"Let me guess: evil's returning and we need to stop it," Aragorn said.
"Well, obviously," said Gandalf. "This evil is very similar to Sauron's, but it seems more powerful than that of Sauron's; it seems more raw. It's not refined or corrupted by too much manipulation. This means that its magic is easier to harness and develop than Sauron's or Saruman's. And, as you all may have figured out by now, this new evil is much more dangerous than anyone could've realized because it has somehow integrated Sauron's power into itself with Saruman's magic."
"So we're up against a force that's equal to three evils in the past," summarized Legolas. "And we actually have a chance against it?"
"You're too quick to judge, Legolas," Galadriel lightly reprimanded. "You haven't even heard all of what we know about this new evil."
"There's more?" Pippin asked.
"Yes. I'm sure you all heard of the search of the unknown creatures in the forest a few weeks ago. About two dozen armed men and women went into the forest. Gunfire has heard in the distance of a nearby farm soon after they went in. Up to this point, none of the armed officials have returned. The farmer said that their dog was barking and whimpering to the school's general direction. During the times that the dog was quiet enough, the man said that he could hear yells that were deeper and far more bestial than any man could voice.
"This makes us think that those were Orcs or Uruk-Hai that have found some way to live with live bullets in them. We all know that both Orcs and Uruk-Hai aren't exactly hard targets and they aren't that swift. There is no way anything the rough size of a normal man can live after taking a few bullets to their body."
"So what're you saying?" asked Frodo. "That normal weapons can't hurt them?"
"That and more. We're saying that normal PEOPLE can't hurt them. Aragorn and Legolas have already killed two of the new creatures, so we must deduct that it's the difference of people that matters."
"Pardon me," interrupted Sam. "But that doesn't seem right. The police force is far more capable of killing weird creatures that come from darkness compared to a few kids."
"What do you mean?"
"Wouldn't the weapon matter? The cops tried killing off the orcs with guns while Legolas killed them off with a bow and arrow."
"And, there's a bit of a time difference from when we met the things to yesterday," added Aragorn.
"Smart boys. But, you didn't let me finish, Sam."
Sam bit his lip and bowed his head in apology.
"I must thank you, though. You said what I was going to say to all of you. The weapon and the person combined can successfully destroy the evil beasts. Of course, it also depends on where you strike, how much power you put into the blow, and so on."
"That's where our stuff come in, right?" Gimli eyed his axe in his case. Legolas could tell by the gleam in his eyes that he couldn't wait to swing it around again.
"That's right, Gimli," Gandalf said as Galadriel opened the rest of the cases. "Your weapons had magic in them when you used them in Middle-Earth but it is much stronger now because of the surplus of unused magic in this world. Oh, and Frodo, that isn't the original Sting that you had in the past."
"I know." Frodo swung the sword a few times to test it. "The original was destroyed in Mount Doom. Except for the fact that it seems a little shorter than the last time I held it, I wouldn't have been able to tell the difference if I didn't know. Does it glow blue when orcs are near?"
"Sort of. I remember when Galadriel tested it in the Field of Celebrant that it glowed various shades of blue. I don't what the blue shimmering means, though."
"It was a daunting task recreating the items that were destroyed," said Galadriel. "The cloaks and brooches weren't that hard, but the swords that Sam and Frodo used were pretty difficult to recreate, along with Merry's sword and Boromir's Horn."
Aragorn, who was testing his own bow, suddenly looked up at Boromir's name. He and Legolas looked at each other in sadness when they thought of him and his final deed. They glanced at his case, remembering their promise to him.
"Wait a minute." Legolas looked more carefully through Boromir's glass case. "You said that you recreated the Horn of Gondor. But it's not here."
Galadriel shifted nervously from where she was standing. "That's because it was stolen from me."
"Is that the same reason why the phial containing the light of Earendil's star isn't here?" Frodo had just noticed it wasn't anywhere to be found.
"Oh, the Valar forbid, no!" she cried out. "If the enemy got a hold of the Light, we would already be dead!"
"How comforting," muttered Legolas.
"No, I hid it somewhere. But I don't remember where I hid it."
"Even better," he thought sarcastically.
"Did you misplace it when you were unpacking?" Aragorn suggested. "It can't be too far; this is the first exhibit, isn't it?"
"Yes, this is the first exhibit, but that doesn't matter. I hid it when Elves still lived in Lothlorien."
"So let me get this straight," Aragorn said impatiently. "The eight of us, seven of whom are youths, not only have to save the world from perpetual darkness, but we have to find a glass bottle that contains light and an ancient horn in the process."
Galadriel thought for a moment. "Yeah."
"And I have to lead them."
"Yeah."
He sighed when he started to comprehend the entire situation. Even the newly awakened part of his soul was a little overwhelmed by this responsibility. A thought occurred to him. "Why do we need the Horn of Gondor?"
"Because the Horn was originally used to summon the armies of Gondor. Even though Gondor fails to exist, the spirits of the mighty country are still out there, waiting to be called to duty. I'm sure Boromir is searching for the spirits now."
"Ohhh..." The boys could see a rough outline of the plan that Galadriel and Gandalf had come up with.
"So where does the Light of Earendil come in?" asked Frodo.
"The Light may very well be what defeats this darkness once and for all," Galadriel said. "Haven't you ever wondered what filled the bottle and made that beautiful light?"
"No," Frodo admitted. He shook his head. "No, I just cared it if worked or not."
She smiled. "It's filled with what we used to call Tears of the Stars. It's a very rare event when it rains from a cloudless night sky, but it happened during your stay Lorien during the War of the Ring. After a single night, my Mirror was filled enough to contain the essence of Earendil.
"That little bottle contains enough power to save the world or destroy it. Through certain methods of magic, it can be turned into a weapon of darkness. With that much firepower behind the enemy, they would literally be unstoppable."
"But I thought I had it with me when I jumped," said Frodo, referring to his suicide jump.
"No, I took it from you after I thought you were dead because of Shelob," said Sam. "But I dropped it on the mountain. Obviously, someone must've found it."
"How much time do we have?" Pippin asked.
Gandalf and Galadriel both shook their heads dejectedly. "We have no idea."
"But," Galadriel spoke up. "I do know that the evilness is originating from this town. There's no doubt about it. And, there's also another being that lives here that has seen the world of Middle-Earth, except we don't know what it is. I sensed that it's in the forest."
Legolas ran his fingers through his hair and started to pace around the pedestal in the middle of the room.
"Okay. So we have to recover the Horn of Gondor, which has been stolen by someone or something; find the Light of Earendil, which is lost somewhere; find out that unknown thing that's hiding in the forest, what it's doing here and if it'll help us because God knows we need help; and, of course, defeat an unknown darkness that's probably growing stronger as we speak. Did I miss anything?"
"I don't think so, unfortunately," sighed Gandalf. "But, I think Galadriel will be able to conduct a more thorough search of the area once known as Middle-Earth. You'll be able to use your tour locations to your advantage, correct?"
"Of course. I'll share the burden of finding the Light. However, the rest of you must search for the Horn of Gondor. At least until we have a better idea of who our opponent is and how to defeat it."
"We have to do all this secretly, too," Gimli pointed out. "If Sauron and Saruman had spies, this new devilry undoubtedly has some of its own. We honestly don't know who to trust."
"I also have to warn all of you to try to be as normal as possible when you leave this room. We can't have suspicions about us and irrational theories panicking the general public too much. Don't start the search too soon after today or it might draw the enemy's attention to us."
"Mind you, it isn't as if we're in a hurry to do this," said Merry. "The face of darkness isn't too easy to look at."
"Your weapons and items of value will help you," she said, being exactly how she was when she was still Lady of Lorien. "You may take them to protect yourselves and others."
"No kidding. Cool." Merry slid off the elvish dagger from its place in the glass case. He briefly remembered his journey with the Uruk-Hai before taking the other items from his case.
Aragorn gently placed his sword, quiver, bow and dagger he had received from Celeborn on his cloak. The last things that remained in his case were a shimmering necklace and a green stone. He took the necklace out and grimly held it in his hands. The Evenstar's light shined at him.
"Arwen..." he whispered. "I'm sorry..."
"Aragorn."
Frodo tugged at his shirt and look at him with hopeful eyes.
"If we came to this world, chances are that she's here, too. God knows she'd never leave you and you know that. If she had enough courage and power to give up eternal life and live with you, of all people, she is probably around here somewhere."
"Yeah," he said. "Yeah, that's right, Frodo. Thanks."
Frodo smiled and started to help Gimli with his axe, which seemed to be stuck in its pedestal.
"Yeah," he sighed as he slid on the necklace. "Hopefully..."
Sam's eye was caught by Boromir's full case. "Who's going to take Boromir's stuff?"
Silence settled in the room. Everyone looked at each other. No one wanted to take them out of great respect for Boromir. They all heard about how he had died from the news and Legolas and Aragorn's testaments. But, one by one, all eyes turned to one person.
Gandalf sighed. "Well, I think we all know who should keep Boromir's possessions: Aragorn."
He looked around at everyone, who were still looking at him. "Well, if I must, I must."
They all gathered their things and started to leave. Most of them wrapped their belongings with the cloaks that were in their cases. They all agreed that if anybody asked why they had such interesting weaponry they would say that they were helping Dr. Lewis move the artifacts. When she left them, they would say that the items had to be moved to another site so that something else could take its place. Luckily, no one asked anything, although they did attract some curious eyes and turned some heads.
When they got home, they either snuck their things by their parents when they weren't looking or they simply lied about where they got it. In Gandalf's case, he didn't need to worry about his parents and just put his sword, staff and cloak where a glancing eye wouldn't see.
They didn't dare tell anyone, not even their closest friends and relatives, aside from each other, about what truly happened in the museum. After a couple of weeks, they began a discreet search for the missing items.
Meanwhile, in a dark, dank room, a tall, cloaked figure stands triumphantly.
"I've done it," it garbled. It held up a test tube containing a tiny creature that was similar to a spider. Its four legs waved around like tentacles instead of insect-like legs. A miniscule mouth rimmed with even smaller, sharper teeth was opening and closing on its belly. It waved its tentacles angrily when the Master shook the test tube.
"What has Master done?" Smeagol asked from under the table.
"I've created something that will throw the world of Men into chaos and confusion," it replied gleefully. "Like all living things, with time, this will multiply and grow stronger, creating yet another army for me."
Smeagol looked at the minute creature in the tube. "How, Master? It's so small. Smeagol could squish it like a bug."
The Master turned and carried the tube to a new reproduction field. In a slimy, grotesque pod, he slid the tiny creature into the field.
"Smeagol! You wanted to know what they do?"
He nodded his head.
The Master let out a bone-chilling laugh.
"You'll find out soon enough. Everyone will."