Chaos Unleashed: Part One

by E4me100

Typical scenario, but NOT a typical story. The Fellowship's come to modern-day Earth, and Erin, Kaia, and Kathryn couldn't be more excited...but will it remain a dream come true forever? Sure, there'll be plenty of laughs and good times along the way...but no one knows how things are going to end up. And sometimes it's best for it to remain that way. Self-inserts. Give it a chance!

20. Are Overcome

Chaos Unleashed: Chapter Twenty

Legolas' POV

Silently I lay, waiting.

My eyes stared up at the ceiling, unfocused; an odd sense of peace about me. Despite all the things I knew were going to take place today, I felt no fear or anxiety.

Is it a sign? Are things finally going to play out in our favor? Or is it simply that the realization of what is about to happen has not set in yet?

...I did not know.

Today was Saturday. The very Saturday we were to be sent off to live with the girls' friend for Valar knows how long. That meant it was also the day that Boromir and I would put his fantastically foolish plan into action. I should have been terrified. By the time this was all over, I could either be dead, in a ridiculous amount of trouble, or caught and sent back to this unknown city of Baltimore anyway. But even thinking about the worst possible outcomes did not unsettle me. I was placid. The house was also incredibly quiet, adding to the serenity of it all. The deep breath before the plunge.

At least there have been no bad omens so far. Perhaps fate will be on our side this time. Though I did have the slightest bit of guilt picking at the back of my mind, especially towards the girls. Last night, Erin had come home so upset she was nearly in tears, angry that Jared had tried to deceive her in the way that he did. Of course, she had never loved him. She expected his advances to be false, but the act of losing someone she had once considered to be a close friend still hurt her.

Murmurs of the incident had circulated around the house, but as far as I knew, I was the only one she'd directly spoken to about it besides Kaia and Kathryn. We had sat in the art studio and talked for a long time, as I had no problem listening when she needed to vent her frustrations to someone. Regrettably, I had not been able to offer her too much advice, but I at least was able to assure her that if Jared ever came to see her, I would gladly take the opportunity to introduce him to my blades.

At that moment, there was a soft creak as the slightly ajar door to the room was pushed open further. I looked up to see Aragorn standing in the doorway, a somber look on his face. "Is it time?" I asked.

He gave a brief nod to confirm. "Yes."

I slowly got up from my previous laying position on Erin's bed and moved to the right to grab my small bag of clothes that sat by my own temporary mattress on the floor. As I turned around, I looked at my dark-haired friend again. "Will you miss it?"

"Of course," he said lowly. "It is my biggest regret that we have to leave the girls behind. But if this is the best way to protect ourselves, and Frodo most importantly, then so be it."

I nodded to him in agreement, following as we headed out of the room and down the stairs, continuing over to the other side of the house to gather in the game room. Frodo, Kathryn, and Erin were already there, standing in the far corner together. Our weapons were spread out on the couch and small coffee table, though Frodo had already reclaimed Sting. Aragorn immediately went to retrieve his sword and few other weapons as well, and I was close behind him, spotting my bow, quiver, and knives.

After gathering them up and slipping my quiver and scabbard over my shoulders, I walked over to Erin and stood with her. It was deathly quiet, and she seemed to be trying to distract herself by staring at the floor, but I managed to catch her eye long enough to ask her about the others. "Are they coming?"

She nodded. "Yeah." Knowing that she was not in the mood to chat, I looked away and joined the rest of my friends in a seemingly endless wait.

oOo

Erin's POV

Oh God, I can't do this. I can't. It had barely been five minutes since we'd made the call for everyone to come to the game room to say our goodbyes. The cheap minivan we'd rented for the day sat out in our driveway, ready to go. All day, I'd been somewhat avoiding the guys, trying to mentally prepare myself for this part, but I could already tell that it wasn't going to last long.

I was particularly worried for when I'd have to say goodbye to Legolas. Even after all these long months, I still hadn't really gotten over him. It wasn't love, but it was just enough for me to still blush every time he gave me a compliment, or stutter occasionally when he asked me a question, or be unable to resist smiling whenever he laughed. And even if I hadn't had a stupid little fangirly crush on him, he was easily the one I'd bonded with the most. I'd just gotten so used to having him around as a friend... The last thing I wanted at this point was to let him go.

But of course, you can't fight the inevitable. As the front door opened to have Kaia, Boromir, Merry, and Pippin walk in, I clenched my fists. I would kill to have this all be a dream right now. Can this just not be happening? Please? The three remaining guys walked over and grabbed their weapons, then spread out around the outer perimeter of the room like the rest of us. No one said a word for a few seconds until Kaia finally worked up the nerve to speak first.

"...Well. This is it." She looked up at all of us. "As much as we don't want to send you guys off...we have to. But we did want to say goodbye to you all first." She paused. "I...I guess I'll start off just by saying that I couldn't have asked for a better way to spend our summer. I mean, I...You guys have literally made it so amazing; you don't even know. So thank you."

Kathryn nodded, then spoke next. "Yeah. And we love you guys and hope you stay safe when you're with Jesse. Don't go having too many adventures without us." A few of us managed to crack smiles at her joke, but none of us had the heart to laugh. "...I've loved having you around, too. We've been through a lot of shit, but...that'll never take away from the memories I made with you guys," she finished quietly.

There was another short pause before I sucked in a breath and looked up at everyone. "...I can't really say anything else new...I just..." I thought for a minute. "...If there's one thing I want you guys to take away from the time that you've spent with us, just remember that absolutely none of this is your fault. You're all incredible guys that have made my dreams come true by getting to meet you and befriend you, and I'd rather die than let you blame yourselves for this mess." Near the end of my sentence, I felt a small lump growing in my throat. Not trusting my voice to hold for much longer, I said one last thing. "And I won't ever forget you. Ever." I looked down again.

I heard Aragorn speak, always the leader. "And we shall not forget you three. You girls have been blessings to us from the Valar, and have made countless sacrifices letting us live here. We cannot thank you enough." I raised my eyes just in time to catch Aragorn and Legolas both doing the traditional farewell gesture of the elves, and clenched my fists even tighter. No no no no...

There was another pause, and Kaia broke it again. "If no one else has anything to say...we should start packing up the van." There were no objections, so she nodded. "All right. I'm gonna head outside and open it up. Bring your stuff out when you're ready." I looked at her just as she turned away, and the tightness in my chest doubled as I saw a tear or two slip down her face before she quickly wiped at her eyes. God help me, I thought as I turned to find the special thing I'd remembered to bring downstairs with me.

oOo

Kathryn's POV

As Kaia turned away, breaking the stillness that'd been hanging over us, I looked at the three hobbits. "Come here," I said, my voice breaking. They instantly ran to my side, and I crouched down on one knee to wrap them all in a group hug. Squeezing my eyes shut, I cried and sniffled into their shoulders for a bit, and I could hear them doing the same. After getting some of it out of my system, I relaxed my grip just enough so that I could lean back to look at them all. "You guys are the bravest people I've ever known," I choked. "Promise me you'll stay safe no matter what."

"We promise," Merry said.

"As long as you promise that you'll come visit us," Pippin said, tears also rolling down his face.

I nodded, still crying. "I will, I will. I swear. And you have each other, you'll be okay."

"But will you?" Frodo asked. I looked over at him, into those big blue eyes I loved so much.

"I'll give it my best shot," I said quietly. We went back into another hug, crying on each other for another minute or so before I finally, painstakingly let them go. I grabbed the hands of Merry and Frodo, though, still not wanting them to walk away. "I love you guys so much."

"We love y-you too," Pippin said. The others nodded in agreement.

I sniffed again and nodded one last time before reaching behind me and pulling out three small pieces of paper I'd stashed back there. "These are for you," I said. "Something to remember me by until I can come see you again." They were photos of me with all the hobbits, Sam included, from the day we'd gone swimming at the river. We all looked like hot messes, with stringy wet hair, muddy feet, and soaked clothes, but each of us had the biggest smiles on our faces as we all leaned in close together. We were happy. "Keep them safe," I said. "I've got one, too."

This only seemed to shake them even more, especially Frodo. I could see the sadness in his eyes deepen when he looked at Sam. "T-Thank you so much, Kathryn." He threw his arms around me in one last hug; unexpected, but welcome. Merry and Pippin also joined in quickly, and we got a couple more sobs and choked out "thank yous" in before they finally stepped back for the last time.

"Now go," I said, looking over them once more. "Kaia's waiting for you." They nodded, and one by one, turned around to grab their bags and slowly make their way outside. I stood up and watched them go, wiping my eyes as they occasionally glanced behind themselves to wave at me. Once they slipped out, I looked up to see someone else approaching me... A certain redheaded man that I was just as upset to be split up from. As soon as I was within reach, Boromir smothered me with one of his bone-crushing hugs. Fuck, I'm gonna miss those. I cried a bit more as we held each other, both reluctant to ever let go.

When we finally did, I met his gaze. "You'd better take good care of them."

He nodded. "I will. And don't think you have to give me some sort of gift, either."

"I know I don't have to," I said, "but I want to." I grabbed the second small thing I'd prepared from behind me and held it out. "It's not much, but I knew you wouldn't want something too crazy."

Boromir smiled as he held out his wrist for me to slip the thin bracelet around it. It was just a simple twisted pattern of black string with a single silver thread woven into it. "It's perfect," he said with a smile. "Thank you." He was much more calm than I was about the whole deal, but I still saw his smile waver for a moment when I gave him another hug, a few more stray tears seeping out.

When we let go again, I gave him one last halfhearted smile. "Now get out of here, you freak." He smirked and shook his head, chuckling as he turned and left the house.

I exhaled. That was one of the hardest things I've ever done. I wiped at my face a bit more. But now...at least it's done and over with. The worst is behind us, I guess. No longer having anyone to say goodbye to, my eyes wandered over to Erin and Legolas, who also looked like they were about finished with their personal round of tears and hugs.

oOo

Erin's POV

Even after Kaia gave the word for us to split, Legolas remained behind. It was obvious that we weren't just going to go our separate ways without a proper goodbye, but now that we stood in front of each other, neither of us could seem to find the right words to say. And I already knew that I wouldn't be able to get through this without crying, so at this point I was just waiting for that to start.

Finally, Legolas was able to get things moving. "If I had a choice, I would not leave."

I shook my head. "Yeah, I wouldn't have you go either." My voice wavered a bit at the end, and I instantly clamped my mouth shut. I'm so bad at this. I can't even get out a sentence without wanting to cry.

He looked just as upset as I did, though I saw the pain through his eyes more than anywhere else. "Be strong, Erin. You can do this." No...no, I can't... He reached out to touch my shoulder, but I pushed it aside and went straight for a hug instead, wrapping my arms around his torso tightly. Tears began seeping through his shirt as I cried into his shoulder. Oh God...Oh God, here we go...I felt ridiculous and clingy, but I couldn't help it. I was losing a friend. One of the closest friends I'd made recently. This hurt.

After a moment, he stepped back, but still kept his hands cupped around my smaller ones. "Stay safe while I am gone." When I didn't respond, he leaned down a bit to try and look at me better. "Erin? Can you promise me you will do that?"

I looked up then, ashamed for him to see my wet, red, sticky face, especially since he'd barely cried at all. "...Y-Yeah. I'll try my best."

"Good." He smiled a tiny bit, then gently grabbed my shoulder and placed a small kiss on my head, as I knew was customary for elves when they bid a friend farewell.

"I'll miss you," I whispered. He looked at me sadly, but also with a small hint of hopefulness in his eyes, and I studied that perfect shade of blue for as long as I could.

"As will I," he said. "But I do not regret a moment I have spent here. You have taught me so much, Erin. Hannon le."

I managed a small smile. Even with my limited elvish, I knew what that meant. "You're welcome. Don't you dare ever forget about me, Legolas, or I'll jump into Middle-Earth myself and come after you."

He laughed. "I would never dream of it." Slowly backing away, Legolas offered me one last nod. "Na lû e-govaned vîn."

I frowned a bit. That one I didn't know. "Legolas, what-" I started to ask, but he simply shook his head and left. I watched his retreating form as he went off towards the van with his stuff, the realization finally hitting me that they were leaving when I saw the hobbits gathered outside as well. Taking a shaky breath to try and recompose myself, I followed suit. Might as well see them off and catch one last glimpse of them if I can.

oOo

Kaia's POV

"There. That should be everything." I pulled the doors of the van's trunk shut after the last of the Fellowship's bags were thrown inside. "Are you guys just gonna hang on to your weapons in your seats?"

Aragorn nodded from beside me. "As long as it will not cause too much trouble."

I shrugged. "It shouldn't unless we run into the police somehow." There was a short pause before I exhaled and started to walk around to the side of the van. "All right. Get everyone inside." Since I was going to be the one driving the guys over to Jesse's, we figured I could just say my individual goodbyes then in order to get there faster. I saw Erin and Kathryn come out to stand on the porch and called over to them. "I'll be back in awhile!"

They nodded. "Drive safe!" Kathryn shouted back. Boromir emerged from the house with his things and walked over.

"Are you the last one out?" I asked.

He nodded. "I believe so." I yanked open the huge sliding door to let everyone climb inside before running back to the driver's seat and getting situated up there.

I twisted around as the six guys clambered over one another to get themselves organized. Legolas and Boromir were together in the very back row, Frodo, Merry, and Pippin in the center, and Aragorn next to me riding shotgun. "You ready?" They nodded, all with saddened looks on their faces. "...Okay," I said lowly. "Grab the door." Legolas slid out of his seat momentarily to pull the door closed again, and I faced forward, twisting the key in the ignition as I stared ahead anxiously. God damn it. I don't want to do this.

Aragorn sensed my distress and laid a supportive hand on my arm. "Kaia." I looked at him, already dreading the moment I'd be forced to say goodbye to him. He didn't say a word, but his expression told me what I already knew. I had to suck it up and get them out of here anyway.

I sighed for what seemed like the millionth time that day. Fuck it. Let's just get this over with. I twisted around again to watch out the back as I put the van into reverse and started slowly backing out of our driveway, shooting one last glance up at the porch where Erin and Kathryn were giving one last wave goodbye.

Erin's POV

As the van began rolling off of our property, I heard Kathryn speak up beside me. "You know, for as much as I'm gonna miss them, I still feel like we did the right thing...sending them away."

I nodded. "Yeah. Yeah, we did. And honestly, there's nothing stopping us from visiting down there every once and awhile."

"And we got to spend the summer making all kinds of memories with them, too. Memories we can hold onto...forever."

I shot her a look as she dramatically turned to face the sun and spread her arms. "Okay, now you're just trying to turn this into an anime."

"But Erin, my life already is one!" She looked back over her shoulder and winked while kicking up her left foot and giggling like a little schoolgirl.

I just laughed and shook my head. "Next thing you know you'll be running late to your first day of school with bread in your mouth." She laughed too, and we both took that as a cue to head back inside. Once we got through the door, Kathryn plopped down on the couch to watch some TV, but I continued on and headed for the stairs.

She looked at me as I passed her. "You wanna watch something?"

"Maybe in a bit," I replied. "I'm gonna go clean up the studio first. It's a mess." I jogged up to the second floor of the house and followed the familiar twists of the hallway to re-enter the art studio. Flicking on the lights, I looked around and groaned a bit. There were so many materials out of place...which, admittedly, was mostly my fault. Legolas had always been pretty good about putting stuff away... A frown threatened to creep onto my face, so I quickly brushed the thought aside and strode over to the pile of unfinished works next to my desk, picking up the one on top. Oh, this is one of his paintings, too...I guess he never finished it. My lips began to tilt downward as I looked at the canvas. It was a black and white portrait of his father, Thranduil. I'd seen this one in-progress quite often, along with many other works of his that revolved around his home. It hadn't taken me long to realize how homesick he was, but if I ever tried to bring it up, he would refuse to go too in-depth about it.

I looked down at the pile of art pieces again, another one of Legolas' sitting there. I guess I should gather up all his stuff to...do...something with. What am I gonna do with all these, though? I started going around the room, picking up canvases and papers in a range of sizes, some finished and some not. I don't want to just throw them away...that would make them a waste of his time. But keeping them stacked up on my own shelves and racks was only going to take up space and make the room even more cluttered than it already was.

After a couple minutes of searching, I had two small stacks of paintings and drawings put together. Spying a particularly large canvas propped up against the wall in the corner, I ran over and grabbed that, too. However, what was underneath it caught my eye. Oh yeah. I never put all that stuff from our attempt to get them back to Middle-Earth away. Everything was there, the map, the candle, the ring...all of it.

I stared at it longer, setting the painting off to the side. It had been bothering me constantly that I hadn't been able to figure out why our method of sending them home hadn't worked. I was beginning to lose my mind over it. There has to be something...some crucial detail that we're missing. I glanced around again. There was still a lot of stuff for me to put away, but...

…One more crack at solving this mystery couldn't hurt...

oOo

Legolas' POV

For as much as I tried to keep myself composed, my nerves grew with each passing second. The longer the vehicle was moving, the further we were from the house, and I knew that for our plan to work, Boromir and I would have to time things perfectly. We were about ten minutes away from home, which was the amount of time the two of us had agreed to wait before putting our plan into action. Hopefully it would be just enough to give us the distance we would need...

I was pulled from my anxious thoughts via a nudge in the side from Boromir. Looking up, he subtly nodded his head towards the hobbits in front of us, the unspoken question lingering in the air. Should we do this? I met his gaze for a moment, hesitating, then set my jaw and gave a barely distinguishable nod. Yes. We have to. There will be no other chance.

Boromir returned the gesture of approval, then checked to make sure Kaia wasn't paying attention before sneakily reaching up and giving the back of Pippin's shirt collar a tug. That was his cue to play his part and get all of this started. Ai, let this not be a total catastrophe.

A moment later, he spoke up, the only other noise in the car aside from Kaia's faint humming along to a song that was quietly playing on the radio. "Kaia, can we stop somewhere? I need to use the restroom."

Kaia glanced back at him in the rearview mirror. "Yeah, I think there's a convenience store up ahead. We'll stop there. Anyone else need to get out?"

There were a few neutral murmurs from the others, and then Merry spoke. "Can we get some candy at the store?"

She nodded. "Yeah, that's fine. We can all just hop out and grab something, I guess."

I blinked. That certainly hadn't been anticipated, but it fit into our plan rather well. Boromir and I shared a small smile of satisfaction. So far, it seemed like we may have a shot at this after all.

oOo

Erin's POV

I scrolled up to the top of my documented notes again, frowning. What is it? I have to be missing something...but what?

My 'cleaning' had quickly dissolved into me spending more time researching portals to Middle-Earth again, but now I was more determined than ever to find out what that one missing detail was. I glanced at the clock. It was about four forty-five. I've got time. I turned back to my notes, mumbling things aloud to myself as I read. "Oh, what am I missing? For God's sake, this can't be that hard to figure out!" Frustrated, I pushed back from my laptop and turned to face the setup again. The map was in place, the candle, the Ring...everything was exactly the same. And yet something still wasn't right.

Sighing, I closed my eyes and tried to think back on everything the Fellowship had told me about their arrival. "They said they just remembered appearing in our closet...but there's no way they just popped up out of nowhere. There's something missing...something I'm not thinking about..."

oOo

Boromir's POV

I swayed to the side and grasped the seat in front of me as Kaia made a quick turn into the parking lot of the small store. Even after all these months on Earth, I haven't gotten used to that. She parked and swung open her door, sliding out of her seat. "Who else is coming? I don't have that much cash on me, so you can't get anything fancy."

Thankfully, all of the hobbits climbed out of the seats, as did Aragorn. I caught Kaia's attention from the back as she reached to take out the keys. "Can you keep the radio on if we stay here and watch the car?"

She nodded and withdrew her hand. "Yeah. We'll be back in a couple minutes, don't get robbed." With that, she slammed the door shut and followed everyone else inside.

Legolas and I were stone still for several seconds as we watched her retreating form. As soon as the door of the building shut, he looked at me. "Now?"

I nodded. "Now."

Immediately, the two of us began scrambling about, with Legolas heading towards the front of the car and I to the back. We quickly began gathering up all of the possessions belonging to our friends, and once I grabbed the last stray weapon from the hobbits' seat I joined Legolas at the front. "Why did we have to do this part again? We're losing time!"

"This whole plan is ridiculous enough as it is," the elf shot back, quickly beginning to roll down his window. "The least we could do is give them their things back."

I rolled my eyes, but handed my armful of collected weapons and clothes to him anyway, where they were promptly dropped to the pavement outside. "Hurry! They cannot see us!" I was watching them inside the store from here, and could see Merry and Pippin running around to find what they wanted. "Are you done yet?"

"Yes." Legolas quickly rolled his window back up and faced forward.

"And you do remember how to drive, right?"

He looked at me uncertainly. "We shall see."

I was more nervous than ever, but I knew we could not turn back now. "I trust you. Now go!"

The elf nodded, exhaling once to calm himself before grabbing the keys and twisting them in the ignition. The car's engine roared to life, and I looked back up to see if anyone had heard it from inside. ...Oh no. "Legolas, Frodo spotted us. We have to leave now!"

"I am trying, Boromir! Hold on!" He grabbed the steering wheel and pressed his foot on the gas pedal. The car lurched, jolting us both forward before picking up speed and beginning to move. He glanced over at me as we quickly began rolling out of the driveway. "Should we be buckled?"

I twisted around in the seat, watching as Kaia came barreling out of the store, stopping in shock at the sight of us leaving. "Doesn't matter now. We are illegal enough as it is!"

oOo

Kaia's POV

"WHAT THE FUCK?!" I screamed as I ran out of the store. I'd meant to go further, but stumbled to a stop, jaw dropping as I witnessed my own van rolling out of the parking lot and onto the road. My shock quickly turned into rage as I saw Boromir turning around and looking out the back window at us. "BOROMIR? WHAT IN THE NAME OF FUCK ARE YOU DOING?" And why the hell is Legolas driving? Where the shitstain are they going?!

"Kaia?" I looked down at Frodo. "What are they doing?"

"I have no fucking clue!" I shrieked. Then I looked forward again and saw a pile of weapons and other junk laying on the asphalt. "They ditched us! What the hell? They fucking left us here? Are they INSANE?!"

"Why?" Aragorn looked just as confused. "What is going on?"
"I don't know, cause they sure as hell didn't clue me in on their little plan!" I was beyond pissed now. How the hell are we getting home? Why the hell are they leaving suddenly?

"Where are they going?" Merry asked.

"I...I don't-" I ran a hand through my hair, at a loss for words from how mad and caught off-guard I was. And then it hit me. "Oh, those dirty little FUCKS!" I took off running again, my feet slapping the ground as I went.

"KAIA!" I heard Aragorn shout. "Where are you going? What's happening?"

I stopped for a split second by the pile of stuff, picking up my bag and slinging it over my shoulder. "I'm gonna follow them!" I shouted, catching on now. "Those little shits are going back home!" I then pointed to the pile of stuff at my feet. "And you're all coming with me! Grab your shit and run!" Without another word, I raced out of the parking lot, sprinting along the side of the highway as fast as I could. Those little FUCKERS! Oh my God, they're so dead. I'm gonna kill them. I'm gonna wring their necks if they don't die in a car crash first!

A/N: ...Okay, so this chapter ended up being 14 pages total. That's waaaaaaaay too long. The REAL final chapter will be up within a couple minutes, I promise.

(Also, bonus points if you can figure out what that one Elvish phrase Legolas said to Erin means. ;D And MEGA bonus points to those of you who know the person that these last 3 chapter titles quoted.)