disclaimer: I don't own any of this. I'm not making any money.

A/N: Whoa, sorry this took so long. Again. *bangs head on desk* I've been quite ill these past few weeks. Anyways, I'm starting to feel better again, so, I'll try to post more often. No guarantees though.

Many people have guessed that Cell-hu might be Gimli, and I can tell you right now he is not. Gimli is the one member of the fellowship you can be certain won't be making a cameo in this fic, simply because Dwarves have a fate different from men and elves and the rest.

They sleep beneath the earth, awaiting for this world to be destroyed, then Aule will wake them up and they will help build the second Arda. So sorry for all you Gimli fans out there!

Special thanks to Eleni for beta'ing, I appreciate it!

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Elladan awoke with a pounding headache. He groaned, and rolled over in an attempt to hide from the bright light that assailed him.

"Elrondion."

He blinked at the unfamiliar voice, but tried to ignore it and go back to sleep. Of course, the voice wouldn't allow that.

"Elrondion."

It was a sweet, dusky voice. Very feminine, he found he rather liked the sound of it. With a sigh, Elladan rolled over, and took in the speaker.

He was surprised to see a maiden with long dark hair, and smoky grey eyes. At first he thought it was his long-dead sister, Arwen, but upon closer inspection, he realized that this maiden surpassed even the Evenstar in loveliness.

Her features were finely carved, as though a master sculptor had molded them from clay in an effort to create the perfect beauty. She had large grey eyes, set a perfect distance apart beneath the lovely arch of her eyebrows. High cheekbones defined those striking eyes, and her slightly upturned nose. Her mouth was full, and the color of spring roses, with perfect lips for kisssing.

As Elladan studied her intently, he realized those sumptuous lips were turned up in smothered laughter. "Who are you?"

"You do not know me?"

He shook his head mutely, taken in by her beauty. "No, Fair One. Tell me your name, that I may. Please." He added the 'please' at the end almost as an afterthought, for he found himself without a single coherent thought in his head.

The maiden laughed aloud this time, her silvery eyes twinkling merrily. "It has been long since a fellow elf looked at me with such eyes, Elrondion. Sadly, I am wed to another, not to mention, you and I are related."

Elladan blinked, and he finally realized who she was. "You are the Lady Luthien Tinuviel, you are one of my ancestors!" With the realization of the maiden's identity, came a rather strange awareness of his surroundings.

He was reclining on a pile of pillows, in a room that seemed to be made of light. Music echoed from somewhere in the distance, and a stream rippled and danced over rocks worn smooth by time.

She laughed again, a lovely musical sound. Elladan could see how she won Beren's love so easily. "Yes I am, and I come bearing a gift for you, for Aragorn Elessar forgot an important detail when he made contact with your brother and the Prince Legolas. He forgot that none of you speak the language of these people."

Elladan nodded, trying to look as though he knew what she was talking about, when in fact he had absolutely no clue. "Where am I?"

"Inbetween," She said simply, as though it were of little importance. "Listen carefully, for my time is short. You must seek out Elrohir and Legolas, they have information important to your quest. To you, and you alone will I impart my gift, so they will have need of you, as well. As you know, I am the daughter of the Maiar Melian, as such, I am heir to certain...talents. I must be careful, for the Enemy does not feel threatened by those Spirit Guides who were once human, but He watches Arwen Evenstar and myself closely."

"Who is this enemy, milady?" Elladan attempted to press her for more information, she only shook her head.

"There is not time, Elrondion. I must cast my spell and leave, before He finds me, and by extension you. Right now He thinks you dead, and you are safe to carry out your quest in relative anonymity. Remember, He has spies everywhere, trust your senses, you will know if someone is a servant of the enemy."

With those final words, she placed a hand on his chest. Though he could not physically feel her touch, he was still very aware of her delicate fingers pressed against his breastbone.

Closing her eyes, she whispered several words he couldn't make out, then she looked up at him and smiled angelically.

"We will not meet again Elrondion. Good luck on your quest, I have many innocents to protect, and cannot help you further. My thoughts and prayers go with you, though. Namaarie." With those final words, her fair form dissapated like smoke on a windy afternoon, leaving Elladan somewhat bewildered.

Feeling overwhelmed, and exhausted, Elladan lay back down, and let his eyes drift closed.

~*~

"Hey!"

Rough hands shook him carelessly, and he turned over, trying to escape the being that sought to bring him out of the soothing darkness.

"Come on, fella! You gotta wake up, I ain't gonna carry you all the way to the house."

Elladan mumbled something impolite under his breath, and swatted at the hands in irritation. They persisted however, and Elladan rolled over on the sand, squinting against the sun. "What?"

The human smiled in obvious relief. "I thought you were a goner for sure! Come on, let's get you inside and cleaned up!"

He rose, and helped Elladan to his feet, supporting the somewhat wobbly elf as he staggered along drunkenly.

The man was short, he only came to Elladan's shoulder, but he was well built nonetheless. He had a face full of whiskers, and unruly dark hair. In the corner of his mouth was some sort of pipeweed rolled up in paper, with smoke curling up from the glowing tip.

Elladan winced at the pungent smell of the smoke, but otherwise tolerated it.

The pair stumbled along in silence, until they reached a small shack about 200 yards away from the waterfront.

The human yanked open the door, and helped the sopping wet elf indoors. "Here, take off those wet clothes, I'll loan you some of mine." The man spoke gruffly, before reaching around a corner, and producing a towel. "Dry off."

Elladan pulled his tunic over his head, and dropped it with a wet plop on the floor, then dried off his muscular chest with the towel.

The human had disappeared again, Elladan could hear him muttering somewhere towards the back of the shack. When he reappeared, he had some clothing in his hands, he shoved them towards Elladan without a word, then gathered up the elf's wet things, and hung them over the railing on the porch.

"You hungry?"

Elladan looked up from where he was attempting to adjust the clothes so they fit better. The trousers were of a strange stiff fabric, and about six inches too short, and the tunic had no sleeves at all, and smelled of some sort of ale. He wrinkled his nose, and sighed.

"No, thank you."

"Well I am." The human walked into another room, and Elladan could hear various pots and pans clanking. Curious, he followed.

The room appeared to be some sort of kitchen and was filled with many devices Elladan did not recognize, nor could he fathom any use for. Such as the peculiar looking box with a door and several knobs, and another small box with two slits in the top, and some sort of lever on the side.

Curious, he fiddled with it, jumping backwards when the box began to radiate heat and smoke.

"Sheesh Kid!" The human yanked a long rope from the wall, and the box stopped smoking. "Ain't you ever seen a toaster before?"

Elladan shook his head, startled by the human's actions. "No, I have not."

"Oh. Well, where are you from, what's yer name?"

"Elladan."

"Funny name. Mind if I call ya Dan?"

Elladan shook his head mutely.

"I'm Logan. So what were you doing out there in the middle of the ocean during a summer squall like that?"

"It's....hard to explain." Elladan avoided Logan's gaze, and studied the kitchen intently.

"Fair enough. Are you one'a them illegal immigrants? Floating up from Cuba or something?"

Elladan shook his head again, "I am not from...Cuba."

"No, you don't sound Cuban. Don't know how a Cuban would float up to Maine anyways."

"Is that where I am? Maine?" Elladan latched onto the name of his location with the desperation of a drowning man. He was somewhat dazed, and unable to think clearly. Somewhere in the back of his mind was his family, and the need to protect them. He also knew he needed to find his brother and Legolas, but just now, he was overwhelmed by the strange world he had washed up in.

"Yeah. Yer in Maine." Logan studied his guest. The kid was pale, and looked confused, overwhelmed, and exhausted. "Listen, Dan, why don'tcha go take a nap, I got a spare bed in the back. Yer safe enough here, I won't turn ya in."

Elladan nodded, and made his way back toward the spare bed. As he collapsed onto the pile of blankets and pillows, he sighed deeply and drifted off almost immediately.

As his eyes stilled, and lost their focus, one last thought occurred to him.

The language he had been speaking was one he had never heard before.

~*~

Digging digging digging.

Like a damn dwarf, that's all he ever did anymore was dig.

Thranduil leaned against the wall a moment, and studied his fellow prisoners.

Celeborn, Elrond and Glorfindel were all in similar states of exhaustion, their 'masters' drove them day and night with hardly a moments rest.

They all stopped a moment, and took a breather, staring at each other in the dim light.

"How are we ever going to escape this?" Celeborn's voice was weary, and there was an underlying current of fear that Thranduil had never before heard from his kinsman.

Shaking his head, Glorfindel answered. "I know not, mellon nin."

Just then, footsteps echoed off the cavern walls, indicating someone was coming to check their progress.

The four exhausted elf lords hefted their shovels and pickaxes and continued working.

"Have you found it yet?" The voice was little more than a hiss, the remnant of a tortured soul held captive by the power of a ring no longer in existance.

Thranduil had been horrified to see that the Nazgul were somehow ressurrected, but he could not speak to ask how. Through the iron collar about his neck, he was controlled like the puppets his granddaughter loved to play with.

Elrond was chosen to speak for them, and he shook his head. "If you told me what we were looking for..."

"Silence!"

Elrond's jaw snapped shut instantly, and his smoky eyes blazed in impotent fury for a moment, before despair filled them again.

"You will know when you find it." With those final words, the twisted soul before them turned and left, and the foursome continued their enforced labor.

Thranduil sighed as he hefted the pickaxe, and swung it forward with all the strength he could muster in his failing form. It connected with a loud clang, and suddenly a brilliant white light filled the room.

Startled, the former Elven King fell backwards, landing on his rump with a dull thud.

Silently, all four elves took in the sight before them, a sight Elrond had not seen since he was an elfling, and Thranduil had never seen at all.

"Silmaril," The word was little more than a whisper on Celeborns lips as he reached his hand out for it.

As his fingers brushed it, a darkness filled the cave. Darkness that filled every crevice, wiping out the glow of their elven bodies, and even the light of the silmaril.

Into that darkness the four elf lords tumbled helplessly.

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Cliffie anyone? *cackles* Oh how I love torturing you guys.

Again, sorry this took so long, I'll try to update more often, really! Ok, next chappie might be out by Saturday, if not, I dont' know when. I move on Sunday into a new dorm room, then school starts next week. So it might be a while, but never fear, I AM working on it!

ok, next chappie: That wet dog smell (for real this time) Elladan looks for his twin, and our heroes finally try to figure out what needs to be done.