Queenie tiptoes in quietly, new chapter in hand Right, now if I can put this up quietly, people will think it's been here the whole time and won't hurt me... starts to quietly post chapter. Turns and sees many angry reviewers Ooh bugger...
SORRYSORRYSORRYSORRYSORRY!!! YES, this delay WAS my fault. slaps self on wrist =S
REVIEW REPLIES!!!
Jenihenpen; Lol!!! =) We're sorry, but unfortunately Legolas is rather un-huggable at the moment... read on to find out why!
Astievia; LOL! Again, I'm so sorry about not updating this! Don't worry; we have a computer in our Dungeon of Creativity, so you don't need to buy us one... ;-)
Gozilla; Thanks! =)
Lyn; Ooh! You'll have to wait and see about that...
Slea; -blushes- Ooh, thanks! =) Yes, we've researched angst a lot... –walks past library full of books on Angst- We make it an art form... lol! ;-)
me; You'll have to wait and see if he comes back! We're making no promises!!!
Shadowfaxgal7; We're glad you like it! ;-) Well, if you think angsty fics are the best, believe me; you are going to love this...
Anarya; LOL!!! Sorry! =. Yes, Estel wrote the whole previous chapter, purely because I was up to my eyeballs in school-related work. I think she handled it wonderfully! THANKS AGAIN ESTEL! ;-) As a 'reward' so to speak, I'm going to try and do one by myself to make it up to her... hope you enjoy this chapter, and YES, you should go and read her fics too because SHE IS BRILLIANT!
lulu bell; Well, we love our cliffies! –pats and feeds this chapter's cliffie fondly- Yup; Estel is wonderful at poetry too! Sometimes I wonder why she puts up with me... lol! Wow, Kansas sounds very beautiful! I live really near the woods, and I'm pretty sure that Estel does too, though if I'm mistaken, I'm sure she'll tell you! Well, here's an update for you! ;-)
Anime Girl23; Of course we're evil people!!! Evil is in our screen name!!! Lol! Ah; Legolas torture is our favourite pastime, besides Aragorn torture... ;-)
Well, after a very lengthy break, we've returned, so I hope you enjoy this!!! ;-)
x Queenie x
Chapter Five – The Strangest of Places
Just look a little closer;
You know I'm never far away.
Just look with clearer sight;
You know I'm never far behind.
Just look a little more;
For from your side I'll seldom stray –
Just look a little closer;
You'll see hope in what you'll find.
-- Estel
Estel sat huddled on a bench in the dull, drafty corridor, his lean frame shivering madly despite the heavy blanket draped around his shoulders. All colours seemed to blur and merge into one meaningless grey as his eyes focused on a point beyond the wall. Healers walked briskly past carrying blanket and bedding, herb and hybrid to and fro at Lord Elrond's bidding to the Prince's chambers. Lord Elrond had said it would be…better for him there. That he would feel better.
Yet young though he was Estel was not a complete fool and could see right through his father's hopeless lie like the stars through a clear window. Except there were no stars; not anymore, he thought, his face blank and expressionless as he failed to register the elves passing him, granting sorrowful glances and regretful sighs. How could there ever be any hope left now? He had begged his father to save Legolas, to heal him and return things to how they had been only mere hours before; and he had seen the despair in his father's eyes. He could not have missed it, he knew him too well. If his own father, the most renowned healer of all the ages could not help Legolas, no one could. It did not matter what the twins or anyone else said; he hated it but he knew it was the truth. And what he hated even more was the fact that he could do nothing about it.
Vaguely, he was aware of a warm presence radiating from his right. Were they speaking to him? He couldn't tell – he thought there was some noise; but it all seemed so distant, so irrelevant somehow… Perhaps he would just stay here in this dreary, in-between place…
A gentle hand rested on his forehead.
"Estel," a calm voice called and despite his wishes, he felt himself turning to the warmth,"…Lasto beth nin toloden ngalad."
Gradually, the murky grey of the hallway swam back into focus, the soft autumn colours of the furnishings once more distinguishable from one another. He did not speak, nor did he look at his father, but released a long suffering sigh.
"Estel, you are cold," said Lord Elrond softly. "Go and take some rest, or you will fall ill."
Estel did not reply, but sighed indifferently.
"Please ion nin," breathed Elrond, putting an arm around Estel's shoulders and pulling him into an embrace.
"What is the point?" said Estel tonelessly. "Where's the point anymore?"
Elrond frowned, worry creasing his brows. He had never heard his youngest speak so hopelessly before and it tore into his heart that he could do nothing to stop it.
"Powers greater than us are at work in the world, Estel," replied the Elven Lord quietly, "Though our way may be dark, we must trust in them to lead us to our purpose."
"But what if they don't care any more?" asked Estel, pulling away from the embrace to look into his fathers eyes. "What if they just don't care?"
Dark silver locked onto sea grey, and Elrond had to compose his well schooled features to prevent them reflecting the pain shining in the young, silver orbs.
"They always care, my son; sometimes, we just don't understand them."
Estel nodded and leant back against his father's chest, but did not seem content.
"You must get some rest, Estel," repeated Elrond softly, stroking his youngest's hair. "The stronger you are, the better I will feel for it."
"I'm not tired."
"Yes, you are," Elrond told him firmly, "And you must regain some strength."
"Because I'm a weak human." Estel said bitterly. Elrond closed his eyes.
"Estel, you are anything but weak; you are one of the bravest people I know, but you are young and your body needs to recover."
Estel paused before speaking again. "Where are Dan and Ro?"
"They – they're with Legolas." Elrond briefly considered lying to Estel if it would ease his pain; but he had never lied to any of his sons before, and like Elrohir, he had no intention of starting now.
"May – may I see him?" asked Estel shakily.
"Not yet, my son; not until you have rested," Elrond said just as firmly, though he never stopped running his hand down Estel's hair. Even now, he could feel the boy involuntarily relaxing against, his breathing becoming slower and deeper.
"Do not make me drug you Estel," Elrond half-warned lightly, but only the ghost of a smile flitted momentarily across Estel's face as he rose heavily to his feet.
"Good night, Ada," he stifled a yawn as he slumped down to his own room.
Elrond watched him sadly as he went. "Good night, little one."
-=-=-=-
Legolas felt like he was floating in a terrible dream; a nightmare which he desperately longed to wake up from but couldn't.
He didn't know what was happening anymore. He had no control.
Estel was slouching in a corner, holding a blanket about his shoulders. The grief Legolas saw in the boy hurt his heart. Walking over (or was he floating? He could not tell), he crouched in front of his friend.
"Estel... Estel, I'm here, I'm right here!!!" He tried to touch his friend's shoulder, but it was no use. The human simply didn't know he was there.
And yet, as he did, Estel began to shiver madly at his touch. Legolas drew back, afraid that he had hurt his friend. The young man's eyes glazed over, and the Elf was sure he could hear him mumbling something almost completely incoherent. He could just hear snatches of "Hopeless... begged... tried... hate it..."
Legolas panicked. "Estel, what... what are you talking about?" His friend ignored him. "Estel! ESTEL!!!"
And suddenly, Lord Elrond was there, appearing so quickly that it was as though he had always been there. Legolas had just been so scared that he didn't notice. He stepped back. He didn't want anything like what he had just seen in Estel to happen to the Elven Lord as well.
He watched as Elrond called Estel back to the light. Yet as the boy returned, Legolas could still see the haunting look of bitter depression and hopelessness in his eyes.
All of a sudden, icy coils began to ripple slowly through him. Legolas shivered and wrapped his arms around himself.
"You see what you have done to him?" said a voice suddenly. The Elf gasped, and shut his eyes tightly. The coldness grasped his heart again.
"That was you who did that," said the voice. It was drippingly sickly sweet. Legolas couldn't stand it.
"I did nothing!" he cried, defending himself as best he could. "Nothing!!!"
"Oh but you did!" explained the voice calmly, chuckling coldly to itself. "You see, your rage, your despair... it hurt him... you hurt him... foolish boy..."
"NO!" shouted Legolas. "I would never hurt Estel. Never!" He clasped his hands over his ears. "NEVER!!!"
Pounding his fists against the wall, Legolas simply let go of all of his frustrations and anger. Strangely, the contact with the wall caused him no pain, which was lucky. Had he still been in his own body, he would probably have broken his fingers.
And the whole time, that voice, that cruel, heartless voice... all the while, it merely laughed at him.
Finally he screamed; a raw primal screech that seemed ripped from his heart. It echoed around the halls of Rivendell, yet none of the Elves passing even batted an eyelid. Legolas dropped to his knees and fell against the wall, drawing his knees up. He hadn't cried in the presence of others for years, but they could not see him. He hardly cared about that anyway.
This was more than misery, more than despair...
This was agony.
"You have to leave this place," whispered the voice inside his head. "You are a danger to them all."
And he silently agreed...
-=-=-=-
In the corridor, Estel froze, mentally kicking himself. He should have known… He could hear now the sound of people approaching the door and turned at once and ran for the staircase, not stopping even when his brothers and father called after him. He sped down the marble stairs two at a time and flew across the entrance hall to the library opposite.
"Estel! Estel!" His family's cries echoed around him but he paid them no heed; he had to search, there had to be some sort of answer in one of these thousands of books somewhere!
And thousands of books there were. Lord Elrond had always been an avid reader and during his lifetime had acquired an entire library of books ten thousand strong at least; they ranged from healing to warfare, from history to astrology, all the immense knowledge of the ages merely as far as a hand's breadth away. They towered in huge wooden cases on all three walls; the higher shelves accessible by means of a ladder that Erestor had long ago discovered became more useful with mobile wheels on the bottom.
To this ladder Estel now hurtled, throwing himself up the steps and pushing it along the floor simultaneously towards the healing section just as his father and the younger twin entered the room.
"Estel please, I told you to get some rest!" Elrond called exasperatedly. "Come down, please "-
"I can't, I have to search, I have to search…" Estel mumbled, his hands flying over the book spines as he moved along the floor.
"Estel, you can search when you have slept; I will help you!" Elrohir pleaded, making to move towards his brother.
"No! It might be too late!" Estel replied franticly, but did not spare them a glance as he eyes skidded from cover to cover in the hope of finding something – anything that could help him.
"These books will still be here in a few hours, I promise you I will help"-
"But what about Legolas?!" Estel exploded. "He might not be! We don't have the time!"
Elrond too came to ladder and forcibly made it stop, so that Estel swayed dangerously.
"Estel, we can search while you sleep, we"-
"How long?" Estel demanded, suddenly focused in on his father. "How long does he have?"
With a sickening lurch in the pit of his stomach, Lord Elrond realised he had heard every word he had spoken.
"I – I don't know, Estel." Elrond sighed.
"Then it could be any time, so we must search, we must!" He made to leap up two of the ladder's rungs at a time, but whether from exhaustion or panic or a mixture, he miscalculated the distance, and stumbled backwards down to the hard marble floor. Elrohir hissed softly as he watched his little brother land safely in his father's arms, bringing what might have been half the contents of the bookshelf with him. Books old and new scattered the ground, their pages lying open and uncovered while Estel struggled without any sense of reason in his father's hold.
"Let me go!" he screamed, thrashing wildly. Lord Elrond's hands did not budge, but he glanced at his elder son.
"Quick, fetch some tea!"
Elrohir nodded and leapt over the pile of books on the floor, heading for the stairs and healing supplies when one page in a dark leather bound book made him stop. Pausing, he knelt down to pick it up. As he read the first few lines, his eyes grew wide with amazement.
"What have you found?!" Estel cried desperately, still trying to free himself from his father's arms. "What is it?"
Elrohir looked up from the book, staring at his brother and father before reciting the first line, "The Tale of Ranek, Captain of Morgoth was sorrowful indeed… And though his soul feasts upon those of the innocent, he is not undefeatable; for souls may be chained… And souls may be destroyed..."
-=-
The danger grows,
As does foreboding darkness,
Blood shall flow,
Before you can reach the end,
Lost, Afraid, Alone,
Wandering Spirit; You have no home...
-- Queenie
Again, please excuse the lateness!!! Tell us what you think!