Once Upon An Age

Disclaimer: I don't own anything to do with Tolkien's work but I do own anything that isn't real, etc. Basically I own anything I thought up. Don't know if this idea has been used before but **** happens. (Evil grin).

Chapter Two: It was like looking in a mirror.

            When they made it to 'The Sanctuary' Elle and Andre were surprised to find that the place was tucked away in a secluded area of Wales. The place was owned by a lady named Tera Black and was all forest. There was a large wall around the outside of the place with the main gates remaining shut most of the time. Parking the car up outside the gate, Andre got out and walked over to the gate and looked around.

            "Who goes there?" A mans voice asked from the other side of the wall.

            He startled, "My name is Andre Peterson and I'm meant to be coming here with a friend of mine so we can write a book in peace. I spoke to a Macayle and she told me we would be made quite welcome."

            A man appeared, his blond hair framing his face; "I'll open the gate for you. Bring the car in and park it up just inside where all the other cars are."

            Getting back into his car, Andre drove forward as the gate swung open. Seeing where the other cars were parked, he found a spot and stopped, turning the engine off. Elle raised an eyebrow at her friend before sliding out of the car and turning to grab her backpack with books and laptop in it.

            "Macayle is just coming now Mr Peterson." The man told them when he came over after shutting the gate again. "She likes to be here to welcome those who come to visit though they number but a few."

            He didn't get a chance to look upon the face of the woman with Andre though there was something puzzling him about her. It was almost as if she seemed familiar. When Macayle arrived, Andre stopped still and stared.

            "Oh my god!" He whispered. "Elle, turn around and tell me if I'm hallucinating."

            Ellette turned around and almost fainted. It was as if she was looking in a mirror. Macayle and the blond man stared back at her.

            "This is weird…." Elle said softly, "I'm sure I never had a twin."

            Shaking her head, Macayle held out her hand to Elle, "My name is Macayle Black. Welcome to The Sanctuary."

            She shook the woman's hand, "My name is Elle McCollum but I won't bother you with the whole long mouthful that my parents named me."

            "No please do. I find long names interesting as many often sound almost musical." She smiled.

            "Well…." Elle cringed, "My full name is Ellette Arwen Eolande McCollum…. My parents never wanted a daughter and my father was a friend of Tolkien so he named me Ellette Arwen."

            The blond man looked stunned for a moment before hurrying to help Andre with the cases he was getting out of the back of his car. "You'll find you're quite welcome here Ms McCollum."

            Turning to Andre, Macayle smiled again, "I remember speaking to you Mr Peterson not that I thought I would see you so soon. Tell me, what is your book going to be about?"

            "We're writing a book about obscure mythology." Elle told her, "I specialize in that area of history and Andre is a writer so we thought to work together to write a book. Actually, it should be rather fun."

            "Well let us hurry up and get you two to your rooms." The woman nodded, leading the two men off.

            Elle took hold of the larger of her two cases and started off after Macayle and the other two men. She was still shocked at meeting her mirror image and was curious about Macayle like she was normally curious about strange new pieces of information. When they reached the buildings, Andre and Ellette were greeted by the sight of an elegant town, which looked like Tolkien's drawings of Rivendell. There were people all over the place, doing all kinds of various activities.

            "My god Andre…." Elle turned to her friend, "I think you might have been right only now, what do we do?"

            He shrugged and indicated that they should keep following the other two people. They were shown to a set of rooms each with the blond man staying with Andre and Macayle showing Elle to hers.

            When the woman had finally left her alone, Elle sat down on the bed and stared at her reflection in the mirror.

~*~*~*~*~*~

            Arwen closed the door behind her, hoping that the young lady named Ellette would not come out anytime soon. She still couldn't believe her eyes and was worried that there was something greater, which had brought Ellette to The Sanctuary. She hated having to use the name Macayle but for the moment it would do. The blond man who had been with Andre joined her, his clear blue eyes reflecting his concern.

            "Lady Arwen, who is she? She looks exactly like you!" He asked.

            "I don't know Camlin but I will find out no matter what." She replied to him, turning to walk off down a hallway towards the library.

            Following her, Camlin thought for a moment, "You do not think that she could be descended from your line? That she could bare the blood of Numenor's kings in her and that is why she looks like you?"

            "A throw back to my blood? Could it be that she is a daughter of my union with Aragorn?" Arwen sighed, shaking her head, "If only it could be true! Perhaps she could find the way to Valinor for us…."

            The two Elves fell silent, thinking about their beloved Valinor, lost to them through the mists of time. They entered the library, a place that they had built in memory of the mighty library that Elrond had had in Rivendell. In fact, it was the library of Rivendell for this place they called The Sanctuary was the original Imladris.

            Time could not change the place when there were still Elves caring for the place. The daughter of Elrond kept her watch, hoping that the way to Valinor would one day be opened to them. Perhaps with the coming of these two strange humans they would learn something that they had never known of.

            "What do you think they have come here for Camlin? Do you think they are really here to write a book or have they been brought here for something else? It is important that our true existence is never exposed to the world…." Arwen turned to her long time friend and frowned.

            "I know not my lady. It will be a chance we shall have to take and perhaps they are just here for the reason they tell us they are. But something is troubling me about the appearance of Ellette. She looked as though she were ill…." He shook his head sadly; "Perhaps it is just that I have not had to care for anyone for so long that my eyes are seeing illness in humans who aren't ill."

            There was a young Elf sitting in the library, her eyes locked on the words of the book she was reading. When they had entered, she had glanced up at them before turning back to the book she was reading. But now she was watching them with sapphire blue eyes and a woeful expression.

            Fainche was her name and she was one of the few who had been born to the Elves since the Final Exile as they called it. When Arwen nodded to her, Fainche rose and walked over to them, her pale hair hanging in a long braid to her waist.

            "Fainche, there is a young lady in one of the guest rooms by the name of Ellette Arwen Eolande McCollum who looks exactly like me. In fact, she is my mirror image. What reason can you think of that would cause that?" Arwen asked the younger woman.

            "She could be a descendant of you and Aragorn. It might be that the Elvan blood lay dormant until it stirred in this woman Ellette." Fainche replied, her sharp mind thinking away.

            "You are right I am betting…. That is why I am here. Where are the books in which we have kept recorded, the line of Gondor's kings through time? I would see if perhaps our suspicions are true and that the line of Isildur has come to the family of McCollum." The Evenstar looked around the library.

            Leading the daughter of Elrond to the shelf where the books she was asking for were kept, Fainche looked at Camlin with an expression of delight. She was one of those who enjoyed a good investigation and when they were done, she would probably rush off to write done all that had happened and all that had been found out. Perhaps she would even befriend Ellette.

            Arwen found the book with the last few hundred years in it and searched through the pages. Watching her, Camlin and Fainche waited to hear what they expected to hear. When the raven-haired lady turned away and shut the book, her face was pale and a hand was held to her throat.

            "It is true! The line of the kings of Gondor has found a new name. The family of the McCollum's is the last of those who bare the blood of Isildur and Elendil and this woman Ellette is a descendant of my love for Aragorn. I have family here at last."

            The three Elves exchanged looks before Fainche took a hold of the book and bowed her head. It was barely moments before she had gone off to document what had happened so that they would have a record of the discovery. Arwen blinked back tears and made her way out of the library, heading back towards the room where she had left Elle.

            Following her, Camlin couldn't help but wonder what the Elvan Princess, the Evenstar of the Elves, would do. He wondered if she would question Elle about her family or if she might reveal the truth to the woman. It was worrisome if she did plan to expose their existence to Elle, for she might then in turn expose it to the world.

            Arwen knocked on the door and Elle opened it after a short while. The woman looked tired, her eyes wary. On her bed a small pile of books were spread out and Arwen spied a couple of which looked incredibly familiar to her.

            "Macayle!" Elle looked surprised, "I'm sorry, do come in… I was just doing some reading."

            She walked in and over to the bed. When she saw the books, Arwen gasped, turning to look at Elle. It was obvious to her that Elle wasn't thinking clearly, that her mind was somewhat dazed. Approaching her, Arwen studied the woman's face, noting the glassy look to her eyes and the flush of her pale skin.

            "Ellette, are you feeling okay? You look like you are sick…." She asked in concern.

            It was as if Elle didn't even notice her. Returning to her bed, the younger woman sat down on the edge and stared at the books. "It can't be true…. How could it be true? Tolkien did write the stories and Mark just made a mistake when he did the carbon dating of these books."

            Standing behind her, Arwen stared down at the copies of 'There and Back again: A Hobbit's tale.' And 'The downfall of the Lord of the Rings and the return of the King' and 'The Silmarillion' and the red book that they had given to Tolkien when he had come to them for the peace of The Sanctuary. She couldn't understand how this woman who was descended from her could have possibly come into the possession of those books.

            "It's strange though because Tolkien writes in his diary that the true Lady Arwen Evenstar gave him the books and told him to write the stories so that the would could know of its forgotten past. But how could it be that no evidence has been found…. Besides what I found in the Himalayas." Elle muttered to herself, forgetting that Arwen-Macayle was there with her.

            Sitting herself down beside Elle, Arwen stared into the woman's eyes, "Ellette Arwen Eolande McCollum, be silent for you are sick. I will send for a healer to come and look after you."

            Elle laughed, "Why are you my mirror image? Am I strange? Andre mentioned my ears and I've been trying to understand why…. Oh god, I feel so tired and so wary."

            It was then that Arwen noticed the slight point to Elle's ears and smiled. So she really was a throwback. Packing the book up while Elle sat there looking like she was about to be sick, Arwen placed them on the desk by the window before going over to the door. She let Camlin in, nodding towards Elle.

            "Camlin, you were right. She is ill." Arwen told him as he walked into the room and over to the bed.

            Examining Elle, he was amazed by what he found. She was suffering from some kind of poisoning that he had not seen for a very long time… not since the last war of the Ring. Telling Arwen what was wrong, he left the room to go and see if he could find a cure for the illness.

            Sitting beside Elle, Arwen listened to the woman talking to herself. She was so very sad, her self-esteem virtually non-existent. Elle was having an argument with the air, her mind so addled that she was thinking that she was fighting with her parents.

            "Elle, what did your parents do wrong to you that makes you hate them so?" Arwen asked, wondering if Elle heard her.

            "They never wanted me or ever said that they loved me. They sent me to boarding school on the other side of the world while they traveled around. When I came to see them in Wales one time, they left me in the middle of the night and returned to America without even telling me they were going. They never supported me and not ever did I know the love of a parent." Elle stared at her, eyes welling up with tears.

            Arwen's breath caught in her throat. Ellette's parents had done the worst thing they could have ever done to a child. No wonder Elle seemed so angry with them when she had been arguing with the air while thinking it was they. She wrapped her arms around the woman, letting her cry.

            "Shhh sweet Ellette, forgive your parents for they did not understand what they did wrong. Do not fear any more for you are here among kin and aye, you are my very own kin." Arwen whispered to her.

            In her fever, Elle understood one thing. Macayle was not who she said she was. When she spoke next, Elle didn't really know what she said. "You're Arwen Evenstar aren't you? You never chose to give up your immortality but chose instead to stay with Aragorn until he died. This place is really Rivendell…."

            "You're right sweet Ellette and you're descended from my union with Aragorn. That is why you are my mirror image. Think about it, you can look upon me as a sister or mother as you wish but you have come home and we will look after you now because you belong here. Forget about the outside world and all that was done wrong to you. It will never happen again." Arwen replied, talking to her in soothing tones, her voice as musical as it had always been.

            "Home?" Elle looked hopeful, "I have never had a home to go to. Never. Not until I met Andre and he opened his doors for me. But I cannot love him as anything more than a brother. I want to be loved, to feel secure and to know that I am wanted. Is that to much to ask?"

            "Never to much to ask Ellette, daughter of the Evenstar. You will be loved and made welcome here. Welcome to Rivendell, last refuge of the Elves of Middle Earth. I hope you and I will be able to find a way to Valinor for I know that you know the way even if you're not aware of it." The Evenstar held the shaking body of her descendant tightly, waiting for Camlin to return.

            But before he did come back, Elle had passed out. When he found her so, the Elvan healer was quick to administer a cure for the poison in her veins.

            "She knows all Camlin and she accepts…. I think." Arwen told him, her eyes staring at the face of Elle in hope. "She's our way to Valinor, I am sure of it."