"Dead? How can he be dead if he's standing right there?" I gesture towards Legolas with my hand, a slight smirk on my face. Faervel doesn't seem amused.
"Tell him Legolas," I say turning to the elf in question, "tell him that you're not dead so that we can move on."
Legolas stares at his hand, the one that he'd placed in the fire. He doesn't move. My smile fades as a knot of uneasiness forms in my stomach.
"Legolas?" He looks up and our eyes meet, I don't believe this.

He turns to Faervel who nods his head. I suspect that another long narrative is going to come from this so I return to my seat. Legolas and Faervel sit down as well. Legolas glances at him one more time.
"You may speak Legolas."
He takes a deep breath. "I never found peace after I sailed. I could not live knowing that I would remain separated from everyone that I loved. The grief was too much for me, in the end, I was allowed to release my spirit from my body. I joined my family in the Halls of Mandos."

"In other words," I drum my fingers rapidly on the table, "you died."
Legolas nods. "Yes, from what I heard they buried my body in Valinor. And, "he chuckles, "I have become known as 'The Grieving Elf' among those who remain."
I cease my drumming. I can't believe this. All this time I thought that Legolas was living out his days in peace, when all along he's been dead.

"But if you died," Darovel asks shifting in his seat, "how did you come back?"
The smile fades from Legolas' face. He lowers his head and stares at the amulet.
"I did not come back willingly." He raises his head, his eyes clouded with sorrow. "I was never meant to come back..."

/\\//\\/

"Legolas you must stop this!" His mother's words fell on dead ears. He remained rooted to his spot, ignorant of the damage he was causing.
"Legolas!" His father called his name to no avail. His parents could not reach him, he'd made sure of it. The once green forest was now a charred wasteland. The grass beneath his feet was charred and black. The branches of the trees were bare and twisted, like bony hands clawing at the dark sky.

Legolas stood in the midst of it all. Arms lax at his sides with his hair lashing out with the wind. Dark circles had formed around his now grey eyes, his skin becoming paler by the second. Thranduil exchanged a frightened look with his wife, neither knew what to do. Footsteps alerted the arrival of another elf, who was just as scared as his parents.

"What's happening to him?!" Thalion shouted over the screaming wind.
"His grief, it has not left him." His mother watched her youngest son helplessly. There was nothing she could do.
"I thought he was healed!" Thalion's own heart was breaking. He couldn't bear seeing his brother like this.
The ground shook under their feet. Legolas was destroying the forest. Thalion was about to run to his brother when a voice like thunder rolled across the sky, speaking in a tongue that the three elves did not know.

The wind died down and the earth stilled. The trees returned to their normal forms and the grass was healed. Legolas fell to his knees, trembling where he knelt. Thalion raced towards him only to be stopped by the voice.
"Do not go near him, lest you wish to become tainted."
Thalion stopped, confusion and fear coursing through him. Legolas remained on the grass, which was the only part of the ground that remained black. His skin was still pale and the dark circles hadn't left his eyes.

Two figures emerged from the trees, they towered over the elves and were too bright to be seen clearly. In each of their hands, they carried large spears. Thalion backed away as the approached Legolas, who refused to look up at them.
"He is to be brought before Mandos." They said in unison. "He must be judged."
Thalion turned towards his parents, their eyes reflected his own fear.

The two beings seized Legolas by the arms, he did not struggle as he was taken away.
"What will happen to him?" Thalion demanded once they had left.
"I do not know." His mother's eyes were brimming with tears. "He was already judged once, and he should have been punished for the lives he took while on Arda."
Thalion shuddered. He knew all too well of the crimes his brother had committed.
"Mandos only pardoned him because of the part he played in the battle against Sauron," Thranduil added, his voice grim. "He may not be pardoned again after this..."

For hours they waited, fearing for what Legolas' fate would be. None of them could know for certain how much time had passed before the two beings appeared again.
"Come." They ordered. Thranduil took his wife's hand. After exchanging a quick nod with Thalion they followed the beings out of the forest. Thalion knew where they were going, the doors that led to the Halls of Mandos. A stone path led up the giant doors, and standing just outside of them was Legolas.

His mother broke away and ran towards him, not caring for the earlier warning they had been given.
"Legolas, ion nin what has happened?" She reached out for him but he pulled away, his eyes filled with sorrow.
"Legolas?" Thranduil stood at his wife's side. Thalion joined them. Legolas looked down at his feet.
"I'm being sent back." He murmured.

"What are you talking about?" Thalion demanded.
"I have let my grief take control of me. I have become a danger to all who dwell here. My spirit is being sent back to Arda..."
His mother's hand flew to her mouth, tears filling her eyes. Thranduil pulled her close, staring at Legolas in disbelief. Thalion's hands curled into fists.
"You are not even being given a body? He is just going to doom your soul to wander Arda forever?" He spat.

"I do not know," Legolas' voice caught in his throat. "All I know is that I will be given another chance. When I arrive I will have no memory of who I was, or of those I loved..."
He looked at his family, the first tear fell from his eye. "I'm sorry."
His mother cried out as her son faded away, vanishing before their eyes. Thranduil held her in his arms, staring at the spot where Legolas had just been standing moments before. Thalion couldn't think, he could hardly breathe.

He was gone, his brother had been taken from him again.

/\\//\\/

"I cannot remember what happened after that." Legolas holds the amulet in the palm of his hand. "Everything that I went through before arriving here has vanished, I could not remember even if I wanted to."
I drum my fingers once again on the table, trying to make sense of Legolas' story. He was sent back here, for punishment? Yet this Mandos character claimed that he would be given a chance to start over, what did he mean by that?

"Here's what I don't understand," I say deciding to voice my thoughts aloud instead of keeping them inside of my head, "if Legolas wasn't supposed to remember anything about his past, how was he able to find me? When I first saw him back when he was an elfling he told me that he'd heard a voice telling him to find me. How did that happen?"

My question is directed towards Faervel, yet he seems just as puzzled as I am.
"I cannot explain that. Perhaps it was Mandos, or there was something else at work. Something that wanted Legolas to find you Amarth."
"What about being given another chance?" Darovel asks leaning forward in his chair. "I don't know what it was you did Legolas, and I'm not asking you to tell us, but if his memories were taken away then given back to him how does that work with his punishment?"

It seems that Darovel and I have similar mind sets.
"I cannot be certain," Faervel says, "I did not know Mandos that well and his ways are mysterious, to say the least. Although I may have a theory: Amarth how old would you say Legolas was when he first appeared to you?"
I think back to that night, it seems so long ago since it happened, yet it has only been a couple of months. I remember seeing that young elfling step out of the bushes, scared and alone, completely trusting of me.
"I would say that he was about sixty. Give or take a few years." I say remembering my estimate.

Legolas' face pales slightly, on his chest the amulet glows faintly.
"What's wrong?" Darovel asks.
"That's how old I was..." Legolas whispers.
"What do you mean?"
Legolas shudders and brushes his fingers against the blue stone.
"I was sixty-three when Sauron took me."

No one knows what to make of that, except for me. I never knew how old Legolas was when he was captured, I never knew how young he was when Sauron stole him from his home. He'd only been a child, innocent. I think about Anna; and how she was only a few years younger than he had been when we were taken from our home, where she was forced to work as a slave in a strange land, for cruel men who tortured her.

They were only children when they'd had their lives snatched away from them.

"I believe I know why you returned as a child, Legolas," Faervel says. I'm surprised to see pity in his eyes. He knew about Sauron, did he know what he did to Legolas?
"Why?" Legolas asks.
"Mandos said you would be given another chance, and it was no coincidence that you were the same age that you were when darkness took you. You should never have been captured, it was a terrible thing to have happened. You were sent back to be given a chance to have the life you never had. You would grow up without all of the evil that had ensnared you before but at the price of your memories. You would forget those you loved, in return for a new life. Which could have happened if you had chosen to remain as Ramben. However, Mandos also provided a way for you to reject that new life. He told you to find Amarth since he was the only one who could provide a link to your past. I think it is for that reason you both met in Mirkwood."

I clear my throat (loudly) before voicing a thought of mine. "But how could Legolas have gotten his memories back if Mandos took them away? Doesn't that ruin the punishment? Or was it a second chance? I am really confused on how this all works."

"The amulet has the power to restore memory." Faervel replies. "From what Darovel told me Oroth forced the amulet onto Legolas when he was Ramben, which should never be done. When you force someone to receive their memories against their will it causes them great pain, and in doing so Oroth unknowingly began the process of binding Legolas to the amulet. That is why he was able to wield it and why it continued to give him his memories back. However, Legolas could have chosen at any time to stop the memories from returning. Just as they were brought to him they can be taken away. If he had chosen to stop them he would have remained Ramben, and would have never been able to remember his past life."

"Here's a question," I interrupt again, "why did you let your memories return Legolas? When so far all they've managed to do is harm you? Wouldn't it have been easier to just forget?"
I remember when I chose to forget, to let all of my memories slip away. I had no guilt after that. No shame, no grief, I was free from all of that. After I got them back, things started to go downhill very fast. After everything Legolas has been through I can't believe that he would let his memories return.

I wait for Legolas to answer, and one look at those blue eyes tells me that I'm not going to like what I'm about to hear. Why? Because I've been around long enough to know when bad things are coming, trust me on this it happens all the time.

"I remembered my family," Legolas murmurs, "my friends, the ones I loved. I couldn't lose them again."
Here comes the catch...
"And, there was someone whom I was looking for. Someone very dear to me, who I lost a long time ago. Her spirit did not dwell in the Halls of Mandos, for it was bound to the earth and I did not know. Mandos told me that her spirit was asleep, but if I were to find myself again, she would awaken."

"Who is she?" Darovel asks. My throat suddenly feels dry, I desperately need water. I glance at Legolas but he is not looking at me. I don't even have to follow his gaze to know who he is looking at.
"It's her," he says softly.
Anna's eyes widen, whether in shock or fear I don't know.
"Legolas, I'm sorry but you must be mistaken." She's trying to keep calm, but I can tell that she's afraid. Why though? It's not as if Legolas has done anything to give her a reason to fear him, what is wrong with her?

"If I may Anna," Pallando says stepping in for the first time since this two chapter conversation began, "there is a chance that Legolas is right. For one thing, you are both feäs (which I hope you don't mind if I call you that, it fits rather well since you're not fully elves) and if I recall correctly you only awoke a few days ago. Which is about the same time that Legolas regained his memories. Now if Mandos said that the spirit of the one he loves would awaken when he returned and you are now here, does it not make sense that you could be the one Legolas speaks of?"

"But I have no memory of him!" Anna insists. "I never met Legolas. I was born in our village, taken to Rhun, and then I lived with my brother. Not once did I cross paths with him."
"Legolas," Faervel says gently, "if it isn't too much trouble, how did she die? The one you were searching for?"
Briefly, I go back to yesterday when Legolas told me about Tauriel, he did not handle that well. Legolas must be thinking the same thing because he becomes silent. Finally, he manages to speak. "An orc killed her. He was trying to capture me and bring me to Sauron, she tried to protect me and was slain. She shouldn't have had to give her life for me, I should have been the one to defend her, it was my fault."

I look over at Anna to see how she responds to this. From what I've learned this Tauriel must have really cared about Legolas, and he must have cared about her.
"I'm sorry that she died Legolas," Anna whispers. The corners of my lips turn up slightly, Anna's compassion knows no bounds. Even when a stranger appears and claims that she is an elf from his past, she still cares about them. "But at that same time, it proves that I am not her," Anna continues.

"How?" Legolas asks. He chokes on the word as if he's about to start crying. I have never thought that this elf could cry so much, it only seems to happen whenever he talks about Tauriel.
"She was killed by an orc," Anna looks down at her hands, I can see them shaking. "I- I was killed by men. They beat me to death in front of my brother."

My entire body goes numb.

I remember that day clearly. I remember hearing Anna screams, watching helplessly as those men beat my little sister. I remember carrying her to Mirkwood, placing her carefully under the trees.

I remember taking away her memories.

"Caran? Are you alright?"
She doesn't know that. She doesn't know what I did.
"Amarth?"
The elves found her, they brought her to live with them.
"What's wrong with him? Amarth!"
Legolas met her, they became friends.
She died...

"Amarth!"
I jump in my seat, my hands latching onto the side of the table.
"What happened?" Anna asks grabbing my arm. I look into her eyes, I know the truth now. Anna was the same Tauriel that Legolas knew. There's no denying it. Why am I so upset? Because now I know that my plan to keep my sister safe failed.

I brought her to Mirkwood so she wouldn't be killed. I'd wanted her to have a peaceful life, free from harm and danger. What happened? She learned how to fight, and she was killed.
Who taught her how to fight? And who was the one she gave her life for?

Legolas.

"Excuse me, I need some time alone." Abruptly I stand up, shoving my chair backwards and onto the floor. I ignore the confused looks I'm given and hurry to the safety of my room. I wipe my eyes when I feel tears forming, I will not cry. Not until I know that no one will be able to see me. I finally reach my room, I slam the door closed behind me and let myself sink onto the floor. Then I bury my face into my arms, letting the tears I've been holding back fall.

/\\//\\/

Oroth's POV

"So your plan to kill them failed I see." Oroth could not hide his amusement nor his triumph over Daeris' failure.
"How could I have known that Faervel was going to arrive? Daeris hissed. "That is why I need Duvain, he will restore my power."
"Then let me retrieve him for you," Oroth said. "Give me more power and I will go after him, and I will kill anyone who gets in my way. Including Faervel if my lady wishes for me too."
"Do you truly believe that you could stand against Faervel? If I could not defeat him how could you do it?"
"You know that the old world is fading. Every day more and more people are forgetting about the elder days, they are becoming myths and stories to entertain children. Those who lived during the elder days, those who foolishly refused to fight to keep their memories alive, will fade. That includes Faervel, he rejected the opportunity to become powerful and his power is beginning to weaken. This is our chance to be rid of him for good."

Daeris considered his words. He was right, the old world was fading. Only those who were willing to fight against these changing times would survive. They would never be forgotten because they would make sure that the race of man never forgot them.

She would force every man, woman, and child to bow before her. They would call her Queen and they would fear her name. Forever she would rule over them, their weak minds would be unable to resist her. Yet, she could not do that unless she had Duvain ruling at her side. She needed him to regain her full power, and he would give her enough to last for an eternity.

"Very well Oroth, I will give you all the power I have left, with some to spare for myself. You will bring me Duvain, alive and unharmed. Do not fail me, or else you will pay for it with your life."

Oroth bowed before her, a dark smile on his lips.
"I will not fail you, my Queen."
Daeris spread out her hands, shadows flew out from her fingertips and surrounded Oroth. He roared as her power filled him. The walls of the cavern shook and crumbled, the creatures who watched shrank back in fear of being crushed by falling rocks but could not tear their eyes away from the sight.

The shadows around Oroth faded. He stood hunched over, his breathing labored. The creatures took cautious steps forward, trembling in excitement. Suddenly he rose, his eyes pitch black. His cruel laugh echoed throughout the cavern, his creatures joined in.

"Come my pets, we have work to do."