A/N: I AM SO SORRY! I know this took a freakishly long time to get out but I've been so swamped with homework these past few weeks that I've barely just begun to catch up when they dump more work on me. I managed to find an hour to type out this chapter when I didn't have any work (more from lack of knowing how to do It than anything). So enjoy and I will try to be more diligent about fitting everything in from now on.

Disclaimer: Back off! I have coffee! Make no sudden movements!

~~~Chapter 19~~~ The World is Changing…

His world was changing. Shifting. The days were growing dark on the horizon of his mind. It had began at Rohan in Meduseld Hall. The battle for Helm's Deep was over but the darkness of Mordor was spreading, stretching out across teh land like a hand reaching out a black contagion over Middle Earth. They approached Isengard from the West, meeting up with the blessedly unharmed Peregrin and Merry. Valo was unable to celebrate their safety nor their apparent victory, though. His mind was assaulted by the darkness oozing from Orthanc. He could feel it like cold nimble fingers stroking his every nerve ending. An untamable miasma. Memories of his time with his Master between Sleep flashed occasionally through his mind interspersed with those strangely familiar half-dreams. Fragments, snatches of voices and images that danced like a spider's thread in the sun. He was nestled in Gandalf's arms on the back of Shadowfax, the wizard seemingly all too aware of his internal battle. Every so often he would place a warm hand on Valo's cooling forehead and the din would ease back for a small span of time. It was far too late and he was far too drawn in for the effect to last long though. The evil from Mordor was too far reaching now. His pale hands shook with the effort to regain some sort of control of his own mind.

'I want you to listen to me very carefully, Harry. You're not a bad person. You're a very good person, who bad things have happened to. Besides, the world isn't split into good people and Death Eaters. We've all got both light and dark inside us.'

'Orthanc was a shining hub of learning and light below. His Master's arms were wrapped around him from behind as they flew overhead on a Fell Beast…'

'Dark times lie ahead of us and there will be a time when we must choose what is easy and what is right.'

The whispered sentence jolted something strong and uncertain inside the depths of his heart, some deep grief and unknown purpose that stirred him from his internal plight and brought him back to the world around him. They had come to stop before an Ent Gandalf had referred to as Treebeard. The horses were trudging through feet of water from the freed dam. It looked like a disaster zone, a war zone which, in fact, it was.

"HOOM! Young Master Gandalf," Aragorn raised an amused eyebrow at the 'young' comment, " I'm glad you've come. Wood and water, stock and stone I can master, but there is a wizard to manage here, locked in his tower."

Some nameless dread began to fill Valo's heart. Some nameless whisper of danger approaching. It told him to run. Run far away from Orthanc and to the river Anduin. Into the wilds of Rohan, anywhere but here. Some fear of this great tower and the evil Istari inside stirred him to anxiety. Gandalf gave him a conforming squeeze as they approached the Tower. Up above, Saruman's white cloaked figure appeared over the edge of the tower.

"You have fought many wars and slain many men Theoden King and made peace afterwards. Can we not take counsel together as we once did, my old friend? Can we not have peace you and I?" His deceptively calm voice echoed down like noxious rain from the sky.

Aragorn cast the King a wary glance. Theoden had proved to be susceptible to Saruman's influence once before after all. Valo moaned at the feel of the persuasive, deceptive waves of magic Saruman was emitting. He could withstand it but just barely in his present condition. Saruman was a trifle compared to the influence of his Master. His Master's power was strong enough to bring Valo to his very knees, begging for more or screaming for mercy. Oftentimes both at once.

"We shall have peace…. We shall have peace when you answer for the burning of the Westfold and the children that lie dead there! We shall have peace when the lives of the soldiers whose bodies were hewn even as they lay dead against the gates of the Hornburg… are avenged! When you hang from a gibbet for the sport of your own crows… we shall have peace!"

Saruman's face contorted in a twisted sneer, bringing another half forgotten dream to the forefront of Valo's mind.

'Someone's dead…One of your people…I don't know who, it was dark…I stepped over the body…I was supposed to be waiting up here when you got back, only your Phoenix lot got in the way…'

But no…The boy who said those words was terrified. Young and frightened. Trying to wear the skin of his father at too fragile an age…Valo shook the thought off. He didn't know who that strange boy was. He was featured in his dream-like visions and thoughts just as often as th eother chief characters: an old man, a young man with the grief of Ages buried in his blue eyes and a girl with brown, bushy hair. They seemed to be acting out a play in his mind only he could never see the outcome. Saruman's infuriated voice brought him back to himself.

"Gibbets and crows! Dotard! What do you want Gandalf Grahame? Let me guess… the key of Orthanc? Or perhaps the keys of Barad Dûr itself? Along with the crowns of the seven Kings and the rods of the Five Wizards!" He shouted angrily, his persuasive influence falling away immediately. Valo could have sighed in relief though his anxiety did not waver.

Gandalf spoke to the furious Istari with the patience born of many life Ages of Men. Valo envied him that.

"Your treachery has already cost many lives. Thousands more are now at risk. But you could save them Saruman. You were deep in the enemy's counsel."

He frowned at that. No. Saruman may have believed that he was the Dark Lord's counsel but his Master trusted no one with the truth of his plans. No one. Something made him believe that there was a reason for that but he could not bring it to mind. That presence in his mind shifted, finally coming to attention at the proceedings around him.

'Run…this place is danger for you.' That voice whispered but Valo found himself too rooted to the spot to react in time.

"So you have come here for information. I have some for you." The White Wizard pulled an object out of the folds of his robe, something that gleamed and shifted in the dim light of day and made Valo's stomach freeze in terror. The Palantir of Orthanc… " Something festers in the heart of Middle Earth. Something that you have failed to see. But the Great Eye has seen it! Even now he presses his advantage. You did not think that you could hold the Dark Lord's Key and not face the consequences? His attack will come soon. You are all going to die! But you know this don't you Gandalf? Or perhaps, the little Dark One has not been truthful about just what he is?"

Valo's skin began to tingle and itch, a sure sign that his magic was bound to erupt momentarily. Gandalf's gentle hand found his shoulder and squeezed it softly but the teen took no comfort from the touch this time. His fear was too great. He allowed the wizard to slide him down into the water so he could lead Shadowfax forward safely.

'RUN!' The voice shrieked in his mind, for once sounding afraid itself.

"The Dark Consort is Sauron's physical link to this world. When you speak to him, you are speaking to the Dark Lord himself. He knows all that his Key knows, they're minds and spirits are One. Valokiloren IS Sauron. Very soon now he will use his advantage and he will move into the vessel that is his Key. He will kill you all from inside your very own Fellowship! Beginning with Isilidur's heir. You cannot think that this Ranger will ever sit upon the throne of Gondor. This exile, crept from the shadows will never be crowned King."

Valo was frozen in terror, grief and fury. He was…He and his Master were one and the same. His Master could take over his body and there would be nothing he could do to stop it. After all, hadn't it happened before? Each time he used his magic didn't a little of his Master leak in with it? The glowing orange eyes…It was him…HE was the biggest threat to this mission.

"No…" Valo whispered and before he knew what was happening, his legs had carried him off.

He ran through the water, to the edge of the dry land as fast as his small body could carry him. Everything he'd ever known…everything he'd discovered and been through was nothing compared to this lie, this one great truth that could shatter the Fellowship forever. In the end, it would be himself that would catalyze the ending of Middle Earth as they knew it. He would be the one Great Destroyer. Was that his purpose all along? Was that why he was created? A Key of Destruction. He could hear them still shouting at the base of the Tower as he ran but the sounds of someone following him through the water echoed in his mind. Was it Legolas? Did he want him to stay even after the knowledge of his purpose? Strong arms caught him up in a tight embrace, rocking him back and forth even as he burst into terrified, grief-filled tears. The smell of wood and pipe smoke reached him at the same time as the whispered elvish words of comfort. Aragorn…For some reason he felt it crucially important that Aragorn understand more than anyone. He had taken him in when no one else dared…

"I didn't know…I'm sorry…I didn't know…" He gasped out between heart wrenching sobs.

Aragorn shushed him and dried his tears himself, delivering a comforting kiss to his temple.

"I know…"

The Ranger led him back towards the group just in time to see Saruman fall to his death upon the staked wheel below. Gandalf turned to see them approach, his eyes filled with sadness for Valo. Valo found his lip trembling once more beneath that gaze. He felt like such a traitor.

"Send word to all our allies and to every corner of Middle Earth that still stands free. The enemy moves against us. We need to know where he will strike."

Treebeard took a step toward them, his being filled with the content one can only get from a righteous vindication.

"The filth of Saruman is washing away. Trees will come back to live here. Young trees. Wild trees."Pippin was already trudging through the water after something while Gandalf came to face him calmly. Theoden brought his horse up beside them, his eyes looking down at Valo with a measuring, calculating stare. It was not a very a kind look.

"If Sauron knows what he knows then we must act. He must not be allowed to hear our plans, Gandalf!" Theoden insisted strongly, his voice leaving no room for arguing.

Aragorn looked like he would protest but Gandalf silenced him with a raised hand. His blue eyes were saddened by what he would have to do.

"It is for the safety of all of Middle Earth." The King said once more before leaving Gandalf to the deed.

Valo was torn between fear, regret and hurt. He turned to his beloved desperately searching for some sort of protest in his defense but what he found made his heart crumble and his spirits sink. Legolas was watching him but not with love or caring as he had before Helm's Deep. His expression showed mistrust now. His eyes reflected betrayal…How could he have known that Valo wasn't leading the Fellowship on a suicide mission after all? How could he have known that Valo didn't know about this the whole journey, wasn't feeding his Master information the whole way. But the knowledge of these thoughts swirling inside the man he loved cut deeper than any flesh wound ever could reach. As Gandalf knelt down beside him, Valo gave no protest, nor any sign that he acknowledged what was to happen. Only fear and despair filled his heart now.

"I'm sorry, my boy, but I will be right here. I'll protect you." The Istari whispered, sounding more confident than he felt.

Legolas wouldn't even look at him now… A cool, soft hand slipped over those emerald eyes and a few whispered words later, the small Morgul child was cast into darkness. His shaking became more pronounced as Gandalf lifted him onto Shadowfax, sliding on behind him to bare the journey back to Meduseld. Valo feared the darkness inside him. Now he had no escape from it. As they started to ride away from Isengard, Gandalf felt the silky wet feeling of warm tears slide down his hand where he was holding their charge close. The whole ride the party spent in silence, the only sounds heard was Valo's whispered, tearful mantra of 'I'm sorry…I didn't know'

R&R!