Returning Home: A Hobbit Fanfiction

Chapter 57 - Facing Facts

~~ Celia ~~

Celia's eyes went wide as Thorin thrust his hand up in the air, displaying the shiny rock for them all to see. A small, mostly transparent globe, it glowed with an inner light that made her think of a galaxy. It was pretty, certainly, and she couldn't help her jaw dropping, just a little. There was something about it, some radiant majesty that just claimed your attention when you first saw it. 

She could certainly see why so many, such as Thorin, perhaps Thranduil, and even Smaug had coveted it. But anything after that was being unreasonable. And if yet another war was started because of some shiny jewelry, she was going to be very cross.

"I don't suppose there's any chance that that's not the Arkenstone?" she sighed.

"Thorin and Balin both know it well," Fíli informed her, not taking his eyes off the festivities. "Neither of them would be easily fooled. The glow within the Arkenstone is something that no mortal, or elf, knows how to copy."

"So that's the Arkenstone," Elena murmured beside her, reluctant awe filling her voice. "I have to say, it is a pretty rock."

"And a symbol that we've truly reclaimed Erebor," Kíli reminded her, watching his uncle talk excitedly with Dwalin and the other excited dwarves with a torn expression. "On the one hand, I'm proud that we've made it this far, and not lost a single member of the Company. After over a hundred and fifty years of hardship and struggle and loss, Erebor is ours once more, and I was a part of that. But on the other hand..."

"On the other hand, you're worried it might just make things worse," Fíli finished for him. He glanced down at the two girls. "Didn't you say that originally Bilbo found it, not Thorin?"

"We did." Elena's voice was troubled. "Which means that things are changing, and not just because of us. I see no way in which our being here could have changed things, since I wasn't around soon enough to help look, and Celia wouldn't have given it to him if she had found it."

"So, why did he find it, and not Bilbo?" Celia asked quietly. "Anything we might have changed earlier could have had no influence on the treasure, as Smaug guarded it until we arrived, and he didn't know we were coming. We never told anyone except for you two just now that the Arkenstone would even be found."

"Unless we're not the only players in this game anymore," Elena mentioned quietly. "Maybe someone else is influencing events as well?"

"Threads in a tapestry," Celia murmured, the words sparking a distant memory.

The others turned to her. "What?"

She chewed on one of her nails, trying to bring the memory to the forefront of her mind. "There was something someone said... new threads in a tapestry change how it goes... or something like that."

Elena was looking at her in concern now, searching her own memory for any sort of phrase or words like that. "When did you hear that? And from who?"

"Uh..." Her brain stalled, giving her hazy images of a dark haired man who exuded more majesty and power than Thorin at his broodiest, who spoke to her in her dreams, once. "I was dreaming, actually. I think it was that time when I feel into the enchanted river in Mirkwood, and slept for almost a week. It was a guy. Tall, dark haired, wore a golden crown and a deep blue cape. Never introduced himself, but I could literally feel the power coming off of him. He said he was able to talk to me once I fell asleep, and talked to me there."

"What?" Elena looked dumbfounded. "What's that all about?"

But Fíli and Kíli evidently had a guess, if their faces were anything to go by. "Celia, this man... did he say anything to you, that gave you an indication that this was more than just a dream?" Kíli hissed, still exchanging incredulous looks with his brother.