Strange Alliances
by Erestor
Disclaimer: I own nothing pertaining to The Lord of the Rings, The Silmarillion, or the Harry Potter series. This story was written for entertainment purposes only.
Thank you all for your reviews!
CHAPTER TWENTY
'Last of all is set the name of Melkor, He who arises in Might. But that name he has forfeited...'
-J.R.R. Tolkien, 'The Silmarillion'
The following is an account of how Melkor came to possess Luthy's computer:
When Sauron had been summoned to the world 'Earth', Melkor had come along as well. Sauron, while converted to the Valar's side, had not felt like mentioning that Melkor was watching everything that went on around him. The Greater Dark Lord (as Melkor liked to call himself) had watched and waited until he had a good idea of the situation, then in Luthy's apartment he had quit Sauron's mind and entered Luthy's computer, sensing its power and desiring to put it to evil use.
After spending some minutes acquainting himself with the computer, Melkor sent Luthy his first message, in the form of one of those annoying pop-up things.
Attention! it said. This computer is henceforth and forthwith the property of Melkor (He-Who-Arises-In-Might), the Constrainer, the Great Death, Dark Foe of the World, Lord of the Earth, Etc. Thou, Lúthien Tinúviel, hast been selected for his service. Rejoice!
Luthy stared at her computer screen blankly. "Is this a joke? Or some weird computer virus, maybe?" she muttered to herself.
Fool! Melkor the Mighty joketh not!
Luthy looked blanker than ever. Melkor thought about moving from the computer to something else, but decided against it. He would win the young woman over eventually, though more forceful means might become necessary to persuade her.
"Uh... can you hearme?" she asked.
No. I'm reading your lips.
Somehow, Luthy remembered to breathe.
Of course I can hear you, you imbecilic mortal! said Melkor's next message. No self-respecting Dark Lord would sink so low as to read your lips.
Luthy gaped. Melkor wondered if he had made a joke. He hoped not. He hoped that if he hadmade a joke, Luthy would not notice.
Worship me! Melkor commanded, so as to distract Luthy from the possible joke.
"How?" asked Luthy.
Melkor really hated this woman. It was a pity that he would have to use her to accomplish his ends. He decided to get to the point.
Never mind about the worshiping, scum he said, by way of the annoying pop-up thing. I want you to write me back into my full power.
"Write you?"
Yes. The way you wrote away Fëanor's lust for his Silmarils, and the way you cured everyone of their petty injuries.
"I – I can't do that," said Luthy.
You will do that! If you do not, I will render your computer inoperable snarled Melkor. He had found the more scary fonts in her computer, and he was making good use of them.
To show Luthy what he was capable of doing, Melkor froze her computer. (These were the more forceful means.) Everything jammed. Morgoth made the screen go blue and dead.
Luthy wailed in horror and despair. "I'll do anything!" she said, when she was capable of speech.
Good. Now get to work.
Melkor eased his control of her computer, and the blue, dead screen went away. Trembling, Luthy opened her writing program, and typed quickly as Melkor dictated.
It was the dawning of a bright new millennium, a beautiful, clear day, when Melkor cast off the makeshift shackles of the lesser Valar, and returned to Middle-earth...
Monkeys surrounded Riverdale, smashing Elrond's fine china teapot collection, terrifying the Elvish inhabitants of the fair realm, and departing with Krystalynn.
A few minutes later, it was as though Krystalynn had never been there. The birds grew less noisy, Elrond's name went back to normal, and Rivendell was peaceful and quiet once more.
Mandos, Lórien, Nienna, and Arwen barely noticed. They were sprinting to Legolas's room. On the way, they met Glorfindel, who was wandering down the hall, eating an apple and humming. "What's going on?" he asked.
"Legolas's bedroom is on fire!" screamed Nienna over her shoulder as she passed him. "We have to put it out!"
"I don't really like fire," said Glorfindel pathetically. No one heard him, since they were all long gone. Glorfindel didn't know what to do. He just stood there for a while, eating his apple absentmindedly and trying not to panic.
Meanwhile, Arwen and the Valar were standing in the doorway to Legolas's bedroom. They were watching Bonnie-Bell seduce Legolas. Legolas looked as though he'd been hit over the head with heavy, blunt object. So did Arwen and the Valar.
"Oh, Legolas," said Bonnie-Bell breathily.
"Oh, Valar!" swore Arwen.
The Valar snapped out of their respective dazes. Mandos cleared his throat and said, "Unhand Legolas, Merry Sue."
Bonnie-Bell whirled around. "Mary Sue?" she shrieked. "How dare you call Me a Mary Sue! My character is Completely in-canon! Don't you agree, Legolas?"
Legolas was still only semi-conscious.
Arwen upended the basin of water over Legolas's head.
While Legolas was spluttering in confusion, Nienna gazed about at the devastation. Some of Legolas's bedroom had been on fire. But someone had put the fire out. Probably the Merry Sue had used her powers to do that.
Still, the most important question was: Where was Fëanor?
"Where is Fëanor? Have you seen him?" Nienna asked the Merry Sue.
Bonnie-Bell tossed her head back indignantly. Her hair swept about like hair in a shampoo commercial. "Fëanor? Was he the one with a cigarette lighter?"
"Probably," said Lórien.
"Here I am," said Fëanor. He crawled out from under the bed.
"What where you doing under the bed?" asked Nienna.
"I fell down," said Fëanor.
Mandos grabbed Fëanor by the back of his robe and hurried him out of the room.
"Would you do something for me, Fëanor?" he asked quietly.
"Er... what?" asked Fëanor.
"I would like you to... um... I'm not sure how to put this..." Mandos took a deep breath, valiantly resisting the urge to start chewing on his knuckle or begin twisting his hair around his finger. "Could you... well... kill Bonnie-Bell?"
"It would be a pleasure," said Fëanor.
"Just do it quickly," mumbled Mandos.
Fëanor smirked. "Do you realize how much blackmailing material you are providing me with?"
"Yes," said Mandos. "Do you realize how unpleasant your life, and afterlife, would be if you tried to blackmail me?"
"Yes," said Fëanor.
Fëanor took out one of his several hidden knives. He went back into the room, slipped dramatically, and fell forward. The knife accidentally got stuck in Bonnie-Bell.
Bonnie-Bell gave a gurgle and disappeared.
Fëanor picked the bloodless knife off the floor. "Oops," he said. "I fell down again."
"Oh dear," said Legolas. He stared at the place where Bonnie-Bell had stood moments before.
Nienna got over her shock. She went to stand beside Legolas, her best sympathetic expression on her face. "I suppose you have no real reason to stay in Middle-earth any more," she said. "You should go to Valinor."
Legolas nodded. "That sounds like a good idea," he said. "I'll go and make a boat in Ith—"
Suddenly a man was standing in their midst. The Valar could have sworn that he had not been there two seconds ago, but it was hard to be sure. The man smiled rakishly at all of them, and then said, "Legolas! Would you like to go on a hunting trip?"
Mandos, Lórien, and Nienna goggled at the man in sheer disbelief.
Arwen simply stared at him, with a strange expression on her face.
"Quick! Quick! Cover her eyes!" hissed Mandos. "Arwen can't see Aragorn yet! That would destroy history entirely!"
Nienna flung herself in front of Arwen so that Aragorn wouldn't see her. Lórien rapidly put Arwen to sleep, catching her as she fell towards the ground.
"Nicely done," said Mandos in approval.
"Aragorn!" cried Legolas, who had not noticed the frenzied activity in the corner. "What are you doing here?"
("He's not supposed to be here," muttered Mandos. "Not for two thousand more years.")
"Oh," said Aragorn merrily, "you know how I get around, Legolas. I've just returned from a lengthy stay in Gondor."
"It's great to see you again!" said Legolas.
Aragorn was a tall, ruggedly handsome man, who sported several mild injuries and a few attractive scars. A sword was at his side, and his clothes were filthy. He looked quite young, innocent, and reckless.
"What were you saying about a hunting trip?" asked Legolas.
"No!" cried Nienna. "You were going to go to Valinor!"
"Why?" asked Legolas.
"Because you had no more reason to live in Middle-earth!" cried Nienna.
"Don't know why I said that," said Legolas. "I have lots of reasons to live in Middle-earth, Aragorn being one of them. After all, I have so much fun fighting evil by his side."
"What about the suffering?" asked Nienna, her tone growing steadily more desperate. "What about the pain and hardship?"
Legolas chuckled. "A little pain never hurt anyone," he said stoically.
"What about the torture?" asked Nienna.
"It's nothing I'm not used to," said Legolas. "Come on, Aragorn, let's get our hunting gear!"
Aragorn and Legolas hurried off, talking to each other excitedly. Fëanor and the Valar watched them go.
"Do you feel as though everything and everyone are suddenly conspiring against us?" asked Nienna pensively, after a few minutes of dejected silence.
"Yes," replied Fëanor, "but I feel like that all the time."
Vairë had been very busy. She had sent monkeys to kill Krystalynn. She had sent Aragorn to distract Legolas. But she had not saved Bonnie-Bell. The girl had had her chance, and she would not be given another one. There were enough girls waiting for Legolas.
Anyway, Vairë had not had the heart to resurrect Bonnie-Bell after Fëanor had killed her so beautifully.
Vairë was still weaving when someone called her name.
She turned, and her eyes narrowed as Manwë and Varda entered her hall. "I've been waiting for you to come," she said, standing up and advancing towards them. She did not want either of them to look at her loom and see what she was doing to history at that moment. "What were you thinking of, Varda? You should not have entered the Timeless Void!" she cried.
"Apparently you do it all the time," responded Varda evenly.
"Yes, but I'm Mandos's spouse," said Vairë. "I'm allowed to do that sort of thing. What if Melkor had attacked you?"
"What if he had attacked you?"
"With what? The mashed potatoes?"
Manwë decided it was time to interrupt their little squabble. "Vairë," he said, "my wife was investigating something. She would not enter the Void frivolously."
"Oh. Well, I suppose that makes it all right then," said Vairë, pursing her lips in annoyance. "Just as long as you're not doing it 'frivolously'. Can't handle frivolity, personally."
"Do you trust me?" asked Manwë suddenly.
Vairë's eyes narrowed even more. "I don't trust people who have to ask that question," she said, taking a step backward and nearly tripping over the loom.
"I suppose that's wise," said Manwë. Before Vairë could move again, he had her by the arms and was holding her still, while staring hard into her wide eyes.
It only took a moment for Manwë to check for signs of Melkor. When he was done, he courteously helped Vairë sit down, and turned back to Varda. "He's not there," he said.
Varda gave a sigh of relief. "Perhaps I was only being paranoid," she said.
"I don't think so," said Manwë. "I think you have hit on the truth. Only he's not in Vairë."
"Who, then?" asked Varda. She was fighting a mixture of disappointment because they had not caught Melkor yet, and gladness because she had not wanted Vairë to be the one possessed by the Dark Lord.
Vairë had been listening to the conversation. Now she asked, "What are you talking about? Who is where?"
"Morgoth," said Manwë. "Varda and I think he escaped –partially– by mixing a bit of his fëa with the fëa of someone else."
"And I was your first suspect?" asked Vairë hotly.
"Only because it was known that you occasionally visited him."
Vairë was very quiet for a long moment. At last she said, with an effort, "Manwë, I have been tampering with history. Reweaving it."
Varda looked startled, but Manwë merely nodded. "I know," he said.
"You know?" Vairë gaped at him. Though she had imagined a multitude of replies to her confession, this one had not been among them.
Manwë nodded again, being very patient. "I know lots of things," he said.
"You knew, and you sent Námo, Irmo and Nienna off to another world anyway?"
"Yes," said Manwë. "You see, you may be reweaving history, but you are not completely to blame. Someone else is making it happen. Someone outside this world. That was why I sent your husband to 'Earth' to look for the real culprits."
Vairë was still gaping. She slowly shut her mouth.
"I hoped that you would... guide history," continued Manwë. "At least keep it going along the right track. You won't be able to stop every change, but you can prevent some of them."
Vairë nodded, remembering when she had rewoven the events in Mirkwood so as to keep Mandos's head where it belonged. "Why did you not tell me? Why did you not confront me?"
Manwë shrugged. "I don't like confronting people," he said.
"What do you call grabbing me and staring in my eyes?" asked Vairë.
Manwë gave her a disarming smile. "An act of necessity and mercy," he said. "Don't you feel happier now?"
Vairë shook her head mutely.
"Don't worry. You'll feel happier sooner or later," said Manwë. "Now Varda and I shall leave you to your weaving."
Long after they were gone, Vairë picked up her shuttle and started weaving again. Her mouth quirked in a smile as she glanced down at the emerging tapestry. She was starting to feel a little happier, now that she didn't feel guilty.
"Sauron," she murmured to her tapestry, "I don't often feel sorry for you... but you are in for a few unpleasant surprises."
TBC...