AN: This is a version of "If There was no Alexander," where Alexander was never there to rescue Mara from the Morlocks. She is captured, and this is my version of what happens to her. (This is a slightly longer repost of chapter one )
pairing: Mara/Morlock Lord
Rated M
Chapter 1
A Damning Choice
The first thing she felt was cold, the feeling of cool stone and of a chilly draft that wafted across her bare skin.
Her eyes opened slowly, fearful of what they would find. Yet, she realized very quickly, she saw little more with her eyes closed than when they were open. It was near pitch-black, the only indication she had that she had not gone completely blind was the soft, faint light coming from what she realized was water. It must lead to the surface, she thought dazedly.
"Very good," a voice behind her congratulated. She gasped in alarm and got to her knees, spinning around in the direction that the voice had come from. She could, unfortunately, still see nothing. The light that the water provided was hardly enough, and deep shadows still loomed ominously around her, no doubt hiding the owner of the voice and who knew what other nightmares.
"W-who are you?" she asked faintly. She realized how feeble her voice sounded, and found herself hating herself for her weakness. The temperature in the darkness seemed to only drop lower as she waited for an answer, but received none.
She could hear the faint yet apparent sound that could be only breathing, and the soft hairs on the back of her neck prickled against the feeling of a pair of invisible eyes watching from the shadows. "I can hear you," she whispered. She asked again, this time her voice unwavering yet still with an unmistakable trace of fear. "Who are you?"
She heard a deep intake of breath. "Who I am," a hoarse, accented voice whispered, "Is of no relevance to you."
"Is that so?" Mara asked challengingly. She clutched her arms against herself tightly, her body betraying her terror. "Will you not show yourself to me?"
There was a click of boot heels against stone as the voice complied with her wishes, a figure emerging from the shadows enough that she could make out their faint outline. They slowly stepped closer, as if unsure of whether or not to proceed.
She could now see the pale skin and white, long, flowing hair of her watcher, his silvery eyes watching her with an expression that seemed entirely foreign to her. He wore adorned upon his chest what Mara realized with sick disgust were carefully woven together bones, connected with straps of dark material that stood out harshly against his white skin. His black boots with metal links could be seen underneath a skirt of the same material holding together his morbid shirt. A part of her could not help but find him strangely beautiful. In a way, he almost seemed familar-as if she had seen him before. That was impossible though, she knew.
A long silence seemed to follow as she could do nothing but stare at him. It was broken as he slid the sole of his boot across the stone, creating enough noise to snap Mara out of her reverie. "I have a duty," he said finally, "One that you, would no doubt fail to understand. However, under the…given circumstances, I am willing to…give you a choice." His voice sounded strained, as if he were unused to stringing together such a long sentence of words in such a short amount of time.
There was a shuffling of feet from the shadows and a second figure emerged, this one more than familiar to her. Mara blanched as she saw the Hunter Morlock lumber up beside the eerie albino. She realized who the man before her had to be, and it chilled her to her core.
His silver eyes gleamed in the faint light and he said, "You are now no doubt aware of where you are…and I can see as well that you have realized what you know is to become of you."
Mara shook her head in denial and horror, yet knew as well that what he said was true. She would not be killed, she knew. She was far too pretty, far too young for that. She doubled over, almost retching as she gasped for air, the Hunter approaching her with swift precision and grasping her under both arms as it heaved her roughly to her feet. She swayed slightly from side to side as she found herself face to face with the cold eyes of the Morlock Lord. His eyes showed no mercy, no compassion.
He raised a white, clawed hand to her face and gently caressed it, but there was no warmth in the action. His gaze traveled down her body, and Mara felt sickened.
"No no no no no…" Mara whispered in horror. Her vision swam, and the Morlock Lord's face faded from her view, leaving only a darkness far blacker than any in the place where she knew she would now live out the rest of her tortured, miserable existence.
When she finally drifted back into consciousness her first realization was that she was no longer lying on cold stone floor. Instead she felt the scratchy yet softer feeling of woven fabric. She groaned, more afraid than before to open her eyes. Curiosity and the desire to know where she was overpowered her fear and she opened her eyes cautiously. She nearly screamed as she saw the face of the Morlock lord looming over her.
"You're awake," he said flatly, stating the obvious. "I would greatly appreciate if you would refrain from repeating your earlier actions and listen to my...most generous offer."
Mara was barely able to take in what he said, her head still swimming. She was still in shock from everything that was happening. She managed a weak nod, though, and the Morlock lord seemed satisfied.
"Good. Now, as to my offer…you have realized the extent of your situation," he licked his lips, examining her coldly. "Upon normal circumstances, you, being a female of your kind, would be given to the hunters to be used to their…satisfaction." Upon him saying this Mara shuddered. He seemed to either not notice her discomfort or not care, because he continued on, looking unfazed. "However, it came to my notice some time ago that you are abnormally intelligent for one of your species. You are the only mature Eloi who actually is able to remember Lex. I thought that quite strange. Most of your species start out with an acceptable amount of memory, but as you reach maturity, it fades, leaving you able to understand little... I have noticed many times the frustration that you have toward others of your kind. You've noticed as well, haven't you?" He leaned closer to her, and whispered, "You've seen it. You've witnessed their stupidity, their refusal to listen to reason, and in return for your attempts at teaching them logic, they laugh in your face, calling you immature and ignorant in the ways of the world, when in reality, they are the ones who are stupid, who know nothing."
For a moment, Mara saw a firey rage burning inside the Morlock Lord's inhuman eyes, but as quickly as it had appeared it vanished, replaced once more with a detached, uncaring look, making her wonder if she had seen it at all. He breathed deeply, and it seemed that saying so much at once tired him.
"Seeing how very...unique you are," he said slowly, "I thought it would be most infertile to let such intelligence go to waste. This is where my offer to you comes in." He took a deep breath. "My species has lived underground for near a millennia, and, as you are no doubt aware, we are highly susceptible to sunlight. Your kind, however, has no such problems in that respect..." his voice trailed off for a mmoment, then once again became strong. "Your kind has been hunted by my own in the past out of necessity, but now, however, it is no longer entirely necessary. Other forms of prey have returned here, and many of my kind have deemed it unneccesary to hunt you any longer. With that idea comes another that has been considered many times.
" In recent years many of my caste have considered interbreeding with your own to heighten the likelihood of our continued survival and give us the advantage of moving in…daylight hours.
Mara thought that she could see where the Morlcok Lord was going, and she her stomach tighten in apprehension of what he was going to say. "Seeing as I have no mate of my own kind, and as you are of high enough intelligence that the loss would not be too significant…I am giving you the choice of….being my mate." He raised a hairless eyebrow at her, obviously expecting an answer. "You may, of course, deny me, and be given to the hunters, but I doubt that you would last very long. They also have the bad habit of... playing with their food."
Mara swallowed hard. Not much of a choice at all.
The Morlock Lord's silver eyes were burning into her own dark brown ones with an unbearable intensity, and she could only return their stare, knowing what her answer would be. She wished with all her heart that she could have been back at the village, in the sunlight, where everything was warm and familiar, away from this place of cold nightmares and darkness.
AN: Pleaaase review? Pretty please?
