Chains of Sorrow Chapter 2: Aiko
Hey! So originally I was planning on updating this story according to my usual bi-weekly schedule, but after I saw how positive the reception has been so far, and since I've just finished this chapter, I figured 'why hold it back'. So here you go! Enjoy!
"Waves break in the silence,
Peace shatters all around,
Through the storm I feel your guidance,
To your heart I am bound..." - Eurielle
Drip...
Drip...
Drip...
The sound of the leaking pipe hanging above her was driving Yuuki half insane.
When she had first arrived it had been an orgy of sound. The moment she was carelessly thrown out of the transport she and the other slaves had been stuffed into, her ears were assaulted by a cacophony of sound that she was sure would stick with her for the rest of her life...
However long that was.
As she was led through the opulent facility, she was sure her head would explode from the overwhelming stimuli threatening to overwhelm her senses.
The odious cheers of auction goers as the newest slave was thrown onto stage. The maddening thumping of fist against flesh, along with the ever familiar cracking of plasma whips, accompanying the screams of recently sold slaves being 'introduced' to their new masters.
When she first arrived she wanted nothing more than to block out the noise, to pretend that it didn't even exist. That none of it existed.
But now? Now she sat in a cold, dank cell, surrounded by nothing but her thoughts and that damned pipe?
What she wouldn't give for a distraction from this oppressive silence, even if it meant enduring the gut twisting sounds of the suffering of her fellow slaves.
Of course... It would be her turn soon enough.
Her gaze slowly trailed down to her hand, which had long transformed into an ugly purple mess. Each of her fingers had been bent in different unnatural angles, with not even her thumb spared from her 'punishment'.
It hurt.
Not the sharp agonizing pain of her bones snapping and her muscle stretching.
No; now it just ached, just enough for her to be consistently reminded of Sugou's sadistic laughter as she had submitted to him.
"Would you just shut up and get the hell in there?!"
Yuuki very nearly missed roar of the guard. His harsh voice barely echoed above the ear grating sound of the rusty cage door being yanked open.
Yuuki found herself staring dumbly up at the scene before her as the body of a young woman was shoved onto the hay covered ground beside her.
She certainly seemed well cared for compared to herself.
Her clothes weren't all that bad, considering her status. It was simple, but nothing was torn, none of it old and filthy. Honestly, if she hadn't just been thrown like a sack of meat, Yuuki would have actually assumed this girl to be a less well-off citizen of Aincrad.
No bruising, no scarring.
No damn broken fingers.
Even a bright red ribbon, accented by golden designs on either end, held her long dark brown hair back in a rough ponytail, like a little flame flickering amongst a sea of depressingly dim grays and blues.
"A-are... You okay?..." Yuuki finally seemed to find it within herself to call out to the girl, though her voice seemed to manifest as little more than a docile whisper.
She was rewarded for her concern with a small nod as the other girl pulled herself off of the floor of the cage, spitting out a stray bit of grimy hay from her mouth.
"Yeah.. Yeah, I'm fine..."
The girl's eyes were soon scanning Yuuki's dirt-caked form, eventually settling on her gross, mangled excuse for a hand.
"Your hand?-..."
"My Master..."
"Ah..."
And with an introduction that would have made an anti-social cobra burst out in laughter, an awkward silence fell over the two girls in a matter of moments.
Drip...
Drip...
Goddamnit.
Eventually though- after what seemed like an eternity and a half- the brown haired girl spoke up, much to Yuuki's relief.
"...So what's your name?"
"Huh?..." Yuuki hummed with a subtle tilt of her head, "Oh, Z-3-K-K-3-N..."
"No, silly... I meant your name. The one the Masters didn't give you." In a moment she was leaning against Yuuki, seemingly unconcerned with the bloody mud transferring onto her previously pristine shirt, "Your real one."
"...Yuuki." The violet haired girl mumbled, "You?..."
"A-1-K-O... Aiko, for short." The girl, Aiko, was almost infectiously positive in her demeanor. She wasn't chipper though. No; no one in their right mind could possibly be chipper in a hellish situation like theirs.
Instead she seemed to radiate some sort of calm comforting warmth that seemed to brighten the room with Aiko's very presence.
It was... Nice...
"...Your name's your IDN?" Yuuki finally asked, realizing she'd gone and stared at the poor young woman for the better part of a minute.
"Yeah... I requested it."
"What? Why would you?-..."
"Because... I just figured 'hey, why not just make the best of a bad situation'?" Aiko shrugged as her eyes danced around the tiny cramped cage, "My Master was understanding. He had my IDN tag changed."
"He can't be all that understanding if you're sitting here with me..." The violet haired girl said as she brought her knees up to her chest.
Ah, shit... Since when had her foot been covered in those disgusting looking pus nodules?
Had she gone and contracted something from the dirty hay? Great. Just another thing to add to the list.
"He wasn't-... Unfortunately he wasn't the type of person I thought he was..." Aiko's response turned Yuuki's attention back towards her, "He purchased a new cadre of slaves just last week, and I was just taking up space... I was locked in the 'Basement' for a month before he finally made the choice to sell me."
"So your Master had a 'Basement' too?"
"Of course, it's pretty standard across the trade." Aiko explained, "I was one of the few slaves my Master had that was allowed out of the Basement on a semi-daily basis... That all stopped when the new slaves arrived..."
"I'm sorry..."
"Don't be. Who knows-..." Aiko's solaced smile made yet another appearance, "Maybe we'll even end up with the same Master by the end of this."
Yuuki finally felt the corners of her own mouth tilt up as she nodded along to Aiko's sentiment.
It felt so... Foreign to her. How long had it been?...
"Yeah..."
"...Hey, mind if I just take a look at your hand?"
"Oh..." Yuuki blinked, glancing down to her injured hand before nodding, "Uh, sure..."
It seemed like an innocent request; a mindless motion that wouldn't normally register in the conscious mind in a million years.
Of course 'mindless' wasn't exactly the one of the words that was buzzing about Yuuki's mind as she felt her muscles and tendons groan in protest to her audacious movement. It burned as she lifted her arm, nearly sending a hiss of pain between her teeth.
Was her shoulder still dislocated?... Damn. She'd half hoped it had been knocked back into place when they'd first thrown her in this cage...
She had little time to think about it, as moments later she felt the stinging comfort of Aiko's hair and wrapping around her fingers like a bandage.
"What're you?-..."
"What I have to. The buyers; they can't see this..."
It had to be hidden. It had to be, even if only until she had been bought and paid for.
Aiko was no fool. She knew full well how an injury like that could affect a slave's chances at being purchased.
Having a broken hand meant she was considered damaged goods to most. Who wants a slave who can't do something as simple as lift an object with both hands? It was like knowingly purchasing a transporter that had a leaking power cell.
Right now? Right now, she was useless to most.
The only ones that would want damaged commodity like her would be those uninterested in her ability to perform physical labor... And that in of itself was a thought that could turn any slave's stomach on end.
"There... That should hold."
With one last pat, Aiko gently guided Yuuki's hand back onto her lap.
"But-... Your ribbon!..." Yuuki seemed much less calm about the girl's actions, "If we're bought by two different people, you'll never see it again."
Aiko merely shrugged.
"Then I guess we'll just have to make sure the same Master buys us, huh?" With that, Aiko let a small giggle pass between her lips.
It sounded so soft, so innocent. Like it held some small spark of light. The light that could never truly reach a place as decrepit as this.
Yuuki had almost forgotten the sound of laughter. How sweet it could sound...
At least... Laughter that hadn't come from her Master as he-... No... No, she couldn't think about that now.
"So do you have any idea when they'll bring food?" Aiko asked as she toyed with a small bit of hay, "I haven't eaten in a few days."
"No..."
"You don't know?"
"You aren't fed here."
"Oh..." The brown hair girl let out an annoyed sigh, "I guess they want us weak and docile, huh?"
"No. Knowing my Master it has nothing to do with that... He just wants us to suffer."
Yuuki found herself nervously combing her fingers through her matted hair as her mind's eye conjured the image of her Master standing over her, his self aggrandizing sneer adorning his face.
Would she ever forget it?... What he did to her?...
"Your Master is the Auction House's owner then?"
"Mhm... I'm part of his latest batch." Yuuki clarified as she wiped her hand of the dried blood that she'd scrapped out of her hair, "I was one of his 'favorite', believe it or not..."
"He's got a strange way of showing favoritism."
"If you stand out, you're targeted. I naturally stood out to him..." A long pause hung in the air, "So I was targetted whenever he was in a bad mood."
Yuuki found herself dragging her finger over her arm as she spoke. It was covered in so many bruises and scabs that she was honestly surprised she still recognized her own natural skin color through the disfigurations.
"This was all while he was in a bad mood?!... How?-..."
"He's always in a bad mood..."
Drip...
Drip...
Drip...
"Do you-... Do you think there's such a thing as a kind Master?..."
Yuuki found herself choking on her own question, as if the very idea was so abnormal her mouth physically fought against her to prevent her making a fool of herself.
"...I'd like to think so. Somewhere out there..." Aiko's reply seemed to come so much more naturally, "I mean, there have to be a few out there, right?..."
"Yeah, and maybe they'd actually feed us something besides bread and water for once." Yuuki found herself smiling once more. A small smile, but a smile none the less.
It was strange.
Even in a place like this, surrounded by cold iron bars, while lounging on hay that was probably near as old as themselves
There was no doubt; they were in the depths of despair, and there was little to no hope of being pulled away from it.
No. They would be purchased by another Master, they would be thrown into their dungeon, and they would start this entire cycle over once more.
It was just reality.
But for now?... Perhaps maybe, just maybe, they could deceive themselves...
If only for a while...
