Strange Alliances

by Erestor

Disclaimer: I own nothing pertaining to The Silmarillion. This story was written for entertainment purposes only, and not for money.

Many thanks to those of you who reviewed. I am very grateful for your encouragement.

CHAPTER TWO

'Legolas was fair of face beyond the measure of Men...'

- J.R.R. Tolkien, 'The Return of the King'

Krystalynn was a girl with a computer in her bedroom. Hence, her parents saw her very rarely. If they wanted to know whether she was alive or not, they would stand by her bedroom door with their ears pressed against it, listening for the sound of fingers busily typing. (Her father said that he could also hear her brain cells dying in droves, but he was often sarcastic and no one took him very seriously.)

Krystalynn had a deep, dark secret. She wrote fanfiction. She kept this a deep, dark secret because her parents had a habit of being very proud of her whenever she did something creative, and then telling everyone they met all about it. Krystalynn had worrying visions of her parents saying to someone, "Oh, this is Krystalynn. She writes fanfiction", and the someone saying, "Huh... fanfiction?" Or worse, the someone crying, "Fanfiction is the lowest form of literature! How horrible!" So she wrote secretly, and in the realms of fanfiction, her name was 2cool4words, which she thought was kind of catchy.

So far, her fanfiction experience had been a good one. Except for the time when she had been flamed by some moron called death-to-writers-of-tripe. She would probably need therapy later in life because of that creep.

Currently, Krystalynn was writing a story about Legolas. She loved Legolas. His blonde hair was so nice and swishy, and his eyes were so big and bright, and his English accent was so cute. And how could she resist a guy who could jump on his horse by sort of swinging around it without getting trampled?

Krystalynn was sitting in her bedroom reading a book, wrote Krystalynn, who had only read about three books in her life. She was a hardworking studant who all the teachers loved and she had many friends. However she didn't let any of them intrud on her daily nighttime reading.

As she was turning the page she heard a thump from her closet. Being a very brave girl she picked up her book and walked over and opened the door. There was somebody inside!

"Who are you, stranger?" demanded Krystalynn boldly.

"I am Legolas, fair lady" said the Elf. "Were am I?"

"Your in my room." said Krystalynn her mind racing. Why was Legolas here? What would she do? Krystalynn decided to handle the situation calmly.

Krystalynn sat and stared at her computer screen. What was Legolas going to do? Maybe he should panic. She liked the thought of herself calmly dealing with a hyperventilating Elf-prince.

Suddenly, horribly, there was a thump in her closet. Krystalynn froze. If her sister's cat was stuck in there again, she wouldn't have a moment's peace! Amanda-Lynn's crazed feline was positively diabolical. Krystalynn would have sworn that Amanda-Lynn put the cat in there on purpose.

Krystalynn got up and crept over to the closet. "There, there, Gingeroo. I'm not going to hurt you," she crooned, shivering with fear. She still had a long scratch mark down one hand from the last time she'd tried to pick up the savage animal.

She opened the door, ready to duck.

Someone with big, grey eyes was staring at her in surprise.

Krystalynn screamed as loudly as she could, staggered backwards, and tumbled over her dirty laundry, which was lying on the floor. She landed on her bed, still screaming.

Legolas, (for it was undoubtably he), asked her something in a language that was definitely not English. The only foreign language Krystalynn knew was Spanish, so she said, "Hoopla," in a trembling voice.

Legolas seemed very startled. He had a knife in his hand. Krystalynn wondered if she should begin screaming again. Then she remembered, at this unpleasant moment, that her parents were away for the weekend, and that the only person in the house was Amanda-Lynn, who was a Harry Potter fanatic. It was unlikely that her sister would come rushing to her aid, even if it sounded like her little sister was experiencing an amputation of some sort without anesthetics.

"Oh dear," Krystalynn gulped.

"What on earth are you doing, you wretched girl?" yelled Amanda-Lynn from somewhere in the house.

"I'm just in my bedroom... having fun..." whimpered Krystalynn, "... with an Elf," she added, under her breath.

Amanda-Lynn, thus appeased, was silent.

"What are you doing in here?" whispered Krystalynn, cowering in corner. The Elf was still staring at her blankly. He asked something else, but Krystalynn couldn't understand him. This was not a fun experience. She resorted to communicating in simple sign-language.

Don't. Strange, horizontal chopping motions with hand, while shaking head frantically.

Hurt. Stabbing motion at self, accompanied by gurgles.

Me. Point to self.

The Elf, if possible, looked even more confused. Krystalynn and Legolas stared at each other. "Why is this happening to me?" murmured Krystalynn piteously.

Then the closet door opened, and a tall man stepped out and looked around. Krystalynn's mouth dropped open, but her throat was too sore for her to start screaming again. Then a woman scrambled out of the closet, dressed simply in a grey-blue dress, her long dark hair braided. Just when Krystalynn was wondering where all these people were coming from, and how they were fitting in her closet, one last man emerged.

He was an imposing figure. He was tall, almost touching her ceiling, his hair was jet black, and his eyes were sharp and piercing. Not reassuringly, Legolas had fallen on the floor at the man's feet. Krystalynn tried desperately to turn invisible, but it didn't work.

"So this is the place," remarked the woman, dusting herself off and brushing something sparkling from her eyes. It almost looked as though she had been crying. "You must be Krystalynn."

"Yes," Krystalynn squeaked, feeling that some reply was required of her.

"We mean you no harm," said the first man softly. "But you opened up a portal here, and we had to make the most of it at once."

"A portal?" What was this: her life, or some crazy science-fiction movie?

"It was intended for Legolas," said the first man again, "but we Valar are capable of using such things for our own ends."

The third man was simply glaring at her. Krystalynn could not meet his gaze, but she did not want to meet his gaze. If she'd looked him in the eye, she might have crumbled into ashes.

"Mandos, you are scaring the child," said the woman, elbowing him. Then she stooped and took Legolas by the hand. (Krystalynn was momentarily consumed with envy.) "Legolas Thranduilion," she said gently in Sindarin (though Krystalynn neither recognized or understood the strange language), "do not fear. You will be returned to Middle-Earth forthwith."

"My lady," gasped Legolas, who knew a Vala when he saw one.

"All will be explained in due time," said the woman. "Do not worry. Now enter the small room of clothes and you will be returned to your home."

Legolas bowed and walked into Krystalynn's closet. The girl sighed as he vanished from her view. Legolas had showed up in her bedroom, and she hadn't taken proper advantage of his presence! It had been her opportunity to woo an Elf-Prince, and she had ended up just thrashing around and screaming.

"Not many girls can claim to have actually summoned Legolas from Arda," said the first man, who seemed to understand Krystalynn's feelings on the matter. "Now, what do you call your world?"

"Earth, I guess," said Krystalynn, still in shock.

"Just Earth? Hmm," said the man. "I am Lórien," he continued. "Perhaps you have heard of me?"

"Yeah, I think," said Krystalynn. "But isn't Lórien a place?"

Lórien nodded. "Indeed. I am named after my abode. My sister is Nienna, and Mandos is my elder brother."

Nienna inclined her head. She had a rather sad expression on her face, but her slight smile was one of dry amusement. As for the one called Mandos, he looked as though if he smiled, his face would fall off.

"But what are you?" demanded Krystalynn, with a burst of foolhardiness. "Why are you here?"

"We are Valar," said Lórien.

"Valar? Is that a weird gang or something?" asked Krystalynn, unwisely.

Nienna shook her head, her smile becoming a tinge more sarcastic. "Not quite. I prefer the term 'motley band', personally."

"We have come to investigate your world, because we think that the beings here are negatively affecting our world," continued Lórien, as if his sister had said nothing. Krystalynn was beginning to get freaked out by the way he didn't blink. Of the three 'Valar', Lórien was the least intimidating, but there was still something very nerve-wracking about him.

"May we make ourselves comfortable?" asked Nienna pointedly.

"Umm, sure. Go ahead," said Krystalynn. The Valar sat down on her bed and looked at her. "But, I mean, like, what do you want with me?"

"We do not really want anything with you," said Nienna. "We just want to do some research."

"You won't hurt me, or anything?" asked Krystalynn cautiously.

All three of her strange visitors shook their heads immediately. "Oh no," said Lórien. "As I previously stated, you will not be harmed."

"Ok," said Krystalynn. "But, unless you guys want to be harmed, you'd better not bother my sister. She hates The Lord of the Rings." She had by now determined that the three visitors were LOTR nuts who had somehow managed to infiltrate her closet.

"Then we are on the same side," said Lórien, who was apparently their spokesman. "You will be glad to know that the Lord of the Rings was recently defeated."

"Huh? Are you talking about the actual evil Ring-making guy?" asked Krystalynn. "Amanda-Lynn hates the book, not Sauron. She slept through the part where Gollum falls in the big volcano-thing."

There was a moment of mutual confusion, and then the three Valar exchanged looks. "A book?" asked Nienna finally. "How peculiar. Perhaps you could show us a copy?"

"I think Dad has one somewhere," muttered Krystalynn. She went to the door. "Er... could you not leave the room? And please don't break anything."

"We are not vandals," said Lórien reproachfully.

Krystalynn slunk away, wondering what had gone wrong with her perfect life. She had three Valar stuck in her room and it seemed that they did not intend to go anywhere else.

What were Valar anyway?

TBC