HIDEOUS TREACHERY

Justice Be Done

Disclaimer: No. Don't own it.

Authors note: Last chapter! REVIEW!

Suddenly, Dark Lord Sauron and Lord Frodo the Terrible were standing before Manwë, and a host of men, elves, dwarves, and hobbits were behind them, all dressed in bright and shining robes and dresses and armor.

"Justice must be done upon you both. You both have committed high treason to the Valar, Iluvatar, and the kings of the realms of Gondor, Arnor, and Rohan. You have massacred elves, hobbits, dwarves, and men. You both have destroyed the very Middle-earth you both proclaimed to love. You are both guilty and hereby sentenced to the Outer Darkness. Sauron, you shall stay there until the breaking of the World, and then you shall be judged by Iluvatar. Frodo, you shall be sent there for a thousand years. We do not hold you entirely guilty, for the strain was perhaps to great even for you. After a thousand years you also shall be judged by Iluvatar. May he be gracious unto you. Now look, Frodo the Terrible, at what you have done!" Manwë said.

Frodo the Terrible turned and saw the masses, no longer clothed in white, but in slashed, sweat stained, and bloody clothes and armor. Every scar that had been inflicted since he claimed the Ring by the fires of Orodruin could be seen. Frodo the Terrible, not fully evil like Sauron, melted away, and Frodo the Hobbit, son of Drogo remained. The crowd watched as Frodo physically shrank back to hobbit size, but they neither spoke nor made any sign.

Frodo gazed out at the masses, in the front was Sam. Good old Sam. Frodo could see every cut, bruise, scab, welt, and inner wound he had caused to come upon his loyal friend. He looked at Merry and Pippin, slashed, cut, and he could see all the lines where they had been mangled and torn apart, yet they stood before him whole. All scars were deep purple, red, and black. Frodo gazed at Aragorn, and saw his head had been hewn off, and where he had been stabbed by an orc's blade, and where they had severed off the members of his body and skewered them upon stakes to show what would happen if anyone dared to rebel. He gazed at Gimli, slashed to pieces, axes and arrows sticking out of him. He gazed at Legolas. He was riddled with arrows, but he had kept going. He was cut many times by orcs, yet he fought on. He was stabbed by a troll in the heart, and he died.

All the fair faces in the crowd were marred in one way or the other. They who had suffered loss ere they sailed West, as was the case with Arwen, he could see her heart in pieces in side of her, and her face and eyes red with much crying. The sight was hideous, beyond endurance for Frodo the Hobbit. Frodo the Terrible would have said it was a good days work, but Frodo the Hobbit was all that remained. He began to weep bitterly. He raised his eyes once more and saw all the terrors he had inflicted on slaves under his watch, he saw the children he had maimed, the families he had ruined, and then, he saw the Middle-earth he had destroyed. All was dark, all was dead. All was utterly destroyed.

Frodo fell on his face before the masses and wept uncontrollably and sobbed out in a loud voice, "Take me away! Take me away! I am sorry for my deeds! I beg forgiveness from you all!" he turned to Manwë and cried, "Throw me into the Outer Darkness quickly! I should not be seen any more by these good people than necessary! Do not torment them with the sight of me!" His whole, small body shook with each sob. Such remorse had never been seen before, nor would it ever again. For his was sincere, and he was truly penitent for his foul deeds. "Whatever punishment you see fit I shall gladly endure for the horrible, loathsome, abominable crimes I have committed against these good folks!"

The Valar had learned the difference now between true remorse and feigned. Manwë looked upon the broken hobbit and said, "I see that you are truly sorry and penitent for your crimes Frodo son of Drogo. Therefore, I shall cast you yet into the Outer Darkness, but you shall be allowed to return to Middle-earth. You shall be given a second chance. But, if you follow the same path, we shall not let you live. We shall kill you instantly and punish you severely for your actions, both times, and that second time, there shall be no mercy."

Frodo nodded his head and humbly thanked him. As he was being walked past the now white and shining Fellowship Aragorn said, "Frodo, we shall be waiting for you when you return. And we forgive you." The Fellowship nodded in agreement.

Frodo began to weep uncontrollably for gratitude that even after all his horrible deeds his friends could yet forgive him. He would not have forgiven himself, so why should they forgive him? Perhaps the wise only become wiser after death. And perhaps more compassionate and understanding of even more terrible deeds? Frodo found himself staring at a great black opening and he was cast into it, the Outer Darkness, and heard the ominous clang behind him.

---

Frodo heard a cry behind him, he turned, there was Gollum, he had struck Samwise on the head with a rock, he was coming for the Ring. He whirled around and saw he was back at Mount Doom, his second chance! Frodo looked at the Ring and said, "I shall not be Frodo the Terrible!" and cast it into fires of the dreaded mountain.

The next thing he remembered was blackness. Suddenly his eyes fluttered open and he beheld Aragorn, Legolas, Merry, Pippin, Sam, Gimli, and Gandalf, all standing round his bed and smiling at him.

"We have been waiting for you to awake Master Frodo," Aragorn said.

"Then you all remembered your promise in Valinor?" Frodo asked.

They all looked at him slightly confused, then Frodo realized that if he indeed had been given a second chance that they had been made to forget the horrible deeds of Frodo the Terrible. So he said, "Never mind, it must have been a dream."

---

Many days later, months rather, after he reached Rivendell on his way back to the Shire, Frodo spoke to Elrond about Frodo the Terrible.

"What do you think that was?" he asked.

"A vision, sent by the Valar, warning you of what you would become if you succumbed to the power of the Ring," Elrond replied.

Frodo gave a tremble, and Elrond put his hand on the hobbit's shoulder. "No need to fear. That shall never be."

THE END

Authors note: Before I go any further with this note I must say that I am painfully aware of the abrupt ending, but I could think of no other way to end it. For once in my life, words escaped me and I was bereft of imagination. A thousands pardons I ask of you all! Anyway... I have this terribly annoying thing about evil winning for always and ever, I can't let it. I'm the sort that must see evil overcome ultimately, so I had evil overcome. I just had to write at least one evil story, at least one deep, dark, wicked and gruesome story, just to get it out of my system. There, that's over with! Well, I hope you all enjoyed it! As always, REVIEW!