Chapter Eighteen Disclaimers: Frodo Baggins comes from J.R.R. Tolkien's book trilogy, The Lord of the Rings. Aslan comes from C.S. Lewis' book series, The Chronicles of Narnia. Kat'ka is my original scarred lioness character. My self-insert is me.

Chapter Eighteen Song(s): "Jumanji" 1995 version's song, "Prologue and Main Title." "Star Wars: The Old Republic" song, "Beautiful Destruction."

Warning! This chapter is Rated M for sensual themes.

Chapter Eighteen Summary: Frodo arrives at the Alternate Timelines, only to find out it's exactly as Father Time said it would be. There, Frodo meets up with the Kat'ka, the scarred lioness who was once Coral. They soon discuss past and current events, leaving Frodo wondering what became of Aria and our world, with fiction leaving the worlds behind.

Sorry for the delay. This is another chapter that was tricky to write. Fortunately, it was faster to write this chapter. So, that's good. :)

I will admit, Frodo figures things out in this chapter. He's a slow thinker again, but he's learning. :)

Also, given how my self-insert is back on our world, and with the way some events took place here recently, I thought I might as well show another future on our world with this part of the fanfic. So, it's another dystopian world again, our world, but it's something.

That said, enjoy. :)

Part III

Chapter Eighteen:

The Alternate Timelines

Frodo squinted his eyes. As soon as he fell out of the mirror portal, he landed on the lush, dark green, grassy ground, complete with its dark brown soil and small pebbles to boot. He couldn't recall the last time he ever stopped falling, after leaving portals. There were many times, he could recall when he did that, and always he somehow got back up on his feet again.

This time, the weight in his heart was extreme. He never felt a pain so grand before.

He recalled his conversation with Aria, before they parted ways. He felt like a jerk to her, but at the same time, he knew her bones were weak. There was a weakness there he quite understood would hold them back from questing. It was a problem he needed Archangel Raphael to heal, as steadily as possible, but maybe quickened, too.

Aria's right shoulder injury proved that to Frodo, and now he wanted to heal her bones, so she would be fit to travel with him. Going on lots of adventures with him. Yeah, it sounded blissful.

He hoped he could convince Aria of this, of why he was wary of her going questing with him.

"Ahh!" Frodo let out a piercing cry, his hand grasping his chest. His heart raced inside his chest, beating erratically.

He felt Aria sink further and further into reality, leaving fantasy and fiction behind.

Oh no! What if Aria dived too far deep into reality? Had anyone crossed that far? What would become of her? Now, he needed to find her, to get her to come back home with him! His home, where their friends and family were, as well as their loved ones, who cherished them.

Surely, he could do that, before it was too late. He sighed. He was running out of time to think about this. And not much time to do it.

Frodo at last came to, came to his senses. His heartbeats slowed, returning back to normal, as he realized what he had done to Aria, to his beloved woman who stole his heart and pierced it ever so gently. He observed his surroundings: spotting two camps, not too far away from where he sat, along with a vast forest, a desert beyond the forest, and a huge cliff-face, not too far away from the desert and the forest.

Oh no! Frodo recognized this place. He knew where he was, and that was what scared him.

"Home again," Frodo said, staring at the familiar locations he had been to years before, and foresaw coming back to this place. He huffed, daring to go further, "Well, no stopping now. Where is everybody?" He trudged on, not knowing what dangers lurked ahead.

~o~

The Evenshire Campsite no longer felt the same.

All the red and gold banners, representing the Great Lion, Aslan, had either been deserted or tattered. The tents were emptied, all except a few. But even then, the heroes that were here kept themselves hidden or ran away from the campsite.

Frodo recognized the red and gold tents. He knew them all too well. How long ago had it been since he'd been here? Years, it seemed. So much had changed, since the archery training and melee combat training, he had been so carefully involved with, all thanks to Aslan's bold claims towards him.

As Frodo walked down the dirt road, he followed the trail over to a group of scarred lions and lionesses, all feeding on their latest kill. He so longed to go near them, but he had no idea if they turned rogue, feral, or somewhere in-between.

Well, maybe he should try to, at least, talk with one of them, see what they had to say about all this:

"Hullo all!" Frodo asked the scarred lions and lionesses aloud, alerting them to his presence. "Do you remember me?" The scarred lions and lionesses snarled, hungry eyes facing him. Frodo proceeded to prod them, in hopes of finding a familiar face among this group. "It's Frodo. I'm Frodo Baggins. Don't you eh... remember me?"

All at once, the scarred lions and lionesses steadily walked towards him. They growled and snarled deep, low growls. They licked their mouths, ready for a meal.

A hobbit meal, no doubt.

All at once, the first younger scarred lioness approached Frodo. She gazed at him with warm affection, before pushing her large paw right on his chest. All at once, she pushed him to the ground, back-first, pinning him there and not letting him go.

Frodo struggled to get out of this scarred lioness' grasp, but it was too late. There was no getting out for him. No escape at all!

"Wha—What? You..." Frodo gazed at the scarred lioness' face. His eyes widened, recognizing her instantly. "Kat'ka? Kat'ka! It's me, it's Frodo! Don't you remember me?"

The scarred lioness cringed at the sound of her name. She growled low, releasing him at once, as she and the scarred lions and lionesses formed a wide circle around the hobbit.

Frodo stood up, knowing he was surrounded. But also knowing that he had no chance of escaping this pack of lions.

He looked at them all in wonder, asking them, "Eh... can any of you talk? Hullo?"

One by one, the scarred lions and lionesses chuckled, turning and walking away without another word. Even an elder lioness gazed up at him coyly. She laughed, as she proceeded to walk throughout the campsite in search of food.

The scarred lioness who responded to him, Kat'ka was her name, approached him now, keen on meeting him. She sniffed him, taking in his scent, before nudging her head down to his chest.

Frodo chuckled, unsure what was going on. "Okay! Okay. I see you're still a friendly sort." He petted her head, hearing her gentle purrs as they caressed one another with fond affection. "Do you know where Sera went?"

That made the scarred lioness pause. Kat'ka observed him now with wandering eyes, searching his own eyes for any sign of deceitfulness and coyness.

Frodo's smirk vanished. Something was wrong. "Kat'ka, what exactly happened here? Why has everyone in this reality, in these Alternate Timelines, gone rogue or are missing? Or gone feral? Kat'ka, what's going on?"

Kat'ka shrugged, staring at him with such fond affection.

At last, she spoke. Her voice trembling, "You really don't want to know. It's turned into a zoo here. The Darkness... it's everywhere."

"The... the Darkness?" Frodo asked, cautious. "I thought the Darkness was kept at bay, a long time ago?" He walked with her now, joining her on the edge of camp. From where he stood, he glimpsed, witnessing thunderous dark grey clouds in the mere distance. Purple lightning shot throughout these dark clouds.

Kat'ka observed him, telling him, "It explains a lot! The Darkness is responsible for the Alternate Timelines devastation. After Aria fled the scene years ago, at Father Time's house, the Darkness has been festering. It's keeping those of us who are left in these Timelines hidden. It's no wonder you couldn't find us in the Original Timelines."

She gazed at the Darkness, keen on resolving this madness. "If we don't find a way to contain this Darkness from spreading, it'll leak out into other worlds, your timelines, our Original and Parallel Timelines. Total Darkness spreads. Something like this hasn't been around since before God created the Heavens, before he created the physical worlds, including Earth."

She paused, admitting to him. "We must stop it, or we're in for some devastating times."

Frodo sighed, devastated.

He lowered his head, thinking of what he just did. To Aria, to let her do all of this chaos. It was his fault as well as her fault.

He had to do something. He had to resolve this.

"I didn't stop Aria. I know I should have." He shrugged, right as Kat'ka looked at him in wonder.

Kat'ka sighed, telling him, "It's not your fault. This task must be done by Aria alone. For it was Aria who entered the cylindrical machine Father Time owns. She must do this herself. No one else can interfere. You understand that, don't you? This must be her job. To fix everything, she must do this herself."

She sighed a second time, admitting to him, "And then we'll lose her again. Such is her fate, as it should be."

Frodo glared at the dark green, grassy ground in fury.

Just like that, sacrifice a life barely lived for the sake of others living full, happy lives? What kind of curse was this?

"No," Frodo stated, getting her attention.

"I'm sorry," Kat'ka asked, facing him.

Frodo looked at her now, determination filling his eyes, "You would risk a life barely lived, just so others can lead full, happy lives? Since when are we sacrificing lives that never got the chance to live? It's wrong, Kat'ka!"

Kat'ka shrugged. "For the good of all, one of us must do this."

"But she's barely lived!" Frodo told her, complaining about it. His voice cracked, not enduring this for another second. "She's hardly been given instructions on life. I can feel her thoughts. I know exactly what she's going through. And yet, everyone wants her to be alone and then not when she is alone. Tell me I'm missing something here." He folded his arms, contemplating this.

Kat'ka shrugged, quite contemplative, "Why do you care for her? One minute, you're agreeing with Casses, and then the next..."

"...I only agreed with Casses before because I thought I was doing the right thing. Here I thought Aria would remain a cripple, until I figured it out," Frodo stated, annoyed at her. He looked on at the dark storm clouds, saying to her, "If there's a way to keep her right shoulder healed, while she travels, then maybe we have a chance of sending Aria back here. Back at home. To our home worlds, Kat'ka. You know this. Not even Casses could prevent that."

Kat'ka lowered her head in shame, tears threatening to leave her eyes. She admitted, "Well, she has had people controlling her, Aria I mean. It won't be easy to retrain Aria's mind, to get her away from there."

She added, annoyed, "The consequences for traveling to Aria's world now, at this point, is not going to be one of fiction, let alone fantasy." She shrugged, heartbroken. "What we're dealing with over on Earth now is reality and non-fiction. Technology's not even there! Technology has been wiped out. It's like Earth suddenly went back in time, to when there wasn't technology."

Frodo nodded, rubbing his chin with his index finger. "What about books? Surely, there's fiction books around, in every genre, no doubt. Surely, Earth didn't take those out."

Kat'ka shook her head. "I already told you: it's non-fiction and reality. Modern-Day Earth took out just about every genre. Every last one, with the exception of the Bible and non-fiction books." She sighed, horrified. "I can't imagine what everyone is going through. This is not an isolated issue." She looked at him, saying to him, "You won't like it there. Trust me."

Frodo nodded. "So, it's become a dystopian world then. Where can I find her, Aria? And how do you know all this?"

Kat'ka paused, sighing in defeat. "Because we have a holoterminal that still works over here."

"A holoterminal?" Frodo asked, following the scarred lioness down the road, back into camp. "You didn't tell me one is here! That's amazing!"

Kat'ka smirked as they walked. "Yes, it's been quite useful. It has portals and everything. We even connected to the Portal Realm, where the Final Battle is said to take place soon." She sighed, admitting, "But we don't have much time to waste."

She looked at the nearest holoterminal, from which the rest of the scarred lions and lionesses were gathered.

Frodo joined them, finding himself face to face with a cylindrical machine, with portals opened up and closing on their own. He looked in wonder, now knowing how to get Seraphina out of these Alternate Timelines, and how to find Aria.

"Can this take me directly to Aria?" Frodo asked, curious now.

Kat'ka huffed. "We'll take you to the city, near her home. In this alternate Earth timeline, Aria won't be in the same place she was before. Those five years she spent there changed her. She has a job. She has a life now that's not real. She's... spiritually asleep again. It's hard to explain. I'm sure you'll find out soon enough."

"Wait. Where exactly are you sending me?" Frodo asked, as the scarred lions and lionesses pressed a dark grey button on the holoterminal, revealing a portal in the cylindrical machine that showed New York City.

Frodo stared at the city in horror. It didn't look like it did before. "No! No, no, no! That's New York! Why is it like that now?"

Kat'ka breathed in, raging at him so calmly. "I already told you. It's a dystopian Modern-Day Earth. Nothing feels real there when it's said it's real. Just something to keep in mind."

She gave him some hope, some encouragement. "Good luck, Frodo. Do let us know telepathically when you've found Aria. Then we can solve this mystery of the Alternate Timelines together."

"Right. Thank you, Kat'ka, for everything," Frodo stated, drawing himself closer to the portal.

Kat'ka shrugged. "Don't thank me yet, but do thank me when you've found Aria."

Frodo shrugged, nodding to her. "I will. Thanks." He stepped through the portal, unsure what he was going to find, as soon as he entered New York City.

Chapter Eighteen Outro Song(s): Disney's Enchanted song, "True Love's Kiss."

.x.

How was that?

Yeah, I think it may have been sometime between 2021 – 2022 that people started having issues with fiction. It explains why this story went in the direction it did, to give us a glimpse of this particular future. So, it's another possibility for the future of this world.

Next chapter, we'll explore if Frodo finds my self-insert, but yeah, writing about my self-insert being spiritually asleep again comes from my spiritual growth being stunted around 2022 – 2023. Not fun. So, this is another factor that will be shown here. So, ongoing issues are arising again, if a little bit different this time.

This fanfic just goes by experiences I went through so far. So, it's different for a fanfic, but unique. I still can't believe all the trauma I went through so far.

But anyway, thanks for reading. More chapters to come. :)

~Aria Breuer