Disclaimer: I am the creator of all things Lord of the Rings…Or at least I would be if J.R.R Tolkien hadn't got there first. Gosh darn him. But to anyone who wants to sue me, all you'll be getting is a second hand copy of Lord of the Rings and a packet of Chicken Super Noodles :)
Authors Note(s): I'm afraidI have taken the liberty of killing off Aragorn's dear mother, mainly because I don't know that much about her and am far to lazy to find and read about her in the back of the book.
I have also written this under the assumption that when Elrond took Aragorn in as a child, he adopted him and raised him as his own because Elrond's nice like that.
Just so you know, this was supposed to be written for the 31st of October but it took me a lot longer than I had anticipated… So you'll just have to cast your minds back and pretend that it's still Halloween!
Beta: The wonderful Nietta.
Feedback will be greeted with a jaunty fanfare :)
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Trick or Treat
Prologue
Last Year – 31st October
"ARGH!" Estel shouted loudly, "Help! I'm dying!"
The twins, with identical horrified expressions ran over to their father as he rounded the corner to see what all the fuss was about.
"Ada!" Elladan cried, "Estel! He fell down the stairs all the way from the top! Quick, you need to help him!"
Elrond surveyed the scene before him suspiciously; a fifteen-year-old Aragorn was writhing on the floor at the foot of the stairs screaming bloody murder. His skin was pasty and blood was dripping down his temple and covered his clothes. Elrond glanced at the twins briefly and caught a brief look of triumph on his oldest son's face. Triumphant indeed, as though he'd cornered Elrond into some virtuoso plot of fiendish trickery.
He sighed and rolled his eyes, "Every year!" he exclaimed, "Is this really necessary? Maybe it is time for you to accept that it is never going to work. Estel get up off the floor! You are getting blood everywhere."
Estel instantly stopped shouting and glared at his father, "You know you could at least play along," he said as he heaved himself off the ground, "The twins and I have spent hours today finding a suitable substance to substitute blood. I even let them put flour on my face!"
"Estel!" Elrohir gasped, "You aren't hurt! It's a miracle!"
"Yes, yes, well done. You almost had me there, although next time try to make it more believable, had Estel have fallen from the top of the stairs he would probably be dead," Elrond said, barely suppressing another eye roll at his sons indirect protest of innocence, "I'll hazard a guess that this was your idea, Elladan?"
Elladan's mouth fell open indignantly; "No it was not!" he tried to avoid Elrond's eyes but could not, "Oh all right then, yes it was. We will get you one of these years Ada! We will scare you on Halloween if it's the last thing we do! We almost got you a couple of years back when Elrohir attacked you with that black mask on if you'll recall."
"The memory has never left me, and nor have the scars," Elrond said talking loudly over Elrohir's angry protests that it was Elladan in the mask and not him.
Elladan grimaced, "Yes…Granted we may have taken that one a tad too far."
"A tad too far? You knocked me down half a flight of stairs! It was a wonder I did not break my neck! Not to mention the massive lecture I got from Glorfindel afterwards about how easily I allowed myself to be attacked."
"Yes, well. All the same, I think it was awfully mean spirited of you not to play along," Elladan stressed impatiently.
Elrond placed his hands on his head in exasperation, "You are completely incorrigible!"
All three of his sons grinned at him mischievously.
"Don't deny it Ada," Estel said, in an amused tone, "We all know you'd have it no other way."
Elrond had not have thought it possible before now for one elf to roll his eyes so much in the duration of one short conversation, but roll his eyes again he did.
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Present time – 3oth October
"Come on, we've not got all year," Elladan hissed impatiently to Estel and Elrohir as they rooted through their father's bookshelf, "He could be back any minute!"
"Shouting at us will not make us go any faster, Elladan!" Elrohir retorted.
Elladan just glared at the back of his brother's head and moved to resume his post at the door. It would be no good if Elrond found them before they had even started, then they would have to go through the whole rigmarole of thinking of a new plan with only a few hours to prepare, and that would be positively disastrous.
He glanced behind him at the rest of his father's office and the door leading to his bedroom, where the occasional thump and sighs of impatience could be heard. These rooms were far too tidy and organised for Elladan's liking. It was almost unnatural. Apart from the desk of course, where all manner of parchment and paper covered every inch.
"Aha!" came a cry of triumph, "I've found it!"
Elladan gave a sigh of relief. Though he would not have admitted it to either of his brothers, he was terrified of getting caught. Orcs and wargs he could handle, but his father's angry sarcasm and piercing glare was a force to be reckoned with.
After making sure that the coast was clear, he made his way back into the bedroom where Elrohir was ingeniously spacing out all the books of the shelf so it was not obvious that there was one missing.
"That may work for the moment, but he is bound to notice later," he remarked from the doorway, making Estel and Elrohir both jumped in alarm.
"Don't do that!" Estel said angrily.
Elladan laughed, "Nervous are you, little brother?"
"No more than you are, Mr 'I'll be the lookout just in case'" Estel shot back.
A raised eyebrow was all the response Estel received.
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For hours the three brothers scoured Rivendell for all the ingredients they would need to make their two 'potions'. Elrohir had remarked on the strangeness of some of the herbs needed for them, but nevertheless each and every one had to be collected.
Estel had had a near run in once already and they had only been looking for half an hour. Elladan was the worst lookout ever. There Estel had been, happily minding his own business whilst searching through some of the cupboards in the storeroom, when what does he hear but someone's soft footsteps moving swiftly towards him. Estel had hastily thrown himself behind one of the tables and held his breath; surely any elf would notice him straight away.
Fortunately, the elf in question was in such a hurry he didn't even walk in the room, he had simply leaned in a grabbed a bottle from the nearest shelf before almost jogging back out again, allowing Estel to breath again.
Then after berating Elladan in as many ways Estel could possibly think of for being the absolute worst lookout in the history of lookouts, the three brothers sat dutifully around their two concoctions with eager expressions on their faces. It had not taken as long to make them as they had expected, and Elladan had put this down to his own pure skill.
"Someone needs to test them," Elrohir said in a very matter of fact tone.
Nor Estel or Elladan saw it fit to disagree with their brother, but neither were they forthcoming in offering their services. After a minute or so of silence, Estel finally gave in with a sigh and said, "Oh all right, I'll test it shall I? You must give me the antidote as soon as you know though!"
Elladan picked up the first bottle gleefully, "Of course, little brother! We promise not a single strand of hair will be harmed on your adorable little head. You can trust us."
Considering what they were actually doing at that very moment in time, which was predominantly having a clandestine meeting in which the point of discussion was to find an effective way of frightening their loving father for their own amusement, Estel was somewhat disinclined to trust his evil looking elven brothers as far as he could throw them. But be that as it were, he had little choice in the matter. So he gently took the proffered bottle and drank a small dose.
He almost choked as the foul tasting liquid slid down his throat. Estel was sure that he had never tasted anything quite as vile in his whole life, until he remembered some of the disgusting medicine his ada had inflicted upon him last time he got a cold. He made a mental note to put it in some sort of strong tasting food or else his ada would detect it immediately.
"Estel?" said Elladan, "How do you feel?"
Estel paused for a moment while he tried to swallow away the remainder of the revolting taste, "I feel fine," he replied, "How long is it supposed to take?"
"About five minutes or so," Elrohir replied after consulting the book.
Estel merely nodded, and then for a couple of minutes Elladan and Elrohir stared intently at him.
"Will you stop watching me!" he finally said, "You are making me feel uncomfortable. Let's talk about something else."
His brothers complied and for a while they enjoyed a nice conversation that did not involve talk of hallucinogenic herbs and other things. Indeed, for a moment Estel almost forgot that he had drunk some bizarre concoction that was likely to make him fly off the handle in some obscure and unforeseeable way.
It was for that reason alone that when a small white bunny hopped over to him with a cute smile on his face, Estel became quite bewildered.
"What the-?" but his breath caught in his throat as the rabbit began to grow, "No!"
He staggered to his feet and tried to back away, but his feet were firmly planted on the ground, "No! Get away from me!" he cried.
The giant bunny began to laugh in a deep resounding voice that made the very foundations of Imladris quake, "At last we meet, Estel," he said, with a sinister waggle of his ears.
"No! What do you want? Get away from me you evil rabbit!" Estel cried, not caring how ridiculous he might sound.
The rabbit lunged forward and grabbed Estel by the shoulders. He struggled fiercely against the rabbit as it drew the largest bottle Estel had ever seen in his life from behind its ear and tried to force him drink from it.
Estel felt his energy drain away and he finally relented and let the rabbit pour some of whatever was in its bottle down his throat. Suddenly his vision became clear. He was lying on the floor with his hands in front of his face while his two brothers loomed over him, Elrohir looking worried with the antidote in his hand, and Elladan looking highly amused. All then became clear.
"A giant bunny rabbit?" Elladan asked, with barely contained glee.
Estel slowly lowered his hands and glared at his brother, "Yes well, if it had been chasing you, you would have been scared as well!"
"How do you feel now?" Elrohir asked, talking over the din the other two were making.
"I feel a bit nauseous," Estel said thoughtfully, "But apart from that I feel fine."
After a moment of quiet contemplation, all three brothers' faces split into simultaneous evil grins.
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At dinner Estel was feeling no better. But nor did he feel any worse which he supposed was a good sign. It was probably just the side effects of the potions. That didn't make it any easier to bear though.
Thankfully, Elrond was far to harassed too notice and ask about it. He had seemed agitated from the moment he sat down, and then rather than eating he had stared off into the distance. Then half way through dinner Erestor, looking even more strained than Elrond did, came in the room and whispered something in Elrond's ear.
With a sigh, the elf lord rose and said, "I am afraid you will have to finish dinner without me, I have other things to attend to."
He sounded genuinely sorry so Estel smiled and nodded, "All right ada. We'll see you tomorrow if not again tonight."
Elrond smiled back, "Indeed. Good night."
As soon as their father had left the room Elladan turned around to face Estel, "Are you all right?" he asked, looking concerned.
"Yes I'm fine. I still feel a bit sick but it's nothing to worry about. Why?"
Elladan pulled a face, "You just look a bit pale."
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It was pitch black outside. Estel pulled his blanket up so it covered his neck. He was oh so very cold. This, considering how frosty it was outside, would have been understandable if it were not for the three thick blankets Estel had pulled on top of himself. He drew himself up into a ball in an attempt to generate some heat and to fight the pains in his stomach that had been slowly but surely becoming more frequent. This seemed to help slightly and Estel snuggled deeper into his soft bed.
He thought about getting up to tell his ada that he was not well, Estel imagined that Elrond would have a nice stash of healing herbs right at hand that could fix his ailments immediately. But standing up sounded like so much hard work and Estel suspected he probably wouldn't even make it to the door anyway. Instead, he eventually drifted off into a fitful sleep and his mind was plagued with nightmares.
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Elladan woke at sunrise, rejuvenated and refreshed. Today was going to be good; he could feel it. So with a spring in his step, he jumped out of bed and got dressed ready for the day ahead.
While whistling a jaunty tune, he walked over to where he had hidden their 'potions' and slipped them into his pocket. Perhaps it was a little harsh; Elrond had done nothing to deserve it after all. But desperate times call for desperate measures, and besides, the twins' honour was at stake.
Between them, they had decided that the best time to put the plan into action was during their evening meal. They would lull their ada into a false sense of security and then they would strike. Their ada had once told them, 'What we anticipate seldom occurs; what we least expected generally happens.' So they had worked out a list of everything that could possibly go wrong and then a way to counteract it in explicit detail, there was nothing they had not thought of. Oh it was ingenious. Nothing could go wrong with the plan. Absolutely nothing. It was with that happy thought that Elladan went to wake his brothers, he was far too impatient to wait for them to get up of their own accord.
After strolling merrily across the corridor to Elrohir's room, he contemplated the best way to wake his dear brother up. In the end he decided that pushing him onto the floor was the way to go.
"Ah!" Elrohir cried as he plummeted to the ground, "What the-?"
His sleep filled eyes narrowed as they came to rest on his on his laughing brother, "Oh har har har very funny, Elladan."
"Why thank you, dear brother," Elladan said cheerfully, "Hurry up and get dressed, I want to go and get some breakfast."
Elrohir mumbled something unintelligible under his breath with a scowl as he pushed himself off the floor.
"Go and get Estel then. And make sure you wake him up in a way that is at least as dramatic as you did with me. I don't want to be the only one getting bullied by their older brother."
Elladan nodded and happily spun on his heel and left the room.
By the time he had arrived at his youngest brother's bedroom door he had decided that shouting down the boy's ear was the best way to go. Maybe Estel would fall out of bed that way without Elladan even having to touch him.
He pushed the door open quietly and tiptoed over to Estel's bed. Moving his head as close to Estel's ear as he could without touching him, Elladan shouted as loud as he could.
"BOO!"
Estel flinched but didn't wake.
Elladan rolled his eyes; a herd of stampeding wargs couldn't wake Estel up in the mornings sometimes.
"Estel?" he shouted again, faintly annoyed that his plan hadn't worked. The boy didn't stir.
"Estel?" Elladan repeated, clutching his shoulder and shaking the boy gently.
No reaction again. Elladan shook Estel harder, "Come on! Wake up!"
Panic was beginning to set in. Estel wasn't waking up. He put a hand on the sleeping boy's head and his eyes widened in fear and horror. His forehead was burning hot.
"What's the matter?" a voice said from behind Elladan.
"There's something wrong with Estel!" Elladan said, "I can't wake him up!"
Elrohir rushed to his brother's side and clapped his hand to his mouth. Estel looked awful.
"Go and get ada," Elrohir said authoritatively. Elladan was in no frame of mind to reply so he quickly ran out the room to his father's study.
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Elladan burst into Elrond's office, gasping for breath.
"Quick, Ada! Estel…"
Elrond looked up from his desk, clearly confused, "What about Estel? Oh do calm down, Elladan. I cannot understand a word you are trying to say."
Elladan paused to catch his breath and then said very quickly, "There's something wrong with Estel! He won't wake up!"
"Now really, I am very busy, Elladan. I have not got time for this at the moment."
Elladan was dismayed, "No really! This isn't about scaring you for Halloween! Estel really won't wake up! He's all hot and sweaty…He looks awful!"
An eye roll was all he got in response.
"Please just come and look at him! You'll see for yourself!" implored Elladan.
"Fine!" Elrond said angrily after a moments pause, "But if Estel is not at deaths door and this is another one of your ridiculous ploys, I shan't be impressed."
Elladan grimace at his choice of words but quickly grabbed the irate elf lord's arm and dragged him out the room.
"You do not have to man-handle me you know!" Elrond exclaimed. He was, however, ignored.
They found Estel lying prone on his bed with Elrohir sat next to him taking his pulse. The elf turned around to see his brother and father enter the room and let out a sigh of relief. He immediately started rattling off a list of all Estel's symptoms, finishing somewhat lamely with, "and we just can't get him to wake up!"
"I see," Elrond replied, still looking unimpressed, "Move out of the way."
Elrohir quickly complied as their ada took his place and began to check the boy's pulse for himself. Elrond frowned and placed his hand on Estel's sweaty forehead, making the teenager mumble something and flinch at the physical contact.
Elladan watched anxiously as his father went through his usual medical routine of examining people's symptoms; it was worrying how Elrond's frown was becoming deeper by the second. He almost jumped as the elf lord suddenly stood up and pointed at him, "Elladan," he said, "Take Estel to the healing wing immediately." He then moved his finger to point towards Elrohir, "And you tell me exactly what Estel ate and drank yesterday."
He did not envy his brother having to explain to their angry father about how Estel had tested out a potion that was supposed to be used on him, for Elladan had no doubt that that was the cause of Estel's sudden health change.
He put on a sudden burst of speed to pick up Estel and run out the room, he didn't want to be there when Elrond was told the whole story. Almost bumping into a flustered looking Erestor outside the door, Elladan raced down the corridor towards the healing wing with his limp brother in his arms. Even though he couldn't really hear because of the sound of his own heartbeat, he could tell that Estel's breathing had become more erratic and shallow. If Estel died, Elladan would never forgive himself. This had been his idea after all. How stupid to make Estel test it out as well. As a human, his immune system wasn't anywhere near as strong as either of the twins'; they should have tested it just in case something was wrong.
It was pointless worrying about that now though, Elladan thought as he arrived at the hospital wing and placed Estel down on the nearest bed. Besides, he would be fine…there was nothing to worry about. Elrond was the most skilled healer in Middle Earth. He wasn't about to let his youngest son die.
Then not knowing what else to do, Elladan sat down on the chair next to Estel's bed and stroked his forehead while whispering words of comfort. Luckily he didn't have to wait long for Elrond to arrive. He stormed into the room and glared at Elladan furiously.
"Ada, I'm-"
"Now is not the time, Elladan! Elrohir has gone to get the book you used. Do something useful and get me the herbs used to reduce fever."
Elladan nodded mutely and then scurried off to get the herbs.
He arrived back at the same time as Elrohir ran through the door, gasping for breath and clutching the offending book to his chest. Elladan could tell by his brother's dishevelled appearance that he had run the entire way.
Without being told, Elladan began to try and coax his now shivering brother to somehow eat the coneflower that would help to reduce the fever as his father snatched the book from Elrohir and began to rifle through the pages.
Elrond stopped as he arrived at the 'potion' in question and looked perplexed. He then turned the page, which seemed to confuse him even more. Staring at the page, his face suddenly contorted into dawning comprehension. He placed his fingers around the page of the 'antidote' the twins and Estel had made and then rubbed them together. Much to Elladan's astonishment, what they thought had been one page separated itself into two.
After scanning the before hidden pages, Elrond looked up at the twins who were watching him intently.
"You made half a hallucinogenic antidote…" Elrond began, "…and half a slow acting deadly poison."
Almost as if on cue, Estel moaned and his head fell to one side, breaking the short horrified silence that had fallen.
Elladan was so shocked that he almost didn't hear Elrond say, "We must act fast," and then quickly issue a set of orders that the twins were to carry out as efficiently and speedily as possible.
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The next three hours were a blur to Elladan. The only things he really remembered was Elrond sat next to Estel with his hand on the dying boy's forehead and muttering soothing words in a language Elladan couldn't even begin to understand, and then he and his brother being instructed step by step by his distracted father to make an actual antidote.
Another vivid memory Elladan had was when Estel had stopped breathing. Very few times had he seen his father and usually calm and collected twin brother look quite as horrified and panic-stricken as they had done at that point. Then again he imagined that if there had been a mirror for him to look in his face would have been exactly the same. As it was, Elrond was not the best healer in Middle Earth for nothing and had managed to revive Estel and then swiftly administrate the antidote. The latter being no mean feat as his patient was unconscious and therefore in no position to be swallowing the substance that the elf was tipping into his mouth.
At the moment he was perched on the chair situated on the right side of Estel's sick bed, while Elrohir sat on the left side, staring blankly off into the distance. Elrond had left half an hour ago after making the twins promise to come and get him as soon as Estel woke up or if there were any changes.
Elladan sighed and moved his unseeing gaze to rest on his twin from across the bed.
"This is all our fault you know," he said sadly.
Elrohir blinked but didn't look up, "I know," he replied softly.
"It is no such thing," said a weak sounding voice.
"Oh of course it is, Estel…" Elladan snapped.
Elrohir's head shot up and Elladan suddenly gasped.
"Estel!" Elrohir cried happily, "Oh thank Valar you're awake!"
Estel flinched, "Could you please not shout. My head hurts."
"Sorry," Elrohir replied sheepishly, "I'll go and get Ada."
He jumped up from his chair and skipped merrily out the room, leaving Elladan and Estel in a slightly awkward silence.
"I'm so sorry, Es-" Elladan began.
"Don't," Estel interrupted, "It was no ones fault. It would have happened no matter who had taken the potion. What was wrong with it anyway? We made it perfectly…"
"Um… two of the pages were stuck together. We made half the real antidote and then half a poison…"
Estel laughed, "See, Elrohir said that the ingredients were strange! Now we know why."
"This is serious, Estel!" Elladan said angrily, "You nearly died!"
"But I didn't," Estel insisted sleepily, "You couldn't have foresaw what was going to happen."
"Maybe if we just hadn't bothered in the first place…the whole idea was childish…"
"So you are just going to stop trying to have fun on the off chance something will go wrong?"
"No! That's not what I meant…"
"Do be quiet, I have a headache," Estel said sounding exasperated, "Oh come on, you have to admit it is a bit funny. We should have noticed the pages were stuck together!"
Elladan bit back a smile. Their own stupidity was a bit funny he supposed. Estel was right anyway…he hadn't died. He was sat here arguing with him, and if that wasn't a sure sign he was recovering then Elladan didn't know what was.
It was on that note that Elrond and Elrohir rushed in.
"I feel fine, Ada," Estel protested as Elrond immediately began to take his pulse and temperature. Their father made a disbelieving noise and carried on, making Estel purse his lips petulantly.
After a couple of minutes Elrond was finally satisfied that Estel was fine, "And let this be a lesson to you!" he said, "Do not, and I repeat do not, play around with my books and herbs!"
"It isn't our fault the pages where stuck together," Elrohir said, "It's your book!"
Elrond chose to ignore this comment, "Also, maybe it is time to give up this ridiculous notion of yours to make my life miserable on Halloween!"
The three brothers looked horrified.
"Absolutely not, Ada!" Estel exclaimed, "We would never give up such a long standing tradition!"
"But you nearly died!"
Estel waved a hand imperviously, "A mere trifle. I'm quite fine now."
Elrond opened and closed his mouth before throwing his arms up in the air as though a signal of defeat and finally saying, "What did I do to deserve this?"
He began to mutter darkly as he turned around and strode bitterly out the room. Elladan was sure he caught the words, "should have just left him" and "make life easier".
Smirking slightly, he lowered his gaze to Estel. He was wearing a smirk similar to Elladan's, and looking up he realised Elrohir's also. There were a few moments of silence. Estel was the first to burst into laughter, closely followed by the twins.
The rest of the day was spent trying to think of a new plan. After all, if they planned a year ahead nothing could possibly go wrong.
The End