Note:

I managed to get this chapter written rather quickly and I want to thank everyone who has reviewed. It helps with my writing and everyone offered good ideas and interesting thoughts so I thank you all. As always I hope you will enjoy this chapter and if you want to offer any feedback please feel free to do so.

Disclaimer: I do not own Lord of the Rings or the idea of H20, only the OC and the story plot. Also the song(s) referenced in this chapter also do not belong to me.

Chapter 5

Somehow I found myself walking between the two clones down a stone path away from the house we were staying in; if it could even be called a house, it reminded me more of a small palace or mansion. None of us really spoke much once they picked me up from my room, other than the polite "hello" and "thank you for agreeing to show me around" sort of comments. The silence was rather suffocating to me, but I couldn't think of what to say to either one of them, however neither of one them seemed bothered, in fact there was hardly any emotion shown at all. Were all elves this stoic? I wrecked my mind; trying desperately to find something to say to one of them, anything would suffice.

"You seem rather uneased," one of the clones suddenly spoke from my right side, and I craned my neck slightly to look up at him. There seemed to be a slight smirk on his face but it nearly vanished once I spotted it. "You aren't too nervous about walking with us are you Miss Rori?" He asked, and it almost reminded me of a flirtatious tone, but honestly I wasn't sure. Besides… They were too pretty in a way, not to say they were this masculine handsome entity. But they were pretty, in an unnatural way, an inhuman way, but it was not feminine pretty either.

"She seems rather speechless Elrohir, perhaps you made the right assumption." The other clone teased, the one who seemed to be Elladan considering how he addressed his look-a-like. I frowned slightly at the teasing, and crossed by arms and without even thinking I responded to them.

"Speechless? Hardly, and what's there to be nervous about? I mean I only met you once before and you held me at weapon point." I almost regretted saying that. On one hand, yes they did do that, but it also lead to me staying in their home as a guest after I was deemed as non-threatening. It did seem rather rude to suddenly bring up something like that. However, they also were teasing me and I couldn't exactly take back what I said. Regardless the regret seemed to be sinking in more than acceptance of what I said, but before I could even apologize they laughed.

"You have a bit of a bite for a human," One of them spoke, it was the right one, was it Elrohir? "However we should apologize for treating a young lady in such a manner, don't you agree Elladan?" he asked. Although he said he wanted to apologize for the behavior they didn't actually seem too sorry for it. Perhaps it was because there truly was something big, and therefore they felt like their actions were justified? In the long run I wasn't actually harmed by what they did, it was just a scary experience…

"Yes, I think you're right brother." Elladan agreed and they both smiled at me, which actually unnerved me more than it should have. I found myself quickening my pace so I wouldn't have to look at their smiling faces, it didn't do much for me though. They were able to effortlessly keep pace with my fast walking, probably because their legs were much longer than mine due to the height difference.

"That is really not necessary, it seems to me that there is something really bad happening around here. You guys had your own reasons for doing what you did, I mean you didn't actually shoot me. If you did that then maybe I wouldn't forgive you for it, but you did not, so you don't need to worry about it. It's fine." I grabbed the skirt of my dress to try and keep it from restricting the movement on my legs as I tried to walk faster without actually breaking out into a sprint.

"That's rather mature of you, considering how young you still are." I frowned at that comment, I had just turned eighteen; I was considered a young adult now. I may not have been in my twenties like they were but I wasn't some little kid.

"Thank you I guess. But it's not like I'm that much younger than you are—" they both began laughing and stopped walking. I frowned and stopped too. "What is so funny?" I asked.

"We apologize, it is just that it has been many years since someone has mistaken us for being so young." Elladan said happily, or at least I felt like his tone implied it. They said that I had mistaken them for being so young, so how old were they? Was it impolite to ask them about their age, I vaguely remember my mom saying it was rude to ask a woman her age, does it mean the same thing for men? If either one of them caught on to my curiosity they didn't comment on it, and for once I wished they would have. It would have made the internal battle easier.

"Oh… Um, well regardless of that… Where…." I was stumbling with my words and I could still hear the slight chuckles coming from their identical voices. In a way it sort of irked me. "Where are we going anyways? I thought you two were showing me around." It wasn't much of a question, it was more of a statement. We were walking away from their settlement, if anything we were headed to the area that I initially came from, outside of the mountain pass next to the river.

"We are showing you around, we figured it would be best to start with where the border of Imladris and then move inwards back to the village. It is why we wanted to start before the sun was at its' highest point, it may take some time and you will surely be hungry afterwards." One of the clones said, I wasn't really paying much attention to where the voice was coming from. It seemed rather practical I suppose, start far out and then move in so that by the time return it's easier to eat. However I wasn't sure I really believed them and they were certainly up to something… It made my hair stand on end.

The walk was long, it took a while before we got to the edge and then they showed me where the mountain pass was in case I chose to leave and how to recognize it to return. Although it was not recommended unless by chance it was them guarding the entrance or if I met and befriended all of the border guards, they mentioned that unknown intruders would have been shot on sight to ensure safety. Meaning that leaving was alright, but returning without an escort or without them knowing me was dangerous. It was good to know I suppose, I made a mental note not to leave until I was sure I could survive on my own or if I had a lead on how to return home.

"You shouldn't come out here alone, while we do keep the boarders very well protected you might run into an orc or a stray animal. It would be best to stay closer to the village for your own safety." Elladan said, I nodded slightly and tilted my head to the side in mild confusion.

"What is an orc?" It felt like a silly question after they didn't answer right away. Was it common knowledge? Like how this place was supposed to be common knowledge? When I looked back at them they had an identical look of anger, and at first my blood ran cold. Were they angry with me for asking them questions?

"They are vile creatures, ugly as well, and certainly not something you would want to come across. They are ruthless killers and with you being alone they would consider you an easy target. Try not to go off on your own, we would hate to have a guest die in such a way as we looked after you." By the end of the explanation, which left with chilled with goose bumps, they seemed to be joking slightly. Teasing me about being their guest, however I don't think that they really were joking at all. There was a certain seriousness in their voice about the matter, and I chose not to comment on it again.

"I see. I'll avoid them then." My voice was lighter than it was earlier, and now it felt like there was a slight tension forming as we continued to walk. They showed me a few farming areas as we moved closer to the village itself. They told me a little bit about them, that their mother left for a different land a while ago and that Arwen was their only sister. Conversation seemed to die off and for a while it was nice and quiet. It seems like it was not meant to last though, because before too long the clones started to talk again.

"Miss Rori have you recalled your memories on how you got here?" one of the clones asked. I turned to him with a bit of a confused look.

"Remembered? I haven't lost my memories—" well that wasn't entirely true, I don't remember being moonstruck. "Let me rephrase that, I don't recall how I got here. But I don't have amnesia, I remember who I am, where I am from, my family, and everything like that."

"Are you sure? I have never met a human who was so surprised by elves or did not know of Imladris as Rivendell." They seemed rather doubtful of my memory, which I scowled slightly at.

"I am positive, I haven't forgotten my past. I simply don't know where I am right now. Besides, you don't recognize my land either." I pointed out to them and I noticed the slight tension as a result. "There you see, so you are just as clueless as I am."

"We looked at the maps…" They trailed off, frowning at each other as they seemed to have a mental conversation. With a slight huff I looked at them and waited for them to continue. But to my surprise they didn't.

"You look tired," one of them said, although I lost track of which one was on my right and which was on my left. "Perhaps you should sit for a moment. You can find shade under the trees, we have to be excused for a moment." He said as they guided me into the gardens, I was actually sat down by them, literally. Which was a bit of an odd feeling, they both quickly excused themselves and walked away. With a sigh I sat with my back to my tree, I looked at the clouds. They were moving slowly in the sky and there were not very many of them around, so I doubted that it would rain today, which would be a relief. The last thing I needed was to get caught in a rainstorm.

Minutes passed and they had yet to return, with a slight sigh I got up from under the tree, sitting wasn't my idea anyways and I didn't want to get the dress dirty. Causing more trouble for them was not my idea of fun. I glanced around and bit my lip slightly, should I go walk around? Or should I wait here for them to return? Well… They never said I had to stay there, and they did just leave me on the "tour" of their town. So I suppose I could go walk around myself. Stay in the garden. I waited for a few more minutes and when no dark haired clones reappeared in the wild I started to walk away from the tree. There were not very many people—elves—out and about in the garden and I started to lightly sing to myself.

"Lie with me underneath the tree, quietly and I feel so at ease." I started singing in a light hum before words began to form. I was doing it quietly since I didn't really want to attract too much attention to myself. Walking along the garden made me think of the song, it was by a group called Malumi and it was just comfortable. Maybe it was because it reminded me of singing at home, when my mom would be playing piano.

"Hold my hand and we'll walk by the stream. It's a spell and it feels like a dream." I ran my fingers over the petals of the flowers, the colors were bright and the garden almost felt alive, more so than it ever has at home. "Watch the stars fly over the night sky, wait for the sunrise over the dark." I unconsciously started to sing a little bit louder, but once I realized it I quickly quieted myself again. It was sort of hard to try to stay in tune when I was trying not to sing above a whisper.

"And your cheek smells musky and sweet, I swallow defeat and listen to your heart. And it beats boom da boom, da boom, boom da boom, da boom." I couldn't help but smile to myself a little, slowly I felt more at ease, like I wasn't lost. I thought of Malumi's music video and I almost giggled as I sang, the flowers seemed to fit, now all there needed to be was a happy couple walking around the garden too. I closed my eyes and started to hum more of the lyrics, humming the "boom da boom" the "ohs".

"Your voice is rather lovely, I haven't heard that song before." Someone voiced from behind me, heat rose to my face rather quickly and I instantly spun around in surprise. The dress tangled around my legs a little and almost managed to make me trip, luckily I managed to keep myself from tumbling over. The clones stood there, looking at me with smiles on their faces, although it seemed less teasing at the moment.

"You were not waiting under the tree, we thought we ought to come looking for you." One of them, I'm not sure which one, mentioned. "It was not too difficult of a task though, we only had to follow the sound of singing." He continued to speak, making it sound nonchalant. I didn't fully buy it though…

"Heard me sing? How… I wasn't singing that loudly where you should just be able to follow the sound of it. I could have sworn I was being rather quiet." I looked at them with crossed arms, and they both looked at each other for a moment. Again, I thought they were about to make an excuse, maybe say something that I "didn't know what quiet was" or just admit to stalking me or finding me by chance, but to my surprise that wasn't it at all.

"Sometimes we forget that you do not know much about elven kind. I suppose you could say that we have better senses than humans. We can see farther as well as hear better than humans usually are able to. So while your singing may not have been picked up with human ears, we were able to hear it." One of them explained, and the heat seemed to burn harder on my face. If they weren't pulling my leg, and I don't think they were because of how sincere they sounded, does that mean that everyone who was near the gardens could hear me singing? I flushed in embarrassment. I never had to worry about any of this before but now I couldn't even sing without them noticing it. I wanted to just bury my head in the sand, I wanted to just disappear into the background.

"You don't need to be embarrassed," one of them said as they took a step closer to me. "You truly do have a lovely singing voice, it was not like it was unpleasant to hear." They tried to reassure me but it wasn't really helping. Why were they all so aware of absolutely everything? I just wanted some time to myself. I wanted to be able to get away for a little while, to swim and not be seen, to be alone for five minutes without someone a few feet away listening and watching! I just wanted a minute where I wasn't hiding, where I wasn't trying to disappear, where I could just be me!

"C-Can we just continue and finish the tour. I would like to go back to the room before the sunsets." My tone held a bit of sharpness to it, I felt exhausted, and it wasn't in the sense of feeling physically tired but that I needed a mental break. I needed time to collect my thoughts and just sit down for a few minutes.

"If you would like to then we may, but we brought something for you to see. We…" he hesitated slightly as he spoke, like he wasn't sure how to go about it. "We thought that it may be easier to explain if you could see it as well. It may help you cope." His face become void of emotion again, almost like a defense mechanism… Which made me worried, the exhaustion seemed to disappear for a moment and it was replaced with anxiety. What was it? Was it a newspaper about my disappearance? Was I not reported missing or was I reported dead? The two elves crouched down slightly as they took a large and rather worn looking paper and rolled it out on the grass.

It took me a minute to even realize what I was looking at. The paper was yellowed with age and there were faint signs of wrinkles, but otherwise it was rather well taken care of. There was inked wording on the paper, which I was happy to recognize as a form of English, although this looked older than what I was used to. As I followed the delicate lines with my eyes it became obvious that this was a map, there were places listed that I never heard of before; Gondor, Rohan, Dunland, and all of it. The rivers the seas it was all unfamiliar.

"What is this? I… I don't recognize anything." I looked over the map, I wasn't the best at world geography but I made a note to recognize all the seas, what was this? Sea of Rhûn? The Sundering Seas? None of it made any sense, how was I supposed to go home? I felt sick…

"We did not see anything on our maps relating to where you claim to come from Miss Rori. If you are concerned about telling us where you are from that is alright, but we can't help you if you are not honest." They reminded me of when my father scolded me, like I gave them the wrong directions.

"I am not lying, I am from Louisiana in the United States of America. I have nothing to gain from lying to you. I just want to go home. My parents are probably worried sick and I have no way of contacting them, to tell them that I'm okay." I could feel myself getting louder bit by bit, getting angrier at them. It wasn't their fault, and deep down I knew that, but it still upset me. They were calling me a liar about that, as if I was lying about where I came from; and that pushed me a bit too far. "I wouldn't lie about that!" I wouldn't lie about trying to get home… I wouldn't stay here longer than necessary.

"We only needed to make sure. We do not mean to offend you, but we need to know that you are being honest with us, otherwise we cannot offer true help to you." They continued talking in an even tone, not upset or anything. Untouched by what was upsetting me, and it only pushed me farther. Could they act like humans for once? Couldn't they show some sort of emotion that wasn't teasing? They sounded so matter of fact…

"I want to go back. I'm not hungry either so you don't need to worry about that. Just show me how to get back to the room." I moved backwards away from the map. They followed my wish silently, by now there was clear tension in the air. I walked back to the room I was staying in and gave them a curt "goodbye" before shutting myself in. I sat with my legs pulled to my chest and tried to think about everything. If the seas were truly so different there was only really one way to find out for sure. However I would have to wait until night fell.

The hours ticked by, and even when it was Eleniel and Vanya who came to check on me, to offer me food yet I found myself declining it all. It started to sink in more and more that I was that far from home, or that they were lying about where we were. That they intended to hold me hostage and brainwash me into their cult, but even I started to think that it likely wasn't anything like that. It was more likely that I swam somewhere isolated… As night came upon me I climbed out of the window carefully. I tried to remind myself to be quiet, because they had superman hearing and I didn't want to get caught. I wasn't far from the ground and so I tried to land on my feet as quietly as possible before moving out towards the river that ran through the town.

There were a surprising lack of elves walking around, in fact most the ones that I briefly saw were in the main palace/mansion of the Lord who owned the land. They seemed to be rushing around over something, but I was not really sure over what it was, and at the moment I did not care. I made my way to the river and looked around, making sure no one was nearby. On some level I think I knew that this was a bad idea, considering how closely they have been watching me, but the other side of me was craving to go swim. I needed the break and nothing helped like a dip in the ocean, maybe it was the mermaid in me begging to go swim, after all it has been over a week sense I last was able to go into the ocean. I had already talked myself into it, told myself that it would be okay. They were already preoccupied as it was, it was now or never, and no one was around. Just do it, just go in and swim away. It was all the convincing I needed before I submerged myself in the water.

A familiar tingling ran over my skin as the water shifted over me as I started through the water, it wasn't too terribly deep which was a bit unfortunate but it wasn't too shallow either. It was at four feet deep and as long as I stuck to the bottom of the bank I might be unnoticed by those who were not too close to the river. I wasted no time swimming out, moving quickly while trying not to cause the water to shift too much I moved across the river and to my pleasure it began to get deeper and deeper. The water was sparkling clear and I could see fish moving around and getting out of my way as I moved downstream. The pebbles in the river were smooth and I smiled as I swam faster and let the current pull me quicker and closer to the sea. Soon I was deposited into the dark waters of the ocean, the moon lit up some areas of the water but overall it was dark and a little hard to see the areas that were not lit by the moon.

It was deep inside my chest that I felt myself being drawn out deeper into the waters. The moon occasionally causing the orange scales on my tail to glow. Gliding through the waters I twisted and turned as I looked around. The depths of the water was blacked out, but the water was also clear, not at all murky. If I were to do this during the day I imagine I would be able to see farther down, small fish swam around me and I couldn't stop myself from smiling at the sight. This was what made it worth being what I became, nothing felt more alive than being in the ocean. Land didn't feel entirely like home anymore, it was this place in this water, the oceans called to me and for a while it was all I needed.

I don't know how long I swam for, or when I started to feel the hair on my arms stand on end. I broke through the surface to regather air for the fifth time when I noticed it. I didn't feel alone, like I was being watched by someone or something. The waters were dark and only the moon held any light for me. I stared up at bright light in the sky, at the no longer full moon and it was almost like a whisper. I was being told to return, to go back before I was too late. My instincts screamed at me and quickly I submerged back into the dark waters. My eyes scanned the waters but I could not see much, but something moved beneath me, moving and gliding through the waters. Bubbles surrounded me and I shot through the water faster than whatever was beneath me at the time. Moving in a Jetstream I went back the same way I came and re-entered the same river I left in. By now the moon had moved across the sky quite a bit, signaling to me that hours must have passed.

As the water became shallower I slowly my swimming pace and careful moved across the river. Before I never considered how I was going to resurface, how I would do so without being seen by anyone, I was too anxious to get away from everything that I never considered how I could get out of the water. Carefully I resurfaced, barely moving above the water to look out at the land. There were still not many people around, but the palace was lit up. I would have to act fast, try to find a spot with some cover to dry myself, perhaps some shrubbery. My eyes scanned the area and carefully I moved closer and closer to where some greenery moved over the river and pulled myself out of the water. My dark hair clung to my arms as I pulled myself into a bush and rolled onto my back, then carefully I pulled my tail from the water and laid out on the grass.

After a moment of catching my breath I moved my hand above my tail and started to slowly close it in a claw like fashion. Steam began to raise from my tail as I dried it off, and within minutes I was back in my green dress. I forced myself to stand up and get out of the bush and brushed myself off. I looked around until I spotted a small bridge that I could use in order to cross the river. I held the ends of my skirt and ran over to the bridge and sprinted across, hoping to get back to my room without being too terribly noticeable. I did not get very far before two women blocked my path, I was only a couple meters from the window. Both of them had their arms crossed and I flinched slightly at the hardened look on their faces.

"Where have you been Miss Rori? We came to check on you and hour ago and you were nowhere to be found!"

"I'm sorry Eleniel, Vanya, I didn't mean any harm. I just… I needed to clear my head and gather my thoughts." I tried to explain, but both women looked upset regardless. "I was following the river, the water had a calming effect on me." I explained, but their faces still did not change. However they did unfold their arms and moved to my side.

"It cannot be changed now, but you must get to bed. Tomorrow you will be meeting the other guests of Lord Elrond." They said as they walked me the long way around to my room, the silence was uncomfortable and it made me feel uneased. Once we reached my room I turned and looked at them.

"I want to apologize, for causing you two to worry. I promise it was not my intention. It's just been hard adjusting and I…"

"I know, you are in a strange place and it must be overwhelming. You must exercise caution, these are dark times and a young woman walking alone at night may be seen as a target." Eleniel told me, she slightly patted my shoulder. "Regardless, tonight you need to rest. Goodnight Miss Rori." With that they both walked back down the hall as I walked back into my room and sat down on the bed.

Note:

If anyone is curious about the song she was singing, it is Stars Fly by Malumi. You can look them up on youtube if you would like, I highly recommend it.

Taboo22: sorry I could not PM you, but your settings were turned off so I was unable to. I do like your suggestion and I think it is a reasonable thought, considering that they likely have never seen a Mermaid and they likely assume she is a daughter of the sea or at the least blessed by it. I will likely use that reaction should they ever discover her secret.

Georgiadaskalakix: in response to your question about the time line, and in case anyone else wanted clearification, this is set during the time that Arwen left Rivendell in search for Aragorn and the Hobbits and has brought Frodo back to be healed.