Untamable

by

Draco's Daughter

Disclaimer: Don't own much, wish I owned more.

A/N: Thanks for all your reviews and for patiently awaiting this chapter.

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Part Three: Of Ankhs and Mortals

I was dreaming, nightmares had claimed me and held me fast. The sues had captured me once again, the cold ring of iron encircled my neck for the second time and my hands were tied behind my back. My chain was held by the winged sue from the previous day.

"It was a foolish hope to believe you escaped us," she said. "Ashley could never have protected you. You belong to us."

"No, I belong to myself," I hissed, defiant. I struggled against the bonds that held me. The sue laughed, a cruel and malicious sound that chilled the bones and froze the blood. A chalice was pressed to my lips by unseen hands, canon suckers contained within. Their tentacles felt at my lips, trying to force their way into my mouth. I clenched my teeth in attempt to dissuade them but their efforts increased and paid off. Their foul taste and slimy texture invaded my mouth and started forcing their way down my throat.

At that moment I awoke. Rolling off my bed, I emptied the contents of my stomach onto the floor. It was just a dream, but the taste of canon sucker lingered. Sweat covered my body as I sat by the bed, my breath coming in short pants as I tried to drive the images from my mind. The alarum I had been given went off on by bedside table. Carefully avoiding the mess I had created, I reached for the bottle of pills I had been given. Placing one in my mouth, I swallowed. I then crossed to my window; the pale light of dawn was creeping over the horizon. The dream had disturbed me. The ankh Ashley had given me hung about my neck, I took hold of it, brushing my thumb along the metal. I needed to see someone, anyone. I needed to talk to Ashley. Despite the strange things she was prone to do, Ashley was the most "normal" person here and the only one I felt like I could trust.

I let several hours pass before trying to find Ashley's quarters. Passing attendants pointed me to the heart of the fortress. The door was carved with intricate symbols. Dragons danced with phoenixes and abstract symbols took up the remaining space. These chambers were obviously intended for the ruler of the fortress. I knocked sharply on the doors.

"Come in," Ashley's voice came from within. I pushed the door opened and entered. Shutting the door behind me, I was in a short hallway that spilled into a sitting area/ office. Ashley's chambers were cluttered with stacks of papers and filled to the brim with items from an array of places. Some I thought I recognized, others I did not. Ashley sat at a desk made of a dark wood, papers cluttering it as well. Her feet were propped up on the desk. She was still dressed in loose pajama pants and what the sues called a spaghetti-strap tank top. She was reading a book.

"Good morning," I greeted, stepping in front of her desk. Ashley looked up and gave me a warm smile, pushing her glasses up for they had slipped low on her nose.

"The same to you," she replied, sitting right, setting her book on the desk, and scooting her chair in. She clasped her hands and set them before her on her desk. "What can I do for you, your highness?"

"Nightmares plagued me last night and the floor needs a scrub," I said. Ashley listened as I explained in detail exactly what happened in my dream and afterwards. Ashley listened and nodded at appropriate times.

"It is to be expected these dreams. Many of the Sentients have them for the first few weeks, if not longer. As time goes by, they'll lessen and be replaced by normal ones, good ones. There's really nothing you or I can do," Ashley explained. I nodded, understanding. "It something we call Post Imprisonment by Sue Syndrome. Kind of like Post Traumatic Stress Syndrome. Some recover, some don't. It all depends on the strength of the character's will. You, I have no worries about. You have a strength I haven't encountered before, Legolas. You'll thrive well here, don't worry."

"Yes, yes, he'll have the happiness to know he'll never end up like us," A sly voice stated from somewhere behind me. I turned around and looked to see a strange blue man floating in a tank of water built into one of the walls of Ashley's chambers. Gills on either side of his neck pulsated as he breathed the water, deep blue stripes covered his body, and a sinister look was in his black eyes. It was the look of someone who was intelligent but also quite insane.

"Be quiet, you do not have permission to speak," Ashley retorted. The blue man smiled an evil smile.

"Who is your new friend, Ashley?" He asked.

"Abe, this is Prince Legolas," Ashley replied, trying to keep calm. She stood and walked over to me. "He's from the Hellboy fandom. He's faced enough Sues to make him crazy but not totally insane. Abe's what we call a "Halfway." He's neither a Sentient nor an Insane."

"That's what she wants you to think. You might not know, maybe this is what we were truly meant to be," Abe stated. Ashley shot him a look. He grinned darkly and swam out of sight.

"I keep Abe close. He's dangerous in his current state. He's insane in the worst way possible. He retains some of his true characterization but he's still not normal. We have to keep him fairly medicated in order to keep him here. But, he's beginning to catch on. Abe can read minds. He can do it in such a way that you don't know that he'd doing it. We have to keep our minds fairly clear and hidden from him. If he ever got out, I fear he'd do something very drastic," Ashley explained. As I took in the information, I looked around the room. It was spacious with bookcases full of books on the walls. Ashley smiled at my curiosity about the room. "We call this the "King's Room." I don't know who or what owned and ruled this fortress before but it was empty when we arrived. I established it as a hospital for injured warriors of the Sue Wars, PPC and the like, but when those groups lost I reestablished it as The Canon Psychiatric Hospital." She was interrupted by the activation of a small orb on her desk.

"Miss Ashley?" A voice asked.

"Yes, I'm here," Ashley replied.

"Silver's returned, she's waiting outside your chambers to report to you," the voice replied.

"Thank you. Sorry, Legolas, I'm afraid we'll have to cut our little chat short. I'll have a maid sent to your room to clean up. If you head to the cafeteria, I'm sure you can find Puck and Clopin as well as breakfast," Ashley said, smiling at me as she escorted me to the door.

"Thank you, Miss Ashley, for your time," I replied. Ashley opened the door, ushering me out while ushering in a woman dressed in a black, leather body suit with silver hair. I recognized her as the woman who rescued me from the sues. I watched as she entered and Ashley shut the door, making a shooing motion at me with her hand. I shook my head, heading towards a member of the staff, preparing to ask directions to the cafeteria.

The cafeteria lay at the back of the fortress, well protected against attack. I was told that if an emergency ever arose, this was where we would all assemble. It was a large room, able to accommodate the staff and patients of the hospital. Puck and Clopin were sitting at a table with a face I recognized, Haldir. Puck saw me and waved me over. Clopin pointed to the empty seat next to him, indicating were I should sit.

"You hungry?" Puck asked as I sat.

"Slightly," I replied, smiling at them. Haldir looked jumpy, he kept looking around the room, as if a sue could jump out of the walls at any time. Puck took up several apples off his plate and started juggling them. Once he got them going, he took his hands away. Instead of falling, they started juggling themselves.

"Which one to eat first, they all look quite tasty," Puck mused, watching the apples intently.

"This one," Clopin said, taking one of the apples and biting into it before Puck realized what he did.

"Hey!" The fey called. Clopin smiled as he happily ate his stolen prize. I chuckled as Haldir gave a nervous laugh.

"Prince Legolas, you're normal?" Haldir asked, turning to me. I noticed he looked very thin. Of course, I couldn't say much about that. I was thin too, which meant I had no reason to judge.

"About as normal as I can be, Haldir," I replied, taking some of the toast set in the middle of our table as well as an apple. "How are you doing?"

"Much better," He said, chipper. Then his demeanor changed, his expression darkened. "No, I'm not fine. I'll never be fine again!" He then switched back to being chipper. "Nonsense! You're just saying that because you're pessimistic!" Again, he shifted to the darker persona. "Oh, and your outlook is sooooo much better!"

"RAI!" Clopin called, a man came over to the table, noticing Haldir.

"Come on, Dark and Light Haldirs, let's go see the Healer," the man said, ushering Haldir out of the cafeteria. Haldir could be heard arguing with himself the whole way out.

"He's suffering from MPD. Multiple Personality Disorder," Clopin explained. At my confused expression he offered a more thorough explanation. "Basically, there's more than one "version" of Haldir. You met what the Healer and other staff refer to as the "Dark" Haldir: a very pessimistic individual, and the "Light" Haldir: a very optimistic, chipper individual. There are several other versions as well but it's being taken care of." I sat in silence, eating. My eyes roamed over the room, settling on various individuals. The insane sat at designated tables; with caregivers stationed to make sure they ate and behaved. Halfways and Sentients were scattered around, sitting in groups with roaming nurses to make sure they didn't harm themselves or others. Noise invaded my ears from their tables.

"So, what group are we performing for today, Clopin?" Puck asked, turning to his partner. Clopin pulled a piece of parchment out of his tunic, reading.

"We are to perform for the Harry Potter ward today. I think the conjuror routine would be appropriate," Clopin replied. Puck nodded. "Would you like to help, Legolas?" I perked up at the mention of my name; I had been paying attention to the room around me rather than their conversation.

"What exactly would I be doing?" I asked.

"Oh, just acting as a plant in the crowd. Ashley usually comes and helps out. The Insanities may have SOME of their minds left but they usually choose not to volunteer for the acts until someone else does first," Clopin explained. At the mention of Ashley's name, I remembered the Silver-haired woman.

"What do you two know about someone named "Silver" who works for Ashley?" I asked.

"The one with the black body suit?" Clopin asked, giving Puck a glance.

"And the Yellow eyes?" Puck added.

"And the silver hair?" They said in unison.

"Yes, she was going in to see Ashley as I was coming out," I replied. Clopin wet his lips while Puck busied himself with taking a bite from one of his apples. I looked from one to the other, wondering why they were so hushed all of the sudden. "Well? What do you know?"

"Silver, or Silver Shadow as her full name goes, is one of the few Mary Sues allowed here in the Hospital," Clopin said.

"She's a known "Sauron Sue." As in a child of the Dark Lord Sauron from your realm," Puck added. "Very dangerous, remorseless, and generally baaaaad news. I don't like being around her, her eyes give me the shivers. Remind me too much of the Gargoyle Sues I faced in my fandom."

"Silver's a field agent you see, she doesn't spend much time here at the Hospital. It's mostly for our safety, of course. She rescues canon characters imprisoned in the LOTR realm," Clopin finished. I nodded as I bit into my own apple, thinking. So Silver was the one who saved me from the Sues. I needed to find a way to thank her. I owed her a large debt, I didn't like being in debt to people, especially Sues now that I knew she was one.

"If you're going to help, then come on, we need an extra pair of hands to help with the stuff for the routine," Puck said, rising from his seat. He rose into the air and tugged at my arm before zooming off. Clopin waited for me as I got up from my seat, taking my unfinished apple with me. We exited, following the swift Puck outside to Clopin's wagon. The flighty fey and King of the Gypsies went inside and I heard the tell-tale sounds of items being shifted. Several boxes were tossed to me, I caught them and placed them on the ground as more items came hurling at me. After a few moments, Puck and Clopin came back out, took some of the items while I grabbed the rest, and we headed back inside. This was going to be an experience I wouldn't forget.

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I had heard things about the Harry Potter Realm from the Sues, mostly in passing. They thought our two realms could be "crossed over," whatever that meant. I understood their people were "wizards" but not Istari, which confused me to no end. Then again, the Sues did not understand what I said when I asked if these wizards were Istari, which did not surprise me. At first, I was shocked at how little they really knew of my home realm, Middle-earth, but as time went by, I came to expect their ignorance and was surprised when they actually knew something.

Meeting the characters the Sues talked about was an entirely different thing than hearing about them. I suppose that it wasn't helped by the condition many were in. Being a Sentient among Insanities was enough to make one become an Insanity. You saw all the hurt around you, the fragile conditions of their minds and bodies and couldn't help but wonder why you were normal and they were not. But, taking one look at Puck and Clopin made you forget your troubles for a moment. They were both so lively and I doubted that they had even come from Sue-infested fandoms thanks to the way they acted.

The ward had been set up with an area cleared to serve as a stage and chairs lined up for their audience. I aided in setting up before taking a seat and settling in. The healers brought the canon characters in and the show began. As a fey, Puck had quite the talent for magic spells and illusions. Clopin also knew a trick or two concerning stage magic. I was impressed thoroughly with their skill.

"They're the best I've ever seen," was Ashley's quiet comment next to me. I jumped slightly, having been so absorbed in Puck and Clopin's act that I hadn't noticed her slip into the seat next to mine. Her eyes showed mirth along with her smile as she watched the pair perform.

"When did they decide to team up to do this?" I asked, curious.

"About six months ago, when Clopin felt up to it. The poor man had just been rescued several weeks before. I don't do the story justice, however, you should ask him to tell you," She replied.

"You don't think he won't want to talk about it?"

"He will, telling the tale eases the burden of having lived it." Ashley smiled at me as she turned back to watch the finish of the show. Clopin and Puck finished up their act and bowed deeply, receiving full-hearted claps from the nurses, Ashley, and myself as well as the automatic slow clapping of the alert Insanities. As the nurses lead the Insanities back to their individual rooms, Ashley and I began to help Clopin and Puck clean up.

"Another glorious performance, don't you agree mon cher?" Clopin asked Puck, beginning to take down one of the larger pieces with my help. Ashley was picking up the items Puck had tossed around, placing them inside one of the empty bins Puck had retrieved. He was levitating the rest over to the stage, eyes glowing with power.

"Not bad for a day's work. How's Silver's mission going Miss Ashley?" Puck inquired. I knew he was asking for me, since I was the one curious about Silver. Ashley didn't look up as she continued her work.

"Silver is being kept busy in the LOTR fandom, that is all you need to know," Ashley replied curtly, her tone said that we should drop the subject. Puck did, continuing with his work. "Need any help getting this outside?"

"I think we have it covered with Legolas for help," Clopin said. "Merci, milady, will you be joining us for lunch?"

"No, I've still got some things to do. Something's stirring in the Final Fantasy Fandom, some agents need to be reassigned to help put it down. The Bishie Squad put a request for help in some time ago, I need to get to that now that the POTC fandom has cooled down a little," Ashley replied, taking off her glasses and pinching the bridge of her nose.

"Ah, so there is no good word on Monsieur Turner then?" Clopin asked. Ashley shook her head. I looked from Clopin to Ashley, seeking an answer that was not to be found. I suppose this Turner person was in the same situation I had been in and was in the process of being rescued. "Well then, bon chance, Miss Ashley, we will entertain ourselves as best we can."

"Thanks. See you three later, don't cause trouble!" She said as she waved and exited the ward. We carried the boxes back to Clopin's wagon in the courtyard before heading to the cafeteria once again for the midday meal.

After lunch, Clopin, Puck, and I exited back out into the courtyard.

"It's sad that Ashley's has to both run the hospital as well as taking over some of the things the PPC used to do," Puck stated. He was seated in Clopin's lap once again, curled up against the man's chest like a cat. I sat in the branches above their heads, listening to their conversation.

"The PPC haven't been able to do much now that the Sues have taken over completely, Ashley and her agents are some of the last in our line of defense. She leads a guerrilla war against them, a kind of war the PPC were not ready to fight. What are your thoughts Legolas?" Clopin inquired, his face turned up towards me. I sighed heavily, here only a day I had little time to diverge information about anyone. Ashley, despite her good nature, still did not have my complete trust. I wanted to trust her, but I didn't want to put my trust in someone who would betray me.

"I honestly don't know what to think, Clopin. Ashley seems to be good, but I have my doubts if she is willing to work with a sue like Silver Shadow. I am interested as to how they know each other. Did Ashley create some of the Sues out there that invaded the fandoms? Could she be behind the Sue wars in order to get all of us in one place? I don't know," I replied. My reply got Puck to shoot up in order to meet me eye to eye.

"Never say that again! Ashley may consort with a sue, yes, but she is NOT a suethor! Indeed, you do not know," He hissed.

"Puck! Please do not make an enemy of our new companion," Clopin shouted at the being. Puck slowly floated down to the ground, giving me a harsh look. "Legolas, please come down here. It is time you hear our story, for they are intertwined..."

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A/N: Again, I apologize for taking so long! Hope this was up to standard.

Coming Soon: Part Four: Clopin's Tale

Reviewer Love:

Daisy Yellow: There isn't an Ankh painted on the building, but there is an Ankh on the carving set into the walls surrounding the building. Besides, an Ankh alone isn't enough, it's also the emotional strength behind the person wearing it that keeps the Sues away.

Avalon's Mists: Violence is so unbecoming. Besides, Ashley doesn't do that fighting thing, she let's Silver handle it. n.n

The-Spirit-of-a-Child: Well, the thing about most of the "sue hating" fics is that they're written from an outsider's point of view (i.e. The PPC aren't really part of the worlds they visit, they are visitors) I wanted to try something I hadn't really seen done before.

Ogreatrandom: Thank you, I hope this update finds you in good health... even though it's been forever!

Cary Harrison: Thank you, thank you. I'm not really sure were it's going myself but I'm hoping to end up in a happy place.

Yemi Hikari: Happy to bring back memories with my "cameos," if things keep going in the way they are, we'll be seeing a lot of Puck and Clopin.

Calciber: I think that most of the fangirls who write about Legolas go mostly by the movie and are, therefore, more in love with Orlando Bloom than Legolas. I like Legolas as a character, he's full of intelligence and wit, not just a pretty face, especially in the books. I've tried to portray him as faithfully as I could. I'm hoping that the only sues that pop up in this fic are the intentional ones (Silver and the like).

I think that's everyone... tata my duckies! Off to work on the next chapter!