Chapter Text
“Should you end up in the wrong world, this device should bring you back to us.”
According to Murphy’s Law, Anything that can go wrong Will go wrong. And unfortunately for Yuu, accidental dimension-hopper extraordinaire, they were fate’s bitch.
The Dark Mirror should’ve taken them back home. The device Crowley gave them should’ve transported them back to Twisted Wonderland.
Instead, Yuu finds themself stranded in yet another foreign and magic-riddled world, now on a quest to track down their friends scattered to the four corners of Middle Earth. Thanks a lot Crowley.
Oh. And these little guys called “Hobbits” were definitely not happy to be referred to as dwarves.
An unexpected journey told in snippets.
~*~
[1]
Etched runes ran across the surface of a silver ring. An intricate web of lines and grooves that each caught the glare of the sun when Yuu moved their hand into just the correct positions. Their gaze into its metallic surface was intense, almost as if the lovely ring had done something to personally offend the human. Yet, no matter how hard they stared at it, the ring only sat there, a pretty but useless trinket with no other purpose but to be admired.
“Fucking Crowley…” Yuu muttered beneath their breath.
With a shake of their head, the human stood from where they had been crouching in the grass. Their joints popped with the motion as they’d been sitting in that position for quite some minutes now. And as they stretched their arms above their head, Yuu was overcome with a sudden urge to chuck the offending ring off into the distance.
Yuu took a deep breath. They lowered their arms.
It would do them no good to lose the blasted thing.
Plus, it was the only thing they had to remember their friends with now.
~*~
[2]
Crowley placed the silver ring in Yuu’s palms.
“Should you end up in the wrong world, this device should bring you back to us,” he explained and then gestured to the intricate engravings encompassing all available surfaces of the ring. Yuu vaguely recognized some of them as runes they’d learned about in class, but the vast majority of the carvings were a mystery. “It’s only as a precaution. I have seen to it that all your friends have contributed a runic engraving to the device. The bonds you’ve made here should theoretically assist in tethering you to the same dimension should you find yourself astray in the multiverse.”
“Theoretically?” Yuu raised a brow.
Dire Crowley coughed into a fist and cleared his throat. “Of course it is impossible to say for sure . The theory of inter-dimensional travel is only theory after all… If not for your own presence here of course. But none-the-less! I have much faith that you will be able to find your way home! Oh how we will all miss you so terribly!” He then made the most unconvincing reenactment of sobbing that Yuu had ever heard.
Regardless, Yuu closed their hands around the device, feeling the solid weight of the silver ring in the center of their palm and was suddenly overcome by heavy and conflicting emotions.
They would be leaving soon. Leaving this strange world that had been their home for a year now. Leaving Ramshackle, where they’d spend so much time and effort in refurbishing and making it their own. Leaving NRC that had shown them so much magic and wonder and glorious chaos. Leaving Grim, who still laid unconscious and slumbering in a magic stasis bubble after the horror that was his overblot…
Yuu would be leaving all the friends and loved ones they’d made in this world. The very same people who had apparently painstakingly carved runes into a magic ring to ensure Yuu could find their way back to them should they be lost.
The sheer emotion they felt in that moment was almost too much to bear.
~*~
[3]
Yuu was not in Twisted Wonderland anymore.
That was the plan.
But this new place they were in was decidedly not their own world either.
That was not in the plan.
This revelation hadn’t been obvious within the first three days of Yuu stepping through the Black Mirror, with all their friends somberly waving farewell to them from behind, and subsequently being dropped in the middle of a grassy hill in seemingly the middle of nowhere.
It also hadn’t been obvious as Yuu trekked for two days straight with no sign of civilization to be found. Perhaps the Black Mirror had simply dropped them off in the middle of a remote northern european stretch of land? The sky and sun and stars and moon seemed no different, though Yuu did now regret not having studied the constellations of their own world. It would’ve come in handy in discerning if they were under the same sky or not.
That this truly was not in their original world only became obvious on the third morning as Yuu walked tired and exhausted and disheveled, with blistering feet and a crows nest atop their head, stumbled onto a dirt road (the first sign of civilization since they’d arrived) and came upon the sight of a strange man atop a pony-drawn wagon.
He was indeed a man, presumably human by the lack of horns or tails or other strange appendages though this didn’t actually mean much, and he wore thick long robes of gray fabric and a matching witch’s hat to boot. A long gray and white beard tumbled down from his aged face.
Of course, the man could’ve just been in costume but at this point, and with Yuu’s record of luck, Yuu already knew better than to make that assumption. As soon as they saw the strangely dressed man Yuu heaved out a heavy sigh and knew that they’d somehow managed to land themselves in the wrong world. Again.
As there had been no sign of another living being for miles and miles and miles it was no surprise when the man took notice of Yuu as well. If he found Yuu’s manner of dress strange, he made no indication of it and merely guided his pony and wagon in their direction.
“Well met, stranger,” the old man greeted in a friendly and grandfatherly voice. “Do forgive my discourteousness, but you appear to be in need of some assistance.”
Yuu had half a mind to answer with something snarky but seeing as this was the first soul they’d come across in days, and that they were in dire need of help (and food, and water) , they thought better of it.
Instead Yuu gave a small and grateful nod and the old man laughed and helped them up onto his wagon. Hopefully he wasn’t a murderer.
“And what might I call you, my new friend?”
He uncapped and handed Yuu a waterskin which the human proceeded to down like a starved man — which they kind of were. The strange old man watched and waited patiently until Yuu had finally drained the whole thing, finishing with a messy wipe of their mouth and deep gasps.
“Thanks-“ Yuu said, their voice hoarse from disuse and dehydration. “I- I’m Yuu.”
“A pleasure, Yuu,” the old man said with a twinkle in his eye. “In these parts I am known as Gandalf. Gandalf the Gray.”
~*~
[4]
Sebek paused as he passed the door to Malleus’s room, frowning as he tried to remember the last time his housewarden had been seen. If he recalled correctly, this must’ve been three days ago during the farewell ceremony for Yuu. Since then, the fae Prince had sequestered himself away in his room and had not come out. Not even Lilia could cajole him into leaving.
Heartbreak. It wasn’t exactly a concept Sebek was personally familiar with, though he’d heard enough tales growing up. The idea that someone as great as Malleus could be brought to such low spirits all because of some mortal was near infuriating. Sebek himself had not had the time nor opportunity to get to know the human as so many others had, and honestly could not see what all the fuss was for.
Yuu had been however, even Sebek had to admit, much more bearable than most humans. Sebek might’ve even admitted to enjoying the mild-mannered and often blunt human’s company… At times. Enough, at least, that he’d agreed to contribute his own runic engraving unto the ring the Headmaster had presented to them— something he had taken very seriously, let there be no doubt! Whatever his personal feelings on the matter, Sebek Zigvolt was not a man to do anything by halves!
Regardless, it still rubbed Sebek the wrong way having to witness Malleus be so somber and miserable. If the human truly cared for Malleus they should’ve stayed! That Malleus hadn’t been their first choice was absolutely preposterous!
Sebek should march into Malleus’s room right then and there and declare exactly how little Yuu deserved Malleus’s sorrow if they couldn’t even care enough to stay! In fact, that was exactly what he was going to do!
Sebek turned sharply on his heel and took a determined step towards the door-
-Only for there to be an unexpected tug at the base of his navel. Sebek hardly had a moment to gasp before he’d suddenly vanished, leaving the Diasomnia hallway empty, nary a trace of the man to be found.
~*~
[5]
Mithrandir watched with cautious curiosity as his new friend riffled through their pockets and pulled from it a small silver trinket.
A ring.
For a moment, Mithrandir held his breath and readied himself to pull out his sword or staff. Yuu (a strange name, but fitting for an equally strange child of Ilúvatar) appeared harmless enough, pitiful even, when Mithrandir had come across them all lost and roughed by the wilds. But the old wizard knew well enough that the Enemy took many shapes and many forms and would utilize anything in his power to trick and scheme his way to victory.
The appearance of one Ring of Power was enough to strike fear into Mithrandir’s heart.
But moments passed and nothing seemed to come about the strange ring Yuu held. As if sensing his gaze, the small human turned to look at him.
“Do you use magic, Gandalf?”
Mithrandir stroked his beard thoughtfully as he pondered the question.
“I suppose in a sense I do,” he replied. “To those that are unfamiliar with my ways, the feats I and my brethren perform must seem like magic. Speaking with trees and creatures of the wild. Reading the clouds and the stars, though I am hardly even amongst the best of divinators.” He chuckled to himself as he smiled at Yuu, blue eyes twinkling. “And I suppose some of what I do could be considered spell work. I am a wizard, afterall.”
Yuu nodded in understanding.
“Then could I ask where the best place nearby would be to perform magic?” Yuu asked.
Mithrandir’s bushy eyebrows rose to the brim of his hat.
“Whatever for?”
Yuu smiled ruefully down at the ring in their palm.
“I’m trying to get back to my friends.”
~*~
[6]
“Epel-”
Rook paused. His body stilled as a sense of foreboding came over him. Something was very wrong.
And it was not simply that Epel had been in the sitting room just moments before, assisting Rook in cleaning up and rearranging for the summer. Now the room was empty save for the hunter himself.
His sixth sense had never failed him before. Just as beauty was his striking companion, his gut was Rook’s best friend and guide. And in that moment every inch of his instincts were screaming for him to fetch his bow and quiver.
In a flash he was tearing out of the sitting room, some unknown and unseen hands of a clock looming just out of his periphery, ticking downwards towards something . Pomefiore students milling about the halls all paused to stare at their vicehousewarden marching past with a fiery determination. No one stopped him.
It was as Rook’s palm touched and wrapped around the familiar wood grain of his bow that a sharp tug hooked into his navel and pulled .
His world became a whirlwind of color and sound and sensations, all twisted into one. It was like traveling by Mirror but intensified by a thousand degrees.
And then it ceased as fast as it started. Rook felt solid ground beneath his feet. The smell of wet grass and wood and dirt filled his nose. It had rained recently here.
Wherever here was.
Any lesser person might’ve been panicked at the sudden displacement. But Rook Hunt merely took stock of his surroundings, readied his bow, and chuckled.
It had been some time since he was last able to test his tracking and ranging skills.
~*~
[7]
“Elves and dragons!”
A loud clattering broke the quiet Hobbiton morning followed by an exclamation and several unsavory expletives. Samwise Gamgee took tight hold of the rake he hadn’t meant to bring inside with him (and now he was quite glad that he did!) as he stared down the strange figure that had appeared out of thin air and fallen straight onto and splintered Mister Frodo’s heirloom dining table.
The figure groaned in pain and rolled over.
It was a man. A fully grown one like those that resided over in Bree and Mr. Frodo’s guest.
Except this man wasn’t much like any man Sam had ever seen before in his life.
He ain’t never seen no man or hobbit with hair as dark and luxurious as that, nor skin so smooth and free of blemishes! If it weren’t fer the rounded ears peeking out from beneath those intricate braids, Sam might’a mistaken him for an elf! And where had this strange elf-like man come from anyhow?
Gandalf’s warnings about Enemies rang in his ears and Sam held his rank up defensively again!
Oh what was he suppose’ta do now? Mister Frodo and his guest wouldn’t be back from their shopping trip for another few hours or so, but Sam couldn’t very well leave this potential Enemy in his home!
Before he could consider his plan any further, the figure sat up with a pained grunt and stared right at him. The stranger’s dark eyes, as lovely as the rest of him, were lined with red paint and black kohl. The bells in his hair rang when he turned his head.
“Who are you and where am I?” The stranger demanded in a scathing voice that was at odds with his beautiful visage. He glanced around then, almost frantically, before hissing angrily. “And. Where. Is. Kalim?”
~*~
[8]
Yuu had been in a terrible mood ever since their device failed.
Soon after leaving the hill top that they’d tried to activate it on, Yuu came clean to Gandalf about their story. The old wizard had stayed quiet throughout the entire explanation, from arriving at Night Raven College, to the craze of campus life, to the ring Crowley had devised for them to return to Twisted Wonderland, and to landing in this world (Middle Earth, Yuu was told) four days prior.
“You don’t seem very surprised,” Yuu commented.
The sun was near the horizon now as they continued down the road in Gandalf’s wagon. It had been a long and difficult day, though compared to the previous few it was a vast improvement. With their thirst quenched and food in their belly, Yuu could not complain even as exhaustion ached in their bones.
Gandalf stroked his beard. “I cannot lie and say that your tale is not a very tall one. But I also doubt that anyone would conjure up such an outrageous fib and try to pass it off as the truth! And it is for this very reason that I choose to believe what you have claimed. Although…” The wizard trailed off thoughtfully and Yuu looked at him curiously.
“I cannot deny that the timing of everything is curious,” he continued. He turned his upper body then so that he was facing Yuu down with a serious expression.
Yuu was suddenly made aware of just how tall the wizard actually was as he practically towered over them. The long shadows stretching out from the setting sun set the world in shades of black and orange. The shadows made the angles of Gandalf’s face so stark he almost looked carved of stone.
Yuu knew at that moment that, if he so wished, Gandalf could easily kill them. How this knowledge came to be Yuu did not know, only that it was a plain truth.
“These are dangerous times in Middle Earth,” Gandalf said gravely. “The timing of your arrival to this world is most unfortunate. I am afraid that the long peace Middle Earth has known is soon to end. There will be no corner of these lands left unmolested or bereft of danger. And if I am to be perfectly honest with you, Yuu, stranger-to-our-world, your presence in this world at such a crucial time sparks great suspicion in me… If I were a more cautious wizard I should smite you down at this very moment for the possible danger you pose to this world…” He sighed, his face grew softer and more somber. “But I yet have faith in the goodness of men’s hearts. Foolish of myself, perhaps, but I hope you will not betray my trust.”
His words were terrifying and deep and rumbled Yuu to the depths of their soul, and yet they could not deny the kindness right beneath the surface. Yuu nodded gravely.
“I mean to start a most perilous campaign,” Gandalf continued. He looked around suspiciously, his gaze casting piercing beams into the shadows of the trees that lined the road side. He went on, in a softer but no less intense voice, “It is where I travel now, to meet with my companions whilst bearing terrible news. I fear that your appearance in my path, whether or not you are ignorant, is of no coincidence. I sense no evil in your heart and yet I cannot now leave you be. So, worldly-traveler Yuu, I offer you a proposition.”
Yuu could only nod again. Unconsciously, their hand went to their pocket and gripped the useless trinket right tight, until its imprint would inevitably be left in their palm.
“Accompany me on my quest,” Gandalf bid. “Walk these lands for yourself and lend your strengths, whatever they may be, to ours. And perhaps, somewhere along the journey, we shall uncover the means of which to send you home.”
How could Yuu decline?
~*~
[9]
It was a ring. Of course it was a ring.
It explained so much about why Gandalf had been so suspicious of Yuu on that first day they’d met. Since then, the two had traveled for many days until they’d come across a quaint and gorgeous countryside. The small folks who dwelled here built their homes into the very hills themselves.
Yuu and Gandalf eventually found themselves on the doorstep of one of these small folk: A man named Frodo Baggins.
Frodo Baggins, who was in possession of a ring that seemed to both frighten and entrance all who set their eyes upon it.
Yuu sat in Mr. Baggin’s sitting room, dining on tea and biscuits and honey (the best food they’d had in many days now), and listened intently as Gandalf shared his research and theory about the One Ring.
And then Gandalf bid Frodo show them the ring.
It was pretty. Gold and shimmering without a single blemish to mar its smooth yellow surface. The dancing firelight made the ring look almost as if it were winking at them from where it sat innocently in the center of Frodo Baggin’s palm.
And then Gandalf abruptly took it with a set of iron tongs and tossed it into the flames, much to Frodo’s alarm. Yuu was startled by this suddenness as well but kept silent with a bated breath, feeling a sudden tension in the room, as if something terrible were about to happen. Frodo, disgruntled with Gandalf rushed forward to the fireplace.
They all watched as the fire slowly went out, leaving the ring unmarred among the coals and ash.
When Frodo reached out and touched the ring, he looked back up at them with shock.
“It’s cold to the touch,” he announced in a whisper.
It was then that the words appeared. Flourishing letters in a beautiful and unknown script, looking as if they were made of the very flames themselves, began to appear across the medial of the ring.
Had Yuu been paying more attention, they might’ve seen Gandalf watching them with a keen eye for their reactions.
Yuu gave nothing more than vague interest.
And just as sudden as before, the ring slipped from Frodo’s fingers.
It bounced and rolled until it came to rest at Yuu’s feet (almost as if it had done so intentionally), and the human naturally bent down to pick it up. They barely had a moment to hear Gandalf’s terror-struck warning when their fingers were already brushing against the cold metal of the ring.
They picked it off the floor and sat up quick, startled by the sudden shouting. Gandalf and Frodo stood frozen in the center of the sitting room and Yuu felt as if they’d done something terribly wrong.
“Here…” Yuu said awkwardly, holding the ring out for one of them to take.
And like that, it felt as if a balloon had deflated in the room. Frodo hastily walked forward and took the ring from them, re-threading it with his chain and stuffing it hastily down the front of his shirt.
Gandalf, meanwhile, was giving Yuu a most curious look.
But he didn’t seem upset with them.
“My dear Yuu,” Gandalf began in an almost disbelieving voice. “I’ve already said so before… But I do not believe you are here by mere coincidence.”
~*~
[10]
It was completely dark.
Ortho was struggling to see in the dark. Something in the atmosphere was interfering with his systems and he felt as if all his senses were doused in static. It was numbing and uncomfortable.
And most of all it was cold . Ortho had not felt cold in a long time.
“Now, now, what exactly do we have here?”
Someone else was here. A man.
Ortho did not need his systems and algorithms to know that this voice was not friendly.
“How curious,” the unseen man continued with a mirthless chuckle. “I’m afraid you have picked the wrong place to intrude, little rat. Whatever you are… However you got in here… I will find out in time.”
Along with the cold, it had been a long time since Ortho had felt so scared . He curled up in the dark and held his head in his arms, feeling like a small child again.
Brother… Please save me.