Author: Mirrordance

Title: Return

Summary: Post-LOTR. Legolas always felt at odds with his home kingdom. Though it's King by birthright, he fled it, building a prosperous colony in Ithilien. Just when all seems well at last, great dangers in Mirkwood call for the return of THIS King home.

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PART SIX

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Minas Tirith

3023

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      The doors of the hall burst open and from it streamed Elladan, Legolas, Gimli, Elias and Haldir.  Legolas' eyes were steely cold and determined, and searched for Estel's gaze first.  He met the hardy ones of the King, whose face was taut and serious.  Arwen, Elrohir and the Lady Andrada were with him.

      "What news?" Legolas asked the old elf woman at once.

      "Eryn Lasgalen has been taken from within," she said to him, "I may be a drifter, golden prince, but I keep an eye on things in the kingdom too, as I always have.  These new elves arrived and all was well for a time, until the dark of the night of the new moon."

      "What happened?" Elias whispered achingly, and the expression on his face was incredibly painfully telling.  He knew, or at least, he had a solid idea…

      "I am not entirely certain," Andrada admitted, "But the kingdom was in an uproar.  Everyone has been rounded up into the dungeons.  They say the King, he was taken hostage and if they did not comply, he would die in a most horrendous way.  I found the city glaringly empty shortly thereafter.  Everyone is imprisoned, save for me."

      Legolas turned to Elias angrily, "What is this madness?"

      "I don't know, my lord!" Elias exclaimed, "I swear I knew not of these plans!"

      "It would do you a world of good to begin speaking of more than that," Gimli told the old elf menacingly.

      "If there were plans then I knew naught of them!" retorted Elias, "Why do you think they are there and I am here?"

      "Why indeed?" asked Haldir, "Why choose to divorce yourself from kin you have spent ages with? Other than the possible tactic of having a spy in the midst of us, I see no other reason."

      "Could I not simply desire a change in company?" replied Elias.

      Legolas closed his eyes in thought, his mind was racing madly.  "Night of the new moon?" he asked Andrada.

      "Yes," she replied, "I remember it was a dark, dark, night.  And then suddenly, things moved, and changed."

      "You were acting mightily strange yourself," Gimli said to Elias, "that very same night."

      "I've been told I act strange all the time—"

      Legolas' world was beginning to spin from all of his repressed rage.  His hands fisted at his sides, and he angrily stalked toward Elias.  The older elf was visibly trembling, as the warrior closed in on him. Legolas grabbed him by his robes in a rare and also probably the only time Estel had seen his old friend losing his steely control, "I will not suffer the misplaced wit of your tongue.  I have no time, or inclination to.  Speak plainly!"

      Elias gulped.

      "Speak!" Legolas commanded, shaking him slightly.

      "Th-th-the dark," stammered Elias, "In the bleak of a moonless night, it's as if we've returned to the dark.  It was like returning to that impossible hole and its inescapable black.  And in returning, we also returned to ourselves, and what we had to do.  In the blackness, no one can see your face, you see.  And you can satisfy your hunger, because no other meat would satisfy.  No one could catch you, no one will ever know."

      "What do you do in the dark?" Legolas asked achingly, searching the other's roving, manic eyes.

      Suddenly, the door to the hall burst open again, and in strode Serafin, bearing a bag of bones.

      ~My lord!~ he exclaimed, ~I know what these marks are!~

      Legolas pushed himself away from Elias, more than a little irritated by the interruption at such a pivotal, turning point of the interrogation.  But he also knew that Serafin's discretion could often be counted upon and his concerns should not be anything less than of paramount importance.

      ~We were riding to Ithilien when the thought struck me and I rushed here at once,~ Serafin exclaimed, ~These marks looked terribly familiar you see, and the memory of them would not leave me.~

      "What are they?" Legolas asked.

      "Teeth marks sire," Serafin said gravely, "And not from any form of animal; not by size or pattern, and not from the mere fact that there were none inside that cave.  These are teeth marks that could have belonged to you or me.~

      Legolas felt something ill coming, he did.  But the moment the words left Serafin's mouth, he felt as if he was punched in the gut.

      "I… It's not my fault!" Elias suddenly exclaimed.

      "It's not, is it?" seethed Gimli.

      "W-we thought," Elias began, "We thought we could change, out here in the light.  Believe me, my lord, we thought we could change! This was not in the plans at all! We thought we could change, out here in the light.  Things were going to be better…"

      "Change from what?" Legolas asked in a low, dangerous tone.  Estel stared at his friend, willing to stop him from doing things he might regret, but also unwilling to openly defy him and be Elias' champion.  Legolas truly had no idea of his power, and of his menace.  He made for a formidable ally, and probably an even more formidable and dangerous foe.

      "After we were imprisoned," replied Elias, "The first elf to die inside was a d-dear friend to me.  He… he slept and never woke.  From grief, you see.  It was the dark.  It eats at your spirit.  But even if your spirit were strong, it then eats at your body, my lord.  We were very hungry, you see, and there was really nothing else to do but… but… well, he would have been very happy that his body kept us alive, I think.  We were friends, you see.  We were good friends.  He'd have been very very happy.

      "But he was not the only one to die," Elias continued, "Some refused to eat the flesh of the dead, and they died too, which was in a sense, all well and good for us, at least for awhile.  M-more food, you see.

      "We founded families," said Elias, "All we had was caring for each other, you see.  And the first children were born with hope, and they still glowed.  But years afterward, when all that was given to the seeds were anger, and hatred, and resignation in that hell of a black, black place, the children did not have any light to them at all.

      "Soon, of course, being reasonably well-fed, people ceased dying.  And we were soon starving again, until… until… Well, they started dying again.  In their sleep.  But not escaping in elven dreams, and not from their grief.  At first, my heart was so desperate to believe it and I did, for a time.  But no.  Their necks… they looked a certain way… they were broken, my lord.  And one night, someone tried to do the same with me," he touched his neck, as if in remembrance, "Cold hands, clawed and strong and desperate.  I fought him off, I did.  But he took a good bite out of me, and I think then, I began to share the insatiability of their hunger."   

      He pulled at the collar of his robes and showed them a rather vicious mark on his shoulder, "I think it was one of the children of the dark.  Their hunger was always greater.  I've not slept much since.  But those who slept lost their lives.  They died in their sleep, didn't I tell you so?"

      "You should have told me all the cursed rest!" snapped Legolas, "I gave them to my father!" his voice escalated at the mention of his beloved ada, and took on a pain that Estel had never heard in such volume and magnitude from the elf.

      "To reveal them was to reveal myself," said Elias, "And my own part in this terrible history.  But I do swear to you that when you released us we felt nothing but gratitude and certainly meant you no harm! We thought we could change in the light! Things were different here, they had to be!  We can only become what we had to be, in order to survive! Some of us could control it better than others, and some of us could not.  But the desire will always remain.  It cannot be undone.  We can only be what life made us to be."

      "There are no victims here.  No victims, and no prisoners," snapped Legolas, "Your slavery ended with the opening of those doors.  Not in my heart could you find pity, or understanding."

      He nevertheless released the older elf, and stepped away.  His mind was racing, his heart was pounding.

      I gave them to my father

      I gave them Mirkwood in a cursed plate.

      They are feasting on my people…

      "All of the kingdom is in the palace?" Legolas asked Andrada.

      "I believe so," she replied.

      "There is far less of these Forgotten Elves than us," said Legolas, "but they have the King, and the people.  We can easily overpower them, but it would be a…," he hesitated saying the words that were true and also brutally painful, "It would be a massacre inside."

      "What do you want to do?" Estel asked him.

      "The way I understand it," reflected Legolas, "They may not want this anymore than we.  I believe it would be best to come out in force, to show them we have the might, and push them towards negotiations for a more peaceful, risk-averse resolution.  If they should refuse… we take the kingdom from within."

      "From within?" Gimli inquired.

      "There is a secret way inside," Legolas said, "I've used it many times before."

* * *

      "At the outskirts of the city is where we lay our dead," Legolas had said to Estel and the sons of Elrond many, many years ago, "There are not very many of us who are felled in battle, but the invaders of the South have given us enough to make such a space necessary."

      "We have none in Rivendell," said Elrohir. 

      "I am not surprised," said Legolas, "You also do not have Dol Guldur.  You will be familiar with the spot of land that I speak," he hesitated for a moment, "It is where Lesandro was laid to rest."

      "I see," Elrohir said, also at odds as to what to say of the topic.

      "What of it?" Estel asked, diffusing the tension.

      "There is a mausoleum for him," said Legolas, "Where his body joins our mother's.  It has a secret way into the palace at the heart of the city.  It was created so that in case of defeat and flight, we may use it to leave the city.  But mostly, my brothers and I, we used it to visit our mother whenever we pleased."

* * *

      How strange, Legolas thought.  Strange that he once again found himself in this place…

      Must I always return to you in secret? he wondered of his home kingdom.  That last time, he returned to clear his name after centuries of exile.  This time, he was once again counting upon stealth to enter it.  He so wished for his life to come to peace at last, and part of that goal entailed never again having to return.  But Mirkwood was insistent.  It wanted its child back. 

      So why is it that I am unwanted when I'm there?

      He shook such trivial thoughts away.  Whatever plan fate had in store for him was of no grave matter, at least not just now. 

      I'm coming home, ada.

      Please.

      Wait for me.

* * *

      The Prince of Eryn Lasgalen was already garbed in his warrior's best, looking very much the part of a determined hero aching and ready and hungry to reclaim his besieged land.  He stood upon the balcony of the quarters he usually kept in the palace, which incidentally faced the direction of his beloved Ithilien, anxious and hurting.

      Thus did the King find his old friend, staring out upon the colony and the long flatlands that separated it from the White City.

      ~The messenger has already been sent to gather your troops,~ Aragorn told him, ~They will not move any quicker if you just stood there and willed it, you know.  Strong though that infamous will of yours may be, mellon.~

      ~Do you think he is still alive?~ Legolas asked, and Estel did not have to think to know that 'he' was the elf's great Ada.

      ~Your heart would know if he weren't,~ Estel replied, stepping towards the elf.

      Legolas forcibly tore himself from the sight of Ithilien, and looked at the King in all his armored glory.

      ~You should not come,~ he said darkly.

      ~I go wherever I will,~ Aragorn said.

      ~I don't want you in danger as well,~ Legolas snapped, and just to push his case further, and just to vent out his frustrations, ~Aren't you getting too old for this?~

      It was a mistake, and they both knew it as soon as the words flew from his mouth.  Now he did it.  Now he'll never shake free of the adan for sure.

      Aragorn raised an eloquent eyebrow, and a silence held between the two friends.  The King would win this round.

      "Oh, curses, Estel," sighed Legolas, "Make me apologize now, why don't you? I'm already feeling particularly defeated all around."

      "Legolas," Aragorn put a hand upon his shoulder, "Mellon.  Do not think that I do not understand because I do.  Painstakingly so.  I know how it feels, this ridiculous anxiety, the fear of not being there if their world should crumble.  The fear of the danger of your own road, and that of those who stubbornly stand beside you."

      Legolas attempted a ghost of a smile.  "Are you by any chance referring to me?"    

      Aragorn chuckled and said, "As a matter of fact, I am." 

      He paused, and his eyes shone, "Let me stand with you, mellon.  It will be an honor.  Let me gift you with the same strength you have given me.  Let me help you."

      "But you already have," Legolas said quietly, "Long, long ago."

      "I never cease," said Estel with a playful wink.

      It was strange, how his multitude of names marked stages in his life.  Estel—hope, was the embodiment of yet-to-be-realized potential.  Strider was the soldier of life, marching along its course towards who he was, in the middle of a journey.  Then there was Aragorn son of Arathorn, but an heir to a fledging kingdom.  And then there was King Elessar, the stone, the foundation of great things to come.  How could one hope to be any more than that, to be more than a beginning? Who was he to become, this time?

      All of these, his mind answered, All at once.

      For what was undoubtedly constant all along his life, what anchored him and what remained at the very core of who he was, was his heart—a heart that belonged to a warrior, a heart that loved a woman, a heart that treasured his friends.

      "Let me stand with you," he said to Legolas.

      The elf-prince smiled at him, and gave him a nod.

TO BE CONTINUED…

Original Character Guide:

Lesandro was the much-beloved heir to Mirkwood and Legolas' older brother, until he was murdered in the 2800's. 

Legardo is Legolas' younger brother, and was the murderer of Lesandro, as Legolas finds out in "Exile."  He tries to kill Legolas too, but fails and is imprisoned.

Lord Sala is the cowardly but opportunistic Mirkwood politician who tried to take the throne from King Thranduil by accusing Legolas of Lesandro's murder.

Lady Andrada is an old elf woman who fell in love with Thranduil but staged her own death to escape her unreturned love and subsequent despair in Mirkwood.  She staged Legolas' death as well, to keep him from being a pawn in Sala's ambitions.

Dalsegno is actually Estel/Aragorn.  In "Escape" he loses his memory and is given a new name after an orphanage gives him shelter.  Once in awhile, those who knew him under this name still refer to him in this way.

Cecilia is the old woman in charge of the "Escape" orphanage.  Biggles and Damien are her aides.  These three characters will not be appearing in "Return."

Sari is an elf of Lothlorien and was Arwen's betrothed centuries before she met Estel.  He was a celebrated soldier, until he was captured by orcs and was a slave to them for hundreds of years.  In 3014, he is found and complicates Estel and Arwen's life in "Escape."  He eventually falls in love with a human woman named Teresa.

Teresa is Sari's wife, and was also an occupant of Cecilia's orphanage, another character of "Escape."

Serafin is the loyal Mirkwood soldier who follows Legolas to Ithilien.  He makes his debut in "Return."

Esse and Mical are Mirkwood brothers and eccentric geniuses who followed Legolas to Ithilien, also introduced in "Return."  Esse is the Royal Gardener and Mical is the Royal City Planner.

Elias – one of the Forgotten elves, the first one whom Legolas and company find.

Torres – the leader of the Forgotten elves

Yasmina – Torres' beloved wife, also one of the Forgotten elves

SOME NOTES, REPLIES AND THANKS

MASSIVE THANKS TO THOSE WHO READ AND REVIEWED!!! I know I've been taking a bit longer than my usual style in posting.  I'm trying to be more careful this time, not to mention I've been incredibly busy.  But "Return" will be finished, I promise… I've never left stories unfinished and I'm hell-bent on never starting.  My mind's also been cooking up some new plots so maybe after "Return" I'll be posting something shortly afterward.

THANKS TO: Kit Cloudkicker, Linaeve, Stoneage Woman, Tychen, Grumpy, Gwyn, insanechildfanfic, Elessar*Lover, Starlit Hope, Sodalite, Platy, Dragronfly, LOTR Faith, MSL and Kay.

Kit Cloudkicker: Ah, yes.  Very bizarre.  I do enjoy my weird fics but I hope it's not too much of a long shot.  I guess I just thought, oh hey, sounds like old school horror! Fun.  And so the idea made its way :)

Linaeve: Ah, yes.  Andrada.  She is my favorite OC of all those I've made.  I liked the idea of an old, tragic romance.  But I don't think I'll ever get into the groove of actually writing a lengthy tale about her and Thranduil, although most likely, "Return" will reveal a bit more of that backstory :)

Stoneage Woman: Unpredictable, eh? I am kinda weird, hehe.  As always, thank you for your attention.  You needn't try and locate all of my errors, don't worry.  I'll be more careful :)