Disclaimers: Only the unknown characters are mine! This is the final chapter! Sorry it took so long, I had problems with my muse! Elvish speech is in ''. I am not writing a sequel to this. Sorry this ending sucks so bad…

The Secret

Part 13

The room was mostly a soft white, with ivy wrapped around white pillars. The floor, however, was baby blue, and there were containers of rare and beautiful flowers across the room, leading down towards two alters, which were white, with a light, silvery cloth over them.

Falcon said, 'We must go to the alters, to retrieve them.' His hand searched for either Aragorn's or Legolas', to lead him down to where it stood, bathed in a mysterious, soft light.

Aragorn took the blind Elf's hand and led him towards the alters, closely followed by Legolas, who kept his eyes and ears open, in case anyone tried to interfere. When they drew closer, Legolas and Aragorn saw that there was a cloth covering whatever was on one of the alters. A slightly puzzled look appeared in Legolas' emerald eyes, and he reached for the cloth curiously.

'No!' Falcon cried urgently, as if he sensed what his twin had been about to do. 'Tis an evil thing; a seeing stone of power. What it's rightful name is, I do not know, and neither do my people. It was found a very long time ago, ere I ever set foot on Middle Earth.'

Legolas frowned thoughtfully. 'A seeing stone? How could it be dangerous?'

'It whispers words of evil in the mind of my people,' Falcon replied softly. 'It should be destroyed, but the Elders are fearful of what might happen if it is.'

'It does sound dangerous,' Aragorn murmured. 'What is it we are looking for?'

Falcon sighed. 'That is one of the two items that must be removed. The other should be on the second alter, in the middle of it.'

Legolas and Aragorn walked over to the other alter, and peered down at it.

A single, crystal shard lay there, flashing with a trapped light, a hidden fire. The shard was beautiful to behold, the color of quartz, but the light flashing inside it was strong, barely contained within the crystal.

'Tis only a crystal?' Legolas questioned. 'How can this be dangerous?'

'This crystal is my Immortality, Legolas, and it potentially has the power to destroy all life on Middle Earth, if it falls into the wrong hands.' Falcon had felt his way over to the crystal, and gingerly took it in his hands, cradling it. The smooth shard was warm to him, as always, though to any who were not the Lord or a very close relative, it would be a freezing, ice-cold crystal. 'Learn to look beyond the surface of what is, my brother, and see its true nature.'

Legolas focused on the crystal again, trying to do as Falcon said. For an instant, he saw a strange flicker of energy around the shard, as it pulsed in his twin's hand. The light nearly blinded him and he blinked, seeing colored spots in front of him, before he shook his head.

"Hand it over," a voice from the doorway snarled.

Aragorn instantly turned towards the doorway, along with Legolas. Falcon stood there silently, holding the shard between his hands protectively.

"We will not," Legolas said firmly. "Leave this place and return from whence you came!"

Rwaltur sneered, "They won't leave with the shard." She stood next to a group of evil Men, whose eyes were fixed on the crystal shard.

"Traitor," Falcon softly said, recognizing the voice he heard.

"Maybe I am a traitor, but you and that little whore betrayed me first!" she cried.

Aragorn snapped, "Don't call Melody a whore, for I know for a fact that she never tried to break into someone's room uninvited and try to seduce them."

A crimson flush appeared on Rwaltur's face at those words. "Well, if he would just have listened to me in the first place…"

Falcon murmured, "You told them where to find me, didn't you, when I left here to go find her?"

"So what if I did?" Rwaltur finally said. "I loved you and all you wanted was her!"

Legolas interjected, "If you loved him, you would not have betrayed my brother and basically handed him over to be tortured… and worse."

Rwaltur smirked. "It matters not. Both you and your… friend will die, he will marry me, and the shard will be used to destroy Middle Earth."

"Are you crazy?" Aragorn shouted, incredulous. "You would destroy everything just to force him to marry you?"

"I would…" she breathed. "Get the shard!"

Falcon felt a brief spasm of sorrow overcome him, for the knowledge that one of his own people had been a traitor was stunning to him. However, he could not grieve very long, when the Men began moving.

Legolas and Aragorn held back as many of them as they could, but they could not keep them all at bay. Both parried sword blows and slices at their arms, as they fought to kill, knowing that there was no other way. They fought to protect themselves and the blind Elf, who was being surrounded.

Rwaltur laughed. "Get it!"

One of the Men attempted to grab the shard, but was prevented from touching it by a strange, sizzling light that flared around both crystal and Elf. All eyes turned to the shining, silvery light.

Falcon held the relatively small crystal, channeling its power, as only he best could. Light shot out of the crystal, while he used its brilliance to help him hear and feel when the Men approached him. The bolts of light knocked the Men backwards, and the silvery radiance extended even more around him.

Legolas cried, 'Look out!' when an arrow was fired directly at his blind brother, who did not see it. He was too far away to help when…

Aragorn dove in front of the arrow.

Falcon was knocked to the ground, under Aragorn, and the arrow was embedded into the half Elf's chest, near his heart and lungs.

'Aragorn!' Falcon desperately tried to assess the damage that was done to his friend, who had just saved his life, while still holding the crystal in one hand. He felt the blood dripping on to him, and knew that it was not his; he was not even hurt.

'Falcon! Aragorn!' Legolas slashed, sliced, ducked, and dodged his way over to the two. 'Aragorn…he's… dying…' Legolas sobbed, when he saw the arrow, after lifting him off of his brother.

Rwaltur smirked and laughed cruelly.

Falcon said, 'Legolas, take the crystal while I see to Aragorn.' The blind Elf was not going to let him die, not when he had the power to save him. The familiar question came to him- 'Would you give up everything?' The question had been plaguing him since his blindness, since all of this had happened.

Yes, I would, Falcon thought, as he began whispering the spell, which could have cured his eyes. Though it started off small, it quickly grew more potent, and energy coursed around the room, surrounding everyone.

Legolas took the shard and held it, surprised at the faint, warm tingle he felt from it. He pointed it towards the evil Men, and a thin, silvery beam of light shone out of it, striking them all unconscious, as the light flickered from one Man to the next. Rwaltur, too, was knocked unconscious.

Falcon glowed even more, as the test came- if he was pure, the spell would allow him to save Aragorn's life. If he was not… all would be lost. Not just Aragorn's life, but also his own.

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Rivendell, sometime later

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Legolas walked towards Rivendell, leading the horse silently. He paid no attention to the Elves he knew were watching him, heading directly for the Elven city. A pouch hung from the side of the horse.

Inside of Rivendell, Melody made a face at Elrond when he told her to go rest.

'I'm better now!' she protested, as she sat in a chair, watching both Daisy and Danius. The two children were playing a game with some sticks, a mock sword-fight.

Danius was doing better than Daisy, though she was more swift than him. The sticks struck together, before they circled each other around.

Thranduil laughed when Daisy managed to trip Danius, before she helped him, giggling. Her giggles died, however, when she thought of her daddy.

'Want da-da…' Daisy sniffed.

Danius nodded solemnly. 'Want Legolas and Daddy.'

Both went over to Melody for a hug, and she winced slightly as she lifted them onto her lap. 'They'll be back soon, sweet ones, I promise…'

'Very soon, I'd say,' Legolas said. He laughed as he entered the room, with Aragorn right behind him. Both Falcon and Aragorn had collapsed into sleep right after Legolas' younger brother had succeeded in healing Aragorn.

The blind Elf followed behind Aragorn silently, and stood there.

'You're all back!!!' Melody cried happily. Daisy ran over to her daddy, and Danius went to his fathers.

Aragorn and Legolas lifted the boy together into the air, after Legolas put the pouch he held on a table, and Danius giggled, before planting a wet kiss on both of their cheeks.

'Miss you!' Danius prattled.

Aragorn said, 'We missed you too, son.' Legolas simply smiled and hugged both of them.

Falcon knelt down and carefully felt for his daughter, who frowned in confusion.

'What's wrong, da-da?' Daisy asked. She didn't understand why her father winced, or why he wasn't holding her.

'I… I cannot see, my daughter,' he answered slowly, causing several gasps in the room.

Elrond and Thranduil stood instantly and walked over to where the younger Elf knelt on the floor. They, too, knelt and peered into the vacant, unseeing eyes that could not focus on anything at all.

Melody jumped to her feet and ran over. 'My poor darling…' she whispered, sitting beside him. Her smaller hand took one of his larger ones, and pressed it close to her face. 'What happened?' she questioned.

Legolas quietly told the story, leaving out the beatings so as not to upset the children.

'Indeed,' Elrond said.

A familiar voice asked, 'Am I too late for the happy reunion?' Gandalf the Grey entered the room, wearing his grey hat and carrying his wooden staff.

Falcon finally found Daisy and stroked her soft hair, reassuring her.

'Mithrandir!' Aragorn and Legolas said as one.

Melody assisted the one she loved to stand, and took Daisy in her own arms carefully, before leading them over to an empty chair. Thranduil and Elrond stood and looked at the Istari.

'Ah, Legolas 'Green Leaf' and Aragorn,' Gandalf said. 'It's been a while since I last saw you. What was it- a few months ago?'

They nodded, and Legolas rested Danius against his hip, holding him tightly.

Falcon murmured, 'The stone, Legolas… The seeing stone…' The flashing shard was in one of his pockets for safekeeping, but he would soon have a chain put on it to wear it around his neck.

'Yes,' Legolas said. He looked at Mithrandir. 'My brother brought something from his home here, for he was hoping that one of you might know what it is.' He gestured to the velvet pouch.

Gandalf walked over to it and reached towards it. When his fingers came into contact with whatever was inside of the pouch, a giant eye, flamed in red, appeared. The Istari instantly took his hand away and looked at Falcon. 'Where did you get one of the lost seeing stones from?' His voice was unusually sharp.

'Twas found before I was born, so I do not know from whence it came. However, it brought evil into my home, as Rwaltur proved, I think. I do not know what should be done with it.' The blind Elf could not see Gandalf to look at him, and the Istari walked over, frowning.

'There is a spell on you, young one?' Gandalf looked directly at Legolas' younger brother and frowned again. 'A particularly powerful one, which is helping to hinder your sight.'

Falcon frowned as well. 'I should have sensed any spells on me.'

Gandalf murmured, 'Who did this?'

'The only spell-caster I met was the one who traveled with the Men who captured me,' Falcon answered. 'I never learned his name, but he did use a bunch of spells against me.'

Melody was angry at the thought of anyone hurting Falcon, for he was brave, yes, but he was also gentle. Unlike her, he hadn't known that some Men were cruel, until…

'I can try to remove it,' the Istari offered.

'Please,' he said earnestly.

Legolas and Aragorn watched with Danius, as did Elrond and Thranduil, and Daisy and Melody, as Gandalf began to murmur a spell, his hand over the cataracts in Falcon's eyes.

A bright light flashed for a few moments, before the hand was removed.

Falcon's eyes were closed, and he slowly, fearfully, opened them.

'Well?' Melody asked quietly, afraid…

In response, the blond Elf kissed her sweetly, before embracing her hard. His glinting silver eyes flashed briefly towards his brother and Aragorn, relief and amusement in them.

'Now, you must behave with propriety,' Thranduil scolded. 'Marriage first, son.'

Legolas froze, as did nearly everyone else. They were relieved at his words.

'Yes, Father,' Falcon muttered. 'And since you want to see me married, you will, no doubt, pay for the ceremony?' He grinned at the look on the Elven king's face.

Melody wrapped her arms around him, laughing, which was echoed by the others.

'Children,' Thranduil muttered.

Elrond looked highly amused. It looked like he had won this game, and as for the lost seeing stone… Part of him considered throwing it into the Anduin. The Elven lord absentmindedly rubbed his finger, where Vilya rested, laying dormant. Even from here, Elrond could feel the evil radiating from the lost seeing stone.

The End