"Only when mankind finds a common enemy can we rise up together and fight,"
"Wait! what are you saying?"
"and when we fight together, we lose it all."
"I dont understand! please stop, come back!"
"Find something to fight for and you will never lose!"
"wait, dont go! tell me what you mean! please-"
"dont forget…"
I suddenly woke up in a state of confusion. My head ached furiously, a sick feeling in my stomach. I widened my eyes in worry, I only felt like this if something bad was going to happen. I ripped the covers off and ran down the staircase in my night gown. Stopping at the second to last stair I peered around the banner to look at the clock. Noon! almost noon! I sprinted back up the stairs to grab a log working skirt and a blouse. i was late for work so i didn't spend time heating up water to bathe in. after locking up my house i ran down the streets, frantic to get to the fields at the end of town. my boss was going to kill me for not being there before sunrise. crap! im gonna die!
My boss was a demonic man with most of the money in the town, he bought me at an auction a couple years back. since i was five i have been under his servitude waiting till i was eighteen to finally be free. at least thats what my contract stated. i could get out earlier if i got a job and paid off my debt, but not many good businesses in town hire children under 16. and i had two good years till then. i was planning to play it safe and just wait it out until my coming of age. so far it seemed forever away. but i am treated and feed very well. i was provided housing quarters in the damper end of town, but it kept me safe and warm.
i finally made it to the farm outside of the Shiganshina district. i headed toward the small storage hut that sat infront of the field. it was were most of the slaves put lunches and other useless articles of clothing and objects before picking up their farming gear. i was about to pull my sack off my back when i realize that i forgot to bring one. i was running so late that i didn't bring a lunch or a sweater for later tonight. i worked the long shift way into the evening and it got considerably colder at night. but this was my fate, i must have worked so late last night that i wore myself out to much to wake up in time.
hopefully the boss wasnt here yet, he usually came to check up on progress around 12:30, judging by the sun, it was a little after noon. hopefully i could make it to my post in time. running out of the hut with my shovel and backhoe i sprinted to my part of the field. i stoped at the spot where i finished last night and grabbed the shovel. i was ready to dig up some potatoes but i was stopped. a grunt from behind me stared the cold shiver through my body, i slowly turned to face the person i feared most to meet. the boss' eldest stood only three or four steps away with a cool expression. he had a tall athletic build covered only by the white undershirt and black office pants. His hair was blonde and smoothed back (cuz he's a suave mutha fucker). His eyes were blue and seemed deep as the ocean from my standing point. He was atleast a foot taller than me, over six feet.
I would have loved to meet the boss over his son. She was much older than me, but his looks were to die for! I would have to be crazy from the heat not to notice his hotness. Looking shakly at the ground I cleared my throat. "I... Ah what are you doing here...master?" I tried not to studder too much.
"just making rounds for my father, he's busy at the moment." he smiled, I could feel the spite I was going to get for being late. "so I hope you were just off on a bathroom break now, hmm" he raised an eyebrow. Being next in line for the inheritance of his father, he wanted to make sure things were operating smoothly... So far I was in the way.
"I... Well... I was up late... No... Well, I slept through..." I stumbled over my words quietly. He suddenly chuckled and I snapped my head up to see what was wrong.
"dont worry, I see how hard you work at night, I'm not as stiff as my father." he smiled at me.
"thank you master..." I looked back down, picking up the backhoe that I dropped at some point I turned back to work. Feeling he would leave soon, but he didnt. "you have work to sir, right? I wouldn't want to keep you..." I kept working.
"don't worry about it, and sir is my father... You can keep calling me master." I shivered internally. He turned to leave, but stopped after a couple steps. "you have been summoned to the house, come during your break." he said before walking away.
I shivered again. oh shite! I thought, im screwed. haha he was funny, scaring me to death. it cant be that bad… maybe they were going to commend me on my good work and set me free. or maybe they didnt tolerate being late and wanted to behead me in public. no, i needed to stop imagining and get back to work. if it was something bad, then hard work could fix it right? feeling like i was going to be murdered by noon, i worked the hardest i had ever worked in years. i think i made up for most of the lost time by finishing a whole row. i was covered in more sweat than usual, infact i dont think ive been this sweaty since my first day when i was young and not use to hard work.
back when they first bought me, i was just five i think. i was malnourished and weak from being held in a cell without any way to really work my muscles. it might have been about a week, but i dont remeber anything before the moment i was thrown in that cell. its like my life started there, i had no memories… none. without sunlight to log the time, i sat for hours in the dim room. it was surprisingly dry, at least in my cell it was. there was a brick on the other side. i had a bed in the middle of the small room, it was chained to the wall, as was i. i coulnt go much farther than the end of the bed, so i couldnt even peer out of the cell bars. it was silent for most of the time, infact, i quite liked the silence. it felt like something i had never experienced before. many people say im distant, i think that time i spent alone is why.
when your alone you have a lot of time to get to know yourself. many old men sit on the side of the streets and tell you it takes a lifetime to understand yourself, i think it only takes some time alone.
i was working the last of my row when jared, a man in about his thirties came to tell me it was noon. we often braked together, meaning we had the same brake times, but i had never actually talked to him. he seemed nice, and suddenly i wanted to spend the afternoon with him then go to the main house. something about death really brought you into a different train of thought. i walked towards the shed, slowly putting way my equipment, shutting the door behind me and making sure it was locked. taking a deep breath, i found the path to the main house and walked in a quick pace, hoping that as soon as i got there it would be over with. it wasnt long before i got to the front door, i slowly put up my hand to knock, but the moment i swung at it the door opened and the family butler was standing on the other side. he seemed tense as he invited me in.
i took a few steps in, afraid of getting the place dirty. i was already aware of how disgusting i was and i hated it, but i put my fear of dirt and grime behind me many years ago. standing completely still i looked around in aw. i had never dreamed of such things, yet these beautiful pieces were infront of me now. statues, paintings, furniture… it was breath taking. i was suddenly pulled forward. The butler had his hand on my back and was guiding me toward the door under the staircase. It was a beautifully crafted door with a gold painted trim, the door itself was intricately designed. The design was a carving of a man slaughtering a pack of wolves. Above the door was a saying, but I couldnt read it. It was aw inspiring and yet it held an ominous aura that made me want to shiver and leave back through the front door. The butler stopped at the door, opened it slowly, and ushered me in.
"thank you, javen." and man at a large oak desk turned in the chair behind it. "that will be all." it was the boss. He laid back, his hands resting on the edge of the desk. "please wait outside." the butler grunted his reply and left. I turned my head to watch him leave. As soon as the door closed I turned back to the boss.
"Ginna, right?" he said.
"ah, Jivana sir." I replied.
"ah yes! that, that is a foreign name correct. Although this civilization is a mixing pot of sorts, your name comes from a far off island correct."
"I don't really know sir."
"yes, I suppose you don't, but," he paused as he lifted himself from his chair. "I do." he smiled at me.
"what do you mean sir...?" what was he getting at.
he sighed greatly then continued, "in this 'mixing pot' we have here, there are two endangered groups of people. Their civilizations were dying out much before the titans attacked... But during the first attack, these two groups had a sudden increase in population, just enough to get a small amount of them here. only a few remain now, and they are very distinguishable from the rest of the population. especially here in Shiganshina." he leaned over his desk to grab a cup and took a slow drink from it. I was too confused and scared to ask more so I sat silently waiting. Finally he looked back at me and continued. "one of the groups from Asia, the Orientals, have pale white skin, sleek black hair and black eyes. The second group, the Warinets, are from an unknow corner of the world. It's believed they came from an island north of the straight that lies between Russia and Alaska. Now they are prized for their beautiful features." his eyes glittered for a second. He looked towards the window behind him the back at me. "do you know what they look like, Jivana?"
"n-no sir..." I answered timidly, he laughed.
"they have the most beautiful green eyes, and their hair is black as night or white as fresh snow. The black hair is common in southern island inhabitants. And the northern inhabitants have the white hair, it's said to glow like gold in the sun..." I shook with fear. He was kidding right! He was just playing with me, he was naming features to freak me out! I couldn't be something like that! I couldn't be from some mysterious society from a north pacific island!
"may I ask a question... Sir?" I asked
"go ahead Jivana." he sat back down in his large chair behind his huge desk.
"w-why are you telling me this..?" I looked at the ground. I was waiting for something bad, but he just laughed. I looked at him tentively. He just leaned back holding my gaze.
"what do you think these two groups are priced at, Jivana." the thought of selling people sent a shiver up my spine.
"I don't know sir..."
smiling he said "guess." he waited for me to give an answer.
"a... A lot...?" I asked. He laughed again, it was getting creepy.
"much more than a lot, Jivana." he stared at me. "much more." he got back up and walked around the desk. He stood in front of it, using the desk to support his weight. "does any of this sound familiar, Jivana?"
"I...I don't really... Understand..."
"did you notice my butler on the way in?" he did not wait for a reply. "he has the most stunning hair and eyes, wouldn't you say?" I thought back. He just seemed normal. I remembered his hair, sleek and shiny black, he also had ashen skin, probably from being inside all day. I couldn't recal his eyes though, infact, I don't even remember looking at them really. I found myself looking at the ground when I came out of my thoughts, I looked back up at the boss, and I really wish I hadn't.
he was standing directly in front of me, eyes gleaming with a look of soft passion, as a mother would look at her child. "tell me Jivana, what color are your eyes?"
"green... I think." I replied, fearing what was on his mind.
"vibrantly so, and your hair... I'd say it is a most stunning blonde when you are working in the fields, but what about now?"
"...blonde?" I asked more than stated. He raised a quizical eyebrow.
"really, I would say its a quite ashen blonde if anything." he grabbed for a lock of my hair, instinctively I pulled back and cringed. Memories of the cell pasted through my thoughts. The boss backed up with an amused look on his face.
"javen!" he called. The butler came in with a small mirror shortly after. He stood off to the side. Looking at the wall on the opposite side of the room.
"go ahead, take a look?" the boss urged. I walked over to the mirror slowly watching my figure appear withing the thick gold frame. My skin was tanned darkly From the years of working in the sun, I was smudged with dirt from head to toe, it was disgusting and I wanted to bathe badly. But the thing that caught my eye most was infact my eyes, he was right. They glowed a vibrant green, light flashing off them as I shifted my gaze. Next to my eyes was my hair, it was down and long, quite unkemped. I hadn't really done anything to my hair in the past year so it was frizzed here and there, but in the sun through the window it glowed brilliant yellow. The shiniest parts of my hair were even glowing white. It was beautiful... But it couldn't be real. He coulnt be saying that I was some member of an endangered tribe.
I looked back at the boss who was quietly drinking some more tea form his cup. When he met my gaze he set his cup down.
"are you saying..." I trailed off.
"that your are related to the Warinets? Not very, just that you resemble them, your features are not common among many you know. It is a possibility, but we would need to test that." he said. His words spoke uncertainty, but his eyes said different.
"but you already know don't you..." I stated. It was a bold move to speak out so, but he was acting off.
"very clever, you remember when I first bought you right?" something on may face told him yes. "I got your blood sample, to test if you were involved in any bad actions before my transaction."
"but how?" I blurted. He laughed.
"the inner walls are more advanced in many ways, Jivana." he smiled the continued with his previous story. "just recently, your blood came back non related to any current mafia members, but it did come back as a positive to javen's blood."
"but... We aren't related..." I looked at javen, "right?"
"probably not. But I believe that every family within the Warinets interconnected, like a family in east Asia. Everyone is apart of the same bloodline, but at some point you have the branch families, still related, just farther off scale." he waited silently, waiting for my reply.
"... So... I'm from this family?"
"what do you think?" I mentally thanked him for the great answer. Looking back at the mirror, I went back over my features. It could be, if some unknow test says so... I looked back at him.
"why tell me this?"
"there's the prized question!" he smiled greatly before sitting back down. "I have a proposition. You are worth more than my fields in the underground my darling Jivana. Selling you would be a lost to my workers, but a great investment." I shivered in fear. "but having you here would prove a great asset to my families lineage, your rare blood would bring such a shine to the family name!" he clapped his hands.
"but-" I was cut off.
"my youngest son, Samuel, is turning sixteen in two months time. I want to introduce you to the family before then." he leaned over the desk and stared intently at me. "I want you to charm him."
"you want me in the family?!" I was surprised. Completely blown away. This was not at all what I expected to happen when I came in an hour ago.
"yes, I want you to charm my son, so much the he will beg for your hand." he stood. "your choice, marriage or the auction."
this was the most cumbersome situation in history. How was I suppose to chose. Did I want another cell, or a marriage with some unknown man? Im only turing fourteen this year and I was being asked to marry or be sold as a slave again!
"but arent I to young?"
"we will need to do something about your speech habits." he turned towards the window. "never mind so much about the age, we can simply lie to the public until you are sixteen." I couldn't decide. I never wanted to go near the underground auctions ever again, but marrying someone you don't know, or love! It seemed unthinkable! It was almost as if someone had told me of the horrors before, but i couldn't remember.
I took a deep breath, "I-"
"settled then!" he turned to me. "javen! Please escort miss Jivana to the upstairs bath, and supply her with something new to wear." the butler just bowed and swiftly "lead" me out the door and up the stairs. He didn't let me even finish my sentence! This was going to be a long night... And if everything when according to his plan, a long couple of years.