Chapter 26 - Sea of Dreams

It was a stormy night. Rain was racing out of the dark grey depressing clouds and hit the wooden floor of an Elven boat. Nicole sat on the deck, with her purple cloak covering her and keeping her warm. Her hood was covering her wet hair. She looked at the soaked deck as she thought about her friends. Daniel . . . Julliet . . . Jeremy . . . Jessica . . . Feliesha . . . Legolas . . . all of them. She missed them and wondered if she'd ever see them again, or what's left of them. She could hear the waves of Belegaer, the Great Sea crashing into the wooden ship. She was cold, tired, and lonely. She wanted to go home. She remembered she had found just days before in her home town, Rivendell.

- - -

Nicole walked up the soap stone steps of the entrance of Rivendell. She wanted to hurry to say goodbye to fellow loved ones so she can hurry to see Tom, that is, if he was at the Gray Havens. She was not ready to see what she was about to. She reached the top of the stairs, and pushed open the wooden doors to see: nothing. The whole city was completely deserted. No elves shopping, no elf children playing, nothing. There was a faint wind pushing a few autumn leaves through the dead streets of the town. She looked around. There was no one there. She decided to go home and pack for her last journey. She went home and packed her special belongings in a bag her mother made for her when she was little. Once she was packed, she decided to take one last walk around her home, Rivendell.

She walked, and soon she arrived to the doors of the house of Elrond. She slowly opened the doors, half expecting to see busy servants running everywhere. Once the doors were open, there was no one there. She walked down the foyer. The room seemed bigger with no one in it. She could hear the echoes of her feet stepping on the wood floor.

"Whose there?" A familiar voice called out. Nicole turned around startled. She was greeted by the tall Master Elrond.

"Master Elrond!" She bowed quickly, than stood up. Elrond got closer.

"Nicole?" He said surprised. He went up and gave her a hug. "What are you doing here? Where are Daniel and Jeremy? And the rest of the fellowship?"

"Oh, everything happened so fast!" Nicole replied. "I just wanna leave . . . I Wanna cross the Sea of Belegaer and go to the Undying Lands, and leave the affairs of Middle Earth behind me . . ." She said, she could feel herself starting to cry again as Master Elrond stroke her soft hair. She was sick of crying. She was sick of everything. She wanted to leave, and never come back.

"Maybe now is your time." Elrond said, walking over to the window, looking out at the abandoned town. "All the elves left. And the ones in Lothlorien too. It's only a matter of time till the elves are just a forgotten page in history. And I think the fate of Middle Earth has been decided. . ."

"What do you mean?" Nicole asked, walking over to him by the window.

"The airs have grown cold, the skies are graying." Elrond answered. "I think our ring bearer has failed, or will soon. . ." Nicole was silent as she heard this.

"You can't give up faith, Master Elrond."

- - -

Nicole awoke from her dream. Her dream of her final encounter with Elrond a few weeks ago. 'You can't give up faith.' She said in her mind. She stood up to see that the storm had passed. She looked over the calm sea of Belegaer. The silhouette of the sunrise reflected off the water. She sighed as she smelled the salt water. It seemed weird, this would be her last journey, as with many other elves. She thought of all the elves that crossed this enchanted sea. Suddenly, an elf on a lookout started hitting a bell. Nicole leaned over the edge to see what was ahead. There it was: The Undying Lands. She could see the port where the huge ship would enter. The buildings seemed so ancient and mysterious.

- - -

The huge ship pulled into the port. Elves joyfully ran out of the ship. There were small children running off and hugging another older elf waiting at the bottom for them. Nicole spotted a male elf running down and a female elf greeting him with a huge hug. He spun her around off her feat, and they walked off together, hand in hand. Seeing lovers and family reuniting again brought joy to Nicole, but at the same time, grief. She looked around and couldn't find anyone she knew. No family members, no friends, and no . . . Tom.

She slowly walked off the ship and down the wooden walkway, scanning her eyes through the crowd in search of someone she knew. Once she reached the bottom, she found herself in a crowd of elves. They were shoving and pushing her. Soon, she got out of the crowd, and out of the port. She found herself on a dirt road, with fields of lush green grass on either sides of her. She could hear someone following behind her.

"Hey Nicole. . ." The familiar voice said. Nicole turned around, smiled and embraced the figure in a hug. She was finally happy. Nothing else mattered anymore.

- - -

Lothlorien was deserted. Not a single elf was left walking through the enchanted city. Julliet, Daniel, Legolas, and Jeremy arrived at the white gates. Legolas opened and they walked to Julliet's house first.

"It feels good to be home. . ." Julliet said, "but it seems different here without everyone. . ."

"Yeah." Legolas agreed.

"While you guys are packing, I'm gonna go to Galadriel's mirror OK?" Daniel said. "I'll be fast." So with that he ran off into the city. Within about ten or fifteen minutes, he arrived at the mirror of Galadriel. He took the jar of magic water from a well and dumped it into the mirror bowl. He put the jar down and looked into the water.

At first, nothing was there. But soon, he could see him and Jeremy. They were on a huge ship. Then ripples came and it shifted towards Julliet and Legolas. It seemed like a wedding was going on. Then ripples came again and it shifted to Daniel talking to someone. She was wearing a purple cloak and it seemed like they were in a forest. It reflected back to the time when he saw Nicole . . . for the last time. The ripples returned, and it shifted to when they saw the five Ringwraiths demolish into nothing. Then, the ripples changed one last time.

It showed Daniel in a place. A dark, cold, place. He was alone. He could see himself looking around. Then he got up and started running, he ran faster and faster and faster until suddenly, yet another ripple came, and the water transformed back into its natural clear liquid. Daniel looked up from the water, and saw a woman dressed in white with long blonde hair standing on the stone steps. Her bare feet resting on the cold stone steps.

"You have fulfilled your quest." Galadriel said.

"Yeah. . ." Daniel said, looking towards the ground.

"You are not happy of this?" Galadriel asked.

"Well don't get me wrong. . ." Daniel answered. "Sure I'm happy we defeated Sauron, and the Ringwraiths. . . but I lost my-"

"Your friends. . ." Galadriel finished the sentence for him. She walked down the steps and met Daniel by the mirror. "Take this." She said, handing Daniel the ring she received long ago. "Go to the mountains north of here. The Misty Mountains. Living in the caves that the creature Gollum once dwelled in is an old man. A wizard or sage you might call him. His name is Merlin. Give him this ring and you will have one wish granted. You can bring your friends back. . ."

Daniel looked up at Galadriel. She handed him the ring and smiled at him as her ring fell into his hand.

"Thank you." Daniel said, smiling back. Galadriel bent her head a bit and gave him a soft kiss on the fore head.

"Now go." Galadriel said. Daniel looked down and put the ring on his finger. When he looked up again, Galadriel was gone. Daniel ran back to Legolas, Julliet, and Jeremy.

"Daniel there you are!" Jeremy called out. "C'mon! We have to head to the Gray Havens now!"

"You guys go without me. There's something I have to take care of before I leave." Daniel replied.

"What is it?" Julliet asked.

"You'll find out eventually." Daniel replied.

"We'll go with you." Legolas offered.

"No." Daniel argued. "I have to do this on my own. Go on without me." He gave Julliet a hug.

"Goodbye. . . Daniel." She said. "I'll miss you."

"Don't talk like we'll not see each other again." Daniel replied. "The war of the ring is over. What trouble could happen?" They let go of each other, as their eyes said goodbye. Then, Daniel turned to Legolas. "Well Legolas, it was nice journeying with you." Daniel said.

"Same with you, Daniel." Legolas said. "I had fun adventuring with you. See you on the other side. . ." They nodded at each other and Daniel passed them and met with Jeremy.

"Well retard. . . I guess this is goodbye for now." Daniel said to his friend.

"Yeah. . ." Jeremy nodded. There was an awkward silence between them. "Well, I guess I'll see you when I see you. Be careful. . ." He said, softly punching Daniel's shoulder.

"Yeah. You too." Daniel replied. They nodded at each other. Then, Daniel left the opposite way of them. He didn't turn around. He kept walking. So did his three friends, who headed to the Gray Havens.

Daniel walked for days in sunny weather and sometimes rainy weather until he finally reached the foot of the Misty Mountains. He entered the caves that he heard Gollum once lived in. It was cold, dark, and damp in there. It reminded him of what he saw in Galadriel's mirror. Suddenly, he could hear the walls rumble. He started running, faster and faster by every foot. The roof started collapsing, as Daniel fell to the ground.