So here's chapter 24, where we now we finally take a look into Nemisa's backstory,.
Flashback to three years ago...
"Come ooon Nemisa! Come with us!"
"Yeah! Let's go!"
"Um... I don't know about this..." a 15 year old Nemisa said, looking timidly away from the pleading Gerudo girls in front of her, they were her three friends Sumof, Otuko and Ifemi, "I mean, going out into Hyrule... what about the banishment law...?"
"Oh it'll be fine, we won't get caught! Besides, you always told us you want to meet a guy and have a baby with him, right?" asked Sumof anxiously
"I... guess so..." Nemisa said, putting her arms behind her back and scooting her foot across the ground.
"Yeah, in fact if you find a rich enough guy who wants to keep you, you can live with him as his wife!" said Ifemi, "Then the two of you can have a really big family!"
"Um," Nemisa pondered, absentmindedly rubbing her hand gently on her stomach, "It really does sound kinda nice, but..."
"Then let's go!" exclaimed Sumof, grabbing Nemisa's arm and yanking her off. The other girls were so anxious to go that they didn't look where they were going and collided into another Gerudo.
"Ack, sorry about that..." said Sumof, only to look up and see the Gerudo woman glaring down at them with oddly red eyes, she wore a bandanna around her head, and was clothed in a white vest and pants, and had a black sash around her waist. She narrowed her red eyes and went into a fighting pose.
"Do you brats wish to duel me?!" she asked in a gruff voice.
"Eep!" the three girls exclaimed, all hiding behind Nemisa.
"What are you hiding behind me for?!" Nemisa exclaimed to them. She turned and looked up at the Gerudo glaring at them, "Um... sorry?"
"Hmph..." the older Gerudo muttered, walking off.
"What was her problem?" asked Sumof, "Well whatever, come on, we gotta get to the travel carriage quick! It'll take us out to this bar in Hyrule I was told about, the other girls say a lot of hot guys go there!"
The three girls giggled excitedly, and Nemisa found herself giving in to their pressure.
"O-Okay.. fine..." Nemisa nodded.
"Wow, check out this place..." Otuko said as the four girls all stood at the entrance to the bar. It was nighttime by the time the four had arrived in the little town, and the bar was packed with patrons.
"Quit gawking, you look like a tourist." said Sumof nudging her.
"But aren't we tourists?" Ifemi pointed out, tilting her head.
"Can we just go sit down before we draw attention?!" Nemisa exclaimed.
The four eventually did sit down at a table and ordered some drinks, then immediately started looking around at the occupants of the bar.
"So you girls see anyone good?" whispered Sumof leaning forward.
"How about him?" Ifemi pointed out a nearby man, "He seems pretty cute."
"Um, no... he looks like he could be my dad." said Otuko.
Nemisa just let out a sigh and looked around, unsure of what exactly to look for in a guy.
"Hey Nemisa, what do you think of him?" asked Ifemi, pointing to another man.
Nemisa turned and looked to the one she was referring too, and grimaced a bit, "Eeehh.. I don't think so... looks too old for me..."
"How about that guy? He looks like he's checking you out!" exclaimed Sumof, pointing to yet another man.
"...honestly I can't tell if that's a man or a bear with mange." Nemisa said flatly.
"How about him?" Ifemi asked pointing to another patron.
"Pretty sure that's a woman... at least I hope so." Nemisa said disturbed. She then let out a long sigh, "I think this was a mistake."
"Oh come on, you just need to look a little more yourself!" said Sumof.
Nemisa took her advice and glanced around, not really seeing anything notable, until her eyes caught a certain sight. Her eyes widened upon seeing one man in particular, sitting at the bar counter and taking with another man beside him.
He was a very handsome man. While he was older, he had an air of real maturity and sophistication to him, despite his older appearance, he was quite handsome, with smooth skin and thin-rimmed glasses, with long blue hair cascading down his back. He wore a fancy garment decorated with shining jewels decorating it, and with a green flower attached to his coat.
Nemisa couldn't keep her eyes off him, while she had met very few men in her life, he was easily the most attractive one she had ever seen.
"Hey, looks like she found someone." snickered Sumof.
"Oooh, he's a cute one!" squealed Otuko.
"Um... well he's.. nice looking, but..." Nemisa stumbled over her words.
"Oh just go talk to him!" exclaimed all three girls in unison, shoving Nemisa out of her seat, causing her to stumble over a bit. She turned to the girls and took a deep breath.
"I... okay fine, I will!" she said in a small fit.
Taking a gulp, Nemisa nervously walked up to an empty seat beside the man and sat beside him.
"Um, a drink please!" Nemisa called out to the bartender, hoping it would get the man's attention. She didn't turn to look at him, but just tried to mind her own business, to see if he'd notice her.
"Why hello there." spoke the man beside her, even his voice had a dignified and mature air to it that made Nemisa almost melt, "What brings a lovely lady like yourself to a bar like this?"
"O-Oh, uh, hello..." Nemisa said, turning to see him, turning bright red at how close their faces were at that moment, "I'm just here with my friends... just... you know... meeting people and... uh... stuff."
"Well you've meet me, so you must be doing something right." chuckled the man, "Pleased to meet you, my name is Jayde."
"H-Hello, I'm Nemisa.." she said, in love with just his name alone.
"Nemisa... such a beautiful name, perfect for a beautiful Gerudo lady such as yourself." Jayde said, taking her hand and giving it a gentle kiss.
Nemisa practically had steam rising up form her head at Jayde's response to her. She slowly glanced over at her friends, who were all watching and smiling from ear-to-ear at the two.
She nervously looked to Jayde, who was sporting a soft smile, "Nemisa..." he repeated, she had to admit she loved the way he spoke it, "I believe that name comes from the Gerudo words 'nieh' meaning graceful... and 'masar', meaning shining jewel... am I wrong?"
"N-No! I mean... no, that's right!" Nemisa said, impressed he was well versed in Gerudo tongue, "So you know much of us?"
"Yes, I take it upon myself to learn much about the history of the different tribes in Hyrule, and I have to say, I've always found the Gerudo to be among the most fascinating. They possess such great strength, and beauty as well. I admire their devotion to the desert goddess Aifet, not to mention their skill in the ancient technology they developed in the past..."
'He really knows his stuff...' Nemisa thought to herself with an inner smile.
"It does sadden me to know about the banishment law that has befallen your people. Regardless of what instigated it, the Gerudo don't deserve such cruel treatment from the Hylian Parliament." he said, "It should be a crime in itself to keep gorgeous ladies like yourself trapped in that cruel desert..."
"W-Well our leader Lady Nabooru has done a great job helping to rebuild us..." Nemisa said, "We couldn't have done it without her..."
"Yes, I'd like to meet her myself someday..." Jayde said, "But in the meantime, I'd like to know more about you..." he smiled, causing Nemisa's red face to blush more.
"Ugh... every guy we spoke to was a dud." Sumof groaned, laying against the bar table they were originally seated at. It had been almost an hour since they arrived and all three had just about given up with the guys in the bar.
"One just kept trying to grope my chest until I clobbered him..." muttered Ifemi, her face buried in a bowl of peanuts.
"Meanwhile, Nemisa is..." started Otuko, as all three turned to see Nemisa still chatting happily with Jayde.
"I'm glad she's finally getting out and meeting a guy... but I'm getting increasingly annoyed right now..." muttered Sumof.
"Hey guys?" Nemisa called out to her friends, the three looked to see she was now leaving out the bar door, "I'm uh... going out for a walk with Jayde, I don't know if I'll be back just yet!" Jayde reached out and took her hand, and she blushed brightly, "Um... if I don't, have a good night!"
"DROP DEAD NEMISA!" shouted all three girls in frustration and jealousy.
Mostly jealousy.
"Aaah... this weather is so nice..." Nemisa said as the two of them strolled down the streets of the town, "The weather can be too extreme where I come from, either too hot or too cold... but here in Hyrule it feels just perfect all day."
"Yes, it's something a lot of people here take for granted." Jayde said, "It's only natural they would, but I'm glad to see you enjoying yourself so much." he smiled, "I can only hope someday the banishment could be lifted so you all can come and go as you please."
"That would be nice, then maybe we wouldn't have to break the laws just to meet people..." sighed Nemisa, "Lady Nabooru is doing everything in her power, but she can only do so much. I just hope one day all the Gerudo could come here and enjoy nights like these."
"It is a beautiful night, isn't it?" Jayde commented, "Seems like a night where just about anything can happen..." his voice seemed to carry a hint of suggestion.
Nemisa's head lowered a little with a light blush on her cheeks, as thoughts of what might transpire that night went through her head. The two eventually made it to a small secluded garden area where they took a seat at a bench. Jayde took a glance to Nemisa, then looking up into the sky and smiled lightly.
"Say, are you thirsty? I thought I'd fetch us some water." Jayde asked.
"That'd be nice, thank you." Nemisa said with a polite bow of her head.
Jayde nodded and stood up, walking off. Nemisa couldn't help herself but watch him walk away, and as soon as he was out of earshot, she let out a squeal.
"He's such a gentleman!" she said out loud, "He might actually be the guy for me! Maybe we could even get married... and...then we'd have chil-" she paused on that note, blushing.
"Oh... this is going too fast!" she giggled to herself, "I wish this night never ended!"
Then, she felt a hand on her shoulder.
"Oh, are you back already Jayd-" Nemisa was cut off as she turned to the owner of the hand, seeing a completely different man looking down at her with a sinister grin.
"W-Who are you...?" she asked.
"You'll do nicely." smirked the man, as he brought up his fist and punched her right in the face, knocking her for a loop. Before she could even react, the man then bound and gagged Nemisa and wrapped her up in a large cloth, then lifted her up over his shoulder, before carrying her off out of the area.
Despite Nemisa being in a daze from the strong punch, she could just barely hear a voice call out in the distance.
"Nemisa? Where did you go?" Jayde called out, he looked around frantically, dropping the cups of water he had just bought without even a second thought, "Nemisa? NEMISA!"
But Nemisa lacked the strength or ability to shout out to him thanks to the gag and her confinement. It was then she grew tired, and her consciousness was fading, and her eyes closed...
"Hey, get up already!"
Nemisa's eyes slowly opened, her body was weak and her head was spinning. Her eyes came into focus and saw a man with a black hood over his head and holding a whip standing over her.
"Aah!" she shouted out in shock, looking around frantically, noticing a strange feeling on her neck like something was lightly constricting it, and that she was in some sort of confined room. "Who are you, where's Jayde?!"
"I don't know who you're talking about, but you have a new master to meet, now get up and get moving!"
"Master... what...?" groaned Nemisa, rubbing her head, only to be yanked by her arm up to her feet by the black hooded man.
"I said move it!" he shouted.
"Grrr... I'm not going anywhere until you tell me what's going on!" Nemisa shouted, yanking her arm away from him.
The man scowled as he lifted up a small strange orb and clicked something on it.
Suddenly, Nemisa could feel a powerful surge of electricity run through her body, she screamed out in pain before falling to her knees.
"W-What was that?!' she exclaimed, she reached up to the funny feeling on her neck and saw there was some kind of collar around her neck.
"That's a slave collar." the man said. "It's infused with ancient magic that can send an electric shock through your body if I activate this orb."
"I don't understand this... who are you?!" Nemisa asked.
"You've been taken in by the Wyvern Keepers, and as I said before, you have a master to report to!" the man said.
"T-The Wyvern Keepers... SLAVE?!" exclaimed Nemisa, she clenched her fist and shouted, "Never! I'm not going anywhere with you, I'm getting out of here!"
With that she charged past him and ran, only to be shocked again by the strange collar, bringing her to her knees.
"You don't learn, do you? Well you'll have to eventually, now come along!" The slaver said, grabbing her by her arm and dragging her off.
"This can't be happening..." Nemisa muttered.
"Grou hoo hoo! So you're the one then?" Came the haughty laugh of an older eccentric man, standing before Nemisa. He was overweight and wore a pure white suit with frills decorating his chest. He had a large mustache and held a black cane in his gloved hand.
"Yes, Monsieur Adulph, by your request, we worked to obtain you a genuine Gerudo. While their reputation as people may be trash these days since the war, they're still known for their strong bodies!" the slaver said, presenting Nemisa to the man, "This girl won't let you down!"
"Hmm... honestly you don't seem like too much, but I think I can find some use for you." Monsieur Adulph said, taking a sharp look at her. "Now come on woman, you have much work to do."
"You can't be serious..." Nemisa said, stomping her foot down, "I refuse to go along with this!"
"Hmph, defiance will only lead to punishment." Monsieur Adulph said, taking the small orb the slaver had given him and zapping her using the slave collar's mechanism.
"Kyaaahh!" screamed out Nemisa in pain.
"Grou hoo hoo! She screams good!" laughed Adulph, "Now are you going to come, or do I have to punish you again?"
Nemisa scowled a bit, before hanging her head down, "I'll go..." she muttered.
"Grou hoo hoo! Very good!" he said, as he lead Nemisa into his horse carriage, and with that, they left to Nemisa's new life...
That night, Nemisa found herself in a large mansion owned by Monsieur Adulph. She was holding a broom, a bucket of water and some rags, though she still wore her traditional Gerudo garbs.
"Normally I'd have you wear something less flashy for a slave, but I quite like you in this outfit, so you'll stay in it!" Adulph said, "Now, get to work cleaning this mansion from top to bottom, post haste!"
"And if I don't?" Nemisa said, narrowing her eyes.
"Grou hoo hoo! I think you know what will happen!" laughed Adulph, holding up the collar orb.
Nemisa gulped and nodded, before getting to sweeping the floor, as Adulph went off on his way.
Sometime after she started, Nemisa took a pause, gripping the broom handle, as tears started rolling down her face.
"This... this is the worst..." she sobbed, "I just wanted to meet a man and..."
Her thoughts then drifted to a certain blue-haired man, and she looked out the window of the mansion, the moon was shining through it. She remembered the soothing look in Jayde's eyes, and his gentle voice, then recalled that gentle voice calling out for her when she was kidnapped.
"Jayde... will I ever see you again...?" she asked.
"This floor is still dirty!" shouted Monsieur Adulph, kicking at some dust bunnies from under a table, "Punishment!" he then shouted to Nemisa, holding up the collar orb and activating it, zapping Nemisa.
"Kyaaaahh!" she screamed out.
Some time later...
"You call this a polish? I can't see myself in this table, Punishment!"
And Adulph zapped Nemisa again with the collar.
Some more time later...
"You spilled my drink! Punishment!"
Nemisa once again felt the intense pain of the electric shock from her collar.
"Don't forget your place young lady!" shouted Adulph, "You're lucky I don't send you back to the Wyvern Keepers, you don't want to know what they do to failures!"
"Yes master..." Nemisa muttered with tears going down her eyes.
It had been almost a week since Nemisa started her new 'duty' to Monsieur Adulph, and she wasn't doing too well as a servant. It didn't help he was so quick to punish her over just about any mistake she made. There wasn't much she could do, trying to retaliate or escape would just result in her getting zapped again.
She had finished her day's work, and had just taken a bath after Monsieur Adulph scolded and zapped her for being so dirty from all the work he had put on her. She walked down the hall, drying herself off with a towel, and in the process of heading to the basement where the slave's sleeping quarters were, she noticed a peculiar door was open, and walked into a room she hadn't been in yet.
It was a children's bedroom, though there didn't seem to be anyone in there. She could only tell it was for a child because of how small the furniture was, and the colorful wallpaper lining the walls. It was rather cute, and very out of place from the rest of the house, which was built and designed to show off Adulph's wealth.
One object in the room stood out to her though, sitting on the bed and laying against the pillows was a plush doll, a pink rabbit specifically. When Nemisa had grown into a teenager, she had long ago discarded all her toys from when she was a little girl, believing that she was too old for those kinds of things. Though the more she looked at the rabbit, the more drawn to it she was. She paused, taking a look around to make sure no one was watching, and slowly lifted up the rabbit. She looked fondly at it and as she held it in her hands, she then gave it a gentle hug. The rabbit's plush body was soft and fuzzy to the touch, and in that moment she finally felt a sense of relief...
"Oh, what are you doing here?"
Nemisa broke out into a cold sweat, realizing she just got caught in the act. She nervously looked over to see a Hylian woman. She wore a plain green dress and had light brown hair, she also wore a slave collar like Nemisa and the other slaves working for Adulph. In a panic, Nemisa quickly put the rabbit plushie back on the bed where she found it.
"Oh, uh... I... never go in here or anything! I... found this rabbit on the ground and just wanted to put it back where it was!" Nemisa said nervously.
"Hmm... but then how did you know where it was originally...?" the lady pondered with a somewhat sarcastic tone to her voice.
"...g-good point..." Nemisa sighed in defeat, only to see the lady put a gentle hand on her shoulder.
"Hee hee, it's fine, I won't say anything to Mr. Adulph." she said smiling, "I think it's cute."
"I... just needed some relief... this has been the worst week of my life..." Nemisa admitted and slouched over with a sigh.
"You poor thing..." the lady said, putting a hand to Nemisa's collar, "Oh! I forgot my manners, my name is Erien, pleased to meet you!" she said with a bow.
"Yes... you too... I'm... Nemisa..." the Gerudo said.
"Nemisa, even your name is cute." Erien giggled.
"Um, thanks... I think." Nemisa said, she took a look around the room, "So what is this place? Does the.. um... master have a kid or something...?"
"Not at the moment." Erien said, "But I think someday he hopes to have a child. I've taken it upon myself to see that this room stays clean. "
"Huh..." Nemisa said, a little surprised that Monsieur Adulph would have such a desire to be a father, "Where's his wife?"
"From what I heard from the other girls she... passed away from an illness a few years back, sometime before he purchased me from the Wyvern Keepers." Erien explained.
Nemisa just took another look at the room, as her thoughts wandered to her own desires of meeting a man and having a child, and from there she thought about Jayde. She wondered in that moment if he was still looking for her...
"So you're a Gerudo, right?" Erien brought up, leaning her face close to Nemisa, causing the Gerudo girl to back up a step with her face red.
"Y-Yes..." nodded Nemisa.
"I see... I've never seen one before, but you're quite beautiful." Erien nodded with a smile, before twirling around and starting to leave the bedroom, "Let's leave before Mr. Adulph sees us in here."
"Oh right..." Nemisa said, a little surprised by her compliment, before following after her and closing the door.
They were about to leave for the basement when they heard a voice, "Hmm? What are you two doing?"
The two turned to see Monsieur Adulph standing there, tapping his cane against the floor.
"Oh, hello Mr. Adulph, your mustache looks extra bushy today!" Erien said bowing.
"Grou hoo hoo!" laughed Adulph, "But of course! I see you're as lovely as usual, my dear!"
Nemisa couldn't help but see the longing look in Adulph's eyes as he chatted happily with Erien. The two seemed to get along quite well. It was then that Adulph looked to Nemisa and narrowed his eyes coldly.
"So what are you doing here?" he asked Nemisa crossly.
"Oh, I was giving her lessons on how to properly maintain things around this area." Erien said.
"Ah, I see." nodded Adulph, "Good for you, that useless girl definitely needs it. Well then, I'll be on my way!" he said, strolling off.
"Ugh..." Nemisa groaned, "I don't know how you could get along with that guy."
"He can be a cruel person..." Erien said, "But I hope someday I can make him change, and bring out his better self."
"Weird..." Nemisa said, "How could you even put up with him and keep such a pleasant face?"
"Well, sort of like you and that plush doll... I've had a way to cope with my situation..."
With that, Erien led Nemisa down to the basement of the mansion where Adulph had the slaves use to sleep in. Erien went over to her own bed and took a small box from a dresser beside it to show to Nemisa..
Nemisa stared at the box, it was quite pretty, built from polished wood and had a small green jewel decorating the top of it. Erien opened the box and showed there was a ballerina figurine inside of it, and with it, a gentle music started playing.
"A music box?" Nemisa asked.
"Mm-hmm." nodded Erien, "It was a gift from my mother." she set the music box down on the dresser and stood straight. Nemisa stared at Erien as she seemed to be concentrating on something, then she started to move her legs slowly, doing a little twirl and raising her leg, swinging her arms as well.
"H-Hey, what are you doing?!" Nemisa asked.
"Dancing!" Erien said, "It helps me relax." She did a twirl and waved her arms down, "Come on, join me!"
"Uh, I don't know how to dance..." Nemisa said, scratching her cheek.
It was then that Erien took Nemisa's hands, startling her, "Come on then, I'll teach you!"
"O-Okay.." Nemisa said, as she followed Erien's lead, and the two danced together. As Erien's legs moved, Nemisa quickly moved her own legs to keep herself from tripping over, it was after a while that Nemsia realized Erein was moving her legs to help Nemisa learn where to step, and she followed in her example.
"You're learning quickly." smiled Erien.
"Thanks..." Nemisa said, she closed her eyes and absorbed the melody of the music box into her mind. The gentle and soothing music flowed into her, and in that moment, felt quite at peace...
"Grrraaaah!" shouted Monsieur Adulph, "Be careful you foolish woman! You almost broke that vase! Do you know how many rupees it cost me?!"
"Ah, sorry... master." Nemisa said, adjusting the vase to put it back. It had been almost a month since Nemsia became a slave, and despite improvements, she was still having trouble with her new job.
"Sorry isn't enough this time, punishment!" shouted Adulph, holding up the collar orb. Nemisa closed her eyes tightly to brace herself for the shock, but before he could activate it...
"Oh Mr. Adulph, you're not going to punish Nemisa over something as silly as this are you?"
Monsieur Adulph jerked back as he turned to see Erien now standing there.
"Nothing broke, so no harm done, right?" Erien said with a polite smile.
"Ah.. heh heh... of course not... I wouldn't do that to such a hard worker!" Adulph said nervously.
"You can be so sweet Mr. Adulph." Erien said, then turned to her friend, "Nemisa, you need to be a little more careful, okay?"
"Yes, I apologize, master!" Nemisa said with a bow.
"Okay then, that's enough. Let's go work on the parlor room for now, okay?" Erien said, escorting Nemisa off, leaving Monsieur Adulph standing there.
"Grrr... that damned Gerudo..." Adulph muttered, "It's not enough she's a terrible housekeeper, but she's wormed her way into Erien's life! The blasted Wyvern Keepers, if they aren't careful I'm going to have to resort to...!"
Adulph stopped himself, that was something he only wanted to resort to if his life was at stake with them. Instead he paced back and forth, contemplating to himself.
"But for now the question is, what do I do about the Gerudo...? I haven't been able to punish her for weeks since Erien has been always watching... I'll only hurt Erien's feelings if I try to have that Gerudo sent back to the Wyvern Keepers... and I'm not about to just set her free, that would give the other servants hope for their own freedom..."
It was then Monsieur Adulph came up with an idea.
"That's it! I'll simply kill that Gerudo, and make it look like an accident! I'm such a genius! Grou hoo hoo!" he exclaimed with his typical laugh, but much more sinister then before...
It took some time, as Monsieur Adulph wasn't particularly good with his hands, but he was able to set up a part of a long and tall staircase in his mansion with a loose plank near the top.
"There..." he said, standing up and wiping his brow, "When the Gerudo steps on this stair, it'll break and she'll go tumbling down this staircase to her death, not even a Gerudo could survive this!"
His eyes sparkled as thoughts ran through his mind, "And Erien will be so devastated by this that she'll throw herself into my arms!" he then pulled out a key from his pocket, "And I'll lighten her sorrow by undoing her slave collar, and she'll never leave my side! We'll fall in love and then... then I can finally have a..." His gaze turned to the room nearby, where he had set up the children's bedroom.
He paused on that note for a little, before his joyous face grinned maliciously, "Now to lure in the little desert rat into her trap..."
Meanwhile, in the basement living quarters for the slaves, Nemisa and Erien were dancing to the gentle tune of Erien's music box. Nemisa stepped back from her friend and did a magnificent series of twirls and ending it with a majestic bow, earning an applause from many of the other slaves occupying the room at the time.
"Ooooh, you've gotten so good at this! You're a natural!" Erien said brightly.
"Thank you..." Nemisa said, "Someday I hope I can use this ability for something other then just stress relief..."
"Oh, like what?"
"I don't know... perhaps performing on stage before a crowd... maybe entertaining my people during the Festival of the Desert Goddess..." she blushed lightly, "Maybe even captivating the man I love before I lay with him..."
Erien couldn't help but giggle at that last one.
"But... I doubt that'll ever happen." Nemisa sighed, "Especially with where I am now... I don't know if I'll ever..."
It was then that Erien gave her a simple hug.
"Don't say that, there's always hope for the future, 'I know things are bad for you now, but you just have to stay strong... I know someday you'll find the man of your dreams, and you'll dance before your people with the passion and grace you've shown me, and..."
Nemisa looked to her friend with tears in her eyes.
"Nemisa... someday you'll know what it feels to truly be happy..." Erien said, pulling back from the hug and smiling blissfully.
"T-Thank you, Erien..." Nemisa said.
"Hey Nemisa!" called out one of their fellow slaves, "Our oaf of a master wants you in the main hall by the staircase immediately, he's got some cleaning for you to do."
"Oh, okay." Nemisa said nodding she turned to head off for the mansion floor, but didn't see a stool in front of her, and tripped over it, causing her to fall over.
"Ack! Nemisa!" Erien exclaimed, running over to her, "Are you okay?"
"I'm... alright." Nemisa said, forcing herself, only to stumble a bit.
"You're injured! You need to sit down for a little while!" Erien exclaimed.
"Ugh.. fine..." Nemisa said, sitting herself down on her bed, "But what about the cleaning?"
"You leave that to me." Erien said with a smile, "I'll cover for you."
"Are you sure? What if the master finds out?" Nemisa asked.
"It's fine, you just need to relay on me, okay?" Erien said.
"...okay. Thank you for this, Erien." Nemisa nodded to her with gratitude.
"Hee hee, you can make it up to me later." nodded Erien, she turned to the slave to gave them the news and called out, "Tell Mr. Adulph that Nemisa will get right on it."
"Right." the slave nodded and went off.
"You're such a good friend to me..." sighed Nemisa, "Just don't go doing anything dangerous."
"It's fine." Erien nodded, giving her friend a small hug, "It's just a simple cleaning job."
"Anytime now..." Monsieur Adulph said, standing behind a door by the top of the staircase, listening for Nemisa to start cleaning, "Once she gets up to the top steps, that plank will come loose and she'll be in for a great fall... grou hoo hoo..." he chuckled darkly.
He then heard someone slowly walking up the staircase, signaling his prey had taken the bait. He chuckled as he heard the echoing steps get louder as they went up the staircase, he could hear a humming sound, which sounded somewhat familiar, but he didn't pay it much mind.
"That's it... a little closer..."
It was then he heard a creak near the top of the staircase, he grinned widely as he heard someone scream out. He quickly burst the door open to watch Nemisa fall to her death...
….only to see Erien falling instead.
Adulph could only stare helplessly as he watched Erien falling backwards and tumbling down the staircase, getting battered and bruised all the way down.
"No, Erien!" shouted Adulph.
Meanwhile, in the basement, Nemisa was listening to the gentle tune of Erien's music box. She had her eyes closed as she absorbed in the music, but then she heard the loud crashing and out of unease and concern, instinctively ran up with the best of her ability to see what was going on. The other slaves were curious too but decided not to see, so as not to risk angering Adulph, who had told them earlier to wait down in the basement for a while, though they weren't sure why.
Nemisa meanwhile, didn't care about anything like that and ran up anyway.
"What's going on h-"
When Nemisa arrived, her eyes shrunk down and her jaw was agape, seeing Erien laying on the floor, covered in injuries.
"Erien? ERIEN!" screamed Nemisa, running over to her friend, "What happened to you?!"
"N-Nemisa..." Erien said weakly, looking up at her, "It... hurts..."
"Erien!" shouted Monsieur Adulph frantically, quickly rushing down the staircase, and shoving Nemisa to the side, grabbing and shaking Erien, "Please, hang on!" he shouted, with tears running down his face.
"Master, calm down and get a carriage ready! We'll get her to emergency treatment!" Nemisa shouted to him.
"I'm sorry... but... I... don't think you'll have time..." Nemisa heard from Erien, who turned to Nemisa and smiled weakly, "Go on Nemisa... and find... your... happiness..."
With that, Erien closed her eyes, and never opened them again.
"No... Erien..." Nemisa said, with tears going down her cheeks.
"Erien!" shouted Monsieur Adulph, shaking her to try and revive her. Upon realizing she wasn't going to respond, he lowered her slowly to the ground. He knelt there for some time and took a deep breath, before turning to Nemisa with unbridled rage in his eyes, "You... BITCH!" he shouted.
"Huh...?" Nemisa asked, looking up at him.
"You... you were the one who as supposed to clean the stairs! You were the one that was supposed to fall!"
"Fall? What are you talking about...?" Nemisa asked in confusion.
"The one that was supposed to step on that stair I rigged was you! You were supposed to die, not my Erien!" Adulph shouted, his anger causing him to unwittingly give away his plan.
"Supposed to..." Nemisa realized what he said, and her eyes narrowed coldly, "You... you killed Erien...!"
"Q-Quiet you bitch!" shouted Monsieur Adulph, made even more angry by her pointing out what he had done, but was too blind in anger to realize it. He brought up his hand and smackws her across the face, causing her to drop the music box, which fell to the ground by Adulph's feet. He slowly picked it up and examined it closely.
"Hmm... what's this...?" Adulph muttered, opening the music box and saw the ballerina inside and the music jingle that started playing.
"No... give that back..." Nemisa said, getting back up, "That belongs to..."
"Hmph, how did you get this? It''s complete trash!" Adulph simply said, dropping the music box to the ground, then bringing up his foot and smashing it to pieces.
"NO!" shouted Nemisa, as pieces of Erien's music box went flying, and the melody going off from the box slowly creaked to a dead stop. Among the pieces of the music box was a single green jewel that had been attached to the top of it. The jewel fell down by Nemisa's feet, and she slowly reached down, clenching the jewel in her hand. She squeezed it in her hand, as tears were running down her cheeks, before she put the jewel into her pocket.
"As for you, you worthless slave... it's time... For your ultimate punishment!" shouted Adulph, taking the collar orb and activated it, electrocuting Nemisa.
"Argh!" Nemisa shouted, cringing from the pain.
"Grou hoo hoo! Does that hurt bitch?!" laughed Adulph as he watched Nemisa suffer from the shock and fall to her knees.
'Please... stop..." Nemisa groaned.
"I'll never stop! Not until you're a charred corpse, you scum!" Adulph shouted with an insane look in his eyes.
As Nemisa tried to fight off the electrocution, she weakly looked to Erien laying on the ground lifelessly, and she clenched her fist. Despite the electricity surging through her, Nemisa slowly started standing up and walking towards Adulph, surprising him.
"S-Stand back!" Adulph stammered as he started to back up, but Nemisa grabbed him by his suit, brought up her fist and punched him across the face, causing the orb to fall to the ground and deactivate. Nemisa then gave him another punch which knocked him down to the ground face-first.
"Stop this you damned slave!" shouted Adulph, who reached for the orb, only for Nemisa to bring her foot down on his arm with such force that she actually broke it.
"Gaaaahhh!" shouted Adulph in great amounts of pain, while Nemisa got on top of his back, grabbing his head by his hair, and started slamming his face into the floor.
She continued to bash Adulph's face against the ground, going at it with such force his nose broke and his teeth started to get dislodged from his mouth overtime, blood flew everywhere from his face as she continued to brutally impact it into the floor.
"Shahp!" sobbed Adulph, his broken nose and missing teeth affecting his speech, "Plwease shap!"
"I'll never stop!" Nemisa shouted angerly, echoing what he said earlier. Monsieur Adulph's eyes glazed over, as Nemisa continued to slam his face back into the floor again and again.
This continued for what seemed like forever, without Nemisa even slowing down. Eventually, she delivered one final impact onto the wealthy aristocrat Monsieur Adulph's face, leaving him lifeless and soaked in a pool of his own blood.
Nemisa stepped back breathing heavily, her body was shaking from everything that had happened just now; Ereon's death, the intensity of being electrocuted, and from what she had done to Adulph. She brought her arms up and hugged herself with them in an effort to calm down, as she fought back her tears.
Eventually she managed to calm down long enough to look down and see a key beside Monsieur Adulph's corpse. She curiously picked it up and examined it, taking a look at Erien's collar and noticing a keyhole that looked like it would fit it. She inserted the key into the same keyhole on her own slave collar which opened it and finally freed her. She gripped her neck, which was a little sore from the collar, and let out some relief.
She then looked down to Erien's body with a heavy heart. She took the key and undid the collar on Erien's neck, freeing her from it. She put her hand to Erien's forehead and nodded to herself.
"Erien... you're free now..." Nemisa whispered, before slowly standing up and walking off, stumbling a bit as she left.
Nemisa then entered the basement where the slaves were, and they were surprised to see her free and in her condition. She tossed the key to the ground in front of one of the slaves and spoke out loud.
"Our cruel master is dead. Free yourselves and go back to your loved ones!" Nemisa stated.
With that, she turned and left the mansion, without waiting for so much as a question or even a thank you from the now former slaves of the late Monsieur Adulph...
...and started her journey back home.
And that ends this chapter. Nemisa's story isn't over though, as chapter 25 has more to come about her tragic past...