Lord Elrond gestured for me to come to him. I went over and tried to curtsy, but like I said, I'm not graceful, so I ended up tripping over my own feet. Glorfindel predicted this and reached out an arm to grab me.
"Thank you," I said, blushing furiously.
I could hear choked laughter coming from the bushes and I smiled at Merry and Pippin's pitiful attempts to be sneaky. I think Lord Elrond heard but he didn't care too much.
I decided on just a bow instead and folded my arms in front of me. But then I decided it made me look hostile, so I put one hand on my hip and the other hand at my side, but that made me look like I had an attitude problem, so I just clasped my hands behind my back. Lord Elrond raised one eyebrow.
"Are you quite finished?" he asked me.
"Yes," I muttered, growing even redder.
More of the choked laughter could be heard from the bushes and soon I was having trouble not laughing. Lord Elrond looked at me for a moment longer.
"Lirimaer?" he asked, turning to Glorfindel. Glorfindel only shrugged. Elrond turned back and studied me a moment longer.
"Yes I se that is apparent, but that is not what she is being judged on."
"Excuse me," I asked before I could stop myself, "but what does lirimaer mean exactly?"
"It means," he began, shooting an amused look at Glorfindel, who blushed slightly and refused to look at me, " 'beauty that only poetry can capture'."
I glanced at Glorfindel but didn't say anything. Elrond stood and addressed the entire circle.
"We have all heard each other's stories. We all know why we are here. But this young lady, she has been brought here for crimes against the free people of Middle Earth."
I flinched as I heard the gasps. Frodo looked at me with wide blue eyes and shot a panicked look at the ring, which I hadn't noticed before was sitting on a stone altar. I looked at it, and I guess that only made everyone more nervous. And then I heard it: the ring was whispering! I couldn't understand the language, but I knew it was a form of Elvish that originated it Mordor. I stepped away from the ring. It was really creepy and I couldn't look at it. Everyone watched me, perhaps fascinated that I was the only person in the room that was repulsed by the ring.
"Lena, I would like you to tell everyone what you told me yesterday," Lord Elrond said quietly. He took his seat again, and I took a deep breath. My story rushed out of me. When I was done I turned around.
Aragorn drew in a sharp breath and softly said, "She is lying."
"No I'm not!" I cried indignantly. God he was so smug. "Someone bring me my bags. All of my proof is in my bags."
"Then how did you know about the ring? How did you know about Frodo's shoulder?" he asked.
Aragorn was angry. Beyond angry. He knew I was hiding something and I couldn't stop myself from doing what I did next.
"Because this isn't real!" I yelled, throwing my hands up in the air. "You want to know the truth? Because in my world none of this is real! In my world, all of you stupid people are just fictional characters in books and movies that people read for their own amusement. In my world there is no War of the Ring, there is no Fellowship!"
I was crazed now and everyone knew it but I kept no going.
"There is no Gandalf no Frodo no Elrond! Nothing about this is real to me!" I finished. Then I grabbed either side of my head and whispered, "Oh my God I'm going to need some serious therapy when I get home."
Nobody knew how to respond.
After a few minuets, I had calmed down and spoke softly, "I think I know how I got here."
Nobody replied, so I kept going.
" I read about something called a wormhole. It's a rip in time, a portal between two completely different worlds. It's nothing obvious like a huge gaping hole floating in the air, you can't see it, and most of the time if you ever get back you can never get through it again because it just disappears. You can't see it or feel it, so you never know when you've stepped in or out of one. There was probably one in the woods and I ran through it when I was trying to get Ami, and that's how I got dropped into your world."
Everyone sat trying to process this information. The forest elves were conferring with each other. One look at the dwarves told me they thought I full of crap, Aragorn, Borimir and the other human representatives were staring with their mouths hanging open. Only Elrond didn't look surprised in the least.
"I think the girl's explanation makes sense," Elrond said finally looking intently at me.
"Oh thank you Jesus!" I cried. I was ecstatic. Elrond was powerful. If he believed me, who would dare to stand up to him? My question was answered when Borimir stood up.
"My Lord I beg of you this is mad! She has no proof of this and therefore we have no reason to trust her."
What a little bitch! I stood open-mouthed at him. He seemed satisfied with himself until he saw that slow smile start to show itself on my face. Then he had the good sense to back away from me.
Okay first of all," I started, taking a step towards him, "sit your ass down right now." He didn't move so I barked, "Sit!" He did so and I went on, staring him straight in the eye. I was dead serious and I wasn't smiling anymore. " Second of all, if someone would get me my freaking backpack then I could show you the proof. Unfortunately it doesn't look like that's going to be happening soon. Third, I'm not the one they should be worried about. You shouldn't be allowed within 1000 ft of this poor little hobbit or the ring! So don't tell me that I can't be trusted because I know exactly what's going to happen! I've read the books and seen the movies and I know how much you want that ring!" I finished quietly.
I could tell he was shocked and Elrond looked very concerned by what I had just revealed.
"We must discuss all that you have said. Adanion will take you back to your room. I will ask you to wait there and I will call you back before the meeting is adjourned to inform you of your fate," Lord Elrond said.
His face and voice revealed nothing as a tall, black haired elf came and led me out of the Council. I felt like I was going to be sick. I had insulted him. I had completely embarrassed myself in front of them all. I was a dead woman walking. I walked beside Adanion but I never said a word to him. I could see that he glanced at me as if he wanted to say something but he never asked. I was scared shitless of whatever the Council would decide so I wasn't concerned enough to find out what he wanted to say so when we got to my door I just went in and closed it without even looking at him. My purse and backpack were on the floor. I shed my dress and opened my backpack. I had forgotten to bring my duffel bag with me to school last week, so after dance practice I had just had to shove all my stuff inside my backpack. So I did what I do in any stressful situation. I put on my black cami, dance shoes, and leggings and turned on my ipod. I found "Buttons" by the Pussycat Dolls on the ipod and started dancing. I had been taking hip-hop classes for about 5 years and I had an upcoming routine in 2 months. I had a solo so I practiced like crazy lately. After awhile my started to ache from not stretching, but it felt good and I didn't stop. I pulled out the chair at the right part in the song and started on the solo. When I got to the part of the song where they played the middle eastern music and me and the other girls had to do part of a belly dancing routine I could feel someone watching me and turned around. The guards were, needless to say, shocked. But I just laughed.
"L-L-L-Lord Elrond has summoned you," the elf stuttered.
"Fine," I said and brushed out into the hall. It was most likely very inappropriate for me to be walking around like this, especially since I was still dancing to the music in my ipod, but I didn't care one bit. I opened the door when I got in there. I could tell they saw a big difference, and everyone's eyes went wide. I had been so subdued before that they probably thought I'd been replaced with some kind of wild clone. I knew what I looked like. The black cami had hidden under wire, which gave extra lift to my otherwise nonexistent bust. It hugged my body tightly, making me look even more slender than I really am. The leggings clung to my legs, which were a good thing since they were firm and muscled from dancing for so long. They were also incredibly long for someone as short as me. My dance shoes forced, out of habit, me to walk with the proper posture that was required of every dancer. My strawberry blonde curls were damp and wild and my tan was quite noticeable. So I couldn't help it if I felt more than a little confidant when I walked into the room.
"Yea?" I asked. I didn't bow this time.
Lord Elrond seemed to pull himself together. I looked and saw the Fellowship in a little group. And then something caught my attention.
"No way! Even after I warned you you're still going to let him be part of the Fellowship," I cried, pointing at Borimir. He was looking at me like "I –told-you-so". Then I realized what it might mean that they didn't believe me. I swallowed hard and looked at Lord Elrond. I knew what was coming.
"You know the fate of the ring?" he asked me.
"Yes." I said slowly.
He looked at me carefully before responding, "You will go with the Fellowship. Make sure the ring takes the journey that it is supposed to."
"What? No!" I cried, "Look I can't fight and I'm not strong and I'm not brave! I'm not cut out for the going to Mordor to destroy the ring!" It got quiet again. Oops. I wasn't supposed to know about the plan.
"It's decided," he said carefully, "You will go with the Fellowship. Protect the ring since you seem to be immune to its trickery."
"And if I don't," I replied stubbornly, crossing my arms over my chest.
He raised his eyebrows. There was no arguing with him. I was going and there was no other choice. I looked at the Fellowship and they were trying very hard not to look at me, though Merry and Pippin weren't trying to hide their stares.
"Fine," I said. I held up the ipod and found "hit me with your best shot" by Joan Jett and hit play. Then with a final wave I went out the door, singing to myself.
"Hit me with your best shot! Why don't ya hit me with your best hot! Hit me with your best shot and fire awaaay!"