Chapter 2 - New Chains
Louise was drawn awake by the sound of someone calling her name. While she knew she needed to answer the summons, the urge to just curl up into a small ball overwhelmed her. "Louise," the voice called again. A hand clasped around her shoulder, shaking her. "Louise!"
A groan left her mouth, one that spoke of restless sleep and the low-quality bedding. Who dares disturb my rest? She grumbled, raising her head from the limp pillow to look at he who dared. In her tired state, it took her a moment before her eyes could properly open an adjust, but once they did, she found herself looking at a somewhat nervous orange Twi'lek she knew as Ren. A sight that she was still getting used to.
"Gah!" she cried, falling off the single bed – another thing she needed to get used to – and onto the cold hard floor. The orange man quickly came to see if she was okay, only to rear back as Louise glared at him with the intensity of an irate dragon.
Though instead of intimidating the alien, it seemed to amuse him as he chuckled at the sight. After helping her up, he gestured to the footlocker on the left side of the bed and she understood his meaning. It was hers, of course, one filled with a spare shirt and pants as well as a pair of thick gaudy gloves, boots, and some strange eyewear – goggles, she reminded herself.
Around her, she could see a few of the Barracks residences pulling out the gloves, boots and goggles, slipping the latter over their heads and around their necks while the former two were slipped on their hands and feet respectively.
"Clothes. On," Ren ordered, moving over to the right side of the bed to access his own locker.
Sighing slightly, Louise grabbed both the gloves, goggles, boots and spare clothes and took them with her into the washroom. Fortunately, it seemed everyone had washed up already, so she was able to change in relative privacy.
As she dressed – an act she felt was quite demeaning, though she doubted her demand for someone else to dress her would go down well – anxiety began to take hold of her heart. It was not because, at any moment, Ren or anyone else could walk in. No, it was the strange feeling that something was going to happen. Whether it would be her finally leaving the stuffy confines of the Barracks or finding someone who could at least speak her language, she did not know.
Just as Louise finished tying up her boots, the loud 'alarm' started buzzing quite suddenly, causing the pinkette to jump in fright, her heart hammering in her chest. With a few curses directed to whomever decided that such an alarm was a good idea, Louise left the washroom just in time to nearly run into Ren, who looked as if he was just coming by to get her himself. The reluctance in his eyes concerned her.
At first, she thought they were going to see the strange man once again, but instead, Ren guided her towards the entryway. Relief crept through her as she realised that she would be leaving the stuffy Barracks and, hopefully, get to see the outside. The door, like before, opened with a hiss, revealing a short pale hallway that led to similar doors at the end. Above, at both ends of the hall, were two oddities called cameras hanging like a metal eye above the doors. Once they reached the end of the hallway, the door opened, and Louise suddenly found herself assaulted by sunlight.
Louise winced, raising a hand to protect her eyes, but once they adjusted, she could not help but let her jaw drop.
While she did wonder about what lies beyond the pragmatic grey walls of the Barracks, she did have an idea of what she hoped to see. What she actually saw, however, destroyed her expectations in a massive fiery ball of disappointment. Thoughts of a town sitting in a wide open green field by a river to a city sprawling within snow-capped mountains were crushed. Instead, she got a small village of strange architecture. She could not even see what land lie beyond the village, but she knew that lush fields and evergreen forests were not a part of it. A few mountains could be seen, but they were far from being snow-capped, instead looking like massive rocks jutting from the ground. The closest one loomed over the village like an ominous spire.
The village was quite large, with quite a few buildings visible, made from just as much metal and strange not-stone as the Barracks she had just left. Not only that but there were several other nearly identical barracks sat next to hers in a grid-like formation with several other beings filtering out of it, all wearing the strange clothes and collar she herself wore. A large metal fence cut the barracks off from the rest of the village, guarded by more of those guards in the strange armour from yesterday.
It was strange, why would there be guards out the front of the Barracks and why would it be fenced off? Silently she cursed the language barrier, once again.
Following Ren's lead, Louise found herself walking through the village, passing several buildings and guards along the way – it seemed that no matter where they walked, there would be a small group of guards watching them as if waiting for something bad to happen. It confused the girl, who knew quite rightly that any village around the same size as the one she was walking through should only have a few guards on standby, the number only rising during wartime.
Louise tried to push these worrisome thoughts from her mind as she walked through the town, towards the massive mountain. Instead, she focused on the architecture, wondering who and how the buildings were created. Obviously, it was impossible for any commoner to build, but the level of skill would require a square-class earth mage at the least to construct the strange buildings. Not only that, but the entire settlement held a strong military vibe to it. Everything was built looking like it could withstand a siege with the amount of metal and not-stone that they were constructed from.
Aside from the buildings, she could also see a few banners waving in the slight breeze. A thick red stripe went down the centre with thin black stripes clamping at the sides; in the centre, a hexagon was embossed in white with a smaller red hexagon hollowing it out, spiked with six tapered arrows that stuck out from the points of the shape. A stylised white arrow sat above and below the shape, pointing up and down respectively. Louise did not recognise it and she had memorised all the coat of arms and heraldry of Halkeginia. A part of her wilted further at the obvious sign she was far from home.
Instead, she continued on towards the mountain.
Louise was not sure how long it took to arrive at the base of said mountain, but if she were to guess, it was twenty to thirty minutes. Tall spire like and made almost exclusively of dark grey like slate, it looked as if it had been stripped by powerful winds. A massive artificial cave was carved into the base of it, and she could not help but realise that what she was looking at was a mine, or at least what her imagination thought a mine looked like.
Around the mouth, she spotted several strange metal wagons sitting off to the side, too large for her to see any of the contents. A few other strange contraptions sat around the entry, some looking far too strange for Louise to decipher their purpose. Instead of focusing on the strange things, however, she found herself focused solely on the mineshaft, especially as it seemed to be her destination.
Entering the wide mineshaft, she passed a large group of sweaty and tired looking beings dressed, once again, similarly to her. They were being escorted by a few of the guards. Briefly, some turned to look at Louise, their eyes glassy and distant, before quickly looking away, towards the natural light of the outside. Unease settled in Louise's stomach as all the pieces started coming together, but desperately she tried to push the thoughts away, rejecting the very idea her mind conjured.
More of the strange static magelights hung from the ceiling, lighting the way.
Eventually, the group reached a wide dead end, deep down in the shaft. Near the entry to said dead end was a rack, filled with strange, bulky musket like things she had seen a few times during her walk here. Off in the corner, was one of those large wagons with a step ladder nearby so people could access it.
Ren pulled up his goggles, which had been hanging around his neck, and placed them over his eyes. Around her, others did the same. With her own goggles, Louise followed along, not quite knowing what was going on. The goggles themselves, felt strange, as if they were constricting a bit around her head, and felt supremely uncomfortable around her eyes. Her distress, however, was thankfully noticed. Unfortunately, the one to come over and assist her was the big hairy thing known simply as the Wookie. She felt herself tense as the wookie came to her side, pulling the goggles off her head – something that felt quite painful as it seemed to pull on her hair. He, or at least she assumed it was a he, adjusted the strap around the back, handing it to Louise to try it on.
After trying it on, she found that it was a bit too loose. After a bit more back and forth, she finally found her goggles fitting nicely around her head, though there was still the uncomfortable suction feeling around her eyes. "Eh… thank you, Mr Wookie," Louise said awkwardly, not really knowing his name or anything.
The wookie growled back with a nod and for some reason, she felt as if he were saying something along the lines of 'your welcome'.
Once that was out of the way, Ren said something in his strange language to the gathered group. The group replied and the orange Twi'lek turned towards the rack, collecting one of the strange muskets. Walking back to the gathered crowd, he presented the gaudy and heavy looking object to Louise, speaking in his strange tongue. "Mining laser," he repeated, once, twice, and a third time, gesturing to the metallic monstrosity.
Louise looked at the so-called 'mining laser' – whatever that was – with apprehension.
Taking it in hand, she swore, nearly dropping the piece of equipment onto the floor in surprise for how heavy it actually was. She tried readjusting her grip on the tool but found her poorly muscled arms inadequate. Eventually, she settled it on the floor, holding it upright. Fortunately, none of the beings around her were laughing at this inadequacy, but that did not stop the blush from adorning her ears. In actuality, everyone seemed to be looking at her sadly.
Ren sighed, picking up her laser and trying to teach her the best way of holding it to save her strength. It was still unwieldy, but because of the added assistance, she could finally hold it up on her own. Once pleased that she wasn't going to drop it, he began listing off the names of several parts of the mining laser such as the grip, the barrel, and the trigger.
Picking up a mining laser of his own, he gestured for Louise to follow. He took her near a part of the wall which looked partially melted and cracked with a bit of shine to it that she assumed was ore. With ease that spoke of years of practice, Ren pointed the laser at the wall, just around the ore, and after fiddling with a small nob on the side, he pulled the trigger.
What Louise expected from the strange musket was not what she got. Instead of a loud bang followed by a flash and some smoke, instead, it was more of a 'pew' sound, followed by a beam of some form of orange light that slammed into the wall, carving, and melting into it like solid fire.
Louise, naturally, reacted poorly to the strange sight and sound, dropping the mining laser with a squeal, backing away quickly, her heart hammering in her chest. Nobody laughed, instead continuing to watch the girl sadly.
And suddenly, that small thought she tried desperately to banish returned with a vengeance.
Ren shook his head and tried to help Louise pick up the mining laser, but she would not cooperate. Standing up abruptly, she crossed her arms and scowled at Ren. "No!" she hissed, her body shaking. "I will not be forced to… to sully my hand with such labour!"
Ren shook his head, saying something in his language to the rest of the group who broke off, picking up a few of the mining lasers to begin blasting at the walls.
Her breathing quickened. Ren moved up to her, his eyes kind, but she ignored him
He continued speaking, sounding pleading, as he tried to get her to pick up the mining laser.
"No! There must be a mistake," she said, pleading with the Founder above to let them understand her. "I can't be a miner! I can't! I'm Louise François de Blanc de La Vallière! I'm the daughter of a Duke! I'm-I'm," her voice faltered, sounding desperate, "I'm a mage!"
Her eyes stung, tears welling up. Her words felt hollow to her ears. She pulled off her goggles, throwing them to the floor and rubbed her eyes, trying desperately to stop crying.
A hand grasped her shoulder, holding her still. She tried to remove the hand, glaring at Ren, but his hand held strong. "Louise," he said, he said pleadingly. "Louise."
"No!" She shouted, moving away from the Twi'lek. "I am not some… some miner!" Tears continue to fall down her face, an aching pain making itself known in her chest. "I can't!" she cried. "I-I just… I just want to go home!"
Two strong arms wrapped around her. She struggled against them, trying to break free, but they were just too strong. Her fighting slowed, and she broke down into a sobbing mess.
"Louise," Ren said focusing her eyes on him. He continued speaking, but the only words she could understand was 'no' and 'food'. She could piece together the meaning easily enough: If you don't work, you wouldn't get any food. But it was so… alien to her it was difficult to comprehend. She had to work for food and if she did not, she would starve.
Part of her wanted to do just that; to just die. Her life had practically ended. She was stuck in a land she knew nothing about, trapped in some sort of job against her will. Her entire life had been ripped from her and she had no idea what to do.
Ren shook her gently. "Louise…" he said, pleadingly. He picked up the mining laser, holding it out to her. "Louise."
Louise looked up at the orange alien with stinging eyes. She wanted to argue, to yell and scream. But, she could not bring herself to. She took the bulky tool in hand and took to work, Ren guiding her every step of the way.
…
Louise did not know how long she had been down in the mines, several hours at least. She had taken a few breaks throughout it, which a few others had done, but aside from that, she had been working.
At the moment, she was blasting into the walls, her mind focused purely on wrenching free a stubborn piece of ore. Her arms ached, the mining laser recoiling every time she fired off… whatever magic it ran on, and despite her determination, she could not block out the pain. Small chunks of rock flung from the walls where she blasted, snapping off the nearby walls and stinging her arms and face. It was unbearable, but she found herself unable to care. Exhaustion and hunger ached inside, the few times she had tried to ask Ren when they would be taking a break or get fed, but all he did was shake his head. She had even tried to take a nap a few times, but the sound, heat and uncomfortable rocky ground did little. All she got out of that was more filth to mar her already soaked with sweat clothes.
She hated this. She loathed this. But she could do nothing.
Pausing in her mining, leaning the mining laser against the wall as she licked her dry lips, trying to moisturise them. Shaking her arms, she tried to rid the aches, but it did little to nothing to rid herself of the painful feelings.
A loud blearing sound echoed from deep within the mineshaft, her head sluggishly moving towards the wall. Everyone else in the tunnel stopped their mining and turned towards the mouth of their little spot, and almost immediately, they began to pack up, placing their mining lasers on the rack.
Louise blinked a few times. Are we done now?
A hand grabbed her shoulders, startling the Pinkette. Ren looked down at her with a slight smile, gesturing to the rack that was slowly filling up with mining lasers. A small smile of her own graced her lips as she used a sudden and inexplicable supply of energy to drag the mining contraption onto the rack.
It was almost like a huge burden had been pulled off her shoulder, yet her body still ached. With Ren guiding her, making sure she did not fall over, despite her body wishing to just rest she followed her little group out of the mineshaft. She did not even notice when they acquired a few guards to guide them.
Once out, she shuffled along, however instead of walking to the Barracks, they arrived somewhere different. A big, flat building built nearby to the fence that blocked the Barracks from the rest of the village. Inside, she found herself in what she could only call the dining hall, though it was different than any dining hall she had seen.
Her stomach growled, once again reminding her of her hunger. Holding her hand to her stomach, she followed the group up to a counter which seemed to be where they collected their food. Lining up with Ren in front of her and one of the few humans behind her, she waited.
Eventually, it was her time to collect, only to momentarily be stunned upon realising who or rather what was giving her food. It looked like a golem, but keeping in line with the strange land she found herself in, it was made of metal. Glowing eyes looked at her with no emotion as it handed her a metal tray filled with some strange grey gruel.
Had Louise been in any other mindset, she would have reacted in some way, but instead, she just took what she was given and took a seat next to Ren.
As she suspected, it tasted bland. She had no idea what words could best describe the taste, so bland was the best way she could explain it. Nevertheless, Louise found herself too hungry to ignore the paste and quickly found herself devouring it with gusto.
Yet, when the tray became empty, her stomach still growled.
Turning to Ren, she gestured to the tray, trying to best to tell him 'May I have some more,' with hand movements and the little bit of the language she had learned.
The answer was no.
Soon after what she assumed was dinner, considering the low hanging orange sun in the sky, she and the rest of the miners were whisked away to the Barracks. The wish the quickly bathe was at the forefront of her mind, but upon touching down on her bed, she collapsed, her body unwilling to continue. And almost instantly, she fell asleep.
And in her state of unconsciousness, Louise dreamed. Actually, it was less a dream, and more of a memory, one that happened so long ago, yet it seemed so close.
A young Louise sat in a beached rowboat by the lakeside near La Vallière Manor. In each hand, she held a pair of well-made dolls. One was made in that of a manticore, while the other looked like a stylised knight. Both, while well made, were worn by time and rough play, much as she was doing now, smashing them together in mock battle.
The lakeside rowboat was a haven, a place where she would often visit whenever she wished to be alone. Today, she was here to calm down after having her wand confiscated for the foreseeable future, all because of her sister's jeers. It wasn't my fault I blew up the couch. Big Sister Éléonore was the one who started it! she seethed bitterly, smashing her dolls together violently.
It had all started when she finished with her magical theory tutor. Éléonore had immediately set in, telling her that she was wasting her time with her tutor, that she was a failure with magic. Her sister had even voiced a budding theory as to why her magic was faulty; because the real Louise died during childbirth and she was just a replacement. On the verge of tears, Louise shouted back that she was a mage and tried to prove this by levitating a quill.
As a result, the feather was annihilated and the furniture around it destroyed.
Neither their mother or father had been pleased. Louise and Éléonore were forced to clean the room without magic, while Louise had her wand confiscated. The eldest of the three Vallière children was the most vocal about what she had called 'servant work' but was quickly silenced by a rebuke from Mother. The youngest, on the other hand, kept her mouth shut, knowing it was best to listen to her parents. She loved them dearly, but they both could be frightening at times.
The room was soon cleaned to the best of their abilities, or Louise's as Éléonore made an effort to do the least of the work while complaining about it the most. Louise knew that Éléonore would have preferred to make a few snide comments directed at Louise, but she too held her tongue, fearing her parents' ire.
Once they were finally let free, the Pinkette left the house to be alone; something she found she did increasingly often as she grew up and her mistakes were tolerated less. Sometimes, it was better on the mind to be away from her family, though she would prefer if she could spend more time with Cattleya, her other older sister. Unfortunately, she was ill and some days, the strain of daily life was too much. Sometimes, Louise wished her magic worked and that she was a water made, just so she could try and heal her sister.
So here she was, sitting in the rickety old rowboat, eyes welling from the tears she would not shed as she played with her dolls. However, as she focused on smashing them around, she did not notice the mist that formed around the boat, that is, until a voice drew her attention.
"Louise…" The voice was cold, commanding and undoubtedly male. It was strange because, one, this voice was alien to her memory, and two, she felt as if she knew the speaker.
Louise dropped her dolls in surprise, glancing around at the mist around her with apprehension. As if triggered by her gaze, the mist turned red from white.
Startled, she dropped down deeper into the boat, peeping over the side at the blood-red haze. Looking deep into the crimson haze, the pinkette inexplicably felt several emotions flow through her, hate, anger, pain, loss, envy, sorrow, fear every negative emotion that she could conceive existed and with them, memories of the past. From the first time, she used magic, to the hundredth, each a failure. When the teasing from her sister and the whispered comments from the servants started to when they became commonplace. From overhearing her father say that she shouldn't attend the academy, that she would be expelled before she reached the third year. All memories of her time at home with her family.
Pain racked her body, extreme and alien as the memories and emotions overwhelmed her. She fell to the floor, unable to hold herself up, crawling into the fetal position as the pain continued to lance through her body. Her arms crushed her ears with her hands, trying to stop the cruel voices.
Soon the memories moved to the Academy, and just like before, memories flashed within her vision, and along with the memories came the negative emotions tied. At first, the emotions were weak, Louise had hoped the institution would be able to help with her magic issues, but as the days went on and her failure became infamous, the prospect of help seemed less likely and she fell to depression, anger, and hate.
In the murky darkness, Louise began to hear whispers, starting off as incomprehensible voices at the edge of her hearing range, then increasing in volume and intelligibility. As the voices rose, as did the pain.
The voices repeated every insult, every snide comment dealt at her, the voices of her family, the students and the staff of the academy each ringing into her ear, telling her of her inadequacies. Eventually, Louise could not take it anymore, she got up off the ground, finding herself surrounded by her family and from school, each looking at her with looks of disdain their voices still playing in her head.
"Quite!" Louise bellowed, glaring at everyone around her. "Shut up!"
The voices grew despite her protests, shouting at her, that she was a failure, the bane of their existence, an abomination. That she deserved her fate, that she deserved much more.
"Just. Shut. Up!" she screamed.
"Louise…" the commanding and cool voice returned, though this time it was filled with a hint of something strange. The figures around her flinched back in shock, then, as if by magic, they started to blow away as if dust in the wind. And soon enough Louise was alone again.
"Louise…" the voice repeated, this time emanating from behind her. Louise spun around eyes blazing with hate, fear and anger at whoever it was, but upon seeing the being, she stumbled back fearfully
The figure that stood before her was that of a man, glowing transparent blue, standing tall and imposing. The spectres face was obscured by a mask formed in a twisted depiction of a human skull. Robes were draped around him leaving no skin to be seen, with armoured shoulders, gloves and boots showing him to be a warrior of some kind.
Silence drew out, the empty voids where its eyes should be staring deep into her soul, melancholy filling the air. "Come, find me…" He said looking down at the pink-haired child, then after a measurable pause, "Slave…"
Before the youngest Valliere could say anything in response, the world darkened around her.
Louise woke, gasping for air. Her shirt was drenched in sweat. Never in her life had she ever experienced a dream so realistic, the spectres voice still rang in her ear.
Around her, everyone else slept, the magelights dead, blanketing the room in darkness.
She huddled herself into a ball, breathing deeply, trying to calm herself down.
"Slave…" Louise mumbled, rolling the word around in her mouth. She knew, just knew somehow, that it was a word in that strange language Ren and everyone else spoke, yet she knew exactly what it meant. It had never came up when Ren tried teaching her one lesson, but despite this, she just knew.
Slave; Someone who was the property of another. She had heard the word said by a few of the guards, using it to both her and her fellow miners.
Unease settled deep within Louise as she thought about the word and what it meant to her, but she could not do anything about it now in the dark of midnight.
So, she tried to fall asleep once more, knowing she would need the energy tomorrow.
The next day, Louise found herself being shaken awake by Ren, once again. This time, it seemed earlier in the morning. Noticing that she was still in her dirty clothes, she quickly left to go and wash and get changed. Once done, she found herself sat down on Ren's bed as he tried his best to renew her lessons of the alien language. First, he began to revise her on the words he had taught her the day previous, then tried teaching her other words, adding to her knowledge of nouns, verbs, and adverbs.
During this, an uneasy pit formed in her stomach, the urge to ask him about that word from that night before. But every time she tried to open her mouth to ask, the question would not come out.
The alarm soon sounded, heralding the painful labour that was to come. The day passed much like it did yesterday, with them walking from the Barracks to the Mine, the long, long hours of work without food or proper breaks. Yet, despite this, Louise did not complain. Instead, she worked, slow and methodically. Occasionally, she would take a break, to conserve her energy, but when the guards walked by to check up on the work, she found herself already toiling away.
As she blasted away at the stone and ore, occasionally collecting ore she mined and throwing them into the metal wagon, she thought about the night previous. The pit from the night before grew like the hungry void as her mind processed everything. The word playing over and over again: Slave.
By the time her 'shift' ended, Louise already understood what was going on, she knew exactly where she was and what she was doing. But she wanted confirmation, full verbal confirmation. So when she sat down with her tray of distasteful gruel, she knew she had to ask, but the uncomfortable pit made it difficult to get the words out.
Halfway through her meal, she felt she was ready to ask.
"Ren?" Louise called. The orange Twi'lek turned to face her. She took a deep breath, settling her stomach. "You… slave?"
Despite her broken speech, Ren's expression said it all. Shock froze his face, his eyes widening before turning pitiably.
Louise was not satisfied by his response; he hadn't answered the question.
So, she asked once more. He looked as if he was considering telling a lie, but eventually, he gave her a grim look before nodding in confirmation.
Unlike her teacher's reaction, Louise seemed eerily calm despite the news; in reality, she had felt as if someone had hit her in the gut with the air hammer spell. Despite her suspicions, finding out that someone was a slave was different than assuming. Trying to calm her inner turmoil Louise asked her final question. "I… Slave?"
Ren hesitated, then nodded.
At first, Louise did nothing, just sitting there blankly. But slowly, her breath became deeper, her hands shaking as the confirmation settled within her.
She was a slave.
A growl tore from her throat. "No, no, no… No!" she screamed, her voice echoing around the cafeteria. Everyone, including the guards, stopped and focused on Louise.
"I am not a slave!" she continued, slamming her fists down onto the metal table, spilling some of her gruel. "I am Louise Françoise de Blanc de La Vallière! Daughter of Duke and Duchess de La Vallière!" She stood up from the bench and marched towards the nearest guard who had his weapon drawn, but not raised.
Louise did not back down.
Stopping in front of the guard, Louise looked straight into his mask with the face of unadulterated anger and outrage before shouting "I am a noble and I demand that you let me go!" Bits of spittle splattered against the visor of the guard.
The guard looked at her for a moment, then, from his belt, he pulled a little cylinder and pressed the top.
For a moment, she stood slightly confused. Then the most intense and agonising pain she had ever felt in her short life lanced through her like her veins were filled with the purest flame imaginable. She crashed to the floor, her muscles spazzing as a scream that spoke of both horror and pain pierced the air.
Eventually, searing hot pain stopped, but her entire body still ached. Louise felt like death, she just wanted the pain to stop. She tried to pull herself off the floor, but she could only raise her head before darkness took her.
