Thank you all for the reviews and a thank youto my faithful readers. I'm gladyou guys liked the first chapter, a little bit about Aria's mother's past gets explained in this chapter. I hope you enjoy this chapter and I forgot to mention in my note in the first chapter that all dialouge in bold is spoken in Elvish. I know some phrases but not much so detailed dialouge is in bold. Enjoy!
Disclaimer: I own nothing associtated with Lord of the Rings. I only own Aria and her family.
Chapter 2
Aria felt like she had been hit by a bus and she slowly raised her hand to her forehead. She let out a slight moan of pain as she opened her eyes. Instead of seeing a canopy of trees, she saw a cream colored ceiling. Aria lowered her arm and slowly sat up, the action making her head spin. She looked around the room and saw that she was a bedroom of some kind. The bed she sat on was large and the most comfortable thing she had ever laid on. The windows were large balconies without any doors, just flowing curtains. A vanity table was across from the bed and two doors to the left of that. Aria assumed they led to a bathroom or closet or something like that. She took a sharp breath and looked down to see that she was still dressed in her clothes and her pendant as well as her photo were still on her. Aria let out a relieved sigh and closed her eyes with her hand clutching her pendant until she heard someone coming. She quickly opened her eyes and looked at the door. It slowly opened and in stepped a man with long dark hair and flowing bluish gray robes.
However, Aria stopped her assessment of the man when she noticed his ears. They were pointed. Sensing her fear and hesitation, Elrond smiled kindly at her. "Do not be afraid child," he said. Aria frowned and shook her head.
"I didn't understand you," she said. Elrond frowned and stepped further into the room. Aria scooted to the side of the bed as he stepped further into the room.
"You do not speak the language of your people?" he asked. Aria looked at the man like he was crazy as she stood from the bed.
"The language of my people?" she asked. "I am speaking the language of my people. In the U.S. we speak English." It was Elrond's turn to be confused. He stepped around the bed and began to walk towards Aria. However, she backed away from him and soon found herself standing on the balcony. "Look, mister, don't come any closer," she said as she held her hands out in front of her. Elrond stopped and looked at her. "Just tell me who you are, where I am, and how I got here." Elrond sighed.
"I am Lord Elrond and you are in my home in Imladris," he paused when he saw the blank look on her face. Elrond took a step closer and she backed away and stopped against the railing of the balcony. He sighed before he continued. "Legolas of Mirkwood found you unconscious on the forest floor on his journey into the city. He brought you to me to check your health. You have been in a deep sleep for nearly seven hours and the evening approaches." Aria frowned and turned away from the man and looked over Imladris, as he called it. She took a sharp breath when her eyes landed on the beautiful buildings and the trees that clearly showed it was fall. An icy breeze blew around her but she did not feel the chill. Aria furrowed her brow and looked back at the guy behind her. He offered her a kind smile, but she did not return it. Aria was sad, scared, and very confused. "You are one of the Eldar, yet you know not the language. How is that possible?"
"Eldar?" Elrond gave her a look but she continued anyway. "Look, I don't know what an Eldar is and I only know English and a little bit of Spanish." Victoria sighed and closed her eyes willing everything away and for her to be back home and away from this guy with pointy ears. But when she opened them, much to her disappointment, she was still there. Her frustration was growing with this situation and she just wanted to wake up and go back home. "What is an Eldar?" she asked.
"The Eldar are the first, or elves." Aria couldn't help it, she just started laughing uncontrollably. Elrond looked at her confused but let her continue.
"You're kidding me right?" she asked through her laugh and Elrond frowned not quiet catching her meaning. "Elves aren't real!" she exclaimed before she continued to laugh. Elrond grew tired of this girl.
"Enough!" he yelled and Aria quickly stopped laughing. "I am one of the Eldar and you are as well. Why you do not believe in your own kind is beyond me." Frustrated Elrond turned and went into the room. Aria watched him leave the bedroom and close the door. She frowned and walked back into the room. She walked over to the vanity and looked at herself in the mirror.
Aria saw nothing different that what she had seen that morning when she looked in the mirror. She was still her full height of 5'10" her eyes, hair, and face looked exactly the same. Out of habit she tucked a piece of hair behind her ear as she turned to sit down and stopped mid movement. Her ear felt different. Aria turned and looked at her ear in the mirror. She nearly screamed, but she covered her mouth with her hand. Her ears were pointed and they weren't that way when she left the house that morning. Aria glared at her reflection and quickly left the room to track down that elf that was in her room.
Aria turned down the corridor and she heard his voice coming from the next room. "She knows not who she is Gandalf," his voice said. Aria nearly growled and without bothering to knock charged into the room causing the three occupants inside to turn in her direction, but she only saw the dark haired elf and glared at him with fire in her eyes.
"What did you do to me?" she nearly screamed. Elrond just stared at her and her eyes narrowed even further. "Well?"
"We have done nothing to you," Elrond said calmly, though you could tell he was angry for her intrusion.
"My ass!" she yelled. Aria was angry. She never swore unless she was so angry she couldn't think straight and that was one of those moments. "If you did nothing to me, then why when I woke up this morning my ears were perfectly normal, and now they are pointy!" Elrond sighed and turned his gaze from Aria to someone at his right. Aria looked in the direction of his gaze and saw an old man dressed in grey robes. Aria glared at him. "Who are you?" Gandalf just smiled at her.
"I am Gandalf the Grey. Child, you must calm yourself. Nothing as been done to you," he said gently. Aria looked at him like he grew another head.
"Calm myself?" she asked loudly. "How am I suppose to be calm when I am in a place I never even heard of before and a dude with pointy ears mutilated me?" All of them were a little confused as to her choice of words. Aria sighed and squeezed her eyes shut willing the tears away. She had cried enough the last few days. Tears in this situation were just a sign of weakness and she need to be strong. Aria took a deep breath and slowly opened her eyes and looked at the old man. "Look, I just want to go home." Gandalf walked over to her slowly and placed his hand on her shoulder. Aria was still upset but she had calmed herself figuring that yelling at them wasn't going to get her home any sooner.
"What is your name child?" he asked softly. Aria looked up at him and he smiled at her.
"Aria," she said as she suddenly felt very calm as she looked at him. Aria had a strange feeling of trust towards this man, and it scared her. The only people she ever truly trusted were her grandma and father and the feeling of trusting someone else was new to her. "Can you tell me how to get home?" Gandalf gave her a sad smile.
"You are home, Aria," he said. She frowned and shook her head.
"This isn't my home!" she exclaimed as she pulled away from his hand on her shoulder. Aria felt a headache coming on and she wasn't looking forward to the rest of the day. Gandalf sighed and glanced at Elrond who looked at the girl concerned.
"The pendant you wear is that of an elleth from Imladris named Marwen," Gandalf said as he stepped closer to her. Aria's eyes widened at her mother's name and she clasped her pendant in her hand. "She has been missing for nearly thirty years and you carry her eyes." Aria shook her head.
"I don't believe you!" she yelled before she took off running out of the room.
"Aria!" Elrond called but she paid him no mind. "She will run into the forest and once she leaves the boarders, she will be subject to the evils that wait there." Legolas stood.
"I will get her," he said. The other two nodded and Legolas quickly left the room.
Aria ran down the stairs and towards the archway. She could feel the eyes of the elves on her. Aria ran out of the city and into the forest not bothering to stay on the path. She just wanted to get away. Aria ran and ran until she couldn't run anymore because of her tears. She stopped in a small clearing and kneeled down on the ground. She slammed her fists on the forest floor and groaned. Aria was tired of crying and she hastily wiped her face dry with the sleeves of her sweatshirt. She looked around the clearing and sighed. "Where the hell am I?" she asked herself quietly. "How in the world did I get here?" Aria reached into her pocket and pulled out the photo of her family. She smiled at the sight of their comforting faces but it soon fell when she heard someone approach.
Aria stood quickly and turned to come face to face with a blonde haired elf. She swallowed hard because as her light green eyes met the silver blue ones of the elf before her she felt as if everything was going to be alright. Aria mentally shook her head and told herself she was going crazy. "Lady Aria," he said his voice soft and quiet. "You should not run any further. There are great dangers that lay in wait outside the forest borders." He took a step to come closer to her and she stepped back. Legolas held up his hands to her. "I mean you no harm, Lady Aria. I only mean to assist you." Aria stood straighter and narrowed her eyes at him.
"You can assist me, by helping me get home." Legolas frowned.
"Lady Aria, you are home." Aria shook her head and turned away from him. A fierce wind wiped through the trees and pulled the photo from her hand. Aria shrieked and raced after the paper. Legolas watched as she reached for the parchment but missed. He saw it speed away but he quickly caught it. Legolas looked at the drawing and was amazed at how the artist captured each person in the drawing. He looked at the obviously pregnant woman and his eyes widened when he realized that it was Marwen. He had met her once many years ago, when he had traveled to Imladris with his tutor. Aria looked at him as he looked at the photo. She was surprised to see him look at it in wonder and somehow she felt her agitation towards him melt away.
"Can I have that, please?" she nearly begged. Legolas looked up from the drawing and saw the fear in her eyes, as if she thought he would take it from her. Legolas nodded and held it out to her. She quickly walked over to him and took the outstretched photo. "Thank you," she whispered as she put the photo back in her pocket.
"It is as if the artist captured their very souls," he said quietly. Aria shook her head.
"An artist didn't paint it," she said and Legolas looked at her waiting for her to explain. Aria felt her cheeks blush lightly under his gaze but she continued. "It's a photograph, taken with a camera." Legolas frowned and shook his head.
"What is a camera?" he asked quickly. Aria looked at him like he was crazy.
"You don't know what a camera is?" Legolas shook his head and Aria sighed thinking of a way to explain a camera. "A camera is a device that takes an image and puts it on film that you can put on paper for prints of the image and . . ." Aria trailed off at the confused expression on his face. "Never mind, it's too complicated to explain." She sat back down on the grass and sighed. Legolas stepped closer to her and kneeled in front of her.
"Lady Aria, you need to return to the city." Aria just shook her head as she looked up at his face.
"I need to go home. That's what I need to do."
"Gandalf said you are home and I believe him. That woman in the photo is your mother is she not?" Aria furrowed her brow but nodded. "I met her once when I was much younger." Aria was confused.
"Wait, how could you possibly have met her? She wasn't from here." Legolas sighed and sat down next to her.
"She was, Lady Aria. The woman in the photo is Marwen. That is your mother's name isn't it?" Aria could only nod and she looked away from him. "She is an elf and is from Imladris. Her parents, your grandparents sailed to Valinor after her disappearance fearing her dead." Aria closed her eyes and let out a shaky breath.
"I want to go home. I want to go back to the old farmhouse and live out the rest of my life."
"Lady Aria," he began but Aria cut him off by standing.
"Stop! How is Imladris, a place I've never even heard of before, the home of my mother?" Legolas stood and looked into her eyes as once again the fire began to glow in them. "I certainly can't ask her. Hell, I've never even met her!" she yelled as she glared at him. Legolas frowned.
"What do you mean?" Aria shook her head.
"Nothing," she said before she turned and took off into the woods once more. Legolas sighed and caught up to her quickly. He grabbed her arm and stopped her from continuing. Aria looked at him and glared. "What?" she snapped but Legolas kept his hand on her arm and his eyes locked with hers.
"You are nearing the border. Once you step outside it, you will no longer be protected by the power of the elves." Aria sighed and closed her eyes. After a moment she opened her eyes and looked at him.
"Fine, lead me back so I can find this Legolas person and ask him to show me where he found me." Legolas smiled and let go of her arm.
"I am Legolas," he said. Aria looked at him and raised an eyebrow, but Legolas just kept smiling at her. "I found you not far from where we just were. If you wish it, I will gladly show you." Aria nodded.
"Thanks," she said as she looked at the trees around her and then back at the elf in front of her. Aria noted that he was not much taller than her, maybe an inch or two. Legolas held out his arm. Aria looked at his arm and then at him. Noticing her hesitation, Legolas took her left arm and laced it with his right arm. Aria looked at him and then shook her head as she followed along side him.
They walked in silence for the ten minutes it took them to get to the clearing, but it was a comfortable silence. Once they reached it, Legolas stopped just outside it. "This is where I found you, lying next to the stones." Aria nodded and unlaced her arm from his. She stepped into the clearing and walked over to the familiar looking stones. Aria kneeled down and looked over the larger of the rocks; however, the strange carvings were gone. Aria frowned and touched the rock, but nothing happened.
"I don't get it," she whispered. Aria turned and looked at Legolas and then back at the rocks with a frown. Legolas wished he had answers for her but the only ones who did were back in the city. He stepped closer to her and touched her shoulder. Aria looked up at him and he frowned when he saw the sad look in her eyes.
"Lady Aria, we should head back to the city. The sun is setting, and although there are very few dangers in this forest, it is still not safe to travel in the dark." Aria nodded and stood. Legolas once again laced her arm with his but as they walked Aria just looked at the path in front of them but nothing else. Legolas sighed to himself as they neared the archway. Gandalf and Elrond were waiting for them.