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 for reading and reviewing!

CHAPTER FORTY-THREE

"'All you wish is to see it and touch it, if you can, though you know it would drive you mad. Not on it. Swear by it, if you will.'"

-J.R.R. Tolkien, 'The Two Towers'

The more powerful an individual, the more powerful the call of the Ring. Mandos managed to withstand temptation for about twenty minutes, and then he tackled Lórien from behind and yanked the Ring away from him. Lórien was lucky not to lose a finger.

At first Mandos's little brother was more startled than offended. Then, when he realized what had just happened, his offense turned to outrage. "Ringwraiths, attack!" he yelled.

Mandos smirked, putting the Ring on his finger. "Don't waste your breath, Lórien. Your ringwraiths would have done their best to stop me, if they had still been around to try."

Lórien looked down, and saw nine puddles of black clothing lying at his feet. "Oh," he said.

"I'm the Keeper of the Dead. I'm the Doomsman of the Valar," Mandos said. "Threatening to throw wraiths at me if I misbehave isn't threatening at all."

Lórien rallied himself and leaped at Mandos. "The Ring is mine!" he shouted. "I got it first!"

Mandos sidestepped him. "Please don't become a liability, Irmo," he said. "I don't want to have to–"

Lórien did not seem to comprehend the danger he was in. He lunged at his brother again. This time Mandos raised his hand, and the other Vala's body dropped limply to the ground.

Nienna stifled a squeak, taking a hop-skip away from her brother. "Mandos!" she said. "You didn't... kill him?"

Mandos shook his head. "I sent his spirit back to Valinor, leaving his body unoccupied."

"In other words, you did kill him."

"Well, yes," Mandos said. He looked vexed. "He made me do it."

"Yes, yes, of course," Nienna said. "It wasn't your fault at all." She took a few thoughtful steps backwards. "I'm not a liability, am I?"

"No," said Mandos. "Not yet."

"When we all go back to Valinor, after the world is saved," Nienna said, still tentative, "Manwë will not be very pleased."

"I'm not going back to Valinor," Mandos said.

"I see," Nienna said. "Manwë might send some elves to depose you," she added. "He destroyed Morgoth that way."

"I'm nothing like Morgoth," Mandos said. "His areas of expertise lay in all the wrong places. He and Sauron were good at making things, mere gadgets. I can relocate fëar only by thinking about it. No army will be able to stand against me."

"I see," Nienna said again. "But why couldn't you 'relocate' Morgoth's fëa when he first showed up? If I remember correctly, you just stood there and gaped at him."

Mandos scowled. "Middle-earth weakened me... but only slightly, of course. With this Ring, my strengths and talents have increased tenfold."

"So you'll be able to kill Morgoth?" Nienna asked.

Mandos nodded.

"And then you'll destroy the Ring?"

"Yes," Mandos said.

Nienna sighed in relief. "Let's go, then," she said. "Let's hurry."

Days passed.

A subdued Nienna and disturbingly exultant Mandos rode towards Mordor on their fell beast.

Morgoth roamed the corridors of Barad-dûr, searching in vain for his Maia, and wondering why his minions had not yet returned with the Ring.

Sauron was tired and cranky. Elfdeath spent most of her time snuggled up next to him, quietly raving about how wonderful he was, which seemed to make him less cranky, though it drove everyone else crazy.

Meanwhile, Fëanor, Maedhros, Lúthien and the MoS lived together in a kind of harmony, each knowing exactly how far they could trust the others.

At last the day came when Mandos and Nienna sneaked into Barad-dûr, and were eventually discovered by Fëanor, who was also engaged in sneaking.

"Where's Lórien?" Fëanor asked.

"He passed away," Nienna said.

"Where's the Ring?" Fëanor asked.

"I have it," Mandos said.

"Ah," Fëanor said. "Well, that's good, I suppose. You're on the side of right, and all that, aren't you?"

"Yes," Mandos said.

The Vala's mouth twitched. Fëanor thought he was trying not to smile, and this freaked him out so much that he lost his train of thought and just made noises for a while. Fortunately, the noises were quiet ones, and Nienna and Mandos were distracted, so no one noticed them.

Eventually Mandos turned to the fëa, eyebrows raised. "...You were saying something, Fëanor?"

"Yes. No. I was saying–" Frustrated with himself, Fëanor stuck his hand through his face in his attempt to slap his palm to his forehead. This served only to make him more frustrated. "I was suggesting that you follow me." He somehow managed to look dignified. "We have serious matters to discuss."

"Welcome to my humble utility closet," Sauron said, as Mandos and his sister entered the room. The Maia's eyes were glittering. "You have the Ring?" he asked. "You brought it with you?"

"Yes," Mandos said. "I have claimed the Ring."

"Marvelous," Sauron said.

"You can destroy Morgoth now," Lúthien said.

Mandos nodded gravely. "I will destroy Morgoth, and then I will destroy the Ring."

"No!" Sauron said, sitting straight up. He shook his head. "No. Destroying my ring would not be a good idea. At all. A very bad idea, really, if you think about it like a rational individual."

"Why?" Mandos asked.

Sauron looked completely blank for several seconds. Then he said, "Because, obviously, you will be powerless without the ring, and powerful with it. Obviously, you would rather be powerful than powerless, so destroying the ring would defeat your purposes and be a very silly move. Obviously."

"I think sometimes it's a good idea to overlook the obvious and pay attention to the small print," Lúthien said.

"Like insanity and ring-addiction," Maedhros said.

"It's actually not that bad," Sauron said.

They stared at him.

"Right," Nienna said. "When a Dark Lord starts saying that insanity isn't 'that bad' it's probably a good idea to change the subject back to destroying his ring."

Everyone nodded, with one notable –albeit predictable– exception.

"We'll take the ring to Orodruin and throw it in," Fëanor said. "The world will be saved. Everyone will be happy."

"No," Sauron said. "Not everyone."

They ignored him.

"Um," said Sauron, "I'll do anything?"

They stopped ignoring him.

"Anything?" several people asked as one.

"Anything," Sauron said, more firmly. "Anything you like. Just don't throw my ring into Orodruin."

They pondered.

"It's a tempting offer," Fëanor said, "but we can't agree to it."

"Why not?" the MoS asked.

Sauron did not look surprised at this act of treachery, only angry and vindictive.

"Much as I dislike agreeing with Fëanor, I think he's got the right idea for once," Lúthien said. "Sauron's offer is clearly a diversion to buy himself some more time."

"And time is working against us at present," Maedhros said. "We need to get to Orodruin to destroy the ring as quickly as possible."

"Exactly," Mandos said. Then he said, "What happened to Sauron?"

"Morgoth broke his legs," said several people at once.

"Oh," Mandos said. "Nienna, would you cry over them?"

Nienna did so. Sauron's injuries were healed.

With Nienna's help, the Maia clambered to his feet and wobbled over to Mandos. "Please," he said, "we need to talk. Alone."

"Very well," Mandos said.

Out in the hallway, Sauron stood and looked discomfited. Then he took a deep breath and said, "I meant it. I'll do anything. Just don't destroy my Ring. Do you realize what will happen to me if you do?"

"Yes," Mandos said, "and you'll deserve every moment of what happens to you. You have sent many, many fëar to my halls."

"You don't have to give me the Ring," Sauron said. "All I ask is that you don't destroy it. In your hands, it can be used for good. If you destroy it, you'll lose that power."

Mandos hesitated. "I suppose so," he said, rather doubtfully.

"It's true," Sauron said. "Think of all that power going to waste, when you could use it productively."

Mandos rubbed one finger along the gold band. Then he shook his head. "No," he said. "You're lying. The Ring must be destroyed. It's dangerous."

"Dangerous, in the wrong hands," Sauron said.

"Dangerous in any hands."

"I'll serve you," Sauron said. "I have some measure of power left. I'll use it to aid you in all your causes. I'll swear to be loyal to you. But please–"

"Don't destroy your Ring?"

Sauron nodded.

"All right," Mandos said. "Let's hear you swear, then."

"I swear to serve the Master of my Ring," Sauron said. He raised his eyebrows. "Will that do?"

"Not quite," Mandos said. "It's my Ring now, and you will swear to serve me."

"I swear to serve Mandos," Sauron said, rolling his eyes. "I swear it by the Ring."

"Thank you," Mandos said. "That will do very nicely."

Curufin was crafty. Sauron was craftier. Mandos was the craftiest of all.

Mandos chuckled.

"What's so funny?" Sauron asked suspiciously.

Mandos grinned at him. "I never intended to destroy the Ring, Sauron. What sort of fool do you take me for? I would never discard such an excellent source of power. No. I wanted you to swear fealty to me, and I thought this would be the best way to achieve that. Clearly, it was."

Mandos went back into the utility closet. Sauron blinked after him, stunned. Ever since Mandos had claimed the Ring, Sauron had been drained and distracted. This revelation brought the situation sharply back into focus.

"Curse him!" the ex-Dark-Lord yelled. "To take advantage of a poor Maia's distracted state like that! It's unValarly!"

He ground his teeth. "Curse him," he said again, more quietly. He kicked the wall, which reminded him that his legs were healed. That, at least, was a good thing.

"He never would have thought up a plot like that on his own," he said. "He never would have been able to pull it off if he hadn't been using my own cunning against me."

In a twisted way, that was comforting.

Sauron had never been so frustrated. His head felt as though it were stuffed with fluff. He muttered to himself for a few minutes. He paced back and forth as he muttered, which helped him think a little more clearly.

At length he leaned against the wall and closed his eyes.

"Serving Mandos will be... interesting," he said reflectively. "Yes. I will make it very interesting."

He smoothed down his spiky hair, and went back into his utility closet.

TBC...