“You know, it’s been a few years since I’ve been here.” Shade said, as the two of them walked through the entrance gates to the town, Faylen pointedly following from a few paces behind him. “I wonder if anything has changed? Humans have such a short lifespan, so they’re much quicker to make changes in their lives.”
The two made their way through the housing sections that made up the outside of town, toward the center of town, where all the merchants set up shops and stalls. Shade had been looking closely at all the homes, but they had all mostly looked the same. Small, wooden houses, many with windows that had no glass. He wondered if they were even still considered windows at that point? And wouldn’t bugs storm in at night? That would be rather shit to deal with. But as he watched people walk past him, he was reminded to just how poor humans were. All the people were wearing clothes that had been probably handed down for generations. Any clothes with any hint of color were completely washed out, and nobody wore anything that had less then 3 holes in it. All their faces were wrinkled, with cuts and bruises from constant hard labor. Some children even ran past him that from their height couldn’t have been more than 9 or 10, but their work hardened faces looked more like that of decades old veteran laborers.
Even Faylen, whose mind was still racing at learning the man she was traveling with was the black devil, let her eyes wander a few times to look over the down trodden town folk. For their sake, the town folk barely paid them any mind, all of them clearly focused on whatever task they were doing. Some were leading horse drawn carriages carrying crops, others were carrying planks of wood on their shoulders, some chopping wood, others smelting metal. This of course wasn’t that irregular, weak people generally tried to mind their business. If you pissed the wrong person off with even a slight look, it could be your life. And nobody was going to bother spending the coin to hunt down, capture, and try someone who killed a human.
This though did matter to Shade. If any of them had noticed Faylens absurd power, even with trying to mind their business, they would’ve at least glanced her way. But not a single soul did. This brought more credence to his theory that nobody in the auction could sense her either, but he still needed to test it out a little more. They would head to the town guild, where the humans who had at least a bit more echos then others would be gathered. Maybe they would be able to sense her.
As they entered the town square though, his stomach started to rumble as various smells crashed into his nose. No matter how poor, or weak humans were, many of them could cook their asses off. He turned around to face Faylen, who averted her eyes from his gaze. He wasn’t very happy with that, but tried to ignore it. “Hungry?” He asked. She shook her head. “Well, I am, so let’s grab some things we can bring back to the cabin. I’m so used to shitty back-alley bar food, the smell of freshly baked goods is like sex for my nostrils.”
The very first shop front they walked past was selling bread, and some various baked goods. He walked up to the counter and started looking at all the bread that was laid out on shelves on the other side. A young, short brown haired human girl, maybe 16, walked away from an oven in the back to greet him. She was wearing the classic chef’s apron, though the white was almost nonexistent from years of stains, as well as a red and white stripped bandana holding her already short hair back. “Can I get you anything?” She asked.
Shade stood on his tip toes to try to peer past her, looking for his favorite bread. He saw Brioche, rye, white, even wheat, but not his favorite. He sighed as he got down from his tip toes, and met her eyes. “Yea, I was hoping you would have some ciabatta bread here, but I don’t see any.”
She turned and pointed to the oven she had been working at. “Well, isn’t it just your lucky day, I actually have a loaf about to come out right now. Were you looking to buy slices, half the loaf, or the whole thing?”
Shades mouth began watering as he thought about eating the bread. “I’ll take the whole loaf please. Do you sell butter, or jam, or anything like that here as well?” He asked, dreaming of what he was going to put on it.
She smiled at him. “I’m sorry mister, but we pretty much only sell bread, or bread like products here. Mrs. Johnsons a few stalls down would surely have whatever you’re looking for though.”
“Sweet, I’ll go there right after this. How much longer does the loaf have?” He asked.
She peered over her shoulder at the oven. “Hmmm, I think it’s just about done actually.” She said, then walked back to the oven, grabbed a bread peel, stuck it in the oven, then pulled it back out with a steaming hot loaf of Ciabatta bread on top. She grabbed a bag that seemed to be made from tied together grass of some sort, and stuck the bread in, then walked back to the counter and placed it on top. “Ciabatta is a bit more expensive to make then other breads, so for a full loaf it would be 8 coppers.”
“No problem.” He said, and took a gold coin from the pouch around his waist, then placed it on the counter. “Thanks so much, you have no idea how long it’s been since I’ve eaten some good bread.” He grabbed the bread, took the leather bag off from his back, stuck the loaf in, tied the bag back up, waved to the girl, and started to walk off.
The girl at the counter just stared at the coin. She looked like she was going to faint just from the sight of it. She slowly reached out and touched it, then pulled her hands back like it was going to bite her. Faylen also was staring at the coin, unmoving. She was expecting him to wait for some sort of change, but he had just walked off. Why did he pay such an over the moon price for a loaf of bread? A gold coin could likely buy the whole shop, and not just the bread in it, the actual shop itself.
“Sorry, did you want something?” A voice came from behind her. She shot around to see Shade, who had now walked back and was staring confused at her. She looked toward the ground and shook her head no. “Then why are you just staring at the stall?”
The woman behind the stall noticed Shade had come back as well, and peeled her eyes from the coin to look at him in an almost panic. “Sir, I cannot take this.”
He looked at her rather confused. “Why not? It’s not a fake if that’s what you’re thinking.”
She shook her head. “No, it’s not that. It’s just, it’s far too much, and I don’t have any change for it.”
He waved her off. “Then just give the other people in the town free bread until the value of its gone. Or don’t and keep it for yourself. I don’t particularly care.”
She shook her head again though, this time more adamantly. “I cannot sir, I cannot allow you to spend a whole gold coin. I know how rare these are, it must have taken you years to earn this, using it at a bread shop wouldn’t be right. I wouldn’t be able to live with myself.”
Shade was again baffled at that. She couldn’t sleep at night because someone gave her a large tip? What level of self-righteous bullshit was that. He took the coin pouch off his belt and held it up, then gave it a good shake. The rather large pouch, which held more than 200 coins, all of which were gold, clanked loudly as the woman’s eyes went even wider. “Trust me lady, I’ll be fine. You said it was my lucky day before, now it’s yours. Come on Faylen, if you didn’t need anything, let’s go get some toppings for this bread.” He turned and began to walk away again, and this time, after a beat, Faylen followed. The woman stared blankly after him, a human looking man who had more wealth than she would ever see in a lifetime just strung around his waist, like it was nothing.
After making Mrs. Johnsons day, giving her a gold coin for nothing more than a jar of peanut butter and a jar of strawberry jam, the two were idly walking around the center square of town. Shade had peeked his head into a few shops, looked at items at a few stalls, but ultimately bought nothing. While the products were all rather well made for human products, at the end of the day, they were still human products. He had no need for iron swords, or cheap wooden bracelets. He was though still on the lookout for a clothes store. The few times he had visited this town before, he had gotten the most basic of supplies, never taking the time to window shop, so he was unsure where the clothes shop would be. While they were walking though, he kept noticing Faylen from behind him sneak peeks his way, before looking back towards the ground. He paused at a wooden picnic table that was amongst a sea of other wooden picnic tables arranged under a large tree in the middle of town, providing ample cooling Shade from the sun. He sat down at the table, and gestured for Faylen to do the same. She did, rather reluctantly, and the two sat across from each other, though Faylen was still refusing to look at him.
He took out the grass bag that held his pride and joy, a loaf of bread, from his bag. He removed the bread from it, then laid out the grass bag like a napkin of sorts, placing the loaf on top of it. He then removed the jars of peanut butter and jam, placing them next to the bread. He then unscrewed the tops, and frowned. “I don’t have a knife.” He took a quick peek around him to see if anyone was looking, but people were minding their business as usual. He then opened his palm, and in it, created a small butter knife out of white stone. He nodded to himself, happy with his creation, and placed it next to the jam. He then looked at the bread and frowned again. “I guess a need second knife to cut the bread, huh.” He said, and opened his palm again. At this point, he had gained Faylens partial attention, who was watching jealously as he used echos like it was nothing. He created a medium sized bread knife out of the same white stone, it virtually appearing out of nowhere in his hands.
“Sorry.” He said, having noticed Faylens frustrated viewership. “I’m sure this must seem like showing off to someone with no echos, but I needed a knife.” She looked at him really quick, then looked back to the ground, and he sighed. “Do you want any?” He asked, and she shook her head no. He cut himself a piece, dipped the knife in the peanut butter, spread it over the slice, then dipped it in the jam, spread it over the slice, then took a large bite. He moaned in enjoyment, over exaggerating how tasty the simple meal was, though it was actually quite good. He then placed the slice of bread back on the grassy napkin, and turned a serious yet somber stare towards his scared companion. “Tell me Faylen, am I really that much worse than all the other Lucifers?” She didn’t answer, but turned her head further towards the ground. “I’m going to take that as a yes.” He said sullenly, then from his seat, he looked around the square really quick, taking in all the weak people, people just like Faylen, before turning back to her. His plan had been to see if he could help her, or at least half ass an attempt to. But dragging a terrified girl around partially against her will wasn’t really part of that plan. “Listen Faylen, I know you don’t believe me, but I’m being honest when I say if you want to leave, you can. You don’t have the collar on anymore, and I don’t really consider you a slave. We’re in the middle of a town full of weak people, maybe it wouldn’t be the most glamorous life, but I’m sure you could find someone here who would take you in, as long as you help with whatever their trade is of course.” He then shrugged to himself. “Honestly, I almost wish you would. I much prefer my life of drinking, sleeping, and feeling sorry for myself. I had gotten quite used to it before I woke up with a brand-new slave.”
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He was right, she didn’t believe him. The black devil, a man who was known for killing indiscriminately, was just going to let her go? Sure, like that would happen. She though was once again growing annoyed at the game he was still playing. Still trying to give her hope, so that he could rip it away. She knew he saw how scared she was when he approached her. She knew he knew he had won their mini battle, yet this asshole still persisted with this charade? She half wanted to ask him to just kill her already, but was still dealing with the fact she was actually scared of dying. In fact, that was annoying her even more then he was. He had mentioned it earlier, but when she was about to be killed off for parts, she wasn’t nearly as scared of dying as she was now. Why was that? As she thought about it, her internal frustration continued to boil even hotter. It was him; he had gotten to her. It was because she had allowed herself to feel that hope she told herself she wouldn’t let him give her. The sweet release of death taking you when your life is awful and you have nothing to look forward to but torture and pain is almost a kindness. But when you have something to look forward to, when you have hope, that’s when you become scared of dying.
As she was internally yelling at herself for allowing him to get to her like this, for allowing herself to believe he would ever free her, he just kept staring at her, waiting for a response. She needed to say something, but what should she say? Should she deny his offer, and go along with him still? Pretend to be the good ‘obedient’ slave and wait for him to eventually kill her? Should she give him what he wanted and ask to be freed, only to watch his joy as he pulled that rug out from under her? The safest option was obviously one, and option two would only lead her deeper into despair then she already was. As her internal anger reached critical mass though, she thought of an option 3. It was dangerous, and would likely lead to her death, but with anger clouding her mind, she decided to go for it. She would push back on him and his game; she would face that fear of death head on. She picked her head up and stared at him, all the nervousness erased from her now serious face. “You’re right.” She said. “I don’t believe you.”
He frowned. “Because I’m a lucifer? The black devil? A slaver?” He asked, and she nodded. “Well, that’s a little unfair, don’t you think?”
Thiat pissed her off even more. Her lips curled in anger as his words rang through her mind. Unfair, she was being unfair? This motherfucker was going to say she wasn’t being fair to him, a man who purchased her at a slave auction! Her life had been nothing but people being ‘unfair’ to her, and now he was going to tell her she was being unfair? She tried to keep her anger out of her voice, but some still manager to leak through. “How is that unfair?”
“Well, if those are the reasons you don’t believe me, then there’s nothing I can do to change that. I can’t change what I am, or that I bought you. That means there’s nothing I can do to change how you think about me.”
She pondered that for a minute. She didn’t want to admit it, but technically he was right. If those were the reasons she didn’t believe him, then she could never believe he wasn’t lying. In reality, the only way she would ever believe him is if he did the very thing he claimed to be offering, freeing her, then leaving her in this village. The problem though was of course she didn’t believe he would do that. Just a hollow offer to give her hope. But how could she push back against it with no proof it was hollow? Her eyes fell onto the bread, which he had paid a full gold coin for, then went back to him. If he wanted to say her not trusting him was ‘unfair’, then she would just have to take a different path in pushing back against his game. “You are correct again, that would be a bit unfair, though I’ve dealt with many slavers in my life, and not one was truthful. I’m not sure you could ever convince me otherwise, but if you really did want to try, you could start with telling me why we’re here.”
“How would that help convince you?” He asked.
“The first time you offered me freedom; we were in the middle of nowhere.” She began. “Which you so kindly pointed out at the time. If I had stayed there, maybe a wolf or something kills me, or I just starve before I even get back to society. Now, you bring me, a weak, echoless person, to a weak human town, showing me how poor they all are, how terrible their lives all are. Then you show off how much money you have, how you can buy anything, how you can use echos, then offer me my freedom. It’s like you’re trying to convince me I’m better off with you, even as a slave. If that’s not the reason we’re here, if I’m wrong about that, then what is?”
Shade slumped his shoulders and frowned at her answer, he hadn’t ever considered any of those things. He felt somewhat crappy, but then again, he was feeling crappy for offering freedom to a girl, who while she didn’t believe him for somewhat real reasons, he was in fact being honest to. He leaned back in his seat, looking up at the canopy of leaves in contemplation, before looking back to her. “I never even considered any of that, but if you don’t want to believe that, you can.” He then paused, debating one last time with himself if he should continue, and decided to. “You know, I can be a quite a lazy person nowadays. I spend most of my time drinking and sleeping, which you’ve seen both first hand. Then though, I guess you’re asking yourself, if all you say you want to do is drink and sleep, then why drag you to this town? Well, there was a reason, but I didn’t want to tell you when we were at the cabin, as I didn’t want to get your hopes up. But now it seems you think I’ve been trying to get your hopes up in a different way, which wasn’t what I wanted. So, I’ll leave it up to you once more, do you really want to know why I brought you here? Fair warning, I’m not sure you’ll believe it still, and I’m not sure I can do anything about it.”
Oh, what story was he going to weave now? What reason could he possibly give her that would provide her more hope than the offer of freedom? She found she had an almost sick curiosity for it. What did he think he could find and offer her that would give her a better life, then freedom? She figured she was already pushing back against him, so what was there to lose in hearing whatever nonsense he was going to tell her? “I’ve been given hope many times in the past, only for it to be ripped away. I don’t think one more glimmer would be of any harm.” She lied.
While not a complete yes, or no, he took that as an affirmative. “Ok then, I know sometimes I like to beat around the bush, ask leading questions and try to get people to come up with the answers themselves. But I won’t do that here. I’ll just come out and plainly state it. You told me you have no echos, but I don’t think that’s true, I sense loads of echos within you.”
She froze. Well, he had done it. He had found something that would of course sincerely interest her. But while that answer was one that would normally give her hope, it didn’t answer why they were here. It was nothing more than another attempt at mind games. “I’m sorry, sir.” She said. “Even if that is true, which I don’t really believe, that still doesn’t answer why we’re here.”
He had grabbed another slice of bread in his hand, and was getting ready to bite down, but had to pause. He had thought it would take awhile for her to answer, to process, but she was right, that didn’t really answer why they were here. “Hmmm, I guess you’re right.” He said, putting the bread back down. “Let me explain then. I’ll try to keep it rather short, but if you have any questions, feel free to ask. When I had woken up in that field, I couldn’t figure out, or remember why I had bought you. When I removed your collar though, that’s when I first felt your echos. That’s why I placed the collar back on you a few times. Every time it’s on you, I can’t sense them, but when it’s off, I can. I figured then, that was likely the reason I had bought you. Drunken curiosity you could say. So why are we here though? Well, you can’t use any echos even though I can sense them. Not only that, but if someone as attractive as you actually had any echos, then surely someone else at the auction would have bought you. Then if you take in account your story of curse breakers, priests and orphanages all finding nothing or kicking you out, that made me think that nobody else could sense you but me for some reason. I of course though needed to test this somehow. While humans are weak, they can sometimes sense echos, and since this town was close, I figured it would be a good first test. So far it seems that nobody can sense you still, but one of our next stops was to be the guild where the ‘strong’ humans are, and I was going to see if any of them could. After that, I wasn’t really sure of the next steps, but figured I would come up with it then. Anyway, there you have it. With that in mind, if you wish to leave, or want me to leave, just ask. Or, if you want to continue following me around, trying to find a cure for you, you can as well. Just be warned, one, I don’t know what’s wrong with you, so I don’t know if there is a cure. And two, I don’t know how long my curiosity will last for, maybe a week from now I get bored and send you on your way anyway.” He then picked the slice of bread back up, and took a large bite, staring at Faylen, waiting for a response.
While once again looking rather stoic on the outside, on the inside, her mind was now all over the place. His story didn’t make any sense, yet at the same time, it did. No curse breakers, priests, or anyone else being able to sense her but him made no sense. Yet everything else seemed rather reasonable. She couldn’t deny when he had woken up in that field, he did look confused, like he had no idea who she was or why she was there. When he took off her collar at the cabin, his look of shock had seemed genuine. Was it all an act to lead up to this reveal? Maybe, yet she didn’t think so. He didn’t seem smart enough, or sober enough, to think that far ahead and pull that off. All those events, all those reactions, there’s no way he could have planned that far ahead. But at the same time, there was no way he could be telling the truth, right? She racked her mind as she thought about all the things she had ever heard about the black devil. One of the reasons his name had popped up frequently was because she had been a slave. He famously took down slave rings throughout his life, and while he was still ‘alive’, her former masters would worry out loud about if he was going to find them next. So, if this was truly him sitting across from her, then him being confused at why he would have been at a slave auction, then purchase one, would make sense. Him also being willing to free one would also make sense. She bit her lip, he had gotten her again. She knew she was going to regret this later. She knew in a few weeks he would be using her as a slave, and she would be thinking back to this moment, and how na?ve and stupid she was for believing something the black devil had said. But if he was telling the truth, and there was even the slightest chance she could be freed from her prison of weakness, then surely, she had to take it. “If what you say is true. I…. I wish to continue. I would ask you to help me try to find a cure.”
He nodded as he chewed, then spoke with a full mouth. “That’s fine, but there’s one condition.”
“What’s that?” She asked through narrowed eyes. Of course there was a catch. What was he going to ask of her? To sleep with him? That wouldn’t make sense, she was his slave, he could do that whenever he wanted anyway. But then what request was he going to make of her? Then her eyes went wide. Her soul? He could take it anyway when he killed her, but maybe there was something more a lucifer could do with a soul if a person willingly offered it to them?
He swallowed, then pointed at her with the butter knife. “I also wasn’t lying before when I said how shitty it is to be around people who act all scared of me. I get it, I know who am I, what I’ve done, but it still sucks. If we’re going to travel together, then no more of this meek little scared cat walking 5 feet behind me. At the very least, you have to pretend to not be scared, deal?”
What, she thought, rather surprised by that request. He just wanted her to act normal around him? That’s all? As she thought about it, she wasn’t actually sure she could, he was the fucking black devil. But then she thought about how she was talking to him now. She had been talking to him behind a mask of anger, frustration, and doubt. But clearly, she did have it in her somewhere to talk with him normally, and if that’s all he claimed to want in order for him to help her seek a cure, then she would do her best. “Deal.” She said back.
He smiled, then pushed the bread and toppings over her way. “Good, now eat up. I don’t think I’ve seen you eat once since I woke up. Surely you have to be hungry.”
He was right once more. She was in fact starving. She grabbed the bread knife, cut a slice from the loaf, then grabbed the butter knife, dipped it in the peanut butter, spread some on her slice, then dipped it in the jam, and spread some on top of the peanut butter. She then took a quick peek at Shade, who motioned for her to eat, so she did. It was delicious.
