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The cold and rough cobblestone pavement, which she and her sister had been resting on since the baking noon sun had finally hidden itself behind the roof of a large industrial building, digs into Fterna’s backside painfully.
She can feel the sharp scores in the pavement digging into the skin of her thighs. They would leave her skin battered in bruises later, she is sure of it.
Her body aches and burns from the constant strain that had been put on it for the past few days.
Her strength didn’t last for forever, just like everyone else’s. That didn’t seem to cross their current owner’s mind though, as he was probably convinced that the tall stature of their bodies made them indifferent to any sort of physical labour.
That, or he simply didn’t care about their well being.
Yeah, that was probably it.
Fterna lets out a shuddering breath and leans her head against the wall behind her.
He wouldn’t let them die at least. Every missing person would be subtracted from his payment, and Fterna doubts that he would want that to happen.
She watches as the sunlight starts to get dimmer and dimmer as the minutes go by.
The ship of their buyer, that would eventually pick them up and ship them off to another country as cannon fodder, is scheduled to arrive at eleven.
She doesn’t know whether she should dread it or not.
Their current living conditions are horrible.
Being born in a poor country they had never been great of course, but at least they had a family and a stable community around them.
Everything had been good, until their mother had been taken by illness.
They tried and tried, but after a while they hadn’t been able to support themselves anymore, and they set of to live in another place.
They had hoped for better living conditions and opportunities there, but their hopes were soon to be crushed.
The world doesn’t treat people who were ’different’ kindly.
That’s how her and her sister eventually ended up in the cruel business of ’soul selling’. That’s what the people involved called it at least, but what really was being sold was their bodies and physical abilities.
Sometimes it was body parts with some kind of anomaly that were being sold, the part’s owners worth would be reduced to what the next callous costumer, that found aesthetic liking to the piece, would be willing to pay for it.
Soul selling is one of the truly horrendous sides of humanity.
Fterna is a hopeful person by nature. She truly believes there to be more good in the world than there is bad. But even her spirits were being sullied by every new horrible and inhumane experience that they had to endure.
Foni believes that the only reason she is still keeping it together is for her sake. She had to admit that it did help her cope a little at least. Fterna’s words of encouragement, while growing weaker by the day, had a comforting nature and were keeping the younger girl from completely loosing herself.
Their current situation though… was utterly hopeless. Whatever would happen would be horrible. Nothing would get better from here on out.
They would be shipped off to a faraway land to die in the ditches of a cold, blood stained battlefield. Their lives would end up meaning nothing and all of their efforts and suffering would have been in vain.
And there is nothing that they could do to change their fates now, it was all decided. All there is left is to wait for their inevitable doom. It made their bodies already feel cold and lifeless.
Fterna’s tired eyes watch as the man in front of her puts the faintly glowing stub of his cigar out with the sole of his foot.
That man is responsible for keeping an eye on them and making sure that the human merchandise’s transition to the ship would go down smoothly.
He blows the last cloud of smoke left in his lungs out into the air and watches it slowly disappear between the mass of people walking down the street.
Fterna begins to study the different faces of the people passing by. Judging by their clothes or how they carry themselves, most of them are common citizens, just like her and her sister.
None of them spare them a single glance.
Some of the passerby’s pace even increases ever so slightly when they walk past them.
They know what they are and what would happen to them.
And they chose to ignore it instead of helping them. She knew that they acted out of fear for themselves, but a part of her felt betrayed and left alone.
She lets her eyes wander over the mass again and again, still in desperate search for some kind of help.
Her eyes eventually lock on the back of someones head.
It was hard to miss him, as his clothes are vastly different form the majority’s.
Fterna could tell that he must be rather wealthy simply by the colour of his waistcoat and the drape of his shirt.
The boy suddenly turns around into their direction, and it doesn’t take him long to find Fterna’s gaze on him.
They both stop for a moment to study each other.
Fterna could tell from the youthful roundness of his face that he must still be rather young. If she had to estimate probably even a little younger than her sister, who turned 17 not so long ago.
His reddish-blond hair has a little curl to it and ends a little bit above his chin. But his most noticeable trait are his eyes. She can’t say for sure from afar, but Fterna could swear one of them is significantly darker than the other one.
The boy’s eyes dart over her body, taking in every aspect of her being. His gaze leaves her for a moment and instead travels over to her sister, and then to the man watching them.
His left eyebrow nervously twitches, as he seems to understand what kind of situation they are in.
He looks Fterna right in the eyes, as if he wants to tell her something through their gazes.
She doesn’t know in what kind of manner she stares back at him, too tired to try to convey a certain emotion.
No matter with how much apathy she might have looked at him, something in his eyes suddenly changes. His eyebrows furrow in contemplation.
He seems to go through many different emotions, guilt, pity…fear.
Until he suddenly settles for something that looks like…determination?
He looks back at Fterna, still with the same determination painted across his face. Seeing no real reaction from her he attempts to smile at her.
The smile seems a little awkward. One side of his mouth is pulled up higher than the other and his eyebrows draw together to form a small crease between them. It is genuine and encouraging non the less, and Fterna suddenly finds the energy to smile a small smile back.
Their little exchange is small lived though, as their guard’s head suddenly snaps into the boy’s direction. He must have noticed the change of Fterna’s expression and gotten suspicious.
The boy’s smile abruptly disappears and he shrinks in on himself under the tall man’s fierce gaze, leaving no trace of his earlier confidence. His posture is unnaturally stiff now, and he seems to want nothing more but to flee from this place.
He quickly glances back at Fterna and her sister, before averting his gaze and slipping behind one of the market stalls.
Fterna’s new found hope leaves with him and she slumps back against the wall.
-
She doesn’t know how long she had sat there, slumped over and leaned against the wall, but her attention is brought back to their surroundings when her little sister nudges her side.
Fterna looks at Foni confused. Her questioning look is met with her sister frantically pointing behind her.
She turns around to look at whatever her sister is pointing at and her eyes widen in surprise.
It is the boy from before. He is quickly approaching them with fast steps.
This time he isn’t alone though. The boy is closely followed by an older gentlemen, probably around his late forties or early fifties.
Together they make their way across the sea of people. Their approach isn’t subtle, it obviously isn’t meant to be, their guard notices them rather quickly as well and stands up upon the two newcomers stopping in front of them.
The guard looks them up and down, squinting his eyes as they land on the boy, probably recognising him from before.
“Well, if it ain’t the kid from before,” He says, grinning crookedly. “And with company this time,” he nods towards the older of the two.
The guard leans down to take a better look at the boy.
“What do you want kid? It’s rather unusual to encounter highbred fellows like you in these streets.” The man straightens up again. “Unless of course,” he crosses his arms above his chest,” they are interested in something…”
With a short jerk of his head he gestures over to Fterna and her sister, who had been following their whole exchange with keen eyes.
Fterna’s blood runs cold, she feels her sister tense beside her too. This couldn’t be happening, not again.
She thought they could trust him, why must everyone betray them all the time. It isn’t fair.
Before she could panic even more their guard starts to talk again.
“Sorry ’bout that then. These two lady’s are already promised to someone else. For a nice price might I add,” he chuckles to himself, “though I understand your… preferences, boy.”
The boy’s face morphs into something that looks like utter disgust.
“I don’t know what vile things you are trying to imply but whatever it is I don’t find it as amusing as you seem to.” The boy replies with a hard tone. He straightens his back to appear taller, “I don’t care about the other bastard involved in this just tell me what or…how much you want.”
Fterna is take aback. Maybe she was right about him after all. He seemed to be pretty offended at their treatment and the guards words.
The guards face dims with anger. He lunges forward and grabs the boy by the collar of his shirt.
“You must be pretty confident, if you think someone your size can just insult me like that without any consequences.” He growls.
The boys shoulders tense, looking at the guard with a fearful expression. Luckily, the older man steps in before the situation can escalate any further.
He grabs the arm their guard uses to hold the collar of boy’s shirt forcefully.
“I am going to have to ask you to take your hands away from the young sir.” He demands with a grim expression.
The guard scoffs,”’Young Sir’,” he mocks,”Listen, I don’t care for your titles, if this brat thinks himself to be better than me and insult me, I am doing something about it.” He forcefully pushes the boy up against the wall. The others hand’s instinctually reaches to claw at the guards hands.
Fterna’s tenses, and so does the older man. He grabs at something at his side and steps closer to the other two.
“I am not repeating myself again, let him go!”
“Or what, you’re going to tell on me to some kind of Duke or Marquise, or whatever title this boy’s father has. I could care less honestly, I already live in the shadows of society, more than one person wants me dead, including a fair share of silk-stocking clientele.” The guard snarls, still keeping the boy in a tight grip.
The older man pulls out a gun from the side of his belt,”Believe me, I know what kind of man you are, and I do pity you for what kind of business you slipped into. But even a man like you can’t withstand the blow of a good fired bullet. Put him down.”
The guard’s stance falters a bit and he locks eyes with the other, gaze hardening upon the fire arm.
“Someone like you wouldn’t actually fire-“ he eventually starts, but he soon gets interrupted by the other.
“Oh, I have fired a fair share of bullets in my life. I would fire this with the same lack of hesitation you sell the lives of people as merchandise every day. This is my last warning.”
The guard scoffs, but finally releases the boy, who rubs his throat, breathing heavily.
Fterna finally relaxes again.
“Threatening with guns now, really?” The guard mutters to them as he steps away from the boy.
The older man rushes to the younger one and puts a hand on his shoulder. He leans down to ask if he is okay. The other one nods for response and shrugs the man’s hand off.
He straightens up again and looks the guard straight in the eyes.
The guard raises one of his eyebrows. “You still want to try and deal with me? You are persistent, I’ll give you that.” He leans down once again to take a closer look at the boy. “You know, if you weren’t protected by your status, you could make a hefty price in this business. Your eyes are quite unique in colour.” He smiles maliciously at the boy.
The other averts his gaze and leans his head forward, so that his bangs cover his face a little more.
The older man shoots a cold and piercing look at the guard.
“Geez, I’m just joking. No need to get all offended.” He says and puts his hands up in defence.
But his expression soon turns back to a serious one. He sits down on the box that he had been sitting on before the two arrived and crosses his legs.
“Fine, what do you have to offer, boy?”
The boy perks up at that. “How much do you want?” He asks.
“How much do you have to offer?”
“…”
The boy looks up to the older man, then back to the guard.
“I am ready to give everything.”
“Everything?” The guard asks with a confused and unbelieving tone. The older man doesn’t seem any less shocked.
“Yes, any material thing I own that could be worth money. I…admittedly don’t have many lands to sell, but I am confident that I can overbid your other costumer with that.”
Everyone is silent for a while. Shocked by the boy’s statement.
Even Fterna and her sister stare at him with utter disbelieve.
“I’ll have to ask for credit though…I can give you an official contract and everything. You will receive the full payment soon, you have my word.” The boy says and starts to pull out official looking document form his bag.
He came prepared…had he been planning this all along?
The two other men gape at him.
Eventually, the older man besides him speaks up,”Sir, are you certain? You are talking about everyth-“
“Yes, I am.” He interrupts him.
He steps towards the guard and holds out the documents for him to read.
“And? What do you say?”
The guard checks the papers. Scanning every line throughly, checking for some kind of catch. Finding none he looks up at the boy.
“Alright, since you are so certain about this…it’s a deal.” He hold his hand out in front of him for the other to take. He does so and the two of them shake hands.
“I expect the full payment in a month. Don’t get any ideas, I’ll make you regret it, kid.”
“Don’t worry. I’ll keep my word.” The boy replies.
-
The rest of the negotiation goes down without any issues and soon they were all free to go.
The boy had kindly asked them if they were well enough, both physically and psychologically, to walk for a little.
He is currently walking in front of them, leading the way to his ship, while the older man follows them from behind.
Fterna and Foni had remained quiet for most of the way. Still in disbelieve that they were finally saved from certain doom.
None of the other two mentioned it though. The boy only looked back to check on them a few times but never made any approach to speak to them.
After the boy had turned around for the third time Fterna finally decides that it was time to break the silence.
She starts to pick up her pace to catch up to the boy, ignoring the questioning gaze coming form her sister.
The boy notices her approach and tires to slow down a bit for her to reach him faster.
They walk next to each other for a bit in awkward silence before Fterna eventually gathers the confidence to speak up.
“I, uh-, thank you for your help. Me and my sister are in your debt.”
The boy smiles a small smile at her.
“You are welcome. Though I really just have human decency and simply chose to not ignore the situation like all of the other people.” He replies.
Momentarily stunned at the boy’s bluntness, Fterna takes a while to find her words again.
“But stepping in does take courage…Sir. And you payed a high price, just for us. I thank you for that. ”
The boy seems flustered all over sudden, a slight blush creeping up his cheeks.
“Well, I- Yes, I did, and I am going to get my arse handed to me by my father no doubt,” he pauses for a bit and then continues in a more quiet tone, “But…I couldn’t just…watch and do nothing…I guess.” His voice got so quiet towards the end that Fterna wouldn’t have heard it if she wasn’t walking so close to him.
Fterna only smiles at the boy’s quiet mumbling. It is evident that he is struggling conversing with them, probably unsure of what to say and what would be appropriate in a situation like this. She doesn’t blame him, Fterna feels the same way. The situation still seems rather unreal to her. While happy for another chance, far away form the pain that they had to endure, she feels intimidated and lost as she thinks of all of the possibilities for their future.
But there is one more thing she would like to ask the boy.
“Uhm, if you don’t mind, I would like to ask how we should be addressing you. What is your name?”
“Rochalízo Anestegamós Neiye-Imisukin Emarika Antípatos Apó Amonogia.” He declares rapidly.
Fterna eyes go wide at the long name.
“Or just Rochalízo for short.” He says with a smirk.
“Okay, Sir Rochalízo. I am Fterna, and that,” she gestures over to her sister,” is my sister Foni. She should be close to your age, I think. She is 17.”
“Oh, I’m 15. So yeah, pretty close.”
They continue to walk in silence for the rest of the way.
Fterna glances over to Rochalízo a few times.
So he really is awfully young.
He mentioned that they would go to his ship.
Why would someone so young be sailing around on his own? From what she could tell from context, his father didn’t seem to be on board. At least the older gentlemen behind them looks like he has some sort of mentor like role towards him.
She didn’t get any more time to think about the subject though, since their small group arrived at their destination.
It looks a lot different than what she imagined his ship to look like. She had thought that they would arrive at a large wooden ship with white linen sails.
The ship standing in front of them looks nothing like that.
Aside form the small metal railing, which had rusted to a deep copper colour from the rain and salty sand of the sea, looking like it could break off any moment, the ship had nothing that even closely resembles a deck.
The inhabitants of the ship would be forced to stay inside for the entirety of their travels.
The ship itself is shaped similarly to a sphere with a small hatch at the top, which is just as round.
The main entrance of the ship is facing them.
Rochalízo gestures for the two girls to go ahead.
Fterna takes hesitant steps forward. As she passes through the archway she hears the quiet humming of what she assumes to be an engine through the metal walls.
All in all, the ship is pretty technologically advanced. Plastered in mechanisms of which she could have only dreamed of back in her home country.
Fterna glances over to her sister. Foni is walking awfully close to her, making sure to keep a safe distance from the two men, that were forming the beginning and end of their queue.
Fterna frowns, as she knows why her sister seems to be distrusting of them despite their friendly treatment of them so far.
And she feels guilty for not protecting her sister from harm any better. She shouldn’t have had to develop such a strong sense of awareness of her surroundings, of who is surrounding her.
She grabs her sisters hand gently, hoping to soothe the fear in her eyes and the tension in her shoulders.
They come to stop in front of a large metal door.
Rochalízo begins to shove it open and warm rays of light start to shimmer through the ever growing crack of the door.
And as the warmth of the room starts to seep through Fterna’s sore muscles.
She thinks that, maybe, it really would be okay in the end.
For the first time in what felt like forever.