They sat and spoke in awed voices for some time, mulling over all that they had learned from one another. Sometimes they all began to laugh for no reason except for the joy that welled up in their hearts, and sometimes they wept, for the same reason. It was the most amazing feeling Katie had ever experienced, more real and more deep than anything she could think of. She felt sometimes like a great piece of music was welling up inside her head and her chest, building to great crescendo, and it was so powerful that if it got any louder, it was going to kill her. It was like God Himself had leaned down, put his lips right next to her ear, and shouted, "WAKE UP!"
They stayed on the porch until the shadows lengthened and twilight drew near. Then they rose together by some tacit consent and began to walk slowly back toward the main part of the house.
Katie decided it was time to change the subject. She had heard so much today that she knew would be boiling in her head for quite awhile to come, and she needed a break from it. So when they ended up at Elrond's office, and Elrohir asked after his brother, she was relieved and jumped right into the conversation.
"He is much better," Elrond answered his son, "and he will be allowed to get up tomorrow. I only wish we knew who the culprit was, so we could stop all of this."
"You know," Katie said, finally making a decision, "I thought for awhile it was Sadron."
Silence greeted this pronouncement, but nobody seemed angry. "Why is that?" Elrond finally asked.
"Well, I saw Lossefalme arguing with somebody one night, and the person went into the stable. I thought it was Sadron she was talking with. Then I realized that Sadron was out of the stable right before we found the knife in Orain's grave, so he could've put it there.
"And the stable is really near the kitchen door, where the notes were left. He could've passed the door and stuck the note on right before he met us at the riverside that first time. I thought maybe Lossefalme had guessed that he did it, and he was threatening her to keep her mouth shut. After we found the second note, I thought he gave her a funny look, and she seemed scared. And there's a container of rat poison in the stable. He could've been one of Dorlarth's followers, and was trying to get revenge or something." She shrugged. "But it's all circumstantial. And I like Sadron so much, I didn't want it to be true, and I didn't want to accuse him."
Elrond scrutinized her face, and she could almost see him thinking. Erestor and Elrohir seemed to be doing the same.
"Lossefalme and Sadron had an argument?" Erestor asked quietly. "When was this?"
"Right after the first note was found," Katie answered. "Why?"
"Because I seem to remember that I found it strange when I saw Sadron give Lossefalme a suspicious look that afternoon by the river," Erestor answered slowly. "You don't suppose…"
Katie made a disbelieving face. "Lossefalme? No way. She's far too good to be one of Dorlarth's followers. Just like Sadron. The notes still don't make sense, anyway. Why would she be writing in Dorlarth's handwriting?" She laughed. "She'd have to be channeling Dorlarth's spir—"
She stopped abruptly, and her eyes widened. She clapped her hands over her mouth. "His fëa," she whispered. "His houseless fëa…"
Before every frightening incident, Lossefalme had been coming back from picking flowers in that secret spot. Erestor had told her that Houseless fëar sometimes liked to haunt places they had once known. And Lithorniel had told her that Lossefalme had learned about that secret spot from "a senior member of staff."
Dorlarth, the former head butler.
He had been tainted in life, so it wasn't surprising that he had refused the summons to Mandos. He haunted the secret flower place, and Lossefalme must have met up with him there. And Lossefalme, Katie had always thought, was somehow sillier than most elves. No elves were truly silly, but Lossefalme was young and sometimes unwise. It would be just like her to try and communicate with a ghost, try to help it, and get herself possessed by it. She had probably felt bad for Dorlarth, and offered his spirit shelter in her body, and he was slowly taking over. First just a knife hidden in a secret place, then an actual note written through her—that was why the handwriting seemed to phase out between Dorlarth's and her own, and why the note didn't make any sense! Dorlarth's spirit had only imperfect control. Then it had happened again, and then Dorlarth actually succeeded in coercing her to try and poison someone, albeit very clumsily. But he was gaining power, and maybe his next try wouldn't be so clumsy…
They all exchanged frightened glances, and Katie knew everyone else in the room had thought the same thing.
"We have to find Lossefalme immediately," Elrond said, and they all rushed out the door. As she followed behind them, Katie thought she heard Elrohir say, "How I wish Mithrandir were here!" Katie mentally agreed. How on Arda were they going to eject a houseless fëa from somebody without harming them? Erestor had said that the body the fëar were fighting over could be gravely injured in the struggle, and Lossefalme's spirit might even be ejected from her body, and then Dorlarth would control her completely! Dorlarth had been an elf, so his spirit was as strong as the other elves'. Maybe Elrond could eject him, but maybe he couldn't. What were they going to do?
They sped down the hall toward the kitchen, meeting Lithorniel on the way.
"Lithorniel!" Elrond called as he came upon her. "Where is Lossefalme? Is she in the kitchens?"
Lithorniel looked puzzled and a little frightened by this agitated crew that was waiting for her response, but she answered immediately. "Lossefalme? No, she went to carry a dinner tray to Lord Elladan. Why, what is wrong?"
But they were gone already, running for Elladan's room. The elves quickly outstripped Katie, and she and Vivian were well behind when they heard Arwen in the corridor.
"What is it?"
"Where is Lossefalme?" Elrohir asked urgently.
"She is in Elladan's room, tidying up," Arwen answered. "She brought him dinner, but he is asleep. She said she would watch over him for me whilst I went and ate."
Elrohir was gone after the first sentence, and so was the first to come up to Elladan's room. He flung the door open and raced in.
Katie heard the commotion as she ran past a startled Arwen, and the sight that greeted her eyes at the door was terrifying.
Erestor, Elrond, and Elrohir were all trying desperately to restrain Lossefalme, who seemed to have gone mad. Her eyes were so wide they looked like they were going to come out of her head, and she was screaming incoherently at Elladan, the only intelligent words being obscenities. Elladan was sitting watching her in complete confusion and not a little fear as she slathered and struggled to free herself from her captors. Elrohir seemed to have wrenched a knife from her hand; she must have gone for Elladan with it once Arwen had left the room. Lossefalme was almost unrecognizable; it was obvious that her own spirit was not the one controlling her body.
It was a few moments before Vivian could catch up with them in the room, but the instant she did, Katie fell back from her. There was a power coming from her which was nearly overwhelming.
No, not from her, Katie realized. Through her.
Vivian simply strode over to Lossefalme, who was now trying to bite the hands that held her, her hair loose and flying around her face as she writhed in rage. Vivian took on the tone of voice Katie had only ever rarely heard her grandmother use before, a forceful tone like a mother vehemently scolding a child who was hurting someone.
"You stop that this instant and let her be!" she commanded, in a louder voice than Katie had thought she was capable of. "Leave her and go out, never to return! In the name of Eru Himself, I command you!"
Lossefalme went rigid and gave a hideous shriek that made all of Katie's hair stand on end. Then she suddenly collapsed and crumpled up on the floor. In a moment, she looked up at them all, and they could see that she was herself again. She buried her face in her hands and began to sob.
Vivian stepped back from her and over to her granddaughter in the commotion that followed. Elrohir was checking over his brother and questioning if Lossefalme had hurt him. Elrond himself was examining Lossefalme, to see that no physical harm had come to her. Lithorniel and Arwen, who had followed Vivian into the room, had come forward to soothe and calm their friend, and they were followed by the guards, who came running from every side of the house to investigate and protect their lord.
Katie realized she was shaking with fear, and Vivian put her arms around her, in that comforting, grandmotherly way.
When Katie could speak again, she pulled back and looked up at her. "I think you've done it, Gram," she said. Vivian smiled down at her. What the elves had not been able to do, and Mithrandir had not been there to do, Katie's grandmother had done. The Woman Remade.
Katie looked over at Elrohir. He gave her a half-smile, and simply nodded at her, not trying to speak over the noise. Katie felt her heart warm at that expression, and then she heard the sound she was expecting: bells.
Katie suddenly found herself standing on the dirt road that led to the Watson College soccer field. She looked down at herself and began to laugh. She was still wearing an elven dress.
"What a spectacle I'm going to make!" she said out loud, still laughing. "I think I'll go to Dana's soccer game some other day." She turned and began to walk back toward her dorm, still chuckling, her heart flying with joy.
TBC
AN: Another abrupt ending… There's still an epilogue to go on this one!
Cool LotR fact of the day: As far as I know, Tolkein never actually said Elves' ears were pointy. If anybody can find a reference proving me wrong, do let me know! I also recently discovered that he never said Elrond and Elros were twins, just brothers. I must've gotten that idea from the Mellon Chronicles.
Laer4572: Agreed! And I can totally see Vivian giving you a friendly smack upside the head…
Princess Siara: lol Congrats!
werewolflemming: Thank you very much! Glad you took the time to try and understand it!
IwishChan: Cool email address, BTW!
RenegadeKitsune: Yeah, it was! Thanks!
Fk306: Please tell me what you're confused on, and I'll try to answer you questions! You can review or email me.
Darkened Dreams: Really, all I did was present the parallels that are already extant in Tolkein's work. He visualized Arda as the same world as ours, only in the past, so he shaped it accordingly. Thanks!
Tara: Thank you! Your review made writing the fic totally worth it. :) I need to go back and try to read the Silmarillion again myself. I'm going to keep the family trees in front of me and take notes on all the F names this time… lol
Calime07: Wow, an hour? Thank you for making the effort to understand! Five time—I'm not sure I'd have the patience! lol Another review that just made my day!
theycallmemary: Emailed reviewer: Check!
Ravens Destiny: Movie theater—that sounds like fun. Better than my work-study job… Actually, when I first started writing "Something Rotton" I had no idea where any of it was going. I just started writing. And then the plot came together on its own. And then I decided I wanted to write a sequel, and that was when the whole idea began to form. And the third sequel, I put in the bit with the marker in the beginning, but I didn't know how the whole show-down was gonna work out, and then I had the idea for the big Athrabeth conversation… Really, the story kind of made me write it. I seriously think God is writing this through me, because I can't come up with this kind of cool stuff on my own! lol He wanted me to write it, so I let him take charge. Love your summing up! Good thing you did that, since you needed it for this chappie!
Madd Hatter: Share the popcorn! lol Glad you got it!
Please review, my little croutons! Review like a llama!