Another Darkness

Chapter 7: The Trial Interrupted

*warnings- may contain triggers*

A/N: hey guys, so thanks very much for all the favs and follows! I would also really love a review every now and then 3 Will give virtual cookies and hugs.

Since the moment the burning hot stone encased her delicate wrists, Ithil had sunk into the dark recesses of her mind. She felt nothing of the world outside, but rather, she could see, feel, hear, smell, taste everything in this strange place she had found herself. Everything was washed with a blue that looked like the sky after sunset, yet swirls of black mist covered the edges of all she could see. Ithil seemed to be floating like she was in water, her black, inky hair swirled around her.
"Hello?" she called out, though her voice sounded small and timid. Silence greeted her. She swam through the air, slowly, like drifting. She was in search of anything that she could find, something to get her out of here. To where? Was there an 'out'?

It wasn't long before she found a small pedestal below. Ithil could not see the ground due to the black mist. She floated down, slowly coming to her feet in a soft landing. Despite the feathery touch, the sound seemed to echo around her, causing a laugh to emerge from somewhere. The sound drifted over from all around, encompassing her in that dark chuckle. She touched the pedestal and a book appeared into sight. Curiosity took the better of her and she opened the book with no title. Page upon page was blank, almost halfway through the book did writing appear, slowly becoming bolder. As Ithil read she recognized these as her memories. Why was there so many blank pages before? The book was huge, bigger than any book she had seen, yet countless pages were left untouched.

Ithil stopped reading as she came to a memory she would rather forget.

Forget.

Had she forgotten all those pages? Is that why she could not read them. Her heart began beating irregularly fast and her mind became fuzzy. Pure panic coursed through her for what seemed like hours, until she calmed.
"Are you confused, Ithrandur?" asked a soft, lyrical voice. Ithil looked to the source to see herself standing at the base steps of the pedestal.
"You..."
"I am you, you are me, yes," She spoke. This Mystical Ithil was how she looked when her powers were in play, her snow white skin glowed like the moon and her eyes were ablaze with the colours of the sunset.
"Where am I?"
"You are inside The Trial," Other Ithil answered. Ithil looked around, still confused.
"You have found a Life Stone, a magical thing that binds to those it seeks, pulling them into a trial to see their worthiness. The trick is to break out." Ithil looked to her doppleganger.
"If this is a trial, then are you a part of it?" Ithil asked defensively.
"Oh, yes. I am, truly, the spirit of this stone. I am Jashina."
"So, Jashina, what kind of trial will I be undertaking?" Ithil asked, hands itching for weapons that were nowhere to be found on her being, as she wore only a long, sheer white dress.
"I am going to pick a memory of yours at random for you to experience again, only there will be several changes. All you have to do is endure this challenge, before we move onto the next one."
"That doesn't seem too hard, I've endured it once, I can do it again, I'm sure."
"Even if you know the outcome?"
"Of course."
"I have a very selected amount of memories to choose from, I cannot bring up memories that you, yourself do not know, Ithrandur." Ithil frowned.
"Why do you call me that, my name is Ithil Lysa."
"You're name matters not. Let us get on with the trial. I chose you for a reason, now I have to make sure I was correct."
"Why me?"
Jashina laughed at Ithil before striding up next to her to look into the book. Ithil watched as each step aspects of herself melted away, and in it's place was a woman who took no sold form, but rather, she seemed a ghost coloured of purple with flecks of blue. She was ethereal and beautiful, despite her unbelievable form.
"Ah, here is the perfect one. Please understand I am very sorry for this, but it is tradition. Now, remember Ithrandur, there will be some differences, if you find them, it will help you endure."

Suddenly, Ithil felt a tug at her abdomen. The world changed around her until she was surrounded by trees. She was in the Nameless forrest. Ithil looked around her and saw no Gandalf, which meant this could be one of two memories. Ithil had never before felt fear like this, other than in the memory.

Her body seemed to move of it's own accord, just as if she were completely reliving, the only difference being her thoughts and awareness that it was all an illusion. She wandered through the forest, her goal to make it to the main lands. It wasn't long before she recognize which memory this was, and fear seated itself inside her like a glacier. There was nothing she could do. Then it happened, every detail was correct. The Dark Elves jumped out from behind the trees with twisted black arrows and bows. Their skin like ash and their hair black as midnight. Pointy ears stuck out in unusual ways. Their eyes were consumed with blackness, no white showed. Their pointed teeth showed around sneering mouths.
"Look what we found here!" One of them exclaimed to the others, barely managing Common Speech. Ithil drew her blades, ready to attack, not yet fearing the horrid creatures. Ithil wanted to yell at herself. Tell herself to run far and fast, but she could not hear her.
"Looks like one of them weird folk from Ensam," another said. The Dark Elves looked at her curiously.
"What...what is she?"
"Does it matter? Get her!" The leader barked, and the elves came crashing down on her, thus beginning the worst hours of her life. It was there that she lost her innocence, that she felt truly ruined. She was disgusted with herself and these vile creatures that preyed on her. Ithil screamed and cried with herself as they both lived through the worst experience of their lives. When the creatures were done with her, one of the elves struck her with a twisted blade, narrowly missing her heart. The foolish elves did not stay to see whether she had truly died before leaving to go back to their hovel. Ithil stood after hours of lying in her own blood and filth and began to stumble back into town with a tear stained face and a broken spirit.

The vision ended abruptly, leaving Ithil crying on the floor in the black mist. Jashina touched her back delicately in condolence. The crying woman flinched away from the mystical one unconsciously.
"You did well, Ithil," Jashina seemed genuinely guilty at making Ithil experience her most troubled past. "But, we must continue onto the next task." Ithil looked up from her crouched position, visibly shaking. Slowly, the black haired woman stood, her sunset eyes flicking al around her in search of danger.
"W-what is the next challenge?" she asked. All she wanted was to get out, so desperately. She would do anything to escape this nightmare. Jashina lead the trembling woman away from the pedestal.

The two came to a new place, it held three stone walls, just as randomly placed as the pedestal. On the walls, Ithil could see as she grew closer, were murals. One of them was in colour and the other two were shadowed out. Jashina frowned.
"This shouldn't be happening. It shouldn't be this hard to create a trial for you, but you have forgotten so much..." Jashina flickered with anger, red began shifting through her purple and blue colours.
"I can't help it!" Ithil argued, regaining some strength back. Suddenly, Jashina felt her temper break.
"I know you are worthy, but I cannot let you have access to the powers in my stone until I can give you the proper trials." Jashina began pacing, "Do I keep you here for ever? Do I fail you? Do I let you go?"
"How about you let me go? If ever I regain enough memory to finish the trials we can go from here." Jashina looked back at Ithil in thought.
"It will hurt, pushing you from the trials so suddenly, without you having completed all of it. It has never been done."
"I understand," Ithil replied solemnly. Pain coursed through her, similar to the pain she felt from the red stone. It was like tearing away her skin layer by layer and breaking her bones. It was like she was turning inside out. Jashina had not been lying when she said it would be painful.

**Elven King's Halls**

Thranduil watched Ithil, her skin was sweating, yet she remained completely passive. Suddenly, she seemed to come alive! An aching scream spilled out of her mouth as her eyes flew open and she shot up in a strange, frozen convulse. Ithil collapsed back onto the bed, panting and crying. Thranduil grabbed her shoulders and drew her attention to himself.
"Ithil, it is okay. You are safe," he spoke calmly in Elvish. Ithil's eyes locked onto the Elven King's icy blue ones. Her breath slowed and fluttered.
"Thranduil?" Ithil asked. Her last memory being hanging off a wall under Erebor.
"Yes. Are you well?" he asked softly. He scanned her for any serious injuries and stopped when he saw her hands and wrists. They were covered in a burn pattern, only it was well past the injury stage and already looked like a spiders web of silvery lines.
"Your hands..." Thranduil held them gently, and a stone fell out from her palm. It was a shining purple with blue specks.
"What happened?" The elf demanded. Ithil slowly sat up, her body was stiff and sore.
"I, uh, I didn't finish the trial... too many memories...gone," she rambled looking around her frantically. Thranduil was not used to seeing her so out of her head. He squeezed her shoulders once again in reassurance. The warmth came once again between them and Ithil looked back to him.
"I'm sorry. I had to find it before he did. I had to!" she reached up and held his face in her hands, twisting her torso to do so. "You're a good man," she whispered before her eyes fluttered and she fell back to sleep.

The door crashed open and suddenly three humans, three elves, a wizard and a dwarf came through the door.
"How is she?" Orma asked, concern sketched on her face. Thranduil frowned at the intruding guests.
"We heard her voice," the human names Vicor said.
"She awoke for a moment. She did not complete her trial. She spoke something about not having enough memories. The stone fell from her hands and then she fell back asleep." He did not need to mention the moment that had transpired between them.
"How did she escape the trial without completing it?" Lady Galadriel asked from behind the group.
"I did not find that out." Galadriel looked at Thranduil, seemingly looking through him. Other than Ithil. Lady Galadriel was the only woman to truly unnerve him. Though the two were for completely different reasons.
"When she awakes, we will have to question her thoroughly about the vision she had and the Erebor," Gandalf said. Elrond nodded and they left the room, leaving only Vicor.
"Can I help you?" Thranduil practically hissed, just wanting to be left alone to his thoughts, and to Ithil.
"I was just..." he looked at Ithil for a moment before shaking his head. "Nothing. I just hope she's okay."
"You are the one who saved her, yes?" Thranduil asked, stepping closer the the human.
"Yes. Twice," he chuckled.
"Then you have my thanks. I will make sure she is fine, Vicor Bard." Thranduil gave a short smile before turning back to the bed. Vicor watched the two for a moment before taking his leave.

A/N: Do iiiiiit...review. You know you want to... Thranduil will give you sexy kisses if you do. *Shouts from behind* "NO, I won't!" *Shoves away* yes, he will. because I am almighty writer!