To Save a World

"You," she started darkly "better not be lying."

Aaron tried not to collapse with relief. "Well, you haven't turned my insides out yet, haven't you?" Though she had already flash-fried three innocent bugs by now.

Lydia exhaled a breath she didn't realize she was holding. She was surprised at the relief that she felt for the man, even while she was trying her best to stay rooted and invisible in her spot beside Herry.

"He's lying." A voice suddenly spoke up behind her.

Lydia jumped with a small shriek. Aaron just about died with surprise.

The man strode forward from his hiding spot behind the frightened woman with a deadly, efficient grace. He appeared to Aaron to be somewhat taller than Lydia, which made him about as tall as the young man. About middle age, he looked nondescript with a build and face that did not attract attention. He had light blue eyes, cold as week-old fish and just as dead.

He carried a sword in his right hip. Aaron was no expert, but the handle appeared worn and the man's hand was all too comfortable with the deadly weapon. By the way Serry did not lash out though her eyes flashed in annoyance, Aaron surmised the man held some respect within the circle.

"What do you mean?" The boy asked, preempting everyone. He thought it was remarkable that he managed to stay upright when his knees wanted to tremble so bad.Please oh please, just let me make this work already.

"You lie." The man flatly told him.

Oh shit. "And you accuse me that because...?"

The man stared at him with those dead eyes. Aaron glanced around and saw everyone was staring at him, and he gave himself a break by allowing himself to look just a little bit apprehensive.

"I know it when a man lies well," The man finally replied. "You are too confident, you have an answer for everything, and yet you reveal nothing."

"I am not lying." he replied, "Just not disclosing the whole truth. I do not like to leave myself ultimately helpless in an uncertain situation.You of all people should know how that is."

The man's left eye twitched. Aaron was waiting on baited breath. The charged atmosphere of the little circle was getting on his nerves. He was fervently wishing to whatever gods and deities this place had not to let these people call him out on the pure bullshit he's blathering.

Finally, the man made a small shrug, turned and left just as quickly and silently as he appeared.

Aaron let out his breath slowly, not even bothering to hide his relief anymore. The atmosphere palpably discharged, especially when Herry muttered "Don't you think Shizo's a little weird?"

Aaron glanced around and noted that even Serry herself appeared to ease without the man around.Interesting. She turned to him with suspicious eyes.

"Get back on your wagon, boy," she ordered "We'll talk about your duties at sup tonight. Herry, go order somebody to water the slaves."

Lydia thought she had seen the remarkable young man afraid before, but she watched as horrifying realization slowly crawled upon his face. His eyes found hers, and she answered the silent question with a small nod.

"Lydia!" the burly slavemaster barked, making her jump "get to it, you lazy slut!"

She scampered to her task, taking a final glance to the young man he was leaving behind. She dared not hope. Life had taught her that blind optimism would be dashed into the rocks of reality. It has happened to her often enough, left her wounded, bleeding, and worse off than when she began. She had truly learned her lesson.

But still.

In her mind, carefully tempered with a heavy dose of reality and caution, a plan began to form.

* * *

Evening was now truly upon this new strange world, and nothing highlighted the fact other than what Aaron was staring at right now. At first, he struggled to figure out what was so out of place in hisdark surroundings - then it hit him all at once.

The land before him was dark. Truly and utterly dark. It was just a little bit after sunset and the caravan had settled on top of a convenient hill just a little off the wide dirt road they were apparently travelling on. It afforded the group a a little bit of view, the lay of the land spreading out before them in their rise. When there was still light, he saw green, rolling hills bordered by a thick line of green in the northern horizon, while their path wound down from the South.

Now that there was no sun, the land was black - devoid of any signs of human life. Light was so pervasive in the other world that the absence of simple streetlights, car lights, houselights and everything on the ground felt deeply foreign and unsettling.

Which bought him to another point. The darkness of the land was in extreme contrast to the sheernumber of stars in the night sky. It looked like a giant, cosmic hand played liberally with glitter and splashed it around the ceiling of the world. There was so much diffuse star light that it created an illusion of brightness in the dark, moonless night. He could see a few meters in front of him comfortably.

It looked amazing. Positively awe inspiring. A far cry from the light and air polluted skies of the Earth. The view was even something that made him just a little bit more glad to be alive.

Or glad tostill be alive.

The crisp, cold breeze was picking up, and the camp was winding down for the night. The various alien sounds of a camp settling in for the night was slowly diminishing, replaced by the persistent croak of crickets and the symphony of evening critters in the grass all around them. His first night in a foreign world would have been a beautifully mysterious one on any other situation.

Aaron got up and looked around. He had been lying on a pleasant patch of grass a little bit away from the main camp fire. He was confused at first, though he tried not to show it. When they mentioned a camp, what came to mind were grills and tents and some lotion to keep away the insects. What actually happened was a supper of badly made bone broth and hard bread, and then shambling off to find yourself a spot beside fires, under the wagons, or the grass. They laughed at him when he asked for a tent.

Although, to be fair, it seemed like a lot more was going on with the real crew of the caravan. The horses were led away, fed, groomed and tied. Tired looking people got busy with making food in bulk as the sun set, starting a large campfire and surrounding it with metal spits that held big pots. Other, smaller fires started out in no particular arrangement around the main camp, populated by nameless, staring groups of ragged men and women.

The whole caravan was very particular with the positioning, the wagons gathered in a double ring around the central fire, the ones with the... slaves (Aaron still had a hard time wrapping his head around that) closest to the fire, and encircled by the utility wagons, where the groups made their own camp fires based on their convenience. This way, the prison wagons would be surrounded by the whole camp - not just the guards, which would also be busy looking out for threats from outside.

He stared at the direction of the sputtering light. Not that the security measure was actually necessary. In fact, with the chains, manacles, and bulky prison boxes, it was just plain overkill.

The young man shivered. He couldn't imagine what it must be like to be in one of those three large, rolling boxes. He knew that if he had handled his last encounter with this caravan's masters any differently, he would probably be answering that question right now. Intimately.

It was also mortifying that he was finding this absurdity easier and easier to deal with. He wasn't on Earth, magic apparently exists, and slavery was still a thing. Next he would be gallivanting around this world astride a fire breathing dragon with his talking sword.

Right. If only it were that easy.

He remembered the magical old man Tar and the absurd contradiction of his 'quest', but thinking about it would confuse him more, so he locked it away in some part of his brain, resolving to think through it when his situation was more... favorable.

"You look deep in thought."

He tensed before he realized that it was Lydia. "Hello," he greeted. He had a soft spot for the mysterious woman in the shapeless cloak.

Lydia sat beside him and and immediately fidgeted shifting around and worrying the hem of her cloak. In this position he could only see the perfect paleness of her hands, her strange eyes buried deep beneath the darkness of her cowl, the rest of her body hidden away in her cloak. He waited, a small smile on his face. The woman did not seem to know how to react to him, and observing her amused him.

Lydia was not really torn in indecision, as far as these things go. She had already decided what to do, and the conditions are as perfect as it could get. The problem was on thehow.

Damn it, She thought,why can't I just tell him that I'll suck his cock and be done with it?

She blushed deeply, thankful for the protection of her trusty cowl. The problem, of course, was that she had no experience in it. None.At all. After all, nobody would touch a demon. And she beat up the first one who tried, back when she was sold into a whorehouse. She fidgeted, nervous.

"Uh," she began.

Great start, Lee. Uhwhat a way to seduce. She berated herself, just about to die of embarrassment, especially when she saw him openly grinning at her. His eyes glinted almost silver in the moonlight.

She cleared her throat, breathed deeply, and then tried again. In a split second decision, she removed the cloth covering her head and loosened the tie on her cloak, bunching it around her shoulder.

"The stars look nice." Damn. Fuckin gods forsaken, shit dipped tongue of hers.The stars look nice? Really?

She grit her teeth and stared resolutely at the innocent heavens, studiously ignoring his reaction. She was pretty damn sure she heard him chuckle, though.

"Yes, they are. You have no idea how nice, for me."

Lydia was happy at that, relieved that she wasn't dismissed or ridiculed. "Really? Why is that?"

"I haven't seen them so..." He swept an arm expensively across the night sky. "Honest."

"Honest? That's a strange way of talking about stars."

"Yes, honest. There's something stark about seeing it while just sitting on a hill with nothing on you at all."

"You can't see the stars, where you're from?" She inquired, feeling a slow thrill while she thought of ancient, lost underground cities she had heard of in stories as a child. She knew it was silly, but why not? Everything about him was a mystery and layers of skillfully weaved lies.

"Well, you can." He hesitated, Lydia watching his silver gray eyes take on a far away look among the stars. He seemed to glow effusively in the moonlight. "But where I'm from, you don't get to really see them for what they are. There's so many things to do that you just glance at them and dismiss them as something that has always been there, and will always be. Insignificant. Or they're often in pictures, subjectified and enhanced to unrealistic heights."

Plus, Aaron thought,that's not even counting to the shit in the air and the things that's happening to our eyes.

Pictures? sub-what? high-what? Lydia kind of understood the gist of what he was trying to say, so she merely dismissed the words she didn't know. He must have been from one of the bigger kingdoms, or even from the sprawling city states of the East. He might have even come from the Var Syndal itself, what with his mysterious magic.

"But surely the difference can't bethat big where you're from," she doubted, "I mean, stars are stars right? They're always there, and... stuff. How you see them can't matter all that much."

He cocked his head. Lydia found it remarkable that he was actually thinking about what she said, she couldn't make much sense of it herself.

"Well, I guess it depends on the context of the situation."

What context?, She asked herself, deeply interested but trying not to show it.

"Oy!" Both jumped as an unfamiliar voice yelled through the silence, "Stop sucking each other's cocks and go to sleep, you shits!"

Lydia blushed with indignation at hearing the caravan-hand's remark, specially as it wasexactly what she was trying to do. Of course, she was resolutely delaying ii in her barely contained nervousness.

"Well, there goes our call." Aaron got up and stretched. The short talk with Lydia had been interesting and refreshing, her existence the only one so far who did not look at him with suspicion or outright hostility throughout the whole day. The night was warm, and he was already feeling sleep inch its way behind his eyes, so he smiled at Lydia and said; "Have a good night. Let's talk tomorrow?"

She sat there, staring at the mystery before her while he stood up and stretched. Suddenly, she knew she had to say it.

"I know you were lying," she whispered "Everything you told them was a lie."

There was a pregnant pause, as if the world stood still. And then he slowly sat back down, turning to her. "Somehow, I'm not surprised." he whispered back.

It was her turn to pause. "Really?"

"Yes. You're... different from them."

"So?"

"So what?"

"What will you do?" she fidgeted nervously "This is a horrible place. Slavers are never kind to their products, and they are never kind to anyone who can take them down."

"Wait, if slavery is legal, why are they so afraid?"

She looked at him, and for a second Aaron thought he had made a mistake. Was it common knowledge? Did he reveal his secret by being ignorant of a well known fact?

"They are licensed slavers, but they do not follow the ru." she finally answered.

"They abuse their slaves." She nodded.

"And..." she hesitated, furtively looking around her, "Theycatch them, their slaves. From beyond the border. Likeanimals." She was now staring at him. He didn't know how slavery worked in this world, but by the severity of her tone, he judged that that must be something grave.

"Shit." He said emphatically.

Something occurred to him. 'They catch their slaves...' Does that mean they could turn anyone into slaves to sell? Even... him? "Shit" he said again, but meaning it more this time.

She nodded.

"We have to escape." She stared at him wide eyed. The uncertainty of her situation made her stomach churn. Why had she done this incredibly stupid thing? Relatively, she had a good life. She was Herry's own personal slave, which means there was hope of her buying her contract out someday, despite the fact that it would be Herry's sole prerogative to release her, which he showed no sign of doing. But still, if she stayed obedient, she would have a roof over her, food to eat, and the hope. Why risk it all?

And then the answer came to her. She was tired - tired of struggling to live, tired of struggling to stay safe, tired of merely rolling with the blows reality was dealing her. All her life she had endured, adapted, survived, stayed one little step away from the jaws of death.

And for what? This pitiful semblance of life?

The man before her was a symbol - of uncertainty, of a monumental risk. But also of hope, showing her a way to survive without scurrying close to the ground and forsaking her dignity. She wanted what he had - his cunning, his intelligence, his foolhardy courage.

Her heart stilled. She knew what she wanted to do.

"I have a plan." She whispered.

Another pause. He observed her silently, his glinting eyes assessing her. She met him stare for stare, still nervous but resolved, trying to tell him with her eyes.

I am with you. I am your ally.

"Let's hear it." he said cautiously, a smile breaking out of his face. "Better plan than stare at the stars like an idiot."

Relief flooded her, and she took a steadying breath. His words were a sign of trust, his smile was an offer. For what?

Friendship a lonely voice inside her whispered,Trust.

Don't be a fool! her rational mind shouted at the hopeful little voice, but her heart yearned for the possibilities.

"W-well," She began, and seemed to resolve herself "We'll have to talk about it somewhere else. Let me accompany you. To your wagon."

Aaron smiled at her, and said "Sure." His wagon was positioned a little bit away from the rest of the group, although he couldn't avoid noticing that it was closest to the master's - Herry and Serry's - own large one, sitting the farthest from the road and almost halfway off the incline of the hill.

And then they arrived at his wagon. Lydia followed him when he climbed inside. She sat in the same spot as she had when he first woke up, her back just a thin plank of wood away from what must be the driver's seat. At this space, they were so close that Aaron could see the way her nervous eyes darted at everywhere; setting on his eyes and away again when she realized he was still looking.

"Lydia-"

"I have magic." she blurted out. Aaron was surprised, and then wary. If she had magic, then why hadn't she used it to escape long ago?

"Not right now. I've used it up. But I can - I just have to do some things." She fidgeted.

"Okay," he said, noting her nervousness. He shuffled around and settled beside her on the wagon, his back to some wooden planking. "But you're obviously too nervous, Lydia. So before we do anything drastic, let's just talk more, okay?"

She nodded, visibly calming down.

"Well, why don't you tell me about yourself?"

She was silent for awhile, a still, mysterious figure beside him. "I'm Herry's contracted slave," She finally said, "But before that, I was an orphan, left in the door of a monastery when I was a kid. I suppose it was because I was demon touched, but I have no way to know. I never knew my mother."

He gasped, surprised. "Shit, Lydia, I-"

"I ran away when I was seven. I couldn't take the abuse, if no one wanted me there then I might as well set out on my own." She continued, her story immediately taking a life of her own and seeming to pour out of her without conscious thought.

No one had ever asked her before.

"I lived on the streets of Searl until I was seventeen. Pretty damn good, actually, as far as I know very few make it there that long. Well, I almost didn't. I was caught by some slavers who lost some of their stock on the way, and was sold to a brothel in the city. I ran away."

Lydia still remembered that day when she broke out of the nameless, dilapidated establishment. It was a bright, sunny day, as if everything was all right with the world while other women who did not have the courage to kick and scratch and punch and poke were being beaten even while they were violated. She had burst out of a side door into a smelly alley, barely clothed in tatted rags. She ran away, into the main streets, and then away in to twisting alleyways and dark corners, in cobbled roads and stones and mud and sand, and then doubling over once she hit the ports, her strength long gone. She never stopped moving until she collapsed in exhaustion in some abandoned gutter somewhere in the bowels of the merciless city.

Lydia was bought back into the present by the feeling of strong arms around her. At first she struggled, the memories too fresh in her brain, and then she gave up once she realized he wouldn't be letting go. She sighed and buried herself in his unfamiliar warmth, inhaling his unfamiliar scent.Just a little bit, she thought,grant me this warmth for just a little bit.

Well, that was more than he expected. But Aaron could tell she needed to get it out of her system. This poor girl is starving for emotional comfort.

"How did you get here?" He asked quietly, his voice right beside her ear, his hot breath on her hair, making her shiver.