Chapter Text
**So that the rest of this story makes more sense, this chapter is a condensed version of the OFC's complicated past**
Elraenne Baledhel was born in the Woodland Realm, to two humble elves who loved her dearly. To anyone who was unaware of the legend, she seemed to be nothing remarkable whatsoever-- just a typical elf child. However, she was anything but ordinary.
The evening that she was to be born, a meteorite landed several kilometers away from her parents' house. It started a large fire in the forest and many were forced to evacuate their houses, including her parents. Her mother struggled to keep up with the other fleeing elves, having a painfully swollen belly. After hurriedly stumbling over tree roots and through smoke, her water broke, and she was forced to stop. Her husband stayed with her and helped to deliver the baby, which came remarkably easily and looked to be strong and healthy. They named her Elraenne and already loved her fiercely. But their love was not to last much longer --by that time the fire was too close to be able to outrun, and the family made the difficult decision to stay together until the end. They had about seven minutes of sharing their love and joy before the fire overtook them.
The next afternoon, elves began to survey the damage. The fire had been extinguished for a couple hours. Damage to the forest and to some homes was severe, but the majority of people had made it out of the area of danger safely. Only a few were unaccounted for, and it was for these individuals that the warriors were now searching. They found the family quickly-- or rather, what was left of them. It was a wretched sight; most of the clothing, skin, and hair had been burned away, and the remains were charred white with ash. Even so, it was evident from the positions of the bodies that husband and wife had died clinging together, almost as if they were using themselves as shields for something else hidden underneath.
The elven warriors gently pulled aside the bodies so that they could be put to rest with dignity and were astounded by what they found underneath: a little, healthy baby girl with golden hair that seemed to mimic the color of the meteor's flames and stunning blue eyes that held a stubborn, independent spark in them. Elraenne had some severe burns on her skin, but otherwise appeared unharmed. She did not cry, but instead looked around at the world as if challenging it to bring another fire or other type of foe.
In Mirkwood, nearby, a very young Legolas was celebrating his fifth birthday. His father, King Thranduil, had decided to host a party for the occasion, so the palace was hopping with guests by the time that news of the fire and the orphaned baby arrived. The child was brought to the king, who quickly summoned Elrond Halfelven of Rivendell, one of the guests and an elf known for being a wise and powerful. The fate of the child was discussed at length-- she had no other relations, as her parents had been travelers for many years and it was unclear where their origins truly lay. Eventually, Thranduil agreed to raise the child alongside Legolas, as it was considered a healthy thing for both children to have someone their own age to grow up with. The orphaned baby was given a gift from the king, as a way of accepting her into his palace-- a chunk of the very meteor that had affected so much of her life already.
The years passed and Legolas and Elraenne became the best of friends and were nearly inseparable. They both studied in combat-- Legolas preferred a bow and some arrows, and Elraenne favored a magical staff. Legolas easily excelled at using his weapons, but Elraenne had some more trouble. It was not that she wasn't talented, it was just that her talents lay in a different area than the elves were accustomed to dealing with. She had magic, yes, but it was a strange magic... Normally, elven magic was controlled, calculated, precise, and was studied extensively through books and lore. Elraenne's magic resembled elven magic only vaguely, as it was wild and ran away with her emotions and thoughts. Oftentimes her magic would appear to act on its own, without her even realizing that she had done something. With much effort and over time, she learned to control this by using a staff to send her magic through, but there was still a constant ebb and flow between the young elf controlling her magic and her magic controlling her.
Thranduil observed Elraenne's activities from afar, but with a sharp eye. He saw how her magic progressed, and while he was glad that her control of it had improved, it still troubled him greatly. She was a fiercely independent child and would argue with adults or disobey rules on such a regular basis that at times he questioned if she was a civilized being at all. Her heart was in the right place, it was true-- she only ever broke regulations when she truly thought it was necessary to do so for the good of others--but that did not make her reasons completely excusable. Thranduil kept in contact with Elrond over the years, describing to him her development and his various worries concerning the orphaned child.
The problem with the child wasn't just that she broke the rules so often-- the manner in which she broke them was also troubling. Surviving the meteor's fire had left its affect on her, in that she was astonishingly good at learning and using magic. She had barely been taught any magical skills whatsoever, yet she was capable of using her enchantments for many things that hitherto only master elves had done. And yet she was only a child! She was progressing at an incredibly rapid rate, and she was doing so through independent study. Her real classes in elven magic barely seemed to affect her at all. If she continued to invent her own version of sorcery at this rapid pace, she would quickly overpower the majority of elves in Middle Earth, if not all of them. For obvious reasons, this realization was extremely concerning.
Finally, when Elraenne was turning fifty, Thranduil thought that something had to be done. She had abilities beyond those of her instructors as well as a blatant disregard for the rules. Her heart still rang true, but Thranduil was well aware that if her loyalties were ever to change in the future, it would be too easy for her to defeat any who rose against her. As it was, she was not currently so skilled or strong that she was undefeatable, and for this reason Thranduil decided that now was the last time he may be able to act. He called a council, including Elrond and other wise elves from neighboring realms, to discuss the situation. The conversation turned heated, as the majority of elves called for her to be executed before she became a threat and before she became unstoppable. Fear ran through the hearts of many as visions of the young girl turning against her own kind filled their minds.
Suddenly, Elrond stood up and demanded the attention of the others. Do not kill her, he pleaded. She is no longer a child, but she is still incredibly young. It would be unfair to not even allow her the chance to prove that she is pure (or not) of heart. The others protested, asking if it was worth the risk.
Elrond again demanded order. When all was quiet, he proffered a different idea: if they would not allow her to stay among the elves, why not exile her, and allow her to keep her life?
No, no, no, the others insisted. If she is exiled, will that not fuel a hatred in her heart against the elves? That is the very thing they were trying to avoid. Just execute her life in order to save the lives of many in the future. One currently innocent life in exchange for the lives of many.
That is not necessary, Elrond stated. Her mind will be wiped clean; she will have no idea the elves even exist. Allow her to live, to have a chance, but take the elves out of the equation. This way, all lives can be spared.
The rest of the council nodded, slowly warming up to the idea. Yes, yes, all lives can be spare and the future crisis can be avoided. Besides, in all honesty, there is a high probability that she will die on her own anyway, being without memories of how to use her magic or weapons.
And so it was. Elrond himself performed the spell that blanked her mind after she was knocked unconscious. She was brought far away from elvish civilization and Middle Earth, so that she couldn't possibly wander back to it, and was left under a tree. Legolas was told that she had run away, and he spent years believing her to be dead.
Elraenne did not die in the woods, as predicted. She remembered pieces of information, things that Elrond had presumably allowed her to remember so that she stood a fighting chance in this strange new world. For instance, she knew her first name, and she still spoke in the elvish tongue. The piece of the meteorite that Thranduil had given her all those years ago was still in her pocket and she quickly discovered that the inexplicable magic she seemed to possess was more easily controlled when used in conjunction with this rock. Over the years, she rediscovered her own version of her sorcery, using only spoken spells that she invented and the rune-stone that she carved out of the meteor chunk. Her abilities grew and she lived in isolation from beings other than woodland animals for many years, until she decided, out of curiosity, to get to know the humans.
At first, living among humans was difficult. Elraenne didn't know that she wasn't human, nor that humans don't have magic, but she could see simply enough that she was different. She used an enchantment to make her appearance look more human and she hid her magical abilities, but she struggled for that majority of her life to find her place in the world. Her human friends would grow old and die, and she would be hunted for witchcraft. She didn't know what she was-- something that was certainly not in its right place in the world.
Years passed and one day Elraenne stumbled upon a police box. She went on many adventures with the Doctor, a man who also had no real place in the world and who aged incredibly slowly. But then the Doctor discovered a portal through to Middle Earth, one that had been there for all of time but had rarely been used and was, he suspected, completely forgotten about. They traveled through it together and discovered that Elraenne did have a people after all. Her memories did not return, but she and the Doctor traveled to different points in her life and observed her childhood as voyeurs, thus answering nearly all of her questions about who she was and how she came to be under that tree so many years ago. Eventually, he left her in "present" day (although the use of that word is imprecise and rather wibbly-wobbly) in Middle Earth and she returned to the elves to find more answers. She was greeted coldly by most, as she was now a dangerous outsider, but Legolas and Elrond were very pleased to find her alive and well.
She stayed in Rivendell for a year, but couldn't stand living with so many laws and rules. She had gotten used to doing as she pleased and wasn't about to give up her freedom just to attempt to fit in with elves who did not want her there, anyway. She left as soon as she had come and wandered the lands of Middle Earth as the stories of her powerful and unique magic began to spread.
The stories of Elraenne the wanderer, Elraenne the powerful, earned her the last name of Baledhel. Far off in the realm of Asgard, Loki Laufeyson, god of mischief and illusion, heard of her power and became interested in harnessing her magic for himself. He already had great magic of his own, but if he could have hers too the possibilities would be endless! He performed some enchantments and traveled down to Middle Earth, where he successfully captured Elraenne. She refused to do his bidding and Legolas and a large band of elves were able to save her; however, it was not long before the god again had her behind bars, and this time he was much more careful about staying hidden.
For twenty years, he tortured her in innumerable ways, trying to discover a way to use her magic as his own. In the end, he succeeded by controlling her mind so that she would do as he demanded. He used her to infiltrate the kingdom of Mirkwood and she killed several innocent elves there as he pretended to be Thranduil. Legolas knew what was happening and managed to help Elraenne fight the mind control. They broke the link and managed to expel Loki from Middle Earth, but it was unclear where exactly he went to.
Knowing that the elven community now looked even more negatively on her, and knowing that Loki could return at any time, Elraenne left Middle Earth behind to hide once again among the humans of Earth, using her magic to pass through the portal.
The rest of the story picks up here, with Elraenne in hiding from Loki but not in immediate danger from him. It has been four years since she passed through the portal again, and she is working as a producer/director of a tv show in her own production studio in the United States.