Chapter Fourteen Disclaimers: Frodo Baggins comes from J.R.R. Tolkien's book trilogy, The Lord of the Rings. The Plant Monsters come from the Learning Company's "The ClueFinders 6th Grade Adventures: The Empire of the Plant People." Parker Dooley | Maranguan and Syrena are my Original Characters. My self-insert is me.

Chapter Fourteen Songs: "A Symphonic Tragedy," a song by DIANNE, featuring Arjen Lucassen.

Warning! This chapter is Rated M for sensuality, nudity, and rape. This chapter is also self-indulgent.

Chapter Fourteen Summary: Aria is dragged into a cavernous room, by the vine who captured her. As Aria is played with by the vines, she meets a familiar face, with devastating consequences.

So, the vines just made their first introduction to the Long Series. This chapter can get self-indulgent and has sensual content in it, too. Just thought everyone should be aware of this.

Anyway, let's continue the story. :)

Chapter Fourteen:

Captured

Frodo looked around the war room, heart set on finding Aria.

Before he reached the hatch, Parker grabbed his right arm, stopping Frodo in his tracks. Frodo met the light red dragonoid's gaze, annoyed with him.

"No," Parker stated, stopping Frodo, "let her go. When she returns," he said, referring to Aria, "she'll be changed. She'll be different, but… changed."

"How? I can't just leave her down there…"

Parker tightened his grip on Frodo's right arm, restraining the poor hobbit from exploring the hatch, "…you can and you must. If you go down there, what would be the point? This is Aria's test. Let her do this. And you work on yourself. It's how we escape this mess." He released Frodo's right arm, leaving Frodo seething.

"Okay," Frodo stated, annoyed again. "But she better be alive. If she's not…"

"…she will," a white-standard unicorn, Syrena was her name, interjected, "Just trust her to do this. It's what you wanted, remember?"

Frodo smirked. "After Aria and I merged, this is what I dreamed would happen. Vines that is. Oh no! What have I done?" He chuckled, knowing then Aria was in danger.

~o~

The vine's arm dragged Aria further down the hole.

The darkness was everywhere.

Aria struggled to break free. The more she fought, the stronger the vine's grasp over her became. And the less strength Aria felt. Tiredness ensued, casting a sleep spell over Aria's eyes as well as her brain.

Stop fighting us!

You'll only sap your strength.

Aria did, feeling herself relax, as the vine's arm surprisingly loosened its grip over her a little. For a moment, slime creeped off from the vine's arm and onto Aria's waist. No. The slime tickled her waist, bringing her healing juice over her waist. She sighed, feeling strength again.

She turned her head up, away from the vine's arm, as she was pulled through the air by the vine further down the hole.

It had been several feet underground and still there was no exit.

Aria looked up to see if there was a ladder she could use to climb back up. No way! The ladder stopped after a time, while the hole continued its descent.

Aria gulped. She wasn't getting out of here easily.

"No! No, no, no! STOP!" Aria said, as the vine tightened its grip over her.

For a moment, the ground was near. The light was there but it was bioluminescent and glowing in a golden glow. But what awaited at the bottom of the hole was a sight to see!

Vines were planted on the bottom of the hole. Vines with no pods, slithering under and over each other. And they were many, in the colors browns and greens, and some in-between.

Before Aria thought the vine holding onto her would drop her, at the bottom of this hole, the vine proceeded to snake its way to the bottom of the hole, turning to its right down a long tunnel. The tunnel led to an extravagant cave. A brown stone room, filled with only vines and their plant-like arms.

Some vines were massive, while others were smaller and some were newborn.

The vine's arm wrapped around Aria's waist steadily stopped in the centermost part of the cavernous room. Right where the vine's arm was planted.

As the vine's arm halted, Aria noticed how fast the light dimmed. The second the light dimmed, however, she felt slimy, plant-like arms slither up her clothes, moving underneath her clothes, and even ripping them off her. The vine's arm wrapped around her waist allowed the vines to expose her.

By the time the vines were done with her, Aria shivered. Her only coverings were the vines, who slithered throughout her body, stopping on places to support her body. They soon thrust themselves upon her, making her moan for a moment as they toyed with her.

That was when Aria heard them.

The vines and their voices, whispering in her ear, covering her up with their plant-like arms.

She's the one!

How do you know?

Humph. She and that hobbit… they're the ones to set us free!

Free? Huh. How fascinating.

Freed? Oh please! They cannot set us free… how will we stay down here with the workers?

Convince them!

Yes, convince them… and we will stay with you always, Aria…

We know you like us vines… yes, you do…

Aria didn't know what was happening to her. She looked around at the cavernous room.

The lights flourished.

She looked down at the vines, scattered all throughout her body. Out from underneath the vines, Aria felt her clothes return to her body, almost like magic. But there was a slight difference: the vines, they were slithering within her clothes, always underneath her clothes, as if they were a part of her now. Slithering over her skin, all while keeping her clothes on.

It was so weird, yet comforting.

Aria's gaze met the floor. The vines descended her down to the cavernous floor, from which she was met by a familiar figure: the hobbit, Frodo Baggins.

No way! How did he find her down here?

Frodo grabbed her hand, just as she came right down. He smirked at her, as the vines flew underneath Aria's clothes. "Had your fun?"

"Oh, stop it!" Aria said, slugging Frodo's arm. Frodo giggled, moving a little back, before pulling her in.

"Oh, come here!" Frodo stated, giving Aria a fair kiss on the lips. He released her, allowing Aria to feel his plant tickles against her cheek.

Wait. Plant tickles?

Aria gazed up, spotting a growing vine with lush, light green leaves atop Frodo's head. No! Aria just kissed a vine!

She shoved him back, only for Vine-Frodo to grab her and wrap her in his arms. She couldn't believe she just kissed a vine. Then she recalled how plant monsters were able to shapeshift into whoever they wanted to be.

The ClueFinders. Of course! Good call.

Still, that didn't explain how Aria was to escape from the vines, let alone Vine-Frodo. However, Vine-Frodo quickly sprouted a massive vine, taking her in tow through the air and back up the hole, from which the hatch door was closed.

"Wait. What are you doing? Frodo's up there!" Aria cried, biting her lip at mentioning Frodo.

Vine-Frodo chuckled. "Oh, I know. You didn't have to tell us. We know whose up there," he spoke in Frodo's voice, but more plant-like. He smirked, gazing at her, as he opened the hatch door. "We know you care about him. You proved that to us."

"What?" Aria asked, gazing back at Frodo, standing by the holoterminal, along with Parker Dooley and the unicorn Syrena.

The moment Frodo looked at Aria in shock and horror, Vine-Frodo intercepted, "And now, we have you both. As was planned eons ago."

"What's he talking about?" Frodo asked, looking quite confused. He stared, stunned and admiring his vine self. "You? You're me? How?"

"Well, we know she belongs to you," Vine-Frodo said, bringing Aria over to Frodo. Frodo grabbed Aria, wrapping her in his arms. However, Vine-Frodo kept on staring at them. He turned to Frodo, telling him, "And now, you're ours."

"What?" Frodo and Aria asked in unison.

It was too late. Vine-Frodo cackled, drawing upon the plants for support, as he quickly turned into a vine. The vine dived into Frodo's heart, leaving Frodo staggering, as the vine vanished within his chest. Frodo collapsed on the floor, still holding Aria in his arms.

Aria apologized, as Frodo looked at her now, "Frodo, I'm sorry. I thought that vine was you! Well, it was you, but the vines shapeshift. I thought that only happened in movies and video games. What is going on?"

"Shh!" Frodo shushed her, pressing his hand against her cheek, while keeping an arm wrapped around her back. "Relax. I know it was you. I know what the vines did to you. They've been after me for a while now. Who knew they wanted you, too? And now, they have us. They won't let us go. Not so easily as you might think."

"What does that mean?" Aria asked, right as Frodo rested his head against the floor, cackling softly.

"Well, they wanted to escape the basement. Well, they got what they wanted. I trust they'll always be with us. Literally in me, and over you." Frodo smiled at her, chuckling as he collapsed, his eyes closing, but he was breathing normally. He still held Aria in his arms, while he slept, keeping a good firm grip over her back.

Aria rested her head against Frodo's chest, finding his breathing soothing. His body temperature was rather hot to the touch. The last thing she heard was Parker wrapping a warm blanket over her and Frodo, not wanting to move them, for fear the vines might do something to either of them.

Syrena simply stated, "And now, we wait. Hopefully, everything will turn out okay for them."

Parker sighed, nodding with her, "Let's hope you're right." He looked on at Frodo and Aria as they slept, hoping their transformation went well for them.

How was that?

The vines have been on my mind for months now. The reason they're in this story now is to introduce them, for when they do show up in my fanfic series, The Long Series – Version 2. This happens to be their origin story. :)

Next chapter, hopefully, we'll get to Frodo and my self-insert exploring the base, as well as how Frodo and my self-insert cope with their newfound plant powers. We'll see. :)

Thanks for reading. More to come. :)

~Aria Breuer