Title: ~Darkened Horizons~
Description: Tag:Marcus
Danae Walker - March 18, 2008 09:57 PM (GMT)
A week had it been? Two? Three? A masked ball at night on the arm of Dorian Cael, his queen of the Undead...A fight of epic proportions in which she walked away from the creature of the night that had managed to steal her heart and hold it captive, no matter how she tried to take it back, to make it her own again.
And yet, despite their falling out, his vampiric nature coming through at the sheer rage he felt for her interaction with Cael, she had seen nothing of Marcus. Granted, it was quite simple to hide away in the mass expanse that was MSI, but...In all her days, in all her time, she knew she had never avoided her before.
Now, with her wool overcoat falling down her shoulders, Danae bowed her head against the lightly falling rain and stood outside of the Temple of Talias. It was the one place of hope left in a world that had forgotten faith, and yet, as she stood at the threshold, she felt nothing...nothing.
Closing her eyes, she was uncertain if her tears had fallen amid the rain that washed down her face. Nothing...She felt nothing when she stared at the files that had once captivated her so. She felt nothing when she walked into the grand library of MSI. She felt nothing when she spoke to Antony, nothing when she conversed with Raelin...Nothing, save for the quickened pulse and the thrill in her blood when she was with Dorian.
Slowly, Danae sank to her knees, knowing that she could not continue this way. She had once been bright and bubbly, certain and determined, but now, she only wished to be whisked away in the night and made to live forever to escape the mortal chains that had caused her so much heartache...And she fully intended to ask Dorian to do to her such a thing...
Not even stepping inside the Temple, knowing that soon, she would have no place within it, Danae knelt outside, her knees tucked under her as her coat slipped off her shoulders, pooling onto the worn stone behind her. Closing her eyes, hair shrouding her face, she leaned her head against the cool stone wall and wished with everything she had that night would fall sooner, that she could be saved from her mortality and spared her sanity again...
Marcus Trellan - March 18, 2008 10:22 PM (GMT)
For a creature that supposedly belonged solely to the night, it had been quite some time since Marcus had stepped out among the cloaks of shadows with no other intent on his mind that absolutely nothing. His days in the recent past had been busy, endless, ceaseless and turning, always one thing or another, a case, a hunt, a problem, a friend, a foe. . .The cycle revolved around itself and Marcus found himself ever in the middle of it all, wondering when peace might come to his mind for more than five minutes.
Black shoes whispered against the pavement, only because he wanted them to whisper. It was a ridiculous reminder of mortality--a thing that he had forfeited quite some time ago. His thoughts churned and even alone in the night, aimlessly wandering, he could not make them quiet. Dorian Cael. Danae. The thought of the two of them together still made the blood he did not have run pure and hot with unchecked anger. And yet. . .it was his own fault. Was it not? He could not give to her something that seemed so simple, something that he surely felt himself each time he saw those dancing green eyes. . .It was not simple. Nothing was ever that simple. Pretty lies and he wondered how long he would keep trying to lie to himself.
Amid the tresses of the night around him, Marcus felt a faint lingering pull at his senses and he turned just slightly, his steps slowing as he neared the last vestige of hope left in a failing world. Hope. . .for what? That scent. He turned toward it without thinking, knowing that he had been avoiding her for too long and yet. . .he did not know what to say once he stood before her again. But on the air there was something else, an intangible feeling, a taint in the air. Human pain, sadness. . .desperation. Marcus sped up and soon found himself slowing, his steps stopping just behind where she kneeled on the ground, her face hidden to him but everything about her in that moment screaming of her pain, of the world upon her slender shoulders. Marcus's own unbeating heart wrenched and for a second he felt alive again, the pain real and sharp, hot and quick.
"If you cry loud enough, Danae, even the dead can hear you."
Danae Walker - March 25, 2008 01:23 AM (GMT)
She could feel it, that looming darkness that came toward her, the fall of night that would steal her away. Sometime during the passing days, that darkness had tainted her, faded into her once-emerald eyes. And yet...She could not make it stop. She gave into the darkness, welcomed it with open arms to stifle and suffocate and thrill...
Amid the falling rain, she became aware of footsteps behind her, hushed and yet hurried. A presence at her back, she closed her eyes tighter and wished for it to go away. And yet, inside, she wanted nothing more than to reach out, to grab him and pull him closer. It was a presence she could not mistake, followed by a voice that rang in her mind, even when she tried her best to force it away.
"The dead can hear all...Even the quietest of tears," she finally answered, but did not dare to lift her head. Instead, her eyes remained cast on the ground before her, her head bowed against the stone wall of the temple. A part of her wanted to tell him to leave her be, and still, the words would not come. Instead, she could only hope that she would not have to meet his eyes, that he would not see what she planned to do...That Marcus would not see through her like he had done far too many times before.
Marcus Trellan - March 27, 2008 12:22 AM (GMT)
Marcus stood behind her in the dark feeling as though he were not only a few feet away but miles, worlds. . .so far removed from what he knew that his unbeating heart wanted. Why do you make things so hard, Marcus? You know what you want, what you feel. . . Drake had made it clear that he was running from himself, from his own emotions. Was it right to love a mortal beyond all sense and reasoning? He would live through the centuries if fate allowed and one day, if he did not turn her, she would be laid to rest in the ground and the world would keep on turning. That kind of agony he was not sure that he could carry with him for eternity. And to even think of turning her. . .Danae might see herself as jaded in this world but when he looked upon her he saw nothing but innocence. It was enough to make him feel pure even on the darkest of days.
"True," he agreed idly, then shifted his hands into his pockets without really thinking about it. "Get up, Danae. . .face me. We've avoided each other long enough, I think. Tell me what it is that makes you cry alone in the dark."
He knew what it was, though. They both did. And yet something else. . .he could not see it or taste it, feel it or smell it, but there was something else awry on this dark night. There was something in the set of her slender shoulders, a determination that had not been there before. As though she had come to terms with something and had come to a conclusion as well. That thought frightened Marcus but until he saw her face he would not know what it was. She could not hide from him. . .she never could.
Danae Walker - March 28, 2008 10:43 PM (GMT)
Face him...For all that she was, he could not have asked a harder task of her. It was now that she could turn her back to him, now that she could walk away, but face him? Let him see the thoughts that she knew were so plainly etched within her eyes? There was no denying the plan she had, the very creature she planned to become to escape her fading mortality, and he wanted her to face him?
Ever so slightly, she did lift her head, hearing the rustle of fabric as he moved behind her. Glancing back over her shoulder, she finally rose to her feet, a chill settling into her body as she remained in shadows, not meeting his eyes. "Face you?" she questioned in a whisper, shaking her head, her hair acting as a veil as she looked away from him once more, crossing her arms over her chest. "Why, Marcus? You know why I cry...Part of it. There's nothing more that you need to know."
With a quiet sigh, she tipped her head back, letting the rays from the moon wash over her fair skin, her faceted eyes...jaded. "Why'd you come here?" she asked, her voice soft, subtle, almost on the verge of breaking as she took her first step from the shadows of Temple of Talias and toward him. Ah, but what would he see when she did face him? What would he want to see?
Marcus Trellan - March 29, 2008 04:32 AM (GMT)
When she turned to face him Marcus could not deny that he wished she had ignored him, that she had not. Written on her beautiful face was a truth that Marcus could not fathom and it was then, also, that he wished that he did not have the power to read her so well. That her emotions and her eyes were not such an open book to him. . .only because he loved her so. Pain ripped through his unbeating heart, enough to want to bring him to his knees if he let it. In her eyes he saw a truth he could not face, would face and yet he had no choice. . .she had made her choice. She wanted out of the mortal coil and she intended to use Dorian for such a purpose. Was mortality that horrendous? There was no way for him to know this other than he knew her, inside and out, knew the secrets that tumbled behind those green orbs and she could not hide this truth from him if she tried. And she was not even trying. She knew as well as he did that he would know, that her decision was laid bare to him. He inhaled sharply, wanting to cry, to scream, to hit something in a fury that the world have never seen before and in that moment Drake’s words echoed back to him in the maelstrom of his mind. If you must fight so hard against something, then perhaps you're fighting for the wrong reasons, friend. . .
”I just. . .I sensed you . . .Danae, don’t. Tell me it isn’t true. . .lie to me if you have to, but say I do not see what I know is in your eyes. . .”
He could not help that his tone was almost pleading, nearly broken. He had done this. If only he had found the strength to realize what it was, truly, that he needed to be fighting for. The innocence he had so cherished had all but faded from her green orbs and he took a step closer then halted, as though the weight of the truth from her own expression was too much on his shoulders. The very thought that she could think of being turned, of leaving the sunlight behind forever. . .for what? What did she think would come from such a thing? To leave the pain of mortality behind? That pain would only follow her footsteps into eternal life and become eternal pain, eternal torment. He knew well enough. He swallowed hard although he did not need to, raising amber eyes to meet her own. She would not lie to him, he knew that much but with every fiber of his being he almost wished that she would. That she would spare him the brutal stab of truth that he saw in her green orbs. His own death would have been less painful.
Danae Walker - March 29, 2008 01:38 PM (GMT)
Damn him...Damn him to hell for seeing through her, for knowing her inside and out...But wasn't that what she had wanted all along? Danae held his gaze, watched as the emotions rushed behind darkened eyes, and for a moment, her heart ached for him. Her breath catching in his throat as he took a step forward, when he spoke, she could only offer a sad smile.
And not look away.
Let him see...Let him know what she planned to do. Surely there were far worse things in the world than joining the leagues of the immortals, of becoming one of the creatures of the night. She knew it would change her life and perhaps she would be cast out of MSI, but Danae had come to realize long ago that she did not need their shroud to do the work she had set herself to do, had been meant to do. A pain, hot and white, stabbed into her heart as she thought of Antony, of what he would say, but her mind had been made up.
"Pretty words woven into lies...You know I cannot lie to you, Marcus. I never have been capable of such a thing," she told him, her words sincere as tears formed in her eyes. As silver streaks formed on her cheeks, she tipped her head back to view him more fully...Mortality? What did it matter to her? All those she cared for would live forever. Even Antony in his prime would age far greater than most mortals...a gift from the Gods to slay the demons of the world. "Whatever you think you see, ignore it, Marcus...It holds no power over you. It is my choice..."
And wasn't that all the proof he needed? A secret unspoken, she would give her life to the darkness and perhaps someday the innocence that once lingered in her eyes would return when regret and pain and enough worry to stop the world in its spin did not weigh upon her.
Marcus Trellan - March 31, 2008 11:03 PM (GMT)
She would throw the tattered vestiges of innocence that her green tinted orbs held into the night in favor of an escape and solace that the shadows would never hold. He could argue with her until sunrise, could bleed and scream and cry in the name of friendship yet it would never be enough. Friendship was not enough and it had not been for some time. Marcus knew that he could tell her the truth from his own lips and it would be denied because the human heart pumped more than just blood. . .it pumped pain, hot and furious, as real as the red liquid that coursed through her veins. He could see that pain darkening her eyes, the movement of her throat as she swallowed thickly past unshed tears. Traitor beads of moisture those were and for a moment he wished for nothing more in his life than to be able to cry again, to unleash his frustration and agony on the world, to allow his undead body to release that which love had pent up.
He could not let her do this. He would lose her as surely as a bullet from a gun would take her mortal life. Drake's words played over and over again in his mind, turning like wheels on repeat, ceaseless and neverending. Time almost seemed to slow and slide past him as though he were not a part of it, removed, suspended in animation just looking at her as she stood before him. For a moment the jaded jewels in her eyes melted away and he saw her as she had been, beaming, smiling, full of life and curiosity. The image faded away and the darkness rushed back in, the pain of years that should never have weighed on her shoulders. That he had put there trying to do the right thing. . .that was never the right thing to begin with. He swallowed hard and moved, for once in his undead life not thinking about the next few moments and allowing all that he was to move unfettered by thought.
Slenders fingers took her shoulders, a flash of anger and something else. . .something unidentifiable arced through his amber eyes as he drove her back against the wall she had been kneeling near. He ensured that the impact was not too hard with his own strength but enough to get her full attention, eyes sparking down at her unhindered by the shadows in which they stood. His grip tightened, his frame towering over her own. . . .If you must fight so hard against something, then perhaps you're fighting for the wrong reasons, friend. . .
"It does hold power over me. You hold power over me. You will not do this, Danae. I will not lose you again."
Unfettered action. He brought his head down with a sharp inhalation of breath and pressed cool lips against the heat of her own, his hands tightening on her narrow shoulders as though that alone would hold her in her mortal coil to him.
Danae Walker - April 2, 2008 04:11 AM (GMT)
With every beat, her heart ached to see that she had hurt him so...And yet, she still wished that the traitor inside of her chest would cease its beat, that it would stop and she would walk among the undead, because, at least then, she would not lose all that she had come to hold dear.
Years ago, it had all been taken from her. Her mother, her father, Uncle Michael, all stolen away by a shadow demon that none could conquer...It seemed unfair, to even dream that such a thing could happen again, that she would die and leave those that she cherished above all else behind.
Danae looked up to Marcus just as she felt his hands close around her shoulders. She did not tense, did not pull away, but merely looked up at him, her emerald eyes dancing with confusion and pain, but with adoration in spite of it all. Somethings would never change and the pain she felt in her heart for the vampire before her, the sweet bitterness of her emotion...it would never, ever go away.
For a moment, she wondered at what had become of the two of them, but the thought hardly had time to pass before she felt cool lips against hers, and to that, she shut her eyes. Slender fingers grasped at his shirt as her arms came around him, his words echoing in her ears. Returning the gesture, Danae became lost in the moment, in the very thing that she thought would never come from him...Action, emotion, she saw it in spades, and yet, some part of her felt pained, if only because of the extreme that brought it out of him, the radical choice that had brought him to such an action.
Slowly, Danae pulled back, her hands still on him, her arms still around him. Tipping her head back, she looked up into his eyes, her brows furrowing as his words registered once more. "Lose me again...Marcus, you have yet to lose me. I'm still here...and after tonight, I always will be." Her voice was quiet, a whisper, as she saw no other way... "Why do you do this to me." But there was no accusation, only the simple inquiry, an innocent question, and yet, for a moment, some of the weighted darkness faded from her eyes.
Marcus Trellan - April 4, 2008 09:18 PM (GMT)
Perhaps he had lost his mind but never in his life had losing all sanity felt so completely sane. He knew that he should have done this some time ago, should have stopped fighting what he knew was within them both. He should have done many things but it taken the words of one he considered far wiser than himself to bring him to the sharp edge of clarity. He had been fighting for the wrong thing. . .He pulled back from the kiss that he had wanted to lay to her for some time and his hands did not release her shoulder. By the gods he would not let her throw her mortality away and especially not by the fangs of that insolent ass, Dorian. He could barely tolerate the air he did not breath much less his hands upon the woman that he loved. The very thought brought sparks of anger to his amber eyes.
Yet her words slammed into his chest and the heart that did not beat seemed to tighten. Vampires could not cry and yet. . .yet a single translucent tear slid down his face and disappeared into the black overcoat's collar as though it had been nothing but a phantom to begin with. She still wanted to be turned, to live in the night and the shadows, to last as long as those around her rather than be forgotten, to leave them. He could see the pain in her eyes, the need for such a thing, and it nearly drove him to his knees. He would lose her if she turned. . .he would lose her because she would lose all the things that he loved about her that she could not see within herself.
Dammit, Danae. . .I. . I love you," he said quietly at first but his voice gained strength and conviction as he spoke. "You cannot do this. The shadows that you so desperately want to walk in will steal the light from your eyes and I cannot bear to see that just as I have hardly been able to bear keeping myself from you. It's the innocence I still see in you despite how jaded you have become and a million other reasons why I love you and you seek to throw it all to the wind. You. . .I. . .don't. Just. . .don't."
Danae Walker - April 7, 2008 02:28 AM (GMT)
She thought it might have been a trick of the shadows, but when she saw the look on his face, Danae knew that the impossible had transpired...A vampire had cried. Biting into her lip, Danae watched the emotions as they danced across his face, darkened and lightened his amber eyes. His hands remained clamped around her shoulders, and for every second that passed, she knew that she was the one that had caused him such pain...If only...
Sighing, she looked away, only to meet his eyes again, to stare into the intensified gaze when he spoke. Don't...It was a plea, a word so rarely uttered from the lips of Marcus Trellan...Couldn't he see that she would give up her mortality, the very things she had once treasured, if it meant that she could walk by his side, even if it must be only in the rays of the moon and never during the dawning of the day?
But he loved her...Hanging her head, her hands rested still on his sides as a quavering breath seeped from her slender frame. "Marcus..." she whispered, uncertain if she could meet his gaze again, but trying just the same. "If I throw it all to the wind, it is for you. Don't you see that? My God, I'd die if that's what it took. I'd die and rise again...but that is something that you've always failed to see, and until now, it was alright...until now, I could force it all below the surface and work by your side and smile...But I can't do it anymore...I love you and I want you and..." She fell silent and tried to step back, finding her back pressed further into the stone wall at which they stood...She didn't have the heart to run, but for all that she stood for, she wanted nothing more than to fall to her knees again...
Marcus Trellan - April 7, 2008 03:16 PM (GMT)
It all seemed so. . .hopeless. It was her decision, ultimately, but Marcus knew that he would not be able to look at her the same if her heart did not beat with passion, if the light was not always to be found in her eyes. Death stole far more than just the rush of blood and steady beat of a heart. Even temporary death. . .He was not the man that he had been once upon a time. Centuries had changed him, made him wary and jaded. Already the world turned the shadows over in Danae's green eyes but death. . .death would do far more and Marcus could not abide by it. If he had thought that was the solution then he would have turned her himself long ago. If Dorian thought that he would enable such a thing then Marcus knew the outcome. He would kill the insolent vampire and let the shadows take him back into their fold, Antony be damned. His vow of long ago. . .he had more than filled it. The pain that her undeath would bring to him would be the one thing that would drive him to disappear back into the night from whence he had come in the first place.
He could tell that she was still considering it and he finally stepped back and threw up his hands, turned away after a moment. His pale right hand rose to his brow and he clenched his teeth tightly, as though to stop himself from saying anything he might regret. He loved her. Was that not enough? Of course not. . .humans were so shortsighted. It did not matter to him if she would live forever or not but it did to her. Of course, the thoughts had crossed his mind on how to handle that particular problem but he was not willing to steal her innocence in that regard. . .not yet. He could not bear to see fangs in place of her pearled white teeth, to see her feed for the first time and if the hunger got too strong. . .No. No. He could not. Would not.
"No, Danae. I cannot say that it's alright for you to do this. The choice is yours, as always, but. . .I cannot. I do not want it to be for me. God, don't say that. It will kill me to think of it that way. . .If you do this, it is for you. And you only. If you choose to turn into the night permanently. . .I will not be the one waiting. I can't do it, I just . . .can't. Dammit. . ."
Danae Walker - April 8, 2008 05:48 AM (GMT)
Her eyes never left him, and though her mind turned over and over, the possibility of immortality, she knew as soon as he turned away that it was not worth all the years in the world to have him walk away again. Danae watched him, nearly feeling the turmoil inside as it pentrated the air. Tears stung her eyes and without abandon, she let them fall.
In the past, she would have let him be...But now, Danae knew that if anything, she could simply turn a blind eye or it would shatter her own heart far sooner than Marcus would ever accomplish. Biting into her bottom lip, she stepped up to him, a slender hand raising to lay against his shoulder as she felt the tensed muscles within.
As the words fell from his lips, it damn near brought her to her knees. She tightened her hand against his shirt, leaning her head against the back of his shoulder as she held herself up, squeezing her eyes shut. He would turn his back on her if she became like him, and in that moment, Danae lost all resolve to become a creature of the night, to let Dorian turn her...Even though the fair-haired vampire had spoken the same words to her just nights before.
"What would be the purpose of it then?" she asked him, her voice wavering with unshed tears. Her one solution, but she should have known that Marcus would never wish such a thing upon her. It was as Dorian said...It was only through some divine miracle that she would become immortal, but darkness was not her way. "I would do it for you and it would be for you, but if it would turn you from me, Marcus, then I would rather die..."
Her voice did break then and as she pressed her face into the coarse fabric of his jacket, she cried softly, almost unnoticeably against him. "I love you..." she whispered, at a loss for what more she could possibly utter that would make him turn back to her. She could not lose him, just as he said he could not lose her... "Marcus, I'm sorry..."
Marcus Trellan - April 13, 2008 02:45 PM (GMT)
Marcus felt her approach behind him and for a moment he could not bring himself to turn around at her touch against his back. His shoulders remained bowed inward and his head tilted downward, amber eyes solid upon the ground at his feet. He wanted to turn, to take her into his arms as he should've done so long ago but he feared what he would find within her eyes. Resolve to enter the night. . .the decision that would cause him to have no choice within his own heart but to turn away from her. His heart did not beat, it was impossible, but he swore that he felt it wrench with pain at the very thought of having to take any steps away from her. He would leave, he knew. If Cael did this for her because surely it was him that she inteded to ask then he would kill the black vampire and vanish as a ghost into the night.
But she would not. . .His head lifted slightly at her words. She would not take what he cherished so about her if it meant him vanishing. He hated to give her such an ultimatum but it was nothing but truth. He could not love her when she was a broken shell of what she had been and certainly she would become that. The dark would steal the light from her laugh, her eyes, her heart and soul. . .In time she would adapt and become something else. In time. . .It did not matter. She would not and for a moment he closed his eyes and willed into his mind the three words that she had spoken before her apology. He had known it without fail or question but to hear her say it. . .He swallowed thickly and turned around, drawing her into his arms with all the strength he possessed that would not harm her.
"Shhh, it's alright. Just. . .the thought alone kills me. I can't. . .It's alright, luv. I should've said something sooner, I know, but there are so many things in this that I fear. Those fears are still there but I realize, thanks to an outside hand, that I have not been fighting for the right thing. It should've been you this whole time. . .I love you, too. Tell me you won't take the light from your eyes. Danae, promise me. . ."
Danae Walker - April 29, 2008 01:44 AM (GMT)
It amazed her, still, how one man could change her mind when it would take all of Nebula to do such a thing on any given day. One look into amber eyes and she could not bear the thought of them looking away from her again. As she felt his arms come around him, it only made her tears fall faster. Slenders fingers gripped at his jacket, her face buried into his chest as her frame trembled ever so slightly, but she made no sound.
His words...Every sound uttered that fell from his lips...She could not become as he was, and yet, she could love him just as he had always been. Danae could not understand how he could think to love her when her mortality made her so weak, so frail...She could be stronger for him; she could live longer...They could last forever, but no...No.
He would not let her. Danae closed her eyes tightly, her arms wrapping ever the more tightly around him, as if she would never let him go, as if releasing her hold in even the slightest degree might mean that this had never happened, that he might disappear. "I won't do it, Marcus..." she finally whispered against the coarse fabric of his black overcoat, drawing her head back to meet his eyes. Emerald orbs shined in the moonlight as the tears she had shed lingered in her eyes. "It isn't worth it...Losing you, and that is surely what would happen if I chose the way of your world..."
Bowing her head, she sighed, and for a moment, some relief did wash over her. For all the determination she possessed, Danae had known that her decision was rash and that all options had not been considered. Taking in a deep breath, her narrow shoulders shaking with the weight of it, she let the breath out slowly, and then lifted her chin, raising her head and meeting his eyes again.
"What becomes of us now, Marcus?"