Out of Reality: Part III
by Alexandra
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Adalia woke up hours later and pulled the headphones off of her ears. She sat up and rubbed the sleep from her eyes before looking around at her room. She still felt as if she didn’t belong in this setting, but anything was better than going back into that cell.

Adalia stood up and stretched, finally noticing the fact that she was starving. They had given her food last night, but she ate precious little of it. She walked to her door and opened it to find two elven guards there.

“Uh, yeah. Do you guys have room service or something? Cause I am seriously hungry.”

“Dinner is to be served within the hour,” answered one of the guards. “If you will don one of the proper garments in your wardrobe, we shall escort you.”

“Okay. Thanks, I think.” Adalia closed the door and growled. “Proper garments my ass. They better have something comfortable to wear.” She walked to one of the doors and opened it and was greeted with the one thing that she did not want to see: dresses.

“Oh, hells no. There had better be something else in here.” But as much as Adalia rifled through the clothes, she didn’t find much else. “Great. Just great. Now I have to wear these eighteenth century dresses. I’m going to look like I fell into a vat of dye on my wedding day.”

Adalia put on a dress of dark green, grumbling the whole time. She was not one who enjoyed putting on dresses, though she understood that sometimes it was a necessity. She sighed and went into her purse, pulling out her makeup.

Legolas grimaced as he stepped up to the human’s door. His father had sent him to escort her to dinner, though he had protested. Gimli had not helped the situation either. With another breath of indignation, he swiftly knocked on the door and let himself in.

“You really need to learn some manners,” Adalia said from where she was putting on mascara.

“I have manners, just no tolerance for Saruarea. What are you doing to your face?”

Adalia rolled her eyes and brought out her lipstick. “I’m getting all nice and pretty for the ball which is absent of its prince charming. And should I even bother to ask what you called me?”

“I simply referred to you as a foul one,” replied Legolas, smirking. “Are you ready yet?”

“Patience is not one of your traits, elfo de mentiras.”

Legolas closed his eyes. “What is the newest name that you have given me?”

“I merely called you an elf of lies.” Adalia pressed her lips together and turned to him, crossing her arms over her chest and leaning against the dresser. “We are going to end up swearing at each other in different languages for some time aren’t we?”

The elven prince nodded. “Unless you wish to apologize to me.”

Adalia’s mouth dropped open. “Apologize? To you? You were the one who started everything.”

“I did no such thing!” protested Legolas. “You are the one who has landed within my kingdom and began all of this. Do not place the blame on me when it is you that is responsible.”

Adalia pushed him out of her way and left the room, starting down the hall. Legolas came out of the room and laughed. “You are going the wrong way, Saurar.”

“It is not the wrong way if it leads away from you, elfo de mentiras.”

Legolas jogged toward her and grabbed her arm. “Come to dinner Adalia. You are expected. And I doubt you want to miss another meal.”

Adalia glared at him before tugging her arm out of his grasp. “Fine,” she forced out. She followed him down the hall, the smell of a feast growing stronger with each step. When she entered into the great hall with the feast, she found many elves staring at her.

She tried to appear nonchalant, but she felt that even if she could pull it off, the beings around her could see straight through it. Legolas led her to a chair near the head of the table, then seated himself across from her. “How are you today, Lady Adalia?” asked King Thranduil, observing the human.

“You can just call me Adalia,” she replied with a smile. “I am still confused about what’s going on, quite frankly. Though my first night here wasn’t exactly enjoyable, you have been kind to me. I thank you for your hospitality.”

The Elvenking smiled. “Tell me Adalia, do you know how to return to your home? For I myself would like to see your world.”

Adalia’s smile faded slightly. There was distress and longing within her eyes though she would not like to admit it. “You would not want to visit my world. There are many beautiful things about my world and the people in it, but the death and destruction that is made by a few individuals often overshadow it. My world is not one to visit idly, unless you have grown up in such a place. But my friends and family are there, so I wish to return.”

Thranduil nodded. “I understand. Tomorrow you shall go to the clearing where you were found. We shall see if you are able to go home.”

Adalia smiled, thanking him. Through the rest of the night, she only listened with half an ear to the conversation around her. And though she was hungry, she could not possibly eat everything that had been piled on her plate.

“You seem to be losing your appetite, Mistress Adalia,” spoke a gruff voice. She looked up to see the only other being in the hall that was not an elf, seated next to Legolas. He was smaller in stature than the elves and he was not quite as fair of face.

“This is the dwarf Gimli,” introduced Legolas, watching her eyes grow wide.

“A dwarf?” she repeated in disbelief. “There are no dwarves where I come from. Course, there are no elves either.”

“Indeed?” said Gimli. “Dear lady, are there also no wizards or hobbits in your world?”

Adalia smiled and shook her head. “There is neither magic nor wizards in my world. And I’m not sure what a hobbit is, so I would assume that they aren’t from my world either. There are only humans and some animals.” She took a sip of wine from her goblet and tried not to scrunch up her nose at the strong taste.

“Is the wine not to your liking?” asked Legolas, his tone slightly challenging.

Adalia glared at him for a moment before a smile took over her features once again. “No, the wine is great. I’m just not much of a drinker.” She took another sip to spite him and smirked in the elven prince’s direction.

When the meal had died down and most stood up to leave, Adalia headed off toward the door. As she was passing two ornate tables in the hall, she stopped and looked. She did not believe the elves to be so careless as to leave several of their weapons as well as her own alone on the table while they were merrymaking inside. Of course, wine could do strange things to people. So she grabbed her gun that was lying on the table and went outside.

The night was cool and silent, something that Adalia rarely saw. She looked up and was slightly surprised to see the stars with such clarity, though she could not recognize any constellation in the sky. She held the gun close to her side as she passed into the forest. She didn’t know where she was walking, nor did she really care. The forests were peaceful in this world, more so than any she could find within her country.

Adalia hadn’t realized how far she’d gone until she stopped and turned around. She could see nothing but trees around her. She felt the fear rise up within her but stopped herself. She knew she couldn’t be too far away from the palace. A twig snapped behind her and she figured that one of the guards had followed her.

She turned and came face to face with the thing of nightmares. A spider that was the size of a car, if not bigger stood before her, its eight black, beady eyes watching her. Adalia jumped backwards and let out a shrill scream as one of its hairy legs reached out towards her. She loathed spiders. Before she really knew what she was doing, she brought up the gun and let off two rounds into the spider, crippling it.

Adalia turned and ran, not really caring where she was going as long as she was putting distance between herself and that mutated creature. Another spider appeared in her path, hissing at her and coming closer. She let loose with a round into him as well before she turned.

Adalia nearly screamed again when she found herself surrounded by arachnids. She could not imagine a worse death than what was about to come. She looked at the spider advancing on her and watched as arrows suddenly protruded from its back. It let loose with a horrible cry and she covered her ears.

A hand reached down out of the tree above her and latched onto her arm. Adalia was pulled up and she found the hand to belong to none other than Legolas. He didn’t wait for an explanation, just literally threw her over his shoulder and leapt through the trees, letting the guards kill the spiders.

“Put me down!” shouted Adalia as he dropped to the ground. He ignored her protests and ran through the forest, soon coming to rest at the entrance to the palace.

As soon as he set her on her feet, she started to brush her hands over her arms and stomped furiously. “Oh, gross, gross, gross. I hate spiders, I hate spiders. What the HELL was that?” she demanded of Legolas.

“Just as you have said, a spider,” he explained, watching as she jumped around. “They area a plague to Mirkwood, but rarely do they come near to the palace.”

“Yet I came across them. Oh, gross! I feel like little spiders are crawling all over me! Do you know hoe much I detest spiders? Insects are cool, grasshoppers and crickets are fine, even snakes don’t bother me that much. But spiders should just disappear.”

She slapped her arms a few more times to try and get the feeling of tiny legs crawling all over her away and then stopped and looked at Legolas. He was trying not to laugh, but he couldn’t help it. “Oh, so this is funny?” she asked, trying to sound mad. Somehow though, she couldn’t get her tone to match.

He cleared his throat and smiled. “Just slightly. You looked quite odd just now. Are you all right though?”

Adalia was a bit shocked with the genuine concern in his voice and she smiled in reply. “Yes, I’m a bit freaked out, but I’m all right. Thanks for pulling me out back there.”

He shrugged. “It was nothing. We despise the spiders as well, though I doubt as much as you do. Come, you should rest. Tomorrow we will see if you cannot return to your home.”

Adalia nodded and let him lead her back to her room. “Thanks again.” She said as she closed the door behind her. She wasn’t quite sure what had caused the change in him, but she didn’t mind it at all. Besides, she would eventually get tired of swearing at him in Spanish.


| Part IV |
| Index |