Hey everyone! Thank you SO much for the lovely reviews - i'd been having a
bad couple days and they're really uplifting :) lol. I can't personally
reply to them rite now as I'm sort of in a rush, but just know I really do
listen to them...as you can see lol...and i really appreciate them. And
fyi, Legolas's POV wasn't in the last chapter because it accidentally got
deleted and I was entirely too lazy to rewrite it, but technically it
should be part of the last chapter. Oh well. LoL so on with the story.
---
Legolas's POV
My eyes were glued unnervingly to Elrond's face, and I bit my lip in frustration as he took his gaze away from Krystal to share a special moment with his sons. My mind was racing- that was great for Elrond and his family, but Krystal's eyes were still closed. Why wasn't he *doing* something?
I had to turn away. My eyes were beginning to physically ache from the sight of Krystal lying there motionless. I wish she would do something! I thought savagely. Run, cry, scream, yell, insult me to no end but for Valar's sake, do SOMETHING!
'Please,' I thought desperately, my eyes returning to her in vain, trying to will some of my strength into her. 'Please, just open your eyes..'
But stubborn to the end, Krystal did not comply. I didn't notice Aragorn get up and stroll to the window, nor the way his face clenched in agonized thoughts, but my senses felt the tension in my friend mount. I turned my eyes towards him, welcoming the relief from studying Krystal. His body was tense and rigid and for a moment, I felt complete exhaustion. Why was everyone having emotional break downs when Krystal had a physical one?
But my irritation faded away at the tense look in the human's face. "Aragorn--" I began in a whisper, but he waved a hand a cut me off abruptly. Glancing at the uneasy look on his face, I decided to just let him be and returned my attention to Krystal, trying to wish some of my strength into the young girl. But...well...as for strength...I was currently pretty tired. My eyes seemed to have weights behind them and it was a struggle to keep them open. The emotional effects of this day were plaguing me and it was drawing on my strength.
Elrond continued to silently converse and bond with his two troubled twins and my eyes flickered to them curiously. 'I wonder,' I thought slowly, 'what that must feel like.'
I hadn't been held by my father in years, in an embrace. Sure, there was the time when I came home barely alive after being caught in an orc-dwarf war, and I couldn't even move, but that really didn't count. He had to hug me then...otherwise I would have collapsed at the palace gate.
I wonder for a brief moment what it would have been like if I had been born into Elrond's family, then shook my head quickly. Those thoughts felt too much like treason.
Sighing, I raised a head to my temple and took a deep breath. My feelings were so muddled and intertwined I could barely make out where one emotion began and where the other ended. There was guilt, of course. How could there not be? And something else, something remotely familiar...responsibility. I knew what ever befall Krystal, it would be my responsibility. I would it make so. Glancing up at her, I felt a rush of fierce protectiveness surge through my veins and reluctantly identified another of my nameless emotions. She was so young, so alone, and in so much pain. Suddenly, as I kept my eyes glued to Krystal, her eyes fluttered open.
----------- Krystal's POV
That damn television. I swear, it never stopped. I mean, you would think Nick, my little brother, was deft from the volume he kept the TV on. Jesus.
And the light...How were people suppose to sleep? Should I open my eyes? I took a deep breath, and pain coming from my ribs caused me to wince suddenly. Okay, maybe I'll just go back to sleep...I'm really tired as it is, I reasoned logically. Sleep is good.
A murmuring of voices reached my eyes and underneath closed eyelashes, I rolled my eyes. Why were people talking in my room? I was *sleeping*. How inconsiderate of them.
Forcing my eyes open, the sudden addition of sunlight to my vision sent a piercing pain through my temple. I squinted a moment before my eyes finally adjusted and I sighed, my eyes darting around the unfamiliar room.
I had expected to awake in my normal bedroom, with purple walls and a purple carpet and a purple bed. But instead, I awoke in a room entirely decked in green. And beige. And not my room.
Panic rose in my throat as I stared around. Where was I?
A blonde guy with startling blue eyes was staring at me, and I latched my eyes onto his. "Krystal?" he asked quickly, standing up out of the chair and moving closer to the bed. "How are you feeling?"
A older guy with curved ears, dark tresses and clear eyes quickly brushed the blonde one out of the way. "Welcome back, child. How do you feel?"
Feel? I didn't currently feel anything, really. I was kind of numb, I suppose...I couldn't feel anything below my neck.
"I don't..." I breathed in answer, and the blonde one cocked and eyebrow and studied me as if he wasn't sure what I meant, but the older one smiled knowingly. "Do not fear, young one, you will get the feeling back in your legs, I assure you."
What was he talking about?! WHY was I here?
"What..." I began to start a sentence, but suddenly it seemed not worth the effort. The older one turned away and gave orders to someone standing behind him. "Elladan, you and Legolas go fetch some cold water. Her throat is dry from the potion."
Elladan....that name was so familiar, wasn't it...I searched quickly through my memory...no, I guess not. What about Legolas? Yes, that name did seem familiar...I thought hard, very hard, and all of a sudden, the memories came rushing back.
I was in Rivendell.
Elladan....Elladan was an elf. And he was my friend. Legolas...he was an elf too. A Prince or something...and the old guy, that was Elrond!
I nodded in contentment as I figured out what was going on. At least that explained some things.
"How are you feeling?" Elladan asked me softly, and I paused for a moment. Okay, I knew who these people were now, that was an improvement, but I still didn't know why I was lying down and I couldn't feel anything. "Krystal?" he prompted when my eyes landed anywhere but on him. "How are you feeling?" he repeated.
Blurs of memory were beginning to return to me. Legolas, Elladan, Elrohir, and Aragorn walking away from me....being alone in a village, terrified and trying not to show it. Those last horrible moments in the woods with Worti...I shivered involuntarily as the scene flashed across my eyes. My last conversation with Annore...riding towards Rivendell with Elrohir...and utter pain I felt with each jolting step the animals took...that burning pain in my thigh....sweet voices singing to me...and then everything went black.
I remembered now. I remembered everything. I remembered the feelings of betrayal, of abandonment, and of fear. I remember harsh ropes on my wrists, and a quick glance down at my hands proved that the ropes had bit into my flesh. I remember Worti beating me for all I was worth, but the image permanently burned in my mind was the backs of my *friends* walking away from me.
"Krystal?" Elrond called softly. "Can you hear us?"
I nodded mutely, my mind racing over thoughts. Images flashed through my mind, and I didn't know how to respond. I could be cool, and aloof. I could be sarcastic and rude. Or I could just let the whole thing go.
Or not.
Deciding on my course of action, I raised my eyes to Elrond. "Yes. I'm fine." I said evenly, my eyes politely disinterested.
Looks were exchanged, expressions were adjusted, as if they had expected this, but my eyes were coolly impassive. "We should leave you to rest," Legolas said after a moment.
I shrugged. "Whatever."
With short, exasperated, 'I-should-have-known-' looks, all but Elrond left. The older elf paused at the door, studying me.
"How long?" he asked simply. I raised an eyebrow. "What?"
"How long do you plan to punish them?"
I sighed in mock-thought. "As long as it takes."
---
Legolas's POV
My eyes were glued unnervingly to Elrond's face, and I bit my lip in frustration as he took his gaze away from Krystal to share a special moment with his sons. My mind was racing- that was great for Elrond and his family, but Krystal's eyes were still closed. Why wasn't he *doing* something?
I had to turn away. My eyes were beginning to physically ache from the sight of Krystal lying there motionless. I wish she would do something! I thought savagely. Run, cry, scream, yell, insult me to no end but for Valar's sake, do SOMETHING!
'Please,' I thought desperately, my eyes returning to her in vain, trying to will some of my strength into her. 'Please, just open your eyes..'
But stubborn to the end, Krystal did not comply. I didn't notice Aragorn get up and stroll to the window, nor the way his face clenched in agonized thoughts, but my senses felt the tension in my friend mount. I turned my eyes towards him, welcoming the relief from studying Krystal. His body was tense and rigid and for a moment, I felt complete exhaustion. Why was everyone having emotional break downs when Krystal had a physical one?
But my irritation faded away at the tense look in the human's face. "Aragorn--" I began in a whisper, but he waved a hand a cut me off abruptly. Glancing at the uneasy look on his face, I decided to just let him be and returned my attention to Krystal, trying to wish some of my strength into the young girl. But...well...as for strength...I was currently pretty tired. My eyes seemed to have weights behind them and it was a struggle to keep them open. The emotional effects of this day were plaguing me and it was drawing on my strength.
Elrond continued to silently converse and bond with his two troubled twins and my eyes flickered to them curiously. 'I wonder,' I thought slowly, 'what that must feel like.'
I hadn't been held by my father in years, in an embrace. Sure, there was the time when I came home barely alive after being caught in an orc-dwarf war, and I couldn't even move, but that really didn't count. He had to hug me then...otherwise I would have collapsed at the palace gate.
I wonder for a brief moment what it would have been like if I had been born into Elrond's family, then shook my head quickly. Those thoughts felt too much like treason.
Sighing, I raised a head to my temple and took a deep breath. My feelings were so muddled and intertwined I could barely make out where one emotion began and where the other ended. There was guilt, of course. How could there not be? And something else, something remotely familiar...responsibility. I knew what ever befall Krystal, it would be my responsibility. I would it make so. Glancing up at her, I felt a rush of fierce protectiveness surge through my veins and reluctantly identified another of my nameless emotions. She was so young, so alone, and in so much pain. Suddenly, as I kept my eyes glued to Krystal, her eyes fluttered open.
----------- Krystal's POV
That damn television. I swear, it never stopped. I mean, you would think Nick, my little brother, was deft from the volume he kept the TV on. Jesus.
And the light...How were people suppose to sleep? Should I open my eyes? I took a deep breath, and pain coming from my ribs caused me to wince suddenly. Okay, maybe I'll just go back to sleep...I'm really tired as it is, I reasoned logically. Sleep is good.
A murmuring of voices reached my eyes and underneath closed eyelashes, I rolled my eyes. Why were people talking in my room? I was *sleeping*. How inconsiderate of them.
Forcing my eyes open, the sudden addition of sunlight to my vision sent a piercing pain through my temple. I squinted a moment before my eyes finally adjusted and I sighed, my eyes darting around the unfamiliar room.
I had expected to awake in my normal bedroom, with purple walls and a purple carpet and a purple bed. But instead, I awoke in a room entirely decked in green. And beige. And not my room.
Panic rose in my throat as I stared around. Where was I?
A blonde guy with startling blue eyes was staring at me, and I latched my eyes onto his. "Krystal?" he asked quickly, standing up out of the chair and moving closer to the bed. "How are you feeling?"
A older guy with curved ears, dark tresses and clear eyes quickly brushed the blonde one out of the way. "Welcome back, child. How do you feel?"
Feel? I didn't currently feel anything, really. I was kind of numb, I suppose...I couldn't feel anything below my neck.
"I don't..." I breathed in answer, and the blonde one cocked and eyebrow and studied me as if he wasn't sure what I meant, but the older one smiled knowingly. "Do not fear, young one, you will get the feeling back in your legs, I assure you."
What was he talking about?! WHY was I here?
"What..." I began to start a sentence, but suddenly it seemed not worth the effort. The older one turned away and gave orders to someone standing behind him. "Elladan, you and Legolas go fetch some cold water. Her throat is dry from the potion."
Elladan....that name was so familiar, wasn't it...I searched quickly through my memory...no, I guess not. What about Legolas? Yes, that name did seem familiar...I thought hard, very hard, and all of a sudden, the memories came rushing back.
I was in Rivendell.
Elladan....Elladan was an elf. And he was my friend. Legolas...he was an elf too. A Prince or something...and the old guy, that was Elrond!
I nodded in contentment as I figured out what was going on. At least that explained some things.
"How are you feeling?" Elladan asked me softly, and I paused for a moment. Okay, I knew who these people were now, that was an improvement, but I still didn't know why I was lying down and I couldn't feel anything. "Krystal?" he prompted when my eyes landed anywhere but on him. "How are you feeling?" he repeated.
Blurs of memory were beginning to return to me. Legolas, Elladan, Elrohir, and Aragorn walking away from me....being alone in a village, terrified and trying not to show it. Those last horrible moments in the woods with Worti...I shivered involuntarily as the scene flashed across my eyes. My last conversation with Annore...riding towards Rivendell with Elrohir...and utter pain I felt with each jolting step the animals took...that burning pain in my thigh....sweet voices singing to me...and then everything went black.
I remembered now. I remembered everything. I remembered the feelings of betrayal, of abandonment, and of fear. I remember harsh ropes on my wrists, and a quick glance down at my hands proved that the ropes had bit into my flesh. I remember Worti beating me for all I was worth, but the image permanently burned in my mind was the backs of my *friends* walking away from me.
"Krystal?" Elrond called softly. "Can you hear us?"
I nodded mutely, my mind racing over thoughts. Images flashed through my mind, and I didn't know how to respond. I could be cool, and aloof. I could be sarcastic and rude. Or I could just let the whole thing go.
Or not.
Deciding on my course of action, I raised my eyes to Elrond. "Yes. I'm fine." I said evenly, my eyes politely disinterested.
Looks were exchanged, expressions were adjusted, as if they had expected this, but my eyes were coolly impassive. "We should leave you to rest," Legolas said after a moment.
I shrugged. "Whatever."
With short, exasperated, 'I-should-have-known-' looks, all but Elrond left. The older elf paused at the door, studying me.
"How long?" he asked simply. I raised an eyebrow. "What?"
"How long do you plan to punish them?"
I sighed in mock-thought. "As long as it takes."