Legolas groaned as his mind decided to stir. He opened his eyes and looked around the room for... someone. He was still unsure what happened as his stare soon came to his sister, who was lying on the bed next to him. He didn't remember much after he arrived into the room.
'Perhaps they gave me a sedative and they gave her one as well,' he thought to himself as he struggled to his feet.
He clumsily walked over to where his sister was calmly sleeping and looked over the bruise that now covered her eye. He could feel the bile rising in his throat at the bruise on her cheek. He could also see the bruises on her arms in the shape of fingers and he had to turn away for a moment.
'Did I do that?' he asked himself. 'What made me do that? I do not understand this for I never could do such a thing before. Is it because she followed us? I keep telling myself it is not but what should I believe? I wish I knew why I attacked her. What is happening with me?'
He turned around at the opening of the door to see an elf walk into the room. The elf was a bit surprised to see that Legolas was awake. He hurried over to Legolas' side.
"How are you feeling?" the elf asked.
"I... I don't know how I feel. This happened and I am unsure what to think about it for it has never happened before," Legolas stuttered.
The elf nodded in response as he knelt beside them. He checked her over as she began to stir. Nanaylia opened her eyes and looked at the two standing beside her. The elf noticed that Legolas placed a hand over his ribs.
'I should have figured they still hurt,' the elf thought to himself. 'I wonder if he has been trying to hide it from me?'
"Legolas," she quietly said as she lifted up a hand.
"Are you alright?" he asked her, taking the attention off of him.
She nodded as he took her hand. She could read his eyes and they were saying 'I am sorry.'
"I will be fine," she told him as though she were reading his thoughts.
She climbed to a sitting position and looked at the other elf in the room. He nodded, silently telling her that everything would be alright at the time. He stood up and left the room. The siblings were soon looking at each other.
"Legolas, I would like to talk," Nanaylia told him.
"Certainly. Talk away," Legolas replied, as he keenly waited to hear what his sister wanted to say.
"No, not here. Outside. I would like to have some air. I suppose you do as well," she replied.
He nodded as she stood up and he followed her outside. He wanted to get some air himself and he figured this as a good time as any.
00000
Boromir looked over the scene before him, at the hobbits and dwarf. He had seen when the elf had walked up to Legolas and Aragorn, after which Legolas disappeared. The man wondered why Legolas left in such a hurry.
"I still wonder why that other gargoyle was after Legolas and why . I do not fully understand that situation and I wish someone could explain what was going on there. But I cannot think about that now. I am unable to rest and concentrate on that," Boromir quietly said to himself.
He never noticed that Frodo was looking over at him with a curious look on his face.
'What is going through his mind?' Frodo wondered. 'I wonder about him? As I wonder about the gargoyles.'
He looked in the direction that the elf had gone in and sighed. Aragorn left soon afterwards and wondered why he left to go after them.
'I wish I knew more about what happened between them. I wish I knew the entire story about what happened between them,' Frodo thought to himself. 'I simply wish I knew when they would tell us what was going on. If not them, someone who knew about it and was willing to tell us. But who knows the truth?'
He watched Sam, Merry and Pippin as they prepared for bed. He was a bit tired himself but he didn't want to sleep at the same time. He had heard many things that didn't make complete sense and he was hoping to make some sense of it.
'May as well go to sleep. I don't think I'm going to get any answers tonight,' Frodo thought to himself.
He prepared the pillow and soon fell asleep once his head hit it.
00000
Legolas followed his sister down the path. He noticed where they were headed: to the area they called 'their own' while they were in Lothlorien.
"Why are we headed here?" wondered Legolas, believing he knew the answer but wasn't certain.
"What we have to talk about is between the two of us, not the others. They cannot hear what we are going to be talking about," she replied.
"Ah yes, that is right," Legolas said, realizing what she wanted to talk about.
They reached the pond and both sat down next to it. Legolas glanced over at his sister and sighed.
"What is it that you desire to talk about?" he asked.
"I want to know about what happened earlier," she replied. "I'm not angry with you. I just like to know what was happening with you. You have never acted like that before towards me."
"I really do not understand it myself. I don't remember the argument or the attack on you," Legolas replied as he turned away from her.
Nanaylia narrowed her eyes as she watched him. Something nagged at the back of her mind. Something slightly familiar about the whole situaton.
'What did Shentree do to you Legolas?' she asked herself.
Legolas turned back towards his sister, not knowing what to say.
"If Haldir hadn't have come, I don't know how far it would have gone. I'm afraid that I would have hurt you to the point that you would have lost the baby," Legolas replied as he placed his hand over his eyes.
Suddenly, he gasped out and fell to his knees. Nanaylia hurried over to him and looked over him. She soon came to the wound on his shoulder. She saw that it was wrapped up with a bandage but she figured his injuries must still hurt him. She also remember about his ribs.
"You will be fine Legolas. Your injuries will heal during our stay here," she quietly told him.
"I will leave with the Fellowship when we are ready," Legolas told her as he leaned against a tree. "You will stay here, in Lothlorien. I cannot afford you losing your child because of me. I thought I caused your death all those centuries ago and I was not to blame in the least. I do not want to lose a family member again, particularly one that has not had a chance to live yet. I would love to have a niece or nephew."
Nanaylia gave him a sad smile as she continued to stare at him. Whatever was nagging at the back of her mind was bothering her greatly but she couldn't place what it was. Something about her brother's current predicament. With him acting so strangely, she couldn't place it.
"Come on Lego, let us get some sleep. You need it. I miss Gandalf just as much as you do," she told him in a soothing voice.
He nodded before continued to lean against the tree and fell asleep.
00000
Aragorn walked down the hall, with Haldir by his side. Both were still confused over what happened between the Mirkwood siblings.
"What would have caused the confrontation between them? I never thought that Legolas would attack his sister," Aragorn wondered.
"Had Shentree done anything to him while she was with you?" Haldir asked.
"No, not really," Aragorn replied.
"Not really?" Haldir repeated as he stopped to look at the man. "What did happen?"
Aragorn also stopped and stared at the elf.
"I remember the incident that happened just before we headed into the mines. Shentree attacked Legolas and it ended with him getting a face full of dirt. Ever since then, he hasn't been quite himself. He's almost become obsessed with the fact that Nanaylia's followed us. I don't think it's anything important but I just thought I'd mention it," Aragorn replied. "Now this attack, by none other than himself, on his sister."
"Sometimes, it's the minor details that one should take notice to," Haldir told him.
"What?" Aragorn asked as he stared at the elf.
"You say Legolas acted like this since the mines. Has he said or done something and then it seems like it never happened?" Haldir wondered.
Aragorn searched his brain to see if he could remember any other incidents.
"I think so, yes. After our conversation, it seemed to me as if none of it happened to him. He was his protective self when we were faced against the cave troll," Aragorn replied. "And when Shentree attacked us again just outside the mines. This does not make any sense. How could he be so spiteful in one instant and not in the next? Could it be something that Shentree had done?"
Haldir placed a hand on his chin as he listened to the man.
'Could she have tried to do that? No! She couldn't have! Or could she? I remember Banside saying something about that. About doing that to me. Could that be it? I won't say anything in order not to arouse anyone's suspicions until I know something for certain,' Haldir thought to himself.
Aragorn stared at the elf's pensive mood.
"Haldir?" Aragorn said. "Would you happen to have any idea on what's going on?"
The elf snapped out of his trance and smiled as he looked at the man before shaking his head.
"No, I do not," Haldir replied but Aragorn could see that something was going on in the elf's mind. "At least not at the moment. Shentree could have something to do with it but we won't know until a later date."
Aragorn was surprised as he watched the elf headed down the hallway. The man was not expecting to hear something like that at all.
00000
Frodo awoke with a start. He glanced around at the others to find they were still asleep.
'I guess she wants only me,' he thought to himself as he quietly climbed to his feet.
He headed to... somewhere. He wasn't exactly certain where he was going until he saw Galadriel heading down a set of stairs. He began to walk down the stairs that were before him until he reached the bottom. Galadriel had reached for a jug and filled it with water. She walked over to a pool and looked over at him.
"Will you look into the mirror?" Galadriel told him.
Frodo could see a look of question in her eyes. It almost appeared to him that she wanted to say something but she didn't know if she should say it. or not.
"What will I see? Frodo asked with question in his voice.
Inwardly, he was hoping to see answers about the gargoyles but he didn't think he would ever find out about them.
"Even the wisest cannot tell. For the mirror shows many things," Galadriel replied as she began to pour the water. "Things that were. Things that are. And some things that have not yet come to pass. I know you desire to know more about the gargoyles young Frodo. Even the ones who know their ways the best cannot predict what they are going to do next. For they are the most unpredictable creatures in Middle Earth."
"I know of no one who knows anything about the gargoyles except Legolas, Nanaylia and Aragorn," Frodo told her.
"Yes, those three. Yet there is one that I know that knows more than them yet. I will explain further in a moment," Galadriel replied as Frodo stepped closer to the mirror.
The hobbit stepped forward and hovered over the mirror. Faces and scenes began to appear before him. Horrifying scenes of his home being overrun and his friends being injured. He was being so alarmed by the pictures before him that he fell backwards onto the ground, grasping the ring from it's position around his neck.
"What was that?" Frodo wanted to know.
"I know what it is that you saw. For I saw it in my mind," Galadriel told him before closing her mouth. "It is what will come to pass, if you should fail."
Frodo gave a look of disbelief and Galadriel saw this.
"The Fellowship is breaking. It has already begun. He will try to take the Ring. You know of whom I speak," Galadriel told him in his mind. "One by one, it will destroy them all. It can break down the walls of even the strongest of wills."
"If you ask it of me, I will give you the One Ring," Frodo told her as he held it out to her.
"You offer it to me freely," Galadriel said, a bit of surprise in her voice as she began to step before him. "I cannot deny that my heart has greatly desired this."
She reached her arm out towards him before she lifted her arms out towards her side.
"In place of a Dark Lord, you shall have a queen. Not dark but beautiful and terrible as the morn! Treacherous as the seas! Stronger than the Foundations of the Earth! All shall love me and despair!" Galadirel suddenly cried out as her appearance changed.
She soon turned back to her original appearance and her body shook.
"I passed the test. I will diminish and head into the West. And remain Galadriel," she said before turning her head.
"I cannot do this," Frodo quietly told her, bowing his head a little.
"This task was apoointed to you. If you cannot find the way, no one will. To bear a ring of power, is to be alone," Galadriel told him, a smile slightly creeping onto her face.
Frodo nodded before turning his head away from her.
"What about the gargoyles? Will I have any threat from them?" Frodo wondered as he looked at her once again.
Galadriel sighed for she knew that he was waiting for an explanation. She knew what he overheard in the Mines.
"No, you will not. The gargoyles you recently met are not as they appear, as you might already know. Shentree is a gargoyle but she is only after Legolas and Nanaylia, the children of Thranduil, King of Mirkwood," Galadriel explained. "They traveled into a dangerous part of Mirkwood and escaped from it. Shentree has hated them for it ever since."
Frodo nodded slightly, now understanding the gargoyle's distaste towards Legolas.
"That still does not answer all my questions," Frodo replied.
Galadriel sighed as she lowered her head slightly.
"A few says after Legolas and Nanaylia went there, they went riding with their father. While there, they were attacked by wolves," Galadriel replied. "If you look into the mirror once again, I hope some of the rest of your answers will be explained."
Frodo cautiously walked back up to the mirror. He stared into the moving water to see a picture of Legolas come back up before him. It changed to a younger version of the elf. He also noticed a younger version of Nanaylia appear before him. The scene changed to where Legolas, Nanaylia and their father were trying to get way from the wolves. He saw how the two siblings were soon forced over the hill and they fell down to the bottom of it. He watched as three gargoyles arrived on the scene. One, he recognized as Shentree. The gargoyle picked up the female elf. She looked around the scene as did the other two.
'Where's that other one? The two of them did come down here!' cried Shentree.
'I don't know! I think he disappeared! He musthave managed to run away somehow!' replied one of the two other ones.
'Well, one way or another, we have to leave without him! Their father will probably be coming after them. We got her, that should be good enough for him. I wish we could do what we planning to both of them instead of just one. I can't wait to see how they will react,' Shentree smirked as the three headed into the protection of the forest.
Frodo watched as Legolas' body was found and taken back to his home. The mirror changed the scene to that of the three gargoyles. The female elf was with them and so was a strange male elf.
'You have one of them. Good. Now where's Legolas?' the elf asked.
The three gargoyles glanced at each other before Shentree stepped forward as the other two stayed back.
'We couldn't find him,' she replied.
'What?' the elf asked. 'Why didn't you get him? We were supposed to turn them both against their father! Turn them both into gargoyles was our original plan. Looks like we will have to change our plans slightly.'
The scene changed to that of the twins, Aragorn and Legolas. He watched as the three traveled into the forest and confronted the now group of four gargoyles. He soon began to see snippets of what happened: namely of when Elladan hit Narcissis in the shoulder with an arrow and the death of Manlin by Legolas' hands. He saw Elrond taking care of Narcissis' shoulder injury while reading a book.
The scenes disappeared completely and Frodo looked up at Galadriel.
"Now you know. Nanaylia was taken captive by these gargoyles and turned into one herself with no memory of her previous life. 15 years ago, Legolas, the twins and Aragorn traveled into the forest to find four gargoyles instead of three. From there, events were set into motion that led to finding Nanaylia, whom Legolas and Thranduil believed to be dead the entire time," Galadriel replied.
"Things make more sense now. This elf planned to turn both Legolas and Nanaylia into gargoyles but only got her. Legolas believed that she was dead. He traveled back to the place where he managed to get out of once before. From there, that one elf plans to take control yet Legolas manages to kill him. They realize that the one new gargoyle with Shentree is in fact Nanaylia," Frodo said. "Now it makes sense to why Narcissis acted so differently than Shentree. She wasn't a true gargoyle!"
"That is correct. Yet there is something you should know. When Nanaylia was changed back into an elf, some of the magic that was placed into her body remained. Now, it remains as her curse."
Frodo glanced down to the ground, trying to take in what he recently learned about the elf.
"There are things in this world that we cannot explain. By simply doing one act could change the course of someone's life. Even the smallest person could change the course of the future," Galadriel told him. "Now go back to sleep. There is much to talk about in the duration of your stay."
Frodo sadly nodded before heading back to where the others were sleeping.
TBC...