Disclaimer: If you've come this far and still think I own them…. applause I found someone more deluded than me!!!!!!
Ahem. As they say, on with the show. Story. Whatever.
Chapter 5: DiscoveryThe sound of horses entering the courtyard roused Estel from his sleep. As he lay in his bed, the sound of his brothers laughing jolted him fully awake as he remembered what had happened the night before.
"This is becoming a bad habit," he groaned to the air. Then he shot a glare at the portrait. "And it's all your fault!"
He grabbed his clothes and started to dress, before he threw open his door, purposely ignoring the portrait, though he felt rather foolish to be doing that, and left it leaning against the wall, all alone in the silence of his room.
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"Estel! You're back!" The Human found himself engulfed in the hugs of the twins.
"Glad to know you missed me," he quipped wryly before he turned to embrace his father. "Ada."
"Welcome home, Estel." The older Elf smiled fondly at him. "Come, you can tell us about your adventures with young Tyan over breakfast."
Estel rolled his eyes as he replied, "Don't mention that name to me… every time I hear it I've this urge to strangle something…"
Elrond laughed. "Is that so?"
"Yes! By the way, why did all of you go off to Mirkwood so suddenly?"
The twins shot each other a look as Elrond cleared his throat. "Well, just paying a visit to an old friend, that's all. Thranduil gets lonely in his kingdom sometimes, since there's no one there to keep him company and he can't bear to leave."
"I…see…" Estel's curiosity was piqued at the way his father had answered his question… coupled together with the way Erestor was behaving two nights ago… very interesting indeed.
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Breakfast was a merry affair, now that the twins were back to make his life a living hell. As they laughed and poked fun at his latest excursion with the irrepressible Tyan, Erestor suddenly said, "Ah, yes, Estel brought back something from his travels. A painting, I believe?"
Estel choked on his food at the mention of the painting, then scowled. "Don't remind me. I've a good mind to burn it and get rid of it."
Elrohir raised an eyebrow. "But why? It's just a painting."
Estel countered, "Ah, but it's not just a painting. That thing's been in my room for the past two nights and I swear that it's the cause of all these strange dreams that I've been having."
"Strange dreams?"
"Well, feelings too. It's like having someone in your room, but then when you open your eyes, there's no one there." Estel left out the other parts about wandering the corridors chasing the painting.
"I think that it's just the after effect of having Tyan following you around in the forest for the past few months," Elladan announced with a grin.
"Why don't you try it yourself and see how you enjoy it?" Estel retorted, tossing his napkin at his brother's head.
"Thank you very much, but no. I've no wish to have grey hairs like you do."
"Since when did I have grey hairs?!"
Finally, Elrond decided to play peacemaker and step in before the food started flying as well. "Alright, stop teasing your brother. Estel, why don't you bring that painting of yours down here for us to have a look at it?"
Estel sighed and pushed back his chair, "Yes, Ada. Besides, I meant to give it to you anyway. I'll be right back."
Elrond watched the human leave the room with a fond look in his eyes, then he sighed and turned back to his meal.
"How is he?" Erestor asked.
"Not good. The 1000 years are almost up, and his condition is deteriorating rapidly. That was why Thranduil sent for me so urgently." The Elven Lord's face was sad as he remembered the scene in Mirkwood just a week ago.
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Mirkwood…
"His pulse is slower than I remember, and he seems colder," Elrond observed.
"I know. Then it is as I feared," Thranduil, King of Mirkwood, sighed as he sat down on the bed and ran a gentle hand through the blonde locks of the Elf that lay on it with his eyes closed. Only the slight rise and fall of his chest indicated that he was alive, but even that seemed to be growing harder to detect.
"You must not give up hope, Thranduil. There is still time."
"No, there isn't!" The Elven King stood up abruptly and walked over to the window, his back to the healer. "You don't understand what it is like, to watch your son lie here, day after day for the past 1000 years, unable to do anything and not knowing anything. How can you say that there is still hope left when you know there is none?"
Elrond walked over to his friend and laid a hand on his shoulder. The King fought to keep his voice steady as he continued in a low tone, "I've prepared myself for the worst, for I know it is not long now. I thank you for all your help these past centuries, Elrond."
Elrond nodded slowly. "You're welcome Thranduil. But I will say this one more time. Do not give up hope just yet. As long as he lives, there is still time. I have to return to Rivendell today. Let me know if there is any change in his condition."
He left the room silently, leaving the grieving King alone with his son.
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Rivendell…
"It's been hard on Thranduil these years," Erestor murmured as Glorfindel gave him a short account on what had happened during their stay in Mirkwood. "I do not blame him for giving up so easily, but - "
"He's coming," Elrohir announced softly, snapping the older Elves' attention back to their charade of not knowing anything.
There was a slight bumping sound from the other side of the door as Estel fumbled with the handle. When the door finally swung open, he turned sideways to carry the portrait in, a sight that earned him a laugh from his brothers.
"You actually carried that thing back? It's huge!"
"How did you manage to ride your horse with that? Or did you drag it behind you?"
Estel shot them a glare as he set it down and turned it to face them. "This is the painting I was telling you about."
There was utter silence in the room as the Elves stared at the portrait in shock. The fork Elrond was holding slipped out of his limp grasp and clattered noisily on the marble floor.
Estel looked from one stunned face to another, confused. "Ada? Els? What's wrong?"
Elrond slowly pushed his chair away and stood up, never taking his eyes off the portrait. He walked towards it, as though in a daze and reached out a hand to touch the canvas, running his fingers across the painted face in disbelief.
"Ada? Are you alright?" Estel asked, his tone laced with worry.
"By the Valar," Elrond breathed, "it's the portrait of Legolas."
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TBCAuthor's notes:
Yesh! Another chapter up at last!! does victory dance S day behind schedule this time though… Sorry!
My computer's been having problems lately… it got hit by viruses even though I had the latest virus guards up… hm…. Very very strange. So I'm uploading this on my sister's laptop now. Well, actually, it's going to be mine in about 5 months when I'm off to university. XD
Erm… I don't know whether this is going to be good or bad news, so here goes…
I might not be able to post the next few chapters up on schedule, 'cos I'm actually a little stuck near the end of my fic. I made the very stupid mistake of writing in an OFC (but not a love interest) into this story. I had intended her to be a sort of push-factor, but she ended up becoming the 'star' of the last few chapters… and that's something I'm not very happy about… Isn't it irritating when characters just seem to insist on writing themselves? Anyway, I'll be rewriting the last few chapters to replace her, either totally, or at least 80%, so I can turn the focus back to Estel. On the down side, I might be late with my posting, 'cos I'm also busy teaching and setting exam papers now; on the bright side, this story won't turn out as cheesy as it would if I left my OFC there.
Alrighty then. I hope that's good news. Thanks for reading, please review and see ya!
To all the wonderful people who reviewed and made my day, you ROCK! XD
Marbienl: Whoa… I'm really starting to wonder if you're psychic… do you know that most of the questions/hypothetical situations you left in your review are actually taking place in the later chapters? And… hm… a certain comment you left there is giving me an idea on how to resolve my OFC dilemma wink Thanks for the mini-essay you left! Never got anything that long before, and it certainly was helpful. Stay tuned to get all your questions answered!
Silvertoekee: Tadah! Sleuth Elrond solves the mystery of the portrait's identity… Somehow, I get the picture of Agent Smith drawling 'Misssterrrr Annnnnnnderrrrsonnnn'… shudder Freaky eyebrows vs. freaky portrait. XD I'm not making sense, but thanks for the review!
Jadesaber: Thanks! Well, you've got Elrond's response in this chapter! XD And.. erm… I thought Estel already was crazy? glances around furtively Don't tell him I said that. He might sic Legolas/the twins on me…. Not that I'd mind. mad laughter
Blade6: Yay! Chips!! Is this an excuse for me to be corny??? XDXD Thanks thanks, and hope you're enjoying it still! Btw, who's bubbie? Or is that a stupid question? cheesy grin I've a knack of asking stupid questions anyway.
Drew'sgirl: Thank you! Glad to know that I'm sort of standing out from the rest. Happy reading!
Smiley: Hehe… erm... solid evidence…. O.o oh dear, me having bad thoughts about that phrase. smacks head repeatedly And yeah, I think Aragorn would be more than very happy to make it up to Legolas about his lack of pay. waggles eyebrows Argh!! Bad thoughts again!!! runs off to purify brain And I'm SUPPOSED to be a sweet innocent little girl……. Who writes slash????? shakes head
Empath89: Update, update, la la la la la!! Still feeling tortured? No worries, I'm torturing myself to finish writing this ASAP too… I really envy authors who can post their stories when they've only written like… 3 chapters and update more or less regularly and get the whole thing out within the space of a few months… Bleh.
Lady Laswen: Ikea has such clocks? Sounds fun!! Now I feel like going shopping at Ikea even though I've no space for anything I might buy there. As for recording wake-up messages… I think the only thing that might wake me up is if I screamed into the speaker or something. Hehehe… I need the shock-tactics kind of thing to get the point across to my KO'd brain. If I were a mutant, my gift would be to sleep through anything and everything…. And I'd be known as 'The Sleeper' evil laugh And I'm not making sense again. Hehz.
Tmelange: Thanks again! Hope you like this as well!
Snuffles2: lol Glad you're enjoying the Erestor plushie. wink And now that you mention it, if it were a movie, Aragorn would look very stupid talking to a painting… right? But then again, I talk to my computer sometimes… does that make me an idiot too? bawls coughmentalityofa5yearoldcough
TwistedParoxysms: Thanks! And here's the update. XD
Once again, thanks to everyone who read this, and see you guys in 2 weeks!