Caught (a legolas fanfiction)

Denentinei

Chapter 19

It was the next morning, and Legolas hadn't woken up yet. His eyes were still closed, and looked unnatural compared to his normal way of sleeping. He was still as pale as the sheets he lay within, and his body looked very thin and fragile, as if it would break under the mere weight of the light blankets on top of him.

Elrond, Glorfindel, Elladan, Elrohir, Thranduil, Aragorn, and Gimli were gathered in Elrond's study, and they were seated in a large circle. Thranduil, Aragorn, and Gimli looked significantly healthier, but that was just because they had had time to bathe and change their tattered clothes.

"So," Elrond said. "We need the entire story from the beginning."

"Aye," said Aragorn. "I shall begin the tale, for only Gimli and I were there before Thranduil arrived."

He told them of their journey from Gondor to Greenwood, and how they had planned on staying for a few days before Aragorn and Gimli would leave for Gimli's home, after which Aragorn would return to his kingdom. He continued to say how Legolas had disappeared into the trees, but when he returned he kept feeling in his heart that someone was nearby, so he went to look around, and had found Thranduil.

They continued to tell the tale, each adding little pieces of their own experience. When they came to the part about the rescue, Thranduil brought out the sphere, which was glowing just as faintly as before, and the vial of liquid. Aragorn brought out the journal.

Elrond took the vial and opened it carefully, sniffing cautiously at the contents. He looked up.

"It's Denetinei," he said, looking up. "Why on Arda would the man give this to him? It remains totally inactive in the patient's bloodstream. It doesn't even do anything, unless..." he paled drastically.

"What is it?!" Gimli said. "Unless what?"

Elrond took the sphere, hands shaking.

"It can't be!" he said. "Glorfindel—"

He took one look at Glorfindel's face, which was filled with grief.

"Oh, no," Elrond said. "Oh, no."

"What is it?" Thranduil said, standing up worriedly. "What is it, Elrond?"

"It...Could it really be that, Glorfindel?" Elrond said.

Glorfindel looked up at him. "It is. It seems so clear now that I think about it. The man probably made him...He has so much pain in his life already, Elrond. The man will have taken advantage of that..." he lay his head in his hands, and his long golden hair flowed around his form.

"For Valar's sake, Elrond, what is it?" Thranduil cried. "I deserve to know! I am his father!"

"He...he made Legolas relive everything that he went through, all those years ago," Elrond replied quietly. "And probably made him believe things that he never would've even thought of through illusions."

"Everything?" Thranduil said, a look of utter shock on his face. "He made him go through everything again?"

"Probably," Elrond said. "That would explain everything."

Thranduil slumped back into his chair, tears forming in his eyes.

"Oh, ion-nin..." he mumbled. Glorfindel looked up.

"I have seen this kind of torture inflicted on others. A few of my friends, many millennia ago, had it done to them. One sailed, and two...faded."

Everyone was completely stunned.

"And the Denetinei. The only thing it reacts to is the poison that allows the sphere to be used, and it..." Elrond trailed off, not wanting to believe the truth himself. He moved to one of the shelves. "This is a common pain-relieving mixture, and it contains a tiny amount of the poison that connects with the sphere. And, well...Just watch."

He poured the mixture into a wooden bowl, and he took the vial and teased the last drop of Denetinei from it.

Immediately, the mixture began to sizzle. It crackled and fizzled, and it soon began to eat away at the bowl. Soon it was completely disintegrated, and Elrond threw some water on it. It slowed to a stop.

"And that's just with a tiny amount," Elrond said. "This is what will happen every time the two combine within Legolas. That is probably why he was in so much pain yesterday. It will strike again, in a different organ each time, and eventually it will kill him."

There was a silence, and everyone's individual thoughts were whirling.

"No!" Aragorn finally said. He jumped up, but then sunk to his knees, tears beginning to run down his face. "No! This can't be happening, not to Legolas!"

The chaos began. Thranduil was staring at the air in front of him, emotionless, except for one crystal tear going slowly down his right cheek. Glorfindel, finally letting go of his pride, began to sob at the fate of the young elf to whom he had always been a role model. Elladan and Elrohir were crying their hearts out, holding onto each other for support. Aragorn remained on the ground, and Gimli was shaking his head in denial, shock in his eyes.

This continued for several minutes, until finally everyone but Glorfindel, who could not stop himself, had run out of tears to cry. The elven lord continued to cry silently, for he had seen the pain and suffering caused by what Legolas had been through first hand, even as the others' sadness turned to determination, and in some cases, anger.

"We will kill that man!" Elrohir and Elladan screeched at the same time. "He won't live another second after we find him!"

"Legolas already killed him," Thranduil said. "What we need to do is stop the poison somehow."

"Aye!" Gimli agreed. "Lord Elrond, is there any cure to this poison?"

"Not that I know of," Elrond said. "But there may be one. We should look."

The others all agreed heartily.

"No prince of Greenwood will die on our watch!" Aragorn said, standing up. "Legolas shall live!"

"Yes!" the rest of them, other than Glorfindel replied. The blonde elven lord didn't lift his head, and Elrond went over to him, as did his sons.

"Glorfindel? What's wrong? We'll find a cure, and Legolas will live!" Elrohir said.

"There is still ample reasons for him not to," Glorfindel said. "Even if you find an antidote, he may still fade from grief, or sail. Just like they did..." he put his head back in his hand and ignored all the comforting words that surrounded him.

Elrond sighed, realizing that there was no way to help Glorfindel. "Come on, everyone," he said, standing up. "Let's go see if Legolas has woken up."

A/N: Hello! Sorry, this was a bit of a filler chapter. But the next one will have lots of drama!