AN: Been a ridiculously long time, but I thought I'd give an attempt at updating this old fic because of the reviews and messages I've gotten. Constructive criticism would be appreciated, please and thank you ;) Don't really know where I had been going with this originally, but ah, hopefully it won't be too bad, ne?

Chapter 3

Council of the Elders

By KeeperofDarkShadows

Endrik slipped through the lower halls of Gra'hahhx with little trouble, his bare feet a whisper against the subterranean stone. Emotions churned within him that were once dormant, troubling him deeply.

He had left the Eloi to her slumber in the darkness of his chamber, her tear streaked face more than obvious to him. He would have entered her dreams, but he was only a master of nightmares, and could do nothing for her. Her mind was filled with sadness and longing that was blanketed with fear.

To feel another sentient being's touch had been strange for him. Her fingers had instinctually curled around him in sleep, grasping for some form of reality amongst the darkness. How many years had it been, since he'd been touched? He couldn't remember.

Father?

He had awoken to the Calling, the whisper of the council rushing in his ears. As he approached his ceremonial chambers the whispering increased to a great rush like a thousand waves crashing against the shore, the accumulated voices demanding his attention.

He lay upon the cool stone of the dais, the heady smell of incense permeating around him. He breathed deeply, allowing his consciousness to slip into the manifold intelligence of the Council.

Realities melded together and he could feel the Elder's individual presence within him, each in a similar form of stasis.

'Lord Endrik,' The murmuring of his old title was no more than a mockery. He was not a Lord, not anymore. He was the keeper of a housing of animals that would prey upon their own people if they were not controlled. He could feel the presence of his Father amongst the Elders, and felt a pang of anger.

'Your father tells us you have this…atypical Eloi, within your possession?'

'Yes.'

There was a rumble of interest amongst the Council. 'We have been told that you do not wish to start the experiment right away?' He could feel the Elders pressing into his thoughts, picking through his memories. He gritted his teeth against the onslaught. They ravaged through images of Mara, his watching her from afar as she attempted to teach the Eloi children, Her horror and confusion upon seeing him.

His body relaxed as the assault was quickly withdrawn, the Elders whispering amongst themselves.

'You have seen that I think it best if she be as willing as possible. Traumatized, she will be of no use as a mother. She has the potential for great intelligence, and it would be of little good to waste that intelligence by treating her as an animal.'

There was dissent amongst the Council members. 'We understand your point of view, Lord Endrik, but to coddle the Eloi is a waste of our time. We are here to see if there can be beneficial results for our kind in this experiment. Eloi are killed by the dozens by our Lower denizens (AN: Hunters, Spies are considered lower on the scale than the Uber Morlocks.) every day, why does this one concern you so?'

'Because she is different. She shows that her kind have the potential for a real society, that they can grow to be more than mere livestock. Give me time with her, and I shall give you what it is that you want.'

The whispering continued, raising the hairs on Endrik's body. 'We shall allow for a short period of allowance…your father came to us with this proposal so that you may one day return to Alaran. It would be unwise to…push our generosity.'

'I understand.'

'See that you do.'

Endrik felt a lurching sensation as the Council's consciousness was detached from his own. He rolled over and groaned as his body shuddered back to wakefulness, nausea jolting in his stomach. He staggered off the dais only a few feet before he fell to his knees and retched. No matter how many times the Elders invaded his mind, his body refused to adjust to the sensation. He had not been bred like his father, who had joined the Lower Council at a young age. No…he had been cast out for speaking his mind amongst heathens, and so over time he had become one himself.

In his youth he had protested the treatment of Eloi as animals, going against both the wishes of his father and mother. It didn't matter to him that once the Spies and Hunters had been essential to their survival. There were now concentrations of civilization amongst the Morlocks, making the brutish creatures no longer a necessity. Yes, the Uber Morlocks were closely related to them, but the Lower Morlocks held no remote signs of intelligence within them, their semblance to their masters long ago lost in the evolutionary chain. The Eloi, Endrik had argued, had progressed past the point of both the hunters and spies in their intellectual development, the evidence was obvious in their youth, even though the adults failed to retain any depth of memory. The surrounding ecosystem had progressed enough that hunting Eloi was no longer even necessary; more than anything it was a way of sport and a way to sate the bloodlust of the Uber Morlock's sub sentient brothers. His views were taken poorly by the council- he was seen as defying tradition and making a mockery of their intelligence.

As a way of silently punishing him the Elders assigned him to the backwater colony of Gra'hahhx at only 16 years of age. His father, still only of the Lower Council, made no effort to stop the assignment. As Endrik was forcibly dragged by the Alkria Guard, his father had stared at him coldly, his eyes saying 'You brought this upon yourself.'

Gra'hahhx was an old mining colony run entirely off of the labor of the burly Hunters and Spies, one of the few uses they retained in the Morlock society. It was a purposeful irony, that they should send him there- forcing him amongst the beasts that he so despised.

His stomach had protested his servants hunting of the Eloi of Upper Gra'hahhx, at first. Soon, though, he was able to see what the Elders had wanted him to see. The Eloi put up no resistance in their stupidity. Endrik watched as each generation grew up to be as stupid as the next, the spark of cognizance within their eyes fading as they grew. He grew to despise the Eloi that he had defended- the Eloi whose fault it was that he was trapped within this place, utterly lost and alone. He was sure that the Council had taken pleasure in his realization.

'See, what stupid beasts you defend? Our kind have purpose. These creatures only consume the resources around them…they would overpopulate and destroy the delicate balance of our world. WE are simply equaling things out. Our Hunters hunger…and their thirst is easily sated by the Eloi. To turn upon other sources would be unwise, with these creatures breeding around us like rats,' The Elders had whispered.

He built himself a chamber in the deepest part of Lower Gra'hahhx, vowing to never surface again. He surrounded himself in his old books and his pity. He did his part of Lord of Gra'hahhx, keeping the Eloi away from his colony with nightmares and overseeing the mines through the eyes of his servants.

For several decades (his species was long lived, compared to his ancestors, and even now, he was only in the beginnings of his adulthood) he brooded within the labyrinth, until a bright spark amongst the souls of Gra'hahhx was brought to his attention. Mara.

Her spark was faint, compared to the bright light that signified the presence of an Uber Morlock, but it was the brightest he had felt in years.

He watched the little Eloi child through the eyes of others, curiosity burning within him. He dared not hope, for she was a young Eloi, and all Eloi had the semblance of intelligence in their childhood. She was mocked by others for asking questions. Instead of diminishing her questions only grew in number, determined was she to find answers that none of her kind wondered of. Admiration for her began to grow within him as she matured, and in an incredible act of chance, or perhaps fate- she did not begin to forget.

It was a day late in fall when Endrik made the decision to see the Council. Mara had blossomed into an intelligent young woman. She was a living contradiction of the Elder's beliefs. He wanted to show them- show them, that after all these years, there was hope for these creatures.

Communing with the Council had been hard enough- their echoing voices like nails in his brain. His annoyance for these beings escalated to fury when he sensed his Father's presence amongst them. He had been promoted from the Lower Council to one of the Elders, and it was he who proposed the plan concerning Mara. 'Why leave this unique opportunity alone?' His Father had said. 'We could use this Eloi to our advantage, if she is as smart as she seems. This could be the chance to redeem yourself.'

Though the hatred he felt for his father was strong, he reluctantly agreed to the plan that would decide Mara's fate, the logic behind it seeming infallible, though cold.

As she fell to her knees in front of him, a battle raged behind his icy eyes. Before him was an animal, an Eloi- yet it was also Mara, his Mara, whom he knew better than anyone he had ever met. Her copper gaze was filled with confusion and pain, and he no longer knew anything at all. He was a far shot from the righteous young boy he had once been, an embittered man left in his stead. He felt things….things he had forgotten, and it confused him.