Happy belated new year's everyone :)

Enjoy!

Disclaimer: I don't own anything related to Mario or its franchise; it belongs to

Nintendo and their affiliates. I just am really grateful to its creators for giving

me such a wonderful game and media series to write about!

I also don't own anything related to Harry Potter, all that belongs to J.K. Rowling,

but thanks go to her as well because, using her wonderful work, I can expand this

story to make it more interesting.

I also don't own anything related to Naruto if you see me throw a little of that, too.

Chapter Sixteen

When she came out of the shower and still had that tired air about her, in the way her shoulders sagged and her brows knit together, I knew there was something deeply the matter with Daisy and we needed to talk about what was on her mind.

And about that weird shell, I thought.

On the bed I sat, having already bathed and dressed in sweats and a t-shirt for the night. I had a towel on my head, trying to dry my hair but the task was made difficult by the stinging from my chest. That wound was cleaned and had a bandage over it, but it was still smarting. I saw Daisy putting on the white spare bandage the doctor had given her over her own chest and the girl was moving like a robot, like she was just going through the motions. She finished with that and went over to the closet to take a shirt out to put over her tank top and shorts. It was no surprise to me when she chose one of mine, a white one with 'Californication' sprawled across the front of it in big, gold and black letters.

I forgot about that shirt, I cringed.

Daisy came and sat on the bed near the pillows and automatically crossed her legs. I hadn't seen her in over two weeks so those legs, that body, held my attention for a moment. I turned and faced her with one leg hanging off the bed and put my towel down.

"So uh, you wanted to tell me about something?" I asked.

Daisy nodded but didn't speak. She instead reached over to the nightstand and took up the remains of the broken pink shell. She dropped the pieces onto the bed in front of her and started tinkering with them. I let her do this in peace and studied the shimmering item as she worked. Daisy stuck each little chink back where it belonged and it looked like it would stay together, even with a piece missing near the lip of the horn-like structure, but after a few seconds, it just broke apart again. Daisy groaned and dropped her head into her hands. Her damp hair curled over her bare thighs and spilled onto the bed near her. I watched her sulk for about a minute before I intervened.

"You could try using glue." I suggested weakly, more as a joke than anything.

Daisy spoke behind her palms, "Somehow I don't think that would work."

"What is that thing?" I then asked.

She slowly rose her head and it hurt me to see the despair and frustration etched into that lovely face. She combed her fingers through her hair to get it out of her face and heaved a sigh.

Blandly she stated, "It was a means of contacting someone who could help me take down Bowser."

Us, I mentally corrected. And I'd heard her say as much earlier; I needed details.

"Who are you referring to?"

"Mermaids."

"Come again?" I asked, because I wasn't sure if I'd heard that right.

But Daisy repeated what she said and added, "I know, it's unbelievable, right?"

"When did you talk to mermaids?" I asked with interest.

Daisy replied quietly, "This morning. It was…remarkable. I'm not sure if I was more amazed or terrified."

"Terrified, why?" I frowned. "What's so bad about mermaids?"

Daisy gave me an adorably incredulous look like I'd squirted ketchup in her face or something.

She said evenly, "Luigi, they eat people."

"What?"

"How could you not know that?" She asked with genuine curiosity.

"How was I supposed to?" I countered. "I didn't know they were the evil type of mermaids!"

"What other type are there?" Daisy blinked.

"Uh, the…happy, singing kind?"

Daisy shook her head and said, "These mermaids are not happy creatures, not from what I've seen."

Her eyes widened at the same time that she smiled and gave a breathless little laugh that was incredibly alluring to me. I'm sure she didn't mean it to be because she was talking about the mermaids still.

She said, "It's really kind of a big deal, actually. I mean, I didn't have a chance to really appreciate it at the time, but no one's even seen a mermaid in centuries."

"That long, huh?" I remarked. "Why is that? I mean, if they eat people, wouldn't they come around more frequently."

"They don't eat people to survive," Daisy told me. "They eat us because they hate us."

"Oh, that makes it more palatable," I quipped.

I should be shot for that.

"That was terrible," Daisy claimed, though she was fighting a smile.

I told her, "Didn't I tell you I was corny?"

"Many times," She acceded, bowing her head.

When she looked up again her smile was gone and she was somber again.

"Um, can I ask why they hate people?" I spoke wryly.

Daisy shrugged and said, "They didn't always hate us, but my ancestors did something to make them angry and they've been holding the grudge ever since."

"Wow, these sound like marvelous creatures." I stated. "What was it like talking with them?"

"I told you, it was terrifying." Daisy recounted softly. "But the leader, their princess, she said she'd help me take down the-Bowser."

"But they hate people." I blurted. "Why would they help you? No offense, I mean."

Daisy smiled briefly and replied, "Her mother, the queen, thinks it's my 'destiny' to slay the Dark King."

"How does she know about him?" I asked, then wanted to kick myself.

Daisy only voiced what I was thinking when she said, "Most everyone's heard of him, especially since the Great War."

"Right." I conceded. "But why are the mermaids willing to help you? Mutual hate or something?"

"I suppose." Daisy nodded, then her face fell and she said, "But that's out the door now because I broke the damn shell."

I glanced at the pink, glass-like mess on the bed and touched a piece. It pricked my fingertip, drawing no blood.

"What's so important about that thing?" I asked.

"It was a way to summon the mermaids." Daisy responded dully. "Their numbers are astounding, even without the men."

"There are men mermaids? Mer…men?" I stumbled.

Daisy nodded and said, "Not very many of them, since they only keep a certain amount of them around for the ah, necessity of the continuity of their species."

It took me a few seconds to catch her drift, and when I did I winced and said, "Ouch."

"Yeah." Daisy mumbled. "They hate males. I don't know why, they didn't teach us that at the Academy."

"And these charming ladies promised to help you defeat Bowser?" I reiterated.

"Not in so many words," Daisy replied. "They only said that if I called, they'd come and bring their legions with them. That could be for anything; an ambush, an underwater attack, a means of escape…but now that I've gone and broken the horn, that whole advantage is out."

"Hey, hey." I spoke gently.

Daisy had her head bowed again and was rubbing the heels of her palms into her eyes. That looked painful. I took care in taking her wrists and moving them away from her face, then tilted her chin up so that we locked eyes. She looked away.

"Daisy, don't take this so hard." I advised. "If they really wanna' help you, this isn't the only way. We'll think of something else."

"You don't understand," Daisy said despondently, "Mermaids are fickle, capricious creatures. They're heartless and unforgiving. Just look at what they do to the males."

"Uh, yeah don't remind me." I said uncomfortably.

Why did I have to think of that time Aunt Ruthy called me a stud?

"The point is," I spoke extra-loud to drown out the unwelcome thoughts. "We'll find a way to work this out and get the mermaids' help."

"And if not?" Daisy frowned.

"Then we'll just take Bowser down without them." I said simply.

Daisy's light eyes were troubled, but she soon nodded and let the storminess drain from them bit by bit. She then closed her eyes and rubbed her hands over her face. I picked up all the pieces of the shell carefully and set them on the nightstand, then reclined on my back at the head of the bed. Daisy came to lie beside me and laid her hand on my chest. She was careful not to touch anywhere near the bandage.

"I missed you." She spoke softly.

I nodded and said, "It's been a long two weeks. How was your trip, by the way?"

"Long and boring and at times aggravating." She murmured tiredly.

"So no palm trees and coconut drinks?" I teased.

Daisy said, "It was definitely no vacation, Luigi, trust me. How have you been? Did you take the job as Commander?"

"Yeah. I did." Was all I said.

I still didn't know how I felt about that because it felt like I my pride and a sense of obligation was making me go through with it, not because I really wanted to. I felt like I should be doing something while I was here instead of just bumming around, and I felt obligated to do this since the Council and Zair had asked me to. I still didn't know if I was really ready for this. I was thankful when Daisy didn't ask me anything else on the matter.

She just said, "Well at least we have tonight, right?"

"And tomorrow?" I tried hopefully.

Was that really so much to ask for? I'm only gonna' be that much busier as Commander and Daisy barely has free time as it is.

In answer to that Daisy shook her head against my arm and said, "I have to give a detailed report of my campaign to the Council tomorrow."

"Well how 'bout the day after that?" I asked.

Daisy laughed very lightly and said, "We'll see. Let's just get some rest. I missed sleeping with you."

Yeah, I've missed that too, but I don't quite think we mean the same thing…

There was that ache again. No matter how hard he trained, or how much he'd worn himself out in the last several days, that ache never went away. It was only intensified right now as he stood in front of his bedroom mirror, gazing down at the letter on the dresser. He wasn't finished with it yet.

But why even waste the ink, he frowned. Ain't like Wen's gonna' write me back. If she was gonna', she would've done it by now.

He wasn't a writer, so producing even one letter was a chore for him, let alone the four that he'd sent off since he moved to Arid City. That was a testament of his love for his sister, but he was getting tired of doing all the reaching in their relationship. She hadn't even sent him one single reply since they all split up, but for once Roy's anger didn't cloud his mind on the matter. He kept writing her anyway because he wanted to know that she was safe and alright and hopefully happy.

Into his own green eyes he stared as his reflection gazed in frustration back at him. He laid his head against the glass with a thump, not caring that the sweat on his brow from having just left the arena would stain the mirror's pristine surface.

Why won't she just talk to me? I don't get it. Is she mad at me or something?

"What's wrong, Rex?"

Roy now closed his eyes upon hearing that silky, dulcet voice. He still wasn't used to his 'arrangements' with Eriana and Ariadne. It was bad enough that they didn't quite get along, or rather Eriana disliked the king's niece for some reason. Ariadne had been nothing but nice to the both of them, somewhat bordering on shy, but Eriana refused to return the sentiment, choosing instead to remain aloof when in the company of the blonde teenager. Roy tried to engage the both of them in conversations but talking wasn't his forte and he was already confused about how he should act when around his fiancée and his concubine at the same exact time. All week he'd blundered every shared encounter by letting things reduce to awkward silences and strange glances between the girls that went right over his head. Couple that with the nagging ache that remained stolidly in his heart and his inability to get a moment's peace around the palace and it explained his current restlessness.

He never thought fame would have a downside, but it did.

Everywhere he went, in the palace and in the city, people adored him. They asked him for advice and showered him with gifts and challenged him to impromptu wrestling matches and other shows of strength, and constantly had their eyes on him so that he felt like he was being stalked all the time. Usually it didn't get to him, but this week he'd been feeling weird.

"Are you alright?" Eriana asked again.

Roy opened his eyes and met the reflection of hers in the mirror. She was lying on the bed, buffing her nails with some kind of beauty stick thing, he had no name for it.

That's another thing, He tacked onto the growing list of things that was stressing him out, the girl is around me twenty-four seven. I can't even piss in private without her knowing.

Completely oblivious, Eriana tilted her head and blew on her finished left hand. Then she started shaping up the nails on her right. Her boundless black curls were pinned up with an array of glittering, ruby-encrusted barrettes and her makeup favored the same shade, right down to her burgundy-stained mouth. At his request, she wore a full shirt that showed no sign of her chest or stomach, but did hang off her shoulders and her pants weren't sheer anymore. Still, the beautiful young woman hadn't held back in the amount of affection she showed the eighteen year old at random.

"Rex, is there something on your mind?"

Roy heard her moving but he'd set his eyes back on the letter between where his hands were palms down on the dresser. He didn't see her come up behind him and lay her tawny hands on the back of his shoulders and he flinched hard.

"What the…"

"Is there something bothering you?" Eriana pried.

Roy said distractedly, "It ain't a big deal."

"It's got you tense." She observed, standing on her toes and kissing him behind the ear.

Like he was often prone to do, Roy made a face at the physical contact and brushed her off, then headed towards his bed where he sat at the edge. He hadn't showered yet but he didn't feel like it right now. He dropped his head in his hands with his ears between his middle and ring fingers and his chin resting on the heels of his palms. At the floor he stared, feeling…well he didn't know.

Eriana climbed on the bed and soon joined him quite intimately by sitting flush against his back on her knees. She wrapped her arms around his neck and laid her cheek near his own.

"…Eriana…"

"Hm?"

"Can you just…" Roy paused, because he didn't want to hurt her feelings, but he didn't want to get all touchy-feely when his sister was on his mind.

He told the girl, "Just lay off it, yo."

She pulled back with her arms still around him and asked, "Why don't you tell me what's bothering you?"

Now Roy lifted his head and the girl rose with him and he stood. He didn't want to deal with this, and in the back of his mind he saw a way out. Moving languidly, he reached over to the short dresser near his bed and opened the first drawer where that fancy flask lay, the one the king gave him. He hadn't touched it 'til now, but now he figured he could use it to just…get away for a bit.

Eriana sat on the bed on her knees, mutely observing him.

He unscrewed the top of it and downed a good bit before even registering the taste. It was thicker than he would have thought, like honey, and slipped down his throat like warm molasses. He'd drank before, back at the palace in the Badlands. He and MJ got into some alcohol once and each took as much as they could handle of the strong drink, just to say they did.

Ludwig would flip his shit if he ever found out, Roy smirked to himself, then frowned.

The alcohol there was incredibly bitter and had a fierce bite to it. This drink in the flask wasn't anything like it at all. It was sweet and wasn't as watery as the other one. And it also made him start to feel funny. Hot. He felt a flush of warmth start to spread like a rash beneath his skin all over. He glanced at his flask and wondered what exactly he'd just ingested.

It ain't normal, I know that, He deduced once his heart rate picked up and his vision blurred for a second. He hurriedly blinked it back into focus and feared for his life; had he been poisoned? Did the king really hate him all this time and was trying to do him in?

Nah, that's just stupid, he refuted at once. The old man's been over the moon for me since I got here. It's probably some kind of magic mixed in with the drink, is all.

Roy took measured steps to the bed and laid down on his back. He planned on just going to sleep this off, since it didn't have the effect he'd wanted. That was his last resort in attempting to just get away from his problems. He'd no sooner stretched out his feet and shut his eyes, however, than Eriana moved to take advantage of what she thought was an invitation to come lay right beside him. This time Roy wasn't so quick in pushing her away.

His mind felt like it was filing up with cotton balls and the sensation was oddly okay with him, especially when accompanied with that strange, floating feeling. He almost didn't notice the girl wrapping her leg over his as he continued to drift off, in more than one sense.

That definitely wasn't alcohol, he vaguely ascertained.

And that wasn't his imagination when he felt something pushing at this skin on his cheek, jawline, and neck; it was Eriana, laying tiny kisses there. She put her fingers under his chin and guided his face towards her but to Roy it felt like he was out of his body and his world was shifting to the right as slowly as a ten-ton whale moved through the deepest waters of the ocean. He was hyper-sensitive, and aware of the exact moment when the older girl's lips came into contact with his own. As if by its own command, his mouth moved against hers and it felt good, even if it felt like everything was in slow motion. Eriana made small steps until she was directly on top of him and his hands wandered over the folds of her loose black pants, under her shirt and through her hair. Every one of her actions resulted in a very delayed reaction of his own. She kissed his collar and he tilted his head back, still under the impression that he was off in space somewhere, completely detached from everyone and everything. His eyes were closed but the darkness only contributed to the illusion and heightened that feeling of dissociation.

But then, in the darkness, he saw his sister and a low groan tore from his scowling mouth as he rolled onto his side.

I mean I heard of gettin' homesick but this is just crazy...I can't stop thinking about her, Roy frowned, I just wanna' know that she's alright and not doing the same thing to some that Eriana's doin' to me.

Eriana began to slink away from Roy and drew herself up into a cross-legged position. She was quiet and observed the pink-haired teenager.

"Did I do something wrong?" She asked carefully.

Maybe it was because she hadn't called him Rex this time, and because her voice sounded so soft and small, and because this all reminded him of his sister, but Roy felt sorry for Eriana in that moment.

She's probably just doing what somebody told her to, he guessed from his minute knowledge on the matter. He sat up slowly and mimicked her position on the bed. She sat up a bit straighter under his undivided attention and saw him sigh. This only made her look even more distressed. To get a laugh or smile out of her, Roy crossed his arms and pinned her with his most charming, disarming smile. It was a little strained but, joined with his unnaturally attractive eyes, it seemed to do the trick as he voiced his next question.

"Is there really a right way to do this kinda' stuff?" He spoke dryly.

Eriana had begun to relax under that handsome boy's gaze, but those words embittered her countenance and had her staring into her lap where she was wringing her fingers one by one. In that moment, both of them unconsciously decided to do something that they hadn't been doing before, at least to some extent: be honest with each other.

The curly-haired girl said slowly, "Well...there actually is."

Would've been so much easier to just laugh and smile coyly, Eriana thought to herself. She was taking a risk in going this route, but she wanted to open up to someone, and so far her 'master' seemed to be the best candidate. There was something different about him.

Still coming down from his alcoholic, magical high, Roy didn't notice that she'd said something he hadn't expected. That was the cause of the brief pause between her words and his next reply.

He lifted a mauve brow and said, "Really? What, do they teach you at some kind of...sexy school or something?"

Eriana gave him a slightly amused expression and said, "Sexy school? No, but there is an Academy."

Well that was the nickname for it, among several, she thought with fading humor. Whore Academy, if we're being technical. Where only the finest are made, the girl recalled with a sour look marring her soft features.

Roy was paying a bit more attention now as he asked, "What? There really is a school? That's pretty cool."

Dubiously Eriana asked, "You think that's cool?"

"Pretty fuckin' cool, yo." Roy nodded, then saw the girl's disturbed expression and added, "I mean, ain't it?"

"No." Eriana frowned.

That was my second chance to just laugh this off and let it go, she realized.

She told Roy quietly, "It's not really a school and it's not fun at all. They um, well."

Where do I even start? There's so much to tell, she thought.

"It's just not a good place," She decided to say after a moment.

The girl wanted to leave it at that, but she'd piqued the younger male's interest. For all the things on his mind this was a distraction and an intriguing one as well. There was little he knew of females and even less of their seemingly inherent sexual aptitude, and he was unusually eager to talk so as to learn more about the issue. He moved to the head of the bed for back support and jerked his head a little for Eriana to do the same. She did and was surprised when he didn't flinch when she sat with her hip against his. He just stretched his arms in both directions across the pillows behind his and Eriana's heads.

"So tell me about your school," He said coolly. "What made it so bad?"

"It wasn't a real school," Eriana told him again. "It was an old peanut storage warehouse on the outskirts of the city."

"Oh, I know where you're talkin' about!" Roy suddenly brightened, but his bulb only shined so long, for he then asked, "I thought that place was closed down. So they're running a school out of it?"

"That, and more." Eriana nodded, not bothering to tell him it wasn't a school again.

His listening skills need a bit of work, she noted to herself.

"That warehouse is where they teach us everything we need to know about...this." The tawny-skinned girl gestured to herself.

Roy glanced over and said, "That don't sound too bad."

"I know." Eriana agreed. "That's why I went there. They said that I'd get a chance to live in the palace for the rest of my life and all I had to do was embrace a...lifestyle that would many other women would not."

"Hm." Roy hummed, staring off into space.

Eriana at first felt a little sting because she thought he'd stopped listening, but then he asked her to keep going and she realized he was just a little...out of it. That helped, for now she felt a bit more solace in knowing he would probably forget what she was telling him come tomorrow anyway. She relaxed against his side and told him all about that 'school' and her part in it.

"My first day there, I found out it was nothing like they'd said," Eriana relayed, then clarified, "They, as in, the women who'd recruited me. They told me about the palace being the final destination, but that was only where the lucky ones. All the rest of us were bound to...bound for less fortunate ends."

"How come you didn't leave?" Roy asked her. "I mean, if it wasn't what you thought..."

"I don't know." Eriana shrugged, toying with the bedspread near her waist. "I guess I still thought that I'd end up as one of the lucky ones."

"Didn't you?" Roy now inquired. "You're here, right?"

"Yeah, but what it took to get here is why I don't count myself so lucky..." Eriana trailed.

"What happened?"

"Well, in the beginning I did very well." She stated. "I was a volunteer, so naturally I was a lot more cooperative than the other girls."

"What, the others didn't volunteer?" Roy asked. When Eriana shook her head, he asked, "Then how'd they get there?"

"Slavers." She replied in a low tone.

Roy made a face and drawled grimly, "Do I even wanna' know what those are?"

"Probably not."

"Tell me."

"They're people who scout the area for fresh meat." She answered, then said, "Sorry, that's what they called anybody who was new. They roam around like ordinary people, kidnapping girls and women right under everybody's noses."

"How come they don't get arrested for that shit?" Roy frowned.

Eriana, used to hearing him swear sometimes, said, "They do get arrested, but not very often. A lot of people know, and sometimes work with, the slavers." She explained, "Sometimes kidnapping and recruiting volunteers is too slow or risky a process, so the Academy has another method of filling the warehouse."

"And that is?"

Eriana hesitated, chewing on her lip before saying, "They get parents and relatives to sell their daughters or sisters or nieces to the slavers."

Something cold and uncomfortable coiled tightly around the young man's heart upon hearing that. Then that icy feeling turned to fire as he felt anger well within him.

"Why the hell would they do that?" He asked. "What kind of parent would do that?"

Not that I know much about parents, Roy admitted to himself, but I did have Ludwig and I'm almost a hundred percent sure he wouldn't do anything like this to Wendy. I mean, he can be a dick, but this is just...fucking evil.

"They did it to pay off debts." Eriana spoke somberly. "Or because they were threatened by the slavers. Or sometimes, a um, jilted lover would set a poor woman up to be kidnapped."

She glanced to the wall in remembrance of the young woman she was referring to and shook her head. This was turning out to be a lot harder than she thought; a lot of old memories were flooding back.

"So these parents took money for their own-"

"They didn't ever see the money." Eriana cut in, "That was another thing. The slavers have an...understanding with the monarchy, they can do what they do because the girls taken into the Academy end up filling the royal harem, or earning a lot of money for the state by being sold to foreigners. That means they can get away with a lot, including giving people exemptions on long-standing debts they have with the king. That's also why the slavers never stay in jail too long, if they're ever put in there in the first place."

So quiet Roy was, staring ahead but more lucidly now, as if he were really hanging onto her every word. Eriana felt a bit apprehensive about telling him any more, but he closed his eyes and said,

"And you said you volunteered for this?"

"That was before I knew what it was!" Eriana declared defensively.

Roy turned to her and said, "I ain't judgin, yo. I'm just...tryin' to understand."

Eriana locked eyes with him and nodded slowly. Again she thought about how he was different, because that was more than others had tried to do. Not that she'd told many people of her situation because they saw her and already made up in their mind what to think of her and how to treat her and she just acted accordingly like the good little 'minx'.

But Rex is actually listening to me, she thought, and for some reason this made her sad. She sat closer to the headboard and withdrew her leg from over top of his, then hooked them at the ankles straight in front of herself. Her hands, too, she kept to herself, clasped in her lap.

"Yeah, I volunteered," Eriana continued.

"Why?" Roy asked her, "How old were you? Didn't you have any family or people to stop you? To talk you out of it?"

"No one cared." Was all she said. "And I was fifteen at the time, I was on my own. Just looking for something to do with my life. I was tired of being poor, I figured, well I'm a pretty girl, or so I was told, why not use that to my advantage?"

She glanced up at Roy and then back down in her lap. Here's where things began to take a personal turn. She once again debated whether she should reveal any more about herself.

Oh, why not, she thought. I've already told him this much.

"I started off just um, flirting and stuff to get my way," She said a tab above a whisper. "I would get meals paid for and a roof over my head and even money if I acted a certain way. I was good at that. And it was when I was um, doing that with somebody that one of the female slavers came and talked to me. She took me to the Academy that same day."

Eriana didn't know why her heart was beginning to speed up, nor did she understand why it felt like something was being peeled away from her body, leaving her utterly exposed in the bed she'd only moments ago felt at home in.

She said in the still room, "I wanted to leave when I got there and saw the inside of the warehouse for the first time. As soon as you walk in the door, there's just all these tiny little cots-that's where we slept-and I saw all these girls that just looked so bad. Some of them were really thin, like they hadn't eaten in a while, and some looked sick or hurt. I just wanted to turn around and run for the door, but the slavers...once you go in, you don't come out until they're ready to let you go."

"...And when is that?" Roy murmured.

"When they're selling you off." Eriana replied. "Or when you're no good to them anymore. Or, in the rare case, you get sent to the palace. I was there four years and I only saw four girls, including me, get sent here. It doesn't happen as often as they'd have new recruits believe."

"So what does happen?" Roy frowned. His eyes were open but narrowed and he'd moved his arms from behind his head to cross them at his chest.

Eriana took in a breath before saying, "When I was there, the first thing they did was split us up according to age and looks. They trained us in groups. I was with some other girls who were my age, but none of them had volunteered and they all wanted to get out really badly. They were very pretty, but not for much longer than the first few days. I knew how to keep my head down and do what the masters told me, but the other girls, they um..."

"Masters?" Roy echoed. "I thought you only had those when you were-"

"The Masters were the ones who trained us." Eriana interjected. "They were despicable and...creatively cruel. Their methods of punishment made me never want to do anything wrong, ever. I only ever messed up once, and for that I had to go a week without food." Eriana shivered and said, "They had a rule about our group since we were the prettier ones; they couldn't do anything to 'damage our virtue', but the things they did do were almost worse. I dodged most of these things, because I followed all the rules, but sometimes the slavers singled me out, or the Masters wanted favors, or they punished us as a group because the other girls kept fighting back and trying to escape."

"You never tried to leave?" Roy asked her.

Eriana shook her head without meeting his eyes and said, "I was too much of a coward. I saw what the Masters did to the others and didn't want to be beaten or tormented like they were. The other girls in my group got punished so much, they lost that...glamorous edge they had from the beginning. They got beaten so much, some of the bruises didn't go away. They were starved so often they never gained that weight or their figure back. The Masters would even...kill some of us."

"What?" Blurted Roy.

"I knew of eight girls who disappeared, but there had to be more than that." Eriana confessed. "The first three girls tried to escape together; they were in my group and they did this all the time, so instead of starving them or beating them, the Masters waited until the moon was full and chained them to the outside of the warehouse all night."

That didn't seem so harsh, until Roy remembered that every month, on the night of a full moon was when...

"Crouchers." He whispered, "No fuckin' way!"

Eriana nodded and remembered that horrifying night. Her cot was nearest the doors of the warehouse, so she heard it all. She could at least say the Crouchers were merciful where her Masters were not; a quick tear to the jugulars of their victims and the screaming was over. But knowing what happened, knowing that could have been her, it still terrified her to this day. She swallowed hard and wrapped her arms around herself.

"That's sick!" Roy grimaced.

The girl said in a voice that was quickly growing numb, "No sicker than making us watch the slavers abuse girls from other groups. That was their way of getting around the rule that kept them from damaging us. And that was how they made sure we all resented each other. The girls in my group especially resented me."

"Why?"

"I was the Masters' favorite." Eriana murmured without an ounce of pride or pleasure at the fact. "I did whatever they told me, I was good at everything they taught us, I never rebelled, never tried to escape. I think that was the only reason I ended up here, because all the others got sold off to slimy old men or tossed out because the slavers ruined them or sent to the other brothel in town or worse."

Roy was in a place he seldom found himself, at the center of an emotional tug-of-war between fierce, indignant anger and crippling sorrow and pity. He didn't speak because he had no idea what to say to all this. He didn't look at Eriana because he didn't want to make real all those words he'd heard without seeing them come from her mouth. He shut his eyes and balled his hands into fists down on the bed on either side of him.

"How long were you there before you ended up here?" Roy asked her tersely.

Eriana repeated, "I got there when I was fifteen and stayed for four years."

Fifteen, he thought, same age as Wen.

"Four years?"

Eriana nodded.

She saw him close his eyes again and then stand, then he headed over to the dresser where he'd previously been before they'd even started talking. He stared down at the letter he'd written to his sister and shut his eyes even tighter, gripping the wood of the knobs on the dresser's first two drawers.

"Rex?" She spoke softly.

He didn't respond.

Eriana hesitantly slid off the bed and took slow steps towards him, then laid a cautious hand on his bicep once she'd reached him. He didn't move, didn't even glance towards her or anything. He was staring at his own reflection now and his eyes were a hard shade of emerald. Eriana looked from his knitted brow to his set, clenched jaw and flexing muscles. She could see in the planes of his back between his shoulders that he was incredibly angry, and she grew even more nervous, thinking, I shouldn't have told him this. Who knows what he thinks of me now? Maybe he understands, but what if he doesn't? What if he's mad at me for some reason? What if...

"I'm sorry." Eriana spoke with a touch of fear in her voice. "I probably shouldn't have said all that. I didn't mean to upset you-"

Roy glanced sharply at her in the mirror and her heart stuttered in its increased pace.

"-I mean I didn't mean to um disturb you or anything. I just wanted to tell somebody and I...please just forget I said anything, okay?"

This was why she'd never opened up to anyone before. She'd made peace with her 'profession', with the things she'd gone through.

I should have kept it to myself but noooo, I had to put myself out there, she thought, feeling just as vulnerable now as she had in front of her greedy Masters. She took her hand from Roy's arm and held herself once more, trying to figure out what he was thinking.

He's disgusted, she feared, he's going to tell the king that I displeased him, and then I'll be...I'll be sent back to the Academy as a failure and those nasty slavers will finally be able to do what they want to me!

They always despised the fact that they couldn't touch her, and that rule was one Eriana took solace in on numerous occasions. But were she to be sent back now, she would at best be shipped off to the whorehouse, or, at worse, end up dead after the slavers had their way with her.

"Rex, please," She spoke desperately, "Can we just pretend I never said any of this?"

Roy was still unresponsive. His eyes would have looked dead were it not for the rage and fresh hatred swirling in them. His body moved when Eriana nudged his arm, but he didn't move his eyes from his own in the mirror. Imagining her own dark fate, Eriana had tears in her eyes when she now started pleading with him.

"Rex, please just forget about all this." She begged, her doe-eyes wet and wavering.

Roy didn't hear her.

Eriana swallowed a lump in her throat and wrung her hands. More tears filled her eyes and she blinked them away but they rolled persistently down either side of her face and pooled under her chin before plummeting to the dresser below where a few landed on the back of the teenager's hand. Funny, that was the only thing to jerk Roy back into the now. He turned to Eriana and was at a loss of how to handle her for a minute. He wanted to go down to that warehouse and set it on fire or tear something apart or punch something until his knuckles bled. But he put aside his anger for a second and put his hands on Eriana's shoulders, then pulled her into a tight hug.

"Hey, it's okay." He spoke gently while at the same time glaring at his bedroom door. "I won't say a damn thing about this if you don't want me to, alright? I promise."

Eriana nodded against his shoulder and clung to him. Roy stroked the girl's back and his heart broke for her when he felt her shudder with the release of a few more tears. He wanted to console her but he wanted to break someone's neck, too, so he bent down and hooked his arm under her knees and carried her to the bed. Like he'd done for his youngest brother once, he pulled the spread back and tucked it around her, then ran his hand gently over her curly head.

He then sauntered over to the door and could feel his blood pumping in anticipation of ripping into whatever poor soul, animal or tree or human or otherwise, that would be on the receiving end of his anger tonight. But before he could get his digits around the doorknob, Eriana called out to him.

"Rex..." She trailed.

He turned and heard her speak in a tone that was raw and soft and broken.

"I don't wanna' be alone tonight."

He faltered.

Choosing her over his anger proved to be one of the hardest things he ever had to do.

A/N: Yes, I know Roy is only a teenager and Eriana isn't much older, but they have emotions, strong ones, just like adults! Especially in light of the subject. And sorry if that made anyone uncomfortable. It actually hits a little close to home for me.

Anyway

I will try and get another update, and that will be sort of easier since I quit one of my jobs recently. The fact that my 'employer' hasn't paid me yet only affirms my belief that I made the right decision. I did it bc I was tired af and the money wasn't worth the work, but hey. If I have more time to write, that's an added bonus...

See you guys next chapter!

~DymondGold~