Disclaimer: I do not own Lord of the Rings or any of the languages spoken in the books or movie. I do own Nicole, Susan, Jake, their parents (Lara, President Howard, Tom Daniels, Fred Nox), Matt Thompson, and Bill.
Chapter 4
"Please, take a seat," said Elrond, indicating the chair next to Susan. Nicole quietly moved to her seat and sat down as Elrond began to pour four glasses of wine.
"From my discussions with Jake, you are not from this realm, correct?"
Nicole and Susan nodded as they took the glasses he offered them.
"You are from a country called America. You're names are Nicole Nox, Jake Lawson, and Susan Daniels. You came to Middle Earth by a transport called a 'car,' which no longer works, and you have no clue as to how you got here."
Nicole nodded again as Susan swallowed the entire continents of the wine glass in one gulp.
"These devices," said Elrond as he pointed to their guitars and drumsticks on a table near by, "are musical instruments and you three are musicians. You, Lady Nicole, have a heart condition which keeps you from doing any physical work or staying in severe conditions."
Nicole blushed and glared at Jake. She couldn't believe that Jake would tell a stranger that. Jake gave a small smile in apology.
'I guess we have to trust Elrond,' she thought, and smiled back.
"Now," continued Elrond, "Let me tell you of our world. This, and all the land surrounding, is Middle Earth or Arda. You are now in Rivendell or Imladris: a home to some of the last elves of Arda."
"Elves?" questioned Susan, holding out her glass for more wine.
"Yes," answered Elrond, filling her cup. "I am an elf. Glorfindel and Erestor are elves. Everyone that is here with the exception of you three, the hobbits, and Strider are elves. We have immortal lives, profound senses, and wisdom beyond imagination."
"Well then," Susan muttered as she took another gulp. Elrond raised an eyebrow to her, but continued his speech.
"However we are leaving Arda. The sea is calling us home, and many elves have already left. It will not be long before we are all gone. It is also unfortunate that you have entered our world at a dark time. The One Ring has returned to the light."
"Sauron's ring?"
Elrond turned to look at Nicole with widened eyes. "How do you know of the Dark Lord?"
Nicole gave a nervous sigh and put her glass down as she began her explanation. "The reason that this place, these people, are so strange to us is that this is all a story in our world. A fictional story at that. You'll be proud to know that you're very popular back where we came from."
"And… you know our story?"
"That's just it, we've heard of it, but we don't know the end, or the beginning."
"Or the middle for that matter."
Nicole elbowed Susan at her comment. "Elrond—"
"Lord Elrond," he corrected. Nicole gave a very agitated sigh.
"Lord Elrond, all we want to do is go home. That's it. If you could provide us with…. horses, I guess, we could return."
Elrond stood up and walked to his window deep in thought. After a few minutes, he turned to face them. "Is there any information you give us to help our cause?"
The three looked at each other with worried looks. Jake looked to Nicole and nodded his head. Susan just gave a shrug.
"You're having a council today, right?" asked Nicole.
"Tomorrow."
"Then we will attend your council and offer any information we have. But right after, we will be leaving, alright?"
"Very well," agreed Elrond. "And we will provide horses and any supplies you might need." At this moment, another elf entered the room, and bowed to Elrond.
"He has awoken," he said to Elrond. Elrond dismissed him with a nod.
"I must go now, but please make yourselves at home." Elrond silently left the room.
"What do we do in the mean time?" Nicole asked Susan.
"I don't know what you're going to do, but I'm going to get me some more of that wine!"
For the rest of the day, Nicole and Susan walked around Rivendell. Jake had muttered something about books, and left them to fend for themselves. They found out that the midgets Susan had met earlier were hobbits of the Shire, and very kind and jolly. The two named Merry and Pippin showed them were the kitchens were, and they all sat down for a brunch.
"So you're musicians, are you?" asked Pippin.
"Yeah, you could say that," answered Nicole while Susan gave a short laugh. "Do you play anything?"
"Nope, but I have a pretty good voice, if you don't mind me saying," answered Pippin while all the while Merry was standing behind him mouthing obscenities. When Susan and Nicole started laughing, Pippin turned around to find Merry just smiling.
Nicole and Susan continued to walk through Rivendell, admiring the waterfall, conversing with many of the elves (mostly Arwen), and visiting the gardens to pick flowers. Nicole felt like she was six again, without a care in the world.
They returned to the stone courtyard that afternoon to find that many elves had congregated there.
"What's going on?" asked Nicole to Arwen, who waited in the back.
"A council is gathering," she answered, "Representatives of all races are coming in." Nicole and Susan exchanged glances and walked down to the lower level of the courtyard.
Sure enough, a rider came through on a brown thoroughbred. He was dressed in a fine tunic and had reddish, brownish hair that came to his shoulders. He carried a large shield and long sword. As he handed his reins to an elf, he glanced their way and gave a smile. Susan blushed and turned away giggling.
"What? What is it?" asked Nicole, also giggling.
"He's hot!" exclaimed Susan. They had yet another giggling fit. It was like middle school again.
Next, two dwarves bearing large axes entered the courtyard. The elves began to sneer and whisper quietly, giving the dwarves evil snares.
"Nice welcome party," Susan muttered and Nicole nodded in agreement.
"Come on, let's go say 'hello' to them," Susan suggested.
"But you hate strangers," said Nicole. "You hate people in general."
"Yeah, I know, but it's something about this place. I feel so… happy."
Nicole quirked an eyebrow toward her. "Happy?"
"Yeah."
"… Okay!" Nicole and Susan walked to the dwarves, when all of the sudden the thunder of hooves came toward them.
"DARO!"
Susan and Nicole quickly turned around to find a group of riders galloping toward them. Screaming, they quickly backup into a wall to avoid the leader's rearing horses. At the sudden rush of adrenaline, Nicole clutched her heart. She was becoming weaker.
"Watch where you're going, dipshit!" yelled Susan as the leader and the rest dismounted. Nicole looked up to see the concerned face of the leader. His blonde hair was like a halo surrounding his handsome face, and his eyes were bright blue and magnifying.
"Goheno nin, hiril nin," he said to Nicole, laying a hand on her shoulder. Nicole pulled her thoughts away from his beauty, and slapped away his hand. The elf stepped back in shock at her actions.
"You almost gave me a heart attack!" she yelled, still clutching her heart and breathing heavily. Her heart began to contract again, and she gave a groan. Why was it hurting this much? Why was it happening so often?
"Surely you exaggerate?" he asked as his horse was taken to the stables. He tried to approach her again, but Susan stepped in front of him.
"No! You almost did, you S.O.B.! Now stay away from her!" At that moment, Nicole fell to the ground. Susan spun around and went to her side. Now all the elves were intrigued by what happened and began to crowd around Nicole.
"Back up now! Give the lass some air!"
Susan turned to see that the two dwarves, nearly half the size of the elves, had brandished their weapons and were pushing the elves away from Nicole.
"Okay, Nicole," Susan said, looking into her sweaty face, "I need you to take deep breathes. Okay breathe in… breathe out." As Nicole and Susan breathed together, the elf once again tried to approach them.
He was immediately stopped by large man who dropped all the way down from a balcony over looking the courtyard. Jake blocked the elf's view of the situation.
"You've done enough," he growled. The elf narrowed his eyes in anger. How dare this human stand in his way? He was only trying to help.
Elrond and the elves that carried Nicole off the night before ran swiftly to her. Elrond knelt next to her and looked into her eyes.
"Tulta tuolya An mauye mahtie." At the sound of his voice, Nicole's breathing evened and her heartbeat slowed.
"What did he tell her?" Susan asked the nearest healer.
"He asked her to fight," the healer simply put, as they lifted Nicole to a standing position, and helped her to her room. Elrond sighed and turned to face Susan, Jake, and the elf.
"What has happened here?"
"This guy almost killed us with his horse!" Susan yelled, pointing an offending finger at the elf.
"Susan, 'this guy' is Legolas, crowned Prince of Mirkwood."
"I don't care if he's the crowned Prince of England, he should have been more careful!"
"Lady Susan, Lord Elrond, I beg for you forgiveness…"
"You're not getting it," interrupted Susan with a death glare. "And don't call me 'Lady Susan.'"
Legolas returned the glare with equal fervor. "I assure you it was not on purpose, my lady."
"Why you little—"
"Lady Susan! Legolas! Enough!" Both Legolas and Susan kept their eyes locked, but discontinued their argument.
"Lady Susan," Susan rolled her eyes at the "lady" part, but didn't dare correct Elrond. "About Lady Nicole's condition, do her episodes happen often?"
"No! In fact the last time anything like that happened was in elementary school, but that was before the doctors diagnosed it. As long as she doesn't tire herself and she takes her… medicine… oh my God, her MEDICINE!" Susan pulled on her hair at the thought. Nicole didn't have her medicine! That's why she was becoming so weak. Jake realized it also, and crouched down to the ground, holding his head.
"It's all my fault," he muttered over and over and over again. Susan bent down and held him while he rocked back and forth.
"Where is her medicine?" asked Elrond.
"Back home," Susan whispered.
Elrond sighed and furrowed his brow in thought. "I will try to find a substitute. In the mean time, you must watch Nicole very closely," he said, resting a hand on Susan. She nodded and thanked him as she helped the distressed Jake up and headed toward Nicole's room.
Legolas approached Elrond with caution, as Elrond was currently in deep thought.
"Lord Elrond, who are they?"
Elrond closed his eyes as a vision came to him. When it past in the blink of the eye, he turned to Legolas and looked at him.
"They are of great importance."