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empressofhorror · 5 years

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Waters Stained Black

Full Summary: Her life had lost all meaning.

That is what Mallory Lamombières believed as she stood at the gallows, moments away from being hung for a crime that although she may have committed, it was with a weapon that she would be the last person to believe she possessed--magic.

She may have been the daughter of a witch now dead from fever, and a man with whom her mother rarely spoke of, almost as if he had merely been a dream of hers, conjured upon one sweltering summer’s night; but Mallory knew that at twenty she was four years past the age that one’s magic should have already arisen, a sign that they were ready to be whisked away during the Harvesting to study at the Laleun Royal Academy of Witchcraft. It is through this process that rogue witches and warlocks do not run amok in the streets, killing all who breathe.

And yet, somehow, she had managed to kill a moneylender’s son. In cold blood, they’d said. That the body was in pieces, strewn about her home like a child’s painting gone macabre, and that it was barely recognizable. As if an animal had torn him apart. And as Mallory remembered the bittersweet tang of the man’s blood on her tongue, she wondered if they weren’t wrong.

But a hanging was not meant to be. For the head of the House of Elder from the Academy, Lady Cordelia Goode, buys her freedom--her life--so that Mallory may be able to train under her, and so that Lady Cordelia could witness the potential that she sees in her having come to fruition. But not is all as it seems in the halls of the Academy, where the walls bleed magic, and secrets and lies could be breathed from their commonness.

Legend has it that a beast lives deep beneath the castle, and sometimes in the dead of night, you may even be able to hear its cries. And that one day when all is quiet and good, it will devour them all whole. However, it is Mallory who fears that it may not be the beast that they should all fear--but her.

AO3: I.

Pairing: Michael Langdon/Mallory

CW: drowning

AN: This is my first fic for AHS, and after seeing Michael and Mallory in that interview scene, I knew that I needed to write something about them. This is a slow burn, so Michael's probably not going to come in for a minute, but I'll try to make it worth it, I promise. I’m also cross-posting this onto ao3. I hope y'all enjoy it! Let me know what y'all think! ^^ 💕🌹

I. The Aftertaste of Salt

She smelled salt. That was the first thing that Mallory Lamombières realized when she opened her eyes for the first time to the sight of an overcast sky, gray and heavy with clouds that were laden with rain not yet poured. Sunlight filtered through here and there, but it was faint. As if the sun itself was reluctant to appear before where ever she was. The second thing that she realized was that she was cold—and terribly so.

The wind blew around her at a leisurely pace, and it took her a moment to understand that not only was she lying down, but that it was on what felt like sand. Her head felt like it had been stuffed with cotton, her eyelids heavy with sleep. Gingerly she sat up and blinked as she looked around, comprehension having finally dawned upon her.

She was at a beach. One in which the water was gray, and despite its movements, so still that it reminded her of glass. She didn’t recognize it, and like lighting, it occurred to her then, that maybe, she was in a dream. Fog hovered above the water, and in the distance, Mallory could almost make out the great rocks that jutted out from the water like monoliths from the sea to the sky. When she glanced down, she felt the fine sand upon which she sat sift between her fingers, and for a moment, Mallory felt like a child at how soft it was. Even amidst the gray, it was almost blinding with its whiteness—like that of fresh snowfall.

A gust of wind blew, whipping up her long brown hair about her, and the chill of it sliced through her like a knife. Her teeth started to chatter, and as she held herself to try and ward off the cold, Mallory realized with a jolt as to why the wind felt so harsh upon her skin. Like a newborn, she was without clothes. She stood up and turned around in a circle, looking around this way and that for where her clothes might’ve gone. A piece of cloth. Anything. But, no, Mallory found nothing on the long expanse of the beach. There was only herself, the sand, and the sea. She was utterly alone.

Or, at least, that is what she thought, until a moment later above the lulling sound of the waves crashing upon the shore, and between the whistle of the wind, Mallory began to hear a sound. It was too far away for her to make out what it was at first, faint as it was. She felt her eyes shut, ears straining to hear more. A moment passed, and ever so gradually, it got louder and louder until Mallory could finally recognize it for what it was. A melody—and it was being sung.

Mallory opened her eyes and looked around again for the source of the song, that with every second that passed, increased in volume. She could find no one on the beach. The song itself was a haunting thing that was as gray as that of the emptiness that surrounded her. After a moment she realized that there was not just one voice, but what sounded like a chorus of hundreds, all with different pitches swirling around her in ghostly harmony.

Mallory found herself humming along to it as she began to walk aimlessly. If you’d asked her then, she could not have told you when she started singing the wordless song as well. It felt as if something within her responded to it, like a call only she could answer. Her soul felt alight with a joy that she could not name. A feeling that she couldn’t put into words. But it was strong nonetheless.

Distantly, she felt the cold chill of her feet hitting the water and it lapping at her ankles, and then her legs, as she waded into the sea. But she paid no heed to it. All Mallory knew, could hear, could feel, was the wordless song of her heart. She felt lost in it. No, a part of her knew that she was, however, a larger part of her didn’t care. For, after all, was this not merely, but a dream?

The song echoed in her head and thrummed inside of her heart. A smile graced her face. She felt like she was being consumed from the inside out. It made her feel weightless, and a sense of peace washed over her. Like whispers upon her skin, Mallory could feel how her hair floated in the dark waters around her. Water splashed upon her face, but Mallory didn’t even flinch at the salt water that got into her eyes. She breathed in the thickened fog that hovered around her. Salt hung heavy in the air, on her tongue. She felt warm.

Suddenly, the chorus-like song that hung around her—within her—started to fade as the waves started to thrash like a storm was about to commence, and yet, the heavy clouds were silent. Sunlight danced upon her skin, however, they barely pierced through the murky waters that held her. A splash sounded to the far right of her. Mallory’s head whipped towards its direction, but she saw nothing but unrest waters and fog.

Another splash sounded in front of her somewhere in the distance, and when Mallory looked in its direction, she squinted into the fog to try and see what made the noise. But she could find nothing for her efforts. Like a creeping sickness, dread started to fill her. Mallory was desperately starting to hope that it was only a fish.

After a moment, the clouds parted far enough that the surface of the water began to look a tad less dark, and Mallory could see somewhat underneath it. It only took a second for her to notice it, but there was something shimmering in the water. Wide spans of white scales with slivers of gold gleamed beneath the surface farther than she could see, and when it moved, the water rippled hard enough that she accidentally swallowed sea water, and gasped desperately for air.

A resonating roar like the sound of a thousand beasts that she had no name for, and a thousand bells ringing all at once in a cathedral, came from below her. The water thrashed around her like during a tempest, and Mallory felt her blood turn to ice in her veins from fear. She gasped for air that seemed as if it wouldn’t come, her hazel eyes trying to look into the water, and bear witness to whatever manner beast meant to consume her whole.

It moved too quickly for her to understand what exactly it could even possibly be, and it was larger than anything that she’d ever seen. Vaguely, she wondered if it was some sort of whale, but no, she knew that those creatures did not have scales on their great hides. This was something else. Something older. Something ancient.

When it roared again, Mallory heard herself whimper as she shook in fear, utterly petrified at being torn apart. She turned around thinking for a moment that she might perhaps be able to swim back towards the shore, but that same sliver of hope died as soon as it was born once she saw how far away she truly was. Even amidst the fog, and the thrashing waves, Mallory could tell that she had somehow drifted yards away from the shore. Tears fell down her face at the sight, hard and swift, and a sob robbed her breathless.

She was going to die.

In her panic, Mallory hadn’t noticed that the song had started up again at some point. And like a lullaby, she felt it calm her as her panic began to slip from her bones, while her limbs went limp in the water, and nothing but a numb warmth remained.

Suddenly, she felt a hand touch her ankle, and another her thigh, whilst another her back. Until she felt as if all that she was was covered in hands that caressed her soft skin beneath blackened waves. Gently—but insistently—they tugged and pulled until her head was beneath the surface. A part of her wanted to be panicked. A part of her wanted to scream. A part of her wanted to kick, and twist, and punch, and resist these strange creatures until all the fight had been drained out of her. But she didn’t. She couldn’t, not as she was, pliant and song-drunk and a wonder with all that there was.

So, Mallory did nothing when they dragged her deep into waters as dark as pitch, the faint glimmer of sunlight shining upon the surface above her like a distant memory. She did nothing as she felt the last bits of air leave her mouth, only to be replaced immediately after by a surge of salt water that made her nose and chest burn with liquid fire. And so with a faint smile upon her mouth, and eyelids falling shut, Mallory was powerless against the mouth that captured her own as her awareness faded away. Her last memory, then, was of the aftertaste of salt.

#michael langdon #mallory #millory #millory fic #waters stained black #i haven't written fic in over a year #but i feel REALLY good about the quality of this #join me on my journey in trying to become a plotter and finish a multi-chap fic #this fandom needed a mer au and i came to deliver

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