What You See…
Hey pplz! I'm sorry it took so long to update! Thanx for all the reviews! (You know, I say that every chapter don't i?) well, there were a few questions I wanted to ask last chapter but forgot because I was so tired and sleepy so I'll just ask them this chapter. I really hope that people actually read all the stuff I write in the beginning and end of each chapter and that I'm not just wasting my energy typing this. Well, some of you are impatient for the meeting and it'll come this chappie. Well, I've decided that I'll leave most of my notes at the end of the chapter instead of the beginning since I figure most people want to get on reading the next chapter instead of my notes; I know I'd want to. So, on with the next chappie!!!
* * * * * * * * means a switch in point of views. Some people were confused and wondered how Aria somehow did magic. SHE DID NOT DO MAGIC!!!! It was someone else who I'll reveal later.
Disclaimer: I don't own LOTR. I hope anyone who's reading this does not have the sadly misguided idea that I'm a dead man who's suddenly decided he wants to come back to life and write fanfiction for his own books. If you are like that, I have to say that you're mental cuz Tolkien is DEAD!!! and he's a guy and if you haven't figured it out yet, I'm a GIRL! I thought my pen name, Lady of Dreams, kind of gave that away, but I'm really sorry if you thought I was Tolkien. I also hope you notice the sarcastic tone of voice here.
Well, that was a long disclaimer! And the title of chapter five was part of the lyrics of the song A Thousand Miles by Vanessa Carlton. It does not belong to me. Now, on with the next chappie! ^_^
Chapter Six: Bad Luck
Someone fell through…
Someone other than me went through…
Other than me…
Into the portal…
My mind seems unable to function. My whole body feels light; everything around me is spinning, twirling like a graceful ballet dancer.
Fell through…
This cannot be happening, my mind whispers, this cannot be happening…
To open a time portal is forbidden by the greatest of powers because the amount of power needed for the cutting open of the seams of the one world to enter another is great, beyond imagination. Usually, it takes many mages, all of great power to open one. But using such a great amount of power is extremely dangerous. If the mages do not completely control the power with ease, there is a great chance that it will get out of control and cause a major disaster. During the War of Power, a group of mages had attempted to open a portal in order to escape the forces which were bearing down upon them. Unfortunately, they were not able to maintain the power they harnessed, losing control of it, and thus destroying the entire continent of Parslia. This did not take place on Earth, of course, but on a different planet. The creation of a portal, though, to those that know traveling between worlds is possible, is strictly forbidden on all planets.
The penalty of doing so, even if successfully, is death. For that alone, I would have been killed, I think, but for allowing another to fall through… I shudder. For that, I will be sentenced to the Burning. Taken to the Chasm, I will be cast into it, into the home of Arnu, the Eternal Dragon, whose flames shall lick and burn my body until the end of time. It was a cruel fate, not suffered by many, used only in the gravest of situations. The events at the portal played through my mind again, like a movie that refused to be turned off, playing, rewinding, then playing again.
Silver hair…
Rushing towards the portal…
Falling through…
Falling…
I knew that the moment someone had gone through, the portal would close. I also knew that I could do nothing about it. So, I had done what I could. I had tried to send my magic through it before it closed, so at least the girl would have some form of protection until I could enter the portal and bring her back. Unfortunately, I had not been quick enough. I had sent the embodiment of my magic through the image and towards the portal as quickly as I could but too late. It had closed, vanishing into thin air, leaving the spot where it had been empty and desolate. Only one tiny strand had managed to squeeze its way through, and that would not be much help at all. If she died in the other world that I had opened…
I feel tears threatening to spill, tears of failure and hysterics, and clamped down tightly over them. I will not be reduced to wailing over this like a baby! I think, angrily wiping away my tears. I will be strong. There must be a way to open the portal again! Focusing on that thought with every ounce of concentration I had, I begin to slip into the trance-like state that comes over me when I perform search-magic.
* * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * *
He did not understand.
Confusion. That one word described perfectly his emotions right now. Then again, he had often been confused. In fact, he often was confused, confused about his parents, about his sister, about the whole world around him. His whole life was just a seething mass of confusion.
When Aria had found him in his temporary room, the one his parents had told him to stay in for the day, he had been overjoyed. He did not get to see his sister very often. Ever since a few years ago, he had only been able to see her around once a month. She had always looked rather tired, but she had always put on a smile when she saw him, a smile that lit up her entire face. And it would turn her face into that of what a teenager's face should look like, not like what hers so often did-- like ice, like an ice statue. Most often, she would be holding some kind of weapon in her hand, her body in fighting stance. But she would always glance up at the exact right moment and smile at him, the only time her expression of coldness melted and let in some of her true emotions, those of weariness and pain but also joy and cheerfulness.
Her clothes would be a little dirty and her hair a little mussed, but he quite thought that she was the most beautiful thing in the world, in the way that a sweet little brother looks up to his darling big sister. He never did understand why some of the kids in his neighborhood thought their older siblings were mean. Why, his sister was one of the kindest people in the world! He absolutely adored her.
When they were little, she would always sing him nursery rhymes and make him laugh. He used to cry whenever the kids in the neighborhood picked on him because he was always so weak and couldn't run wild in the little playground with them. But then Aria would always drive them away and point out something interesting to him to take his mind off of it. "Why look, Little Johnny! Do you see that tiny yellow bird over there in that tree? It's feeding its babies! See the little worm it's dropping into the baby birdie's mouth?" And he would laugh and forget about the neighborhood kids and cling to his sister, for she was all he had.
But then, the memories would fade, and he would be past the door of what he knew to be the training room, though he didn't really understand what occurred in it, and his sister would be out of sight once again. He would sigh and walk on in silence, glancing up at the parent who was leading him somewhere. And the parent would smile down at him. If he had been older and more experienced in life, he might have noticed that the smile did not quite reach that parent's eyes, that only the corners of the mouth curved upwards while the eyes remained cold and uncaring. But he was too innocent to understand such matters, too young to comprehend lies and deceit.
Quite often, he would ask if he could see Aria for a while. But his parents would always reply that she was busy right now and would not be happy if she was interrupted. Personally, he wasn't sure about that. But he did not argue against his parents. After all, they were always so nice to him, buying him all sorts of toys and books and basically anything else he wanted. They would read him bedtime stories and play with him. So he trusted them. The bond between him and his parents, though, was not as strong as that between him and his sister. Even he had sensed a change about his parents, though he could not quite place what it was that changed.
So, when she had told him that they were leaving, he obeyed. He did not understand why they were leaving, but he had complete and undying faith in his sister. He knew that she would not lead him astray. She had packed his things; they had rushed down the flights of stairs. But then their parents had come bursting in. He could still picture the look on Ari's face, the look of "no, they've found us out!" before it changed to a grim determination that frightened him a little. He had seen her throw something shiny at their father, seen him drop to the ground, a surprised look on his face. Still, he did not understand. Why was his father on the ground? Why did Ari throw something shiny at him? He had no idea that the shiny thing was a knife and that his father was dead.
Then, she had shouted at him to run upstairs. Her face had a panicked look, but the determination was still there. He complied, running as fast as his legs could carry him. He could feel the all too familiar pain clenching his heart but ran on, knowing his big sister was counting on him to. He gasped for breath and began to stop. No, the thought rang through his mind, I will not stop. Ari is counting on me to keep on going! The thought was fierce; it filled him with fire. He ran on, though much more slowly now.
They reached a room. She shooed him in and slammed the door behind them. He heard the click of the lock. She rushed over to the window, beckoning towards him. He went. She was just explaining how to climb the thick rope down when the door burst into pieces.
He turned around. What he saw then terrified him. It was his mother. But it wasn't his mother. No, his mother could never have such a look on her face, one of such cruelty and malice. It contained fury as well and a delight in the pain of others. He felt sick. That look was inhuman! But his expression became one of terror as he saw his mother shoot something—it looked like a ball of blackness—towards Ari, knocking her backwards against the wall. Now he was even more confused and stunned. What was going on? But then another ball of black shot towards her, sending her flying through the wall. A scream was torn from his throat, "No! ARI!!!"
He began rushing towards the window but was stopped by a hand pulling him back, stopping his mad rush to if his sister was all right. He looked up and into the eyes of his mother. For a moment, he was paralyzed in fear. He was staring into a chasm of darkness, a deep pit of inky nothing. And he was falling into it.
Falling, falling…
He knew no more.
* * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * *
"Did you erase his memory?"
"Yes. He will remember nothing. I am afraid that he did catch a glimpse of my true self, though."
"No matter; he will not remember. The girl?"
"I'm afraid I rather lost my temper with her. I did not expect her to be so daring as to try to escape. I underestimated her."
"The portal? Have you discovered where it is yet?"
"No. I cannot feel its presence anymore. It seemed to just…disappear."
"We must report this to the lord."
"He will already know. We all felt the presence of the portal; we will feel its disappearance. But the Council will no doubt want to begin investigating into this matter, so we must go. Hurry."
One last muttered statement, "I do not envy the one who built that portal. He will have a hard time of it when we discover him."
Two black-clad figures strode out of a five-story house and into the gathering night, disappearing into the darkness.
* * * * * * * *
The Council was in an uproar. The presence, the energy of the portal had just vanished a while ago. That meant that someone had crossed it, or else it would have just remained where it was until someone did cross it. But who? That was the question that no one seemed to be able to answer.
Everyone was searching, seers, tracers, soul-searchers, magic-sensers, everyone. But whoever had created the portal must have been very skilled in the art of shielding, for no one could find a thing. Two black-robed figures suddenly materialized in the middle of the hubble.
"Finally!"
"Did you find out anything?"
"Do you have any information?"
"What happened to it?"
"Did it go awry?"
"Do we need to prepare for danger?"
A tide of questions followed their arrival, since they had gone to where the portal was supposed to be. The ignored the question, though, insisting on speaking to the lord. They were led to him. He immediately silenced the Council as the two figures made their report.
"We found nothing, my lord."
A wave of fear mingled with disappointment seemed to ripple throughout the crowd. They hushed again at the lord's command.
"Nothing?"
"Yes. The portal's presence disappeared. We did, however find another matter at hand."
One of the figures explained what had happened.
"So they tried to escape?"
"Yes, my lord. But they were unsuccessful."
"I would certainly expect so. You say you blasted the girl through the wall?" the lord raised his eyebrows.
The figure flushed. "I'm sorry, my lord. I lost my temper."
"And where is she now?"
"Lying unconscious in the backyard, no doubt. I shall not do anything so foolish again, my lord."
"Good. You know better than to lose your temper."
"I shan't do it again, my lord."
Their conversation was interrupted by a loud gasp from a figure that was sitting in the corner, a soul-senser who had been searching for the portal.
The lord's head snapped toward that direction. "Adrian. Did you sense something?"
The man came out of the shadows to stand before his lord. The Council murmured. The man's face was a ghastly color of white. His hands trembled; his body shook. Whatever news he bore was not good.
"My lord," he began faintly but then stopped to catch his breath. Working magic took its toll on people and combined with the amount of nervousness radiating from this man…
"Bring him water," the lord commanded.
After a few sips of water, the man found the strength to continue. "My lord, I'm afraid that I have bad news. Well, I was searching but then—well, you see, it's like this. The portal—Well—"
The lord waved an impatient hand. "Just get to the point, Adrian."
"Yes, my lord," the man replied with a bow. He turned towards the two figure in black robes that were standing in front of the lord as well. His voice trembled as he spoke again, "Your charge, Ariana, I believe, has fallen through the portal."
* * * * * * * * Aria* * * * * * * * *
I woke slowly, aware of the sounds around me. The chirps of birds, the crawling of insects. I knew only one fact.
This was not my backyard.
Training took over my body. Rule number 28: when captured by enemies and seemingly unconscious, always try to figure out where you are, who's with you, and what's going on before showing any signs of stirring, I thought grimly. I had silently scoffed when I first heard that rule. Enemy territory? Hello, it's the twenty-first century! What, are we still living in World War II or something and I just don't know? But for once all that training of what to do if you were attacked, ambushed, in battle, and yadda yadda yadda actually seemed to be coming in handy. Of course, I had no clue if this was "enemy territory" but what the heck? Might as well give it all I've got.
I kept up the pretense of being asleep while I stretched out my senses. I smelled the deep, fresh scent of earth and…decay. Things, I didn't want to think what, wriggled underneath me. The ground was made of soil, and I could feel my body flattening little tendrils of what I hoped were weeds. My eyes were closed, so I could see nothing, but no sunlight pierced my eyelids, so I assumed that it was still night. I felt a surge of relief. Good, I haven't been unconscious for long, I thought. The plan failed, though. Somehow, I wasn't too surprised by that. One part of me had always thought that it was hopeless, trying to escape. I just hoped that nothing had happened to Johnny. Wait, Johnny! I mentally groaned and berated myself at the same time. If my parents had hurt him for what I had done, I would never be able to forgive myself. My thoughts began to lead me elsewhere, and I forced my mind to concentrate on the matter at hand. I would worry myself to death later. Though my parents will probably kill me before I can do that.
Everything was silent except for little sounds. Forest sounds. Forest sounds? I almost frowned but stopped myself in time, remembering that I was supposed to be asleep. There were no forests in my backyard! There was one in the next neighborhood over, but surely, I couldn't have fallen all the way over there! It was a little less than a mile away! I listened again. Yep, those were definitely forest sounds or I'd eat my sword, though that's thoroughly impossible…but that's beside the point. I couldn't hear any human noises, footsteps or breathing or any sort of that type of noise. Deciding that either there wasn't anyone around or else that someone was an extremely well-trained warrior, I opened my eyes.
I was right. There wasn't anyone around me, not a soul. I was also right about the fact that I was in a forest, though not like any forest I'd ever seen. The trees were tall and immense, their boughs creating huge shadows that fell over everything. I could not see all the way to the sky above. I was situated in a clearing, lying flat out on the ground. Everything around me seemed extremely dark and murky. There was a feeling of danger here. I shivered, though it was not cold. Wait, it's not cold! I realized with a start. The season was only just beginning to become spring; it was definitely supposed to be much colder than this. The climate was warm, not overly so like in the summertime but like the air of spring, not hot, no cold, just warm.
Then I realized something else—it was not night. The only reason it was dark was because of the trees, there huge canopies shielding everything from sight. Uh-oh. Had I been out for that long? I looked around me the best I could from lying on the ground. Trees were all around me, gigantic trees, creating a strange, isolated environment. I shivered again. This place was creepy. I didn't know how so, but it just was. I looked around again. There was no familiar five-story house in sight.
And so I came to the brilliant conclusion: Where the hell was I?
Well, I didn't really have an answer for that, so for the time being, I decided to focus on the more important things: whether I could manage to get up or not, if I was going to bleed to death, that kind of stuff. I firmly pushed all thoughts of Johnny and my parents out of my mind for now, promising my conscience that I would spend a full day worrying about that later.
I tried to sit up. It worked, to some extent. I managed to get into a half-lying-down-half-sitting-up position, though it sent colors bursting in front of my eyes again for a while and fire to lace my arm again. Once I got a hold of myself, I examined my injuries, focusing mostly on my left arm. It was a very bad break. I could see the bone almost protruding out of my skin. It was a ghastly sight, and it hurt like hell. Trying to ignore that for the present, I continued my examination. There was a long and deep gash down my right leg. Dried blood was caked all around it. It had stopped bleeding some time ago. A few scrapes and cuts on my face and the rest of my body, but they were minor. My whole left side and part of my back felt like one gigantic bruise, though. Every tiny movement seemed to hurt. I wondered if it was possible to break and bruise everything in your body.
Then I noticed something astonishing. I could see all the bruises and cuts from last night's training. They were no longer invisible. The bruises and cuts that dotted my body were fading, though, healing. But that's impossible, I thought in surprise, those should be fresh, not look like I've had them for a week or two! Great. Another mystery. But mixed with that feeling of "this is impossible" was joy. I could go to the police now! I had the evidence! Johnny and I could escape! But I stopped the wild dreams before they could stop. That was not important right now. That was all of the damage. Next step: try to stand up. But while all of this was going on in my mind, part of it was still trying to figure out where I was.
For a wild moment, I imagined that I had fallen into Middle Earth, one where I would be welcomed and loved. I thought about all the stories I had read on fanfiction.net, a website I visited when I found the time, about girls falling into Middle Earth and then joining the Fellowship and falling in love with one of the characters. Then I came back to reality. Middle Earth, huh, I thought both bitterly and amusedly, girls that fall into Middle Earth don't break their arms and bleed to death and look like a patchwork quilt. They're supposed to be beautiful and powerful. Someone is supposed to rescue them the moment they arrive, probably Legolas, and then they fall in love and live happily ever after. They don't fall into Middle Earth and stay stranded someplace with every damned bone in their body broken! Where's my savior?
By now, I was quite angry about the situation that I was in. I wished that some person would come! Why did I have to have such bad luck? I snapped myself out of my mental tirade about the being in Middle Earth and the unfairness of everything. First of all, I reminded myself sternly, you are not in Middle Earth. Second of all, stop daydreaming and figure a way out of this situation. You're not some damsel in distress! You're tougher than this, girl!
I angrily cut off any and all of my daydreams. I was not in Middle Earth. I tried to stand, but fell. The cut on my leg hurt badly; it had begun to bleed again. I sat down, trying to staunch the blood flow. When I had slowed to a trickle, I tried again but to no avail. Deciding that this was not working, I dragged myself over to a low hanging tree branch and pushed myself up to a standing position. For a moment, I felt overcome with dizziness. Everything hurt, especially my arm! I surveyed everything from a standing position, trying to locate my backpack and weapons.
I saw my backpack lying in a bush some ways over. I saw my sword lying on top of another bush and my bow on the ground. My daggers and throwing knives were still on me, of course, but I couldn't see where the rest of my weapons were. I began to make my way over to my backpack. My first few steps were slow and weak, my right leg shaking. I felt so heavy. I relieved myself of my daggers and throwing knives so that I could walk easier. I hoped that there weren't any wild animals in this forest. Almost there, I thought wearily, ten more steps. Nine, eight, seven—
Suddenly, I froze, hearing a noise, a rustle of leaves. I normal circumstances, my hand would have been on the hilt of my sword or knife or whatever weapon I had with me, but I didn't have my weapons. I slowly began to walk back to retrieve the knives I had thrown down to walk more easily. I stopped to listen every once in a while. Nothing. Maybe I had just imagined it. I bent down slowly but then heard the rustling noise again. I lifted my head and stared—
At the eight, hairy, long legs of the biggest spider I had ever seen.
Damn, I have bad luck.
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YAY! Done with another chappie! It as going to be longer, but then I wouldn't have been able to update tonight, so I decided to cut it down a bit. I have a bad habit of writing to much. Now for questions, and I have a lot: I KNOW THE PALACE OF MIRKWOOD IS UNDERGROUND, BUT IS THE REST OF THE CITY OR WHATEVER UNDERGROUND TOO? WHAT KIND OF A ROMANCE FIC DO U GUYS WANT THIS TO BE, LOVE/HATE, LOVE AT FIRST SIGHT, ETC.? PLEASE TELL ME YOUR OPINION! ALSO, DOES ANYONE KNOW WHERE I CAN LEARN ELVISH? A WEBSITE PERHAPS? LAST QUESTION: CAN SOMEONE TELL ME THE HISTORY OF SAURON OR IF ITS TOO LONG, TELL ME A WEBSITE OR BOOK WHERE I CAN FIND SAURON'S HISTORY/HOW HE CAME TO BE? Whew, those were a lot of questions, but like I said, I forgot to ask last chapter. PLEASE ANSER MY QUESTIONS! AND DON'T GET TOO ANNOYED WITH ME ABOUT THEM! AND REVIEWS PLEASE!!! ^_^
And now for some of my comments on reviews:
Kelly: no, I don't take martial arts. I'm probably too unphysically fit for it anyways. *sighs* I do, however, take fencing, but I'm only a beginner. I've just read a lot of books that talk about war, swords, etc. so I've gained knowledge.
Kyu: thanx for the compliments! ^_^
Volcan of Dragonfire: sorry if its confusing. Things will be explained later on.
TO ANYONE ELSE WHO IS COMPLETELY CONFUSED: ALL WILL BE EXPLAINED EVENTUALLY. PLEASE BE PATIENT!
Wingweaver: can u please tell me what exactly I need to work on on the dialogue? Sry if I sound stupid, but I suck at critiquing my own work.
Deortheod: Johnny is a nazgul? LOL LOL LOL sry, I hope you're not insulted. I just found that extremely funny when I read your review.
~Lady of Dreams~