Disclaimer: I do not own any of the recognisable characters in this story, and make no money from them. This story is purely a work of fanfiction and written for fun. However, I do own the OC's, and I ask that you don't use them in your own writing without consulting me first.
Thanks goes to livius (guest), Freeranger, Hawaiichick, CoffeeRanger, and Whyamiobsessed for reviewing Battlefield.
I know this story doesn't have a lot happening in terms of action, but it provides a run-down of everyone's abilities and what they can do with them. Much like Family Tree, this story can be used as a reference to refer to as needed while reading the other stories in this universe.
Helegion is 25 years old in this; however, for an elf that is about the equivalent of a 5-year-old human. For this universe, I am working on the premise that elven children take five years to reach the physical growth that humans experience in one. Intellectually, they mature faster, but still have a lot to learn.
Tales from Mirkwood: Ancestry
Thranduil should be an old hand at this by now. He'd done it no less than fifteen times after all, with his previous seven children, both his wives, his three daughters-in-law, and his three grandchildren. Thondir also knew the basics, as did Elrond Half-Elven. And Thranduil was an old hand, in a way, but it somehow never got easier. Thranduil did not know if it was because they had to keep it such a closely guarded secret, or whether it was due to the circumstances of how it had happened. Not that Thranduil knew exactly what had happened; no amount of asking had ever persuaded either of his parents to tell him how they met, or why the Maia had to be kept under wraps. Thranduil had thought up every possible explanation for their secrecy in the long years since losing them both, and still was no closer to an answer. And that was one of the questions that everyone he'd ever told had asked him about. Maybe it was the fact their Maia ancestry had to be kept such a closely guarded secret for reasons unknown that made explaining things so difficult, and not the secret itself.
These thoughts ran through Thranduil's mind as he led Helegion to the small room, whose entrance was hidden behind a tapestry in his private study. His youngest son's eyes went wide when Thranduil pushed aside the heavy tapestry that covered the door, which sat flush with the wall.
"Ada, where are we going? I didn't know there was a door here."
Thranduil smiled.
"Not many do. You are only the thirteenth person to know about it. Even your mother does not know, as this room is a secret meant only for those with Oropher's blood. Especially as it contains the entrance to a secret escape route that ends way out in the forest, in case we ever need to get out without attracting attention."
Helegion's eyes widened.
"Really? Another secret passage? Our home seems full of them."
Thranduil smiled.
"I suppose it is. Your grandfather Oropher was paranoid about security. But that is not why I have brought you here. Come on."
Thranduil swung the tapestry back into place, and closed the door, before turning around to watch Helegion's reaction to the painting that hung on the wall of the small space. By the time he turned around, his youngest son was already hesitantly taking steps towards the portrait, his hand hovering by the painting. After looking to Thranduil for permission, the youngest prince hesitantly touched the face of the beautiful woman with awe.
"She has Tordir's hair and Lanny's eyes."
Thranduil smiled wistfully.
"More accurately, they have her hair and eyes. Though I see bits of her in all of you. The way you act and behave, little mannerisms, and of course, your gifts."
Helegion looked at his father questioningly.
"What about our gifts? We are elves, we all have gifts."
Thranduil nodded slowly.
"That is true, especially with wood elves. Your magic is strong by itself. However, there is more to it, and I brought you here to explain the whole thing. It is a closely guarded family secret, but you are old enough to know it now. But you can't talk to anyone about this, okay? If you ever have any questions about it, come to me in private, and I will help you. Do you understand Helegion? Promise me you will do that."
The elfling nodded. For not looking a day over five or six by human's standards, he had the maturity of someone much older. As was typical for the elves. While they were slow to physically mature, by the time they did, they had already lived longer than the average lifespan of a human. And being alive for over one hundred years by then meant you had learnt a lot in the process of growing up.
"I understand Ada. And I promise. What is so important that you need me to promise to only talk about it to you?"
Thranduil smiled at his son, and encouraged him to sit down on the comfortable lounge that was in the room. It was a very small room, with the painting taking up most of the wall space, and the lounge squeezed into the space that was left, so the most comfortable thing to do was sit down. Once they were both settled, Thranduil started talking.
"You are right in saying that wood elves have some abilities that other elves do not have. However, being my son, you have something more than that. Do you remember what you learnt about the Maiar in your history lessons?"
Helegion nodded slowly, and though obviously puzzled, answered readily enough.
"Yes, they were powerful spirits, servants of the Valar, who came to Middle Earth during the first age to help us. What about them?"
Thranduil smiled sadly at the painting for a few moments, before turning to Helegion with a soft expression.
"My mother, the woman you see in this picture, was one of them."
Helegion blinked.
"Okay. What does that have to do with bringing me here?"
Thranduil smiled lovingly at his son.
"You have inherited gifts from her, beyond the normal scope of the powers elves typically have. Your brothers and sisters have as well, as have Lanny, Tordir and Aeweth. And me. I am more powerful than all of you, as I am half-Maia."
Helegion stared at his father in wonder.
"Really? Do you have magical gifts?"
Thranduil smiled.
"Yes, I do. I can speak to animals and hear their thoughts. This ability also extends to understanding how the trees feel, though I can't speak to them directly like you can. I can create illusions and mirages with my mind, and possess the gift of healing. I can share my own energy and life-force with others without dying myself, which is quite a gift. Though, if I expand too much energy, I will be severely weakened, and even comatose. It has happened once before."
"You know how Belegon always knows if someone is lying, or not telling the whole truth?"
Helegion made a frustrated face.
"Yes, he doesn't let me get away with anything. It is frustrating. He always knows."
Thranduil chuckled.
"That is his gift. He instinctively knows if someone is lying, or not telling the whole truth. It doesn't matter whether they are an elf, a human, or from any other race on Middle Earth. It is impossible to fool him, as he will see straight through any attempts at deception. Not once in his life has anyone ever managed to deceive him."
Helegion's eyes were big.
"Wow."
Thranduil nodded.
"Yes. His gift is very rare, as I have never heard of anyone else having anything like it."
"What about the others? Can they do things?"
"Yes, and I am getting to that. Golwendir has visions of the future. This gift has kept us safe many times, as we have been able to prevent bad things from happening by intervening at the right moment. Legolas has a more dangerous gift, empathy. He can influence the emotions of those around him at will if he wishes, and is very sensitive to emotional changes. Once, he caused an entire room of people to black out by overwhelming them with emotions."
Helegion's eyes were now very big.
"When did that happen?"
"When the twins were young. Some humans tried to kill us when we were in their town to sign a trading agreement. Needless to say, the agreement was never signed."
"What about the others?"
"Lothwen's gift is like mine. She can talk to animals and understand what they are saying. However, unlike me, she can also persuade them to do what she wants through a mental link she has with them. It functions in a similar way to the one you share with trees."
Thranduil did not mention that he suspected her amplified abilities in this area where the result of her Silvan blood. Thranduil had long had his suspicions that the Silvan abilities had mixed with his mother's blood in his six half-Silvan children to produce stronger powers then ¼ Maia blood would generally have. He based this assumption on the fact Belegon and Golwendir did not have the scale of power his younger children had. And the more he observed it, the more Thranduil was sure he was onto something. Not that it really mattered. They were all special, and Thranduil loved all his children equally.
"What about Celebie?"
Thranduil smiled at the question. He knew Helegion was very close to his youngest daughter, and it did not surprise him his youngest son would want to know what his sister could do.
"Celebiel has healing abilities similar to mine, except she also possesses the power to physically heal the trees. Her gift is a very important and useful one, and surprisingly very different to Coliel's."
Seeing Helegion open his mouth to ask a question, Thranduil beat him to the answer.
"Coliel…you know how she sounds so beautiful singing?"
Helegion nodded eagerly, and Thranduil continued.
"There is another dimension to it that very rarely surfaces. If she puts enough thought into her singing, she can ensnare those around her into doing whatever she wants them to. They can't resist the sound of her voice."
Helegion's eyes, which had gone back to normal size, went very big again at hearing that. Thranduil idly wondered how big they could go.
"I've never heard that happen."
Thranduil shook his head.
"No, you wouldn't have. She has it perfectly under control. Like we all do. We discovered the extent of her gift quite by accident one day. Until it happened, we all thought she had simply been blessed with a lovely voice."
"What happened?"
Thranduil shook his head.
"Not now. That is a story for another day. And we haven't quite finished with Coliel yet. She can also charm trees into listening to her, and doing what she wants."
Helegion shrugged.
"She's Silvan; the trees always listen and talk to us."
Thranduil just nodded, as he said softly.
"You are right, they do. However, Coliel communicates with them slightly differently to the rest of you."
Helegion either did not hear him, or did not care enough to pursue it further. Given elven hearing, Thranduil suspected the later.
"What about Garavon? Apart from the fact he is impossible to sneak up on?"
Thranduil chuckled.
"That is his gift; to always know where people are around him. And, as you have already found out, he is impossible to sneak up on."
"But I've been so quite at times! How can he know?"
Thranduil shrugged.
"He just does. He doesn't necessarily need to see or hear you approach, he just knows that you are there. Annoyed the twins no end when they were little, for much the same reason you find it frustrating. It's no use trying to sneak up on Tordir either. While his ability works within a smaller radius, he will still know you are there long before you actually reach him."
"Lanny and Aeweth?"
"Lanny can regenerate dying, dead, and withered plants, as well as communicate with the trees. Aeweth has visions of the past. She is limited however, in that she can only see the event if she is physically standing in the spot where the even took place. And it doesn't always happen; it is very random."
Helegion thought all that over before asking a question.
"What can I do beyond talk to trees?"
Thranduil smiled kindly at his son.
"You can talk to trees, yes, but you also, without realising it, have shown the ability to create illusions and mirages using your mind. Like I can. Though you have also used the trees to help you create these illusions. Both your Naneth and I have noticed it."
Helegion looked surprised.
"Really? That is my gift? I thought what I did was normal for wood elves!"
Thranduil smiled.
"Talking to and communicating with trees is, but the creating illusions part is not. While you are only young, we have already seen evidence of your gift. Only time will tell if that is all that happens."
"I know you will have questions after all that, so what would you like to know?"
Thranduil spent some time patiently answering every question his youngest son had. Some of them could be considered trivial, but Thranduil had always been quite clear with assuring his children they could ask him anything at any time, and not be laughed at or belittled. Since making that promise to a young Belegon in the First Age, Thranduil had never once broken his word.
Only a weak person, or a coward, broke their word once they'd given it, and Thranduil was neither. It was for that reason he could count the promises he'd made in his life on one hand; as he very rarely made promises. Though, if you added in the promises he'd made to his family in that same period, the number jumped up to almost two hands worth.
Thranduil saw promises made to his family as being even more sacred then promises made to others, and took great pride in the fact he had never broken a promise. No matter who he'd made it to.
But if he was ever forced to make a choice about which promise to keep, he would choose his family every single time.
Helegion finally run out of questions, and after showing him the entrance to the secret passage, Thranduil decided it was time to go. However, first there was one more thing he had to do.
"Helegion. Before we go, there is also another aspect of our gifts that I would like to make you aware of. What I am about to tell you relates to me, Legolas, Coliel, and you. We all have strong mental powers, and, from what I've witnessed over the years, we are also all immune to each other's powers."
"How?"
Thranduil shrugged.
"I believe it is because we are family, and share the same Maia blood. Because Belegon, Golwendir, Lanny, Tordir, Aeweth, Lothwen, Garavon, and Celebiel are also not affected by it. Everyone else is."
"Even Naneth?"
"Yes. Though she knows this secret, as does Calithildis, Tulusdis and Braigneth. However, no one talks about it, so come to me if you ever have any questions about it. Okay?"
Helegion nodded.
"Okay Ada, I will do that."
Thranduil smiled.
"Good lad. Now, I have nowhere else to be or other things to do, so what would you like me to do? I'm yours for the rest of the afternoon."
Sneak peek at next week's story: Visit to Imladris
Elladan was shaking in rage at the situation in general. Thranduil's hysterics were not helping his mood.
"Who did this? Show yourselves!"
If anyone has any questions about anyone's powers or anything else after reading this, shoot me a PM, or leave a review, and I will write to you with an answer. However, Guest reviews asking questions will not be answered. I would ask that you please sign in if you would like an answer.