Mirajane III

When Mirajane woke up, her head was still spinning. Looking around didn't help her orientation. She was in a room made out of shining black stone. Statues of armed figures lined the walls. Mira was lying in a bed with steel colored sheets, and a canopy of the same color. The softness of the bed was off-putting compared to the rest of the room.

Mira pulled herself out of the bed, and when she did, she noticed that her clothes had been changed. She was now wearing a long, black split dress with black shoes. She was thoroughly disturbed by the notion that some of these elves had undressed her.

Noticing a balcony, Mira checked to see if this was a possible escape route, only to realize that the place was caged in. The balcony itself gave Mira a vast view of the city, as well as a good position to hear the sounds of torment and slavery, which made the Fairy Tail mage feel nauseous.

"Ah, you are awake." Mirajane whirled around to see Malekith coming through the door. He was still dressed in his armor with his cape. At his hip was his sword. Immediately, Mira took her battle stance.

"Don't bother," the king said, waving his hand dismissively, and gesturing to his sword, "Destroyer can nullify any form of magic, even an unknown form like yours." Mirajane started taking further steps back. Those bars on the balcony would probably break if they met her Satan Soul…

"You could try and escape," Malekith said, "But where would you go?"

"I…"

"You are clearly not familiar with this nation, and Naggaroth is naught but ice and waste. You would freeze, or be eaten by hydras."

"What do you want from me?" Mira asked, "Are you going to kill me?"

"What would that accomplish?" Malekith asked, spreading his arms, "A woman of your capability deserves far better."

"So you are going to torture me?"

"Many in my court are arguing for that exactly. But I think you may have a use yet."

"Will you just get to the point, already?" Mirajane demanded, not breaking her battle stance.

"I told them that I am taking you as my personal slave," Malekith explained, "But I would much rather take you as a willing servant."

"Why would I ever serve you?" Mirajane demanded. Malekith just chuckled as he folded his arms behind his back, as he strolled up to one of the statues.

"Do you know who this is?" he asked.

"I couldn't care less."

"His name was Kalsius," Malekith explained, "He was a general in my personal army. In return for his loyalty, he was given gifts. But he became greedy, and started demanding more gifts. Soon his demands became too excessive." He didn't need to explain anymore, since Mira was certainly able to figure out the end.

"Is there a point to this story?" Mirajane asked.

"The point is I can give gifts in exchange for service," Malekith said.

"What could you possibly give me?"

"Forgive me, but remind me of your goal in coming to Naggarond."

"I seek to free the people you keep in chains," Mirajane said firmly, "Slavery is an abomination."

"Well then, for every day you serve me, I will release ten slaves." That caught Mira off guard, and after hearing it a second time, she narrowed her eyes.

"How do I know you're telling the truth?" she asked.

"I swear in the name of my father, the great Aenarion," Malekith said, "If my word is broken, then let the gods lay punishment upon me." Mira wasn't sure how sincere that was, but it seemed sincere, and though it probably wasn't, it was the best she could maybe hope for.

"Very well," Mirajane said, "I will serve you, but I won't kneel, and give you an oath of loyalty."

"I would be disappointed if you did," Malekith said with a voice that sounded so kind, that Mira knew it couldn't possibly be that.

"I shall give you a chance to rest," he said with a respectful nod, "I hope you are comfortable."

"Yes, I'm completely comfortable in this stone fortress with bars over the window." Malekith just laughed, as he took his leave, but he briefly turned, and looked at her, and while Mira couldn't see his face, his eyes looked like they were smiling.

"For what its worth, I don't think you need to be told what will happen if you decide to escape." No, Mira certainly did not.

Note: Sorry about the length, but I could only do so much in this particular chapter.

If you wonder why Malekith would be wiling to release slaves, let explain quickly. In his mind, any slaves that are lost, will be promptly replaced by further raids. Also, he said that he'd free them, not that he'd escort them to safety. At any rate, a super-powered demon girl is way more useful longterm for Malekith than any slave. on that note, I'm approaching Malekith from an understanding of the Warhammer wiki, but there really isn't that much about this personality, but I'm going to making more own details concerning him. I'm not going to spoil the future of the story for you, though.

Please review. Next chapter we'll check in with Gray. We're four chapters short of the end of Part I.