it's not everyday that we get a Anigua expert, let alone a pretty one."
Frodo looked up from his books and shot a glance at Pippin.
"You'll have to excuse us Lis. We're not used to much company of any sort, let alone female company. Pippin's just a bit excited is all."
Merry giggled and Pippin sneered good-naturedly at Frodo, before giving Lis a sly little wink. Lis smiled back then turned her attentions to the Anigua.
"I think Frodo's right."
All fingers stopped moving and every head snapped in her direction.
"About the Elves, I mean. Look at the text. The Elves all migrate towards the west, like the sun sets in the west. Plus, in agreement with modern scientology and various other beliefs, the sun is the center, the place where life begins. So are the Elves, in a sense. They bring order and language to the world. They are its caretakers."
The hobbits just stared at her for a moment, all their jaws dropped in disbelief while they processed her statement. Frodo, on the other hand smiled at her, and nodded as he pulled out a few pages from his pile.
"That's what I've been trying to explain to you, Sam."
The hobbits shook out of their trances and looked back at Frodo's papers, and the low-lying hum of friendly, achedemic banter filled the room. Lis smiled, and got up from the rug and strolled to the window. The earlier rain had not let up. Indeed, since going to the hole to discuss the Anigua further, the rain seemed to have gotten worse. She smiled as she remembered scurrying from the library to the Pen, Sam covering the Anigua with his jacket, while Pippin, afraid of getting his hair wet, ran from tree to tree while sharp, controlled, shrew-ish movements.
"Pretty bleak, huh?" Frodo's said softly behind her as he stared outside. Lis nodded, and focused in on his reflection in the window. The other hobbits were chatting good-naturedly around the book, hardly noticing, or caring, that Frodo had slipped away.
"I like it though." Lis breathed, a small cloud of fog steaming up the window in front of her. Frodo smiled and reached his hand to the window, tracing a smiling face onto the white.
"I like it too." He said, getting closer to the glass. He breathed over a large space, then pulled away and traced his name on the glass. Lis mimicked him, the smallest hint of a childish smile creeping onto her face. However, she wrote her own name on the window. Frodo looked at it, his brow furrowed slightly
"Yea, I've been meaning to ask you about that. I mean, Lisaura is such a weird name (A/N HA!). you named after a grandmother, or what?"
"Oh, no. Um, my parents couldn't decide what to name me when I was born. Mom liked Lisa, but dad thought it was too common. He liked Aurora. Lord knows why. So they compromised. Lisaura."
Frodo nodded, his face lightening with understanding.
"It's a beautiful name." He said quietly, keeping his eyes to her quickly evaporating name. She could see their brightness become clearer as her name faded. Such warm, brown eyes, she thought. The rain outside drizzled in his reflected eyes, washing them, it seemed. She reached out to the window, running her fingers lightly over his eyes, her thoughts wandering.
"So, how did you ever get into the Anigua?" Frodo's voice called her back into reality.
"Hmm? Oh. I dunno. I've always loved to read. And my imagination sort've stuck to the myths. Greece, Peru, Middle Earth. I just read them all. Everything I could find. They really are fascinating, analytically speaking. The way they all coincide. Although, to be honest, it was the romances that interested me first."
"The romances?"
"Yea. Venus and Vulcan, Hades and Persephone,"
"That shouldn't count as a romance. He kidnapped her."
"Well, yes. But it's kinda sweet in a way. I mean, he went through all that he did just because he wanted some beauty in his life."
"Yea, well, its scary if you ask me."
"Ugh. Frodo, you just aren't a romantic."
"Nope. No, I guess I'm not. Call me crazy, but I'll take good olla' courting to kidnapping any day. It may not be 'romantic', but it's a helluva lot more practical."
Lis smiled at him and both burst into laughter. The other hobbits didn't seem to notice as the conversation was becoming heated again.
"It just doesn't make sense." Sam whined adamantly.
"Yes it does." Pippin drawled. "Just because the ring was evil, it doesn't stand that it wouldn't just be destroyed."
"But who destroyed it? That's what I don't understand."
"The Dark Lord did. Who else could've?"
"That's what doesn't make any sense. Why would the Dark Lord destroy his one implement of power? Without he dies. You saw what happened with Isiuldor. The ring went into recession and so did he. Then Smeagol finds the ring and, without any warning, the Dark Lord decides to destroy it, right after it was returned to him? You've got to be kidding."
"Maybe he had a change of heart." Lis said quietly from the window.
"Ha, not likely. Dark warlords do NOT give up power, for anything."
"Well, Hades did," she gave a sly little smile to Frodo, who crossed his arms over his chest and leaned against the windowpane, watching amusedly.
"He gave in some of his power to Demeter and Zeus for Persephone's love."
Pippin gave a snort.
"Do you mean to say that the Dark Lord fell in love?"
"Well, no. The Anigua never say exactly what happens. So maybe he did, who's to say? All I say is, just because he was a tyrant and villainous,"
"That doesn't mean he didn't love his teddy bear?" Pippin joked.
The room burst into laughter, even Lis. Merry started sucking his thumb, while Sam loudly hummed a lullaby.
"Alright, it was stupid idea," Lis sputtered in between laughs.
"No, it wasn't stupid," Frodo offered, a grin still plastered to his boyish face.
"Yea, well, whatever it was, I think we need a break." Merry groaned as he stood up finally, arching his back and stretching his arms overhead.
"Hear, Hear, Master Merry." Yelped Sam as he jumped to his feet. "All in favor say 'aye'." He room resounded in the affirmative, and six pairs of feet hit the ground towards the main door out, when it swung open violently, slamming into a bookshelf behind it. Gimli, dripping wet stood in the doorway, panting.
"Hey, short stack, what's the big idea?" Pippin fumed, pushing his way to the front of the group, his eyes scrunched with agitation.
"Galadriel's Back."
With that, he turned and left, leaving the door open behind him. The hobbit's faces fell, and every one of them rushed out of the door behind him. All except Lis and Frodo.
"Galadriel? Who's Galadriel?" Lis mused confusedly. Frodo grabbed her hand and followed, more slowly, after the others.
"Galadriel is Arwen's sister."
Lis just stared at him.
"She's been abroad for a few years now. No one knew when she would come back. Galadriel works on her own time."
"Okay…?"
"She's a seer, Lis, a prophetess."
Lis stared at him for a moment, her mind racing.
A seer, Lis thought. Maybe she can help me.
Chapter 6
"I'm tellin' ya Sam, the Elves are representative of the sun." Frodo explained, slipping through pages in his notebook with one hand with the other skimmed the Anigua in front of him looking for information proving his case. Sam sat next to him, his brow furrowed in thought and disagreement.
"I just don't see it. I mean, they're people Frodo. An entire race. Maybe if there was one elf, but an entire people can not be a metaphor. Its just too complicated."
The hobbits and Lis sat on a large rug in the middle of their main room in The Pen. The five hobbits' quarters all lead into the large center room, affectionately known as "the hobbit hole." It was their sanctuary from the rest of the school, housing their computers, their own personal bookshelves, and filling cabinets bursting to overflowing with papers. The entire room gave the impression of a computer lab that had been attacked by a fraternity during rush week. Very much in keeping with the hobbits themselves. They were all on the short side, though all were taller than Bilbo, poor thing. All had messy curls and round, jovial faces. But that was where the similarities stopped.
"What about the un-archetypal importance of the number nine? Most mythologies use sevens," Merry piped up from under his own pile of notes. A pair of black-rimmed, square cut glasses with tape across the bridge, were hanging precariously at the end of his nose, while his quick brown eyes darted over page after page while his fingers hurriedly flipped through them.
"Most, that doesn't mean all, Merry." Pippin said quietly as he sipped a Styrofoam cup of coffee. The steam swirled about his face as his hazel flicked from Frodo to Merry's papers and back again, not too sure which argument he should join. In the end, he relaxed onto a large beanbag chair and sipped his coffee. He caught Lis's eye and smiled.
"What do you think of all this, Lis? I mean, it's not everyday that we get a Anigua expert, let alone a pretty one."
Frodo looked up from his books and shot a glance at Pippin.
"You'll have to excuse us Lis. We're not used to much company of any sort, let alone female company. Pippin's just a bit excited is all."
Merry giggled and Pippin sneered good-naturedly at Frodo, before giving Lis a sly little wink. Lis smiled back then turned her attentions to the Anigua.
"I think Frodo's right."
All fingers stopped moving and every head snapped in her direction.
"About the Elves, I mean. Look at the text. The Elves all migrate towards the west, like the sun sets in the west. Plus, in agreement with modern scientology and various other beliefs, the sun is the center, the place where life begins. So are the Elves, in a sense. They bring order and language to the world. They are its caretakers."
The hobbits just stared at her for a moment, all their jaws dropped in disbelief while they processed her statement. Frodo, on the other hand smiled at her, and nodded as he pulled out a few pages from his pile.
"That's what I've been trying to explain to you, Sam."
The hobbits shook out of their trances and looked back at Frodo's papers, and the low-lying hum of friendly, achedemic banter filled the room. Lis smiled, and got up from the rug and strolled to the window. The earlier rain had not let up. Indeed, since going to the hole to discuss the Anigua further, the rain seemed to have gotten worse. She smiled as she remembered scurrying from the library to the Pen, Sam covering the Anigua with his jacket, while Pippin, afraid of getting his hair wet, ran from tree to tree while sharp, controlled, shrew-ish movements.
"Pretty bleak, huh?" Frodo's said softly behind her as he stared outside. Lis nodded, and focused in on his reflection in the window. The other hobbits were chatting good-naturedly around the book, hardly noticing, or caring, that Frodo had slipped away.
"I like it though." Lis breathed, a small cloud of fog steaming up the window in front of her. Frodo smiled and reached his hand to the window, tracing a smiling face onto the white.
"I like it too." He said, getting closer to the glass. He breathed over a large space, then pulled away and traced his name on the glass. Lis mimicked him, the smallest hint of a childish smile creeping onto her face. However, she wrote her own name on the window. Frodo looked at it, his brow furrowed slightly
"Yea, I've been meaning to ask you about that. I mean, Lisaura is such a weird name (A/N HA!). you named after a grandmother, or what?"
"Oh, no. Um, my parents couldn't decide what to name me when I was born. Mom liked Lisa, but dad thought it was too common. He liked Aurora. Lord knows why. So they compromised. Lisaura."
Frodo nodded, his face lightening with understanding.
"It's a beautiful name." He said quietly, keeping his eyes to her quickly evaporating name. She could see their brightness become clearer as her name faded. Such warm, brown eyes, she thought. The rain outside drizzled in his reflected eyes, washing them, it seemed. She reached out to the window, running her fingers lightly over his eyes, her thoughts wandering.
"So, how did you ever get into the Anigua?" Frodo's voice called her back into reality.
"Hmm? Oh. I dunno. I've always loved to read. And my imagination sort've stuck to the myths. Greece, Peru, Middle Earth. I just read them all. Everything I could find. They really are fascinating, analytically speaking. The way they all coincide. Although, to be honest, it was the romances that interested me first."
"The romances?"
"Yea. Venus and Vulcan, Hades and Persephone,"
"That shouldn't count as a romance. He kidnapped her."
"Well, yes. But it's kinda sweet in a way. I mean, he went through all that he did just because he wanted some beauty in his life."
"Yea, well, its scary if you ask me."
"Ugh. Frodo, you just aren't a romantic."
"Nope. No, I guess I'm not. Call me crazy, but I'll take good olla' courting to kidnapping any day. It may not be 'romantic', but it's a helluva lot more practical."
Lis smiled at him and both burst into laughter. The other hobbits didn't seem to notice as the conversation was becoming heated again.
"It just doesn't make sense." Sam whined adamantly.
"Yes it does." Pippin drawled. "Just because the ring was evil, it doesn't stand that it wouldn't just be destroyed."
"But who destroyed it? That's what I don't understand."
"The Dark Lord did. Who else could've?"
"That's what doesn't make any sense. Why would the Dark Lord destroy his one implement of power? Without he dies. You saw what happened with Isiuldor. The ring went into recession and so did he. Then Smeagol finds the ring and, without any warning, the Dark Lord decides to destroy it, right after it was returned to him? You've got to be kidding."
"Maybe he had a change of heart." Lis said quietly from the window.
"Ha, not likely. Dark warlords do NOT give up power, for anything."
"Well, Hades did," she gave a sly little smile to Frodo, who crossed his arms over his chest and leaned against the windowpane, watching amusedly.
"He gave in some of his power to Demeter and Zeus for Persephone's love."
Pippin gave a snort.
"Do you mean to say that the Dark Lord fell in love?"
"Well, no. The Anigua never say exactly what happens. So maybe he did, who's to say? All I say is, just because he was a tyrant and villainous,"
"That doesn't mean he didn't love his teddy bear?" Pippin joked.
The room burst into laughter, even Lis. Merry started sucking his thumb, while Sam loudly hummed a lullaby.
"Alright, it was stupid idea," Lis sputtered in between laughs.
"No, it wasn't stupid," Frodo offered, a grin still plastered to his boyish face.
"Yea, well, whatever it was, I think we need a break." Merry groaned as he stood up finally, arching his back and stretching his arms overhead.
"Hear, Hear, Master Merry." Yelped Sam as he jumped to his feet. "All in favor say 'aye'." He room resounded in the affirmative, and six pairs of feet hit the ground towards the main door out, when it swung open violently, slamming into a bookshelf behind it. Gimli, dripping wet stood in the doorway, panting.
"Hey, short stack, what's the big idea?" Pippin fumed, pushing his way to the front of the group, his eyes scrunched with agitation.
"Galadriel's Back."
With that, he turned and left, leaving the door open behind him. The hobbit's faces fell, and every one of them rushed out of the door behind him. All except Lis and Frodo.
"Galadriel? Who's Galadriel?" Lis mused confusedly. Frodo grabbed her hand and followed, more slowly, after the others.
"Galadriel is Arwen's sister."
Lis just stared at him.
"She's been abroad for a few years now. No one knew when she would come back. Galadriel works on her own time."
"Okay…?"
"She's a seer, Lis, a prophetess."
Lis stared at him for a moment, her mind racing.
A seer, Lis thought. Maybe she can help me.