Hello people of the internet. I wanted to get this chapter up before Thursday, since I wont be at my computer for two days after that, so hurray, this chapter is on time, kind of. At least, it is in the wacky schedule at have inside my head. Oh, and before I forget, thank you for everyone who wished for me to get well soon and the like. That's so nice of all of you, I feel much better now : )

So, who's in the mood for some shameless self advertisement? Haha, sorry about that, but I just wanted to say that I started another +anima multi-chapter fic. It's called Humanity, and has to do with Husky as Prince Myrrha. If anyone's interested, you can… um… go read that. Once again, sorry about the shameless advertising.

Chapter 20 - Of Slavery and Separation

Keane wasn't sure how much longer it was when Straton finally fell into a light sleep, it couldn't of been longer than an hour. It was obvious that the blonde was exhausted from struggling against their captor. Thinking of that man, Keane couldn't help but rub the back of his head. It still stung from when he'd been knocked out.

For what felt like the millionth time, the redhead scanned the cellar for something that would aid in their escape. It was as hopeless as every other attempt though, there wasn't anything here. Well, there were crates of fruits, yes. Straton had already fallen asleep when he'd got they idea that they could still eat. Before he actually did though, the redhead decided against it. They were already in enough trouble, so while yes, they needed to eat, he didn't want to add anything else to what they needed to worry about. Maybe if they were good, the vender man might not be as rough on them this time… It was a childish thought, but he couldn't help but hold out just a little hope.

The redhead wasn't able to get to sleep that night, not with his topsy-turvy sleeping schedule combined with the stress and anxiety he felt. If they didn't escape soon, someone was bound to recognize them, and then he didn't even know what would happen. As much as he hated to admit it, maybe it would have been better if he'd never freed Straton. They were probably going to be much worse on him now that he'd escaped once before.

Keane couldn't keep himself from instantly jumping to his feet at the creaking sound of the cellar door being opened and light poring in. He still had his anima out, and could hear Straton starting to wake up behind him. Instinctively, he made sure to position himself between the opening and his brother. Soon the vender man was standing in the doorway and staring down on them in the low light. Keane noticed a club in his hand, and tried not to show any of the fear that ran through him.

The older boy didn't say anything as the man started down the small staircase towards them. Straton quickly got to his feet as he realized what was going on, and both boys tried to figure out just what they were suppose to do now.

Finally, Keane couldn't take the tension as the man just started them down, as if trying to figure out how much they would sell for. Actually, that was probably exactly what he was trying to do.

"W-well?" he asked finally, wishing slightly that he didn't sound so scared. Well, maybe that was a good thing, if they sounded defeated, he might let his guard down, or something. The man didn't answer him though, just raising his eyebrow in confusion and waited for the child to go on. "Are you going to… go sell us, or what?" he continued.

"Now listen here, anima. I'll do things at my own pace, not yours. I'm not about to let you vermin try and escape now," the vender spat, and despite the fear still frozen inside him, Keane couldn't help but growl at the insult.

"We're not-" the redhead started, but quickly snapped his mouth shut when Straton grabbed his arm, a worried look rightfully on his face. The man smirked as Keane tried to channel his fear into anger. That was at least a bit more productive, and it let him think more, like a small fire thawing out his brain.

"I thought so," the vender said smugly. The older boy had to keep one eye on the club to remind himself that he wasn't in the palace anymore. This wasn't another prince that he could fight. He'd already effectively swatted the child away twice, he wasn't looking for it to be three times in a row.

"Um…" Straton mumbled, quickly getting the attention turned to him. It'd been the first time he spoke after all, "what's your name?" the child asked, and Keane had to keep himself from frowning deeper at the pointless question. What did it matter what his name was? It reminded him a bit of when Straton had first asked him if he used to be friends with Maxwell. He'd never gotten a reason for that either, but quickly tried to block it from his mind. Now as not the time to start thinking about the past, no matter how innocent and unrelated to everything what he thought about seemed to be.

"Eser Hakeem, now put your anima away," Hakeem answered, and reluctantly Keane allowed for the mouse like appendages to melt away. The older man then pulled out some rope that neither boy had noticed before then, and demanded for them to put their arms out. It took everything he had for Keane not to bring his claws back out and try to make a run for it. Hakeem seemed to have intentionally tied up Straton first though, either expecting something like this, or he was a bit weary about too close to the mouse boy. He did seem to be much more willing to use his powers, after all, and that made him more dangerous.

Only once they were tightly bound and he was sure that they wouldn't be able to escape did the fruit vender allow them to leave the cellar. He held onto a rope that connected both boys, so that neither were able to get very far.

As they were walked through the busy streets of the city, Keane noticed how some people would glance at them before going about with their day. What happened to all those people who were causing a revolution in order to help anima? They didn't seem to be here now that he needed them. It didn't help that each time someone would look his way, the paranoia that they might recognize one of them struck him like a brink.

The redhead could see Straton struggling to hide his fear with each step they took. It wouldn't be long now before someone realized he wasn't really an anima. Once they got to the slave market, they'd find out quick enough, and they'd be separated.

Keane tried to keep his own fear at the thought from showing, but he wasn't really sure how successful he was with that. He didn't want to end up alone, with who knows as an owner. He wasn't even sure what anima slaves did. What could a mouse anima do to help someone, besides pick locks? He really didn't want to find out.

It wasn't long before the two boys were led inside a building, and Keane felt Straton practically cling to him as he tried to hide from view. Hakeem didn't let go of their rope as he walked up to an older man on the other side of the main room. There wasn't much inside, and the floors were stone and cold under Keane's now bare feet. The man almost instantly noticed them and appeared to recognize the fruit vender.

"Ah, Mr. Hakeem, I assume these are the animas you mentioned earlier," the slave trader said, and Hakeem nodded. Straton tried to hide himself slightly more, and Keane couldn't help but think that even though he wasn't one, the blonde haired boy actually did act quite a bit like a rabbit. At the very least, he was as shy as they seemed to be. His hair was also the same color as the dessert jack rabbits that Keane had seen illustrated in his old books.

"That's right, a mouse and a little rabbit," Mr. Hakeem answered, and the slave trader walked towards them and began looking the two over a bit more closely. Keane glared daggers at him, but it didn't seem to have too much of an affect. This man was obviously rich, his clothes brightly colored and ornately expensive, he probably had to deal with defiant animas during his trading all the time.

"Hm, yes. They don't appear too banged up, they should bring in a nice payday," the trader said, Hakeem quickly nodding in agreement. "I take it you'd like to make the transaction now?" he asked, to which the black haired man nodded for a second time. The trader glanced over at the two boys again before starting towards a door at the back of the front room. "You may tie them over by the window. There's some more rope available if you think it'd be a benefit," he explained as he left the room.

Hakeem quickly jerked them over to the window and tied them to a bar that was obviously there for this sort of thing. Apparently, he did see binding their feet as a benefit, and commanded for them to sit down, before using the extra rope to make absolute sure that they wouldn't be able to escape. With each time the rope was wrapped around his ankles, Keane saw any attempt at freedom getting more and more impossible, until the knot was tied and he had little to no hope that they would be able to get out of this. Well, Straton still could, but he wouldn't, and they definitely couldn't go together.

"Sorry…" the redhead mumbled once the fruit vender was out of the room. It was the first time he'd gotten a chance to talk to Straton today alone, and he really had no clue how many more times that would happen. Probably not a lot.

"What do you mean?" Straton asked, not quite understanding why he was apologizing, and Keane just shrugged. There were so many things he was sorry for right now, a lot of them that he wasn't even able to control, so he wasn't really sure where he was supposed to start.

"That we got caught… you should probably tell them the truth once they come back, so that they'll let you go…" the older boy said quietly, but Straton almost instinctively started shaking his head, the fear in his eyes intensifying. Keane had to remind himself that Straton was only eleven, and had been through hell the past week. He had too, but he couldn't concentrate on that right now.

"N-no! I mean… maybe they wont check…" the blonde boy tried to argue weakly, but Keane just shook his head. They both knew that wouldn't work.

"If they don't then the person trying to buy us from them will, and you'll just get in even more trouble for costing people more money," Keane said, before gulping slightly. He really didn't want to say what came next, he didn't want to be alone in this. "J-just… go to Asteria, okay? I'll meet you there…" he whispered, but Straton shook his head again, although he wasn't able to say anything else. The chances of Keane getting to Asteria, let alone them being able to meet up again once he was sold were slim to none. They had a better chance of getting struck by lightning.

"No…" the younger boy finally managed to get out, but before Keane was able to try and convince him otherwise, the two men came back into the room. They both looked rather pleased, especially Hakeem, but then again, he did just get what was probably a huge sum of money. The black haired man started towards the door without another glance at the two constricted children as the slave trader looked them over again.

Before he was able to leave, Keane took a deep breath and tried to prepare himself. He really, really didn't want to be alone again, but… if the slaver found out he lost money on a normal human… he didn't want anything to happen to him.

"He's not an anima!" Keane called out, startling the other three occupants of the room. He could see Straton instantly start to panic, his eyes widening as he spun towards him faster than the redhead thought possible when tied up like he was.

"Keane! I said-" Straton wasn't able to finish his sentence as Keane quickly cut him off. He'd already started, he wasn't going to back down now. It was for his own good.

"He's not an anima! He lied so that we wouldn't get separated! You can take me, just please let him go," Keane yelled. The two men quickly got over their shock, and began to stare at the two children with suspicion. It wasn't surprising that they wouldn't instantly believe him, so the redhead continued. "He didn't activate his anima because he doesn't have one. There's no marking, so just let him go," he begged.

The two men exchanged looks before coming closer to the blonde boy, who flinched away from them and tried to hide himself again.

"Boy, are you an anima? If you're not, you can go free," the slaver asked, a kind tone to his voice. Straton just avoided eye contact though, as he stared at the floor and tried to hold back tears. Keane wished he that he wasn't so insistent on staying together, it was only making it harder.

"Y-yes. I already told you… I'm a rabbit…" he mumbled, and the slaver glanced back at Hakeem again, who was still stationed by the door. The trader looked severely doubtful of Straton's story, and anger was beginning to radiate off of Hakeem. It was probably because he was about to lose half of the money in the satchel he was carrying.

"Show us then," he commanded, but Straton just stared at him, as if he didn't understand the demand. The slaver sighed, before repeating himself. "If you are an anima, show us, if not, were going to have to release you," he explained. When nothing happened, Keane tried to ignore the tears that started to slip past the younger boy's eyes. He'd get over it. He wouldn't be a slave, and he'd get to Asteria somehow and build a new life for himself. It's be fine, he just had to keep telling himself that.

"P-please don't separate us…" Straton begged, but by now the fruit vender had taken half the money out of his sack and handed it back over. He then quickly made his way over and started to force the child out of the ropes, cursing to himself the entire time. Once he was done, he started dragging the struggling boy out of the shop. "N-no! Please! He's my brother! He's all I have left!" he yelled, but there wasn't any way he was going to get out of the older man's grip.

Keane didn't say anything, but it took everything inside of him to stay silent. The slave trader just watched the scene with a bit of sadness in his eyes. Once they were gone, he turned towards the redheaded mouse anima. He looked almost completely broken, but a lot of his kind looked that way.

"Don't worry now, we'll get you a nice owner before you know it. Everything is going to be fine," he tried to cheer the boy slightly, and Keane just nodded, but the feeling was numb as he tried to hold back tears. He didn't want to be alone again. He didn't want to feel like he did inside of that passage way.

Even if he didn't mean it to be, that man was a lair. Everything was not going to be fine. Not at all.

These poor kids man! This was definitely a fun chapter to write, even if it wasn't very fun for either of our two little heroes. Well, there isn't really that much else to say, other than I hope you liked the chapter, and please review.