Chapter 1

Life used to seem so incredibly perfect in the village that I had always known that resided in the mountains. I found that this all changed once men from the cities found this utopic place I called home. They raided, slaughtering and taking everything in their path. Resistance wasn't the key to your survival. My Grandmother heard the alarms and quickly shook me awake to tell me that she loved me and to do as I was told, no matter how harsh it was. It was better to do what they wanted, than to have me die in front of her. That's how I found myself on a wagon filled with other people of my kind and how I started the painful journey that I would call my own life.

The wagon ride to the city was in no way considered glorious. They barely cared about us, as long as we didn't all die in the process they thought that any behavior they chose for us would be acceptable. I remember one beautiful woman I had talked to once before, shook and trembled as one man talked about finding a 'whore' in the back that he'd be able to fuck during a break. I could tell she was usually a woman who used to smile frequently due to the lines were etched around her cheeks and lips. I looked at her slowly, trying to comfort her without talking or shaking the chains that bound us all. She seemed to appreciate my effort and tried to give a slight forceful smile, even though the tears were visible in her eyes. I couldn't look at her any longer because each time I did a painful stab to my chest would plunge through me. I felt useless. How could I comfort someone else when I couldn't even keep my own fear controlled?

The hours rolled by, but it only felt like minutes before a man in all black robes with a mask over his face opened the back of wagon. He scanned us all through his intense gazes before finding his victim. I guessed that he was probably the man that referred to fucking 'whores' when they took a break. He chose the girl I had tried to comfort; her gorgeous smile lines became a saddened frown. All of my hopes and dreams shattered with her. As I could hear her screams I could also feel her emotional distress. Was this all our lives would become? Would we be sold just to be someone else's toys? I cringed at the thoughts and tried to focus on what life used to be. I blocked out the girl, the other villagers around me, and anything else that was currently around my location. I had to or else I wouldn't even survive the torturous journey with my soul intact, but my innocence was forever gone. And Innocence is something inside of you that you can never get back once it has left.

My eyes closed slowly as I prayed to a goddess that everything that I was experiencing was only just a horrid nightmare; that in reality I was asleep with my grandmother running her fingers through my hair to calm me from this dream. I repeated this prayer dozens of times, so it eventually felt like it could be reality as I drifted into a sleep. I dreamed of what life would be like if these raiders never came to the village in the mountains.

I imagined that the children would be playing with the animals that they would be watching over, hunters would be getting ready for the celebration that would occur in a few days. I saw myself among these hunters; finally I would be of the age where I could join them, eighteen and a half. I would ready my dual swords as the commander would tell us that we would be going into a forest that was near the outskirts of our village. The excitement would wash over me; the obvious effect over my face.

My grandmother would see me from our home and she would wave with her friendly smile present. I would blow her a kiss and whisper that I loved her under my breath; hoping that the wind would carry my message to her. The drum signifying it was time to hunt would beat and I would turn my heels with the rest of the warriors and disappear into the green nature. Life would seem so perfect, all my dreams and hopes would have been in the future that these men took away from me. I could only imagine what the others around me had stolen from them.

My eyes shot open as I felt a harsh tug at my brown shoulder-length hair. I let out a sharp cry as he dragged me out of the cramped wagon, my feet barely adjusting to walking on the stone terrain. He pushed me toward the others that were lined up; I joined them silently.

"We present you these slaves. Use them as you desire, whether that's for house work, games, or my personal favorite, being your personal whore. Buy them for what their lives were always supposed to be."

That was the moment that I first realized how cruel the world truly was. Our lives didn't hold any meaning anymore, we were nothing. We were slaves now; we were forced to forget our pasts, dreams, and accomplishments. We were supposed to become a clean slate for our masters to abuse us with.

I saw the people of my old home and life being sold left and right. I tried not to think about it, but no matter how much I wanted to push those thoughts of never seeing them again away, they kept coming at me like an arrow. Each one that I saw sold, shot pain through my chest. The man finally came to me, Noel Kreiss.

"How much can I get for this beautiful boy?"

His crooked smile made me nauseous. The anxiety became overbearing. No longer would the Noel everyone had known exist, I would be nothing; I would die as this. The numbers kept increasing as people fought for the stopping price.

"99,000 gil."

The audience became silent; no one else said anything for over three seconds. Before I knew it I was sold. The man with the crooked smile pushed me forward to the two people I'd be calling 'Master'.

AN:

Hey, this story is not going to be very light, as you may be able to tell, so if you cringe at dark and more mature themes please back away now. I was really inspired by those awesome shows about history *cough* Spartans... are cool... and wanted to have a take on what it may have been like for some of the slaves back then. This story is a Caius x Noel x Yeul story (not any true threesome scenes in here, but more like a complicated love triangle... I guess). Lastly, I hope you enjoyed, and no worries I still like you even if you don't read another word of this story (: