Disclaimer: If they were mine would I be wasting my time writing about them? No, well Atavus is mine at least. Poor thing I feel sorry for her because she has to put up with me.

Review Responses:

Slayer3: Aw don't worry about it. I cheat sometimes. Maybe that's why I type so fast. Hyper. Hmmm.

Karone Evertree: No guess huh. That's okay. You're about to find out. By the way the elves not being able to touch them, is just something I made up to add credit to Lord Elrond's theory.

Zombie Lord: A dead guy in a box. That's not a guess I expected, but I'll let you know now that it is not quite right. Thanks for making me laugh though.

manveri mirkiel:

Chapter 9: Yes my nephew ate a report I wrote for Science class I do believe. He was 3. I think he just did it to get my attention though.

Yes I can be humorous sometimes. (Even if it is morbid humor.)

Honestly the only subject in school that I even liked was English. I loved to read & write the moment I picked up a pencil. I have written poetry, fiction, non-fiction, and even a couple of plays. I have to admit though that my writing in the past has always been pretty fluffy, and I wasn't always that pleased with it, but now that I'm writing evilly morbid stuff, I'm really enjoying myself. (Does that make me weird?) And thank you for the ovation. Thank you, thank you, and thank you.

Chapter 10: drum roll please. And the prize goes to manveri, for being the only one to figure out what was in the box. You know your mind is a lot like mine. I'm sorry.

About the reason why elves can't touch them, I have a theory in my head that didn't make it to paper exactly. Maybe next chapter. Oh I'm not going to tell you yet. I'll just put it in the next chapter. It needs to be told.

The Healing Power of Friends

Elrohir and Elladan each took comfortable seats at the foot of Atavus' bed. Lord Elrond sat at a writing desk that was situated in the corner. Legolas and Estel stood on either side of him wondering what he had been keeping as a well-guarded secret for the last six days.

"Ah, these are perfect." He said opening the box and peering at dozens of small creatures in the bottom.

"What are those Ada?" Estel asked with a disgusted look on his face.

"These are called leaches." Elrond answered showing the contents of the box to Legolas.

"And how are those supposed to help Atavus?" Legolas answered mirroring Estel's look of disgust.

"These will be used during the first part of Atavus' treatment. Right now Atavus has too much orc blood in her system. Her body is trying to replace it with elf blood, but it is a slow process. We are going to use these to speed the process up." Elrond said using a quill to test the reactions of the squirming creatures.

"How?" Estel was afraid to ask.

"These little monsters attach to a host and drink their blood, literally pulling it through the skin." Elrond answered smiling at the looks of horror he caused.

"But Ada the human healers said that they couldn't be used on elves. Atavus has elf blood also." Elladan pointed out turning to look at his father in concern.

"Yes. I know. I have a theory about these things though. They won't drink elf blood, which leaves me to believe that they might be able to separate the two different bloods in her system and leave the elf part alone, which would be a definite advantage to my plan." Elrond explained.

"But you are not sure." Elrohir stated thinking they might have made the trip Lake Town for nothing.

"No I'm not. All we can do is test it." Elrond answered, but he was sure of his theory. They could see it in his eyes.

"Now Estel, you are going to have to apply these. If I handle them it might spook them and then they wouldn't feed at all." Elrond said handing the box to Estel.

Estel gave his father a look of contempt. "It's always the token human that gets the dirty jobs, isn't it?"

"Yes it is." Elrond said pushing his youngest son towards the bed, following him.

Estel sat beside his friend looking down at her, and silently asking her to forgive him for what he had to do. "How do I do this Ada?"

"Place one at a time on her arm. Let it feed. It will swell to triple its normal size. Then you remove it. Place it in the trashcan, and then place another. Repeat this until you have used say two-dozen of them. I think that will be enough. Then we must move on to the second phase of the treatment." Elrond explained.

Estel took one long breath then reached into the box pulling out one of the slimy creatures. It immediately curled around his finger trying to latch on. He quickly placed it on her arm, waiting to see what it's reaction would be. To his disappointment the creature curled into a ball refusing to latch onto the skin. "Ada it's not working."

Elrond stood for a moment contemplating how to get the creature to take to her blood. "Use your dagger Estel and make a small pinprick in her skin next to it. Maybe if it can smell the blood it will be more willing."

"All right." Estel hated the idea of cutting his friend but if it would save her life he must try. So he did as his father instructed and then waited again. He could see the black blood bubble to the surface. He let out the breath he didn't realize he was holding as the leach uncurled and latched onto the place where it sensed the blood coming from. "It's working." Estel said looking to his father.

"Good. Now I must go to my study and mix up something I will need for the second part of the treatment. You continue as I instructed." Lord Elrond instructed him then left the room.

Elladan could see the bright smile on his brother's face, and could not resist the urge to tease. "Estel when this is all over with I'll see if Ada will let you keep your knew pets."

Estel shot his brother a withering glare, then the glare turned back to a broad smile. "That would be fine. I'm sure I could put them to good use." He said imagining his brothers waking up to slimy creatures in their beds.

"Maybe not." Elrohir stated seriously.


Later that day when Estel had removed the last of the two-dozen leaches, he asked Legolas to get his father.

Lord Elrond heard a knock on the door. "Come in." He said capping the bottle of liquid he had just finished. There was a strong odor in the study that Legolas did not recognize.

"Lord Elrond, Estel sent me. He is done with the leaches." Legolas stated crinkling his nose.

"Good this is done. We can proceed now. Legolas I am going to ask you to do something for Atavus that might leave you weaker than normal. Are you willing to help? If not I will do it myself. I just think it would work better with you." Elrond asked.

"I would walk into the fires of Mt. Doom to help her Elrond. Whatever you ask I will do." Legolas answered.

"I thought that would be your answer. Come no time to waste." Elrond said leading the way back to Atavus' room.

Once there Lord Elrond took Estel's place on the bed looking at the leaches in the trash bin. He decided that the amount of blood removed was close enough to what would need to be replaced. He then uncorked the bottle he had brought with him. A strong odor permeated the room causing coughs from the twins and Legolas. He placed the bottle under Atavus' nose wafting it back and forth so she would get the full affect. It worked. She came suddenly awake gagging on the smell.

Elrond quickly pulled the bottle back capping it. "Atavus, come on. We need you awake for this. You have to wake up." She looked at him the look of confusion in her eyes again.

She could see the worried looks on their faces. Especially on Legolas' features as he remembered the last time she had woken, not knowing who he was. "Lord Elrond, why do you all look so worried. I know I'm sick. But I'm not dead yet." She said looking to each face in turn.

Legolas laughed hearing her words. She was coherent, and knew them again.

"Yes well earlier when you woke you didn't know who we were. We feared it might be the same again." Elrond explained. "But since you are more coherent now I need to know how you feel."

She scrunched her forehead slightly trying to figure out just how she did feel. "Actually weak I think, and sort of lightheaded." She answered knowing better than to lie to the Lord.

"Good that's exactly how you should feel." He said smiling.

"What?" She asked not understanding.

"I know I am confusing you, but the treatment I am trying on you has left you low on blood, and that is what has caused your weakness." Elrond explained.

"I'm low on blood?" She questioned. "How did you do that?"

"I'll tell you that part when you are feeling better. But for now we need to replace the blood that is gone. You're going to need your special talent for that." Elrond stood motioning Legolas to sit where he had been.

He could see that she did not understand what he intended her to do. "Think of it like this. Normally when you heal someone who has been poisoned you draw the poison out of his or her body, and replace it with your own blood. But today I want you to use your talent to draw Legolas' blood into your own body, but don't replace it with anything."

"But won't that leave Legolas without enough blood?" She asked horrified at the thought of causing her friend to become ill.

"No I will monitor the transfer, and let you know when to stop. Legolas will feel weaker than normal for a few days, but his body will soon make up the difference and get him back to normal. And best yet your balance of blood will be restored which should bring your speeded healing ability back, and you will no longer be sick." Elrond knew she would be hesitant to do anything that might hurt Legolas, but it was the only way he could see.

"Legolas?" She looked at him not knowing what to do.

"I have already agreed to this, mellon-nin. I would do anything to help you." Legolas answered.

"But you already lost a lot of blood when the orc tortured you. What if it's too much?" She said remembering the pool of blood they had found him in.

"I have been recovering for almost nine days now. I am fine. Lord Elrond has to monitor us, so he cannot be the donor, and Elladan and Elrohir are exhausted from the long journey they just returned from. And you know Estel is not an elf. My blood is the obvious choice. Please accept this as my gift to you, as I once accepted the gift of your blood to save my life." Legolas pleaded with her to accept his reasoning.

"I accept, mellon-nin." She finally answered after a few moments of thought.

"Good. Estel go around behind Atavus and help her sit up." Estel did as his father directed, positioning himself behind her so she was sitting, but leaning against him. Elrond then handed Atavus' knife to Legolas. "Slit the palm of your hand like you have seen Atavus do while healing others." Legolas obeyed slicing his right palm, and then handed the knife to Atavus, who slit her left palm. Elrond took a seat beside the bed touching each of the friend's temples creating a link between the three. "Now clasp hands. Atavus you must concentrate on this. Legolas can not do it for you."

The moment their hands met Atavus found her mind in a familiar place. It wasn't as if she could see inside Legolas, but more feel her way around. She searched though out him not sure how to pull the blood out. She came to the bright center of his being, feeling the warmth it radiated. She had not felt that warm in so long. She heard her own voice inside her head, saying that she did not understand how to do what was being asked of her. She then heard Lord Elrond's voice also. "You must determine how to pull the blood from him. I cannot tell you how. Neither can he."

She then heard a third voice in her head. It was Legolas. "Maybe I can. Can you feel where I begin, and you end?"

"Yes. You feel warm. I am cold." She answered.

Legolas had felt that also. "So try to pull the warmth into you." He suggested.

She took his suggestion and made it a reality. She felt her arm begin to warm as the fresh blood poured through her veins. "It's working." She giggled at the feeling it brought her.

The transfusion took only a few moments. "That is enough. The balance is restored." She heard Lord Elrond's voice in her mind again. She did not want to let go of Legolas. Her mind had lingered near his soul as the transfusion took place, and she could hear it whispering words of encouragement to her. She let it wrap around her for just a moment more then pulled her mind back to herself.

Three sets of eyes opened. One set the color of dark blue sapphires, another set were the brightest blue possible, and the third were emerald green, almost the color of a field of new grown grass.

Estel stood retrieving a hand mirror from the nightstand, then handed it to Atavus. She was fearful of looking at it, but she had to know. She slowly looked into the mirror. Her hand began to shake, and she lowered the mirror. She looked up to her adoptive family, and clear tears of joy coursed down her cheeks.