Chapter 22: Through the Looking Glass
Legolas woke about an hour into the trio's vigil, sitting up suddenly, clearly disoriented. Eyes unfocused, he flinched away from the comforting hand Lord Elrond placed on his leg. The younger elf turned away, rolling onto his side, away from three sets of staring eyes. Legolas only dimly perceived the world around him, his mind otherwise occupied, racing to process what he remembered of his latest vision.
Elrond drew back when Legolas responded to the healer's touch as if burned, the raven elf letting the Prince turn away. The darkling elf looked up as he felt a hand on his shoulder, gazing upon Glorfindel's now glowing countenance.
For not the first time Elrond took a moment to consider the soft light emanating from the golden elf's very skin, an indicator present only in those elves who had gazed upon the Two Trees. The Imladrin Lord returned the blonde elf's reassuring smile with a weak one of his own.
Legolas lay still, replaying the last vision over in his head, trying to sort his feelings and reactions from the mystery woman's. He had been a passenger on this latest ride, relegated to sitting back, watching and feeling everything as she did. I wonder who that man was? She clearly hated him, he was trying to hurt her. So why did she react as she did when she dispatched him? The slender elf trembled as he realized something. She probably has never killed anyone before.
"Legolas."
The Mirkwood Prince turned at the soft sound of Glorfindel's voice.
"What happened?" the Elda asked gently.
Elrond stood, allowing the seneschal to take the healer's place by the Prince's side.
Legolas slowly sat up, pushing himself back against the headboard. He took several slow, steadying breaths before bringing his eyes up to Glorfindel's. As the Sinda began to speak, his world narrowed until the only ones there were himself and the balrog-slayer.
Glorfindel listened attentively as the tragic tale poured out of the Prince. He found himself wincing as he learned of the calculated nature of the woman's assaults, disgusted with humans in general and their aptitude for destruction. Not everything the Prince said made sense, but he tried to follow along.
The Elda felt pride for the beleaguered woman as she seemed to evade her pursuers only to have his stomach drop as Legolas described her beating. He dared to hope for her as she rose up despite her injuries, refusing to back down. He felt vindicated as the Prince described the flight of her knife, her batterer's face as the man realized she had won.
The balrog-slayer's joy was short-lived as the Sinda related her reaction to the death of her enemy. Here is one who appreciates life in all its forms. To be the cause of the ending of such would not be easy to take.
Silent tears found their way down Legolas' face as he related the anguish he'd sensed before she lost consciousness. He was torn. He was glad the evil man was dead, yet wished somehow he could have been the one to end the man's life, saving Janessa the pain she would yet endure.
"Janessa. Her name is Janessa," Legolas tore his gaze from Glorfindel's, finally acknowledging the other two presences in the room. He still couldn't see her face, but now at least he had a name to call her by.
"Janessa. At least one question is answered," Gandalf observed from his seat. "I don't wish to press you Legolas but we must insert that subliminal key so if you suffer another episode we will be able to control it."
Legolas nodded mutely, his eyes unfocused but directed toward Glorfindel. The Prince missed the look exchanged by the Elda and Istari. He was caught by Glorfindel's aquamarine gaze, unable to look away as the seneschal began to speak quietly, his voice a soothing wave washing over the Prince. He couldn't even make out the words being said, he only perceived sounds.
Glorfindel spoke to Legolas in Quenya, knowing in the Sinda's relaxed state the Prince would be unable to discern the words of the complex language, but the message would reach Legolas' subconscious. The Elda carefully guided the younger elf into the pliant state necessary to insert the subliminal command. The word, when spoken, would immobilize Legolas, preventing the Sindar elf from injuring himself or others but allowing him to relate what he was seeing/experiencing as it happened.
The process was slow and deliberate, one wrong word could potentially injure Legolas' mind. The Elda took his time before reaching the final step, setting the actual key word. He wanted something easy to remember, but in Quenya, and not a commonly used word so someone couldn't accidentally set the Prince off. Finally decided on the word he said it, spoke the final commands and snapped his fingers, instantly bringing Legolas out of his induced revere.
Elrond and Gandalf both nodded in approval as Legolas looked blearily around the room.
"What happened?"
"I set the hypnotic suggestion in your mind. The next time you are overcome we will be able to keep you safe and also know what is happening to you," Glorfindel explained. The ancient elf wondered how much they could hope to glean from any information given by the Prince in a hypnotic trance. Anything Legolas relates will be a disjointed combination of her words/experiences and his thoughts/interpretations. It may be impossible for us to make sense of any of it.
"Oh, I …" Legolas suddenly sat up stiffly, eyes wide, looking around.
"Istya!" the Elda called out the key word, Legolas' posture immediately softening, his head turning to face forward.
"Where are you?"
"I'm in the backseat of a police cruiser."
"A what?" Elrond whispered as Glorfindel shook his head for the other elf to remain silent. Only one voice could issue questions/commands at a time while Legolas was in the hypnotic trance.
"Describe what is happening."
"It's dark, it must be night. There's another car next to me. The man in it is restrained, but I'm not. We're still behind Jason's shop. Everything is brightly lit. There's Jason, he's talking to an officer. There's a white sheet covering something on the ground. It's… Oh God!" Legolas' calm voice took on a hysterical quality.
"What is it?"
"It's HIM! Oh God I killed him! Ohgodohgodohgod…" Legolas' voice was high pitched, trailing off as his lips continued to move for several seconds before he simply stopped.
Elrond frowned, whispering again to Glorfindel, "What happened?"
"She's out again. Istya!" the Elda released Legolas from the trance, frowning. The woman was clearly not dealing with her situation well.
Legolas blinked several times, clearing his vision. "She's barely holding it together. She thinks she's a murderer."
The Sinda opened his mouth to say more when Glorfindel laid a restraining hand on the Prince's arm. "It's alright. Rest now." The balrog-slayer knew instinctively the younger elf needed time to process the experience before subjected to questions.
Picking up on the seneschal's intent, Elrond stood. "I will see that someone delivers food and drink. Your ordeal has to have been exhausting," Elrond added, stepping to the door.
"I will stay," Glorfindel stated, adding, "I would not bother Aragorn or Arwen. I believe they are still recovering from Elladan and Elrohir's 'prank.'"
At that Gandalf rose as well. "I do believe those two have been awaiting our return."
"Indeed."
With silent nods the two quietly left the suite, leaving Glorfindel and Legolas alone.
"Rest for now. I will let you know when the food arrives."
Legolas inclined his head toward the Elda, gratefully closing his eyes and focusing on clearing his mind, the disquiet he's felt from Janessa lingering.
Glorfindel watched Legolas silently centering himself while the seneschal's own thoughts were in disarray. I find myself at a loss. I do not know how to help Legolas other than by just being here.
The promised food arrived in short order. Cerendil himself brought the large tray. Included in the offerings were a platter of cold meats and cheeses, one of fresh fruits and raw vegetables and a large loaf of fresh, crusty bread. Accompanying these were several chilled bottles of water and fruit juices.
Legolas opened his eyes at the sound of the door shutting, sitting up to peruse the selection before him. Glorfindel and Cerendil had moved a table over next to the bed for easier access. The Prince rolled onto his side, reaching out to retrieve several morsels, then popped each in turn into his mouth, relishing the flavors.
Glorfindel sat toward Legolas' feet, enjoying the miniature feast as well, but carefully watching the Sinda for any sign of another vision. The two ate quietly for a while, making a significant dent in the repast before Glorfindel noticed the suddenly blank look in the Prince's eyes that he'd noticed preceded a vision.
"Istya!" the Elda spoke quickly, the younger elf's body immediately relaxing from its tensed state. "What's happening?"
"An officer is taking me out of the car. Ow! It hurts to move. My entire body feels bruised. He's taking me into a sub-station. I'm sitting next to someone's desk. My hands keep shaking, gotta hide that. Don't think. Let it all go."
Glorfindel's assumption of how the connection would manifest under the trance had been dead on. Legolas was giving him a jumbled conglomeration of impressions and thoughts as well as actual events. It was nigh on impossible to discern what belonged to the Prince and what was hers.
"There's a woman in front of me. She's a detective. Oh thank God, water! The detective's obviously ex-military. 'Am I in trouble?' She's trying to play me. Careful now. 'I want to see a lawyer before I say anything else.' Watch her, she's sharp."
Legolas repeated everything Janessa said while giving a simplified version of what was happening, as if he were her.
Mirandize? CJ degree? What are those? Legolas' words only served to confuse Glorfindel further.
"She's baiting me. God, so I look stupid? She's trying to intimidate me, parading me past the holding tanks. Oh thank heavens she's putting me in a single-cell. Make it go away, make it all go away. I want to sleep."
Legolas went silent for several moments. "What's that? No. Not now! Not that song! Not Linkin Park! Get out of my head! Make the music go away! Get out!"
"Leave me alone! No Hayden! 'I can't deal with this! GO AWAY!' Leave me be! You deserved to die! YOU did this to me! 'NOOOOOOOOOOOOO!!!!'" A disproportionate keening cry rose from Legolas' relaxed countenance, the incongruence all the more disturbing.
Glorfindel couldn't tell if the woman was actually being attacked or if the threat emerged from her own mind, the redhead's sanity clearly hanging by a thread.
"'STOP IT! LEAVE ME ALONE! GO AWAY!'" A desperate feminine scream came from the immobile Prince.
"'Shut up! Shut up! Shut. Up.
Shut up! Shut up! Shut. Up.
I'm about to break!'" Legolas seemed to almost sing the words.
The seneschal felt the hair on the back of his neck rise up as the Prince fell suddenly, eerily silent. What now?
With a calm voice in striking contrast to previously Legolas spoke, "The detective is back. The D.A. is here. He wants to talk to me. Gotta hold it together. Now would be the worst possible time for me to lose it."
"There he is. He looks like hell. Join the club. They're watching us. They're not fooling me. Cover your ass. Remember, CYA."
"Oh. My. God. He saw the recordings? Who? Jason. That man is an angel. I soooo owe him. This guy has everything from the safety deposit box. Wonder how long he's been at it? Play it cool. Don't give anything away. Don't know where he wants to go with this."
Paranoid. She's unbelievably paranoid. She sees enemies around every corner. Glorfindel was just beginning to grasp the extent of Janessa's fears.
"Glen Coldwater. Am I supposed to care? I'm not shaking your hand asshole until I know what you want from me. Heh. Paranoid is an understatement. You think YOU have problems? Kiss my ass motherfucker! Jason got the word out? Damn he's good. I have no idea how I'll pay him back for this."
"So now we get down to it. I AM a murder suspect after all. Keep it cool. Don't give anything away. We expected this. 'Justifiable. Self defense.' Coldwater's saying all the right things, making all the right noises, but does he mean it? 'I want that in writing.' Done? He said done! Now we're getting somewhere."
Glorfindel noticed that Legolas' voice had taken on a slightly slurred quality, as if he was unable to form the words correctly or had imbibed too much Dorwinnian wine. She was injured. This aspect is probably a result of that.
The seneschal listened as Janessa listed off her demands, still not fully comprehending what everything meant. He tried to make sense of it all as various other players entered and left the arena only Legolas could see.
Finally the negotiations seemed to be over, both parties satisfied. The Elda expected that to be the end of it when Legolas stopped. He quickly realized how wrong he was as the Prince started speaking again, "On February 13th 1997…"
Glorfindel rose from the bed and pulled over the chair Gandalf had previously occupied. He felt his insides twist painfully as Legolas began to recount, in detail, everything that had befallen the woman since that sate. Just as he thought things couldn't possibly get worse, he was sickened again by the depths humanity was able to delve to. Glorfindel's eyes lost their focus, his mind conjuring images to go along with what the Prince described.
A relieved sigh broke through the fog that had settled over the Elda's mind.
"I'm done."
Thank the Valar! It is beyond my comprehension how any being could survive all that. Surely no elf could. They would have faded after the first "incident." This woman's will to survive is simply incredible.
"Oh God no."
The whispered statement caught Glorfindel off guard. What now?
"The media. They're throwing me to the sharks without a cage! I don't care how many officers are there! I don't want to do this! Stay calm. You've survived everything else, why not this? Hold on. Just a little longer."
The balrog-slayer listened as the woman answered questions that seemed to be put to her from multiple sources, wondering just how much more she could take, and if she snapped, would Legolas as well? The Prince's sudden silence seemed to speak to the Elda's fears.
"No."
"No, it can't be! Turn it off! Stop playing music in my head!"
"Daddy?"
"'Murdering bitch! Murderer! Baby killer! Bastard!' Daddy, I understand now. It wasn't my fault, just as it wasn't yours. Why can't you leave me alone? Is my best still not enough for you? You're dead! Rest in peace already! God it hurts! Make it stop! Make it all go away!"
Glorfindel could make no sense of Legolas' jumbled sentences, the messages seemingly directed at different adversaries all at the same time. Please let this end soon. This is killing her. I almost believe she has already lost hold of her sanity. The vehemence of Legolas' next words shook the balrog-slayer.
"YOU ARE NOT REAL! YOU ARE DEAD! YOU CAN'T HURT ME ANYMORE! BE GONE!" Legolas' eyes rolled back into his head and he slumped back into his pillows.
"Istya!" the Elda quickly spoke the key word again to pull Legolas from his trance.
The younger elf merely shifted in sleep, his eyes still closed.
He seems to have fallen into a healing sleep. Perhaps this is for the best. I cannot fathom what all he experienced that he was unable to relate. Rest now. There will be plenty of time later for you to examine this day's events. The golden elf retained his vigil by the Prince's bedside through the remainder of the night and into the next day.
Things seemed to have returned to some semblance of normal for the household of the Last Homely House. Legolas had remained in his suite, waking only to bathe and eat, his injuries healing quickly. Glorfindel could usually be found by his side, the elder elf having taken it upon himself to watch over the slender archer.
Several days passed with no further visions other than one isolated incident lasting no more than several seconds after which Legolas declared, "She's all over the news. It's making her sick. She's leaving."
Not even the seneschal knew quite what to make of the cryptic statements. Legolas himself offered no further explanations.
Lulled by what seemed to be an end to the persistent visions Glorfindel was taken by surprise when one day while sitting in one of Imladris' many beautiful gardens with the Prince. The Gondolin elf had been regaling Legolas with a humorous tale from his time in the hidden city when the Sinda suddenly let forth a stream of curses. The seneschal reacted instantly, sending the younger elf into a hypnotic trance.
Janessa was in trouble again. She was being chased by the media this time and they were not giving up. "FUCK! There's an accident! I'm trying to stop! Oh my poor baby, I'm so sorry, but it's you or me. Hold on. Hold on. Don't let go. Oh god. They didn't see the accident."
"Wow. I got lucky. Think I might have used up the last of my nine lives there. People are hurt. I have to help. Triage. Remember your training. Help those that can be helped. Gotta get the truck driver out. He's at ground zero. Then the media crew. Dumbasses. They just made it worse. Fire risk. Stay away from the fuel."
"OW! God the driver's heavy. Ignore the pain, you'll be fine. Gotta get him onto the shoulder. Careful as you drag, don't stress the spine. Ok, ABCs, remember your first response checklist. Ok, he's good for now. Now for the media crew."
"Ok. They're wedged in there pretty good, but the back doors should give me access. Wait, what was that? STOP! Don't do that! HEY! OH MY GOD NO!!! RUN! RUN! RUN! GOTTA GET AWAY!" A terrified scream emitted from Legolas' chest before being suddenly, horribly cut short as the elf toppled forward off the bench he was seated on.
Glorfindel barely managed to catch Legolas as the Prince fell, gently easing the archer onto the soft grass. Fearing the worst, he spoke the key word, bringing Legolas from his trance. For several moments the Sinda lay unresponsive, not even breathing.
With a mighty heave Legolas sucked in a great draught of air, his eyes fluttering open to be caught by Glorfindel's intense gaze. Tears welled up in the Prince's eyes, flowing silently down the sides of his face. He spoke only two words before wracking sobs shook his frame, grief overtaking him completely as he buried his face against the Elda's chest.
Those two words shook the balrog slayer to the core. After everything she's been through…
"She's dead."
Quenya translation: Istya = knowledge
A/N: There WILL be more! I had a most difficult time wrestling with this chapter. I wasn't sure how Legolas would experience everything with the added dimension of the hypnotic suggestion. Clearly that changed a lot. I had already established that he became one with her as highly emotional events unfolded, but how would you relate that experience to someone else while you were under hypnosis in real-time? I decided to give it a stream of consciousness, disjointed feel. Because he's explaining as it happens there it's time for clarifications, the strongest thoughts being the ones that come through. The result is a disjointed, skewed and highly disturbing relation of events as they happen. Having read the previous chapter it is clear to the reader what is going on but to the characters surrounding Legolas it is clear as mud. It was that feeling of helplessness and total lack of control that I was trying to convey. I sincerely hope I succeeded. As always feedback is not only appreciated but required. Thank you for staying with me!