A/N: Ahem. A disclaimer-This is based off the production of Once on this Island my park district did. So don't shoot me if it is irrelevant. The relationship between Papa Ge and Ti Moune is also based on the park district production. Samme and Joey (Ti Moune and Papa Ge) are good friends, so they can have a more romantic relationship, where Papa Ge is kind of possesive/obsessive. Just wanted to make that known. Alrighty, I hope you enjoy.
She had no idea what she what she was doing. A mere moment ago she was laying on her mat at home, pleasantly sleeping. Or...not so pleasantly sleeping. In fact, she'd been thinking, tossing and turning. And now she was here, walking down a flight of stone steps, the stair well illumined only by torches. Subconsciously she knew she was still at home, sleeping there, as if she had separated from her body. She felt herself still upon the mat, but she was here. And that question still ran through her mind. She looked at her right wrist; an impression of fingers wrapped around in was there, a painful reminder. Your life is forever mine...His. She was his. She remembered how he had lashed out and grabbed her wrist, gripping it tightly, making sure she knew. She was his. But what did he mean? She had waited for him to strike her dead, but he had not. And so she was always alert. Forever, he had said. She would never be free. But...what would he do with a mortal? A peasant like her? Her stomach churned with the thought.
Now, at the bottom of the staircase, the hallway branches off into two rooms. A green glow came from the left; it intrigued her, but her feet moved her forth. She entered a large chamber, made of stone as well. Inside, a number of skulls and a myriad of bones and feathers adorned the room. A canopy bed draped with various animal skins was set at the back of the room. And sitting up against the headboard...The breath caught in her throat. Just as she remembered him, when she had first seen him as a child, Erzulie pushing him away, and later, when she herself had pushed him away. Dressed entirely in black, a multitude of skulls enhancing his overpowering appearance, a feathered headdress. There he sat, drinking deeply from a glass. The liquid held a deep red color, but was much too viscous to be wine. His eye suddenly caught hers.
"Ti Moune."
She shivered as he said her name, his low, smooth voice haunting her. He slid down from the bed, moving effortlessly, like a panther, and placed the glass on a black granite table beside the bed. Ti Moune shrank back as he strode up to her, the usual smug expression on his face. Always laughing. He could take life without care. How amusing. Before the girl could scramble away, he gripped her shoulders with his strong hands. The grip of death. His sneer grew ever evil as the girl struggled, on the verge of tears.
"Please, what are you doing?" she managed to rasp, voice wavering. The god of death drew close to Ti Moune's face, so that she could smell the sickly sweet aroma on his breath. Ti Moune felt her stomach lurch; her mind turned back to a time in her child hood. She had become ensnared in a thorn bush, struggling and screaming until TonTon came to untangle her. Her clothes, stained dark crimson, had given off the same scent for many days.
"Answering your question," he said at last, his voice near a whisper. The girl in his grip shivered profusely, all hopes of escaping dashed into miserable shards. "It isn't easy," he went on, "being the god of death. They pray, pray for me not to come near them. Do you know how it feels to be unloved?"
"What would you know about love?" spat Ti Moune, suddenly angry. "All you do is destroy it."
Alas, the god laughed. "Love. You mortals give into it so easily, yet you fight for life. Most would gladly give up love for their pitiful lives. But you," his expression softened, "you would sell your soul for it."
Ti Moune looked away from his dark eyes, avoiding his stare.
"You have always been mine. You should be dead. If not for her," the god snarled. Ti Moune figured 'her' to be Erzulie. She remembered.
"No...you're wrong. My life was saved so I could save Daniel. You must know-"
"Love blinds you. I am just trying to save you from it," whispered the god, stroking the girl's face. "Your heart deceives you..." He drew ever near, Ti Moune trying to quell the cry that rose in her throat. She shuddered as the god's lips graced her cheek, as lightly as a frigid whisper on her flesh. The girl pushed the god away, only to have her hand caught up in his. He pressed Ti Moune's hand to his chest, and the girl felt a small pulsation under her palm. A soft beating.
"I am not heartless. Don't fear me as others do."
Letting go of Ti Moune's hand, the god pulled the girl up against him, so that he could feel the warmth of her body. Ti Moune quaked, her stomach threatening to purge. She resisted the urge to shudder when an icy kiss was placed on her neck, just below her jaw. She knew she could do nothing but bend to the god's will. She was his...Tears welled up in the girl's eyes, streaming down her face. A cold hand brushed them away. Ti Moune looked up into the dark eyes of the god, facing death. She felt those black orbs bore into her. As she had when she had sold him her soul. Your life is forever mine...
"And I am yours," she whispered. It was her fate. For no one could escape death...