A/N: Marvel-Tolkien Fangirl's chapter 4 of Spectrum: The Harpist's Tale comes before this chapter.

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The sun had almost fallen below the horizon when Maglor gently woke me. I shivered slightly as I sat up. The air was cooler than I had expected. The weariness was still deep in my aching bones, but I tried to stifle a yawn and rubbed my eyes. I shivered again and pulled my blanket around my shoulders. Maglor smiled at me, a soft chuckle escaping his lips.

"What?" I inquired, curious about what had evoked the response.

"You just reminded me of my youngest brothers. They hated waking, too." Maglor's smile slipped off his face, and he quickly informed me that we had to get moving again. I gave him the blankets, which he returned to his pack after shaking the dust from them. I frowned.

"Did you get any sleep at all?"

"I am accustomed to very little rest."

"So you did not sleep."

Maglor did not reply. He contemplated me for a moment and shook his head. "You are far too conspicuous, Ninniach. The mortals will recognise you easily. We'll have to find some way of disguising you. But for now, if you braid your hair we can hide it under a hat, and-"

"Braid?" I repeated, waiting for the word to register meaning in my mind. It did not, and I sighed in annoyance. There were many things that Maglor had mentioned while we walked the previous night that held no meaning for me. "I am afraid that I do not know what braid is."

"I'll help you." Maglor had be turn, and then he took my hair in his hands and began to tug at it. I tried to turn my head to see what he was doing, but he gently told me to keep still and continued. When he was done, he had turned my hair into a rope. It seemed to be heavier than when it was loose. Maglor then piled the braid onto the top of my head and fitted a wide-brimmed hat over it.

"There," he said, and smiled at how I looked. "It's not pretty, but it will work for now."

I touched the hat and grimaced. "I feel as though my head is going to roll off. I do not like this braid!"

Maglor chuckled, and shouldered his pack. As he moved through the building to ensure that we left no trace behind, I walked to the door and looked out. The sky was overcast, and the last light of the sun was mostly blocked. I searched the place where my brother ought to be, but I could not see him through the clouds. I frowned in disappointment.

"We should leave now. We'll take the road for a little while. It will be easier for you," Maglor said, touching my elbow. I was startled, having been wrapped in my own thoughts, and I jumped. Maglor withdrew. He still thought that I feared him. My frown deepened as I contemplated him as we began to walk. Was there still a part of me that feared him? Perhaps, but he was mistaken if he thought that I didn't trust him. My brother.

"Ninniach," he started hesitantly after some time, "how did you become like this?"

I remained silent, not knowing what to day.

"There was a prophecy that I heard once, long ago," Maglor continued. "It spoke of a day when the dark enemy would return and a final, mighty battle would defeat him, and deconstruct the world, releasing the Silmarils to be recovered by the Valar. At that time, it was said that my father would be released from Mandos's halls and give the jewels to Yavanna, to restore the Two Trees. But- it was also said that the Simarils would be broken to revive the trees."

I walked in silence. Maglor's pace was quick, and though I knew that he was walking slower than he would have liked, I still struggled to keep up with him. "I do not know what to say, Maglor," I said eventually. "Perhaps the final battle has begun. Perhaps when I took on this form it was the breaking of the Silmaril. We will learn when we return to Valinor."

"Yes," Maglor murmured. "We will. Of course."

We walked in silence for some time when Maglor's head turned to stare up the road from the way we had come from. A frown creased his brow, and he put his hand on my arm.

"We have to hide. Near the cliffs."

I nodded and Maglor lead me off the road. We had not gone far when I heard what had alerted Maglor; a purring sound, turning into a roaring as it got closer. A mortal vehicle. Maglor urged me to go faster, and I tried. We almost reached the cliffs when two lights stabbed through the darkness right on us.

"The ocean," I gasped. "Ulmo will protect-"

But before I could finish my sentence, there was a crack behind us and Maglor stumbled. A silver dart protruded from his neck.

"Run," he told me, stumbling a few more feet.

"Maglor?" I cried as he fell to his knees.

"Run," he choked out again, and then his eyes rolled to the back of his head and he collapsed. I backed away, but I could not force myself to run. Men dressed in strange black garb were pouring out of the vehicle, and they came at me with strange metal contraptions that I knew were weapons.

"Don't harm her, we need her alive," came a voice and looking past the men I saw Dr North exit the vehicle. He studied me for a moment before turning his attention to Maglor. He frowned, walking over to my brother. He bent down, turning Maglor's head and brushing his hair back to look at the point of his ear. Dr North frowned as he stood back up and walked towards me. "You really are a strange girl, Ninniach. You really believe all that stuff about Valinor, don't you? And now, you've taken up with someone who claims to be Maglor?"

I remained to be silent, and Dr North contemplated me for a moment before turning his back again.

"Get her in the van," he ordered, and drew a weapon from his waist. He pointed it at Maglor.

"No!" I shouted, and as the mortals caught hold of me, the heavy gloves on their hands were set ablaze and with cries of shock and pain they released me. I threw myself over Maglor's still body and was relieved to feel that he still breathed. I looked up at Dr North, staring past the metal weapon in his hand to his cold face. He glanced briefly at his men, who were trying to put out the fires that had spread up their arms.

"You cannot take me," I told him, hearing the tremble in my voice but also knowing that he would hear the truth in it. "You cannot touch me. You cannot force me to go with you. The only way you will get what you want from me is if I allow it."

Dr North hesitated a moment, and leveled the weapon at my face. "If you come with us, then he won't be harmed."

I stood, and the weapon followed me up. "I will go with you, and you will not touch him."

The men on fire began to scream, and a sudden pang hit me. I hated to see their pain, and with a thought the fires consuming them died. Some had fallen to the ground, panting, but I hoped that none were permanently injured. Dr North put away his weapon and smiled at me.

"We have a deal," he said, and then gestured to the waiting vehicle. I stepped towards it, and then stopped.

"Load all your men first."

He raised an eyebrow.

"Load your men. I will not be tricked into going with you, Dr North. After they are aboard and I am satisfied that you do not intend to harm my-" I cut myself off. If I said that Maglor was my brother, they would assume that he was like me, and he would be in danger again. "Companion. After I am satisfied that he will not be harmed, then I will join you. Not before. And know this, Dr North," I stepped forward, locking my gaze onto the mortals, "if you harm him in any way, I will destroy you."

He contemplated me for a moment, and then nodded. "Your terms are acceptable."

He turned and gave orders to his men, who obeyed, although with trepidation. After they had returned to the vehicle, I drew in a deep breath. Dr North looked at me expectantly, and I walked with him to the vehicle. Inside, he directed me to a seat that had a large buffer zone between me and the men, and instructed me to fasten myself in.

My heart pounded as I remembered the last time I had been locked in a metal casing, and I wondered if, somehow, this was Melkor claiming me once again. I fumbled with the restraints, and after a moment gave up. Dr North frowned at me, but gave an order to the driver, and he took a sharp turn and headed back in the direction that they had come from.

I gazed out the window, trying to hold in my fear, and saw Maglor's still form lying on the ground. My stomach knotted. How were we to return to Valinor now?