ok so here is chapter 8!.
I have something important to tell you. I had most of these chapters already written when I posted the first chapter. This chapter is the last one I had in the storage, which means from now on I will actually have to take time to write, which I am not sure I can always do since I am a bit busy sometimes with the university. so if you guys want me to continue this story please let me know.
Anyway like always a very special thanks to who helped me a whole of a lot with my journey with this story.
Hetalia and any of its characters don't belong to me and like always read, enjoy and review!.
The sun rays shin with the intensity of a reflector, stabbing the captives's whipping eyes, the daylight reached every single spot of the communal yard. The ceramic floor felt cold, the wind was blowing strongly and the small portion of sun heat could barely keep their bodies warm. Sounds of slithering and rattling could be heard all over as the nagas entered and then passed bye. With a parade of colors and textures, the courtyard was soon filled entirely with activity. Males dressed up in long dressing coats with fur passed bye along with females dressed up in colorful tunics with jewels and fur. They walked bye the delivering spot, inspecting the new acquisitions that the courtyard had to offer while chatting about the novelties of today and their new found satisfaction with the trial.
None of them seemed to mind the grief and dwelling around them, to the contrary it seemed to put them at ease. Men talked to the guards and inspected the group of miserables around them. The nagas would give the guards some sort of ticket looking paper, the guard would ask a human bye name and then they would hand it over for the naga to examine and they would give the guard a tip for their service. Those who denied to take they slave home instead of just retrieving them, negotiated a price for their property and ended up with a certain amount of money in return and the human they declined would be put on a small tag around their necks with a price. Another naga could come and either negotiate a price to buy them or trade the human they already had assigned for the one been sold or just take the human they already had and buy another one, prices were dribbled between the nags but in the end humans were either sold bye a high price or delivered to their masters who would pay the guard a generous tip, so either way profit was made out of it. The inspection process was simple, nagas would squeeze the humans limbs and eyed them before making a choice. The humans would cry and squirm at been touched, however the chains prevented them from doing anything. The nagas continued to feel them up around their limbs and stomaches while commenting to each other if it was a convenient acquisition to take home. The humans pleads and begs were ignored and sometimes even yelled bye their new masters, who wouldn't deal with the attitude and moping coming from their new properties.
"I wonder if he would be useful in the fields" a male said squeezing a man's arm while he whimpered and contorted violently, resembling more the caged wild animal, that he was treated like then a person.
"LEAVE ME ALONE YOU JERK!" he said and kicked the male in the face and backed away to the center of the captives crowd, the guard immediately yanked off his chain and yelled at him while tugging and taking out his whip. No one dared to make a sound, they knew a limit was crossed, now there would be consequences to face. "fuck" mumbled Amelia and tried to scooter closer to the man but the chinas didn't allow her to get further. To the contrary some other humans would keep their distance from the man. Their eyes glued to the whip as if they were about to buy a sentence that was not for them. The man glared, shaking and miserable with simple tunic and sweat all over his face.
"you filthy little bastard!" the guard said ready to unleash the whip against the man but the impact didn't arrive. "NO, WAIT!" the male's voice said and everyone looked at him."I think he needs to be put in place, but I am his master after all aren't I?" he said smirking and the guard nodded before yanking on the chain, the man was dragged out of the fountain and towards the first step of the small stair. He was forced to stand up, he was shaking and could barely move from the chain on his feet. "there you go, suit yourself" The guard said offering his own whip to the costumer before backing away to control the rest of the humans.
"I have been dying to do this ever since you bought me" the male said and without further notice he begun to whip the man mercilessly. Screams of agony were heard as the leather instrument made impact on his skin, every hit ripped it and allowed the blood to come out, his tunic was little mored then red stained rags, his lacerated body out for the audience to see. Women started to cry and beg for the punishment to stop and men would look shocked and scared at the attacker and worst to their surroundings. Nagas around them stopped and looked from the edge of the steps at the spectacle in front of them, a few of them cheered and mocked the victim who was twitching and screaming while spluttering blood and other bodily fluids all over. Others just contented themselves to watch with satisfaction at how the beast was taught his place bye his new master and others just rolled their eyes at the public exhibition the owner was throwing in the middle of the day.
"HAVE YOU LEARNED YOUR LESSON?" the naga asked and the man coughed blood and looked at him with defeated eyes "yes master" he said and looked down in shame. The male nodded before tugging on his chain roughly. "damn right you did, and you better not forget!" he said and hoisted the man up bye the arm making him stand up before dragging the man over the guard. he turned to look at the rest of the humans who were crying and shaking, hugging each other in seek of some sort of comfort.
"let that be an example, save yourselves this kind of troubles and just accept your new place" he said before turning back at the guard and take out a bag filled with golden coins, he handed the guard a generous amount. "thank you for your assistance my good sir" he said and the guard took off the chain from the pot plant bush and gave it to the male. "you are welcome sir, a pleasure to service you" he said and without any other word the male was dragging his new slave, who could barely move at this point across the courtyard and towards the exit. Soon the activities went back to their original routine and nagas could continue with their inspecting, retrieving and negotiating.
The girls cried and sobbed quietly, they hugged each other as they looked at the horrendous display around them. Women dragging other male and females as if they were dogs with chains and even yelling at them in public to get faster, males glanced at some females with prurient eyes which made them panic even more. Other owners would just retrieve their new property and or examine other humans who they considered attractive or useful to buy and then leave with their new acquisition quietly. Very few however liked to give the human a hit or a slap to put them in place from the beginning and lastly an amount of owners even came with chains or ropes of their own and in a surprisingly polite way, took their new human out, as if they were buying a dog or a cat. The girls couldn't help but stare at those, they walked while holding the hands of their new slaves in a calm way almost peaceful, as if they weren't angry or bloodlust like they were before but just satisfied, Amelia swore that one of them even rubbed her human's back as they left. Any escape attempt was already out of the humans expectations, they knew they couldn't get out. Silence was obligatory for all of them, however that didn't stop them from grieving in their own way.
"I wanna go home" Michelle sobbed quietly while Elizaveta held her against her chest and rubbed her back, she had a few tears as well that she tried to repress, she needed to stay strong. Madeline whipped softly while Amelia hugged her and tried to comfort her, soft promises of freedom and escaping didn't really offer a consolation for her. None of them dared to try to rebel as it was obvious bye now that resistance was futile.
Sitting there in the middle of that square fountain, Michelle had the first opportunity to really notice what kind of people was in their groups. Both males and females were mostly grown ups but she could see some teens between the group. Her heart stopped when she saw a very young lady who was barely reaching adolescence. Young with long blond hair in braids and pale skin, she had a very youthful face with large innocent green eyes. She was sitting with her head on her knees. Nagas simply walked bye and stopped at admire the image of fragility she projected. despite been human, nagas seemed to find her amusing as most females would stop to admire her, some would even coo at the shivering girl and ask if she was for sell. Elizaveta and Amelia scooted closer to her and even sheltered her when someone tried to touch her and growl at them, the guard however didn't seem to take kindly to them defying their costumer and tugged on their chains as a warning.
"stop it you two!" he barked at them angrilly "OOWWW YOU BIG FILTHY-" "leave it Lizzy!" said Michelle shaking "they will just hurt you again" she said and Elizaveta growled but contained herself from saying anything more. "thank you miss" the girl said in a soft high pitched voice "call me Lizzy, are you ok? what's your name?" elizaveta asked and she nodded while whipping away her tears "yes miss I am Lily...I am sorry you got hit because of me" she said and Elizaveta shook his head "its not your fault Lily don't worry" she said soon a female voice could be heard near them.
"excuse me, are these for selling?" asked a female with brown hair and amber eyes, she had a little curl sticking her hair, she was dressed in a green tunic with short sleeves and a pink shawl "they are so cute, I could pay you handsomely for any of them" she said in an Italian accent and one of the guards shook his head. "sorry madam but their masters haven't arrived yet so I can't sell them until they give me the permission for it, if they give it in the first place" he said and turned around to face Lily one more time "a real pity though with that face she could fetch a high price as a house maid or a company pet" he said and she gulped and whimpered. The woman just nodded and looked at her.
"I would pay handsomely, that's true" she said and kneeled down to take a good look at her "aren't you sweet looking?" she asked smiling when out of nowhere a rattling sound was heard. "HANDS OFF PLEASE" a male said and the female turned around to see a male glaring. He wasn't very tall and resembled a man in his twenties with a standard heigh and short blond hair that reached to his chin and blue eyes. He was dressed up in some sort of gray uniform with a white beret on his head.
"can I help you mister?" the guard said and the male handed over a small ticket "yea I came to pick up my human, the one the woman is touching" he said in a pissed voice and the guard looked at the group "Lily Bogel!" he said in a strong stern voice and Lily raised her hand shyly "its me" she said and the guard proceeded to unchain her from the bush "your master is here" he said and handed the male the chain that was attached to her ankle. "here you go" he said and the male handed over a small tip "thanks" he said and turned at the shivering girl "ready to go?" he asked calmly and she gulped and nodded "yes master" she said sadly and he looked at her for a moment "then come we have to go now" he said and took her with him. She walked away looking sadly at her fellow captives been delivered and sold to those monsters, her new owner walked her without uttering a word, soon they both were lost on the crowd.
"oh a real pity, I would have love a pet like that" the female from earlier said before slithering away to inspect more humans.
The girls looked at her horrified and more importantly scared, not only of what would happen to that girl but them as well. They still had tears rolling down their cheeks but Elizaveta and Amelia tried their best to hide them, they needed to be strong right now. Michelle and Madeline however kept crying, their lives were over and they couldn't do anything about it. They couldn't do much as some nagas came bye and started to eye them. Amelia and occasionally Madeline had people coming interested on them for their pale skin and blond hair and blue, violet eyes. Women would offer prices for them as maids and males even asked for prices wanting personal servants, Madeline could do little more then cry and cover Amelia's mouth so her sister wouldn't be whipped for insolence. Elizaveta was asked for price to see if she could work as a washerwoman because of her strong looking appearance to which she tried to stand up and fight but gained only another slap on her face. Finally people came asking prices for Michelle as a field worker because of her darker skin been perfect for sun exposure, she cried and even yelled at one man who asked for a peck under her tunic to check if she really was darker looking or just tanned, of course she was slapped for it.
Luckily for them none of their original proprietaries was there to accept the offers but of course hearing each one of them w devastating enough. Amelia could already see herself having to serve some rich and snob married couple, eating from scraps and been forced to sleep in little more then a cot and do house chores to end, probably separated form her little sister who wouldn't have it any easier then her without her protection. Elizaveta could already picture her herself working in a laundry room carrying big stacks of clothes and washing with her bare hands and doing heavy housework, been in a pavilion surrounded by other woman while her husband was forced to do heavy laborer work, he wouldn't survive that, all she could pray right now was that he would be used as an entertainer because of his music talent. Michelle cried at the idea of her future, living all day under the sun collecting the harvest of some landowner, sleeping in a cot with fifty other people working from sunrise to nightfall been little more then a cargo mule until her final days.
The girls kept with their moping as more people came to retrieve their new acquisitions. Madeline was still trying to figure a way out when suddenly she found her self with a tall shadow towering above her. She gulped and looked up to see the female grinning at her.
"bonjour petite mignonne" she said and Madeline gulped and backed away. "awwwww you are shy" the female said and reached to grab her. "hey leave my sister alone!" Amelia said but the female ignored her and grabbed Madeline's chain to inspect her. "uhmm no tag, how sad" she said and starred at Madeline's frightened eyes before pulling her closer and starting to squeeze her arms gently "uhmm you are not too strong probably better as a personal maid or a pet maybe.." she said and Madeline cried causing the woman to touch her face "no no, no tears little one, there is no reason for it" she said as she kept studying her face and hair "uhmm your hair is so smooth, would look adorable in purple ribbons" she mumbled and Amelia decided that enough was enough.
"HEY LEAVE MY SISTER YOU BIG OLD CREEP!" she yelled standing up, ready to fight if she had to. The woman composed her standing up "OLD CREEP?! YOU LITTLE-" "please madam!" the guard interrupted and pulled from her chain making her fall to the ground.
"allow me" the guard said and unleashed his whip against Amelia's back. Amelia screamed in Pain as blood dripped out from the open wound and cried even more. The girls yelled scared and cried at seen their friend been whipped.
"STOP IT RIGHT THIS INSTANT!" a voice with a thick British accent said. The crowd started to open as a naga slithered between them and the girls could see another familiar figure. It was the male from the courtroom. He had the same blond hair and green eyes under thick eyebrows, Mister Kirkland they thought he was called before. He slithered up to the guard and crossed his arms. "may I know what this is all about?" he asked and the guard sighed "Mister Kirkland I am terribly sorry but the slave just insulted a costumer, so I am giving her three leashes as punishment" he said and Mister Kirkland shook his head. "one should be enough thank you" he said and handed the guard a ticket, he immediately gulped and looked down. "but sir this oder is not for you" he said and Mister Kirkland shook his head. "my brother is attending some..business at the courtroom and will be arriving home late, he asked me to retrieve his new acquisition for him" he said and the guard nodded "alright sir if you say so" he said and looked down at the captive, still crouched on the floor.
"Amelia Jones?" the guard asked and Amelia nodded quietly "your master is here" he said and took her chain from the hook before passing it over to Mister Kirkland "better take her now sir, she and the brown looking one have been giving quite the attitude" he said and the male just grabbed the chain and took out a bag with golden coins. "nothing some re-education can't fix" he said and handed over the tip. "I will be taking my acquisition now good day sir" he said and the guard looked at the ticket "wait Mister Kirkland...I think you are forgetting something" he said and shwon the ticket, the naga looked embarrassed for a moment before rubbing the back of his head. "oh yea my bad" he said
"Madeline Williams!" the guard said and Madeline raised a hand "its me" she said quietly and Mister Kirkland face palmed "right get her too, I am sure my brother has some use for her" he said and the guard handed over the chain. "Here you go" he said and Arthur nodded before looking at the girls, both hugged each other scared of their new master.
"We are leaving, if you have something to say say it now" he said and tugged on their chains, Amelia and Madeline turned to face Michelle and Elizaveta "I don't want to go!" Amelia said with tears in her eyes and Madeline nodded. Michelle extended a hand for them and Elizaveta tried to reach for them. "please! please don't take them!" Michelle pleaded the male with teary eyes. Mister Kirkland obviously looked impatient just started to walk away.
"WAIT NO! YOU CAN'T DO THIS TO US!" said Amelia who tried to squirm weakly with Madeline assisting her. Mister Kirkland just huffed and picked both girls up on his arms dragging them away from the group of humans. "DON'T LET THEM GET YOU!, I PROMISE I WILL FIND A WAY OUT FO THIS!" Amelia said sobbing as they were carried away bye their new master. Mister Kirkland went through one of the doors of the courtyard. Instead if finding themselves back inside of that palace, the girls could see another courtyard, twice as big as the other and filled with even more people. Slave markets shown themselves as well of several kinds of shops where nagas with fabrics, jewelry or exotic clothes could be seen dribbling on prices. Mister Kirkland headed near one of the corners of the place and set the two girls down on the ground, crossing his arms.
"now look up! both of you, let me see you" he said firmly and both girls looked up. Amelia had her face full of dirt and bruises, her blue eyes were puffy and stained with red from her sobbing. Mister Kirkland starred surprised for a moment and rubbed his eyes, however his disbelief was gone almost as soon as it came. "you look a lot like my brother" he said cleaning her face with a handkerchief "and you seem to act like him a lot" he said in a soft voice as he rubbed Amelia's face. "anyway!, we are going to make this clear, I don't know who you are but you are going to belong to my brother from now on so you two will obey and respect the house rules and more importantly your superiors. My name is Mister Kirkland and you will refer to me as such, try anything against me or my family and you will be sorry, same goes for any escape attempts, understood?" he asked and the girls looked at each other before sniffing.
"yes Mister Kirkland" they said with defeat in their voices, Mister Kirkland nodded satisfied "good respect what I said and things won't have to be unpleasant for you" he said and started to lead the girls away with him. The girls had to parade around in their tunics and chains, they couldn't help but stare at the shops where humans where been delivered. They wondered how would their life would turn on now, they were together and that was something, they just hoped it would last. Just then a female voice was heard.
"wait Arther!" a female french accented voice said. Mister Kirkland turned around to see the same woman was inspecting Madeline earlier, she had a wide grin and was holding a big looking purse.
"Marianne, what do you want?, besides having my humans slapped" he said and the female pouted as she rubbed Madeline's head. "I was just inspecting this little when your human started to act out I just put her in place" she said and Arthur rolled his eyes "you feeling up humans, why I am not surprised?" he said
"not feeling up, selecting, what's the point in buying if they don't have any style? I only get the best, especially if I am maintaining them, anyway, judging for what I saw I would say you are not really interested in that human she said pointing to Madeline "how much do you want? I could pay you handsomely for her" she said and and took out some golden coins form her purse "I will give you fifty pieces of gold for her" she said and Mister Kirkland blinked. Amelia and Madeline hugged at each other scared of the possibility of been separated.
"what do you want her for?" he asked and she smiled "she would make me a good personal servant..or a company pet I am not sure yet" she said and Madeline whimpered "please mister no" she begged and Arthur shook his head ignoring her "Marianne I am not selling my brother's humans not to you and especially not to your family" he said and she huffed "you have no interest on her, give her to me I can make a use of her at home with my brother" she said and Arthur blinked "you and your brother? now I am definitely not selling you anything!" he said and Marianne huffed and wrote something on a paper handing it over to him.
"whatever just hand this over to your brother and tell him I am willing to dribble on the price" she said stroking Madeline's hair "I never loose a good business" she said before leaving. Arthur huffed "frogs" he mumbled before walking out of the courtyard with the girls, they crossed an threshold and disappearing from the courtpalace, the doors closed behind them, that was the last thing the sisters saw from that place before following their new owner.
(meanwhile)
Michelle cried desperately, she knew the moment would come sooner or later. Her two friends were gone and now she would never see them again, she could only picture what sort of life they would have now and what sort of life was awaiting for her. She felt lonelier then ever and scared of the future to come. Elizaveta rubbed her back gently "I am sorry, but maybe they will find their way to escape, this world doesn't look very advanced in technology, they can reach their way out" she said and Michelle sniffed. "I will probably never see them again!" she said sobbing and looked around. The large number of humans was reduced to just a few, if there was thirty humans before now there were only fifteen as much.
"honhon what cute variety" she heard another french accented voice said and looked up to see a group of males standing in front of the room. One of them had white hair and red eyes wit pale skin, the oher was blond with blue eyes and a light beard, he reminded her of the woman who came to inspect Madeline earlier, which only made her sadder and the last one reminded her of herself. he was tall with brown hair and tanned skin and olive green eyes.
"ok let me get my humans" said the albino one and handed a ticket to the guard. "elizaveta and Roderich Eldestein?" he asked and elizaveta raised her hand in silence. The guard took their chains and handed them over.
"alright sir here they are" he said and the albino handed him over a tip and smiled "alright then, let me introduce my self I am the awesome Gilbert your new master and you two are mein servants understood?" he asked and Elizaveta stepped forward ready to answer, when her husband held her bye the arm gently
"leave it erse, its no use" Roderch said in a defeated voice and the albino laughed "kesese that's what I like to hear now lets go" he said pulling from their chain and making them follow, Elizaveta struggled and yelled against her captor but it was really no use as he was taller and stronger then her. Michelle looked desolated at how the woman who had been supporting them those past days was been taken along with her husband to serve some random man creature as slaves.
"Goodbye Lizzy" Michelle said waving her hand tearfully. Elizaveta turned to look at her and repressed a few tears. "goodbye Michelle, I am sorry I couldn't get you out" she said sadly and one of the friends of the albino turned at them. He was tall with long blond hair and blue eyes, he had a bit of stubble on his chin.
"aww don't worry ma petite I am sure your master will arrive soon if not I may come tomorrow for you, honhonhon" he said and patted her head before leaving.
Michelle watched them go while sobbing. In those last hours she had lost her freedom, her friends Amelia and Madeline and now Elizaveta and she knew they would all have to face the same fate and that she would probably face it soon if not that day then tomorrow but most importantly she would have to face it for life.
"I guess I am alone now" she said and curled up on the floor, tiredness getting the best from her. she closed her and sniffed, soon she cried herself to sleep.