DISCLAIMER: I do not own The Lord of the Rings; all rights to J.R.R. Tolkien!

Okay, before I let you guys read this chapter, there is something I need to say. Horseyay brought to my attention that the name 'Enceladus' was also the name of a bad guy in the Percy Jackson series. I just wanted to say that I have never read Percy Jackson and I had no idea that that was the name of one of the characters. I enjoy using names of moons or stars for OC names, and I saw that one and used it. I am in no way copying what the author of Percy Jackson wrote. Thank you to Horseyay for bringing that to my attention! :D

The foursome had ridden home in complete, awkward silence; no one daring to say anything that might anger their human friend any more. When they had reached the stables, the man had hastily put away his tack and rubbed Roheryn down before walking inside without a word to the three elves.

Aragorn immediately went up to his room, ignoring the happy greetings coming from his adopted father. He flopped down on the bed, thinking about the events that had occurred that morning. I guess I can understand why they wouldn't believe me. He thought, rolling over onto his side and staring out the window. How could that man just have moved everything without leaving a trace? And wouldn't there be ashes from the fire? He shook his head, confused by the situation, and walked out onto his balcony. He leaned out over the railing and let his thoughts control his mind, hoping to remember some crucial thing the man had said to him.

"Wait a minute." He said aloud, his train of thought beginning to strengthen. "He never told me anything of any importance. That's it. He brought me there just to…." A cloud of confusion descended on him. Just to what? "Eat his food." The realization dawned on him. "Something was poisoned, the meat or the water." His steel gray eyes stared distantly out at the beautiful landscaping.

"It was the water."

Aragorn whirled around, eyes wide as he saw who had just spoken to him.

Enceladus was standing there, or, rather, sitting there, on his log, a leg of deer meat suspended over a crackling campfire.

The Ranger shook his head slowly and covered his eyes. No. No. No. This is not happening. He cracked open his eyes and groaned inwardly when he saw the man was still sitting there. I'm having hallucinations. Great.

"This is not a hallucination."

The man jumped again.

"Come, sit." Enceladus motioned at the log across from him.

Aragorn shook his head slowly. "No, no. You're not here. This is just from that poison you gave me last night."

A cruel smile spread across Enceladus' face.

"Unless…that wasn't real either…" The Ranger closed his eyes and sank down on his bed, trying to sort through his befuddled thoughts. This cannot be real. It couldn't have been last night, either. Unless it is some dark magic…

"It is."

The Ranger was slightly startled by the frightening voice, but did not show it. "Why would you tell me this, then? Why would you tell me it was some form of dark magic if it really was?"

Enceladus cackled when he saw the look on Aragorn's face when he realized that he had just read his thoughts. "Why wouldn't I? Soon, you will not be able to discern between right and wrong, evil and good."

His words sent chills crawling up the Ranger's spine, and he asked warily, "Who are you?"

The question evoked another smile from the evil man, but he didn't get an answer.

"Listen closely. I am going to tell you what you are going to do."

Aragorn, wide eyed, could not find the willpower in himself to turn away and stop listening.

"You will start first with your eldest brother, then move on to your little friend. Oh, what's his name? Ah, yes. Legolas, isn't it? Next you will—"

The man shook his head once again and rubbed his eyes. "I have no idea what you speak of."

"Oh, yes. I forgot about the insolence of humans." He reached inside a small sack resting beside him and pulled out a glittering dagger. He stood and slid it across the bed sheets.

Aragorn fingered the weapon as the horrible realization struck him. "Surely you do not mean…?"

Enceladus took pleasure at the horrified look on the man's face. "Oh, but I do."

"No, I will not do this. You are a mere hallucination, nothing more." The Ranger stood, leaving the dagger on the bed, and began to make his way for the door. But right when his hand was reaching for the doorknob, it felt as if an invisible force was holding him still, not allowing him to move even the slightest muscle.

"I said, listen closely."

A sudden, overwhelming fear began to grow in the pit of Aragorn's stomach as he listened to Enceladus' next words. "First, you will have the dagger in your boot." Suddenly the weapon disappeared from the bed and the man felt its presence on the inside of his boot, right where his old knife that he kept for emergencies used to be. "Second, you may disregard this as much as you like, but you will forever have that dagger as a sign. And, try as you might, you will gradually begin to feel your will weaken, and, well, sooner or later, you will go through with my orders."

A soft knock sounded on the door.

"Aragorn? Are you in there?"

It was Legolas.

"Remember what I told you." Then, with a final, cruel smile, Enceladus was gone.

The Mirkwood elf cautiously turned the knob and peeked his head inside his human friend's room, hoping to find him there. The elf jumped back when he ran smack into the man, who appeared to be reaching for the doorknob.

"Legolas!" The dazed expression on the Ranger's face snapped and he stared at his friend in surprise.

"Oh, Aragorn! I was looking for you."

"Yeah, I know." The Ranger said distantly, his thoughts wandering back to Enceladus' most recent visit.

"Oh."

Aragorn abandoned the thought of leaving his room and sank down onto the end of his bed, shivering as he felt the presence of the cruel dagger in his boot.

"Are you alright?"

He nodded.

Gently, Legolas eased down onto the bed beside his friend. "Aragorn, I really am sorry. I did not believe you."

Swallowing the lump in his throat, the man looked into the face of his elven friend. "I understand, Legolas. I would not have believed me, either."

"But that is no excuse. I should have given you a chance…"

"No, mellon nín. You did the right thing. I see now that it was indeed just a bad dream." Aragorn hated himself for lying to his best friend, but he simply could not find it in himself to tell him the truth.

The elf put a hand on his shoulder and asked, "Shall we go get something to eat, now?"

Aragorn nodded, his thoughts still not at the present, and followed Legolas out of the room.

-

Two hours later, Aragorn lounged in a comfortable bench out in the gardens, happy that he had made up with his brothers and friend. But, still, the nagging knowledge of what the knife in his boot was meant for plagued his mind.

Just then Elladan and Elrohir walked out onto the patio, talking and laughing about something the Ranger could not make out.

"Oh, Estel!" Elrohir said, catching sight of his human brother. "There you are!"

Aragorn smiled as the two elves sank down on the bench, one on either side of him. But the smile quickly faded when, involuntarily, his muscles tensed and his heart beat slightly faster, the blade pressing against his calf stinging his flesh. His fingers itched to grab the knife and use it, but the Ranger quickly swatted the thought away. No. He has already begun to weaken me to his will. The sensation passed and he looked up at Elladan, suddenly aware that he had been speaking to him.

An expectant look stood on the elf's face, then an annoyed one crossed it. "You were not listening to me, were you?"

Aragorn opened his mouth to speak, but founds no words to say. He tried again, then realized that he truly had no idea what Elladan had been saying.

"You really should pay attention when someone is speaking to you, Estel. It really gets annoying." Both of the twins were smiling as Elladan repeated his question.

"So do you want to come with Elrohir and I tomorrow?"

The Ranger bit his lip, knowing that his next question would only evoke a chain of laughter from his brothers.

"Where are you going?"

He was right.

Elrohir cast a glance at Elladan, then the two burst into laughter. As Aragorn waited impatiently for them to cease, his gaze traveled slowly downward until it rested on his left boot. The one with the dagger inside.

"We are going to deliver some medicines to a nearby village tomorrow." Elrohir said, laughter evident in his voice.

Aragorn was viciously yanked back into reality from the dream world of Enceladus and he stared at Elrohir uncomprehendingly. "What?"

At that, the two brothers began laughing. Again.

"You really must pay attention, Estel." Elrohir gasped for breath, practically rolling on the ground in a fit of giggles.

Aragorn rolled his eyes at the two. "Sorry, I just got caught up in my thoughts, I guess. So where are you going?"

-

The next morning Aragorn rose early, quickly throwing a few things in his pack before shouldering it and leaving his room to find his two elven brothers. He ran into Elrohir before he had made it seven meters down the hallway, and he greeted his brother warmly.

"Ready to go, muindor nín?"

The Ranger nodded and followed his brother down the hall and out into the yard, where they met Elladan, who was already saddling his steeldust mare.

"Morning, El." The man said before entering Roheryn's stall. He quickly ran a brush through the stallion's tangled mane and tail before saddling him. He strapped his sword next to the saddle and kept his quiver on his back.

One of the stable hands approached them, two boxes full of medicines in his hands.

"Hannon le." Elladan said as he took the boxes from the elf and began to tie several of the bags onto his mare's back. Aragorn took a few and firmly secured them behind his saddle while Elladan did the same.

When they had finished, all three of them mounted up and were just about to leave when Aragorn asked, "Where is Legolas?"

"He is not coming." Elladan said, being currently preoccupied with trying to fix his stirrup.

"Why not?"

"Oh, something about wanting to study Ada's books. I think."

The Ranger, while slightly disappointed that his friend would not be coming, was also a little relieved. He knew the elf would immediately detect something was wrong and press him for information, hoping to figure out what had happened.

While caught in his thoughts, he did not realize that Elladan and Elrohir had already begun to pull out of the stables. "Come on, Estel. It's two days' ride, so we might as well start now."
Aragorn glanced up from his stallion's silky mane and caught the younger's twin's gaze.
"Oh, coming." He kicked Roheryn into a trot to catch up with his brothers, then the three of them set out to do their task, the morning sun shining on their faces.

Okay, everyone, I will be leaving on the 28th for camp, and I will not be back until the 1st of August, so the next chapter will probably not be up until August 2nd or 3rd. Sorry you guys have to wait extra long for the next one, but, it's only six days. :P I hope you all liked it!

REVIEW REPLIES

horseyyay: I'm glad you enjoyed it! And THANK YOU SO MUCH for telling me about that name being from Percy Jackson. I may go back and change it later, but then again I'm not sure. But thank you so much and I am always open to any constructive criticism you have! Yeah, the Witch King's spiky ball is really cool. I think Andúril is my favorite. Thanks for reading and reviewing!

Saphira: Well, I'm glad you're trying to puzzle out the mysterious person and his riddles…Hehehe…Okay, anyways, I would probably have a bow, too, 'cause I'd be too much of a coward to go up and actual fight them with swords. Unless, of course, I was trained with a sword by a certain someone…Thanks for reading and reviewing!

Greenleaf: Wow, thank you for the compliment! I love the song Desert Soul, too. It's one of my favorite Rend Collective songs. Actually, its one of my favorite songs ever. Every time I hear it I always start singing. :P Thanks for reading and reviewing!

LuthienT: Oh, good. Another plot. NOW PLEASE WRITE MORE! *sniff sniff* You're still one of my favorite fanfic authors, though. Even if you did stop authoring for a while. *gives you the evil eye* Anyway, I totally agree with you. Andúril is the best weapon. The longbows are cool, too, 'cause I really do love bows, but Andúril wins by just a little.

LadyOfAnfalas: Yeah, I'm really trying to work on my dialogue. I've gotten several people that have told me its kinda modern, and I'm really trying to fix it. I guess my thoughts just run modern! Okay, that was a really bad joke. If it even QUALIFIES as a joke. :P Thanks for reading and reviewing!

Special thank you's to ALL of my reviewers for this chapter for answering the question of the day! I'm so proud of you! Anyways, thank you for reading and reviewing everyone and I will miss you guys while I'm at camp!

QUESTION OF THE DAY

In The Return of the King (book) Faramir and Éowyn's love story is way bigger and lovey-dovey-er than in the movies. Agree or disagree?

SONG OF THE DAY

Confession (What's Inside My Head)
Artist: RED

Mrs King Aragorn :D