Well, hello, ladies and gents! My name is tdawg730, and I would like to say that this is my first story here on fanfiction, so go easy on the r&r! Well, here is my story! Remember, I do not own any of Tsubasa except the characters and story plot changes that I make.
"I already told you before. You have to do it like this. No! You're doing it wrong again! Do it over!" She took my hands and showed me the proper way to serve the customers their food. I was always good at nothing. My clumsiness always gets in the way. I tried to do the maneuver again, but before the Mistress could judge my performance, we heard a loud thud. The Mistress ran outside, with me in tow, and we discovered a group of strangely-dressed people there by the river. I watched as the Mistress rushed toward them.
"Oh my, you dears better come inside. You'll catch something out here in the cold with those clothes on." she said.
"No, Betty. Those people could be the culprits. After all, the children have disappeared and we have no one else to blame." Said one of the villagers who had joined the large group of people staring at the strangers. I inwardly sighed. They were going to blame the disappearances on a group of random strangers? I couldn't believe this.
"Mistress, if I may speak," She nodded, "I do not think that these strangers could have done it. I mean, they just arrived here, and you are already blaming them for a crime they have not even been informed of? I thought that here, in Jade country, we treated our guests with utmost respect. Now, I suggest—" I was cut of by the Mistress.
"You will suggest nothing. You have already said enough. I will not have you disgracing me in front of the customers. Get inside and heat up some water for their baths. I would assume that since they have come here dressed like that, a hot bath would be enjoyable." She gave them a sweet, fake, ready-to-serve smile. I felt sick to my stomach. Yet again, she embarrassed me in front of customers. She was always commenting on my clumsiness, as if I had no idea of it already. So, in spite of everything, I still followed orders and heated up the water for the baths. I heard the Mistress calling for me, so I briskly walked to her side to do her bidding.
"I want you to show these fine people to their rooms. Make sure they are absolutely comfortable before I see your face again." I muttered a quick, "Yes ma'am," and went on my way. I gestured for them to follow me, and I showed them to the only two rooms available. They seemed a little troubled by this, so I asked them what was wrong.
They responded with, "Well, there are three of us who are male, and I don't think even one of us is comfortable staying with the Princess." I glanced toward the girl they referred to as 'Princess.' I nodded and replied.
"Yes, well, these are the only two rooms available. I'm sorry, but one of you is going to have to share with her." The boy with the brown hair spoke up.
"I will share with the Princess. It's not that big of a deal. So Kurogane, you and Fai will have to share a room. Is that agreeable?" I had to hand it to him to speak to these guys like that. I wouldn't take orders from anyone unless I had to. The big guy looked kind of pissed, but he only nodded. The skinny blond looked pretty harmless, though, and he smiled widely.
"Yay! I get to share a room with Kuro-puu!" He teased the big guy, whose name by now I had learned as Kurogane. That meant that the blond was probably the one called Fai. Kurogane yelled at Fai for calling him such a stupid nickname, then turned to the boy.
"I change my mind. I can't stand this creep for five minutes, let alone a whole night! You should share a room with him, Syaoran, unless you want him to share with the Princess." Hmm, so the boy's name was Syaoran. Syaoran shook his head.
"Actually, I think this might be the perfect opportunity for the both of you to get closer and maybe reach a point where you stop arguing all the time." He was right, and these two knew it. I chose this moment to pipe up.
"The bath is ready, if any of you would like to take one. You boys can all take one together, but the lady will take one with the rest of us girls, if that's alright with you." The girl nodded, so I turned to go, but a hand was on my arm.
"Excuse me, but do I really have to share a room with him?" asked Kurogane.
"Unless, you want to sleep on a couch downstairs, then yes." With that, I walked downstairs.
The Mistress was standing there, waiting. "Well? What did you learn about them?" I paused for a moment, hesitating to tell her anything at all.
"The boy's name is Syaoran. The big guy's name is Kurogane, and he gets angry easily. The blond's name is Fai, and he likes to tease Kurogane. He is the most suspicious one of all. His expressions are fake, and it seems the rest of his party is oblivious to that fact." The Mistress looked impatient.
"Okay, but what about the girl? She's the one I'm interested in." Uh-oh. I knew where this was going. She wanted to capture the girl to use as one of her 'girls', if you know what I'm getting at. That life is not one for someone with her innocence. I had better make up a lie.
"Oh, her? Yeah, she seems pretty out of it. You know, flighty and not all there? All I know about her is that she is a Princess of some sort, and the guys all protect her. Maybe they're her knights? But who knows, she's probably a spoiled brat like most princesses." She seemed to believe it, so I sighed in relief.
I felt a tap on my shoulder, and turned around to find the Princess staring into my eyes.
"Excuse me, I'm sorry to interrupt, but could you show me where the bath is? Syaoran and the others agreed that I should take a bath first. Also, I have a question." I nodded, and gestured for her to go on, and to follow me to the bath. She was silent for a few moments, as if struggling to find the words she needed.
"Here we are." I said, and she gathered up the courage to ask me her question.
"If you don't mind me asking, why do your eyes look so sad?" I was stunned. I thought I hid my sadness very well, but here was this girl I'd met only moments ago breaking down my walls. Just what is this girl, and how can she see through my act?
"Actually, I do mind you asking. Very much." She flinched when I said that last statement, then her face dropped. She looked back at me, apologetic.
"I'm so sorry, I shouldn't have said anything."
"No, no, it's alright. I was just surprised, is all. You didn't do anything wrong." I found myself assuring her that it was okay. This girl was strange to me, like foreign territory. Somehow, though, it seemed like I'd seen her before somewhere. Her face was like that of a face I'd seen in my dreams. Shaking it off, I took her arm.
"C'mon, let's take a bath together, and I'll tell you. You seem like the kind of person I can trust." I led her into the bath house, and she looked around in awe.
"How can a bath be this big? I've never seen anything like it!" I chuckled, amused at how much like a little girl she was acting.
"This is called a bath house. You don't have anything like this where you're from?" She shook her head. We took our clothes off and got into the steaming water. It felt really good, seeing as how I was just outside in the cold. The Princess spoke.
"I saw what you did back there for us. I would like to thank you for that." It took me awhile to realize she was talking about defending her and her friends outside.
"No biggie. I simply did what anyone would do. Besides, you're guests, and I would like to see you in better accommodations than a prison cell." Her eyes widened, then she looked at her toes.
"Still, I want to thank you. My name is Sakura. What's yours?" Sakura. So that was her name. Well, I was contemplating giving her my real name, the name I hadn't used in almost a year. I decided it would be for the better, seeing as how they could be my ticket out of here.
"My real name is Kiren, but everyone here calls me Susanna. You see, I'm not from here, just like you guys." She looked puzzled.
"I also come from a different world." I elaborated. She looked stunned.
"How did you—"
"It doesn't matter how I know. The important thing is how you got the power to travel through worlds and why you ended up here, of all places." She paused and just stared at me, as if deciding whether or not to trust me.
"We are here to look for a feather of mine. It has great power, and it often causes misfortune. Have there been any mysterious... occurrences?" Well, she answered one of my questions, but she left the most important one unanswered.
"As far as mysterious occurrences, the only thing that happened recently is the disappearance of a large number of the village's children. It started about a year ago, just after I came here. Children started disappearing out of nowhere. We have no clue what happened, just that the day before, all of the children who disappeared said they saw a black bird. Do you have any clues that might help us?" She shook her head, then seemed to light up.
"Well, my feather could have had something to do with this. Maybe it caused an illusion that led the children away? Do you have any ideas?" I sighed.
"I have my suspicions, but I have no proof. The entire village thinks it's the curse of Princess Emerald." She gave me a questioning look, so I continued.
"The legend is that there once was a princess who lived in the castle by the river. Her name was Princess Emerald. She was engaged to a man she loved very dearly, but he ended up dying in a hunting accident. She was pregnant with his child, but ended up miscarrying due to grief. Some of the men who were with him went to visit the princess, but she cursed them and their children. She said that they'd lose their children one day, just as she lost hers. Then, they say she committed suicide by jumping out of the window. The princess was very fond of black birds, though, and that is why the villagers believe that the children are being led away by black birds to the castle. The castle is cursed, so no one goes there. Everyone is too superstitious to go into the castle. Besides, they have no way to get into the castle anyways, even if they wanted to go. The river is blocking the entrance. There used to be a bridge, but it got destroyed by the flood last spring."
She was quiet for a few moments, then she looked me in the eyes. It seemed like she was tearing up over my story.
"Oh my, that is so sad. Princess Emerald must feel awfully lonely." She was worried about the princess? I was surprised.
"Why do you suppose that? It was Princess Emerald who cursed the villagers." She shook her head.
"She may have cursed them, but only out of anger towards the villagers. When she realized what she'd done, she probably committed suicide."
I thought for a moment, then sighed and shook my head. This girl was clueless.
"I don't think so. I mean, she threw herself out of her window just moments after the villagers went to visit her. Personally, I think the whole story is wack. I mean, Princess Emerald was a real person and all, but there's no way she would ever blame the villagers for what happened. Don't you agree?" Sakura nodded and smiled.
"You know, I think we've met before. Do you recall ever meeting me previously?" I shook my head.
"No, I haven't. Funny you ask, though, because I was about to ask you the same thing. It feels as though we've known each other forever, even though we've only just met." Her head snapped up.
"You know what? I think you're right." And with that, we finished our bath, grabbed our clothes, and exited the bath house.
Sakura and I headed upstairs to let the boys know we'd finished our baths and they could now go and use the bath house. We opened the door to Fai and Kurogane's room and were stunned at what we saw. Fai was clinging to the chandelier, while Kurogane was trying to reach him.
"Get down here, you damn magician, so I can teach you not to mess with me!" Fai gave him a fluffy smile.
"But Kuro-puu, you might accidently hurt me! That wouldn't be very pleasant." I rolled my eyes.
"Fai-san, please get down from the chandelier before it breaks. And Kurogane-san, I would appreciate if you would try to solve your problems in a more civilized, less violent manner." I said with an authoritative tone. At once they stopped goofing around. Sakura informed them of the free bath house. The boy— Syaoran was his name, if I remember correctly— spoke next.
"Thank you, Princess, but I don't really think these two will be willing to take a bath together right now. Perhaps we will use the bath later." He seemed to be a very sweet, down-to-earth kind of person. Out of the blue, I heard the Mistress calling my name.
"Excuse me, but I must take my leave. The Mistress is calling me. If you need anything, just ask one of the other girls." I exited the room, glancing at Sakura before I left. She seemed unhappy that I had to leave so soon. I descended to the first floor and looked around.
"Over here! Help me move these tables around. I don't like the way they look." I stared at her, my mouth agape.
"Pardon my rudeness, but you called me for this? Couldn't you have gotten one of the other girls to help you. You know, one that is stronger than I am? It certainly would have been easier." She put her hands on her hips and huffed.
"Oh, sure. And I suppose it's alright to let my girls do back-breaking work both day and night. Now, don't mouth off to me again, or I'll have you begging for tablescraps like the bitch you are." I glowered at her. How dare she talk to me like that? If only she knew I was a princess, too, before I left my world.
So, I set about helping her move the tables and get them arranged like she wanted them. Once I was done, though, I asked that she not bother me anymore for such trivial things. As I started to walk away, she stopped me with a hand on my arm.
"Wait a second, Susanna. I've been thinking, and I've decided to make you one of my girls. I mean, you're not that bad of a looker. I've actually had some requests for you from the richer men of the village. What do you say? Are you ready?"
I honestly didn't know. When I had first arrived, I had wanted with all my heart to wear the pretty dresses and sit around doing nothing all day like the other girls. Once I learned what it meant to be one of the Mistress' girls, though, I had my doubts. This place was like a more sophisticated, underground whorehouse. The girls were whoring themselves out in order to get money for the Mistress.
In return, they got the best rooms downstairs, the prettiest dresses, the handsomest men, and they got to be lazy with no consequences. I wasn't sure I was ready to lose the most precious thing a young maiden had to offer besides her heart and soul: her virginity. I swatted at the hands of lecherous drunks at night when I worked in the bar. I refused the whispered offers in my ear for a night of 'fun'.
I was sixteen years old when I arrived, and barely so. I had not yet learned the meaning of the phrase 'to become a woman'. So, the girls not-so-kindly told me their version. They explained in great detail what a girl had to do to lose her virginity. They explained sex as if it was an extremely painful, torturous act. That was the price I had to pay for pretty dresses and laziness? I wasn't sure whether or not this would be a good idea.
Nonetheless, I thought I was ready. Anything was better than being ordered around by that old hag all day. No longer would I endure the 'back-breaking labor' that she had me doing.
"I accept your offer, Mistress." These were the words that flew out of my mouth only seconds later. She smiled, and for a moment, I almost thought it was genuine. Then, I saw the gleam in her eye. I knew what that meant: money. It was the only thing she really cared about.
She may have said that she loved her girls like they were her own daughters, but I knew better. These 'daughters' were only a source of money to her. They held this over her, and even made her do their bidding. I looked forward to that, even if the process of getting there would be painful.
"Sarah, you get over here and teach Susanna the basics. Tomorrow night, she will have her first customer. I shall decide who it will be." My blood froze when I heard her say that.
Tomorrow night? Why so soon? I was suddenly afraid of the man she would choose to be my first. Sarah, the only girl who was nice to me, sat me down on her bed. She explained thoroughly what to do to please a man. I shuddered when her explanation was complete. This was becoming very scary very fast. I wasn't even seventeen yet. I ran away from home in order to get out of marrying my uncle, only to find that I may have to sleep with a man even older than him? This was almost too much to bear.
I went to sleep that night, thinking about who I would claim as my first tomorrow. I only hoped that it would be someone at least somewhat close to my age.
Ooh, who's it gonna be? Well, I bet you think you know based on the characters this shows on the summary, but I may just throw in a random person! Wouldn't that be weird? Just so you know, the country of Jade is the place with that creep who hypnotizes the kids into thinking they see black birds and chasing after them. In the actual story, Sakura gets tricked by this illusion and goes to the castle. Princess Emerald does not have a curse, she is only a legend in the eyes of the people. Please know that my story will follow the storyline for the most part, but I will throw in a few random things and change some stuff around in the process. Don't forget to R&R! And please don't be too harsh on me, 'cause this is my first time. Thank you for reading, and I promise that the next chapter will be up soon.