Title: The Quest for Tol Eressëa . Chapter two
Author: Warlady

Fandom: Tolkien

Rating: PG

Disclaimer: All the characters and situations from the Silmarillion, the Hobbit and The Lord of the Ring, belongs to Tolkien States.

Special Warnings: This fanfiction has some of the characteristics of a Mary Sue, if you dislike original female characters in Tolkien fandom, don't read it.

Timeline: After the events of Lord of the Ring.

Author's Note: This is a kind of experiment, meant to prove to myself that I can introduce an original character in Tolkien's world and don't mess it up totally. Reviews and flames are accepted

Chapter 1

Katherine looked at the status bar on the screen, the 50% had been blinking for 5 minutes, suddenly it changed to 51 %. She sighed deeply and shifted on her seat. She'd been in her office for six hours, loading information to the database, and at this rate, it looked that there were six hours left before she could leave.

"Why am I here on a Friday evening?" she asked to the empty office. The sudden flash of a lightning filled the room and two seconds after the entire building trembled with the thunder. She winced and sighed even deeper than before. 'Great, precisely when I was thinking this couldn't get worst!' She rose from her chair and walked to the wide window. The rain was starting to fall down, some droplets at the beginning, then they turned into heavy streams; the lightning flashed repeatedly, and the window's crystal trembled with the vibration of the thunder.

'Well, it is not like I'm going to go out for at least another six hours, anyway' she thought and returned to her seat. She turned on the radio. The sound of pipes and guitars brought a smile to her lips. That was her favorite program; she looked at her watch and realized it had just begun. "Celtic sound", that was the name of it and, of course, that was her preferred radio station, K-WF, the WF was for World Fusion.

Usually she could not listen to her music at work because some of her co-workers complained the bagpipes resembled a cat fight and "She walked through the Fair" had silly lyrics. Funny how nobody complained when Paulo, the resident designer, banged his head to the sound of black metal or when "Debbie" the silly blond receptionist repeated again and again the same two verses of some popular and totally stupid song, singed for one of the clones of Debbie.

When the melody ended, the DJ announced the phone number. She dialed the number and immediately the voice at the other side of the line announced.

"K-WF, hello"

"Hi, Jeto, it's me, Kat," she greeted familiarly

"Hiya, Kat, my fav client, working late I suppose" She loved his voice

"Yeah, you know me. Can you play 'Orinoco Flow' for me?"

"Sure! But with this weather one could say the Orinoco overflowed by now"

"Thank you, Jeto"

"No problema, dear, bye, and don't work too late!"

She made herself comfortable and put her feet on the desk. The magnificent music of her chosen song filled the room and the sweet voice of Enya started to warm up the cold atmosphere.

"I don't understand why you listen that music? I mean, like, it's not popular! Nobody else listens it!" She mimicked Debbie's remark and laughed aloud. She started to follow the lyrics, not too loud, since she did not have a good voice and the high tones made it tremble miserably. When the music ended she sighed and a bitter smile spread on her lips. "Don't work too late" she repeated the words of Jeto, 'as if I had something better to do' she thought and looked the screen. Fifty-five percent blinked mockingly at her.

She was sure Debbie was not at home, neither Paulo. And, probably, she was the only one lonely enough to be working at that hour when the rest of humankind was having fun. 'The hell the whole humankind, I don't need them!' she stated firmly to herself and looked to the paint of Saint George and the Dragon on her wall and imagined how wonderful it would be to return to the glorious old days. But, of course, she wouldn't be a warrior or a knight, neither a lady in troubles, she probably would be a regular peasant, or a secluded hermit, more or less what she was now.

"God is not fair!" she muttered angrily. Thunder exploded violently and the lights went off. She jumped from her chair and waited in darkness; the emergency lamps started to glow with a ghostly gleam. Inhaling deeply and recovering from the first terrifying impression of God trying to erase her heretic ass from the face of the Earth she looked to the screen. It was totally blue.

"Shit!" she exclaimed, the back up battery wasn't playing the characteristic 'beep'. Pulling her hand inside a drawer she picked up a flash light and turned it on. Pointing the beam under the desk she found out that the battery light was off. 'Not good!' she thought. The realization hit her: if the battery was off why was the computer still working? She looked in amazement at the blue hue of the monitor and a weird sensation nested in her stomach. That was not the usual blue of Windows breaking away.

Watching closely she could see little shining stars on the screen, like it was a night sky, but brighter than any night she had ever seen. She pulled her hand to the crystal and noted how it curved and finally allowed access to her fingers, like it was made of water. Before she could react, a feeling of emptiness overwhelmed her. She tried to pull away her hand but noted how she was being literally sucked into the monitor, her body felt suddenly light and in a split second she was engulfed by cold deep darkness. She tried to scream but she found out she had not a mouth, she tried to breath but there were not lungs in her body, and then she realized that her being was no more.

As unexpected as it had begun it ceased and Katherine found herself on the floor, every muscle of her body aching horribly. The light hurt her eyes and the rain poured over her. She forced her eyes open and the brief view of the surrounding scene left her amazed. That was not her office, nor was she in a place she recognized.

She used to hike from time to time, but this forest was not like the rain forest she had visited. It looked more like the images from Internet, those that were filled with faeries and unicorns. The trees were impossibly large and she could see the canopy high above her, where the branches of the trees laced together. A thick layer of mud, rotten leaves, and moss covered the ground. Shifting her position painfully she discovered that her back and right side of her body were smeared with the sticky mud, even her face was dirty. After long minutes of hesitation she stood on her feet and lifter her head. Her jeans, boots and t-shirt were damp; this latter was hanging to her skinny frame like oversized skin.

All of a sudden her stomach tightened and a sour taste in her mouth made her sink to her knees; she vomited noisily on the forest ground.

"Oh God!" she groaned and wiped her mouth with the hem of her T-shirt. She sat back and let the raindrops fall inside her mouth. After long minutes she felt a little less sick and started to evaluate her situation.

A dozen explanations passed through her mind, from delirium to alien abduction. At last, she decided that the 'how I got here?' was not as important as 'how I get out of here'? So, she climbed back to her feet and inhaled deeply till she was sure her stomach was not going to flip again.

'Follow the course of a river, it will lead you to some village or town ' she commanded herself and started to walk. Katherine had not idea if such train of thought was right, but she had read it in a book.

Her feet felt heavy, and her head ached but somehow she made her way thought the irregular ground of the forest. She walked for almost half hour, the longest half hour of her life. She listened intently, trying to discover the sound of a stream, or anything that gave a hint of civilization. "Nothing," she muttered, but realized something that left her frozen in place. Indeed, there were no sounds -not birds, not insects, not even the myriads of mosquitoes that tormented her in other forests-. Only the incessant drip of the rain over the leaves and the ground broke the impressive silence.

Katherine's throat became dry. She noted that the Wood was very dark, and worst of all, a deep fog began to extend over the ground. She shuddered. The chill on her body could not be compared to the oppressive chill on her heart. She kept on walking, listening to her own steps on the thick mossy ground. Her eyes were wide, as she was expecting a sudden assault from any of the places hidden in the darkness.

From the darkness, like she had summoned it with her thoughts, a big shadow floated swiftly towards her. She stood in place, glued to the ground, her body a tense block of fear, her mouth dry, and her heart jumping inside her chest and drumming in her ears.

The shadow condensed, and Katherine watched it take the form of a tall man. Or, at least, it looked like a man. He was dressed from neck to feet in a long robe, black as the wings of a raven. His long straight hair was as black as his clothes, and its color was a shocking contrast to the paleness of his thin, beautiful face. He pierced her with a glance from his icy blue eyes.

"So, at last you have come. Amazing, it took you longer this time" His voice was overwhelming, deep and silky, but had an unearthly horrid quality.

"Who are you?" she managed to ask in a whisper. It was a miracle how she had endured the experience, considering her legs were shaking.

"You don't remember me, of course, but I'm your Guardian Angel, Azriel"

"Guardian Angel?" even in the uneasy situation, she looked intently at the being, searching for something she considered missing in the scene. She always imagined the angels had wings.

"Oh, you are looking for my wings, aren't you? That's incredible, you always do the same." He chuckled, closed his eyes and a big pair of black feathered wings appeared on his back.

"They are beautiful, even if they are not white," she said, more to herself than to him. The sight had eased partially her fear.

"Oh, they used to be as white as the pure snow. But a fallen Angel like me could not keep his original form, you only see the shadow of the divine creature I used to be" A dreadful expression appeared on his features.

'A fallen Angel, a Demon!' her mind roared. She felt like his gaze was penetrating her soul, and her brief calmness vanished. Her body trembled under his gaze. Those eyes made her heart tighten inside her chest. She sweated profusely.

"What are you doing to me?" she shrieked, her shaky legs barely supporting her weight.

"Nothing. This feeling is your own. It is the guilt you feel because of your past behavior," he stated.

"Guilt? Is this hell or purgatory? Am I dead?"

"Not yet, my dear, not yet. You asked for this task, the moment your words called out against the fairness of God. But, God is fair enough to give you a chance to choose. You can go back to your boring life, back at your own time and world, oblivious of this event. Or, you can stay here and try to fix your past mistakes. I have to warn you, this guilt will never leave you, life after life, your destiny is bounded to it. You are condemned for all eternity, and you will never meet peace or joy." His voice thundered like the trumpets of Apocalypse.

She could barely kept her straight stance and his words cut through her, clear and terrible as a death sentence. Her entire life passed before her eyes in a flash; not only images but also feelings, sensations, sounds. With utter terror she realized that in her whole existence she had never felt happy. There were shreds of false joy, pieces of fake success. But the biggest part was hollowness, an unbearable void.

"Chose now, Katherine, your empty life or the chance to redemption, for your soul and body," he roared.

The whirlwind of memories engulfed her, and she tried desperately to hold herself to any happy moment she could recognize. She found no anchor. The only moments when she felt alive were when recalling old times, hundreds of years before hers. But those were only ways to escape her empty life. Her breath quickened to the point of hyperventilation, her heart was pounding painfully. and she decided.

"Stop this, I will stay," she screamed. The hurricane of sensations ceased suddenly and she collapsed to her knees, and retched. She didn't take time to clean her mouth, the bitter taste was nothing compared to the filth that she felt inside.

"Wise choice. It does not surprise me, you always make the same decision," he said. His voice had returned to its normal tenor. He fell to his knees, at her side, and wiped her mouth with one pale hand.

She accepted the touch and looked him with tearful eyes. Then, took his hand and let him help her to stand up from the ground. Her legs were still shaky but she stood tall, trying too maintain a straight stance.

"You talk to me like we have met before, but I don't remember you"

"I know you from other lives, and time after time you have chosen the same"

Infuriated by the statement she screamed at him. "If it's so, how is that you didn't just throw me into this adventure and save me from that sensation?"

"Because it's not my decision"

"Great! A Fallen Angel with principles," she inhaled deeply. Then petrified, a question surged from her mind and swiftly she asked "If it had happened before, how is that I am still condemned?"

"Because you have never succeeded before"

She was shocked. It took her some minutes to collect enough courage to ask again. "How many lives?" she asked, for a strange reason she knew the answer would not like her.

"Hundreds, I lost the count after the first two hundred," he stated. He hurried to catch her, as she fainted.

She stirred in her sleep, but didn't wake up. In fact, she hugged closer to the feathered surface that supported her head.

Azriel was truly surprised that Katherine had just passed out. When he used his right wing to cradle her head she fell sound sleep. He poked her softly on the ribs with his finger.

"Stop it, Legolas, I want no more sex with you, just let me sleep," she babbled.

The Dark Angel looked at her puzzled. Then poked her again, this time harder.

She woke up with a start. Then looked up at him with wide eyes. "Oh, no! It was not a bad dream!" Her face was the picture of despair.

"No, and by your talking in your sleep, I deduce your dream with the Prince of Mirkwood was not bad, either," he said, amused.

She blushed furiously and gulped. There it was that stupid Angel having fun at her expense. She could not help it. Legolas was the Elf of her dreams, even before she had seen the movie. She used to drool over her copy of "The Lord of The Rings" imagining how it would be to see him. The performance of Orlando Bloom had made it harder for her to resist it.

He tried to help her to stand up again, but she slapped away the hand he offered, and rose to her feet. She realized that the rain had stopped, but her soaked clothes kept her body chilled.

"Well, don't stand there just looking at me, what is my mission?" she asked, trying to look decisive, even when her inner self was as uneasy as a chicken in a party of foxes.

"You will discover it in time. Right now, I'm only allowed to give you some things to help you to survive" He reached his hand to her face and put her fingertips on her forehead.

A sudden rush of warmth ran through her body from head to toe. When he withdrew his hand her clothes were dry and she felt lightheaded.

"Wow, what was that?"

"That, my dear, was a little guarantee to keep you from catching pneumonia. And, an awakening of some of your dormant abilities. I have another gift for you, but you have to promise me that you will use it only in cases of extreme danger. It is a weapon for justice not for vengeance or selfish intentions," he said, and withdrew a sword in a scabbard from the pleats of his robe. The sheath was black adorned with embroiled vines and leaves of gold. He drew the sword from its case and the blade sparkled with a cold silver light. It was magnificent, as though the Angel had a star in his hand. He sheathed the sword and handed it to her.

She took it with reverence, but when the weight pulled her arms down she let it fall unceremoniously to the floor.

"Am I supposed to use that to defend my self? I can not lift it!" she said, picking up the weapon with both hands and grimacing by the effort.

"Grow stronger." The Angel took out a belt from nowhere and wrapped it around her waist. Then took the sword and adjusted it to the belt.

"Great, I will have a fractured hip, before the day ends!" she complained, the extra weight made her drag her feet.

He produced a black cape and put it over her shoulders, clasping it with a silver brooch shaped like a dragon with extended wings.

"Tell me how is it that God designated a Fallen Angel to be my guardian?" She wrapped the cape around her body and pulled the hood over her head.

"My destiny is bounded to your destiny. But I can not tell you right now, you will know it in time" His face grew paler, if that was possible.

"Oh, that is so illustrative!" she sighed "Now what?"

"Your task begins, and I cannot accompany you. But I will follow your progress from time to time."

She widened her eyes. 'So, that's it, he will leave me alone in this Godforsaken place!'. But she had agreed to stay, and she always kept her promises. She was stubborn by nature. "Ok, what did I do to deserve damnation?" she asked.

"I cannot tell, you will discover..."

"In time, I know, I know," she rolled her eyes, suspecting that he was not going to answer her questions, not directly anyway. She saw how he started to fade in the air, like a cloud shredded by the breeze.

"At least, tell me where am I?"

"Welcome to Middle Earth, Katherine," he said and disappeared.

"Middle Earth?" she cried out.

TBC