Part 6

Legolas Greenleaf, son of Thranduil, stared out over the twinkling valley of Rivendell. Life was like a dream here. He envied the inhabitants. Back home, life was a constant struggle, and always had been. He'd had to fight his way out of the forest, just to ride here.

And now he was here. His task had been fulfilled, much to his shame. He shouldn't have spoke up about the mistake with Gollum, especially when Aragorn was just praising them for their resourcefulness. But now he didn't feel so guilty. He was correcting his mistake in a way now. He would become part of the Fellowship of the Ring. He would protect Frodo with his bow, and his life.

There was too much on his mind now. At first he had thought it was simple. They go to Mordor, risk life and limb, but it was a struggle with a purpose. And suddenly this idea of a Lost Star appeared. A *girl*, who would save them all. He couldn't help thinking that it shouldn't be. It shouldn't be this complicated.

And so he was rather relieved when the spell backfired. Elrond didn't seem to care much what happened to this one, this girl who wasn't a Star, though very lost; and Glorfindel had given up with the magic.

He had to admit, this commoner girl was very nice, 'Nice' straining it a bit. She wasn't beautiful, especially with those glass circles that she wore, but . . . nice. Yeah, sure, because of her, Boromir had now refused to come out of his chambers, and Elrond's blood pressure had rocketed, but no one really cared. No one cared about her because she wasn't Avaniel, but they didn't care about *her* either.

But they weren't the ones who had seen her face.

She was beautiful, no doubt about it. With her long, golden hair, rivalling Lady Galadriel's, fair skin and brilliant blue eyes that shone like stars, Legolas was no way in doubt.

He was in love.

Everything he looked at brought back the vision of her through the vortex. The stars in the night sky, the pale luminescence of the moon? They were nothing compared to her. He HAD though the Evenstar was the fairest, but now . . .

Looking back to the bright lights of the Hall, he saw Arwen walking out to the west garden. He had a faint suspicion she was there to meet someone.

The sight of Bilbo and that girl arguing caught his attention. He watched as the old hobbit walked out, hobbling slightly, muttering to himself and leaning on his stick, passing where Legolas currently stood but not noticing him due to an obstructing potted fern. The black haired girl followed.

"I didn't mean it, honest!" he heard her cry.

"Is something wrong?" he said, stepping in front of her. And then she saw him and it was like she was possessed. Her face went red and she seemed to shrink.

"Eep." She said, and ran.

A few yards from the doorway she stopped again and turned around. Breathing deeply and closing her eyes, she walked firmly back to the where she'd just been standing.

"Are you alright?" Legolas said gently, as good prince Charmings are wont to do. She inhaled again deeply.

"Yes." She said calmly and slowly, looking as if she had just destroyed the One Ring single-handedly, "and how are you, your highness?"

Legolas was slightly taken aback.

"I am well," he said, "But there is much that troubles me this fair eve, ever since your arrival."

"I'm sorry to hear about that." She said, her heart pounding like a potato in her chest.

He turned away to face the starry night.

"That girl . . . Avaniel, you knew her, did you not?" he said.

The girl stiffened.

"She's called (I think her name is because she has lots) Susie, or Sue. I think it's short for Susan or Susannah. Her real name's Maria."

She watched his lips trace the syllables.

"Her name is music to my ears." He whispered dramatically. Ginny groaned. She cleared her throat.

"Yes, well, in real life, she's something of a bitch. Always whorin' around with the boys, and the teachers as well. Oh yes, it was little miss Susie, oh-so-perfect. Everyone wanted *her* to do the lead role in Romeo 'n' Juliet, not nerdy Virginia who knew all her lines in advance. And trust her to be destined to go to Middle Earth! Oh-so-special, I didn't even KNOW that Arda really even existed, and there she is, with a free ticket already when I'M the one who knows every damn thing about the whole damn ring."

She couldn't stop it. Words came in a flood.

"Well here's to you miss Mary Sue, I've read about your kind, the warrior princesses, the pre-raphaelite maidens, the Buffy heroines, and I know just how to deal with you. You don't know war, *I* don't know war, but I do know my history. And I'm not going to stand back when Boromir dies and all those people who died trying to sail from Alqualonde, and Galadriel tries her mind control and those prophecies, and you don't understand what she's going on about and you think you're going to die but you're not, you're just yearning for the sea. And Halbarad who dies just because he's insignificant and tried to deliver a banner on time, a lesson to all postmasters."

She took a breath.

"Do you really hate her that much?" said Legolas patiently.

"Yes."

"Ah."

"She's a Mary Sue, and like many Tolkienists before me, I have entered the brief and terrestrial realm that is fan fiction. I know what they are. They are BAD, and I don't know if I'm more shocked that Middle Earth exists or that flesh and blood Mary Sues exist. Mary Sues are a plague, a virus; no one is insusceptible to her charms!! Especially you!"

She paused and sighed. Together they walked back to the hall of Fire.

"She's a Mary Sue named Mary Su'e. Either her mother's crazy, or has a very twisted sense of humour. She was destined to come here from the start. And now I'm here."

"I'm sorry." Legolas said sympathetically, patting her on the shoulder. She shook him away, waving her hands frantically.

"This is it! This is the kind of crap that I'm always complaining about! I hate Mary Sues and Lego-mances, and now I'm in one, I'm really, really IN ONE!!! This is just the kind of sad storyline that some obsessive fan-girl would write in her spare time and post on some stupid fansite that doesn't care what kind of crap it has as long as people read it. This is just the crap that stupid sites like -oh, I don't know- fanfiction dot net, is made of!!!"

She panted slightly after that.

"Have you finished?" a timid voice said.

"Yes. Yes, I think so."

There was pause, filled with the sound of running water and nightingale song. Rivendell has sound effects for all occasions. They aim to please.

"So . . . what think you of Imladris?" He said finally, breaking the silence.

"Hmm. Its. Nice. Yes. Very nice. Um . . . I had my first hangover today."

"Oh really?"

"Yup, it's not as cracked up as it's meant to be. I'm better now though" She put on a bright smile. The result was another silence. Then she remembered something, taking the piece of paper out of her sleeve (the dress had no pockets) and tapped him on his shoulder.

"Um, Legolas? Sorry for asking, but who was your mother? Um. It's just that she's never mentioned in any of the boo- texts that I've read. What was her story? It's just, you know, a bit of a mystery to us all. I know many people who are very interested in you."

"Why . . ." he started, but stopped. He looked as if he was deciding whether to speak or not, brow creased. He sighed, sitting down on a nearby padded couch.

"There is no mystery to it." He said calmly, "The whole of Greenwood knew. She was with child before the marriage was even agreed. Then she died after giving birth to me. There is always gossip that she was slain by the Necromancer, but the truth is nothing as glamorous. She was just a commoner like you. My father loved her very much. There. Your mystery is no longer."

"I'm sorry." Came the quiet reply, "It's just, well, you know, I thought Elves are immortal. They can't be killed. And I thought you could control pregnancy."

"In truth, we are as rash and as reckless as you mortals when it comes to emotions. Bastard children are frowned upon, but cannot be prevented; they grow up the same as everybody else. It was rather the fact that my father was the ruler of a kingdom that caused complications. And my mother passed away as much as Miriel Serinde, whose soul left her body when she lay down to sleep, and this was all because she gave birth to Feanor. The same happened with mother."

"So she was comatose." Reality had some harsh bites. To think that the beloved-by-all hunky hottie totally kewl Elf was actually a bastard motherless child was rather dizzying.

"Tell me," Ginny said steadily, "What was her name?"

"I don't know." His face was a mask of internal agony, "My father's councilmen forbade her name to be written down in the royal genealogies, and my father was so distraught when her name was spoken that eventually, by the time I could talk, the subject of her was like some taboo. Her name was never spoken and never written down. No record of her is kept. All the evidence there is of my mother is when people refer to her as the Late Lady or the Prince's Mother."

"Wow. No wonder Thranduil is so crabby with uninvited guests." A smile flickered on Legolas' face, but returned to being impassive.

"Tell you what, I have a song that will either cheer you up or bore you silly. It goes a little like this. A lot of Mary Sues use this to seduce, but I have little faith in that. Ahem:" she took a breath, putting the offending paper away.

She was throwing away what remained of her dignity now, but she felt so sorry for bringing back those painful memories. She shouldn't do that, but at least the mystery was solved. Sort of. This was Rivendell, people were supposed to be all tra la lally here down the valley, and other things that rhymed with ally. She had nothing to lose.

"# May it beee and evening staaar, that shiiines, down on yooou . . .#" she sang, or wailed, (it's your choice), to the night sky.

And you can tell where that led.

"Where once was liiight, now darkness faaalls. Where once was looove, love is no mooore . . ."

Ginny would have honestly done better by playing him a Linkin Park CD.

_____________________________________________________~*~____________________ _____________

"Friends, guests, allies and councilmen." Elrond proclaimed to the seated audience. It was the next day. My, did time fly. Ginny suspected that his speeches were all rehearsed before a mirror.

She yawned. She had not slept well at all, being unused to the scratchy linen sheets and the lumpy padded mattresses. Rivendell had no toothbrushes, and she'd had to use a finger to clean her teeth; but Vireth had given her some kind of mouthwash to use, which she claimed worked just as well. Then she told her it was made out of lettuce.

She had woken up that morning groggy eyed, hungry and light-headed. And then she saw Arwen sitting at the foot of her bed. The result was not good. Wow, was she beautiful. In the presence of *that*, anyone can feel unworthy. In many ways, Liv Tyler and the real Arwen were not very different. If you just glanced at once of them without noticing, you could have mistaken them for each other, except for the fact one was glowing like uranium.

"Do you have to shine like that? I'm recovering from a hangover." She'd said. The lady had looked very offended. She had waist length black hair, and startlingly bright eyes.

"I apologise, but most people like it. They say my skin is very radiant." Even as she spoke, the light level in the room seemed to dull slightly, making her look more normal. Ginny got up, and put on the loose dress she had worn the day before, feeling rather self conscious about dressing before the most beautiful thing in Middle Earth. She wasn't super, super pretty or anything, Ginny could think of many film stars who could be prettier, but she wasn't about to doubt myths.

"Sorry about this," she'd said, "I'm a late waker. Um, Hi, hello, Elen Sila Lummen Omen-whatever. I take it you're Arwen."

"Yes, I am. I hope you have enjoyed your stay so far. Father has requested that I look after you for the day. I have prepared several activities for us to do."

"Wow, that's, er, very nice of you. I . . . am very thankful, but I was hoping that I get onto some more important matters, like getting back home. I really don't think I want to stay here forever. The toilet facilities are awful." She found a hairbrush under the four-poster bed and started brushing her hair.

"But Lord Mithrandir has said he will aid you himself! Surely you do not doubt his word. No, today, I will take you out. Perhaps I could teach you some needlework, you can help me make my banner."

Ginny paused.

"For Aragorn?"

"For who else? He needs me."

Ginny had said nothing. When reading the books, she had many views on this male dominant society, and often scoffed at Arwen's docility and the way she stayed at home with her feet up, making a banner whose courier would later die . . . but she couldn't say that to her now. This wasn't a story anymore, no matter how much she knew it was. This is was the real thing. Or was it?

"What's for breakfast?" she had said, to which Arwen remarked, "You are just like a halfling."

During breakfast, which had been carted to her room, Arwen leaked out that there was a meeting in the court to day and that she was to keep Ginny out of trouble and out of their way. Ginny had become very offended at this and learned eventually that women were not allowed in formal meetings. Even Arwen was kept out.

"And Susie thinks she can just waltz in and smart mouth everyone in sight!" This patriarchal society needed a few adjustments. Ginny wasn't a Mary Sue, but she was going to get her way. All she needed was a plan . . .

*

And two and half hours later, and many people with sore eardrums, she'd now scored herself a seat at the council. She used her bicycle, which was now missing a wheel, but that didn't matter. So Mary Sue methods did work! But to her disappointment, no one listened to her. They talked about her like she wasn't there, and interrupted her when she started anything.

And then Elrond called her forward, and asked "What is your name, girl?"

. . . And she stared up into his eyes, and saw that they were deeper and older than anything she had ever seen before. The surprising handsomeness and nobility of his features rendered her speechless. In character, Hugo Weaving could not be more accurate, but in looks, he was far from the real thing. Her jaw dropped.

She had made herself a name out of Elven words summoned out of the groggy depths of her mind, but now, as she stared, mesmerised at his Elven radiance, her memory blanked completely.

"Ginnn-nuh." Somehow, the other syllable had gone a-wandering and was currently stranded in her throat.

"Yes? Is that all?"

She nodded.

"'es." She murmured.

"Oh, I expected you to have a more gracious name, but I do not think that is essential for a commoner."

Ginny opened her mouth to protest, but nothing came out. Instead, she could only watch in morbid horror as he patted her gently on the head and told her to sit back down. And to her even greater shock, she did. He carried on talking regardless.

Damn those elves, she thought, mind control is SO wrong!

"To all gathered here, you know why you are here." Elrond declared, "We are here to discuss and eventually produce a solution for this girl, Gin, as to where she should stay for the duration of this dark period until she can return home. As most of you now know, she came through the portal that we created with the magic from the book and from my ri- my devices. Unfortunately, she was not the one we were looking for and the one we were trying to bring here. That girl will never come here now. We have decided to reject her use and proceed with the original plan. However, the matter remains that we have an inhabitant from another world residing with us. Glorfindel has read through the book, and is regretful to say that the same portal cannot take her back the other way, and the book gives no other method of transport. He is currently experimenting with the magics." In the crowd, Glorfindel coughed, ever so quietly. "So until we find that solution, Gin will have to stay here. Now I say that she remains in Rivendell, where my ri- where *I* can keep her safe. She can make herself useful, and consequently I am in need of a new chambermaid. Do I hear approval?"

There was some clapping. Ginny was horrified. Then Bilbo spoke up.

"Now, lord Elrond, you cannot employ a total stranger, especially in such a degree. I say that she remain a guest, and be treated with the highest courtesy."

"And she has useful information as well," Legolas spoke up, and Ginny felt a warm glow inside.

"Very well, what information do you have Gin?"

All eyes fixed on her. She stiffened and her hands started to sweat.

"Ah. Er. Well, um . . . I know that Sauron is rebuilding Barad dur and . . ." Someone coughed. She blushed. And then a thought struck her. Quotes. "He is gathering all armies to him. We unite or we fall." She quoted, thankful to Peter Jackson that the films were so easy to swallow. It had been a long time since she read the books.

"I believe we already had some idea of that. Is that all?"

"NO! Er, um, Saruman, erm, well he's evil and he's also breeding orcs and goblins to make a new kind of orc that can walk in the daylight and doesn't fear the sun. Oh, and he's going to try and take Rohan. He's sent Grima son of Galdor, no, Galmod who's poisoning King Theoden's mind and now doesn't have any control over the matters of his kingdom. And he's also cutting down trees. Lots of trees."

Elrond looked grim.

"There is a lot of information you have there, but what proof do you have of this?"

Ginny was stuck.

"I know this. I'm certain of it."

There was still murmuring around the court.

"And how is this supposed to aid our cause?" he raised an eyebrow sceptically.

"But it's true! And you know, for all your wiseness, you really are very stupid. We have 5 istari, ok 4, plus the two blue ones who went wandering, that's four wise maiar; three bearers of Rings of Power, Narya, Nenya, Vilya; why can't we defeat just one Maia, if a very evil one?"

The murmuring increased in volume.

"What do you know of the Rings of Power?" cried Gandalf sternly, standing up. Ginny shrank back momentarily, but gathered her courage.

"Quite a lot actually!" she stood up. She had held it in for too long. All those discussions on Tolkien fan sites came back to her. There was an easier way. Frodo didn't need to suffer, Gandalf didn't need to die, Boromir didn't need to die. Neither did all those other people.

Joining the Fellowship was the nice, easy, Mary Sue way. Ginny's way, was planning on *controlling* the Fellowship.

"You lot!" she yelled to the crowd, "Get off your sorry asses and do something! Let's make an army! We gather the forces of Rivendell and Lothlorien, I mean if you can have guards and wardens then you have soldiers. Then we have the Elves of Mirkwood, though they will be a bit preoccupied. And why has no one thought of a sea attack? If Cirdan can send ships, he could be an essential mode of transport for troops, and the ships could sail up the Anduin and launch an attack from the water, and better if there's fog. And then we have the forces of Rohan, the cavalry, what with Edoras and the Helmingas and the Eorlingas and the people of the Westfold! Gondor can send the infantry and their knights in shining armour; but I remember you need light infantry to combat the easterling war elephants. And not forgetting all the other kingdoms, Dol Amroth, the Dunedain, the Dwarves of the lonely mountain, Esgaroth, even the Shire and Bree can help!

"You have heard of the Onodrim, the ents right? Well they hate Saruman, and we can use that to our advantage, we can convince us to join our fight! And in The Hobbit there's a guy called Beorn, this giant can help us! And why has no one thought of gathering allies from the Easterlings or the Haradrim? Surely not all of them are bound to Sauron? If we see through our differences, we can fight the greatest evil together. If we do this, surely we can combat just one sorry little Maia, ok, two, plus Saruman who's in mortal form and easy to kill. But you forget! We have a Maia of equal strength to him right here! And Radagast! And Pallando and the other one! And we still have the bearers of the Elven rings, who says we can't use them against Sauron? I suppose we could call upon the Valar, but they're too stuck up to get off their sorry little asses except at the last minute.

"So what I'm saying is, we do this and launch an attach on Barad dur from all sides. Sauron will be so pre occupied, that he wouldn't notice a certain Lord of the Eagles carrying a small hobbit to Orodruin. Frodo drops the ring in, and there's no time for him to get tempted, he leaps back onto Gwaihir and to safety. Sauron is vanquished, leaving only legions of orcs for us to wipe out with our united armies."

The words came from her in a flood. She was saying the first things that came into her head and they were actually making *sense*. What was she saying? What had she done? She could change the whole course of history with those words, and then she wouldn't know what happens next and things might turn out *worse*.

There was a deadly silence. And then talk erupted. People started shouting and contradicting each other. Even Elrond couldn't quieten them down. Ginny felt reasonably pleased with herself.

Gandalf advanced on her, eyes demanding. Elrond came forward as well.

"I do not know the limits of your knowledge, but let me tell you, it is a dangerous thing indeed. Careless talk costs lives. I do not know where you got your silly little ideas, but it would be best if you kept them suitably to yourself." His voice was low beyond hearing and raspy. She nodded nervously. When did they get all World War Two paranoid?

In a louder voice he said:

"It has occurred to me that you know too much for your own good. Sauron has many spies, birds and beasts, if he learns of you, who knows of what use you may be to him?"

"Why are you all talking like this?" Ginny cried suddenly, "I've told you, you're going to win!" Then the hobbit she recognised as Frodo spoke:

"In these dark times, we need more that words to convince us. A heavy burden lies on me and there is no way to relieve it." Sam patted his hand from beside him.

"Oh shut UP Frodo!" she exploded suddenly. These people were really getting on her nerves. She tried reason. "If an eagle can carry a full grown wizard from a stone tower, he can carry a half-sized hobbit to a volcano." She felt flustered. Why were they so *stupid*? She rubbed the hair away from her face.

Could it be that it really WAS a story and they couldn't act any other way? That they were bound to the storyline? Could it be that there was no other way for the plot to go? It all seemed to make sense, yet it was so wrong.

Elrond had started to confer with the council.

"It is obvious now that she is a liability. What else do you know, girl?"

"Well, not much. Erm, the history of Arda and all that. I know that your father is currently a star and your mother is a bird. Your brother was the first king of Numenor. I also know what route the Fellowship is going to take, so I say now, don't bother with Caradhras, and beware the Balrog in Moria. Denethor is going to kill himself, and Boromir is going to die at Rauros. Gandalf gets resurrected. Aragorn becomes king of Gondor and he and Arwen and lots of lovely fat little babies. Happy?"

Something resembling a squeak emitted from Boromir of Gondor. Ginny mentally cursed herself. She shouldn't have told him that. People who learn the exact manner and time of their death are not happy, mentally fit people. He cleared his throat and sat in a way that plainly said, 'nothing has happened; I have heard nothing because metaphorical fingers were in my ears'.

Aragorn, on the other hand, was looking . . . there was no other word for it:

Smug.

"If Sauron should capture you," Elrond started, his voice harsh "and begot from you information, then he would learn about all that you know of us. You know too much. If you revealed it to anyone, it is *we*who would suffer. Long has he searched for the Elven rings, and if he knows that a mere girl like you knows the exact location of that and much more, who knows what force . . ." he broke off and stared into space.

"Your very existence here puts Rivendell in danger." He said again, "Perhaps he has already learned of you. Wherever you go, he will send spies. He will try and bend you to his will and he will succeed. Rivendell, Lothlorien, Mithlond, if he learns of you, even these realms cannot protect you. But if you were to be on the move . . ."

"Then he would find it impossible to capture her!" Glorfindel finished, standing up finally.

There was a gloomy silence for a moment, and then Gimli the dwarf spoke up.

"She could always join the Fellowship."

And destiny came in a great rolling heaping snowball of doom, buckling Ginny off her chair. It was inevitable. Maybe this really was some story that someone wrote and she was just a made up character, trapped and helpless against the tide of the original storyline.

There was murmuring, people were agreeing, they were actually agreeing. She probably shouldn't have insulted so many of them. Now they wanted her out of their haven. And then it struck her, making her jaw drop. *Rivendell hated her*. They wanted to get rid of her. They actually wanted to get *rid* of her.

But why? Was she really that annoying?

Yes! Her annoying side answered.

Her head was pounding and she felt sleepy. She was joining the Fellowship.

Oh joy. Her dream had come true. And now it was quickly turning into a nightmare.