"Gold."

'Who's there?'

"Protect him."

'Who?'

"... Protect him."

'Yeah, but who?'

In return, the wailing of the woman became more frantic, terrified that it shocked Gold to the core as everything enveloped into darkness. Flashes and wisps of memories that weren't hers flashed through her mind, but they were all too fast for her to comprehend. Despite that, Gold knew it wasn't good.

"Save him!"

'Who?!'

"SAVE HIM!"

The voice started screaming until it became nothing but static in her ears. The girl was beginning to think that it stopped, until a cold whisper blew in her ear.

"Aladdin."

Forest green eyes shot open and the blonde haired girl shot upright in shock. She sighed in relief when she found that she was still in her room. Gold ran a hand through her thick, sweat filled hair and tried to calm her rapid heart beat.

"Another dream, huh?"

These dreams, if you could call them that- have been happening frequently; every night actually. A woman, yelling, wailing, crying, sometimes, if Gold was lucky, she would just be whispering and save her the headaches.

But lately, it was more yelling than whispering.

And everynight, they would get louder, and louder until she felt like her whole head would explode off.

It didn't. But sometimes, she wished it did.

"Who are you? And who's Aladdin?" She couldn't help but wonder aloud, and then she chuckled to herself.

It was only a dream. It wasn't real. It was all in her mind. But the shiver that ran up and down her spine told her otherwise.

There was a knock at the door causing Gold to jump up in shock and accidentally let out a squeak. The door swung open to reveal a white haired girl with a blank expression. The expression didn't change when she saw Gold staring at her like a deer caught in headlights.

"G-good morning, Mera," Gold gulped. Did she hear anything? But the white haired girl only blinked.

"Get ready, work starts soon and you know how the master hates tardiness," her voice was flat and monotonous, and most of the time, it creeped Gold out.

"S-sure." The door closed, and Gold let out a sigh that she didn't know she was holding and laid back on the bed. The blonde haired girl raised her arm to block the sunrays from her eyes.

Gold really didn't feel like going to work. Last night, she could barely sleep because the dreams kept waking her up making her go to the bathroom because each time she woke up, she was always drenched in sweat like she had run a marathon.

After that, she would be scared to fall asleep and tried to stay up but eventually, she did anyway.

"Why can't I be like those rich bastards and drown my sorrows in wine?" She couldn't help but ask.

"Couldn't sleep, huh?" Kai chuckled. He knew about Gold's dreams, which was a big mistake on her end since he constantly made fun of it.

"But to answer your question, it's because we're poor and underaged," he said.

"Not for long, I'm going to be 18 in 3 years," Gold pointed out.

"That's very long and even if you did, you're still poor," he retorted.

"I'll go capture a dungeon or something," and then she smiled, "Like Sinbad." It was no secret that Gold admired the man. She can't read, so she opted to hear bits and pieces from people. From what she's gathered, he used to be a unknown merchant, to the King of his own country which he built from scratch. And on top of that, he conquered the Seven seas, and seven dungeons.

Gold heard capturing one dungeon was a feat, so seven was just... Wow.

Kai rolled his eyes.

"Dumbass, the dungeons around here are guarded and you'll die before you get the chance," he suddenly scoffed, "Like Sinbad? Don't be like that dumb moron. He's just lucky. Lucky and arrogant to get what he wanted and I heard he's a womanizer. Probably slept with their wives to get them to agree to join that stupid alliance."

Unlike her, Kai hates Sinbad. He hates anything to do with rich people and royalty. Gold heard it was because his parents sold him off to royalty to pay off their debts and they kicked him out because he created such a ruckus. So here he was.

But those were rumors and Gold didn't dare to ask.

"Maybe... But it's so cool that he used to be one of us and now, he's the King of his own country and the Seven Seas." Gold wished she had the courage to do what he's done, but she was just a lowly slave with no knowledge of what to do. Kai rolled his eyes.

"Whatever. You dream too much," he said.

"And you dream too little," she countered. His face turned cold.

"It's easier to be realistic than to have your dreams crushed." Gold sighed and stared up at the sky which was slowly getting brighter.

"Yeah... I know."

Suddenly, trumpets blasted through the air causing Gold to jolt up in shock. She glanced behind from where the sound was heard and she faintly heard the sound of rhythmic footsteps.

"Make way for the First Imperial Prince of the Kou Empire, Ren Kouen, and the Third Imperial Prince of the Kou Empire, Ren Kouha!" A man blared as he marched in front of a carriage. Soldiers with sharp swords and spears marched beside the carriage and Gold hated to think of who would be stupid enough to try and attack.

Instantly, all people, slaves and masters alike kneeled to the floor in a bow, their hands clasped in front of them, and their heads down. Kai elbowed Gold in the ribs and the golden haired girl scampered to do the same.

Soldiers passed by and a large shadow passed by them. Subtly, Gold peeked up from between her bangs and from the window, she could easily see a red haired man with a goatee and a girl? No, they were both princes, so it was definitely a boy. He had pretty pink hair and eyes to match.

Gold has never seen them before, she's never seen any of the Imperial family before since she was a slave and slaves never got to go to the big events. Unknowingly, she lifted her head a bit more to see if she could get anymore. The pink haired boy noticed her sudden movement and glanced her way. Pink eyes locked into green ones and Gold quickly ducked her head, letting her blonde hair cover her face.

Her heart thumped loudly and Gold gulped hoping that he wouldn't notice. It was a thing around here, slaves are not allowed to make eye contact with members of the Imperial family. It was a sign of disrespect and usually ended in punishments which put you near death or worse.

But the carriage went on smoothly and soon, they were out of sight and they rose. Gold breathed heavily like she was having an asthma attack.

"Well, stupid royality, why the fuck do we have to bow everytime they come along?" Kai grumbled and glanced at her now noticing her pale face.

"What's wrong? Did you inhale some dust?" Kai asked. Gold wished she did. The blonde gulped and stared after where the carriage had disappeared to. It didn't look like it was turning around or stopping anytime soon.

So... Should she be worried, pissing her pants or what? Gold wasn't sure.

"Come on, we're already behind schedule thanks to those royal idiots and you know how Neffi hates being behind schedule," Kai grumbled and started walking.

"Yeah..." Glancing one more time over her shoulder, Gold trailed after her friend.

Please tell me how much this sucks or if there are any mistakes whatsoever. Review and like and however this thing work :p