Hernán Cortés was a nationally praised Alpha. All of Spain knew of him. He came from a wealthy family, presented as an Alpha when he was 10 and is considered a perfect Alpha. He's strong, authoritative, has lots of power and soon became a widely known conquistador. But in 1519 he decided to go on his greatest expedition to date, he was going to find and conquer El Dorado, the famous legendary city of Gold where it was said that the Omegas there bathed in gold in the middle of the streets.
Many only thought the city as a myth but Cortez thought otherwise, it was not hard to convince a small army of men to follow him in his quest as he promised the men more gold then they could imagine and of course, any Omegas that they may happen to come across.
Then came the fateful day, when he felt that he was ready. As he sat back on his favourite War Horse Altivo, he addressed the crowd, relatives of His Army, faithful followers of him and just about anyone who would come to see what was going on, his potent scent of Ash and Vinegar covering the whole pier from end to end, it was nauseating to poor Altivo who had to deal with its source.
"Today, we sail to conquer the New World. For Spain, for glory, for gold!" Cortez did not see the way that Altivo shook his head in disgust if the horse could speak he would proudly announce that he did not care for the arrogant Alpha one bit.
"Viva Cortes!" The crowd cried back before guns were shot to salute the Alpha and his Conquest, spooking Altivo who slightly reared up, before the Alpha atop him pulled on his reins to bring him down.
"Altivo, eyes forward." The alpha hissed to the horse's ear as he threw back his cup of water, if Court has had bothered to look back he would have seen that his water hit against a wanted poster. A wanted poster that was offering a reward for two criminals that had been found in the area, well, criminals was a strong word. They were con-men, and not by there own choice. In an alley not too far from the pier, the two men were hoping to con their next meal.
A pair of red dice were thrown against the dirt floor as a voice cried out "Seven!" As if by magic the dice came up 7. Causing the man behind the original voice as well as another to cry out in delight. "All right!" The man who threw the dice said as he picked his red dice, while his partner cried "Yes!" before they both high fived with a "Partner! Hee-hee!" One man started to play his Mandolin, dancing happily to his melody before his partner joined in.
"Tons of gold for you."
"Hey!"
"Tons of gold for me."
"Hey!"
"Tons of gold for we."
"HEY!"
Both men turn to the source of the cry of outrage.
But first, some background on these two con men. Their names were Tulio and Miguel and to say that life has not been kind to them would be an understatement.
Miguel was what you would call a disgraced Alpha, while he was an alpha he was not respected, not in the absolute slightest. An Alpha is judged on their strength, their abilities, their dominance over Omegas and Betas and of course what their place is it Society. Alphas are supposed to have very distinct interests, such as breeding omegas, providing for their family and increasing there strength and power at any chance, if they are found out have different interests, such as music or the arts, then they are seen as a soft Alpha; if the alpha comes from a poor a family then they are given less respect than an alpha that comes from a very wealthy family, and if the alpha seems to believe for any reason that Omegas and betas are equal to them or should be treated equally, then they are seen as a weak-willed Alpha.
If an Alpha was to have all three of these negative qualities, then they are considered to be disgraced and are outcasted from society. Miguel was, unfortunately, considered one of these.
Miguel is kind, caring, optimistic, clever, impulsive, funny and very protective of those he cares about. He is of average height, broad-shouldered and was considered quite handsome, with shoulder-length, golden-blonde hair and green eyes. He has a muscular and toned body. He has a beard that was darker than his blonde hair. His usual outfit consisted of his a red loose tunic, khaki pants and brown shoes.
His scent is not overpowering but soothing, it smelled of freshly cut grass and seawater and though it was a strange combination of smells the two mixed surprisingly well together.
Another factor in his unfortunate disgrace was the fact that he did not look anything like an average Spaniard. His family immigrated from England to Spain and he was one of the second generation, the youngest of 4, him being the only alpha in a family of betas, besides his father. Who taught him that Omegas are gifts and should be treated as such, not treated like dogs. Unfortunately, after a sickness raged through his family, he was the only one left at the age of 16. He was disgraced and outcasted when he was 18 for saving an Omega from an arranged marriage by helping them run away. That's actually how he met his partner, Tulio.
Tulio, now, he's the absolute opposite of what their society believes an Omega should be like. While his frame was slim, he was abnormally tall for an Omega. Most Omegas are between 5'0 to 5'5 at most but to be 6'2 was seen as unnatural, but that also made him a rarity, thus more attractive. He is slender with gorgeous blue eyes. He has long, wavy black hair, tied back with a purple ribbon in a low ponytail and a goatee. He wears a blue-collared long-sleeved shirt under a brown vest, green pants with a black belt with a golden buckle on a black belt, and brown shoes.
His scent was of Cherries and Jacaranda flowers, though Tulio was not a fan of sweet-smelling things himself, any of those that smelled his scent would immediately become entranced by it as it was a bizarre pairing but blended superbly together.
But the one thing that stood out the most was the fact that Tulio wanted nothing to do with alphas, or children or bonding or just about anything that Omegas were supposed to be interested in.
His backstory will explain all that though. Tulio came from a moderately rich family, him being the only child, who's parents always thought that he would present as an Alpha because of his sarcastic, practical and bossy personality.
They were furious when he had his first heat at age 16. His alpha father had been grooming him to take over his business once he was old enough, but once Tulio presented as an Omega he immediately signed it over to one of his business rivals sons, Hugo, recently had presented as an Alpha and whose older brother would take over the family company.
Tulio soon became bitter and rebellious, his father had practically raised him to be a businessman but now he was supposed to be a bed warmer? No, he would not stand for that. He knew it wasn't safe to run away and newly presented Omega like him? He wouldn't have lasted an hour alone, so he started talking back, he disobeyed orders, he refused to do anything that his parents said; they weren't going to listen to him, so he wasn't going to listen to them.
His parents grew frustrated and annoyed with his new attitude, then they got the great idea that he needed an alpha to keep him in line. Again, Hugo was his unfortunate match; his parents saw it as nothing but as a business deal. Hugo was a strong, powerful wealthy young man, at least that's what his parents thought. Hugo was nothing but an arrogant, selfish, cruel stupid young man in Tulio's eyes, but that was not the worst part, the worst part was that he scared him.
Hugo was huge and he was really strong, Tulio was tall for an omega but that did not mean he would be strong enough to fight Hugo off if he tried something. He loved using his alpha voice on him even when he didn't need to, Tulio constantly tried to fight his instincts but the voice always overpowered him.
Their parents forced them to spend almost every day together for 6-months, it had to be the worst year of Tulio's life, knowing that soon he would be forced to bond with this brute. Then finally came the time when Tulio's Heat and Hugo's rut would be in sync and the bonding ceremony date was announced. At that point, Tulio decided that his chances were better on the streets than being chained to some alphas bed, popping out babies for the rest of his life. But he knew he couldn't do it alone, it was this point he met Miguel for the first time, he found him in his parents garden trying to sneak some of his mother's vegetables.
Miguel didn't even have time to speak before Tulio was begging him to help him, begging him to help him get away and that he would give him anything.
Miguel could see the desperation and fear in the young Omegas eyes and he couldn't help but feel sorry for him. He managed to calm the anxious Omega down and then they just sat down together and talked, Miguel wanted to know why this Omega was so desperate to get away from where he was, his house is amazing and his father was a recognised and respected businessman, he should be happy.
But then he learned his story, he had always heard from his father what some omegas were treated like, but he never wanted to believe it. He had been told all his life that Omegas were precious, that they should be praised and protected, not shamed and sold off like livestock. It made him sick to his core, how Tulio's parent's had turned on him when he presented as an Omega, it made him question whether they cared about him at all or if they just had a child hoping that it would be an Alpha that they could show off.
Miguel agreed to help Tulio, they ran away together shortly after that and they had never looked back.
10 years down the line and they were still together. But they were not bonded, they were not mated, they were not in any romantic relationship whatsoever. They were just partners, best friends, always looking out for each other's backs, the two needed each other.
Miguel needed Tulio to keep him grounded when he got too excited and Tulio needed Miguel to keep his spirits up when the world got down on him.
Miguel and Tulio. Tulio and Miguel. There was no one, without the other. Partners to the end of time.
Ok, now back to the present.
"One more roll!" The large man yelled out.
The two men exchanged a look, barely containing their laughter.
"Uh, guys, you're broke! You got nothin' to bet with!" Tulio called out almost mockingly. The sailor had bet everything he had against them, arrogantly thinking that he could beat a lowly Omega and a disgraced Alpha easily, not thinking for a second that the dice might be loaded.
But the sailor had a trick up his sleeve. "Oh, yeah?" the sailor said as he pulled out a scroll from his waistcoat "I got this!".
It was not hard to see what the scroll was when it was unfurled. "A map?" Tulio asked, clearly disinterested. "A Map!" Miguel echoed, clearly interested. "A map of the wonders of the new world." The sailor said, hoping to draw in the men's attention.
"Wow! Let's have a look!" Miguel said as he got in right close to the map to get a better look before snatching it out of the sailor's hands to bring it closer to Tulio. The dark-haired man had very little interest in a fake map, he rolled his eyes and started to walk away but Miguel caught his arm and brought him in closer "Excuse us, for one moment, please." Tulio addressed the sailor's as he ducked down to meet Miguel.
"Tulio, look! El Dorado, the city of gold. This could be our destiny, our fate." Miguel rambled on with a bright grin on his face.
Tulio rolled his eyes. He knew the look that Miguel was giving him and he would not fall for it again "Miguel, if I believed in fate, I wouldn't be playing with loaded dice." Tulio whispered to the man, trying to keep his voice down so he wasn't caught confessing to having cheated, hoping that Miguel would get the point and leave the map alone.
But there was no such luck as Miguel started whimpering and making 'The Face', people say that Omegas are the charmers of the world, they had never seen Miguel when he does 'The Face' "Not with the face. No, no, no, no, no. No! No! No!"
Tulio was about to force Miguel to stop before the map was snatched out of both of their hands by the same Sailor who offered it. Fine, if Miguel wanted the Map then he would get him the stupid map, "All right, peewee. You're on!" Tulio said as he once again brought out his loaded dice about to throw before- "Not with those! This time we use my dice." The sailor may have been stupid, but he did not miss the looks the two men gave the new dice "Ehh, got a problem with that?"
Tulio knew if he refused then he would be caught, so he had no choice but to accept the new dice. "No." he slightly whimpered out, grabbing the dice before turning to his partner running his finger across his throat in a threatening manner "I'm going to kill you!" he whispered/hissed, he didn't really need it, he just really needed this money, his next heat was coming in two weeks and he needed to be able to buy some herbs to stop it.
"Come on, baby. Papa needs that crappy map," he said to no one in particular as he rubbed the dice for luck. It was only then that he noticed the music, Miguel was doing his own theme music again "Stop that!" he hissed and the blonde man paused, Tulio needed to concentrate "Show me seven!" he called out watching the dice roll against the ground, biting his lip in anticipation before covering his eyes to hide away from the upcoming disappointment.
It was only after hearing some soft gasps that he gathered up the courage to peak between his fingers, it was a seven, he had a rolled an honest to God seven. Which meant that- "Seven!"
"All right!" Miguel cheered as he ran and snatched the map on top of the small mountain of gold they had just won, Tulio laughed jovially before reaching down and started to scope the gold up "There it is! Well, nice doing business with you."
Unfortunately, he was not paying attention to his loaded dice, and they slipped out of his pocket inside his vest, slightly rolling against the floor before turning up seven. The sailor and then pounded his fist against the floor trying to make the dice move but they persistently stayed seven. "I knew it!" Tulio quickly scooped up the dice putting them back inside his pocket, but he already knew it was too late "Your dice are loaded!"
Tulio then heard Miguel's music again, why did he always do this? but now that they were caught, they needed to get away, what batter way than a battle for dominance?
"What? You gave me loaded dice?" Tulio accused, pointing a finger at Miguel before colliding with the metal armour of a guard, who must have heard all the commotion, Tulio turned to him and put a whimper in his voice "He gave me loaded dice! Guard, arrest him!"
Miguel was quick to jump in "You dare to impugn my honour? This omega was the one cheating!" Migule pushed Tulio slightly to add to the fight "Arrest him! He seduced these sailors and took their money!"
Tulio pulled a hurt but angry face "Oh, now I'm the thief? You alphas are all the same! Never accepting responsibility for your actions, you can hardly be considered the dominant race."
Those words alone drew in a big crowd, an Omega being defiant is unheard of, and any that does so must be corrected and punished.
"You repulsive little Whore! How dare you, didn't your parents teach you anything?! Why I should-!" Miguel suddenly pulled the guard's long sword out of its sheath, pointing it at Tulio "En garde!"
Tulio then spat back "En garde, yourself. Maybe once and for all, I'll be rid of you!" Tulio reached back and pulled out a small knife, that was not what he meant to grab, "Not with this, for once an Alpha is choosing to fight fairly so I shall do the same." he said as he pulled out another long sword from a different guard.
The two then lunged at each other, they have done this routine too many times to know exactly what was going to happen.
Perry, Perry, Duck, Thrust, Perry, Duck, Thrust, Duck, Perry, JUMP, Thrust, Perry and Slip, fall, Pin and Win.
The mood of that day would determine who would win.
This day, it seems that Miguel would win when Tulio slipped on a loose tile on someone's roof. People always cheered when Miguel won, Tulio pretended like it didn't bother him but it did, only a little, though. He had been in this world long enough to learn that people don't care about Omegas, all people genuinely care about is gold.
Miguel spoke up in his grandiose victory "Ladies and gentlemen; we've decided it's a draw." he then threw the swords back to the guards, who have only seem to have just realised what was truly going on "Thank you all for coming. You've been great. See you soon."
"Adios!" Tulio said with a tip of his fingers as the two men jumped off the roof.
"Congratulations. You're very good." Miguel said, just to make sure that Tulio knew that he didn't mean anything that he said, it was all just for show. Tulio knew but he greatly appreciated it. "No. That was good." Tulio always gives credit where credit was due.
The two were so immersed on congratulating each other on their stellar performance, but they didn't notice that they had fallen into a bullpen and said Bull was not happy to see them.
Could this day get any worse?
A question that these two should never ask themselves.
Before either of the two knew it, they had ended up on barrels that we're being transported onto Cortez main ship just as he and his men were about to set off.
Even worse, they had made themselves publicly known to the entire ship. Then the two of them were placed in shackles and brought to see the captain.
"Cortez..." Miguel whispered in fright, he had heard too many stories about this man to not be afraid of him. Tulio was too frightened to even think of anything to say. How the hell did he end up in this situation? He was going to be the only Omega on this ship for thousands of miles, surrounded by over 200 Alphas and Betas, it was then that he remembered his heat, it was scheduled to start in two weeks and what was he going to do then? What would everyone around him do?
Tulio was pulled out of his thought process by Cortez himself turning to them and speaking in his deep, alpha voice. "My crew was as carefully chosen as the disciples of Christ. And I will not tolerate stowaways-!" Then he stopped and sniffed the air."Do you smell that?" he said to his men behind them.
"Y-yes sir, it smells like-"
"Cherries and Jacaranda flowers, but it's sour..."
Omegas let off an intense smell when they're afraid. Before it was used as a way for Alphas to be able to locate their Omegas if anything were to happen to them. It's like the usual sent but it's been turned sour.
Tulio couldn't help it, but he was terrified out of his mind so he couldn't help the smell. He could hear some of the alphas behind him letting out small growls.
"Well well well... It looks like we have an Omega amongst us." Cortez said with a smirk in his voice as he looked down at Tulio, who unconsciously let out a small whimper. "Are you afraid, little Omega?" Tulio didn't answer, he didn't dare.
"Well, where was I? Ah yes, You will be flogged. And when we put into Cuba to resupply, God willing, you will be flogged some more. You," he said as he pointed to Miguel, who kept his head up during the entire exchange, trying to show that he wasn't afraid. "Will be enslaved on the sugar plantations for the rest of your miserable life."
"And as for you," Cortez said as he looked down at Tulio, who was practically petrified "Well, my men could always use some entertainment. To the brig."
Miguel forever the optimist, tried to voice words of comfort to Tulio "Alright, Cuba?"
That day really couldn't get any worse...