Arg, sorry guys, little late. I still don't own Chrono Trigger, you all know the dance.
Maou Castle could be seen above the trees. Reddish-brown stone stood out starkly from grayed-green leaves, the castle rounded and spiked in a manner completely unfamiliar to Lyn. At this distance, with the lower levels occulted by the black-barked trees, the castle appeared to be a single monolithic building, a tower rising from the forest. As they drew closer, the trees parted, and it became clear that there were outbuildings and courtyards around the building.
They weren't actually taken into the castle proper, only to one of the outbuildings. Segregated by gender, they were taken to two separate rooms. Clothing was handed out, simple tunics of undyed tan fabric. Ethrurrion, who was monitoring the female captives, stopped the Imp when he reached Lyn, saying something in lilting Medinian. The Imp nodded and skipped Lyn. When he was finished handing clothes to everyone else, the Imp returned with another tunic, this one a muddy green. She changed quickly, trying not to look at anyone else as she did so.
Men and women were re-united in the next building, another storehouse type structure, divided into a few sections, with other captives already being held. Lyn was taken to one of the smaller cells, where the occupants were quiet and shot no dark looks at the Mazoku. She twisted around, not fighting the guards, but trying to see what was happening. Her mother, along with the others from Algetty, were roughly shoved into a larger and better guarded cage, while Esaku was discussing something with the Mazoku who seemed to be in charge.
She soon stepped into the pen, looking curiously at the other people, while they looked at her in the same manner. She idly noticed the all wore the same green color as she did. After a while, a man stepped forward, the oldest of the group at about thirty, and apparently the leader. "Well there. Welcome."
"H-hello," Lyn answered tentatively. "Um… where… I mean, what's going to happen next?"
"This is a holding area," the man explained. "We'll be here until we're sold off or otherwise claimed. I've been here about a week, myself." He had an accent, a slight one that Lyn hadn't heard before.
Deciding it was safe enough, Lyn turned and looked toward the enclosure her mother was in. To her surprise, she noticed that everyone in that area avoided looking towards this cage. "Why aren't they looking at us? Why am I the only one from my village who was put here?"
Following her gaze, the man answered, sounding sad. "They think we're traitors. Maybe not as bad as the ones who chose to join our masters, but traitors nonetheless. You're here because the captain who brought you in deemed you trustworthy with the more sensitive tasks."
"Then… what will happen to them? To my mother?"
"From what I've gathered, it's up to them. If they stay quiet, don't cause trouble, they might find themselves upgraded to our position. If they don't stay quiet and do cause trouble… Well, I'm sure you got some sort of demonstration on your way here."
Lyn turned away from the bars and walked toward the wall. She didn't have to answer for him to know he was right.
"Hey, don't take it too hard," a woman sitting on a bench said. She was pretty, and sounded like she was from the Guardia continent itself. "We've got it pretty good, good food, treated well."
"I know," Lyn said, giving the pretty woman a dark look. "Esaku showed me the difference pretty fast once I decided where I stood. I caught on. I guess if you're only concerned about yourself, it's fine, but that's my mother over there, and…" she trailed off, remembering the look in Shanda's eyes, and how she had slipped away, leaving Herbert to do what he would.
For their own part, the others in the cage were taken aback, not only by Lyn's put down, but that she'd called Esaku by name, not even hesitating. The unofficial leader slipped up by Lyn, cautiously putting his hand on her shoulder. "Whoa there, new girl. Did you just call one of them by name? That's a bad practice to get into, you know. They don't all like it very much."
"He never said he minded…" Lyn whispered before sighing. "I… Thanks for the information, but if possible, could I be left alone a little?"
His hand slipped from her shoulder, and he nodded. "Yeah. Sure. But we'll be here to tell you the rules when you're ready."
Looking for a place to sit that was relatively far from anyone, Lyn ended up in one of the two corners made by the wooden bars. She was careful as she approached, in case any of the Mazoku objected, but no one made any protest, the guards simply watching as she sat on the straw-covered dirt floor, resting her chin on her knees. The other slaves ignored her, per her request.
The holding area was far from quiet, even as the sun fell behind the trees. Mazoku would come in, in more variety than Lyn had imagined existed, and talk to the overseer, or wander the pathways between the enclosures. It reminded Lyn of market day in Dorino, only now she wasn't a child looking at trinkets. She was one of the wares for sale, and she finally understood what slavery was. As far as the Mazoku were concerned, they weren't buying people. They were buying things.
The traffic began to slow once the sun set fully, but it never quite stopped. Lyn dozed off after a while, slowly slumping against the wooden bars. Shaking woke her, the man calling to her. "Hey, new girl, wake up already. You been bought. Get up, don't keep 'im waiting."
Lyn blinked, then looked at the man questioningly. He motioned with his head, and Lyn turned to look. She scrambled to her feet when she saw Esaku standing there, looking impatient. "Well, hurry up," the Outlaw snapped, motioning for her to come through the door.
Lyn had the idea that this was an unusual occurrence, although she wasn't sure why she felt that. This was clearly not the time to stop and worry about it, though, and she quickly obeyed the command, ducking through the open door. She wasn't surprised when Esaku started walking away as soon as she was clear, and wordlessly she followed as the door was closed behind her. As she walked out of the storehouse, Lyn thought she heard Shanda shouting something, but she didn't have time to look.
Esaku led her to another building, this one a barracks. Once they were in, he slowed a little, waiting for Lyn to get closer to him. "That went better than I feared," he said softly. "Now you are officially mine, and healer to my band."
"I… I mean…" Lyn stuttered, trying to form a question. What finally came out was, "You own me?"
"Do yourself a favor, healer girl. Learn to refer to all Mazoku as sir, and me as Master. Yes, I own you now," Esaku answered, correcting her sternly at the same time.
Surprised by the sudden rebuke, Lyn stayed silent. After a few moments, Esaku pointed out a cot. "You'll sleep there while we're here. That shouldn't be long, I plan to take my squad to our hometown, if we're not hired for another mission. Until then, you should start learning a civilized language. Since I currently have nothing better to do, I'll be teaching you."
They stayed two days at Maou Castle, with Lyn mostly taking care of Luke again and Esaku covering the basics of what he called 'a civilized language.' As beautiful as it sounded, she quickly learned that Medinian wasn't an easy language to learn. She was grateful for Esaku's patience.
Lyn was not prepared for Esaku's rage when he came in the evening of the second day. She didn't understand a word he was saying, but could guess that they were curses of some form. With a sudden caw, Esaku turned on Lyn, switching to her language. "YOUR damned kin and their Lardon-damned resistance have lowered my status! I've been denied permission to visit home, given a new contract, to the fucking battle lines, at two THIRDS what I should be worth for this!"
What was he expecting, Lyn wondered, shrinking back. "I… I'm sorry, Master?" she offered, hoping to calm him.
Esaku seemed to reign himself in, recalling that his anger was not towards Lyn. "No. Don't be sorry. You are going to keep my squad strong, so that we can regain our status." He turned away and started pacing, muttering rapidly to himself.
From the main barracks, a flute song rose. Ethrurrion, most likely, playing the flute for Luke, showing the child how to play it. Esaku stopped his pacing and looked toward the wall, then started his fluent cursing again. He couldn't take the boy to a battlefield, nor could he afford to loose anyone for the time it would take to get him home.
Esaku left as quickly as he came, though this time he was less dramatic. A little while after he left, the flute stopped and Ethrurrion came in, holding Luke's hand. "Where are we going?"
Lyn briefly debated not telling, but then decided that the Diablos would learn soon enough. "The… battle lines, sir."
"Do you know when?" the feline asked, grimacing.
"I… no, sir. M-master didn't say, but I'd assume soon."
Ethrurrion nodded to himself, then gently pushed Luke toward Lyn and left. Lyn sighed, tired of feeling like she was missing most of what was going on, but she realized that she simply was not important enough to tell. She tucked the tired Luke into the small bed that had been brought in for him, and then sat on the floor. She would be allowed to go to bed when Esaku let her, and not before, a lesson she had learned the very first night.
"My friend, I am glad to see you are well," Esaku said. When he had left the barracks, he had gone straight to the castle, hoping the Sorcerer he knew would be willing to watch the boy.
The blue mage chuckled, recognizing that the Outlaw wasn't here for idle chitchat. "Don't think me a fool, Esaku. You have something to ask me. Well, ask."
Esaku sighed and thought about how best to put things. "I… have a contract to ship to the Choras lines tomorrow. However, I picked up a child on my last assignment."
There was silence for a while, as the Sorcerer interpreted Esaku's statement and then decided what he would do. "You were planning on raising him Human-born?" A nod confirmed his guess, and the magic-user continued. "You want me to care for this child until you return?"
"Either you take him, or I must bring him with me. I don't have the time to make better plans."
The Sorcerer gave a low whistle of amazement. His friend was more desperate than he'd thought, if those were really his only two options. "I'll do this for you, but you'll owe me, friend," the mage said, a note of warning in his voice. If all went well, this would be an easy task, but if Esaku didn't return from the field, the Sorcerer was agreeing to take on the raising of the boy, as Human-born. And the debt Esaku would be in would be equal to the larger task.
Esaku closed his eyes for a moment, then nodded. "Thank you, my friend. We leave at sunrise, can you get him before we go?"
Standing, the Sorcerer walked Esaku to the door of his room. "I'll do better. I'll go with you and get him right now."
Same plea as always, review! ... if I get two reviews, I'll post the next chapter early, how's that?