Into That Good Night

An Unwavering Offer

Things are hard now, but I hope they will soon get better.

XOXO Ally Layne.

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"Where is she?"

A figure that I was very familiar with stormed into Elrond's study, his golden hair whipping around him. Elrond immediately stood from where he was behind the desk, holding his hands out to try and pacify the warrior.

"Glorfindel, please-"

Glorfindel, my Glorfindel, stopped in his tracks and ran a hand through his wind-blown locks. His eyes looked haunted and worried, something so human that I was confused to see it on his immortal features. "Where is she, Elrond?"

"She has left," Elrond said. "Her and the Miss Varis followed Thorin Oakenshield's company to retake the Lonely Mountain."

He shook his head. "She wouldn't just... leave, and not tell me. Persephone would never do that to me," he paused, before looking over at Elrond with pleading eyes. "Would she?"

I tried to go to him, to take the worry from his face, but I couldn't move. I wasn't even here, let alone able to console the desperate elf.

My chest was clenched in a knot as Elrond nodded to the golden-haired warrior, who let out a low moan and fell back into one of the chairs in front of Elrond's desk. His head fell into his hands, and he was shaking his head in what either was disbelief or denial.

"Why did I ever think leaving was the right thing?" He spoke, the sound muffled by his hands.

"Because you were following your duty, my friend," Elrond spoke, walking to him and placing a firm hand on his shoulder. "You were not following your heart. And she did not know what to think because you have pulled so far away by doing so."

Glorfindel looked up at Elrond, pain filling his eyes. "What do I do now?"

Elrond patted his shoulder and walked back around his desk before sitting down, contemplating what words he might be saying next. He looked back at Glorfindel, "You do what your heart is telling you, mellon nin. You need to do it now more than ever."

Glorfindel blinked, the only sign of shock on his face. "Why do you say this?"

A dark shadow crossed the Elf Lord's face. "It seems the fate of the Lady Persephone depends on it."

The look of horror upon his face did not belong there. Glorfindel immediately stood up on stormed out of the study, just as quickly as he came, his hair following his every step in waves.

Then it all turned to dust.

"Glorfindel..."

I woke groggily sometime before the sun rose, as upon opening my eyes I was faced with the night sky. Stars that weren't visible before were visible now, upon this massive rock that we were currently at.

Which really led me to have quite a few questions.

"Persie?"

I looked over to where I heard the voice of prince Fili, who hurried over to me with a few other dwarves once they realized I was awake. "How do you feel, lassie?"

I closed my eyes once, probably for longer than I thought I did because when I opened them, the sun was shining.

"I'm okay," I mumbled, the words blending together in my bleariness.

"Oh you're okay, are you?" Bilbo's face crossed my line of sight, looking down at me in pure amusement. "And I am sure your head does not give you any pain, either, am I right?"