A/N: Okie doke! I'm going to answer some questions here that quite a few of you had for the last chapter! Enjoy!

Disclaimer: Nope! No ownage.

Q: What, specifically, did Valo have to fear at Orthanc? I thought it was the palantir, and that if he looked into it he'd greatly risk possession. Why was the voice inside Valo (the horcrux?) afraid too? What did Valo have to fear from Theoden in the last chapter?

A: Okay, I can answer these in all one response. Valo (and the Voice) feared that when the Fellowship heard his true use, that they would try to hurt him. They would see him as a threat and dispose of him the way his Master would dispose of any threats to himself.

Q: Were those thoughts completely of Legolas' own psyche, or was he at least a little bit influenced from an outside source?

A: They were completely of Legolas's own but it just goes to show the influence that Haldir's reaction to Valo had on him and the question of Valo's own nature within the Fellowship itself. J

Soo, that's really about it for questions this go around. Enjoy the chapter!

~~~Chapter Twenty~~~ I'm naked in the dark...there's nothing...nothing...

Legolas looked around the room of celebrating soldiers and warriors and felt…hollow. How could he celebrate with the rest of them? His beloved turned out to be Sauron himself in human form. A walking, breathing threat to their mission. How could Valo have not known something so crucial? So enormous? Sauron's Key indeed…his Key to attaining human form once more. His Key to absolutely victory. He just had a hard time believing that Valo didn't know or at least suspect his true purpose. After all, the teen had LIVED with the Dark Lord for Ages. There was so much that Valo "didn't know". With this latest revelation, Legolas found himself wondering…Just how much of the boy he loved was Valo and how much was actually Sauron and his deceptions. The fact that no one had an answer to that except Valo was telling in his mind. He just couldn't risk choosing a vain, hopeless love over the welfare of all of Middle Earth. He just couldn't…Legolas headed towards Gimli and the drinking game he was preparing for. The dwarf always had sworn on the power of heavy drink to make one forget.

~ o ~

Valo sat up in a room alone, listening to the sounds of the party below. He hadn't been allowed to attend for obvious reasons though Gandalf had blessedly raised the spell that kept him deaf and blind to the world. It was a small consolation. Despair weighed too heavily in his mind now. Now he truly was alone…He wasn't trusted in the Fellowship, his friends all choosing the safety of Middle Earth and themselves over trusting him and rightly so he imagined. There was always his Master but…The thought of Legolas torn at his already breaking heart. What reason did he have to stay…? He wanted the Fellowship to succeed and yet he feared disloyalty and his Master's fury above all else. He feared being sent back into that cursed Sleep. It had been a span since his Master had ordered him to travel towards the Black Gate and he had not dreamed since but Valo could feel his Master's impatience and ire beginning to rise like it were his own.

'This is for the best. Now you are a captive of the Fellowship and not one of their fellows. It's better for you to be a prisoner here than one of the enemy.' The voice in his mind whispered darkly.

Valo bit his lip, a shudder making it's way up his spine. The voice was right. If his Master ever did discover his whereabouts, it would be better if he were a captive than have actually joined the Fellowship's noble cause. So why did a big part of him yearn to be accepted by these people? Why did he ache to belong with them so much? Did he really belong anywhere?

'He will find out about your whereabouts, have no doubt. He is all knowing. He is your Master. He is you.'

His lip trembled and he pushed the despairing thoughts away, turning instead back to listen to the sounds of the party nearby.

~ o ~

The Fellowship started filing in for bed not long after the party began to wind down. The hobbits came in dragging a drunken Gimli by his legs, giggling the entire way. Gandalf followed, shaking his head in dismay. There was a suspiciously round bundle tied to his belt. Valo felt a spike of anxiety peak in him at the sight. Having a portal to his Master so near was distressing to him. He seemed to be the only one who noticed the absence of a certain Elf prince. Aragorn excused himself to walk about, ensuring that everything was well with the men. Everyone was settling into their pallets and cots for the night in the room except for one lonely teen sitting in the corner. He crept from the room quietly once the hobbits were down and Gandalf slumbered. Valo sought out the window on the far end of the Dining hall. In the corner, there were two guards smoking their pipes but all else was still and silent. It was as if the entire world had fallen into a heavy quiet, the very skies seeming to close their great eyes and slumber. The stars seemed to fade into the night itself as he stared out of the window. The darkness of Mordor was spreading, the nights growing still and heavy with the coming storm of battle.

That darkness looked back at him, falling into his very being. It rubbed against places inside him that were never meant to be touched, arching like a giant cat against his soul. Valo's back bowed and he would have gasped in ecstasy but something halted him. Something snapped the spell, flaring in the next room where the hobbits slept. A familiar magic that jerked him towards it as if he were on a hook. His Master…His Master was here? Terror rose in him like a giant wave. Even without seeing what was happening, it didn't take more than a moment for him to deduce what had happened. Someone was using the Palantir. His feet slapped against the stone floors, carrying him towards that room he had just left. He opened the door just in time to see Pippin holding the flaming orb. He was still and quiet, his eyes closed in fear. The moment that Valo stepped into the room though, his back bowed and his limbs seized. The little inquisitive hobbit's limbs locked painfully. Valo could feel his Master tearing through the hobbits mind, sending wave after wave of pain into his small body. Pippin was writhing in agony, his eyes screwed tight and the Palantir held between his hands. The orb was burning and Valo could clearly make out the whispers calling from the thing. His Master's whisper…

Without a thought, Valo did the only thing he could think of to protect one of his only friends. He seized the seeing stone immediately, jerking it from the hobbit. The burning raced up his arms and raged through his very soul. The Great Eye staring out of the glass swiveled around to look at him and the shriek of rage that came from his Master through the seeing stone came with it a wave of furious pain. It tore a scream of anguish from the teen so loud it made every figure in the fortress jerk awake in alarm. He didn't hear any of this though. His mind was turned inward, into the very seeing stone. Into his Master's mind. The agony that raced through him was overwhelming. More powerful than any physical pain, more powerful that any battle wound, stronger than even…Cruciatus? Whatever that was. It was not a language he recognized. It ripped through his senses like a great clawed thing. Like molten hate filling his very veins.

He couldn't hear the door slamming open, didn't see Legolas pulling the hobbits away from him like he would infect them. His thoughts were being torn into, his Master collecting every scrap of information that he could possibly contain as if his mind were cobwebs, falling away at the slightest breeze, his mental defenses simply brushed away. His Master collected every bit and piece of memory that he could find. And then he came to the memories Valo had secreted away in the back of his mind, the memories that hurt him the most. His first kiss with Legolas. Falling blissfully asleep beside the elf. Loving Legolas. And finally, his rejection…His Master shrieked in white hot fury, the pain lancing through his veins. Valo's worst fear had come to pass. His Master had discovered his treachery, his infidelity. Just like the voice had said…And then the worst happened.

Aragorn came into his view, and behind him were Legolas and Gandalf. Sauron's rage redoubled but instead of there being more pain, the world fell into silence. Valo frowned, his stomach turning as all sound muted, all feeling and sensation faded. The breath before the jump. And then it ended. Without warning, his Master ripped through the last layer separating the two of them and everything returned in a blur. Valo was suddenly a spectator in his own body. Saruman's words had indeed come to pass. His Master had invaded his very body. He could feel his eyes blazing orange, slitted and enraged. His back straightened as he took on a posture that had never been his own. His glance turned from Gandalf, holding the other two men back currently, to Aragorn. He hissed furiously at the sight of the heir that would unite Men and supposed bring his- his Master's?- downfall. His eyes found Legolas at last and that white hot rage suddenly roared through him like a tsunami unchecked. This pathetic elf had touched what belonged to him! He had touched HIS Consort! Valo could not determine where his own thoughts ended and his Master's began. They were one and the same, in thought and mind.

He flicked his hand out and a pulse of magic responded to his call. A whip of fire extended from the base of his palm, a deadly extension of his own will. He could see the elf princeling practically toss the two hobbits out of the room. He sneered in disgust. Protect them all you want, little elf. Aragorn stepped forward, his hands up as if to calm him. Valo felt his eyes narrow at the human. Pitiful. They didn't want to harm him. Without hesitation, he flicked the whip out at the Man. The Ranger jumped back but not in time to avoid some inconvenient singing. He was playing with them. The whip flicked out once more, this time catching the bed which caught immediate fire. His head leaned back and a heavy chuckle spilled from his lips. That was perhaps what had stunned him more. It was his Master's voice spilling from between his lips. The shadows in the room seemed to be stretching towards them, swelling and growing like a malignant disease. The Black Speech spilled from his lips like a serpent through the grass.

"'You think you can stand against me? I will wipe you all away from the face of this Middle Earth!"'

He heard the sound of an arrow being notched and with the nearly silent hiss through the air, an arrow flew through the group, knocking the still flaming Palantir from Valo's hand. He shrieked in rage, a sound that should not have been able to come from such a sweet mouth, but not before the flamed weapon sputtered and died out of existence. He hissed, looking at the Fellowship with eyes that swore vengeance. His orange eyes alighted on Legolas and the bow that the elf held in hand, another arrow notched for battle. He sneered through Valo's body, a look that didn't fit the usually kind face.

"'Valokiloren is MINE!'"

Gandalf rushed to throw a blanket over the rolling Palantir and with the end of it's vision, the influence of his Master seeped out of him like disease from a wound. Valo had a moment of terrible clarity once his Master's power left him. The Fellowship was all staring at him and not one of the looks was a good one. Legolas's face in particular was closed off as if the elf didn't feel a thing about what he had just witnessed. Valo had a moment to realized something: He wasn't like them. He was a monster. And like the rest of their enemies, perhaps he needed to be destroyed as well. His knees hit the ground and he found himself suddenly staring up at the ceiling though he did not remember falling. His body convulsed with the lasting effects of the pain magic that he had been inflicted with and the Fellowship remained too cautious to approach him now. His body did not seem to want to respond and the darkness of unconsciousness began to cloud the edges of his eyes. All he could do was stare at the ceiling and fall into his own mind. All he could do was lay there while he abandoned hope, the ones he loved now made aware of exactly the kind of monster they had on their hands.

R&R!