Part 4 of More to The Story. It's about a family that are the key-holders and Gatekeepers between our world/Wizarding World and Middle Earth. Adventure, friendships, and love. Part 4 picks up after the final battle of The Battle of the Five Armies, with equal parts of books and movies with the crossovers. OC's and real characters.
Everyone is together, dwarves, humans, elves, witches, and wizards, either in Dale or in Erébor. However, Jordan's curse has finally take over and she has the hardest choice she will ever have to make: love for the dwarf she would spend the rest of her life with, or the life of her brother who is counting on her to rescue him.
I do not own anything from the Hobbit or Harry Potter; only the OC's and their story. All Harry Potter/Hobbit references and characters belong to J.K. Rowling, J. R. R. Tolkien, and Peter Jackson.
Chapter 6
The next morning, the sun shone brightly and warmed the air. In normal circumstances, it would be a perfect day to spend with loved ones, not holding funerals. Everyone was mourning their losses from the dragon and the war. Thorin, Thranduil, and Bard all agreed to honor those lost together, in hopes of bringing their people closer together. It lasted all day, ending in a large communal meal.
The Gatekeepers chose not to honor Jordan with the rest. They wanted a small, private service with just the family and friends. Priscilla and Ruben agreed to allow Jordan to be placed in the tombs of Erébor. They thought about taking her back to their world and have her be next to her parents, only they had no desire to return any time soon.
Fili had taken a vow of silence in honor of Jordan, using only sign language to communicate. He made his request to keep her in the mountain, promising to ensure her memory lived on for future generations to know what she did for the company, her family, and all three kingdoms. No one protested when he asked if she could be placed in the same tomb as the royal family. Thorin worried there would be backlash from the dwarves, but Balin and Kili reminded him the only ones left of direct decedents were him, Dis, Fili, and Kili. Since no one present would objected, they did not think Dis would put up much of a fight. And if anyone else dared to objected, they whole company would make sure to silence the complaint.
It was agreed upon she would be buried the next day. Until then, her body was in a spare room off the infirmary, waiting to be transported. Oin and Sarril had offered to clean and prepare her body for burial so the family would not be burdened with the task. They dressed her in the grey knit cap, t-shirt, jeans, sneakers, and her wand crossed over her chest. To their disappointment, the curse still showed on her skin. They suggested to drape the body with a sheer cloth so it hid the black speech a little more, but not completely covering her.
Morning of, Blair had asked for a moment alone with his sister. He had not spoken to anyone when they returned and needed to have closure. He was mostly healed but was still recovering some from his injuries and starvation. He sat in a chair, resting his elbows on the bed. "I can't believe you're gone. You protected me, fought for me, saved me. I should be the one on this table, not you." He picked up her free hand and held it to his face. "I love you so much and I'm so sorry this happened. Thank you for what you've done for me."
Karah knocked on the door and poked her head in the room. "Blair? Are you ready?"
"I suppose." Blair nodded and dried his eyes, looking at his sister with peculiar eyes. "This just doesn't feel right."
"I know. I can't believe she's gone either."
"No. Karah, touch her hand." Blair's mind was turning with a possibility he wanted to try to confirm before putting hope in something impossible. "What do you feel?"
"Blair, she doesn't have a pulse. She hasn't had one since we found her yesterday." Karah delicately insisted.
"I understand that, but Karah, her skin should be room temperature. It's cold in here, and she isn't."
Karah thought the notion was strange. It was chilly in the room. They worried about the smell of her body decaying so they placed her in a cold room. She touched the back of Jordan's wand hand since Blair had been holding the other, it would already be warm. Strange instantly turned to stunned disbelief. "How is she so warm? She has a normal body temperature."
"Where was she when grandma and Fili found her?"
"In the basement."
Blair stared his cousin down, slowly explaining, "that's where mom kept all her dangerous potions."
"So?"
"She brewed Draught of the Living Death!"
Realization erupted in Karah. "And Jordan knows wandless magic! She could have been able to free herself and drank it to escape from Milhauke and his apprentice."
"We need to stall this funeral! There could be an antidote."
"Blair, you shouldn't get your hopes up." Karah did not want to see him devastated and fall apart even more than he had already had. He had been through enough. They all had. She, herself, was trying to put on a brave face, only allowing Kili to see her fall apart in the privacy of her own room.
A knock on the door sounded and Kili came inside with Fili. "It's time," he said.
"Karah, trust me. If I'm wrong, then we've lost nothing but a few hours. Fili, you must stall the funeral. Do not put her in the tomb yet."
"What's going on?" Kili asked for the both of them.
Blair begged all of them to hear him out. "Please, if there's even the slightest chance Jordan is in a dead-like sleep then I will go through every gate to find the antidote. Don't put her in the tomb yet."
Fili was finally able to give himself the time to grieve during all of the chaos of his duties. He followed Thorin around all yesterday, carrying out orders, assisting others in the memorials, and doing any task needing his attention. He wanted to sit quietly with Jordan for a few minutes before they began the funeral. Listening to Blair's plea made him feel even worse. He wanted to believe Jordan was alive, he truly did. Only he was not sure his heart could take any more pain.
"Touch her hand, Fili." Blair pointed to Jordan. "Touch her skin and you'll know what I'm talking about."
Fili sighed and did as instructed. Grasping her hand, he pressed his fingers into her wrist hoping to feel a pulse. All he felt was her warm skin. Warm skin? He gawked at Blair and understood what he was saying.
Blair nodded, knowing Fili understood what he was trying to say. "I'm going back to the house. Mom locked all of her dangerous and complicated potions in a safe in the basement. She should have had an antidote there too."
"I'm going with you," Karah declared.
"You're not going without me," Kili tenderly held her hand.
Fili gently set Jordan's hand down and signaled he was joining them. He thought about who they could trust to stall the funeral. He poked his head out of the room and saw Ori sitting quietly by himself. He whistled and Ori's eyes popped up. Calling him over, Fili held the door and locked it behind him. Using his hands to talk, we need you to stall the funeral. Don't let anyone take Jordan from this room.
"What's going on?" Ori questioned.
Karah knew they didn't have time to explain everything. "Ori, there is a chance Jordan is really alive. We have to go back to our world and find a potion. Do whatever you have to do. Just don't let anyone seal her in the tombs."
"I'm on it." Ori bowed in determination then stood at the foot of the bed to guard her.
"Let's move." Kili made for the door, but was stopped by Blair.
"We don't have a key to the gate." He realized.
"Oh, dad was the last one through the gate!" Karah remembered. "But there is no way he'll let me have it."
All three dwarves eyed each other and agreed. "Nori."
Kili and Ori had no trouble talking Nori into stealing the key. Nor did they have to wait long. Jeremy had removed his cloak and hung it on a peg in the apartment where Alicia and Nicole had been brewing healing potions. Nori snuck in, stole the key, and returned in less than ten minutes.
"I hope it's the right one. It was the only key in the cloak." Nori accounted.
Karah inspected it and smiled. "Well done, Master Nori. Don't worry, any gate key would have worked just fine. Thank you."
"What are you lot up too?" He observed they were geared for traveling and wanted to get in on the excitement.
"Can you help us with one more thing?"
"Sure thing."
"Help Ori and guard Jordan."
"Are you concerned she is going to jump up attack us again?" Nori half joked.
"Not yet. But we think she's still alive. Don't let them seal her in the tombs."
"You can count on us." Nori vowed. "But you'd better get going!"
"Wait, one more thing," Karah stopped everyone. "Nori, Ori, don't tell them what we are doing. If we are wrong, I don't want to give them a false sense of hope. I don't think Grandma and Grandpa can handle any more hurt."
The group fled the mountain quickly, trying to be as inconspicuous as possible. Fili had to give the guards orders not to speak about them leaving the mountain. Word would travel quickly enough with people passing by them, they just needed time to get out and get back before too many people noticed them missing.
XXXXXXXXXXXX
Karah and Blair were able to open the gate much closer to the house this time. It was in the same wrecked state they left it, but secured so no one could enter without magic.
Blair wanted to vomit when he saw the basement door. He managed to stop the bile in his stomach from rising. He breathed in his nose, out his mouth, to calm down. His wiped his palms and forehead dry and kicked the down the door. His hate and anger abled him to kick the door of the hinges and sent it careening down the stairs. He led in the search for the safe and it did not take long to find it.
Kili could not help but be curious about the whole house. The basement was well cleared out by the Gatekeepers of all the important belongings. The only things left were empty shelves, a couple appliances, and old paint cans. "What are these large metal boxes?"
Karah looked up from the safe as she and Blair were trying to open in. "A clothes washer and dryer machine."
"You have machines that wash and dry clothes?" Kili's shocked expression was comical. "What else does your world have? Are all the worlds like this one?"
"Every world is different."
"When things settle down at home, I want to come back here and explore some more. And to the other worlds too! Oh wait! Jordan said she found a gate in her closet. We should go see really quick!"
Blair unlocked the safe and looked at Kili in disbelief. "My sister is on the verge of being buried alive in the tombs of a mountain. And you want to look into her closet to see if there is a gate to a land of monsters?"
"She never said where it led to." Kili eyed Blair with amused suspicion. The young wizard clearly had seen it with Jordan. "I have to see this!"
Fili grabbed his brother's arm, Later.
Blair peered into the safe and started pulling out bottles. "Do you know what the antidote is for Draught of the Living Death?"
Karah felt the blood fall from her face. "No. I thought you did."
"No!" Blair palmed his face, panic creeping back into head. "Don't you have the book of remedies?"
"I gave it to my sister to help her brewing healing potions." Karah wanted to bang her head against the wall. "Of course! Wiggenweld Potion is the antidote! And Nicole has been brewing it and making a stock pile to help all the injured from the war."
"She's had some this whole time!?" Blair jumped to his feet and made for the stairs.
"Yes, and here is a liter of it." Karah groaned and picked up the bottle.
Fili signed to Kili and he translated. "Fili's right, you should probably take all of the potions in there. Just in case."
Karah agreed and handed bottles to all of them to carry. She did not have her bottomless bag with her either, so they had to be careful not to break any of them.
Blair saw one unexpected bottle in Karah's hand. He held out his bottle, "trade me?"
"Sure. What is it?" Karah did not bother to read all the labels.
"Dad's Kentucky Apple Pie Moonshine," Blair uncorked the bottle and took a swig before passing it around. "It's the best Moonshine in the country. I imagine when Jordan wakes up, she is going to have terrible morning breath and a bad-taste in her mouth."
That comment made Fili chuckle. Their sense of humor must have run in the family. Are we ready? Is there anything else we might need? He was pleasantly surprised by the amber liquid.
"I don't think so. We can always come back if we have too." Karah replied. "Let's get out of here. Be prepared for a fight with our family. They will probably be upset that we took off again without telling them what we were doing."
Fili honestly did not care. If there was a chance Jordan was still alive, he was going to do all in his power to save her. He followed Blair out of the basement, who never wanted to come back to this horrid house again.
XXXXXXXXXXXX
In Erébor, Ori and Nori were squared off against Dori, Balin, and Gloin. The later dwarves were accusing the first of being completely unreasonable and selfish, causing unnecessary hurt and anguish to the family through by not allowing them to bury their loved one.
"You both are acting like dragons stealing a hoard of gold!" Dori yelled at his brothers. "Hasn't this family been through enough? Do you really believe you two dunderheads have the authority or even the right to prolong their need for closure?"
"That's not it!" Ori defended.
"Will you Just trust us for once in your life!" Nori shot back at his older brother. "Believe it or not, we know what we are doing."
"Do you? Because right now, I can't even fathom what is going through your heads."
Balin tried to intervene diplomatically. "This family wants to be able to move on with their lives after their tremendous loss. We dwarves can understand this. But they can't until they lay Jordan to rest."
Gloin also added. "Come now, lads. We know you mean well. But this can't go on."
Ori glared at all of them. "Regardless of what we want, I don't think the Gatekeepers would want to bury Jordan without her brother and cousin there. And presently, they are not here."
"Where did they go?" Balin asked.
Nori shot his brother a look for breaking their word. Before Ori could further tattle on their small company, he replied, "That's also a secret. We expect them back any moment."
There was a soft knock on the door. Nicole came through, holding René and Gage's hands, and Thorin right behind her. She cleared her throat, "I'm sorry for interrupting your meeting. But René wanted to see Jordan one more time."
Ori felt his stomach flip seeing her and his king looking at him with disappointment, like he had let them down. "Your Majesty, my lady, it's not what you think." He bowed his head respectively, hoping they would give him a chance.
René broke away from her mother and went over to Jordan. She had tears in her eyes as she looked on to her cousin's face. "She looks like she's sleeping."
Nicole came over and hugged her daughter's shoulders. "She does look peaceful, doesn't she?"
"No, I think she's just sleeping. Look at her face, Mama."
Nicole placated her daughter. René had already experienced seeing a dead person before with her father. It was a traumatic time and Nicole assumed that perhaps René didn't remember much of the funeral. She chose to not shatter her daughter's thoughts and let it go for now. "Why don't you tell her a story then?"
"Okay," René answered, and began with 'once upon a time.' When no one was paying attention to her, she whispered in Jordan's ears. "I know you are sleeping, Aunt Dan. But wake up soon. Everyone misses you."
Ori and Nori were refusing to give up their duty. Dori did not want to argue in front of Nicole and the children, but continued to glair at his brothers. Thorin was reading the room and tried to learn what was going on. When Nicole decided to take the children back to the apartment to get ready for the funeral, Thorin asked the obvious question.
"What is going on here?"
Dori pointed his finger, "these two insist on stalling the service!"
Thorin was shocked by the audacity. "What for?"
Ori firmly answered, "We promised Fili, Kili, Karah, and Blair to keep Jordan in this room until they returned."
"Will you shut it!" Nori snapped at his younger brother.
"And where are they?"
Ori snapped back at his brother, "we aren't breaking our vow! Stop yelling at me! We are on the same side." Looking to his king, he answered. "I'm sorry, Your Majesty, we can't tell you. They swore us to secrecy."
"Alright. What are they doing?"
"Can't tell you that either." Nori crossed his arms over his chest, ready to keep up the fight as long as necessary.
Thorin could see how Dori was losing his patience. "What can you tell us?"
Ori looked to his brother for confirmation, having a silent conversation before answering. "That the funeral is to be stalled until they return.
"And just how long-." Thorin was cut off when the door burst open.
"We're back!" Kili announced as they group filed into the small room. "What are you all doing here?"
Karah looked around and was surprised at how many people were able to fit in the small chamber. "We need some space, please." She hoped she could avoid answering any questions until they tested their theory.
The bickering dwarves all stepped aside and gave as much room as possible; though none of them wanted to leave in case they witness a miracle.
Fili and Kili helped Jordan sit up and gently opened her mouth so Karah could tip the potion to her lips. They had to coax her throat into swallowing. Blair held Jordan's hand while he sat in a chair next to her. No one knew what to expect. Not realizing they were holding their breath while they waited.
A full minute went by and Jordan was just as motionless as when she was found in the basement.
Another minute and nothing.
Five minutes had gone by and Jordan still slept.
"What did we do wrong?" Blair asked, his voice cracking.
Karah shook her head. "I don't know. It should have worked by now. Everyone else who was injured had instance results."
They waited for ten more minutes and no change.
Kili looked to his brother who was pulling Jordan tighter into his arms. He let go of Jordan and went to hold Karah, who's eyes were filling with tears. Fili unconsciously started rocking her back and forth, try to savor these last moments. Resigning himself that it was over. Blair rested his head in his hands and sobbed. They all knew they did everything they could. She was gone.