Dislaimer: Don't own 'Lord of the Rings'. Belongs to J.R.R. Tolkien, the great and all powerful genius that rule my universe! *AHEM* Back to what I was saying... When I came back from visiting my Grandma's this weekend I was shocked and surprised to find that I now have twenty reviews...20!!! I nearly cried! That is the most reviews I've ever gotten! And that's with all of them added together!
But anyway...I'd like to give thanks to Richard the Pedantic (everyone must really go read his Matrix story. It is great and he's working on the sequal),
Miliko01 (if I need grammer and spell fixes, where? I'd be glad to fix them),
the Queen of Newsies (thanks for the table comment. I don't know where the idea came from, but I think it came from the fact that I wanted to be able to 'see' where everyone was at.)
And the newest one, L.Moonshade (I've tried to make Nicole realistic as possible and for very good reason...You see, Nicole, August, David, and Ray [who you'll be meeting in this chapter], are really three of my friends and I. I simply change our first names to our middle names for the sake of privacy. So, Nicole is really me, August is really my best friend from school, as well as David and Ray, who have to be two of the the craziest guys I've ever met.)
Well, that's it for that. I'll try to make each chapter longer, especially since I feel that I'm really starting to pick things up with the story. I was a bit scared when putting this up because of the bad feedback on Mary-Sues but, since all of you have been so nice, I'm feeling new inspiration and I'll try to put out more chapters as soon as I can!
And, last thing, I do and have shown this story to David, Ray, and August (they are in it after all) and will be showing them all of your reviews tomorrow, just to keep them updated on what you are all saying. Later folks! Thanks a million for the reviews!!
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/Last Time:/
Nicole, seeing nothing else to do, ran after them…
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but at that time everyone else in the Hall decided to stand as well, making Nicole's exit all the harder.
When Nicole did finally get out of the Hall, she couldn't see hide-nor-hair of Elrond, Gandalf, and Aragorn. So, heading in no particular direction, Nicole sat off in search of someone who knew what was going on.
Walking didn't help her find anyone, nor did jogging, so Nicole was soon running through the halls of Rivendell and searching for anyone. She soon found someone, Elrohir to be exact though how Nicole knew that was a mystery. He was looking slightly winded, as if he had just been running as well.
" Nicole! I have been looking for you! Quickly, you must come with me!" Without giving time for an explanation as to why and where they were going, Nicole was dragged down a corridor.
" Elrohir, where are you taking me?! What's going on?!" Elrohir didn't say anything, but he did glance over his shoulder before moving quicker through the countless halls. When they finally stopped, Nicole figured they were near the front entrance of Rivendell, the way she and Legolas came through. And upon reaching that entrance, Nicole realized what was going on. Someone, who was definitely not an Elf, was screaming at the top of their lungs.
" Let me go! Let us go you stupid, psychopathic wackos!" Recognizing that voice, Nicole wrenched her hand from Elrohir's grip and jumped down six stairs to land on leaf covered stone and saw what she could never have dreamed of seeing. She saw three of her closest friends surrounded by a group of armed Rivendell Elves, one of which being Elladan. August, David, and Ray, three of her friends who had been with her on a camping trip after they had all went and seen 'Return of the King' in theatre. August, David, and Ray, the three of the few people she would want to take to Middle-Earth.
" Oi! August, Man am?" (What up?) August, a sophomore in high school and the youngest of their camping party, looked away from the male Elf she was getting ready to kick in the unmentionables and spied Nicole, who was pushing through the ring of serious Elf guards.
" Nicole? Nicole! Where have you been?! We've been looking all over for you since this morning!! We thought something ate you for crying out loud!!! David fell into a river and is to the point of pneumonia, Ray's being the most annoying person on Earth as usual, I'm worried sick on top of not knowing where we are, we then get dragged around by crazy people dressed up in poor Elf costumes, then you come prancing in like everything's just peachy!!!!!" Nicole, who had took a step back from her younger friend, smiled kindly before pulling her friend forward to whisper into her ear.
" August, just to let you know…those people in the poor Elf costumes? They're really Elves." August gave Nicole a 'What the Heck?' look before giving the circle of Elves another look. August then looked past the Elf blockade and looked more closely at Rivendell in the growing darkness.
Nicole saw her friend's eyes grow wide and she felt a smile pulling on her lips. Nicole looked back at Elrohir and Elladan, mouthing the words 'It's alright' to them. Giving August a moment to soak in the wonderful surprise that had befallen the four of them, Nicole turned to Ray and David.
Doing her best not to laugh, Nicole saw that David /had/ fallen into the river, his short brown hair matted to his head and his light hiking clothes soaked. He even had a drop of water still clinging to the light spattering of hair on his upper lip. Nicole was glad that she wasn't the only one who had gotten dunked that day.
Looking past David to Ray, Nicole felt a bit sorry for Ray. Out of the four of them, Ray was the only one who didn't know much about Lord of the Rings. He had only originally gone to see the third part of the trilogy because Nicole and August had asked him. Since there had only been one part testosterone and two parts estrogen, Ray /had/ to agree in going…for health reasons you see.
" I sent two scouts back to retrieve their belongings back in the woods," Elrohir said at that moment. Nicole gave him a look of thanks and was quite surprised when he stepped closer and placed a hand on the small of her back.
At that moment bells, alarms, and sirens started going off in Nicole's head, along with a few flashing lights. They all seemed to be yelling 'OH HELL!'. With as much finesse as she could muster, Nicole moved away from Elrohir so she could turn and look at him.
" Elrohir, since they are my friends and will most likely be meeting with Lord Elrond soon, would it be alright if I took them in and allowed them to change?" Giving a look of such sweet innocence that it almost made her gag, Nicole gave Elrohir a pleading expression. Part of her wanted the look to work so she could get August, David, and Ray into Rivendell…but another part of her didn't want it to work because it would prove the theory that was forming in her head…………Unfortunately, when Elrohir gave a small sigh and a soft look to her, Nicole's theory was proven true.
Before she could give the Elvish Lord a chance to say anything, Nicole grabbed her friends and ran, as if the Devil was at her heels, back into Rivendell. Nicole paused only once to yell over her shoulder that they should bring the things that August, David, and Ray had been carrying to Nicole's room.
" Nicole! What are you doing?! Where are you dragging us?!" August yelled, trying to pull away from the panicking Nicole.
" Trying to get you to my room before something else happens!" But, after several minutes of running, Nicole had to stop because she was now lost, not knowing where her room was. Stopping to catch her breath, Nicole looked at her friends then up and down the hall to make sure that no one was listening to them.
" Okay you guys, do you know where we are?" Nicole decided to start off at the beginning for all of them…well, mostly for Ray and David's sake actually. While August nodded her head 'yes', David and Ray each gave a firm 'no'.
" Right. I'm going to try and explain this but I need you to not interrupt me so I can get through this. Somehow, don't ask me how, we've ended up in Middle-Earth. Rivendell to be exact, sometime before the Fellowship was formed. I've been given a strange gift to create music just by thinking it and the Mary-Sue conspiracy is, in fact, true. It will eventually turn against us, if it hasn't already, and turn our lives into one big pile of shit." When she was done talking, Nicole looked at her friends and saw that August and David had there mouths open in shock while Ray simply looked confused.
" Wha? What the hell is a 'Mary-Sue'?" Ray so politely enquired.
" A 'Mary-Sue' is usually a story where someone from our world falls into or gets transported into a the world of a movie, game, or book. The 'Mary-Sue Conspiracy' is when the said person who goes to the new world, namely us, start to become less-and-less human, and more-and-more…silly. The girls usually become gorgeous women who can't fight but seem to come out of the most fearsome battles unscathed. They also seem to get the most unattainable guys, even if they're married or engaged, and go through more emotional angst than seems sanely possible. They usually have powers that never did, or shouldn't, belong to them because they're human, creating a strange, and unrealistic veil of mystery around them."
" You mean like a soap opera? ……Without the power thing?" Ray said after a moments pause of thinking of what Nicole said, " But, what about the guys? Doesn't something happen to them in these 'Mary-Sues'?"
" Don't really know. I've never seen a male 'Mary-Sue', though I'm pretty sure that the same thing will happen to them, only they'll get the girl." David, Ray, and August were silent for several moments. During that time though, Elrohir and Elladan seemed to appear out of nowhere, causing Nicole to jump nearly out of her skin.
" So this is where the four of you decided to disappear to. When their bags were taken to your room, Nicole, we couldn't find you," Elrohir asked, concern touching the edges of his voice. Elladan seemed to give his brother a look, a very brief one but Nicole caught it. It was as if he was trying to silently ask his brother why he was suddenly so interested in this little Human. Nicole wanted to hug Elladan then because he seemed to yet be affected by the 'Mary-Sue Conspiracy'.
" I uh…got lost again. This place is so big that I could get lost trying to find the closet in my room," Nicole responded while giving a nervous giggle. The thought that she was becoming a typical Mary-Sue was starting to disturb her…greatly.
" Well come. Let's see if we can't find the way back to your room." Elrohir offered his arm to Nicole once more and Nicole, giving her three friends a brief glance, took the arm as they six of them started to move through Rivendell once more.
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Once Nicole, August, David, and Ray were escorted to Nicole's room, Elladan informed them that August, David, and Ray's rooms were in the same hall as Nicole's.
'So you may be closer together,' was Elrohir's excuse. Nicole found it harder and harder to hold back the sickening feeling rising in her gullet, what with Elrohir's disturbing behavior and all.
" Well," Elladan proffered, "I believe we will leave you for now so we may go and inform our father of your friends arrival, Lady Nicole. Come, Elrohir." As the two Elf Lords departed to find their father, Nicole nearly collapsed into Ray's arms from relief.
" Was that guy hitting on you?" asked Ray as he tried to keep Nicole from really falling down.
" An ahyane," Nicole muttered under her breath. August caught it and recognized what Nicole had said. (An ahyane: He has changed.)
" Let's get inside so we can talk more about this. I have a feeling that this is going to be a long night," August told everyone as she ushered them all into Nicole's room.
David went in and pulled out the stool from the vanity before sitting down on it. Ray led Nicole to the bed since she was still nervous and on the verge of panicking. August was last and she closed the door before bolting it shut.
True to their word, Elrohir and Elladan had brought August, Ray, and David's bags to Nicole's room. They lay in a neat pile where Nicole had left her clothes earlier that day……which were now dry, clean, and laying near Nicole's pillow. Leaving Nicole for a moment, only to have August take his position by Nicole's side, Ray went to the bags to dig around for a moment.
He soon found what he was looking for and pulled out soda bottle. Giving it to Nicole, he sat down on the other side of her as she took a long swallow from the carbonated beverage. When she was done, Nicole gave a loud sigh before taking a deep breath. Tonight was indeed going to be a very long night.
" Where do I begin?" Nicole asked herself. She was interrupted though when there was a knock on the door. " Damn those Elves and their quickness!" After receiving an odd look or two from her friends for the cursing, Nicole rose and marched to the door. Her nervousness and anxiety had transformed, as it sometimes did, into annoyance and anger. Nicole yanked the bolt from its' resting place before throwing the door open.
" What?!" she fairly yelled before realizing that she had just yelled into Gandalf's face with pure murder in her eyes. With a shocked expression from Gandalf, Nicole stuttered for a moment before she moved aside to allow the Wizard in. Nicole closed the door behind him and cast a nervous glance to her friends.
Gandalf ignored everyone for a moment, simply taking his time to pull up a chair from table on the far side of the room. As he sat down, he let out a sigh and then looked at each of the four strange teenagers in turn, Nicole being the last.
" Well, now that the four of you are /finally/ together, you may now explain to me who you are and what you plan to do while you are here," Gandalf said with slight impatience while Nicole stared at him with slight shock.
" A-Ar-Are you saying that……you /knew/ that we were going to end up here?! The four of us?!" As Nicole continued to stare, Gandalf nodded his head. Ray was looking more confused than ever, David was looking stoic, and August looked as if she would start yelling again.
" Yes, Nicole, I did……though I wasn't sure. You see, Wizards see many /possible/ futures. It's part of our……job. We can see things that /may/ happen so we can aid the Free People as we were sent to do. You, Nicole, and your friends, were one of the 'possible futures'. Now, before I continue, I want the four of you to explain to me /everything/ that you can remember about what has happened. That, and I feel that I should know the names of your friends so it will make our future acquaintance easier."
So Nicole, August, David, and Ray explained things as best they could to Gandalf……after introductions, of course. Nicole and August were even bold enough to tell him that the reason they knew what was happening was because the history of Middle-Earth was a story book in their time. They didn't bother to mention the movie franchise, video games, or vast merchandise sales since it might be a bit much for the Wizard…And they figured it would be alright to tell him what they did since Elrond himself said that they had come across the Sea of Time to reach Rivendell. The last thing they explained to Gandalf was Nicole's 'Mary-Sue Conspiracy' that seemed to be affecting Elrohir, and possibly Legolas, Pippin, and Aragorn as Nicole thought on the subject.
" Hmm," just happened to be the only response that Gandalf gave the Four, who stared at him much as Merry and Pippin stared at Treebeard at the Entmoot…after he fell asleep…
"I see now……Than what I've foresaw is true." Nicole leaned closer to Gandalf, awaiting to hear the truth as to why they came here. Nicole strained her ears as Gandalf opened his mouth to speak, ready for the worst yet fearing it. Finally, the Grey Pilgrim spoke……… "You've come to change the story."
Nicole than did the real life version of the classic anime drop, falling to the floor from shock at Gandalf's simple, yet totally confusing answer.
" What does that mean?" As if an answered prayer to Nicole's growing anxiety, August's growing yelling outburst, and Ray's growing confusion, David asked the question they were all just thinking……only in a more…sane…manner.
" If what you say is true…about your 'Mary-Sues'…" Gandalf had to pause because, at saying the words 'Mary-Sue', he seemed to grow slightly green in the face, as if the mere mention of it made him nauseous, "……then this has happened before, or at least they have tried." Nicole, David, and August now joined Ray in his state of confusion.
"People from your world coming to ours, being given gifts of great power only to twist them to their own wills when they were sent to do something greater. I believe that it has happened before…only…why does it seem like a memory from another Age?" Gandalf stopped in his narrative for a moment, now deep in thought and diving through old memories, when, considering how old Gandalf /really/ was, almost all of his memories are old.
"Lady Nicole? My father wishes to speak with your friends now." It was Elrohir, standing outside Nicole's door. Nicole looked at the thick wooden portal and iron bolt in fear, as if they weren't enough to keep Elrohir on that side and her on this one.
In desperation, Nicole looked to Ray, David, and August. Without a word the four of them had come up with a plan to keep Nicole 'safe' from Elrohir until they could find a way to keep the Elf Lord normal permanently.
Standing up, picking herself up in Nicole's case, the five of them, three humans from an Age yet to come and an immortal Wizard doomed to die and be reborn, walked to the wooden door and waited as Nicole unbolted it. Before Nicole opened it, she looked to Ray and then stepped closer to him, allowing him to put an arm around her waist. Hey…the Mary-Sue Conspiracy couldn't force a Man…er…Elf on you if they thought you were already taken!
"By the way," Ray whispered to Nicole, "You look sexy in that dress."
...TBC...
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Me: Again...sorry for the cliff hanger and shortness! You see, now that I've come to the part with August, Ray, and David, I need to start consulting them with the story since it is their lives I will be toying with in this story. I'll try to post again as soon as I can! Remember, reviews are welcome...but not reaquired! Later!!
But anyway...I'd like to give thanks to Richard the Pedantic (everyone must really go read his Matrix story. It is great and he's working on the sequal),
Miliko01 (if I need grammer and spell fixes, where? I'd be glad to fix them),
the Queen of Newsies (thanks for the table comment. I don't know where the idea came from, but I think it came from the fact that I wanted to be able to 'see' where everyone was at.)
And the newest one, L.Moonshade (I've tried to make Nicole realistic as possible and for very good reason...You see, Nicole, August, David, and Ray [who you'll be meeting in this chapter], are really three of my friends and I. I simply change our first names to our middle names for the sake of privacy. So, Nicole is really me, August is really my best friend from school, as well as David and Ray, who have to be two of the the craziest guys I've ever met.)
Well, that's it for that. I'll try to make each chapter longer, especially since I feel that I'm really starting to pick things up with the story. I was a bit scared when putting this up because of the bad feedback on Mary-Sues but, since all of you have been so nice, I'm feeling new inspiration and I'll try to put out more chapters as soon as I can!
And, last thing, I do and have shown this story to David, Ray, and August (they are in it after all) and will be showing them all of your reviews tomorrow, just to keep them updated on what you are all saying. Later folks! Thanks a million for the reviews!!
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/Last Time:/
Nicole, seeing nothing else to do, ran after them…
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but at that time everyone else in the Hall decided to stand as well, making Nicole's exit all the harder.
When Nicole did finally get out of the Hall, she couldn't see hide-nor-hair of Elrond, Gandalf, and Aragorn. So, heading in no particular direction, Nicole sat off in search of someone who knew what was going on.
Walking didn't help her find anyone, nor did jogging, so Nicole was soon running through the halls of Rivendell and searching for anyone. She soon found someone, Elrohir to be exact though how Nicole knew that was a mystery. He was looking slightly winded, as if he had just been running as well.
" Nicole! I have been looking for you! Quickly, you must come with me!" Without giving time for an explanation as to why and where they were going, Nicole was dragged down a corridor.
" Elrohir, where are you taking me?! What's going on?!" Elrohir didn't say anything, but he did glance over his shoulder before moving quicker through the countless halls. When they finally stopped, Nicole figured they were near the front entrance of Rivendell, the way she and Legolas came through. And upon reaching that entrance, Nicole realized what was going on. Someone, who was definitely not an Elf, was screaming at the top of their lungs.
" Let me go! Let us go you stupid, psychopathic wackos!" Recognizing that voice, Nicole wrenched her hand from Elrohir's grip and jumped down six stairs to land on leaf covered stone and saw what she could never have dreamed of seeing. She saw three of her closest friends surrounded by a group of armed Rivendell Elves, one of which being Elladan. August, David, and Ray, three of her friends who had been with her on a camping trip after they had all went and seen 'Return of the King' in theatre. August, David, and Ray, the three of the few people she would want to take to Middle-Earth.
" Oi! August, Man am?" (What up?) August, a sophomore in high school and the youngest of their camping party, looked away from the male Elf she was getting ready to kick in the unmentionables and spied Nicole, who was pushing through the ring of serious Elf guards.
" Nicole? Nicole! Where have you been?! We've been looking all over for you since this morning!! We thought something ate you for crying out loud!!! David fell into a river and is to the point of pneumonia, Ray's being the most annoying person on Earth as usual, I'm worried sick on top of not knowing where we are, we then get dragged around by crazy people dressed up in poor Elf costumes, then you come prancing in like everything's just peachy!!!!!" Nicole, who had took a step back from her younger friend, smiled kindly before pulling her friend forward to whisper into her ear.
" August, just to let you know…those people in the poor Elf costumes? They're really Elves." August gave Nicole a 'What the Heck?' look before giving the circle of Elves another look. August then looked past the Elf blockade and looked more closely at Rivendell in the growing darkness.
Nicole saw her friend's eyes grow wide and she felt a smile pulling on her lips. Nicole looked back at Elrohir and Elladan, mouthing the words 'It's alright' to them. Giving August a moment to soak in the wonderful surprise that had befallen the four of them, Nicole turned to Ray and David.
Doing her best not to laugh, Nicole saw that David /had/ fallen into the river, his short brown hair matted to his head and his light hiking clothes soaked. He even had a drop of water still clinging to the light spattering of hair on his upper lip. Nicole was glad that she wasn't the only one who had gotten dunked that day.
Looking past David to Ray, Nicole felt a bit sorry for Ray. Out of the four of them, Ray was the only one who didn't know much about Lord of the Rings. He had only originally gone to see the third part of the trilogy because Nicole and August had asked him. Since there had only been one part testosterone and two parts estrogen, Ray /had/ to agree in going…for health reasons you see.
" I sent two scouts back to retrieve their belongings back in the woods," Elrohir said at that moment. Nicole gave him a look of thanks and was quite surprised when he stepped closer and placed a hand on the small of her back.
At that moment bells, alarms, and sirens started going off in Nicole's head, along with a few flashing lights. They all seemed to be yelling 'OH HELL!'. With as much finesse as she could muster, Nicole moved away from Elrohir so she could turn and look at him.
" Elrohir, since they are my friends and will most likely be meeting with Lord Elrond soon, would it be alright if I took them in and allowed them to change?" Giving a look of such sweet innocence that it almost made her gag, Nicole gave Elrohir a pleading expression. Part of her wanted the look to work so she could get August, David, and Ray into Rivendell…but another part of her didn't want it to work because it would prove the theory that was forming in her head…………Unfortunately, when Elrohir gave a small sigh and a soft look to her, Nicole's theory was proven true.
Before she could give the Elvish Lord a chance to say anything, Nicole grabbed her friends and ran, as if the Devil was at her heels, back into Rivendell. Nicole paused only once to yell over her shoulder that they should bring the things that August, David, and Ray had been carrying to Nicole's room.
" Nicole! What are you doing?! Where are you dragging us?!" August yelled, trying to pull away from the panicking Nicole.
" Trying to get you to my room before something else happens!" But, after several minutes of running, Nicole had to stop because she was now lost, not knowing where her room was. Stopping to catch her breath, Nicole looked at her friends then up and down the hall to make sure that no one was listening to them.
" Okay you guys, do you know where we are?" Nicole decided to start off at the beginning for all of them…well, mostly for Ray and David's sake actually. While August nodded her head 'yes', David and Ray each gave a firm 'no'.
" Right. I'm going to try and explain this but I need you to not interrupt me so I can get through this. Somehow, don't ask me how, we've ended up in Middle-Earth. Rivendell to be exact, sometime before the Fellowship was formed. I've been given a strange gift to create music just by thinking it and the Mary-Sue conspiracy is, in fact, true. It will eventually turn against us, if it hasn't already, and turn our lives into one big pile of shit." When she was done talking, Nicole looked at her friends and saw that August and David had there mouths open in shock while Ray simply looked confused.
" Wha? What the hell is a 'Mary-Sue'?" Ray so politely enquired.
" A 'Mary-Sue' is usually a story where someone from our world falls into or gets transported into a the world of a movie, game, or book. The 'Mary-Sue Conspiracy' is when the said person who goes to the new world, namely us, start to become less-and-less human, and more-and-more…silly. The girls usually become gorgeous women who can't fight but seem to come out of the most fearsome battles unscathed. They also seem to get the most unattainable guys, even if they're married or engaged, and go through more emotional angst than seems sanely possible. They usually have powers that never did, or shouldn't, belong to them because they're human, creating a strange, and unrealistic veil of mystery around them."
" You mean like a soap opera? ……Without the power thing?" Ray said after a moments pause of thinking of what Nicole said, " But, what about the guys? Doesn't something happen to them in these 'Mary-Sues'?"
" Don't really know. I've never seen a male 'Mary-Sue', though I'm pretty sure that the same thing will happen to them, only they'll get the girl." David, Ray, and August were silent for several moments. During that time though, Elrohir and Elladan seemed to appear out of nowhere, causing Nicole to jump nearly out of her skin.
" So this is where the four of you decided to disappear to. When their bags were taken to your room, Nicole, we couldn't find you," Elrohir asked, concern touching the edges of his voice. Elladan seemed to give his brother a look, a very brief one but Nicole caught it. It was as if he was trying to silently ask his brother why he was suddenly so interested in this little Human. Nicole wanted to hug Elladan then because he seemed to yet be affected by the 'Mary-Sue Conspiracy'.
" I uh…got lost again. This place is so big that I could get lost trying to find the closet in my room," Nicole responded while giving a nervous giggle. The thought that she was becoming a typical Mary-Sue was starting to disturb her…greatly.
" Well come. Let's see if we can't find the way back to your room." Elrohir offered his arm to Nicole once more and Nicole, giving her three friends a brief glance, took the arm as they six of them started to move through Rivendell once more.
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Once Nicole, August, David, and Ray were escorted to Nicole's room, Elladan informed them that August, David, and Ray's rooms were in the same hall as Nicole's.
'So you may be closer together,' was Elrohir's excuse. Nicole found it harder and harder to hold back the sickening feeling rising in her gullet, what with Elrohir's disturbing behavior and all.
" Well," Elladan proffered, "I believe we will leave you for now so we may go and inform our father of your friends arrival, Lady Nicole. Come, Elrohir." As the two Elf Lords departed to find their father, Nicole nearly collapsed into Ray's arms from relief.
" Was that guy hitting on you?" asked Ray as he tried to keep Nicole from really falling down.
" An ahyane," Nicole muttered under her breath. August caught it and recognized what Nicole had said. (An ahyane: He has changed.)
" Let's get inside so we can talk more about this. I have a feeling that this is going to be a long night," August told everyone as she ushered them all into Nicole's room.
David went in and pulled out the stool from the vanity before sitting down on it. Ray led Nicole to the bed since she was still nervous and on the verge of panicking. August was last and she closed the door before bolting it shut.
True to their word, Elrohir and Elladan had brought August, Ray, and David's bags to Nicole's room. They lay in a neat pile where Nicole had left her clothes earlier that day……which were now dry, clean, and laying near Nicole's pillow. Leaving Nicole for a moment, only to have August take his position by Nicole's side, Ray went to the bags to dig around for a moment.
He soon found what he was looking for and pulled out soda bottle. Giving it to Nicole, he sat down on the other side of her as she took a long swallow from the carbonated beverage. When she was done, Nicole gave a loud sigh before taking a deep breath. Tonight was indeed going to be a very long night.
" Where do I begin?" Nicole asked herself. She was interrupted though when there was a knock on the door. " Damn those Elves and their quickness!" After receiving an odd look or two from her friends for the cursing, Nicole rose and marched to the door. Her nervousness and anxiety had transformed, as it sometimes did, into annoyance and anger. Nicole yanked the bolt from its' resting place before throwing the door open.
" What?!" she fairly yelled before realizing that she had just yelled into Gandalf's face with pure murder in her eyes. With a shocked expression from Gandalf, Nicole stuttered for a moment before she moved aside to allow the Wizard in. Nicole closed the door behind him and cast a nervous glance to her friends.
Gandalf ignored everyone for a moment, simply taking his time to pull up a chair from table on the far side of the room. As he sat down, he let out a sigh and then looked at each of the four strange teenagers in turn, Nicole being the last.
" Well, now that the four of you are /finally/ together, you may now explain to me who you are and what you plan to do while you are here," Gandalf said with slight impatience while Nicole stared at him with slight shock.
" A-Ar-Are you saying that……you /knew/ that we were going to end up here?! The four of us?!" As Nicole continued to stare, Gandalf nodded his head. Ray was looking more confused than ever, David was looking stoic, and August looked as if she would start yelling again.
" Yes, Nicole, I did……though I wasn't sure. You see, Wizards see many /possible/ futures. It's part of our……job. We can see things that /may/ happen so we can aid the Free People as we were sent to do. You, Nicole, and your friends, were one of the 'possible futures'. Now, before I continue, I want the four of you to explain to me /everything/ that you can remember about what has happened. That, and I feel that I should know the names of your friends so it will make our future acquaintance easier."
So Nicole, August, David, and Ray explained things as best they could to Gandalf……after introductions, of course. Nicole and August were even bold enough to tell him that the reason they knew what was happening was because the history of Middle-Earth was a story book in their time. They didn't bother to mention the movie franchise, video games, or vast merchandise sales since it might be a bit much for the Wizard…And they figured it would be alright to tell him what they did since Elrond himself said that they had come across the Sea of Time to reach Rivendell. The last thing they explained to Gandalf was Nicole's 'Mary-Sue Conspiracy' that seemed to be affecting Elrohir, and possibly Legolas, Pippin, and Aragorn as Nicole thought on the subject.
" Hmm," just happened to be the only response that Gandalf gave the Four, who stared at him much as Merry and Pippin stared at Treebeard at the Entmoot…after he fell asleep…
"I see now……Than what I've foresaw is true." Nicole leaned closer to Gandalf, awaiting to hear the truth as to why they came here. Nicole strained her ears as Gandalf opened his mouth to speak, ready for the worst yet fearing it. Finally, the Grey Pilgrim spoke……… "You've come to change the story."
Nicole than did the real life version of the classic anime drop, falling to the floor from shock at Gandalf's simple, yet totally confusing answer.
" What does that mean?" As if an answered prayer to Nicole's growing anxiety, August's growing yelling outburst, and Ray's growing confusion, David asked the question they were all just thinking……only in a more…sane…manner.
" If what you say is true…about your 'Mary-Sues'…" Gandalf had to pause because, at saying the words 'Mary-Sue', he seemed to grow slightly green in the face, as if the mere mention of it made him nauseous, "……then this has happened before, or at least they have tried." Nicole, David, and August now joined Ray in his state of confusion.
"People from your world coming to ours, being given gifts of great power only to twist them to their own wills when they were sent to do something greater. I believe that it has happened before…only…why does it seem like a memory from another Age?" Gandalf stopped in his narrative for a moment, now deep in thought and diving through old memories, when, considering how old Gandalf /really/ was, almost all of his memories are old.
"Lady Nicole? My father wishes to speak with your friends now." It was Elrohir, standing outside Nicole's door. Nicole looked at the thick wooden portal and iron bolt in fear, as if they weren't enough to keep Elrohir on that side and her on this one.
In desperation, Nicole looked to Ray, David, and August. Without a word the four of them had come up with a plan to keep Nicole 'safe' from Elrohir until they could find a way to keep the Elf Lord normal permanently.
Standing up, picking herself up in Nicole's case, the five of them, three humans from an Age yet to come and an immortal Wizard doomed to die and be reborn, walked to the wooden door and waited as Nicole unbolted it. Before Nicole opened it, she looked to Ray and then stepped closer to him, allowing him to put an arm around her waist. Hey…the Mary-Sue Conspiracy couldn't force a Man…er…Elf on you if they thought you were already taken!
"By the way," Ray whispered to Nicole, "You look sexy in that dress."
...TBC...
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Me: Again...sorry for the cliff hanger and shortness! You see, now that I've come to the part with August, Ray, and David, I need to start consulting them with the story since it is their lives I will be toying with in this story. I'll try to post again as soon as I can! Remember, reviews are welcome...but not reaquired! Later!!