'Ello, my lovely readers! Here it is, a new update! :D

This one's a little shorter than normal, but that's cuz my original idea seemed to fit better when I decided to split it into two chapters xD Next one should be longer!

Enjoy...as best you can, anyway...! xD

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Soon, Aira found herself being pushed into a dark cell of the Elven dungeons. She found that quite appropriate for her, given everything that had happened to her just within the span of a couple hours. She didn't know whether to be angry or to shed tears about Thranduil taking the key to Erebor from her. Either way, she knew she was upset. For her, things just kept getting bleaker and darker and she couldn't even fathom what could possibly happen next now that they all were captured and imprisoned in the Elvenking's dungeons.

She slammed a fist against the bars of her cell and gave an angry cry. "That savage!" she exclaimed. "If I see him again, I will end him!"

"Aira…," came Thorin's soft voice from the opposite side of the dungeons.

After hesitating for a moment, Aira brought herself to look at Thorin and she saw him looking at her sympathetically. She could tell that he was troubled, but he was not giving her any angry or disappointed glances. He was looking at her with concern.

She could feel her eyes well up. "I'm sorry, Father…," she said. "It's just…I couldn't…I'm sorry…!"

"What happened? Did Thranduil hurt her?" Balin, who was in the next cell over from Thorin, fretfully asked.

"No, he didn't," Thorin replied. He let out a shaky breath before adding, "The key…he has it."

"What?" cried Balin, shocked.

"He found it while interrogating us and then took it as he ordered the guards to bring us here."

"How could you let this happen, Thorin?"

"It's not his fault! It's mine!" Aira cried, seeing both of them glance at her across the dungeons. "I'm the one who had the key."

"What?" Balin asked again, this time feeling confused. There were then also the sounds of a few murmurs around the dungeons from the others who had heard them.

Aira took a deep breath and explained, knowing that everyone else in the company in the other cells could hear her, as well, "Upon leaving Beorn's house, Father gave me the key because he thought it would be safer with me while we travelled through the forest. He feared the Elves would find us and thought they wouldn't dare try and search me with everyone else in the company around, therefore they wouldn't find the key and the quest wouldn't be endangered."

She paused for a moment, feeling her shame building up inside. "But it doesn't matter anymore," she said, her voice getting uneven and strained, "because the one person we didn't want to know of the quest did find the key and now he has it!"

"Aira, I truthfully did not think that Thranduil was going to ask for you. I believed it would only have been me to have stayed in his presence, I never thought he would request the same of you, as well," said Thorin, an evident tone of regret in his voice.

"I know…." Gripping the bars in front of her, Aira sadly gazed at Thorin across the way. "You entrusted me with your most valuable possession…you told me you would feel at peace knowing the key would not fall into the wrong hands because it would be in the right ones. You believed in me and were relying on me to guard it…and I failed you." She about choked on her last words as it almost physically pained her to say them. "I failed you, Father…I'm so sorry!"

"No, Aira, it was not your fault," Thorin replied, trying to soothe her. "Thranduil took the unfair advantage and took the key when we were being apprehended, knowing neither of us would be able to stop him. There was nothing you could have done. I do not blame you for that."

"How can you not blame me? This entire quest has been jeopardized because of me!"

"We will find a way to get it back."

"Father, we have been imprisoned! And, even if we did somehow find a way out, we would have no idea where to look for the key and we would surely be captured again. We're never getting out and I know Thranduil will ensure we don't."

"Did he offer you a deal?" Balin then inquired.

"He did," Thorin answered. Then he added smugly, "I told him he could go ish kakhfê ai'd dur rugnu!"

Both Balin and Aira closed their eyes and shook their heads at Thorin's smart remark, knowing that the Khuzdul phrase he just spoke was quite rude and inappropriate. Although, Aira was secretly smirking to herself upon hearing it.

Then Thorin yelled loudly as if for all the realm to hear, his gravelly voice echoing off the walls, "Him and all his kin!"

Balin sighed. "Good to know he handled the situation maturely…!" he thought to himself, a little frustrated.

"Well, that's that, then," he said. "The deal was our only hope."

"Not our only hope…!" Thorin replied in a loud whisper, his hopeful gaze lifting to the ceiling of the dungeons.

"You seem oddly confident of that…," said Aira, who wasn't quite as convinced. "What other chance do you think we have?"

"Master Baggins is still out there."

"How do we even know he knows where we are? He disappeared after he rescued us from the spiders."

"He will find us, I am sure of it."

"I do not doubt what Bilbo is capable of, but how do we know that nothing has happened to him since the forest? And if he is all right, getting us out of here will be an impossible task, not just for him, but for all of us."

"Airaním, don't you start giving up. Not you!" Thorin cried firmly, not liking what he was hearing from her. "You, of all people, cannot start to lose hope, not now. We will find a way out of here, I promise you!"

Aira didn't know what she could say in return. Normally, she did always believe there was hope in all things, but at that moment, she wasn't sure if she believed that. She didn't want to give up, but the situation was becoming too dire and all the odds were against them that she found it hard to see or think of a better alternative. So she just remained silent, leaning against the stone wall and then sliding down to the cold floor despondently.

Then she heard a voice whisper in her head, "Airaním…."

She was startled at the sudden voice, but it was one she recognized right away; the only one she had ever heard in her head, which now made her curious.

"Lady Galadriel…?" she replied. "Is that you? Why are you in my head?"

"I have seen what has become of you and your company."

"Do you know of a way for us to escape?"

"Unfortunately, no. However, that is not the reason for which I am now speaking to you."

"Then what is it?"

"It is regarding your betrothed."

"Kili? What of him?"

There was a brief moment of silence and then Galadriel spoke, "I know of his memory loss…but the young girl, Tauriel, was wrong regarding its cause."

Aira was confused. "What do you mean?"

"It is not the poison from a spider that has infected his mind. When he awoke in the forest, the poison had already left his body."

"If that is so, then what is it that's caused him to lose his memories?"

"It is the toxins that hang in the air from the diseased and decaying trees; the very same toxins that caused your illusions and have cursed the air of the forest. They entered into his blood through his wound and have plagued his mind. The toxins create illusions and, with Kili, they are blocking certain memories and will spread quickly. Soon, they will turn on his mind and will bring greater delusions that will cause him to envision new memories that never existed to replace those he has forgotten."

Now knowing this new piece of information, Aira became even more worried. She had even forgotten to breathe for a moment upon learning that the toxins in his mind would soon replace the memories he lost with new illusions. That was almost even worse!

"Is there a way the effects can be cured?" she asked earnestly, hoping the answer would be different than the one Tauriel had given her earlier.

"That is something only you can determine."

"What is that supposed to mean? I don't know anything about curing memory loss!"

"Do you remember the words I spoke to you in Rivendell?"

Aira sighed. "Will all due respect, my Lady, you told me many things in Rivendell…."

"You, Airaním, are much more than you believe yourself to be. Your heart has been and will be your greatest ally."

"I do not see how that is going to help bring Kili's memories back…!"

"You will know in time, dear child. Heed Thorin Oakenshield's counsel…and do not lose hope. All will be well with you and your father's quest…and your Prince."

In that moment, before she could ask anything, Aira felt Galadriel's spiritual presence disappear and she knew that their connection was broken.

She sighed in annoyance. "Why does she always do that to me?" she wondered. While she respected her, she couldn't help but think that that Elf Lady was nothing but a riddle in physical form.

How was her heart "being her greatest ally" going to help Kili in their situation? They were locked in up the Elvenking's dungeons…what could she possibly do from inside her cell to help him? She felt so lost and helpless.

"Aira?" asked a voice from the cell next to hers.

"Fili? Is that you?" Aira asked, recognizing his voice and moving closer to the door.

He replied, "Yes, it's me. Are you all right?"

Aira exhaled loudly. "The love of my life doesn't remember me and I've lost the key to Erebor's hidden door to an Elven tyrant…so yes, I'm positively wonderful right now…!" she snapped with sad sarcasm.

Fili said nothing, but she heard him let out a sigh of sympathy, knowing he felt sorry for her.

That, in turn, made Aira feel sorry for snapping at him. "I'm sorry…," she said. "I shouldn't have reacted that way."

"It's all right, I understand," Fili replied.

After a brief silence of both of them trying to think of something to say, Aira finally asked, "How is Kili?"

Fili scoffed. "He's lucky I'm not in the same cell with him," he answered, "because I would be beating him senseless right now! He's not even trying to remember anything!"

"Have you found if he's forgotten anything else?"

"Only that he doesn't remember Maori either."

"I'm sorry, Fili."

He didn't respond.

Aira then decided she would tell him what she had just discovered regarding Kili's condition. "Fili, there is something I need to tell you," she said in a low voice through the bars.

"What is it?"

"Back in Rivendell, I met an Elf Lady called Galadriel. She was kind to me and she is wise and powerful. And trust me when I tell you that I know we can trust her."

"I believe you…now, what of her?"

"She has the power to speak to others through their minds…and she just spoke to me not moments ago. She knows what has become of us and she knows of Kili's condition. She informed me that it is not spider's poison that is affecting him, but the toxins that were in the air in the forest. They entered his bloodstream through the wound in his neck. They are blocking out certain memories and soon the toxins will create more illusions in his head and will create different memories to replace the ones he has lost."

"Did she say if there was a way to help him?"

Aira hesitated for a moment, knowing that the words Galadriel had spoken to her of helping Kili also pertained somewhat to the prophecy she had told her about back in Rivendell, regarding her destiny of saving the line of Durin. Fili didn't know of the prophecy. Aira knew that, if she told him what Galadriel said, she would have to explain everything behind her words and she knew that now was not a good time to go into that.

The answer she gave him then was, "She was quite…vague regarding that matter."

"But did she at least hint that there is a way?" Fili asked her.

"More or less," Aira answered.

"Then we shouldn't give up!"

"But it's the same as what I told Thorin when we were brought down here: what can we possibly do when we're locked up in these dungeons?"

Once again, Fili didn't say anything, unsure of what to say.

Aira peeked through the bars over to Kili's cell that was diagonally across the way from her. He was sitting in the corner by the door, looking his eyes staring down at the floor and looking solemn.

A feeling of pain rose up in her chest upon looking at him. She wished desperately that she was over there with him where he would hold her close in his arms and reassure her that things were going to be all right; that he loved her and would be by her side through everything.

But now he didn't even know who she was…which meant, even if they were in a cell together, he would not say or do any of those things, which made her heart want to break.

"Perhaps if I just try talking to him…," she thought to herself.

"Kili…?" she softly called out. She saw him look her way. "It's me, Aira."

He rolled his eyes. "Look, if you're still trying to tell me—"

"I'm not," Aira interrupted him, knowing he was talking about her trying to convince him about their relationship. "I just want to talk."

Kili said nothing at first, making her worry that he didn't want to talk, but then he replied, "All right, then."

"This quest that we're on…what do you know of it?" she asked him.

Kili lowered his eyes in thought for a moment. "I know Thorin mentioned a quest and Fili and I wanted to accompany him…," he said. "We met up with him and everyone else who was going along at a Hobbit's house in the Shire."

"Do you remember what happened while we were there?" Fili then chimed in.

"We got to the house…raided the Hobbit's pantry…Uncle Thorin showed up later…we all sat around and discussed something…I later went outside, but I don't think I was out there for very long because I remember going right back in…and that's it."

"When he went outside was when he went to talk to you," Fili said in a low voice to Aira.

"I know…," she responded sadly.

Fili looked back to Kili. "You don't remember what it was we all discussed back then?"

"I know we said we were going somewhere…but I don't know where exactly."

"Oh, gods…!" Aira groaned quietly, directing her voice towards Fili. "He can't remember Erebor! Every story we were ever told as children…there is nothing left of them!"

"He barely remembers Bilbo, too," added Fili.

Frustrated, Aira ran her hands over her forehead and through her hair. Kili's state was worse than she thought. He couldn't remember two of the biggest parts of his childhood: Erebor and her. If that was how he was at that moment, she could only imagine how he would be over the next few days, or even the next few hours.

Just then she felt something on the back of her head that she had almost forgotten about. It was a braid; Kili's courting braid.

Then she remembered that Kili had a braid exactly like that in his hair, one that Aira had given to him. And that gave her an idea.

"Kili!" she cried softly. "Place your hand on the back of your head. What do you feel there?"

She watched him curiously lift his hand and touch the back of his head.

Then he simply replied, "It's a braid."

"Yes, I am the one who gave you that braid!" said Aira, hoping that her idea would help convince him of the truth.

But then her heart sank yet again as he scoffed and clarified, "No, you didn't! I've had this braid for years. It signifies my standing as a Prince of Durin."

Aira quietly moaned as she brought her hands up to her face, "Oh, no…it's already begun…!"

"What's begun?" asked Fili.

"The toxins…they're already creating illusions in his head, giving him false memories," she replied, clutching her arms as she folded them across her chest.

Even though he couldn't hear what they were saying, Kili then called out to Aira, "I already told this to Fili before, but you may as well give this up, woman. I do not know who you are and your efforts to convince me otherwise are proving to be useless."

Aira was taken aback. "Wo—did you just call me 'woman'?" she asked.

"Yes," was Kili's plain reply.

Her fingers started to dig into her skin as she felt her emotions building inside; a mixture of anger, sadness, humiliation and hurt, and she tried to keep herself contained. She could feel the tears that were forming stinging the backs of her eyes, but she refused to let them escape.

"Kili…I would not be so persistent about this if it was not important," she told him calmly. "You and I have something; a strong connection together and I merely wish for you to see—"

"Please, just stop!" said Kili, annoyed. "You're not making things any simpler for yourself by insisting on something that does not pertain to me. We do not have anything together…and, if we did, I would know it! Don't try and make me believe things that aren't true! That's about as politely as I can say it…so please, just do us all a favor and let it go…!" With that being said, he got up and moved further back into his cell, showing that the conversation was now over.

In that moment, Aira's heart felt as if it had been cut with a knife and her entire body felt numb. She could very vaguely hear Fili's voice saying something, but it made no difference to her as she slowly made her way to the darkest corner in the back of her cell. Everything around her seemed to fade away and the walls were closing in on her. Her heart had plummeted down to the deepest, most sorrowful depths of her body and soul. Clutching her sides tightly and fighting her tears as much as she could, she slid down the wall, curled up against it in the corner and miserably began to cry as quietly as possible.

In her sorrow, Aira recalled a promise that Kili had made to her the day they left Rivendell:

"You will never lose me. That is a promise I intend to keep for the rest of my life."

Those words echoing in her head only made her cry even more.

That Kili…her Kili was gone. Even though he was there, he was there in body only. In soul and mind, he was lost. Because of the accursed toxins of Mirkwood, his promise had been broken and she had lost her best friend; the love of her life.

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*shields face* Please, don't kill me!

Poor Aira...her world is just really starting to fall apart... :(

Please review or send me a PM! Much appreciated, dears! :D