Disclaimer: I own neither Percy Jackson and the Olympians, The Lord of the Rings, or any of the characters from either of the aforementioned series.
Chapter 3
If his girlfriend didn't kill him first, Percy was going to murder Nico.
The last thing he remembered was the usual darkness that came with shadow-traveling. Then came the blue light and water. Lots and lots of water.
His father's domain swirled all around him, cushioning his fall. The pressure increased until he could take it no longer, and all at once, the water exploded outwards, drenching the shore and leaving nothing untouched but the demigod at the center of the explosion.
As the water drained back to its usual position, Percy climbed out of the riverbed, looking around him curiously. He had emerged from where the water met the shores; just up the coast were a bunch of trees that widened into a forest. Other than that, he appeared to be alone.
Having deemed his surroundings safe for the moment, Percy took a moment to take stock of himself. Riptide was in his pocket, of course, always returning to him. He still had his necklace commemorating his five years at Camp, and further inventory revealed a pen (a regular one that couldn't turn into a Celestial Bronze weapon), a couple squares of ambrosia, and a stick of gum in his pocket. He then turned his attention to his two biggest problems at the moment.
"Nico? Thalia?" Either his cousins were nowhere to be seen or they were playing a very elaborate trick on him. However, Percy had spent enough time as a half-blood to know that this was no joke. "Nico! Thals! Where are you?" Still no response.
Nearly anyone else would have panicked by now; getting transported to an unknown place and losing his two cousins was not an ideal situation for a teenager. But Percy was a half-blood; these things pretty much happened every other day to him.
Well, Percy thought as he staggered to his feet. Sitting here's going to do no good.
Standing wearily, he started towards the cover of the trees before the hair on the back of his neck rose. Percy froze, trusting his instinct that was warning him that he was not alone.
"Show yourself!" He called, feeling slightly stupid as he yelled at the trees. "I, uh... I come in peace?"
There was no reply, but the uneasy feeling didn't leave him. He decided to uncap Riptide despite not knowing if this potential threat was monster or mortal.
As the three feet of Celestial Bronze sprung out of nowhere, Percy heard a gasp- one that was quickly stifled, but showed that there was definitely someone there. Sea-green eyes narrowed and Percy raised his sword, cautious. He crept forward, approaching the trees warily, before two children stepped out of the bushes.
No, not children, Percy realized upon further inspection. They were short enough to be children, but their elderly facial features revealed them to be adults. And, Percy noticed with some interest, they were carrying swords like he was. So this meant he was somewhere where they either didn't have guns or chose not to use them; a relief, as it would have been awkward explaining why he was a sixteen-year-old with an eighteenth-century weapon.
The two looked remarkably alike; not twins, but very similar. Sort of like the Stoll brothers, Percy mused. They both wore long traveling cloaks atop coats and very bright vests. Curly One, as Percy dubbed him, stepped forward and gave a short bow, addressing Percy first.
"Welcome, good sir, to the Shire, home to some of the best wine in all Middle Earth!"
"And the pipeweed," Curly Two added. "Don't forget the pipeweed, Merry."
Curly One - Merry - turned back to Percy and gave a small bow. "Meriadoc Brandybuck, Master of Buckland and esquire of Rohan, at your service. But I go by Merry."
His friend hopped to his feet beside him and gave a similar bow. "And I am Peregrin Took, Thain of the Shire and Knight of Gondor. But you can call me Pippin!"
"Um..." Percy was momentarily taken aback by these small yet energetic beings. He tried to mimic their greeting, giving an awkward bow to both of them. "I'm Perseus Jackson, but please call me Percy. Perseus makes me sound like an old man."
Large smiles broke out across their faces. "Oh, I like him, Merry," Pippin said, as if Percy wasn't standing right there.
"I do too, Pip. I wonder where he comes from." Simultaneously, the two turned to face him.
At this question, Percy started internally panicking. The two creatures in front of him were probably not human based on their attire and stature, although they seemed to wish him no harm, either. And he was pretty sure he wasn't in Kansas anymore - or New York, to be more precise. But he still didn't know where he was or why he was there. He decided to err on the side of caution for now by giving a half-truth (which, as he repeatedly told his mom, was not a whole lie).
"I'm looking for my cousins," he said. "One - a girl - has spiky black hair and a silver tiara. The other one's a boy, wearing all black. Have you seen them?"
Even before he finished asking, he could tell what the answers would be. To confirm his thoughts, Pippin shook his head. "Sorry, we haven't. Merry and I were just going for a walk, and we saw this ginormous wave, and then you were just there! How'd you do that, by the way? Are you a wizard?"
Briefly, Percy wondered if this was some really intense LARPing (Rachel made him go to a convention - long story), but the expressions on their faces were too earnest.
"Uh, sort of," he said. "By the way, I don't mean to sound rude or anything, but... what are you?"
"Why, we're hobbits, of course!" Pippin said, as if offended that anyone dared to ask such a ridiculous question. Percy opened his mouth to apologize but Pippin continued regardless.
"You're not the first of the Big Folk not to hear of hobbits, of course. Still, we were right there in the Battle of the Black Gate, fighting against Sauron just as hard as any of you Big Folk." Here he preened a little, in a good-natured yet prideful manner.
In his head, Percy connected Sauron to Kronos. If they had helped, then they could probably tell him more about this different world. He decided to throw caution to the wind.
"So, uh, how exactly did you defeat him?" Percy wondered aloud. At his question, the two hobbits deflated. "Well, it was Frodo, mostly." Pippin spoke Frodo's name in the same tone that one would speak of a fallen hero. "He cast the Ring into the fire and destroyed Sauron for good."
"And then he sailed," Merry continued where Pippin left off. "Just a few summers ago. Sam's taking it worse than most- although Rosie Cotton's helping a bit. Anyway, he's off in Gondor now, getting ready for King Aragorn's birthday." Percy tried not to look too confused and just nodded where he thought the appropriate places were.
"Shame, really," Pippin sighed. "Frodo was such a nice hobbit, to everyone. And he threw the best parties- after Bilbo, of course."
"Yeah," Merry agreed. " I bet he could've helped with the Haradrim problem."
"Wait a sec," Percy cut in. "The who?"
Both hobbits looked at him like he was crazy. "Mind you, you really have been out of it, haven't you?" Thankfully, Percy didn't need to come up with an explanation, because Pippin was plodding along regardless. "The Haradrim were the Men who fought on Sauron's side during the War of the Ring. Now they're stirring up trouble again."
Percy frowned. What if it wasn't by accident that they ended up here? What if the Fates wanted them to take part in this war? Percy barely refrained from snorting. He had just gone through a devastating war of his own; now he was being put through another one, not even in his own universe this time? He wondered if there was a way to bribe the Fates from messing with his future.
Unaware of Percy's thoughts, Merry finished Pippin's thoughts. "But since the elves, dwarves, hobbits, and Men are united, and we've got the ents on our side, I don't see why they would attack."
Pippin continued in a conspiratorial whisper. "Some say that they've got their own allies- new monsters that are ten times worse than orcs! Anyways," he continued, abruptly changing the subject. "I wish you luck finding your friends, but it is high time we get back! The other hobbits will be wondering where we've gone off to this time!"
"We could show you around a bit, if you'd like," Merry offered, having taken a liking to the young man in front of him. "The Golden Perch Inn has some of the best ale in all the Shire!"
Percy thought for a second. The two hobbits seemed nice, if a little strange, and probably didn't mean him any harm. Besides, he didn't have the first clue how to find his missing cousins. "The Inn it is, then," he agreed.
A few hours later, Percy was in the Golden Perch Inn having a mug of ale. He figured that ale was a predated version of beer; while he technically wasn't of legal drinking age, he decided that saving the world granted a pass for underage drinking (even if he still wouldn't tell his mom about it when he got back home). Trying not to gag at the awful taste, Percy tried to figure out what to do next.
First and foremost, he had to find his cousins. Unfortunately, his only leads, Merry and Pippin, were dead ends, and other hobbits probably wouldn't take too kindly to a Man questioning them. He had already gotten several strange looks from other occupants of the tavern and had no desire to press his luck. He figured that, since he had arrived in a tsunami, Thalia and Nico's arrivals would probably be announced by something to do with their heritage. But how could he know for sure? Wait for an undead soldier to walk through the door and order a pint?
Next to him, Merry and Pippin were on their fourth cups. Percy thought he had a big stomach, but even he was impressed by how much the small beings could put away. Suddenly, a voice cut through his daze.
"It was an earthquake, but I swear, it wasn't natural!"
In a flash, Percy was moving toward the hobbit. He carried a short sword - more like a dagger - with him, like Merry and Pippin. Percy figured he was one of the "Sheriffs", or guard hobbits, that Merry had briefly mentioned when giving Percy the tour of the Shire.
He walked up to the hobbit and tapped him on his shoulder. "Uh, excuse me, Sir, but I couldn't help overhearing something about an earthquake...?" He trailed off, unsure if he had offended the hobbit or not by barging in on the conversation. Thankfully, this one seemed glad to share his thoughts.
"You see, young master -" Percy tried not to get offended by having someone half his height calling him 'young'- " I do guard patrol out by the borders of the Old Forest. Now, we hobbits have an arrangement with the Great Eagles; since the Shire is far from any other settlements (aside from Bree, of course), we always are informed of events after they happen. With war approaching, that can be deadly. So, the Eagles bring us news of surrounding regions, and, in return, the Shire is a place for them to rest, and they can hunt in our forests or lakes.
"Now, the Great Eagle Meneldor delivered the messages just a few hours ago, and he told me that, when he was flying over Weathertop, there was a flash of blue light. He was curious, so he decided to investigate it; but just then, a giant earthquake started - the biggest one in years, he says. There's no way an earthquake can start up that suddenly, unless by magic. Some of us think that it might be the Blue Wizards or Radagast the Brown, because Gandalf has sailed and Saruman is dead-"
By that time, Percy had stopped listening. He didn't even make a comment about "Sauron" and "Saruman". While the elderly hobbit was still talking, Percy spun around to see Merry and Pippin standing right behind him, also listening to the tale.
"That's my cousin," Percy said urgently to the hobbits. "Weathertop. Is that close to here?"
"About ten days' walk," Merry replied. "Less on horseback."
Percy cursed. He needed to get to Nico, and then find Thalia and leave before war broke out. "Thank you for all your help, Merry and Pippin. But I have to go find my cousin. Could you tell me how to get there?"
Merry and Pippin looked at each other, then simultaneously broke out into matching grins. "We can do better than that, Percy," Pippin declared. "We can take you there!"
Percy blinked in surprise. "You will?"
Merry nodded sagely. "Yep; he's family, after all. Pip here's my cousin, and we both know how completely helpless he is without me."
Pippin turned to him, offended.
"Well, you are," Merry pointed out.
"And, besides," Pippin continued as if he hadn't heard Merry. "We haven't been on an adventure in years! The Shire's been getting a bit boring for us, don't you think, Merry?"
"I do indeed, Pippin," the other hobbit agreed. "Just let us grab some food and ponies, and we'll be on our way."
Despite his worry, Percy had to grin. At least he would have friends to talk to and some in-flight entertainment on the way.
