Chapter Thirteen Disclaimers: Frodo Baggins and Middle-earth come from J.R.R. Tolkien's book trilogy, The Lord of the Rings. Aslan and Narnia come from C.S. Lewis' book series, The Chronicles of Narnia. Allanon comes from Terry Brooks' book series, Shannara, as well as Terry Brooks, MTV, and Spike's television show, "The Shanarra Chronicles." Father Time is a Legendary Figure. Parker Dooley | Maranguan is my Original Character. Paravane Trepess is my original town. My self-inset is me.

Warning! This chapter is Rated M for sensuality. The pandemic is also mentioned in this chapter.

Chapter Thirteen Summary: Allanon arrives at Father Time's house, creating much disruption for Aria, Frodo, and Father Time. Parker arrives soon after, taking Aria and Frodo to Paravane Trepess' new base, where danger is not too far behind them.

Sorry for the delay. This chapter was tricky to write. It also proved to be a challenge by not working, leading to a full rewrite. :) I still don't know if this chapter will work. Hopefully, it does. :)

That said, enjoy! :)

Chapter Thirteen:

The Hatch

The Druid dismounted, observing his surroundings with a keen eye. It was clear he was here for a reason, but what that reason was remained to be seen. He turned and faced Father Time's house, looking at the three figures that awaited him.

This Druid, Allanon was his name, approached the glass and drywall house. He saw the elderly robed man, standing on the threshold of his house. Two hobbits appeared behind him.

Allanon smirked, recognizing the hobbits. He knew they had a destiny, but one of the Halflings had caused more trouble than she knew. Still, Allanon approached them, keen on meeting them. He wondered what the poor hobbits were doing here, at this hour.

"Forgive me," Allanon spoke up to the elderly man, "are you Father Time?"

The elderly man nodded. "I am he."

"Good," Allanon said in turn, knowing he had come to the right place. "It would seem I have come where I am needed."

Father Time looked at him in wonder. "What brings you here, Allanon?"

Allanon huffed, tilting his head to the side, as if meeting an old friend and enemy, all at the same time. "You forget the Four Lands is in danger, no thanks to you," he turned his head to the two hobbits, cowering behind Father Time, "and to you as well, Frodo and Aria. Although, I trust that Aria has more to do with the madness we just endured."

Frodo shook his head. He came out of the shadows, speaking to Allanon forthwith, "Believe me, I wanted to stop Aria. I did, but she ran to the machine and reset everything! Father Time luckily stopped the damage, I hope."

Allanon breathed deeply. "Yes, that would explain the Void." He spoke, tensely, "Our worlds were all but destroyed, no thanks to her!" He pointed to Aria in fury, knowing she needed to face punishment for nearly destroying everything. He looked at her, saying to her, "You do realize how much trouble you're in. Maybe next time, try not to tamper with anything here again."

Tears welled up in Aria's eyes, threatening to drip down her face and her cheeks. But no tears came rushing out. None at all. She wanted to cry, but that moment passed. Instead, anger boiled up inside her. The kind of anger that would leave anyone mad, after enduring so much pain and trauma. Bitterness became her friend, and yet, she relaxed.

Something was keeping her from bursting out in anger, lashing out at Allanon then and there.

Frodo looked on at Aria, grabbing her hand and squeezing it. So, it was Frodo who was keeping her from yelling, shouting. He was in control, but why?

Aria didn't know she needed this kind of support, until now.

"Calm down," Frodo said, wrapping an arm around her. "It's all right." He leaned in, whispering in her ear, "I would be mad, too, over this. Yes, you reset everything, but even we didn't know the consequences behind what would happen next, when we did this."

"Oh," Aria whispered back, her heart calming down. There was still rage, but it had all but relaxed. Aria turned to him, kissing his left cheek. "Thank you."

Frodo smirked, kissing her right cheek. "You're welcome."

Aria smirked, knowing she was in good hands.

Father Time interjected, pointing to Allanon, "Yes, they were all but destroyed. But I restored everything!"

Allanon breathed deeply. "That you did." He returned his gaze to Aria, telling her, calmly, "But that doesn't excuse you for what you almost did to all of us now, does it?"

Aria paused.

Her gaze turned to Allanon, pointing out to him, "I thought, when I reset everything, that's what everyone wanted: for things to go back to the way they were. Isn't that how most stories are told? The way people want it told? What's so different about this time? Even a decade ago, when I did this? Why am I being punished?"

Father Time spoke up to her, in turn, "Well, you see, when you reset everything, everything did go back to normal. Everything was normal for five years." He raised his hand, before Frodo protested, "Well, a decade passed in Middle-earth for Frodo. Time passed in all worlds. Time is tricky to figure out. Narnia runs on a different time, too. So, you're not alone, Frodo." He chuckled, "Yes, everyone was happy. Well, that's not true. Not everyone was happy. Some did things they would regret. But most were happy. With you, with the way everything was going."

Allanon sneered. "Yes. Bandon did some things in the Alternate Timelines. I caught him only too late. He, too, caused chaos for us."

"Yes, he did," Father Time stated, serious now. "I remember what he did."

He sighed, pausing where it was needed.

He closed his eyes, opening them a moment later, as he turned to Frodo, Aria, and Allanon once more.

He had more to say. "However, we only had five years of normalcy. After the fifth year, in 2019 A.D.—Aria's timeline—everything changed, again. That was the time Aria came to the pocket world, Paravane Trepess, right in the Unending Forest. I trust that is the time when Frodo arrived at the town, entering Swan Tavern. You could say that, after your spiritual awakenings," he looked to Frodo and Aria, "you would think things wouldn't be different after those five years."

He added, before Frodo could interject, "Yes! Time passed for you two outside and within your designated spots—the Sith Temple for you, Aria, and the Swan Tavern for you, Frodo. But while you two were there, another version of you," he pointed to Aria, "endured something tragic. For it was a pandemic beyond measure. While you weren't on your world, around this time, you were still affected with what your other self was going through."

He sighed, "Yes, I saw it. I'm Father Time. I can see these things happening across all worlds. So, how does it explain the situation we're in, in this Universe? Well, on our end, things turned bad, too. The settings you left on the machine proved drastic. The machine took it literally, when you set it to reset everything. All the worlds were nearly destroyed when I found out what happened. I reset the machine to where it's supposed to be. The worlds are restored. Time moved again. All is well." He smiled, hopeful his story came across well.

Allanon folded his arms. He looked at Father Time, hopeful to reach an audience with him. "And this is why I have come: to observe your machine, to see what I can do to stop the upcoming Final Battle, soon to ensnare us all." He paused, adding, "I'm not sure what it will bring, but the odds of us all surviving are very slim." A green-rimmed portal opened up, right as he went on talking to the trio, "Yes, not all of us will make it out of the Final Battle alive. Of this, I am certain."

"Huh?" Frodo asked, turning his gaze from Allanon to the swirling portal. Out from it came a beloved light red dragonoid, someone Frodo missed within the day and night he was at Father Time's house with Aria. "Parker? Parker Dooley! You're here!" Frodo asked, leaping into the air, and rushing towards the light red dragonoid. Frodo towed Aria along with him, as they met up with the light red dragonoid.

Parker was glad to see them, too.

"Hullo again!" Frodo asked, embracing the light red dragonoid.

Parker chuckled, happy to see him, too. "Frodo, please!"

Allanon looked to Father Time, pressing at him, "I need to speak with you. There's memories I need to discuss. Time is not on our side, nor is it for them," he said, glancing over at Frodo, Aria, and Parker, as the trio embraced each other.

"Hmm? Oh yes! At once." Father Time insisted, guiding Allanon inside. "Yes, we have much to discuss."

"Hmm. What about them? Should we tell them what is to become of them, if they do leave this realm alone?" Allanon pressed the matter, getting his attention.

"Hmm. I think you're right!" Father Time said, turning from Allanon to Frodo, Aria, and Parker, "You three are free to leave, but you should know, you'll be back in my realm soon enough. There's no escaping this realm. So, if you try to leave this realm alone, well, you may find danger is on the way, should you disobey this order and go alone."

"Huh? What's that mean?!" Aria cried, fuming.

Frodo shushed her. "Shh! Aria. I'm sure nothing bad will happen to us, should we leave this realm alone." He calmed down, saying to her as he took her hand. "Now, come on. We should leave."

"Right. Yes, we should. Back to base then," Parker stated, heading towards the swirling portal. He gestured to Frodo and Aria, for which the couple joined him. "You ready? This way! You two first!"

"Aria, you go first," Frodo said, gesturing to Aria to enter the portal.

Aria hesitated. She let go of Frodo's hand. As she neared the portal, the wind picked up, blowing Aria's hair back, leaving her in a state of confusion.

She looked at Frodo, who nodded to her.

Aria sighed, taking a deep breath, before entering the portal. She looked back at the portal as Frodo joined her on her left, and then Parker on her right.

When the trio looked at the portal, it vanished, leaving them in a grand war room, polished and with its technology updated. As well as an etched carving of the Great Lion Aslan, whose carving moved about the walls to see what was going on within this war room.

Aria took note of the dark purple carpet, garnishing the war room's floor. It was the one detail she noticed on this end of the war room, while large, grey metallic tiles lined the rest of the floor. She turned her head towards one of the tiles opening up, revealing a hatch, from which one of the base's workers came out, before heading back down the hatch.

She turned away, even as she spotted three more tiled hatches scattered about the war room.

Aria…

Come here…

Aria faced the hatch that had just closed. A plant-like voice called out to her from there. Reaching out to her. Whatever it was wanted her attention.

She started towards the hatch, curious to see what was down there. All thoughts drowned out the second she approached it. Her mind was still, just from staring at the hatch's door.

Aria, open the hatch…

Open the hatch, Aria! Let us see you!

Aria closed her eyes, hoping the plant-like voices would stop. Instead, the plant-like voices continued to perpetrate her mind, their fragrant scent wafting up her nostrils. She opened the hatch, unaware of what she had done.

The moment Aria opened her eyes, a slimy, green, plant-like arm stretched forth out of the hole's darkness. It wrapped around her waist, squeezing down on her, just as the vine pulled her right into the hole.

The hatch door closed on its own, keeping everyone in the war room dazed. By the time Frodo's senses returned, Aria had vanished.

How was that?

Next chapter, we'll see if my self-insert escapes the vines. Also, we'll see what other new discoveries Frodo and my self-insert will find at Paravane Trepess' new base. :)

Thanks for reading. More to come. :)

~Aria Breuer