Chapter Twenty-One Disclaimers: Frodo Baggins and Sméagol | Gollum come 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. Father Time is a Legendary Figure. The Realm of Darkness comes from Disney and Square Enix's video game series, "Kingdom Hearts." My self-insert is me.

Chapter Twenty-One Inspired Song(s): The Realm of Darkness ambient music for "Kingdom Hearts."

Chapter Twenty-One Summary: Frodo and Aria arrive in the Realm of Darkness, where Aria meets her fate.

This chapter was quick to write. :) So much goes on in this chapter. And as promised, my self-insert is about to meet her fate. So, it was a little hard to write it, but we made it. :(

That said, enjoy. :)

Chapter Twenty-One:

In the Realm of Darkness

The second Frodo came out of the dark portal, he saw nothing but darkness. Pitch-black darkness, with no end in sight. There was hardly any light here, for this place was nothing but a shroud of darkness.

Of course, it had a name. It was called the Realm of Darkness. Fitting name for this place, but it wasn't without landmass, which showered itself in its own bright light, as he found out minutes later.

It was here where Frodo found Aria rushing off into the distance. He chased her, not wanting to lose her. And so, he chased her, eventually catching up to her awful fast and wrapping his arms around her waist, stopping her in her tracks.

Aria fought him, wanting to break free! Only Frodo held her tighter, not letting her go.

"Where do you think you're going all by yourself?" Frodo said, struggling to keep her in his arms. "It's no use! You'll get yourself lost."

"Let go!" Aria squirmed to get away from him. "You'll just abandon me again!"

Frodo shook his head, telling her, "No. Haven't we done enough of that?"

That stopped Aria. She sagged in his arms, feeling the weight of her internal wounds again. Even the vines attached to her body seemed to know when to cling to her, to comfort her, to not let her go.

Aria sighed. She looked at Frodo, telling him, "We both could get lost down here, stuck in eternal darkness. How would we get out, before one of us fades away from existence? Lost to the winds of darkness?"

An eerie dread, a chill of stifled wonder, clouded Frodo's vision. For a second, he nearly believed it. It was then he released her, at which she turned directly to him.

"We're both going to get lost down here! But I do recall something Father Time said to me long ago, shortly after I got home the first time. He said to me, 'in order for my machine to be fixed, we must find its sister.' It's down here somewhere. I must have switched it on when I messed with Father Time's machine, somewhere above us," Aria explained, fast.

Frodo sighed, breathing steadily. He gazed at Aria, knowingly, as he held her in his arms. He moved a lock of hair away from her eyes, smirking at the ground and then her, "Then we find it. Although, I may know where to look for it. Father Time had a map on the wall, right next to his front door. It was the Realm of Darkness. There was this beach, and his machine's sister is somewhere on that beach. We need to find it, if we're to get out of here. Of course, there's danger here! We can only stay down here for so long."

Aria nodded, determination filling her eyes. "Then let's find it." She extended her hand down to him, "Are you with me? Are you ready?"

Frodo looked at her hand, smirking at her the second he looked up, "You seem so brave." He raised his head, facing her now, "Since when is that possible?"

Aria shrugged. "I don't know. It just came to me. Are you ready? It's a one-way trip."

Frodo took her hand, kissing it. He looked at her now, nodding to her, "Oh, I know what you mean." He smirked, saying to her as he leaned in close to her, "Let's go." With a quick jerk, Frodo led Aria down the dark path through the Realm of Darkness.

~o~

The dark path wound for hours. For what felt like hours. Frodo lost track of the time. Just by holding Aria's hand, Frodo felt warmth in the dark depths. Peace and love, as well as hope. For it was in the enshrouding darkness that he could find such light.

If he lost that light now, he wouldn't know what to do.

He turned to Aria, feeling the weight of her burden. There was so much loss in her eyes, so much suffering. He couldn't bear the thought of someone struggling as much as he was, if not as worse as he was, as if he ever felt any such pain in so long.

He squeezed Aria's hand, reminding her of that hope, too.

Aria smirked at him, as they walked, feeling the beach growing ever so closer.

"Ehh!" Aria squealed, jumping a little while holding Frodo's hand.

Out of the darkness came a gangly creature. Pale, too thin for any human to live by, or hobbit for that matter. For this gangly creature was once a hobbit, who was now playing with a butterfly over by the beach, from which the bright moonlight held its gaze.

"Is that... Sméagol?" Aria asked, extending her index finger and pointing at the gangly creature. "Gollum, I mean, too. What's happened to him?"

Frodo turned to where Aria was staring. There he was: Sméagol, looking as though he just sprang up from Mount Doom to either seek revenge or peace. Both, probably. It was all he could do to keep himself together.

Frodo faced Aria, admitting to her, "He's a ghost. The memories we hold of people and creatures long past, they are ghosts down here. The darkness must have known that for the longest time. This is the villains' home, and we're but guests here. Shadows of memories of the light. For you are my shadow, Aria, as I am your light. I cannot forget you, not so easily. We've come a long way."

Aria gazed longingly at the beach, understanding what the shadows meant.

Frodo caught a glint of gold down the beach.

He turned his head up, spotting the same cylindrical machine Father Time owned in his realm. It was his machine's sister. So, there were twin machines in these realms!

Frodo nodded, getting Aria's attention. "We found it. The machine."

"What?" Aria asked, cheering up upon seeing the machine. Once again, it couldn't fit that many people inside, but Frodo ran up to it first and opened the door for them. Aria gazed at him, curious as to what might happen next.

Frodo extended his hand down to her, asking her, "What do you think? Another round of this machine? Well, it's sister. We'll do it together, right?"

Aria looked at him, nodding. "Yes," she took his hand, stepping up on the metallic silver steps. She smiled at him, saying to him, "Yes, we will do this."

"Together," Frodo and Aria said in unison, stepping inside the machine together.

Frodo closed the door, leaving them both crowded inside the machine, from which there were so many buttons nestled on the control panel. Along with levers and pulleys. But which buttons should they push? Much to their surprise, like the other cylindrical machine, there were clocks in here, too, and numbers.

It was only a matter of finding the right switches and pressing them, as well as pulling them.

Frodo grabbed a book, helping Aria with the controls. "This goes here, and that one... then there's that one. This whole thing is in reverse to what you did the second time we were over by this machine. But which is... this? There! Got it!"

He paused, admiring their handiwork.

The machine came to life, reversing the damage done. On a video screen nearby, which climbed down to show them Father Time's realm, Father Time gazed at his cylindrical machine, finding the damage had been fixed for sure this time. The Original, Parallel, and Alternate Timelines were all there, healing ever so carefully.

Father Time smirked, saying to Frodo and Aria from the video screen, in his cylindrical machine, "By jove, you did it! Well done, the both of you! The worlds and universes should be restored. And oh, there's access to the Void, from where the Realm of Darkness is."

He pointed out to them, as Frodo and Aria cheered, "Yes, yes, yes. That's great, good news everyone! Now, just get out of there, stand on the beach, and you both should be fine!" He turned to Aria, shaking his head. "I will see you soon, yes?" He turned the video screen off on his end, applauding them both for their efforts.

Frodo smirked, cheering Aria on, too, "Good job! We did it! We can go home now!" He paused. Aria didn't say anything. "Aria?" Frodo asked, facing her.

Only he saw Aria grasping the metallic rail inside the cylindrical machine. Something was wrong! Aria was fading.

"Aria? No! Not again. Aria!" Frodo pressed, holding her as best he could. "No, no, no! What can I do?"

"Frodo," Aria turned and faced him, as she faded. She looked at him, calm, but teary-eyed, "it's okay. We did it. I guess when we repaired the damage, my work is done. It's done. You get to go home. I'll be okay. I promise."

Frodo looked at her, fresh tears about to leave his eyes. He grabbed her hand, almost transparent now, and kissed it. "I can't just leave you down here."

Aria murmured to him, smiling at him. "I'll be okay. It's fine. We'll make it home together. One day. One day, I'll be free. For now, I'll talk to Parker Dooley, tell him everything. That would... be all right." She became more transparent, her body leaving her surroundings. "I love you, Frodo. Remember that. Remember me when you can. Goodbye." A bright light shrouded her. She vanished in the darkness, leaving Frodo clinging to the railing, weeping.

He had released her hand the moment the bright light made it vanish.

No! He lost someone else he loved! He was alone, again. He couldn't do this. He couldn't go on.

The Final Battle, and Aria wouldn't be a part of it. No! No, how would Frodo bring her back? Surely, he had to find another way to reach her, to re-create her.

Tears left his eyes. He quit weeping, glancing at the machine with determination in his eyes. Yes, he would bring her back, if not in the form she left. But maybe there was a way to save her, even if she didn't recall this time, or these adventures with him. He'd find a way to bring her, and the light red dragonoid, Parker Dooley, back.

He just needed to figure out how to do it, if Father Time allowed it.

The video screen came on again, revealing Father Time. "She's gone, isn't she?" He shrugged, as Frodo wept some more, silently, "You know, reincarnation is possible. I'll see what I can do. But you, Frodo Baggins, you had better get back to the surface, before the villains catch you." He added, "Do you want to reincarnate her? Aria. You can do it. I'll help."

Frodo turned to the video screen, gazing harshly at him, "You can do that? Didn't Aria and I create enough trouble for you?"

Father Time shrugged. "Well, we need to convince Aria's counterpart to write a series on her. Her counterpart has her name. You may not get the same incarnation, Frodo, but it will be her. Are you willing to take this challenge?"

Frodo paused, letting the thoughts sink in. He nodded a moment later, "Yes, let's do this."

"Excellent! We'll get to work on this. Meet me in the Portal Realm when you're ready to talk. We'll speak soon," Father Time turned off the video screen, leaving Frodo still standing in the cylindrical machine.

Frodo clasped his face with his hands, still weeping for Aria.

He had hope now, and that was enough. For now. Right now, he had to get out of this machine, if such a thing was possible.

~o~

Frodo calmed down minutes later. His heart felt heavy, the weariness of his travels along with the losses he suffered and witnessed felt like a huge weight overcame him. He dreaded the thought of having to return to the light without his beloved writer.

The fact that he couldn't witness Aria return to him in the form she took broke him. He had to go on without her, didn't he?

He peered out of the cylindrical machine, stepping outside, and closing the silver metallic door soon after. His gaze met the oceanic waves, so crystal clear in the midst of all this darkness.

The moonlight glimpsed at him, beckoning for him to stay, to fade, and to drift off into nothing.

It nearly made him want to stay, spend time with Sméagol, before Sméagol attacked him again.

It didn't matter down here now that he was present in this space. He and Sméagol were alike for knowing the darkness, and yet they were so different. The only thing that clung to them was the One Ring, and Frodo had destroyed that Ring a long time ago.

Or at least, it seemed so long ago. How did he even compare himself to Sméagol?

"Oh Sméagol," Frodo said as the gangly creature chased after a butterfly. He sat down on the beach, taking in his surroundings. Frodo chuckled, admiring their situation, "we are most certainly alike now. We both suffered so much." He paused, reminding himself of the differences between him and Sméagol. Frodo sighed, taking in his surroundings, "Why did I think I could ever escape? Oh ho!" He rested his arms against his knees, lowering his head, as he tried to think of what to do next.

Frodo did nothing, except sit on the beach, pondering what would be his fate, if he could ever find his way out of the Realm of Darkness in one piece.

A lion's roar bellowed close by. Over by the water.

Frodo turned his gaze up at the shimmering moon, as its silver rays danced upon the water, and upon him as well. Out from the moon shone a lion. It was the Great Lion, Aslan! He was here! He made it!

Frodo smiled, knowing he was going home.

The light engulfed him, sending Frodo off to sleep as the darkness enveloped him. The light drowned out Frodo's vision, allowing him to see where he was headed.

By the time he opened his eyes, Frodo was inside a camp. But it wasn't the heroes' camp, Evenshire.

No, instead it was another camp, one made up of villains.

It was Merswold Camp. Frodo lay there on the ground, wondering what to do next, before the villains caught him.

Chapter Twenty-One Outro Song(s): "Sacrifice," song by Zella Day.

.x.

How was that?

As far as Frodo comparing himself to Sméagol | Gollum, it's only because Frodo's lost hope. He just suffered heartbreak, too, while trapped in the Realm of Darkness. So, there we go.

I'm questioning right now if this chapter will bridge with my other fanfic, in The Long Series: Version 2, titled, The Long Series: The Introduction Story. This fanfic isn't over yet. So, we'll see what happens next.

All I know is we're close to the Final Battle, but how close we are to this battle remains to be seen.

So, next chapter, another part of this fanfic's story summary is about to be told. :)

Thanks for reading. More chapters to come. :)

~Aria Breuer