Elves Do It Better
Warnings: Explicit content, discussion of suicide and suicidal tendencies, violent scenes and physical injury
Disclaimer: I own nothing connected with either LotR or Twilight. They belong entirely to their respective owners.
She was back in the forest glade, a new moon in the sky. The sickly light gleamed off the green and brown of the moss-covered trees. She stood in the centre, alone, his voice echoing in her head.
'You're not good enough for me…'
'It'll be as if I never existed…'
'Edward,' she breathed, and she felt the hole in her chest widen, red-hot pain filling her being. She collapsed to her knees, fisting her hands in the dirt as she screamed silently.
She felt so desolate and alone, and she knew she had to run. She didn't know why, she just had to run.
The forest sped past, as the sobs rose in her throat, and she was running blind from the tears blurring my vision.
'Don't leave me!' she screamed, as his voice echoed around her.
'It'll be as if I never existed…'
'No!' Bella cried out, as she tripped on a fallen log, and slammed into something hard. It was warm and strong, and she felt arms snake around her waist, keeping her upright. She felt safe, protected from the desolation of her memories, as she nestled into a muscled torso, soft leather pressing against her cheek.
'Leave this place, Alphwen. Come back to light and life…'
'I can't. I'm not strong enough,' she breathed shakily, crying freely now.
'Alphwen, look at me…'
As if pulled by an invisible string, Bella lifted her chin. The figure that held her was shrouded in a beam of light, so once more she could not see his face. She could feel the silkiness of his pale blonde hair under her fingers, and see the silver gilding on the leather strap across his grey tunic, but not his face. Even so, she felt his eyes upon her face.
'Haldir…'
Bella awoke with a gasp, sitting bolt upright in bed. The tendrils of her dream still held onto her, and she was sweating and panting.
She fought to slow her breathing, the hole in her chest aching around the edges. She hugged herself tightly, closing her eyes and concentrating on the sounds around her.
Birdsong filtered through a window somewhere, accompanied by the gentle whispering of the breeze. When she inhaled, she smelt its fragrant scent, like flowers and spices.
Slowly the pain lessened, and she opened her eyes, for the first time taking in her surroundings.
She was slumped in a large bed with an intricately carved headboard, in the shape of a beautiful woman with pointed ears like the two she had met briefly last night, polished and gleaming like ivory. The bed was draped in cream covers, elegantly embroidered with strange swirling patterns. Beside the bed was a small table, on which was a glass carafe and goblet, filled to the brim with water. On either side of the bed were two candelabrums, of the same polished wood as the headboard and the beams of the ceilings.
Directly opposite the bed were two large windows, looking out onto a large veranda, where the sun shone down brightly. She could hear the roar of a waterfall close by.
Slowly, Bella slid off the bed, testing her weak legs, and noticing that she was dressed in an airy white nightgown, loose and flowing. Her hair was loose down her back, and smelt freshly washed. She wondered who had dressed her.
On a chair beside her bed, Bella noticed a beautiful dress waiting for her. She took it hesitantly; almost afraid it would tear if she handled it too roughly.
It was made of the most gossamer-like silk, in a shade of deepest blue, yet covered with a mesh of silver threaded with tiny gems. The long sleeves covered her arms but fell away like a waterfall.
She slipped out of the nightgown and into the dress, pulling it over her head. It fit like a glove, and was both comfortable and warm.
Usually she didn't spend much time being 'girly', but she couldn't help but swish the dress from side to side, it was so lovely. The sleeves started a little off her shoulders, so the neckline just grazed the top of her breasts, while the silk clung to her waist and hips. As Bella turned, she caught sight of a carved door, the lintel held up by the carved form of a woman, clothed in the same sort of dress as she wore.
Curiosity now piqued, Bella opened it, stepping through into the bright sunlight.
It's warmth rejuvenated her, as she emerged onto a balcony, overlooking the valley.
"There is no way I'm still in Forks," she muttered to myself. She didn't know how she knew it, but it was instinctive. No place she had ever known or had ever been ever shone like this, with an eternal light. The blossoming trees, the mighty waterfalls, the flowering shrubs, the gracefully statues, all seemed to glow as if from within.
Bella placed her hands on the railing of the balcony, leaning on it as she realised she was a long way from home.
"You are not of this world," a voice she recalled from her delirium, spoke behind her. She turned to find Lord Elrond standing behind her. "Nay, do not be startled. I did not mean to frighten you."
Bella turned back to look out over the valley once more. "How do you know?"
She sensed him take a place beside her, as they stood and watched the bright morning.
"There is something about you that is not of Middle-Earth, Bella. But there are other signs," he explained gravely, and she turned to look at him. In his solemn, deep, hypnotic voice Elrond told her of his vision. "…and your raiment is not of any make in this world," he added with a slight chuckle. She smiled slightly up at him.
"Where am I?" She asked, "What is this place?"
So he told her. He told me of Middle Earth, of Elves and Imladris, or Rivendell as it was also called. He told me of the Valar, and the Undying Lands, of the Dark Lord Sauron.
Bella listened in awe and confusion, staring up at him with her mouth agape.
"Then how did I get here?" she wondered, cringing a moment later. What a dumb question!
Lord Elrond sighed, as he turned the young woman from the balcony and led her along the balcony and down some steps onto a wide terrace.
"I do not know. But by the will of the Valar, you have come to me. But as to why, I do not know…" he trailed off, as they entered a large room Bella guessed to be his study. The walls were covered by books on carved shelves, the floor littered with chairs and tables, all exquisitely crafted. "Bella, for one not of this world, you have taken the knowledge of my existence, the existence of all of this remarkably well," Lord Elrond murmured softly, as he seated her in a comfortable chair piled with cushions.
"Go figure," she snorted self-deprecatingly, remembering back to th-
At the thought of the Cullens she gasped, the hole in her chest throbbing with agony. Lord Elrond's dismayed voice soothed her as he knelt in front of her, his hand on her own.
"Bella, I can see some great hurt still haunts you, but I cannot heal it if I do not know what it is," he began gently, as she inhaled shakily and glanced up at him. There was compassion in his eyes but also a strange kind of keen mercilessness.
The keen mercilessness of a healer.
"You're not the first…supernatural creatures I've ever met. You see in my world, there are no Elves or Dwarves or Valar. Where I'm from, normal people don't live forever, and we don't have anything like this," Bella began stiltedly, and she began to tell him her story. She told him how her parents had divorced she was small, and how she lived with my mother until she turned seventeen and moved in her father, so she could go on the road with Phil. She told him about moving from Arizona to Forks, and starting anew in a place both familiar and unfamiliar.
But when it came to the Cullens, her voice stuck in her throat.
"You are in pain, Bella," he muttered, standing from his position in front of her and crossing to a table holding a carafe of some deep red liquid, like wine. He poured a glass and held it out her, as she took it with shaking fingers.
As she sipped it, it raced down her throat, both fruity and sweet, invigorating her.
She coughed and spluttered at first, it was so strong. Lord Elrond chuckled.
"Miruvuor, a cordial we make here ourselves in Rivendell. It gives fortitude and strength in times of need," he explained with some amusement.
"Thank you," Bella murmured, feeling graceless but no longer quite so tired. She looked down into it's red depths, searching for the strength to continue. When she did, her voice was quiet and weak. "When I moved to Forks, I met a boy called…"
She couldn't say his name, as the hole in her chest ripped open again. Lord Elrond took her hand again.
"Do not say his name if it pains you, young one," he murmured compassionately. Bella looked at him gratefully.
"Thank you, Lord Elrond. This…boy wasn't human. He was a vampire," she explained awkwardly, noting Elrond's look of bemusement. So she quickly told him the rest of the story: how vampires did not age, could not go into the sunlight because they sparkled like diamonds, and had to live off the blood of humans or animals to survive. She explained about their strength, their speed and their supernatural beauty.
"And you fell in love with this boy?" her host guessed, and she nodded. It felt strangely good to tell her story, like poison being lanced from her body. A catharsis, or the beginning of one.
"I love…loved him so much, but h-he didn't want me anymore. On my eighteenth birthday his sister threw me a party and there was an accident. One of his brothers tried to kill me, and then he…he took me into the woods and left me. I wasn't good enough for him," she finished, bowing my head in shame as the tears ran free. She felt Lord Elrond's fingers on her chin, lifting her head to meet his gaze. It was soft, and yet she could see anger burning in the depths of his ageless eyes.
"Bella, whatever has happened in your past belongs there. Do not let it rule your future," he breathed. "This…boy was wrong, to leave you like he did, and I see it has hurt you deeply. This is a wound I do not think I can heal."
"What is going to happen to me?" she asked, watching him now fearfully. She was stranded here, it seemed, far from home in a strange world.
'Oh God what about Charlie?!'
"The Valar sent you to me, and so shall you stay here, for now. Here you may rest and heal, and perhaps find new purpose. I do not know if you will be able to go home, young one," he sighed, and he looked down at her sadly. Bella felt a tear run down her cheek, but she wiped it away determinedly.
"My Dad…he's all alone. I'm all he has left," she breathed, a new pain blossoming in her chest as she thought of him.
"I am sorry, Bella Alphwen," Lord Elrond replied sympathetically as he sat down across from her once more.
Bella sighed, looking out at the beauty of Rivendell around her, ignoring the tears tracking down her cheeks now. She sniffed, and wiped them away eventually.
"Sorry. You must think I'm a weepy baby," she looked down at her hand, sniffing as the pain in her chest throbbed.
"I don't understand your words, but do not be afraid to weep. Not all tears are an evil," Lord Elrond replied patiently. A new question came to her then, piercing the fog of misery clouding her mind, as she looked up at him through her tears.
"How long have I been here?" she asked, frowning slightly.
"Three days," he replied, and she stared.
"Three days?" she repeated incredulously.
"You were in a deep fever. I almost failed to call you back from the brink," he told her, as memories stirred fretfully.
"I…remember," Bella murmured, thinking back to that voice and her fever-induced dreams. "I heard your voice calling me, but I was too weak. But there was another…" she trailed off, musing now.
Who was this Haldir?
"The Valar sent you here for a purpose, and I foresee it shall come clear in time, Bella. Perhaps there is something you must accomplish here, in Middle-Earth. There is something in you, Bella Swan," he finished gravely, and she felt a shiver ripple down her spine as she looked into those ageless eyes. They were deep and full of knowledge. "Come, you are weary and only just recovered. You should rest again until noon. I will send Arwen to you then," he murmured solicitously, gesturing to her to rise. She did, her exhaustion returning full force, as her knees buckled. Lord Elrond caught her and scooped her into his arms. He walked quickly back to her room, and laid her solicitously on my bed. He touched his hand to her forehead, as she felt sleep beckon her.
"Sleep, young Alphwen. You are safe here," he breathed as Bella closed her eyes, one last thought echoing in her mind.
What did Alphwen mean?