The Verse

"This is your home now," he snapped, starting to sound irritated.

I decided to leave it alone for now, looking down and trying not to let him see how angry I was. I was going to have to find another way. Maybe someone in this world... Verse, who could help me.

He moved closer, taking my chin in his fingers to tilt my face up. "Your face is so easily read, My Little Ollie. You would try and escape me if you could. Yet you agreed just moments ago to stay and be my companion. You think so little of your word?"

"No! No, that's not it! I... I'm just afraid, you understand that, right? I don't want to die or be treated badly."

"So you would be dishonest to avoid discomfort. Is that the way of things in your world? Deception? Loss of honor to avoid pain?"

I felt cornered and flustered and that coupled with everything that had happened, I broke down. I began sobbing, turning away from him and hiding my face in embarrassment.

"You really cannot control your emotions in the least, can you?" he asked in shock. "Be easy, Little Ollie," he said gently. "Do you need a dose of Pharros?"

"No! No more of that please, not ever."

"You must train yourself to control your emotions better. You show weakness at the wrong moment and it may be a cost to me. If it is known you may be used against me, it would be a detriment. You must remain poised. Lair, I will need you to remain vigilant with this one, she is fragile I think. Little Ollie, wash your face and compose yourself. As soon as the others return we must leave."

I shook my head, angry on top of upset now. "I'm not a faucet!"

"I do not know what that means. Calm yourself and wash your face. Lair, get her a cloth. Little Ollie, if you cannot get yourself under control, I will dose you despite your wishes."

"Leave me alone!" I yelled angrily. I wanted two minutes without him harping at me! "I need space! Time!"

"You have until the others return," he said angrily, drawing up.

I yanked away from him and fled to the back room where the beds were and threw myself on his to get all of my tears out. I hated this place and it's stupid rules and stupid traditions and stupid people and weird ways of doing things and dressing! I wanted to just go home!

A warm hand touched my bare back and I jerked hard, turning to see who it was. Endrew looked alarmed as he looked down at me. "Are you ill?"

"I just need a minute!"

"You must tell me what that is before I can provide it, Little Ollie."

"Time, a moment. Time to myself to get it out of my system. I just need to cry it out!"

"You are a very peculiar creature, Oliva."

"Olivia."

"Olivia. You are hard to understand."

"Imagine being stuck all alone in a world full of strange people who are so different than you are! Imagine a Verse where women are in control and you get stuck there and one claims you as a pet and there is nothing you can do about it. You are forced to accept it or die or be punished! They make you do things you aren't used to and tell you that you cannot..."

"Enough! You dwell on things you cannot change instead of moving forward. Understand that this is the way things are now. You will accept this and move on, do you understand?"

"It isn't that easy!"

"Do I need to bring the strap to you again?" he asked angrily as a man came into the back with a large box strapped to his back.

"No," I whispered, hunching down and turning away.

"You will be fitted for clothing, stand and remove the garment!" Endrew demanded tersely.

I didn't balk, I got up quickly and slid the costume off, then hugged myself as I looked down at the floor. The man with the box came closer, then shrugged it off and opened it. He took out a device that looked almost like a cell phone and pointed it at me. "Turn slowly," he said primly.

I started turning a slow circle, still huddled down on myself.

"Stand erect, limbs out and keep turning!" the man spat in irritation.

I stood up and held my arms out, turning as tears rolled down my cheeks.

Endrew moved to stand near the man as I turned and I closed my eyes, thinking if I couldn't see him, he couldn't see my shame. How could he NOT see the shame in this?

"Enough!" the man snapped and I dove back into the bed, covering with the blankets.

Endrew scowled at me and moved closer to me, his arms crossed.

"Color?" the man snapped as he plugged the scanning device into the box he was folding open. It was some sort of 3-d printing machine.

"The blue of her eyes," Endrew said decidedly.

The man came to me, holding another smaller scanner to my eye and I looked up at him wide eyed, trying not to blink as he scanned my eye. He walked away as if I were nothing. Less than nothing. I glared at his back.

Endrew stepped over, cutting off my line of sight and I looked up at him. His look was cool and hooded. Yeah, he was pissed.

"I am a human being!" I whispered, looking down and away.

The silence was strained and awkward as I heard the machine boot up and start making a humming noise. A minute later, the man stepped around Endrew and tossed a pair of black rubberlike pants with blue accents next to me on the bed.

I got up and pulled them on, surprised at how much give they had and how easy they were to put on. They fit like a glove. When he handed me the top, it fit the same way. I was a little surprised at how easily I could move in the outfit, they had looked so stiff. I moved around, bouncing around a little. There was even support for my breasts built in!

"Leave the other two sets there," Endrew demanded of the man, then took my wrist and pulled me out of the room. "Leess, help her with her hair."

"I can do my own hair! Do you have a brush?"

Endrew looked down at me, his eyes dancing with anger. "Leess," he hissed.

Leess ran to me and began gathering up my hair and plaiting it in an elaborate braid. Once it was long enough to see, I could tell it was plaited like Endrews hair. I looked up at him as she worked, wishing I could understand him and this place.

"Layton, she needs a chip," Endrew snapped as Leess was almost finished.

"Got one ready, just tell me the name you want on it," Layton said, picking up a machine with a very thick needle on it.

"Olivia?" Endrew asked me.

"Yes. O-l-i-v-i-a. Mallory. M-a-l-l-o-r-y. Is he going to jab me with that?"

"Just hold still a minute, Little Ollie," Endrew said, catching my other arm and turning me. He held my arm out by my hand, wrist up. I made a small noise of fear as Layton came towards me with the device.

"Be very very still, Olivia," he said calmly, as if trying to sooth me.

"I can dose her," Pannar said as I tried to jerk back from the giant needle.

"Ollie!" Endrew snapped. "Be still! Look up at me, now! Look at me and nothing else," he demanded, moving me to press my arm on the table. "Look up at me. Tell me another holday."

I opened my mouth and the sharp pain in my wrist made me gasp and let out a shrill whine.

"It is done," Layton said, turning away.

Endrew pressed his thumb to the spot, still holding my wrist. "You are fine, Little Ollie," he said gently. "Do not go so pale."

"I'm ok. I don't like needles and that... was a really big needle."

"Needle? Injector?"

"Yeah, ok," I said breathily. "Same thing. I'm ok."

"Yes?"

"Yeah."

"Lair, you will take the girls?"

"Yes Endrew, I will see them safe," Lair said, stepping up. He turned to Callen and the giant man bent over and they pressed their heads together and clasped hands. It was actually completely endearing and made me like the giant man a lot more.

Endrew turned to me and I looked up at him as he held my wrist, keeping pressure on the spot. He looked over my face as if memorizing it, then gave me a small smile. "You are a very stunning creature, My Little Ollie," he said softly. "Even if you are infuriating."

I blushed and my mouth twitched, wanting to smile back. I refused, biting my cheek so I wouldn't. I looked down, saying nothing, but he put his fingers under my chin and lifted my face to his as he leaned down and pressed his head to mine like Callan had Lair.

He lingered only a moment, then he let me go and was walking away, everyone following him. Lair put a hand on the back of my shoulder lightly and led me out the door as well, the other two girls close behind and I watched Endrew and Callen walk away in the other direction as Lair led us down the cobblestone streets. He turned down a path to another streat and I noticed as we walked in the daylight that the doors on every building were as black as the cobblestone on the streets. It seemed oddly significant.

He turned us on another path and down to a door, then lifted a hanging metal rod and whacked the door with it once. A gong rang out and moments later, the door opened. Lair looked at the man a moment, then spoke up after swallowing hard. "I must speak to Hadnan."

"Lair, have you returned to me, my little pet?" the man asked with an oily smile, reaching to touch Lair.

Lair jerked back quickly, his face half terrified. I knew the look of someone who was facing someone who had abused them in the past.

"Leave him alone!" I snapped, stepping up. "He told you we are here to see Hadnan! Take us to him!"

"This one does not know her place, yes? And you speak so oddly, where is it you come from, pet?" he asked me, his green stained fingers grazing my chin.

"Don't!" Lair squeaked, jerking me back. "Don't touch her! She is Endrew's companion! If you... contaminate her in that way he will be angry."

"Then you will not tell him, will you? A companion then? For Endrew is it? Very well," he chuckled nastily. He opened the door wide, allowing us entry as I felt a small wave of nausea creep up.

The oily man led us back into the building, through a room of men and women with no clothes, laying around looking half out of their minds on drugs. We went down a long hall with open stalls full of men and women touching and tasting and sharing some sort of tube with a green oil in it, getting high.

He opened another door and showed us into a small room filled with cushions on the floor and we went in. He closed it and Lair turned to me. "You cannot speak to him that way, or anyone that way. Just keep your eyes down and let no one here touch you, at all, do you understand?"

"Yeah," I answered, still feeling nauseous. Should I tell him the oily man had touched me briefly? I don't think that was what he meant, so I stayed quiet.

The door opened and a small man came in with the sides of his head shaved. "Lair! We have missed you, missed the custom you brought us. Have you brought me new..."

"Endrew sent us to be kept here in the back until he comes for us," Lair said quickly, getting it out in a rush.

"I see. As is his right, I suppose. Very well. This room is safe enough, you may abide here until he comes. If you wish, you may step out and taste our delights, Lair? There are some here who have truly missed you."

"I am Callen's pet now," Lair said breathlessly, not looking up.

"Pet? Is that all? There is one here at least who might think to challenge for you."

"Callen? He would die trying and he knows it. Callen wouldn't leave it at putting him down, he would kill him," Lair said, still not looking up.

"And who is this one who stares at me so boldly?" Hadnan demanded, looking at me.

"Endrew's companion, Ollie. She is not from here and her ways are off, she means no disrespect."

"Is that so, Ollie?"

I stared at him a moment, then realized he expected me to answer. What was wrong with me? Why was it taking my brain so long to catch up with what I was hearing and seeing?

"Yeah," I answered, shrugging.

Hadnan chuckled, then turned and left, pulling the door shut. I sat down on one of the cushions and watched Lair pace worriedly. Was he worried about where we were or about Callen? Probably Callen. That meant Callen was in real danger... and that meant Endrew was in real danger. I felt twice as sick now. I needed to go find him... make sure he was safe. Why was my head spinning? He wasn't safe. Callen wasn't safe, so how could he protect Endrew? The thought seemed to run circles in my head. I needed to go find Endrew. At the docks. They were going to the docks, I remembered them saying that. I bet I could escape here easily, slip out.

I stood up. "I... I need a private moment. Where is... where can I have a private moment?"

Lair glanced at me, then gestured to the door distractedly. "Go up the hall that way and it is the last door."

I left, trying to keep my footing as I went down the hall. I saw the restroom, but I also saw a barred back door with light from outside shining in. I lifted the heavy bar and pushed the door open, stumbling into a back alley.

I looked around, then picked a direction, hoping I was on my way to the docks. I would keep heading north, I decided, as much as I could. Endrew had left heading north, I would go the same way.

I kept getting caught having to go east before I could go north again, the streets and alleys seeming to zigzag. A few people in black looked at me curiously as I walked, but no one stopped me or bothered me.

Eventually, the cobblestones turned a more normal gray color and the people I saw were also wearing gray and not black. The doors were gray. The looks I got here more like sneers now, and scowls.

I stopped and rested against a tall street sign post. I had been walking forever! It was past noon now, easily and I was getting hungry. I still felt dizzy and lightheaded and thoughts and sights seemed to chase each other around my head, catching up too late to what I was seeing and hearing.

A hand closed around my arm and I looked at the hand, then up at the face. The man it belonged to was a large man, as large as Callen easily, with a mohawk of bright orange hair and orange accents on his gray suit. I blinked at him, then giggled. He looked like something out of a B rated sci fi movie.

He pulled me off the post and dragged me down the cobblestone street to a corner where several other men stood, waiting for him.

"She is high on Monava," the giant said to the man who was obviously the leader with a narrow stripe of gray hair on his head.

"Trash," one of the other men spat. "Execute her."

The leader, an older man, but not so old that the gray hair was natural, looked me over. "Why are you here in our district, lowborn?" he demanded.

I blinked at him, then shook my head. "I need to find the docks."

"The... docks? Do you know where you are? And why do you speak that way? Where are you from?"

"Earth."

"Earth? Dirt? You... speak sense, girl or I will allow Benoit to execute you as he wishes."

"Earth, parallel to here. A different paraverse," I said, trying to remember what Endrew had said.

"Ahh, a traveler. Are you aware you are lost?"

"I need to find the docks."

The man laughed, then put a finger under my chin, forcing me to look up at him. "How much Monava did you take?"

"I don't know what that is?"

"The green drug. How much?"

"I didn't. A man... he touched me with green fingers... but I left. I got away from him, from all of them."

"I see."

"Where are the docks?"

"Are you a pet, girl?" he asked, moving closer and lifting my face up higher as he looked me over.

"No. please, I need to get to the docks? It's important."

He chuckled. "I am sure it is, girl. Ghessu, scan her."

Another man stepped up and scanned my arm and I noticed then that the gray haired man was holding my arm out for him.

"Olivia Mallory," the man said, reading the scanner.

"Olivia. An odd name, to be sure."

"Ollie. Just Ollie. Can you show me where the docks are?"

"She is single minded," the giant said with a rumbling laugh.

"Olivia, my name is Jeshwa... I think I may take you as a pet. For a time, at least. Skawain, what do you think? Would you be pleased to have a new toy once I finish with her?"

"I would be very pleased to use this one," the giant said, pulling my hair back hard enough to make me look at him.

"Jeshwa!" Endrew yelled, marching out of an alley just up the street. "Let her go!"

He was safe! I took in a deep breath, looking at him.

"Why should I? I have found this morsel wandering my district alone. I've a mind to claim her as a pet."

"She is my companion!"

"You have no rights here, no claims on anything in my district."

"Release her," Endrew snarled, stopping a few feet away.

Skawain stepped between Endrew and Jeshwa and Callen stepped up to Skawain.

"Endrew!" I yelled, trying to pull away from Jeshwa. "I couldn't find you! I couldn't find the docks! I tried! This man won't let me go and he wouldn't help me find you!"

"Lair... was she given Monava?" Endrew demanded angrily.

"No! I mean, I don't think so? Scradeil reached for her, but I pulled her back? And she said she needed a private moment and was gone! I sent for you as soon as I saw the back door had been opened!"

"Silence!" Endrew snapped angrily. "Jeshwa, she was given narcotics against her will, it was not her intention to trespass."

"Yet she has, and I am of a mind to claim her as a pet."

"She is my companion!"

"Not here. Here you have no rights, lowborn rat."

"I will challenge you and we both know I will kill you."

"You would challenge your better for this... girl? She must truly be a treat. I cannot wait to taste her nectar for myself."

"You truly wish to die just to try me?" Endrew asked angrily.

Jeshwa laughed. "Skawain?"

"I have laid claim to this girl," Skawain sneered. "A challenge falls to me, lowborn rat."

"So be it," Endrew said darkly, stepping up.

I tried to yank away from Jeshwa to see, but I could only see Callen looking in wide eyed concern in Endrew's direction. Jeshwa pulled me back away from the street and the others around him moved with him and I could finally see Endrew as he and the giant circled each other.

"This isn't right!" I wailed, trying to yank out of Jeshwa's grasp. "Let me go! I want to go with him!"

"Be still, girl," Jeshwa demanded, shaking me hard enough to rattle my teeth.

"You hurt her and I will kill you," Endrew snarled at Jeshwa.

Skawain lunged for him while Endrew was distracted, but Endrew spun away with ease and rammed stiff, pointed fingers into the giant's kidney as he passed, then dodge low and rolled as the giant swung a hulking arm back at him. Endrew was back up and behind him before Skawain was done swinging and Endrew rammed his straight, pointed fingers into Skawains neck, under his jaw. Skawain staggered back and then rushed Endrew again, but Endrew leapt up and rammed a knee into Skawains jaw, riding him down to the ground as the huge man was knocked out with the uppercut from Endrews knee. Endrew didn't hesitate at all, he broke the giants neck with ease, then stood up and stalked to Jeshwa.

Jeshwa shoved me down to the ground and stepped back quickly. "Take her!"

"No. I said I would kill you and I will. Come forward, coward."

"I yield! Take her!"

Endrew sneered at the older man, then moved to help me up.

"Endy! I was looking for you! I was so afraid you would be hurt!"

"Silence, Little Ollie," he whispered. "We will speak of this later. Layton?"

Layton came forward and Endrew took a knee as Layton handed the sharp razor to Jeshwa. I saw then that more of Endrew's hair had already been shaven away. When Jeshwa stepped up to shave more off, I was torn.

"No! Endy, your hair is so lovely, do you have to..."

"Callen!" Endrew snapped. Callen came and took hold of me, pulling me away from Endrew, prying my fingers out of his hair.

"But his hair is so nice! He has lost almost all of it today!" I wailed, watching Jeshwa shave away a thick swatch of hair.

Endrew finally stood and Jeshwa knelt and Endrew drew lines a good two inches wider than his current hair on both sides. It seemed he had lost a lot today, if I was understanding the way things worked here.