Disclaimer: I don't own Legolas or anything else Tolkien. But I DO own Mithrendol, so don't steal him! He's my evil little elf boy! hugs Mithrendol
((((((((((((((((((((Chapter 8)))))))))))))))))))))))))
Legolas clenched his teeth. His stomach rumbled again, and he groaned in pain.
It had been three days. Three days he'd been locked down here, slowly starving. And not just of food or water. He was starving of fresh air, starving of freedom. Starving of life.
He hadn't seen a living soul since he was imprisoned.
His stomach rumbled again. Legolas moaned through his gag and rubbed his back against the rough stone wall. He was beginning to wish Mithrendol had killed him when he had the chance. He would rather be dead than rot slowly like this.
Then a sound reached Legolas's ears. It was a familiar sound, and he had a hard time believing he was hearing it at first. Footsteps.
Legolas's first instinct was the lunge forward, screaming. This person might help him. But his urge was quickly beaten down when he saw who the footsteps belonged to.
Mithrendol…that bastard! He thought with rage.
Legolas watched as his own face smiled at him. "Hello, Legolas." He chirped. "Are you enjoying your stay?"
Legolas couldn't help himself. He flung himself up and strained at his chains. Mithrendol watched with amusement as he struggled against his bonds. He stood proudly, his hands rested comfortably behind his back.
"It's no use, Legolas." He told the struggling elf. "You know that."
Legolas paused. He was right. Even if he did break free, he would still have many closely knitted iron bars between him and his enemy. He stood still, but his eyes blazed with more hatred than ever.
Mithrendol grinned and leaned agains the wall outside of Legolas's cage. "I thought I would tell you…you're getting married in a few days."
Legolas's eyes widened and he shouted "What?" through his gag. Mithrendol didn't answer, though Legolas was sure he was understood. The other elf just grinned cruelly. It was then that Legolas realized.
Cefielle…he thought. Of course her. Who else would Mithrendol marry?
But…Cefielle accepted Mithrendol's proposal? Legolas was stunned. He had sensed before that the young maiden had more than just friendly feelings for him, but he had no idea that she was that much in love with him.
"Wonderful, isn't it?" Mithrendol asked. "Your father was most pleased."
Legolas drew in a sharp breath. It did indeed feel sharp, for he felt a poke in his side as the air reached his lungs. His stomach rumbled yet again.
Mithrendol chuckled. "Hungry, are we?"
Legolas backed away towards the wall and sat in the dirt again. If Mithrendol came down here just to mock him, he would do his best not to listen. Never would he let that vile thing know his harassments were having an effect on him.
Mithrendol didn't like being ignored. He frowned, and then brought his hands out from behind his back. There was a cloth in his hands. A damp cloth. Legolas could smell that the liquid dampening the cloth was not water. Mithrendol saw the former Prince's reaction and smiled again.
"I got it from your nurse. It's a surprise what people will just simply give you when you're a Prince, isn't it, Legolas?" He said, and then laughed.
Turning to the dungeon entrance, he took the cell keys off the hook on which they always hung. Legolas pressed his back to the wall even harder. Mithrendol was planning to drug him and…then what? What did he have to do?
The door to Legolas's cell opened. Mithrendol looked at the keys in his hand, humming, and then threw them over his shoulder carelessly. They landed behind him on the dirt. He entered the cell, sneering.
"There is no need to be frightened." Mithrendol said in a strange, comforting tone. "Nothing's going to happen."
Yeah, right. Nice try you idiot…Legolas mentally cursed the other elf.
Mithrendol drew closer. He was close enough that if Legolas had strained against his chains like he had before, he could almost touch the other elf. Then Mithrendol paused. His free hand went to his belt. Legolas saw there was a knife there.
He watched as Mithrendol pulled the long dagger free, and then closed his eyes and waited for the rest. He prayed for the other elf to kill him. Anything was better than being trapped down here.
Legolas ceased his breathing when he felt the knife slide against his cheek, under the gag that kept him silent. It cut but a little into his flesh, but he didn't wince or even move.
Mithrendol watched and waited as the imprisoned elf froze with his own knife cutting into him. Chuckling, he flicked the knife away. But it didn't cut into Legola's flesh anymore. Instead, it cut away the gag that held his mouth. The piece of cloth fell away, and Legolas opened his eyes.
"Surprise." Mithrendol whispered.
Legolas looked at the cloth in disbelief, and as he was turning his head to look at Mithrendol, he saw a green blur coming at him. A second later the drugged cloth was pressed tightly to his face, and he himself was pressed more than tightly to the wall. He felt his feet lift of the floor, his head caught between his own strong hand and the wall.
Legolas marveled at the strength his own body had. Mithrendol actually lifted him up and off the ground. The only thing keeping him up there was Mithrendol's hand and the wall.
"Rock-a-bye baby." Mithrendol chuckled as the Prince struggled against his hand.
Legolas lifted his hands to pull the cloth away from his mouth, but he had been lifted high enough so that the chains could not reach. For a moment Legolas strained to grasp some part of his former body, some way to hurt him. But he had grown weak with lack of water and food, and besides, the drug was working on him already. He grew drowsy.
Although he was still suspended between the wall and Mithrendol's hand, Legolas felt himself sinking…sinking down to the dirt floor. His eyes drooped as the drug clouded him mind.
Damn him…why is he doing this to me? He asked no one.
Mithrendol's cruel smile grew into a frown as the Prince's struggle with the drug grew longer. The elf would just not give up. He was rendered completely helpless, but he simply wouldn't fall unconscious. His eyes still stayed half-open, and blazing with hatred.
Mithrendol grunted and let the Prince drop. He couldn't move a muscle now, it didn't matter if he was still awake in his mind or not.
It could be fun…he thought with an evil grin.
The Prince's body flopped down, his arms held suspended, held in he air by the chains. His head drooped to his chest, but Mithrendol took Legola's chin in his hands and tilted his face upward.
"I have a little present for you, Legolas." He said cheerfully. "Because I know how sick you were of that gag."
Mithrendol put his knife away and stood up. In the corner by the entrance to the dungeons he hand left something. Picking it up, he happily carried it to the Prince and held it in front of his blank face.
"I had this made for you. Just for you." He continued. "Don't you feel special now."
Mithrendol held the object up and smiled. "I think you'll like it even more than the gag."
The object that Mithrendol held in his hands looked a lot like a piece of armor—a sort to cross between a helmet and a mask. It fit tightly across its wearer's skull and was fixed with bolts that twisted to adjust the tightness. Mithrendol's smile grew into a maniac grin as he fit it on the other elf's head. The helmet curved around the jaw and formed a shape that covered Legolas's mouth and nose. There was no opening in the headpiece except for a tiny slit above the mouth, that served as a port to let the elf be fed and to let him breath. It could be opened or closed by any person who had the special key piece he had also had made.
Mithrendol grinned again. He turned Legolas's head so that he could fit the headpiece. He tightened the bolts until he felt that Legolas couldn't pull off the device once he awoke, and then tightened it some more for spite. Then, with a flick of a strong wrist, he broke off the bolts were they were. That way, the other elf wouldn't be able to loosen the helmet one bit. Finally, Mithrendol closed the small port over Legolas's mouth, and locked it in place.
Standing up over the partially unconscious elf, Mithrendol wondered what Legolas must be thinking right now. He stood back and admired his work. The mask would prevent Legola's words from being understood by anyone who came down to feed or water him.
"Well, Legolas." He said, backing out of the cell. "You wear it well, I must say. But now I have to go. My fiancé is waiting for me, you know."
With another evil smirk and a merry skip, Mithrendol closed the door to the cell and left Legolas there. Alone, partially unconscious…but at least alive.
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Legolas had witnessed the thing being done to him as if from a different person's perspective. He knew he should be panicking and seething with hatred, but it was as if the drug had calmed his mind as well as his body. He tried his hardest to move or speak, but it just wasn't going to happen.
He wasn't able to even twitch a finger until an hour later. Slowly the feeling spread up his arm and over the rest of his body. He was inside himself again. Or, to be technical, inside Halirod's body again. Legolas groaned, and was surprised to hear a metallic echo of his voice through his mask.
He sat up. He tried to think. But instead he found his fingers desperately clawing at the thing covering his face, the metal over his mouth, only allowing him a scarce breath. It wouldn't budge, and he heard himself scream in frustration. The sound echoed off the metal and rang in his ears.
This is impossible…Legolas thought. Mithrendol couldn't have possibly thought this completely through…how could he?
Then again, Mithrendol did have seven months imprisoned in a flask to think this all though. He was a clever character, if not an evil one.
Valar…"…help me." Legolas finished his thought with spoken words. They too didn't reach past the metal that covered his face.
Legolas heard a sob, and felt his body double over. He was crying. Knowing this, his sadness quickly transformed into anger.
"I'll kill you for this, Mithrendol!" He shouted, even though nothing could hear him. "I'll strip your life of everything, just as you've done to me! I'LL KILL YOU!"
Legolas heard something in his voice crack and he sat back against the wall, breathing heavily. He'd never been this angry in his life. He'd never felt such hate for something before, not even Sauron. Mithrendol had taken everything he had ever held dear. Then he realized something.
This is how Mithrendol felt…he thought. After his father tried to have him killed.
Mithrendol's father tried to take everything from him. In a way, he did. Mithrendol had to wait for 3000 years just to satisfy his taste for revenge. Legolas couldn't even hold in his anger for half a moment.
Legolas slowly began to wind things down. Before he had thought he had nothing in common with the elf that had stolen his body and claimed it as his own. But now he realized they were more alike than any two people in the palace.
I don't want to be like him…Legolas said to himself. I won't become a monster like he because of my hate.
Legolas forced himself to take a deep breath, as much as the mask around his face would allow him.
I will find a way out of this…He promised. And when I do, Mithrendol will be exposed…and I'll kill him.
Legolas blinked. But could he kill him? Even if Mithrendol was evil, he was still an elf. Legolas had never hurt a fellow elf before, much less kill one. How could he destroy Mithrendol if he knew how he felt, what he was going through? How could he murder someone he had so much in common with?
Legolas didn't know. But deep down, he felt that he would learn before this ordeal was over. He knew it. Legolas heard a strange rumbling noise, and looked down at his stomach.
He was still hungry.
(((((((((((((((Personal thing)))))))))))))))))))
Sorry it was so short. But I liked the way I ended it on a less-than-dark note, even though Legolas has basically lost everything he had now. Did you like my little contraption? Very "Man in the Iron Mask." I'm beginning to think I should label this as a Leggy-torture fic. Maybe not physically tortured, but nevertheless mentally tortured. Oh well. My boy Mithrendol is doing what he does best.